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Review of 2018: Part 1 – Books
The good, the bad and the Atlas Shrugged: here's everything I read in a vain attempt to stave off the comic hopelessness and soul-chewing despair of this toxic binfire of a year. Yay. It's divided into...
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Review of 2018: Part 2 – Live
This part focuses on LIVE things: mostly music and theatre. Part one (the best part) was about books, you can read that here. Without additional ado, here goes: 2018 had its challenges, but its...
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Review of 2018: Part 3 – Movies
Sometimes I wonder if I may have seen all the good films. I know they keep on making new ones but they're either Marvel or Zama and Roma, and I mean, come on. I wonder too about the value of a movie...
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Bob Dylan at British Summer Time, Hyde Park, London
Friday 12 July, 2019 They came, they drank, they talked. And off in the distance, the other side of a 'Golden Circle' sparsely populated with affluent boomers, Bob Dylan delivered what must be the best...
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Review of 2019: Part 1 – Books
This year I spent two months in bed, which I would recommend to anyone who wants to catch up on their reading. All you need is a dysfunctional kidney, a sympathetic boss and an erratic surgeon. Here's...
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Review of 2019: Part 2 – Live
Part 1 was about books. Part 2 is about events and tbh it never gets as many hits, as you can famously read a book that someone read last year, but you cannot attend a gig in the past.Gigs of the year:...
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Review of 2018: Part 3 – Movies
Part 1 was about books, Part 2 was live stuff. This one's about films. I only saw 95 this year, which by my previous standards is pathetic, but is also probably Healthy and A Good Thing.Fourteen...
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Big Thief on tour
BIG THIEF atHammersmith Apollo, London (27 Feb)Rock City, Nottingham (29 Feb)Albert Hall, Manchester (1 Mar)Ancienne Belgique, Brussels (5 Mar)Paradiso, Amsterdam (6 Mar) Every time you see Adrianne...
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Review of 2020: Part 1 – Books
Pre-amble/bragging If you'd told me at the start of year that I'd hardly leave the house for nine months, barely see a friend during that time, and get to read whenever I wanted, I'd have said, "OK...
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Review of 2020: Part 2 – Films
This is the most excited I’ve felt about cinema in a long while. Not in terms of new releases – though I fell wildly in love with the films of Céline Sciamma – but just my new areas of exploration. I...
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Dylan at 80: two songs
Every Grain of Sand (1981)"Don't have the inclination to look back on any mistake,Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break." The problem with Dylan's immediately notorious sojourn...
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Review of the Year: Part 1 – Books
Hello and welcome to the blog that people have taken to calling "that thing where you review the books you've read that year". They're not lying. No pre-amble, let's get to it.FICTION My favourite...
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Review of the Year: Part 2 – Movies
Here's part two of my Review of the Year, focusing on films. Twenty 'discoveries', six movies re-appraised, five areas of obsession, and some bits and pieces of writing you might enjoy.DISCOVERIES ......
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“When I say infinity, I mean NOW": Adrianne Lenker and Bob Dylan
Big Thief at Bristol Academy, 27/02/22Big Thief at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, 02/03/22-05/03/22Adrianne Lenker at EartH, 06/03/22“The new album by @BigThiefMusic is a revelation,” tweeted Dwight from The...
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REVIEW: The Philosophy of Modern Song by Bob Dylan (2022)
“Like everything Dylan does, it is a momentous artistic achievement,” says the publicity bumf from publisher Simon & Schuster. Is it, though? Bob’s new book works best if you regard it as his...
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Review of 2022: Part 1 – Books
All the books I read in 2022, capriciously ranked, compulsively reviewed.FICTION At the risk of repeating myself following last year's rhapsody on the subject of The Age of Innocence, my favourite...
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Review of the Year: Part 2 – Movies
Here's part two of my Review of the Year, focusing on FILMS. Twenty 'discoveries', six stinkers, six movies re-appraised, five areas of obsession, and some bits and pieces of writing you might enjoy,...
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Effortless audacity: Big Thief on tour
Sage Gateshead – 05/04/23 Usher Hall, Edinburgh – 06/04/23 Manchester Apollo – 07/04/23 The Great Hall, Cardiff – 08/04/23 Hammersmith Apollo, London – 11 and 12/04/23 Chalk Brighton – 13/04/23 There...
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Susanne Sundfør at Røkeriet, USF Verflet, Bergen
Friday 29 and Saturday 30 May 2023 Among the things we were least expecting from Susanne Sundfør’s new live show, Rebirth of the Electro Diva must have been pretty high on the list. First of all, she...
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Review of 2023: Part 2 – Movies
Here's part two of my review of the year, focusing on FILMS. The format: 20 'discoveries', seven old favourites, six stinkers, six movies re-appraised, and five areas of obsession.20 DISCOVERIES or...
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Meditation in an emergency: Susanne Sundfør’s church shows
Tonsberg Domkirke, and Bragernes Kirke, Drammen, 23-24 March 2024 The conversational, or tabloid, or trivial version of the story is this: Susanne Sundfør is cool, and weird, and crucially a...
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What a dream that was: Adrianne Lenker on tour
Black Box, Galway, Ireland – 19 April 2024 St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny, Ireland – 20 April 2024 Vicar Street, Dublin, Ireland – 21 April 2024 The Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Scotland – 24 April 2024...
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BFI introduction: Captain Blood (1935)
Here's the transcript of my introduction to Captain Blood (Michael Curtiz, 1935), in the Art of Action season, which took place at the BFI Southbank in London on Wednesday 6 November:"Hi, I’m going to...
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Review of 2024: Part 1 – Books
Hello, It's been a challenging year, hasn't it. Got through a few books, anyway. As is traditional, I start the round-up by telling you about my own writing, which I appreciate is pretty cheeky. Many...
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Review of 2024: Part 2 – Movies
Here's part two of my review of the year, focusing on FILMS. The format: 25 'discoveries', six old favourites, six stinkers, six movies re-appraised, and five areas of obsession.25 DISCOVERIES or...
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