Chimpomatic

The 00s have certainly been a turbulent decade for the music industry, from the rise and fall of Napster, through the MP3 and iPod revolution and on to the reality TV dominated close of the decade. Drum and bass infiltrated pop music so throughly that it's now just part of the furniture, while Hip Hop blew up to dominate the US charts, nabbing a g ....read more

this time, it's NME's top 50 albums of the decade 1. The Strokes - Is This It 2. The Libertines - Up The Bracket 3. Primal Scream - xtrmntr 4. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not 5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell 6. PJ Harvey - Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea 7. Arcade Fire - Funeral 8. Interpol ....read more

"When I used to go out I knew everyone I saw / Now I go out alone, if I go out at all" so sang front Walkman Hamilton Leithauser on ‘The Rat’, which along with ‘Little House of Savages’ was the other ‘Hit’ from ‘Bows and Arrows’, the New York Five Piece’s second album  released in ....read more

Music: Not been a vintage year in terms of quantity for me. El Rey by the Wedding Present and Living on the Other side by The Donkeys got a lot of listens. I haven't yet got round to listening to You and Me by the Walkmen, but reports suggest it's as strong as we've come to expect from them. But in loose order, my standout albums of the year: D ....read more

New album out from Chimpovich favourites The Walkmen, and you can get it over at Amie Street - who also have an interview with the band. Haven't got much data on this site, but price wise there's plenty to write home about. $5 secures you The Walkmen album, and all that goes to charity - but beyond them there's bigger bands like Thom Yorke ($8 ....read more

I've got to say that my biggest revelation this year has been wondering why I didn't get into Yo La Tengo sooner. Their concert in Madrid at the start of December was one of the best I've seen for a while. Although they had a new album out this year, I still need a few more listens - besides, i'm still working through last year's Best of: Prisoner ....read more

The last album by The Walkmen, 'Bows and Arrows' was a real favourite of mine and in 'The Rat' featured a track that would easily make the starting 11 of the best songs ever (probably as a tireless, attacking full back) ...but then they seemed to disappear for a while. Their new album is a beauty, and while they haven't changed much since 'Bows an ....read more