That’s right! Back in 1970, Billy was rocking out in an organ/drums psych rock duo called Attilla, a far cry from multi-million dollar grossing piano pop of the 80’s. Teaming with drummer Jon Small, the band only lasted a year or so, splitting following Billy’s loose ways with John Small’s wife. Their one self titled album is (retrospectively) routinely panned by “critics”, but on the strength of the banging ‘Wonder Woman’ below, Billy had mad psych skills.
If you come here often you know we’re all about 80’s movies (You too? We should be friends)! So we thought it our duty to mention that the late great composer Basil Poledouris, has had his slamming score for Robocop released for the third time, but at last in its entirety!
The great Poledouris was the man scoring some of our favourite movies of the 80’s and 90’s. Roll Call: Conan The Barbarian, Conan The Destroyer, Red Dawn, Iron Eagle, The Hunt For Red October, White Fang, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, Hot Shots! Part Deux and Starship Troopers! He also gets honourable mention for surfer classic ‘Big Wednesday’ and the ace TV series ‘Misfits of Science’.
So the new Robocop score is out HERE, and in tribute to Basil, here’s some of his best!
Gotham gloom rockers Interpol have shown their hand ahead of the release of their as yet untitled 4th album, by throwing out a bone to the hungry hipsters with a free download of new track ‘Lights’. Its typical Interpol fare; reverb sodden buzzy guitars and Ian Curtis channelled doom speak, but with none of the orchestral aspects as promised by Paul Banks earlier this year. Sucks to be boring.
Jack White navigated dirge rockers The Dead Weather may be cranking the same riff-crushed blues rock on their 2nd album ‘Sea of Cowards’, but don’t they just do it with enough theatrical panache and black romance to break your feeble heart? The album drops in the UK on the 10th of May, while the bone shakin’ lead single ‘Die by the Drop’ should already be in your life!
Fritz Lang’s iconic Metropolis has been missing a substantial portion of its body since its premier in 1927. Lang’s producers thought that the film could do with a hacking, and as they were the guys controlling the purse strings, they got what they wanted, with nigh on 25 minutes of scenes going in the bin. Or so everybody thought!
Those inquisitive Germans over at ZEIT Magazin decided to go Goonies, loading up their Mystery Machine and setting off for South America, eventually tracking down the missing footage to a museum in Buenos Aires.
Now the fruit of their endeavours is here for you to feast on. With 25 minutes of new scenes plus the completed score by Gottfried Huppertz, Metropolis is getting a fresh release, giving film fans a chance to see what will be the closest thing to the uncut premier version, from 84 years ago.
Get over to the Official Site for details on screenings and the eventual Blu-Ray release. But first, let us refresh your memory.
Those jolly mindbenders over at 4AD are looking out for you in these tough times. They get it, cash is tight and illegal downloading is s slippery slope to an iPod full of shit you’ll never get around to listening to. So they’re hookin’ you up with a zip files worth of fresh tunes from their roster, including Ariel Graffiti’s ‘Round and Round’, and other musings from The National, Stornoway, The Big Pink and Efterklang.
Some think that documentary film making has become a little too intrusive of late, often grabbing us by the scruff of the neck and ramming our faces in to the unwinding characters lives, often without invitation; total access or die. So it’s heartening to see the trailer for writer/director Jessica Oreck’s fantastically titled ‘Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo’, which beautifully and unobtrusively winds itself through Japan’s tangled, age old romance with the hemipterous insect. You can get more info on this beautiful film at www.beetlequeen.com
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