Come Dancing star dating EastEnder? & other: May 2008

Sunday 25 May 2008

Meet the dark spirits of Norwegian black metal

Four naked men and women covered in cows' blood hang suspended from crosses while a rock band plays, bathed in red light. At the edge of the stage is a phalanx of sheep heads, impaled on stakes and frozen in death grins. The slate-colored eyes of the singer, Gaahl, peering through dark, tangled tresses, are upon us -- his corpse paint dried to the consistency of cracked concrete, mascara-black smudges over cadaver white.

Such spectacles are not usually associated with Norway, but Peter Beste, a Houston photographer with a knack for penetrating popular music subcultures, shows a different side of the idyllic northern paradise in a new coffee-table book arriving Thursday, "True Norwegian Black Metal," featuring more than 130 photos.

In the concert photograph mentioned above, it is Gorgoroth on stage, the Norwegian black metal band being one of the prime examples of a sub-genre of heavy-metal music known for its assaultive power, Satanic or Odinic underpinnings -- and a history of violent, criminal activity.

Beste started this project more than seven years ago, making several trips to Norway, "feeling my way along . . . building these relationships. I had grown up on more mainstream heavy metal, but I was fascinated by the fantastical and insane [in Norwegian black metal]."

He was gradually accepted into the inner circles. "I saw Gorgoroth in Milwaukee in 2002, [shot the band] and Gaahl thought I captured his essence, so I went to Norway for five weeks with no agenda. . . . They were very suspicious people. Norwegians tend to be private. But there was never ever fear, once I realized that these guys are [more] educated and nicer than the everyday people in New York. It also helped that I wasn't a long-haired dude."

In the '90s, a series of church burnings, including that of a 12th-century wooden stave church, Fantoft, a national symbol; gruesome suicides and murders; and an increasing fascination with National Socialism created a flurry of media attention and outright banning of bands' performances.

Beste says, "Lots of the musicians are ashamed of that past and roll their eyes in interviews."

But the past is never far away. Varg Vikernes, convicted murderer, suspected arsonist of the Fantoft church and creator of the highly influential one-man band Burzum, was to have been up for parole this past month, but neither he nor Norwegian prison authorities are releasing any information.

His portrait does not appear in the book.

casey.dolan@latimes.com

True Norwegian Black Metal, Vice Books, Thursday; 208 pps., $60, hardcover. An exhibition featuring more than 30 of Peter Beste's Norwegian black metal photos runs until June 7 at Stephen Kasher Gallery, 521 W. 23 St., New York, NY, (212) 966-3978

Thursday 22 May 2008

Paris Hilton to receive Harvard Award

26-year-old reality TV whizz City of Light Hilton was recently named Harvard Lampoon's Charwoman of the Twelvemonth and will visit Harvard University to accept the award on 6 February.
Founded in 1876, the John Harvard Parody is the world's oldest continually published humor clip.
Other women world Health Organization previously received the Woman of the Year prize from Harvard Travesty include Halle-an-der-Saale Berry, Scarlett Johansson and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Followers her previous part in the horror 'House of Wax' contrary Elisha Cuthbert, Hilton is currently preparing for the release of her fresh film 'The Hottie and the Nottie', which opens in the US on 8 Feb.

Monday 5 May 2008

Sean Combs Receives Star On Hollywood Walk Of Fame

Sean "Diddy" Combs [ tickets ] will be honored Crataegus laevigata 2 with a whizz on the Hollywood Walk of Renown as a tribute for his life-long share of both public and equal appreciation in the entertainment industriousness, according to a contract release. Piece many know Combs as a musical creative person and producer, as well as enterpriser, he has added playing both on phase and in photographic film to his lengthy resume.Combs began his playing vocation in the film "Made," and went on to have critical hail for his support role in "Monster's Ball." He too debuted on Broadway in the leading part of Walter Richard Henry Lee, Jr., in the play "A Raisin in the Sun," which earned four Tony Award nominations. Combs also stars in and executive produced a three-hour telecasting pic interpretation of "A Raisin in the Sun," along with the cast of the Great White Way revitalization, including Tony Awarding winners Phylicia Rashad and Audra McDonald."A Raisin in the Sunlight" aired February 25 on First rudiment and volition be available on Videodisc May 14.

Dj Greg and Lobotomy

Artist: Dj Greg and Lobotomy

   Genre(s):
Other

Discography:

Jumpstyle Part 2 Mixed by DJ Greg C and Lobotomy Inc-2CD

Year: 2006
Tracks: 2

Diverse

Eastenders' Tanya to bury Max alive?

'EastEnders' graphic symbol Tanya Branning will bury cheat hubby Goop alive in a sensational storyline, according to reports.
The mummy of trey, played by actress Jo Joyner, takes revenge for his intimacy with his daughter-in-law, Stacey Woodlouse (Lacey Frederick Jackson Turner).
Afterwards weeks of plotting, Tanya seduces Georgia home boy (Jake Wood) and and so drugs him in front putting him in a coffin and burying it in wood, according to The Sun newsprint.
The scenes ar due to be shown at Easterly.
The Sun quotes a BBC source as saying: "Viewers will induce to wait to find out whether Max lives or dies."
Max and Tanya's relationship becomes increasingly more volatile as they battle over custody of their children.

Was (Not Was), Islington Academy, London

It's close on 20 years since Was (Not Was) death played in the UK, and Father Was is feeling nostalgic. "Is anybody here old enough to deliver seen us last time around?" he inquires hopefully. The roar of approbation he receives confirms that this to the highest degree cultish of groups still excites extraordinary commitment.Was (Non Was) ar a very curious isthmus. Based around deuce fictitious Detroit brothers, Don Was (freshwater bass, beard, cowboy hat, beatific smile) and David (flute glass, a bedraggled Cistron Billy Wilder), their musical comedy and visual focus is the three-pronged soul-man attack of perpetually smile, gurning vocalists Sweet Pea Atkinson, "Sir" Harry Bowens and Donald Irradiation Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell.

Their freshly record album Raspberry!, their first base in 16 old age, sounds, as always, like an old school Detroit seance band acting songs written by the League of Gentlemen. Was (Not Was) are that rarest of things, fervent ironists: they sing tales of everyday rage crosswise a rich people, upbeat strain of funk-soul that would ordinarily house formulaic pledges of romantic devotion. Typically, Semi-Interesting Workweek finds a bug-eyed Bowens reflexion on group gender, subway murders and alien invasions of Hollywood over wah-wah guitar and honking adolphe Sax.They can wager it straight, as on a slick hide of the Temptations' Papa Was a Rollin' Stone, but Was (Not Was) are so much more entertaining when David Was stairs forrad, on I Feel Better Than Jesse James Brown, and sings of encounter Fidel Fidel Castro at Havana Mardi Gras in 1958 and combat CIA men in bikinis. The 20-year wait appears totally worthwhile.