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For the first time in this column, we turn back to the 1970s and specifically to 1973 for The Who's second rock opera, Quadrophenia. It tells the story of working-class mod Jimmy who likes drugs, fights on beaches and romance - this is typical of the time due to the sensationalised tabloid paper stories of the confrontations between Mods and Rockers. He is disillusioned by his parents' attitudes towards him, various dead-end jobs and his trip to see a psychiatrist in the hope he can discover his true self and not live with the current four sides to his personality. The title combines the two words quartet in reference to The Who being a four piece band, and schizophrenia, in relation to there being multiple sides to The Who with Daltrey, Entwistle, Townshend and Moon each being different people. The Real Me, its opening track, details Jimmy's failed attempts to see various shrinks in the hope that he can solve his split-personality issues - he even tries to confide in his parents, but nobody seems able to help him out. Cut My Hair explores his attempts to fit into the Mod circles and how he has to drastically change his appearance to become 'one of them'. The Punk & The Godfather sees Jimmy venturing to see a mod band perform, only to become disappointed that they were part of the audience. It details an exchange between two people backstage at this venue, taking turns in verses to explain that the rock 'n' roll lifestyle is not all it's cracked up to be. Continuing down the road of self-awareness, in I'm One, Jimmy explains to a fellow mod where he got his clothes from. This is, in reality, an act from the other mod to disprove Jimmy's status as one; however, in the song, he proclaims his status forcefully. Torn away from the mod culture, Jimmy, in Dirty Jobs, goes to work as a bin-man and experiences the hard life of the common man - those who are abused by society and ultimately he works out that this is a key issue for those lower down the class structure. Helpless Dancer is one of four songs that each sums up one of the members of The Who and also one of Jimmy's personalities. It's known as 'Roger's Theme' and portrays Jimmy's toughness overall. The other three, Is It Me? (Entwistle - contained within Doctor Jimmy), Love Reign O'er Me (Townshend) and Bell Boy (Moon) each reference these other sides to Jimmy. The album's final side sees the culmination of Jimmy's story, with Doctor Jimmy explicitly showing two utterly different sides to the main character, acting as Townshend's take on the Robert Louis Stephenson novel Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. One side leads Jimmy down the path of aggression with actions such as heavy drinking and abusive relationships with women. It's his lowest point and the song ends with the realisation that the only way to curb this more aggressive side is to take stronger narcotics. It's evident that Jimmy's drug abuse has spiralled out of control. Love Reign O'er Me, the final chapter in the story arc of Quadrophenia, sees Jimmy's awakening as he reflects on all the events over the course of the album. Prior to this, he's stolen a boat and sailed to a rock out on the sea, becoming a recluse, away from life's troubles. It's a time of consolidation for the mod as he wants to surround himself with love, as opposed to the drugs and hatred that he's become embroiled in over the course of the LP. In particular, this song is a reminder of the progressive rock genre that was blooming at this time with its multiple parts and somewhat poetic lyrics. Overall, Quadrophenia is some of The Who's finest work and looks at all corners of the rock genre in a methodical and dark way. It's a great introduction to the intricacies of Pete Townshend's writing and as always, features some of the finest instrumental work in rock history with the basslines of John Entwistle and the drums of Keith Moon providing a sinister backdrop for the story of Jimmy. If you want to pick up a copy, I’ll leave an Amazon link here: https://amzn.to/3338w9K Or, if you’d prefer, here’s a Spotify link: More musical magnificence to come next week! UNTITLED may earn an affiliate commission when you purchase through the links on our site. Find out more here.

The announcement of Google's Stadia platform at the GDC Conference last week has opened a rather large cloud gaming-related can of worms. It's the idea that you can play your favourite AAA games without any discs or digital downloads; all of the save files and games are played remotely from a server. The new Google Stadia platform aims to run games from any web-browsing platform instantly, whilst also allowing players to simultaneously watch broadcasts. It's a unification of gamers, content producers and developers alike to create one platform for everything. The service itself is reliant upon Google's powerful cloud service that already houses the G-Suite selection of applications, such as Gmail and Google Drive. They've said that their new services will have specialised graphics chips and processors to handle the large amounts of expected traffic. The systems should be capable of 4K, 60FPS gaming right out of the box and the Mountain View-based firm have said that they will be capable of 8K, 120FPS gaming in the near future. Unlike other gaming peripherals, Google has developed a special controller that connects directly to WiFi, as opposed to connecting to a console, as most games consoles do. This new WiFi controller lark is designed to offer a seamless and instantaneous connection; this seems to be the main selling point that Google are going for. There's already partners on board such as AAA developer Ubisoft, known for the highly-successful Assassin's Creed franchise, along with id Software, makers of the revived DOOM series. Google have their own game-making studio, like that of Sony and Microsoft and there was only one title shown off - Doom Eternal. The appointment of industry legend Jade Raymond, formerly executive of both Electronic Arts and the aforementioned Ubisoft, should put them in good stead for the future. As well as game developers, Google has partnered with software makers such as Unity and CryEngine to ensure that developers can take full advantage of the Stadia's system capabilities. Google's new systems will run on the largely popular Linux platform, meaning that developers will have to port their games over to Stadia, and there will be no cross-platform porting from other services, such as Nvidia’s GeForce Now or the Shadow PC system. Unlike GeForce Now for instance, there are no developers onboard for the Stadia service and it'll most likely take a lot of persuasion for such large firms to get on board with the project, especially with the stalwart of console and PC gaming royalties that these firms thrive off. Google disclosed no potential costs for the development, running and publishing of games on Stadia, leaving a lot of firms in the dark with regards to affordability. The fun of cloud gaming isn't something that's been explored, although other firms such as both Nvidia and Sony have their own cloud platforms, and the Xbox side of Microsoft are in the midst of creating their own, Project xCloud. With such stiff competition, it might be hard for Google to 'keep up' with the gaming giants. To be fair, Microsoft did recently launch their 'Xbox Game Pass' subscription service that looks to bridge the gap between subscription-based online gaming and a digital service. Subscribers get access to a large library of games for a monthly fee and can download an unlimited quantity for their enjoyment. Cloud gaming services run along a pretty similar pathway. Again, subscribers pay a monthly fee (for Shadow's PC service, it costs £26.95 per month) to gain access to an individual bench on a server cabinet in their gaming facility so that they can have access to an extremely high-spec gaming PC on any platform that connects to the Internet, from their own PC right down to their smartphone. These benches are consistently upgraded so that the gaming experience is not flawed in the way of hardware, although a remote connection to a PC on a server far away could cause some latency issues, so that inputs are not as quick and instant. There is no doubt that the cloud gaming experience comes at a hefty price tag, especially when people can go out and purchase a mid-spec gaming PC that will run most, if not all games (perhaps besides the original Crysis that still plagues all high-spec machines to this day) at a decent frame rate, maybe with multiplayer options or AI presence reducing frame rate by a negligible amount. These computers will be roughly the same price as a two year subscription to Shadow and for a little bit more money, the consumer can purchase games to play themselves on their own PC and unlike with the cloud services, none of the hardware or games are being 'leased' so you can't own them come the end of your subscription, or at any point during that subscription. In truth, cloud gaming looks like the future, but personally speaking, it seems like a future that is continuously cultivating a 'lease culture'. With increased leasing in the gaming industry, as well as others such as the automotive sector, the world is taking a step-back rather than a forward one. With such a transient society, it's hard to imagine that this cloud gaming will last long. Despite the losses in physical sales, it's rather difficult to see such a digital world without resale value on gaming products.

We move backwards sixteen years and back across the Atlantic to the United States to take a stop at New York City and The Strokes' truly fantastic 2001 debut, Is This It. The Strokes have been a recent discovery in terms of my musical variety, although the indie rock genre is one I've been in love with for a while now. What drew me to this album is its simplicity and ability to create something brilliant out of essentially nothing. The recording process for Is This It was relatively bare-bones, with none of the songs being recorded on more than eleven audio tracks. This, along with the three microphone drum setup, inspired by the Ramones and the Velvet Underground, results in a rather compressed and 'closed' sound that this record is now famous for. The title track comes across as Julian Casablancas' lowest and most emotional point on the album, talking of a broken-down relationship and the act of lying to keep it together, presumably to use his ex-girlfriend for the sake of pleasure. Arguably the most famous on the album, Someday takes a tainted look at the past and the idea that people will always be looking back in this cyclical structure of wistfulness, but also playing on the idea of a doomed relationship in the line "See, alone we stand, together we fall apart", which also acts a lovely segue into the next song, Alone Together. New York City Cops is reckless in delivery and jumps around in lyrical structures and the scream at the start acts as a homage to Aerosmith, before jumping into a grunge-esque guitar riff that packs quite the punch. Interestingly enough, this was dropped from the US CD release due to its title that could have been seen to be ridiculing the New York Police Department in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Closing track Take It Or Leave It is both aggressive and punchy, talking about a proposition for a relationship and also portraying Casablancas' feelings about gender stereotypes. He discusses how both men and women should show their true feelings and not hide them behind various veils of generalisations. Barely Legal concerns the story of a girl who has just reached the age of consent and the complications that arise as a result. The musical backing is seemingly inspired by classic Britpop bands such as Oasis and Blur with the drumwork from Fabrizio Moretti exemplifying this perfectly. Is This It is arguably one of the most pivotal and inspirational rock albums of the 2000s. It acted as a catalyst to the rise in alternative rock bands like the Arctic Monkeys and the Libertines. It's a superb collection of songs with bluntness and attitude and is an album I'd highly recommend. If you want to pick up a copy, I’ll leave an Amazon link here: https://amzn.to/30OeHLS Or, if you’d prefer, here’s a Spotify link: More musical magnificence to come next week! UNTITLED may earn an affiliate commission when you purchase through the links on our site. Find out more here.

Count Louis Vorrow Zborowski was a very eccentric man with a rather strange obsession. Motor racing. Zborowski's father Eliot (the man credited with inventing the colour British Racing Green) had died in 1903 during a racing accident in Nice, France and it's rather unfortunate to think that he would suffer that same end at Monza in 1924. As a man to look back on, Zborowski was a playboy, racing aficionado and a hero of his time. Zborowski's father passed away when he was just eight years old; seven years later in 1910, his mother purchased Higham Park for the sum of £17,500 (around £2 million in today's money) and the estate included the farm, 225 acres of space and twelve houses. Louis was fifteen at the time. A year later, his mother died and he inherited this massive estate. He instantaneously became the fourth richest man under the age of 21 with a net worth of £11 million, as well as real estate in the USA, including seven acres of Manhattan, New York City. As a seventeen year old boy, the Zborowski's estate was his playground. He could have chosen anywhere to mess around and fettle, and he chose the stables and turned them into garages. Along with future "Bentley Boys" mechanic Clive Gallop, Zborowski built the first aero-engined racing cars in the world. In total, they built four of them, each being given the name Chitty Bang Bang and a corresponding number. His first effort, Chitty 1, was powered by a 23-litre Maybach aero-engine and based on a Mercedes chassis. It won two races at Brooklands Circuit in Weybridge, Surrey in 1921, reaching speeds upwards of 120mph. During its second outing, Chitty 1 crashed rather spectacularly, flying off of the Member's Banking and into the Timing Box, removing three fingers from a timing official. The car was rebuilt and passed into the hands of the sons of Arthur Conan Doyle, the infamous writer of the Sherlock Holmes series. Chitty 1 was quickly retired as a racing car and soon bought as spares by a man named John Morris. Then came Chitty 2 and Chitty 3. Chitty 2 was taken, in January 1922, across the Mediterranean for an expedition into the Sahara Desert. Along with himself, Zborowski brought his wife Violet, Clive Gallop (his long-time mechanic) and a couple of other mechanics for the journey. Chitty 3 was used as Zborowski's personal transport on a few occasions after racing at Brooklands, achieving speeds of 113mph or so after being tuned to produce around 180 bhp. He used it to go and see the Mercedes team after being invited to drive for them in 1924. Chitty 4 has had an interesting life and does still run periodically today, although not in the same way. It was also nicknamed the Higham Special after the name of Zborowski's estate. It was Zborowski's largest car to date with a 27 litre capacity Liberty aero engine producing 450bhp. It also featured the chain-drive and gearbox from the Blitzen Benz. The Blitzen Benz is famous for once having set a speed record at Brooklands in 1914. Chitty 4 became the largest capacity car to ever race at Brooklands too. After Zborowski's death, it was never fully finished and was bought from his estate by JG. Parry-Thomas for the princely sum of £125. Parry-Thomas rebuilt the car with a new piston design and new Zenith carburettors and renamed it Babs. Parry-Thomas would go on to set a new Land Speed Record in April 1926 with Babs and a speed of 171.02mph. However, whilst trying to set a higher record, Parry-Thomas was killed in March 1927 and Babs was buried in Pendine Sands, Wales. It was later recovered, rebuilt and is on display at both the Brooklands Museum and the Pendine Museum Of Speed. Being the rich playboy he was, Zborowski would often invite people to race with and against him. If you had the money, he'd let you race. Of course, at this time, motor-racing was a lot more dangerous and ultimately, the rich were driving motorised coffins at rather high speeds. The car would soon become your casket and Zborowski took great pleasure in burying these burnt-out wrecks in the woods in the grounds of his Higham Park estate. Stories told about Zborowski's obsession say that if anyone was found near his 'Pit', he would come out from behind the trees, fire a single shotgun bullet over your head as a 'warning shot' and you wouldn't be seen there again. Zborowski was invited to drive for Mercedes in 1924 which would ultimately prove to be the last year of his life. A year prior he had entered the famous Indianapolis 500 race in a Bugatti and ended up retiring. He entered the 1924 Italian Grand Prix at Monza in what would prove to be his only start for Mercedes. A few days prior to the race, Zborowski had premonitions of his death and was unnerved when the race weekend came around. Of course, his father, Eliot had suffered the same end and that was traumatic and tragic enough for the Count at a young age. On the morning of the race, Zborowski decided to wear his late father's cufflinks and rather sadly, it was this decision that proved to be fatal. The story goes that the cufflinks got caught in the steering column of his Mercedes, causing Zborowski to lose all control and plough head-on into a tree. He was killed instantly. Many people have looked to the Count for inspiration. I, for one, have looked to Zborowski in terms of technological brilliance but others for literary inspiration; namely, the author Sir Ian Fleming. As a child, Fleming would often go past Higham Park on the London to Dover coach. The number of the route was 007. More famously however is that Zborowski was the inspiration for the 1964 novel Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. This again comes from Fleming's childhood and his time spent at Brooklands seeing Zborowski race in his Chittys. Later on in his life, Fleming when driving near Sandwich, Kent, saw one of these Chittys and waved over the driver for a small chat about the car. The driver, Peter Harris Mayes told Fleming its rich history and it's said that after hearing Mayes talking, Fleming found the inspiration to write the children's classic. The tale of Count Louis Vorrow Zborowski is a rather tragic one but, in a very special way, he was a pioneer and an inspiration to a good few people. His automotive exploits proved to be magnificent for the time and even now, we can look back on Zborowski as an unsung hero and a man never fully known or recognised for his talent and skill.

