Dennis Potter in the Present Tense
Buxton Fringe
Underground Venues 16th July 2016.

The Old Hall hotel has been run by Potters for over half a century, therefore was is it a coincidence that Projectadorno were elected to perform their work on the renowned late TV dramatist, playwright and author in the Underground Venue of this hotel?

Projectadorno is a double act, named after the German philosopher Theodore Adorno, Which reflects the intellectual and thorough investigation that forms the bulk of their creation. The audience of 18, admired this production by two young men, armed with guitars, plus a background of a sepia PowerPoint presentation and voiceovers, that traced the short life and talented works of Dennis Potter.

The story was told in full circle, from Potter’s humble beginnings as the son of a coalminer through his brilliance that escalated Potter’s rise to fame, and untimely death at the age of 59. Then back to the beginning, which emphasised the “Rags to Riches” determination of that remarkable man.

The presentation was enhanced by the lyrics and background voiceovers, that accompanied the visual performance, ranging from Potters start in life, in the New Forest, via a short spell in London, to his final employment as a Civil Servant in the Treasury, which soon ended due to his extensive and talented productions in the media and as a profligate author.

With a restriction of copywrite, the entire production had to be researched by the Adorno duo. Not only did they compose the lyrics, in blank verse, and spoken word, charting Potter’s humble beginnings to international fame, but they also, located and reproduced visual reproductions of the buildings and the milestones of Potter’s short life.

My only criticism is that they sometimes have difficulty hitting the right vocal notes but their talent and enthusiasm shone through. Adorno have to be admired by their tenacity and thorough research, thereby generating a unique and very enjoyable nostalgic work.

Jackie Corrigan

Jarman in Pieces      Three Stars  
Edinburgh Fringe 2014  August 13^th to 17^th

The two guys who make up Project Adorno present a multi-media experience here, with many of their own lively and catchy songs, super 8 video and original interview pieces. We see places relating to the life of Derek Jarman, who in his life was regarded as the enfant terrible of British film. We see early photos and scenes, a good deal of his final home in Dungeness, reference to Blue, his final film, and even shots of some of that glorious troop, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, when Derek was consecrated as Saint Derek of Dungeness.

In his time, Derek was a ground-breaking gay film maker, and his mock-Roman romp, Sebastiane, with its flagrant semi, was a hot ticket in the relatively innocent days in which it appeared. Later work, such as Caravaggio and The War Requiem, was more serious, but we see him here still being something of a fun boy at social gatherings. Then there are the hospital days as AIDS took it’s toll.

If you see this show you will discover fresh aspects of Jarman, hear some interesting things by and about him spoken by these guys, plus a good deal of entertaining and thought-provoking music.

Tony Challis
ScotsGay Magazine

Project Adorno: 15 Electro-Pop Vaudeville Greats
For fifteen years, Project Adorno have been performing their own peculiar brand of cabaret songs and beat-poetry (think Cohen-meets-Kraftwerk-meets-Shuttleworth). And now, in a retrospective recital for your delight and delectation, they have plucked fifteen favourite moments from their frighteningly large back-catalogue.
Expect electro-pop paeans to libraries, old computer games, Cubism, Luddism, cast-iron street-furniture and Jeremy Paxman. And matchstalk men. And matchstalk cats and dogs. In short, a mash-up of popular culture from the last four decades, delivered by two men, an ipod and an acoustic guitar. And maybe a projector, if they're feeling ambitious. 
One day Project Adorno will perhaps become famous for fifteen minutes, though being famous for fifteen people would be just as satisfying (yes, there'll be a head-count). Until then, they must remain retro-futurist visionaries with Stylophones in their hands and Charles Aznavour on their headphones. What would Theodor Adorno have made of it all?

Buxton Fringe Review 2013

If you have been to the Fringe before, the chances are you have seen these chaps. Billed as a 'retrospective recital featuring 15 favourite moments plucked from 15 years of live performance' this show is in effect a 'best of' Fringe regulars Project Adorno. Their staple is quirky, eccentric tunes conveyed in an idiosyncratic style on a variety of instruments including the infamous Stylophone!

Last night's show was culled from several of their earlier efforts and on the whole it was an enjoyable escapade. Songs about and inspired by early computing (ZX Spectrum vs Commodore 64), London's missing rivers and office working were just some of the themes. My favourite was the one about Rene Magritte, but I'm a sucker for all things Magritte! The songs were as promised, electro-pop with a touch of whimsy. I'm sure you'll be able to spot their heroes in the pop world, but despite this many of the songs were undeniably Project Adorno.

If I have a criticism, it is that after all the years and shows, Russell still finds it hard to carry a tune or keep time. That, however, is perhaps part of their charm. Plucky amateurs who give it their best shot and aren't put off by the occasional spot of bad press.

The duo have been working together for a long time now, and it's fair to say they aren't likely to get that 15 mins of fame, but I think they can be famous for 15 people if you get along to their next show before we say goodbye to Underground Venues in its present arrangement.

Ian Parker Heath

Project Adorno’s Record Collection
Edinburgh Fringe 2012

Anyone for Cricket?

Project Adorno is a double act after the philosopher Theodor Adorno. This name reflects their intellectual curiosity and their love of art that forms the bulk of the topics in the songs that they perform. In addition to performing original numbers they dig through their record collection and express the curiosity of music about cricket (one of the vinyl in their collection being ‘The Best of Test Match Special’) and their nerdy comic obsessions and other forgotten cultural relics of our society are dug out of their suitcase and displayed on stage. Their act rests on a spoof performance that embodies the oddest in society similar to what Alan Partridge has done so well in mocking middle Englanders for their quirky obsessions and embarrassing behaviour.

The duo appear, dressed in suits and T-shirts, on a stage filled with props, including a guitar and a power point projector which they use to accompany their bizarre songs and goofy dancing. Their performance could be modern art, if its function is to test the boundaries of what is considered acceptable and ‘cool’ - a big middle finger up to all those concerned with how they fit in. Perhaps this is what is most interesting about them.

The highlight of the show comes as they close with a song about the National Trust. They talk about coming of age and how camping at Reading and Glastonbury has become a chore and, as they have become older, the national trust is what defines them now. It is humorous, imaginative, and manages to fuse Ian Dury and the Blockheads and Madness into their sound. Their quirkiness is fitting for the Fringe, however, they lack musicality which distracts from the lyrics which are often very funny.

Broadway Baby **
Reviewer: Cai Trefor

Project Adorno: Pop Songs & Pie Charts
Buxton Fringe 2011

The most disappointing part of this performance was the sad lack of an audience, only three others enjoyed an hour of giggles and tapping feet to the geeky words and beats of this talented duo. Gloriously entitled Project Adorno, sharp-suited Praveen Manghani and Russell Thompson treated us to the lovechild of The Human League and Radio Four's Shipping Forecast.

They helped us to understand how popular culture is something to be celebrated, embraced, ridiculed and rejected in equal measure with their own rock operas, ballads and electro-pop synth riffs, with the occasional acoustic guitar, Rolf Harris Stylophone, video screening, Powerpoint presentation and much-loved pie charts.

Cleverly woven lyrics answered difficult questions like:

do Formula One drivers use SATNAV?; and

what is the best way to fold a map?; and

is there a Lonely Planet book on planets; and

exactly where was Marillion's first gig?

Fondly remembered memories are brought clearly to life with throbbing back-beats and risky rhyming (just how do words like appealing and cup of Darjeeling find their way into the verse of a song?).

Constantly developing their performance, they look forward to a time when the iPhone rules the world and look back to The Eighties when "the 1990s stretched out like a long line of hills that I'm reluctant to climb." Love songs and rock'n'roll numbers collide in perfectly constructed symmetry with Professor Stephen Hawking guesting on lead vocals and a Rubik's Cube on drums.

It is clever poppy stuff and nothing is immune from comment: ranging from the demise of library stamping instruments to politics to Syntax Error messages to aging all the way to death itself (and the bit between the last two when you might want to join the National Trust!).

If you want to enjoy a show that encompasses the true spirit of the Fringe, then pop along. Remember not to eat too many of them pies though!

David Carlisle

Project Adorno’s Top Ten of Popular Culture
Edinburgh Fringe 2010
Reviewed by Richard O'Brien August 20, 2010        **** (4/5)

Top of the Pops

Do you like Art Brut? Half Man Half Biscuit? Have you ever heard of Ian Sinclair? If the answer to any of these questions is 'no' then you may be bemused, vexed and possibly appalled by Project Adorno's Top Ten of Popular Culture, a musical comedy double-act consisting of one librarian and one 'serial library user', both in suits and one genuinely wearing a flat-cap. If, however, you're anything like me, you'll be in nerd heaven.

The show takes the something arbitrary form of a trip through the top twenty favourite leisure activities of the British public - as compiled by the National Office of Statistics. It features spectacularly wonky songs on acoustic guitar and laptop computer about topics as diverse as the National Trust, recommended reading and the annoyance caused by football fans who refer to their team in the first person plural – an idiosyncrasy the song points out is not shared by the admirers of Jethro Tull. The six-strong audience is perfectly primed for this frame of reference; it seems that every member is able to recognise at least one British coastal amusement arcade from a slide of four, though maybe that's just pier pressure.

This isn't for everyone, much as it pains me to admit the fact – the singing is wonky, the showmanship embarrassing, and the performers keep walking in front of a Powerpoint presentation they're clearly still not quite sure how to work. If this DIY aesthetic (to put it kindly) is a problem for you, then you might want to give this performance a miss – but life isn't artistically polished or perfect and in their own shy, witty way, this duo struggle towards articulating the heart of a certain type of modern experience, drowning in 'so many meaningless options' but nonetheless celebrating every aspect of our cultural detritus, with the glee of Jonathan Richman, MJ Hibbett, and countless other artists that you might also have missed out on if you like your music neat and tidy.

I loved every minute. It's clear this show won't make a profit, and if it did, its creators would probably just spend it on admission to transport museums. It deserves to. The only thing stopping me giving this show five stars is the knowledge that not everyone likes the same thing I do: if they did, this show would sell out the Pleasance. But maybe it's for the best that it isn't. Project Adorno are the true spirit of the Edinburgh Fringe – two middle-aged man failing to harmonise about Jeremy Paxman in an empty basement. Please see this show so no one else has to feel embarrassed about laughing this loudly in a room of six people. On your way out, singing 'I Am The M25' on the George IV Bridge may not be advisable – but if you're anything like me, it might just be unavoidable. Go on. You'll make their day.

BroadwayBaby.com
http://www.broadwaybaby.com/pdf.php?review=7265

Tales From the Cutting Room Floor
Project Adorno & Steve Lake

Westminster Reference Library, 29th July 2008

Project Adorno are Praveen and Russell, they can either be viewed as Laurel and Hardy-esque cultural polemicists or the existentialist Blues Brothers - imagine T.W Adorno’s ‘mass consciousness’ distilled into Chas ‘n’ Dave singing an M.A. paper.  Tonight sees the Frankfurt school relocated to the auspicious halls of Westminster’s reference library.  The death of Le Corbusier haunts the projected background visuals, as the city is a re-imagined Ballardian dystopia. Project Adorno use words such as ‘incremental’ as part of their lyrical delivery, which, in truth, they may not have actually used at all, but you get the point.  At other times Project Adorno bizarrely end up sounding like the F.T. letters page being sung by Soft Cell. This is electro-pop noise pollution, sound tracking inner city angst - the ultimate media student’s band and not a bad thing at all.

Steve Lake’s The ‘King Rat Monologues’ are Tom Waits goes analogue beat-pop and, despite an initial tentative delivery, ‘King Rat’ is a coagulating gloop of vitriolic underground buzz. This is ‘Lock - Stock’ meets musique concrete, or as the narrative itself suggests, its really all about ‘arrogance and pussy’. Although at times somewhat Barry Adamson-lite, this is nonetheless an engaging and entertaining performance. A hyper-sensorial experience of poetic sound and vision, as the projected filmscapes form the backdrop to Lake’s meticulous scalpel like dissection of London’s criminal underbelly. Steve Lake then is not only a man to read, but also one to watch out for on a dark night.

Posted on 31 July 2008 by Keith Haworth www.culturedeluxe.com

PROJECT ADORNO
Underground Overdue (CD)
****

Rock N Reel Magazine 2008

This is the third proper Project Adorno album and once again the eclectic duo of Praveen Manghani and Russell Thompson combine a unique mix of poetry, programmed beats, chanson and pop, though the songs seem to be slowly gaining ascendancy over the spoken word. The album features material from their last 3 Edinburgh fringe shows with many live favourites including ‘Song For Germaine’ and ‘Upney Sidings’.

  As always their inspired lyrical commentaries and observations cover every aspect of contemporary popular culture and are affecting, moving and shot through with irony, intelligence and humour. They manage to simultaneously exhibit both an affectionate understanding and a quiet despair for the momentous and the trivial concerns of the modern age. The subjects range from Germaine Greer to McFly, from J. G. Ballard to Skegness Beach, from the flag of Romania to London Chip shops, and everything in between. All human life is here.

Praveen Manghani’s production is more confident than ever and stronger at the bass end than on previous recordings. As good as it is though, one can imagine what a craftsman like The The’s Matt Johnson would do with this material, if they could persuade him in the producers chair.

  Russell and Praveen’s intricate wordplay has always been a joy, but on this album they have taken great  strides with the musical content and it contains a number of gorgeous melodies, particularly the aching melancholy of ‘The Secret Dream Of Neil Tenant’ and the Zappa-ish ‘Little P.C.’

Here we have an album that pulls off the rare trick of being both original and accessible.

Steve Lake

Setting the tone with a Leonard Cohen song (don't let that put you off), the boys soon get into their stride with a collection of songs of office politics, post it notes and revenge. A sly, often quirky take on some of the things that have often driven this reviewer to distraction - for example job descriptions. Find them helpfully translated here by the Baddiel & Skinner of this year's Fringe. They do mention Essex, but don't hold it against them.

With tunes reminiscent of the early Pet Shop Boys, Yazoo and ABBA your toe will tap and your fingers . . . well I'll leave that up to you. Pop inside and take a chance on these chaps.

Ian Heath

Project Adorno
Electro Pop Heroes

Edinburgh Festival Fringe Aug 2005
Three Weeks (Daily Edition)

Who was the best Dr Who? Did Salvador Dali do housework? What would happen if Picasso was a cockney? These are some of the many hypothetical questions addressed by Electro Pop group, Project Adorno. Wonderfully silly and exceptionally geeky, this is a very weird, but enjoyable 45minutes of 80s grooves dedicated to the likes of “professional feminist” Germaine Greer. There is, however, an air of the tragic about this performance: the two band members are just a little too old to be strutting around  the stage. Or perhaps this is what makes the whole act all so amusing…I did enjoy their dancing. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Salvador Dali does NOT do the washing up. 3/5 (LC)

  Could all this make libraries fashionable? I doubt it. Nor could the clever songs about Germaine Greer, Picasso being a cockney and Bill Bedford the handyman “who arrives with a spanner when you’ve fused the lights” which didn’t seem to have much at all to do with libraries. But entertaining and funny it most certainly is. Original witty material and songs performed with finely judged pace and – a bonus- some extra but unplanned gremlins in the sound system.

  A delightful performance from Project Adorno pausing in Buxton on their way up to Edinburgh. One more opportunity to catch them here on 13 July at 9.00pm at the Old Club House.

  A must for anyone who likes, or hates, librarians.
PL

…Then came Project Adorno and their wholesale theft of the evening. I think it was the second best Project gig I've been lucky enough to witness (beaten only by their performance in Frome on the 2002 Beat Bedsit tour). Unusually tight and together, they looked like they knew exactly what they were doing from the beginning to the end. Some fantastic new tunes were aired, the one that has stuck in my head being about Pablo Picasso and his hat. For those who might not know, Project Adorno are a two piece (Praveen and Russell) who perform songs and poetry about such topics as Doctor Who, libraries and Salvador Dali's hatred of washing up to a background of electronic music, usually played from minidisk but occasionally (and increasingly I'm pleased to note) supplemented by Praveen on the acoustic guitar. Both handle the vocals, Praveen handles the music and Russell dances like a man only loosely in control of his limbs and who gave up on rhythm at the age of three. On paper the whole thing should be a disaster. But instead it's magical. It often takes a while for an audience to get their heads around Project Adorno (you can see them wondering whether to laugh or flee) but tonight everybody loves it from the off. All power to their elbows: they're fabulous. Buy their records.

Project Adorno
PA/CD

Record Collector Magazine 2001

A stunning five-track exercise in electronic beat poetry, “PA/CD” is less a venture into an area bordered by Mark Astronaut and John Cooper-Clarke than those rapid-fire vers libre readings accompanied by jazz that were prevalent in bohemian circles in the early ‘60s. Have times changed so much that experimental works such as this have no place? Fortunately, the answer is a resounding no.

  Praveen Manghani’s ethereal keyboards combine a mannered revelling in mainstream pop with a constant free-flowing pace. There are also declamations by himself and Russell Thompson: the latter’s Rotten-alike nasal whine is entirely appropriate to “The Sex Pistols’ Last Photo” narrative, while Manghani’s more clipped diction suits “The Other Ones” – a transcendence beyond some ghastly family gathering.

Alan Clayson