Teenage Tottenham MC Jahmaal Fyffe, aka Chipmunk, has been busily squirrelling away achievements this year: a raft of UK festival appearances, a second Mobo award (Best Hip- Hop to add to last years Best UK Newcomer) and a set of A-Levels to boot. Now, still only 18, he has a major-label debut album to add to the pile. The Wiley protg was always at the softer end of the grime spectrum: he can strut and bluster when required but worries about his You dont associate Carrickmacross with cutting-edge music but, in the footsteps of Interpol acolytes The Flaws, Sanzkrit are the latest A criticism often levelled at Editors is that they follow too diligently in the footsteps of acts such as Joy Division and Interpol with their bruised but polished indie rock. But playing it safe is one thing that Editors third album cant be accused of, especially not with a song entitled Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool lurking in its midst: theyve gone all electro experimental with moody beats and squelchy synths. On the title track, the Gothic menace is appealing, but on You Dont Know Love it sounds over-egged. They might be hoping that veering into New Order territory will win them longevity but their new direction smacks of trying too hard. Ann Lee Imagine your photography being seen by millions of Metro readers worldwide! Its that time of year again. Yes, the Metro Global Photo Challenge is back! This year the themes will be: People, Places and Climate Change. For your chance to see your work in print around the globe and win one of 3 trips for two to a Metro city of your choice simply submit your photographs by Sunday 18th October 2009. No entry fee required. Go to www.metrophotochallenge.com/ie for more details. Now let your imagination run wild! Upload your photos at www.metrophotochallenge.com/ie LET THE WORLD SEE THROUGH YOUR EYES sponsored by WIN A TRIP TO ANY METRO CITY WORLDWIDE! Its elasticated waistband time the second year of Dine In Dublin Restaurant Week is nigh. Kicking off on Monday, October 12 and running until October 18, more than 50 restaurants across the county are offering flat fee promotional rates of 25 and/or 30 for three courses. Participating eateries include The Stephens Green Hibernian Club, LGueuleton, Montys Of Kathmandu, Le Bon Crubeen, Koh, La Cucina and Jaipur, with many more besides at www.dineindublin.ie. Metro has teamed up with Dine In Dublin founders, Dublin City Business Improvement District, and the Fitzwilliam Hotel to offer one lucky reader and a guest the chance to win a dinner for two and a bottle of house wine at the hotels chi-chi mezzanine level Citron Restaurant (pictured). To enter, e-mail your answer to the question below to life@metroireland.ie by noon today with Dine in the subject line. With your answer please include your name, address and a number where you can be contacted between 1pm and 3pm. Strictly one entry per person; entrants must be age 18+. Q. When was Dine In Dublin Restaurant Week launched? A 2008 B 2006 COMPETITION Dine In Dublin Giveaway So why are you suddenly into quizzing? Its something I was quite good at as a kid. It came from taking part in University Challenge The Professionals in 2007, in a team of comedians with Natalie Haynes and Simon Evans. That really resurrected my passion for it. Are you tempted to take on BBC 2s Eggheads? Im actually a part-time member of Kevin Ashmans quiz team in the Quiz League Of London, which is an unexpected pleasure to get to know the worlds greatest ever quizzer. Theres a world out there of slightly nerdy, socially awkward people taking part in quizzes that Im attempting to infiltrate. I think I fit in nicely. You steer clear of TV panel shows though. Whys that? Theres something gladiatorial about it that us beta males dont necessarily feel comfortable with. I dont think youll be seeing me on Mock The Week any time soon. Where do your ultimate ambitions lie: medicine, general knowledge or stand-up? I dont have ultimate ambitions, which is possibly to my discredit. For me, as long as the curve is vaguely upward, then Im happy with my lot. If something was to come along to propel me to fame and fortune, thatd be great, but its not something Im enormously hungry for. Is stand-up a release valve for you after your stressful work as a GP? Comedy and medicine are separate entities to me. Medicine does allow me to never get stressed about the stand-up though, because there are far worse things than a bunch of people not thinking youre funny. It gives you perspective. David Baldwin Until Sat, The Laughter Lounge, Eden Quay D1, 7pm, 26. Tel: 1800 266 339. www.laughter lounge.com FIVE QUESTIONS FOR... practising GP and stand-up Paul Sinha who has added another string to his bow recently by becoming a regular contestant on TV quizzes Staying In Music Reviews Album Of The Week Chipmunk: I Am Chipmunk Jive Thursday, October 8, 2009 metrolife 13 gran, exhorts his peers to work hard at school and wants to be understood. Perfect for pop crossover, then, and sure enough, I Am Chipmunk is unabashedly commercial. Chips been given such a thorough pop polish you can almost see your face in him. Chip Diddy Chip is jauntily, well, chippy and works well but latest single Oopsy Daisy is pretty saccharine stuff, N-Dubz hook-up Lose My Life is particularly overblown, and Look For Me with Talay Riley seems mainly inspired by Steps. Chipmunks confidently chatty style means he sounds comfortable rhyming over most styles but his lyrical content could do with an injection of originality. Maybe now his exams are out of the way, he can decide how far down the primrose path of pop he really wants to stray. Siobhn Murphy Editors: In This Light And On This Evening Columbia Sanzkrit: After The Wedding House Of Strange Vinyl It seems extraordinary that She Wolf is only Shakiras third English language album. Perhaps the Colombian pop princess appears more prolific through ubiquity, having crafted one of the few truly global pop sounds of the 21st century. Shakira has shifted 50million records in English and Spanish through the ruthless efficiency of her American, Latin, European and Asian dance- pop fusion. Of course a willingness to thrust her pert bottom at all those fascinated by MTV-friendly soft- porn probably helps too. She Wolf sees Pharrell Williams and Santigold producer John Hill update the formula with plenty of electro-disco, and its short, sharp 34 minutes of immaculately crafted hits are as entertaining as they are shamelessly soulless. Less a howl at the moon than a wiggle all the way to the bank. Garry Mulholland Shakira: She Wolf Epic The Flaming Lips are one of the best loved bands in alt. rock. But their eccentric, far out schtick is getting a little wearisome, not least when they masquerade unstructured indulgence as freakoid experiment across a double concept album of 18 songs. The title at least suggests a fresh start, but there is little new ground broken on this frazzled, psychedelic wander through the cosmos. Few bands can convey loneliness through the use of bruised guitar distortion and incandescent electronica as well as Wayne Coyne and co, and this intermittently lovely album has its share of such moments even if the lament The Impulse sounds like something from an Air studio session. But theres also a distinct cod opera heartbeat pulsing beneath, and where before the Lips married their dazzling mysticism to star- busting tunes, here they keep falling into black holes. Claire Allfree The Flaming Lips: Embryonic Warner Bros Film screenings, workshops, art exhibitions, live music, seminars and performance abound at this years Darklight Festival, which launches tonight with a party at Dice Bar. Now in its tenth year, the genre-straddling four-day arts and technology event boasts more highlights than a footballers wife, including In Conversation With Mark Romanek, wherein the filmmaker responsible for Johnny Cashs Hurt and Madonnas Rain music videos, and movie One Hour Photo shares his secrets with a live audience (Sat, Light House Cinema, 8). Elsewhere: two-time Turner Prize nominee Willie Doherty presents a new video installation, pictured, (tonight, Smithfield Plaza, 8pm) and a talk (Sat, Light House Cinema, 3pm, 8); Brendan Muldowney reveals his low-budget, high-octane Irish thriller Savage (tomorrow, Light House Cinema, 7.30pm, 10); graphic artist Niall Sweeney gives a two-hour performance called Revolver, that encompasses story cycles, illustrated travelogues and sean ns (tomorrow, Light House Cinema, 7pm, 12), and on closing night enjoy not only the 2009 Darklight Awards presentation but also Hotel Darklight the fruit of the labours of ten Irish filmmakers given just seven days to produce a feature film (Sun, Light House Cinema, 9.30pm). Lucy White Tonight until Sun, various venues. www.darklight.ie FESTIVAL Darklight Festival band to emerge from the depths of Monaghan. Wending a path between Pixies and Foo Fighters, the four- piece certainly like their angsty dirges. Happily, theyve also got an ear for infectious choruses and guitar solos opener Talk Of The Town is a blast of self-involved post- punk which rouses itself into a nagging hook halfway through. Meanwhile, Futilia references REM and Hey Hey Hey contains elements of Lemonheads and Nirvana. Weve heard it all before but theres no arguing with the slickness. Eamon de Paor index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html