Freitags #8

On Saturday we went to see The Lyceum’s production of Shelagh Delaney’s play A Taste of Honey. There were some fine performances (particularly from Lucy Black, who plays Jo’s witty yet neglectful mother), but we left the theatre unconvinced: this was a fairly entertaining piece of work, but it didn’t have the freshness and resonance we had been hoping for.  If anything, it reminded us how convincing Tony Richardson’s film version (from 1961) really was: 

Jo feeling depressed. Geoff tries to help. Great scene from 'A Taste Of Honey' (1961). From the film by Tony Richardson. Based on the play by Shelagh Delaney. One of the best dramas to come out of the British New Wave/kitchen sink movement of the 1950's and 1960's.

Far from being the gritty, ‘kitchen sink’ drama it is often (and lazily) described as, the film manages to be a sharp and at times extremely funny portrait of how fragile relationships can really be. A talented and underrated writer (check out her other play The Lion in Love and her collection of short stories Sweetly Sings The Donkey),  Shelagh Delaney was clearly a massive influence on the young Morrissey:

Música.

A Taste of Honey runs at The Lyceum until Saturday 9th February.

Influential (arguably, post-)punk band Wire announced late last year that they have a new album coming out on 25 March, entitled Change Becomes Us, on their own Pink Flag label. Their semi-namesake The Wire also reports that a ‘huge’ book - Wilson Neate's Read & Burn: A Book About Wire - is to be released the same month. Special bundles of the new album and book can be pre-ordered in a variety of combinations on Pink Flag’s webshop. There’s a preview of the new record, and a reminder of an old classic, below.

Track One from the forthcoming Wire album "Change Becomes Us"

In an act of contrition I lay down by your side It's not your place to comment On my state of distress For this is for real I've tears in my eyes Am I laughing or crying?

We’re sure you’ve all heard about the trouble that HMV has found itself in recently, and while it looks like it may yet survive, there’s been little mention of the fate of a shop beloved of many music and cinema fans – Fopp. A chain of music shops that began as a market stall in Glasgow in 1981, Fopp was bought by HMV in 2007 after rapid expansion led to them closing down. There’s a campaign on Facebook calling for the survival of Fopp, and its reinstatement as an independent chain (if that isn’t an oxymoron).

We might be suffering from intermittent reader’s block, but we are determined to carry on with our Ulysses challenge. We’ve put up with the unbearable Buck Mulligan, listened to Stephen Dedalus’ philosophical and political meanderings, and we are now getting to know ‘Ulysses’ himself, Leopold Bloom. We’ll keep you posted about our thoughts. In the meantime we’ll leave you with Paulo Coelho’s scathing attack, and this rather amusing (and in some ways reassuring) blog from The Spectator. Feel free to drop us a line to discuss the above article, the book or to join our challenge.

Freitags #7

Time's a funny thing isn't it? it seems like hardly any time at all since the last brace of Freitags, and here we are again. It certainly doesn't seem like six years since the last album from (Aidan Moffat's pseudonymous electronica project) L. Pierre was released (Dip), but it's most cheering to see that the follow upThe Island Come True will be released on Monday through Melodic. The Quietus has a glut of articles related to its release, including an interview with the bearded bard, a stream of the album and an outstanding piece of writing from editor John Doran.

Lucky Pierre , From Album Touchpool

Stills and the CCA are co-hosting ECONOMY, a group exhibition focusing on the impact of global capitalist on our daily life. We are particularly interested in Stills' Film Lounge programme, showcasing work by Michael Glawogger (Austria), Francesco Jodice (Italy) and Maria Ruido (Spain).

Speaking of film,  we are very excited about The Glasgow Film Festival. The festival only started in 2005 and had been growing steadily ever since. The full programme was announced yesterday - we have a staggering 368 events, 57 UK premieres and 6 world premieres to keep us entertained  this February.  The highlight for us could be Souvenirs of Serge, a documentary charting the relationship between Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg. The film will be followed by a performance from Jane, who will be interpreting  a few classics penned by the Gallic genius/provocateur. We are also attending a screening of Carl Dreyer’s stark and extremely powerful The Passion of Joan of Arc. A classic that deserves to be seen in a good cinema, and that cinema happens to be Glasgow Cathedral, a rather perfect setting. The GFF opens on 14th February with French comedy Populaire: we will be keeping an eye on it on a daily basis and report anything we find of interest. Watch this space.

Uploaded by None on 2009-05-04.

Song: Fratres - Arvo Part

Last year's Counterflows was a multi-venue event dedicated to underground music and art that occurred in Berlin, London and Glasgow simultaneously. The 2013 line-up for the Glasgow edition has just been announced for April and it's looking pretty special already. Particularly noteworthy are appearances by Peter Brötzmann and Loren Connors, but the most exciting announcement may well be that the ever-enigmatic Jandek will be playing with the superlative Richard Youngs and Alex Neilson at Stereo (Youngs and Neilson having backed Jandek at his first ever gig in 2004). See you down the front.

Music video by Christopher Zorker for Jandek's "You Standing There" off the 1998 album New Town.