The event issue 159 28 01 2004

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Shamless Fun

Concrete Editor-in-Chief Jim 'campus legend'Whalley Event Editor Nathan 'unacceptably not campus legend' Dixon Assistant Editor Richard 'dogsbody' Simm Arts Ed itor Katharine Clemow Film Editor Philip Sainty Music Dream. Team. Matt Sargeson & Sarah Edwardes TV/Digital Editor s Tim Barker & Kate Bryant Contributors (in order of appearance): Suzanne Rodger • Gary Budden • Alex Martin • Paul Wade • Amy Hewitt • Dean Bowman • Isabel Dyson • Colin Griffiths • Dario Sulzman • Robin Stiles • Shaun Newport • Jonathan Perlmutter • Tom Pateman • Rob Lavine • Jenni Wright • Cat Lumb • Edward Field

The Event is published fortnightly by Concrete: Post: PO Box 410, Norwich, NR4 7TB Tel : 01603 250558 Fax: 01603 506822 E-mail: su .concrete@uea.ac.uk Printed by: Sharman & Co.

I'd like us all to observe a minute's silence for the listings section. Hello and we lcome to The Event Noir, thought we'd give an arty, old-school look a go for one issue and see how we all felt . This has absolutely nothing to do with a lack of funds, it is purely a style exper iment. Really it is. Hope you've all worked out the DIY approach to this issue: pull The Event out of its dust-jacket, Concrete, flip it over and fold it. This is actually quite a clever solution to a lay-out conundrum we were faced with after a couple of p rinting options were considered. If you successfully negotiate this simple manoeuvre, then have a shot at the Little Book of Calm on pages 7 & 8 which will test your DIY dexterity even further. It's a great way of avoiding proper work. Thanks to all those that sent stuff in for it, unfortunately it all arrived a bit late, b ut, if it all proves a success, there's no reason why we couldn't do something similar in the near future. Hope everyone likes the latest redesign. Cheers.

ND 28.01.04

ou must have been living under a rock for the past few months if you haven 't seen an advert for Shameless, Channel 4 's new come d y drama p enned by the fair hands of Paul Abb ott. Showing on Tuesdays at 10 , the series fo llows the lives of the Gallagher tribe and various cohorts as they meander their way through existence on a Manchester housing estate . With an absent mo ther, alc oholic father and a b a nd of tearaway tots a n d teens, Shameless seems to have all the essential ingredients for Abbott's ratings winning recipe. With such notable BBC titles as Clocking Off and Tomorrow, La Scala! under his b elt, this latest offering is expected to fulfil high hopes from fans and critics alike . Safe to say most viewers are tunin g in hungry fo r mo re of these tales of working class, gritty b ut heart-warming mayhem so typical of Abbott. The idea seems to be that one d oes not mess with a successful formula, and it's an id ea that has been winning audiences left rig ht and centre off of rival c hannels while pleasing Abbott's already well established fan base. Smiles all round so far.

e ts , and even with o ne or two of the m already on display, many more seem immine nt. Just weeks in, Shameless seems to have set itself up as one of the most talked about shows of the year. With an opening reminiscent of Trainspotting, the series will undoubtedly give us at least one or two major moments of co ntroversy before its end. Already we've been told that 15 year old Gallagher runt !an is gay but in the closet, a revelation that will surely be the subject of a later e p isode. Father, Frank, is largely a nonentity. However, when he is onscreen it is usually amo ngst a haze of fags, b ooze and so on with an erratic demeanour at the b est of times . At the heart of the family lies Fiona, eldest sister at twenty and acting authority figure for the entire clan who seems to be the channel through which all the single parents issues are siphoned. Another impor tant characteristic of the show is the explicit sexual content that clocks in at I 0: I Opm on the dot without fail. While its contribution to the narrative see ms minimal, its stylistic connotations seem integral to the overall impression Shameless wishes to purvey. After all , you don 't keep people tuned in without the odd moment of sexual abandon . This set-up

Abbott's style seems to hark back to the now forgotten era of Play for Today-- one hour dramas, often quite bleak in their outlook The series is apparently partially autobiographical, with Abb ott drawing o n his experiences of b eing brought up in Burnley by his eld e r sister in a family of eight children. However, just because something is b ased on reality doesn't make it believable, and it definite ly d oesn 't make it entertaining. Having a link with real-life see ms to be short-hand in some cases for discarding all rules and regulations regarding quality and structure. I'm pleased to say that Abbott appears to be aware of this and is not too self-indulgent in his portrayal of the Gallagher family framework, opting to concentrate on events to develop character relationships rather than banal everyday interactions. This leaves us feeling we have a lot to learn about each of the characters but also firmly caught up in their various story-lines. None of the characters seem b eyond harbouring at least one or two major skeletons in their clos-

seems ideal for a hard-hitting drama, critically acclaimed with a cult following that truly depicts the misery of life in all its filthy glory. Shameless is a comedy though . Don't expect a laughter track , or a live studio audience, but expect some light relief. It seems a dangerously fine line , one which most writers fail to tread accurately, between finding comedy in such issues and just plain ridiculing them. Whether Abbott manages this or misses the mark completely is debatable , and will always remain that way. The answer really depends on whe ther you like his style, and if you do then Shame less will not disappoint and looks to b e a thoroughly e njoyable take on life in ge neral. If you don't then Its worth a t least a cautious gaze to se e what all the fuss is about. There aren 't many brand-spanking new face s here, but that isn't to say there aren't any names to pay attention

to o n display. Jody Latham, who plays sixteen year old Lip is one of the less familiar faces , yet looks set to make a name for himself here. The cast is strong overall, with very few exceptions, but Latham 's performance seems to have drawn a great deal of atte ntion and will hopefully remain as p owerful as it has hitherto been. David Threlfall is the most seasoned actor and a veteran of the gritty drama , yet is gene ro us in his portrayal of Frank Gallagher and d oesn't obscure those around him . He seems to have the inherent ability to ooze undesirability from every pore of his b eing without the aid of dialogue .

Frank is largely~ a haze of fags and booze he sharper among you will already be scratching your heads while p uzzling over why Abbot! has decid e d to m ove from the cosy luxury of the BBC to Channel 4 for his latest project. Perhaps its a strategic move , becoming a slightly bigger fish in a slightly smaller pond. Abbott 's style seems to hark back tc the now forgotten era of Play for 7bday- one hour dramas , often quite bleak in their outlook. This genre may be a bit hit-and-miss , b ut it seems better than the miss-and-miss drivel that we suffer through with shows like pop-idol and the like. Channel 4 seems the ideal place and Abbott seems an ideal candidate, with his penchant for whirlwind urban fantasy realism with loveable c haracters that you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. Everyone normal knows that the only reliable solutions in life are found on the box and at the moment its left to the medical dramas to make sure we 're not all drug addicts and that we make sure to eat at least five fruit or veg portions a day. If Abbott had his way, and I think you'll agree with me when I say that he should, then we 'd all be a bit more like the Gallaghers. It might not be the most poignant social commentary, or a laugh a minute romp. In fact Shameless suffers a little from burning the candle at both ends, trying to please too many of the people too much of the time . None the less, as it stands, it is managing well and looks set to for a long time . Channel 4 have recently begun filming a second series based on the success they 're already having after just two episodes.

Features 03

"don't try to please; don't try to write another Archer or a Harry Potter. "

Norfo k Light ~

drinks tea with Philip Pullman and talks about

his Norfolk roots, the religious popularity of the anti-religious

'His Dark Materials trilogy and that upstart, Harry Potter. pushed through the door of the bar with photographer, Anna, close behind. Muzak Christmas carols played in the empty foyer. We were twenty minutes early. Surveying the few other guests, one gentleman caught my eye. I approached and he introduced himself as Philip Pullman. He generously ordered tea for the three of us. As Pullman is part of the UEA literary festival , we discuss Norwich in general. He was brought up in Norfolk and his grandfather was the rector in the parish of Drayton. He remarks that it's a beautiful city, especially Tombland, the Guildhall and City Hall - "a beautiful example of Scandinavian moderne". Delving further into his background connections with Norwich, Mr Pullman reveals that he received an honorary degree from UEA last year, making a welcome change from celebrities who seem to enjoy slating the glorious concrete campus (Hugh Grant - just you wait) .

For those of you who have not read any of Philip Pullman's literature, he is best known for the hugely successful trilogy His Dark Materials. The story follows a headstrong girl, Lyra Belacqua (or Silvertongue, depending on how far you've read) on her mission to find out why the children from Oxford are disappearing. This is not Oxford as we know it but it is not totally dissimilar. It is possible to recognise elements, such as the long-established scholarly influence, but it is more archaic as they have little electricity (what they do have they call 'anbaric'). Along the way she meets Will, a boy from our world, in just as much trouble as she is. The pair form a metaphorical Adam and Eve, an analogy which continues throughout the novels. The story has captivated millions, old and young alike, with the same adulation afforded to J.K Rowling. When asked about her success, Mr. Pullman congratulates her on her obvious strength of character for coping so well with the sudden fame. The suggestion that she is wholly responsible for the popularity of fantasy is met with a defensive "I was before Harry Potter'', from which I hastily backtrack. We are told that he has been published in 36 different languages, surely an almost

Biblical proportion. Modestly, he adds "I have copies in Lithuanian. I can't read it, but if I ever meet a Lithuanian then they can have one." It is evident he has broken down more than language barriers as we discuss the forthcoming play adaptation. During the conversation about the show Pullman becomes animated, enthusiastic about the solutions the National

atheist's Narnia, the ambitious move to condense 1600 pages of text into two three hour performances is a brave one, but arguably it does not work completely. However, The Times' Culture magazine review has been favourable about the layers within the play, and the fact that "The children do not need to know the theoretical physics that underlies his invention of an endless series of possible worlds co-existing in time and space." Think of it like Sliders without the politically correct Americans. The new book is a visual aid to the numerous worlds His Dark Materials visits. Simply entitled Lyra's Oxford, I ask if it was his idea, or the publisher's. Apparently it was the publisher's idea for a map of the alternative Oxford, but Mr. Pullman decided it should be more interesting than that, and added numerous touches such as a "boring postcard" section. He cites the Boring Postcard publication as his inspiration for the section as it's his favourite book, purely due to its imagination of juxtaposition. Lyra's Oxford spent Christmas in the bookseller's top ten for Waterstone's, a feat which I think Pullman would be proud of. Aside from this, there's another spin-off in the pipeline, provisionally

entitled The Book of Dust. From what I can gather it aims to shed a little more light on the origin and characteristics of 'Dust' , the cause for the children's disappearances within the trilogy. Coincidentally, recent scientific findings discuss 'dark matter ' - an odd occasion where literature seems to have pre-empted physics. his continuance of the characters and story of Lyra seems to contradict Pullman's assertions that once a story is written then the author has no more input. Perhaps this is a little unfair, and it is simply that he feels that the story is not quite finished. After all, for as long as I have been searching the interne! there has been talk of The Book of Dust, so it cannot be cited as a mere money-making scheme. I ask Pullman if there are any tips for budding writers, especially as UEA is well-known for its creative writing courses. His reply is, in my opinion, pure common sense -"Buy many copies of my books ... " after which he laughs. "The most important thing is, if you want to write something good, don't try to please, don't try to write another Jeffrey Archer or Harry Potter. What we want is a new you - we already have the others. Write about something which only you can be interested in. Tell a story that you'd like to read yourself." I venture, however, that critics have been known to be cruel, to which he retorts, "What do they know? If they don't like it, bugger off."

''I have copies in Lithuanian. I can't read them. But if I ever meet a Lithuanian, they can have one. Theatre proposed to some difficult problems. Perhaps the biggest one is the fabrication that in Lyra 's world everyone has a 'daemon,' what could be described as a physical manifestation of the soul - an animal which reflects the personality of the individual. The theatrical producers have overcome this with the use of puppets. A seemingly odd solution as apart from portraying a deeply unbreakable connection between puppets and actors , the children's 'daemons ', need to be able to change shape to suit the particular mood, a bird to fly or a moth to be quiet, for example. This would be difficult to portray convincingly, but Pullman maintains that the deceivingly simple method of puppeteers in black, against a black background, is extremely effective. At the time of the interview the play was just about to open to controversy, the Christian Church regard the books as blasphemous due to its atheistic nature - as Pullman puts it "I kill God" . Recent reviews of the stage play have deemed it to be over-reaching, weeding out a lot of material from the book which purists would consider mandatory to understand the complex plot of the trilogy. For example, while Will is introduced in book two- The SubUe Knife - in the theatre he is there from the beginning, therefore missing out on a big chunk of Lyra's character development, and the differences between her world and ours. Perhaps best described as an

www.theatreroyalnorwich .co .uk THEATRE STREET, NORWICH NR2 1 RL

his â&#x20AC;˘ c arm n man

Guterson: handsome. But can write books too. M:m:m..

f avid Guterson is one of the most devastatingly attractive men I have ever met. He has a handshake to rival all o thers , the looks of a Greek god, a soft Seattle accent complemented by the deepest, most meltingly mellifluous tones and the impeccable manners of a true gentleman. He is understated and takes his time to consider just exactly what he thinks in answer to a question making me feel I'm not quite the mess I feel in his presence. Despite his claim that he's "not a writer to whom people would attach the word wit" he has an air that puts one at ease and the twenty minutes that comprise our interview before his talk at the literary festival couldn 't have passed more quickly. He 's at UEA to promote his new book Our Lady of the

Forest the story of a drug-taking, six-

teen-year-old mushroom picker who has a visitation from the Virgin Mary and the effect this has on the various characters that inhabit the little town. Reactions to her news range from the cynical and exploitative to the profoundly hopeful and the confusion is compounded by the media circus that descends drawing comparisons with the sighting at Lourdes. This novel is a guaranteed success for Guterson and has been received well. It follows in the steps of his first and best-known novel Snow Falling on Cedars which many will know from the film adaptation, and the lesser known East of the Mountains. He is also a writer of non-fiction, which he says he finds much easier to write than novels because it uses "a completely different part of the brain" . At the moment he is in the process of working on "a sort of

"With getting older over the years I have less moral certainty."

memoir " . He refers to the times when he's writing fiction as " difficult" , the reason for this becomes clear when he explains just how much more his novels are to him than mere stories. Novels are his way of exploring the things in his past, such as the roots of the Japanese Americans that populated his home town in the wake of widespread imprisonment of all people of Japanese origin in the Second World War, several of whom became his good friends . They are also an expression of his questions and concerns about the present , which change in the periods of time between the completion of each story. "All three of these [fictional) books present a portrait of the human condi tion, the existential condition in which we find ourselves. They all paint the universe or the cosmos in the same way. Here we find ourselves in this sort of meaningless absurd life with the basic questions of what do we do while we're here; how do we live , how do we die, how do we confront 'is there a God"'; all the sort of metaphysical questions that humans worry about. All three are concerned with those questions but in Snow Falling on Cedars the story suggests a response . It is suggested that within the space of the universe there is a way to endure. In East of the Mountains th e re is a sug gestion of a response , that there is a way to

"you're going to find no matter what you do when you publish that there are going to be people who love it and people who hate it " endure. But in Our Lady of the Forest there are people sort of throwing up their hands in confusion saying " I don't know what to do." He goes on to explain the change in this last novel saying "it 's that with time , and with getting older over the years I have less moral certainty myself. I feel more like I'm throwing up my hands , and of course that finds its way into my work. I don't think I'm cynical I'm just more honest than I was." This honesty is apparent as he speaks frankly and with wry amusement about the critical reception to his , and indeed, any published work . " I've had some devastating criticisms of my earlier work, not too much of this new novel, but you're going to find no matter what you do when you publish that there are going to be people who love it and people who hate it." He talks of the vulnerability of new writers , that when starting out "you have no idea what to expect, you have no idea how you're going to react and you can easily just be tossed in the tempest." This being his fifth book he has grown more phlegmatic about the inevitable " hatchetjobs" done on books as successful as Snow Falling on Cedars and, potentially, Our Lady of the Forest , but he has less to prove than when he began writing and his philosophical approach extends to his feeling of being " on an even keel, good reviews or bad" with this novel. nterestingly, especially in view of the popularity of UEAs creative writing courses, and how personal his work is to him , Guterson is more than willing to owe some of his success to his experience of studying for a Master's Degree in Creative Writing which he found an invaluable way of exploring his abilities with words . While many people become great writers without taking part in training of this sort, he suggests that as far as innate talent is concerned " there's no way to know if you have it or not without engaging in rigorous study and commit ting yourself , devoting yourself, cutting out a part of your life to examine whether or not you have this gift and this vision." He goes on to say that other aspects of character neces-

sary to a budding writer are "a temperament which is one demanding of a great discipline" and a particular "psychological composition" . If this is true, and it may not sit well with some aspiring novelists, one has to believe that while G uterson used his time at university well and has worked with body, mind and soul to perfect his art he came made for the job and his perceptive, contemplative nature are at the heart of his ability to write with such skill a nd beauty. His comments in praise of the programme he attended also characterise his modesty as an artist and his humble appreciation of both the gift with which he was born, and the opportunities he 's been given to explore and nurture it. When meeting anyone as successful and dedicated as Guterson it is a little hard to imagine them as a person as well as an artist and I'm shy of delving into his personal circumstances. But it is no secret that his devotion extends to his wife and three sons [nevermind, Katharine - ED) as much as to any work of literature. His comment that the best thing that came from his involvement in the film adaptation of Snow Falling on Cedars (which was widely acclaimed and nominated for an Academy Award so a fair feather in the cap of the author and screenwriter) was that his children got to go on set and have since become interested in filmmaking characterises his feelings for his family. His modesty regarding his work could not be clearer than when he says "I think it's really important that children feel that their lives are about surpassing those of their parents, that their parents are there for them . In our home we make it a point not to talk too much about me, we just mute all that , and focus on them." He says of his fame that "it 's not a subject that comes up and we don 't spend any time on it. I really like being home and away from it , so we can completely just live our lives ." G uterson is a firmly grounded man, finding the most pleasure in sharing his interest in the world with the world, and spending time with his family. Which makes him one of the nicest , as well as one of the handsom est, men I have ever met. Sigh. [objective to the last) .

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Cinefile

Lording

no.38

Hawk the Slayer

o, after three years and approximately ten hours of screen time, it's over. No more homoerotic Hobbit interaction. No more painful dialogue from Orlando. No more ores who sound suspiciously like Phil Mitchell. For those deeply affected by Peter Jackson's masterful trilogy, it begs the question: what the hell now? A spiritual void has been created by the end of the trilogy, making us realise that in fact Middle Earth doesn't exist and that we might have to go out and get jobs, get married and be unhappy like the rest of the world. The chances of one of us dying in a battle against the odds, riddled with ore arrows, defending our companions is unlikely. It's the way anyone with a healthy sense of humour would like to go, but the probability is that it will have to stay in the realm of fantasy. Which of course is the key; Lord

flock to the films because (apart from the pure enjoyment factor) that they do offer something more than mere mindless fantasy. If you want, you can read countless different interpretations into Tolkien's world and characters. The Ents destroying Isengard? That's going to please Environmental Science students for a start. The films ruminate upon the corruption power brings; the nature of war; whether there is some concrete ideal worth fighting for; the encroachment of industry upon nature; and, through Gollurn, it even challenges it's own idea that good and evil are easily separated and definable. Of course, it's not at all necessary to take these views of the movies; for many they are simply a damn good tale told in breathtaking style, but if you want some social commentary, it's there. Which of course raises the question we have been trying to avoid - what the hell do we do now, and how do we fill the this gaping hole of spiritual emptiness we 've been left with.

If Lord Of The Rings has helped legitimise the fantasy genre, then it has done wonders for the epic, a form of cinema long thought to be extinct. No longer will you have to hide your Special Edition of Braveheart under the bed in shame, instead you can proudly shout "freeeeedurn" with Mel once more and bark "in there my son" while he sticks it to the Frenchie; and cheer as the Jocks beat us dastardly English. One only need take a look at recent and forthcoming films to see how much the historical epic is back in. Peter Weir's Master And Commander; the ace The Last Samurai starring Torn Cruise; the much hyped Troy (sadly featuring Orlando Bloom; again) American Civil War epic Cold Mountain {with an appearance from Jack White, NME fans) Oliver Stone's Alexander biopic; Antoine Fuqua's interpretation of King Arthur; and Ridley Scott's 12th century actioner Kingdom Of Heaven, which inexplicably features Orlando yet again. So those yearning for more huge

"No more painful dialogue from Orlando. No more ores who sound suspiciously like Phil Mitchell. For those deeply affected by Peter Jackson's masterful trilogy, it begs the question: what the hell now? "

Of The Rings is fantasy, a world where long-distant-relationships actually work; where people know the difference between right and wrong, and where there is something worth fighting for. Also, it's a world with big bloody elephants. This could be the reason why the whole phenomenon is so ridiculously popular - not the elephants offering people a chance to get back in touch with, lets face it, some very cliched and sappy ideas without feeling (very) stupid. In a fragmented world operating on irony, this is exactly the kind of antidote that is needed. It's not a big leap of the imagination to see that the reason these films were so successful is that people need to escape on a grand scale. The film critic Roger Ebert has claimed in his review of The Return Of The King that one of its drawbacks is that it fails to engage with the real world, that, to quote: "It is a melancholy fact that while the visionaries of a generation ago, like Coppola with Apocalypse Now, tried frankly to make films of great consequence, an equally ambitious director like Peter Jackson is aiming more for popular success. The epic fantasy has displaced real contemporary concerns, and audiences are much more interested in Middle Earth than in the world they inhabit." Clearly he fails to see the significance of his own statement. Audiences

Luckily, there are several options. Firstly, there is still the extended version of The Return Of The King to hit the shelves late in the year, pushing the epic running length over the four-hour mark. Plus, Christopher Lee is back, as it was truly criminal that he and Gandalf never got to face off with each other. Great news for the fans, horror for those who thought ROTK was an arse bothering endurance test. But let's forget the six people who didn't like the films , and focus on what a post-Rings world has to offer the Tolkien geek in all of us. ll, for a start, how's about revisiting the classic' eighties fanasy movies such as the surprisingly dark and mature The Dark Crystal, George Lucas' Hobbit rip-off Willow, Krull, Labyrinth (complete with Bowie's 'trouser snake') and, errn, Hawk The Slayer, all recently re-released on DVD. You won't even have to pretend you're being ironic anyrnore. Fantasy is back in, so I guess that would make these uncool films uncool again. Which is cool, right? Of course, Hawk The Slayer was, and always will be, cool. You could go back even further and check out Ralph Bakshi's early 70's animated effort of Lord Of The Rings, a decent adaptation that sadly stops at the end of The Two 1bwers. And even though Sam is clearly gay as a window in this version, it 's still pretty good. There's also an animated US televisions series of The Hobbit that you may want to check out if you're very bored; but be warned, it sucks.

battle scenes with over the top emotional gravitas are in for a treat this year. Those who quail at the thought of having to spend three hours in a cinema, on the other hand, won't be best pleased. But what about those who want more fantasy? Well, without descending into the suspicious world of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, adopting an alterego called Mourn Soulstealer and hitting your friends with rubber weapons every Sunday, there doesn't seem to be a lot on the horizon. Peter Jackson 's next movie is a remake of King Kong, but there is a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel, with rumours that he has acquired the rights to The Hobbit flying about. And unless he makes a cock-up of Phantom Menace proportions, then the future looks bright. This should be enough to excite even the average movie-goer with the thought of more Hobbits, more Gandalf, more Gollurn, and a WETA-workshop-produced Srnaug the dragon. Would that be cool? Why, of course it would. It seems highly unlikely the bigwigs at New Line Cinema are going to pass-up the opportunity to squeeze even more money out of the Middle-Earth cash cow. And, as an added bonus, this film wouldn't star Orlando Bloom. But, for the time being, there are only a few more options. Firstly, forget about these fun but silly movies and get a life. Secondly, get drunk and watch them again, whilst having complicated arguments with housernates such as "Is the Shire a Utopia?" and "where the hell did those eagles came from?" . Or, you could try and read the book; apparently it can be done.

Sounds like a violent sequel to The Birds. Though such an abhorrent idea is not beyond the scope of the current cinematic climate, you're very much mistaken. This is an early eighties fantasy film about a heroic young warrior, Hawk, whose evil older brother, Voltan Gack Palance) slays his father and fiance. Hawk takes up the mind sword, an heirloom of his family, and swears an oath to protect any that fall foul ofVoltan's evil doings. To help him on his quest, he gathers the usual array of fantastical beings: a giant, an elf and a dwarf. Between them, they fight the forces of unfairness and deliver the kind of dialogue that would make a student drama production proud. Unsurprisingly, it slipped through the fingers of mainstream cinema consciousness; a fate it truly deserves. Best avoided then? Not at all; not only can you feel special for seeing a little known film and witnessing just how bad British film making could get, the film is so intrinsically awful, it's funny; almost good. Just like an Ed Wood movie, it's quite easy to warm to it, just because of the utter naivety of the cast and crew about the success of what they are doing. This is not to say the acting's bad, there are a number of cameos by very strong actors, such as Patrick Magee and Annette Crosbie; but the lead roles are something to behold and, overall, it's impossibly sincere. Little touches like landscape that doesn't change apart from the odd python, and the Forest of Weir, a place so deadly that you run the risk of choking on too much ethereal spray cobweb or eaten by a rather lacklustre hand puppet, make it an absolute gem. Couple this with a sorceress who transports you to any location via a pair of spinning hula-hoops and you realise you're in a whole new arena of awful cinema. After 90rnins, you don't really want it to stop, and the icing on the cake is that they leave it open for a sequel! Oh, how they tease us.

I'm still not convinced. You needn't be. It occupies a territory in filrnrnaking that may well be forgotten were there no - extremely - hardcore fans . It pioneered the emergence of a number of fantasy, or quasi-mythological, films during the eighties, such as Excalibur and the Conan films . Many of these took 'fantasy' rather too literally and tried to squeeze in as many naked ladies as possible. The basic problem with Hawk and others like it - apart from awful dialogue - was that they overreached in terms of their technological capability. Plausibly portraying this kind of genre has only been possible very recently. For example, where Peter Jackson implements digitised arrows from Legolas' quiver, Hawk the Slayer just stop-motions and layers the ell's arrow shots, it's really rather special to behold. Considering this was around the time that John Boorrnan was considering casting child actors with false beards and dubbed voices as Hobbits for his own version of Lord of The Rings; a film like this makes you realise just what an accomplishment Jackson has made. It's worth a watch, just to make you thankful that this kind of thing won't get made again. Phil Sainty

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.... more hopeful: "Mars Volta , I think they're fucking excellent, an excellent fucking rock band." " Primal Scream as well have always fucking been wicked, the newer stuff especially at the moment. Mars Volta are just this futuristic rock band, quite out there. Interesting stuff and I appreciate that because they're not just the same old five dickheads from New York saying "We're a punk band and wear leather jackets. " uturistic rock indeed. Kasabian certainly promote that more forward-thinking element in music displayed by such bands as the Mars Volta , the Cooper Temple Clause and The Music, young artists of the generation where the technology to create samples, loops and e ffects has never been cheaper, more readily available and more easily understood. What makes all of these bands so exciting, Kasabian included, is the feeling that what you're hearing is fresh, new, and while even though certain sampling tricks will have been heard throughout dance music for over a decade, married with aggressive rock it creates a far more coherent and attractive sound than the union of, for example, rock and hip-hop. This dancier element, what Meighan responds to as being a factor that "You can just really groove to it man, just groove to it ," is what influenced the band's decisions on who to enlist for mixing duties on their impending debut album. "We produced and recorded it but it was mixed by James Abyss who did some work with DJ Shadow and Unkle," reveals Karloff, "It was a difficult [choice] because we work the only way that we can work, so it's hard to find someone who'd just let you get on with it and mess around with it afterward s, and that's what he did, he took it finished and just made it sound like Abbey Road and the Fall." "It was fantastic, it was like butter on bread y'know," chirps Meighan, "we wanted the bass and the drums hard, and that's why we wanted him to mix it because hearing those albums that's what really stands out - we need ed not just standard beats ... It's quite loud in the mix, just th e feel of th e bass . .. there's always a message in the song as well that make it that little bit cutting edge by being out of bounds instead of the same old 'rock rock rock'. It's what we listen to as well y'know,like hip-hop and stuff." Between speaking out live on the topic of Michael Jackson's innocence at a recent Bedford show (''I'm no t sure about that now," laughs Meighan, "I don't even think if he knows he's innocent. He's Peter Pan though he can do what he wants.") and gearing up to release new single Reason Is Treason next month, Kasabian seem set to e njoy a good year, and very possibly (alongside the release of the new Music album this year and a clutch of other talented newcomers) shake off the shadow of Oasis, Blur and Ocean Colour Scene as the past of Britpop. The future looks big, beatific and funky; and Kasabian are right up there at the front of the revolution.

teen; yes, the school of rock is afire with band s battling it out to be the new 'Darkness', or 'The Beatles' or 'Rednex'. Some bands are born losers from the start they may have the cool clo thes and the haircuts b ut they have no fire in their bellies. Others are dressed by their mothers , and cut their own hair, but have bowels of bright white shining light, a piercing beacon escaping from every musical orifice. Franz Ferdinand and Snow Patrol have recently shown us just how much this internal bounty actually can result in both critical and commercial success, and it's refreshing to hear both bands' new singles (Take Me Out and Run, respectfully) parping out of Ca!" radios and causing overweight teenage mothers to dance in the CD:UK studio as if a whole years' worth of Giro days had all co me at once. God bless this fine country, and all who sin shamelessly within her!

" The fucking Darkness man .. . it's good and all that but, fucking hell it's 2004! Queen finished, like, 20 years ago! " Tonight is the night for another two hotly-tipped bands to shine and win over a new fan base outside of their hometowns before debut albums are released and the NME goes mental enough for all of us. Chikinki and Kasabian have both taken to the road fo r a tour of the more ob scure venues scattered across Great Britain, not only testing the new ground of a revitalised music industry, but also breaking in the new sound of Britpop - but more on that later. "Potentially, to be honest with you mate there isn't a better time really, than at the minute, to be in an up and coming band," conclud es Kasabian front man Tom Meighan upon the topic of Franz Fercilnand's re cent success, "1 think music at the minute has like, kind of gone downhill. Franz Ferdinand are great and it's a great tune and that but. .. "

28.01..04

"There's just nothing to fear," interjects lead guitarist Christopher Karloff, a generally quiet interviewee except for the odd passionate missive. "Yeah, I think since Britpop died and all these American bands came over and took over .. .! think it's the perfect time now," carries on Sergio Pizzorno, rhythm guitar and suave looking mother-fucker, "There's a massive gap and a void that just needs to be filled ... whoever it is will just fucking clean up." "The fucking Darkness man, they're gonna clean up at the Brits, " s ays Meighan, finishing his point, " I don't know what you think to them but I've got mates who just love them ... and it's good and all that but, fucking hell it's 2004! Queen finished like 20 years ago!" Kasabian are a strange kettle of fish. Considering the five band members all carry thick Leicester accents, the mark of their hometown, and dress like castextras for Phoenix Nights, their recent single Processed Beats revealed a cutting edge band on the brink of the new Britpop movement, funky bass, bombastic drums, racy guitars, threatening vocals - a Molotov mixture of Bentley Rhythm Ace, the Happy Mondays and Hoolig an House (Audio Bullies et al). Kasabian smiled and laug hed as one in appreciation of the co mparisons. "It's funky and I guess like you say it's dancey in the same vein as the Mond ays, b eats and that, I can understand why people would say that," concurs Meighan, thoughtful and excitable, obviously in love with his band. "We just threw the track together really and it came out like that." Sergio continues: "The approach we take of looking at things differently I think is what makes our band - there's no angle or anything it's just what happens at the time. The album's all totally different though . When you get down to it, that kind of Manchester scene is just an influence for one track, it's not really what the whole album's about." A list of influences from Kasabian is, as with most bands and indeed blokes on the street these days, only definable as 'eclectic': "Anything from Bo Diddley to fucking Squarepusher to soul, funk, jazz, right through to Dixie-town, anything," reels Sergio with pride, "it's difficult because there's not a lot of new music that's very good so you always try to look back." Meighan remains

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................................................................. Feature 09

' I I

The UEA Book of Calm id I I

ello, and welcome to Blue Peter. We all know the stresses and strains of a new semester, what more could you wish for than your very own UEA Student Book of Calm, provided by our resident, sage Chinaman, Mr. Confuseus BA, MA, PhD, B.O.L.L.O.C.K.S., MSc etc. It is full of helpfull motes to get you through the next twelve weeks. We hope it will prove both soothing and edifying, and not too difficult to put together. In keeping with the Event's DIY theme, all you have to do is follow the easy instructions to construct your pocket-book of widom and peace. Keep it near you at all times, who knows when you might need Confuseus' philosophy ·, o help you through these dark mid-winter days. Step one: cut out pages 7&8. Ask your parent's permission to use the scissors, or get them to help you. Step two : fold along dotted line 'a', as

demonstrated on the diagram adjacent to these instructions. Careful about paper cuts. Step three: fold along dotted line 'b'. Step four: fold along dotted line 'c'. Step five: fold along dotted line 'd'. Step six: staple area 'e'.

it's not that hard, everyone in the office has managed it so far), you should now have your very own UEA Book of Calm.

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First one into the office with a ready-made book will win respect and friendship from The Event editor and the rest of the Concrete team. I

------------------~--~-~-~-~-~-~--~-~-~-~-~-------------

Step seven: area 'f' should now be your front cover. Cut around dotted lines 1, 2 and 3.

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Step eight : achieve enlightenment.

instructions properly (come on, you're all adults now,

•

un1on ents proudly present •• JA

Friday 30th Aussie Beach Party LCR %5 10pm Fosters 1.20/can (while stocks last)

Free Surf Machine with Prize for longest surf Free Hog Roast Bar-8-Q served by Joe Scully from Neighbours <Hog Roast limited to 300 servings) serving starts 10.30pm Optional Fancy Dress Saturday 31st Pam's House Black & White all f7.50adv 10pm The region's nuttiest club celebr te its 8th Birthday ~

._. ...

•••••

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~·~····

Tuesday 3rd Rag presents Pimp 'n' Ho's & Vicars & Tarts Fancy Dress Party Tickets i1-5Dmemb/i2 non-memb adv/i3 for all on door 9pm till late

Wednesday 4th NME Carling Awards Tour Feat. Funeral for a Friend, The Rapture, The Von Bandies & Franz Ferdinand i13-SD adv 7-3Dpm

Friday 6th Harmony - Student commercial R&B, Hip Hop and Rap night i3adv 10pm

FEBRUARY

The Rolling Stones, Franz Ferdinand, Stone Roses, The Strokes u name it 'e'll play it! Saturday 14th The Valentines LCR Traffic Light Party with shag tag and big screen text messageing Sunday 15th The Tony Lee Hypnosis Show i2-5Dadv 7-3Dpm

Monday 16th Banana Splitz Comedy Night i3adv 8pm

Friday 20th Club Retro presents Killer Queen

Saturday 7th Now That's What I Call the 90's DJ TopCat plays all your fav's from the decade u grew up in

iSadv 8-3Dpm doors (includes entry to Club Retro)Club Retro Disco from 11pm i3-50adv

i4adv LDp11

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Wednesday 11th Lost Prophets

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Tuesday 24th Smirnoff Experience Tour feat Adam F + Freestylers (live>

Sold Out

Friday 13th Brighton Roe

i3adv 9pm

i3adv 1Dpm

All things w Hendrix, The Blur, Oasis,

Saturday 21st SoMewhere presents Yousef

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oasting an all-star cast and a story adapted from the bestselling novel by Philip Roth, you may b e surprised to h ear that The Human Stain may not have such a good run at the Oscars. Director Robert Benton presents a narrative

which seamlessly jwnps between 1998 and the 1950s, steadily uncovering a dark secret which burdens esteemed Classics professor, Coleman Silk (Antony Hopkins) . After being wrongfully accused of racism, the abrupt termination of his 35 year career and sudden death of his wife leaves his personal and professional life in tatters. Coleman demands that reclusive young writer, Nathan Zuckerman (Gary Sinise), write a book about 'How Athena College Killed My Wife' . As their friendship blossoms, Coleman becomes entangled with young troubled school janitor, Faunia Farley (Nicole Kidman). They have lots of sex and he slowly uncovers a history of abuse and cruelty imposed by ex-husband, Lester (Ed Harris). Disclosing Cole man's 'dark secret' will not spoil the movie. The secret itself manages to do that on its own because, frankly, the 'twist' simply doesn't work. The idea that lily-white Coleman is indeed the son of an African-American mother is rather far-fetched. This is not only due to a narrative weakness in presenting Roth's complex ideas

with sound integrity, but poor casting also marks the film's credibility. Flashbacks to the 1950s explore the effects of racial discrimination on young Coleman (Wentworth Miller) and his eventual rejection of his heritage. The two Coleman's look nothing alike, and the film does nothing to explain how he picks up a Welsh-British accent over the years. This mixture of miscasting and sketchy character development asks too much of the audiences ' imagination for any real involve ment in Coleman's unique situation. Critics are generally turning out not-as-goodas-book reviews and it seems that in condensing the story to fit the big screen, it fails to explore the intricacies of Roth's novel. Instead, the film presents itself with a weak sense of purpose, several rather grating sex scenes and an awkward full frontal from the lovely Jacinda Barrett. Gratuitous. This film is a serious misfire, but it raises some interesting issues, albeit ones which seem a little dated . Go read the book. AlexMartin

hristopher Guest is renowned for being the directorial king of mockwnentaries. Most famously This is Spinal Tap, a film that chronicled the fateful 'Smell the Glove' tour and break up of the titular rock band. Guest eo-wrote, directed and appeared in Spinal, which employed large amounts of improvisation. This has now become the signature on his filmmaking style with films like Best in Show. Almost all of the material in A Mighty Wind is taken from improvisation with a regular cast who have worked together, mostly, since 1996 's Waiting for Guffman- also directed by Guest. This new film was eo-written with Eugene Levy (most famously known as Jim's Dad from the American Pie trilogy) . Guest has managed to bring together yet another well crafted, character driven film. The story could not be simpler. Famed folk producer Irving Steinbloom has died; his youngest son (Bob Balaban) is trying to organise a folk concert in memory of his deceased father with the support of his siblings. The three bands organised for the concert are Mitch and Mickey,

The New Main Street Singers and The Folksmen. But some of the bands have changed quite a lot. The New Main Street Singers only have one member of the original group and play regularly at a theme park, which The Folksmen consider to be 'selling out' . Worst of all Mitch and Mickey, the first couple of folk have split up. Their break-up causes Mitch to go solo, contributing to psychological troubles. A Mighty Wind is one of the most enjoyable films so far this year. Not just when you first spot The Folksmen (played by Guest, Micheal McKean and Harry Shearer aka Spinal Tap) appear

ylvia is an admirable attempt to give a biographical account of the poet and author of Ariel and The Bell Jar. Gwyneth Paltrow gives a good performance of the last years in the tormented but productive life of Plath. She does, however, seem to underestimate the characters intelligence and overplays naivety. There is no hint of the strength that has made her a feminist icon over the last thirty years. Instead Plath is obsessed by her husbands success and sacrificing her own. Paltrow fails to evoke much sympathy for Plath; the character is so absorbed in her own choices and despair she fails to show the qualities of caring and consideration that prevented previous suicide attempts. The American stranded in the Devon countryside gives Plath energy and passion compared to her days at university; while remaining ever conscious of Hughes' popularity. The film in general is unprovocative, with no account of Plath's life before her meeting with Hughes. It was disappointing that the film only devoted time to Plath's life spent with Hughes.

There is nothing of her previous suicide attempts or childhood. Instead it feels as though the film simply observes Plath through Hughes' eyes and fails to convey situations from her own perspective. While the film is neither romance nor strong drama, there are elements of comedy, such as when the very British Hughes meets the ingratiating Americans with detest and awkwardness. There is little climatic tension which lacks impact on the audience, and you are simply left wondering as to Plath's state of mind and what happened to Hughes and the children. This is mainly because Hughes is identified with just as much as Plath; despite it being her biography. At the time of her death many blamed Hughes ' infidelity for her suicide, as does the film to some extent. However, it does go some way to explain Plath's overbearing mother, the death of her father and inferiority complex as having some significance. Sylvia 's attempts at artistic display of dramatic scenery and metaphorical trees are pretentious and likely to put off the hardiest of film

goers; but for those ~-~~ fans of Plath's work it could be rewarding as it seems factually accurate. The more arty scenes are especially lost on those unfamiliar with Plath's work. What is the true redeeming feature of the film is the brooding nature ...__ _ ......._. created between Paltrow and Daniel Graig, as Hughes. Graig 's sheer mass gives the same sense of brutal strength and foreboding that the poet himself did. Graig's performance is satisfactory but lacks some of the aggression and passion Hughes was renowned for. Anyone could watch this film and enjoy it, but it has no glitz or pace to keep the uninterested receptive to the subtly dark and foreboding nature.

im Burton's visual expertise pulls Daniel Wallace 's post-modern fairytale firmly into t~uch . Big Fish proves an immensely satisfying yarn . A whimsical family film that has appeal for all ages as a reflection on preserving the childhood enthusiasm and awe for life. Ed Bloom (Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor) is a popular retired travelling salesman whose tall tales impressed his son, Will (Billy Crudup) from an early age. As Will grows up, however, he becomes frustrated with what he perceives to be a lack of honesty in the way his father depicts his past, the resentment results in the two no talking. When the old man starts dying, Will returns to the family home and attempts rec-

onciliation in the hope that he will discover the facts about his father's history. Stylistically, Burton's mastery in this field is clear, somewhat inverting the ambience of Sleepy Hollow to produce thoroughly enjoyable fairytale sequences. Like the director he so successfully portrayed, Ed Wood, Burton has gathered an ensemble cast of highly talented 'misfits ', whose various physical differences make it all the more convincing. Along with other more recognisable figures , such as Jessica Lange, Danny De Vi to and Helena Bonham Carter, it becomes a supporting cast powerhouse. Ewan McGregor is actually convincing, which could be the film's greatest achievement. Consistency of talent comes wholesale in this film. as the most intriguing aspect of this film is the way Burton manages to intrinsically relate the audience to Will 's position. In the beginning, and as an older viewer, the narrative and fairy tale aspect seem slightly awkward , unconvincing and hard to engage with. This is possibly due to a certain cultural cynicism about fairy tales in general,

but more likely due to an incredible attention to narrative detail. Will himself adopts a cynical approach assuming, perhaps as most people would, that his father is concealing something about his past. As the film progresses, however, Ed's position becomes more identifiable and, parallel to Will, more understandable ; until the realisation dawns that he is no different to the majority of people. Just, perhaps, a better story teller. As the film becomes more endearing and, by the end, the immersion is complete; culminating in a sensitive generational passing of the gauntlet that is genuinely moving. From the platform of parent-child relationships, and without falling foul of any cliches specific to father and son, Big Fish offers a visually luxuriant portrayal of the way we relate to the world, the people we encounter in it and the ways in which we construct our own image for the benefit of ourselves and others. Allusions aside , it's a mature yet innocent story that should be remembered as an undisputed Burton classic.

together again but through the brilliantly acted performances by the entire cast. The New Main Street Singers are a group of witches that worship colours and are managed by a former sitcom star (Fred Willard) who won't stop using his old catchphrases. They all give outstanding performances. Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara steal every scene - they play the roles of Mitch and Mickey, the Ozzy and Sharon Osborne of folk. A Mighty Wind is a character driven piece, more concerned with looking at hwnan relationships than plot. It is much like Guest's other mockwnentaries, as repeat viewing of the film draws you more and more into the films world allowing you to understand all the jokes and references. You won't be able to withhold mirth when you here anybody say "Wha' happened?" or when the final fate of Shearer's character unlolds. A Mighty Wind is interesting, enjoyable and well worth watching. A must for anyone who's interested in a good movie; which, I guess , is everyone. Paul Wade

Amy Hewitt

28.01.04------------------------------------

n the Run, the first part of Lucas Belvaux's ambitious and groundbreaking triptych of films La Trilogie confidently opens with a violent prison break in which left wing ideologue Bruno Le Roux (Belvaux himself) escapes after serving twenty years of a life sentence for terrorism. On finding that his former cohorts are settled into new bourgeois lives, and that the cause that he fought for is all but dead, Le Roux, undeterred, decides to continue his campaign of bombings and assassinations alone. A ruthless and isolated anti-hero Le Roux moves wuemittingly towards his own tragic fate, but on the way unexpectedly forms a relationship with Agnes, the morphine addicted wife of Pascal, the detective assigned to catch him. The three films that form La Trilogie occur over roughly the same time period, are set in the same claustrophobically shot city of Grenoble and feature the same core characters. However, in a startling break with continuity, each film is made in a markedly different genre. The most immediately satisfying of the three films , On The Run is an economically shot noir thriller, with expressive use of light and shadow, socially alienated, amoral characters and a focus on a gritty criminal underworld. The sinister, violent excess of On The Run, which lays the narrative skeleton that the other two films will tap into and expand upon, radically

pre-empts and adjusts our reception of the following two films. For example in the second instalment, An Amazing Couple, Alain is a hypochondriac whose frequent, secretive trips to his doctor have aroused the suspicion of his wife Cecile. Convinced her husband is having an affair she enlists the services of Pascal to spy on him. What follows is a very good example of a typically French, farcical relationship comedy, or it would be if it were not for the appearance of Le Roux in the films social milieu who, now in hiding, seems an entirely different person. Le Roux's presence, with all the violent connotations that surround his character, disrupts the innocent tone of the film , making An Amazing Couple a tainted genre. Le Roux thus becomes something of a metaphor for the function of The Trilogy itself, scenes that appeared in the previous film are now, like Le Roux, recontextualised into the new aesthetic and take on an entirely new appearance. The viewer's assumptions, expectations and interpretations are constantly being revised throughout. Belvaux often reshoots scenes from fresh perspectives whilst allowing them to maintain echoes of their previous contexts. So when Cecile finds Le Roux hiding out in her mountain chalet, she assumes that Agnes is having an affair with him but is oblivious to the fact that he is a dangerous criminal who almost shot her in fear of being discovered. This is something the viewer knows because he has witnessed the same scene shot from Le Roux's perspective in On the Run, an excellent use of dramatic irony

that completely disrupts the film's comic tone. An Amazing Couple thus gains a sinister undertone that does not arise from the film itself, but comes from outside the film's artifice, from our experience of the previous film. The third instalment, After Life, is ~路rwl.i an emotionally devastating melodrama. The theme of addiction, in all its forms , is explored ..___.-. and the intimate focus on the triangle that forms between Pascal, his wife Agnes and Le Roux gives the concluding part of The Trilogy a shocking intensity. Scenes that occurred off screen, or as Belvaux comments 'in between cuts' , in the previous two films are now given centre stage as the film gradually makes its revelations. The overall effect of La Trilogie is the deconstruction of the traditional, self contained cinematic artifice and the destabilisation of genres. Taken together the films prompt the audience to reconsider their position as spectators, much like the cinema of Jean Luc Godard. Yet, unlike Godard, The Trilogy is far more accessible because there is a very human story at the heart of the project with a subtle tightness of control that is reminiscent of Krzysztof Kieslowski. The Trilogy is therefore truly more than a sum of its parts. Rather it is a rewarding and audacious experiment with the very foundations of cinematic technique and narrative form. It is surely one of the most important cinematic reflections on the medium of cinema ever made. Dean Bown1an

T e Divorce is light-hearted and touching - a .Lilightweight, American version of Love Actually. It is a tale of love and lust; marriage and divorce; fidelity, infidelity and betrayal, in the beautiful city of love. It is truly an American-made film set in a European city - bursting with culture and social criticism. Kate Hudson takes a charming and playful part as the young, beautiful and frivolous American with no ties or responsibilities. Her

time in Paris is well documented through her metamorphosis into the chic Parisian Lady. Her playful affair with her soon-to-be ex-brother-inlaw's uncle educates her into a stylish, GraceKelly-bag toting, French-scarf-sporting, lingerie wearing, short haircut mistress. In contrast, Naomi Watts takes the emotional and convincing role of her Poet older sister, who refuses to get divorced, feels alone in her husband's betrayal, takes drastic measures but soon falls in love once again. The film develops into a sophisticated and refined feud between the two families involved in Le Divorce and one very important painting. The elegant French, whose meal is ruined by the bad cheese, battle against the well-read Americans, who insist on taking photographs in one of the most exclusive restaurants in Paris. The French are stereotypically laid-back, practical in their lack of emotion and smoke just about everywhere the Americans do not. The Americans refuse to leave tips when service is included, but are just a 'fun and harmless' family, justified in fighting for their painting and simply want their daughters to come home.

The romance and the despair of the film's lovers and unfaithful partners are curtailed along the beautiful scenery of the Seine and Paris in the spring. Together with the compulsory amusing characters - the crazy American who has been scorned by his racy Russian wife for CharlesHenri and stalks Isabel as a result, then subsequently holds up the Eiffel Tower with a pistol; the wife of the adulterous uncle who's only concern is to warn Isabel's mother to save her daughter from the manipulation of the older man and the very personal lingerie shop assistants. The film is also graced with a supporting cast comprised of the uncle's ex-mistress, Glenn Close, a large and hungry Stephen Fry of Christies auction house, the American mother, an older Rizzo from Grease, and Stockard Channing, Leslie Caron and Jean-Marc Barr. The film is humorous and good for a night in with a bottle of French red wine. Isabel Dyson

rylhe Sin Eater is one of those religious-supernat.1 ural thrillers such as that are despised by some, liked by others. With their slow burning theological narratives where so many questions are asked in the first half hour that you struggle to recollect them come the denouement, films like this can either be engrossing or utterly tedious. Ledger is Alex, a priest investigating a 'sin eater,' a mythic figure who can consume a person's sin on their deathbed and so effectively get them into heaven through the back door. Such a plot line explores some interesting issues such as what would happen should people know for certain that heaven and hell existed. The film is also shot brilliantly, blinding light and suffocating gloom creating the religious mood. This said, Helgeland manages to completely usurp this atmosphere and the interest value of its content, without which a film of this genre becomes monotonous: The banter between Ledger and Addy, and the chemistry between Sossamon and Ledger cultivated in Helgeland's earlier A Knights Tale is resumed. But whilst this

may work in AKT.rlairy tale world when it is interspersed between fighting demons and exploring Vatican conspiracies it comes across as flippant and the film becomes woefully uneven. Indeed, here we are dealing Brian Helgeland, a man whose screenplays are so hit and miss he has managed the unique feat of winning both an Oscar and a Razzie, for the brilliantly slick L.A Confidential and the apocalyptically terrible The Postman respectively. Something he puts down to the 'Quixotic' nature of Hollywood, seemingly still under the impression that having Kevin Costner strut around a post-WWIII America fighting for freedom whilst delivering post and quoting Shakespeare was a good concept. The Sin Eater is one of Helgeland's misses. A shame as although it never would have been a hit, it could have been a decent film of this strange genre. But in attempting to make it light-hearted in parts he's mixed oil with water. Duh, Brian. Richard Simm

Best f

Essent ial TV

U K's Best Sitcom, Saturday BBC2, 9:05

e Res

01 ER Wednesday. l Opm Channel 4 For those of you who didn't know, ER is back and it seems even more action packed than ever. Never afraid to go over the top with action sequences and everything else I'm sure there are plenty out there who will have a place in their lives for it still.

02 Director's Commentary WednEsday llpm ITV 1 This is a very new show and it is unclear how good it will turn out to be, but the noises that are being made are positive. The concept is that a fictional director, voiced by Rob Brydon, is asked to do the Director's commentary for his old films . We see nothing of him and just see his old films, starting with Bonanza and the Duchess of Duke Street. Could be funny, could be dire .

Sex and the City The final eight episodes, queue banging of drums and fan fare. Supposedly, thesepromise to be a return to the show's original trademark of smart, sexy comedy. Which amounts to an admission that standards had slipped.

I'm a celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! A return to the celebrity worshipping TV programme which shows us all that there really is no meaning to being a celebrity. Who knows which wonderful celebs the public will be subjected to this time. A nasty mix of over enthusastic, pathetic , self indulgent and if we 're very lucky one or two actually alright p e ople. But no matter what any reviewer says of the show, everyone will tune in. Neve rmind .

Six Feet Under The first episode of the third seire s starts this week and it's set to b egin With a b a ng . Not gwmg anything away aft er the starting shock the viewer is given the rest of the e pisode to come to tur ns with wha t has hap pene d. Gripping, but not yet up to its previous stand ard s . Tim Barker

28.01.04

It 's the hundre d greatest, scariest, sexiest, I love 1970iest, clip, movie , single, celebrity hosted book-idol moments of all time , or something like that. Yup, yet another top 100, and this time its Best British Sitcoms. We used to get the odd one here and there , a two-parter spread over a quiet bank holiday weekend or something. Now they seem to have mutated into huge , sprawling cheapo-tv monsters. They hang around for months causing undue angst and tension in all conversations they crop up in. I'm still reeling from the 100 Best Musicals. Now would be a good time to say that Grease is without d o ubt not the greatest anything, except waste of time. : mean who voted for that? The public!? I guess it's ok , but because we're forced to bow to the high er forces of "the majority vote" that say its brilliant, I now feel compelled to hate it. Back to th e Sitcoms, numbers 11 - 100 have already been established so now we're in fo r ten gruelling weeks of sitcom profiles and celeb rity representatives. We 've already seen John Sergeant's case for Blackadder, and Jack Dee 's for Fawlty 1bwers

and can look forward to eight more celeb ambassadors ranging from Armando Ianucci to David Dickinson. If you're a fan of any of the top ten , then the relevant profile will undoubtedly be satisfying and interesting viewing. If you're not then they're probably best avoided, and will only fan the flames of your hatred. If you haven't been paying attention, and have missed the first two comedy profiles, then please invest the time in properly researching your vote before you throw it away on some lesser comedic TV offering. It would be a shock not to find Fawlty 1bwers in the top three . Cleese's manic , focus-usurping Basil Fawlty is unlike anything else on TV ever. With just twelve episodes to its catalogue Fawlty 1bwers escapes that common mistake most popular sitcoms make of hanging around longer than the laughter does. On the other hand, before you go voting for Fawtly Towers, let's not forget Blackadd er. The Blackadder series matured like a fine wine, climaxing with the touching and poignant final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth. Anything after

that , and the entire first series, should be disregarded and stricken from the comedy record. With that done it is safe to say that Blackadder is funnier than a ptofessor of funny, whose just told his funniest joke whilst wearing an amusingly shaped hat. Like all Top lOOs the majority of the list holds no surprises and says a lot more about who voted than what they were voting for. Of course the winner will be undeserving and we'll be left feeling disillusioned with the nation and vowing to never again allow ourselves to get sucked into the world of popular viewing. I'm beginning to wonder whether I've even seen 100 British sitcoms, let alone many more than that, enough to warrant a hundred being no minate d as above average. Then again, who's g oing to b other about numbers 2-100, especially when its pretty unlikely that the number 1 will be remembered for more than a month at the most.

Kate B ryan t

Game Review As you may have gathered from the title, this is an Ame rican foo tb all g ame; unfortunate ly, I know little or nothing about American football. This lack of knowledge was the first problem I hit , as the game assumes a fairly comprehensive knowledge of the sport and is pretty unforgiving to the un-initiated. This meant that my first few hours of play were a baffling ordeal in which I tried to work out what the hell a 'down' was and when one is supposed to use the 'juke' buttons. After enlisting the help of an American, I was eventually able to work out enough of what was going on to play the game, and even score points every now and again. Though despite my training, I still have absolutely no idea what it is I'm choosing when I pick between a '90X slipscreen' and a 'strongzone cutback' play. The graphics are very impressive; the players get angry when you mess up and perform happy little celebrations when you don't (a useful fe ature

as I ofte n didn't know if what I had done wa s g ood or not), though the compute r g e ne rate d cheerleaders, e ach with the exac t same face and va cant expression are undeniably disturbing. Also impressive is the depth of the game - enter ' franchise mode ' and you 're not only in charge of playing and winning games but also of trading players, receiving e-mail and dealing with fun things like salary caps and trade-deadlines. The game boasts over l OO teams, with all of the NFL teams plus college alumni squads and NFL 'historic' teams. Falling into the 'cheap gimmicks' category- you can also tour your 'crib ' - a virtual home that slowly fills up with trophies , posters, furniture and mini-games (including air-hockey) as you achieve various goals throughout the game. Another gimmick is the , frankly terrifying 'First-Person Football' in which (as the name suggests) you play games through the eyes of a player of your choosing - a fun feature, albeit with a

Game Review As a rule on sports games, Electronic Arts generally have the steely stranglehold. None moreso than with basketball, for while the company's flagship FIFA Football titles have been surreptitiously displaced on the games charts by Pro Evolution Football and I.S.S. , EA has straddled generations of charts with such awesome gaming landmarks as NBA j am, NBA Live and the daddy, NBA Stree t. While all this is waxing geeky, if the re's three or four of you and yours huddle d round the PlayStation on a b eery night in, those money multiplayer e xpe riences can prove cruCial to avoiding more conversation about tits and bodily functions; such is the fiefdom of the spor ts game . ESPN is Sega's fl accid and unarousing pled ge for the crown, e nding up b e ing about as successful as Guy Fawkes in the proce ss. Should ESPN, indeed , SEGA, b e burned at the stake? Ye ah, I think so. I can only imagine what lethargic little nerds programme d this game together, but I

bet they all live at home with erratic mothers who never taught them the meaning of a REAL hard day's work . The graphics are sloppy and unimaginative, with little convincing movement for me to shake my head at in box-eyed envy, no fiery soundtrack or clever commentary to jiggle, giggle about to. The controls lack pop and precision, which slows the game down even more than some pretty d e testable loading times. Ar, she b lows shipmates, and no amount of " love for the g ame" is going to ring your evaluation into a sunnie r disposition. If you've re ally got ÂŁ30 sitting around your lint-holes for a sports/ b asketb all g ame , p ick up NBA Street 2 preowned , take the change to Burg er King, run that Double Whopper shit and then hot foo t it to your girl's past the flower shop with those ÂŁ3 car nations and e njoy the hot loving to b e mad e from a meagre I 0% inve stme nt. Matt Sargeson

limi ted life span , a s watching grass rapidly approach your face ove r and over again soon b e come s tire some. Once the basics of the game are learnt and you've stopped playing in first person mode the game becomes quite entertaining, though perhaps slightly repetitive. By far the best time to be had is in multiplayer mode where you and a friend can beat the crap out of each other, and join forces in trying to interpret what all the tactical sub-menus in the game could possibly do. For those familiar with the rules and techniques of American football, this game is a good choice with plenty to keep you entertained, but for those not familiar with the sport it can be a bit of a struggle due to the fact that it has clearly been made for an American market where people know without being told what a linebacker does. Colin Griffiths

Arts 13

Theatre Preview Closer by Patrick Marber The Financial Times said of the production of this play at the National that "On the surface, Closer is brisk, urban, witty, obscene, modern, quotable, slick; beneath the skin, it is deeply felt , painful, sad, and wise ... " High praise indeed, leaving little room for more. Natalie Peatchy, the director, and Elle Jones, who's playing Anna, promise to emphasise all of the above in their production of the play, demonstrating what a personal project this is for them both, and illustrating the powerful responses Patrick Marber's story inspires. The Drama Soc team are the ones looking to put on the play, but strangely none of the four actors is studying drama. Natalie said of the process of casting the characters that the main thing to consider was the existing relationships between the actors, because events in the story require a high level of trust and intimacy to present at all, never mind well. Closer is about Anna, a photographer, Alice, a stripper, Larry, a dermatologist, and Dan, who writes obituaries, and their experiences of life and love. It's heavy stuff, the language is very 'contemporary' and regularly obscene, and to paraphrase one reviewer, the emotions displayed are so true to life that couples who attend the play together leave holding hands or not speaking to each other. I'm not suggesting you go along to test your relationship, but the depth of feeling involved in everything the characters do means it is a play that even those strange creatures who rarely go to the theatre should enjoy. It is currently in the process of being adapted to a film by Columbia Pictures, but everyone with anything to say about Marber's play is at pains to point out its necessary 'Englishness'. So, unless the names in question plan to cultivate the background of raw London grittiness that pervades the characters and action, this may be your last chance to see the story as Marber intended it to be shown. Good drama is often about conflict and this play's highly flammable themes of sexual desire and jealousy, especially among friends, is the recipe for a night of comedy and tragedy. Ms. Peatchy and her gang promise to deliver both with due deference to the time in which the play was written. It is a story about people today, how they feel, what they do about it, and what happens when too many people share too many things. Tickets will be on sale from 12- 2 in the Hive all of this week, and in the Studio at any time.

Katharine Clemow

like a woman but talk like a man ... " The Superhero Family Album involves individuals who are close to Grimmer (mother, friends, therapist) , depicted as superheroes. In Bender the portraits are grounded in a mathematical structure. It serves as an objective base for the mystery that follows. In Superhero Family Album , specifically through the 'origins' of himself (Plague Master) and his mother (Beautiful Dreamer) we are plunged into Grimmer's world on a personally symbolic level, and it is confusing because it is so totally subjective. What we see is a total release of the fantasising we all experience when attempting to come to terms with the identity of another, how and why he/ she has become who he/ she is.

Dario Sulzman

The Great Gatsby by F.Scott F"rtzgerald The Great Gatsby is a story about the mysterious Jay Gatsby, the magnificent parties he throws and his tragic love affair with Daisy Buchanan. Rumours vary from him being the son of a king to him killing a man who found out that he was "nephew to von Hindenburg and second cousin to the devil" and trying to discover the truth about Gatsby is part of what makes this book so enjoyable. But just like the elusive Gatsby, this book is deeper than it appears at first glance. It begins with Nick Carraway moving to Long Island in the spring of 1922 and the hope he feels on those warm evenings, that "there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour", is almost tangible. The sense of newness and possibility makes the book exciting, from Gatsby's parties full of movie stars and jazz singers to Nick's getting drunk in New York and sleeping in Grand Central Station and finally to Gatsby himself, one of the most charismatic and energetic characters ever created. Yet, there is a darker side to this story. Through Nick we see how fleeting each of these exciting moments is. The waste left in the wake of Gatsby's parties is symbolised by the orchids he decorates his lawn with - beautiful flowers that bloom for just one night. But, in the end, this is a hopeful book. Though Gatsby is aware of how ephemeral every great moment is, he never stops trying to recapture those moments of beauty, in doing so he is trying to recreate one perfect moment he had with Daisy five years ago. Nick describes him as having "an extraordinary gift for hope" and it is this hope and determination which makes Gatsby, and this book, so hauntingly beautiful.

camp tones were rather infectious especially as they sounded genuinely period. The elder of these two men clearly had some kind of Oedipal complex chasing his self-professing battleaxe who wants a divorce. Some of his turmoil came through in his battle between wanting to dominate everyone and not being able to control his wife but it wasn't as poignant as it could have been considering how predictable raised it became towards the end. The younger newlyweds, despite being a real life couple didn't have the zestiness one might expect but this was intentionally played by the director for a 1920's romance style. They were petting and kissing when they could and it would have been more amusing to see them trying not to be interrupted if the chemistry was exaggerated. However, I must say that on a modest budget the train effects were good and took me by surprise. The audience was extremely responsive but I do recall wondering whether or not this was the night out for an old folks home. Despite not being particularly strong the performance was very funny with a wonderfully chilling air to it and a great twist in the plot at the end making a highly enjoyable piece of theatre.

Shaun Newport

Art Preview

Robin Stiles

Art Review

Theatre Review

A True Story, Art's Centre The Ghost Train, Maddermarket It is rare that one sees a work of art so deeply personalised as Nigel Grimmer's A True Story currently being exhibited at the Norwich Art Centre. There are two exhibits, one called Bender, and another called The Superhero Family Album, which are separate but do rely on each other. In both exhibits Grimmer uses popular caricature and convention, tweaking roles and mythology to illustrate conflicts of perception and identity as an adolescent. In Bender (short for gender-bender) Grimmer simulates various adolescent social interactions, using Princess Jasmine-like figurines to represent girls , and green bipedal reptiles, to represent boys. In each picture however, there is a figurine who is different, who looks different, a 'bender' and is isolated. There are eight different portraits along the wall depicting a narrative of self realisation. Unlike the first four pictures where the 'bender' is actually different, in the last four the 'bender' is not different but posing as the other gender by wearing a mask. It dramatises the bizarre multiplicity within adult interaction and the confusion that can result. It brought to mind a lyric by The Kinks: "Well I'm not dumb but I can't understand, why she walk

It was raining and dark and coming in off the cobbled streets to the Maddermarket Theatre I found myself in a suitable mood for a play about the paranormal. This was gradually increased by the dramatic music from the start and something rather eerie crept up on me.! couldn't help thinking that it was all rather gloomily foreboding. What surprised me is that Ghost Train was written by Arnold Ridley the cuddly Godfrey from Dad's Army. It's set in the 1920's in a railway station waiting room where David Vines, playing the fop Saul Hodgkin is a man who loses his hat out of a window and pulls the emergency cord on the last train to Truro. The consequence of this is that the train misses its connection leaving him and two married couples, including some newly-weds, as well as an old woman stranded and in for the action. The station master gives them the spooks with a ghost story, in a not-quite-right Cornish accent which rumbled so deeply some probably missed the odd word. Of course accents can be a challenge (there is a totally overpowering American accent later on) so I attempt sympathy, but squeaky Saul's

Sainsbury Centre Two new exhibitions focusing on Latin American art opened at the Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts this Tuesday 27th of January. In the upper gallery a photographic exhibition enti-

tied Machu Picchu & the Camera will run until 14th March. It seeks to examine the relationship between those famous Inca ruins and that most modern of devices, the Camera. The exhibition includes original shots by the site's discoverer, Hiram Bingharn, alongside those by Peruvian intellectual Martin Charnbi who sought to reclaim the Inca heritage to the people of Peru and, finally, modern day photographs by Charles Chadwyck-Healey and Hugh Thomson, which display the site as a haven for tourists. Together they affirm why Machu Picchu is considered one of the most photogenic places on earth. Supporting this is an exhibition of contemporary Latin American art on loan from the prestigious University of Essex Collection, displays the work of modern Latin American artists in a dynamic with ancient Inca artifacts from the SCVA's own collection. There is a diverse range of works including a rather cheeky statue of US icon Mickey Mouse in a traditional Inca style. Events accompanying the exhibitions include an introductory talk and exhibition tour by Professor Valerie Fraser, eo-director of the University of Essex Collection of Latin American Art (lOth February at 6.30pm) . Events for the photographic exhibition include a talk on the latest discoveries at the site given by George Lau, a specialist in the Archaeology of the Andes, entitled What Lies Beyond Machu Picchu? (2nd March 6.30-Spm), and a lecture and discussion led by Charles Chadwyck-Healey and Hugh Thomson on the subject of the photographic representation of the ruins (11th March 6.30-Spm) . As always entrance to the gallery and all events are free to UEA students. For tickets and information contact the SCVA on 593199 or scva@uea.ac.uk

Dean Bown1an

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While many of you might've had Alicia Keys' Diary of... wanting ly stretching out your C hristmas stocking this holiday, you would und o ubtedly have d one b etter recieving Ke lis' huuuug e third album Tasty irlstead. Still, I'm told it's the thought that counts, and Kelis' are mostly those shippe d in a brown paper b a g . Be it the Neptunes recycling the b eat offcuts from their re mix of Britney Spear's Boys on Flashback , or Nas (Kelis' boo) adding tongue-twisting odes to cunnilingus on Kelis' exhibitionist fantasy In Public, this is more rough and tumble than Serge Gairlsbourg on the Spanish Fly. When first album Kaleidoscope dropped, the emerging fallout thankfully gave the world a more deserving R 'n B princess than the empty 'Souleratics' of Mary J. Blige, and while Wanderland met with subdued critical response, Tasty proves to be one of the most exciting nu-soul hip-hop joints of the year, easily sitting on the high bar with Missy Elliot's This is Not a Test and the recent O utkast double album. Importantly, Tasty offers the same Tina Turner update that Beyonce' seems hopelessely devoted to, without sounding and looking as desparate in the process. And, thank fuck , on this album there's not even the whiff of Seany Paul anywere to b e found.

This is Air's third proper album and is far and away their worst , being a ragb ag of lightweight, bland ballads and hackneyed faux-experimental posturing. Where Moon Safari and 10,000 Hertz Hero were consistently entertaining and diverting, Thlkie Wallde is boring and lightweight, infected as it is by an all-pervasive aesthetic of smug simplicity which fails to disguise a total lack of effort.

This time around, their standard sound, typified by "Mike Mills", could b e termed 'metronomic folk'; the sound of an acoustic guitar being picked in time to a cheap sounding drum maclune. The effect of this is to undermine the essential power of both instruments. Similar devices appear all over the album; kitschily juxtaposing sounds in a manner that may have been clever five years ago, but now seems either postured or anodyne. This situation is not helped by Jean and Nicholas' harebrained decis1on to sing, unaided by vocoder, for the first time. While this 1s surely a sign that they really mean it (maan), the campy French brogue employed doesn't help the listener, invoking as it does the g hosts of EurOVlslons past. Doubtless many, alienated by the cnminally underrated 10,000, will pounce upon this and proclaim it to be 'Moon Safari 2'. It isn't. The zeugeist left the building when the home makeover programmes moved m and made Air as ubiquitous as ... arr. When those who were pioneers turn to retread old ground, they must face the thousands who have followe d the m and realise the old frontier has become the middle of the road. This must b e a hard lesson to learn, but it is a vital one if Air are to remain creative and exciting.. Note to Nigella: Thlkie Wallde is less tuneful than Royksopp, less interesting

than Sigur Ros and much less exciting than Soulwax, surely the dinner party no. of 2002-3. Stereolab-lite for an audience without ears. ]onathan Perbnutter

il'radlng Snakeoll for Wolftlckets All around m e are familiar faces/ worn out place/worn out faces; well e nough about UEA, le t me give you my

worthless opinion of Gary Jules latest album Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets what an appalling album title. People are most likely sick of the song Mad World; perfectly placed a t the end of the cult film Donnie Darko, but to cover a song and produce a completely different version to the original by Tears For Fears is a rarity nowadays . However I would not be reviewing this album now if the smgle had not been bombarded our radios stations for the past few months. If you're after other songs exhib1ting haunting melodies and lyrics about the morbidity of life, you'll be decide dly disappointed with this album. The hit song Mad World evokes echoes of Michael Stipe's b eautiful voice; Jules's voice is very smooth and steady, but where is the rawness or emotlon that other singer-songwriters such as David Gray and Damien Rice have revealed?

Matt Sargeson

multi-instrumentalist, this is lovingly crafted and oozing with gentle charm. Anyone who (like this reviewer) spent their formative years hanging around Oxford record shops poring over the new Shifty Disco singles will approach this album with more than a little bit of curiosity. The Sad Song Co. were formed from the remnants of local he roes Unbelievable Truth, the rather wonderful but sadly short-lived band led by Thorn Yorke's jollier younger brother.

All of which will give you a pretty good 1dea of where this album is heading , and Miseryguts doesn't disap point. Echoing to the sounds of overeducated young minds lounging by the Thames , this is as literate, low-key and winsome as a battered old copy of Brideshead Revisited. Despite the odd lapse into murky introspection, The Sad Song Co. showcase Nigel Powell's songwriting at its guileless, heartfelt best. Following in the footsteps of a certam Mr. Collins, Powell makes the transition from drummer to singer with ease. Opening track Beginning to Wonder ("I'm beginning to wonder about the lies 1 told and all the history you couldn 't bear') sees his fragile vocals veer into a bright

falsetto, turning a nondescript ballad into something head-turningly special. Into the Hills ("1 am the perennial out sidel') bristles with defiant vulnerability,

Perhaps I'm missing the point with Jules's . To have a massive hit single can be a blessing and a burden, it can put you on the map but can also inaccurately illustrate your musical style. Many of the songs on the album such as Broke Window and Umbilical 7bwn evoke the clarity and purity of Simon and Garfunkel's melodies. The album is ve ry well produced by Michael Andrews but the songs don't really go anywhere- it's just a bit too nice, and niceness is something we could de finitely do with less of Tom Pateman in this mad world.

Never one to stick with any one reprocessed idea, Kelis seems easily at home writhing over two-step sk a (Trick Me), brazen me tal breakdowns (Keep It Down) and the helple ssly idiosyncratic dirty-South sound of Millionaire, produced and featuring Outkast's Andre 3000. And, impressively, of the 14 tracks here the only real filler is Sugar Honey Iced Tea , and even then only because it sounds like the kind of track the Ne ptunes just bust out in their sleep these days. Though the album is likely to endure the 'pleasure' of being sold on the back of some well-oiled and heavily marketed singles, like many classic pop records (Green Day's Dookie springs to mind) there's the feeling that no matter which radio-sponsored track brought you to the party, there's bound to be a few surprises that'll strenghtne if not better that initial promise. A dazzling album that d oes wonders for the overall quality of Kelis image and work, and that'll hopefully make the first half of 2004 that bit more funk-ayyy. And I didn't even mention Milkshake; this will be everywhere. Move over Justin, weapons-grade pop has it's new Plutonium.

and the low production budget, particularly noticeable on the slightly rickety Pleasure Babies, makes The Sad Song Co. 's already bare sound seem even more intimate. While only Blind Man - a feast of country-tinged p athos and delicate slide guitar - reaches the shimmering heig hts achieved by Powell's former b and, there is ple nty he re to please the casual liste ne r. It might have a title worthy of a Morrissey tribute band, but musically Miseryguts is all sincerity. From the pastiche Iggy Pop artwork on the inside cover to Powell's obvious talents as a

Sarah Edwardes

being French is intrinsically worthwhile, more just that it provides that little bit more interest than their music can muster on its own. Matt Sargeson

The album's title couldn't give more of a direct representation of the chill out themes contained within Kinobe's third album; !mless it was about a wide rece iver. Dubbed out b eats and sultry, honey smeared vocals are the order of the d ay, spliced here and there with segments of party-de MC theory and French people going "Ecoute". Standard fair, one might say, for sophisticated d ance music carved for those heady morning-afters , and you'd be right .

An album like this is always very competent, reformed into an hour long collage of W1de Open' spaces constructed to lay your spllff-paranoia to rest and paint non-intrusive scenery for the most languid of clun-stroking conversations. Picking highlights is hard to do. Moonlight & Mescaline stands out as not only one of the album's more upbeat tracks, but also as culturing some of Kinobe's more deftly sampled and soulful humour more prevalent in earlier albums Soundphiles and Versebridgechorus, while Party Animals gels funk and showtune to conjure up the soundtrack to the Jc rry Anderson supermarionation kung-fu movie that was , sadly, never likely to be made. Stay is sexy m and that hit-and-miss kind of way res1de nt in most loungehouse, but almost wallows in the same non-d escript and charisma-lite territones of skipable tracks like Vanishing Point and I Am One. On the whole, an e ntirely acceptable third album from Kinobe, but one that never raises itself above the hordes of chill-out comp etition it faces ; try Thieve ry Conspiracy instead. At least they're French. Which isn 't to say that

New York sluts out bands compnse d of foppish dandymen ritually gathering round the corpses of 80s new wave and 60s garage for one last sneaky goodbye !mobbing. Which is, y'know, like, cool and some of these bands are kinda fresh and exCiting sounding. New York natives Pilot to Gunner do something a b it more special. They combine the aggression of DC bands and melodies sweet enough to make the toughest emo ovanes explode with joy. Hairy singer Scott Padden looks like a cross between the sadly departed Rob Tyner of MC5 and Cednc Bixler of the awesome At The Drive-in/Mars Volta. His vo1ce IS genuinely moving .. .it's shit, but he hollers like a musting bull elephant about those moments that seem to freeze in time and stay with you forever. And the harr isn't where the At the Drive-m similarities end. If Omar Rodr1gue z (A.T.D-1 genius axe-man) grew up listerung to the Get Up Kids mstead of Captain Beefheart he would have been less exciting. And he would sound like PTG gu.ttanst Pat Hegarty - not skull-fuckingly irmovative but what he does with seemmgly abstract and slightly nondescript guitar lines makes you want to cry. Get Saved is smoother sounding than 1ts predecessor, Games At High Speed, which was totally sweet as well but more lo-fi and a bit harder. Where Get Saved finds its appeal is in its ability to sound irmovative and heavy enough to play with DC lege nds Fugazi, but to come across as melodic , deep and thoughtful as we ll. Rich 'Retardo ' ]ones

28.01.04-----------------------------------

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~------- singles

Single Choice

Chalet Records

Franz Ferdinand Take Me Out Given that their single :rocbted into the Top 3 last week,

Franz Ferdinand probably don't need any publicity from us. But The Event has never been one to let tardiness stand m the way of a good recommendation, and the Ferdinand - as they shall henceforth be known - are very good. Very good indeed. So good, in fact, that I'll wager my cherished pair of DMs that by the end of 2004 they will have released two No. 1 albums, headlined the first gig on Mars, and become the unfortunate victims of a jealous revenge plot devised by Jack White and the short one out of The Strokes.* Take Me Out, the reason for these slobbering superlatives, is only the Ferdinand's second release, but it rocks with the impeccable cool of a band that knows exactly why they deserve to be huge. An orgarused riot of riffs and reverb, it spirals from order to chaos and back again with more groove than a funk factory and a tune so catching it should be vaccinated against. Don't be fooled by their friendship with Belle and Sebastian and inexplicable tendency to dress up as librarians. Franz Ferdinand rna look UIIaiiSUIIting, but they play their instruments with the pummelling intensity of a true bunch of degenerates. Taking its crown as the beat song Talking Heads never wrote, every last spattering c1um:l of Thke Me Out is sharnbolic, reckless and utterly fantastic. Tarn the stereo up to 11, shake your head like a nodding dog 8Dd prepare to hail the first kings of 2004. Sua~~ Edwudu

UEA graduate Edward Field, founder of Norwich's Chalet Records, tells

The Event about his world of beats,

*Mote: thia wager is not legdJ hiadiag.

breaks and improvised jazz.

Kaito-EP Shouty, punky girl-group stuff can work really well in the right hands. Sleater-Kinney and Le Tigre get away with this kind of stuff because they have an instinctual pop sensibility that usually kicks in. Kaito, meanwhile, go round in circles without finding a firm hook to hang their music on, which is a shame because there's always the hint of something edgily great buried underneath there somewhere, as hinted at by Try Me Out - the one bit of the EP where the constant yelling, chugging guitar dynamic really works. The rest sounds like musical sketches waiting to be made into something firmer. RobLamae

Keane - Somewhere Only We Know

p . · .. ·. :

'I.

RnB singer Lernar's new single

•"'

r .~ ~·~ I

PiDk - God is a DJ

In Pink's poignant words, "you get what you're given, it's all how you use it''. Well I happen to think Pink has been given a lot of musical talent, but she may have lost the knack of how to use it. I get the feeling she is trying to re-create the huge success she had with Get the Party Started. God is a DJ has the same sing-along vibe, and just one memorable line which is bound to replay over and over in your head. I'll be surprised if this song gets into the Top 20, but I'll probably be screeching along to it when I'm drunk anyway.

H Keane were a car they would

be an uprnarket family saloon: safe, reliant and unremarkable, with the odd hidden feature (extendable handrest! novelty cup holder!) that almost, almost makes up for the lack of imagination elsewhere. Keane 's wildcard is Torn Chaplin's soaring choirboy voice - the kind that could lend the phone book an air of divine melancholy, and provides Somewhere Only We Know with its blissful centrepiece. Their third single glistens with sincerity and earnest ambition, but in a world that already contains one Coldplay too many, Keane need that all too elusive individuality to make them more than the new Ford Mondeo of melodic rock.

Peaches and lggy Pop Kiclc It Peaches and Iggy Pop sounds like a marriage made in heaven, doesn't it? Sadly not: Kiclc It sucks. The right sleaze-rock shapes mask a pile of self-referential tosh, well below the usual standard of either artist. Peaches may fancy herself as something of a path-breakin' Berlin libertine, but it is surprising that even she didn't blanch at unleashing this orgy of explicit brown-nosing, arselicking and mutual masturbation on the public. Given the raw materials it is hardly shocking that Felix da Housecat's rernix fails to deliver. Just sad.

is a sweet love song with unfortunately predictable lyrics and a familiar sound to it. With two top five singles under his belt, flune Academy star Lernar is able to exploit his impressive vocal ability, and the tenderness in his voice makes this a very pleasant ballad. It's easy background listening, but it's not going to become your alltime favourite song - in fact, you're likely to quickly forget it. But if you do fancy a live performance, and a close-up at the good-loolting singer, then catch Lernar performing in the LCR on February 28th. Rebecca Lawrence

Joss Stone - FeU in Love witll a Boy

Sarab Edwan:les

]ermi WnglJt lggy Pop: Tosh

Lemar- Anotller Day

.Auf Der Maur - Followed the Waves Incubus: Purring

Melissa Auf Der Maur used to be the bassist with Hole and Smashing Pumpkins, but since those bands broke up, she's gone solo. This single shares that deep, enigmatic rock sound favoured by collaborators Queens of the Stone ge, Twiggy Rarnirez and exPumpkins man, James lha. There's nothing technically wrong with this - she can create the right atmosphere and has the brooding voice to suit it too - but there's no killer chorus or lyric that would help it stand out. The production's also slightly too polished to achieve the raw bite that characterises, say, PJ Harvey's stuff, and which could have made this really thrilling.

Incubus have changed style and tempo with each new album, but, though I feel like a traitor to say it, I wasn't bowled over by new single Megalomaniac. Although there are still the amazing vocals of Brandon and Michael Einziger's harmonizing, the heavy purring baselines and distinct drumming, there is even less of the sampling that those who loved S.C.J.E.N.C.E would wish to hear. However, as this is only the first single from the forthcoming album A Crow Left of the Murder, hopefully they will prove me wrong.

RobLavine

CatLumb

Incubus -Megalomaniac

16 year old Joss Stone, from - as the Americans call it - "the small town of Devon", has been championed as Aretha Franklin's natural heir, and she manages to whack out a damn fine soul tune without having to resort to the Christina and Mariah school of multi-octave warbling. Her latest single, Fell in Love with a Boy. is a funked up, rocked down version of The White Stripes' Fell in Wl'e with a Girl. Clever, eh? The Roots are called in to provide a burnpin' grindin' kind of v:ibe, with Stone husking knowingly that " the two sides of my brain need to have a meeting'' . It's ok sweetheart, now you're famous someone will be able to organise that for you. Rutb. CIJamocJc

An ex-UEA student, along with a Norwich School of Art & Design graduate, has started an independent Norwich-based record label, and is urging musical UEA students to get involved. Chalet Records - the brainchild of Edward Field, who graduated from UEA in 2003, and fine art graduate Dan Tomb - are currently searching for serious musicians and DJ's to recruit for live performances and possible future releases. The label and monthly live nights will mainly be devoted to electronic music, but the pair are very open-minded and anything will be considered. The entrepreneurial eo-founders have been immersed in the Norwich music scene for some time, and certainly long enough to have seen it grow since they arrived here over three years ago. As a student, Ed put on a couple of successful nights featuring the UEA hip-hop act Stonasaurus, while Dan can be seen every Wednesday providing the visuals for the Superfly night at the Light Bar. However, both believe the type of music that Chalet Records will bring is somewhat lacking in Norwich, and that they will be the ones to supply it. The Chalet Records launch night, recently held on the 20th January at Spencer's (formally The Bank) at 57 Prince of Wales Road was an opening salvo of frenetic electronic beats and mayhem. The roster for the night pleasingly included some ex and current UEA students in the form of Grundy (recently namechecked in the NME) and Hoofus. Grundy are a S piece improvised jazz band that have played many gigs in Norwich over the past 2 years , with a musical style that proves extremely hard to classify as they perform freestyle improvised music and therefore no one gig is ever quite the same as the last. "We have a pretty laid back attitude towards making music," says bass player Edwin Graharn. "We've played gigs before when we have had no prior knowledge of what we're going to play, we just get up on stage and perform." Far from being disorganized, this relaxed approach is perfectly suited to their musical style and ensures that every live gig is a little bit special. Hoofus, real name Andre Untitled, is currently studying for his PhD at UEA and describes his musical style as fuzzy and electronic, using his laptop to carve out and layer beats and breaks. The headline act for the night was Team Dayobi from the renowned Manchester-based Skarn records, who released the highly influential Warp records act Boards Of Canada's early work, twoism . Home to acts such as Bola, Push Button Objects and Freeforrn, Skam Records has been at the forefront of British Electronica for some time now and, being personal heroes of the Chalet boys, they were particularly pleased that Norwich was able to get to hear their talents. "Admittedly most people will not have heard of Team Dayobi," says Eel. "But I don't think anyone left the night disappointed! If people are looking for someone to compare them to, then the most well-known artist would have to be the Aphex Twin." As well as the three live acts, the launch night featured sup-

port from the Electronica Night DJ's who used to run a weekly Thursday night event at the Bedford's Crypt. Playing an eclectic mix of beats, breaks and bleeps, they provided the ideal partnership for Team Dayobi and saw the night through to its 1am curfew. The Chalet has landed!

Edward Field and Matt Sargeson Fbr more information on Chalet Records visit www.chaletrecords.com

-----------------------------------28.01.04 ]onatb.an Perlmutter

Joss Stone: Souful

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