STACK NZ Summer #70

REVIEWS BEST OF

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DVD of the MONTH

THE MARTIAN After being stranded on a planet in another universe in Interstellar , Matt Damon again finds himself as an astronaut cast away, albeit this time closer to home. Left behind on the Red Planet after his shipmates are forced to make an emergency lift-off, Damon is faced with the predicament of how he’s going to survive – and more importantly, to contact NASA to arrange a rescue mission. It’s his optimistic outlook, resourcefulness and determination to “science the sh*t” out of his dilemma that makes The Martian so damn entertaining. This is an atypical Ridley Scott movie: the spectacle and detail is present and correct, only this time there’s also a sense that the director knows he’s making a big, crowd-pleasing sci-fi blockbuster; it feels more like a Ron Howard film than one from the man who gave us Alien and Blade Runner . The Martian is more than just Robinson Crusoe on Mars without the monkey – like Saving Private Ryan it never lets us forget that “the mission is a man”. A survival story that celebrates the endurance of the human spirit without the obligatory spoonful of sugar, it’s got all the right stuff. Scott Hocking

Out on February 3

David Bowie

ALBUM of the MONTH

Although we had almost half a century of the unexpected from the late David Bowie, few – if any – could have anticipated his remarkable new album , AKA Blackstar . What we now know was Bowie’s farewell statement bears no resemblance to its brittle and abrasive predecessor The Next Day of three years ago, and scant reference to anything in his vast catalogue of diversity. Perhaps its closest reference point might be the stuttering electro-shivers of FKA twigs, except Bowie is more musically ambitious, and deploys jazz musicians to paint in the widescreen subterranean bass and astonishing drum work from players who shift emphasis and tempo. At times it’s as if Bowie has called up the spirits of jazz musicians like Don Cherry and Ornette Coleman, but brought in an academy-trained drum’n’bass crew and taken them on a left turn into art music. Some of the seven songs have appeared previously: the 10 minute, shapeshifting title track which opens the album and moves from a claustrophobic mood over skittering drums through languid sax and onward; Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) , was on 2014’s Nothing Has Changed collection, however this new, more aggressive version has splinters of guitar piercing it; and nd its B-side on a 12’’ ‘Tis A Pity She’s a Whore has also undergone a revision for Blackstar . But none of these prepare you for the breathtaking scope of Bowie’s musical and lyrical vision here. The extraordinary final song I Can’t Give Everything Away (with a tellingly lengthy pause before the final word) sounds the closest to anything he’s done previously – a little of his Wild is the Wind vocal from Station to Station as filtered through a melody akin to Psychedelic Furs’ Sister Europe – but in truth this is all new territory. And what’s he on about on Blackstar ? Themes of alienation, religion and fear abound, but close reading isn’t rewarding because it sounds like he’s using the cut-up method. But with his passing just days after the album’s release, you can pick up many references to death, notably on Lazarus – such a telling title – where the opening lines are, “Look up here, I’m in Heaven...”. Graham Reid

Out Now

SUMMER EDITION 2016

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