More than a band, Gang of Four is an idea for a band. Created amid the political and intellectual foment of Leeds in 1977, Gang of Four was an argument, a manifesto, a dare: What would happen if you dismantled assumptions and worked from first principles? What might a rock band sound like if it took nothing for granted?
What Happens Next, the title of Gang of Four’s thrilling and unsettling ninth album, refers both to the world outside and the band itself: an emphatic commitment to the future.
On the album, as on the band’s rejuvenating 2013 tour dates, founding guitarist and songwriter Andy Gill has constructed a new Gang of Four: John “Gaoler” Sterry on vocals, Thomas McNiece on bass and Jonny Finnegan on drums. What Happens Next is a work that is aware of Gang of Four’s past but not beholden to it, and finds a band that is empowered to explore new tones and narratives.
Gaoler is a shape-shifting, charismatic singer able to slide under the skin of Gill’s narrators, sometimes cruel, sometimes vulnerable, sometimes a neutral observer of how society operates. He is joined on What Happens Next by Alison Mosshart (of the Kills and the Dead Weather), Robbie Furze (of the Big Pink), Gail Ann Dorsey, Japanese guitarist Tomayasu Hotei and German musician and actor Herbert Grönemeyer. What Happens Next contains the intellectual muscle you would expect but this plenitude of voices also makes it Gang of Four’s most richly emotional album yet.
International in scope as well as personnel, What Happens Next grapples with ideas of identity, religion and capitalism, and how individuals are led astray by ideology and received wisdom. It does so with music that is heavy, dynamic and often moving in ways that Gang of Four haven’t explored before. The consistent thread is Gill’s unmistakeable guitar-playing, as restless and probing as his lyrics.
With a tough, radical new sound, Andy Gill has constructed a new entity for exploring enduring fascinations, which makes What Happens Next Gang of Four’s boldest, most self-interrogating album since Entertainment! As ever, Gang of Four takes nothing for granted.
Since its debut in 1993 under the leadership of JeroMad, Drama Of The Spheres is constantly changing. Batcave, Industrial Rock, Deathrock, Dark Wave, experimental... DOTS is not limited to any style.
2 years after "A Kafka Tale" concept album about "In The Penal Colony" of Franz Kafka, Drama Of The Spheres gets tough and returns this time with a "Puzzled View" into "Back to the Roots'" mode:
8 pieces, 8 "songs" (according to JeroMad) with straightforward structures, rabid guitar riffs always these incisive, winding and tortuous melodies that Drama has the secret...
If Trent Reznor remixed covers of Virgin Prunes by Killing Joke beginnings...
Reaching #5 in the UK album chart, Alison Moyet's recent album the minutes was hugely well received, being called "her best in decades" by Q, "amazing" by The Quietus and "a musical resurrection" by The Huffington Post. The accompanying tour was equally lauded, with The Times dubbing it "triumphant" and the Evening Standard stating, "she's never been better". The exuberant recordings contain a selection of material from the minutes, plus highlights from Alison's earlier solo and Yaz repertoires. Alison took the minutes tour through Europe, the USA and South Africa, selling over 55,000 tickets and it culminated with a rapturous show at London's Royal Albert Hall. Alison was joined on stage by MD John Garden (keys, guitars and programming) and Sean McGhee (backing vocals, synthesiser, guitar and programming).
"Having worked live for an age with a traditional band line-up, I decided to return to my recording roots and an electronic pallet. This rapprochement begins with my 2013 album the minutes, a body of work I wrote together with its producer Guy Sigsworth, resulting in a collection of material that is entirely pleasing for me to perform live. "As the catalyst for the minutes tour, it enabled me to revisit some of my earlier work, either in the context it was originally intended, or with a new ear. Instead, reworking organic songs into a programmed format rather than the other way around and sparing me the niggling suspicion that I was in danger of inhabiting my own tribute act - which is a relevant consideration when you have been singing some of the songs for 30 something years, and wish still to be engaged." - Alison Moyet
HBO is taking on a pivotal moment in the history of the Americasgerolmo with Cortes, a high-profile drama series in development. It is being written/executive produced by Mississippi Burning scribe Chris Gerolmo, directed/executive produced by Martin Scorsese and executive produced by Benicio Del Toro who is interested in starring as the Aztec conqueror.
Cortes will tell the sweepincortesmontezumag story of Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, who brought down the Aztec empire; Malinche, the Mayan girl who helped him do it; and Montezuma, the Aztec leader he befriended and finally put in chains.
The subject matter has the makings of a compelling drama as Cortés’ legacy is a complex one. On one hand, he won Mexico for Spain and extended the Spanish Empire. But from the indigenous’ point of view, he was a mass murderer who spearheaded the destruction of one of the greatest civilizations of that time.
In TV, Gerolmo previously co-created with Steven Bochco the FX Iraq drama series Over There and most recently worked on the network’s U.S.-Mexico-border drama The Bridge. He is repped by ICM Partners and Jackoway Tyerman.
This would be the latest Latin American historical figure portrayal for Del Toro who toplined Escobar: Paradise Lost and Steven Soderbergh’s Che. In addition to Escobar, CAA-repped Del Toro is coming off his role as The Collector in the summer blockbuster The Guardians Of The Galaxy.
Source: Deadline
X-Men: Apocalypse is set to introduce some more younger versions of well-known characters, with rumours suggesting that Fox is looking to recast Jean Grey and Scott Summers.
According to The Wrap, Chloë Grace Moretz is the studio's pick to play the young Jean, with Hailee Steinfeld and Elle Fanning also thought to be in the running.
Moretz and Fanning have apparently already met with director Bryan Singer regarding the role, which will likely involve a commitment across a number of forthcoming films.
Meanwhile, the report suggests that the studio may opt for a newcomer to play Cyclops, with Ben Hardy, Charlie Rowe and Timothée Chalamet all said to be under consideration.
Directed by Singer, and co-starring the returning James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence, X-Men: Apocalypse will open on 19 May 2016.
