Triple J Music Video of the Year - Hermitude - Speak of the Devil

Winner of this years Triple J 2011 Video of the Year is Hermitude with Speak of the Devil. Before I was even aware how cool the video is, I fell in love with this track. The lyrics are so true "That little Angel/Devil on your shoulder, is telling you to dance, go on, you know that you wanna, dance dance dance dance" and you can't but dance!....well I can't anyway!
So very catchy and obviously an amazing video! Ignore the add at the beginning, not much I can do about that sorry.
Enjoy!

Loving this track - Awkward by San Cisco

I think this is one of the cutest songs out there at the moment. It's so catchy and endearing, I love the contrast between male lead singer Jordi's melodic rocky voice and drummer and vocals Scarlett's punchy to the point, almost spoken word style singing. These guys are from Perth and appear to be up and coming, featuring on a few festival bills over the summer. Here is a bit more info about these guys.
http://www.triplejunearthed.com/SanCisco
It's a shame there is no clip on you tube yet but enjoy the song.

Parklife - Moore Park - 2/10/11

Checking the weather all week, I cant say I was surprised to wake up to pouring rain, but I certainly wasn't happy about it! Poncho, umbrella, beanie, scarf and gloves packed and 6 warm layers of clothing later I was ready. I'm not sure why I was outraged to see that so many people forgot to get dressed, but come on people, it was 12 degrees, raining with 50km/hour winds, well that's what the forecast said and it was spot on! The sinking feeling got worse as we pulled up outside Moore Park and had to watch some dude throwing up beside the road on his way in to the festival, not a good start.

Anyway enough about the weather.

After passing through the gates and taking in the beautiful festival grounds of Moore Park we headed over to the stage we could hear Kimbra playing. We caught a few of her tracks including her latest catchy single Good Intent. She didn't really grab me but I thought she was pretty good, I was still taking it all in at this stage of the day.

Sebastian was up next, never really heard much of his stuff before and I found him a little douchey constantly wanting praise from the crowd and never cracking a smile but everyone seemed to like him. I've never seen someone chain smoke like that before, he lit each new cigarette with the end of the last one and continued that way for his entire set. His projector show was very trippy with what looked like a rubber face version of him speaking every now and then. I found his music really easy to dance to and it was a good start to the day. However this was also the set I stumbled upon a girl who was basically wearing skin tight denim underwear, I guess she would have called "shorts" and anyone who is a facebook friend of mine got to experience that along side me on the day. I believe I posted it with the caption "I just threw up in my mouth a little bit!"

I was really looking forward to Death From Above 1979 but I had no idea of what to expect live from this 2 piece who reformed this year (who knows for how long though). I love it when a bands drummer is also the main singer, seems to me like that would take a huge amount of coordination. Grainger on drums was a little distracting with his blond undercut, it was very Aaron Carter, but apart from the random hair I was really impressed with his musicality and skills. Unfortunately it started raining during this set and out came the ponchos. With the wind blowing, the crowd appeared to be a billowing, brightly colored, loudly rustling, plastic bag. Black History Month is definitely my favourite track by these guys and they played it so well, I was stoked it was on there set list.

Example was ok, he played all his popular tracks off the current album including Changed The Way You Kiss Me. We managed to pick a really terrible spot for Example and we moved a few times to find a better one, by the time we did, the set was almost over. It felt like there was a few people doing the same as us because everyone seemed so distracted, however I got the distinct feeling like everyone's drugs kicked in at the same time and people started running around and bumping into each other like lemmings on smack.

Santigold brought the sun out with her. I really enjoyed Santigolds show, she had an amazing LED screen show going on behind her which I thought was so much fun to watch and really added to the theatrical spectacular that was her show. Highlight of her set for me was her song Hold The Line which she originally recorded with Major Lazer. She was really dynamic to watch with her massive glasses and loads of energy, I really didn't expect much, maybe that's why I was so impressed. I actually think she was the highlight of the day for me.

By this stage of the day it became painfully evident that I was one of VERY few people not off my face on drugs or completely boozed out. Its not that I felt old, I was mainly just irritated by freaks losing their Forshiz left right and center and struggling to remain vertical. At one point a group of drunk bitches stumbled over and one said to the other "I dont think I should drink anymore, I'm really drunk!". We laughed and one of them staggered over got in my brothers face and said "Are you judging us?" and whilst I felt like saying, "yes we are you drunk whore, now get out of our faces!" my brother more diplomatically said something along the lines of "take a step back, then run along" by this stage she turned around, realised her friends had wanderd off, stood there awkwardly for a second then stormed off...moron. As for the music, we were currently watching Digitalism, they were fantastic, really energetic. Everyone was definietely enjoying the music and my favourite was easily their current single Circles. I was a little irritated by the guy in front of me who kept freaking out, pulling his hair out and making the shape of a heart in his hands above his head, mimicking the heart shapes being displayed on Digitalism's screen behind the band. But he wasn't as bad as the girl who appeared next to a mate in the drinks line and told him that she could feel every hair on her head. When he inquired as to whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, she replied "Oh my god, it feels amazing!!!!"... Yep, you enjoy those dying brain cells!

Unfortunately Nero was my biggest dissapointment for the day. I know Dubstep isnt always the easiest style to listen to but I really do like most of the tracks on their latest album Welcome Reality. I also knew that half the band (Joe) was back in London putting the finishing touches on their live stage show that they will be touring with in the next few months so I expected a DJ set. What I didnt expect was for organisers to put Nero on the smallest stage there which had the grounds sloping down away from the stage. It was way to packed and the sound was really bad. Of the half a donzen songs I stayed for only 1 or 2 were from their latest album. Knowing Gossip were just down the field most likely putting on a great show was too much for me to handle and I made the best decision of the day (other than my decision to wear warm clothes) and headed over to see the last 4 songs of Gossip.

Let me do you all a favour: Do not google image search "Gossip Beth Ditto" if you have a weak stomach, she's rather vuglger and rarely fully dressed it seems. As it is, she did burp into the mic during her show at Parklife but this is apparently very tame compared to what she usually gets up to. I'm really glad I did head over mid Nero set, I really enjoyed them. For a big girl she certainly has no issue getting herself around a stage, she was so energetic and her voice is as big live as it is on her records.

20 mins late Lykke Li emerged... with no pants, it seems she got the 'no pants memo' I apparently missed. With too much smoke from the smoke machine, I spent most of set assuming where she was. She had a fantastic light show going on which was great to watch. But with Duck Sauce cranking on the stage next door, I had the urge to dance and Lykke Li was making me feel the fatigue of a huge day out, she was just a little too slow and chilled out for the closing time slot she had. I danced to Duck Sauce in the quiet breaks between Li's songs. I feel like the only reason I didn't enjoy seeing her more was because how tired I was and how chilled out her set was.

This blog post was a struggle to complete, it felt more like homework and I don't really care that the writing in it is pretty average. I guess that's because I'm not a big fan of writing about music I'm not really into, it's a waste of time I think. And the fact that I didn't really enjoy this years Parklife overly, meant it was hard to get motivated to write this. I really did try to enjoy myself, but I struggled to do so more often than not over the day.

I'm just not sure when Music festivals stopped being about music and became more about how messed up you could get and how little clothing you could possibly wear. And when did we start paying $6 for a bottle of water and $11 for a tiny cup of mid strength of vodka and lemonade? No wonder everyone was on drugs, no one could afford to drink! Maybe that makes me sound old and boring but I don't give a rats.
Overall the festival was really well put together, but the patrons ruined it and the shitty weather topped it off! Don't think I'll bother next year, not my type of crowd. Grumble grumble blah whatever....

So I think I'll take a break from Festivals for the summer and get myself ready for the big dog next year, Southern California's Coachella Festival. With a bit of luck, the weather will be better, the line up will be more to my taste, and the crowd will be a little better equipped to remain vertical for the better part of the entire day.

Field Day Line up 2012

Field Day's line up has been announced, looking a little similar to last years line up, but still pretty good.
Not sure I could ever do a New Years Day festival, I'll probably pass on this one. Tickets go onsale October 6th.

Justice
Crystal Castles
Moby (DJ set)
Gotye
Tiga
Busy P
Jack Beats (live)
Skream & Benga
Metronomy
Yuksek (live)
Spank Rock
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
Foreign Beggars
12th Planet
Young MC

Big Day Out Line up 2012

It's that time of year again, the first Big Day Out line up was announced this morning and be you underwhelmed, overwhelmed or simply just whelmed, the following is what we're looking at. It seems to be to be a mix of big names, I don't give a rats abouts, and a few smaller local bands I'm interested in at the moment.
Throw Foster the People into the mix and well... it's a maybe for me at the moment....maybe but probably not.

Soundgarden
Kanye West
Kasabian
My Chemical Romance
The Living End
Royksopp
Hilltop Hoods
Boy and Bear
Parkway Drive
Mariachi El Bronx
Architecture in Helsinki
Battles
The Jezabels
Odd Future (OFWGKTA)
Frenzal Rhomb
Girl Talk
The Getaway Plan
Cage The Elephant
Foster The People
Best Coast

Lots more to be announced later in the year, lets hope it's gets better from here.

Josh Pyke - The Metro 1/09/2011

Warning: Bad words...look out!...Blame Josh Pyke not me!

Running late and being too interested in dinner and drinks to see the support acts Paper Kites and Emma Louise, we arrived just in time to get an amazing spot (which I'm keeping a secret for the next time I'm at the Metro) just before Josh Pyke and his band adorned the stage. I've never seen him by himself but I have seen him in his side project Basement Birds and I thoroughly enjoyed them live so I had high hopes for this gig.

The gorgeously beardy, pint sized, softly sung, pop-folk singer song writer has an obvious following (not just me), selling out the Metro with his latest album Only Sparrow just being released. The new album is really impressive, taking me only 2 listens through to pick out more favorites than expected. There are quite a few of the more poppy tracks like the most current single World is a Picture which takes Pyke in a slightly new direction. It's comfortably different to his last album Chimneys Afire. There are also the tracks that are completely through and though Josh Pyke like his folk collaboration with Katy Steele from Little Birdy in Punch in the Heart

He's much more upbeat in this album, it seems he's got everything going right for him at the moment, wife, career with flashy new album and he's a recent first time Dad. In his usual style of wearing a black raincoat  to every silver lining, it seems these days he's too happy for his own good, illustrated by lyrics in No One Wants a Lover "If I could write a sad song every day of the week I'd be the happiest fucker I know." In saying that predictably no Josh Pyke album would be complete without some gut wrenching sadness, some of which is seen all through Factory Fires, a track I was so very thankful he played.

After a short pause, Pyke followed his band on stage and they began with Clovis' Son to an eager crowd and I was surprised by how amazing the voice of the drummer on back up vocals was. He flipped mainly between tracks from Only Sparrows and Chimney's Afire, with a few off Memories and Dust and Feeding the Wolves and had the crowd bopping away to Good Head Start, shortly following it up with Make You Happy, which has an amazing clip of Pyke driving around a harbor in a motor boat shaped like a huge guitar, shown in the above shot.

The Lighthouse Song was so great to see live, it has such beautiful lyrics which evoke such strong imagery "And I've been leaving gifts out in the woods/That someone might stumble upon and wonder at their origins/I've been feeling like a fox with sad old eyes/Whose skulk has all moved on to leave the dark and empty den behind". I've also never known a song with such poignant use of the word 'Fuckers" in the chorus "I'll just hold you tight and we'll not let those fuckers in."

He called out support act Emma Louise to fill in for Katy Steel in Punch in the Heart and the duet had the audience silent and captivated. Pyke's imagery which is exceptional and seen so much over all albums, (I could quote a million lyrics) is evident in this track. I love the appealingly provocative mental pictures in Punch in the Heart "And the wheels keep taking me back to your street/Where I would press you against the bonnet just to feel your heat." There has been an obvious progression over the years, this latest offering has a much more mature sound, more layers, more emotion, more sound, more awesomeness.

He finished the night and his encore with the shows highlight. Love Lies is another of those lyrically visual songs, "Well I trace a map in the curve of your spine/I get lost by the hour in the blink of your eye/In the shadowed valleys of your backbone I find/Love lies". It was Pyke, alone with his acoustic guitar, a microphone and some loop pedals. It was epic, a resplendent folk-hymn that filled every nook and cranny of space. Pyke layered his voice with a new harmony loop each count of 8 for the last section of the song. At first when I heard a few voices I thought his band members were offstage singing harmonies until I realised it was him, and 10 layers later I had to pick my chin up off the floor. He left his voice on loop as the house lights came up and although a loop pedal is nothing new, wow it was electrifying to observe him in all his grandeur with such a beautiful song.
Do yourselves a favour and watch the following clip, or AT LEAST watch the loop echoes from the 3 minute mark onward.

It was a fantastic night showing that Pyke still has what it takes to sell records and draw a crowd. Live, he was theatrical, vocally perfect and just altogether entertaining. Next time he plays in Sydney I'll definitely be getting tickets again. Loved it!

Loving This Track - Grouplove - Itchin' on a Photograph

I really cant stop listen to this track this week, so it needs to go on the blog! Haven't heard much from Grouplove and I really don't know too much about them, but Wikipedia tells me they're an American Indie Rock band from California who have been around since 2009 and have opened shows for Florence and the Machine lately.

This is a great rocking track which needs to be sung really loudly in the car no matter who is staring at you.
Happy Friday! Enjoy!

Album Review - Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes

Wounded Rhymes is the second full length album from the Swedish Singer. I've heard and loved all of Lykke Li's singles on the radio so when I heard she was playing Parklife I thought I'd listen to the album before I went to see her live. I'm glad I did.
The album, produced by Bjorn Yttling from Peter Bjorn and John, is full of contrasts, between powerhouse tracks and the vulnerable, between the primal drum based rhythmical tracks and the hauntingly melodic. The album has a quirky retro feel to a lot of songs and a darkness to the majority of tracks which I find really interesting and strangely not depressing, for the most part. The contrasts continue as her lyrics have a sadness to them with a bit of an uplifting twist especially in the song Love Out of Lust with lyrics like "We will live longer than I will. We will be better than I was. We can cross rivers with our will. We can do better than I can. So dance while you can. Dance cos you must. Love out of lust"

Her sound is a very minimal and stripped back one. She doesn't have the most amazing voice ever, but it's raw and pure and perfect for her sound. Standout tracks are Get Some which is very provocative and a little filthy, lyrics wise but has such a sexy groove to it with those primal drums, I can't help but love it, and Rich Kid Blues takes full advantage of that raw voice and gritty sound and is one of the rockier tracks on the album. The track I like least is Unrequited Love. It's painfully slow, is probably the saddest track and has an annoying 'Shoo Bop Shoo Waa' all through the chorus. Although in saying that, the track 'I Know Places' is probably slower, and a little sadder, and it's an absolutely amazing piece of music, it reminds me a little of the song she did for the New Moon soundtrack Possibilities which made her become a bit of a house hold name. Li really bears her soul in this album and its so personal I'm left feeling like I know her a little better for it.

It's been a while since I've gotten my hands on such an amazing album which ticks all the boxes for me and has something for everyone, she shows a maturity in her music far beyond her 24 years. It's a really interesting experience full of contrasts and layers and I give it a 4 out of 5.

Loving this Track - Does it Offend You, Yeah? - Pull Out My Insides.

I can not get this track out of my head the last few weeks. It starting to drive me a little crazy. The way I see it, if I can get it in your head, maybe it will get out of mine!

It's a cracker of a poppy little indie track, what we've come to expect from Does It Offend You, Yeah? These guys from Reading in the UK have put out some great catchy songs since forming in 2006 and this latest offering is probably one of my favourites from these guys.

Listen to it...listen to it 8 times until it gets stuck in you head!

Parklife 2011 Line Up Announced!

Well the Parklife 2011 line up was announced this morning and it looks like a cracking good line up. A fair bit of Dubstep and Drum & Bass to look forward to, as well as the usual mix of Dance with a splash of Indie Pop. I think I'll have to check this one out, I'm really impressed!
Parklife travels around the country hitting the major cities between the end of September and early October. Tickets on sale June 30th.
http://www.parklife.com.au/

Gossip
Lykke Li
Santigold
Death From Above 1979
Duck Sauce
Katy B
The Naked & Famous
Crystal Fighters
Example
Digitalism
Adrian Lux
The Streets
Simian Mobile Disco
Magnetic Man
Nero
SebastiAn
Diplo
Mstrkrft
Sebastien Tellier
Little Dragon
Gold Fields
Mylo
Wolfgang Gartner
Joker & MC Nomad
Feed Me
Tensnake
Kimbra
The Aston Shuffle
Flux Pavilion
Yacht Club DJs
Harvard Bass

Groovin the Moo - Maitland 7/05/2011

Although we knew the night would bring an icy chill we were all so happy to wake up to an amazing sunny day in Maitland. It was an all ages gig and although there were far too many very scantily clad young girls, there were also a few of the more seasoned festival goers and once we discovered the over 18's area we felt much more at home. Unlike some, we all had coats and scarfs ready for the cold night ahead, slightly older and much wiser I think than a few other there.

