In his latest movie, The Woman In Black, Dan traded his Hogwarts uniform for a totally new role as a Dad.
Natalia brings you the latest news on Adele’s interview with Anderson Cooper, Kristen Bell’s interview on Ellen is auto tuned, Ladyhawke’s latest music video and much more!
Natalia discusses what’s new with Pharrell Williams and her thoughts on Karl Lagerfeld’s mean comments towards Adele’s weight. She also shows a roster of animals behaving like humans and, wait until you see the new size of coffee available at Starbucks!
Natalia dishes the latest news on the Juno Awards nominees, the upcoming Spiderman 3D film starring Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield and is Katy Perry hooking up with Tim Tebow? Watch today’s episode to find out.
When The Kooks are in the studio they’re focused and most importantly, sober. Watch Hugh and Luke explain their reasoning below.
The Kooks released a new album called “Junk of the Heart,” and you would think Hugh and Luke would be very excited about it. Well, they seemed rather indifferent to be honest. We spoke about that and why they don’t care about critics.
Natalia dishes the latest in entertainment news on Joan Rivers, Lana Del Rey and a brand new trailer for the movie Hunger Games.
Natalia talks about how Snooki might be pregnant, Nicolas Cage’s Cage Rage, Elisabetta Canalis is dating Steve-O and more for Feb 1, 2012.
Natalia dishes the news on Miley Cyrus breaking her tailbone, a 100 year old woman who plays the Nintendo DS to stay young and Houston, Texas contemplating a statute of Beyonce.
David Beckham debuts a new line of underwear, the worst dressed celebrity – Shy’m and Matthew Broderick is back as Ferris Bueller with a brand new commercial airing during the Super Bowl on Feb 5th 2012.
Daniel Radcliffe is back with his new movie The Woman In Black. It’s a bone chilling remake of a film from the ’80s. Ironically, Daniel actually scares very easily but he’s not afraid of ghosts. In this interview he tells us what really gives him the creeps.
Next time you’re struggling to make conversation, try asking this question: “If you could invite anyone (living or dead) to the perfect house party, who would it be?”
Graffiti6 is starting to make their North American invasion, and they are hitting up the Tonight Show. Does this sound familiar? Well the Beatles made the exact same journey over 40 years ago. Naturally, @jordans_life had to make some comparisons.
Nick plays World of Warcraft. Not only that, he’s the head of his guild, demonstrating that it IS possible to juggle being a hardcore gamer with being a top-selling recording artist.
During a LIVE interview on andPOP.com Nick Carter gave out a number and took phone calls from his fans. These were real phone calls from real fans who we gave exclusive access to one of the biggest recording artists of our generation.
There were great questions about music, fitness, the backstreet boys but the most popular question, however, was about his underwear. In this clip Nick talks about his his ‘Haynes’ and covering his fans with glow in the dark paint.
When releasing new music today, half the battle is online promotion. However, contests, signed merch and giveaways aren’t always the best solutions. When working on their latest album, Hedley came up with a brilliant idea, they decided to make trailers.
It’s hard to prepare for an interview with Hedley. So in this interview, we threw caution to the wind, got a 24 of beer and broadcast the interview live on our USTREAM (andPOP.tv). Eventually Jacob, Dave and @jordans_life ended up talking about hairy legs, their newest music video and more.
Diamandis from Marina and The Diamonds talks to us about her very serious disease. It’s called synaesthetic. And we lied, it’s not a disease. More like a cool condition. Diamandis explains further.
Would you be embarrassed if someone scrolled through your iPod? We sit down with Spee and Brendan to talk about the diverse music on their playlist.
You could say that Athlete is part of the new wave. Nope, not that New Wave; what I mean is that the London four-piece has been dubbed by various music pundits as ?neo-Britpop,? as Britpop enjoys a recent upsurge after the initial wave in the mid-?90s.
Many young bands are creating catchy, guitar-driven alt-rock from across the pond, but Athlete managed to break free from the rest of the pack with their debut album Vehicles & Animals, which earned the group a coveted Mercury Prize nomination in 2003. With their 2005 follow-up, Tourist, the band gets more serious and more personal.
?I will bring you stories/And bleary-eyed photos/Like a regular tourist,? promises singer Joel Pott on the smoothly swingy title track, and that line sums up the album nicely. The band moves through the 11 songs like a wide-eyed traveller discovering an unfamiliar landscape, navigating fatherhood, love, and friendship with sweeping guitar hooks, jingly piano chords, and electronic trills and beeps.
