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Cannonball!
Wired has a great article about two irresponsible Americans attempting to break the coast-to-coast road race record across the US ....previously a mere 32 hours and 7 minutes. Far from relying on a Police escort of carfefully closed off roads, these boys are strictly doing it Cannonball style - relying on GPS, Google Maps, Travel Johns and a buddy with a light aircraft keeping an eye out for the cops.
30th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Libertines
Time For Heroes - The Best Of The Libertines
Rough Trade
I confess. The Libertines passed me by. I'm not sure if I was just not reading NME at the time, but they literally passed me by to the point where I couldn't tell you a single one of their songs. Their influence can (apparently) be seen in the more recent crop of British bands who seem to have taken the band's style and applied it to good music. I'm talking about the Arctic Monkeys and The View amongst others, who of course both have obvious roots and influences, but bring a bucketload of originality with it.
A quick iTunes search tells me that as far as new music goes, 2002-2004 was defined for me by Arcade Fire, Beastie Boys, Flaming Lips, Foo Fighters, Grandaddy, Interpol, John Frusciante, Kings of Leon, My Morning Jacket, Red Hot Chili Chili Peppers, Steven Malkmus and Weezer. In alphabetical order. Come to think of it, 2004 is barely a whisper away - but looking back at my list it is certainly dominated by American bands and The Libertines must have presented a tangible alternative to that.
The comeback of the English guitar band is certainly indisputible, with dance music being the most obvious loser, but coming at The Libertines now with hindsight but a distinct lack of sentimentality it's still hard for me to see what all the fuss is about. At least Oasis were huge, loutish, hotel-trashing superstars who would literally walk out of a US stadium tour waving their fingers. Can't Stand Me Now does come across as a melacholic anthem but the songs just seem to be mostly repetitive chorus, which could at least make for a singalong live. In this day and age, there's little excuse for poor production. But The Libertines just seem to make dull, derivative music with very little genuine impact. The band are clearly derivative of many British bands, but strangely the band they remind me of most is So-Cal punkers Seven Seconds. Go figure.
It's not saying much when a band has to cull a 'Best Of' from only two original albums and a few singles and it's saying even less when half those tracks still put themselves forward as skippable. Sorry, I honestly tried.
29th Nov 2007 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 2 star reviewsiLounge
The world's largest Apple Store on Regent Street has seen some recent improvements to further secure it's "best secret toilet in London" chimp rating. Never be caught short again, as you can always rely on their first floor toilet to be free, clean and open. But now, in addition to the free WIFI the store offers you can make free phone calls using the iPhones on display. Beat the crowds by heading to the upstairs display.
P.S. Fair usage policy might apply, so don't let the Geniuses see you calling Nigeria.
29th Nov 2007 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Triangulate That Position!
Google are introducing a cool/scary new feature for their mobile phone ready version of Google Maps, where your phone will triangulate your position between the nearest cell towers, Jack Bauer style. Accurate to within '10 blocks' it will work out where you are and give you the local map - like a low-fi version of GPS.
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29th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Wilco
Sky Blue Sky 'Tour Edition' EP
Nonesuch
Following the format they have used for a couple of recent albums, Wilco are re-releasing their Sky Blue Sky album (read the original review here) as a 'tour edition', featuring a 5 track bonus disc. Rather than pulling a fast one over the early adopters however, those who have already purchased the album should be able to pop the disc in the computer and access the tracks for download from Wilco World. (Coming soon for UK readers apparently).
Let's Not Get Carried away was already available as a bonus track for iTunes customers and like pub rocker The Thanks I Get, it's less detailed arrangement and performence don't quite fit the same tone as the finished Sky Blue Sky album.
One True Vine was previously issued with the Either Way single and is a more downbeat affair, taking it's cues from 60's Motown and the positive thinking mentality of Wilco hero Bill Fay. It's short and sweet, but makes for the EP's highlight.
The live version of Impossible Germany is a polarised rendition of the album track, with the more downbeat opening section serving to enhance the vitality of the live guitar work, while Hate It Here works well as a question and response jam that could easily have come from a 70's Band album. With the overly serious sound of the album version absent, the instruments play back and forth off each other nicely and again Nels Cline's great guitar work steals the show.
