Chimpomatic

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.

#Film
#chimp71

9th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Jim James Solo Acoustic

The Enterprise, Camden

After September's DJ/My Morning Jacket/Jim James triple cancellation it was a pleasant surprise to see this re-scheduled solo gig pop up on the MMJ website, particularly as they were about to start a big US tour. Things only got weirder when the chimp contingent got to the venue - above The Enterprise pub in Camden. The room was tiny (around 100-150 max) and totally empty. Doors opened at 7 and we got seats at a Goodfellas-style table, literally right in front of the six inch high stage. The venue was totally empty for ages, and the rumour was that the record label had block booked most of the tickets - presumably for press purposes. That kind of sucked for all the people who kept coming up looking for tickets, but to be fair it did fill right up at nine on the dot, and a couple of desperate fans were invited in for free...

Jim James shuffled on with a keyboard/sample/drum machine type thing (apparantly called an Omnichord), and took off one shoe (making fists with his toes after a long haul flight?). The crowd was hushed instantly as he started off playing only the omnichord, building it up into a layered rhythm before unleashing his amazing voice. The small size of the room and the closeness of the stage meant that half the time he could be heard louder off the mic as he soared and reached all the high notes... always sounding like he should crack, but never even coming close. While the 90-odd minute set was made up of both old classics and a lot of songs from the forthcoming My Morning Jacket album Z there was never a moment when the crowd was less than mesmerised. Seeing one person create such a delicate sound, but still whip up a storming finale for tracks like The Bear, was unforgetable and the sound is still ringing through my mind several days later.

New track Dondante was a particular highlight, given extra poignancy by Jim's introductary explanation of waking from a dream with this song for a dead friend in his mind. The Bear and Bermuda Highway were awesome, as well as newer tracks like Anytime and Off The Record. Covers of Eels' 3 Speed, All The Best by John Prine and Dylan's You're A Big Girl Now finished things off.

After seeing a lot of gigs recently, this was far and a way one of the best. If you don't own any MMJ, please get some. If you do, keep an eye out for this gig as there were rumours of it being taped....

#Music
#Gig
#CSF

2nd Oct 2005 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Stephen Malkmus

Koko, Camden

I made a few Pavement related errors as a younger music fan - most notably missing out on seeing them support Sonic Youth, due to a lack of train fare money. I've been totally loving Stephen Malkmus' solo albums, so I wasn't about to drop the ball and miss this show.

Support came from Clor, who've been causing a 'buzz' on the Chimp Towers 'should-get-round-to-checking them-out' list, and they were great. Malkmus and the Jicks then kicked off, unfortunately disproving the myth that support bands are deliberately mixed badly to make the headliners sound great. The kidney wobbling bass that was working well with Clor's disco groove just drowned out the witty lyrics etc that make Malkmus' songs tick. Dodgy cabling led to a few more sound problems, and while the band were pro enough to ride it out you did get the feeling that it was holding them back.... as they started to run out of banter and never really got on a roll. Moaning aside though, they did kick out some great tracks... notably long form chimp favourite No More Shoes.

3 stars and no grudges.

#Music
#Gig
#CSF

26th Sep 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Matthew Herbert: Plat Du Jour

Victoria Rooms, Bristol

Dr and Mrs Chimp were served a feast of tasty treats at the Matthew Herbert Plat du Jour gig in Bristol's Victoria Rooms last night. Loud and manic sounds, great visuals, intriguing smells, white wellies, fishy balloons, and crunchy Worcester apples were all cooked up into a real assault on the senses. Serving suggestions will never quite be the same again. Make reservations for next month's Barbican gig now. And as for Dani's constume: 'We're lovin' it'.

#Music
#Gig
#Dr.Chimp

5th Sep 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Queens Of The Stone Age

Brixton Academy

after al qaida stopped the rock earlier this summer (and another time before that when they cancelled for health reasons), it was good to finally catch josh homme's latest version of q.o.t.s.a. at the brixton academy: still kicking it out even without a large bald dude on bass. lots of ten minute jams, super heavy drums and real charisma from l'homme, plus a cool set that had room for all the hits, as well as things like that pj harvey desert sessions song i wanna make it with you, and lots more (early?) stuff i hadn't heard before. rocket chimp felt they could have done with slowing down on things like no-one knows, which is a fair point. but as a carnivore of rock, this chimp thought it was pretty beefy all round. recommended, would see them again.

#Music
#Gig
#chimp71

23rd Aug 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Mr & Mrs Smith

(dir. Doug Liman)

A suburban couple live secret lives as assassins, until one day they realise they have been contracted to kill each other.

Doug Liman’s always been a chimp favourite, so we were always giving this film a chance. It’s well shot and directed, pretty snappy and quite funny, but essentially it’s nothing new. The gags are recycled – just done bigger and better, with Angelina and Brad on top form cat fighting their way around the house while working on their marriage problems.

Rating: Well worth watching on a dodgy pirate video.

#Film
#CSF

5th Jul 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

U2

Cardiff Millennium Stadium

Dr Chimp's ears are still ringing after the U2 rockfest at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium last night. Very odd to be in a space that big, but with a roof overhead - a bit like being indoors and outdoors at the same time. U2 gave us two very loud hours of their greatest hits, plus about three-quarters of the latest album. Oddly, the songs from their very first album were played with far more energy than the newer material (apart from Vertigo, which we got twice). One guy standing near us seemed to have a 48-piece imaginary drum kit, which he gave a good thumping during Sunday, Bloody Sunday. And two other swaying dudes air-guitared themselves into a total frenzy during Bullet the Blue Sky. All in all, infinitely better than the limp Zooropa show that Dr Chimp and Chimp71 saw in Cardiff in 1993, but nowhere near the heights of the San Francisco ZooTV madness of '92. Very excited to see the convoy of U2 people carriers, under heavy police escort, racing past the grassy knoll by the castle on our way back to the car. But why does this feel like a farewell tour?

Dr Chimp

set list:
Vertigo
I Will Follow
Electric Co.
Elevation
New Year’s Day
Beautiful Day
I Still Haven’t Found
All I Want is You
City of Blinding Lights
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own
Love and Peace
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running to Standstill
Pride (in the name of love)
Where the Streets have no name
One

Zoo Station
The Fly
With or Without You

All Because of You
Yahweh
Vertigo

#Music
#Gig
#Dr.Chimp

30th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Patti Smith @ Meltdown 2005

Royal Festival Hall

patti smith totally rocked during her track-by-track 30th anniversary performance of Horses, from the stunning opening line "jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine…" to the blow-out ending. flea on bass and trumpet for some of the songs, tom verlaine sitting on an amp at the side (possibly making up for the shoddy television performance on monday), and lenny kaye showing how it's really done. she was totally commanding, had real presence, dealt with all the hecklers "whatever you say, you're not going to impress me…" and proved that she's really the iconic figure you always read she is.

and it's the first time i've ever seen a standing ovation from the first song onwards… not surprising when it's her stunning version of gloria (wonder what van thinks?), but still pretty impressive.

oh and she had 2 pieces of advice: look after your teeth, and never wear new shoes to an important job. so she ended up dancing barefoot…

john cale's opening set, also w flea on bass, was pretty good too, even if neither dr chimp or i recognised any of the songs (ie no velvets nostalgia this time)

#Music
#Gig
#chimp71

26th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Ambulance Ltd.

The ICA, London

June 13th 2005

Possibly the first hot shit band I've actually seen ahead, or maybe on, the curve. These guys kicked off their set with instrumental chimp favourite "Yoga Means Union" building up to a powerful rockathon. 'Tight' is the adjective of the moment.

After that things moved along with a remarkably sequential set of the first 4 or 5 tracks off their album. Then a few new songs, which were more like the non-favourite tracks off the current album, but these new ones were good - so some re-appraisal is due. Straight A's and a few more to finish, then the fastest encore of all time - finishing with a homage to some Westcoast roots with a cover of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.

#Music
#Gig
#CSF

14th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet