Combichrist & other: April 2008

Wednesday 30 April 2008

Garraway denies affair with dance partner

TV presenter Kate Garraway has said she and her hubby are as in love as ever, dismissing allegations about her relationship with her 'Strictly Come Dancing' partner Anton Du Beke.
In a instruction released by her solicitors, Garraway, world Health Organization is married to psychotherapist Derek Draper, said she had been "passing injure" by allegations in a Lord's Day newspaper publisher.
She said: "Contrary to these insinuations Derek and I ar as faithful, happy and in love today as we stimulate ever been.
She continued: "The knit truth is that Anton and I became friends during 'Strictly Come Dancing'."
"Since then we often act and hang out together. For that to be twisted into something else is sad, hurtful and completely untrue."
The 'GMTV' conferrer added: "I am highly upset and hurt by the allegations. I made it clear up in front publication that there was no sojourner Truth to them whatsoever.
"Given they were published in any case and continue to be published, I feel I ingest no selection merely to occupy libel proceedings against the newsprint to typeset the record straight."

Sunday 27 April 2008

L5

Artist: L5

   Genre(s):
Other
   Folk

Discography:

Turbulences

Year: 2005
Tracks: 14

Le Live

Year: 2004
Tracks: 18

Retiens-Moi

Year: 2002
Tracks: 12

Toutes Les Femmes De Ta Vie

Year: 2001
Tracks: 12

The Bill star Stewart says he is recovering

'The Bill' star Jeff James Maitland Stewart said today that he is recovering, pursuit media reports that he harmed himself after his contract with the show was non renewed.
The 52-year-old actor, wHO plays PC Reg Hollis in the ITV dramatic play, has issued a statement asking the media to esteem his secrecy.
Jimmy Stewart said in the statement: "The last few days make been really difficult for me, merely I am receiving the right care and aid, and am surrounded by family and friends."
"I need to confirm that I do not have any financial concerns, or indeed any other problems, as has been reported."
He besides said: "I erotic love being an worker. My work as an histrion is very important to me - it's my animation, and the idea of this all of a sudden changing had an super serious effect on me."
"I am feeling much better now, and am increasingly improving."
Jimmy Stewart has played PC Hollis since the show's launch in 1984.

Portishead, Third

Back after ten years, Bristol's Portishead now make Radiohead look like the Monkees. Bleak times deserve bleak music, and here it is. Maybe it's Beth Gibbons' voice. It doesn’t have range – but it does have the singular ability to be compressed, filtered, distorted and mangled any way that Geoff Barrow sees fit, and still survive intact. She can be a wailing banshee or some withered crone, but always vulnerable and distraught. And the relentless 21st century-ness of it all means that this time the band will have neatly sidestepped the fate of their first album, Dummy (and also many who came in their wake): that of becoming this summer's dinner party accompaniment. Put this on over the scallops and seagrass and you'll be discussing the sheer pointlessness of existence, rather than house prices.

The angst is couched in personal rather than socio-political terminology: On Magic Doors Beth's ''emotionally undone''; on Threads she's ''always unsure'' while on Nylon Smile she doesn’t know what she's done to deserve him/her/it; but she can't live without it. Sex? Drugs? Love? It all fits the bill.

So far, so familiar: But sonically Third is extraordinary. Anyone foolish enough to still label this 'trip hop' will be floundering. The band now deals in a kind of psychedelic, post-industrial disjointedness. It's more like trip stop. Adrian Utley's contributions remain as awesome as ever. On Small he revives the spirit of Syd Barrett as he thrashes his echo-laden six strings against an organ raga.

The cinematic quality of their work remains, but despite Portishead's trick of sounding like they come from hellish '60s spy movie there are signs they've listened to what's been going on over the last few years. Ironically this often means that Third comes over as very post punk. Squelchy analogue synthesizers are a big, repetitive but almost totalitarian presence. The throbbing Machine Gun reminds one of Wire or even DAF with technology being pushed to its limits. On The Rip they progress from folk to krautrock, yet for all its talk of ''‘white horses'' it’s not remotely close to the more lightweight sexual shenanigans of illegitimate offspring, Goldfrapp.

Third is also full of alarming juxtapositions. While they still employ the devastating trick of Gibbons' wail descending into a maelstrom who could have seen them turning out the 'jolly' ukelele-driven fever dream of Deep Water? On Hunter the electronics intrude into the mix like a piece of Len Lye's abstract celluloid cut into a Bergmann movie. And the 'noise' at the heart of the only track that could be considered danceable - Magic Doors – will keep sound engineers perplexed for years.

In fact, in ten years you'll still probably be hard pressed to find anything that sounds remotely like Third: Unless they make another album. Breathtaking…