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The New Shins
Girlfriend-friendly favourites The Shins are back with a new album in March, and this time they have Richard Swift in the band. Port of Morrow arrives March 20th. Single Simple Song is embedded below - and on iTunes now.
10th Jan 2012 - Add Comment - Tweet
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Promo Promo: Wilco - The Whole Love
The Whole Love, directed by Jeff Tweedy's son Spencer, who has a few other fun videos on his Vimeo page. Bet he has less music clearance issues than I do.
6th Jan 2012 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Wrong
Bonkers looking trailer up for Wrong, the new film from Quentin Dupieux AKA Mr. Oizo - who previously made 2010 bonkers film Rubber. Wrong will show at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.
6th Jan 2012 - Add Comment - Tweet
RIP: Bob Holness
RIP Blockbusters presenter Bob Holness, who has died aged 83. Never was so much humour derived amongst students everywhere from lines like "I'll have an E please Bob".
6th Jan 2012 - Add Comment - Tweet
RIP: Cheeta
Hats off to the original chimp - Cheeta. Keeping it real 1921-2011.
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#RIP
28th Dec 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Breaking Bad Season 4
This show just gets better and better, with S4 providing the tightest, most rivetting twists yet.
26th Dec 2011
Read more 4.5 star reviewsThe Big Picture 2011 Photo Round Up
The Big Picture has done a round up of the best pictures from 2011 in three parts (one, two, three). Too many phenomenal shots to include here.
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23rd Dec 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Prometheus
Here's that Prometheus trailer. Looks good to me ....and not the same as the shakey-cam bootleg, which must have been an earlier edit or something.
22nd Dec 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
New / Vintage GBV
Guided By Voices' new LP "Let's Go Eat The Factory" arrives on Jan 16th (Jan 17th in the US via Rockathon or NOW via US iTunes), but you can listen to the whole thing today over at NPR.
The record is the first to feature the 'classic' line-up of the band since 1996. That's the classic line-up pictured in 1995 above. And the vintage version of the classic line-up below.
22nd Dec 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: The Hobbit
Never really saw what all the fuss was about with Lord of the RIngs. Now there's a trailer for Lord of the Rings: Ze Early Years
21st Dec 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: LCD Soundsystem vs Franz Ferdinand
Promo up for LCD Soundsystem's cover of Franz Ferdinand's Live Alone. Must have been payback for that All My Friends version Franz Ferdinand put out.
20th Dec 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Prometheus Trailer Trailer
It's probably that same trailer that was leaked in flakey-cam a few days back, but according to this trailer trailer, iTunes will have the official verison of Ridley Scott's Prometheus trailer on Thursday. The trailer trailer has some epic looking shots in, and my say I'm looking forward to this one.
Some other iinteresting stuff: Wrath of The Titans, Act of Valor and Jack the Giant Killer.
Talking of trailer trailers, it looks like their might be a trailer for The Hobbit materialising tomorrow night (Via AICN).
19th Dec 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park:The Dark Knight Rises
After a flakey bootleg version, Apple now has the official trailer for The Dark Knight Rises, in area man-approved HD. Looks pretty, pretty good.
19th Dec 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Christmas In Hollis: Emoji Version
It's not their fault that the intro is a bit dull .....but this emoji promo picks up once the song gets going.
Go to Settings> General> Keyboard> International Keyboards> Add Keyboard> Emoji to add Apple's extensive Emoji collection to your iPhone.
Via Gizmodo
19th Dec 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
This Is England '88
Another classy, confident, gut-wrenching slice of foreboding urban drama from Shane Meadows.
16th Dec 2011
Read more 4.5 star reviews
Jeff Tweedy: Weatherman
Hilarious clip of Wilco front man/potential stand-up comedian Jeff Tweedy reading the weather after a performance on Chicago WGN's Morning News show. Harrison Ford, eat your heart out.
16th Dec 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross & Karen O - Immigrant Song
It's possibly been a while since David Fincher made a promo - but he's knocked up these visuals for the cover of Immigrant Song used in his trailer for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. The visuals also make up the title sequence of the movie.
15th Dec 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Off!
- First Four EPs. Keith Morris' punk supergroup provide a welcome punch in the face for tired music.
14th Dec 2011
Read more 3.5 star reviews
Trailer Park: Rock of Ages
Tom Cruise does heavy metal.
Via Apple
14th Dec 2011 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
A Polaroid A Day for 6,000 Days
Just been remided of Jamie Livingston's amazing, touching and powerful photography project - where he took a Polaroid photo every day for 18 years, ending at his deathbed.
You can see many of the photos here.
Via Chase Jarvis
12th Dec 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
iYellow Submarine
The Beatles have a free, animated iBook version of Yellow Submarine up on iTunes. If that floats your boat, so to speak.
10th Dec 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Welcome to a Galaxy where leather rules
Stormtrooper motorcycle outfit anyone?
8th Dec 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
The New York Times Hollywood Edition
A wired Brad Pitt and a suited Michael Shannon amongst the video portraits in this year's New York times: Hollywood Edition.
7th Dec 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: Loutallica - The View
Promo up for the Lou Reed/Metallica car wreck project. "The View" is directed by Darren Aronofsky.
6th Dec 2011 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
World War 2 In Real Time
Fascinating account @RealTimeWWII live-tweeting World War 2 as it unfolded from 1939 and for the next 6 years.
30th Nov 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: Mister Heavenly
Fucked up promo for Mister Heavenly's track Bronx Sniper. Modern Lynchian distopia.
eS Skateboarding have a spin off.
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29th Nov 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Forklift
I just got one step closer to digital nirvana, stumbling accross an album that I still only had on cassette, but which has now been uploaded to Band Camp by creator Mark Nassau.
Good buddy Ducati Sven taped a Forklift 7" for me in the early 90s, which he picked up while visiting Connecticut. My copy moved from tape to tape before settling in the remaining space on Side B of my Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge cassette. Mudhoney made the upgrade to CD quite some time ago, but Forklift had always eluded me. Until now.
"Bathroom Song" stills rocks.
29th Nov 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
RIP: Ken Russell
RIP legendary british director Ken Russell. Was always thoroughly baffled by Lair Of The White Worm as a young film fan. Not sure what I would make of it now either.
Via BBC
28th Nov 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
BBTF vs Nike Update
Some more info on those Nike Mag trainers from Back To The Future. Robert Zemekis wheeled out Christopher Lloyd for a cameo-packed promo film to launch the fund-raising recreating of the shoe ... and Tiny Tempah was one of the winning bidders, paying $37,500 for the shoes that he will "never wear".
28th Nov 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Knebworth '90
At the turn of the 90s we were looking at a brand new decade. Clean and fresh, it would leave behind the excess of the 80s. Simple suits, hands-free technology. Things would be different.
Keep your eye on Phil Collins in this clip. When you're not looking he subtly sneaks behind the drums.
Jimmy Page coming on stage was one of the greatest musical moments of my life at that point.
Via The Cold Vein
Bonus Facts: Knebworth had a massive concrete skatepark on its grounds until the late 80s. It also doubled as Wayne Manor in Tim Burton's first Batman movie.
24th Nov 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Wall Of Sound
Album art is the true loser in the digital music war, so it's nice now and then to flick through your music using the Wall of Sound app. The image above is a random slice of my collection. Not bad if I do say so myself, which reminds me I haven't listened to Candy Apple Grey in a while.
Bonus points to anyone who can name all the others.
21st Nov 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Final Score
Legendary football scores announcer Tim Mudgin will be reading the scores out today for the final time, after a whopping six-decade broadcasting career.
Via BBC
19th Nov 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Rampart
Woody Harrelson plays bad cop/bad cop in this James Ellroy scripted drama. Directed by Oren Moverman, who did The Messenger - also with Harrelson and Ben Foster.
Vai AICN
19th Nov 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Muppets Interview
Awesome interview with the Muppets up over at Hitfix ....courtesy of a child interviewer.
Via AICN
Follow The Muppets on Twitter for added hilarity.
17th Nov 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: Duran Duran - Girl Panic!
Bonkers, meta heavy, supermodel-infested new promo up for Duran Duran's "Girl Panic!". Jonus Akerland directs.
Via Telegraph
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9th Nov 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Electric Delorean
Personally, I'd still prefer a fusion powered model.
Via Uncrate
8th Nov 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Fresh, White Denim
White Denim's new EP "Takes Place In Your Workspace" is not available in the UK iTunes store, but a quick Google search points out a free download from White Denim themselves. In other reverse-promotion-record-release news, the band's awesome and previously free album "Last Day of Summer" will be available to buy on CD from December.
7th Nov 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Top Boy
Utterly outstanding, multi-stranded British urban drama. Beautifully shot, written and acted. Catch it on 4OD.
6th Nov 2011
Read more 4.5 star reviews
Air Cassette
For you retro heads out there ....a cassette recreation app for your iPhone. No word on whether hi-speed dubbing is supported.
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#Tech
4th Nov 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
RIP: Jimmy Saville
RIP Jimmy Saville, 1926-2011. An incomparable personality.
30th Oct 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Wilco
The Roundhouse, London
Wilco albums come and go, but the live act remains strong and steady - well aware which songs have stood the test of time and which have dropped off into back catalogue. New album and show opener "Art of Almost" immediately scored itself a position as today's song of the year, setting the scene for a heavy set that wasn't afraid to bring a couple of extra guitars off the bench when neccessary.
Possibly slightly more truncated in length than previous shows and light on Tweedy-stand-up, it was still plenty for my ageing body support system - and with another show tomorrow probably drawing back many of the beard-heavy crowd no-one is likely to be complaining.
Never, ever disappointing. Set list over at Wilco World.
29th Oct 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 4.5 star reviews
RIP: Steve Jobs
Not many people can claim to have been behind a genuine game changer in their career, while Apple boss Steve Jobs can be comfortably given responsibility for more than a handful. Most people didn't really understand what the iPod was when it debuted (see this of-the-time reaction to that announcement), and it's impossible to go into any phone shop without instantly seeing the impact of the iPhone on the design of 99% of the competition. No one even knew they needed an iPad when that first arrived. Check out this great set of Time photos by Diana Walker.
He even managed to leave one more thing: the authorised Steve Jobs biography was due to land in November, but a 40,000% increase in demand has seen it shoot to the top of the best seller list and get a bumped up release date of October 24th. Jobs gave his last interview for the book 4 weeks ago, at which point he knew his time would soon be up. It will no doubt make for an inspriing read, from a true innovator.
1955-2011
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6th Oct 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Ad Nauseum: State of Chaos
Check out this fun interactive Google map simulation from State Farm insurance. Though I imagine an interstellar robot attack comes under 'force majure' and you won't be covered...
4th Oct 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
I Am Your Father!!!
Brilliant video capturing a son's reaction to the brutal truth.
3rd Oct 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Star Status: Peter Weir
How does Peter Weir rate in the Chimpomatic Star Status Movie Maths Generator?
It's 10 points for a Hit, 5 for a Maybe and 1 for a Miss... No TV movies or shorts, just cinema releases to date.
After re-watching Dead Poet's Society recently, for the first time since its release, I was struggling to think of a non-spectacular film by Australian director Peter Weir.
A quick disclaimer: I haven't personally seen early efforts Three To Go or The Last Wave but IMDB rates them 8.2 and 7.1 - so I've erred on the side of caution (due to their enthusiastic rating) and rated them Hit / Maybe here.
The Way Back (2010) MAYBE
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) HIT
The Truman Show (1998) HIT
Fearless (1993) HIT
Green Card (1990) HIT
Dead Poets Society (1989) HIT
The Mosquito Coast (1986) HIT
Witness (1985) HIT
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) HIT
Gallipoli (1981) HIT
The Last Wave (1977) MAYBE
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) HIT
The Cars That Ate Paris (1974) MAYBE
Three to Go (1971) (segment "Michael") HIT
HIT 11
MISS 0
MAYBE 3
Another disclaimer: No generosity applied to these ratings, with the possible exception of The Year of Living Dangerously, which is perhaps merely 'good'.
So that's 125 points out of a possible 140.
Peter Weir: you have scored an unbelievable 89.3%
If you dare make a purchase (and, er I think you should), you can do so here, allowing Chimpomatic to profit from his success. Check back soon for more Star Status movie maths. Same Chimp Channel, same Chimp Time...
23rd Sep 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: J Edgar
Trailer up for Clint Eastwood's new movie, with Leonardo DiCaprio as the titular law-enforcer.
Via Apple Trailers
21st Sep 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Terrence Malick breaks cover
The picture above left has served as one of the only publicly available images of reclusive director Terrence Malick for a couple of decades - but last week he popped along to the Austin City Limits Music Festival, with Christian Bale and a camera crew.
Bale must have gotten a hall pass from the still-shooting Batman sequel, as he was swanning around around the festival playing some sort of rockstar type - check out the fascinating video here. It had been announced that Bale was cast in a Malick film, set to shoot in 2012, so this shoot may have only been a test - or just grabbing the opportunity to film at a large event like this - but a possible project could be something based around the life of Jerry Lee Lewis that Malick has been working on, which would tie in with the casting of the much-younger-than-Bale Haley Bennett as the other lead. More pics and info here, here and here.
Probably the most surprising thing about all of this is that Malick still looks exactly like that archive photo, right down to the hat.
20th Sep 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet