Expendable-ish

The Expendables knows exactly what it is: pure action entertainment. As Jaz found out at last week's pre-release screening, the plot is somewhat… expendable. Certain scenes, however, notably the showstopping Willis/Schwarzenegger/Stallone face off (worth the price of entry alone), are borderline spoof but nevertheless hilarious. Beyond the exhilarating explosions and the sheer physical brute of supporting man Jason Statham is the unfathomable prospect of so much mega moviestar muscle on one screen. As entirely one dimensional as Dolph Lundgren’s acting, but nevertheless a thrilling ride: Space Cowboys on anabolic steroids.

Jaz

xx

Sex And The City 2 - Fashions Fade; Style Remains

It may not have been Times Square but Jaz was certainly in a New York state of mind last night. Mind the schmaltz and cliché. You’ll have to if you go and see Sex And The City 2. Although momentarily enjoyable for any fan (especially a fan with tickets to the Leicester Square, London premiere and access to unlimited amounts of Moet champagne and strangely… Kinder Buenos?!), it’s safe to say that this sequel is almost a parody of the once forward-thinking, trend-defying US series.

It opens with a hoot of a gay wedding. Totally over the top it’s like a Graham Norton/Andrew Lloyd Webber version of Fiddler On The Roof ratcheted up to 11 on the camp-ometer. The sight of Liza Minnelli doing her own side-splitting rendition of Beyonce’s Single Ladies is inspired. By the look in Minnelli’s eyes it seems she can’t quite believe it herself. But really, that level of meshugge can’t be beat. And therein lies one of many problems. From then on, the gags just can’t match. The laugh is, in Samantha Jones terminology, too hard too soon.

More to the point, it may not be a surprise that ole wacky Liza is game for a giggle and some self-mockery. After all, she is starting to look just a tad short of a full shilling; let’s hope she wasn’t actually a consolation prize for the real Beyonce. But it is a colossal shock that the powerhouse core four are so willing to become slapstick versions of the sophisticated, multi-dimensional and downright inspirational personas that formerly ruled the small screen.

Take Miranda Hobbes: in order to become markedly more attractive and “fun” she must first give up the day job as a lawyer. Career women are boring and ugly? Now there’s something none of us ever want to face up to. Carrie Bradshaw: the eternal slave to fashion and “single girl” has by her own admission swapped clothes shopping for furniture investing since becoming Mrs John Preston. Snore? Charlotte York-Goldenblatt: gave up her career to make the perfect family and can’t even manage that without hiring a temptress for a nanny whom she’s convinced Harry may run off with. Risking infidelities for convenience? And Samantha Jones: she got old and spends every waking minute popping pills and swapping moisturizer for pureed yams to maintain her sex appeal. Nobody wants to screw a woman who looks… 50? Even Stanford and Anthony want to be together forever – obviously because all gay men just settle for the one gay man they know?

Are these not the mythical stereotypes Sex And The City so successfully busted and put to bed? Has Sex And The City come full circle? Sex Without The City perhaps. We thought those shoes had been filled by suburbia’s lackluster Desperate Housewives.

And speaking of suburbia, where is New York in all of this? The Big Apple always felt (alongside Manolo Blahnik) like the fifth lady. Similar to the four girls, however, the City has also been diminished to a substance-less pulp. And that’s when it’s even in sight. Most of this movie takes place in Abu Dhabi. Don’t be misled in thinking that a smart move to pay homage to the luxe brands that are starting to make a comeback now the worst of the recession has passed (SATC’s release may play a part in the timely opening of the new and excessive W1 palais du Louis Vuitton).


Regrettably as the girls appear over a desert sand dune, it’s like a TV appeal by Primark, not a mirage of majestic style. That Sex And The City-mimicking Debenhams advert that’s currently doing the rounds actually gives stylist Patricia Field more credit than she’s due in this case. Gone is the City and gone is the Fashion. And if you’re looking for the drinks, well this is Abu Dhabi. Apparently “the new Middle East” doesn’t do cosmopolitan (or the cocktail for that matter).

Michael Patrick King et al worked so hard to master the moments of the show. Now, you can’t help but feel the lack of care to maintain some of its dignity. Aidan Shaw – once great love of Carrie Bradshaw, now another mistake (albeit not a “Big” one). Once bidded one last fond farewell by Carrie outside a store with a baby in harness attached to his belly, he has become nothing more than a temptation for Carrie in a ridiculous Eastern fantasy set-up that’s less Casablanca, more Aladdin: Arabian Blue Nights, or, to quote Samantha, Lawrence Of My Labia. Yep, that was the best they could do.

If you ever wondered what happened to George W Bush-isms since Obama’s inauguration we now have the answer. I’m not one for the Politically Correct police but much of the situational comedy here was cut from the same cloth as G Dubs’ Administration. It’s uncomfortable to say the least when sex mad Samantha winds up encircled by traditional Arab men watching her scrounge around on the souk floor collecting the spilled condoms from her broken Birkin, while she tells them, in a voice once heroic and defiant, “fuck you”. Jests at women in burkhas eating french fries are an uneasy reminder of America’s often monochrome view of world affairs.

The moral of the story is don’t meddle with the programme we loved. Because we loved it, with every bone in our body. And as the girls took one last stroll down a Manhattan sidewalk in Season 6 it hurt. Some cried, some mourned, but the programme gave us memories to hold on to forever. Sadly these have now been spoiled by new plot twists and some over-egging of the pretzel. I’d like to say this sequel is a must for any fan but the spinning of the Sex And The City yarn is failing to convince. To call on an old classic piece of fashion advice: sometimes less is more.

Jaz xxx

We thought we were mad but then we met... Paloma

"I don't really consider myself to be part of a 'thing'. It's not new that women can sing. It's a trend designed by record companies and the only similarity is that we all have the same genitals..." - Paloma Faith

Jaz came across the ultra glamorous Paloma in the least glamorous of locations... the basement below the stage of Glasgow's O2 Academy. We sat at what appeared to be an old school desk scrawled upon with indecipherable messages as Miss Faith considered her pet hates, success to date and slightly Fatal Attraction-esque obsession with one Paolo Nutini. This together with her style consciousness, awkward chuckling and self-criticism rendered her rather normal in the eyes of Jaz.

The thing is Paloma Faith is not as mental as we were hoping. Just a bit clumsy - which was clear as she made no less than three false starts on one song during that evening's set and struggled to balance an enormous feather carnival headdress atop her crown. All in all, however, the soulful songstress delivers a showstopping theatrical extravaganza, which includes a believable cover of Etta James' At Last, an attempt at The Beatles' You Never Give Me Your Money and a version of Paolo Nutini's No Other Way which suggests that a duet between these two Jools Holland favourites would probably be a good idea. The full Q interview is at: http://news.qthemusic.com/2010/05/interview_a_mad_half_hour_with.html

If you don't catch Paloma's critically acclaimed set at a festival in the next few months she'll be hitting the road again in the UK this winter so get booking now. For more of Jaz's photos of the gig head to our Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/boomerangkid/sets/72157623545257353/

Jaz

xxx

Local Natives Monkey Around

Last month Jaz hooked up with LA band Local Natives for some hummus and banter. Bearing in mind the guys had been on the road for about 4 months in total it was at times quite an odd conversation but entertaining nonetheless. Due to the extremely packed out nature of King Tut's that night, Jaz failed to get many photos from the front. The decision to pack up the Canon was made in prompt response to the first of many dousings of beer. Jaz is sceptical about the nutritional purposes of ale for hair nourishment but is resoundingly opposed to its effects on expensive electrical appliances.

"We played five cool barns in Iowa. That one was huge, octagonal and 120 years old. It was incredible." - Local Natives' Taylor Rice

For the full interview head over to Q's website: http://news.qthemusic.com/2010/04/interview_local_natives_monkey.html

Local Natives' album Gorilla Manor is out now and has seen them compared to Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weekend. Check out their harmonious single Airplanes as performed at Maida Vale for Radio 1...



Jaz x

P.S. Jaz has also been busy chattering away to Paloma Faith and Ellie Goulding. Coming to a screen near you very soon :)

Rebel Grrrl!!!

Kate Nash LIVE!

Some weeks ago now Jaz was invited to Kate Nash's first gig in two years. As previously reported on BOOMerangKid, the once nerdy mockney rhymer has abandoned whatever it is that made her famous in the first place for a more rebellious image. And you can't help but wonder why. Like Lily Allen ditching prom dresses and trainers for Chanel - it doesn't matter how much elegance she feigns, we will never forget that she's actually a chav with a mouth on her like a schoolkid from South Park. It just doesn't convince. Never much of a fan of Kate Nash Mk I, Jaz is left a little unsure as to whether Kate Nash Mk II is a career killer or a vast improvement...

