1980s
Reissue CDs Weekly: Rodion G.A., Dudley Moore, Four Tet, Cheap TrickSunday, 26 May 2013
Rodion G.A.: The Lost TapesInitially, under Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romania’s borders were open: Blood Sweat & Tears, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong played there. But the regime tightened its grip after the dictator’s 1971 visit to North Korea... Read more... |
CD: British Electric Foundation - Music of Quality and Distinction Vol 3: DarkTuesday, 21 May 2013
It took nine years between the first and second instalments of this series, and another 22 years to make the third. And that's one of the least strange things about this record. The production team of B.E.F. (aka Human League / Heaven 17 members... Read more... |
Passion Play, Duke of York's TheatreWednesday, 08 May 2013
What’s the price of betrayal? In Peter Nichols’s 1981 play it’s a painful splintering of the psyche. The betrayer mentally compartmentalises in order to be both affectionate husband and ardent lover; the betrayed loses her confidence, her purpose,... Read more... |
Far Cry 3: Blood DragonFriday, 03 May 2013
An invincible army of cybercommandos, neon-pink pulsing colour schemes and the throbbing sounds of a Morodor-style baseline – Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is every bit the dumb Eighties action game on the surface, but underneath it might actually be one... Read more... |
Mick Hucknall, Hammersmith ApolloMonday, 29 April 2013
There was a point about two-thirds of the way through last night's gig when someone lobbed something onto the stage in front of Mick Hucknall. It was not clear exactly what it was due to the sea of dancing mums in front of me, but my strong... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Killing Joke, Motown, Bob Marley, The WinkiesSunday, 28 April 2013
Killing Joke: The Singles Collection 1979-2012Killing Joke were one of the most singular British bands to emerge in wake of punk. Their metal-edged, tribal stomp didn’t fit in with anything else going on at the time. Collecting 33 tracks from their... Read more... |
DVD: Dead HeadFriday, 19 April 2013
British film noir followed two courses in the 1980s. Whereas the American neo-noir revival of the 1970s prompted such contemporary crime thrillers as The Long Good Friday, Mona Lisa, and Stormy Monday, three superior BBC drama serials, though... Read more... |
CD: Ian McCulloch – Holy GhostsWednesday, 17 April 2013
When I suggested reviewing Ian McCulloch's new album, our glorious editor was under the impression that it was just a live collection of ancient tracks. It is actually a double album – mainly old Bunnymen beauties on the self-explanatory Orchestral... Read more... |
Evil DeadTuesday, 16 April 2013
Down in the cellar where the monsters were in Sam Raimi’s 1982 debut The Evil Dead, you glimpsed a poster for Wes Craven’s 1977 film The Hills Have Eyes, ripped symbolically in half. The bar for gruelling low-budget horror, Raimi was saying, had... Read more... |
PunksNotDead/DuoTaskingFriday, 12 April 2013
The bassline starts, "1979" flashes up on screen and, over a scratchy recording, the voice intones "Walking down the street, I get punched; you're walking down the street, you get punched".PunksNotDead's not going to hold your attention for more... Read more... |
CD: The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - MosquitoWednesday, 10 April 2013
On hearing the opening track of this album, a friend said “I didn't expect to be listening to new albums of the YYYs 10 years on!” And this is kind of understandable: of all the new rock bands of the early 2000s – The Strokes, The Vines, The Hives,... Read more... |
Thatcher: The Sound and the FuryTuesday, 09 April 2013
The political legacy of Margaret Thatcher is being sifted and analysed all over the world. But what of the music she left behind? The first and only female Prime Minister had barely a cultural bone in her body, but on her watch a young generation of... Read more... |
