Sons Of Cuba

Boxing is massive in Cuba and they are pretty good at it. They tend to dominate the amateur game by regular winning heavily at World Championships and the Olympic Games. Sons of Cuba is a new documentary following a group of nine-year-old boys in a Havana boxing academy as they train to compete for Cuba’s National Boxing Championship for under 12’s. The film offers a unique and rare insight into Cuba, the world of boxing and it’s importance to the country and the people.

There are several aspects to this film. As it take place in 2008 when Fidel Castro was taken ill and disappeared from public appearances and later resigned as president, we get an insight into how big a figure he remains in the eye of the Cuban people. The boys in the academy appear to be genuinely saddened by the news and their concern and admiration for the man are clear to see. In this respect the film offers a unique look into a country, a system of government and way of living that is rapidly disappearing and in the case of Cuba may soon be gone altogether. The film also does not shy away from displaying how underfunded and poor the country is. This can be seen by where the boys live (both in the academy and their family homes) and in the limited resources they have to train with (they literally use car tires for punch bags!). In this respect the film stands out as almost a historical document chronicling the end a significant chapter of Cuban and world history.

But what is more effecting and moving in Sons Of Cuba is the personal stories of the boys in the academy, their relationships with their coach, their parents and each other. The film honestly portrays the huge amounts of pressure and sacrifice these boys have to make; yet also it shows their determinedness to succeed and their willingness to achieve their goals displaying all the tears and laughter along the way. Through this honest approach the power of these emotions (and perhaps more significantly the intensity of the relationships) resonates through the screen. The coach’s love (and tough training) for his pupils, the concern and worry of the boys mothers and the former boxing champion father who attends his son’s championship fight, are all stories that take the film to another emotional level and therefore make it more a than just historical document of a country and time.

The fact that these events and emotions are so similar and relatable to stories from a more ‘westernized’ culture, yet they are from a country that is so often perceived as somewhat of an enigma in the sense of the world is perhaps what hits hard the most.

Sons Of Cuba is showing ONLY TWICE at the Duke of York’s

Tues 13^th July – 1:30pm

Thurs 15^th July – 6:15pm

To book tickets and for more info go HERE

http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Duke_Of_Yorks/

Why The Blues is awesome...(part 1)

Son House originally recorded this track in the 1930s (I don't think they had many movie cameras in the deep south back then)..this performace is from the 60s though....

Death Letter Blues

The Dead Weather recorded this about a year ago...

Will There Be Enough Water?

Damn!.......'nuff said!

PHOTO EXHIBITION - The Doors - When You're Strange

Not only is there a new documentary about The Doors coming up, there is also a new photo exhibition happening at the Idea Generation Gallery in Shorditch.

In it's own words -

The exhibition will offer an intimate account of The Doors from their rise to fame to their breakthrough on the music scene in 1965. The exhibition will reveal intimate portraits of Jim Morrison and how he became one of the most charismatic lead singers with The Doors becoming one of the most controversial rock bands to exist.

In conjunction with Morrison Hotel Gallery, Idea Generation Gallery will showcase the photography of Henry Diltz, Joel Brodsky, Bobby Klein and Ken Regan, who all documented the bands time together. Alongside their most celebrated works, When You're Strange brings together the lesser known archives and previously unseen contact sheets of photography taken over the decade the band were together.

Sounds pretty cool, im sure you'll agree! Here's just a taste of what to expect...

The Doors When You're Strange - is on at Idea Generation Gallery, 11 Chance Street, London, E2 7JB

It runs from 9th July -  27th August

For more info go here...www.facebook.com/IdeaGenerationGallery?v=info#!/IdeaGenerationGallery .... or here... www.ideageneration.co.uk/generationgallery.php

Go check it out...

BREAK ON THRU TO THE OTHERSIDE!!!

NOW IS THE TIME TO AGITATE!!!

I think I fIrst came across Derek from The Agitator some years ago at a lock-in in a Brighton pub. I remember there was lots of people and alcohol and a guitar. After some appalling renditions of some typical karaoke type songs, someone handed the guitar to Derek (I don't think I had even noticed him there yet)...after re-tuning the guitar in some strange way he started playing...he was really good...but then he started singing and then it was something else together. The bold, soulful, angry and passionate voice left most of the drunken reprobates (myself included) stunned and massively impressed.

Now though Derek has lost the guitar and is taking a minimalist approach in a huge way with The Agitator!

The Agitator are a remarkable band (act/duo...) utilizing Derek's remarkable voice with Robert's impeccable beats and a passion for music that needs no other instrumentation. The blend of old school Soul, Be-Bop and Rock mixed the 'beat' styles of Tom Waits and a nod to the annals of Hip-Hop gives The Agitator one of its many edges. Fusing old sounds and new, with songs that resonate with the contemporary world we live in is another.

The Agitator are bold in their music and in their message...both are things that so often are lacking in music and art today, so it's great to have it here so close at hand.

To celebrate the launch of their new single 'Get Ready'/'Lets Start Marching' they played a great set at Rounder Records in Brighton.

(Photo & Video by Toby King)

The Agitator have a lot to say and a lot to sing about, and they're doing it in a way that you should pay attention to...because it is happening RIGHT NOW!

Here is the awesome video for 'Get Ready'

Also have a look at the great video of the track 'Howling and Bawling' by Akin at GurnGurnGurn...HERE

NOW-IS-THE-TIME-TO-AGITATE! - www.myspace.com/theagitatormusic

Independence Day

A few minutes late...but I just realized what day it is (was)!!!....

Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. “Mankind.” That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it’s fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom… Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution… but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: “We will not go quietly into the night!” We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on! We’re going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!

That's a fuckin' movie right there!

The Doors - 'When You're Strange' - told by Johnny Depp

When I was writing my last post (on Bruce Springsteen) I was listening to The Doors....I guess that's neither here nor there...but what is nearly here and is definitely there somewhere is this new documentary about the great band The Doors....When Your Strange

For me, a fond memory of The Doors is from working at a pub on Brighton seafront one summer a few years ago and their records seemed to be played on an almost daily basis....it was a good time!.....I probably first heard them (like many great bands from the same era) from the soundtrack to Forrest Gump!....(the soundtrack being probably the best bit about the film...apart from maybe the Vitenam bit?)...I also re-watched Wayne's World 2 the other day...in which Jim Morrison himself (played by this guy!), in the desert, tells Wayne to put on the mighty rock festival, 'Wayne Stock'!...but anyway I digress....

So....anyway....the new documentary When You're Strange is directed by Tom DiCillo who did some half decent indie films in 90s....and is narrated by the only man for the job..Johnny Depp!

This is a documentary about a great band and a fascinating time; musically, socially and politically.

All the above is reason to go see it.....here's the trailer if you still need a little more convincing.

When You're Strange will be arriving at the Duke's soon...will let you know when we know!

Why Bruce Springsteen is awesome...(part 3)

...by someone else who is pretty awesome!

'There's an epic vision at the heart of Bruce Springsteen's music. It's evident in the breadth of American experience he covers in his songs, in the rich and colorful landscape of his music, in the unadorned beauty of his words...And that epic vision is there in the amazing range of emotions in his songs - exhilaration, tragedy, desire, sorrow, hope, resignation, anger, betrayal, longing.

(on Born To Run) There was a time in 1975 when you could hear those songs blaring from car radios and apartment windows, and no matter how many times you listened to them, they never lost their edge; the moment in the title song when the band seems to push through to a new place, and Springsteen screams, "The highways jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive",...it still has the same grandeur it had when first hit the airwaves (and the turntables) over thirty years ago.'

...Martin Scorsese

Vincent Gallo, Maribel Verdu,Francis Ford Coppola, lush Black+White photogrpahy, special sound effects and Alden Ehrenreich - Tetro!

Tetro is the new film from Francis Ford Coppola - It's great in many many many ways and Alden Ehrenreich is an actor who no doubt is heading for great things!....this was his first feature role after being discovered by Steven Spielberg from a video Ehrenreich and his friends made and put out on youtube!....true story apparently!

Read a review I wrote right here......at Don't Panic

Broken Bells

Is the new collaboration between James Mercer from The Shins and super star Producer/DJ Danger Mouse.

They played at Digital in Brighton last week and they personified a perfect summer sound!...i liked it....read more at Don't Panic....HERE!

Photo By Sam Hiscox

samhiscox.blogspot.com/