Monthly Archives: January 2009

At The Movies – Frost/Nixon

Posted by manicpopthrills on

frostnixon

We made a rare trip out to see a grown up film the other night and we picked a good ‘un. Frost/Nixon is based on the play of the same name and examines David Frost’s ultimately successful attempts to secure an exclusive series of interviews with disgraced former American President Richard Nixon.

At its heart, Frost/Nixon is a tale that’s been told a thousand times before, from ‘Rocky’ to ‘Kung Fu Panda’ – that of the underdog struggling to overcome a superior foe. But for all that, the scenario is quite refreshing in that it is far more cerebral than visceral.

At the movie’s heart is Frank Langella’s portrayal of Nixon. Particularly in the gripping final interview scene, Langella’s portrayal rings true. In the movie Nixon is motivated both by a desire to repair his tattered image and the prospect of a large cheque for doing so. When it all falls apart at the end Langella even manages to win his character some sympathy from the audience.

Michael Sheen is good too as Frost the character in the movie and it must have helped that the two had played opposite each other in the play.

But Frost the character is the source of my one reservation about the film. To fit into the Rocky scenario, the early portrayal of Frost is not flattering – he’s portrayed as a lightweight talk show host, who is out of his depth. He does not seek the interviews for the principled motives of researcher James Reston, but rather in pursuit of Stateside fame. Which makes his transition to incisive interviewer (with the help of a fictional telephone conversation with Nixon) somewhat less credible.

There are hints in the film of Frost’s credentials (most notably when Frost hires Reston against the advice of John Birt) but the big step up is definitely of Rocky proportions. Which of course is the intention. It’s something of a shame because in itself the battle of wits between Nixon and Frost is great drama in itself. Add in the fact that the difficulties in attracting finance and the prospects of Frost being ruined professionally and financial were very real indeed means that there’s potentially motivation aplenty without resorting to stereotypes.

These types of historical dramas always fascinate me – how much is real and how much is fiction? It’s to the writer’s credit that the movie probably feels more accurate than it actually is. The truth has been embellished in the name of dramatic licence. But in the end Frost/Nixon is a movie, not a documentary, and on those terms it is excellent.

Here’s the trailer for the movie which features prominently the lighter side of the script.

A Failing Memory

Posted by manicpopthrills on

My memory isn’t what it used to be. I was going to follow up the ‘Street to Street’ post with another on another North of England compilation – Bouquet of Steel – but I don’t actually seem to own it! Or at least not any longer.

So I’ll continue this “series” in a couple of days with a more up to date regional compilation.

In the meantime can I remind you that the Phantom Band’s superb debut LP ‘Checkmate Savage‘ is out tomorrow? I’ve already reviewed it and it’s  since been garnering very positive reviews and would urge that you check it out. Here’s an unofficial video for ‘Folksong Oblivion’:

And check out their performance of Burial Sounds at Hydro Connect here.

Get the LP here.

Back Street Boys

Posted by manicpopthrills on

street2street_s

Having dipped into the early 80′s with my last post, today I feature a compilation LP also released by Open Eye Records.

Although released in late 1979 ‘Street to Street – A Liverpool Album’ is not by and large a record that captures what became known as the Liverpool sound of the late 70′s/early 80s. Instead it gives you an idea of the breadth of the post punk Liverpool scene so you get some Clash influenced bands, some reggae and some more recognisable Livepudlian post-punk.

It’s maybe something of a surprise that ‘Street to Street’ didn’t come out on Zoo Records but neither does it feature the Teardop Explodes or Wah! Heat.

The big names on the LP are Echo & The Bunnymen and the Id (although the Id are better known by their eventual name Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – surely the best example of a name change from short to long ever!)

The Bunnymen’s contribution to the record is an early version of ‘Monkeys’ from debut LP ‘Crocodiles’ recorded whilst the band was still a three piece with legendary drum machine Echo, one of the few such recordings.

The Id’s track ‘Julia’s Song’ which was also re-recorded for OMD’s debut LP but it’s fair to say that ir fairly represents the early OMD sound.

The other well known band on the LP are Big In Japan although it’s fair to say that individual members Bill Drummond,  Ian Broudie and Budgie are better known for other things. Modern Eon also survived and made themselves something of a name.

To tie this into the last post, according to this ”Television Game’ on the record was written by John Hawkins who was also in Systems.

STS is an interesting historical artefact but given that even John Peel’s sleeve notes comment on the impermanence of many of the bands on the record it’s no surprise that most have long since been swallowed up by history.

Here’s a couple of tracks from the record:

Echo & The Bunnymen – Monkies (sic)

Malchix – Crisis

If you want the record, you’ll need to go hunting for it, since it’s long since been deleted, although the Bunnymen’s track does appear on the ‘Crystal Days’ box set. (Buy that here.)

Systems Theory

Posted by manicpopthrills on

systemofworld

I’ve just finished Neal Stephenson’s ‘System of the World’ and hence the complete Baroque Cycle. Everything I’ve said about the two previous books holds true about ‘System of the World’ – I am totally on awe of someone who can produce these novels. The trilogy is staggering, densely plotted, laden with memorable characters and based on ideas. And whilst there are passages where the plot isn’t advanced much, it doesn’t really matter – Stephenson’s descriptions and his character’s conversations are always more than enough to be going on with.

What impresses me most about the books is the way that what has been a frankly meandering plot all comes together in a satisfying way at the end. If you’ve got a spare 6 months reading time, then check these books out, I’ve not read anything quite like them. Fabulous stuff.

Some obscure early 80s tunes to go with the book:

Systems – Total Recall

Systems – Still Outside (Or Unexplained)

I can tell you very little about this record, a 7″ on Open Eye Records which sounds a bit like OMD with a Martha & The Muffins sax break in the middle.

I think I bought it because I’d heard the band doing a Peel Session but other than the fact that they almost certainly came from Liverpool, that’s it.

Open Eye Records are slightly less of a mystery since they also released the ‘Street to Street’ compilation which featured a number of Liverpool bands from the late 70′s including the Bunnymen and an early version of OMD. I’ll look it out for my next post.

It’s Getting Later and Later

Posted by manicpopthrills on

50footwave31

This has snuck up on me a bit. I listened to it a couple of times separated by a week or two. Then I listened to it  a few days ago for a third time it finally blew me away.

‘Power and Light’ may well get some attention given that it’s a single 25 minutes plus piece of music. But really that doesn’t matter because “P&L” is Kristin Hersh at her best and her noisiest. It’s hard however to avoid the notion that this is “progressive” music. Now that’s a label with adverse (and well deserved) connotations given the overblown self importance of many of its practitioners in the 1970s.

Fortunately ‘Power & Light’ avoids those pitfalls but keeps the ambition. It’s a thrilling 25 minute epic which shifts tempo and moods throughout. Musically this is 50 Foot Wave at their most visceral – yet at its heart ‘P&L’ also manages to take on board the melodic lessons of ‘Hot, Pink, Distorted’ to generate something quite euphoric.

It’s worth pointing out too that Kristin is in great, ear shredding vocal form throughout too.

There will be a proper release of ‘Power & Light’ at some stage this year.

Photo by Lisa Fletcher

Rock The Boat!

Posted by manicpopthrills on

Rock The Boat – De Rosa / Evan Crichton / You Already Know / Mitchell Museum – The Ferry, Glasgow – 10th January 2009

090110derosa01s

Saturday’s ‘Rock the Boat’ event at the Ferry in Glasgow provided a fine, varied bill, as these things are liable to do. And given that it was officially a covers evening it also provided something a little different.

The covers element gave De Rosa a chance to let their hair down a little ahead of the full promotion of second LP ‘Prevention’ in the Spring. Their cover choices came from extremes of he musical spectrum. The novelty choice was a Take That song (‘Greatest Day’) and even with a minimum of rehearsal it sounded worryingly OK. I genuinely didn’t know anything about the song before Saturday yet it seems to be stalking me now, as I’ve heard it on 2 or 3 occasions since!

The second cover, the Go-Betweens ‘Was There Anything I Could Do?”, was a more credible choice and actually provided a good up-tempo end to the set. Otherwise the band were on familiar lines, with the bulk of the songs drawn from ‘Prevention’. It wasn’t the best sound I’d heard from them, perhaps because I was too close to the stage, but the likes of ‘Evelyn’, ‘In Code’ and ‘A Love Economy’ were all great.

Back at the start of the evening, first up were Mitchell Museum, a completely new name to me. An energetic poppy four piece, they fed off the enthusiasm of their singer and seemed to be having a great time. It was very positive that they were better on their own material compared to the covers and they’re definitely a band to look out for.

You Know Already meanwhile seemed to be an instrumental metal band (at least in default mode since their covers featured vocals). Again there was loads of energy with the front three far and away the most active performers of the evening. There’s not much metal in this household and one of the reasons that I enjoyed was probably down to the fact that they were largely instrumental since the hard rock vocal style is not one of my favourites.

Event organiser Evan Crichton then took the stage to deliver a set of Americana flavoured seventies rock, perhaps not unlike a slightly up-tempo Jay Brown. The tunes were nicely varied and even though it’s probably not the sort of thing I would listen to much at home, in a live setting it was very enjoyable half hour or so.

So, a fiver for four bands, and everything for Shelter. Not a bad evening all round. Not bad at all.


De Rosa setlist

1. Evelyn  2. In Code  3. Greatest Day  4. Nocturne for an Absentee 5. New Lanark  6. It Helps To See You Hurt 7. Flight Recorder 8.  A Love Economy 9. Was There Anything I Could Do?

090110mitchellmuseum9_2s

Mitchell Museum

090110youalreadyknow05s

You Already Know

090110evancrichton04s

Evan Crichton

Photos of all the bands here