Arrow Video is delighted to announce a limited edition Blu-ray and DVD box-set of the cult classic Withnail and I, set for release on 27th October 2014 in a stunning new 2k restoration. This new set comes loaded with a host of exciting special features and is housed within a limited edition 200-page hardback book containing new writing on the film, reprints of key articles and the black and white production stills of Murray Close and Sophie Baker. The set will also include writer-director Bruce Robinson and Richard E. Grant’s follow-up project, How To Get Ahead in Advertising, in a newly-restored Blu-ray print.
Withnail And I - Synopsis:
Camden Town, the arse-end of the sixties. Two struggling, unemployed actors decide some respite is in order and so depart their miserable flat for a week in the Lake District – one that will involve rain, booze, minimal supplies, a randy bull and an even randier Uncle Monty.
Based on the real-life experiences of former actor turned writer/director Bruce Robinson, Withnail and I has become one of British cinema’s most fondly remembered comedies. A cult film in the truest sense that has also become a classic.
Perfectly cast – with career-defining roles for Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths and Ralph Brown – and crammed with irresistibly quotable dialogue, Withnail and I is a sheer delight, even on the umpteenth viewing.
How To Get Ahead in Advertising - Synopsis
Two years after the release of Withnail & I, Richard E. Grant and writer-director Bruce Robinson reunited for a savage attack on Thatcher’s Britain and advertising culture
Denis Dimbleby Bagley (Grant) is an ad executive plunged into a nervous breakdown whilst working on a campaign for pimple cream. A boil develops on his neck, but this isn’t any ordinary boil: soon it develops eyes, ears, a moustache and a mind of its own…
Special Edition Contents
New 2K restoration of Withnail and I from the original camera negative, supervised and approved by director of photography Peter Hannan
Bruce Robinson’s follow-up feature, How to Get Ahead in Advertising, newly transferred from original film elements and approved by director of photography Peter Hannan
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD Presentation of both films
Original uncompressed mono 1.0 PCM audio for both films
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
Audio commentary by writer-director Bruce Robinson
Audio commentary by critic and writer Kevin Jackson, author of the BFI Modern Classic on Withnail and I
All four original ‘Withnail Weekend’ documentaries, first screened on Channel 4 in 1999, including The Peculiar Memories of Bruce Robinson, which looks at the director’s career, Withnail & Us, which focuses on the film’s making, and two shorter documentaries, I Demand to Have Some Booze and Withnail on the Pier
An appreciation by Sam Bain, co-creator of Peep Show and Fresh Meat
Newly filmed interviews with Michael Pickwoad, production designer on Withnail and I and How to Get Ahead in Advertising
Theatrical trailers for both films
Exclusive limited edition hardback book packaging (2,000 copies) containing new writing on the films, reprints of key articles on WITHNAIL and I, deleted scenes and more across 200 pages, illustrated with original production stills
Here is what you can expect from Desire Records this month:
Monoton - Monotonprodukt02 (Reissue) - 09/29/2014
First ever vinyl reissue of Monoton's first album. Way ahead of it's time,
this album released in 1980 nearly invented electronica, and influenced
the mutations of electronic music in the 80's and after. Monoton was recently
invited to play at the Berlin Atonal.
Statiqbloom / Zex Model - Split LP - 09/29/2014
A split album from two of the wildest EBM acts around.
Statiqbloom combines hard dance beats and haunting electronics with disorienting vocals
to create a pulsing raw vision of music for today. On the other side, Zex Model is how Benestrophe
and early Mentallo And The Fixer could probably sound like that if they started out in mid 2010's
and were recording in the middle of nowhere in Russia.
Blush Response - Desire Machines - 10/06/2014
Blush cut his teeth doing programming work for artists such as Fear Factory, Rhys Fulber, Cristian Castro,
and as a touring member of Joey Jordison (Slipknot)'s alternative rock project Scar the Martyr.
His music is characterized by a modular synth heavy approach to sound design, combining rough,
glitch-heavy beats with thick, distorted synths to create a sound that blurs the lines between electronic genres.