As with the tour edition of A Ghost Is Born, these songs definitely fall into the category of bonus tracks and as such should not be considered in the same context as the album proper - which may have received some relatively luke-warm reviews but certainly works as a cohesive, focused work. Having said that, you won't really be listening to this as a self sufficient work either. It's major success is to serve as a reminder that Wilco are a great live band and Sky Blue Sky is a great album, perhaps unfairly overshadowed by it's elder relatives.
29th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 3.5 star reviewsSearch
A Few Less Virgins
Virgin Megastore's Oxford Street branch has bitten the dust, re-branded as the utterly uninspiring and mis-guided post-Fopp, post internet 'Zavvi'. Once the biggest record shop in the world, the management buy out follows massive losses over the last few years - with Branson now free to concentrate on his more focussed on core businesses of Gyms, Space Travel and Wine, plus his next big idea about buying up the bank that just lost several billion in value. Someone should make the guy go on Dragon's Den with his next big idea.
28th Nov 2007 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Jermaine Has A Problem
American Hip Hop mogul (aren't they all?) Jermain Dupri has a problem with music. While it's not a patch on Steve Albini's problem with music, he has strong opinions about iTunes monopoly of the market and their refusal to sell albums as only albums. Apparently it's taken Hip Hop mogul Jay-Z to make a 'brave' stand and refuse to sell his American Gangster album through iTunes and highlight the problem ...although as noted, Radiohead have never sold their music on iTunes for this very reason and it hasn't done them any harm.
Personally I'm not sure what the problem is. iTunes was built out of nothing, in a move that was waiting to happen for years - and it was the slow moving industry that let it slip through their grasp. Jay-Z's Def Jam included.
In fact, scoot over to Wired for their article on Universal Music's CEO Doug Morris and read how Universal are planning to claw their way back in the game ...and note the pic of him rubbing shoulders with Hova himself.
28th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Indy Pics
Aint-it-cool has some pics up from the new Indiana Jones movie. He's looking a bit grey but like he'd still kick your ass in a bare knuckle brawl.
28th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Tez
Friend of Chimpomatic Elliot Goldner has knocked up this short film ....but don't watch it at work, strong language involved.
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27th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Yacht Rock Mash Up
iTunes' auto cover art facility pulls up some pretty intriguing album sleeves at times (Dread Zeppelin 2 instead of Led Zeppelin II for example), but it's obviously got some artificial intellegence. When it couldn't find the cover for Foreigner's Greatest Hits, it defaulted to Yacht Rock and pulled this gem out of the bag. It's Toto. It's Foreigner. It's Yacht Rock. It's French.
27th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
State Of Pay Or Play
Another movie looks likely to grind to a halt due to the Hollywood writer's strike. Brad Pitt's Plan B company were re-making the excellent UK thriller State of Play, but Mr. Smith has now jumped ship after the studio refused to postpone production until a re-write could be done. Russell Crowe is being lined up, but surely he's not going to be any easier to please...
Variety has the scoop.
26th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
No Niblett
Attention Glaswegian Scout Niblett fans. If you were planning to hit King Tut's tonight for the show, then put it into reverse as it's been canceled due to illness.
23rd Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Steve 'Seagal' Jobs
Managed to catch a screening of Nico (a.k.a. Above The Law) last night in a bout of post-football depression. The near two decades since its creation haven't been kind and it played out like a 99 minute episode of The A-Team, complete with detached noodle-rock soundtrack and added Fu%$ing swearing to bump it up to an 18.
Anyway, two things that surfaced were:
a) It was poorly directed by Andrew Davis (who went on to find his form with The Fugitive), not the awesome John Badham or Martin Brest.
b) Steven Seagal bares more than a passing resemblance to the iPodfather, Steve Jobs. In the iBrows in particular. Boom.
22nd Nov 2007 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Country X Factor
Herbert is looking for 100 singing volunteers to take part in his next record. Each person will sing one single word, which will then be manipulated into the final track. If you want to be involved, email info@accidentalrecords.com with "I'LL SING FOR MY DINNER" in the subject line.
22nd Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Soft Focus
VBS.TV have a nice site going on and once you get past the copious amounts on Sony branding there's some decent original content on there - such as Soft Focus, with Nation of Ulysses' Ian Svenonius interviewing Kevin Shields and Mark E. Smith amongst others. VBS is a side-project of Vice magazine with Spike Jonze as the creative director.
