Category Archives: Lorna Irvine

Five Perfect Pavement Songs

I woke up with Spit On A Stranger this morning as an earworm and it’s both caustic and beautiful, so here’s that very song along with four other beauties. Don’t say I’m not good to you.

Skeleton Tree Is A Decade Old

How is it possible? Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ ‘Skeleton Tree’s a decade old. An overwhelming album scrutinising appalling loss, grief and coping through love, it was arguably the most personal album Cave had ever created at that pont. Andrew Dominik’s film, ‘One More Time With Feeling’ that came out to accompany the album,Continue reading “Skeleton Tree Is A Decade Old”

Sir Richard Alston Was A Gem

The whole dance community lost a light this week, after the sad news of Sir Richard Alston’s passing. Originally, he trained in fine art and theatre design, but got bitten by the dance bug in the mid-sixties, before training under the inimitable Merce Cunningham in the mid-seventies. That spirit of invention and playfulness never leftContinue reading “Sir Richard Alston Was A Gem”

RuPaul’s Drag Race Series 8 Begins!

The winning franchise continues as- staggeringly- we find ourselves at series 8 of the UK version. And oh my, for the love of Saint Dolly, is it kicking off already. These queens do not hold back. In an extremely ill-judged moment backstage, young queen Paris Baby threw what I think she thought was shady banterContinue reading “RuPaul’s Drag Race Series 8 Begins!”

Unsung Goth Heroes

Since moving back here, I’ve noticed that many goths have come out of the woodwork, particularly since The Cure played a sellout show in Edinburgh a few weeks ago. But there are many goth/goth- adjacent artists that are often not revered so much. Here are some, and the reasons why. Danielle Dax A former memberContinue reading “Unsung Goth Heroes”

Film Review : Tar (2022)

Cate Blanchett gives an Oscar nominated performance as Lydia Tar, an *EGOT winning composer and conductor who is starting to spiral in real time. Written and directed by Todd Field,the film is an intense and claustrophobic study of genius, identity, cancel culture and the corrosive effects of social media. The camera acts effectively as aContinue reading “Film Review : Tar (2022)”

That Mitchell and Webb Look- Series 1(2006)

The first series of ‘That Mitchell and Webb Look’ is by far the best. It came along at exactly the right time, 2006, when sketch comedy shows seemed moribund. Melding their contrasting ‘Peep Show’ personas with outright absurdism, it was very silly and often inspired. There was ‘Numberwang’, the quiz show with no discernible rules;Continue reading “That Mitchell and Webb Look- Series 1(2006)”

The Generation X Problem

There has been a lot of discourse lately on us, the forgotten generation. We’re Generation X, late forties- mid fifties. We grew up with landlines, power cuts, Yuppies, Kylie in ‘Neighbours’, and the “me first” hedonism of Thatcherism and Reaganomics. We were only just becoming computer- literate and mobile phones were but a distant dreamContinue reading “The Generation X Problem”

G-L-O-R-I-A

Gloria Steinem has passed away at 92 and I have nothing but respect for what she achieved in her lifetime. From protesting for our reproductive rights, to working undercover as a Playboy Bunny to report on their unfair working conditions, she was pretty fearless. The tireless feminist activist and journalist made women’s struggles go mainstream.Continue reading “G-L-O-R-I-A”