The Dead Weather @ The Roundhouse, Camden 28/06/2010

The other day I woke up to a text message from my friend saying she had a spare ticket to see The Dead Weather that very night...I couldn't really refuse such an offer, so I accepted despite it meaning that I can't really afford to eat for a week! Anyway, I arrived in Camden and turned a corner....in doing so I happened bumped into JACK WHITE himself and the rest of the band....and he was a very polite man...but more on that later!

The Dead Weather played some of the freshest and rawest blues I think I'v ever heard, mixed with huge amounts of distorted rock riffs and drum fills that come out of nowhere and blow the speakers apart. Allison Mosshart fronts the band with an edge and sexiness that only adds to the musical outflow and her tough voice accompanies the rough music perfectly, Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs) and Dean Feritia (Queens Of The Stone Age) flank the stage with enough riffs and and mad guitar and synth sounds that bring what is essentially music form 1920s sounding as if it coming from way of in the future. Then Jack White manages to lead the band from behind a drum kit that he literally seems to beat up. Lending both backing and lead vocals he (as always) adds a whole other layer to an already amazingly accomplished act. For several tracks he takes centre stage and reveals his remarkable guitar skills and when he shares the mic with Allison to duet on 'Will There Be Enough Water?' it's a moment where the music literally takes everything over and transcends styles and genres and becomes something else entirely.

By the time the set closes with the almost punk song 'Treat Me Like Your Mother' The Dead Weather have proved that they can take aspects from all great American music (blues, country, rock, punk and even something that kinda sounded like angry hip-hop...in a good way) and showed that that is what great bands do. Make something you've heard before sound like something you've never heard before!

Also.... if you get three hairy dudes, one wiry sexy lady, put them all in black and put a killer light show behind them...it wins!

Here are some photos from the show....apologies the for crudeness of the images....BlackBerry novice I am!

Here is very rough video (in three parts) of 'Will There Be Enough Water?' from the gig.....I'm sure it wont convey the real thing accurately but it's just a snippet of how it went down!

Photos and Videos By Toby King

Jack White and Laura Marling!!!

I met Jack White last nite before an AMAZING Dead Weather show at the Roundhouse in Camden....needless to say it was a good day!..but more on that some other time....

....but apparently Jack White has now recorded with Laura Marling.....this will no doubt be a good thing!...in fact, I can't fucking wait and I'm gonna have to get my record player fixed to appreciate it!

http://www.spinnermusic.co.uk/2010/06/29/jack-white-laura-marling-single/

The Outlaw Josey Wales - some of many great quotes from one great movie...

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) is a stand out western from Clint Eastwood...westerns weren't particular popular at the time, but Eastwood was so into the tale of revenge and humanity along with it's resonance to ideas in contemporary society and the parallels to the Vietnam war, that he chose to produce, direct and star in the movie.

These three quotes are just one reason why this film is awesome!

Bounty Hunter: You're wanted, Wales.
Josey Wales: Reckon I'm right popular. You a bounty hunter?
Bounty Hunter: A man's got to do something for a living these days.
Josey Wales: Dyin' ain't much of a living, boy.

Ten Bears: It's sad that governments are chiefed by the double tongues. There is iron in your words of death for all Comanche to see, and so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men. The words of Ten Bears carries the same iron of life and death. It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life.

Fletcher:There's another old saying, Senator: Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining.

Quadrilogy!!!!

This is a series of photos I took and were part inspired by Die Hard but mostly by what was in front of me.

Thanks to Flora for lending me the Quadrilogy camera.....http://floramaclean.blogspot.com/

Bean's Decks

Sam working at the only spot in our house that gets the internet!

Alasdair

Milo - stretching and painting my room

The Duke's

Some good movies

Jason and Paddy outside Damage

?

Bean spinnin' some tunez

Tora

Slugger Sam

George...

...poundance

Molly

Sam

Jack...and Eleni's hair

Me and Sam

Dinapore View - colour

Dinapore View - Black + White

???

Jason

Malakai

Photos By Toby King

Why Bruce Springsteen is awesome...(part 2)

Bruce just doing some casual busking in Copenhagen in 80s....

Spike Jonze

So I've already talked about Spike Jonze and the plethora of great things he has been involved with.....the movies, the music vids, the skate vids, the commercials, the short films and occasional acting appearance all speak for themselves....

....now here (via the Creators Project) is Spike speaking for himself...

Spike Jonze's wonderfully conceptualized short film I'm Here (about two robots falling in love in LA) is getting a special screening at a Creators Project event in London on July 17th...for info head HERE

If you want to know how much I enjoyed I'm Here...look HERE!

The Social Network - Facebook The Movie

http://www.thesocialnetwork-movie.com/

Boys Noize - Erol Alkan

I first heard of Boys Noize awhile ago when I came across a Designer Drugs mix and there were some Boys Noize tracks on it...it was really good...then my house mate started playing their stuff lots too...LOUD...and that was good!...now Boys Noize have done a track (another one) with the mighty Erol Alkan who I first saw doing an awesome DJ set on the main stage at Benicassim about 3 years ago...been in awe of his work since and luckily be plays every once in awhile at Digital in Brighton.

But here is their latest collaboration 'Lemonade'. Video Directed by Decoy.

Fish, robots, cogs and strobes!...PARTY!

The Creators Project has a cool little intro to the man that is Boys Noize wherein he explains how he started and how he (and others like Erol Alkan, Justice etc) are pushing the boundaries of electronic music with the freedom that can come from the development and accessibility of new technology.

Find out about more inspiring creative types of all genres and media at The Creators Project

Nazis on the Moon! - Iron Sky

The Finlandian(?) film industry is getting a boost and tackling the somewhat complex and kick-ass subject of secret Nazi missions to the Moon!

Iron Sky

"In 1945 The Nazis Went To The Moon. In 2018 They Are Coming Back!"

You can read an interview with the director Timo Vuorensola HERE

Many fine films have been made about the Nazis and many fine films have been set in space...so surly this will be fantastic right?.....

Iron Sky

Bill Hicks @ the Dukes

American: The Bill Hicks Story is playing for ONE NIGHT ONLY at the Duke's....

Read on at Don't Panic....

Why Bruce Springsteen is awesome...(part 1)

1975

2009

...more to come...

The Creators Project - Mark Ronson

Y'all know Mark Ronson....he is partly responsible for making chart pop OK again!

This little doc from The Creators Project takes you behind the scenes of his recording methods and music history, it also shows some cool clips from his new viral video for his forthcoming album 'Circuit Breaker'...

The Killer Inside Me

I ended up having quite a lot to say about this movie...

There's a lot of good and a lot of bad about it, but I thoroughly recommend it!

You can read about it now at Don't Panic!

The World Cup - Nike - Alejandro González Iñárritu

So the World Cup is almost here and we can all indulge in football for a month..and why not....the World Cup is always a laugh...except for when England cock it up as is what normally happens!

But there are also some pretty cool adverts doing the rounds on account of the tournament, including this one which was apparently directed my the awesome Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel). Football is nearly as big as Catholicism in Mexico so it's no surprise that this is great piece of film making from a great director. It also features Gael Garcia Bernal and Homer Simpson....winning combo!

Moreover, this is also a really slick little requiem of football in it's time and place...and future, as the advert suggests!....This understanding of football in it's different cultures and in this time in the world is a great accompaniment to the slickness of the images and filmic style!

Romain Gavras-notre jour viendra

Romian Gavras is best known for making truly amazing music videos. Violent, edgy, graphic, thought provoking, ugly and beautiful. Most recently he directed the epic music video for M.I.A's new track 'Born Free'.

Is this video a comment on the meaninglessness of hate and discrimination? A suggestion that the USA and it's military are still effectively bullying and unfairly policing the world? Or is it an awesome experimentation of blowing people up for the viewers aesthetic pleasure?

Personally I enjoyed the later part!

Gavras has also directed videos for tracks by Simian Mobile Disco, The Last Shadow Puppets and Justice, he also made the great tour documentary 'A Cross The Universe' following Justice on their tour across North America.

You can watch these videos HERE

Through his repertoire you can see a strong visual style, sense of vision and continuity. There is a clear aesthetic of a bleached out and grey Europe, yet with the heightened contrast and clarity of the images give a livelier look to the grey scenes. He also focuses on an under class (the Gypsies in 'I Believe', the street kids in 'Stress', the metaphor of the ginger people in 'Born Free'. This could be seen as a political or social comment or it could just be because Gavras can make these scene look stunning, striking and really cool...He may be trying to achieve both.

He is now moving onto his first feature 'Notre Jour Viendra' ('Our Day Will Come) starring prolific French actor Vincent Cassel.

There is very little other info about what this film is actually about yet, but it certainly looks strong in terms of Gavras' visual style. Hopefully his style will translate into the medium of feature films as opposed to much shorter music videos, and he has a story to back up his strong signature aesthetic.

Ramain Gavras has pushed boundaries in the medium of music videos, hopefully he will push it far into feature films too.

http://notrejourviendra.com/