CDs/DVDs
DVD: The Lone RangerFriday, 13 December 2013
Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney perhaps hoped their Lone Ranger reboot, replete with hamming Captain Jack Tonto at its heart, would be a draw in the league of director Gore Verbinski’s Pirates of the Caribbean series. They were gravely mistaken. The... Read more... |
CD: Susan Boyle - Home for ChristmasWednesday, 11 December 2013
Few were surprised this week, when Susan Boyle revealed she had been diagnosed with Asperger’s. Some used this knowledge as an opportunity to have another go at Simon Cowell's and his role in putting her in the spotlight. But the brittleness so... Read more... |
DVD: The Act of KillingMonday, 09 December 2013
Special Dialogue is a frothy, lunchtime news-and-chat programme on Indonesia's national television channel. One day – not a special day – its bubbly female anchor hosted three older men. One was called Anwar Congo. She smilingly introduces them by... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Neil Young, MotownSunday, 08 December 2013
Neil Young: Live at the Cellar DoorCrosby, Stills, Nash & Young had fallen apart in summer 1970 and Neil Young was left to promote After the Gold Rush, his third solo album from August that year. He hit the road on his own after "Only Love Can... Read more... |
CD: Bright Eyes - A Christmas AlbumSunday, 08 December 2013
Nebraskan singer-songwriter Conor Oberst – AKA Bright Eyes - was a famously contrary soul when he first broke through. This greatly benefited his music, if not his commercial potential. Rather than become your typical indie-acoustic whiner, he... Read more... |
CD: Kelly Clarkson - Wrapped in RedSaturday, 07 December 2013
This year, even legendary punk rockers Bad Religion released a Christmas-themed album - as if to underline that, for just about any recording artist, it’s not a matter of "if" but of "when". Christmas Songs only shares one track with Kelly Clarkson’... Read more... |
DVD: Mr ArkadinFriday, 06 December 2013
Mr Arkadin, wedged between two greats – Othello and Touch of Evil – is Welles’ most chaotic film, its production scarred by budget restraints and a terminal quarrel with the producer, who barred Welles from the final edit – yet again. What you see... Read more... |
CD: Musical Gifts from Joshua Bell and FriendsThursday, 05 December 2013
There's an impressive guest list on Joshua Bell's Christmas disc. Vocalists include Renée Fleming, Plácido Domingo, Gloria Estefan and Alison Krauss. Cellist Steven Isserlis pops up, along with Chick Corea. Sony would have us believe that this is... Read more... |
DVD: Only God ForgivesTuesday, 03 December 2013
Reactions to Only God Forgives are going to be defined by expectations. Its star, Ryan Gosling, is an all-purpose arts polymath equally at home with music and film, who has directed and written as well as acted. Its director, the Danish-born Nicolas... Read more... |
CD: R Kelly - Black PantiesMonday, 02 December 2013
Do people really find this sensual? R Kelly’s rise to the very top of the R&B tree cannot, surely, be based on multi-million sales caused by a gigantic ironic in-joke. His Trapped in the Closet series of films showed a knowing wink but, no, the... Read more... |
CD: The Fauns - LightsSunday, 01 December 2013
Even on first listen, without context or introduction, the music of The Fauns already seems familiar. Their sound is an amalgam of many of the things I have enjoyed in 2013: The History of Apple Pie, all guitar fuzz and sweetness; the shimmer of the... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: The Velvet Underground, Neal Ford & the FanaticsSunday, 01 December 2013
The Velvet Underground: White Light/White HeatThe shadow cast over the reissue of The Velvet Underground’s second album White Light/White Heat by Lou Reed’s recent death is a poignant reminder that an awful lot of time has passed since this... Read more... |
