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  • Dark Shadows: Movie Review

    Dark Shadows: Movie Review

    DARKSHADOWSpicTim Burton and Johnny Depp team up for a seventh time for this film adaption of a 1970’s TV show that no one can remember. Probably just as well we can’t as we would all automatically be comparing the two.

    In Dark Shadows, Depp plays Barnabas Collins, one of the founders of Collinswood who was turned into a vampire by Angelique Bouchard, a witch played by Eva Green. Baranabas is released from his buried coffin and finds himnself in Collinswood in 1972, where he meets his ancestors and hopes to return the family home to its former glory. He finds though, that he not the only strange one in the family.

    Instead of playing this with a dark outlook, Burton decided to go full on comedy with his ‘Dark Shadows’ and there are parts of it that are extremely funny, with one liners to die for. Clever double entendres mean that Dark Shadows has a 12A rating instead of a PG.

    The Collins Family and their surrounding motley crew are played by a fantastic cast, Michelle Pfeiffer plays Elizabeth Collins Stoddard while Mrs. Burton aka Helena Bonham Carter, is fantastic in the role of Dr. Julia Hoffman. As for Johnny Depp, he yet again excels in this role. The man can do no wrong.

    The staging and set design for the film is spectacular and the grading and colours used beautifully mimic the early seventies.

    Dark Shadows is a fun two hours that will leave you giggling. Any movie that has rock icon, Alice Cooper playing himself can’t be bad! Going on the ending, the door has been left open for a sequel.

  • runawayGo E.P. Review

    runawayGo E.P. Review

    RunawayGOrunawayGo are a Belfast based five piece who have just unleashed a five track E.P. and it’s a great introduction to the quintet.

    Starting off with ‘Electric’, runawayGo draw you in with driving beats and guitars, coupled with great twin vocals from Fiona O’Kane and Dave Jackson, the combination is enough for the hair on the back of your neck to stand up. Musicianship on the track is top notch and it’s mixed beautifully, bring out every guitar note, every breath both singers take, without overcrowding the soundscape. Anthemic rock at it’s best.

    When you start an E.P. so well, it can be hard to live up to the opener. What runwayGo do, is then show a softer side on ‘Drowning’. It still features great upbeat dramatic guitars but ‘Drowning’s best asset is the vulnerability in the vocal combination of O’Kane and Jackson backed against the grunge-like musicianship.

    Releasing these tracks as an E.P. was a clever move, the band have been slowly releasing them to the public since Summer 2011, ‘Delicate Man’ being the first that your humble reviewer heard and I have to be honest, there are not many bands that make me love them like runwayGo. They write great songs as this E.P. shows, they structure their songs beautifully, rising and falling just where they should and having two lead singers is something, very few bands do successfully. But runawayGo do. Their vocal arrangements are something to be admired and musically they have merged elements of grunge, emo and straight up indie rock to create a relevant and contemporary sound.

    It’s still only May but runawayGo are one of my bands of the year.

  • Eric McGrath: Let’s Get Curious Review

    Eric McGrath: Let’s Get Curious Review

    EricMcGrathLetsGetCuriousBannerLet’s Get Curious is the lead single from Eric McGrath‘s debut album ‘Little Ripples’ which is due for release at the end of June 2012. McGrath manages to fuse latin grooves and indie vibes for a sunshine flavoured track. Production wise, the track is given a minimalist approach, spanish guitar, with brushed drums and McGrath’s vocals are given an old school treatment which in turn gives the track a timeless edge.

    McGrath has previously been given the thumbs up by Bic Runga and Cathy Davey, opening for both so his debut will definitely be one to watch for.

    EricMcGrathmusic.com

  • Tune of the Week 18/05/2012: Sailor and I

    Sailor and I are a Swedish indie band who seem to have a great knack for writing thematic indie tunes. Producer Alexander Sjödin has jumped on board for the bands third release ‘The Tough Love EP’ and things have been building for them as labels sniff at their feet.

    Tough Love is a beautiful mesh of indie, electronica with an added dash of classical strings. It’s only a matter of time before this is on a film/television soundtrack. Pure Yummy. Check out the remixes too, there are a couple of free downloads in there.