outsideleft
all about us
Joe Ambrose
Literary Editor
Outsideleft Literary Editor, Joe Ambrose works as a DJ and member of experimental hip hop group Islamic Diggers, whom The Guardian called "the newest and grooviest of the new and groovy." Islamic Diggers produced the Dutch East India/Sub Rosa 2CD, 10% which features tracks by Paul Bowles, Marianne Faithfull, John Cale, and William Burroughs. In the 90s he enjoyed a successful career as a literary journalist, interviewing, amongst others, Nina Simone, Nick Cave, James Ellroy, Michael Herr, William Gibson, and Bill Wyman.
Ambrose organised, with Frank Rynne,The Here to Go Show (Dublin, 1992), a celebration of the wild cultural experimentation of William Burroughs and Brion Gysin. Collaborators on this included Iggy Pop, Marianne Faithfull, and William Burroughs. The Here To Go Show was documented in the movie Destroy All Rational Thought, directed by Ambrose and Frank Rynne. This is available on DVD via Screen Edge/MVD. His movie, And Then He Kissed Me, features a soundtrack by Velvet Underground members Maureen Tucker and John Cale.
Islamic Diggers organised NO EXPECTATIONS, an evening of 60s Super 8 movies by Anita Pallenberg. These films, featuring Pallenberg's pals like Keith Richards, Allen Klein, Marianne Faithfull, Mick Jagger and Brian Jones were shown at the ICA and The Chamber of Pop Culture in London.
His books include two novels for Pulp Books, Serious Time (1998) and Too Much Too Soon (2000). His recent non-fiction books for Omnibus Press are Moshpit Culture (2001), an investigation of covert punk culture from inside the moshpit, and Gimme Danger (2002), a biography of punk icon Iggy Pop. His short story The Fatal Advantage can be read in the www.pulp.net archive. In 2006 and 2007 he wrote two successful books of Irish history, Dan Breen and the IRA, and Sean Treacy and the Tan War.
Ambrose has performed with Lydia Lunch, John Cale, Scanner, Tav Falco, Richard Hell, and Morocco's Master Musicians of Joujouka. In January 2005 he did, with Chrissie Hynde, a BBC Radio 2 documentary on Iggy Pop. In 2007 Ambrose was invited, by Iggy Pop, to write the sleeve notes for the new Iggy and the Stooges DVD, Escaped Maniacs. His current book is Chelsea Hotel Manhattan.
Visit Joe's web site, JoeAmbrose.net
contributions
Proud to be Irish 08.11.2010
Talking About Dan Breen 08.03.2010
Busarus Saturday Morning 05.05.2010
My Rival - Alex Chilton Remembered 03.29.2010
Heavy Metal Kid Neil Daniels 03.04.2010
Ireland in the Rain (Part 2) 02.25.2010
Ireland in the Rain (Part 1) 02.23.2010
Bob Dylan in Tangier 12.24.2009
Inside Outsider Girls 10.09.2009
The Enniscorthy Echo 09.28.2009
Brotherhoods of Breath - Moroccan Sufi Trance Today 07.22.2009
Bye Bye Bata, Ciao Charley 05.15.2009
No We Can't 04.21.2009
Love and Napalm - the Actual World of J.G. Ballard 04.20.2009
Bow Wow Wow! - Mighty Doglude 03.20.2009
Who Was David Thornley? 03.02.2009
Somebody Got Murdered II 02.16.2009
Panther Burns and Howls 01.12.2009
Hallelujah! 12.29.2008
Great '08 12.22.2008
Zen and the Art of Roy Keane 12.03.2008
Glittter 08.25.2008
Van Damme Takes Over 08.12.2008
Youth and Young Manhood Part 2 07.21.2008
Youth & Young Manhood Part 1 07.19.2008
Summer Dress 07.08.2008
Chelsea Hotel Manhattan - Outtake 2 04.24.2008
Chelsea Hotel Manhattan, Neon Liam 04.18.2008
Chelsea Hotel Manhattan, an outtake 04.16.2008
Chelsea Hotel Manhattan, A Selective Glossary, Part One 04.11.2008
Red Square 04.08.2008
A Simple Twist of Fate 04.03.2008
Joe Dolan: He Sent Them Home Sweating 01.03.2008
Sultanas of Swing, Eric Clipton, and Mick Jugger 12.29.2007
One Less White Negro 11.18.2007
Mister Wallow is Dead 11.09.2007
Lonely Planet Part II 11.03.2007
Lonely Planet (Part 1) 10.30.2007
Metal Guru 10.18.2007
Boom Shakka Lakka - Live in London - Sly Stone Now 07.23.2007
Rebel Art Too 06.23.2007
Rebel Art 06.23.2007
Free Your Mind and Your Art Will Follow 06.05.2007
On Moshing 04.30.2007
Harry Potter and the Sword of Love 04.29.2007
Hamri the Painter of Morocco (part 3 of 3) 04.16.2007
Hamri The Painter of Morocco (Part 2 of 3) 04.11.2007
Hamri, the Painter of Morocco 04.10.2007
Home Thoughts from Abroad on Saint Patrick's Day 03.21.2007
Dan Sartain at The 100 Club 02.18.2007
Wembley Stadium - Architecture / Regeneration / Gentrification 02.10.2007
A Tangier Christmas Whipping 01.13.2007
The Black Michael Jackson 01.05.2007
Her Haunch 12.11.2006
Casino Royale - License to Ill or Ill Communication? 11.24.2006
Outside Books #5: Outsiders 10.29.2006
From the Moshpit #13 - LL Cool J - Still Hard as Hell 10.16.2006
IRA COHEN - Media Shaman 10.12.2006
Laughing All the Way to the Banksy? 08.27.2006
I Hate Radiohead 08.19.2006
ART ROCK LONDON 08.10.2006
Coney Island Baby 08.01.2006
I Met Johnny Cash 07.10.2006
In Bono's Hotel - Ireland Now 06.06.2006
From the Moshpit # 12 - Test Icicles 04.25.2006
Outsidebooks #5 - Revolutionaries 04.24.2006
Mister Freedom with Jimi Tenor 03.22.2006
Kate Moss, Aged 15 02.22.2006
Outsidebooks #4: In Pete's Doherty's Crack Den, Tara Telephone, and Pseudo-City 02.13.2006
Pussy Power - Nein Danke 02.05.2006
Hold Everything - Pete Doherty Busted Twice in One Day 01.28.2006
Outsidebooks #3 - Best books of 2005 01.04.2006
The Best Cock and Pussy in Town - Larry Clark Now! 12.24.2005
From the Moshpit #11 - Covered in Punk Blood 12.15.2005
BEST OUTSIDELEFT 11.25.2005
Taking Me to Marrakesh 11.20.2005
Man vs Cheap Sunglasses 11.16.2005
Man vs. Chicken 11.08.2005
Kleenex Dirham 10.06.2005
From the Moshpit #10 - Rolling Stones 09.25.2005
Balachadha.com - Pete Doherty's New Website 09.08.2005
OUTSIDEBOOKS #2 - Tangier Beat Generation 08.15.2005
Calico Girl 08.15.2005
From the Moshpit #9: Whiter than White 07.31.2005
OUTSIDEBOOKS - Japanese Cult Movies, Tattoo, and Self Publishing 07.27.2005
From the Moshpit # 8: Ska Punk, Ska, and Grindcore 07.23.2005
London Calling - 7 Days Later 07.14.2005
Michael Caine Goes Shopping 07.09.2005
Decadence, Madness, And Blow Job Furniture 07.01.2005
Meltdown with Patti, Song & Dance with Yoko 06.19.2005
I Walk With The Homeless 06.15.2005
Bird Flu - a poem of sorts 06.13.2005
Miles Davis - Bitches, Boxing, Cooking and Painting 06.12.2005
From The Moshpit #7: When The Music's Over 06.02.2005
Nathan Solid Takes It From Behind. 05.26.2005
Holidays with the Moroccan Rent Boy 05.18.2005
CHELSEA HOTEL MANHATTAN: PART 4 OF 4 05.16.2005
CHELSEA HOTEL MANHATTAN: PART 3 OF 4 05.09.2005
CHELSEA HOTEL MANHATTAN: Part 2 of 4 05.02.2005
Chelsea Hotel Manhattan 04.25.2005
From the Moshpit #6: System of a Down 04.11.2005
The Clancy Brothers 04.06.2005
Ah Yes, But Is It Art? 04.04.2005
By The Time I Get To Memphis 03.30.2005
Writing about Punk Rock, Junk Rock, and Fag Rock 03.25.2005
From the Moshpit #5: Pete and Shane's, secret St. Patrick's Show 03.21.2005
Moroccan Gardens, Roads and Dungeons 03.18.2005
Elizabeth Peyton 03.11.2005
In The Moshpit with Cheb Khaled, the King of Rai 03.07.2005
From the Moshpit #3: Presidents of the United States of America 03.03.2005
The Present Will Now Be the Past 02.23.2005
From the Moshpit: Merch Rock 02.22.2005
Three Nights Deep Inside the Moshpit 02.17.2005
Paris Trance 02.14.2005
Jenny Holzer: Space Ambassador 02.07.2005
The Ghost of Jeffrey Lee, Coming Back to Haunt Me 02.02.2005
If you're in our email blast gang you should've seen one of these. join us now.
