If you’re a music fan, you might regard Spotify as the best thing that’s ever gone in your ears. But problems over the availability of certain tracks are a constant niggle. Take That fans who are Spotify Premium members have been angered by the disappearance of the band’s latest album from the service, one of several high profile releases that have been added to the Spotify catalogue, only to mysteriously disappear a few days later…

Read the full post at Bitterwallet.

Consumer Bitterwallet

Farewell Don, Peggy, Roger, Pete and Joan. Especially Joan. This week’s Mad Men season four finale means we’ll have to wait the best part of a year for our next wallow in the glamour and drama of 60s Madison Avenue. And that’s tough, because Mad Men is a show that completely absorbs its viewers, the kind of show that makes sitting on the sofa in front of the telly seem like pretty much the best thing in the world…

Read the full story article over at Sabotage Times.

Film, Television Sabotage Times

Airline seating is a particularly prickly consumer issue, and any frequent flyer knows that getting the seat you want on a plane can be a frustrating and expensive nightmare. We expect airlines to charge a premium for extra legroom, but many of them now charge extra for standard seating too. The worst offender seems to be Thomson, which charges passengers £25 each for the privilege of sitting next to their family and friends…

Read the full post at Bitterwallet.

Consumer Bitterwallet

Oh the Timperley test card’s on, so follow Frank down to the bottom of his garden… There’s been an outpouring of love for Frank Sidebottom since his creator Chris Sievey died earlier this year. He had many fans, but was never more than a cult figure.

Frank’s Fantastic Shed Show was just about the closest he got to the mainstream – a 1991 Yorkshire TV production aired late night in various ITV regions. Now released on DVD, it’s a typically curious, hit-and-miss affair that perfectly illustrates why Frank is so fondly remembered but never made it big.

The format is pretty awkward. It’s essentially a chat show, with a small audience gathered in a back garden set, and various underwhelming guests dropping by. The guests don’t know what to make of Frank, and Frank seems to have little to no idea of who they are, which makes for a few laughs, but does get tiresome over the course of six episodes.

A good few familiar faces pop up as regular characters, including Mark Radcliffe, on Bontempi organ duty, and Caroline Aherne, making her first TV appearance, as Mrs Merton. Marc ‘Lard’ Riley and Phil Cornwell also turn up. There is some great banter and a few funny video inserts, and this is where most of the laughs are.

But those guests… The desperately dull cavalcade includes Nicholas Parsons, Adamski, John Stalker, Bob Holness, Dennis Locorriere out of Dr Hook and, almost inevitably, Keith ‘Cheggers’ Chegwin (making ill-advised gags about drinking). Of course, they’re just stooges for Frank’s gags, but we would much rather be alone with Frank and the other regulars.

The musical guests are the real low point. Each 20-odd minute show features two tedious mimed performances by the likes of London Beat, Oceanic and latter-period Farm. Thankfully, the DVD chapter breaks mean they can easily be skipped. They don’t half date the show.

Tellingly, the most enjoyable episode is the unaired pilot, which is light on guests, and lets Frank do the two musical numbers (Wild Thing and Guess Who’s Been on Match of the Day?). It’s the closest this DVD gets to representing the Frank Sidebottom live shows. The forthcoming Fantastic Showbiz CD and DVD Box Set is likely to do a much better job.

So the Shed Show is funny, endearing, and completely shambolic. It’s never going to convert any newcomers, but Frank fans will find plenty here to enjoy. Just remember to skip past the musical guests.

Frank Sidebottom’s Fantastic Shed Show [DVD]

Frank Sidebottom’s Fantastic Show Biz Box Set (4CD+DVD)

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