In a recent visit to Hyde Park I visited the Serpentine Bar and Kitchen and was struck by a series of framed prints on the wall, all of them featuring two polaroid images placed side by side on a white background. They were by the London-based photographer Ben Golik, in his first solo show, and led me to his website with the view to possible purchasing one of them for the very reasonable price of £40 (ten of which goes to housing charity Shelter, so that's nice).
He's an interesting guy, Golik (check out his website HERE), seemingly fascinated with the minutae of everyday life, with indoor/outdoor spaces and with a very graphic sense of aesthetic, in line and shape and colour etc. It brought to mind Martin Parr somewhat, but also Stephen Shore, whose book American Surfaces has a similar eye for doors, gardens, windows and other day to day simplicities.
Anyway, whether I go and grab a frame or not, I'll be keeping an eye out for more of Golik's work. And here are a few of my favourite images from the exhibition. Notice the great colours, the framing and the warmth in the shots, which is why I loved them...
I've seen a few films recently, but don't really have the time or space to fit them all in. Here's a few I enjoyed (in no order of preference...):
INCEPTION (dir. Christopher Nolan) In his previous works, from Memento to Insomnia, to the Prestige and to Batman Begins and The Dark Night, Christopher Nolan has never been a director who likes to dumb down. With his films come an authority of intelligence that other film-makers can lack, especially when dealing with studio finance or outside material such as remakes or comic books, and he has always been concerned with the mind and with the concept of reality and truth. So with Inception comes Nolan's turn, after the financial successes of the Batman prequels, to bring some serious studio money and intellectual weight together. And he does so with quite staggering effect.
Inception is less a film than a piece of cinematic engineering, constructed like a bridge so that if just one minute detail, one block of stone is removed then the whole thing may fall apart. The plot is multi-layered to the point of exhaustion, and sees Leo DiCaprio's Dom Cobb bring together a crack team of "extractors", thieves who infiltrate targets' minds through their dreams in order to steal information, to pull off one last job that will allow Cobb to finally return home to America and his children after years of exile. The job is to crack the mind of Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), the heir to the world's most powerful energy corporation, and perform "inception" by planting in his mind (as opposed to removing it) an idea, the idea to break up his father's company. Inception is, we are told, impossible, but Cobb has no other option, and so the mind-madness begins.
I have neither the time nor the energy to try and concisely explain what follows, but the story dives into the various layers of Fischer's sub-conscious as Cobb's team try to bury deeper and deeper into the depths of his mind. Each level is designed by a talented young "architect" called Ariadne (Ellen Page), and stretches time further and further, until finally we come close to Limbo, a level of subconscious where time is so slow that one second in the real world can last fifty years. Cobb is the only one to have been there before and boy does he not want to go there again.
With a great cast of reliable youngsters in support (Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy in particular work hard to steal the show), Leo does a good job of bringing some heart to his character in an attempt to emotionalise the otherwise quite superficial story, but it is not the character development that we have come for in this epic, it is the concept, the construction, the scope and size of it all and I left the cinema feeling positively drained, mentally exhausted, but ultimately and entirely enthralled. The effects, the score and the production design are all faultless, building an over-whelming world (or several worlds, rather) in which we are fully invested. It is tense, twisty and most importantly it is risky to the extreme, but it shows just what can be done with cinema should those with money seek out those with brains and ambition, instead of two-a-penny infantile gamers, to build their summer hits.
As Mark Kermode has said in a recent review, this film is exactly what the movie industry needs; a hugely expensive, effects laden, star-studded summer blockbuster, funded by the studios, that makes people work, that makes an audience think and that is ambitious to the extreme. There is no excuse, he rightly says, for studios to dumb down their movies and treat the viewing public like mindless popcorn-gobbling children when this film has showed audiences' capacity to work hard and still enjoy themselves. They have come in their droves in the knowing that Inception is not going to be easy, and they will keep coming, and come again, so I say well done to Inception, and well done to Christopher Nolan and his team, for showing us the light...
LEAVING (dir. Catherine Corsini) In this uncomfortable and unsettling drama about a bored wife in southern France who abandons her husband and children to embrace her passionate and lustful relationship with a Spanish ex-con, Kristin Scott Thomas pushes again to be recognised as one of our country's best and most over-looked actresses. Two fine accompanying performances from Sergi Lopez and Yvan Attal as sympathetic lover and scorned husband respectively make this a film for actors to relish, but there is more here for audiences to enjoy, even if they may struggle to sympathise at times with the story's heroine.
That Kristin Scott Thomas was ignored even for nomination in 2009's Academy Awards for her heart-wrenchingly frank and unflinching performance in 2008's brilliant 'I've Loved You So Long' is unforgiveable, and I for one was astounded. Over the years she has shown great talent and versatility in her performances in such English language films as Four Weddings, Gosford Park, The English Patient and, recently, Nowhere Boy, before embracing her bilingual heritage in seamlessly moving into the French cinematic arena and delivering yet more performances of real nuance and bravado.
Few people do honest emotional distress and internal struggle like Thomas, and this film provides her with the opportunity to shine as she plays Suzanne, an ex-pat who has found herself married and with children and living in rich comfort in the south of France. When she accidentally runs over a rugged builder though, things take a turn for the more deceitful, and a passionate, highly sexual love affair between them threatens to consume her. When she can't hide it anymore she confesses to her husband and walks out. Furious, he makes it his mission to sabotage their relationship in any way he can, and her desire to stay with her lover is tested more and more.
It's a very solid story - told well, emotionally engaging, brilliantly performed - and yet strangely difficult. As an audience member, it is unclear at times to what extent the director wants us to sympathise with Suzanne, a woman who has abandoned her children and a perfectly decent husband (or at least he was when they were together) in favour of a relationship seemingly built more on lust and sexual desire than emotional connection. As the film moves on, and it becomes harder and harder for Suzanne and her lover's relationship to survive, the logic in her actions is stretched. We begin to want her just to give it up, and she resembles more and more a young girl obsessed with a boy, determined to ignore her parents' sensible advice. We begin to watch with a shaking head, urging her to return home and not risk ruining everything for a relationship that is ultimately doomed (as we know, being intelligent, when we find out about her lover's criminal history).
Nevertheless, this sort of questionable motive is still intriguing and engaging and worth the rental of a DVD when it is released, if not just to see a woman engage in an onscreen affair with a man who is in his forties and normal looking, rather than some olive-skinned toyboy who paints or rescues cormorants something (see Unfaithful and other such balls).
There's a theme emerging this month of my revisiting some old friends whom I had almost forgotten. Arcade Fire, Johnny Flynn, Crooked Still. Thankfully there have been some great new releases this month and I have had the chance to lap them all up. Yum yum yum.
ps. You'll also notice that many of the videos posted this week are live performances. Some are so out of choice, due to the great joy I get from the artists being able to perform so well without backing, and others are so because, well, there isn't anything else.
1) ANAIS MITCHELL - Wedding Song (from the album entitled Hadestown)
Hadestown was released some months ago, and is Anais Mitchell's folk-opera re-telling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. All of the characters are sung by different popular vocalists, including Justin Vernon of Bon Iver as Orpheus, Ani DiFranco as Persephone and Greg Brown as the husky Hades, and the album could have been a disaster but is, in fact, marvellous. The arrangements of orchestrator Michael Chorney are sublime especially, but the whole journey is something you may have never heard before. This track is missing Vernon's accompaniment, but lacks nothing for the angelic beauty of Mitchell's voice. Liquid gold.
2) BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB - Ivy and Gold (from the album entitled Flaws)
Bombay Bicycle Club have followed their debut with a surprisingly solid acoustic album that does no harm whatsoever to their good reputation. This is the first single I think, and despite the somewhat Skins-esque nature of the end of this vid, it really is a lovely little ditty. I shouldn't keep playing it, because that is, like, SO uncool, but it warms my cockles.
3) CROOKED STILL - Golden Vanity (from the album Some Strange Country)
Banjo! YEAH! Fucking love banjo. And the fiddle. Which is why I love Crooked Still, an "alternative bluegrass" group from Boston, MA who write some great songs and display here their extremely high musicianship. This is from their new, fourth album, the rest of which is filled with lullabies, ballads and foot-stompers such as this. Definitely worth a listen if you like country and bluegrass music, especially that with a modern twist like Chatham County Line or Black Prairie.
4) MAPS AND ATLASES - Israeli Caves (from the album Perch Patchwork)
Probably my new favourite band are Maps and Atlases. At first I thought they were a bit like Vampire Weekend just less twatty, but they're closer to a Local Natives or TV On The Radio, even embracing the weirdness of The Spinto Band on occasion (but not too often thankfully). Their new album is euphoric, jubilant and a delight. I highly recommend listening and going to see them now. They will be big. Oh yes, they will be big.
5) MAYLEE TODD - Protection Plan 101 AKA Quit Before Getting Fired (from the album Choose Your Own Adventure)
She's a weird one this girl. One of those American nutbags who seems to see the world as a cuddly cartoon full of bright colours and love and stuff (see Kate Micucci or anything off the Juno soundtrack). HOWEVER, she is in possession of a strap on harp (and we all love a girl with one of those right boys?) and a nice voice, and some of the songs on her album are a treat. It's not the easiest to handle when she's waxing lyrical about some goblin or fairy or made up animal, but when she normalises a little she's actually very talented. Tread carefully I suppose.
6) JOHNNY FLYNN - Kentucky Pill (from the album Been Listening)
Monsieur Flynn is an unfairly overlooked folkster in with the Laura Marling, Mumford and Sons, Noah And The Whale tribe, and who has a captivating and beguiling sound. His new album is his second (after the excellent 'A Larum'), and has a bit more bravado, a bit more scope and is soaringly good. It's a great record, uplifting and swelling, and yet still displays Flynn's talent for cutting observation and lyrical poeticism.
