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Humans from above
Following on from his excellent photos of London from above (1 / 2), The Big Picture have a series of Jason Hawkes aerial photos from all around the world. Check out his website too.
30th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
6,000,000 FPS
If only Douglas Gordon and Mogwai had waited a little longer, they could have filmed Zidane at 6,000,000 frames per second for some proper slow motion, thanks to this new camera tech.
30th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Zweiphone
Loving the old-school mod for the iPhone. Downgrade today.
29th Apr 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Squaremin
The Theramin lives! Check out this latest iteration of the movement-based instrument, The Squaremin.
29th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Wilco (The Album)
Details up over at Rolling Stone about Wilco's new album - bizarrely title Wilco (The Album). If that's not wacky enough for you it will include Wilco (The Song) - "a great, upbeat song professing our love for our fans.".
The album is out in late June, but Rolling Stone have already heard some of it. And they like it.
Full tracklist:
01 Wilco the Song
02 Deeper Down
03 One Wing
04 Bull Black Nova
05 You and I
06 You Never Know
07 Country Disappeared
08 Solitaire
09 I'll Fight
10 Sunny Feeling
11 Everlasting
29th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
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Bananaz
Probably not as pro-Gorillaz as I should be as a writer for Chimpomatic, but still mildly interested in the Bananaz documentary, covering the rise of the imaginary band. You can watch the whole thing over at Babelgum.
28th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Jam On
Chimpomatic CSF/BC/CJ favourites Pearl Jam will be in the UK & Europe for a short run of shows in August, before promising to return in support of their forthcoming new album -currently scheduled for this Autumn.
Concerts are scheduled to take place August 13th in Rotterdam, August 15th in Berlin, August 17th in Manchester (M.E.N.) and August 18th in London (o2).
Tickets on sale to fan club members now, and the general public from Friday May 8th. The question is, how many Pearl Jam fan club members does it take to sell out the o2? We shall see.
28th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Hobbit 2
The much-delayed Hobbit movies seem to have hit another hurdle, with the initial plan to create an all-new story bridging The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings being shelved, in favour of a two-part Hobbit-only movie. Sounds like this cash-in may be heading for a meltdown.
28th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Pinkmountaintops
Outside Love
Jagjaguwar
While best described as a Black Mountain side-project, Pink Mountaintops' debut record in fact preceded that of Black Mountain - but with the epic, note-perfect release of 2007's In The Future, Black Mountain is now firmly established as the main project, while Pink Mountaintops retains a distinctly more casual vibe, blending laid-back, bluesy riffs, with campfire vocals and the occasional burst of lo-fi disco rock.
Opener Axis: Thrones of Love is Pink Mountaintops-plus and sets the tone for much of the record with its slow pace, big drums and mellow harmonies. As expected, this is a more developed release than the previous two Pink Mountiantops records - and much as In The Future expanded Black Mountain's sound and pushed them into a new league, Outside Love attempts to do the same. The songs are bigger, more polished and more produced - while still eschewing that note-perfect precision of In The Future, instead opting for a more laid-back affair - more along the country-honk lines of Sticky Fingers than the technical perfection of Van Halen. It's also a good ten minutes longer than either of the previous Pink Mountaintops records - at a whopping 43 minutes.
With the band's higher profile comes a more extensive roster of guests on the record and guest spots are provided here for Godspeed You! Black Emperor's Sophie Trudeau, Jackie O Motherfucker's Josh Stevenson and Superconductor's Keith Parry amongst others. However, it's Black Mountain regular Amber Webber who makes the most notable contribution here - adding her atmospheric vocals to the excellent While We Were Dreaming, which recalls her own Lightning Dust album. Title track Outside Love is one notable disappointment on the record, promising much but never quite delivering, with the lumbering guest vocals from sunnO)))'s Jesse Sykes dragging it down. Luckily the damage is quickly repaired by album stand-out, I Thank You which builds on all the band's strengths, recalling Exile On Main St-era Stones and channeling the aforementioned country-honk in just the right places. The Gayest Of Sunbeams offers a break from the honkytonk and heads back into the disco-rock territory that the band explored with the likes of Bad Boogie Ballin' or more recent single Single Life, before the epic finale of Closer To Heaven.
Make no mistake, this is a great record that is a major move forward from the band's previous efforts, but it's missing that magic ingredient that lifted Black Mountain from 'great' to 'unmissable', and for that I can't help but feel mildly disappointed. Of course, this should come as no surprise in the context of The Pinkmountaintops' previous efforts and in fact even follows the step-up attitude that lifted the Black Mountain mothership's recent masterpiece up ahead of their prior work.
Outside Love was never going to topple In The Future from the throne and it has no intention of trying. This is a totally different beast and on its own terms it's another very successful effort.
28th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 4 star reviewsReverse Dylan
Just finished watching Todd Hayne's underwhelming Dylan biopic I'm Not There - and while the great visual style of the movie may be smothered by the sense of actors-doing-impressions, the range of coverage it gives Dylan's career is impressive.
Anyway, here's a Spotify playlist I've knocked up to reverse-code the songs featured on the soundtrack back to Dylan's original where possible (with the exception of I Can't Leave Her Behind, which Spotify didn't have). You've got to figure that these band's will have covered some of their favourite tracks, which can't make a bad compilation.
Read my original review of the sound track here.
27th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Yes, No, Similar
Google's new similar images feature is a pretty interesting addition to their image search. Turning away from the more image title or context-based results, the technology alayzes the actual imge content and bring backs matches based on composition and colour. The bottom line is that it makes it very clear how everybody takes the same picture (see Notre Dame), even the pros (see Paris Hilton).
27th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
D.I.Y. Air Traffic Contol
Ever wanted to push tin from the comfort of your own home? Flygradar.nu might be the answer, cleverly using flight info and Google maps to simulate real scheduled flights.
24th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Chimp Vans
A little less punk-rock than anticipated, but it doesn't get much better than Chimps + Skateboards + Vans.
24th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
What Happened To The Conchords?
With Season 2 finished in the US and about to start on BBC4 - the Flight of the Conchords were scheduled to have a second album out last week, possible entitled I Told You i Was Freaky. There's now no mention of an exact release date on the Sub Pop website, although the weekly tracks from the show are available in the US iTunes store.
While we're waiting, head over to HBO.com and watch some funny video clips - notably Dave's starring role in the "Mohumbhai & Sons" TV spot.
24th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Ad Nauseum: Gucci
Nice ad up for Gucci perfume, directed by former bad boy Chris Cunningham. It's a pretty mainstream ad, but nicely retains some of Cunningham's signature strangeness.
23rd Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Pocket HD
The pocket handycam market has been picking up momentum recently, with Flip's original product selling huge amounts - not to mention fitting the bill on the recent chimp snow tour. Flip now have an HD version, which fits 720p in your pocket - and Kodak are amongst the brands offering similar rivals.
With more and more point-and-shoot pocket cameras now featuring HD video (try these: 1, 2) however, the market may be absorbed before it gets going - and rumours are already placing video recording and uploading into the next iPhone.
23rd Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Get Heavy
2007 favourite's The Heavy have a new album, The House That Dirt Built, in the pipeline - and you can download the first single for free. Oh No! Not You Again is available here, with guest vocals from The Noisettes' Shingai Shonowa.
23rd Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: M. Ward + Breeders
New clips up for Buddy Holly cover Rave On, by M. Ward and The Breeders roller-hockey fight-fest Fate to Fatal, from their new EP.
22nd Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Speed of Sound Tour
Lebowskifest are running a whole tour of events this year, with the Metallica-esque Speed of Sound Tour hitting venues up and down the West coast of the US. Check out their re-vamped site - if only to enjoy the posters, man.
22nd Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Faster Than A Speeding Bullet
If you thought Japan's current fleet of Bullet Trains were fast, check out their latest development. The latest Shinkansen innovation will use magnetic levitation to travel at around 310 kmph - which would get you from LA to San Francisco in 60 minutes.
22nd Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Minotaur Pixies
Turns out that rumoured Pixies album isn't a new Pixies album after all - just a mega-deluxe re-issue of their previous work. No remastering, possibly no bonus tracks - but definitely a whole bunch of new artwork by original designers/photographers Vaughan Oliver and Simon Larbalestier. And some under-graduate design students.
Luxury release specialists Artists in Residence are in charge of the box - called Minotaur, and due on June 15th for a considerable sum of money.
22nd Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: Friendship
Nice promo up for The Graveyard Shift, by Friendship. Single out through the Too Pure singles club.
21st Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Lost Timeline Theory
Pretty compelling theory up over at Time Loop Theory, providing one possible explanation for where things are heading with Lost. It's well considered and covers most of the bases - and has actually been evolving and becoming more relevant since way back around season 2....
21st Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Get Sonic
Sonic Youth's new album The Eternal arrives on June 8th and they've already posted lead track Sacred Trickster for free download on the Matador blog - as well as details of a not-too-secret show at The Scala in London on April 27th.
You can pre-order the album through Matador's Buy Now Get Early program and start listening from April 28th.
21st Apr 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Evil Lairs
Co-incidentally just in time for the Quantum of Solace DVD release, check out this Google Earth map of the MI5 bases, Casinos and evil lairs from all the James Bond movies.
21st Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Snow Centre
There's a new indoor snow slope opening in May - based at the much more chimp accessible Hemel Hempstead.
Ten snow cannons have already churned out 80 tonnes of snow, ready for the opening day on May 6th.
20th Apr 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: Richard Swift
Slightly creepy promo up for Lady Luck, from Richard Swift's latest album - The Atlantic Ocean.
17th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Shiver Me Timbers!
A Swedish court has decided that the four operator's of torrent site The Pirate Bay are guilty as charged and has despatched them to Davy Jones' Locker. They have also been ordered to pay a fine of £4.5 million (dubloons)....
Wired / BBC / Bizarre Pirate map
From Peter The Pirate's Twitter stream:
Really, it's a bit LOL. It used to be only movies, now even verdicts are out before the official release.
As a side note, legal downloading has doubled since the recent introduction anti-file sharing laws.
17th Apr 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Great Swimming
We're enjoying the new Great Lake Swimmers album Lost Channels in Chimp HQ today. Top of the best sellers on eMusic too and flying medium high on Amazon.
16th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
All New Chimpomatic
If you remember the Ronin battle cry of 2007, you'll be well aware that this new version of Chimpomatic has been in the pipeline for a very long time. That doesn't mean it hasn't been an evolving blueprint however - and we're happy to launch today with a raft of new features.
The new layout opens the site up more, with the homepage featuring a run-down of all news, reviews and articles. From there you can filter down to just news, reviews or articles - and from each item you can follow links to see related items, other items by that author, similar ratings, record labels and more. Tagging is also a new feature, letting you call up all items under a particular franchise or tag (e.g. Trailer Park) and there are also more links out of each item - including Last FM and Spotify for reviews.
The site now features a vastly improved search engine, with more ordering options for filtering results - and more features coming for that throughout the year.
Surveillance has probably seen the biggest overhaul, leveraging the power of Flickr to upload more photos, quicker - and then sort by sets (e.g. Mudhoney @ The Forum), tags (e.g. Dead TVs), dates and more. Video is also at a higher res and we'll hopefully be using that more thoroughly.
You might also notice the occasional ad here and there - but most likely if you arrive from a search engine (or maybe you left a comment on The Hunches review).
And finally, update your RSS feeds as we have a whole host of new feeds for different aspects of the site: All Content + Comments, News, Reviews, Articles, Comments as well as Comments for each specific item.
The site might run a little slow while we get up to speed and there's still some lumpy code behind the curtain, but over the next few weeks we'll be finessing that to get the site running as fast and smooth as possible. We're also working to get as many of the new features as possible compatible with all browsers. Firefox and Safari will always get the best response though, thanks for asking.
If you're on the chimp team and have feedback, drop me a line. If you're just an angry civilian, leave your hate mail in the comments.....
Enjoy!
C.S.F.
15th Apr 2009 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
No Linear On The Horizon
Creative Review have an article up about the recent Anton Corbijn/U2 collaboration Linear, from the deluxe box of U2's latest album No Line On The Horizon. It's a film that you can watch while listening the the album, starring possible LOST religious-cult member Said Taghmaoui.
14th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Insider
(dir. Michael Mann)
Touchstone
After an unfair dismissal from his scientist job at a big tobacco company, Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) intends to honor his confidentiality agreement - until the company's bullying tactics compel him to speak to 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino).
Then: Something of a departure for shootout specialist Michael Mann, The Insider blended a great script, fantastic cinematography and superb acting. Al Pacino puts in the kind of shouting-free performance that is now a distant memory, while Russell Crowe was nominated for an Oscar for his submerged portrayal of the troubled protagonist.
Now: There might be little action in the conventional Michael Mann sense, but that doesn't mean he can't expertly draw suspense out of the smallest details - a child having a dust reaction, a conversation by fax. While it may be short on guns, this film has been described as "Mann's most fully realised work" - and it is perhaps his most flawless.
As usual with Mann's movies, the scale of this film is almost undefinable. There's never any question of sets, or repeated locations and no scene is anything short of measured and perfect. A house-bound scene where Pacino arranges the West's first interview with Hezbollah ends in him opening the curtains to reveal a wide shot of a middle eastern city. A windscreen wiper, a slow-motion golf ball. Every shot is perfectly considered, building up the intense pressure and unique atmosphere - helped in great part by the excellent music.
So, cigarettes are bad for you? No shit, but when the actual facts come out in the interview you will be shocked - as well as saddened by the tangible cost of telling the truth.
10th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 5 star reviews
Promo Promo: The National & Yeasayer
Couple of promos up from the Dark Was The Night compilation, directed by The National's cohort Vincent Moon. The National's So Far Around The Bend up top, Yeasayer's Knotty Pine below.
3rd Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: Max Tundra
Promo up for Max Tundra's current single Which Song. Shot in one take for £22 apparently. And the money's all on the screen.
2nd Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Man of Aran
British Sea Power are following in the footsteps of Giorgio Moroder and re-scoring a classic film. It's not Metropolis this time, but the 1934 documentary Man of Aran.
The DVD will be out (with a CD of the soundtrack) on May 18th - and the band will also be performing the soundtrack live as the film plays at the Southbank Centre on Thursday 23rd April.
1st Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Pseudo Mission To Mars
No one's quite sure how man would handle the multi-month schlep out to Mars, with suspected muscle wastage and cabin fever would be among the chief concerns.
There's one way to find out however: lock three volunteers in a mock-up capsule in Moscow and lock the door for three months. That's an edition of Big Brother I'd like to see.
The test is just a warm-up for a 500 day test later this year. The Telegraph has the full story.
1st Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: The Veils
Video up for the new single from The Veils - The Letter. New album Sun Gangs arrives next week.
They're going on tour too:
Apr 15 London Dingwalls
Apr 16 Brighton The Hope
Apr 17 Guilford Boiler Room
Apr 18 Reading Oaskford Social Club
Apr 20th Nottingham Bodega
Apr 21 Manchester Ruby Lounge
Apr 22 Cardiff Barfly
Apr 23 Birmingham Rainbow
Apr 24 Preston Mad Ferret
Apr 25th Glasgow V Club
31st Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
SkyPhone
A free Skype App has landed for the iPhone, meaning Skype-sized phone bills for calls to exotic numbers - or free calls to Skype buddies. It only works over WIFI, but with the free WIFI cover you get thrown in with the O2 package that's not much of a hurdle.
31st Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Re-check Your Head
Hot on the heels of the Paul's Boutique re-issue comes another magnum opus from the Beastie Boys. 1992's Check Your Head will be back in stores from April in a variety of formats, featuring a wealth of era b-sides - most notably Netty's Girl, Skills To Pay The Bills and So What'cha Want with Cypress Hill.
30th Mar 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Where The Wild Things Are
Trailer up for Spike Jonzes' long-in-development adaptation of kids book 'Where The Wild Things Are'. The jury's out on this one, it all looks a bit Dark Crystal for me. Tony Soprano in a muppet suit anyone?
More data here: www.wherethewildthingsare.com
27th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: King Creosote / Pssap
Former Chimpomatic favourite King Creosote is back with a new album - Flick The Vs - out on Domino on April 20th. Check out the video to first single Coast On By.
And here's a creepy promo for Pssap's new single I Want That - out March 30th, also on Domino.
27th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
R.I.P. Virgin Megastore
It's not just the UK Virgin Megastores that have disappeared - the US branches of the chain are now going to way of the Zavvi and shutting up shop.
Apparently the basement of the epic Times Square brach is now a graveyard of unwanted tat - depressing, as it was once a haven for desirable US-only booty. Of course, I haven't actually bothered going in there since Laserdisc ruled and the only stuff on DVD was Batman (Tim Burton re-imaginated version) and Goodfellas (turn-it-over-in-the-middle-non-anamorphic-edition).
#CSF
#CurrentAffairs
#Film
#Music
26th Mar 2009 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Chimp GPS
Like we needed a New Scientist article to confirm that chimps have built-in GPS.
26th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Deluxe Radiohead
I'm not sure how this one has slipped under the net (especially under Pitchfork's adoring net), but Radiohead's first 3 albums have hit the stores in super-deluxe multi-CD format.
Pablo Honey now includes double the amount (198%) of filler, while Kent Clark cut-off album The Bends pulls in a wealth of B-sides and OK Computer compiles all that great stuff that has just been re-released through the How Am I Driving EP. There's also DVD stuff.
Available now in the Chimpomatic store....
25th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: 1990s and Camera Obscura
Rough Trade band the 1990's have a new single and video - 59 - while 4AD's new signings Camera Obscura are back with a new mobile-phone-commercial-friendly single - French Navy, out April 13th.
25th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Skate or die: Fully Flared
After UNKLE provided the music for the opening of Spike Jonze/Ty Evans' 2007 skate video Fully Flared, the directors have returned the favour - extending and re-editing the footage to serve as a video for the UNKLE single Heaven.
Promo up top, original down below.
#CSF
#Film
#PromoPromo
#Skateboarding
24th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Live Mountaintops
The Pink Mountaintops have padded out their scheduled appearance at May's ATP Festival with a string of dates across Europe. The Borderline (tickets here) will host the London show, on May 11th. See you down the front.
New album Outside Love will be arriving on May 5th.
23rd Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Vulgar Pictures
Lovely website showing the complete illustrated artwork history of Morrissey and The Smiths. Vulgar Picture.
20th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
TV Graveyard
Did you think the American remake of The Office was a stinker? You probably don't even want to know about some of the other mis-calculated remakes that failed to take off then. Fawlty Towers (aka Snavely) anyone?
20th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
A Ribbon of Dreams
Sopranos mastermind David Chase has another project in the pipeline for HBO. A Ribbon Dreams will follow a couple of aspiring film makers through the history of cinema, as they cross paths with the likes of D.W. Griffith, John Ford and Bette Davis. AICN has the details.
20th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet