News
Reviews
Articles
Surveillance
Solid Gold
With an actual one-disc Greatest Hits on the way, the Beastie Boys have had a site overhaul... an are also offering Acapella tracks for all you aspiring Garageband remixers out there.
28th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Twist
The chimp art appreciation squad took a trip up Hackey Road for lunch yesterday to check out the excellent Barry McGee show at Modern Art Inc.
We've been big fans of Twist and Espo since the 2001 Venice Biennale, so it's always good to see new work. This one involved climbing through an upturned Transit van that was wedged in the entrance, then on into a huge room with mosaiced walls and a custom storage container, and a hidden room with TV's flashing and blaring.... Top marks.
Links
www.modernartinc.com
www.deitch.com
Tags
28th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
chimps not buddies?
more chimp research. apparently they're not very altruistic.
Links
Tags
27th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Chimpomatic Health Corner
Six weeks into a booze-a-thon, and with no end in sight, it seems that the hedonistic chimpomatic lifestyle might be taking it's toll and health issues may be rearing their ugly head. Suffering from slight but constant leg cramps (the likes of which haven't been seen since Art School Year 3 Term 3) prompted me to do some medical research and determine that poor circulation is the problem. Alcohol, caffeine and sugar are possible suspects. Tick. Tick. Tick.
So, the options seem to be:
1) Stop drinking.
2) Start using Cayenne powder. (Thanks Dr. Shultze!)
3) Find a different drink.
Unfortunately, 1 is not going to be possible on business grounds. I will certainly be knocking back a few Cayenne-laced Bloody Mary's (2), but there's only so much Tomato juice any man can take, particularly when not flying long-haul.
So, the search is on for a non-beer drink that will meet my criteria and improve circulation. Much as I love a Caucasian, that is simply not going to solve the problem, man. Rum (or Jack) and Coke has been a contender, but while that's an improvement in some ways, the increased sugar is a suspect in some pretty freaky nightmares. The salt in a Margarita would be good, but I'm thinking that 8 shots of tequila a night would have it's own connotations.
Suggestions please.
27th Oct 2005 - 7 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Search
Road To Nowhere
The chimp theatre attack squadron checked out the play Road to Nowhere last night at The Hammersmith Lyric. Featuring the regulars from a Massachusetts low-income meal site for the elderly, the show basically revolves around old folks singing modern songs in their own way. One-trick-pony it might be, but it was hard not to be touched by 28 pensioners singing Forever Young.
As opposed to just the one pensioner who usually does it...
Links
www.youngatheartchorus.com
MP3's
Tags
26th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Chimptronic
we'll be installing one of these in chimp towers asap
Links
Tags
26th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
fear of halloween
28.Oct.05 Fear Of Music @ The Legendary Montague Arms
The next, and penultimate, Fear Of Music, is on Friday 28th October... w/ Infinite Livez (Live). It's Halloween, or at least very near, so expect some pretty shit Halloween flavoured records (it's possible that there maybe one 2 good ones kicking around as well). Details to follow, once we get our act together.
Links
Tags
26th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
results-ah!
mark e smith to read the football scores on bbc1…
Links
Tags
25th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
help end a debate
Please help end a debate...
Do you think Councillor Eileen Kinnear is wearing glasses? Follow the link below, scroll down and let us know what you think…
Links
Tags
25th Oct 2005 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
My Morning Jacket
Z
This was probably the first album since Radiohead that I've been actively waiting for, so right off the bat this is likely to be a one sided review. We'd been previewing a few of the tracks at chimp HQ, so I was slightly nervous that I might have blown it's chance of holding together, but straight away the official sequence of the tracks works a lot better than what I'd been listening to... as well as adding several more standout tracks.
Things start off well with Worldless Chorus, a fairly catchy opener using the keyboard sound that was apparant at the recent Jim James solo gig. Although the sound is new for the band, it's with It Beats 4U however, that things really take a more unusual turn. Using shuffling drums and a more disco sound this really does sound like a move forward for the band. Radiohead producer John Leckie (The Bends) seems to have taken their ideas and really distilled them down into a sound that is both classic and contemporary (send insults to headchimp@chimpomatic.com).
Into the Woods uses effects and sounds of fairgrounds to create a haunting atmosphere, which after several listens has become a standout track on the album. Anytime rocks. Knot Comes Loose is classic At Dawn era MMJ, and Dondante is a powerful, emotional finale.... working from quiet and simple up to soaring and loud, showcasing all aspects of this great band.
At 47 minutes it's relatively short and sweet, but definitely unmissable.
UPDATE: I exercised a vague note of caution with my initial 4.5 rating, but I'm now confident this is a bonifide keeper at 5.
24th Oct 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 5 star reviewswall of hair
in the coverage of the phil spector trial, no-one seems to have mentioned how much like krusty he looks like now…
(or actually, as chimp jnr points out, he could get in the hair bear bunch)
Links
Tags
24th Oct 2005 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Alert Status
Links
How prepared is your city for a national emergency?
Tags
24th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Set masher to stun
A follow up to the classic Darth Tater... Spud Trooper.
24th Oct 2005 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
how you doing mr bill murray?
no chimp report on broken flowers yet, so here's some mr bill murray chat in the guardian today
Links
Tags
22nd Oct 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
secure play area
good to see playmobil keeping up with events in these times of heightened security…
Links
Tags
21st Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
darko now
some ker-razy mini-sites for the new richard kelly film, Southland Tales up… all a bit AI-style fake corporations etc, but the humping SUVs suggest it might be ok. and buffy's in it. (but then again, moby's on the soundtrack). sci-fi-ish plot about a heatwave in 2008, action star with amnesia (the rock) meets reality tv porn star (buffy) and cop knows about some conspiracy (seann william scott).
Links
there is no alternative
krysta now
go south
Tags
20th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Hen & Chickens
More theatrics from chimp approved improv squad The Undersigned this Sunday night.
The Undersigned
at the Hen & Chickens Theatre Bar
109 St. Paul's Road
Islington
N1 2NA
9.15pm for one hour.
highbury & islington tube
Box Office 020 7704 2001
Tickets £6.00 plus £1 membership if you don't already have your card.
20th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
losers
get ready to bug Bad Robot Productions President Thom Sherman about the hatch, the lack of golf in the second series, why the other 48 don't seem to talk very much, the polar bear, the concept of dharma etc etc in his Lost webchat thing on the Guardian tomorrow.
Links
Tags
19th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
The National Tour
Chimp 75 favourite's The National are on a UK tour in November. Playing ULU in London. Don't miss it.
19th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Upcoming TV
Team Chimpomatic had an intensive night of TV previews last night. I (chimp75) think Lost Season 2 is getting better AND worse at the same time, Chris Rock's new Wonder Years style show, Everybody Hates Chris, about growing up in Brooklyn 1982 is pretty good, but Invasion (about an alien Invasion very unsurprisingly), was... unsurprising.
19th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Pettibon
More stuff about Black Flag cover artist/contemporary art darling Raymond Pettibon...
Links
Tags
19th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Empire On The South Bank
Chimpomatic had a pre-party trip down to the National Theatre on friday night to catch the outdoor screening of Andy Warhol's 1964 8-hour epic Empire. Projected on the massive concrete monolith the film created a great backdrop for a couple of beers. Coupled with the various amazing views of London in general it's well worth checking out. Every Friday in October.
Check out the surveillance section for our own Post-Post-Modern video take and some snaps.
18th Oct 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Song Of The Day: II
It's My Morning Jacket day today... due to the fact that I've been waiting for an actual new album to hit the shops for probably the first time since Radiohead. Having said that, today's Song of the Day is not from Z, but is their track Where To Begin from the Elizabethtown soundtrack.
Cameron Crowe may have a tendancy for schmaltz, but he knows his music and this track is ossum.
17th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Lyric Of The Day
Song of the Day will obviously be going to My Morning Jacket later on today... but Lyric of the Day goes to The National for this little masterpiece:
"My bodyguard shows her revolver to anyone who asks... And yeah she comes to attention when you come up to me too fast"
17th Oct 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
fatboy vs imelda
yes, some 20 years after the creeping jesus classic i wanna be imelda marcos, fatboy slim and david byrne have teamed up to write a musical about the great shoe lover of the philippines. but CJ were there first.
Links
Tags
16th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
screaming masterpiece
trailer up for Screaming Masterpiece, doc about the icelandic music scene, with mugison, bjork, mum, sigur ros etc and loads more dudes with hard to pronounce names…
Links
Tags
15th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
more job options
of course if late night tv-watching's not your field of expertise, there's always mi6
Links
Tags
14th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Job Offer
If you play your cards right, your contract may be extended.
Links
Tags
14th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Spoon
Koko, Camden
Spoon are one of those bands who seem to have surfaced recently... but a bit of detective work reveals they've been around for years and years, quietly plugging away, doing their own thing.
After the utterly useless support band "Amusement Parks on Fire" shuffle their tedious, angst ridden, Kurt Cobain cardigan-wearing, trauma-feedback nonsense into the wings, Spoon hit the stage and straight away it's clear that they're a band with a lot of live experience. They're super tight and work the crowd well, with Richie Cunningham/Gary Busey (c. Big Wednesday) lookalike singer Britt Daniel exuding personality with his chat and semi-moonwalking sliding dances. They march through a lot of their latest album Gimme Fiction, with great drumming and Ice Hockey style keyboards (from a Vincent Gallo lookalike)... sounding a lot like an American 1960's band in the style of a British Invasion rock. Right at home on Nuggets in fact.
It's all over too fast, with a rousing encore finale of Ice Hockey Rock (TM) classic Small Stakes. Check the surveillance section for a clip.
13th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 3.5 star reviews
Dornier Amphibian Do-24ATT
Some cool pics in from Mike Watt's mailing list of the Indiana Jones style Dornier seaplane, dating from the 1930's and sitting in the dock in Pedro.
Links
www.dailybreeze.com
www.do-24.com
Tags
13th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
One More Thing...
Apple geeks (yes, that includes us) are holding their breath today for what seems like the inevitable announcement of iPods with video playback. The big event is at 10am Cali time, so check www.apple.com later tonight.
Links
Tags
12th Oct 2005 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Naomi Petersen
Interesting article by Joe Carducci about some of the evolution of SST records over here.
Links
Tags
12th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Jnr. Kong
King Kong might be 'uge, but it seems that Peter Jackson has got a lot more slimline...
Links
Tags
11th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
More Shining Stars
Been following up the fake-trailer type vibe for an actual work project, and managed to finally find the long missing Michael Mann fake-trailer classic Lucky Star, starring grizzly bear Benecio Del Toro. Also worth checking out is the BMW Films website.... Wong Kar Wai's The Follow (from Season 1) in particular. Registration required, but you can use a bogus address.
10th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Sympathy For Lady Vengeance
(dir. Park Chan-Wook)
The third part of Park Chan-Wook's revenge trilogy, Sympathy For Lady Vengeance pulls off a similar trick to Old Boy and Sympathy For Mr Vengeance... taking you on an journey that's just out of the realms of the possible, but at the same time, entirely believable on the terms of its own warped logic.
Yeong-ae Lee plays a young woman about to be released from prison after serving time for the murder of a young boy. While in prison she's become the focus for a religious cult, as well as building up a string of alliances in her cell. Once out, she sets in motion her plan… (yes, she's out for revenge).
Like the other two, it's packed with tiny cinematic flourishes that other directors would spend the whole film milking, as well as his trademark capacity for inventive violence that never shies from showing the consequences. It's also beautifully shot, very moving, and funny; has some great performances (although the Australian scenes in English don't quite work as well as the rest), and also has cameos from the stars of Old Boy and SFMV (Yeong-ae Lee herself was in JSA, his take on South/North Korean border politics).
If you've seen the other two, you'll have some idea of where it's going, but only in the sense that you know it's going to be a dark surprise, operating on the edges of human motivation. Be very interesting to see where he goes next, but for this chimp, the vengeance trilogy has been a pretty exhilerating ride.
9th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 4 star reviews
sympathy for lady vengeance
caught the latest park chan wook out-there instalment from his vengeance trilogy, sympathy for lady vengeance, which easily stands up with old boy and sympathy for mr vengeance in terms of audacious cinema. on at the london film festival, as mentioned below, and should be out in the uk later in the year.
9th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Notes From The Frontline
Reporting live from Paris fashion week today... and the bad news is: those cork shoes all your girlfriends are wearing are well out of fashion. Plat Du Jour on the decks though (go Beyonce!) and Converse All-Stars are still back. Again.
Looking forward to the 1996 revival.
UPDATE: Tailored Shorts.
7th Oct 2005 - 6 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
infinite livez
the chimp towers hip hop radar isn't as finely tuned as it once was, so it's nice to report on a new (to me) uk dude who supported mugison (yet another killer set) at the spitz last night. beat guys in pokemon suits, main man IF in an insane safari suit/wig/stocking face mask combo, singing about lactating men. all v good, got the bush meat album from him afterwards, stands up on first listen(z)
Links
Tags
7th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
herbuckley
herbert & siciliano have done a cover of Everybody Here Wants You on the new jeff & tim buckley covers album Dream Brother, along with the magic numbers, tunng, aden, king creosote, sufjan stevens, the earlies etc.
Links
Tags
7th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
tv v bush
"did you buy the bull they sold you,
that the bullets and the bombs
and all the strong arms
would bring home security?" tv on the radio respond to bush's katrina response w dry drunk emperor linked over at the big ticket, paired w a "george bush doesn't care about black people" k-otix take on kanye west's golddigger. is music going to do politics again?
Links
free tv
george bush doesn't care about black people
Tags
6th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
all play and no work
trailer up for a new jack nicholson dramedy about a struggling writer and a young boy who just wants a dad…
Links
Tags
5th Oct 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
uk mugi
mugison's playing a few more UK shows this week - Wednesday 5th - Brighton - The Concord 2 with Emilianna Torrini and Adem; Thursday 6th - London - The Spitz; Friday 7th - Bristol - The Cube Cinema. He's getting a band after this, so it's your last chance to see his laptop crashing…
5th Oct 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
pdj
another tasty offering from mr herbert and his chefs for the barbican outing of plat du jour last night
4th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
pixies footage
some streaming pixies stuff online from their new dvd
Links
Tags
4th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet