Not a Cocker-up
Britpop legends Pulp have delighted the press and fans alike with a triumphant comeback show in Barcelona – their first in over a decade.
The abrupt and irresistible nature of the announcement that Jarvis Cocker has reformed the band, who were responsible for seminal hits ‘Common People’ and ‘Disco 2000’, has prompted excitement and pessimism in equal measures, a point the band themselves appear to have been attuned to in their teasing of the crowd with a projection reading, “Is this a hoax?” onto the closed curtain obscuring the stage prior to the gig.
When the group finally took to the stage, however, fans were rewarded with a career-spanning set which saw Cocker climb the stage rigging and jump into the crowd with a miniature camera in order to capture a marriage proposal on the big screens. Here’s hoping the band can channel this recaptured energy into new material soon.
Gil Scott-Heron passes away
Known perenially as the ‘Godfather of Rap’, poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron died this week after years of press speculation about his health.
Scott-Heron, who grew up in Chicago, Illinois, first came to prominence through his spoken-word tracks featured on the album Small Talk, a work best known for the political composition ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’. The style of these tracks was deeply influential on the hip-hop and rap genres, and have led to comparisons with Bob Dylan.
Known as an incredibly gifted documenter of difficult and often desperate times, Scott-Heron’s legacy will stretch far into a hardly stable-looking future.
Scarlett’s Massive ‘A-track’
In a move that represents her second major foray into the music business (following the release of her 2008 covers album Anywhere I Lay My Head), Scarlett Johansson has agreed to team up with two-piece electronic outfit Massive Attack on a collaboration track that will appear in an upcoming Mexican thriller.
The song, a cover of George Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’, will be one of a number of renditions of the jazz standard to appear in Dias de Gracia, which is comprised of three segments, each scored by different composers including Nick Cave and Atticus Ross. Whereas certain sections of the score have been described as “visceral and primal”, others are “quiet and sophisticated” – though Vision can only hazard a guess as to which section Scarlett’s track will feature in, we’re betting that her soothing voice won’t soundtrack a car chase.
Still Courtney-ing controversy
As if anyone had been under the impression that she had gone away, Courtney Love has resurfaced in the headlines in recent weeks as a result of a lawsuit brought against her by a law firm that only recently represented her in court.
Gordon & Holmes, a firm that had been fired by Love after they requested that she refrain from substance abuse while the case was ongoing, cite recent Tweets alleging that the company had been paid off by the former Hole-frontman’s enemies as evidence of libel on the singer’s part.
In a resounding victory for taste, Ms. Love has also been causing a stir recently with claims about the size of her late husband Kurt Cobain’s endowment, taking pains to let an interviewer know that he was “f*cking well hung”. Classy as ever.