Chimpomatic

Best of 2006

BC

Top 5 Albums of 2006

1. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
2. Joanna Newsom - Ys
3. The Diableros - You Can't Break The Strings In Our Olympic Hearts
4. Loney Dear - Sologne
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones

Runners Up:
Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming
TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain
Howie Gelb - 'Sno Angel Like You
Grandaddy - Just Like The Fambly Cat
Clinic - Visitations


Top 5 Films

Little Miss Sunshine
The Departed
Capote
Casino Royale
Borat
Pan's Labyrinth


Biggest Disappointments (In order of disappointment)

DJ Shadow - The Outsider
Miami Vice
England Football
England Rugby
England Cricket
Thom Yorke - The Eraser


Top 5 Gigs

Radiohead - Hammersmith Apollo
Pearl Jam - Dublin
My Morning Jacket - Astoria
TV On The Radio - Koko
Morrissey - Alexandra Palace

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20th Dec 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

My Morning Jacket: Okonokos - The Concert

(dir. Sam Erickson)

Sony BMG

As an accompaniment to their recent live album Okonokos, My Morning Jacket filmed their two night stint at San Francisco's legendary Fillmore as a DVD release, which also ran in limited cinemas.

Harking back to the classic days of the concert film, Okonokos is basically a straight live performance form the band, bookended with a mild narrative - the product of Jim James' wild imagination. While this doesn't really add much in terms of an actual narrative, it creates an atmosphere for the concert - which is clearly mirrored with the concept created for the show itself - a kind of victorian gentlemen's congregation in some bear infested wood. The crowd have generally entered into the swing of things, and they are rewarded with a stella performance from the band as usual.

The DVD's pitfall is the almost unavoidable trap set for all concert movies (yes, the Song Remains The Same included) where they rarely create the same atmosphere as actually being there. As far as these things go it is a good one - the bands' boundless enthusiasm is clear, and on mind blowing tracks like One Big Holiday and Lay Low, you do actually feel like you're there, on stage with the band in a guitar huddle. Plus you can watch animal-esqe drummer Patrick Hallahan doing his Steam Engine robotics in close-up.

The DVD is pretty much note for note the same as the CD (minus At Dawn, I Think I'm Going To Hell and Dancefloors), so really it's a case of one or another - and concert DVDs do work well as an audio-disc-with-visuals. There's no complaints on either format, and this live album and film serve their purpose well - as a (hopefully not too long) bridge between studio albums. Another well timed step from My Morning Jacket, as the band move on from there classic album Z hopefully onto bigger and better things.

Roll on 2007.

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#CSF

14th Nov 2006 - 6 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

TV On The Radio

Koko, Camden

I find it near impossible to sum up the sound of TV On The Radio and when I try to think of an equivalent in order to aid my description I find myself stumped. But one thing I did discover in the majestical surroundings of Camden's Koko was that with two and a half albums strong this Brooklyn 5-piece know exactly who they are and what they are doing.

With it's numerous balconies dripping in ornate decoration and rising skyward to a huge revolving glitterball, Koko is a venue like no other and the view from the stage must either thrill or daunt any band. The addictive thing about TV On The Radio is their grasp of restraint. Their sound is so complex and threatens to explode but rarely does so I was interested to discover how this style would cope with a venue such as this. Dirty Whirl, a highlight from the new album Return To Cookie Mountain crept in humbly with hushed atmospheric sampling and front man Tunde Adebimpe's sweet whistling. This built up slowly and then the band unleashed their sound. It was the sound of twenty men and it was awesome. Adebimpe is the lynch pin to the dazzling show TV On The Radio offer. His theatrical dancing, thorough exploration of the space around him and inexhaustible passion and energy is electrifying and like nothing I have seen before. And his voice, well damn that boy can sing. Often constructing beautiful harmonies with guitarist and vocalist Kyp Malone, Adebimpe's voice more than filled the hall.

The stage seemed cluttered with the various machines that make this sound so unique. The standard drums, guitars and vocals are all fed through samplers, loops and distortions to produce a wall of sound that is oozing with texture. As expected Wolf Like Me was an instant highlight. As the only drum heavy, rock-out tune on the album this is as close as this band come to a standard song, so for it to emerge crisp and triumphant from the murky bog of noise was a delight to which the hungry crowd responded accordingly. Earlier songs like Young Liars were treated to the same extended format with the music slowly fading away to leave Adebimpe's exposed vocals to bring it to a close.