7) ARCADE FIRE - The Suburbs (from the album entitled The Suburbs)
This is a VERY impressive fan video for the new Arcade Fire single. More importantly though, the new album from the Montreal band is actually rather good, and does somewhat make up for the disappointment of Neon Bible. It's not there with Funeral, and I'm not sure they'll ever reach those heights again, but it is encouraging and provides excitement to those with the chance to see them this summer. Which includes me. Yippee!
8) LAURA GIBSON - Shadows On Parade (from the album entitled Beasts Of Seasons)
Not one to get the dancefloor jumping this one, but Laura Gibson is a rare talent. She's for fans of Joanna Newsom or Laura Veirs (another excellent female folk singer songwriter to look at if you are that way inclined), and has a gentle melancholy about her that really gets inside you. It's not as creepy as that last bit suggests. Nicer. Not as invasive.
9) AVI BUFFALO - Summer Cum (from the album entitled Avi Buffalo)
One of the hype bands so far this year, and building a quick following, Avi Buffalo do slightly disjointed folk indie type stuff that has an air of the bizarre about it and embraces the contemporary love of all that is falsetto. They're interesting, and write some good melodies and harmonies, so look out for them next time you're bored at a festival.
10) MYSTERY JETS - Dreaming Of Another World (from the album entitled Serotonin)
Not sure what I think about the new album from these local boys of Twickenham. I think I preferred Twenty Two, I think it had more instant hits on it, and was a bit less poppy than they've become. HOWEVER, when you see video as good as this (red smoke!!!) it will undoubtedly improve the song it's accompanying. In ear, this sounds a little basic, but turn it up a little and it really works. Much more of an anthem than I had expected, and better than the flagship single Flash A Hungry Smile.
11) BLACK SABBATH - War Pigs (live in Paris 1970)
The archive this week unleashes Sabbath at their most brutal, their most high energy, their most impressive and most awesomest! Ozzy has always been thought of as a hard drinking, swearing, bat-chewing psycho which is all very true and very well and good, but first and foremost he was one of the best frontmen in history, and had a ridiculous voice. The first time he bellows out "generals gathered in their masseeeeees" you know their about to blow your mind. And then Bill Ward goes absolutely ballistic on the drums and I melt a little inside. Live music has rarely been better I'd argue.
The annual BP Portrait Award is on at the National Portrait Gallery until the 19th of September this year, and is again a greatly varied and valuable free exhibition for Londoners to visit.
As in past years, upwards of fifty artists have had their work accepted and exhibited, before a 3rd, 2nd and 1st prize are awarded as well as two other prizes in the 'Young Artist' and 'Travel' categories.
I don't want to post the winners, you'll have to go along and see them for yourselves (safe to say they are very interesting and emotional works, hugely personal and effecting as well as expertly crafted), however I have pulled up some images of some of the paintings that struck me the most from the exhibition...
'The True Self-Portrait' by Carlos Muro
'Sentinel' by Lyndsey Jameson
'Molly Parkin' by Darren Coffield
'Sandy Watching' by Alex Hanna
'Paul' by Nathan Ford
Again, these are not necessarily winners, and there are many other great pieces of work on display, so do go down and have a look. It's free and it's in the center of London, one of the easiest exhibitions to visit in passing, on the way in or out of town. These little piccies don't do justice to the technique and precision that has gone into some of these massive pieces of work.
The pant-wetting, girly-screaming, toy-throwing, fan-basing N-Sync gig for nerds frenzy that is Comic-Con 2010 is in full flow in San Diego, where one person has apparently been "assaulted" with a ball point pen at a Resident Evil: Afterlife promo screening. One clever commentator pointed out that someone was probably just trying to do him a favour and save him from actually having to see said promo.
However, in amongst the odd women with serious daddy issues dressed as zombie schoolgirls and the obese dudes come as Watchmen sobbing tears of joy into their hefty bosoms at the mere SIGHT of Kevin Smith, there was actually some talk of movies, and as a fan of said movies (all of them of course), I wanted to try and reach into the great piles of sweaty man-children and see if I couldn't extract with clenched fist some evidence of what was due to hit our screens in the coming months/years. In doing this, I plan to evaluate whether to be excited or scared of the approaching blockbusters. SO, let's go and take our seats in Hall H:
1) Tron: Legacy Has Jeff Bridges and Michael Sheen in it, as well as one of the most tantalising trailers I've ever seen. If it shoots in 3-D properly then it is the perfect vehicle for the format; action-packed, vivid and futuristic. Music by Daft Punk? Verdict: Yes please.
2) Salt Angelina Jolie playing a set-up CIA agent called, hold your horses, SALT! She goes on the run. Liev Schrieber chases after her. It presumably all gets very exciting. But not for me, because Jolly Ange, scourge of the sub-continent adoption industry, gives me the heeby jeebies. Verdict: Too much Salt might give you a heart attack.
