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Pearl Jam
O2, London
With relatively few UK gigs under their belts, it's always nice to have Pearl Jam in town. Assuming they aren't one of your most hated bands, of course. As noted by the band, their first UK gig was at The Borderline in '92 - and they were often described as being 'full of energy'. Probably because they "only played eight songs" - a long way from tonight's three-hour-plus show in front of a packed house. So packed, that Eddie Vedder wisely hypnotized the crowd into taking a unified three steps back about four songs in, reminding everyone of why they were away from Europe for so long before.
With the band maturing gracefully, and the Ten reissue garnering such nostalgic praise, it's hard not to suspect that Pearl Jam may be winding things down somewhat. Tracks from imminent new release Backspacer didn't make much impact, while the set was packed with often overlooked tracks from the earliest (four) albums.
Surprise opener Release was a highlight, plus plenty of favourites from Vitalogy, the spine-tingling Footsteps, personal favourite Light Years - as well as obligatory singalongs Black and Betterman, plus the rousing encore of Crazy Mary.
While you might expect the enormodome proportions of the O2/Millenium Dome to make for a stale atmosphere, with the right band it makes for an exuberant party vibe. We're all here to see Pearl Jam, but with the beer stand so easy to get to you'd be foolish to pull the usual trick of backing up your toilet breaks to the end. And so evolves a new dilemma: where to take your break. With so many favourites flowing easily it's a tough descision, especially when unknown newer songs provoke a mass exodus/bigger queues. Like choosing which kid to throw out the boat first, I went with Rats, while BC chose lesser known b-side I Got ID and CJ bizarrely chose Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town. At least he was back quick.
If you hate them, you hate them, but if you love them you'll wish you had been there for a typically roof-raising performance from the definite 'grunge' (ha!) rockers.
Setlist:
Release
Animal
Corduroy
Why Go
Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
Immortality
The Fixer
Even Flow
I Got I.D.
Rats (with a bit of Michael Jackson' Ben)
Got Some
Whipping
Light Years
Insignificance
Black
Life Wasted
Blood (with a bit of Atomic Dog)
Supersonic
Hail Hail
Footsteps
Love, Reign O'er Me
Do The Evolution
Alive
Better Man (with a bit of Save It For Later)
Crazy Mary
Leaving Here
Porch
Yellow Ledbetter
I've put the best part of the setlist into a Spotify playlist here.
19th Aug 2009 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 4.5 star reviews
Promo Promo: Pink Mountaintops
Nice promo up for the Pink Mountaintops track Execution, form the recent album Outside Love.
18th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
QR Code
Here's an update on that QR Code snippet we ran yesterday .....chimpomatic.com encoded.
18th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
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GPush
The GPush application finally went on sale today, bringing Gmail instant-notification push email belatedly to the iPhone. £0.59 well spent in the App Store - get it here.
Of course, this makes it very likely that Google will flick the switch to enable it by default, as they have with the Android handsets and the Palm Pre...
17th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: The Big Pink
Currently getting very highly tipped, check out the promo for The Big Pink's single Dominos.
Another nice old-school promo from Timothy Saccenti, who did that Chairlift one.
17th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Untwisted Words
That new Radiohead single we blabbed about last week is official - and it's available for free right now, at both their webstore and Mininova, just in case even getting it off the man for free is too much to bear.
17th Aug 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Invaders!
Creative Review has a piece up abut the Invader show that's on at the Lazarides Gallery at the moment.
As well as the usual mosaic space invaders, the show includes Rubik's Cube versions of classic album covers and QR barcodes that you can scan with your phone. I had been meaning to write up something about that tech, but ...didn't. Data here.
17th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Rolling Stones: Season 1
Looks like HBO might be turning their hand at making a sitcom about the Rolling Stones. They have optioned manager Andrew Loog Oldham's autobiographies about his time with the band.
Hope they find room for this amusing incident with Bob Dylan getting picked up by the cops in Jersey - reportedly looking for The Boss's old house on Thunder Road or something...
17th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Magic Monkeys
The Arctic Monkeys/Oxfam tie-up we reported on last week just gets better and better. 40 of the 7" singles have been signed by the band, and two include a 'golden ticket' to see the band at the Reading/Leeds festival. I've never seen so much incentive to donate.
17th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Cave Singers
Welcome Joy
Matador
Rising from the ashes of Pretty Girls Make Graves, the Cave Singers have quickly expended beyond the success of that band and carved out a nice niche for themselves. Debut record Invitation Songs was an unknown quantity, bringing a certain mystery and uniqueness that was initially a little difficult to crack. Was it a guy singing? A girl? Marge Simpson? Are they taking the piss? Once those initial questions had settled down a little, the record settled in to become an easy stand-out of 2007.
There's certainly less mystery to this new record, but instead just a welcome anticipation that this is going to be good record. On first listen there's certainly little disappointment, but the initial reaction is 'here's some more Cave Singers' - 10 new tracks that sound like a direct expansion on the first album. Repeated listening quickly dispels that simple notion.
Over the course of opener Summer Light and second song Leap, the album ramps up to a higher tempo than Invitation Songs and it never looks back. The eclectic folky sound of the debut is subtly pulled back, stripping away some of the washboard and the melodica influence and giving way to a more traditional rock sound. That sound is bolstered by the production of Colin Stewart, who returns to man the decks after the debut, plus stints producing favourites including Black Mountain and Ladyhawk.
As the record settles in, the evolution of the band's sound starts to emerge, with them now sounding somewhat more grown into their sound. Songs are belted out with a more self-assured style and what was something of a novelty with the first record is now the definitive sound of an accomplished band. Songs like Townships, At The Cut (mp3 here), Beach House (mp3 here) and VV have an instant familiarity, sounding like old classics that you haven't heard in a while.
Warm, nostalgic, rocking and powerful - this is the ghost of Fleetwood Mac, channeled through the Pacific Northwest with magnificent success.
15th Aug 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
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Promo Promo: Stardeath and White Dwarfs with the Flaming Lips
Drop some acid and check out this trippy new video from Stardeath And White Dwarfs. The psychedelic clip is directed by the Flamig Lips' own Wayne Coyne - easy to arrange if he's your uncle.
The band (Stardeath, not The Flaming Lips) will be headlining a show on the 14th of September at the Islington Academy. Tickets here.
Their album is garnering high praise from Team Chimpomatic here.
13th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Beautiful Losers
Aaron Rose's Beautiful Losers movie is finally coming to the UK, with screenings at the ICA followed by a DVD release through Revolver on August 24th. Buy your copy here.
The Guardian has a piece on the film and the scene it documents, focusing on Barry McGee's tragically deceased wife - the artist Margaret Kigallen.
An exhibition inspired by and featuring some of the artists starts on August 17th at Watch This Space, Unit 11, The Market, London WC2.
13th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Radiohead: Are These My Twisted Words?
This 'leaked' on Radiohead's forum. Sounds pretty genuine to me - and fits in with Thom Yorke's 'no albums for a while, but some bit's and bobs' type comments in his interview with The Believer.
13th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Usual Cylons
Not sure we need another re-boot (if this is a re-boot), but it seems that Bryan Singer is in talks to direct a big-screen version of 80's / 00's classic Battlestar Galactica. No word on Dirk Benedict's availability as yet.
13th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Top References
References don't come better than that. Literally watching Midnight Run as we speak.
- "I think I'll have the steak - what about you?"
- "I'm not hungry"
- "Well, why don't you get the lobster, then I can get a little surf-and-turf going"
10th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
10 Tips From Shane Black
Just stumbled across this entertaining how-to guide for action movies, from Hollywood screenwriting legend Shane Black.
In Kiss Kiss Bang Bang I had a character playing Russian roulette. He put a single bullet in a gun and spun the chamber. The tension built - and then he blew his own brains out.
7th Aug 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Dave
Turns out Dave isn't just the son of Mr Mohumbai, but a stand-up comedian in his own right.
Check out Arj Barker's website and Twitter page.
6th Aug 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Out Of The Shadows
New DJ Shadow website up, featuring a download store with tons of classic radio shows, mixes and what not - as well as beefed up editions of his classic, and not-so-classic albums.
6th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
7 Worlds Collide
More supergroup news. The 7 Worlds Collide project, featuring Neil Finn, Johnny Marr, Jeff Tweedy and some non-Thom Yorke members of Radiohead amongst others have a charity album on the way, and you can listen in now over at Myspace.
Nice cover too.
6th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
New Age
Fuzzbox favourites No Age have a new EP on the way - and you can listen to Losing Feeling in it's entirety over at Sub Pop.
6th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: The Lovely Bones
Trailer up for Peter Jackson's new movie - The Lovely Bones. It gives me the shudders, as the title and concept just make me think of What Dreams May Come - a strong contender for worst movie of all time.
5th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Them Crooked Vultures
New rock supergroup on the way, featuring Dave Grohl on drums, Josh Homme on guitar and John Paul Jones on bass. Wonder what they'll sound like?
5th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Project-o-cam
The future's been on the horizon for quite a while now, but gadgets like the new Nikon S1000PJ camera make it seem closer. No, it's not a Pearl Jam edition, but they tiny camera does contain a built in projector for throwing your recently taken photos up on a wall, like a 21st century family slideshow.
Fingers crossed and maybe they'll put one of these in the next iPhone.
5th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Radiohead: Harry Patch (In Memory Of)
The charity singles are coming thick and fast this morning. Radiohead have a new single available at their website in tribute to Harry Patch, the last remaining WWI trenches veteran who died last week. The single costs £1, with all proceeds going to the British Legion.
The Guardian has the details. More info at Radhiohead's website.
#CSF
#CurrentAffairs
#Music
#Websites
5th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Absent Friends
Some fitting tributes coming in as MCA continues with his cancer treatment. Absent, but not forgotten at last weekend's All Point West festival.
Coldplay also gave Billie Jean a nod.
5th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Arctic Monkeys at Oxfam
In one of the more original and thoughtful promotional tie-ins for a while, the Arctic Monkeys will be selling their new single Crying Lightning through Oxfam's network of 700 shops.
The ‘Crying Lightning’ 7” will cost £2.99, and each single will come with a download code allowing fans to get an MP3 version of the songs for free.
More than 600 Oxfam shops across the country sell second-hand music – double the total number of independent record shops in the UK*. The charity sells around £6 million of music every year, enough to fund its entire programme in Indonesia for a year, buy 187,000 emergency shelters, or provide safe water for 8 million people.
Domino and Arctic Monkeys are also calling on music fans to bring in any unwanted albums or singles to their local Oxfam shop when they pick up their copy of the single, to help Oxfam keep turning yesterday’s hits into vital funds for years to come.
More info:
www.oxfam.org.uk/arcticmonkeys
www.dominorecordco.com
www.arcticmonkeys.com
4th Aug 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Oneida On Tour
Brooklyn's nouveau psychedelic rockers Oneida are bring their latest 3-hour epic Rated O to the UK.
August 16 Manchester, Islington Mill w/Teeth Of The Sea 8pm, £9 adv
August 17 Brighton, Prince Albert w/My Device + Teeth Of The Sea 8pm, £8 adv
August 18 London, Garage w/Mugstar + Teeth Of The Sea 7pm, £10 adv
August 19 Bristol, The Croft w/Cardinal Fuzz + Teeth Of The Sea 8pm, £7 adv
August 20 Cork, Crane Lane Theatre Midnight show, free entry
August 21 Belfast, Black Box w/What What + Bop Yestrum DJs 8pm, £10 adv
August 22 Dublin, Whelans 7.30pm, €15 adv
Get more Oneida (and other Jagjaguwar bands) info in the Jagjaguwar podcast.
4th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Julien Plenti
Julien Plenti Is ...Skyscraper
Matador
I'm not sure if I'd just temporarily had enough of Interpol, but 2007's major label debut Our Love To Admire failed to engage me. Tracks (and lyrics) like 'No I In Threesome' or 'Rest My Chemistry' just made the band seem like parodies of themselves - making it easy to imagine a Saturday Night Live sketch with Will Ferrell singing his shopping list, Interpol style. I just wasn't in the mood and after a few attempts it slipped away into the abyss.
Lead singer Paul Banks is back with the band's original label - Matador - for his first solo record, under the guise of alter-ego Julien Plenti. Banks had performed under the name prior to joining Interpol in 1998 and returns to the moniker here perhaps in an attempt to to scale back the arena-baiting sound of the band's recent work. While Banks' distinctive vocals certainly define the album, it's not a simple case of lumping this in with Interpol's main body of work.
The distinctive Interpol fuzz bass is often present, and pounding drums echo around Fun That We Have and to a certain extent Games For Days (unsurprisingly drummed by Interpol stick man Sam Fogarino), but the songs maintain a more low-key approach throughout, roughing up some of the over-applied polish of later Interpol. Banks' vocals are never quite unleashed to their full volume, but songs like No Chance Survival, the strings of Girl On The Sporting News or stand-out freebie Fun That We Have show another side to Banks that works very nicely.
While this makes is a nice addition to the Interpol cannon, the record does lack wallop in places - and the aforementioned thumping drums of old favourites Obstacle #1 or Not Even Jail would certainly add a bit of clout. Hopefully this side-project will give the day-job a re-boot and we'll leave that for Interpol #4 - I'm in the mood again now.
4th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 3 star reviews
Trailer Park: The Fantastic Mr. Fox
I'm not too familiar with the Roald Dahl book, but I would certainly say that Wes Anderson could do with a bit more guidance with his stories .....so The Fantastic Mr Fox could work out nicely.
Clooney and Bill Murray amongst the voices. Trailer here.
31st Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
SKY+HD 3D ADSL XBOX
Sky has announced their plans to roll out 3D TV next year, via the existing Sky+ HD box. You'll need special comedy glasses of course, but unfortunately you'll also need a new TV.
Tucked away in the announcement is the new that Sky will also be adding Video-on-demand to the Sky+ box in 2010, which will hopefully include the iPlayer...
The Guardian has the details.
Update: Some sniffing around also unearthed the Sky Player / Xbox tie-up, allowing you to watch your Sky content via XBOZ. Could be handy for that upstairs bedroom.
31st Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Alien vs Russell Crowe
Looks like Ridley Scott is going to be taking a crack at re-re-booting the Alien franchise, signing on to direct a prequel. No word on what part Russell Crowe will be playing as yet.
Writer Jon Spaihts is having a pretty incredible career, with nothing produced, but 5+ scripts in development.
Variety has the story.
31st Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Pimp/Unpimp My Ride
Turn your car into a low-budget Transformer (AKA 2010 Transformers Special Edition Chevy Camaro) with this kit.
31st Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Pearl Jam Egghunt
Pearl Jam's new album Backspacer (due Sept 20th) features artwork by comic artist Tom Tomorrow. Head over to his site for some info and you'll see an easter egg hunt across the internet to piece together the cover. Get all nine pieces and you'll get a free download...
31st Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
25 Things You Didn't Know About Me
I'm not entirely sure what a meme is, but this could be one. The 25 Things You Didn't Know About Me craze has been sweeping the net for a while, and I've been meaning to rustle up a list for Chimpomatic, but haven't had time. More suggestions in the comments please.
1. I don't know what a meme is.
2. I like Pearl Jam.
30th Jul 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Judgement Day: An Update
Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man
30th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Lightning Dust
Infinite Light
Jagjaguwar
The Black Mountain Army are proving to be nothing if not consistent. Since releasing Black Mountain's barn-storming In The Future in 2008, the contributors have been working steadily through their alter egos - with Pinkmountaintops putting out the excellent Outside Love and now alumni Amber Webber and Joshua Wells releasing a second album under the Lightning Dust moniker. I'm expecting a breakthrough album from Blood Meridian next.
Webber's contribution to Black Mountain is not to be over-looked, with her sultry vocals pulling the band back from the brink of parody and adding a mournful sound to the mix. Her vocals also supplied some of the highlights on Outside Love - and she was sorely missed on the supporting tour. With Lightning Dust however, Webber is firmly centre stage - taking on the majority of the writing, as well as guitar and 95% of the vocals.
Where the self titled debut was spare and sultry, Infinite Light is a more filled out and polished affair - much like the latest albums from the previously mentioned strands - and that extra push pays out rich rewards. Where Lightning Dust occasionally strained or became just too sparse, Inifinte Light sweeps and soars, showing a much wider range. Opener Antonia Jane is a country-tinged affair, obligitary lead-free-download I Knew adds some catchy low-key disco electronics and is notable for Well's superb drumming, while the piano-led The Times even threatens to become a sing-a-long. There are mysterious synthesizers and luscious strings, which all add up to a strangely epic vibe - for what is still essentially a small, self-contained record. There's a consistency and clarity here that would make a perfect soundtrack, probably to a modern day western or double crossin' film noir.
That 5% of the vocals that Webber doesn't cover is where this album loses it's half star - momentarily slipping towards that musical theatre vibe as the male vocals intrude on Honest Man. So while the variations are welcome to a certain extent, it's still the mournful voice of Webber that scores the highlights here - leading us effortlessly through the swell of History, the pounding balladry of Wondering What Everyone Knows or the flawless closer Take It Home, which perfectly sums up everything good about this excellent band. Great drums, moody bass, strings that could go on forever and a soaring, epic vocal performance that will put shivers down your spine.
Unmissable.
30th Jul 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 4.5 star reviewsExtra Wilco Dates
With the London Troxy show in August now sold out, Wilco have added to new dates to a return tour scheduled for November. Do these guys ever stop touring?
More info at Wilco World.
NOV-03 LEEDS, UKLEEDS ACADEMY
NOV-04 LONDON, UKTHE FORUM
NOV-06 BRUSSELS, BEANCIENNE BELGIQUE
NOV-07 WEISSENHAUSER STRAND, DEFERIENPARK, ROLLING STONE WEEKENDER
NOV-08 COPENHAGEN, DKROYAL THEATRE
NOV-11 ZURICH, CHVOLKSHAUS
NOV-13 FLORENCE, ITTEATRO DELLA PERGOLA
NOV-14 MILAN, ITCONSERVATORIO, MILAN: W/SPECIAL GUEST GRIZZLY BEAR
NOV-16 AMSTERDAM, NLPARADISO
NOV-17 EINDHOVEN, NLEFFENAR
29th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Purefold
Strange goings-on from Ridley Scott's AG8/Free Scott partnership, as they try to group think entertainment and marketing through the Purefold project. If you get a handle on it, please explain in the comments.
29th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Electrosmog
Allergic to WIFI? DJ Steve Miller claims he is, and it's hardly an implausible thought. I shudder to think what colour the atmosphere would be if all the waves we pump out weren't invisible.
29th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
iLSD
Interesting article up over at The Huffington Post, publishing a letter from LSD inventor Albert Hofmann to Apple boss Steve Jobs - asking for some help in re-purposing his product.
29th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Lunar Rover!
Great variation on that Beastie Boys driving game we reported on last month - here's an official Lunar Rover simulator, which lets you cruise around the Apollo landing sites ...and in fact, the entire moon.
UPDATE: Try the Lunar Lander too.
28th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Tron-a-thon
I remember seeing Tron in 1982. It was alright. Clever, and Jeff Bridges was cool - but a bit boring (check out the original trailer). Let's just forget about Steven Lisberger's later films, especially Slipstream.
All that seems to have been erased by the geeks though, who hold it as some holy grail of greatness - so with Comic-con last week, some more details were unveiled about the upcoming sequel - now titled Tron Legacy - and the anticipation and hype is building quickly.
Here's some titbits:
- Daft Punk seem to be doing the soundtrack - and then may or may not be touring to support it.
- Kevin Flynn lives on at this 1990's style website, which appeared a couple of months ago and now hosts HD downloads of the new concept footage (embedded below) amongst other things.
- Flynn's arcade has been re-created, where you can play a load of 80's style games.
28th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Rock-a-likes
Not quite sure how similar these really are, as most of them just happen to be in a similar pose - but there's some humour to be had from Rolling Stone's rock-a-likes photo comparisons.
28th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Rhys Darby? Present.
Murray Hewitt, AKA comedian Rhys Darby wants you to take global warming seriously. Head over to sign on and show your support.
He's also performing live in London for a few nights, then off to Edinburgh (tickets here). More details via The Independent and The Times.
27th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
SpotifiPhone
Spotify have announced an iPhone version of their excellent music streaming program - and have submitted the app to Apple for approval. Assuming it gets accepted, this could be a possible game changer for me, as the thought of owning any more CDs now has zero appeal. This thing requires a premium Spotify account, which will set you back £1 a day or £10 a month, but that will provide access to several million tracks - and no ads.
Spotify are also planning a US roll-out of their service. More info at WIRED.
27th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Simulated Red Carpet
Nikon won a bronze lion award at the Cannes Advertising Festival for this red carpet simulation in a Seoul shopping mall, which fires off the flashes when someone walks past. Make sure your hand luggage is that flashy handbag we talked about.
27th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Tony Kaye vs Seth Rogan
Advertising bad-boy Tony Kaye has been making some tentative steps back towards Hollywood, following the debacle surrounding American History X.
He's made a short film in support of Kevin Smith's Zach & Miri Make A Porno feature, which you can watch over at Vimeo.
24th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet