Culture war issues aside, there are many reasons to dislike Woody Allen these days. It’s frustrating, as regardless of his less than healthy attitudes to women and certain ethnic groups (what did Armenian people ever do to him? Seriously?) he made some good films from the seventies -nineties, and did great stand-up in the sixties.Continue reading “Woody Allen’s Dialogue Problem”
Category Archives: Profile
Why ‘The Magic Toyshop’ Endures
It’s almost unthinkable nowadays, but Angela Carter wrote about dark themes like violence and sexuality in fairytales, when no-one else dared. She was completely prescient. In these days of binge watching, we’re used to Netflix shows and horror film tropes, where young women dressed as sexy wicked stepmothers offer apples to pouting Snow Whites, andContinue reading “Why ‘The Magic Toyshop’ Endures”
Shonen Knife are 40!
Once described by uber-fan Kurt Cobain as “pop, pop, pop music” , the legendary Osaka trio Shonen Knife are celebrating forty years in the business. Naoko Yamano, sister Atsuko Yamano and Risa Kawano are the current line-up, with the most recent album Our Best Place garnering huge acclaim. Often described as “the Osaka Ramones”, theContinue reading “Shonen Knife are 40!”
Overlooked Classics: Alice In The Cities
We all love Paris,Texas and Wings of Desire. Ask any film aficionado about European cinema and nine times out of ten, Wim Wenders will pop up as an auteur of choice. But as fond as I am of these two classic films, there’s another one which preceded these that’s also wonderful: Alice In The Cities.Continue reading “Overlooked Classics: Alice In The Cities”
Lost In Music: The Fall- Spoilt Victorian Child
The riff is unmistakably Brix, the snarl typically Mark. One of The Fall’s mid-period gems, Spoilt Victorian Child, taken from fan favourite This Nation’s Saving Grace from 1985 references colonialism, the Cottingley Fairies hoax, the kids’ book The Tiger Who Came to Tea, and typically entitled behaviour of the rich. I’m still not sure ifContinue reading “Lost In Music: The Fall- Spoilt Victorian Child”
A Selfie
I’m interested in photos and filters. It ‘s so easy now to indulge in selfies, but I like more unusual ones! Maybe too many episodes of ‘Twin Peaks ‘ as a teen…
Why ‘Surfer Rosa’ is still the tits!
Never mind Nevermind: for me, the albums that signified that the 90s were going to be musically exciting were by Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and Pixies…amongst others. Everyone raves about Doolittle and it’s perfectly fine, but for me, Surfer Rosa is still perfection. Originally, it was to be titled Gigantic after the glorious songContinue reading “Why ‘Surfer Rosa’ is still the tits!”
Aladdin Sane at 50
If Ziggy was Cary Grant, Aladdin Sane was Peter Fonda. Recorded between December 1972 and January 1973, this iconic album, Bowie’s sixth, still feels like a deconstruction of fame and the American Dream from an outsider’s perspective. It’s experimental, as exemplified by Mike Garson’s wayward jazz piano on the wild title track. He goes maniacallyContinue reading “Aladdin Sane at 50”
Praise Be to Vod!
As if Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong couldn’t have created one of the best sitcom characters ever in Peep Show ‘s Super Hans, they surely outdid themselves with Violet ‘Vod’ Nordstrom. Fresh Meat, which piggybacked on that show’s deserved success, had one of the funniest, sexiest and most complex characters ever. Surly, promiscuous, stealing fromContinue reading “Praise Be to Vod!”
Overlooked Classics: The Fall- Dragnet (1979)
The Fall were starting to implode. Martin and Karl were out, replaced by the Scanlon brothers, Craig and Steve, pals of Marc Riley. It’s this line-up that’s the secret to their brilliant, often overlooked second album, Dragnet. Dragnet is excellent, a brooding, murky record, albeit with MES’ typically esoteric lyricism. He had already proved whatContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: The Fall- Dragnet (1979)”
Hit The North 