Music: I’m really loving two new records this week. First is No Age’s Nouns, the follow-up to their much-hyped EP compliation Weirdo Rippers. It’s streamlined noise-pop mastery at its best and manages to rattle through its songs fast enough that any sense of pretension or posing never materialises. The other is the amazing Music Hole by a capella chanteuse Camille which expands on the rough-hewn fun of Le Fil and creates a tangible world for her to exist in.
I managed to get hold of two great Jim O’Rourke soundscaping albums (Bad Timing and I’m Happy, I’m Singing, And a 1,2,3,4) and they are proving fantastic for working. As a general rule of thumb, krautrock and motorik electronica are efficient soundtracks for writing. I’m still obsessed with Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago which might be my favourite album of the year so far.
I got to see Sebadoh play Bubble & Scrape live as part of the Don’t Look Back series from ATP and that was some experience. The crowd didn’t quite get the concept fully, constantly requesting during the album portion of the show, but the band were affable and in good spirits so they took it well. For the record, it’s a much better album live.
Elsewhere, the new Scarlett Johannson record has a couple of nice moments but is mostly a slightly misguided folly. Death Cab for Cutie’s follows the trajectory of Plans in being good enough but not really closing in on the brilliance of Photo Album, We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes and their masterpiece, Transatlanticism.
Portishead are reassuringly brilliant and Wolf Parade are spiky but not fully satisfying. I haven’t absorbed My Morning Jacket’s Evil Urges yet but first listen reveals an album falling somewhere between the church-hall grandiosity of the first two and the slinky brilliance of Z.

Film/TV: So Tom and I managed to buck the system and get ourselves a 90-day free trial to LoveFilm, the UK equivalent of NetFlix. It’s been a decent run so far but it’s hotting up now with a couple of cracking rentals from the last couple of weeks.
First up, a small confession, Tom and I are somewhat obsessed with watching really strange Anthony Hopkins performances. We dig The Edge where he becomes surely the first classic British actor to call a bear a ‘motherfucker’. In The Human Stain, the dude’s African American! But the one we took in this week, Bad Company, sees him become an FBI badass!!! It’s a pretty awful film but it’s fun to witness because Hopkins is just phoning in every scene he’s in from long, long distance. He’s barely even present for most of it. He and co-star Chris Rock just don’t really work together at all. But we loved watching Hopkins shoot and fight his way through an improbable and poorly-written movie because we will watch him do anything.
We got hold of Midnight Run for Tom to watch for the first time, the classic 1980s buddy movie starring De Niro and Charles Grodin which manages to be very funny, action-packed and have a deeper, darker side to it. It’s far the superior of films of the era like Last Boy Scout and Lethal Weapon.
The first of my ventures into Eureka’s Masters of Cinema catelogue was Punishment Park, a 1971 psuedo documentary about an America taken to McCarthy-ite extremes of fascism. Any people found to be in anyway advocating overthrow of government or even questioning power is sent to be put on ‘trial’ and given the option of prison or ‘Punishment Park’ which involves a 53-mile run across the California desert for the inmates with guards and army chasing and killing them. It’s about thirty-five years ahead of its time in evoking the spirit of the Patriot Act and the right-wing jingoism which followed 9/11 in America and is therefore something of a minor masterpiece.
We’ve also seen Das Experiment, Oliver Hirschbiegel’s intense evocation of the Stanford Prison Experiment. It’s a modern masterclass in building tension. I also experienced Reds, Warren Beatty’s biopic of communist American journalist John Reed, for the first time and was enthralled if never blown away by its stately aims.
TV-wise, I absolutely LOVE Gossip Girl. The series is so utterly ridiculous but so triumphant at creating characters you want to watch that you can’t help but fall head-over-heels for it. Also, playing Chuck, Brit-actor Ed Westwick has created my favourite character on TV right now, a constantly horny multi-sexual seduction machine outfitted in outlandishly bold clothing and resembling a naughty pixie. I dig that dude.
My other total obsession, more of this in the other section too, is This American Life. Ira Glass’ stories of ordinary everyday people is so completely brilliant that you wonder why other haven’t latched onto its concept. I am rarely so moved by a show as I am by this but my goodness its just total perfection.
The Office trucks on brilliantly as usual but Lost is teetering on its mid-season boredom section which I really hoped would be eliminated by taking the seasons down by a few episodes.
The best show I’ve found is Human Giant, the MTV sketch show that makes me laugh harder and more often than anything else right now. Also a special mention here for the Tim and Eric Awesome show thing on AdultSwim which I think is maybe the worst piece of crap I have ever wasted eleven minutes of my life on. I hated every second and it totally captures everything that’s bad about AdultSwim. Hate it.

