Sunday, 27 May 2012
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Film Trailer: Anchorman - The Legend Continues
We have all been waiting for this and it arrived yesterday. Just a ting snippet of four huge legends and that release date couldn't come sooner.
Stay classy people.
Stay classy people.
Album Review: Actress - R.I.P.
An album from an ex-West Brom player who started out as a DJ then decided to produce using a Roland Groovebox and a dictaphone. How religious could this album possibly get? There's no choral singing but it's a biblical narrative that takes in death, accession, blessing and a well earned journey across a purgatorial landscape at which you have to avoid temptation all before being thrown back down to Earth.
Every now and then everyone listens to an album that has a real effect on them (this will happen to you if it hasn't already). It's one of those albums that really stands out for you. For me this was Actress recent album 'R.I.P.' Also known as Darren Cunningham this South London based producer started out by releasing music on his own Werk Discs before signing up to Blur frontman Damon Albarn's imprint Honest Jon's.
This album has all sorts thrown into it and I wouldn't know where to place it. With technoid thudding tracks like 'Marble Plexus' and 'Shadow From Tartarus' to the disco sounding 'Iwaad'. On 'Uriel's Black Harp' plucked notes play over the top of what sound like crickets chirping at night, but it sounds epic.
Strangely enough these tracks do not invoke any euphoria in me, I don't want to go and throw some shapes to these tunes. But maybe this is the beauty of the album. It all seems a little alien to me, yet I feel that this is the source of it's power.
My favourite track from the album:
Follow Werk Discs on Twitter: Werk Discs Records
Follow Honest Jon's on Twitter: Honest Jon's Records
Every now and then everyone listens to an album that has a real effect on them (this will happen to you if it hasn't already). It's one of those albums that really stands out for you. For me this was Actress recent album 'R.I.P.' Also known as Darren Cunningham this South London based producer started out by releasing music on his own Werk Discs before signing up to Blur frontman Damon Albarn's imprint Honest Jon's.
This album has all sorts thrown into it and I wouldn't know where to place it. With technoid thudding tracks like 'Marble Plexus' and 'Shadow From Tartarus' to the disco sounding 'Iwaad'. On 'Uriel's Black Harp' plucked notes play over the top of what sound like crickets chirping at night, but it sounds epic.
Strangely enough these tracks do not invoke any euphoria in me, I don't want to go and throw some shapes to these tunes. But maybe this is the beauty of the album. It all seems a little alien to me, yet I feel that this is the source of it's power.
My favourite track from the album:
Follow Werk Discs on Twitter: Werk Discs Records
Follow Honest Jon's on Twitter: Honest Jon's Records
Track Check: Rack N Ruin ft. P Money & Koast - Signal
Yeah this one is from a while back but it's still a belter. Rack N Ruin on the buttons and P Money on the verses with Koast as well (but I ain't entirely sure what he does).
Track Check: Flight Facilities ft. Grovesnor - With You
Don't know much about these guys but I really like the video. Anemie is cool, Grovesnors' voice is relaxing and Flight Facilities kind of sound like a more chilled out version of Daft Punk. Yaaaay!
Monday, 21 May 2012
Track Check: Rudimental - Feel The Love
Been listening to this pretty much all weekend. The guy singing on this track has, in my opinion, got vibes. Plus the video is what I would presume to be Gypsies. Although these ones are infinitely cooler than the ones we get in England, purely on the facts that they are:
A: American.
B: Roll around on horses.
C: Look awesome on said horses.
D: They are the only people who I have seen pull off bling and horses at the same time.
A: American.
B: Roll around on horses.
C: Look awesome on said horses.
D: They are the only people who I have seen pull off bling and horses at the same time.
Friday, 18 May 2012
Bugerac Blog
I love burgers. You love burgers. Everyone loves a burger at some point during their life. Now where would you go in London to find the best one? Do not worry because Burgerac is here to help.
My friend Sly loves his food (he's Asian) and is always looking for the next best thing in food. But basically loves a good bit of meat shoved between two buns........ So I was glad when he sent me a link to this blog. From what I can tell it is one guy hot on the trail for the best burger in town (they do London/NYC mainly, but every now and then go further a field). The blog it's self is cool, featuring mouth watering pictures of some amazing/unbelievable burgers. It also gives reviews of just simply burgers, not bothering with talking about the restaurants 'aesthetics,' but getting down to the heart of what they love best. As this blog has gathered steam with interviews in Zeitgeist Magazine and featured in The Guardian's weekly pullout section Guide Internet Picks of the Week, they have developed an app with Blue Crow Media so it makes it that much easier for you to "locate' the nearest decent burger to you. Very helpful on a Saturday if you've got that stinking hangover and want to chow down on something succulent. So I hope I have lead you to what could be the taste discovery of your life or if you don't eat meat reading this post was a pure waste of time. Sorry.
Follow the links:
Burgerac Blog: www.burgerac.com
Burgerac App: www.burgerac.com/p/burgerapp.html
Film Trailer: Snow White and The Huntsman
So this is coming out soon and for a film about Snow White, this looks pretty badass. I would quite like to see what Kristen Stewart acting skills can do apart from teenage angst and moody bitch. It will also be interesting to see what Chris Hemsworth can do as The Huntsman, after the success of Thor and The Avengers.
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
Track Check: Disclosure - What's In Your Head
My friends over at Eton Messy found this gem of a track the other day and sent it to me. The track is by Disclosure and is called 'What's In Your Head' (the video is 'fan' made but I bet it's a really old guy who rubbed his knees so hard whilst making the video he got 1st degree burns, you'll see what I mean....).
P.S. There's a point in this video where it has a lot of flashing images. They did not warn me about this and I blacked out and woke up in a tent. So you have been warned!
P.S. There's a point in this video where it has a lot of flashing images. They did not warn me about this and I blacked out and woke up in a tent. So you have been warned!
Track Check: We Are Augustines - Juarez
Caught this track on the radio a few times over the last week or so. Looked them up and there actually quite good. Had a new album out back in March called "Rise Ye Sunken Ships." I haven't listened to it yet but tried out a few of there tracks on Youtube and the other that really stood out for me was a song called "Chapel Song." Give it ago, you might like it.
Podcast Post: Rankin Radio
So the poshest man in Dubstep, High Rankin has started making a weekly radio show/podcast. You can find it on Speaker.com and it's normally broadcast from about 9PM (GMT). It's a combination of music, dubstep/drum & bass with occasional other genres thrown in. But what got me listening to it in the first place was the man's style of comedy. He has parts of the show in which he get his Mum aka 'Mumma Ranks' to review new tracks, we get a poem from Batman LDN (hilarious Twitter account from a crime fighting badass from East London) we also get Filthy Ken dubplates and the dubstep complaint line. With High Rankin setting himself weekly chalenges we get a real insight into warped dickensian mind of a middle class white guy from Brighton. Enjoy.
Film Trailer: The Campaign
So I have decided to start posting trailers of up and coming films I like the look of. So to start off with I thought we would go with a comedy. In the future I'm not going to bother talking about them because then there wouldn't be any point in film trailers. Let's see how it goes.
Sunday, 6 May 2012
Thursday, 3 May 2012
Film Review: The Hunger Games
Warning: Many contain slight spoilers. (And the grammer and punctuation could possibly be a tad shit)
So if you haven't already heard by now a film has come out and it has taken the world by storm. In it's opening weekend in America it took $155 million, that became the biggest tally for a film that isn't a sequel and comes in as the 3rd best opening weekend for a film ever. (Behind the final Harry Potter film and The Dark Knight.)
Quick summary: In a not-too-distant future, North America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss' young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.
It's been said that writer of The Hunger Games trilogy Suzanne Collins was once mindlessly flicking between TV programes. One channel was showing people competing in a reality TV show and on the other there was footage of the invasion of the Iraq war, the shows began to blur into one and the basis of the book was formed. So this sparked her to write a book. Seems weird.
Any who, the film does the book justice. It submerges the audience in the world of Panem right from the get go. We see District 12 is clearly pretty shit and it looks like every one has a hard time of getting by in life (boo hoo). The Capitol is clearly not having any sort of economic crisis that the other districts are having and all is good for them.
But this film isn't really about the economics of the world of Panem (although that would make a rather interesting BBC 4 documentary, because there isn't much else worth showing on BBC 4). It's all about the GAMES! Our heroin Katniss is prepared for the games in that she is taught fighting techniques, camouflage skills and for some reason she is given a leg wax?!?!?! (Didn't see the point in that when she was expected to die.... Could have at least used those leg waxing strips on some girl who might have gone to a cluuuuuurb and benefited from them.) So then she plods her way around some forrest and does some serious killing. THAT GIRL GOT SOME SERIOUS BOW HUNTING SKILLS! I'M TALKING LEGOLAS SHIT!
We see on the other Districts and their horrified reactions to what is going on in the games and on the flip-side we see The Capitol and the people watching there and how entertained they are by the whole event. It made made me feel quite sick, but if I was in there shoes I would probably be getting drunk and watching, thanking the lord Jesus Christ that it wasn't fucking me in there. This is a nice twist because in the book we only get what's going from Katniss point of view. Given an outsiders view gives the film a bit more depth. There are other parts of the film that have been added to make it more than just a point of view story, but you will have to go watch it or read the book to find out what they are.
When the film was released there was some big huuu-haaa about releasing a film about kids killing kids, especially in America what with the Columbine massacre and various other high school tragedies in the recent years. Now this is where I have a problem. I watched various interviews and read articles from American psychologists saying that this was a film which parents shouldn't go let there kids see. Why you might ask? Well these so called psychologists were saying that some children might become inflicted and would carry out 'copy-Kat' (see what I did there!) scenarios. SERIOUSLY? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!? If you think your child might copy what happens on screen of a big budget blockbuster then you should just lock you kid in a dark room or take it to a councillor and get him/her checked over. It all boils down to the same old argument "Is popular-culture killing our children?" But that is one hell of a question I am not going to answer now because I don't have the answer and even if I did wouldn't tell you. Apparently to get the film rating down to a 12-A in the United Kingdom, the film had to edit out some of the blood and things like that. But from what I saw they didn't really bother. There was quite a lot of blood splattering about the place. I if you watch the scene where this kid gets his neck snapped and you don't squirm at it, your are made of steel and probably don't have a soul.
In the end I really liked this film, Jennifer Lawrence did a good job (but she did a better job in Winter's Bone) and cameos from Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley and Woody Harrelson make up a great cast. But hats off to Donald Sutherland for a creepily good performance of President Snow, he sent chills up my spine.
So if you haven't already heard by now a film has come out and it has taken the world by storm. In it's opening weekend in America it took $155 million, that became the biggest tally for a film that isn't a sequel and comes in as the 3rd best opening weekend for a film ever. (Behind the final Harry Potter film and The Dark Knight.)
Quick summary: In a not-too-distant future, North America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss' young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.
It's been said that writer of The Hunger Games trilogy Suzanne Collins was once mindlessly flicking between TV programes. One channel was showing people competing in a reality TV show and on the other there was footage of the invasion of the Iraq war, the shows began to blur into one and the basis of the book was formed. So this sparked her to write a book. Seems weird.
Any who, the film does the book justice. It submerges the audience in the world of Panem right from the get go. We see District 12 is clearly pretty shit and it looks like every one has a hard time of getting by in life (boo hoo). The Capitol is clearly not having any sort of economic crisis that the other districts are having and all is good for them.
But this film isn't really about the economics of the world of Panem (although that would make a rather interesting BBC 4 documentary, because there isn't much else worth showing on BBC 4). It's all about the GAMES! Our heroin Katniss is prepared for the games in that she is taught fighting techniques, camouflage skills and for some reason she is given a leg wax?!?!?! (Didn't see the point in that when she was expected to die.... Could have at least used those leg waxing strips on some girl who might have gone to a cluuuuuurb and benefited from them.) So then she plods her way around some forrest and does some serious killing. THAT GIRL GOT SOME SERIOUS BOW HUNTING SKILLS! I'M TALKING LEGOLAS SHIT!
We see on the other Districts and their horrified reactions to what is going on in the games and on the flip-side we see The Capitol and the people watching there and how entertained they are by the whole event. It made made me feel quite sick, but if I was in there shoes I would probably be getting drunk and watching, thanking the lord Jesus Christ that it wasn't fucking me in there. This is a nice twist because in the book we only get what's going from Katniss point of view. Given an outsiders view gives the film a bit more depth. There are other parts of the film that have been added to make it more than just a point of view story, but you will have to go watch it or read the book to find out what they are.
When the film was released there was some big huuu-haaa about releasing a film about kids killing kids, especially in America what with the Columbine massacre and various other high school tragedies in the recent years. Now this is where I have a problem. I watched various interviews and read articles from American psychologists saying that this was a film which parents shouldn't go let there kids see. Why you might ask? Well these so called psychologists were saying that some children might become inflicted and would carry out 'copy-Kat' (see what I did there!) scenarios. SERIOUSLY? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!? If you think your child might copy what happens on screen of a big budget blockbuster then you should just lock you kid in a dark room or take it to a councillor and get him/her checked over. It all boils down to the same old argument "Is popular-culture killing our children?" But that is one hell of a question I am not going to answer now because I don't have the answer and even if I did wouldn't tell you. Apparently to get the film rating down to a 12-A in the United Kingdom, the film had to edit out some of the blood and things like that. But from what I saw they didn't really bother. There was quite a lot of blood splattering about the place. I if you watch the scene where this kid gets his neck snapped and you don't squirm at it, your are made of steel and probably don't have a soul.
In the end I really liked this film, Jennifer Lawrence did a good job (but she did a better job in Winter's Bone) and cameos from Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley and Woody Harrelson make up a great cast. But hats off to Donald Sutherland for a creepily good performance of President Snow, he sent chills up my spine.
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