I can still remember everything about the time I first saw the movie Bloodsport. It was at a 13th birthday party for my really good mate. There was a bunch of us, we went to the arcade and played the wrestling game, we went ten-pin bowling after, then back to the orchard to throw rotten […]
The Rodger Fox Big Band REIMAGINED! The Rodger Fox Big Band plays Sir Dave Dobbyn T-Bone Records I always call The Rodger Fox Big Band the hardest working group in New Zealand – with Rodger at the helm tirelessly pushing, as conductor, arranger, wrangler, promoter, deal-maker and overall advocate for the art of the big […]
Richard had said that his grandmother was dead. That was how he got out of work after only one week. It had been a long week, for sure. Starting at 7am, and not finishing until 6. In the shop, sole charge, selling snacks to people on their way in or out from the station. He […]
Whenever I watch a show featuring – or created by – Riki Gooch I am grateful to know him, blown away that I do even. It really feels like an honour. I’m lucky to know many creative people, some I know really well, some I have been incredibly lucky to meet, and it’s just fleeting […]
The Black Phone Director: Scott Derrickson Blumhouse Productions / Crooked Highway / Universal Pictures The Black Phone is both a chilling, cold, dark and disturbing horror film and, within it, there’s a beautifully written story of resilience and the manifestations of trauma. It is a survivor’s story. To drill down too far into either is […]
I lived alone, apart from a huge rat. It left its shits all over the place, all through my kitchen and in the wardrobe, I did nothing about it at all – beyond limiting the amount of time I spent in the place. I left the lava lamp on but had otherwise totally checked out. […]
Sometimes we were allowed a couple of bucks, get them changed into 20cent coins at the counter, move the joystick, mash the buttons, there for a good time – never a long time. We would have just had dinner, somewhere along the parade, and the adults would play along if we let them; they’d have […]
Linton Kwesi Johnson – Forces of Victory (1979) Lockdown – in its various states and guises around the world – has done funny things to us and I first noticed that when all I wanted to listen to was reggae and dub music. This isn’t usually the case – but I found myself a fan anew. Returning […]
Give Al Pacino a line he can yell, make sure there’s a chance for him to say ‘fuck’, and preferably just as he’s hitting his volume’s peak. But remember there needs to be a place to pause as well. A who. a ha. And then away he goes again, with RISING VOLUME as he continues […]
I know this technically shouldn’t count – since this series has the word Score so overtly in the title. But the soundtrack to the film Dead Man Walking – by “Various Artists” is a compilation album that feel like a score. Also, it’s fucking great. Ridiculously great. Sublimely great. The film was great too. I’ve […]
We removed your post. Now the whole fence is in danger, having to take the weight of that one thing you said. We didn’t understand the context. Now your fence is going to have to support your views even with that post taken from view. Taken from you and placed in the pile of deadwood, […]
From time to time I like to start a new series of posts here at Off The Tracks. I’m not really revieiwng albums these days, certainly nowhere near as much – so now it’s time to focus on material I just love – older albums, or brand new ones. So I’m starting a new series called Try Three. Recommendations of […]