Candid 1994 documentary about iconic, sexually dysfunctional artist
Granted he has been off most people's radar for a generation, but surely the creator of Off The Coast Of Me, the man without whom there would be, arguably, no Prince, and, unarguably, no Andre 3000 (imagine "Hey Ya!" as a Kid Creole comeback smash in a parallel world), deserves better than the horrible, cheap, synthetic horns and bargain basement drum machines which dominate and desecrate this new album. Or perhaps not.
First released in CD form in 1992, Fragments Of A Rainy Season marked a crucial, pivotal point in the life and career of our greatest living Welshman. After years of alcohol and drug addiction had turned his life into a full-blown shambles, Cale swapped whiskey and cocaine for regular games of squash and full-time commitment to parenthood in the early '90s. Far from blunting his creative edge, sobriety and responsibility appeared to free him up to take greater risks in the studio, and brought the kind of focus that enabled him to hone his live act down to something like perfection.
The timing of this show is somewhat odd, coming as it does nearly a month before the release of Malin's second album, The Heat. The audience doesn't know the new songs and Jesse chides them for their reserve when he plays the unfamiliar material. He admits it's his own fault, though. The album was meant to be out now, but was delayed when he added two extra tracks.
DIRECTED BY Richard Linklater
STARRING Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy
Opens July 30, Cert 15, 80 mins
Released in 1995, Richard Linklater's Eurodrama Before Sunrise was a charming holiday romance, a post-grunge Brief Encounter. Reuniting the same actors/characters nine years on, this sequel feels more like a Lost In Translation for the Middle Youth generation, with the same tone but higher emotional stakes.
