I am currently on a mission to bring back ELO and I begin my online portion of the argument with this deliriously mental essay from Jonathan Lethem, originally published in Black Clock this year. You can find a whole host of essays and other cool stuff from Lethem here and should invest in the excellent Da Capo Music Writing Anthology he edited and his superb tale of a Tourettes-suffering detective, Motherless Brooklyn.

An Orchestra Of Light That Was Electric

an orchestra of light that was electric how fine a thing would that be? i’d been waiting for and envisioning one wondering what its name would be for all my twelve years and now here one was and its name was the name of the idea itself generic and why not since there could never be two such orchestras. in sublime stupidity i took this for music from the future messaged to me by the occult stations of top forty am radio which to my understanding no one on this earth listened to and which could only be tuned in at night. the instruments and voice stirred and twitched me at some native level. activated me like a robot programmed with feelings. do ya want my love and i did. power chords washed in strings, organized and sugared by a mathematics i couldn’t enter only savor. i could detect the telephone line the music was a farheard thing crushed into nearby radios never as clear as i wanted. i sensed this might be commercial art surrealism slicked by madison avenue guilty and intoxicatingly sweet like a bottle of stolen kaluha but for me somehow idealized a livin’ thing so that my guilt became the secret champion of its fragile science fictional yearning for a future music and defender of its indefensible glamour and finish. When i located some critic who tendered praise for their earliest records as an extension of the beatles’ abandoned work i felt a whoosh of vindication. and when they were lumped like coal in the irredeemable bin of pink floyd boston eagles steve miller that punk convicted of corporatism or worse of vichy collaboration with disco olivia neutron bomb i held out quiet certainty that their turned to stone mister blue sky candy bar compression kept faith with radio miracles and wasn’t completely unrelated to the ramones reaching for spector’s wall that unreachable epic shape as distant as kafka’s castle. never had to speak this defense but kept quiet faith with shine a little love and i did and don’t bring me down and i didn’t. never had to worry about the songs i didn’t like, just the ones i did and this robot candy love never moved closer and had to be resolved or moved further away and had to be renounced and now they live in my jubilant secret ipod and i can’t get it out of my head.

Jonathan Lethem official site
Jonathan Lethem on Amazon.co.uk
Jonathan Lethem on Amazon.com

Spieler TV Awards

After my rundown of my favourite shows of the year, I thought we would try and sort out a little awards ceremony to give a little extra credit to some shows and also to get across our hate or disappointment at others.

So here are the inaugural Spieler TV Awards (Sam's version. Tom & Love Panda will come later):

Best TV Show of the Year: The Wire
Runners-Up: Deadwood, The Sopranos, The Office, Family Guy

Best Actor: Ian McShane (Deadwood)
Runners-Up: James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), Jason Isaacs (Brotherhood), Steve Carell (The Office), Michael C. Hall (Dexter)

Best Actress: Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds)
Runners-Up: Elizabeth Perkins (Weeds), Jenna Fischer (The Office), America Ferrara (Ugly Betty)

Disappointment of the Year: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (also winner of the "Show Completely Ruined by Smugness and Sting" Award)

The "So Close To Good But Can't Stop Watching" Award: Heroes / Lost

Award for the Show Running Purely on its Great Concept: The 4400 (also winner of "Rubbish But Can't Stop Watching" Award and "So Serious You Just Have To Laugh" Award)

"Show That Is Apparently Incredible But I Haven't Seen" Award: Battlestar Galactica

The "Fuck You NBC" Award for Cancelling Good TV: Kidnapped

Best Reality TV Show Contestant: Leona on X-Factor (Actually incredibly talented!!)

Best Cheap MTV Show: Totally Boyband!! (Uncomfortable Hilarity turned up to 11!)

Worst TV Show of the Year: Big Brother

Honorable Mentions for Quality: Dexter / Extras / Ugly Betty / American Idol / X-Factor / 24 / The Nine / Weeds / Kidnapped / The O.C / South Park / The Colbert Report

TELEVISION SHOWS OF THE YEAR

Okay, so here are the TV shows of the year from myself (Monsieur Sam) and El Tom(mo) that have most impressed us. Bare in mind Battlestar Galactica fans that I have yet to see the show so don't hate me, hate my lack of time.

Anyway, here is my (Sam) list:

10. I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!!
Its not big, its not clever, but there has been no cheap and shitty reality TV show even close to the sheer entertainment of this. Plus, David Gest is about as different as could feasibly be possible from his tabloid persona. Matt to win!!

9. Brotherhood
Showtime might not quite be HBO yet but this was a treat. Considered, elegant storytelling about two Irish brothers in Rhode Island with one of the year's finest performances from Jason Isaacs who just breathes violence. One to watch.

8. American Dad
Coming on leaps and bounds from shaky beginnings, the third season of the show formerly known as Family Guy's Bitter Cousin is growing a cynical, vicious identity all of its own.

7. The Daily Show
For years one of TVs finest shows and now growing into a genuine hit post-Jon Stewart's Oscar hosting gig. Its Stewart's charming, bewildered persona that represents the beating heart but their quest for good through comedy is a righteous aim that far outweighs the numerous laughs.

6. Arrested Development
Bitter, twisted and never less than deliriously hilarious. The third, sadly killed off season was just astounding in its jam-packed madness of pure jokes and jabs at anyone and everyone. Sadly, deeply sadly missed.

5. Family Guy
Possibly the best animated show currently running (including those Springfield institutions) and its currently going from strength to strength. The writers seem to have no qualms about any taboo joking subjects and (along with South Park) is currently leading the way for politically incorrect jokemaking genius.

4. Deadwood
Cancelled after three perfect seasons, the bloody, muddy and brutal western added more humour and pathos to its final season whilst retaining that astounding dialogue that caused some to dub it 'Shakespeare in the plains'. It also includes a moment of violence so shockingly gory that even I was taken a back.

3. The Office
The best comedy on television, hands down. Yet to put out a weak episode, this has a brilliant central performance from Steve Carell and the finest supporting cast currently working. Rainn Wilson as Dwight reaches new heights of disturbo-comedy but the unspoken love of Jim and Pam is tear stained loveliness incarnate.

2. The Sopranos
Arguably the greatest show of all time and they showed no signs of surrendering that with Season 6. Blistering moments of violence and added humanity plus, the best opening episode of television this year.


1. The Wire
Pipping The Sopranos purely on the sheer bravado of its approach, this is the best show on television. It takes its time to a near painstaking level but my God, the writing is just immense. It allots such a degree of intelligence to its audience, never allowing it to drop throughout its exploration of the Baltimore streets and, with a cast of unknowns and journeymen, drops jaws with the performances. Brutal, compelling, funny, revolutionary television and, indeed, better than any movie you'll see this year.

Platt Cool List

So, very sorry indeed about this whole dealio... it's been over two weeks since I last posted, mostly due to my inability to balance this with both bill-paying and getting a job to facilitate the former. But I return with a slightly late retort to the NME Cool list after Beth Ditto from the now-excellent The Gossip nicked this year's meaningless honour. No doubt she is cool, but these are the coolest people in our music world right now...

10. Joanna Newsom - Possibly mental but winsome, beautiful and truly charming. Couple this with her making arguably the year's best record and you have one cool chick.

9. Bob Dylan - The bugger can barely sing anymore but his stock has never been higher. Topped the U.S charts for the first time in bloody ages, was in a brilliant documentary at the end of last year and, that aforementioned record, was far better than it had any right to be.

8. Green Gartside - Scritti Politti return with avengeance and likely their best ever album and this now bearded pop-genius sits atop their hard-won throne.

7. Tom Jenkinson - Squarepusher's main man remains the finest exponent of challenging electronica and has now managed two superb, utterly polar records and is now some sort of untouchable within the knob-twiddling community.

6. Ana Matronic - Just ridiculously cool, curvaceous redhead whose brassy sexuality is irrestible, admirable and, as I've already said, cool.

5. Thurston Moore - No real explanation needed but after the brilliant Rather Ripped, he's straight back in to my cool list.

4. Colin Meloy - Likely a slightly mental kind of guy in a quaint sort of way, you cannot deny the utter brilliance of his new album with The Decemberists and therefore, cannot deny his cool.

3. Romeo Stodart - The Magic Numbers mainman is cuddly, talented and SO lovely and has made what I promise will be the sleeper classic of the year.

2. Tom Waits - Just plain the coolest man on the planet. Continues making music you either love or loathe but I fuckin' love it and Orphans, 54 tracks of barn-busting brilliance is just an orgasm for the right pair of ears.


AND THE WINNER IS...


1. Cat Power - She's just made her most lush, beautiful record and just oozes cool. Live too, she is bewitchingly beautiful, gawkily charming and worth every penny for the heartstopping beauty of that voice.