First on our list to see were the Jezebels. I know a few of their tracks but was relatively new to most of their music. I tried listening to the album a week before the gig but I found it a little too melancholic for my liking, but in the exciting open air, sunny day surrounds of Groovin the Moo I really enjoyed them. Lead singer Hayley Mary looked nothing like I expected and I walked away with a bit of a lady crush on this petite pixie with a huge set of lungs. She reminds me of a cross between Kate Bush and Karen O from Yeah Yeah Yeahs and their huge hit Mace Spray went down very well with all members of their surprisingly large crowd for their early time slot.

Holy shit balls, what can I say about Darwin Deez? I knew they'd be good, I just knew it, but I totally underestimated their performing brilliance, shame on me! Possibly one of the most bizarre looking dudes ever, frontman Darwin Smith is about as talented as he is unattractive. They played all my favourites, DNA, Constellations, Bad Day and their big hit Radar Detector but what was totally unexpected and quickly propelled them to the top of my best of list was the impromptu choreographed interpretive dance that frequented the gaps between songs every now and then. The entire band would down instruments, line up 

at the front of the stage and BANG perform an awesome group dance! It totally made my day! Check this out:


The audio is pretty bad on this next clip but I would have never guessed you can merge Enya's Sail Away and Rage's Testify in the one dance number! Genius!



I just love these guys, not only their amazing and hilarious dorky dancing but also their talented live performance of all their great music. It made these guys my faves of the day and as we walked away discussing how great they were and my friends were all shocked, I was quietly (or maybe not so quietly) smug because I knew they'd be good, but they were fantastic, such good value.

Next we spent a bit of time watching Datarock who were decked out in their trademark matching Red jumpsuits. These guys weren't on my list to see but they sounded pretty good pumping out their dancey electro rock tunes as we headed past so we stopped to check them out for a bit. The funniest thing of that set was the girl next to me who said to her gentleman friend "I think these guys are Norwegian, yeah they're from Norwegia...that doesn't sound right!" He responded with "They're Norwegian and are from Norway...idiot" haha. On that note... we left.

Next on the main stage was Washington, I've always quite enjoyed her work but have never felt the urge to buy gig tickets but I definitely wanted to check her out finally at Groovin The Moo. I'm so glad I did, she's phenomenal. In 2008 she was unearthed with her band by Triple J and given a spot on the following years Melbourne Big Day Out line up and has since gained a huge following and had loads of great hits. She was energetic and bubbly onstage and had everyone dancing up a storm for her latest track Sunday Best. It was starting to get colder at this stage of the day and with a team of helpers I decided to do a strategic wardrobe change where we used a large scarf (huge like a blanket) as a dressing room and I removed a pair of borrowed shorts and replaced them with my warm jeans. It would have gone off with out a hitch until a comic genius female friend of mine...we'll call her Kieren for now... decided it would be funny if mid change she pretended to drop her end of the scarf, the problem was in all the hilarious pretending she actually dropped the scarf, lucky for me my pants were up and no longer around my ankles....but It was a close one!

Veteran performers House of Pain followed and really, everyone just wanted them to play Jump Around. When they did the show ground erupted, it was an amazing sight to behold from our elevated vantage point of the small hill in the over 18's section. They also played a few tracks by band member Everlast including  his hit What It's Like. They were really the only 2 songs I recognized from them.

We next wandered over to the big tent to watch Architecture in Helsinki. I've turned down the opportunity to see these guys years ago and regretted it, so I was sure to check them out this time. I listened to their new album a few times the week before the gig and whilst some of the tracks were really catchy like Contact High, some of them were just a bit too abstract for me. None the less, over I moseyed and was entertained. Much to my delight they played That Beep quite early in their set and they also made an attempt at choreography a-la Darwin Deez but it was a bit of a lame attempt. Some moron of a girl decided to risk her life and make the band stop playing which gave me the shits when she climbed one of the huge posts holding up the tent. When she got to the top about 15-20 meters up she waved and made a show of it before heading down. On the way down she stopped, put her legs in the ladder like post and proceeded to hang upside down waving her arms around. The old lady in me was annoyed and disgusted and outraged she's do something so dumb. When the band stopped playing she decided she'd had enough and finally got down. I hoped she'd been caught and thrown out by security but I saw her run past about 2 minutes later freaking out with her friends. I gave her a dirty look. Don't think she noticed but it made me feel better! We left just after they played a cover of "I've Been Thinking About You" by Londonbeat.

We then watched a little Gyroscope, they are always pretty good, I'm not a huge fan. We all bopped away to their big hits and they finished with Snakeskin to a happy crowd. The Drums played whilst we sat and ate a very average steak sandwich, by this stage it was starting to get very cold. I heard a few tracks I knew but unfortunately we were already on our way to see Art V's Science when they played Let's Go Surfing but I whistled in tune as we headed away from the stage.

Art V's Science had punters packed into the huge tent and surrounds. The over 18's section meant the closest we could get was a few meters from the side of the tent, we couldn't hear much at all, so we downed our drinks and headed out of the over 18's section and into the tent for a dance. I do like these guys but I'm not a huge fan, I'm always left thinking 'I don't get it' when I see them live. There is a lot of noise and feedback between songs and with songs like Higher the crazy electro noises confuse me, none the less they are always entertaining and great to dance to.

