pogoism

I first heard of Neon Neon when The Guardian released some tracks to download relating to Glastonbury back in June. The track they had for Neon Neon was “Belfast”, so that instantly drew my attention (though I hoped it wouldn’t be like the last track I heard with the same title…

So, I thought I’d give their album a spin, see what it was like.

Neon Neon comes from the pairing of Boom Bip and Gryff Rhys (from Super Furry Animals), and were originally called Delorean, for reasons that you’ll see later.

When I first heard Belfast, I immediately drew comparisons to other bands, notably Chromeo and Neosupervital. Overall, the album is a weird mix of 80s electro, hip-hop and indie, but they manage to blend the three so that they work really well.

Stainless Style is a concept album based on the life of John De Lorean, a car designer with a playboy reputation. Said Rhys of the idea

a full-on concept record about the wives and lives [...] Of John DeLorean, so it’s been a real pleasure to write about a specific subject, and to think about various scenarios relating to his life and imaginary scenarios that may have happened to him on the way. And so musically we’ve been writing in a style that personally mirrored his kind of fast, cocktail-driven lifestyle. [...] It’s a very frivolous electro-pop record about the first playboy engineer. [Pitchfork Media]

This connection is obvious on a few tracks – Dream Cars, Raquel (about an alleged affair he had with actress Raquel Welch in the 1970s), I Lust U (about his affairs) and Belfast (about the city where he once had a car factory).

Neon Neon, at Summercase 2008

Having had a few listens of this album now, its a mixed bag – there are some great tracks, some okay tracks, and some really irritating tracks. Some of my favourites are the fast-paced I Told Her on Alderaan, catchy indie track Steel Your Girl and latest single, the smooth I Lust U. However, the album is let down by the annoying tracks – Raquel being the main offender. Add into this the fact that its blatantly obvious which tracks belong to who.

The final verdict? Overall, a very solid album, and it appeals to a variety of genres – it’s just a shame that there some weak tracks.

After the jump, the video for new single I Lust U.

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This Is England

I’ve been meaning to watch This Is England for absolutely ages, but finally got round to it this week. I had read glowing reviews of it, so started watching it with high hopes, but to be honest it did disappoint a little.

It’s a film that explores part of the skinhead movement in working-class England in 1983, and follows the story of one boy, Shaun. We quickly learn that Shaun’s dad was killed in the Falklands War. After being bullied at school one day, he runs into a group of older skinheads, and he becomes part of their group. Then, Combo, an older skinhead, returns to the group after serving a prison sentence, and radicalises the group into becoming anti-immigrant. A few leave the group, but Shaun decides to stay. Then, one night, they all get high, and Combo beats Milky, the only black member from the original group, and kills him, leading Shaun to question the movement.

Overall, it’s a very powerful and tense film, particularly with the use of original footage from the era, showing events such as the Falkland’s War, and speeches from Margaret Thatcher, grounding it in periodic authenticity. However, there were some cringy moments, like the ‘first kiss’ scene, and the story between Combo and his ex-girlfriend. Despite this though, it’s honest and true, and a great depiction of the skinhead movement.

I’d highly recommend you make an effort to see this, it’s one of the finest examples of British cinema out there.

XXY

I went with a few mates to QFT to see XXY, and none of us were really sure what to expect. I assumed the title referred to the medicial condition Klinefelter’s Syndrome, where the patient has the chromosomes XXY, as opposed to XX (for a female) or XY (for a male). This usually results in smaller testicles, and reduced or complete eradication of sterility. However, it quickly became clear that the film was not about this, as it was said that the main chacracter, Alex, is actually intersex (has both male and female genitalia).

Alex has been brought up her whole life on a cocktail of drugs and medication to keep her outward appearance female, but we learn that she has stopped taking her medications. Alex’s parents have moved her around a lot, to keep her from the negativity that could result, and have moved to a secluded location near the sea in Uruguay. Her mother, Suli, invites some of her friends, one of them a surgeon, from Argentina to stay to discuss the possibility of an operation. Alex has sex with Álvaro, the surgeon’s son. Then, some local men find Alex and forcibly pull Alex’s pants down so they can see her genetalia, but they decide not to report it to the police. Alex decides that she no longer wants to take the medication, or have an operation.

This is a very daring film, with the issue of intersex people rarely explored. I can only think of one instance, and that was (a very good) episode of Grey’s Anatomy. The filmmaker treats it very delicately and fairly. It is a truly beautiful film, with much attention paid to the characters emotions and the scenery. Perhaps the best thing about this film is the ending – there isn’t really one. Its annoying when you step out of the cinema, but with more thought, I realised that this is probably the best way, as for Alex, there isn’t really an ending.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, despite the subject not being what I thought it would be. However, my friends didn’t really seem to like it, so the verdict’s out…

The Dark Knight

Now, I have to admit, that I’m not really a fan of these comic-book films, and I went to this film reluctantly. I was wary that it was going to be a victim of it’s own hype, and not quite manage to cut it, and the length worried me somewhat.

How wrong I was.

What a fantastic film! The plot is somewhat long and complex, so I won’t go too much into it here, but it focusses on Batman’s (Christian Bale) fight with the Joker (Heath Ledger) and DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), and his affections for DA’s assistant Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal).

Heath Ledger really is as good as everyone is saying he is, on par with Hopkin’s Lecter, Christian Bale as Batman was good too. Everything about this film is marvellous!

Go see it, now!

Alphabeat

Speakeasy

Monday 14th July 2008

After having cancelled their date in May, Alphabeat brought their cheery 80s-inspired europop to rather warm bar in Belfast.

Support came from local band AJ Suzuki, who I wasn’t overly impressed with on the night, but having listened to some more of their stuff on their MySpace, it’s growing on me. One thing irked me, however. They encouraged under-age people to get their mates to buy them alcohol. It’s one of my pet hates when bands do stuff like this – it’s not cool, it’s pathetic. Anyway…

Then, at around 9pm, and after whipping up the crowd with a long intro, Alphabeat came on. They did most (if not all) of the tracks from the UK release of their album. It was interesting to see that not many people seemed to know the 3 new tracks on the UK release (Go Go, Touch Me Touching You and Public Image). It really was boiling, with Anders SG drenched in sweat by the 2nd song, no doubt due to his deranged dancing!

Personal highlights for me were Fantastic 6 (woo woo!), Go Go and the encore, Fascination. The gig was let down a bit however by the cover of the Sugababes track Push the Button. If you’re going to cover a song, you have to make some effort to make it your own, and I don’t think Alphabeat managed that.

But, overall, a great gig, well worth the wait!

After the jump, the video for the new version of Boyfriend and a few more (not very good) photos…

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