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Panic Dots

REVIEW: ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE

Directed by Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath

The word “evil” is bandied around too readily these days. When someone resorts to using it, as abhorrent as the actions or behaviours they’re describing are, I think it’s all too neat a summary. When you dismiss something as “evil”, you stop all analysis. You don’t need to think about it anymore, it is what it is and there’s no need to try and understand it. I don’t think this is a healthy habit for a society to get into. If you don’t analyse the circumstances that lead to the so-called act or acts of evil, how do you expect to avoid them re-occurring?

All of this ran through my head as I watched Enemies of the People, a documentary about Thet Sambath, investigative journalist for the Phnom Penh Post, and a man who has dedicated ten years of his life to tracking down some of the people responsible for the mass executions during the Cambodian Khmer Rouge regime. When he finally located them, he began the painstaking process of gaining their trust and respect. Then he gave them the opportunity to confess.

It’s clear that this is a very personal journey for Thet, as he tragically lost members of his family during the atrocities. If this was a Hollywood movie, I’d be safe in the knowledge that justice would be served. Thet would no doubt find a black market arms dealer at some point during his search, stock up on artillery and take out these terrible men and women, one by one, in a flurry of bullets before returning home to his wife and kids, ready to live the rest of his life in the peace only revenge can bring. And no one could fault him for that. However, the motivation behind Thet’s quest is far nobler than petty revenge, and he has reaffirmed my faith in humanity.

The empathy Thet shows towards everybody he interviews, from the foot soldiers who carried out the executions in the notorious killing fields, to Nuon Chea (aka Brother Number Two – Pol Pot’s second in command), allows us to see just how far one man’s capacity for forgiveness can stretch. By allowing these people to confess, he’s not only dealing with his own grief, he’s offering them a chance at salvation.

Subject matter aside, the documentary is beautifully shot and Daniel Pemberton’s score adds to the haunted atmosphere of the Cambodian countryside. Despite their harsh beauty, you are never left in any doubt that the paddy fields drenched in sunshine are actually the mass graves of a lost generation.

Final Thoughts

This is not an easy watch. It takes a certain amount of commitment to be able to sit through this documentary, and it’s extremely difficult to feel the same compassion that Thet shows his interview subjects. Like all documentaries it helps a great deal if you’re already interested or familiar with the subject matter. However, for anyone unaware of the tragedies that occurred in Cambodia, Enemies of the People is a great, if somewhat harrowing, starting point.

4/5

Moneytree + Wayter at The Old Blue Last

When I walk into the downstairs bar at the Old Blue Last I’m met by the usual Wednesday night crowd you’d find in any local up and down the country, so I order a pint, pull up a table and wait until it’s time to go upstairs. I’m not expecting it to be a busy night, but then I’ve not been here before so what do I know?
I can still hear the soundcheck drifting down the stairs, but I know better than to watch the first band set up – there’s nothing quite like it to ruin the illusion. I hang around downstairs, guarding my table from the huge surge of people that have just walked in through the Pub’s front door. Then, quick as a flash, they all disappear upstairs, and I desperately run after them, realising there’s a real chance I’m going to miss the start of the first band’s show.

The venue is packed out, and I can just about see the whole band from the little corner of space I tuck myself into beside the bar.
First off, Wayter don’t sound anything like I expected. Well, that’s not entirely true – from where I was standing, the bassist was blocked from view and he looks VERY much like the band sound. Singer and guitarist Eddie lulls the crowd into a false sense of security with his mellifluous vocals, then slaps everyone into submission with a primal scream ripped straight from the depths of the blackest soul. The contrast is amazing, and Wayter’s look, sound and crowd hark back to the days when gigs weren’t just another excuse for a fashion parade: these people are here to listen to good music, loud music, their music. The band works well together as a unit, dirty bass and drums doing an excellent job of driving the songs forward, and there’s a moment during one of the tracks when Juan and Dan, the guitarist and bassist respectively, pull off a stunning display of synchronised pedal work, both hitting their marks with pistol like precision. They’re definitely ones to watch for 2011, and I personally can’t wait for the 6th December when they release their debut single – Cheese Sandwich.

Gin Panic pull off a capable performance, but I feel they may have been let down by some sound problems, as I’ve heard them perform a lot better under different circumstances. Still, there’s very little not to like about these guys.

