Robots In Disguise @ Stoke Sugarmill

More famous for their friends than their music the Robots came to Stoke and brought their fierce blend of electro & dance which would have left those watching forgetting all about The Boosh - if it wasn't for Sir Noel of Fielding gracing us with his presence from the balcony and ruining all the girls hard work.

Openers Isosceles kicked off the evening with a set that drew heavily from the influence of two titans of indie music hailing from their Scottish homeland. Combining the spiky guitars and groove of Franz Ferdinand with the wonky keyboards and shouty choruses of Bis, the band's short set showed plenty of potential and they look like ones to watch out for in the future.

Next up were Huski, an act which is a strange collaboration between the Queen Adreena bassist and a Gwen Stefani producer. Their soundclash results in a Goldfrapp goes Europop kinda vibe. The added visuals presented though very swish and expensive did come off rather naff, especially the clips of the guitarist in his best Saturday Night Fever suit pulling sex faces busting out a solos. On the whole too many of the songs sounded the same with the repeated lyrical themes of control and the like coming off a case of trying too hard to be anything other than ordinary.

When the Robots took to the stage after the grand entrance of Noel they immediately showed the new rock teeth they've added to their mix, creating a Yeah Yeah Yeahs wall of sound complete with lots raucous guitars, loud drums and even louder vocals. As the set progressed they delved deeper into the back catalogue to visit the electro sound that they made their name for before bringing back the guitars at the end for a nice garage rock howl at the close. Returning for an encore saw the band explore more musical genres touching on rave in a couple of tracks before ending on a Dizzie Rascal style grime ending that sent the crowd home happy.

A good gig, but sadly for the girls you'll know what will have made it for most people. Noel was there. Therein lies the Robots problem.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

When the sanest part of the plot is found in the first 15 minutes and that includes Indy surviving a nuclear bomb dropping on him by hiding in a fridge, far-fetched doesn't quite cover it really.

That said the film is far from the car crash that it could've been containing some nice set pieces, a few genuinely scary scenes and good performances from most of the cast.

LaBeouf is done no favours with the Brando comparisons conjured in the way he is introduced, but handles himself competently, yet I still don't quite see the star power that others do. Ford however has that certain 'it' factor that Shia lacks and cast asides any doubts to do with age carrying the lead character despite beginning given lines that feature far too much exposition at key times through the film. Ray Winstone is the one weak link as he plays a MI6/CIA/KGB agent who pretty much just shouts 'Jonesy' in a cock-er-nee accent throughout.

For someone so anti-digital like Spielberg claims to be, it does feature a lot of CGI - but to over analyse a film like this is to miss the point. Simply go in and switch your brain off and let the 2 hours of popcorn fare and nostalgia pass over you.

What Next For Wesley?

Actor Wesley Snipes has been granted bail whilst he appeals against his tax evasion conviction reports the BBC. The 45-year-old star of films such as Blade was sentenced in April to three years in prison for failing to file income tax returns between 1999 and 2001. But the US judge's decision was full inspiration for new films for Wesley to choose from if the mood takes him. Here's a couple I came up with,

Flight Risk
Hijackers seize the plane of innocent passengers, many whom may have received poor financial advice in their past - but a newly released ex con, upstanding member of the community and citizen of the world (Snipes) works from hiding to defeat them. Co-starring DMX.

Threat 2 Tha Community
A tough ex-con (Snipes) cleans up the streets full of drugs, deceit and dirty cops who impermissibly bring charges of tax evasion on the basis of race. Co-starring DMX.

You've Got Bail
Two ex-cons hate each other at the clink but fall in love over the internet. Co-starring Meg Ryan. And DMX.

Weezer: Pork & Beans

The new Weezer video for Pork & Beans thankfully avoids any literal references to its title and instead focuses on recent YouTube sensations like Chocolate Rain, Chris Crocker and the Dramatic Chipmunk. But seeing as they are following in the steps of South Park, Lily Allen and...ahem even Alex Zane in mocking the stars of the web - its hardly cutting edge stuff.

I Can See Clearly Now...

Cilian Murphy is now listed on IMDB as part of the Dark Knight cast and I finally managed to spot him in the trailer - but only after after downloading and staring at the 1080dpi HD version for far too long.

Also new is the official Dark Knight website which is finally more than a trailer and a bat sign - now its brings together most of the content from previous viral sites before it, which signals more than anything that the release date is finally drawing near and the veil of mystery may be drawing to an end..

Pushing Daisies S01E07 - Smell of Success

Pushing Daisies is a strange one in many ways, how it masks its dark themes of death and murder in a bright technicolor dreamlike state, a comedy that seems sickly sweet on the surface but actually touches on themes on love, loss and unrequited feelings. The show has the potential to be divisive and seemed destined for cult-like status, which in its final touch of strangeness is scheduled on the most mainstream channel at its most mainstream time.

