Amy Blackmore goes starry-eyed at ‘Fame’ and re-emerges wanting to live forever

Ok, so I admit I was a little sceptical about going to see ‘Fame’ by Central Hall Musical Society, in collaboration with Drama society and Music society. However, from start to finish, the standard of performance was so remarkable that I found it hard to fault.

Obsession, passion and ambition dominate this novel. Human Traces tracks the progress of psychiatrists Jacques Rebiere and Thomas Midwinter, both of whom are fuelled by a shared fixation on discovering the essence of the human mind. The novel is as epic in structure as it is in content. It questions modern psychology and follows the two characters’ lives from boyhood through to old age, incorporating the First World War and other historical events.

This follow up to Morrall’s 2003 novel Astonishing Splashes of Colour, tells the story of two outcasts: Peter Straker, a hermit lighthouse keeper living in North Devon, and Imogen Doody, an irate school caretaker. Both have dark secrets in their pasts.

Waters swaps the corsets and crinolines of her previous novels for post-war Britain, but, like her other work The Night Watch has a cleverly constructed plot, precise capturing of historic detail, and a focus on the unwritten lesbian relationships of the time.

The Vagina Monologues
Central Hall
Tuesday, Wednesday, week 9
Two nights, two casts, and with all proceeds going to York Women’s Aid. The Vagina Monologues are performed all round the world on V-day, part of a movement to stop violence against women.

George Clooney’s second directorial effort is an understated and unpretentious (if you disregard the slightly preachy beginning and end) black-and-white chamber piece– the action unfolds exclusively in the smoke-filled world of CBS Production Headquarters, New York– powered by a strong ensemble cast that comprises Patricia Clarkson, Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Daniels, Alex Borstein and Clooney himself, in sympathetic little roles.

Walk the Line chronicles the life of Johnny Cash, one of the greats of American music, and it follows his journey to fame and fortune from his home farm in Arkansas. Walk the Line is a straight no-nonsense biopic, doing exactly what it says on the tin. What lifts it above a usually mediocre genre is its heart and style, and in particular two marvellous performances from its stars, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon

For a film that has a potentially quite boring plot (legendary lover meets his match with feisty woman and woos her with a variety of false identities, while hiding from promiscuity-hating authorities), Casanova is pleasantly surprising. Light, faintly amusing and almost heart-warming, it’s the sort of film to get you grinning if you don’t take it too seriously.

The first solo LP from Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis accompanied by vocal duo the Watson Twins, this is a strong attempt at an indie-country album that falls fractionally short of its initial promise. Brilliant a cappella opener, Run Devil Run, sets up the gospel overtones beautifully. The strong presence of Biblical themes that is common to the best country music is certainly present here; there are ‘devils’ and ‘mercies’ a-plenty, but sometimes they don’t seem entirely real.

Given the lukewarm reception afforded their most recent album, the timely release of a best-of may scream “cash-in,” but that doesn’t mean Collected doesn’t hold plenty of genre-hopping gems. Once the darlings of the UK trip-hop scene, Massive Attack have spent a decade pooling hip-hop, reggae, club-friendly beats and ecclesiastical orchestral arrangements, producing moody chill-out tracks, as represented here by the dense mysticism of Teardrop and the heady Inertia Creeps.

The task of being the penultimate act at the ‘VS’ tour show this evening falls to Kerrang’s favourite protégés, Coheed and Cambria, and it is clear from the first note played tonight that we are witnessing the birth of something special in this band. Singer Claudio’s falsetto voice is as flawless as his impossible head of hair.

The day spent on the grim streets of Hull, in a queue longer than guitarist’s newly acquired mane, was worth every girl’s shiver, every odd look and every copper thrown at what the public assumed to be a party of tramps. These ‘tramps’ were the tiny number of fans who were dedicated enough to acquire Strokes tickets for Hull (one letter away from “hell” as the support act reminded us).

Bell X1, Flame

Initially, the vocals sounded like they had been lifted from a Savage Garden song, and confusion reigned in the Nouse office as we wondered whether or not we had the right CD in the drive. However, it all started to make sense when we discover that it was produced by jazz hobbit Jamie Cullum. The guitars are fashionable, the harmonies weak, and the bongos questionable.

We are outraged that the sanctity of Lent is not given the respect it deserves, as people continue to consume batter-based products long after Shrove Tuesday when all should be living on a diet of Smash and tap water. For the uninitiated (Heathens! Infidels!) a pancake features the following deeply significant ingredients; eggs for creation, salt for wholesomeness, milk for purity, and flour, the stuff of life

Positioned amongst the garish neon bars of the Headrow, Leeds’ unofficial Electric Mile, Babycream is surprisingly elegant. Its sister bar in Liverpool recently won the Hi-Life Best Interior award, and with both bars sharing a design concept, it isn’t hard to see why.