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Jeeves and the Wedding Bells

Sebastian Faulks

8.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

This is a gloriously witty novel from Sebastian Faulks using P.G. Wodehouse's much-loved characters,...

African Theatre: China, India & the Eastern World: Volume 15

Martin Banham, James Gibbs and Femi Osofisan

1.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

China is the main focus of this volume, and articles consider the way it is using "soft power" in...

Graham Massey recommended Angel's Egg by Gong in Music (curated)

Angel's Egg by Gong

2019 | Pop

6.0

(2 Ratings)

Album Favorite

"My entry into Gong would've been the Camembert Electrique album, which I bought for 50p or something like that. A lot of people at school had that record and, in fact, my first entry into being in a band at school was a band that just did Gong cover versions. It was an interesting education as I was dabbling around on an electric violin, and what with all those interesting time signatures. We did a street party for the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977 and just played Gong covers! Later, down the line, one of the guys who was in the band became a member of Gong in the 80s, a guy called Graham Clark, and we got to the know them quite well. We were that much of a bunch of fanboys that we would make our way into the dressing room. There was a point when Gong founder Daevid Allen was playing with Here And Now, which was like this festival-type band, and every time they came to Manchester they let us play on stage using their instruments. We had this group called Danny And The Dressmakers and we'd play the worst noise you could possibly play; it was like an anti-band. We went on tour with Here And Now in a converted ambulance and did three gigs with them. And so we built a strong allegiance to the brand of Gong, which has carried on throughout my life. We also performed at the Gong Family Unconvention in Amsterdam at the Melkweg many years later, and Daevid Allen stayed at my house a few times. He was a very interesting character and proper musical melting pot in terms of where he comes from. I picked Angel's Egg because it's when the band was still experimenting. There are tracks here that are real improv, while others are really composed. There are tracks where certain members take a lead on it. They recently put a box set called Love From Planet Gong and listening to the re-mastered version of Angel's Egg, it occurred to me that this music couldn't be dreamed up in most people's imaginations. It's a fascinating record."

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Kudos

Marc Riley recommended Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) by Captain Beefheart / Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band in Music (curated)

"The thing about Shiny Beast is it features Beefheart having come through a very difficult period. If you look at him, he started off with The Legendary A&M Sessions doing 'Diddy Wah Diddy' and then Safe As Milk with Ry Cooder, which is a great blues album with a bit of pop to it. And then you've got Trout Mask Replica which is one of the wonders of the world, really. I love the myth of it, him locking the musicians up in the house and feeding them hallucinogens but not proper food, of them having to go to the local store to thieve food to keep body and soul together, and Beefheart taking credit for all the music when he couldn't really play and he was surrounded by these musical geniuses - so the myth of it is well deserved. They're all great records but then the Magic Band left him and he got session musicians in and it just got depressing. He wasn't a particularly nice character, he was just hell bent on making records the way he wanted them. For example, there's a story about him firing a crossbow at one of his musicians. That's why Ry Cooder left, he had to dive behind the sofa and then left not long afterwards. [Actually Ry Cooder quit in disgust after Beefheart fell off a ten foot stage at the Mount Tamalpais Festival, landing on the band's manager Bob Krasnow. The singer was on LSD and in a state of shock after seeing a girl in the audience turn into a fish with bubbles coming out of its mouth. It was the original Magic Band drummer Doug Moon who threatened Beefheart with a crossbow, unable to put up with the singer's incessant criticism. Ed] It was Mark Smith who introduced me to Beefheart and it was this album, it was 1977 and I was 16. It was an amazing album and so beautiful. 'Tropical Hot Dog Night' is one of the most beautiful songs you'll ever hear. 'The Floppy Boot Stomp' is so exciting… it just rings like a bell. It has some of the most beautiful and exciting music you'll ever hear and the musicianship is great."

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Kudos

Johnny Messias (25 KP) rated The Irishman (2019) in Movies

Oct 14, 2019

The Irishman (2019)

2019 | Biography, Crime, Drama

8.2

(37 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Al Pacino as Hoffa (6 more)

Joe Pesci is wonderful

De Niro anchors the film

Scorsese on top form

Thelma Schoonmaker’s editing

Steve Zaillian’s script

De Niro and Pacino together

Uncanny valley with some of the de-ageing (0 more)

Marty’s marvellous Oldfellas

The Irishman – BFI London Film Festival Review Oct 13th 2019.

An extended cinematic love letter to some of the finest actors of the last 40 years, and to a bygone era of US history, The Irishman is reassuringly brilliant. Like the best Scorsese joints, its business is power brokers, mobsters and underground schemers, but often as a comedy of manners. De Niro anchors the story, yes as mob enforcer but also as a kind of killer Forrest Gump; “connected” to some key milestones in 1960s America; Bay of Pigs, Jimmy Hoffa’s teamsters, RFK, then later the shadow of Nixon. Famously, we see De Niro’s titular character Frank in his 20s, 30s, 40s, right up until the old age home. Scorsese uses computerised de-aging technology to achieve the effect make-up artists might have parlayed. It works well—mostly. What grips you and takes you in is the bravura acting. Al Pacino gives a wonderful performance as Jimmy Hoffa. He goes full “Pacino” with speeches and grandstanding but it is the lilt of this voice (all sing song) in quiet moments that makes this the best we’ve seen from Al in many a year. Joe Pesci as well. He’s kind of the centre of this world, as the mobster who links up De Niro to Pacino’s Hoffa. Pesci speaks quietly and carefully; you sense how much power he has without any of the violence that was trademark in his famous Casino and Goodfellas roles. Over nearly 3.5 hours (never seems long) what you get is a beautifully written, shot, edited and performed drama about loyalty, friendship and a creeping sense of regret. All with the backdrop of this fascinating period: JFK, Union movements, Cuba, Fidel Castro. It lingers long in the memory and it’s one to cherish, since we surely won’t see its like again.