Graffiti: Manchester

A quick walk around the North Quarter of Manchester city centre. A lot of the pieces I'd seen on previous visits but still worth hitting again. 

Film: Blade of the Immortal

The 100th film from Takashi Miike tells the tale of a man cursed to never die coming to the aid of a woman who requires a bodyguard to aid her kill the men who killed her father, a bunch of terrorists who are going around killing all the fighting teachers in the country.

It's based on a comic book but comes across a bit like a video game with members of the terrorist group having crazy abilities and weapons. It's also pretty bloody, which is to be expected given the director's reputation. There are particularly interesting scenes where the hero's limbs reattach and grow again having been severed from the torso.

A fun Christmas film for all the family.

Gig: FEMM & Lovebites @ Camden Underworld

I didn't go to the Winter Hyper Japan this year, I just lacked the motivation however a couple of the bands that performed there were also doing a show in Camden at the Underworld, a venue I'd not been to since the early 2000's. 

First up was Shirobon, a guy who's music looked to be coming from a Gameboy. We knew what we were getting as soon as the set started with the sound of the Gameboy starting up. This chiptune stuff was very strange but worked.

Even stranger, but also working was FEMM who are best described as mannequin electro J-pop. If that's a genre, they're the only ones in it. They were carried on the stage then proceeded to do a 40-minute set of just them vocalising over a backing track whilst dancing like robots. 

This is from youtube but gives a good idea of what is going on. With no band it was hard to tell how live the performance was. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt; they were very good either way.

There was no disputing whether second band Love Bites were playing live or not. Out came 5 well dressed diminutive Japanese women who opened by telling the audience "We are Love Bites and we love heavy metal", and boy do they! 

They were loud but really really good. Unlike BabyMetal which was 3 Japanese girls fronting a band, these girls could could play and do so very well. I remembered why it had been so long since I'd been to the venue; the soundsystem is really poor and I had ringing in my ears for a couple of days after the gig.

I think this may have been their first full length tour outside of Japan and their first album is out any time now. They did very well.

Someone kindly recorded the show and posted it online so here you go!

Gig: Huey Morgan & DJ Yoda @ The British Library

As part of their Sonic Boom series, the British Library had an evening of DJ led music from Huey Morgan of the Fun Loving Criminals and DJ Yoda playing on a state of the art sound Bowers and Wilkins sound system.

Huey was up first playing a great mix of funk and disco, with a little rock towards the end. The sound on his set was great, nice and warm and not distorted at all. He also took some time out to do photos and humour one guy who'd brought a book of vinyl along, I guess to hear them being played on the system.

The crowd picked up of Yoda who played a varied selection of genres starting with hip hop before going into video games, 80s, and brass band music (it worked, ok?)

An entertaining night, both for the music and twonks like this who appeared to lack the ability to read :)

Graffiti: Camden

Film: Bloodsport

A blast from the past as the Prince Charles dug out one of Van Damme's first films and put it on the big screen. This tells the tell of Frank Dux, a supposed winner of an infamous martial arts battle called the Kumite. Whether or not there's truth to the tale is still being discussed but the film is a great slice of 90's martial arts silliness.

I'm guessing this was being shown to help measure crowds ahead of a rumoured Van Damme all-nighter due in the New Year. They needn't have worried, the crowd was plenty and well into it and the all-nighter is now scheduled for January.

and this film contains the worst performance by a guy playing the part of a doctor, ever!

Film: The Vengeance Trilogy

The Prince Charles was showing the full Vengeance Trilogy; 3 films by Korean director Park Chan Wook with a theme of revenge.

First up was Sympathy for Mr Vengeance which tells the tale of a young deaf-mute who is trying to find a donor for his sister who is suffering from kidney failure and needs a new one. Having been robbed of one of his own kidneys and cash by an underground crime organisation he finds himself unable to pay for the operation when a donor is found. Desperate to get some money he kidnaps a young girl and the events from that play out to a rather bleak ending.

The second is the more famous of the three, Oldboy which tells the tale of a man who is kidnapped for 18 years then released with no explanation. He tries to find out the people responsible and the reasons why he was abducted. This was my favourite of the 3 and I've seen it many times before.

The final one was Lady Vengeance, which tells the tale of an oddly adored woman released from prison who, with the help of inmates she'd previously befriended, seeks her revenge on the men who put her inside. This one is really good but the cut being shown was an odd one as it gradually faded to black and white as it went on, not what I'd remembered from the last time I saw it.

All 3 films are great and don't need to be watched together; each film is self-contained but as ever it's always good to see films like this on the big screen.

Gig: Anna Meredith @ Oval Space

One of my favourite gigs of the year, although the sound wasn't as good as Margate when they played there. Anna Meredith is an incredible composer and her band have gotten better and better with each performance. Tonight's show featured a sony dance mat, and a Metallica/Theme from The Bill mash-up.

Graffiti: Hoxton

Film: Death of Stalin

Probably the funniest film of the year sees Alan Partridge writer Armando Iannucci adapt a graphic novel to the big screen. It tells of a Russia full of paranoia coming to terms with the death of their leader so suitably dark but funny throughout. I also like none of the characters have a Russian Accent, Stalin sounds like an East End Cockney and the military leader has a proper northern accent. 

One of my favourite films this year

Film: Silent Running

A classic film celebrating it's 45th anniversary (making it as old as me) and a chance to see it on a big screen. Set in a future where the people have destroyed the planet a decision is taken to preserve some eco systems in space. Bruce Dern is one of the caretaker crew and gets the news to destroy the domes he's invested his years maintaining. He goes rogue in an attempt to preserve them, and accompanied by 3 maintenance droids (that became the inspiration to R2D2) we get a rather lovely film that has stood the test of time really well. 

Film: Thor

A Thorry meth of a film. I don't know why I Thor it.

I guess if you're undertaking an Avengers marathon you'll want one film to provide a chance to catch up on sleep. I'm guessing that's why they made this as light-hearted as they did.

Film: Murder on the Orient Express

Branagh, being the director ensures Branagh gets most of the screen time despite the cast including such film legends as Captain Jack Sparrow, M, Star Wars Rey, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Olaf, and her from Grease 2. Doesn't deviate too much from the original other than Branagh's moustache and chin-Brazilian looking ridiculous throughout.

I thought it would be really good, but it really wasn't.

Trip Report

My trip report for this year's big holiday to the US, Kazakhstan and Japan is now available by clicking here or if you're on a desktop via the link on the right-hand side.