Today, Dyi Records have announced the reissue of X-Ray Spex’s 1995 lost classic ‘Conscious Consumer’. The highly sought after album originally received a very limited CD only release in 1995 on Receiver Records in the UK and has been officially unavailable for the past 27 years. Now it has been remastered from the original master tape and will land on vinyl for the first-time ever with unpublished lyrics and original sleeve notes from the iconic vocalist Poly Styrene.
The reissue follows the recently re-release of ‘Germ Free Adolescents’ on day-glo pink vinyl and CD on 29th September via Secret Records, which was put out via Poly Styrene’s estate.
Notable for reuniting Poly Styrene with the original X-Ray Spex saxophonist Lora Logic and bassist Paul Dean, as well as featuring guitar from Crispian Mills and drums from Paul Winterhart (under their respective pseudonyms Red Spectre and Pauli OhAirt) of the band Kula Shaker.
The reissue follows the recently re-release of ‘Germ Free Adolescents’ on day-glo pink vinyl and CD on 29th September via Secret Records, which was put out via Poly Styrene’s estate.
Notable for reuniting Poly Styrene with the original X-Ray Spex saxophonist Lora Logic and bassist Paul Dean, as well as featuring guitar from Crispian Mills and drums from Paul Winterhart (under their respective pseudonyms Red Spectre and Pauli OhAirt) of the band Kula Shaker.
- 10/13/2023
- by Music Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Music
Jean-Michel Basquiat in Sara Driver’s Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years Of Jean-Michel Basquiat
In the first instalment with author, critic and artist Lucy Sante we touch on transitioning and two of the documentaries she has been interviewed for - Andrew Rossi’s The Andy Warhol Diaries and Sara Driver’s Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years Of Jean-Michel Basquiat. William Burroughs and crime novels, Whit Stillman and Steiff animals, writing lyrics for The Del-Byzanteens led us to music producer and 99 Records founder Ed Bahlman.
Lucy Sante with Anne-Katrin Titze and Ed Bahlman: “99 Records was the most perfect single-model representation of the zeitgeist in my youth.”
From there we go back in time to Ed producing and mastering Bush Tetras’ iconic Two Many Creeps (99-02), Lucy’s memories of 99 and her friendships with Pat Place and Cynthia Sley (Bush Tetras), Richard McGuire, and the late inventive photographer...
In the first instalment with author, critic and artist Lucy Sante we touch on transitioning and two of the documentaries she has been interviewed for - Andrew Rossi’s The Andy Warhol Diaries and Sara Driver’s Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years Of Jean-Michel Basquiat. William Burroughs and crime novels, Whit Stillman and Steiff animals, writing lyrics for The Del-Byzanteens led us to music producer and 99 Records founder Ed Bahlman.
Lucy Sante with Anne-Katrin Titze and Ed Bahlman: “99 Records was the most perfect single-model representation of the zeitgeist in my youth.”
From there we go back in time to Ed producing and mastering Bush Tetras’ iconic Two Many Creeps (99-02), Lucy’s memories of 99 and her friendships with Pat Place and Cynthia Sley (Bush Tetras), Richard McGuire, and the late inventive photographer...
- 9/15/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Tish Murtha, who lived a life as tough as those she shot in different eras of deprivation and marginalisation, receives a wholehearted and riveting tribute
There’s passion in this heartrending documentary from film-maker Paul Sng, comparable to his excellent earlier film about Poly Styrene, of X-Ray Spex. It is about the Tyneside photographer Tish Murtha who chronicled working-class lives in the north east in the 70s and 80s (and also those of Soho sex workers in London), earning for herself the nickname “Demon Snapper” in the papers.
She showed the reality of poverty and deprivation in communities where the misery of unemployment had been allowed to settle by the Westminster political classes who considered it a price worth other people paying for the boon of undermining trade union power. But in capturing the faces, particularly the faces of children, Murtha showed her subjects’ humour, optimism and refusal to be cowed.
There’s passion in this heartrending documentary from film-maker Paul Sng, comparable to his excellent earlier film about Poly Styrene, of X-Ray Spex. It is about the Tyneside photographer Tish Murtha who chronicled working-class lives in the north east in the 70s and 80s (and also those of Soho sex workers in London), earning for herself the nickname “Demon Snapper” in the papers.
She showed the reality of poverty and deprivation in communities where the misery of unemployment had been allowed to settle by the Westminster political classes who considered it a price worth other people paying for the boon of undermining trade union power. But in capturing the faces, particularly the faces of children, Murtha showed her subjects’ humour, optimism and refusal to be cowed.
- 6/14/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
(Welcome to Movies Are Gay, a Pride Month series where we explore the intentional [or accidental] ways Lgbtqia+ themes, characters, and creatives have shaped cinema.)
Isaac Julien might not be a household name to even the most vocally self-professed cinephiles, but he certainly should be. As an installation artist and one of the founders of the Sankofa Film and Video Collective, Julien is a pillar of Black cinema history. His breakthrough feature is the docu-drama "Looking for Langston," which focused on Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance. But it was in 1991 that Julien debuted the masterful, Semaine de la Critique prize for Best Film at the Cannes Film Festival-winning "Young Soul Rebels" which helped bring him to a wider audience.
Set during the 1977's Silver Jubilee for Queen Elizabeth, "Young Soul Rebels" is a beautiful, poetic, at times devastating coming-of-age romantic dramedy, and also a thriller about a horrific homophobic hate crime.
Isaac Julien might not be a household name to even the most vocally self-professed cinephiles, but he certainly should be. As an installation artist and one of the founders of the Sankofa Film and Video Collective, Julien is a pillar of Black cinema history. His breakthrough feature is the docu-drama "Looking for Langston," which focused on Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance. But it was in 1991 that Julien debuted the masterful, Semaine de la Critique prize for Best Film at the Cannes Film Festival-winning "Young Soul Rebels" which helped bring him to a wider audience.
Set during the 1977's Silver Jubilee for Queen Elizabeth, "Young Soul Rebels" is a beautiful, poetic, at times devastating coming-of-age romantic dramedy, and also a thriller about a horrific homophobic hate crime.
- 6/2/2023
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
Over the credits, Polite Society plays X-Ray Spex's Identity, Poly Styrene's strident vocals still as powerful almost 50 years after they were recorded. It's an apt choice, almost note perfect, and I start at the end because Polite Society is so certain in its course and headlong towards it that X must mark the spot. Why? It's a treasure.
It screened as the closing gala of Glasgow's 2023 Film Festival, and in the press showing Eye For Film caught, many of those in the audience had already seen it. As critics we don't always get the choice of what we see, but that makes it all the more important to choose what we see twice. Polite Society deserves that kind of attention, rewards it with detail, delight.
It's a début feature for writer/director Nida Manzoor. Her breakthrough work was tv-show based on a short, We Are Lady Parts. The travails of.
It screened as the closing gala of Glasgow's 2023 Film Festival, and in the press showing Eye For Film caught, many of those in the audience had already seen it. As critics we don't always get the choice of what we see, but that makes it all the more important to choose what we see twice. Polite Society deserves that kind of attention, rewards it with detail, delight.
It's a début feature for writer/director Nida Manzoor. Her breakthrough work was tv-show based on a short, We Are Lady Parts. The travails of.
- 4/27/2023
- by Andrew Robertson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Gina Birch has been creating punk art her entire life—but she’s just getting started. What could be more hardcore than dropping your first solo album at 67? She became a legend with the Raincoats, the London punk band she started in 1977, four renegade women inventing their own kind of racket. But she’s got that same rebel spirit on her new solo debut I Play My Bass Loud, on Jack White’s Third Man Records. It’s a statement of purpose, and one of the year’s freshest, funniest rock albums so far.
- 3/15/2023
- by Rob Sheffield
- Rollingstone.com
Soft Cell have teamed up with Pet Shop Boys for a new song, “Purple Zone,” along with a vibrant music video for the track. The song will appear on Soft Cell’s fifth studio album Happiness Not Included, out May 6.
The collaboration came out of a Soft Cell concert in London, which Pet Shop Boys attended. The group was initially meant to remix “Purple Zone,” their favorite number during the concert, but it evolved into a full collaboration.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with such an inspirational duo as Soft Cell on this gorgeous song,...
The collaboration came out of a Soft Cell concert in London, which Pet Shop Boys attended. The group was initially meant to remix “Purple Zone,” their favorite number during the concert, but it evolved into a full collaboration.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with such an inspirational duo as Soft Cell on this gorgeous song,...
- 3/22/2022
- by Emily Zemler
- Rollingstone.com
By Glenn Dunks
British X-Ray Spex frontwoman Poly Styrene and American pop superstar Janet Jackson are two very different musicians. It stands to reason that any biographic documentary about either would be wildly unalike. Although both artists are boundary-pushing women of colour in music, on very basic metrics, Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché and Janet Jackson. are indeed very different. One is a exploration of a punk icon’s chaotic life and early death in all of its subject’s messy, unglamorous glory. The other is a sprawling, four-part work of popumentary that venerates and celebrates with high-gloss entertainment. However, it is in the areas where these projects intersect where one project finds its strengths and the other, unfortunately, falters...
British X-Ray Spex frontwoman Poly Styrene and American pop superstar Janet Jackson are two very different musicians. It stands to reason that any biographic documentary about either would be wildly unalike. Although both artists are boundary-pushing women of colour in music, on very basic metrics, Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché and Janet Jackson. are indeed very different. One is a exploration of a punk icon’s chaotic life and early death in all of its subject’s messy, unglamorous glory. The other is a sprawling, four-part work of popumentary that venerates and celebrates with high-gloss entertainment. However, it is in the areas where these projects intersect where one project finds its strengths and the other, unfortunately, falters...
- 2/3/2022
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
Celeste Bell on her film with Paul Sng, Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché: “What we set out to do is address universal themes that we can all relate to, whether you’re a fan of X-Ray Spex, Poly Styrene, punk music or even interested in music at all …” Photo: BBC Arena
Celeste Bell and Paul Sng’s Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché (BIFA Best Independent Documentary and Discovery Award winner), co-written with Zoë Howe, with Poly voiced by Ruth Negga (Rebecca Hall’s Passing and Oscar nominated for Jeff Nichols’ Loving) features some of the most creative talent of the late Seventies, early Eighties London, including X-Ray Spex members Paul Dean and Lora Logic; Neneh Cherry, Don Letts, Pauline Black, Vivien Goldman, Ana Da Silva, Gina Birch, Thurston Moore, Youth, and Vivienne Westwood sharing their remembrances of Poly Styrene off-camera, while we see brilliantly chosen and socially...
Celeste Bell and Paul Sng’s Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché (BIFA Best Independent Documentary and Discovery Award winner), co-written with Zoë Howe, with Poly voiced by Ruth Negga (Rebecca Hall’s Passing and Oscar nominated for Jeff Nichols’ Loving) features some of the most creative talent of the late Seventies, early Eighties London, including X-Ray Spex members Paul Dean and Lora Logic; Neneh Cherry, Don Letts, Pauline Black, Vivien Goldman, Ana Da Silva, Gina Birch, Thurston Moore, Youth, and Vivienne Westwood sharing their remembrances of Poly Styrene off-camera, while we see brilliantly chosen and socially...
- 2/2/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
How do you make a documentary about your own mother? And how do you tell that story when you grew up in an unstable environment, with a fractured relationship? That’s the challenge that Celeste Bell faced when crafting “Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché,” a feature-length record of the tumultuous life of her mother, influential early punk rocker Poly Styrene.
Poly Styrene blazed onto Britain’s punk rock scene as an angry teenage cyclone, energized by the creativity and freedom of the music while she confronted racism and sexism as a mixed-race Black woman. But the glory days didn’t last long. After her triumphant entry onto the pop charts, she spent years seeking refuge from fame by joining the Hare Krishna movement while battling mental illness. Her sudden fame and challenging later years are artfully brought to life in the documentary that opens in selected U.S. theaters this week,...
Poly Styrene blazed onto Britain’s punk rock scene as an angry teenage cyclone, energized by the creativity and freedom of the music while she confronted racism and sexism as a mixed-race Black woman. But the glory days didn’t last long. After her triumphant entry onto the pop charts, she spent years seeking refuge from fame by joining the Hare Krishna movement while battling mental illness. Her sudden fame and challenging later years are artfully brought to life in the documentary that opens in selected U.S. theaters this week,...
- 2/1/2022
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
10 films on the list for low-budget independent films.
Harri Shanahan and Sian A. Williams’ documentary Rebel Dykes and Ryan Andrew Hooper’s comedy-thriller The Toll are among the 10 titles longlisted for the Discovery award at the 2021 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas).
Six documentaries make the list, including Annika Ranin and Sean Fee’s Boarders, following a group of British skateboarders on their journey towards the sports Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020. Ranin and Jasmin Morrison are also on the longlist for breakthrough producer, announced as part of the new talent selection earlier this month.
Further documentaries include Celeste Bell and Paul Sng...
Harri Shanahan and Sian A. Williams’ documentary Rebel Dykes and Ryan Andrew Hooper’s comedy-thriller The Toll are among the 10 titles longlisted for the Discovery award at the 2021 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas).
Six documentaries make the list, including Annika Ranin and Sean Fee’s Boarders, following a group of British skateboarders on their journey towards the sports Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020. Ranin and Jasmin Morrison are also on the longlist for breakthrough producer, announced as part of the new talent selection earlier this month.
Further documentaries include Celeste Bell and Paul Sng...
- 10/29/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The Linda Lindas didn’t choose punk. Punk chose them.
“When we started writing music, punk was just a given because we wanted to write whatever we were feeling,” says 14-year-old Lucia. “What we were feeling kind of came out in that way.”
“It wasn’t like we chose punk as a genre,” says Mila, 10.
“But it wasn’t like we had a hard time choosing punk as our genre either,” says Lucia. “Punk gave us a way to write anything we wanted to write.”
Lucia and Mila are sisters,...
“When we started writing music, punk was just a given because we wanted to write whatever we were feeling,” says 14-year-old Lucia. “What we were feeling kind of came out in that way.”
“It wasn’t like we chose punk as a genre,” says Mila, 10.
“But it wasn’t like we had a hard time choosing punk as our genre either,” says Lucia. “Punk gave us a way to write anything we wanted to write.”
Lucia and Mila are sisters,...
- 6/4/2021
- by Reed Dunlea
- Rollingstone.com
For a young teenager steeped in grunge, Britpop, and the Beatles, the discovery of 1970s UK punk rock was tantamount to a swift slap in the face—and a glorious one, at that. And one of the crucial pieces of pre-internet background information was England’s Dreaming, Jon Savage’s indispensable study of the era. The book is full of memorable figures—none more so than Poly Styrene. She is only a minor player in Savage’s text, but few resonate more. The author explains that “Poly was a star, with her dayglo clothes, multi-racial background, teeth braces, and surreal songs which wittily commented on that very process of consumption and packaging that she was at once celebrating and transcending.”
All of these elements and many others are represented in the long-in-the-works documentary Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché, which makes its Canadian premiere at Hot Docs 2021. The timing is apropos.
All of these elements and many others are represented in the long-in-the-works documentary Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché, which makes its Canadian premiere at Hot Docs 2021. The timing is apropos.
- 4/30/2021
- by Christopher Schobert
- The Film Stage
The X-Ray Spex singer is revealed as a mystic, rebellious working-class woman of colour in this valuable film
The siren-wail of Poly Styrene’s voice was the authentic sound of punk: derisive, subversive, yearning and romantic. No one could have been less of a cliche. This riveting and valuable documentary is co-directed by Paul Sng and the musician’s daughter Celeste Bell, and evidently structured in a similar way to Bell’s book, Dayglo: The Poly Styrene Story, published last September. Hearing X-Ray Spex again is a madeleine and an intense pleasure.
The siren-wail of Poly Styrene’s voice was the authentic sound of punk: derisive, subversive, yearning and romantic. No one could have been less of a cliche. This riveting and valuable documentary is co-directed by Paul Sng and the musician’s daughter Celeste Bell, and evidently structured in a similar way to Bell’s book, Dayglo: The Poly Styrene Story, published last September. Hearing X-Ray Spex again is a madeleine and an intense pleasure.
- 3/5/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Punk music has always been about individuality. Although skinheads and fascists have periodically tried to co-opt and homogenize the genre over its 50-year history, they have always failed, because the true spirit of punk begins with an original thought, a unique life story, and the poetic philosophies that truth is beauty and that the pomp and artifice of pop music are a distraction from expressing something deeper.
At its core, punk is the people’s rock & roll. Perhaps that’s one reason why the genre appeals more broadly than some...
At its core, punk is the people’s rock & roll. Perhaps that’s one reason why the genre appeals more broadly than some...
- 2/26/2021
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
At the height of punk in the late Seventies, Poly Styrene stood out as a true individual. Whether fronting X-Ray Spex or performing solo, she had a style all her own and seemingly boundless energy, commanding audience attention with ease. Behind the striking stage gear and formidable vocals, however, was a powerful intellect, and a lot less attention has been paid to that. Celeste Bell and Paul Sng's documentary aims to put that right, to paint a more complete portrait of this complicated individual.
Central to the quest is Bell herself - Poly's daughter, who grew up with someone very different from the public image and has spent a lifetime trying to reconcile the two. though its is in essence a chronological journey through Poly's life, the film constantly intercuts between these two aspects of identity, exploring, in the process, who she was as a creative artist. It also explores the.
Central to the quest is Bell herself - Poly's daughter, who grew up with someone very different from the public image and has spent a lifetime trying to reconcile the two. though its is in essence a chronological journey through Poly's life, the film constantly intercuts between these two aspects of identity, exploring, in the process, who she was as a creative artist. It also explores the.
- 2/23/2021
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
“Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil,” a docuseries exploring the singer’s near fatal overdose, will open the 2021 SXSW Film Festival in March, the festival announced Thursday.
Michael D. Ratner directed the YouTube Originals docuseries, which will look at Lovato’s awakenings following her 2018 overdose and her return to music. Ratner was granted unprecedented access to the pop star’s personal and musical journey.
“It’s impressive and rare to see a pop superstar tell their story so authentically and without pretense,” said Janet Pierson, director of film at SXSW. “We’re privileged to present this intimate journey told with such vulnerability. Demi Lovato’s profound interest in mental health awareness is helping change the landscape of a crucial issue in this year of national and international trauma and loss.”
Pierson added: “We are excited to share a handful of films from various sections of the festival to give you a taste of the talent,...
Michael D. Ratner directed the YouTube Originals docuseries, which will look at Lovato’s awakenings following her 2018 overdose and her return to music. Ratner was granted unprecedented access to the pop star’s personal and musical journey.
“It’s impressive and rare to see a pop superstar tell their story so authentically and without pretense,” said Janet Pierson, director of film at SXSW. “We’re privileged to present this intimate journey told with such vulnerability. Demi Lovato’s profound interest in mental health awareness is helping change the landscape of a crucial issue in this year of national and international trauma and loss.”
Pierson added: “We are excited to share a handful of films from various sections of the festival to give you a taste of the talent,...
- 1/14/2021
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
As Austin-based South by Southwest shifts online this year, the SXSW Film Festival isn’t slowing down when it comes to bringing progressive, exciting, envelope-pushing — and sometimes delightfully bizarre cinema from all over the world. The film festival will kick off with the World Premiere of YouTube Originals docuseries Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil as its Opening Night Headliner. SXSW Online kicks off on March 16 and continues through March 20.
Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil explores every aspect that led to Lovato’s nearly fatal overdose in 2018, and her awakenings in the aftermath. Director Michael D. Ratner was granted unprecedented access to the superstar’s personal and musical journey during the most trying time of her life as she unearthed her prior traumas and discovered the importance of her physical, emotional, and mental health. Far deeper than an inside look beyond the celebrity surface, the docuseries is an intimate portrait of addiction,...
Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil explores every aspect that led to Lovato’s nearly fatal overdose in 2018, and her awakenings in the aftermath. Director Michael D. Ratner was granted unprecedented access to the superstar’s personal and musical journey during the most trying time of her life as she unearthed her prior traumas and discovered the importance of her physical, emotional, and mental health. Far deeper than an inside look beyond the celebrity surface, the docuseries is an intimate portrait of addiction,...
- 1/14/2021
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
After last year’s South by Southwest was among the first major events to be derailed by the pandemic, the annual series of conferences and festivals is making its return with a 2021 online edition. On Thursday, festival organizers announced the first nine titles in its film and TV lineup, including a docuseries exploring Demi Lovato’s near-fatal overdose, a true-crime miniseries from Joe Berlinger, and Justine Bateman’s directorial debut starring Olivia Munn and Justin Theroux.
SXSW will offer an online program of events from March 16-20, with film screenings, conference sessions, music showcases, exhibitions, meetups, and other virtual versions of the annual festival’s mainstays.
The opening night headliner will be “Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil,” from director Michael D. Ratner. Like his “Justin Bieber: Seasons” docuseries, the Demi Lovato title is a YouTube Original. The series explores “every aspect” that led to Lovato’s nearly fatal...
SXSW will offer an online program of events from March 16-20, with film screenings, conference sessions, music showcases, exhibitions, meetups, and other virtual versions of the annual festival’s mainstays.
The opening night headliner will be “Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil,” from director Michael D. Ratner. Like his “Justin Bieber: Seasons” docuseries, the Demi Lovato title is a YouTube Original. The series explores “every aspect” that led to Lovato’s nearly fatal...
- 1/14/2021
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
The complicated and often ugly relationship between punk rock and racism has provided ample material for musicians, academics, and filmmakers alike. From the lyrics of The Dead Kennedys to Shane Meadows’ This is England, the genre of music has repeatedly tried to confront its unfortunate associations with white supremacy. White Riot captures a key moment in that confrontation, charting the foundation of Rock Against Racism up to its 100,000-man march against the Nazi League in 1978. A march that culminated in an open-air concert featuring the likes of X-Ray Spex, Steel Pulse and of course The Clash, playing their titular hit.
Before that though we land smack dab in the middle of London at a time when (shockingly) hostility towards immigrants and ethnic minorities was finding a following in British politics. When Enoch Powell was talking about forcing migrants onto boats and the National Front was rising in the polls. It...
Before that though we land smack dab in the middle of London at a time when (shockingly) hostility towards immigrants and ethnic minorities was finding a following in British politics. When Enoch Powell was talking about forcing migrants onto boats and the National Front was rising in the polls. It...
- 9/28/2020
- by Liam Macleod
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Two films capture the volatile climate with race relations in Great Britain during the mid-Seventies into the early Eighties: Franco Rosso’s 1980 feature Babylon, starring Brinsley Forde with a score by Dennis Bovell, and Rubika Shah's ever more urgent White Riot (2019 London documentary winner). The latter focuses on the evolution of Rock Against Racism in 1976, which led to the 1978 Victoria Park concert, featuring Steel Pulse, The Clash, Tom Robinson, Jimmy Pursey of Sham 69, and Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex.
Steve McQueen’s Mangrove, co-written with Alastair Siddons, starring Shaun Parkes, Letitia Wright, and Malachi Kirby, and shot by Shabier Kirchner, is neither of the period, nor a documentary, (as are the respective films mentioned above) and yet, it manages to convey a vivid sense of time, place, and community, plus the critical...
Steve McQueen’s Mangrove, co-written with Alastair Siddons, starring Shaun Parkes, Letitia Wright, and Malachi Kirby, and shot by Shabier Kirchner, is neither of the period, nor a documentary, (as are the respective films mentioned above) and yet, it manages to convey a vivid sense of time, place, and community, plus the critical...
- 9/26/2020
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
A new documentary, White Riot, will look back at how the punk scene in Great Britain came close to swinging to the far right, sparking a Rock Against Racism movement there in the mid-Seventies. The film will come out via Virtual Cinema on October 16th.
“We said, what we need to do is do a gig, a thing called Rock Against Racism,” one of the organization’s founders, Roger Huddle, says in a trailer for the film.
“We want rebel music, street music, music that breaks down people’s fear of one another,...
“We said, what we need to do is do a gig, a thing called Rock Against Racism,” one of the organization’s founders, Roger Huddle, says in a trailer for the film.
“We want rebel music, street music, music that breaks down people’s fear of one another,...
- 9/22/2020
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
Throughout world history, music has served as a balm for those living under oppression, as much it’s served as a tool of empowerment. The latest installment in Rolling Stone‘s new weekly playlist series, “Music at Home,” features 12 tracks honoring the legacy of global Black resistance in song. Feel free to blast these songs as you pre-game for the next protest against anti-Black violence and police brutality — or alternatively, as you direct money towards jail support and mutual aid funds from the safety of your own home.
(Find this playlist on Spotify here.
(Find this playlist on Spotify here.
- 6/6/2020
- by Suzy Exposito
- Rollingstone.com
Gender is over in Seth Bogart’s new song “Boys Who Don’t Wanna Be Boys,” which arrived with a video featuring cameos from Kate Berlant, John Early, RuPaul’s Drag Race star Tammie Brown, Jd Samson, Brooke Candy and San Cha. The song will appear on Bogart’s upcoming album, Men on the Verge of Nothing, out June 26th on the musician’s own Wacky Wacko label.
Crispy snares and guitar feedback open the punk-tinged track as Bogart sings languidly, “Boys/who don’t wanna be boys/Boys/who don’t wanna be boys.
Crispy snares and guitar feedback open the punk-tinged track as Bogart sings languidly, “Boys/who don’t wanna be boys/Boys/who don’t wanna be boys.
- 5/19/2020
- by Brenna Ehrlich
- Rollingstone.com
Louisa Mellor Oct 19, 2017
We chatted to actor Paul Kaye about playing wizards, the musical Matilda, and his move from celebrity satire to serious drama…
Main image credit: Jordan Katz-Kaye
“Bitterness, really” is Paul Kaye’s explanation of what drove his satirical red-carpet interviewer Dennis Pennis in the nineties. “I’d hit thirty, I’d sort of failed as a musician, I’d failed as an artist I felt at the time.” Ambushing Hollywood’s elite in the persona of a brash, punk nuisance wasn’t Kaye’s first choice for stardom, he admits. “It wasn’t how I expected to forge a career. Of all the things I thought I’d end up doing, it wasn’t that.”
See related 26 new UK TV shows to look out for 50 upcoming comic book TV shows, and when to expect them
Trained in theatre design, in his twenties Kaye worked as an illustrator...
We chatted to actor Paul Kaye about playing wizards, the musical Matilda, and his move from celebrity satire to serious drama…
Main image credit: Jordan Katz-Kaye
“Bitterness, really” is Paul Kaye’s explanation of what drove his satirical red-carpet interviewer Dennis Pennis in the nineties. “I’d hit thirty, I’d sort of failed as a musician, I’d failed as an artist I felt at the time.” Ambushing Hollywood’s elite in the persona of a brash, punk nuisance wasn’t Kaye’s first choice for stardom, he admits. “It wasn’t how I expected to forge a career. Of all the things I thought I’d end up doing, it wasn’t that.”
See related 26 new UK TV shows to look out for 50 upcoming comic book TV shows, and when to expect them
Trained in theatre design, in his twenties Kaye worked as an illustrator...
- 10/18/2017
- Den of Geek
London — Punk rockers once wanted to smash the state. Now they're helping preserve stately homes.
The National Trust charity, which oversees Britain's castles and historic houses, has released a fundraising album of punk classics.
"Never Mind the Dovecotes" – a play on the title of the Sex Pistols album "Never Mind the Bollocks" – includes tracks by the Pistols and other vintage noise merchants, including GBH, Siouxsie and the Banshees and X-Ray Spex.
It means Mod band The Jam – which has two tracks on the album – will sit alongside jars of jam in gift shops at the Trust's 300 properties, which range from Roman-era structures like Hadrian's Wall to ruined abbeys, medieval castles, grand country mansions and Victorian pubs.
The album is a collaboration between the trust and Decca Records, and a change from previous joint efforts such as "Celtic Collection," "Classic Voices" and "Land of Hope and Glory – Great Songs from the British Isles.
The National Trust charity, which oversees Britain's castles and historic houses, has released a fundraising album of punk classics.
"Never Mind the Dovecotes" – a play on the title of the Sex Pistols album "Never Mind the Bollocks" – includes tracks by the Pistols and other vintage noise merchants, including GBH, Siouxsie and the Banshees and X-Ray Spex.
It means Mod band The Jam – which has two tracks on the album – will sit alongside jars of jam in gift shops at the Trust's 300 properties, which range from Roman-era structures like Hadrian's Wall to ruined abbeys, medieval castles, grand country mansions and Victorian pubs.
The album is a collaboration between the trust and Decca Records, and a change from previous joint efforts such as "Celtic Collection," "Classic Voices" and "Land of Hope and Glory – Great Songs from the British Isles.
- 8/4/2011
- by AP
- Huffington Post
In tragic news, on the heels of María Isbert, Marie-France Pisier, Phoebe Snow, and Diana Wynne-Jones, punk-rock icon Poly Styrene has passed away.
Poly Styrene was born Marianne Elliot Smith in 1957, and she passed away yesterday evening after a long battle with cancer. She was a punk rocker and a feminist, as the lead singer of X-Ray Spex.
She will be missed.
Poly Styrene was born Marianne Elliot Smith in 1957, and she passed away yesterday evening after a long battle with cancer. She was a punk rocker and a feminist, as the lead singer of X-Ray Spex.
She will be missed.
- 4/28/2011
- by Superheidi
- Planet Fury
In 1976 young Poly Styrene formed X-Ray Spex after seeing the Sex Pistols perform, and became an icon of feminine rebellion. "Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard, but I think, oh bondage up yours!" she famously declared. THR reports that she died last night in her sleep at age 53, after struggling with breast cancer.
X-Ray Spex, a group of "young punks who want to stick it together," released their single "Oh Bondage, Up Yours!" in 1977. They followed up with the album "Germ Free Adolescents" in 1978 but then disbanded. Poly Styrene then went on to release a solo album called "Translucence," in 1980 before leaving the stage to become a Hare Krishna. She moved into a temple in Hertfordshire and remained there with her daughter. According to the BBC, Boy George once tried to break her out of the temple. At the news of her passing, he wrote...
X-Ray Spex, a group of "young punks who want to stick it together," released their single "Oh Bondage, Up Yours!" in 1977. They followed up with the album "Germ Free Adolescents" in 1978 but then disbanded. Poly Styrene then went on to release a solo album called "Translucence," in 1980 before leaving the stage to become a Hare Krishna. She moved into a temple in Hertfordshire and remained there with her daughter. According to the BBC, Boy George once tried to break her out of the temple. At the news of her passing, he wrote...
- 4/26/2011
- by Brandon Kim
- ifc.com
An iconic British punk singer, Poly Styrene, born Marianne Elliott-Said, has died after a battle with spine and breast cancer. She was 53. "We can confirm that the beautiful Poly Styrene, who has been a true fighter, won her battle on Monday evening to go to higher places," read a statement on her Twitter. In 1976, Styrene formed X-Ray Spex after watching the Sex Pistols perform.Their song "Oh Bondage, Up Yours!" was released from their debut album, Germ Free Adolescents, in 1978. The BBC has a full obituary here NPR has a great recent piece on her here Marianne released a solo album, Generation Indigo, just last month.
- 4/26/2011
- by April MacIntyre
- Monsters and Critics
Tuesday brought sad news for punk rock fans with the death of former X-Ray Spex singer Poly Styrene. Flagrant music lovers Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie shared what she meant to them, both as a music icon and performer with a punny name.
The flip-side of authority in the U.K. continued to trend in conversations as well, though, with Mark Millar and Paul Grist sounding off about the British royal family and their ensuing wedding. Read on for jabs, queries, and "Doctor Who" and "The Killing" criticism.
I'm @brianwarmoth, and this is the Twitter Report for April 26, 2011.
Poly Styrene pt. 1: @kierongillen Rip Poly Styrene. Her voice meant more than a tweet can hold. X-ray Spex made me feel invulnerable and fragile simultaneously.
-Kieron Gillen, Writer ("Phonogram," "Thor")
Poly Styrene pt. 2: @McKelvie Poly Styrene. There was a pun name. None of this Perry Farrel business. Rip.
-Jamie McKelvie,...
The flip-side of authority in the U.K. continued to trend in conversations as well, though, with Mark Millar and Paul Grist sounding off about the British royal family and their ensuing wedding. Read on for jabs, queries, and "Doctor Who" and "The Killing" criticism.
I'm @brianwarmoth, and this is the Twitter Report for April 26, 2011.
Poly Styrene pt. 1: @kierongillen Rip Poly Styrene. Her voice meant more than a tweet can hold. X-ray Spex made me feel invulnerable and fragile simultaneously.
-Kieron Gillen, Writer ("Phonogram," "Thor")
Poly Styrene pt. 2: @McKelvie Poly Styrene. There was a pun name. None of this Perry Farrel business. Rip.
-Jamie McKelvie,...
- 4/26/2011
- by Brian Warmoth
- MTV Splash Page
London (AP) — Poly Styrene, the braces-wearing singer who belted out "Oh bondage, up yours!" with the band X-Ray Spex, has died at the age of 53. Styrene, whose real name was Marion Elliott-Said, had been suffering from cancer. A statement on the singer's official website and Twitter feed said Tuesday that "the beautiful Poly Styrene, who has been a true fighter, won her battle on Monday evening to go to higher places." Boy George was among those paying tribute on Twitter, writing, "Oh bless you Poly you will be missed! Legend!" X-Ray Spex released just one album, 1978's "Germ Free...
- 4/26/2011
- by Jill Lawless (AP)
- Hitfix
She lived the punk ethos every day of her life and in doing so changed the face of music. Poly Styrene, aka Marianne Elliot Said, the British punk rock icon whose dissonant rebellious yelp as the lead singer of '70s outfit X-Ray Spex cut through an era of conformity and influenced countless musicians, has died. She was 53. According to a statement on the Spex website, Styrene passed away peacefully in her sleep after a battle with breast cancer on Monday evening. Born on July 3, 1957, in the London borough of Bromley to a British legal secretary and a Somali-born aristocrat, this biracial girl ran away from home at age 15 and hitchhiked around various music festivals. After stumbling upon...
- 4/26/2011
- E! Online
Singer Poly Styrene (Marian Joan Elliott-Said), best known for her work in the iconic punk band X-Ray Spex, died today from breast cancer at 53. From Dangerous Minds:
Poly upended every stereotype of the female rock and roll front person. She looked like an innocent school girl but when she opened her mouth she had a soul searing wail that made John Lydon sound like a squealing mama’s boy with his dick stuck in a zipper. Poly had one of the greatest punk rock voices in all of rock and roll. From banshee to wounded vulnerability, Styrene emoted with a range far beyond her worldly years. Within this child-woman was a fierce siren drawing liars and fools to crash upon the rocks of her uncompromising feminine power. Feminist? I don’t think so. That’s a label that Poly would find too limiting. Poly could, like Walt Whitman, claim “I am large,...
Poly upended every stereotype of the female rock and roll front person. She looked like an innocent school girl but when she opened her mouth she had a soul searing wail that made John Lydon sound like a squealing mama’s boy with his dick stuck in a zipper. Poly had one of the greatest punk rock voices in all of rock and roll. From banshee to wounded vulnerability, Styrene emoted with a range far beyond her worldly years. Within this child-woman was a fierce siren drawing liars and fools to crash upon the rocks of her uncompromising feminine power. Feminist? I don’t think so. That’s a label that Poly would find too limiting. Poly could, like Walt Whitman, claim “I am large,...
- 4/26/2011
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The former X-Ray Spex frontwoman, real name Marianne Elliott-Said, opened up about her breast cancer diagnosis earlier this year (11) but sadly passed away on Monday (25Apr11).
A statement posted on her official Twitter feed reads, "We can confirm that the beautiful Poly Styrene, who has been a true fighter, won her battle on Monday evening to go to higher places."
The rocker formed her band after watching the Sex Pistols perform on her 18th birthday and X-Ray Spex gained a place in punk history with their album Germ Free Adolescents and hit track Oh Bondage Up Yours!
Following the release of her solo album Translucence in 1980, Poly Styrene stepped out of the spotlight to join the Hare Krishna movement, occasionally re-emerging onto the music scene. She released her third solo album, Generation Indigo, last month (Mar11).
Boy George has led the tributes to the star, writing on his Twitter.
A statement posted on her official Twitter feed reads, "We can confirm that the beautiful Poly Styrene, who has been a true fighter, won her battle on Monday evening to go to higher places."
The rocker formed her band after watching the Sex Pistols perform on her 18th birthday and X-Ray Spex gained a place in punk history with their album Germ Free Adolescents and hit track Oh Bondage Up Yours!
Following the release of her solo album Translucence in 1980, Poly Styrene stepped out of the spotlight to join the Hare Krishna movement, occasionally re-emerging onto the music scene. She released her third solo album, Generation Indigo, last month (Mar11).
Boy George has led the tributes to the star, writing on his Twitter.
- 4/26/2011
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
Poly Styrene has revealed that she is battling cancer. A statement on the official website of the former X-Ray Spex singer confirmed that she is "currently undergoing various treatments" in a bid to beat the disease. "It comes as a huge shock to all those who know Poly Styrene," the statement read. "She is devastated that she cannot commit to any live dates at this stage, but her album remains a very positive force in her current journey." Poly said on Twitter: "It's been a bit of a battle fighting this cancer but hey ho I'm still alive, Luv Poly x (sic) "Hoping & praying (more)...
- 2/23/2011
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
Poly Styrene has unveiled the tracklisting of her upcoming solo album. The Youth-produced record from the former X-Ray Spex frontwoman is titled Generation Indigo and will be released on March 28, NME reports. Poly recently released the one-off seasonal single 'Black Christmas'. The track 'Thrash City' is available to stream on her official website now. The full tracklisting of Generation Indigo is as follows: (more)...
- 1/14/2011
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
DVD Playhouse—July 2009
By
Allen Gardner
Do The Right Thing: 20th Anniversary Edition (Universal) Spike Lee’s groundbreaking fable about race relations in an ethnically mixed Brooklyn neighborhood during a sweltering New York summer remains as potent, timely and prescient as it was in 1989. Lee is among the cast, which also includes John Turturro, Danny Aiello, Samuel L. Jackson, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and Rosie Perez (to name a few), that provide the tableaux-like framework for this stunning work. Criminally ignored by Oscar (it wasn't even nominated for Best Picture, but did garner nods for Supporting Actor Danny Aiello and Lee’s screenplay), it endures as a timeless classic. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by Lee, Ernest Dickerson, Wynn Thomas, Joie Lee; Documentary; Deleted and extended scenes; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround.
Coraline (Universal) A young girl moves into an old Victorian house with her parents...
By
Allen Gardner
Do The Right Thing: 20th Anniversary Edition (Universal) Spike Lee’s groundbreaking fable about race relations in an ethnically mixed Brooklyn neighborhood during a sweltering New York summer remains as potent, timely and prescient as it was in 1989. Lee is among the cast, which also includes John Turturro, Danny Aiello, Samuel L. Jackson, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and Rosie Perez (to name a few), that provide the tableaux-like framework for this stunning work. Criminally ignored by Oscar (it wasn't even nominated for Best Picture, but did garner nods for Supporting Actor Danny Aiello and Lee’s screenplay), it endures as a timeless classic. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by Lee, Ernest Dickerson, Wynn Thomas, Joie Lee; Documentary; Deleted and extended scenes; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround.
Coraline (Universal) A young girl moves into an old Victorian house with her parents...
- 7/14/2009
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.