Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)

Sometimes, I wonder why I like pop music? There is so much rubbish about, people with no talent earning millions. But, that isn’t just a modern phenomenon. It has always been the case. Boy bands with their supposed good looks appealing to teenage girls, boy bands with guitars (as if the mere act of holding an instrument somehow gives them credibility), youngish females - with precious little clothing - selling the fantasy of sex... all have absolutely nothing to do with music. The irony is that these folk are convinced they have real talent. Many of them actually believe their own publicity and think they are perfect! They are mediocre, at best, and full of their own self-importance. Real musicians know there is always room for improvement and always doubt their own ability!!

When listening to a piece of “classical” music that takes a theme and develops it, as opposed to repeating it over and over ad nauseam, it makes me wonder why I like any pop music at all! But, I try to keep an open mind and seek out the good in things. A little over a year ago, I discovered a band from Montreal, Canada, called Arcade Fire. I’d caught them on “Later with Jools Holland”, towards the end of 2005, and their sound captured my attention. I thought no more of it until a few months later when, flicking through the television channels, I landed on E4 and the video of “Rebellion (Lies)” was playing. I’m a sucker for rock bands that use orchestral instruments, especially strings!!

It’s probably The Beatles’ Producer, George Martin, we have to thank for the addition of strings on pop records, as well as the piccolo trumpet! Arcade Fire use a range of instruments adding a couple of violins in the featured number, as well as double bass and accordion on other songs, to those of a traditional rock band. That already makes them intriguing. Coupled with the plaintive cry of lead singer Win Butler, I started to ask myself whether or not this group could be the new Roxy Music? I’ve asked myself that many times, over the past thirty-five years, about groups ranging from Sparks to The Stranglers, Magazine to Portishead, to name but a few!! Arcade Fire’s “Rebellion (Lies)”, from the album “Funeral”, is an uplifting pop song, far removed from the bland mainstream, and thus worth consideration.

Fly me to the Moon!

The strange thing about “Doctor Who”, this time around, is that it does actually feel like a new beginning. Whereas tenth Doctor David Tennant seemed to slip into his jimjams through a side door the Christmas before last, in “The Christmas Invasion”, it seems now as though the show is starting over. This probably is because our way into each story will be from the perspective of a new character, Martha Jones. When the Doctor regenerates, he is still essentially the same man, the same character, just played by a different actor. When the companion changes, with the exception of Time Lady Romana, it is into a new character, even though she (or he) fulfils the same function. With the latest change, the potential for new beginnings is even greater because not only has Rose gone but she has, one presumes, taken the baggage of her entire family with her. No more Pete, no more Jackie, no more Mickey and no more Rose!

Donna was a stop gap. Maybe Executive Producer Russell T Davies thought better of the way such a major character as the show’s lead was introduced last time. When you think about it, to be born in a little “Children in Need” sketch is a little strange for a show of such longevity. Then, it was well into his first full story before the Doctor eventually came to the rescue! I notice that David is once again in his pyjamas for this fresh start almost as though he’s awoken to the dawn of a new day, although his attire is appropriate for the setting of a hospital! But let’s hope the breakfast is completely fresh. Martha is coming with her own baggage. Another family! And this suggests a lack of creativity. “Doctor Who” has done that for two years and it’s time for change. It remains to be seen how big a role Martha’s family will play. I found Rose’s Mum a major irritant, and it wasn’t entirely because of Camille Coduri who I’ve liked in other things, and was always grateful for the stories from which she was absent! I didn’t even want to be reminded of her, as I was briefly, in “The Impossible Planet”!!

Looking on the bright side, it’s a promising start to set the bulk of the first episode on the Moon. No Powell Estate in any of the craters, I hope! Just an hospital uprooted and transported through space. Daft it sounds but it’s no use diehard fans complaining as “Doctor Who” has done this kind of thing before with UNIT HQ in “The Three Doctors”. I wondered then as I wonder now, what about the building’s foundations?!! Even better is the look of the helmeted Judoon. Yes, they look like Sontaran rip-offs but at least they have been designed with a passing acknowledgement of the show’s history. I really hope we get to see them on the Moon’s surface as we did the Cybermen in Troughton serial “The Moonbase”. And, last but not least, two terrific guest actors to die for, in the first episode alone. Mrs Rouncewell from “Bleak House”, actress Anne Reid as Florence Finnegan, and soft-spoken Roy Marsden as consultant Mr Stoker, of the Royal Hope Hospital. With such Royalty of the acting profession involved, I am, as ever, hopeful. “Smith and Jones”, the first in a new series of “Doctor Who” can be seen this Saturday, 31st March, at 7pm. Be there, if you dare!

The Dears - 22: The Death of All the Romance

Anne Reid & Roy Marsden in "Smith and Jones"

Bryan Ferry - To Make You Feel My Love

(intro)

When the rain is blowing in your face,
And the whole world is on your case,
I could offer you a warm embrace,
To make you feel my love.

When evening shadows and the stars appear,
And there is no one there to dry your tears,
I could hold you for a million years,
To make you feel my love.

I know you haven’t made your mind up yet,
But I would never do you wrong,
I’ve known it from the moment that we met,
No doubt in my mind where you belong…

I would go hungry, I’d go black and blue,
I’d go crawling down the avenue,
Oh, there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do,
To make you feel my love.

(instrumental)

The storms are raging on the rolling sea,
And on the highway of regret,
The winds of change are blowing wild and free,
You ain’t seen nothing like me yet…

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true,
Oh, there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do,
Go to the ends of the earth for you,
To make you feel my love.

Radio Times Duo

Highlights from Radio Times:

3.1: SMITH AND JONES

"Martha is 23, a medical student, and her family's going into meltdown. Dad's run off with his secretary, Mum's boiling with fury, brother Leo's got a six-month old baby, and sister Tish is all ambition, thinking only of her next job. Martha's stuck in the middle, as the peacemaker. Just the sort of woman who needs an escape. Before you know it, mysterious storms are sweeping across London, sinister motorcycle couriers are stalking the hospital and Martha finds herself transported to the Moon! That's just the beginning of her troubles, as the alien Judoon arrive in a fleet of mighty spaceships — big, brutal space police! Only one man seems to know what's going on: a patient called John Smith. And he claims he's some sort of Doctor."

3.2: THE SHAKESPEARE CODE

"We've taken Martha back to 1599, when Shakespeare's at the height of his powers, in London's Globe Theatre. But if you're ten years old and the word 'Shakespeare' makes you groan, then rest assured, this isn't just a history lesson. There are witch-like creatures at work, strange deaths — a man drowns on dry land! — some terrible puns and a fearful plot dating back to the dawn of the universe. ... I think this might be our most lavish production yet. We try to film in and around Cardiff, but there aren't many Elizabethan settings around here, so the team had to travel to Warwick, Coventry and to the Globe itself for some magnificent location filming."

3.3: GRIDLOCK

"The Tardis returns to the year five billion, on the planet New Earth, where the Doctor and Rose last fought off cat-nurse nuns and zombie patients. ... But before long, greedy Pharmacists, hapless kidnappers and terrifying Beasts from Below have thrown Martha into danger. And all because the Doctor told a lie.... The Doctor's old friend, the Face of Boe, is waiting with a secret."

3.4: DALEKS IN MANHATTAN
3.5: EVOLUTION OF THE DALEKS

"1930s New York, Pig Men, sewers, showgirls and the Empire State Building. Oh yes, and Daleks, too. ... Helen's done a brilliant job, combining the Depression with the Daleks' desperation to survive and adding a good bit of The Island of Dr Moreau. Not to mention Frankenstein! Be prepared to see the Daleks as you've never seen them before."

3.6: THE LAZARUS EXPERIMENT

"A good old mad scientist, with an experiment going wrong, and an outrageous supervillain on the loose. ... The episode also marks a return to modern-day Earth and a chance to find out what's been happening to Martha's family in her absence. ... This time, pay attention to the enigmatic paymaster of Professor Lazarus as a trap plotted across the whole of time and space begins to close . . ."

3.7: 42

"The 42nd century, a spaceship in a far-flung galaxy, saboteurs at work, crew members possessed, and the terrifying catchphrase 'Burn with me'. To be honest, I love that title as I can't wait to see the Radio Times billing for this episode: (7/13. 42). Dial that number, you get a free pizza."

3.8: HUMAN NATURE
3.9: THE FAMILY OF BLOOD

"A very different sort of story — though still with monsters and scares galore! But when you've got David Tennant as your lead actor (call me biased, but The Best Actor in the Land, frankly), then you want to write stories that push the Doctor into completely new territory. And these two episodes take the Time Lord to places he's never been before, all in the haunting setting of a boys' public school in 1913; the winter before the War, with a chill in the air, and mysterious lights in the sky. If ever you thought scarecrows were scary, you ain't seen nothing yet."

3.10: BLINK

"The King of Terror, that's Mr Moffat. ... Doctor Who rarely scares me, because I've seen all the behind-the-scenes prosthetics and computer trickery, and I've lived with the scripts for months. But when I watch this episode — I'm not kidding — I'm scared to death! Go on, I dare you. Close the curtains. Turn the lights off. Huddle round the TV. Clutch your loved ones. And shiver."

3.11: UTOPIA

"Jack's back! As John Barrowman's Captain Jack Harkness comes storming back on board the Tardis — with an arrival like no companion has ever had before — it's time for the Tardis's wildest ride yet! It hurtles out of control, taking the crew to the distant planet Malcassairo, where a lonely and patient professor is giving his all to save his people from extinction."

3.12: THE SOUND OF DRUMS
3.13: LAST OF THE TIME LORDS

"The trap closes, as the Doctor, Martha and Captain Jack find themselves in a desperate fight for survival. Who are the Toclafane? What is the power of Archangel? And what terrible secrets are stored at the heart of the Valiant? It's an epic and heartbreaking story, as the Doctor faces his greatest enemy yet. Now, I wonder who that could be . . ?"

Doctor Who - Series Three, Trailer Two (Widescreen)

The New Who

The new series of “Doctor Who” has the potential to be terrific. Both of the forty-second trailers look good. It’s obvious that, once again, plenty of money has been lavished on the show, which could of course be its undoing, but the biggest problem, in my opinion, is the writers’ allowing the curbing of their imaginations. “Doctor Who” made by committee doesn’t make good “Doctor Who”. I’m optimistic though. I want it to be good. I want it to be as terrific as the trailers suggest it’s going to be.

As well as featuring clips from early episodes of the new series up to and including the two-part Dalek story, this first trailer is heavily geared towards promoting the first episode with plenty of those intergalactic alien storm troopers, known as the Judoon Platoon, on the rampage in search of Plasmavore Florence played by Anne Reid. Recently seen opposite Catherine Tate in “The Bad Mother’s Handbook”, this well-respected actress has already guest-starred in “Doctor Who”. She played Nurse Crane in “The Curse of Fenric” almost two decades ago. Back in 1989, she was up against the Haemovores and now she is one… well, almost!

Also starring in the opening story, “Smith and Jones”, is Roy Marsden as Mr. Stoker, best known as the ITV version of P D James’s cultured detective Commander Adam Dalgliesh. Roy has also had a previous brush with “Doctor Who”, although a little more recently than Anne. He’s just been heard in the latest audio series on BBC7, opposite Paul McGann and Sheridan Smith, in the closing two-part Cybermen story “Human Resources”. He’s had a long and illustrious career that includes appearances in “Space: 1999”, the feature-length Sherlock Holmes story “The Last Vampyre”, and “Only Fools and Horses”. Eight days and counting!

Propaganda - Duel

ZTT Records co-founder Trevor Horn was the man behind Buggles, giving us the immortal “Video Killed the Radio Star”, but is perhaps best known for producing Frankie Goes to Hollywood and their notorious number one hit single “Relax”. His output is nothing if not diverse having worked with artists such as Roy Orbison, Tom Jones and, famously, with the session musician collective known as (The) Art of Noise. This ensemble included classically-trained Anne Dudley, later to compose the terrifically jolly theme tune of “Jeeves and Wooster”! As is usually the case when making choices, I prefer some of Trevor’s lesser known output. In particular, Propaganda’s “A Secret Wish” is one of my three favourite non-Roxy Music pop/rock albums of all-time (the others being Siouxsie and the Banshee’s “The Scream” and Magazine’s “Real Life”).

“A Secret Wish” spawned the hit single “Duel”, one of the finest pop songs of the Eighties and this post’s featured clip, and, before that, the equally excellent “Dr. Mabuse” which unforgettably asks, “Why does it hurt when my heart misses the beat?”. Trevor Horn also produced a single by a little known Parisian chanteuse called Anne Pigalle, “He! Stranger”, which is also well worth a listen. And, bringing us into the 21st Century, he has applied his skill to making Russian pop duo t.A.T.u. accessible to a British audience, initially with the single “All the Things She Said”. If you don’t know the song “Duel”, or even if you do, give it a listen but try and divorce your mind from the theatrics of the video, fun though they are, as I’d be interested in knowing what you all think of the track. I’d also be interested in knowing what are your all-time favourite albums?

Doctor Who - Series Three Episode Guide (Updated)

Produced by BBC Wales
David Tennant (The Doctor)
Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones)
Executive Producers: Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner
Produced by Phil Collinson and Susie Liggat

1: Smith and Jones (31 March 2007)
Writer: Russell T Davies
Director: Charles Palmer
Cast: Adjoa Andoh (Francine Jones), Trevor Laird (Clive Jones), Anne Reid (Florence Finnegan), Roy Marsden (Mr. Stoker), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Tish Jones), Reggie Yates (Leo Jones)
The Doctor faces the dreaded Judoon, intergalactic alien storm troopers who have transported the Royal Hope Hospital to the Moon... including the young Martha Jones.

2: The Shakespeare Code (7 April 2007)
Writer: Gareth Roberts
Director: Charles Palmer
Cast: Dean Lennox Kelly (William Shakespeare), Christina Cole (Lilith), Jalaal Hartley (Dick), Sam Marks (Kemp)
Shakespeare gives the performance of his life to save the Earth from destruction at the hands of fearsome flying witches.

3: Gridlock (14 April 2007)
Writer: Russell T Davies
Director: Richard Clarke
Cast: Ardal O'Hanlon (Thomas Kincade Brannigan), Jennifer Hennessy (Valerie)
The Doctor returns to New Earth, and encounters the Face of Boe again.

4: Daleks in Manhattan (21 April 2007)
5: Evolution of the Daleks (28 April 2007)
Writer: Helen Raynor
Director: James Strong
Cast: Miranda Raison (Tallulah), Ryan Carnes (Laszlo), Hugh Quarshie (Solomon), Andrew Garfield (Frank), Eric Loren (Mr. Diagoras), Flik Swan (Myrna), Alexis Caley (Lois), Earl Perkins, Peter Brooke, Ian Porter (Foreman), Joe Montana, Stewart Alexander, Mel Taylor (Dock Worker)
Two-part story
The Doctor and Martha visit New York in the 1930s... and run into an experiment by the Daleks to disrupt the fabric of time!

6: The Lazarus Experiment (5 May 2007)
Writer: Stephen Greenhorn
Director: Richard Clarke
Cast: Thelma Barlow (Lady Thaw), Mark Gatiss (Dr. Lazarus)
The famed scientist Dr. Lazarus may have developed the fountain of youth!

7: 42 (12 May 2007)
Writer: Chris Chibnall
Director: Graeme Harper
Cast: Michelle Collins (McDonnell), William Ash (Riley), Anthony Flanagan (Scannell), Matthew Chambers (Korwin), Vinette Robinson (Lerner), Gary Powell (Ashton), Rebecca Oldfield (Erina)

8: Human Nature (19 May 2007)
9: The Family of Blood (26 May 2007)
Writer: Paul Cornell
Director: Charles Palmer
Cast: Jessica Stevenson (Joan), Harry Lloyd (Jeremy Baines), Thomas Sangster (Tim Latimer), Tom Palmer (Hutchinson), Pip Torrens (Rocastle), Rebekah Staton (Jenny), Gerard Horan (Clark), Lauren Wilson (Lucy Cartwright), Matthew White (Phillips)
Two-part story
The Doctor settles down to lead a normal life in a boarding school, in an adaptation of Cornell's novel "Human Nature".

10: Blink (2 June 2007)
Writer: Steven Moffat
Director: Hettie MacDonald
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Lucy Gaskell, Michael Obiora, Finlay Robertson, Ian Boldsworth, Richard Cant

11: Utopia (9 June 2007)
Writer: Russell T Davies
Director: Graeme Harper
Cast: John Barrowman (Jack Harkness), Derek Jacobi (The Professor), Rene Zagger, Chipo Chung, Neil Reidman, Paul Marc Davis

12: The Sound of Drums (16 June 2007)
13: Last of the Time Lords (23 June 2007)
Writer: Russell T Davies
Director: Colin Teague
Cast: John Barrowman (Jack Harkness), Nichola McAuliffe, Alexandra Moen, Ellie Haddington, Elize Du Toit, Nicholas Gecks, Colin Stinton, Natasha Alexander, Tom Golding, Olivia Hill, Daniel Ming
Two-part story