FUSE Issue 27

Fuse.

Off The Shelf / Villagers / Doc/Fest / Minecraft

Short Fuse.

the strange allure of a truly bad movie

Will the real Matt Helders please stand up?

Sean Combs is a man of many names – Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, or just Diddy. But it seems he has grown weary of forever changing his own stage name and has taken it upon himself to start renaming other people.

The rapper has bestowed

the alias ‘Rufus Black’ upon Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders, for when he performs with Diddy’s new band Dirty Money.

Diddy said of the Sheffield musician: “I didn’t wanna fuck up the great thing [Matt’s] got going on. He is

down with my Dirty Money crew, [but] whenever he’s playing with us, he’s Rufus Black.”

The music of Dirty Money is a far cry from what we would expect from Helders’ Arctic Monkeys, more contemporary hip-hop than indie rock. But Diddy believes Helders has what it takes to make the genre transition.

“As a drummer he’s definitely one of the most soulful I’ve ever worked with. His pocket reminds me of a James Brown pocket.

So funky and soulful. When he plays I actually get goosebumps.”

Seems like a good idea to me. Next time you want to do something but don’t want it to interfere with your image, perform it under a weird pseudonym and everyone’s a winner.

Jordan ‘Tinie’ Tandy

Fuse.

Friday October 22 2010

In hindsight: On the Road

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The Room, directed by, starring and fully funded by a demented, Draculaesque being known as Tommy Wiseau (pictured, centre) has been dubbed ‘the Citizen Kane of bad movies.’

It contains the line, delivered without a trace of irony, “I like you very much, lover boy.” There is also a ten-minute scene which contains nothing more than people tediously ordering different varieties of coffee.

Yet the film’s ridiculous subplots, forced dialogue, mentally scarring sex scenes and excruciatingly terrible acting that leads you to question what on earth you have done to deserve this audio-visual ordeal, come together to make a finished product that is inexplicably amazing.

Not necessarily an enjoyable experience in the traditional sense of the

word, but an undoubtedly memorable contribution to independent cinema, and one which has drawn a significant following.

The internet is littered with clips, montages and full-length streams of film titles, which are allegedly so bad that they have become cult hits.

Plan 9 From Outer Space, a 1958 shocker featuring Bela Lugosi makes the list, with its confusing, nonsensical dialogue and cardboard flying saucers with visible strings.

Lugosi himself died during filming, and was replaced for the remainder of his scenes by an actor who looked absolutely nothing like him.

The continuity errors are so frequent and the plot holes so gaping that they almost look intentional. And therein lies the brilliance.

Why do so many of us revel in seeing cinematic

car crashes occur before our eyes? This phenomenon seems to occur largely due to the innate comedy of something being so shockingly bad, it’s good.

Not to mention the potential for human bonding, and the unbreakable ties which are formed when a group of people sit down and experience something as god-awful as The Room, together.

Those waiting for their next trash fix can rest safely in the knowledge that they do not have long to wait.

Wiseau’s latest project is here in the form of a bewilderingly titled and undoubtedly gory short film: The House That Drips Blood on Alex.

It will premiere on US TV on October 31, available online thereafter. Prepare to be duly traumatised.

Lizzie Palmer

Fuse preview: Fright Night This year, Britain’s biggest Hallowe’en party will be taking over Sheffield town centre once more, as the annual institution that is Fright Night returns to our fair city. Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas first gave us Hallowe’en Town; now it is on your doorstep.

Join a terrifying band of ghosts, ghouls, zombies and vampires and take to the streets on Sunday October 31 for the scariest fancy dress promenade in the land.

For children (or adults of a more sensitive disposition) there will also be some slightly tamer Hallowe’en entertainment on offer.

The illustrious young wizard Harry Potter even made an appearance last year.

Fairground rides, a massive array of craft and food stalls, a ghost train and many other attractions will greet fearless passers-by.

The 2009 bash saw a seemingly infinite number of macabre oddities including a troupe of Star Wars storm troopers, chilling street theatre and a display of zombie dummies in the window of Marks & Spencer, created by Professor Vanessa Toulmin from the University of Sheffield.

Free to attend, the haunting commences at 3.30pm, so put on your

death masks, slather yourselves in theatrical blood and head into town.

You better not go alone.

Lizzie Palmer

The quintessential travel book? On the Road is still the exhilarating, breathless surge of energy, that scream of prose-jazz that careered onto the American literary scene at the tail end of the ’50s.

Kerouac was never a universally popular author in his own day. Usually a victim of personal judgement, his counter-cultural desire was an inspiration to countless thousands, farcical bohemia to others.

Barring Ginsberg, Kerouac was perhaps the most important member of the Beat Generation, with his work clearly illustrating its ethos, and his style and subject matter became enormously influential.

On the Road follows its protagonist, Sal Paradise, and his rapturous journeying around the American continent, always ‘stumbling after’ the manic energy of his friend Dean Moriarty, Kerouac’s symbol of the typical Beat individual.

In many ways the novel is very low on plot. Adventures happen to the pair and their entourage in a haphazard way (all night Jazz sessions, brown-bagging it with delinquents as the plains roll by, marijuana-hazed brothels). Tiny miracles of chance give them the thrills that they are always on the lookout for.

However, what the book does boast is it’s

sheer expanse. Kerouac’s eye takes in the whole panorama of American society and its pluralities and change, and creates a work that is also in the pursuit of a definition for all this, with the distinctly American comparison of the individual with society.

Kerouac’s writing is drawn from the intensity of lived experience, a thirst to see his country, it’s injustices, it’s vastness and to dissect it’s impossible dream.

On the Road buzzes with life and an intense desire to describe it truthfully. It is an inspiring, hopeful book, without a single ounce of bad faith.

Simon Reilly

Short Fuse.

Q&A: Fuddlepuck How did Fuddlepuck begin?

Fuddlepuck was born some time around mid-2009 not long after the first Sheffield Student Comedy Festival; after seeing so many sketch acts from myriad UK universities, the whole idea seemed so much more... viable.

It began with fortnightly meetings to write sketches, most of which went straight in the bin. By December we performed our first show in the Raynor Lounge which was a huge success.

FUSE. Musings

portrayal of psycho-killer Jack Torrence is possibly one of the scariest things ever seen on screen. Not to mention the creepy child.

“Here’s Johnny!”

Don’t forget that Celluloid Screams, the Showroom cinema’s annual weekend of blood-curdling films is taking place on October 22-24. The programme is available online now.

Where did your interest in comedy stem from?

Growing up we’ve all been surrounded by comedy. We all enjoyed making people laugh from a young age and all house this nagging desire to be creative. So naturally turning this into some kind of vocation would be awesome.

What are your thoughts on the comedy scene in Sheffield and what other comedy/live performance

Fuse thinks... that everyone should take the opportunity to check out the Off the Shelf Festival, while it lasts (until October 30.) On offer this fortnight’ among other attractions are a poetrywriting workshop and talks by Alastair Campbell and Malorie Blackman.

Aspiring comic strip artists can take part in a two-day workshop at Hillsborough College, where experts in the business will help you develop your skills.

On the last day of the festival you can take part in a bookswap event in the Winter Gardens, sponsored

by Oxfam. A great way to replenish your reading material and recycle unwanted bookshelf clutter.

We will most definitely be in attendance.

events should we look out for?

Sheffield has a fairly thriving stand up scene at the hands of The Last Laugh Comedy Club, unfortunately this has almost monopolized the market in the city centre.

However, this isn’t much of a problem if you’re a big stand up fan.

There are some interesting venues with more varied performances a little bit further afield, such as ABCOM down on Abbeydale Road.

When it comes to nonstand up, the only other local acts we can recommend are The Shrimps and USLES - who do improvised comedy and pantomime (predominantly).

What was it like performing at the Edinburgh Fringe?

Fuse is... enjoying the new Belle and Sebastian album, Write About Love. More of the same fuzzy melodies from the delightful Scottish band, who have brought us so many Offbeat dancefloor classics over the years, about good-looking boys and girls in love.

Their expertly woven stories continue to touch

In many respects, the Fringe is like the beginning of term: all of a sudden half of the home counties descend on an otherwise quiet area and a billion and three flyerers come out of the woodwork.

There was a lot to take in and even more to do but at the end of the day there was a great feeling to be had when people from all around the country laughed at a joke you made.

It reassures you that travelling hundreds of miles to Scotland wasn’t such a stupid idea after all.

Overall it was a good investment; we got three stars from Three Weeks, a rating we share with other societies who were at the Fringe this year, like SuTCo and The Shrimps, so we’re very glad to have gone.

What are Fuddlepuck’s future plans?

In the short term we’re doing our best to expand and nurture the Sheffield Comedy Revue, a society we set up to help get Sheffield students into comedy.

We offer advice with writing, performing and producing comedy and are trying to create a bigger and more creative comedy culture around the Union and hold weekly workshops.

Hopefully we should be drawing on the revue and incorporating more acts than just Fuddlepuck into our next show.

If this is successful we shall aim to take the production to Leicester Comedy Festival.

the hearts of many a lost soul.

Even better is the fact that An Education star Carey Mulligan provides guest vocals on the album’s title track, and actually sounds rather nice. Why had no one thought of this collaboration before? With that fringe, Mulligan is the perfect B&S cover girl.

Fuse’s excitement is growing by the day in anticipation of the band’s December show at the Manchester Apollo, featuring the London Contemporary Orchestra.

about a certain person.

A lack of proper concentration may well lead you to accidently send the text to the person in question, which is never a good idea. Especially if that person happens to be your fiancée. Fuse is not going to name any names, but consider yourself duly warned by this cautionary tale.

Fuse learned the hard way... the importance of exercising extreme care when sending a text message. Especially if you are using the communiqué to complain

Alexandra Rucki

Fuse.

Fuse wonders... which horror films its readers will be showing at their Hallowe’enthemed film nights? The Shining is a personal Fuse recommendation - Jack Nicholson’s demented

How do you come up with material?

We all have our own thing we focus on while writing, but there’s no real accounting for where the ideas come from.

Every now again you can get lucky and have an idea you think is funny while washing up or painting the dog.

A great thing about being

in a troupe with other comedians is that ideas can come from one of the many long tangential conversations we have; one sketch ‘Pterodactyl’, which will feature in our next show, simply came from watching a lot of Dragons’ Den in between Fringe rehearsals.

Friday October 22 2010

Where did the name ‘Fuddlepuck’ come from?

This is a story which isn’t so much ‘interesting’ as it is ‘not interesting’.

Naming something is hard and fairly arbitrary, so rather than cycle through Actual

Words we opted to just put together phonics instead.

Eventually ‘Fuddlepuck’ stuck, something befuddling, and perhaps puckish. It was only much much later that we realised how many people considered it to be a spoonerism after having a conversation/argument with someone from the ex-Durham Revue troupe Wittank in Edinburgh.

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Feature.Doc/Fest Preview

doc/best

Sheffield Doc/Fest has cemented itself as a global player in the celebration of documentary film-making. Screen took a peek at just a few of the many exciting films on offer this year.

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ow in its 17th year, Sheffield Doc/Fest brings a huge international congregation of documentarians to our little corner of Yorkshire.

The five day festival (November 3-7 at the Showroom Cinema) is absolutely packed with stuff to see and do. 131 features,

shorts and student films will be screened alongside a multitude of discussion panels, in-depth filmmaker classes, pitching opportunities and Q&As with some of the big names in the current documentary industry.

American comedienne Joan Rivers will be opening the festival with a new

documentary about herself, Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work.

Praised by critics for potraying the realities of a 75-year-old struggling to keep busy, the film follows Rivers from New York to Edinburgh and London, uncovering some of the humanity behind the razor sharp wit.

Other highlights include new work from Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man) plus films focusing on Ingmar Bergman, Rolf Harris, William S Burroughs and Osama Bin Laden’s exbodyguard, Abu Jandal.

Below are four exciting previews that are sure to get you craving more factual fun.

On The Streets

for 25 years.

One of the most striking aspects which this documentary uncovers is the massive inconsistency of personality traits in people living homeless. There are people from vastly different age groups, representatives of various nations, drinkers and smokers and those who live tee total; no stereotypes are played out.

There is no narration, and connections are instead made using sounds emanating from the streets themselves.

The interviewing style

sometimes feels uncomfortably invasive and patronising, and one can never be quite sure if the interviewees are playing up to the camera. However, often the film feels as close to being truthful as is possible with this kind of project.

Woolcock’s revisiting of certain individuals over time attempts to build some sense of narrative and chronology, showing just how hard

these people are finding it to escape this situation.

What she actually does is show how there is no chronology, no rhyme or reason and no common factor between these people who are so often categorised as self-destructive. Above all else what this documentary does is to give a name and voice, however fleeting, to usually nameless and voiceless people.

P

eggy Woolcock’s On The Streets is a documentary film following just some of the homeless people living in London.

Over time she interviews several different characters including a woman who has been raped so many times that she considers it normal; a philosophical man who provides food for other homeless people; a mathematician with multiple degrees and a man who has been on and off the streets

Ben Pearce

My Kidnapper

Fuse.

Friday October 22 2010

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n the early hours of the September 12 2003, Mark Henderson and seven fellow tourists were kidnapped at gunpoint by left-wing Guerillas.

Trapped in the vast, dense Columbian forest, deemed the perfect hiding place for holding hostages, the group were taken captive for an agonising 101 days.

Eleven months after his safe release, Mark receives an email from Antonio - one of his kidnappers. Regular contact ensues for five years - including Facebook befriending, and even an invitation to Antonio’s wedding - subsequently resulting in four of the captives travelling back to Northern Colombia to retrace, relive and discover more about what Mark describes as “the most traumatic months of my life”.

My Kidnapper pieces together the details of the torment that took place in the distressing days of captivity: threatened with execution at any sign of a rescue attempt, it illustrates and describes the harrowing wait the hostages had to endure, their powerlessness in the face of being dehumanised into a form of currency for their captors to obtain political power.

This fascinating documentary reveals the mental and physical turmoil

experienced

by Mark and his fellow captives, as well as their attempts to obtain closure by discovering more about the dire political state of Columbia - ultimately the reason behind their kidnapping.

The brilliance of My Kidnapper comes not only in the beautiful shots of rural Columbia, nor even in the beauty of the detailed and truthful narrative of Mark and Reinihilt - another of the captives.

One of the greatest aspects of this documentary is in its lack of bias. We are subjected to opposing viewpoints, from that of the captives, to the ideological beliefs held by their kidnappers, to the displaced population of Columbia caught in the Civil War; My

Kidnapper is the unique depiction of a kidnapping from multiple perspectives.

Hannah Hunt

Exit Through The Gift Shop

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he premise of this being a ‘Bansky Film’ initially seems puzzling. The film itself seems to have very little to do with Banksy, with the main focus of the film on

Pink Saris

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girl’s life is cruel; a woman’s life is cruel. Although some people might be quick to call this a feminist generalization, Sampat Pal Devi has seen a world that constantly reinforces this claim.

Sampat is the leader of the Gulabi Gang (or “Pink Gang”), a crew comprised solely of women who protect the basic human rights of girls in the town of Uttar Pradesh, India. The area is steeped in patriarchal tradition, and is infamous for its strict and outdated marriage laws which condone child marriages, the killing of the unmarried pregnant, and the abuse of wives by their husbands and in-laws.

Pink Saris follows Sampat as she defends the socially un-defendable women of India’s lowest caste, the dalits (or the ‘untouchables’).

Director Kim Longinotto tracks the eccentric vigilante as she gains attention and is viewed with a controversial eye from

amateur film-maker Thierry Guetta, as he progresses from an interest in simply filming street art (for lack of a better term) in order to immortalise it, to becoming involved with creating street art himself.

The film starts out more as a general street art documentary, focusing on several famous artists such as Shepard Fairey responsible for the iconic OBEY and Barack Obama HOPE images - plus Space Invader and Borf.

However later into the film it becomes a statement

conservatives and the local authorities as she flips the country’s tradition on its head, boldly suggesting that if a husband is bad, then “give him a beating,” too.

Daring statements like this, coupled with Sampat’s bizarre sense of narcissism (i.e. saying she is the “messiah for women”) attract a strong following of scorned women, ready to don the infamous “pink sari” for the gang.

The film shows Sampat aiding a teenage girl recently wronged by a fleeing husband who attempted to avoid shame, and another who has silently tolerated rape and physical abuse for nearly a decade. As the story progresses, the camera probes past the titular gang-wear, painting a thorough and flawed figure of Sampat Pal Devi as she attempts to keep her own family in order.

Even with such bleak moments, Pink Saris is still a film about combating the odds for a sense of true justice. Messiah or not, Sampat is a heartfelt leader, and fascinating subject for this fine documentary.

David Clifford Turner about art itself, especially the increasingly commodified street art sphere; an art form where the entire premise is to subvert the economic constraints of the traditional art world by providing publicly available and often anti-corporate art. A premise which all too often overtakes the actual work.

This is where Banksy’s involvement is made clear, in showing Guetta’s transformation (under the fitting pseudonym of Mister Brainwash) from a filmobsessed oddball to street art sensation overnight.

Whilst actually possessing very little talent and few original ideas, he instead takes the ideas and forms of other, more famous artists and copies and repeats the images until all original meaning is lost. In a sense Guetta takes the ideas and forms of Andy Warhol to their logical conclusions - all the while gaining great fame and fortune.

It is not clear whether Guetta’s art career is a calculated hoax by Bansky, or just a prime example of the state of the art world.

Either way, Banksy makes his point in an incredibly funny, lucid and poignant documentary.

James Bollington

Feature.Minecraft.

It’s the latest indie gaming sensation.

Fuse tells you why you should care.

Words: James Wragg So, what is Minecraft?

Minecraft is an indie game in which players have free reign to deconstruct and rebuild the 3D, block-based world around them.

Not only can earth, wood and stone be shifted to create any building or construction imaginable, but the game features an intricate crafting system with which anything from pickaxes to mine carts can be made.

What makes the experience different from a glorified LEGO simulation, however, is that player creativity is fundamental to the gameplay of Minecraft’s basic ‘survival’ mode.

Whilst crafting items and constructing elaborate structures is entertaining in itself, come nightfall such processes are a necessity

- as the moonlight attracts dangerous and terrifying creatures.

What’s more, Minecraft’s levels are completely procedurally generated and continue to construct themselves as you explore both over land and through the resource-rich cave networks underground.

This makes any one map technically limitless, with the horizon always offering a fresh frontier.

Recently the game has been something of a runaway success, with the game’s sole developer having sold over 300,000 copies of the game online.

What’s impressive is that the game isn’t even finished yet – the current build is only an Alpha version, which is continually being updated.

Check out our Mining 101 guide below for some basic playing tips. For extra help on how to play, visit Minecraftwiki.net. Especially useful is the crafting page: http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Crafting

3.

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First off, cut down some trees and use the wood to make a few basic tools.

Build! You’ll need a shelter before nightfall, but feel free to be creative.

4.

Survive the night!

Zombies, spiders and more roam the landscape when the moon is high.

2. Next you’ll want to find

both singleplayer and multiplayer versions of the game’s basic survival mode.

A ‘Classic’ version is

available for free, although this lacks the survival features of the Alpha version and does not get updated.

Minecraft can be

downloaded or played in a browser.

Both versions are available on www.minecraft.net.

no matter: the diamond is mine. Back on the surface it will become a fine sword, or a new helmet. Or a jukebox.

Anything I desire, if only I can make it back in one piece.

I gingerly pick my way across the magma cave in a deadly game of hopscotch, selecting an arbitrary spot in the wall to begin my ascent. I dig a rough stairway through stone and dirt, lighting my way as I go, untilA torrent of water rushes

Minecraft community creations

2. 16-bit computer

Someone built a functional 16 bit ALU in Minecraft.

Yeah, I don’t know what an ALU is either, but the following video sure makes it seem clever: http://bit.ly/b5fKjy

3. Papercraft

Believe it or not, all the Minecraft characters in the picture to the right are made of paper. And you can make your own! Rock Paper Shotgun explain: http://bit.ly/d0q5zH

4. Portalcraft

There are actually a fair few mods floating around that make Minecraft resemble VALVe’s acclaimed Portal.

Here’s one of the most impressive: http://bit.ly/9qicb7

5. 8-Mile Railway

This stunning time-lapse video documents the journey of one eccentric art student’s ‘Minecraft Interstate’ railway line. It’s really quite mesmerising. http://bit.ly/9Ral2G

Fuse.

through the newly opened fissure, appropriating my tunnel-turned-water fall.

Dumbfounded, I let the current carry me down a few levels before digging desperately upwards in another direction. Again, a new stream foils my escape to the overworld. For a few moments the water washes over me as I consider a return to the fiery depths; instead I decide to push on, swinging my pick like a madman as I jump through the crack in the earth.

Sat in front of my laptop, the words “OH, GOD,” form silently in my mouth as the enormity of the ocean expands in all directions.

Holding the space bar, I will my avatar to rise to the surface faster, to weigh less, to not be carrying a tonne of diamonds and assorted tokens of my own greed.

I burst through the waves with barely a second to spare. The stars above my head wink in amusement.

Turning, I spot land in the distance; the long beach I’ve made my home. I let out an involuntary, gasping laugh and swim towards the shore.

Jeremy Peel

A work-in-progress mod for Left 4 Dead, which throws players into a Minecraft themed campaign. Check out the creator’s YouTube channel here: http://bit.ly/bemiRz

Friday October 22 2010

a golfer preparing for a shot, eventually selecting an iron pickaxe.

With a few choice swings I engineer the collapse of a rock wall and the river swerves from its ancient path. Fire and water meet in an elemental brawl, emitting a hiss like the crowd at a Gary Glitter comeback gig.

Perched on a newlysolidified platform, I’m able to hack wildly through the low ceiling with my pick. The seam soon runs dry, but

Our top five 1. Left 4 Deadcraft

Tales from the deep Deep underground, I creep towards the edge of the precipice. Closer to the surface I had planted burning torches in the sediment to illuminate my way down, but now the white glow of the magma provides me with all the light I need to get to work.

Scanning the cavern roof, I spy a blue-grey gleam in the false twilight. Diamond.

With one eye on a nearby subterranean river, I scan the contents of my bag like

Explore! The game will continue to generate landscapes no matter how far you travel.

a cavern or start mining downwards, as the most useful resources can be found underground.

How do I get it?

There are currently two versions of the game available.

The Alpha version costs just under £9, and contains

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Interview.Villagers.

I WAS A DREAMER Mercury Prize-nominated band Villagers discuss the art of telling stories through music.

Fuse.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to be a caricature celebrity” polished surface.

Performing across the festival circuit this year, including the institutions of Reading and Leeds, the band have been incredibly busy.

They have just completed the first part of their UK tour, which concluded in Sheffield, and Villagers are understandably triumphant.

They have achieved widespread adoration in the music press, and appeared on Later... with Jools Holland, the show which famously introduced Britain to Seasick Steve.

Despite the hype and the success that the band have experienced recently, they still missed out on winning the coveted Mercury Prize to synthpop Londoners The XX. But how did O’Brien feel about the sudden acclaim that comes with a Mercury nomination? Was it disappointing not to win?

“I guess I felt honoured, and happy to be nominated. I felt all of the usual emotions that you would expect to feel when something like that happens. I’m proud of the album, I worked hard on it, put in a lot of effort and discipline so it was a good feeling to have it recognised.”

“I wasn’t really disappointed when we didn’t win, I was kind of relieved in a way. I don’t think I’m ever going to be a caricature celebrity. All I want to do is present myself and perform my songs.”

It seems that O’Brien has been very busy since the split of his previous band The Immediate, who once played onstage at Sheffield’s Leadmill themselves, supporting The Young Knives.

He didn’t waste any time before starting to write new material, and with the success of Villagers’ first record and a Mercury Prize nomination already under

“When we didn’t win, I was kind of relieved in a way” Despite this comparison however, it is very clear to the listener that Villagers’ influences are drawn from across the entire musical spectrum.

“I am cursed with the name Conor, I even have the same black, messy hair,” laments O’Brien. “There are a lot of artists that I respect and who influence me. It’s really hard to know where to start.

I listen to a lot of Elvis Costello. And I listen to Neil Young and Otis Redding loads, as well as quite a bit of soul music. There’s also a really good Irish band that’s being blogged about a lot at the moment, called Adebisi Shank. They are an amazing three-piece rock band.”

Villagers’ on stage performance really is quite different to what you would

expect from most bands.

The crowd are silent, as they are eager to hear each intricate detail of O’Brien’s delicate, yet powerful voice.

The artist himself seems modest; he is certainly not your average egotistical front man.

“I’ve kind of got two sides to my personality. There’s a part of me that has always been a bit of a show off,

striving for attention. Yet, I also have a quieter and more introverted side.

Performing on stage has always seemed natural to me; I just get into it.”

“My favourite song from the album is ’Set the Tigers Free.’ I wrote it quite fast, and I feel like it has a lot of different meanings. I love playing it live, it gives me a strong sense of liberation.”

Over the summer of 2010, the band have played

Southbank, curated by folk legend Richard Thompson, made up just a part of the band’s summer itinerary.

But what did Villagers think of their experiences? Was it daunting for them to be so far removed from the small shows and venues that they are so used to?

“Reading Festival, now that was amazing. We got really into that performance.

We didn’t know at all what to expect beforehand either.

The crowd were really cool, the tent was nice and packed, and we all felt really grateful to be there. I do like the smaller shows that we play, but playing massive dates like Reading is also a great experience for us.”

Those bigger live shows are clearly something that Villagers will have to get used to. With a critically acclaimed debut album, successful tour, new songs and some intriguing ideas for a new record, it is safe to say that we can only expect great things from this band in the future.

“Playing live gives me a strong sense of liberation” at many of the UK’s biggest and most popular events, performing to a huge number of different people and getting their music heard by legions of potential new fans.

Oxygen Festival in the Republic of Ireland, Eurosonic in Holland, and Meltdown on London’s

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their collective belt, there are certainly going to be a lot of expectations for a second album.

“We have a few new songs, some of which I will be performing on tour. I’m writing all of the time. I haven’t had as much chance to write recently, I guess it slows down a lot when I’m touring. I plan to take a few weeks off in January; that’s when I am really going to concentrate on writing.”

“I think the new album will have a slightly different tone. Becoming a Jackal is very unapologetic with how it looks at people and their animalistic instincts.”

“A lot of people see it as being quite a cynical album, although I’m not sure about that. I think the new one is going to be about birth - what life is like through the eyes of a baby,coming into the world.

I can’t seem to stop writing about being born at the moment.”

O’Brien’s story telling lyrics and haunting melodies draw strong similarities to the band Bright Eyes, fronted by singer-songwriter Conor Oberst. This is a comparison which has been commented on before, as the two men even look similar and share the same first name.

Friday October 22 2010

Friday October 22 2010

Words: Lianne Williams

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ominated for this year’s Mercury Music Prize, Villagers are an up and coming Irish band, whose debut album Becoming a Jackal was described by the judges as “a record of great charm and mystery.”

Fronted by Dubliner Conor J. O’Brien, Villagers have an excitingly unique sound, and are celebrated for their perfectly polished live performances.

O’Brien’s song writing is also renowned for its dark lyrics. His songs have been described by The Guardian as having “an eerie sense of disquiet.”

There is clearly a lot more to this band beneath the

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Reviews.Music releases.

Editorial.

SHEFFIELD SHANTY As the Live Wire event on November 4 is dubbed the ‘Sheffield Showcase’ it seemed only appropriate to consider the intricacies of our city’s music scene.

On first arrival at university just over two years ago, the

ORPHAN BOY

Passion, Pain and Loyalty Concrete Recordings

6/10 Melancholic alt-rockers, Orphan Boy, have their sights set on the mainstream with their latest album.

Following a slightly lengthy introduction, the guitars on the opener ‘Letter for Annie’ start to build. When accompanied by the reverb, heavy vocals begin to create a Glasvegas like feel.

‘Popsong’ is an early highlight. Its anecdotal lyrics of music industry frustrations and memorable guitar riffs bring it to the forefront, and make it an understandable lead single.

‘Remember’ and

Fuse.

Friday October 22 2010

Singles.

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A few more obscure offerings to the singles marketplace this week, including weird, gothic Brightonians, The Gaa Gaas.

Their new track ‘Voltaire’ is far from musically complicated, but the dark, repetitive guitar riffs are haunting to say the least, and will drive the ghosts from your attic this Hallowe’en.

For those of a slightly less morbid persuasion, ‘Razor’, the great new single from Guilty Hands continues the ’80’s revival with a colourful

SERJ TANKIAN Imperfect Harmonies Reprise

8/10

freshers of 2008 remember with overwhelming clarity our traditional welcome meeting in the Octagon centre. Arctic Monkeys hit ‘I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor’ blared from the speakers as video footage of the city flashed on the big screen.

How wonderfully bloody predictable.

In actual fact, our musical heritage is far more diverse than Alex Turner, and the handful of other artists which people immediately mention when you tell them you live in Sheffield.

Jarvis Cocker is undoubtedly, effortlessly amazing, but he is not the sole face of the Steel City.

The new frontier of the Sheffield music scene is now epitomised by people

such as Tom Bell, known professionally as Toddla T. Following him on Twitter is highly recommended.

The Long Blondes, who are sadly no more, are a quintessential Sheffield band. “Nineteen / You’re only nineteen for god’s sake / Oh, you don’t need a boyfriend” are lyrics which are powerful in their simplicity. Kate Jackson and her band were unpretentious yet great, just like the city they came from.

‘Anderson Shelter Blues’ showcase the band’s lyrical capabilities. The former, as the name suggests, is full of nostalgia, and the latter is strangely indicative of Pulp’s darker narratives.

For the most part Passion, Pain and Loyalty is a huge deviation from angst-ridden, punk-influenced debut Shop Local. The young trio appear to have made a conscious decision to make commercial music, and in doing so they have created a more contrived album

which, at times, feels too safe.

‘Untitled #9’ exemplifies this safeness. Although catchy, it is startlingly similar to ‘Some Frontier’, the next single to be taken from the record. ‘1989’ is also tame and thanks to its repetitive piano melody, initially feels like a half attempt at a ballad.

However, there are still many strong moments, and closing track ‘A180 Song’ is an unexpected change of pace, revealing a deeper side to the band not seen elsewhere on the album.

Passion Pain and Loyalty is a sharply produced second offering by the lads from Cleethorpes. Housing many strong tracks, it’s only let down (ironically) by its desire to be liked universally.

Sam Bolton

If you want to get involved in the music side of things, you can contact us by email: music@forgetoday.com, with any ideas you might have. Join the mailing list to be notified of meeting dates and times.

Lizzie Palmer

synthpop extravaganza.

Their sound is essentially Blancmange meets The Stranglers, re-arranged for Guitar Hero, and the onomatopoeic chorus is delightfully addictive: “Cut cut, slash slash / You’ve got your razor.”

Also electro-heavy is the next single on our list, ‘I Don’t Know Your Name’ by Escort Knights, which has received a hugely positive reception in the band’s hometown of Leeds.

Thumping beats and bland lyrics unfortunately make this offering fairly dull.

Self-described genre ‘indie-

house’ gives you a good idea of what to expect from their sound.

As we turn finally to Pendulum, it is safe to say that new single ‘Island’ is relatively formulaic. Lacking the heavy sound, climactic build-up and memorable hooks of dancefloor classics such as ‘Blood Sugar’, this track will not stand out in a drum and bass set.

When metal legends System of a Down announced their hiatus, frontman, political activist, singer and songwriter Serj Tankian took time out to explore his own musical direction for the foreseeable future.

Imperfect Harmonies, the follow up to critically acclaimed debut album Elect The Dead, has been described by Tankian as “electro-orchestral-jazzrock.”

Self-producing the album back at his home recording studio in Los Angeles has given Tankian more freedom with this record than anything he has done before.

With this sense of liberation, he has finally separated himself from

System of a Down and has added a new chapter to his musical legacy.

Tracks like ‘Yes, It’s Genocide’, sung entirely in Tankian’s native Armenian, are reflective of how the album comes from deep within.

Like the rest of the artist’s back-catalogue there is the similar message of how civilization needs to wake up and take a look around.

The album delivers what is expected, with every song’s rich orchestral sounds blending successfully in to the next, making this album well worth a listen for fans of both rock and classical music.

Lawrence Russell

Lizzie Palmer Read more singles reviews online www.forgetoday.com

THE MAINE Black & White Warner Bros.

6/10 If you’re stuck for something to buy your little sister for Christmas, than look no further than The Maine’s sophomore album, Black & White.

Whilst they tread water in a grey area of generic pop-punk, it really hits the spot for girls who care more about how good-looking the band is, than how good they sound.

Opener ‘Don’t Stop Now’ is certainly catchy, but lacks anything to make it stand

out. However, second single ‘Growing Up,’ takes an early serious moment with its ballad stance. Sadly the lyrics are still lacking, and only in America could you rhyme “your parents’ yard” with “talked about God.” It’s suspiciously similar to ‘Growing Up,’ suggesting that a lot of the album is more filler for the more mature almost anthemic at times - singles. It does show that the band have progressed between albums, which is something at least.

‘Every Road’ completely misses the mark with its country twang, but is followed up by a cute, fastpaced piece of teenage rebellion. ‘Listen To Your Heart’ is a diamond in the rough, humorously claiming,

“Your mother / She thinks that this is just a phase / I think that we should run away.”

Someone in Marketing must have thought they were being super clever when they put ‘Color’ as the closer for an album called Black & White. Whilst, as ever, the lyrics are less than inspired: “We’re just trying to find some colour / in this black and white world,” it does sum up the album quite well.

The guitar solo, the harmony of O’ Callaghan’s and Brock’s vocals, even the lyrics, suggest a transition from truly generic pop-rock, to what may be a classic album for fans of pop-punk.

Maybe.

Coral WIlliamson

war sentiments permeate much of Young’s earlier material, and he remains one of the world’s foremost political songwriters.

Judging by his 40 plus years of musical output, two subjects that Young undoubtedly knows well are love, and war.

He combines the two in a self-reflective track named simply ‘Love and War’, musing that “When I sing about love and war / I don’t really know what I’m saying / I’ve been in love and I’ve seen a lot of war / Seen a lot of people praying.”

The song explores the impact of war on loved ones, and leaves a sense of futility and mourning hanging in the air. People are still dying unjustly.

The record’s powerful opening anthem, ‘Walk With Me’, is another salute to romance and companionship. “I’m on this journey,” says Young, “And I don’t want to walk alone.”

The simplicity of the song’s message fits perfectly with the artist’s signature, loud guitar riffs.

Lizzie Palmer

nEILYOUNG Le Noise Reprise

8/10 Powerful guitar and underlying sadness are the essence of Le Noise, the latest offering from Neil Young.

Many of the tracks are drawn from the prolific musician’s creative goldmine – his immense back catalogue of previously unreleased material.

A carefully engineered mix of light and dark, the album features variety whilst still remaining true to Young’s distinctive sound.

Bittersweet track ‘Peaceful Valley Boulevard’, with its ethereal guitar interludes and haunting melody, is an especially beautiful moment.

Sadness surrounding American imperialism and the Iraq war is evident in lyrics such as “At first they came for gold / And then for oil.”

It is well known that anti-

Reviews.Live music.

YUCK

The Harley Thursday October 14 It’s official, noise pop is back, with many great new bands breaking through.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, No Age, Times New Viking to mention but a few, and of course, tonight’s band.

Yuck are a five-piece scuzzy indie pop band featuring members from the now defunct Cajun Dance Party, alongside a drummer and bassist hailing from LA and Hiroshima respectively.

Support comes from A Grave With No Name, who look and sound like they’ve just walked out of 1988.

To great effect they play heavy, yet melodic slacker rock, and receive a warm reception.

Yuck then take to the stage, with a blisteringly loud, highly catchy and enjoyable set.

At no point does it sound like mere late ’80s /early ’90s fetishism - the band recreate the lo-fi rock sound almost perfectly, and make it their own with an impressive set of tunes. ‘Georgia’ is a definite stand-out track, which even manages to penetrate the stoicism of a crowd of po-faced hipsters.

On stage, the band let their songs bleed into each other with walls of deafening distortion. In a style reminiscent of The Jesus And Mary Chain, the sound builds to an almost catatonic, yet fascinating effect.

Admittedly this sound is

hardly original. Bands such as Dinosaur Jr. have been doing it for over 20 years, however tonight it feels entirely new and refreshing.

Essentially the band creates great pop songs, and a great pop song will never seem old or tired.

James Bollington

I BLAME COCO Foundry

Thursday October 14 After a short silence Coco Sumner graced the Foundry stage alongside theatrically eerie entrance music, acknowledged her crackling audience and exploded into the pounding ‘Party Bag’.

Her fists release the back beat, pumping with a constant disco rhythm.

Stamping over the stage as the chorus surges, Sumner owns every pair of eyes in the room with her staccato shapes and explicit howls.

There is vulnerability in the intense, dark stare that the young performer casts as she begins her second single ‘Self Machine’.

As her fists drive out, arms clenched into her torso, with powerful lyrics tearing into the heavy clap and submerging bass, Sumner seems genuinely shocked as her words are cast back at her, staggering backwards and clasping her mouth, as she is humbled by her Sheffield audience.

Backed by a talented band of musicians, the sound has a much greater impact than you’d expect from what is essentially a mix of reggae-

infused pop music.

The daughter of Sting and Trudie Styler completely deserves her plaudits, and she is most effective as a live act.

Her reggae/folk roots are most apparent when she culls the dance sheen of ‘Quicker’, ‘Self Machine’, and ‘Please Rewind’ with her performance of album track ‘No Smile.’

The glittering synth and growling bass are accompanied by her trademark howl, that bays out: “I promised I would constantly love you till the day I die.”

This is definitely the high point of the night, if just for the sheer quality of sound, and the fact that the track really encompasses everything that this underrated talent will soon be known for.

Emotion and soul permeate all her material, musically and lyrically.

Coco rounds off this epic appearance with her first single, ‘Caesar,’ singing through a distorted microphone over the smattering synth that provides a musical hook.

This is an antagonistic track about mild anarchy, that rises to a chorus featuring samples from Swedish electro goddess Robyn.

Sumner hands out an appreciative wave to her gathered fans and the band revel in their applause, as the adrenaline-filled set concludes on a resounding high.

Chilled out joy: Benjamin Francis Leftwich.

Picture: Shelby Storey

BENJAMIN FRANCIS LEFTWICH The Forum

Wednesday October 13 A brief meeting with Benjamin Francis Leftwich gives the impression of a friendly, laid-back, Yorkshireborn guy who is really enthusiastic about writing and playing music.

After a slightly selfindulgent thirty minute set from support act Pete Jackson, demonstrating a sound somewhere between

cover in this set was ‘Look at Miss Ohio’ by Gillian Welch in which he delivered a truly authentic performance, which is a rarity for an artist performing a cover song.

Leftwich has an endearingly modest, yet commanding stage presence, to the point that you can’t help but be drawn in to a thoroughly enjoyable performance.

Even the overspill of noise from the rowdy pub-goers in the adjoining room didn’t detract from the intimate, acoustic performance. With his charmingly relaxed style, Benjamin Francis Leftwich is definitely one to watch.

canny beats, finely honed

by Geordie David Burn, who delivered nothing short of a resounding and emphatic performance.

This included popular new single ‘We Are Foolish’, as well as showcasing some promising new material.

Highlights included the infectious ‘Rebel Get By’, while the quietly brilliant ‘Sinking Ships’, mesmerised the whole crowd for the three minute duration.

Although quite sedate at first, the crowd soon warmed up and lead singer Owen Strathern seemed to appreciate their enthusiasm and willingness to join in on lead vocals during the more well-known numbers.

Quite shy and prone to mumble down the microphone, Strathern also seemed genuinely surprised to be playing in front of a sold-out audience after the band’s last headline gig in Sheffield, when they admitted to playing to just a “four-strong crowd”.

Although there were no great surprises to be had during their set, and a couple of the new songs could have done with a bit more polishing before being unleashed to the general public, there is no doubt that General Fiasco have great potential and their profile can surely only grow.

Closing their set with the anthemic ‘Ever So Shy’, the whole crowd was singing along with the opening lines: “Let’s get wasted / It’s all we ever do…”

Shelby Storey

Will Brotherton

DETROIT SOCIAL CLUB

Plug Thursday October 14

GENERAL FIASCO

Leadmill Friday October 15 Friday saw General Fiasco return to the Leadmill, this time in a headline slot, following a British tour last year supporting Welsh quintet Kids In Glass Houses.

Although already halfway through their UK tour, the band, hailing from Belfast, Northern Ireland, still managed to deliver an energetic and thoroughly enjoyable set.

First on stage were local band Take To The Seas, whose mix of indie rock and cheerful banter provided a perfect opening act.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the next band out, Without Our Crowns, whose disappointingly short set failed to hit the mark.

Perhaps for this reason the crowd seemed slightly subdued as General Fiasco took to the stage.

Never a band to disappoint, they played a plethora of tracks from their debut album Buildings.

Laura Birkin

Fuse.

The Cartels kicked off the evening with their own brand of rock and roll, which warmed the blood, and prepared the crowd for a night that was sure to rock their socks off.

It was a blessing to have such a great band opening a fairly low-key night so enthusiastically.

Sound of Guns entered to a thumping bass line, and the crowd could definitely feel something special was happening.

Looking like Kasabian, sounding like U2 and swaggering like Oasis, the scousers produced a charmingly charismatic set of powerful rock anthems delivered with clinical precision. Quite possibly the start of something massive.

Swollen in number, the audience went wild for Detroit Social Club.

Undoubtedly fired up by the quality support, they flung themselves forward to chant their hearts out.

The headliners have picked up quite a following, and rightly so. Main hits ‘Sunshine People’ and ‘Rivers and Rainbows’ really stood out, and the very catchy finale ‘Prophecy’ is must-have iPod material.

A cracking band with a frenzy of intelligent riffs and

Jerome Jacob

Friday October 22 2010

I Blame Coco put on a stunning show.

Picture: Marek Allen

Oasis’ ‘Champagne Supernova’ and Green Day’s ‘Good Riddance’, Leftwich took to the stage. The room had become substantially fuller as he began to play. His finger picking style similar to that of Iron & Wine, his voice a unique blend of husky and soft tones.

The song ‘Atlas Hands’ is an excellent demonstration of the singer-songwriter’s talents, deliberately playing slightly behind the beat allowing him to stay in control, taking the listener on a journey with him.

Half way through the set Leftwich confesses: “This is the first night of my tour and I’m so glad it’s in Sheffield - I really like this city.” The only

11

Reviews.Screen.

relentless, bullet riddled pursuit as Bobby and his task force aim to crush the bad guys and save the day, notching up as many enemy kills as humanly possible along the way.

Anybody expecting an intelligent plot with any kind of wit or finesse clearly has not heard of Steven Seagal.

However, in true Seagal fashion, it has to be said the action sequences and combat choreography are outstanding.

The intensely planned fight scenes are as gritty and realistic as anything

Jason Bourne will provide.

And better still, this does not feature Matt Damon.

Placing Steven Seagal in the producer’s chair, however, is much less inspired.

Completely unnecessary blur effects litter each scene and even the Russian subtitles are given pointlessly stylish X-Files treatment.

Coupling this with his fairly atrocious script, Born to Raise Hell certainly will not be a critic’s favourite.

But having said that, it is what it is.

This is not a deep, dark exploration into the mind. This is not a social commentary or a chilling political tale.

It’s a testosterone fuelled shoot-em-up made by one of the masters of a dying genre.

If you’re looking for a digestible action flick to watch with the lads and a few beers you can’t go wrong However, if you’re looking for a movie with any discernable cinematic quality, original plot or intellect and you watch a film entitled Born to Raise Hell, you’re kind of asking for it.

Tom Fletcher

herself which later turns out to be false and the Russian Natasha shares her life story in a similar nature.

Appalling dialogue is broken up by spontaneous outbursts of passion, making it hard (excuse the pun) not to think this is merely a pretentious director living out a sexual fantasy.

There are some redeeming qualities. The lighting is sleek and stylish on top of some great camera work and renaissance iconography.

In addition, the only other character, Max (Enrico Lo Verso), delivers comic relief whilst providing room service for the girls. He even thinks at one point they’re going to invite him to join in. You can’t blame him, they rang room service for a vibrator - to which he stated ‘I brought a hot cucumber. I boiled it for two minutes’.

However, positives are scarce. The 104 minutes drag on and in the end you find yourself forgetting they’ve been nude pretty

much the entire time. It’s almost as if they have personal vendettas against clothes.

In a desperate attempt to avoid appearing like a sleazy movie, Medem includes ‘artistic scenes’ containing depressing and at times downright unnerving sequences.

For instance one scene sees Natasha explaining how her father abused her twin sister and how she found it to be quite arousing.

Alba, rather than doing what most people would do and run, accepts this as a fathomable normality.

On the whole, the explicit sex scenes juxtaposed with disturbing drama results in a story that is not executed tastefully enough to be classed as a work of art and yet not tacky enough to be an adult movie either.

To be fair it’s a film that could make you reach for the tissues; it’s just a shame it would most likely be for all the wrong reasons.

Eddie Watson

Editorial.

Fuse.

Friday October 22 2010

ASHLEY AND ALEX GO GHOST HUNTING

12

With Paranormal Activity 2 released today some bright spark at Paramount Pictures decided it would be good to hold a press screening of the film for privileged critics.

It is a common procedure in this line of work. There’s usually a certain amount of pressure to write something positive but, other than that, it is a fairly relaxed process.

Not this time. Paramount are showing the film in a darkened room, yes. But after that it all changes.

With no explanation we’re being whisked away to the famed London Tombs to become stars of our own paranormal activity.

After our travel in darkness we’re being plunged into the immense network of caves, tombs and tunnels which resonate with the sounds of hundreds of devilish souls.

Once there we’re instructed to turn off the lights, arm ourselves with any technology we desire and go ghost hunting.

What proceeds is an eternity of terror, swearing and shaky camera work.

In fact, as you’re reading this, we’re probably both screaming like schoolgirls and gripping each other in an affectionately scared embrace.

But what use is this to you? Well we want you to experience everything too, from the screams to the smell of the brown eminence in our pants.

So go to the Screen section of www.forgetoday.com from next week to read the full report – complete with grainy pictures of endless darkness and moving white lights.

But spoiler alert: Ghosts don’t exist. Fact.

BORN TO RAISE HELL Dir: Steven Seagal

6/10 Action films have become a bit sterile recently; far too plausible, too serious, and too few one man armies decimating legions of bad guys without breaking a sweat.

Luckily, Steven Seagal is back and he’s wielding a shotgun the size of an ironing board.

As the title suggests, with his latest release the big guy does not exactly have subtlety in mind.

For some of us this is marvellous news. Love him or loathe him, Seagal is nestled nicely into his comfort zone when it comes to mindless blasting and neck breaking.

What’s more, following the release of Stallone’s The Expendables this summer, it almost seems like this mindless action genre is making a swift, if short lived, comeback.

Seagal himself is credited

ROOM IN ROME

Dir: Julio Medem

3/10 Julio Medem seems to be a director unafraid of breaking taboo. The problem is that once the taboo of seeing two naked lesbians is shattered, there is little more on offer.

Centred entirely in the confines of a hotel room, the film follows the story of two women, Alba (Elena Anaya) and Natasha (Natasha Yarovenko), who share one night of passion in the Italian capital.

Apparently they met in a bar, though this conveniently happens off screen. The rest of the plot plays out like a twisted teenage fantasy.

Essentially the narrative consists of two components; tedious conversation and lesbian sex.

The Spanish born Alba says something about

Ashley Scrace Alex Sherwood

THE BROTHERS BLOOM Dir: Rian Johnson

8/10 Rian Johnson has delivered what is a truly captivating film about two brothers who are excellent con-men.

The plot follows two brothers who are trying to pull of their final con.

Eldest brother, Steven (Mark Ruffalo), creatively visualises intricate scenarios, and younger brother Bloom (Adrien Brody) creates trust with the

as writer and producer, which is essentially a disclaimer warning of a naff script and ridiculously overblown action sequences.

Of course nobody who knows Seagal will be fazed by this. After all, a script is a minor issue, isn’t it?

Bobby (Seagal) is a seasoned and brutal Interpol agent assigned to break a Balkan gun trafficking syndicate.

Sadly his partner and dear friend is killed in the process and, of course, Mr Seagal is a vengeful guy.

What ensues is a

targets so these scenarios become reality and the con can be successful.

Stevens aim is to create the ‘perfect con’, a ‘con where everyone involved gets exactly what they want’.

But along the way Bloom develops a love interest, Penelope (Rachel Weisz), and things get particularly interesting.

When Bloom falls for her she becomes a con artist herself. But little does she know Bloom actually wants to live an ‘unwritten life’ for him and Penelope.

But, to free her from a written life of cons (like his), he must finish the ‘perfect’

con with his brother.

The cast is strong, with Ruffalo’s performance in particular an exceptional, and welcome departure from his previous roles which tended towards clichéd romcom territory.

Brody also delivers a strong performance as Bloom, if a little insipid and arguably less believable than Ruffalo.

The only disappointment in the story is Weisz who, whilst being believable, is a

little naïve and lacklustre.

Robbie Coltrane’s appearance, brief as it may be, is also impressive. His character, Maximillen “The Curator” Melvile, oversees a smuggling con with the brothers. He effortlessly

delivers an authentic performance (Belgian accent included) sucking you straight into the con yourself.

The ending of the film is impressive because it isn’t predictable and is well scripted, if a little sentimental. It may be a disappointment for anyone who doesn’t like the twee ‘happily ever after, walking into the sunset’ types of films. But, all in all, The Brothers Bloom is enthralling throughout. A highly recommended DVD purchase.

Sarah Bramham

Reviews.Games. sonic the hedgehog 4: episode 1

Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, Apple iOS & WiiWare

6/10 Sonic and Knuckles, released in 1994 for the Mega Drive, was one of the last Sonic games to actually be any fun. Since then things have all gone a little awry for the improbably speedy garden mammal, with his latest appearances casting him as a werewolf, allowing him to wield a sword and – most bizarrely – making him fall in love with a fantasy princess (who is, by the way, a human being and not a fucking blue hedgehog).

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is a direct sequel to its Mega Drive predecessors and as such, is an attempt by SEGA to get the franchise back on track.

Sonic Team has attempted this series rejuvenation by going back to the basics – a D-pad and a jump button.

Anyone who’s played a classic Sonic game will

easily slip back into the habits of platform jumping, spin dashing and botnickbashing, all in two glorious dimensions.

Thankfully, Sonic 4 manages to capture the kinetic feel of the original titles as the game feels fluid and rewarding when you’re cruising through at top speed. The inclusion of a new homing attack, with which Sonic can hurl himself at foes mid-jump, is a surprisingly beneficial addition to Sonic’s moveset and allows enemies to be gracefully dispatched without hindering momentum.

Sonic’s handling isn’t perfect though.

When moving at slower speeds Sonic can feel sluggish, and the game’s physics seem to falter slightly with regards to how Sonic behaves on slopes or during long jumps. Such inadequacies, however, are u n l i k e l y to upset anyone

The only aspect of the game which was not in some way recycled is the music; all of which is instantly forgettable. The boss tunes in particular sound farcical in comparison to the tense, exiting MIDI tracks of old.

As a £10 downloadable title, Sonic 4 is a decent purchase with its nine main stages offering a good amount of play time, especially when the extra challenge of collecting all the game’s chaos emeralds is taken into consideration.

Where it really falters, however, is in its status as a sequel. Sonic 4 feels more like an HD remix of the first two games rather than an extra chapter in the series, and fans will struggle to find anything remarkable in this instalment.

James Wragg

The similarities are all too obvious: Lionheart owes a great deal to Creative Assembly’s popular Total War series. Not only does this game visit a setting already depicted in Medieval: Total War, but the tutorial would have it seem that the game plays identically to it as well. This is a game where you play the role of a general, send tiny men to grisly deaths and, very occasionally, pause for thought and think “hmmm I could totally flank those Swordsmen with these badass Knights Templar”.

Where Lionheart separates itself from the pack is in the details and focus - unlike the Total War games, which outside of

individual battles function as a grand turn-based strategy about conquering pretty much everything, Lionheart concerns itself with purely the Holy Lands.

Furthermore, rather than spending time managing economies and pruning the family trees of Europe’s royalty, Lionheart sees the player upgrading the units that comprise his army. This is done through spending the skill points that units earn in battle on new abilities and improving on their base attributes, as well as equipping them with extra stabby swords and altering their stats, temporarily with potions, and permanently with elixirs. Essentially this allows you to eventually transform the lowliest band of peons into something that will at least give knights a run for their money.

Alongside the usual breeds of infantry, cavalry and archers, Lionheart also features much rarer ‘hero’ units which, like in Warcraft 3, have special abilities

and are especially good at dispatching masses of enemies without sustaining heavy losses.

These unrealistic additions to the Total War formula come together to make battles gratifying, without rendering them strategically defunct.

However, such powerful units do create a disconnect between the slightly ridiculous gameplay and the art-style, which clearly is aiming at photo-realism.

Zoom down to peon’s-eye view and this disconnect is further accentuated. Picture this situation: through a profound lack of strategical thought I had lost my entire army bar one, Richard the Lionheart himself! At this point I hadn’t seen proof that he was actually capable of dying so I pitched him against the remaining horde as an experiment. Although Richard did prove mortal in the end, I did witness him slaughter a whole infantry unit who surrounded him acting like bumbling idiots, bemused by the pointy

things in their hands.

Nevertheless the battlefield scenery is gorgeous, from the Jerusalem stretching into the distance to grandiose rock formations. Along with such unique settings the game provides genuinely interesting scenarios and the player can choose between variations of the same mission to favour one of the four factions of the game.

In summary Lionheart: Kings’ Crusade deserves more respect than simply being branded as a Total War rip off. Despite visual similarities the game plays quite differently once you start upgrading your units, and a campaign full of interesting battles is a refreshing alternative to what some may regard as the turn-based toil of world-conquering. Sure, it’s not realistic or historically accurate, but it is definitely fun.

the merits of this argument, I believe that if we come closer to understanding what these men experienced it can only enhance our respect.

A video game is obviously only partially immersive (you know you can make mistakes and they won’t really result in horrific injury), but Brothers in Arms is the closest I’ve come to experiencing terror whilst playing one. The sound of tank tracks approaching sends a sinking feeling to your stomach. These aren’t the easy targets of other games, disposed with a few rockets. These are the real deal; killing machines.

Pop your head above cover for one second with a tank around and you die. It’s as simple as that. Medal of Honour this isn’t.

However, Brothers in Arms doesn’t just teach you to dispense with ridiculous “one man army” heroics and be careful with your own life; those of your squad become, if anything, more important. Whilst the characters are fictional, they reflect the typical American soldier at the time as most are the same age as, or younger than, the average Forge reader. Many of these men were 19-year-olds, a point vividly illustrated for me when two of your

squad discuss the merits of Batman and Superman in between vicious fire fights.

Gearbox Software even humanised t h e opposition;

surprisingly, the Germans are just as reluctant to die as you are, stubbornly remaining behind cover and refusing the frontal

PC

8/10

PC, Xbox, PlayStation 2, Wii

Retro game I had a discussion with a friend recently about the morality of depicting war in a video game.

Her argument was that war is so intense, horrifying and emotionally damaging an experience that selling it as entertainment is disrespectful. Whilst I see

Daniel Mears

James Wragg James Garrett

charges into the teeth of machine guns that seem to frequently feature in other games.

So, effective command of your squad is the only way to succeed, requiring the use of contemporary tactics and flanking manoeuvres; dislodging just a single German squad becomes an incredibly complicated task, generating a real sense of achievement when you pull through with all your men alive.

And this was all the real soldier was concerned about.

Josh Wilson

Fuse.

encounter with Robotnik, the game’s antagonist, has been snatched directly from a previous Sonic game with only minor tweaks having been made to the way they play out.

The series has traditionally handled boss fights in a creative way, with each new reveal of Robotnik’s fighting apparatus being as surprising as it was challenging – and it’s a shame to see such lazy design in Sonic 4.

Unfortunately, lazy design is present in every aspect of the game’s presentation.

Absolutely all of the game’s enemies have been carboncopied from previous Sonic titles and thrown together in a haphazard way, whilst the levels themselves are only slight variations of the classic zones.

With companies like Apple pushing smaller, app-sized games and digital distribution being widespread, bite-size indie gaming is becoming a big thing (if you’ll excuse the oxymoron). With most indie games being easily accessible and either cheap or free, they’re perfect for the time-and-funds-pressed student.

Jeremy Peel has volunteered to interrogate the subject of indie gaming for us in a new blog on the ForgeToday website. Over the coming weeks it will introduce its readership (that’s you) to the indie gaming scene (if that sounds like a grimy Camden basement club, don’t worry; it’s not).

With many of the titles being freely available to play online, getting involved with Jeremy’s blog is as easy as following his numerous hyperlinks. He even explains how, unbeknownst to you, you’re probably already an indie gamer. Check it out here: http://bit.ly/a0t5T4 Now, onto more mainstream gaming matters. If you’ve picked this issue of Forge Press up on the day of its release, that means it’s October 22. Why is this significant? No, not because it’s the date of the first Vietnam war casualties in 1957, although I am impressed at your ability to recall pointless factoids. It’s actually the release date of Fallout: New Vegas, which is sure to be a bestseller.

What’s curious about its release is that until now, there’s been a review embargo in place, preventing journalists from spreading The Truth regarding its quality. The last game the developer released, Alpha Protocol, also had a review embargo and that turned out to be god-awful. Let’s hope history isn’t repeating itself.

Friday October 22 2010

other than long-term fans.

This time around, all the main levels are unlocked as soon as you beat the first stage, allowing them to be completed in any order.

Whilst not a bad idea in itself, this does break the sense of progression usually found in Sonic titles as reaching the infamously mechanical final stages is no longer a sign of accomplishment.

The levels themselves are consistently superb with only a few frustrating segments to be found in an experience which, for the most part, gives you just enough agency within its roller-coaster levels for the game to come across as both exhilarating and challenging.

Where the game’s design really hits a low point are in its boss fights. Every single

Lionheart: king’s crusade

Brothers in arms: Road to hill 30

Editorial.

13

Reviews.Arts.

Jimmy carr City Hall

7/10 “Stephen Hawking will die of a virus,” according to Jimmy Carr, whose risqué punch lines depict the physicist as half man-half computer.

Carr’s play on words and laid-back approach engages everyone quickly and sends viewers into spasms of uncontrollable laughter.

But if you expect lighthearted humour, that’s where it ends.

The man known for that awfully contrived laugh aims to cross the boundaries as far as he can, and Sheffield lets him.

He delves into homosexuality, Islamic fundamentalists and paedophilia without being too offensive, but admittedly his jokes about Princess

MACBETH

Drama Studio

Fuse.

Friday October 22 2010

8/10

14

Intense and fast paced with some impeccable acting, The Company delivers a fantastic take of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Macbeth (John Lowry), is urged by his wife Lady Macbeth (Emma KennyLevick), to murder King Duncan (Ken Rowe) and disintegrates into a form of tyrannical madness.

Cue vindictive plots, bloody battles, and typical Shakespearian psychotic breakdowns.

Whilst the play remains true to its Renaissance roots, Tony Kennick’s version focuses on the importance of dialogue rather than the theatrical bloodied action typified in the battle scenes of Act V. The sweat and perspiration that oozes from Lowry’s face, albeit a little too much at times, indicates his masterful portrayal of the frighteningly egocentric yet feeble Macbeth. His mutability from sanity to craziness is commendable.

But the real strength of the play centre’s on the relationship between Macbeth and his wife, bringing to life a character that demands respect and at times, frightening male submission.

Her mental deterioration from bold, yet rather annoying bossy wife is brilliantly played, typified by

Diana are a bit tasteless.

However, like many great comedians he laughs at himself too, calling himself a Lego Hitler look-a-like whilst sharing embarrassing anecdotes about his personal relationships.

He then points out that homosexual men always look so happy because there’s no woman in their life - clearly we should all be laughing about his bad luck in love.

The highlight’s of Carr’s show is his ability to get his audience involved.

He begins by sharing his progress on imitating accents, a skill only required by saying certain words, “I want some chicken and a can of coke,” in a Liverpudlian accent and “Whose coat is that jacket?” in Welsh.

Carr even attempts the Sheffield accent, miserably it’s ‘alrate’ not ‘alroot’.

But with etiquette aside,

an emphatic scream that almost broke every eardrum in the audience.

Whilst the acting in the main was performed admirably, Michael Dempsey’s portrayal as the First Murderer was wooden.

He could easily have been mistaken for a cardboard cutout of Pinocchio.

The real flaws of the play however lie with the stage itself.

Though the acting is at times faultless, Kennick’s rendition does not have the stage and costume design needed to fully back it up.

The background is just plain black, which is rather surprising and overly gothic.

You do not feel you are part of a 17th Century play.

If the stage is a mood killer so are the costumes.

The three witches don’t feel or look like witches at all. They are dressed in outfits that make them look like hobbits.

Sometimes you wonder if they are going to start to shrink too and there is also no cauldron.

These errors of design are only saved by Jasmine Warwick’s entertaining rendition of the First Witch.

This is the main problem of the play, it relies too heavily on acting at times.

Whereas “fair is foul, and foul is fair,” remains true to costume and stage production, there is nothing foul about the acting.

Lowry and Kenny-Levick are able to salvage poor designs with some great work.

Jay Allan

some people take crowd interaction a bit too far.

When somebody shouts if the show is being filmed, Carr says, “Can you see any fucking cameras?”

After the interval he auditions two people from the audience, begging the question that he may have ran out of material.

After all, he does resort to two slide shows and oneliners to change the pace of the show.

He comments on how Jordan and Ulrika Jonsson both previously won ‘mother of the year’, asking if Rose West was giving out the awards.

If you’ve never seen Jimmy Carr live before, it’s a long way from his watereddown presenting and you must expect to laugh and be shocked at the same time.

Kristi Genovese

Hip HOP HA HA Frog and Parrot

7/10 Nyasha Sakutukwa and Aston Fuller are on a mission.

Fed up with the pretentious and reserved nature of comedy that has been infiltrating venues across the UK, the pair are aiming to recreate oldschool brash comedy.

Following a drunken conversation between the two ex-students the dream became a reality and Hip Hop Ha Ha was created, taking up a monthly residence at the Frog and Parrot.

The night compromises a mixture of hip hop music from James Mcginlay on the decks, alongside a smorgasbord of comedic treats from Nyasha and Aston.

And it is all completely free.

The style of the evening is comparable to the likes

THE son and the heir Robin Solomon

4/10 At first glance, Robin Solomon’s book The Son and the Heir seems like it is going to be a gripping historical drama.

The story follows four men as they attempt to understand and assimilate themselves with an alternate classical society which is undergoing a huge change.

Juscius Latman, a young lord newly instated in power as head of a dynasty, sends shockwaves across the land as he converts to a new heretical religion.

He abandons his duties as a ruler, instead trusting in the faith which threatens to consume him emotionally

of Shooting Stars and We Need Answers, presenting audiences with an eccentric brand of slightly off-the-wall quiz shows and snippets of stand up.

There was also an alternative pub quiz with prizes such as rainbow drops, Pez as well as feminine care wipes.

Following this, the comedians then presented their own version of Blind Date, (minus Cilla) which had lucky (or maybe not so lucky) members selected from the audience showing off their best mating dances.

This resulted in a date taking place on-stage, with all eyes now on the new sweethearts.

But the parts which were the most laugh inducing came from Nyasha and Aston themselves, particularly when they were reminiscing about their own bizarre childhoods.

For an opening night, which has had only a small amount of promotion, the Frog and Parrot is buzzing and the disorganised nature

of the evening only adds to the comedy.

The show concludes with complete anarchy on-stage, with even a strobe light and a mini fridge up for grabs for audience members.

Future plans for Hip Hop Ha Ha include taking the

and physically.

We are also introduced to two other heads of ancient households - a more established, warmongering lord, and a young lord in conflict with his parents, who sets off on a journey around the land in an attempt to discover himself.

Finally we meet a sergeant who struggles with attempting to reconcile his growing uncertainty about his career with his growing sense of personal morality.

Sadly, the potential for what seems like it could be a gripping narrative became lost amidst problems in the writing style.

Solomon graduated with a degree in politics from the University of Sheffield five years ago, and it seems as if he cannot move beyond this background of a political essay.

The effects of the scandalous religion on Juscius and those around

him are lost to an academic consideration of their political, economical, and social effects.

The characters also seem stifled by the writing style, which is more academic than purely creative.

It becomes difficult to try and truly get inside the mindset of a character who faces such emotional turmoil.

Their inner monologues become conflated with what seems like the authorial voice attempting to objectively analyse the political situation affecting the country.

Solomon has set events within a classical GraecoRoman society, including the pantheon of classical gods with a similar social structure and language, which again has the potential to be interesting.

However, the impact is lost through Solomon’s renaming of Gods and

show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and including other comedians in the line up, which will be important for the night to grow and gain more spectators.

Alexandra Rucki

Photo: Jimmy May

famous structures, which only confuses the reader.

The book also becomes bogged down in excessive description, obstructing scenes which could be action-packed.

This excessive description spoils the battle scenes.

Too much attention is paid to needless detail about the structures of buildings in the vicinity of the fight and the exact clothing of the participants.

Ultimately, this book could have been an exciting look at the huge divisions religious and political conflict produces in society.

Yet, the writing style makes it hard to get close to any of the characters in the novel.

Kirsty McEwen

Sheffield Originals.

Forge Radio schedule

Listen online at www.forgeradio.com, in the Union or at The Edge

Tue

Wed

Thurs

Fri

9 - 10.30am No Comment

9 - 10.30am Grumpy Old 4th Years

9 - 10.30am The Unreleased Hour

9 - 10.30am Anna, Lizzie & Ginny

10.30am - 12pm The James Kenny Show

10.30am - 12pm Freshers!

10.30am - 12pm Pop! Goes the Weasel

9 - 10.30am The Adventures of Jess

12 - 1.30pm Holden & Trigg

12 - 1.30pm Liv & Phil

1.30 - 3pm The Tim Rodber Show

1.30 - 3pm Liana Live

3 - 4.30pm Come on Trev!

3 - 4.30pm Giulia & the Journos

4.30 - 5pm News Desk

4.30 - 5pm The Petrified Buffalo/ Writer’s Block

12 - 1.30pm Harry & Lauren 1.30 - 3pm A Little Bit of What You Fancy 3 - 4.30pm Film Unit Roundtable 4.30 - 6pm Eleanor 6 - 6.30pm Backchat 6.30 - 8pm Sports Desk 8 - 9.30pm The Jazz Show 9.30 - 11pm K-lean Beats

6.30 - 8pm The New Music Show 8 - 9.30pm Amplify

5 - 6.30pm The Power Hour 6.30 - 8pm Something For the Week

12 - 1.30pm Jack & Harriet

12 - 1.30pm The Edge on Forge

1.30 - 3pm The Guide

1.30 - 3pm 2 Lads & a Couple of Mics

3 - 4.30pm Unseen

3 - 4.30pm Dale

4.30 - 5pm News Desk

4.30 - 5pm STOP! Sabbytime!

5 - 6.30pm The Chris Conway Show

5 - 6.30pm Straight Outta Crookesmoor

6.30 - 8pm FUSE

6.30 - 8pm The Ben Kizzle Forge Mash-up

9.30 - 11pm Sam Moir

8 - 9.30pm Chris McKay: The PreROAR Show

8 - 9.30pm Brewing Up Trouble

11pm - 1am Public Strain

9.30 - 11pm Songs About Girls

9.30 - 11pm Chris & Matt’s Indietastic Evening

11pm - 1am Ready Steady Crunk

11pm - 1am Becky & Zara’s Music Reminder

Get involved.

8 - 9.30pm Funk & Soul Show 9.30 - 11pm The Weekend Warmup

Sun

9 - 10.30am The Broomhill Brunch

12 - 1.30pm The Listening Club

10:30 - 12.00am Coolbeans!

1.30 - 3pm Toby

12 - 1.30pm Good Vibrations

3 - 5pm SRA Chart Show

1.30 - 3pm Whole Lotta Rock

5 - 6.30pm Film Unit

3 - 4.30pm The Amy & Polly Show

6.30 - 8pm Weekend Kickback

4.30pm-5pm Gig Update

8 - 9.30pm Soon I Will Be Invincible

5 - 6.30pm No Rhyme Nor Reason 6.30 - 8pm The Lockdown 8 - 9.30pm Small Ideas

9.30 - 11pm Loud Noises!

11pm - 12.30am The Wind Up!

9.30 - 11pm Bethan & Max 11pm - 1am Beat Route

11pm - 1am Reverb

Be a part of Forge TV! We’re currently recruiting presenters, camera operators, sound operators, editors, floor managers, reporters & anchors.

Email: forgetv@forgetoday.com

Fuse.

11pm - 1am Crusty Dub Meets

5 - 6.30pm EVE

10.30am - 12pm Down the Line

10.30am - 12pm That Friday Show

Sat

Friday October 22 2010

Mon

15

Fuse.previews Friday October 22 - Thursday November 4 2010

Fuse preview: Mystery Jets Eel Pie Island’s favourite sons, Mystery Jets, return to Sheffield for what will undoubtedly be a feel-good show. The four indie innovators will be entertaining Sheffield’s Leadmill on Saturday October 23, for your aural delight.

Regrettably, lead singer Blaine Harrison’s dad, Henry, no longer tours with the band, but they still possess a fair amount of melodious charm. For those not yet familiar with their new material, now is the perfect opportunity to see what they’ve been up to since 2008’s Twenty One. The band’s latest album, Serotonin, was released in July 2010, and contains a whole medley of evocative tracks including ‘Dreaming of Another World’ and ‘Show Me the Light.’ However, they are also likely to play the old classics, such as the ridiculously catchy ‘Two Doors Down,’ so arrive prepared to sing along.

email: listings@forgetoday.com

Film Unit fortnight

All Films £2.20

Friday October 22: Eclipse If you’ve not already caught the latest instalment in the Twilight saga, now is your chance.

Saturday October 23: Robin Hood Russell Crowe stars in this reinterpretation of Nottinghamshire’s classic tale.

Sunday October 24: Psycho One of Alfred Hitchcock’s finest films, and guaranteed to terrify even more than usual on the big screen.

Wednesday October 27: Shelter A nail-biting psychological thriller, surrounding the story of a psychiatrist (Julianne Moore) and her deeply disturbed patient.

The selection of films being shown at Film Unit over the next fortnight are:

Friday October 29: Alien A modern sci-fi classic starring Sigourney Weaver. Infamously gory,

and not for the faint-hearted.

Saturday October 30: Predators Sequel to the original Predator franchise, set thirteen years later.

Starring Adrien Brody.

Sunday October 31: REC 2 Horror Week at Film Unit concludes with the sequel to 2007’s terrifying REC. A deadly virus, zombies and demonic possession await those who dare enter.

Wednesday November 3: Splice When will those mad scientists learn that splicing animal and human DNA never ends well? Have they not seen The Fly? Another edge-of-yourseat thriller.

All films are shown in the Union Auditorium at 19:30. Tickets cost £2.20 and can be bought from the Union Box Office or Union Shop.

Fri 22

Sat 23

Sun 24

Mon 25

Tues 26

Wed 27

Thurs 28

Jeff Beck @ City Hall; 7:30pm; £36.50 Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in April, Jeff Beck returns to the UK for a string of shows.

Hadouken! @ Fusion and Foundry; 7pm; £12.50 Relive your youth with everyone’s favourite new rave band. Glow sticks and UV paint optional.

Famous for their hit single ‘That Boy That Girl’ back in 2007.

Tinie Tempah + Chiddy Bang @ Plug; 7:30pm; £12.

With a massive breakthrough into the music scene Tinie Tempah promises to deliver a great night, whilst being supported by the Philadelphia duo Chiddy Bang.

The Karate Kid @ Showroom; 1pm; £6.40 This remake of the classic film features Jackie Chan as the kung fu master teaching Jaden Smith how to stand up for himself.

Give it a Go: Aikido @ Glossop Road entrance to Bar One; 6:10pm; £3.

Aikido is a Japanese martial art which utilises strikes, joint locks and throws to neutralise an attack with a degree of control unique to the style.

Off the Shelf: A Poetry Reading by Paul Muldoon @ St George’s Church; 7:00pm; £5-7 The renowned poet guides us through some of his work. Described

by Seamus Heaney as “one of the era’s true originals.”

Diagram of the Heart + Dansette Junior @ Fusion and Foundry; 10.30pm; £4 adv This week’s Live Wire brings to Sheffield Students’ Union the London-based indie band Diagram of the Heart.

Club Pony 4th Birthday w/ Fake Blood @ DQ; 10:00pm; £7 adv Celebrated electro night Club Pony celebrates reaching the grand old age of four. Get down early - last time epic DJ Fake Blood hit DQ there were queues right around the block.

The Boys + Fuckwits @ Corporation; 7pm; £15.00 Along with the Sex Pistols, The Clash and Generation X, The Boys were amongst the first wave of the UK punk explosion.

Rhod Gilbert @ City Hall; 8pm; £20 With a sellout tour, Rhod Gilbert is an outstanding Welsh comedian who is guaranteed to deliver laughs.

Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra @ City Hall; 7pm; £12.50 Internationally recognised, this promises to be a passionate night of classical music.

Off The Shelf: Politics, Greed and Inequality, A Talk with Will Hutton @ SU Auditorium; 7pm; £8.

Will Hutton, executive vice chair of The Work Foundation, examines how society has fragmented into inequality, and searches for a solution to this blight on our times.

Meursault @ The Harley; 8:30pm; £5 Categorised by the music press as ‘folktronica,’ Meursault are an interesting band. Catch them live at The Harley and see what all the fuss is about.

Ross Noble @ City Hall; 8pm; £21 The Geordie comedian brings his weird and wonderful brand of humour to City Hall.

Enron @ Lyceum; 7:45pm; £12-24 Directed by Rupert Goold Enron uses music, movement and video to examine the financial crisis that we now find ourselves in.

Fri 29

Sat 30

Sun 31

Mon 1

Tues 2

Off the Shelf: Lesley Glaister and Michelle Paver @ Stoddart Building, SHU; 7:30pm; £5-7 A Sheffield Hallam lecturer in creative writing and a renowned fiction writer discuss their books.

Shuffle: Dead Famous Halloween Ball Party @ Plug; 10:30pm; £5 adv The likes of LJ Freeman and Geoff Ticehurst DJ at Shuffle’s 2010 Halloween bash. Get your costumes on and dance the night away to the Monster Mash.

Fright Night @ Sheffield Town Centre; 3.30pm; Free Sheffield city’s annual Halloween party and fancy dress zombie parade. Expected to attract around 50,000 scary revellers this year.

Ugly @ Studio Theatre; 7:45pm; £12 Set in a future world, Ugly tells the tale of four people who have to kill their angels and become more like their devils if they are going to survive.

Voodoo Six @ Corporation; 7:00pm; £7 Hotly-tipped by Kerrang magazine, tattooed punk band Voodoo Six come to Corporation. Loud yet melodic hard rock.

Bearsuit @ The Red House; 8:00pm; £5 Wonderful British indie sweethearts Bearsuit play in Sheffield, with support from Blood Orange. It’ll be just lovely.

Give it a Go: Rother Valley Country Park @ Glossop Road entrance to Bar One; 10:30am; £6.50 If you fancy doing some canoeing, windsurfing or mountain biking this 750 acre park is the place to go.

Death By Strangeways @ Bungalows and Bears; 8:00pm; Free Death By Shoes and Strangeways DJs join forces for a very alternative Halloween party at Bungalows and Bears.

Sing-along Rocky Horror Picture Show @ Lyceum; 7:30pm; £15.00 The cult classic, starring Tim Curry and Susan Sarandon, gets the sing -along treatment. Let’s do the time warp again.

Breakin’ Conventions 10 @ Lyceum; 7:45pm; £16.50 Some of the top Hip Hop artists on the planet, plus the best local dance crews hit the Lyceum stage with force and a thrilling set of performances.

Driftrun + The DIrty Bullets @ SOYO; 8:00pm; Free Driftrun, The Dirty Bullets and more at weekly music event SOYO Live.

Go for the music, stay for the reasonably priced cocktails.

Wed 3

Kids on Bridges @ The Forum; 8:30pm; Free Born in an underground club in Paris and formed in Liverpool, Kids on Bridges are caught between pop and a hard place.

Broken Records @ The Harley; 8:00pm; £6 Edinburgh’s Broken Records venture southwards to Sheffield to play their unique brand of indie-funk to the adventurous Harley crowd.

Mary and Max @ Showroom; 6.40pm; £6.40 An animated film charting the penfriendship between a lonely 8-year old girl and a 44-year-old man with Asperger’s syndrome.

Alastair Campbell @ Octagon; 7:30pm; £10/8 Former Director of Communications and Strategy to Tony Blair, 1997-2003 reads from and discusses his political memoirs. There will be an opportunity for questions from the floor.

Thurs 4 RAG Spiderwalk @ Sheffield and The Peak District; £10 Voted ‘Charity Event of the Year’ in 2009, this year’s Spiderwalk takes students on a 12.5 mile night hike, and includes a spectacular firework display and a pie supper.

Yorkshire perfection. Lots of societies will be taking part and raising money.

Minimum sponsorship is £20, and you can buy tickets from the Union Box Office.

Sheffield Showcase: Hiem + Bromheads + Heebie Jeebies @ Fusion and Foundry; 10.30pm; £4 adv This week’s Live Wire brings three local bands to the Foundry stage.

Hiem’s David ‘Bozz’ Boswell has previously worked with Steel CIty legend Jarvis Cocker, among others.