The event issue 155 22 10 2003

A shining light in the.. . etc.

22/10/03

Season

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The Darkness Interviewed Mis-Teeq Interviewed The Coens Examined Robert Harris Interviewed David Blaine Hated

• • • • •

02

CONTENTS: 22.10.03 Features

IS ...

Concrete Editor-in-Chief Jim Whalley

04

Regulars 03

COEN BROTHERS

Event Editor Nathan Dixon

05

Arts Editor Katharine Clemow

07 CINEFILE

ROBERT HARRIS

Charade

With his n ew novel, Pompei i , riding high in the hardback s bestsellers lists, Robert Harris is found in a jovial mood.

Film Editor Philip Sainty

BLAGGERY Lots and lots of loveliness from your favourite paper.

After the release of the Coe n brother's new film, we take a broad brush to their career .

12 CREATIVE WRITING A selection of poetry in memory of poetry day.

06

Assistant Film Editor Dean Bowman

VENICE EXHIBITION The Event' s catchment area goes global after one of our journalists spends her holidays constructively.

07

Listings Editor Ri<;:hSimm

ANIMATION FESTIVAL

08

Drama Soc Festival preview, Comedy Store at The Forum review, Book Preview, Book re -viewed.

MIS-TEEQ Do they have anything to say? The Event tries to find out, and discovers everything is just dandy.

Music Editors Matt Sargeson & Sarah Edwardes

10 Contributors (in order of appearance):

Alistair Lawrence • Jonathan Perlmutter • Alyssa Morrisey • Matt Stratton • Matthew Creber • Daniel Chandler • Adam O'Brien • Harriet Brooks • Lucy Mowatt • Matt Sparkes • Colin Griffiths • Joe Dunthorne • Jon Stone • Thomas Kennedy • lsabel Dyson • Alex Martin • Edward Mooney • Joe Minihane • Kate Finburg-Shorter • Ben Patashnik • Joel Turner • Andrew Grudge • Amy Hewitt • Kate Bryant

Spellbound, Intolerable Cruelty, Kiki 's Delivery Service. Castle in the Sky, Head of State.

15 ARTS

The third Norwich animation festival sees it rise to further success.

Assistant Listings Editor Pally Miller

13 FILM/DVD

16 MUSIC The Strokes, Primal Scream, Kylie, UNKLE, A/fie interviewed.

THE DARKNESS They need no introduction really, but here's one anyway. The Event was just important enough to wangle an interview with three quarters of Britain's biggest band.

18 TV David Blaine, Time Commanders, Essential 7V Films.

19 LISTINGS Things, listed.

The Event is published fortnigh~y by Concrete: Post: PO Box 410, Norwich, NR4 7TB Tel: 01603 250558 Fax: 01603 506822 E-mail : su .concrete@uea.ac.uk Printed by: Archant Newspapers, St Andrew's Business Park, Norwich Thanks to Colin Grffifths for some fantastic photos of The Darkness. Sorry to last issue's proof reader, whose name should have read 'Jeff' Clayton (oh, the delicious irony). Still miss you, Emily.

Again, any feedback is happily received, but not from idiots. David Blaine is a tosser.

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Literature Condensed A Bluffer's Guide.

We 've all been there ... it 's five minutes before the seminar begins and we haven't read a single bloody word of the book for that week. Wouldn't it be handy to have a quick, easily disgestible guide to the Western World's greatest literary works with which to bluff one's way through an otherwise red-faced couple of hours? Yes it would, don't argue.

[Sylvia] Moan

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This issue: The Poetic Works of

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We at Concrete and The Event are lovely people. Aim st to a fault. Full of bon homie and premature christmas cheer we have a fat barr I full of stuff to fling enthusiastically in your direction. What's more ... look at all these prizes! Just answer the relevant questions and ~rop us a line at su.concrete@uea.ac.uk and these wonderful gifts could be yours to hold, cherish or give away to people as c birthday presents, you skank.

Competition ght you 'orrible lot! The · ous fools at Sony t«•r•nTGrA their bins and posted Towers. The small fact that they're ""'"""""',. ecord label means that the items to be · found when rummaging in their rubbish may well be more desirable than the average student's grotty platic bag-lined crap bucket. Indeed, this is very much the case.

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There's more?! Yes. Read on .. .

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Have you heard of SpongeBob SquarePants, a yellow sponge who lives with his pet snail Gary, under the sea in a 2-storey pineapple in Bikini Bottom? If not, then you are missing out on one of the best cult animations to hit the UK in years.

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works as a fry cook in The Krusty Krab fast food joint. His main aim in life is to be Employee of the Month, every month. This is a cartoon with a difference and SpongeBob and his bizarre friends will have you l#l enthralled in its simple nonsensical 'Htpt lP. humour and unashamed !!PONc, escapism.

•• rtlogs· For all of you '• ., •~'lf't . .'itS? crazy Sponge fans • out there, we have got a fantastic goody bag to giveaway, containing the coolest gadgets that would brighten up any student digs. You can win an executive stress SpongeBob toy which speaks when you hit it, a SpongeBob DVD, an interactive SpongeBob PS2 game and last but not least, a Justin Timberlake album courtesy of Virgin.

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THE

EVENT

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04 F

Coen Bros

What's Coen on?

Fi mography

. Blood Simple â&#x20AC;˘ SE-ll

Intricate ly drawn plot of adultery, d eceit and fatal cross-inte ntions. The comedy is a s black as it comes and M. Emme t Walsh shines as the sle azy private detec tive.

Raising Arizona Misjudge d stab a t screwball come dy , though overflowing with imaginative imagery.

Miller's Crossing Assured and loving tribute to the writing of Dashiell Hammett, boasting the C oen's finest dialogue until Th e Big Lebowski.

Barton Fink â&#x20AC;˘ :' J Rather self-consciously quirky, though John Turturro is undeniably wonderful as a thinly-veiled William Faulkner

The Hudsucker Proxy . c. " Not yet having realised that they're funniest when not doing all-out comedy, this remains bearable mainly thanks to the sheer absurdity of the HulaHoop sequences .

Fargo .~~

Widely considered to be the Coen's masterpiece, it displays a (previously absent) sympathy for their characters . Once described a s "Blood Simple in the snow" .

n case you hadn't noticed, this month h as seen the release of Kill Bi ll, Quentin Tarantino's latest offering.

The movie media, from high-brow film journals to multiplex cinema trailers , h as been dripping wi th tales of his eagerly-anticipated, epically drawn dream project. However, as was the case with Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York, this expectancy has been under-pinned with a definite anxiety; a fear that the director's strengths will be lost in the sheer size of the project. One could argue that the most whole-heartedly anticipated release of the season is instead Intolerable Cruelty, by the Coen brothers.

Fortunately for Joel and Ethan, their career has a taken a path whereby this expectation is not of the suffocating weight that Tarantino endures. Critics are not waiting to slash them down if they see anything other than a masterp iece. In many ways , the Coen brothers have it too easy; a remarkably high proportion of their work is undeniably flawed, much of it dates Vf2ry badly, and 20 years since the release of Blood Simple one doesn't feel that the ir work has progre ssed or matured to any great extent. Yet the Coe n's continue to receive the adulation of peers, audiences, and critics.

One can't help but take note of the unswerving praise the Coen brothers receive from many actors and technicians with whom they have worked over the previous two decades , and

As their career progressed, films of postmodernist reflexivity became increasingly fashionable ... and their thematic shallowness seemed to bother few critics. plenty return to work under them again when the opportunity presents itself.

The overriding consensus seems to be that Joe l and Ethan Coen are consummate professionals. Their dedication to planning rivals that of Hitchcock, an asset that unsurprisingly wins them

The Big Lebowski If Fargo was their critical pinnacle, this surely remains their cult classic . The slightly over-co mplicated p lot is compensated for by ch aracter performances that would redeem any film to the fullest.

0 Brother, Where Art Thou?

A heady mix of Homer, legendary blues musicians and the KKK that almost seems too packed with innovation for its own good. The film 's soundtrack reportedly made more money than the film itself.

The Man Who Wasn't There Sumptuously photographed yet emotionally cold exercise in film-noir. Warning: it makes smoking look beautiful.

Intolerable Cruelty :)\){,-!

Enj oyable romantic comedy, though in terms of the Coen brothers, a diluted and conservative effort.

22.1.0.03

inventive (and su ccessful) casting, playing on the stre ngths of some of America ' s finest c haracter actors , including Steve Buscemi, William H. Macy and Joel 's wife , Frances McDormand.

The character of Marge in Fargo has been held up by some as the finest female role in American cinema fa ;: decades, n ot least because it was a rare example of a female character not being defined by her relationship to the men in her life .

As for critical praise, there is understandably less unanimity and consistency. Most were baffled by Raising Arizona and very unsatisfied

friends on-set. While Hitchcock's control of the film process often stretched to suffocating the expression of his actors, the Coen's trust in their actors allows them the freedom to d e ve lop characters in the ir own fashion. This is further re-enforced by consistently

with The Hudsucker Proxy, while Barton Fink (which was a huge success at Cannes) e nthralled some and aliena ted others. However, because the C oens are constantly changing stylistic tack (following the darkness of Blood Simple with the slapstick of Raising Arizon a was perhaps the most glaring example of this), critics are nervous about pigeon-holing them. Because every film of theirs is to a certain extent an experiment, whether it is fusing genres or evoking a period, allowances are made when assessing the actual quality of the work. Their proverbial slate is consistently wiped clean and, as is very rare in popular film criticism, their successes are remembered far more than their failures. s their career progressed, fi lms of postmodernist reflexivity became increasingly ashionable, and their unashamed thematic shallowness seemed to bother relatively few critics.

Perhaps part of the reason for this is that, as well as being highly entertaining, many of their films are of course d econstructions of cinematic lore; n amely the kind of films that critics love to talk about. Almost their whole body of work can be understood by applying

the rules of film noir, peppered with just e nough quirkiness to give the impression of originality. And the brothers merely sustain this appetite by refusing to justify or analyse themselves ; when asked to comment on the h a untingly ambivalent ending of Barton Fink, Joel Coen declared "There's a guy on a beach with a head in a box. What d o you say beyond that?"

One of the main factors that accounts for the Coen brothers' ability to retain such wide credibility is their careful balance of independence an d accessibility. Often seen as, if not the figureheads, then key components of the 80s/ 90s surge in American independent cinema, they seem to have balanced that spirit with commercial success far more consistently than, say, Jim Jarmusch or Steven Soderbergh.

The Hudsucker Proxy cost $25 million and starred Paul Newman; hardly the hallmarks of true independence. Yet the heightened style and philosophical undercurrents of their films ar e not standard box-office ingredients, and the blackness of their humour seemed like a welcome antidote to Hollywood banality for much of their career.

However, the state of mainstream US cinema seems to have gradually e levated over the last d ecad e, to the point where we c an now expect to see the work of artists such as Spike Jonze, P.T Anderson and Wes Ande rson (all of whom are far more willing to genuinely break ground with their work) at our local UCI. One can not help but feel that Joel and Ethan C oen are becoming swamped by this resurgence , now unable to locate th emselves in the void between mainstream banality and independent innovation, simply because that void is now so murky and so crowded.

After Fargo it seemed that they were willing to embrace the humanity of their characters, and that perhaps as they matured, their distant cynicism may thaw somewhat. If 0 Brother Where Art Thou proved ambiguous on this front, The Man Who Wasn't There firmly stated quite the opposite. As Intolerable Cruelty approaches, there is little reason to think that the Coen's will actually have anything to say in their work, yet the same subtle expectancy is still there. Maybe cinematographer Roger Deakins was right when he sta ted: "they could film a telephone directory and it would be fascinating."

............................................................... Features OS

Pompe路路 In Norwich to give a talk at Ottakars, Robert Harris talks to Nathan Dixon about his new book Pompeii, likening writing to car smashes, American hegemony and what the Romans ever did for us.

t's been five years since readers have had the opportunity to enjoy a work of fiction by Robert Harris. What's been going on? It turns out that he thought he'd never write another historical novel.

Instead of a book based on the past, set somewhere cold - as, he argues, his previous books (Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel) have tended to be - he had hit upon the idea of writing a story, set in the near future , about America. And, while he was at it, he was going to set it somewhere warmer. So, if all else failed, at least researching it would be more fun . In this case, how on earth did it come to pass that his current book is set two thousand years ago, in the bay of Naples, and centres around the illfated inhabitants of Pornpeii?

"I went to Walt Disney World" Harris explains in his talk at Ottakars, Norwich "and this was the end of the U.S. book for me. I was checking into a hotel and a couple traversed the lobby - he was wearing a tuxedo and she was in a white satin wedding dress. He was wearing a pair of black Mickey Mouse ears and she was wearing a pair of white Mickey Mouse ears and they were heading for the platform overlooking the Sleeping Beauty castle to get married. And I thought: right, that's it. I can' t satirise this, I can't explain this; I can' t even really cope with this as a writer. I mean, really, what is there left for me to do? There's nothing, is there? I was completely defeated by the whole experience."

"So, I returned home - this was the er of 2000, two years after 'Archangel had come out - and I was due to meet my publW\er foT lunch. I was 8tarting to get lllightly nervoua, indeed

ally had a lot of warning of what was going to happen. There had been earth tremors for two or three days beforehand, water supplies had failed and so on. The eruption occurred at noon, but it wasn't until dawn of the following day about e ighteen hours later - that people actually died."

All the bodies excavated were discovered at roof level. They had been walking around on top of the debris that had been blown-off the top of Mount Vesuvius (the energy released in the blast is estimated as the equivalent of 100, 000 Hiroshima bombs) when they died. But what had killed them? The debris that had fallen would have been little worse (in terms of impact with bodies) than a very heavy hailstorm.

The rock was not all that dense - fragments the size of golf balls and larger would have floated on water, for example.

It was, in fact, the searing hot winds (300 degrees centigrade) that ripped down the mountain side and swept over the town at dawn of the following day caused by the volcanoe ' s eruption plume collapsing under it's own weight - that killed the town's 2,000 inhabitants. "In which case, " Harris explains, "there are all sorts of possibilities that this opens up. Moral choices and so forth - some people had gone back, thinking that the worst was over," having been scared off by the initial explo-

" The energy released in the blast is estimated at the equivalent 100, 000 Hiroshimab

and set my novel two thousand years earlier - the Roman Empire could serve as my 'route in'." The book opens with three quotes, two of which are strikingly similar: Pliny the elder over two millennia ago and Torn Wolfe, a modern American author. Both are written in a brashly confident, triumphal tone and proclaim their nation to be the world's unassailable artistic, scientific and economic leaders. In which case, is the book intended to be read in full light of this? "Well yes, it was certainly in my mind when I came to write the book.

Which is not to say it is a sort of allegory, but I was very much interested in highlighting the similarities, rather than the differences, between the situations of the ancient and the modern world.

It's not a direct parallel, obviously, but you certainly have to go back two thousand years before you find a country that is as powerful as America is today.

What I'm effectively getting at is the notion of hubris. This idea that 'hey, we 're top dogs and everything is going to be like this for ever' you know, 'the end of history' and so on. ~e we know of course, through Pornpeii, that this isn't likely to be the case. That's what I think gives Pornpeii an eternal interest as a story." It was a natural warning unheeded and it highlighted an over-confidence in man's own capabilities and achievements . A modern equivalent might be the American attitude towards the Kyoto agreement and global warming; perhaps the extraordinarily warm summer we 've just had should be seen as a little b it more than just a nice opportunity to sun-bathe? arris succeeds marvellously in bringing to life the busy and at times bawdy Roman coastal towns through a convincing use of modern dialogue rather than the faux-classic English often used in depicting the era - and a brisk, direct prose style. However, at one point he describes Pornpeii as a "boom town" - is this intended as a bit of a dodgy joke? "Well, (laughs) oh yes, I see what you mean, it wasn't intentional, no. Yes ... hmrnrn .. . I hadn't thought of that!" Facetiousness aside, what he really meant was "Pornpeii was not , as we tend to imagine it from the art treasures, a sort of serene and beautiful place with people swapping eigrarns etc. It was a bustling, thriving town. It contained a lot of sea men, a lot of construction workers on-site, a lot of prostitutes路 and lots of general activity, profitmaking and money-grabbing. " It was, in many ways , likely to be very similar to life today.

Despite the

H

the ground beneath my feet firmly and four-fifths of the book was written between January and April this year."

So he writes in the same way as the plots from his own books: building up the tension with an approaching deadline?

"Exactly. Well exactly, I think you've got... it's like being in some sort of road-smash almost - the adrenaline kicks-in and suddenly everything sort of slows down and you can... you're almost in a different realm. If you know you've got to do a thousand words in a day the.n there 's no messing about, you've got to get down those stairs and do it. Things come out of your head in

" The ghost of Frankie Howerd loomed large at one point. And there were times I thought it might be a total disaster. " that sort of situation that you didn't even know were there. And I'm sure that if you had all the time in the world ... you wouldn't write anythi.ng half as good.

You wouldn't write anythi.ng as tight or, possibly, as strange. I think you'd just correct and correct until it was a bit bland and safe or boring. It's obvious I'm a journalist at heart, the deadlines are required to get me moving!"

What makes it more obvious is how Harris keeps talking and supplying useful, long replies to the questions posed.

He makes things easy. What is more, he is a good talker , full of an old-fashioned English charm and a suave, similarly old-school, self-deprecatory sense of humour. Despite the gruelling timetable , he admits to enjoying the public aspect of book-promotion and of feeling part of the industry as a welcome contrast to the often lonely process of writing - as long, of course, as the book is being well-received. Otherwise it can be rather " grim." However, after a month travelling around "With a bag full of Mar,ks and Spencer's sandwiches on the back seat of the car" he is begi.nni.ng to look forward to "getting back to what he is supposed to be doing"; he might also "stay with history for a while longer." He is a man who clearly enjoys entertaini.ng, with his books as well as his and he does so intelli-

deprelled even. It had

.n I'd publUMKd~l!t:Jl-.!!iri=: ce路rtallrlr!Nl:le p

aumber of ways - is about th6" world'l O'bly alli,.,"I'CtWEit after all. "I thougllr'it 'Was possible to swap my Walt Disney World, or my Utopia in Florida for the Bay of Naples,

----------------------------------22.10.03

Venice Biennale 2003 he Venice Biennale is not just a n art exhibition situated in the Italian paradise that is Venice, but an institution.

This year was no exception, being impressively the Int ernational Art Exhibition's 50 th anniversary. The contemporary art fes tival a ttracts art lovers, writers and co llectors time a ft er time , which this summer included Charles Saatchi and Janet Street Porter to name but a few. Gliding through the water on a packed water bus after having landed at the famous San Marco airport or Santa Lucia station, you realise how special and unique the Biennale is. It is contemporary art heaven, the most cutting-edge works from all around the globe situated within the Mediterranean magic of a C anelletto painting.

This year's Biennale was a feast o f excellence and shame; expectation and shock; comprehension a n d confusion; like any good contemporary art show.

Artists like Fred Wilson (USA), Chris Offili (GB) and Patricia Picinini (Australia) followed in the footsteps of past Biennale artists (now Tate exhibitors) like Barbara Hepworth, Rachel Whiteread and Anish Kapoor , pwneers of the art world who have paved the way for new expressions in art and acceptance for change.

The exhibition is scattered all over mainland Venice. The three main exhibitwn spaces being at the Museo Correr (opposite the famous St Marks). the

since 1895) and the Arsenale (a huge warehouse-like space spread over the site of Venice's historic shipyards). he Museo Correr show, set within the simultaneously running Museo Correr permanent exhibition rooms is the best p lace to start as it pays homage to the Biennale painters of the past forty years. Out of all the shows, it is most stereotypically a 'gall ery space,' each work labelled, neatly arranged, hung and lit. The show bursts with well-

T

This years Biennale was a feast of excellence and shame; expectation and shock; comprehension and confusion. known artists that you will have heard of even if you're not a modern art fanatIC (Ruscha, Warhol , Riley , Twombly).

Entitled Pittura/Painting: From R_a uschenberg to Murakam1 1964 2003,

one is first hit by Murakami's futuristic Japanese cosm1c cartoon characters, the curator making us question the role of the paintbrush in the future. At the 1964 Biennale di Venez1a, Rauschenberg was awarded the first prize for paintmg awarded to a foreign路 artist and this highlighted a power shift in art from Europe to the USA which had a huge influence on artists from the

media and advertising world. This exhibition celebrates painting's story since Warhol, and the tumultuous roller-coaster journey through hyperrealism (photographic accuracy of Gertsch), minimalism (Ryman) and revisionist ideas, it has taken to get here.

The Giardini gardens, the largest outdoor experience of the Biennale, plays host to over thirty countries, each given their own pavilion in which to display their chosen artists contribution to the festival. The results were spectacular. Great Britain's pavilion contained the work of Chris Offili who works using red, black and green. Each ro om was painted carrying on this theme, his pictures of warm jungles, animals and people. A surprising choice, (as an Argentinean) Offili 's work's express tropical warmth, nothing essentially ' British' at all, yet by all accounts lughly successful and liked.

Trained as an art1st and drawer of the anatomy, Melbourne-based artist Patricia Piccinini, has made cross species sculptured animals for the Australian pavilion. Among them is The Young Family (2002-2003) which consists of a half-human - half-pig figure with a litter of pups at 1ts side . She asks us to question what's normal, what controls life and our relationslup to ammals and family. Essentially the emphasis is on impulses to love and play and strangely enough after a while, you find yourself looking at these baby mutant life forms with affectwn.

The joint venture between the Czech and Slovak republic is clever in

its emphatically simple yet effective installation. Walking into the pavilion one enters a darkened space with a starlit sky, to see a gymnast hanging, arms outstretched suspended from two rings, his head tilted in a Christ-like pose. Two screens on either side of him then come allve, showing clips of spectators sitting in rows at an American ball game cheering at intervals. This subtlety is a witty repose amidst a show where meaning and understanding does sometimes reside behind opaque, head-hurting amounts of 'mmrnrn!'

The display's in th e Arsenale, where politics , contemporary African art , technology and globalisation were echoing themes, were unfortunately overshadowed by lack of clarity.

Although I was there in early June, when finishing touches were still being made , the vastness of the exhibition spaces meant that labelling . was unclear, direction nonexistent and the works in general, little to write home about. It's only at the Biennale you can say to yourself, 'are these carefully positioned planks of wood and paint pots an intended exhibit or not?!'

However, this aside, the Biennale was and is a feast not to be missed for Its innovation, setting and mclusion of old masters. Its not often you can stand m a room conta1mng Jasper Johns' Target, Matisse's The Red Studio, Duchamp's Fountain and Picasso 's Les Demoiselles simultaneously.

(Serb ia and Montenegro 's pavilion: "International Exhibition of Modern Art" G1 ardini) .

There really IS sometlung for everyone, catch it if you can!

FROM LEARNING TO LEADING,

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Inspiring children, motivating colleagues and developing a career as a true leader in education.

That's what Fast Trac k Teaching's all about.

To find out if you have what it takes to be a Fast Track teacher, come and meet us.

Alternatively, for details of the benefits and rewards, challenges and opportunities opened up to you by Fast Track, visit www.fasttrackteaching.gov.uk

PI A I N Come and visit the Teacher Training Agency and Fast Trac k Teaching to find out more at: University of East Anglia, Room 01.08, Elizabeth Fry Building, University of East Anglia NR4 7TJ Monday 3rd November 5.00pm

Please contact your Careers Service to register for the presentation.

Who will you inspire today?

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............................................................... Features 07

imat路on in its third the Animation Festival, Norwich , which will take over Cinema City on the 24th 25th and 26th of October, has come a long way. Rose Hanna, the young visionary London Arts School graduate, first established it here in her home town in 2000. She has outdone herself in the sheer scope of this year's festival , which has now grown to an impressive size, and has earned itself an excellent international reputation. So much so, in fact , that the Independent dubbed Norwich: "the centre of the animation universe". Fancy that.

The advanced screening of work revealed this observation to be nothing less than a gross understatement. From the Surreal, scratchy line drawings of Flux by Christopher Hinton; to the highly wrought textures of Village of Idiots by Eugene Fedorenko and Rose Newlove and the rich CGI of Showa Shinzan by Alison Reiko Loader; the festival boasts a wealth of styles and approaches to the medium. The festival also has an impressive international draw, a testament to its quality, including work from Russia; Estonia; Japan; France and Canada besides the huge amount of work being showcased from the UK. Amidst this diversity the works only have two things in common: perfect craftsmanship and astonishing innovation.

One of the highlights of the festival is a retrospective of shorts by multi-award winning American animator Don Herzfeldt. The last time Herzfeldt was in Norwich he showed his much celebrat-

features in. This comparison between the instantly recognisable Daffy Duck and the contrastingly obscure Don Herzfeldt reveals a fundamental problem that this, and other similar festivals , must tackle. People simply aren't familiar with any of the work that is being shown (an exception to this may be the music video category which features the videos for such artists as The Gorillaz, Coldplay and Four Tet) because, particularly in this country, animation is simply not considered a high profile art form .

Animation is either summarily dismissed as "something for kids " or choked by generic commercial products imported from America or Japan.

Festivals such as this one are vital in challenging both the industry and the public to reconsider their relationship to the art form. It seems only appropriate, then, that it should follow on from the two great non-American animated feature films of this year: the darkly comic Belleville Rendez Vous and the beautiful Spirited Away, which have already made an initial impact on this process of reassessment. If you liked either of these films you'lllove the animation festival!

Works have been organised into six categories competing for an award designed by local artist Tim Hunkin, who runs an arcade of eccentric and bizarre machines on Southwold Pier.

Winners will be selected by a jury of experts with members from five different countries, who will also be showing programmes of their own work. I spoke to Estonian jury member Priit Tender, the director of Fox Woman, which retells an ancient Chilean folk tale from a mod-

ed ten minute animation Rejected. It comprises programme fillers that were commissioned, and subsequently rejected, by American kids network The Early Learning Channel. This is largely due to the fact that he deliberately made them as disturbed as he possibly could; and no one can make stickmen as perversely funny or gruesome as he. The film, described by Don as "A collision between art, commercial culture, and madness", follows the fictitious decline of Herzfeldt's career, rejection by rejection, his resultant deteriorating mental state manifested symbolically within the animation, which literally ends up falling apart.

The San Francisco Weekly said of Rejected that it is " arguably the greatest self reflexive animation since Duck Amuck - a classic Warner Brothers cartoon that famously has Daffy Duck gradually deconstructing the very c artoon he

no.34

Charade

Ok, so what's so great about this fibn? budding animators should keep their eyes peeled) and outreach programmes to local schools. Rose hopes the next festival could include collaboration with the Norwich Puppet Theatre and even the UEA, especially considering the wealth of writing talent here. , Last year the Norwich School of Art and Design established the first MA course in the country to study animation and sound design simultaneously. One graduate, Ben Martin, has his graduating film, Silver Lining, displayed in the programme that is celebrating 20 years of award winning animation at the school.

This beautifully uplifting film set in a 50s diner is " about a guy whose lonely humdrum existence is disturbed by an unusual intruder, who turns his life around and changes his entire perspective of the world" says Ben, who worked on the film with Darren Tubby, Astrid Goldsmith (a graduate of UEA) and ex The Cure member David Donley who came up with a surprisingly gentle score.

Animation is either summarily dismissed as 11something for kids" or choked by generic commercial products imported from Anlerica or Japan. em political perspective in a typically Estonian surreal style. "Estonian animation has a strong tradition of being politically incorrect" he says, not without a trace of pride, "It started in 70's and 80's when live action films were strongly censored [by the communist government] but animated films [were] considered as having less strategic importance." Priit Tender reminds us once more that animation is the perfect medium for political satire.

Cinefile

Since making the film , Ben has attracted interest from Cosgrove Hall, responsible for such children's classics as Postman Pat, and has applied for a 拢20,000 grant to set up a local company called 'BAD Animations ' , which will be a welcome addition to the city's already thriving animation scene. Just further evidence, should it be needed, that the Film Arts Norwich Festival is slowly revolutionising the Norwich arts scene in a very dynamic way.

Loads! Not only was it directed by Stanley Donen, it stars Cary Grant (The Philadelphia Story), Audrey Hepbum (Breakfast at Tiffany's) and Walter Matthau (The Odd Couple) but it also has a soundtrack by Henry Mancini (The Pink Panther). All in all, it's very stylised and synonymous with the Sixties; just take a look at the opening credits! The plot's pretty good as well, balancing suspense, romance and comedy.

Well, you've got my attention, what's it about?

The plot revolves around Reggie Lambert (Hepbum) , who was saved the trouble of divorcing her husband by his being murdered. The first she knows of it is that all of their possessions have been sold when she returns from a skiing holiday. As the plot develops it becomes clear that Reggie didn't know her husband at all! He'd stolen $250,000, without her knowledge, during the Second World War and had several identities.

The men that are pursuing her are well aware of all this, however. This band of happy fellows includes Grant (who she had previously met on holiday) and James Cobum all eager to get back what they believe they are owed.

The relationship between Hepbum and Grant begins to unfold, while she's left to constantly question whom she can trust , and the number of dead bodies starts to spiral out of control.

Of course, as with most films , there is a happy ending, but with a few unexpected twists.

But didn't you say funny?

Of course! The film 's littered with hilarious situations; including one with an orange, and another featuring Grant taking a fully clothed shower. Clever scripting gives the main leads a plethora of witty comments, which helps to lighten what could be an essentially dark film.

llnything else?

Arts Norwich, which is sed at the Norwich hool of Art and Design, as a strong commitment to stimulating the local artistic community and drawing public attention towards the huge amount of talented animators that are currently working in the area. Next year they are hoping to establish an animation network, which, Rose Hanna says, would involve "bringing everyone together to help facilitate projects , encourage indigenous production and to have a lot of fun!" Certainly, the second point seems vital given the huge gravitational power of London, which sucks talent out of the area. The organisation already runs numerous workshops (there will be quite a few of the se during the festival so

H

For more information visit: www.filmartsnorwich.co.uk Ticket Hotline: 01603 622047

This is the only film to star both Hepbum and Grant and it is also one of the latter's last films. At the age of 59, he doesn't look bad for his age , especially as he was considering his retirement at this point. After this film of intrigue and action Grant was approached for the role of 007 iil the first Bond film Dr. No. He declined and Sean Connery took the role instead. If they 'd seen his following role as grumpy old man in Father Goose, the decision might have been rethought! Oh, and the fashion's quite interesting. Very typically Sixties, with Audrey Hepbum wearing, as always, her tra demark Givenchy, and carrying it off with the usual exceptional grace. It's not difficult to see why this film has so many fans , being aesthetically pleasing, funny and intriguing .

LucyMowatt

----------------------------------22.10.0.3

THE

EVENT

08

Miss â&#x20AC;˘ Mis- eeq ''

anchest e r was great.

Plymouth was great.

Bristol was great ."

Alesha Dixon, one third of MOBO-nominated R&B group Mis-Teeq, pauses. From the other side of their dressing room, partially hidden by the bustling figure who is twisting her hair into a delicate spider's web of tiny plaits for tonight's gig at the LCR, SuElise Nash takes up the story: "Yeah, Bristol was good. Liverpool was good. Glasgow was good."

Welcome to Mis-Teeq's first full live tour of the UK. According to the two members who are available to talk to The Event, it is going "fantastically well"- so well in fact that when I ask for the highlights, I am given a list of pre tty much every date th e y h ave p layed so far.

Mis-Teeq hav e every right to be elated with their success. The trio went from hanging around in London rehearsal studios to being proclaimed the brightest hopes of UK garage in less time th an it would take to name the members of So Solid Crew. Their debut album Lickin ' on Both Sides reached No. 3 in the charts in 200 I , and was rewarded with a slew of industry awards and nominations.

With second album Eye Candy still selling in impressive numbers , Mis-Teeq have finally been given the chance to prove the mselves on the live circuit. It is the biggest thing the group have done in

' Maybe because it helped break our career, I was very happy that garage went mainstream. ' their careers so far , but Su-Elise is philosophical about the pressures of touring: "We get nervous , but I think it 's more about excitement. When you actually go out there , you realise that all these p e ople have bought ticke ts just to come and see you and what you're doing and your music . I think that you just want to do your best for them, and make sure that they really enjoy themselves." ' Alesha, the more gregarious of the two - although this may be partly because she is out of rea ch of the stylist's comb - agrees: "You have to remember what you could be doing out there , you know. You try and keep that focus all the time .. . I think it would be very arrogant of me to be stressed on tour, when you 're with great people, and everybody's blessed to be doing this job."

Mis-Teeq are blessed indeed. Both albums have found them, as they willingly admit, in the right place at the right time. Their debut caught the underground edge of UK garage just as the genre was freestyling its way into the mainstream, while Eye Candy repackaged the R&B sound of Destiny's Child for a very British audience.

"The Americans do actually like British music ," says Alesha. "We went out there and eo-wrote with the guys [including Fugees producer Salaam Remi] , and we b e lieve that we put o ur British stamp on the tracks".

With support from such prestigious

2 2.10.03

transatlantic colleagues, it is only a matter of time before Mis-Teeq make a serious bid to break into the notoriously selective American market. Alesha is characteristically reflective about their prospects: "W e' d love to crack America, but we don't put too much pressure on ourselves. If it happens, fantastic. And if it doesn't , we'll have had the chance to tour the country promoting our single anyway. " Give n a ll this globetrotting and their polished new sound, it would b e reasonable to speculate that Mis-Te eq have abandoned UK garage's tracksuits a nd trainers in favour of the spangle d baubles of pop. After all , their recent single Scandalous put up a valiant fight against baby-faced Ronan-alike Gareth Gates for the top of the charts. Su-Elise, however, is quick tp play down any sugge stions that they are deliberately moving into more mainstream territory.

"It wasn't a conscious decision. We

didn' t think, 'we're not going to put that much garage on [Eye Candy]'. We were feeling more R&B at the time. When it com es to the next album, it's literally gonna be whatever we're feeling at the time. And if we catch a vibe, that's what will come out."

So are they concerned that the movement that bore them has been diluted by media exposure?

"Maybe, because it helped break o ur career, I was very happy that garage went mainstream", says Alesha.

"I don't think it's necessarily a good or a bad thing, but it certainly helped us." aving a ccess to the solid musical background of R&B has helped them too. As Alesha explains, the genre has a unique capacity to belong to both the underground and commercial scenes, providing a foundation for the music - such as garage - that comes

and goe s around it.

As a result, R&B also supplies endless opportunities for creativity, and creativity - as I discover - is something Mis-Teeq are very keen to talk about.

Even if the group can now be considered authentic chart stars, they are also unusual amongst mainstream artists , eo-writing all their songs and valuing the independent control they have over their work.

Alesha's eyes light up when I ask about the writin g process. "It's the most important thing", she exclaims . Indeed, the production-line environment of Pop Idol is not for Mis-Teeq: "We wouldn't go for those shows because [your] cr eative freedom would be taken away from you. If you're an artist that's happy to just go and sing other people's songs, that 's fine, but for us that's not the case. When we're writing our son gs we want to believe what we're singing about , and ... we want [the audience] to believe that what we're singin g is true to what we are."

The subject of choosing a producer finds Alesha equally enthusiastic: " W e'd really like to work with Adam F. He's a British guy but he can do anything! He can fit into any genre of music: he's fantastic ... It's an exciting time when you' re getting to do your album, because the world's your oyster. " That is certainly true. Belonging to a scene in which their sparkling, intelligent blend of commercial sensibilitie s and urban cool can find as big a market as the most vapid of television's poppuppets can only be a good thing for Mis-Teeq.

With a tour of Japan booked for Novembe r , a new single Style release d after that , and a re-release of Eye Candy planned in time for Christmas, the girls will be busy for a while yet. "You can' t take us away from the music" , Mis-Tee q sing on Dance Your Cares Away. I think they might be right.

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Darkness Descends you've b e e n decorating the study under your semi-detached rock for the past three or four months, you won't have been able to escape the bluster of finger-tapped guitar squealings, falsetto sonnets belching from the radio and the lycra-crotched gyrations edging suggestively towards Cat Deeley on Saturday morning television. This is the emergency broadcast system: you, the people, have voted, with 'mo money, for a policy of 'Screw soft rock, bring back poodle perms' and the "halcyon days of mid 70's rock." "Great bands like Queen, Thin Lizzy, AC/ DC" (cited

by Frankie Poullain, the Darkness ' bass botherer) are riding high in the charts once again.

When the Strokes madvertently kickstarted the 70's revivalism genre with the release of Is This It, the wave of success enjoyed by the White Stripes, the Datsuns

22.1.0.03

and the Kings of Leon perhaps didn't seem too ridiculo us as far as Casablancas and eo. But that this would one day open the door for a band as much indebted to Queen and Motley Crue as the Strokes were Television or the Velvet Underground? "That's some pretty crazy shit man" Fab would probably say, or something , I don't know, twice as cool.

Nevertheless

biggest band have a top five hit with a song called I Believe in a Thing Called Love, and a sell-out stage sh ow that shows they also believe in costume changes, pyrotechnics and spandex right up the crack. Oh, and some suckers were willing to pay up to ÂŁ250 (!!!) for the pleasure of witnessing said rock extravaganza at the humble LCR. I can see the tourist board slogan now: 'Norwich: More Money Than Sense'.

"It's fucking amazing," sparks drummer Ed Graham on the topic, right on every level.

"We've had a lot of problems with touts on this tour," reveals bassist Poullain, a man of soft Irish accent and unrelenting moustache. "One of the nice things is that people value their tickets so much that they won't sell it.

One of the nice things is that people value their tickets so much that they won't sell them" Y'know, they pay ÂŁ10 and could make a shitload of money but still they don't want to sell because they'd rather have the experience."

"It's going to be fucking amazing tonight," swells second guitarisVHawkins brother Dan. "We 're

hoping to do a really big homecoming show in Lowestoft next year. When you're on the road all the time seeing all these towns they all m erge into on e, and it's so nice to come back to where you know."

Students are a funny old lot. They'll largely neglect a 'noisy protest' in the square to help stave off top-up fees (a cause The Darkness have publicly backed, and admirably so I might add), but freely relinquish themselves to waiting around outside the LCR in the nipple-hardening cold from half-past five 'til opening, all in the hope of securing a hold of Justin Hawkins ' lycra-clad buns at front centre stage. Along with the inflated ticket prices, this is the fevered, frankly lunatic result of several months of ruthless promotion and full media backing for The Darkness from every sphere of the UK music industry. So big have this band become, I could hardly believe The Darkness would be able to play the LCR or similar capacity venues again; satisfyingly, I was once again proved right.

"This'll be the last time we play these venues, " conceded Dan with a dose of melancholy. "It's really weird because wh en you're a kid and come to the UEA it always seems really big, but walking around today it's like, 'It's quite small actually'. We get that a lot this tour because we've just come off festivals and arenas playing to 60,000 people. It just feels small, like we're playing clulo shows in a way, but they're actually pretty big gigs."

The arena dates, most notably,

.......................................................-..... Features 11

included the Robbie Williams' pilgrim- The Darkness are completely serious age to Knebworth undertaken by sexu- about, if nothing else, The Darkness. ally starved thirty-something house- The interview was permeated with a wives the nation over. These crucial feeling that the future for the band is performances did more for The running along a professionally planned Darkness' profile than they could ever career path that seems almost more have imagined; over three days the about success and achievement than it band played out to more than 375,000 is about the music itself. Harsh criticism people, delivering their music with perhaps, but bare reference was made crowd winning theatrics and a profes- to anything abstract when discussing sionalism that has, ever since, changed either albums or performance. Rather, the way critics view their material. This talk was far more focused on notions of was indisputable proof of the return of increasing marketability. However, this arena-rock (see Def Leppard, Queen, is also a band that feels they've spent Bon Jovi) and The Darkness' have a flair enough time at the bottom of the ladder for hitting all the right buttons to make it to warrant their recent good fortune. work.

"It's cool but we're not going to stop oullain: "It's what we've there," carries on an increasingly veralways wanted and we're bose Dan, "We're firmly focused on the just pleased it' s hapbigger picture and the international pened so quickly. In picture. It's a nice starting point- being terms of being stuck for the biggest band in the UK obviously two years and not making too much helps when you go to another country. progress - we were always improving 'We're here to take over your country as a band, always becoming better, but as well,' rather than 'We're The we didn't fit into the media and the Darkness' and they've never heard of record industry. We were kind of in a you." traffic jam and now we're in the fast And, on a world domination tip , the lane. It's been a tough journey but all band was keen to talk about their recent the best things come to those who waitfirst forays into the American market. patience is a virtue" "The New York shows in particular Aye, 'tis true, but not even Justin were hectic," enthuses Poullain, "and Hawkins can come to those who wait the day after we played K-roq, which is apparently. The more canny, observant like their radio biggy. It was exciting and pretty of you will have noticed that and we met some very important indus- I didn't get a chance to talk with front try figures there who gave us the seal of man, Justin. His absence was unexapproval and we were very pleased plained, so I can only speculate he was about that. We're going to go back there next month and play Kansas, Chicago, New York again; and then we'll be spending probably four or five months over there, which is what you have to do if you're serious about making in-roads. " "It's quite cool that we're selling out probably too busy picking his nose or shows in other countries," concludes seeing how many fags he could get into Dan, " the same kind of size venues that his mouth at once to chat to Concrete. we've done in America, tickets have Or, rather more likely, he was taking a been going for stupid amounts of rare opportunity to speak to family and money- it's not specific to the UK." . friends, a large contingent of which It's worth noting at this point that have come to this particular night of the

It's what we've always wanted and we're just pleased it's happened so quickly. '

The queue was larger than ever seen before, stretching from the LCR doors, to the entrance of the bowl. Inside, every guitar tech's chord was met with excited cheers from the crowd, in the hope it was really the band. One by one we saw The Darkness enter behind the curtain, and begin to build the noise. Then the curtain dropped and Justin made his entrance, clad in tight, white sparkly trousers and a fleecy body warmer. They launched into the opening track of their album Black Shuck. Ears were still ringing come Wednesday morning.

They followed with Growing On Me and the crowd began jumping like their lives depended on it.

One particular highlight: Dan Hawkins displaying the quickest fingers in the world when covering Street Spirit by "the Oxford combo known as the Radioheads", as Justin liked to refer to them.

A better gig I have not seen.

As they closed with Love On The Rocks, which included the longest solo ever from Justin as he was carried through the crowd atop of 3 doormen, it seemed it was over far too soon. How had 80 minutes passed? The appeal of the Darkness isn't limited to the music, it includes their pure

touring schedule due to the band's local boyhood roots in Lowestoft. An increasingly busy lifestyle has obviously come at some sacrifice.

"I've just moved into a flat and I'm not even going to see it 'til Christmas," laments Dan. "It's good though. You spend so much time wishing you were [touring] and waiting for things to happen that when it actually goes off you can't argue with it. We'll be· working a lot harder over the next year, it really is going to be an endurance test- but after that you can take things on your own terms.•• And for The Darkness the next target on the landscape is undoubtedly the race for Christmas number one. Their chances look particularly good up against Robbie William's monkey-faced antics and Kylie's cold, electro style tootings; shit yo, even Cliff Richard is wheeling himself out for another go, his song freshly recorded and funded by his winter warming allowance.

"I think it's the best thing we've ever done," enthuses Poullain. "We recorded it at Abbey Road with sleigh bells, tubular bells, timpani drums, a full children's choir - and the video's a killer too. Think Fairytale of New York meets Last Christmas, a real rocking Christmas song but with guitars on it. I think it's the first classic Christmas song of the new millennium. " "Ho ho ho!" I exclaimed with a patronising wink. My bags were packed and I was soon hurried out of the door.

In trying to come to terms with Darkness mania (a contagious hysteria almost as spastic as 'Turtlemania' and, indeed, 'Wrestlemania') I have indulged in the very worst type of artytarty, student muso discussions - huddled around candles, drinking Jacob's Creek, and puffing sensi until my lungs phoned in their request for 'out of town work'. Irie, certainly, but still no nearer the to the truth; Chuck Klosterman's account of his affections for Motley Crue

showmanship too. A legendary performance at the UEA from a band that could go - in fact are going - stellar both here and in the states.

Rich (EAS3)

Was it worth the eBay price?

* £150 per ticket I 16 songs = £9.375 per song: nearly the price of the Darkness' album. * The Lowestoft lads were on stage for 80 minutes, therefore every minute of Darkness brand rock cost £1.875,. or a packet of rizlas and a pint of Carting in student terms. * Part of the appeal of the Darkness is the theatrical nature of their performance, notably Justin's costume changes which the eBay purchaser paid £50 each for on the night.

Was it worth it? In my opinion no, not for £150, but for those of you who queued up early: £15 for ticket, £10 for drinks, £13 for a tshirt, seeing the Darkness' homecoming gig? Priceless.

Matt Sparkes (CMP3)

in his book Fargo Rock City (a brilliant record of life as a teenage hair metaller) provided the best insight into why we could all fall so abhorrently in love with such outrageous metal bands: "The world of Motley Crue: They lived in L.A., they banged pom stars, they drank Jack Daniels for breakfast, and they could spit on their kitchen floor with no repercussions whatsoever.

They were like gods on Mount Olympus, and it's all because they understood the awe-inspiring majesty of rock."

Well, backstage I didn't see much 'banging' of pom stars, or anything else for that matter, and pea green soup seemed to serve the band well enough rather than impotence-inducing bottles of hooch. But without a doubt, on some level The Darkness have brokered an understanding of rock with a large section of the pop-loving populace.

They've made Lycra desirable again, theatrics no longer embarrassing but life-affirming; in fact, everything that made Kiss so attractive. Except with decent songs.

They are an anomaly on the landscape of 'cool' and carry with them an air of the Last Great British Rock Band, the proteges of Freddie Mercury. Only time will tell if this current momentum will keep up past the public's skin-deep fascination with the band as something of a novelty, and if that all-important second album will deliver enough to warrant the praise they've garnered over the last few months. This humble journalist's opinion? You can't escape the fact the coffin was sealed on hair metal and arena rock as soon as Nirvana broke the trend and gave audiences real emotional pain over say, in Guns n' Roses case, songs about tucking, the joy of doing heroin and drinking cheap wine; and history has an endearing habit of repeating itself.

But for today, the Darkness rule Britannia. And hey, if all goes to plan, maybe tomorrow they'll rule the world.

...

12

Writing ...

The Goldfish Whilst swimming around the bowl one day, the little goldfish saw, through murky water and distorted glass , a strange figure moving in another bowl, across the room. The little goldfish pressed itself against the glass and watched, for it had nothing better to do but to swim around all day - and anyway the little goldfish had a very short memory and it was not very bright.

If the little goldfish had known that the strange figure that it was watching, who was bang-

ing his fists upon the table ferociously and screaming, making his little black moustache wobble, was a politician, then it probably would not have meant very much to it - as the little goldfish had a very short memory and it was not very bright.

The little goldfish was very passive and would take great pleasure in simply swimming around all day until the time the water had to be changed; when it would be tipped in a jam jar. It would be puzzled at first , but would soon become accustomed to it, one container for water being much like another when all you have to do is to swim around all day- besides the little goldfish had a very short memory and it was not very bright.

If it could have understood the strange sounds that came from the politician's mouth then it would not have made much difference to it what was said, for the little goldfish could not understand social and foreign policies. After all those kind of things did not really effect the little goldfish in its little bowl with nothing to do but to swim around all dayand also the little goldfish had a very short memory and it was not very bright.

Milk Run in our leafy suburbia we could be outlaw pariahs on the the milk run stealing all the milk we desire running up the gravel drive without a six gun, just my nuts and my word to keep me alive my stetsons a baseball cap my saddlebag an old rucksack my mates and I, 49ers looking for gold tops hollering banditos in the 4am gloom watching out for smoke signals with our Maglite torches silverhaired neighbours are toothless rednecks playing banjoes on porches Billy the Kid, Wild Bill, Jesse James stalking the stagecoach or just three bored youths following the milk float

Finally the little goldfish forgot why it had stopped to look out of the distorted glass and began to swim around again in the murky water, until it eventually saw a strange figure moving in another bowl, across the room. The little goldfish pressed itself against the glass and watched for it had nothing better to do but to swim around all day- and the little goldfish was quite forgetful and really very stupid.

Dean Bowntan

Wisdoin teeth

We do what we must

Suzie found them hidden behind the shoe rack in a plastic crate marked 'stuff.

Each one was as long as her finger; tusks kept on black felt in a box for cufflinks.

Sunk in the pocket of her dungarees they were currency, chattering like dice.

Suzie, up way past her bed time, saw a documentary on 'real cults'.

It told how they had drunk vodka with sleeping pills.

The footage showed them, all in black, lying on thirty-nine single mattresses, forearms set in an x across their chests like someone about to jump from a plane.

In the sandpit the teeth warmed up in her palms.

Suzie slid one between her lips and tongued the mushroom brown root.

The other, she gave, wordless , to a boy who never blinked.

He opened his mouth and knocked it back.

They sat and clicked like ~tting needles .

M a C he re (translated to French and then back) Mud-coloured hair the full length of an umbilical cord. Her bare shoulders emerging; wellies in a stream. Not Dover cliffs.

We would do love, discussing, all the while , the shape of her breasts, my keen Gallic hips, her admirable cheek bones and the tattoos of trains, planes, footballers and tunnels that we'd got inked on our thighs, when we were drunk, on shore leave.

]oe Dunthorne

22.10.03

Thomas Kennedy

The sun puts sugar into grapes and lays in Foxearth You who rake up the lawn- hard, scouring, and build an icehouse for your later years Baustein auf baustein I am the intruder wind The jackal wind Finding pinholes, sleeping under garden litter, Woken by your fury, I will knock down braziers and feed fire

]on Stone

Intolerable Cruelty Directors: Joel Coen, Etha~ Coen Starring: George Clooney, Catherine Zeta Jones The Coen's latest offering Is a ~,self

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The Coen brothers, leading lights in modem American 'independent cinema' , are celebrated for being stylistic rebels, pioneering a cynical and quirky dark htunour that has been taken up by many directors eager to emphasise their distance from Hollywood. However, reviews of Intolerable Cruelty, although generally positive, have fairly consistently questioned this status. The predominant opinion is that the Coens have made concessions to the mainstream in order to prove to their accountants that they can make a movie that is able to make a box office return that justifies their usually outlandish production designs.

In a less polite phrase: they have sold out.

In a way, this is true. In terms of Genre (usually a taboo area for any self respecting independent director) Intolerable Cruelty treads fairly safe territory as a sexual comedy and just lately there have been a lack of decent examples from this genre, indicating a looming gap in the market. Reviewers have been quick to make comparisons between George Clooney and Cary Grant and to liken the film to the work of Billy Wilder or Howard Hawks, placing it decisively within the field of 'Classical' Hollywood cinema- that sacred age of American film making that

never fails to draw in audiences either through nostalgia or disillusionment with Hollywood's contemporary offerings. The fact that the film is being premiered at free advanced screenings all over the country, which are sponsored by Baileys Glide, also indicates a level of promotion and commercial sponsorship unheard of in the Coen oeuvre.

At the same time one can't help but think that these reviews have missed the point. Like David Lynch, the Coen brothers are far too perversely clever to simply allow themselves to be coerced by the 'beast'. So they have filled the film with covertly ironic references to their own sell out, making it a richly layered self parody and perhaps one of their most self .conscious works. Missing this tone of self reflexivity gives a totally different reading of the film, which is reflected by The Guardian's statement: "Perhaps the problem has to do with the rupturing of the Coens' hitherto intact hermetic seal" , a view that suggests the Coens auteristic style has been compromised or diluted.

The film's tortuous and amusingly contrived plot has ace Marriage attorney Miles Massy (played excellently by Clooney) fall for serial man eater Mrs Rexroth (ironically cast as Catherine Zeta Zones with a worried Michael Douglas in mind) after he beats her in a trial in which all the odds were in her favour. Both characters become fascinated by one another and indulge in an alternating sequence of

lust and one-uprnanship that forms the body of the film. Despite the obvious departure from their usual heavy stylisations the Coen brothers trademarks are still present. Their cynical, often clinical, view of htunanity is very much evident in their depiction of htunan relationships as deceptive and materialistic legal battles. The carnivalesque cast of side characters seems to be usual Coen brothers fare taken to an extreme, such as the gothic excess of the firm 's geriatric senior partner who squats frankenstein like behind a darkened desk, tubes protruding from every orifice.

Lines such as "marriage is based on compromise" and "Independence is a double edged sword" seem to act as cyphers for the film's exploration of cinema and constunerism. It is perhaps no coincidence that the line "you're exposed" is

repeated throughout, sexual and legalistic connotations aside, it could also be a phrase levelled at the directors themselves.

The decision to set the final part of the film , in which Massy symbolically addresses a conference of Marriage attorneys and declares "do we meet our clients with cynicism or love?" in the tacky artifice of Las Vegas, is appropriately ironic for the Coens' 'sell out' film. The film leaves the viewers with one lingering question: have the Coen brothers greeted them, their clients, with cynicism or love?

Dean Bowman

EEEE

Spellbound Director: Jeffrey Bitz Starring: Harry Altman, Angela Arenivar The odd world of the Amer can spelling bee is given ttie

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Spellbound, like Moore 's Bowling for Colurnbine, is an event that could only happen in America and Jeff Blitz utilises the same doctunentary techniques.

However, he also introduces us to the unique characters and this bizarre competition with a rare , ironic sense of htunour, whilst actually investigating a significant topic.

The Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee began in 1925 and boasts a $10,000 prize. Contestants are from every: conceivable American social background. 248 children between the ages of twelve and thirteen will take part and only one will win. Spellbound follows eight children and their sometimes comical, sometimes astonishing, families from preparation through to the finals. The tension is highone misplaced letter and they are eliminated witb no second chances.

Blitz is extremely tritunphant in taking us across the States and relating the sheer cultural and generational divide between the children and their parents. Despite the dysfunctional and slightly crazy Harry from New Jersey, it is hard to label each child with any obvious peculiarity - on the whole they are all average children. Their parents, however, are rather more distinct. Whether this was deliberate on

Blitz' s part is unknown, but it makes excellent viewing.

Angela's parents are Mexican and despite having lived in the US for twenty years, her father cannot speak English; Nupar's parents hail from India and Ashley is from Washington DC 's Projects.

Meanwhile, deadpan Ted, whose IQ is one point off genius, is from Missouri and, much to his parent's amusement, his older brother is obsessed with guns and explosives. There is also the other end of the social scale: Emily' s middle class family live in Connecticut and her father is English, with a family friend who believes the Spelling Bee is another form of child abuse.

Some of the lengths to which the families go are distinctly eye-opening. Neil, from California, is also. of Asian background and practices about 7-8,000 words a day under the command of his father.

His Grandfather in India has also paid 1000 people to pray for Neil and has promised that, should he win, he will pay for 5000 Indians to eat ... very generous.

There is an incredible mix of cultures and ideals portrayed through these families, connected by the Spelling Bee, with a great sense of pride and ambition at stake.

As the film progresses, you grasp the sheer importance of this competition and the pressure placed on these young children. The words they have to learn are not just long common words, they are unspoken English and some date from the seventeenth century. Most can't be found in a

current dictionary and a special Spelling Bee edition must be purchased. Words such as Cephalgia (meaning a pain in the head) are not recognised in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Through the course of the film there is a feeling that these children are genuinely gifted- the competition is not just a case of memorising spellings. They have a way of thinking that breaks down a word into its definition and origin. There is no detailed formal training involved and, as Blitz successfully illustrates, it is clear they are not surrounded by highly intelligent people. The schools place messages of luck on huge notice boards spelt horrifically and hilariously wrong. The growing sense that some of their parents are perhaps more concerned with the prize involved, rather than the success of their child also becomes apparent. Through this, despite the obvious entertainment, at moments the film becomes quite depress- . ing. The pressure facing the competitors is not unlike an athletic competition, but rather than physical exertion, you witness the sheer exhaustion of the brain and can-

not help but feel some sympathy.

This film is well worth seeing, if only to appreciate just how lucky Britain is to not have such a competition imposed on our culture. However, as a result of its documentary status, you come out with the tritunphant sense of having some kind of personal involvement in the characters' successes. You genuinely relate to their relief at its conclusion. They will never have to go through such pressure ever again and as Ernily states, she can "now be normal again" . illtimately, Blitz makes this a momentous and htunorous tale of eight very diverse families striving for the same victorious goal in a nation where " anything is achievable" and nothing is impossible.

Isabel Dyson

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Studio Gibli

It's been a tricky time for 2-D over the past few years. Movies such as Dreamworks' Sinbad and Disney's Treasure Planet have stalled at the box office, losing audiences to new-fangled computer trickery with its fancy third dimension. It was announced last week that, for the first time in decades , Disney doesn't have a handdrawn film in production. The days of traditional animation, we are reliably informed, are drawing to a close .

Rubbish. The industry may not be too healthy in the States right now, but elsewhere it positively thrives. Nowhere is this truer than in Japanese company Studio Gibli, producers of the films of Hayao Miyazaki.

After years of watching his legacy become tarnished by cheap sequels and cheaper merchandising, it's easy to forget that Wall Disney was both a pioneer and an artist. With Snow White he created the animated feature; with Pinocchio he perfected it. On each occasion, had the film failed, he would have been bankrupted. While the company that bear's Disney's name has long since abandoned such commitment, favouring balance sheets and focus groups, the tradition continues thanks to Miyazaki's singular genius.

Each time Studio Gibli makes a film, the company's entire resources are sunk into the production. This might seem shortsighted except that , similar to Pixar's current position in the West, Studio Gibli's releases have a habit of doing ra ther well in Japan. In 1997, their Princess Mononoke broke all Japanese box office records , only to be beaten in 2001 by their next offering, Spirited Away. For the Japanese, traditional animation isn't just alive; it's bigger than Titanic and Star Wars combined.

Mononoke was given a limited release in Britain and America. Backed by its deserved victory as Best Animated Film at last year's Oscars, Spirited Away is receiving more attention, albeit hampered by dodgy English dubbing in some locations.

Happily, the other outcome of the film 's success is that Miyazaki's earlier works are finally arriving on Region 2 DVD .

Seemingly chosen at random, the first two to appear will be Kiki 's Delivery Service from 1995 and 1986' s Castle in the Sky. If your experience of animation begins and ends with The Lion King, you'll be doing your eyes and ears a great service by watching them. Kiki tells the story of a young witch who must leave home for a year to complete her training. Like most witches , she dresses in black and rides a broomstick; more unusually, she devotes her time away to starting a courier firm.

Avoiding the expected animated pit-falls of excessive sentimentality and cuteness, the film achieves a delicate balance between innocence and wit - imagine Amelie with more magic and less smut and you're almost there , bar a few instances of impenetrable Japanese humour.

Though perhaps showing its age in a lack of polish, Castle in the Sky is probably more typical of its creator. Whereas, with

the exception of witches, Kiki could be set in the real world, the earlier film is a richly detailed fantasy. A secret government agency is battling flying pirates in a race to find a lost, floating civiliza tion. Only a young boy and girl have the power to beat them both and save the world. Again, while the premise isn't exactly gripping, the presentation definitely is. Like all Miyazaki's work, every scene is beautifully animated against stunning, hand-painted backdrops.

This would be reason enough to recommend it, but equal care has been lavished on the characters and plot.

Traditional animation isn' t finished; the baton has just been passed elsewhere.

Now that the new frontrunner (to labour a metaphor) is widely available on cinema and on DVD , you owe it to yourself to see where the art is going.

parting role in Ocean 's Eleven) , add differing perspectives on the issues a stake.

There are a lot of very "cool" elements to the script, and the inclusion of hip-hop cultural icons aplenty (such as Nate Dogg, performing the role of soulful narrator) means that fan 's of this culture should not miss it.

However , the film does not complement the obvious comic talent of the stars with a strong script or an incredibly involving storyline. It becomes stinted and fragmented , wi thout playing to its obvious strengths. Bernie Mac, for example, is completely underused (this was a memb er of the The Original Kings Of Comedy, a tour that outsold The Beatles' in the States).

What is clear, however, is that this is an attempt to use the medium of cinema and it's mass appeal to highlight the

injustice(s) of the American political system, and the social inequities involved in the presidential process.

It ' s a noble undertaking, but not a wholly subtle one. The fact that it's gone straight to video here is an acknowledgement of the fact it just does not have the audience potential it did in America (where it grossed $37.8million). A lot of the jokes, sadly, just won't have the same effect this side of the Atlantic, and that me ans it can become stale viewing. It is, however, a foundational start to a directorial career.

]im Whailey

Head Of State tor路 Ch 1 Rock D Starnng. Chris Rock

Head of State was a film waiting to be made. The lack of a black presidential candidate in any generation still stands as a glaring discrimination within America's governmental system. Given recent events, Chris Rock- as an actor- has more chance at the position than any politically able person. Sad, then, that he has to resort to a fictional account of the event; happily , he does quite a good job.

Mays Gilliam (played by Chris Rock) is a people's champion of the Washington DC projects. The personal sacrifices he

22.10.03

c has made to fulfil this role end up costing him his girlfriend, business and car, leaving him uncertain about his future. Coincidentally, on the same day, the two opposing presidential candidates' planes crash into each other leaving their party with a conundrum. They need to find a last minute candidate that w ill give them credibility but won't w in. Good job Mays gets on TV. Chris Rock h as proven on the Def Jam shows that he is a gifted comedian, and his roles with Kevin Smith and his stint alongside Anthony Hopkins in Bad Company highlight him a competent actor, comic or otherwise. So when he decided to combine these talents into film writing and directing, there was great potential for a hit comedy, especially when coupled with the concept of a streetwise black man running for president.

Surprisingly, this has not been broached before, presumably because it's a subject that , if not h andled intelligently, could quite easily have repercussions for the producers. Good job Rock produced it, then; as well as handled it intelligently.

The combination of these elements means there is great potential for a hilarious satire on American culture. To a large extent , this potential is realised. When the stand up experience of the front man is ex tended into presidential speeches and debates , there 's plenty of hilarity. The strong supporting cast, including Bernie Mac (Also of Def Jam, and a stand out sup-

Philip Sainty

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s 5 DramaSoc

Drama Soc

Drama · P,r~eview .

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Coming attractions

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Wondering what the authors of your favourite books are up to? Think there's a chance that you could squeeze some leisure reading into your mammoth heap of university textbooks? Well never fear not because the forthcoming month promises some big names to be hitting our shelves. Among November's releases is lain Banks' Raw Spirit. By the bestselling author whose debut , The Wasp Factory, gave him instant acclaim as a writer of great fiction, Banks goes back to his Scottish roots in a novel which takes a tour of his native land and delves into its forgotten history and culture. Banks sets out to visit Scotland's worldfamous distilleries, meeting an entourage of characters and learning much about his country. Much more than a documentation of the tradition of whisky production, Banks immerses himself in the culture of the people and places he discovers. It has been said that a journey can be far more significant than the destination, a notion which lain Banks typifies in a journey which etches elements of history, culture, literature and geography onto the mind. A.S Byatt, winner of the Booker Prize for her novel Possession , invites you into her LitUe Black Book of Stories in which she collects five short tales of satire, which explore the many facets of human nature. In a variety of settings , such as within a rather spooky forest, a collision of ideals lays bare realities faced by the characters, evoking a collage of emotions and commenting on modern principles. The stories will make you laugh, cry, and even listen for bumps in the night, but more importantly will stay with you as A.S Byatt presents an unforgettable little black book of stories.

Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison offers you Love. Powerful and charismatic Bill Cosey is the object of affection for a great many women. Marrying eleven-year-old Heed, his grandda.ughter Christine's best friend, he sets the girls against one another in a violent cocktail of jealousy and resentment.

Christine's outrage is explosive, "One day we played jacks; the nest she was fucking my grandfather-". Morrison captures the powerful essence of love, exploring both the joys of sexual fulfilment, passion and intimacy as well as love's darker side with lust, obsession and betrayal. It is a novel which explores the difficulty of seeing the bigger picture when love is blind. Toni Morrison will be appearing at UEA as part of the literary festival on December 6th to talk about this book. These books are available from the 6th of November.

If you simply can't wait that long then another promising title is Roddy Doyle's Rory and Ita which came out this month. In his first work of non-fiction, Doyle describes Ireland's metamorphosis from a quiet Catholic society into a bustling modern culture through the eyes of his parents. A novel full of warmth and tenderness , Doyle retells life with a considerable sense humanity.

AlexMartin

My copy of By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept is laced with tiny bits of

face the moment I most desire."

The narrative moves loosely through paper, and an Underground ticket. I read it in events, problems, and states of mind. It is difficult to pin down any plot structure; at times a couple of hours one hot day in London having picked it up by chance at a second hand it appears that it is being addressed after an event to an absent, "My darling," other times shop. The title raises visions of the tragic 'he ' and 'me ' are both part of current events. romance of a body quivering in pain, loomed She descends, or ascends, into neurosis as over by the impersonal, yet beautiful symbol of industry and the society that passes by, her desires, her need to be physically united uncaring. It is short, and perfect. While other with the man who can talk her to orgasm, connovels skirt around their people, or their flict with authority- her jealousy of his wife, landscapes, this plunges deeply, distressingwho he never leaves, grows to dangerous ly, into the desperate patterns of light and proportions.

By being an e cstatic evocation of towering colour painted by its narrator's hope and fear , at the centre of an upheaval of heart and soul. passion, of hatred and love, of lust and anger, The narrator? I've been too well trained

By Grand Central Station 1 Sat Down and Wept in these post-structuralist days - the narrator leaves the more measured tone of the traditional novel behind. The reader is invited in as can only be Smart herself. It is a personal howL While browsing through a bookshop a participant, not a witness. We too must burn Smart happened upon a book of poetry by with desire and smart with pain. We are George Barker, and fell in love. Words have · addressed and undressed. In attempting to always been considered powerful, horrenwin her love away from everyone, from the dously and delightfully so. Barker's words world; in attempting to bring him to orgasm prmpted Smart to contact him and after much through her words we too are expected to correspondence bring him to her. He is marreach ecstasy. We are plunged into a mental ried, and in Japan and she sends him the air· state that denies mediocrity, and demands fare so they can meet. The novel begins in passion, "But he never passes near me without California as she is to meet him, and his wife every drop of my blood springing to attenand children, for the first time. Smart tion." The body and the word become one, describes lucidly the delicious fear that and one quick read, can only leave you breathaccompanies that first meeting with the perless and slightly disoriented - you normally son you've been desiring, loving from afar, only do these things in private. seemingly without reciprocation. "All the muscles of my will are holding my terror to Edward Mooney

Wedding It is getting light; the sky is the blue of maternity wards.

We are on the top field. Clambering up the goalposts we straddle the crossbar. Football pitches fall away in cake tiers and our hands lock for stability.

A distant single room is lit up on a block top floor.

It glows like a road sign in a full beam. We blow kisses and whisper nothings. The light, duller than a diamond, keeps catching our eyes.

She hid in the pulpit while the priest locked up, then knifed compliments on the backs of the pews: "Your hair's nice." "It's been too long; have you lost weight?" Escaping out across the tiles, hoofing down a drainpipe and home she discovers a light left on. She flicks the switch without sparing us a thought; losing our balance as the crossbar smiles.

foe Dunthome

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DiverSiFy 2003 is the return of the UEA . Drama Society's highly successful short play festival. Now in its third year, DiverSiFy is a showcase for the best ofUEA's dramatic talent.

This year's festival contains a mixture of dance and drama, including some exciting new writing by students, The Bald Prima Donna by Eugene Ionesco, and a dance number from Chicago. It will also see the return of old favourites such as a sketch by the Devisify Improv Group and short comedy by the writers of Give you a Toffee and Gladstone 's Magic Hat. Over five nights, more than 50 meml:iers of the Drama Society will take part in 8 different productions of Unique drama. Everything and Nothing is showing on Monday the 11th, the first day of the programme, and also Friday.

Devisify, improvised drama that comes hot and fresh from our minds to your eyes, is also beginning and ending the week along with U in Doubt, Ask an absurdist comedy about looking out for life and failing to spot it. Hummingbird, a family drama set in 1940's London, is being performed on Tuesday and Wednesday and you'll be able to catch Eugene Ionesco's hilarious farce The Bald Prima Donna on Tuesday and Thursday. An extract of Strindberg's intense play The Father will be performed for your enjoyment on Wednesday and Thursday as will The Exciting Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The week ends with a short dance number from glitzy musical Chicago on both Thursday and Friday.

The evenings all start at 7:30pm and will be performed in the UEA Drama Studio. Tickets will be on sale in the Hive from 12 'til 2 and the office in the Drama Studio at all other times and are available at £3.50 to concessions and £6 to everyone else. DiverSiFy 2003 p romise s to entertain and provide tears and laughter and a weeks worth of escap ism. Come along and . sample the best new drama around, support your fellow students and marvel at the breathtaking display of talent and creativity.

UEA Drama Soc.

Arranging comedy at the Forum is the worst idea since David Kelly decided to meet Andrew Gilligan for a 'friendly pint.' Every time the Comedy Store comes to Norwich, people always gripe about the fact that it is staged in a building large enough to host a B52 bomber. The Comedy Store is designed to be held in small, skanky venues with no escape from the performers' wrath. Being the classy little town this is though, we don't have any dirty hovels to host such nights, but we do have The Playhouse. It's small, friendly and the beer is marginally cheaper.

When the comedy finally kicks-off, after a torturous hour long wait reading Norfolk Life and peeling beer labels, the hope is that the size of the venue will be overlooked.

Sadly, the appearance of the aforementioned Wilty leaves you looking for places to hide (not hard really). His jokes fall flat and his claim that he is as 'subtle as the b in subtle' is a downright lie. The audience try to go with it, but in the end give up. Not a great start. That he also feels the need to inform us that we're about to see, " . .. the best comedians available at short notice," - and he doesn 't seem to be joking- gets this writer looking impatiently at his watch.

Following fairly bland sets from Spencer Brown and Matt King, the night 's main attraction, Tom Stade, arrives on stage. Soon to be gracing UEA with his presence on the 24th af November, Tom Stade turns in a solid, at times hilarious, P.e rformance; his dope jokes especially. It feels like he's been doing these jokes for ages mind. In all, the small peak at the end of the evening fails to make up for earlier problems. Laughed? I nearly cried.

foe Minihane

t=================================- 22.10.03 '

16 Albums

The Strokes .. . . .

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Room On Fire If the mellow disposition of Room on Fire is anything to go by, it would appear that the new rock revolution has taken down its Che Guevara posters, cancelled its subscription to Socialist Worker and declared the whole insurrection thing a misunderstanding.

The Strokes, you see, have grown up . Gone is the bluff and bluster of Is This It, and in its place is left a collection of the sharpest, most stylish three-minute rock anthems since Joey Ramone left rock 'n ' roll high school and played the first of his three chords on the guitar.

Single 12:51 sets the tone , the cosy familiarity of its crisp chords and yelping vocals providing reassurance that the pressures of expectation haven't yet caused the band to implode. In fact , far from displaying the bravado expected of them, Room on Fire sees The Stokes feeling content with their lot. "I don't want to change the world", sings Julian Casablancas on the sugary-sweet Under Control, "I just want to watch it go by".

Although patchy in places (the greetings-card lyrics to Automatic Stop really should have been burnt before anyone had the chance to commit them to tape), Room on Fire still boasts hints of the blistering arrogance and plaintive selfdoubt that made Is This It such a remarkable debut. The Way It Is sounds more reminiscent of 90s rockers Sugar than the calculated cool of The Ramones, while the sudden conclusion to The End Has No End displays the band's wry sense of humour - otherwise much-missed on this album.

At a mere 33 minutes long , Room on Fire may seem little to show for all the hype that has surrounded it, but The Strokes have learnt the most important lesson of performing: always leave your audience wanting more . Now, any chance of that revolution?

Dirty Hits

Muted Possibly the only rapper to record a diss song from the perspective of God cussing out the human race, Alias' Divine Disappointment, which featured on the sample r produce d by ultra-cool underground hip-hop label Anticon, has long since convinced a loyal following that they're in the presence of a maverick talent.

If last year's Other Side of the Looking Glass album was him flexing his cerebral muscle as an MC , Muted is the inevitable follow-up from an artist held in equally high regard for production skills. Only two tracks here feature vocals and they're not his.

Whilst it's unlikely the names of Marcus Acher (sic) from the Notwist and his paid-up Anticon buddy the Pedestrian will mean anything to you, they nonetheless stand out from the alle ncompassing squelches of beats and samples that fill the rest of the album.

Put Muted on first thing in the morning and you'll never get out of bed - its warm, fuzzy vibe is drum 'n' bass catching on in the transatlantic underground much later than expected - but kick back to it while you're busy trying to shrug off the bilious feeling of one too many indulgences at the end of the night and it reveals its charm as a wonderful, comforting experience.

He may be invading a crowded market , but perhaps enough time has passed from the faddish phase of 'chill out' albums being all the rage for the man known to his mum as Brendon Whitney to deliver an album of blissful, understated beats that invades your personal headspace with the likes of Unseen Sights, Shoes, Cars , Soft Drinks and Th e Physical Voice with the potential to convince the casual observer that this is one niche artist who you can afford to welcome into your CD collection.

Alistair Lawrence

The best way to understand Primal Scream is n ot to look at them as akin to magpies such as Beck and the Beasties, who can often seem rather contrived and pretentious. Rather, Primal Scream are more like residents at some grand old jazz club, adept at any number of styles, but always able to make the tune their own.

In the course of Dirty Hits, we seesaw from house to dub , rock 'n' roll to industrial, from scuzz rock to electro.

The reason why this grab-bag of styles still makes sense is twofold.

First, in Bobby Gillespie, they have a supremely charismatic, intuitive front man, but secondly and more importantly is the passion. Each song is a silver bullet of commitment and enthusiasm, instruments hammered to breaking point.

Sarah Edwardes

Nelly "hot in herre" side of things , then you might have fallen asleep before track three .

Ominous, the debut album by Border Crossing, puts together all the e lements that make up the urba n sound: hip hop, reggae, dance hall, and R&B. But don't let tha t make y ou run out and buy it just ye t.

The album kicks off with tra cks of lyric ally unadulterated UK and old school 1993 style hip h op . Half way through, it turns into a series of instrume ntal and lyrical tracks oddly reminiscent of 70s cult classics, with a few awkward touches of dance hall.

D e spite an interesting st art, Ominous leaves one in that awkward space between conscious hip h op and club music . Not to m ention that some of the dance hall tracks would not hold the average young adult attention span. However, one thing is for sure: it is probably the most ecle ctic mix y ou'll hear all year.

Proceed with caution. If this album doesn't tickle your pale tte then prepare to be appropriately in awe.

Alyssa Morrisey

really . Even the good influences don't come off very well.

Saying that, I'm sure that there are people in this world that like Shelby Lynne and her brand of folk-esque nonsense, but that's just being nice .

This album is absolutely fine if you like distinctly average, tedious, yet very, very safe middle of the road songs.

There's nothing wrong with what she has done here, except for the fact that its all been done before, and no matter h ow hard I try, I still think 'Dolly Part on'.

Tha t, or random hillbilly types singing songs about their family tree being too close for comfort.

Saying that, just because I'm opinionated doesn't mean people won't like this ; it's just not any good at all. And it will probably win a Grarnmy. And sell shedloads, dammit.

Matt Stratton

Revolution In Me

The Fire Theft

Identity Crisis

Dirty Hits contains too many highlights to mention, but Loaded will take you back to the best times of cheap vodka and a knowing wink from the girl you fancy, while Higher than the Sun can justly be said to have set the template for intelligent dance music.

However, this is only a single CD , so key moments such as Stars and Trainspotting are omitted, while new edits of key tracks such as Kowalski and Swastika Eyes make less musical sense than the full length originals.

Nonetheless , this is a terrific introduction to a band responsible for some of the defining musical moments of the last 15 years, and there fore comes highly recommended.

Jonathan Perbnutter

Ominous If you fancy hip hop with that 70's Enter the Dragon flavour, a touch of Chuck Berry and a little Ziggy Marley to top it off, then this might be just what 路you need. Then again, if you prefer the

Ratings-

Com:rnando

The Arnie-ometer

22.10.03

What on earth have I done to deserve this atrocity? I suppose it's my own fault that I agreed to review this on the grounds that it would be interesting, maybe a change from rock/blues/ soul , or the experimental stuff that !listen to . Well, it was differe nt. What it certainly wasn't w as good .

So, she's been singing/ song writing for the best part of thirteen years, and this is her umpteenth (sixth I think) album.

Identity Crisis apparently encompasses deep introspection, self-doubt yielding to courage and confidence, mistrust leading to faith in love, with musical echoes of such Lynne heroes as Patsy Cline (on the multi-tracked vocal showcase Lonesome) and Willie Nelson. But it's just a bit crap

Predator

lyrics with directionless melodies. Oh dear.

As you listen to this album, you get the impression that The Fire Theft are desperately seeking to make their Dark Side of the Moon and have come out with something sub- Ben Jovi. The worst thing about this album is that there is not one moment, not one liner note , not one lyric that contains even a hint of irony.

For beautiful experiment, try Spiritualized or Martin Grech. For ugly prog-rock pretension, try The Fire Theft. Its depressing earnestness will send you scrabbling for Chas 'n Dave records in seconds.

Matthew Creber

It should be obvious from the credits (full orch~stra, children's choir) that on their debut album, The Fire Theft are attempting to tread the very fine line between genius and absurdity. It's a path followed by many before: Pink F1oyd made it across with their kudos still attached, and many a 70s progrock band (Marillion and Yes to name but two) have fallen firmly on the wrong side.

So where does this particular album fall? Is it a symphonic masterpiece, to be adored and revered by gen erations to come? Or is it the sound of three men tossing off with stupid amounts of production and little songwriting ability to their name? You guessed it.

From the moment the first ludicrously overblown guitar solo begins minutes into this album, you know that this it is going to be painful. Out come the horns and the strings and the reverb-laden guitars , out come the meaningless instrumental tracks (Oceans Aparf), out come the bland

True Lies

The first thing you realise afte r listening to Revolution in Me is exactly how much of an influence Donaghy had on the first Sugababes album. The tripping b e ats and staggered vocal phrases make a welcome return here, along with a newly acquired sense of song craft.

The second thing to note is that despite what you may have heard- this is no indie album. Only the hit Overrated and the truly magnificent Twist Of Fate push the alt-pop buttons in any real sense.

The rest of the material here is divided between upbeat vocal-led pieces (Man Without Friends, Faces) and sophisticated late-night comedown tunes (LitUe Bits, Suasex). If there were ever any doubts about Donaghy's singing talents, let me lay them to rest now. Not only is she in exceptional voice throughout these recordings, but also anyone who had the impetus to drop into one of her recent small-venue gigs could not have failed to be wowed by her versatile gift.

As with One Touch, Revolution ... is not an album you can fully digest on first listen. It makes you work for y our pay off and thus will probably be largely overlooked by the masses . The sad thing is, given the proper a ttention this could be the album to revitalise the woeful current state of pop music.

Instead, it will have to make do with being the pop album of the year for those few in the know.

Daniel Chandler

The 6th Day

Batman and Robin

- - - -- -- - - - - - -

- --- -~--·- - ·- ~ -

·-

--

Singes 17

Single Choice

AI fie Kylie Slow Less dedicated Kylie fans will need a few listens to appreciate this new offering from the Princess of Pop. Lacking the instant catchiness of Can't Get You Out of My Head it harks back to the more introspective Impossible Princess era, when Kylie first flirted with a new electronic sound yet with little commercial success. Always one to reinvent herself her latest sound is an electro-synth pop fusion with sexy floor based dance routine to match.

Its good to have her back but Miss Perfect Booty may sadly be past her best as this new sound falls a bit flat after the fantastic Fever album. However the sleek production and funky bass line of Slow mean she 1s still light years ahead of other contemporary pop wanabees, including fellow Auss1e Holly Valance and sister Dannii, who have both dabbled with the 80's synth sound.

Yet does Kylie stand a chance with both her single and the Madge/Britney collaboration out on the same day? Let the pop tart battle commence.

Kate Finburg·Shorler

Future Shock

,··...

·· : :

~speaks

to :

· ;,

Mancunian indie darlings Alfie about their new record label and why they can't do singles.

Shootin' Goon Left For Dead

Future Shock returns with this acid house mix. that sets it leagues apart from the rest. They have been touring all summer, trying to promote this song as one of their greatest mixes so far. However I think this song lacks something. It reminds me of really bad 80s techno and is very repetitive.

Late at Night has its good and bad points but it fails to impress even the most avid of dance music fans. To be honest I can't see this staying in the clubs for very long and I don't think it will even be back in 5 years time for the Old School nights. Good try Future Shock, but better luck next time.

Daniel Chandler

This five-track EP finds the ska punkers who were once toasted as the future of UK punk back in blisteringly fine form. Filled with vitriol and bile, from the slowburn of Photograph to the all-out raging of Guestlist/Hitlist this shows just how good the 'Goon can be. And when you consider that in MTV they've written the best ska track to come from these isles all year you simply cannot discount this band. A real return to form , kicking and screaming like a hyperactive toddler who won't take his Ritalin. But in a good way.

As twee as a Belle and Sebastian fan stoking a puppy in a field of bluebells, Brighter than Sunshine is an insufferably lovely slice of melodic pop. Reminiscent of the rather gorgeous- and much overlooked- Superstar, it jingles in and jangles out again, and makes some attempt to reduce the listener to tears in between. This would be all well and good, if it wasn't for the fact that Aqualung's tormented wailing has all the sincerity of Geri Halliwell's acting CBfeer.

I'm not usually a violent person, but frankly, it makes me want to break things.

The Coopers are evolving, maybe even maturing. Their new album, Kick up the Fire, and Let the Flames Break Loose, transforms their sound, gives it purpose in melody and song writing, whilst maintaining an irrepressible experimentalism.

All the ingredients are there, distorted walls of guitar sound, mazy electronic overlays and Gautrey's Marlboro-infused vocals. So what of Blind Pilots? It says everything you need to know and love about the Coopers in three minutes and thirty nine seconds of coruscating energy. An extended metaphor for relationships, which sweats angst, frustration and melancholy from every pore. ]oel Turner

Sarah Edwardes

unkl e

. . ... ,

·:~ ·11

In a State UNKLE's new album Never, Never Land has failed to garner the hype surrounding their eponymous debut, Psyence Fiction.

Whilst Psyence Fiction tried to place square pegs in round holes U:t the name of musical fusion, it is evident Never, Never Land presents a more organic approach. New single In a State is something of a disappointment in comparison to other stand out album tracks. It never really feels more than the sum of its parts- a fairly generic ambient trance affair, destiDed to grace many a "chill-out" compilation. Buy the album, but skip this track. ]oel Turner

Ben Patashnik

Clarkesvitle Heavy Soul Poor old Michael Clarke, aka Clarkesville. He is 'so tired of being everybody's run-around'. It's affecting him so much in fact, that he has become the bearer of a Heavy Soul. That, basically, is what the song is about. Is all this feeling sorry for himself through song actually any good though? Well it's not awful, there are some nice piano bits which are pleasing to the ear, and I suppose you could call the chorus catchy. But the song lacks originality and so becomes instantly forgettable.

Sorry Michael, but it looks like that soul's only going to get heavier.

Anclrew Crudge

Having just finished their third album, Alfie have found themselves with a new label and a great opportunity to get some notoriety, supporting the well respected Athlete. Previously signed to the small, Manchesterbased label Twisted Nerve, Lee Gorton seems in awe of Parlophone while insisting that "officially" there is no bitterness in leaving the "low key" label. It seems they enjoy the new found recognition but that they have struggled to retain some of their unique sound. Lee explains: "Ken Nelson who did Coldplay and Badly Drawn Boy, he was sound, but because he's 'done the Coldplay albums and the big sounding epic things, we didn't want to be like that, we wanted to be scratchy and real. Fame, it would be nice, the better it is then the better chance of doing another album, but the goal is not to get big but to write good music."

Full of contradictions and hypocrisy Lee admits that "We're not particularly good at writing singles; we're not a catchy kind of pop band. A lot of bands get talked into writing singles, because it gets you on the radio, and the more people come to your gigs and you sell more records. But that gets in the way of the artistic ethic"; as though fame alone should be criticised.

It appears that the Alfie front man is a living stereotype of every small time indie band, resentful at others' success and seeing it as selling out. Like every band they have stories of touring, but theirs are perhaps a little different: "It's great T in the Park, after Glastonbury it's better than Reading or Leeds. We like going on tour with the Flaming Lips. They've really managed to keep their aesthetic true, they are writing songs the way they want. It gives you faith, that you can have this massive career without a hit single. But on tour this prick from the old label was trying to be really rebellious and showing off.

He was trying to throw the TV out the window and bottled it at the last minute. He just ended up throwing the remote control." Not so very rock and roll.

Unfortunately, Alfie did not redeem themselves on stage. With the shortest set in history Alfie were superseded by the warm up band Repairman. Poorly received in general (except for a few female groupies at the side) the vocals were weak and indistinct, letting down the music behind the pretty front man.

For me, what rescued the evening were headliners Athlete performing El Salvador and Beautiful. Westside was definitely an audience favourite but by far the audience participation for Dungeness set off an electric atmosphere in the pit. Vehicles and Animals gave promise of more classic Athlete to come in the new album. It seems that we can truly be thankful that four mates quit their jobs as skate shop owners and gardeners to form Athlete, to give us such a great tour. But please, next time no Alfie, just Repairman.

--------------------------------22.10.03

AmyHewitt

TH E

E V E NT1

18

. Essential TV: ( Essential

rch t•t)

David Blaine

Most of us are not lucky enough to have satellite or cable, and so we have to cope with the terrestrial channels' offerings of films.

Many of you will have already seen them before but, hey , they're free and help the procras tination process. This week:

X-Men e<:Wesda

10 ~ P

ITVl

X-Men the comic was never really designed to be turned into a movie. There are too many characters, the questions of race and identity are too complicated and, most importantly, all the characters' powers are all too stupid.

Trying to explain having lazer eyes through evolution is just silly.

Usual Suspects director Bryan Singer keeps affairs moving at a decent speed and there are some great scenes, but the whole movie feels more like an X-cuse for a load of sequels.

American Werewolf in A Box near ou. recently.

London : . ..us a, z., .v, 9p F." t.

Fourty four days and forty four nights withJohn Landis used to be amazing: Animal House, Blues Brothers, Trading Places and Spies Like Us were all fan tas tic comedies. With American Werewolf, he proved he could do funny and scary at the same time. As well as hilarious 'naked in zoo' and 'dead in cinema' sequences, you get amazing special effects and the best pub name in history; who could refuse a pint at the Slaughtered Lamb?

...

The X-Files Movie Fr da · 2 .. .

2.v a..-n

rr·

The X-Files Movie was the last time Mulder and Scully were great. Almost immediately after, their adventures decended into confusion, repetition and boring new characters. On the big screen though, everything worked. The monsters were scary, the plot made some kind of sense and it actually seemed to matter if the leads fancied each other or not.

Cutthroat Island a urda '25

J 'I 20p. BBCI

Back in the mid '90s, director Renny Harlin decided he was going to make his wife, Gena Davis, into an action star. His most successful attempt was The Long Kiss Goodnight.

Cutthroat Island was his worst. Davis plays the daughter of a pirate who must find her father's treasure, with the help of wimpish Matthew Modine. It cost a lot and lost a lot; Gena and Renny are now divorced.

Smilla's Sense of Snow s tu:rda 25 1a 12 30pm BBC2 T

Based on Peter Hoeg's novel, this didn't get the attention it deserved. Julia Ormond plays ascientist tracking down the killer of a young boy against stunning snowy backgrounds. Gabriel Burne shows up doing his usual villain bit. ]im Whalley

22.1.0.03

out food, suspended in a box above the Thames. Not exactly 'magic' per say. In fact, the only way David Blaine could manage to pull a decent bunny out of his hat with this one is if he was never actually in the damn box in the first place.

Hoards of cheering and jeering onlookers have accumulated to gawk at the sight, and see first hand the miracle of a podgy, underdressed guy in a box. Funnily enough though, television coverage has been somewhat limited, anyone would think it wasn't exactly thrilling viewing - yeah ok, so it's downright boring. However, while forty three of the days David Blaine spends in the box are redundant and best ignored, most of us deep down inside want to see him break free from his Perspex prison and hear his first monotonous mumbling recount of how he's now a changed man.

That's why we have to tune in. The man may be one sandwich short of a picnic but he knows how to create a sense of occasion around him-

self. Its the kind of thing you don't want to watch but do for fear of having not seen it.

Standing on poles, in blocks of ice and burying himself alive all go down on the magicians spectacular stunts CV, and all have warranted a Channel 4 special. Specials that, as I remember it, were all significantly fleshed out with Blaine 's street magic and there's no exception being made in this case. We see trips to the hospital (oooh) more in-box footage (aaahh) and then some proper magic which is the reason we hang on for the whole hour. I mean, if David Blaine turned up at a house party (as he is wont to doing) people would be saying "hey Dave! Levitate! Levitate!" not "go on mate, don't eat anything". We want to see him leave members of the public slack-jawed and perplexed as they (and we) s tare in disbelief when the priceless diamond ring they were just wearing is whisked off, only to reappear in a shop window or in someone's bag or on a dog or whatever - the list is endless. Most magicians are fun to watch because of the warm glow of smugness we get dispelling any air of illusion they might have, explaining

Miss This •• Thursday. 8pm, BBC2 I don't mean to seem disingenuous but I truly don't understand the appeal of Time Commanders (Thursday Bpm, BBC2.) This week's program entitled 'Pharsalus' promises Nottingham university graduates and a civil war battle 'for control' of the Roman Republic circa 48BC. It is interesting to recreate periods in time-wars , as we well know, often dominate periods of history- but I'm not sure. this is the right medium with which to conduct such an enterprise. I initially bought into the BBC 's flashy advertising campaign, intrigued by the prospect of mere mortals pitting their minds against History's greatest military commanders. I think all men face a regression into childhood when the mechanics of warfare are explored, !-don't mean to condone conflict and pointedly don' t .. . but still. There is a tendency to romanticise battles that have long passed into the annals of time , a boy's own fascination with weaponry and conflict. So I watched the first episode (citing a curiosity in the technolo-

to what we're seeing.

David Blaine's up close and personal slight of hand trickery remains as elusive as it always has and is still exciting to see time and again.

Back to the box however, it's always worth a watch when something that seems to have gripped the minds and mouths of the nation reaches its peak, rumours are put to rest and history is made. Whether this particular occurrence is quite that momentous is debatable. Its not clever, we don't puzzle over how its done, although we do muse over whether there is a sneaky Twix sneaked in under David's duvet or Smarties being squidged through that big water straw of his. When all is said and done though, while we hate to admit it, we're not as uninterested as we'd like to think we are. We might wonder whatever happened to "pick a card, any card" but we're just as puzzled by all of this as we ever were with the on-the-street stuff that got us interested in the first place.

KateBryant

T·me Commanders

gy as my pretext) and rapidly saw my preconceptions unravel, their attempts to contextualize the featured conflict are really quite interesting, but that's where my attentions turned from reception to critical. The presenter Eddie Mair is 'charismatic' (read annoying), running through the motions of presenting a show that unlike its less cerebral sibling 'Robot Wars' offers few comedic opportunities. The producers also employ two military historians to commentate on the 'action.' It all takes place in a 'specially designed studio,' which appears either to be a converted warehouse or an expensive set intended to look like a converted warehouse , either way there is precious little to be described as special about the place.

Each w e ek four e ager individuals attempt to outwit the artificial intelligence of the computer recreate d general/ Two act as generals commanding from their overview of a battlefield map , giving orders to battlefield subordinates (the other two) probably ranked as lieutenants for the p urposes of realism. They in turn converse With computer operators who

perform said commands within the confines of the computer-generated battlefield. Sounds complicated doesn't it? Well this is the real crux of the program's inadequacy. It would work satisfactorily if the end point in this chain of command were real people, but its not, rather groups of strange looking troops. They seem to lack any form of conventional proportion and (namely the cavalry) ride animals of questionable origin- horses with elongated necks? I realise the limitations of the software and admittedly some of the textures and landscape rendering is impressive, but undertaking this series without an extremely advanced realism of graphics seems naive. The program ends like watching someone, watching someone else , watching another play a military based strategy game on a PC. I don't think that in principle it's a poor idea for a series, I just think the current structure doesn 't work. To sensationalise-however lamented the LCR< it's better than this tedious bollocks.

]oel Turner

19

Film.

Campus Good Bye Lenin Thurs 23/10 Story of a devoted son keeping communism alive for his sickly mother.

Maid in Manhattan

try goes horribly wrong.

Calender Girls A group of WI oldies get their kit off for charity.

Down With Love 60s style romantic comedy with Ewan McGregor attempting an English accent (will he ever learn... )

Fri 24/10

J-Lo going back to the block to prove she's still street.

Film

Gigs

Whale Rider 31110 - 3 / 11 Hugely popularMaoridrama involving tribal politics and aquatic mammals.

Waterfront

Film

Finding Nemo Soothing underwater kids film that actually works better for adults

Secretary Tues 28110 Black comedy about a recently released mental institution patient struggles to work in an office and deal with her illness.

Holes Another of those Disney family movies where groups of kids have adventures involving moderately priced special effects.

Etre et A voir Thurs 30110 A year in the lives of French school children and their solo dedicated teacher.

The Italian Job Hollywood attempt at recreating the classic 1969 Michael Caine film by changing the setting. And the characters. And the plot.

Rocky Horror Show

Intolerable Cruelty New Coen Brothers film starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and George Clooney.

and discover that he may be small but that doesn't make him insignificant.

Pirates of the Caribbean Johnny Depp impersonates Keith Richards on a pirate ship in the Carribean (surprisingly) .

Bright Young Things 31/10- 6110

Bad Boys Z

PotLuck 27110 - 30110 Youths having fun and learning life lessons in Barcelona, starring Audrey Tautou. Back by popular demand.

CahinFever

Rain

Ster Century

Calender Girls Down With Love

27-30/10 Child's eye view of her parents collapsing marriage.Adulterous flirtings give her ideas .. .

Fri 31110

Classic halloween film necessary be fire trick or treating.

Charlie's Angels Z Tues 4/11 Obvious sequel about kick ass girlies fighing crime without smudging their lippie.

Bad Boys Z Action comedy with Will Smith ad Matin Lawrence fighting crime in unauthodox ways.

Bright Young Things Stephen Fry's adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel Vile Bodies about a penniless writer trying to attract the attentions of an aristocrats daughter. Satire of British party culture of the upper classes in the 1930s.

CahinFever Slasher horror flick about college students whose escape to the coun-

Kill Bill Vol. I Quentin Tarantino tries kung fu with Uma Thurman seeking revenge upon 'Bill' who tried to kill her at her own wedding five years earlier.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 19th Century adventure. Thorugh past literary characters mission about trying to save the world, starring Sean Connery.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico New Robert Rodriguez action movie with Johnny Depp, Salma Hayek and a guitar playing Antonio Banderas.

Piglet's Big Movie Pooh and all his mates get together for the honey harvest but poor old piglet is too small to help. Feeling rejected from his supposed friends his roams Hundred Acre Wood alone. Everyone has to find him

I Capture the Castle

Adapted from the book of the same name; poignant moments as far as the eye can see.

The Italian Job

International Animation

Once Upon a Time in Mexico Pirates of the Caribbean Sinbad Long running cartoon of the sailor with Catherine Zeta- Jones and Brad Pitt talking.

Cinema City Raising Victor Vargas 17-23110 & 27-30/10 Victor tries to win the affections of the popular girl but has to enlist the help of his kid brother to help him out. Leading to him being tom between family and teenage hormones.

Festival From 23rd to 26th October Cinema City hosts Norwich's Third International animation festival.

There will be numerous screenings, seminars and workshops. Here are a few of the highlights: 24/10 Experimental and Music showcase 12.30pm Independent showcase 9.30pm 25/10 International animators showcase 10.15am lnernational Student Showcase 9.15pm 26/10 UK Student showcase 11am Awards Ceremony 6pm

Gigs

The Proclaimers - Wed2211 0 The Reid twins comeback tour with support from Grim Northern Soul. £12.50 Electric Soft Parade - Tue 28/10 The indie band come to Norwich to promote their second album 'The American Adventure.' £9ADV The Raveonette's - Wed 29/1 0 Psychedelic pop from Denmark fol lowing the bands successful appearences at Reading and Leeds festivals this Summer £7.50 ADV

NME Student Riot Tour - Mon 3/11 Jets + The Hiss Rock 'n' Roll. £8

Kill Bill The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Norwich Arts Centre Baka Beyond - 23/10 Inspired by the tribes of the Cameroon rainforrest. This is afrocelt roots music at its best. £10 (£8 NUS) ADV Alec Dankworth Trio The award winning British Jazz musician brings his Trio to the NAG as part of the East Coast Jazz festival. £7 (£6 NUS)

Black History

Month 25/10 - Celebrate Diwali @ Millenium Library with Indian dancing and story telling.

25/10 - Kick Raciam out of Football @ Carrow Road Ground.

Dance to the Norwich Samba band before the 3pm Norwich vs.

Sunderland Match.

25/10 - The Nat King Cole story Norwich Playhouse with Danny Williams. 7.30

Jello Biafra - Wed/1 0 Spoken word from the ex-Dead Kennedy's frontman . Bound to get political. £9(£7 NUS) ADV Pete Tong - Sat 25/10 Clubnight with Radio 1's Essential selection DJ . £9.95 (£7 NUS) Left : Gorillaz by Peter Cardiland competing in the music category of the Norwich

•

Hot Hot Heat - Thurs 30/1 0 Electro-pop from accross the pond with support from Franz Ferdinand and the Fiery Furnaces £10

Finding Nemo

@

27/10 NNREC 10th Anniversary Event @ Sainsbury Centre with guest speaker Trevor Phillips 6pm.

28/10 Afro-Brazil - Beleza! @ Kafe Da. Fundraising Night for Brazilian charities. 7pm-1am.

31/10 Film: Rockers @ Cinema City, followed by Rebel Lion Sound System . Film starts at 10pm.

Animation Festival.

22.10.03 THE

-

EVENT

Po Na Na: Salsa lessons from 7pm £4/ 3 NUS for lessons, free without.

Liquid: Chart and Party £4/ £2

Tinle: Life@Time - student night 9.30pm-2am £4/ 3 NUS

Lightbar: Bootylicious Hip-Hop and R'n'B 9pm-2am Free b4 10.30pm, £4 after.

Lock Stock: Hip-Hop with electric beats until 2am £4

• Ikon: Student Night - hits from the 70s. 80s and 90s. Drinks £2 all night. £2 b4 11, £3 after

Waterfront: Meltdown- pop, alternative rock, indie . (Upstairs) W raith - goth, metal, rock !Opm2am £4.50/ 2.50

Tinle: Boyz & Girlz - popular dance, r 'n 'b a nd chart £4.50/ £3.50 NUS Light Bar: Disco Sucks and The Underground - real 70s, indie downstairs Free b4 10.30 £2 after.

Carousel Man 27/ 10-Sat Ill! Rodgers and Harnrnerstein's musical masterpiece staring Sam Kane as Billy Bigelow with choreography

by Wayne Sleep. £4-£23.50

The Bank: Vibe -cheese, chart & party 7.30pm until lam Free .

Light Bar: Superfly - funk, ska, soul, hip-hop . !Opm-2am. No dress code. £3.50 Po Na Na: Tighten up- funky grooves 8pm- 12 .30am

The Taming of the Shrew Wed 22/ 10- Fri 25/10 Shakespearean comedy with Ross Kemp as Petruchio and Nichola McAuliffe as Kate . £4-18.50

Optic Chart, retro, R'n'B. Drinks 2 for I .

Free b4 I Opm, £3 after.

Brannigans Mukky Duck- student night until 1.30am Free b4 9, £3/ 2 NUS after.

The Bank Karaoke until I am Free

Arthur Miller Literary Festival MADELEINE ALBRIGHT- Wed 29/ 10 7pm Former US Secretary of State and Ambassador to the UN reads from her memoir Madam Secretary.

DORRIS LESSING- Mon2111 7pm One of the most influential figures in modern english literature.

Author of the Grass is singing and The Golden Notebook. £5 D iversify @ UEA Drama Studio 3/l l -7111 UEA Drama SOC's put on a festival of short plays and new writing. £3 .50

Top: Doris Lessing, Aliove: fello Biafra