It's True!

Perhaps one of the only consolations to being confined to the sofa for the last five days is that I've been catching up on weeks and weeks of films and television.

The summary so far: The Life & Death of Peter Sellers - excellent; Jamon Jamon - just plain weird; Ghostbusters 2 - better than I remembered; Meet The Fockers - better than I expected; The Bodyguard - what was I thinking?; X-Men 3 - surprisingly entertaining.

But my favourite discovery of all has been repeated episodes of early-1990s comedy series Absolutely, which Virgin Media are offering on their on-demand TV service.

Absolutely was a sketch show in the style of Monty Python, starring future chat-show host Jack Doherty and Saturday Night Live's shortest-lived cast member Morwenna Banks. It was less cerebral and more, well, Scottish than the Pythons. But it shared a playful sense of disregard for the niceties of logic, and a pleasingly high laugh ratio.

Several recurring characters included Callum Gilhooley - the most boring man in the world; Gwynnedd and Denzil - hopeless Welsh DIY enthusiasts; and MacGlashan - a rabid Scottish nationalist.

But, viewing the series 15 years on, it's Morwenna Banks's characters that stand the test of time. By far her best creation is the "Little Girl", who explains the modern world from the point-of-view of a seven-year-old. There aren't many clips on the net (because the series has never been released on DVD) but here's one example...

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Noo choons

Hello there. I'm still a bit ill, so sorry about the infrequent posts of late.

In the meantime, here's some new music that other blogs have posted - thus saving me all the effort.

The Fray do an oh-so-amusing live version of Shakira's Hips Don't Lie. Listen once, then destroy. [MP3 on Chris' Pix]

New Beyoncé material never seems to stop coming. Here's her new duet with Jay-Z [Fetch Me Some Music], and her new duet with Shakira [Ali's Blog]. Yummy.

Rozonda Thomas (aka Chili out of TLC) has got a new single. It's called Straight Jack, it features Missy Elliot and it is so-so. [MP3] [via Hops Mp3 Thing]

Popjustice has a 45-second clip of ex-Sugababe Mutya Buena's collaboration with Groove Armada. It's not exactly I See You Baby, but it's a vast improvement on Buena's duet with George (spit) Michaels. [Popjustice]

Another leaked track from Mark Ronson's covers album, Version. This one is a funked up version of The Jam's Proper Green. Ace. [MP3 on Fluxblog]

Finally, here's the video for the Timbaland / Nelly Furtado / Justin Timberlake collaboration that's been going round for ages. It's lost some of it's lustre after repeated listens, but I'd still shake a leg to it if (a) I went to clubs any more and (b) I wasn't about to collapse into a pitiful heap of wheezing and phlegm.

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HomeRun

Until now, I have been studiously avoiding the forthcoming Simpsons Movie. My reasons are threefold:

1) I don't want to know anything about the plot in advance
2) I'm desperately worried it'll be disappointing
3) As a result of 1 and 2, I kind of forgot it was coming out

Luckily, my dodgy memory has been given a quick jolt by Fox's marketing department, who have just released the first proper trailer from the film. I held my breath and clicked on the play button, and...



Phew! It is distinctly not a sham of a mockery of two farces in a trojan horse pretending to be a wolf in sheep's clothing. Creator Matt Groening is one of the main writers, all of the major characters are in there, and, most important of all, it made me do a laugh (actually it was more of a wheeze - I'm still feeling a little unwell).

The only disappointment is the American voice-over man's inability to say "coloured-in". Really, guys, English isn't that difficult to master.

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Separated at birth?

Sooty puppeteer Matthew Corbett / Hot Fuzz film star Simon Pegg

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Surprisingly good Christina Aguilera video

I do not like Christina Aguilera's Back To Basics album (stop shouting, woman, we can all hear you perfectly well). But the Candyman song is acceptable and the video is superb.



Yes, that really is her playing all three of the Beverly Sisters. Top class.

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Gig Review: Nelly Furtado

Nelly Furtado has two distinct public personas. One is the hippy chick who combines her Portuguese musical heritage with a love of pop and hip-hop to produce gems like I'm Like A Bird (the bird, in case you're interested, is a cultural magpie). The other is the globe-straddling promiscuous girl - a hip-hop disco queen who, coincidentally, eats men.

Both Nellies were on display last night at the Hammersmith Apollo, but it was fairly easy to work out which one was the real deal.

The show began with a couple of tracks from her Timbaland-produced Loose album. The bass shook the floor as Nelly took to the stage but she seemed oddly disconnected. Stood atop the third tier of her set, the singer was impassive as four dancers cavorted like escapees from the Mickey Mouse Club at the bottom of her staircase.

The problem, in part, is that Nelly isn't what you'd call a groovy dancer. In fact, she moves a bit like your Auntie Brenda at a barmitzvah. On crutches.

...The true Furtado, as we are soon to find out, is a musician first and foremost.

After the opening salvo of uptempo numbers, she saunters off-stage to change into a stunning backless black ball gown and launches into a six-song set of smoochers. Given the chance to sing, rather than shimmy, she suddenly takes control of the stage.

An acoustic cover of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy gets the crowd singing along and the pint-sized popstrel dons her own guitar for a stripped-back version of Hey Man. She also premieres a new song, Stars, which she says will be filmed and made available on youtube for fans to download. How very modern.

Having let her musical juices flow (quite literally - a man appears to mop the stage with a towel), the Canadian-born singer is more confident on a second set of dance tracks. A remixed version of I'm, Like, A Bird and a foot-stomping rendition of Forca see her running about the stage, climbing up the rafters and, eventually, indulging in a bit of choreography. By this stage, the crowd is on their feet, too.

She's joined by percussionist / rapper Socrates - who earlier delivered a blistering support slot - for the encore which ends with the musical behemoth that is Maneater. It's the one point where the old Nelly and the new Nelly seem perfectly in sync, as she draws the thumping dance track into an extended sing-a-long before indulging in an impromptu spot of drumming.

If she can reconcile those split personalities to similar effect on her next album, Furtado will finally achieve her long-held promise.





Setlist:
Intro - Afraid
Say It Right
Turn Out The Lights
Powerless (Say What You Want)
Do It
Wait For You
Showtime
Crazy
Try
Stars
Hey Man
All Good Things Come To An End
SexyBack (performed by Jasmine and Socrates)
Give It To Me
I'm Like A Bird (remix)
Forca
Promiscuous

encore
Party
No Hay Igual
Maneater

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