Music Reissues Weekly: Mark Eric - A Midsummer’s Day Dream

MARK ERIC - A MIDSUMMER'S DAY DREAM Flawless Beach Boys-style California pop from 1969

Flawless but belatedly lauded Beach Boys-style California pop from 1969

In June 1969, The Beach Boys released “Break Away” as a single. A month earlier, they had announced they were leaving Capitol Records, who they had been with since 1962. The split with their long-term label came after the band sued for unpaid royalties and other business failings. “Break Away,” the last Capitol single, was aptly titled.

Lisa Frankenstein review - a bitchy trawl through the high-school horror movie back catalogue

★★★ LISA FRANKENSTEIN A bitchy trawl through the high-school horror movie back catalogue

Diablo Cody delivers a comic but gory pastiche of 1980s pop culture

Diablo Cody’s biggest screenwriting hit was 2007’s Juno, a larky but tender story of teenage pregnancy. She’s gone back to high school for her latest, Lisa Frankenstein, which focuses on another troubled teen. This one has goth looks accessorised with an axe.

Hir, Park Theatre review - incendiary production for Taylor Mac's rich absurdist family drama

★★★★ HIR, PARK THEATRE Incendiary production for Taylor Mac's rich absurdist family drama

Felicity Huffman, heading a superb cast, is a force of nature

In 2017, two years after Hir premiered, Taylor Mac was awarded a “Genius Grant” and nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for drama. The new production of Hir at the Park demonstrates why. It’s a rich, provocative piece about the ideas that drive us now, thrown into a blender and blitzed.

Infinite Life, National Theatre review - beguiling new comedy about a world of pain

★★★★ INFINITE LIFE, NATIONAL THEATRE Beguiling new comedy about a world of pain

Annie Baker delivers a richly satisfying piece about hungry women

A sun deck with seven pale-green padded loungers is the latest setting for the latest National Theatre premiere from American playwright Annie Baker to people in her inimitable way. In her hands this banal space is as dramatically charged as any windowless Beckett cell. 

RE/SISTERS: A Lens on Gender and Ecology, Barbican review - women fighting to protect the environment

★★★★ RE/SISTERS, BARBICAN Women fighting to protect the environment

Eco-warriors and art as activism

RE/SISTERS is a show about the brave women who’ve been fighting to protect our planet and the artists whose work – mainly in film and photography – is, in itself, a form of protest. The opening section, Extractive Economics demonstrates the problem – companies trashing the planet for profit, regardless of the cost to people and the environment.

Album: Devendra Banhart - Flying Wig

★★ DEVENDRA BANHART - FLYING WIG An electronically adventurous misfire

Offbeat singer-songwriter's latest is an electronically adventurous misfire

Had Devendra Banhart been born between 1940 and 1950, he’d likely be a household name. His output – very loosely – sits between Cat Stevens, Syd Barrett and Richie Havens, studded with a greatness not widely acknowledged. He had a spell around 15-20 years ago when he seemed about to commercially explode. That didn't happen but he’s settled to a solid career and done much gorgeous work since.

Fremont review - lovely wry portrait of an Afghan refugee looking for love

★★★★ FREMONT Stunning debut from Anaita Wali Zada gives Babak Jalali's film an inner glow

Stunning debut from refugee Anaita Wali Zada gives Babak Jalali's film an inner glow

A cameo by Jeremy Allen White wouldn’t usually excite interest, but the star of Disney+’s The Bear is big box-office now, so his presence in Fremont, however brief, will probably guarantee it an audience. There the curious will also find a gem from the Iranian-born director Babak Jalali and a serenely powerful debut performance by Anaita Wali Zada, who gives this simple-seeming project an inner glow.

Album: OSEES - Intercepted Message

★★★★ OSEES - INTERCEPTED MESSAGE Hidden sophistication, primal power

Caveman synth-rock with hidden sophistication but primal power

On the face of it, this is an extremely simple record. It is big, stomping, party-monster neanderthal synth-rock.

Daisy Jones & The 6, Amazon Prime review - hit rock'n'roll novel doesn't make great TV

★★ DAISY JONES & THE 6, AMAZON PRIME Hit rock'n'roll novel doesn't make great TV

Fictional band can't match the legend of Fleetwood Mac

Based on the bestselling novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Daisy Jones & The Six is the rags-to-riches-to-wreckage story of the titular Seventies rock band, supposedly somewhat based on Fleetwood Mac. Their journey from their fashion-defying hometown of Pittsburgh to Los Angeles and thence the world follows a well-worn trail carved by countless aspiring rockers, and doesn’t do it quite interestingly enough to justify its 10-episode length.

Music Reissues Weekly: Goin' Round In My Mind - The Merrell Fankhauser Anthology

GOIN' ROUND IN MY MIND - THE MERRELL FANHAUSER ANTHOLOGY Tenacious US cult hero

Persuasive box set dedicated to the tenacious US cult hero

Merrell Fankhauser's first outing on record was with Californian instrumental surf band The Impacts, who issued their sole album in 1963. Thereafter, he was the prime mover in an unbroken succession of pop, psychedelic and freak-rock bands. His first solo album arrived in 1976.