I’ve only just found out that one of my favourite films, Unbreakable, had a sequel and I didn’t even know about it. Apparently a film called Split starring James McAvoy came out a couple of years ago (it passed me by completely) and in a surprise ending revealed itself to be a sequel to Unbreakable.

I’m not spoiling anything here. The cat is out of the bag now and there is a third film, Glass, being advertised now which reunites the entire cast of both previous films, including Bruce Willis and Samuel L Jackson.

I’m slightly concerned… Unbreakable was such a perfect standalone film that I’m wary of sequels. In hindsight it did something that NONE of the subsequent mainstream superhero films have done, which is to treat the superhero genre with the subtlety and maturity it deserves. It’s so low-key it can hardly be called a superhero film at all.

Unbreakable also crystallised Shyamalan’s unique approach. At his peak (Signs, The Village) he was a master at recontextualising hokey, pulpy plots into quite emotional and spiritual experiences. Like Tarantino, he was a master of merging high and low art approaches. I’m a staunch defender of his peak films.

Crucially, » Continue Reading.

If we had to elect a Patron Saint (an honorary figurehead if you like) I’d vote Robert Plant.

– Unlike Kate Bush, he’s male, and a sizeable proportion of us on here are men. Sorry, but it’s true.

– unlike Bowie, he’s alive.

– He’s current AND heritage. Unlike Macca who even his most fervent fans would admit is probably purely a heritage act now.

– I think he’s less divisive than Dylan or Richard Thompson. A lot of people on here (including me) have respect and love for what he does and what he has done.

– But crucially, he’s not a bland favourite. He excites, but also repels people who don’t like him. You want a Patron Saint to be someone that not everyone likes, so the rebels can be happy to have someone to kick against.

So what do you say? Sir Robert Plant, Patron Saint of The Afterword?

List thread alert!

I overheard this as the phone in topic on a radio show the other day, and I thought it would make an interesting thread. So … artists who have chosen to do a completely new recording of the same song, for whatever reason.

(It’s such an obvious idea for a list thread I can’t believe it hasn’t been done before… so it probably has… but hey ho).

I’m not talking about: – live versions (too obvious) – acoustic remakes (because EVERYONE has done that) – remixes (too common) – bootlegs (I mean proper released versions only)

The two that spring to mind for me are: – Bowie re-recorded Space Oddity not once but twice. I believe there was an original version in ’67 or ’68 that sounded a bit twee and it bombed, then the classic ’60 one, then he did a complete reworking (which is terrific and sinister) in 1980. – Kate Bush wasn’t happy with her original “squeaky” version of Wuthering Heights (she was wrong, but it’s fair enough as she was probably about 16 or something at the time) so took the opportunity to re-record it for her Greatest Hits collection in the late » Continue Reading.

I’m not averse to a bit of dance music. I’ve never been to Ibiza. I’d quite like to go, at least once. I mean the full on, clubbing until dawn experience.

I’m 45? Am I too old? Am I going to feel like a fish out of water? Any old ravers in the afterword massive?

Google it if you don’t know what I’m talking about!

I find this stuff really fascinating. I hear ‘laurel’ quite convincingly but I played it to my seven year old who heard ‘eeany’.

The brain is a weird thing and objective reality is more fluid than we thought….

I’m going to see Damo Suzuki at Mono in Glasgow tomorrow night with a group of married straight male friends. It made us ponder how much listening to CAN music is a bit of a solitary affair, in that we can only really do it when our wives aren’t present.

Which made us wonder, do any women actually like CAN?

Which made we wonder, what other music seems to be the sole domain of men?

I’m slightly worried that I’m actually sexist for even asking this.

Anyway, looking forward to the gig, and I’ll try and review it for here. I haven’t a clue what he’s going to look like or sound like or anything.

(Please no grumbling if you are just not a fan – unless you are constructive in your criticism!)

I thought it was excellent. As I suspected, the trumpeted ‘improv’ nature of this episode was almost unnoticeable. It was just the usual good natured rambling and easy bonhomie. Maybe a bit more rambling and aimless than usual, but still just as funny as ever.

Some great observations like ‘what’s the u in a club sandwich?’ and the wrong song to be playing while you are driving past an accident.

I was a bit puzzled by the continuity though. Is this meant to be a flashback before the emotions of that last episode? Or have we jumped on a few months? Or is it outside the normal continuity like a Comic Relief special or something? These kinds of things bother me.

But overall just good to be back on the daily commute with this pair. Can’t wait for the next one.

I’m not sure when this went up but I’ve only just found out about it and it might be of interest to some here.

The BBC have posted online 16,016 downloadable WAVs from their sound effects library. It makes for some fascinating, eclectic listening. If you were dedicated you could probably create your own Goon Show or Archers episode….

Hope the link works! Knock yourself out!

http://bbcsfx.acropolis.org.uk/

I know this probably isn’t the proper place to ask this, but I’m not a member of any audio forums and I suspect many people on this blog are hobbyist musicians like myself.

I’m toying with the idea of augmenting my modest home studio a little bit, and looking at getting a patch bay set up to finally cure the need to crawl behind things unplugging them all the time. But it’s only just struck me that this will end up multiplying my cables exponentially.

So I’d like to stock up on a load of XLR and TRS cables and patch leads. I usually just buy stuff in Maplin or somewhere similar. But they are pretty expensive if you are buying more than one or two.

Is there a cost effective way to do this? If you are a home musician, where do you buy yours? Is there somewhere online you can get a bulk deal?

Ok, here’s a question. And the trick here is I don’t want a technical answer, I want it in layman’a terms, an idiot proof answer that will make me go ‘aaaah! I see!’ after all these years.

I can just about ‘get’ how a mono record stylus would make sounds – the tiny bumps in the record vibrate the needle and those vibrations are then amplified into sound – check. That does me, I don’t want to hear any more about mono sound.

But how do you get STEREO sound, two completely different sounds, from a single needle on a single groove?

I need a snappy answer here, something I can pass off as my own knowledge if I need to at one of my many dinner parties.

I’ve had people talk to me about a river with two sides, I’ve heard talk of ‘sum vs difference’ and whatnot…. but can someone just EXPLAIN how it works?

Honestly I wish someone had just lied to me and told me there are actually two separate tiny needles, not one. I probably would have died happy and I wouldn’t even have bothered to check.

Can anyone put me out of my » Continue Reading.

I’m sitting at work just now, and this morning a colleague started humming a little tune – well, more of a riff or hook – “ba bara ba ba baba baraba….”

It was driving us made trying to work out what it was. Then she identified that it was the opening horn riff from a tune from the musical Hairspray – “You Can’t Stop the Beat”.

(I’d post a youtube link if I could – but I can’t, I’m sitting at work.)

Now…

I KNOW this hook, but I’ve never knowingly watched Hairspray or listened to the soundtrack. I’m absolutely SURE they’ve nicked this from an old song. From browsing the Hairspray soundtrack it sounds like a lot of the tunes are nicked from 60s songs, but changed just enough to avoid copyright.

So the question is: What is the song I’m thinking of?? I’m going out of my mind here. I have this little horn riff going round and round in my head and I can’t work out what it is. I’m sure it’s something Motown or similar? Some kind of driving, upbeat instrumental tune?

Heeeeelp!!

I find it very depressing. Casts a shadow over everything he’s done. What was he playing at?