Fuse issue 21

The Naked Heel / The Disappearance of Alice Creed / We Have Band

Fuse.

Features.Short Fuse.

Editorial

Fuse.

Thursday March 18 2010

What do you do with your spare time?

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Do you have a friend who seems to cram so much more into their student life than you? Sometimes the achievements of fellow students can make you feel a little inadequate about your own time management during your years at the university; just take a look at the sports pages and read about our successes at BUCS if you want to feel bad about yourself.

Perhaps, like me, you’re not a natural athlete and the sporting excellence of others your age has never particularly galvanised you into filling your diary with days spent at the gym.

Well rest assured that there are those away from the sports field whose talents and efforts are equally impressive. Take, for example, Will Milner and Richard Scott, featured in this week’s Fuse, who in their spare time have managed to produce their own graphic novel, Gallus Gallus: The Naked Heel. As Amy Patricia Smith writes in her article, what the pairs’ project highlights is “what students are capable of even when working on our courses and careers.”

No doubt at some point in your university life the Careers Service have pointed out to you the importance of extracurricular activities on your CV, but if that’s your only motivation for participating in such things then you’re missing the point. Yes, it is good to have been captain of this team or chair of that society, but you have to get enjoyment out of it.

Milner and Scott’s graphic novel wasn’t done to improve their employment prospects, neither was J. Blakeson’s filmmaking as a student, another of this week’s Fuse interviewees.

They put in the immense amount of hard work for the love of it.

Undoubtedly though, going it alone is an incredibly difficult thing to do and the structure for pursuing your interests within a university society is perfectly fine and commendable. You can put a lot of time and energy into a society simply for the want of improving it and your own skills without the pursuit of personal agendas.

Either side of the Easter holidays tends to be the time for various societies to have their AGMs and elect their committees for 2010/2011. If you are telling yourself that you won’t participate more because you don’t have enough time then think about how much plenty of other people manage to squeeze into their time at university before discounting what could turn out to be incredibly rewarding. And if your student life seems a little slow-paced, then perhaps you should access how much time you spend watching Friends reruns.

Unnecessary fingerpointing in 3D debate A-side Against 3D cinema Less revolution, more gimmick First, let’s look at the part of 3D that is most obvious: its visual effect. I don’t know about you, but I have been watching films for a good few years now and quite frankly at no point have I sat and thought to myself: ‘You know what? This would be so good in 3D!’ That is to say that when it wasn’t there, nobody really cared otherwise; cinema could still be enjoyed and visuals could still be breathtaking if a good director was at the helm with a good cinematographer as his wingman.

I acknowledge this is something of a backward approach; I mean we’d still be in the Stone Age with that attitude. However, it seems to add very little to the cinematic experience at all. Vibrant colour?

Incredible effects? More like unneeded close ups of foliage to give the full effect, or the ‘something is coming flying towards the screen’ moment which is usually not in keeping with the script at all.

If you don’t notice it, why pay through the nose for it?

Of course, these moments aren’t needed in themselves, but are necessary to remind the audience that they are in fact watching a 3D film.

Owing to the way the human eye is made, it quickly accommodates itself to interpret what it’s seeing – 15 minutes in, and it’s more than likely that the entire audience has forgotten the film is in 3D at all.

Okay then, you might be asking, if you don’t notice 3D half the time, what’s the gripe? Well, if you don’t notice it, then by heck why should you pay through the nose for it? The cinema for a student (or anyone for that matter) should be affordable. Cineworld charge an extra £1.90 on top of their adult tickets, not to mention the extra 80p for the glasses.

When you consider that their adult ticket is already £7.10, you are looking at £9.80 to see a film. Daylight robbery? When you consider that the majority of 3D film releases in recent times and in the foreseeable future are aimed at family audiences

James Cameron believes blue looks better in 3D. He is set to direct Viagra’s revolutionary new commercial.

(Alice in Wonderland; Up; Toy Story 3), the extra cost for children as well must make a family trip to the cinema a luxury, not a regular occurrence.

Oh, and the glasses.

I wear glasses, I like my glasses and I chose them.

This means that when I watch a film, I can sit in comfort and give the film my undivided attention.

But when watching the 3D film, not only do I look like a complete and utter plonker, but I can’t concentrate because the stupid things are so bloody uncomfortable.

Normally, however, the main prerequisite for me to be able to enjoy a film (other than it actually being good) is to be able to watch it without receiving a headache in return. I know I’m not the only one; I go in fresh-faced and clear headed and come out exasperated and with a head that hurts so much anyone would think I had been pounding it against the seat in front for the last two hours. Which I probably have done after overhearing yet another adolescent lifts his glasses up and then whisper (by that I mean shout) to his mate: “It looks well weird when you take them off”. The companies that run geek based bar crawls must be rubbing their hands together.

Piracy is something that can’t be argued against when it comes to films. Yes 3D makes movies harder to pirate and this can only be a good thing, but why not just say it? Why not just say, ‘Yes, you know what, we are making you pay through the

nose, look like an idiot and give you a headache but it’s not because of the better cinematic experience. It’s because we’ll make more money from it.’ Then at least, we won’t have been lied to in the name of better cinema and everyone can see the good old 2D versions and forget that this stupid gimmick ever even came along.

Charles Dennett

B-side For 3D cinema The greatest revolution to ever hit cinema What my friend opposite will argue is that it’s pointless.

But he is simply wrong.

The added dimension is not just technologically brilliant. It’s advancement in entertainment.

For a start, let’s focus on the overall picture. The recent Avatar is a prime example of how the added dimension can add beauty to cinema. The planet of Pandora is effectively brought to life in the film.

Plants stand out in their vivid colours of green, red, and blue; characters look toned and lifelike; and the breathtaking action sequences are astonishingly developed into jaw-dropping battle epics. Each bullet, each blade of grass, each cool breath is rendered for maximum realism and beauty.

Avatar has become the biggest film ever made in terms of box-office performance.

James Cameron’s sci-fi epic has grossed over $2billion so far. And that doesn’t include future DVD sales, Avatar merchandise and probable sequels. Despite some scathing reviews, you can’t argue with popularity.

The overwhelming lust for Avatar is just the start of the future which is 3D film making.

All this talk of money leads onto another disputed point – that of the ticket prices to see 3D films. Admittedly, tickets for 3D films are more expensive – usually by a pound or so. And then there are the special glasses, which cost about 80p.

So, yes, a once £6 ticket suddenly edges ever closer to the £10 mark.

But think what you are paying for. Thousands of hours of work have been put into making this wondrous piece of beauty. The added dimension bridges the oft impossible gap between the experience and the audience. With 3D, films will no longer be something you watch. They will be an event.

The added dimension also prevents piracy. I’m not going to dwell on this much but, due to the complexities of filming in 3D, it’s harder to produce a pirate copy.

Surely preventing piracy is a good thing? After all, we all know it funds terrorism.

Numerous sightings of Bin Laden have been reported at various car boot sales...

Another criticism may be that the new film mode

gives viewers a headache.

For some this is true. But this is a good thing. Just bare with me.

We’re all students, right? Every so often we all venture out to a club and drink until we forget how to sit down. Some of us need to spend 10 or 20 quid.

Others will spend upwards of £50. Yes, you feel good for the moment. But the end result is always the same: a headache. If you are someone who enjoys selfharming headaches, you can now enjoy the luxury of a headache for a fraction of the price. Grab some money, go to the cinema and wallow in your migraine self-pity.

Also, no film can ever be criticised for being ‘shallow’ or ‘flimsy’ anymore. Every film - no matter how mindnumbingly horrendous – cannot be called ‘shallow’ ever again by the very nature that it has been enhanced by an added dimension.

Even the worst films imaginable will suddenly become entertainment masterpieces as they bask in their added depth and clarity.

And finally, the least important argument against 3D is that it makes you look like an idiot. This is simply untrue. I love wearing the 3D glasses. I kind of look like Ray Charles, or Roy Orbison. The last time I checked, those two are two of the coolest singers to have ever lived.

I’ll happily buy into 3D just to share a pedestal with them.

Ashley Scrace

Features.Short Fuse.

Time turns Weezer album into classic In Hindsight Pinkerton Weezer

reflect their live sound, and created a raw and brutal album, which was much less radio-friendly. More honest than The Blue Album, Pinkerton is specifically about Cuomo and the first person point of view only serves to emphasise the autobiographical feel. It was such a departure from the original sound that many Weezer fans almost thought that it was by a different band.

Pinkerton is blisteringly angry in a way that Weezer fans hadn’t heard before, screaming out Cuomo’s bitterness and upset – not aimed at ‘The World’, but turned inwards on himself.

It’s a solid album, with every song as good as or better than the last, and the singles – ‘El Scorcho’, ‘The Good Life’, and ‘Pink Triangle’ – aren’t weaker or even particularly catchier, but instead highlight everything right with this album.

‘Tired of Sex’ opens the record with a pounding

assault on the ears, sounding like The Blue Album would sound if it was put through a blender and taped back together.

A far cry from the easy hooks of ‘Buddy Holly’, ‘Tired of Sex’ is much more aggressive and serves as an introduction to an album which only spirals further into dark and caustic tones.

‘Butterfly’ best reflects the disillusionment Cuomo was feeling at the time.

The only acoustic song on the album, it has an eerie feel that seems to echo the expression ‘be careful what you wish for’. On the surface, it’s an innocent story of a child who accidentally killed a butterfly while trying to capture it, but the dark undertones are at odds with the simple melody.

‘Across the Sea’, however, is the real triumph.

Showcasing Weezer’s unique brand of power pop – which is, after all, what they do best – it starts off deceptively soft, building up slowly but surely before

Sci-fi-eclecto-disco for emptyfeeling former Fuzz Club goers Clubbers’Guide

Name of the night Put Down That Science Pole.

Tagline Weekly indie/ electronic/folk eclectodisco-party. Nowt fancy.

Just the tunes and the dancing.

Who runs it Children For Breakfast.

Where is it Bungalows Bears.

&

What type of music will be

playing Anything and everything.

Indie-pop; New Wave; grunge; pop; hip-hop; electro; techno; country; folk; twee; ’80s; and blues.

Door Tax It’s free.

Standard attire/Uniform Whatever you fancy.

Who’s it for People who feel a massive void now FUZZ CLUB has gone.

Ethos/Motto We play whatever we want.

We always party.

General Info It’s just Children For Breakfast and a revolving line-up of guest DJs. Sometimes there are live bands worthy of your attention and it’s always free.

Who’s played in the past Mumford & Sons; Nine Black Alps; The Momeraths; Just Handshakes (We’re British); Themselves; ROX; May68; and New Young Pony Club.

Who’s lined up for the future Chapel Club on Thursday, April 15.

Fuse thinks... Grizzly Bear were stunning who left the audience in awe when we saw them recently. Dreamy and serene, the music left you with the kind of inner warmth that you get when a lover strokes your hair.

Similar things could also be said about the support act Beach House, who were equally brilliant.

Fuse was... unimpressed

by Tim Burton’s new film Alice in Wonderland. As can be expected with any of Burton’s films it was visually stunning but the plot seemed to be something of an afterthought; a clunky mix between the original Disney film and Lewis Carroll’s ‘Jabberwocky’ poem that doesn’t really work. Add to that a stellar supporting cast that’s under used, an absence of any laughter and a performance

by Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter that’s just a quirky one-dimensional caricature, and you have a very disappointing film.

Fuse awaits... the return of Doctor Who this Easter with baited breath. The trailers have left us salivating with the promise that the incredibly scary Weeping Angels from 2007’s ‘Blink’ episode (written by new executive producer Steven Moffat) will be returning.

Let’s hope that the new Doctor, Matt Smith, can step into the very big shoes left by David Tennant (apparently they’re over 10 inches long?!)

Fuse has... decided that after giving Ellie Goulding grief in our previous issue we would take a look back at the previous years of the BBC Sound of... poll. OK, so quite a few of them have gone on to have success based on varying degrees of talent but here are a few that made the shortlist but you might struggle to remember: Sadie Ama, fourth in 2007; eighth on the Sound of 2006 poll was Marcos Hernandez; and from 2004, how about Gemma Fox, who was placed tenth.

Fuse is... looking forward to the release of Kick Ass, out over the Easter holidays on Friday, March 26. There’s a lot of hype surrounding the film but it look set to live up to it. It’s a refreshing pisstake on all the comic book films from the past decade and, as he stars in the film, it will follow the Nicholas Cage rule of thumb: it will be amazing or terrible or just insane.

Fuse.

Put DownThat Science Pole Bungalows & Bears

When is it on and how often is it It’s on every Thursday.

The Fuse team’s thoughts

Fuse recommends... a new night from the same people responsible for Death By Shoes. Where The Buffalo Roam starts tonight at one of our favourite little boozers, The Washington (it’s on Fitzwilliam Street for those that don’t know).

Playing the best in new and old alternative music from the likes of Yeasayer, Neil Young, Spoon, These New Puritans and Xiu Xiu, and with free entry, it should be well worth going along and enjoying a pint whilst good music plays.

Thursday March 18 2010

Pinkerton is the followup album to alt-rock band Weezer’s debut. It has become such a staple in music history that, to fans of the band, the name is usually spoken in hushed tones and treated as something almost sacred.

Although Rivers Cuomo, the eccentric frontman of the band, now claims to be embarrassed by it, most fans believe that this was the best album that Weezer ever made.

Written while Cuomo was at university, Pinkerton isn’t filled with the usual collegerock anthems. Nothing about Cuomo’s experience encouraged him to write cheery, optimistic songs about his future or all the good times life had in store for him. Instead, he spent the time wishing that the students in Weezer shirts would recognise him and rereading a letter from a Japanese fan, who he later became obsessed with. Pinkerton reflects this outsider’s view of Japan and the fragility it can be seen to have, with Japanese culture strongly entwined within the album (Pinkerton, for example, is the name of the protagonist in Madame Butterfly). Cuomo himself says: “The album kind of tells the story of my struggle with my inner Pinkerton.”

The Blue Album – Weezer’s debut – had a polished, professional sound, which Pinkerton differs massively from.

Weezer refused a producer, wanting to make the record

crashing into a powerful crescendo.

The thing about music is that it’s very difficult to sound dated. Unlike films, where production is evident and special effects age quickly, music doesn’t have the same sell-by date. Although the era is sometimes apparent – ’80s synth, ’70s punk – it never sounds old. It can, however, sometimes be irrelevant or no longer accessible – but Pinkerton can’t fall blame to any of those criticisms.

Perhaps more relevant today than it was when release in 1996, Pinkerton tells the same tale of isolation and apathy that listeners everywhere will find easy to identify with.

When Pinkerton was released, in a time when ska was thought to be the ‘next big thing’, it was both a commercial and a critical failure. Ahead of its time, it was simply too different.

Critics hated it, and Weezer fans could barely believe that it was the same band.

It was like Weezer were starting over, disregarding everything they’d gained from The Blue Album and fighting for credibility all over again.

Now, Pinkerton is seen as one of the cornerstones of emo. While these days, emo is more generally associated with My Chemical Romance and Panic at the Disco, Weezer had no eyeliner in sight. Instead, they took the style of music played by bands like the Promise Ring and Mineral and made it more accessible, with a darker, more primal assault, inspiring bands such as Bloc Party and Brand New. Soon becoming a cult hit, Pinkerton became the most important emo album of the ’90s.

Ace Carroll

Fuse Musings

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Interview.We Have Band.

We have lift off We Have Band’s Thomas W-P chats to Natasha Parker about their debut album, the group’s influences and piracy.

Fuse.

Thursday March 18 2010

There comes a time when all the hard work finally pays off, and for We Have Band that time is fast approaching.

After two years of touring - “we played 135 shows last year which is a crazy amount” - and signing to independent French label Naïve, guitarist Thomas W-P is looking forward to the album finally hitting the shelves.

“It’s nice that they’ll be able to hear the record, and know all the songs on it” he says, clearly enjoying the prospect of the audience being familiar with the work they’ve invested in.

“It’s great to have an album coming out where there is a collection of stuff showing what we’ve been up to.”

Released on Monday April 5, the album - simply entitled WHB - is the group’s first full-length release after various EPs and compilation tracks doing the rounds since 2008.

Despite this, Thomas, Dede and Darren have achieved a dedicated fanbase, who will now be able to appreciate the full range of their work which spans a vast, but primarily electronic spectrum.

“We all write and we’re all quite instructive in the writing process,” Thomas explains, “so already there are three different people, so there’s quite a mixture [of influences]. Hopefully that’ll come across on the record.”

Diversity is a key aspect

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of We Have Band’s sound.

Often considered to be one of the many acts at the moment who pay homage to the ’80s electronic era, Thomas insists that this does not define who they are.

“The ’80s thing hasn’t thrown us, but a lot of people talk about it. I can’t fully understand it. Talking Heads are a great band, and that’s a compliment.

But the whole ’80s thing isn’t something we look to do.”

Although influenced by legends and contemporary artists alike, it is clear the London-based group are not out to continue the revival of the shoulder pad and perm decade. They see it as an incidental but inevitable side effect of

We played 135 shows last year which is a crazy amount growing up.

“If you make music in your twenties or thirties you must be influenced by what you were listening to between ten and twentysomething, it’s natural.”

WHB is undeniably electronic. Produced by Gareth Jones (whose previous clients include Depeche Mode and

These New Puritans) it oozes synthesisers and dancefloor-friendly rhythms. It is both familiar and refreshing, offering synthetic music with a soul.

It’s easy to see why comparisons have been drawn between themselves and influential artists like Talking Heads, as well as modern acts such as LCD Soundsystem.

However much of an ’80s tribute it may sound to some (an idea the band find worrying as Thomas thinks of acts like Yazoo whenever the decade is mentioned), WHB is not unlike a musical enigma.

It initially seems simple to decode, the influences being obvious, but the sound switches so subtly between mainstream indie-disco tracks like current single ‘Divisive’ and darker, intense songs such ‘Centrefolds & Empty Screens’, it would be unfair to label the group as imitators of Human League and A Flock of Seagulls.

Musically they are much more than that.

Far from being a chancer in the music industry, Thomas met his wife and band member Dede whilst working at EMI Records: “There was an office romance” he says, with a hint of a smile detectable even over the phone.

“We all worked at the same place and it was more

like a married couple trying to do something together in a sense, and that’s how we got to where we are.

“Before we started making music Darren had already left EMI” he says, “we started to make music as a couple and he decided he would like to come and sing in our band. It was quite a strange genesis.”

People often say that mixing personal and professional lives makes for a dangerous cocktail, but Thomas views the security of the marriage as the antidote to the hectic and erratic world of music.

“It’s not like that relationship where the singer gets together with the keyboard player.

“It’s nice to know that there is something much bigger than the band that can keep everything in perspective. You don’t really realise the craziness.”

Without a moment of deliberation, he continues, “I’m very lucky that I’m doing it with my other half.”

But that’s enough of love; the main issue at hand is their music, and what they plan to do with it.

Having played over 100 shows last year, and being in the middle of a European tour at present, it is clear that the live show is where We Have Band fully reveal their talent.

This comes across on

the album, with the more upbeat tracks bursting with frantic energy and passion, something that producer Gareth Jones was eager to preserve: “One of his main things was to try and get the energy from the live shows on the record; he wanted to retain what we’d already got.”

The whole ’80s thing isn’t something we look to do Alongside festival appearances, constant touring and throwing in the odd free show and song for good measure, We Have Band have become another act to suffer at the hands of computer-savvy music fiends and had WHB leaked a month before the release date.

When asked about the effect this can have on an artist, Thomas seemed reluctant to say it can be destructive, as he recognises the perks of people hearing the music for free.

Fans can be gained by having your music added to programs like Spotify and websites such as Last. fm, but piracy can set a smaller band back a few paces.

“Piracy is generally not a brilliant thing,

and for new bands it’s quite hard work and when people are taking things for free it makes it that bit harder.”

But, as Thomas said himself, if an album isn’t leaked it can raise the equally worrying question: “why is no one interested in listening to it?”

Learning to work with these things can be difficult but the band are open to the idea that if giving away the odd track and playing a few free shows is what it takes to gain fans then so be it.

Album track ‘Honeytrap’ can be downloaded for free now.

“You can’t do anything about it, so you just have to work with it. If that means giving tracks away to entice people to buy the album then of course you do that sort of thing.

“It’s a tiny bit shocking that with something as precious as music and something that has taken so long, so much time and investment to do, you can just go and get it for free, but that’s the way it is.”

Worries aside, We Have Band are set for a good summer, with an album on its way and festival appearances increasing by the day, hopefully the piracy concerns will be a thing of the past and world domination will be on the cards.

Thomas ponders this for a second, “Well, we’ll settle for NorthEuropean domination at this stage.”

Feature.Art Sheffield.

Art Sheffield 2010: Places that belong to all and to none At the launch of Sheffield’s fifth contemporary art festival, Samuel Valdes Lopez and Richard Scott take a look at the meaning behind the work.

It’s an exciting and sweeping event that has moved into all of Sheffield’s biggest galleries and art spaces, bringing a host of national and international artists to Yorkshire and placing their eclectic working styles into stark juxtaposition.

The title of this year’s festival is ‘Life: A User’s Manual’. It’s from a 1978 novel by Georges Perec, the French novelist, filmmaker and essayist, which moves between the rooms and inhabitants of a Parisian apartment block moments after the death of the central protagonist.

The novel builds up

an intimate picture of the building and all of its inhabitants by the minute accumulation of detail and the descriptions of spaces, walls, objects, photos and paintings. The result is a web of human relationships, woven around and between spaces and material objects as much as people.

As an inspiration for artists, whose work is all about exploring the relationships forged with and through our materials, it is exquisitely apt.

“My works are conceived as components in an internal spatial dialogue, animating this public space,” states

A User’s Guide

Bloc: Nina Canell Sheffield Institute of Art & Design: Maud Haya Baviera, Ruth Buchanan, Katarina Zdjelar.

Yorkshire Artspace:

S1 Artspace: Haegue Yang.

Sylvester Space: Yael Davids.

Persistence Works: Haegue Yang.

Site Gallery: Yael Davids, Charlotte Morgan, Wednelien van Oldenbourgh, Hito Steyerl, Emily Wardill.

For full programme see: http://artsheffield. org/artsheffield2010/ programme

Experimental art is a label that can carry a horrible stigma – it’s easy to feel like it’s too pleased with itself, that its ideas are supposed to be hidden, highbrow and inaccessible, that the work itself is inert, or simply claiming to be more significant than it actually is.

The artists on display here do want to be accessible, and entertaining as well. At the launch, the organizer, Shirley McGregor, and Sheffield councillor Silvya Dunkley gave speeches about the importance of art and their hope that a sense of community could be one of the by-products of Art Sheffield 2010. And if you set out to explore the festival, it will take you to many interesting places.

Shoum, by Katarina Zdjelar, is a comic look at how the lyrics of a song can change if you don’t know them (or don’t even know the language) at the Millenium Gallery.

It works perfectly when paired with Imogen Stidworthy’s Barrabackslarrang, which

Experimental art can carry a horrible stigma.

A display of Robert Tressell’s pro-socialist book, The Ragged Trousered Philantropist, shows how merciless censorship gave every copy a distinctly different personality. The art reaches outside as well - spread through the city are postcards with extracts from the novel, as well as posters that eavesdrop on the conversations of unknowns.

Above: Examples of work from across the festival.

Photos by Gasparani & Bo, Polly Braden, Akinci Gallery and Wilfried Lentz.

What is the result of this collision of ideas, feelings, and perspectives?

The sense is that Art Sheffield wants us to think and to talk about feeling in our everyday lives. That’s the meaning behind its central theme of ‘affect’, the way in which we use our world and the world uses us, every day, from moment to moment.

By consciously rearranging objects and environments that we take for granted, displaying and considering them, we are encouraged to think about how they might actually make a big difference to the way we feel about ourselves.

It’s an idea that is potentially empowering.

We live in a time where it is incredibly easy to feel lost in the bigger picture, where our self and our actions seem small and insulated while bigger changes in society and the economy put pressure on us.

The overall effect of the festival suggests that being aware of how much ‘affect’ – how much feeling – we create in and around us might help give us a clearer sense of our place in such an impossibly large society.

Life itself is our art.

Everything that we touch is a ‘work’ of some kind, with its own unique meaning to us, and everything that we work on is seen and felt by someone else in relationship to us.

Fuse.

Millennium Gallery: Phil Collins, Susan Hiller, Haroon Mirza, Wendelien van Oldenbourgh, Katerina Seda, Jo Spence, Imogen Stidworthy & Kataerina Zdjelar.

Rachel Koolen.

Once you read the artist’s text, it starts to make more sense.

films several people in Liverpool using Backslang, a local slang created to keep prying ears out of conversations.

The installation at S1 Artspace by Haegue Yang is as abstract as they come. Consisting of clothes racks, boxes, candles and fog machines, it’s a puzzling assortment on first glance, that might confirm all your fears about the inaccessibility of modern art.

However, once you read through the accompanying text, it suddenly makes a little more sense. Using elements of Korean myths and film, Yang is thinking about the way we live: do we work to get out of a bad situation and get on with life, or, in a vicious kind of circle, do our lives become that work?

The Site Gallery hosts a crop of video art pieces, and here you can watch short films about simple magic tricks, and the process of acting as rehearsal and confrontation, showing us apparent everyday situations that are complicated by unexpected twists.

Thursday 18 March 2010

Venues and Artist’s Exhibitions at the Art 2010 Festival include:

Sarah Staton during our tour of the festival, showing us the perspectivechallenging oak floor of the Adelphi function room in the newly refurbished Crucible theatre. It’s one of many fine-sounding statements of artistic intent, but what does it mean for us in terms of what the festival has to offer?

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Interview.J.Blakeson.

Now you see h now you don’t

Melissa Gillespie speaks to director J. Blakeson about The Disappeara Creed and discusses good writing, a tight budget and being starstruck

R

Fuse.

Thursday March 18 2010

emember the last time that you stepped out of the cinema feeling that rush of emotion and inspiration which only brilliant movie can provide?

That buzz of excitement has undoubtedly made millions of filmlovers wish they could sit in the director’s chair, shout ‘Action!’ at the top of their lungs and lovingly craft a movie of their own.

Sadly, few people get to realise that dream, but J Blakeson, writer and director of The Disappearance of Alice Creed, had the skill and determination to join that select group.

The film keeps things minimalist and centres on just three players; a pair of devious kidnappers (Martin Compston and Eddie Marsan) and their hostage Alice Creed (Gemma Arterton).

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‘With writing, if you try and force it, it just doesn’t come, so there’s no point trying too hard.’

But these aren’t your ordinary idiotic criminals, thick as, well, thieves. No. Former prison cell mates, Vic and Danny, have spent years crafting a meticulous plan that, if all goes well, should net them a cool £2million in ransom from Miss Creed’s businessman father.

Of course, the initial kidnap goes without a hitch but what ensues is a series of heart-pounding twists and turns that keep the viewer riveted to their seat and always guessing the next move.

This may have been his directorial debut for feature length cinema, but Blakeson is no stranger to the silver screen; even if that screen started off

considerably smaller than it is now. A film fanatic since his young teenage years, he enrolled on a film studies course while at university, where he, “watched lots and lots of films and wrote essays about them and in my spare time I just watched more films.”

‘I didn’t really have a lot of time to feel scared, I just had to get on and do it.’

This passion spurred him on to create his own pictures, and at the age of 19, between his first and second year of university, he grabbed a 16mm camera and a group of friends to shoot his first short film. This would be the start of his movie-making education.

“We didn’t know anything about anything really, but we learnt very very quickly how to make a film. So making that film in my parent’s attic was basically my film school.”

But far from ending there, Blakeson continued his passion after leaving the campus grounds.

He got his first job as a writer when he was just 21, and has been writing short films and screenplays ever since.

Evidently, he is passionate about his work, but at the same time he is honest about the fact that, “If I don’t write, then I don’t work and then I don’t earn any money.” And the calm way he talks about overcoming writer’s block (enough to send some authors completely mad) reveals what a true professional he really is.

“When you’re out and having a conversation with somebody it’s quite easy when they’re just your friend, but when you sit there and think ‘I have to say something’,

nothing comes to mind, and it’s the same with writing; if you try and force it, it just doesn’t come, so there’s no point trying too hard.”

Many years working as a writer within the film industry alleviated a lot of the pressure that he might have otherwise felt on his first big project, and the pace of the whole event left little time for worry.

“It happened very quickly and came together very quickly and we didn’t have a lot of time to shoot it, so I didn’t really have a lot of time to feel scared, I just had to get on and do it.”

Working with his small but impressive cast was in fact the most daunting aspect of the filmmaking process for Blakeson.

Anxiety seems pretty likely when faced on one side with the beautiful Bond girl Gemma Arterton, and on the other by the experienced veteran Eddie Marsan, a man whose name may not be recognised by most, but who has starred in some seriously big films from the last decade like Gangs of New York, 21 Grams, Hancock and most recently, Sherlock Holmes.

“Someone like Eddie Marsan, who’s worked with people like Martin Scorsesee and Michael Man and worked with various directors I respect so much, to come from those people and then to work with me, a first timer, I find that a little bit nerve-racking. But as soon as we started working together, it was great. He knew exactly what I wanted and how to do it, and he’s a lovely guy, so any nerves that I had were very quickly put to one side.”

Although relatively new to movies, it hasn’t taken Gemma Arterton long to reach the top, having recently completed the new $150million Disney summer blockbuster Prince of Persia with

Jake Gyllenhal. Her involvement in this small project took the director somewhat by surprise.

“I didn’t even expect her to even want to come in and read for it, but luckily she did and as soon as she started reading I knew she was perfect. Gemma’s a fantastic actress, and she looks great in the big movies where she catches your eye, but in this she really gets to flex some acting muscles and she’s just great.”

Ultimately, the small size of the cast and crew allowed for a very intimate working dynamic, which saw all members become close collaborators, striving to put their best efforts into the picture.

It is obvious from the outset that it isn’t going to be a typical hostage movie, but the director had a pretty clear vision for how he would make his film stand out.

‘I decided to make a film that didn’t do any of those things, but did something else.’

“With a kidnap film you always know what you are going to get; you get people chasing phone calls, worried parents and a big race for money, and I decided to make a film that didn’t do any of those things, but did something else, and was much more about the characters.

“When someone kidnaps somebody else, they take away all their power. They kind of become a carer, or a nurse. They have to feed them, help them wash. I mean what happens when they have to go to the toilet? For me it creates a very interesting dynamic between characters, which felt like a good place to start.’’

So, the director’s vision was in place, but it is obvious throughout that The Disappearance of Alice Creed is a low budget film. Is a large amount of cash really necessary?

After all, a big budget does not always guarantee a good film (Halle Berry is probably still being haunted by Catwoman). Blakeson explains how the funding aspect of the movie business affected the type of film he wanted to make.

“I wanted to direct it myself. So I wrote on the scale that I knew I could make for little money if I needed to. I had to make it with a micro budget scheme, where you are given £100,000 or £200,000 to make a film, which really isn’t enough to make a film, and if you have that amount of money then you really need to have a script that is designed to be cheap.

“And that’s what I did with Alice Creed with the number of characters and the number of locations, and keeping it as constrained within the budget as possible. I set myself those limitations, which I thought would work with a kidnap film.”

The movie was financed entirely by the Isle of Man Film Board and so was subsequently filmed there.

But this wasn’t the only advantage that the island offered.

“It was shot in a very anonymous location, which I purposely did, so you were never meant to know where it was. I didn’t want to give it a sense of place.”

In fact, the location proves perfect for giving the eerie feeling that this could be happening right next door, and adds an extra level of realism and tension to grip the viewer.

Mainly just three characters and one apartment for the majority of the film, it’s a wonder that Blakeson manages to sustain this tension throughout the film and keep it interesting, but apparently that’s

her, t

ance of Alice k. just all part of the challenge.

“When I’ve set myself up these obstacles, I start imagining more than if I had the whole world. If you have the whole world to imagine a story in, you just kind of think ‘well what am I going to do?’ If you really constrain yourself down to the bare minimum then your imagination really has to work overtime to keep it going, which I, bizarrely, find quite liberating. It was a fun challenge, and if things are challenging it often gets the best work out of you.”

Thursday March 18 2010

‘It was a fun challenge, and if things are challenging it often gets the best work out of you.’

Fuse.

Blakeson sounds like a man full of contentment and there is no reason why he shouldn’t be. His debut feature is rolling out across cinemas, and after a good reception at the Toronto International Film Festival, things are looking bright for the future.

“I’m currently writing another feature at the moment, which is very different but in the same vein as Alice Creed. I’m also getting sent a lot of scripts which I’m looking at to direct. I basically want to work a lot and make a lot of films. The Disappearance of Alice Creed was completed in less than 18 months from initial idea to final edit. It was kind of like a sprint really, so I’d like to take it a bit easier this time, and not work 18 hours a day for over a year.”

It would appear that J. Blakeson is in need of a long holiday, but with such a determination to keep writing, it won’t be long before we hear from him again.

Art: Kate Mitchell

7

Feature.The Naked Heel.

comic hero

AMY PATRICIA SMITH MEETS WILL uNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD GRADUATE years working on a short graphic inspirations for the project an

Fuse.

Thursday March 18 2010

ABOUT THE STORY

8

Gallus Gallus: The Naked Heel is described by writer Will Milner as a modern take on an Aesop’s fable; the first-person narrative of a nameless protagonist who has his perspective changed by a chance surreal encounter with a rooster on his uncle’s farm.

Like all good stories, it begins over a pint in the pub. The 12-page ‘graphic short’ sees the protagonist exiled from his community after assaulting the wrong man, and hiding out on his uncle’s farm. There he is driven to the point of breakdown and seeming insanity at the claws of a rooster, which culminates in a moment of naked clarity in the middle of the woods at night.

Themes of pride, aggression, redemption and guilt all feature in this captivating and beautifully illustrated short story.

Milner envisions this as the first in a possible series of such tales.

“There are so many wicked, funny and sad stories that drunken old men have told me. There’s a whole series of tales that somehow or other involve animals and that put you in mind of Aesop’s fables.

“As far as The Naked Heel is based in fact, well the essential elements are the same. There was a guy who did have an encounter with a rooster in the countryside and he said it changed his way of looking at things, but the characters and choreography of the story is all made up. The main point is that he finds himself naked in the woods with a brick - that much is true.”

The story of The Naked Heel draws on these tall tales, but Milner’s writing was also influenced by the background he shares with them: ‘I’m from a little village in Somerset where there’s a funny, almost nihilistic sense of humour, which hopefully comes across in the comic.’

The comedy is indeed dark, and with Scott’s fitting illustrations The Naked Heel is an intriguing and highly original piece of artwork.

The Naked Heel is available to read online now at:

http://tiny.cc/ thenakedheel

We all know that University of Sheffield students are a multitalented and creative bunch. As if further proof were needed William Milner, a Philosophy graduate, and Richard Scott, a PhD student in the History department, have thrown their lot in by writing and drawing a cartoon based around a short moral story – all in their spare time.

Conceived and written by Milner, and illustrated by Scott, who both write and draw respectively as a hobby, the comic – entitled Gallus Gallus: The Naked Heel – recounts the character journey of a small time thug’s decline and partial redemption through a series of surreal events. What is particularly remarkable about this project is that it shows what students are capable of even when working on our courses and careers.

Producing a comic was a challenge for both Milner and Scott.

Although both have an interest in creative writing, this was the first time that they had decided to specifically focus on a graphic story.

Neither of them are hardcore comic enthusiasts, however both drew inspiration from particular works.

“My favourites are probably Calvin and Hobbes, for brilliantly expressing a world view through humour and without laying it on thick,” says Milner. “And I think anyone who reads any comics get onto Alan Moore (Watchmen) eventually.

More generally, something that I wanted to recreate was Garrison Keillor whose stories are all about small towns. They’re very touching and very simple stories with lots of layers, which was a hope for this project in some ways.”

Scott admits that although he has admired the work of comic book artists, and been exposed to them before, he was not a collector of comic book art. “I bought a few comic books specifically for the purpose of researching this project.

My experience has come mostly from drawing purely as a hobby, which started off with portrait drawing. My grandfather was an art teacher and a phenomenal artist.

He died when I was very young, but I think that he inspired me and gave me the idea that I had some kind of inheritance.’

For Milner, the creative impulse has been festering for some time, and up until now he had mostly

been focused on the idea of writing a novel. His interests extended to other forms of storytelling however, and the comic book seemed like the perfect vehicle for some of the stories that he wanted to tell.

“The story is based on one that a bloke told me in the pub where I used to work. There were lots of locals in there with lots of slightly elaborated stories, and there are loads of them that I wanted to write down.”

‘I didn’t know whether it was in my capabilities. Every panel was an experiment.’

Creating a comic not only allowed him to tell the story more concisely, but was an exercise in his writing technique through limiting the framework: “Every time I tried to write particular stories down they just got longer and more intricate, and writing for a comic framework allowed me to strip it down to the bare essentials of the story. I think working within a limitation is a really creative process. It changes the way you approach it and you get some of your best work knowing that you have to keep it to a certain length”.

There were challenges for the artist as well. For Scott, transferring Milner’s script into drawings was an interesting experience. ‘I’d never

book oes

MILNER AND RICHARD SCOTT, TWO TES who have spent the last two c novella. They talk about their nd the challenges it presented. and you do sometimes just want to destroy all your work. It’s good to have somebody else to stop you.

In terms of being motivated, I felt that once Rich had put in hours and hours of drawing I didn’t feel like I could say ‘I don’t want to do this.’

He spurred me on.”

Scott agrees: “Collaborating really motivated me to work. Having this 12 page project to finish really focused my mind. It’s interesting because I’ve often had lots of ambitious ideas but they don’t happen just because they’re too long; this project kept me much more determined.”

Now that the work is finished, what do they plan to do with it?

“We’ve been looking into doing a short print run if we can afford it.

The great thing is that these days we can publish on the internet. The comic has been digitised through Issuu.com.’

This project not only highlights the creativity and skill of the creators and the possibilities that we as students have, but also the issues many face when attempting to publish their work and the importance of the internet in getting work such as this to a wider audience.

Given Milner and Scott’s clear love of their respective arts, and their extensive imaginations, there’s no surprise that The Naked Heel is such a brilliant final product for their first foray into the world of graphic novels.

They, and we, can rightly be proud of what they have produced; flying the flag for original art amongst the students and graduates at our university.

Will Milner and Richard Scott met in their first year at the University of Sheffield and have been friends ever since. Both Scott and Milner are creative. Philosophy graduate Milner is a teaching assistant by day and uses his evenings to write.

Scott is working on his PhD on dream theory and interpretation in Early Modern history, and in his spare time he pursues his love for drawing.

Milner in particular has plans to take his writing to another level.

He is working on various projects, including an idea for an interactive audio book. This project would use recorded narration, dialogue and sound effects, which participants would listen to as they took certain routes through historic sections of Sheffield.

“I noticed that if I was walking through a place and I had got a particular tune on my headphones I thought about

Writer Will Milner (Right) and artist Richard Scott (Left). the place completely differently’ says Milner. ‘Plus we discovered a surround sound technique that really does sound like there’s footsteps walking past you; there’s real potential to scare people. The project we are working on at the moment is about the ghost of the city and how it has changed over time.”

In addition to the pair’s creative sparks, part of what makes Milner and Scott such good friends is the passion that they both have for telling stories. There is a clear energy between the two when they

discuss this, bouncing ideas off each other.

Scott: “Stories allow you to invent yourself. Narratives are always about creating symmetry between ideas and helping you to understand life in a particular way.” This is something Milner clearly agrees with, stating that “there’s something really nice when a reader gets something out of your story that you didn’t intend or particularly see because it makes it seem like it’s got a bit of a life of its own.”

Photo: Paul Hollingsworth.

Thursday March 18 2010

done anything like this before so I didn’t know what it would look like.

When I drafted the first few panels I wasn’t sure what I was doing and the result wasn’t impressive.”

Scott’s persistence in a project that was almost alien to him paid off: “When I was working on the first few pages I initially thought ‘is this the best I can do?’ Then I turned over and just kept reworking it until I was happy with the finished product.”

The project is undoubtedly a success, a fact which the eternally self-deprecating creators seem surprised by. Considering that they both initially had very little prior knowledge of the comic book scene, it is inspiring that the hardest part was not in the actual production of a graphic novel but in keeping the storyline succinct.

For Scott, the comic gave him the opportunity to push his skills further than before. He elaborates: “Every time I had an idea for the comic book I didn’t really know whether it was within my capabilities, so every panel was essentially an experiment.”

Milner and Scott have been friends since their first year at university, when they discovered their shared interest in literature and comic art. Having been such good friends for the past few years, could it not have potentially been difficult to work together?

Milner thinks that by working with someone whom you trust, the project can remain more focussed and will ultimately be more successful: “I enjoyed working with Richard. As a writer you can be overly self-critical,

ABOUT THE WRITERS

Fuse.

9

Reviews.Music.

Summer flings will be grand Album Dum Dum Girls IWill Be

“Blissed-out buzz saw” is how Dee Dee (Kristin Gundred), songwriter and chief Dum Dum, once described her sound.

Since then she has recruited three other girls to the band, signed to renowned indie label Sub Pop and recruited producer Richard Gottehrer (responsible for albums

by Blondie and The Raveonettes) for this, their debut LP. Pleasingly, Dee Dee’s adage remains true; I Will Be is an uncomplicated mix of fuzz sounds, bubblegum melodies and songs about

Adding a third party to their marriage worked a treat. twist.

What results is something that sounds like a bar-room brawl between an array Solex vs. Cristina of musical genres, with electro, lounge-chillout, Martinez + Jon jazz, disco and hip-hop all Spencer fighting to get a piece of the Amsterdam action.

The underlying melody Throwdown,King of some tracks wouldn’t Street Showdown! sound out of place in an American ’70s cop show, whereas sometimes you’ll be convinced you’ve The collaborative effort of accidentally picked up the Dutch songwriter Elisabeth soundtrack to Reservoir Esselink, aka Solex, Dogs by mistake.

Even the lyrics avoid and husband and wife punk-blues duo Cristina convention, with songs Martinez and Jon Spencer about irresponsible dog is a musical roller-coaster ownership and the hazards from beginning to end, of keeping a monkey as and does its best to defy a pet, whilst the vocals are similarly eclectic with classification.

One possible reason for Esselink’s soft tones, hipits bizarre musical aesthetic hop lyrical styling and word samples is its production; rather spoken than working together in a all taking prominence at studio, Esselink chose to various points.

And yet, strangely, it all send her semi-completed samples over to New York seems to work. Esselink, for Martinez and Spencer Martinez and Spencer to give them their bluesy have mixed all the colours in the musical palette and

Album

Fuse.

Thursday March 18 2010

somehow made gold.

Ranging from the rocky guitar intro and brassy undertones of album opener ‘Bon Bon’ to the electronic samples and jazz-organ dominance in ‘Eat Here’, and from the odd mix of folk-acoustics and hip-hop beats of ‘R Is For Ring-a-ding’ to the jerky and disjointed ‘Er Ez Ex’, the album seems to flow in a way that initially wouldn’t seem possible.

Amsterdam Throwdown, King Street Showdown! is certainly an album of surprises. Though it may appear to be a random assortment of tones and styles on the first listening, and needs to be approached with a fully open mind, it actually offers an exciting form of musical flamboyance that is truly distinctive.

10

Georgina Beardmore

Album Autechre Oversteps

Autechre are as boundarypushing as ever as they reach their twentieth anniversary, toying with complex compositions and continuing their highly textured experiments with rhythm and sound.

Oversteps is one of their most listenable and enjoyable albums, a departure from the previous albums where the listener would merely respect and be impressed by the craftsmanship of the music, but find it difficult to take pleasure in; a departure which began with 2008’s Quaristice, and is refined and tuned here.

The album almost sees a return to the sound of the albums of their earliest

years; music detailing landscapes with futuristic, twitchy algorithms layered on top of a dense, ambient undercoating.

Oversteps is a slow burner. First impressions are that many of the tracks have exactly the same vibe, which can quickly become dull, repetitive and tiresome, making the 71 minutes either seem like an uphill slog, or easy to forget it is even playing.

The computer bleeps can seem soulless, inhuman and cold. But repeated listens allow you to gradually unearth the hidden elements within the record; the bleeps envelope you, and it is revealed that it isn’t inhuman, but a closely personal and emotional record.

Oversteps’ highlights include the blissful, shimmering ‘See on See’, which is almost danceable.

That is, if you were dancing in slow-motion.

This is immediately followed by the pulsing, ‘Treale’ with heavy, gritty electronic bass, giving the album one of its darkest tracks. The underwater video-game steel drum sounds of ‘D-Sho Qub’ is uplifting and contrasts with the dark and abrasive, even industrial reverb below, and

heartbreak.

But this is entirely the problem: does the band have anything to set themselves apart from the lo-fi slacker pop template established by contemporaries like Wavves, Vivian Girls and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart?

Fortunately, yes. Dum Dum Girls play up to their Iggy Pop-inspired moniker and produce half an hour of gloriously brainless and instantly likeable noise.

The band channel the saccharine sound of ’60s girl groups, such as The Shangri-Las, and the unpolished edge of C86era indie, such as The Shop Assistants, as they cram swooning female harmonies and jangly guitars into songs that barely stretch past the two minute mark.

Lyrically the album is similarly straightforward in its innocent envisioning of

the two elements combine and build to an atmospheric, resonating climax.

Autechre are masters of the intelligent dance music genre, and Oversteps is an impressive way to mark their twentieth anniversary, if you have the patience to work for it.

Jordan Tandy

Album Audio Bullys HigherThanThe Eiffel

romance: “We held hands, we took walks / My first kiss was at the docks” (‘Yours Alone’).

Songs like the standout ‘Jail La La’ make the album immediate and exhilarating.

However, the pace drops on the last track ‘Baby Don’t Go’, with Dee Dee lamenting: ‘“Maybe I’ll be back someday”.

This sullen farewell seems like decidedly less than a promise to return, reflecting the album’s (and perhaps the band’s) lack of longevity. Ultimately, I Will Be is not an album of tangible substance; its thrills are heady, instantaneous and short-lived.

But as the days lengthen and thoughts turn to summer, Dum Dum Girls offer an invigorating soundtrack.

Dan O’Neill influences have shaped the album without ever deviating too far from the electronic dance roots that characterise the duo’s sound.

There’s a notable synth melody in ‘Feel Alright’ which has an ’80s vibe that Yazoo would be proud of; ‘Twist Me Up’ is heavily skainfluenced thanks to guests Suggs and Mike Barson of Madness, and the guitar riff on ‘Dynamite’ is simple, straightforward funk.

Lead single ‘Only Man’ shines. The track builds on the unrelenting guitar riff and pounding drum beat to create a monster which will undoubtedly fair well in the charts.

Higher than the Eiffel comes into its own with ‘Daisy Chains’; a much darker track and one of the cleverest on the record.

As well as the excellent instrumentation, sound effects work with the lyrics to tell the song’s story.

However, ‘Shotgun’ feels like an imitation of the band’s 2005 mega-hit ‘Shot You Down’ where as the rest of the album has been happy to experiment with broader sounds. ‘Goodbye’ doesn’t fit in with the other songs and feels like an incongruity .

Sam Bolton

Beautifully intelligent electro with tracks that are guaranteed huge club success; Audio Bullys’ four year hiatus must have done them good as they’ve returned with some of their most inspired work to date.

A bountiful array of

Reviews.Music.

Boundless landscapes Gig Gallery

Live Frightened Rabbit Leadmill 13/03/2010 Having united critics in praise of 2008’s The Midnight Organ Fight, Frightened Rabbit must be a little hesitant about hitting the road to promote its follow-up, The Winter of Mixed Drinks.

They have another half hour or so to prepare though, as Leeds-based quartet Yonderboy are up first. Their wonky indie pop is overflowing with enthusiasm that connects intimately to their tightly-

Live Spiers and Boden Fusion 13/03/2010

Field Music make their live return at Fusion. Read the review on www.forgetoday.com Photo: Paula Goodale

Live Cate Le Bon The Harley 09/03/2010

punctuated by fluid rhythms.

Equally, haunting renditions of ‘My Backwards Walk’ and ‘Keep Yourself Warm’ express an honesty rarely articulated in a live show. By contrast, ‘Nothing Like You’ is already sounding like an indie-rock anthem, proving that Frightened Rabbit’s ambition still sends them into untested waters.

The fact is that there are few (if any) bands at the moment that connect as universally to their audience as Frightened Rabbit do.

That they do this without cliché or pretension makes their audience one that’s worth being a part of.

whereas John Spiers’ gentle melodeon solo satisfies the folk purists.

One short interval later as the cider duly flows, the majority of the audience are on their feet for energetic finale ‘Captain Ward’, a glorious sea shanty with a pirate anti-hero, and playful encore ‘The Prickly Bush’. Spiers and Boden mix elaborate fables with instrumental dance sets such as Vagabond’s ‘Three Tunes,’ reminiscent of the most raucous Ceilidh. This is traditional folk music with a twist.

sounds so boring… I’m going to become the UK’s first president,” he announces.

Armed with props ranging from soapbox platforms, a hefty book from which he reads his ‘sermons’, an armchair to recline upon during instrumental breaks and the contents of a dressing up box, he holds us in a trance from start to finish. It’s almost tempting to believe his feat possible.

Yet we aren’t to forget that he operates as part of a duo, Dan Le Sac fully staking a claim for recognition this evening. Their new album Logic of Chance has so far found a bemused response from critics due to its greater emphasis on the danceable, rather than the eloquent storytelling of their debut. This shift makes much more sense in a live setting, helping break Pip’s spell and get our feet moving. Recent single ‘Get Better’, with its inherently singable chorus consisting of the repetition of its title, goes down particularly well.

Being the first night of their tour, the night doesn’t

run perfectly smoothly. Le Sac has apparently “not saved” the set list on his laptop, and so for the most part the pair seem to be muddling through.

‘Magician’s Assistant’, with it’s meditation on the impact of a suicide, is dropped very early on. This may or may not have been to plan, Pip remarking on the sombre tone set and calling for following numbers to be somewhat more upbeat.

However, any lack of coherence across songs is bridged by the uncommonly compelling banter the two have between themselves and with the crowd.

‘Letter from God to Man’ is perhaps the perfect encore as a showcase of both men’s talents, in the one’s remarkable depiction of a humble God’s dismay at the actions of mankind, and the other’s inspired Radiohead sampling in the outro, which is twisted out into all sorts of new forms, making for a finale that gets the whole room bouncing.

Lizzie Palmer

Live Dan Le SacVs. Scroobius Pip Foundry 14/03/2010

Scroobius Pip has lofty ambitions. “I’ve decided I’m going to run for president.

Not Prime Minister, that

Robert Cooke

Kyle Rice

Fuse.

Robert Cooke

The folk music revival is well and truly underway.

Aptly described as one of the most exciting live acts on the circuit, Spiers and Boden’s long-awaited Fusion show was a handclapping, foot-stomping, twirling success.

The founders of 11-piece folk troupe Bellowhead combine a technical mastery of their traditional instruments with an electrifying new sound, injecting young blood into this long-standing musical legacy.

Drawing inspiration from traditional song, literature, legendary tales and books such as The Oxford Book of Ballads – “I’m sure you all own a copy”, the pair quip – Spiers and Boden weave intricate stories and create colourful characters to accompany their expert melodies. With all the charm and wry humour of a young Martin Carthy, Jon Boden delivers monologues explaining the tales behind songs such as ‘Robin Hood’ whilst gently strumming his acoustic guitar. Many of the tunes taken from the duo’s latest album, Vagabond, feature wayward characters and untoward adventures, interspersed with traditional songs from the English counties and even one from Twelfth Night.

Boden provides vocals, fiddle, guitar and rhythms whilst John Spiers is master of the squeezebox, with an impressive array of colourful concertinas and accordions adorning the stage. Great folk music is nothing if not a visual feast. On stage for over two hours in total, both Spiers and Boden find the time to showcase their individual styles. Jon Boden’s 2009 solo album, Songs From the Floodplain has more of an acoustic country feel,

band’s sloppy attempts to keep time. All of this overshadows the textural richness and castrates the bruising crescendo that makes the album version so emotionally battering. Next track, ‘The Modern Leper’, is only saved by it being the most urgent, most gripping love song this writer has ever heard.

But a few songs in, and Frightened Rabbit are wide awake. Their new-found focus delivers a wall of sound that is cemented with passionate choruses and imaginative folk-tinged hooks.

Their songs’ quirks resonate through so that ‘The Twist’ jerks from a choral progression into a boundless landscape

Thursday March 18 2010

Folk music is tough because it’s pretty much all been done already.

The key for any new artist is finding a way to work outside its parameters without disengaging the people from ‘their’ music.

Tonight, Cate Le Bon does just enough to show she’s up to the job.

But before the main act comes New Zealand’s Lawrence Arabia. Their Fleet Foxes-meets-Vampire Weekend sound showcases an intimate grasp of harmony, with layered vocals that help carry their jangly guitar-pop hooks.

This compromise does, however, leave them a little restrained. They lack the captivating mysticism of Fleet Foxes, while failing to put together a chorus as memorable as a typical Vampire Weekend offering.

They are far better when they divert into crescendos with a Doors-like ferocity, without sounding needlessly frantic.

In many instances the same could be said of Cate Le Bon’s set. Her songs are often presented as plain balladry, which draw their charisma solely from her darkly sweet vocals. She

doesn’t always play up to her tendencies for working beyond traditional folk constraints enough to really show what she’s capable of.

Her album’s title track, for example, ‘Me Oh My’, is a brittle, introverted, thinly-structured piece. It represents a fixation with gloom that subtly underpins the rest of the record. Live though, it comes across a little twee and doesn’t capture Le Bon’s inclination for understatement.

Fortunately, this is compensated for elsewhere in the set. One brand new track fuses Le Bon’s folk sensibilities with the spirit of Stephen Malkmus to create something uniquely Californian, yet distinctively Celtic. In a similar vein, future single ‘Shoeing The Bones’ builds with ambition to a destructive climax that the album version barely hints at, like an OTT Led Zeppelin parody.

But it’s ‘Man of Terror’ that really forces the audience out of their comfort zone, sending Le Bon into an awkward electro dystopia that most obviously reflects her work with Neon Neon.

This set-closer shows she is capable of the spectacular when she places her imagination at the fore, pushing her context within the humble folk tradition to one side.

woven, slightly erratic motifs. They are accessible, but they’re smart about it, like an In Rainbows-era Radiohead. There’s no need for them to string a self-indulgent gimmick from their melodic intricacy.

Though one or two tracks seem destined for indie dance floors, the bulk of the set is more introspective. Front man Zand complements this with a tense, yet tender delivery that manages to avoid maudlin triteness.

Frightened Rabbit then, were given a tough act to follow – and it doesn’t start well. ‘Keep The Youth’ makes for a cluttered opening.

Amateurish drumming is pushed way too high in the mix, emphasizing the

Scroobius Pip inspires devotion at Foundry.

Photo: Karthik Sundaram

11

Reviews.Media.

Know your radio shows Radio Profile

Radio Profile

That Friday Show Daytime

Gutter Radio Specialist

Name of the Show: That Friday Show

Name of the Show: Gutter Radio

When is it on: Friday, 10.30am-12pm

When is it on: Every Monday 11pm - 1am, we know it’s a bit of a graveyard shift, but we get half an hour extra in that slot so we think it’s worth it.

Who presents the show?

Mike, James and Kate Describe your show in a few words: Fun, funky and fresh for Friday!

Do you do any features on your show? if so what are they: Name that backwards tune; James’ Moan of the Week; Odd News; and Kate’s ChatUp Lines.

Biggest on-air gaffe: When the union cleaner came into the studio and said “I’ll be over there”.

How much prep do you do before you go on air?

About an hour.

Who would be your ideal guest?

ET, Kate has a bit of an obsession with aliens If your show was an

Who presents the show: Toby & Jake. animal what animal would it be and why?

A tiger because it’s colourful and gets you roaring to go in the morning.

Finish this sentence in no more than 20 words: Students should listen to our show because... ...it’s a great way to start your weekend and get you into the Friday feeling!

Describe yourself in three words: (We all picked words for each other) sarcastic, witty and quirky.

Tell us a random fact about one of the

presenters: James has a false tooth and he’s only 18 as well!

What is your strangest talent: Kate can put her foot in her mouth, apparently.

What are your wearing?

Forge radio hoody!

What does your last text message say?

Sorry we can’t listen, I’m gutted, I’ll listen again.

Finish this sentence in a unique way: Phi Fi Fo Thumb...

Tune into That Friday Show, it’s a lot of fun!

What type of music do you play : Dubstep, garage, grime, UK funky, hip-hop, and anything else we’re feeling at any particular time.

Describe your show in a few words : 80-90% music, the rest chat. See for yourself. All our previous shows are available at mixcloud.com/ gutterradio Do you do any features on your show? if so what are they : We’ve got quite a few interviews (in the past we’ve got some from Mary Anne Hobbs, Geeneus (Head of Rinse.fm), and Brackles.

We’ll hopefully be getting

Untold and James Blake for our next show.

Our show often includes DJ mixes from ourselves and guest DJs (such as Grievous Angel). We also do showcases on particular record labels, such as Warp, Hyperdub, Hotflush and local label Planet Terror Records.

Biggest on-air gaffe: Jake’s had to run home to get tracks which we’ve forgotten before.

How much prep do you do before you go on air: Some weeks we just pick tracks and that’ll only take an hour at most, because we’ll already know what we’ve been listening to all week.

If we have interviews then the research will add into that, and we recently did two shows which probably took about 10 hours each to put together.

Who would be your ideal guest?

Jake: Scratcha DVA, he presents the breakfast show on Rinse FM (London’s biggest and best pirate radio station). He’s got so much energy, he’s funny, hugely likable and a brilliant DJ and producer.

