FUNDING DIANE CLUCK

It looks almost certain that Diane Cluck’s Song-of- the- Week project will be fully funded. As of 28th January, she has raised 96% of the total she needs – $14,419 towards the $15,000 goal.

I’ve put $50 towards this worthy cause  and recommend you choose a subscription level you can afford for the final push as the deadline of 30th January approaches.

There’s a great interview with Diane about this project at Bobbysix.Com that may convince you to give generously.

I like her affirmative outlook which you can guage from these words:
“In many ways, I’m taking more responsibility for the outcome of my life. A lot of conventional music business protocol didn’t make sense to me, and I spent more time reacting against a system I didn’t like rather than laying the groundwork for my own. That’s what I’m doing now, with help, and I think the times we’re in now are actually fostering that growth in me, making it easier. Song-of-the-Week is helping me commit to more follow-through with my creative ideas. I’m discovering how helpful organization can be… and how much I’ve needed it for a long time. I’m learning to schedule my own work days as well as time off”.

ANGEL : ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE

The Real Life of Angel Deverell directed by François Ozon (UK, 2007)

"Say you like me or the pussy cats die!"

This perfectly appalling movie is based on the 1957 novel, Angel, by Elizabeth Taylor whose unlovable protagonist was inspired by Marie Corelli, Queen Victoria’s favourite writer.

Angel specialises in slushy romantic fiction and her vivid imagination makes up for her ignorance.

She writes with authority about Italy without ever having been and won’t change a word of her novels even when they contain blatant errors like a description of opening a bottle of champagne with a corkscrew.

Her refusal to compromise for her ‘art’ makes her insufferable. You might admire her drive and single-minded determination to rise above humble beginnings but she is such a hideous personality that you just end up loathing her.

DARE DUKES – THUGS AND CHINA DOLLS

I’ve just posted my review at Whisperin’ & Hollerin’ to the second album by Dare Dukes + The Blackstock Collection, Thugs & China Dolls which has been on repeat play for the past week.

This is one of those records which you hear once and think ‘This is quite nice’ and then on each subsequent hearing the adjective goes up a notch.

You could call it ‘a grower’ if you don’t mind sounding like a guest on Smashey and Nicey ‘s Fab FM.

FISH TANK : LIFE’S A BITCH

FISH TANK directed by  Andrea Arnold (UK, 2009)

Andrea Arnold’s bold debut movie was about a CCTV operator in Glasgow and in a strange way her brilliant follow up ,Fish Tank, is also about surveillance. Yet, while in Red Road the woman was on the outside looking in, the teenage protagonist of Fish Tank is on the inside looking out.

Mia is 15 and her life on a council estate in Essex is about as interesting and varied as that of a goldfish. Money is tight but the flat where she lives with her mother and younger sister, Tyler, is decent enough;  above all, hers  is a poverty of the soul.

Her mom is more interested in partying than parenting so Mia and Tyler have become pretty wild and unruly. Like many kids of this age (and I speak from experience as the father of a girl around the same age) Mia is emotionally confused and desperately needs to find a way out of what she perceives as a boring, dead-end existence.

School offers nothing and she is on the point of being expelled. You could say that she doesn’t do a lot to help make things better. She’s on the defensive even before she is directly criticised and gets violent and/or foul mouthed when crossed. Yet, her streetwise bearing and combative behaviour is mostly just a front.

Katie Jarvis got the part as Mia when a casting agent saw her having a row with her boyfriend at Tilbury railway station (one of the locations in the movie). She was cast for her attitude rather her acting experience; a risk that could easily have backfired but doesn’t as she manages to pull off the difficult feat of looking scary and sassy while also convincing us of her vulnerability.

MICKEY MOUSE DOESN’T PLAY FAIR

If Joy Division had chosen an image of Mickey Mouse for the cover of their debut album, Disney’s corporate lawyers would have been on their backs as fast as you could say “globalized economic and commercial interests”.

So what is the difference when Peter Saville’s artwork for Unknown Pleasures is appropriated by the ubiquitous cartoon rodent for a T-shirt design?

This is not a ‘rock homage’ but a blatant rip-off and a sacrilegious one at that.

Sue the bastards I say!