β¨ Check out this must-read post from Culture | The Guardian π π Category: Film,Drama films,John Simm,Andrew Lincoln,Marc Warren,Culture,Stevenage,Television & radio,UK news π Hereβs what youβll learn: IIt can be fascinating to see the early work of well-known actors, and in this British drama from 1995, we see John Simm (Life on Mars), Andrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead), and Mark Warren (Hustle), all of whom show early promise as young people in their late teens trying to figure out what to do with their lives. There's also a sad feeling watching actors who had as much potential but didn't enjoy…
π₯ Discover this insightful post from Culture | The Guardian π π Category: Television & radio,Culture π Main takeaway: Girl gangs forever9.20pm, BBC2From the highs of world domination to the lows of tabloid bullying, insiders tell the story of girl groups' ups and downs. While the Spice Girls were enjoying massive commercial success, Eternal and All Saints were sticking to their roots for the No. 1 spot - but there was a dark truth behind it all. Kelly Bryan remembers her diet was controlled and Melanie Platt says her manager told her and Nicole Appleton to "abort our babies." Sarah…
π₯ Check out this awesome post from Culture | The Guardian π π Category: Music,Pop and rock,Metal,Punk,Classical music,Experimental music,Film,Horror films,Horror (TV),Television,Television & radio,Culture,John Carpenter,Herbie Hancock,Nick Cave,Ethel Cain β
Key idea: Cosey Fanni TuttiBernard Herrmann β The Murder (1960)Scary music actually excites me, but the piece that most sends shivers down my spine is the music in the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcockβs film, Psycho. Iβve seen it numerous times and even though I know whatβs coming, the stabbing knife synched with Bernard Herrmannβs score always freaks me out.More recently, I went through a phase of watching Japanese and Korean horror…
π Discover this trending post from Culture | The Guardian π π Category: Classical music,Music,Culture π‘ Hereβs what youβll learn: THis delightful release on the Leipzig-based Accentus label is a reminder that the Royal Opera's new music director, Jakob Harsha, has excelled over the past nine years in orchestral music as principal conductor of the Bamberg Symphony. The program brings together three works composed in the last decades of the nineteenth century, each of which reflects in different ways the concept of the hero, or what is meant by the hero's journey.βHeroβs Songβ was DvoΕΓ‘kβs final tone poem, a 20-minute…
π Check out this must-read post from Culture | The Guardian π π Category: Film,Roger Allam,Television,Culture,Television & radio,Alan Bennett,Stage,Musicals,First world war β
Main takeaway: A The main plot point of The Choral revolves around Roger Allam singing poorly. This is the man who originated the role of Javert in Les MisΓ©rables in 1985, who was nominated for an Olivier Award for his performance in the Cy Coleman musical City of Angels and who once considered a career as an opera singer.Talk to me about it, I say: bad singing. We are at his home in southwest London. He's very busy…
π Discover this insightful post from Culture | The Guardian π π Category: Arcade Fire,Music,Culture,Pop and rock β
Key idea: Arcade Fire's RΓ©gine Chassagne and Win Butler have announced that they are separating after 22 years of marriage.In a statement posted on the band's Instagram account, they wrote: "They continue to love, admire and support each other as they co-parent their son," born in 2013.They wrote that Arcade Fire would remain an ongoing concern, and that they would continue to do charitable work for the Canby Foundation in Haiti β Chassagne's parents had moved to Canada from the country during…
π₯ Explore this awesome post from Culture | The Guardian π π Category: Womad,Festivals,Music festivals,Culture,Music,UK news,Wiltshire π Main takeaway: Womad, the global music festival co-founded by Peter Gabriel, is set to return in 2026 in a new venue.The festival took a year off in 2025 to "return fully charged", and left its home in Charlton Park, Wiltshire, where it had been held since 2007. Its new venue remains in Wiltshire, at nearby Neston Park in Corsham.βIt immediately seemed like a warm, welcoming home to us where we could put down roots,β Gabriel said.He added: "In a world where many bad…
π₯ Explore this awesome post from Culture | The Guardian π π Category: Ballet,Dance,Stage,Culture β
Key idea: IIf you watched Rambert Dance Company during the 2000s or 2000s, you would have seen the brilliant dancer Dane Hurst. And if you're wondering what he's doing now, in 2022 he returns to his native South Africa to lead first Jazzart Dance Theater and now Joburg Ballet. Founded in 2001, Joburg Ballet has an eclectic cast that ranges across styles, themes and continents. For example, this show begins with a goofy smile and tiny pointe shoes and ends with a duet with the…
π Explore this insightful post from Culture | The Guardian π π Category: Music,Culture,Pop and rock,Folk music π‘ Key idea: from Sydney, AustraliaRecommended if you like Shirley and Dolly Collins; Sky Girl compilation from Efficient Spacethe next God's Fire of Love was reissued by Spend Freedom on November 14As any noteworthy nun would tell you, revelation can come from the most unexpected places. Such is the case with Fire of God's Love, a 1973 album by Australian nun Sister Irene O'Connor.Simple and spectral, it's a marvel of analogue pop β a collection of airy folk songs, played largely on drum…
π₯ Discover this insightful post from Culture | The Guardian π π Category: Books,Culture,Poetry β
Hereβs what youβll learn: Namanlagh by Tom Bullen (Faber, Β£12.99)More than a decade has passed β βlong empty days/With the blank pageβ β since Paulineβs The Fire of Love. His tenth collection was inspired by depression and recovery from it: βIf an idea / finds its way / through enemy territory / I will finally start / looking up at the sky.β His lyrics still roam the page, but the linguistic fireworks have been replaced by clear, unadorned, more poignant language. This also gives his…
