He Will Be Missed

(Some likened RV to Grigori Rasputin the so called "Mad Monk", and it's true they were similar in many ways. Poet. Magician. Healer. Prophet. Drunk.)

My sincerest apologies for the lack of posts over the last while but the past few weeks have been a hugely traumatic time here at Gimcrack Solarium. The normally buzzing offices of Gimcrack HQ have become a sombre place since the news of our resident muso in chief RV's departure. So gone are the days when he would turn the air blue with colourful descriptions of his nightly misadventures in Dublin's most prominent drag bars. No more will we hear the sweet dulcet tones of his gentle laughter as he plies the 17 year old work experience girl (or boy for that matter) with cheap whiskey and line after line of rock cocaine in the vain hope of copping a ride at the office Christmas party. As it is, with steely hearts and stiff upper lips we must keep soldiering on and take comfort in the knowledge that he's in a better place now. South East Asia to be exact. The bastard.

Given that Mr RV was Gimcrack's walking talking music encyclopedia, now that he's upped and left us for sunnier climes the content is going to take a slightly different turn. I always found the whole writing about music aspect to be a bit of a chore and something which looking back over previous posts, as far as my own pieces are concerned, comes across as forced and a bit shit. Slagging off pompous arse brained celebrities has always been a much more enticing prospect for me and an area where I believe my skills are best put to use. You may argue that it is a mean spirited and nasty way to spend your days but I believe that the behaviour of these loathsome cretins justifies the criticism and besides I have always tried to temper the insulting articles with some genuinely nice things to say about movies/music/literature and will continue to do so.

On that note I'd just like to point out a few interesting things I've checked out in recent weeks and am looking forward to in the near future. One of my highlights of the year gigwise was the fantastic Taken By Trees show in the Sugar Club on the 25th September. A beautiful uplifting set from former Concretes singer and future star in waiting Victoria Bergsman. David Lynch's mind boggling masterpiece INLAND EMPIRE has just been released on dvd but my advice is do not watch this if you're suffering from a bad hangover, a warning I could have used when I saw it in the cinema earlier this year. I was feeling somewhat mentally unbalanced as it was and I'm pretty sure this 3 hour visual headfuck has done some permanent psychological damage. Anyone who's heard Animal Collective's latest Strawberry Jam should be waiting with baited breath for their upcoming show in Tripod on November 4th. Apparently at this year's Oxegen something like 12 or 13 people showed up to see them which is a fucking disgrace if you ask me. Upcoming movies to look out for are Ian Curtis bio-pic Control, Cohen Brothers latest No Country For Old Men and Quentin Tarrintino's enjoyably trashy Death Proof

Incidentally, if anyone reading this has an opinion about something and is interested in writing for Gimcrack, I have just updated our contact details. A word to the wise though, we will not print anything that is racist or bigoted in any way and we reserve the right to change things we don't like so don't get upset if we do just that. Until next time.

S.B.