https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/g2 Latest news and features from theguardian.com, the world's leading liberal voice en-gb Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2017 Mon, 11 Dec 2017 02:27:20 GMT 2017-12-11T02:27:20Z en-gb Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2017 https://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.png https://www.theguardian.com https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2017/dec/10/eau-de-humanity-our-guide-to-the-best-in-christmas-perfume-gift-ideas <p>Perfume can be the most thoughtful and personal of gifts rather than a last resort, as the Guardian’s resident enthusiast explains</p><p>Big perfume has designs on your Christmas. Almost half of all the industry’s money is made in November and December, which is why you have been spritzed more aggressively than usual recently in House of Fraser and loomed over by bus-sized versions of Keira Knightley and Angelina Jolie in the streets outside.</p><p>These psychological nudges are important, because 40% of fragrance purchases are apparently “panic buys” – a harried, desperate punt on a name that looks sufficiently luxurious to offset guilt at not having put more thought into a present for a partner, sibling or pet (yes, there are perfumes for animals, it’s 2017 and the world is insane). If the last thing you saw was Kit Harington with a giant pair of legs draped inexplicably over his right shoulder, then maybe you’ll go for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=986nAa95-yE">the Jimmy Choo scent he’s hawking</a>.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2017/sep/17/let-us-spray-the-best-perfumes-for-autumnwinter-2017">Let us spray: the best perfumes for autumn/winter 2017</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/nov/20/how-actors-use-perfumes-to-get-into-character">The spray's the thing: how actors use perfumes to get into character</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2017/dec/10/eau-de-humanity-our-guide-to-the-best-in-christmas-perfume-gift-ideas">Continue reading...</a> Beauty Fashion Life and style Sun, 10 Dec 2017 18:01:07 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2017/dec/10/eau-de-humanity-our-guide-to-the-best-in-christmas-perfume-gift-ideas Composite: Alamy/PR/Guardian Design Team Composite: Alamy/PR/Guardian Design Team David Shariatmadari 2017-12-10T18:01:07Z https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/dec/10/the-secret-life-of-cows-by-rosamund-young-digested-read <p>‘Every summer we would have a sports day, as cows are very athletic. One <br> year, Bob the Bull twisted his ankle while jumping over the moon’</p><p>My family started rearing cattle in 1953 and since that time I have become a close observer of how cows like to behave. Take Harriet. Harriet was the best-natured cow you could hope to meet, but if you tried to take her out of her barn between 7.00 and 7.15 in the evening when <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/the-archers">The Archers</a> was on Radio 4 she would kick up rough. She hated that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/sep/12/archers-writing-team-planned-to-kill-off-rob-titchener">Rob Titchener</a> from the off, which shows you that cows can be very good judges of character.</p><p>From the very beginning, we decided to let the cows choose how they wanted to be reared. They were all given a questionnaire and those that said they preferred to be intensively farmed and force-fed antibiotics were sent away, while those that wanted an easier life with fresh grass and central heating were allowed to stay. As a result, many of the cows have become close friends and are invited into the house on Christmas Day for lunch.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/dec/10/the-secret-life-of-cows-by-rosamund-young-digested-read">Continue reading...</a> Farming Cattle Animal behaviour Books Culture Animals Animal welfare Science and nature Environment Autobiography and memoir Biography Science Sun, 10 Dec 2017 17:00:06 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/dec/10/the-secret-life-of-cows-by-rosamund-young-digested-read Illustration: Matt Blease Illustration: Matt Blease John Crace 2017-12-10T17:00:06Z https://www.theguardian.com/travel/shortcuts/2017/dec/10/the-ryokan-the-ancient-japanese-inn-that-is-the-next-big-airbnb-thing The rentals website is reporting a 600% rise in bookings next year for the traditional, family-run hosteries – the oldest of which dates back to the 8th century<p>Hundreds of years ago, they were a place for Japan’s nomadic samurai to rest their limbs and reflect. But these days, the ryokan –&nbsp;a&nbsp;traditional, family-run Japanese inn that is usually close to a hot spring –&nbsp;seems to be the buzzword on trendy travellers’ lips. Many of them feature modern spins such as onsite Michelin-starred restaurants, robotic toilets and luxury spas, and they are proving a hit with both Japanese tourists and international visitors.</p><p><a href="https://press.atairbnb.com/the-u-s-midwest-ryokans-and-brazilian-beaches-airbnbs-2018-travel-trends/" title="">Airbnb’s annual travel trends report</a> identified the ryokan as one of the most popular alternative accommodations desired by its users in 2018, with a reported 600% rise in bookings (yurt bookings increased by 155%, while nature lodges had a 700% growth). The accuracy of the figures is unclear: last year, Airbnb was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/10/airbnb-new-york-city-listings-purge-multiple-apartment-listings" title="">accused of misrepresenting data in New York</a> by removing more than 1,000 listings to rig its survey, while another report misleadingly highlighted that outer London boroughs such as Barnet were more popular than Westminster and Kensington.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/shortcuts/2017/dec/10/the-ryokan-the-ancient-japanese-inn-that-is-the-next-big-airbnb-thing">Continue reading...</a> Japan holidays Asia Travel Airbnb Technology Sun, 10 Dec 2017 17:00:06 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/travel/shortcuts/2017/dec/10/the-ryokan-the-ancient-japanese-inn-that-is-the-next-big-airbnb-thing Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo Claire Knox 2017-12-10T17:00:06Z https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2017/dec/10/so-british-it-even-tastes-great-warm-the-breweries-inspired-by-brexit From Brexit Solution to If Tha Brexit Tha Fixes It, beers and bars around the world are being named after the UK’s decision to leave the EU<p>Off on holiday to escape Brexit? Don’t go to the bar. In the months since Britain voted to leave the European Union, dozens of beers have been named after Brexit by breweries around the world.</p><p>There’s Brexit Through the Gift Shop, made by Ex Novo Brewing of Portland, Oregon, and Brexiteer, by Paname Brewing in Paris. There’s Brexit Solution, by Gæðingur Öl Brugghús in Iceland, Big Mistake Brexit IPA, by Two Sides Brewing in Ireland and If Tha Brexit Tha Fixes It, by The Imperial Brewery in Yorkshire.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2017/dec/10/so-british-it-even-tastes-great-warm-the-breweries-inspired-by-brexit">Continue reading...</a> Beer Food & drink Life and style Brexit European Union Sun, 10 Dec 2017 16:00:04 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2017/dec/10/so-british-it-even-tastes-great-warm-the-breweries-inspired-by-brexit Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters Will Hawkes 2017-12-10T16:00:04Z https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/dec/10/nigeria-biggest-market-balogun-lagos-lorenzo-vitturi-money-must-be-made <p>It is one of the biggest street markets in the world, a sprawling, dazzling city within a city that is frequented by tens of thousands of people every day. Photographer Lorenzo Vitturi reveals how he captured Balogun’s vivid drama for his book, Money Must Be Made</p><p>During a trip to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/feb/22/lagos-population-double-size-how-cope">Lagos</a> in 2014, Lorenzo Vitturi visited Balogun market for the first time. “I knew it was one of the biggest street markets in Africa,” he says, “but nothing prepared me for how overwhelming it was. The crowds of people on the narrow streets, the products on display, the noise, the colour, the chaotic energy. I knew I had to take photographs there, amid the sensory overload of what is, in effect, a city within a city, with tens of thousands of people passing through it every day.”</p><p>What most fascinated Vitturi was the contrast between the human drama of the vast, sprawling market and the eerie emptiness of the 27-storey brutalist office block that loomed over it. Built in 1987, Financial Trust House was once the thriving hub of Nigeria’s financial sector. But as the market grew inexorably around it, the bankers and traders moved elsewhere. “Save for the owner’s office, all 27 floors are empty,” says Vitturi. “The real estate value of the building has fallen dramatically, but he is still holding out for some kind of miraculous redevelopment.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/dec/10/nigeria-biggest-market-balogun-lagos-lorenzo-vitturi-money-must-be-made">Continue reading...</a> Photography Art and design Nigeria Culture Cities Global development Africa Art Art and design Books World news Urban exploration Urbanisation Sun, 10 Dec 2017 15:00:03 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/dec/10/nigeria-biggest-market-balogun-lagos-lorenzo-vitturi-money-must-be-made Photograph: Lorenzo Vitturi Photograph: Lorenzo Vitturi Sean O'Hagan 2017-12-10T15:00:03Z https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/10/having-a-high-iq-is-a-curse-just-look-at-donald-trump <p>Research suggests that people with high IQ scores are more likely to have mood disorders, and a higher risk factor of ‘psychological overexcitabilities’ – perhaps that explains the behaviour of the man in the White House</p><p>My IQ is extremely, almost embarrassingly, high. I’ve never actually taken an IQ test, mind you, but my educated guess is that, if I did, my score would be whatever is the highest possible. No doubt your IQ is lower than mine, but please don’t feel stupid or insecure because of this, it’s not your fault. You’re probably just born that way. And you know what? Thank your lucky stars and subpar genetic makeup that you don’t bear the burden of brilliance like I have to. Being incredibly intelligent is a curse. This is not just one of the many astute observations I have every day, by the way, it is a fact recently confirmed by science.</p><p><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289616303324" title="">Research published</a> in the journal Intelligence, a very intelligent publication, has found having a superior IQ is a “risk factor for psychological and physiological overexcitabilities”. These results are based on a survey that researchers from Pitzer College, in California, and Seattle Pacific University sent to Mensa members. To join Mensa, you have to score in the top 2% of the population on an approved intelligence test, which normally means an IQ of 132 or higher (the average being around 100). You also, I imagine, have to have a higher than average Insufferable Quotient – but that is beside the point. The survey found Mensans were more likely than the rest of the population to have conditions such as mood and anxiety disorders, allergies, asthma and autoimmune diseases.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/shortcuts/2017/oct/11/can-iq-tests-settle-whether-trump-is-a-moron">Can IQ tests settle whether Trump is a moron or not?</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/10/having-a-high-iq-is-a-curse-just-look-at-donald-trump">Continue reading...</a> Psychology Science Consciousness US news Donald Trump Artificial intelligence (AI) Computing Race issues World news Technology Social exclusion Society Economic policy Politics Sun, 10 Dec 2017 13:00:01 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/10/having-a-high-iq-is-a-curse-just-look-at-donald-trump Photograph: Pool/Getty Images Photograph: Pool/Getty Images Arwa Mahdawi 2017-12-10T13:00:01Z https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/dec/08/should-i-tell-my-parents-that-we-are-expecting-our-first-child <p>We live in a foreign country, and I think my parents will be prone to anxiety, exacerbated by us living far apart</p><p>My wife and I are excited to find out that we are going to be parents for the first time. We have planned to have children for quite some time. My dilemma is we live in a foreign country, and I’m unsure whether to tell my family and friends in the UK, or surprise them with the news when our first child is born. I know my parents will be very happy about the news, but they can both be prone to anxiety and I worry that the pregnancy will cause them stress and worry, exacerbated by us living far apart. On the other hand, I am concerned not telling them will leave them unprepared, and that being a grandparent might require some adjustment period? Any thoughts would be most appreciated.</p><p><em>• When leaving a message on this page, please be sensitive to the fact that you are responding to a real person in the grip of a real-life dilemma, who wrote to Private Lives asking for help, and may well view your comments here. Please consider especially how your words or the tone of your message could be perceived by someone in this situation, and be aware that comments that appear to be disruptive or disrespectful to the individual concerned will be removed.</em></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/dec/08/should-i-tell-my-parents-that-we-are-expecting-our-first-child">Continue reading...</a> Life and style Family Parents and parenting Fri, 08 Dec 2017 12:00:02 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/dec/08/should-i-tell-my-parents-that-we-are-expecting-our-first-child Composite: Getty Images/Guardian Design Team Composite: Getty Images/Guardian Design Team Guardian Staff 2017-12-08T12:00:02Z https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/08/ordeal-arthouse-why-do-auteurs-want-to-make-audiences-suffer <p>Caniba, a hard-going film about a cannibal, has prompted walkouts – but highbrow film-makers who indulge in ultraviolence are often given more leeway by critics </p><p>Even hardcore cinephiles inured to navel-gazing noodlings can sometimes find them difficult to sit through. But, if hours of action-free footage weren’t punishing enough, auteurs have figured out a surefire way of making their films even more of an ordeal: the insertion of gruelling violence, taboo-busting perversion and ridiculously pessimistic worldviews.</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=570quKmmSF4">Caniba</a>, the latest documentary from Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel, combines the best of both worlds. Or worst, depending on your point of view. There are no establishing shots, only extended out-of-focus closeups of Issei Sagawa as he obliquely reflects on his 1981 murder of Renée Hartevelt, a fellow student at the Sorbonne who had rejected his advances and whose corpse he partly devoured.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/08/ordeal-arthouse-why-do-auteurs-want-to-make-audiences-suffer">Continue reading...</a> Film Horror Culture Michael Haneke Documentary Pier Paolo Pasolini Fri, 08 Dec 2017 07:00:36 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/08/ordeal-arthouse-why-do-auteurs-want-to-make-audiences-suffer Photograph: Atsushi Nishijima Photograph: Atsushi Nishijima Anne Billson 2017-12-08T07:00:36Z https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/dec/08/friday-best-tv-8-december-the-year-in-music-2017-graham-norton-show <p>Interviews with Stormzy and and Nile Rodgers in a look back at the year’s musical highlights, while Jessica Chastain and Rebel Wilson are on the sofa and will no doubt have strong opinions on the film industry’s ingrained misogyny</p><p>Mentioned in the same breath as Neil Young’s Harvest and Carole King’s Tapestry, Don McLean’s American Pie actually has more in common with delivery pizza: sugary, and dominated by cheese. More interesting is the decades-long rancour to which McLean clings. Beneath his palatial hairstyle, he still fumes that producer Ed Freeman insufficiently flattered his guitar playing. So no matey recollections over the mixing desk here. <em>Julia Raeside</em></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/dec/08/friday-best-tv-8-december-the-year-in-music-2017-graham-norton-show">Continue reading...</a> Television Television & radio Culture Fri, 08 Dec 2017 06:20:34 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/dec/08/friday-best-tv-8-december-the-year-in-music-2017-graham-norton-show Photograph: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage Photograph: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage Julia Raeside, Ben Arnold, David Stubbs, Ali Catterall, Jack Seale, Phil Harrison, Hannah Verdier and Paul Howlett 2017-12-08T06:20:34Z https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/08/kate-mckinnon-saturday-night-live-theresa-may-hillary-clinton-ferdinand The Ghostbusters star’s turn as Hillary Clinton on Saturday Night Live made her one of 2016’s breakout stars. Her latest impression? A mischievous take on the PM<p><strong>Hi Kate. I’m also Kate.<br></strong>Oh, Kates are the best Kates, aren’t they?</p><p><strong>I just watched your new film, </strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7RkOfN8KvE"><strong>Ferdinand</strong></a><strong>, in which you play a scrappy goat (1). How long did it take you to perfect your goat scream?<br></strong>It sunk in in about a day. There’s one [video] in particular, a compilation of the best goat screams, and I have seen it upwards of 75 times. I still cry with laughter every time I watch it. It might be the funniest thing in the entire world.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/08/kate-mckinnon-saturday-night-live-theresa-may-hillary-clinton-ferdinand">Continue reading...</a> Film Saturday Night Live Television Television & radio Comedy Comedy Animation Culture Hillary Clinton Theresa May Fri, 08 Dec 2017 06:00:34 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/08/kate-mckinnon-saturday-night-live-theresa-may-hillary-clinton-ferdinand Photograph: Vera Anderson/WireImage Photograph: Vera Anderson/WireImage Kate Hutchinson 2017-12-08T06:00:34Z https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/08/miranda-richardson-the-weinstein-offices-reeked-of-after-hours-sex The Oscar-nominated actor is about to star in both TV comedy-drama Girlfriends, and alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in Stronger, a film about the Boston Marathon bombing. She talks about working with Weinstein and why she’d love to return to SNL<p>‘I’m not known as a commercial babe,” says Miranda Richardson, matter-of-factly. “But actually I thought, well, why the hell not do this for a minute, and see if I can hack it?” Richardson is talking about her upcoming primetime ITV comedy-drama Girlfriends, the latest from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/aug/03/kay-mellor-steven-spielberg-in-the-club-bbc" title="">Kay Mellor</a>, which follows three lifelong friends as they navigate their 50s together. But we’re also here to talk about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/08/stronger-review-jake-gyllenhaal-boston-marathon" title="">Stronger</a>, a weighty real-life drama about Jeff Bauman (played by Jake Gyllenhaal), who lost his legs in the Boston Marathon bombings. Richardson is a tour de force as Jeff’s mother, Patty, a meddling, needy drunk who struggles to let go of her son. The film is picking up some Oscar buzz.</p><p>“Well, everybody’s doing everything now, as we know,” she shrugs. “I’ve always thought of work like that. And because we don’t have a thriving movie industry here, you’ve got to move about a bit.” To say Richardson, 59, has moved about a bit is an understatement. She’s one of the most acclaimed British actors of the past four decades, with extraordinary range. She has been nominated for an Oscar, won two Golden Globes, been in Hollywood blockbusters, daft-as-a-brush British sitcoms, indie films, prestige TV, an avalanche of theatre, hosted Saturday Night Live and found time in between to learn how to train birds of prey, for which she has had a lifelong love.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/08/miranda-richardson-the-weinstein-offices-reeked-of-after-hours-sex">Continue reading...</a> Film Miranda Richardson Culture Boston Marathon bombing Television Fri, 08 Dec 2017 06:00:34 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/08/miranda-richardson-the-weinstein-offices-reeked-of-after-hours-sex Photograph: Nick Haddow Photograph: Nick Haddow Rebecca Nicholson 2017-12-08T06:00:34Z https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/08/better-watch-out-review-chris-peckover <p>Chris Peckover delivers an early seasonal treat with this blackly funny slasher about a booze-swigging boy and his babysitter staving off a shadowy assailant</p><p>How very unexpected. The Christmas movie of 2017 has turned out to be a cheerfully unpleasant and bracingly nasty horror film: an ingenious and efficient black-comic shocker unfolding in real time over one seasonal evening in a prosperous American home. The twists and lurches are interspersed with bouts of boisterous carol-singing. It looks in many ways like a garden-variety home invasion drama, with hints of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2015/dec/22/my-favourite-christmas-film-home-alone-macaulay-culkin-kevin-macallister">Home Alone</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/04/drama.horror">Funny Games</a>. But there are suggestions of something older, like a well-made stage play. Dial S for Slasher? </p><p>Levi Miller plays Luke, a sensitive, somewhat pampered 12-year-old with a major crush on his babysitter Ashley (Olivia DeJonge), who has come round to look after him while his parents – amusing cameos for Virginia Madsen and Patrick Warburton – are out at some yuletide bash. Naughty Luke has been swigging booze, and he has put a horror film on the home entertainment system, apparently hoping Ashley will cuddle up to him on the couch in fear. Then a dark shadow appears at the window, the phone starts ringing and no one’s there. </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/08/better-watch-out-review-chris-peckover">Continue reading...</a> Film Culture Horror Comedy Christmas Comedy Fri, 08 Dec 2017 06:00:34 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/08/better-watch-out-review-chris-peckover Photograph: Vision/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock Photograph: Vision/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock Peter Bradshaw 2017-12-08T06:00:34Z https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/dec/08/storyville-when-rock-arrived-in-north-korea-review-a-slovenian-industrial-metal-band-takes-pyongyang <p>The surreal confrontation between a totalitarian state and a European band with similar tastes in clothes quickly becomes something more human. Plus: a real-life murder mystery</p><p>I am not going to apologise for allowing the work of Slovenian art-rock collective Laibach to pass me by, although it was clearly an oversight. Formed in the early 80s in what was then Yugoslavia, the group earned dissident status early on; for a time, they were prohibited from using their own name (Laibach is the German name for Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana). Their industrial metal sound and appropriation of fascist imagery led to accusations of both far-left and far-right affiliation, and on this subject they are consistently cagey, once listing their influences as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2012/feb/21/archive-1970-contradiction-of-yugoslavia">Tito</a>, <a href=" https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/oct/27/michael-mcdonald-doobie-brothers-hall-oates-toto-soft-rock-got-cool">Toto</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/jacques-tati">Tati</a>.</p><p>In August 2015, they also became the first foreign <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2015/sep/07/north-korea-laibach-tour-in-pictures">rock band to play in North Korea</a>, and this visit is the subject of <strong>Storyville: When Rock Arrived in North Korea</strong> (BBC Four), which is one of the most amazingly weird things I have seen this year. The idea of taking Laibach’s straight-faced subversion of totalitarianism to a country that looks like a stage set for one of their videos belongs to director Morten Traavik. “I am setting up maybe the blindest of blind dates,” he says.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/dec/08/storyville-when-rock-arrived-in-north-korea-review-a-slovenian-industrial-metal-band-takes-pyongyang">Continue reading...</a> Television Television & radio Culture North Korea Asia Pacific Pop and rock World news Music Fri, 08 Dec 2017 05:59:34 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/dec/08/storyville-when-rock-arrived-in-north-korea-review-a-slovenian-industrial-metal-band-takes-pyongyang Photograph: BBC/Tor Joerund F. Pedersen Photograph: BBC/Tor Joerund F. Pedersen Tim Dowling 2017-12-08T05:59:34Z https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/robert-finley-goin-platinum-review-easy-eye-dan-auerbach <p>(Easy Eye Sound)</p><p>T<a draggable="true" href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/black-keys">he Black Keys</a>’ Dan Auerbach calls <a draggable="true" href="http://www.robertfinleymusic.com/">Robert Finley</a> “the greatest living soul singer”. Thus, he has signed the 63-year-old to his label, produced him, written the songs (along with the likes of <a draggable="true" href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/nicklowe">Nick Lowe</a> and <a draggable="true" href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/08/john-prine-interview-country-music">John Prine</a>) and paired him with stellar musicians from Elvis sidemen to legendary “guitar man” Duane Eddy. </p><p>The results are decidedly retro-modern – that bit too well produced to have been authentically blaring out of a roadside bar in the 1960s – but are steeped in blues and soul and a lot of fun. Finley wraps his gravel chops around playful, mildly lewd, Tom Jones-type stompers (Get It While You Can), snaking swamp blues (Three Jumpers), breezy pop (If You Forget My Love) and aching, falsetto-driven, redemptive soul (standout closer Holy Wine). In truth, it’s all too well-worn and traditional to have much chance of “goin’ platinum”, but the big-hearted Louisiana man certainly deserves his chance.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/robert-finley-goin-platinum-review-easy-eye-dan-auerbach">Continue reading...</a> Americana Blues Soul Pop and rock Music Culture Thu, 07 Dec 2017 20:45:23 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/robert-finley-goin-platinum-review-easy-eye-dan-auerbach Photograph: Jordi Vidal/Redferns Photograph: Jordi Vidal/Redferns Dave Simpson 2017-12-07T20:45:23Z https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/jim-james-tribute-to-vol-2-review-ato <p>(ATO Records)<br><br></p><p>My Morning Jacket, the Kentucky rock band Jim James has fronted since 1998, are known for their line in eclectic cover versions, having paid homage to everything from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/erykahbadu">Erykah Badu</a>’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY2-mrsXgMM">Tyrone</a> to Elton John’s Rocket Man. As if to cement his dedication to the art, James’s first move as a solo artist was to release Tribute To, an EP of George Harrison covers. </p><p>It’s successor stays largely in that 60s/70s milieu, and includes a gorgeous, minimalist version of the Beach Boys’ I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times, and a bizarrely sloppy (albeit quite amusing) cover of Dylan’s I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight, which James sings as though he has a mouthful of marbles. But there are curveballs too, two tracks by “Britain’s first pop star” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr4ncMR5EVQ">Al Bowlly</a> among them. On these, James retains the 30s plinky-plonk piano but replaces Bowlly’s particular croon with something a little more off the wall. It turns what can initially seem like a predictable homage to sunny and smooth 60s rock into a compelling and inventive deep dive into pop’s past.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/jim-james-tribute-to-vol-2-review-ato">Continue reading...</a> Pop and rock My Morning Jacket Music Culture Thu, 07 Dec 2017 20:30:23 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/jim-james-tribute-to-vol-2-review-ato Photograph: Matthew Eisman/no credit Photograph: Matthew Eisman/no credit Rachel Aroesti 2017-12-07T20:30:23Z https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/charles-hayward-thurston-moore-improvisations-review-care-in-community <p>(Care in the Community)</p><p>Since he and <a draggable="true" href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/feb/06/kim-gordon-sonic-youth-women-kickass-book-extract">Kim Gordon</a> split, effectively bringing Sonic Youth to an end, Thurston Moore has been living in north London, where he’s been a regular fixture in the city’s improv scene, popping up alongside the likes of Steve Noble, the Thing and <a draggable="true" href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/spiritualized">Spiritualized</a>’s Jason Pierce. Here he jams with <a draggable="true" href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/feb/14/this-is-not-this-heat-review-cafe-oto">This Heat</a> drummer Charles Hayward, pulling out rough skeins of noise from his guitar as Hayward lays down driving glam-rock rhythms, speeding up into jittery post-punk. </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/apr/09/thurston-moore-sources-of-inspiration-sonic-youth">Me and the muse: Thurston Moore on his sources of inspiration</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/charles-hayward-thurston-moore-improvisations-review-care-in-community">Continue reading...</a> Indie Sonic Youth Music Culture Pop and rock Thu, 07 Dec 2017 20:15:22 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/charles-hayward-thurston-moore-improvisations-review-care-in-community Photograph: no credit Photograph: no credit Ben Beaumont-Thomas 2017-12-07T20:15:22Z https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/large-unit-fluku-review-paal-nilssen-love-pnl <p>(PNL Records) </p><p>The variety of ideas on Norwegian drummer <a draggable="true" href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/jun/03/paal-nilssen-love-peter-brotzmann-review">Paal Nilssen-Love</a>’s first two Large Unit albums – from ferocious collective and intimately conversational exchanges to <a draggable="true" href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/21/paal-nilssen-love-large-unit-ana-cd-review-pnl">world-improv collaborations with Brazilian players</a> – showed how much of a work in progress he means it to be. Fluku is more conventionally structured and features a tighter 12-piece core of the band, but the incandescence is undimmed. </p><p>The 27-minute opener reveals an enthusiasm for repetitively riff-rooted, improv-triggering harmonies, as it alternates between terse hooks, squelching electronics, wriggling low-brass and sax conversations, and a sudden unison swagger like an old <a draggable="true" href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/nov/21/art-ensemble-of-chicago">Art Ensemble of Chicago</a> anthem. Springsummer is contrastingly almost thematically mellow, and borders on lyrical in its clarinet variations. Playgo’s overlapping multi-horns riff becomes a reshuffle of constant tempo changes. Happy Slappy joins clanking abstract sounds, battering drumwork, and blustery high-altitude trumpet lines stalked by a honking baritone sax. The Large Unit is best heard live, but for habitués of musical outlands such as these, Fluku cans its remarkable heat very well.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/large-unit-fluku-review-paal-nilssen-love-pnl">Continue reading...</a> Jazz Music Culture Thu, 07 Dec 2017 19:00:21 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/large-unit-fluku-review-paal-nilssen-love-pnl Photograph: Dawid Laskowski Photograph: Dawid Laskowski John Fordham 2017-12-07T19:00:21Z https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/chris-thile-thanks-listening-review-nonesuch <p>(Nonesuch)</p><p>Not content with conquering the worlds of bluegrass, indie-folk, jazz and JS Bach in recent years, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jan/25/chris-thile-brad-mehldau-album-jazz-interview">mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile</a> is now the host of liberal America’s most revered radio show, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/dec/03/a-prairie-home-companion-changes-its-name-garrison-keillor-allegations">A Prairie Home Companion</a>. He took over from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/29/garrison-keillor-fired-minnesota-public-radio-allegations-improper-behavior">Garrison Keillor</a> just in time for the 2016 election, so these topical songs (written to open each week’s show) have soundtracked the trauma of the left-leaning part of the nation during the Trump era. </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jan/25/chris-thile-brad-mehldau-album-jazz-interview">'I've spent the last year in a dream state': virtuoso mandolinist Chris Thile</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/chris-thile-thanks-listening-review-nonesuch">Continue reading...</a> Folk music Music Culture Americana Thu, 07 Dec 2017 18:40:20 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/chris-thile-thanks-listening-review-nonesuch Photograph: Brantley Gutierrez Photograph: Brantley Gutierrez John Lewis 2017-12-07T18:40:20Z https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lostinshowbiz/2017/dec/07/bryan-singer-kevin-spacey-sleazy-hollywood-usual-suspects-queen-biopic <p>The film director has been fired from his current Queen biopic, but as with all the other cases of harassment, bullying and toxic masculinity, what took Tinseltown so long?</p><p>Round up the usual suspects, the public cried, as Hollywood promised to clean all the sexual harassers, bullies and general examples of toxic masculinity out of its closet. This turned out to be even easier than it sounded because all we needed to do, it transpired, was to round up the actual Usual Suspects, as in the star and director of The Usual Suspects, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/nov/16/kevin-spacey-old-vic-inquiry-finds-20-claims-of-inappropriate-behaviour">Kevin Spacey</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/bryan-singer">Bryan Singer</a>. Chazz Palminteri, I reckon even you could have solved this one without <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_6SenP4DDg">smashing your coffee cup</a>, given that Gabriel Byrne recently revealed that the production of The Usual Suspects was <a href="http://deadline.com/2017/12/gabriel-byrne-kevin-spacey-bryan-singer-harassment-inappropriate-sexual-behavior-1202219958/">briefly shut down</a> because of “inappropriate sexual behaviour by Spacey”. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/jan/04/how-we-made-the-usual-suspects-bryan-singer-gabriel-byrne">The Usual Suspects</a>, incidentally, was made in 1994, meaning it took – gets out calculator – 23 years before Spacey was finally called out on his widely known behaviour. Remind me again, guys, how unfair life is for white men these days?</p><p>Anyway, if there was one person in Hollywood who was the subject of more rumours over the past decade than Spacey, that person is Singer. The late and increasingly lamented Gawker, which dropped large and largely ignored hints about a lot of the male celebrities now being revealed as sexual pond scum, <a href="http://defamer.gawker.com/bryan-singers-obsession-with-barely-legal-boys-was-an-o-1564367291">went after Singer with a vengeance</a> in its day, accusing him of being a predator and worse. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/may/20/an-open-secret-review-damning-documentary-takes-aim-at-sexual-abuse-in-hollywood">Amy Berg’s 2014 documentary, An Open Secret</a>, about child sex abuse in the film industry, alleged that Singer attended parties held by <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/found-the-elusive-man-at-the-heart-of-the-hollywood-sex-abus?utm_term=.flwE2xpZB#.piM5V2YNa">Marc Collins-Rector</a>, known for throwing hedonistic parties where underaged boys were in attendance. Collins-Rector later pled guilty to transporting minors across state lines for the purpose of sex, but the various lawsuits filed over the years against Singer alleging child sex abuse <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jun/28/bryan-singer-accuser-sexual-abuse-lawsuits-dropped">were all dismissed</a>. So news from the set of the beleaguered <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/nov/07/bryan-singer-direct-freddie-mercury-biopic-bohemian-rhapsody">Queen biopic</a> (Queen as in Freddie Mercury, not Elizabeth Windsor, for the record) that Singer had thrown what <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/bryan-singer-fired-directing-queen-biopic-set-chaos-1063977">was described as “an object”</a> at star Rami Malek sounded, quite frankly, like a relatively wholesome infraction allegedly committed by the director. Although, to be fair, we don’t actually know what the object is. Suggestions on a postcard and then thrown in a septic tank, thanks.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lostinshowbiz/2017/dec/07/bryan-singer-kevin-spacey-sleazy-hollywood-usual-suspects-queen-biopic">Continue reading...</a> Celebrity Life and style Bryan Singer Film Kevin Spacey Harvey Weinstein Sexual harassment World news Sacha Baron Cohen Thu, 07 Dec 2017 18:29:23 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lostinshowbiz/2017/dec/07/bryan-singer-kevin-spacey-sleazy-hollywood-usual-suspects-queen-biopic Composite: Rex/Shutterstock/Guardian Design Team Composite: Rex/Shutterstock/Guardian Design Team Hadley Freeman 2017-12-07T18:29:23Z https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/maciej-obara-unloved-review-ecm <p>(ECM)</p><p>Early in his first album for ECM Records, the Polish saxophonist Maciej Obara seems to be confirming that he knows all about the label’s famous penchant for vaporous tones and moonlit moods. But anyone who has heard <a draggable="true" href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/dec/07/maciej-obara-polish-jazz-review">Obara and his regular piano partner Dominik Wania live</a> knows otherwise - both are improvisers of mercurial energies. If Ula, the opening ballad, begins in melancholy long tones and cymbal whispers, a jazzier urgency soon surfaces, and the Polish pair’s ensemble empathy with Norwegian bassist Ole Morten Vågan and drummer Gard Nilssen emerges. Obara’s pensive jazz-ballad originals are steadily intensified by graceful piano touches and pulsing basslines, and the late <a draggable="true" href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/nov/07/how-jazz-became-voice-of-freedom-in-poland">Krzysztof Komeda</a>’s lovely title track is delivered in a resonating alto sax purr. Looser improv occupies the later stages of the set, with Obara firing off a barrage of clipped figures and scalding runs on Echoes, his thoughts quickwittedly mirrored by the pursuing Wania. This is a contemporary-jazz album of character and exhilarating drive. </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/maciej-obara-unloved-review-ecm">Continue reading...</a> Jazz Music Culture Thu, 07 Dec 2017 18:20:20 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/07/maciej-obara-unloved-review-ecm Photograph: PR Photograph: PR John Fordham 2017-12-07T18:20:20Z