Music Reissues Weekly: Moving Away from the Pulsebeat - Post-Punk Britain 1977-1981
Box-set collection as musically unruly as the period it documents
“Moving Away from the Pulsebeat” is the final track – barring the locked-groove return of the two-note guitar refrain from “Boredom” – of Buzzcocks’ March 1978 debut album, Another Music In A Different Kitchen. At five minutes 40 seconds it didn’t cleave to the short, sharp punk template. Also, it was largely instrumental. And it had a drum solo.
Riddle of Fire review - unsubtle but likeable kids' adventure flick
Trio's quest for a blueberry pie spirals into backwoods peril
Live-action movies for the under-12 set are rare. Rarer still are those that capture the anarchic spirit of middle-grade children gone wild. Writer-director Weston Razooli made a splash at the Cannes and Toronto film festivals last year with Riddle of Fire, an adventure tale that draws inspiration from Disney’s earnest, spirited TV fare of the 1970s.
Music Reissues Weekly: Jon Savage's The Secret Public - How The LGBTQ+ Aesthetic Shaped Pop Culture
A significant release
Jon Savage's The Secret Public How The LGBTQ+ Aesthetic Shaped Pop Culture 1955-1979 accompanies the titular author/historian/journalist’s book of almost the same name. The Secret Public: How LGBTQ Resistance Shaped Popular Culture (1955–1979) and this 41-track double CD each track exactly what their titles say, drilling into what has often paralleled or underlain yet repeatedly influenced a constantly evolving mainstream.
Music Reissues Weekly: Andwella - To Dream
How a cult psychedelic band laid the ground for a massive Demis Roussos hit
Original pressings of Love And Poetry sell for up to £2,800. Copies of the August 1969 debut album by Andwellas Dream can sometimes also be found for £700, a relative bargain in the context of the upper limit of the prices the collector’s market has settled on.
DVD/Blu-ray: The Holdovers
Bittersweet, beautifully observed seasonal comedy - not just for Christmas
Glance at The Holdovers’ synopsis and you might suspect that Alexander Payne’s latest effort is a slice of lightweight seasonal schmaltz. Yes, it is set at Christmas, and contains tear-jerking moments, but Payne and screenwriter David Hemingson throw so much more.
Music Reissues Weekly: Warsaw - Middlesbrough 14th September 1977, Joy Division - Manchester 28th September 1979
Thrilling live document of one of Britain’s greatest bands
Edinburgh’s Rezillos were booked to play Middlesbrough’s Rock Garden on Wednesday 14 September 1977. “I Can’t Stand my Baby,” their debut single, had been issued in July and they were on the road subsequent to its release, positive music press reviews and regular spins from John Peel. Their humour-laced, Day-Glo art-punk was making waves.
That They May Face The Rising Sun review - lyrical adaptation of John McGahern's novel
Pat Collins extracts the magic of country life in the west of Ireland in his third feature film
In director Pat Collins’s lyrical adaptation of John McGahern’s last novel, with cinematography by Richard Kendrick, the landscape is perhaps the most important character – though there’s a fine cast of well known mainly Irish actors.
If you’re feeling hemmed in by concrete and city life, it’s a balm to take a deep breath and listen to the birdsong while watching the lake, the trees and the hills change colour through the seasons.
theartsdesk on Vinyl 83: Deep Purple, Annie Anxiety, Ghetts, WHAM!, Kaiser Chiefs, Butthole Surfers and more
The most wide-ranging regular record reviews in this galaxy
VINYL OF THE MONTH
London Afrobeat Collective Esengo (Canopy)
Music Reissues Weekly: Congo Funk! - Sound Madness from the Shores of the Mighty Congo River
Assiduous exploration of the interconnected musical ecosystems of Brazzaville and Kinshasa
Brazzaville is on the north side of the Congo River. It is the capital of the Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is on the south side of the Congo. It is capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly known as Zaïre. The cities face each other, about 1.5km apart, divided by the river and being in different nations.