CDs/DVDs
Blu-ray: Melville - The Essential CollectionTuesday, 26 December 2017
A new box-set to relish, six French cinema classics by a cult director, along with a wealth of fascinating extras on a seventh DVD. The French film-maker Jean-Pierre Melville belongs to a class of his own: a precursor of the New Wave, an influence... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2017: Yusuf/Cat Stevens - The Laughing AppleSunday, 24 December 2017
2017 was the year I began to feel my age. It started with mild fatigue and soon progressed to general world-weariness. I wasn't the only one feeling worn-out. This year everyone seemed tired and angsty. From Brexit to Harvey Weinstein,... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2017: Bob Dylan - Trouble No MoreSaturday, 23 December 2017
“Passion! You gotta have passion!” I still feel the full force of Tricky’s conviction, as I was filming him in 1997, for my film Naked and Famous. He’s right: music works better than words when expressing the deepest emotions.This year has been a... Read more... |
Blu-ray: The Complete Monterey Pop FestivalFriday, 22 December 2017
The Monterey Pop Festival in California in mid-June 1967 was a key event in the history of festival culture. There had been music festivals before in the US – Newport Folk springs to mind – but Monterey marked the point where the whimsical trend for... Read more... |
DVD/Blu-ray: PulpThursday, 21 December 2017
Get Carter’s imitators tried to recapture the laconic violence of a very local gangster film. Get Carter’s makers swapped Newcastle for Malta, and a sunny, absurdist farce which is among British cinema’s unclassifiable one-offs.Writer-director Mike... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2017: Susanne Sundfør - Music For People in TroubleWednesday, 20 December 2017
At two minutes and 39 seconds, Music For People in Trouble’s “Good Luck Bad Luck” executes an abrupt shift. An examination of whether a liaison would end up as “an empty cup” suddenly stops and the sound of a smoky jazz combo takes over with a... Read more... |
Blu-ray: CarrieTuesday, 19 December 2017
As we reach December, the year of Stephen King comes to a close with this 4K Blu-ray restoration of his very first film adaptation: Carrie. It was the first major success for Brian De Palma, Sissy Spacek and John Travolta, but how does the original... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2017: Rising Appalachia - AliveMonday, 18 December 2017
2017 has been a time of change if not turmoil, on both personal and political stratospheres. So the music of two sisters whose jam is made up primarily of protest and healing songs, is the perfect antidote.When chaos abounds, the relentless... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2017: Arcade Fire - Everything NowSunday, 17 December 2017
I’ve long thought there should be an arts website called ‘On Second Thoughts’ where critics post their reconsidered opinions of albums, books, films or whatever, once they’ve been properly digested. After all, it’s often the case that either first-... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2017: Tom Russell - Folk HotelSaturday, 16 December 2017
A regular reviewing gig inevitably opens the ears to lots of “stuff”, what with the CDs (and downloads, so irritating to review from) dispatched by hopeful PRs and Spotify (great for browsing, crap for artists) offering the opportunity to dip in and... Read more... |
CD: N.E.R.D - No_One Ever Really DiesFriday, 15 December 2017
In the seven years since N.E.R.D last had an album out, Pharrell Williams’ profile, which was already massive, has achieved some sort of pop supernova. “Happy”, “Get Lucky” and the less loveable “Blurred Lines” have made him a megastar. He now... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2017: Nick Mulvey - Wake Up NowThursday, 14 December 2017
For the past few years my Album of the Year has leapt out at me, craved attention, stood out from the competition. With no disrespect to Nick Mulvey’s fine second album, that wasn’t the case in 2017. Many albums this year had vital, enjoyable music... Read more... |
