The third Scottish Independent Music Fair will take place in Glasgow on Saturday. Along with some our favourite labels' stalls (Rock Action and Chemikal Underground will both be present), there will be music from a number of acts as well merchandise, food and drink.
Two extremely exciting gig-related announcements were made this week, by two pioneers bands that have pushed music to its limits in different (and similar) ways over the years. Düsseldorf's electronica pioneers Kraftwerk are to play eight of their albums in full, over eight dates in the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall in February. Tickets go on sale next Wednesday at 0730 and will be very popular if April's MOMA gigs are anything to go by. Just as thrilling is the announcement that My Bloody Valentine are to play three UK dates in March of next year. Tickets went on sale at 9am this morning, good luck if you haven't got yours yet. It's a sure fire sign that album's going to turn up soon. Well, maybe... There's a reminder below of why they're so great (as if you needed one).
Charting the rise, fall and rebirth of the independent record shop, Last Shop Standing is a 50-minute documentary based on the book by record distributor Graham Jones. It features appearances from Johnny Marr, Richard Hawley and Billy Bragg as well as the owners of some legendary UK record shops such as Sister Ray. The Cameo are showing it on Monday night at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased here. Given the recent terrible - if unconfirmed - news about Edinburgh's own Avalanche Records, we'll be watching the film with particular interest.
A take on the lovers-on-the-run formula, Pierrot Le Fou is in many ways a typical 1960s Jean-Luc Godard film: there are plenty of digressions, multi-layered and often playful cultural references, light-hearted musical numbers and that heart-stopping cinematography (a primary colour feast courtesy of Raoul Coutard). It's no wonder it is a much-loved and influential work. Chantal Akerman decided to become a film-maker after seeing it, and Wes Anderson's recent Moonrise Kingdom paid explicit homage to Anna Karina's weapon of choice.
Vic Godard selected Pierrot Le Fou as his choice for Sunday's Monorail Film Club. He also talked about the influence early Jean-Luc Godard films had on his band, The Subway Sect. A literate and intelligent songwriter, Vic named himself after the French New Wave director and would often mention Molière and Françoise Hardy in interviews. The screening was part of some very special events in Glasgow celebrating Vic's music and influence that we had the privilege of attending. James Kirk of Orange Juice fame turned up for a set with Vic at The Poetry Club on Sunday afternoon, and we may or may not have been reduced to dewey-eyed wrecks by a set of (the quieter) Velvet Underground numbers, as well as Vic's festive classic Holiday Hymn. We even ended up catching a 1960s mail bus with Vic and the Pastels to the cinema afterwards. We should also add belated birthday wishes to Mr (Jean-Luc) Godard and to Monorail Music, who have recently turned eighty-two and ten, respectively - the latter is holding a free birthday celebration on Saturday.
You may have noticed that articles have started to appear on the site! If you haven't checked them out yet, Erika Sella has reviewed Michael Haneke's brutal yet brilliant new film Amour (in cinemas now), as well as Peter Strickland's entrancingly fetishistic Berberian Sound Studio (out on DVD at the end of the month). In music, Andrew R. Hill has written an in-depth and rather lengthy review of Scott Walker's new record, Bish Bosch, which was released this week.
Next week we'll have reviews of Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master (as well as Jonny Greenwood's soundtrack to the film), Miguel Gomes' Tabu (due out on DVD next month), some thoughts on Moe Tucker the singer (as opposed to Moe Tucker the drummer), an assortment of other treats and vignettes, and of course, more Freitags for you to procrastinate with.
Have a good weekend and go easy on the mulled wine.