2011
2011: The Rave ReturnsFriday, 30 December 2011
Against all the odds, I find myself going into 2012 with a strong sense of optimism. And the reason? I am a born-again rave zealot. I saw it at Outlook Festival in Croatia, I saw it at Sónar in Barcelona, and I saw it at the Big Chill where I was... Read more... |
2011: Car parks, Curtains and ConsidineThursday, 29 December 2011
In a year when eyes turned to London for the riots, the budget cuts and the hacked phones, there seemed to be a fair amount of middle England portrayed by British creatives. Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork’s London Road at the National retold 2006’s... Read more... |
2011: King Lear, Breaking Bad and Afro-FuturismThursday, 29 December 2011
The Mayans say 2012 is The End, so this may be the very last round-up of the year. I saw possibly the best Shakespeare I’ve ever seen – a chamber version of King Lear at the Donmar Theatre directed by Michael Grandage with Derek Jacobi as the mad... Read more... |
2011: Welsh Warblers and Wagner Gone WestThursday, 29 December 2011
Living and working 150 miles from London, one either clutches at local straws or gets on a train. I’ve done both in 2011, as usual, but in a way the local is more stimulating, not because it’s better (ha!) but because there’s so much less of it.... Read more... |
CD of the Year: Bon Iver - Bon IverThursday, 29 December 2011
The albums that work their way under your skin are few and far between. The second CD by Justin Vernon, aka Bon Iver, is one of those earworm-laden offerings that leave you wanting for more and haunted by seductive phrases and catchy tunes. There is... Read more... |
2011: Ladies With Ukuleles and Blockbusters With BiteThursday, 29 December 2011
2011 was an excellent year for highly original music from female musicians, two of whom brandished ukuleles yet found quite different ways of using them.New England’s Merrel Garbus (otherwise known as Tune-Yards) put her foot down on the effects... Read more... |
Opinion: Oligarchs and oiligarchs have made art a luxuryWednesday, 28 December 2011
For me, 2011 will go down as the year in which the fact that artworks have become luxury goods – playthings for the rich – could no longer be ignored. In response Damien Hirst, one of the first artists to turn himself into a brand, is sprinkling the... Read more... |
CD of the Year: Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't KnowWednesday, 28 December 2011
This was the year I finally fell in love with Laura Marling’s music. I liked her first two albums well enough, but I couldn't quite shake the feeling that the endless chorus of critical hosannas was more about what people wanted her to be than what... Read more... |
2011: Anthemic Elbow, Iranian drama, and Fear and Loathing in ElsinoreWednesday, 28 December 2011
The Barbican has always led the way in London in international theatre programming. The year there ended on a high, with Thomas Ostermeier’s Hamlet from the Schaubühne laying down new markers for transgressive commitment. I was sceptical about it... Read more... |
2011: Unlovely Love Stories and Unerotic Erotic TalesWednesday, 28 December 2011
While I'm still learning to disentangle my mezzo from my Meistersinger, I enjoyed a lot of the opera on offer in London this year, especially at English National Opera. Parsifal was perfect and Rameau's Castor and Pollux, while probably a little too... Read more... |
2011: Mysteries, Mayhem and MargaretWednesday, 28 December 2011
Many have dismissed 2011 as cinematically something of a disappointment, but while close inspection may have identified more cubic zirconia than bona fide diamonds, the year glittered nevertheless. The showstopping Mysteries of Lisbon was... Read more... |
2011: A Far Cry from Ramsay StreetWednesday, 28 December 2011
This is probably cheating - because it was released in 1980 - but one of the cultural highlights of my year was the opportunity to revisit the film Bad Timing, which was screened as part of director Nicolas Roeg’s retrospective at the BFI in March.... Read more... |
