| Author | Message | ||
     Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 10559 Registered: 05-2005 |
This incredible live clip of That Petrol Emotion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzCj-BDs EDA | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 10562 Registered: 05-2005 |
What Fred Armisen did during the writers' strike. This is hilarious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvShtsnx q4U | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 2236 Registered: 10-2006 |
Italian X-factor Italian X-factor seemed destined for cancellation last year and was perhaps starting to run out of steam. But, lo and behold, it has sprung back to life, reenergised and with a strong cast of young talent. Unexpected masterstroke was to reintroduce to the judges Italy’s manic Dickensian gnome – he even dresses the part – Morgan, a loquacious, ranting irritant with an encyclopedic knowledge of music and its various obscure corners. Who else would have assigned to a group an old Russ Ballard song called Voices? Which (after weeping and wailing for several rehearsals) they carried off brilliantly. Morgan was kicked off the programme in disgrace a while back, having managed to impregnate one of the contestants while allowing his drug habit to interfere with his (often dazzling) tuition of the others. Also back on the jury is a guy who started out years ago as the runty, tattooed punk rap upstart, and is now married to Italy’s richest influencer and become a sort of mage-like overseer and producer for many of the country’s younger artists. Recovering from at least two life-threatening illnesses, he is back on form, good-humoured, patient and looking pleasingly robust. Complementing these two deft antagonists, there is an ex-showgirl and actress, partly to fulfil the eye-candy quota that is de rigueur for every Italian TV programme (even the football) but also, thankfully, passionately devoted to her team of musicians in a way that makes up for any lack of musical nous (though she does do her homework there, too). Last, a youngish musician with a fine line in surreal, articulate comedy whose music I’ve never heard anywhere but is apparently very popular with the kids. Combined with a cleverly chosen bunch of hopefuls, it all makes for a great evening’s entertainment. Likely winner is a skinny, affable, intense girl singer with one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard – innately perfect intonation and range, plus an edge of ragged hoarseness that makes it stand out from the crowd. Not clear yet if she’s also a songwriter, but if it turns out she can write as well as she sings, then really one to watch. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 10610 Registered: 05-2005 |
Arthur C Clarke predicts the future in 1964. I love his accent and I love the fact that he lived long enough to see some of those predictions come true, though some of them have only come true now in recent years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwELr8ir 9qM | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 2247 Registered: 10-2006 |
The Divine Comedy live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhZTOGKU hCM&t=2453s Arte seem to turn their cameras on the Divine C the second they set foot in the country. A nice low-key acoustic show with plenty of melodic room for the piano. Mr Hannon in droll recovering-from-sickness form. He has the least Northern Irish accent of anyone I know from Northern Ireland. What a fine songwriter. There’s also an earlier, longer show with a fuller band and more luxuriant hipster beard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTuTFXkJ xNI&t=5346s | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 10638 Registered: 05-2005 |
Dopesick. I’ve just watched the first episode and I’m hooked. Oh, probably bad choice of word given what it’s about. I know it came out in 2021, but it’s only just turned up on the SBS free streaming service. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 10649 Registered: 05-2005 |
I just watched American Fiction. It’s fantastic. Best film I’ve seen in years. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1549 Registered: 04-2005 |
Lots of great films at the cinema in the past few months… Alice Rohrwacher - « La chimera » Alexander Payne – « The Holdovers » Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren – « 20.000 especies de abejas » (“20,000 Species of Bees”) Yorgos Lanthimos – « Poor Things » Aki Kaurismäki – « Kuolleet lehdet » ("Fallen Leaves") Justine Triet – « Anatomie d’une chute » ("Anatomy of a Fall") Cédric Kahn – « Le Procčs Goldman » ("The Goldman Case") Colm Bairéad – « An Cailín Ciúin » ("The Quiet Girl") With that Irish film, it was the second time for me as it reappeared on the big screen as part of a "Télérama" promoted series (great films that you might have missed in 2023). What a simple but beautiful piece of work, absolute poetry on the screen. Edinburgh lost its art house cinema, Filmhouse (which shut its doors last year, but there is currently a crowd funding underway to bring it back) and it seems almost unbelievable that my former hometown has lost the access to see such great films. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 2260 Registered: 10-2006 |
That's an enviable list, Andrew! Almost none of these will make their way to my local cinema, perhaps only Poor Things. I've just finished the Claire Keegan story that The Quiet Girl's based on, and it's a lovely piece of work too. Her gift for Irish dialogue and for conveying the great unsaid in everything is very fine. Hope to see the film one day! The Filmhouse, with its dole card discount matinees back in the day, was a refreshing oasis in the desert of my unemployment years. I remember it with strong affection and hope it is restored to its former glory. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4923 Registered: 03-2005 |
Not something I'm watching now, but what I WANT to watch as soon as possible: Steve McQueen - Blitz. I don't have Pádraig's level of attachment to Paul Weller but I definitely want to see him play a grandfather in WWII London. It sounds like perfect casting. https://www.theguardian.com/film/article /2024/jul/01/steve-mcqueens-blitz-to-ope n-the-london-film-festival | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 10695 Registered: 05-2005 |
Clerks III. It didn’t get a cinema or even a DVD release in Australia, so I finally splashed out for video on demand to see it. I really liked it, as I did the two previous films in the series. The ending was quite surprising and I’m glad it dealt with a line I always found to be racist in the first movie. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 10698 Registered: 05-2005 |
This just turned up in my YouTube feed, Dee Snider addressing Congress about music labelling in the 1980s. I recall reading at the time about how well and eloquently Snider spoke, so it’s great to finally see it. It’s hard to believe this fear of music corrupting the youth is from less than 40 years ago, rather than from the 1950s. And what puritanical, moronic clowns Al Gore and Jay Rockefeller are. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0Vyr1Ty lTE | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 10699 Registered: 05-2005 |
John Denver also gave a powerful speech, which I also read about at the time but have never seen until now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgSjjD6r Ru4 | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4924 Registered: 03-2005 |
Interesting clips, Pádraig. The Dee Snider address is very effective. It's no coincidence that the 17th century Puritans were one of the groups who settled the colonies now incorporated in the U.S.. And we later cooked up a number of our own religions, Mormonism being the one I had to endure as a kid. Puritanism is always at least lurking in the wings in this country when it isn't out in the mainstream. In 1985 Reagan was President and Jerry Falwell's laughably named Moral Majority was at its influential apex. My politically cynical mind says that Democrats decided it would benefit them electorally to compete in the wars of moral panic. It looked like transparent posturing to those of us outside the pseudo-Christian bubble at the time. Irritating echoes were heard during and within the Clinton administration in the 1990s. Yes, I voted for Clinton in both general elections but always as the lesser of two evils. I will never forgive him for flying back to D.C. specifically to sign the anti-gay "Defense of Marriage Act" a month and a half before the 1996 election. If there was anything intrinsic that undermined Al Gore's potential as an environmental champion it was his association with the utterly contemptible PMRC. Why shouldn't his panic about climate change be as suspect as his panic about pop music? And, yes, I dutifully voted for him in 2000 albeit without enthusiasm, but crap political posturing leaves permanent damage. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 10700 Registered: 05-2005 |
Yes, it says a lot that the two main attack dogs, Gore and Rockefeller, were both Democrats. And of course Gore was married to chief witchfinder Tipper Gore. I loved how Rockefeller accused Dee Snider of showing disrespect to 'Senator Gore's wife' and Snider pointed out, correctly, that he had made no reference to who Tipper Gore was married to, just to her views as head of the PMRC. Smart guy, that Dee Snider. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 10712 Registered: 05-2005 |
A fascinating 10 minute documentary on The Moles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkKO_-SG XEU | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 10713 Registered: 05-2005 |
An interview with Mike Mills. This is brilliant. If you are an REM fan and haven't seen it, you need to watch it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRfhX-XA IiY | ||
| Simon Withers Member Username: Sfwithers Post Number: 790 Registered: 08-2005 |
Pádraig, I've been watching a lot of early REM (I love early REM) on YouTube recently and have come across a few solo bits with Mike Mills, and he always comes across very well indeed. | ||
| Simon Withers Member Username: Sfwithers Post Number: 791 Registered: 08-2005 |
I'd post this in Song of the Day but it's more interesting than it is a great interpretation. The very good British comedian Stewart Lee singing Eight Pictures with Lindy Morrison (sadly barely visible) and the Girl With the Replaceable Head. He's less of a singer than Robert Forster (sorry, Robert!). I chatted with Stewart at a Robert Forster concert on the South Bank in 2008. I recognised him and had an 'in' in introducing myself: I reviewed his novel for SFX magazine in the UK. It was one of the few positive reviews the book received - and he even sent a copy of the review to his mum! He's a long-time Go-Betweens fan, so singing with Lindy must have been a real treat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ4B92ZQ klY | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4929 Registered: 03-2005 |
That's great Simon, thanks. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 10714 Registered: 05-2005 |
That is fantastic, Simon, thanks for the link. Stewart Lee is also the man behind this line about Brexit voters: "They're not all racist, some of them are just c**ts." | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1562 Registered: 04-2005 |
Absolutely fabulous hour spent in the company of Danny Thompson (legendary bassist). What a man! What a musician! What a raconteur  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MGPQq4I imc | ||
| Burgers Member Username: Burgers Post Number: 229 Registered: 05-2005 |
Pat Nevin being interviewed by the BBC from his home (in Duns, I think) about Manchester United sacking their manager. On his walls various framed album covers including 16 Lovers Lane. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4944 Registered: 03-2005 |
Blitz This is a good solid, old fashioned childhood adventure/war movie. Paul Weller acquits himself well as do Saoirse Ronan and Elliot Heffernan. There are all sorts of classic little scenes of bravery and honor--I totally fall for Benjamin Clementine's character in his few scenes. But no Dickensian childhood adventure is complete without some squalid self-serving adult characters. Coming on the heels of my summer read of Pat Barker's "Life Class" trilogy, this movie reinforces the reminder of how quickly normal life can be completely upturned by aggression. I probably never needed reminding myself, but sadly a huge portion of my compatriots are swimming in seemingly perpetual amnesia. Needless to say, I lapped it up. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 2310 Registered: 10-2006 |
Looking forward to that one. I'd like to see McQueen do something with Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's life story, a figure worth shining a spotlight on and wonderful music. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 2311 Registered: 10-2006 |
Meanwhile, Mr Kerr's favourite jazz band just turned up by chance, or whatever, on my YouTube page. Haven't seen it all yet, but the beginning is promising. As long as they don't get into a 12-minute doodle on The Man I Love, or something like that, my jazz interest will only stretch so far. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb3iGdE7 ssU | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1571 Registered: 04-2005 |
Ah Stuart, you've made the classic "Avishai Cohen" mistake Don't have anything against the double-bassist (and have seen him in concert too) but the one I know better is the trumpetist. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 2313 Registered: 10-2006 |
Hell's teeth, you mean I watched Jazz for no good reason? Oh well. Couldn't they differentiate, like Avishai "Trumpet" Cohen, so people know? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 10741 Registered: 05-2005 |
I stupidly just clicked the link. Now jazz is going to be showing up in my YouTube feed from now till doomsday. Thanks a lot, guys. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1572 Registered: 04-2005 |
Jazz ? "Nice" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdWJpHt1 Xws | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 2314 Registered: 10-2006 |
"Ah, welcome to Hell, Mr Wilson. Just step through here, please... We call this, the Scat Singing Room." Brrrrrrrr. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 10742 Registered: 05-2005 |
This is my favourite clip in that Fast Show sketch, where indie rock replaces jazz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClcwKgxu 2wk | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 10744 Registered: 05-2005 |
One of my favourite ever pop song videos, even more so because the band is from 10 miles from where I’m from. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljPFZrRD 3J8 | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1574 Registered: 04-2005 |
Kinda the holy grail for Miracle Legion fans https://archive.org/details/miracle-legi on-documentary A fan made film, that for reasons I can't even remember the band blocked. It has some honest views on the music biz (the band was stuck in a legal battle with their label that stopped them releasing any music for years) and some lovely live footage. Their '92 London gig remains one of my greatest concert memories ever. |