Atonauer — Ocean In A

Atonauer is the most recent project from Finnish polymath, Lauri Wuolio, and the first offering, Ocean in A, is a minimalist triumph that stands out among electronic drone works of late. The title of the release — combining an earth element with a particular note — recalls Terry Riley’s seminal In C (1964) and A Rainbow in Curved Air (1969), though Atonauer’s really makes use of the water motif. The work as a whole feels submerged in a dark expanse, absent any native light source. The sea is also transit, marking the transatlantic journey between Finland and New York, where the bulk of Ocean in A was recorded.

Matador — Matador( Blu Ray & UHD)

Matador is a darkly comic erotic thriller from director Pedro Almodovar (The Skin I Live In, Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down and Volver). Released in 1986 the film stars Almodovar favourite Antonio Banderas (The Mask of Zorro, Desperado and Interview with the Vampire), Assumpta Serna (The Craft, Wild Orchid and The Shooter), Nacho Martinez ( famous for his voice actor work on the Spanish dubs of 1984, Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein), Eva Cobo (Armour of God II, The Legend of Wisely and Pasos) and Julieta Serrano (Women on the verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down and Dark Habits)

Mancunian low-budget Movie Mogul

Cliff Twemlow On Severin

One of last year’s real big surprises in the world of Blu-ray box sets was Bloody Legend: The Complete Twemlow Collection, as it was a wholly entertaining, fascinating, and at times heart-warming set. The Severin released boxset brought together the work of one of the UK’s unlikeliest movie moguls- Cliff Twemlow, a Mancunian bouncer/ body builder, who went on to write/star in/produce a series of low-budget/ largely SOV films in the early 80s to early 90s- these moved between action, thriller, sci-fi, and horror. His most notable/notorious film was 1983’s G.B.H., which landed on the video nasty list, though he was connected to other ten feature films, many of which got their first real full/proper release on the boxset. Opening up the set was the excellent 2023 documentary Mancunian Man: The Legendary Life of Cliff Twemlow, which really pulls you into the set. I caught up with Severn’s David Gregory and Jake West, director of Mancunian Man, to discuss the boxset and all things cliff.

Repetitious History - A Quick Trip Into The World Of The Fall

The Fall

MES( Mark E Smith- The Falls main creator) possessed the ability to cram phrases into impossible spaces - “I’m hunting and I’m trying to find” delivered as “hut’na tryna find”; the eight-syllable “mere pseud mag editor’s father” hastily squeezed into a manipulation of time and space, heralded by the prior line “twice each at least”, the latter naturally repeated thrice.