3) Megamind Will Ferrel, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey and Jonah Hill all voice characters in this animated send up of the super hero movie in which a caped crusader kills his nemesis and has no-one left to battle. I'm happier to hear rather than see this cast on screen right now, but could this ever compete with The Incredibles? I very much doubt it. Verdict: One in one out.
4) Super Unmistakeably similar in concept to Kick-Ass. Rainn Wilson plays a regular joe who decides, though he has no discernable powers, to become a super-hero and fight everyday robbers, muggers and general bad men. Too late is the cry. Verdict: That ticket's not valid anymore.
5) The Green Hornet Seth Rogen? Action star? Really? Spends the whole trailer doing that surprised/stoned look he does and telling his cuddly asian sidekick to do some kung-fu? REALLY? Not my idea of fun. Only saving grace is that Michel Gondry is at the helm. But I don't think it's going to help. Verdict: Only if it's raining. And there's nothing else on.
6) The Other Guys Will Ferrell (he's a busy little comedy tumble-dryer this one) and Mark Wahlberg in a slapstick romp about two not-so-good policemen who want desperately to be more like the Lethal Weapon-type partners the desk over. Trailer looks okay, as long as Ferrell can reign it the fuck in. But then when has that ever happened? (Stranger Than Fiction actually. See now I'm fighting with myself, that's not good). Eva Mendes and her lips are in it as well, which always helps. Verdict: Oh, go on then, but only because you asked nicely.
7) Cowboys and Aliens Adapted from a comic of the same name, starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones 4, Harrison, SHAME ON YOU), Sam Rockwell and Paul Dano and is directed by Iron Man's Jon Favreau. Title speaks for itself, right? It's about cowboys fighting aliens. Isn't it? Yes, yes it is. Verdict: Yee-ha!
8) Paul Comedy starring Simon Pegg and his man-sized third nipple Nick Frost (unfair joke, he's a good actor, though The Boat That Rocked was horse shit). Follows two British "nerds" who meet a sweary alien voiced by Seth bloody Rogen (leave us alone!). Directed by Greg Mottola, who made Superbad and Adventureland. Also has lots of other excellent comic actors in it. Verdict: Yeah, go on then, but are you SURE Edgar Wright can't do it?
That's all I'm going to go for right now. Safe to say there's not much to make me don my Evil Dead vest and head for San Diego. But then I haven't named one of my children C-3PO, so I might not fit in.
The festival season has had a topsy turvy ride this year, what with the sunny success of Glasto now swiftly blotted by the horrid tragedy at Love Parade in Duisberg, Germany. But I have been a part of precisely none of this so far (thankfully of course on the part of the latter), bound as I have been by financial and logistical limitations. Yet months ago, upon seeing the line up for this year's Green Man Festival in the Breccon Beacons in Wales, I blew my wad and gave myself something to look forward to.
As a religious fan of traditional folk, nu-folk and Americana, the line up has me both drooling and grinning at the same time, so much so that there's an air of all-night bender about me even as I write this. As well as headliners like Joanna Newsom and The Flaming Lips, there is a wealth of talent on the lower bills, from Laura Marling to Wild Beasts, to Beirut and Tallest Man On Earth. It is a stream of brilliant musicians, many of whom have the ability (un-like certain other auto-tuned puppies - cough - MGMT - cough - that couldn't put on a good live show if the future of music depended on it...and according to NME it does, so careful boys) to up their game onstage. Wild Beasts, in particular, are a band whom I have seen transform many a doubter with their hypnotic live sound. Mumford and Sons, similarly, may be a bit crass and overplayed, but they can tear up a PA system with the best of them, and we all know there's nothing like a good hoe-down.
SO, in order to celebrate this forthcoming weekend of audible brilliance, I have compiled a playlist on Spotify (which most, if not ALL of you should have), of the bands and songs that I am most excited to see. Here be the link:
If you are unable to listen on Spotify and are curious, here is the tracklisting:
King of Spain - Tallest Man On Earth Kentucky Pill - Johnny Flynn Goodbye England (All Covered In Snow) - Laura Marling Lord Help My Soul - Fionn Regan Nobody Knew She Was There - The Unthanks Ghost Town - First Aid Kit Worried Mind - Megafaun Cherbourg - Beirut His Grinning Skull - Wild Beasts Alike - Efterklang For A Girl Like Mine - Pete Greenwood Distant Shore - Billy Bragg
There are, of course, many many more acts worth checking out on the bill. But these are my favourites and most exciting.
The second of four nights at the refurbished Garage in Islington celebrating the 10th birthday of the progressive Wichita Recordings label saw an ambush of female folk flag-bearers in First Aid Kit, Peggy Sue and Meg Baird. The other nights were to host more eclectic mixes of bands, but this night was harmonised girly folk ALL THE WAY, and suffered not because of it.
