Indie rock veterans SEBADOH were the next band to play at HOSTESS CLUB WEEKENDER. Seemingly, the band that everyone had been waiting to see (to be expected after having just released their first album in 14 years), the hall actually properly filled up for the first time that day. Continue reading TOKYO HOSTESS CLUB WEEKENDER – SEBADOH →

Upbeat Spanish electro-rockers DELOREAN were up next at HOSTESS CLUB WEEKENDER, the Barcelona-based foursome really stepping up the vibe and energy levels in the expansive Yebisu Garden Hall on Saturday afternoon. Continue reading TOKYO HOSTESS CLUB WEEKENDER – DELOREAN →

TEMPLES was the opening act for November-December’s HOSTESS CLUB WEEKENDER, and the four-piece from Kettering dished out their moody expanses of furtive rock as a gentle introductory act on Saturday afternoon. Continue reading TOKYO HOSTESS CLUB WEEKENDER – TEMPLES →

We’re back at the industrial-chic Manchester venue Gorilla for a fascinating lineup: three British bands DUOLOGUE, NYPC and FENECH-SOLER are about to appear, in that order. Continue reading FENECH-SOLER and NYPC meet Gorilla →

It’s Bonfire Night but we’re not standing outside wrapped up in a chilly field watching fires burn and colours light up the sky – we’re at Manchester’s Club Academy to witness a whole different set of fireworks. In a basement, surrounding by a real hotchpotch of people, we’re here for this very special night with LA’s red hot band DEAP VALLY, aka guitarist Lindsey Troy and drummer Julie Edwards. Continue reading DEAP VALLY – the women of intention who tamed Manchester →

Walking down the sloping aisles of the Royal Northern College of Music theatre, espying the impressive array of instruments on the stage awaiting the audience, a sense of occasion wafts over me on this blustery Friday night in Manchester. Glasgow’s EDDI READER is in town to remind us why she’s one of the best singers and multi-instrumentalists to ever emerge from the UK. Having seen FAIRGROUND ATTRACTION perform way back in the day when their stunning 1988 debut album First of A Million Kisses was doing the rounds and went on to win a best album BRIT (an incredible 25 years ago), I’ve since seen Reader perform solo several times Continue reading Vagabonding with EDDI READER in Manchester →

At the end of October, Virginia’s WILD NOTHING made their second appearance in Tokyo for 2013, after Jack Tatum and his band played at the Astro Hall in March earlier this year. This time it was Club Quattro that was packed out, a room of dedicated fans staring adoringly up at the band enjoying another sold out show in Japan. Continue reading WILD NOTHING back in Japan →

Photos of the director and stars from Japanese movie KIYOSU CONFERENCE (Kiyosu Kaigi) which closed the 2013 TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: director Koki Mitani, Koichi Sato, Yo Oizumi, Koji Yakusho, Fumio Kohinata, and Kyoka Suzuki (from left to right). Continue reading TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2013 – KIYOSU CONFERENCE closing film →

JODOROWSKY’S DUNE is a thoroughly entertaining and eye-opening documentary recounting the 1975 failed attempt of famed Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo and The Holy Mountain) in creating an epic film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s revered science fiction novel DUNE. Although it sounds ultimately like a bit of an anticlimactic film, it’s full of hope, humour and inspiration, and Director Frank Pavich delves so deeply into the cogs and framework of the never-made Dune that you leave the cinema feeling as though you’ve been privy to a secret glimpse of it. Continue reading TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2013 – Day 7: Jodorowsky’s Dune →

ZONE PRO SITE – THE MOVEABLE FEAST

Topping the Taiwanese box office in 2013, beating Kick-Ass 2 and Riddick among others, Zone Pro Site – The Moveable Feast sees the revival of forgotten cuisine and banquets from Taiwan brought about by absolutely delightful characters and impeccably executed dialogue. It’s been some 16 years since Taiwanese Director Chen Yu-hsun released his full-length film Love Go Go, and the 51-year old has certainly made a comeback with this wonderfully vivid, laugh-out-loud comedy. Continue reading TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2013 – DAY 6 continued →

This much-hyped and long-anticipated Steven Soderbergh TV film (HBO) about Liberace has received multiple rave reviews. Adapted from an exposé book written by ex-boyfriend Scott Thorson, who following their broken relationship went on to sue Liberace in part for palimony. As Soderbergh’s reportedly last feature film ever, BEHIND THE CANDELABRA appeared to be a suitable end to his feature run and a rich homage to the great musical legend, but regardless of the film’s high acclaim, I wanted to view the film on its own merits. Continue reading TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2013 – Day 6: Behind the Candelabra →

A TALE OF SAMURAI COOKING – A TRUE LOVE STORY

There was quite the influx of food-related films at this year’s TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, A Tale of Samurai Cooking (Bushi-no Kondate) joining the likes of Taiwan’s 27˚C – Loaf Rocks and Zone Pro Site: The Moveable Feast, in the realm of cuisine-focused cinema. This Japanese contribution is by no means overshadowed by its Taiwanese rivals, offering its own powerful take on the role food has played in history. Continue reading TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2013 – Day 5 →

LOVE IS THE PERFECT CRIME

Love Is The Perfect Crime (L’amour est un crime parfait) is a captivating thriller set in the picturesque mountains between Switzerland and France. Following the disappearance of one of his students, Barbara, immediately after a night of passion between the two, university professor Marc (the enigmatic Mathieu Amalric, from The Diving Bell And The Butterfly, Quantum Solace, Munich) is haunted by the mystery of her absence as well as the constant presence of her terrified mother Anna Continue reading TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2013 – Day 4 →

KATE NASH is reaching the end of her UK tour, and she’s ending it on a high here in Manchester, where she has a loyal following. About three-quarters full, the venue is the perfect size for this Nash night out. A mix of eager students, fans young and older are packed towards the front barrier, and as Kate’s trademark “You Don’t Own Me” intro comes wafting over the speakers, screams emanate from the crowds. Kate’s incredible all-female backing band traditionally emerge first, this time dressed in black sparkly outfits, abandoning the notably cooler grunge-rock look we saw earlier in the year at Gorilla. Continue reading KATE NASH closes UK tour in Manchester but doesn’t want it to end →

THE DOUBLE

Directed by The IT Crowd‘s Richard Ayoade, and adapted into a film based on the classic novella of the same name by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Double tells of a nervous, depressed individual named Simon James who feels desperately haunted by his loneliness and invisibility at work and by the woman he loves. Then one day a new employee starts up at his company, a man named James Simon, who looks exactly like him in every way, much to Simon’s absolute terror. Continue reading TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2013 – Day 3 continued →

In 1984, an American-owned pesticide factory called Union Carbide, located in the city of Bhopal, India, malfunctioned and sent poisonous gas churning into the atmosphere, enveloping the city and killing thousands upon thousands of people. To this day, Union Carbide has not issued an apology, and the compensation paid out was a mere 300 dollars per death. In response, writer and director Ravi Kumar, a paediatrician in India with modest experience in filmmaking, took it upon himself to create the film BHOPAL – A PRAYER FOR RAIN which tells the story of the Bhopal victims of Union Carbide. Continue reading TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2013 – Day 3: BHOPAL – A PRAYER FOR RAIN →