2013 Archive
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Title: My Movies of the year.
Published: 2013-12-21 15:43:00
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Here are my top movies and movie moments of 2013 :)nBefore you get angry at something you can’t believe I’ve not mentioned please check my list of films that I haven’t managed to see yet at the bottom in case it’s on there!nThe PaperboynGravitynStokernTrancenLes MiserablenStar Trek Into DarknessnBehind the candelabranRobot and FranknWreck It RalphnDjango UnchainednKill Your DarlingsnAntiviralnFrozenn—nnBetter than expectednWorld War ZnAlan Partridge Alpha PapanOblivionnAmerican MarynThe Hunger Games: Catching FirenNow You See MenThe Fifth EstatenWarm BodiesnThe InternshipnByzantiumnI give it a yearn—nnBiggest SurprisenRobot & Frankn—nnWorse than expectednOz the great and powerfulnThe Great GatsbynSide Effectsn—nnBiggest DisappointmentnMan of Steeln—nnBiggest ReliefnThe Hunger Games: Catching Firen—nnBest PerformancenMichael Douglas - Behind the Candelbran—nnCan’t believe I missed these (in no order)nZero Dark ThirtynMonsters UniversitynFlightnHitchcocknThis is 40nCloud AtlasnWelcome to the punchnSpring BreakersnPlace beyond the pinesnMudnElysiumnLovelacenFilthnHow I live NownMachete KillsnPhilomenanSaving Mr BanksnSecret Life of Walter Mitty n—nnOnly just outnAmerican HustlenAnchorman2
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Title: Music Review - My Best of 2013
Published: 2013-12-11 13:42:00
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This year has been a bit of a belter for me music-wise with some great releases from heavyweights and old favourites as well as a few new acts and surprises. nI hate trying to do proper numbered top tens so instead I’ve just given my favourites in no particular order but split out into to broader categories of ratings.nTop of the Pops(my 9 & 10 out of 10 albums - ‘zomg amazing’)nThe Next Day - David BowieYeezus - Kanye WestBangerz - Miley CyrusArtpop - Lady GagaBloodsports - suedeRandom Access Memories - Daft PunkThe Big Dream - David LynchnBest of the Rest(7 & 8 out of 10 - 'bloody good but not perfect’)nThe Minutes - Alison MoyetExile - HurtsTales of Us - GoldfrappDays are Gone - HaimPale Green Ghosts - John GrantKiss Land - The WeekendSeasons of Your Day - Mazzy StarInnocents - MobyThree - Charlotte ChurchDead Ends - The Rumour Said FirenCould do better(6 & 7 out of 10 ratings - 'a few belters and a bunch of fillers’)nSwings Both Ways - Robbie WilliamsThe Marshall Mathers LP2 - EminemRewind The Film - Manic Street PreachersCloser To The Truth - CherGreat song but the album was a bit rubbishRoar - Katy PerryAnything Could Happen - Ellie GouldingNew act that deserves a mention on the basis of one song aloneTake Me to Church - HoziernMan of the yearDavid Bowie - For being the best at keeping a secret ever.Woman of the yearMiley Cyrus - For cultural whiplash due to her unexpected smackdown on the pop landscapePerformance of the yearArtpop at Swinefest - Lady GagaBecause sometimes the simplest move is right.nn'Moment’ of the yearWrecking Ball - Miley CyrusFor straddling the zeitgeist as well as the ball.n Gig of the yearSuede - Glasgow BarrowlandsBecause that’s where I go, and that’s what I do..nnMost anticipated for 2014Ultraviolence - Lana Del ReyArtpop volume 2? - Could just be a scurrilous rumourMore suede please!
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Title: Movie Review - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Published: 2013-11-30 00:14:00
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nI absolutely loved the Hunger Games books when I read them (you can see my review of the series here if you like) but never quite mustered myself to watch the first film. The trailers left me a little cold - or to be more accurate not cold enough - and having already been through the initially torturous process of learning to love the Potter movies I didn’t feel quite ready to sacrifice another fandom at the alter of the adaptation. However I had heard nothing but good about the sequel Catching Fire over the last week or two so I decided to man up and go and see it. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.nLet’s get my kvetches out of the way first - as predicted all three of the main protagonists are far too pretty and healthy looking. You’ve been down the mines all year have you Gale? That’s funny because you look like you’ve been modelling Levis in a 50s garage. And speaking of Gale - actually why bother? A combination of a chronically underwritten character and an actor who might has well have been a piece of handsomely carved oak meant I really couldn’t care less about him. In fact I generally just forgot he existed. I realise he had a smaller part in the second book too but still, a bit of a waste.nOn the other hand I thought Josh Hutcherson was really well cast as Peeta and once I got over her too-pretty face Jennifer Lawrence was actually far steelier and closer to ‘my’ Katniss than I had expected. Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair and Jena Malone as Johanna Mason were a treat too.nThe biggest surprise for me was that even at a 12A it manages to quite effectively capture the brutality of the books. And although I felt it didn’t always fully realise the larger feeling of desperation out-with the tributes themselves they have more time to expand on that in the next film. Oh, and It made me cry once, but unusually for a movie not at the end.nA little too much lipgloss in the grime for my taste but on the whole a very good adaptationn8/10nn
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Title: Review: Miley Cyrus - Bangerz
Published: 2013-10-20 13:23:00
