Byzantine indeed

My brother just forwarded me this review of last night’s Mogwai concert in Glasgow.

Other than Radiohead, who arguably draw on a broader palette, Mogwai are the only British band of any size to push at the limits of what is possible with guitars. Three guitars, in fact – churning deliriously as the monstrous riff of We Are No’ Here, one of two new songs making its debut, rolls inexorably forward, conjuring the kind of grandeur only done justice by the word “byzantine”.

Whining nation

Prozac Nation (imdb | rotten tomatoes) first screened at the Toronto Film Festival back in 2001, just days before the 9/11 attacks. The film, though it won all kinds of critical kudos for Christina Ricci and Jessica Lange, got repeatedly delayed and eventually buried in a can by Miramax. It finally crept out to cable in the spring and to DVD in the last few months.

It probably should have stayed in the can. As good as Ricci and Lange were, the movie was flat out boring, and Elizabeth Wurtzel was a spectacularly unsympathetic character. They did a great job of making us hate her, though unfortunately I think we were meant to feel sorry for her.

Blech.

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Last night, before we saw the movie, we went over to CBGB’s place for some pie. Not just any pie: two pies from a certain store up north, which I’d been pleading for here. They very nicely brought back a steak & mushroom pie for dinner and an apple crumble pie for dessert, and shared both with us. The steak & mushroom pie wasn’t at all mushroom-ridden, so I liked it just fine. And the apple pie I’ve known and loved previously. Add to that a drink or two (including some really good dessert wine, which I seem to have developed a taste for), and the walk to the theatre was much needed.