Chimpomatic

Skins

Season Three

E4

When Skins first appeared on our radar, it looked like it was going to be another painful British attempt to do teen TV - like UK kids doing an amdram ad for American Apparel. But even though it's hyper-styled, and you'd be pretty lucky if your teen years were/are as action-packed and as witty as theirs, it soon became clear that this was easily the best teen drama we've had in years... since... um... Press Gang?! 

The secret seems to be in the production method. Having kids writing with seasoned writers seems to bring out the best of both: well-plotted and paced stories, without too much cringy made-up yoofspeak. The teen cast - Nicholas Hoult (Tony), Dev Patel (Anwar), April Pearson (Michelle), Mike Bailey (Sid), Hannah Murray (Cassie) and Mitch Hewer (Maxxie) - were all engaging, but also bolstered by the decision to cast a large part of the Brit acting/comedy population as their parents and teachers - Harry Enfield, Nina Wadia, Danny Dyer, Morwenna Banks, Peter Capaldi, Josie Lawrence, Kevin Eldon, Neil Morrissey, Arabella Weir, Mark Heap, Sarah Lancashire and Bill Bailey - not a bad lineup for any show. 

By shifting the focus from character to character every episode, it also built up a real sense of what it's like to be in school - sometimes you're at the centre of the action, sometimes on the margins looking in - a clever way of making it about everyone, not just the initially more obvious characters like Tony (although, by S2 they'd also found a way of subverting his alphateen personality). 

After the first two series took us through everything from exams, raves, anorexia, relationships, to losing your virginity and a parent, C4 came up with a pretty bold announcement: they were going to keep the third series set at the school after everyone had left for university, and start again with the next generation - effectively culling the entire cast (apart from Tony's little sister Effy, who cheekily moved into his room at the end of the last series). 

It takes about ten minutes for you to get over it. At first, it's quite annoying to watch three new skivers hanging out drinking and getting stoned before school - but then Harry Enfield shows up, there's a typically daft sequence involving some ketchup and a bike and the whole thing starts to roll again, with enough energy and wit to suggest that they might be able to keep this franchise rolling for years.

This term, they've got some twins (one nerdy, one full of herself - and actually played by real twins, not some Prince And The Pauper CGI trickery), a geeky magician, an over-cocky player who fancies himself almost as much as he fancies every other lucky, lucky lady in the class, a sk8tr boi, and a kid from Africa. Would be nice if they let some of the first generation show up from time-to-time - and it would be great to see Bill Bailey dancing with a dog again) - but on the strength of this opener, it seems like they've made the right call to stay in sixth form, and not head off to uni.

#TV
#chimp71

6th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Omar Rodriguez Lopez

Old Money

Stonesthrow

Omar Rodriguez Lopez is the guitarist with The Mars Volta and this, his first proper solo album, is a collection of instrumentals and sound collages which serves as a strong statement of where he's at musically. Initially, this album comes across as the Volta without vocals, but repeated listenings reveal a wider scope of influences and textures. Genreally speaking only a couple of tracks resemble the Volta in terms of arrangement - notably the opener The Power Of Myth and the title track itself - elsewhere ORL's earlier excursions into the world of dub and found-sound are very a big influence, with mighty Studio 1 rhythms bouncing off latino melodies and third-world samples. The other big influence which flavours this record is mid-70's Jazz fusion, and by that I mean the good stuff - the use of Bass Clarinet cannot help but invoke the sound of Bitches Brew or Herbie Hancock's Sextant, and Omar's guitar playing coupled with some furious drumming are as close to a modern Mahavishnu Orchestra as we're likely to find.

What makes this good is Omar's approach to playing guitar - he is, without question, the finest rock guitarist to have emerged in two decades and this is a statement I'll attempt to qualify right now: consider the dilemma of the talented musician. If you have the dexterity and the ear for complicated playing, there is often the need to show-off, to learns tricks and to become nothing more than a performing stunt-show of arpeggios and flashy techniques, so many great players end up making music which only serves to highlight their technique. ORL is a very gifted guitarist but he understands something at a much deeper level than the sweep-pickers of fusion or math-rock - his solos charge head-on into unknown places, like someone riding the scree - a controlled crash at high speed. Really, the closest comparison to ORL's solo playing is Frank Zappa - he's really got that wah-wah thing down. On top of this, Omar clearly loves sound manipulation so his guitar sounds are often heavily effected, overdriven and swirling, but with a highly contemporary edge.

So, if you want to hear an album with a lot of high-quality guitar experimentation against a backdrop of electric Miles, King Tubby and Medal-era Floyd, then this is your new year purchase. If that sounds like your idea of hell then steer clear. Personally, I would love to hear the results if Omar teamed up with Bill Laswell - I think that would be a musical marriage made in psychedlic heaven.

#Music
#HarrisPilton

5th Jan 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Demons

Episode One

ITV1

Another attempt from ITV to come up with something to plug that Saturday night Doctor Who black hole. 

Here, it's a fairly generic Buffy ripoff, with large chunks of Neil Gaiman's Neverworld thrown in for good measure. Some boyband wannabe finds out he's the last in the Van Helsing family line when his godfather shows up out of the blue with a large mystic gun and a terrible American accent and points out that there really are things under the bed. They chase them a bit together after going to see a blind piano player in London's Royal Festival Hall and then turning a corner and carrying on their chat in London's Spitalfields market* before Mackenzie Crook (Gareth from The Office) shows up with an odd stuck-on beak on his nose and scares them a bit. 

Philip Glenister - so good at getting you to believe in the Life On Mars/Ashes To Ashes time-travel/coma/where-are-we? conceit - is here lumbered with the task of trying to make this work. But as there's absolutely no reason at all why they've made him attempt an American accent, the whole thing struggles from the moment he pops up, simply because you're trying to work out why he's saying things like "let's verily smite these level three entities" all the time, when it would be a lot more convincing (almost) if he'd just been left to say it in his own accent. Maybe they're hoping to sell it to the US? Not much chance really - it's pretty hard to work out why you'd bother taking on monsters from other realms if you're not going to at least try and make it better than Buffy. Might pick up if it can settle down a bit, but at the moment, those London hellmouths don't feel very safe.

*note for non-London chimps: that would take a good 30 minutes to walk in non-TV time

#TV
#chimp71

3rd Jan 2009 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

90210

Pilot

E4

Still got a lot of residual affection lying around for the original adventures of the 90s Peach Pit kids, so it was pretty interesting to see where they're taking this new reboot of the teen soap. It's set in the same universe, with Kelly (Jennie Garth) now a high school counsellor and the big sister of one of the new kids prancing around West Beverly High's catwalks halls.

A lot has changed in teen TV since the dawn of 90210 1.0 - Dawson's, Freaks And Geeks, The OC and most recently Gossip Girl have all pushed the genre way beyond BH's Dallas Jnr aspirations. In its day it was pretty much the only show around to show teenagers apart from Neighbours - now we've got used to seeing amplified angst played out in style, with studied indie soundtracks, and click-here, buy-now fashion tips.

In place of the Brandon and Brenda Walsh good kids from the sticks dealing with the madness of LA, we've got the Wilson family moving from Kansas. Dad Wilson is the new school principal (oh no! that won't be a problem for the kids!); Mom Wilson doesn't get on with Grandma Wilson; Wilson Daughter had a fling with one of the LA hotties a few summers ago, and he's now turned into a bit of a playa; Wilson Son is adopted and plays lacrosse. 

Most of the fun in the first ep - apart from trying to work out if Jennie Garth really is Jennie Garth (where's that perky nose?!) - comes from watching the actors who are refugees from two chimp TV favourites. Jessica Walter seems to be replaying her excellent turn as Arrested Development's boozy matriarch Lucille Bluth, with her cocktails-for-breakfast grandma Tabitha Wilson. Even stranger to deal with is her adopted lacrosse-playing grandson - yes, it's corner kid Michael from The Wire (Tristan Wilds) - who somehow manages to refrain from popping a cap in anyone's ass, even when he gets well-bullied on the lacrosse field. Not a scenario that came up in Baltimore often. 

It's probably not quite trashy or smart enough to really carve out a niche of its own in the current teen TV world, but may hold interest for a stumble-across-it hangover viewing. Shannen Doherty (star of 90s things like the I Hate Brenda Newsletter) shows up around ep5, so that's got to be worth checking back for.

Bonus Triv: check this totally 90s Eddie Vedder v Shannen Doherty showdown

#TV
#chimp71

1st Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Best Of 2008

CSF

It's been a pretty good year for music according to my ears, and I've struggled to prioritise my top 5. The fifth place provided the most struggle and I narrowed it down to two albums I've overplayed and am currently on hiatus from - TV On The Radio and Vampire Weekend. I suspect they will both remain firm favourites, but song for song I'm going to have to bump Vampire Weekend into 6th place. Other notable mentions go to No Age (fuzzed up easy listening), Silver Jews (these guys finally clicked for me), Tapes and Tapes (an uncut diamond marred by shoddy production), Tindersticks (a comeback I would have betted against), The Wedding Present (it's all fours) and White Denim (lo-fi grandeur).

5. TV On The Radio - Dear, Science
Building on all the promise of their previous records, this one delivered a pretty flawless set of songs, all building of each other and rising to a great finale.

4. Ladyhawk - Shots
"Ladyhawke is in the toilet, she'll be here in a minute" joked band leader Duffy Driediger, as the original Ladyhawk launched into an awesome show at the Borderline - cementing beer-swilling, hard-rocking second-album Shots into a place in my list. No frills rock, with a lot of personality.

3. Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
On paper, this record had to stink. Who wants to listen to the same gags over and over again? In reality, every song provides a remarkable understanding of music history, picking just the right sounds to serve the story - with so many jokes you hear a new one every time. Never, ever fails to light up Chimp HQ on a dreary day.

2. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Another one that may have been temporarily overplayed, but this 70's throwback has been a pretty remarkable debut. Almost slipping unnoticed when it arrived in the office, it has been a solid player all year and I can't help but feel like it's greatness will soon be overshadowed by an even better follow-up. Unless they crack under the pressure.

1. Black Mountain - In The Future
Since it arrived on my desk in December 2007, In The Future has held the top spot for the year - and it still shows no sign of slipping. After a debut and a few side projects that paved the way, this was somehow exactly the record I expected and it never fails to impress me. Every note, every riff, every drum fill is just when and where I want it.

Some musical clangers for 2008: MMJ - Evil Urges (so disappointing), Weezer - Red Album, Breeders - Mountain Battles (only a semi-clanger), Kings of Leon - Only By The Night.

Best Songs: Portishead - The Rip, Port O'Brien - Close The Lid, Catfish Haven - Set In Stone, Fleet Foxes - Your Protector (for keeping BW running, if nothing else).

Best Gigs: Black Mountain rocked hard (again) at The Scala, Davin Berman's Silver Jews thoroughly proved their worth at ULU, Ladyhawk + The Dudes led the Canadian invasion at The Borderline, Oxford Collapse went under-appreciated at The Windmill and Jim James brightly shone a small light for the future of MMJ.

Live Clangers: Ween were truly disappointing.

Best Movies: In Bruges was a must-see despite an awful trailer, Iron Man andThe Dark Knight proved pretty solid superhero action, while This Is England and Dead Man's Shoes proved to be overlooked gems. Perhaps the biggest shock was the fact that the Sex And The City movie didn't totally suck - and in fact addressed the TV shows many shortcomings to make for a great movie.

Movie Clangers: Indiana Jones was as forgettable as you hoped it wouldn't be, while Somerstown didn't follow it's siblings in quality. There Will Be Blood did follow it's predecessors, with style over substance.

TV: The Wire came to a fantastic finale, Entourage continued to provide lifestyle envy, Breaking Bad took an original direction, Mad Men provided some slow-burning drama, while Summer Heights High provided some simple laughs. Undeclared and Freaks & Geeks finally caught my attention this year, wishing I'd caught both much earlier.

TV Clangers: Heroes just gets more and more contrived.

As a final note, headline of the year goes to chimpovich, regarding Men Called Him Mister's support slot for Foals in Madrid: "Band of Small Horses"

#Music
#CSF

31st Dec 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

Best Of 2008

LG

I've been trying to come up with a 2008 top five, I hardly thought I'd bought five albums this year. Pathetic. However, here goes;

1. Bob Dylan; 'Tell Tale Signs'
2. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds; 'Dig Lazarus Dig!'
3. Sons and Daughters; 'This Gift'
4. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy With Harem Scarem & Alex Neilson; 'Is It The Sea?'
5. Silver Jews; 'Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea'

#Music
#LG

30th Dec 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

Best Of 2008

HHG

It was a good year for Hip Hop with some real heavyweight contributions from the likes of Lil Wayne, The Roots and Kanye West. Q Tip came out of retirement with a great album and Atmosphere gave us the fantastic When Life Gives You Lemons Paint That Shit Gold. But ultimately these 5 rocked my world.

Albums

Why? - Alopecia
This record dropped pretty early this year but has remained a permanent fixture ever since. Building on the clever songcraft of Elephant Eyelash, Alopecia is almost too packed with ideas to fully comprehend.

Black Milk - Tronic
Just as the year draws to a close, Black Milk drops his best work yet: super tight production mixes with raw old school might to produce a hip hop classic.

The Roots - Rising Down
Thank God for George Bush or we may not have ever had a record as venomous and thoroughly pissed off as this. Leaning more on the classic hip hop than the live band, the Philly boys really delivered here although the guest MC's nearly stole the show.

The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale EP
From out of nowhere came this EP full of playful bravado and classic old school hooks. "The new black version of the Beastie Boys."

lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
The most anticipated hip hop record of the year actually made good on its promise.

Songs
The Roots - Rising Down (feat. Mos Def & Styles P)
Black Milk - Losing Out
Why? - By Torpedo Or Crohn's
Hercules & Love Affair - Blind
Lil Wayne - A Milli

Disappointments
The Mighty Underdogs
Sounded good on paper, especially with Def Jux behind them, but in reality was a pile of shit.

Subtle - Exiting Arm
It was their most commercial release and certainly promised great things. But somehow it lacked some of the quirky excitement of all of their previous work.

TV
The X Factor
That duet between Beyonce and Alexandra...nuf said.

Movies
Sex And The City (Only because I went to the World Premiere and sat near SJP and Gary Lineker, it's the only way I see movies so was the only one I saw)

#Music
#HHG

29th Dec 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

Best Of 2008

Muxloe

Its feels like I spent the whole of 2008 blinded by a career blizzard but when the weather did clear and some visibility was possible I did manage to spy a view highlights...

Album of the Year - Wagonwheel Blues - The War on Drugs
Though I risked the presence of much egg splattered all over my face by nominating this as album of the year after only a few listens providence has nevertheless confirmed the judgement of my hot headedness. Faith in the Secret Canadian quartet was bolstered by a blistering summer set at Brixton's Windmill. An album of mighty ambitions and glorious intensity it remains an absolute corker.

Gig of the Year - Broken Social Scene at Shepherds Bush Empire
Tunes multiplied by talent to the power ten. I'm not sure as I've ever heard a more haunting live performance than Kevin Drew's solo rendition of Lover's Spit - sublime.

Book of the Year - The Book Thief
Tear jerking yet mirth making, doom laden yet life affirming this is surely destined to be a 21st century classic. Genuis.

Let Down of the Year - Steve Coogan Live
Sure we fans chuckled along and it was great to see my idol Partridge in the flesh but oh dear; Steve you do seem tired!

Moment of the Year - Barak Obama's Chicago Victory Speech.
Like a Marvel comic character, minus the mask and the magic powers, Obama seemed to be the hero the people of the world had turned to as the only one who can save us. Tough kids at my South London school actually cried. Referencing Sam Cooke, with oratory skills from yesteryear, he realised and embodied the soul man's prophecy that 'a change is gonna come'. Let's hope nobody steals his kryptonite!

#Music
#Muxloe

28th Dec 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

Best Of 2008

Chimpovich

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:

Damien Jurado - Caught in the Trees: Not convinced at first, but grew and grew and grew. Lovely stuff.
Ladyhawk - Shots: Dirty rock n roll. Brains, booze and plenty of heart
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes: Yes!
Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight: An early release and still on heavy rotation. How can someone so miserable write such catchy and rocking tunes. Some great lyrics too.

Shows:
My Morning Jacket - The Forum: as reliable as ever when playing live
Frightened Rabbit - Madame Jojos/Sala Sol: Poor in a poor venue in London. Much better and relaxed in front of about 30 people in Madrid
Damien Jurado - Moby Dick (madrid): Warm and Intimate as Winter approached
Foals - Mynt (madrid): From the rousing drum intro. Through to the guitarist playing whilst walking along the bar. The tunes rocked and they gave it their all.

TV:
Bunk, Cutty, Clay, Daniels, Rawls, Omar, Snoop, Chris, Avon etc etc etc. Just (and only just) behind a niece and nephew as my favourite thing this year.

Films:
No Country For Old Men - welcome back Brothers
Into the Wild - Dam(n) that river!

#Music
#chimpovich

24th Dec 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

Best Of 2008

Locochimpo

Albums of the year:
Fleet Foxes - every song's a winner on this doozy. Though it's 'Mykonos (Alternative Version)' that gets my vote for song of the year.
Vampire Weekend - This lot strike me as being a bit smug, but i guess if you release a debut album this good then you're allowed to be.
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular - The hits way outweigh the misses on this one.
Kings of Leon - Only By The Night - Not their greatest work to date, but still very listenable.
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

Notable Mentions:
- British Sea Power - Do you like Rock Music?
- Soe'za - 7 Obstacles
- Acorn - Glory Hope Mountain

Greatest Hits of the year:
Dr John - The Best of the Night Tripper - a bargainous £5 (on Amazon) for this ace compilation of the best 60's and 70's tunes from Malcolm John Rebennack Jr.

Film of the year:
- No Country For Old Men - awesome
- Iron Man - super duper
- Superbad - McLovin it.

TV Boxsets of the year - Battlestar Gallactica. Frackin good stuff.

Gig of the Year - La bomba del tiempo, Konex Centre, Buenos Aires. (Ha - I had to mention it somewhere).

#Music
#Locochimpo

23rd Dec 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

Best Of 2008

R.Hammerstein

Top 5 albums
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
DJ /rupture - Uproot
Kanye West - 808's And Heartbreaks
Takka Takka - Migration

Films
The Assassination of Jesse James
Garage
In Bruges
4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days
There Will Be Blood

TV shows
Wallander

Gigs
Hercules and Love Affair - Bestival
The Dodos - Amersham Arms
Sigur Rós - Alexandra Palace
Sébastien Tellier - Bestival
Yeasayer - ICA

#Music
#R.Hammerstein

22nd Dec 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

Doctor Who - The Next Doctor

(dir. Andy Goddard)

BBC One

In what's become a staple of UK Christmas schedules, David Tennant's back for another festive one-off. This time, the Tardis has fetched up in suitably festive realm of Victorian London, where amongst all the dirty-faced urchins and Dickensian snow, he quickly runs into a brave chap called... The Doctor - complete with his own assistant, Tardis and sonic screwdriver. He's also taking on a batch of Cybermen who are hanging out with villainous Miss Hartigan (Dervla Kirwan in a fetching scarlet number) and plotting to bring about the rise of the Cyber King...

Much better than last year's Titanic w Kylie special, there's enough plot and energy from Tennant to get you over the mince pie sentimentality, and occasional lapses into self-congratulation that the new Who sometimes falls into. It's much more of a decent kids show than the multi-generational sci-fi it gets given credit for - which is fine in my book, but always a bit confusing to see it so over-praised all the time. Still, it's good to see the BBC putting some of the licence fee into producing decent family viewing - having seen the first episode of ITV1's new teatime monster show Demons, it's so easy to get this stuff wildly wrong, and you'd have to be in a pretty full-on humbug mode to diss this year's Who present too much... Won't go into any more details, except to say i also quite enjoyed the fluffy Cyberhounds.

#TV
#chimp71

21st Dec 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

Best Of 2008

BC

Looking down my list of the best albums of the year it seems that with the exception of Black Mountain, this year has been all about the debut album. Some fine releases from the likes of Calexico, Okkervil River and Deerhoof but it was the new boys who really stepped up. All the surprises for me came from a very healthy US underground indie/punk scene with No Age heading the lot. The highlight of the year would have to be meeting and interviewing David Berman of Silver Jews, a true artist and someone I could have talked to for hours. With the steady and inevitable decline of the Western World to look forward to next year I am hopeful that some new musical talent will rise from the ashes to guide us through it all.

Albums

Black Mountain - In The Future
We've had this so long it almost seems like last year that this rocked my world. It's had a solid road testing for 12 months and is still as mighty as it's first play. A comprehensive delivery of all that was promised on the first record.

No Age - Nouns
This record really lit a fire in me this year and started a frenzied search into the context from which it sprung. It's a furious and unbridled blend of hazy shoegaze, garage rock and dirty punk and is all delivered with remarkable ease.

White Denim - Workout Holiday
A ramshackle chaotic work of genius that treads a fine line between electrifying soul infused garage punk and utter shambles.

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
The whole conception of this debut in total isolation in deepest Wisconsin gave it a great angle to get the critics chattering but since its release earlier this year it has risen from that chatter as utterly captivating and has introduced Justin Vernon as one of the most beguiling voices of the year.

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
It's been a tough old year for everybody and this 4 piece from New York has brought nothing but warmth and cheer to it from the start. Even way back in January it was obvious that this would feature in this list.

Close seconds
Tindersticks - The Hungry Saw
Four Tet - Ringer EP
Flight Of The Conchords - Flight Of The Conchords
Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
The Cave Singers - Invitation Songs

Songs
Tindersticks - Intro
TV On The Radio - DLZ
Portishead - The Rip
Bon Iver - Skinny Love
Black Mountain - Stormy High

Gigs
Bruce Springsteen - Emirates Stadium
Silver Jews - ULU
No Age - Electric Ballroom
Black Mountain - Scala
Radiohead - Victoria Park

Movies
The Orphanage
No Country For Old Men
In Bruges

TV
Summer Heights High
The Wire - Season 5

Biggest Disappointment
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges. I really have nothing good to say about this album. I think I'm done with these guys sadly.

#Music
#BC

19th Dec 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet