Chimpomatic

Sex & the City 2

Shallow, literally offensive drivel, that's a lot more #2 than the first one, which I enjoyed..

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30th May 2010

Tropic Thunder

Sometime amusing parody of every war movie ever. Great Tom Cruise cameo too.

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28th May 2010

Radio Dept.

Clinging To The Scheme

Century Media

This record is the moment you pull open the curtains on a bright summers morning and your eyes gradually adjust to the change in light as the day creeps into focus. They come from Sweden and Clinging to The Scheme is their third release. It's a dreamy blend of 80's indie-pop and gentle dance beats. It glistens with freshness and clarity as unassuming melodies drift up, out of the sun-soaked haze to take your breath away. Highlights include Heaven's On Fire and Never Follow Suit.

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28th May 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet

Sage Francis

Li(f)e

Anti

It's been a long time coming but finally the follow up to 2007's Human The Death Dance drops and it sees Mr. Francis all grown up. I remember seeing Sage Francis at Plastic People many many years ago as he stood in the middle of the crowd spitting venomously into his mic and backed by a CD of recorded beats that he himself had to operate. Well Li(f)e is a far cry from that set up and is the first time Sage's unique and intricate poetry is given the panoramic backdrop of a a full and live band, not to mention the guest appearances. Opener Little Houdini sees Sage hook up with Grandaddy's Jason Lytle and Slow Man teems up with Joey Burns of Calexico. The result is a far richer concoction and one that works on may levels. It's more low key than previous releases and the warmth with which his beats emanate seem to give Sage's rhymes more body.

Three Sheets To The Wind livens up the general slow pace with Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla on guitar, Slow Man shimmers with midwest heat and closer The Best OF Times continues Sage's tradition of ending on an epic note. WIth rich orchestration he wrenches the heartstrings to the bitter end.

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28th May 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet

Moon Duo

Escape

Woodsist

Moon Duo are a San Francisco duo consisting of Sanae Yamada and Eric Johnson who in case you didn't know is the guitarist behind the swirling psychedelia of Wooden Shjips. Escape, their debut full length is very much a continuation of the head-fuck hypnotics that Wooden Shjips ooze out. It spans only 4 tracks and clocks in at just under half an hour as you'd expect. As the guitars whip up a monotonous pounding rhythm Johnson's vocals emanate with a whisper and get buried under the calamitous sonic onslaught. Some are slow and driving and some are nimble but all are bloated with strength.

Escape is a worthy addition to what Wooden Shjips do so well. Eight minute opener Motorcycle, I Love You never lets up with it's narcotic repetition and Stumbling 22nd St fizzes with scuzz. Awesome.

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28th May 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet

Phosphorescent

Here's To Taking It Easy

Dead Oceans

I guess there's two ways to approach a critical analysis of this record. Firstly on its own merit and as a piece of work independent of its predecessors and then secondly in direct comparison to said predecessors. Taking the first route, Here's To Taking It Easy is blissful. Matthew Houck's fragile vocals are complemented and bolstered by a full band and swelling, rich orchestration full of horns, meaty rhythm and soaring backing vocals. It comes off the back of 2009's For Willie, an album of Willie Nelson covers, and sees Houck's writing happier, fuller and and more linear.

Now for the second route. Houck's 2007 release Pride was an exceptional piece of work. It was uncompromising and difficult, it was haunting and utterly bewitching. As track after track sprawled out over nine minutes it hypnotized you with its looped vocals and stark atmospherics. Houck's same fragility threatened to break under this weight and the tension was what kept you hanging on. There is very little of that approach in this record and so I must admit to a certain degree of disappointment. I had figured the tempo and general upbeatness of For Willie was due to it being covers. But it looks like this is the way Houck is heading. Having said that, I love it as a country record, full of heartfelt tales of sorrow and love-lost. I think I'm over-thinking this way too much.

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28th May 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet

Rachel Getting Married

Part laidback masterpiece, part wordy pretentious actor-led twaddle. I struggled to finish.

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27th May 2010