“In a world filled with cool guys and implausible heists, only the breakbeat is king…”
As trailed on last week’s episode, we are now proud to present the first ever No Tags film season! Based on an original idea by DJ and NTS host Finn McCorry, Big Beat Cinema is our attempt to identify and decode a much-loved and entirely made-up microgenre.
We begin this week by outlining the core canon and basic tropes of Big Beat Cinema, paying particular attention to the ultra-stylish heist movies of the late ‘90s and early ‘00s – think Ocean’s Eleven, Mark Wahlberg’s The Italian Job, Snatch and even The Matrix.
Guided by longtime BBC spotter Finn, we talk about why big beat – the sample-flipping, chart-dominating, Hawaiian shirt-wearing sound of the millennium – became so integral to these movies’ portrayal of cool guys pulling off implausible heists.
From zany editing to Junkie XL, from Paul Oakenfold to the politics of cool, and from Skint Records to the correct shade of denim, this first episode is an introduction to the core principles of BBC.
In the next Big Beat Cinema episode we’ll be casting our net wider and talking about, among other things, geezers, hackers, class, Cool Britannia, Inspector Morse and Lara Croft, as well as discussing your comments.
Let us know what you think by replying to this email or commenting on our Letterboxd list, where you can check out the full selection of BBC contenders, from Shallow Grave to Kneecap. What films have we missed? What Jason Statham trivia do we absolutely need to know? Will it ever be the right time for a big beat revival?
You can also follow No Tags on Letterboxd to keep tabs on our rolling list of guest recommendations!
We sure hope you enjoy this temporary diversion into the silver screen. If not, hold tight for your usual No Tags programming, because we’ve got a stack of great interviews coming your way, plus the usual Tom-and-Chal two-handers. Who do you want to see on the pod? Let us know.
Book update! The second pressing of No Tags Vol 1 is on its way, so if you missed out the first time, head to Shopify to place your order. The book can also be found in: Good News (Soho), Magma (Covent Garden, Clerkenwell), Artwords (Hackney), Rova Editions (Bristol), Magalleria (Bath), Rare Mags (Stockport), 20k and a Dead Sheep (Manchester), Well Read (Lisbon).
If you’re interested in stocking the book, get in touch.
In the meantime, if you’re enjoying No Tags, please do rate, review and subscribe on your podcast app of choice. We’d also ask you to consider subscribing to our paid tier, which costs £5 a month and helps us continue planning, recording, editing and transcribing these regular podcasts – and renting out Lara Croft: Tomb Raider for research purposes.
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