03.12.03 Cool Yule

Another curious Jarvis-related item has surfaced - this time a limited edition one-sided 7" called "From Me To Yule" by Richard X (RXDJ3). Apparently the track was written by Jarvis and copies are currently being sold by Rough Trade for £4.99.

03.11.03 New Jarvis Interview

Jarvis features in the fall/winter edition of the bi-annual style/fashion magazine 'Self Service' (Issue 19). Jarvis' wife, Camille, is one of their senior fashion editors and Jarvis' portraits of her were featured in a previous issue. Although written in English, it appears to be published in France and sells at a ridiculous £12. It features an 11-page interview with Jarvis and is accompanied by some great pictures of both Jarvis and his Relaxed Muscle alter-ego, Darren Spooner. Click here to see one of the fabulous photos by David Sims. In the interview, Jarvis talks about Outsider Art, living in Paris, Relaxed Muscle and Pulp.

Apparently he's been approached by Les Inrockuptibles Magazine to record an English language version of the Serge Gainsbourg song "Je Suis Venu Te Dire Que Je M'en Vais" and confirms that he's written two songs for Nancy Sinatra. He also says that the inspiration for Darren Spooner developed from his role as the 'townie' yob in the Mis-Shapes video and that he's been using the name as a hotel check-in pseudonym ever since! When asked about the future and of Pulp starting again, it becomes clear that the interview was undertaken before the band's September meeting where they met to discuss the issue: "I don't know. Sometimes it seems very unlikely to me, but I guess I would fantasise about it in a way, because if it seemed we had something worthwhile to do, it would be quite good." www.selfservicemagazine.com

26.10.03 Bits 'n' Pieces

The Relaxed Muscle LP is finally released tomorrow on enhanced CD featuring the Billy Jack and Sexualised videos (RTRADECD131) and on limited edition glow-in-the-dark vinyl (RTRADELP131). Jarvis has also been playing some Relaxed Muscle gigs (with Richard Hawley) in London and Berlin. Jarvis, Richard and Saskia Cocker also appeared at a special Stunt Kites concert at the Sheffield Memorial Hall on 11 October (pictured right). Jarvis sang two covers - Velvet Underground's 'I'm Set Free' and a fabulous version of David Essex's 'Rock On'. Finally, vinyl junkies will be pleased to hear that Simply Vinyl have re-pressed their heavyweight vinyl edition of Different Class (SVLP166) which appears to be retailing for a very reasonable £12.99.

03.09.03 Jarvis on John Currin

Jarvis has penned a short article on artist John Currin for The Guardian newspaper. Click here to view.

20.08.03 Live Forever

It seems the Live Forever film featuring Jarvis is going to be shown on BBC2 on Monday 25 August at 10:35pm.

02.08.03 Billy Jack Video

The promo video for Relaxed Muscle's Billy Jack is currently available on the Q Magazine website. For those with standard modems who can't be bothered to download it, click here to see some great stills.

01.08.03 Pulp on the BBC

Digital radio channel BBC 6 Music will be broadcasting a live Pulp show from their archives on Wednesday 6 August as part of their Dream Ticket programme (10pm-midnight). They'll also stream the show over the web - check out their website for more details. (Update: They'll be re-broadcasting the highlights of the Leeds Carling Festival set from 27 August 2000. See the Gigography page for the tracks they broadcast)

31.07.03 Muscle Power

The latest offering from Darren Spooner (AKA Jarvis Cocker) is released this week. Billy Jack / Sexualized is the second single from Relaxed Muscle and is available on both 7" (RTRADES106) and CD (RTRADESCD106). The CD features a bonus track 'Year Of The Dog'. This release appears to be an improvement on the Heavy EP and Billy Jack features some interesting lyrics: "Brothers and Sisters / You ain't never heard nothing like this before / This is the sound of a man who couldn't take it anymore / A man who was pushed around just once too often ... / Let me introduce myself / My name is Billy Jack / Get back or I will attack / Gypsies killed my woman / Heaven help them when I find them / Bikers think they're tough but they're not tough enough - oh no"

12.07.03 More Jarvis

Jarvis' collaboration with The Pastels, 'I Picked A Flower', will finally be released this Monday on 7" vinyl (Geographic Records - Cat# Geog21). The collaboration appears to go by the name 'The Nu Forest' and the 7" is available from www.roughtrade.com for the bargain price of £1.50. Here's what they have to say about it: 'I Picked A Flower' is a collaboration between the Pastels and Jarvis Cocker and is taken from the forthcoming soundtrack 'The Last Great Wilderness'. With Jarvis singing in character as a lothario popstar this 7" is a sleazy pop number that is a must." Promo spotters should also note that there's a promo CD about containing the single, remix and film versions of the song. Meanwhile, the BBC report that Jarvis has also contributed vocals to Richard X's debut album.

12.07.03 Truth & Beauty: The Story of Pulp

As most of you will know by now, Mark Sturdy's impressive book about the history of Pulp is released this Monday (ISBN: 0711995990, Omnibus Press) and at almost 500 pages, is well worth the £14.95 price. Sleevenotes: "With the help of interviews, quotes and shrewd insights, Mark Sturdy chronicles the whole 20-year + Pulp adventure and in doing so succeeds in capturing the exact flavour of one of British pop's most endearingly eccentric bands."

25.05.03 The Story Of Pulp

Thanks to Simon for notifying Acrylic Afternoons that the BBC Radio 2 Pulp Documentary will be broadcast next Saturday (31 May) between 9pm-10pm. Marianne Faithfull will present the programme which the BBC say is about "the story of the Britpop supergroup and their charismatic singer." Radio 2 Website

16.04.03 Film Collaboration

Various music websites are reporting that The Pastels have collaborated with Jarvis on a song for a film soundtrack. The Pastels have written the entire soundtrack for the David Mackenzie film 'The Last Great Wilderness'. Apparently, David asked The Pastels to write a radio-friendly song, the lyrics and vocals for which were provided by Jarvis. The soundtrack LP is slated for release on 26 May. You can read a review of the film here.

16.04.03 Relaxed Muscle

It looks like next week's NME will feature a brief article (a spoof article more like... click here) on Jarvis and his side project 'Relaxed Muscle' (see below). The Heavy EP will now get a proper release via Rough Trade this Monday (21st) on CD (RTRADESCD073) and 7" (RTRADES073).

12.04.03 Baby photos

The April 16th issue of Now magazine ("The UK's bestselling celebrity magazine"... apparently) features a couple of paparazzi style photos of Jarvis, Camille and their baby (rumoured to be called Alberto). Jarv appears to be wearing the same style specs that got pinched in the mugging. He's also carrying a couple of Rough Trade record shop bags - no doubt full of the latest vinyl.

11.01.03 Jarvis: Mugged?

London's Capital FM are reporting that Jarvis was mugged in East London after walking home from a party the other night. They say the attacker took Jarvis' designer Cutler & Gross specs. Jarvis also sustained a broken finger. Having looked at the Cutler & Gross website, it appears that Jarvis' old frames - which he's had for over three years - aren't stocked anymore.

09.01.03 New Richard Hawley Album

Pulp's live guitarist Richard Hawley will be releasing his third album titled 'Lowedges' on 10 February on Setanta Records. Check out www.richardhawley.co.uk for more details.

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