Dramatic Electronic Pop.

Susanne Sundfør on collaborating with M83 for the soundtrack to Oblivion, her work with Röyksopp, and the UK release of her back catalogue.

“I started making songs when I was 17, because all the guys in my music high school who made their own music got a lot of attention. I wanted attention too, and I wanted to be able to live off of my own music, so I guess that’s why I started.”

[rating=1]
UK: 30 min • Brown Eyed Boy & Kudos Film and Television for ITV • April 29 2013

Vicious, with Ian McKellen & Derek Jacobi: 1970s stereotypes abound in this ill-considered farce.

” Why are they now selling their principles (and their community) down the river with this offensive tosh?”

[rating=4]
Cert:15 • Spain: 90 min • El Deseo S.A. • May 3 2013

Pedro Almodóvar’s Los Amantes Pasajeros (I’m So Excited) is possibly his campest film to date.

“It’s a stylish, glossy cartoon of a film by someone at the absolute peak of his powers with nothing really to prove, so here he’s doing exactly what he wants, which is to delight and amuse.”

The V&A, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL • March 23 – August 11, 2013

More than a tour through an icon’s golden years, David Bowie Is lays on a retrospective that paints a vivid portrait of the man & the music.

“Water and boats often feature in his landscapes, and they do here, with the human figure sometimes floating on or above water. The people are ghostly and ethereal, creating an air of mystery, of things just happened, or about to happen.”

[rating=4]
224 pages • Serpent’s Tail • 11 April, 2013 [PB]

True Story, by Helen Humphreys is a a poetic lament for the dead and especially for a loved-one lost far too early.

“… my grief is not that orderly, or that disciplined. It lopes ahead, stops short. I am not really able to contain it, merely follow where it leads.”

[rating=5]
Released February 1, 1994.
Green Day. Dookie. A loud, rock ‘n’ roll pop record that flew in the face of the seriousness of grunge & alternative & was just fun.

“When this album came out in 1994, grunge was still king and this album tore it down and left it to stagger along with a noticeable limp.”

Crushed Crush?

Gay Relationship Column. Scottie has a crush, and it makes him blether, possibly in another language …

“I’m not exactly a Picasso painting, I think to myself, but I’m hardly a Mona Lisa either; why would he want to see me?”

Into the Groove.

Musician Andi Fraggs interviews writer and performer Peter Michael Marino about his new hit show, Desperately Seeking The Exit.

” I hope that someday Desperately Seeking Susan will be licensed and performed all around the world. Or in high schools. Or summer camps. Whatevs! Debbie did great work on the show and I’m sure its closing was not easy for her.”

Compassion in Struggle.

Hassan Vawda talks to Lisa Biagiotti about the film deepsouth, an evocative exploration of the rise in HIV in the rural south of the United States.

“People had no expectations that I would be any different from the mainstream media with their stories of stereotypical Southern characters. But I kept showing up and I listened, I asked questions about what they were thinking and what they were spending their time doing.”

[rating=5]
424 pages • Phaidon Press Ltd • 1 April, 2013 [HB]

Art and Queer Culture is a beautifully produced & expertly written survey of the relationship between visual art & transgressive sexualities.

“Art and Queer Culture is an invaluable resource for anyone studying, or even just interested in, the history of transgressive sexualities and gender politics in the visual arts and Phaidon’s characteristically high quality production values make this a pleasure to read.”