Richard Johnson, the star of several British films in the Sixties, has died at the age of 87, his family have announced.

Johnson made his name in movies such as Robert Wise’s The Haunting of 1963. This was followed by Khartoum, in which he co-starred with Laurence Oliver and Charlton Heston.

He is perhaps most famous, however, for the film role he did not take.

Johnson was contracted in the Sixties to the motion picture studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). This contract was one of exclusivity, meaning he was forced to decline a role he was offered by director Terence Young (and producers, Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman) in the first James Bond film, Dr No. As Bond himself. The part would end up going to Sean Connery.

Johnson was also a renowned theatre actor, working with Peter Hall at the newly formed Royal Shakespeare Company, where he played a number of roles, including Anthony in 'Anthony & Cleopatra' on two occasions (in the 1970s and 1990s).

More recently, he appeared in such films as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas.

He also has many small-screen credits to his name, in such TV series as Midsomer Murders, Waking the Dead, Silent Witness and Doc Martin, where his charismatic presence won over many viewers.

Source: The Telegraph

Taken from the forthcoming album TRANS NEPTUNIAN OBJECTS, written and performed by Ashley Dayour and Artaud Seth.

Released on 22th July: While We're young

Director: Noah Baumbach

Stars: Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver 

A middle-aged couple's career and marriage are overturned when a disarming young couple enters their lives.

WHILE WE'RE YOUNG by Noah Baumbach - TRAILER NL/FR from Remain In Light on Vimeo.

"the pain that you like" is the title of the brandnew SUICIDE COMMANDO single coming up in July. 

The new single will have Jean Luc Demeyer from Front 242 as special guest vocalist and will also include remixes by C-lekktor, Decoded Feedback, FragileChild and Pride & Fall. 

"the pain that you like" will be available in 3 different versions (a normal MCD version, as digital download and as special limited fan edition including a strictly limited vinyl version) and will be released on July 24th through Out Of Line records. 

Below you can see the previous Suicide Commando-single

Filmed among the ruins of The Crystal Palace Terraces, Transmitters is a playful and poetic ode to desire". 

Directed, shot and edited by Gary Mcquiggin of Welywyn Garden City, known for his work previously with The Pheromoans,The Bomber Jackets and Deerhoof, the film recalls James Broughton's surrealist miniature The Pleasure Garden (1957).

Using a number of the same locations, the band appear, disappear and re-appear amongst and against the modern day remains of the ruins. Mcquiggin ups the 'pleasurable strangeness' of Broughton's original with increasingly splenetic rhythmic cuts and visual non-sequiturs. 

Transmitters continues the tradition of 'the park' as a place of self-reflection and respite from urban hullabaloo, as well as a space for serious transformative experience - as seen and heard in works by artists diverse as The UV Race (Life Park), The Kinks (Village Green Preservation Society), Gary Numan (Down In The Park) and Prince (Paisley Park).

"Stylish, funny, charming - Transmitters may be a slight film but it is by no means an inconsiderable one" (reworked excerpt from the Pleasure Garden BFI DVD booklet, Jim Cook, 2009)

About Sauna Youth:

An evolving band of future humans making truly irregular punk not quite comparable to anything else. 'Weird' is a meaningless platitude, and 'art punk' is a classifier that shouldn't be required.

Having started out in 2009 in Brighton, Sauna Youth ended up moving to London and changing line up to its current constellation in 2011. Attracted to the possibilities apparent within a DIY philosophy, the band self-recorded and self-released their own music until the release of their first LP, Dreamlands on Faux Discx/Gringo Records in 2012, creating a number of seven inches, splits and cassettes. 

Comprised of Richard Phoenix (drums, vocals), Lindsay Corstorphine (guitar), Jen Calleja (vocals, sampler) and Christopher Murphy (bass), the band has naturally developed its sound in the three years since Dreamlands and is now in its ultimate form. All four members are also the band Monotony, which they formed while writing Distractions in 2014. Later in the year, they did two sessions over two days as both bands for Marc Riley on BBC 6 Music, and both Sauna Youth and Monotony were invited to play DRILL Festival by Wire. As well as playing in Monotony, members of Sauna Youth are also in the bands Tense Men, Primitive Parts, Feature and Cold Pumas.

They’ve previously played with Pissed Jeans, Thee Oh Sees, Ceremony, Ty Segall and Protomartyr and have played at both Liverpool and Oslo Psych Fests. They have plans for a European and US tour later in the year.

Upcoming shows:

Friday 5 June - The Old Baths, 80 Eastway, Hackney Wick - Album Launch

Friday 26 June - Sheffield - Audacious Space

Saturday 27 June - Grimsby - The Matrix

Sunday 28 June - Cardiff - The Undertone

Thursday 2 July - York - The Fulford Arms

Friday 3 July - Leeds - Wharf Chambers with VEXX

Saturday 4 July - Glasgow - Old Hairdresser’s with VEXX

Sunday 5 July - Manchester - Gullivers with VEXX (afternoon show)