Chimpomatic

Perhaps this will come as a surprise to absolutely no-one, but we are fast approaching the death-throes of record retailing in the UK. Of course, we've all been predicting it for years - how online purchasing would lead to the demise of retail - but rather like the possibility of a death in the family we've tended to put it out of our thoughts unti ....read more

Last year saw many bands introduce themselves with impressive debuts, but few were as infectious and exciting as Workout Holiday, the first LP by Austin's White Denim. It was a total shambles of a record darting from one idea to the next and threatened to collapse under it's own weight all the time, but it was electrifying. Chimpomatic managed to h ....read more

I'd have to say that No Age's LP Nouns has really been the stand out record of this year for me and in more ways than one. Its infectious energy has made it hard to resist but has also encouraged me to delve deeper into the context in which it was created and as a result a whole new scene has opened up to me and introduced me to a wealth of new tal ....read more

When Nirvana went global and 'Grunge' became a household word, Jonathan Poneman and Bruce Pavitt's fledgling record label hit the big time. Geffen Records bought out their contract with Nirvana in a tidy deal that gave the Seattle label percentage points on future Nirvana releases - as well as reviving sales of Bleach to make it the label's biggest ....read more

With fifth studio album Evil Urges arriving in stores this week, Louisville rockers My Morning Jacket were in town to promote the album, record a Black Cab Session and put on an acoustic show at St. James Church. It's no secret that Chimpomatic are big fans of the band, so we had plenty of questions about British Bobbies, Butch and Sundance, Nashvi ....read more

I've been a Silver Jews fan long enough to have developed my own set of ill-informed stereotypes about it’s creator David Berman. I’m sure they dovetail perfectly with everyone else’s opinions of the man and involve a hermetic and reclusive artist, deeply troubled by personal struggles of the past and a guy so dedicated to his cra ....read more

With a new album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga just released, Chimpomatic favourites Spoon continue to evolve. BC caught up with drummer and producer Jim Eno to talk about recording the new album, out of date Wikipedia entries and his lack of tight jeans. ....read more

With a second album, The Beatific Visions, in stores on Monday, Brighton's favourite country-punkers Brakes are back with a vengence, including a recent show at Kilburn's The Luminaire. Chimpomatic caught up with front man Eamon Hamilton to talk about recording in Nashville, South By South West and David Niven... amongst other things. ....read more

Following the release of his new album Post-War and a short UK tour, Chimpomatic caught up with M.Ward for a very brief Q&A. ....read more

After storming this year's SXSW festival, and signing to major label XL, Minneapolis' Tapes 'n Tapes' debut album The Loon has finally been released in the UK. As the band prepare for another UK tour, Chimpomatic talked to Matt Kretzmann about their new-found success - as well as Minneapolis's most famous miniature rock-star. ....read more

Following a UK tour in support of Editors and a headline gig at Koko in May, Chimpomatic's BC caught up with Matt Berninger of The National to talk about Alligator, Shakespeare and more. ....read more

Back in the early days of Chimpomatic, we had big ambitions for the site and got off to a great start by securing this 2001 interview with the bass king, Mike Watt. It's taken 3 1/2 years to get the interview together and online, but surprisingly little has changed. Bush has just been voted in (again) and Watt has just released his long planned thi ....read more