Captain America The First Avenger

Movie:        Captain America The First Avenger
Certificate:  12
Rating:       A believable Super-Hero

A super-hero movie ground in reality is what we have here. The key to its success is the set-up of the character of Steve Rogers, via the performance of Chris Evans, and the numerous effects used to make him seem thin and exceedingly skinny. Without this you don’t buy into his transformation into Captain America.

The second thing which added to this human side was the powers on show weren’t off the scale, a la Hulk going up to 11; they were more down in the 3 – 4 range. This was highlighted with the inclusion of his ‘squad’ who went along his missions to assist, never going on his own. Finally the romantic interest, played very well by Hayley Atwell, was never fully realised, adding to its believability.

Both Tommy Lee Jones as the hard-assed Colonel and Hugo Weaving as the villain, Johann Schmitt/Red Skull, seemed to be having a whale of a time playing their respective roles, greatly adding to the enjoyment of the movie.

A first-rate script, good pace, and previously mentioned effects make this a highly recommended, fun, action packed blockbuster. Much better than either of the Hulk or Iron Man movies, I’m hoping a second one is on the horizon.

Despicable Me 2

Move:        Despicable Me 2
Certificate: U
Rating:      A major disappointment

I went anticipating, based on reviews I’d heard and read, that this would be good, providing the required crossover so both kids and adults could enjoy. Sadly not. The Kermode/Mayo 6 laugh test was not passed, just sniggers at best. I just didn’t get it with the minions; most of the humorous bits were in the trailer, and a true sign of a failed movie crossover, I was clock watching from half-way through.

The kids really liked it, so take them along, but don’t expect to be entertained yourself. Not in the same league as The Incredibles, or both Cars movies.

linn Lounge Presents R.E.M.

Talk about immediately feeling out of place and thinking I should leave without even being noticed. This event was at the local Lamborghini garage with moneyed types abounding in expensive casual wear, while I was in my scaffy shorts though I was wearing a t-shirt and hi-tops sporting 3 stripes. A couple of quick glasses of free sparkling wine helped me appreciate the signs saying don’t touch the cars. Bentley’s, Ferrari’s and Maserati  also on offer if you had a few spare bob going. It wasn’t just cars and hi-fi on offer, as we had Rox jewellery, and a less costly Highland Park presence.

The price of the motors actually put Linn’s offering of a hi-fi system circa £40k in the shade, which in turn put my system well into the low end category. Has to be said nice setting, if uncomfortable for types like me, but free alcohol always goers down well in Scotland, and the food designated for the break, was scoffed before the Linn proceedings started.

A Linn Lounge event is where they pick the works of a major artist and use a sample of their work to demonstrate Linn’s top of the range equipment; here a Klimax Digital Streamer and Klimax 350 active speakers. Their policy is not to really promote, more listen then go and demo at your local dealer, in this case Hi-Fi Corner. So a good start from the boys from Glasgow, which wasn’t followed up by the history of the band, that accompanied the music, from one their reps. Linn are high-end, and those who are the target market for their Klimax and Akurate range would expect much better public speaking than that which was delivered. It was read from a tablet in a wooden style. The guy did get all the main points about the band across, but not in a relaxed way that held the audience’s attention. He may have been enthusiastic about the music, but it never showed. This was the main focus of the evening, and needed to be hell of a lot more slick. Considering Linn produce quality engineered audio equipment, you would have thought their staff doing public speaking would be at the same level. Not in this case, and unfortunately it can only be described as poor, further highlighted by the 5 minute chart from the Highland Park rep, who showed how it should be done..

This first track played was R.E.M.’s first single, Radio Free Europe, which appeared on their first album Murmur. The title of the latter very soon became very appropriate as a general level of chit-chat from the rows at the back began to drown out this cracking track. Bad manners, it seems, is prevalent across all of the social strata in Scotland. This p!$$£d me off no end, as I’d only gone for the music, as in their day, R.E.M. were for quite long period, the best band on the planet. From their debut through to Automatic For The People, every album, which HAD to be bought on day of release, was an utter cracker. Of all the artists I’ve bought and listened to over the years, they easily had the longest run of brilliance.

An increase in the volume reduced the level of annoying background noise, but it never really dissipated. I’m not going to comment on the quality of the system. A large car showroom, with no doubt only a few hours set-up, is not the place to judge top end audio gear.

