Film Review: Mud

I’m a sucker for movies set in small towns. Bonus point if said small town is on the fringes of rural Southern US. Double points for southern twang. Triple points if Matthew McConaughey delivers said southern twang. Twenty points for the writer/director being Jeff Nichols. How many points does that add up to? I don’t know, you do the math. This is a film review for god’s sake, not some mid-term calculus paper.

Restyle Photo-a-day Opshop Challenge

 I don’t consider myself a ‘vintage maven’, as I usually don’t shop for pre-loved items unless I see them in current fashion boutique stores. Despite this, I decided to take up the challenge and explore the world of vintage during the month of August. Every day the Restyle Challenge offered a new style prompt to which you must feature a vintage outfit, or vintage garment, that follows that particular style. 

Film Review: The Evil Dead

This is wonderfully refreshing to see on screen, we are not given the same old film that we know, rather we get something that is fresh with a new story, new characters, but one that ignores the events of the past and uses certain iconic images and scenes to pay tribute to the fans of the original as opposed to simply modernizing it.

Dead Letter Circus - The Catalyst Fire

The Catalyst Fire essentially lifts off from where This is the Warning finished up; The sparkly post-rock-esque rhythms and hooks and Benzie’s pitch-perfect vocals are still ever present but unfortunately the edginess that made “This is the Warning” so captivating is severely lacking.

Jon Hopkins- Immunity 2013 (Domino Records)

Essentially there are two rationales as to why the 34 year old Londoner can be differentiated from the rest.  His music is attention-grabbing in that he creates an aesthetically pleasing soundscape on his tracks, while incorporating a melodic element which renders it somewhat accessible. This does not mean that there is a “drop” or a famous chord progression; it is just simply pretty and listenable.

(Fiction) A Time Gone By - Stuart L Holmes

Yes. When the last of them had left, the shimmering sound of leather boot to marble floor was but passing drums, marching out and beyond the pearl temple steps. So often had the general dreamt of reaching such a marvellous construct that meant so much more to him. More than he'd have any other know. The surroundings were gifted with; if there were such a thing as, frozen time. A temporal crack that he could pass in and out of on a whim.

Ty Segall - 'Sleeper'

 “Sleeper” was all about a shift in focus; emotionally, symbolically and stylistically. The electric guitar and distortion pedals were traded in for an acoustic guitar. With this album there was certainly more time to think and reflect. 

The Thing About Traveling Part 2

If you want to experience real America, there's nothing stopping you. But will you have as much fun as when you are in a tourist playground? The sad reality is that although we might think we want to expand our horizons, experience foreign culture  and revel in the different, we spend the large majority of our travel time and money in tourist havens that are unmistakably the antithesis of what we like to think travel is about. 

The Castle-Austin

The Austin-tatiously named Castle in Austin is famous for its unique street art adorned walls of concrete. Situated below what does indeed appear to be a modern castle, there is the unfinished structure of some building or other that for reasons unknown has been left as a canvas for those who use the spray can as their artistic instrument.

Alfred's Kitchen

Some things in a city are popular because they are fun. Others attain a following due to their inherent and newly acquired brilliance. Still, others reach a higher status. They become an institution. So it goes with Guildford’s famous burger establishment, Alfred’s Kitchen.

Pond - 'Hobo Rocket'

At only 34 minutes long, you’d probably be thinking you’ve been swindled something a la Keyser Soze, but what you’re getting is 34 minutes of pure good music; which is probably what you’d get on a normal 50-60 minute record anyway. The music is real, and the album is a real gem.

AlunaGeorge - 'Body Music'

One of the big hype bands to come out of the new music wave at the end of 2012, the London duo’s release was highly anticipated, to say the least. Off the back of singles ‘Attracting Flies’ and ‘Your Drums, Your Love’ the sweet, smooth voice of Aluna Francis neatly blended with George Reid’s polyrhythmic blend of dubstep, pop and house (among many)...