Walking out of the warm tent and over to Birds of Tokyo I couldn't get over how cold it was. There were so many girls shivering and wearing hardly anything and I felt so sorry for their stupidity in not bringing a jacket or something. We caught the end of Birds of Tokyo and I really enjoyed them. I definitely preferred their first 2 albums more than their latest offering but these guys are the sort of band that I don't follow religiously but whenever I see them I'm always so impressed by their talent and professionalism.

I was torn between seeing The Wombats whose new album is phenomenal but who I've seen before and seeing UNKLE who I've never seen before but find them very interesting. I decided to check out most of The Wombats set and then head over to see the last few tracks of UNKLE. The Wombats were amazing as always, they played loads of hits off their first album, Kill The Director, Laura, Lets Dance to Joy Division, and some of the fantastic tracks from their latest offering like Tokyo, Our Perfect Disease and my fave of their set, Jump into the Fog which sounded so amazing and had all the perfect synth highlights from the album recording. When they finished their last song Joy Division we headed over quickly to see what was left of UNKLE.

I love their sound, it's so sexy. So much sound and such rich layers of music come out of these guys. I find it really hard to describe UNKLE or even compare them to anyone else. Some sites describe them as Electronica and Trip-hop (whatever that is) but I also find them a little Pop Rocky at times. I was bummed not to hear any of the 6 or 7 tracks I know from these guys, but what I heard I really loved.

This post has taken me ages I know. I've been working on it bit by bit for about 3 weeks and am just a bit over it right now. Maybe I need to focus on short album reviews or quick posts on more current favourite songs. Maybe for the gigs and festivals I go to I need to keep those reviews shorter, all I know is this one felt like homework, and I'm guessing it shows and is probably a bit of painful read. I think I'm a point where I need to step it up a notch and put some real time and effort in and try to get a bigger group of readers or I take a break till it becomes something I really want to do again. OR I just pack it in and write it off as a fun short experiment. We'll see what happens I guess.

Nick Norton - Sentimentalist

The last time I saw Nick Norton play he was fronting his band Gang Awry and playing for covers band Bust A Groove on the side and both bands had a bit of a local cult following at the time. These days Nick Norton is still making music but his direction has changed somewhat. Seemingly older and wiser Nicks new sound still has an outrageous amount of funk but has more of an easy listening feel and less of the Rock that frequented his older stuff.

Going solo this time, Nick has recently put out his latest offering, album Sentimentalist featuring very talented Bass player Tim Wilson, who has managed to speak Nicks language of Funk fluently and deliver some amazing bass riffs. The first and title track Sentimentalist is one of the better tracks on the album and had my 15 month old nephew grooving like no tomorrow when I played it in the car. Other tracks that were stand outs to me include my favourite Wait Up which is slower but has such a nice smooth flow to the vocals unlike a few of the other punchier tracks which sometimes sound a little frantic and disjointed. It has such a beautiful chorus that has me singing every time. Another great track track is Option Urge, it has such a toe tapping, head bobbing beat to it.

With this album being in the Jazz, Funk genre, it's not what I'd normally listen to and it left me craving the Rock stuff he used to do. It was a little too laid back for me, but after a few listens it definitely has its high points lyrically and musically, and is the perfect warming addition for a chilly lazy Sunday afternoon.

Loving this track - Blind Faith by Chase & Status

It took me a week to finally find out who sings this amazing song but I'm so glad I persisted. It's a great pump up song for a friday afternoon! Chase & Status are an electronic duo from London and have been around since 2003. Plug your headphones in and crank this track right up!

Splendour In The Grass 2011

Holy Moly this years announced line up is HUGE! And I dont mean huge as in it's full of freaken amazing acts (although the acts are mostly pretty amazing) I mean huge as in there are like 1002 acts announced to be playing on the bill!!
Not sure that I'll be in this year, it's at Woodford QLD again this year which is just a little to far now that it's no longer in Byron but keep your eyes out for side show announcement coming up in the next month or 2. Splendour will be on 29th to the 31st of July and tickets go onsale at 9am on the 5th of May.

Playing this year will be:

COLDPLAY

KANYE WEST

JANE'S ADDICTION

THE HIVES

PULP

THE LIVING END

THE MARS VOLTA

REGINA SPEKTOR

BLISS N ESO

PNAU

MOGWAI

DJ SHADOW

GLASVEGAS

THE GRATES

DEVENDRA BANHARDT AND THE GROGS

MODEST MOUSE

THE MIDDLE EAST

KAISER CHIEFS

JAMES BLAKE

KELE

THE VINES

ELBOW

ESKIMO JOE

NOAH AND THE WHALE

CHILDREN COLLIDE

THIEVERY CORPORATION

CUT COPY

ISOBEL CAMPBELL AND MARK LANEGAN

BLUEJUICE

THE KILLS

BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEYBEARS (featuring THE RELATIVES)

ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI

FOSTER THE PEOPLE

THE PANICS

FRIENDLY FIRES

JEBEDIAH

THE VACCINES

GOMEZ

BOY AND BEAR

GOTYE

DOES IT OFFEND YOU YEAH?

CLOUD CONTROL

MONA

SPARKADIA

WARPAINT

MUSCLES (Live)

FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS

THE JEZEBELS

DRAPHT

BRITISH SEA POWER

TIM & JEAN

LEADER CHEETAH

GROUPLOVE

SEEKER LOVER KEEPER

YELLE

KIMBRA

PHRASE

OH MERCY

DANANANANAYKROYD

THE BLACK SEEDS

MARQUES TOLIVER

THE HOLIDAYS

GHOUL

LIAM FINN

THE HERD

YOUNG THE GIANT

GUINEAFOWL

HUNGRY KIDS OF HUNGARY

JINJA SAFARI

WILD BEASTS

ILLY

CUT OFF YOUR HANDS

GARETH LIDDIARD

ALPINE

WORLD'S END PRESS

MOSMAN ALDER

LANIE LANE



Plus DJ sets all weekend from the likes of:



ASTON SHUFFLE

FLIGHT FACILITIES

D-CUP (WE NO SPEAK AMERICANO)

AJAX (MEGA JAM SET)

HOODRAT & DANGEROUS DAN

LIGHT YEAR

HOOPS

CASSIAN

WAX MOTIF

KATO

TONI TONI LEE

CHARLIE CHUX

TRANTER


It's a massive line up with 90 artists set to play over the whole weekend. It should be a great festival! Also, I'm really loving the Lolly theme this year!

Uncorrected and Soapbox Summer

Two young Sydney pop punk bands have joined together to make an extended ep Split Decision and save themselves a few dollars. What we end up with is an 8 track little gem of up beat poppy vocals with good old fashion punk rock riffs. Its been 10 years since my music tastes consisted only of Punk but it's good to see not much has changed in those 10 years.

I think both bands have quite a similar sound and both bands lead singers have similar voices which makes for a nice flow between the 2 sets of tracks on the record. However in saying that, I think I preferred the tracks recorded by Soapbox Summer. Their track Doc Brown is my Homeboy took 2 plays to securely lodge itself inside my head for 2 days straight and somehow I actually woke up singing S.L.U.T the other morning and it took me a few minutes to work out WTF I was singing and where I knew it from.
Uncorrected weren't without some catchy tracks. Kiss Kiss to Bang Bang was probably my fave by them but the opening track Mums Cookies are the Best comes with a hilarious and well done video clip. Check it out below.

Whether there is still a big market for Punk bands I'm not so sure anymore, but I think the heavy pop influence from these 2 bands will help them rapidly gain popularity, and I'm guessing these guys have no huge desire to be played on 2Day FM. For now they seem pretty happy to write play and record nothing but catchy pop punk goodness.


Uncorrected - Mums Cookies Are The Best



Soapbox Summer - Doc Brown is my Homeboy

Worst Song Ever - Rebecca Black - Friday.

I haven't before Blogged about bad music as I have always done my best to promote and educate the world (or the 3 people who read this Blog) about good music, but this has to be seen, or rather heard, to be believed!
Not since Billy Ray's Achy Breaky Heart has a song this bad abused my ears in such an abhorrent way! I heard about it on a few current event shows and had to check out what all the fuss was about, I mean, how bad could it really be? The title of Worst Song Ever is kind! I thought this video was a joke at first and proceeded to laugh all the way through.
With such amazing lyrical poetry such as 'Yesterday was Thursday, today is Friday, Saturday is tomorrow and Sunday comes afterwards" (or something like that), it's no wonder she has received such massive amounts of hate mail! I blame her Stage Parents for not being honest with her, and for telling her she has talent, which she obviously does not.
Somehow she has managed to get the Number 31 spot on US charts but lets be honest, most American's aren't that smart anyway. Whether you loath her or hate her, or have a malfunctioning brain and think she's like totally super awesomely freaken awesome, either way, it's the funniest thing I've seen in a long time!!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Strokes

The Strokes have a new album out today 'Angles', I've heard a few tracks this week on JJJ as it's been the feature album. Very new sound reflecting more of Julian Casablancas new direction, more synth and dance beats. Much less of the grubby rock sound of their first 2 albums which reshaped the rock and roll landscape of the early 2000's.
Listening to all the new stauff made me crave their old stuff so I've been OD-ing for the last 2 days on old Strokes. This is probably my favourite song by them (at the moment) What Ever Happened? off their second album Room on Fire.

Laneway Festival- 06/02/2011

We rocked up late and left early, I'm not sure how the 35'c day turned into an 18'c day but we made the most of our chilly time at the Sydney College of the Arts in Rozelle. We started off getting a great spot for Cloud Control. I love these guys, lead singer Alister Wright always has a huge smile on his face and he absolutely loves marching in time with the music. Cloud control have a flowy hummable sheen to their sound that make them impossible to hate but sometimes flirt with the boring side of life. However, boring they were not at Laneway! They played their Triple J Like a Version hit Pursuit of Happiness by Kid Cudi to an entertained crowd as well as great tracks from Debut album Bliss Release like Nothing in the Water and Ghosts. Another 'Hang on, I know this song!' moment amongst the crowd occurred when they morphed their first hit Gold Canary into The Butthole Surfers Pepper before sliding back into Gold Canary, I was impressed! They had a few heavy songs they bashed out with enthusiasm and I have a feeling there might be a newer louder sound to the next album I hope will be coming out this year some time.

After Cloud Control I went to find the facilities and had a run in with a security guard who got in my face then poked me! The Loos weren't where my map said they were and when I asked him and he pointed in an arbitrary direction which I though was passed the exit gate he was guarding, I leaned in to take a look through the gate and he freaken shoved my shoulder with his stubby index finger and told me to go follow the signs. I fired up and yelled 'I'm only looking for the toilets that are meant to be here, you don't have to be so rude! Jerk!'. When I finally found them the girl in front was complaining about the rude security guard at the exit gate, I informed them of my unsavory experience with the pushy ogre and we jabbered in outrage!

We then moved on and found a sheltered spot to the side for Two Door Cinema Club. I was so excited to see these guys and as hoped they didn't disappoint! These high energy Indie darlings pulled a huge and enthusiastic crowd considering they were compeating against Warpaint also playing that time slot. Undercover Martin had the whole crowd jumping and my favourite Something Good Can Work was absolutly amazing. So much so that the nerdy guy a few people over danced some huge geeky moves so big I thought he was going to take someones eye out with one of his shimmying shoulders. These guys put out such a good vibe with such movement to their sound it's hard not to dance in time to the music! Loved it!

Up next and on the main stage were Yeysayer. Unfortunately I was left a little disappointed by these guys. I'm not sure why they just didn't retain my attention. I found myself people watching and checking my watch. Madder Red had the crowd wooing in tune to the chorus and Ambling Alp and One were a few of the more engaging tracks played as the rain started to sprinkle down.

What I had been waiting for all day was Foals, and they were up next. They were amazing, my pick of the day! They opened with Blue Blood from their latest record Total Life Forever and also played some of the tracks I love like Miami and number 98 in the hottest 100, Spanish Sahara. I was spellbound by these guys! Lead singer Yannis Philippakis is so freaken talented! With a set of drum sticks he bashed away on a single drum for the last few tracks but it was more than that, his musicality is phenomenal. His complicated drum rhythms and passion left the crowd and myself amazed. He was truely an entertaining head turner and I was bummed when it ended! At one point I could smell that someone close was smoking some wacky tobacky and I had a look around but couldn't see who it was. About 5 minutes later I saw some hippie dude fall backwards into a garden over a barrier he was sitting on, I looked over and all I could see were feet sticking up out of the garden. I joked maybe he was smoking said tobacky. Sure enough, after he picked himself up and dusted himself off, with everyone around him having a good giggle, I realised he had a very suspciouse rolled cigarette he had managed to hang onto! So funny!

Like I said it was freezng and after Foals, we decided that was enough, I'm sure Cut Copy were great but we didnt see them. I plan to check them out again at the upcoming Groovin The Moo Festival which I'll be attending in Maitland. Cant wait for that one, the line up is amazing!

Loving this Track - Jump into the Fog - The Wombats

I heard this song for the first time this morning and fell in love with it. I'm not a massive Wombats fan, I do like their first album and Tokyo (Vampire and Wolves) was not bad, but I instantly fell in love with the chorus of this track this morning and felt the need to share it!
These guys are coming to Aus in May for the Groovin' The Moo festival touring regional areas of Australia and a few side shows were announced this morning including a gig at the Enmore on Monday the 9th of May.
Laneway review coming in the next day or 2!

Triple J's Hottest 100 - 2010

Well that's it for another year! Yesterday January 26th was not only one stinken hot Australia Day but also the Triple J's Hottest 100. I look forward to listening to this every year and I must say this year was really quite good! HOWEVER!! Angus and Julia Stone's Big Jet Plane at number one? HUH? Did I miss something? Sure maybe at like 25 or even 35 I would understand but NUMBER ONE? I just think they are a couple of Douche Bags, the music they make isn't bad I guess, I'm not really a fan, but as people, I think they are a bit wanky! When they won and were asked what are they going to do now, Angus said 'I'm going home to smoke a huge splif!' Good work Douche! Great role models! Sure, feel free, you do that, but do you really need to announce that to Australia cool guy? Rant...!

I honestly had no idea what was going to be number one and I liked that about this year! Last years Little Lion Man was so freaken obvious but this year, I was left guessing until the disappointing end! I voted for Darwin Deez - Radar Detector for number one which came in at 28. I also had Broken Bells - The high Road which was at 95, Interpol - Barricade which was 89, Ou Est le Swimming Pool - Jackson's Last Stand at 61, Cloud Control - There's Nothing in the Water at 18 and Boy and Bear's cover of Fall At Your Feet which made it in at number 5 which was the highest a cover has ever made it before! Love those guys! And that cover album of all male Aussie artists singing the songs of the Finn Brothers is amazing! There was a few other on my voting list that didnt make it in, but you cant win em' all!
What did you guys vote for? And what are your thoughts on the top 10 or the number 1?
Here's the full 100 in case you missed it:

Triple J’s Hottest 100 Countdown – 2010 List Of Songs
1. Angus & Julia stone – Big Jet plane

2. Little Red – Rock It

3. Ou Est Le Swimming Pool – Dance The Way I Feel

4. Birds Of Tokyo – Plans

5. Boy & Bear – Fall At Your Feet

6. Adrian Lux – Teenage Crime

7. Cee Lo Green – Fuck You!

8. The Wombats – Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)

9. Art Vs. Science – Magic Fountain

10. Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. – Somebody To Love Me {Ft. Boy George & Andrew Wyatt}

11. Pendulum – ABC News Theme {Remix}

12. Drapht – Rapunzel

13. Sia – Clap Your Hands

14. Kanye West – Runaway {Ft. Pusha T}

15. Duck Sauce – Barbara Streisand

16. The Jezabels – Mace Spray

17. Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. – Bang Bang Bang {Ft. MNDR & Q-Tip}

18. Cloud Control – There’s Nothing In The Water We Can’t Fight

19. Flight Facilities – Crave You {Ft. Giselle}

20. Washington – Sunday Best

21. Two Door Cinema Club – Undercover MartynU

22. Children Collide – Jellylegs

23. Bliss N Eso – Addicted

24. Sparkadia – Talking Like I’m Falling Down Stairs

25. Gotye – Eyes Wide Open

26. Crystal Castles – Not In Love {Ft. Robert Smith}

27. Florence & The Machine/Dizzee Rascal – You’ve Got The Dirtee Love {Live}

28. Darwin Deez – Radar Detector

29. Illy – It Can Wait {Ft. Owl Eyes}

30. Yeasayer – O.N.E

31. The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio

32. Foster The People – Pumped Up Kicks

33. Tame Impala – Solitude Is Bliss

34. The Naked And Famous – Punching In A Dream

35. Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. – The Bike Song {Ft. Kyle Falconer & Spank Rock}