Toby: Jake’s mum.

Thursday March 18 2010

Forge Radio schedule

Finish this sentence in no more than 20 words: Students should listen to our show because... ...we play the latest and best in underground urban sounds and we promote local producers, record labels and club nights.

Describe yourself in 3 words: Jake: amateurish, boorish, unintelligent.

Toby: professionalish, politeish, intelligent.

Tell us a random fact about one of the presenters: Jake likes big butts, and Toby cannot lie.

What is your strangest talent?

Jake can swim underwater for hours due to his gills and webbed feet.

What are you wearing?

My robe and wizard hat.

Finish this sentence in a unique way: Phi Fi Fo Thumb...

This question’s really dumb.

Listen online at www.forgeradio.com, in the Union or at The Edge

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thurs

Fri

Sat

Sun

8 - 9am The Monday Breakfast Show

8 - 9am The Tuesday Breakfast Show

8 - 9am The Wednesday Breakfast Show

8 - 9am The Thursday Breakfast Show

8 - 9am The Friday Breakfast Show

9 - 10.30am Heal Your Hangover

12.15 - 1.30pm 3 Girls Multiple Laughs

9 - 10.30am The Amy and Polly Show

9 - 10.30am Bizarre

9 - 10.30am Georgie and Charlie Gatecrash

9 - 10.30am Dale Wetter

9 - 10.30am The James and Tom Show

10.30am - 12pm Happy Monday Show

10.30am - 12pm What a Wonderful World

12 - 1.30pm The Noble Morton Sessions 1.30 - 3pm Gus and Sam’s Hour of Power (and 30 minutes) 3 - 4.30pm Harry Horton

Fuse.

4.30 - 5pm The News Session 5 - 6.30pm Eve 6.30 - 8pm Monday Like This 8 - 9.30pm Sports Desk 9.30 - 11pm Morgi Music

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If your show was an animal what animal would it be and why?

A bat, because they’re nocturnal and no one ever listens to them.

11pm - 1am Gutter Radio

10.30am - 12pm Unplugged

10.30am - 12pm The Matt and Sam Show

12 - 1.30pm The Pid and Imo World

12 - 1.30pm 100 RPM

1.30 - 3pm A Little Bit of What You Fancy

1.30 - 3pm Giulia and the Journos

12 - 1.30pm Something for the Week

3 - 4.30pm Film Unit Round Table 4.30 - 5pm Cricklewood 5 - 6.30pm Jed and Jen

3 - 4.30pm Fuse 4.30 - 5pm Blue Like an Orange 5 - 6.30pm PG Tips

6.30 - 8pm Forge Loves

6.30 - 8pm The Chris Conway Show

8 - 9.30pm Trance-4-Nation

8 - 9.30pm Chris’s Chillout Session

9.30 - 11pm Beats and Pieces 11pm - 1am Tom Bowles

9.30 - 11pm Dubstep Forward 2-Step Backward 11pm - 1am Ready Steady Crunk

10.30am - 12pm That Friday Show 12 - 1.30pm The Mandy Show

1.30 - 3pm Ed and Guy

1.30 - 3pm Ready for the Weekend

3 - 4.30pm Walk Talk

3 - 4.30pm Taut Ladies

4.30 - 5pm The News Debate Show

4.30 - 5pm Your Sport

5 - 6.30pm Don’t Upset The Rhythm 6.30 - 8pm Brewing Up Trouble 8 - 9.30pm Kristi Genovese 9.30 - 11pm Off The Beaten Track 11pm - 1am Musical Meanderings

10:30 - 12.00am The Punchline 12 - 1.30pm The Saturday Meltdown

5 - 6.30pm Schubert Lemon

3 - 4.30pm Owen in Rock

6.30 - 8pm 1337

4.30pm-5pm Mike and Ed’s IntraMural Round-up

8 - 10pm Liam White

5 - 6.30pm The Globetrotter 6.30 - 8pm Soon I Will Be Invincible

6.30 - 8pm Straight Outta Crookesmoor

8 - 9.30pm The Shrimps present...

9.30 - 11pm The Soundclash 11pm - 1am Bedrock

3 - 5pm SRA Chart Show

1.30 - 3pm The Cultural Implosion

5 - 6.30pm The Melting Pot

8 - 9.30pm The ‘Lovely’ Show

1.30 - 3pm Sunday Snews

9.30 - 11pm Keyboard Cats 11pm - 1am Under The Bed

Reviews.Screen.

Playing childish war games

DVD Johnny Mad Dog Out Now

From the opening scene to it’s closing shot, Johnny Mad Dog, is as tense and gripping as it is shockingly realistic. The film’s premise is simple enough; in an un-named African state, a gang of child soldiers aged ten to fifteen are fighting to overthrow a corrupt President, all in the name of a rebel tribe. Through the protagonist Johnny Mad Dog and his smaller protégé, No Good Advice, we confront a moral ambiguity which has us constantly in doubt as to who in this conflict is on the ‘good’ side.

The opening scenes, with their constrast of static shots and rushed movements, creates an unbearably claustrophobic feeling, the rising pressure of an impending assault bearing down on the viewer and the child soliders. In clipped pigeon English , the boys bicker and argue, the subtitles melting away as they settle arguments, not with reason, but with the

Film 1234 Out Now

between Gregory’s Girl and Almost Famous, 1234 is going straight for the glaringly vacant niche of the timeless British band saga.

An awkward slice of the Britpop dream, Borg’s debut sets out to fuse hope with heartache, in creating a down-to-earth story of a determined group of starryeyed hopefuls.

Yet as the film starts to unreel the words charmless and hopeless come to mind as nerdy lead singer and guitarist, Stevie (Ian Bonar) fails to realise the role of the predestined superstar that you might hope to find in a tale of would be rock’n’rollers.

Stevie begs leather-clad guitarist Billy (Keiran Bew) to join him in his band, and

Child soldiers act as volatile pawns in the war games their leaders (the adults) will play. culture throughout; but when brought in it bristling energy of the the snippets of rap here, the ratchets up the tension. untrained actors (several of presence of Chuck Norris In combination with the whom are ex-child soldiers) there. A bizarre mix, which shaky-cam filming, the sum adding to the dizzying has a worrying influence on of the whole is spectacular. buzz of the film. Far from these young minds.

Everything in this film a comfortable watch, the Almost no music is used, ramps up the tension, the film serves its function of

and intermittent despair.

As we follow the frustrations of band rehearsals, the inevitable clash of the band’s dysfunctional individuals, the dream of wider recognition and fame becomes secondary to each members private desires.

A disappointing and vague ending dismisses both glory or any sense of celebration in the climax of the band’s eventual success. While the filmmakers hold fast that the film delivers an ending free of cliché, it sadly destroys the rock ‘n’ roll dream which would perhaps have evoked a little more entertainment than the bland reality which the film unfortunately seems to embrace.

Lucy Horwood

Film No One Knows About Persian Cats 26/03/2010

Aspiring musicians who think it’s hard to make it in the UK should cast an eye on Iranian music scene documented in the film No One Knows About Persian Cats. Tehran’s burgeoning music scene isn’t so much ‘underground’ as it’s stuffed into the nooks, crannies and corners, far out of the sight of the regimes music hating officials.

When the booking for a possible gig in London comes up, indie-rock duo Negar and Ashkan realise this is the one shot they’ll get to breakout and find a home outside of the regime.

Passports, visas, tickets and more problematically a complete band line-up needs to be found before they can go, and the film is the story of their journey of getting the band together.

The audition process is the heart of the film, and sees the slightly twee musicians (think Belle and Sebastian vocals) trawling through their contacts list for any potential collaborators. The film hops along, from hidden rehearsal room to covert studio, the band’s would be svengali bandmanager come fixer extraordinaire hustling and bending over backwards to present his band with the finest musicians he can find.

Metal, blues, rap and traditional folk music all come under the desperate musicians radar, more often than not in the beautifully lilting tones of their native Farsi tongue. The film’s roaming, nigh aimless trajectory finds some propulsion in its musicvideo like vignettes, which punctuates the whole film.

Nice moments of close-to-documentar y observation sit awkwardly next to the film’s dawdling trajectory, yet while the action is initially unclear, an overarching sense of these artists pushing against nigh insurmountably stupid principles of the system grows as the film progresses.

The music binds the film together beautifully, and the joy of hearing something new that’s actually really rather good makes this a rare treat.

Peter Walsh

Fuse.

while his scowling friend falls more than a little short of Ian Curtis, he’s the closest the film ever gets to finding the tortured musician come hotel-trashing rockstar which should lie at the heart of any solid band story.

Having corralled Billy into his fame destined path, the duo are joined by gormless but loveable drummer Neil (Matthew Banton) who provides the small comic relief of the film with his pointedly odd remarks.

Completing the line up, bassist Emily (Lyndsey Marshall) takes on the role of the dappy artist bringing a wave of romance and girlpower to the ensemble.

Refreshing as her role may first appear, as per the traditions of any narrative following youth in the pursuit of music, Emily is set to become the subject of Stevie’s hopeless infatuation.

The band formed, the stage is set for an all conquering indie-rock band to go fourth and claim the world as theirs.

The actual fact of the film is less thrilling. Whatever you do, don’t expect a zesty, new band breathing originality onto the music scene, as all we get is a generic indie band with an equally generic sound. The director made much of the film’s ‘everyday realism,’ which somehow translates into a bland and uninspiring narrative.

1234 strips the glamour and exhilaration from the dream and rather than inspiring hope, offers the bleak reality of boredom

highlighting the horrors of war and brutality, whilst being brilliantly stylized.

Think City of God, without any glimmer of hope. Which is no bad thing Coral Williamson

Thursday March 18 2010

In collaboration with the New British Cinema Quarterly initiative, the Showroom recently paid host to director Giles Borge, presenting his low-budget film 1234; a story of a band and their break for fame.

An all too familiar tale of wannabe indie-rockers stumbling towards stardom, the film gains certain kudos having been bankrolled by Radiohead’s Ed O’Brian.

Described as a cross

markledly more effective pointing of loaded guns As heavy as these clashes feel to the viewer, the gravity of the situation stands in stark contrast to the impish behaviour of the children.

Adorned in stolen wedding dresses and fairy wings, their very presence seems at odds with the notion of a conflict zone.

Do they really know who they are attacking, or what they are fighting for? With their tribal leaders rallying them for war, the rhetoric of their leaders echoes the condemnation of the incumbent president. These boys are ‘Dealers of Death’ the front line of the conflict, and the deciding factor in where the conflict will turn.

As pompous and cliché ridden as the rallying speeches are, they have a brainwashing effect on both the soldier boys and the viewer at home.

A spiritual theme runs throughout the film, adding to the dizzying hypnotic power of the film. The general of the tribe leads the rituals painting stark crosses on his soldiers boys in blood, spurring them into a terrified fury by shooting them with blanks.

This tribal undercurrent is deftly contrasted with the presence of American

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Reviews.Games.

In good company?

Multiplatform Battlefield Bad Company 2 PC, 360 and PS3 Bad Company is back and developer DICE have their work cut out for them as this is the first of the excellent Battlefield series to be released on both consoles and PC. The singleplayer follows a misfit group of soldiers whilst they try to save the world from a super science WMD left over from a Japanese World War Two weapons program. The plot is as generic as it sounds unfortunately and the only saving graces are the fact that it isn’t taken very seriously and the short conversations between your squad mates are often hilarious. Other than that you might as well skip it as there is nothing particularly new or entertaining to be

found in any of the gameplay or set pieces of this mode worth your time.

DICE has instead set its eyes firmly set on displacing Modern Warfare 2 from the FPS multiplayer top spot.

Fortunately their strategy for surpassing it has not been emulation of it; they’ve mostly stayed true to the Battlefield roots by keeping the vehicles, large player count and sizeable maps.

You have a selection of four classes to choose from during play which will drastically alter your play style depending on which you select from: Assault, Engineer, Recon, and Medic.

The equipment selection is varied and interesting with each class unlocking gadgets and guns through play giving you something to strive for and allowing you to customise your load out to fit you.

The real hook of the Bad Company games is the ability to destroy the world around you. This can either mean using your grenade launcher to put a small whole in a wall to

act as another entry point into a base or completely destroying a building and watching it collapse crushing anyone unlucky enough to be inside. This is surprisingly fun and you’ll feel genuine fear when you hear the building you’re in give a characteristic creaking sound that comes before the roof caves in on you.

The two main game types are Conquest and Rush. Conquest is the classic Battlefield system of capturing strategic points in order to slow the loss of tickets (representing how many more times the players on a team can respawn) and increase the loss of the opposing team’s. Rush is an attack and defence game where the offensive side must attempt to destroy three or four sets of two objectives along stages of a map whilst the other side must defend them whilst trying to exhaust the attacker’s tickets.

Unfortunately the nature of Rush highlights major

The snake woman may or may not be a metaphor for your ex-girlfriend

Fuse.

Thursday March 18 2010

Online

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Everquest II Sentinel’s Fate PC When Everquest II first came out it was epic. It seems almost wrong to have called it that because now after the release of the sixth expansion it has truly entered the realms of epic proportions.

The latest expansion Sentinel’s Fate brings in two new large zones, both of which will be familiar to players since once upon a time they were the starting zones for the Erudite race right before being swallowed up in the ‘Void’.

Things are a little different on the continent now what with the environment being aimed at high level players, so expect some tough new foes. Luckily you’ll get the chance to bulk up due to the level cap increasing from eighty to ninety. While

players are trying to reach this new level cap there should be little time for them to get bored since hundreds of new quests, thousands of items, weapons and armour as well as twelve dungeons all set for raiding are included in the expansion.

When buying this game the previous five expansions come as standard, which results in a game that has hundreds of hours of playtime. This is no doubt an intimidating amount of content but it is this huge span that really contributes to the possibility of immersion in the game.

RPGs, like epic fantasy books, are notorious for being timeless and this can be said for Everquest; however Everquest II debuted in 2004 and with half a decade gone since then time has taken its toll. Some animations don’t quite look right, graphics are unlikely to impress and some newer features that can be found in competitors are missing here. Many of these flaws

can be considered aesthetic limitations and it still plays as a good RPG however it is played at the cost of not playing a more in-depth single player game such as Dragon Quest or the MMO giant World of Warcraft, which triumphs when comparing the number of players.

This knowledge can make playing the game feel a little empty and the age perhaps makes things seem a little stale; there have however been attempts to modernise the game, for example in late 2009 achievements were added, much in the same style as steam achievements.

Knowing that updates such as these occur really freshens things up and along with the brand new player versus player mode excitement will no doubt be rekindled in the franchise.

This expansion does not seem sufficient enough to pull players away from other MMOs and is unlikely to

The briefest of moments before you teammate crashes the helicopter into a cliff problems with the game, this difference appears to much every man for himself. primarily the maps and mean there is a lot more Fortunately for players of communication. Previous frantic close combat in the PC version they have a games in the series were games and you’re never far much larger range of voice lauded for the ability of from the fight. and text chat functions. players to hike round a base This game also lacks Despite these and flank the enemy as well the more complex shortcomings Bad Company as being something of a communication systems of 2 is a decent game, while criticism when you might Battlefield 2, communication it may not match the get stuck in the middle of being limited on the console experience of the previous nowhere with no vehicle to voice chat with your three PC based Battlefield’s in the and a long walk back. Here squad mates and the ability series it find its own niche the smaller maps are also to highlight enemies or call and the core game play is incredibly linear, especially for support with a contextual solid enough to keep you in Rush where sections button. The fallout of this is coming back at least until are completely off limits less teamwork and planning Battlefield 3 is released. until a set of objectives are than seen before and it can destroyed. The upside of lead to a situation of pretty Brendan Allitt entice anyone who is simply not interested in the genre or the massively multiplayer experience. It is however an absolute must have for people still involved in the game and it is probably worth checking out if you’ve played previously and like the idea of heading back in.

The game is showing its age and the games style may just not interest some people, however if you have any affinity for Everquest it might be time to get a round of energy drinks in, you’re going to be there for a while longer.

Daniel Rowbotham

Console Heavy Rain PS3

Billing itself as an interactive drama and exploring the usage of the unique ability of videogames for immersion as a storytelling device, Heavy

Rain is an extremely original 10-or-so-hour thriller-cumwhodunnit. The story plays out through short chapters, in the shoes of one of four protagonists.

In between cutscenes, it’s up to the player to either navigate around the map, or tap, hold or shake the appropriate button or the controller itself to perform a prompted action. The story sees your characters regularly plunged into life-ordeath situations and moral dilemmas, and if you don’t play your cards right then a character – who, thanks to the emotional story scenes thus far, you have come to thoroughly identify with can end up permanently dead and take no further part in the proceedings.

The game auto-saves with every important decision you make, meaning that once you’re a couple of hours in, any vague kind of danger can become l e g i t i m a te l y worrying and very tense, very quickly.

Due to the nature of Heavy Rain the minor problems that you would give a pass in other games become big detractors from your enjoyment. Graphical glitches, not-alwaysgreat voice acting and, most notably, occasionally quite clunky controls. When a game’s selling point is immersion the last thing you want is for the character to be involuntarily retracing their

steps especially when you’re against the clock.

Unfortunately, but perhaps unavoidably, the ever-present threat of your heroes being violently thrust from this mortal coil does mean that sometimes intended dramatic twists make you instinctively think you’ve failed and immediately quit the game and try again from the last (always very close) checkpoint.

Ultimately though these minor annoyances are just that and hardly ruin the experience. Heavy Rain isn’t really your typical game, which is precisely the reason why everyone should give it a try.

Mike Bentley

Reviews.Arts.

Divinely Modern Comedy Theatre

Comedy Blog

Immaculate Drama Studio

The Last Laugh (03/07) from ForgeToday.com

Religion is hardly a laughing matter, but Immaculate manages to go for the jugular of all Christian beliefs: immaculate conception. A single working girl with a suspicious trade finds out she’s pregnant. Trouble is, she hasn’t been with anyone in more than a year.

As if that isn’t enough, the battle for ownership of the unborn one includes both humans and a couple of ethereal nemeses.

In a nutshell, that’s Immaculate, a whodunnit where there is no murder, but a constant barrage of comedy archetypes, including but not limited to the dumb ex-boyfriend, chavvy bubblehead friend, swanky devil, tired archangel and single mother-to-be.

It all starts with Mia (Sonia Jalaly – superb) sulking over the results of a home pregnancy test and trying to have a conversation with her best mate, the tocophobic Rebecca (Venetia Lambrick – channelling Vicky Pollard).

Mia’s soliloquy about her horrible ex-boyfriend (Dom Gee-Burch) and her crap love life is interrupted by a man called Gabriel (Sean Linnen), who reveals he’s the archangel Gabriel and

Mother-to-be Mia (Sonia Jalaly) asks the question: who’s your daddy? that the baby is the second and with the better known ‘Paranoid Android’) made coming of the Lord. bits of Christian dogma. it an even more immersive Further complicating the The rapid-fire delivery of experience. plot (although never making jokes works for and against, Todd Baker, the director, it tired) is the apparition of as some jokes do get lost in notes on the libretto about two more claimants to the the midst of the roar from how the play doesn’t look baby’s father figure: an old the audience. The amazing to “push boundaries or acquaintance called Gary chemistry between the cast shine a light on ignored (Stephen Hall) and Old is certainly tangible. Special debates.” It’s intended for Scratch himself, the Devil kudos also for the cast for entertainment. It is certainly (Nick Birchill, who seems to not corpsing during the entertaining, pacey and enjoy chewing the scenery). play, that certainly had to extremely funny, but there The humour is quick, take some extra effort. is an old saying in Mexico courtesy of the sharp pen No ill-word can be said about how “between jokes, of Oliver Lansley, who about the cast and the the truth pokes”. Perhaps, garnered great reviews in production team also amidst all the wit and Edinburgh Fringe 2006 with excels themselves, keeping humour, there’s something this play (already optioned scenery, lights and props to think about free will and as a film, it appears). The sparse and useful, whilst the spirituality and where the playful nature manages to sound choices (especially a line is drawn. laugh at preconceptions rendition of Radiohead’s Samuel Valdes Lopez

Theatre TheVagina Monologues The Foundry

Harriet Di Francesco

Emily Cresswell

Theatre Regeneration Drama Studio

This performance of Regeneration is groundbreaking. Having been given permission to perform an adaptation by the author of the Regeneration Trilogy, Pat Barker, it was refreshing to see a historical drama which was both entertaining and highly accurate.

The performance began with the whole cast reciting Siegfried Sassoon’s A Soldier’s Declaration. The tone was set for a play which deals with the anguish and futility of war and the psychological harm inflicted upon an entire generation of young men.

The adaptation, by Ian Gledhill, keeps many of the elements that make Barker’s text so compelling.

The script is serious yet darkly comic. Barker’s mix of fictional and factual events and characters transfers successfully to the stage.

Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen are among the real people portrayed.

Regeneration is a fictional account of the time that Sassoon spent at the Craiglockhart military

Pat Barker’s haunting novel is brought to the stage. hospital, recovering from Second Lieutenant shell shock. During this Billy Prior, played by Peter time he meets Wilfred Geary, was one of the Owen, whom he befriends most complex characters and mentors. in this production. Despite However, it is the lesser his bleak storyline, Geary known Captain Rivers who expressed Prior’s conflicting becomes the story’s central personality well through an figure. As a psychologist intense dark humour. at Craiglockhart, Rivers Regeneration is highly pioneered Freudian enjoyable. Anyone who sees methods in treating his it will come away feeling that war-damaged patients. they have learnt something Rivers is wonderfully worthwhile about a subject portrayed by Jonathan that remains relevant today; Jones as a forward-thinking and that, surely, is the play’s man struggling to help his greatest achievement. patients whilst up against obstacles of his own, both Amy Patricia Smith in his past and his present.

Fuse.

discussing their vaginas.

Not that this subtracts any emotional attachment to the characters that they portray.

If anything, the simplicity of the performance serves to accentuate the passion behind their message. The message is one of sexual identity: what does sex mean to a woman, and how have her experiences shaped this meaning?

The answers vary and that is what the play attempts to illustrate. The narratives range from one woman’s first menstruation to another’s traumatic sexual experience at the tender age of 13. Just as

For more from this blog, and upcoming coverage of the Student Comedy Festival, see the Arts section of Forgetoday.com.

Thursday March 18 2010

“If your vagina could talk, and it could say two words, what would it say?” This is one of the vulgar questions raised in Eve Ensler’s production of The Vagina Monologues.

Since it originally appeared onstage in 1996, this episodic play has been reenacted across the globe by many different women.

These actresses, however, are united by one common feature: their vaginas.

Based on interviews with 200 women of different cultural and social backgrounds, The Vagina Monologues presents the stories of female sexuality through a series of soliloquies. These aim to titillate, excite, and move its audience. On Monday, the performance came to the University of Sheffield Students’ Union.

The script stands alone in telling the stories of women and their understanding of sexuality. There is no plot, no setting, no mind-blowing light display or accomplished musical soundtrack, just a group of ordinary women

there are many answers to the question “what would your vagina say?” there are also many outlandish tales of a woman’s genitalia.

For the most part, the production had the (mostly female) audience in fits of laughter. One monologue engaged with the abundant vocabulary associated with the region; from pussy to axewound, the audience were presented with the crude and often ugly language of female genitals.

