I blogged about the new Richard Thompson album here a couple of weeks ago, but I've still been playing it a lot, not least because I had a quick chat with Thompson on the phone last Friday. Typically charming and reserved, he talked about how "Sweet Warrior" touches on politics and conflict - notably on the GI-in-Iraq narrative, "Dad's Gonna Kill Me" - but how he was uncomfortable with the idea of protest songs. These are more sophisticated narratives, was his gist, whose humanity and longevity are improved by the lack of polemic. I think that was the gist, anyway; I've just spent the afternoon trying to transcribe the interview, since there's so much interference on the tape that Thompson sounds like he was windsurfing rather than sitting at home in LA. He also talked a bit about the upcoming Fairport Convention reunion at Cropredy in August, when the 1969 line-up (minus Sandy Denny, of course) will be performing "Liege And Lief" in its entirety. Cautious as ever, he scrupulously hid any excitement or sentiment he might feel about the project. "I think that album is important historically," he said, "and I think it'll be interesting to hear how it sounds with the original band". A damn sight better than it would sound with the current and pretty dreary incarnation of the Fairports, I'll wager. But then Thompson is probably the only member of the band to have kept an edge and a questing imperative to his music; even Ashley Hutchings has sounded pretty bland for a good while now. Anyway, I was grateful to find out that one stupid comparison I made was not totally unfounded. As I think I said last time, "Bad Monkey" on the new album reminds me of "Hoots Mon" by Lord Rockingham's XI, a novelty combination of Scottish jig and big band rock'n'roll that was Number One in 1958, and which an old colleague of mine used to play on his XFM show with incredible - and probably boss-baiting - regularity. "One of my favourite records," admitted Thompson, "That was Harry Robinson, who was a great arranger. He later went on to be string arranger at Hammer, and then he did a lot of string arrangements for Nick Drake." I think he said that Robinson did some arrangements for Sandy Denny, too, but I can't hear for sure. A nice symmetry, though, if that were the case - I'll check on my CDs tonight. I just tried finding an MP3 of "Hoots Mon", incidentally, with no luck, but you can get it as a ringtone. Weird.
Marley Marketing Makes History With New Music Formats
Island Records are to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Bob Marley’s ‘Exodus’ by releasing it on two pioneering new formats; on USB Memory Stick and Micro SD Memory Card. The album recorded during Marley's exile in Britain at the beginning of '77, will become the first artist album released on these new computer readable formats, both of which will be available on May 28. The USB memory stick version will be limited to 4000 copies, produced in the Rastafarian colours of red, green and gold. It also contains three video tracks recorded at London’s Rainbow Theatre in June 1977. The Micro SD Memory Card will also be made as a limited edition collectors’ item of 2000 copies. The Micro SD is a small, removable flash memory card – the size of a fingernail – that can be used in mobile phones, portable audio players and PCs. Other formats for the re-release of the album include a standard CD, which comes with a hardback case, and a deluxe CD which also includes 12 live tracks as a DVD of Marleys Rainbow gigs of '77. As well as all the fangled new formats - "Exodus" will also be re-issued on vinyl, packaged exactly the same as the original release in June 1977.
Island Records are to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Bob Marley’s ‘Exodus’ by releasing it on two pioneering new formats; on USB Memory Stick and Micro SD Memory Card.
The album recorded during Marley’s exile in Britain at the beginning of ’77, will become the first artist album released on these new computer readable formats, both of which will be available on May 28.
The USB memory stick version will be limited to 4000 copies, produced in the Rastafarian colours of red, green and gold. It also contains three video tracks recorded at London’s Rainbow Theatre in June 1977.
The Micro SD Memory Card will also be made as a limited edition collectors’ item of 2000 copies. The Micro SD is a small, removable flash memory card – the size of a fingernail – that can be used in mobile phones, portable audio players and PCs.
Other formats for the re-release of the album include a standard CD, which comes with a hardback case, and a deluxe CD which also includes 12 live tracks as a DVD of Marleys Rainbow gigs of ’77.
As well as all the fangled new formats – “Exodus” will also be re-issued on vinyl, packaged exactly the same as the original release in June 1977.
Alex Turner Q & A
Q and A UNCUT: How was recording this one different to doing the last one? ALEX TURNER: The recording of the first one was a swift thing, because we had all the songs and the order and everything all planned. We’d also played all of those songs live, and we’d had some of them for a year, even then. With these songs, we hadn’t played the before recording them – we’ve played them at three gigs so far, six of the ones off the record and one B-side. I think they’re going down pretty well – I could see some people mouthing the words. We played “Flourescent Adolescent” and this girl got on someone’s shoulders: she sort of smelled a chorus coming. Did you feel under pressure to make a great follow-up? We tried not to dwell on that – I was more excited about having new songs, it was just exciting to get a chance to move on a bit from the last record. Even though the campaign wasn’t as long as it could have been – we’d been playing those songs a long while, so we definitely felt like the time had come to move on. So I don’t think it was ever “Oh fucking hell, we’ve got to make another record.” Where were the songs written? Some were written on the road – but I always try to write songs. Like right now, I’ve written about six tunes since the record. Some are just me with an acoustic, but others come from when we’re in practice – there’ll just be like a riff or a drumbeat we’ve recorded on a phone or something, and we’ll build it up from that. There’s loads of bits and then we put them altogether. You can only go so far strumming with an acoustic – it can become a bit one-dimensional. How did you want this to sound? It’s a big-sounding record… We spent a bit more time, because we’re a bit more into sounds – there’d be bits, or guitar sounds that we liked, and wanted to do bits like that. The drum sounds we wanted to get sounding really fat. We did a session with (producers)James Ford and Mike Crossley on the last record and got on really well, and wanted to do something else – all year round I was thinking “I want to try with them two…” They were very involved in getting the sounds. Last time around the title came from Saturday Night And Sunday Morning. Where’s the title Favourite Worst Nightmare come from? This time it’s from a lyric in one of the songs. I’ve been finding it hard to describe, actually. But there’s a lyric in the “D Is For Dangerous” song, and it seemed to tick all the boxes for what we were after in a title. As far as concerns what is your favourite worst nightmare, I think I’d describe it by saying it’s like someone with a gambling addiction – they get something out of it, but they know it’s bad for them. But in the song it’s more to do with… a woman. The record sounds quite Smithsy in places… I think most of the Smiths stuff I’ve kind of put to one side for a bit – a couple of years ago, I got very into them and The Jam, like you do when you’re getting into guitar bands. As a band last year on tour we were listening to a lot of Prodigy, the …"Jilted Generation" album. The way there’s loads of changes and bits in songs – I think "Brianstorm" is a bit like that. There were a lot of tunes we were listening to in the studio – that band the Shocking Blue, who did “Love Buzz” and “Hot Sand”. “Release The Beast” by Breakwater – the rhythm on that is great. On tour, we always like Queens Of The Stone Age and The Coral – those are ones we all agree on. The music business makes an appearance in your record. Was that inevitable, given what’s happened to you? I wanted to kind of play that down a bit, really – it’s just on one song. And it doesn’t so much refer to the music business as to the press: the tabloidy kind of people. I don’t think we got it that bad really, we were never on the front page, but the only thing that was bad about it was when they were ringing up our friends, and trying to get goss out of us mates, and that was a bit much. And my ex-girlfriend got a bit of hassle – 'If you Were There' has a bit of a go at that, but it doesn’t really dominate my thinking, so it would have been a bit weird for that to dominate the record. When that all happened there were a few lines about all that kind of stuff, but as the year went on, they got replaced with more important things that I want to sing about every night. What did dominate you thoughts, then? I don’t know – probably girls again. It’s normally that, isn’t it? They get under your skin, don’t they? I think they leave us alone a bit – we don’t get recognised most of the time, and I think that’s a good thing. You’re very prolific? Was it tough to know which songs would make it? It was hard – we had 20, and we all had our favourites. There’s a song called “What If You Were Right First Time”, which we’re playing live at the moment, and it’s a big favourite, but we just couldn’t make it fit on the record. It was difficult, but we think we’ve worked it out now. We always want to do quality singles – you want it to have a few good tunes on it, not a fucking…video. In twenty years, I’m quite into the idea of people saying “Do you remember the Arctic Monkeys? The best song was the third track on the single…” INTERVIEW BY JOHN ROBINSON
Q and A
UNCUT: How was recording this one different to doing the last one?
ALEX TURNER: The recording of the first one was a swift thing, because we had all the songs and the order and everything all planned. We’d also played all of those songs live, and we’d had some of them for a year, even then. With these songs, we hadn’t played the before recording them – we’ve played them at three gigs so far, six of the ones off the record and one B-side. I think they’re going down pretty well – I could see some people mouthing the words. We played “Flourescent Adolescent” and this girl got on someone’s shoulders: she sort of smelled a chorus coming.
Did you feel under pressure to make a great follow-up?
We tried not to dwell on that – I was more excited about having new songs, it was just exciting to get a chance to move on a bit from the last record. Even though the campaign wasn’t as long as it could have been – we’d been playing those songs a long while, so we definitely felt like the time had come to move on. So I don’t think it was ever “Oh fucking hell, we’ve got to make another record.”
Where were the songs written?
Some were written on the road – but I always try to write songs. Like right now, I’ve written about six tunes since the record. Some are just me with an acoustic, but others come from when we’re in practice – there’ll just be like a riff or a drumbeat we’ve recorded on a phone or something, and we’ll build it up from that. There’s loads of bits and then we put them altogether. You can only go so far strumming with an acoustic – it can become a bit one-dimensional.
How did you want this to sound? It’s a big-sounding record…
We spent a bit more time, because we’re a bit more into sounds – there’d be bits, or guitar sounds that we liked, and wanted to do bits like that. The drum sounds we wanted to get sounding really fat. We did a session with (producers)James Ford and Mike Crossley on the last record and got on really well, and wanted to do something else – all year round I was thinking “I want to try with them two…” They were very involved in getting the sounds.
Last time around the title came from Saturday Night And Sunday Morning. Where’s the title Favourite Worst Nightmare come from?
This time it’s from a lyric in one of the songs. I’ve been finding it hard to describe, actually. But there’s a lyric in the “D Is For Dangerous” song, and it seemed to tick all the boxes for what we were after in a title. As far as concerns what is your favourite worst nightmare, I think I’d describe it by saying it’s like someone with a gambling addiction – they get something out of it, but they know it’s bad for them. But in the song it’s more to do with… a woman.
The record sounds quite Smithsy in places…
I think most of the Smiths stuff I’ve kind of put to one side for a bit – a couple of years ago, I got very into them and The Jam, like you do when you’re getting into guitar bands. As a band last year on tour we were listening to a lot of Prodigy, the …”Jilted Generation” album. The way there’s loads of changes and bits in songs – I think “Brianstorm” is a bit like that. There were a lot of tunes we were listening to in the studio – that band the Shocking Blue, who did “Love Buzz” and “Hot Sand”. “Release The Beast” by Breakwater – the rhythm on that is great. On tour, we always like Queens Of The Stone Age and The Coral – those are ones we all agree on.
The music business makes an appearance in your record. Was that inevitable, given what’s happened to you?
I wanted to kind of play that down a bit, really – it’s just on one song. And it doesn’t so much refer to the music business as to the press: the tabloidy kind of people. I don’t think we got it that bad really, we were never on the front page, but the only thing that was bad about it was when they were ringing up our friends, and trying to get goss out of us mates, and that was a bit much. And my ex-girlfriend got a bit of hassle – ‘If you Were There’ has a bit of a go at that, but it doesn’t really dominate my thinking, so it would have been a bit weird for that to dominate the record. When that all happened there were a few lines about all that kind of stuff, but as the year went on, they got replaced with more important things that I want to sing about every night.
What did dominate you thoughts, then?
I don’t know – probably girls again. It’s normally that, isn’t it? They get under your skin, don’t they? I think they leave us alone a bit – we don’t get recognised most of the time, and I think that’s a good thing.
You’re very prolific? Was it tough to know which songs would make it?
It was hard – we had 20, and we all had our favourites. There’s a song called “What If You Were Right First Time”, which we’re playing live at the moment, and it’s a big favourite, but we just couldn’t make it fit on the record. It was difficult, but we think we’ve worked it out now. We always want to do quality singles – you want it to have a few good tunes on it, not a fucking…video. In twenty years, I’m quite into the idea of people saying “Do you remember the Arctic Monkeys? The best song was the third track on the single…”
INTERVIEW BY JOHN ROBINSON
More Artists Announced For GuilFest
More artists have today been confirmed for the sixteenth annual GuilFest event which takes place this July. The three-day event from July 13-15 is to be headlined by Supergrass, Madness and a reunited Squeeze. Former Fairport Convention man Richard Thompson is set to headline the Ents24 stage on the Saturday July 14. His performance comes shortly after the release of his latest acclaimed album "Sweet Warrior" on May 28. Reggae veterans Toots & The Maytals are also new additions to the Main stage on Sunday July 15. The Ordinary Boys, Morcheeba, Rodrigo Y Gabriela and Saw Doctors will also play the festival in Stoke Park, Guildford. Tickets and more information is available online here or by calling the ticket hotline 0871 424 0050
More artists have today been confirmed for the sixteenth annual GuilFest event which takes place this July.
The three-day event from July 13-15 is to be headlined by Supergrass, Madness and a reunited Squeeze.
Former Fairport Convention man Richard Thompson is set to headline the Ents24 stage on the Saturday July 14. His performance comes shortly after the release of his latest acclaimed album “Sweet Warrior” on May 28.
Reggae veterans Toots & The Maytals are also new additions to the Main stage on Sunday July 15.
The Ordinary Boys, Morcheeba, Rodrigo Y Gabriela and Saw Doctors will also play the festival in Stoke Park, Guildford.
Tickets and more information is available online here or by calling the ticket hotline 0871 424 0050
Alex Turner Up For Songwriter Award
The Ivor Novello awards nominations were announced this lunchtime, and Arctic Monkeys, Amy Winehouse and Hot Chip are all in contention. The awards, now in their 52nd year, celebrate British songwriters and composers for their contribution to the music industry's success. Arctic Monkey's track, "When The Sun Goes Down" - written by Turner, has been nominated for Best Song Musically & Lyrically alongside Scott Matthews' "Elusive" amd Nerina Pallot's "Sophia. Hot Chip are up for Best Contemporary Song with their huge crossover track "Over And Over" against Amy Winehouse and Bodyrox. The Scissor Sisters and Madonna are both up for two awards each despite being US performers. "Don't Feel Like Dancing was co-written by Elton John and Madonna's "Sorry" was co-written by Brit Stuart Price. The Ivor Novellos winners will be announced at a ceremony at The Grosvenor House Hotel in London's Park Lane on May 24. The nominees are as follows: Best Contemporary Song: Song: Over and Over Writer/s: Joseph Goddard / Alexis Taylor / Felix Martin Performed By: Hot Chip UK Publisher: Warner Chappell Music Song: Rehab Writer/s: Amy Winehouse Performed By: Amy Winehouse UK Publisher: EMI Music Publishing Song: Yeah Yeah Writer/s:Nick Bridges / Jon Pearn / Nathan Thomas / Luciana Caporaso / Nick Clow Performed By: Bodyrox Ft Luciana UK Publisher: Notting Hill Music / Universal Music Publishing / EMI Music Publishing PRS Most Performed Work: Song: I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ Writer/s: Sir Elton John / Scott Hoffman / Jason Sellards Performed By: Scissor Sisters UK Publisher: HST Management Ltd/Universal Music Publishing / EMI Music Publishing Song: Put Your Records On Writer/s: Corinne Bailey Rae / John Beck / Steve Chrisanthou Performed By: Corinne Bailey Rae UK Publisher:Global Talent Publishing / Good Groove Songs Song: Sorry Writer/s: Madonna / Stuart Price Performed By: Madonna UK Publisher: Warner Chappell Music International Hit Of The Year Song: I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ Writer/s: Sir Elton John / Scott Hoffman / Jason Sellards Performed By: Scissor Sisters UK Publisher: HST Management Ltd/Universal Music Publishing / EMI Music Publishing Song: Rudebox Writer/s: Robbie Williams / Danny Spencer / Kelvin Andrews / Sly Dunbar / Robbie Shakespeare / William “Earl” Collins / Bill Laswell / Edmund “Carl Jr” Aiken Performed By: Robbie Williams UK Publisher: BMG Music Publishing / Chrysalis Music Ltd / Universal Music Publishing / Warner Chappell Music Song: Sorry Writer/s: Madonna / Stuart Price Performed By: Madonna UK Publisher: Warner Chappell Music
The Ivor Novello awards nominations were announced this lunchtime, and Arctic Monkeys, Amy Winehouse and Hot Chip are all in contention.
The awards, now in their 52nd year, celebrate British songwriters and composers for their contribution to the music industry’s success.
