LOU REED

  New York poet, a noise drone guitar innovator, that droll, drawling voice, capable of harsh, cynical anger and truthful, courageous intimacy, one of the very best. He made interesting, rewarding records till the end- Junior Dad is a monumental last song- but these are the seminal works in a magnificent career; Velvets albums 1,2,3,4, Transformer, Berlin, Metal Machine Music.

UNDER THE SKIN

 This is a startling film. Entrancing, buzzing, with unusual, hostile imagery, left over from Birth's echoes. Sharper, more focused than the book, a younger cousin to Deathwatch, perhaps. Dark, vulnerable star, gritty humour of Glasgow life, coexisting with a forbidding, internal isolation.

MEMORABLE FILMS

       Before Midnight- tough side of the familiar romance. Mud- elegiac, humane, a yearning to belong. Stories We Tell- emotive but sharp. Like Someone in Love- featherlight with a peculiar, barbed wit. To the Wonder and Me and You- delightful, two masterful directors play airy chess with their minds. What will happen with Top of the Lake? Fascinating characters, strange situation.

CAPTIVATING BOOKS

 The Richard Burton Diaries, All That Is, American Dream Machine and The Friedkin Connection.

KEVIN AYERS

 Oh! wot lovely records these are; Joy of a Toy, Shooting at the Moon, Whatevershebringswesing, Bananamour.

ENLIGHTENED

 The funniest and most touching television series I've seen in sometime, really refreshing. Oscars? Amour, Zero Dark Thirty, The Master and Silver Linings Playbook are all powerful films and totally unalike. Intrigued to hear Bowie's comeback album and yes, The Strokes might be fun.

GREAT STREETS

http://www.gepettosongs.com/