Oh lordy: "Is the new Superman meant to be Jesus?"

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Is the new Superman meant to be Jesus?: "Is the Superman Returns movie meant to remind us of the Bible? And if so, is it blasphemy?
Well here's the story.

An all-powerful father sends his son to Earth to save mankind by showing them the 'light'. The son is able to perform miracles. He 'dies' and is born again.
Sound familiar? It might do, it's the plot of the new movie Superman Returns. And in the blogs and internet forums there has been a maelstrom of debate on the parallels between Superman and Jesus Christ.

Superman has a long history of Judaeo-Christian symbols, but this time the film's makers have taken it to a new level.

- At one point Superman falls towards the Earth in a pose that vaguely echoes the Crucifixion.
- He is stabbed in his side with Kryptonite in an echo of the stabbing of Jesus by a Roman soldier.
- A female nurse rushes into the hospital room to find it empty just as Jesus tomb was found to be empty by female followers.

And there are Christians in the US who believe that the symbolism is now sufficiently obvious that the film can be incorporated into religious teaching."

Well, I suppose you could read it in that way, but hey, it's just a story.... Stretching it all a bit far, methinks!

Scritti Politti in Mercury Music Prize shock!

D'oh! I missed this last week, and only found out about it when I went into HMV and saw their nominee display. Should help Green shift a few more copies, even if he doesn't win - and there's some stiff competition. The Arctic Monkeys are obviously favourites, but with Muse and Thom Yorke in the mix anything could happen.

"BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Arctic Monkeys lead Mercury list: "The Arctic Monkeys are favourites to win the 2006 Mercury Music Prize after the shortlist was revealed in London.
Albums by Radiohead singer Thom Yorke and rock bands Muse and Editors are also up for the award for the best UK or Irish album of the past year.
The other nominated albums are by Guillemots, Sway, Richard Hawley, Hot Chip, Isobel Campbell, Scritti Politti, Zoe Rahman and Lou Rhodes.
The winner will receive a �20,000 cheque at a ceremony on 5 September."

'Right time' for Cerys' comeback

She's back! Ah, the lovely Cerys Matthews (formerly of Catatonia) is back in the UK for a new tour and to promote her new album, Never Said Goodbye. If you missed her last album, Cockahoop, then I seriously recommend you find a copy, 'cos it's really rather good.

BBC NEWS | Wales | 'Right time' for Cerys' comeback

The Official Cerys Matthews Website

Adam Ant: Extra Wonderful!

Unlike me to let something like this pass me by, but then I only seem to have missed it by a few days. Yes, there is new Ant material ont' web. The digital album Extra Wonderful has been released to an Ant-hungry world. So, here's the story....

In the early 1990s, Mr Ant and Mr Pirroni hoiked themselves off to Capitol Records and recorded an album called Wonderful, which, although a very good album, failed to reignite their careers. The title track was a minor hit both sides of the Atlantic, and then two further singles failed to do any significant business. And so, that was that, Aside from umpteen collections and the excellent Remasters project, there has been no new Antmusic to speak of, despite rumours and pipe-dreams. And so, we now have Extra Wonderful.

Essentially a collection of B-sides and remixes, there are a few hidden gems here. There are the B-sides to the three singles ("Wonderful", "Beautiful Dream" and "Gotta Be A Sin"), the highlight of which has to be "Phoenix". The remixes are essentially unremarkable, but there is a decent new spin on "Beautiful Dream" (though the two versions seem to be very similar).

You also get an excellent set of live tracks, ranging from "Cleopatra" to "Desparate But Not Serious" which are really rather good. I especially like their cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Physical (You're So)" (!).

So, another set of tracks for the Ant-completist. The whole lot comes in at a hefty £13.99, but you do get 22 tracks. Worth it? Yeah, probably. Wonder if the "missing" MCA album (recorded after Manners & Physique) will ever turn up?

Download it here:

Well, I've been busy, y'know...

Sorry it's been a bit quiet here recently. I've been a bit busy this year (see Rabbits' Blog for details). And I even started writing this entry 2 months ago....

So, what's been happening, then? Well, I was going to do a review of 2005, but that kinda went out the window. In summary, I think that the best single of 2005 was "Galvanize" by the Chemical Brothers. It was a close run thing with the Ivor Novello-winning "Wires" by Athlete, but I think the Chems just clinched it with their barnstorming dance track. However, album of the year goes to Athlete for Tourist, because it's just so incredibly good. Breakthrough act of the year goes to The Chalets, not just for bringing out a stonkingly good album in Check In, but for managing to get an album out when other DPS-supported acts (such as The Modern and Oversol) still haven't managed to deliver the goods. We're still waiting, guys. Live act of the year goes to the incredible Pop Will Eat Itself. The sweaty night in January at Shepherd's Bush Empire will be remembered for a long time. The Poppies also get the Good Thing award for reforming and putting on all the concerts (bless 'em), and teasing us with the Sonic Noise-Byte. (However, they're also the winners of this year's Bad Thing, for going and splitting up again... Sigh...)

Right, well, hopefully I'll be a bit more back on track from now on!