Amadeus

Creative license is a great thing. And it is applied to great effect in Milos Forman's glorious Amadeus. All it needed was a decent car chase and some kung fu action scenes and it would be nothing short of a masterpiece. I watched the director's cut and it did not drag for one second of the 173 minutes of its runtime. This is due to great storytelling, sumptous costume and set designs, wonderful acting, a sharp script and of course the sublime music. The right music is used at the right time in the film, so take a bow Milos Forman and your staff of editors and writers and musical advisers. The portrayal of Mozart caused some upset when it was first released in cinemas. The Mozart in the film is giddy, frivolous, temperamental and naive, hence the creative license, but this is intrinstic to the plot. The story centers around the relationship between Mozart and Antonio Salieri, court composer for Emperor Joesph II of Austria. Salieri is infuriated that God has blessed the childish Mozart with such genius and he is so consumed by jealousy that he schemes to wrestle fortune and fame away from his rival. It is also a form of revenge against God, who he feels is mocking him through Mozart. Salieri was a real person and a much respected composer and teacher in 18th century Vienna, but to the best of my knowledge the depiction of his character in Amadeus is highly fictionalized. I've conducted a little research (okay I just looked up Wikipedia) and there might be some truth that the two composers viewed each other as rivals but this seemed to be purely on a professional level and without the drama and tragedy of the film. Revenge and envy are the driving forces of Amadeus, much of the film being a flashback told by an elderly Salieri to a priest in confession, but significant aspects of Mozart's life and music are shown with a mixture of humor and poignancy: his married and family life, the ups and downs of his musical career, his relationship with his father, and of course his genius. Tom Hulce was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as Mozart but he lost out to his co-star F. Murray Abraham. Both are wonderful but, for once, I think the Academy got it right in giving Abraham the award for his portrayal as Salieri. Amadeus is a fascinating, powerful and delicious piece of cinema. 9/10

Lisa Hannigan

Lisa Hannigan made her musical breakthrough with a successful collaboration with Irish singer/songwriter Damien Rice on his first two albums. The quality of her vocals have never been in question but since they parted ways Lisa has struck out on her own and she is in the process of establishing herself as gifted singer/songwriter in her own right. I first saw her play live at a Nick Drake tribute concert and I thought that she was the standout performer that night, so when I discovered that she was playing at Oran Mor I snapped up a ticket as quickly as possible. On the night of the concert I was tired and not in the mood for the support act so I arrived just to see Lisa and her band. While the roadies set up mics and fiddled with nobs I sipped on my pint of cider and watched a couple of doe-eyed lovebirds. The couple were closely entwined, his hands on her shapely hips, her hands clasped around his neck, lots of eye contact - they seemed really into each other. (Maybe I should write for Mills & Boon?) Gradually they were obscured by the swelling crowd so I then spent the next few minutes trying to catch the eye of a particulary attractive brunette. I perserved with this until I caught the steely-eyed, hostile glare of a shaven headed security guard and I looked at the floor, shamefaced, for the rest of the evening. When it comes to live concerts you cannot put the cart before the horse. It doesn't matter how well you perform if the songs you play are not good enough. Lisa has two albums worth of very solid material, so that is not a problem for her. On stage she was great, very expressive and with an unmistakably Celtic spirit that is very attractive. Her band were excellent. Some were multi-instrumentalists and this diversity added different dimensions to the songs. I liked the way Lisa and her band tried to make each song a bit different from the studio album version. It kept the concert fresh and interesting. Her onstage personality was very charming and natural, and she enjoyed the banter between herself and the audience. So, that was my third gig at Oran Mor and I have yet to be disappointed, despite the fact that I have consistently failed to pull a gorgeous girl. It's a really good venue and it seems to attract bands that are my cup of tea. I wonder what my next cup of tea at Oran Mor will taste like?

Throwing Muses

A week last Monday I dragged myself off my sick bed to see one of my favourite bands, Throwing Muses, play live at Oran Mor. I got there early, erring on the side of caution, and ordered a bottle of mineral water from a very attractive but icy cold blonde barmaid. I was not drinking alcohol because I had a fasting blood test the following morning and I thought it best not to have any alcohol in my bloodstream. Thus I spent the next few hours in this rare window of sobriety. While waiting for the support act the venue gradually filled up with fellow Bieber hating, Muse loving intellectuals. I amused myself with a few daydreams (repeatedly punching Justin Bieber in the face was my favourite) and checked out the talent (that is the Scottish way of saying that I visually appreciated the fairer sex). The support act was a spunky and likable young singer/songwriter from the Faroe Islands and whose name I have completely forgotten despite the fact that he repeated it about forty times during his set. His songs were a mixed bunch - one was very good, a few were quite good, one or two were very average. While he crooned away my eyes was fixated on his guitar; a splendid, ochre-toned, semi-acoustic that had a gorgeous shape like a woman's curves - thou shall not covet thy neighbour's guitar. I am a snap happy tourist concert goer. Let me explain. While on vacation many tourists take photos constantly and miss out on just experiencing the sights and smells and sounds of a city. I am kind of the same at concerts. I was mentally writing my blog while the band played. Rarely am I able to get totally lost in the music and in this age of countless medicial conditions I am sure that I suffer from some kind of syndrome. Kristen Hersh, lead singer and guitarist of Throwing Muses, blasted her way onstage with a couple of storming numbers and then thanked us for coming out on such a cold, wintery night. She described us as ‘you randy Monday nighters’ or something like that. Well, they were absolutely awesome in concert. Right from the word go. They were so dynamic, intense and expressive. Any fool with a guitar can play with energy and passion but they seemed to channel it with great skill and flair. I'm not a music critic so I can't really explain why they were so awesome but it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. One thing I can say with certainty is that seeing them play live really made me appreciate Kirsten Hersh more as a guitarist. There were two encores, much to the delight of a highly enthusiastic crowd. The Muses seemed to really warm to us as well and fed off our energy (and drunkeness). In an ideal world, with myself as master of the universe, the Muses would be playing sell out concerts in front of 10,000, but maybe something would be lost in that kind of setting, that special thing that happens when a great band play in an intimate venue to around 200 die hard fans. Just awesome.

Richard Kuklanski

'It's better to give than receive.' You would be mistaken if you thought these were the words of Jesus or Gandhi or the Dalai Lama. It is actually something that infamous contract killer Richard Kuklanski said when describing how he reacted to being the victim of bullying as a teenager. His opinion was that it's better to give out violence than to receive. I think self-defence is wholly justified and morally acceptable but this 'giving out' by Kuklanski as a teenager soon escalated into a brutality and savageness that went far beyond standing up for himself. Maybe his innate blood-lust would have manifested itself in some way later on in life but soon his talent for violence was noticed by the Mafia and he started to kill for them professionally. He admits that he would rather have chosen a different way of life but this admission does not mean that he had any guilt or regret for the hundreds of men he executed. He reminded me a bit of Ethan Hawke's character in Brooklyn's Finest, a corrupt cop who brutalises a part of himself to kill for money and thus provide for his family. Kuklanski is similiar in some ways. It would be easy to judge him and brand him an evil monster but in the documentary I watched about him on YouTube he claimed to have a genuine love for his family. When interviewed he confessed that the only regret he had was the pain that his eventual arrest and conviction caused his family. There must have been some part of him that was able to disconnect his humanity to lead this double life: to function, on one hand, as a apparently loving family man and, on the other hand, as a ruthless contract killer. In the interviews he gave for HBO in 1992 and then 2001 he is very open about his way of life as a killer and some have accused him of enjoying the pubicity and his own notority. Perhaps this is true but it is hard to know what to make of him. After watching the 1992 interview one journalist said "After watching, you may feel some minds are better left unpenetrated." I certainly don't wish to glamourise or absolve him, and I hope the upcoming film about his life, starring the wonderful Michael Shannon, does not do the same. Richard Kuklanski was an extremely dangerous, fascinating but ultimately tragic man.

44th aniversary of the Abortion Act in UK

Today is the 44th aniversary of the Abortion Act in Britain, which effectively legalised abortion in this country. Since 1967 over 7 million unborn babies have been killed. I was going to write an article about this but instead I will just post a single photograph. The photograph was taken 12 years ago during an operation on an unborn baby's spine. It shows Samuel coming out of anaethesia and reaching up out of the womb. It's a truly remarkable picture that captures the spirit and sanctity of all human life. In my eyes Samuel's gesture of wrapping his hand around the surgeons finger is the childs way of saying 'I want to live'.

The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster

My knowledge of American literature is pretty woeful. I haven't even read the supposed classic 'Catcher In The Rye'. My Polish penpal studied American literature at university so I asked her to recommend some good American authors and she put me onto Paul Auster. The New York Trilogy is his fictional debut, three novels based in The Big Apple. They are not conventional crime fiction. A more accurate description would be philosophical queries within a crime fiction or mystery setting. The three stories have an existential and nihilistic thread running through them, which is probably why Auster chose New York as his setting. Auster's New York is a large, sprawling, disconnected city where nothing really makes any sense. Despite this bleakness the trilogy is a compelling and worthwhile read. Auster wrestles with themes like individual identity, and personal meaning and purpose in life (or lack of). The intriguing nature of the three plots is skillfully interwoven with these issues and although the trilogy is never a page turner in the popular understanding of the word the mystery surrounding the bizarre situations of the protaganists is very interesting and the reader is always driven by a desire to understand the characters and their actions. This is a bold and extremely accomplished debut by a writer of undoubted talent. 8/10

Bert Jansch

Sadly this is the second obitury I've had to write this year. I had a ticket to see Bert in concert last month at the Edinburgh Festival but he cancelled a week before much to my disappointment. I had no idea at the time that he was battling with cancer so it came as a shock when I heard on the radio that he had passed away. I remember the first time I heard Bert Jansch. I was reading a book in Mono cafe but I had difficulty in concentrating on the words before me because the music being played in the background kept grabbing my attention. There was something startling original and bewitching about it, so much that I eventually put my book down and gave the music my full attention. On further inquiry I discovered that the cd being played was Bert Jansch's self-titled debut album. I immediately bought a copy and I have been a huge fan ever since. I had the privilige of seeing Bert live in concert three times, once as a part of folk group Pentagle who he played with in the late 1960's and early 70's. Pentagle were good but I was there really to see Bert. He was brilliant live in a solo capacity. Very unassuming and quiet, but he held the audience spellbound with his flair and technical excellence on the guitar and his powerful, raw vocals. He has been described as a pioneer in music, as being ahead of his time. I can't put my finger on what exactly set him apart from others, anybody can be different, but Bert had a touch of genius that put him on a different level. He just had a great gift, that's about all I can say. So it's hardly surprising that he has influenced many generations of musicians including Paul Simon, Nick Drake, Johnny Marr, Neil Young and Jimmy Page. On that note (if you excuse the pun) I will leave you with the words of Neil Young: "As much of a great guitar player Jimi (Hendrix) was, Bert Jansch is the same for acoustic guitar...and my favourite."

Bert Jansch 1943-2011 Rest In Peace