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nnFor some people an album that uses hashtags in song titles and includes lyrics like ‘SMH, I’m pressing send on you’ will only ever be a sign of the forthcoming apocalypse. But let’s be honest those are not the people BANGERZ was made for. This album is shamelessly zeitgeisty, absolutely of its moment, a living breathing tumblr meme and will undoubtably become one of those time capsule albums that sums up a specific point in the timeline of pop culture. It’s also a damn good record.But before I get down to the boring bit where I talk about the actual songs let’s deal with the giant dancing bear costumes in the room:nYes, I thought that VMAs performance was a car wrecknYes, I think it was absolutely meant to benNo, I don’t think she’s the devil incarnate butnYes, she is having a lot of fun pretending to benYes, this kind of makes her a dick butnYes, I also find it highly entertaining to watchnOh andnYes, I hate the tongue thing because it’s gross (an Americanism suits it best) butnYes, I also kind of love the tongue thing because it’s grossnI’ve always liked my stars to teeter right on the brink of self parody and cartoon. Ginger was my favourite Spice, I like Courtney more than Kurt, Country House is my favourite Blur video, I like Prince Charming more than Dirk Wears White Sox.. I could go on. The point is call it punk, call it privileged brattishness, whatever, I’ll take Miley’s ghetto-dyke posturing and fuck-you dry humping over most of her winsome, disingenuous or just plain dull contemporaries any day because there are no apologies and no get out clauses. If you don’t like it.. well, FU I guess. And more importantly because the bravado and infinitely giffable videos are backed by some really great songs.nnMiley 101nI guess a lot of people in this country really had no idea who she was a few months ago (other than a vague memory of Achy Breaky Heart if you are old enough) but I’ve had my pop-culture magpie eye on her for a while now.For those who don’t know Miley started out as one of those Disney girls like Britney or Christina only she played a character in a TV show called Hanna Montana who was a pop singer, sort of like herself but in a blonde wig. She also played Hanna’s alter ego Miley Stewart who was sort of like her in other ways (a 'down to earth’ Texan girl with brown hair) who also happened to secretly be a pop star. So basically she was playing a version of herself who was also secretly another version of herself whilst also being a Disney star herself with all the pretending that comes with that. Oh, and she also went on a tour billed as starring 'Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus’. Confused? You should be. So yeah, at 15 that’s surely going to fuck you up.nnDon’t give your daughter to the Mouse Mr Cyrus.But contrary to the crib notes most of the reviews are written from this is Miley’s fourth solo album and although she says she considers it her debut-proper since it’s her first truly post-Hannah release it's by no means her first stab at a 'coming of age’ album. That honour would go to the 2010 release Can’t Be Tamed, a patchy record with too much needless autotune but just enough potential that it peaked my interest. The song that hooked me being Robot - a dystopian journey straight through the dark heart of child stardom.nn'You gave me eyes and now I see..’nAlthough certainly her breakup album I am however convinced that Bangerz isn’t Miley’s breakdown album. It’s the perfect storm of a well orchestrated publicity machine and a young woman having a blast with it and - for once - I think calling the shots. This clip of her arriving at the VMAs and throwing a wobbly because her entrance plan had got messed up (she was meant to arrive in a police car) is pretty fascinating stuff. The moment she get’s out of the car and immediately turns on the Miley #BANGERZ 'schtick’ is an illuminating glimpse into just how aware of her persona she is.nnIn a lot of ways it reminds me of the heydays of the Spice Girls blitzkrieg - only with less tits and more tongue.nSo to the music..Miley is an old hand and unlike many of her peers she’s actually pretty talented. In fact one of the most surprising things about Bangerz is how enjoyable her vocal performance is. I’d go so far as to say its a highlight of the record. Her rapping does have such an obvious air of trying on a costume for size that it verges on the ridiculous but self-aware nods to being a 'southern belle’ and so on pull it back from the brink and in the end I find it endearing.The mix of styles covered in the album is unusual and it’s fantastically well put together - although I could do without hearing Mike Will’s name every 30 seconds like a fucking audio watermark. There are some surprising and brave decisions (mixing dubstep and hoedown anyone?) but it pays off and forms a remarkably coherent tracklist. It’s also an album that for being unashamedly mainstream absolutely has it’s own character and feels totally wedded to Miley rather than tacked on to whoever happens to be recording it in the studio.Thematically it’s pretty much half and half break up/fuck you songs and party tracks - occasionally blending together in that 'fuck you I’m going to party instead’ way and although it’s the shallow bits that grab you by the balls the first time round there’s a larger emotional range lurking behind the crazy. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying it’s The Wall or something but it’s not all twerking and texting either.Out of the standard edition there is only one song that’s close to a skip track for me and if that was replaced by the first of the bonus tracks it would be a full house. Compared to recent albums by Katy Perry, Rihanna, Ke$ha, Nicki Minaj and even Madonna where I only listen to half the tracks at best Bangerz comes out head and shoulders above most of her peer group. In terms of pure, unabashed pop albums only Born This Way has topped it for me in quality and effort in the last few years. In fact removing Gaga from the equation it’s my favourite pop album in a long time.n9/10Track by tracknAdore YounStarting an album promising 'bangerz’ with a slowie is a brave move but it pays off. Adore You reminds me of that Beautiful South lyric 'you can tell a classic ballad by how threatening it gets’. There is something about the claustrophobia of the chorus lyrics 'When you say you love me, know I love you more. When you say you need me, know I need you more.’ that has 'doomed romance’ written all over it. It’s a sad song that thinks it’s happy. n7/10nWe Can’t StopnAs mission statements go 'it’s my mouth and I’ll say what I want to’ is a pretty good summation of the Bangerz brand. An insanely addictive mid-tempo resplendent with in-joke Miley/Molly drug references and terrible grammar. A sure-fire hit basically. n8/10nSMS (Bangerz)nIf you find the word BANGERZ as endlessly amusing as i do you’ll love it. Otherwise it might make you angry. Oh, and Britney features on it apparently.n6.5/10n4x4n4x4 is a moment of mad genius. Not only does it combine a country hoedown vibe, rap and dubsteb in an alarmingly enjoyable way but it also has the unforgettable lyric 'driving so fast about to piss on myself’. If there isn’t a tour mashup with Hoedown Throwdown it will be the crime of the century.nn n9/10nMy Darlin’nThis is the only song on the album I could easily live without - although it does tend to get stuck in my head after I do listen to it.n5/10nWrecking BallnWrecking Ball is a soaring, angry, knockout ballad in the karaoke / slow dance / cry-along-in-your-bedroom sense. It’s one of those songs that makes me really glad I’m not 15 anymore.n9/10nLove Money PartynMoney ain’t nothing but money when you get to the money. Love ain’t nothing but love when you learn how to love. Party ain’t nothing but a party when you party everyday. nAnother one of the songs with the wonderfully weird country / hip-hop thing going on. This will soon be going in a playlist sandwiched between 'Money, Success, Fame, Glamour’ from Party Monster and Lady Gaga’s 'Beautiful, Dirty, Rich’.n7/10n#GetitrightnA sweet sounding mid-tempo sex jam.n8/10nDriven'Drive my heart into the night, you can drop the keys off in the morning.’nDrive has the dark, brooding feel of a Kanye track and is the closest to what could be considered a 'mature’ sound on the album.n9/10nFUnEverything about this song is fucking perfect. Broadway meets hip-hop meets dub step meets Bond theme. With lyrics about texting and LOL-ing and all the bitterness and adolescent hyper-drama of the best mega-ballads. The kind of song that makes you feel like if all else fails for the artist it will have been worth it just for those 2 minutes 28 seconds. If you only listen to one song on the album this should be it.nn10/10nDo My Thangn'Don’t you worry bout 'me. Imma be ok. Imma do my thing.’nThere you go everyone, don’t worry - she gonna be ok.nI like this track a lot, it’s another addictive mid-tempo with a really hooky, soaring chorus. Next single maybe?n8/10nMaybe You’re RightnThe only song on the album that could have come from a previous Miley album and on first listen I wasn’t keen but it’s grown on me, largely because she sells it well.n6.5/10nSomeone ElsenA slightly grimey, end-of-the-party number with a wonderfully aggressive shouty bit near the end.nAnd it feels fitting that the last lyrics of the album are 'I’ve turned into someone else’.n7/10nSpecial mention for 'Rooting For My Baby’ from the bonus tracks which is actually one of my favourites on the record. It’s a sweetly melodic, melancholy, folksy song that reminds me of tracks like Gone and Don’t Tell Me from Madonna’s Music album.n8/10nnThe (MTV) Crib NotesnPop at it’s most shamelessly zeitgeist-grabbing coupled with strong vocals and genuinely well crafted tunes. Plus lyrics about pissing yourself in fast cars. What more could you want?n9/10
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Title: Review: The Cukoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling)
Published: 2013-09-13 22:02:29
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More consistent than The Casual Vacancy (although its highs were higher and lows lower) I found this to be an enjoyable, easy going whodunit that for the most part kept me engaged. Whilst the central characters felt quite cliched at the start they were fleshed out well throughout the story and by the end of the book were well poised for a sequel.nnIf I have any negative comments it’s that there is a strange combination of page-turner and long-windedness present in both this and The Casual Vacancy. Buried inside this book is a really gripping yarn half it’s length although unlike The Casual Vacancy it’s not as obvious to pinpoint where the extraneous information is. I never really felt bored while I was actually reading it, more that it just seemed to take far too long to get to the point. I’m a pretty gullible reader and never guess the endings to these things but in this case I did - I suspect mainly because I had so much prelude during which to wander through all the possibilities in my mind.nnSo to sum up..nA decent holiday read if not something that will blow your mind. Less divisive than The Casual Vacancy but ultimately less interesting too. nHopefully there will be a slightly more brutally edited sequel to look forward to at some point soon.nnRead it if you like: Colin Dexter, Jodi Picoult, Elizabeth Georgenn7/10
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Title: Review: Yeezus by Kanye West
Published: 2013-06-29 14:14:00
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nMost people seem to have fallen for Kanye after 808 & Heartbreak but I was a bit of latecomer to the church of Yeezus and it was the title song from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy that finally piqued my interest with a genre-defying bolt of melancholy, humor and gloriously OTT crazy. nnIf MBDTF was the sound of Kanye losing his mind Yeezus is only further down the rabbit hole. Don’t for a minute be expecting that he’s found any kind of equilibrium since the last record. I’m a sucker for artists who expose their own human flaws and generally will give a free pass on things I might not have otherwise if I know they know too. Kanye most certainly knows - Runaway was the touchstone moment for that but Yeezus continues the theme. Like all the great rock stars he is a big mess of contradictions ranging from arrogance to humility, money obsessed to anti-capitalist, misogynist to apologist. None of it makes much sense but like all great polemicists it sounds good at the time. The lyric ‘Soon as they like you make ‘em unlike you’ in I am a God seems to sum this perversity up perfectly. There is also a recurrent theme in both this and the last record of him demonising himself - referring to himself as a monster, a wolf, possessed etc and while it is glamorized there is definitely a strong air of self-loathing about it. Self disgust is self obsession, honey. nAnd if anyone is still under the allusion that he doesn’t have a sense of humour about it all then the 11-on-the-hamometer pastiche of American Psycho he trailered the album with should prove otherwise:nnnMusically Kanye West is one of the only artists, never mind mainstream artists, who can genuinely surprise me at the moment and Yeezus is sonically thrilling. Don’t expect some nice Starbucks ‘urban’ background music - strap yourself in for this one, it’s a bumpy ride. Aggressive techno, punky rock sounds, glorious melody and angry, angry rap all mixed up and never, ever doing what you expect. Just when you settle into some soothingly melodic sample it will be ripped out from under you and at other times just when you think you can’t take it anymore the relentless nastiness will be salved by a soaring top line tune. It’s basically the musical equivalent of walking through a minefield in the dark while someone alternately screams at you and feeds you cake. nnOn the whole Yeezus is not as lyrically sophisticated as MBDTF although it has it’s moments, and there are times when it feels he’s trotting out pat