I came across The Black Keys on Channel 4's Live from Abbey Road, and I have to confess to mixed feelings. It was nice to hear something raw and immediate after the anodyne Hoosiers, and they certainly kick up a fair racket, but I still have reservations.
I fought the temptation to compare them with The White Stripes, simply because of their lineup: if they were a bogstandard four-piece, I wouldn't feel the need to make any invidious comparisons. But, then there was the rather similar musical territory, minus Meg White's rudimentary approach to drums - arguably a large part of The White Stripes' appeal.
Call me slow on the uptake, but they were a couple of songs into their set, before I clocked the name: The Black Keys, The White Stripes - someone somewhere is taking the mick.
Sunday 27 July 2008
Thursday 24 July 2008
Privacy ruling
It was announced today that Max Mosley has won his privacy case against the News of the World. I have had reservations about privacy laws since the early 90s when Robert Maxwell - incidentally an outspoken opponent of the introduction of such laws in the UK - attempted to use French privacy laws to prevent the publication of a biography. Nevertheless, in the Mosley case, I think the right result has been reached.
The argument that the ruling will hinder investigative journalism is bogus. There was no serious investigation here. Colin Myler, News of the World editor, has admited that the paper did not even go to the trouble of translating German spoken by Mosley during his session. It is no use claiming your readers have the 'right to know', if you aren't giving them the full story.
The other key point is the word 'privacy'. These matters clearly related to Mosley's private life. Journalists conducting investigations into the professional lives of public figures, for example political corruption, are clearly involved in a different activity altogether. Provided such investigations are carried out in good faith, it is difficult to see how today's ruling will hinder them.
http://http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/24/mosley.privacy
The argument that the ruling will hinder investigative journalism is bogus. There was no serious investigation here. Colin Myler, News of the World editor, has admited that the paper did not even go to the trouble of translating German spoken by Mosley during his session. It is no use claiming your readers have the 'right to know', if you aren't giving them the full story.
The other key point is the word 'privacy'. These matters clearly related to Mosley's private life. Journalists conducting investigations into the professional lives of public figures, for example political corruption, are clearly involved in a different activity altogether. Provided such investigations are carried out in good faith, it is difficult to see how today's ruling will hinder them.
http://http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/24/mosley.privacy
Friday 11 July 2008
Augie March
Augie March are not well known outside their native Australia. In fact, I'm not sure how well known they are in Australia. I received their third album, Moo You Bloody Choir to review in 2007.
The main focus of the band is singer/songwriter Glenn Richards. I have to say, I am ambivalent about singer/songwriters, singer-songwriters, and singersongwriters: I am a huge fan of Dylan, Costello, Waits & Cohen, but these artists have also inspired a million whimpy wannabes - James Blunt, you are one of many. Augie March knocked me out from the off.
Firstly, they are so much more than a songwriter's backing band. Moo You Bloody Choir ranges from the jazz-tinged 'The Honey Month', through the garage rock of 'Just Passing Through', and on to 'Vernoona', which is as strange sounding as its title.
The highpoint is found in the lyrics to opening track 'One Crowded Hour':
Did you expect to see something that you'd never seen,
in somebody you'd known since you were sixteen?
And if love is just a bolt from the blue,
then what is that bolt but a glorified screw,
that doesn't hold nothing together?
Many albums start with a fantastic opener (often released as a first single), before trailing into mediocrity. Moo You Bloody Choir, however, presents highlight after highlight.
http://www.augiemarch.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWEahIQGsZY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRgKaH4nDP4&feature=related
The main focus of the band is singer/songwriter Glenn Richards. I have to say, I am ambivalent about singer/songwriters, singer-songwriters, and singersongwriters: I am a huge fan of Dylan, Costello, Waits & Cohen, but these artists have also inspired a million whimpy wannabes - James Blunt, you are one of many. Augie March knocked me out from the off.
Firstly, they are so much more than a songwriter's backing band. Moo You Bloody Choir ranges from the jazz-tinged 'The Honey Month', through the garage rock of 'Just Passing Through', and on to 'Vernoona', which is as strange sounding as its title.
The highpoint is found in the lyrics to opening track 'One Crowded Hour':
Did you expect to see something that you'd never seen,
in somebody you'd known since you were sixteen?
And if love is just a bolt from the blue,
then what is that bolt but a glorified screw,
that doesn't hold nothing together?
Many albums start with a fantastic opener (often released as a first single), before trailing into mediocrity. Moo You Bloody Choir, however, presents highlight after highlight.
http://www.augiemarch.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWEahIQGsZY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRgKaH4nDP4&feature=related
Thursday 10 July 2008
Innovative new comedy?
I have heard that the day after The Office was first broadcast, co-creator Stephen Merchant overheard two women talking about it on the train. One woman thought that this new documentary was the funniest thing she'd ever seen, until her friend pointed out that it was meant to be a comedy: "Well it's not very funny", she said.
The creators of BBC 1's Bonekickers may have experienced the opposite effect. If it is a comedy, it is an effort of real genius. It satirises rightwing fundamentalism, archaeology and British low-budget TV drama. The highlight was the scene in which two of the fundamentalists - both some kind of Neo Knights Templar - perish if a blaze of burning crosses.
Sadly, if this programme is meant to be a serious drama, or even just a bit of peaktime fluff, it fails miserably.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bonekickers/
The creators of BBC 1's Bonekickers may have experienced the opposite effect. If it is a comedy, it is an effort of real genius. It satirises rightwing fundamentalism, archaeology and British low-budget TV drama. The highlight was the scene in which two of the fundamentalists - both some kind of Neo Knights Templar - perish if a blaze of burning crosses.
Sadly, if this programme is meant to be a serious drama, or even just a bit of peaktime fluff, it fails miserably.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bonekickers/
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