Babel 17 - Celeano Fragments (Reissue) - 10/13/2014
Hard-edged French coldwave act Babel 17 released their first album, Celeano Fragments, in 1990. It is now reissued on vinyl for the first time. For fans of Clan Of Xymox, The Danse Society, New Order, Trisomie 21, Asylum Party…
Minuit Machine - Live & Destroy - 10/13/2014
Minuit Machine, a synth wave band based in Paris, is the association of Hélène de Thoury’s electronic melodies and Amandine Stioui’s vocals. The sound of the French duo, based on powerful electronic drums and the accumulation of dark synth lines, is a mix between all their inspirations that range from minimal wave to electronic rock.
Coïtus Int. - Sex For The Wealthy (Reissue) - 10/27/2014
Coitus Int hailed from Utrecht, the Netherlands. The band started out as a typical schoolboys punkrock-band
in the late 70's and quickly turned into a more radical post-punk band, influenced by Joy Division,
Southern Death Cult, Gang Of Four or Pere Ubu.
‘’Sex For The Wealthy’’ is now reissued for the first time on vinyl 30 years after its original release.
Synth-pop pioneer Gary Numan has provided the score for From Inside, a film from John Bergin. Numan’s score is his first release since last year’s Splinter LP and his first film score since soundtracking 1991 horror film The Unborn.
From Inside was originally screened between 2008 and 2010 at more than 35 film festivals worldwide. Numan wrote an entirely new score for the film last year after being approached by the film’s creators, Lakeshore Entertainment.
“When John Bergin and [Lakeshore Entertainment senior VP of music & soundtracks] Brian McNelis came to us, I realized immediately they wanted something different, so I decided to go grander — more orchestral with some grooves,” said Numan, who scored the film with producer Ade Fenton. “We took it in a completely different direction, then just waited to see if that was what they were looking for.”
From Inside tells the story of a young pregnant woman on a damaged train travelling slowly through a post-apocalyptic landscape.
Speaking to Billboard, Numan revealed his aims for the film’s score. The primary challenge was ”to establish the relentless power and motion of the train, the desolate landscape, the tragedy of what had happened.”
Lakeshore Entertainment will release the DVD From Inside: Gary Numan Special Edition on October 21.
Mark Bell of LFO has passed away following "complications after an operation".
His death has been confirmed by his label, Warp, who released a statement saying: "It's with great sadness that we announce the untimely passing of Mark Bell of LFO who died last week from complications after an operation. Mark's family and friends request privacy at this difficult time."
LFO was originally comprised of Mark Bell and collaborator Gez Varley (who quit in 1996). The duo helped put Sheffield on the dance music map and were early signings to Warp Records. The act and label went on to pioneer bleep 'n' bass, putting a unique twist on techno that emanated from the depths of Yorkshire.
LFO hit number 12 in the UK singles chart in 1990 with rave anthem 'LFO' and created three albums between 1989 and 2003.
Bell is also famous for his production work on Björk's 'Homogenic' and Depeche Mode's 'Exciter'.
He was still playing live as LFO and was very much a part of Warp's 25th anniversary celebrations.
Beloved of fans and DJs, his name was written in dance music history long before his death.
„Ashes to ashes and dust to dust...“: the new single „Asche zu Asche“ (strictly limited edtion on Digipak-MCD & on lavish hand-numbered picture vinyl) sees Berlin's Dark Pop hit-machine Blutengel delivering a gripping ode to transience that is explicitly hearkening back to the dark side of Electro that dominated their early releases, thus providing their long-time fans with an extra-special treat.
Riding on a wave of powerful electronic beats, dark and slightly distorted vocals and the exquisite fusion of club sounds, a sinister atmosphere and an anthemic melody, the band of charismatic singer and musician Chris Pohl pays tribute to its own roots with a massive floor filler that reinvokes the feeling of the early days with a modernized reinvention. Serving as an appetizer for the upcoming new Blutengel-album “Omen” (scheduled for release in February 2015), the new single is 100% classic Blutengel-club-fare, but graced by the fine production standards that we have come to expect from the band in recent years. A seamless fusion of the past and the present, “Asche zu Asche” is the ideal release to kick off the celebrations for the seminal group's 15th anniversary. With the emotional and melodic “Insensitive World”, the group has provided a killer b-side exclusive to this release and the title track will be included in a single-edit plus 2 searing bass-heavy remixes.
This spectacular homage to the group's early days will not only appeal to diehard Blutengel-fans but is also a perfect introduction to the dark side if club culture for the uninitiated. Dance with your darkness … with Blutengel!