“I don’t know if I can still play but fuck it!” she shrieks to signal the start of a rather different set, featuring mostly unheard material.  If her recent participation in a band called The Receeders isn’t enough of a giveaway, her abrasive yelping on new material from a forthcoming sophomore release confirms that it’s goodbye cutesy ditties, hello riot-grrrl punk. That would at least explain the bold ditching of floral prints for a monochrome bat-winged uniform together with Lego Man bob and lashing of Hollywood red lipstick. It just screams (or rather, shrills) Karen O – and, less fortunately at times, The Exorcist’s Linda Blair.

For the full rambunctious review, head over to The List magazine's website:
http://www.list.co.uk/article/24405-kate-nash/

For more pics from the gig get yourselves Flickr-ing: http://www.flickr.com/photos/boomerangkid/sets/72157623453634765/

Jaz x x

In This Light And On This Tourbus

Jaz has been a little lost at sea this past week continuing in our battle for worldwide media domination. It's a rollercoaster ride that's recently taken us to The Scottish Daily Mail of all places where everything is weighed according to the extent of damages to the truest symbol of morality - the British taxpayer. But finally we are getting the ball rolling once more. Don't kick a dog when it's down... it'll only rise to bite you in the arse. Or something like that.

"Chris generally hates music. He's pretty bored of it. I think he only likes the music he wants to create so he doesn't want to listen to other bands." - Russell Leetch, Editors


So Editors - the band who make Les Miserables look like a comedy - have yet to find the cure to their moroseness, then? Shame. We met with the Brummy foursome last week during their latest Academy tour. Their third album In This Light And On This Evening saw the group discover synths and bagged them another Number 1 record. Jaz is still incapable of listening to it with a straight face but the less said of that the better. We'll let the NME review do the talking there: http://www.nme.com/reviews/editors/10884

For the full interview head over to Q: http://news.qthemusic.com/2010/03/editors_interview_in_this_ligh.html

Jaz's photos are to be published by Editors (or their website designers) in the near future so for copyright reasons we will not direct you to them now. Suffice to say their appearance hasn't suffered as drastic a makeover as their music. Jaz also cannot post anything from In This Light And On This Evening (and not for copyright reasons). Here is Bullets - the highlight from their debut album: 






Jaz x

Introducing... Lauren Pritchard

The state of Tennessee has changed the face of country, rock'n'roll, the blues and soul music. It's little wonder then that Jackson-born Lauren Pritchard takes her influences from many a genre. The production on Stuck could get quite a few boots shaking in Camps Duffy and Adele, and with an old-before-her-time voice that sounds rasped by a bottle of Tennessee's finest Jack Daniels, the London-via-La La Land songstress has been able to scoop a deal with Island records.

That'll be why she's bagged a producer in Marcus Mumford (of M&S - the band, not the supermarket chain) and pinched Ed Harcourt's piano for country epic lead single When The Night Kills The Day... coming to a television finale of Grey's Anatomy/One Tree Hill/Other Hypersensitive US Sitcom soon. She may get journalists coining her as a Janis Joplin meets Karen Carpenter type but Jaz bets you never heard either of them remixed to dubstep delight. Hurry over to RCRDLBL asap to download the Stuck remix:

http://rcrdlbl.com/2010/03/11/premiere_lauren_pritchard_stuck_various_production_remix_

For more info on Pritchard including gig dates visit the mighty MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/laurenpritchardmusic

Jaz x

FLASH ah-ah, Saviours of the Universe! It's MGMT...

Jaz got a sneak peak of MGMT's forthcoming second release Congratulations, which - following their splendiferously technicoloured Oracular Spectacular -  is one of the most anticipated albums of this year. If you were hoping for more of the same with album number two you're in for a bit of a shock.

Kicking off with what sounds like the backdrop for a Middle-Eastern market place, new track Flash Delirium is still psychedelic except with more of a Beach Boys surf rock air - think Help Me Rhonda on acid... at an ELO concert. With one song on the album titled Brian Eno, it's safe to say that the New York duo have set their sights on out-experimenting the electro-ambient rock superproducer in terms of innovation. On creating the album which hits the UK on 12th April, Andrew Vanwyngarden has said: "It's so great to be around such amazing and unusual musical minds". Among other catalysts, we're sure...

Transcend space and time and join MGMT on a psychedelic spiral odyssey... Alternatively download the track for free at  www.whoismgmt.com

Or if you're running low on iPod space you could just stare at this for a few minutes for similar sensational vibrations...




Jaz x

Re-made/Re-modelled

"The M&S advert with At The River is unforgivable. I've lost count of the number of people who've told us they got married to that song and now watching their wedding's like seeing an ad for chilli con carne or ice cream and chocolate sauce." - Tom Findlay, Groove Armada

In case you've yet to hear us banging on about how marvellous it all is that Groove Armada have taken a leap into the night and rediscovered the '80s and Roxy Music, Jaz shall hammer the point home once more for your benefit. We met with Tom Findlay, one half of the Superstylin' duo, to bond over our mutual Manchester alumni status while discussing the dark times that influenced their bold redirection, the celebs they've been rubbing shoulders with ahead of Lovebox and the Sugababe who never took up their offer of a second date. Oh the tribulations of being a superstar DJ.

Check out the full interview: http://news.qthemusic.com/2010/03/interview_with_groove_armada_r.html

And why not listen to the Will Young featuring album closer History while you're at it:



Jaz x

Brighton Rock

Grunge has found a new home far from Seattle, Washington, Steve Albini and Sub Pop records. Hence the nosebleed. Pearl Jam, Pixies, Nirvana, Sonic Youth... all artists lining the walls and dominating the vinyl collections of two noiseniks from Brighton: Laura-Mary Carter and Steven Ansell, aka Blood Red Shoes. Just as well Nevermind never really goes out of mind, then. It's like the summer of 1991 all over again!

Now on album number two Fire Like This, which was released last Monday, this terrible twosome have been sneaking their way into Zane Lowe playlist territory (and strangely River Island's instore soundtrack; Jaz evidently took the wrong detour on a recent shopping spree). Here they are keeping it simple with the non mood-enhancing but nevertheless thrillingly raw Light It Up...



Jaz x

P.S. If the above is of interest, it may also be worth digging out your yellow smiley face hoodies for Courtney Love whose touring the UK with the "re-formed" Hole in the Spring. With Love as the only original member, it's not so much a re-formation as an attempt to take a leaf out of the Sugababes authoritative book in how to flog a dead horse...

Happy Sunday! Grovel Grovel...

Jaz awoke to mild panic that we'd forgotten Mother's Day among all the past week's gig overload this morning. Alas, it's not til next week so we have some time for ample fishy preparation. But cue our apology to all you wonderful blogees for the slower week that's just passed. There is much to make up for it in store: Groove Armada, Mumford & Sons, Local Natives... In addition, Jaz was invited to watch Kate Nash's first gig in two years last night. The review is pending publication and will be with you very soon :) And if that wasn't enough, we'll be chatting to those cheery Editors blokes in Glasgow this week. If only time would stop for just five minutes...

On that note, we leave you with a modern classic: Stillness Is The Move by Dirty Projectors from last year's Bitte Orca. Absolutely sublime - even Beyonce's sister Solange is a fan...



Jaz x

Bonkers

Jaz isn't big into demographics but suspects that there may be a trend emerging of shorter life expectancies among certain Western communities. How else to explain today's news that 24-year-old Dizzee Rascal has signed a book deal and will be relating his memoirs (thus far) via autobiography before he even gets a Number 1 album? This begs the question: when do we now qualify as ready for penning our 'life' history?

If, dreading a long arduous train journey, you went to the autobiography section of your nearest WH Smith ten years ago, you'd maybe be looking at Nelson Mandela, Audrey Hepburn, potentially moaning Morrissey. Don't get us wrong, it doesn't strictly have to do with age: what valuable tidbits can we really be learning from Lulu, for instance (besides the latest 2-for-1s from Morrisons)? But the former had substantial stories to tell and not just a fast buck to make. Much like Greatest Hits album, autobiographies no longer signal the swan song in a person's career. So, think before you breathe that sigh of relief as your eyes pass over the latest chapter in the Katie Price saga.

Sure, Dizzee has apparently had a difficult upbringing, but will that enrich our experience when grinding like muppets to hits such as Bonkers, Dirtee Cash and Dance Wiv Me? Next time we rap along to Holiday... I know you're really busy and I know you've got plans/But are you really too busy for a sun tan... knowledge of the fact that Dizzee once got stabbed on vacation in Cyprus is sure to get our summer juices flowing. Really Dizzee, could you not have just gone on Piers Morgan's Life Stories instead?

Jaz x

SOS: ABBA Returns (Sort of)

Jaz doesn't believe in guilty pleasures: ELO, ABBA, the Bee Gees? We say, bring back Studio 54. But perhaps LA trio Music Go Music do feel slightly sheepish every time Donna Summer's Love To Love You Baby is spotted on their iPod by an unforgiving hip acquaintance. Otherwise why would they exist under the pretense of alter egos with names such as Kamer Maza and Gala Bell? What's wrong with Dave and Meredith? It's quite simple: Dave and Meredith are neither funky, nor groovy. But Kamer Maza... now that's foxy.

If the name Music Go Music wasn't indication enough, this collective are digging disco, baby. And good pastel-coloured, psychedelic, one-stop-voyage-to-heaven disco at that. The debut album Expressions will be arriving in April. Previous single Warm In The Shadows comes over all Blondie Atomic meets ABBA Voulez-vous. Go on, have a listen. We won't tell ;)

Now, where did we put that Afro wig...



Jaz x

Compare The Rabbit Dot Com

Do you often find yourself mistaking some bands for certain others due to their ridiculously near-identical silly names? Have you been getting your Black Kids mixed up with your Black Lips, crossing your Howling Bells with your Broken Bells or swapping your MGMT for your N.E.R.D? If so, you are not alone. Jaz has become so infuriated by a particularly bad case of Multiple Bandname Disorder recently that we've felt it necessary to safeguard society from what's fast becoming a global epidemic: Bunny Flu.

"I in true Glaswegian fashion made the error of shooting my mouth off about a homegrown beardy Scottish collective called Frightened Rabbit only to stand bruised and bashful as six stylishly clad Brooklynites took centre stage under the nom de plume White Rabbits. Seriously, what the buck teeth is that all about?"

That's right. The suffix Rabbit is due to overcome the ampersand and quite possible the 'The' as most popular requirement for rockgroup christenings. To help you correctly distinguish between White Rabbits and Frightened Rabbit, Jaz has written a full rant-fueled guide over on Who's Jack: http://www.whosjack.org/?p=4543

Also useful are the following visual aids:-

Exhibit A: White Rabbits with Percussion Gun from second album It's Frightening...



Exhibit B: Frightened Rabbit with Swim Until You Can't See Land from third album (just released on Monday) The Winter Of Mixed Drinks...



Be safe...

Jaz x

My Beloved Monster And Me

A brilliant day of Tweeting with Ellie Goulding, going out for sushi, catching Michael Cera and Steve Buscemi in a side-slapping movie (Year In Revolt) was this evening perfectly topped off with a soul-swelling experience watching Mumford & Sons play their biggest date ever. Does it get better than that?! Well, yes actually. Jaz can now share with you the one, the only... La GaGa! She came, she saw, she conquered...

Seriously, why debate the merits of introducing sex education in primary schools when you can escort your child to watch a former burlesque performer cavort around a Warhol-inspired backdrop of multi-coloured dildos singing lines like “Inject me… I like it rough… take a bite of my bad girl meat”? ‘What’s that mummy?’ is not a question easily avoided when you’re staring a 50-foot projection of a leather-clad gimp in the face. 

... and she's in full review on Who's Jack: http://www.whosjack.org/?p=4496

Enjoy - we know we did!

xxx

P.S More from Mumford & Sons to come. And don't worry - we haven't forgotten about that Groove Armada interview... we were just too busy trying to catch a certain Marcus Mumford's eye.

Introducing Freelance Whales

Is it a banjo? Is it a harmonium? Is it a glockenspiel? Apparently it's all three. As someone not quite old enough to remember the Medieval Times and thus not qualified to correctly distinguish such instruments, this is good news for Jaz. It's also good news for fans of that multi-instrumentalist Arcade Fire-esque anthemic aura. From Queens, New York and currently milling around the blogosphere quite nicely are five-piece Freelance Whales (what were they thinking... would there really have been something wrong with In-house Hippopotami?! ). With more hushed vocals than Arcade Fire's Win Butler, the sound is much gentler and slightly infused with a hint of Postal Service, The Shins and that other marine-titled outfit Noah And The Whale. Perfect for a Juno-type soundtrack or a Channel 4 documentary, their finger-picked folk will pluck at your heartstrings.

Single Generator Second Floor from debut album Weathervane is set to land in the UK on 22 March. It comes courtesy of the same people who gave us glorious first releases from the assured talents of White Lies and Mumford & Sons.

For more information head over to the mecca of MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/freelancewhales



Jaz x

Bring Back THE FACE!

 

 Jaz has had a long day coming down from the synonymously euphoric and energy-sapping experience of La GaGa last night - not to mention the interview also squeezed in beforehand with Groove Armada. But stumbling around the office-come-boudoir of BOOMeranKid HQ, we find material for a worthy post. Jaz has come across a relic of the past: a copy of once greatly adored and much missed glorious glossy, The Face. What was once a magazine of iconic covers and au courant material that would put i-D to shame is now but a distant memory. The publication's last appearance was in the spring of 2004. We say it's time to make a call to arms: Bring Back The Face! For starters, what other magazine does front and back covers?!

Jaz x

P.S. Jaw-dropping GaGa and legendary Groove Armada to come tomorrow :) But for now check out some cheekily snapped GaGa photos over on Flickr.

Separated At Birth Update!

For Jaz, Sundays signal an impending sense of melancholy, which has forever reached its climax at around 7pm when the theme music to the Antiques Roadshow kicks in. It has long been my ritual to avoid this death knell to the weekend like the plague by instead participating in some traditional Sunday perusing of the Bible (aka Sunday Times' Style Magazine). Scanning the perfectly designed pages and acerbic, wry commentary, I feel at one with its world and my mood turns positive and hopeful that one day my life will reflect such fabulousness.

Tonight, my leisurely flicking provides great comfort as I land on regular columnist Jessica Brinton's PLT page (People Like Them to the soon-to-be-conformed). Herein always lies a review of what's been going on in celebrity circles. It would appear that at one star-studded party recently was un-funny man James Corden, pictured with Andrew Flintoff "and friend". Immediately I react with genuine sympathy: Precisely Jessica! - these situations require tact and feigning ignorance is often better than mistaking one semi-famous cretin for another semi-famous cretin. Jessica must have suffered the same confusion that Jaz reported on Friday (http://boomerang-kid.blogspot.com/2010/02/separated-at-birth.html) post-viewing the latest episode of Skins, wherein the cameo appearance of Bez was most troubling due to his apparent relation as long lost twin to regular Skins actor John Bishop. Here pictured is either Bez or John Bishop. Who knows? The only sure thing is that Jessica and Jaz are on the same wavelength, which clearly makes Jaz eligible for employment at the Bible's HQ now, doesn't it?

Jaz x

GaGa or GA?

It's the last day in February of a common year 2010, which indicates extremely poor research on the part of the Universal Pictures' marketing team behind new dross romcom, Leap Year. As Jaz's off-nights don't get any more exciting than soap-flicking and staring at wood-chipped walls, the film's trailer provides nil incentive to break that comparably gut-busting cycle. Tonight, however, Jaz has quite the pickle to prepare for and needs help from anyone with experience of trying to squeeze two entirely separate affairs into one hoodwinking, two-timing evening...

Several months ago Jaz attempted to secure a date with a certain up-and-comer who you may have heard of. The one they call Lady Gaga (or Stefani) is in Glasgow tomorrow but after a mere year in the limelight would not have time for press and shot us down. It was disappointing, yet in the grand scheme of things it's unlikely to be as dashing (depending on your levels of optimism) as spending a tenner going to see Leap Year. With their 13 years or so near the top of UK dance charts, however, the far humbler Groove Armada who also perform in Glasgow on Monday, were more than happy to accommodate a Jaz request for tea and biscuits.

Then, in typical fashionably-late style, Jaz is invited via e-mail this Friday past to watch her Gaga-ness. Despite prior rejection, Jaz throws aside any pride and self-respect and laps up the offer like a thick, tongue-waggling puppy dog. Now we must cover both GA and Gaga in approximately four hours. Already it's causing much anxiety: Jaz jump-starts this morning with a premonition of stumbling over mispronunciations of Groove Argaga, quoting "I'm a free bitch baby... shakin' that ass", and co-ordinating an outfit at once chillout sophisti-cat and bizarr-o Glamorama...

Stresses aside, Jaz is surprised to learn that Groove Armada's latest album is only just hitting the shops tomorrow. Our promo copy of Black Light has been on loop since December. And, before you ask, Jaz hasn't descended into tragic, middle-class, generically soundtracked dinner party territory. This really is a very exciting release. In fact, you won't even recognise the House-bestselling, advertisement-monopolising duo. This time they've swapped Mutya for Empire Of The Sun's Nick Littlemore, Will Young and Roxy Music's legendary Bryan Ferry. Think dark, think '80s, think... guitars?! One highlight is lead single and soulful spirit-lifter, I Won't Kneel. Enjoy the lie-in fishies...



Jaz x

Girl Gone Wild

When Jaz notices a Lego-haired red-head in leggings and an inadequately long T-shirt at an event six months ago, it takes the best part of the entire evening to work out who she is. Is she someone from a previous job? Is she an old uni acquaintance? As The Cribs' Ryan Jarman enters clutching his girlfriend's waist, Jaz enquires dumbstruck: "It can't be?! The one that's so "bitt-a" cos she sucks too many lemons?! She used to be so smiley... and floral." It was a preview for what's to come in the world of Kate Nash. Goodbye cutesy cockney ditties about make-up, Hello minimal lyrics and riot-grrrl punk.

The as-yet-unreleased second album Crayon Full Of Colour is chronically titled but intriguingly produced by ex-Suede man Bernard Butler. Taken from it, the screechy razor-edged guitars and still screechier blood-stirring shrills of I Just Love You More owe less to her boyfriend's band and more to a certain collective from across the pond. The track is in the identical vein of the far superior be-bobbed, and Most Exalted Goddess of all things alternative, Karen O. Having heard little else of the album yet, Jaz is reluctant to comment overall but would suggest you just dig out last year's Yeah Yeah Yeahs' effort It's Blitz which was a no-brainer for our Best Of 2009 list and sets the standard probably far too high for such aspiring female art-rockers.



Jaz x

Separated At Birth

Brit teen-drama-come-national-health-warning Skins has featured its fair share of brilliant guest roles over the past four years: Danny Dyer, Bill Bailey, Harry Enfield, Peter Capaldi, etc, etc. Last night saw Will Young cameo as a Jacko-worshipping ultra-peculiar school counsellor, illustrating what may have happened had the camp one never entered Pop Idol.

Most confusion, however, stemmed not from that, nor from Effy's sudden overnight diagnosis of psychotic depression, but from the fact that Effy and Freddie treat their friends Emily and Katie Fitch's father like they've never met him before. Granted, the two plastered love birds are always mashed, gurning, baked, chewing their faces off, toking marijuana and dropping acid 24/7 (but in a totally non-lethal, still-living-with-parents, going-to-school way), and Father Fitch looks like he's having a bit of an off day, it's hard to imagine they could treat him like they have no idea who he is. My constant bewilderment as to the sheer discourtesy of some youngsters in Bristol means the episode is completely lost on me. Seriously, how rude...

Slowly it becomes clear. Stand-up comedian John Bishop who plays Father Fitch (he's anything but a priest - or a Bishop - Jaz just doesn't recall his first name) is not this man. This man is ex-Happy Mondays baggy nutter Bez who has very few acting skills (or skills of any kind) but possesses an unnerving likeness to the man Bishop. Was this a cheap trick by Skins' producers to make the audience feel utterly off their heads too, or is Jaz just going completely b-a-n-a-n-a-s?


P.S. MTV is planning an Americanised version of Skins. *Yawn*

Jaz x

Hot Chip Off The Old Block

Electro: at one end of the spectrum you have the funny-but-embarassing Euro-kitsch of tracks such as Bodyrockers' I Like The Way You Move (I like ze way you comb your h-airrr, etc.). Fortunately for those of us who can't listen to such nonsensical fare with a straight face, there are experimentalist maraca-shaking nerds who speak of monkeys with miniature cymbals...

That's right, Hot Chip have returned and continue to set the bar high for alt-dance indietronica with their fourth album One Life Stand. Jaz first came across these bespectacled eccentrics as relative unknowns supporting dominatrix-era Goldfrapp (then Queen of electro) in 2005. It was love at first blip (or bleep). For dancing synths à la William Orbit circa Barber's Adagio For Strings, and New Order-style dark romance with an uplifting sentiment, check out I Feel Better. Jaz best not inform you that this track is oddly reminiscent of Madonna's La Isla Bonita. Oops...



Jaz x

A Bunch Of Softies

Jaz popped down to King Tut's Wah Wah Hut to interview San Diegans, The Soft Pack, for Q Magazine on a freezing Wednesday night. If anybody in Cyberspace knows some decent ice-breakers for approaching semi-esoteric raw post-punk bands who are battling with a bout of flu, send them on a postcard. Most of what Jaz knows about Los Angeles and punk-y scenes was gauged during a two week period working at Kerrang!'s Green Day special. That's to say, very little. And for reasons related to Green Day and not because that fortnight was spent debating the respective qualities of various now discontinued chocolate bars, e.g. Texan vs. Wagon Wheel.

Before they played a straight-to-the-point, short and punchy set comprised of material from their eponymous debut and their earlier album under a much-maligned previous bandname, The Muslims, the foursome revealed their affections for hip hop, Barry Manilow and Prince. When it comes to their own three-chord garage punk sound, though, their motives are completely non-political:

"We're all about simplicity. I think it's partly by necessity. I can't really do much musically, so it's gotta be simple." - Matt Lamkin

For the full interview, which includes analysis of many a California buzz band to listen out for, head on over to qthemusic.com: http://news.qthemusic.com/2010/02/interview_q_couch_potatoes_wit.html

All photos can be found on Jaz's Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/boomerangkid/sets/72157623501146646/

I leave you with their ultra stripped-back video for C'Mon:



Jaz x

More Hoedown Than Ho...

A few year's back Jaz was in an old motorised junkyard chugging around the small North Carolinian college town of Chapel Hill when the passenger with iPod discretion stopped scrolling at a moment-perfect soundtrack. Though unaware in that car, this song would later come to sum up my experience of spending a semester on exchange in Hicksville, USA: a bewildering, often bizarre but nonetheless weirdly endearing time. The nightmare scenario of suffering my own miniature version of Deliverance thankfully never came to pass.

The Gourds (the men responsible for said track) are from Texas, mainly play bluegrass, share one member with alt.countrymen Wilco, and have albums with titles which include, Cow Fish Fowl or Pig and Haymaker! With that in mind, consider what would happen if some farmer-tanned NASCAR enthusiast triple-dared them to rap along to a jam of his choice if they couldn't stay on the mechanical bull for ten seconds. Imagine what it would sound like were that rap to be gangsta ladykiller Snoop Dogg (then Snoop Doggy Dogg)'s second single, Gin & Juice. We're not in Long Beach anymore, Toto. Described by one commenting YouTube-r as "EPIC", it must be heard to be believed. Below is the full countrified apple pie version - bitchin' and "funky ass shit" included:




The Doggfather is currently awaiting a decision on whether he will ever be allowed re-entry to the UK following his outburst at Heathrow Airport four years ago. Let's hope it's a good outcome. Snoop Dogg topping the bill at T In The Park is definitely more enticing than today's news that Eminem will be 'doing a Jay-Z' in Scotland this summer.

Jaz x

Girls Who Are Boys Who Like Boys To Be Girls

Don't be afraid to check out Girls. Not in the creepy standing on street corners eyeing lasses up and down at random way. Girls are boys. Four boys, who formed a band. And because they've called themselves Girls and are a 'Band' they are very difficult to locate on Google without various detours via Girls Aloud, Spice Girls, etc. Nevertheless they exist somewhere in San Francisco and, more accessibly, in cyberspace (http://www.matadorrecords.com/girls/index.html -  Jaz does all the hard work for you). They also, shock horror, sound nothing like girls... more like boys, or Beach Boys to be precise. The buzz has certainly arrived in time for those recently released Buddy Holly overdubs.

Lo-fi, lush and garage-like, their fuzzy surfpop resides in their debut album, more accurately titled Album. Incidentally, lead singer Christopher Owens was once in another monosyllabic band called Curls but clearly that name was a little too misleading... And, not to forget, he also used to be a member of the Children Of God cult, so expect hippie love, peace and harmony.

Get totally stoked and watch the video for Lust For Life (not an Iggy Pop cover), which looks like a TV advert for Urban Outfitters:



Jaz x