Books/Comics: I’m currently plowing through Generation Kill, Evan Wright’s amazing war reporting piece on recon marines in Iraq. It’s pretty harrowing stuff but all told, as you would imagine a marine would tell it, in a matter-of-fact style that brings you inside the world. It is war reporting of the very highest quality. It’s being adapted in a series by David Simon and Ed Burns, the writers of the greatest television show of all-time, The Wire.
I recently finished my second book by Daniel Woodrell, the author of last year’s brilliant snow-and-crank quasi-noir Winter’s Bone. Tomato Red seems widely to be considered his finest book and its certainly some way off Winter’s Bone stylistically. The plot is less focused but it manages to create a sense of existentialist angst that never falls into being overly-pretentious or irratating, even if he can’t quite hold the attention for long enough to really invite you into the unattractive world presented.
Beth has become obsessed, which subsequently means I am now obsessed, with Bryan O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim comics. The books are indeed utterly brilliant, a completely fresh take on the everday-superhero genre. It’s being made into a film with Michael Cera, a move which represents some might brilliant casting.

Other: Me and my podcasts. I can’t help it. I’m really loving Filmspotting, still my absolute essential podcast of the week. Also This American Life and PRI Selected Shorts, a short fiction podcast on which writers read and discuss their work. PRI also presents Best of Our Knowledge, a beguiling examination of a different topic each week, employing several interviews to discuss a certain theme, kind of like This American Life but with authors or experts. I still dig the Slate Cultural and Political Gabfests and really love KCRW’s Left, Right and Center which seems to become more animated and slightly more filled with bile every week. I’ve also now fallen for Watching the Directors in which the hosts pick a subject every week and explore body of work of this figure. This weeks, on Steven Soderbergh, was excellent.
Elsewhere, I love Grand Theft Auto 4 although it’s likely to see very little play when Rock Band is finally released over here next week. Our bank holiday weekend won’t be filled with sunshine and outdoor fun.
I’d also like to point everyone to a site I link to a lot but it’s really great and does deserve your attention. Daytrotter has sessions everyday now and this week had Castanets and Times New Viking so get on over there and check them out.

Why won’t Hillary concede??

The MoD has launched an investigation into the death of Baha Mousa, who died in a British detention centre in 2003.

Gordon Brown is targeting families with his back-peddling over taxation legislation changes.

Obama is moving to woo blue-collar voters after Hillary’s win in the West Virginia primary.

A win that’s unlikely to change anything.

The Great Debaters. Who would win between Obama and McCain?

Robert Scheer comments on torture and intelligence in America.

Cherie Blair… why? Just why? What purpose? This is her latest revelation.

There’s basically all out civil war in the Labour party right now.

If the Tories don’t cock it up, they’ve a clear path to power.

Is Cameron really a progressive?

Tim Hames says he needs to stop worrying about offending.

Was New Labour ever anything more than a media construct?

Would Obama really aid relations with the Muslim world?

An Obama-McCain battle could give the US its first election of ideas and issues rather than snipes and character assassination.

The environment is key to McCain.

It took Clinton too long to get going.

The role of the US in assassinations in Mexico.

Not to miss out on the family legacy, Mr Jenna Bush is getting in on the act.

Puns this week are related to songs by Motley Crue. Why? Why the f$%k not?

Bands with many great singers from The AV Club.

Here’s a documentary about the making of the new Death Cab for Cutie record.

It gets a 6.0 from Pitchfork.

That online publication also interview new actress/singer Scarlett Johannson.

Best movies based on TV shows.

Alex Ross discusses Stravinsky. Yeah, you want high brow.

Spielberg’s turned his attention to his Abraham Lincoln biopic.

PopMatters talks Neko Case.

Entertainment Weekly has a feature on the greatest gladiators.

Autechre is releasing a host of new music in the coming two weeks.

Cursive drops in on Daytrotter.

Caroline Sullivan digs through the modern record bin.

The shortlist of the six Booker of Bookers has been decided.

The New York Times profiles James Frey.

Slate discusses the accuracies of Grand Theft Auto.

Finally, Charlie Brooker proclaims the above a ‘masterpiece’.

Do not give Doris Lessing any more prizes.

Nude men on film, must be a gag.

The underground movement of gay hip hop.

David Thomson writes a tribute to David Lean.

Mike Tyson is reinventing himself - through documentary.

Sasha Frere-Jones discusses the genius of Arthur Russell.

No love at all for Speed Racer on Screenjabber.

The Independent talks with Jodi Picoult about her new book.

New Zealand as pop mecca?

Harper’s asks questions to Errol Morris.

Eddie Izzard talks to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Emmanuelle Seigner talks to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Finally, download the new episode of Silence in C Minor right here.

John Dickerson comments on Hillary and the issue of race in this democratic election.

Hillary has certainly done a good job of dividing the party on race lines.

Well, at least, if she continues her current attacks, that’s what will happen.

But has she fallen too far? Could it soon be finally over?

By June 15? Done by then?

Michael Tackett still thinks her candidacy is a success.

Superdelegates are certainly siding with Obama.

Time explores the impact of his campaigning roots in Chicago.

He’s remaining cool under pressure.

But Wolfson says he’s neglecting West Virginians.

What about an Obama/Clinton ticket?

She could be a plotting vice to Obama’s President.

Reihan Salam thinks picking her would be a huge mistake.

Matthew Yglesias agrees and adds that many more better-suited candidates for the position exist.

Over this though, Michelle Obama has vetoed the idea.

Does America remain reluctant to address the issue of racism?

John McCain’s judge selections will please Bush voters.

Apparently, an African American running mate for the ol’ dog isn’t really needed.

The lack of interest in his fundamentalist connections is appalling.

But what about those older voters…

Frank Rich argues that we all need to keep in mind what the year is.

John Cusack comments on the spending of £3tn.

The military analyst scandal has all but died. Harry Shearer is dismayed that not even NPR is being held to account.

Well… we really don’t like Gordon right now.

Andrew Rawnsley comments on his fall.

Prescott says he advised firing the now-PM when Tony was around.

Inevitably, Cherie Blair has chipped in.

John Rentoul provides his thoughts on that issue.

Margaret Drabble comments on abortion laws in the UK.

Katie Paul discusses the murdering of journalists.

Issues in Beirut have massively escalated.

Robert Fisk reports on the problem and the desire within Lebanon to avoid further internal conflict.

The Washington Post investigates the issue of medical care for foreign detainees in US custody.

With so many films planned, I bet you’re all wondering what I’m most looking forward to at Electricity and Lust and well, I’m going to tell you. So here’s the five films I’m most anticipating across June, July and August along with some honorable mentions. (UK release dates)

5. Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr playing an actor who dyes his skin to play a black soldier. Tom Cruise doing comedy. A du jour cast of comic luminaries. Ben Stiller is notoriously unreliable as a director and performer but he’s due another brilliant work (it’s been 7 years since Zoolander) to keep him in stead and this looks like it could be it. I may even go out on a limb and say that this will be the downright funniest film you see all year if Stiller can just allow the cameos to breathe rather than deliver expected moments of absurdity.

4. Hellboy 2
Although the original is flawed (the villain isn’t good enough and his sidekicks don’t provide much to the story), I’ve grown in anticipation for this squarely because of the blooming love, yes love, I have for Guillermo del Toro. Following Pan’s Labyrinth, for me the finest movie since the turn of the millenium, I’ve awaited his return with baited breath. While he’s now attached to everything from The Hobbit to 3993, the completion of his Spanish trilogy (Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth being the first two), Hellboy 2 still seems to have his attention and the trailers seem to hint at yet more comic book fun. It may not be perfect, but it will aid Iron Man and the rest in creating a summer of comic-book adaptations you might be able to sit through without demanding a refund.

3. Pineapple Express
The crack team behind Knocked Up and Superbad working with the semi-indie-darling director of All The Real Girls on a stoner buddy action comedy. It has the potential to be a blinding ride even if this may be the apex of the Apatow/Rogen journey. If the schtick hadn’t got tired up to this, I can’t see them being able to continue in the same vein after this one. But with James Franco pepping up the team and Gary Cole playing a bad guy, the guys have shown a nous for strong casting. So while this may end the schtick, it could point a new way forward for the Apatow clan’s next move. And it’s a step in some direction from Green, whose previous film’s have dealt in pinpointed naturalism, to move into a mainstream directing crowd and be able to gain financing for new and exciting projects he hadn’t been able to get off the ground. Finally some film philanthropy outside of the Freaks and Greeks crew from Apatow.

2. The Dark Knight
The hype machine has been turning over extra hours to keep this one in the mainsteam conversation but from trailers it looks like Christopher Nolan may have fixed some of the flaws of Batman Begins. I was pretty indifferent to that film but I’m really looking forward to this which will give more to Gary Oldman and adds Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal to the cast. Obviously the centre will be Heath Ledger and his interpretation of the Joker in the previews is pretty terrifying. It’s likely to have meta-significance and power coming out of its ears but I’m going to do my best to take it on merit. It gets kept off number one due in part to Batman Begins but also because of exposure fatigue. The marketing camaign for this has been going since last year and by the time it comes out, so much will have been read on the film that any mystique will have started to die. That, and the trailer, like so many nowadays, is too long.

1. Wall-E
Many folks, including myself, were pretty dismissive of this little picture when the trailers first turned up last year. I’m a huge Pixar fan anyway so the hype was always inside somewhere but rumours that the first forty minutes are totally free of dialogue and that the rest of the film isn’t far off silent movie-style expressionist emotion… I’m sold. It does require a lot of trust to be placed in director Andrew Stanton to emerge as Pixar’s new Brad Bird and control the cute to imbue his characters with a sense of human emotion. He did a great job with Finding Nemo so my fingers are very confidently crossed.

Other honourable mentions: Hancock could be good but the trailers are giving me goosebumps. As a general thumb rule though, I’ll watch Will Smith do anything. Mad lo-fi visionary Guy Maddin returns with personal documentary/autobiography My Winnipeg which has received mucho love from all who’ve seen it. Tom (The Station Agent) McCarthy’s new film The Visitor looks like a slice of low-key wonder.
On the other side of my anticipation coin, Tom Cruise gets his Nazi on in the delayed and likely shitty Valkyrie while Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway will do their best with Get Smart. Again, looks like it’s going to bomb. Neither as much though as The X-Files: I Want to Believe which seems totally wrong for Duchovny just after he’s reinvented himself with Californication and totally wrong generally as a sequel to a movie of a TV show that was popular ten years ago. Possibly the disaster of the summer. The Wackness could go either way but early buzz says this is a hipster fave to avoid. Finally, You Don’t Mess With The Zohan looks to me like it could be the most offensive, shockingly unfunny film to emergy for the sesspit of Adam Sandler’s career for some time. I literally could not physically want to see this film any less.

Sorry about the radio silence this week, I’ve been entertaining my little bro by taking him to Sebadoh’s Don’t Look Back performance of Bubble & Scrape and to see Southbank University. We’ll be back on track next week.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High is finally uncovered by Tasha Robinson.

Creepy comic-book characters here.

A second Donnie Darko?

Gore Verbinski has received the mandate to direct the adaptation of Bioshock.

Femme Fatales. But who is the most fatale of those femmes?

Sasha Frere-Jones quips on the new Beck album.

David Chase is to direct his first feature film.

Jeffrey Lewis and his Jitters checks in on Daytrotter.

Radiohead is not too chuffed with its Greatest Hits set.

Pick of the Week: Skins Series 2 - Slim-ish pickings this week I’m afraid so Skins gets top billing. It’s probably all worth it though for the first episode which features an amazing modern dance routine by Maxxie and Bill Bailey dancing with a dog.

Also Out:
Ashes to Ashes Season 1 - A moderately disappointing follow-up to Life on Mars which is really only worth it to again appreicate the irrepressible brilliance of Philip Glenister as Gene Hunt.
Charlie Wilson’s War - Fumbled political satire with great turns from Philip Seymour Hoffman and Tom Hanks but an embarrassingly bad one from Julia Roberts.
Shrooms - Irish rural teen horror movie. Looks pretty awful.
Bonnie and Clyde - A 40th Anniversary edition of the utterly-classic birth of New Hollywood.

Region 1:
The Orphanage - Solid and effective ghost story if somewhat overrated in the scare department.
Youth Without Youth - Francis Ford Copolla’s indifferently received, ambitious work.

Awwright!! We’re back on regular pop culture duty today then… puns this week come courtesy of songs by New Order in light of the new Joy Division documentary.

The AV Club interviews Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Does Seinfeld still hold up?

Jeff Bridges is underrated as hell. Here’s why…

Anthony Lane discusses Speed Racer and Turn the River.

PopMatters interviews Carly Simon.

The Guardian has an interview with Martha Wainwright.

Danny Dyer, not a fan of Orlando Bloom apparently.

Cat Power will be on the new Beck album.

The fantastic Holy Fuck have done a session for Daytrotter.