End Of Time Review: Part 1

It was the beginning of the end for the Tenth Doctor in the first episode of the two part End Of Time story, not only was it David Tennant's last outing as The Doctor, it was also head writer Russell T. Davies final story before handing over to Steven Moffatt.

The End Of Time sees The Doctor's arch rival The Master (John Simm) returning from the dead, which sees the start of The Tenth Doctor's regeneration into the Eleventh Doctor however this time The Master has come back more insane and more powerful than ever, meanwhile The Doctor has been summoned by the Ood and has been told of a coming 'darkness' and 'the end of time itself' so off he goes on one last trip on the TARDIS to confront his age old enemy this time teaming up with Donna Noble's grandfather Wilf (played by Bernard Cribbins).

The End Of Time had been built up as a bit of a dark, scary story but to in all honesty, Davies can't write dark stories, he litters his script with too many lighter moments (such as The Doctor meeting up with The Silver Cloak a group of pensioners Wilf enlists in finding The Doctor) these moments sort of see-saw through Davies darker or more serious script moments i.e. he'll have one scene which has a serious tone to it and then in the next scene Davies will lighten the tone, very rarely combining the two but when he does, it comes off very well and natural.

However, Russell T. Davies excels at character moments, the dialogue between The Doctor and Wilf in the cafe is fantastic you really get the sense that both characters feel defeated, Wilf, by the realisation that he is the only person on Earth who can remember the nightmare the entire universe is having and The Doctor, by the prophesies that have been foretold to him as well as the knowledge of his impending death. Bernard Cribbin's is fantastic as the companion for this episode and it is interesting to see him act as a sort of fatherly figure to the 903 year old Doctor.

The scenes between The Doctor and The Master are also well written especially with The Master's constant ramblings, which John Simm makes completely believable and so flawlessly switches from his insane ramblings to his need for The Doctor to hear the sound of the drums. Simm's maniacal Master is a lot more powerful this time round but he is a man without purpose until the climax of the episode where he creates his 'Master Race'. It's here that Russell T. Davies brings about not one but three chilling cliffhangers involving The Doctor's former travelling companion and Wilf's granddaughter, Donna, the aforementioned 'Master Race' and the revelation of another, more familiar race watching from the sidelines led by former James Bond actor Timothy Dalton, all of which should make for an entertaining if not sad ending to the two-parter on New Year's Day.

Five For Friday 9

There have been quite a number of tracks which have been fighting for dominance inside my brain this week and as such its been a little bit difficult to condense it into five tracks but here they are.

5. Deadmau5 ft Rob Swire- Ghosts 'n' Stuff

There is something hauntingly melodic about the synths, add that to the synth laden vocals from Pendulum's Rob Swire and the pounding bass drums creates an often repetitive yet cool dance tune.

4. Miyavi- Shiawase Nara Te Wo Tatakou

If the song sounds familiar, then it probably is as it's the Japanese version to If You're Happy And You Know It sung during a live concert, while it's difficult to follow along to it's interesting to hear a well known children's song sung in a different language by a serious musician.

3. Aimee Allen- Save Me

Originally a song for Unwritten Law (which Allen co-wrote with her then boyfriend Scott Russo) the song was a little more rocked up compared to this laid back acoustic version, which really suits Allen's husky vocals.

2. Lady Gaga- Alejandro

Compared to her singles, this track isn't as bombastic or OTT, it's a simple love song. The beat has an exotic flavour, over the electro beats. It's as though this song is about a foreign, forbidden love although it seems as though the song is about Gaga being caught in a love square, though she really likes this Alejandro guy...

1.Miyavi- Jikoai, Jigajisan, Jiishiki, Kajou(Intsrumental)/Selfish Love

The first thing that struck me from this track is the opening instrumental Jikoai, Jigajisan, Jiishiki, Kajou which combined Miyavi using the acoustic guitar in its natural form as well as using it as an percussion instrument almost simultaneously, before using a single drum and his acoustic guitar to produce a simple rhythm for the country inspired Selfish Love.

Artist Spotlight: December- Natccu

Welcome to my Artist Spotlight, every month on my World Tour show (Sunday's 4-5pm KCC Live) I select an musician or band and play tracks from their discography, and on this blog I'll be writing about the artist or musician in question. This month's Artist Spotlight is Natccu from Japan.

Described by her website as a 'singer and a songwriter, but not a singer-songwriter' (which doesn't make much sense but hey its a free world) Natccu (pronounced na-chew) plays the guitar on most of the tracks from her debut album (called Sketchbook) her music genre has been described as a mix of Rock, Japanese Pop and Jazz, at live shows she is accompanied by a second guitarist, a bassist and drummer. Her website also features several of her songs available to listen to as does her Myspace.

I mentioned seeing Natccu in my blog about Japanese bands coming to play during the Liverpool Sound City Festival and I was impressed by her performance, and was able to get a seven track E.P from her, the E.P really shows versatility in this artist. The bouncy, bass laden first track Apple Z were the guitars screech under Natccu's vocals is very different from the balladesque Crescent Moon which is sung in English (a Japanese version of which, Kagen No Tsuki also appears on this E.P as the) the song sounds like The Goo Goo Dolls Slide but at the same time shows that Natccu can evolve her style from a pop punk genre to a soft melodic rock sound, shifting gears to a guitar heavy track like third track Calendar.

Randoseru Salaryman is another track which have a strong bass line but also has some synth sounds, while the guitar isn't as heavy in this track it fills the strong presence Natccu leaves behind when she isn't singing. Her track Hakushon! Bless You features sci-fi guitar sounds over a bounding beat, while her vocals switch between English and Japanese at a drop of a hat adding spontaneity to her style, perhaps this is where the Jazz influence comes in, though the sixth track on her E.P Tareta Cosmos has a back room jazz feel to it despite the wavering Japanese vocals which change their pattern from a soft spoken style to an intense growl that really throws the empthasis into the word she is singing.

Natccu has toured the UK three times, she first toured in October 2008, before returning in May this year and finally again in July, she is currently playing a few dates in Japan and hopefully is planning on releasing a second album.

World Tour changes time and day

My World Music show, Beard's World Tour will no longer be broadcast on Fridays, it will now be part of the Sunday afternoon schedule at KCC Live from 4pm, I'll still be playing music from all over the world, the first Sunday show will include a Japanese artist's remix of his own song, some French electro music, a live track from a Cuban music group, some Indian Rock Music and also December's Artist Spotlight (Natccu) hope you can listen to some boss world music with no adverts to spoil the mood.

Paul Du Noyer and Comics

For those of you who are unaware as to who Paul Du Noyer is, he is an author and a journalist and has been an editor for magazines such as NME and Q and has helped launch magazines such as MOJO, Heat and The Word. He has written books such as We All Shine On, Liverpool: Wondrous Place and his latest book In The City: A Celebration of London Music. He was at the Cornerstone Festival at Liverpool Hope University as part of Food For Thought and was in conversation with Gobshite Miscellany's Paddy Hoey last week commenting on the difference between the Liverpool and London music scene specifically how London's music scene was geared more towards a narrative while Liverpool's music scene went in the opposite direction being more surreal.

During the course of the hours conversation Paul offered ideas and theories about how the music from the cities had evolved from the positions the two cities had been in, such as the newstellers in ye olde London telling the public what was happening in the capital and how modern artists continued that trend by informing people about modern London life while Liverpool's past was linked to immigration and how they weren't able to move on and so music became the only means of escapism.

Now I know what you're thinking; "How does a conversation about the difference in two cities music scenes relate to comics?" The answer is it doesn't however after listening to the conversation last week I began thinking about other examples of two parallel scenarios and that's when I came up with the comics analogy.

Right now I would compare the two major comic book companies Marvel and DC in this scenario Marvel is like London in its storytelling, it goes from one story to the next with little or no break in between and likes to ground itself in realism while DC is like Liverpool it has a tendency to delve into the surreal and provides an escapism from reality.

Marvel has become an expanding media empire intent on making money from digital comics, motion comics and its own films. Du Noyer said that the musicians moved to London primarily to reinvent themselves and to make money from that reinvention and Marvel has set about doing that, at the beginning of this century Marvel were practically bankrupt but by launching the Ultimate comics range they retold their popular characters origins to a new audience which sparked a reintrest in the core Marvel titles and their flagship title is now New Avengers, because it features Marvel's most popular characters Spider-Man and Wolverine. Marvel also likes to constantly reinvent its status quo's giving its universe a more unified front from the registration act that came from Civil War to the mistrust in Secret Invasion and now it is a place where the Green Goblin is in charge.

While DC is notorious for its constant reinvention with it's Crisis's resetting certain status quo's, it is akin to Liverpool's music scene as it isn't widely recognised or played up, much like Liverpool's reluctance to play up the popularity of The Beatles. DC has had sleeper hits with The Sinestro Corps Wars which ran in the Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps books in 2007. DC's storytelling is less decompressed than Marvel's allowing for stories to be told in an finite number of issues such as Batman and Robin's three issue story arcs. It has also led to surreal narratives such as Grant Morrison's use of channel-zapping which he explained as:

"With Final Crisis and especially with issue 7, I’ve been working towards this storytelling technique I’m calling channel-zapping comics. Why spend a page on a scene when you can press all the same buttons with a single loaded panel? Why waste readers’ time on every mind-numbing detail of story when you can blitz them with the good bits and move onto the next thing?"
Grant Morrison- talking to comic foundry http://comicfoundry.com/?p=1693

While there is no right or wrong way about writing music or creating comics, everyone has their own preferences, I admit to enjoying the sounds of Liverpool's music as the lyrics don't necessarily have to mean one thing, but I also enjoy the progressive story London musicians tell with their lyrics and music. However the same can't be said for comics, right now I find the escapist vibe DC has in it's stories much more appealing than Marvel's constant reinvention mainly because Marvel spends less time examining its status quo before moving on to it's next one, mainly because of the decompressed stories it's writers tell. But that's something for another blog.