Before Toyah, Hazel O’ Connor, Bjork, Florence Welsh and Amanda Fucking Palmer, there was the beautiful Lene Lovich. Part of Stiff Records’ roster, the Serbian American artist was a contemporary of Kate Bush but arguably a bit kookier. ‘Lucky Numbers’ was of course her top ten hit in the UK, but I prefer this. Jeepers,Continue reading “Lost In Music: Lene Lovich- Bird Song”
Category Archives: Pop culture
The Royal Mile During the Fringe
Was there ever a better analogy for social stratification than the Royal Mile during the Edinburgh Fringe? A teeming mass, a melee of desperation and showing off, it displays the disparity between the classes in all of its garish, wanton glory. Almost Ballardian in scale,the crowd even works as a guide to life itself. FirstlyContinue reading “The Royal Mile During the Fringe”
Roll Up! Roll Up! It’s Fringe Time
Roll up! Roll Up! It’s Edinburgh Fringe time. Quick, hide the addicts and the homeless. Slap on your rouge and your lipstick and get in that doorway, bitch. Entice them in. Shake yer moneymaker. Show them yer wares. A tartan tart in tat, that’s what you are. By god, it’s pure radge but we willContinue reading “Roll Up! Roll Up! It’s Fringe Time”
Some Edinburgh Fringe 2026 Predictions
****! A title will have a swear word and the accompanying poster will have a suitably provocative image, which will be catnip/rage bait to Quentin Letts. Gilded Balloon,7.30 pm 68 Guns Despite featuring music by The Alarm, this gory new musical, written by David Ireland, focuses on The Troubles. Traverse Theatre almost wet themselves withContinue reading “Some Edinburgh Fringe 2026 Predictions”
Baby Voices
Beth Ditto- who should be praised for having such an eclectic playlist on 6Music – hit a bum note this morning when playing Candy by Ravyn Lenae. It gives me the ick. I don’t mind idiosyncratic voices, obviously. I like Bjork, although her pixie nonsense was often pretty annoying in the nineties. Alison Shaw, ClaireContinue reading “Baby Voices”
“I’ve had a great night… This wasn’t one of them!”
All too often , art critics are dismissed as being malcontents like The Muppets’ Statler and Waldorf, curmudgeonly, jaded old men who find no joy or pleasure in anything. But that’s both unfair and unhelpful. When poring over the music press as a teen, I knew this was what I wanted to do. Some epiphanyContinue reading ““I’ve had a great night… This wasn’t one of them!””
Iggy and The Stooges,1970 TV Broadcast
In 1970, nobody had seen the like of Iggy Pop. A writhing Dionysus, feline, stalking, feral creature, he was, as Iggy himself said, the antithesis of “are you having a good time, ladies and gentlemen”. The Stooges were wild, psychedelic, anti-cliche, unafraid to experiment. This clip from a Cincinnati gig, shows the Igster getting upContinue reading “Iggy and The Stooges,1970 TV Broadcast”
Amy Winehouse: Fifteen Years Gone
It’s hard to believe, but we lost Amy Winehouse just over fifteen years ago. Here’s a wonderful clip of her first appearance on the ‘Jonathan Ross Show’. What sass, talent and humour, and she looked lovely too. She’s so missed.
My Most Overlooked Classic: Les Amants du Pont Neuf
Often, I think this may be my favourite film of all time. It’s between this and ‘Paris,Texas’ because of the way the mood resonates. ‘Wings Of Desire’ is another example. Leos Carax has the reputation for being an opaque, somewhat self-indulgent director. ‘Holy Motors’, for example, is batshit crazy and experimental to almost the pointContinue reading “My Most Overlooked Classic: Les Amants du Pont Neuf”
From Across the Arts Archive: Liz Aggiss-The English Channel
Arts:Blog Festival Review: Liz Aggiss–The English Channel ***** Posted by Across the Arts on August 27, 2015, at 11.27pm Lorna Irvine reviews a production with a woman who’s ‘hilarious and badass’. That Liz Aggiss is not a daily part of the school curriculum, along with free dinners, free speech and any kind of hope whatsoever is aContinue reading “From Across the Arts Archive: Liz Aggiss-The English Channel”
