Tell Me Some Things...

TELLING OF THE BEES

2010-02-22T22:21:00.003+11:00

I am extremely excited for Castratii's second EP named 'Telling of the Bees' which is due to be released any day now. The Sydney band are also due to bring out a videoclip for 'Listen Lovers', one of their tracks from the first EP "The Music of Chance".

I can't keep still, I am just too damn impatient!

Imagine all the people living for today.

2010-01-15T10:37:00.004+11:00

Lots of people like to live for today, but what about for tomorrow or the week after, or a decade after? Our world is a beautiful place, amid the disasters and the murders and abuse, the world is visually stunning and I find I learn a lot from it and the living organisms that inhabit it. It's such a shame though that our convenient, luxurious and fast way of living is choking such a special planet.

I have changed my light bulbs to 80% energy saving lights, turn off power points when they are not in use, turn my computer screen off when I shut down my computer, use less hot water, eating less meat than I usually consume, walk whenever I can or otherwise take public transport. These are things I am doing to lower carbon emissions that are impacting and inevitably destroying the beautiful world we live in. Some people may be skeptical about humans' position on climate change, some say it is just a natural occurrence, but I do believe the way we are living is causing some degradation to the natural environment and we need to do what we can to help.

My mum recently turned vegetarian for personal reasons, but without her even knowing she is saving 5000lbs of carbon emissions per year. If she bought food that is organic and locally sourced she would save a few more thousands of pounds of carbon emissions per year. That is what one person can do, it sounds like a lot already, imagine what we could do if many people did the same thing and saved millions of pounds of carbon emissions.

This all came about after I watched An Inconvenient Truth. The documentary opened up my mind to what I was ignoring a little, and Al Gore made me realise that one person can make a change and every person can make their effort count. www.climatecrisis.net is a website referred by the documentary that can give you pointers on how you can save energy and carbon emissions.

Pity

2010-01-05T17:56:00.005+11:00

Pity is a complicated thing. It is something i frequently feel when I see everyday people around me. I don't like feeling pity, but what sparked me to write this was when I left work the other day. There is this man I see often around my local shopping centre and he seems to have a neuromuscular problem, he leans forward when he walks and he tends to drag his feet. His legs are a bit like jelly. He also slurs when he talks.

I saw this man when I left work and he happen to be walking the same route as me and I was absolutely disgusted my how many people were staring at him and whispering or laughing. I felt pity for him. I also felt like I was going to be sick because it amazes me how cruel people can be. Most of the time noone wants to be pitied. Maybe he doesn't notice people stare, maybe he doesn't care that they do. I put away my pity and just felt like striking up a conversation with him.

I was imagining how I would feel if I were to have his legs and to have people stare at me like that. Some people walked past and kept as much distance from him as they could. Since we were walking the same route I decided to walk alongside him and I turned my head to see he was looking at me. I said "Hello, how are you?" and he half-smiled, half-said "hi" and answered that he was "good". It wasn't much of a conversation but I would rather greet someone randomly than join the crowds of spectators who like to stare, taunt and treat fellow humans as if they are anything less.

"Pity" by William Blake

Packwood (formerly Bear and I)- free Bear & I EP

2009-11-30T00:47:00.007+11:00

Packwood (Formerly Bear & I) is Bayden Hine, a young man who resides most of the time in Bathurst and part of his time in Sydney. Within in the last few months he has released his first EP (self-titled as Bear & I) on his myspace page as a free download.

Packwood's EP revolves around the ideology of love and Packwood's struggle to understand his place in the universe; the music however, elicits romantic envisions of flowery fields full of animals running about freely.

‘Sloan Great Wall’ is named so after the largest observable structure within the universe-it is a track embodying the dawn of a new day of Packwood's utopia, a place where the world wakes up with nature and without the complexities of the modern world; Bear & I reflects on what is most beautiful to him in life. The transition from the sole restless thoughts of the banjo to the orchestra expressing its celebration of life is symbolic of sunrise and the energy it brings with it.

‘Longyearbyen’ is the second track, named after a small town close to the North Pole but is rather Packwood’s imaginary haven, his Utopia observing the daily activities of the natural world where he finds comfort and solitude within and freely sings to the living inhabitants of this place.

‘Western Spiral Arm of the Milky Way’ is a string-instrument piece, wading through Packwood’s thoughts of Earth’s location within the universe and his pondering to his existence within this universe.

Packwood’s thoughts peeled away from his Utopia where he finds himself back down to Earth where in ‘Alone At Midnight’ and ‘Quickly Speak Celanesi, I Fear The Sun is Dying!’ he sings about his experiences of lust, the challenges of love and his inability to find comfort and understanding in the real world. The latter track is quickly paced and has a farewell feeling, a sense that the sun is setting leading to the end of another day but metaphorically that our world is heading the wrong direction.

This EP lets us into the romantic mind of Packwood and his olden-day values but how he has a tug-o-war between his idyllic world and reality. Upon first listen my eyes were watery and I escaped into Packwood's Utopia of a place we wish still existed.

[MP3] Packwood (Bear & I)- Longyearbyen

Coco Repose

2009-07-22T22:37:00.005+10:00

Today I visited the most darling shop in Sydney, it is called Coco Repose.
Situated on Fitzroy St in Surry Hills it sells the most beautiful dresses and cardigans from the late 1800s-1960s (but sometimes they allow themselves to stock the creme de la creme of clothing from the 1970s). Forget about all of those op shops that say they sell 'vintage' clothing, this store has good quality clothing from the eras without the mothballs and old dusty smell.

While I was in the store I totally lost myself, I was immersed in the intricate, feminine and generally stunning things in there! I didn't even notice the traffic outside and ended up drawing towards a beautiful Oroton scarf for $15 and a very sweet vintage pill-box hat for $49. I decided that I should only treat myself once today so I bought the hat, if the scarf is there next time I go then it's meant to be! I'm definitely going back, it's just one of those places that made me feel so welcome and fed my craving for true vintage beauties!

I was also lucky enough today to receive some lovely black leather gloves from my Grandma. Oh life is sweet.

Ragged & Ecstatic

2009-07-03T11:03:00.004+10:00

Did you hear Yves Klein Blue went to Hollywood to record their new album? 'Tis true! The Brisbane foursome have been on the circuit for a few years now but have released and re-released EPs, the last one being 'Yves Klein Blue Draw Attention To Themselves' included in it the well-known 'Polka' that turned up all over the Triple J airwaves and on a car commercial too.

That background aside, they have just released their debut album 'Ragged & Ecstatic", a 12-track composition of some wailing vocals, diverse range of instruments as well as the basis of drum, guitar and bass; the album surprising exhibits versatility of the band captured under the bright lights of Hollywood. The first track 'Make Up Your Mind' does not tastefully start off the album for me personally, I find the repeptitive loop of piano and guitar riffs build up pressure in my head like something's running around in there. Skip, next song.
YKB begin to hit a better note with me when it comes around to 'Getting Wise' and 'Digital Love'; 'Getting Wise' has a catchy melody and is one of those kind of songs where you bring out the invisible piano as well as skipping on the spot. 'Digital Love' is a track that feels darker than the others but that's what I like about it, it's separated itself from the other fluffier songs and has delved into unpredictable territory with sensual undertones.

YKB manage to slip in an acoustic and more down-tone mood mid-way through the album but the boys re-emerge with their ska-type of energy in 'Summer Sheets'- a charming song about young love with trumpets reminiscent of the '10 Things I Hate About You Soundtrack' but it's an optimistic track that really lifts the album. The lyrics are amusing and clever: "..when we make love it's like a great conversation where we always end up agreeing".
'Polka' is like the celebrity of the album, everyone know it and everyone has heard it more times than their fingers and thumbs can count..but there is good reason to it, it's a cleverly structured and constantly teases you when it appears to build up and gives a sudden drop, then another build up. It is infectiously a track to dance to and with the ripping guitars it's easy to dance like you're possessed. 'Polka' has all the highs and lows that it should, which makes it a stand out from the more straight forward tracks. The closing track 'Gin Sling' has a country twist on it and offers a laid-back last impression of the album.

I admit, I've had to listen to this album four times in order to write something constructive and I have begun to like and differentiate certain tracks. There are plenty of danceable tracks and a generous variation in flavours-this is not the sort of album you would say all the songs "sound the same". Overall YKB have assembled an unpredictable album together and the future is looking bright, this album proves that after "Polka's" success they are not a one-trick pony.

SAVE FBI + CREATE.

2009-06-28T21:01:00.004+10:00

This weekend I have been saving fbi radio by supporting them and going to their gigs. Last night they had a gig at the Metro with bands such as Dappled Cities, Decoder Ring, Muscles, Midnight Juggernauts, SPOD etc and there was a merch table with a bunch of CDs for sale (all sold on Etch n Sketch label)that were running at $5. By the end of the night they were being sold by gold coin donation so a few bucks got me:
*Black Lips-"Good Bad Not Evil"
*Fields-"Everything Last Winter"
*Amiina-"Kurr"
*The Brunettes-"Structure & Cosmetics"

So far I've had a quick listen and I've always liked Amiina so 'Kurr' is a thumbs up, but I had a listen to Fields and I like their sound too, although I will need a further listen before I write a review.

AND FOR TODAY I decided I was going to 'CREATE' through drawing. This drawing isn't as good as my last, but I just could not get the eye on the left right! I have changed it since I took this photo but it still looks wrong. Bahhhh!

Twine & Brown Paper.

2009-06-24T11:32:00.004+10:00

Last night I made a mixtape (in cd form haha) for my boyfriend. The mix includes songs from Australian indie bands because he's more in touch with indie bands from overseas.
I burned the cd and then wrote the tracklisting on some paper from a Nepalese note book and wrapped it with twine. Then I put the tracklisting in a carboard box that was finished with red ribbon and a metal trinket:

To follow I wrapped the box in some brown paper and finished it with more twine and wrote on the back on a photo of us and slipped it under the twine. I also grabbed some chamomile from my backyard and put that in too:

Now I should probably do some study for my exam. Eep!

The Bookworm

2009-06-23T14:52:00.005+10:00

Today I am avoiding studying for my last exam..but after searching around for artwork or something to amuse me or conjure some sort of emotion I have found this:

I love the light beaming from the ceiling and how he is completely immersed in the book, with another book in his other hand waiting to be explored. What a beautiful piece of art! The Bookworm by Carl Spitweg (1850, oil on canvas).

Disorder.

2009-06-20T00:13:00.005+10:00

I think he had a girl at every port..

Picture by Darren V.

CREATE..every day.

2009-06-15T22:05:00.003+10:00

Last week I had a huge whinge to my boyfriend after wanting to make him something for our '6th month' but then I came to the realisation that I am neither good at drawing, painting or writing songs. I can make skirts (but he won't want one) and I've put my creativity into cooking before so that was a no-go zone. The day after my whinge and tears of frustration he gave me this:

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Now instead of whinging that I don't think that I have creative skills now everyday I will create something..err..creative! Today is day 4 and this is what i created:

It's a guy (modelled off Ned Kelly) with paper aeroplanes in his beard. Originally I was going to make his beard out of blue swallows with their wings spread out but I'm not good at drawing (yet!)

I'm ready to be heartbroken.

2009-06-09T14:46:00.007+10:00

Tell me why I am absolutely besotted with Camera Obscura's new song 'French Navy' from their latest album "My Maudlin Career"?
Watching the videoclip makes me feel ever more infatuated..perhaps it's because I'm in love..
The part of the song that gets me the most is the chorus when she sings:

"I wanted to control it, but love I couldn't hold it"

where the violins play blissfully. Sigh. This kind of music gets me out of bed in the morning.

...The same applies to some new songs by Red Riders after the departure of Adrien Deutsch last year. The riders have come up with some new songs for the album 'Drown In Colour' and I think the two I have heard so far are fantabulous!
Listen to 'You've Got A Lot Of Nerve' & 'Ordinary' at their myspace. The videoclip for 'YGALON' is to die for!

Antique Delight!

2009-05-31T23:27:00.004+10:00

To start off I will just tell you this: the women in my family go bezerk over antiques. My Mother, my Grandmother, my Aunty..and now me. Over the past few years I've embraced a more feminine style of dress, so I now wear the floral dresses my Mum always wished for me to try on. I enjoy taking pieces of a fashion from another era or another country and adding it to my style. Along with this change in me (which co-occured with a change in my life direction- doing a Speech Pathology degree) I have also come to appreciate and adore antiques. I'm not referring to antiques like old scrubbing brushes..but antique jewellery, plates, cups & saucers, cutlery etc. I like that objects so old can last in beautiful condition and that they have a story even, even if you know nothing about the antique except that it is so-and-so years old.

A few days ago when I went to my Grandma's house she called me into her room where she said she had something to give to me. She started off with the modesties of "I'm not sure whether you'd like it or not.." and she pulled out a red suede blazer from her wardrobe: I knew the blazer wasn't for me because my Grandma is a 5' size 6. But attached to the blazer was a wonderful locket/brooch that she detached and put into my hand. I have never received an antique from my family before so this was truly something that amazed me. All I know is that it's most likely 100-150years old, during the Victorian rule. I already have worn it twice in the past three days although I am scared to lose it, but I love wearing it with the knowledge it has a history, it has been passed through two continents already to my knowledge, perhaps even more!

My shoulders need warming.

2009-05-19T18:36:00.005+10:00

Today I went on a single-woman adventure to hunt out either a cute coat, jacket or knitted jumper (of the snowflake or deer design kind). But before I embarked on such an adventure I went to Tresors in the Strand Arcade inbetween Pitt St & George St; it is the most darling place. It is the size of a large walk in wardrobe and is crammed with antique delights. I bought my mum an 1830's plate from there for mother's day with the floral design in the centre of it *drool*. They have such beautiful trinkets and deceased peoples' paraphernalia there. I could spend a very long time in there pulling out every thing and observing. It is a bit pricy but definitely worth it if you love florals, antiques, vintage things (not much clothing there)or just lovely objects in general.

After that I went to multiple second hand stores, weaving in and out of the streets of Surry Hills. Firstly I noticed there was a very strong scent of spices on Crown St and I could not detect what the origin of the scent was! But soon enough my salivary glands became excited but my legs led me to shopping.

I strolled into Zoo Emporium hoping to find a cute knitted jumper (remember the one I mentioned with deers and snow flakes?) but I was unlucky..there was a nice warm houndstooth knitted cardigan (oh it was a tad Chanel) but it was far too big for me and it has lots of yellow stains on it so I thought it best to leave it to the moths to dismantle. Then onto the adjacent stores, Puff 'n' Stuff has some lovely things but the women there were a bit snobby. I don't get that, why be snobby for? I guess they'd only be nice to me if I were a model or in a band..

I popped into Minty Meets Munt , I was welcomed by the booming psychedelic guitar reverb of Jimi Hendrix and the woman who assisting me was an absolute darl (nudge nudge Puff'n' Stuff) and we managed to have a great conversation and I found an adorable black tulip skirt from there. It's now on my "I want" list! Whisked myself into Cream On Crown hoping they'd have something to warm me up in winter but there was a sad rack of..well..not very much..apart from a rack full of faux fur jackets. Faux fur or fur jackets for that matter wouldn't suit me, so I had to pass on that..but I was advised that they were getting a whole lot of stock in today/tomorrow so I guess I was a tad early.

I did some more walking and headed to Paddington, this time I smelled spices too but there was a much more sweeter tone to the spices. One again I nearly drooled. My main aim was to visit the Alannah Hill store, I never get to go in there so I thought today was my day..then I see they are undergoing renevations until June 20th. Absolute bummer but I turned the corner to Stellino where I ended up buying a faux leather jacket (YES I KNOW I CONFORMED BUT WHEN I NEED SOMETHING WARM ON MY ARMS AND IM TOO PICKY WITH COATS AND CARDIGANS AREN'T ENOUGH WHAT ELSE COULD I DO??)
I opted for the faux leather because my mum recently turned vegetarian, so I kinda would feel a little guilty. My thoughts: The animals are staying warm (& alive!) if i choose faux leather and I'm keeping warm at the same time Plus, I'm pretty sure the leather bomber jacket look will be out pretty soon so why spend a lot?

Then I headed home and had a snooze on the bus. zzzzzz. I found no coats I liked, I had no luck with the cute knitted jumper but i did find a jacket. So I guess it was an ok effort, although next time I'll make sure I have a second opinion (or third!) because I am so indecisive.....

GIGS THIS WEEKEND!
*Friday- Red Riders @ The Annandale (that reminds me..I still haven't bought a ticket *gulp* better do that pronto.
*Saturday- Ghoul are playing with Made In Japan and We Say Bamboulee @ Spectrum. I luuurve Ghoul. They have given me an audible-phenomenon-experience that I have never had before. The best way for me to describe it is like when you dive into a pool and the sound just dampens and spreads out and you just feel absolute calmness. Ok, that wasn't a good way to describe it..but it was an awesome experience!

Friday, the first day of the weekend.

2009-05-01T17:28:00.003+10:00

So I have no uni and no work on Fridays. Except today I was meant to sit at home and do study - reason being I have an exam next week. But outside was beautiful and it wasn't freezing like it has been the past week, so I indulged in the sun and ate home made lasagne. Mmmm. But that was all after I put purple semi-permanent dye in my hair. You can only see it in the sun.

And I am learning how to tame my HOLGA.

The evolution of Starky.

2009-04-08T19:15:00.005+10:00

Back in the day I used to have an auditory romance with a Sydney band named Starky,and when I say back in the day I mean a few years ago..YES they were conceived in 1999 (according to wiki!), YES they produced a few EPs followed by a self-titled LP with an awesome cover and songs with great hooks resonating the feelings of breaking hearts. YES their single "Is This How It Ends" was nominated for an ARIA. YES the band began writing and recording a new album before the it was decided Starky was to be no more. The band's last show was when they supported Lost Valentinos on the 17 Deaths Single Tour in Mid 2007 and that was the end of that. But I continued to wear my Starky shirt and reminisce dancing at their gigs.

Then in October 2008 we were informed that Beau Cassidy and Jonathon Wilson of Starky (+ another musician) had gone on to form a new band under the name of Sad Waters. The name is rather reflective of what you hear- the music and vocals are melancholic, spacey, tranquil, allow you to transition into another place- it's is easy to lose yourself in it. When I listen to their tracks up on myspace, specifically "Domino" it makes me imagine videoclips of slow-motion movement of things falling..I can imagine water falling and rebounding off the surface into other beads of water.
Their most-played track "Listen Lovers" is my favourite although it makes me sit and mull over feelings of hurt in the past. There is a change in the direction of the song and it lifts up a notch drawing out the feelings of having to let someone go and knowing that it ends in liberation. I am excited for the day that Sad Waters announce that they are going to play a gig, I'm extremely curious as to what the experience will be like.

But that's not the only evolution the band has undergone, Beau Cassidy and Nick Neal have recently formed another band with drummer Graeme Trewin (ex-Peabody and The City Lights member)named Dead Beats Club. "Let Me Wander" is a completely different sound to that of Sad Waters, instead projecting a full bodied British rock sound with garage tones and structure that slightly remind me of The Straight Arrows, but more polished and with less punk.
I could go on and describe what the rest of their music sounds like and I could compare it some more but why don't you just go listen yourself!
Either way, I like what the Starky ex-members have come up with and I hope they just continue to grow in these new bands and play a rooftop or warehouse gig in the near future because, to be honest, Sydney local music hasn't been that exciting as of late.

Oh dear, Dear Patrick.

2009-03-20T15:07:00.005+11:00

Patrick Wolf has been a bit busy as of late, recording for his upcoming LP called "The Bachelor" and in the mean time he has directed, along with a Director of Photography, a new video to suit the single from the new LP. This single is titled 'Vulture' and our dearest Patrick who wears cute little shorts with cute little shirts and ties and school boy apparel whilst being all glittered up has gone over to the 'dark' side. Some may say he has evolved as an artist. Some may say he has ruined his former image. He has embraced his personal sexual experiences and has appeared in the videoclip dressed in leather bondage-style. His hair is still blonde though. I could only watch one minute of the video before I felt that I couldn't watch anymore. I didn't even get around to listening to what the new music was like.

The monochrome video is injected with shadows and quick shot-cutting techniques to make the video as a white quite intense and as if we are viewing a collection of black and white intimate photos. I have a feeling a lot of his fans won't be able to take this approach very well at all. But then again from what I've seen on his myspace page a lot of people are embracing it too (whether they are gay or straight). Yes, everyone knows he is homosexual and everyone accepts it..but this side of his sexuality is difficult for a lot of people to swallow, especially with this transformation from a gorgeous gypsy boy to this gothic sexual imagery.

Some people saw this coming, but I guess with sexuality there usually comes complexity that is hidden behind closed doors. So obviously Patrick didn't really reveal this side of him earlier (although his videoclip for 'Tristan' was pretty dark..) but I guess he feels comfortable now to reveal it to the world to some peoples pleasure and some peoples surprise. Oh how controversial!

If you want to see his new "image" you will find a photo or two in his photos album on his myspace

Illustrations: Billy Clare.

2009-01-19T23:45:00.006+11:00

Billy Clare is an artist based in Sydney that I met through our common love for a Melbourne band over a year ago. Through her social networking site I was able to be introduced to the works of Billy Clare Reitzenstein. She produces illustrations that are lively, dreamy and intriguing, with the simplicity of artline pens and watercolour pencils to aide her truly gorgeous designs.

Billy Clare has only recently displayed a selection of her work in her own blog for the public to observe (and drool) over:
Billy Clare Reitzenstein

Is the sun inside?

2009-01-13T02:00:00.006+11:00

I'll tell you something..

I can't stand when musicians wear sunglasses when they are playing on stage, indoors at nighttime. Talk about pretentious.

(E.g.:Oh Dr. Dog, why did you have to disappoint me?

Bear & I.

2008-12-27T23:28:00.011+11:00

A friend of mine is bloody good at the guitar. He has a beautiful Gretsch! Even better he can play the banjo and a range of interesting instruments. But I've never heard him sing, that was, until today when he told me he put up a demo under the band name of 'Bear And I'.

I have listened to his demo over and over and it's getting lodged into my head. Open your ears and take a listen. It's only a rough demo but I think it's brilliant.

Bear & I

A brief history of time..(err COYH's timeline in the history of Zohara)

2008-11-08T22:46:00.011+11:00

It's been nearly 2 months since I last blogged and over that distance many a time I have thought about blogging but haven't been sure what detail to include in writing. Sure, I've known WHO to write about but haven't known WHAT to write. So since I'm stuck at home with a suspect chest infection, I have decided to sit and get this blog done, otherwise I will probably explode. KABLAM!

Ok, so I've wanted to blog about Cut Off Your Hands. They are one of my favourite bands, and even though I'd like to label them as Australian, our dearest neighbours (of the New Zealand variety) need some sort of recognition. The first I had heard of this band was when they were formally known as 'Shaky Hands'. I'm not going to go into why their changed their name because every other blog or interview featuring COYH will go through that, but what I will say is that I have been drawn to these guys since I heard their tunes in the courtyard of the Abercrombie Hotel during a Purple Sneakers night back in September 2006. I could not see the boys but the music skimmed over the heads of a mass of people who had turned up to dance and perhaps to see this new and exciting New Zealand band. Let's just say I was smitten by the music and so were the majority of the courtyard. Next thing I know I'm hitting Candy's Apartment in March 2007 to attend BOOM BOOM MEGA BOOM where COYH (they changed their name by then) were playing alongside The Ghosts (now Ghostwood), Bridezilla, The Holidays and The Hate Game. Those were the good ol' times of Candy's Apartment. Sigh. But anyway, at that gig their music hit me extra hard, especially when my friend screamed "I LOVE THIS SONG" when "You & I" came on. All of a sudden I was educated and down with the sound of COYH and wouldn't go back. Their energy grabbed me, Nick's frontman antics amused and allured me, and their danceable pop tunes were irresistable. It's funny to see photos from early last year, the boys had long hair and they look markedly younger!

Moving along, I ran out and bought their EP 'Cut Off Your Hands' which was under the artist name of Shaky Hands. The EP is just gold. It's the kind of album that would make you pulsate in unusual bodily movements of dance.

I got to see them later in the year when they played at Spectrum, whilst teenagersintokyo were playing I was sitting near the staircase and got introduced to Michael, I said hi but I'm painstakingly shy sometimes when it comes to musicians because I usually embarrass myself. I perhaps should have some sort of filter on my mouth but instead I just be polite and don't end up saying much. But of course a bit of alcohol lets me relax and I can pretty comfortably have a conversation. The boys later came on and had matching shirts and Nick was jumping, ramming and spitting on people. It was pretty fun. Although I ended up on the floor when he decided to stage dive and everyone moved out of the way except me, where next thing I know I'm facing the ceiling and he's wriggling around the floor like a bug on its back, singing with microphone in hand and all. That gig was great, I just remember having so much fun. That was just after they had released their EP 'Blue On Blue' with adorable songs of young love such as 'Oh Girl' and 'Still Fond'. Those songs make me swoon. Then COYH appeared in The Brag (the front cover is still on my wall), Drum Media and 'Blue on Blue' was being mentioned nearly everywhere. I must say, the choice of 2 covers to 'Blue on Blue' in either red or blue with differing braille (that spelled out either 'Blue on Blue' or 'Cut Off Your Hands' respectively) was just genius.

They were then meant to come back to Australia in December in 2007 which I was anticipating but unfortunately Nick took an 18ft dive in the UK and fractured some bones. Ouch. So The Scare played instead. It was another few months until they returned to us in July at Oxford Art Factory with new tunes in hand and everyone except me ended up going; uni committments can be a total pain in the ass at the times when one of your favourite international bands turns up after a year of being away! But at around the same time I took up writing as a 'Backstage Blogger' for Levity and COYH happen to be the other guest bloggers for the month which I was pretty happy about, although they totally stole my spotlight in The Brag when an exerpt of one of the backstage blogs featured everyweek. I managed to get my blog in on the first week (but that was only because they hadn't submitted any blogs yet, but after that they took that column. It's justifiable though..they were the ones on tour doing fun things whereas I was the "gig-pig" who wrote about some mundane happenings in the music scene in Sydney as opposed to their trip to Japan. Trips to Japan win over talking about Sydney..so I have no hard feelings haha. I turned up to Levity Nights during the month of my Backstage Blogger ramblings and saw Philadelphia Grand Jury (which was AWESOME!) but COYH were the guest DJs and it turned out to be a pretty fun night. Talk about sardines in a can, Hotel Hollywood was buzzing and we were loving every minute of it.

I smiled again when I heard they were coming back to play a gig, this time, at the Gaelic Club on November 6th. Once again..uni committments came up..but Speak and Spell ran a 25 words or less competition to score a ticket to attend their gig. It was pretty much like a coin toss..if I win I go, If I don't win I get to stay at home and finish my assessments. I structured my words well enough and won so I skipped to the Gaelic after work and a one hour bus ride to catch the gig just before the boys got onto the stage. It was an interesting crowd this time, lots of new faces (I notice these kinds of things) as people have been drawn into their music as of late thanks to their debut album "You and I" featuring the single "Expectations" and some other familiar tunes from the previous EPs and some new electrifying gems such as 'Happy as Can Be' which is such an uplifting song.The album is taaaaasty!

It was great to see them under the lights again (this time without matching outfits..awww) but what was new was an additional drum located next to Nick's microphone and he bashed away at it. It was pretty exhiliarating..to be honest I wanted to jump up and steal his drums sticks and have a go myself. It definitely added something new and exciting to their live performance. Brent seemed to be working hard but still having fun on the drumkit, Phil's cheeks must have hurt from all the smiling he was doing (probably because he had a mass of people at his feet who were getting go of their inhibitions and were totally kicking it out). One of the most interesting images embedded in my memory is of Michael who was playing the guitar on the left of the stage infront of me..he was leaning forward when he was playing and the lights hit him at a particular angle that allowed me to see the silhouette of his jade/green stone Maori pendant for just a second before the image disappeared behind his cotton shirt once the positioning of the lighting and his body changed.
There was stage diving, lots of singing along, suspectedly young-looking people who jumped on stage after Nick's cue and it was all so bad-ass with one security guard at the stage trying to pull off and control about 20 people who jumped on stage. I laughing seeing his frustration since it isn't very often that the security guards can't take control of these situations at gigs. But anyway, COYH delivered some slower songs that allowed us to cool down a bit under the fans. But we all went nuts again when they came back with the encore and played "Shark Attack" by another great NZ band, Split Enz". I noticed something different between this gig and the one I saw of them ealier at Spectrum: this time Nick didn't spit and although he still stage dived he apologised if he had hurt anyone. It's good to see a band with manners!

Well well well..I have a forensics science/forensic law exam to do tomorrow so I should probably stop reminiscing and start dreaming.
Wow scrolling up that is a scarily long blog about a band..but I guess it's all just accumulated over the months...

Signing out!
x

Use your flippers to get down!

2008-09-24T00:52:00.011+10:00

So I've been off the radar for a little while, but that doesn't mean that I've been slack in the music department. I have successfully spent my whole day procrastinating from uni work and instead have been listening to music that I haven't heard before, as well as relistening to bands that I have discovered within the last two weeks. So today I have been blasting my music recommendations at people and they have been squealing (in excitement):
"Where do you find all of this great music!?"
Well if I told them that would give away my secret, wouldn't it now?

BUT my candidates for bands that have struck a chord (baha lame) with me lately are these jovial whipper snappers:

Philadelphia Grand Jury
These guys play entertaining and fun live shows without the glam-scenester look. Good to see there are boys who spend more time on their band practice than time polishing their leather shoes and leather jackets. The pre-recorded commentary in between tracks is very amusing and adds to the sense that the guy don't take themselves too seriously. They also put in the effort to come up to us and have a chat..brownie points!

Art vs Science
So everyone has heard their killer story about them being the hottest kids at Splendour, and yes, I have seen Splendour footage and they nearly blew off the roof. I witnessed their musicianship at OAF and they were very impressive with their dance-able tracks and instrumentals. 'Flippers' is just so catchy, how can you not bust a move to it?

The Middle East
I heard of these kids ages ago...I even wrote them down in my myspace list of music which usually records bands that i think are the bees knees. But i unfortunately forgot about them until a friend of mine mentioned them and I remembered they were on that music list. So i revisited them and have instantly fallen in love with the track "Blood". It's a dreamy song with soft vocals which transcend into an exuberant pinnacle of emotion. Just beautiful.

You Can Be A Wesley
I was at a friend's party, one of the kind where you just linger out the front of the house and sit in the gutter and chat to randoms. One such random was from America and taught us how to play beer pong. Then he filled me in with the details that he was in this band and I should give them a listen. So I did and I like their tunes, especially "Rearrange The Sea" and "Balloon Head". Cute pop that reminds me of beautiful relaxing Sundays.

Seán Brains
Seán Ainsworth is the 'brains' behind 'Seán Brains' and is a young Melburnian. He's a one man band with my favourite track being "She Wear The Breakup", a holiday-sounding number that catapults me onto a faraway island until you realise he's singing about a girl, one who obviously has pulled at his heart strings as he says "she has spiders in her hair/they're always spinning webs.../Oh I was so blind not to see what was going on". The beginning guitar lines of his track "Summer Takes Place" is slightly reminiscent (to me) of some of The Go-Betweens tracks, but WOO his tunes all differ with their individual personalities. As someone who compulsively changes a track before it is finished, I've found it hard not to listen to his tracks the whole way through. Hands down this kid has got something good going on.

My life so far

2008-09-06T04:23:00.002+10:00

I decided I may still be unclear to some readers, so i've written a brief bio on my life.

Adam Lewis was born in the tropical island of Gomadina in the summer of 1987. The fourth son of one of the island's most respected wine merchants, he was hand-picked as one of "Gomadina's Child Prodigies" during his time at St. Randall's Pre-school, and placed in the prestigious Jack Clancy Memorial School for the duration of his lower education.

During his formative schooling years, Adam was bullied for an unsightly birthmark under his left eye. During one spring afternoon of 1994, he was shoved into a payphone box at the local mall. Lying on the ground with a bloody nose and injured spirits, he was comforted by the famous actor Ted Danson, on a promotional trip to Gomadina in support of his then-new film, "Getting Even With Dad". Danson gave Adam a piece of advice that would stick with him for the rest of his life: "Fortune favors the brave." Determined to succeed in life in spite of those around him, Adam thrust himself headfirst into his studies and two years later was awarded the Jackson Rivera award for excellence in literature for his short story "My Father and The Stairs".

However, tragedy struck soon after when he witnessed the tragic death of his surf instructor Brad Armstrong at the age of 15. Adam sunk into a deep depression that reached its climax in 2004 with his dramatic withdrawal from the Gomadina Math Cup, the nation's standard appraisal for higher education. Faced with an uncertain future, Adam moved to Australia to start anew, arriving with nothing but a backpack of knicknacks and dreams.

Shortly after his arrival, he gained casual work and lodgings as a the pool cleaner to the McDoyles, a rich family of oil traders in Sydney's northwest. Adam found love in their daughter Madeline, but this was torn apart by her father, who had previously promised her to the son of a fellow oil trader in Dubai. Heartbroken, he found himself alone on the streets of King's Cross when he was robbed and pushed into a phonebooth. As if from a higher power, Adam remembered the lessons given to him over a decade earlier by Ted Danson, and made the instant decision to pick himself up and thrust himself again into his work.

The next day, he applied for a position in the University of New South Wales' media course, and began in 2006. He was wildly successful, being awarded the Heinrich Kurt award in 2007 for his short film "Let Tomorrow Break Today" and becoming lead hall monitor in the Webster building from 2007-2008. He also began work at FBi, a popular talkback radio station, and became known throughout the independent music community for his unwavering belief in the power of dance and distortion, and constant promotion of obscure Melbourne bands. This lifestyle was completed in 2008 with his commencement at Apple, a technology company based in Cupertino, California who are best known for product lines such as the iDesk, the PortaMac and the Newton.
Though the trails of his future are still yet to be traversed, it is clear from Adam's already remarkable life that he is destined to be kind of a big deal. As a great man once said, "fortune favours the brave", and throughout his youth and young adulthood Adam Lewis has proven himself to be brave beyond anyone's wildest expectations.

Checking in

2008-09-06T02:43:00.004+10:00

I should be in a blogging habit, but lately, i'm not.

So i'm checking in. Hi blog.

Since last post, I now work for apple and am in the middle of a BRUTAL semester. I'm having a great time, but that time is in short supply. But here's the things I should've posted about.

1)

Seriously guys?

2)

Since when do amazing bands come out of castle hill?

3) Unexpected post-uni beers with friends is the best thing. Ever.

4) Nick Cave's ATP had better come to Sydney or i'll be grumpy (and travelling)

5) I should be writing another script for uni, not writing blogs. Bye pals! Visit me at apple store sometime, if i'm not there you'll still be in a gorgeous building surrounded by macs and smiles.

Scribbled notes from a bus-ride.

2008-08-20T20:55:00.006+10:00

I'm on the excruciating one-hour bus ride home after a day at uni, lucky I have my Ipod on me otherwise my selection of music would be the either 'Sweet Home Alabama' repeatedly on 101.7fm from the bus's radio or the electro-house beats radiating from some dudes head phones behind me. Today is Wednesday- Wednesdays at my uni are the days when bands come at lunchtime and play in our small bar. Over the last 4 semesters bands have been entertaining us in-between lectures for free (woo woo thanks to the Union!) We have had Mercy Arms, Ghostwood, Operator Please (they had the biggest crowd turn up on record), Dash and Will, Nathan Hudson, Luke Steel, Cuthbert and The Nightwalkers, Lover, Children Collide, Expatriate and last week Magic Dirt played, summoning an enthusiastic crowd who moshed to their new and old tunes. 1 in the afternoon is way too early for me to get dancing or into the mood to mosh so I just skimmed the sidelines of the bar and tapped my foot and nodded my head from a safe distance. Today Andy Bull played before Little Red at my uni bar and his style has obvious funk influences and he had the soul vibe going on too. His voice is presented in a high register which makes him sound different to what I expected but he was backed with a drummer, bassist and 3-piece brass band comprised of a saxophonist, trumpeter and trombone-player which was quite impressive. He's not my usual taste and right now I'm listening to his recorded tracks but I don't think it entirely gives him enough credit because the band live were very entertaining and I enjoyed his set quite a bit. Following him were Little Red who were pretty relaxed but seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely whilst they were draped with leis that were randomly being handed out around campus. My foot didn't stop tapping the whole time and I actually enjoyed them more in the relaxed setting of my university bar more than when they supported Vampire Weekend a few weeks back.

Andy Bull

Yesterday I turned up to Oxford Art Factory at 5pm and joined the long queue of people to see Death Cab For Cutie for a Myspace live show that was broadcasted across the internet all over the world. Like lemmings me all streamed into the gallery to access the main room via the back entrance adjacent to the bathrooms and as my friend and I shuffled closer and closer towards the door with the current three people in front of us were halted and told that the main room was now at full capacity and we had to sit in the gallery and watch through the window or view Death Cab on the projector. A wave a disappointment came over me and I didn't know whether to be angry or deflated. But my friend Peter was persistent to get in so he and I both said to the guard that we needed to leave the gallery to head into the bathrooms..which we did, but a few minutes later we waltzed right into the main room and another security guard just let us through! So I felt like I hadn't wasted my time and felt a bit naughty for 'sneaking' in..but knowing me if my friend hadn't lead the way I would have been a big push-over and would have sat in the gallery fuming. Take that..I still got through to the main room!!

YAY:
•Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin- this Missouri band have been around for a few years but I melt to their pop tunes such as 'Oregon Girl'.
•I've had some of Sparkadia's new tunes stuck in my head this week.
•'Young Bride' by Midlake. Mmmm!
•My friend sent me this comic..it's about music nerds and I think he was trying to hint that I have some connection to this comic: http://www.dustinland.com/archives/archives347.html
•I spotted some street art in Sydney the other day! In Omnibus Lane right near Ultimo Tafe some amazing people have decorated the walls.

Street Art in Omnibus Ln

NAY:
•MGMT tickets sold out in well-under a minute! Booohoo.
•My camera batteries decided to die on me during Death Cab For Cutie and kept flashing "BATTERY DEPLETED".
...I don't have much negative to say this week :)

Levity Blog #3: Big parties and big red carpets.

2008-08-12T18:19:00.007+10:00

Red carpets..they have so much appeal. Celebrities, musicians, actors, models and the VIP of the entertainment industry pose on the crimson walkway and I'm sure many people dream of stepping foot onto it to share some of the limelight with their idols. I've been on a red carpet once..back in july last year, my friend and I made sure we turned up fashionably late because it would have been embarrassing for us to walk on the red carpet while there were photographers and important people around us. The main reason: because we were neither musicians, journalists, actors, models or any form of celebrity. We were there to see Starky play their penultimate show. We shyly approached Crystal Bar in Martin Place with wobbling heels and goose-bumped skin, shuffling on the red carpet to an audience of none, apart from the door girls and guys who checked us off the list and pointed us towards Ray Ban's 70th Birthday Party. We entered the party and dropped off our coats and instantly recognised some faces, a Red Rider, Joel Edgerton, James Matheson, Gareth Moody, Saskia Burmeister, Rai Thistlewaite amongst the room of fellow celebrities. We nibbled on the amazing canapes, ate quality battered chips and calamari out of cute chinese noodle boxes and sipped on a few glasses of bubbly to shy away our red faces. By the time the bubbly had us under the influence Starky came on stage, delivering an energetic performance along with their single "Hey Bang Bang" which was nominated for and ARIA award in the category of "Breakthrough Artist 2006". My friend and I left soon after Starky finished performing, deciding that we had a fulfilling night and our timidness wouldn't have helped us mingle with the Ray Ban party crowd. But I was young and naïve! I'd certainly stick around, sipping more bubbly and mingling if the opportunity were to arise again.

That opportunity nearly arose again when this year after a few beers with a friend he asked me to be his date to a music awards event. As you can imagine I was very excited to be asked to attend such an event with familiar faces of artists who I avidly listen to and regularly hear about. I also saw it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and didn't want to appear overly enthusiastic with the invite so I didn't nag him too much for details. I called my so-called 'date' on the afternoon of the event to check the time of arrival thinking the award was to be presented that night..he then informed me it had already been held that morning and that he had "forgotten" to tell me the details of the event. Ouch. For your information his band didn't win the award anyway..

The next big red carpet event for the music industry is the ARIA awards with industry insiders paying $395-$495 for tickets which includes a three-course meal, unlimited alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks (or until too drunk to be served), red-carpet entry and passes to the after-party. I can imagine many people would be itching to attend for the experience and to rub shoulders with some of the ARIA contenders such as The Presets, Gyroscope and Cut Copy..some people itching enough that they are going to pay $445 for industry gold tickets- some of my friends who work in the music industry are going to empty their pockets and their piggy banks to go. But i wonder how much of a strain it is for some independent musicians to cough up a few hundred to fund their attendance. Most indepedent musicians have day-jobs to pay and maintain the equipment they need for their band, touring and recording and it doesn't come cheap either. 2007 AMP music award winners The Mess Hall know all about that when they confessed that during the recording of their latest album, Devil's Elbow, they were living on tinned food as well as the dole- not exactly living the luxury life. Still it's all about the experience isn't it? But I would certainly drink up $445 worth of alcohol if I were to attend and see Connie Mitchell in a plastic dress again doing her robotic dance moves/poses..mind you, I wouldn't be drinking in celebration. Nevertheless I can imagine it would be a fun and unforgettable night. Is it an easy prediction to say that Faker will be nominated for their single 'This Heart Attack'? After the exhaustive radio play they have had it is inevitable that they will at least get a nomination.

YAY:
•MGMT and Wolf Parade have announced their hitting our shores later this year!
•'The Gardner' by The Tallest Man On Earth and trying to sing with his Swedish accent after a few too many vodka-lemon-limes.
•The Boat People- charming Brisbane pop band with sweet tunes and sweet cardigans.

NAY:
•4am RAGE with death metal/hardcore artists with weird growling vocals, weird eyeliner, weird hair and weird piercings. Weird.
•'Shake It' by Metro Station- Hurt me before I have to hear those whinging vocals again that sound like those boys have just hit puberty..they aim to lure in teenage girls with these lyrics: "I'll take you home if you don't leave me at the front door/ Your body's cold, but girl we're getting so warm/And I was thinking of ways that I could get inside ". Ewwww.

Blog #2 for Levity: Splendorous!

2008-08-08T13:24:00.008+10:00

This past week we have had creative people with instruments in hand arrive on our shores. These people have given live music in Australia that boost of excitement, with bands such as Sigur Ros, Band of Horses, Vampire Weekend, The Fratellis, Devo, Cold War Kids, Tokyo Police Club, Laura Marling and New Young Pony Club as a handful of the most anticipated bands to catch while they are down under. Most of these bands have also held side shows too and if you are like me and didn't get to road trip up to Byron Bay, the side shows were easier to fit around a busy schedule. Being a poor uni student I managed to see one of these side-shows on Monday at the Metro where Vampire Weekend charmed the pants off everyone, not literally though and I'm glad about it because I think it is rather distasteful when people throw their underwear on stage- reminiscent of Jason Mraz at The Forum 2006 when a woman and a man took off their hopefully unsoiled undergarments and catapulted it onto the stage. Jason was slightly amused but grossed out by it. I can just imagine the chaffing the man would have felt on the bus ride home..ewww.
Back to Vampire Weekend though..they were supported by Little Red who have received a great deal of praise for their short 60's pop and rock 'n' roll infused tunes off their debut album 'Listen To Little Red'. I have heard and read nothing but good news about these cats. The crowd at the Metro were very inviting when they came on stage and as soon as they began people were jittering and some were jiving as they played a musical-chairs-like game with their lead vocalists, rotating regularly and harmonising together. I didn't feel like I was in the 21st century, and I realised more suitable attire would have been a big polka dot dress, ponytail and scarf around my neck. I have seen Little Red before and it is hard to stand there without tapping a foot or two. Then Vampire Weekend graced the stage and the crowd erupted in excitement, cheering and wolf-whistling and they started with "Mansard Roof" which was a fun sing-a-long. Vampire Weekend have this boyish charisma that ooze out of them especially from the lead singer, Ezra Koenig, who shared multiple smiles all around and seemed delighted to be in Australia. It's hard for a few people to accept they are from New York since they seem like they hail from the UK but once Ezra greeted the audience with his American accent it was evident that they were not a British band at all. They cheerfully played through their entire debut album tracklist of afro-pop with three new tracks as well and their bassist was cheerful too, dancing as he played. It would have been next to impossible to not ingest the happy atmosphere and leave there feeling like they were as good live as they are on CD. As for the other Splendour side-shows I missed out on Sigur Ros which I heard was amazing and a friend of mine went to Band of Horses, informing me mid-set that he was close to tears because they were so impressive.

So now that it is post-Splendour the other festivals to look forward to in Australia are The Great Escape and Big Day Out. But I have heard some news from a little birdy..supposedly The Great Escape has been canned due to poor ticket sales. Ouch. The lineup was pretty impressive with Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band, Ladytron, Joan as Police Woman, The New Pornographers and We Are Scientists as the top international acts for this festival. It is disappointing that, if this is true, that another chance to see some great bands from overseas as well as some of the best locals bands will be sent back home. The Great Escape Festival also offered free camping with every ticket that was sold. This reminds me of Playground Weekender which did go ahead but had poor ticket sales, free tickets were being handed out desperately so people would show up. What has happened that has caused people to become disinterested in festivals like this but festivals such as Big Day Out still sell-out? It's a mystery to me.

YAY:

•Bourke St Bakery- I visited there yesterday and bought a delightful strawberry and creme brulee tart, it contained real vanilla bean seeds and they were playing MGMT while I was ordering my dessert. Amazing food and great music playing while they are at work..I wish I worked there.
•Feist's 'The Reminder'- It's been out for a while but I love this album. I played it while I hosted a tea party and when I clean the house.
•Jack Ladder on "Good Day New York"- Jack had a chat to the female host before he performed "Love Is Gone", where the woman was short in comparison and with a strong American accent where Jack is tall and is a pretty quiet guy. The awkwardness of the conversation was enough to make me giggle but it's good to see the Hopetoun regular in the spotlight although I can imagine Kerry Anne wouldn't be calling him up for an appearance when he gets back.

NAY:

•Ian Curtis' Gravestone-I know it's old news but I think it is ridiculous that someone stole his gravestone. I can just imagine the jerk showing his/her friends the prized-stolen-possession and getting punched for it.
•The 'shock' of one of The Veronicas nude photos that leaked on the net- It was evident from their first single that they aren't sugar coated and have no talent. Lame lame lame.
•I can't escape The Living End's new single "White Noise". It's on in the bus, on the tv, on in my brother's room. I used to love TLE, I even covered my school folder in a poster i made that represented the album cover of 'Modern Artillery', but I'm not connecting with their new music although everyone else seems to be. Perhaps I'm being uptight. Perhaps I have to remind myself that Chris Cheney is one of Australia's best guitarists and that TLE are really good live..
•As good as Vampire Weekend were I had to stand on my tippy-toes the whole time, stuck in a crevice behind the two tallest guys at the gig. I rocked side-to-side to get a view of the stage. Where is the gallantry?

Blog #1 For Levity: The End of Indie in Sydney?

2008-07-29T22:02:00.018+10:00

“SYDNEY’S INDIE MUSIC SCENE IS NEAR IT’S END!!!”

So this is what I’ve heard a few people shouting out lately, ok..they weren’t exactly ‘shouting’ but they were prophesising what seems to be an apocalyptic ending to the beloved and rather creative music scene in one of Australia’s best cities (let’s not start on the ‘Australia’s BEST city: Sydney vs Melbourne’ argument). I think the idea that it’s near its end is pretty ridiculous but I think there are reasons for such suggestions and predictions:

Reason 1) Some people believe that independent music has lost some of it’s appeal.
This could be due to the current trends in music that are becoming tedious, predictable and past their time. Who knows. Or it could also be a reaction to neglect as a consequence of some of Sydney’s favourite bands who have been on hiatus over the past year recording albums (eg Mercy Arms) or venturing overseas (eg teenagersintokyo, Ghostwood), popping up for some quick gigs and then disappearing just as fast as they sell-out of their tickets. A prime example is Dappled Cities who left us last year to embark on an adventure in the USA after their truly wonderful double-headliner with Red Riders at The Metro-I had never seen so many girls at an indie gig scream in hysteria whilst clinging to their balloons that flaunted the words ‘I LOVE YOU’. I guess it was, after all, all ages. But those arduous six months that they were away flew by and the Dappled boys returned to us in late 2007, coming back to play across two nights and Oxford Art Factory where the sold-out second night sat on Valentine’s Day. They made all in attendance forget their singledom and presented some new tasty material as well as an emotional adieu to their drummer Hugh Boyce. Now the boys with a new drummer in tow are away again (hibernating!) to record for their new album. However they secured their appeal to Sydney last month when they impressed everyone at the Annandale when they decided to dress-up for the occasion in elaborate coats, hats, feathers and knickerbockers handing them the image of older century nautical captains. Except Ned, he was dressed as a tiger.

Dappled Cities

Perhaps the ‘loss of appeal’ that some are feeling is also due to the fact that over the past year there hasn’t been a vast array of fresh faces or names gracing our stages that we haven’t heard of before; of course we love the old faces but the familiar lineups have been becoming somewhat tiresome. This is where we can congratulate some recent support bands that have surprised us- such as Newcastle’s ‘Bear At The Door’ who seemed to make a pretty handsome impression on the audience at the previous said Dappled Cities Annandale gig. I think we should begin our excitement because I have a feeling there are new fun and talented bands coming up that will sweep us off our feet and reinforce that there is still appeal in Sydney’s independent music scene and that Cassette Kids aren’t the only ‘recently new’ band around.

Reason 2) Some people think indie is becoming too “mainstream”.
Perhaps this reason is a result of some Sydney bands who have recently had some exposure in the “mainstream” market, such as Bridezilla who have been hailed in Sunday Life and the like for their novel music with classical qualities at their delicate age, and being named amongst the “bands to watch in 2008” in the 2007 ARIA newspaper liftout. Perhaps it was because some of Sydney’s darlings, namely The Holidays and teenagersintokyo, have scored play on television advertisements with ‘Telephone’ featuring as the music for a Clearasil ad and teenagersintokyo’s ‘End It Tonight’ for Carefree panty liners. But really it is nothing to worry about and it is a bit of paranoia, although people are supposedly catching onto indie music, converting from the mainstream through word of mouth or by seeing an independent Sydney band support an international artist. Some people I know have approached me and have said “some friends and I are thinking of getting into indie music, lots of people are doing it right now”, this was coming from people who used to say “Indian music? You’re into Indian music!?” or those people who would tease me (and still do) by saying “You only like music that no one has ever heard of and if that music gets slightly popular you automatically hate it. You’re such a music snob”. But I think people are allowed to like the music they like but just as long as they don’t think they look ‘cool’ because ‘everyone else’ is getting into it.

Bridezilla

Reason 3) “Indie bands care more about the way they look than what their music sounds like.”
Hmm..well at least with this reason they identified that it is pretty common to find indie bands that have impeccable fashion sense. Of course not all bands are fashionistas but I think people who care about presentation get a tick in my books. At least if the music doesn’t sound good the way they present themselves is a bit of compensation.
But in honesty I think those reasons for the minor amount of people turning their back on Sydney’s independent music or thinking that it is on the verge of extinction is lame. They should get their ass to a gig and stop being such old prudes.

YAY:
•Visual art mixing with music- I’m a big fan of the murals by fine Australian artists at OAF gallery. Kill Pixie is featured there right now, go have a look!
•“Wet Winter Holiday” by Philadelphia Grand Jury (band formerly known as The Sweats)
•Straight Arrows live gigs- Those kids perform fun and energetic live performances and they don’t take themselves too seriously either.
•2008 Sydney Biennale-It’s great to see the celebration of art in Sydney.
•Foals- Art school drop outs who have created magnetizing music and intriguing videoclips.
•A friend of a friend told The Teenagers when they were here the other month that they are (quote) “a fad”.

NAY:
•The Teenagers gig at OAF-For a sold-out 18+ event there were too many under 18’s to count. The Teenagers encouraged girls to jump on stage during the set, resulting in squealing girls to pose for photos with the musicians to post onto their myspace accounts.
•People smoking marijuana on ‘Super Thursday’ at The Domain for WYD- I was finding my way around the maze of barricades during my gallery hopping for the Biennale to pass the mass of pilgrims to smell that some were smoking joints. I think the Pope would have been mortified to know that his pilgrims were smoking pot in celebration of WYD.

I hope you kids like my photos I included..
Until next time lovelies! x

Live export of Australian sheep/ Kill Pixie.

2008-07-28T21:54:00.009+10:00

YEN magazine today attracted my attention to the live exporting of Australian sheep to the Middle East so they can be slaughtered the 'Halal' way. I have read about this before but reading about it again is a reminder of how Australian sheep are being mistreated. The sheep endure horrendous conditions on the weeks it takes for them to be transported overseas and thousands of them die on the journey due to heat exhaustion and disease to name a few. Not only that, but the sheep are also inhumanely treated when they arrive in the Middle East and it is ridiculous that the Australian Government is pouring millions into exporting live sheep over there to be treated like they have no feelings, no thoughts..as if they aren't even living. It is disgusting to know that although we have Halal slaughterers here who have to follow guidelines on how animals can be treated here, once the animals arrive overseas the laws aren't the same and the animals are handled and abused in horrific ways before and during their slaughter. Usually I rather not read these sort of stories about animal cruelty because it upsets me (especially with the stories of the dancing bears) but this one keeps popping up and I find it distressing.
What the hell is wrong with the Australian Government that they can allow something like this to happen? A better alternative is to slaughter the animals (the Halal way) within the guidelines that the laws here have set out to avoid the mistreatment and stress of the animals, resulting in the preparation of food here where it is frozen and sent to the Middle East. They deserve a death within legal regulations and as humanely as possible.
It is also disgusting to hear that our beautiful Australian sheep are being treated this way :( To help you can sign a petition on the following website that will address this disgusting trade to Kevin Rudd. This story almost makes me want to turn vegetarian.

www.handlewithcare.org

On a lighter note, I recently have visited Oxford Art Factory (surprise, surprise!) to see a large mural by artist Kill Pixie who recently has been getting quite a lot of attention with his work being shown in China Heights Gallery and mentioned in YEN magazine just to name a few. I am a fan of his contemporary art as he experiments with interesting concepts and figures.

Remnants.

2008-07-14T03:58:00.002+10:00

Here's some things I uncovered from (i think) the year 2000.

Which means I was 13 at the time.

Pepsi Choose Your Music

Around 2000 as well, Pepsi had a promotion in which you could create YOUR OWN CD, which was huge because burners were pretty expensive.

From memory you just had to redeem some codes from bottles/cans on the internet, pick your songs, and enter your address.

This is what I got a few weeks later, because I was so subversive:

Tracklist:

1. 28 Days - Sucker
2. The Living End - Prisoner Of Society
3. Alex Lloyd - Lucky Star
4. (some very late 90s electronic kinda thing that i cant for the life of me remember)
5. Bodyjar - Not The Same

Adam's Stuff #1

This one comes from the 00/01 summer holidays. I just got my burner for christmas (or maybe my 14th birthday), as well as a new webcam, and so my 13/14 year old self made this epic:

I dont care what you haters say, apart from a few things (especially Frenzal Rhomb and my ill-fated attempt to get into that "linkin park" band all my friends were hot for), that mix cd is incredible.

Judging from his cd, At The Drive-In saved my sheltered bible belt life. Thanks guys.

The Acoustics of International Gems.

2008-07-11T17:00:00.003+10:00

Recently I've been listening to some international bands..I usually adapt my taste to the local Sydney bands but I'm finding beauty, lullaby, power, sanctuary, romance and creativeness that I do not experience and cannot find within the music of the Sydney indie scene. I love Sydney music, don't get me wrong, but I have a transcended appreciation for music when I listen to these bands from other locations in the world:

*The Album Leaf (California, USA)

*Seabear (Reykjavik, Iceland)

*Sea Wolf (LA, USA)

*múm (Finland)

*Hjaltalin (Reykjavik, Iceland)

*Amiina (Reykjavik, Iceland)

*Sigur Rós (Reykjavik, Iceland)

*Teitur (Hoyvík, Faroe Islands)

*Beirut (New Mexico, USA)

Oh swoon! Send me into a daydream when I listen to these musical gems.

Modern-Day Romancing.

2008-07-02T18:29:00.002+10:00

I think that modern-day romancing is not nearly as impressive as romancing that occurred before we got all complex with technology and became lazy. What ever happened to writing love letters and posting them where the receiving lover's heart would jump everytimg she/he would hear the post-man whizz past, just incase he was to deliver an letter sprayed with the lover's perfume. But instead of writing physical love letters we have become boring and instead have turned to emailing one another or sending mobile text messages. What will happen when you grow old and want to reflect on the first letter correspondance you had with your lover? You won't be able to pull out an old envelope of yellow oxidised paper will you? Because you let technology take over. This realisation is rather distressing and it is all your fault as well as the fault of living in the 21st century.

Also there is nothing very sexy or romantic about stabbing your number into a mobile phone, it is much more interesting to whip out a pen and and hold the person of interest's hand while you write down your number on their skin. But no, we all have mobile phones now to store such a number. Booooooo to modern-day romancing.

I need to be kind to theredsunband.

2008-06-26T14:30:00.005+10:00

I am a complete idiot. Back in 2006 I went to GasWorks in Parramatta to see Dappled Cities (Fly), supported by theredsunband and Operator Please. I sat there during Operator Please and sucked up their new catchy pop tunes and I saw that these kids had amazing potential to be something big. Now they are. But during theredsunband's set I was too busy drinking and getting up to mischief by taking photos of my friends when they least expected it. I remember thinking that theredsunband were droaning, too boring for my liking. I guess being sandwiched in the set between two bands with fun but erratic pop tunes I couldn't grasp the dark and moody atmosphere projected from theredsunband's tracks, extracted from their debut album Peapod.

BUT it has taken me a few years to realise that I actually really like them. They had disappeared from the music scene for a while just after tracks from Peapod were on high-rotation on Triple J and after they were being raved about by just about everyone. But their comeback in late 2007 with their EP 'Like An Arrow' with a single of the same name saw them back on the menu of independent Sydney bands to watch and listen to. I saw them at the beginning of this year at Laneway Festival and I regret not paying more attention to their set. Firstly there was a modest crowd in The Basement which didn't really set the mood, and into the first few songs Sarah's guitar string snapped so there was that interruption in their play time which I think threw me off after a long day of running around and dancing to some of my favourite artists. I just wasn't feeling it or listening to them so I left mid-set and went home.

I'm smacking my head on the keyboard because lately I've been playing their tracks on their myspace tunes on repeat. I haven't yet listened to all of their new album released this month, The Shiralee, but I hope to. I also hope to see them live again with my full attention and to enjoy them. I know they am not one of those bands that share their musical experience better on cd than live in the flesh (as people have told me their live shows are great), so I'm anticipating their next gig of theirs that I attend. They aren't being raved about (again) for no reason..I regret bagging them out as 'boring' after I had only seen them play once because from what I have heard recently, their music is amazing. The track 'The Eagle' from "The Shiralee" is a powerful indie rock tune that I am a big big big fan of. I can't believed I missed them play this tune at Laneway this year.

Keffiyehs are an annoying fashion fad.

2008-06-21T17:01:00.006+10:00

There has been uproar lately over the styling of keffiyeh scarves (aka desert scarves) around people's necks in the western world. I personally don't like them especially after seeing them sported by celebrities and Australian idols early-2007, but to then see them in nearly every clothing store in the local shopping centre at the beginnning of 2008 just made me cringe. Then along came the predictive plethora of keffiyehs draped over everyone as i walk down the street, walk into uni, walk into my own house to see two of my brothers bought one each..one in black and one in red. I did grill my brother everytime he wore it and i did state my point that it looks ridiculous and daggy and that my hands are wet and i want to use it as a tea towel.
But the thing that has made a lot of people upset is the fact that this fashion fad has been a Palestinian national symbol since the 1960s, indicative of masculinity (since only men initially wore them) and it has supposed terrorism connotations.

I know that attire with political or national symbolism come into fashion every now and then but this is one that I wish would vanish from street fashion because I can't stand the sight of them anymore. I read in an internet article that "fashionistas" are wearing the keffiyehs and have set off the trend, but the funny thing is that true fashionistas would most likely not wear a scarf like that. High-end fashion most certainly haven't supported the trend.

So unless you're a someone who is supporting Yasser Arafat and wears it around your head..i don't want to see you wearing a keffiyeh!

I like animals, especially FOALS

2008-06-15T21:11:00.009+10:00

There are lyrics going through my head, over and over and over..

"We fly balloons on this fuel called, we fly balloons on this fuel called love"
"Cassius is over! Cassius away! Cassius these daydreams, these daydreams, okay!"

It's good to see a videoclip with indie kids who aren't afraid to dance. I love indie, but I love it even more when there is erratic dancing involved. And I like when there are pretty and obscure props involved too..such as in Foals' "Cassius" which is a videoclip that consists of lots of hearts (cow or sheep hearts I'm guessing) that hang from the ceilings on string..
These guys are fun, kind of geeky but very cute at the same time and the fact that it's a bit hard to understand what they are singing makes the fact that they are foreign (although they come from an English-speaking country) that much better. They score quite a few brownie points with me :)

This is the videoclip to their new single "Red Socks Pugie". The clip reminds me of the 70's/80's educational videos I've had to watch throughout my science education career, sitting in class watching vintage films of how the body works. The mushroom clouds they show in this clip are just phenomenal! The whole dated look to this clip has sucked me in. Another brownie point!

Shootin' Video, part 2.

2008-06-13T02:58:00.004+10:00

Done and dusted!
Some of my footage wasn't as great as I'd hoped (too bright in parts) and my audio tracks weren't great, but I think it turned out ok when I mixed it all up.

Just got to do a few presentation-ish things (like a DVD cover and menu, etc) and i'm on holidays.

Here's the video:
(Note: it should be in widescreen but sometimes doesn't. I find if you drag the time bar thing at the bottom to the start while its playing, it'll go to widescreen. It's weird!)

In other news, this Saturday's lineup is going to be the best indie pop show ever - Guy Blackman, The Crayon Fields and Songs. Be sure to attend.

Brownies, bike rides and booze..

2008-06-10T00:13:00.002+10:00

MOUNTAIN KIDZ are the best kind of kids.

PUSHING DAISIES.

2008-06-04T19:09:00.005+10:00

This is one of the best television series I have ever seen. It is sweet, smart, cute and imaginative. For some reason Channel 9 haven't aired it yet, but Adam and I spent some nights last holidays engaging in a 'Pushing Daisies' marathon where we lie around his living room with our cups of tea, watching episodes until 3am haha. Can't wait until they release the new season of it!!
Awwww this pic is so super cute I want to cry..

Shootin' video

2008-05-27T03:47:00.003+10:00

So for my major video assignment this semester I am going to be shooting live footage of some bands and editing them into what should be a seminal concert film (at least for a few friends on youtube).

Tonight i've been up all night getting info, and oh my, it's a lot bigger than i thought. Since i'm filming something happening live, an element of danger has been added - one camera/recorder with the wrong format, or one mistake with the audio feed, or anything like that can completely derail what I'm doing.

But i'm seeing the pieces come together. I'm going to make this work. It's the first video prac i've felt excited about, the first one that I can see myself learning from and returning to for leisure, or even something with higher stakes.

This project goes beyond fulfilling criteria - i feel like i have a chance to document something important and to put back into something close to me. It's a chance to not only contribute, but to have a point - Something to do that's an exception from constantly seeing bands, going home and adding nothing to the mix.

This is going to be my first dabbling in live audio, in multi-camera editing, and in capturing live events.

I might be being really overdramatic here, but I'm enthused and excited and scared shitless.

Not safe for work/home/life itself!

2008-05-23T14:14:00.002+10:00

Hoorah for our heroic police force and national press, who have spent the last 24 hours protecting us from lefty pervert Bill Henson. Henson is at the center of a whole lot of uproar among those with proper morals for his graphic depictions of half-naked adolescent forms. Which pretty much means he let the terrorists win. But Bill Henson is just the tip of the sick, twisted iceberg. Here's some other things that need to be taken away, for the benefit of the children.

Blind Faith

Long before Eric Clapton started exploiting his audiences with overpriced arena shows and boring babyboomer music, he was exploiting pre-teen girls with his circle-jerk of perversion Blind Faith. A "supergroup" featuring members of Cream and Traffic, their (thankfully) only album featured an eleven-year-old topless girl on the cover. The cover's photographer, Bob Seidermann, described his intention as to show "the beginning of the transition from girl to woman... that temporal point, that singular flare of radiant innocence". Which is basically a self-indulgent way of saying "i wish they'd left that hole in the fence behind the schoolyard"

Miley Cyrus

A hero to preteen girls around the world, the daughter of Billy Ray "Achey Breaky Heart" Cyrus recently expressed her deep embarrassment about having her bare back exposed for the world to see in a photo shoot by Vanity Fair's Annie Leibovitz (see, women can be perverted too!). This apology came after an uproar from the mainstream media, who are at the forefront of the fight against the sexualisation of children - which is why they only plastered the picture across every news outlet in the western world because they knew that parents had to be warned about who their child's hero really is.

Little Boy Fountains

I heard that R. Kelly has a bunch of these installed at his mansion. 'Nuff said.

Get the cool... get the cool shoe shine!

2008-05-22T23:25:00.002+10:00

My bus home from the city is right outside the QVB, and at the entrance there's a shoe shining stand.

Is it just me, or is there something really medieval about sitting on a high chair while somebody is on their knees, polishing your shoes.
I'm not sure i could get it done without feeling like an asshole.

WTF?

2008-05-20T14:29:00.000+10:00

Cute book shop boy.

2008-05-18T22:38:00.002+10:00

While rummaging through www.viceland.com I saw this and thought he was super cute.
For some reason I just can't stop looking at the photo..

Watch This Band!

2008-05-18T13:22:00.003+10:00

Songs, a 4-piece from Sydney.

I've had my eye on these guys for a couple of months now based on their awesome song "Keeping It Clean", as well as the more recent addition of "KC's In Trouble".

But last night i finally saw them live, and it blows those songs out of the water. When they said they recorded their "straighter" songs for the EP, they weren't lying - their live set is much more varied, bringing in a whole range of influences from across the indie spectrum. They debuted a new song which was the highlight of the set, and played really well together. Be sure to catch them, it seems like destiny that they'll get way, way more popular. Their EP is out now in "selected" record stores, and an album is forthcoming on Popfrenzy Records.

Myspace

Damn 'Ye, we'd be sorry to diss you...

2008-05-14T21:48:00.003+10:00

...even your superficial raps are super-official!

I'm officially totally burnt out. Sorry for the lack of posts lately.

HOW TO: Look like a total douche.

2008-05-14T21:03:00.006+10:00

The steps to attain a douche attitude and look:

#1: Watch videoclips of Kanye West and practice his dance moves
#2: Perfect Kanye's individual vocals so much so that when you ring up your friends and sing 'Good Life' they will actually believe that it is Kanye on the other end of the phone.
#3: Rehearse all of Kanye's lyrics so you know them off by heart, making particular attention to change your pronunciation of "with you" to "witchu".
#4: Realise that you have to look like Kanye too so you check out his fashion sense and replicate it so well that you will look like him.
#5: Find some girl in the street to be your "black Kate Moss", so that when you listen to 'Stronger' for the 100000th time you can look at her and wink.
#6: Like icecream with a cherry on top for the perfect finish..you can't be Kanye without getting a pair of his trademark douche glasses and sporting them on your face like the douche you are.

Those shades are totally impractical, they defeat the purpose of protecting you from the sun, then don't even look cool..but i guess they do protect you from people who try to poke you in the eye. If you buy them for a laugh then I guess I can cross you off my hate list, but really..they are the epitome of lame.
Adam, I know you'll hate me for bagging Kanye but it was obvious that it would be brought up at some stage.
Toodles!

FEMININE OBSESSIONS.

2008-05-09T00:24:00.006+10:00

Ok, i have found some new obsessions. More like obsessions for my sight as I get excited everytime my eyes feast on such exquisite, feminine or inspiring objects that I have encountered lately. These include:

PETER PAN COLLARS.

They are amazingly cute and I just read a tutorial on how to make one. Firstly I need to buy some patterns and learn how to make a top/blouse in a beautiful vintage fabric that will accompany the collar. And I need to learn how to sew with my sewing machine properly..brushing up my sewing skills since I made satin boxers shorts in Design & Technology (Year 8 or 9).

BLOUSES.

Lovely and feminine, I like blouses with simple but adorable collars such as the Peter Pan Collar, but I also love blouses with cascading ruffles that gather at the sternum. Mainly these sorts of blouses will be black on its own or black and white preferrably. There is a beautiful black blouse with cute ruffles in Ben Sherman right now (I only noticed it after staring and drooling at Dappled modelling Ben Sherman clothing on very large mounted posters in the Paddington Store). I can't seem to find a picture of it but this blouse is close enough..except for the fact that it is yellow!

OLD CAMERAS.

I'm not talking disposable crappy portable cameras...I'm talking oldschool SLRs, Holga or Diana+ lomography cameras (which can be bought new but they have that old sentiment and charm to them when you get your photos printed with amazing saturation!) and polaroids.

PUSSY CAT BOWS & BERETS.
Yes yes yes yes yes :]
♥

FREE AS A BIRD

2008-04-30T20:48:00.001+10:00

Putting up my defences.

2008-04-20T21:18:00.006+10:00

There are many things that I am defensive about. I am just a defensive person. Some people poke fun at me and I usually put up my defences instantly unless I know that too well they are just trying to stir me up. But I am especially defensive when it comes to the music I like. Yes, I understand that everyone likes different genres and sounds and most people have an opinion on music but today I have become irritated after doing some YouTube research on Joanna Newsom and Last.fm research on one of my favourite Australian bands, Dardanelles. Both of these artists are an acquired taste, understandably because they do not follow the mundane mainstream cookie-cut-outs of pop and rock bands, pretty much because neither are mainstream and both defy these genres.

Joanna Newsom.

When it comes to Joanna Newsom some think she has a voice that makes the listener want to clench their teeth and grate their skin, but like many others I see more to her than just her vocals. Everyone knows that she doesn't have a smooth singing voice but some people are stupid enough to just focus on her singing and be ignorant of the fact that she is a classically trained harpist which in itself intrigues me already. Her lyrics are story-telling in poetry form and reflect Romanticism along with the magical elements that contribute to the dreaminess that embodies her. After I listened closely to her music and watched interviews of her I realised that although she is mannered and gentle (reminiscent of a little girl) she is idiosyncratic which is where the eccentricity of her singing voice fits her perfectly. Then there are jerks who post comments on her videos on YouTube who say that she's "retarded" and think she sounds horrible. I believe people can have their own opinion but that irritates me because people like that are so quick to criticise and post comments like that to spark up everyone elses defences. Like my own. Really, if people like that have nothing nice to say then they shouldn't say anything.

Then a few hours ago I stumbled across an article someone wrote on Last.fm about Dardanelles, accusing the Melbourne band of being "unoriginal" and "stealing" the main guitar riff to Scott Walker's 'Cossacks Are' in their newest track 'Mirror Mirror'.I had a listen to the guitar riffs and both are simplistic and jolt in and out during the tracks but it is extremely lame to think that one is copying the other, especially since Walker's riff is longer and has a miniscule pause in the middle of it. For someone who doesn't study music even I can tell there is a difference between both riffs. I just think some people cannot understand the fact that sometimes other people's intellectual property can be similar to others without intention.

Dardanelles-'Mirror Mirror'

I think that Dardanelles debut album 'Mirror Mirror'is one of the best albums released recently that I have listened to mainly due to the fact that they have a consistent and innovative post-punk sound with impressionist lyrics that separate them from the indie-electo sound that has emerged everywhere in the past year. It is clever in the way 'Mirror Mirror's tracks blend into one another, making the album into a personality of the Dardanelles at that particular time instead of just being an album of singular tracks with no purpose to the flow as a collective.
But who am I to think that when they are quote,"..talentless hacks who steal guitar riffs from Scott Walker". I just discovered the author of that journal even wrote about "people who make defiant stances against people who get e-angry when someone doesn't like a band that they're fond of". Am I now too predictable?

Die! Die! Die! last night at Oxford Art Factory

2008-04-20T18:23:00.003+10:00

Highlights:

Lachlan. Bringing him in on bass was the best move ever, he has great stage presence and his bass lines are increasingly becoming the centerpiece of the band's songs, to great effect. He also wears an awesome jacket.

The crowd being rowdy, out of control, inconsiderate, and making for an amazing exchange of energy with the band. Usually i'd hate a crowd like that, but it was very fitting.

The guy who stood on stage near the end of the set, took off his jacket and his shirt, and stood there for an entire song while he was pelted with schooners.

Blue Skies. That song still floors me every time.

It was a great night, and they definitely got me out of a sagging mood. I reviewed it for Fasterlouder, I'll post a link when it's up.

Hibernation

2008-04-20T17:51:00.006+10:00

This winter i've decided i'm going to be one of those squirrels who stow away a whole lot of nuts in winter. And by that, i mean I'll stop being a squirrel who never has any nuts because he traded them all for records. Seriously, i've bought 14 records and 18 cds in the past fortnight. Ridiculousness for someone working 12 hours a week.

So no more superfluous record purchases for a while! (And no, getting the new My Disco LP at the launch next week is not superfluous, it's essential). I'm also going to try to hustle more free tickets to things, stop drinking at shows, and eat out less.

I'm sorry, music industry. You know I love you, right?

It will all be worth it when I can afford to go to Splendour (especially if i can review it for somebody or something).

In other news, will there ever be an album that feels as much like home as Sunset Studies? If a record was a warm blanket, a favourite old jumper and a childhood-defining candy all in one, it would be Sunset Studies.

I like boys with dark hair..

2008-04-15T14:33:00.005+10:00

Adam has done a few posts recently and because my muse is on vacation I'm resorting to gossip.
No I'm not going to turn this into a 15-year old girls blog about who in Hollywood is releasing a new perfume or clothing line, who recently got engaged and the "shock-horror" of what celebrity is cheating on their partner with another celebrity.
BUT what I will say is that Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom are a couple..
NOOOOOOOOOOO!

I think all of us girls know that Orlando (with a gorgeous Australian girl like Kerr) is never ever ever going to be single again.

While completely diverting our attention away from two gorgeous celebrities who will have amazingly gorgeous babies..I have been listening to 'KONK' the second album from The Kooks. I have had this album on repeat and while I find there are some tracks I absolutely adore, i.e "Stormy Weather", "Mr Maker", "Always Where I Need To Be", "Tick of Time" and "See The Sun", there are some tracks that I still find a bit middle of the road but I wouldn't entirely say that they have 'second album syndrome'. This album just needs to be given a chance. On initial listening it can seem a bit disappointing but giving it more goes makes the tracks more enjoyable and the album as a whole more enjoyable too. I still rather 'Inside In/Inside Out'.

Talking about bands who don't really live up to past albums, I had a listen to 'Brain Thrust Mastery' by We Are Scientists and got through half of it before I put on their previous album "With Love and Squalor" to remind me that their older music isn't bland. Sorry but I don't think Keith Murrays cuteness could save this album. Nonetheless I still like these boys.

We Are Scientists.

Gig Guide: 13-20 April

2008-04-13T16:56:00.002+10:00

What's more worthwhile? My uni assingment? Or a gig guide!
That's right, it's gig guide time!
In keeping with the new layout of our blog, i'm going to keep it more consise than last time. But totally useful!

Let's party!

This Week in Sydney:

Wednesday 16th April: Grand Salvo, Holly Throsby, Machine Translations, Firekites
Factory Theatre, Marrickville, 8pm, $15+bf

I haven't seen Grand Salvo before, but word is that in Melbourne he's a pretty big deal. I've heard him compared to a quieter Sufjan Stevens, and the bunch of songs i've heard confirm this and excite me for this show. He's launching his new record "Death" with an ensemble of musicians, and his recent Melbourne launch has recieved some pretty big kudos. Supports are great too, coming from a bunch of his labelmates on Spunk records - most notably Holly Throsby, who is about to record a new record... so expect some new material from her.

