Something glorious is going on in music right now. Soul and funk is back in a big way. It’s never really gone away, but the likes of Cleo Sol (main picture) Say She She, Gabriels and Black Pumas have soundtracked this year with soul and funk -infused tunes that are evocative of the greats: thinkContinue reading “Neo-Soul in 2023”
Category Archives: Lorna Irvine
Film Review: Arena- Cindy Sherman #Untitled
Claire Beaven’s film for Arena, which focuses on one of American contemporary art’s true trailblazers, photographer and film maker Cindy Sherman, is absolutely fascinating. Because Sherman still remains camera -shy when not in one of her (in)famous disguises, there are older, rare interviews interwoven into the film, and a nice updated voiceover from Sherman (withContinue reading “Film Review: Arena- Cindy Sherman #Untitled”
Lost In Music: The Rutles
Where would we be without them, the Prefab Four? Just four cheeky lads from Rutland who changed our culture, they were ” of no fixed hairstyle”, but full of ambition and creativity., but far more importantly, “their trousers”… Funny too, how their music and image changed, following “the pleasant effects of tea”… “I’d like toContinue reading “Lost In Music: The Rutles”
Lost In Music: Screaming Lord Sutch- Jack The Ripper
Here’s a ghoulish garage rock classic to make you shake yr bones. Ivy and Lux were fans, so was Nick Cave and Jack White, and The Horrors have included it in their club nights,so you know it’s a winner. David Edward Sutch aka Screaming Lord Sutch, was doing the shock rock thing long before AliceContinue reading “Lost In Music: Screaming Lord Sutch- Jack The Ripper”
Vintage Films: Carry On Screaming (1967)
A bit of a departure from the usual British saucy seaside postcard romps, Carry On Screaming took the formula of both Hammer Horror and spooky American sitcom favourites The Munsters and The Addams Family, and created a weird hybrid with an actual storyline. Wait… Sophistication creeping in? Not quite. It’s still Carry On, after all.Continue reading “Vintage Films: Carry On Screaming (1967)”
Film Review: Cat Nation
This quirky documentary, created by film maker Tim Delmastro and You Tuber Chris Broad, an Englishman who has lived in Japan for over five years, follows the Japanese fascination with the domestic felines. From a station master’s cat (below, in jaunty hat) to a temple festooned with Neko beckoning lucky cats, to a slightly OTTContinue reading “Film Review: Cat Nation”
Pills, Grunge and Gen X- Prozac Nation At Nearly Thirty
There were of course notorious books before this, like ‘Go Ask Alice’ by Anonymous, a searing account of abuse and drugs set around the sixties counterculture, and seemingly a true story. There was ‘Valley of the Dolls’ (sex,drugs, hippies -but fictional) Then there was Pamela Des Barres and her groupie memoir, ‘I’m With the Band’.Continue reading “Pills, Grunge and Gen X- Prozac Nation At Nearly Thirty”
Overlooked Classics: Prevenge (2017)
Alice Lowe is an often overlooked comic genius, and Prevenge isn’t always held up in high regard in the horror genre. Possibly it’s because it doesn’t have the usual tropes audiences expect. Written, directed by and starring Lowe, it’s kind of bonkers, with her character Ruth believing her unborn baby is telling her to goContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Prevenge (2017)”
Album Review: Problem Patterns- Blouse Club
It’s nice that there are young bands who still have a lot to say. Feminist punk band Problem Patterns release their debut album Blouse Club today, and it’s politically engaged without ever losing its sense of humour or effervescent fizz. ‘Advertising Services’ takes on the ubiquity and inescapable nature of advertising and corporate sponsorship… Where’sContinue reading “Album Review: Problem Patterns- Blouse Club”
Vintage Films: Cat People
For Samhain, forget Freddy, Jason or The Human Centipede. I’m going vintage all the way. Jacques Tourneur’s 1942 classic for RKO, Cat People, is still a stylish, strange little gem. Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon) is a Serbian illustrator who believes she’s descended from panthers, as she turns into a cat when she’s sexually aroused. ThisContinue reading “Vintage Films: Cat People”
Hit The North 