Art visual np2

LISTEN to 'Far Nearer' by xx's Jaime Smith.

There were many contenders. From Kes's "Wotless" to Benjai's "Trini". But one track rose above all of them. "Burning Up" by Machel Montano and company: A very, very close second place was "Bend Over" by Mr Montano once more (let's face it when all the dust settles, Machel's music is good soca).

Intoxicating song which comes at a crucial moment of Almodovar's last film, Broken Embraces , starring Penelope Cruz. The film itself is standard Almodovar: dark, self-reflexive, profound and hilarious. It is, like all Almodovar films, essentially a soap opera with a plot so effortlessly convoluted and full of secrets that it cannot be summarised. This time, though, it lacks the edge and genuine complexity of some of the Spanish director's earlier work like Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Bad Education and Talk to Her . But it is still unforgettable.

Trinidad band Bangaseed. Photo courtesy Outlish.com/Mark Lyndersay "Look up Bangaseed in a future edition of the Trini dictionary Côté ci Côté la, and instead of the hard fruit, maybe the faces of the four, young men who have adopted the name will be featured. Listed as the synonym will be 'rising star'. Until then though, being listed on the immensely popular urbandictionary.com is a sign of things to come.  "Taking lead from their name, these rockers 'go hard', and in their first months on the scene, since debuting in September 2009, they're building a steady following. With over 1,000 fans on Facebook, and scoring gigs alongside top-rated, local bands in the genre (think Orange Sky), their dedication is certainly bearing fruit..." READ more at the cool online magazine Outlish.com here .

FILM REVIEW: This is It Since his death in June, the image we've had in our minds of Michael Jackson is of a man overwhelmed by drugs, with a frail body, enduring a rapid and undignified decline; reeling in the aftereffects of plastic surgery. Jackson's personal life, soft voice, bizarre behaviour, as well as the reported details of the state of his corpse, did not help. We heard of the phantom needle marks all over the King of Pop's body, black marks on his legs, his peach fuzz of hair which he constantly covered with wigs, the state of his skin and his nose, claims that he penciled in his eyebrows and lips. But This is It , which I saw this week, brings to the forefront another aspect of the story. The film is based on rehersal footage for a planned series of concerts (called 'This is It') which was to be held at London's O2 arena. The series was scheduled to begin in July 2009 and continue through March 2010. But less than three weeks before the curtain came...