Hard News by Russell Brown

Read Post

Hard News: Friday music: Worst DJ ever

33 Responses

First ←Older Page 1 2 Newer→ Last

  • Lucy Telfar Barnard,

    I would say the Olympic closing ceremony was awful, but I feel I shouldn't comment because I didn't watch the whole thing. We were in a B&B in Lancashire, and I'd hoped that maybe the bad sound mixing was just the TV's sound quality, but clearly it wasn't. I wanted to turn it off after half an hour, but a junior member of the party wanted to watch more, so we suffered it up to 10pm.
    But the hour that we did see? Bad, bad, awful. I think the director must have said "Yeah, man, let's have a bunch of people running round in newspaper, that'll be, like, a comment on the paparazzi and stuff. And yeah, the music, well, we've got all those musicians, just put them on in the order they said yes. And find someone else for Bowie's slot, will ya?. Oh, and we're a bit tight for time, so see if you can squash some of the songs together a bit, right? Wotcha, good to go!"

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 585 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    And OT, but not quite OT... Pussy Riot have been officially convicted on 'hooliganism' charges. Goes to show Vladimir Putin is a tsar by another name.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    Oh, that 'Don't Let Me Down' is so fun! (Hello, my name is Danielle and I am a Beatles remixaholic.)

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • DexterX, in reply to Russell Brown,

    With the Only Ones I look at it that they have in their own way outslasted lots of preforming monkeys sellings budget cans of spaghetti.so lengthly periods of artistic introspection are OK by me.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1224 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Littlewood,

    Danny Boyle's opening ceremony was heartwarming and mad

    There's probably little more that can be written about the opening ceremony, which inspired some great commentary-- Roger Ebert's being one of the most perceptive about its artistry and appeal for "foreigners"-- but it really did set the tone for the rest of the games, didn't it? Most of the time, I don't put much, or any store, into the opening ceremonies for these things, which are often run the gamut from crass ( e.g. Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000) to downright sinister (there was something oddly joyously queasily authoritarian about Beijing 2008's ceremony).

    But London's was something different. Not all of it worked, but what I loved most was the way it openly celebrated music- I mean, the Specials, Sex Pistols and Dizzee Rascall among the usual suspects? Count me in. And bringing in Tim Berners-Lee was a very canny stroke indeed, in some ways just as oddly significant as the NHS ballet.

    In contrast, the closing ceremony was everything I kinda feared the opening ceremony would be- garish, clumsy and shamelessly tacky. Even the better music in it sounded awful in context.

    Anyway did anyone else get a weird sense of Olympic withdrawal syndrome over the last week. I've even mostly finished with the NZIFF, having seen the bulk of the stuff down in Dunedin leg. There's only a few things in ChCh I'll see next week and I'm done. Back to the real world again. Sigh...

    Anyway, to round this off on a music tip, Frank Ocean's proper debut may lack the surprise and consistency of last year's mix-tape- it's poorly sequenced, and 15-20 minutes too long- but the best stuff really bounces. I love the casual sway of "Super Rich Kids".

    And to bring it back to the Olympics, the most surprising track "dropped" into the London 2012 opening ceremony was this dark, swirling, cinematic piece from David Holmes.

    Today, Tomorrow, Timaru • Since Jan 2007 • 449 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Darlington, in reply to Matthew Littlewood,

    Hi Matthew

    Two great picks there. I'm a big fan of Mr Holmes from way back. I hadn't picked this up during the Opening Ceremony so thanks for that.

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    That Public Enemy track is fantastic. Thanks Russell.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Kyle Matthews,

    That Public Enemy track is fantastic. Thanks Russell.

    Last night. Two of four family members out. The other at the far end of the house, door shut.

    Dad tidies the kitchen. And plays that track LOUDLY AND REPEATEDLY.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

First ←Older Page 1 2 Newer→ Last

Post your response…

Please sign in using your Public Address credentials…

Login

You may also create an account or retrieve your password.