Writer's Block

With dispiriting inevitability, another of my favourite bands plays Koko and I've begrudgingly agreed to go back there. This time it's prog-rock heroes Coheed & Cambria who will be playing their third record “Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV: From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness”* in full in June. My favourite Coheed record is "In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3"* but there are a number of stand out tracks on it including "Welcome Home" which is pretty much a modern classic. I use the word riff far too often on this blog to try and disguise the fact that I know nothing about music or how to write about it, but my God, the riffs in "Welcome Home" are sensational. I have already seen Coheed play the record in full as part of their "Neverender" run of shows in 2008 at the much missed Astoria. It feels incredible to me that that was nearly a decade ago. Anyway I was a relatively new fan of the band at the time and will probably get ...

 Blah blah something about football blah blah. I'm limping towards a week off and my 29th birthday. One of those I'm looking forward to more than the other. Obviously everyone knows by this point that Moonlight won the Oscar for Best Picture last night, after La La Land was erroneously announced as the winner. A total shambles that pretty much ruins the moment for everyone involved in both films, although Barry Jenkins didn't seem to mind. Leaving that aside, a terrific and well deserved achievement. Mahershala Ali, Casey Affleck and Emma Stone were worthy winners of their respective gongs. Go and see Moonlight and La La Land and Manchester By The Sea if you still have the opportunity. There are still lots of films out that I'd like to see but can't find the time for at the moment. I'm particularly intrigued by Logan, Hugh Jackman's swansong as Wolverine. Anything that's a superhero movie that's not really a superhero movie, I can get behind.

It's the Oscars tonight. The Oscars aren't really that important but they provide an opportunity for journalists to pontificate about films and what they supposedly mean for our society. This unbearable piece of self-righteous wank from David Cox is a case in point . It's not enough to enjoy something for what it is. Everything must be analysed from every angle, in minute detail, to meet implausible standards. He comprehensively misses the point of this film*. Cox also uses the terms "jazzsplain" and "mansplain" which is reason enough to dismiss someone as a tedious bore. It's possible to both acknowledge the problems caused by the dominance of heterosexual white male culture and decry the use of these idiotic portmanteaus. Cox believes it's a film for narcissists. It isn't. It's a musical. With big, brilliant, superbly crafted songs that stand up to repeat listens. It's not perfect. There are plot holes. You need to suspend your di...

As I said in the last blog, I find The Divine Comedy difficult to categorise. Wikipedia have gone with "orchestral pop", which tells some of the story. Generally I'd say that at his best Neil Hannon writes dense, eloquent, beautiful songs with a sort of orchestral indie sensibility*. Last night they returned to the London Palladium to play their first full band show in the capital since god knows when. Support came from Lisa O'Neill who opened with a Galway folk song, setting the tone immediately. Her Irish accent gives her songs a distinctive feel which elevates lyrics as banal as "He's a nasty, nasty man". Some of her songs are fortunately more ambitious and by the end of her half hour set she's charmed the crowd. The Divine Comedy take to the stage and open with the dischordant thrashings of Sweden, a song I don't much care for, but it's difficult to deny that opening a show with the line "I would like to live in Sweden" give...

Moonlight is a coming of age story that depicts a boy named Chiron in three early stages of his life (depicted by Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes) in Liberty City, Florida. The film is split into three acts to cover these stages of his life (Little, Chiron and Black). In the first section, Mahershala Ali is superb as Juan, a drug dealer who finds Chiron hiding, fearful both of being confronted by his bullies and returning home to his emotionally abusive mother (Naomi Harris). It's difficult for me to envisage Ali as anyone other than Remi Danton from House of Cards but is nuanced here, eventually forced to confront his complicity in Chiron's unhappiness despite his well meaning attempts to mentor him. His schoolyard torture continues into his teenage years, leading to a scene with a brilliant and devastating breaking of the fourth wall, as Chiron begs to be noticed. Moonlight is important film in terms of telling stories from underrepresented groups but its...

I've thrown out my planned blog for the day to discuss Claudio Ranieri's sacking as Leicester City manager this evening, nine months after taking the team to a historic and completely implausible Premier League triumph. Once known as "The Tinkerman" for his frequent alterations of both tactics and personnel, he had become the talisman, turning a group of journeymen and untested players into champions. But since then, they've tumbled to 17th place in the league, are a point off relegation and the statistics are damning. They've had one win in fifteen matches in all competitions. To put that into some sort of context, Sunderland are the joint worst team in the league and they've picked up three wins from fifteen. They're yet to score a goal in the league in 2017. Sunderland scored four goals in a half against Crystal Palace on 4th Febuary. Leicester have scored three goals since 10th December. They have been dreadful for months. And I know dreadful. ...

Having noted my mother's birthday earlier in the month, it's only right that I acknowledge my father's. There are no informal societal rules about asking a man his age, so I have ascertained that he is 69. The most hilarious of all the ages, as Daniel Kitson recently posited. I bought him a Sunderland tankard as a reminder of the curse he bestowed upon me. He's doing alright at three score and nine, other than doctors poking him a bit. I hope he's got a few years left in him, but I guess you never really know. Sorry, bit maudlin. Yesterday was quite jam packed. I watched both Moonlight and 20th Century Women before heading to the London Palladium for The Divine Comedy. Reviews of those things coming soon. Well, I find it difficult to describe TDC's music and my feelings on both films are not clear cut. So perhaps not that soon. I got home shortly after midnight and struggled to sleep, probably not getting more than 4 hours. Consequently I found myself at bes...

In 1979, Dorothea Fields (Annette Benning) lives in Santa Barbara with her 15 year old son Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann). After a horseplay incident nearly kills him, Dorothea is concerned about her son's direction and enlists the help of her tenant Abigail Porter (Greta Gerwig) and his friend Julie (Elle Fanning) to help him become "a good man". It's an odd premise and one that Jamie treats with the derision that it probably deserves. I have thought a lot about this movie since I've seen it. It makes a lot of sensitive and intelligent points about feminism and female sexuality, with frequent quotations from prominent feminist authors of the age. The four lead actors plus Billy Krudup all do good work. Benning is believable as a mid fifties mother worried for her offspring and reflecting back on her life choices. Greta Gerwig is getting increasingly typecast as a kooky, hipster type, here insisting on taking photographs of all her possessions amongst...

I love Less Than Jake dearly, as a cursory glance at my collection of band t-shirts would attest. But I sense they've been more concerned in recent years with focusing on their extensive touring schedule and rolling out the hits from their late 90s/early 2000s heyday, than with producing new material. At a triumphant Brixton Academy gig in the autumn the band said they had little time for bands who prioritise new material over more beloved old songs, in a live setting at least. A reasonable position, if not great news for those who'd like to hear a new record. So huzzah then for this new EP, which is their first original release since 2013's See The Light. "Call To Arms" is a bouncy opening tune but it feels like a song the band have written before. The band's greatest asset has always been their horn section, who excel on the ska heavy "Whatever The Weather". The undeniable standout of the 7 tracks is "Bomb Drop", where the clattering ca...

This is one of those blogs where I promise content later instead of being able to deliver it now. Again, daily blogs are a stupid idea. Eventually I'm going to have to get around to the leader of the free world being a pathological liar and its associated consequences. In other news, it's been an outrageous 15 days since I've been to the cinema so I'll have to address that. People are already talking about Moonlight* as the film of the year so that's very much on my list along with Hidden Figures and The Founder. *Mark Kermode was waxing lyrical about it on Wittertainment or Mayo and Kermode's Film Review or whatever that programme/podcast is called. It's a reliably entertaining listen despite a quarter of the two hour running time being dedicated to self indulgent wank and inane contributions from listeners. I don't have an issue with correspondance that's related to film in some way, but the "I live in Australia, please give a shoutout to ...

I've reached the end of seven working days on the trot which is probably just as well as I'm running on empty*. I basically got through today on my colleague's homemade cake and doses of Irn Bru. Tomorrow I will sleep. Possibly 12 hours or more. Most possibilities are still on the table. Next week promises better things, like The Divine Comedy at the London Palladium on Tuesday with bon vivant Darren Maskell. I must dispense with the "no football" rule to congratulate Lincoln City on becoming the first non-league team in 103 years to reach the quarter finals of the FA Cup with a 1-0 victory over Burnley. It's an astonishing achievement and one in the eye for the competition's detractors. We've seen again today that football has an enduring ability to create memories to last a lifetime. I'm hoping for a David and Goliath type moneyspinner for them in the last eight. *See yesterday's blog.

I'm not altogether sure this blog will make sense but here goes. I'm very tired. I'm not sure I have much reason to be but I am. I've recently completed a 9 and a half hour shift with 45 minutes added on due to an alarm malfunction. 4 of those hours involved working alone which adds additional anxieties and pressures. By the end of this week I will have worked 46.5 hours. I feel this is certainly at the upper limit of what I can handle physically and mentally but is not much more than the average 9-5 work week. I basically don't know whether I'm right to feel like it can all be a bit much sometimes or if I'm some sort of idle workshy arsehole. A very optimistic reading of my situation is that I'm about five years behind where I should be in my career. I'm still carrying a lot of guilt about those wasted years and not a great deal of self confidence about how best to move forwards. I've had friends in the past tell me that they're going to i...

It's First Single Off The Next New Found Glory Record Day. Not a day recognised by most people but one anticipated by me. "Happy Being Miserable" is a solid pop-punk tune with an earworm chorus and a sprinkling of synth. Perhaps most importantly, it proves the band can still write a quality riff. It's not quite up there with the time I downloaded "Listen To Your Friends" off iTunes and listened to it for an hour but I'm enjoying it. It suggests something between the hardcore influences of "Resurrection" and the poppier pop-punk* of "Radiosurgery" and augers well for the record's release in April.  Less Than Jake have also recently released an EP, "Sound The Alarm", which I had completely forgotten about. Hopefully the amount of money I've paid them for shirts will also buy me forgiveness. A review of that at some point but otherwise not much to report. Most of my recent thoughts are about football and therefore can...

1. Johnny Quest Thinks We're Sellouts 2. Automatic 3. All My Best Friends Are Metalheads 4. Scott Farcas Takes It On The Chin 5. Al's War 6. Faction 7. Gainesville Rock City 8. Look What Happened 9. The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out/Screws Fall Out 10. Bomb Drop 11. Abandon Ship 12. Bless The Cracks

What a load of nonsense Valentine's Day is. I'm not just saying that because I'm a perennial singleton. I think increasingly more and more people are cottoning on to this fact anyway. It seems now to be little more than a theme for journalists to write lifestyle content around.  I don't really remember many Valentine's Days apart from the one where I went to see The Muppets* alone during half term and wiped away tears in the darkness surrounded by children who were enjoying it on a different and altogether more healthy level. Life's a happy song when you've got someone by your side to sing along. The Muppets are right, like they're right about most things. It's easy to believe in other people, but at some stage you've got to believe in yourself. It did amuse me today when I noted that the three guys in front of me in the queue at Waitrose at 6pm all had bouquets of flowers in their baskets. Cutting. It. Fine.  *People are very sniffy ab...

As I mentioned the other day, Andrew McMahon has returned with the second album under his "In The Wilderness..." moniker, a synth pop record informed by a working stint in New York away from his family in California. With his former bands Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin, McMahon wrote brilliantly emotive songs at his piano. Here he seems to have made a calculated attempt to write a chart bothering album with mixed results. When he gets this right, it can be joyous. "Fire Escape" is the perfect union of polished production and McMahon's ability to craft an anthemic tune and it's chorus has been stuck in my mind for months. "So Close" could legitimately fill a dancefloor and with good cause, as could the record's other high point "Shot Out Of A Cannon", although part of that may well be a personal weakness for handclaps. Elsewhere though, "Brooklyn, You're Killing Me" proves insipid, as McMahon mumbles t...

I ended the week at Sunday Special at Up The Creek, as I have been known to do. It was good to see Ed Gamble MC for the first time in a while, as he's always fun to watch. He's adept at prodding an audience to glean amusing nuggets of information and teasing individuals without pushing it too far. Reginald D Hunter popped in for a languid new material set with one story in particular about an elderly woman's failing marriage hitting home before Jayde Adams' rendition of Nessun Dorma impressed the crowd. Joe Sutherland was also a hit with the audience. I used to gig with Joe a fair bit a few years ago on various bills for Comedy Knights. He's now reaping the rewards of staying in the game. Food for thought. The night ended with a truly virtuoso performance from James Acaster, who anyone with any interest in stand-up needs to see. He's heading off on tour to perform his last three Edinburgh shows which resulted in something of a greatest hits set tonight. Acas...

I have very little left in the opinion tank for today. It's been snowing, but fortunately not a disruptive amount. I have nonetheless taken the decision to basically hibernate today. After a stressful couple of weeks I've been trying to unwind but fear I've gone too far in the opposite direction. It's an easy conclusion to draw when you're eating two jacket potatoes in your underwear. Not much has actually happened today. Other than Sunderland losing a match 4-0 after winning one by the same scoreline last week. Absolutely textbook. Relegation beckons. Probably. I wouldn't expect anything other than a protracted demise though. But down with about three games left to play is my prediction. On an unrelated matter, I find it difficult to believe in 2017 that people are just now cottoning on to the fact that Piers Morgan is a repugnant imbecile but there you go.

Another quiet day so a musical update of sorts. Ben Marwood has announced the release of his third record on Xtra Mile Recordings entitled "Get Found" on 7th April. I'm a fan of Marwood's off beat, bleak acoustic tunes and am delighted that he's bounced back from the health issues that threatened to bring his musical career to an abrupt end after album two. Piano pop's Andrew McMahon releases his second record under his "Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness" moniker today, entitled "Zombies On Broadway". Future Swindon resident Darren Maskell has already described the record as "just like all the crap pop that is in the charts". I will probably disagree when I get around to reviewing it. He's also announced and put on sale a date at Bush Hall which fortunately I got to before it inevitably sold out. Bush Hall is beautiful and lovely and intimate. Basically everything that Koko isn't. It'll be a great show. The strangel...

Quiet day today. I stumbled into work for three hours and caught the second week of Premier League Darts. It's the first time I've watched darts since the announcement that Phil "The Power" Taylor will be retiring at the end of the year, by which time he will be 57. It seems like a good time to call it a day although not to current World No 1 Michael Van Gerwen who rather uncharitably suggested he should have called time a couple of years ago. Taylor might reasonably point to his victory over Van Gerwen in the final of the inaugural Champions League of Darts last year as evidence to the contrary. Van Gerwen has declared his intention to retire at the age of 40, which unless he wins every single World Championship between now and 2029 will leave Taylor's 14 titles out of reach. Some have argued that Van Gerwen is comfortably the best player in the world in an era when the standard of playing is so much higher. Although it was arguably Taylor's excellence that...

After saving Gotham City yet again, Batman (Will Arnett) returns home alone with only his butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes) for company. With the help of new Commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) and Robin (Michael Cera), will he open his heart to others and fend off The Joker (Zach Galifianakis) once more? Spoiler alert: yes. But the film's not really about plot. The tone is set immediately by Arnett's moody commentary over the opening production logos, a loving but comprehensive piss take of the Batman mythology. It is first and foremost, exceedingly silly with laughs aplenty. My two favourite moments in the film involve Batman repeating the word "No" whilst rolling up a staircase and the words "Statistics" and "Compassion" said in a stupid voice. The entire voice cast do great work but Cera (in particularly earnest form) is a nice foil for Arnett's childish, narcissistic caped crusader. Robin's long overdue reappearance is one fac...

A very happy birthday to my mother. I'm not sure what age she is. I've been informed that you're not supposed to ask. Which makes official documentation a total nightmare. A little joke there. I can only attribute that to the fact I went to a new material night in London town on Monday night. It was pretty much what one would expect from a new material night. Most of the acts were decent if somewhat inconsistent. It basically just brought home to me how much I want to get back up there and start doing it again, but the nature of my job is going to make it a stop-start enterprise. I'm going to make some more time for it soon though. I also need to write more jokes. I thought this would help with writing material, but all I've got is that "never ask a women her age" thing and I think we can all agree that that leaves much to be desired. I suspect I'm going to end up writing about Trump. Except everyone's writing about Trump, which makes me not want...