Thursday 17th April: Laura Jean
Seymour Centre, University of Sydney, 8pm, $17

Laura Jean is another Melbourne artist launching an album this week, her album Eden Land. Her last album "Our Swan Song" was a lovely folk record that seemed to slip under the radar, at least in Sydney, but elsewhere she's getting noticed - randomly enough, Snow Patrol have been big fans for some time. Maybe you will be too.

Friday 18th April: The Lucksmiths, Cloud Control, The Small Hours
Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills, 8pm, $12

The Lucksmiths have been around for over 15 years - basically, they were doing the indie twee-pop thing before most of their current contemporaries even started school. Not least of all Cloud Control and The Small Hours, two of Sydney's finest going around right now. Check out both the godfathers and the fresh faces of nice Australian boys playing sweet music, with a triple bill charming you'll want to blog all about it.

Saturday 19th April: Die! Die! Die!, Talons, The Ripping Dylans
Oxford Arts Factory, Darlinghurst, 8pm, $15+bf

Die! Die! Die! are one of the first bands i got into when I was a young kid who could suddenly go see bands. A bunch of years later they're still gaining popularity, and while they've slowed the tempo a bit it's been to their benefit - their album "Promises Promises", which is launching here, is their best yet, and live they are one of the best bands going around. Support comes from Talons, who are one of the better new bands around in Sydney, as well as The Ripping Dylans.

Saturday 19th April: Ro Sham Bo
Supper Club, Darlinghurst, 10pm, $20+bf (facebook says $10, hmmm!)

Ro Sham Bo were the best dudes to go see DJ, back when they held crazy parties. But then people realised that they were the best dudes, and now they play big parties with huge headliners all over the place. Go Ro Sham Bo! But i kind of miss cramming into a little bar surrounded by amazing people and going nuts to all the party jams these guys would throw out. So i'm pretty excited that they're taking it back a bit with this new monthly party, playing the rather small and posh-looking Supper Club. No bullshit, just themselves playing some big jams while (i assume) heaps of great people pack in and go nuts.

That's all for this week!

On The Horizon:
08-04-23 Vialka + The Laurels, La Capana
08-04-24 Klever, Club 77
08-04-25 My Disco, Oxford Arts Factory
08-04-26 Against Me!, Metro
08-05-01 Kes Band + Moonmilk, Hopetoun Hotel
08-05-10 El Guinco, Supper Club
08-05-17 Grey Daturas, Hermann's
08-05-31 Ampere, tba
08-06-01 Ampere, tba
08-06-02 The Silents, Spectrum
08-06-05 Dead Farmers + Halal, How Are You + Art Rush, Lewisham Hotel
08-06-16 Whitley, Annandale Hotel
08-06-18 Institut Polaire + Cuthbert & The Night Walkers, Spectrum
08-06-20 Kimya Dawson, Manning Bar
08-05-25 Mark Kozelek, Factory

Happy gigging!

Oh, childhood!

2008-04-13T03:30:00.000+10:00

This is probably the coolest, most nostalgic thing i've come across on the internet for a long time.

Al Jaffee's fold-ins for Mad magazine, from the 1960s to the present, in interactive form.

Some awesome stuff there, and such a great format.

Miranda July, VBS TV....

2008-04-12T17:01:00.003+10:00

These are a few of my favourite things!

VBS.tv is full of greatness. They should release a compilation dvd, because the videos buffer weirdly and i can only watch properly when my connection isn't being problematic (rarely)

Watch this band!

2008-04-08T13:24:00.003+10:00

The Diamond Sea

http://www.myspace.com/slowsignal

Saw them last night, fantastic new band reminiscent of Sonic Youth and Sleater-Kinney. But a little faster paced.

Thats all from me for now, by body hates me today.

British pop music.

2008-04-07T21:44:00.005+10:00

I think I have a soft spot for Britpop.
And I am so forgiving of it if it all sounds the same as well!

A repeat offender is Jack Penate who uses the same guitar line in about 5 of his songs (approximately the chords in order: G,Bm7,Cmaj7 and D)and does some erratic dancing on stage, but it is so hard not to sing-a-long to his hopeless romantic songs and watch the videoclip to "Have I Been A Fool" and just go "awwwwww!". But when I saw him on stage at The Factory I stopped going "awww!" when I couldn't understand a thing he was saying inbetween songs. hmmm.

Jack Penate.

There is also The Kooks who produce songs with guitar lines that are a bit repetitive (ie 'Sofa Song' and 'She Moves In Her Own Way'), bouncy drums beats, lyrics about sexual inexperience and letting go of love, and Luke's whimpering singing. Their new single "Always Where I Need To Be" hasn't exactly impressed critics here but I still love it because those songs elicit the inner teeny bopper in me who finds their tracks 'romantic' and addictive. I'm sure I would scream, blush and jump up and down if they were to announce a tour to Australia anytime soon. I don't care how many times Simon Amstell bags them out, they are one of my favourite Britpop artists. And their track and videoclip to "She Moves In Her Own Way" makes me melt inside. They have even done a cover of Peter, Bjorn and John's "Young Folks" and have taken out the infamous whistling and replaced it with melodic humming and "do do's", they have also slowed the tempo down a bit giving it a 'cruising down the countryside on a sunday afternoon in the sun' kind of feel to it. Although Luke still whines in spurts of emotion as he usually does, but I'm so use to it now that I like it.

The Kooks.

I'm thinking maybe I'm just hopeless when it comes to cute British accents and pop music..
Except I'm not into Pete Doherty. Ewwww.
I received a mix of indie music from a friend that included The Hoosiers in it, the track being their new single "Cops and Robbers"..it is very much a 'single' song in that it has catchy tunes and hooks and the opening of it reminds me of "Cats" by The Cure. The Hoosiers have this track and another called "Worst Case Scenario" which is another fun pop tune although it is predictable just like "Cops and Robbers" and has a guitar line reminiscent of The Kooks et al.
But I admit it, I really really liked 'Let's Dance To Joy Division' by The Wombats when I first heard it.
Please don't hurt me now.

Muxtape!

2008-04-06T20:35:00.002+10:00

Anyone using Muxtape? I'm using it now. I'll be using it to post songs that excite me. And generally songs that everyone hasn't already heard. So that people will find it interesting, or something.

Anyway, check mine out. And comment me with your address.

http://esquared.muxtape.com/

Splendour in the Grass 2008 is better than 2007.

2008-04-05T13:17:00.003+11:00

So, if you head along to Devo's website right now, you'll see...
"JULY/AUG: MORE INTERNATIONAL DATES TBA!"

But guess what it said in that space a few hours ago?

AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2008

• JULY 31: Melbourne, Australia @ Festival Hall
• AUG. 1: Sydney, Australia @ Hordern Pavilion
• AUG. 2: Byron Bay, Australia @ Splendor in the Grass Festival
• AUG. 5: Adelaide, Australia @ Thebarton Pavilion
• AUG. 6: Perth, Australia @ Metro City

This is such, such spectacular news. Unless the rest of the lineup completely jumps the shark, i'll be going.

Sook Against The Machine

2008-04-04T18:05:00.004+11:00

Australia's videogame censorship is ridiculous. We are basically the only developed, democratic nation in the world that still holds onto an archaic ratings system that relies fundamentally on the definition of video games as exclusively used by children.
It's reared its head again today, as Rockstar confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 4 (which is probably the most ridiculously hyped game ever) had to be modified to fit into a MA15+ rating - the highest possible videogame rating before the OFLC declares a game "refused classification" - and therefore, illegal to sell in Australia.

The absence of an adults rating (which would logically be R18+) is incredibly condescending and frustrating to adult gamers, who now form an overwhelming majority of videogaming's markets. Despite logic, research, and popular opinion making it seem obvious that an addition to the classifications system is nessecary, ignorant officials such as South-Australian attorney-general Michael Atkinson continue to block any motion to change the law. Like the annoying kid at the cinemas who won't stop shouting in the silence, people like this ruin everybody's fun for no logical reason by simply doing things that annoy almost everybody except for themselves. When somebody designated to reflect the will of the public comes to the conclusion that the fastest growing entertainment medium in the world, with the majority of its users being adults, should not allow games designed for adults to be sold in Australia at all, they have clearly become completely irrelevant and need to be relieved of their duties. This way, their ignorant railing against games they have never seen in an entertainment genre that they have never played don't actually spoil anyone else's fun.

I mean, in terms of practical uses it hasn't been that important so far. The content removed from GTA will be anecdotal if not unnoticable, and most games banned have been rubbish anyway. But it's infuriating that we are still faced with this ridiculous kind of censorship.

In other news, the new Panic at the Disco song is a lot of fun, but the album in general reminds me way too much of Silverchair's Diorama. It's not quite as bad, and certainly doesn't take itself as seriously, but it has the same self-conscious attempt (and by attempt, i mean it is really obvious in the way it strives) to come across as an "opus", a timeless classic in the vein of Pet Sounds or OK Computer that is grandiose, consise, and timeless. Unfortunately, like Silverchair, PATD haven't realised that tacking some string arrangements and slightly modifying their song structures doesn't achieve this - instead, it comes across as hackneyed and overdone, carrying with it the same amount of class as a wannabe celebrity in an ill-fitting dress with a fake leather Prada bag from Chinatown on their arm. Who takes themselves far, far too seriously.

But yeah, that first single is still pretty fun.

Tonight was going to belong to Baseball, but i'm only just coming out of the most hectic flu in years, plus i've hardly slept properly. I think tonight now belongs to green tea, my ridiculous chocolate and liquorice darrel lea easter egg, and either John Hughes films or Wrestlemania 24.

Far too much complaining by me. Let's focus on something awesome. Here's an amazing comic that i got sent last night.

It's by Matt Furie, whos book I now plan on getting.

Over and out.

This is why Australia is becoming less and less fun!

2008-03-31T21:17:00.005+11:00

The way people tend to write this kind of thing off as irreverent larrikinism, or slightly over-the-top patriotism, or something of that nature is a bit of a worry.

Housekeeping!

2008-03-31T20:54:00.002+11:00

Hoorah! I've changed a couple of the template things. We still need a complete redesign, but hopefully it doesn't make you want to stab your eyes out like the previous header/background combination probably did.

I also added a tag at the side for the gig post i'm doing - Hopefully we can do some other parts of the blog that will be worth adding a quick link to. I'm also hoping to find a way to add quick links to just view all posts from one author. Just in case you only come here to read Zohara's thoughts, and don't want to wade through my stuff.
Let me know what you think!

Here's a comic.

Oh, Dan Clowes <3. I stole it from Mr Wonderful, a serial he did earlier this year for the New York Times, which you can score PDF's of for free right here.

The art of conversation and saving Mus musculus.

2008-03-31T00:49:00.004+11:00

I am consistently tempted to start these blogs with "So.." as if I’m breaking awkward silences that arise between two people who either have a lack of substance to their conversations or who have been forced into a situation that transforms small talk into a real conversation.

I try hard to be polite in almost any conversation, even if the person is the last person I want to talk to that day or even if I’m extremely upset with someone and want to kick them in their baby makers (male AND female) but I guess the hardest part is initiating the conversation. I regularly "chicken-out" of conversations with a fear that I am going to embarrass myself, flow my words into the deep black hole of awkward silence or out of nervousness. Then I will say "So..".

BUT! There are many times when a conversation is streaming steadily and I say "So" to indicate that I’m going to change the topic to talking about love life (it is a carried out "Soooooo" though), oh how predictable, although many a time people think I say it out of discomfort perhaps because they think they have insulted me. Rarely am I insulted by any such murmers unless it includes distasteful sexist remarks, racism, pure-stupidity or animal cruelty. No i don’t think it’s "sweeeeet" or "awesome" if you went hunting with the boys on the weekend and shot a (gorgeous) kangaroo or possum because it is a pest. I happen to like animals so a conversation about hunting and roadkill is a digging yourself your own grave. Unless you are talking ’Buck Hunter’..that is a different story.

While we are on the topic of animals and while I get on the subject of their instincts..yesterday I had the pleasure of holding in my hand a beautiful complex mass of cells of Mus musculus, or in more general terms a ’house mouse’. It’s beady little eyes sprinkled with dirt gazed up as me, his wiry whiskers surveying the air and his little limp body tucked into my palm. I saved him from the evil jaws of my ginger cat, Pippin, who had caught him and was playing around with him like a hot potato, throwing him around between her paws while she rolled in the dirt under the rose vine. The tiny mouse, so vulnerable, was in shock and his lifeless limbs uncurled in the dirt. I saved him and caressed him in my hands. He was still alive, his chest rising and falling as I observed his injuries..a torn ear and a medial wound oh his back. I knew he was going to die soon so I stroked his crown to calm him down and his eyes slowly closed as he endured his injuries. His chest still rose and fell. I took him to the empty housing lot down the road in my nightwear attire close to midday (how embarassing!) and rested him under a tree that still remained after the large lawnmowers had demolished the lovely long wild grass and weeds.
I revisited him later but he had passed. "The sole quiet thing". At least he died in peace instead of in the mouth of Pippin the Murderer. But as sad as death of living things is to me it is all a consequence of animal instincts to hunt for food, although Pippin is very very spoilt by my Mum who buys her great quality meat as well as Dine cat food.

Pippin.
(Thanks to my amazing photography..)

And to totally change the subject I can’t wait to read the heading articles on sleep in the new ’New Scientist’ magazine. I have been carrying it around with me all day.
:]

The murderer in her hunting pose

Gig Guide! For you! April part 1.

2008-03-30T19:05:00.003+11:00

Here we go! I'm going to write a little gig guide, in an attempt at actual music blogging.
These are mostly the gigs i'm going to, which naturally means i'm recommending them.
Well, i'm planning on going to them. Which means i might be there.
I'll post Myspace links so you can give the bands a listen. Hit me up with comments and such, i'd love to hear if you'll be around, or if i've missed something important, or if anyone really finds this useful/reads it at all.
I'll probably post the complete list here, but not do all of the write-ups at once. That would take forever! I'll probably do them a week or so in advance.

Here's the first part of April. It's very punk. April is shaping up to be very punk, actually. Apologies if you aren't into that.

Friday 4th: Baseball (Melb), Ohana and Dead China Doll at Spectrum (Oxford St, Darlinghurst), 18+
Baseball's album is finally out, and it's really great. They are a pretty heavy rock band with a lead vocalist who also plays violin, and Pikelet is their drummer. Their sound is kind of thrashy, but the frenetic violin sounds give it a pretty unique spin.
Sydney shows for Baseball have been pretty rare lately, so don't sleep on this one. Ohana from Wollongong are great, too - their type of music is more precise, think My Disco with a bit more of a melodic, perhaps even "emo" influence (and i do use that term with some reservations).
Myspace: Baseball, Ohana

Friday 4th: The Thaw, Dead Farmers, Radiant City (Melb) and Fail at Helen Rose-Shausberger Laboratorium (1/17 Waterloo st, Surry Hills), 8pm, $8, all ages
So, the night that we finally get a Baseball headline gig, there's also a killer gig going on in an art space. The Thaw are an all-girl group who have been in the Sydney DIY scene for a number of years now, and play some great noisy rock. Think early Sonic Youth and Colditz Glider. Dead Farmers are one of my fave Sydney bands, playing some really raucous rock n' roll that sounds influenced by garage rock and more jammy stuff like Comets on Fire. Radiant City i haven't seen yet, but they sound pretty huge. As for Fail, this seems to be their first gig. They are described as "wimmin centric hardcore bliss". Cool!
Myspace: Radiant City, Dead Farmers
Web site: The Thaw

Monday 7th/Tuesday 8th: Off Minor (US)
Monday: w/ The Diamond Sea + Eucalypt, Sydney Gallery (302 Cleveland st), 9pm, all ages
Tuesday: w/ The Diamond Sea + Strangers (NZ) + Crux, Maggotville Warehouse (Fitzroy st, Marrickville), 8pm, all ages
Tour Poster
Off Minor are a hardcore group from Philadelphia. They've toured a couple of times, but not for quite a while, but seem to have a pretty good following here. They also toured the US with My Disco.
Heaps of local DIY bands state these guys as an influence, and their reputation for live shows is huge. Their recorded work is great, too. Looking forward to this one.
The Diamond Sea, from Melbourne, support at both shows. A relatively recent band, they sound a little more melodic in comparison, and seem to be compared to Sleater-Kinney a fair bit, which can't be a bad thing.
Of the other supports, I only am familiar with Eucalypt, who are a great hardcore-influenced (and probably Off Minor-influenced) instrumental band from Sydney.
Myspace: Off Minor, The Diamond Sea, Strangers, Crux

Wednesday 9th: Jamie Hutchings at the Tokio Hotel (Cockle Bay Wharf, Darling Harbour), 8pm, free!
This just might turn out to be a breath of fresh air in what is a really, really punk-filled month. Jamie is the lead singer of Bluebottle Kiss, one of Sydney's finest, but he's been working on a solo album up at Saddleback, where a bunch of great Sydney singer-songwriters such as Jack Ladder and Holly Throsby have done their albums. There's a song from it on his myspace called "Sir I Am Going To Have To Ask You To Leave". Check it out.
According to his myspace, this is where Home bar used to be, and a quick google tells me that "A complete redesign and a gourmet pizza menu from renowned pizza creator John Lanzafame (of Hugo's Bar Pizza) has seen new life breathed into this waterside hotel, formerly known as Home Bar". Sounds tasty, and perfect for a date. His myspace also says that he'll be playing two sets. What an informative myspace.
Should be a lovely, and potentially cheap evening out.
Myspace: Jamie Hutchings

I'll post about more gigs later. But for now, look over this list for the rest of April. There may be some things that catch your eye.

08-04-11 Spectrum + Dimmer + The Lovetones, Gaelic Theatre

08-04-12 Witch Hats, Spectrum

08-04-12 Dave Nada, Oxford Arts Factory

08-04-16 Grand Salvo + Machine Translations + Firekites, Factory Theatre

08-04-17 Laura Jean, Seymour Centre

08-04-18 The Lucksmiths, Hopetoun Hotel

08-04-19 Die! Die! Die!, Oxford Arts Factory

08-04-23 Vialka + The Laurels, La Capana

08-04-24 Klever, Club 77

08-04-25 My Disco + Fabulous Diamonds + Ohana, Oxford Arts Factory

08-04-26 Against Me!, Metro Theatre

Yay music nerding!

I dont think anything makes me want to smoke....

2008-03-26T03:11:00.001+11:00

...as much as Serge Gainsbourg does.

Amazing.

BRING IT ON LIKE DONKEY KONG!

2008-03-25T22:07:00.002+11:00

Dear Adam,
I am already on my way to learning guitar before you.
For the last hour I have been learning some tabs to songs by Angus & Julia Stone and soon will have them down-pat. Soon I will perfect "Black Dog" by Led Zeppelin. I suggest you stop while you are ahead because I'm going to beat you at this competition..unless you feel like a challenge...
Toodles!
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Oh and this lovely lovely guitar will be my inspiration:

Je ne parle pas bien le français..

2008-03-21T14:55:00.006+11:00

It is Good Friday and I am at home just relaxing..I was planning on doing uni work but as I was making my lunch I was telling my brother how much I love the movie 'Amelie' and the fact that I love foreign films. This led me to ponder what movie would be on SBS at midday and I got very excited when I saw it was 'Pinocchio', the 2002 Italian production starring Roberto Benigni who already impressed me immensely from his role in 'Life Is Beautiful'. I've seen a few reviews that gave this movie very low rating but I think the cinematography was absolutely beautiful and it was very imaginative! This movie brightened my day due to the fact that it is cold and overcast outside. Sigh.

Pinocchio.

Ahhhh now I want to sit and watch Amelie and other French movies. I watched La Vie En Rose last week and now I wish I could speak fluent French. Oh if only.

Amelie.

Melbourne Memories! Part 1: Wednesday

2008-03-17T00:56:00.005+11:00

So last week I went to Melbourne for the first time since I was pretty young, young enough to have spent it being taken places by my dad and my friend's dad. So I was really looking forward to spending some time exploring the city.

Wednesday
Arrivals, shitty fries, Nick Cave, and ballin' with Josh

On my first day, Wednesday, I landed in Melbourne nice and early, and was in the CBD by midday. Josh wasn't gonna finish work until midday, so i stashed my goods in an overpriced locker at the bus stop and proceeded up Bourke st, planning to see what I saw and enjoy the city.

One of the first places that I already knew I wanted to see, I ran into after about 5 minutes. Missing Link is the best record store i saw in Melbourne, and it totally beats anything in Sydney. As me and Zohara have discussed on this blog before, i've recently got a turntable, so the huge vinyl selection made me really excited, and probably took way too much emphasis away from the rest of the city for a while. I decided to come back later so that I wouldn't have to cart my goods around the city all day, and made my way further up Bourke st.

After looking through some shops, I decided that it was time to check out the Nick Cave exhibition at the Arts Centre that I had been hearing all about... but first, I was hungry. I had heard a lot of mixed things about Lord Of The Fries, but ever since initially hearing the hype when they had opened, I had been intrigued by their interesting name and promises of the ultimate fries. So I got myself a box of fries, chose the "asian" sauce, picked up a big slurpee from the 7/11 next door, and walked down to Federation Square to eat it in the sun.

It turned out to be a heartbreaking experience. They weren't just mediocre - they were the worst fries i've ever tasted. Honestly, for all of their hyperbole about their amazing, highly-developed fry-making methods, they completely ruined it. I've never been to a fast food joint who has completely failed at deep frying fries, but ironically the worst fries I have ever tasted come from the outlet that decides to make them their focus. It's hard to describe these fries - they were certainly unique. They had almost no flavour, but had this strange, wispy kind of texture, and made you feel sick after about 6. I ended up soldiering through about 1/4 of the box before throwing it out, cherishing the palette cleansing qualities of sour apple slurpee, and proceeding across the Yarra to check out the Nick Cave exhibition.

And it was a fantastic exhibition. The free entry gets you a whole lot of amazing artefacts from Cave's career - there were original sketches for gig posters and cover art, hand-scrawled lyrics, shelves of books that had inspired Nick, little statues and monuments that he had bought/created/otherwise obtained during his career, and a whole lot more. The large aisle full of big Nick Cave photos serve as a huge reminder that Nick is indeed a sex god, and the little doors that revealed monologues by Nick about his career were really entertaining. As a Nick Cave fan, I was pretty much in heaven - the exhibition really did give equal weighting to each stage of his career, which was a great move - it made his progression from his Birthday Party days to where he is now, and everything in between, much clearer. It's also worth noting that his wife is so, so, so attractive. I had no idea.

After the exhibition, I caught up with Josh and we went back to him and Courtney's crib in Kensington, which is awesome - blows everything my Sydney crew live in out of the water. Courtney was out for the night so we went out to his local for dinner and beers before heading back to his. In true playa style, he had some Hennessy left over, so we had some Henny & coke and watched Superbad. After that, I absolutely destroyed him at Wii Tennis until, after he continued to ply me with alcohol, he finally won a couple.

Those famous laneways.

More like Lord of the Fail.

Slurpee on the left was so much better than fries on the right.

Josh's hairy arm and pimp hand.

Superbadness.

And that's my first day in Melbourne. I've got to get up in 6 hours for my first day back at uni, so i'll continue the story at a more opportune time.

Zooey Deschanel, M. Ward, and Laura Nyro

2008-03-13T21:14:00.001+11:00

Does anybody else think Zooey Deschanel sounds a lot like Laura Nyro?

I've been listening to her album with M. Ward, titled She & Him: Volume 1, and the first track immediately made me think of Nyro's work.
Laura Nyro was a folk singer in the late 60s/early 70s, who never really blew up but is well know enough to still have all of her records in print (remastered, too). I fell in love with her album "Eli & The Thirteenth Confession" a couple of years ago while researching LGBT musicians during the 60s. And this album is kind of reminding me of it - although i haven't quite fallen in love with it yet - I think i was expecting to hear more M. Ward in it. No doubt he's behind all of the arrangements, but he's one of my favourite folk singers, so more vocals from him would've been nice.

Here's a song from each of these records. Both so you can compare, and so you can enjoy a couple of wonderful artists.

She & Him - Sentimental Heart (from She & Him: Volume 1)
Laura Nyro - Lu (from Eli & The Thirteenth Confession)

In addition, here's a song they did together last year for the soundtrack to the film "The Go-Getter". It's a proper duet between them, something i would've liked more of on the album.

M. Ward ft. Zooey Deschanel - When I Get To The Border (from The Go-Getter OST)

For good measure, here's some pictures of them. Because, for me, Zooey is definitely a cinema crush. And M. Ward is definitely an indie hero.

BABEFEST. somebody tour them.

Oh, and as for melbourne.... outta time for today. Pictures are uploaded and ready to go, though...

What happy ground was there to play on that weekend-day?

2008-03-12T22:01:00.007+11:00

Last weekend was the weekend that housed Future Music, Playground Weekender and my birthday. Lots to have happening on the first weekend of March and since i am anti-Future Music Festival (hello..its screams out pills, bogans, skanks and crappy music!) I thought that going to Playground would probably be a billion times better.
It wasn't anywhere where near a billion times better, but I found Playground a big big big disappointment.

Firstly: it took forever to get to the destination (by car and ferry and a bit of waiting around) which ended up looking like a large blank area that probably takes in those horrible year 7 school camps..like that one i had to go to TWICE in my highschool career near the Tea Gardens, you know, the one with the scaled-down pseudo-Ayre's Rock at the front where they serve you shredded chicken and powdered mash potato. But I must say the surrounding water and the cliffs in Wiseman's Ferry were quite pretty, minus what looked like a body floating in the water which ended up being a very large log with branches that looked like limbs of a stiff corpse.
We hopped off the ferry and arrived at the muddy entrance to be welcomed by an array of erratic people running around dressed in costume, some girls in hot pink mini skirts with peroxide hair on roller skates (I cringed), there was Jesus, a native American, A man coloured head to toe in green paint, and plenty of forgettable costumes that probably costed a bomb to put together at the fancy dress tent. I was only looking forward to seeing my friends, Reptiles, play at the World Bar stage followed by Dappled Cities (Fly) at the Playground Main Stage. When Reptiles got on stage and let out their garage rock/grunge sound all of the bogans and overly metro kids dispersed to the other tents leaving just a few of us who welcomed bands at this festival that weren't all electro crap.

Dappled Dave.

Dappled Cities saved the day and although the size of the crowd was pathetic there was still a great atmosphere while they were on stage. They played a tight set with a new drummer who has taken the place of Hugh. Tim's sweat patch on his back was the shape of a butterfly..oh how cute! And Dappled Dave's eyes were bluer than usual, perhaps that was because he was facing lovely blue sky. But that's where the chumminess and beauty ended. When they finished their set the double black and the feel of the festival hit me. The atmosphere of the whole festival was pot-induced laziness, bogan, unhygenic and irritating. Trying to not sound like a city-snob, it was pretty hard being there with no mobile phone coverage.

DCF.

I got my breath back and my sanity back when I left Wiseman's Ferry and I shivered at the thought of staying there overnight in a small tent with drunk weirdos running around the place in their creepy costumes. Good thing I went home and ended up going to work the next day. The only downside was missing a great lineup on Sunday but I don't know if I could have handled the blankets of marijuana weaving between the crowds, the wet grass and the piss heads for another day.
At LEAST the sun was out which made the experience slightly pleasant.

It's hard to drink to ambient electronic music.

2008-03-12T21:04:00.001+11:00

What was I thinking going to see M83 do a support slot for Midnight Juggernauts?
I didn't know that his band's gear would have been AWOL because of an Air France messup, and that he would be doing an ambient solo set.
But still, it was always going to be a stretch for it to be worth the $35/evening in the city.

But how hard to watch it actually was, probably couldn'tve been predicted. I've never seen a crowd gang up on a support act before, particularly a support act that is actually a fantastic act - M83 is a great performer, even when he's doing a solo set of Digital Shades material. But the audience at this show absolutely destroyed him. I'm not talking "I went to see _____ and there were SO MANY TEENYBOPPERS who were talking and omg so annoying" type of crowd.
I'm talking about a crowd that did slow claps during songs. The kind of slow claps that are fantastic at cricket matches when a bowler is running to the crease, or at the climax of a trashy teen movie when somebody made a rousing speech about acceptance and togetherness. But there was no togetherness, just a pack of arrogant boys treating a musician in the way that is usually reserved for a substitute teacher.

But a gig is not a classroom. The complete dismissal of M83 doesn't even particularly relate much to his act - the most excitable reaction from the crowd had come 20mins earlier, when somebody from The Valentinos dropped "Atmosphere" by Joy Division during a DJ set. And even (perhaps thankfully) that reaction was pretty muted - everyone around us seemed way more interested in either picking up, getting drunk, or taking fantastic social pics.

By the end of his set, after just 25 minutes of his 50 minute set, a completely frustrated and drained M83 stood up, half-heartedly waved, and promised to play "a rock show" with his proper band next time he's down here. (Here's hoping he actually comes back - it was a tough way to see him after waiting for 5 years, personally).

The whole night was pretty pointless for M83 and his fans - and i can't see how the time before Midnight Juggernauts could've been much use to those who came to dance to them either (i hesitate to label them a fanbase, it would be unfair to MJs, who are a genuinely good band). Hopefully all of the boys there completely failed to pick up, and the girls all look really fat in their photos and won't be able to bear to upload them to Facebook. At least next time they think about checking out some live music, they may decide to actually participate in it - and if not, hopefully they will do us all a favour and decide to just spend the night at The Fiddler like every other outing. At least there, being obnoxious, drunk, and desperate for a lay is basically the point of being there.

As a side note, I don't want to hear people attributing this to it being an all-ages shows. Some of the best gigs i have -ever- been to have been all-ages - in the same venue i've seen Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth and a whole lot of other amazing acts play to fantastic all-ages crowds. And my very favourite type of crowd is usually at smaller all-ages gigs, particularly DIY/art space ones. Probably the BEST crowd in my mind was Unicorns at Space 3, and i've never run into a bad crowd at Hibernian House, Frequency Lab, or anything else like that.
The problem with the crowd last night was that it seemed to draw in people who treat music as more of a service than an act of participation - it tends to happen more with bands that attract more "casual" music listeners (and i'm aware of how elitist that sounds).
Where the crowds at the aforementioned shows generally treat performances as something they not only watch, but are complicit in, crowds such as last night's seem to see their investment solely as the $35 ticket price they paid - other than that, they are there to spectate, and they expect performances that entertain. But beyond that, they also have a particular type of narcissism to their watching, a kind of "customer-is-always-right" type of attitude, that tends to result in little personal regard for whoever is on stage, or trying to watch who is on stage.
To me, live music is an exchange - it's hard for an artist to be effective when they feel alienated from their audience.
And age is irrelevant to this. In fact, i find that disinterest usually happens more in overage crowds. Underage crowds spend too much time being cheated out of tours, so when they get a decent act, they tend to suck everything they can out of the evening. Their enthusiasm can occasionally annoy, but i'd take it any day over the stereotypical jaded twentysomethings chatting about employment and relationships in front of the bar all through the support acts.

Rant over. Let me know what you think.

Tomorrow i will blog about Melbourne.

Live from Melbourne!

2008-03-07T11:25:00.002+11:00

Just a quick hello!

I'm having the time of my life. Highlights so far:

-Nick Cave exhibition
-Game On! exhibition
-Josh and Courtney's amazing hospitality
-Future Of The Left and My Disco... amazingly good.
-Watching The Breakfast Club at 1am
-Drinking Hennessy and Cokes while beating Josh a bunch of times at Wii Tennis
-Getting Ys by Joanna Newsom on Vinyl (seriously guys, prettiest packaging ever)
-Missing Link Records in general
-Melbourne in general
-Life in general

Better post when i get back. Golden Plains tomorrow, yay!

Trapped in a laneway

2008-03-03T01:05:00.001+11:00

So I left Laneway festival today in a relatively bad mood. And I'm not one of those indie kids who rags on festivals. Heck, i even had a great time at Big Day Out and The Great Escape.

Unfortunately I can't say the same for Laneway. The problem is with the whole festival's layout. Take the following example:

You are seeing a band. They are pretty boring, your mates are awol/seeing someone rubbish, and you're generally having a crap time.

You:

Big Day Out:	Walk 5 minutes away	through the fresh air, seeing various things happening everywhere	to a completely different stage	and watch a band that sounds very different.
Laneway:	Walk 5 metres away	through a small open concrete space	to another concrete area	and watch another indie band.

And therein lies the problem with Laneway. There is nowhere to escape to - neither physically or musically. Adding to this the lack of pass-outs, and it becomes a very claustrophobic experience if you suddenly decide you aren't in the mood to watch indie rock in an alleyway. Which probably doesn't happen to most of the crowd, but it did to me today.

Complaints aside, Broken Social Scene and Feist were amazing today. BSS played a huge set, joined on stage by Feist and Amy Millan, as well Amy's bandmates from Stars. They probably got the best response of the day, and had a huge sound. Closing with Ibi Dreams of Pavement capped it off beautifully. Feist was fantastic too, and had a gorgeous stage show. The amount of camera flashes when she came onstage was unbelievable.

An interesting thing happened after Feist: the crowd divided into three very different parts. It's almost as if the big indie melting pot of the day suddenly was separated into factions.


Park Stage	Reiby Place	The Basement

The Park stage, on which Gotye played, belonged to the Triple J kids. I didn't catch much of the set, but what I saw looked pretty mediocre. The crowd seemed to be very much the friendlier side of the summer festival goer spectrum - happily bopping along to the songs, taking photos, and generally seeming happy, but not particularly enraptured.

Reiby Place, where The Presets played, was full of festival bogans. Perhaps suprisingly for laneway, the crowd was ridiculously bad. Full of drunks on each others shoulders, jockeying for position, taking off their shirts, and getting all passive-aggressive on each other as the alleyway got more and more packed, and people got more and more frustrated. Where were all of these people the rest of the day? (I believe the answer would be: the bar.)

Perhaps as a result of that, The Basement, which was headlined by The Brunettes, reminded me of a bomb shelter. It was full of quiet indie kids - nobody was in anybodys way, everyone was respectful, and nobody looked particularly excited. I spent the longest amount of time here - The Brunettes were fun enough, but not particularly captivating. I think everyone was just happy to be back underground - in a room with the smallest crowd, less concrete, and a relaxed atmosphere (half of the crowd even sat on the floor until The Brunettes came on stage).

Don't get me wrong, Laneway is a great festival. But it's just too big for a street party. It would be perfect with about 1/2 of the crowd size, and smaller bands - i'd rather a street party with, say, Black Lips, Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Witch Hats on one stage, and another stage with Jens Lekman, Dappled Cities and Crayon Fields. Or something of that nature.
But as far as big acts like Feist and Presets go... get me back into a big open field. At least at other festivals, when it's all getting a bit overwhelming, you can walk more than 20 metres without running into a fence.

Girls Just Wanna Have Sunscreen

2008-03-01T20:45:00.001+11:00

Tonight is mardi gras night, but i am sitting at home in my pyjamas listening to music.
It's been a great couple of days though.

Last night I went to see Cool Kids. And even though they didn't come on until nearly 1am.. and brought the worst merch ever with them, their actual show was ridiculous amounts of fun. Sure, they ran out of steam after 20mins... a rapid fire medley of their 5 or 6 hits (basically their discography thus far) will do that to you... but they managed to keep going after that with some more tracks and covers, and it was exhausting and fabulous.

Then i stayed at Kurt's... and when we woke up we went shopping!

First we checked out the new Graniph store. They had some awesome designs, and a really nicely laid out store. Definitely worth checking out, although i have a sneaking suspicion that pretty soon every sydney scenester will be wearing them... like Threadless shirts, but even more common.

Then we went to the Utopia sale. Usually I wouldn't bother with utopia... but with a new turntable, a lot of enthusiasm, and a sale beginning today, i felt like flicking through mountains of bad metal cds/vinyl/fans to find some nice stuff. And i did - i found something I can listen to tonight, and pretend i actually got tickets to the best part of this year's mardi gras...

Other highlights included Springsteen's Born To Run (to put on my turntable when i'm feeling wistful), and New Kids On The Block's Hangin' Tough (will i even listen to this?)

This afternoon, we went to Slaughter at the Opera, an amazing skate comp on the forecourt of the opera house. We got there late, and it was already full - so after spending almost an hour lining up in a queue that i'm pretty sure never got in (the highlight of which was seeing Dustin Dollin trying to sneak longnecks in), we went around the back and used our best skills (as learned from Solid Snake) to get in. And on my second attempt (and Kurt's third - that Barack Obama lookalike security chief was good, but not good enough!) we managed to get in.

It was a helluva spectacle, a huge wooden structure featuring two rails, overlooking the harbour, with everyone sitting on the opera house steps watching the action. Probably the most picturesque skate comp ever, and it's hard to fault the skaters who couldn't stick their tricks - they were facing the sydney harbour and a huge cruise ship the whole time, which must've been slightly surreal. The comp was awesome, with Lutzka being the clear best of the day. Hopefully some video goes online soon.

The downside to that adventure, though, is that i'm ridiculously burnt now. Burnt and lethargic. So hopefully i'll be re-energised (and covered in sunscreen) for Laneway tomorrow... but for now, i'm spending Saturday night chilling in my room, feeling all dried out and blasting She-Bop from my new stereo. Awesome!

....maybe i should cook some bacon cup salads

12" of beauty.

2008-02-29T21:39:00.004+11:00

I dragged my feet into my room today after finishing uni at 7pm to see a large cardboard package on my desk..and YESSSS! It is my 12" vinyl of Cut Off Your Hands and Mercy Arms that was sent to me for free, yes..FREE from Levity..purely for being awesome haha. Noo..they just sent me a myspace msg saying hi and that they felt like sending it to me. Although my household no longer owns a turntable Adam just got one that just MIGHT come in handy ;)
"Hi Adam, nice turntable. I'm abducting it now."

I now understand when people have a love for vinyls.
I like to hug mine.

Man tunnels

2008-02-23T12:42:00.001+11:00

Okay. I'm a Dan Deacon convert.
Although i'm still unconvinced on his recordings, his beats sound way bigger live, but they aren't even the sole focus of his show.
Dan Deacon shows are a party! Last night at Oxford Arts he even had half the room forming a huge tunnel for people to run through.
Not to mention the whole room dancing. Definitely worth catching when he's in town - next time for Sydney is at Laneway festival.

I also saw Jack Ladder last night, he was fun but the one guy on the bill i hadn't seen was Jordy Lane. I was really impressed - nice electronica/folk, and the way he's going, he could be playing out of the stereos of every whistful teenage girl around the country. At least, the ones who listen to bands like The Postal Service.
Check out his song Galileo, it's lovely and i'm addicted. You can download it from his Myspace. You can even download it there. I like it when Myspace artists do that.

I'm trying to find good karaoke software for my PC. But it's not proving very successful.
I guess people will have to get drunk and sing without a microphone.

We need...

2008-02-21T23:59:00.001+11:00

...a new background!

Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to balding overweight men!

2008-02-21T23:44:00.006+11:00

I'm sick of Control!
Last night i saw it for the third time. We didn't intend to, but we were watching a burnt episode of Nevermind The Buzzcocks and the next video on the disc was... CONTROL!
I still love it though. And to make things better, it inspired me to bust out some old Joy Division footage.

And Youtube has it too! Thanks internet!
You'll probably recognise this one from the movie...

Tomorrow night I'm reviewing Jack Ladder for fasterlouder, and after that i'll be running down the road to Dan Deacon! If i didn't love the Oxford Art Factory for their fashionable, but thoroughly enjoyable interior, i would love them for having headliners on after midnight. And posting set times on their myspace!

Dan Deacon is apparrently an absolute party animal. So it should be a fun way to finish off the night.

I hope I "get" Dan Deacon tomorrow night. Because I don't really dig what i've heard... and a few of my mates keep talking about him like theres some inhumanly wonderful party I haven't been invited to. And i want in.
Although, the "overweight-balding-party-animal" shaped hole in my heart has already been filled....

LET THE SWEAT DESCEND!

General twitter.

2008-02-21T15:13:00.010+11:00

Today I have decided that I'm not going to post a new blog with some emo poem about darkness or how insanely frustrating love lives can be, rather I'm going to tell a different story. Perhaps it will be in a magazine like format..where there is a film section, music section and section on fashion! Or I will just rant or mutter about random shit..

So I will start here, my itunes is on random and "If you want to sing out, sing out" by Cat Stevens just came on..it has sparked an instant reference to a cult movie made in the 70's called Harold & Maude. Fucking brilliant movie. I described the movie to my older brother who ended up just hearing these words put together "It's about..a young guy...falls in love..with an old lady.." which it pretty much IS about but there is such a beautiful and youthful relationship between the protagonists (ie Harold and Maude). Both of the characters are quirky, Harold is a pale adolescent who looks like he could be a member of The Horrors and is obsessed with death. While he attends funerals as a pasttime he comes across an erratic old woman (Maude) who too has a habit of attending funerals but she is somewhat obsessed with life. They become great companions and both teach eachother values in life..blah blah..you will have to watch it yourself. The whole soundtrack is pretty much by Cat Stevens..or Mohammed...whatever his name is now..but if you can't stand his music then you are best to watch this movie with it on mute along with subtitles turned on. Or just don't watch this movie. Your loss. Or perhaps you could treck to Chauvel cinema in Paddington and go see Joy Division. That's what I'm going to do. Adam will be my side-kick in such an adventure.

(Harold & Maude):

Moving onto music, I pulled out my acoustic guitar the other day (I'm quite sure it is not tuned..twang!) and I hunted down some tabs to play with. It was a pretty bad idea, especially since I have never had lessons in guitar and the fact that my nails are too long. I had a strum and tried playing a few tunes, to soon give up pretty quickly. New Year's Resolution..don't fucking touch the guitar until I get lessons. It will save everyones ears as well as my own. I saw on ultimateguitar.com that 'I Will Follow You Into The Dark" by Death Cab For Cutie was one of the Top 100 songs requested for tabs. I have Death Cab's album 'Plans' and I have to say that song is amazingly beautiful in a confronting way, it even starts with the line "Love of mine, someday you will die". Not the sweetest line ever, but he continues to explain that he will follow his lover to the afterlife once she passes which I think is pretty sweet. It's not as if it is unheard of to hear that when an old person has died their partner usually dies within 3 days of their passing. I can imagine my parents being one of those couples, I think it's ideal that they are still in love. I can see whenever they have to part when Dad even goes away for a few days for a conference that they still hopelessly love eachother. It nearly makes me cry seeing them like this because I too hope to be like that when I'm older. But for now I do not care to pour my heart into anyone because it's not like me to do so and I think we all need to stay safe in that way to keep our sanity. While on the subject of love and all of that crap I was quite amused to read these articles last night, so if you like a little bit of science..check out this: http://www.newscientist.com/channel/sex/love

Before I divert too much off the subject of music, and I swear now I will stop talking about old people, I just have to say that I'm really liking the music from Vampire Weekend, a band from New York that have come out with Afro-Pop indie music that is refreshing. On the otherhand there is an album that i got recently FOR FREE..'Guns Babes Lemonade' by Muscles, a Melbourne guy that reached for his friend's dog as inspiration for his stage name. The album starts well with "Sweaty" which is a fun track that has been pretty popular to dance to, then track 3 is Icecream which is the song he is renowned for which is also a fun track..but I couldn't sit through the whole album because most of the tracks sounded the same and after a while the music got irritating so I had to replace Muscles with music that was mellow. Fuck fluoro, Hello Whitley.

(Vampire Weekend)

I return to uni next week, 2 kgs lighter, after three months on holiday hiatus and I am pleased to say that during the holiday period I have made some amazing friends, some that I feel like I really bond with, who reinforce what feels like a 'purpose' to my life. I'm pretty sure with these new friends I will soon be crediting them on any of my creativity because they are guaranteed to be my new muses. A science student amongst design, media and communication students..I thought I'd be like a peach in an apple tree but I'm very much an apple in disguise in an apple tree. So I shouldn't continue with strange metaphores.. Also I have friends who I have known for a while now who I absolutely adore to the core. Love you guys and gals. And returning to uni I am excited to see these friends and indulge in their presence again and in 4 weeks I will have abs of steel and a strong bladder because those kids made me laugh so hard.

Before I sign out, I was bored yesterday and took some scissors to my hair, cut about 4cm off the bottom and am quite happy with the results. Although I already feels it is too short but that is really just paranoia. Lately I have also become quite fond of 'Never Mind The Buzzcocks', a UK music pop quiz...,I have been feeding my sushi addiction at Sushi Train, my room is quote: "a messy disgrace", and I'm dying from the Black Lung. Not really the Black Lung but something is making me cough indefatiguably and I'm starting to get narky.

Awesome

2008-02-20T19:24:00.001+11:00

I've got the text boxes looking nicer.
I'm in blue and zohara is in pink thanks to the wonder of the internet!

Soon we will make a new background/header too
and start blogging for reals.

And aw zohara! tonight's gonna be super rad!

Oh 'brethren', 'tis your birfdai!!

2008-02-20T18:33:00.003+11:00

Today is Adam's 21st birthday and I've decided to help him start a blog.Hey Adam, you are now legally allowed to drink alcohol in the USA!And tonight instead of trecking towards the bright lights of the city to experience the awkward and reserved atmosphere of Ghostwood at Spectrum (mind you, I do like Ghostwood very much! But their gigs are a bit awkward and reserved), we will hit it up locally where the bright lights are dim and the stars are visible.
'Oh look! The saucepan in the sky!'
"Um...isn't that orions belt?"
'Whatever. Looks like a saucepan..(points at the constellation of stars) see?"

It will be a pleasure to be in the presence of you and such lovely friends to celebrate 21 years of Adam L. :)

It's stuck on my brain

2008-02-20T18:30:00.002+11:00

'Geography' by Tao Nguyen.
It's slow trotting melodies are bound to burn their way into your brain. And stay there.

I am 21 and the wind is at my back.

2008-02-20T01:58:00.001+11:00

Today is my birthday, and i have decided to start a blog with my friend Zohara