The Brown Note Movie Review

Caribou - Honey (2024) Album Review

Although it wont stand on quality as being one of the esteemed Dan Snaith's finest, as either Caribou or his other alt Daphne, Honey will go down as one of the most important and challenging albums of this era. The use of AI in music is already a hugely controversial topic and one Snaith hits head on by using AI to turn his own voice into a variety of female singers.

Gone But Forgotten: The House of Love

My infrequent series on albums, movies or bands that were either denied classic status on release or have been forgotten about since. I've gone on at painful length about my anger at The House of Love - the first exciting and original British indie guitar band since The Smiths - never being included in conversations about either Shoegaze or Britpop, despite being more foundational and sooner for bands like RIDE and Slowdive than My Bloody Valentine themselves. The fact is, that with most of their best material being recorded before the 90's waves even began, they were too soon to a party they helped create. Here a look back at their debut album and the releases either side, that show them as one of the best British bands of the whole show.

A Shout out to the Needle Drop (Anthony Fantano)

A quick shout out of total respect to the Internets busiest music nerd, The Needle Drop, AKA Anthony Fantano. His recent posts on Macklemore and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, have been amazing in a world where so many journalists and socially conscious artists avoid the genocide in Gaza like the plague. Link below

https://youtu.be/oInyT46gNHE?si=VvN9SJfON9Y6_6n8

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) Movie Review

Outstanding meta commentary, charisma between the leads, humor. Actual film and story - quite slight.

The Crow (2024) Movie Review

It's been a while between drinks (Madame Web I think) but we're back and firing with a BIG FAT ZERO out of ten for this well loved and warmly received remake of the overrated but hugely influential original. Here, FKA Twigs (with apparently BOTOX in both her face AND emotions), plays a talentless aspiring musician, with model looks, who hangs around in rich people's apartments >cough< whilst Machine Gun Kelly falls in love with her. If you can imagine how insufferable spending time with these two is, as they discuss their moon tattoos, you can imagine the awful first 40 minutes of The Crow being some of the hardest cinema I have watched this side of Salo or Come and See.

Blink Twice (2024) Movie Review

Nepo baby and first time director, Zoe Kravitz, takes on what's becoming quite a trope lately - rich people on an island behaving badly, in one of 2024's IT horror movies. Despite some strong ideas thematically, compared to the likes of Infinity Pool or The Menu or even Knives Out 2, it's nearer the back of the pack.

Floating Points - Cascade (2024) Album Review

The honorable Sam Shepherd returns with his raviest Floating Points album yet, and probably the years best electronic release.

Kinds of Kindness (2024) Film Review

Auteur of the moment, Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos shuns his recent foray into Hollywood royalty (The Favorite/Poor Things) with a return to the punishing uncomfortable art-house of The Killing of the Sacred Deer. For nearly three uncompromising hours, across three deliberately bleak and obtuse stories. It feels like either an attack or a challenge on the viewer but Jessie Plemons is a career best twice.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Wild God (2024) Album Review

Their 18th studio album unexpectedly turns the unfortunately thrilling second act of Nick Cave into the maximalist, away from the brilliant abstract, avant experimentalism of Skeleton Tree and Ghosteen. There's plenty to adore in Cave's battle with the God's, though the heavyweight first half of the album is more compelling than the more resigned and conventionally composed second half.

The Age of Cage: The Ten Best Modern Nicolas Cage Movies

We are all of us blessed to have lived in the same time as the deity Nicolas Cage, bathed in his magnificence. Now no longer viewed as an A list actor who went off the boil, his modern filmography contains numerous low key classics. My ten favorite Cage films from the last twenty years.