Another sad day. Yet again, we lose another musical visionary. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys has passed away at the age of eighty two. His story is legendary, full of battles with an overbearing,abusive father and manager Murry, mental health issues and the family association with one Charlie Manson. In spite of this- indeedContinue reading “Lost In Music: The Beach Boys- Good Vibrations”
Category Archives: Pop culture
Latvia Were Robbed…
Gutted. Latvian entry for last night’s Eurovision Song Contest, Tautumeitas, barely scraped into the top ten, but I thought they were genuinely brilliant. They looked like sexy alien goddesses styled by HR Giger, the staging looked like a show by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, and the gorgeous song, Bur Man Laimi, felt like a folkContinue reading “Latvia Were Robbed…”
Lost In Music: Adam and the Ants- Kings Of the Wild Frontier
Two decades before Meg and Jack, there was only one white stripe that mattered: the warpaint over the nose of Britain’s biggest pop star: Adam Ant. His look was so iconic that kids copied him everywhere: indeed, me and my cousin Audrey, inspired by his style, attempted to emulate said stripe one summer, using tennisContinue reading “Lost In Music: Adam and the Ants- Kings Of the Wild Frontier”
Kate Bush Is Our Goth Big Sister
Photo: Ian Harrison I can still remember the first time I saw the divine Kate Bush,after all this time. I was only little, she was performing on Top Of the Pops, and she both fascinated and terrified me, singing Wuthering Heights. I thought she was possibly a witch. Now I know she is. Her wideContinue reading “Kate Bush Is Our Goth Big Sister”
Kidcore: The Aesthetic That Refuses To Grow Up
A clearly delighted model. Maybe we do become a facsimile of what we once were in our youth, but Helena Bonham -Carter, who frequently makes the “worst dressed” lists in style magazines, remains a style icon to me, a goth in the punky Victorian mode, or what came to be known as “steampunk”. I likeContinue reading “Kidcore: The Aesthetic That Refuses To Grow Up”
Scream If You Love Nosferatu
Lily-Rose Depp in Nosferatu. Everyone- audiences and critics alike – seemed to adore Robert Eggers’ recent version of Nosferatu, but I must confess it left me bored. It looks beautiful, with a painterly touch homaging the German Expressionism of the 1922 F W Murnau classic. But it feels reductive, style over substance with little newContinue reading “Scream If You Love Nosferatu”
Music As Vitamin D
When the morning sun hurts too much after bouts of menopausal insomnia, and it’s hard to crawl out of bed, there’s one tune that will give me that much-needed shot of vitamin D. It’s got a bounce like Tigger, but scratches with its sharp talons. It’s from the era of Britpop but was deemed “shoegazing”.Continue reading “Music As Vitamin D”
Film Review: Maisie
There’s a certain kind of Drag on the UK that doesn’t involve death drops and pole dancing. Instead, it falls within the pantomime, vaudeville theatre and cabaret tradition: think singing the songs from A Chorus Line, rather than lip syncing to Lady Gaga. Lee Cooper ‘s warm and low-key film offers the exemplar of thisContinue reading “Film Review: Maisie”
Film Review: A Complete Unknown
Another year, another music biopic about a problematic genius. James Mangold has of course got previous with Walk The Line. A Complete Unknown isn’t much of a departure from the Johnny Cash film, as it’s also a good character study. Here, the truculent rebel is one Bob Dylan, right at the start of his career.Continue reading “Film Review: A Complete Unknown”
Film Review: The Public Image Is Rotten (2017)
Director Tarrbert Fiiller’s documentary on Public Image Ltd. is downbeat, insightful and strangely touching, poking at the open wounds involved when working alongside the inimitable John Lydon. With rare access to interviews with the imp himself, plus ex-band members like Keith Levene, Allan Dias and Martin Atkins, it’s more intimate and candid than your average,Continue reading “Film Review: The Public Image Is Rotten (2017)”
Hit The North 