Jimmy Cm-‘r‘igan, kid A
The smanest nipper in the world he may be. but Chris Ware‘s genius comic creation was enough to induce laughter and tears in staggering amounts. And Wares doodlings set new standards; for illustra-lit. as his story became the first come ever to Win the prestigious Guard/an First Book Award. Not bad.
Ozzy Osbourne, rock dad There is a world where dad is cool and that's in The Osbournes universe. Swinging from befuddled antique to sly. soothsayer. he managed to be a rock god iii-between watching World War ll documentaries on cable TV. Genius.
Currently being seen courting Liza Tarbuck in Linda Green, Kay rose again with a new series of the stirring Phoenix Nights and charmed the socks off everyone with his Fringe show. Can he really be as nice in life as he is on stage and screen? Yep. indeed.
LOCAL VOCAL
Roddy Woomble
n 2002, Idlewild’s charismatic vocalist injected the limpid rock’n’roll vernacular with a welcome booster shot of lyricism. Given the prevalence of retro electro splutters and nu metal angst, that injection was long overdue. Aside from reviving the fashion for bloody long song titles - ‘You Held the World in your Arms’, ‘A Modern Way of Letting Go’ - his intense librarian/drunk libertarian onstage demeanour cut a welcome swathe through the glut of tortured souls and ass-flashing show-offs vying for space. A good singer, who’ll soon be a really great singer, he led ldlewild’s inspired concoction of rock ballistics and considered pop introspection to the higher echelons of the Top 40. Here, Woomble gives us 2002 in his own words. Success is something that's purely judged by the individual I think. So much stigma is attached to being 'successful' it makes me nervous as to what people expect. That said. I guess I'd agree with anyone who said that 2002 was a successful year for ldlewild.
At the start of the year we were on our way to London to mix. master and put together an album out of the 19 songs we'd recorded the previous year. Not really knowing what the year held (does anyone ever?). but knowing that the songs were great and that there were enough people around the world waiting to hear them, we couldn't afford to do anything wrong.
So now. 12 months later after playing over 100 shows in about 16 different countries, having released a record which sold more copies than all our other records put together. and having barmen in Germany sing ‘American English' back to you when you order your beer. we've definitely arrived some place we've never been before.
If we’re talking highlights. it's basically a list of places. people. concerts . . . it could go on and on: Shetland. New York, Oslo. Samantha Morton in Morvern Ca/lar, the Bright Eyes LP. when it started snowing in Sweden. William Eggleston's photo exhibition, Gavin and Allan deciding to join the group. that girl who gave me her address written on a shoe. Lucy's Bar on Avenue A. muesli with yoghurt. the Mars Volta . . . years are the weirdest of bookends. Merry Christmas.
12 Dec 2002-«2 Jan 2003 THE LIST 25