2005 THE SlAR-GAZER 5.
Music Editor MARK ROBERTSON foresees the return of some familiar lights. But alongside the McEwans and Cartier—Bressons. he is also predicting the rise of younger talents Natalie Portman and lvl.l.A.
remcmher hearing a song on the .lohn l’ecl
show ahout ten _vcars ago called "l‘he liuturc
Is Not As (iood As It l'scd To Be“. It was delivered in a creep_v monotone h_v a deranged American stoner moaning ahottt how 'Ill-hour work weeks and ever_vone speaking esperanto' never quite happened. We can't he right ever} time we give you a name we‘ve seen in our crvstal halls hut we can tell _vou what we are looking toward to ourselves.
Some things are a sale het. Beck is one ol
them. lle's set up a steadv pattern ol llappv alhum/sad album since ‘l.oser~ made him everyone's l‘avourite shamhling l‘olktronic love god. With each passing alhum however. from (Me/av to .llululions. the har has heen set l‘urther skyward. His newie is reputed to he funk}. it not quite to the extent of the perilouslv punked—up l’rince trihute that was .lIn/nirc lit/lures. hut somewhere in that general direction. We onlv have to wait until March to find out exactlv where.
It’s eas_v to he hlase ahout getting loads ol' tree ('l)s in the post. hut it‘s not. it‘s great. liv'erv morning is like (‘hristmas and the worst that can happen is more socks and no PlayStation. However. it‘s only once a month that something will arrive which gives vou goosehumps. A single h)’ M.I.A. called ‘Sunshowers‘ was one such heast. Like drum and hass hut lunkier. like a vocal grimev garage tune hut saltier. like pop but hetter.
MIA. is .\lava Arul. a London-hased. Sri Lankan horn singer and producer. ller dehut album will surface in the New Year and initial whispers are cotnparing it to 'l‘rickv‘s dehut. thl.\'ill('(/ll(l_\'(’. Here's hoping it lives up to the billing.
Ian McEwan is far less ol’ an unknown quantity. Alter the lite—changing .-\Iml(‘n1('lll. .S'ulimluv arrives in l5ehuarv. Here he takes on tribal politics. glohal disharmony and personal freedoms in one day. hopet'ullv' filling it with the emotive and descriptive power that has hitherto made him such an unnervinglv good read.
Meliwan's hooks excite me in the same vv'av as Cartier-Bresson photographs do. the) capture singular moments ol~ truth. Cartier-Bresson died
last .-\ugust aged ‘5 and the retrospective ol his work coming to the Dean (iallerv in .\ugust will hopelullv he a lilting epitaph.
.'\s lilting epitaphs go. the one lot' (ieorgc Lucas. el'l'ot'ts on the Star llill'v trilogv should he 'surelv _vou can do hetter than that male." .\ltcr a patch} lirst and then a spraw ling second episode which threw up more questions than the_v ever answered. it's up to the third instalment Revenge of the Sith to tie up more loose ends than the onl_\ loose end Iver in town during the loose ends season. The auguries are hopelul with lilm getting into the meatiest plot line ol them all
how Darth Vader got his helmet. .\lore e\citing however is the lad that appal'entlv l.ucas wowed movie e\ecs earlier in lelH with a lightsaher ducl soundtracked h} .t\('/l)("s 'liack in Black‘ making hov s. I mean. men ol' a certain age quiver with e\citemcnt. llow ev er. the lilm is unliker to live up to the collossal e\pectations which have somehow survived the last two
‘NATALIE PORTMAN WILL BEGIN TO LIVE UP TO HER “NEW AUDREY
HEPBURN" TAG'
disappointments still intact. lt mav he titne to rein them in and enjov the final spectacle l‘or what it is.
(‘oming-oli—agc metaphors ahound now that the ol‘ten—tipped Natalie Portman has linished her ps_v cholog_v degree at Harvard and completed some weightier roles. l’ost—graduation. there‘s parts in Garden State and Closer which will lav to rest memories ol' the cheruhic child star from Leon. ller perl‘ormancc in ('lovcr as an apparentlv unhinged stripper is particularlv worth checking out. Despite her association with the Slur lliu'v l'ranchise. in Ztltlfi l’ortman will hegin to live up to the ‘new .-\udre_v llephurn tag she's heen hlcssed with So l'ar she has parts in the (‘oen Bt'tllllel'si epic I’d/iv ./(' l/t-I/le‘ Lllld is appearing opposite ()w en \\'ilson in Hip Sum/av: .’\t 23. her future is now as good as it was alvva_\s supposed to he.
Revenge oi the Sith
SEPTEMBER
Venice Film Festival All the films that thin". premiere in Edinburgh Doors Open Chance to see some of tne CCLll‘lil‘yS hidden exteriors and architecture
OCTOBER
Glasgay!
Bi Bi W ri '
9 g o d .. .
NOVEMBER
’ Guy Fawkes Night
Fiddlefest : -
DECEMBER
THE LIST 29