Excellent sequel... In fact, Excellent movie in it's own right!

This ranks alongside Blade Runner 2049 in the standard of what a sequel can do, and, if you are going to do it (and accept the baggage of expectation that comes with living up to an original classic movie), should be.

There's a great nod to the original in the opening scenes, looking, feeling and moving like a mere continuation of that first movie - they've really captured the feel of that here, to the extent that it gives you mild chills!

...And the last twenty minutes found me grinning like an idiot with a suggestion of a tear or two in my eyes.

...But everything in between is fantastic in it's own right, and is it's own, well crafted, and engaging story, brilliantly told.

This one gives you a lot of what you'd want from it, a lot you didn't realise you wanted, and sends you away happy as Larry :)

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In the groove, with The Slits!

(Sorry about that)

I don't on the whole, buy into the whole "punk" thing, in that it seems more than half is awful ear- horror, and the rest, sound musicians posing as being worse than they actually are:

Punk= mostly Bulls*&t.

Fortunately, these are of the later variety...

...Actually great musicians greatly performing well constructed, even musical songs.

I did wonder what a "Punk" band was doing on Island records of this time, when I found this, and it turns out they do a very fine line in the reggae end of the P$%k spectrum.

...And very well they do it too!

Going by my presumptions based on the cover and band name, I was expecting an unmusical, caterwaul of "attitude" and grim-ness... but thankfully not.

This is, instead, a more lo-fi, up-front, noodly, intricate affair of very innovative and inventive music.

The real star if the show here is the rhythm(s) and in particular, the truly stellar drumming that underpins the whole thing.

This is actually further emphasised by the lack of production (Studio effects) in the recording, as other than a guitar pedal, distortion or two, it's absolutely bare recording, to showcase how good these players are.

The vinyl, of course, is reliably good, as you'd expect from Island, but the music too is a very pleasant surprise!

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https://youtu.be/HWc3WY3fuZU

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I was at this gig, 17 years old, and, as I recall, they did around the same number of encores i.e. 17. The energy was phenomenal. It was the Ramones with a Molotov cocktail. They were in your face, but not for the sake of it, they weren't simply being 'naughty' or confrontational teenagers. They were saying something and their anger was born of frustrations with the social conditions caused by the Troubles.
What a band, what an album. 'Wasted life', just one of many gems.
There's a lot of guitar pop, not simply punk and poppy punk, in there. Surprised no one has covered 'Barbed Wire Love' or 'Breakout'. 'Alternative Ulster' is also a wonderful song, seminal - though of its time; so it couldn't really be re-worked today.
Great band, great gig, an honour to have been there.
Guy Mortensen

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This is somewhat of a 'Greatest Hits' compilation of tracks previously released on Deutsche Grammophon and Decca, as for example with this Gabrieli Consort recording of O Magnum Mysterium under Paul McCreesh.
[YouTube Video]

I expect I will find others of these tracks which I already have on the original labels.

As with all good 'Greatest Hits' records, the choice is from some wonderful performances. classical-choice.de describes the series as "an inexpensive series for classical music beginners and the curious".

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Independent review :read:

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Independent review :read:

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Independent review :read:

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Had an hour to kill today so I stopped by a cinema and chose "Wish" as I often like a bit of Disney. I didn't really enjoy it for two reasons: it was excessively "cutesie", nearly all its characters, especially the animals and the heroic little emoji-"Star" were insufferably cute. The only characters I found remotely credible were King Magnifico and Queen Amaya until they went downhill and were deemed 'baddies'. Second, the storyline didn't engage me, just as the storyline of "Phantom of the Opera" didn't; I just didn't care what happened to any of them. Pity really, and I was pleased to leave early to meet my friends.

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Not bad, Colin Firth lifts it above the ordinary :happy:

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Getting in with the wrong crowd!


A triumph of economy.

Just got a super-cheapo charity shop DVD copy of this, and watched it again...

...And what struck me most is how lean this is... everything about it, from budget, to script, performances and pacing.

It basically jumps straight in, with a lonely cowboy dude guy noticing a mysterious girl, "wooing" her, getting bitten by her, trying to get home, while noticing he's not feeling so great, the girl's "companions" - vampires by their proper name (never referred to as such in the movie) - decide they don't want him bitten, so catch him in order to kill him, realise they might want him bitten after all, so long as he proves himself a proper vampire, he decides he does, then he doesn't, they don't like this, and decide to kill him anyway, and so chase him down and persecute him while his family (Father and sister) are looking for him, after this initial mysterious disappearance.

...Well, that's the plot taken care of!

But this wastes zero time in set up, back story, origins for each of the characters, there are no "character arcs" (They are what they is), no sets to speak of, no special effects (except the masterfully shot and presented fiery finale. There are no stakes to break the vampires' hearts. no garlic, no crucifixes or holy water, or any of that old jazz...

...This is literally, a handful of actors and crew who have driven through a sparse southern US state at night, looking for moody, deserted locations to grab a shot or film a scene... in the can, and thank you very much!

(The budget appears to have mostly been spent on a smoke machine and a flood light to back light it by - tremendously effective in the otherwise empty nightscapes)

The lack of back story or characterisation works perfectly for these vampire characters, as it gives them the air of the unknown, and and therefore a mystique, which makes them horrifying.

Only their actual characters (Characteristics / personalities) and the occasional line from each, alluding to some origin and story is given, and what these allude to, as well as the implications of how they not only came to be individually, but how they became a group, are, though not explicitly stated, even more horrifying for it.

Bill Paxton is is the real star of the show, hamming it up to the max as a deranged psycho -biker vampire (say that when you're drunk! :), and is incidentally, the only one of them who doesn't even give one clue as to where he came from, or came to be... not one line - which makes him even more terrifying even than the rest!

The most disturbing character is the kid vampire - apparently may be the oldest of the lot, stuck in a child's body, and this character seems to imply things in places we just don't want to go to!

PC it ain't, Twilight it ain't, and these are not swoon-able romantic figures, although they are tragic - but not in a way that elicits from the audience any sympathy for these particular devils...
...No, these are proper monsters, tragic in a pathetic, horrifying way, eliciting only disgust and fear.

Just shows you, with such meagre resources, a great idea, properly utilised, a great, moody horror movie, in the Carpenter-esque style can be achieved.

Bags of atmosphere, all making for an ideal late night watch.

(Would make a great study piece for film students, in this regard).

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The best superhero movie ever made.

...Bar none.

This is how you do it, and this is what superheroes and their movies are supposed to do for their audience:

Evoke the basic feeling of the truly wonderous, within the everyday, in such a way as to allow the viewer to feel that such things are within the bounds of the possible, and so inspire them at the deepest level.

Mmmmmm... Night's genius in this regard is to realise that in order to do this, you've got to pull this kind of movie, and the characters down, out of the clouds, allow the physics of it to be close enough to reality that the audience is willing to stetch their suspension of disbelief out to meet you half way. And then, strip away the fantastical, convoluted, plots that plague more recent cinema superheroes, as well as the primary coloured spandex costumery...

Show us the man...

...The man burdened with extraordinary circumstance, and how he struggles to make sense of it, and already you have the essence of the movie - the drama, the plot, and the wider story taken care of, in a way that allows the audience to sympathise, empathise, even with his exceptional abilities.

Being so lean, and focused, and with the story, along with cinematography, score, performances and direction conspiring to make the everyday grandiose, epic, and significant, while at the same time being the most intimate, personal portrayal, we can believe in the dash of the extraordinary in that everyday as we really want to, until the finale, where we are given that moment of relief of the tension created in the drama in a thoroughly transcendent, euphoric release.

Because it is this very feeling that you evoke in the audience is why they go to the cinema to see superhero movies, and when they work, the feeling that the film-makers tap into successfully, and when they don't, because they have gotten too far away from it, and concentrated too much on the superficial - the dazzle, the CGI, the excessive plotting and knots they tie themselves in to desperately try to sell the ever more unbelievable physics, and fantastical nature of what is shown.

Stripped down to bare wood, this is the purest portrayal of a superhero you will ever see, an ordinary man who is struggling to reconcile himself to the fact he might not be so ordinary after all.

And it's got all the feeling.

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Sweet Jesus!

I know some film-makers gather a reputation through being bold, daring and offensive, in order that we should bow our heads at how little understood they are, and therefore we must bow our heads in reverence... after all, if we don't understand it, it must be genius... right?

And while Dear old Lars certainly has a flair, even a vision in film-making, it feels like he just wants to see how far he can push that unquestioning, and unqualified worship, by being as deliberately offensive as possible.

(I'll never forgive him for putting an image of my sweet, lovely Bjork dangling from a rope in my head in Dancer In The Dark!)

...For this is bleak, grim, and nasty.

I'm sure others will pontificate about the deeper meanings and such, but it seems only to inform us of the perils of home-therapy, in the wake of a tagedy.

(You may be married to a psychiatrist, but that is what Defoe's character comes to realise at his cost, is the very thing that should disqualify him from attempting to fix his wife)

Some truly nasty scenes, and images in this you just don't need in your brain.

Shocking... absolutely.

...art... possibly.

.....Good..... not so much.

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Only mildly amusing, and mildly interesting from Coens, and probably one of their weakest movies.

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This was great, as I remember...

...Very much like District 9 or Monsters, with respect of the quality of the production, and that it is punching well above it's weight, budget wise, and also like them (Although this is horror / creature feature) it has a great story idea to propel it and well told too!

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New entry in my top 100 (ish) favourite albums of all time.

It's a rare thing for an album that has taken my interest to remain among my favourites, and be one that I return to regularly, but this is one that keeps getting played.

While other albums of hers may have greater production value (to use the movie term, for expensive bells and whistles), this is a very stripped down, bare wood affair, which moves, under the slightest variations, seamlessly, and effortlessly between the core styles this uses: bluesy, folksy, slightly california sunshine-ish pop, with a startling intimacy, to a degree that makes it an almost uncomfortably close in listen.

Amidst the bare bones, creeking old wooden boat on a lazy river style acoustic weight of the purposely demo like presented instrumentation, and occasionally set against some over-amped grinding blues guitar scrapes; Is Laura Marling's brilliant, and deeply personal, in your ear singing, of simply excellent memorably melodic songs, that need no embellishment...

...All riding over a deep note of melancholy, the sour tone set against the sweet, which is what really keeps me coming back to it.

Some might find it drab, or basic, or even depressing, but it's one of those that if you lean in, you can hear much more going on in the almost inaudible emotional frequencies.

Would it be too much to say it is the closest I've heard someone come to getting that "Nick Drake quality" in this regard... the something in it... something under it you have to be in tune with, to properly get.

As I said, it feels a little too close for comfort in it's intimacy, and gets me feel around my collar at times - "Phew, is it getting hot in here?"

Up Close. Personal. And very Feminine, in a way that even a dude, such as I is, can feel is from the deepest recesses of womanly-ness.

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Great movie...

...Tom Cruise knows how to entertain, and make the kind of action / intrigue movies people want to see.

Although a little long, mainly because it's a mite draggy in spots, it otherwise just goes and goes like a runaway train :), from the off, until it's done.

A lot was made of the "big jump" off a cliff on a motorbike that Tom did for real (ish) in the promotion for this, I actually thought there were a couple of sequences more noteworthy even than this, and should probably be regarded as just as memorable:

Firstly, the Car chase through Rome in the little yellow super car is hilarious, as well as thrilling - making a usually intense and frowny - serious action sequence that you often find in movies with car chases, underscored by an inspired comedic element in the shape of this tiny little super bug of a car is just brilliant!

...And secondly, the sequence in Venice as brilliantly shot and executed, giving a real atmospheric, modern take on the kind of: "The Third Man" style, film noir espionage movie.

The central plank of the story, of an all pervading rogue super AI is not a new idea, for although this has long been a fear of those speculating about the future of technological progress, it of course, is increasingly in the public consciousness as a topic of debate, as it is seemingly now on our doorstep, not in some dim and distant future, usually the in the realms of outlandish sci-fi...

...However, this rather nebulous concept of a villain would make it difficult, on it's own to sell, but sensibly, they have put a human villain in the story (brilliantly portrayed) to be the physical expression, focus, and repository of our fears about this "Entity" - here he is the Entity's acolyte, and minion, as well as the object of Cruise's ire.

The moments where it does slow down a notch, are where it feels laggy, by way of contrast tot he full on pace until those points - especially in the night-club scene, which, while given very strong John Wick vibes (I kept expecting to see Keanu creaming the henchmen in the background! :) - it lingers a llittle too long I think.

And also, the final scenes, and climax with the train has a repetitive quality about it, due to the same moment of jeopardy happening again and again... and again, which does slightly kill the impact of it.

But overall, a proper piece of solid, dependable entertainment, perfect for a Saturday night's night in with snacks and such.

With films this good in this genre now, can someone explain to me why we still need the flaccid, and stately James Bond movies?

(They feel antiquated by comparison).

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Independent review :read:

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Peter Dijkstra here conducts the Bavarian Radio Choir in acapella performances of Schnittke and Pärt, two deeply religious composers. The booklet explains that both were born in states that did not tolerate religious worship, but Schnittke came from Jewish and Russian Orthodox families, and both Schnittke and Pärt eventually converted to Russian Orthodoxy.

The choice of the Pärt at first seems somewhat out of place, initially being rather jolly and secular until it settles into a more profound style. Schnittke's Stimmen Der Natur is vocalese for the women only.

The entire Concerto For Choir can be found on YouTube:

[YouTube Video]

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Rock Around The Clock
cool, man, cool…..
Never heard this before, what with Bill Haley & His Comets original version? being imprinted in my brain for many a long year.

…..for some reason the YouTube link box has not appeared, so I cannot direct link to the video…..maybe later. The link box has now appeared (weird that!), but KeithS has kindly linked the YouTube video, so I’ve deleted my earlier link….well done, that man!…..

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paranoid sf - an object lesson and a powerful warning to all those who know - or suspect - that they possess psi powers;f

- no matter how glittering the prizes proffered, do not reveal yourselves: they really are out to get you. . .

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Tenebrae have chosen the juciest acapella choral pieces from the repertoire of these nine composers; all are compelling performances, as in this example from John Tavener:

[YouTube Video]

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Annotation:

Following a journey of self-discovery and illumination, the author attempts to prove she once shared a past life with John Lennon. Even worse, she communicates these discoveries to the literary world - what a pity.

Michael Brocken

Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only.

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Will have to watch this again, but I remember being really impressed with it, and thoroughly enjoying this...

It is your basic super assassin Jason Bourne style premise, except here it is a young girl, stolen from the facility that created her by her father, into the wilderness to escape the evil clutches of the programme overseers.

They get found out, and must split up, leaving Hanna to fend for herself in the big bad world she is not accustomed to, and all the while being pursued by the evil sleeze we commonly associate with this kind of programme.

Where this differs form the usual movie of it's type, is that Hanna gets in with a normal family out travelling, and tastes a normal life, such as we might know, and sees what she has been missing, in terms of a normal young girl's life...

...In addition to which, the story is framed as a modern Grimm's fairly tale, with her being the innocent (ish) young girl wandering in the wilderness, pursued by the big bad wolf - the excellently slimy wicked witch type portrayed by Cate Blanchett, who is determined to stop at nothing to recover Hanna, in spite of Woodsman style character dad, Eric Bana's having prepared her for such an eventuality.

This framing makes for an at times dreamlike, fairy-tale atmosphere, in an otherwise fast paced, brilliantly choreographed fight fest, every bit the equal of any movie in this genre, and all excellently contrasted against the every day normal family lifestyle reference points of Hanna's new friends, whom she at once endangers through her presence, but also learns from, what it is to be a "Real Girl".

And all carried along by a very memorable score by The Chemical Brothers.

What more do you want in a movie? :)

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Rather strange coupling; CD1 is fully Welsh-language 'Breakbeat/Electro', with vocals and piano by Lisa Jên with guitars, bass, drums, harp and hammer dulcimer, while the 'companion' CD is English narrative, as explained in the booklet.

I note that Real World divides their output into global regions, with UK CDs designated as 'Europe' - see realworldrecords.com/artists, but as they are catering to the WOMAD audience, they are all effectively 'International' releases.

[YouTube Video][YouTube Video]
[YouTube Video]

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An amazingly complete compilation of this group's work on Calla.

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Yeah... this ain't good...really.

It feels like Transformers syndrome all over again, in that it doesn't know what audience it's pitching to: Very dark subject matter, and quite adult themes, totally undermined by the adolescent dialogue "bro!") and often painfully embarrassing... er... skits that the unfortunate cast here have to perform.

The "fourth wall" here is broken, not in the traditional sense of people talking to camera, but by me, the viewer, feeling embarrassed for the actors, because of the feeling that they themselves are embarrassed at the handling of this material by new addition to the pantheon of moronic movie making "directors": Emerich / Bay / Snyder, in the shape of James Gunn.

(This dude is now in charge of DC movies, beginning with a new Superman film... Oh oh.... brace for crushing disappointment, and the day hastened of the absolute demise of comic book movies!)

What's weird about this, is the total lack of spark, energy, and whipcrack humour in a kinetic movie experience as in the first two instalments, instead feeling flat, lifeless, draggy, and uncomfortable. The humour, which is the essence of those two previous outings, would be misplaced anyway, given this deals centrally with animal cruelty, experimentation, and Eugenics, but is made worse by the phoned in performances of the principal actors who have clearly had enough of these roles, and are bored with them (and it shows).

James Gunn doesn't know how to make a movie, putting aside whatever he knows about comic books, their characters, or what the comic-con crowd want to see... I mean he has zero timing as a director, either dramatically, or comically....

...Each shot last waaaaaaaay longer than it should, to the extent that they feel like one of those hugs, or a handshakes that has just about tipped over what the recipient would feel comfortable with, and you begin to feel really awkward, and overly aware of the moment.

(You could lose 20 minutes of this epic runtime, just by virtue of chopping the extra flab off these shots alone!)

Another thing, is that the admittedly emotional climax to Rocket's story comes when there's still half hour and more of the movie to go, which seems odd, as this is the basis of the story.

The guards of the giant curly space anus... station... thing, sporting the cheapest, most ridiculous costumes you can conceive of, that are essentially the crudest spray painted foam blobs that make them seem like overgrown waterbears, and this is symbolic of the entire feeling of cheapness on all costume design, sets, pitiful cartoon animals, we are supposed to care about, rather than snigger at - and even the unconvincing CGI scenes, all shot in a very weird manner, that seems to emphasise the fake-ness and studio-ness of the whole affair.

The great tragedy of this is that it has a great idea at the centre, and a potentially brilliant and devastating story to tell, but handled by an artless, clueless meme of a director, who's previous successes don't prevent this, and his Suicide Squad movie exposing him to being found out, as the cinematically dad dancing movie mogul wannabe he really is.

This should have been game changing for this franchise, and comic book movies in general, in adding real depth, and lasting impact, in the manner of say, Watership Down, or Bambi...

... Or if not, it could have been a joyful final outing for these characters....

... instead, it's crass, painfully slow, dull embarrassing, and cheap feeling.

>There is, however, one plus side, or positive.....

(And what a truly huge positive it is too!)

... and that is the villain character, and the actor and his performance of it:

Chukwudi Iwuji as The High Evolutionary, is as good a villain as I've seen anywhere, and the towering performance by Chukwudi is simply astounding, in all the best traditions of all the best villains, he steals the entire show, and make this bum cake of a movie worth watching just for him.

This guy (not a movie regular, it seems, but more a stage actor), is a blooming Superstar!

If I was in Hollywood studio decision making land, I'd sign this guy up for everything and anything I could get him in<

Net result: This is too dark for kids, too juvenile for more mature audiences, which together make a movie too insulting to anyone with intelligence to handle, given the subject.

A flat, weak, wet fart of a movie that goes on way too long to be endured in any confined space in which you watch it.

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Although this collection is not the expression of the best Italian prog, it contains songs by minor groups but now very rare to find in other collections as they were published on 45 singles and alternative versions.
"Officina Meccanica" was a band from Rome with some singles published by the Picci record company in 1973/1974 which are now rare to find.
"Invisible Force" released a 45 rpm single in 1971 for UniFunk (Milan) Antonio Bartoccetti [guitar] (with Antonius Rex, Dietro noi Deserto, Jacula, Musik Reserch), Peter McDonald [bass, drums], Charles Tiring [keyboards] ( Antonius Rex, Jacula), Elisabeth D'Esperance [vocals]
"Maya" from Genoa born in 1970 as "Il Gruppo di Maya", they shortened that name for their one and only single Salomon. The song was chosen as the signature tune for the 1972 Palermo Pop Festival. The two songs contained here were written by Vittorio De Scalzi (Funky) and Giorgio D'Adamo both of New Trolls.
"Il Balletto Di Bronzo" here with two Spanish versions of "Neve Calda" from 1969 and "Si, Mama Mama" from 1970.
“J.E.T.” from Genoa released an album in 1972 for Durium "Fede Speranza Carità" which contained the song "Sinfonia Per Un Re" also the Bside of the single "Gloria, Gloria".
Three members, Aldo Stellita, Carlo Marrale, Piero Cassano later formed "Matia Bazar".
"III Classe" from Bergamo released a single in 1971 "Animal Love" (cover of The Kinks) / "Jimmy" - Dischi Produzioni Ventotto – PRV 28003 while the song on this collection "Bring A Tear" (cover of Audience (Charisma) ) was released as a promo and on the B side it contained "Sold Out" by Yoice (alias Analogy, Earthbound, Eternity) - Dischi Produzioni Ventotto – PRV 28008

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WE went to see this show last night. Superb - Really enjoyed it - plenty of good classic rock. They also performed good versions of "Sound of Silence" "Tainted Love" and a fantastic version of Hazel O'Connor's "Will You" - The audience was on their feet. Great Stuff.

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The JA press will in at least 1955, when Records LTD started pressing in King Street,

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Global warming based, detective buddy cop, serial killer creature feature.

Not that bad actually!

It does reek of: film-makers who know what they are doing, but are on a very limited budget, in terms of production design, sets, and affects... But overcome this by use of carefully selected locations, use of lighting to create mood and atmosphere, using the camera well, and most tellingly, the: "Don't show too much of the creature" choice, which works well, as even when you do finally see it, it is fleetingly, and selectively shot (Great, in that they basically borrowed the design wholesale from Alien's Xenomorph)

But a very short hour and a half movie, that jumps straight in to the action, wasting no time with set-up, electing instead, to tell bits and pieces of back story as it goes.

...And so it is, we jump straight in with Rutger Hauer's broken obsessive hard-bitten loose cannon cop going into a nightclub to stop an apparently deranged serial killer from striking again - one that he has been tracking ever since the killer murdered his partner.

Regarded as a nutcase in his police department, he is saddled with an Academic type, fresh faced policeman as partner, who shadows him as he hunts down the maniac in question.

...So you have the old stereotype maverick cop with a past, joined by the stereotypical nerd as great juxtaposition of character types, for stereotypical "odd couple" buddy cop set up.

It transpires that the killer may not be entirely human, but rather something (inexplicably, and unexplained) thrown up from the largely flooded London city scape, submerged (quite astute in the foresight here, given when the movie was made!) in the risings from the sewers.

It's incredible how many people you know and recognise in this, given how cheap the production seems, and maybe the climax is let down somewhat by some less than spectacular effects, but it is short-ish, rattles along for the most part at a very brisk tempo until then.

...And with a quite light and snappy use of humorous dialogue (A little overdone at times, and preposterous) and script writing, makes for a fairly enjoyable hour and a half for those who like fairly cheapo sci-fi / horror flicks.

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Literature as Magic!

Hey... It's also a book!

...Did you know it was a book?

.....I didn't, until I saw the SF Masterworks edition on the shelf at a charity shop, and naturally, bought it.

Pleased to report it's a very evocative, engrossing read, conjuring (snigger) all the mystery and and intrigue that Christopher Nolan captures in his brilliant movie version... and then some!

For although that movie is filmed adaptation of this material - the characters, times, places, themes, and events described here, it is pleasing to me to find that Nolan has done with this what Ridley Scott did with translating Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep into Blade Runner:

He's not been too slavish to the source material, and understood that there are aspects of the story's presentation in literature that won't or don't need to go over in movie form.

...No, instead, what he has done (Like Ridley), is take the essentials - such as characters, time and place, ad mood, as well as basic storyline, but jettisoned others, such as the "framing device" narrative in this book, which is a modern setting with modern descendants of the two warring magicians - sorry... Prestigitators - falling into the intrigue and mystery surrounding their century old battles, and then unfolding, by means of their opposing accounts in their respective diaries, of the events that occurred, and then amplifying and teasing out some aspects of this story, and diminishing others to emphasise and de-emphasise according to medium.

Beginning with that of Alfred Borden's who presents his narrative as a form of magic trick, openly telling us from the outset, that he is doing so - Are you reading carefully? - So you are on guard as a reader from the off, before finally, and for the bulk of the book, giving us Rupert Angier's testimony, by way of juxtaposition with modern interspersals.

Indeed, the whole book is - for want of a better word - designed - to be a form of magic trick in word and book form.

...And by Joseph's knobbly knees and elbows! - It works!!!

It does a couple of other things too: Firstly, as a mystery book, it keeps you leaning in to discover the next pieces of the puzzle, and then as a story that draws so distinctly the difference between science and magic, it does more than any other work I can think of to actually do the opposite, and blur the boundaries, until they are one and the same thing.

...But also, it serves as a very effective ghost story in atmosphere and narrative, as well, as eventually becoming positively vampiric.

Powerfully evoking the eerie, supernatural qualities that any standard ghost story does.

What gives this story a real beating heart, though, is that, being told the story across two diaries, both giving "versions" of the same tale of obsession and feud you see that each is told as a point of view, not being able to access the inner thoughts or intentions of the other, that is expressed in each their own diaries, which would, had either known, that the other never really intended malice to the other, and frequently expresses regret over the incidents that occurred, and yet perceiving the malice in the other because of this absence of information, lends it a kind of tragic quality:

If only these two knucke-heads had sat down and talked, they would have realized the truth of each other, and all this nonsense could have been avoided.

Thank God we live in more enlightened times!

(Hmmm.....)

As such, it is, like Electric Sheep and Blade Runner, this is not necessarily "bettered" by the other medium, but is a perfect compliment to it, and so Nolans movie and this, should be thought of a perfect companion pieces.

But a truly inspired work, presenting literature as a means of performing a magic trick.

Very Prestigious.

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Peter Dijkstra was inducted into choral singing as a boy treble by his father, who ran a boys' choir in Drenthe. After his conservatory studies he formed The Gents before working with other European vocal ensembles and orchestras including the BBC Singers. The Gents is an all-male choir, and here they work through several pieces from the English Renaissance repertoire. Unfortunately the singers are not individually credited except on the two "Eliza" songs, but their mastery of English Plainsong is exemplary, and the countertenor on this example is beautiful.

After the instrumental version, they sing Christe qui Lux es et Dies:

[YouTube Video]

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Unbelievably I have just found out the support band was none other than the great The Cardiacs!? So I misrembered the gig, but undoubtedly the unusual time changes and what not certainly made an impression on the young me.

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I see! So, if you record any random noises you want, stamp them into a sheet of plastic and label it as "psychedelic", people will clamour for it! I'll have to try that, sometime! I really need the cash, right now!
I'm more than half way into it and it sounds almost exactly like anything Acid Mother Temple ever put out.
OOO! Something resembling a song!! Pink Stainless Tail. Wow! There's 3 of them!

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A very tough watch, and not one to watch for enjoyment, or entertainment's sake, but a very important film to see, concerning the issues of rape, and in particular, being believed within the justice system.

The rape scene itself is very difficult to look at - be warned.

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Excellent album. Several years before Robert Gordon and The Stray Cats.

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From my Amazon.com review on April 9, 2019

Spoiler Alert -
Forget all the blather about Veronica Lake, I'll tell you who steals this film - hands down...supporting actress Doris Dowling as Alan Ladd's two-timing, slutty wife Helen Morrison.
Her scenes are all too brief, but she is unforgettable.
Quite drunk, dressed in a slinky, shimmering cocktail dress along with a smug attitude, she spills her guts out to her husband concerning the death of their son -
Helen: "I could tell you something about Dickie that would hurt you plenty".
Johnny: "What about Dickie"?
Helen: "It could happen to anybody. I'd been to a party. I had to take Dickie with me, I had a few drinks".
Johnny: "Ah - stop the tears".
Helen: "Alright hero, I was drunk. I was in a car smash, Dickie was killed. I wrote you he had died of diphtheria because I was afraid to tell you the truth. Well - how do you like it?" Helen starts to drunkenly laugh.
Johnny enters the bedroom and removes his automatic from his suitcase, then a physical confrontation ensues...while astride a stool with her legs in a provocative pose, Johnny pull his gun and aims it at her (see attached images);
Johnny: "That's what I ought to do, but you're not worth it".
Now, I ask you, what scene in the film did Veronica Lake have that tops this?

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Would you believe me if I said I'd never heard this album before?!!

Well, while that is true, in the round, it's one of those that it turns out I'd heard some of the songs without even knowing it... by way of it's cultural impact.

(One of those that seems to have gotten everywhere)

"Ooh, I know that one!"

(...Being my frequent response since first listen on my MP3 player in the wee smalls whilst laid up with shoulder injury these past days, and waiting for the pain-killers to kick in)

Only got around to listening to it now, having found it in the charity shop the other day, and wondering why I didn't sekk it out upon original release. My conclusion being that it was one of those fantastically overhyped bands / albums who's obsequious gushing praise by critics, and how I simply MUST own this record was enough to produce the opposite effect on me back in the day.

But now I've heard it, listening to it at last on my own terms, and in my own time, I immediately hear the obvious similarities between Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips, and acknowledge the well documented association.

However, Mercury Rev seem (On this one album's evidence alone) to be more of a tenderly melodic variety of that kind of music, as well as more consistently memorable and haunting.

So it was a great, serendipitous choice of mine to give this a go on a very low and soothing volume as I cosied up in bed, waiting for the painkiller cavalry to arrive and offer some relief... This album acting as a kind of lullabies at sunrise to keep me company in the meantime.

In fact, to characterise the songs, would be to say they are like audio versions of Rothko paintings, lightly framed in Christmas tinsel...

...But that may be the painkillers talking :)

Naturally, I am now, true to my own form, now currently, completely obsessed with this album, with each of the songs now slowly, but ever so surely worming their way through the thick albumen of my ignorance, into the golden yoke of my better, basic-brain.

All that of course, remains to be said, is...

YOU MUST OWN THIS ALBUM!!!!!!!!!

:)

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Mean Girls for goths.

In fact, take away the light, bubbly, witty satire of Mean Girls, and instead, go angsty, a whole lot darker, and disturbed, and you essentially have the same story...

New girl at school falls in with three friends in their own clique, in who's company she at first finds comradeship, before they become the enemy, from who's company she must seek to extricate herself, for the sake of self preservation.

Indeed, the more I think of it, the more remarkably similar the story seems!

(Surely Tina Fey and Co. were merely "Inspired" by this?)

And aside from the witchy business, replacing the mall-Barbie aesthetic, and better clothes in place of the festival of valley girl chic, there is not much here to choose between them.

(If, indeed, you see a difference in the first place :)

But this film also oozes nineties feel movie too, in how it looks, acts and moves.

A well chosen soundtrack of passable covers of well known classic songs (Some surprisingly good choices too!)

Slotted nicely into the kind of vibe of the time that gave us movies like The Faculty, and the Almost-Eventually-Final Destination- franchise.... thing.

Having not seen it in a good few years, I wondered how well it would hold up, and pleased to say it fairs quite well, albeit the darker elements / themes of the story seem more prominent now to me (perhaps, more relevant than ever?), and it is a very enjoyable movie.

Would good for fans of Mean Girls, goths, and also fans of nineties movies in general.

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These piano miniatures are based on L.M. Lindeman's "Aeldre og nyere norske fjeldmelodier" (Old and New Norwegian Country Melodies).

1. "Spring Dance" is a spirited, lilting melody in 3/4 with a skip on the last beat played over changing accompaniments: (1) a rhythmic drone, (2) contrasting accents (beats 1 and 3 in the first measure, 2 in the second), (3) chromatic descents, and (4) strong, thrilling bass chords for the last verse.
2. "The Young Man Asked His Maiden" states a question in a rhythmic minor which receives a sweet major-key reply interspersed with two more short, hesitant questions.
3. This "Spring Dance" has quite a different feeling from number 1. The spinning, cycling melody proceeds from quiet, sometimes sharp harmonies toward a wilder and abandoned double-speed coda.
5. The "Dance from Jølster" contains many coloristic effects, such as crystalline staccatos, offbeat accents, high treble woodwind-like parts, fast triplets over enthusiastic string-like open fifths, as well as extended endings, surprising sudden halts in the rhythm, and switches from duple to triple meter.
6. The "Wedding Tune" is a sweet, lyrical Allegretto pastorale which begins in C major and ends in A minor mixing happy and romantic (or, perhaps slight uncertainty about the future) emotions.
8. "Oh, the Pig Had a Snout" is a brief tune, in a combined comical and "cantabile" mood in G minor in triple meter.
9. "When My Eyes" is a touching spiritual song harmonized with beautiful modal harmonies.
10. "Ole Once in Anger" is a courting song with a jerky, drinking song rhythm to its wide-ranging minor-key melody that concludes in a deep, perhaps apologetic, baritone register.
12. "Solfager and the Snake King," played in a moody Andante tempo, has a haunting minor-key melody with "snaky" chromatics that tells a tale even without words.
14. "I Sing With a Sorrowful Heart" is introduced by a distant minor third echoed three times in the high treble. The warm, middle register melody then begins with that same interval harmonized in rich but almost funeral chords played at a piano dynamic. The coda suddenly sings forth in a compelling cry that quickly calms into a resigned minor cadence.
17. In "The Gadfly Said to the Fly," the first timid, thin-voiced (even insectile) statement is met with a full-voiced loud answer harmonized chromatically. The first voice inquires again twice, and the answers are more measured and simple.
21. The melody of "The Woman from Setesdal" is built on a simple two-measure rolling gesture that is treated as a very interesting imitative canon, the imitating voice sounding like a flute or birdsong in the higher registers.
23. "Did You See Anything of My Wife?" is a curious two-part song with a dotted, questioning, backbeat rhythm at the start, followed by quiet reply in longer tones and then a loud, aggressive version of that reply.

