Introducing: Boy Crisis

Like my previous post Boy Crisis come from across the infamous pond however there is pretty much where the comparison stops with the previous band Amazing Baby. Oh, well they both come from New York but who doesn’t nowadays? Oh yeah and they (like Amazing Baby) appear in MGMT’s top friends on MySpace, lucky devils.

Totally different sounding to both the mentioned bands Boy Crisis delve more into an electronic. This 5 piece from New York are definitely going to be going places in the next year or so, you can just tell. ‘Dressed to Digress’ just happens to be my favourite song at the moment, the beats are pretty fucking hefty. “Let me love you like you’re the shit girl, you’re the shit girl” is not as bad as it sounds, it’s definitely a positive thing. 'Dressed to Digress' is 3 minutes and 10 seconds of pure pop heaven.

Having played a few shows with MGMT I imagine this band will be getting plenty of attention from music fans everywhere, it won’t be too long till’ the band are playing on these shores. Until then enjoy this beautiful piece of music…

Boy Crisis – Dressed to Digress

Introducing: Amazing Baby

This week’s NME focuses on top 25 bands from across the pond, I’ve not read the article or seen the list but Amazing Baby are a brand spanking new band from across those waters. From Brooklyn, New York Amazing Baby are so far an unknown quantity for most people I imagine. I don’t know a great deal about the band, y’know the vital statistics of the band like how many members, names and all that stuff.

However I do know that they’ve only played a few gigs in their short career thus far but they are getting plenty of attention from plenty of places. Today I discovered their website where you can download a 4 track EP titled ‘Infinite Fucking Cross’ for absolutely sod all. Pretty cool eh?

Amazing Baby sound very psychedelic at times especially on ‘Supreme Being’ which is one of the songs featured on that free EP. My favourite song so far is definitely ‘Head Dress’ which once again dips into the psychedelic bucket for its inspiration. I do believe the band is friends with MGMT and has already played a few shows with them. So expect NME to liken them to MGMT and tar them with the same brush as any band that comes out of New York at the moment. For the record I don’t think Amazing Baby sound much if anything like current New York successes Vampire Weekend or MGMT.

To download ‘Infinite Fucking Cross’ click right here.

Label Focus: Domino

Domino was formed in 1993 by Laurence Bell and Jacqui Bell and mainly brings out alternative music. Domino’s roster is one that any label would be extremely jealous, Domino Records UK has new artists such as These New Puritans, Wild Beasts, Lightspeed Champion and The Last Shadow Puppets.

Across the pond Domino USA boasts such talent as Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, The Notwist, Caribou and Yo Majesty. However more house hold names on the label include Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, Sons and Daughters and The Kills.

Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand are arguably the two most successful bands on the label. Franz Ferdinand’s second album ‘You Could Have It So Much Better’ reached number one on the album charts and so did both Arctic Monkeys records. The Sheffield foursome have also provided two number one hits for their label (‘When The Sun Goes Down’ and of course debut single ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’).

Along with some commercially successful bands Domino has on his roster some older bands not to be ignored including Scottish twee indie legends Orange Juice along with fellow Scottish bands The Pastels and Josef K. Welsh outfit Young Marble Giants and the English band formed in the late 70’s The Television Personalities are also on Domino’s impressive catalogue.

One of my favourite artists on the label is influential American alternative band Pavement who although did not bring much success commercially for Domino have obviously influenced several bands throughout the years. There is no denying that Domino are one of the best labels around at the moment and they continue to sign new, fresh and talented artists.

Wall-E

Last night I finally got round to seeing the animation film of the summer and year, Wall-E. Sitting in front of me was a whole row of 5 year kids and sitting next to me a 60+ year old couple. Then there was me and my girlfriend both aged 20, there are not many films where this sort of situation occurs. Impressions of the “Wall-EEEE” voice can be heard every time the little fella pops up on the screen before the film starts. In between trailers and breaks crunching, slurping and the loudest rustling you’ve heard in your life. I basically want to leave and go watch The Dark Knight for the third time.

Thankfully the film begins and with this the noises stop, the crunching halts and the rustling is no longer an issue. Thank you Pixar for shutting up the incredibly annoying noises made by the general public because everybody in the room was fixed on this little robot cleaning up the world’s rubbish that had been left by the people who had left for space.

The premise of the film is very simplistic but underneath there is some really great hidden meanings and definitely some morals that can’t be ignored. The film follows a little robot named Wall-E who cleans up earth but has developed a personality and collects all sorts of things in his little “house”. Another newer robot is sent onto earth from space to check for signs of life or vegetation and Wall-E discovers a love interest for Eve (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator). Eve discovers a plant that Wall-E has and then shuts down and Wall-E is now incredibly sad. Eve is taken back into Space and Wall-E manages to grab onto the spaceship she is taken back to space with.

In space we see a new world where everybody is overweight, lazy and technology rules the world, a very sorry state. However because a plant has been discovered they can move back to earth however the robots who rule space don’t want this to happen. Eventually of course Eve and Wall-E stop the robots along with the captain of the spaceship where everybody lives and they get back to Earth.

What is so great and interesting about the film is that for so long (I think around 40 minutes) there is absolutely no dialogue. However you’re still gripped by the two characters Wall-E and Eve and when there is some dialogue later on there isn’t much really. It is definitely has broken new boundaries for animation and will definitely go down as another hit from Pixar.

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Frigthened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight

Frightened Rabbit’s second album ‘The Midnight Organ Fight’ is an album I over looked when it was released but so far this month I’ve been playing it a lot. The Scottish trio released the 14 track record back in April and have since released a couple of singles from it. Critically it has gone done extremely well with Pitchfork and NME both giving it 8/10 and Drowned in Sound giving it a 9/10.

The album is packed full with emotion that is something I notice the more and more I listen to it. You can really hear the pain that is going into some of the lyrics and through the vocals of lead singer Scott Hutchinson you feel his pain. Hutchinson has an amazing voice, it is very raw and his strong Scottish accent also adds to his vocals.

I’d not previously heard anything by Frightened Rabbit so when I first listened to the album I was pretty impressed. Opening song ‘The Modern Leper’ is as raw a song as I’ve heard so far this year and the pain continues with songs like ‘Feel Better’ and ‘Good Arms vs Bad Arms’.

Last single ‘Fast Blood’ is a powerful track and rolls on through the emotion and pain of the lyrics. ‘Old Old Fashioned’ is yet another great 3 minutes 43 seconds of pure bliss. We get an insight into Scott Hutchinson’s relationship in the lyric “I’ll turn off the TV, its killing us, we never speak”.

‘Heads Roll Off’ contains one of my favourite lyrics from the album: “Jesus is just a Spanish boy’s name. How come one man got so much fame?” a dig at religion possibly? Either way, I agree. ‘Heads Roll Off’ is fast becoming one of my favourite songs from 2008.

The album is full of other intense songs like next song ‘My Backwards Walk’ and another favourite from my album ‘Keep Yourself Warm’ which deals pretty heavily with relationships including this lyric: “It takes more than fucking someone to keep yourself warm”.

This album has come to me as quite a surprise but I won’t be surprised if it appears in many top 10 of the year lists.

8.5/10

Wild Beasts - Limbo, Panto

I saw Wild Beasts once and to say I wasn’t impressed is quite an understatement, quite a time later I find myself listening to Wild Beasts. I wasn’t going to even listen to ‘Limbo, Panto’ because of my experience with them that I had before. However every one deserves a second chance right? I mean when I saw them live it could’ve been one of the worse days of their lives. Everything could’ve been going wrong that day so a second chance was definitely deserved.

Thankfully I did give the band a second chance because ‘Limbo, Panto’ is a pretty special record in today’s climate of bands. There are far too many bands like One Night Only, the Pigeon Detectives, The Metros etc etc etc. Not enough bands like Wild Beasts who are definitely not like the current crop of crap that is out there.

Even if you don’t like Wild Beasts you have to appreciate that they sound much different to a lot of stuff at the moment. For that I tip my hat off to them, it would be so easy for a band to be middle of the road much like the bands mentioned. Wild Beasts are certainly not middle of the road, I can’t quite believe that they are from Leeds. You would never know (this being a good thing) and at times you would mistake them for being from across the pond.

At times they sound like Editors circa the first album and at other times I can hear Arcade Fire but most of the time I just hear Wild Beasts. Newest single ‘The Devil’s Crayon’ was the song which made me listen to the album, after seeing it on MTV2 I decided it was definitely time for a listen to the album. However the newest single isn’t the only great song on ‘Limbo, Panto’ bizarrely named ‘Woeboegone Wanderers’ sounds like an obscure Sunday league football team, either way the song is pretty epic.

‘The Old Dog’ is yet another fine moment on the record and believe me there are many: ‘Vigil For A Fuddy Duddy’, ‘The Club of Fathomless Love’ and ‘Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants’ for example. What I will say about ‘Limbo, Panto’ is that I have to be in the right mood to listen to it but when I am in that mood ‘Limbo, Panto’ is a stunning album. When I’m not I have to turn it off and listen to something else.

7.5/10

Metronomy - Nights Out

I’m not really sure what to make of this album, I like a bit of electronic as much as the next person y’know but sometimes I find it hard listening to songs with no lyrics. Especially songs which are almost 4 minutes with no words (like ‘End Of You Too’ on this album). Having said for Metronomy the album would not work without those songs sandwiched in between other songs.

‘Radio Ladio’ is the first single to crop up as you listen to ‘Nights Out’ and to me it still remains the best single by Metronomy to date. When you heard it you knew immediately it was going to be a great hit for the band and since then I’ve heard it countless amounts of times in indie clubs and it always goes down extremely well. Rightfully so as well because it’s a really infectious single and you can’t help singing “R-A-D-I-OOOOOOOOOO. L-A-D-I-OOOOOOOOOO.”

‘My Heart Rate Rapid’ which was released as a single back in April and despite not being as big as the previous single is definitely as good as the previous song. When I first listened to it I was hooked immediately to some of the really toe tapping moments to the song.

‘Heartbreaker’ is going to be the next single and it is so far my favourite song on the record. Softer vocals and quieter music makes this song definitely an excellent moment on this record. “I heard she broke your heart, that girl’s a heartbreaker” sings lead singer Joseph. I’m getting the feeling Joe’s had his heart broken, poor guy.

‘On The Motorway’ is the shortest track on the album at 2 minutes 37 seconds but what it lacks in length it makes up for in quality. This song oozes cool, it feels like a typical Metronomy song. Current single ‘Holiday’ still is yet to grow on me but I have the feeling it could easily do so because there are some terrific moments in the song. You can’t help loving the vocals on this song, slowed down at times and really squeaky high at other times, such an interesting but at the same time fantastic combination. ‘Back On The Motorway’ and ‘On Dancefloors’ end the album on a high point for me.

Overall ‘Nights Out’ is a superb album and there are definitely more good spots than bad times, this is a record that would be perfect at a party.

7.5/10

Noah and The Whale - Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down

When I first heard Noah and the Whale at the tail end of last year I was pretty hooked on the sound that they had. I really liked the folk sound that they possessed and I was really interested in lead singer Charlie’s vocals. Firstly I heard ‘5 Years Time’ which is quite easily one of the best summer songs I’m to hear from a new band. I always worried that ‘5 Years Time’ would be their peak, the one song which you listen to and nothing else. With this album I thought maybe you’d listen through and really only consider that song as the standout track.

I was wrong ‘Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down’ has some really beautiful moments on it and with the album the band have proved that they are not just a one hit band. Noah and the Whale are going to be one of those bands that on record I thoroughly enjoy listening to but live I just don’t think it’s the same. I’ve seen them live and unfortunately I found them quite boring, however on record they are very, very good.

The suns out and you are lying with your eyes closed with headphones on and songs like ‘Shape Of My Heart’ are perfect. They make you feel giddy inside and feel you up with a great sense of warmth. ‘Jocasta’ is yet another song which I really love listening to when the sun is beaming on my window and I’m looking out with this song in the background.

‘2 Atoms In A Molecule’ is the opening track of the album and really starts the album off very well. At 2 minutes 4 seconds it is the perfect Noah and the Whale song; clever and at the same time sweet lyrics. Further into the album ‘Rocks And Daggers’ is a really great song to follow, “I’m thankful for the love these rocks have always given” Noah and the Whale are big fan of rocks and I am too, especially those smooth little ones you can skim on the water. In fact this song reminds me of being on a beach in England skimming those very stones across the water.

‘Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down’ is a good start for Noah and the Whale. There is some strong songs on the album and find me someone who doesn’t like ‘5 Years Time’, ‘Rocks and Daggers’ and Jocasta’ and I’ll call them a liar. Despite this there are some weaker moments to the album which is why it won’t appear on my top albums of the year list and probably not many others.

7/10

Late of the Pier - Fantasy Black Channel

I’ve been following the progress of Late of the Pier for some time, after getting extremely excited about the ‘Zarcorp’ demos that were doing the rounds some time ago. Summer 2008 sees Late of the Pier release their debut album produced by the man everybody wants to work with; Erol Alkan. When I first heard Late of the Pier I thought they’d maybe be one of those bands that have a couple of really good singles and then make a rushed poor album. Thankfully I was very, very wrong because they have plenty of impressive singles along with other just as impressive songs on ‘Fantasy Black Channel’.

‘Hot Tent Blues’ is the perfect Late of the Pier intro into this album and moves smoothly into ‘Broken’. Which is just as good as I remember the demo being, if not better. Sometimes it’s hard for a band to re-record a song and get the same energy as the demos but ‘Broken’ is definitely an example of a song re-recorded perfectly.

Singles ‘Space And The Woods’ and ‘The Bears Are Coming’ appear next on the album and they are as good as I remember them. “Suicide is in my blood, it always was” sings lead singer Samuel Eastgate on ‘Space And The Woods’ which was the bands previous single. ‘The Bears Are Coming’ sums up the Late of the Pier sound, which is pretty unique combining many styles and providing pretty odd lyrics.

New single ‘Heartbeat’ formally known as: ‘A Heartbeat. A Flicker. A Line’ and has now got a very 80’s sounding intro to it (thanks to Erol Alkan me thinks). However it still has that Late of the Pier sound and some really intriguing lyrics; “pineapple pieces in brine, fucking around with your mind” immediately come to mind.

One of my favourite songs from the demos was always ‘Random Firl’ and now with added lyrics it is 2 minutes 14 seconds of electronic heaven. The end of the album ends just as strongly as the beginning of the album with songs such as ‘Bathroom Gurgle’, ‘Focker’, ‘VW’ and ‘Whitesnake’ all as good as the already mentioned songs.

Overall ‘Fantasy Black Channel’ has many, many high points and no low points. This is the record you stick on when you want to step away from reality, thumbs up Late of the Pier.

8.5/10

Label Focus: Young And Lost Club

Young & Lost Club is a small independent record label set up by Nadia and Sara and is based in London. If you live in London then there is a good chance you would’ve heard of the label. The label has also been featured in many publications including Time Out, Flux Magazine, The Daily Mail, iD Magazine and Dazed and Confused. Also on a Saturday night they are responsible for the club night Push which showcases some great new bands, DJ’s and plays some wonderful music. It’s the place to be on a Saturday night in Central London.

YALC’s first release was back in 2005 and featured the Vincent Vincent and the Villains single ‘Blue Boy’ / ‘The Boy Who Killed Time’. Since then YALC have released some of the best singles from the best new bands around. Including ‘Six Queens’ by Larrikin Love, Good Shoes debut single ‘Small Town Girl’ and ‘Comfortable Silence’ by Cazals which featured one of my favourite ever b-sides ‘Cost’.

Other bands showcased by Young & Lost Club include Action Plan, New Moscow and Friends of the Bride. My favourite releases by YALC are singles such as ‘Animator’ (Pull Tiger Tail), ‘Take This Act Down’ (Lets Bitter Cinema) and my favourites being the two Fear of Flying singles ‘Routemaster’ and ‘Three’s A Crowd’.

More recently Young & Lost Club has released excellent artists such as Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit, Semifinalists, Bombay Bicycle Club, Noah and the Whale and unfortunately Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong. Young & Lost Club will continue to release fantastic singles I’m sure and I’m just as excited now about their releases as I was 3 years ago when Good Shoes, Larrikin Love and VVATV were on Young & Lost Club.

The Dark Knight

On the way to the cinema I felt strange, I was actually worried. I’d read all the great reviews (both Total Film and Empire gave The Dark Knight a perfect 5 out of 5). I’d read some people suggesting it was the “greatest film ever” but I was worried the film would not fulfil all the hype. Why should I be worried about it? It’s just a film… but after seeing Batman Begins and reading so much about The Dark Knight I wanted it desperately to be good.

So, the verdict. It wasn’t good at all. It was fucking fantastic. It’s not very often I go to the cinema and leave the cinema feeling quite how I felt on Saturday night. When I left the cinema I knew I’d seen one of the greatest films of my generation so far. That is quite some statement but one I feel pretty strongly about. I’ve never in my life gone to see a film more than once at a cinema but come Wednesday afternoon I’ll be in my local Odeon watching The Dark Knight again.

Heath Ledger is obviously going to get all the press from the film and rightfully so for his performance. I am of the opinion that his performance of The Joker succeeded Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of The Joker in 1989. Understandably his death has made it hard for fans of his to watch the film in the same way, but it shouldn’t. If you was ever going to do your last film before you died that was one hell of a way of doing it. At times he was hilarious, at times he was incredibly scary, most of the time he was insane and every scene he was in he was absolutely sensational. If he wins an Oscar for his performance it won’t be a win because he is no longer with us it will be because it was the best performance of the year.

Christian Bale is forgotten about in a lot of reviews but I think he is the best Batman we’ve seen so far. Michael Keaton, George Clooney and Val Kilmer have all tried it in the past 20 years but they come no way near Christian Bale. As Bruce Wayne Christian Bale is the epitome of cool and as Batman he is the superhero we all want. The combination of Bale and Nolan strikes again and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the awesome duo make another fantastic movie.

Aaron Eckhart is definitely worth a mention too because his performance as Harvey Dent / Two Face is just as impressive as Bale’s portrayal of Batman. I’ve not really seen much of Eckhart before but I am pretty sure after his role of Harvey Dent we will be seeing much more of him. The rest of the cast is great too; Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are better in The Dark Knight than previous film Batman Begins. My only gripe character wise was Maggie Gyllenhaal who I don’t think really pulled off the Rachel Dawes but thankfully she’s been killed off and didn’t get much air time in The Dark Knight.

I wake up Sunday morning pretty excited about the film still and read some of the morning papers and feel pretty disgusted at some of the reviews of The Dark Knight. One newspaper (The Daily Mail) claim it was “far too long and far too complicated”, what the fuck? Too long? Erm, the last Lord of the Rings film was an hour longer but that was critically acclaimed and won shit load of Oscars. Too complicated? Are you thick? Another quote from a horrible tabloid (News of the World) suggested “the film lacked a love story” since when has Batman been about love? The film is called The Dark Knight for fucks sake. Oh yeah and the best quote (once again from The Daily Mail) was “Christian Bale needs to appeal more to the 12 to 14 year girls, he has to be dreamy”. Oh please, pass me a bucket. This is not a teen movie you toss pot.

Overall this is the must seen film of 2008 and I think in 20 years time this film will remain a classic blockbuster superhero smash.

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Batman

It’s 1989 and Tim Burton has decided that it is time to bring Batman back to our screens. Not intent on making a Batman movie quite like the ones seen in the past, with the 1966 Batman film coming to mind. Y’know the one with the horrible bright colours, the tacky “KERRRRRR POW” speech bubbles, the poor action scenes and overall terrible performances. I remember seeing that film and thinking how lame Batman was, it was incredibly camp.

Thankfully Tim Burton prefers a darker more gothic Gotham City and thankfully his cast included the brilliant Jack Nicholson who played The Joker. As much as I think Michael Keaton was a pretty dorky Bruce Wayne he did all the Batman scenes pretty sufficiently. Kim Basinger was the love interest in the film and portrayed her character very well.

Gotham City is a dark place filled with criminals and those criminals killed the parents of Bruce Wayne. Jack Napier killed Bruce’s parents and from that moment on Bruce Wayne was content on fighting the scum of the streets. Unfortunately there is a criminal like no other, with no fear and who is as deranged as they come, The Joker. Batman has to beat off The Joker’s mad plans to take over Gotham City and kill all the people living there.

Of course he manages to eventually fight off The Joker and save Gotham City along with his love interest Vicki Vale. The film is a great comic book film which really gets the Batman back to how he should be. A dark hero of the night – The Dark Night you say? It took him away from the coloured camp character created in the 1960’s. Jack Nicholson was terrific as The Joker – he did the whole “crazy, fearless, psychotic madman” perfectly.

Tim Burton brought Batman back some serious credibility and Jack Nicholson as The Joker was hilarious and insane at the same time along with brilliant.

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Introducing: Tubelord

I’ve not really been excited by many “new” bands for a long time, and by new I mean a band who has no album and no hype surrounding them. Tubelord are probably the band I am currently most excited about. When I first listened to them a good 6 months ago I wasn’t as excited back then as I am now. I have no idea why but thankfully I went back to them and realised how good they are.

How do you describe Tubelord? Insanely different is how I sum them up. I a real mix mash of loads of different sounds. Despite having a really heavy sound there are some really softer moments with some great melodies and some softer vocals. But then the next minute they will rock the fuck out and shout their arses off. All this mixed together equals a pretty special sound. Loud drums, heavy guitars and even a harmonica at times make Tubelord a pretty unique sound.

‘Feed Me A Box Of Words’ was the first song I heard and that pretty much just sums up how I just described them. ‘Half Man Half Amazing’ is another great song by the Kingston three-piece. Another reason to why I really love them and want them to get as much success as possible is because they are from Kingston; a place pretty close to my heart whilst at University.

Tubelord are currently on tour with fellow awesome band Tellison and you can see them right across the country. Once that has finished they are touring with yet another exciting up and coming band Blakfish so they will be playing in a town near you soon so please, please go and see them.

When you go see them live with Tellison make sure you pick up the new split single which features Tubelord’s ‘Night Of The Pencils’ and the already reviewed and fucking fantastic ‘Wasps Nest’ by Tellison. I currently can’t decide which I prefer… so go out and buy it so you can decide!

Tubelord – Half Man Half Amazing

Tubelord – Feed Me A Box Of Words

Batman Begins

1989 was the year Tim Burton brought Batman to our screens with his successful adaptation of the DC Comics superhero. From then we saw the likes of Batman Returns (1992; Tim Burton), Batman Forever (1995; Joel Schumacher) and Batman & Robin (1997; Joel Schumacher). The last two of those films being critically shot down and the fans weren’t too keen either. Eight years later Batman Begins arrived on our doorsteps and thanks to the marvellous director Christopher Nolan Batman was back with a bang.

Batman Begins follows the story of Batman before he became Batman closely looking at his childhood and in more details his training. One of the key scenes in the film is where a criminal shoots Bruce Wayne’s mother and father dead. From this Bruce Wayne wants to revenge his parents’ death and fight the crime and destroy the criminals of Gotham City.

Along with the help from originally Henri Ducard (Ra’s al Ghul) played by Liam Neeson to become a great fighter and then later on Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine). But also Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) and Sgt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman) aid Bruce Wayne along the way to becoming Batman.

The film is a lot darker than other Superhero films you may see like Superman or Spiderman. The theme behind the film lies with fear and how fear can drive people and in Bruce Wayne’s case he uses the fear of bats to help him become a stronger individual. The tradition with a Batman film has been to have a camp style much like the old film from the 60’s and the carton series. Even Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin used this camp style. However Christopher Nolan had other ideas and made the film darker and sinister.

Christian Bale plays the Batman / Bruce Wayne character remarkably well and there is even some suggestions that he is the greatest Batman thus far. Something Michael Keaton may have something to say about, I think Bale just pips it as the superior Batman.

I thought Cillian Murphy played his role of The Scarecrow / Dr. Jonathan Crane exceptionally well too. He managed to pull off being hated as both characters he played in the film even though to begin with you didn’t know Dr. Crane would become The Scarecrow you didn’t like or trust him. Katie Holmes performed her part as Rachel Dawes perfectly too, the casting of this film is one of the best casts I’ve ever seen. This along with a fantastic script, the greatest superhero (in my opinion) and the brilliant direction from Christopher Nolan makes this film one of the best superhero flicks of all time.

Roll on The Dark Knight!

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Superman Returns

The very first Superman film in 1978 starring the late great Christopher Reeve is considered by many the finest superhero film of all time. So to follow up that legacy was always going to be a hard task for director Bryan Singer. Christopher Reeve is also remembered as the greatest Superman to ever grace the screen so for newcomer Brandon Routh it was some big bloody shoes to fill.

Bryan Singer is no stranger to Superhero films after directing two X-Men films so therefore is the perfect director to bring Superman back to our screens. It was 19 years that Superman had been away from the big screen and all Superman fans were highly anticipating this new Superman film.

The cast is great with Kevin Spacey as a perfect Lex Luthor and Kate Bosworth who played the Lois Lane character extremely well. Brandon Routh would not have been many people’s choice before the film but I think as an actor he suits the role perfectly. He is as close to looking like Christopher Reeve as you’re going to get.

The film itself follows the story of Superman returning after being away for 5 years and Lois Lane had written a piece for which she won an award for called ‘Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman’. Obviously she was wrong when Lex Luthor’s plan to kill billions of people was discovered. However Luthor had found the deadly substance to Superman kryptonite and the land Luthor has built is made from the substance. This ultimately makes it difficult for Superman to fight Luthor and his henchmen and save the world.

But of course in usual Superman fashion he manages to overcome this along with being stabbed in the back with a shard of kryptonite and saves the billions of people from dying. Good old Superman! A lot of the film revolves around the relationship between Lois Lane and Superman and in the end Lois realises she and the rest of the world do need Superman. Near the end of the film she even begins writing an article titled ‘Why the World Does Need Superman’.

Overall this film has some very good moments particularly the role Kevin Spacey plays as Lex Luthor but with the money Singer had along with the script and cast you can’t help thinking he could’ve done a lot better.

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Black Kids - Partie Traumatic

I’d be the first to admit that I got pretty bloody excited by Black Kids when the buzz around them began near the end of last year. They released that EP for free from their MySpace and everyone went Black Kids crazy and since then they’ve released a few singles, made some festival appearances and got some serious radio play on Radio 1 thanks to Edith, Whiley and co. Today I even saw them on the extremely fucking awful T4 On The Beach which had the likes of Scouting for Girls, The Hoosiers, The Feeling, Sam Sparro. Pass me the fucking bucket, please. Actually no, a dustbin would be more appropriate for those artists.

Black Kids are no where near as bad as the previously mentioned artists, where as I’d give The Feeling’s new album 0 out of 10 Black Kids would definitely be able to succeed that low score. Anyway, the EP titled ‘Wizard of Ahhhs’ which was everywhere at the end of last year showed some real promise from the Jacksonville 5 piece. A sound which was compared to Arcade Fire (why I’ll never know) but a sound that to me was a nice blend between The Go! Team and The Cure.

The album ‘Partie Traumatic’ sadly does not really live up to the great potential shown by the digitally released ‘Wizard of Ahhhs’. Sadly like many other bands at the moment the band have rushed to get an album out pretty quickly obviously due to popularity. The album contains most of the songs that we’ve heard from the ‘Wizard of Ahhhs’ EP and songs from the same session that were released at the same time as that EP. What was so good about those songs was the raw sounding and fresh sound that Black Kids. However the polished sound that now goes with the album ‘Partie Traumatic’ is not one I’m particularly enjoying. Unfortunately the album seems to be one big blur of songs that sound very similar to each other. What a shame.

The new songs that exist on the album are no where as near as the quality I’d imagined from Black Kids. I think what they should’ve done is released an EP this summer and then took a bit longer to release an album nearer Christmas time. I mean it was only about Christmas time that the band was getting a lot of buzz just about everywhere. Oh yeah and also get a different producer because Bernard Butler has really wrecked their sound from the previous EP which was a very good sound.

Despite my criticisms there are catchy songs on this record and I’ll be the first to admit that the album has songs which will get people dancing. Newest single ‘Hurricane Jane’ being a perfect example of this along with other standout songs ‘Hit The Heartbreaks’ and first single ‘I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You’. One of my favourite songs from the first EP ‘I’ve Underestimated My Charm (Again)’ is still a really strong song and new song ‘I’m Making Eyes At You’ is a real grower.

This album moves along nicely, is not offensive but to me it doesn’t make any bold statements and is not really different from any other indie album that is out there or has been made. Having said that it is a lot better than The Feeling, The Hoosiers and Scouting for Girls, so kudos for that.

6/10

The Punisher

I remember when The Punisher was released in 2004 and I remember not thinking much of the film, I actually thought the trailers looked pretty bad. Four years later I found myself purchasing the film for £4 on play.com due to my current phenomenon of comic book / superhero films. Reading up about The Punisher comics I discovered that The Punisher is not like your typical superhero like Spider-Man, Batman or Superman; he is far darker.

The premise of the film is that Frank Castle (played by Thomas Jane) is involved in the killing of Howard Saint’s (the bad guy of the film, played by John Travolta) son. However during the same killing of his son Frank Castle is “killed” as well so that Howard Saint would not go after him on hearing who was involved in the killing of his son. But of course he did find out and hunted down Frank Castle who had gone on holiday with his whole family.

If you’ve not seen the film then don’t read on if you plan on watching it in the future because I’m about to ruin the whole film. Howard Saint’s men hunt down Frank and his family and kill everybody on the island. They think they’ve killed Frank too (tens of bullets to the chest is usually a clear indication you’ve killed someone) but of course Frank Castle (The Punisher) is not like normal human begins and has an extremely high pain tolerance level. Unlike other superheroes The Punisher has no special abilities but he succeeds solely through ingenuity and the rigorous training of his military upbringing, a finely honed killer instinct and an extensive arsenal of weapons culled from fallen foes and military allies.

Frank who comes back more pissed off then ever is after revenge on the people who killed his family and tried to finish him off. He kills off individually all of Howard Saint’s family and the people who are close to him. But not as brutually as you’d think considering Frank Castle goes by the name The Punisher. He cleverly makes Howard Saint kill his wife AND his best friend, this is what makes The Punisher’s killings all the more entertaining to watch. In the end he kills Howard Saint pretty brutally shooting him first, setting him on fire and dragging him around a parking lot attatched to an on fire car. Pretty bloody harsh you’d suggest.

What also makes the film so good is the people who live next door to Frank who are constantly watching his moves, listening to what he is up to and generally stalking him. They then come in contact with Frank and become friends with him and in the end even help him out to kill the people who massacred his whole family.

Overall the film consists of a good casting with Thomas Jane playing Frank Castle extremely well with John Travolta playing the evil Howard Saint as well as he has played many bad guys in the past. The supporting cast makes the film especially more enjoyable especially Frank’s two stalker floor mates (Bumpo and Dave). A few years ago I would’ve not considered watching this film but I am not thankful I did because The Punisher is a great old school comic book adapation.

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2008 Albums: Best Of The Rest (Part Three)

Operator Please – Yes Yes Vindictive

Technically this album was released in this country this year back in March, although most of us had many months before the UK release date. Looking back I enjoyed the album a lot more on it’s release then I do now, I think Operator Please are one of those bands you enjoy for the moment but when it comes down to it they aren’t really as good as you thought. Having said that the album has a few really good songs like ‘Get What You Want’, ‘Leave It Alone’ and ‘Ghost’ and not ‘Just A Song About Ping Pong’ which has become pretty annoying.

6/10

Lightspeed Champion – Falling Off The Lavender Bridge

‘Falling Off The Lavender Bridge’ has 3 really, really good songs: ‘Midnight Surprise’, ‘Galaxy Of The Lost’ and the best of the three ‘Tell Me What Its Worth’. Other than that the album is distinctly average but for those three songs the album definitely deserves a mention of albums of 2008. Dev definitely has potential as well as seen with Test Icicles and Lightspeed Champion so I do expect the next album to be better than this one.

6/10

Hot Club De Paris – Live At Dead Lake

After loving ‘Drop It Til It Pops’ I immediately assumed I would love the new album by the Liverpool trio Hot Club De Paris. I was a little disappointed actually with the new album and to me there weren’t really many good points on the album. There was no ‘Shipwreck’ or ‘Your Face Looks All Wrong’ and despite seeing the album done quite well in many reviews I am going to have to disagree and say the album is not a very good one. I may live to regret this review when the album grows on me (like the first did) and I love it but at the moment I am not that much of fan.

5/10

2008 Albums: Best Of The Rest (Part Two)

The Futureheads – This Is Not The World

You have to have major respect for The Futureheads who were dropped from their label 679 after the second album did not have much success, but they came back on their own. They’ve recorded and released the third album ‘This Is Not The World’ off their own backs and I have much respect for them for doing so. I was hoping as much as the next person for a perfect third album because I love this band so much. Unfortunately the album did not live up to my expectations, but it does have some great moments ‘Radio Heart’ being the best. Others include first single ‘Beginning Of The Twist’, ‘Walking Backwards’ and ‘Think Tonight’.

7/10

Hot Chip – Made In The Dark

How could any band make an album better than ‘The Warning’? Well, Hot Chip definitely managed it with ‘Made In The Dark’ although some will argue that nothing can really beat the first album. The second album is definitely on par with it and I am leaning towards thinking it just pips it. So many great songs just like the opener ‘Out At The Pictures’ and of course more obvious greats like ‘Shake A Fist’, ‘Ready For The Floor’ and ‘Touch Too Much’. The hits don’t stop there though because songs like ‘Wrestlers’, ‘Bendable Poseable’ and ‘One Pure Thought’ are just as impressive as the previously mentioned songs. Hot Chip has definitely recorded the best alternative dance record of the year.

9/10

Pete & The Pirates – Little Death

Pete & The Pirates released ‘Little Death’ in early part of 2008 and I have to admit after a few listens when it first came back it is not an album I have returned to over the year. This probably says something about what I think of the album, I don’t dislike the band or the album but it’s just a bit middle of the road for me. It doesn’t do anything for me despite there being some obvious high points like ‘Come On Feet’, ‘Moving’, ‘Knots’ and ‘Mr Understanding’ which happens to be a very good song to play an indie club. Overall Pete & The Pirates have created an album that you can imagine people forgetting in a few years, shame.

5/10

The Wave Pictures – Instant Coffee Baby

The Wave Pictures debut album ‘Instant Coffee Baby’ is quite a hard album to immediately like but after a few listens it is an album you find yourself enjoying it. One of the things which is so great about the band is the unique sound of the vocals and the obscure lyrics but behind that there are some great songs. Opening track ‘Leave The Scene Behind’ is a great example of that, ‘Friday Night In Loughborough’ is another brilliant 3 minute 27 seconds of music. ‘I Remembered’, ‘Strange Fruit For David’ and of course the stand out single ‘I Love You Like A Madman’ are all pretty fantastic moments from this album. This album is a very good effort for a debut album.

7/10

The Subways – All Or Nothing

You know what this album is my guilty pleasure of 2008, I always quite liked the first album ‘Young For Eternity’ but for some reason I hardly ever listened to it. The Subways new album ‘All Or Nothing’ is a definitely a louder, heavier approach and it’s one I am preferring to the previous sound. I can imagine if I was a 14 year old boy this album would really impress me and I read a quote from Alexei from Johnny Foreigner who said “We still don’t l-o-v-e The Subways but if yr a lil kid taking yr first steps into rock music you could do loads worse. I’ve never seen a band rock out in soundcheck like they do; whatever yr opinions on how credible they are, they’re certainly in this business for the morally right reasons.” ‘All Or Nothing’ is heavier but I definitely prefer songs like ‘Alright’, ‘Boys & Girls’, ‘Kalifornia’ and ‘Shake! Shake!’ to any songs from the first album.

7/10

2008 Albums: Best Of The Rest (Part One)

MGMT – Oracular Spectacular

Released back in March of this year MGMT (also referred to as The Management) has been one of the buzz bands of 2008. Several festival appearances and some pretty good air play have made MGMT a band in popular demand of 2008. The album ‘Oracular Spectacular’ is definitely a spectacular album and one of my favourites of 2008. Tracks like ‘Kids’, ‘Electric Feel’, ‘Weekend Wars’, ‘Time To Pretend’, ‘The Youth’ and ‘The Handshake’ make this one of the essential albums of 2008.

8/10

British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?

‘Do You Like Rock Music?’ is the third album by Brighton based British Sea Power and came out in early January. Which seems a very long time ago but the album remains a really solid album with some big powerful songs on it ‘Lights Out for Darker Skies’ the perfect example. Other great songs on the album include the singles ‘Waving Flags’ and ‘No Lucifer’ along with songs like ‘Canvey Island’ and ‘A Trip Out’ make this a great album by a special band.

8/10

Sons and Daughters – This Gift

Glaswegian four piece Sons and Daughters returned with their third album ‘This Gift’ at the end of January, and of their three albums this is my favourite thus far. Songs like ‘The Nest’, ‘Iodine’ and ‘The Bell’ provide some really great moments for this band. Then of course the three singles ‘Gilt Complex’, ‘This Gift’ and the awesome ‘Darling’ which is probably the best song Sons and Daughters have ever composed. ‘This Gift’ will not appear on many top 10 lists (mine included) but at the same time it remains a pretty good effort by the Scottish foursome.

7.5 / 10

Cage The Elephant – Cage The Elephant

After hearing ‘In One Ear’ I had very high expectations from the Kentucky five piece but sadly Cage The Elephant seem to be a one hit wonder band. Although new single ‘Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked’ isn’t a particularly bad song the peak of the album comes from the opening track 'In One Ear'. This is never a good quality for an album; I’m sure Cage The Elephant won’t be around for much longer.

4/10

Does It Offend You, Yeah? – You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into

DIOYY? are one of those bands I over looked to begin with just because the name really annoyed me. However I decided to give the album a listen and when I did I was pleasantly surprised, because the album has a very nice blend of electro songs (‘Battle Royale’, ‘We Are Rockstars’) and more vocal based songs (‘Being Bad Feels Pretty Good’, ‘Epic Last Song’ and my favourite 'Dawn Of The Dead'). Every song offers something different; the album is definitely for fans of Daft Punk sometimes and The Sunshine Underground at other times. Either way it’s an album that comes highly recommended from me.

8/10

2008 Albums: Blood Red Shoes - Box of Secrets

Blood Red Shoes are one of my favourite bands to watch live, in fact I would go as far as saying of 2008 they are the best new live band. They are one of the tightest bands I’ve ever witnessed, every single drum beat, vocal and chord is in time and perfect to how they sound on record. Steven Ansell is one of the best new drummers around because not only does he thump his drums as hard as anyone I’ve seen he also delivers some great lyrics. Laura-May Carter is a pretty impressive guitar player and a very good front woman.

‘Box of Secrets’ is one of those albums I expect that many people will over look from 2008 and I think it will go down as an underrated album from this year. I doubt it will end up on many people’s top albums of the year polls, which is a shame because you can really tell Blood Red Shoes have put a lot of effort into the album.

‘Doesn’t Matter Much’ gets the album off to a pretty hefty start with some pretty loud guitars and some thumping drums. That sound continues pretty much throughout the whole album and you have to admire the noise two people can make with just drums and a guitar. Blood Red Shoes are so far from The White Stripes it’s unbelievable but the comparisons are always made by stupid music journalists. I’d say The Subways would be a more apt comparison because drummer Steve sounds quite similar to Billy lead singer of the Subways.

‘You Bring Me Down’, ‘Say Something Say Anything’ and ‘I Wish I Was Someone Better’ are three of the singles from the album and easily three of the best songs from the album. The last of the three being my favourite and at one point last year it was the only song I was listening to. Stunning drumming, rip roaring guitars, perfect harmonies along with some great lyrics make the song one of the best songs from 2007.

The good songs don’t stop at track number 5 though because the next four songs are just as impressive as the last four. ‘Take The Weight’, ‘A.D.H.D’, ‘This Is Not For You’ and of course last summer’s smash ‘It’s Getting Boring By The Sea’ are just four of the reasons why Blood Red Shoes are one of the best new British bands on the circuit.

