Reviews of Fitting Pieces.....
MUSIC BOOK OF THE FORTNIGHT
There’s something truly joyous about reading an oral history… [The book] features lengthy contributions from band members... [and] the result is a vivid, varied portrait of a particular time and place. Whittaker doesn’t search laboriously for the facts. He lets particular anecdotes capture the magic of the era and the music – and this is what makes Fitting Pieces To The Jigsaw such a great read.
Peter McGoran, Hot Press
'A great, anecdote-laden book...' 5 stars.
Simon Cosyns, The Sun
' A cornucopia of evocative detail... festooned with images, lyrics, memorabilia, and reinforced with first-hand interviews from the main protagonists, this is a deep dive into a generally misunderstood Irish group... [the book] delves into Irish pop culture like no other, and that highlights a psych-folk group we should all start listening to again.'
Tony Clayton-Lea, The Irish Times
'Heroic retrievals, digging and sifting the mists of memory, reveal the secret history of a Dublin band finding themselves, and the words and sounds of that city's emerging subterranean moment.'
Iain Sinclair (author, pyschogeographer and Dublin contemporary of the Strangelies)
Quite wonderful... among the most engaging music books of recent times.'
fRoots
'One of the best alternative rock reads of recent years.'
The Wire
'Excellent... A quirky snapshot of a vanished arcadia...
Mojo, 4 stars
'A wonderful book, great fun to read, but also informative and inspiring. How often do we get a band history that relies on so many recollections of the key players?'
Rod Brown, musician, Oakland CA
'A rewardingly rich feast... the picture painted of Dublin’s fecund counterculture scene, and the lot of itinerant musicians at the turn of the 70s as they barrel between polytechnics, folk clubs and arts labs, is as detailed and illuminating as any sociological tract – and a million times funnier/more poignant...'
Record Collector, 5 stars
‘Exceptionally engaging… The definitive account of the era’s craziness, hijinks and musical cross-pollination… A superb collage of research and oral history… This will rank among 2019’s best rock reads.’
Kris Needs, Prog Mag
'A fond and fabulously detailed account of how the baroque woodsmoke-scented acid folk of Dr Strangely Strange was propelled by everything from blues, music hall, cartoon art, Paul Klee, James Joyce and the Incredible String Band in the spangled psychedelic glade of late '60s Dublin counter-culture. Whittaker's book is both a joyous tale of musical eccentricity and a charming and valuable document of the Anglo-Irish underground..
Mark Ellen, former editor of Mojo and Word Magazine
You should be very proud of this unique book. The Strangelies and that fantastic era, of which I was very much a part, would have remained in obscurity without that huge effort. Big thanks from me and the rest of my generation.
Jay Myrdal, musician and photographer
'Adrian Whittaker’s charming history of the band and its circle… is a collage-like impasto of impressions and often rather vague memories.'
The TLS
MUSIC BOOK OF THE FORTNIGHT
There’s something truly joyous about reading an oral history… [The book] features lengthy contributions from band members... [and] the result is a vivid, varied portrait of a particular time and place. Whittaker doesn’t search laboriously for the facts. He lets particular anecdotes capture the magic of the era and the music – and this is what makes Fitting Pieces To The Jigsaw such a great read.
Peter McGoran, Hot Press
'A great, anecdote-laden book...' 5 stars.
Simon Cosyns, The Sun
' A cornucopia of evocative detail... festooned with images, lyrics, memorabilia, and reinforced with first-hand interviews from the main protagonists, this is a deep dive into a generally misunderstood Irish group... [the book] delves into Irish pop culture like no other, and that highlights a psych-folk group we should all start listening to again.'
Tony Clayton-Lea, The Irish Times
'Heroic retrievals, digging and sifting the mists of memory, reveal the secret history of a Dublin band finding themselves, and the words and sounds of that city's emerging subterranean moment.'
Iain Sinclair (author, pyschogeographer and Dublin contemporary of the Strangelies)
Quite wonderful... among the most engaging music books of recent times.'
fRoots
'One of the best alternative rock reads of recent years.'
The Wire
'Excellent... A quirky snapshot of a vanished arcadia...
Mojo, 4 stars
'A wonderful book, great fun to read, but also informative and inspiring. How often do we get a band history that relies on so many recollections of the key players?'
Rod Brown, musician, Oakland CA
'A rewardingly rich feast... the picture painted of Dublin’s fecund counterculture scene, and the lot of itinerant musicians at the turn of the 70s as they barrel between polytechnics, folk clubs and arts labs, is as detailed and illuminating as any sociological tract – and a million times funnier/more poignant...'
Record Collector, 5 stars
‘Exceptionally engaging… The definitive account of the era’s craziness, hijinks and musical cross-pollination… A superb collage of research and oral history… This will rank among 2019’s best rock reads.’
Kris Needs, Prog Mag
'A fond and fabulously detailed account of how the baroque woodsmoke-scented acid folk of Dr Strangely Strange was propelled by everything from blues, music hall, cartoon art, Paul Klee, James Joyce and the Incredible String Band in the spangled psychedelic glade of late '60s Dublin counter-culture. Whittaker's book is both a joyous tale of musical eccentricity and a charming and valuable document of the Anglo-Irish underground..
Mark Ellen, former editor of Mojo and Word Magazine
You should be very proud of this unique book. The Strangelies and that fantastic era, of which I was very much a part, would have remained in obscurity without that huge effort. Big thanks from me and the rest of my generation.
Jay Myrdal, musician and photographer
'Adrian Whittaker’s charming history of the band and its circle… is a collage-like impasto of impressions and often rather vague memories.'
The TLS