Finally, Moneytree appear on stage to perform the third part of The Great Indoors triptych. They’re joined by a special guest Anja McCloskey, on accordion and keyboard.
There’s a definite prog feel to these guys, each song pushing their instruments to the very limit, then dramatically shifting in tone and tempo, presumably to keep everybody on their toes. The tunes look as fun to play as they sound, and there’s a definite groove in the air, complimented by the bands confidently cheeky engagement with the crowd in between songs. They even manage to keep us all entertained with a bit of banter while the guitarist changes a string. Everyone absolutely laps up the set, and when they’ve finished I’m sure I see them shifting more than a few copies of The Great Indoors Part III.

REVIEW: The World According to Russell Brand

If you don’t like Russell Brand, then you might as well stop reading this right now. In fact, you should probably question why you even clicked on this review in the first place. It is, after all, about The World According to Russell Brand, his new DVD.

I must confess that I am a self-hating Russell Brand fan. I tried for so long to despise the man. I mean, look at him. He’s the epitome of everything that’s wrong with the current trend of dressing up in alternative garb without putting in the hours scouring record shops for out of print punk albums, or lurking in the darkest corners of metal clubs and generally looking at everything through a prism of nihilistic cynicism. No? Just me then.

He’s a raver who decided to reinvent himself when day-glo stopped being fashionable.

He’s the kind of man who will spend a grand at All Saints ensuring all of his clothes look like they were picked out at a vintage charity shop.

But, he is funny.

That being said, I haven’t a clue why this DVD even exists. When a comedian has been around for 20 years or more, then it makes sense to release a Best of compilation. But Brand has only really been around for 5 years, and in that time he hasn’t really built up enough material to warrant a “best of”. They haven’t even included any of the material from his latest show, “Scandalous”. It’s just segments of his first two stand up shows spliced together with excerpts from his TV show, Ponderland, with rather annoying transition cards (that I’m sure take up at least a 5th of the run time) in between each clip.

Final Thoughts

I’m not sure who this DVD is marketed towards. If you already like Russell Brand, then you’ve probably already seen this material and own at least one of his DVDs. If you don’t, then this isn’t going to change your mind. And if you’re thinking of introducing someone to the whimsical wonder that is Brand, then just buy them one of his other DVDs. His jokes work a lot better within the context of his live show, and feel a bit lonely and lost when they’re left to fend for themselves.

I still laughed, though.

2/5

REVIEW: Stewart Lee

There’s nothing quite like the toilets at a comedy club to fill you with abject disgust. While the urine soaked floor laps at my trainers I realise I don’t care; I’ve been a big fan of Stewart Lee’s since the days of Fist of Fun, so I would happily wade crotch deep through a WWI latrine just to catch him on stage.

As I look at the audience, it amazes me how much tweed there is on display, and I formulate a theory about Lee speaking to a generation that desperately wanted to rebel, but were pampered into submission by a sycophantic media and resigned to accept the path of mediocrity and suburban ennui set in stone for them since birth. Then somebody tells me it’s press night, and I feel like a bit of a dick. I’d be lying if I told you the guitar stand and rickety stool on stage didn’t fill me with a sense of dread. Surely he won’t have cause to use either of them? The front of house makes the two-minute call, and there’s still a queue at the bar. Bloody journalists.

The show is one of the most technically brilliant comedy sets I’ve had the pleasure to watch. Lee takes his deconstructionalist approach to comedy to the nth degree, signposting gags with visual cues, breaking down the elements of comedy until they’re stripped bare for all to see, giving the audience a post modern take on the classic stand up format. The show is also a big two fingers up to some of the critics who complained that he “doesn’t have any jokes”. Like a red rag to a bull, Lee inserts a number of truly awful gags into his set and tears through the repertoire of a legion of modern popular stand ups, really testing the audience’s knowledge of current comedy trends. While he doesn’t always mention the comics whose style he has decided to reduce to dust by analysis, he is a capable enough mimic, taking on the rhythms of speech, posture and, most important of all, subject matter, for the audience to know EXACTLY who he is talking about. His is not just a criticism of his contemporaries, but of us, the audience, for allowing these phoneys to become as popular as they are.

The audience is slightly unresponsive to a lot of Lee’s new material – at some points in the evening, only a third of the audience reacts. Lee uses this to his advantage, alienating the journalists who haven’t laughed, blaming them for the lack of atmosphere caused by their inability to understand his genius. If this sounds like a diva strop, it’s because that’s exactly how Lee is hoping to be perceived, and it’s these self conscious and completely purposeful tantrums that elicit the loudest laughs from the crowd. While they may not laugh at the right cues, the audience are definitely on his side.

At the end of the performance I mourn the fact that Stewart Lee isn’t as popular as he should be, but then I don’t think he’d be happy with the superstar status that’s afforded to people like Michael McIntyre. To quote the man himself:
“If you didn’t laugh at that last bit, it’s not for you. Go and watch Jack Whitehall. Don’t ever come back”.

PS – he did end up using the guitar. And the rickety stool.

You can catch Stewart Lee’s new show, Vegetable Stew, at the Leicester Square Theatre until December 18th.

Work:Ethic

Interview with Max Schaefer

As first novels go, Max Schaefer’s ‘Children of the Sun’ is refreshingly controversial. Most writers would shudder at the prospect of making their central character a committed fascist, especially considering today’s political climate and the rise in popularity of Nick Griffin and the BNP.

To make that same character a closeted homosexual reveals a depth of literary ambition that is lacking in a lot of contemporary authors. While he doesn’t share their penchant for stylistic punctuation (or lack thereof), Max’s style is reminiscent of Brett Easton Ellis and Irvine Welsh, sharing their ability to capture the idiosyncratic language of his characters while tackling subject matter that would leave a foul taste in even the most liberal readers mouth. I can’t wait to read his next novel.

Max’s passion for research is evident, with skinhead magazine articles and newspaper cuttings spanning three decades pasted in between each chapter of the novel, so it’s not a complete surprise when he asks me to meet him at the British Library. While I’m almost certainly positive he isn’t, I am still fairly worried that I may have arranged an interview with a fascist sympathiser. After spending five minutes chatting with him, I realise I couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Click here to read full interview.

Interview with Dr Max Pemberton

Before I met Dr Max Pemberton, author of “Trust me, I’m a Junior Doctor”, its follow up, “Tell me where it Hurts” and columnist for the Daily Telegraph, I expected some hardened veteran Doctor, with a thousand yard stare to send chills down your spine.

Here was a man who wasn’t afraid to tell the rest of the world how utterly out of his depth he felt during his first year as a Junior Doctor. Not only that, he didn’t give a shit if his bosses or the government didn’t agree with his opinions or the way he portrayed the NHS.

When I was a kid I always thought that being grown up would somehow feel different. There would be a certain feeling of authority that would suddenly develop in me around my early twenties leaving me feeling in control of every situation. To date, this has not happened, so I still find myself considering other people to be “grown ups”. Like firemen, or Lawyers.

But especially Doctors.

When I turn up at his flat in The Barbican it turns out Max is a bit of a laugh, candidly honest about everything and more than willing to talk about subjects that would usually result in most interviews coming to an abrupt halt.

Click here to read full interview.

Interview with Ex Libras

Anyone who’s followed Ex Libras’ exploits making “The Shed” on their blog, Guerilla Movements, must have been impressed by their determination. Using their 3 meagre salaries they’ve assembled a creative space they can use whenever they want at no extra cost. It’s there that I had agreed to meet them.

Making the long journey across London, I have another chance to listen to their debut album, “Suite(s)” and it strikes me just how well suited it is to commuting. As I walk through the hectic crowds then sit among the faceless passengers on the tube it reminds me of how lonely life in London can be surrounded by thousands of people. Ex Libras’ blend of guitar/synth electronica somehow captures this perfectly. After listening, you’re left with a feeling of emptiness, but that’s no criticism. It’s like looking out over a desert plain as it disappears into the horizon. The album can be hard to dip into, but when taken in one sitting the experience can be quite euphoric, albeit tinged with a heavy dose of melancholy.

Ex Libras are Amit Sharma (guitar and vocals), Kieran Nagi (keyboards) and Ross Kenning (beat maker and bass guitar). Their live performances are something to behold. All 3 push the capabilities of their instruments to the limit of what can be achieved in a live setting, creating vast soundscapes with an array of samplers and drum sequencers. There are no pre-recorded loops: everything is sampled live on stage and then activated by triggers throughout the set. The crowd soon becomes completely submerged by Amit’s sweeping angelic vocals, while Ross and Kieran create an intricate backdrop of heavy beats and brooding synthesizer.

When I meet Ross, my guide for the evening, he asks, “You don’t have a problem wearing a blindfold on the way to the shed, do you? Only one other person has ever seen our studio”.

I laugh, but I’m not entirely sure whether he’s kidding or not.

Click here to read full interview.

I Want One Of Those.com

sWaP Mobile Phone Watch

Cast out your mobile phones (but keep the SIM card, it’s quite important) and get ready for a new dawn in mobile technology. The sWap Watch has arrived.

For too long the mobile phone has dominated the landscape of techno communications, while the trusty watch was left alone on the bedside table, gathering dust while we, its selfish masters, gallivanted from meeting to meeting, keeping time with our trusty pocket sized PDA’s. The mobile phone heartlessly usurped the watch of its fundamental duties but the ‘sWap Watch’ is out for revenge and will not stop until the mobile phone has gone the way of the Sun Dial and the Dodo.

The tables have now been turned. The sWaP Watch doesn’t just double as a mobile phone – it’s like having a multimedia centre strapped to your wrist, and all without the crushing shoulder strain.
Want to check your emails? Surf the internet? Listen to music? Take Pictures? Watch a movie? MAKE a movie? It does ALL of these. It’s in danger of completely eradicating boredom, revolutionising every minute of your day into a potential fun zone. The next time you’re stuck on the train you’ll just need to check out the 1.5 inch screen on your wrist for an instant fix of entertainment that’ll turn your commute into a pleasure cruise rather than a chore. The memory card slot allows you to insert a Micro SD card to upgrade the 512MB on board memory to a whopping 2GB. With all that memory you’ll have no problem storing all the MP3s and movies you’d need for a short jaunt.

If you really get bored (and with this watch, it’s hard to see how you could) you could even check the time (from one of the many different watch faces stored in it’s memory) or make a phone call. The watch will accept most SIM cards, so upgrading is hassle free and making calls couldn’t be simpler – just plug in the hands free kit and you’re good to go. If you really want to go one step beyond and banish those pesky wires along with your mobile phone then you’ll be ecstatic to hear that the watch is Bluetooth compatible. You won’t even have to fork out for the headset, as it’s included in the package.

This may just be the last gadget you ever need to buy. The future has arrived and it’s a wristwatch.

Kelvin Multitool Kits

Tough tools! We love them, but it can be a bit of a pain lugging your overstuffed tool box halfway across town to help your long-suffering dad to put up some shelves, especially when the Kelvin Multitool has everything you need. It’s a staggeringly simple concept – one tool with everything you need to do daily DIY tasks, from putting up those shelves for your dad to hanging some pictures to banging in some errant nails. Basically, all you could want for the ‘around the house’ sort of stuff you have to do on a Saturday. So that means a screwdriver with 16 different heads, spirit level, tape measure, hammer and an LED torch for when you need to work in those dark nooks and crannies – and a magnet for picking up all those pesky screws you might drop (essential for the more butterfingered amongst us).

The main advantage of this little beauty is exactly that – its littleness. As much as they look cool you don’t actually need half of the electric tools you own (unless you happen to be redesigning your kitchen and bathroom from scratch) so why not jettison those unnecessaries and settle with the Kelvin? Almost any household task can be made a heck of a lot easier with this pocket-sized aggro-saver. It’s available in pink, too, so girls can use it just as much as boys (don’t worry folks, it’s ironic sexism). Every job requires the right tool and the Kelvin Multitool gives you them all in an easy-to-carry package.

Rovio WiFi Robot

The perfect robot should make your life easier (as opposed to those evil robots who just want to hurt things) and the Rovio WiFi Robot fits the bill perfectly. Rovio allows you to be in two places at once without having resorting to the inconvenience of time travel, so when you’re away on business you can still keep up with the kids. His base is equipped with 3 omni-directional wheels, so he’s easy to manoeuvre around the house (though he does share the Dalek’s weakness for stairs) and the head-mounted moveable camera can be adjusted remotely to sit in 3 different positions. If that isn’t enough, he also has an inbuilt speaker and microphone, so you can watch, listen and speak to your family or friends from half way across the world controlling your robot alter ego on your laptop, PDA, phone or Wii.

If the Martians had used this robot when they started the war of the worlds we’d all be speaking . . . well, whatever language they speak on Mars. They’d probably have had to install a smaller version of the heat ray on him as, thankfully, he’s weapon-less and he can’t really hover (he can’t hover at all, if we’re honest). But as looks go the Rovio isn’t a million miles away from the design used in the original 50′s film. We’ll leave it up to you to decide whether that’s cool or terrifying.

You won’t be able to stop yourself playing with your new robot buddy and you’ll use up a lot of battery power. This won’t be a problem at all as once you’ve set up the charging dock all you need to do is push a button and the Rovio will roll into the charging cradle for some well earned rest and a re-boost, all thanks to the TrueTrack ™ navigation system. This is all thanks to the TrueTrack™ navigation system that uses the infra-red beacon on the side of the charging dock to let the robot know exactly where he is. For anyone who aspires to create a futuristic household, Rovio will bring you one step closer to your dream.