January 15th, 2008
Tuesday randomness: Banville, new albums, punctured man films
* Shane sent a shiver of remembrance up my spine with this post. The very same thing happened to me after interviewing John Banville, when the mini disc messed up while writing the recording to disc. When I got home and discovered it was blank, I felt ill. I found him pleasant if a little stern (understandable, as he was sick that day) and as interviewees go, he’s not someone you want to try and recall from memory. I had to sit down and do it straight away in case I forgot anything, squeezing every (often three or four-syllabled) word I could remember out of my brain. Without doubt, one of the most stressful pieces I’ve ever written. Anyway, the Arts Lives series trundles on and tonight’s subject is the man himself. It’s on RTE1 at 10.15pm.
* Listening to a lot of new albums - the lovely Innocence Mission (Fargo Records), new Goldfrapp album (ahead of an interview with her this week), the fast-slow-fast Hot Chip record, lots of nostalgic guitar fuzz from The Magnetic Fields and Kelley Polar. The fantastic video for ‘Chrysanthemum’ is here:
Also loving Dawn Landes album Fireproof, and another great video, ‘Bodyguard’
Which brings me to Nick Cave, (still looking great at 50 despite the porn ‘tache and receding issues). The title track from the new album is very - unbelievably - catchy. Not a word usually used about Mr. Cave’s music, well at least not since the days of ‘Deanna’, I’d say.
* And finally… so Atonement beat off very stiff competition in its category to win Best Picture - Drama at the Golden Globes. Is it just me, or has there been an awful lot of films (many in that same Globes category) about punctured men over the last few months? (There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, American Gangster, The Darjeeling Limited, Charlie Wilson’s War, Eastern Promises, The Assassination of Jesse James)?
January 15th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Fireproof is SO good. Can’t stop listening to it.
January 15th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Is it just me, or has there been an awful lot of films (many in that same Globes category) about punctured men over the last few months?
January 15th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Its just that men are not afraid to show vulnerability and be in touch with their feelings. If women could only feel empathy, you might understand this… Cheer up - John Rambo and the emotionally fecked-up Dark Knight himself will be along soon!
January 15th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Una, it’s my favourite album of January so far.
Jim, who’d have thought that men were better at the warm, fuzzy stuff than women?
But seriously, enough with all the sweat and soul-searching.
I am VERY excited about the Dark Knight, even if I’m not sure about Heath Ledger as The Joker. Rambo? Well, I think I must have been one of the few people who liked last year’s Rocky film. Gotta admire Sly for giving it another pop.
January 15th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
You’re s’right Sinead, re the theme of films in the last while.
That’s why it’s so refreshing and uplifting to see Juno, amidst all that.
Here’s the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ3i47DnkJ4
January 16th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Wow… I didn’t realise Nick Cave was 50! I’m really liking his and Warren Ellis’ soundtrack to The Assassination of Jesse James, too.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:01 am
sinead - Dawn Landes is touring Ireland next week with (the truly woeful) Stars. Might be worth checking her out live - I saw her in Tuillamore last year and she was fantastic.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Of course that should be “Tullamore”
January 16th, 2008 at 11:18 am
DC, really looking forward to Juno, hoping to get along to a screening tonight.
Catherine, he has indeed hit the big 5-0. I’ve always had a terrible crush on him since my teens, and faltering hairlines have done nothing to change that. That soundtrack is lovely, you should also check out the moody atmospherics they did for The Proposition.
Jim, oh thanks for that, I’d probably have missed that. So does that mean I have to sit through Stars doing that awful ‘Up In Our Bedroom…’ album. Tuillamore sounds far more exotic.
January 16th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Thanks for the suggestions on new music as always. I’m coming to the end of my catch-up on people’s lists for 2007 so the timing is perfect.
Only three of the films you mentioned have come out in Italy so far, I’m feeling left behind in the hype but excited at the possibility of seeing them eventually.
May 29th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
[…] her debut album, was released earlier this year (video link for single ‘Bodyguard’ in this post) on Fargo Records. For more information, gig dates and tracks, visit […]