Meg Baird could have been good, but I didn't quite hear her over the crowd's mutterings. Don't know what they were talking about particularly, this crowd, possibly how much they liked Meg Baird. Now that would have been ironic, wouldn't it? Would it? Is that what irony means? I still don't know.
Peggy Sue were on next, and managed to get the crowd to hush up and cheer instead of talking. They're a very talented three piece (featured above with a two girl string section to confuse and confuddle you) with two girls up front called Katy and Rosa who look like they should run a vintage clothing shop but who really know how to play, and swapped instruments and stage positions to holler and harmonise down those mics and enchant the hell out of us all. They were tops, very good indeed, in fact just as good as their very good album would suggest. Goody good good.
Then it was the turn of sisters Johanna and Klara Soderberg, two Swedish songstresses not yet out of their twenties who go by the name First Aid Kit, to hit us with an equally beautiful and vocally impressive performance, floating hauntingly about the stage singing songs about pirates and kings, love and loss, with a great maturity for ones so young. But then that is not uncommon nowadays is it, for children not long off the teet to be writing songs like Leonard Cohen or Joni Mitchell. It's just the way it is.
So despite a shorter than expected set, due in part to some badly judged crowd participation, they lit up the room and left everyone to drift off into the Islington night. Stadium filling stuff this is not, but perfect for a woodland tent somewhere or a candelit church hall. In fact if they ever played on a boat, in the dark, I'd be there in a flash, ginger nuts in hand (they're good for sea-sickness apparently).
Here begins an occasional round-up of the various trailers and teasers for up-coming releases that have got me drooling.
1. Get Low (Dir. Aaron Schneider)
I've been positively giddy at the prospect of this slice of Southern surrealism, similar in tone and style it seems to a Big Fish or Oh Brother!, since a teaser scene was released some months ago. The director, Aaron Schneider, is more a cinematographer by trade than a helmsman, so it will be interesting to see whether he can hold a feature narrative together, but with a cast like this and a wonderfully offbeat premise, I expect to thoroughly enjoy myself. It won't make any money, but it's the kind of film we need to see being made...
2. Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (Dir. Edgar Wright)
This has been kicking about for ages, so if like me you spend inordinate amounts of time checking apple's trailer page and other fan sites you will most likely have seen it already. That doesn't stop it, though, from being outrageously cool. Quite Speed Racer-y in look, but already more funny, more exciting, more original and more inventive than the Wachowski turd-cloud was in its entirety. Guaranteed, I think, to be a critical and commercial success.
3. The Extra Man (Dir. Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini)
A double doss of directorial demonstration is due with this one. They're not brothers, but Berman and Pulcini worked together to bring us the very odd and very intriguing American Splendor back in 2003, and this film looks set to be an indie comedy in the Wes Anderson style, very dry, very strange, very cartoonish, but ultimately captivating. I look forward to seeing Kevin Kline back on form, if that is the case here.
A bit of humanitarianism now, prepare yourselves to be cleansed...
TREKSTOCK (link) is a charity that supports young people with cancer. It started in 2006 and has had muchos muchos support celebritos, and now a pop-up shop has opened off Carnaby Street, just opposite the cash machines that you'd go to if you were drinking in the John Snow. You know the ones.
Inside are lovely people selling a lovely range of limited edition band t-shirts (don't hold me to that limited edition thing, I haven't the foggiest if that's true), all of which are designed by either band members themselves, or by popular graphic artistes. And all of them are selling for the rather brilliant price of ten pounds. Just ten. Very good deal I think.
I got myself two. One was a Local Natives number, designed by the band's bassist Andy Hamm, and the other was for the Maccabees, designed with love and care and love by the groups lead singer Orlando Weeks. Here's a picture of someone modelling this particular model like a model:
Now just ignore the face for a moment and look at the...no, no, ignore the face, don't...I said look at the t-shirt, that's what's imp...no, stop it, STOP. Oh forget it.
To end seriously, I think it's a great cause, and these t-shirts are very nice indeed. There are more by the likes of Foals, Bloc Party, Yeasayer, Devendra Banhart, Delphic, Elli Goulding, The Horrors and Little Boots, and the pop-up shop is only open until the 15th of July, so if you get a chance, go down there, maybe catch one of the in-store performances by bands like Sky Larkin or Frankie and the Heartstrings, and get yourself a nice bit of musical fashion merchandise to make you, and others, feel better...
I am, for the thrill of it, posting from beyond the watershed. So I can, within my rights, say things like balls and wanker and show ill-choreographed sex scenes without fear of repercussion. Yippee.
I'm going to do none of those things though. Instead I'm going to put some posters on the wall, from my ever growing digital collection of Polish film artwork which has always been a strange aesthetic fetish of mine. Film is what I adore, and a guy I worked with once told me about the Polish tradition of allowing the country's top artists and designers to draw up the marketing posters for new releases from all over the world. What results is an amazing array of vibrant, mind-blowing, alternative designs for everything from The Empire Strikes Back...
...to Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid...
...to Kill Bill...
...to Kes...
Impressive eh? Not your average photoshopped celebrity gurn-fest. No no.
These ones though, these really took the biscuit for me. Three posters, for three different movies, all starring the same, instantly recognisable, instantly iconic star. See if you can guess what they are...
Shane Meadows, it has been known for some time, is bringing to the small (but ever-widening) screen a four part series that is a continuation, or return to, his beautiful and brutal 2006 film This Is England. Set during the 1986 Mexico World Cup, it will revisit the Grimsby gang - Shaun, Woody, Milk et al - as they continue to drink and party in true skinhead style. The Guardian have recently uploaded what appears to be a Channel 4 promo clip for the series here.
It's a very lucid, very vague little teaser, and probably isn't shot by Meadows himself, though it still manages to stir up intrigue for those who had watched and enjoyed the original movie. The characters in This Is England were so utterly engaging, so prone to humour and horror at the same time, that just to see them on screen makes me tingle with excitement.
Bickering is rife on the comments pages, with angry young intellectuals frothing at the mouth as to this clip's viability as a trailer, but what is clear is that those who enjoyed the film are excited about this series, and have questions that they want answering. Where did Woody go after the party? Is Milk okay after Combo set upon him? Is Combo, brought to life in one of my favourite performances of the decade by the fantastic Stephen Graham, going to bring his all-engulfing charm and violent passion to the screen again?
My feeling is that because this is a Meadows-helmed project, the results will be delivered, as they always have, to great and satisfying effect, and I will be sat as close as I can to the tele again. I don't give a hoot whether my eyes go square as a tea bag. Long live Shane and everything he stands for.
Nothing much beats a free gig, especially if the band are half decent, and last night I wiggled and wormed (it sounds harder than it was) my way into a nice little in-store gig by one of my favourite new bands, The Morning Benders. Behold, a piccy:
As you can see they are disgustingly young, almost foetal to be honest, and I can never help but feel a sticky mix of jealousy and embarrassment upon seeing such hatchlings so successful. Nevertheless, my over-riding impression from this gig was they are a talented bunch, and make music that I very much like. They swayed and bobbed through a few songs from their new album, Big Echo - the highlights being a lightly stomping rendition of 'Cold War' and the closing sing-a-long-a-song 'Excuses' - and soon enough it was time to retreat to the benches outside to enjoy a few cans of red stripe and the evening warmth.
My friend was more inclined to criticise the band than I was, him having never heard them before, and with good reason. They are, as he correctly pointed out, not a band to grab you, not a band you play at parties, or a band to grace the sound system of any respectable dancefloor, but for sunny sunday mornings with the window open, or a festival hang over, they do the trick nicely.
They're playing various gigs and festivals this year I'm sure, so if you're at one, maybe you'll get to catch them doing their homework inbetween sodas.
The first of a series, I hope, of lists of the bands, tracks, albums and so on that have lit up my month. As long as I go on discovering new music through the various channels available, I should be able to keep this bit pretty fresh. Fun times.
So, with all the faith in the world, here I go...
1) HORSE FEATHERS - Curs Of Weeds (from the album "House With No Name")
Not a great video (amateurs, eh?), but some rather beautiful songwriting and a haunting, ethereal sound that will tickle the tastebuds of fans of Bon Iver or J. Tillman. The album is fantastic, a very sadly over-looked gem that is up there with "For Emma, Forever Ago", so go give it a listen if you like your music melancholic and your singers bearded.
2) VILLAGERS - Becoming A Jackal (from the album of the same name)
A much better vid, nice and dark, that does justice to the lyrical majesty of this new songwriter from Dublin called Conor J. O'Brien. He's been supporting the glorious Wild Beasts on their recent tours and you can see why, as his music bathes you in poetry and thick, elaborate imagery. Though he's not the finished article just yet, and I can't quite find a way into his debut album, this track has had me gripped for weeks, and I tend to sing it on the way home from the pub in the dark when I can really belt it out. Very good indeed.
3) SURFER BLOOD - Swim (from the album "Astro Coast")
The indie scene's awash with surfer/hipster/beach rock right now, what with groups like The Drums, Real Estate and the like summoning up the glorious, sun-kissed sound of LA afternoons, boardwalk boarders and the Beach Boys to great effect. In amongst all this is a cracking little group called Surfer Blood how add a little punch, a little yell, to the lighter notes, and make it that little bit more thrilling. This is an anthem and a half by them, and a funny little vid to boot. Hope you enjoy.
4) SUFF DADDY - 5 O'Clock Suff (feat. Miles Bonny) (from the album "The Gin Diaries")
Recently I've been revisiting the great soul sounds of Al Green, Donny Hathaway and the like, whilst simultaneously bemoaning the fact that there is a lull in the contemporary soul and funk market. This guy, from Germany, isn't going change that fact particularly, but this track he's done with the John Legend-sounding Miles Bonny is a lovely slice of lazy, romantic soul that stands out on his mixed debut album. It's not going to break boundaries, but I think it soundtracks a relaxed evening with friends rather well. Better than fucking Jack Johnson anyway.
5) SHARON VAN ETTEN - For You (from the album "Because I Was In Love")
This Brooklyn girl's got a voice and talent to make you sit up, and her debut album, though often a bit sparse and subtle, really is worth the work if you want to discover a very precious and delicate talent. She's toured with the likes of Great Lake Swimmers and soon Megafaun, and has a sound that fits nicely into that American Wilderness-Folk scene that is producing so many quality bands and artists right now.
6) THE BLACK KEYS - Tighten Up (from the album "Brothers")
Don't get me started on The Black Keys. I bloody love 'em. I'm a stickler for Americana anyway; the denim, the cars, the wilderness, the blues, I love it all, and I was over the bleedin' moon when this album came out and was a triumph. To me anyway. Others might get board of the duo's lo-fi riff rock but I can't get enough of it and this single, accompanied by a great, GREAT video, has made my month, hell my YEAR. Ruddy brilliant.
7) BAND OF SKULLS - I Know What I Am (from the album "Baby Darling Doll Face Honey")
Another strutty, American-sounding rock band, covered in hair and ripped up t-shirts, but this time from good old blighty, and the cultural washing machine that is Larndarn. They've done things in Southampton and Moscow though, so don't think of them as narrow-minded. God no. They've got a nice sound to them, big and ballsy and with the added White Stripes effect of bolshy bassist Emma Richardson, whose vocals on this track make it more than just your average gain-fest.
8) THE SOFT PACK - More Or Less (from the album "The Soft Pack")
I've really enjoyed this album every time I've put it on. It's a feast of rawkus guitars and energetic vocals influenced, as the San Diegan group have said themselves, by bands like Oasis and The Kinks. This is my favourite song on it too; a sarcastic snipe at those certain persons you meet whom have the most, but give the least. It's young and brash, but groovy as well (and the video has the name Copolla attached to it somehow...hmmm).
9) THE MORNING BENDERS - Promises (from the album "Big Echo")
Another band whose summery sound and sunny disposition could force them into the surfer category, though I think they are harder to pin. The Morning Benders make swelling, delicately harmonic songs that really wash over you, and bring to mind a lazy day in the park or a sunday morning in bed. They are soothing and luscious, and there is much more on the album like this, all of it worthy of a listen.
10) EFTERKLANG - Modern Drift (from the album "Magic Chairs")
Off of Danish band Efterklang's third album, though I'd never heard of them before, this is a lovely tune I think. Nice piano that builds and builds with the vocals into the big old euphoric chorus. I get to see them this year at Green Man festival, and am very excited to do so. Hopefully I won't have slipped into a folk-induced coma by then. Though I wouldn't mind too much either way, all sounds fun.
11) GILLIAN WELCH AND DAVID RAWLINGS - Caleb Meyer (from the album "Hell Among The Yearlings")
The often over-looked "legs" eleven in this roundup is going to go, each month, to a non-contemporary artist, one whom I have re-discovered (or maybe just discovered late). At the moment that artist is Gillian Welch, whom I just CANNOT take off my hifi, such is the swift recent growth of my love for bluegrass and country music from the American South and the fact that she's a stupendously talented woman, and a brilliant songwriter with a dark and emotional heart. I listen to one of her albums almost every day and happily lap up her terribly sad but beautifully crafted songs. David Rawlings is a legend as well, so it's two for the price of one. Appreciate and enjoy.
The first time I've ever seen this film, and what have been doing all my life? It's superb. It's another one of Stephen King's ingeniously simple stories that exposes a basic human fear and twists on it like a raw nerve until we can't stand it any more. It's about vulnerability and helplessness and obsession, and is over-whelmingly chilling, with a performance from Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes that could, in the wrong hands, have spoiled the whole show, but that is played to perfection, the perfect balance of lovable grin and boiling rage that makes her unpredictable and terrifying.
James Caan as Wilkes' prisoner is a picture of panic and vulnerability, and I will be haunted by the look on his face as Annie readies herself to hobble him by smashing his feet to pieces with a sledgehammer. The script is as tight as a drum, as you would expect from William Goldman, and Rob Reiner's direction is slick, keeping the film ticking over at a good pace and ratcheting up the tension when necessary. It's all made to look easy, which is a sure fire sign that it's been done well.
The jems in the cap though are Silver Creek Sheriff, Buster, and his wife/deputy Virginia, whose relationship provides an amazing love and humour to the otherwise dark story. A brilliant cinematic couple, truly adorable and witty, but also a vital part of the plot.
Al Green proved to me last night that you can hang all the bells and whistles, all the tinsel, all the costume changes and pyrotechnic explosions you want onto a live show but nothing can beat the energy, the professionalism, or the sheer charm of a great performer doing what he does best and enjoying the show...