But there was also a darker side to the evening’s entertainment. Some of the monologues addressed more serious and pressing issues. A compilation of testimonies of Bosnian women subjected to rape camps was entitled ‘My Vagina was a Village’.

This monologue raised awareness about the sexual exploitation and abuse of women, not just in Bosnia, but all over the world.

The actresses fulfilled the script’s objectives; there were moments of hysterics and of heartrending silences. Though I’m sure some men found the crude sexual humour to their liking, There is no doubt that this production was made by women, and was meant for women.

It’s not often that the Last Laugh lineup consists of three comedians that I’ve never seen before. This week wasn’t one of them, but I didn’t recognise two of the acts, and it’s certainly been a long time since I last saw Paul Sinha. So that got me excited. And deservedly so.

Compére James Cook caught my interest before he’d even begun, In his own words, Cook ‘teases with love’, and is perfectly able to make fun of his audience without intimidating them.

Just as impressive were his unashamedly geeky reworkings of old clichés: if a mother-in-law joke from the persona of Stephen Hawking doesn’t sound particularly funny, trust me when I say it bloody is.

First act Andy Watson was built around a series of connected vignettes, taking us from a naturalistic beginning delivered in a dulled, deadpan style, which allowed him to make a few wonderfully witty oneliners without sounding at all forced, through to a semi-surreal conclusion, complete with actedout scenes of the Hulk

having sex and the bizarre combination of pornography and Alton Towers. He is a master of his own rather awkward-looking physicality, adding an extra layer of brilliance to every gag.

Headliner Paul Sinha’s set was in another entirely different style, and presented a far more relaxed affair in comparison to the other two. His long extended monologue was personal yet universal, taking us on a hilarious journey through moments of intense bafflement and frustration in a way that was intelligent, ironic, and laced with the awesome philosophy of Bonnie Tyler.

Regular asides, about such things as the hypocrisy of the Daily Express and the two ways of shitting yourself, prevented any hint of monotony, in a way that was insightful and satirical.

His advice to ‘stand up to twats’ was actually quite inspiring. Sinha ended his set with an unconventional and rather sweet attempt to pick up a boy at the bar.

Which made me, for one, grin.

Next time is the Sheffield heats of the Chortle Student Comedy Award.

Which should be, as always, a pretty exciting night.

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Fuse.listings Friday March 19 - Thursday April 1 2010

email: listings@forgetoday.com

Fri 19

Sat 20

Sun 21

Mon 22

Tue 23

Wed 24

Thur 25

Crazy Heart @ Showroom; 8:40pm; £4.60

Give it a Go: Historical Crime & Murder Tour @ Sheffield Cathedral; 7:30pm; £4 Discover the darker side of Sheffield’s history through a series of tales about the Victorian killers that roamed the streets of the Steel City.

Sheffield Irish Exhbition @ Workstation; 9am5pm; free entry Part of the two-week Sheffield Irish Festival 2010 which celebrates Irish culture, history and art, this exhibition showcases some of the Emerald Isle’s artists living and working in and around Sheffield today.

Traces @ The Crucible; 7:30pm; £15-22

Patti Smith in Conversation @ Library Theatre; 1pm; £5.50 Often heralded as an inspiration to many modern musicians, former punk rock idol Patti Smith is in Sheffield to discuss her new book Just Kids, which focuses on her relationship with late friend and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.

This coincides with the Mapplethorpe exhibition at Graves Art Gallery.

Robert Mapplethorpe @ Graves Art Gallery; 10am - 4pm; free entry

Not the Messiah (He’s a very Naughty Boy) @ Showroom; 8:40pm; £4.60 The Monty Python gang have returned to celebrate their 40th anniversary with this spin-off from the film Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Loosely based on Handel’s Messiah, this oratorio was recorded last October at the Royal Albert Hall and flits between various musical genres and bouts of comedy.

See Jeff Bridges’ Academy Award-winning performance as an aging country singer whose career has faltered, sparking an attempt to rebuild his life. Maggie Gyllenhaal co-stars.

Offbeat @ Raynor Lounge; 9pm; £3 Sheffield’s delightfully twee lo-fi indie pop night returns to bring in the Easter break with an all American stars and stripes special.

Covert Soundsystem @ Plug; 10:30pm; £4 Fill dark rooms with lasers, an impressive sound system and an unconventional blend of electro, dubstep and grime, and what do you get? Covert Soundsystem, what a Skins party wants to be when it grows up.

Father of My Children @ Showroom; 8pm; £4.60 Impressing many of Cannes last year, Father of My Children is a French drama about Gregoire, a passionate film producer who chooses his career over his family. When hiscompany goes bankrupt, Gregoire’s problems double.

Hayseed Dixie @ Plug; 7pm; £15 adv

MEMEME + Ghosts of Venice @ The Harley; 9pm; £3

Join electro DJs MEMEME at The Harley alongside Ghosts of Venice and DQ darlings Skullduggery for a night that promises to get you dancing. Free entry before midnight.

Touring to promote new album Killer Grass, American act Hayseed Dixie return to Britain to delight and no doubt amuse many audiences with their country-tinged rock music before jetting across Europe. It would be rude not to mention the bluegrass covers of classic rock songs by artists such as Kiss and AC/DC that are smattered throughout their set amidst some of their own original work.

Marvel at the talent of acrobats, gymnasts and dancers in this critically acclaimed show which merges street dance, circus skills, theatre and sport. Set to a soundtrack that incorporates classical music, blues and hiphop, it’s enough to make you tired just thinking about it.

Cold Cave @ The Harley; 8pm; £5 adv For those who love ever-changing band members and experimental synthpop, look no further than Cold Cave. Featuring former Mika Miko front-woman Jennifer Clavin and Hercules & Love Affair’s Guy Licata, the brash American outfit are squeezing in their own show on a rare day off from their tour supporting Editors around the UK.

Sisters @ Studio Theatre; 7:45pm; £1-15

Running until Saturday March 27, this new play focuses on the traditions, stereotypes and myths that often befall Muslim women in Britain today.

Based on interviews with women from across the country, this is a poignant and heartfelt insight into the world of a culture than is often scrutinised when little is truly known about it.

Robert Mapplethorpe became famous for his celebrity portraits of Patti Smith, Richard Gere, Andy Warhol and Debbie Harry. This exhibition features over 35 of his iconic images taken during the 1970s and ’80s.

The Rocky Horror Show @ Lyceum; 7:45pm; £18-31

Art Sheffield 2010 Life: A User’s Manual @ Millennium Gallery; 10am - 5pm; free entry Between March and May, Art Sheffield will be showcasing art from around the world at various galleries and artspaces around the city. Through a variation of images, installations and film, the focus of this year’s event is the idea of living space. Part conceptual and part social commentary, it will consider how we live, where we live and how we decorate the spaces we inhabit.

Richard O’Brien’s classic stage show is back on tour bringing its well loved ditties along for the ride. Expect thrills and spills and obligatory fancy dress as cleancut lovebirds Brad and Janet get taken on an adventure with Frank’n Furter and co. Time to polish that ‘Time Warp’ routine...

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Lee Mack @ City Hall; 8pm; £18.50 Actor, comedian and Would I Lie To You? team captain Lee Mack presents his new stand up show Going Out. The award winning entertainer’s show is guaranteed to consist of sharp one-liners and wit.

Spring Fling Craft Fair @ Millennium Gallery; 10am - 4pm; free entry Back for a second year, Craft Candy provide quirky gifts that’ll have you grabbing at your purses (or wallets). With 35 stalls consisting of photography, artwork, jewellery and other handmade goodies, there’ll be something for everyone.

Robots In Disguise @ O2 Academy; 7pm; £10 adv

The New Poetry Show @ The Redhouse; 7pm; free entry For those with a penchant for public speaking, this may be something to think about. Go and recite your own poetry and tales from around the world or your own humble abode in the comfort of The Redhouse, or alternatively grab a drink and listen to what everyone else has got to say.

Rory Bremner @ City Hall; 8pm; £16.50

Food Glorious Food: Chocolate Tasting @ Weston Park Museum; 7pm; £10 What better way to get into the Easter mood than tasting some of the finest chocolates from around the world.

Courtesy of Cocoa of Ecclesall Road, this is likely to be much more fun than wine tasting, assuming you like chocolate of course.

An Audience with the Chuckle Brothers @ Lyceum; 7pm; £13

Ellie Goulding + Primary 1 @ O2 Academy; 7pm; SOLD OUT

No, it’s not an April Fool’s joke. Well, we hope not, but if it is don’t blame us. Yes, Barry and Paul have got their own oneoff stage show after 21 series with the BBC. Including some of their favourite moments from throughout their career, this event is bound to make you, er, chuckle.

We Have Band @ Bungalows and Bears; 8pm; free entry

Last Laugh Comedy Club @ City Hall; 8pm; £16 adv Paul Tonkinson, Mick Ferry, Anvil Springstein and Toby Foster are here to make you laugh. So go on, let them have a go.

The Twilight Sad @ The Harley; 8pm; £5 adv

Electro-popsters and Fuse interviewees We Have Band are treating us to a free show in Division St favourite Bungalows and Bears.

Expect toe-tapping beats, catchy choruses and a live show not to be missed.

Humbug! Celebrating 200 Years of PT Barnum @ Western Bank Library; 9am-9pm; free entry Libraries are more than just a place to tear your hair out, learn about the famous businessman and circus tycoon.

For those less interested in comedy, The Twilight Sad may be just the ticket. The Scottish group have worked with Interpol’s producer Peter Katis, so expect intensity with a touch of doom and gloom. Lovely.

Determined not to be a novelty act and to be much less annoying than the Queens of Noize, Robots in Disguise’s electro-punk is entertaining. particularly when you know that they’ve toured with Noel Fielding and his Mighty Boosh army. Does this make them an annoying novelty? Possibly, but why not see for yourself.

No One Knows About Persian Cats @ Showroom; 3:30pm; £4.60 No One Knows... follows the journey of two musicians in Tehran with a gig in London, but no band and no passports.

Whilst waiting for such things to materialise, they trudge through the underground music scene listening to various rappers and singers interspersed with witty dialogue.

Meursault + Elena Tonra + Dot to Dots @ Bungalows and Bears; 8pm; free entry

Hailing from Edinburgh and not the settlement in Eastern France, Meursault offer folk music with added distortion, which has gained them comparisons to Canadian oddballs Arcade Fire. With support from Elena Tonra, this is the perfect accompaniment to any pint-drinking session.

Political satirist and comedian Rory Bremner takes to the stage after five years away from stand-up shows. Famous for his impressions of people in high places, fun will be poked at those who make the headlines each week, and no doubt Bremner will be making the most of the run-up to the general election by mocking every politician in Whitehall.

The Joy Formidable @ O2 Academy 2; 7pm; £7 adv Led by front woman Ritzy, Welsh trio The Joy Formidable’s grungey indie pop is becoming widely acknowledged as they creep up the music industry ladder. Having toured with Passion Pit and been compared to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, catch them now before they grow up and move on.

Poor old Ellie Goulding has got a lot to live up to. Having received the Critics Choice Award at this year’s BRIT Awards and being dubbed the BBC’s ‘Sound of 2010’, her twinkly glittery pop has got to prove itself.

The show is sold out, proving that people are intrigued, and no doubt in agreement with the industry types, but is she all that she’s cracked up to be? Watch this space.

Jethro Tull @ City Hall; 7pm; £24.50 Still going strong after over 30 years in the business, you may recall your parents mentioning the mighty Jethro Tull.

Tull are renowned for their Zeppelin-rivalling anthemic rock. Since then however, they’ve explored other avenues, so now their back catalogue is more diverse as it spans everything from folk to jazz and back into rock again.