And behind door number 22... a guide to some music of the more traditional kind
Catherine Munn and Jacob Martin list their Top 5 programmes to watch over the festive period.
And behind door number nine... some dazzling musical delights
The complete arts guide, for week 9
Representing a massive coup for the city of York, and a rare opportunity to catch work by a Young British Artist without jumping on a Virgin Voyager to Euston, York Art Gallery opens its Tracy Emin exhibition this week. Thanks to a Yorkshire based collector, works on paper, photography and textiles, including a portrait of Kate Moss, are on show until January. Entry to the gallery is free, and if that isn't enough to entice you to visit an exhibition by a Turner-Prize-winning artist on your doorstep then you can take a look at our review of the show in the Culture section, and check out next Monday's edition of our podcast for an interview with the curator.
Whether you want to reflect upon the shop dummies with unfeasibly prominent nipples, or create a reflection of our capitalism-born culture of consumption you will be welcome at The Big Draw.
If you are particularly inspired by the Emin show you can head to Parliament Square (otherwise known as the square where M&S is) on Saturday where the national Big Draw sets its stall in York. The Big Draw is part of The Campaign for Drawing and involves encouraging all types of drawing from technical efforts down to scribbles. The theme for the York event is 'Window Shopping', meaning that you, along with the fine population of this city, are being called upon to create art that takes "inspiration from our surrounding shop windows and displays." Whether you want to reflect upon the shop dummies' unfeasibly prominent nipples, or create a reflection of our capitalism-born culture of consumption that threatens to turn our lives and the lives of our children into an race to acquire useless yet expensive things that fill our houses until we are persuaded by the arrival of a new thing to discard the older things in an endless cycle. Either way, we're sure you'll be welcome to get involved.
As an alternative to this artistic onslaught, there are a number of options for enjoying live music this week. This evening brings not only the triumphant return of indie darlings The Maccabees to Leeds Met, but also the arrival of newcomers Blood Red Shoes to York's very own Fibbers. The Brighton-based two piece combine explosive drumming with explosive guitar work to take the White Stripes template into the realm of the Rapture, complemented by gloriously yelped male/female vocals. Their debut album is released on V2 in January, so this is your best chance to catch them before they burst on to bigger venues. Check out this summer's release 'It's Getting Boring By The Sea' while you polish up your dancing shoes.
While we're on music, this week hold what could come to be considered the most culturally important musical event of the decade. Not only is the first Radiohead album since 2003's Hail To The Thief released on Wednesday, but, because of their record-deal-less state, the band are releasing it themselves and asking you to name your own price for the download. Titled In Rainbows, the ten tracks can be pre-ordered here, with an option to pay anything from nothing to a million pounds. Fans prepared to shell out some extra cash also have the option to pre-order a £40 discbox, released on December 3rd, that includes two heavyweight vinyl records, two cds (the second containing eight bonus tracks) and artwork, encased in a hardback sleeve. With this action Radiohead are turning both the record industry and perceptions of downloading music inside out. Without a label to claim the bulk of the profit on each cd, and without the institutionalised distrust of the music-enjoying public the big labels possess they have made a trailblazing example that will hopefully have a wider impact on the way record labels behave.
So that's exciting. But, if you're amongst the people who enjoy neither the works of Radiohead nor musings upon the future of the music industry, you could do worse than a trip to the cinema this week. Despite the disappointing lack of Ian Curtis biopic 'Control' on their schedule (apparently it may appear after October 25th) City Screen are showing two greats this week, 'Nosferatu' on Tuesday and Woody Allen's masterpiece 'Manhattan' on Thursday. 'Nosferatu', first released in 1922, is a silent film based on the story of Dracula, directed by German expressionist filmaker and silent-movie legend F. W. Murnau, and marks the first appearance of a vampire on the big screen. Losing none of its creepiness or suspense in the 80 years since its release this showing is a rare chance to see a horror classic on the big screen. Manhattan, alternatively, is a 1979 comedy written by and starring Woody Allen. Widely believed to be amongst his best work, the film follows twice-divorced comedy writer Isaac in his relationships with a 17 year-old schoolgirl and the mistress of his best friend. Sumptuously shot in black and white by Gordon Willis, who also filmed The Godfather, this is a great introduction to Allen's work, which has been slightly more questionable in quality recently. Check out the iconic opening scene, which went on to inspire a thousand other voice-over beginnings, and even a scene in Spaced:
Other notable events this week:
Ed Harcourt - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds. Tuesday 9th. Tunng - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds. Friday 12th.
Hugh The Drover - Theatre Royal, 9th-13th. Don Quixote - West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
'Reading The Mind' - Dr Gary Green with Yorkshire Philosophical Society. York Neuroimaging Centre, Tuesday 9th.
Look at the sparkly new page! Not sure why why Tracy's tits deserve such a prominent position on it though...
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