A break for more alco, and the second part saw me in the front row to avoid the hubbub as much as possible, with the period covering R.E.M.’s peak and their sad, subsequent demise, though the latter wasn’t mentioned.

So all in all, a very interesting event. It was good catching up with a couple of the guys from Hi-Fi Corner, and hearing R.E.M. on top flight kit, though clearly this wasn’t performing at its best. Linn though really need to ensure their staff delivering these events, have the requisite speaking skills.

The British Open

That time of year in Blighty, the focus of the sports media turns from tennis to golf. The British Open, we are told by the UK based media, is the most important tournament on the calendar, the won they all want to win. Well they do all want to win, but The Masters is the more prestigious. No amount of bias can alter the facts the latter has the course to die for, and from a couch, it’s always more entertaining.

This doesn’t mean there isn’t much to admire about the British Open; well for a leisure activity. Sport it ain’t, as there’s no athleticism. Colin Montgomery was the best golfer in Europe for many a year, but was never near my fitness levels, even when they were at their lowest. Look at Phil Mickelson, who as I type seems to be heading for the claret jug. He’ll be able to rest it on his stomach.

The participants are highly skilled though, as I saw first-hand when I went to one of the practise days at Muirfield. These are good in my book, as crowds are nowhere near as large, and you can officially take in a camera, a 35mm job in my case.

There was no surprise Rory had a dire tournament. From what snippets I could hear from the practise area, the talk to start with was about the previous evening’s revelries. If the boy doesn’t watch out he’s going to waste that talent.

The practise areas are a good spot to start and an excellent opportunity to see the pros in action, and witness the ability they have honed over years of practise. From there I headed out onto the course, and saw a few big names, quite a few I didn’t have a clue who they were, all in a relaxed atmosphere. It was good to see Lee Westwood and Bubba Watson signing everything passed to them, though I also saw the latter expertly slice a shot so he could hit someone on the shoulder.

Like the activity itself, it was all done at a leisure pace, plenty of time to get expensive refreshments and not miss anything, take lots of photo’s and wonder how come they get paid so much.

All in all a good day out, and I’ll probably do the same the next time the Open goes to Muirfield.

Jessie J Edinburgh Castle

Concert: Jessie J Edinburgh Castle
Date:    17.07.2013
Rating:  It's an entertaining show

I’ve never such a range of ages at a gig, which says a lot about JJ’s appeal. The really young, teddy and sucking thumb just along from me, to the teenage girls on their own, to escorting parents and fans of even more years; all were there. Clearly The Voice has a lot to do with this, as this must have been the first concert for a lot of the younger attendees. I felt sorry for the parents waiting in the longest merchandise queue I’ve ever seen, to be ripped off for paper thin t-shirts.

 

First time I’ve been to Edinburgh Castle for a gig, and it’s a top venue with a really good view wherever you sit. The support act, AME, was thankfully brief, and later than anticipated JJ came on to start with Price Tag and from the off she had them in the palm of her hand. The majority of material was from her debut album, with only one new song. I don’t put this down lack of confidence on what she has been working on, just giving her audience what they came to hear. It’s a ‘show’; it’s not about promoting new material. JJ will never be ground breaking, but what she does, she does very well. It was entertaining, and as such you can’t be really criticised. The best was actually when she did a couple of funk/disco covers from the 1970’s, when she literally did get all of the audience dancing.

 

To gripe a bit, she was on only 90 minutes, including a ‘number’ by her band while she had a costume change, and the chat between song went on quite a bit. The latter did show she meant it when saying we were just the same as her, and she genuinely doesn’t seem to have any star baggage. The stands emptied a bit during the period she was off-stage, but no surprise there as that was solely due to the nature of the female bladder.

 

Giving credit where it’s due, JJ does have a good voice, and she and her management have used the opportunity of The Voice to greatly increase her popularity. Their challenge is, as her young audience grows, is to keep them fans as they mature. The Voice won’t last forever, and while she may keep the current popularity with the next young generation, the key is changing enough to keep them long term, without waiting for the revival tour in 20 years time.

hi-fi

The heyday of hi-fi is well behind us, the advent of the micro chip has seen to that. The creation of more numerous high-tech devices have captured the public imagination, and it has led to a much better, more varied entertainment world for us all. While hi-fi itself is low on the priority list, the rise of the mobile device has meant there is probably more music being listened to currently, than in other period of human history.

This fact will have some in the hi-fi world immediately on the high horse of mp3 quality that it really needs to be at least 320kbs, if not 24bit. Then you have the tangent debate of is vinyl better than digital. This geeky stuff just puts those not in the know off, as they are not bothered by these things, as they get enjoyment out of what they listen to, discuss with friends, just as those with expensive kit do. The key point is you only need the most basic of device to get enjoyment out of music, one of life’s true pleasures.

 Most people seeing my hi-fi system would say it was a high-end system. And it is, but in the hi-fi world it’s low end. Having good equipment doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy something emanating from a cheap £20 Portable CD player. Any talk of only being unable to listen to a piece of music, without equipment made by x, y, or z, or in a certain format is just audiophiles talking with their heads up their proverbials.

I can’t deny I’m in the audiophile camp, but my view is having a better system does give me more enjoyment from my collection, in the tapping feet, sing-along, and play air musical instruments more manner.

I’m going to a hi-fi event later in the week. It will be interesting to hear what is on offer, and the associated talk. Indecipherable hi-fi reviewer terminology will have me either ruefully shaking my head, or going off on one.

Popular music is for all, it lost any elitism with the demise of progressive rock. You can get someone with a cheap system getting as much enjoyment as someone who has spent thousands. Just like musical taste, each unto their own, and whatever rocks your boat.

T In The Park

Event:    Music Festival
Rating:   Well worth going to

T In The Park, in its 20^th year, is Scotland’s premier music festival. This is only the second time I’ve been, the other occasion being the very first one when Oasis played in the tent in the middle of the afternoon when they were just starting out, Cypress Hill only managed one song because they got ‘held up by customs’ at Heathrow, and there were great sets from Bjork, Primal Scream, Grant Lee Buffalo amongst others.

This year in Scotland we are having that rarest of things, a ‘proper summer’, which added greatly to the event/experience, rather than having to wade through fields of mud. But boy there must have been a hell of a lot of young adult males waking up on Saturday morning with red raw sore backs. I thought my arms/neck were burning at times, and that was with regular top ups of factor 50.

 

The T stands for Tennents, which is a tasteless, insipid lager, only drunk when there is no other alternative. Clearly this is my own personal view, as it sells by the tanker load across the whole country on a daily basis. It was close call as to what was more enjoyable, a pint of T or the chlorinated water, required to stay hydrated.

The bus trip up was hot, squashed and thankfully quick. My three friends and I  arrived early, but the ‘doors’ didn’t open till 1600, giving the younger generation of Scots plenty of time to ably demonstrate the countries issue with alcohol. So an hour later, half way through the first set on the main stage by Leith’s finest, The Proclaimers,  young wee lads and lasses were being assisted back to tents to recover from the proceeds of their intoxication. Their loss, and headache from hell, as there may not be a better home act to open a festival. As you’d expect they went through all their best know tracks, including Letter to America, 500 miles and Cap In Hand. A great set by the Reid brothers, finished off with one of my favourites, The Joyful Kilmarnock Blues.

 

Suitably impressed we headed to line our stomachs at one of the numerous eating establishments, before attempting our second T. I had a healthy crab and salmon burger with a sweet chilli relish, and very nice it was too.

 

Next up were Texas, who have never been on my rated list, so much to my surprise I found them to be really good, way exceeding expectation. I was expecting them to be as flat as the state they have named themselves after, but Sharleen was on fine Weegie form, which she put down to the jet lag from the flight from the US. The set was all top hits, and most enjoyable it was.

 

After this we split up and my three mates wanted to see jingly, jangly, Jake Bugg, so I took the opportunity just walk around, see what their was to, find the least repulsive loos, and see what was going on in the tents. The effects of the alcohol and sun were further demonstrated when a cheer went up as Of Monsters and Men started their set. I made a very quick exit and ended up in the Slam (Dance) tent, and came upon Maceo Plex. Never heard of him before, but I found myself staying for a good 30 minutes. Again really enjoyable and made me realise I’d forgotten over the years, one of the benefits of festivals is hearing acts you would never have otherwise come across.

 

From there it was back to the main stage, via a final T, to meet up and see Chase & Status. I’ve only listened to one of their albums on Spotify, but again I really got into this and thought they were well worth seeing.

 

Of the main headline acts, there was only one choice, the only reason I’d bought a ticket in the first place. Kraftwerk. The chance to see one of the most original and innovative bands of the last 40 years, on one’s doorstep, in a 3D show was never going to be passed up. We got a spot right down the front, expectation was mega high, yet they easily exceeded it. From the start of The Robots, through Computer Love, Radioactivity, Man Machine and all the other classics they nailed it. It was pleasing to hear they were willing to offer up slightly differing versions of some material. The 3D was good, but I didn’t always use it (glasses were given on the way into the tent), as it made the band members themselves look a tad computer generated.

 

It was disappointing to see at the end the tent was nowhere near full. While getting Kraftwerk was obviously a coup for the organisers, it was a shame not to see more take the opportunity to see hear and see such an iconic act.

 

A great day out, and more than well worth it, with the added benefit of not having to lift one’s feet when the bus went either up or downhill on the way home.

 

Hopefully it won’t be another 20 years before I’m back, but next time I’ll miss the T and stick to the wine. I heard the Merlot was passable.

The Man Of Steel (Minor Spoilers)

Movie:           The Man Of Steel

Certificate:     12A
Rating:          After this it will be at least a decade before there is a new Superman movie

 

Let’s start with the positives shall we.

Kevin Costner: Excellent as Clark’s human dad.

Diane Lane: Really good as Clark’s human Mum.
Russell Crowe: Really good as Jor-El
Amy Adams: Surprisingly good as Lois Lane
Laurence Fishburne: Good as Perry White, but only when in the Daily Planet office. Outside of it, he comes across as a bit player in a B rated disaster movie.

Apart from the above, it was just pants. Briefly:

Disjointed

Lack of plot
Too quick action scenes so you couldn’t really see what was going on, especially on Krypton
Soundtrack too similar to Daft Punk’s Tron Legacy
Baddies that had no venom and were cardboard caricatures
The scene where Clark comes out of the water, and looks like David Banner recovering from an on-set of a Hulk ‘moment’.
Poor special effects

It just didn’t engage me.

Summed up by a scene near the end, where there is total destruction all round. The debris of numerous sky-scrapers is lying scattered all over the place. Tens of thousands, probably more have just died in the battle. The Man Of Steel, rather than use his super human powers to help those desperately clinging onto life, decides his time would be better spent having a snog with Lois.

PiL: This Is Not A Love Song

Artist:    PiL
Single:    This is Not A Love Song
Format:    12" single
Rating:    If you see it, buy it


Review:

This is one of those songs where the remix betters the official 7” single, as it was back in the day. The latter has a far stronger keyboard element, giving it a more commercial sound. This may have been deliberate to piss off some fans and the music press, who were accusing PiL of becoming more commercial. The remix has a more prominent, combination of guitar and bass, the latter really driving the track. The lyric, as usual, is to Lydon’s usual acerbic, pointed standard.

The same can be said of one of the other two tracks, Public Image, their first single and the most accessible track from their debut album. More rock orientated than the rest of this first outing, it is none the less a track which has lost none of its bite, as shown by its inclusion at their recent Glastonbury performance.

The track that stands out, which is saying something, is Blue Water. A slow one, with a trumpet, I think, put through some studio processing. It’s hard to describe, but brilliant to listen to.

Whatever format you use, try and give these a listen as it will be well worth the effort. The 12” single goes for £3 - £4 in the UK in second hand record shops. A snip.

Of Monsters And Men: My Head Is An Animal

Artist:    Of Monsters And Men
Album:     My Head Is An Animal
Format:    spotify
Rating:    I'll make sure I miss them at T In The Park

The vocals on this sound like a Celtic Florence, from the Machine, who in turn at times vaguely sounds like Siouxsie Sioux from the Banshees. While the latter were highly original and entertaining, the same can’t be said of Of Monsters and Men, or Florence for that matter. I don’t know if Florence was the first to come out with this vocal sound, but why it seems to be copied too frequently is beyond me, as in actuality it isn’t that good.

As for the actual music of IFAM, it could too easily blend into a newly painted magnolia wall.