Don’t believe Mark Kermode: this black comedy starring Michael Keaton is a masterpiece fully worthy of its lamented ‘Best Picture’ triumph
Read more "Film review: ‘Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)’ – dir Alejandro G. Iñárritu"2344 days after their much-vaunted ‘Long Goodbye’ at Madison Square Garden, James Murphy’s dance-punk troupe finally return with a fresh assortment of irresistible gems
Read more "Album Review: LCD Soundsystem – ‘American Dream’"Radiohead-ification of world-aware Mancunian quartet continues apace on more experimental follow-up to 2015’s ‘Get To Heaven’ ***** It is a rare thing that a guitar-based band from Manchester, UK can be said to be underrated rather than overhyped beyond all reason, but while their contemporaries Courteeners and more recently-emerging Blossoms have been embracing gig venues […]
Read more "Album Review: ‘A Fever Dream’ – Everything Everything"Nottingham’s soul-dance trio return after a three-year absence, with a sophomore album again oozing in their trademark blend of atmosphere and heartfelt emotion **** Having already scooped Ivor Novello awards and performed on global platforms including Jimmy Fallon’s ‘Tonight Show’ whilst touring debut album ‘If You Wait’, London Grammar’s sophomore album had a lot of […]
Read more "Album Review – ‘Truth Is A Beautiful Thing’, London Grammar"Their most poppy venture yet deserves to take these Tennessee boppers to new heights ★★★★★ Much has been made of rock band Paramore’s line-up changes throughout their 13-year career. A brief recap: they began as a five-piece, before the departure of original bassist Jeremy Davis, which provided much of the inspiration for 2005 debut ‘All We Know Is […]
Read more "Album Review – ‘After Laughter’, Paramore"Third album by Suffolk’s favourite son has its moments, and feels like he’s more confident and energised than ever before, but ultimately ends up falling a bit short ★★★ It’s been a long old three years since that ginger acoustic-guitar-and-loop-pedal wielding Ed Sheeran launched the campaign for second album ‘x’ – or, ‘Multiply’. His phenonemal success during that […]
Read more "Album Review – ‘÷’, Ed Sheeran"Not a long thing but just wanted to sum up my thoughts on the near-four extravaganza of last evening! So here goes. Moonlight probably deserved to edge ‘Best Picture’ in the end, for the political statement La La Land was totally lacking. I thought the latter would probably sneak it right up until the first […]
Read more "The Oscars 2017 Final Word"After all the months of talk, speculation and ridiculous number of smaller ‘tell-tale’ ceremonies, the 89th Academy Awards are just a few hours away. This year, for the first time, I have achieved my long-held goal of watching all of the Best Picture nominees prior to the commencement of the ceremony, so here are my […]
Read more "The Oscars, 2017"Ahead of the 37th BRIT Awards ceremony being held at London’s O2 Arena tonight, here are my thoughts on the nominees and winners.. British Album of the Year Nominee one ‘I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It’, by The 1975 A pleasingly eclectic comeback from the […]
Read more "The BRITs, 2017"I must confess, prior to sitting down on Saturday evening to watch this extraordinary sci-fi thriller, the list of films starring Amy Adams I’d seen had been limited to ‘The Muppets’ (thrill a minute) and ‘Enchanted’ (seemingly more enjoyable for adults able to spot its satirical elements than as effective entertainment for the pre-teen I […]
Read more "Film review: ‘Arrival’ – Denis Villeneuve"
ASPIECULTURE 