(from allmusic.com)

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Playright 1989 but copyright 2010 suggests that the tracks date from 1989 when Hallyday was 46. Nine of the ten tracks are hard rockin' numbers, and the brief "Testament D'un Poète" is a romantic ballad with orchestral backing.

The title track seems to have a different, or an additional bassist: Phil Soussan may have been bassist on this set, but the fretless bass on Cadillac sounds so like Pino Palladino.
[YouTube Video]

The live version from a concert at Bercy in 1990 shows the bassist for a full second at 4:22, and he looks so like Palladino to me, while the brief appearance suggests there were contractual reasons not to shown more. This live version is identical to the album track, complete with some gorgeous BGVs, so I think the entire set was recorded live.
[YouTube Video]


The typical hard rock style can be heard on Possible En Moto, complete with instrumental motorcycle effect, Yves Sanna is credited as drummer for the set:
[YouTube Video]

"Si J'étais Moi" is a powerful ballad, and the duet seems to be with Vanessa Paradis, who by then would be 27:
[YouTube Video]

The orchestra on (Le) Testament D'un Poète was apparently the Symphonic Orchestra of Europe, conducted by Olivier Holt:
[YouTube Video]

Altogether a powerful and emotional set with Hallyday at his very best,

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Gang Of Four are back on a short UK tour - well worth seeing!

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I attended this do (with hair) some 50 odd years ago with Paul and Rob et al..is there anyone out there who was also there?...and with any photos please?...all part of drafting my life story..KR..Steve

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Turns out they do make 'em like this anymore!

Good heavens!

(Thought I) after having watched this:

"Film-makers are actually still capable of making a real movie!"

For this is nothing less than a work of cinematic art... From the incredible cinematography, the sublime soundtrack mix of easy, lo-fi jazz and cello based classical mood pieces, through the tight an thoughtful stage-play style screenplay, with excellent dialogue delivered very naturalistically by the entire Oscar worthy cast, right down to the subtle camera movements, editing, and the need not to smash the audience over the head with statements about society or as a platform for "activism", despite it's subject matter.

It assumes an intelligence in the viewer, and a certain familiarity with it's themes, but concentrates entirely on the characters, and their interactions, which conspire to create the story:

Here, the story of a young woman who has become pregnant by her childhood sweetheart, and the family drama that ensues when her own family must be informed, as well as her boyfriend's family.

This though, is further complicated by the fact that the boyfriend has been convicted on the suspicion of rape, so she is coping with all this, as the film follows her through a chronological narrative, interspersed with flash backs, all expertly interwoven in a wonderful, seamless mosaic.

The civil rights issues, only serve as a backdrop against which the personal, and very human drama takes place. We can see the issues at hand, and don't need a neon sign style expositions of them, instead, they have bearing only in how they affect the two young lovers, and their soon to be family.

The whole thing just tells this personal tale, as a portrait of the two, and specifically, from her point of view, as the brief overlaid narrations she provides tie the thing together, as the whole movie moves as one perfectly realised whole, gently, easily, and artfully through this juncture of their lives.

I've already used the words: Art, and artful. but could also use the words: Beautiful, poetic, balanced, poignant, thought-provoking, tender, sensitive (at times funny), as well as tragic, sad, and sombre.

Wonderful movie.

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On his You Tube channel Beatles fan Andrew Dixon reviews Drumming Is His Madness: The Ringo Starr Discography by Andrew James

23 September 2023

[YouTube Video]

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On his You Tube channel Beatles fan Andrew Dixon reviews Drumming Is His Madness: The Ringo Starr Discography by Andrew James

23 September 2023

[YouTube Video]

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thirty-one letters, thirty of advice; one.... not, from a senior devil to his nephew, wormwood, a junior devil, on how best and most easily to tempt the mortal in his charge, ''the patient'', into sin, pitfalls to be avoided along the way that might afford the soul entrusted to his care the chance to avoid eventual eternal damnation, and suggestions for how to recover from setbacks to his shepherding his charge down the slippery slope to hell - with occasional expressions of shock and horror at wormwood's naïvety and/or downright negligence at having allowed his charge to regain some measure of grace.

if in the right mood, ''the screwtape letters'' is a good read - the humour is incisive, but mayn't lead to too much self-criticism - as well as at least potentially conducive of self-improvement...


though c. s. lewis stated the letters were hard work, not fun to write, and that he was resolved to not write any further such, he did compose a further lengthy essay, ''screwtape proposes a toast'' in the form of an after-dinner speech, that was published in 1959 and appeared in omnibus edition together with the letters, as ''the screwtape letters & screwtape proposes a toast'' in 1961, q.v

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WhyNow review :read:

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Great gig, I can highly recommend The Ramonas, they do an excellent spread of Ramones tunes and a section their own Ramonesque songs without ever falling into the bland "tribute band" territory.

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