The Brown Note Movie Review

Chat Pile - God’s Country (2022) Album Review

Normally one noise or hardcore act will breakthrough the walls of their genre each year, but with Soul Glo and now this Oklahoma based sludge metal band, dropping two of the years most exiting debuts, that looks like being two. This time keeping the politicised nature of the former band's music but in an even more direct an honest form on the anti-homelessness tirade, Why? A terrific, noisy and timely scream into the void.

Prey (2022) Movie Review

I'm latently a big believer that the Predator series is one of the most underappreciated of franchises, but Prey recognises a complete rebirth (after the undervalued Shane Black attempt recently). Instantly the paradigm of dumping the predator in different periods of history has proven a winning move. I had looked up who the spectacularly named Amber Midthunder was in three previous low rent (ish) films, so was not surprised by her winning turn here, I was surprised by this turning into Predator vs The Revenant! And by how amazing it is, from nowhere, one of the films of the year.

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) Movie Reveiw

The most baffling Marvel universe film yet and a massive signifier of just how badly the wheels have fallen off after Endgame. Now way in the past would the first half of this film have ever been allowed, and the light seems to have slightly dimmed on wonder director, Taika Waititi, after the roaring success of Thor Ragnorak. It's like there is no quality control at all anymore and no one is at the helm. The first half maybe the worst of any Marvel film, its grating, Benny Hill like comedic tone (and completely misguided narration from the director himself) at incongruous odds with the story arcs of Christian Bale and Natalie Portman, plus no one wanted dad-bod Thor at this point. The vastly superior second half, resets everything, and feels like an entirely different director took over.

Black Midi - Hellfire (2022) Album Review

Arguably the king pins of the golden rebirth of British indie guitar music, alongside the likes of Black Country, New Road, Squid and Working Men's Club, return for a third album, and again seem like a group who play tennis upside down because they were bored kids not being challenged. Despite initial misgivings about them being too noisy or too frenetic here - there are plenty of oasis of calm, and it maybe their best yet.

Working Men’s Club - Fear Fear (2022) Album Review

The northern English band, one of the guiding light of the golden new wave of British indie, return with a second album. Though still a fine and cohesive record, it perhaps doesn't reach the thrilling, lofty, dynamic heights of either their debut or recent records by their peers.

Sun’s Signature - Sun’s Signature (2022) Album Review

Elizabeth Fraser is the greatest British indie singer of all time and the most beautifully expressive British female vocalist this side of Kate Bush, in fact she's in a tiny peer group with Bush and Bjork. She has chosen now, at this darkest of hours to return to grace us with her totally undimmed golden voice. With her partner Damon Reece, they've sculpted a small album of infinite beauty and star spun wonder. Like Galadriel returned from the West to save us. And it really makes you talk that wanky.

The Grey Man (2022) Movie Review

Once the home of some of the best and most artistic films each year, Netflix has sunk firmly into an annoying paradigm - throw 100-200 million dollars at a cool action project but give it a terrible screenplay and poor director. Here at least the presence of the Russo brothers would appear to allay the latter but to no effect on the former.

James Franco: Should An Actor Only Play Who They Are?

No, absolutely not. I have a lot of problems with modern activism and its focus on small things but the rally to only have an actor play a role to which they are assigned is simply upside down, wrong head and self destructive. Equality is not only a trans, gay, disabled or ethnic minority being able to play those roles, its trans, gay, disabled or ethnic minority actors having equal opportunity to play any role.

Crimes Of The Future (2022) Film Review

Perhaps no-one deserves the moniker of post Kubrick auteur than Canadian director, David Cronenberg, who has plowed his own singular vision, without bending to any outside will, for decades. His entire body of work is surprisingly vast and full and his latest plays like a greatest hits riff on it all - as denoted by reusing a film title and re-writing a story he never completed, including his first return to the body horror that made him this century. Though not quite the equal of the films I recognized here - the surgery = sex of Dead Ringers, the body mangling of Crash, the dystopian underground secret world of Videodrome, even Eastern Promises gets a nod - it's still among the best and most interesting films this year. Long time compatriot Viggo Mortensen cuts a bizarrely compelling Hunchback of Notre Dame via Aragorn character and two actresses I've often criticised shine. Lea Seydoux has never been better and it what universe is it even possible that Kristen Stewart 'lights up' the screen?!

Neil Young And Crazy Horse - Toast (2022) Album Review

In one of the most prolific archival releases from any artist in history, a genuine previously canned Neil Young and Crazy Horse album would appear to be one of the top tier items to have come out. This is tempered by the fact the album was virtually re-recorded with Booker T and the MG's as Are You Passionate, never an album I particularly liked. But the low key stakes are perhaps the album's greatest strength, nothing is a dud and tracks like Going Home and Boom Boom Boom are long form burn barner's worthy of Crazy Horse cannon.