I have always been a huge fan of soul, funk and motown music, and The Reverend Al Green is a true soul man whose voice, along with stars like Donny Hathaway, Wilson Pickett and Betty Wright, will always make my spine tingle, and this gig was no exception. His presence was magnetic, and every second of the show a true celebration of the love and joy in music, and every single person in the crowd rose to their feet for hits like Let's Stay Together and Tired of Being Alone, as well as being treated to some lesser known hits like Let's Get Married and the heart-breaking How Can You Mend A Broken Heart.
The entire two hour set was magnificent, from start to finish, and proved to me how disappointing it is that soul music, old and new, is not given the public credit or exposure of other far lesser and derogatory genres like R&B or house music. Whether this is because good contemporary soul performers are harder to come across than in the glory days of the sixties and seventies I don't know, but what is clear is that there is no ignoring the heritage of such great showmen and entertainers, true lovers of music and its power such as the reverend himself, that have gone before.
There might be no teaching an old dog new tricks, but why would you want to when the old tricks are JUST SO DAMN GOOD?
In burrowing away for pictures to help me today I came across this beautiful photograph by Simon Roberts, whose book 'We English' was published last year (and can be enjoyed at as a slideshow at http://we-english.co.uk/gallery.html).
What struck me was the amazing purple colour that permeates from the heather in the foreground and up into the sky, as if it were in the air itself. It's nice that such a traditionally effeminate shade brings a touch of girliness to a shot of men doing what they best: hunting.
Anyway, Roberts' book has been out ages, and has some great shots in it, so give it a look.
2003 single 'Bandages' was the soundtrack to many a wiggly, jiggly, rum-spilling dancefloor jig for this music fan, and the exciting album 'Make Up The Breakdown' got me addicted to Canadian punk(ish) outfit Hot Hot Heat, but for years these guys have been rolling around in their own filth, seemingly lost and making dull pop-flop-rock for almost a decade. So how does this new album fair? Is it another fart in the career bath, or a return to the promising land? Here's a cool video to give you a taster...
Going on this first single '21@12', which opens the album with some other similarly messy tunes, it's another let down, as the band waste a good chorus on an uninspiring verse and ruin EVERYTHING by stumbling into that most infuriating obvious of musical traps...the synth addition. There is a horrible fashion reared its ugly head in recent years for bands who are under pressure to be cool again to add second hand electronic instruments and circa 96 Sega sound effects to their songs in an effect to embrace the new market for 80s electronica and re-invented disco. Apart from sticking out like a sore thumb, it makes you want to print a dart board on your temples and head for the nearest boozer. What it also does is give away the band's lack of faith in their own ability and creativity as they resort to cheap gimmicks to try and reel in the trendies. But the trendies are too smart guys. They might not look it but they are, and they'll eat you alive.
After the inauspicious start there's a return to more reliably average guitar "punk" fodder of old, as presumably somebody went to town on the keyboards with an axe. There's a hint of The Strokes in 'Godess On The Prairie', and a nice dark, relaxed swagger to 'Zero Results', but it's all just very lacklustre and too little too late. The songwriting is poor, the sound is cliched, and Steve Bays sings like he's bored. Not very good.
Alas Hot Hot Heat just don't seem to possess the imagination, nor the musicianship to write good albums, and are therefore banished to the singles table, where they can enjoy the inebriated whining of Good Shoes and post-debut Futureheads.
I've never been one to pretend that I know anything about graphic design, as I've lived with designers and know better than to try and blag my way through the subject. But damn it I knows what I likes, and this little piece of work from a Japanese "visual performance unit" called Bonsajo really had me drooling, both physically and mentally, even a little emotionally (know what I mean lads? No?).
Anyway, take a look at it. I reckon its gorgeous, but also very clever, as it blends to great effect the use of 3D space and 2D image...
On a recent downloading binge I was lucky enough to stumble across the enthralling sound of Future Islands, who hail (and then wail) from Baltimore, and who have nurtured a sparse and deconstructed synth-pop sound that packs with it a wonderfully dark and forbidden punch. If you don't believe me, just enjoy this single, called Tin Man, and the beautiful, romantic, lyrical video that has been made for it by Jay Buim:
Probably my favourite song from the band's album (entitled In Evening Air) is this slow-burner, a haunting track called As I Fall that swells and undulates and takes you over with every repeated bassline and lyric:
There's a real strength, texture and resonance to these guys, and especially to enigmatic frontman Samuel T Herring, whose aching vocals bring a real heartbreak to the already refreshingly mature sound. Raw, energetic and pulsating, and instantly captivating. I love it. Give them a listen and see them when you can.
If you want to reach me, feel free to email the following address:
jamespwalsh1@mac.com
I apologise if any pictures or videos I have posted here contravene any copyright laws. If this is the case then please let me know and I will strip them down forthwith and give myself a good slap on the wrists.
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