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John Frusciante
The Empyrean
Record Collection
Since he escaped his tooth-consuming drug addiction and returned to the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1998, guitar hero John Frusciante has released a remarkable 10+ records through his solo projects - while of course playing a major part in the rehabilitation of the Chili Peppers from punk-funkers to stadium-filling, serious rockers.
While the results of the experimentation on his 2001 and 2004 solo albums have had an obviously positive effect on the Chili Peppers (most notably through the mind-blowing guitar-theatrics of Stadium Arcadium), he still manages to hold plenty back for himself - and there are not many albums that kick off with a 9 minute space-jam. Frusciante's own notes recommend that the album is played "as loud as possible and it is suited to dark living rooms late at night" - and the opener re-affirms that point. Slowly building from a lone drum, it's a vocal-free track where the guitar does the singing (sorry), as we are slowly drawn into the album.
The roles are reversed on Song To The Siren - a cover of the Tim Buckley classic, which is notable here for it's lack of guitar, instead relying on Frusciante's haunting vocals to beautifully carry the song - with delicate keyboards providing much of the charm, both here and throughout the album as a whole. Once we're warmed up, Unreachable provides one of the many high-points of the record, seemingly using a two minute intro as an excuse to unleash the stunt guitars for a blistering 4 minute outro.
The David Axelrod-style production tricks are in full-effect through the album, with some of Frusciante's more eccentric moments adding a great deal of personality to the record, whether he's singing in a faux booming voice on One More Of Me, or looping choral-style samples on Dark Light - which again uses a haunting intro, before segueing into a seemingly separate song and building beautifully on a simple bassline to hypnotise you through another 8 minute epic.
The relatively lavish production quality of Shadows Collide With People is still absent here and would have benefitted the record greatly, although production is certainly a step up from the more lo-fi home-studio vibe of many of the solo projects. Although, when you're a rock star living in the Hollywood hills, the home studio is not what it used to be. The vocals are sometimes often over-effected, where they would perhaps be more effective raw - but don't worry, there's plenty of room for another epic before the end and Central provides another soaring high point to the album, winding samples and booming keyboards through a heavily layered guitar track that builds and builds.
As a complete record, this is certainly a more focused release than Frusciante's six-albums-in-six-months period, as while each of those records yielded several gems, there was a certain sense of in-cohesiveness, which is clearly absent here. While Frusciante describes The Empyrean as a "concept album", he acknowledges that it may not come accross as narrative in that sense, but there is certainly a running theme within the songs, which all hold the same mood and tone - echoing feelings of loss, death and spirituality. The result is an outstanding, thoroughly involving and innovative album - which provides a sometimes challenging listen, with many rewards.
19th Jan 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 4 star reviewsJust watching a bit of Beowulf, and I'm shocked by how naff it is...
18th Jan 2009
Read on TwitterTony Hart, artist and TV Presenter Dies at 83
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18th Jan 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
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Skate or die: Vans
While these days they might be synonymous with Hoxton hipsters, there was a time when you could walk up to anyone with the familiar Vans 'Off The Wall' logo on the back of their shoe and talk skateboarding. They would know where the local spots were and of course, the local skate shop.
Vans were always made in the USA and, as long as you were in the US, super cheap ($20 or so). Started in 1966 by the Van Doren brothers, the company had 70 stores in California by the 1970's, before hitting bankruptcy in the early 80's. As skateboarding re-emerged and became a more mainstream sport, the brand was revived by new investment and expanded, eventually being listed on the NASDAQ.
Through all this, they have always kept a pretty solid grip on their roots, financing the Warped tour and even backing the production of the excellent Dogtown and Z-boys documentary. Since 2007 production has totally moved to China and Vans even have a 'flagship' store on Carnaby Street - which perhaps (unfortunately) due to the more sweatshop-style manufacturing has managed to kept the prices low, with slip-ons still going for a very reasonable £30.
Vans also run a pretty successful skate team (see below) and while their more modern models do compete with Etnies and DC in the chunky-skate-shoe market, they have perhaps been more successful with their clothing lines - and of course, the iconic slip-on. Favourite of hipsters the world over.
16th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
FOTC: One Night Stand
Flight of the Conchords are doing a one-night stand on BBC4 tonight, performing some of their best known songs. 10pm, set PVR to stun.
16th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Erased From Existence
Not sure I even know anyone who even still uses it, but it looks like VHS is officially being given the last rights. The now unwatchable format put in a fairly healthy innings of around 30 years, but with the rise of DVD / Tivo / Internet it is no longer needed.
16th Jan 2009 - 5 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Donate!
Sub Pop honcho and former chimpomatic interviewee (read it here) Megan Jasper is doing a couple of Triathalons to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
You can sponsor her here or read more at www.subpop.com.
16th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Shoegaze again!
Following on from last week's shocker about Paul's Boutique, here's another release that might have some chimps checking the dateline: Sci-Fi-Lo-Fi: Compiled By Rob Da Bank (Shoegazing 1985 - 2007) it's out on Soma Mar 16, but frankly, I expect most of you could probably make your own version without toooo many gaps. have to say, it mostly stands up pretty well - the Cocteau Twins remix is v good too
tracks:
1. Jesus & Mary Chain "Just Like Honey"
2. Ultra Vivid Scene "Mercy Seat"
3. Dinosaur Jr. "Freak Scene"
4. Pale Saints "Sight of You"
5. Ride "Nowhere"
6. Spiritualized "If I Were With Her Now"
7. Chapterhouse "Pearl"
8. Slowdive "When The Sun Hits (Album Version)"
9. Lush "Sweetness & Light"
10. Boards Of Canada "Zoetrope"
11. Ulrich Schnauss "On My Own"
12. M83 "Teen Angst"
13. Cocteau Twins "Cherry Coloured Funk (Seefeel Mix)"
14. Maps "You Don't Know Her Name"
15. Dean & Britta "White Horses"
16th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Star Status: Mickey Rourke
He's riding a wave of Oscar-ready comeback predictions for The Wrestler, but how does Mickey Rourke score in the return of the Chimpomatic Star Status Movie Maths Generator?
It's been a while since we had a go at this, so in case you've forgotten, here are the rules again: it's 10 points for a Hit, 5 for a Maybe and 1 for a Miss... No TV movies, just cinema releases to date. We add it all up, cross-reference the results with some complicated science bits, and hey presto! A comprehensive hit-rate analysis showing how much of their catalogue is actually worth watching.
The Wrestler (2008) .... Randy 'The Ram' Robinson HIT
Stormbreaker (2006) .... Darrius Sayle MAYBE
Domino (2005) .... Ed Mosbey MISS
Sin City (2005) .... Marv HIT
Man on Fire (2004) .... Jordan MISS
Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) .... Billy MISS
Masked and Anonymous (2003) .... Edmund MAYBE
Spun (2002) .... The Cook HIT
Picture Claire (2001) .... Eddie MISS
They Crawl (2001) .... Tiny Frakes MISS
The Pledge (2001) .... Jim Olstad HIT
Get Carter (2000) .... Cyrus Paice MISS
Animal Factory (2000) .... Jan the Actress HIT
Shades (1999) .... Paul S. Sullivan MISS
Out in Fifty (1999) .... Jack Bracken MISS
Shergar (1999) .... Gavin O'Rourke MISS
Cousin Joey (1999) MISS
Thursday (1998) .... Kasarov MISS
Point Blank (1998) .... Rudy Ray MISS
Buffalo '66 (1998) .... The Bookie HIT
The Rainmaker (1997) .... Bruiser Stone HIT
Love in Paris (1997) .... John Gray ... aka 9 1/2 Weeks II MISS
Double Team (1997) .... Stavros MISS
Bullet (1996) .... Butch 'Bullet' Stein MISS
Exit in Red (1996) .... Ed Altman MISS
Fall Time (1995) .... Florence MISS
F.T.W. (1994) .... Frank T. Wells MISS
White Sands (1992) .... Gorman Lennox MISS
Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991) .... Harley Davidson MAYBE
Desperate Hours (1990) .... Michael Bosworth MAYBE
Wild Orchid (1989) .... James Wheeler MISS
Johnny Handsome (1989) .... John Sedley a.ka. Johnny Handsome / Johnny Mitchell MISS
Francesco (1989) .... Francesco MISS
Homeboy (1988) .... Johnny Walker MISS
A Prayer for the Dying (1987) .... Martin Fallon HIT
Barfly (1987) .... Henry Chinaski HIT
Angel Heart (1987) .... Harry Angel HIT
Nine 1/2 Weeks (1986) .... John HIT
Year of the Dragon (1985) .... Capt. Stanley White HIT
The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984) .... Charlie HIT
Eureka (1984) .... Aurelio D'Amato HIT
Rumble Fish (1983) .... The Motorcycle Boy HIT
Diner (1982) .... Robert 'Boogie' Sheftell HIT
Body Heat (1981) .... Teddy Lewis HIT
Heaven's Gate (1980) .... Nick Ray MAYBE
Fade to Black (1980) .... Richie MAYBE
1941 (1979) .... Pvt. Reese MAYBE
HIT 17
MISS 23
MAYBE 7
So that's 212 points out of a possible 470
Mickey Rourke: you have scored 45.1%
If you dare make a purchase, you can do so here, allowing Chimpomatic to profit from his loss. Check back next Thursday for more Star Status movie maths. Same Chimp Channel, same Chimp Time...
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Consume some of Mickey Rourke's best 45.1% here!
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15th Jan 2009 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Obama Is Out Of The Oval Office
Bush and Clinton both gave up email when they entered office, and initially it looked like Barackberry addict Obama would be doing the same. Security is the key risk, but one of the perks for government could be the lack of accountabilty. It now looks like Obama might be putting up a fight, but personally if I had the opportunity I'd drop it like a hot potato.
Update: looks like he's keeping that Blackberry after all....
15th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
McBus
Do you want to supersize that bus to a double decker? Bus crashes into McDonalds in Walthamstow.
Some great comments from the Walthamstow Guardian article:
"It's about time we had a drive through Micky D's in E17. I'm loving it!"
"The provisional wing of the KFC later denied all responsibility for the incident."
15th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Obamobile
When asked if it included such extras as an iPod dock, he said he could not comment specifically, but added that the limo would have "state of the art electronics".
The BBC has the low-down on the new Obamobile.
15th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Dumb Up Dudes! Which Fish?
handy guide to which fish is eco-enough to eat
15th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Get A Piece Of Bret-E....
...every week.
With season two of Flight of the Conchords kicking off on HBO this Sunday, Billboard is reporting that the band will be releasing the song from each episode the day after the episode airs. That will be followed by a 15 track album once the season has concluded (10 episodes + 5 bonus tracks).
If that isn't good enough, our favourite label Sub Pop has a buy now / pay later deal -where you can pay up front, get the downloads as they are released and then the album will be delivered in April. Top marks all round.
15th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
R.I.P. Ricardo Montalban & Patrick McGoohan
Ricardo Montalbán, star of Fantasy Island and The Wrath of Kahn amongst others, has died - aged 88 - as has another cult TV star, Patrick "I am not a number" McGoohan at 80
15th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Mapple
Think different, suckers.
If you are a Mac fan, don't worry about the haters - just check out the genius new wheel book.
14th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Photocopy
If you can't wait for an updated version of iPhoto, Photocopy is a pretty tasty way of synchronizing your offline photo collection with Flickr. You select which albums you want to sync, then any changes made offline are automatically updated with your online sets.
14th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Future Is Neural
First moves are afoot to record human experience, and now Japanese scientists claim to be able to output images from human brain. Plug a pocket-sized projector into the back of your head and the future has arrived.
14th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Game Is Up
It's not just the screws who've had enough of Michael Schofield and his cohorts. Fox has called time on the radically over-run show. AICN have the story, via a Q&A with one of the Fox bigwigs.
14th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Animal Collective
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Domino
So here it is, Animal Collective's much anticipated ninth studio album: Merriweather Post Pavilion (apparently named after their favourite venue) arrives with similar claims that greeted their previous few releases; namely that these would be proper songs, rather than the sprawling sketches that characterised their earlier work. The fact that none of the songs clock in at over six minutes, does seems to suggest a new more disciplined agenda.
Opener In the Flowers doesn't quite fit this claim; with its plodding build, it feels rather like a prelude and is slightly underwhelming. However, moving into the blissful My Girls, it all begins to make perfect sense, with Panda Bear's melodic stamp all over it and is utterly delightful. Then the stomping, playful My GIrls take things in a positively sing-a-long direction by Animal Collective's standards.
From there on in, it is apparent that the sound on Merriweather Post Pavilion has evolved markedly since Strawberry Jam, and on the whole it's a lot more accessible record. This time around their reliance on samples and loops seems to have focused them, such on the stripped back Daily Routine (Guitarist Deakin is absent from this record). Yet Animal Collective's real skill is their ability to extract melody from the strangest of places and as the album goes on it slowly seeps deep inside your head.
So whilst Animal Collective remain an acquired taste and are not ever likely ever to make something that isn't hard to categorise, Merriweather Post Pavilion is as an original, joyous and warm album that you're likely to find this year.
14th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 4.5 star reviewsIt's a sorry state of affairs when Tango & Cash is on one channel and Death Proof is on the other.
13th Jan 2009
Read on TwitterJust watching Leo in The Beach. Note to my friends: if anyone starts to strum Bob Marley at my funeral, please kill them.
13th Jan 2009
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Palm Jacket
My Morning Jacket have resurfaced with an iTunes-only live (in the studio) EP - Live From Las Vegas At The Palms
Thankfully, it's looking relatively light on Evil Urges material mostly comprising of re-workings of back catalogue tracks.
13th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Ad Nauseum: Virgin Atlantic
Not sure if airlines were evr 'sexy', but Virgin claims to be putting sexy back into their brand, with this retro 80's ad. Funny to see Our Price Virgin Mega Zavvi Bunkruptcy recreated in the background.
Creative Review has the low-down.
13th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Notes From Espana
The secret Diary of Woody Allen, aged 73 & 1/12th.
13th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Tapas Y Tapas
Looking for some tasty Tapas in Spain? Let Tapas Y Tapas guide you.
13th Jan 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Lost
Season 5: Because You Left / The Lie
ABC/Sky1
With the endgame in sight, Lost's fifth season gets off to a pretty confident, solid start. Now that they have worked out when they're going to end it all, it feels like they can relax with the whole story and just get on with telling it, rather than faffing about so much and adding unnecessary side-tracks all over the place. They must have got enough loose ends to play with by now - here's where they start to tie them up.
We pick up where we left off, with Jack and Ben in the funeral parlour with Locke's body, Sayid and Hurley on the run after busting Hurley out of his mental institution, Kate and Aaron living in suburbia and the rest of the islanders left behind trying to work out where the boat's gone...
As we hoped when the Freighter Folk first showed up, it looks like Team Weirdo (Daniel Faraday, Charlotte Lewis and ESP-man Miles) are going to come into their own now there's a bit more room on the island. Faraday in particular really steps up in these first two episodes, and for once it feels like someone other than Ben knows what is going on - and might actually tell someone else. As they've hinted before with Desmond, time travel feels like it's going to be at the core of things - more a case of when is the island than where is it perhaps...
It also seems like we're going to be skipping around back and forth between the island and the mainland for this season, with Locke rounding the gang up to take everyone back in one storyline, while we see how everyone else - Juliet, Sawyer, Rose & Bernard, Locke etc - are dealing with being left behind in a state of confusion.
As ever, it's Hurley who gives us some classic moments, explaining in dude-speak what crazy shit he's really been up to since the plane crash - a nice way for the writers to acknowledge just how loopy this story has got - and then carry on telling it.
There's more from the Dharma Initiative, which is great, as it kind of felt like they'd forgotten about them for a bit, and they've got the coolest outfits. It's also clear that Ben's operation on the mainland is pretty organised - and that the other Others - ie the people he's worried about (the Widmore Group?) are also closing in. All in all, a very enjoyable return from a show that it would be great to see head for the final straight in style. No doubt they'll probably get a little lost again on the way, but it really feels like they're focused on delivering on the show's early promise again.
BONUS SPOILER TRIVIA BELOW
...
....
....
Dr Marvin Candle lived on the island for a while, filming the Dharma Initiative Orientation films, liked vinyl and is really called... Dr Chen.
Ana Lucia returns.
Hurley's a shitzu fan.
Charles Widmore (aka hardest working man in TV cameos, Alan Dale) shows up.
12th Jan 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 4 star reviewsMy final attempt to pay full price for a CD has failed miserably. Now I have a 'credit note'.
12th Jan 2009
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Space Crunch
With can't-do-no-wrong President Obama promising to solve the Middle East crisis and reverse the Credit Crunch during his first day in office, less press is being given to those projects losing out - one of which might be the proposed manned space-flight project of Ares 1 and Orion.
Luckily the private sector of Space Travel is booming, with Space-X's Falcon 9 being wheeled into position at the Cape.
12th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Get Papped!
Tired of the same old profile picture? Why not draft in a paparazzi like Izaz Rony to get those unique off-the-cuff pictures? Wired has the full story.
12th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
New Frusciante
"It should be played as loud as possible and it is suited to dark living rooms late at night..."
Another outing from the hardest-working guitar player (in the Chili Peppers) - chimp hero John Frusciante has been blogging about The Empyrean, out on Jan 20 - maybe Obama will be chilling to it on his iPod before he gets sworn in. Nice to see that Flea's on there - and the idea of him jamming with Johnny Marr is all pretty exciting...
Track listing:
1. Before The Beginning
2. Song To The Siren
3. Unreachable
4. God
5. Dark/Light
6. Heaven
7. Enough Of Me
8. Central
9. One More Of Me
10. After The Ending
12th Jan 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Tweedyohead
Not great sound, but what a line-up. Jeff Tweddy does Fake Plastic Trees with help from Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway and Johhny Marr.
9th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
What A Piece Of Junk!
She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts.
9th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Invisible - Visible
The Invisible's balloon-filled new video for London Girl is up on the Guardian's music site
9th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
We Misunderestimated Him Alright
amazing it's getting close to the last chance to wallow in the perverse joy of an idiot President's showland: good list of some of the best/worst Bushisms... (not sure if this will be the end of our namesakes over at chimp-o-matic.net)
9th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Off With Their Heads!
more art from the underground: the decapitator has been busy, chopping off heads around London
9th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Lesbian Vampire Killers
daft trailer up for Lesbian Vampire Killers starring the guys from Gavin & Stacey
9th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
R.I.P Astoria
London venue Astoria closes its doors for the last time this weekend. A victim of the Crossrail project the venue has hosted most of the big names in music since it was converted to a venue from a cinema in 1976. With bands such as The Rolling Stones and Radiohead citing it among their favourite places to play it will not just be audiences that miss its intimate (sometimes beer throwing) atmosphere.
In more recent years Chimpomatic have seen some highly rated performances from Pearl Jam and My Morning Jacket
8th Jan 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Dragonball Evolution
not quite sure what the movie version of Dragonball is evolving into exactly, but here's the trailer...
8th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Paul's 20th Birthday
I was thinking about the Beasties this morning and reckoning Paul's Boutique must be 20 odd years old now. Low and behold the remastered 20th Anniversary edition comes out at the end of January.
This is the first time I have genuinely been made to feel old by an album re-release.
7th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Cool Kid / Cool Dad
Son of Wilco Spencer Tweedy has a remarkably engaging blog and twitter feed, offering his thoughts from the road as he travels with his Dad.
7th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Picassa Beater
So, no Mac Mini from Macworld, but a new 17" Macbook Pro arrived, as well as the DRM-free iTunes and a new version of iLife. The highlight of that has to be iPhoto, with a handful of Picassa-beating features, including Google Maps integration and easy syncing with Flickr and Facebook.
Incidentally, you can head over to iTunes and upgrade any DRM-locked tracks you might have for 20p per track.
7th Jan 2009 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
More BSG
new clip up from the start of the final run of Battlestar Galactica
7th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Thompson Twins cast
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are going to be the Thompson Twins in the Spielberg/Jackson 3D Tintin trilogy
7th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet