STACK NZ Dec #69

REVIEWS

BEST OF

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ALBUM of the MONTH

ADELE 25 Yessir, it’s as titanic as you imagined. Adele seems to traipse along every corridor love has ever opened to her throughout 25’s 11 tracks; it can be dramatic, but its grace and dignity are undeniable. The truth about 25 is, the chordal progressions aren’t very original – but who cares when you have Adele’s innate knack for melody? Her vocal lines could elevate Twinkle Twinkle ’s base skeleton to a transcendental plane, because her choices are inherently beautiful and draw emotion out as smoothly as toothpaste from a fresh tube. Producers Greg Kurstin et al have done well not to spruce the naturalism up too much with electronic gongs and chrome; there’s a gospel feel to many of the tracks, but of course a thick slathering of reverb which makes everything consistently cinematic

– any of these could be a Skyfall, to be honest. The subtle Remedy – which is driven by little more than a piano and Adele’s voice – is especially fantastic. Some tracks fall into a dour default (All I Ask is pretty unnecessary), but there are a couple of surprises: you can hear the syncopated Lorde vibe in Send My Love (To Your New Lover) , while Million Years Ago evokes Amy Winehouse’s Love Is A Losing Game with a gentle flamenco tremor, and Sweetest Devotion is an excellent closer; its lovely, slow-motion 6/8 gallop is the perfect domain for a song about Adele’s child, whose sweet chatter we can hear at the track’s edges. While 25 is excessively nostalgic, you’ll likely find yourself swept along its moody river regardless. Just go with it. Zoë Radas

Out Now

DVD of the MONTH

MR. HOLMES Now retired and in fear of his brilliant mind eroding away, Sherlock Holmes (Ian McKellen) decides to pen a memoir reflecting truth rather than the embellished tales he’s famous for. Yet his housekeeper’s young son has other ideas. As Holmes warms to the inquisitive young Roger (Milo Parker), he also begins to challenge his own flickering memory of his last case – one that broke his spirit, and indeed heart. McKellen, born to play Holmes as we all know, floats like velvet on glass in this clever and engaging examination of aging, death, regret and old dogs learning new tricks. Dripping with visual grandeur and a quiet, rich and deep quality of pace we seldom see in a feature, Mr. Holmes is a powerful – and powerfully simple – slice of filmmaking. Scott Hocking

Out on December 9

GAME of the MONTH

star wars battlefront Last night I got to play as Slave 1 in Fighter Squadron for the first time. I yelled out in glee – my wife looked at me like I was an idiot. This is what Star Wars: Battlefront means to a fan of the greatest science fiction franchise ever created. DICE wisely made the decision to concentrate – like most Star Wars aficionados – on the original Lucas trilogy. From the first crunch of snow underfoot on Hoth, to the first time you hear the scream

game lacks the depth of your quintessential contemporary shooter, but that is by no means a bad thing. Designed to jump in and play for as little or as long as you want, time poor gamers will appreciate the accessibility. Whether you choose to fight online, or in the offline missions mode, if you’re a Star Wars fanatic – and we are here at STACK – there has never been a game where the aesthetic and audio representation of this much-loved series has been so adroitly captured. If you haven’t picked it up yet, put Star Wars Battlefront right to the top of your ‘to do’ list – it will keep you company in the countdown to The Force Awakens. Paul Jones

of a TIE Fighter, it immediately becomes apparent that the studio’s unprecedented access to the Lucas archives and location visits has paid massive dividends; the attention to detail is unbelievable. Yes, the

Out Now

DECEMBER 2015

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