As an insomniac I always seem to be awake for the Super Bowl half time show despite having no interest in American football whatsoever. Say what you like about Lady Gaga, she knows how to put on a show, starting on the roof of the stadium with a pointed rendition of "This Land Is Your Land". I agree with Mark Chapman on the BBC, Born This Way is a tune. I'll attempt once more to get into the second half, but it's looking good for the underdogs with an 18 point lead for the Atlanta Falcons. I don't understand how a sport that takes over four hours from start to finish ever caught on though. On Sunday night, I went with Raging Speedhorn enthusiast Darren Maskell to catch a late Daniel Kitson work in progress gig at The Bill Murray. As I've come to expect by this point it was 90 minutes of hilarious dicking about with some fresh material about the recent protests, Trump and to what extent our response to the current state of affairs matters. It's typical o...

Sometimes there are events in one's life that are beyond comprehension and beyond the power of description. This is one of those. But I'll try and give it go. Analysing the match feels pointless. I've been to Sunderland matches before. I've seen them win, lose and draw. But I've never experienced anything quite like what I felt in the five minute period at the end of the first half today when Didier Ndong scored from outside the box and Jermain Defoe, a one man "fuck you" to the ravages of  time, added a brace in stoppage time. It was pandemonium in the away end. Strangers embraced each other. I jumped on top of the guy next to me and he didn't even seem to care. I basically destroyed my vocal chords. It was an intense moment of pure joy, the like of which doesn't come around very often. The worst team in the league had shown up at their old manager's new club and given them an absolute drubbing. I don't know how much I believe in a team...

I hotfooted it into town after work on Thursday for Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties, the country-infused side project of Dan Campbell, The Wonder Years frontman. Sadly I entered the venue just as Katie Malco was playing the closing chords of her set. But she's great and released a lovely Christmas song recently that you can listen to here . The transition from shouty punk rocker to soulful troubadour has been a well trodden one of late. Thom Weekes of the Brighton hardcore trio Gnarwolves is the latest to walk this path, implying that it was his first ever solo show. It wasn't an unpleasant half hour and I enjoyed his Green Day cover but he currently lacks distinctive songs. But there's certainly potential here and time to build on it. A surprise third support act came in the form of Rob Lynch, attending the gig as a punter but asked by Campbell to play a short three song set. I'm loosely familiar with Lynch's stuff. He's a touch parochial but with some ...

I have in the past three days watched Manchester By The Sea, The Wonder Years at Koko and Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties at the Dome in Tufnell Park. Reviews of those things will either follow this blog or be fitted into the gaps earlier in the week. I passed Exam 2 on Wednesday and secured tickets for all three New Found Glory album shows in October which send me into about three hours of delirious happiness. I didn't think I'd ever get the chance to hear those records in a live setting and I remain tremendously excited. Course wise, I can move on to the next modules without anything looming over me. It also provides the opportunity to address my work/life/academic balance which I struggled with over the autumn. The next exam isn't until the end of March which gives me some breathing space but I need to factor more revision into my week. Tomorrow I am going to Selhurst Park to watch Crystal Palace vs Sunderland. I suspect it will be the last time I attend a Sunder...

Off then to Koko for my first gig of the year. It seems to be written into the contract of every touring American pop-punk band that Trash Boat must support them. I don't like their music, I'll never like their music and they're still a poor imitation of The Story So Far. But credit to them for highlighting the issue of the harrassment of women at live shows. It's unacceptable and that's the end of it. It's unusual for a support act's name to be chanted before they reach the stage, but there are a good many admirers of Pup in the venue tonight. I wouldn't say they were quite my thing, but there's no denying that their brand of punk rock energises the crowd. This is the first time in a long time that I've felt a gig was ruined by the sound. Koko is a terrible venue on so many level, not least because the sightlines everywhere on the floor are poor. But I can live with that if you get the audio levels right. I attempted to find the sweet spot w...

Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is a morose handyman working in Boston, who is rude to customers and starts fights in bars. The death of his brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) brings him back to the titular town, where he is informed that Joe has made arrangements for him to become the guardian of his 16 year old nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges). Haunted by an event in his past, he is exceedingly reluctant to stay in the town. Any film with a morose depressive as a central character will normally be up my street*, but Affleck gives a particularly thoughtful and nuanced performance here. His acting in the funeral scene in particular is superb, his face telling the entire story as his ex-wife returns into his life. It's his relationship with Patrick that drives the majority of the film, with Hedges producing a believable portrayal of a teenager negotiating a difficult phase of their life.  The film's narrative is cleverly constructed to give the audience tidbits about Lee's past life....