Author: Nils van der Linden

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Music Reviews

Pain and suffering in various tempos

“Pain and suffering in various tempos” declares the sleeve of ‘Playing the Angel’ proudly. Business as usual then for the boys from Depeche Mode? A handful of critics seem to think so, having derided the band’s first album in four years as “the same old stuff with some new bleeps and blops”. But they’re wrong.

Yes, it does draw musical inspiration from their landmark albums ‘Violator’ and ‘Songs of Faith and Devotion’ — and the lyrics are preoccupied with sex and religion, as always — but the trio’s latest offering is no cash-in nostalgia trip.

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Travel

Qatar: land of the unknown

“Qatar,” says the Lonely Planet guide, “is best known for being unknown.” It’s a small consolation – I do feel slightly less like a geographically clueless American – but it doesn’t shake the sense I’m heading into the great unknown.

So I do some more reading. It’s small – a tiny peninsula (160 kilometres from north to south). It’s in the Middle East – on the Arabian Peninsula; crammed between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It’s hot – average summer temperatures of between 38 and 42. It’s got a real rags-to-riches story – once a rough backwater eking out an existence in the pearl and fishing industries, the discovery of oil and gas have made it ridiculously wealthy.

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Travel

A cutting-edge capital

There’s more to London than a giant clock, that bridge from the nursery rhyme, the Queen’s humble abode and a few famous churches. Home of the 2012 Olympics, London is one of the world’s most cutting-edge cities with a host of lesser-known attractions that are a great reflection of the city’s present – and future – rather than its illustrious, but very well-trodden, past.

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Music Reviews

Dave Matthews Band get on up

Dave Matthews Band

Hard to believe, but a band with a saxophonist and violin player in its lineup, a band that plays a hybrid of funk, bluegrass, jazz and world music (usually in the same song) is the biggest rock band in the USA. Their guitars aren’t even electric for chrissakes.

But listen to the live bonus disc on ‘Stand Up’, the Dave Matthews Band’s latest album, and you’ll understand why the quintet have sold some 10-million concert tickets. Their prolonged freeform jams, mentioned in the same breath as those of the Grateful Dead, ensure that every night punters are guaranteed one helluva show.

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Music Reviews

Tori Amos is ‘The Beekeeper’

‘The Beekeeper’, says Tori Amos, is about the “struggle to find a bedrock of truth beneath the tangle of lies, mythology, casual assumptions and political manipulation that have formed the cultural landscape of the USA today”.

Complicated enough for you?

Not for the artist who once took on a different persona for each song on her album of cover versions. Or catalogued the tracks on her greatest hits collection according to the Dewey decimal system.

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Movies Reviews

‘XXX2’: crash, boom, yawn

‘xXx2’ has it all. Implausible computer-generated action sequences, clunky dialogue with cringe-worthy one-liners, a secret government agency, a plot to assassinate the president of the United States, plenty of gadgets and cars, bimbos almost busting out of their dresses, and an annoying technical geek sidekick. And, just in case you missed the parallels, our hero decked out in a tuxedo.

Frankly, all that’s missing is the martini shaker – and some finesse.

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Movies Reviews

Underwater quirkiness with Steve Zissou

Steve Zissou is a man apart. He’s an oceanographer extraordinaire. He’s a bold adventurer who leads his crew (Team Zissou) on daring expeditions to the far ends of the world. He’s made highly celebrated marine documentaries. He’s a hero with his own fan club. He’s faced down the deadly jaguar shark. He wears a Speedo.

But Steve Zissou is also a man in crisis. His closest friend was savaged by that same shark. His most recent documentaries have flopped. His ship, The Belafonte, is falling apart. He’s running out of money. He’s the laughing stock of the oceanography scene. In short, Steve Zissou is washed up.

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Music Reviews

R.E.M. give a monster performance

“I don’t want to be Iggy Pop,” barks Michael Stipe on ‘I took your name’, the song that opens the first South African concert of R.E.M.’s world tour.

But – even decked out in a dark suit, white shirt and red tie – he’s not fooling anybody.

Behind him, the band grinds relentlessly on, all wailing guitars and pummelled drums, giving a potent song the powerhouse treatment it deserves.

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Movies Reviews

‘Sideways’ is to be savoured

‘Sideways’ is one of those rare Hollywood movies. Incredibly funny, without ever resorting to slapstick, it’s also a very accomplished human drama that’s not afraid to be emotional – but avoids mawkish sentimentality.

It’s familiar territory for the director, who mined it, and struck gold, with ‘About Schmidt’ – but, apart from Alexander Payne’s credibility, this movie didn’t have much going for it. On paper at least.

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Music Reviews

U2 get explosive

“Time won’t take the boy out of this man,” declares Bono on ‘City of Blinding Lights’, one of the numerous highlights on U2’s stellar new album. And he might just be right.

With its jangling guitars and keyboard melodies from 1983’s ‘War’ album, the song burns with the rampant energy of boys hungry for success. But, the passion and vintage sounds battle it out with the finesse and skill you get from a group of fortysomething men who’ve enjoyed that success for near on two decades.

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