Pop Will Eat Itself - 04.11.05

Just got this message from the PWEInation website: "we'd love to see you on the site some time in the next two weeks...... who knows what you might find?", so I go there: pweination.org If you click on the huge "04.11.05" you get taken to the forum. There's a thread under Reformation (the name given to the set of concerts at the beginning of the year), but no actual information. (and then Safari crashes for some reason!) The crafty so-and-sos are keeping us guessing...

My guess is that it's a new series of gigs rather than a new album, but here's hoping...

Um... The Chalets New Album...

Sorry, I appear to have dropped the ball on this one... The Chalets new album, Check In, actually came out at the beginning of the month, and I didn't know. Forgive me? I'm going to see if I can get hold of it today in the shops, or else I'll have to get it off Amazon (hey, I'm just an old-fashioned guy who likes the shiny plastic cases...!). Anyway, you can get it off iTunes here:

I've had a quick listen to some of the samples, and it all seems chock-full of the same quality goodness of their debut single, "Feel The Machine" (which you did buy, didn't you?) I'll let you know what the whole album's like when I get it. Probably. You're still waiting to hear what I thought of Shelly Poole's Hard Time for the Dreamer (beautiful music, possibly a touch too much Radio 2), and t.A.T.u.'s Dangerous and Moving (not as good as their first one), aren't you?

t.A.T.u. - A Health Warning from CD:UK

"...it's all too clear why t.A.T.u. are the most exciting pop act we've experienced for years. It's because t.A.T.u - like their motherland - are unbelievably dangerous.

And we mean that sincerely. t.A.T.u. honestly give us the impression that they could have us killed. Compare that with... say, Girls Aloud, who - at the very worst - could inveigle us into a situation where we might have to make regular payments to the Child Support Agency. Or The Pussycat Dolls, who could just about blind us with the steely glow of their over-bleached teeth. Or the Sugababes, who could possibly sulk us to sleep. None of them can do what t.A.T.u. do so effortlessly: scare us."

Bwah ha ha! Read the whole thing here: :: cduk

And while we're on the subject of everyone's favourite faux-lesbian group, I went to get the new album today, and only found it for sale in HMV (CD £10.99, CD & DVD bizarrely priced at £9.99, when their in-store computer thing said it should be £15.99). Tesco, Asda, Woolworths and WHSmith didn't even acknowledge its existence. The new Sugababes and Liberty X albums were there, but not t.A.T.u.'s. Have the girls really pissed someone off? Or is this a big conspiracy to keep cool pop out of the charts?

Stop and Smell the Serenity

OK, this is a Priority One Directive. This weekend, you have to go and see Joss Whedon's new film, Serenity. You don't have to have seen the original Firefly series (but why haven't you? You can get the DVDs for about £13 if you shop around - you really won't regret it), you just have to be ready to see the best science-fiction film this year.

Did Revenge of the Sith leave you cold? War of the Worlds leave you unimpressed? Well, Serenity will make you laugh, cry, cheer and clench just about every muscle in your body.

If you liked Buffy or Angel, then you yourself a huge favour and go and give Joss Whedon's baby all the love and attention it deserves. Not many cancelled shows get to be made into a movie, but then Serenity is different.

Go and see it. You can't stop the signal...

Serenity

t.A.T.u. - UK Website

Just stumbled across the new UK t.A.T.u. website at tatugirls.co.uk. So far, so Flashy (some dodgy picture editing on the main screen too), but the best thing has to be the 30 second excerpts from the new album Dangerous and Moving (crap title, I know, but at least it's not as much of a mouthful as 200km/h in the Wrong Lane...), and they sound fantastic! Roll on the 10th October!

BTW, yes, I did cave in and buy the singles... I'm so weak! The remixes aren't bad, and the new track "Divine" is pretty good, if a little unusual. And the video on the DVD is as good as ever - again, the edited version doesn't make sense.

And I hear the girls were up to their usual scampish selves on The Frank Skinner Show this week, but I missed it. Bah!