Watching the show on ITV1 something doesn't quite sit right and its hard to imagine many of those tuning in for Britain's Got Talent sticking around to watch this - but that's not to say it isn't good stuff, which it is and features excellent performances from all the cast (especially Chi McBride as comedy black man Emerson Cod) combined with excellent score and narration atop the shows unique visual look.

Episode 7 sees Ned, Chuck and Emerson investigate the death of an author in an explosion. Was the scientist who wrote the book the target of the explosion, or was this part of an intentional publicity stunt gone horribly wrong? Seems pretty straightforward so far but throw in murder by scratch-n-sniff, a mermaid outfit, a yellow hose and the song 'Morning Has Broken' and you get the idea that treads far from the usual murder mystery track.

In its commercial setting the show loses something as the viewer is dragged out of the magical Burton-esque world created and lumped back into a landscape of Claims Direct, Tesco and Howard from the Halifax every 15 minutes. to me this would be best enjoyed on DVD where the viewer can immerse themselves fully in the episodes without commercial disrupting the flow of the show.

At 9 episodes long, the show's short series means that it doesn't outstay its welcome, which is a challenge the show will have to face when it returns for a full 22 episode run in season 2 and producers will have to carefully manage the unique premise over a full run so it doesn't come over quirky for the sake of quirky.

Gnarls Barkley - Going On

The Odd Couple may not have nailed the whole hip-pop soul thing quite as consistently as on their début, but the latest clip for Going On shows the standard of their videos is still high - though you know its not quite as cheap and lo-fi as it looks on first glance.

Going Back Down To Fraggle Rock

With the announcement that Fraggle Rock is set to return as a live-action movie musical - what better time to get on the retro tee bandwagon, especially as Urban Outfitters has a series of Fraggle tees in its sale at the moment.



I do love a good Urban Outfitters sale, but nothing will quite beat the Dita von Teese book I managed to get signed on the same day for £4.99 - mmm...pervtastic.

Dexter S01E12 - Born Free

The case of the Ice Truck Killer and the first season of Dexter came to a close on ITV1 last night - and by setting up as many new questions as those it answered, the wait for the second series to hit terrestrial screens is going to be as hard to stomach as the show at its most grisliest.

Starting out as more of your typical whodunnit? the revelation of the killer's identity halfway through the series was a master stroke as attentions turned from Who? to Why? meaning tensions rocketed episode by episode whenever Dexter and Rudy's path crossed as we tried to work out what Rudy wanted from Dexter and what our favourite flawed Forensics Officer would do when he found the truth.

The tease continued right to the very end of the final episode as Rudy appeared to have escaped for another season but Dexter managed to stay true to the Code Of Harry and managed to finally dispatch the ITK by turning the tables and teaching Rudy some tricks that Dexter had learned along the way.

The scene was set for season 2 as the undercurrent of tension that was bubbling throughout between Dexter and Doakes stepped into the spotlight as they clashed whilst on the hunt for the killer, resulting in a brief fight scene. Doakes is one of my favourite TV characters of recent times, on the surface a black Wahlberg-esque cop, both sweary and insensitive - his back story revealed a more complex and interesting depth to him. The shot of Doakes watching Dexter in the show's denouement promises a further exploration not only of the rift with Dexter, but of the character himself - which certainly wets the appetite for the next 12 episodes, but hopefully without the two year wait this time.

A Taste For the East

Chunk's Japanese theme range of t-shirts never fail to impress and this latest effort from their Spring/Summer collection is another hit and soon-to-be addition to my wardrobe.

Weezer Album Leaks, Sort Of

8 out of 10 ten tracks from the new Weezer album have leaked onto the net ahead of the Red Album's release in June. But Pork & Beans proves to be somewhat of a red herring as instead of harking back to style of their classic debut Blue Album, we are treated to a mish-mash of musical styles that aren't quite as cool or funny as Rivers Cuomo thinks they are.

Instead the tracks come across like in-jokes, especially 'The Greatest Man That Ever Lived' which switches from crunk-style rap into gospel choir and several other styles thereafter. Tracks outstay their welcome well before they finish as they offer nothing more than simple parody of a genre, or the sound of band going through the motions with the straightforward rock of 'Troublemaker' and 'Dreaming' ending up a shadow of their former selves.

Nothing here comes near the heights of Make Believe yet alone their seminal début, and those who want a comedy album would be better off checking out the Flight Of The Conchords' latest - which alongside the strength of the music and quality of the lyrics, has a warmth which is sorely lacking from Weezer nowadays.

Nine Inch Nails: The Slip

Nine Inch Nails have become increasingly prolific over recent times - where previously five year gaps preceded the releases of albums Pretty Hate Machine, The Downward Spiral, The Fragile and With Teeth - in just over the course of a year we have seen three releases from Trent Reznor and the latest comes in the form of The Slip, available for free download from nin.com.

