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Review: Speakers’ Corner performed by the Queen Mary Theatre Company, written by Ste Curran and Rob Howells.

Ste, Rob and Ann from One Life Left have a play. It’s tight, sharp and witty, packs an awful lot into 45 minutes, and features some pretty awesome performances. Just Gabriel’s smile at the end is absolutely spot–on perfect, for example. It’s about good and evil, and people, and things that matter, and if that doesn’t appeal for some reason there are hott girls kissing too.

I give it 3 out of 4 angels, obv.

If you’re in Edinburgh this week, you still have two (count ‘em!) chances to see Speakers’ Corner. Don’t waste them! It’s completely brilliant.

For the first time in a week or so, I was up early enough this morning to watch some telly. Including Brian McFadden and Leann Rimes’ new video for their song Everybody’s Somebody.

It’s amazing. Via a sequence of startling cameos, a series of unlikely people are revealed to be incredible. A shaven–headed youth in a T–shirt. Spraying graffiti and beating up old people I thought, but no! He rescues kittens. A smug guy in a suit — drug dealer? Heartless businessman? No, he teaches people to read. A black woman training to be a doctor? Why that’s crazy talk.

Gosh, Brian McFadden and Leann Rimes! You’ve really made me reconsider the inconsiderate and ignorant way I look at the people I encounter every day! You’ve completely shattered my biased expectations!

Except that no. No, you haven’t. What you’ve done is to patronize anyone unfortunate to hear your insipid music and view your mawkishly–shot video with a set of imagined prejudices so feeble you could only have topped it by flashing an “OMG! NOT A SUICIDE BOMBER!” caption under footage of some random Asian shopkeeper. Only somebody who has lived the most sheltered of lives could find their naff examples even remotely remarkable. And it looks like an advert for fucking Microsoft or something.

Everybody’s Somebody (on YouTube) is a terrible music video for an awful song. Here are some awesome music videos so you can see how it ought to be done.

Not really a Review: Low at Koko, July 26th.

Performing Things We Lost In The Fire as part of ATP’s Don’t Look Back 2006 season. And being totally sweet. I’ve never really made lists of my favourite things before but I now have a list of favourite gigs. So far it has this on it, at the top, and that’s it. They were that good.

Koko is a fantastic venue and I was right at the front. And on the way home a drunk got his head trapped in the doors of the Northern line. Which could have been awful, but everyone pitched in to prise them apart and he seemed all right, so I guess laughing wasn’t that bad.

Photos here.

Review: Farewell Kingdom, Dream’s End Come True and The Lie Lay Land — World’s End Girlfriend.

Japanese post–rock. Sounds a bit like Venetian Snares meets 90s demo scene music meets, er, whoever did the music for Taito’s platform games in the 80s. Or like a giant made out of synthesizers beating a video arcade to death as a string quartet plays for it a requiem. Or like a lullaby.

It’s pretty amazing.

Noble got this all the way from Tokyo in a week without even one of the little CD–holding tabs breaking off, joining the ranks of excellent foreigners showing up British record shops who often can’t manage the same from just down the road in less than a month without breaking all of them.