Paul Michael Henry makes the kind of work that requires audiences to lean in. It’s not safe, bland or reassuring; rather, it’s powerful, intensely rendered and beautiful, the kind of work that resonates and stains your vital organs. His performance for the Edinburgh Festival, Shrimp Dance, is no less a disquieting piece. At once aContinue reading “Edinburgh Festival Preview: Shrimp Dance”
Category Archives: Lorna Irvine
WHEN POP GOES EXPERIMENTAL
Something interesting is currently happening within pop- it’s getting experimental again. Surely it’s no coincidence that Kate Bush, the Queen of reinvention, should be rediscovered by twentysomethings this year, thanks to Running Up That Hill featuring in Stranger Things. The spirit of the eighties which meant more esoteric artists like Bush, Prince and The SugarContinue reading “WHEN POP GOES EXPERIMENTAL”
Album Review: Superorganism – World Wide Pop
Perfect pop often tightropes precariously between euphoria and melancholy. So it is with Superorganism, the London- based, globally sourced pop act. Orono Noguchi’s sweet youthful vocals can be soulfully sad, joyful or snarky and cynical. It’s all anchored by quirky textures, samples and grooves. Like a Lego kit, the band thrives on building little empiresContinue reading “Album Review: Superorganism – World Wide Pop”
The Ghost of The GTOs
Strange, isn’t it, that there are no male equivalents in the lexicon for the word ‘groupie’, even now? Perhaps groupies aren’t a thing anymore, or simply a more covert concern. Maybe it’s more likely there are more female artists making headway now- and about time,too. The GTOs fascinate me, simply because they’re a time capsuleContinue reading “The Ghost of The GTOs”
Overlooked Classics: Babes In Toyland- Spanking Machine
Everybody cites Hole as fine purveyors of pure feminine rage, and rightly so, but for me, Babes In Toyland did it better, and with more eloquent ferocity. I first heard Dust Cake Boy where else but on John Peel’s peerless late night radio show on Radio 1. His son Tom Ravenscroft recently spoke on 6MusicContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Babes In Toyland- Spanking Machine”
Album Review: Speedy Wunderground Vol 5
The legendary label is nearly a decade young, believe it or not. Dan Carey, Alexis Smith and Pierre Hall’s baby just keeps going from strength to strength, as evinced by their latest compilation. From Lazarus Kane’s opener Narcissus, a kind of hyper- caffeinated Talking Heads meets Hot Chip groove, through to The Lounge Society’s broodyContinue reading “Album Review: Speedy Wunderground Vol 5”
DVD Review: The Sparks Brothers
Edgar Wright’s The Sparks Brothers is more than a traditional rock doc. A visually glorious pop art paean to the shapeshifting nature of pop music, Ron and Russell Mael, aka Sparks, represent longevity, invention and playful erudition. From their LA childhood on the beach, absorbing their artist father’s paintings, and being driven by their motherContinue reading “DVD Review: The Sparks Brothers”
Garlands Is 40
More people seem familiar with later work from Cocteau Twins but their debut album Garlands is still beautiful. Having just turned forty, I thought this record was worth a reappraisal. Featuring the original lineup of Liz Fraser, Robin Guthrie and Will Heggie, the original sound was dark, dense and as tight as a boa constrictor.Continue reading “Garlands Is 40”
TRAINSPOTTING AND GLASGOW
We all know Irvine Welsh’s classic novel, play and film Trainspotting was set in Leith in Edinburgh, but for Danny Boyle’s film adaptation of the mid- nineties, a couple of pivotal scenes were shot in the Maryhill area of Glasgow. One infamous shot of the pub where wee ned psychopath Begbie (Robert Carlyle) casually tossesContinue reading “TRAINSPOTTING AND GLASGOW”
Overlooked Classics: Wisconsin Death Trip
James Marsh’s masterful Wisconsin Death Trip is not like most documentaries. Based on the 1973 book of monochrome photographs by Michael Lesy, it focuses on a decade of bizarre events in and around Black River Falls, Wisconsin in the late 19th century. There’s suicide ; teenage elopement, religious lunacy, errant eccentric opera singers, window smashing,Continue reading “Overlooked Classics: Wisconsin Death Trip”
Hit The North 