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Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesCHIRP Radio Movie Collection: Trainspotting (1996)
[The CHIRP Radio Movie Collection documents great movies that feature music or musicians.]
Trainspotting (1996)
The Plot: A group of heroin addicts in Scotland tries to make their way in an economically depressed late 1980s UK.
For a few years in the 1990s, “heroin chic” was a thing. The pale, hollow-cheeked look that came from riding the white horse was, in certain circles, considered a desirable image. It represented decadence and fun, regardless of the danger that’s always close behind.
The cinematic expression of this idea is Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting, a film based on a novel by Irvine Welsh. Released two years after Quentin Tarantino’s landmark movie Pulp Fiction, Boyle’s work is similar in its highly stylized mise-en-scène and the characters’ ironic detachment from realities that would be quite different were this a documentary instead of a work of make-believe. Sure, being hooked on smack is bad, but it certainly doesn’t keep the main protagonist (played by Ewan McGregor) from saying a lot of clever things or fooling around with hot young teenagers. Four years after this film’s release, Darren Aronovsky’s Requiem for a Dream, using even more visual flair, would indirectly indict the “addiction as entertainment” sub-genre by presenting drug addiction as closer to what it actually is - terrifying, depressing, and gross without the movie-star chic or uplifting ending.
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesWhat’s Up at CHIRP Radio (Week of June 20)
Upcoming Events
- It’s CHIRP Night at the Whistler featuring the music of Furr and Glyders on Wednesday, June 22nd
- CHIRP Radio is at the Logan Square Arts Festival from Friday, June 24th to Sunday June 26th
- CHIRP spins DJ sets at Ravenswood On Tap at the Empirical Brewery Taproom on Saturday June 25th
- CHIRP helps commemorate the 30th anniversary of the release of The Smiths’ The Queen Is Dead during Classic Album Sundays at Transistor in Andersonville on Sunday, June 26th
New Media
- First Time: First Deal with Jenn Gibbons
Mike Bennett writesFriday iPod/MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Jello Biafra Edition
It’s time to wish Jello Biafra a happy birthday! The loquacious frontman of the Dead Kennedys brought a special wit and incisive commentary to American hardcore punk and has continued to comment on injustice, both as a solo act, and teaming up with others, in groups such as Lard. Who knows, maybe someday Jello will become Mayor of San Francisco. In the meantime, let’s pay tribute to Mr. Biafra by grabbing your iPod or MP3 player, hitting shuffle, and sharing the first 10 tunes that come up.
SKaiser writesWhat’s Happening at CHIRP Radio (Week of June 13)
UPCOMING EVENTS
- CHIRP Radio welcomes Mark Lanegan to Old Town School of Folk Music (4544 N. Lincoln Avenue) on Friday, June 17 at 8 PM | All Ages
- CHIRP Radio welomes Juliana Barwick to Constellation (3111 N Western Avenue) on Saturday, June 18 at 8:30 PM | 18+
- Kickstand Productions & CHIRP Radio Present Waxahatchee to Beat Kitchen on Sunday, June 19 at 8 PM | 17+
NEW MEDIA
- CHIRP Radio Movie Collection: The Blues Brothers (1980)
- First Deal - David Franklin
- Dylan Peterson interviews Jessy Lanza at the Metro
- Friday iPod/mp3 Shuffle: Happy Birthday Kim and Kelley Deal!
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesCHIRP Radio Movie Collection: The Blues Brothers (1980)
[The CHIRP Radio Movie Collection documents our favorite movies that feature music or musicians.]
The Blues Brothers (1980)
The Plot: Two brothers (played by Dan Akroyd and John Belushi) put their old band back together in a quest to raise money to save the orphanage where they were raised.
This is a movie that remains one of the more successful film adaptations of a “Saturday Night Live” sketch. Unlike most most movies that started out as SNL ideas, this one feels like an actual film put together by actual film makers. The movie is elevated by several effectively staged stunts and car chases as the Brothers tear their way from Joliet prison to Chicago’s Loop while being chased by everyone from highway patrolmen to neo-Nazis.