Chimpomatic

The Sentinal

(dir. Clark Johnson)

You know how sometimes you ask someone what a film was like, and they're all "yeah, it was ok, bit forgettable really…" and you think, hmm, bet that would pass the time if I was in the mood for some undemanding action, and hey, it's got Kiefer in it, and it's going to take them ages to sort out the writers' strike before we get the next 24, so why not give it a go, and oh look, it's just starting right now.

And so you settle down, and think, hey Michael Douglas, Kim Basinger, Eva Longoria from Desperate Housewives (she's on strike too!) and that guy who was the evil DEA guy in Weeds - this might be alright, in a kind of not-as-good-as-In The Line Of Fire way, but hey, that's not on (and you've seen that enough anyhow).

And then you start thinking, hmm, they must really have given a lot away in the trailers for this, because I totally knew Kiefer was going to give Eva a hard time for being too sassy when she arrives for her first day in the tough Feds office, and yes, I knew they were going to get Michael Douglas walking through the White House like that… and I bet he's got a thing going with… 

…and then you realise that this film is LITERALLY so forgettable, you've forgotten you have actually seen it. Probably would have scraped 2 ** on first viewing, but with added amnesiavision, it's getting downgraded.

#Film
#chimp71

12th Nov 2007 - 4 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Beirut

The Roundhouse, London

Last year, Beirut's first album was a beacon of light in a skinny-jeaned indie world. It seemed oblivious of it's contemporary musical context with its myriad of cultural references but unfortunately the follow up continued the concept all too closely and the love affair dwindled. Well last night it was reignited.

Any band lucky enough to play at the Camden Roundhouse starts off with at least one star for the venue alone, but the points soon notched up as the multi-instrumental troupe assembled on stage. From the first blasts of the trumpets my heart was confused. I felt like I was on holiday and stumbled across a local band and yet I was looking at a young punk in an unassuming jeans and t-shirt who looked like he'd been dragged from the crowd by someone shouting 'come on Zach, you can sing Balcan music.' As the slow notes rang out I imagined drowning my sorrows in a small fishing port with my fellow villagers as we bid farewell to the brave men soon to set sail, even though we all new some of them would not return. And when the tempo rose it was like we were celebrating their return.

There wasn't the slightest hint of pretension with this band. As Zach Condon took to the stage to a rapturous crowd he launched head long into this beguiling music. With trumpet slung over shoulder his voice seemed to be coming from another time, another culture and another body. In between vocals he would join his band in an onslaught of triple trumpets and the hair stood proud on the back of my neck, there was even a triple ukulele showdown on Brandenburg. Songs from the debut Gulag Orkestar brought the loudest cheers with treats like The Canals Of Our City sounding like a million heart strings playing in unison. Postcards From Italy was a whirling cacophony of musical pleasure that from its first pluck of the ukulele had the crowd swooning in pure middle-class joy.

It really is hard to fault this experience. Aside from Condon's effortless presence and spectacular voice the music that surrounded him was spectacular. Crisp and clear it raised the roof of this unique and truly fitting venue. As I queued for the toilet after all this had drawn to a close, the R'n'B playing faintly over the stereo was an affront to my ears (even more than usual) and I realised that it was going to be hard rejoining the world after such an all encompassing and magical experience.

#Music
#Gig
#BC

12th Nov 2007 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

The National

Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

As a non smoker I'm a big fan of the smoking ban but last night I saw it's down side. The National's front man Matt Berninger has always maintained a sultry persona as he drapes himself on the mic with a cigarette as smoldering as his lyrics, but without it he looked awkward and fidgety and almost ill at ease with performing. This, coupled with his bands insistence on rocking out at the end of pretty much every song made for a surprise drop in favor for the band that, until In Rainbows popped up, held the top spot for their stunning Boxer album.

First of all, lets get this in context. There may have been a drop in favor but that only took them down to 'not the best gig of the year.' Boxer is such a rich album and it translated badly live is all I'm saying. Like LG stated in his review of the Glasgow show, they seem to be forcing the issue of being a rock band by elevating many of the songs to full-on guitar frenzy finales when it really doesn't need it. Like an approaching tsunami Matt's vocals get buried by the overwhelming size of the music and when the lyrics are as strong as Berninger's it is not wise to lose them in swelling instrumentation. But as the front man drifts to the back of the stage the crazy violinist seems all too happy to take his spot at front and centre.

But as the show progressed they seemed to settle into it a bit more and their natural brooding power came out in songs like Daughters Of The Soho Riots and Ada. Alligator's songs were not treated to as much elevation and so had more of a complete strength to them. Fake Empire is an instant live anthem with Boxer's fantastic drumming raising the already frothing crowd to a clap-along high. This was maintained with the fierce Mr November where Berninger displayed a rare moment of animation by balancing at the front of the crowd and with the words "I used to be carried in the arms of cheerleaders," he really looked on the verge of launching himself into the sea of adoring hands.

This is a band nearing the top of their game musically but they still seem uncomfortable live. They need to discover who they are on stage like they have done on record so perfectly. Maybe they're better in Paris where the smoking ban is yet to kick in.

#Music
#Gig
#BC

8th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet

Brasil, Brasil

3 part documentary

Another great music series from BBC4 running through the cultural history of Brazil from bossa nova in the 50s, to tropicalia in the 60s, up to baile funk and the re-emergance of samba recently.

From the first episode, it's clear they've got most of the heavyweights on board here - Gilberto Gil, (now Minister of Culture); Pele, Caetano Veloso; Bebel Gilberto; Joyce; Seu Jorge. Plus some excellent footage of everyone from Os Mutantes to Carmen Miranda, Jorge Ben, Joao Gilberto, Tom Jobin etc playing.

It's a cliche that Brazilians are as into their music as they are football - but what's amazing here is learning how the government tried to use it to unify a huge country, and then cracked down when the tropicalia generation proved too radical for the fascist regime.

Highly recommended viewing for anyone wanting to expand their knowledge beyond Girl From Ipanema (which still sounds great btw).

#TV
#chimp71

7th Nov 2007 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Castanets

In The Vines

Asthmatic Kitty

The follow up to 2005's First Light's Freeze is a desolate walk through the fear ridden caverns of Ray Raposa's thoughts. Based on a Hindu fable about being trapped in an inescapable fate, with death and the limitations of our physical lives closing in from all corners In The Vines is a claustrophobic experience yet strangely rewarding.

The claustrophobia comes from Raposa's intimate delivery. Castanets is pretty much a solo project but various session guests are drafted in. Despite this it is Raposa who dominates this sound with his hard-edged voice spinning sinister tales with gothic doom and paranoia. Musically it's about as sparse as the front cover might suggest. The two fragile stalks stand alone in a murky nothingness conjuring perfectly the feeling of this music. Raposa has always led us down an unnerving back alley but In The Vines is a journey where the end is predetermined and as he sings on the opening Rain Will Come "So it's going to be sad and it's going to be long."

But there are moments of beauty to the light the way here like the floaty guitar work on The Night Is When You Can Not See that builds to an ever so slight crescendo. There is quite often harmony vocals that suggest that we've got friends somewhere nearby which really serves as a comfort when feeling helplessly through Raposa's all-encompassing dark.

#Music
#BC

7th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet

Scout Niblett

This Fool Can Die Now

Since a 2001 7 inch split with Songs: Ohia, Nottingham's Emma Louise Niblett has been quietly releasing records on Canada's influential Secretely Canadian, as well as the great UK label Too Pure. With her forth album, This Fool Can Die Now, she has enlisted the help of a range of colaborators - most notably Bonnie Prince Billy, who provides vocals on single Kiss and three others.

Will Oldham's fingerprints are all over this record, in more ways than voice alone and with Steve Albini handling production duties the ingredients are here for a dark and dirty mix of gothic-death-country-rock. The powerful vocals and downbeat atmosphere makes for an engaging listen, with Kiss and Nevada dredging up an chilling majesty.

While songs likes Moon Lake and the Van Morrison cover Comfort You make the most of Niblett's powerful voice and the sparse-but-loud production technique, things do get a little tired towards the end - with Yummy and single Dinosaur Egg seeming like over-trodden territory.

It can feel like if Niblett could just stay away from Oldham and Albini bad influence, meet a nice guy and settle down things might brighten up considerably. Having said that, as 2005's return of The Wedding Present proved, a bit of personal strife can be exactly what keeps the creative juices flowing.

#Music
#CSF

6th Nov 2007 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

The National

ABC, Glasgow

I love The National, I do. On Friday 2nd November, however, I heard them play live in Glasgow at the ABC and have to admit to being worried. Having heard a disastrous set played by the band at the Latitude festival this summer, when they arrived with no instruments and a bad mood, I was hoping Friday night would be a redeeming event.

I could blame my disappointment on the psychotic Glaswegian next to me who kept spilling his beer and attempting to snog his mate’s girlfriend or the couple in front who insisted on screaming a conversation at each other for the duration of the whole gig. But unfortunately the real cause of my uncertainty was The National’s front man, Matt Berninger. I couldn’t help thinking his voice, underplayed and lethargically seductive on the albums, feels a bit strained on stage. Competing with the great rhythmic build up of guitars, violin and percussion, I could hardly make him out and felt constantly nervous that his rasp would finally snap a vocal chord and disappear altogether. Nothing so dramatic would ever happen of course, at the end of a song he would bashfully wonder around the stage, pick up his pint and look a little overwhelmed at the crowd.

‘Fake Empire’, ‘Looking for Astronauts’, ‘Mr November’ were all fantastic with extended climactic assaults on the ear, overlaying a cacophony of drum thumping, feedback and violin screeching. Even here though I wasn’t totally convinced. The band, holding their guitars up against the amps and whacking the symbols, didn’t seem anywhere near as angry as the noise suggested, looking instead very sincere and just a little bit self conscious. It all sounded a bit like the acoustic attack unleashed by Wilco in the final, exhausting crescendo of their live set. Just a little more polite.

#Music
#Gig
#LG

6th Nov 2007 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Die Hard 4.0

(dir. Len Wiseman)

The original Die Hard movie is up there with the best action movies. Die Hard 4.0 is down there with the worst.

Bruce Willis claimed that he would only make this film when the story was right. They clearly offered him so much money he couldn't say no. From the off it just didn't feel like a Die Hard movie. There was no intriguing build-up as we have previously had with the villains enacting their plan, no reluctance from Willis to save the day (again), and no wit or real humour. Within minutes of the start, John McClane is battling it out against numerous submachine guns. From then on in it was just a string of stunts culminating in a ridiculous finale in which he takes on a US fighter jet (including jumping on and off it whilst it hovers in mid air).

Die Hard 4.0 was more like Under Siege 3.0. but Seagal must have turned it down.

This reviewer is giving it 1.0

#Film
#CJ

5th Nov 2007 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Film School

Hideout

Beggars

San Francisco's Film School are a band built around frontman Greg Bertens. Formed in the late 1990's, Bertens has recruited members and slowly put out albums and EPs before signing to Beggars and becoming a more permanent band. This album sees a few line up changes - most notably the addition of female bassist/vocalist Lorelei Plotczyk who answered a Pixies-aping personal for "Someone into Husker Du and Peter, Paul and Mary".

Swirlies, Seefeel and Bardo Pond are the name checks on this album though, and while Film School's live show and previous album had me thinking of The Cure, Hideout owes more that a passing nod to the brilliance/pretentiousness of My Bloody Valentine. Hardly surprising due to the fact that MBV's Colm O'Ciosoig appears on the album.

Opener Dear Me and follow-up Lectric set the scene perfectly, with a wall of sound that builds and builds with pounding drums. Produced by frontman Bertens and Mixed by Phil Ek (Band of Horses, Stephen Malkmus, The Shins) the album is a huge leap forward from 2006's  self-title album, which confusingly was their second. Rich and textured, the records feels like a lot of time, love and attention has been put into it. The effects are set to stun and while on several occasions things look like they are going to drift away, the sonic theatrics are kept in manageable chunks and the album remains strong and focused without the directionless ramblings that MBV had a taste for. While the admittedly Cure sounding Two Kinds, with it's bass and 80's John Hughes keyboard sound starts promisingly, it's doesn't quite deliver but tracks like the juggernaut sound of Sick Hipster Nursed By Suicide Girl swirl up a pummeling sound that builds up to a crashing drum finale.

All music has a nod in one direction or another, and shoegazing is a direction that gets little attention in these skinny jeans obsessed days. In my book it would be more than welcome to mooch back into the limelight.

#Music
#CSF

5th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Heavy

Great Vengeance And Furious Fire

Counter

Sweet Zombie Jesus! First thing I noticed on this record was what appeared to be the ghostly voice of Curtis Mayfield floating in like a spirit superfly from soul heaven. Turns out it's a bloke from Bath, and this the debut album from The Heavy is a pretty good showcase for the band's collective talents. I must confess that this one was a slow grower for me - the tracks are pretty brash and in your face and that initial pop tang had me dismissing the whole affair on first play, but then the old MP3 player shuffle worked it's magic on me (more than once) and I was hooked. This album is chock full of riffs - Zeppelinesque slabs of chunk in a distinctly low-fi sample and loop setting with the aforementioned vocals of Swaby soaring over the top.

The two opening tracks - That Kind of Man and Colleeen lay down the manifesto pretty succinctly, while the occasional slower bluesy numbers give the whole thing a bit of mood relief. There's even a bit of a Stones thing going on in places, but all the while with this magnificent voice making much more out of the riffs. On the whole it's a great debut, and refreshing to hear rock and soul mixed together in a good way - as opposed to all the bad ways we've had to endure in times gone by. The low-fi thing is a real positive factor in this - make it too clean and it just becomes vanilla bullshit, but the grunge element somehow puts Swaby's voice right back in the day of early 70's crunchy production. Good work fellas.

#Music
#HarrisPilton

5th Nov 2007 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet