News
Reviews
Articles
Surveillance
Song Of The Day: II
I'm A Drfiter from Terry Callier's classic, The New Folk Sound Of Terry Callier has been doing it for me recently… clocking in at 8:52, another measured ramble that fits the SOTD bill
Links
Tags
3rd Sep 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Song Of The Day: II
It's time for another Song of the Day compilation, so I'm kicking things of with At Least That's What You Said from Wilco's excellent album A Ghost Is Born. It's a slow-burning, turbo-charged rocker with machine-gun drums - and was good enough to kick off their album, so it's good enough for us.
2nd Sep 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Search
don vs cia
don the don delillo v the cia over oswald records? it's like a fall song witing to happen… it was the fault of the government-ah!!! another dr chimp tip
Links
Tags
1st Sep 2005 - 5 comments - 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.
23rd Aug 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 3.5 star reviews
Song Of The Day
If You Could Save Yourself (You'd Save Us All) by Ween.
The serious conclusion to another whacky Ween album. It's got piano AND hammond organ.
That's a whole CD worth of Song of the Day. Look out for volume 2.
5th Aug 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Song Of The Day
Cross Bones Style by Cat Power. Been hearing that about a lot recently.
29th Jul 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Song Of The Day
Every Mother's Son by Will Oldham, from Guarapero: Lost Blues Vol.2. Never really clicked with this dude, until I aquired this from the chimp towers archive this week. Sounding very much like a classic Neil Young ballad.
21st Jul 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Song Of The Day
So London is back in business today after yesterday's bombings, and all the chimp family seems to be safe and accounted for.
There's a few more police around at the tube stations and a lot more people on bikes, but the general vibe seems to be 'business as usual'.
I suppose we could pick Beautiful Day or even Velvet Morning for Song Of The Day, but that's not really our style:
We Float by PJ Harvey makes the cut.
Links
www.bbc.co.uk/news
www.guardian.co.uk
Tags
8th Jul 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Song Of The Day
milk and honey from jackson c frank - the track that vincent gallo uses in the brown bunny trailer
29th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Song Of The Day
Swingset from the Instrument soundtrack. Short and sweet. Fugazi do Sabbath.
28th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Song Of The Day
Voodoo Chile (Slight Return). Because no-one plays Hendrix like Hendrix.
27th 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)
26th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 5 star reviews
Television
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
I got into Television through the copious "thanks" notes in the Minutemen's Ballot Result album, along with Creedence, Wire, X, Richard Hell and more. The chances of ever seeing them live were always pretty slim, so this gig at the Patti Smith curated Meltdown festival was a high priority. Richard Hell was also in the festival and for a brief moment I even thought he might be rejoining Television for the night. As it turns out he was wise to get out when he did, as this was one of the most dissapointing gigs I've ever been to.
Shows kick of pretty punctually at the QEH, and it's all seating - which never helps with the atmosphere of a rock concert. Television came on with no support, but to much adulation from the crowd. They then played for about 90 minutes, mainly focusing on their much lesser know 90's songs from the album Television, plus a few of the best tracks on Marquee Moon. They seemed very unrehearsed and totally at odds with each other on stage. Tom Verlaine's authority as band leader was sadly lacking... plus he couldn't get his guitar tuned properly (a chimp75 pet gripe), trying between almost every song. Guitarist Richard Lloyd held things together for a while with some guitar hero solos, before he also fell to tuning issues and started blowing a few clams. Most songs wandered of in 'interesting' directions before generally grinding to an abrupt halt. Even Marquee Moon itself was pretty lacklustre, and while the crowd were urging the gig to be great it just never took off.
The band cut off stage pretty abruptly, before returning for an encore with Patti Smith - which focused things a bit, with a version of You I Rate. That was followed by a rockin intro to a cover of the Count Five's Psychotic Reaction, before Verlaine seemed to realise he didn't know the rest of the lyrics. That final song just melted away... and it was over.
25th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 1 star reviewsSong Of The Day
On Ramp/Interstate 5 by The Wedding Present. Watch out Michael Mann.
Links
Tags
14th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Song Of The Day
yoga means union in honour of ambulance ltd's show at the ica tonight
13th Jun 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Song Of The Day
No More Shoes from Face The Truth. It's a slow burner.
10th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Magnolia Electric Co.
Bush Hall, London
June 2nd 2005
I was late getting to this gig, and heard someone say "he's onstage now" as I arrived, so I rushed in to see that the first song was underway and pushed down to the front. I got into this band via Songs Ohia and hadn't ever seen the main man (Jason Molina), so didn't know what to expect. This dude was young looking and thin, and it quickly transpired that he had zero stage presence. Half the crowd chatted through his set as the accoustic songs ambled into each other... and then it finished. Luckily I quickly realised this was only the support band.
Magnolia Electric Co. were on stage shortly after that, with grizzy beards, hair and lot more electric guitars. They were a powerful unit, effortless and tight, motoring through a selection of songs from the new album and older stuff, and totally captivating. Phew.
The crowd we're totally into the show, which made for a great atmosphere. Plus they covered Werewolves of London as an encore. Love it.
4th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 4 star reviewsSong of the Day
6.30 Is Just Way Too Early by James Yorkston. Loving that Hammond Organ vibe.
Links
Tags
31st May 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Song of the Day
X-Mas Curtain by My Morning Jacket. Love it.
26th May 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Oasis
Don't Believe The Truth
This record sounds just about what you'd expect. It isn't crap, and for all you can tell it might well be "the best thing we've done since Definitely Maybe," but it's just sounds like old news. Led Zeppelin could re-form and make "the best record since Physical Graffiti," but it probably wouldn't work. Hiring Richard Fearless to produce was maybe a good idea. Sacking him probably wasn't. Most appropriate song title - "Keeping the Dream Alive".
25th May 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 2 star reviewsGBV and The Rovers of Mars
Just in from GBV.com:
As part of NASA's history, each morning's mission begins with a wake up song that gets beamed up to the apporpriate unit. On March 6th, Mars rover Spirit had the pleasure of having GBV's Motor Away beamed up to start the day.
11th Mar 2004 - Add Comment - Tweet
T-Bird Bar & Grill Playlist:
Cream
Sunshine Of Your Love
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Fortunate Son
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
Still The Same
The Allman Brothers Band
Ain't Wastin' Time No More
Rod Stewart
Tonight's The Night
Jimi Hendrix Experiance
Purple Haze
Queen
Don't Stop Me Now
The Doobie Brothers
Takin' It To The Streets
Alice Cooper
No More Mr. Nice Guy
The Doors
L.A. Woman
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
Hollywood Nights
The Eagles
Life In The Fast Lane
Paul McCartney And Wings
Jet
T.Rex
Telegram Sam
Ted Nugent
Cat Scratch Fever
Led Zeppelin
The Song Remains The Same
Foghat
I Just Want To Make Love To You
16th Jan 2004 - Add Comment - Tweet
Halloween Special
caught the jane's addiction halloween special at brixton on friday, pretty awesome stuff: everyone on great form, much tighter than they seemed on the relapse tour, after checking the new three days dvd. new stuff standing up well with the classics, though even they can't get the whole audience to shut up for an acoustic interlude. ah well. three days was awesome, went on so long both dr chimp and i thought it had finished about 3 times before it actually did. really starting to think they're one of the all-time greats if they carry on like this. wonder if they're going to do another album after they've finished touring this one. dr chimp even got interrogated by a v bemused indie chick, who seemed astonished that
a. he was there
and
b. was such a longtime fan he'd even seen porno for pyros...
good being undercover in a crowd full of freaks sometimes.
set list:
Up the Beach
Stop!
Ain't No Right
Strays
Been Caught Stealing
Three Days
Everybody's Friend
Just Because (acoustic)
True Nature
The Riches
Ocean Size
obligatory surprise encore:
Mountain Song
Jane Says
2nd Nov 2003 - Add Comment - Tweet
Mike Vamp
the accidental compilation *you are here* is out today... ah yeah. first "new" Agent Blue product since... well... this weird German compilation that DJ Cle and Mike Vamp put *romance* on. still haven't got one in the Chimpomatic offices though... ah well. guess they're too busy cruising. do like that Earl Zinger version of Song 2wo though...
Links
Tags
27th Oct 2003 - Add Comment - Tweet
Sebadoh
Live at the EFDSS
Lou Barlow seems to have a problem with falling out with people. First we had to get over Dinosaur Jr. (minus Lou Barlow) and then Sebadoh (minus Eric, with Eric, minus Eric). Tonight we had "Lou Barlow And Jason Lowenstein Play The Songs Of Sebadoh" - not that Eric was missed too much.
Lou Barlow has always seemed like the leader of this troupe, but Jason got a pretty thunderous applause when he stepped up to the mic. Kicking out a lot of the classics and favourites, the gig played out like a campfire indie session with a couple of friends. Every song seemed like your favourite, with most of the crowd sat on the floor shoegazing and remembering the good old days.
Nostalgia can't last forever though, and there was a slight hint of under-achiever about the whole affair. Sebadoh always seemed like they were only the start, but the rest never really came. Maybe it's not Lou that falls out with people, maybe they just fall out with him.
15th Oct 2003 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 4 star reviews
Kick out the Folk
Sebadoh Kicked Out The Folk last night at the "English Folk Dance & Song Society." A crazy venue, but it provided great sound for a low-fi gig officially titled "Jason Lowenstein & Lou Barlow Play The Songs Of Sebadoh." No drummer, so it was 4-track backing tapes and people sitting on the floor. Harmacy is now back on heavy chimp rotation after serving as my Breakfast Show for several months at college.
Links
English Folk Dance & Song Society
Sebadoh
Loobiecore
Tags
15th Oct 2003 - Add Comment - Tweet
Radio Chimpomatic
radio chimpomatic is off the air, and we have dumped it from the site. You can still check it out over at www.live365.com, but due to a change in radio licensing laws you'll need to be a paying member to check it out. poo.
the current (and final) playlist is a bunch of random stuff, plus one 70+ minute mix - 'forget about the strokes.' that plays out like this:
01 Talking Heads - Psycho Killer - from 77(1977)
02 Television - Friction - from Marquee Moon (1977)
03 The Cars - Just What I Needed - from The Cars (1978)
04 The Tubes - I'm Just a Mess - from T.R.A.S.H. (1981)
05 Elvis Costello - Living In Paradise - from This Year's Model (1978)
06 Television (again) - Prove It- from Marquee Moon (1977)
07 Richard Hell & the Voidoids - New Pleasure - from Blank Generation (1977)
08 Talking Heads - Animals - from Fear of Music (1979)
09 Ciccone Youth - Macbeth - from The Whitey Album (1988)
10 Leo Addeo & his Orchestra - Hawaiian Wedding Song - from Songs of Hawaii (1988) Ciccone Youth - Me and Jill - from The Whitey Album (1988)
11 Ciccone Youth - Hendrix Cosby - from The Whitey Album (1988)
12 King Crimson - Thela Hun Ginjeet - from Discipline (1981)
13 Luscious Jackson - Satellite - from In Search of Manny (1992)
14 Russell Simins - Public Places - from Public Places (2000)
15 Butter 08 - Butter of '69 - from Butter 08 (1996)
16 Russell Simins - Comfortable Place- from Public Places (2000)
17 Tom Verlaine - Without a Word - from Dreamtime (1981)
18 Crimony - Vampire Party - from E.P. (1988)
19 Richard Hell & the Voidoids - Blank Generation - from Blank Generation (1977)
20 Talking Heads - The Book I Read - from 77 (1977)
2nd Jul 2003 - Add Comment - Tweet
Interview: Mike Watt
Back in the early days of Chimpomatic, we had big ambitions for the site and got off to a great start by securing this 2001 interview with the bass king, Mike Watt. It's taken 3 1/2 years to get the interview together and online, but surprisingly little has changed. Bush has just been voted in (again) and Watt has just released his long planned third album - "The Secondman's Middle ... read article
1st Jun 2001 - Add Comment