Arctic Monkey’s track, “When The Sun Goes Down” – written by Turner, has been nominated for Best Song Musically & Lyrically alongside Scott Matthews’ “Elusive” amd Nerina Pallot’s “Sophia.
Hot Chip are up for Best Contemporary Song with their huge crossover track “Over And Over” against Amy Winehouse and Bodyrox.
The Scissor Sisters and Madonna are both up for two awards each despite being US performers. “Don’t Feel Like Dancing was co-written by Elton John and Madonna’s “Sorry” was co-written by Brit Stuart Price.
The Ivor Novellos winners will be announced at a ceremony at The Grosvenor House Hotel in London’s Park Lane on May 24.
The nominees are as follows:
Best Contemporary Song:
Song: Over and Over
Writer/s: Joseph Goddard / Alexis Taylor / Felix Martin
Performed By: Hot Chip
UK Publisher: Warner Chappell Music
Song: Rehab
Writer/s: Amy Winehouse
Performed By: Amy Winehouse
UK Publisher: EMI Music Publishing
Song: Yeah Yeah
Writer/s:Nick Bridges / Jon Pearn / Nathan Thomas / Luciana Caporaso / Nick Clow
Performed By: Bodyrox Ft Luciana
UK Publisher: Notting Hill Music / Universal Music Publishing / EMI Music Publishing
PRS Most Performed Work:
Song: I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’
Writer/s: Sir Elton John / Scott Hoffman / Jason Sellards
Performed By: Scissor Sisters
UK Publisher: HST Management Ltd/Universal Music Publishing / EMI Music Publishing
Song: Put Your Records On
Writer/s: Corinne Bailey Rae / John Beck / Steve Chrisanthou
Performed By: Corinne Bailey Rae
UK Publisher:Global Talent Publishing / Good Groove Songs
Song: Sorry
Writer/s: Madonna / Stuart Price
Performed By: Madonna
UK Publisher: Warner Chappell Music
International Hit Of The Year
Song: I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’
Writer/s: Sir Elton John / Scott Hoffman / Jason Sellards
Performed By: Scissor Sisters
UK Publisher: HST Management Ltd/Universal Music Publishing / EMI Music Publishing
Song: Rudebox
Writer/s: Robbie Williams / Danny Spencer / Kelvin Andrews / Sly Dunbar / Robbie Shakespeare / William “Earl” Collins / Bill Laswell / Edmund “Carl Jr” Aiken
Performed By: Robbie Williams
UK Publisher: BMG Music Publishing / Chrysalis Music Ltd / Universal Music Publishing / Warner Chappell Music
Song: Sorry
Writer/s: Madonna / Stuart Price
Performed By: Madonna
UK Publisher: Warner Chappell Music
Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
Once upon a time, a band from the North came with a sound so fresh and vigorous it took the nation by storm. The sound was rock but crucially it was pop too: concise, punchy, melodic, shiny without being "plastic". The singer was a true original, delivering a mixture of sensitivity and strength, defiance and tenderness, via a regionally-inflected voice. The young man's lips spilled forth words that were realistic without being dour, full of sly humour and beautifully observed detail. Most recognized their debut album as a landmark, an instant classic. And then came the doubt: how can they possibly follow it? I'm talking about the Smiths, of course. But the narrative totally fits a more recent group from the other side of the Pennines. Okay, it was Radio One sessions rather than Myspace that built the Moz buzz, but otherwise the parallels are striking, right down to the non-album singles, and brilliant B-sides. The similarities extend to initial encounters with "Favourite Worst Nightmare", which gave me an eerie flashback to the disappointment of first hearing "Meat Is Murder". Nightmare 's sound is brimming with vim, but hardly any of the tunes seemed to hit the bulls-eye. As for the words, they felt like "Rusholme Ruffians" and "Nowhere Fast" all over again - that same impression of a writer who was now coming up empty. A couple more plays put paid to any worries on the songfulness front: these tunes will dog your every waking hour. Stronger still is the sheer force of the playing. Even with the loss of their original bassist, Arctic Monkeys still possess the most dynamic and supple UK rhythm section since the Stone Roses – the band's power and agility at times resembles an Oasis fixated on Led Zeppelin rather the Beatles. Sometimes you even get the sense that these multi-segmented songs, full of stop-and-starts, are actually designed to show off their musicianship. They are also showcases for Alex Turner's voice, an instrument as potent as the guitar, bass and drums. What comes across even clearer on "Nightmare" than the debut is the sheer groove power of this band--the lithe swagger of "Teddy Picker", the swinging hi-hats and low-rider bass of "D Is For Dangerous"-- which goes back to the funk outfit Judan Suki that Turner and drummer Matt Helders operated in parallel with the fledgling Arctics. "Favourite Worst Nightmare" is a near-triumph, a far superior Album #2 than "Meat Is Murder", "The Libertines", or "Second Coming". Yet some doubts nag, partly because of the subject matter. There's a slight suspicion that a fair few of the tunes are inspired by the travails of instant megafame. Take opener "Brianstorm": over riffs that whir like the rotating blades of an abbatoir, Turner fires off glib (if funny) lines taking the piss out of some cooler-than-thou rockstar type they've evidently rubbed shoulders with these last 18 months--"We can't take our eyes/off your T-shirts and ties/ combination", climaxing with the terrific kiss-off "see you later, innovator". Next up is "Teddy Picker", mining a similar bluesy feel to "Fake Tales of San Francisco" and a similar tone of derision, except this time round the butt seems to be rock journalists: "D’ya reckon they mek 'em tek an oath that says ‘We are defenders/of any poseurs or professional pretenders around'?" On the album's second half "If You Were There, Beware" provokes a similar slight ennui: it lambasts "ambitiously vicious" muck-raking hacks grubbing for a kiss-and-tell story and harassing the star's old sweethearts ("can't you sense she was never meant to fill column inches?"). But here interest is sustained by the inventive song-structure. The Smiths are present again in "Fluorescent Adolescent", which tells of that "very common crisis," the spice going out of your sex life ("the Bloody Mary's lacking the Tabasco", as Turner puts it). In this case, it causes the frustrated girl to pine for some hit-and-run lover from her past ("the boy's a slag – the best you ever had"). And then here they are again, on the next song "Only One Who Knows", whose luminous guitar-tone recalls "Back to the Old House". The best things on "Nightmare" are the most lyrically direct. Like "Do Me A Favour," a break-up song set--as with the first album's best tune, "Red Light."--in a car, Turner's eye for vivid detail in full effect. "This House Is A Circus" switches from the thrilling assonance of "this house is a circus/berserk as fuck" to the yearning chorus: "we're forever unfulfilled/and can't think why". Finally. the home stretch sees "Nightmare" open up with the emotional clarity of "The Bad Thing", "Old Yellow Bricks" and "505". The first is a song about infidelity, with Turner as the sorely tempted lad struggling to resist offers from a girl who assures him her boyfriend's "not the jealous type". "Old Yellow Bricks" depicts a slacker type who's wasting his life. It's a scathing yet sympathetic portrait, especially at the chorus: "he wants to sleep in a city that never wakes up/blinded by nostalgia". "505" is about Turner's own homesickness, an internal summons to hearth and sweetheart that must be heeded whether "it's a seven hour flight or a 45 minute drive" away. Expertly executed and supremely assured, "Favourite Worst Nightmare" isn't going to make Arctic Monkeys any smaller in the scheme of things. They remain the best ensemble of guitar-toting tunesmiths to emerge from the UK this decade. While I'd be surprised if anyone, five years on, cared about this record as much as the first one, I await their "Queen Is Dead" keenly. SIMON REYNOLDS
Once upon a time, a band from the North came with a sound so fresh and
vigorous it took the nation by storm. The sound was rock but crucially it was pop too: concise, punchy, melodic, shiny without being “plastic”. The singer was a true original, delivering a mixture of sensitivity and strength, defiance and tenderness, via a regionally-inflected voice. The young man’s lips spilled forth words that were realistic without being dour, full of sly humour and beautifully observed detail. Most recognized their debut album as a landmark, an instant classic.
And then came the doubt: how can they possibly follow it?
I’m talking about the Smiths, of course. But the narrative totally fits a
more recent group from the other side of the Pennines. Okay, it was Radio
One sessions rather than Myspace that built the Moz buzz, but otherwise the parallels are striking, right down to the non-album singles, and brilliant B-sides.
The similarities extend to initial encounters with “Favourite Worst Nightmare”, which gave me an eerie flashback to the disappointment of first hearing “Meat Is Murder”. Nightmare ‘s sound is brimming with vim, but hardly any of the tunes seemed to hit the bulls-eye. As for the words, they felt like “Rusholme Ruffians” and “Nowhere Fast” all over again – that same impression of a writer who was now coming up empty.
A couple more plays put paid to any worries on the songfulness front: these tunes will dog your every waking hour. Stronger still is the sheer force of the playing. Even with the loss of their original bassist, Arctic Monkeys still possess the most dynamic and supple UK rhythm section since the Stone Roses – the band’s power and agility at times resembles an Oasis fixated on Led Zeppelin rather the Beatles. Sometimes you even get the sense that these multi-segmented songs, full of stop-and-starts, are actually designed to show off their musicianship. They are also showcases for Alex Turner’s voice, an instrument as potent as the guitar, bass and drums.
What comes across even clearer on “Nightmare” than the debut is the sheer groove power of this band–the lithe swagger of “Teddy Picker”, the swinging hi-hats and low-rider bass of “D Is For Dangerous”– which goes back to the funk outfit Judan Suki that Turner and drummer Matt Helders operated in parallel with the fledgling Arctics.
“Favourite Worst Nightmare” is a near-triumph, a far superior Album #2 than “Meat Is Murder”, “The Libertines”, or “Second Coming”. Yet some doubts nag, partly because of the subject matter. There’s a slight suspicion that a fair few of the tunes are inspired by the travails of instant megafame. Take opener “Brianstorm”: over riffs that whir like the rotating blades of an abbatoir, Turner fires off glib (if funny) lines taking the piss out of some cooler-than-thou rockstar type they’ve evidently rubbed shoulders with these last 18 months–“We can’t take our eyes/off your T-shirts and ties/ combination”, climaxing with the terrific kiss-off “see you later, innovator”. Next up is “Teddy Picker”, mining a similar bluesy feel to “Fake Tales of San Francisco” and a similar tone of derision, except this time round the butt seems to be rock journalists: “D’ya reckon they mek ’em tek an oath that says ‘We are defenders/of any poseurs or professional pretenders around’?”
On the album’s second half “If You Were There, Beware” provokes a similar slight ennui: it lambasts “ambitiously vicious” muck-raking hacks grubbing for a kiss-and-tell story and harassing the star’s old sweethearts (“can’t you sense she was never meant to fill column inches?”). But here interest is sustained by the inventive song-structure. The Smiths are present again in “Fluorescent Adolescent”, which tells of that “very common crisis,” the spice going out of your sex life (“the Bloody Mary’s lacking the Tabasco”, as Turner puts it). In this case, it causes the frustrated girl to pine for some hit-and-run lover from her past (“the boy’s a slag – the best you ever had”). And then here they are again, on the next song “Only One Who Knows”, whose luminous guitar-tone recalls “Back to the Old House”.
The best things on “Nightmare” are the most lyrically direct. Like “Do Me A Favour,” a break-up song set–as with the first album’s best tune, “Red
Light.”–in a car, Turner’s eye for vivid detail in full effect. “This House Is A Circus” switches from the thrilling assonance of “this house is a circus/berserk as fuck” to the yearning chorus: “we’re forever unfulfilled/and can’t think why”.
Finally. the home stretch sees “Nightmare” open up with the emotional clarity of “The Bad Thing”, “Old Yellow Bricks” and “505”. The first is a song about infidelity, with Turner as the sorely tempted lad struggling to resist offers from a girl who assures him her boyfriend’s “not the jealous type”. “Old Yellow Bricks” depicts a slacker type who’s wasting his life. It’s a scathing yet sympathetic portrait, especially at the chorus: “he wants to sleep in a city that never wakes up/blinded by nostalgia”. “505” is about Turner’s own homesickness, an internal summons to hearth and sweetheart that must be heeded whether “it’s a seven hour flight or a 45 minute drive” away.
Expertly executed and supremely assured, “Favourite Worst Nightmare” isn’t going to make Arctic Monkeys any smaller in the scheme of things. They remain the best ensemble of guitar-toting tunesmiths to emerge from the UK this decade. While I’d be surprised if anyone, five years on, cared about this record as much as the first one, I await their “Queen Is Dead” keenly.
SIMON REYNOLDS
Dinosaur Jr – Beyond
It’s been 20 years since Dinosaur Jr proved it was possible to reconcile punk’s embrace of noise with the grandeur and sweep of stadium rock – and in the process laid the foundations for the Pixies and Nirvana. But just as those bands were using the formula to accelerate toward superstardom, Dinosaur Jr. collapsed due to internecine squabbling. So "Beyond" is the first album by the original line-up of Dinosaur Jr (singer/guitarist J Mascis, bassist and Sebadoh/Folk Implosion man Lou Barlow, and drummer Murph) since 1988’s "Bug". And while it’s not as epochal as that, or 1987’s "You’re Living All Over Me", it is more solid, consistent and, well, competent. This may sound like the tepid praise routinely and reflexively heaped on mid-career genre exercises by rock survivors, but it’s meant with the greatest sincerity. Nor is this to suggest that Dinosaur Jr. have “matured”. Rather that in the current climate, what were once Dinosaur Jr.’s biggest weaknesses – Mascis’ too-stoned-to-get-out-of-bed whine, the emotionally stunted narrators, the Crazy Horse retreads – now seem like the group’s greatest strengths. Compared to the overly declamatory sniveling and baroque Jim Steinmanisms so prevalent these days, Mascis’ bongwater drawl has grit and something approaching, dare I say it, soul. Any suggestions of pomp and circumstance are properly confined to the rousing guitar riffs and solos. The Neil Young infatuation is still front and centre (see “Pick Me Up”), but in an age of hyper-stylized “post-punk” bands and computer-generated perfection the unwashed-flannel sloppiness sounds pretty damn good. Like all Dinosaur Jr records, "Beyond" begins with a bang (the positively anthemic “Almost Ready”). But unlike all other Dinosaur Jr records, it doesn’t let up. "Beyond" doesn’t break any new ground, but as the sound of a group of guys enjoying playing together again after two decades of enmity, and as a testament to the power of good old fashioned rock ’n’ roll, it’s as refreshing as anything you’re likely to hear all year. PETER SHAPIRO
It’s been 20 years since Dinosaur Jr proved it was possible to reconcile punk’s embrace of noise with the grandeur and sweep of stadium rock – and in the process laid the foundations for the Pixies and Nirvana. But just as those bands were using the formula to accelerate toward superstardom, Dinosaur Jr. collapsed due to internecine squabbling.
So “Beyond” is the first album by the original line-up of Dinosaur Jr (singer/guitarist J Mascis, bassist and Sebadoh/Folk Implosion man Lou Barlow, and drummer Murph) since 1988’s “Bug”. And while it’s not as epochal as that, or 1987’s “You’re Living All Over Me”, it is more solid, consistent and, well, competent.
This may sound like the tepid praise routinely and reflexively heaped on mid-career genre exercises by rock survivors, but it’s meant with the greatest sincerity. Nor is this to suggest that Dinosaur Jr. have “matured”. Rather that in the current climate, what were once Dinosaur Jr.’s biggest weaknesses – Mascis’ too-stoned-to-get-out-of-bed whine, the emotionally stunted narrators, the Crazy Horse retreads – now seem like the group’s greatest strengths. Compared to the overly declamatory sniveling and baroque Jim Steinmanisms so prevalent these days, Mascis’ bongwater drawl has grit and something approaching, dare I say it, soul.
Any suggestions of pomp and circumstance are properly confined to the rousing guitar riffs and solos. The Neil Young infatuation is still front and centre (see “Pick Me Up”), but in an age of hyper-stylized “post-punk” bands and computer-generated perfection the unwashed-flannel sloppiness sounds pretty damn good.
Like all Dinosaur Jr records, “Beyond” begins with a bang (the positively anthemic “Almost Ready”). But unlike all other Dinosaur Jr records, it doesn’t let up. “Beyond” doesn’t break any new ground, but as the sound of a group of guys enjoying playing together again after two decades of enmity, and as a testament to the power of good old fashioned rock ’n’ roll, it’s as refreshing as anything you’re likely to hear all year.
PETER SHAPIRO
Son Volt – The Search
After 2005’s tentative comeback "Okemah And The Melody Of Riot", Jay Farrar’s Son Volt have discovered a new sense of ambition, even abandon, on "The Search". "The Picture", say, all ripe horns and rainy-day soul, could be a long lost Stax B-side. There are backwards effects, guitar noise and angry asides too, as Farrar curses this age of information overload. But his knack for simple, minor-key beauty is uncanny. Ballads like "Highway And Cigarettes" and "Adrenaline And Heresy" – one with pedal steel, the other doleful piano – are as quietly stunning as anything he’s done. ROB HUGHES
After 2005’s tentative comeback “Okemah And The Melody Of Riot”, Jay Farrar’s Son Volt have discovered a new sense of ambition, even abandon, on “The Search”. “The Picture”, say, all ripe horns and rainy-day soul, could be a long lost Stax B-side. There are backwards effects, guitar noise and angry asides too, as Farrar curses this age of information overload. But his knack for simple, minor-key beauty is uncanny. Ballads like “Highway And Cigarettes” and “Adrenaline And Heresy” – one with pedal steel, the other doleful piano – are as quietly stunning as anything he’s done.
ROB HUGHES
Soulsavers – It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s The Way You Land
For Rich Machin and Ian Glover, a lifetime feasting on dark mystical American music has provided a passport for further adventures into the murk. This strikingly atmospheric second album by the highly-rated remix team offers a mood palette from electro noir ("Arizona Bay") to gospel ("Revival"). Will Oldham, Josh Haden and Doves’ Jimi Goodwin are on hand to add depth, character and colour, while an extensive link up with Mark Lanegan sees him emerge as a Johnny Cash for the post digital, post nuclear age. GAVIN MARTIN
For Rich Machin and Ian Glover, a lifetime feasting on dark mystical American music has provided a passport for further adventures into the murk. This strikingly atmospheric second album by the highly-rated remix team offers a mood palette from electro noir (“Arizona Bay”) to gospel (“Revival”). Will Oldham, Josh Haden and Doves’ Jimi Goodwin are on hand to add depth, character and colour, while an extensive link up with Mark Lanegan sees him emerge as a Johnny Cash for the post digital, post nuclear age.
GAVIN MARTIN
Curse Of The Golden Flower
Fear and loathing in the Forbidden City! Emperor Ping (Chow Yun-Fat) returns from the wars to celebrate the Chrysanthemum Festival with the mysteriously ailing Empress Phoenix (Gong Li). Does he suspect she has been carrying on an affair with her stepson, Prince Wan (Liu Ye)? Will Wan elope with his lover, the Imperial physician's daughter? And why on earth is the Empress stitching thousands of yellow armbands? These questions, and many more, are enjoyably resolved over two hours of domestic intrigue, double-cross and ever more elaborate costume-fittings. Back when he was making a name for himself in the late 1980s/early 90s, the Chinese dubbed Zhang Yimou 'the peasant director' in recognition of earthy fare like Red Sorghum and To Live. More recently he's been riding the Crouching Tiger wave with action spectaculars like Hero. After this deliriously decadent melodrama they'll have to call him 'the mad king': there's more gold here than in Fort Knox. The palace is a gaudy bauble of lurid sapphires, opals, and jades while on this evidence the Tang Dynasty dressed for excess (Gong's corset deserves a best supporting Oscar nomination in its own right). The series of dramatic last reel reversals would make Hamlet look anti-climactic, but the actors are definitively upstaged by stunningly choreographed, color-coordinated troop maneuvers and Zhang's own obsessively florid embroidery. Ironically the highlight is virtually monochrome, a nocturnal assault by gravity-defying ninja assassins which feels like it belongs in a different film entirely. Tom Charity
Fear and loathing in the Forbidden City! Emperor Ping (Chow Yun-Fat) returns from the wars to celebrate the Chrysanthemum Festival with the mysteriously ailing Empress Phoenix (Gong Li). Does he suspect she has been carrying on an affair with her stepson, Prince Wan (Liu Ye)? Will Wan elope with his lover, the Imperial physician’s daughter? And why on earth is the Empress stitching thousands of yellow armbands? These questions, and many more, are enjoyably resolved over two hours of domestic intrigue, double-cross and ever more elaborate costume-fittings.
Back when he was making a name for himself in the late 1980s/early 90s, the Chinese dubbed Zhang Yimou ‘the peasant director’ in recognition of earthy fare like Red Sorghum and To Live. More recently he’s been riding the Crouching Tiger wave with action spectaculars like Hero. After this deliriously decadent melodrama they’ll have to call him ‘the mad king’: there’s more gold here than in Fort Knox. The palace is a gaudy bauble of lurid sapphires, opals, and jades while on this evidence the Tang Dynasty dressed for excess (Gong’s corset deserves a best supporting Oscar nomination in its own right).
The series of dramatic last reel reversals would make Hamlet look anti-climactic, but the actors are definitively upstaged by stunningly choreographed, color-coordinated troop maneuvers and Zhang’s own obsessively florid embroidery. Ironically the highlight is virtually monochrome, a nocturnal assault by gravity-defying ninja assassins which feels like it belongs in a different film entirely.
Tom Charity
Half Nelson
DIR: Ryan Fleck ST: Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie Deservedly Oscar nominated last month, Ryan Gosling's mesmerising performance as an inner-city Brooklyn teacher with drug problems lends this superior indie drama a depth and gravitas way beyond its subject matter. In between wrestling with his crack addiction, Gosling's Dan Dunne crosses the line from concerned mentor to over-protective confidante when one of his 13-year-old students (Epps) stumbles across his secret. First-time director Fleck and co-writer Anna Boden know the sentimental classroom drama about good-hearted teachers inspiring troubled teens has a long and mostly wretched history. But Half Nelson, with its open-ended tone and multi-layered characters, is way too honest to settle for tear-jerking genre conventions. Punctuating the action with key traumas in US history, from the Civil Rights struggle to current events in Iraq, it's also a film with an overt but subtle political agenda. Pointedly, its liberal characters are flawed and compromised, not saintly crusaders for Truth. With its jerky-camera aesthetic and alt-rock soundtrack, mostly by Broken Social Scene, Half Nelson has many of the cosmetic hallmarks of a routine American indie-drama. But crucially, it also contains warmth, wisdom and great performances. Especially Gosling, silently speaking volumes about spiritual defeat with every heartbroken shrug and uncertain smile. Understated, smart, authentic work that lingers long after the credits fade. STEPHEN DALTON
DIR: Ryan Fleck
ST: Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie
Deservedly Oscar nominated last month, Ryan Gosling’s mesmerising performance as an inner-city Brooklyn teacher with drug problems lends this superior indie drama a depth and gravitas way beyond its subject matter. In between wrestling with his crack addiction, Gosling’s Dan Dunne crosses the line from concerned mentor to over-protective confidante when one of his 13-year-old students (Epps) stumbles across his secret.
First-time director Fleck and co-writer Anna Boden know the sentimental classroom drama about good-hearted teachers inspiring troubled teens has a long and mostly wretched history. But Half Nelson, with its open-ended tone and multi-layered characters, is way too honest to settle for tear-jerking genre conventions. Punctuating the action with key traumas in US history, from the Civil Rights struggle to current events in Iraq, it’s also a film with an overt but subtle political agenda. Pointedly, its liberal characters are flawed and compromised, not saintly crusaders for Truth.
With its jerky-camera aesthetic and alt-rock soundtrack, mostly by Broken Social Scene, Half Nelson has many of the cosmetic hallmarks of a routine American indie-drama. But crucially, it also contains warmth, wisdom and great performances. Especially Gosling, silently speaking volumes about spiritual defeat with every heartbroken shrug and uncertain smile. Understated, smart, authentic work that lingers long after the credits fade.
STEPHEN DALTON
Punk Legends From the Clash And Generation X Rock Out One More Time
As I mentioned, signing off yesterday’s blog, I was just off to an industrial estate somewhere in Acton, west London, for what had been described to me as a ‘public rehearsal’ by Carbon/Silicon, the ‘band’ formed by The Clash’s Mick Jones and Tony James, formerly of Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik. I had almost cried off going, but thankfully thought better of what would have been a calamitous decision I would subsequently regretted. It turned out to be a brilliant evening. We eventually find Mick’s studio and the fabulous lock-up where he’s stored an absolute treasure trove of memorabilia. It’s part of what seems a vast complex of buildings on what recent Joe Strummer biographer and longtime Clash camp follower Chris Salewicz – one of about only 20 people gathered here – tells me is actually the largest industrial estate in Europe, although how Chris has come by this information, I am not entirely sure. Mick, as it turns out, greets us cheerily in a crowded corridor outside his studio and is soon in deep conversation with my wife about Babyshambles’ Down In Albion, possibly her favourite record, Mick’s production of which she passionately believes had been terribly maligned, a point of view Mick appears to agree with. While they are loc ked in conversation, Chris walks me into the small studio outside which everyone is milling and introduces me to Tony James, who with extraordinary recall remembers me from a Gen X interview some 30 years ago,. “This is where we’ve spent the last three years,” he tells me, with a glance around the studio, whose walls are festooned, as they say, with a colourful array of posters – prominent among them, images of The Sex Pistols and Sinatra, dean and The Rat Pack., which maybe gives a clue to how Mick and Tony now see themselves, debonair punks in handsome maturity. Tony, handing out beers, goes on to tell me that they have recorded enough material for at least three albums, and continues to talk enthusiastically about the forthcoming C/S EP, album and the live shows that clearly can’t come quickly enough for either him or Mick. It’s already hot in here and is soon sweltering as the ‘audience’ squeeze into the room, separated from the band by a mixing desk, the other side of which they’ve set up their gear, Mick to me left, Tony to his right, BAD/Dreadzone bassist Leo ‘E-Zee-Kill’ Williams to Tony’s left and former Reef drummer Dominic Greensmith behind them, a row of clocks on the wall above him that will tell him if he’s interested what time it is right now in Manila or Buenos Aries and other similarly exotic locations. Mick and Tony are wholly dapper in their suits, Mick with a colourful hankie in the breast pocket of his jacket, now self-effacingly thanking us for being where we are, and then they are speedily rocking, everything they play over the next 30 minutes sounding positively vibrant, fresh and vivacious, great tunes that recall, inevitably, The Clash (the breezy wallop of, say, “Lost in The Supermarket” or “Spanish Bombs”), BAD and a couple of moments that bring vividly to mind the early Who. They play “Magic Suitcase”, “I Loved You”, “War On Culture”, “The News” – the opening track from the soon-come EP – the terrific “What the Fuck” and, again from the EP, “Why Do Men Fight?” It’s over too soon, of course, steam coming off everyone by the end that fills the studio like dry ice at one of those Bunnymen gigs of certain legend. I then spend a happy half hour chatting variously to Mick and Tony and assorted mates and find myself impatient to see them playing again soon, which will be at Bush Hall before they go on at the Isle Of Wight Festival. See you there.
As I mentioned, signing off yesterday’s blog, I was just off to an industrial estate somewhere in Acton, west London, for what had been described to me as a ‘public rehearsal’ by Carbon/Silicon, the ‘band’ formed by The Clash’s Mick Jones and Tony James, formerly of Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik. I had almost cried off going, but thankfully thought better of what would have been a calamitous decision I would subsequently regretted. It turned out to be a brilliant evening.
Queens cock-up, Ryan Adams, Wooden Wand
First off, thanks to Red 157 for spotting the stupid error in the Queens Of The Stone Age piece I posted here yesterday. It was of course Josh Homme and not Mark Lanegan who sang the original version of "I Wanna Make It Wit Chu" on "Desert Sessions 9&10" - something I would have got right if I'd bothered to check my original review of that album. Apologies. Secondly, can I just recommend this? It's Ryan Adams performing an extended jam on "Goodnight Rose" from his forthcoming "Easy, Tiger" album. I'm far from an Adams diehard: in fact, I've found more that's irritating than admirable in his fickle, eccentric career. Nevertheless, this is great - eight and a half minutes of filigree riffing that had a few of us pondering for a minute whether it was a Grateful Dead song we hadn't heard before. And finally, I've been meaning to write properly about Wooden Wand for weeks now. If you haven't come across him before, WW is a New York guy called James Toth who looks like a Lynyrd Skynyrd roadie and who has been pumping out some terrific underground rock albums for a few years now. Toth first came on the radar fronting The Vanishing Voice, one of those occasionally deranged avant-folk/improv/psych collectives (like Sunburned Hand Of The Man and Vibracathedral Orchestra, who I blogged about the other day) whose records occasionally hit some kind of free genius. Unpredictable, though, which is why it was a surprise when Toth sneaked out a solo album a year or so ago called "Harem Of The Sundrum And The Witness Figg", which had the same air as Skip Spence's "Oar". Last year's "Second Attention" really emphasised his class as a more orthodox singer-songwriter: a pretty classical set that restaged John & Beverley Martyn's "Stormbringer" for the cover, and had a strong whiff of Dylan at his most mystical about it. The new one, "James And The Quiet", is the best yet, I think. It sounds nothing like Elvis Costello's "Imperial Bedroom", contrary to Toth's claims. But it isn't quite so easy to trace his antecedents here, either. Instead, songs like "Delia" and the title track have a sort of woody, timeless quality. It's a brilliant, subtle rethink of the folk/country-rock songwriting tradition, with just a residual hint of psychedelia. Lee Ranaldo produced it, and I can't recommend it enough. Oh, and Toth also has a fierce garage jamming band called the Zodiacs who've got an album coming out on Holy Mountain, which reminds me of early, slovenly Comets On Fire. And as I mentioned a few weeks ago, there's a cool-sounding doom band he's involved with called Totem. Here's the Myspace link if you missed it last time. Enough!
First off, thanks to Red 157 for spotting the stupid error in the Queens Of The Stone Age piece I posted here yesterday. It was of course Josh Homme and not Mark Lanegan who sang the original version of “I Wanna Make It Wit Chu” on “Desert Sessions 9&10” – something I would have got right if I’d bothered to check my original review of that album. Apologies.
Sunshine
DIRECTED BY: DANNY BOYLE STARRING: CILLIAN MURPHY, CHRIS EVANS, ROSE BYRNE PLOT SUMMARY: The eight astronauts of the Icarus II are dispatched to drop a Manhattan-sized bomb to rekindle the fires of the dying sun. The closer they get to the sun, the more they bicker. When they override the advice of the ship's computer to go in search of the lost Icarus I probe, they cross a line between reality and paranoia. And not all of them will be coming home. *** Almost 40 years since the robotic cameras of NASA and the imagination of Stanley Kubrick defined the extraterrestrial universe, space presents a problem to a filmmaker. If boldly going where no man has gone before is no longer an option, what do you do? Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland have faced this kind of quandary before. Their last collaboration, 28 Days Later, re-imagined the zombie movie by placing the action in a paranoid version of contemporary Britain. The notion of the walking dead wasn't new, but the context added urgency to the project. Sunshine is sci-fi for the rave generation. It's about alienation, not aliens, and while the crew of the Icarus II is on a mission to reignite the sun, the film's focus is the trip, not the destination. The action starts with the eight astronauts of Icarus II sitting down to a Chinese meal, 55 million miles from home. The ship's payload is a bomb, with a mass equivalent to that of Manhattan, which will be dropped onto the sun, to create a star within a star. The ship's name is a clue that these astronauts are not travelling optimistically. The sense of claustrophobia is heightened by the soundtrack, a symphony of understated bleeps by John Murphy and Underworld. The cinematography by Alwin KŸchler (see also Morvern Caller) is never less than gorgeous. Needless to say, things do not go smoothly. As well as the nightmares of the ship's physicist Capa (Cillian Murphy), the crew face dilemmas that drive the tone from jeopardy - Speed on a spaceship - through psychedelic implosion, into straightforward horror. The dialogue is an ER-like racing commentary of scientific babble ("The mainframe is out of the coolant!") which is mostly convincing, though there are moments which would have embarrassed Captain Kirk, most notably a line about communing with God. The last act almost undoes the good work, but Sunshine remains memorable for moments of sublime beauty, notably the blast through a broken airlock at minus 270 degrees C ("it's gonna be cold, but we'll make it!"). As is often the case with Boyle, the sense of the metaphor is sacrificed in favour of sensation. The Trainspotting director has added the hardware of sci-fi to the fatalism of a submarine drama. It's not rocket science, but it's rarely dull. ALASTAIR McKAY Q+A CILLIAN MURPHY UNCUT: Why did you want to be in Sunshine? MURPHY: I thought it had all the elements of the classic sci-movies like Alien and Solaris. A group of people in a confined space, and the pressure of being in that confined space for a long time. Ostensibly it's about astronauts trying to re-ignite the sun, and keep the earth alive, where in fact I think it's more about religion versus science. That really appealed to me. What Alex [Garland] managed to do in the script is tick all the boxes of a potentially great blockbuster and put some interesting questions in there. It's like a rave movie. It is meant to be far-out. Like who the hell knows what it would be like to get that close to the sun? There's a line in the movie where I say space and time distort, and towards the last act of the movie, that's what Danny and his effects boys were trying to create. How did you prepare? I hung out near Geneva with a bunch of absurdly intelligent physicists. There was one guy on the movie called Brian Cox who's the professor of physics in Manchester, and I spent a lot of time with him. He used to play in bands, he was the keyboard player for D:ream. He let me ask him hundreds of idiotic questions. Then I went out to Geneva with him. I wanted to see what these guys actually think about the meaning of life, and the meaning of everything - and if you're thinking about that all the time, what does it do to you. 28 Days Later seemed to fit in with a general feeling of dread and paranoia. What's the broader context for Sunshine? The set up is: if the sun's dying, is that God's will and should scientists interfere in God's will? There's an obvious conflict there. Then there's the fundamentalism, that's happening in religion around the world - not just in the Muslim faith but also in America. It's being sold as a sci-fi adventure, but if you want to look a bit more closely you'll find some interesting themes.
DIRECTED BY: DANNY BOYLE
STARRING: CILLIAN MURPHY, CHRIS EVANS, ROSE BYRNE
PLOT SUMMARY: The eight astronauts of the Icarus II are dispatched to drop a Manhattan-sized bomb to rekindle the fires of the dying sun. The closer they get to the sun, the more they bicker. When they override the advice of the ship’s computer to go in search of the lost Icarus I probe, they cross a line between reality and paranoia. And not all of them will be coming home.
***
Almost 40 years since the robotic cameras of NASA and the imagination of Stanley Kubrick defined the extraterrestrial universe, space presents a problem to a filmmaker. If boldly going where no man has gone before is no longer an option, what do you do?
Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland have faced this kind of quandary before. Their last collaboration, 28 Days Later, re-imagined the zombie movie by placing the action in a paranoid version of contemporary Britain. The notion of the walking dead wasn’t new, but the context added urgency to the project.
Sunshine is sci-fi for the rave generation. It’s about alienation, not aliens, and while the crew of the Icarus II is on a mission to reignite the sun, the film’s focus is the trip, not the destination.
The action starts with the eight astronauts of Icarus II sitting down to a Chinese meal, 55 million miles from home. The ship’s payload is a bomb, with a mass equivalent to that of Manhattan, which will be dropped onto the sun, to create a star within a star.
The ship’s name is a clue that these astronauts are not travelling optimistically. The sense of claustrophobia is heightened by the soundtrack, a symphony of understated bleeps by John Murphy and Underworld. The cinematography by Alwin KŸchler (see also Morvern Caller) is never less than gorgeous.
Needless to say, things do not go smoothly. As well as the nightmares of the ship’s physicist Capa (Cillian Murphy), the crew face dilemmas that drive the tone from jeopardy – Speed on a spaceship – through psychedelic implosion, into straightforward horror. The dialogue is an ER-like racing commentary of scientific babble (“The mainframe is out of the coolant!”) which is mostly convincing, though there are moments which would have embarrassed Captain Kirk, most notably a line about communing with God.
The last act almost undoes the good work, but Sunshine remains memorable for moments of sublime beauty, notably the blast through a broken airlock at minus 270 degrees C (“it’s gonna be cold, but we’ll make it!”).
As is often the case with Boyle, the sense of the metaphor is sacrificed in favour of sensation. The Trainspotting director has added the hardware of sci-fi to the fatalism of a submarine drama. It’s not rocket science, but it’s rarely dull.
ALASTAIR McKAY
Q+A CILLIAN MURPHY
UNCUT: Why did you want to be in Sunshine?
MURPHY: I thought it had all the elements of the classic sci-movies like Alien and Solaris. A group of people in a confined space, and the pressure of being in that confined space for a long time. Ostensibly it’s about astronauts trying to re-ignite the sun, and keep the earth alive, where in fact I think it’s more about religion versus science. That really appealed to me. What Alex [Garland] managed to do in the script is tick all the boxes of a potentially great blockbuster and put some interesting questions in there.
It’s like a rave movie.
It is meant to be far-out. Like who the hell knows what it would be like to get that close to the sun? There’s a line in the movie where I say space and time distort, and towards the last act of the movie, that’s what Danny and his effects boys were trying to create.
How did you prepare?
I hung out near Geneva with a bunch of absurdly intelligent physicists. There was one guy on the movie called Brian Cox who’s the professor of physics in Manchester, and I spent a lot of time with him. He used to play in bands, he was the keyboard player for D:ream. He let me ask him hundreds of idiotic questions. Then I went out to Geneva with him. I wanted to see what these guys actually think about the meaning of life, and the meaning of everything – and if you’re thinking about that all the time, what does it do to you.
28 Days Later seemed to fit in with a general feeling of dread and paranoia. What’s the broader context for Sunshine?
The set up is: if the sun’s dying, is that God’s will and should scientists interfere in God’s will? There’s an obvious conflict there. Then there’s the fundamentalism, that’s happening in religion around the world – not just in the Muslim faith but also in America. It’s being sold as a sci-fi adventure, but if you want to look a bit more closely you’ll find some interesting themes.
Norah Jones Makes Acting Debut At Cannes
Wong Kar Wai’s first English language feature "My Blueberry Nights" will open this year’s Cannes Film Festival on May 16. Norah Jones makes her acting debut as a woman who travels across America in search of love, meeting some extraordinary characters along the way. The cast also includes British talent Jude Law, Rachel Weisz and Tim Roth alongside Natalie Portman and Ed Harris. Kar Wai, whose credits include ‘In The Mood For Love’ and ‘2046’, is the first Chinese director to open the festival, which is in its 60th year. Favorites for the Palme d'Or are Gus van Sant’s ‘Paranoid Park’ and Emir Kusturica’s ‘Promise Me This.’ As in recent years, there’s a strong American presence at the festival with films by Abel Ferrara, William Friedkin, Gregg Araki and Quentin Tarantino, whose Death Proof section of the Grindhouse double feature will receive it’s European premier there. The 60th Cannes film festival runs May 16-27.
Wong Kar Wai’s first English language feature “My Blueberry Nights” will open this year’s Cannes Film Festival on May 16.
Norah Jones makes her acting debut as a woman who travels across America in search of love, meeting some extraordinary characters along the way.
The cast also includes British talent Jude Law, Rachel Weisz and Tim Roth alongside Natalie Portman and Ed Harris.
Kar Wai, whose credits include ‘In The Mood For Love’ and ‘2046’, is the first Chinese director to open the festival, which is in its 60th year.
Favorites for the Palme d’Or are Gus van Sant’s ‘Paranoid Park’ and Emir Kusturica’s ‘Promise Me This.’
As in recent years, there’s a strong American presence at the festival with films by Abel Ferrara, William Friedkin, Gregg Araki and Quentin Tarantino, whose Death Proof section of the Grindhouse double feature will receive it’s European premier there.
The 60th Cannes film festival runs May 16-27.
Beatles Across America Available For First Time
An archive Beatles ITN news documentary from 1966 has been made available for video download through digital company Wippit. The 23 minute documentary was only ever aired once in the UK and featured the Beatles' controversial tour of the US in 1966, which followed the interview that Lennon gave claiming that the group were 'more popular than Jesus Christ.' The programme shows Lennon defending himself for the comments he had made five months earlier and making something of an apology. Highlights of the rare footage are the one on one interviews with the man who first brought the issue to the attention of American Christians, DJ Tommy Charles from radio station WAQI in Birmingham, Alabama and the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, Robert Shelton. Shelton challenged if it was their views on civil rights and colour that really irked him most claimed that due to their ‘mopheads’ he couldn’t even identify if they were ‘white or black’. Paul Myers, CEO and founder of Wippit says, "It’s a stunning insight into the psyche of the time. The Beatles are unarguably the most popular act in music history and this engaging documentary demonstrates how culturally important they had become too.” ITN’s head of music partnerships Ross Landau said: “The Beatles across America is one of ITN’s oldest documentaries filmed for the Roving Report strand. It was only aired once and captures the band at the pinnacle and most controversial period of their career in the USA”. The Beatles Across America is available for video download in all territories except North America for £4.99 from Wippit here.
An archive Beatles ITN news documentary from 1966 has been made available for video download through digital company Wippit.
The 23 minute documentary was only ever aired once in the UK and featured the Beatles’ controversial tour of the US in 1966, which followed the interview that Lennon gave claiming that the group were ‘more popular than Jesus Christ.’
The programme shows Lennon defending himself for the comments he had made five months earlier and making something of an apology.
Highlights of the rare footage are the one on one interviews with the man who first brought the issue to the attention of American Christians, DJ Tommy Charles from radio station WAQI in Birmingham, Alabama and the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, Robert Shelton.
Shelton challenged if it was their views on civil rights and colour that really irked him most claimed that due to their ‘mopheads’ he couldn’t even identify if they were ‘white or black’.
Paul Myers, CEO and founder of Wippit says, “It’s a stunning insight into the psyche of the time. The Beatles are unarguably the most popular act in music history and this engaging documentary demonstrates how culturally important they had become too.”
ITN’s head of music partnerships Ross Landau said: “The Beatles across America is one of ITN’s oldest documentaries filmed for the Roving Report strand. It was only aired once and captures the band at the pinnacle and most controversial period of their career in the USA”.
See Ryan Adams Perform New Album Track
Prolific alt.rocker Ryan Adams has made a live appearance on a US music TV show hosted by Henry Rollins. The singer performs the eight-and-a-half minute track "Goodnight Rose" from his forthcoming studio album "Easy Tiger," which is due for release on June 26. The Rollins show website also includes a short video interview with Adams. Watch the brilliant live performance by clicking here
Prolific alt.rocker Ryan Adams has made a live appearance on a US music TV show hosted by Henry Rollins.
The singer performs the eight-and-a-half minute track “Goodnight Rose” from his forthcoming studio album “Easy Tiger,” which is due for release on June 26.
The Rollins show website also includes a short video interview with Adams.
Grinderman Release New Single After ATP
Nick Cave's new sideproject band Grindernman are to release their third single "(I Don’t Need You To) Set Me Free" on May 7. The single taken from their self-titled debut album will be available as a limitd edition one-sided 7" vinyl and as a digital download. The band who also consists of Bad Seeds members Martyn Casey, Warren Ellis and Jim Sclavunos are making their live debut at All Tomorrow's Parties next weekend, April 27-28 - where Nick Cave will also perform a headline solo show. Grinderman will also now play a lunchtime instore show at HMV Oxford Circus on May 9. Discussing the new single, Cave explains he was inspired by John Lee Hooker. He says: “I was trying to find a way into what I wanted the lyrics to be concerned with. I was listening to John Lee Hooker and I heard these lines buried deep in one of his songs: 'I went down to my baby’s house/And I sat down on the step.' And in that instant, I knew I’d found a way in, you know, to the album. That’s all you need, a way in. Lyrically, the whole album rests on those two lines.” He continues rather puzzlingly: "The protagonist in "Set Me Free" is disconnected from things whilst his ‘other’ has left him in order to engage in the world. The protagonist no longer has a “witness”, he is alone, and left to metaphorically “sit down on the step.”
Nick Cave’s new sideproject band Grindernman are to release their third single “(I Don’t Need You To) Set Me Free” on May 7.
The single taken from their self-titled debut album will be available as a limitd edition one-sided 7″ vinyl and as a digital download.
The band who also consists of Bad Seeds members Martyn Casey, Warren Ellis and Jim Sclavunos are making their live debut at All Tomorrow’s Parties next weekend, April 27-28 – where Nick Cave will also perform a headline solo show.
Grinderman will also now play a lunchtime instore show at HMV Oxford Circus on May 9.
Discussing the new single, Cave explains he was inspired by John Lee Hooker. He says: “I was trying to find a way into what I wanted the lyrics to be concerned with. I was listening to John Lee Hooker and I heard these lines buried deep in one of his songs: ‘I went down to my baby’s house/And I sat down on the step.’ And in that instant, I knew I’d found a way in, you know, to the album. That’s all you need, a way in. Lyrically, the whole album rests on those two lines.”
He continues rather puzzlingly: “The protagonist in “Set Me Free” is disconnected from things whilst his ‘other’ has left him in order to engage in the world. The protagonist no longer has a “witness”, he is alone, and left to metaphorically “sit down on the step.”
Fancy quizzing comeback kings The Jesus And Mary Chain?
With the band on the verge of playing their first live dates in nine years, Uncut is preparing to put your questions to Jim and William Reid. So if you want to know why they split in 99, whether they're still happy when it rains and if they're still big fans of leather or anything else send your questions to uncutaudiencewith@ipcmedia.com with 'Marychain' in the subject line by Tuesday (April 24). The band's confirmed reunion dates so far are: Pomona, CA Glass House (April 26) Indio, CA Coachella Festival Empire Polo Field (27) Lisbon, Portugal Super Bock Super Rock (July 4) Madrid, Spain Summercase Festival (13) Barcelona, Spain Summercase Festival (14) Hildesheim, Germany M'era Luna Festival (August 12) Argyll, Scotland Connect Festival Inveraray Castle (31) County Laois, Ireland Electric Picnic Stradbally Estate (September 1)
With the band on the verge of playing their first live dates in nine years, Uncut is preparing to put your questions to Jim and William Reid.
So if you want to know why they split in 99, whether they’re still happy when it rains and if they’re still big fans of leather or anything else send your questions to uncutaudiencewith@ipcmedia.com with ‘Marychain’ in the subject line by Tuesday (April 24).
The band’s confirmed reunion dates so far are:
Pomona, CA Glass House (April 26)
Indio, CA Coachella Festival Empire Polo Field (27)
Lisbon, Portugal Super Bock Super Rock (July 4)
Madrid, Spain Summercase Festival (13)
Barcelona, Spain Summercase Festival (14)
Hildesheim, Germany M’era Luna Festival (August 12)
Argyll, Scotland Connect Festival Inveraray Castle (31)
County Laois, Ireland Electric Picnic Stradbally Estate (September 1)
Queens Of The Stone Age and “Era Vulgaris”
I'm not sure we should be giving any more publicity to the bizarre media phenomenon that is Sharon Osbourne, but I couldn't resist starting today with this quote from her about Josh Homme. Homme, it seems, had the temerity to criticise Ozzfest. In response, Osbourne told Blender, "I hope he gets syphilis and dies. I hope his dick fuckin' falls off so his mother can eat it." Nice image, thanks for that. It strikes me, though, that the ubiquity of Osbourne is something that Homme is obliquely railing against on "Era Vulgaris" (Latin for "Common Era"), the predictably excellent new Queens Of The Stone Age album. Track Three is called "I'm Designer", and features those choppy, robotic riffs which have become Homme's trademark. "The thing that's real for us is fortune and fame," he notes, "All the rest seems like work. It's just like diamonds - in shit." He then wolf whistles, perkily. Soon, the track mutates into a kind of lush, hazy psychedelic chorus, with Homme at his softest. It's a schizophrenic trick which the Queens repeat again and again on this dense, complicated album, one which reveals its treasures in a much more insidious way than previous Queens albums. I think parts of it may sound like Devo meets "Strawberry Fields"-era Beatles, especially "I'm Designer" and the fantastic "Battery Acid". But essentially, it's a refinement - a stabilising, maybe - of Homme's intimidating talent. There's a lot I like about the last Queens album, "Lullabies To Paralyze", but in contrast to the steely purpose of Homme's other records, it feels a bit shapeless, haphazard. "Era Vulgaris" is right back on point. There are no Nick Oliveri-shaped distractions this time round, and while a bunch of passing suspects apparently help out with backing vocals - Julian Casablancas, Billy Gibbons - the line-up feels stabler. Or as stable as a restless spirit like Homme could ever make his band, I guess. Anyway, it's all shadowy, gripping modal boogie, as you'd hope. Some things here - "Into The Hollow" and "Misfit Love" - fit stylistically right between "Rated R" and "Songs For The Deaf". One of the most immediate tunes is "I Wanna Make It Wit Chu", an old Desert Sessions song originally sung by Lanegan, here slowed down by Homme to a louche piano vamp that reeks of late-'70s Stones. The other is "3's & 7's", riding a cranked riff so reminiscent of Nirvana that our Reviews Ed referred to it the other day as the Queens'"Song 2". Homme's songwriting is never quite that straightforward, though, and "Era Vulgaris" is as dense, prickly and fastidious an album as he's ever made. By "River In The Road", the errant Lanegan appears to be back in the fold, lending his apocalyptic moan to a proggish sequel to "Song For The Dead". That June gig in London with the Queens and The White Stripes should be amazing. I once saw them play together in Bologna, and also witnessed Nick Oliveri sniffing Meg White's drum stool. But that's another story entirely. . .
I’m not sure we should be giving any more publicity to the bizarre media phenomenon that is Sharon Osbourne, but I couldn’t resist starting today with this quote from her about Josh Homme. Homme, it seems, had the temerity to criticise Ozzfest. In response, Osbourne told Blender, “I hope he gets syphilis and dies. I hope his dick fuckin’ falls off so his mother can eat it.”
