Musical Revelations Of The Week:
Cherry Ghost - Thirst For Romance - I was convinced he'd deliver a brilliant album after I heard him do a session for Radcliffe and Maconie. It confirmed for me that 'Mathematics' was not a one-off. A wonderfully wistful album with more than a hint of the Hawley about him. A few upbeat tracks shocked the bollocks off me at the end of the record, but overall it's the sound of autumnal evenings. Or as we now know them, summer days.
The Chemical Brothers - Greatest Hits - When they were good they were fucking brilliant. 'The Private Psychedelic Reel' is just as beguiling now as it ever was, while the glory of 'The Golden Path', 'Star Guitar' and 'Out Of Control' demonstrate how undervalued this lot are. Not much cop at normal albums, mind.
Prince - New Earth - Ok, so at times it's a little Eighties in terms of production, and he still doesn't know when to end a song, but it's not a bad little record at all. The slower tracks hint at 'Older'-era George Michael while the straight up funk of quite a few tunes hark back to the Prince records that people would actually want to buy in a record shop.
Non-musical Revelations Of The Week:
Grass - The Complete Series - Finally got this BBC3 comedy drama on DVD this week. I refused to buy it as part of an over-priced 'Fast Show Threesome' boxset, as this was the only decent thing in the set. In years to come I genuinely hope that this is held up as a masterwork of its time. I doubt it, because that's never really the way these things work out. Co-written by Simon Day (of Fast Show stock) and Andrew Collins (general media legend), 'Grass' is a delight for every second that it is on screen. Old Fast Show character, Billy Bleach witnesses a gangland shooting and is required to turn grass for the police. As a result he is placed on the witness protection scheme in a little village in Norfolk. The ensuing plot lines - poetry olympics, a rural pub that only serves Moroccan cuisine and two metropolitan police officers embarking on the senior officer's first gay relationship, whilst protecting Bleach - are quite beautifully woven around a superlative performance from Simon Day as as the titular grass. The laughs linger at all the right times, and the throwaway jokes are often the best. The local plod is christened 'Heartbeat' by Bleach, who himself spends much of the first episode inventing as many possible different identities for himself as possible, not quite realising that he may meet these people again. I cannot recommend this show enough. Click on the piccie above to purchase.
Jekyll - Ok, so I already knew this was great, but the back and forth storytelling of this week's episode was captivating. Genuinely great telly and a real feather in writer Steven Moffat's bow.
The Mail On Sunday - yuk. No, really.
Cherry Ghost - Thirst For Romance - I was convinced he'd deliver a brilliant album after I heard him do a session for Radcliffe and Maconie. It confirmed for me that 'Mathematics' was not a one-off. A wonderfully wistful album with more than a hint of the Hawley about him. A few upbeat tracks shocked the bollocks off me at the end of the record, but overall it's the sound of autumnal evenings. Or as we now know them, summer days.The Chemical Brothers - Greatest Hits - When they were good they were fucking brilliant. 'The Private Psychedelic Reel' is just as beguiling now as it ever was, while the glory of 'The Golden Path', 'Star Guitar' and 'Out Of Control' demonstrate how undervalued this lot are. Not much cop at normal albums, mind.
Prince - New Earth - Ok, so at times it's a little Eighties in terms of production, and he still doesn't know when to end a song, but it's not a bad little record at all. The slower tracks hint at 'Older'-era George Michael while the straight up funk of quite a few tunes hark back to the Prince records that people would actually want to buy in a record shop.
Non-musical Revelations Of The Week:
Grass - The Complete Series - Finally got this BBC3 comedy drama on DVD this week. I refused to buy it as part of an over-priced 'Fast Show Threesome' boxset, as this was the only decent thing in the set. In years to come I genuinely hope that this is held up as a masterwork of its time. I doubt it, because that's never really the way these things work out. Co-written by Simon Day (of Fast Show stock) and Andrew Collins (general media legend), 'Grass' is a delight for every second that it is on screen. Old Fast Show character, Billy Bleach witnesses a gangland shooting and is required to turn grass for the police. As a result he is placed on the witness protection scheme in a little village in Norfolk. The ensuing plot lines - poetry olympics, a rural pub that only serves Moroccan cuisine and two metropolitan police officers embarking on the senior officer's first gay relationship, whilst protecting Bleach - are quite beautifully woven around a superlative performance from Simon Day as as the titular grass. The laughs linger at all the right times, and the throwaway jokes are often the best. The local plod is christened 'Heartbeat' by Bleach, who himself spends much of the first episode inventing as many possible different identities for himself as possible, not quite realising that he may meet these people again. I cannot recommend this show enough. Click on the piccie above to purchase.Jekyll - Ok, so I already knew this was great, but the back and forth storytelling of this week's episode was captivating. Genuinely great telly and a real feather in writer Steven Moffat's bow.
The Mail On Sunday - yuk. No, really.
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