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Look Ma, No Buttons! Yes, it's another new iPod
New iPod shuffle - "the first music player that talks to you" or "the first music player that makes you keep their uncomfortable headphones because that's where all the ffwd buttons are..." - class, it's over to you: discuss!
12th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Ten More
Not sure how I overlooked this, but Pearl Jam are kicking off a series of re-issues leading up to their 20th anniversary on 2011.
On March 24th Ten will start things off, getting the redux treatment through Legacy Recordings.
There's a variety of different versions: a re-mastered/re-mixed version with six bonus tracks/b-sides from the era, a version that includes the band's previously unavailable Unplugged performance, a vinyl version and then a super-deluxe version with all of the above, plus a live show from 1992 Settle, a cassette replica of the band's original demo tape and a reproduction of Eddie Vedder's composition note book. Basically, a shitload of Ten.
The band's website has also been re-launched - presumably in anticipation of this release, and this year's expected new studio album. There's also a website for www.pearljamtengame.com, which I can't imagine the band is too stoked about. You can unlock various bits of the site to hear some tracks from the album or something.
11th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Le Hornet Vert
With Stephen Chow reducing his involvement to merely playing Kato next to Seth Rogan's lead, Michel Gondry may be stepping in to direct the long-in-development big screen version of The Green Hornet. Fingers crossed it will have more of a sting in its tale than the declining quality of his last two efforts.
11th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Area Man Alert: New Sky+ HD EPG coming
well, some of the men in my area will be pleased anyhow... new SKy+HD EPG being rolled out, although for some reason, Chimp Towers seems to have been left out of the first batch...
11th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
TVOTR on Tour
TV On The Radio have a new single on the way - Crying - as well as dates for a full European tour:
Saturday 11th July - Punchestown racecourse, Ireland @ Oxygen Festival
Sunday 12th July - Kinross, Scotland @ T in the Park Festival
Monday 13th July - London, England @ Brixton Academy (BUY!)
Wednesday 15th July - Lyon, France @ Les Nuits de Fourviere
Friday 17th July - Carhaix, France @ Les Vieilles Charrues
Saturday 18th July - Angouleme, France @ Garden Nef Festival
Sunday 19th July - Valencia, Spain @ Benicassim
Fri 24th July - Nyon, Switzerland @ Paleo Festival
Saturday 25th July - Lavel, France @ Les 3 Elephants Festival
Sunday 26th July - Cologne, Germany @ Live Music Hall
Monday 27th July - Vienna, Austria @ Open Air Arena
Wednesday 29th July - Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega
Thursday 30th July - Stockholm, Sweden @ Debaser Medis
Friday 31st July - Ostersund, Sweden @ Great Lakes Festival
Sunday 2nd August - Helsinki (Vantaa), Finland @ Ankkarock Festival - Vantaa Stage
11th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
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New Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals will be unveiling their new album next week, via a webcast on their site where they will play the record through live, in it's entirety. Dark Days/Light Years will then be available to purchase through the site - well before it hits the 'shops' on April 13th.
Album tracklisting as follows
1. Crazy Naked Girls
2. Mt
3. Moped Eyes
4. Inaugural Trams
5. Inconvenience
6. Cardiff In The Sun
7. The Very Best Of Neil Diamond
8. Helium Hearts
9. White Socks / Flip Flops
10. Where Do You Wanna Go?
11. Lliwiau Llachar
12. Pric
10th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Obamicon Me
Get your own Shepard Fairey-ized photo here. There's not really much more to say on this.
As a side-note, Fairey was recently arrested on his way to a Boston ICA launch of his show - shortly after making a poublic appearance with Boston's mayor. I love you. I hate you.
10th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Fwd Planning Chimp
Viva Santino - a rock-collecting chimp in Sweden!
10th Mar 2009 - 5 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
PRS v YouTube
more internet deathmatch action: PRS want YouTube to take down all pop videos in the UK...
9th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Themselves are back
Anticon heavyweights Jel and Doseone, aka Themselves, are planning a return after a six year gap with a new album CrownsDown set to drop this August. But to bridge the gap they're putting out a free online mixtape sometime this month. The FREEHoudini tape will feature guest spots from the likes of Aesop Rock, Why? Buck 65, Slug and Sole and will be the reunion of sorts for all three members of cLOUDDEAD. They leaked this 15 minute taster to Pitchfork last week and if this doesn't wet your backpack appetite you're probably dead.
9th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Kindling for the Master
It's US only for now, but Amazon has released an iPhone interface for their Kindle online bookstore, allowing mobile users to buy, download and read a huge range of books on the go. I still need convincing that the screen will be big enough, but we'll see.
If you can't wait, you can always head over to Google books and read Mad Man Don Draper's favourite Meditations in an Emergency right now.
9th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: The Limits Of Control/ Funny People
nice to see Jim Jarmusch isn't leaving us hanging for too long:The Limits Of Control trailer is up, and Judd Apatow's new one Funny People looks like it could be quite good too
9th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Wireless Hot Spotify
Despite a minor security scare, Spotify is continuing to gather a major following after their UK launch - with a load more labels now getting on board (most notably Sub Pop). Still a few big names missing (The Smiths anyone?), but it's fast become a totally viable storage-free alternative to iTunes.
The obvious drawback remains not having the files on your iPod, making listening on the move a problem - but the big news hitting the nets is a possible mobile client, and as shown in the video an iPhone client (More info: Wired / Techcrunch). The best feature? The app is designed to cache music you have lined up, meaning there's music available when you drop out of signal range.
Of course, Apple may not allow the app onto the iTunes store, but they do allow Last FM on there - and even highlight it in their iPhone adverts on TV. Apple could, of course, launch a similar service themselves - and have recently begun offering season pass-type subscriptions, similar to Top Spin's business model. They'd probably need another round of negotiations with the labels, but with many indies now working as a fifth pseudo-major label that shouldn't be all that complicated (p.s. note, Merlin have our inside-man Matthew Herbert as their poster boy).
Some bands are even taking the matter into their own hands, with No Doubt giving away their entire catalog when you buy a tour ticket and The Presidents of the United States offering four of their albums in a handy app for $3. Ex-President Dave Dederer has even gone so far as to become involved in a company offering such apps, as well as the Nutsie service - which promises to deliver your iTunes music to your phone, other PCs and even Facebook.
That social networking aspect is integral to all these services - and sites are springing up all over the place allowing you to share your playlists and so on (1,2), but none can beat this old-school front end for actual browsing.
Exciting times.
6th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Leap of Faith
Bit slow off the block reporting this one, but late 80's pioneers Faith No More are following Axl's lead and getting back in the ring - starting with a tour of Europe, that includes Donnington's Download festival.
6th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
CYE vs Seinfeld
In a much more exciting development than Jerry Seinfeld's own new series, it turns out that the cast of Seinfeld will all be featuring in a story arc spaning several episodes of the new Curb Your Enthusiasm season.
All except Kramer have popped up over the years in various stories, but not all together. Pretty, pretty good.
6th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: Bonnie Prince Billy
With a beard even bigger than normal, check out the promo for Bonnie Prince Billy's new track - I Am Goodbye, from forthcoming new album Beware.
Directed by Jennifer Parsons & Leif Johnson.
6th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Random Cover Art
It's a crazy sweeping the nation, according to The Guardian. Get yourself an album title from the Random Quotes website, pull an image off Flickr and boom, instant cover art. Here's some results.
6th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Do It Yourself - The Story of Rough Trade
There's a documentary about Rough Trade airing next Friday on BBC4 at 9pm. Covering the history of the label from it's beginnings in a West London record store through bankruptcy to it's current successful state, the doc will feature contributions from such luminaries as Johnny Marr, Jarvis Cocker ...and Duffy.
6th Mar 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
The National Go Large
The National have announced a handful of European shows for August, including a headline spot at the Royal Festival Hall.
Pre-sale for Royal Festival Hall tickets has started, by phone only on 0871 663 2500. Quote the password "Dark Was The Night".
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5th Mar 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
The Humans Are Dead!
Great article over at The Big Picture to bring you up to speed with the current status of the robotics industry.
5th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Public Enemies
Trailer up for Michael Mann's new movie - Public Enemies.
Heat with Tommy Guns. What's not to like?
5th Mar 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Rap Maps
"You want to head Straight Outta Compton, take a left at Crooklyn and stay on that road until you hit the North Memphis Area".
Rap Maps is putting Rap on the map. Literally.
4th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
CYHSY
Missing-in-action favourites Clap Your Hands Say Yeah seem to be slowly recovering from the disappointment of the relative critical backlash aimed at their second album - and have lined up an appearance on tomorrows Jimmy Fallon show to play a new song.
Directly after the show, the track will be available for download via their website. No free Dr. Pepper though.
3rd Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Terminator Salvation
We've run the previous trailers, but now there's another good-looking full theatrical trailer up for this summer's Terminator Salvation movie.
3rd Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Flashmorph
A plasticine flash-mob invaded Tate Modern over the weekend - in tribute to the legendary Tony Hart.
BBC has the story. Photo nabbed from Pryere, check out more on Flickr.
2nd Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Show Your Colours
...with a "Stringer Bell School of Business" T-shirt.
2nd Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Pint Price
Forget the old Big Mac Index (oh so 80's) and base your currency valuations on the much more dependable price of a pint. £2.51 in Canada, but a whopping £4.45 in France. Med.
27th Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Star Status: Michael Caine
The whole star status formula was concocted one evening in the pub following a discussion about the patchy career of messrs Connory and Caine. Connery has a career so patchy he only scored a 28.8% hit rate, while Michael Caine's career is so schizophrenic that he couldn't collect his Oscar for Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters, as he was busy filming Jaws IV: The Revenge. A low in the entire pantheon of cinema, not just one man's career.
So, how does Michael Caine (A.K.A. Sir Maurice Joseph Micklewhite Jr.) 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... No TV movies, just cinema releases to date.
In the spirit of full disclosure I should also tell you that I've been a little presumptuous and started the count with Zulu (1964), as prior to that it's a barrage of uncredited roles and TV bit parts. As he's a man with 139 credits on his IMDB page, there's plenty I haven't seen, for which I've taken some advice from the often over-generous IMDB ratings.
Is There Anybody There? (2008) - MAYBE
The Dark Knight (2008) .... Alfred Pennyworth - HIT
Sleuth (2007) .... Andrew - MISS
Flawless (2007) .... Mr. Hobbs - MAYBE
The Prestige (2006) .... Cutter - MAYBE
Children of Men (2006) .... Jasper - HIT
The Weather Man (2005) .... Robert Spritzel - MAYBE
Bewitched (2005) .... Nigel Bigelow - MISS
Batman Begins (2005) .... Alfred - HIT
Around the Bend (2004) .... Henry Lair - HIT
The Statement (2003) .... Pierre Brossard - MAYBE
Secondhand Lions (2003) .... Garth - HIT
The Actors (2003) .... Anthony O'Malley - MAYBE
Quicksand (2003) .... Jake Mellows - MISS
The Quiet American (2002) .... Thomas Fowler - HIT
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) .... Nigel Powers - MAYBE
Last Orders (2001) .... Jack - HIT
Miss Congeniality (2000) .... Victor Melling - MAAAAYBE
Get Carter (2000) .... Cliff Brumby - MISS
Shiner (2000) .... Billy 'Shiner' Simpson - MAYBE
Quills (2000) .... Dr. Royer-Collard - HIT
The Debtors (1999) - MISS
The Cider House Rules (1999) .... Dr. Wilbur Larch - HIT
Curtain Call (1999) .... Max Gale - MISS
Little Voice (1998) .... Ray Say - HIT
Shadow Run (1998) .... Haskell - MISS
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1997/II) (TV) .... Captain Nemo - MISS
Mandela and de Klerk (1997) (TV) .... F.W. de Klerk - MAYBE
Midnight in Saint Petersburg (1996) .... Harry Palmer - MISS
Blood and Wine (1996) .... Victor 'Vic' Spansky - MAYBE
Bullet to Beijing (1995) .... Harry Palmer - MISS
World War II: When Lions Roared (1994) (TV) .... Joseph V. Stalin - MAYBE
On Deadly Ground (1994) .... Michael Jennings - MISS
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) .... Ebenezer Scrooge - HIT
Blue Ice (1992) .... Harry Anders - MISS
Noises Off... (1992) .... Lloyd Fellowes - MAYBE
Bullseye! (1990) .... Sidney Lipton/Doctor Hicklar - MISS
Mr. Destiny (1990) .... Mike/Mr. Destiny - MISS
A Shock to the System (1990) .... Graham Marshall - MISS
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) .... Lawrence Jamieson - MAYBE
Without a Clue (1988) .... Sherlock Holmes - MAYBE
Surrender (1987) .... Sean Stein - MISS
Jaws: The Revenge (1987) .... Hoagie Newcombe - MIIIIISSSSSSS!
The Whistle Blower (1987) .... Frank Jones - MISS
The Fourth Protocol (1987) .... John Preston - MAYBE
Half Moon Street (1986) .... Lord Sam Bulbeck - MISS
Mona Lisa (1986) .... Mortwell - HIT
Sweet Liberty (1986) .... Elliott James - MISS
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) .... Elliot - HIT
The Holcroft Covenant (1985) .... Noel Holcroft - MISS
Water (1985/I) .... Governor Baxter Thwaites - MISS
Blame It on Rio (1984) .... Matthew Hollins - MISS
The Honorary Consul (1983) .... Charley Fortnum, Consul - MISS
Educating Rita (1983) .... Dr. Frank Bryant - HIT
The Jigsaw Man (1983) .... Philip Kimberly/Sergei Kuzminsky - MISS
Deathtrap (1982) .... Sidney Bruhl - MISS
Escape To Victory (1981) .... Capt. John Colby - HIT
The Hand (1981) .... Jonathan Lansdale - MISS
The Island (1980) .... Blair Maynard - MISS
Dressed to Kill (1980) .... Doctor Robert Elliott - MAYBE
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979) .... Captain Mike Turner - MISS
Ashanti (1979) .... Dr. David Linderby - MISS
California Suite (1978) .... Sidney Cochran - MAYBE
The Swarm (1978) .... Dr. Bradford Crane - MISS
Silver Bears (1978) .... Doc Fletcher - MISS
A Bridge Too Far (1977) .... Lt. Col. John O.E. Vandeleur - HIT
The Eagle Has Landed (1976) .... Colonel Steiner - HIT
Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976) .... Adam Worth - MISS
The Man Who Would Be King (1975) .... Peachy Carnehan - HIT
The Romantic Englishwoman (1975) .... Lewis Fielding - MISS
The Wilby Conspiracy (1975) .... Jim Keogh - MISS
Peeper (1975) .... Leslie C. Tucker - MISS
The Black Windmill (1974) .... Maj. John Tarrant - MISS
Sleuth (1972) .... Milo Tindle - HIT
Pulp (1972) .... Mickey King - MAYBE
Zee and Co. (1972) .... Robert Blakeley - MISS
Kidnapped (1971) .... Alan Breck - MAYBE
Get Carter (1971) .... Jack Carter - HIT
The Last Valley (1970) .... The Captain - HIT
Too Late the Hero (1970) .... Pvt. Tosh Hearne - MAYBE
Battle of Britain (1969) .... Squadron Leader Canfield - HIT
The Italian Job (1969) .... Charlie Croker - HIT
The Magus (1968) .... Nicholas Urfe - MISS
Deadfall (1968) .... Henry Stuart Clarke - MISS
Play Dirty (1968) .... Capt. Douglas - MISS
Billion Dollar Brain (1967) .... Harry Palmer - MISS
Woman Times Seven (1967) .... Handsome Stranger (segment "Snow") - MISS
Hurry Sundown (1967) .... Henry Warren - MISS
Funeral in Berlin (1966) .... Harry Palmer - HIT
Gambit (1966) .... Harry Tristan Dean - HIT
The Wrong Box (1966) .... Michael Finsbury - MAYBE
Alfie (1966) .... Alfie Elkins - HIT
The Ipcress File (1965) .... Harry Palmer - HIT
Zulu (1964) .... Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead - HIT
HIT 28
MISS 22
MAYBE 44
So that's a generous 434 points out of a possible whopping 940.
Michael Caine: you have scored 46.1%
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...
26th Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Seinfeld Gets Back In The Ring
It's been 11 years since Seinfeld finished on our TV screens, but now Jerry Seinfeld is back with a new show. The Marriage Ref is the title of the somewhat dubious-sounding non-fiction show, which will "feature opinionated celebrities, comedians and sports stars offering commentary and advice to real-life couples enduring "classic marital disputes.""
Variety has the details. Gawker is less that impressed.
26th Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Get ready for the apocalypse
Are violent video games adequately preparing children for the apocalypse? The Onion has the answer.
26th Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
FlickrSync
It's not just Mac with iPhoto that are feeling the Flickr-sync love. Check out the aptly titled FlickrSync app for PC's that marries folders of photos on your machine with sets uploaded to your Flickr account.
26th Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
What's With The Matter?
Jet packs, re-useable spaceplanes - what's next, teleportation?
25th Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Zeros To Heros
The Guardian have an excellent article up about the recent Zero Boys revival (more on them here), written by The Hold Steady's Craig Finn.
25th Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: S. Darko
I forgot all about this Donnie Darko sequel being lined up - and now there's a trailer. Looks like straight-to-video fayre, but a damn site more promising than Southland Tales.
25th Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Quiz David Cameron
Move over Paxman - The Argus has got some choice topics for David Cameron to deal with
25th Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Do The Collage
There's been a torrent of new releases from indie rock legend Robert Pollard recently (report soon), but that doesn't mean he doesn't have time for extra curricular activities. Check out his website for a nice run-through of his recent art exhibition in New York, and head over to Spin for additional data. While the original art works sell for a highly-collectible $3000 or so, you can buy a great limited edition print (top) over at Hard Pressed Studios, for a thoroughly reasonable $100.
24th Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Today in Dinosaur News: New Dinosaurs
it's all go go go in Jurassic Park today: some dude has dug up a whole load of new dinosaurs on the Isle Of Wight - and Jagjaguwar have signed Dinosaur Jr
24th Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Truth Is Out There... In Homey Airport?!
Area 51's had a makeover - it's now called "Homey Airport" you'd never think aliens would land anywhere that sounded that friendly, would you?
24th Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
A Meeting of the minds
Ear-drum bursting old-timers Dinosaur Jr have another post-reunion album on the way - and have signed with killer label Jagjaguwar to release it.
23rd Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Get Spotify. Now.
If you're not on board already, head over and register for a free account at Spotify and download their player now. Building on Nokia's badly presented, but solid concept of 'comes with music', the program works like iTunes, or a totally unlocked Last FM - but stores no music on your hard drive. Music is all delivered legally over the www as and when you play it, at a bitrate comparable to decent mp3 compression. A basic account is free, with the only concession being the occasional advert. And currently that is occasional - with only about 3 ads playing over 8 hours of continuos use at the moment, and most of them were for Spotify's own premium service. For that premium service you can pay 99p a day, or £9.99 a month for advert-free listening - which is hardly extortion.
The concept has come a long way since I last checked in, with the selection now being pretty thorough. Some of the usual cautious big-hitters (Beatles, Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Metallica) are absent, and a few labels are obviously not quite there yet (e.g. Sub Pop, Jagjaguwar) but on the whole the catalogue is on a simlar footing to iTunes - and they even have a few exclusives, like a one week heads-up on U2's new album.
Search for an album, press play and you're off. So easy it's ridiculous.
We're already using it heavily at Chimp HQ - particularly thanks to the built in support for Last FM, which lets us keep our charts up-to-date with minimum hassle - and I dare say this app (or at least the concept) will undoubtedly define the future of music, just as Napster, iPods and iTunes all have. You have been warned.
23rd Feb 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Cheeta A Fake?!
not sure I can take this. turns out Cheeta might be a fake
23rd Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Pirate Tweet
you've got to admire Pirate Bay's commitment to tech: here's a tweet from INSIDE their recent court case...
23rd Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Nice Work If You Can Get It
It's the Oscars this weekend, but while Mickey Rourke may be holding back on signing a deal for Iron Man 2, plenty of people around the world are already hard at work.
The Big Picture has an excellent round-up of where else the Mickster could be by now.
20th Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Ditch Yourself
Check out this incredible Google-earth re-enactment of Flight 1549's miraculous landing on the Hudson river. The files will take you through the landing, with audio between the control panel and the tower.
Google Maps Mania also has a video clip, see below.
20th Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
The BBC's RAD Future
the BBC are developing more cool iPlayer + stuff
20th Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet