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Up On Cripple Creek
I had a crazy dream last night that I was put in charge of the Cripple Creek Ferry. After one successful crossing I managed to cause a breakdown by putting it into reverse too soon... just as Neil Young got on board.
17th Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Song Of The Day: II
E.T.A. by Damon & Naomi, from the album More Sad Hits.
Evergreen Daze sealed the fate of Damon & Naomi for me, with the words "That's some of my all time favourite shit, right there." I had wrongly assumed that things tailed off after the demise of Galaxie 500, so have been constantly thrilled at the uplifting sadness of these guys.
Plus, this track is available as a free mp3 on their website...
16th Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
The National
The gig-going marathon continued last night, with an excellent show by 2005 favourites The National at London's ULU. Totally engaging from start to finish, the 6 piece band were great, playing most of their current album Alligator, plus a handful of their older tracks. Review soon.
Still to come this week: The Breeders, The Wedding Present and the B.O.B. Dylan.
16th Nov 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
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The White Stripes
Alexandra Palace, London
People have been banging on about the White Stripes since way back when The Strokes were just a glint in Albert Hammond Snr's eye. It was only recently that I fully clicked with them being any good - with the song As Ugly As I Seem. Sure, Seven Nation Army is great, but the whole it's-recorded-on-genuine-analogue-equipement-that's-why-it-sounds-badly-produced vibe never did it for me. Pet Sounds, or Houses Of The Holy managed to get their levels right.
Anyway, suffice to say that when they are playing live, the whole recording/production thing becomes old news - as it's all the same volume, right in front of you. And it's LOUD. Who would have though that a guitar and drums could make such a thundering racket. 'Especially with (ahem) a girl hitting the skins'.
Jack White is a genuine band leader with a huge stage presence, and while he stomps around bossing Meg about, you do get the feeling it's just for show and the band really is equally indebted to both him and Meg. Her relentless, basic, pounding drumming really creates an atmosphere while he swaps guitars, tinkles on the piano or organ, and plays the Xylophone.
Yes, Blue Orchid and Seven Nation Army were stomping highlights, but tough versions of the Hardest Button To Button and Fell In love With A Girl also stood out, plus Meg singing on Passive Manipulation, the infectious simplicity of My Doorbell, or the superb Xylophone tune The Nurse and the sing-along (chorus only, see below) I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself.
Only downside was way too many people (8000+?), and a slight sense that the band had got too big too quick. While everyone new the tunes when Jack held up the mike for a sing-a-long, no one actually new the words...
CORRECTION: Jack White plays a marimba not a xylophone. They are similar, but the xylophone has a more harsh sound and doesn't have resonators. It's absolutely a marimba on the album. - CN
15th Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
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Even More Cowbell
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Speaker City
Eight year olds, dude.
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15th Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
All Tomorrow's Parties
Sleater-Kinney, Mudhoney and the mighty Ween are amongst the names curating the next ATP festival.... stay tuned for line-up info.
14th Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
R.A.R.E.
Checked out all-beef restaurant Rare on Saturday, and while it was good it certainly wasn't a patch on chimp favourites Peter Luger, or the Biftek from Bittet. They were playing Spoon however...
14th Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Poetry Corner
With another Henry Chinaski movie on the way (Factotum, with Matt Dillon), it looks like Charles Bukowski might be due another revival. On my travels I found this poem, which seems a lot shorter and sweeter than the self loathing of his books.
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11th Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Swirlies Take Off
Check out Red Leader's film for the classic Swirlies track You're Just Jealous.
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10th Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
White Stripes
Caught the White Stripes live show at Alexandra Palace last night. I have never seen two people make such a thundering noise. Plenty of great highlights. My snaps are a bit whack, but check surveillance for clips of Seven Nation Army and Blue Orchid.
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10th Nov 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Rodney Graham
More for my records than anything else, check out some info on artist Rodney Graham. I saw his film Vexation Island in 2002, and caught his live gig as part of the 2003 Frieze art fair (with Will Oldham worshipper Jeffrey Lewis). I just can never remember his name.
8th Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Song Of The Day: II
I Turned A Blind Eye by Bikini Atoll, from the excellent album Liar's Beware, currently schmoozing it's way into the Chimpomatic 'Best of 2005' list... Is this slowcore?
8th Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
MobiTunes
Another Motorola phone with iTunes... this time it's the Razrblade one.
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8th Nov 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Brown Bunny
Vincent Gallo's long awaited follow up to Buffalo 66 is finally out on DVD. The posters are great, the trailer looks awesome, but the sales dude in Fopp described it as "F&*%ing awful". He liked Buffalo 66 too. His advice was 'rent it, don't buy it', which is what I now intend to do...
3rd Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Jeff Wall
As pointed out by Evergreen Daze, the Rachel Whiteread show at Tate Modern is not as engaging as working in an actual warehouse, but the Jeff Wall show is excellent. The picture A Hunting Scene, 1994 seems to capture all the menace of Deliverance or Straw Dogs in a single frame.
2nd Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Song Of The Day: II
The First Big Weekend by Arab Strap, from The Week Never Starts Round Here. This track started a brief affair with Arab Strap which was never equally satisfied. Exercise caution.
2nd Nov 2005 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Sufjan Stevens
King's College, London
First trip to King's College Student Union tonight, and up to the 4th floor (Tokyo style!) for Tutu's bar. Classical music set the scene for tonight's 'Acoustic Evening With Sufjan Stevens', and beer was at student prices. No jelly vodka shots though.
Scottish opening act My Latest Novel start things off, and were sounding good but were unfortunately another case of 'listen but don't look'. A lack of experience and stage presence, mixed with a constant swapping around of who's playing what, plus one too many toy instruments failed to keep this chimp focused. They did sound OK though, and they almost certainly must know those Fence guys.
Sufjan Stevens and his gang took to the stage in semi-freaky Halloween masks, but the itchy feathers soon put an end to that. One album into his quest to record an album for every state, Sufjan Stevens was already distracted with the non-US State based Seven Swans, so it was good to see him sticking to his plan with the release of this year's Come On, Feel The Illinoise!. That album in particular has a tendency to use repeated compositions and melodies, meaning it can sometimes start to sound more like a movie soundtrack than an album proper... and that was reflected in the live show. Serial Killer classic John Wayne Gacy Jr. was a stand out for me and the show in general sounded great (just like the record!), but the lack of energy and too many songs with 80% of the band just standing still were a bit of a mood killer. Give me a shuffling, high kicking Bob Pollard any day.
For once it was a case of 'less cowbell', and 'more guitar, bass, drums and attitude'. Please.
1st Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
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Broken Flowers
(dir. Jim Jarmusch)
After being dumped by his current girlfriend, middle aged romeo Bill Murray takes to the road to look up his old girlfriends - in the hope of finding the writer of an anonymous letter informing him that he has a 20 year old son.
Some odd press had preceeded this film. All the reviews seemed complimentary, but it was generally getting around 3 out of 5. Being a big fan of Bill Murray (and the type of film where 'nothing much happens') this seemed like a high probability hit in the chimp camp. Jim Jarmusch has always had my respect, and for me he's been getting better and better - honing his ideas into a more engaging format.
As a result I was very surprised that in some ways this film seemed like a step away from the style of his more recent films (I'm thinking Ghost Dog) and back towards the slow, detached style of early films like Stranger Than Paradise and Down By Law. Even Down By Law had a bit of action, whereas this film really did seem incredibly slight. Bill Murray is pretty much left to his own devices, which is fine on one level as he's always watchable, but beyond the amusing tracksuits his character really didn't seem to have the depth and history that it needed. He seems to pop up in the lives of these women, give us no real insight into what they ever had together and then he gets home with no resolution.
Jessica Lange's pet psychologist provides a few laughs, Chloe Sevigny makes only the briefest of appearances, and only Jeffrey Wright really makes much of an impression. On the whole, pretty disappointing.
1st Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
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Sufjan Stevens
Caught the live acoustic/orchestral show by Detroit-wonderboy Sufjan Stevens last night at KCLSU. Student beer prices made things pretty enjoyable, and while there were no problems with the show (it was good, honest) it was all a little serious.
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1st Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
The BBC Rules
So, it looks like all those license fee hikes will soon be paying off, with news that the BBC will soon be making most of it's programming available as free downloads for seven days after it is broadcast. That would really put a fire under the download/iPod revolution, as well as saving a lot of heartache over missed episodes of Neighbours.
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1st Nov 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Good Stuff
Does anyone else find there are not enough crowd-surfing-hassidic-reggae superstars around?
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31st Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Total Prat
So, following the various tipster replies to my drinking conundrum, I hit the bars on Friday to try out a few new drinks. Was milliseconds away from ordering a Martini, when I saw Noilly Prat on the menu... which vaguely rang a bell as a particularly good Martini.
Classic semi-fact, which became primed and activated when the barman poured it and no mixing was involved. Just Vermouth on the rocks. Winston Churchill would have puked with shock. It actually wasn't that bad, but didn't really take much effect alcohol wise...
Next up was a Margarita. Another mis-step, as it was delivered in a Martini glass (my James Bond nightmares realised), and wasn't the frozen type I was expecting. After the set-backs I took a step back to the comfort zone with a couple of White Russians, and in the end it was actually a couple of large Gin & Tonics that did the trick. Perhaps I could quietly mutter 'slimline' when ordering...
31st Oct 2005 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Song Of The Day: II
I Summon You by Spoon. It's got a great 'this-excellent-album's-going-to-be-finished-soon' vibe.
31st Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Solid Gold
With an actual one-disc Greatest Hits on the way, the Beastie Boys have had a site overhaul... an are also offering Acapella tracks for all you aspiring Garageband remixers out there.
28th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Twist
The chimp art appreciation squad took a trip up Hackey Road for lunch yesterday to check out the excellent Barry McGee show at Modern Art Inc.
We've been big fans of Twist and Espo since the 2001 Venice Biennale, so it's always good to see new work. This one involved climbing through an upturned Transit van that was wedged in the entrance, then on into a huge room with mosaiced walls and a custom storage container, and a hidden room with TV's flashing and blaring.... Top marks.
Links
www.modernartinc.com
www.deitch.com
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28th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Chimpomatic Health Corner
Six weeks into a booze-a-thon, and with no end in sight, it seems that the hedonistic chimpomatic lifestyle might be taking it's toll and health issues may be rearing their ugly head. Suffering from slight but constant leg cramps (the likes of which haven't been seen since Art School Year 3 Term 3) prompted me to do some medical research and determine that poor circulation is the problem. Alcohol, caffeine and sugar are possible suspects. Tick. Tick. Tick.
So, the options seem to be:
1) Stop drinking.
2) Start using Cayenne powder. (Thanks Dr. Shultze!)
3) Find a different drink.
Unfortunately, 1 is not going to be possible on business grounds. I will certainly be knocking back a few Cayenne-laced Bloody Mary's (2), but there's only so much Tomato juice any man can take, particularly when not flying long-haul.
So, the search is on for a non-beer drink that will meet my criteria and improve circulation. Much as I love a Caucasian, that is simply not going to solve the problem, man. Rum (or Jack) and Coke has been a contender, but while that's an improvement in some ways, the increased sugar is a suspect in some pretty freaky nightmares. The salt in a Margarita would be good, but I'm thinking that 8 shots of tequila a night would have it's own connotations.
Suggestions please.
27th Oct 2005 - 7 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Road To Nowhere
The chimp theatre attack squadron checked out the play Road to Nowhere last night at The Hammersmith Lyric. Featuring the regulars from a Massachusetts low-income meal site for the elderly, the show basically revolves around old folks singing modern songs in their own way. One-trick-pony it might be, but it was hard not to be touched by 28 pensioners singing Forever Young.
As opposed to just the one pensioner who usually does it...
Links
www.youngatheartchorus.com
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26th Oct 2005 - 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.
24th Oct 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
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Alert Status
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How prepared is your city for a national emergency?
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24th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Set masher to stun
A follow up to the classic Darth Tater... Spud Trooper.
24th Oct 2005 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Hen & Chickens
More theatrics from chimp approved improv squad The Undersigned this Sunday night.
The Undersigned
at the Hen & Chickens Theatre Bar
109 St. Paul's Road
Islington
N1 2NA
9.15pm for one hour.
highbury & islington tube
Box Office 020 7704 2001
Tickets £6.00 plus £1 membership if you don't already have your card.
20th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
The National Tour
Chimp 75 favourite's The National are on a UK tour in November. Playing ULU in London. Don't miss it.
19th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Upcoming TV
Team Chimpomatic had an intensive night of TV previews last night. I (chimp75) think Lost Season 2 is getting better AND worse at the same time, Chris Rock's new Wonder Years style show, Everybody Hates Chris, about growing up in Brooklyn 1982 is pretty good, but Invasion (about an alien Invasion very unsurprisingly), was... unsurprising.
19th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Pettibon
More stuff about Black Flag cover artist/contemporary art darling Raymond Pettibon...
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19th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Empire On The South Bank
Chimpomatic had a pre-party trip down to the National Theatre on friday night to catch the outdoor screening of Andy Warhol's 1964 8-hour epic Empire. Projected on the massive concrete monolith the film created a great backdrop for a couple of beers. Coupled with the various amazing views of London in general it's well worth checking out. Every Friday in October.
Check out the surveillance section for our own Post-Post-Modern video take and some snaps.
18th Oct 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Song Of The Day: II
It's My Morning Jacket day today... due to the fact that I've been waiting for an actual new album to hit the shops for probably the first time since Radiohead. Having said that, today's Song of the Day is not from Z, but is their track Where To Begin from the Elizabethtown soundtrack.
Cameron Crowe may have a tendancy for schmaltz, but he knows his music and this track is ossum.
17th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Lyric Of The Day
Song of the Day will obviously be going to My Morning Jacket later on today... but Lyric of the Day goes to The National for this little masterpiece:
"My bodyguard shows her revolver to anyone who asks... And yeah she comes to attention when you come up to me too fast"
17th Oct 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Job Offer
If you play your cards right, your contract may be extended.
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14th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Spoon
Koko, Camden
Spoon are one of those bands who seem to have surfaced recently... but a bit of detective work reveals they've been around for years and years, quietly plugging away, doing their own thing.
After the utterly useless support band "Amusement Parks on Fire" shuffle their tedious, angst ridden, Kurt Cobain cardigan-wearing, trauma-feedback nonsense into the wings, Spoon hit the stage and straight away it's clear that they're a band with a lot of live experience. They're super tight and work the crowd well, with Richie Cunningham/Gary Busey (c. Big Wednesday) lookalike singer Britt Daniel exuding personality with his chat and semi-moonwalking sliding dances. They march through a lot of their latest album Gimme Fiction, with great drumming and Ice Hockey style keyboards (from a Vincent Gallo lookalike)... sounding a lot like an American 1960's band in the style of a British Invasion rock. Right at home on Nuggets in fact.
It's all over too fast, with a rousing encore finale of Ice Hockey Rock (TM) classic Small Stakes. Check the surveillance section for a clip.
13th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
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Dornier Amphibian Do-24ATT
Some cool pics in from Mike Watt's mailing list of the Indiana Jones style Dornier seaplane, dating from the 1930's and sitting in the dock in Pedro.
Links
www.dailybreeze.com
www.do-24.com
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13th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
One More Thing...
Apple geeks (yes, that includes us) are holding their breath today for what seems like the inevitable announcement of iPods with video playback. The big event is at 10am Cali time, so check www.apple.com later tonight.
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12th Oct 2005 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Naomi Petersen
Interesting article by Joe Carducci about some of the evolution of SST records over here.
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12th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
Jnr. Kong
King Kong might be 'uge, but it seems that Peter Jackson has got a lot more slimline...
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11th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
More Shining Stars
Been following up the fake-trailer type vibe for an actual work project, and managed to finally find the long missing Michael Mann fake-trailer classic Lucky Star, starring grizzly bear Benecio Del Toro. Also worth checking out is the BMW Films website.... Wong Kar Wai's The Follow (from Season 1) in particular. Registration required, but you can use a bogus address.
10th Oct 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet