Editorial Metronomy (page 6)
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Dear readers, Welcome to the March issue of The Edge. In this issue, we are embracing the alternative. The much hyped Project X takes a bit of a beating, and the new effort from The Ting Tings is met with with a muted response. Alexander Green bashes The Brits, and I argue that the true classic of Blur is not Parklife but 13 (from which our cover is taken). In our Features section, we introduce you to two of the best new bands the country has to offer, and have a chat with Whitey from Kaiser Chiefs about the state of modern music and what the future holds for indie bands in the UK. But it’s not all doom and gloom, as we review the recent Roc Party gig at our very own university, and look back at The Disappearance of Alice Creed which also made its first appearance here in Southampton. Enjoy, The Edge
Editor - Joe Hawkes Deputy Editor - Meowea Hezwani Live Editor - Chris Brooks Features Editor - David Martin Records Editor - Melissa Clarke Film Editor - Barnaby Walter Culture Editor - Nick Mould Online Editor - André Pusey Head of Relations - Rob Leane Editor-in-Chief - Joseph McLoughlin
Featuring contributions from: Chris Brooks, Daniel Flynn, Joe Moor, Joe Hawkes, Mike Watson, Alexander Green, Barnaby Walter, Jack Henton, Annie Partridge, Rob Etheridge and André Pusey. 2
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Contents
Beans on Toast live at the joiners introducing...
The New Bands You Must Hear
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Roc Party live at southampton university
The Brit Awards recapped interview:
Whitey from Kaiser Chiefs The Ting Tings – Sounds from Nowheresville album review Gorillaz ‘DoYaThing’ review
“The worst film of the year” - Project X (page 22)
20 B 22 24
rewind: lur
- 13 Project X film review
Safe House film review archive:
26 D
The
isappearance
of
27 ST
ister he
Act at
Mayflower
reviewed March 2012
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Alice Creed
Romeo and Juliet at the Nuffield reviewed
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Live
16/02/12
Opening with a side-splitting anecdote about having spent the afternoon scouring Winchester’s only council estate for the telltale signs of a certain kind of salesman (which he described as a BMW in the driveway), Beans on Toast set the tone for what has to have been one of the most entertaining gigs I’ve been to in a long time. Encouraged by a myriad of raucous support bands (including the fantastically impassioned Sean McGowan), not to mention a healthily liberal supply of drinks from the bar, Beans was right at home amongst a tremendously rowdy crowd at The Joiners. For those who haven’t had the pleasure of stumbling across Beans’s work, I’d strongly recommend checking him out because my description won’t do him justice; but it’s basically a mix of simple chords, an infectiously gravelly voice, and hilarious yet subtly poignant lyrical satire. With
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March 2012
@ Joiners
Live
a subject matter pertaining to include anything from cocaine to global warming, his musical nuances on life are as random as they are brilliant. Inspired by a tremendous back catalogue of misbegotten adventures, they invariably provide surprisingly insightful pearls of wisdom. After promising to just play and stop talking, Beans made it about 30 seconds into ‘Old Grunge’ before stopping to take the piss out of someone in the audience and tell another story. This might sound annoying, but his endless supply of between- and often mid-song witticisms does nothing but add to his endearing onstage charisma. The crowd loved it, utilising the participative element to dictate the setlist and occasionally the speed at which he performed, in an endless banter-enthused back-and-forth. The only mild downside was his rush through ‘MDMAmazing’, which in all due credit he
March 2012
justified on the basis of having played the song to death over the years. All was forgiven after his tremendous encore anyway, for which he performed ‘Blowjob for the Blues’ and welcomed any and all of the girls onto the stage, even handing a spare microphone to a particularly merry patron who had been pestering him to get onstage all night. All in all, the night affirmed my conviction that Beans on Toast is by far one of the most underrated English artists in circulation today, yet is somehow all the better for it. If you ever get the chance to catch one of his sets I strongly implore you to do so. 9/10
By Chris Brooks
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@ Bournemouth O2 Live Academy
The lineup for this year’s NME Awards was certainly a diverse one. The four artists spanned a great variety of genres, ranging from NME Cool List topper Azealia Banks’s fast-paced hip-hop and Metronomy’s electronic pop, all the way to the traditional indie of Two Door Cinema Club and Tribes. The combination of such varying artists in such a short space resulted in a gig that did not once stop for breath and at no point left its audience bored. First up was Azealia Banks. In her 30-minute slot she had a huge amount to prove to an audience (myself included) mainly waiting for internet sensation ‘212’. She put on a fantastic, expletiveridden show which set a benchmark for the current hip-hop scene to strive for. After this performance it wouldn’t be surprising to see her collaborating with the likes of Kanye West and Jay-Z in the near future. Next up were British indie rockers Tribes. Their set slowed the overall pace of the gig down greatly, and perhaps suffered mildy by following Azealia who had riled the crowd up greatly. Despite this, the band delivered a stellar slot with highlights being ‘We Were Children’ and ‘Sappho’, both of which displayed the band’s potential. If the band removed the filler then they would undoubtedly fill stadiums, with their singer’s unique vocals and use of traditional distorted guitar sound. Metronomy were soon to follow. Since the release of last year’s The English Riviera the band have recruited a new wave of fans, drawn in by their unique and catchy blend of contemporary pop and dance music. Their live show fulfilled the high benchmarks of their recordings, each song being received rapturously by the audience who sang and danced along with huge enthusiasm. The biggest hit 6
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of the night was ‘The Bay’, which the audience sang louder than the band. Metronomy were clearly in their element, smiling as they played and entertaining the audience with in-between-song banter. The performance was faultless and left everyone wanting more. Two Door Cinema Club had the final slot. The band had longer onstage than anyone else, and they used it well. The amount of recognizable hits that they’ve packed into their short, one album career is striking. Their performance was tight, sounding almost like it does on record. Several new songs were premiered, which was perhaps the only time during the set that the audience was not singing along manically. There was a slight sense of restlessness towards the end of the set from the audience, perhaps due to the almost constant onslaught of music from the beginning of the night to the end, but the band did well to keep interests high throughout. The gig was thoroughly enjoyable. Each performance was brilliant in a different way, with every one of the four acts putting on a great show. The more pop-based sound throughout led to a noticeable lack of stereotypically cynical indie types who ‘knew them before they were cool’ (as were present at last year’s event), which raised the mood of the gig significantly. The highlights were undoubtedly Azealia Banks and Metronomy; the former putting on a blinding show that can only improve as her career continues, and the latter living up to the hype that their latest cult album has produced. Overall, a fantastic experience that was good value for money to boot.
By Daniel Flynn March 2012
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Live
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@ The Cube 13/02/12
AIM, LiveSoc and RockSoc came together indebted indie pop nonetheless went down well. once again for the annual Roc Party at The Butterflies on Strings were a more anthemic Cube, with a lineup that ranged from national affair, with big guitar riff-driven numbers and major label artists to local indie talent. keyboard singalongs. Their somewhat more First up were Southampton University’s own mid-paced style was in contrast to the more unsigned act Ideawake, who mixed bouncing dance friendly inclinations of the first two rhythms, tight musicianship and charming vocals acts, almost a club-sized stadium-rock band. into a concoction that did a rather impressive Finally the headliners hit the stage – hard drinking job of moving the crowd for an opening act. hair metal revivalists Jettblack, utilising the tried I Remember Tapes raised eyebrows with their and true 80s formula of hard rocking numbers somewhat unique stage setup. Instead of the boring mixed in with the odd epic power balladry old ‘drums at the back, guitars in the middle and (appealing to the RockSoc component of the crowd vocalist at the front’ setup, they were arranged more than the alternative acts had done). Another around a semi-circle of samplers, keyboards, a great year with a little something for everyone, the small drum kit and a MacBook, tagging in and only possible improvement is to make it all bigger! out to play the occasional bit of guitar and bass. Unfortunately, the drum machine and soulful vocals did tend to dominate. What’s more, their innovative approach to problems of stage space did lead to a couple of songs being cut short by y oe oor technical malfunctions, but their Duran Duran
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Features
...Introd
Spector
By Joe Hawkes
After the breakups of Les Incompetants and Ox.Eagle. Lion.Man, one could argue that Spector frontman Fred Macpherson had failed to break into the music industry. His latest venture, however, looks set to be around far longer than his earlier projects. Spector are all about strong melodies and great pop choruses. They can do a cracking slowie (take ‘Never Fade Away’, for instance), but their new single ‘Chevy Thunder’ shows that they can do upbeat and energetic too.
February sees Spector’s debut headline tour in support of their latest single ‘Chevy Thunder’, an exhilarating ride of a song touching on nostalgia and mechanophilia. The five-piece indie band have just finished recording their album, and rumours state that it could appear on April 30th. The band impressed on Later... with Jools Holland, showing off a professional style. Incidentally, this was where Macpherson planned to offer Noel Gallagher £50,000 for the rights to ‘Champagne Supernova’ – he was blanked by the Manc rocker on this occasion. Spector also appeared in the recent BBC Sound of 2012 poll. The band will be supporting Florence and the Machine on their March tour. Spector’s new single ‘Chevy Thunder’ is out February 27th. 10
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March 2012
ucing...
To many, five-piece Fixers need no introduction; the time for introducing Fixers was 2011. This was the year in which they headlined the BBC Introducing stage at Reading and Leeds. Along with performances on Radio 1’s Live Lounge, there has been a steady stream of downloadable songs, singles and EPs. This busy year culminated in Fixers being signed up to Mercury Records
Features
Fixers
By Mike Watson
The band hails from Oxford, a place of obvious rich musical heritage, and have recently been featured as part of many investigations into the Oxford ‘scene’.
Chad Valley and Trophy Wife are other musicians who have been tied to the OX postcode in an attempt to portray one congruent scene of creativity for bands and musicians. The band has been a key live presence in Oxfordshire, taking a high-billing at Truck Festival, a festival that has a history of putting on up-and-coming bands from the area. The music that Fixers play, dubbed ‘psychedelic pop’, can be filed alongside MGMT or The Flaming Lips through their most conventional pop tunes. It is clear that the songwriting of Brian Wilson has been a big influence on the band, as have Animal Collective which can be seen in the gauze of harmonies in the band’s most recent single ‘Iron Deer Dream’. March 2012
2011 was a sound year for Fixers. Time will tell whether or not the band can carry on the momentum with the release of their debut album We’ll Be the Moon, scheduled for April of this year. The album will be a culmination of the previous year’s sporadic releases, and the band will finally have a cohesive body of work. If you like your music experimental, without drifting too far from catchy pop sensibilities, you should definitely suss out Fixers. They kick off their headline tour at The Joiners on Friday May 11th.
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Features
The Brit Awards Alexander Green takes a retrospective look at the increasingly predictable ceremony Another year of music, another Brit Awards; what did they have in store for us this year? The big story of the night was Adele’s middle finger. The press have gone crazy with it, claiming it overshadowed the event. Really? Here’s what happened: Adele won the most prestigious award, British Album of the Year; during her acceptance speech, host James Corden had to cut her off as Blur were due to play; Adele swore at the camera and the ‘suits’. As a result, the crowed booed and her fans went crazy that her speech had been cut. All in all, it was nothing. Clearly, it wasn’t perfect, but as a live event you have to make concessions – and all parties have since apologised. Moreover, acceptance speeches are generally boring, whereas watching Blur, who collected the Outstanding Contribution to Music award, is not. The giant kebab that they performed with was interesting enough in itself. In fact, this sideshow just made controversy from what was a fairly drab ceremony that once again became the trademark pop-based Brit ceremony. Indeed, when Corden announced the nominations for International Female Solo Artist, he quipped that it had previously been won by “little known underground artists” such as Lady Gaga and Beyoncé (this year it went to Rihanna). Although Corden was purely playing on simple irony, he showed the very problem with the Brits themselves. The awards, there to showcase the ‘best of British music’, showed that they were not based on artistic merit, but purely a predictable ‘radio play’ award. Indeed, the nomina12
tions and performances seem to be a who’s who of Brit School graduates, X-Factor contestants and Radio 1 hype. Many of the nominations, such as PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake, Jay-Z and Kanye West, and Kate Bush sometimes just look like they were placed on the shortlist to prove the Brits do consider less mainstream material. Coldplay, for example, won British Group through a public vote. However, the grounds for the band even being nominated for this award must be pretty lacking, producing their least critically acclaimed album Mylo Xyloto this year. In fact, all the other nominated bands had produced better albums in 2011. The only rationale must hav been: Coldplay are a famous band, they released an album and went on tour.
“Many of the nominations just look like they were placed on the shortlist to prove the Brits do consider less mainstream material” Lana Del Rey unsurprisingly scooped International Breakthrough Act. Foster the People would have been my preference, but Del Rey was a better choice than Bon Iver and Nicki Minaj who both actually broke out before 2011. Del Rey seemed quite emotional and was clearly some validation for the singer – “This award means much more to me than you know”. Ed Sheeran romped to double success with British Breakthrough Act and Male Solo Artist. Looking extremely dressed down, he seemed thoroughly overawed by the latter award and caps a remarkable
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March 2012
Features
rise to stardom from the singer-songwriter. The big shock was One Direction’s win of British single with ‘What Makes You Beautiful’, a song that this publication gave a 2/10. Somehow, this nugget of corporate pop beat songs from Adele and Sheeran – even my younger sister who loves them told me she thought it was a strange decision. So what of the ceremony itself? Generally, it was all very professional. Corden was fairly flat and didn’t really crack any jokes. The awards pairings were sometimes slightly odd: Cesc Fabregas and Nicole Sherzinger, will.i.am and Rob Brydon? Then there was the irritatingly monotonous voiceover woman who spoke after every award; her preoccupation with sales and YouTube hits only further thwarted the claim that the Brits are not based on popularity. The continual TV adverts promoting the artists who were on the Brits didn’t help to remove the corporate feel of the event.
the show was somewhat stolen by her English pop rivals Adele and Florence & the Machine, who both gave impressive vocal performances. Adele was once again the star of the show, after her six Grammys, winning British Female and Best Album for 21. There were also tributes to both Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston, presenting a montage of heartfelt videos and slideshow tributes to both. Overall, the event was quite enjoyable to watch, but Foo Fighters summed up the lack of credibility in the event, winning International Group and only sending a video which didn’t even feature frontman Dave Grohl. At the end of the day, the Brits once again showed themselves to be just another cog in the self-fulfilling prophecy of pop music: hype, radio play, awards.
The array of performers this year included stars Adele, Noel Gallagher, Coldplay, Bruno Mars and Rihanna. Generally, it was quite a mixed affair; fireworks from Coldplay, Bruno Mars’s usual enthusiasm, and Ed Sheeran’s simple acoustics. However, both Olly Murs and the big performer Rihanna showed their poor live vocals; Murs playing ‘Heart Skips a Beat’ with Rizzle Kicks, while Rihanna’s performance was a cave confetti disco that resembled a student ‘rave in the cave’. Indeed,
“The continual TV adverts promoting the artists who were on the Brits didn’t help to remove the corporate feel of the event”
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Features Catching up with lead guitarist of The Kaiser Chiefs, Andrew White How’s the tour been going? It’s been great. It’s a very long tour, which is unusual for us. It’s nice to get to play all the towns you never really get to play when you do arena tours. When you do arena tours you usually just play the middle bits of England and hope people come and see you, but now we’re taking the tour to them. It’s been fun. For your most recent album, The Future Is Medieval, the listener was invited to build their own version of the album from 20 tracks on the website. How did you come up with the idea and how did it work? It was great. It got us interested in music again. One of the main reasons we did it was that we needed to do something different, not to tell people six months before and get bored of it by the time it’s come out. It didn’t sell as well as our other albums, but we didn’t think it would. It wasn’t about that, it was getting us interested in and excited about music again. Ricky [Wilson, lead singer] and his friend had the idea, kinda out of boredom. We thought the idea was cool, but we had to write a shedload of good songs for the concept to work. The album charted in the top ten, but was less of a commercial success than your earlier albums. In the current musical landscape, do you see yourselves as more of an alternative act? No, I think our first album was an indie album. We were an indie band on an indie label – we did it all ourselves. We just became popular. When you become popular, that sound becomes commercial. The second album had ‘Ruby’ on it, which of course is a commercial song, but we’re a bunch of indie kids and we always will be. We have indie 14
bands supporting us, and play festivals. We’re not a pop act. With illegal downloading, it’s the alternative acts who are going to suffer most as well, do you agree? Definitely. There are two or three major record labels left, and they’re losing money hand over fist. If it wasn’t for Adele, the music industry would shut down! Look at the high street; compare how many Greggs there are to music shops. Nobody cares about music anymore, and it’s a shame because music is culturally very important. People listen to music through crap laptop speakers, so why do we bother taking a day to find a good keyboard sound? Hopefully it’ll come full circle, but at the moment it’s not very good. There is lots of music out there, but a lot of it’s crap. After Off With Their Heads, the band went on a hiatus – what did you get up to? I had a baby, that’s it really. I don’t know what the rest [of the band] got up to! I became a regular family guy, which was nice. After six months I was bored shitless, me; I needed to do something. I’m glad I’m touring, ‘cause I get bored. At least on tour I get some sleep! Is it true that you took part in an attempt to break the record for the world’s longest scooter rally? Yeah, I like scooters and it was just an excuse to ride your scooter for a day. I think I’m a world record holder now – well, me and a thousand others. Nothing more stupid than a thousand fat men on scooters…
By Joe Hawkes
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March 2012
ALBUMS The Ting Tings Sounds from Nowheresville
Released February 27th It has been a long four-year wait for The Ting Tings’s second album, titled Sounds from Nowheresville. First track ‘Silence’ is definitely a maturation of the old sound: more synth layers, occasional electro twangs with Katie White’s voice sounding smooth rather than the punky shout that was heard on much of the first album. Indeed, it retains the band’s classic format with a simple lyrical repetition of “Hold, hold your tongue now/And let them all listen to your silence”, and is probably the best track on the album. Lead single ‘Hang It Up’ is a backto-basics song, as The Ting Tings try (unsuccessfully) to blur the line between pop and rock music. It’s got White’s trademark shouty vocals, rock guitar chords, and a vocal contribution from drummer Jules de Martino, yet this is undoubtedley a pop song. Indeed, it shows the very problem with The Ting Tings, who always felt that their DIY sound bordered on garage rock and deserved more than its placing on the pop shelf.
‘‘...struggled with which musical direction to go in...’’
This lead single is surrounded by two other rock-styled songs in ‘Hit Me Down Sonny’ and ‘Give It Back’; the first presents itself as a blend of this and funk, with the latter heading into a Vines garage rock direction. Neither reach the same energetic heights or achieve the same catchy refrains that made them a radio mainstay.
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Indeed, this tend of lethargy continues through, as by the end of the album the band are clearly losing their way. ‘Help’ enters in pop past, sounding like an Alanis Morissette song for the first few minutes before launching into a heavy electronic rhythm, whilst closer ‘Into Your Life’ is a ballad of Lord of the Rings strings and Lana Del Rey melodramatic vocals. Overall, the album is about as enjoyable as the first; it has its quick peppy beats, the sometimes punk attitude and Eurythmics melodies, as well as presenting a new softer sound. Yet it is clear when listening to the whole album that the duo struggled with what musical direction to head in. After four years hard at work, Sounds from Nowheresville sounds both too messy and too flakey, and the duo are yet to present a case that they are the real deal rather than another landfill indie group.
By Alexander Green 16
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March 2012
Sleigh Bells Reign of Terror Released February 20th
ALBUMS
8 The first thing you see when you extricate the booklet from Sleigh Bells’s new album Reign of Terror is a forest fire raging, with some tender saplings waiting in the foreground for their fate. Now imagine this fire as the band themselves, and you will have some idea of how the New York noise rock duo have taken the entire alternative genre by storm. The first track, ‘True Shred Guitar’, sets out their manifesto. “Push it, push it, push it/True shred guitar/Enemies, on your knees/Suffer please” – there’s no messing about tolerated here, and the barrage of imperatives takes only two and a half minutes. It’s a call to arms of sorts for us all to push at the boundaries. The roar of the crowd behind and the vertiginous electronic drumbeats combine to make the track even rawer. And raw it is: the album is completely self-produced, the guitarist Derek Miller also having a hand in the songwriting. Alexis Krauss, with her vocal tones ranging from sweetness incarnate to angry and shouting, has an equally vital role. The dynamic, coupled with the direct minimalist aesthetic of course invites comparisons with the sadly separated White Stripes. The rest of the album, even as it hops between experimental styles from jangly pop to garage rock, has a sonic identity tying it together. The rounded electronic drums are a staple, as are March 2012
Krauss’s smooth, creamy vocals. And in ‘End of the Line’ she seems to have had her voice box retuned by a chart music mogul. This track is both serious and theatrical at the same time, creating a sort of psychodramatic Skins soundtrack of a song. It doesn’t matter that it represents a drop in energy after a powerful first three tracks. However, where the same thing is tried on first single ‘Comeback Kid’, it seems to fall flat. The absolute pinnacles of the album are at both ends. Closing pair ‘Never Say Die’ and ‘D.O.A.’ are examples of the sort of angry underlining that tears through paper, and second track ‘Crush’, which has gone unrecognised elsewhere, shows off what the band is really about. Overall, this album is like nothing I have heard before. Noise rock usually gets a bit wearing after a while, but never once during this album was I bored, even during the less inspiring tracks. The stylistic experimentation never leaves the album disjointed, as the band’s signature sound is so strong. This is a rousing statement of intent to the alternative music industry if ever there was one, and Sleigh Bells are for me one of the most relevant and immediate bands of 2012.
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By Alex Robinson
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ALBUMS
The Jezabels Prisoner
Released March 5th
Considering The Jezabels’s debut full-length has been out since September and reached the number two spot in their native Australia, it can probably be assumed they are a lot bigger back home in the land of Oz than in the rest of the world. That could very easily be about to change though, as this record shows an ambition and freshness of ideas that the UK indie rock scene desperately craves. The band has been advertised as a kind of disco rock crossover in the vein of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and while there is some of that edge to them they have far more of the sweeping scope and gift for epic compositions that is in the vein of Arcade Fire, with perhaps a touch
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of the otherworldly eeriness present in PJ Harvey's critically acclaimed Let England Shake. The mixture of melancholy guitar riffs and orchestral keyboard work, complemented by Hayley Mary's soulful vocals, conveys a yearning and ambition that could be highlighting The Jezabels’s desire to break out onto the international stage. If there is a criticism it would be that the songs can sound a bit samey, but that's a perfectly forgivable sin for a band that's in their very early stages and already showing great potential.
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By Joe Moor
March 2012
singles
‘DoYaThing’
Gorillaz feat. James Murphy & André 3000 The much-anticipated ‘DoYaThing’ is the latest installment in Converse’s ‘Three Artists, One Song’ campaign. The song’s glitchy and minimalist backing track repeats consistently throughout the song, forming an ample background to the exceptional foreground of hugely varying vocal techniques from the three contributors. First to appear are Gorillaz and James Murphy. Damon Albarn’s slow paced nasal vocals perfectly juxtapose Murphy’s high-speed falsetto, and the song progresses in a catchy manner. André 3000 manages to rap about everything under the sun at a constantly relentless speed, reminding us all how sorely missed Outkast are as of late. The combination of three completely different artists somehow manages to work perfectly, creating a song that sits firmly at some point between familiarly catchy and strikingly unique.
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By Dan Flynn
‘Matilda’ Alt-J
By Dan Flynn March 2012
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This single is the second official release from Alt-J, a band who pride themselves on unconventional harmonies, crooning vocals and intricate rhythms, yet who would describe themselves modestly as ‘a bit cowboyish’ in their style of songwriting. Whatever style it is, it is spectacular. ‘Matilda’ introduces wistful lead singer Joe Newman and his truly individual voice selectively scattered over a driving snare. It’s very simple and restrained on first listen, but steadily gets under your skin as the other harmonies cruise in and out to create what I could only describe as a lament. This really is a must-listen, even if just to realise you hate it! However, it has to be said that Alt-J are definitely ones to watch. www.theedgesusu.co.uk
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Rewind
While 13 may well be remembered most fondly for ‘Coffee & TV’ and the accompanying music video, which had a milk carton as its star, the record is After winning Outstanding Con- mostly incredibly sombre, dense and tribution to Music at last month’s alienating. We follow Albarn from Brits, The Edge argues that the declaring his infatuation on the spiritual band’s real classic is 13 ‘Tender’ through the pleas for things to get better on ‘Caramel’ and finally Blur seem to be stuck with this image of admitting that “It's over/You don't need being the happy-go-lucky, shouty, bouncy to tell me” on ‘No Distance Left to Run’. Essex boys who made oom-pah records Fact: 13 was released in 1999 as the sun shone over Britpop. Of their and sold over 1.5 recent Brit Awards performance, ITV million copies worldwide only showed their upbeat hits ‘Girls & Boys’, ‘Parklife’ and ‘Song 2’. Admittedly, this image was something that frontman Damon Albarn seemed to perpetuate at the time as he basked in the publicity. However, after the massive success of The Great Escape, the band seemed to tire of the fame. Guitarist Graham Coxon struggled particularly badly with the pressures of being in a pop band pursued by girls and the press. By 1999, the Britpop movement was over and so was Albarn's long term relationship with Elastica singer Justinne Frischmann. I don't like to revel in the misery of others, but the tensions and uncertainties affecting Blur helped make one hell of a record.
Despite the fact that most of the subject matter of 13 is heavily influenced by the frontman, the marks of Graham Coxon are all over this record. Popular opinion considers the guitarist as the band member who tired of the band’s mainstream appeal the most, and on this record we hear a far more fuzzy and discordant version of his trademark sound. His usual clean, embellished chords are put aside, with loud distortion 13 represented a departure from their earlier and high pitch feedback in their place, methods. Longtime producer Stephen even on the commercial hit ‘Coffee & TV’. Street was ditched, with William Orbit (the producer of Madonna's Ray of Light) stepping in. Where Albarn's lyrics were 13 can be a harrowing listen, with wilfully usually telling the stories of his invented unlistenable moments and emotional characters, the lyrical content of 13 is bravely breakdowns set to music, but it shows candid. Furthermore, the band recorded Blur at their best, making expressive, hours and hours of jams, which appear as experimental and transcendent music. exitludes on a handful of the album’s tracks.
By Joe Hawkes 20
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March 2012
Film
Project X
The worst film of the year so far By Barnaby Walter. There have been a lot of so-called ‘found footage’ movies. Studios like them – it means they can shoot or buy in a film without spending much cash, and then harvest in potentially phenomenal profits. The latest to employ both the ‘home-filmed’ camera technique and intelligent viral marketing is Project X, a film about a house party on an epic scale. Set in a middle-class LA suburb, the film documents (using footage allegedly filmed by the characters) an outrageous party two friends (and a guy with a camera who remains rather mysterious throughout) throw their best mate Thomas. They want to make him, and themselves, infinitely more popular. His parents are staying away for the night and have given him permission to have a few friends round to celebrate his birthday. The party soon becomes bigger than they could ever have imagined. During the planning stages of the party the guys talk at length about how the girls will be giving them blowjobs and offering themselves to be fingered. The birthday boy, 22
Thomas, doesn’t seem as willing to take part in such conversations, but the audience is treated, for an extended period of time, to extremely coarse descriptions of what the other guys plan on doing to their female guests. The film’s attitude towards women is despicable. Save for one nice, and very forgiving, female friend of Thomas’s, all the girls in the film are portrayed as sluts desperate to take their clothes off and have degrading public sex. The misogyny and frequent homophobia isn’t surprising, as this project was produced by Todd Phillips, director of The Hangover and its appalling sequel. Phillips’s movies usually champion nastiness, sleaze and discriminatory behaviour. Hollywood movies regularly like to spread the myth that marijuana smoking is a harmless recreational activity, but Project X also glamorises the use of extremely dangerous Class A drugs. Even our sympathetic hero decides to take ecstasy.
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March 2012
Film
Thankfully young teenagers will be kept away from seeing Project X in the cinema due to its rightfully restrictive 18 certificate. No doubt they’ll see it on DVD, though. I’m sure a responsible company like Warner Bros. would have monitored the animal handling on set, but the film invites its audience to laugh at the torment of a confused animal when a dog is mistreated and put in dangerous situations by the partygoers. As things spiral out of control, the police are called, and the film finally decides to celebrate riot culture, with youths attacking police and citizens who want to stop their fun. I’m sure the people who took part in last August’s London riots will love this film. Although only 88 minutes long, Project X is very boring. Once you’ve seen one segment of irresponsible, crude and harmful behaviour they become less shocking and more repetitive. The
film is supposed to be a comedy, but I wasn’t remotely amused by anything that took place. There is some inspired direction from firsttime filmmaker Nima Nourizadeh. It’s wellmade, technically speaking, and the ‘found footage’ technique is employed rather well at times. Nourizadeh clearly has talent. It’s a shame he wasn’t given a script good enough to showcase it in a more flattering light. Project X is a horrible movie. It’s badly written, the characters are all by the end detestable, and it desperately tries to cover up its near-plotless narrative with unsophisticated and unfunny shock tactics. I’d be surprised if there’s a worst film put on general release this year. Dir. Nima Nourizadeh. Warner Bros. Certificate 18.
The Vow This romantic drama, based on a true story, may satisfy fans of The Notebook and Dear John, but on the whole it’s a rather mundane and formulaic cry-fest. Paige (Rachel McAdams) loses her memory after a car crash, so the love of her life (Channing Tatum) March 2012
has to win her heart all over again. It’s well shot, but McAdams and Tatum aren’t at their best here and it is hard to lose the feeling that we’ve seen this type of thing done too many times before. BW. Dir. Michael Sucsy. Sony. Certificate 12A.
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Film
Safe House
Denzel and Ryan fail to impress By Jack Henton. Essentially an exhausting two-hour chase, Swedish Director Daniel Espinosa’s espionage thriller tries and fails to emulate the sophistication of the Bourne trilogy. Whilst being pursued by mercenaries, Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington), a rogue CIA veteran who has spent the last decade selling America’s secrets to her enemies, evades capture by surrendering himself to the American embassy in Cape Town. After the safehouse to which he’s assigned is compromised, the elusive Frost escapes. Two senior CIA operatives, Catherine Linklater (Vera Farmiga) and David Barlow (Brendan Gleeson), are immediately dispatched from Langley to prohibit a tiny file embedded under Frost’s skin from surfacing and causing a diplomatic explosion. Meanwhile, an ambitious amateur agent, Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds), pursues Frost in a grueling cat-and-mouse chase. Safe House desperately attempts to be topical and controversial. The film often alludes to the recent whistle-blowing phenomenon. In addition to this, a waterboarding tor24
ture scene is gratuitously employed in order to validate its license to spark controversy. David Guggenheim’s morbidly shallow script makes the film a cinematic fiasco. It goes to exceeding lengths to outline in the most blatant manner the biographies of the characters; detailing their strengths, weakness and attributes as if they were pedigree Pokémon awaiting their next duel. Furthermore, the conflict between Frost’s worldly cynicism and Weston’s naïve optimism is never profoundly engaged with. In essence, the film relinquishes meaningful dialogue and adopts glass-smashing, bone-breaking brutality to drive the narrative. Whilst the setting of Cape Town provides a fresh novelty, Safe House is overwhelmingly hampered by its impoverished script. It just increases the violence so as to distract the audience from its progressively worsening, tedious narrative. Dir. Daniel Espinosa. Universal. Certificate 15.
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March 2012
Film Also Showing A Dangerous Method
Dir. David Cronenberg. Lionsgate. 15. There are some great performances from Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley and Viggo Mortensen in this Cronenberg picture, but for a film about Freud and psychoanalysis it’s surprisingly dull in terms of structure, script and style. BW.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel By Barnaby Walter. Based on a novel by Deborah Moggach, this wonderfully enjoyable film sees a group of senior citizens travel to a crumbling old hotel in India. They all have different reasons for swapping Britain for a new exotic life abroad. Grouchy racist ex-housekeeper Muriel (Maggie Smith) needs a hip replacement and opts to get it sooner outside of the UK. Widow Evelyn has financial problems so sells her home and sets off for an adventure. High Court Judge Graham goes searching for a long lost love. Norman (Ronald Pickup)and Madge (Celia Imrie), both single, look for fun and romance. And Douglas and nagging wife Jean (Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton) are a married couple who have lost all their savings after they invested in their daughter’s internet company. It’s rather predictable, and the characters all learn moral lessons and face up to adversity in ways typical of this type of ensemble comedy drama, but Shakespeare in Love director John Madden gives it such flair and a sense of joy that it really doesn’t matter. It may not be profound or particularly memorable, but it’s a sweet treat and a great opportunity for older British actors to get some much-deserved screen time. Dir. John Madden. Twentieth Century Fox. Certificate 12A.
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Dir. Stephen Daldry. Warner Bros. 12A. Crass, senimental 9/11 drama about an obnoxious boy who tries to solve a mystery about a key he found in his dead dad’s belongings. Terrible. BW.
On Blu-ray & DVD:
Barnaby Walter takes a look at the new releases. Game of Thrones: Series 1 Big, bold, brutal, brilliant. The Ides of March A superb political drama. Contagion Disturbing well-made virus thriller. The Rum Diary Too long and too dull. Breaking Dawn Part 1 Dire fourth Twilight instalment. The Help Well intentioned but ill-judged. Jane Eyre A bland and boring new adaptation. My Week with Marilyn Simply wonderful.
More BD & DVD Reviews online! March 2012
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Film
ARCHIVE
The Disappearance of Alice Creed
A twisty, compelling Brit thriller By Barnaby Walter. After attempting to blow up her career (or furnish her bank balance) with Clash of the Titans, the wonderful Gemma Arterton turned her hand once again to low budget cinema with this gripping 2009 thriller. It’s miles better than Titans and reaffirmed my belief that she is, along with Carey Mulligan and Emma Watson, one of Britain’s best young female actors. The film was apparently shot in its entirety on the Isle of Man, but had its premiere at Southampton University’s Union Films cinema. Arterton plays a woman called Alice who, as the title suggests, disappears. However, the story doesn’t concentrate on her disappearance from a relative or friend’s perspective; there are no
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scenes where her parents cry while watching news coverage of her disappearance. Instead, the film features only three actors – Gemma and her two abductors – and it concentrates on the dynamics of their relationships between each other rather than the actual abduction. It starts off as if torture, blood and rape are all on the menu, but thankfully it takes a turn in a more talky direction, and unearths several ingenious plot twists along the way. The Disappearance of Alice Creed is a very impressive effort from J. Blakeson, and will hopefully lead him onto future projects that share its intelligence with a bigger budget. Dir. J. Blakeson. Available on DVD and Blu-ray from CinemaNX. Cert. 18
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March 2012
Culture and the heartfelt, barer songs like ‘Sister Act’. Denise Black and Michael Starke put in strong performances as the mother superior After a record-breaking stint at the Palladium, and pastor, respectively. However, an outSister Act (based on the Whoopi Goldberg standing supporting performance came from comedy of the same name, in case you spent Julie Atherton and her beautiful large voice. your childhood in a cave) tour has reached The Mayflower. The musical, like the movie, tells My better-informed companion informed me the story of Deloris Van Cartier, a vivacious that the script had been unrecognisably toned wannabe music star who is forced to take ref- down from the West End’s sharp comedy. The uge in a nunnery after she witnesses her gang- result was sometimes bland, with simple jokes ster boyfriend Curtis Jackson commit murder. that would have belonged more in a pantomime. However, Glen Slater’s slick ChristianA welcome change from the movie was the themed lyrics provided plenty of comic value. change of setting from the 90s to the 70s. From this decade sprung hilarious and out- One number in particular deserves a spelandish costumes accurately chosen by Lez cial mention – the finale ‘Spread the Love’. I Brotherson, but more importantly great have never been to an opening night before, Motown and disco music – an improvement but the show can boast the largest standing from the bad grunge and rap music of the 90s. ovation I have ever seen. The excitement of the blindingly glittery costumes, dancing This Motown/disco style suited the male and upbeat music was infectious, and the voices especially well, with a theatre-wide audience was whipped into a frenzy, dancswoon passing as the musical’s disturbing- ing and whooping along in raptures. By the ly sexy sociopath Cavin Cornwall’s silky time the final curtain went down, we were voice rumbled the first lines of ‘When I Find all feeling a little hysterical and ridiculous My Baby’. The parody of soul singers like – the ideal result for a ‘feel-good musical’. Barry White and Al Green continued with By Annie Partridge hilarious performances of faux love songs like ‘I Could Be That Guy’ from Edward Baruwa and ‘Lady in the Long Black Dress’ by the excellent hoodlum trio Gavin Alex, Tyrone Huntley and Daniel Stockton. Both Klara Zieglerova’s convincing set design and Mark Crossland’s catchy musical direction were great elements of the show. The show’s flawless lead Cynthia Eviro was essentially a pint-sized Beyoncé, with a voice which effortlessly switched between the belting showgirl numbers like ‘Fabulous, Baby!’
March 2012
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Culture Romeo and Juliet a “I tried to focus on the bits I felt I hadn’t seen in productions before – the play’s examination of dreams, of time, of coincidence and chance”, says Robert Icke, the director of Headlong Theatre’s new production of Shakespeare’s famous but ‘not well-known’ Romeo and Juliet. Icke whisks the audience into the glass and steel surroundings of Helen Goddard’s elegant interpretation of modern-day Verona. Goddard’s set transforms effortlessly from the bedroom of a vulnerable teenager, to an Italian boulevard, to the booming venue of a party with the Capulets. It manages to be minimalist yet decadent, and a constant reminder of the sense of impending doom is provided by the Saw-esque intermittent projection of a digital clock onto the large gauze at the centre of the
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action, although this is executed in a similarly sophisticated fashion to the rest of the set. In this brushed aluminum world, Danny Kirrain’s overly bumbling Benvolio seems a little out of place to begin with. His rapport with lovesick cousin Romeo appears at first a little unnatural. For a while they seem to arbitrarily bounce across the stage, talking incomprehensibly ‘at’ each other, though the presence of Tom Motherside’s eccentric Mercutio (bottle of whisky in hand) makes this slightly awkward duet into a more believable comic trio. Motherside successfully channels his boundless energy into an outstanding performance. The road to his eventual death is a turbulent but hugely engaging affair; an eclectic mix of Motherside’s hilarious audacity alongside the brutality of Okezie Morro’s Tybalt, who (naturally) becomes more brutal still as
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March 2012
at Nuffield Theatre
Culture
Motherside drizzles him with ice cream, syrup and sprinkles. Small touches like this generate great laughter without detracting from the otherwise tense atmosphere. Away from the streets of Verona, Icke’s production is blessed with a strong Capulet household. Catrin Stewart’s Juliet blends vulnerability with strong will. Keith Bartlett demonstrates a great versatility as Capulet, teasing out the comedy as a merry father figure but never straying from the gently aggressive undertone, which reveals itself towards the end of the play. Caroline Faber (Lady Capulet) makes a convincing socialite, though it is a shame less is revealed about this interesting character as devastation is wreaked upon the family. Great attention has however been paid to the Nurse, played to perfection by Brigid Zengeni who endows the character with a contagious sense of humour, and she enjoys a plausible sisterly relationship with Juliet. One can sense the anticipation of the audience as Zengeni enters the stage. Indeed, whilst her exploitation of Shakespeare’s humour is extremely successful, her performance during Juliet’s feigned death was exceptionally harrowing. Whilst this could have been just another modern interpretation, the excellent cast engage very successfully with the finer details of the play, and Icke has exploited its potential visual and comic appeal to full effect. By Rob Etheridge
March 2012
‘Extremely Successful’
Romeo and Juliet was shown at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton from February 2nd to 18th. It is still touring in Guildford, Salisbury, Cambridge and other selected venues across the country.
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Listings Albums Date
singles
...what’s worthy of your cash this month Culture
CinemA
bD/DVD
Title
12/03 – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 12/03 – The Help 12/03 – Call The Midwife 12/03 – My Week With Marilyn 12/03 – Jane Eyre 12/03 – Michael Kiwanuka – Home Again 12/03 – Estelle – All of Me 12/03 – Noel Gallagher – Dream On 12/03 – MIA – Bad Girls 16/03 – Contraband (Universal, 15) 16/03 – The Devil Inside (Paramount, 15) 16/03 – We Bought In A Zoo (Fox, PG) 19/03 – The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn 19/03 – Moneyball 19/03 – Paul Wellar – Sonik Kicks 19/03 – The Shins – Port of Morow 19/03 – Ladyhawke – Anxiety 19/03 – Miike Snow – Happy to You 19/03 – Coldplay – Charlie Brown 19/03 – Gillette Soccer Saturday Live @ Bournemouth Windsor Hall 23/03 – Act Of Valour (Momentum, TBC) 23/03 – The Hunger Games (Lionsgate, TBC) 25/03 – Plan B – Ill Manors 26/03 – Puss In Boots 26/03 – Happy Feet Two 26/03 – The Awakening 26/03 – Madonna – MDNA 26/03 – All American Rejects – Kids in the Street 26/03 – Lostprophets – Bring Em Down 30/03 – Bonsai (Network, 15) 02/04 – Hugo 02/04 – Florence and the Machine – Never Let Me Go 02/04 – Graham Coxon – What’ll It Take 06/04 – The Cold Light Of Day (Entertainment One, TBC) 06/04 – Mirror Mirror (STUDIOCANAL, TBC) 06/04 – A Thousand Words (Paramount/Dreamworks, TBC) 07/04 – Doug Stanhope @ Portsmouth Guildhall 30
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March 2012
2
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19
Charlie Simpson @ Portsmouth Pyramid Centre
Monday
Monday
Monday
20
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Tuesday
3
Black Stone Cherry with Rival Sons @ Southampton Guildhall
Tuesday
You Me At Six @ O2 Academy Bournemouth
Tuesday
March/April 2012
Gig Guide
4
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The Rock Sound Impericon Exposure Tour @ The Cellar
Wednesday
Matt Cardle @ Brighton Dome
Wednesday
Inspiral Carpets @ Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
21 18 McFly @ Southampton Guildhall 22
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5 Diversity @ Bournemouth International Centre
Thursday
All The Young @ Brighton Green Door Store
Thursday
Bear Grylls @ Bournemouth International Centre
Thursday
Boots Electric @ Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
Laura Marling with Timber TImbre @ Southampton Guildhall
Wednesday
15
Thursday
14
Wednesday 16
Friday 6
Joe Bonamassa @ Bournemouth International Centre
Friday 30
23 20 Yashin @ The Joiners
Friday
The Maccabees @ Southampton Guildhall
Dog Is Dead @ The Joiners
Friday
saTurday 7
Reckless Love @ The Cellar
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saTurday
The Four Tops and The Temptations @ Bournemouth International Centre
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saTurday
Spitirualized @ Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
17 Nero @ Southampton Guildhall
saTurday
18
8
1
Love Amplified @ Portsmouth Highlight
sunday
sunday
Noah & The 25 Whale @ Portsmouth Guildhall The Rifles @ Bournemouth Old Fire Station
sunday
Takedown 2012 @ Southampton University
sunday