Reviews

Inheritance: DVD

Inheritance

Director: Vaughn Stein

Madman

Fresh from watching the terrible Force of Nature I couldn’t have managed a better double-feature of car-crash bad-scripting if I’d googled it…Inheritance is a fucking stupid mess also. But that seems a lot sadder given a strong cast and the potential (if you watch the trailer) for something to be pulled out of the bag, some magic trick, some way of transcending the absurdity. But no. That is the only suspension of disbelief here, you really want this movie to work because Simon Pegg is so often so great and here he is playing a monster-prisoner with an American accent. But there’s not even any scenery to chew. This whole thing is fucking dank. Read More »

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February 26, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Ian Nathan: Stephen King at the Movies

Stephen King at the Movies: A Complete History of the Film and Television Adaptations from The Master of Horror

Ian Nathan

Palazzo Editions; None Edition

I’ve been calling myself a lapsed fan. It’s a Forgive Me, Father scenario. It’s been years since I’ve read anything by Stephen King (well, that’s not quite true, I recently read one of the co-written novellas from the last decade and it was okay, but it didn’t feel like it quite counted). When I was a kid – well a teen – I was a big-time Stephen King fan. From 13-25 I reckon; I definitely slowed down after high school but those school years it was all about the Stephen King collection – there are still a few of the classics I haven’t read (and indeed I’m finally midway through The Shining as I write this). Read More »

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February 25, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Force of Nature: DVD

Force of Nature

Director: Michael Polish

Lionsgate / Madman

There are bad films where you leave them on and you start to laugh at how bad they are. They are unintentionally hilarious and then – somehow – spontaneously enjoyable. They are the type of entertainment they could have never planned to be. Then there are bad films that are so bogged down in badness as to be something you absolutely wade through. If they’re really bad – like Force of Nature – you might not even remember them while they’re still playing. Did I get to the end? What? It’s still playing now? But I’m staring at the screen and I can’t follow this convoluted storyline at all. I thought I turned it off? What? I didn’t? Huh?!

Force of Nature is so pleased with the pun of its title and the tagline that apparently adds to that: When the perfect crime meets the perfect storm – that no further thought was given to the script. Read More »

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February 25, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Willie Nelson: That’s Life

Willie Nelson

That’s Life

SMG

Just last year, Willie Nelson released one of his greatest records in some time. Just lovely. At 87 he didn’t sound a day over 85, the way he’s sounded since at least 1985. And in true love ‘em and leave ‘em style here is, just a few months later, with another brand new set of recordings. This one is all covers of songs made famous by Frank Sinatra. And if you thought that was Bob Dylan’s latest trick, this is actually Willie’s second set of tunes by Ol’ Blue Eyes in the last few years – That’s Life following on from 2018’s My Way. (Don’t you just love the way that Willie can make a line his own – even with album titles, even when taking a song made famous by someone else and just deciding that’ll be the name of his new album). Read More »

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February 24, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Joel Ross: Who Are You?

Joel Ross

Who Are You?

Blue Note

Joel Ross was just 23 when he released KingMaker – a hell of an album, his debut as a leader. Not much more than a year on he’s back with this second album leading the band (a killer-good band) and making a case for himself, already, as a rejuvenating force for – and with – the vibraphone. It’s a dexterous instrument with a duel role as rhythmic force and melodic conduit. Ross takes both roles seriously and knows how to effortlessly switch between them – giving ample space to the other soloists in his band as well. In particular Immanuel Wilkins on the alto sax and Jeremy Corren at the piano. But also harp-playing wunderkind Brandee Younger sits in on roughly half of the album and the interplay between her instrument and Ross’ is sublime. New bassist Kano Mendenhall replaces Benjamin Tiberio from the first record and drummer Jeremy Dutton continues to build layers (Art Blakey) and offer surprise attacks (Elvin Jones) in a manner so befitting of the spiritually informed modern jazz that’s on offer here. Read More »

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February 23, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon

Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon

Noon

Megaplum / ATO Records

What a wonderful anomaly Leo Kottke is – a folk guitarist, but also a jazz guitarist and there’s classical in there, it’s just an absolute stew. He also doesn’t seem to have ever gone too far down the eccentric path (Bill Orcutt, Sir Richard Bishop) nor the drinking-too-much-to-be-pleasant path (Johns Martyn and Fahey). Just a guy with his guitar – playing his shows and recording his albums, sitting in on some sessions (I first heard him as the guitarist for Rickie Lee Jones, it was so, so unbelievably good that I was back to his late 60s debut solo record after that…) Read More »

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February 23, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

John Densmore: The Seekers – Meetings With Remarkable Musicians (and Other Artists)

The Seekers: Meetings With Remarkable Musicians (and Other Artists)

John Densmore

Hachette Books

John Densmore was a pretty good drummer but he’s a really bad writer. So it’s remarkable that he’s now up to book number three! The first was a given – a book about his time in The Doors; no one could argue that he has a story there. But the second. A bitter, hollow, almost comical account of lawsuits against his former band members and announcements that he had a gift for writing (and no exchange card). Read More »

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February 23, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Will Bates: Bliss (Amazon Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Will Bates

Bliss (Amazon Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Milan

Amazon Prime’s new original movie, Bliss, is getting a right royal roasting. But I quite liked it. I’m not about to mount a huge defense but in a world where utter fucking cack like Behind Her Eyes and allegedly clever time-filling series’ such as Russian Doll can capture imaginations I’m just curious to know why Bliss was deemed such a huge failure. Yeah, it’s got some clunky dialogue and the suspension of disbelief to enable the premise is a large leap but the performances are solid and there’s a heart to this film. It twists and its ending, I thought, was bloody wonderful. Actually really powerful. Read More »

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February 22, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

The Weather Station: Ignorance

The Weather Station

Ignorance

Fat Possum

You can make a serious album about serious issues that has groove, that has soul, that has not only heart but has actual art to it. It’s been done. Many times – and it always feels like a subtle magic trick. A few years ago Tracey Thorn did so with a record simply called “Record”. Tamara Lindeman is a Canadian artist who, for the last decade and a half, has been recording under the band-name, The Weather Station. It’s her project, in that she is the constant, the line-up remaining fluid around her, five albums deep now and the latest, Ignorance, feels like not just The Weather Station’s finest effort but the first great, deep album of intelligent songs for 2021. Read More »

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February 22, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Sara Dallin & Keren Woodward: Really Saying Something (Sara & Keren) – Our Bananarama Story

Really Saying Something: Sara & Keren – Our Bananarama Story

Sara Dallin & Keren Woodward

Cornerstone / Penguin

This cool summer I got hooked on the song Cruel Summer – and hooked again on Bananarama for the first time in absolutely years. So giddy with the rush of nostalgia I wrote a goddamn poem about it. And in the absence of new music by the band I devoured the back catalogue, enjoyed a lot of it and humoured some of it and was just generally happy to have given myself over to a wave of nostalgia. Read More »

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February 21, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

John Patitucci / Vinnie Colaiuta / Bill Cunliffe: TRIO

John Patitucci / Vinnie Colaiuta / Bill Cunliffe

TRIO

Le Coq Records

Le Coq Records is going for the Blue Note aesthetic – it’s there in the album cover design and also in the recording set-up; a wee super session, three legends assembled and the outcome is just one day of recorded work. TRIO is the first time pianist Bill Cunliffe, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and bassist John Patitucci have worked together on a session. All three are legendary players – Cunliffe was a player and arranger for The Buddy Rich Big Band and has been a semi-regular visitor to New Zealand shores thanks to Rodger Fox’s commitment to jazz. Vinnie plays across rock and jazz and to some he’s known for his work with the likes of Frank Zappa and Sting but he also tours with Jeff Beck and Herbie Hancock and he can be a straight jazzer when the mood is right. Patitucci is everywhere, perhaps especially of late – Wayne Shorter’s band, sessions with Chick Corea and his own work including a recent solo bass album. Read More »

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February 21, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Sun Ra: Haverford College, Jan. 25, 1980 (Solo Rhodes Piano)

Sun Ra

Haverford College, Jan. 25, 1980 (Solo Rhodes Piano)

Enterplanetary Koncepts

Sun Ra has become shorthand for a kind of controlled chaos – exploratory in the extreme. Herman Poole Blount – aka Le Sony’r Ra or “Sun Ra” was a person, but Sun Ra wasn’t just a musician, Sun Ra was a kind of music. A concept. The concept, the shorthand, lives on. Sun Ra’s Arkestra – the ensemble with a fluid and evolving line-up – is still out there in some version now. And is still out there as a touchstone for so many other players. The music – forever – out there!

But there were many versions of Sun Ra and they held several surprises. Read More »