36. Chiddy Bang – Opposite Of Adults

37. Gorillaz – Doncamatic {Ft. Daley}

38. The Naked And Famous – Young Blood

39. John Butler Trio – Revolution

40. Gyroscope – Baby, I’m Getting Better

41. Bliss N Eso – Down By The River

42. Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill

43. Yolanda Be Cool – We No Speak Americano

44. Crystal Castles – Baptism

45. Boy & Bear – Rabbit Song

46. Bag Raiders – Way Back Home

47. Birds Of Tokyo – Wild At Heart

48. Pendulum – Witchcraft

49. The Jezabels – Easy To Love

50. Hot Chip – One Life Stand

51. Yeasayer – Ambling

52. The John Steel Singers – Overpass

53. Bliss N Eso – Reflections

54. Miami Horror – Holidays {Ft. Alan Palomo}

55. Vampire Weekend – Giving Up The Gun

56. Sia – Bring Night

57. Example – Kickstarts

58. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

59. Washington – Rich Kids

60. Children Collide – My Eagle

61.Ou Est Le Swimming Pool – Jackson’s Last Stand

62. Angus and Julia Stone – Hold On

63. Arcade Fire – Ready To Start

64. Gypsy & The Cat – Jona Vark

65. Dead Letter Circus – One Step

66. Cold War Kids – Audience =

67. Vampire Weekend – Holiday

68. Andy Bull – Dog {Ft. Lisa Mitchell}

69. Pendulum – Watercolour

70. Groove Armada – Paper Romance

71. Gypsy & The Cat – Piper’s Song

72. Two Door Cinema Club – I Can Talk

73. Gypsy & The Cat – Time To Wander

74. Tame Impala – Lucidity

75. Coming Around – Hungry Kids Of Hungary

76. Kings Of Leon – Radioactived

77. Big Boi – Shutterbugg {Ft. Cutty}

78. Gorillaz – Stylo {Ft. Bobby Womack and Mos Def}

79. Little Red – Slow Motion Slow Motion

80. The Black Keys – Howlin’ For You Howlin’ For You

81. Klaxons – Echoes Echoes

82. The Black Keys – Tighten Up Tighten Up

83. Arcade Fire – Modern Man Modern Man

84. Washington – The Hardest Part The Hardest Part

85. Hot Chip – I Feel Better I Feel Better

86. Evil Eddie – Queensland Queensland

87. Birds Of Tokyo – The Saddest Thing I Know The Saddest Thing I Know

88. Kanye West – Monster {Ft. JAY-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver}

89. Interpol – Barricade Barricade

90. Art Vs. Science – Finally See Our Way Finally See Our Way

91. The Bedroom Philosopher – Northcote (So Hungover)

92. LCD Soundsystem – I Can ChangeI Can Change

93. The National – Anyone’s Ghost Anyone’s Ghost

94. Xavier Rudd – Time To Smile Time To Smile

95. Broken Bells – The High Road The High Road

96. Jonsi – Go Do Go Do

97. Parkway Drive – Sleepwalker

98. Foals – Spanish Sahara

99. Dead Letter Circus – Big

100. Muse – Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)

Loving this track today - Growing Old is Getting Old - Silversun Pickups

I have an old and huge playlist playing today on my iPod and this song came on and I almost lost control! I freaken LOVE this song. You know that song that makes you feel happy and sad at the same time, that song that somehow always manages to bring out loads of emotion in you even though you've heard it an outrageouse amount of times, well this is that song for me!
I think Brian Auberts voice is so interesting and the harmonies with Nikkie Monninger on Bass are really dynamic to listen to.
Love it!!!

Interpol - The Enmore 04/01/2011

I've seen these guys live before and knew they put on a good show so when this one was announced I decided to pay the huge $87 to see them at the Enmore. I believe I got value for money.

They were supported by Bridezilla and unfortunately I don't have anything particularly nice to say apart from the fact the lead singer had a gorgeous voice. The group with 4 girls up front and what I think/and hope was a guy on drums got a bit too carried away with their instruments for my liking (the drummer excluded) and most of the time it seemed they were just producing noise. They seemed really aware that they were onstage and they kinda seemed a bit wanky. I thought the lead singer had a voice like Shirley Manson from Garbage. My brother just thought they sounded like garbage, the stinky type. I think individually they all played well, but it just didn't mix, it just didn't sound right to me.

Next came Interpol. They immediately had the audience enthralled and I was suddenly acutely aware that the place had instantly filled to the brim. They opened with Success off their latest album and it was good to see the guys still enjoy a good suit! I don't want to lose it but my God these guys are sensational live. I might be bias as Antics their 2nd Album is my favorite but the crowd seemed to go wild for songs from this album. I like the way that Interpol are very minimal and subtle on stage yet not boring. I think it would be hard to master but I guess their songs lend themselves to this kind of performance.

Barricades from their new album titled Interpol was a crowd pleaser and I noticed that Paul Banks' voice didn't seem as polished as last time when they played the Horden a few years ago he sounded a little scratchy and higher than usual. I just googled Paul Banks and it seems he is also a solo artist under the name Julian Plenti and is also known as DJ Fancypants haha). They played tracks off all previous albums like my favourite Evil and Slow Hands from Antics as well as tracks from Our Love to Admire like Heinrich Maneuver.

It was such a great gig to start the new year off and apart from the annoying guy 2 people over who vigorously clapped in time to most songs with a look on his face that said 'I wish I knew the Friggen words! I love this song!' it was a great night. I know I say this regularly but if you get the opportunity to check these guys out, I'd really recommend it!!