rap-isms. But musically it’s leagues ahead, absolutely blinding.nTrack by tracknnOn sightnAs opening statements go this is firmly in the ‘strap in or fuck off’ bracket. Alternating between hard, dirty electro and eerie melodic samples of children singing. Yeezy’s back and he’s gunning for you.nBlack SkinheadnI cannot stop listening to this song. On first listen I thought of Gary Glitter’s Rock & Roll Part II, on second listen Marilyn Manson. It does indeed apparently sample Beautiful People and is a big, stompy, glambanger with some suitable glam-punk lyrics to match. The end section where he is shouting ‘God’ over and over reminds me a bit of Bowie’s Pallas Athena but that’s accidental I’m sure. nThis video of him performing it live on SNL illustrates perfectly why he is doing a better job of being Rock & Roll than most of our current rock bands at the moment:nnnnI am a GodnIf Kanye is a God then he is neither a benevolent nor a happy one. Doom-laden, apocalyptic sounding droning opens the track followed by intermittent screams and a general feeling of impending disaster. The last minute of the track is genuinely quite intense and terrifying. It does however also include a classic moment of Kanye meme-bait when he yells HURRY UP WITH MY DAMN CROISSANTS - reminiscent of Madge’s soya latte and maybe bested only by ‘the sky filled with herons’ for my favourite Kanye lyric.nNew SlavesnnIf there is any song on the album approaching something like a manifesto or a social commentary that extends outside of his own life then this it. Paralleling materialism with slavery he makes a strong case for rejecting capitalism and fashion, if not one he seems to be capable of following himself.nnnWhat you want, a Bentley? Fur coat? A diamond chain?nnAll you blacks want all the same thingsnUsed to only be niggas, now everybody playingnSpending everything on Alexander WangnNew SlavesnnnAnd as far as shade goes ‘Doing clothes you would have thought I had help - but they wasn’t satisfied unless I picked the cotton myself’ is a pretty smart stab at the insinuation a man like him couldn’t possibly have been involved in fashion beyond ‘cotton-picking’.nnIronically it’s this song and not ‘Blood on the leaves’ that offers the more satisfactory explanation for the troublesome Nina Simone sample as he states:nnnI know that we the new slavesnI see the blood on the leavesnnnDrawing an explicit parallel between contemporary black commercial slavery and Strange Fruit’s gruesome lynchings is in this context perhaps hyperbolic but certainly eloquent. New Slaves is easily the lyrical high point of the album and although he seems to have ruffled a few feathers with the section where he statesnnnFuck you and your Hamptons housenI’ll fuck your Hampton spousenCame on her Hampton blousenAnd in her Hampton mouthnnnI was instantly reminded when I heard it of Pulp’s equally threatening masterpiece I Spy where Jarvis tells us he’s been ‘sleeping with your wife for the past sixteen weeks’ and sets out his (also borderline misogynistic) plan for class revenge by fucking married posh birds:nnnYour Ladbroke Grove looks turn me on [..]nAnd every night I hatch my plan,nit’s not a case of woman v man.nIt’s more a case of haves against haven'ts.nAnd I just happen to have got what you need,njust exactly what you neednnnMusically it is as relentless as the previous two tracks and in my mind completes a trilogy of sorts ending with the soaring melodic last minute of New Slaves - a welcome respite by the time you get there.nHold My LiquornnMusically and lyrically we are back on more familiar territory with Hold My Liquor being the song that sounds the most like some previous Kanye tracks. But with a big, nasty air horn sounding after every line - just to keep you awake. Perversely this almost sounds like a love song in places. Or as close as you are going to get on Yeezus.nI’m In ItnnPornographic and kind of sexy in a fairly ridiculous way. nBlood On The LeavesnnSampling Strange Fruit was always going to be controversial and it’s certainly garnered it’s column inches. Most reviewers are dissatisfied with the disconnect between the sample and the lyrical content - a sprawling, bitter break up tale involving abortion, mollys and baseball games. Musically it all fits very well and feels to me like a gothic tale of love lost and in a way seems no different to the well tread tradition of equating blood and horror with personal loss. That said this particular sample is of course a little more contentious than something like Kurt Cobain singing ‘I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black’ because it directly connects to heavyweight socio-political issues. Within the context of the album it all hangs together for me with an overarching, if slightly messy, theme of blood, horror, personal confusion and black slaveries - both contemporary and historical. Of course it’s confusing that he chose to pair this sample with these lyrics and not New Slave but maybe that’s the point?nnFor most people this seems to be the centrepiece track but although I love it I prefer the triple header of Black Skinhead / I Am A God / New Slave and it’s sprawling majesty doesn’t quite topple My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy for me.nGuilt TripnnAn enjoyable but not stand-out out track for me - although the Popcaan hook is pretty infectious.nSend It UpnnI adore the queasy electronic background noise that runs through this track. Headache inducing in a great way - it’s like having your brain drilled by a drunk clown. The Beanie Man outro to the track ‘Memories don’t live like people do / They always 'member you /Whether things are good or bad /It’s just the memories that you have’ seems to sum up Kanye’s ‘There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about’ philosophy perfectly.nBound 2nBy the time you get to the sweet, dancehall lilt of Bound 2 you fucking need it. And it’s not just us. Poor Kanye feels the same.nnnAfter all these long-ass versesnI’m tired, you tired, Jesus weptnnnTrying to convince a prospective lover with the promise that he’s worth it despite everything she might have heard and sounding like for all the world like he wants to give up the whole exhausting business of being Yeezy and go grow potatoes with his woman somewhere but knowing that won’t happen. Bound to falling in love. Tired of loving with nobody to love.nnUh-hu-honey.nnnCrib NotesnnThe world seems to be stumped as to whether Kanye is an idiot, a genius or a madman. I say an irresistible combination of all three.nnYeezus is in competition only with The Next Day for my album of the year so far.
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Title: Review: Bloodsports by suede
Published: 2013-04-26 13:25:00
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nSo.. yes, it’s taken me over a month to sit down and write this review and I’m sure by this point no-one actually cares any more but here we are anyway.. The main reason it’s taken me so long is that although the overriding feeling of the album appealed to me and a few songs were instant I had the distinct suspicion that several of the slower songs would be growers and I wanted to give the album as a whole a chance to percolate before I wrote a review knowing that if I didn’t I would probably completely change my mind about half of it after I had written it.nMy initial impressions of the tone of the album were favourable - I really like the way Brett has been using his voice in more recent years. Despite loving the album the more years that have passed since Coming Up the less fond I get of the plastic-glam pitch of the vocals and I don’t think anyone misses the Oasis rasp even if it did work well on a few songs like One Hit To The Body. The sound of the vocals on Bloodsports (and indeed the feel of the album) is closest to Brett’s last solo album Black Rainbows - an album I’m very fond of and has probably increased in my estimation quite a bit since my initial 8/10 review of it. The album as a whole feels full and ballsy but, unusually for suede not petulant. Also, apart from a couple of Brett-by-numbers moments it has continued the trend of his solo albums in having far, far better lyrics than latter day suede and Tears songs.nI also love the way everything sounds SO LOUD. I’m not very techy so I can’t tell you what I mean by that in production terms but everything just seems to BURST OUT of the songs.nThe thing that threw me off about the album when I first started listening to it was the very strange way it is divided almost half and half into uptempo and downtempo songs which resulted in me often listening to first half only and ignoring the difficult ‘side 2’.nThe lightbulb moment for me was this interview quote:nnThe album was conceived as a journey from the start to the end of a relationship, taking on all the points in between - suspicion, obsession, infatuation, co-dependency.nnThe second I read that not only did I think it was kind of a nice idea for an album but the record suddenly made perfect sense and just clicked with me. Now that difficult second half feels like a necessary bookend to the more familiar territory of the pop-rock tracks about emotional infatuation and sexual desire.nThe album is difficult in places but after getting under it’s skin a bit I’m going to come out with a much higher mark than I might have expected on first listen. I’ve really fallen for it and although I think Black Rainbows is possibly more consistently satisfying (if less demanding) as a whole the highs on this album really are high. I’m delighted with this album as if not a ‘comeback’ (oh, but it is) then at least a forage into slightly new territory and hopefully a sign of things to come.n9/10nTrack by track:nBarriersnI really liked this song straight away. It has a nice meaty rhythm and a big punchy chorus. It does also, as many have said, have a bit of a stadium rock Simple Minds thing going on.n8/10nSnowblindnThis was another of my instant favourites. It starts with an even more Simple Minds opening followed by a Coming Up esque ‘oooh oooh’ but the body of the song is like a slightly more macho, aggressive version of some of the Coming Up era rockers wrapped around another big, loud stadium chorus.n8/10nIt starts and ends with younI pretty much hated it when it was released but much like The Stars (are out tonight) it works much better for me in the context of the album than elevated to a single. Again like Stars it’s, in my opinion, the weakest track on the album. What is with that? Second-single-itus?n6/10nSabotagenI love the oppressive, moody feel of this song and it builds towards a very satisfying ending although the chorus is a little weak. It seems to be a bit more loved by fans than I think it’s due but it’s a decent enough album track.n7/10nFor the strangersnI love this song. Swoony and gorgeous.n8/10nHit menSwagger. Next single. Fucking love it. Can’t wait to hear it live.nHit me is really close to being suede-by-numbers but then it does these melodic twists you weren’t expecting.n9/10nSometimes I feel I’ll float awaynI swear I’m not being hyperbolic when I say I honestly think this is my favourite suede song since Dog Man Star.nLyrics likennLet me take you through each stage of the male mistakeAnd we’ll adopt our natural rolesnnandnnAll the plans were madeIn the wooded gladeWhere your body was split wide openAnd I count to tenAs the race beginsRound your hairpin bendsnnare very un-suede but somehow still perfectly ‘right’. The guitar towards the end makes me feel like I’ll float away. The album would have been worth buying for me if it was just this song repeated twelve times.n10/10nWhat are you not telling me?nThe song on the album most reminiscent of Brett solo. Paranoid and slightly bitter, the turning point of the album into the second half.n8/10nAlwaysnA classic stalker anthem. Melodically reminiscent of some of the more downbeat coming up era b-sides but with instrumentation flourishes and drama of Dog Man Star slowies like Wild Ones.n7/10nFaultlinesnI’m in the odd minority of suede fans that really likes A New Morning (I’m not sure even the band are that keen) but I love this song because it’s like the best of the slow songs on ANM like Untitled.. or When the Rain Falls but just so much darker and tougher. The end feels almost positive, I think? But it’s quite ambiguous.n8/10nnOverall:nIt’s an odd album with the last three songs being a tough ride if you’re not in the mood but persistence pays off and there are treasures to be found. A welcome return to form with unexpected turns along the way.n9/ 10
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Title: Not Tomorrow: Review - The Next Day by David Bowie
Published: 2013-03-23 23:21:00
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nnHere I am not quite dyingnMy body left to rot in a hollow treenIts branches throwing shadows on the gallows for menAnd the next daynAnd the nextnAnd another daynnIt’s been noted elsewhere that anyone expecting an elegiac album of mournful slowies after the red herring release of ‘Where are we now’ was in for a surprise. The Next Day is an album positively drenched in the death rattle but it’s not the melancholic last hurrah of an ageing rocker eyeballing his future, it’s something far darker and more complex than that.nLyrically at least The Next Day is easily Bowie’s bleakest album to date. He has often dealt with similar themes - suicide, death, murder, apocalypse even - but mostly in a glamourised, romanticised or pithy way. There are moments such as The Motel or Slip Away that are somber and intense but I’m not sure he has before produced a body of lyrics with such unrelenting harshness. There are flashes of wit and humour but you only need to compare something like the swooningly tragic Rock & Roll Suicide to the sheer venom of You Feel So Lonely You Could Die to feel the shift. Even the two popiest sounding songs on the album (I’d Rather Be High and Valentine’s Day) contain lyrics like:nnI stumble to the graveyard and I lay down by my parents, whisper ‘Just remember duckies everybody gets got’nnandnnIt’s in his tiny facenIt’s in his scrawny handnIt’s in his icy heartnn—nnnIt’s tempting with any artist, especially one as shifting and enigmatic as Bowie to try and read biographical confession into song lyrics and certainly with Where Are We Now that seemed all to easy to do - the notion of a sad, elderly David ‘just walking the dead’ around Berlin seemed both plausible and poignant - but realigned within the context of the album it takes on a whole new flavour. With it’s cast of characters ranging from 17 year old soldiers to dying aged despots this is an album firmly written in the second person. Sure, like any art it must ultimately say something about the artist but transparent autobiography it certainly isn’t. This is nothing new for Bowie of course - his transparently autobiographical moments are scarce and many of those that I assumed to be such melted into storytelling for me on closer inspection. He wears many masks and he has always worn them well.nMusically the album is closest in the Bowie canon to the other jagged edges of his career - Scary Monsters, Outside, Earthling, the darker recesses of Heroes and Heathen - only the second single The Stars (are out tonight) recalls Reality and is, perversely, my least favourite track on the album.nDespite the fact I have literally not stopped playing it since it came out it’s taken me until now to tackle a review because there is just so much to digest, and I still feel like I’m only just scratching the surface. This will be an album I listen to for a long time to come. Bravo Mr Bowie.n10/10n——-nFinally here’s my track by track for anyone who wants it:nThe Next DaynnListen to the whores he tells hernHe fashions paper sculptures of themnThen drags them to the river‘s bank in the cartnTheir soggy paper bodies wash ashore in the darknnA stomping, beastly little introduction to the album where the words ‘the next day’ turn out to sound more like a threat than any kind of hopeful forward thinking that the album title might have suggested. The bit where he shrills ‘They scream my name aloud down into the well below’ puts a shiver down my spine.n9/10nDirty BoysnnYou’ve got to learn to hold your tonguenThis ain’t the moon this is burnin’ sunnnSlinky and sexy with some lovely sax. Reminiscent of songs like Sweet Thing, Candidate and John, I’m only dancing this was an instant favourite for me. It seemed immediately like it had been in my life forever. An old friend seen in a new light.n9/10nThe Stars (Are Out Tonight)nnWe will never be rid of these starsnBut I hope they live forevernnMusically this is the only track I feel is a little weak, although that’s comparative and I certainly enjoy it a lot more within the album than as a single. It has some great vocal moments and a fabulous video too.nn6/10nLove Is LostnnIt’s the darkest hour, you’re twenty twonThe voice of youth, the hour of dreadnThe darkest hour and your voice is newnLove is lost, lost is lovenYour country’s newnYour friends are newnYour house and even your eyes are newnYour maid is new and your accent toonBut your fear is as old as the worldnnThis song is just, I’m not sure what to say.. perfect? A brooding, gothic suicide note that breaks unexpectedly and confusingly into a seemingly uplifting middle eight before turning back in on itself as though that moment were an hallucination - a false promise leading towards a foolish act. ‘Oh, what have you done? Oh, what have you done?’n10/10nWhere Are We Now?nnHad to get the train from Potsdamer PlatznYou never knew that I could do thatnnSomeone who was once far too important to simply take the train finds himself now shuffling the streets of Germany. Maybe Mr Bowie, maybe not.nn9/10nValentine’s DaynnValentine told me how he’d feelnIf all the world were under his heelnnThere is little affection from the author for the characters that inhabit The Next Day and the would-be tyrant depicted in Valentine’s Day is no exception. I can’t help picturing a small man on the verge of a nervous breakdown, perhaps a little like Michael Douglas in Falling Down, about to finally let us all know exactly what he has to say.n8/10nIf You Can See MennNow you could say I’ve got a gift of sortsnA fear of rear windows and swinging doorsnA love of violence a dread of sighsnIf you can see me I can see younIf you can see me I can see younnThe song on the album most reminiscent of the best bits of Earthling. This one kind of gives me the willies. In a good way.n8/10nI’d Rather Be HighnnThe Thames was black, the tower darknI flew to Cairo, find my regimentnCity’s full of generalsnAnd generals full of shitnnThis was one of the first songs to click with me and I still can’t listen to it once through without hitting replay at the end. Deceptively perky sounding with lines like ‘I’d rather smoke and phone my ex, be pleading for some teenage sex’ jumping out on first listen. I’ve seen it interpreted as a kind of looking-back-on-being-young song when on closer listen it’s nothing of the sort.n9/10nBoss of MennYou look at me and you weep for the free blue skynnNot a skip track by any means but the only song I haven’t quite connected with yet. A decent album track but nothing as arresting as the rest of the album tracks.n6/10nDancing Out in SpacennSomething like religionnDancing face to facenSomething like a drowningnDancing out in spacennThe only song that teeters close to something glammy and a little silly sounding. A small oasis of fun, albeit abstract and slightly cryptic fun.n7/10nHow Does the Grass GrownnThere’s a graveyard by the station where the girls wear nylon skirtsnnI love this song. Not just because it has a chorus that goes ‘Blood blood blood’ followed by a backing ‘la la la’ that sounds almost exactly like that bit in Gremlins 2 where they get melted while singing New York, New York and doing the conga. Not just because of that, but it’s definitely got a lot to do with it.nn8/10n(You Will) Set the World on FirennFrom Bitter End to GaslightnBaez leaves the stagennOk so, the fact that the opening chords totally remind me of the Beverly Hills 90210 theme tune is my problem and mine alone. Other than that it’s the sole song with a more conventional Bowie/Fame motif. A pep-talk-come-warning for the promise of success in the vein of Opportunities by The Pet Shop Boys via Eno’s Baby’s on Fire.nn7/10 nYou Feel So Lonely You Could DiennI can see you as a corpse hanging from a beamnI could read you like a booknI can feel you fallingnI hear you moaning in your roomnOh, see if I carenOh, please, please make it soonnnA claustrophobically dark vignette wishing loneliness and death on a malevolent and unlikeable soul - with swooning Spectorish backing vocals. Nasty stuff. In the best possible way. n10/10nHeatnnMy father ran the prisonnBut I am a seer, I am a liarnnAnother instant favourite, Heat is a clear nod to Bowie’s long-time musical bedfellow Scott Walker with shades of Outside and Heathen mixed in. A somber and downbeat ending that leaves you feeling both satisfied and bewildered.nnAnd I tell myself, I don’t know who I amnAnd I tell myself, I don’t know who I amnn10/10nnOverall:n10/10n
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Title: Review: Stoker
Published: 2013-03-06 13:46:00
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nnThere are films which are, as the reviewer's favorite phrase goes, style over substance and there are films where the style is the substance. nStoker is an almost entirely visual film - it could quite easily have no dialogue and be not much worse for it, although when there is dialogue it mostly lyrical, witty and worth the wait. Even the score punctuates the film sparsely but effectively.nThis is a film that’s all about watching.nIt is dovetailed by India's monologue about how she sees things no-one else does. It’s voyeuristic in almost every possible sense. The characters watching each other through doors, windows, stolen glances and those long, stalkerish tracking shots at the wake. In Charlie’s case even watching India through the years themselves. nnnThe symbolism of sneaking a peak at something through locked drawers, photographs and letters is everywhere. nnnnnnAnd of course the way the viewer’s gaze is firmly positioned as the voyeur during both erotic and violent moments, the two blurring into each other on more than one occasion.nnLike a lot of my favorite books and films Stoker is pregnant with unsaid things, sexual tensions, violent secrets - the truths (if there are any) are in the gaps between what happens rather than the plot itself. Like the empty seat at the piano it could all just be a mirage, or a specter - like the vampiric connotation of the family name. Everything is submerged between a somnambulistic, dreamy funk - personified in the moments Nicole Kidman’s character half-knows what lies beneath her family, both literally and metaphorically.nI can understand why this film is dividing critics and viewers alike because it’s a strange combination of over-the-top pot boiler and microscopic emotional minutiae at the same time. The performances are all a restrained kind of camp found almost exclusively in old noir thrillers and whilst the cinematography, set and costumes are lush and seductive it’s an iron fist in a velvet glove. It has one foot in ‘pretty’, one foot in 'difficult’ and a more than slightly dubious moral compass - It’s a lovingly filmed spider on young girl’s inner thigh. Needles to say it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I’m happy to say I loved it.nOverall: 9/10nn
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Title: The Future Is Now (Review: Black Mirror & Utopia)
Published: 2013-03-06 13:10:00
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I had planned on writing reviews of both Black Mirror and Utopia separately but I can’t help thinking about one when I think of the other. Two British, dark, dystopian series running concurrently with surely a very similar audience.nnnOn paper Black Mirror covers areas that appeal to me more than Utopia - pop culture, media hysteria, and in particular, Brooker’s obsession with the frisson point between technology and human emotion. Utopia on the other hand sounds at it’s base level like a classic paranoid conspiracy theory. Even the titles would have me gravitating towards Black Mirror first - suggesting it’s as much about who we are as who we might become.nnAnd yet Utopia succeeded in almost every way that Black Mirror has near-consistently failed me.nnI’m not sure that the issue with Black Mirror lies entirely in the writing - the thing it is sold on - as the uneven execution. The drastic difference in stylistic tempos from episode to episode (and director to director) really is it biggest weakness for me. While ‘The Entire History of You’ (the absolute standout episode of the series for me, and in fairness probably good enough to justify the rest of the episodes on it own), 'National Anthem’ and 'Be Right Back’ were all directed with a sure, mature hand 'White Bear’ and '15 Million Merits’ were both so cheap looking and broadly directed that they felt more like slightly off cbeebies shows than anything being broadcast on late night Channel 4. nThat said some of the ideas felt so slight and barely fleshed out (National Anthem surely was not much more than a good Brass Eye sketch?) that they buckled under the weight of the 45 minutes running time.nNone of this would bother me if I didn’t think there was something there. Black Mirror is, or at least should be, exactly the kind of show we need to be producing more of in the UK and it’s frustrating to see it fall short of the mark.nnThankfully this frustration has been greatly salved by Utopia dropping it’s grinning yellow bag of death next to our feet.nnnnWhat can I say without sounding like a fawning idiot?nBrutal, beautifully filmed and perfectly cast it’s everything I could have hoped for from it, and a little bit more. If I have any criticism it’s that I had hoped for a clean one series and out ending (it was obviously well plotted through a proper story arc so it was definitely possible) and instead it left me feeling a little cheated in the final moments. However, that’s a small price to pay for the series that preceded it.nI won’t say much more in this review because it’s exactly the kind of show that will be spoiled by knowing too much about it so I'l just round off by urging you to catch up with it on 4OD if you haven’t seen it yet.nnBlack Mirror:nThe National Anthem - 6/10n15 Million Merits - 2/10nThe Entire History of You - 10/10nBe Right Back - 5/10nWhite Bear - 3/10nThe Waldo Moment - 4/10n–nOverall: 6/10nnUtopia:nOverall: 9/10
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Title: Review: Les Miserables
Published: 2013-01-15 08:36:00
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nLet’s just start off by saying that the ticket price is worth it for the three minutes that the camera is trained on Anne Hathaway’s face as she re-writes the book on how to perform I Dreamed a Dream alone. The word ‘mesmerizing’ doesn't even begin to cover it.nThat out of the way I think this stage to screen adaptation is on the whole an absolute triumph. Taking advantage of the opportunities for both large sweeping vistas and claustrophobic close-ups that the stage cannot offer Tom Hooper has directed this in a way that adds to the stage production rather than simply recreates it. It does at points creep into being a little visually overblown for my taste (Lovely Ladies being most notable) but this is offset by the fact that, being pure melodrama at heart, most of the cast spend the film makeup-less and crying!nnI heard some early reports that the soundtrack sounded disappointing and / or bad and having now seen it I can understand why. Much of the score is sung / acted as oposed to belted the way you have to do in the theatre to reach the back. I’m not sure it will be a score I will want to sit and listen to much but performing it this way was so, so much more interesting to watch.nHowever, as you may have heard, it has to be said that Russel Crowe’s voice is frankly completely honking. It’s such a shame because I was really excited by his casting and while physically he looks the part not only is his singing not up to scratch but he also looks seriously out of his depth much of the time too. This is a real shame because not only does he sing two of my favorite songs in the show but , despite Hugh Jackman acting his socks off, it also impacted negatively on the central relationship between Jean Val Jean and Javert for me. (Whilst I’m being critical I also wish they had left the Thénardiers reprise in the sewers while they were looting the dead - it’s such an eerie scene in the stage show and a lovely dark mirror to the earlier number - but that’s a minor grumble.)nThankfully there was so much else to enjoy (and it’s a credit to how good the rest of the cast were) that this didn’t in any way ruin the film for me. In the past I've never been that interested in either the Marius / Cossette plot or Fantine but both of these stories really flourish in the film. Amada Seyfried just gets more adorable by the day and Heart Full Of Love was particularly beautiful despite being a song I've never much cared for before. The surprising standout for me though was Aaron Tveit who I literally couldn't take my eyes off and lit up the scenes centered around the revolution.nSo, yes, on the whole an absolute knockout, and as a big fan of the show a huge relief. Do catch it in the cinema if you can. Take a box of tissues and a cold compress when you go though ;)n
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Title: Review: American Mary
Published: 2013-01-15 08:09:00
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nI was lucky enough to see a showing of American Mary on it’s limited release tour at the weekend. Shot in 15 days (!!!) as I found out at the Q&A after this is a very, very strong first time foray into mainstream-release territory for directors the Soska sisters.nPredominantly a (very) black comedy splattered with moments of empathy and pathos. As much as it’s it’s all about blood and horror and ‘horrible’ things it’s not really trying to scare you and it’s surprisingly not that graphic either, well - as these things go. It also has quite a lot to say for itself philosophically which is getting rarer than the dodo in contemporary horror.nKatharine Isabelle (of Ginger Snaps fame) is charismatic and nuanced in the lead role - a role that in less steady hands could have ended up flat out unlike-able. However it was Tristan Risk as Betty Boop obsessive Beatrice that stole the film for me. One of the standout performances of my year I think.nnIt’s a crying shame it’s got such a limited release because it feels very mainstream friendly - not in the sense of being 'safe’ but because it’s beautifully shot and feels very accomplished. It could easily have had a major release with the right publicity. Whilst the the film itself is 'alternative’ in the sense that it features unconventional body modification and lots of latex it’s put together with a surprisingly sophisticated and mature touch.nI found it to be charming and funny and beautiful to look at. It does have some flaws and there are a few scenes in it that fell a bit flat for me but on the whole I thought it was fantastic and if you can’t catch it in the cinema please snap up the DVD on the 21st.n
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Title: David Bowie: The Next Day. That album cover design by Barnbrook Design
Published: 2013-01-09 08:28:51
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nnnnThere has been much discussion surrounding the cover of the new David Bowie albumThe Next Dayso thought I would answer a few questions that people have asked about it.n– Why not a new image for the cover?We wanted to do something different with it – very difficult in an area where everything has been done before – but we dare to think this is something new. Normally using an image from the past means, ‘recycle’ or ‘greatest hits’ but here we are referring to the titleThe Next Day. The“Heroes”cover obscured by the white square is about the spirit of great pop or rock music which is ‘of the moment’, forgetting or obliterating the past.nHowever, we all know that this is never quite the case, no matter how much we try, we cannot break free from the past. When you are creative, it manifests itself in every way – it seeps out in every new mark you make (particularly in the case of an artist like Bowie). It always looms large and people will judge you always in relation to your history, no matter how much you try to escape it. The obscuring of an image from the past is also about the wider human condition; we move on relentlessly in our lives to the next day, leaving the past because we have no choice but to.n– Why “Heroes”?If you are going to subvert an album by David Bowie there are many to choose from but this is one of his most revered, it had to be an image that would really jar if it were subverted in some way and we thought“Heroes”worked best on all counts. Also the new album is very contemplative and the“Heroes”cover matched this mood. The songWhere are we now?is a comparison between Berlin when the wall fell and Berlin today. Most people know of Bowie’s heritage in Berlin and we want people to think about the time when the original album was produced and now.n– Why the white square obscuring the image?We worked on hundreds of designs using the concept of obscuring this cover but the strongest ones were the simplest – it had to be something that was in direct contrast to the image underneath but that wasn’t too contrived (we know all design is contrived, that is the essence of the word ‘design’). It would have been clearer to many people if we had scribbled all over the cover but that didn’t have the detachment of intent necessary to express the melancholy of the songs on the album. Obscuring Bowie’s image is also reference to his identity, not only in the past when he changed endlessly but that he has been absent from the music scene for the past ten years. Was this an act to hide his identity or that he has simply become more comfortable with it?n– Why is there no colour?The title of the albumThe Next Dayevokes numerous reference points, notably Macbeth’s speech ‘Tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow ’ which deals with the relentless onward push that any unnatural position of power requires. It also has the existential element ofWaiting for Godotwith waiting forThe Next Day– these all seem to question the nature of existence so a monochrome palette seemed most appropriate to this feeling.n– Why didn’t you do a logo, or new design of his name on the cover?We wanted the cover to be as minimal and undesigned as possible, we felt the most elegant solution was to use the original one from“Heroes”and simply cross out the title of the old album. It has the detachment appropriate for the atmosphere of the new album.n– What is the font you used for the main title?It is a new font that we are working on called Doctrine – this is the first major use of it. Doctrine will be released in the coming weeks atVirusFonts.n– What is Bowie like to work with?He is quite a private person, so no need to say too much about him other than that he is a pleasure to work with. Very intelligent, funny, serious when he needs to be and generous in his thoughts and actions.n– Is there anything else you can add?Yes, having said all this, we know it is only an album cover with a white square on it but often in design it can be a long journey to get at something quite simple which works and that simplicity can work on many levels – often the most simple ideas can be the most radical. We understand that many would have preferred a nice new picture of Bowie but we believed that would be far less interesting and not acknowledge many of the things we have tried to discuss by doing this design. Finally we would like to give David Bowie great credit, he simply did what he always does which is to go with a radical idea and that takes courage and intelligence. That is why we love his music and love working for him.nnBarnbrook Design >n
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