The Slip is not only the most accessible Nine Inch Nails offering by its means of distribution, but also by the content of the music as it manages to touch on all areas that Reznor has previously explored and combines them into the one release.

Many of the tracks evoke memories of particular era of NIN output over the years, but Reznor has skilfully controlled the track listing to leave the listener feeling like they're hearing to a cohesive album. At one point over the space of three tracks we can segue from the Downward Spiral-esque Letting You into Discipline which features a haunting piano key reminiscent of The Fragile before finally moving towards the With Teeth electro-groove of Echoplex, but this still manages to seem like a natural progression.

Towards the albums end The Slip does live up to its name with a series of low-key and instrumental tracks halting momentum before the albums closer Demon Seed picks things up a little, but doesn't really have the epic feel you expect from a Reznor closing statement.

So for those who haven't delved into the world of Nine Inch Nails this marks the perfect introduction for the newbie, as for the most part it brings together the best of previous projects and presents them in a risk-free format. But the feeling remains that The Slip is a little rushed and could've done with a little more time to filter out some filler - just not five years worth Trent!

New Dark Knight Trailer

More Dark Knight goodness is online now and at this rate I don't think I'll be able to last till July 18th!

This time trailer number three expands on the Harvey Dent character alongside the well-known battle between The Joker and Batman and sets up the evolution into Two Face with a carefully placed shot here and a line of dialogue there.

Those studying the trailer in more depth have allegedly seen clues to the return of The Scarecrow and the death of Rachel Dawes, but that could be fanboys reading too much into things or more mis-direction that has been a feature of the marketing campaign so far.

Grand Theft Auto IV: First Thoughts

For the latest instalment in the epic crime series the player once again returns to Liberty City but developers Rockstar have managed to mix the familiar with freshness to create the video game experience of the year.

This time out GTA follows Niko Bellic, a Serbian war veteran who comes to the United States in search of the 'American Dream', only to find his cousin has lied about the wealth that was promised to be awaiting him. This is mirrored in the look and feel of the opening gambits of the game which take in the dark and dingy ghettos of Liberty City, mostly under darkness or the gathering storm clouds emphasising how far Niko finds himself from the bright lights of Time Square, figuratively and literally.

The opening missions follow the formula of games gone past by introducing the player to the control system and the characters around him. Combat has been further enhanced to allow greater freedom in laying the smackdown on the residents of Liberty City, but the key area of change is Niko's phone - which reinvents the way in which you can interact with those around you.

Using the phone, a list of options are made available to Niko, such as calling any of the contacts made during the game so far and commands such as "meet me here," etc. Niko can also call 911 to deal with the emergency services, for good (shopping a crim) and bad reasons (pranks to distract them from your tail). Also dialling in numbers found around the city uncovers easter eggs that the game is famous for as well unlocking various cheats that are available.

The car handling has also been redone, but this is one area where the tweaks are unwelcome, with the cars feeling too sensitive to me and especially in the dark lighting of the earlier missions, driving is chore - though I expect this to less of a problem as the game progresses, much like as in GTA 3 where the lighting improves as you unlock the map, get better cars are available and you improve your skills.

As for the map itself, this is the Liberty City of GTA 3 in all but name as the city has been totally revamped in size to become a more faithful representation of NYC. The developers claim the map is almost as large as San Andreas, but when you take into account the amount of desert and dead space that was on show there, you realise the sheer amount of city there will be to explore as you get into the game.

I have only just uncovered the tip of the iceberg of what this game has to offer and with the range of radio and now TV stations on offer the title almost becomes Warcraft-like in its depth. Unlike many of the big hitters available these days, GTA does seem to push the envelope each time it comes out and this feels like one of the first game that feels like it couldn't be done without a PS3 or 360 and therefore marks the start of the next gen in my eyes.

Review: Forgetting Sarah Marshall

This film written by and starring Jason Seigel still shines above most of the comedies released recently, but in following the Apatow formula of the slobby average man wooing the hot girl - parts feel slightly tired and predictable.

Not to mention as each release from the 'Juddernaut' comes and goes the increased awareness to the undertones of misogyny and sexism that run under most of the frat pack offerings of the last few years is beginning to disturb - there's only so many times you can see the female characters portrayed as either easy, jumping into bed at the faintest sight of a witty one-liner or as evil and vindictive for daring not to put up with the slacker behaviour from the guys on show before you wonder if those involved have some questions to answer to.

For the UK audience, the main selling-point Russell Brand steals every scene he is in, though pretty much playing himself throughout as a bohemian star obsessed with the carnal pleasures of the skin - naysayers doubting his star power need only look at Will Ferrell who plays the same character every year and look at how his Hollywood career took off. This film provides a sound evening's entertainment, but in the long term the film's title will likely have a particular resonance to it.