Quickie Roundup of Recent Music

As I've been out of action for a little while, I wanted to fling a few little reviews out there for everyone to try and catch up. Therefore, no anger with my lack of detail in the reviews here as they are all intended to be good and short summations of recent records I have heard.

Joanna Newsom - Ys
A genuine artistic statement from a talent seemingly to be reckoned with. This is something quite special indeed, a quasi-classical set of compositions pregnant with beauty, honesty, intensity and originality. A truly maverick record to be compared with the finest work of Kate Bush and Patti Smith yet occupying a musical plateau all its own. Immense
Key Tracks: 'Sawdust & Diamonds', 'Cosmia'
Platt Rating: 9.7/10

Tom Waits - Orphans: Bawlers, Brawlers & Bastards
Another album of breathtaking individuality with a maverick spirit that can't be emulated. 54 songs of barreling steam-blues, heartbroken lamentations and bottleneck stomps that barely misses its mark on any occasions. All that and 'Road To Peace', his first explicit protest song about the Iraq war that as personal, intuitive and brilliant as the best work of Dylan.
Key Tracks: 'Road To Peace', 'Bottom Of The World', 'On The Road'
Platt Rating: 9.4/10

Jarvis - Jarvis
First solo record by Pulp frontman which starts with three utterly useless, wasteful tracks and then springs into life with a host of brilliant, darkly knowing songs. On a few, he resembles a loungier version of old bandmate (an current session guitarist) Richard Hawley although this never scales the heights of his breathtaking Coles Corner from last year.
Key Tracks: 'Tonight', 'Baby's Coming Back To Me'
Platt Rating: 6.7/10

The Hold Steady - Boys And Girls In America
So deeply in thrall to the spirit of early Springsteen are these gents, you want their pummeling bar band anthems to succeed so much but they just never quite seem to detail their songs with the same lightness of touch to keep them falling the wrong side of the bar. Still, the conviction with which they play, the relative eclecticism and overall catchiness make this a pretty enjoyable if forgettable record.
Key Tracks: 'You Can Make Him Like You', 'Stuck Between Stations', 'First Night'
Platt Rating: 6.1/10

M. Ward - Post-War
Another album of understated alt-country poetry with a sense of songcraft that his peers struggle to reach. A little political certainly, but more about the personal moments that pepper the songs. A lovely, varied little record that sneaks up on you with a powerful emotional punch.
Key Tracks: 'Requiem', 'Post-War', 'Poison Cup'
Platt Rating: 8.4/10

Yo La Tengo - I'm Not Afraid And I Will Beat Your Ass
These indie veterans seem to get better every year with their last, Summer Sun, a lovely trip to be taken on indeed. This feels definitive, containing as it does 'The Story Of...', a song that seems to encapsulate an entire career as premier indie godheads in 10 elegant, elegiac minutes.
Key Tracks: 'The Story Of...', 'Pass The Hatchet', 'I Should've Known Better'
Platt Rating: 8.5/10

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - The Letting Go
I don't want to offend, but the vast majority of Will Oldham's back catalogue isn't really that good. Sure, there are a couple of stunning moments and, as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, he hasn't gone wrong, but I've never been all that in love with his various projects. This though, is stunning. The humanity of his music has never been in doubt and, after the underwhelming Tortoise collaboration, this is a saving grace. Beautiful, ethereal sadness.
Key Tracks: 'Cursed Sleep', 'Then The Letting Go', 'I Called You Back'
Platt Rating: 8.0/10

Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
She may have gone mental/spent the last two years taking a shitload of drugs, but goddamn this woman can sing. Sometimes she over sasses it but she has such control, such discipline over her voice that its tough not to at least enjoy some of this record.
Key Tracks: 'Rehab', 'Me & Mr. Jones (Fuckery)'
Platt Rating: 7.0/10

The Killers - Sam's Town
So much resting on this, and it looks to have done the job at moving them up a league to full-on stadium filling rock gods. For me though, while there are moments that fill me with anthemic joy, this just isn't good enough to really grab me. The bombast is there, but the rest of it just never quite arrives. There seems to be a deficit in their emotional attatchment to the songs, they seem to be one step removed at all times. Overall, just not quite good enough to convince me this is what I need.
Key Tracks: 'When You Were Young', 'Bones', 'Sam's Town'
Platt Rating: 6.0/10

The Long Blondes - Someone To Drive You Home
There is a great album trying to get out here. A record filled with blistering moments of sugar-pop nastiness and a radiant sense of melody, drive and skill. But, while 'Lust In The Movies' and 'Madame Ray' both fulfil the job of being the 'Hanging On The Telephone' and 'Echo Beach' of this year, the rest never quite makes it. Bloody close and marks for potential though.
Key Tracks: 'Madame Ray', 'Lust In The Movies'
Platt Rating: 6.1/10

SO THATS ME UP TO DATE ON THOSE, SO NOW I CAN PUSH ON WITH REVIEWING SOME NEW RECORDS SO LOOK FORWARD TO SOME WHEN I CAN AFFORD SOME.

Lame Duck President!!

Yes people, Bush is paralysed. The crusader of the ignorant will not get the chance to see Armageddon under his leadership, will not be allowed to waltz foolishly through his final two years of presidency. If the Democrats pull their preverbial fingers out and getting going on preventing this reign of unrelenting idiocy, we could see a major change in the U.S over the next couple of years.

For while it remains a nation in which seven states outlaw gay marriage in 2006, preventing the theocratic urges of Monsieur Bush should at least slow down the imperialistic aims of the country for a little while and prevent the quasi-evangelical policies of his administration.

Thanks to the under-30s of America who turned out in droves to do what they could in making the man a lame duck. And thank you to seedsofdoubt.com for this lovely picture I've been able to use at the top.

Life is good friends, life is good.

News Round-up

So just a little round up of film, music and a little literature news for you all to consume and investigate for yourselves.

• Hulk 2, the sequel to the ridiculously underrated original from Ang Lee will be released on 20/08/07 which should get the hype wagon rolling.

• Sci-Fi Wire has a short interview with Zack Snyder on his soon-to-start Watchmen adaptation which gives some good indications that they guy knows what he’s doing, even if he talks a little too-O.C for me. I would also like to request that the purists resist getting angry about the planned montage at the start to explain the imagined future in which Watchmen is set. We all know that if they were to just straight adapt the novel, it would likely be around 6 hours long so give the guy a little leeway.

• Martin Scorsese has signed a deal with Paramount to get first option and funding for his upcoming projects. This could mean light-of-day for his pet project Silence, an adaptation of Shusaku Endo’s novel about 17^th Century Portuguese missionaries sent to Japan to minister to Christians where the religion has been banned. He’s also currently working on a bio-documentary about The Rolling Stones on tour.

• Spiderman III’s new, full trailer will be airing across U.S TV tonight at 10pm and will likely be available on Youtube around the same time. The teaser’s can be found here.

• David Fincher’s new project about the Zodiac killer has been pushed back again, now to March 2007. The film, with Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. looks superb and we’ve waited long enough for a new Fincher and hope deeply that the delay is for editing reasons artistically rather than the studio just hates the movie.

• Morgan Freeman has joined James McAvoy in the very loose comic adaptation of Mark Millar’s Wanted series. He’ll play the mentor to McAvoy’s trainee assassin.
  

• In literature, two superlative new books are currently just being released over here in the good ol’ U.K. George Pelecanos, the brilliant writer on The Wire (the best show on television) and author of a host of fine, elegant but brutal crime novels has got The Night Gardener out which you can read reviews of here and here.
  

• Even more excitingly, it seems Cormac McCarthy has topped it all with The Road, a stunning new post-Apocalyptic vision of desolate dystopia and companionship. After the wonderful No Country For Old Men a couple of years ago, it seems the man can’t be beaten right now. If you haven’t read his masterpiece, Blood Meridian, you must do so instantly. Here, here and here are some reviews for The Road. The latter is also being developed for the screen with Proposition writer/director John Hillcoat apparently attached.

• Finally a little music news for you with the great news the Bad Brains have reformed and will be touring soon. The D.C legends reunited for the closing of CBGBs and now will continue that triumph with a series of shows and possibly a new record.

• Rolling Stone ends this post with a selection of songs for a funeral:

1. Bob Dylan – ‘Not Dark Yet’

2. The Pogues – ‘If I Should Fall From Grace With God’

3. Lynyrd Skynyrd – ‘Free Bird’

4. Sleater-Kinney – ‘Funeral Song’

5. Oasis – ‘Live Forever’

6. Pink Floyd – ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’

7. Tom Waits – ‘Come Up To The House’

8. Bob Marley – ‘Redemption Song’

9. Johnny Cash – ‘Hurt’

• So a few more suggestions I guess, and you’re all free to start sending stuff too.

1. The Rolling Stones – ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’

2. White Stripes – ‘My Doorbell’

3. Elliott Smith – ‘Fond Farewell’

4. Jimmy Eat World – ‘Hear You Me’

5. Cat Stevens – ‘The Wind’

6. John Martyn – ‘Solid Air’

7. Pavement – ‘Stop Breathin’

8. Journey – ‘Don’t Stop Believin’

9. AC/DC – ‘Highway To Hell’

SOURCES: JOBLO, CHUD, ROLLING STONE, MOVIEWEB, BILLBOARD

The Dawn of a New Era?

I just couldn't wait any longer, I just had to write to celebratory words regarding the wonderful U.S Midterm election results. While Jim Webb continues to slug it out with George Allen in Virginia with the Senate hanging in the balance, there is much to celebrate in the meantime.

• Rumsfeld is gone. The Defense Secretary, after six stormy years in the Pentagon stepped down with, you have to imagine, a little push to try and alleviate some pressure after the people spoke through ballot on their feelings towards Iraq.
• The House Of Representatives is the Democrats after 12 years of Republican control. This is from AOL:

By 5:15 a.m. Wednesday, Democrats had won 228 seats, enough for control, and were leading for another 4, which would give them 232. Republicans, who hold 229 seats in the current House, won 193 and were leading in another 10, which would give them 203.
Democrats had captured 27 Republican-controlled seats, and no Democratic incumbent had lost thus far. Races were too close to call in more than a dozen seats, making it impossible to determine exactly how large the Democratic margin would be.

• In smaller U.S news, South Dakota voted not to ban abortion and Arizona voted not to ban Gay Marriage. Small victories maybe and anything like this on any bill isn't a good thing, but they didn't pass and currently, thats what counts.

So a good day. Now just to wait for Webb to confirm victory after a recount and we can count this as one of the finest days of the year.

Oasis - Stop The Clocks

Well, let's dispense with the obvious flaw at the outset, shall we? There is absolutely no need for this record to exist other than to pull in a few extra quid for the Gallagher brothers. They will claim it's the "end of the first phase" of their career but I mean, come on. It is commercial fan rip-off bullshit. But, let's just take that "end of a phase" thing and run with it for the purposes of reviewing the generation defining music that lies within.

For while it should be agreed that not only is this commercialised bullshit and indeed, not the best 18 Oasis songs there are, it just doesn't really matter. Listening to this music again reminds you that your tastes weren't all fucked up in the mire of Britpop mediocrity. Oasis really were the real deal, they really were, if only for about 3 years, the best band in the World.

Fair enough again that the later songs on here pale in comparison to what came before. Even the cocaine-overload of Be Here Now's whirlwind expanse sounds great and, with hindsight's benefit, can be lumped in with Blur and This Is Hardcore as the albums that killed Britpop and did you a mighty service by taking your musical brain out the way before you were seduced by Shed Seven or, god forbid, Ocean Colour Scene. The latter songs though, despite some flaws and a lack of balls-out vigour that typified their early work, still stand up quite well. The swirling 'Go Let It Out' and the simplistic strum of 'Songbird' have a certain magic to them that comes from the conviction the brothers put into all their finest work.

That 14 of the 18 tracks here come from the 90s says much about the self-awareness Noel still has about his own music and while a smattering more from later records would have given a fairer musical overview, in terms of their prevailing legend and reputation, what lies here is what it rests upon. And what a legend it will be when its looked back upon.

Their greatest work, 'Live Forever', 'Rock N Roll Star', 'Cigarettes And Alcohol' rang triumphant in a post-Cobain world of disillusionment and pessimism. After the tragic star's denouement of popularity, here stood two youngsters from Manchester, fists held high and brains buzzing on cheap coke n pills, bellowing back that being a rock n roll star was fucking ace. 'Live Forever' especially has aged wonderfully, a paradoxic blend of age and youth and a giant 'Fuck You' to the grunge age. Definitely Maybe itself now seems a rallying call to Britains youth to get back to their roots and listen to songs that rock n roll was invented to hear. Songs of protest, not political but social, that a generation heard like never before. It's no accident of osmosis that you feel like you know these songs, you know them because Noel Gallagher seemed back then to have a near supernatural ability to sing about what you wanted to hear; getting high and playing in a rockin' band and everyone listened.

Where he truly earned his stripes as a songwriter though, was with the astonishing 'Wonderwall'. Alex James of Blur, speaking after beating Oasis to No. 1 with 'Country House', said he knew the second he heard it that "we won the battle, but they were gonna win the war". He wasn't wrong. That incessant, loping acoustic strum set to nonsensical yet utterly straightforward lyrics became, and remains an anthem of modern love and a exemplary example of songwriting economy that would disappear in a fug of chemical soon after. 'Don't Look Back In Anger' settled it with its mass yell-along while the utterly ridiculous grandiosity of 'Champagne Supernova' was the culmination of that era. Only two records maybe, but still an era of music contained within.

The lovely b-sides 'Half The World Away' and 'Talk Tonight' still have a lightness of touch unexpected in Gallagher but the lack of anything from Be Here Now disappoints as the complete coke-insanity of 'D'Ya Know What I Mean' sounds really good now while 'Part of the Queue' from Don't Believe The Truth (an underrated record indeed) was a step towards the maturity we'd all hoped to hear.

But it makes little difference. If you're of a certain age, you'll remember how important this band was, how good they were, and don't have to feel bad about it. This is another class and, while there is no need to buy it whatsoever (even the single-only 'Whatever' is culled), relistening to these songs is a joy all should experience.

Oasis - Stop The Clocks
Key Tracks - 'Wonderwall', 'Live Forever', 'Champagne Supernova'
Platt Rating - 0/10 for its existence but 9/10 for the music it houses.

So... just to round up our Oscar Predictions posts in a nice, tight little way, here is a full list of our predictions for nominations and who we think will win the six major awards on Oscar night.

NOTE: Some of these are not thesame as the previous predictions we gave. This is just an indication of the fast-moving world of Plattenspieler.


BEST PICTURE:
NOMINEES - FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, DREAMGIRLS, THE DEPARTED, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, UNITED 93
WINNER - DREAMGIRLS

BEST DIRECTOR:
NOMINEES - CLINT EASTWOOD (FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS), BILL CONDON (DREAMGIRLS), MARTIN SCORSESE (THE DEPARTED), PAUL GREENGRASS (UNITED 93), PEDRO ALMODOVAR (VOLVER)
WINNER - MARTIN SCORSESE (THE DEPARTED)

BEST ACTOR:
NOMINEES - FOREST WHITAKER (LAST KING OF SCOTLAND), PETER O'TOOLE (VENUS), DEREK LUKE (CATCH A FIRE), MATT DAMON (THE GOOD SHEPHERD), WILL SMITH (THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS)
WINNER - FOREST WHITAKER (THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND)
BEST ACTRESS:
NOMINEES - HELEN MIRREN (THE QUEEN), KATE WINSLET (LITTLE CHILDREN), PENELOPE CRUZ (VOLVER), BEYONCE KNOWLES (DREAMGIRLS), MERYL STREEP (THE DEVILS WEARS PRADA)
WINNER - HELEN MIRREN (THE QUEEN)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
NOMINEES - BEN AFFLECK (HOLLYWOODLAND), ADAM BEACH (FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS), JACK NICHOLSON (THE DEPARTED), STEVE CARELL (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE), BRAD PITT (BABEL)
WINNER - JACK NICHOLSON (THE DEPARTED)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
NOMINEES - JENNIFER HUDSON (DREAMGIRLS), SANDRA BULLOCK (INFAMOUS), CATE BLANCHETT (BABEL), ANGELINA JOLIE (THE GOOD SHEPHERD), MARIA BELLO (WORLD TRADE CENTER),
WINNER - JENNIFER HUDSON (DREAMGIRLS)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
NOMINEES - BABEL, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, VOLVER, THE GOOD SHEPHERD, FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
WINNER - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
NOMINEES - FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, DREAMGIRLS, LITTLE CHILDREN, THE DEPARTED, LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
WINNER - LITTLE CHILDREN


SO THERE IT IS FOR YOU, THE FINAL INSTALMENT. WE WILL BE BACK WITH UPDATED PREDICTIONS SOON ENOUGH.

UNTIL THEN, KEEP READING PLATTENSPIELER.

SAVE KIDNAPPPED!!!

So I've just got on the torrents to try and get the newest episode of glossy, shiny, sepia-d wonderment that is Kidnapped and have found those bastards at NBC have moved it to Friday nights!! The death knell arrives for their superior kidnap story with a stellar cast, solid writing and great, highly convoluted by utterly compelling story.

People, get yourselves in gear and watch this excellent show. Stop watching steaming piles of televisual excrement like Ghost Whisperer, Vanished and the truly execrable Grey's Anatomy, a show saved from utter contemptment only by Sandra Oh's excellent performance. Turn over to Kidnapped and watch quality televisual thrills unfold.

