Dun Eidyn Digital Design. Web Design. Edinburgh, Scotland

Låt den rätte komma in (Let The Right One In)

{spoiler alert} Beautifully shot, brilliantly acted and impressively directed, this gem of a picture is a thoroughly engaging "horror" story that brings a genuinely original twist to the vampire genre. Set in the early eighties, when Brezhnev's Soviet Union still cast ominous shadows, it cleverly uses imaginary monsters to highlight real ones. Screenwriter John Lindqvist adapts his 2004 novel of the same name in which a strange, introverted 12-year-old boy named Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) lives with his single mother in a bleak apartment block on the outskirts of Stockholm. Fascinated by newspaper accounts of violent crimes and relentlessly bullied at school, Oskar does not have many friends, indulging instead in violent Travis Bickle-esque ("are you looking at me?") revenge fantasies. Things change dramatically for Oskar when a 12-year-old girl called Eli (Lina Leandersson) moves in next door with what initially appears to be her father. Eli is scruffy, strange and sometimes smells bad. Oh yes, and she goes out only at night. Eli appears to be locked into a bizarre relationship with an old man named Hakan (Per Ragnar). He is assumed to be Eli's father by the neighbours but actually he serves as a supplier of blood, in an increasingly inept fashion, killing random strangers at night and siphoning their blood into plastic containers. In the novel, I am led to believe Eli's adult helper is actually a paedophile who has lost his job as a teacher and has been taken in by the vampire. In the film version he has become a submissive vampire "familiar". The book spells out in far greater detail how perverse their relationship can be. The film only suggests at his perversity in the overpossessive way he reacts to her friendship with Oskar and in the regal disdain she occasionally exhibits in return. The film is mainly accurate in the depiction of traditional vampire lore. Eli is unnaturally strong, moving with speed and stealth, she climbs like a spider, she deteriorates into decrepitude if she doesn't feed, sunlight burns her, and she must be invited into a house before entering. What happens if a vampire enters your house uninvited is shown here in truly memorable fashion in one of several breathtaking scenes. The bravura closing scene at the school swimming pool is brutally unique. Tomas Alfredson directs in a restrained, atmospheric, at times almost documentary style that plays down the supernatural aspects and the gore. This more subtle approach lends the film's more visceral moments added punch. The audacious sound design also adds much to the film's success, with the vividly impressionistic noises made by the vampire while feeding or while physically growling with hunger particularly effective. Unlike most modern "horror" films, which tend to rely on gore and bloody violence to disturb the viewer, it is the quieter moments in this film that make the experience at the same time both sweet and unsettling. In some ways Let The Right One In is more concerned with the everyday horrors of childhood than the more visceral horrors of the blood-thirsty undead. At one point in the film there is a brief shot of Eli's genitals as Oskar accidentally sees her dressing. He gives an audible gasp as he sees that she appears to have been mutilated. A large scar is evident where the missing genitals should be. The scene is very brief and it is never discussed afterwards but it presents the possibility that Eli was originally a boy. Earlier in the film she stated to Oskar that she "wasn't a girl" and you assume at the time she is hinting at her vampirism. The novel does give more in the way of backstory for Eli and her familiar, Hakan, but the film version leaves things in a far more ambiguous position. Lina Leandersson's voice has been dubbed with a less feminine sounding voice throughout the film to increase the androgynous quality of her character. While Hedebrant is very good as the vulnerable Oskar who, while meek and introverted, displays a disturbing potential for future violence, Leandersson is particularly impressive as Eli, the conflicted young vampire who wants nothing more than to be an ordinary girl (boy?) again. By turns sweet, shocking and ultimately genuinely moving, Let the Right One In is a stunning and original film that you will be glad you sought out.
Written by Kevin
Thursday, 09 April 2009 16:34

Doves - Live at the Glasgow ABC (15.03.2009)

It seems to be becoming accepted fact that Doves are about to "do an Elbow" this year and become one of the most important bands in the country. After years of perseverance through a variety of setbacks another bunch of lads from the north of England might see their loyal fan base multiplied several times over after the release of their eagerly anticipated new record, Kingdom of Rust. I've only heard 6 tracks so far but still, a Mercury Music Award nomination later this year would not surprise me at all. It has been 4 years since their last album, the critically-acclaimed Some Cities, and they are about to return with what might just be their best music yet. We got to the ABC in Sauchiehall Street around 7:30 and it was still fairly empty. A matter of moments to get served at the bar and time for a couple of leisurely pints while being initially bored by The Invisible before becoming more intrigued by them the longer they played. The PA system used by Doves and The Invisible at the ABC tended to muffle the music and most of the nuance was lost in the mix. I checked out The Invisible on MySpace this morning and they sounded much better than I remember from the gig. The Invisible have got a self-titled début album out I gather and it seems to be worth a closer look. By the time the lads from Doves were warmly welcomed onto the stage I'd taken up position front and centre within touching distance of the barrier. Their opener on the night was Jetstream, which will also open the new album. Doves had released this track as a free download on their website and the crowd seemed to be familiar with it already. It's a great opener but I felt immediately that Doves were letting themselves down a little with the muffled sound quality of their live performance. Their music has bags of energy and drive but a more delicate touch on the sound levels would greatly enhance the overall experience. A live band performance will always lose a little of the detail to be found on record but it needn't be to the extent heard here. To make another Elbow/Doves comparison, Elbow's live performance a couple of weeks ago at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange had none of the overdriven muffling but all of the drive and epic grandeur of their music intact. That aside, Doves, what a great band! Newer material was peppered with older well loved anthems such as Black and White Town, Rise and Pounding. New track 10:03 sounds like a belter and the new album's release on April 6th cannot come around soon enough. There was even a short outing for old favourite the Knight Rider theme while Jez's guitar was being given some attention. Here's a short YouTube video of that, shot by the same girl who took the photo of Jimi adorning this review. I must've been standing about 4 or 5 feet away at the time. Scottish Doves fans can catch them again on Wednesday 22nd April at the Barrowland in Glasgow or on Thursday 23rd April at Edinburgh's new HMV Picture House. Setlist Jetstream Snowden Winter Hill Rise The Greatest Denier Pounding 10:03 Words Almost Forgot Myself Kingdom of Rust Black & White Town Ambition The Outsiders Caught By The River ---encore---- Northenden Here It Comes Last Broadcast There Goes The Fear Photo of Jimi by Alice
Written by Kevin
Monday, 16 March 2009 13:57

Elbow - Live at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange (06.03.2009)

Elbow - photo by Steve Gerrard

This would be the fourth time I'd seen Elbow playing live and based on previous experiences I knew this crowd would not go home disappointed. Support was provided this time around from Canadian indie folksters, The Acorn. Their latest album, Glory Hope Mountain, was released in 2007/08 and singer, Rolf Klausener, informs us that it's "about my Mom" before adding, self-deprecatingly, "manly, huh?". The album is well worth tracking down and is available on Bella Union Records from "all good stores".

The Corn Exchange is not really a great venue if you are under 6 feet tall. Anyone short of that sort of height will be watching the back of someone else's head, haloed with swirling coloured lights, for most of the evening. The stage could do with being a few feet higher to limit this flaw .... and don't even get me started on the drinks or the out-of-the-way location of the venue. I was fairly lucky this time around and got a good position front and centre looking down a human valley, framed by giants, towards the stage. The band sauntered on with the warbling electronics of Starlings playing in the background. After a warm welcome from the Edinburgh crowd they lined up at the front and sounded the trumpets they carried with them in the first of a series of loud orchestral stabs while the lighting engineer bathed the crowd in blinding white. An arresting and attention grabbing opening. Following Starlings with The Bones of You and then Mirrorball, Elbow seemed to be flirting with the idea of playing The Seldom Seen Kid in its entirety and truly being the "album band" they have claimed to be. I don't think they would get any complaints from their audience if they had done just that, but a rousing version of Leaders of the Free World put pay to that notion.

Guy Garvey comes across as a genuinely nice chap and seemed to be in good form on the night. "It's my birthday today" he announced before quickly following that with "Nah, it's not really" and then nodding and shaking his head in succession à la Eddie Izzard's Engelbert Humperdinck died tonight ... no he didn't ... yes, he did routine. Turns out that yes, it was really Guy's 35th birthday and the lads from The Acorn brought on some cake and drinks, the audience temporarily forgotten.

Quite what it is about The Seldom Seen Kid that propelled Elbow from being a critically acclaimed but commercially under-achieving band to multi-award winning status is hard to pinpoint. There is certainly something about the album that caught the public's ear. Something about it that struck a chord in the cultural conciousness of 2008/09. They were nominated for the Mercury Music prize for their 2001 début album, Asleep In The Back, but I get the feeling that if they had won it back then, then they may not even be here now. Certainly, having been a live act for a decade before releasing that record allowed them to forge an album that was as accomplished as many band's third of fourth releases, but slowly and steadily building on that success has built a band who are comfortable in their own skin and possessing a strength of character, which many of their peers lack. They easily fulfil the hype that the success of the past year will have created in the new wave of listeners they now have.

Garvey's voice soars above the lush orchestral soundscapes created behind him and on tracks like The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver and Newborn he holds his audience completely rapt. The endorphine-producing, euphoria-generating, One Day Like This brings the gig to a pre-encore close and Garvey showers the audience with streamers while leading the sing-a-long "Throw those curtains wide. One day a year like this, will see me right".

Returning to the stage for the encore we're told, tongue-in-cheek, that it seemed appropriate to celebrate Guy's birthday with a song about crushing alcoholism. Thus was my favourite Elbow track introduced. Some Riot being my favourite Elbow song perhaps speaks volumes about me but the lyrics clearly have been written with complete honesty by Guy, and it shows, especially hearing him sing it live.

This band are in the form of their lives and you should grab firmly any opportunity to see and hear them play. It was a rolling sea of smiling faces that poured out of the doors once the house lights had gone up.

Setlist

Starlings
The Bones of You
Mirrorball
Leaders of the Free World
The Stops
Any Day Now
Mexican Standoff
Grounds For Divorce
The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver
Newborn
Switching Off
Weather To Fly
One Day Like This
encore
Some Riot
Station Approach
Scattered Black and Whites

photo of Elbow, live in Wolverhampton, by Steve Gerrard - www.stevegerrardphotography.com

Written by Kevin

Sunday, 08 March 2009 13:06

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