Friday, 30 July 2010

Imagine no new artists, just endless re-releases

As revenues crash, record labels are opting to repackage classics by Lennon, Hendrix, and others, rather than invest in new artists. Fiona Sturges wonders where it will all end
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Saturday, 24 July 2010

Brian Cox: 'If they pay me a lot of money, I'll do the film, and if they don't, I won't'

Brian Cox is both Hollywood's favourite rent-a-baddie and a titan of the stage. Pretty good for a man who considers himself 'little me from Dundee'. Interview by Fiona Sturges
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Friday, 23 July 2010

Imelda May: Queen of rockabilly takes centre stage

Ahead of her slot at this weekend's Womad festival – and two years after her blistering breakthrough – Imelda May talks to Fiona Sturges about the rocky road to success
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Tuesday, 6 July 2010

Swearing: When a curse can be a blessing

There's nothing like a spot of precision swearing on TV. It may not be big, says Fiona Sturges, but it can be clever
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Sunday, 4 July 2010

Stay the night: Belle Tout Lighthouse, Beachy Head, East Sussex

This former lighthouse, with its £1.4m overhaul, left Fiona Sturges feeling on top of the world
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Friday, 25 June 2010

Where are the women to rock the music industry?

Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen and Florence Welch have towered over pop music in recent years. So why, asks Fiona Sturges, does the backstage arena remain almost entirely dominated by men?
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Thursday, 24 June 2010

The great rock'n'roll swindle

Glastonbury is the worst offender, but many other supposedly family-friendly events are charging sky-high prices. By Fiona Sturges
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Friday, 18 June 2010

Book review: Shadowplayers by James Nice

James Nice's history of Factory Records begins at the end, with the death of its principal founder Tony Wilson from cancer in 2007
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Monday, 7 June 2010

I'm sorry they haven't a clue

The same few hackneyed comedians keep cropping up on TV panel shows. Fiona Sturges doesn't see the funny side
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Wednesday, 2 June 2010

Music review - Natalie Merchant, Brighton Dome

It's not often that a gig is set in motion by the click of a slide projector but then we have come to expect something more from Natalie Merchant, the 46-year-old singer-songwriter who has long left behind the folk-pop proselytising of her 10,000 Maniacs days and settled into her role as a solo artist of rare maturity and depth
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Friday, 28 May 2010

It's only rock'n'roll but are you prepared to die for it?

As Ian Curtis is remembered 30 years after his death, Fiona Sturges looks at the myth of the tortured artist and asks why fans reserve their reverence for the stars who suffer
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Monday, 24 May 2010

Circolombia: Urban, Freerange, Brighton

Circolombia are a youth troupe from Cali in Colombia who met at the Circo para Todos ("Circus for All") school, a collective set up by the British ex-circus performer Felicity Simpson in order to get adolescents from deprived backgrounds off the streets.
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Friday, 21 May 2010

Sarah Blasko - The star from down under

Sarah Blasko, the daughter of missionaries, has three top-selling albums in Australia but has struggled to be heard in the UK. Her latest album has changed that. She talks to Fiona Sturges
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Wednesday, 19 May 2010

Theatre review - Electric Hotel, Brighton

In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, a helpless James Stewart glimpses the goings-on in the opposite apartment block, his relentless curtain-twitching leading him to conclude that a murder has been committed
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Tuesday, 11 May 2010

Theatre review - I, Malvolio, Pavilion Theatre, Brighton

A man stands in a horned headdress and sagging, stained undergarments. His shoulders droop, his limbs hang as if dragged downwards by invisible weights and his face is clouded with defeat. "I am not mad," he murmurs, and sets about making the case for his defence.
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