I realise that it’s officially silly season, and that Andy Warhol beat Alan Partridge to the curve with his assertion that “in the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes”, but it seems that the fictional broadcasting dickhead also came up with some prophetic words. Okay, sure, his most recent TV series, ‘How AreContinue reading “Alan Partridge Is A Prophet”
Tag Archives: Pop culture
TV Review: Girlbands Forever
Following on from last year’s Boybands Forever documentary, produced by Louis Theroux and Nancy Strang, comes the sister companion Girlbands Forever. And it’s equally as fascinating, yet pretty flawed. Suga(babes) and Spice (Girls) is all very nice, but of course, as with the previous three part series, the reality was anything but. As before, ex-bandContinue reading “TV Review: Girlbands Forever”
Overlooked Classics: The Fall- Bend Sinister
Mid-eighties Fall were, as ever, a strange proposition, fast becoming a cult band; yet always wilfully on the sidelines, casting caustic barbs at the more banal elements of pop culture. So it was with the ninth album, the brilliant Bend Sinister. It was named after the Nabokov novel. Even the cover points to the kindContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: The Fall- Bend Sinister”
It Was Never “Just A Phase”
My previous pseudonym before Lorelei was Spoilt Victorian Child. This was when I wrote for my previous blog, The Tempo House. It’s still online, and yes, as with this one, it’s named after classic Fall songs. My wonderful cousin Audrey has a theory that personal style and taste is set in your formative years ofContinue reading “It Was Never “Just A Phase””
Album Review: All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop
Philip King’s compilation of late-seventies – mid-eighties synth pop has a similar, if less political, approach as Adam Curtis: find leftfield, obscure tracks and highlight them, creating a sideways look at pop culture. As the title suggests, there is a DIY, deliberately un-glossy attitude to much of the music on offer. Frankie Goes To HollywoodContinue reading “Album Review: All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop”
Happy 80th Birthday, Debbie Harry!
How’s it possible? How can it be? Angela Trimble, better known as Debbie Harry, turned 80 on the 1st of July. Belated birthday greetings to a true icon, the NYC goddess with sun in her hair, fiery attitude, intelligence and an incredible voice. She has it all, and she’s influenced countless artists. We’re always touchedContinue reading “Happy 80th Birthday, Debbie Harry!”
TV Review: Shifty
Film maker Adam Curtis has many detractors: his naysayers suggest he’s cynical, paranoid, unwatchable, a conspiracy theorist. I think this is all a tad unfair. He simply curates archive footage, patchwork style, adds ideas and weaves it all deftly together, both a satirist and retro-futurist. He lets the viewer go along with his non -linearContinue reading “TV Review: Shifty”
Film Review: Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche
It ‘s tough at the top, and it’s far from easy being the offspring of a punk legend, either. That’s the overarching theme of Celeste Bell and Paul Sing’s critically acclaimed documentary about X Ray Spex singer Poly Styrene. Narrated by Bell herself, who shares a similarly sleepy, childlike drawl with her late mother, thisContinue reading “Film Review: Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche”
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”
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”
Hit The North 