Culture Diary w/c 04-03-13
Monday – Two Sunsets: Venetian Skies/Sandunes
Phil Bridges and Sean Butler are the Wirral-based duo behind Two Sunsets, celebrating their debut release today. Describing their sound as “almost overly exposed and out of focus” (you’ll understand exactly what they mean when you give it a listen), they have a hazy nostalgia about them, much in the way Beach House do. On the evidence of this double A side, we’re very much looking forward to the record, which they’re recording now.
Jackie Brown 8.30pm @ FACT
Thought by many to be Quentin Tarantino’s most considered film (adapted from the novel by Elmore Leonard), Jackie Brown stars Pam Grier, Sam Jackson, Robert De Niro and Bridget Fonda. Part caper, part underdog story, the titular Jackie Brown (played in measured and winning fashion by Blaxploitation star Pam Grier), caught smuggling cash by the feds, has no choice but to agree to help bring down Jackson’s arms dealer Ordell Robbie.
Tuesday – Maps & Atlases/Tall Ships 7.30pm @ The Kazimier £10
There’s a wonderful eccentricity about Chicago’s Maps & Atlases. It would be possible to broadly describe them as having elements of folk, prog, art-rock and indie, but to crow bar them into a pigeon-hole in this way would be to do them a disservice. Touring latest record Beware and Be Grateful, they share the bill with Tall Ships, a band inarguably in the ascendancy.
The Big Lebowski 9pm @ The Shipping Forecast FREE
“We want zee money Lebowski!” 15 years on and the Coen brothers homage to Raymond Chandler still finds itself extremely quotable. More than that, it has exceeded what you would ordinarily refer to as cult status: grown men wandering about in dressing gowns, taking the name ‘The Dude’ – we all know a dude, right? – purely as a compliment, nursing a white Russian; it’s nothing less than an institution. Besides that of course, it remains one of the Coen’s great successes, a film you’ll probably find really ties the week together.
Wednesday – Pink Flamingos 6.30pm @ FACT
The movie which made John Waters (in) famous, Pink Flamingos marks the beginning of FACT’s screenings to accompany forthcoming The Art of Pop Video exhibition. Featuring Waters’ muse Divine (as Virginia), vying for the tabloid-given title of ‘The Filthiest Person Alive,’ and screening as part of a double bill with James Bidgood’s Pink Narcissus, this makes for an interesting (if slightly puzzling) introduction to The Art of Pop Video film programme.
Thursday – Deap Valley 8pm @ The Shipping Forecast £7
That this duo – Lindsey Troy (Vocals, Guitar) and Julie Edwards (Drums, Vocals) – only met last year, never mind that they only have a few demos under their belts, goes to show the momentum they’ve managed to pick up in such short time. Drawing (perhaps predictable) comparisons to the likes of the White Stripes and the Kills, the pair’s brand of bluesy guitar-driven rock should comfortably see them graduate from simply being another buzz band.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Friday – Threshold 2013 various venues continues Saturday and Sunday
Rising out of the ashes of a hastily and unexpectedly closed CUC in 2012, Threshold, the “multi-arts, multi-venue, grass-roots festival” is now in its third year. With the experience of two festivals under their belts, there is a sense that this year should represent some kind of progress made by the tight-knit team behind it. Full preview.
Saturday – Palmistry 9pm @ Brooklyn Mixer FREE
Deep Hedonia continue to introduce Liverpool crowds to new sounds, and their latest night features Palmistry, R&B producer to Triad God. Escaping from underneath his collaborator’s shadow with EPs I Swear and Cut, the Londoner is joined by locals making waves, Acrobat and Tomasu, amongst others.
Sunday – Chinatown 6pm @ FACT
On release some critics unkindly (and incorrectly) labelled Roman Polanski’s neo-noir Chinatown a mere pastiche of a genre long since past its best. With hindsight, that opinion has been turned completely on its head, the film coming out on top in a 2010 Guardian and Observer poll as best film of all time. Starring Jack Nicholson as world-weary gumshoe, Jake, and ending wonderfully on the line: “Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown!” this is a film fully deserving its modern status.
