Classic Pop April 2019

DVDS AND BOOKS

PET SHOP BOYS

INNER SANCTUM
X2

★★★★★

SUEDE

THE INSATIABLE ONES

BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT

★★★★

TRACEY THORN

ANOTHER PLANET:

A TEENAGER IN SUBURBIA
CANONGATE

★★★★

PAUL ‘SMILER’

ANDERSON

MOD ART

OMNIBUS PRESS

★

Given the fact that the Pet Shop
Boys spent the fi rst fi ve years of
their career completely ignoring
the prospect of playing live,
they have since gone on to
become one of music’s most
exciting in-concert draws,
renowned for their approach
to presenting
their music in live
settings – as at
home performing
to hundreds
in a sweaty
nightclub or tens
of thousands
in stadiums, as
proven by the
shows presented
in Inner Sanctum,
the memento of
the duo’s most
recent jaunt.
Shot over two nights in July
2018 at London’s Royal Opera
House, two years after the
production debuted there before
spanning the globe, Inner
Sanctum documents Pet Shop

Boys’ latest extravaganza, once

again encompassing music,

theatre, art and contemporary

dance. The setlist seamlessly

comprises tracks from the Super

and Electric albums alongside

fan favourites (In The Night)

and classic hits, many of

which have been

given the remix

treatment (the

addition of two

CDs of the audio

from the show

is a welcome

addition).

The Inner

Sanctum set is

completed by the

inclusion of the

band’s Rock In

Rio show from

2017, an addition that

only serves to illustrate the

versatility of a band whose

live spectaculars are second

to none – regardless of the

audience they’re playing to.

Mark Lindores

If Brett Anderson’s sublime

autobiography Coal Black

Mornings left you fuming by

ending just as Suede was taking

off, The Insatiable Ones, a DVD

made with the full co-operation

and input from the band, will

defi nitely complete the story.

Following

the band’s

successes and

troubles through

interviews, archive

footage and a

mass of video

shot by drummer

Simon Gilbert in

the studio and

on the road, the

fi lm is a brutally

honest depiction

of Suede’s entire

trajectory. From its inception

at college, to stratospheric

success in the early 90s –

setting the stage for what

would become Britpop

(something Anderson describes

as being “like giving birth

to some awful child”) and

inevitable fall.

With past and present

members (Bernard Butler is only

featured in archive footage)

speaking candidly about the

myriad of personal problems

that beset the band, including

grief, addiction

and breakdowns,

Mike Christie’s

fi lm doesn’t gloss

over anything

and strikes a

balance between

being honest

and revelatory

while remaining

respectful.

With a wealth

of footage

of the band

recording its albums as

well as behind the scenes of

video shoots and album cover

shoots, The Insatiable Ones

really is a concise portrait of

one of the defi ning bands of

its era. ML

As anyone who has read
Tracey Thorn’s debut memoir
Bedsit Disco Queen, her
various newspaper/magazine
pieces, or the lyrics that she
has delivered in her trademark
plaintive style
over the past 40
years will know,
she possesses a
talent for taking the
humdrum banality
of everyday life
and making it
sound utterly
enthralling.
In Another
Planet: A Teenager
In Suburbia, Thorn
revisits her teenage
diaries and
hometown of Brookmans Park
to examine how growing up
in nondescript suburbia,
where culturally signifi cant
movements such punk impacted
almost as an afterthought,
shaped her creativity.

Tales of “Gary’s green Ford

Cortina” and the excitement

of “going with Liz to get her

ears pierced” perfectly evoke

a humdrum existence which

forced many to seek solace in

music, TV sitcoms

and pop mags.

While the teen

isolation and

soul-searching

are universal

themes that all of

us can relate to,

Another Planet is

also remarkably

candid, honest and

moving when it

comes to Tracey’s

relationship with

her parents.

Contrasting with fl ashes of

her subsequent life and success,

the book is written in the clean,

self-deprecating style which has

ensured that one of pop’s most

unique, original voices is now

also a literary one. ML

Hot on the immaculately

shod heels of the recent fanzine

collection Modzines, the

celebration of all things

Mod continues with the

beautifully illustrated

Mod Art. Having established

himself as something of an

authority on Mod

culture with his

indispensable

Mods: The New

Religion in 2014,

Paul ‘Smiler’

Anderson’s latest

tome continues to

shine a light on a

subculture that has

seeped into all

aspects of music, fashion,

art and fi lm over the past

six decades.

Covering the late 50s and

Swinging London of the 60s,

to the revisionist glory days of

Cool Britannia in the 90s, Mod

Art bristles with Anderson’s

obvious passion for his subject,

detailing at length Mod’s

impact on the liberalism of the

Swinging Sixties and how it

played a major role in bringing

black R&B and soul music to

the masses.

Expanding on how the roots

of the 60s scene infi ltrated pop

culture throughout

the next three

decades, the

book is fi lled

with interviews

with key fi gures

such as artists,

photographers,

writers and

musicians, all of

which are brought

to glorious life thanks to a

treasure trove of photographs,

illustrations, reproduced concert

fl yers and adverts and famous

and infamous record sleeves.

A celebration of an important

facet of music, art and fashion

combined, Mod Art is a hugely

enjoyable trip. ML