Leading on from last week's prog-rock, we come back across the pond and go to Manchester for Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' 2017 album Who Built The Moon?. I've been a fan of the High Flying Birds for a good while now and this album really is fantastic. I'd say that it's his best collection of work since Oasis and one that definitely takes a different turn from his time in the Manchester superstars ten years ago. Opening track Fort Knox is catchy and mainly instrumental, that features some slick drum work from Chris Sharrock. Keep On Reaching is an especially funky tune that harks back to the days of sixties psychedelia, with some of the horn sections echoing something that could be heard in The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album from 1967. It's this wonderfully compiled sound collage that deserves more recognition than it currently has. It's A Beautiful World is typical Gallagher really; a simplistic lyrical structure with a much deeper meaning. The song concerns the idea that it's your "inner world" that matters most; the world that you live in, with your feelings and the people around you taking centre stage, not the picturesque scenery to go with it. He's said in interviews that the song carries a somewhat pessimistic viewpoint and whilst this may be represented in the downbeat vocal, it isn't the point of the song and that does not detract from its brilliance. Interlude (Wednesday Part 1), is the first instrumental of two on this album and in typical Gallagher fashion, it was given that name since it was recorded on a Wednesday. It's a little reminder of the two Swamp Song instrumentals on (What's The Story?) Morning Glory from 1995. Be Careful What You Wish For is really aimed at children and is one of the 'rockier' tracks that is again reminiscent of The Beatles, with a bassline similar to that of Paul McCartney on either Revolver or Sgt. Pepper. The song acts as a little bit of inspiration, saying that people should not be reliant upon others for success; they should "make their own destiny". It uses the age-old key/door metaphor that Noel is so fond of - this time it comes in the form of"They’ve given you the key, son/But you’ll never find the door" and goes in tandem with similar figures of speech found on the likes of Fade Away, a B-Side for Cigarettes & Alcohol from 1994. Overall, if you're looking for something that can act as a "blast from the past", look no further than Who Built The Moon?. It's a tremendous album that features all elements of sixties psychedelia that you could possibly ask for, and is a potentially career-defining album for Noel Gallagher that I'd put up there with his time in Oasis. Absolutely brilliant. If you want to pick up a copy, I’ll leave an Amazon link here: https://amzn.to/30SyXfu Or, if you’d prefer, here’s a Spotify link: More musical magnificence to come next week! UNTITLED may earn an affiliate commission when you purchase through the links on our site. Find out more here.

Last night saw another catastrophic defeat for Theresa May's Tory government by a losing margin of 149 votes - the fourth largest in British parliamentary history. A 'No Deal' vote looms this evening and so, the question hasn't yet been answered - where the hell do we go from here? As we've discussed previously, a 'No Deal' exit from the EU would hardly be the best outcome for both the country and our economy. It's not necessarily an economically viable option if the Bank Of England's report is to be believed; 8% knocked off of the UK's Gross Domestic Product would take many years to recover from, especially with such a low base interest rate. With such a low base rate currently, there is very little movement with regards to the stimulation of economic growth - half a percent here and there is bound to make absolutely no difference to a rise in GDP. With 'No Deal' comes no twenty-one month transition period to adjust to living without the European Union, which Theresa May included on her Deal that was voted down last night. As a result, businesses would have no time to adapt to changes and prepare for Brexit; in other words, they are thrown straight in at the deep end. In the way of trade, the UK would revert to World Trade Organisation (WTO) rulings and possibly be subject to the EU's external tariffs on goods entering its confines as Britain would not be part of the single market, causing us to become exempt from the EU's 'free movement' principles. Therefore, whilst Britain are free to then make their own trade deals with other nations, such as the United States, these are not instantaneous and could take months to discuss and then implement, which only furthers the economic uncertainty with large time lags. Prices on British goods may increase further with rising production costs due to imported raw materials from abroad. It should be made clear that the UK manufactures very little these days and so, these price rises due to tariffs on imports seem rather likely. Manufacturers based in Britain could move their operations to the EU to avoid delays in components coming across the border. By way of legislation, a 'No Deal' would mean that EU laws would be transferred so there are no loopholes or hazardous elements contained within British law. Britain would no longer have to follow the European Court Of Justice, but would have to adhere to the European Court Of Human Rights, who are a non-EU judicial body. There would be no annual £13 billion contribution to the EU's budget, but contrary to that, subsidies to people in the agricultural sector, that total £3 billion under the Common Agricultural Policy, could be lost. One of the main issues surrounds the Irish border, that is an absolute minefield to get your head around, but a hard border between the Republic and Northern Ireland could press for customs and immigration controls, unlike the current agreements. However, if the 'No Deal' gets voted down this evening, we move to another vote on Thursday surrounding an extension of Article 50 under the EU's Lisbon Treaty. If MPs vote to extend Article 50, then Brexit is suspended and the government would get more time to try and negotiate a 'better deal'. The EU appear to be rather stubborn when it comes to negotiations and so, it is rather unlikely that they would be willing to renegotiate with Britain. In truth, the EU need Britain as much as we need them and so, it may be worth them reconsidering a negotiation period so it can work out as the best for both parties, not one way or the other. An extension of Article 50 does not just allow for a potential renegotiation; it would also allow the UK to conjure up an alternative outcome, such as a General Election or possibly a 'People's Vote'. A General Election, personally speaking, seems a tad 'out-there' with regards to the fact that a change of personnel, perhaps to Labour and the premiership of Jeremy Corbyn, does not necessarily mean a 'better deal' for Britain; it would only draw out the process further and as mentioned previously, it is up in the air as to whether Michel Barnier and the EU negotiating team would even consider the chance for Britain to table another deal. In the case of a 'People's Vote', we've talked about this before on a couple of occasions and whether it would be the best outcome remains to be seen. The talk of one has undoubtedly gained momentum over the past six months and it would perhaps be ill-considered to dismiss it straight away. It is inherently clear that the idea of a 'People's Vote' is a push for the Remain camp to get their long-awaited victory and what if this doesn't happen? That's another 24 weeks gone, according to experts, and we're back to where we started really. There's no doubt that the outcome of a 'People's Vote' would be close, but if Remain doesn't 'win' as such, what are the other options? May's Deal? 'No Deal', even? A 'People's Vote' is the people undoing the work of politicians undoing the work of the people. I would suggest it only as a last resort once all the other viable options are up and have been thoroughly considered. In conclusion, to answer the question, there is no 'easy way out' from this Brexit mess and it is still an absolute minefield as to what we do next. The three votes this week will prove to be absolutely pivotal to this country's future and as we're already in domestic tatters, it's hard to see things getting any worse. Politicians are putting themselves before the people and in an age of economic and social uncertainty, we should all club together and use 'country before party' politics; the last time that was seen was during the Second World War when all parties clubbed together with the aim of defeating the Axis powers. It is needed again to drive this country forwards through the political hell that we're deeply embroiled in at the moment. So, in truth, what the hell next? A 'National Government', that's what's next.

This week we turn our attention across the pond to Canada for 1981's Moving Pictures courtesy of Rush. Now, I've been into the prog-rock genre for a while and no album collates its mastery better than Moving Pictures. I do appreciate that it's their best-selling album in the USA and that some may perhaps deem it too commercial, but that really doesn't detract from one of Canada's most-loved musical exports. The opening track, Tom Sawyer, both in title and lyrics, references the character created by Mark Twain in the mid-1870s. It puts a spin on a modern-day version of the character with high levels of integrity and how he epitomises early eighties culture and all that goes on around him. Sawyer is ultimately an individual in society but in his own little way, he represents the times around him. Songs like YYZ truly portray the masterworks that Rush become as a purely instrumental band. It demonstrates why Geddy Lee has been described in many ways as "the best bassist of all time" and along with the guitars of Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart's magnificent drumming, YYZ acts a great follow-on from Red Barchetta. The title originates from the international airport code for Toronto International Airport and the song makes use of its Morse Code designation at the start of the track, using various instruments to play the series of dots and dashes. Limelight, the album's second single, details Neil Peart's disgruntlement at Rush's commercial success and his dealing with these sustained levels of fame. It's much more personal than the rest of the tracks and the guitar solo from Lifeson is especially brilliant and somewhat melancholy, perhaps becoming an instrumental version of Peart's lyrics. The Camera Eye is, personally speaking, the most "prog-like" in structure with its multiple parts and intentionally tries to capture the energy in two English-speaking cities, New York and London. Unlike the rest of the album, it's a little longer in duration, clocking it at around ten minutes and was rarely performed live. It critiques the society in these two large cities and how it is business that drives them and nothing else. Peart talks of the fact there is potential within the two cities to do well, but ultimately, nothing will ever come of it for the common man - there's this "wrench of hard realities" that is what hits people, saying that they'll never make it, but the privileged few will instead. Moving Pictures collects the best of the prog-rock genre at this time and places it all gracefully onto this seven track LP for the delectation of the listener. It's a record that I can't fault and one that is a stalwart in any prog-rock fan's record collection. With Rush, there is no finer place to start. If you want to pick up a copy, I’ll leave an Amazon link here: https://amzn.to/304cZHg Or, if you’d prefer, here’s a Spotify link: More musical magnificence to come next week! UNTITLED may earn an affiliate commission when you purchase through the links on our site. Find out more here.

Comic Relief time is here again and it's the same story each time. The charity uses celebrity endorsements to highlight a myriad of cases, where those less fortunate, be it at home or abroad, warrant our valuable donations. Every year, millions of pounds are raised to help their plight, so what's the problem? Tottenham MP David Lammy has recently condemned the actions of not just Stacey Dooley, but the entire charity appeal system, talking of a "white saviour complex" and how it appears that white celebrities essentially heighten their own stock as people by involving themselves in charity work. He's said that"it sends a distorted image of Africa which perpetuates an old idea from the colonial era", in reference to charity films, but in hindsight, the works of charities such as Comic Relief (started by Lenny Henry, may I say) are not designed to "play the race card" as such. They are there to help people, be it someone in Britain or outside. Charity is a majorly inclusive principle in both theory and practice, especially with televised appeals. Such appeals work in many ways. Viewers of the telethon get enjoyment out of the show and the money that they pledge, however much that may be, goes to needy causes. For instance, to build useful infrastructure in towns and villages, allow those in poverty to get a valuable and better education or provide domestic support networks. Lammy has taken aim at Comic Relief themselves due to the vulnerability and helplessness of black people that is spread around by charities in their countless films over a multi-hour programme. By way of charity, I see no finer example than the works of Band Aid and Live Aid in the mid-eighties by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure. Arguably the most famous benefit effort of them all, the two events made people aware of the starving and hungry children in countries such as Ethiopia and millions were raised to try and eradicate the issues. One particular video that sticks in my mind that of The Cars' song Drive being played over the top of some alarming footage of starving Ethiopian children. Regardless of colour and these, in the eyes of Lammy, socially conditioned viewpoints, it's truly heartbreaking. Thirty four years later and there is still poverty in Africa. So, does charity really work? I once heard poverty described to me as an "industry" and in this increasingly consumer-led society, that statement has never felt so true. However, large firms will donate sections of their profits to charity and some will even manufacture products to be sent over, such as shoe company Skechers, whose BOBS line of shoes have been sent over in their thousands to help people to become properly clothed and not exposed to diseases such as malaria. Whilst there may be elements of what some perceive to be a 'racial divide', the multiracial nature of charity films expresses solidarity with the focus being those in need, not the celebrities partaking in charity-based activities. The works of various celebrities is not designed to boost their ego or subliminally incite racist views; it is designed to portray how everyone stands together to fight for the common good of eradicating poverty, however long it may take. In the case of Stacey Dooley, she won BBC show Strictly Come Dancing and this increased her stock as a 'celebrity' and entwined with her actual profession as a reporter, commenting on rather sensitive issues, she seems like a perfect fit for Comic Relief. It's got nothing to do with race or this 'white saviour' complex that Lammy speaks of. If anything, the sudden popularity of Dooley and her working class roots make her more relatable than the average 'celebrity' and this increases the amount of donations. One of the integral reasons for the large quantity of donations to charities such as Comic Relief are these celebrity endorsements. Whilst it's possible for African people, for example, to tell their stories, the donations with just this model may be lower as it is the celebrity endorsements from those such as Dooley that garner the millions that people will pledge over the phone. In conclusion, we need to look past colour in modern society; it's only relevant if somebody like David Lammy wishes to point it out. The works of Comic Relief or any other charity do not hark back to the days of colonialism as he puts it; they show harmless solidarity between races. It is not a case of race. It's a case of fighting for the common good to try and eradicate poverty where race should not matter. These barriers to entry are only put up by those who wish to make it a much larger issue than it is already and sensationalise some honest work towards a worthy cause.

We move on from one eighties classic to another with 1986's infamous The Queen Is Dead from The Smiths. Cover art comes from a scene in French film-noir L'Insoumis or The Unvanquished in English-speaking countries, featuring Alain Delon. It's probably one of the most recognisable album arts of all-time. Despite it being a ten-track LP, it's one that is relatively short at just thirty-six minutes, but that doesn't detract from how great a collection of songs it is. The opening title track is fast-paced and featured some deeply dark bass notes in the background to complement its sinister nature. Frankly Mr Shankly is pompous and well-balanced in musical delivery and its lyrics refer to the Rough Trade music executive at the time and portray a couple of subliminal digs to him. Cemetry Gates, is typically Morrissey-like in nature. The riff from Johnny Marr is symphonic and hints as a happy tune but it's the lyrical work of Morrissey that turns the song a little darker. The direct contrast of "A dreaded sunny day" is intentional, working as a sarcastic jibe to the press and some critics who called the song-smith "miserable" at the time of this album. Morrissey's cultured side is explored here with references to poets "Keats and Yeats" as well as author Oscar Wilde. Much like the latter, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out is a song that epitomises The Smiths and particularly Morrissey's lyrical ability. Despite having a somewhat upbeat backing tune, the subject matter is rather haunting and this is exemplified no better than in the chorus: "And if a double-decker bus/Crashes into us/To die by your side/Is such a heavenly way to die". It's a rather emotional and tragic love song but is one that remains a Smiths favourite to this day amongst fans. One of the singles, Bigmouth Strikes Again, is deeply sarcastic with his comparison to Joan Of Arc during the bridge - how his comments have been taken in the wrong way, confirmed by the "I was only joking" that runs throughout the first verse. Interestingly, the backing vocal is credited to someone called Ann Coates, who doesn't actually exist. It's a pseudonymous reference to the Manchester district of Ancoats. The backing vocal is just Morrissey's own voice that has been altered to a higher pitch. In truth, The Queen Is Dead is one that most Smiths fans should know due to its iconic status and one that has become a favourite of mine in the last few months whilst absolutely playing it to death. If it's not an album you've delved into yet, it's a perfect exemplification of their work and a great introduction on the path to discovering Morrissey's lyrical brilliance. If you want to pick up a copy, I’ll leave an Amazon link here: https://amzn.to/2P0pOfm Or, if you’d prefer, here’s a Spotify link: More musical magnificence to come next week! UNTITLED may earn an affiliate commission when you purchase through the links on our site. Find out more here.

It's been a little while since our last coverage of the Arctic Monkeys and as they embark on the first couple of dates on their Australian tour this week, we thought it right to have a deeper look at their latest offering Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. Of course, whilst we may have covered this before in an in-depth review (you can find that here: https://www.untitledblog.co.uk/blog/arctic-monkeys-tranquility-base-hotel-casino-album-review), we didn't actually cover any particular theories regarding its lore or any particular story arc. That's where this article comes in. First to address is the initial story. Opening track Star Treatment tells us a fair amount into its general theme and nature. There's this initial sense of regret perhaps with the crooning of "I just wanted to be one of The Strokes...." and how Turner, as himself, would have given anything to be part of the band with Julian Casablancas and Albert Hammond Jr. The main part of the song circles this idea of a lounge singer who was perhaps "a little too wild in the seventies", suggesting that time was the peak of his career and moreover, how he is now a little washed-up, performing as the lead singer of lounge band The Martini Police. Turner himself has said this jazz-club-esque vibe stems from three French films directed by Jean-Pierre Melville and star Alain Delon, one of which being Le Samourai from 1967. This film features a jazz club known as 'Martey's' and it is here where Alain Delon, as assassin Jef Costello kills the club's owner and manager. The song sets the scene for a small, laid-back tour around the hotel and casino, possibly through the eyes of the lounge singer. The setting is futuristic and after a mass exodus of humans from the Earth - "Since the exodus...." - migration of the population away from Earth is a common feature of science fiction films and novels. Alex Turner, when writing this album, has said that science fiction did heavily influence him. The method of transport is the "Starlight Express", a train from the Earth to the Moon to get people to Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. Moreover, the future setting is somewhat dystopian - the lyric "1984, 2019" may possibly refer to the George Orwell novel and the mention of "Blade Runner" only furthers this interpretation. The mention of Orwell is very much intriguing; in my brief reading of "Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business" by the late Neil Postman, there's a few mentions of an Orwellian future - a "captive culture" as Postman puts it. This is where people's truths are concealed. Therefore, this explains the "hand of harsh reality" being un-gloved during Science Fiction, as people in this contemporary futuristic world, have been blind to the truth and such truths are finally being revealed. A society has been built around the hotel and casino, with Four Out Of Five describing the amenities and attractions that surround Clavius on the Moon - "Cute new places keep popping up/Around Clavius." - Turner portrays how this new society is ever-changing and developing with every new building being constructed and with every new opening, the "old headquarters" become even more unrecognisable. There is only one mentioned throughout the entire album - the taqueria on the roof of the hotel called The Information Action Ratio with four out of five stars in rave reviews. Before this mass migration to the Moon, people look back on the "Golden Age" of the Earth perhaps, modelled on the USA as new students learn about past lives, with the basis of this being the "Golden Age Of Cinema" or something similar. People are sometimes instructed to dress up like fictional characters of the time, possibly past idols that would be long since forgotten if this education did not progress and continue. Religion has become a technological commodity with the standard "weekly chat with God" replacing the priests and cathedrals of Earth. Technology has prevailed and now it is sometimes viewed with contempt. This advancement portrays how the Moon-based society has become increasingly consumerist as time passes with rapidly-progressing innovations such as the common use of virtual reality and phones. Everything has moved online in terms of businesses and experiences and this had let the streets surrounding the hotel to become practically empty. Surveillance has become a key component of this Orwellian society with the increased level of observation of the people; "Dance as if somebody's watching 'cause they are" exemplifies this perfectly. In addition, the closing line in Batphone surrounding the "panoramic windows looking out across your soul" refers to the way technology is now an essential part of our lives and such windows are the screens of phones or perhaps computers. Turner describes the vastness of the array of emotions and personality traits that people are able to determine about someone through the mediums of texting and social media. There’s a certain intimacy to those mediums that mean people are encouraged to be themselves and therefore it allows these windows to stretch out across the soul of the people sending the messages. Within this now-restricted society, the government now control pretty much everything, including the news and even people's choice of lovers. With regards to the news, reliability and truth can very much be disputed. The way that Turner portrays the controlling of the love-lives of people is through The World's First Ever Monster Truck Front-Flip with the line "A laser guiding my love that I cannot adjust" showing the restrictions that the government now places on society. Societal constraints has since bred an underground clique of writers and artists; the mention of Charles Bukowski adds to this. A prolific underground writer, Bukowski focused his prose and poetry on the menial nature of everyday American life, zooming in on the depravity of those lower down in society. He relied on experience, emotion, and imagination in his work, using direct language, as well as violence and sexual imagery. The Kafkaesque community that resides on the Moon is also driven by business, money, consumerism and advertising with the "ascension of the C.R.E.A.M" being a slight allusion to a song by the Wu-Tang Clan, an American hip-hop group. The acronym stands for “Cash Rules Everything Around Me” which could also be a possible dig at the capitalist society that the Moon may now run within. In conclusion, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino has a large variety of avenues to go down with regards to possible interpretations and is one that makes sense in the form of a scientific novel, so is very much reminiscent of some of the work of Stanley Kubrick. It's rather intriguing to delve a little deeper into how an album is constructed and the inspirations behind certain elements and Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is a treasure trove for that. As we've said before, it's a fine piece of work and what I would describe as absolute perfection.

We move on from one political poking to another as this week's 'Album Of The Week' comes courtesy of The Blow Monkeys with She Was Only A Grocer's Daughter and the new-wave sounds of 1987. I've been a fan of eighties music for a long time and The Blow Monkeys are a band I grew up on from their singles releases and it's only been recently that I've delved into this classic on recommendation. Much like last week's American Idiot, She Was Only A Grocer's Daughter is politically-driven, but this time focuses its attention on then Conservative Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. Opener It Doesn't Have To Be This Way is funky and typical of the time with its brilliant saxophone solo and whilst the song may seem a little simplistic in structure, it's catchy and a brilliant one to sing along to. The same can be said for the following Some Kind Of Wonderful with its Nile Rodgers-esque guitar backing and crisp, soulful vocal from lead singer Doctor Robert (real name Robert Howard). His soulful voice carries on throughout the whole album and becomes increasingly passionate as it unfolds. How Long Can A Bad Thing Last? is a particular highlight with its sound being somewhere in-between a Michael Jackson solo-effort and with the opening echoes a little bit of the Pet Shops Boys. It describes "that woman on the TV" in its refrain, a blatant referral to Margaret Thatcher and the title possibly refers to her tenure as Prime Minister which would culminate just a couple of years later. The song earns added bonus points for a fantastic lyric in "You think you’re free and you’re so fucking groovy" - it's a line that'll stick in the head of the listener for a while and bears resemblance to a similar line from John Lennon's Working Class Hero. Along with this, Checking Out is brilliantly infectious with the slap-bass backing aiding in painting this funky picture that is lined with yet more political reference to Mrs. Thatcher - "If she gets in again/Well, people that would be the end", implying that the re-election of her as Prime Minister could cause mass turmoil, in the eyes of Doctor Robert. There are a couple of solemn, more emotional numbers such as the tremendous Beautiful Child that happens to feature the brilliant Curtis Mayfield on vocals too. Unlike the songs above and most of the rest of the album, Beautiful Child's main backing is through a piano and strings. The song is a lot more traditional in nature, echoing some of Paul McCartney's earlier work off of the back end of The Beatles' success - see Maybe I'm Amazed as a point of comparison. In short, She Was Only A Grocer's Daughter is fantastically satirical and masks its political attacks and references with groovy guitars, powerful vocals and some cracking saxophone solos. For those who love eighties music, there's not really a better place to start than with this, or possibly Turn Back The Clock by Johnny Hates Jazz, but that's for another week! If you want to pick up a copy, I’ll leave an Amazon link here: https://amzn.to/2P4vXHC Or, if you’d prefer, here’s a Spotify link: More musical magnificence to come next week! UNTITLED may earn an affiliate commission when you purchase through the links on our site. Find out more here.

We're starting off a brand new semi-regular column this week with a more in-depth piece on one of my sporting heroes - former Arsenal and Huddersfield manager Herbert Chapman. Chapman is a man that doesn't really need an introduction. He's one of the most unsung heroes of football and definitely set a precedent for the beautiful game in the future. His work at Arsenal is the most famous and is what I'll be covering here; from the innovations of the 'WM' formation to the introduction of floodlights and shirt numbers, it's hard to argue that there's ever been a more revolutionary manager in English football and maybe even the world. Chapman's most famous innovation is perhaps the introduction of the 'WM' formation from the mid-twenties to combat a 1925 change to the offside rule. This change saw a reduction in the number of opposition players that attackers needed between themselves from three to two so, the position of centre-back was introduced. This was designed to stop the opposing centre-forward and balanced attacking and defensive styles of play. Most notably, by the late-thirties, most English clubs had adopted the 'WM' tactic. Even the Uruguayan national team used it to win the inaugural World Cup in 1930. However, despite the popularity of the tactic, no club could utilise it like Chapman. Players like Alex James, who has been regarded as one of the earliest playmakers in the game, allowed Chapman to outplay other teams. It was the usage of Alex James that aided with Arsenal's successes under the former Huddersfield manager. The 'WM', in various guises, has been described as a derivative of the 3-4-3 and also a 3-2-5 formations, judging by the pictures. Going forward, it utilises a tiki-taka, counter-attacking system. Therefore, players such as Alex James perfectly suited this system. Defensively, the two half-backs allow the 'WM' to have five defenders and since the modern full-back was pretty unheard of, it's a narrow bank of five, but the defenders would spread across the length of the pitch, making this a 5-3-2 when out of possession. I remember when some fans were going mental at the sight of the 3-4-3 system that Antonio Conte operated during his days at Chelsea. This ran very similar to the 'WM' with regards to the tactical fluidity of both formations. "Revolutionary!", I once heard from a friend of mine, not knowing that it had been introduced some ninety years prior. Chapman's Arsenal tenure saw him lead the club to substantial success, including the Gunners' first major trophy in the 1930 FA Cup Final and first First Division title a year later. In 1927, Chapman would lose the FA Cup Final with a formidable Arsenal side to Cardiff City; this is the only time that the FA Cup has ever left England. In 1930 however, it was against his former employers Huddersfield that Chapman tasted glory. Arsenal ran out 2-0 winners against the Terriers with goals from Cliff Bastin and Jack Lambert. This Final also saw the appearance of the colossal Graf Zeppelin airship and the return of King George V to public engagement after illness. Chapman oversaw Arsenal's inaugural First Division triumph in 1931 and graced with the emphatic front line of Cliff Bastin, David Jack and Jack Lambert, Arsenal scored 127 goals over the entire season - this is still a longstanding Arsenal club record. Granted, the season was 42 games long and even then, the goalscoring record that season belongs to second-place Aston Villa, who scored 128 goals. The season saw demolition jobs of the likes of Grimsby (9-1) and Blackpool (7-1) and saw Chapman kick Arsenal up to a higher gear and win five titles in eight years. Rather intriguingly, Chapman was aware of the importance associated with correct decisions with regards to goals standing or not and was one of the first people to suggest the inclusion of 'Goal Line Judges' as adjudicators. He is quoted as saying: "We owe it to the public that our games should be controlled with all the exactness that is possible.". His Arsenal side suffered the ignominy of losing the FA Cup Final in 1932 to Newcastle, 2-1, with what became known as the 'Over The Line' equaliser from Jack Allen. The equaliser came from a Jimmy Richardson cross that had crossed the by-line and Allen levelled the scoring for the Magpies. The goal stood as the referee ruled that the ball had not gone out of play. However, photographic evidence later showed that the ball had crossed the line and that it should not have stood. It's one of the most debated goals in English football history. Off the pitch, he was an advocate of physical fitness and was one of the first managers to employ the usage of masseurs and physiotherapists. Chapman was a footballing pioneer also with regards to the introduction of floodlights during his Arsenal tenure (although they were not licensed for official usage by the FA until the 1950s) as well as introducing numbers on the back of his players' shirts. He's credited with the naming of 'Arsenal' tube station too; Chapman thought it confusing for the fans visiting Highbury on the Underground to have to visit 'Gillespie Road' to go and watch their team and so, since October 31st 1932, fans have been to 'Arsenal' station. Moreover, to increase tactical familiarity, Chapman encouraged players to openly discuss his tactics by ordering weekly meetings at the club. Also, he allowed them to socialise in extra-curricular activities such as golf to build team rapport. He regularly wrote columns for the Sunday Express newspaper on football and a collection of his writings were posthumously published in a book entitled Herbert Chapman On Football. In short, Herbert Chapman is one of football's all-time greats. His work for both Arsenal and Huddersfield is known to fans of both clubs, but outside of that, he appears to go unnoticed. He's one of my sporting heroes and I encourage you all to do a little bit more research to fully discover what an amazing and revolutionary manager he proved to be during his time in the English leagues.