Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Pet Shop Boys have come a long way since the ill-fated disco musical Closer to Heaven.
Despite being further from their comfort zone, this second foray into theatrical composition, a ballet based around a Hans Christian Anderson parable, is vastly more adept, involving the deft interweaving of electropop and orchestral elements within a series of impressionistic tableaux sketching out the theme of conflict between creativity and destruction. It's stylistically wide-ranging, with Arcade Fire-like uplifting fanfares and sweeping orchestrations, most impressive in the seven-minute sequence "The Grind", in which businesslike synth riffs blend with quirky woodwind and horns before building to an increasingly tense and agitated orchestral conclusion. It may not have quite as many great tunes as The Nutcracker or Swan Lake, but what does?
DOWNLOAD THIS The Grind; The Challenge; The Clock 10/11/12
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments