Yeah, I’ll still see it

Seeing the trailer, I was worried at first by Keisha Kastle-Hughes’ casting as Celeste, and not just because a little maori girl doesn’t look like a little french woman…

Now, from comments following its premier at Toronto, it sounds like the very core of The Vintner’s Luck, one of the greatest novels I’ve ever read, has been stripped out by Nikki Caro in the translation to film…

… which seems to involve, amongst other atrocities, a hetero whitewashing.

Rumour has it that Elizabeth Knox is somewhat less than cheery.

Does look lush though.

B4TTL3

Placebo sent fans a link and a password to listen to a pre-release of their latest album, Battle for the Sun.

Being a fan, I got my link, and entered the appropriate details on the interweb site I had been directed to.

And I listened.

And I smiled quite a lot.

The password was good for a window of just a few days, with a maximum of 5 plays, and showing a certain lack of real commitment, I logged in on the final day, an hour before I was due to be elsewhere. So I’ve only heard it once.

But what I heard was big noise, smatterings of horns and synths, several nice spotlights on the new drummer’s talents, Molko screeching, and a sound as heavy as your fat mother’s ass.

Molko’s lyrics haven’t improved terribly since the band’s prime time (WYIN). But they’re not all bad. Some are even pretty good. And Molko delivers them all with sterling vitality.

I look forward to repeated spins upon its official release.

PS: Their INTERNATIONAL page now has STUFF in it. Worldwide reviews, articles, concerts, etc.

Better things take time

I see Placebo have launched their renovated website.

I like the look of it, especially the initial page, but I wonder if they really think the world is as empty as their international page suggests.

I don’t like incompleteness. Take some time, get it right, then release it.

(I guess the new album is due out in just under a month…)

NINJA

You lucky Americans.

In the USA leg of their latest tour, NIN will be joining forces with Jane’s Addiction and a new act comprised of Tom Morello and Boots Riley called Street Sweeper.

The combined acronym of NINJA rather leaves Street Sweeper cut out of the headlines, but the promo material is otherwise making sure to package the three tightly together.

Wonderfully, this includes the official NINJA2009 website, launched just a few days ago. Why so wonderful? Well, besides a few cool if standard features, one can download a free 6 track tour sampler. The track list  is:

1. Chip Away – Jane’s Addiction
2. Not So Pretty Now – Nine Inch Nails
3. Clap for the Killers – Street Sweeper
4. Whores – Jane’s Addiction
5. Non-Entity – Nine Inch Nails
6. The Oath – Street Sweeper

The NIN tracks are previously unreleased studio recordings and the two JA tracks are fresh studio recordings produced by Trent Reznor himself.

The JA material is by far the best on the sampler. Sadly, NIN’s offerings are somewhat lacklustre, with Non-Entity (a song from the With Teeth era) being the better of the two. The Street Sweeper tracks are pretty fine, funky, rockin’ tunes and I’d been keen to get my hands on the album when it comes out.

Returning to Non-Entity… it’s a track that Trent has actually performed live a number of times, including the Auckland show I attended.

As it didn’t exist in any officially released format prior to this new sampler, I have been thus far unable to put together a mix CD recreating the track list of the Auckland concert (using live material where possible).  But now… well, now I can shamelessly relive that lifetime highlight over and over again.

Launching into the blogosphere

Blogs are stupid, aren’t they?

Why would anybody want to blog? Why would anyone ever want to air their thoughts to such a broad and unscrupulous audience as that found on the internet? Is it something to do with exhibitionism or masochism? Is the blogosphere the realm of the chronically lame and lonely? Who would ever read this shit anyway? Will my friends even read it? Step back… do I even have any friends?

For answers to all these questions and more, read any old person’s blog.

Or stick around and read this one.

Quality not assured.