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Californication
(creator. Tom Kapinos)
Showtime
Showtime's recent attempts to catch up with HBO see them following up the success of Weeds and Dexter with the sordid tale of Los Angeles writer Hank Moody. After selling his hit introspective novel (only to see it turned into a Hollywood romcom), disillusioned writer Hank Moody is stuck in Los Angeles with writer's block. While his horny agent attempts to break the block, Hank also has to deal with seeing the love of his life marry another man, while their child learns guitar...
I never expected to see David Duchovny return to form, and certainly not as a degenerate character like Hank Moody. Snorting, punching and banging his way through the upper-middle-class low lives of Los Angeles, Duchovny has created a character almost as thoroughly debauched as Ari Gold - and just as entertaining. No limbo is too low for Hank, but between the glamour and the sleeze Californication packs a substantial punch. Hank's relentless attempts to get his life in order is something many of us can relate to, with a solid dose of house envy thrown in for good measure.
Buy the DVD, give it a couple of episodes to get you hooked and stay on board for the most surprising lifestyle-envy show since Entourage.
4th Jul 2008 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 4 star reviewsKubrick!
More 4 have a season of Stanley Kubrick movies coming on in July, and to promote they've gone through possibly even more trauma than the idiosyncratic director would have even put himself through.
Pulling in a string of look-a-likes, the channel has re-created the set of The Shining (no, not that one) and shot a 65 second tracking shot, culminating at the start of Kubrik's own famous tracking shot.
Check it out here.
The season includes a new documentary - Citizen Kubrick - as well as screenings of 2001, The Shining, Paths of Glory and the excellent Barry Lyndon and a range of little-seen shorts.
4th Jul 2008 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
BBC International
Had read about it a while back, but still surprised / shocked to see adverts pop up on the BBC website while in France. It's a pretty lumpy implementation and even the video clips had some interstitial action going on.
It's just not British.
3rd Jul 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Bum Notes
With the tidal wave of digital and DVD re-issues showing little sign of slowing, one interesting development has been the licensing of old music. Potentially tied in to the same debate as the recent writer's strike (and looming potential actor's strike), a lot of DVDs are now bypassing the issue by being released with new scores. The Fugitive TV show is the latest victim, disappointing fans. Variety have the scoop.
3rd Jul 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Biffy Clyro
Singles 2001 - 2005
Beggars Banquet
Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro have conveniently rounded up their singles from 2001- 2005 in one handy CD. Following the band's departure from Beggars Banquet, this compilation has been criticised as a contract filler - but the problems with it stretch far beyond that. If a compilation of 12 radio edited singles can't sell a band I don't know what will.
Biffy Clyro's surf-drenched sound may be reasonably unique for a British band (and particularly a Scottish one), but it's a far less unique proposition on a global level. Stone Temple Pilots? Check. Nickleback? Check. Point Break soundtrack? Check. In fact the dates covered by this compilation (2001-2005) provide the most confusion, as you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd fallen through a wormhole and landed in the post-grunge mid 90's. Receiving comparisons as prestigious as 'Nirvana!' over the years, at best they are a struggling Smashing Pumpkins homage, at worst not dissimilar to our very own surf-rockers - Reef (R.I.P 1993 - 2003). This is medium heavy rock, primed and ready for use in an unleash-your-inner-rocker style mobile phone ad - as a mainstream corporate beheamoth attempts to rebrand itself as 'down with the kids'.
While the emotional lyrics are all there on paper (blackened skies, heartbreak, sitting mournfully on the beach) I'm pretty sure the troubles drift away as they paddle out into the Newquay surf. It's rarely offensive or unlistenable, but there's just not much here to recommend. You might be better off trying last year's album proper Puzzle....or Nevermind, by Nirvana.
3rd Jul 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 2 star reviewsSearch
Ad Nauseum: Mercedes Benz
Taking a cue from their own Michael Mann directed Lucky Star ad from 2002, Mercedes' current film offerings are continuing that moody LA noir style. The website has both ads - one of which star future president Josh Brolin - as well as a fairly ambient making of.
And here's Benicio making an impression as the Mercedes loving hustler from 2002.
2nd Jul 2008 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
In Bruges
(dir. Martin McDonagh)
After a bungled hit, Irish killer Brendan Gleeson and his young trainee Colin Farrell are despatched to the charming Belgian city of Bruge to lay low. After a run-in with the local mob and an 'American' dwarf shooting a movie in the city, things take a turn for the worse and firm-but-fair big boss Ralph Fiennes is forced to come and take matters into his own hands.
While the trailer might suggest a lock-stock and standard gangster effort, Martin McDonagh's excellent script lifts this movie up to another level. Not a line is wasted as the back story of the characters is laid out, without ever making them seem like nice people.
While Farrell's performance initially seems over-acted, once you remember he actually is an Irish tough guy it settles down to nicely sketch out the mindless hard man with a conscience. Gleeson provides compassion as the older hitman with a debt to pay and Ralph Fiennes goes all Kingsley as the straight-talking East End boss.
Side-splitting, touching, thrilling and ultimately only 107 minutes long, don't think twice on this one. Shoot first, sightsee later.
2nd Jul 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 4 star reviews
Saul Bass vs Star Wars
Totally nabbed from Sound Theory. Check out the amusing 're-mastered' version below too.
1st Jul 2008 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
More Publishing News
Following on from our recent self-publishing item about Blurb.com, why not skip the single edition and publish your own magazine? Mag Cloud is here to help.
30th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Bond 22
Trailer up for Quantum of Solace .....though probably not for long.
30th Jun 2008 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Lights In The Sky
Artist Trevor Paglen has spent some serious time photographing 189 of the mysterious spy satellites that you can often see passing through the night sky, with the results going on display in an exhibition at Berkeley University - entitled The Other Night Sky.
While the technique is nothing new, the extra impact of the subject makes for some beautiful photographs. Paglen's previous work is just as interesting, with his home brew limit-telephotography technique making for another subversive work, spying on military installations with a long range lens.
30th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Paris Fashion Week
Just back from a special ops mission at Paris Fashion Week with HHG and BC. Not too much to report. Stupid shorts and crazy shoes seem to be in, not to mention these TV goggles.
Victim-of-the-week goes to a guy in a cock eyed, overpainted camo baseball hat, accompanied by baggy butt/tight legged workpants and a Superman RETURNS t-shirt. With one sleeve rolled up. In his late 50's, looking not dissimilar to Truman Capote.
Kanye West passed by, but HHG determined a photo op would not have been cool. Shrek was far more sociable.
30th Jun 2008 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
The Great Internet Slowdown
With the rise of You Tube, Bit Torrent, iPlayer, Facebook and generally everyone including your Gran using the internet, you may have noticed how slow the internet is getting these days, with 2010 looking like crunch time.
Various major outages have struck recently, and even big player Amazon seems to be feeling the pinch, with it's S3 storage product collapsing in February, Amazon.com itself down for a couple of hours a few weeks back (at a potential 'loss' of $31,000 per minute) and Amazon-owned IMDB seemingly out of action at the weekend.
It's nothing new however, as at the time one of the busiest days ever was following the release of the Starr Report in '98.
Reports of a Chimpomatic outage in Madrid remain unconfirmed.
27th Jun 2008 - 6 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
The Real Iron Man
As usual, science fact is catching up with science fiction and the US military has a prototype Tony Stark suit up and running. It doesn't fly just yet, but the exoskeleton can increase strength by up to twenty times.
27th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
CHDK
Some enterprising users have taken matters into their own hands and developed their own software for running Canon digital cameras. CHDK or (Canon Hacker's Development Kit) allows you to install a tiny program on your memory card (which means it's not destructive and can be easily removed) and bypass the default camera settings for a custom set that offer a far greater range of options. Allowing any camera to shoot RAW images is the big plus, but you can also specify custom exposure settings, ISO settings, motion detected trigger photography and even games.
Check out the FAQ for more info or Lifehacker for a low-down on how to get it up and running.
26th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
No Nukes
Since the end of the cold war, America's nuclear arsenal has lost some of its identity - getting bumped around from Strategic Air Command to Air Combat Command to Space Command amongst others. All that moving around might have led to array of cool badges, but it's also included a few fubars, notably the handful of missing warheads that were accidentally flown across the US.
Read Wired's article on the whole identity crisis here.
26th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Say No To America
You might have heard the hulabaloo about Marvel gearing up for an Avengers movie, following their success with Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, but it looks like the plans have already been toned down.
While both Nick Fury and Captain America's shield made a brief cameo in Iron Man, a whole scene with the original Super Soldier was shot for The Incredible Hulk, before being dropped in the edit room thanks to a Hulk Smash from producers who thought it darkened the tone of the toy franchise a little too far.
It seems like the movie itself may well go the way of the dodo if the producers aren't careful, with director Jon Favreau reportedly on thin ice (maybe he's too 'money' after all).
25th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Hackachino
Just because your coffee machine might connect to the internet, there's no reason not to keep your anti-virus software updated.
It turns out that a hacker can remotely take control of your Jura F90 coffee maker and tweak the settings to his own personal preferences, potentially lulling you with a weak coffee in the morning followed by a more serious attack while you are dozing.
24th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Power to the people
Former Yahoo music boss (and one-time Grand Royal webmaster) Ian C Rogers has a new business up and running which gives musicians control over technology. The Topspin platform runs websites for musicians and gives them the technology to sell directly to the public, a la Radiohead. It's testing on a few sites at the moment and recently provided some of the backbone for the Nine Inch Nails Ghosts release.
No word on price for now, but there are some reasonably big bands involved, and Billboard are giving it a hefty does of credibility.
24th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Entertainment Weekly: Top 100 TV Shows
While films are often a lot more cut and dried, favourite TV shows provide plenty of room for debate. Entertainment Weekly's Top 100 TV Shows of the last 25 years puts in a fairly predictable top 10 - with The Wire just pipped at 11 - but there's plenty of room for debate beyond that though with the likes of Baywatch at number 50. How can 1.1 billion viewers be wrong?
23rd Jun 2008 - 4 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Entertainment Weekly: Top 100 Films
It's hard to argue with the likes of Goodfellas and L.A. Confidential, but there's plenty to dislike in Entertainment Weekly's Top 100 Films of the last 25 years list. For a start, no Lebowski.
There's a more detailed break down here.
23rd Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
CEEFAX
I was shocked to hear David Dimbleby promote Ceefax at the end of this week's Question Time, as I had assumed the BBC's 1972 technology was long defunkt. Turns out it has been repromoted by the BBC since 2006, and can even be viewed online.....
The Distant Future, The Year 2000.
23rd Jun 2008 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Ice On Mars?
Dice-size crumbs of bright material have vanished from inside a trench where they were photographed by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander four days ago, convincing scientists that the material was frozen water that vaporized after digging exposed it.
Check out The Big Picture for some stunning photos.
20th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Burn After Reading
The high-quality iTunes version seems to have disappeared, but you can still catch the trailer for new Coen brothers comedy Burn After Reading over at YouTube. Looks like they might be following up neo-Fargo offering No Country For Old Men with a neo-Lebowski....
UPDATE: MSN have the trailer here (Windows only).
20th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Pearl Jam vs Kanye West
I know how I'd be voting for in this Herculean show-down, but it seems Kanye West and some of his fans were not amused by Pearl Jam sticking around for an extra hour during their Bonnaroo festival performance, meaning Kanye West took the stage at a much delayed 4.25am.
Most of the fans seem to be unamused with the recent graduate himself though, booing and 'throwing glow-sticks' at the stage, whatever that means.
17th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Big Picture
The Big Picture feature on Boston.com has been grabbing my attention for quite a while now. Every day they feature a collection of news images on a (usually topical) topic. Today's set feature the recent storm devastation in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Check out their website, or subscribe directly to their RSS feed.
17th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Tell No One
(dir, Guillaume Canet)
Based on Harlan Coben's novel, Tell No One (or Ne le dis à personne as they say in France) follows the story Alex Beck, whose wife is murdered. Eight years later he finds himself implicated in another murder, when suddenly he receives an email - apparently from his dead wife.
Harlan Coben is is known for his twisting story-lines and surprisingly the novel is seamlessly transposed from the US to Paris - making for a quintessentially French film. The French seem to be hitting all the right notes with this kind of plausible thriller recently - from Caché to 36 Quai des Orfèvres. It's a solid piece of work which is genuinely thrilling and mysterious, while eschewing much of the Hollywood attention-grabbing antics that Brit films go for - focusing instead on a good story, good script and good acting. That's not to say it doesn't have any style, as it's very well directed with a some thoughtful camera work in all the appropriate places, as well as some superbly edited set pieces. Dustin Hoffman-alike François Cluzet is convincing in the thoroughly confused lead role and a nicely worked sub-plot ties some suburban Parisian gang-bangers to great effect.
At the end of the day there's maybe a twist too far, but in an age of unwarranted pyrotechnics and fanfare this is an old-fashioned thriller that comes thoroughly recommended.
17th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 3.5 star reviewsWedding Present Tour
The Wedding Present have added a list of new UK dates to their El Rey tour. They'll be over in December, with a London date at the Forum on Dec 18th.
December
2 : Colchester, UK - Arts Centre
3 : Portsmouth, UK - Wedgewood Rooms
4 : Oxford, UK - Academy
5 : Leicester, UK - Princess Charlotte
6 : Manchester, UK - Academy
8 : Cork, IRL - Pavillion
9 : Dublin, IRL - Andrews Lane Theatre
10 : Belfast, UK - Limelight
12 : Edinburgh, UK - Liquid Rooms
13 : Aberdeen, UK - Moshulu
14 : Glasgow, UK – QMU
15 : Newcastle, UK - Academy
16 : Leeds, UK - University
17 : Bristol, UK - Academy
18 : London, UK - The Forum
16th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Publish Yourself
There's nothing like self-publishing to give your ego a boost, but you still need to come up with the content - which might not be a problem in the case of the potential Chimpomatic Yearbook. Check out Blurb, where you can make it all happen from $24.95.
16th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
If you can see this....
I spotted this way down in my junkmail box today...
16th Jun 2008 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Weezer
Weezer (a.k.a. The Red Album)
2008
The game is up. I'm not gonna take it anymore. Since 2000's self-titled third album (AKA "The Green Album"), Weezer have been distracting me with the smoke and mirrors of the catchy single/great video combo, while sneaking out a sub-standard album peppered with holes. Hash Pipe provided the magic for that album, while Dope Nose led off Maladroit and Beverly Hills pulled the wool over our eyes for Make Believe.
In fact, that only leaves two albums worth mentioning. The debut "Blue Album" snuck under the radar back in '94 - admittedly backed up by great videos. Follow-up Pinkerton might explain much, as it was universally panned by both critics and fans, before growing in stature to become Weezer's undisputed masterpiece - and one of my own all-time favourites. Auteur band leader River Cuomo laid bare his emotional soul over the Madame Butterfly-themed concept album, but the backlash was what almost certainly forced Cuomo back into the proverbial cave, convincing him to spend the rest of his life in tortured purgatory, writing inane troubled-pop star melodrama.
Couple that with the fact that every album since Pinkerton has made a fortune and the maths of spending a reported million dollars recording this pile of crap are hard to deny. Baring your soul for pennies is no one's idea of fun.
But, here lies the main problem. 4 albums later, while the guitars crunch onwards all he ever seems to tell us is how troubled he is and how the critics don't understand - but the more songs he writes about the critics not understanding, the shorter and shorter the patience runs. "No more words will critics have to speak" sing the band on the faux operatic The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations On A Shaker Hymn), re-working the classroom classic with little improvement. If the troubled soul isn't airing it's dirty laundry, it's mucho macho ironic chest-beating ...leading to the stunning rhyme of 'be-atch' with 'ki-ads'. While these inane rhyming couplets provide some amusiment in places, you'll generally be laughing at them, not with them.
Just when you might think Rivers' has stooped as low as he can go, he commits this albums mortal sin: letting the other guys have a go too. Thought I Knew finds guitarist Brian Bell taking the vocals for a slice of trite disco-pop, while drummer Pat Wilson takes lead vocals on Automatic. I dare you to find a more bland slice of by-the-numbers modern rock.
There's a whole bunch of different bonus tracks and what-not, depending on where you buy this record. They manage not to totally massacre a cover of The Band's The Weight and the Broadway musical rock of Miss Sweeney provides some entertaining role-playing as Cuomo smooth-talks his secretary in enjoyingly mis-rhymed lyrics. Heart Songs provides a slightly naff, but mildly touching highlight to the album, as Cuomo takes us through the songs that shaded his past, with the music changing and evolving as the time line progresses. Unfortunatly he wrote himself out of my Heart Songs several albums ago.
16th Jun 2008 - 5 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 1 star reviewsYou Can't Always Get What You Want
Google doesn't always bring up the right results. Searching for a "Sub Pop" specific query brought up this (technically correct) answer...
13th Jun 2008 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
MMJ MSG
My Morning Jacket are playing a headline show at Madison Square Garden this New Year's Eve, which seems like a pretty epic achievement. After the aborted attempt to see them supporting the Black Crowes there on New Year's Eve 2005 (read marmot's review here) I think I'll be giving this one a miss, but if you're in town already....
12th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Swiss Army's Birthday
The veritable Swiss Army Knife is 111 today and although trying to take one on a flight these days might lead to a spell at Guantanamo, many people still carry them - including the Swiss Army. You might notice on Wikipedia however, that the military original did not include a cork screw. Must have been Champagne drinkers.
12th Jun 2008 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
GEE-PEE-ESS
With GPS becoming more and more ubiqtuous on mobile phones and cameras, we'll soon be in a situation where it becomes totally unnecessary to carry around a brick-sized personal satellite tracking unit - in order to work out where you are, so you can write that on the back of the prints you get back from Snappy Snaps.
It's never been a very user friendly process, and shouldn't really be a process at all - in an ideal world it should just have been recorded when you need it, in the same way date and time started being recorded with every picture.
The world of all photos being tagged with the exact location they were taken is upon us, and chimpomatic is ready. Nearly.
11th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Robert Pollard
Robert Pollard Is Off To Business
Guided By Voices Inc.
After the many, many, many quick-turnaround releases since the demise of GBV, it's often been Robert Pollard's lack of focus that has drawn critism. Albums seemingly get released when any 12 new songs are complete - and the results have been inconsistent to say the least.
With Robert Pollard Is Off To Business however, the charismatic front man's intention to knuckle down and produce a focused 'rock' record is clear from the start. Opener The Original Heart immediatly recalls the sound of 70's Peter Gabriel - a sound Pollard is a sure fan of, after GBV's rousing cover of Solsbury Hill on their Electrifying Conclusion tour. The classic rock continues straight into The Blondes and, while the song is far from being a carbon copy, it's the guitar intro from Led Zeppelin's Tangerine providing the unlikely reference point. While I would have never doubted Pollard as a Led Zeppelin fan (who isn't?) I could probably not have picked a band as seemingly far removed from Pollard's brand of low-fi bombastics.
Off To Business is definitely one of the most direct records amongst the Pollard cannon in quite some time and on the whole it's a rewarding listen. Multi-instrumentalist Todd Tobias provides the backing as usual - and while the intention is all good it can sound a little thin in places, almost as if a one-man-band is providing the sound, rather than a fully fleshed out band and lavish production. But seriously, what were you expecting?
Killer track No One But I is easily up there with GBV's best, with it's understated verses providing a calm before the ever ascending chorus. It's quickly followed by the equally engaging Weatherman and Skin Godess, and the condensed rock of To The Path!, which crams the contents of a Yes epic into a mere 3 minutes 25.
At 10 songs and 33 minutes it's over before it has begun and for once I'm left wanting more, not less. After amicably departing from Merge Records after a four year stint, this is the first (of presumably many) records to be released directly by Pollard, through his own label - Guided By Voices Inc. Hopefully it marks the start of a succesful new chapter.
11th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 3.5 star reviewsSong Of The Day: Volume V
While the album as a whole might be underwhelming, Evil Urges contains a couple of gems - of which Smokin' From Shootin' is the best, finding My Morning Jacket doing what they do best - playing cowboys.
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10th Jun 2008 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Return Of The 90 Minute Movie
Since the demise of Concorde, a few companies have been quietly working away on private jets capable of supersonic speeds, made possible by dampening the sound of the super-sonic boom that causes so much uproar in populated areas. While the price tag of $80 million will be hard to justify without cashing in some airmiles, it might be suitable for the Entourage set out there - and would save the embaressment of having to hitch a lift with Kanye West.
10th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
iPhone$
With Apple's big WWDC Expo kicking off at 6pm tonight (10AM PST) in San Francisco, the rumour mill is in overdrive, with at least one new iPhone all but certain.
The main improvement will be 3G, which Apple skipped with version 1, naively aiming only at the archaic US cell phone networks. With 3G essential in many countries (Japan, Korea) plus the advantages of selling music over the air, faster internet browsing and more, the new version is expected to see a more global roll-out.
The other over-looked protocol was that in many countries - the UK in particular - people just don't pay for phones, and we certainly don't pay £269. As if by magic, we get top-notch phones for free with every new contract - made possible largely by subsidies paid by the manufacturer. It seems that Apple may be willing to adopt that model, which would bring enhance the likelihood of getting one of these bad boys no end.
Throw in a GPS receiver and the plethora of 3rd Party Apps that will also be launched and mobile Nirvana creeps ever closer. Looks like only Google's Android can put up any sort of competition now, as clearly the likes of Samsung and LG can make the phones look nice, but their software stinks.
Trusty Mac Rumours will be reporting live.
9th Jun 2008 - 6 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Interview: My Morning Jacket
With fifth studio album Evil Urges arriving in stores this week, Louisville rockers My Morning Jacket were in town to promote the album, record a Black Cab Session and put on an acoustic show at St. James Church. It's no secret that Chimpomatic are big fans of the band, so we had plenty of questions about British Bobbies, Butch and Sundance, Nashville and Kentucky. read article
7th Jun 2008 - Add Comment
My Morning Jacket
Evil Urges
Rough Trade
Following 2005's stellar album Z, My Morning Jacket continue to forge forward, cutting their own path through modern music. From the opening song, this is an unusual album that will not fail to surprise any existing fan. With Joe Chiccarelli at the controls, many of the band's trademark sounds have been left behind and many more contemporary influences have been brought in, signaling an attempt to widen the band's appeal with a more 'modern' sound. Although here 'modern' seems to mean the 70's and 80's - rather than 60's.
Opener Evil Urges expands on some of the disco sounds that started to appear on Z, but with Jim James reverb heavy sound on the back burner the song opts for an unrecognisable vocal style, perhaps best described as 'Bee-Gees'. Touch Me I'm Going To Scream seems to unsuccessfully re-work the melody from Z's far superiors It Beats 4U, but the most unusual is yet to come.
There was a never a more apt song title than Highly Suspicious, as while the paranoid tale of 'British Bobbies' pounding down the door attempts to deal with the modern Big Brother society it unintentionally reduces the listener to a baffled state - with the multi-tracked vocals of "Highly Suspicious!" hollering over the pounding funk beat. As a band, My Morning Jacket have often been compared to Neil Young - and it's a comparison that is still apt here, but unfortunately the album in question would be Neil Young's misfiiring electronic effort of the early 80's - Trans. Like that record, the attempt to connect with a 'modern' audience has produced a record more out of touch than ever before.
It's hard to tell the reasoning behind this move, as Z was an outstanding improvement on an already outstanding sound. It was a huge step forward and in many ways a departure from their previous records, but there was a solid core to it that maintained everything there was to like about the band. Perhaps that record was such a success that the band saw no restrictions on moving even further forwards with this release - or that they were held back with Z and it was a record that didn't pay off. Only time will tell.
It doesn't all miss the target of course and even title song Evil Urges has the makings of a great track, let down by the affected vocals. Once you're past the bewildering few openers things do settle down, with the more familiar sound of I'm Amazed, Thank You Too or Look At You, although admittedly some of these tracks would only rate as standard fare on an album like It Still Moves. The Librarian is a pleasant enough song, but the lyrics are so screamingly cringe-worthy ("Take off those glasses and let down your hair for me") that it's hard to see past them - to what presumeably isn't just about Jim James falling for the plain jane who showed him how to use the 'interweb', but is in fact advice to be 'happy with the inner you'. And not end up like Karen Carpenter. While the bands lyrics have never been deep or profound, there was always a sense of something beneath the surface and the emotional delivery of songs like The Bear or Gideon left the listener with plenty to think about.
Things do get back to the level you would expect from this band towards the end, with Remnants and the prog rock vibe of Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Part 2. Smokin From Shootin' is the album's one truly spectaucular track, but it's too little too late, leaving a spotty success rate that is hardly equal to the numerous highlights of previous albums. This unique band have taken their music in a new direction and while it is still certainly a unique sound I'm afraid to say that at the moment it's a direction I'm unlikley to follow them down. In many ways this is still a good record, with plenty to reccomend it over much of the junk that passes for music these days, but next to much of the band's other work it pales in comparison. Maybe I'm just not ready for it yet, and my kids are going to love it.... but 25 listens in it still isn't clicking and I can't help but feel disappointed.
6th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 3 star reviewsBlack & White Mountain
Black Mountain are on the tube ....or at least on Pitchfork.tv, where they have video of a show from Glasslands in Brooklyn.
5th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Objects As Magazines
Nice article over at Creative Review about the format of the magazine and its place in the context of art.
Objects As Magazines / Magazines As Objects is the title of an exhibition currently running in Art Book in Milan that looks at a wide range of publications that explore publishing territory beyond the usual flat, bound magazine format.
Some such magazines (Visionaire, McSweeney’s, Gas, Grand Royal, Interview) may or may not have had a profound impact on the birth of Chimpomatic, back at the turn of the century when the magazine format seemed clearly to be on its last legs.
4th Jun 2008 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Black Cab Sessions
My Morning Jacket's Black Cab Session is now online. Touch Me, I'm Going To Scream: Part 2
4th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Roots Manuva Video
Roots Manuva has a new video for his single Buff Nuff which is more than worth 5 minutes of your time....
4th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Asthmatic Kitty at The Foundry
Sufjan Steven's record label Asthmatic Kitty have an interesting free event coming up at Chimpomatic local The Foundry.
Half-handed Cloud and the Henningham Family Press are proud to present a collaborative music and silkscreen printing project. This project will culminate in a live printing and sing-along event at the Foundry. Half-handed Cloud and the Henningham Family Press will transform the venue’s basement into a 12-foot wide vinyl record player, and use it to perform some new material - never before seen or heard. This event brings together the pressing of a print and the pressing of a vinyl record.
Date: Thursday, June 26th 2008
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: The Foundry, 86 Great Eastern Street, London, EC2A 3JL
Entry: FREE
Links
Half-handed Cloud
Henningham Family Press
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4th Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Still Gunnin' For That #1 Spot
With the movie 'droppin' on June 27th, there's finally a trailer up for MCA/Horatio Hornblower's movie Gunnin' For That #1 Spot.
3rd Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
