Sunday, August 21, 2005

Killed By Death web radio. (link c/o Sander Bink)
Rowing against the tide that is the indifference of people in the central belt to embrace LIVE MUSIC, Jennifer Hunter and her crew have put together this line-up for the upcoming Octoberfest... Teenage Fanclub tickets are available via Tickets-Scotland for those outwith the central belt. Falkirk Town Hall for those who can get theirs locally.

I know with first hand experience what a thankless task rousing the rabble around these parts can be but go ahead and prove me wrong. Support (y)our local music festival...

Way to Blue Music Festival 2005 FALKIRK

Info Line: FTH (Falkirk Town Hall, West Bridge Street 01324 503741

Lomax the Songhunter' Wed 5 Oct 7.30pm £3.50/£2.50 concs
The great David Scott and Aberfeldy will open for the (not great) Trashcan Sinatras on Thursday October 6th.
Teenage Fanclub Fri 7 Oct 7.30pm £14
Dig' Sun 9 Oct 1pm £3.50/£2.50 concs

Rialto 28 Vicar Street, 01324 622344

Soul Starr Thu 6 Oct
Viva Stereo + Odeon Beat Club Fri 7 Oct
Pip Dylan + Mr Fairweather Sat 8 Oct 2pm
The Fence Collective Sun 9 Oct 3pm - 1am

Rene (Antonine Hotel) 1 Manor Street, 01324 624066

Northern Soul Night Thu 6 Oct 8pm
DJ Chris Bourne Fri 7 Oct 8.30pm Free
DJ Chris Bourne Sat 8 Oct 8.30pm Free

Comma Bar 14 Lint Riggs, 01324 611669

Robert Graham (Acoustic) Thu 6 Oct
DJ Miller Robertson Fri 7 Oct 9.30pm
Soul Kitchen Sat 8 Oct 9.30pm
Way to Blue Music Quiz Sun 9 Oct 9pm
The Wellington Bar 6 Manor Street, 01324 622701
Shanghai Ornaments Fri 7 Oct

The Boathouse 1 Burnbank Road

Malcolm Middleton Fri 7 Oct Free
Jo Mango Sat 8 Oct Free

Grubowski's 54 Bellsdyke Road, Larbert, 01324 570201

5 Park Drive + support Wed 5 Oct 9pm Free
Jondi Mac & Friends Thu 6 Oct 9pm Free
Mid Life Crises Fri 7 Oct 9pm Free
Mr Nice + Barry Price Sat 8 Oct 9pm Free
Back to the Future Sun 9 Oct 9pm Free

The Dobbie Hall 291 Main Street, Stenhousemuir, 01324 570201

The Falcons Sat 8 Oct 8pm £5.00 Seated

More info to be added including instores by BMX Bandits and Aberfeldy. I'll post that when it becomes available.
Not sure I have the stamina for watching three films in one day anymore. However, with the sheer unadulterated piffle of STONED still tugging at my angry strings – yesterday’s selection fared way better. I’ve read a couple of reviews of said rubbish that were way too kind and wonder how anyone could have found it other than shite.

Two Swedish movies, Fourteen Sucks (Fjorton Suger) and Popular Music (Populär-musik Fran Vittula) were connected because they appeared in the “certified” section of the festival. This is aimed at a “teenage” audience and on this showing the Scandanavians are shown once again to be way more, not sure if sophisticated is the right word – but it’ll do for now. They don’t gloss that’s for sure and the films resonate more as a result. Fourteen was very much a coming of age piece in the style of Lukas Moodyson and although good, I’m well wide of its target audience.

Popular Music, on the other hand is overwhelmingly recommended to visitors to this journal. Based on Michael Neimi’s Swedish bestseller, it’s much more than just their High Fidelity/Trainspotting/whatever. It recalls the early 60’s in the far north of Sweden when rock’n’roll began to take over the world but isn’t just about music. I hope people get a chance to see this because the pace, look and feel of it is all exemplary. A reminder of what a good film actually is.

The final film of the day was Sugar. This year’s programme entry that was compared to Eraserhead and also to Richard Kern. When I read that sort of thing then I figure it’s a challenge. The guy who “programmed” it introduced the screening and he said it had him on the edge of his seat. Maybe we should have had a scoop of whatever he was on? Anyway, it’s not bad but it’s at least 25 minutes too long. Visually it looks like b&w Lynch. The Foetus er, “music” throbs ambiently in the background and isn’t as unsettling as I’d hoped. I think I drifted off a couple of times during the 82 minutes and was somewhat relieved when it was over. It’s not the kind of thing I could recommend but it had something. An unhinged notion of menace that never quite paid off. But that’s what you expect from “experimental film-making” innit? Aye, really.

To be honest, I’m not big on interpretation and subtext. Irrespective of the genre, I wanna be entertained and when digging through the programme becomes a chore then I think to myself, why? The Festival Director, in my opinion, is a donkey. No disrespect to the four-legged variety but his smug, status-chasing demeanor really chafes me. This undertow serves to fuel my enjoying the event less with every passing year and makes me wonder, is what seems like too much of an effort worth it? When you see something like Popular Music then it is.

No films today, just a slide into the doldrums to celebrate my returning to work after a week off living the relatively high life.

Tomorrow night, a documentary about whistling (Pucker Up) and Grizzly Man. Tuesday, The Aristocrats, Wednesday, Junebug and Friday, The Devil and Daniel Johnston. Will they make it to the finish line?
While I'm pondering the second day at the EIFF, thought I'd draw attention to this Jenny Lens Punk Pix link that someone left as a comment on the Punk Turns 30 post. Lotsa good gear to dig through there...