Hawkwind on BBC4

My good friend Nic over on Morfablog posted a link to a BBC4 documentary over on You Tube recently, which I watched this week. It is well worth watching if you are a fan, it's just a shame that Dave Brock declined to take part - Lemmy is in it though.

BBC iPlayer for Mac

A streaming version of the BBC's iPlayer has now been made available for Mac users.

Unlike the Windows version, which enables users to download programmes to watch any time within 30 days, iPlayer for Mac streams programmes broadcast during the past seven days through your web browser.

Criticism of iPlayer's Windows only compatibility, forced the Government to step in, telling the BBC that iPlayer should be platform neutral. However, it is likely that the Mac version will remain a streaming product, as the DRM used with iPlayer is a Microsoft copy protection technology that is only compatible on Windows.

Metallica album update

Kerrang! reported that Metallica are putting the finishing touches to their new album with producer Rick Rubin.

After working with Bob Rock for many years, the band has made some comparisons between Rock and Rubin:

Kirk Hammett said: "I have difficulty wading through all the ideas because I'm biased - I think everything we do has a lot of merit to it. In that regard Rick Rubin is great because he will just say, 'Such and such a part is not good, so come up with something else.' He just leaves the problem up to us and we just solve it between ourselves without too much interference from his side."

Hetfield has high hopes for the album: "We don't want pretty good, we want excellent and Rick is getting us to try and achieve that. Rick's very good at getting the essence of an artist out and bringing that back to the top again."

The as yet untitled new album is due in spring 2008.

Meanwhile on Metallica's website, there appear to be some European tour dates to coincide with the new album. Sadly, nothing for the UK yet.

Mike Patton in the movies

Mike Patton of Faith No More and Peeping Tom (and his many other projects) lends his voice to Will Smith's new movie I Am Legend due for release 14 December. According to Metal Hammer:

Patton's shape-shifting vocals will be heard in movie theaters across the country this month as he lends his voice to the dreaded creatures in "I Am Legend", the post-apocalyptic film set for release on Dec. 14.

Also due for release is Patton's debut as a film composer with the film noir short, A Perfect Place, the directorial debut of Derrick Scocchera:

The score creatively reflects the style and tone of the film, which focuses on a pair of bumbling friends trying to dispose of a body. The film, shot in anamorphic black and white, will be packaged as a double-disc with the score and distributed together via Ipecac Recordings in March of 2008.

I'm still waiting to see Firecracker, in which Patton appeared in 2005. Although it has now been released on DVD, it appears to be available on NTSC only. Ho-hum.