Live Performance Review: Toumani Diabate & Sidiki Diabate,  The Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Thursday 29.05.2014, 19:30

I had seen Toumani perform at the same venue a couple of years back, though had never seen his son, Sidiki before. Toumani is the 71st generation on his family to play the Kora, and Sidiki the 72nd to do so. Toumani is regarded as the worlds greatest living exponent of the Kora, and Sidiki is no mean shakes either. 

There has been an L.P. released of the two of them duetting together on the Kora, and the gig was the live promotion of this. Their skillful playing together was sublime and dreamily meditative. The hall was not jammed, though those lucky enough to be present appeared to be in raptures. 

It feels hard to convey the beauty of this music, if you don't know what the Kora sounds like in the hands of such skilled musicians. The performance felt transcendent with a conveyance of so much more than just perfect music. 

I'm trying to cut down on the number of gigs I go to, and had felt 'well I had seen Toumani before, so...', though I decided he was good enough to warrant repeat viewing. I don't think I was wrong. I'm a lucky man.

Rating: 10/10.

+ I managed to meet them briefly after the gig and was able to express my thanks.      

Live Performance Review: Scottish Chamber Orchestra,  The Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Thursday 08.05.2014, 19:30

I had gone to this performance due to the fact that Beethoven's 9th Symphony was being performed. My knowledge of 'classical' music is by no means extensive, though from what I know, this is by far my favorite piece and I have wanted to see it performed for some years. I am aware of having been introduced to the 9th in a more extensive manner than just knowing the 'ode to joy', from when I first saw Stanley Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange' (1971) when it was re-released in British cinemas in 2000. I was impressed enough that I got myself a recording of the ninth, rather than the film soundtrack, and have played it extensively over the years.

There was a very short 'first-half', where a couple of ditties by, I think Shostakovich, certainly began with an S, were played. This was pleasant enough.    

After the interval, it was the time for the glorious 9th by Ludwig Van. I had my eyes shut for most of the performance and had waves of colours appearing as the music built over-n-over to it's many crescendos. I was having parts of it taking back to specific visual images from Kubrick's masterpiece, which caused rye smiles. I experienced goose-bumps literally all over and my breathing was affected. There were little flourishes I had never noted before which intrigued.

On a quibble note, there was one instance where there appeared to be a couple of bum notes from the French Horns. I would not class myself as musical in the sense that I can't read music, though I would say that I have a fair sense as to something sounding right or not. My friend who was there with me, and who is musical, had the same sense of this, so I would suspect we are right. Having said this I don't feel this really detracted from the performance.

I am very glad to have experienced this live, though feel sated by the experience and by this have no sense of needing to see again.

Rating: 09/10.

Film Review: Tracks (12A) (Australia 2013) (Director: John Curran),  The Filmhouse Cinema Screen One, Edinburgh, Sunday 28.04.2014, 20:40

This is based on the true story of Robyn Davidson's mid 1970's trek across Australia's desert (over 1,700 Miles) aided by her black dog (Diggidy) and four camels. 

The lead role is performed by Mia Wasikowska, which to be frank is why I went to see the film. Thankfully by the end of the film I did not feel mealy to be a slave to my attractions as I genuinely found the film to be very engaging. The scenery is gorgeous and the film has a nice pace. 

The film has a good balance between portraying Robyn alone on her journey and showing the times she had to compromise by meeting at intervals with a photographer from National Geographic who had sponsored the trek. There is a passage where is accompanied by an 'elder' so she would be able to make a shorter journey through sacred lands. This did not appear to be portrayed as a compromise.  

It was clear to my how much the film had engaged me when I felt a sadness in response to Robyn's pet dog having to be shot as it had accidentally consumed some poison. Any one who knows me knows I am not a fan of dogs and their passing in a film does not usually stir me in any way. 

The film felt old fashioned, satisfying and also informative. A very pleasant couple of hours.   

Rating: 09/10.

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Addendum:

I did ponder whether to note this next bit as what I am about to note is solely a personal response to the film. I decided to note the following as 'personal responses' are exactly what my reviews are:

I find Miss Wasikowska not unpleasing on the eye. Also I like people who can display a lack of vanity and allow what naturally occurs with bodies, i.e. I enjoy that rare sight of a hairy-pitted lady. The film teases by firstly showing the character having hairy legs during the trek, as to be expected and entirely appropriate given the circumstances. Later there is a scene which shows Mia's character as having substantial armpit bush. When this occurs (I feel tragic revealing this) I was aware of having to prevent myself from making an audible sound. I find the image beautiful, yet finding it beautiful also has a tragic element to it. Tragic, as at least a measure of the beauty seen in it is due to exotic nature of this within western society. I seriously do not feel this should be a rare sight in the western world. If I had any say in the matter I would like for the reverse of what is current to be the case, i.e. hairy armpits the norm, and shaved to be the exotic. 

- There is a serious point to this. This is very un-Hollywood. I feel it is important that there are visual examples for people, particularly young ladies, as to what a young beautiful body naturally looks like when it's not been extensively preened. I feel it is great that here is recognisable actress in a portrayal of a character that presents a riposte to the artificial yet mass-media proliferated western notions or ideas of beauty. All examples like this assist to move away from society where we have such high levels of body dimorphism, as these examples make it explicit that the 'norm' is only that and there are so many other ways to be. I was delighted on a personal aesthetic level and a political level that this was in the film.         

Film Review: Magic Magic (15) (Chile/U.S.A. 2013) (Director: Sebastian Silva) (English & Spanish with English Subtitles),  The Filmhouse Cinema Screen Three, Edinburgh, Monday 21.04.2014, 15:00

This film focuses upon the character of Alicia (Juno Temple) who travels to join her cousin and a couple of her cousins friends for a trip in Chile. 

Not long after we first meet Alicia it is clear that she is 'tired', and then she has to put-up with the fact that her cousin has to go away from the trip for a couple of days and Alicia is left with a couple of people she does not know, one of whom (Brink; Michael Cera) she actively finds unsettling. 

The film looks at a person's character disintegrating due to a mixture of paranoia, a sense of isolation, a lack of sleep and auditory hallucinations. Temple is very raw and engaging as the vulnerable young lady who feels that the world cannot be trusted. Michael Cera is equally as impressing as the creepily goading Brink. This is very different to his usual harmlessly nice bumbling characters. 

The film is set in beautiful countryside that can appear soothing and enchanting until you want to get away from it. The film has a joyfully ambiguous ending which enables the creating of your own sense of what may happen to Temple's character. I found the film overall to be a very engrossing watch, though it did not feel to be spectacular. 

Rating: 08/10.      

Film Review: The Amazing Spiderman 2 (3D) (12A) (U.S.A. 2014) (Director: Marc Webb) Saturday 19.04.2014, 17:10, VUE, Omni Centre, Edinburgh

To those who know me, this choice may seem very odd. I don't like multiplexes or 3D. 

I had seen the first of the new batch of Spidey films, 'The Amazing Spiderman' (2012) on disk and enjoyed it much more than I was expecting or would wish to admit. I had particularly enjoyed the portrayal of Spidey in the new version with Andrew Garfield playing him with a lot more sass than Toby McGuire could ever muster. Now he even gets a tolerable love interest played by Emma Stone rather than the drippy Mary-Jane played by the equally wet Kirsten Dunst. 

I was intrigued to see the new film, knew it would not be shown at my preferred cinemas, though also did not wish to miss due to some rule I had made up for myself...

...The lesson learned, I should stick to my guns in terms of these rules, they are there for a reason. There are the elements I had liked from the Amazing Spidey, though there was also so many other issues, that it really was a huge disappointment. Here are some of the issues: 

1) There is a baddie called Rhino who does not fit the rules established for a Spidey villain (he has no mutative genesis),
2) There are a plethora of shots that are there solely for looking good in 3D and which will add nothing when seen on 2D, which will be the majority of times this becomes seen,
3) The natural ending to the film occurs approx 10 minutes before the end - the film ends mid battle. We all know these films are structured in such a way to generate sequels, though come-on, at least allow the film it's own ending, 

4) Electro (Jamie Foxx) is not the main baddie, he is made out to be in the advertising and promotion, though a patsy for a greater though less interesting or believable baddie,

5) Spidey 'sees' his girlfriend's father, who dies in the first film, after asking him to leave her alone for her safety. The 'sightings' appear like a cardboard cut-out each time they appear. 

I could go on...

It's like smelling your own farts, every now and again you just have to check to remind yourself that they are as bad as you remember. If only the fare shown exclusively at multiplexes smelt as good as my farts. 

Rating: 02/10.   

Live Performance Review: George Clinton & P-Funk,  The O2 ABC, Glasgow, Friday 18.04.2014, 19:00

For those who are not aware George Clinton is the man responsible for two of the biggest funk bands of all time, Parliament & Funkadelic. P-Funk is the live bringing together of musicians from both of these bands. George functioned as a conductor and vocal contributor amongst the melee of musicians singers and funky dudes who appeared on the stage. The musicianship was of a high standard with a very enjoyable groove. 

For my mate and myself, we were both taken aback at how much stuff we recognised, though then were reminding ourselves afterwards that Funkadelic and Parliament produced music that has gone on to be some of the most sampled of all time.

There was a good size crown gettin' down to the groove and all appeared to be having a blast. If I was having to be mean some jams went on too long, some jams were a bit to similar to other jams and some jams were slightly overindulgent. Having said this, it was still a hugely enjoyable gig and the musicians certainly did a good shift with Mr. Clinton being on for approx 2 & 1/4 Hours. I am certainly very happy to have been at the gig and it perked to mood for a good few days. 

Rating: 07/10.           

Film Review: The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears (18) (Belgium/France/Luxembourg 2014) (Directors: Helene Cattet & Bruno Forzani) (French with English Subtitles),  The Cameo Cinema Screen Three, Edinburgh, Saturday 12.04.2014, 22:40

This is the second film by these directors, the first being 'Amer' (2009). Amer was quite abstract, though it was easy to detect the clear influence from giallo (70's Italian Horror Genre) and the films of David Lynch. Regrettably the plot was utterly impenetrable, even outdoing Lynch in this regard.

The new film was not as impenetrable though you had to pay attention to be able to have a sense as to what was going on. The film is a thriller that has a husband return from a business trip to his apartment to find his wife missing. The neighbors in the gorgeous art nouveau apartment block become suspicious and suspected. From there the tale descends into a labyrinth of post-modern horror and sustained threat.

Visually the film is sumptuous changing between saturated colour and ingenious use of split screen to high resolution blurred movement black and white. In terms of sound the film builds in a crescendo of noises that feel as though they invade the psyche.

This was a considerable step up from 'Amer'. I found it to be daring and engaging.

Rating: 08/10.