The topic of fatherhood is most evident on the hit single ?Wires,? in which Pott recalls his newborn daughter being rushed into intensive care. The imagery is jarring (?You?ve got wires going in/You?ve got wires coming out of your skin?), but the context behind the lyrics puts the song in a whole new light. It?s heartfelt, it?s epic, and when those strings kick in in the middle, you just may find yourself in waterworks city.
?Yesterday Threw Everything At Me? is one of the best songs on the album, with lazy backbeats building to a simple, earnest chorus and dreamy lyrics: ?And I will run with it/And sunlight will break into my eyes/And it seems like you plugged the world in/?cause sunlight is streaming from your eyes.? The band kicks up the pace on ?Modern Mafia,? which has a ?Stayin? Alive?-worthy bounce and strut. It?s a jaunty, straightforward piece which conveys confident bravado and a sense of restlessness.
The main problem with Tourist is that some of the songs, while bright and pretty, miss the mark in terms of connecting with the listener. Low-key tracks like ?Trading Air? show potential but they?re a little too formulaic, a little too safe, and never quite progress to achieve that emotional punch. Meanwhile, songs like opener ?Chances? and ?Half Light? feature dramatic piano chords and big guitar hooks but end up feeling, strangely, a bit empty.
The album closes with the acoustic ?I Love,? whose sparkling minimalist arrangement actually makes it one of the most touching songs on the album. It?s a lovely track that evokes sitting around a campfire with good friends and has all the comforting familiarity of home, a fitting place to end after the long journey the band takes on Tourist. ?Life is beautiful for sure/?cause I love everybody here,? sings Pott, and I?ll be darned if it doesn?t sound like he really means it.
Tourist is a solid and easily listenable album. But overall, it?s just not as exciting, as enthrallingly endearing as some of the other ?Britpop? albums of Athlete?s peers, lacking the gritty, eclectic charm of Snow Patrol?s Final Straw and the ethereal layers of Coldplay?s A Rush of Blood to the Head (the latter band being one to which Athlete seems to draw the most comparisons).
There?s a lot of potential from these talented lads for progression and further experimentation, though. If the band can channel its talents for thoughtful songwriting and creating breezy, quirky tunes, the next album from Athlete could be one to watch out for.
Rating: 3.5*/5*
Athlete ? Tourist
Released: March 15, 2005
Track listing:
1. Chances
2. Half Light
3. Tourist
4. Trading Air
5. Wires
6. If I Found Out
7. Yesterday Threw Everything At Me
8. Street Map
9. Modern Mafia
10. Twenty Four Hours
11. I Love
The gentlemen of the rock band Athlete, whose second album Tourist debuted at number one in the UK and has already been coloured platinum, visited North America recently hoping to crack another global market.
Their UK tour for late 2005 had already sold out before the band toured the U.S. and Canada last month, and it didn’t take long for them to see a difference in the two audiences.
“The people (in Canada) are generally much more welcoming,” Tim Wanstall, the band’s guitarist and vocalist, tells andPOP while in Toronto.
“I think it’s much more welcoming personally,” adds Carey Willetts, bassist and vocalist. “It’s quite easy and a lot of fun. I’ve really quite enjoyed it so far.”
The band has been on tour since their debut album, Vehicles and Animals, was released in 2003. They recorded and released Tourist right after finishing their last tour.
Willetts’ favourite tour moment actually happened away from the stage.
“In Norway, a couple of years ago, we were sporting Travis around Europe and we were trying to get back from one of our most northerly gigs. On the way back at about three or four in the morning, the bus starting moving weirdly back down the road. The bus was sliding down the road because it was snowing quite heavily,” he recalls. “So we got the bus to the side of the road but we couldn’t go any further.” Earlier in the tour they had picked up a couple of sleds, and, “got out a bottle of whisky and a pipe and sledded down this main road in Norway.”
Their new album is one that reflects their experiences and growth as a band and as individuals. The band decided not only to enrich the sound of their music, but make this album a personal one. Wires is a perfect example. The song is about lead singer Joel Pott’s experience with the birth of his child.
The album is a very deep soul searching adventure with a style of sound that can captivate and inspire. Tourist is in stores now and you can look for Athlete’s return to Canada around September.