8/10

2008 Albums: These New Puritans - Beat Pyramid

I expected great things from These New Puritans debut album ‘Beat Pyramid’. I remember a couple of months before the album was released hearing the split single ‘Colours’ / ‘Numbers’ and thinking how fantastic they were and it got me very excited about the album. That same week I went to see them live for free supporting Foals and although none of the crowd were into them and to begin with they messed up a song they impressed me a lot.

There are not many bands around at the moment like These New Puritans; in fact there are no bands around currently like These New Puritans. The first two songs (ignoring the intro song) are ‘Colours’ and ‘Numbers’ and they get the album off to an extremely good start. So I am listening to wait for when the album is going to hit its weak spot, but that doesn’t really happen.

When it was first released 6 months ago I couldn’t stop listening to it but since then I’ve not really put it on much. However recently I’ve had it back on and I know it is going to be one of those albums I will go back too a lot. Which is definitely a compliment because albums I do that with are albums like Joy Division’s ‘Unknown Pleasures’, The Smiths ‘Meat is Murder’ and Pixies ‘Doolittle’. So they are in pretty fucking good company there… Comparisons wise The Fall obviously are the one everybody uses (including me in the past) but the more I listen to the album the less I think they sound like The Fall.

‘Swords of Truth’ and ‘Elvis’ are two more of the more stand out tracks and definitely the easier songs to listen to for new listeners of These New Puritans, especially ‘Elvis’ which is probably their biggest “hit”, I say “hit” very loosely, of course. Other songs like ‘C. 16th +-’, ‘En Papier’, ‘4 Pounds’ and ‘Infinity Ytinifni’ are amongst the other great tracks on ‘Beat Pyramid’.

These New Puritans have made an album that is definitely like no other out this year, or that has been out for a while. I’m very impressed with them as a band and I look forward to hearing what they will do in the future.

9/10

2008 Albums: Why - Alopecia

Much like the No Age album – Nouns this album came to me without any knowing of this band or any know of the release. I think that is why I enjoyed the album so much, I had never heard a single song by the band and decided to download the album (don’t worry Why? I’ve now gone on to purchase the album, see try before you buy works). I think I downloaded the album based on 1. The name of the band 2. The name of the album and 3. The artwork is pretty fucking cool.

Many blogs I’ve read have said this is their favourite album of the year and have given it 10 out of 10 which is quite some statement because those blogs I’ve read probably didn’t know much about this band before 2008. ‘Alopecia’ was released back in March and did pretty well in most music publications.

The thing about Why? is that I can’t define them to a single genre; there is no way you can pigeon hole the band. Which is what makes them and this album so fascinating, Wikipedia classes the band as “abstract hip hop” which is a genre I’ve never heard of let alone been interested in. Either way ‘Alopecia’ is a pretty fine piece of music.

‘Fatalist Palmistry’, ‘The Vowels, Pt 2’, ‘The Hollows’ and ‘Brook And Waxing’ are my favourite tracks from the album because all four songs offer something a little different to each other. You find that when you listen to ‘Alopecia’ you will rarely find a song that sound similar to another one. Quite a rare trait for a 45 minute, 14 track album.

I wouldn’t class ‘Alopecia’ as my favourite album of 2008 however it certainly is one of my favourites and definitely one that I’d recommend to anyone who can appreciate good music. I am glad I discovered this band and this album, and I definitely class Why? as one of the discovery’s of 2008.

8.5/10

2008 Albums: Mystery Jets - Twenty One

Rewind two years and Mystery Jets had released ‘Making Dens’ one of the best British debut albums for some years. It should’ve really been nominated for a Mercury Music Award that year but alas I’m sure it wasn’t and some other band who probably didn’t deserve it as much won it.

Two years later Mystery Jets release ‘Twenty One’ that difficult second album but produced by the genius that is Erol Alkan. Erol for me had some work to because I didn’t like The Long Blondes album ‘Couples’ which he produced. However I don’t think it was his production that was the problem but anyway I’ve already been there.

Thankfully the combination of one of the best British bands and one of the best producers around at the moment was the perfect duo. To say that this album is better than ‘Making Dens’ is extremely difficult for me to say because I loved that album. However for a band to make an album so different but at the same time so good is pretty fucking impressive. That band is Mystery Jets, what a contrast ‘Twenty One’ is to ‘Making Dens’ but that is definitely a good thing. Progression is important for any band and changing your sound as you further your career can definitely be a positive thing.

I think in the case of Mystery Jets ‘Twenty One’ has definitely meant they have found some new fans and at the same time kept the old fans still very happy. My girlfriend is the perfect example of a new fan and I am the example of the old, both of us are very happy with the new album. ‘Hideaway’ is one of the best opening tracks to an album I’ve heard for a while and I’ve read the band start their live set with it too, perfect.

Singles ‘Young Love’, ‘Flakes’ and ‘Two Doors Down’ are pretty much dance floor anthems. Anytime I’ve been a club and ANY of those three have come on the dance floor fills and alcohol filled enthusiasts dance their hearts away and sing at the top of their voices.

Other songs that deserve a special mention definitely include ‘Veiled In Grey’, ‘MJ’, ‘Hand Me Down’, ‘First To Know’ and my personal favourite ‘Half In Love With Elizabeth’. Mystery Jets have definitely taken a more 80’s pop sound with this album but in the case of this album that is no way a bad thing. Well done Erol and very well done you Mystery Jets.

8.8/10

2008 Albums: Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward

Be Your Own Pet’s self titled first album was one of my favourite albums of 2006 and still remains one of my favourite debut albums, ever. So ‘Get Awkward’ was always going to find it difficult to better the first album let alone equal its goodness. I think it delivered despite some criticism from various music publications.

One quote I remember from a review of the album said “Be Your Own Pet still haven’t grown up and are still making immature music, for immature people.” Fuck sake. Get a grip, not ALL music has to be serious and not all music has to have in depth meaning. I like serious music and intense lyrics as much as anyone but sometimes you need a break and Be Your Own Pet offer the perfect break.

I’m still a believer that the first album is slightly better but then again I’d give the first album 9.5 out of 10 so this album would’ve had to have been perfect to beat it. Live the new songs sound just as good as the old songs which is testament to how good Be Your Own Pet are live.

‘Becky’, ‘Black Hole’ and ‘Food Fight’ are my favourite songs from the album. Those three songs would easily be up there with my all time favourite songs by Be Your Own Pet alongside classics from the first album like ‘Wildcat!’, ‘Adventure’, ‘Girls on TV’ and so on.

Other songs like ‘The Kelly Affair’, ‘Blummer Time’, ‘Heart Throb’, ‘You’re A Waste’ and ‘Twisted Nerve’ are Be Your Own Pet on top form once again. Be Your Own Pet are a bit like Marmite because for every person I meet who fucking loves them there is someone who thinks they are complete garbage. Each to their own of course, but thankfully I am of the opinion who thinks they and this album is bloody brilliant.

8/10

2008 Albums: Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster...

Welsh seven piece Los Campesinos! released their much anticipated debut album back at the end of February titled ‘Hold On Now, Youngster’ and it got much praise from Drowned in Sound and Pitchfork. Although NME only gave it a measly 6 out of 10 and said it lacked cohesiveness, er ok NME.

‘Hold On Now, Youngster’ still pretty much remains the album I most tap my foot to or nod my head along to from this year. It also gets the most plays in the car when we are going on long drives, although it’s not really stereotypical long drive music now is it? Either way it’s pretty good to listen to in the car…

I always knew it would be a good album because the band has got their head screwed on; it could’ve been very easy to make an album which was aimed at the mainstream. The album could have turned out sounding too polished and I’m sure many of us would’ve panned it. Thankfully Los Campesinos! did what they wanted to do for an album and have created a great debut album. They are also signed to a great label in Wichita who will let them get on with what they want to do with their music as they have done with other bands like The Cribs, Bloc Party and now the great Les Savy Fav.

‘You! Me! Dancing!’ is obviously the Los Campesinos! anthem and at 6 minutes 46 seconds is something of an anthem. Everybody I talk to always says ‘Y!M!D!’ is their favourite track from the album but I find it hard to just say one track which I class as my favourite. The album is packed full of favourites: ‘Drop It Doe Eyes’, ‘Knee Deep At ATP’, ‘This Is How You Spell “Hahaha, We Destroyed The Hopes And Dreams Of A Generation Of Faux-Romantics’ ‘… And We Exhale And Roll Our Eyes In Unison’ and ‘Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats’ are all considered my favourites from the album.

But I don’t think there is a weak song on the album because when I look over the songs I’ve forgotten to mention like ‘My Year In Lists’, ‘Death To Los Campesinos!’, ‘Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks’, ‘We Are All Accelerated Readers’ and ‘Don’t Tell Me To Do The Math(s)’ I remember what a strong album ‘Hold On Now, Youngster’ really is.

9/10

Superman

This morning the 1978 version of Superman arrived through my letter box (obviously I was aware it was coming, it didn’t come unexpectedly). It stars the late Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent and Gene Hackman as his enemy Lex Luthor. If you don’t know the story of Superman you have lived a very sheltered life and need to go research it on wikipedia.

Being a film student (of 3 years) you’d think I would’ve seen this film at least once, but no like Seven a couple of days ago watching Superman today was a new experience for me. As everybody knows Superman is undoubtedly the biggest super hero of all time and is in the biggest comic book of all time. There are two TV Series I can think of (Smallville and The New Adventures of Superman) both about Superman.

When you watch the 1978 version of Superman you have to put into context that when it was released there had really been no other big superhero film. Also the visual effects and techniques so that Superman could fly had not been tried before. So although it can look a little bit amateurish compared to today’s high standards it still is pretty impressive.

The film has just about everything a great blockbuster would need: a villain, a love interest and of course someone we can idolise (Superman). Whilst I’m more of a Batman type of guy you cannot deny that Superman is the greatest hero of all time. This film sets out to prove it and it does just that, the film follows Superman from his birth on the planet Krypton to saving the world from the evil Lex Luthor.

Christopher Reeve IS Superman; there is no way anybody else in the history of the world of cinema could play Superman in this film. Obviously actors have gone on to play the great hero since but nobody comes close to Christopher Reeve as Superman. Gene Hackman is also superb as the evil witty genius that is Lex Luthor and Margot Kidder plays Lois Lane how she should be played: annoyingly. There is even a fantastic appearance from the late great Marlon Brando as Jor-El, Clark Kent’s real father.

If you was to watch one Superhero film in your life time I’d recommend this one over any other. It broke boundaries for it’s time, it has everything the perfect film requires and it remains the greatest fictional hero story of all time.

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Iron Man

Not knowing much, well little about the superhero known as Iron Man (real name Tony Stark) I was pleasantly surprised with how the film adaptation of the comic turned out. Having read a couple of reviews in Empire Magazine and Total Film magazine I was concerned the film would be a let down. Both magazines tended to be quite negative towards the film.

However I began watching with an open mind and thought that the film’s director Jon Favreau managed to tell the story of Iron Man very, very well. The film takes a long time to build up to Tony Stark finally becoming the Iron Man which to begin with I wasn’t keen on but looking back it made the story a lot better. This helped with character development and for those who don’t know the details of Tony Stark helped fill in any missing gaps or information we would require to understand the plot and the film.

Tony Stark is a genius who can build destructive weapons and is owner of Stark Industries but whilst out on a business trip in Afghanistan he is kidnapped and made to build a powerful weapon however he does not. With the help of Dr. Yinsen (Shaun Toub) who has also been captured they build an armoured suit for Tony Stark to get the pair of them out. This becomes Iron Man.

Just before Tony was finally kidnapped he was wounded by one of his company’s own missiles and because of this has a car battery attached to his heart stopping the shrapnel from entering his heart. The two of them also build an “arc reactor” which enables Iron Man to regenerate energy when in battle. Iron Man manages to escape but Dr. Yinsen does not.

Back in America Tony Stark decides that his missiles and his company are wrong and decides to stop making anymore and to concentrate on saving people across the world in his new Iron Man suit which is making. However Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) who is also known as Iron Monger in the comics plots to stop Tony Stark and to kill him with his own Iron Man creation. Of course with all good super hero films the good protagonist in this case Iron Man prevails over Obadiah.

The film has a great cast with Robert Downey Jr the cream of the crop, his performance as the witty, arrogant, womanising Tony Stark is what makes the film so good. He plays the role of Tony Stark very well and from what I’ve read pretty close to the comic book version. Jeff Bridges plays the two faced villain perfectly with actors like Terrence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow also playing their part in the film. There are already plans for Iron Man 2 with the end of this film left unsolved the sequel should equal if not better the original.

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2008 Albums: Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

Forget all the hype you heard or read about and try to forget that Radio 1 is trying their hardest to over play ‘Oxford Comma’ as much as humanly possible. Vampire Weekend has one of the most unique sounds of 2008 and for that you should definitely appreciate this album. To anyone who likes music if you’ve not listened to this album then it would definitely be a crime. Considering we are half-way through July everyday should be a lovely sunny day and what’s better than enjoying the sun and listened to Vampire Weekend whilst enjoying some ice cold pimms. Nothing beats that.

Having first witnessed Vampire Weekend back in October in a tiny, tiny, tiny venue which was packed out by celebrities, music journalists and record labels. There was a lot of pressure on Vampire Weekend that night at The Social but did they let it get to them? No fucking way. That night I said on the way home that 2008 would be a very big year for Vampire Weekend and so far it’s proving to be correct. They are the band to go and see at the festivals, they have the perfect summer / festival sound which you can definitely hear on the album.

Every single song on the album could be just as much as a hit single as the other. ‘A-Punk’ is one of the singles and is accompanied by an incredible music video and newest video ‘Oxford Comma’ is as good if not better. Is there anything that this band can do wrong? It seems not. The album is packed with fantastic songs, ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’, ‘Campus’ and ‘Bryn’ immediately coming to mind.

Then there is of course ‘One (Blake’s Got A New Face)’ which is one of the best live songs I’ve witnessed. Lead singer Ezra Koenig charms the crowd and manages to get the fans sing back the lyrics to the chorus tremendously. Newer songs ‘M79’ and ‘I Stand Corrected’ fit nicely onto the album and the latter remains my favourite song on the album. ‘Walcott’ and ‘The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance’ end the album perfectly, and give you an enormous sense of summer. This album comes with the highest recommendation from me to anyone who loves music.

9.5/10

2008 Albums: Foals - Antidotes

The debut album 'Antidotes' from Oxford six-piece Foals was highly anticipated by everyone involved in music. It was probably the album most music fans were most looking forward to. Foals were working with TV on The Radio man David Sitek however Foals panned his production of the album stating it sounded like it was “record in the Grand Canyon”. That is a sound I would be quite interested in hearing actually…

Anyway the other big news from the album was that two single smashes 'Hummer' and 'Mathletics' would not appear on the album. Quite a bold statement from Foals to leave out their two biggest hits before 'Cassius' went on to get them a top 30 hit. Listening to the album again you have to agree that Foals made the right decision by not including those two songs. When you listen to the album in its entirety there is no need for those two songs, they wouldn’t fit on Antidotes having now heard the album.

The album was released at the end of March on Transgressive and despite some poor reviews from most notably the NME and Pitchfork who gave it 5.9 I still think it’s an impressive debut album from one of the most hard working bands in Britain at the moment. Drowned in Sound gave it 9 out of 10 which was a surprise to me that they rated it so highly because I expected backlash from everywhere.

I am not sure what else Foals could have done on the album? To me they have made an album I’m sure they are extremely proud of. ‘Antidotes’ is best listened to all the way through, to me it’s not an album where I can just listen to a couple of songs. When I listen to it I listen to all of it because I like it as a whole piece of work, which is something that I think Foals wanted.

‘Red Sock Pugie’ was always my favourite pre hearing the album and post hearing the album it still remains my favourite song. ‘Big Big Love (Fig. 2)’ was a shock to me at least to be included on the album but one that I am glad of. I always thought that was one of the best b-sides ever, so to hear it on record was definitely music to my ears. There are so many great moments throughout the record and for a debut album it does break some boundaries in the current climate of indie music. ‘Ballons’ is an obvious single and a very radio friendly song but then there are some great songs on the album which aren’t so obviously radio friendly (for example ‘Electric Boom’, ‘Olympic Airways’ and ‘Heavy Water’). You do get the feeling that this could’ve been a perfect 10 out of 10 album but that’s always such a hard task however it’s almost as perfect as debut albums come.

9/10

2008 Albums: No Age - Nouns

‘Nouns’ came to me as a surprise in that I did not know anything about the band or that it was even coming out. I just happened to get it by chance really and thank God I did because it has gone on to become one of my favourites of this year thus far. Since then I’ve listened to the first album ‘Weirdo Rippers’ but that album just doesn’t do it for me and I’m of the opinion that ‘Nouns’ is the better of the two albums. A view not shared by many fans of No Age that I’ve talked to so far.

The best way to describe No Age is by saying that they make a lot of noise, but it’s extremely good noise. I wouldn’t really class No Age as shoegaze however there are some obvious influences from that genre especially My Bloody Valentine. Live No Age are said to be great to watch and when you listen to them on record you can imagine how they would be pretty special live.

How two people can make such a racket really makes me love this band and despite the noise there is some great melody behind the songs and some pretty catchy parts (‘Teen Creeps’ for example). ‘Eraser’ is another of my highlights from the album and also the first single from the album.

‘Cappo’ could easily be the next single, following on from where ‘Eraser’ and ‘Teen Creeps’ started it provides some great melody and some fantastic lyrics. ‘Sleeper Hold’ is another fantastic song from the album epitomises the No Age sound down to a tee. 'Here Should Be My Home' provides a slightly more poppier orientated sound than other songs however it is possibly my favourite song from the album, but then there are so many favourites. NME gave the album 7 out of 10 but I’d suggest that was a pretty harsh review with Pitchfork giving it a massive 9.3 which just goes to show how acclaimed this album is. It definitely surprised me, because I’ll be honest when I first listened to the album I was unsure but I let it grow on me and it has grown into a beautifully constructed piece of music.

9/10

2008 Albums: Johnny Foreigner - Waited Up 'til It Was Light

Birmingham trio Johnny Foreigner’s first release on Best Before Records ‘Arcs Across The City’ EP received perfect reviews just about anywhere you look. Drowned in Sound and This Is Fake DIY all gave it 10 out of 10 so to follow up those reviews was always going to be difficult. The album which came out at the beginning of June did not receive the same type of perfect reviews from those websites but still scored very highly, and rightfully so.

Personally the record was a breath of fresh air and because I’d not heard all the demo’s that everyone else was bumming for ages it made the album better. A lot of the songs which I thought were new songs were in fact old songs and many people I spoke to stated the old demos were better, but isn’t that always the case?

Johnny Foreigner are not just another generic indie band who crop up all the time, Johnny Foreigner are definitely different and have made a bold statement with this album. The album is definitely a lot heavier than most indie records around at the moment and the thing I love about the album is that it sounds great when you turn it up extremely loud. I hate the rock cliché hand gesture but when you listen to this album you do feel like doing that. Heck during several of the songs I even attempt to rock out, metal style.

‘Salt, Pepa And Spinderella’ is about half-way through the album and provides a slightly less heavy sound until about 2 minutes in when the heavy sound kicks in again. ‘Yes! You Talk Too Fast’, ‘DJs Get Doubts’, ‘Lea Room’, ‘Cranes And Cranes And Cranes And Cranes’ and ‘Hennings Favourite’ are all 2/3 minutes of stomping beautiful guitar music. ‘Waited Up ‘til It Was Light’ is probably my favourite British debut album of the year.

9/10

Seven

Seven is one of those films that when you ask people what their favourite film is it always comes up in a conversation. Or when in my case you tell someone you’ve never seen Seven they can’t believe it, especially considering I am a film student and have been for three years. I finally got round to watching it the other day and thank God I watched it because now I know why people list it in their all time favourites.

With a cast any film would be proud of Seven is one of the greatest thriller films of all time. The film directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, Panic Room and Zodiac) is easily Fincher’s finest moment as a film director and the cast will probably consider the film one of their best too. The film stars Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt who are both police detectives investigating a series of murders that all have something in common: the seven deadly sins. Greed, gluttony, sloth, lust, pride, envy and wrath are the seven deadly sins which the film revolves around.

Morgan Freeman puts in a wonderful performance as the wise and noble detective and Brad Pitt portrays the character of rookie detective extremely well. Kevin Spacey despite not appearing in the film for a very long time due to him being the serial killer puts in another fantastic performance as psychopath killer. Kevin Spacey is able to perform so many different characters so brilliantly; he must be regarded one of the finest actors of all time.

Everyone always goes on about the twist in Seven and thankfully I’ve never been told it, so it wasn’t spoilt for me when I was watching it. The last two sins were envy and wrath and if you haven’t seen the film then stop reading now because this will spoil the whole film. But envy was ultimately the life of Brad Pitt’s wife Tracy Mills who is played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Kevin Spacey killed Brad Pitt’s wife and for this Brad Pitt killed Kevin Spacey and ended the seven sins with the final one being wrath. As Morgan Freeman said just prior to him killing Kevin Spacey, “Don’t let him win, do not let him finish his sick fantasy”. But in due course Brad Pitt gives into his wrath and kills Kevin Spacey (which obviously you would do after just being delivered your wife’s head in a box).

The film throughout keeps you on the edge of your seat and keeps you guessing to what is going to happen next, which is everything you want from a thriller film. But this is no ordinary thriller film because it has an albeit twisted but definitely brilliant twist at the end.

* * * * * * * * * *

Hurry Up And Release Something!

Two and a half years ago The Strokes released ‘First Impressions of Earth’ but since that release there has been nothing. Albert Hammond Jr. has since released two solo albums and it is time for another Strokes record. The Strokes second album titled ‘Room On Fire’ came out in 2003 and it took The Strokes over two years ago to bring out their third one. 30 months later we are still waiting for an album and at the moment there is no real sign of one either. By the time we get an album it is going to be easily three and a half years since the last record. To say The Strokes are a lazy band is quite the understatement, Julian Casablancas knows he has to get the next album right because the last album did not go down well critically and with the fans. The Strokes are definitely an important band and it is time for another album from Julian and co. So Mr. Casablancas hurry up and get your finger out of your arse and give us some new material.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are not quite as bad as The Strokes because Karen O, Zinner and Brian Chase have released an EP since their last album came out in March 2006. But, still it’s been well over two years since ‘Show Your Bones’ was released and fans are wanting a new album from the New York trio. ‘Fever To Tell’ is a classic album and although ‘Show Your Bones’ did have it’s moments it was nothing on the debut album. I think the next album from the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s is going to be a big one and hopefully it will be a good one. Fingers crossed.

Post-punk outfit Neils Children released Change/Return/Success in 2004 and although there has been talk of an album for the past couple of years NC fans are still waiting for a new album. The band has had problems with members leaving and problems with labels but hopefully the band will release something this year. The band have been putting new songs on their MySpace which have been a step towards a more pop sound in comparison to songs like ‘I Hate Models’, ‘Trying to be Someone Else for Free’, ‘How Does it Feel Now You're on Your own?’ and ‘Getting Evil in the Playground’. I am looking forward to hearing an album by the band even if it is a change of direction in the way they sound.

The Sunshine Underground brought out ‘Raise the Alarm’ almost two years ago and TSU were dubbed ‘new rave’ and the album was said to have been the first album of the ‘new rave’ scene. Everybody who was anybody (apart from idiots who subscribe to everything NME say) knew TSU were not and never will be ‘new rave’, thank fuck. It is a solid debut album but two years on there is not really any talk of a new album, hopefully the band are keeping quiet about it and are going to bring out one very soon. I don’t suspect there will be a new album until late 2008 or early 2009 which is still a long time to wait.

It has been over three years since ‘Nice and Nicely Done’ was released by Americans The Spinto Band in North America and over two years since it was out in the shops here in the UK. That for any band is too long to wait to bring out a second album, I’ve not heard much talk of a follow up coming anytime soon but I have to admit I am not the biggest most hardcore Spinto Band fan. However I still would like to see how the band could go from the last album and how they will sound after ‘Nice and Nicely Done’.