Thursday 28 January 2010

Dackombe on drugs

“Do the teenagers you know talk excitedly about inequality, racial discrimination or pollution? If so, they may be exhibiting the first signs of drug addiction.”

Thus runs the opening paragraph from a pamphlet issued by a concerned religious group from Ohio. Perhaps though we can carry a greater understanding of this concern when we consider the other end of the rainbow, where we find the ‘Eight Circuit Model of Consciousness’ where it is posited that, through the use of hallucinogenics, “differing levels of being can be achieved with a human’s nervous system”, according to an over-excited follower, Timothy Leary. To which many rather more enlightened individuals might respond, “You carry on mate, but leave my nervous system to me ...”
Links between drugs, music and ‘young people’ have troubled society’s guardians for many a generation, and despite changes in attitudes, more liberal times, and wider understanding of the effects of drugs, the use, and ‘glamour’ of the (particularly illegal) potions continues.
Yet for those intoxicated or influenced by latter day drug buffoons like Pete Doherty, it may come as a surprise that they are inventing nothing that is new. It isn’t big and it isn’t clever, as any ancient Egyptian, his head filled with mandrake, opium or blue lotus, would confirm.

In researching this piece, and coming across a large volume of drug related songs from the jazzy world of the 1920s and 1930s, it seems odd that many biographers state with certainty that Ella Fitzgerald was vehemently against the use of drugs when one listens to her jaunty performance of ‘Wacky Dust’ in 1938:

“Oh I don't know just why; It gets you so high; Putting a buzz in your heart; You'll do a marathon; You'll wanna go on; Kickin' the ceilin' apart.”
Ella’s first husband (it appears she married him on a whim) was a convicted drug dealer, and she soon had the marriage annulled.

Her reputation has survived such quirks, but for Harry Gibson, recording a dope related song in 1947 proved to be a career buster. “Who Put The Benzedrine In Mrs Murphy’s Ovaltine?” might seem rather innocuous, even tame, in today’s world, and I have a passing suspicion that it was the rhyme that seduced Gibson, rather than the subject.

However, his young career was over, ostensibly, and as his own use of drugs extended rather farther than the relatively mild Benzedrine, it took a remarkable turn of events in the 1960s and 70s before he perceived a more laissez-faire approach to his views on the recreational use of drugs, and found himself playing in blues and rock bands in his fifties and sixties.

Back though, to Dr. Timothy Leary, for whom, of course, John Lennon wrote ‘Come Together’ as a campaign song when Leary stood for the Governorship of California. Leary was also present when John and Yoko recorded ‘Give Peace A Chance’ in a Montreal hotel room. From these and other examples of Leary’s influence, it would be a simple step to assume that the taking of mind altering drugs inevitably leads to coolness and the capacity to write great, enduring songs of spiritual clarity and depth.

However, for every ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ there is also the hairdresser/psych/rock of the Moody Blues; and every ‘Itchycoo Park’ and ‘Astronomy Domine’ is balanced by the dull noodlings of the Grateful Dead or the pub-rock-psychedelia of Procol Harum.

The ‘Summer Of Love’, 1967, in Haight Ashbury, ended in the cool of the December of that year with many of the influx of young hopefuls, seeking help for addiction, suffering from malnutrition and attending clinics for a variety of unfashionable diseases. If the link between brain changing narcotics and ground-breaking music wasn’t already dead by the end of 1969, then Charles Manson and Altamont were responsible for burying it alive.

By 1970, Syd Barrett, Peter Green, Brian Wilson; their artistry and in the latter’s case, their genius, stolen by paranoia, confusion, panic attacks and anxiety.

The legacy of the use of LSD by musicians was felt by those left standing in fields in Windsor and Aldermaston, watching Hawkwind perform from the back of a truck, the sound swirling away on the wind, with the hopes of the love generation, who by then, were either working for the council, in prison, or living in their mum’s attic.
There are arguments for the use of relaxing drugs; there are arguments for the use of prescribed drugs to help with specific conditions. In such cases, it is to be hoped that the user, or patient, retains control; but the damning indictment against Leary’s “turn on, tune in, drop out” is that it is the dropping out aspect that becomes the driver. Control is taken by the drug and not by the user. And as soon as we lose control of our own minds, then we have no control over our artistry, our performance, our creativity, and most important of all, of ourselves.

Terence Dackombe, 2010

Saturday 16 January 2010

Great song, iffy band.

1. Caught In The Middle - A1
The third division Boyzone were responsible for a pointless cover of Take On Me. This however, was sharp, hook heavy pop the Bluetones would once have killed for.

2. Miss You Nights - Cliff Richard
Ever unhip British Elvis produces aching, tear duct pricking number of delicate beauty before returning to tripe like Wired For Sound.

3. Life Is A Rollercoaster - Ronan Keating
Actual Boyzone front fella launches solo career with a Greg Alexander penned scorcher. Flies in the video (not the insects).

4. Unpretty - TLC
Forerunners for Destiny's Child never bettered this defiant stand against beauty fascism. Genuinely empowering.

5. In The End - Linkin Park
Otherwise ropey rock / rap crossover merchants pull off a splendid slab of noisy angst.

6. 25 or 6 to 4 - Chicago
Quite how the authors of this cracking, driving, air-guitar anthem managed to proceed to slush fests of such extreme dullness, is a mystery that remains unsolved.

7. Silver Mac - Westworld
The poor person's Republica suddenly ditch inane chants for this thoughtful, Elvis mentioning lost love song. Then split.

8. I Wanna Go Where The People Go - The Wildhearts
Cred metal never really made its mark, but at least these fellas gave us a tune that would excite air punching and jumping around in a depressed tortoise.

9. Father Figure - George Michael
Instead of opting for dull-as-ditchwater jazzy meanderings and spliffs, Gerorgie would have been better sticking with this thudding, lusty soul. And he is singing about ... y'know ... isn't he? A long way from 'GoGo'.

10. Crazy Horses - The Osmonds
Just when every right-thinking 70's lad had reached the conclusion that these Mormon teeth flashers were as drippy as a runny nose, they wrong-footed us with this riff-tastic and genuinely powerful rock workout. Environmental lyric 30 years ahead of its time too.

Magnus Shaw, 2010

Sunday 10 January 2010

Terror Vision: Chris Morris' Four Lions

Chris Morris is the writer and mind behind the peerless media satires 'On The Hour', 'The Day Today', 'Brass Eye' and 'Nathan Barley'. 'Four Lions' is his first feature film, co-written by Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong. It is a comedy about suicide bombers and its UK provincial premiere was at the Broadway Cinema, Nottingham .
The first third of 'Four Lions' features a scene where four terrorists argue in a Sheffield flat about their ideal target. 'A mosque!' insists one, 'Not a mosque you idiot' counters another, 'Fucking Boots The Chemist!'.

This perfectly captures the 'Four Lions' premise: the difficulty five men have in reconciling the profound, dangerous and exotic nature of international terrorism, with the prosaic, mundane aspects of life in South Yorkshire. And their insurmountable ineptitude.

'It is hard to like muderers, but there is something endearing about anyone struggling.' - Chris Morris
And struggle they do. Perhaps surprisingly for Morris, the humour here is rather traditional. The bombers are clumsy, accident prone and at least two are painfuly simple - attributes we recognise in characters from The Three Stooges to The Chuckle Brothers, Some Mothers Do Have 'Em to Dad's Army. Ah yes! Dad's Army, a show that is a real touchstone when considering Four Lions. In both cases we're following a troop of men utterly unsuited to their task, led by one who believes himself to be a robust leader but who is ultimately hopeless and hopelessly naive. Being trapped is the common thread in all great situation comedy (and this is a sitcom) - either literally (Porridge) or by circumstance (Frazier) and these four lions are trapped by ideology, trapped by confusion and trapped by their limitations.
'I wasn't sure there was anything amusing about terrorist plots until I started to research the subject.'
- Chris Morris

What lifts Four Lions high above crass tastelessness is credibility. We know men from Yorkshire really have planned (and carried out) mass murder with explosives in London. So the context is easy to accept - but it's meticulous detail that allows us to believe these fictional characters are doing the same. Detail from court records to which the director had access.

'I wonder what that ant is thinking ...' 'It's not thinking anything. It's a leaf.' - from a transcript of a bugged terrorist planning meeting.

As Morris points out, it would be impossible to deliver a comedy on this subject, had actual terrorists not actually revealed themselves to be hilariously stupid. Strong sitcom humour derives from reality, hence My Hero is unfunny and Outnumbered succeeds. Terrorists may well be wicked and frightening, but often they are also hapless and daft.

'There's a rhythm to Chris's writing that is irresistable'.
- Jesse Armstrong

That the Four Lions script is splendid is no surprise. Brass Eye and its companion pieces rest on their incomparable use of exaggerated media-isms and Armstrong and Bain write Peep Show. What is praticularly impressive is that three middle class, white men use Asian English and Punjabi so astutely. It would be all too easy to roam into 'It Aint 'Alf 'Ot Mum' territory but there is no hint of such clumsiness.

In fact, it is remarkable that the whole screenplay rolls out without race or politics ever becoming an issue. But that's not to say it is without controversy.

After all, this is a comedy movie about violence and death - and both feature prominently in the second reel.

'There's a rhythm to Chris's writing that is irresistable'.
- Jesse Armstrong

That the Four Lions script is splendid is no surprise. Brass Eye and its companion pieces rest on their incomparable use of exaggerated media-isms and Armstrong and Bain write Peep Show. What is praticularly impressive is that three middle class, white men use Asian English and Punjabi so astutely. It would be all too easy to roam into 'It Aint 'Alf 'Ot Mum' territory but there is no hint of such clumsiness.

In fact, it is remarkable that the whole screenplay rolls out without race or politics ever becoming an issue. But that's not to say it is without controversy.

After all, this is a comedy movie about violence and death - and both feature prominently in the second reel.

'I never set out to be controversial' - Chris Morris

So the key question for any comedy - 'Is it funny?' - is easily answered. It is very funny. One scene involving the purchase of bleach is a contender for one of the most amusing I have ever seen in cinema and the slapstick is superbly executed throughout.

But if there is a flaw in Four Lions, it's this: it sags in the middle. Clearly the film is moving us from gags and absurdity to the hellish truth of suicide bombing but the transition isn't as smooth as it should be. At its mid-point it is neither uproariously funny, nor disturbingly moving.
What's more, it sets up some threads which it chooses not pursue. For instance, Julia Davis' character could well have been excised without any loss of pace or pathos. In short, it feels one edit short of perfection.

Four Lions' trajectory is very similar to the last episode of Blackadder when the endearing idiots are eventually thrown into the line of fire, but it doesn't quite manage to turn the tone quite so effectively.

'What is funny about terrorism? Watch the movie'
- Chris Morris

Morris asserts that he never embarks on a project with offence as a motivator - and I believe him. He clearly finds sensitive issues interesting and taboo full of comic potential but there is nothing to offend the intelligent viewer here. Four Lions did shock me, not because it was inappropriate, but because it made me care about dangerous, desperate men. To reiterate, Four Lions is, at its heart, a traditional sitcom and therefore in many ways, it is Morris' least controversial work. Yet it’s an outstanding film that proves his ingenuity, as he makes you laugh in the face of terror.

Magnus Shaw, April 2010


Sunday 3 January 2010

The pick of 2009

BEST MOVIE OF 09: Watchmen. 'Unfilmable' graphic novel adaptation points the way for (superhero) movies here on in.

TV COMEDY OF 09: Peep Show - the party episode. Unbelievably good scripts, characters and gags six
seasons in.

BEST TV DOCUMENTARY OF 09: Tsunami Caught On Camera. Did you see this? Blimey!

BEST BOOK OF 09: Bad Science - Ben Goldacre. Pages of intelligent good sense to worry fools everywhere.

BEST TV DRAMA OF 09: The whole of The Wire on late night BBC2. Maybe the best thing on TV ever.

BEST WEBSITE OF 09: Spotify. All (or most) of the music you ever liked, all for free and no shelving required.

BEST NON-MUSICAL LIVE SHOW OF 09: Simon Amstell at Buxton Opera House. Surprisingly intimate and moving stand up.

BEST MUSICAL LIVE SHOW OF 09: Pet Shop Boys at Liverpool Echo Arena. Still uniquely brilliant after all these years.

BEST CLOSING CREDITS OF 09: Slumdog Millionaire. Flippin' great movie too.

BEST EPISODE OF FAMILY GUY OF 09: Brain damaged horse. Could cause internal damage through heavy laughter.

BEST ALBUM OF 2009: Journal For Plague Lovers - Manic Street Preachers. Untouchable and admirably left field.

BEST NEWS EVENT OF 09: Child tells press his non-flight in helium balloon was set up by parents for the telly. Good lad.

FUNNIEST POLITICAL EVENT OF 09: Dave Cameron calls South London radio jock 'man'. The twonk.

BEST SINGLE (?) OF 2009: Wild Horses - Susan Boyle. No really.

YOU TUBE STAR OF 09: Bizkit - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2BgjH_CtIA

BEST YOGHURT OF 09: Tesco Finest Butterscotch & Pear. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

MAN OF THE YEAR 09: Charlie Brooker. Never cheer up will you, Charlie?

WOMAN OF THE YEAR 09: Lois Griffin. Long suffering AND sexy.

BUFFOON OF THE YEAR 09: An Alistair Darling / Louis Walsh tie.

FIASCO OF THE YEAR 09: RATM campaign for Xmas top spot. As contrived as the X-Factor. If not more so.

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR 09: Vera Lynn. Or V-Ly as we call her.

PAIN OF THE YEAR 09: Fearne Cotton. Worse than the bloody credit crunch.

Saturday 2 January 2010

Ten 'ten' songs

1. One In Ten - UB40
Probably the last time the rainbow Brummie outfit produced anything less than a tiresome drone but second only to Ghost Town in capturing the state of the Thatcherite nation.

2. Ten Dollar Man - ZZ Top
The Texas threesome and their comedy beards are nothing if not reliable. And on this twangsome workout sound particularly raw and dirty.

3. Rotary Ten - R.E.M.
Presumably Stipey was breaking for a Nescafe on ice when the rest of the Georgia outfit rolled out this rather charming jam on Life's Rich Pageant.

4. Ten Feet Tall - XTC
Alongside Wire, Swindon's XTC realised the new wave was more about spiky intelligence than shouty loutishness. From Drums & Wires.

5. Valium 10 - Hawkwind
The veteran space bandits are a real Marmite band. But I'm sure you know the Vicar loves them to death. So fire up your chillum and enjoy this extended wig out.

6. Witchita Lineman - Jimmy Webb
Possibly the best song ever written - usually associated with Glen Campbell, here its writer wrings every drop of yearning from his remarkable lyric. From Ten Easy Pieces.

7. Big Ten - Judge Dredd
Basing tracks on priapic bragging about twenty years before various gangstas - it was all rather amusing and fun back then. Still loved by reggae bods the world over.

8. I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten - Dusty Springfield
Britain's only great white soul voice (sorry Duffy) sounds even better with the passing years. So many contemporary artists owe her so much.

9. Swords Of A Thousand Men - Tenpole Tudor
Replacing Lydon in the Sex Pistols didn't stop Eddie Tenpole and his band belting out this rollicking, punk-a-billy hit. A very good listen when blind drunk.

10. Perfect 10 - The Beautiful South
Surprising how much we miss the Hull based, sting-in-the-lyric popsters. Here they get across the whole weight fascism thing to declare a liking for the larger lover. Tellingly, you're probably already humming the hook.

Magnus Shaw, 2010