You simply can't argue anymore. Its got Jeremy Sisto, Delroy Lindo, Timothy Hutton and Dana Delaney which instantly elevates it above most U.S TV currently airing and deserves your support.

COME ON GUYS!! SAVE THIS SHOW!!

You can watch episodes of the show for free on NBC here

Cat Power @ The Roundhouse (1/11/06)

I'm gonna open with a little confession here, I'm feeling a tad sad (you'd best be "awwwing"). Myself and Betty (my lady, my love, my arch nemesis) were supposed to go and see The Feeling tonight in Shepherd's Bush but damned if every freakin' train isn't going there today. This, coupled with the length of a bus trip and cost of a taxi eventually broke us and now we sit here, not watching a perfect reimagining of 70's soft-rock brilliance but writing this slightly overdue review of a stunning midweek show we caught in Camden.

The newly refurbished Roundhouse is a lovely venue with great acoustics and a pretty decent view no matter where you are but, to tell the truth, we could've been standing in a piss-stained dungeon with three surly NBA stars standing in our way and we would've been moved to tears. Cat Power you see, is quite simply a breathtaking artist.

Without a support act, we were all made to wait for around for about 90 minutes before the Memphis Rhythm band (with whom Cat (or Chan Marshall for future reference) recorded her most recent, stunning record The Greatest) who proceed to get us all warmed up with a tight, slightly too slap-bassy jam before Miss Power arrives.

And my God, does she arrive. She opens with 'The Greatest', the swelling, economic beauty of which puts tears in my eyes before running through the gorgeous 'Living Proof' and early highlight, 'Lived In Bars'. This troubled singer, particularly in latter, exudes a wonderful sense of grateful melancholy, an affirmation of her triumph over her demons that again, moves you close to tears when she and her backing singers take it up a notch towards the end.

The stuff from The Greatest is almost uniformly excellent with only the odd, self-conscious performance of 'Where Is My Love' falling the wrong side of charming. Throughout, she dances in the whitest way possible but it just adds to her kooky/cool appeal and to the sense that this near-legend within the indie community is going to be okay.

After a quick mid-set break, she re-emerges to play a few older tracks on her own, accompanied either by piano or guitar. 'House Of The Rising Sun' is a playful cover while 'I Don't Blame You' from the stunning You Are Free record is sweet yet empowering stuff. The finest moment comes with the astonishing, heart-stopping cover of 'Wild Is The Wind'. On The Covers Record it's good, but this is just another world of quality, utterly breathtaking in its economic delicacy.

The set finishes raucously with a souped-up cover of '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' before a barn-burning 'Love & Communication'. She leaves the stage to the sound of messianic devotion, the claps, whoops and screams only fading minutes after she was long gone.

Never once did she sound off key or lack conviction and not once did you feel this immense talent waining under the spotlight. This performance puts her up with the greats, a performance of warm assurance and charisma that, while not technically perfect, never hits a bum note. Wonderful.


Cat Power on Amazon.co.uk
Official Site

Trailers

Courtesy of Youtube all, here are some new trailers for the Brits for some flicks that likely won't reach us for bloody ages but still...

The Good Shepherd



The Blood Diamond



...And one link to a trailer which looks surprisingly good if maybe a little too star-packed.

Bobby

Girls Aloud vs. Sugababes

VS.

The battle of the two finest girl-bands of the last few years then as both release slightly early career summations this month. So the question we must ask ourselves is simply, who's better? Is it Girls Aloud's electro-rockabilly pop frankensteins or Sugababes classy/filthy dirty pop symphonies?

It can't be denied that the quality of the music on both dips in places, but when they are good, they are really fucking good. Girls Aloud's 'Biology' for example, a thrillingly nonchalant, driving piece of pop genius that build with such nous and knowing force that you may never get it out of your head. 'Love Machine' too, with its thumping pop-a-billy is astonishingly bold, a meeting of great pop tradition and modern brassiness while 'No Good Advice' is just as perfect as modern pop music gets. Melding two unarguably brilliant pop songs in The Knack's 'My Sharona' and The Stranglers 'No More Heroes' is a bloody good idea anyway but then, with the sparse, skeletal verses leading into the electro-pop wonder of the chorus you've got some truly great music. Where they fall up is two areas, ballads and straight covers. While early slowy 'Life Got Cold' is pretty excellent stuff, their cover of The Pretenders 'Stand By You' is just horrendous and utterly pointless while 'Jump' by The Pointer Sisters just isn't up to the standard of their original material. Obviously the Xenomania production team take most of the credit but don't forget that these girls can hold a tune and their cold detatchment (you get a feeling they aren't always the most pleasant people) just adds an icy, irresistible edge. Even their relentless new single, 'Something Kinda Oooh' points to a healthy future (including the truly great line "Something Kinda Oooh/Jumping on my tutu").

The Sugababes have had enough line up changes to start challenging The Fall but the basic formula hasn't really changed, just refined itself a little. Early singles like 'Overload' are pretty good but didn't really hint at the jaw-droppingly brilliant filth-pop of 'Freak Like Me'. In all truth, this is a weaker collection partly through their inability to make more than one really good single per record. For every superb slice of propelling classic pop like 'Push The Button' (a truly sly work of quality) and 'Hole In The Head' they have the awful AM-rock-lite of 'In The Middle'. Overall, what does come across is the quality of the singing and the sympathetic production which frames their excellent harmonies so expertly. Their time may now have passed but Sugababes have left a decent legacy with at least one truly immense piece of pop music.

Whether either of these acts will continue to dominate the charts is fairly meaningless post-these collections. Both have proved a point that pop still has the ability to be trashy, sexy, inventive, innovative and at times, utterly timeless.


Girls Aloud - Sound Of Girls Aloud
Key Tracks: 'No Good Advice', 'Biology', 'Love Machine'
Platt Rating: 7.5/10


Sugababes - Overloaded: The Singles Collection
Key Tracks: 'Freak Like Me', 'Push The Button', 'Hole In The Head'
Platt Rating: 6/10

Oscar Buzz Pt. 4

To quote Boyz II Men, we've come to the end of the road. Our 2007 Oscar Predictions will return in truncated, more accessible form next month but, for now, we finish with the SCREENPLAY awards. We'll also throw in a few little predictions for technical awards, maybe even the animated category.


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Babel, Bobby, Volver, The Queen, Little Miss Sunshine, The Blood Diamond, Catch A Fire, For Your Consideration, The Good Shepherd

• Surely a win here for critical darling Babel as its unlikely to win anything this year with only Brad Pitt really in with a chance for Supporting Actor.
• Bobby I can't see winning or even possibly being nominated; it all depends on the prevailing critical reception the movie gets.
• Volver could steal in as could Little Miss Sunshine or the steadily-gaining-support The Good Shepherd which does look superb.
• For Your Consideration, although Christopher Guest deserves one for any of his previous films' snubs, won't win due to the improvisation while The Queen is just not quite showy enough to nick it.
• Watch out, just slightly as this is one hell of an outside bet, for Borat. It is the second best reviewed movie of the year and makes a potent socio-political point behind the faux-anti-semitism.
• SPECULATIVE PREDICTIONS FOR NOMINATIONS: BABEL, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, VOLVER, THE GOOD SHEPHERD, FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Departed, Dreamgirls, The Good German, Little Children, Flags Of Our Fathers, Thank You For Smoking, The Prestige, The Last King Of Scotland, Children Of Men, Notes On A Scandal

• The Departed is a solid opening bet for this having successfully transported itself from East to West intact.
• Little Children is a good outside bet with buzz growing for this one while Flags Of Our Fathers could easily sweep the boards and therefore may well take this with it.
• For dark horses, you're packed up on this one with okay chances for Thank You For Smoking, The Good German, Children Of Men or Last King Of Scotland.
• Dreamgirls likely will be too workmanlike to nick this award while mixed reviews for The Prestige have harmed its chances.
• SPECULATIVE PREDICTIONS FOR NOMINATIONS: THE DEPARTED, LITTLE CHILDREN, FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, CHILDREN OF MEN

OTHER AWARDS:

• Expect Dreamgirls to win a few her for choreography, editing etc. but its not a lock. Flags Of Our Fathers could easily nick any of those.
• Art Direction will almost certainly go the way of Marie Antoinette along with costumes and possibly make up although POTC: Dead Man's Chest could take that.
• Dreamgirls could take original song but support is growing for Paul Westerberg in Open Season despite the movie's poor reviews.
• Other than that, expect a fair few to go Flags Of Our Fathers' way for its sweeping ambition.

So it's all over, we'll sum it all up in the next few days and get back to reviews and such like... what we do best. Love you all. I guess... NO! I do.