A whole load of stuff

Today has provided a mixed bag of musical news (not as in West Side Story kind of musical, you understand). Glassjaw, who I’ve adored since I was 17, has announced 3 headlining dates in January. I’ve bought tickets to see this band more times than I care to remember, but have never actually seen them live due to Daryl Palumbo’s ongoing battle with Crohn’s Disease. Excellent news, you may think. Not So! My good lady and I *hopefully* move house next month, and thus will be a little short of cash monies for a while, and I’ve got a distinct feeling, that as I can’t go and see them…they won’t cancel. Maybe if they ever get round to release their third album…

Whilst browsing the news section of NME.com, I noticed that ‘Midlake add extra dates to UK tour’, “sweeeet” I thought. Not So! These are the dates that had been announced last week, and that, in fact no new NEW dates had been added at all. Gits. NME, not Midlake, well, maybe Midlake a bit. No dates in Yorkshire? Gits. Yes, Midlake, you.

Onto the good news, Mr Mark ‘E’ Oliver Everett of Eels fame has released a new song, 'Little Bird' from their forthcoming 'End Times' album and it sounds sad, really sad, in a good way, of course.
Finally on the news front Queens of the Stone Age have announced they will be returning from their various side projects, Them Crooked Vultures (Anticipated!), We Fell To Earth (Intriguing!) and Dead Weather (Shit!), to the studio next summer. It took me roughly a year to succumb to the charms of both 'Lullabies to Paralyze' and 'Era Vulgaris', but Josh Homme’s involvement in Arctic Monkeys’ superb 'Humbug' and the aforementioned Them Crooked Vultures means I will be awaiting their sixth album with baited breath.

Yesterday was Wednesday, and that meant a trip to City Screen to watch ‘The Men That Stare At Goats’, based on the book of the same name by reporter Jon Ronson. The film start’s with the words “More of this is true than you might think” followed by footage of the US’s ‘shock and awe’ attacks on Iraq, soundtracked, rather bizarrely by Supergrass’ ‘We’re Alright’. The title of that song summing up, rather succinctly, the rest of the film, it wasn’t without it’s moments, George Clooney, as usual, was very very good indeed, Jeff Bridges played the dude-i-est role he’s played, since he played the dude (check out http://www.dudeism.com/ for all your Lebowski related spiritual needs) and was cleary cast in that role for that very reason. Ewan Mcgregor is…ok…as ever (surely a new trip with Mr Boorman is due soon?) but his American accent was pretty dire. The multiple reference's to "Jedi Warriors" are funny initially, but soon start to wear a little thin (and perhaps had some bearing on his casting in that role). The fact that they turned the story into a journey of self discovery for his character grated a little, and the ending! The ending was unspeakably bad. Fun enough film, but I’d suggest renting it, rather than buying.

Of the plethora of trailers shown beforehand, one stuck out as looking particually awful, Guy Ritchie’s 'Sherlock Holmes'. The clue to why it looks so cack is in that last sentence.

There a quite a few impending releases that I’m looking forward to; James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’, the Coen brothers’ ‘A Serious Man’, Ang Lee’s ‘Taking Woodstock’ and Spike Jonze’s ‘Where the Wild Things are’ being amongst them…or being them, more to the point.
Whether we’ll get to see them all or not remains to be seen, what with the impending *fingers crossed* move.

Wow…two blogs in a day.

Hopefully within the week I shall have a review of Biffy Clyro’s ‘Only Revolutions’ posted. Hmm…