We wish you weren't living with us

Ghosts ... of the Civil Dead & Scum

There are plenty of prison films, but I've only ever seen two believable ones.

Ghosts ... of the Civil Dead isn't Nick Cave's singular vision (he a co-writer) but the film perfectly mirrors the themes in his songwriting.  No escape, no redemption, no happy endings.

It would be fair to say Ghosts ... of the Civil Dead owes a certain amount of dept to Scum, an equally grim and affecting film.  

This ain't Hollywood, that's for sure.  

Merry Christmas everyone.

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

Classic 60s cinema...

George Orwell - Politics and the English Language

I don't necessarily agree with everything Orwell says, but I'd recommend this essay to anyone. Undoubtedly it remains relevant - possibly more than it did in 1946.  

It begins: 

Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we cannot by conscious action do anything about it. Our civilization is decadent, and our language — so the argument runs — must inevitably share in the general collapse. It follows that any struggle against the abuse of language is a sentimental archaism, like preferring candles to electric light or hansom cabs to aeroplanes. Underneath this lies the half-conscious belief that language is a natural growth and not an instrument which we shape for our own purposes ... (continues here) 

History of Electronic / Electroacoustic Music (1937-2001)

If, like me, you thought electronic music didn't get going until the late 20th Century, you're in for a shocker.

Here's a collection of 476 tracks that'll blow that misconception out of the water.  (This is going to take a while.)

Some absolutely amazing stuff here.