This month I've picked Lissie as my Artist of the Month. I first heard her in 2010/2011 after she released the single When I'm Alone, and although I really liked the song I never explored her further until late last year, when Further Away (Romance Police) played in the Hard Rock Cafe Munich while I was there, upon returning from my trip one of the first things was going and getting her latest album Back to Forever, and I instantly fell in love. Lissie is a folk rock singer from Illinois, to date she has produced two studio albums, a live album, and five EPs. Her songs are catchy, honest, and easy to listen to. They suit any mood too, so even at my most indecisive about what to listen to, I can always rely on one of her albums!
My Top 5
1) Further Away (Romance Police) [album - Back To Forever]
2) The Habit [album - Back To Forever]
3) Hold On We're Going Home (Drake Cover) [album - Cryin' To You EP]
Clio Barnard's The Selfish Giant (2013) is a harrowing tale, but don't let that put you off. It is loosely based on Oscar Wilde's book, however prior knowledge isn't needed. The film is set on a council estate in Bradford, The Selfish Giant tells the tale of Arbor (Conner Chapman) and Swifty (Shaun Thomas), two troubled young boys who struggle with their home lives and school, and find themselves falling into the shady world scrap metal and the owner of the scrap yard, Kitten (Sean Gilder), leads them down a dangerous path.
Conner Chapman and Shaun Thomas are brilliant. Two young actors with not a wealth of experience under their belts, but they play those parts absolutely exceptionally. They play the parts with so much emotion, they are fantastic. The cinematography is as bleak as the plot, grey is the main colour and rightly so. The locations used are run down and not desirable, but it reflects a side to the England that is in every major town and city in the country, and it is a reality for many families.
The story may be difficult viewing. Throughout, you are aware that it will not have a happy ending, as much as you would like one, that's not what you get, and not what you expect anyway. It can't be described as enjoyable. That said, it is certainly not a bad film in any way. In fact, it is a great film. The BAFTA nomination for Best British Film was certainly deserved. It is definitely a film that will divide people, especially if British realism is not your sort of film, but it is certainly worth watching.
Louisa Rose Allen, known more commonly by her stage name, Foxes, has been around for about 3 years. She gained notoriety after lending her vocals to Zedd's 'Clarity' and worked with Fall Out Boy on their latest album.
She has been releasing singles from her debut, Glorious, since September 2013, and many people in the UK will recognise her track 'Youth' from Debenham's 2013 Christmas advert. Earlier this year she also released Let Go For Tonight and Holding Onto Heaven. Foxes' Glorious opens with Talking to Ghosts, it's a strong opener, and features elements from dubstep to synthpop. Foxes' sound is definitely of the time, but there's an 80s influence creeping in as well. The album's first five tracks include the three already released singles, so it is a big opening.
The album slows with Night Glo, and there's no denying Foxes has a lovely voice, it suits her upbeat songs as much as her slow songs, but it is nice to hear it clearly on the slower songs. Night Owls Early Birds follows, and it is one of the best tracks on the album, a definite summer hit. The album's title track is a beautiful one, big bass drums and slow piano. Echo, to me, is definite of the time with artists such as Sam Smith rising in popularity, I could see this song doing well. The album ends on another slower song, Count The Saints which is a wonderful track.
Clarity features on the deluxe version of the album, and you can tell why it wasn't featured on the standard album. Foxes solo style is very different and while it is a good track for having a dance to, it's not as melodic as Foxes' other tracks.
I would give Glorious a 6/10, she's made a good album, it's easy to get into, and Foxes' certainly has a bright future ahead of her, but there are areas it does fall a little short.
Last night was the BAFTA TV Awards. As you should know if you follow this blog anything like regularly (or if you read it once during February/March) you'll know I love awards! The TV BAFTAs are great because they celebrate British TV, unlike the BAFTA film awards which celebrate a lot of American films as well, generally the only American or foreign programmes that are nominated for the BAFTA TV awards are in the International or Audience Award category.
Graham Norton is a fabulous host. Serious isn't his style, his dry wit and sarcasm are always something I personally enjoy! He isn't a very gracious loser, losing out twice to Ant & Dec, but he makes us laugh regardless and if there was an award for Sassiest Host he'd win every time.
There were some very very worthy winners last night, highlights for me were Olivia Colman winning Best Leading Actress. She is just fantastic. I was also very pleased to see Katherine Parkinson and Richard Ayoade both win for The IT Crowd, I loved that show and I thought they really deserved it.
I have to admit I was also very happy when Gogglebox won Best Reality and Constructed Factual, Gogglebox started out as a guilty pleasure and now I watch it every week. I don't know why, it's just great!
What was surprising though, is that BBC1 only got two awards, BBC2 got none, but BBC3 also received two. I'm sure it'll raise some debate that if BBC3's original programming is winning BAFTAs, why is it being axed from TV. I know the audience is younger and therefore accessing iPlayer is much more commonplace than say those who watch BBC4, but, the budget being reduced should definitely be questioned!
Image from bafta.org
The TV BAFTAs marks the last big awards show now, which is sad, but there's lots of great TV to be watching, so it's OK!
Recently I've been reading some great reviews for Mike Leigh's latest film, Mr Turner. So, I decided to compile a list of my top 5 favourite Mike Leigh films (he is my favourite director so it also seems fitting)
It's the last season of Mad Men, and it's very bittersweet. On the one hand, I can't wait to know how it ends, but I don't want it to end! It's my favourite show, so I'm quite sad it's going to be over soon. I think I'll definitely be completing my set of DVDs and watching them again!
3. MasterChef
MasterChef is probably the best competitive cooking show about. The UK version isn't on for weeks and weeks like some version, but if it's competitive cooking, I'm going to like it! This year I'm rooting for Ping!
Last night I went to see Carl Hutchinson at The Stand in Newcastle. I've seen him three times before, the first was supporting Chris Ramsey, then I saw his solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe, and then took my friend along to see him at the Friday Show at The Stand last November. As you can tell, I'm a bit of a fan. It's great to follow a comic's journey when they've not been on the circuit for long (Hutchinson has been doing stand up for 5 years, having done his first gig at The Dog & Parrot in Newcastle).
The first act of the night was Anth Young, a comic I hadn't seen before. His set was only short, but he got in a lot of laughs. You could tell the audience were up for a good night, which must make the comedian's job much easier! After Anth Young was Lee Kyle, another North East comic who the audience really seemed to love. Personal favourites from his set were his impressions, or lack thereof, but that's what made them great. Never has an impression of Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic been as good as in a Geordie accent saying the words "howay Winslet help us ya bitch", I think that line will stick with me, and just make me laugh at random points in the future.
Photo from http://www.carlhutchinson.net/photos/
Then came Carl Hutchinson. He's only a young comic, but the room looked pretty much sold out to me, so he's clearly doing something right. He started off by having a chat with the crowd, an array of birthday-based hilarity ensued, it's those unplanned moments in live comedy that I love so much. The ridiculous amount of people knocking glasses over last night was another instance of this! Carl is certainly not one for sticking to a "script", he often begins telling a story, tells another in the middle, then returns to the original story. It's all funny, it all works, you never get lost or confused with what he's speaking about. He has you laughing constantly. The show is new so any kinks that have yet to be ironed out are all fine, not that there are many!
If your sort of humour is that of Russell Howard or Chris Ramsey then I think Carl Hutchinson will be right up your street. He's touring all over the place until the Autumn and then he's embarking on Chris Ramsey's 'The Most Dangerous Man On Saturday Morning TV' tour as his support, which is sure to be a great night!
Have a watch of a clip from Carl's last tour, 'All The Rage', and if you like what you see, all his tour dates can be found here
Foxes' newest release is her single Holding Onto Heaven. If you liked her previous single Let Go For Tonight then you will probably like this too. Though not as upbeat, it's a lovely little song. She's building up anticipation for her debut album well!
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