Boots Electric, Interview

We caught up with Jesse Hughes of Boots Electric and Eagles Of Death metal for a quick chat before a recent gig at The Cockpit in Leeds.

You're 4 dates into your UK tour now, how are you finding it?
F**king awesome, it's the coolest sh*t I ever done. When we come to the U.K., the audiences are same as ever; beautiful sweaty and ready to rock. Elsewhere it's hard to compare anywhere to Australia, but in the States a lot of the time people just look up on stage at you like they're already bored. Here you get a fair chance, it's like 'you said you were guna rock so if you're guna rock let's see it, you've got about 10 minutes.'

What can people expect from your shows?
You can expect to see women getting impregnated every two minutes!

How did you find working alone on the Boots Electric material?
Making a solo record sometimes is just about being by yourself. When I'm making an Eagles album it's me and my best friend making an album having the best time of my life, when I was making the solo album it was me having the best time of my life without having anybody around to share it with.
That where I met Tuesday (Cross - girlfriend and now bassist for Boots Electric) and she helped me in the making of the record and she's the great love of my life. One the greatest barely legal porn stars ever put onto film and she retired just for me. So you guys can go to the Internet and look her up!

How did you find working with Money Mark (Beastie Boys, Beck) on the album?
Well I found that working with him made the most sense to me 'cause a lot of time what dudes are obsessed with, they are things that you would not consider. The first album that changed my life was Check Your Head by the Beastie Boys, which is a rock album, it's a hip-hop album, it's a punk album, it's all those things. I felt that my album was going to be all over the place, it'll be schizophrenic, so I thought I'd better get this guy to help me on it. I wanted Dr Dre, but I got the best instead.

Do you find that bands rely more on touring now than they have in the past?
The reality is that bands have always relied on touring; the record sales would just be a bonus I guess. Touring would be where you'd sell you merch and the way I've always looked at it is, and the way I've been raise because I was raised in a musical family is that the record should only be a promise of what the live show is going to be like. The music industry is an inevitable conclusion to something that was made many years ago. The standard that I've applied to Eagles of Death Metal and Boots Electric is that I want you to go home tonight and be like 'I want a moustache.'

You were late coming into music, how did you make the transition into the music business?
That's my favourite way of putting that question [laughs]. What happened was I went through a divorce, it was a really bad divorce and I got addicted to speed. A lot of people will stand here before you and try and talk sh*t about drugs but I'm not guna be one of those guys. I don't think drugs are for everybody but I don't think they're not for anybody.

You're quite open with your relationship with drugs, how would you define it?
The way I see it; you don't trust anyone who'd try and hide something from you. I don't like it when someone is high and they're trying to tell me they're not, it's just phony. I've played more shows sober than I will ever play high, thing is every situation is situational. Drugs, for example, don't disqualify you from something. I have a son who I desperately don't want to make some of the choices I've made, but I can now say it from a place of example.

A lot of your sound is very nostalgic, where do you draw most of your influences?
Oh man, where do I draw most of my influence from? Honestly I'll be at The Thirsty Crow where Eden (guitarist for Boots Electric) DJ's and he'll play a song like some weird rock and roll song from the sixties and I won't even know the name of the song but he'll play it and I'll just take instant influence. Like The Monks' 'Oh, How To Do Now' - listen to that song next to 'Complexity' and you tell me which one is which.

Do you listen to many recent releases?
I do yeah, but I've got like really weird standards. Just new for the sake of new and nothing else is not a good reason to listen to something. For me it's just got to be good and I think that we can all agree that a lot of good things took place between 1961 and 1985, but then 1985 to present you can count how many good acts have passed. Black Flag, Crass, even the Red Hot Chilli Peppers as much as everyone hates them. The record labels that started in the eighties like SST, Alternative Tentacles, Dischord; these things influenced me and I think I'm more influenced by their attitude than their sound. Also this has a lot to do with the way I make music, when I was a little kid every Sunday I went round to my grandpa's house to have corned beef and cabbage then afterwards we'd all sit around, pick up a guitar or mandolin and play some hillbilly music. So that's what I do in the studio, I give everyone a guitar, they'll all kinda know what's going on and it'll be intuitive.

Festival season is coming up; can we expect to see you back in the U.K. anytime soon?
[Hands over Leeds/Reading Festival poster] Main Stage, ready to lose. Eagles of Death Metal will be back.

So if you're playing Leeds with Eagles, does this mean we should be expecting some new material from them?
As soon as I'm back from this tour, Josh (Homme) and I are back in the studio and making a new record and I want it to feel like the world is being raped by John Holmes in the most pleasant way possible.

Joe Wilde

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Bleech, Mondays Video and Information

Bleech's new single, Mondays, will be released on April 16th, through Billie Records. It is taken from their forthcoming debut album, Nude, which will be released sometime this summer. Last night (March 27th), Bleech played a gig in Southampton; they will continue touring throughout April, May and June.

The video for Mondays was directed by Sarah Wick. It focuses on the mouths of the girls and gives you a bird's eye view of drummer Matt. Adding to the surreal nature of the video are also abstract images, which play out on a smaller screen.

Bleech are sisters Jen (guitar, vocals); Katherine (bass, backing vocals) and their friend from school, Matt (drums and backing vocals). Their previous singles have received critical acclaim over the last couple of years. They have also toured with the likes of Wolfmother; The Joy Formidable; The Charlatans; The Subways and Pete Doherty in the past.

In addition to their UK dates, fans of Bleech can also catch them playing two dates in France at the start of May, before returning to the country in August for Festival La Madone des Motards.

April
2nd - London - Camden Barfly
6th - London - KOKO (Club NME)
7th - West Brom - Now We are Weekender w/Art Brut
11th - Winchester - Railway
24th - Doncaster - The Leopard

May
11th - Stockton - Ku Bar
12th - Falkirk - 20 Rocks
13th - Dundee - Doghouse
18th - Wakefield - The Hop
19th - Nottingham - The Maze
26th - Exeter - Timepiece

June
2nd - Birmingham - Sunflower Longue
3rd - Scunthorpe - The Priory
7th - London - Rough Trade Instore

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Breton, Interference Video and Information

Breton's new single, Interference, will be released on March 19th, through Fat Cat Records. Their debut album, Other People's Problems, will be released on March 26th, 2012. Breton will be playing three UK dates at the end of the month, in Manchester, London and Leeds.

The video for Interference follows the day in the life of a family man. We only see the back of his head throughout the whole video but we witness exactly what he sees. From dropping his two young daughters off at school, we watch as he drives to a multi storey car park, enters a warehouse and watches as his fellow thugs beat an unknown person up. It is implied that the man does not like the dark secret he possesses.

Breton formed in 2010 in South East London. It comprises Roman Rappak; Adam Ainger; Ian Patterson and Daniel McIlvenny. In their early years, they made films for the likes of The Temper Trap; Tricky and Penguin Prison. They also remixed tracks by artists such as Local Natives; Chapel Club and Maps & Atlases.

To promote the release of Other People's Problems, Breton will tour the UK and Europe and play a headline date in New York.

28th March - Corsica Studios, London
29th March - Islington Mill, Manchester
30th March - Nation Of Shopkeepers, Leeds

Blood Red Shoes, Cold Video and Information

Blood Red Shoes' new single, Cold, will be released on March 19th, 2012. It is the lead single from their upcoming third studio album, In Time To Voices, which will be released on March 26th, through V2 Records. The band will be playing Reading and Leeds Festival in the summer and are embarking on a UK tour throughout April and May.

The video for Cold was directed by James Lees and was filmed on the streets of Paris at night.

Laura-Mary Carter (vocals, guitar) and Steven Ansell (vocals, drums) formed Blood Red Shoes in 2004. Their debut album, Box of Secrets, was released in April 2008; several months before, it was leaked onto the internet. Their second album, Fire Like This, was released in March 2010; both albums received critical acclaim.

Blood Red Shoes have worked with long-time collaborator Mike Crossey - who has worked with Tribes; Foals and Arctic Monkeys - on all of their albums to date. The band is well known for their touring schedule, which sees them with a growing international fanbase. Blood Red Shoes has received support from the likes of Zane Lowe; Huw Stephens and Fearne Cotton, with the latter recently choosing Cold as her Big Thing on Radio 1.

UK TOUR DATES
APRIL
27th Concorde 2, Brighton
28th Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
29th 02 Academy 2, Oxford

MAY
1st Trinity, Bristol
2nd Waterfront, Norwich
3rd Heaven, London
4th HMV Library, Birmingham
5th Academy 2, Manchester
7th Zanzibar, Liverpool
8th Cluny, Newcastle
9th Tunnels, Aberdeen
10th King Tuts, Glasgow
12th The Cockpit, Leeds
13th Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

Blue Like Jazz, Trailer and Information

Don is a nineteen year old sophomore at a junior college in Texas. Having grown up in an evangelical household, he begins to question his religion and decides to go to Reed College in Portland, Oregon, one of the most godless campuses in the country.

On his arrival, it is immediately clear just how different everything looks through Don's eyes. It is a typical college campus, with a mix of different personalities and cultures. Don soon makes friends; one in particular, is the last person he'd want to get to know. This new friend is an atheist but has been chosen this year to be a 'Pope', to speak for the Christian community. He doesn't like Christians but strikes up a friendship with Don.

Don also makes friends with two girls: Penny and Lauryn. The latter, who is a flamboyantly dressed lesbian, shows Don around campus and is very frank about what he should do about his religious crisis. Meanwhile, Penny is a soft spoken girl who is unsure of her feelings for Don. Will he rediscover his faith at Reed College?
Blue Like Jazz is based on the bestselling, semi-autobiographical novel by Donald Miller, which was published in 2003.

Starring: Marshall Allman, Tania Raymonde, Claire Holt, Jason Marsden, Eric Lange and Natalia Dyer

Director: Steve Taylor

Blood Red Shoes, In Time To Voices Album Review

The first time I ever came across Blood Red Shoes was way back in 2007 when they toured alongside Maximo Park and whilst Maximo Park have vanished from my iPod since then, Blood Red Shoes are as ever present as they were as soon as I could download their existing material. Since then the boy/girl duo of Steven Ansell and Laura-Mary Carter have reached modest trans-Atlantic recognition, most notably with their inclusion on the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World soundtrack. Teaming up with co-producer and long-time friend Mike Crossey the duo have promised a much bolder and "ambitious" (according to Carter) release this time.

Since the group's first LP Box of Secrets the most noticeable change - something that is immediately noticeable actually - is just how much they have matured musically. On opening track 'In Time To Voices' Carter's voice is waiflike, fitting idyllically over the shimmering guitar and snare-heavy drums. The tonal shift at the chorus becomes much heavier yet Carter maintains her eloquence. This is a long way off the wannabe punk ethic their music had at the close of last the decade and the duo certainly benefit from this shift. The production is squeaky clean, with Crossey and the group polishing off each instrument with precision, defining every element of the tracks. On 'Two Minute Dead,' probably the most ominous on the record, illustrates this precision with its utilisation of gentle harmonies and the subtle shaker in the background. Before it even has chance to sound languid the burst of drums and swirling guitars take hold, the move away from a typical single structure that the majority of groups catalogue offers is restructured here, their auspicious potential shining through. This must be the ambition Carter was hinting at.

For all their newfound restraint and focus, when they unleash their ferocity as they do on 'Je Me Perds' (or 'I Got Lost') they evoke the same brutal energy as Sonic Youth or Minor Threat. At 1.30 this is the band showcasing the distorted garage rock tenet found at the core of their major influences resonating through themselves; they pull it of faultlessly. For all the gleam of the production it's reassuring to see that the pair can still let their hair down and get away with it credibly. Essentially a pop-punk band with actual integrity and endurance, it is reassuring that they can shift between old and new on an album and come out unscathed and surely a sign that we can only expect improvement in the future.

In Time To Voices is a solid album, while the gleefully indie first album made them a noteworthy act, with standouts like 'ADHD' and 'I Wish I Was Someone Better.' Now the pair have evidently matured and are taking on a fresher approach to the way they write and record, this really is a triumph for the duo and surely now things can only improve for the Brighton duo.

How to Re-establish a Vodka Empire, Movie Review

Director : Daniel Edelstyn

Producer : Daniel Edelstyn, Christopher Hird, Hilary Powell

Screenwriter : Daniel Edelstyn

Starring : Daniel Edelstyn, Hilary Powell, Conrad Asquith, Anthony Styles, Francois Guesnet, Bob Brown

Like a less-gimmicky, more goofy Morgan Spurlock, Edelstyn puts himself at the centre of this documentary telling two stories: of his grandparents' journey across Europe and his own discovery of an old family business and his work to revive it. It's an engaging, personal story full of moving details.

It all starts when Edelstyn finds a box of manuscripts and letters by his Ukrainian grandmother. Lost for 100 years, they outline how the family's wealthy life ended with the 1917 Russian Revolution. Then he travels to Ukraine to find out more about his family's sugar factory, which is now closed. But the locals reveal that there was another factory, a still-working vodka distillery.
As he decides to revive the business and import the vodka into Britain, Phis artist partner owell discovers that she's pregnant.

And to tell the story, Edelstyn uses combines a variety of film styles, from archive footage and photos to wacky re-enactments of historical events in which they play his grandparents. Getting friends to play his ancestors and various extras, he inventively recreates events unsung miniatures, animation and lots of green screen spliced in with real footage from both the past and present.
And he finds interesting parallels between this story a young woman during the 1917 revolution and his own journey.

Edenstyn assembles this with sharp wit that plays on Russian cinema and culture. As he travels into rural Ukraine, he encounters real Slavic hospitality, including rather a lot of vodka-shot drinking, and he meets meets a very old woman who remembers his grandmother. But he also discovers that the recent closure of the sugar factory has drained the life out of the village. So relaunching the family vodka in the name of Granny Maroussia is a way to redress history.

This is a thoroughly intriguing film that entertains us with its inventive approach while exploring the ethical and historical implications. And as we follow him through the red tape in present-day Ukraine, we also see Granny Maroussia navigating the bureaucracy of her time. What emerges is a fairly standard story of European migration in the 20th century made much more personal by the way it echoes in Edelstyn's life, leading to births, deaths and the launch of Zorokovich 1917 Vodka in the UK.

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Hawk Eyes, Ideas Album Review

I am convinced that heavy British music has never been in a better state than it is right now. There are riffs flying at breakneck speed from all angles, with such excellent bands as Turbowolf, The James Cleaver Quintet and Exit_International all putting out thrilling and exciting music as well as putting on truly intense live shows. Ideas is either the first full album by Hawk Eyes, their first 'Modern Bodies', was technically put out under the name Chickenhawk. Not that this matters one measly bit, because Ideas is quite simply an astounding record.

The album begins with Witch Hunt, which in places embraces Mastodon levels of heaviness, with angular, complex riffing and absolutely pounding drums. It is with this opening track that you begin to get the feeling that Ideas might just be one of those albums you can call a 'game changer'. It is unbelievably heavy, but also genuinely anthemic.

As is recent single Skyspinners, which blasts off before you can even catch your breath from Witch Hunt. If you are new to Hawk Eyes, this song is just as good an introduction as any. Skyspinners' chorus is absolutely glorious, in a dark, horrible way. This is how loud music should be done. Two songs in and your blood is pumping madly. Well, either that or you're dead.

After Modern Bodies, the doctor told Hawk Eyes' singer Paul Astick that it would probably be a wise move to tone down his aggressive vocal style, and where there are some noticeably less unhinged vocal performances (Headstrung, mainly), there is also a lot of stuff on Ideas which makes their debut album sound tame in comparison. The chief culprits of this are the wonderfully dissonant Yes, Have Some, and the berserk noise rock of Milk Hog which - in all honesty - makes anything sound tame.

Put simply, Ideas is an album that shows that Hawk Eyes have gone away, refined their sound, grown up a bit and honed their craft to a tee. It is an album that raises the bar for other bands of their ilk considerably, and blows all expectations out of the water. Hawk Eyes are a ridiculously out there band, and this is the perfect album to demonstrate that to the world.

Ben Walton

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First Aid Kit, The Lion's Roar Album Review

As debut album's go, 'The Big Black And The Blue' was pretty formidable. Released back in 2010, when Klara and Johanna were still but teenagers, it properly heralded the arrival of a sibling song writing and performing partnership that was fresh, inventive, immediately captivating and remarkably focused. The sensitive, anecdotal tracks drew upon themes and topics that showed a maturity beyond their years. The songs seemed to capture a duo perfectly in-tune with each other and completely comfortable in themselves. Whilst they may have been aware that what they had was a very special talent there was still a soupcon of naivety to the combination that made the record just that bit more appealing.

That was two years ago. 2012 sees the release of the Swede's sophomore album, 'The Lions Roar'. A lot can, and has, happened in two years. Johanna and Klara have travelled the world showcasing Sweden's best musical export since Abba and have met up with many a 'Rock God' wanting to pass on their "infinite wisdom" (Jack White among them) to the two charming young ladies. Thankfully, for the most part, First Aid Kit are still perfectly capable of choosing their own musical direction. They may be a little older, a little wiser, better travelled and a little more world weary but ostensibly what made them such a fabulous proposition two years ago is what makes them even more of a must listen now. It is not for nothing that they went straight to number one in their native land upon release of their latest album.

'The Lions Roar' is a ten song set of such composure and cohesion that clearly reflects how centred First Aid Kit have become. There is now even more of a knowing expressed and conveyed within the songs. I'm not into tales of re-incarnation but if someone told me that they were the equivalent of an earthly portal put among us to communicate some bygone wisdom through music I might actually believe you for a moment. It's not heavy, it's just so well done, so well balanced and considered, never half hearted and always compelling.

The title track to the album makes for a stunning start. Klara is in fine voice throughout and here is no exception. The ache and longing in her vocal are framed so effectively that her agonies are almost tangible......"She plays a tune for those who wish to overlook, the fact that they've been blindly deceived, by those who preach and pray and teach." Up next is the tender and sweet (Not sickly) Country infused love-lorn tune, 'Emmylou'. The steel slide guitar back drops a fabulous song of yearning, disappointment and compromise that skips along to a happier beat than the underlying sadness of the tale. Listening to this track is like hearing the musical biography of someone's failed love-life but from the perspective of one who's many generations older than the Sodenberg sisters. The characterisation in the song is so poetic and romantic at the same time, it's like a Jane Austen period drama.

'In The Hearts Of Men', and then 'Blue', continue to show how First Aid Kit have developed their sound as well as their writing. Whilst reflecting on, and in some cases ruing, the parts they play in life they also demonstrate a clear realisation that they are not restricted or constrained by any need to conform with their music, they can just be themselves.....and they don't need to "Do it all with a goddamn smile." 'The Old Routine' is return to more familiar FAK territory. A great arrangement to a brilliantly told story, beautifully vocalised with layered harmonies. It's a winning formula that heads up another pair of album highlights. 'To A Poet' cuts through with a sharp, almost harp like, piano set against deep strings and high vocal. The undulating nature of the track has instruments arriving and departing leaving the eventual percussive beat to drive the violin and cello to the finale.

The rhythmic brush of the snare ups the bpm slightly on 'I Found A Way' and there are waves of optimism on 'Dance To Another Tune' but generally 'The Lions Roar' has more of a sombre feel than its predecessor. Even the penultimate track, 'New Years Eve', the simplest most stripped back of all the songs here, has a wanting for change that is channelled through a soul that has a half empty disposition. It is not until the horns and hand-claps of the Conor Oberst collaboration, 'King Of The World', that we witness gay abandon. The accordion and trumpet help to get the party started as the album concludes in surprising but never-the-less marvellous fashion.

With 'The Lions Roar' First Aid Kit have produced another fine album. They have managed to hold onto everything that was so good about their debut album but without any need for replication. Whilst retaining a certain degree of innocence and naivety they have built upon their experience, and added to their charm, to give us a truly superb slice of Swedish flavoured folk.

Andrew Lockwood.

Dirty Three, Toward The Low Sun Album Review

Australian trio 'Dirty Three' consists of violinist Warren Ellis, guitarist Mick Turner and drummer Mick White. With Ellis having been a member of 'Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds', and Turner and White having worked on a 'Cat Power' record, 'Dirty Three' has proved a release from the restrictions of structured song writing. This is evident as 'Toward The Low Sun' is their eighth album, full of free flowing experimentation and intricate improvisation.

Opener 'Furnace Skies' provides a warm welcome with a distorted guitar providing the basis to the track, cymbals rattle chaotically around screeching strings and stuttering chords. Drums roll freely to create a free jazz sound which throws you in at the deep end, whilst preparing you for the rest of the album. 'Sometimes I Forget You've Gone' opens with a gentle piano part juxtaposed to the uncontrollable drum (can it be called a beat?) adding to the track in the form of percussion rather than a steady beat. Their folk roots begin to filter through for the first time in 'Moon On The Land', calm strings build up and down whilst a plucked guitar lies gently around a subtle, more conventional drumbeat.

As 'Toward The Low Sun' progresses the Melbourne trio seem to relax back into a more recognisable, blissful state, with 'Rain Song' and 'The Pier' not being dissimilar to much of the 'Ocean Songs' material, released in 1998. Cymbals shudder and echo in the background and Ellis' intense yet inconspicuous violin parts settle at the forefront of the tracks. The pinnacle of the album seems to be the psychedelic, jazz, rock number 'That Was Was', White's drums crash and roll as Turners guitar chord progression compliments the irrepressible violin, you could easily imagine the last minute of the track to be a casual jam session for the trio. The alternative, folk soundscapes of 'Ashen Snow' is reminiscent of the instrumentation to a 'Midlake' track with a soft piano opening whilst flutes and strings take their turn to join the mix, layering up in a 'Mike Oldfield' fashion.

After six years away 'Toward The Low Sun' is an enchanting return, with a mix of truly experimental, unconventional tracks alongside sophisticated often dreamlike folk pieces. Evoking different moods and thoughts in every song, the album is as dynamic as it is emotional.

James Hopkin

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Act of Valour, Movie Review

Director : Mouse McCoy, Scott Waugh

Producer : Mouse McCoy, Scott Waugh

Screenwriter : Kurt Johnstad

Starring : Roselyn Sanchez, Nestor Serrano, Rorke, Dave, Van O, Michael, Ajay, Sonny, Ray, Weimy, Duncan Smith, Alex Veadov, Jason Cottle

A simplistic script nearly undoes this energetic doc-style thriller, which stars US Navy Seals as, well, US Navy Seals on an ambitious mission to stop a cataclysmic terrorist attack. Despite some exciting action, the plotting and dialog are just too corny.

Long-time friends and colleagues Rorke and Dave assemble their team of experts to rescue an undercover agent (Sanchez) who's been kidnapped by a Central American gang. After decimating the baddies and rescuing the hostage, it becomes clear that the gang is linked to a vicious Chechen terrorist (Cottle) who's working with a notorious arms dealer Christo (Veadov) to attack America in a way that makes "9/11 seem like a walk in the park". While the clock ticks, the Seals travel the world and deploy all kinds of whizzy military gadgetry to stop the nefarious plan.

The film is shot with hand-held urgency that really captures the precarious nature of each action set-piece, often with exhilarating results. Watching these efficient soldiers get where they need to be and then get out again really gets our pulses racing, and since these are real operatives, the scenes have an usually visceral resonance. But this only makes the dramatic scenes feel all the more ridiculous by comparison.

Not only does screenwriter Johnstad ham-fistedly pack every conceivable international threat into one story, he fills the down-time with silly melodrama, such as the fact that Rorke's wife (Marshall) is newly pregnant.
These scenes are earnest that the non-actor cast doesn't have a chance. Rorke and Dave only get through it due to their inner charisma, while Van O adds an impressively bristly edge to an interrogation scene. But mostly if someone's talking we wish they were speaking with their guns.

Although the action isn't without problems. The film's slick urgency can't make up for a dubious premise in which self-proclaimed good guys are justified in shooting anyone who moves (except unarmed women of course). It certainly doesn't help when the filmmakers say they used live ammunition on set, or that the project started as a recruitment film, which explains why macho camaraderie is laid on with a trowel. And the assumption that America's holy war is more honourable than anyone else's might be too much for international audiences to swallow.

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Neighborhood Watch, Teaser Trailer and Information

Evan Trautwig is a manager at Costco. One day, his friend, who is a security guard, is murdered. After the police fail to find his friend's murderer, Evan has the idea to form a neighbourhood watch, to look for criminals.

He is soon joined by fellow neighbour Bob Finnerty. Bob is suspicious of his teenage daughter's dating life and wants to use the neighbourhood watch to check up on her. Evan and Bob are soon joined by two more neighbours.

Gradually, the group becomes less and less about 'neighbourhood watching' and more and more about spending time with each other. However, the four friends soon find themselves in over their heads when they uncover a secret alien plot. It will be up to the neighbourhood watch to stop this once and for all.

Neighbourhood Watch stars Jonah Hill; he turned down a role in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming film Django Unchained due to his commitment for the film. Richard Ayoade also stars; he is well known to British audiences for his role as Moss in the IT Crowd, plus roles in comedies The Mighty Boosh and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace.

The film is directed by Akiva Schaffer, who writes for Saturday Night Live and is one third of comedy hip hop troupe The Lonely Island. This will be his second feature film, following on from Hot Rod, which was released in 2007.

Starring: Jonah Hill, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Billy Crudup, Richard Ayoade, Rosemarie DeWitt, Will Forte, Doug Jones, Nicholas Braun, Jorma Taccone, Joe Nunez & Erin Moriarty

Director: Akiva Schaffer

Team Me, To The Treetops Album Review

This, the debut album from Norwegian eclectic multi-instrumentalist collective, kicks off with 'Riding My Bicycle (From Ragnvaldsbekken To Sorkedalen) which opens with a melody dualled between the glimmering precision of piano and a nasal hummed vocal part. This melody or variations then underpin the vocal melody which eventually enters over a cacophonous musical blend something akin to Mew, certainly regarding Team Me's experimental feel. It's a multi-instrumental blend with clarinet and strings oozing around amongst synths, drums and strong bass. From its' quite angular openings, the track builds into a fuller two part vocal chorus. Chopping between feels but all the time maintaining the continuity of a single track, Team Me's sound is immediately fresh and interesting, and in an opening track pushing seven minutes long they are not afraid to give themselves space in which to explore.

The opening of 'Show Me' has a cool indie pulse to it, proving that the track wouldn't be out of place on the dance floor. The catchy evolving vocal melodies blend Mew with Guillemots as they echo higher above Team Me's eclectic musical blend, gradually building to a driving chorus flanked by strings and a chorus of vocal parts. Team Me's electro-infused, high-pitched vocal ridden sound owes a great debt to Patrick Wold, the subject of 'Patrick Wolf & Daniel Johns'; this blast of a track however, under three minutes long, also nods to a kind of pop punk simplicity. 'Weathervanes and Chemicals' then opens in string laden beauty soaring over rumbling tom-heavy drum parts. As the track builds into its chorus the vocals soar clear above the blend imitating the beauty of its string-led opening with melodies so lush they bring to mind a Sigur Ros like tranquillity and perfection over sensitive arrangements and gently sparkling glockenspiel. Offering something of a more stripped down contrast, with a delicately picked acoustic guitar opening, 'Fool' offers us a peek at how Team Me's tracks begin life as beautiful gentle songwriting that evolves through the input of the collective of musicians into much fuller sounding tracks that really build to ooze through the soundwaves akin to big Arcade Fire-like choruses. From its building, oozing glory, 'Fool' then drops back to a more careful anxious sound with picked acoustic guitar intertwined with the harmonies of the string arrangement amongst tumbling toms and strange electronic sounds.

Later, 'Dear Sister' sounds multiple part vocals over well worked, busy yet sensitive accompanying arrangements that ebb and flow from gentle delicacy to a thicker, richer, altogether fuller blend and then back out to tranquillity though all the time glimmering with a wonderful hopeful tonality. The opening minute of 'Favourite Ghost' sounds a picked acoustic guitar doubled by gently distorted post-rock electric guitar sound, highlighted by the inclusion again of the delicate glimmering glockenspiel. 'Favourite Ghost' sounds a real melancholy and eerie-ness which contrasts the soaring hopeful beauty that has preceded it. Around two and a half minutes in, the track begins to build to a fuller blend; any sense of hope is short-lived, however, as the lonely solo guitar soon returns briefly making way for a Radiohead-esque intertwining of beats and picked guitars and then plunging into an almost post rock drive.

The delicate picked acoustic and banjo sounds make a return, warmed by a gentle piano line, in 'Looking Thru The Eyes of Sir David Brewster', however, 'With My Hands Covering Both Of My Eyes I Am Too Scared To Have A Look At You Now' pounds back to a catchy, dancefloor-worthy pound; a catchy, bright and bouncing vibe. The gently undulating harp-laden introduction to 'Daggers' then slows the tempo right down to conclude the album first with a contrasting folk flavoured calmness before making way for the characteristic rich, driving, fuller blend. A frankly stunning debut.

Hannah Spencer

Willis Earl Beal, Acousmatic Sorcery Album Review

When an artist appears on the X Factor and fails to make it through to the last few stages, chances are you've had your first and last glimpse at them. For Willis Earl Beal however this couldn't be further from the truth. His interview for the 'boot camp' segment of the show is currently doing it rounds on the web and it is one that is both hilarious and summative of his in your face attitude toward the Simon Cowell corporate media empire. 'What does it feel like to be here on the eve of this once in a lifetime opportunity' he is ask, his reply; "I want some Del Tacos" is the much needed middle finger that Beal is persistently holding up to modern day convention.

Acousmatic Sorcery is undeniably lo-fi, rife with feedback and supplemented by a modest milieu, it comes across as a re-recording of a Daniel Johnston release, with Beal's soulful vocals replacing Johnston's whispery voice. Album opener, the instrumental 'Nepenenoyka,' immediately evokes a recollection of some Johnston's catalogue. The same irregular chimes return on 'Bright Copper Noon' this time with Beal's own whispery utterances, eventually turning into distorted howls. In a recent interview with Pitchfork, Beal admitted; "I want to be like the black Tom Waits" - his erratic style and husky baritone are but two indicators that his is following through with this ambition. He never sticks to the bluesy template that has been laid down for him, nor does his voice maintain the soulfulness that he has been assigned by most media outlets.

'Take Me Away' comes somewhere between Tom Waits and Captain Beefheart, the mechanic thud of the drums accompanying Beal's almost gospel howls and grunts epitomises the lo-fi ethic he stands for. The album is far from lacking with emotion, the thumping, angry troubadour sound he inhabits initially eventually morphs into a balladeer's repertoire. 'Monotony' is as raw as they come, fraught with heart it consists solely of Beal at his most gentle, coupled with a few rudimentary chords. It is bare, yet poignant, more so it develops Beal's character as a balladeer as much as a hawker of what is essentially pirate music.

The recording is depleted of conformity; it is vintage and laden with negligible acoustics. What Beal does expertly here is craft an album that finds emotion and meaning in a mostly isolated recording. The maniacal laugh with which he ends the album on 'Angel Chorus' serves as a sinister indication of what is to come from the man, the darker elements will be pitch black, no one knows whether the lighter elements will exist at all. Beal will indubitably spend the rest of his career as an outsider, I doubt he'd want it any other way, and is unlikely to be invited onto the X Factor any time soon.

7/10

Joe Wilde

We Bought a Zoo, Movie Review

There's a terrific story inside this well-made but bloated movie, as if director-cowriter Crowe simply couldn't figure out which elements he most cared about, so he included everything. It's engaging enough to keep us watching, but never finds any real focus.

After his wife dies, Benjamin (Damon) is struggling to keep his kids - 14-year-old Dylan (Ford) and 7-year-old Rosie(Jones) - happy, mainly because he has lost the daredevil storyteller within himself. So against the advice of his goofy-but-sensible brother (Church), Benjamin buys a run-down zoo and moves there with his children to get it up and running again. Zookeeper Kelly (Johansson) and her team (including Macfadyen and Fugit) don't think he'll stick it out. And indeed, it's more of a challenge than he ever imagined.

The narrative tries to work on a variety of layers, but each one is so predictable it's impossible to develop any interest in what might happen. Kelly is clearly interested in Benjamin, and her 13-year-old cousin (Fanning) is likewise attracted to Dylan, so we have two mini-romances bubbling along.
There's a snooty inspector (the scene-stealing Higgins) who has a personal vendetta against this particular zoo. The lion's looking restless, the star tiger is dying and the bear is trying to escape. The weather doesn't even cooperate.

The problem is that, while all of this might be part of the true story the film's based on, it's assembled in the blandest way imaginable. There's no central thrust, as we just watch the characters and animals swirl around in a flurry of smiley cuteness. Even the killer animals don't seem to have real teeth. Although at least there's the odd moment of honesty along the way. And the actors are engaging, adorable or funny as required, but only Johansson has any bite.

In the end, Crowe tries to make the film about something altogether different, as he begins to wallow increasingly in a sentimentalised exploration of the grief Benjamin and his children are trying to adjust to. But since this is never explored with any real depth, the film begins to feel glib and overwrought, missing the point mainly because Crowe couldn't settle on just one point.

Mutemath, Odd Soul Album Review

I've said this before, but in my opinion there's simply no feeling like getting blindsided by a record that totally defies your expectations in a good way. My past exposure to Mutemath had been about three years ago via the Spotlight EP and it parent album Armistice. 1,195 days is a long time in music and my memories of the New Orleans' outfit's work was that it was like a meal at Nando's - reasonably good, inoffensive and but little lasting aftertaste. Sitting somewhere between The Fray and Coldplay, by which I mean having a sound that was unit shifting friendly but essentially cannon fodder for the snootier critical circles of the blogosphere, the prospect of getting up close and personal with Odd Soul was not one which gave me the equivalent anticipatory thrills of say and Odd Future record, or even a Future Of The Left one.

How much then must Paul Meany and co. be metaphorically flicking the v's at me now for my part time rock hack small mindedness. Shamefully, I can announce to the world that Odd Soul is in fact an absolute mother of an album, alive at every turn with qualities that so far transcend its predecessors that they give rise to the thought that they may as well have been assembled by another band.

The reasons for this metamorphosis? Who cares. Just dive in. Gone is the patient sterility of Armistice, replaced by a sweaty blues-rock aesthetic and acutely honed ear for pop-psychedelia and storming garage licks. Put simply, this is the best way to spend 50 minutes with something American that doesn't involve The Wire I, you, or anyone else can think of.

High points? In the download age where albums are usually a marketing inconvenience, Odd Soul sets it's bar as high as a kite and keeps overwhelming you with classic, fuzzy references to the sixties and seventies without sounding like a third rate pub band. The titular opener struts into the spotlight with tousled, bar room sense of purpose, all thumping kick drum, preening organ and dirty guitar line with a hip shaking, Black Keys swagger. It's followed by the more urgent Pyrtania, (Named it would seem after a theatre on their home town) which whilst not sounding unlike an offcut from the Armistice period, still washes away those cod-stadium rock fanboy accusations with a bullet. To complete a scintillating opening triptych, Blood Pressure is a super tight exercise in (Original) r & b with an irresistible, funk sodden bass line and multi tracked harmonies that give the effect of a choir swigging bourbon.

Interested yet? Well if not then Tell Your Heart Heads Up continues to sweat the neat essence of the denim years authentically, but then like in all good shows there's an intermission, courtesy of the inward looking All or Nothing whilst the following instrumental Sun Ray manages, as unlikely as it sounds, to to carve the same atmospheric niche as French lounge music enfants terribles Air.

Seemingly then bored with the sudden waves of slightly backward looking introspection, Meany and co. return to grind stone courtesy of the freewheeling, drum pounding badass-ery of Allies, whilst One More builds over five minutes into a freaky, bandanna toting crescendo. If the whole thing finally runs out of steam just before the supine closer In No Time, it's probably understandable. Rather than slide into obscurity, Mutemath have taken the chance of career by a more than partial reinvention, expending enough energy in the process to burn out half a dozen more risk averse bands. There may be more or less mileage in this new direction than in playing it safe, but even if Odd Soul is a creative bran storm never repeated, it's got more than enough apexes to justify it's existence stand alone. So, got it yet?

Andy Peterson

The Do, Gonna Be Sick Video and Information

The Do's new single, Gonna Be Sick! was released on January 16th, 2012 and is taken from the duo's second album, Both Ways Open Jaws, which was released in November 2011, through Village Green. The Do will be touring Europe throughout April and May 2012, including one show at The Garage in London.

The video for Gonna Be Sick! sees lead singer Olivia setting out to sea on a boat. While sailing, however, she gets caught up in a storm, which soon turns into a tornado.

Olivia and multi-instrumentalist Dan met in 2005 while composing the score for French film Empire of the Wolves. In 2008, they released debut album A Mouthful, which topped the charts in France. This marked the first time an English speaking French act reached number one in that country.

Both Ways Open Jaws was self-produced. Promotional single, Slippery Slope, was released in August 2011 as a free download, while lead single, Too Insistent, was released in October 2011. Expect to hear a lot more from The Do as 2012 progresses.
11 Apr - The Garage in London, UK
13 Apr - Caprice Festival in Cran Montana, Switzerland
14 Apr - Karlstorbahnhof in Heidelberg, Germany
16 Apr - Zakk in Dusseldorf, Germany
17 Apr - Palac Akropolis in Prague, Czech Republic
18 Apr - Festaal Kreuzberg in Berlin, Germany
22 Apr - Palladium in Riga, Latvia
23 Apr - Tavastia in Helsinki, Finland
25 Apr - Strand in Stockholm, Sweden
27 Apr - Babel in Malmo, Sweden
28 Apr - Sticky Fingers in Gothenburg, Sweden
30 Apr - Biaa in Oslo, Norway
02 May - Beta in Copenhagen, Denmark
03 May - Train in Aarhus, Denmark

We Are Augustines, Interview

Contact Music was fortunate enough to catch up with Eric Sanderson of We Are Augustines' in London prior to the band's recent European tour. It's been an emotional ride for the Brooklyn three-piece over the last year. Their previous band, Pela became the victim of the music industry at it's cruelest. 'We lost everything' Sanderson said, 'we went from being a band for 8 years, producing 2 records and building a network of friends and industry support that disappeared overnight, it was a complete abyss'. It took them a while to pull themselves away from that experience but in re-evaluating what they wanted to achieve and taking on board the response from their fans, they formed their new band and have just celebrated their year anniversary. 'Its incredible says Sanderson, in a year and a half's time we went from complete rock bottom, truly questioning if we should even continue to do music and now we are going on our first European tour and this will be our fifth time back to the UK'. With their old band, they lived the rock star life and did all the partying and they are determined not to fall into that trap again. 'We have set a code, we wanted to have a conscious, have intention and be artistically minded and be good people and when we set out on that path all these incredible opportunities opened up to us'

And those opportunities have come in thick and fast, from playing with the like's of The Boxer Rebellion and The Kaiser Chiefs to appearing on The Late Show with Letterman and enjoying support from both fans and the industry. Sanderson talks to us about them, about how the band has changed and tells us what to expect from their debut album, 'Rise Ye Sunken Ships'.

How's the UK treating you this time round?
Its wonderful as always, the people here are so warm and everyone is so supportive of what we're doing, at our shows we have people dancing and singing along and being really celebratory.

The UK has really embraced you and you've had a lot of support from Radio personalities as well as the fans, how do you feel about that?
Wonderful, we couldn't be happier, its quite amazing actually to go from rock bottom and then to come to a place where we are played on major radio stations in Europe and the UK, its just incredible.

Are the UK crowds different to those in the US?
Every city in the US is different. Some, like Seattle, Boston and New York clamp their arms and just stare at you, that thing that some cities are famous for, it goes along with the whole bullshit hipster thing. We are fortunate not to experience it too much and London isn't at all like that at all. the crowds really open up to us.

Do you have any stand out gigs?
Not really but the show that I'm most looking forward to is Frightened Rabbit show coming up in Edinburgh. When our old band broke up, it was right about the time Frightened Rabbit's 'Midnight Organ Fight' came out and it was quite emotive for me and it encouraged me to get back into music because it reminded me how much I loved music. When we played Glasgow, Scott and Billy from the band came to the show and we met up and we hung out and it was really wonderful to meet them and see that they liked what we were doing and I was able to tell them how much their band meant to me and next thing you know we have a show set up.

How would you describe your live show?
100% passion, we work really hard on the energy. Both in our recordings and in our live show, energy is really important to us. Whether it is the kind of song that will make you want to jump up and down and scream at the top of your lungs or it's a slower more introspective tune, we are always focused on the energy behind it. The shows are very celebratory and very thoughtful at times.

What has influenced you as a band?
We never intended to be very 'heart on your sleeve' when we create music but it did kind of end up that way. It ended up being representative of our lives, whether that was travelling the world or dealing with family issues or personal internal issues and enduring the difficulties of that, it all becomes representative. But we are now trying to talk about the bigger picture, look at 'Chapel Song', you could take it literally as a man watching his first love walk down the aisle and marry someone else. But really what the song is about is traversing a life and having to deal with change and the fact that things aren't permanent.

Which artists have inspired you over the years?
So so many! But the Chicago scene in the 2000s was very motivating, pretty much anything that came out on Thrill Jockey. It was a very interesting kind of instrumental music and that was influenced from Brian Eno, I've recently been really into Brian Eno - I have a nerdy passion for instrumentals! I think the northwest scene, Modest Mouse, Elliot Smith, heavily influenced us both. But with listening and playing music for so many years now, the influences are less direct than they used to be. The music we made ten years ago, you could listen to and say 'oh that sounds like such and such' but we have all worked very hard on trying to reach inside ourselves and express who we are rather than use someone else's expression. Hopefully when people hear our music, they hear what we are going through.

How has your music changed in the transition from Pela to We Are Augustines?
The thing that has really changed is how we go about what we do and why we do what we do. With the old band we found ourselves sacrificing what we were comfortable with for this intangible idea of 'making it', nowadays we realize that 'making it' is being conscious, being compassionate, living a career that we can be proud of and a life we are comfsortable with. It doesn't matter if we are making lots of money or are successful because we have a sense of consciousness in what we do and we have compassion towards other people and that's all that matters. That was not there in the other band.

Now you are riding high on the wave of success, are you ever tempted to go back to your old ways?
Yeah we are, its hard when journalists are asking you questions about your life all the time in terms of self importance, it makes you feel different and 'better' than other people or when your pictures are on blogs or if people come up to you after a show, its not always a given to keep you ego in check. But we have all been doing a really good job about it.

What can people expect from RYSS?
I believe the album to be nostalgic, a bit raw at times, something that they can put in the car or on their headphones but also at a bar and people can turn up and really celebrate life but also connect with it on a deeper level in the privacy of their own home. It can be very emotional at times.

And finally, can the fans catch you at any festivals this year?
Coachella on the Saturday, the day we are most excited and also Sasquatch Music festival in the states, a beautiful festival out on the gorge in Washington and we have other ones that are in that are in the works that we cant announce yet.

We Are Augustines are currently touring the States but they will be back in the UK in May, playing London Dingwalls on May 5th and will also be appearing at Latitude Festival this year. and Rise Ye Sunken Ships is out now.

Rams' Pocket Radio, Dogs Run In Packs EP Review

Rams' Pocket Radio is the work of Peter McCauley, a very talented singer-songwriter, pianist and drummer. Championed by the likes of Gary Lightbody..."He's an extraordinary musician..a frightening talent" and 6Music's Tom Robinson among others Peter professes to work around the ethos of designer Dieter Rams with "purity, simplicity and longevity in mind." All sounds good so far; talent, credibility and endorsement.

Talent may lead you to be a percussionist for The National Youth Orchestra and credibility and endorsement may mean that you become the support act for Snow Patrol, however it doesn't necessarily follow that talent can be used to write great, good, interesting or even individual songs. People have made a lot about the so called demise of the guitar band of late. Personally I think there are some very good guitar bands around. Furthermore I'm not that concerned that they are not a mainstay of the current musical landscape, who cares what or who is making the sound as long as that sound is good? So whilst choosing to arrange and compose your songs around a piano based format similar to Keane's is possibly not the most commercial route to take it doesn't matter a jot as long as the tunes are good enough because the music will win through.

Unfortunately whilst McCauley may well be a very talented musician this EP does not showcase him in the best light. There are few sparks here, few glimpses of something 'extraordinary'. The four track EP is not one dimensional but it does rather feel like a painting by numbers exercise. Freedom of expression seems to have been quashed in favour of sanitised production and pleasant rather than inspirational music. Dogs Run In Packs is certainly well played, the piano pieces in particular are very pleasing to the ear and McCauley can carry a tune effectively enough to make some of these songs potential crowd pleasing anthems.

I proffer the opinion that this will not be enough, not yet at any rate. There is no 'Somewhere Only We Know' or 'Chasing Cars' here, Peter's song writing still needs honing and crafting if he is to make his mark as a strong contender in this niche market. When the lights go down, when the emotions run high, when couples are choosing 'their song', when the encore beckons and all that's left is the light of ten thousand lighters who's song will be sung along to? At the moment I'm afraid Coldplay don't have anything to worry about on that score. What comes next may prove me wrong.

Andrew Lockwood.

Hospitality, Hospitality Album Review

As far as band names go, Hospitality is one that resonates with a sense of warmth and welcoming. Their sound too greets you warmly, it is distinctively poppy indie occupied with a summery memento. Hailing from the Mecca of indie groups, the Brooklyn trio's self-titled debut is a vis-.-vis of a twenty something's ennui ridden life. Now approaching her 30s, lead-singer and songwriter Amber Papini writes in hindsight of the 'glory years' with a flippant tone, dismissing past loves (and inevitably losses) and a parsimonious lifestyle.

The subject matter may not be the most upbeat, nonetheless this is a fun album; Papini's vocals are fun to listen to and the band sound as though they genuinely enjoyed themselves during the record. Opener 'Eighth Avenue' kick starts the album in a Camera Obscura-esque, elated ballad style that cannot help but bring a smile to your face. As the song draws to a close the acoustics are dropped as the song is invaded by an onslaught of erratic guitar fuzz, setting up the rest of the album nicely as the next track (and lead single) 'Friends of Friends' is unabashed guitar pop. The retrospective lyrics are rained over by afropop melodies and grooved out drumbeats like a Skittles storm; they are colourful and vibrant, with the album having a brazen holiday feel. Just look at the front cover, it is a throw back to summer holidays with family. Papini's lyrics may be fraught with themes of disappointment yet the musical backdrop juxtaposes this ideally as it transports you to some not-too-distant beach.

Some of tracks are reworks of past tracks, they have been floating around the music scene since 2008, and rather than sound reworked they instead sound like they've been polished with the whole colour spectrum to draw out the warmth of each of the tracks. Initially from their first EP, also titled Hospitality (no marks for originality then) the most apparent improvement is on the track 'Betty Wang,' which compared to the original have been given an all new lease on life. Rather than sounding as though it was recorded in the corner of a garage, it now sounds as pristine as it should do. Some songs do sound better without the coat of gloss, at their most raw and lo-fi, this cannot be said for any of Hospitality's songs as a stripped down approach takes away the sunshine that makes the trio so enjoyable.

The album is not without its charm, sure we've heard this kind of album before in the past numerous time yet the group make this a much more personal affair than so many other guitar-based indie pop bands. The real charm lies with Papini, her lyricism is wistful yet maintains a sense of buoyancy. If it takes less than four years for their next release then Hospitality will be around for a lot longer than a number of Papini old flames, and deservedly so.

7/10

Joe Wilde

Jeff, Who Lives At Home, Trailer and Information

Jeff could not be more different from his brother Pat. Where Pat is a successful businessman in a happy marriage, Jeff lives in his mother's basement all day, smoking weed and watching his favourite film, Signs. Drawing deep significance from the film, Jeff starts to believe that everything in life has a purpose. This takes its toll on his mother, who is tired of Jeff staying indoors all day. Also becoming irritated by his brother's behaviour is Pat, who has much better things to do than pick up after his brother.

One day, Jeff is told by his mother to pick something up from the store. Jeff happily obliges but never gets to the store. Instead, through some seemingly random occurrences, he runs into his brother, who has just conducted a meeting in Hooters. Jeff spots Pat's wife in a caf? with another man, which alarms the latter brother. Their marriage is in danger, thanks to Pat's narcissism and willingness to buy a Porsche with the little money they have.

Jeff and Pat end up following his wife all over town, in a journey that will ultimately bring a family back together and save a marriage.

Starring: Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Susan Sarandon, Judy Greer, Rae Dawn Chong, Carol Sutton, Katie Aselton, Matt Malloy and Evan Ross

Directors: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass

In Darkness, Movie Review

Director : Agnieszka Holland

Producer : Leander Carell, Wojciech Danowski, Marc-Daniel Dichant, Eric Jordan, Patrick Knippel, Juliusz Machulski, Steffen Reuter, Paul Stephens

Screenwriter : David F. Shamoon

Starring : Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Furmann, Michal Zurawski, Kinga Preis, Agnieszka Grochowska, Krzysztof Skonieczny, Maria Schrader, Herbert Knaup

Based on the true story of Polish Jews who hid in the sewers of Lvov for 14 months, this film can't help but grip us tightly for nearly two and a half hours. Fortunately, the filmmakers deepen the characters and situations beyond movie conventions.

Poldek (Wirckiewicz) works in the Lvov sewers with his young sidekick Szczepek (Skonieczny). When the Nazis begin to systematically clear out the Jewish ghetto, either murdering them or shipping them off to the camps, a handful of Jews escape into the sewers, where Poldek and Szczepek agree to help them for a price. But as the months go on, Poldek becomes increasingly involved in their lives, causing stress with his wife (Preis) back home and making him very nervous around his soldier pal Bortnik (Zurawski).

Poldek is a terrific character: a true hero who doesn't believe he's anything of the sort. He may always demand cash from "his Jews", but he's also willing to risk his life to make sure they're safe. And key events include killing a Nazi to protect the group leader (Furmann), whom Poldek also helps to break into the concentration camp. The lengths he goes to to ensure their survival surprise even him.

Director Holland vividly captures the squalid conditions underground, while unflinchingly portraying the street-level horrors inflicted by the invading Germans. Amid all of this nastiness there are moments of real tenderness and compassion, even as the situation seems increasingly hopeless. Sometimes the scenes begin to feel repetitive, with the constant panicking in the face of imminent danger and claustrophobia. But the cast and the script ground each scene in raw humanity.

What makes the film so powerful is the way every character is fully rounded.
The Nazis are portrayed as cruelly obedient rather than pure evil, while the story's protagonists are feisty, stubborn and selfish. And the interaction between characters feels truthful and urgent. This is a beautifully written and directed film that takes us into a situation we couldn't imagine. And it leaves us wondering what we might have done whichever side of the situation we may have found ourselves.

The Jezabels, Rosebud Video and Information

The Jezabels' new single, Rosebud, is the lead single from their debut full length album Prisoner, which will be released in the US on April 3rd through Mom + Pop. The band will be touring North America throughout April and May 2012, along with Benjamin Francis Leftwich and Imagine Dragons.

The 80's inspired video for Rosebud sees members of The Jezabels slowly spinning on the spot. The effects in the video layer them one on top of the other. At times, a burning rose is also seen.

Australian natives The Jezabels are Hayley Mary (vocals); Heather Shannon (piano, keyboard); Nik Kaloper (drums) and Samuel Lockwood (guitar). They recorded three EPs - The Man Is Dead (2009); She's So Hard (2009) and Dark Storm (2010) - as well as their debut album, with producer Lachlan Mitchell.

The aforementioned Dark Storm, upon its release, reached the top of the Australian iTunes Charts and was certified Gold. Prisoner was universally acclaimed and reached number two in the Australian charts, being kept from the top spot by Adele's 21. In addition, The Jezabels won Best Independent Artist and Best Independent EP for Dark Storm at the Australian Independent Music Awards, as well as winning the Australian Music Prize for Prisoner at the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).

04/10 New York, NY, The Bowery Ballroom*^
04/12 Pittsburgh, PA, Brillobox*^
04/13 Philadelphia, PA, Johnny Brendas*^
04/14 Washington DC, Red Palace*^
04/16 Boston, MA, Brighton Music Hall*^
04/17 Montreal, QC, Divan Orange*
04/18 Toronto, ON, The Mod Club*
04/20 Chicago, IL, Lincoln Hall*^
04/21 Minneapolis, MN, Triple Rock Social Club*^
04/23 Winnipeg, MB, West End Cultural Centre*
04/24 Saskatoon, SK, Amigos Cantina*
04/26 Edmonton, AB, The Starlite Room*
04/27 Calgary, AB, The Gateway Bar*
04/28 Nelson, BC, The Royal*
04/30 Whistler, BC, The Langhorn Saloon*
05/01 Vancouver, BC, Venue Nightclub*
05/03 Seattle, WA, Crocodile*^
05/04 Portland, OR, Mississippi Studios*^
05/08 San Francisco, CA, The Independent*^
05/11 Los Angeles, CA, The Troubadour*^
05/12 San Diego, CA, Casbah*

*w/ Benjamin Francis Leftwich
^w/ Imagine Dragons

Peter Broderick, http://www.itstartshear.com Album Review

Type http://www.itstartshear.com , the rather unwieldy name of Peter Broderick's latest full-length, into your web browser and you are taken to a site containing streams and notes on the dectet of tracks that make up the album, along with an area that allows listeners to make comments on these tracks, with Mr Broderick often taking the time to reply to these comments. It is an interesting concept, but one which seems slightly misplaced in the hands of the young American composer. The Kaiser Chiefs' 'pick the album you want' concept made sense, as did the announcement that the title of Reverend & The Makers' new full-length would be his twitter handle, but such a gimmick is not something you would expect from the prolific mult-instrumentalist.

Nor is it needed, as It Starts Hear is an inspiring work that more than stands out for its own merits. It shows another side of Peter's enviable talents, moving further away from his debot, the stark piano-led Float, into expansive autumnal pieces that explore new ground and take risks whilst still feeling familiar. The opening triumvirate of 'I Am Piano', 'A Tribute To Our Letter Writing Days' and 'Blue' are sweeping alt-country gems that breathe the same hazy evening air as Sufjan Stevens circa-Seven Swans and My Latest Novel, but with a structure more reminiscent of Efterklang and their fellow Nords Jaga Jazzist. All three begin with a naked piano part or acoustic guitar line, and a wealth of layers, from glockenspiel and drums to strings and vocals, are slowly unfurled on top or beneath.

Peter has in a recent interview commented on his newfound love for Arthur Russell, the cult purveyor of myriad genres most well-known for his more dance-orientated work, and this shows in the following two tracks, the first which introduces a more 'electronic' sound and sees Peter nonchalantly uttering the album's title in the chorus, whilst the latter contains manipulated fragments of vocals submitted by fans. Such use of unconventional methods was championed by Arthur Russell, and on It Starts Hear it helps to create a midpoint that stops the album from dragging as its closing stages start to resemble its beginning.

However, again it must be stated that this is not gimmickry or curveball throwing for the sake of it; it is merely a by-product of a young genius who is at an age where most artists are in the stages of forming a career path but finds himself admirably fighting against a typecast, and on It Starts Hear Peter Broderick offers another glimpse into the mind of one of the most inventive and intriguing musicians of modern times.

8/10

Jordan Dowling

Wanderlust, Movie Review

Director : David Wain

Producer : Judd Apatow, Ken Marino, Paul Rudd, David Wain

Screenwriter : David Wain, Ken Marino

Starring : Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston, Justin Theroux, Alan Alda, Malin Akerman, Ken Marino, Michaela Watkins, Joe Lo Truglio, Kathryn Hahn, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Lauren Ambrose, Linda Lavin

An unusually sharp script makes this silly comedy thoroughly enjoyable, even when it tips over the top. And it helps that there's terrific chemistry between Rudd and Aniston, plus a range of riotous side characters.

When their over-extended Manhattan lifestyle falls apart, George and Linda (Rudd and Aniston) head to Atlanta to regroup at the home of George's rich brother (Marino) and his medicated wife (Watkins). But on the way they stop at a B&B in Elysium, a countryside commune that sparks their imagination of a possible new life. Led by forgetful founder Carvin (Alda) and self-important guru Seth (Theroux), George and Linda are surprised at how well they fit in.
But this free-spirited, free-loving society starts to strain their relationship.

The rather serious storyline grounds the film's goofy humour in a way that's thoroughly engaging. Yes, there's some lesson-learning involved, but the filmmakers never preach, instead keeping us entertained with a procession of hilariously wacky characters who grow on us thanks to the solid cast. Rudd is an expert at this kind of thing, creating an almost criminally likeable character even when George acts like a jerk. Rudd's good-natured approach adds buckets of charm, which helps us follow George through the film's most ill-conceived gag (an unfunny stream of dirty-talk).

Meanwhile, Aniston brings Linda to life with both astute comic timing and an undercurrent of real emotion. And the film is livened up by a string of notable scene-stealers: besides the amusingly up-for-it Theroux, the commune includes the terrific Hahn, Kenney-Silver, Ambrose and a bravely naked LoTriglio. And Watkins is hysterical as a Real Housewife who finally begins to see through the fog of her fake life.

Refreshingly, the script focusses on interaction between the characters rather than getting caught up in the trite save-the-ranch plot. The filmmakers merely use that as a framework in which the actors are encouraged to ad-lib their dialog and run wild with their characters. So even if the film feels wacky and fluffy, it has moments of remarkable depth along the way. So while it keeps us laughing all the way through, in the end we're surprised that our brains have been engaged as well.

View the original article here

The Raven, Movie Review

Director : James McTeigue

Producer : Marc D. Evans, Trevor Macy, Aaron Ryder

Screenwriter : Ben Livingston, Hannah Shakespeare

Starring : John Cusack, Alice Eve, Luke Evans, Brendan Gleeson, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Brendan Coyle, Pam Ferris, Sam Hazeldine

An acerbic sense of humour and a gleefully grisly production style make this gothic thriller good fun to watch. It may be rather preposterous, but it's also a grippingly complex mystery populated by some terrific actors.

In the weeks before his inexplicable death in 1849, author Edgar Allan Poe (Cusack) finds himself at the centre of a series of murders in which a killer is recreating his stories in grotesque scenarios around Baltimore. Detective Fields (Evans) asks Edgar to help with the case, but he's distracted by his girlfriend Emily (Eve), whose harsh father (Gleeson) refuses to allow the couple to marry. As the murders get increasingly personal for Edgar, he realises that his own fate is entwined with the fiendishly clever killer, whoever he may be.

The film opens with a note about how Poe's final days are shrouded in mystery, then proceeds to tell a story that's about as public as it can be, as the events play out in Baltimore's newspapers and among the city's chattering classes. In other words, everything's so fictionalised that the fact that the central character is Poe is almost irrelevant. Not that this really matters, when the filmmakers work so diligently to gleefully gross us out.

Each murderous scenario is more grisly than the last, and Cusack is terrific as a guy horrified that his own imagination is being used in such a ghastly way.
But the filmmakers are having so much fun with the energetic action that they never bother to explore the intriguing issue of a horror writer's creative process. Instead, the film's a series of set pieces involving confusing attacks and chases souped up with period detail.

Thankfully, the actors have plenty of space to add sardonic wit, creating tension between them that makes the film more entertaining than it has a right to be. The mystery resolves in a way that isn't hugely satisfying, but the lively tone never lets up, even as things become increasingly grim. We know that it will end with Poe's death (the story is told as an extended flashback), and while the whodunit isn't hugely convincing as an explanation for real-world events, it's a thoroughly entertaining movie plot.

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Sound Of Noise, Trailer and Information

Amadeus Warnebring was born into a musically gifted family. His parents are successful classical composers and his brother is a famous conductor. Unfortunately for them, Amadeus is tone deaf and hates music as a result. Instead of following his family into music, he becomes a policeman. One day, he is called onto the scene of a crime: there's a ticking bomb that's about to go off.

Upon his arrival, Amadeus discovers that the bomb isn't a bomb; it's a metronome. He makes another, more surprising, discovery when it is revealed who the metronome belongs to. Six musicians are causing havoc in the city by using ordinary, everyday objects as musical instruments.

They started off in a hospital, where they used a patient about to undergo an important operation as a drum, accompanied by hospital equipment for other percussive sounds. Later, the musicians travelled to a bank, where they used stamps, staplers and shredded bank notes in their second movement.

Amadeus follows the musicians across the city, learning that they are composing a symphony called Music For Six Drummers and One City. It is anyone's guess where they will end up next and Amadeus has to put a stop to their antics before the city dissolves into mayhem.

Starring: Bengt Nilsson, Sanna Persson, Ralph Carlsson and Magnus Borjeson

Director: Ola Simonsson

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A Man's Story, Movie Review

Director : Varon Bonicos

Producer : Alastair Clark, Rachel Robey

Screenwriter : n/a

Starring : Ozwald Boateng, Giorgio Armani, Jamie Foxx, Will Smith, Laurence Fishburne, Forest Whitaker, Paul Bettany, Gavin Rossdale

By following British designer Ozwald Boateng over 12 years, filmmaker Bonicos vividly captures his subject's personality on screen while recounting his rather astounding life story. But the film remains oddly dry and superficial.

Inspired by Armani, Boateng emerged from his childhood in riot-torn 1981 Brixton to become the first black tailor on Saville Row. As the creative director of Givenchy, his influence spread out through the fashion world, even as he juggled his work with his own label and two strained marriages. By 2005, he was at the centre of the Oscar red carpet, teaching American men to stop dressing like boys and reinventing the suit with shape and colour. He was awarded an OBE from the Queen in 2006.

Narrated by the director, the film follows Boateng through the highs and lows of his career, both his triumphant, groundbreaking shows and the shattering moment when his entire collection was stolen. The cameras capture hilarious moments, such as an icy event in Russia featuring vodka, chocolate and cheese, when he made a rather striking entrance into Red Square, where people aren't used to seeing 6'4" black men. And yet we never feel like we properly get under the surface either of the designer or the fashion industry

Boateng emerges as a very cool dude who combines intelligence, charisma and stunning good looks to get pretty much whatever he wants. And it seems almost accidental that the film captures Boateng's darker side. He admits that he neglected his family in a strangely offhanded, unapologetic way, and there are eerie references to both Mugabe and Gaddafi as the film traces his humanitarian work in Africa. But Bonicos lets these things just slide by.

Fortunately, he adds artful/wacky touches (one sequence is shot under water) to the interviews, archive footage and behind-the-scenes sequences. But a lack of depth makes the doc feel overlong and repetitive. So it's a bit deflating that the most revealing thing Bonicos finds about Boateng is that he isn't hugely introspective. Indeed only thing Boateng gets excited about is conquering the world with his work, enthusing that "it's all about the experience". So while the film's lively and informative, perhaps another editor could have found the real story hidden in the overabundant material.

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Trishna, Movie Review

Director : Michael Winterbottom

Producer : Sunil Bohra, Melissa Parmenter, Michael Winterbottom

Screenwriter : Michael Winterbottom

Starring : Freida Pinto, Riz Ahmed, Roshan Seth

With this darkly edgy romance, Winterbottom adapts his third Thomas Hardy novel, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, and sets the action in India. It's colourful and dramatic, but lacks the passion the story requires to grab our emotions.

When her father loses his livelihood in a traffic accident, Trishna (Pinto) needs to support her family in Rajasthan. So she takes a job offered by flirty tourist Jay (Ahmed), who works at his father's hotel in Jaipur. When Jay pushes their relationship further, Trishna runs home. But Jay finds her and talks her into moving with him to Mumbai, where they can live together while he pursues his dream of being a film producer. And as he becomes more distant, Trishna wonders if she's made a terrible mistake.

Winterbottom beautifully captures the colours and textures of India, combining beautiful but gritty photography (by Marcel Zyskind) with a lively song score.
It also a perfect setting for Hardy's story, cleverly adapted to the present day in a society that is just now emerging from old traditions into the big bad world, much as Britain was doing when Hardy was writing in the 19th century.

Less convincing is the way the characters come across. Trishna is an intelligent, capable woman who has a good job, then proves herself adept at studying hotel management and could also make a living as a Bollywood dancer.
And yet she passively allows herself to be blindly led by Jay. A mixture of Angel and Alec from the novel, Jay shifts abruptly from kind and generous to romantic charmer to aggressive monster as the film progresses. And these transitions feel constructed by the screenwriter.

Even so, Pinto and Ahmed superbly play each scene with internalised conviction that almost bridges over the gaps. Their chemistry is very strong, even as the relationship shows signs of strain. But the film's meandering structure makes it begin to feel a little dull, simply because there's no sense of logical momentum.

In the end, there's plenty to admire. The film has a lot to say about the nature of relationships, especially where family responsibilities come into play. And the strong performances and skilful filmmaking contribute to moments of intense joy and pain. Although some key changes to Hardy's plot mean that the story's finale is a bit more alarming than we expect.

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StreetDance 2, Trailer and Information

Ash is an American street dancer based in London. He is in training with the dance troupe Invincible for an upcoming competition when he is humiliated by the group. With his dignity in shreds, Ash leaves the group and vows to continue training for the competition.

He enlists the help of his best friend Eddie and the pair travel to Europe to recruit the best dancers. They find dancers in cities such as Paris; Rome and Amsterdam and soon they have a street crew good enough to take on Invincible. Eddie, though, thinks they're missing one small thing that could make their troupe perfect and so he drags Ash to a club.

There they find Eva, a sexy Latin dancer who gladly joins their troupe. Now Eddie thinks that they're perfect, so in the six weeks before the competition, they begin rehearsing in earnest. However, the troupe consists of mostly boys, make fun of Eva. She almost quits but Ash persuades her to stay. If she left, they might not win the competition.

The time comes for Ash, Eddie, Eva and the rest of the group to give it their all at the competition. Can they beat the almighty Invincible?

Starring: Falk Hentschel, Sofia Boutella, Tom Conti, George Sampson and Chris Knight

Directors: Max Giwa, Dania Pasquini

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Magic Wands, Space Video and Information

Magic Wands' new single, Space, is the lead single from their upcoming debut album, Aloha Moon, which will be released on April 24th, 2012. The duo will be playing two dates at SXSW, on March 15th and 16th, 2012.

The video for Space was directed by John Charter and Dexy Valentine of the band. Throughout the video, there is a lot of strobe effects, as the band stare into the camera. Some aspects of the video were shot at night, lit up by car headlights.

Magic Wands formed in 2008 after Chris discovered Dexy's song, Teenage Love, on her MySpace page and got in touch. Dexy, who lived in Los Angeles at the time, flew to Nashville, where Chris lived, and the pair began writing songs together. Later in the same year, they signed to Bright Antenna, where they released their debut EP, Magic Love & Dreams, in May 2009.

Aloha Moon was recorded in a number of different places: a cabin in Echo Park, Los Angeles; San Francisco and in California's Palm Desert at night. Aloha Moon was produced by the acclaimed Dave Sardy, who has worked with LCD Soundsystem.

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Bel Ami, Movie Review

Director : Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod

Producer : Uberto Pasolini

Screenwriter : Rachel Bennette

Starring : Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci, Kristin Scott Thomas, Colm Meaney, Philip Glenister, Holliday Grainger, James Lance

Guy de Maupassant's 1885 novel was first adapted for the cinema in 1919, and yet the story has some intriguing parallels with European society today. On the other hand, this adaptation never finds its tone, and it doesn't give us a single character to care about.

In 1890 Paris, penniless charmer Georges (Pattinson) has a chance encounter with former comrade Charles (Glenister), who offers him a job as a journalist.
Unable to string a sentence together, Charles' wife Madeleine (Thurman) offers to help, but refuses his relentless flirting. Instead he starts a torrid affair with married family friend Clotilde (Ricci). But a taste of the high life goes to his head, and when Charles dies, he makes a move for Madeleine. Or maybe he can get more out of Virginie (Scott Thomas), wife of the newspaper boss (Meaney).

The central question is whether Georges is manipulating people for his own gain, or whether everyone else is actually using him. So the story is a political thriller (a scandal that could topple the government), romantic melodrama (he yearns for each woman in very different ways) and bedroom farce, all at the same time. Yet the more we get to know Georges the more we despise him: not only is he selfish and cruel, but he's also seriously dim. And even though Pattinson gives his spiciest performance yet (which isn't saying much), we never root for him.

Meanwhile, the actresses make the most of their one-sided roles. Thurman oozes confidence as an intelligent woman who refuses to submit to a man's world.
Ricci is sweet as the doe-eyed lover who hasn't a clue what's really going on around her. Scott Thomas is hilarious as the repressed woman who becomes rather unhinged when Georges loosens her corset. Meaney, Glenister and Lance (as a politician) glower nastily through every scene, clearly plotting something villainous.

But all of this gloomy intrigue weighs the film down, never becoming clear enough to engage our interest and distracting us from the much more entertaining romantic chaos. At least the filmmakers have some fun in the bed-hopping scenes, letting the actors add lusty subtext to every glance. If only this light touch had extended through the entire film.

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John Carter , Movie Review

Director : Andrew Stanton

Producer : Lindsey Collins, Jim Morris, Colin Wilson

Screenwriter : Andrew Stanton, Mark Andrews, Michael Chabon

Starring : Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Dominic West, Samantha Morton, Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong, James Purefoy, Ciaran Hinds, Thomas Haden Church, Daryl Sabara, Bryan Cranston

While trailers make this look like an effects-heavy sci-fi mess, the film is actually a rollicking adventure firmly centred on characters rather than the creatures or action. It's an involving, strikingly well-made action drama.

At the end of the American Civil War, John Carter (Kitsch) is in Arizona looking for gold when a strange artefact in a cave transports him to Mars, known locally as Barsoom. Getting used to the lower gravity is one thing, but he's soon captured by green, 15-foot-tall Tharks, who have four limbs plus tusks on the sides of their faces. He earns the respect of leader Tars Tarkas (Dafoe), but when he rescues Helium's Princess Dejah (Collins), he ends up in the middle of the war between red human kingdoms Helium and Zodanga.

The story is bookended with scenes of author Edgar Rice Burroughs (Sabara), John's nephew, who has a key role in a plot that includes numerous characters who are inter-connected in complex ways. Dejah's father (Hinds) is about to sell her into marriage with enemy leader Sab Than (West), who's being manipulated by Matai Shang (Strong), a angel-like Thern. Meanwhile, John is accompanied by feisty Thark warrior Sola (Morton) and an enormous, slobbery dog-thing who's fiercely loyal to him.

The film is packed with these kinds of details, cleverly woven into the script to make the story funny, intriguing and thrilling. It's also extremely fast-paced, never letting up the tension as John is propelled from one dangerous situation into another, discovering things about himself that he never knew. And as we take this journey with him, we feel the punch of terror and exhilaration along with emotional resonance on a variety of fronts.

On a technical level, the film looks terrific. The effects work continually surprises us with animated characters who are thoroughly engaging, while the 3D camerawork makes nice use of the desert locations. And even if the story feels constructed, with action and emotional beats at key intervals, it never feels contrived. Like the 1977 Star Wars, it's a pure story of a young man looking into himself and deciding what's really important. OK, it's not that ground-breaking, but it bodes well for adaptations of Burroughs' 10 other Barsoom novels.

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The Twang, 10:20 Album Review

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Geographer, Watch Kites Video

Artist: Geographer

Track: Watch Kites

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Band of Skulls, Sweet Sour Video and Information

Band of Skulls' new single, Sweet Sour, will be released on May 7th, 2012, through Electric Blues Recordings. It is the third single from the band's second studio album of the same name, which was released in February 2012. Upon the release of the album, it was the highest charting new entry, coming in at number 14 on the UK Album Charts in its first week.

The video for Sweet Sour was shot in black and white and sees four young children meeting up in a small town and breakdancing.

Band of Skulls - Russell Marsden (guitar, vocals); Emma Richardson (bass, vocals) and Matt Hayward (drums) - formed in 2008 and released their first studio album, Baby Darling Doll Face Honey, in 2009. It was produced by Ian Davenport, who has worked with Badly Drawn Boy and Supergrass. The album itself received a positive reception from critics.

They teamed up with Ian again to work on Sweet Sour; the album was mixed by Nick Launay (Nick Cave / PIL / Yeah Yeah Yeahs) in Los Angeles. To promote the album, Band of Skulls went on tour with the Black Keys in January 2012, before embarking on their own tour. They will play their last two dates at the start of March 2012. Band of Skulls can also be seen at many festivals this year: Coachella; SXSW; T in the Park and Isle of Wight.

5th Brighton Concorde
6th London Roundhouse

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Skinny Lister, Plough & Orion Video and Information

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Chet Faker, Terms And Conditions Video and Information

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Rosanne Cash, "Sleeping In Paris" - Live From Zone C Video

Artist: Rosanne Cash

Track: "Sleeping In Paris" - Live From Zone C

Time: 5:43 min

Genre: Country

Label: Sony BMG

Year: 2012

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Jennifer Hudson, Think Like A Man featuring Ne-Yo and Rick Ross Video

Artist: Jennifer Hudson

Track: Think Like A Man featuring Ne-Yo and

Time: 5:40 min

Genre: R+B

Label: Sony BMG

Year: 2012

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Santigold, Disparate Youth Video and Information

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Choir Of Young Believers, Rhine Gold (Live) Video and Information

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Alexandra Stan, 1,000,000 Video

Artist: Alexandra Stan

Track: 1,000,000

Genre: Dance

Label: Warner Bros.

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Rosanne Cash, "House On The Lake" - Live From Zone C Video

Artist: Rosanne Cash

Track: "House On The Lake" - Live From Zone C

Time: 4:12 min

Genre: Country

Label: Sony BMG

Year: 2012

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Men In Black 3, Extended Trailer and Information

Agents K and J work for the Men In Black, an organisation specialising in hunting down aliens. Agent J used to be known as James Darrell Edwards III and was recruited by Agent K, after the latter observed the former hunting down an alien in disguise while working for the NYPD.

Should any humans come into contact with aliens, the Men In Black are required to wipe their memories. As Agent J puts it, the Men In Black are 'just a figment of your imagination.'

After a successful mission in China, involving a mutated fish, Agents J and K return to the States. The next morning, J comes into work and discovers that K is not at his desk. After trying to look for him, he tries asking around his colleagues. J is shocked when he is told by Agent Oh that K died over forty years ago. Further investigation by Oh and J reveals that history is being rewritten, with K at the centre of it all.

J must travel back in time to 1969 to stop K from dying. In order to go back in time, however, he must jump from the tallest building in New York - the Empire State Building. He only has twenty four hours to stop history changing, bring back K and stave off an alien invasion. As J put it in China: 'I'm getting too old for this.'

Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Emma Thompson, Bill Hader, Alice Eve, Jemaine Clement, Michael Stuhlbarg, Nicole Scherzinger, Rip Torn, Lenny Venito, Keone Young, Geoffrey Cantor, Kevin Covais, Michael Chernus, Michael Dean & Dan Bittner

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

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The Magnetic Fields, Love At The Bottom Of The Sea Album Review

Stephin Merritt, in his twenty-plus years in music, has been nothing short of prolific. Following on from the synth-less trilogy that was I, Distortion and Realism, this time Merritt and the Magnetic Fields return to synth-based pop that made them famous back in the nineties. As with Merritt's magnum opus that was the epic 69 Love Songs, Love At The Bottom Of The Sea is everything you'd expect from the master of three minute or less pop songs, based loosely on love and lost.

Love At The Bottom Of The Sea has all the proponents of a Magnetic Fields release both outside and including the musical matters, with humorous track titles like 'Infatuation (With Your Gyration)' and 'All She Cares About Is Mariachi' and Merritt's bass like vocals and amusing lyrics. Merritt explores sexuality and magnetism on 'Andrew In Drag,' with lyrics like "A pity she does not exist/A shame he's not a fag/the only girl I ever loved was Andrew in drag" exemplifying Merritt's confused and even tragic infatuation with really poignancy. Whilst the band may have returned to synth-based pop for the album, they have definitely learned a thing or two from the past three releases, with the song featuring little in the way of synth-lines, but still delivering the kind of endearing pop that the group make so well.

Merritt and Claudia Gonson trade places as well as they've ever done throughout the album, both of them suiting the accompanying music to a key. Whilst Gonson offers a considerable contribution to the album, it really is with Merritt where the real highlights of the album lie. On 'Infatuation (With Your Gyration)' Merritt crafts at tongue-in-cheek take on Human League-esque 80s synth group that is side-splittingly funny at times. An injection of humour is never far away on a Magnetic Fields release and this is my no means any different for Love At The Bottom Of The Sea. 'The Horrible Party' starts off brilliantly with opening line "Take me away from this horrible party and let me go home to my mother" a typical Merrittism, his lyrics serving as the antithesis of his bassy vocal style (although 'The Horrible Party' is sung by Gonson, this was just a generals statement).

Love At The Bottom Of The Sea is by no means the group's pinnacle release; they pretty much took care of that in 1999. However it is as entertaining a release from the group as you'd expect, the reincorporation of synths only serves to highlight how well the band manage great pop songs, long may they continue to do so.

7/10

Joe Wilde

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Elektro Guzzi, Parquet Album Review

Austrian three-piece Elektro Guzzi are masters of discipline. Their second album in eight years, the guitar/bass/drum trio are firmly routed in the realm of dance music, but shun any reliance on the perfectionist, clinical production and over-saturation typical of a guitar/dance crossover. In fact, 'Parquet' is almost completely organic.

The nine tracks of their sophomore full-length are built from the ground up, often starting with bare, rigid beats and slowly bursting into life. Each one was recorded live and sparred the use of editing or overdubbing, which gives Parquet an unusual atmosphere, more akin to the krautrock of Can or Neu in the way ideas are allowed to bubble and form naturally rather than being cut and pasted in. Comparisons here can be drawn to Factory Floor or Health, though in keeping with their discipline Elektro Guzzi do not use the same range of tools, toys and tricks to set a direction.

Opener 'Affumicato' sets the mood perfectly; a locked-in digital floor tom rhythm sets the base whilst a picked guitar sent through delay, reverb and flanger pedals forms a melody and the bass takes its time mirroring and imitating both. The end result is something not too dissimilar to late nineties techno, but the sound Parquet is by no means dated; it is vibrant and exciting.

Throughout the album Elektro Guzzi do touch upon different styles and vibes, most notably on the mammoth 'Moskito', which has a galloping drum beat reminiscent of a wide-screen Arabic chase scene, and the closer 'Slide Dandy', which finishes over the album in a manner befitting a closing-night Ibiza party, yet at this point it is difficult not to look back and wish that a little more ground had been covered and that certain ideas were allowed to explode rather than digress. Still, 'Parquet' is at the very least an interesting concept and a rewarding listen.

7/10

Jordan Dowling

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