Not all the songs worked with the live treatment and this is due to the intricate subtleties that are so important to their sound not to mention the obvious sound problems experienced by Kyp Malone. I Was A Lover opens the new album with such hollow beauty, but that was lost here. The dense texture that is crafted around this song simply swallowed up the vocals reducing them to just another element in this texture. But this was a minor complaint and was soon forgotten as a free standing bass drum was brought on to the stage to herald the start of Let The Devil In. This was pounded on by at least two other band members as the crowd were encouraged to sing along. Adebimpe opened the song with dulcet vocals only to produce a mega-phone which he proceeded to shriek into as more and more previously unnoticed musicians joined the stage beating a myriad of cymbals, drums, tamborines, you name it. The result was a near tribal stampede of sound that refused to stop. It built and built to epic proportions and launched this gig into memorable territory.

After the dazzling My Morning Jacket show in September I got to thinking, "What separates the good gigs from the great gigs?" I have seen many a great band showcase their back catalogue with expert precision but have often been left feeling slightly flat. These gigs were as good as their albums, but the great gigs go further and make you feel like you are witnessing something specific to this moment, something spontaneously crafted and bigger than the music. This is what was happening at Koko that night, a live event that would be lost in any other format. All too often I leave a very enjoyable gig but mentally tick that band as 'done', the opposite was the case here and as I emerged from my grand surroundings into a rainy night I hoped this would not be the last would see of TV On The Radio.

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#BC

13th Nov 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Brightblack Morning Light

Brightblack Morning Light

Matador

I was due to review this a while back, but like the vibe of the record itself, I couldn't really be arsed. This is seriously chilled music, all brushes on drums, echoed vocals, wah guitar, deep bass and lolling, rolling organ - with the occasional visit of a slide guitar, to add a touch of spice to this herbal heavy recipe. It's the sort of music to listen to when doing something else, like sleeping or fending off the Sunday morning hangover. As the whole album is so one-paced, ie, Sloooooooooooooooooooow, it feels like one long song, punctuated by a few pauses - no doubt a time for the band to get another lungful of Mother Nature's finest. I like it though. A good one to listen to as an alternative to Zero 7's overplayed 'Simple Things', that is if you can be bothered to put the disc in the player.

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30th Oct 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Jason Molina

Let Me Go, Let Me Go, Let Me Go

Secretly Canadian

Since 1996 Jason Molina has been delivering his sparse tales of woe in various forms from Songs: Ohia to Magnolia Electric Co. he has done collaboration albums with artists such as Alistair Roberts and My Morning Jacket and more recently has begun trading under his own name. Let Me Go, Let Me Go, Let Me Go is his second full length and his best yet.

Molina opens his album with a song entitled It's Easier Now. This sends a shudder down my spine at the thought of what it was like, as Let Me Go is as bleak as it gets. But if anyone can do bleak it's Molina. The whole album sounds like a last gasp cry for release as expressed in the title through to the final note of this trickling 34-minute slope into blackness. We get bombarded with albums with the same agenda as this all the time, but most of them are a struggle to get through and the only thing that moves quickly is your emotional shift from interest to boredom. This is far from the case here. Molina has an absolutely captivating voice and coupled with the impeccable production his words chime with crystal clarity that keeps you listening and hanging on his every devastating word. Though he rarely rises above a whimper his voice has a dormant strength that threatens to roar.

All of this, and his ability to write lyrics that break your heart faster than a Live Aid appeal interlude, make this a powerfully empty experience. In Alone With The Owl, he asks "while I lived was I a stray black dog, while I lived was I anything at all?" then describes the stagnancy of his life as he "stood beside the ocean not a single wave." But it's on Get Out, Get Out that he really shows his poetic skill with the achingly sad line "I live low enough that the moon wouldn't waste its light on me, what's left in this life that would do the same for me?"

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7th Oct 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

The Black Keys

Le Trabendo, Paris

October 5th 2006

In a postmodern world where everyone sounds like someone else, The Black Keys are pretty easy to pigeonhole. Sitting somewhere between The White Stripes and Wolfmother, they take heavy blues and run with it. And thats about it. "I woke up this morning" nah, nah, nah, "Tied up my shoes" nah, nah, nah. They don't have the inventiveness of The White Stripes to make only being a two piece their selling point, and they don't have the punishing power and speed change fun of Wolfmother - preferring the slower heavier, sound.

None the less, it was an entertaining show. Although there is little variation between their songs, and there was little stage chat or interruption, that one hour long smoky-blues-jam that they played was a good one. They obviously love what they are doing, and they do it well. There was power and passion and the venue was electric with the enthusiastic, well behaved, civilized Parisian crowd. Hats off to opening band and Black Mountain side project Blood Meridian too. They warmed things up nicely with their own band of bluesy rock ...and they spoke a bit of French.

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#CSF

6th Oct 2006 - 4 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Band Of Horses

Everything All The Time

Sub Pop

First up, comparisons with My Morning Jacket are inevitable. On the first few listens, I had to check that Jim James himself wasn't providing the vocals on a couple of tracks. With that in mind, the chase cut to as it were, let's base the review around that knowledge. Let's suppose that MMJ had a younger brother, who hung around the practice sessions and was witness to their particular brand of genius. He's maybe thinking to himself, yeah that's pretty good - but those extended, distorted solos are a bit distracting, at times they get in the way of a nice, clean, imaginative pop song. I like the reverb on the vocals, I'll have that (It's possible that a couple of tracks were actually lifted straight from the outtakes of a MMJ session - Part One and I Go To The Barn Because I Like The could well be from At Dawn). The result is a charming, dreamy album with enough emotional weight to demand full attention. Comparable to MMJ and completely comfortable with that comparison.

Apologies, if you've never heard of My Morning Jacket. If this is the case, I can only presume it is your first visit to Chimpomatic - welcome.

Update: With the Chimp team seemingly in approval, it looks like this is going to stay the distance. I'm prepared to admit it when i'm wrong: This is not just a good album, it looks like it's going to be a classic.

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#chimpovich

2nd Oct 2006 - 4 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

My Morning Jacket

Astoria, London

After missing them in NYC, London (twice) and then Brighton it was a relief to see My Morning Jacket finally walk onstage at the Astoria. Following much of the same vibe as Okokonos they certainly did not disapoint. It Beats 4U was fantastic, Phone Went West, Run Thru, Magheeta and more. They tick all the boxes when it comes to the one album rule, pulling from a huge range of great tracks and turning every one into an extended rock-a-thon. When they finally played my favourite, The Bear, this gig sealed it's place in ossumness. - CSF (4.5 Stars)

After a few cancellations I was highly anticipating this gig. Starting superbly with a string of tracks from the latest album followed by all time classic One Big Holiday it was living up to all my hopes. The latest album (Z) is by far the most accessible with short tracks which quickly move on. Like the back catalogue though, the gig became more sprawling as time went on. Solos and track finales were extendedly played out as the band indulged in some great moments. Unfortunately at times there was a sense that this was getting to be a little too much for much of the audience. Certainly more for the hardcore but a good show all the same. - CJ (3 Stars)

MMJ surpassed all expectations at the Astoria on Friday as they raised the roof with an awe inspiring, riff heavy, rock marathon. Front man Jim James set the pace with an inexhaustible display of energy and enthusiasm, sometimes looking as if he resented his singing duties preferring to rock out with the rest of the boys gathered, worshipingly around the alter-like drum kit as each song was stretched to breaking point. High points were Gideon, One Big Holiday and Run Thru. - BC (4.5 Stars)

As a relative newbie convert to the mighty MMJ I probably wasn't as psyched up as the rest of team chimpomatic for this gig, but I came away on a real rock high, glad that CSF had managed to get me to get over my misgivings about their name and actually get round to listening to them. Wasn't prepared for the full-on epic jam quality, the duelling guitar action or indeed the sheer volume of hair-rocking... almost made me want to grow my hair back (in a kind of bizarro universe Crosby Stills Nash & Young move). Highlights for me were probably all the Z hits - It Beats 4 U, Gideon etc - but I was still pretty much with them by the end when it seemed like they were just really enjoying themselves. And frankly, if you were in such a great band, why wouldn't you want to just keep playing? (4 Stars for me, probably would have been higher if I'd got round to getting into them earlier…) C71

See photos of the gig here.

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26th Sep 2006 - 6 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

My Morning Jacket

Okonokos

Fewer and fewer bands seem to put out a decent live album these days, so it's a refreshing change to see My Morning Jacket releasing a live CD (and upcoming DVD) "Okonokos". Inspired by Neil Young's Marshall-speakers-and-Jawas efforts with Rust Never Sleeps, the band put on two shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco, inviting the crowd to come in fancy dress. Fancy lighting and a load of trees on stage set the scene and the band proceeded to rip through two nights of extended jams, cut through with Jim James amazing voice.

The album is certainly not just the Jim James show, turning in relatively few of the spine-tingling moments found at his solo shows, or on the Acoustic Cistouca EP. Instead it's very much a full band affair, swapping the delicate drum machine-style of It Beats 4 U for a beefed up sound that turns the song in the opposite direction and re-invents it as a heavy love song.

Crowd favourite One Big Holiday is a highlight, but there is certainly no shortage - The Way That He Sings, Golden, Anytime - all fantastic. This is a band that has no problem producing new material, and they showcase a broad range here, including some less well known tracks like O Is The One That Is Real. The band specialise in re-working and expanding old favourites and X-Mas Curtain and the finale of Magheeta are supurb.

If you're looking to convert a potential fan then this probably isn't the right album to use. Start them off with Z. If you're a fan already then you won't need much convincing, and you won't be dissapointed.

We're off to see them at the Astoria tomorrow. Review on Monday.

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#CSF

21st Sep 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

The Mountain Goats

Get Lonely

Get lonely is exactly what you will do when you listen to John Darnielle's follow up to 2005's harrowing "The Sunset Tree". Anyone who has ever suffered a painful split from a loved one will find plenty of familiar ground here and anyone who is going through this right now I urge you to steer clear. I listened to this on a drive home one evening and on pulling up to my house I had to shake myself from this dream and remind myself that I was still loved and she was just inside that door. The music here is as sparse and minimal as the moments of joy in Darnielle's life and his falsetto delivery of woe is powerful and crippling.

Many of the songs chart the various stages one has to go through after a break-up. "Woke Up New" describes the first morning you wake up alone and how your daily routine is peppered with memories of the person that shared your life. He wanders through the house, lost, and states "an astronaut could have seen the hunger in my eyes from space." In "Half Dead" he throws himself into menial jobs "trying not to get caught, try to think like a machine," he tells himself as he sorts through her old things. "Moon Over Goldsboro" charts that time in the break up recovery when you allow yourself to reminisce about your lost love either thinking you can handle it or knowing you can't but the masochist in you needs the pain. Each memory is followed by the line "Still wake up alone," as if she is following him everywhere like a ghost.

But the song that really finishes you off is the title track where Darnielle really sets the scene of a world empty and cold that has no place for you now that you're alone. It features the achingly beautiful line, "and I will get lonely and gasp for air, and send your name up from my lips like a signal flare."

Darnielle's emotional power doesn't really come from intricately crafted poetry as it would from Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, but from his simple descriptive lyrics and hushed, delicate singing and although "Get Lonely" navigates very well known waters it does it with heart breaking grace.

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#BC

4th Sep 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Pearl Jam

The Point, Dublin

Having seen Radiohead earlier this year, and with My Morning Jacket coming up in September and MC Hammer in done 1990 only Pearl Jam and Wilco remained as the pillars of my music taste yet to be seen live. Now, after one memorable night in Dublin, Wilco stand alone.

This could have gone either way, as I have been into this band since I was a kid and although I love the new album it rarely gets played when a Pearl Jam mood grips me - often losing out to such classics as Vitalogy or No Code. I was quite surprised to find myself at the front of a seething mass of frenzied fans as I thought it was just me, CSF and a few other Chimp affiliates that still followed this band. Apparently not. Even though the Dire Straits sounding Inside Job is far from being my favourite track on the new album I was very grateful to hear its slow steady build up as the opening track. Had a more anthemic opener been chosen I fear my rib cage would have collapsed under the pressure of 7000 foaming, sweaty fans. This calm intro didn't last long as the band began to race through a string of the best of the new stuff, with the mighty World Wide Suicide being a crowd favourite.

From then on the order of the day was 'hands-in-the-air-platoon-moment-classics,' and it was simply dazzling. Given To Fly had the fans in a blissful state of euphoria and the wonderfully extended version of Daughter was followed by the live favourite Better Man which saw Vedder's voice being drowned out by the swell of a 7000 strong sing along which couldn't help to send shivers down the spine. As if this wasn't enough the first act was brought to a climactic finish with the phenomenal Rear View Mirror, Pearl Jam's finest moment in my opinion. It's a pretty epic song at the best of times, the bands Bohemian Rhapsody if you will, but tonight it was extended beyond my wildest dreams. It dipped and soared and seemed as if it would never end until finally it burst into a climactic crescendo with every light in the house being called upon.

Two encores later and just about every classic you could possibly wish for (including a cover of Dublin favourite The Boys Are Back In Town by Thin Lizzy) and I was truly exhausted. Every time I was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of Eddie Vedder through sweaty bodies and other peoples wet hair plastered across my face he looked to be having a really good time. Lots of banter with the crowd made us feel that this was an important night for him and the band as well as us, and after a lengthy rendition of Neil Young's Fuckin' Up Vedder thanked the crowd for welcoming them back after six years and humbly departed the stage.

It was clear to see the bands unity after 15 years of playing together as they often huddled together and jammed furiously, as if alone in this great hall. In true Donnington Monsters of Rock style they all stepped aside during Even Flow for a five minute Matt Cameron drum solo which was simply ossum. My only criticism was the shear size of the venue. I gave up fighting for my life while straining to see anything along time ago and even though it beats sitting it's far from ideal. Apart from that it was everything I expected and much, much more.

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25th Aug 2006 - 9 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

The Takeovers

Turn To Red

If you thought John Frusciante was prolific (releasing 6 records in six months), think again. Robert Pollard has just released 3 records in one week... and that's just his most recent stuff. As Guided By Voices, he was pretty much kicking out a record a year, alongside literally dozens of solo/side-projects - many under the banner of the Fading Captain series. Check out the excellent GBV Database for a thorough discography, as well as an exclusive collection of rarities to download.

With the demise of GBV in 2004, these releases have taken a more central stage, and with three at once you could never complain of non-proliferation.

The Takeovers is a collaboration with former GBV bassist Chris Slusarenko, with other guests such as Dan Peters from Mudhoney. On paper it is possibly the most conventional of the three new records. The record starts with news-headline-style spoken word track, bringing a sense of impending doom to the proceedings. It also starts the album off with a focus that is rarely seen from Pollard. Insane/Cool It is a lo-fi rocker, but from First Spill Is Free onwards the tone of much of the album is almost concept-like, with a sense of 'the end of the party', and the come-down (of America...?).

OK, let's back that up a bit, as I'm reading way too much into it. Although the news-headline-style voice comes up again later, the message is not carried through with much clarity, and the album quickly looses focus. Sweet Jelly and The Public Dance are highlights, with the instrumental The Public Dance in particular capturing the down beat vibe mentioned earlier, sounding like a club band playing to a near empty room at 3am in the morning.

With a bit more focus the record could have been classic, but unfortunately nothing quite comes close to the boni-fide classics contained on every single GBV record, and it is quickly superseded by the other two new releases.

...continue to Psycho And The Birds.

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#CSF

28th May 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Radiohead

Hammersmith Apollo, London

OK, what you are about to read is a totally 100% biased, one-sided opinion masquerading as fact but I don't care. This was a perfect gig. All morning I have tried my hardest to pick holes in it and find some kind of fault but I'm afraid I concede, simply perfect. Whenever people ask me what was the best gig you have ever been to I get nervous because I feel my answer should be some seminal moment in music history, like "Sex Pistols at St. Martins" or the "Stone Roses at Spike Island", when all that really ever came to mind was "MC Hammer, Wembley Arena supported by the mighty Snap". But now I have an answer to be proud of.

I suppose the only slightly less-than-perfect point was that they opened with a new song Videotape that Thom Yorke plays on the piano so no one can actually see him until the second song. But that was National Anthem and the show was under way. This was followed by 2+2=5 which is when the crowd really found their legs or lost them depending on where you were standing. I had heard that this tour was going to be an opportunity for the band to air some new songs and some of the lesser played ones. This was true but they still managed to treat us to such classics as Karma Police. This is what I would refer to as 'A Platoon Moment' where I assume a Willam Defoe, hands-in-the-air-euphoric stance only this time not being gunned down by the Viet Cong. This pose was invented for this band and for this moment. It was nothing less than spectacular.

Three of the most impressive moments were the opening tracks to 3 of their best albums. Everything In It's Right Place, Airbag and best of all Planet Telex. Here the band arranged a supped up version of such magnitude that it was almost unrecognisable and sounded like something off Kid A or Amnesiac. The set list didn't seem to be set in stone either and after repeated crowd requests for OK Computer's epic Let Down they finally obliged. Maybe it isn't a song that is often played as half way through the second verse Thom seemed to forget the words and backed away from the mic looking confused. The crowd soon came to his aid and rose with a crescendo of straining voices bringing a grateful smile to the front man. What was also very evident is that we are in for a treat judging by some of the new stuff that was played. Arpeggi being a particular highlight, a slow building number that evolves into a power house finale making full use of Ed O'Brien's impressive backing vocals which are fast becoming Radiohead's secret weapon.

So two encores later and a string of classics having delighted and exhausted the worshipping crowd we are eased down from the clouds gently with Everything In It's Right Place, which saw Yorke come to the front of the crowd and dance along with us with a big smile on his face. I will end this review by apologising again for my rather over emotional sentiments but I am not of sound mind. If you want an over technical and slightly cynical opinion go read Pitchfork but as for me, if I was Sam Becket from Quantum Leap, I could definitely 'leap' now.

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#BC

19th May 2006 - 6 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

The Business

(dir. Nick Love)

If Goodfellas was a painting it would be a Masterpiece. Now, imagine you reduced that painting to a line drawing and invited a load of 6 year old Peckham school kids to colour it in with their crayons. Chances are you’ll end up with The Business. With it’s rise and fall of a gangster story, voiceover and freeze frames, it throws much more than a cheeky wink in the direction of Scorsese’s classic.

Back in the Thatcher years, scoundrel Frankie gets in a bit of trouble with the law and heads to Spain’s Costa del Crime to lay low for a while. On arrival he quickly aquaints himself with the neighbourhood villains and embarks on a sun-filled life of birds, drugs and crime. As he makes his way up the ladder, our man Frankie wears a permanently confused expression; whether taking his 6th line of coke of the morning, having a shotgun pointed at him or being explicitly propositioned by the pretty femme fatale he constantly looks as if he is trying to make sense of Hebrew. It’s somewhat suprising therefore that Frankie eventually becomes Mr. Big, with a direct link to Colombia. The 80’s were indeed ker-ayzee! He’s surrounded by equally wooden pastiches of Sarf Landan gangsters, so much so that I was expecting Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse to turn up and launch into a routine “You Slag!” “You Muppet!” “You Slag!”etc, etc.

The attention to detail with the costumes and music is a nice touch, and to be fair ginger-haired gangster Sammy does come across as properly hard. But this is a bad film. So bad, that it is completely watchable, if you know what I mean. Luvverly!

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26th Apr 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Bright Eyes

I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning

In years to come, if anyone asks what life was like in the first decade of the 21st century, a few listens through of 'I'm Wide Awake It's Morning' might not be a bad place to start. Conor 'Bright Eyes' Oberst's 2005 journal opens up with a converation between helpless passengers on a doomed plane heading straight for the ocean (At the Bottom of Everything) and closes 10 songs later, emboldened and ready to take on a new dawn (Road To Joy). In between he opens himself up and his gives his take on various relationships; Relationships with girls, starting them, ending them, starting them again. Relationships with his family and above all his relationship to a Bush-era world at war with itself.

Essentially a man-and-his-guitar folk album and not unlike legendary predecessors Neil Young and Bob Dylan, his unique vocal style (like he is gargling mouthwash) has potential to grate after a while. But it is the intelligence and intimacy of his words that sparkle - and saw him sell enough copies to top the American album charts, striking enough chords with millions of others who share these feelings of isolation, loneliness and confusion at the top of the new millenium.

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23rd Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Elizabethtown

(dir. Cameron Crowe)

After losing $1 Billion on behalf of the Oregon-based sneaker company (?!) he works for, hotshot designer Orlando Bloom thinks about killing himself - before the death of his father leads him on a journey of self-discovery to check out his roots in old Kentucky. On the way he meets a hottie airline steward (Kirsten Dunst), who makes him realise just how swell life can be.

It could have been a lot quicker if he'd succeeded with the early suicide, as this was pretty painful for all involved. The basic premise is a bit cheesy, but could have been really well done in an indie movie. Cameron Crowe's heavy handed recent form just pummels any glimmer of hope into distant oblivion, aided and abetted by the truly awful Orlando Bloom and a pretty average Kirsten Dunst. I only realised quite how bad the acting had been when an OK scene from Susan Sarandon seemed like the best acting I had seen in years.

Musical references are squeezed into the film at every unsuitable moment but the highlight was, of course, My Morning Jacket's appearance as the cousin's reformed band 'Ruckus', who play a blinding cover of Freebird as a tribute to the old man at his funeral.

#Film
#CSF

20th Mar 2006 - 2 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.

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#CSF

24th Oct 2005 - 1 comments - 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....

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