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later w chimp squad
don't forget to catch chimps 71 and 75 being baffled by jamie foxx and standing behind the spinto band on later 11.35pm, bbc2
5th May 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
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Brilliant Maniac
Chimp 75 will be DJ-ing at Brilliant Maniac this coming Friday (May 5th), at the PUSH bar - 93 Dean Street, Soho W1.
Free - or maybe a couple of quid if you get there very late. Open until 1.30ish.
3rd May 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Indigo Moss at the Ivy House
Had a good night at the Easycome Acoustic Club down at Chimp Towers local The Ivy House last week, with the open mic night providing a few good bands... and some shite.
Prince of Wales were very good in a Broken Family Band style - even if their name makes them invisible on the internet. (UPDATE: it's Prints Of Whales apparantly, not that it makes them any easier to Google) Indigo Moss were good too, rocking the Jesse James suits.
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3rd May 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
King Kong
(dir. Peter Jackson)
The biggest chimp of the all, revamped by the LOTR crew.
For some reason it's taken a while to get round to this super-ape outing here at chimp HQ, so it's nice to finally open up the DVD (although there's 2 bullshit ads included as part of the "extras" on my R3 copy).
Like what Peter Jackson's done over his career, and there's some nice touches to his monster/gore past which I wasn't expecting in the Skull Island bits (been so long since I saw the original that the plot was basically new to me).
Jack Black's money-making movie director works well in the first half, although you do get the impression that Jackson sympathises with his blagging skills and general enthusiasm for getting a film made, which does seem to jar a bit with the second half in New York, with Black then the evil maestro putting on Kong's Broadway debut.
Naomi Watts does the most with her scream and faint routine, and gets the compassion for Kong over without saying too much. It's much more of a human getting on with a wild animal relationship than some inter-species romance. She's like a friendly zoologist with juggling skills that he's stumbled across. You feel like Kong's pretty lonely on the island without any other giant apes around, and that Naomi's better company than the local savages who seem more interested in keeping in chucking him the occasional sacrifice from behind a wall. Adrien Brody's ok, but a bit sidelined towards the end.
The Kong animation/acting from Andy "Gollum" Serkis (who's also the ship's cook) is pretty cool, wasn't expecting so much dinosaur bashing which seemed like Jackson having fun with some Godzilla-style showdowns, and the crew of the Venture are at least pretty wowed when they first come across all these huge mythical beasts running around. All the whooping natives stuff is a bit odd, not quite sure where they're going with that.
Enjoyed it overall, but it did feel a touch overlong for what's essentially a pretty simple B movie plot - although holding off on Kong's entrance works, and all the on-board scenes build up to Skull Island's sighting.
Could have been a much more intense, wham-bam experience at 20 minutes shorter: just because it's a really big monkey doesn't mean it has to be a really big epic… but hey, it's a big monkey smashing up New York and punching out dinosaurs - that's always going to go down well here.
30th Apr 2006 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
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Pearl Jam
London Astoria
As one of the last gigs on my list of all-time favourite bands, having not seen these guys had always nagged at me. I had been too poor as a student, out of the country for one tour and then after the death of some fans at the Roskilde festival in 2000, Europe had been off rotation for the last couple of Pearl Jam world tours. I was resigned to eventually seeing the band at the enormo-arena-dome some time past their peak - and convincing myself that I wasn't disappointed.
Recently, things started to look up. A well invested fan club membership led to a great 7 inch single, but the golden ticket was a heads-up on this one-off warm up show at London's Astoria. Chimp Jnr managed to snag the tickets, which sold out in 1 minute and ended up going for £450 on eBay. It crossed our minds to cash them in and fly out to Seattle, but even there a 20,000 seat Arena could not offer the same opportunity as a 1600 seat venue on home turf.
The gig had a quick turnaround and before we knew it we were queuing down the side of the Astoria, round Soho Square and back onto Oxford Street. Some of the eBay tickets had apparently been confiscated, so some persistent fans did get a chance to get last minute surprise re-sale tickets on the door. The touts dropped their tickets to £250, while security guards checked the ticket numbers as some fakes had been circulated.
The atmosphere in the queue and inside the venue was electric. It obviously wasn't just us that had been holding out to see them, and when the band came out the place went crazy. A quick acknowledgment that it had been a long time set the scene, and then we're off with new single World Wide Suicide. As noted, this is a bad title, but as a song it was a great start - thundering, off new album Pearl Jam, but still one that the fans could get into. That was followed by Life Wasted and Severed Hand from the new album, which subdued the crowd slightly as they are still relatively unknown.... Two more new songs followed, but these were current b-side Unemployable and Christmas b-side Gone, which is already one of my current favourites. So things were picking up, and then they really took off with Even Flow.
From then on things only got better and better. The band pulled highlights and rarities from their 15 year back catalogue, such as Sad, I Am Mine, Leavin' Here and Given To Fly mixed in with a couple of the new tracks. There was a healthy dose of revived songs from black-sheep album Ten (which out sold Nevermind for you haters out there) including an awesome ramped up version of Why Go? The Indie Goth Revival is over, long live Grunge.
The highlight had to be an impromptu sing along to Betterman, where Eddie Vedder literally hardly sang a word. The entire crowd took over in a spine tingling moment, reminiscent of Black on the Benaroya Hall album. Visibly moved by the crowd response, the band came back for two encores until finally the end had come, as Mike McCready plucked the opening notes of traditional set-closer Yellow Ledbetter. Everyone sang along and the band even dropped in a few notes of Nobody's Fault But Mine as a nod to Robert Plant, who was in the crowd with his son. After a bow the band started to leave the stage, before the overwhelming reaction from the audience genuinely changed their minds. Eddie Vedder called them back for one more... a storming rendition of Alive. As one of their only UK hits, this is often how they are perceived by those who know little of their later work. It was an unashamedly 90's moment, and I realised that after 15 years of progressing onwards they are now looking as much like the grunger's of the early 90's as ever.... and I love it.
All in all it couldn't have been a much more satisfactory conclusion to my quest.... although thanks to a man on the inside we are off to see them taping Later with Jools Holland tonight.
25th Apr 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
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Bear/Chimp
Hats off to our recently prolific reviewer bear/chimp for scoring letter of the month in The Observer for his thoughts on the Morrissey/Coupland show down.
24th Apr 2006 - 7 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Chimp v6.0
You may have noticed that we've started to overhaul the look of chimpomatic this week. As well as a new photo-heavy style we'll be bringing in a few new features - such as the ability to leave comments on reviews.
Other suggestions welcome.
13th Apr 2006 - 14 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
new magic and country x
you can preview 2 tracks from matthew herbert's great new album scale over at magic and accident. Plus you can emigrate to matt's new virtual country (and sign up to the unaversity) at country x… Department Of Chimp Studies anyone?
12th Apr 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
to bbq or not to bbq?
always happy to seem some bbq news in chimp hq - coppice charcoal suppliers are the best eco option apparently.
11th Apr 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Dislocated Finger
Sent in by chimp buddy BC. Sustained while goalkeeping.
9th Apr 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Ariel Pink
We're all about Ariel Pink at Chimp HQ today, thanks to a tip off from occasional web-logger Evergreen Daze.
Playing the UK in June apparently.
6th Apr 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Why?
Elephant Eyelash
I wanted to review this album for a few reasons. Firstly because it’s a great album and secondly because I feel the hallowed halls of Chimp Towers needs to reprezent for the underground hip-hop.
Why?, aka Yoni Wolf is one third of the genius that was cLOUDDEAD and has put his skills to many fine releases from the ever-changing and ever-ground breaking Anticon label. Elephant Eyelash seems to have a coherency and focus that has sometimes been missing from a lot of Wolf’s many endeavours. He is a lyricist like no other who delivers playful yet dark sing/speak vocals with an awe inspiring attention to every syllable. It is a strangely uplifting experience which leaves you wondering why you were just joyously singing along to lines like “Unfold an origami death mask/ And cut my DNA with rubber traits/ Pull apart the double helix like a wishbone/ Always be working on a suicide note.”
Anything by this artist is challenging but so worth your time. This album and countless other on this label offers a rare musical experience, a chance to listen and appreciate music that is indefinable and carries with it no genre baggage. My iTunes says ‘Folk’ but I say Why? Stand out tracks include Sanddollars, Rubber Traits, Fall Saddles and Gemini (Birthday Song)
5th Apr 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
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R.I.P. Shoreditch Underground Station
Shoreditch Underground station on the East London Line is finally closing down on June 9th, to make way for the new extension up to Dalston and beyond. That will be a set-back to the Chimp Towers > Chimp HQ hotline, but hopefully an improvement in the long run.
The locals have luckily got enough micro-scooters to keep them moving.
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4th Apr 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Pearl Jam at Astoria
After a morning of wrangling 5 browser screens and 2 ticket hotlines, we've hopefully snagged some tickets for chimp75 & chimp jnr favourites Pearl Jam's low-profile gig at London's Astoria on April 20th.
One of the last remaining bands to be checked off the big hit-list, and certainly a better venue than the usual Wembley Arena style event. Fingers crossed.
They're also pencilled in for Jool Holland apparently, taping in late April for a broadcast on May 6. If anyone has an in on that, please let me know...
31st Mar 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
totally wired
finished off series three of the wire in chimp towers last night, easily one of the best things we've seen in years. catch up on the box sets if you haven't seen any of it yet. full report when we get round to it
23rd Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Riding the Brakes
Chimpomatic buddy Herbert has remixed chimp favourites Brakes' track All Night Disco Party
15th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
i am a tree
been noticing a string of odd signs on trees around telegraph hill recently… this one popped up outside chimp towers over night. reminds me of the work of post!man:ifesto, for those of you that go back that far
12th Mar 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Paris Fashion Column: Sunday
Things are finally winding down in Paris, and there has been very little last minute news to add. Puffa jackets are about as high profile as the Arctic Monkeys - often tight and sometimes using parka elements in the collar. Although they haven't lookedgoodonthedancefloor-sincenineteeneightyfouraah.
The music at this year's show has been a great improvement and although the chimp contingent arrived fatally early to the big party we were given a reprival by hearing them sound check the stereo with Clap Your Hands. However, the French still don't know how to do taxis and their sandwiches suck.
More next season. Allez!
5th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
scale
interview w that boy herbert over on the ever-reliable pitchfork about his new album scale, which has been going down nicely in chimp towers recently (along w dani siciliano's equally excellent second album slappers); also some details about the radiohead covers album (including matt and mara carlyle doing Nice Dream.) loving moving like a train on scale and why can't i get you high so far… out soonish on k7!
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24th Feb 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Brakes
Give Blood
I've been reassessing the Brakes album Give Blood on the back of Clap Your Hands' recent acceptance into chimp rotation. The good news is, I was hasty in dismissing them so early. It's a mixed bag sounding a bit like Pavement, a bit like Galaxie 500 in places, a bit like Clap Your Hands, and even a bit like Operation Ivy - but still retaining something quite English... she was earning 10 grand, p.a.
It's not a heavy concept album, but it is just a bit like a bunch of guys playing fun songs and having a good time.
15th Feb 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 3.5 star reviewsIdle Playboys
Chimp neighbour Dan Keiran was spotted in the Observer recently, debating life without air travel. He's also recommended Michael Smith's book The Giro Playboy, which I've been enjoying as a mid 90's Hoxton version of Generation X.
UPDATE: It seems I was a bit hasty with my 'mid-90's' it's more like 2002. A little late in the game some might say.
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14th Feb 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
this is planet earth
ba ba ba ba-bah… saw a preview of the new epic new HD bbc series planet earth this morning: totally awesome. like blue planet but mainly above water. snow leopards in vertical chases down mountains, miles and miles of caves with insane 5 metre high crystal formations, bat caves where the entire food chain is based on bat shit, etc etc. great photography, super sharp, and the mighty david attenborough saying things like "here… is a carpet… of cockroaches." plus he was sitting 2 metres away from c71, all v surreal for a hungover chimp.
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9th Feb 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
track bauer
in the spirit of 24 returning, why not be like jack and start your own satellite tracking system? chimp towers has been screening a few hours of day 5 already, happy to report things are up to the usual move-so-fast-you-don't-notice-how-daft-it-all-is standards. and jack's got rid of his littlest surfer hobo look from the toyota ad
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1st Feb 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
tape it
ucx90, sax60, hsx90… there's even a d46 in this slightly obsessive project to upload old hip hop and pirate tapes onto the net. maybe he'd like to come round and tackle the dead media mountain in the chimp towers archive next…
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19th Jan 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Wulfmutha
Hot of the boat from Australia (via Chimp Jnr.), the Wolfmother LP is currently on rotation at ChimpHQ. Sounding a bit fuller than the EP and going down well so far. Like White Stripes with a bass and permission to rock from Meg.
17th Jan 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
turn on, tune in
another dr chimp spot: could this be the end of our never-ending tuning problems?
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13th Jan 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
top ten albums of 2005 (and some other notable mentions)
chimp71:
in no particular order, and some of these contain a few killer hits rather than functioning as entire albums, but hey… also this is just the stuff that was out 2005, so no dylan, no pharoah sanders, no japan, or jackson c frank etc which have all been shuffling for me nicely this year.
clor (swung me round after seeing them supporting malkmus)
stephen malkmus - face the truth (this one does work as a whole album)
matthew herbert - plat du jour (the return of the concept album! loved this live too, looking forward to the return of disco herbert in 2006 as well)
roisin murphy - ruby blue (this should point where disco herbert will be taking off from, great hearing that wonky guitar on the title track on the radio all year)
louis xiv - the best little secrets are kept (great singles here, bit patchy as an album)
jamie lidell - mulitply (real grower this, disappointed at first, dig it now)
devendra banhart - cripple crow (this is way too long, but like it a lot even though i imagine he'd be quite high maintenance to hang with)
wilco - ghost is born (c75 really swung me around on these guys, so not the alt folkies i thought they were)
ambulance ltd - ambulance ltd (great, really varied album, which they pulled off live)
caribou - milk of human kindness (ironic title seeing as they were such miserable fuckers at the montague and we pulled them from heavy rotation afterwards)
notable mentions:
arcade fire - funeral
gorillaz - demon days (all year i keep hearing the singles on the radio, liking it, and still not identifying that it's them)
Chimp 75:
First off, for me 2005 has been one of the best year's of music I can remember - and possibly the first where I'm not digging into the past for good music. In previous years, a few of this year's notable mentions would have certainly made the 10:
Clor - Clor (Fear of Music regulars, bartended my party, supported Malkmus, some great singles but the album is slightly thin in places)
Surgery - The Warlocks (the opening track is so good I rarely get past it)
Funeral - Arcade Fire (I like it more than I actually listen to it)
Bright Eyes - (See above. Too much in one year. Use Your Illusion syndrome)
Half Smiles Of The Decomposed (Came out in August 2004, but gets a nod for being a fine finale for GBV)
Liar's Exit - Bikini Atoll (This made the list, but was bumped at the last minute by Low. Still moving up the charts)
And here's my actual 10, in descending order:
10 - Ambulance Ltd. (For Yoga Means Union alone. Great live)
09 - Low - The Great Destroyer (Shoe gazing goes big time)
08 - KC Rules OK/Rocket DIY - King Creosote (Two albums, but both equally good, and both 2005)
07 - Aha Shake Heartbreak - Kings of Leon (Even better than what seemed like a perfect debut)
06 - Face The Truth - Stephen Malkmus (No More Shoes, and that infectious Rod Stewart riff. Classic.)
05 - Take Fountain - The Wedding Present (Let down by a couple of annoying tracks, but the rest gets 11 out of 10)
04 - Gimme Fiction - Spoon (Definite future-classic-rock)
03 - Alligator - The National (Definitely one to watch, as they will only get better. Awesome live.)
02 - A Ghost Is Born - Wilco (OK, this was actually mid 2004, but it's been on heavy rotation all 2005)
01 - Z - My Morning Jacket (The most anticpated album I've had for a while, and still getting better. They rule.)
If you don't have them, go get them. Can't wait for 2006.
27th Dec 2005 - 4 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
best of 2005
yes, it's nearly over. time to get the annual chimpomatic best of underway ...we'll get the official list up once we've had a night in, but in the meantime, nominations are welcome… seems to have been the year of dylan in chimp towers, with louis xiv, mugison (of course), stephen malkmus, QOTSA, my morning jacket etc etc all strong contenders ...but what have we missed?
21st Dec 2005 - 8 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Quote of the day
haven't had a song of the day for a bit, but while we sort that out here's a quote, c/o dr chimp…
"Everybody's going to remember your songs, it's just that nobody's gonna be able to play them" - Bob Dylan, to The Edge.
7th Dec 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
king chimp
early positive reports coming in for peter jackson's king kong… looking fwd to this one
5th Dec 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
radio foo
full hk update coming later when this chimp's had some time to sleep off the 24 hour jetathon, but in the meantime, a quick nod to the 6 Music Selector — Foo Fighters on dec 12, where dave and the boys are taking over the programming for the whole day…
1st Dec 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Small Holes
Apparently, people in Cardiff are the proud owners of the world's smallest holes.
Thanks to Dr. Chimp for the tip off.
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29th Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Wedding Present
Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
The Wedding Present's Take Fountain is another chimp album of the year for me, and certainly best "comeback album that is mind numbingly good, as opposed to predictably disappointing" in a long time.
As the lights went down and the spooky atmos track of Interstate 5 drifted over the PA, I thought we were heading straight into a thundering live rendition of my Collateral-esque widescreen track of the year. Instead, that faded away and we just had a thundering run through of classic Wedding Present and Cinerama tracks, with only two off Take Fountain - Always The Quiet One (awesome and fast) and Ringway to Seatac (awesomer and faster).
Suck, Dare, Kennedy, Heather, Corduroy, Apres Ski and a cover of Falling from Twin Peaks stood out - but then I only have six albums and only recognized about half the songs. The most under revised I have felt in a long time.
David Gedge was not quite what I was expecting (it is 15 years later), but was not disappointing. A totally engaging character, he acted and gestured his way through every song, without the pretensions of someone like Jarvis Cocker. "This song's about sex, or maybe love. Don't ask me, I'm just a conduit." Continued requests persisted from the crowd, and were met with the response "In 20 years have you ever known us to do requests?"... until someone shouted "Brassneck" at just the right time on the set list for the very tight band to launch straight into a ferocious version of possibly their most famous tune. The generally well behaved mosh pit (most fans were 30-40 and probably teachers) went crazy.
No Take Me! either, but I got what I was looking for with the speaker facing, top speed, double guitars, extended high note strumming on about half a dozen other tracks. The only thing that could have made this gig any better would have been for it to be a warm up show at the Amersham Arms.
23rd Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
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The National
ULU, London
The National have been making quick progress up my album of the year chart, so this was a good chance to put these pups under the microscope (even though they are only a mere 3 albums in).
Support act Film School kicked things off, and I spent quite a while deciding whether their Cure stylings and sound were contrived or genuine... but being American ponces (as opposed to British ones) did them some favours and they may be worth watching out for. When The National took to the stage however there was no doubt that they were a cut above. They kicked straight into the new classic Secret Meeting with such power and gusto that the audience was instantly gripped. I was surprised that singer Matt Berninger wasn't the dude on the cover of the debut album... but if Britt Daniel from Spoon is Richie Cunniingham, then this guy is a cross between Crispin Glover and Sam Shepard. Alternately smoking and moodily skulking around the stage... which all made me realise how many bands don't have an instrumentless singer at the moment. This created a real focus for the six piece band, who did seem a lot more of a band (rather than a single vision of a single person) than I had imagined.
There was a bit too much swapping around between the bass and guitar guys (chimp concert rule number 3, stick to one instrument), but the set motored along without much interruption, consisting of a lot of tracks from the current album Alligator, with a few other numbers from Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers and the Cheery Tree EP, all amped up a notch from the studio versions, with a fair bit of screaming.
If you don't have Alligator yet, get onto it. And keep a eye out for these guys in the future. Ossum.
23rd Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 3.5 star reviewsCorrection
In our review of the White Stripes (Chimpomatic Vol. 5, review 101) we stated that Jack White at one point played a Xylophone.
Chimp North has corrected that information: Jack White plays a marimba not a xylophone. They are similar, but the xylophone has a more harsh sound and doesn't have resonators. It's absolutely a marimba on the album.
We apologise for the misinformation.
21st Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
R.A.R.E.
Checked out all-beef restaurant Rare on Saturday, and while it was good it certainly wasn't a patch on chimp favourites Peter Luger, or the Biftek from Bittet. They were playing Spoon however...
14th Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Sufjan Stevens
King's College, London
First trip to King's College Student Union tonight, and up to the 4th floor (Tokyo style!) for Tutu's bar. Classical music set the scene for tonight's 'Acoustic Evening With Sufjan Stevens', and beer was at student prices. No jelly vodka shots though.
Scottish opening act My Latest Novel start things off, and were sounding good but were unfortunately another case of 'listen but don't look'. A lack of experience and stage presence, mixed with a constant swapping around of who's playing what, plus one too many toy instruments failed to keep this chimp focused. They did sound OK though, and they almost certainly must know those Fence guys.
Sufjan Stevens and his gang took to the stage in semi-freaky Halloween masks, but the itchy feathers soon put an end to that. One album into his quest to record an album for every state, Sufjan Stevens was already distracted with the non-US State based Seven Swans, so it was good to see him sticking to his plan with the release of this year's Come On, Feel The Illinoise!. That album in particular has a tendency to use repeated compositions and melodies, meaning it can sometimes start to sound more like a movie soundtrack than an album proper... and that was reflected in the live show. Serial Killer classic John Wayne Gacy Jr. was a stand out for me and the show in general sounded great (just like the record!), but the lack of energy and too many songs with 80% of the band just standing still were a bit of a mood killer. Give me a shuffling, high kicking Bob Pollard any day.
For once it was a case of 'less cowbell', and 'more guitar, bass, drums and attitude'. Please.
1st Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
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Broken Flowers
(dir. Jim Jarmusch)
After being dumped by his current girlfriend, middle aged romeo Bill Murray takes to the road to look up his old girlfriends - in the hope of finding the writer of an anonymous letter informing him that he has a 20 year old son.
Some odd press had preceeded this film. All the reviews seemed complimentary, but it was generally getting around 3 out of 5. Being a big fan of Bill Murray (and the type of film where 'nothing much happens') this seemed like a high probability hit in the chimp camp. Jim Jarmusch has always had my respect, and for me he's been getting better and better - honing his ideas into a more engaging format.
As a result I was very surprised that in some ways this film seemed like a step away from the style of his more recent films (I'm thinking Ghost Dog) and back towards the slow, detached style of early films like Stranger Than Paradise and Down By Law. Even Down By Law had a bit of action, whereas this film really did seem incredibly slight. Bill Murray is pretty much left to his own devices, which is fine on one level as he's always watchable, but beyond the amusing tracksuits his character really didn't seem to have the depth and history that it needed. He seems to pop up in the lives of these women, give us no real insight into what they ever had together and then he gets home with no resolution.
Jessica Lange's pet psychologist provides a few laughs, Chloe Sevigny makes only the briefest of appearances, and only Jeffrey Wright really makes much of an impression. On the whole, pretty disappointing.
1st Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
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newgison
chimp fave mugison's finished another album, don't know when it's out, but really looking forward to hearing some new stuff - maybe this will be the new band sound? who knows…
******
if you head over there quick, there's a taster track to download, "go blind"
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29th 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
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28th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
chimps not buddies?
more chimp research. apparently they're not very altruistic.
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27th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
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
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26th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Chimptronic
we'll be installing one of these in chimp towers asap
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26th Oct 2005 - 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)
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24th Oct 2005 - 3 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
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22nd Oct 2005 - 1 comments - 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
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