JOHN GREEN surveys the remarkable career of screenwriter Malcolm Hulke and the essential part played by his membership of the Communist Party
An absolute ramshackle treat
JAMES WALSH happily capitulates to a master of DIY depression and despair
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Last Breath, Sister Midnight, Opus, and The Electric State
HENRY BELL is moved by the account of scientists under seige in Leningrad who preferred to starve rather than sacrifice their life-saving work
RUTH AYLETT recommends two anthologies: one that bears witness to refugee and immigrant experiences, and the other to our political relationship to water
SETH SANDRONSKY appreciates a fresh take on a 100-year-old novel that helps to contextualise the current moment of conspicuous wealth, waste and climate chaos
A no-nonsense ex-Garda female cop, Scandi-noir’s newest flawed hero, the lure of Aussie gold, and unexpected decency in Silicon valley
JAN WOOLF doubts that soft-core musical is the best way to transmit an important story of heroism and resistance
Jeffrey Lewis & The Voltage + David Cronenberg’s Wife
The Crescent, York
IN a workingmen’s club turned community venue in Old York, indie kids young and old are out in force to see Jeffrey Lewis: New York’s finest, and possibly only, comic-book artist, perma-touring troubadour, DIY garage-rock musician, and anti-folk songwriter.
What is anti-folk? Tom, singer in support band David Cronenberg’s Wife, is on-hand to explain: ”It’s acoustic punk, of course, and it’s about things that are true to life. Like this next song, which is about when I met a mermaid.”
More from this author
The phrase “cruel to be kind” comes from Hamlet, but Shakespeare’s Prince didn’t go in for kidnap, explosive punches, and cigarette deprivation. Tam is different.
ANGUS REID deconstructs a popular contemporary novel aimed at a ‘queer’ young adult readership
A landmark work of gay ethnography, an avant-garde fusion of folk and modernity, and a chance comment in a great interview
ANGUS REID applauds the inventive stagecraft with which the Lyceum serve up Stevenson’s classic, but misses the deeper themes
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James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Art Tatum Trio and Kevin Figes
MIK SABIERS savours the diverse songwriting and tight musicianship of a Dutch band founded as a platform for their political ideas
TOM STONE relishes a classic band who have burnished their anti-nationalistic credentials
PAUL FARMER relishes, and recommends a magisterial set from one of the great singer-songwriters