Cat Power - Dark End of the Street

A mountain of expectation always builds up when news arises of a new Cat Power EP. Dark End of the Street (release date 9th December 2008) offers a collection that crosses the pond to cover the Pogues, goes back to the Sixties for Creedence Clearwater Revivial's "Fortunate Son," and explores classic Motown with interpretations of Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin.
Another cover album that proves much can be done and appreciated when a beautiful voice interprets excellent songs. The a me of the album comes from James Carr's soul classic many a times been covered before.

I've been loving you too long (Otis Redding) grows on you like mould on camembert.

Small things like these just make life a little more interesting.

Cat Power
Dark End of the Street EP
Release Date: December 9, 2008
Label: Matador Records

Estoril Film Festival

14th to 22nd of NOVEMBER

"...The Competition section focuses on the quality of European cinema. For the Out of Competition section, geographical boundaries are banned, thus showing what the cinematographic world has best to offer on a technical and artistic level..."

This time up for grabs (hopefully) is the mentioned before.. CLAIRE DENIS film 35 rhums - November 19th 19.30h.

Saudade

another great picture with a message... wish I'd been the one with this imagination!

missing my mum, dad, sister, friends, family, pets, anything really.. .just makes you think how great thing are when they're there...

CLINIC - Tomorrow (Do It)

quoting Tindersticks

In his last LP, out November 3rd 2008 "Quinze Chansons", Vincent Delerm quotes Tindersticks.

In "Je pense à toi" a posh, frenchy "Tindersticks" can be heard.

...Ou bien on va au bord de l'eau
Je pense à toi
Ou bien on dort dans un bureau
Ça ressemble à quoi
D'accoupler dans un sac plastique
Peter Falk et les Tindersticks...

go figure...

35 Rhums (Claire Denis)

Claire Denis' latest film was screened in Venice during the last week of August this year and once again grabbed (some) of the critics' likes. For some odd reason or another it was rejected to enter the competition (both in the Venice film festival and in Cannes).

Shane Danielsen writing in indieWIRE had to say:

"magnificently directed, faultlessly performed, alert to the beauty and mystery of commonplace things."

The Plot
A father and his daughter live together in a Paris apartment. He is a train driver; she works in a fast food restaurant. They are perfectly happy together, settled in a routine of comfortable domesticity. Upstairs lives a man who is hopelessly in love with the daughter, and across the courtyard lives an older woman, a taxi driver, who pines for the father. These four players, and the cat's-cradle of their relationships, define the world of the film, which, though intimate, never feels circumscribed. On the contrary, it teems with life and detail (for which, credit must also go to her longtime cinematographer, Agnes Godard)."

Photography by Agnes Godard's

Music by Tindersticks

Friends of great talent

Another great picture taken with a simple Sony DSC-80. It was chosen among hundreds as one of the top 10 pictures taken during a photography marathon (I Maratona Fotográfica da Fábrica da Pólvora) organised earlier this year. The remaining nine photographs will be published online soon. On November the 16th these pictures will be present in the exhibition entitled "Exposição de Fotografia Água" in Edifício 51 da fábrica da Pólvora.

United States of America elects it's 44th President

A global advertising agency - Grey New York , released a striking image (referred to as 'Obamccain') on the night before the elections with the the following message: "Let the Issues Be the Issue".
Grey New York's Chief Creative Officer had to say: "This is a non-partisan image. We wanted to address the race issue straight on. And it cuts both ways. If you're hopping on either candidate's bandwagon solely due to the color of their skin, you're voting for the wrong reasons."
It seems like voters did put aside all evident differences between the Senators and voted blindly.

The final results dictated:
Obama - 364 Electoral votes (270 needed to win)
McCain - 163 Electoral votes

Due 2009 - Nine (Rob Marshall)

Another film to wait for, next year, is Nine, directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha). Based on the 1982 Tony Award-winning musical of the same name and with an excellent cast (Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Penélope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, and Fergie - yep... BEP lady), Nine is bound to be a winner.

Go Fergie!
Rumor has it that Fergie is battling to put on weight (especially on her skinny legs) for her upcoming role in the film - a prostitute named Saraghina. Apparently, the singer/actress was told to pack on a load of pounds, and is currently rehearsing in Britain before shooting the first scenes.

Fergie had to say: "I actually love (British food). I was actually told to gain weight for the film so I've been eating everything - anything and everything. That's why I am covering up except for my legs because they never gain weight and that's the only part that never changes but everything else is covered."

Tindersticks to play in Portugal come February

During the month of February of the coming year, Stuart Staples, David Boulter, Neil Fraser and accompanying musicians (namely on the strings) will come back to, this time, play in an appropriate hall - Casa da Musica (Porto). The band last performed in Portugal in August this year at a summer festival (Sudoeste) to present their latest album "The Hungry saw" with the following setlist:
Introduction
Yesterdays
The Flicker
Otherside
If you're looking
Say Goodbye
Travelling Light (MPF of the evening)
Hungry Saw
Her (another of MPF's)
Mother Dear
Boobar
The Turns We Took

anxiously awaiting...