Posts by Backdrifter

  • RIP Thread!!

    ^ Yeah I was very sad to learn of Paul Darrow's death.


    A hard-working actor with a solid grounding in theatre. I've got some theatre annual review books from the 1950s and he is a strong presence in many cast lists.


    I loved learning that he was apparently an inveterate giggler on the Blake's 7 set.


    He made Avon the definitive character of that series. He could be coldly ruthless - I recall him considering throwing the cowering Villa off a spaceship because it was plummeting and they needed to lose some of its load! Yet of course he was ultimately on the side of good. I realise the character was written that way, but his performance brought Avon to life so well.


    That dry, yet rich voice. "Nice try, Servalan!"

  • TONY BANKS: "Banks Vaults: The Albums 1979-1995" Boxset [19/07/2019]

    Quote from Keith1980

    Im trying to figure out who gets a signed post card? Is it at random? I hope i do. Thanks for linking me here btw i saw this on another page and it would t open so i started that other thread.

    I think it's first-come first-served, the site says "while stocks last". So get your order in if you haven't already.


    Interesting that the cover art is based on The Fugitive, but I suppose it and Still are the only albums that had any sort of representation of him on the cover, aren't they? And with TF being the only one he sung all the way through it kind of makes it the most solo of his albums.

  • PETER GABRIEL | The Making Of i/o - general info and discussion

    I don't feel there's any particular need to "get a grip". Anyone aware of the recent personal issues I'm sure has no argument with his focus being on those in the last few years. In the 10+ years before that, there were indictations of an imminent new album to the extent of even having a title so it was logical that fans' hopes and expectations were up. In that context I personally was disappointed that instead we got an extended period of various revisitings of old stuff.


    Ultimately though, I'll always defend an artist's right to do whatever they feel is right for them at the time. I can't deny that as a fan it's frustrating that such an innovative creative artist goes quiet (in terms of new material) for so long, but it's his call.

  • Your next gig

    Quote from Backdrifter

    Juliana Hatfield, London Islington Assembly Hall.

    It was in fact Islington Academy. I did actually go to the right venue on the night! Very enjoyable eardrum-shredding gig. Support act She Makes War were very good too, I'll be checking them out.


    As things stand my next gigs are: The Orb at Inverness Ironworks, then 2 x King Crimson, London Royal Albert Hall next month as part of their 50th anniversary tour.


    Then in July, Doves at Somerset House, touring for the first time in 8 years.

  • What TV shows have you been watching ?

    Catch-22 is a very singular book (the sequel was one of the most ill-advised novels ever) and I too thought the film wasn't too bad at all despite the generally bad reception it got. I don't know if it's been "reappraised" as critically knocked things occasionally are.


    Is this a TV series we're talking about? Personally I'm never too fussed about screen adaptations featuring stuff not in the book, or not featuring stuff that is. A film or TV show isn't a book so it has to take a very different form, and that will usually involve adding, cutting and changing stuff. My only concern is, never mind all that - does it work as a TV show/film in its own right, while retaining the spirit of the book?


    With a TV series they have more time to play with, which might better serve a complex novel like this one. But the book has a certain sort of semi-surreal other- worldliness that can be hard to capture on screen, which is why I think the film wasn't too bad as it did actually achieve that to some extent.


    I wonder if they'll retain the 'TS Eliot' sequence, I loved that bit although it's the sort of passing detail that usually doesn't survive an adaptation.

  • What TV shows have you been watching ?

    Two shows on the BBC iplayer have me gripped. The Looming Tower is about the run-up to 9/11 and if accurate it's very worrying as it shows the CIA and FBI pretty much at war with each other with the CIA in particular holding back vital information. The scenes involving the FBI and CIA chiefs at each others throats are very tense.


    The other I just watched the 1st episode which is Years & Years. Bloody hell.... If you start watching it you'll think oh this is just a family drama. It is, but a very good one with some great dialogue. But my word, I've rarely seen a TV drama with such a chillingly stark change of atmosphere. It was quite scary at the end, I don't mind admitting! But do NOT read anything about it before. Allow yourself to be as surprised and unnerved as I was.

  • What TV shows have you been watching ?

    Quote from genesis1964

    Loving Line Of Duty. I think there is going to lots of twists and turns as usual.


    You will not be disappointed with Broadchurch - excellent!!!!!

    LoD was as usual gripping and compelling viewing, and great fun speculating and thinking about all the various theories. It's top notch entertainment.


    However... two things. First, it feels like it's on a gradual decline - I personally think it hit its peak with series 3. And second, having now seen all of Broadchurch, in my view its by far the superior show. I couldn't miss Line of Duty but it doesn't get under my skin like Broadchurch has. In particular series 3 really got to me. All in all a truly memorable show that joins my top 3 TV shows alongside The Singing Detective and The Wire.

  • STEVE HACKETT - Defector - album review

    A big-ish album for me as it was during a Genesis-heavy year for me, seeing my first gigs by them, Gabriel and Hackett and listening to this one a lot.


    I've mentioned before that I don't get on with the first 2 albums at all and think he really hit his stride with SMs and this. It's sad to say it about an artist still going strong during now in 2019 that his peak was 40 years ago but it's what I feel.


    I do like Steppes with its switches between starkness and bursts of melody, underpinned by the rumbling bass pedals. It creates a nice mix of lushness and menace.


    Like others here I'm a big fan of Hammer. There's a sort of melancholy feel but also warmth, maybe regret too.


    But yes as mentioned above it's a stupidly short album.


    I won my copy in a competition in Sounds, the music weekly.

    Quote from DecomposingMan

    "Slogans" -- I totally could not understand what the vocoder voice was saying until someone explained it to me.

    I've always wondered. I'm hesitant to ask, as part of me wants to remain in the dark and enjoy not knowing!

  • What movie have you watched?

    Today I saw High Life, a very dark sci-fi film about convicts on board a prison ship in deep space. Initially it's just one guy (played by an almost unrecognisable Robert Pattinson) and a baby. Then it flashes back and we see there were previously 6 other convicts and the ship's doctor, then we start to discover what happened to them.


    Very well made even if somewhat relentlessly grim and often unpleasant.


    For the 2nd time in a few weeks I was the only person in the cinema. It was essentially a private screening!

  • Your favorite GENESIS studio albums (pick three)

    ^ That is interesting. The two top 6s share 4 of the same albums - Foxtrot, Selling, Lamb, Trick. WCD and IT making up the other two in the German poll is intriguing.


    This board's results back up my feeling that Trick/W&W is the era most here like (conversely, it's my least favourite phase of their work) but it's funny seeing W&W plummet out of the top rankings on the German poll.