There are some bands that just are awesome, everytime they roll into town, you don’t want to miss them. Electric Six are one of those bands. I was delighted to be able to catch up with Dick Valentine, who was on his way to the airport to go to Russian to start the tour.
Here’s what happened:
1. The London Ear Intro
2. Royskopp: Sordid Affair
3. Iggy Azalea: Beg For it
4. Mont Oliver: Golden Glow
5. Youth Allowance: Gains
6. Swords: Who Took Your Soul
7. Hannah Schneider: The Dreaming Kind
8. Rhodes: Breathe
9. Phox: Slow Motion
10. The Riot Tapes: Cardinal Rules
11. Electric Six: Danger, High Voltage
12. Chat with Dick Valentine of Electric Six
13. Electric Six: Alone With Your Body
14. Reigen: Come Back to Me
15. Black Rivers: Voyager 1
Thanks for listening, You can listen live every Wednesday at 1400 and the repeat of show is aired on Sunday nights at 2100. You can listen to the show again on the RTE player.
You can also listen to the show in its entirety on Mixcloud or in the widget below.
Directed by Tate Taylor, Get On Up tells the non linear story of James Brown’s life. Throughout the film we are thrown to different times in James Brown’s life, from the height of his fame to the moment his mother left his family.
We all know James Brown’s funky music but Get On Up shows us parts of his life that many simply won’t have known about. From his poor background, his father abandoning him, his drug problem which seem to have to have attributed to self insecurities and perhaps depression but definitely anger. His control freak attributes cause his band to leave him. Sidenote: At one point, Brown gets extremely angry to learn that he has lost top billing to The Rolling Stones and it is mentioned in the film that they will never go anywhere. 50 years later, The Stones are still going and Mick Jagger is a producer of his film.
Chad Boseman plays Brown with Dan Aykyord playing Ben Bart, his manager, who at one point, on good ole music business fashion, straps a suitcase of money to a security man’s wrist to get it out of the venue. Who needs banks eh?
On several occasions throughout the film, this reviewer wondered if they screenplay has one eye on heading to the stage. A number of times the character of Brown removes himself from the environment he’s in, addressing the camera, or audience, directly. Something that says this has one eye on theatreland.
If you aren’t familiar with Brown or his music, this is a good introduction to his life and his music and but if you’re a hard core music fan, you’re going to want to hear a lot more about Brown’s music. This film tries to combine the two and while we do find out about his personal struggles, it needs a lot more his Brown’s music to keep the music aficionado. Good but not quite there yet.
Thanks to Damaris for the inviting me to a lovely screening event at NBC Universal in London. Damaris provide resources to community groups about films to help promote discussion about some of the themes in films. They work with all types of groups, Youth groups, Church groups, Rotary Clubs all across the UK.
On this week’s show I had the opportunity to catch up with Irish band Acrobat who are releasing their ‘Flux” EP. I really enjoyed it as I know the guys from home and it was the first time I’ve spoken to them since I moved to London.
Here’s what happened:
1. The London Ear Intro
2. Kill It Kid: I’ll Be The First
3. Aoife Underwater: On The Cusp of Nothing
4. Avec Sans: All of Time
5. Toy Soldier: Sugar
6. Twice Young: Stay The Same
7. Marika Hackman: Drown
8. Adam Wedd: Us
9. José González: Every Age
10. Acrobat: Not Back Down
11. Chat with Acrobat
12. Acrobat: The Missing
13. Fairchild: Arcadia
14. The Art of Amputation: Californian English
15. Royskopp: Sordid Affair
Thanks for listening, You can listen live every Wednesday at 1400 and the repeat of show is aired on Sunday nights at 2100. You can listen to the show again on the RTE player.
You can also listen to the show in its entirety on Mixcloud or in the widget below.
Well, today’s show was a little different. It went a direction I really didn’t expect it to go. On Monday night, I had arranged to call Matthew from Phox and have a chat about their upcoming tour. It starts off in Glasgow before heading to The Sugar Club on Sunday 9th November. When I managed to catch Matthew he was in Disneyland, enjoying some rides.. that’s a first for The London Ear!
Here’s what happened:
1. Marilyn Manson: Third Day of a Seven Day Binge
2. Rolls Bayce: On My Own
3. Bastille: The Driver
4. The 1975: Medicine
5. Postcards from Jeff: Veronica
6. Chat with Matthew from Phox
7. Phox: Kingfisher
8. Chat with Matthew from Phox
9. Phox: Slow Motion
10. Wulf: Fire
11. Rhodes: Breathe
12. The Grey Ghost: Recover
13. Columbia Mills: Never Gonna Look At You The Same
14. Vaudeville: Change The Song
15. Kormac featuring Speech Debelle: White Noise
Thanks for listening, You can listen live every Wednesday at 1400 and the repeat of show is aired on Sunday nights at 2100. You can listen to the show again on the RTE player.
You can also listen to the show in its entirety on Mixcloud or in the widget below.