22nd Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Royal We
The Royal We
Geographic
Glasgow's The Royal We are not really from Glasgow at all. Singer Jihae Simmons moved over there from LA - imagining it to be a twee, idyllic place, inhabited by Belle & Sebastian fans and jazz cafes. Not football obsessed ship builders who go out to get drunk without a coat.
Boiling down from an initial sprawl of twenty members, the other five that stuck it out came from all parts of the UK under the guise of study, before coming together to record this debut album - The Royal We - which will also be their only album, as they are all set to move on from the brief moment that spawned them.
I say album, but at a mere twenty minutes that's a stretch. Especially as one track is a cover and another - the catchy, destined-for-use-in-adverts All The Rage - has already been released as a single. The main complaint however is not that they're exaggerating their achievement, just that we could have done with a bit more of it. On the other hand, think of it as an EP and you'll be pleased that it extends to 8 different tracks, putting the current lack of decent b-sides (even from the likes of Radiohead - once the bastion of the b-side) to shame.
Their lo-fi, garagey indie bears more than a passing resemblance to the might Electrelane, with instantly catchy tracks that are sanded down at the edges to hold them back from being too saccharine. French Legality sounds like a lost 70's Blondie demo and while it has a few nods to the 80's, it's generally not in that trendy neon way - more like the kind of band that would pop up on a teen-angst era John Hughes movie.
A great re-invention of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game rounds things off. A track whose credibility was never in doubt but can get quickly forgotten. Let's hope the same can't be said for The Royal We. R.I.P.
22nd Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 3 star reviewsuNlocked
The German courts have done what many hackers have been trying to do - and unlocked the iPhone. T-Mobile has been forced to sell an unlocked version of the phone, which doesn't require an 18-month contract and can be used on other networks. The downside? It's 999 Euros.
Anyone who bought one in the last 2 days however can have it unlocked for free.
21st Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Song Of The Day: Volume IV
I'm wrapping up our Song Of The Day: Volume IV compilation with Sonic Youth's hypnotic cover of I'm Not There, from the soundtrack to the film of the same name.
It certainly hasn't been one of our more coherent compilations, but it's a pretty good snapshot of 2007. Start compiling your top 5's, as we'll be sorting this year's highlights in a more official form soon.
Only Waiting - The Aliens
Fans - Kings Of Leon
Back To Your Heart - Dinosaur Jr.
On And On And On - Wilco
Dear Dead Friends - Von Sudenfed
Slow Show - The National
Forever Young - Bob Dylan
Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung - The Flaming Lips
Seahorse - Devendra Banhart
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - Jimi Hendrix
She Was Hot - The Rolling Stones
Sleeping Lessons - The Shins
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi - Radiohead
Chips Ahoy! - The Hold Steady
I'm Not There - Sonic Youth
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21st Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
C Power
British Sea Power have a new album and tour due next year to support new album Do You Like Rock Music.
Yes, I do. Warm up date at the Amersham Arms tonight.
2008 UK dates:
Thurs 17 Jan - Belfast Spring And Airbrake
Fri 18 Jan - Dublin Whelan's (Tel: 00 353 1890 200 078)
Sun 20 Jan - Norwich Waterfront (Tel: 01603 508 050)
Mon 21 Jan - Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms (Tel: 023 9286 3911)
Tues 22 Jan - Nottingham Rescue Rooms (Tel: 0871 3100 000)
Weds 23 Jan - Leeds Irish Centre (Tel: 0113 245 5570)
Thurs 24 Jan - Kendal Brewery (Tel: 0871 424 4444)
Sat 26 Jan - Glasgow The Arches (Tel: 08444 999 990)
Sun 27 Jan - Manchester Academy 2 (Tel: 0161 832 1111)
Mon 28 Jan - Oxford Academy (Tel: 0844 477 2000)
Tues 29 Jan - Brighton Komedia (Tel: 01273 647100)
Thurs 31 Jan - London Koko (0870 0600 100)
21st Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
New Kills
The Kills are back with a new single URA Fever out on Domino in January. It's taken from a forthcoming new album.... more details on that soon. Check it out on the myspace page.
20th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Various Artists
I'm Not There [Music From The Motion Picture]
Columbia
As a soundtrack for his forthcoming Bob Dylan movie I'm Not There, director Todd Haynes has assembled an impressive array of musicians young and old to provide cover versions and re-workings of their favourite Dylan tracks.
Much like the Wylde Rattz project for Hayne's previous rock biopic Velvet Goldmine, supergroup "The Million Dollar Bashers" (featuring Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelley, Nels Cline and Tom Verlaine among others) back many of the singers, and were put together to bring some cohesiveness to the album. As a cohesive album however, I'm Not There fails conclusively. Clocking in at a whopping 160 minutes, the jam-packed double CD is simply far too long - eclipsing the sprawling White Album and making Red Hot Chili Pepper's 2006 opus Stadium Arcadium seem like a couple of bonus tracks.
Taken as a collection of individual tracks however, the album provides a wealth of ammo for the mixtape masses with more than a few silver bullets in the arsenal. With such great material in the hands of these artists it would have been a tragedy for this album to be a faliure, but cover songs have always been a hit or miss affair - with the artists often taking one of two methods of attack when approaching the material. The most effective method here seems to be the straightforward approach, letting the bands own sound soak through the material. Sonic Youth's understated cover of I'm Not there is a highlight, as are Steven Malkmus' multiple contributions adding only a few restrained theatrics to produce some of his best work.
Black Keys provide one successful modernisation with their fuzz metal version of The Wicked Messenger, but The Hold Steady's version of Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window tries too hard to fit Dylan's square song into the band's story-telling style of a round hole. Not to mention Sufjan Steven's overblown theatrics, which make Ring Them Bells (what else?) smugly saccharine. Eddie Vedder's All Along The Watchtower would make for a live concert highlight, but it sounds pretty straightforward here - as does Cat Power's solid, but karaoke-like cover of Stuck Inside of Mobile - following Dylan's version down to the tiniest vocal shift, in a way that even he refuses to do in his live show.
Some minor disappointments come from artists who have covered Dylan's work so well previously - such as Pearl Jam's version of Masters Of War or Jim James' superb Billy 4. Jim James covers Goin' To Acapulco on this album, which is a mild let-down when My Morning Jacket could have done a blistering version of something like Hurricane - particularly after they so perfectly blended their own heavy rocking style into Freebird in the woeful Elizabethtown movie.
For all of this, it's the breadth of Dylan's songwriting that is the star of the show - with 70's cowboy-era Dylan coming out particularly well. Calexico's multiple contribution's provide much of that, as do Los Lobos' spirited break for the border with Billy 1. It's when the musicians' really grasp the spirit of the songs that things really work - and while Cat Power's uninspired rendering illustrates Dylan's occasionally drawn out verses, John Doe's version of Pressing On and Ramblin' Jack Elliot's guitar picking on Tom Thumb's Blues provide a celebration of the music itself, rather than just the lyrics.
34 tracks picked from Dylan's catalogue of literally hundreds is in itself quite an achievement, resulting in an album so dense that it's taken me an extra week just to get to grips with it all. If it was actual Dylan versions it might be up their with Mothership in this year's best of (disqualified on a best-of technicality). And in fact, since hearing this album I have drawn up such a playlist, which is working out nicely.
20th Nov 2007 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 3 star reviews
The End For Journeyman
Aint-it-cool is reporting that SKY/NBC's Journeyman may be facing the chop, before Season 1 even finishes. A brash move considering the lack-of-scripts problem Hollywood is facing, but not surprising if you've seen the show.
Even more reliant on technology than Jack Bauer, Trainspotting star Kevin McKidd travels around time like a 00's Quantum Leap, helping pretty average people achieve fairly low-level tasks ....mainly by using his iPhone and an obvious not-Google-search-engine called "Finder-Spyder.com".
20th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
The World as a Stage
As part of the Tate's exhibition The World as a Stage, artist Pawel Althamer has created a trailer for an imaginary film that will be re-enacted on November 30th at the place where the trailer was shot. Jude Law stars, if that makes it any less confusing.
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19th Nov 2007 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
In The Future
Canadian rockers Black Mountain are taking a break from their side projects (Blood Meridian, Pink Mountaintops etc.) and are back with a new record - In The Future. January 21st to be exact, on the superb Jagjaguwar label.
They're starting their assault with a show at Cargo on the 5th of December, supported by the excellent Miracle Fortress.
19th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Classic Beasties
Beastie Boys alumni Ian C Rogers has some good items on 80's era Beastie's over at Fistfulayen. Check out their first LA interview at Final Countdown, recorded in '85 (on tour supporting Madonna!). I remember reading at the time how she used to dress up in a wig and sneak out to hang out with them ....which may or may not have been true, judging by their Budweiser fueled antics of the day.
Also check out the article on his custom Sly Stone cassette sleeve.
16th Nov 2007 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Led Zeppelin
Mothership
Atlantic
For the un-initiated, Led Zeppelin's vast back catalogue may seem impenetrable and the newly remastered compilation Mothership may be just the place to start. Unlike many of the upstart bands knocking out "Greatest Hits" after two albums, Mothership does much more than merely collate the highlights of a band and leave the albums redundant. It provides a depth gauge for a band with such scope to their repertoire, and rather than serving as a book-end to a band's career it rather serves to suggest more clearly the album you should follow this one with, as you're still yet to discover The Lemon Song, Tangerine, Thank You, Gallow's Pole, In My Time Of Dying, In The Light.....
The pretty even cull of tracks is taken chronologically from the eight main studio albums - with only post break-up Coda missing the boat. Led Zeppelin I provides a hefty chunk to set the scene, and IV and Houses Of The Holy are also well represented. In a minor concession to mix tape etiquette, the songs from each album are not always in the sequence they originally came in (Black Dog follows Rock 'n' Roll for example), and that makes for a more cohesive listen (although in that case I'd probably have opened with Communication Breakdown). In The Evening and All My Love finish things off, hopefully turning more people on to the often overlooked final album In Through The Out Door.
While it's easy to point out how great the albums are and try and ward newcomers away from this kind of thing, it's refreshing to come back and listen to the music in this different context and remind yourself how many of these individual tracks are absolute classics. As the album plays through, track after track gets 10 out of 10, with only the occasional sub-perfect moment - mainly due to the brilliance of the track before or after. Those minor 'dips' are quickly obscured when we hit the tracks from IV. Rock 'n' Roll was always a track for getting the party started and it's no exception here, moving things up a notch from from 10 out of 10, to 11. Awesome.
15th Nov 2007 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 5 star reviewsMotron
There's been talk of a Tron sequel for a while and now The Dude himself has chipped in. Can't say I'm a huge fan of the original, but hindsight has certainly given it some kudos and a sequel could be good...
15th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Ian Brown - Sister Rose
New kung-fu style video out for Sister Rose by Ian Brown, from his disappointing James Bond-esque titled album The World Is Yours.
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15th Nov 2007 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
The Motherload
Took in the Obey show on Brick Lane last week, which is utterly, utterly huge ....and every single piece is sold. Not bad when it was pretty clearly put together in situ from previous designs - and that's no criticism. It can get a bit samey, as it's all from the same few colours - but the size and ambition of the huge works is dazzling. GO. NOW. OBEY.
Incidentally, Shepard Fairey has also designed the cover artwork for the latest Led Zeppelin compilation Mothership. As he writes on his site: "If my art is 1 percent as good as this band I’m in good shape. What I’m trying to say is that the opportunity for me to hitch a ride on the coat tails of such an influential band is an honor and a coup".
15th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Holy Ghost Revival
1965 Records' latest signings Holy Ghost Revival are over from Seattle for some UK tour dates this month - including a slot at the 1965 all-dayer, which we'll hopefully be covering extensively.
Described as "Elizabethan theatre meets Pagan Glam” (?!), their debut album is produced by Ryan Hadlock, who was behind the controls for several Chimp favourites (Modest Mouse, Blonde Redhead, The Strokes).
Tour Dates
Nov 25th - HGR - CLASH @ LOCK TAVERN
Nov 26th - London, The Black Gardenia, Dean ST
Nov 28th - Exeter Cavern
Nov 29th - Liverpool - Bar Academy
Nov 30th - York Fibbers
Dec 01 - Skegness Butlins. Boom.
Dec 02 Dundee - The Doghouse
Dec 03 - Birmingham - Bar Academy
Dec 04 - Manchester Roadhouse
Dec 06 - Bolton The Dog and Partridge
Dec 07 - Tunbridge Wells - Forum
Dec 08 - 65 All dayer @ ULU
Dec 09 - Southampton, The Joiners
15th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Android Comes To Life
Google have launched their Android operating system for mobile phones that was announced a couple of weeks ago and put up a video guide of what it can offer. It looks like a major step towards getting phones doing more of what they are capable of - with seamless integration of Google maps of course and a pretty cool street view demo at the end of the clip. Best of all though, Google is stumping up $10,000,000 in rewards for developers who make cool apps for the platform. Local chimp finder anyone?
13th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
London In Flames
We've had a barrage of emails and texts at CTHQ this morning, but we are not under attack There's a big fire over at the future Olympic Village, casting a daunting cloud over the area....
12th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Radiohead.tv
Radiohead's .tv website was briefly back online on Friday, for anyone not down the pub. They apparently pumped out a selection of video blogs made by the band - comprising mainly of a live concert from the studio with covers of Bjork, The Smiths The Headmaster Ritual and New Order's Ceremony, plus the amusing 15 Steps video, with Thom's head in Brad Pitt's box (see below). You Tube has a lot of it. Stereogum has more details.
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11th Nov 2007 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Xmas Song Exchange
Sufjan Stevens is offering up a potentially lucrative Xmas gift. Send him a song you have recorded and if you win the draw he will send you an original song of his own.
You can hoard it for yourself, sell it to a major soft drink corporation, use it in your daughter's first Christmas video, or share it for free on your website. No one except Sufjan and you will hear his song, unless you decide otherwise. You get the song and all legal rights to it. We get the same rights to your song.
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11th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Xmas Fayre
1965 Records have got pretty much their entire roster turning out for their Christmas Party at ULU on December 8th. No prizes for guessing who the special guests might be.
9th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
GMaps
Google's Map have seen a substantial upgrade recently, notably letting you create and save your own maps. That's a feature we'd been working on in the chimpomatic lab, and this will make it a whole lot easier. For now check out a quick and dirty map of some record shops, and don't forget to drag it down to Australia and over to San Francisco:
View Larger Map
9th Nov 2007 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Melted Walkman
In a follow up to yesterday's Jack Bauer Halloween costume expose, check out Chloe Sevigny's tip of the hat to The Smiths Big Mouth Strikes Again.
And now I know how Joan of Arc felt
Now I know how Joan of Arc felt
As the flames rose to her roman nose
And her Walkman started to melt
9th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
More Rainbows
XL will be releasing Radiohead's In Rainbows on December 31st in the old-school CD format and the older-school vinyl. The single Jigsaw Falling Into Place will follow on 14th January. "The single is already the most played track from the album on UK and US radio."
With regards to the recently announced figures on number of downloads and price paid, the band are saying these numbers are pure speculation and that the "the figures quoted by the company comScore Inc are wholly inaccurate and in no way reflect definitive market intelligence or, indeed, the true success of the project."
8th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Wolff Attack
After coming under fire for their London 2012 Olympics logo, design firm Wolff Olins are now getting an ear-bashing for their re-branding of New York. I quite like them both, and at least they are engaging people.
8th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Hero Worship
After a poor start to Season 2, Heroes boss Tim Kring offers an explanation.
8th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Ramsay vs Bauer
In the first case of the Writer's Strike crippling the Bit Torrent industry, Season 7 of 24 (which was due to start in January) has been postponed indefinitely. As the writers clearly only pen the episodes minutes before filming, producers decided they didn't want to end up giving Jack Bauer a half-day. The winner is ex-pat chef and buddy of BC - Gordon Ramsay, whose US version of Hell's Kitchen will step up to fill Jack's shoes.
This should also work out nicely with Jack's jail-time and give him a chance to think about his costume for the next CTU Halloween party.
8th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Live Cadence
More great bands lining up to play the Amersham Arms:
We Were There's first stellar line-up includes hotly tipped NY art-funksters Holy Hail, who will be celebrating the launch of their much-anticipated second single on ACTH Recordings; one of the first ever UK shows from rising hip-hop star Cadence Weapon and the first ever live performance from Plugs
Amersham Arms, New Cross.
Friday 23rd November 2007, from 8pm till 3am.
£4 in advance, £6 on the door, NUS £4 all night.
7th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Kevin Speaks
My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields is featured in a new show on Resonance FM - Subway Sect. He's in conversation with producer Brendan Lynch. Creative Review have an extract.
7th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Bird Is The Wird
BC favourite Andrew Bird is playing some dates in the UK this week, supported by Loney, Dear. There is also a special limited tour-only CD with reworked versions from his Armchair Apocrypha album, fresh tracks and a cover of Bob Dylan's 'Oh Sister'.
Tue 6 Nov Birmingham Glee Club
Thu 8 Nov Manchester Academy 3
Fri 9 Nov London Koko
6th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Song Of The Day: Volume IV
Now that the dust has settled, The Hold Steady's 2006 album Boys And Girls In America isn't quite holding up as an all-time classic, but it's looking promising for their future releases and certainly produced some classic tracks - starting with plucky racehorse Chips Ahoy!
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6th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Scout Niblett
This Fool Can Die Now
Since a 2001 7 inch split with Songs: Ohia, Nottingham's Emma Louise Niblett has been quietly releasing records on Canada's influential Secretely Canadian, as well as the great UK label Too Pure. With her forth album, This Fool Can Die Now, she has enlisted the help of a range of colaborators - most notably Bonnie Prince Billy, who provides vocals on single Kiss and three others.
Will Oldham's fingerprints are all over this record, in more ways than voice alone and with Steve Albini handling production duties the ingredients are here for a dark and dirty mix of gothic-death-country-rock. The powerful vocals and downbeat atmosphere makes for an engaging listen, with Kiss and Nevada dredging up an chilling majesty.
While songs likes Moon Lake and the Van Morrison cover Comfort You make the most of Niblett's powerful voice and the sparse-but-loud production technique, things do get a little tired towards the end - with Yummy and single Dinosaur Egg seeming like over-trodden territory.
It can feel like if Niblett could just stay away from Oldham and Albini bad influence, meet a nice guy and settle down things might brighten up considerably. Having said that, as 2005's return of The Wedding Present proved, a bit of personal strife can be exactly what keeps the creative juices flowing.
6th Nov 2007 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 3 star reviews
Fearless
As part of my VHS replacement programme I've been struggling to track down Peter Weir's 1993 film Fearless, which seemed to have dropped totally out of circulation. I am consistently fooled by Sky's listings when they near-constantly show the Jet Li martial arts flick and have been on patrol, surfing the channels for a good 18 months. IMDB also has a "tv schedule" listing, which is always empty.
Despite being a pre-dude 90's high point for Jeff Bridges, the film was never available on UK DVD and the only US DVD is a 1993 fullscreen historic artifact. That's available on Amazon's marketplace for £2.36 however, and since it's only shot on standard 35mm the fullscreen will actually show more than the widescreen (due to softmatting) - so I figured it was worth a punt, as if it's well encoded I could crop or zoom it myself. It's horribly encoded. It seems to have been an early test run for the eventual digital revolution and the picture is made up of about 10 jumbo-sized pixels, but it's mildly better than the VHS and at least is capable of being ripped onto my computer - so until the double disc director's cut blu-ray mega edition is released I was mildly satisfied.
While flicking trough Sky last week (the day the DVD arrived in fact) "Fearless" popped up as usual, and I smiled with smug satisfaction at not falling for the old Jet Li trap and flicked it on to see what all the fuss is about. Turns out TCM have the rights to the Jeff Bridges version after all.
5th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Open Handset Alliance
Google is leading a pack of 30+ companies who have formed the Open Handset Alliance, with the intention of unifying the vast array of mindless mobile phone platforms out there. The plan is to bring together a stack of basic apps that will be available as a free mobile phone operating system called Android, allowing much easier development of software for the platform. For the user that will hopefully mean we get a way better experience, and the capability of phones sees a big improvement.
5th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Radiohead Box
Parlophone are cashing in their chips now that Radiohead have jumped ship to XL. They are releasing a variety of Radiohead box-set type things, bringing together what seems to have been a 7 albums + 1 live album record deal into a variety of formats - a USB stick being the most 'inventive' - although the download version is a mere £5 less that the CD box, which seems strange.
£40 for 8 CDs isn't too bad, but frankly if you don't have the albums already you're a little late to the party.
5th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet
Free Swirlies
It seems to have been overlooked in all the Radiohead frenzy, but shoe-gazing Chimp favourite's the Swirlies seem to be giving away most of their records as downloads on their website. Check out Blonder Tongue Audio Baton, They Spent Their Wild Youthful Days in the Glittering World of the Salons and the Brokedick Car EP for starters.
5th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet