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Freaky Details

Track listing and details up at Sub Pop for the Flight of the Conchords' second album - I Told You I Was Freaky.

Sugalumps, You Don't Have To Be A Prostitute, Demon Woman, Too Many Dicks on the Dancefloor - they're all in there.

The bad news is it won't be arriving until October 20th...

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22nd Jul 2009 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Byte Size

Here's some ideas for today's lunch: Scanwiches.

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22nd Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Nest Wrecker!

San Francisco Zoo's gay penguin couple have had their lives turned upside down recently, with Harry leaving his manpenguin-friend partner of 6 years - Pepper - and moving in with recently-widowed Linda. Sky news has the story.

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22nd Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Augmented Reality

'Augmented Reality' is one of the buzz words of the moment, with location aware hardware and applications allowing you to add layers of data over a real-world interface. Check out this demo, where a GPS and Compass enabled iPhone can tell where you are and which way you are facing, before overlaying data and directions to nearby Tube stations. The App promises to be launched when iPhone OS 3.1 launches.

More data on Wikipedia.

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22nd Jul 2009 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Goth Cruise

Goths on a cruise? Doesn't it mess with their no-tan policy? Maybe they only come out at night...

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22nd Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

New Lou

Lou Barlow has a new solo record - Goodbye Unknown - out in October, and will be supporting Dinosaur Jr on their forthcoming tour - backed up by Mike Watt's 'Missingmen', minus the Minuteman himself. Sign up at Domino (or below) to hear the track Gravitate.

   

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21st Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Moviedrome

Caught myself reminiscing with someone recently about Alex Cox's excellent Moviedrome series from the late 80's / early 90's, where Cox would introduce a (usually rare) film, followed by a screening.

The Last Picture Show, Coogan's Bluff, Rumblefish, Rope / 84 Charlie Mopic (double bill!) and THX1138 were among some of the more main-stream US movies, while more obscure screenings like WeekendThe Spider's Stratagem (outstanding), Q The Winged Serpant, Vamp and Yojimbo provided otherwise unseen screenings.

It's hard to believe there was ever a time when you couldn't watch anything you want whenever you want to, never mind even further back (pre-VHS), when film makers like Coppola and Scorcese would have pulled all their knowledge from actual cinema screenings.

Check out an archive listing of what was screened here, and a list of DVD-available titles over at Lovefilm.

Alex Cox is also on YouTube. And I heard rumours of a Repo Man sequel, entitle Repo Chick.

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21st Jul 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Please, Please, Please Let Me Zooey What She Wants

Zooey Deschanel and Monster Of Folk dude M Ward cover Please, Please, Please on new indie kookcom 500 Days Of Summer.

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21st Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

New Jam

new Pearl Jam jam streaming over at NY Mag's Vulture

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21st Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

5 Bike Apps

People are coming up with all sort of ingenious uses for the iPhone - typically as a means of replacing some other piece of hardware. WIRED has a round up of 5 bike-tech replacement apps.

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21st Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Where The Eagle Landed

Just in time for the 40th Anniversary of the moon landing, NASA has released some images from the Lunar Reconnaissence Orbiter, which is mapping the moon.

The images show various landing sites from the Apollo landing - and you can even see the footprint trails between the lander and instruments test site in some.

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21st Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

MJ 2000

twitpic has thrown up this projection from Ebony magazine in 1985 predicting what Michael Jackson might look like at 40, in the year 2000

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21st Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Search

Houston, We Have A Problem

Some bad news from the Beastie Boys... Best wishes to Adam Yauch.

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20th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Ad Nauseum: Samsung Jet

You might have seen this lovely new ad for Samsung's new Jet mobile. I have no doubt that it's being pitched as an iPhone killer, but the ad's nice at least.

Ad up top, making of below. Some boring details here.

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20th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Attack of the Clones

South Korea has deployed cloned sniffer dogs at it's main border points. Woof.

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20th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Man In The Mixtape

Epic Michael Jackson mixtape up over at dnbeentertainment.com

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20th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Trailer Park: World's Greatest Dad

Robin Williams in an OK-looking comedy? Look forward to other movies based on greetings cards and bumper stickers: World's Greatest Boss, You Don't Have To Be Crazy To Work Here, Happy Birthday etc etc

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20th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Oneida

Rated O

Jagjaguwar

With a running time of just under two hours Oneida's new triple-album Rated O is not going to be an experience for the faint-hearted, but much-like it's predecessor (Preteen Weaponry - review here) it's a long ride worth strapping in for. Certainly before you wade into this sonic battlefront, you'll want to make sure you're well prepared - most likely with cups of tea and a bong. Let me set the scene: Oneida are big on repetition, they're into bit-crunching and distortion, electronics and real instruments, overt noise and subtle change. Voices are sometimes a sound source rather than a means for conveying lyrics - and musically, there's an unresolved tension running through the whole album.

You might not get much out of this release by just dipping into it or letting shuffle throw you a sonic morsel - but if you're prepared to strap in for the full 110 minutes the experience becomes something more akin to a performance. The first disc is right at home alongside Preteen Weaponry, with a great deal of droning and looping and very much an electronic feel, then at disc two we take a sharp turn and Oneida play a set of songs which are surprisingly straight and structured in nature - this took me by surprise, and put the long psychedelic workouts into a different context. The songs put me in mind of Clinic - rich in ideas, riffs, arrangements, but with that post-dance inclusion of textured noise. Also not a million miles away from Can in spirit and, at times, sound.

The third part of the album has another distinctive feel to it - an altogether less aggressive attitude towards the long improvisations, a chill-out cousin of disc one, culminating in the 20 minute Folk Wisdom which gradually works the energy back up towards the feel of the opening disc.

With this release, Oneida can officially count me as a fan. I like this band because they are serious about what they do. There is a lot of jamming but they are not just fucking around. Years ago when Spiritualized were being mercilessly hyped as the second coming of psychedlia, I really hoped they were going to sound like this instead of the fey gauchos they tuned out to be.

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20th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Read more 4 star reviews

Nasa Hi-Def Moon Fail

has Nasa really taped over its hi-def moon footage? hate it when that happens

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20th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Monsters of Folk

Free download of the the debut single from the super-ish group featuring Conor Oberst,  M.Ward, Mike Mogis and the newly renamed Yim Yames.

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18th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Lastest Squid News

Giant Squid terrorise the Californian coast

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17th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Star Status: Andy Garcia

A recent screening of The Untouchables brought Andy Garcia into the sights of Star Status, and it's a mixed picture. He's actually been in a lot of TV stuff and a lot of stuff that I for one haven't seen - so quite a few of these scores will be coming from the over-generous IBDB voting system. No TV, so his appearance in the pilot of Murder She Wrote won't count I'm afraid.

So, how does Cuban-born Andy Garcia rate in the Chimpomatic Star Status Movie Maths Generator?

It's 10 points for a Hit, 5 for a Maybe and 1 for a Miss... 

The Pink Panther 2 (2009) .... Vicenzo - MISS
City Island (2009) .... Vince Rizzo - HIT
La linea (2008) .... Javier Salazar - MISS
Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008) (voice) .... Delgado - MISS
Ocean's Thirteen (2007) .... Terry Benedict - HIT
The Air I Breathe (2007) .... Fingers - HIT
Smokin' Aces (2006) .... Stanley Locke - MAYBE
The Lost City (2005) .... Fico Fellove - MAYBE
Ocean's Twelve (2004) .... Terry Benedict - HIT
Modigliani (2004) .... Amedeo Modigliani - MAYBE
The Lazarus Child (2004) .... Jack Heywood - MISS
Twisted (2004/I) .... Mike Delmarco - MISS
Confidence (2003) .... Gunther Butan - MAYBE
Just Like Mona (2003) - MISS
Ocean's Eleven (2001) .... Terry Benedict - HIT
The Man from Elysian Fields (2001) .... Byron - MAYBE
The Unsaid (2001) .... Michael Hunter - MAYBE
Lakeboat (2000) .... Guigliani - MISS
Just the Ticket (1999/I) .... Gary Starke - MISS
Desperate Measures (1998) .... Frank Conner - MISS
Hoodlum (1997) .... Lucky Luciano - MISS
The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca (1996) .... Lorca - MAYBE
Night Falls on Manhattan (1996) .... Sean Casey - MAYBE
Steal Big Steal Little (1995) .... Ruben Partida Martinez/Robert Martin/Narrator - MISS
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995) .... Jimmy 'The Saint' Tosnia - HIT
When a Man Loves a Woman (1994) .... Michael Green - MAYBE
Jennifer Eight (1992) .... Sgt. John Berlin - HIT
Hero (1992/I) .... John Bubber - HIT
Dead Again (1991) .... Gray Baker - HIT
The Godfather: Part III (1990) .... Vincent Mancini - HIT
A Show of Force (1990) .... Luis Angel Mora - MISS
Internal Affairs (1990) .... Raymond Avilla - HIT
Black Rain (1989/I) .... Charlie - HIT
American Roulette (1988) .... Carlos Quintas - MISS
Stand and Deliver (1988) .... Dr. Ramirez (Educational Testing Service) - MAYBE
The Untouchables (1987) .... Agent George Stone / Giuseppe Petri - HIT
8 Million Ways to Die (1986) .... Angel Moldonado - MAYBE

HIT 11
MAYBE 11
MISS 13

So that's 178 out of a possible 370

Andy Garcia, you have scored a (perhaps surprising) 48.1%

If you dare make a purchase, you can do so here, allowing Chimpomatic to profit from his loss. Check back soon for more Star Status movie maths. Same Chimp Channel, same Chimp Time...

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17th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Death By Twitter

Looks like Twitter is not all mindless. Time magazine are claiming it is responsible for the huge drop in box office from Friday > Saturday for hilarious new comedy Bruno

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17th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet