Little Flames

i made some foods

2011-10-23T21:08:00.006+11:00

So I've been cooking my way steadily through a bunch of recipes this month and while almost all of them have been delicious (I have discovered that I'm not a big fan of polenta), I keep forgetting to take photos of them before I eat.

But I remembered this weekend! \o/

Pea risotto with salmon

1/2 onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
150g arborio rice
50mL white wine
350mL low-salt chicken stock, hot
70g frozen peas
2 salmon fillets (about 400g)
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tbsp cream

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Fry onion in oil on high heat. Stir in the rice to coat in oil. Add the wine and stock and season (I added a little dash of chilli flakes at this point). Simmer until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes, stirring constantly.

Meanwhile, place salmon on a baking sheet and pour over the lemon juice. Season and roast 10-12 minutes until cooked through. (I also roasted some pumpkin tossed in honey at the same time).

Once the rice is tender, stir peas into the risotto with the cream. (I added 1/3 cup grated cheese too).

Serve salmon on a bed risotto. Makes enough for two.

**

This next one's not as pretty, but it did make for a satisfying dinner tonight while I watched young kids who could trounce me in cooking skills AND presentation on Junior Masterchef. :P

Chicken noodle soup

300mL low-salt chicken stock
1 tsp 5-spice powder
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 nest of noodles
shredded, cooked children
beansprouts
1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp spicy sesame oil
lettuce, shredded

Bring chicken stock to boil with 5-spice powder and carrots. Lower heat to simmer and add noodles (I used udon). Cook until noodles are tender.

Stir in soy sauce and sesame oil. Add chicken (I had some chicken I'd roasted and frozen earlier in the week), beansprouts and lettuce.

Serves one.

Okkervil River - 18 Oct 2011 - The Metro

2011-10-19T11:36:00.008+11:00

The last time I saw Okkervil River (in May 2009) I never wrote up the concert in detail, but this was my gobsmacked, joyful summary:

"Oh my god, Okkervil River. They were AMAZING and totally renewed my faith in the power of live music. Will Sheff had the audience completely enthralled with his musical storytelling, and the whole band was having fun and playing well - loose and a little rough, but really good, and passionate. <3333333"

It still sits in my personal pantheon of best live shows EVER. So while I was really really looking forward to the gig on Tuesday night, part of me was also worried that I would be disappointed because of my stratospheric expectations.

But I needn't have worried. They are still one of the most face-meltingly fantastic acts live. They dove straight into it with a rollicking Wake and Be Fine from their latest album I Am Very Far, and then just barrelled through one high-octane, wonderful song after another, the energy levels lowering for just a few quieter moments here and there, like on the lovely A Girl in Port.

A Girl in Port

While last time what I came away with was an awe at the intimate, intense experience at the Annandale with more broody songs like A Stone and Another Radio Song, this time around I was struck by the energy and joy emanating from the stage. Hearing Okkervil songs live is a revelation; it's not about hearing a note-perfect copy but the the music coursing through your body, thrumming with energy and emotion.

I loved hearing every song on the set list, though particular surprises and highlights were Piratess came across like a torch song, more haunting in person with Will Sheff's mournful voice; and the one-two-three punch of Your Past Life as a Blast, Our Life is not a Movie or Maybe and Lost Coastlines where each song ended on such a terrific burst of energy that I thought surely, they're done for the night, and prepared myself for their exit - and then they'd throw themselves into the next song with glee.

Lost Coastlines

For every song they played I could think of another I wanted to hear played, but still I walked out humming their songs, grinning from ear to ear, madly proselytising about Okkervil's supremacy as a band to treasure.

Wake and Be Fine
For Real
Rider
Black
Piratess
A Girl in Port
Son of Our So-Called Friend
We Need a Myth
The Valley
No Key No Plan (Will Scheff, Richard Pestorius)
So Come Back I Am Waiting
John Allyn Smith Sails
Your Past Life as a Blast (mp3 from last.fm)
Our Life is not a Movie or Maybe
Lost Coastlines

The Rise
Westfall
Unless It's Kicks

Pulp - 27 Jul 2011 - Hordern Pavillion

2011-07-28T16:30:00.000+10:00

Jarvis Cocker made this show – whether dancing awkwardly at the front of the stage, making near-pornographic whispers into the mike or climbing all over massive speakers, he’s so on, possibly more than any other frontman I’ve ever seen. And even though it’s been 10 years since they’ve had a big hit, and over 10 years since I came to love them, there’s something wonderful in seeing his skinny, floppy haired silhouette in person.

The show itself is slick, with giant screens, the band name literally up in lights, and even a night-vision cam, but it wouldn’t work if the band weren’t so damn committed and good at what they do, even after a long hiatus. They played all the hits, sprinkled liberally through a setlist heavy with songs from Different Class (they played all but two songs from that album). Pop hits Disco 2000 and Common People were the most heartily received with a collective singalong and the terrible dancing of a generation of 20 and 30 somethings who were once the awkward, sensitive, sexually frustrated teens and youths that Pulp captures so well in its songs - and for a few golden moments we were those kids once more.

But it was more than just teenage nostalgia – the highlights for me were the songs that allowed Cocker and his band to bring on the layered musical brilliance and the over-the-top psychosexual melodrama such as I Spy, F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E and This is Hardcore.

Apart from being annoyed the the show started way earlier than advertised, so that we turned up halfway through the first song, this was such a brilliant, high-energy night full of great music that was part nostalgia trip but also somehow didn't seem dated at all.

Do You Remember the First Time?
Pink Glove
Bad Cover Version
Pencil Skirt
Something Changed
Disco 2000
Sorted For E's & Wizz
F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.
I Spy
Babies
Underwear
This Is Hardcore
The Fear
Sunrise
Bar Italia
Common People

Like a Friend
Live Bed Show
Mis-Shapes

Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (TBR Challenge Book 3)

2011-03-29T17:32:00.005+11:00

Leaving on a jet plane in a little while, so this will be short!

I always think Atwood is going to be harder to read than she actually is, though this might be because I gravitate toward her books about women and their complicated, often hurtful, relationships with each other.

However, because of this, it was also emotionally wearing to read. I was bullied as a child when I was around Elaine's age and there were times when I had to put the book down because my skin was crawling at the spot-on voices of Elaine's friends, the things they said to and *how* they said it, the way they used niceties to police her in really not-nice ways.

And yet, the sections about her life as a child were the most vivid, the most interesting to me - the descriptions of her unusual family, their trips away, the day-to-day minutae of being a child and finding out piece-by-piece how the world works. Elaine the grown woman, the artist, while she continues to talk in first person, seemed to become more and more distanced from the reader, from the world around her, as she reveals more about her past, revels more in the stories of the past than in her present.

But in the end, I liked it - couldn't say I enjoyed it, but I liked it. And hopefully this makes me more willing to read more Atwood.

**

Also, RIP Diana Wynne Jones. My first DWJ book was Black Maria (which hardly anyone mentions anymore) at around age 9 and it was creepy and wonderful and made me want to read more about magic worlds. I then went on to read Magicians of Caprona, then in quick succession all the Chrestomanci books. I will miss the joy of coming across new DWJ books in Kino - I will continue to look out for those books of hers I haven't managed to read yet.

Belle and Sebastian - 10 Mar 2011 - Opera House

2011-03-11T11:03:00.000+11:00

Set list
I Fought in a War
Expectations
Dirty Dream No. 2
I'm Not Living in the Real World (Stevie)
Piazza, New York Catcher
I Want the World to Stop
Antony
Sukie in the Playground
Fox in the Snow
A Century of Fakers
Travelling Light (Stevie)
Write About Love
I Didn't See It Coming
Boy with the Arab Strap
Judy and the Dream of Horses
Sleep the Clock Around

Blues Are Still Blue
Me and the Major

On the Road by Jack Kerouac (TBR Challenge Book 2)

2011-02-28T21:49:00.004+11:00

On the Road is jazz music; it's made up of riffs and improvisations. It sprawls at times - over space, time, form - but it can also seem rather hermetic at other moments, sealed in the repetition of yet another drifting/madcap travail from one end of America to the other, narrator Sal once again towed along by his best friend Dean. Or more correctly, by Dean's manic energy and his endless dreams - both in his limitless capacity for dreaming, and foor the fact that these dreams never come to fruition, never reach the end.

It's Dean that's the pulsing heart of this book - he's fascinating, and at the same time, you can't help be aware that if he were real he would the most infuriating person to be around. And then you realise he *was* real, that the beauty of the book in part is the way Kerouac has captured this portrait of his friend Neal Cassady, the way he manages to make music out of his character who leaps off the page, burning so bright that you can see why Sal/Jack stuck with him for so long, why he was drawn into Dean's schemes again and again.

It's actually taken me around five goes to finish reading this book. Some of the writing - oh, perfect in its poetry, its precise story-telling.

Marylou was watching Dean as she watched him clear across the country and back, out of the corner of her eye - with a sullen, sad air, as though she wanted to cut off his head and hide it in her closet, an envious and rueful love of him so amazingly himself, all raging and sniffy and crazy-wayed, a smile of her tender dotage but also sinister envy that frightened me about her, a love she knew woulld never bear fruit because when she looked at his hangjawed bony face with its male self-containment and absentmindedness she knew he was too mad.

But some other sections I couldn't leaf through fast enough, bored, frustrated. I'm not sure if I ever will attempt to give it a solid read through again - it seems to me such a rich text that it's best served in small bites, snatches of music, bursts of life at its most haphazard.

TBR Challenge - my 12 books for 2011

related reading

On the Road, Revisited
Loved reading this back and forth discussion between Megan O'Rourke and Walter Kirn on Slate about their reading of On the Road. I particularly enjoyed O'Rourke's response to the book, the way it expresses an idea of an America that was and never was and could've been.

Oscar time!

2011-02-27T22:14:00.003+11:00

Time and my body are conspiring against me. I wanted to do a full prediction post with commentary but I'm so tired right now that this will have to do.

Best Picture
• Black Swan
• The Fighter
• Inception
• The Kids Are All Right
• The King’s Speech
• 127 Hours
• The Social Network
• Toy Story 3
• True Grit
• Winter’s Bone

I managed to see 7 of these this year! This is my best effort ever in collecting Oscar movies before the big day. \o/

I would put Inception and The King’s Speech at the bottom of my list. I just found TKS handsome and pleasant, but I came out of that movie and I had nothing to say about it, nothing to mull over. Whereas Inception *did* give me something to think about afterwards, but all my thinking came to the conclusion that it had been an intricately constructed house of cards, and once you find one thing to tug from the bottom, the whole thing collapses in a heap. That said, it’s an ambitious mess that was interesting enough while I was watching it in the cinemas.

Despite the fact I couldn’t hear 5/8ths of what Jeff Bridges said, I enjoyed True Grit. It’s beautifully shot (Roger Deakins FTW!), with dialogue that just crackles, and it’s funny and sobering in turns.

The Kids Are All Right is low key and really good, perfectly encapsulating for me that Larkin poem: They fuck you up, your mum and dad. / They may not mean to, but they do. / They fill you with the faults they had / And add some extra, just for you. It seems so effortlessly made but what materials it’s made of – great performances (all three of the main actresses – Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mia Wasikowska - are great and Mark Ruffalo works that charm of his to great advantage to the role), and the script has a great ear for the at times loving, at times tense, human rhythms of people who’ve known and loved and worn each other down for many many years.

Even now I don’t really know how I feel and what I think about Black Swan. I was engrossed watching it but I don’t think I could really say I enjoyed it and ever want to see it again. But I admire it for the crazy balls-to-the-wall OTTness of it all, the way it commits to this gorgeous gothic sensibility in everything – character, story, look and performances – and it really works.

I just loved Toy Story 3 - it’s a great balance of funny, nostalgic, eye-poppingly beautiful, sweet and reflective. And when I walked out of the cinema, feeling exhilarated, the first movie I could compare it to was Inglourious Basterds. Both take on themes of death and morality (admittedly with vastly different approaches for different comedic effect) and both are steeped in filmic history, clearly made by film lovers for film lovers. This is clear from the lovingly crafted visual and textual references (particularly to B-movie Westerns) in both movies, and the sense of great filmmaking in the care taken with the action set pieces, structure, a really clear sense of story, beautiful mise-en-scene, witty scripts and memorable characters (particularly complex, menacing and yet almost likeable villains).

But in the end, even though I know TKS probably has this in the bag, I'm still going to say The Social Network.

Prediction: The Social Network

Actor in a Leading Role
• Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
• Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
• Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
• Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”
• James Franco in “127 Hours”

Jeff Bridges is good in True Grit, but this nomination owes as much to good will from last year’s win as his performance. Javier Barden can count the nomination as the honour. Similarly, Jesse Eisenberg and James Franco are nominated to recognise their well-lauded performances but as two young first nominees in this field, they have little chance.

The award is really Colin Firth’s to lose, with the power of The King’s Speech juggernaut behind him. Despite my ambivalence about The King’s Speech as a film, he did give a good performance as the stuttering would-be king, revealing the man – loving husband and father, struggling with not just his own fears but the fears of a nation - under a stiff upper lip borne out of a cold upbringing and the burden of duty. And also, he deserved it for last year’s wonderful performance in A Single Man

Prediction: Colin Firth

Actor in a Supporting Role
• Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
• John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone”
• Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
• Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
• Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech”

It’s been called as a two-horse race between Geoffrey Rush and Christian Bale; Rush has The King Speech’s possible sweep behind him, while Bale has won the bulk of the awards in this category over the season. I feel like I should turn in my Aussie card for saying this, but Geoffrey Rush is considered such a consistently good actor that it seems hard to see his performance in TKS as something to single out. (See his complaints about this status as a bona fide Aussie acting superstar here.) Where as Bale, despite bad press over the last year in his personal life and *that* tirade, has garnered a great deal of praise for another showy and difficult role.

Prediction: Christian Bale

Actress in a Leading Role
• Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
• Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
• Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone”
• Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
• Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

First things first: Hailee Steinfield belongs in this category *grumble*

Anyway. I actually enjoyed Julianne Moore and Mia Wasikowska’s performances in The Kids Are All Right more than Annette Bening’s (and I like the Bening normally). I haven’t seen any of the others apart from Natalie Portman in Black Swan but she was captivating – in nearly every single frame of the movie, sometimes duplicated, always creepy and terrified and terrifying and committed. She and Bening have split nearly all the awards between them so it’s really down to the two of them and I think Portman might just have it.

Prediction: Natalie Portman

Actress in a Supporting Role
• Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
• Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech”
• Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
• Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
• Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

This sounds like a really strong field – apart from Helena Bonham Carter. It pains me to say this because I love HBC, but her role in TKS amounted to little but looking demure and supportive and lovely in period costume. And she’s better than that, and done more, and deserved this honour more for many other roles (though if you have to pick one, please watch The Wings of the Dove and tell me if it and she doesn’t break your heart by the end because it will mean you are made of STONE). So I’m glad she’s being recognized, and I hope this means she gets roles apart from Burton movies once in a while, but I don’t want her to win.

Sentimentally, I want Jacki Weaver to win – for the Aussie connection, for the fact that she has been great in Australian tv and film for so long and it’s lovely to see her get wider recognition. But I know that it would be quite hard with three other strong performances by better-known actresses or in more widely seen movies.

While Hailee Steinfeld is great in True Grit, let me call back to the category fraud – she’s in her movie more than Jeff Bridges, for goodness sake, and he’s in the Best Actor category. Bah. Also she’s only 14 and I still feel it’s a bit of a career hazard to win an Oscar so super young. So it’s down to the two actresses from the Fighter. I’m calling it for Melissa Leo because she’s had the stronger season coming in, she came close two years ago (for Best Actress) with Frozen River, and I’d be willing to bet that Amy Adams will have several more chances to win an Oscar in her years ahead.

Prediction: Melissa Leo

Directing
• “Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky
• “The Fighter” David O. Russell
• “The King’s Speech” Tom Hooper
• “The Social Network” David Fincher
• “True Grit” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

This is TOUGH.

I'd sooner give it to anyone but Hooper in the category, for the films they’ve been nominated and body of work.

Prediction: David Fincher

Music (Original Song)
• “Coming Home” from “Country Strong” Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
• “I See the Light” from “Tangled” Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
• “If I Rise” from “127 Hours” Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
• “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3″ Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Wow, I did not expect some of these nominees. And I expected at least one song from Burlesque in here.

Prediction: I See the Light, unless people decide that Alan Menken doesn’t *really* need 9 Oscars. I’d be happy to see it go to Randy Newman also.

Short Film (Animated)
• “Day & Night” Teddy Newton
• “The Gruffalo” Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
• “Let’s Pollute” Geefwee Boedoe
• “The Lost Thing” Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
• “Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)” Bastien Dubois

Aussie pride (and the fact I love his books) says Yay Shaun Tan! But I've seen clips of all the nominees and 'Madagascar, carnet de voyage' is really beautiful.

Prediction: Madagascar, carnet de voyage

Writing (Adapted Screenplay):
• “127 Hours” Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
• “The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
• “Toy Story 3” Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
• “True Grit” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Winter’s Bone” Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

This one's a no brainer.

prediction: The Social Network (Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin)

Writing (Original Screenplay):
• “Another Year” Written by Mike Leigh
• “The Fighter” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson;
Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
• “Inception” Written by Christopher Nolan
• “The Kids Are All Right” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
• “The King’s Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler

Hard category to pick – all films with a lot of critical praise. It’s almost certainly King’s Speech, because I’ve read that Seidler has been extremely personable in the Oscar campaign and has a great and personal story behind how this movie finally made it to screen.

Wish: Another Year, which was so beautifully quiet or The Kids Are All Right; both have a similar ability to convey a natural rhythm in dialogue and story to draw out complex human relationships and bring out characters.

Prediction: The King’s Speech

And some quick miscellaneous predictions to round it off:

Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 3
Music (Original Score): The Social Network (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)
Best Foreign Film: In a Better World
Best Achievement in Cinematography: True Grit (Roger Deakin)
Best Achievement in Film Editing: Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter, The Social Network (more Aussies, yay!)

past nomination posts:
82nd Oscars predictions
80th Oscars Oscars predictions (on The Stirrer)

Andrew McMahon - 10 Feb 2011 - The HiFi (Brisbane)

2011-02-16T16:51:00.007+11:00

"Wouldn't it be funny," Al said to me as we ambled along Boundary St in Brisbane’s West End, “If we came all the way to Brisbane to see Andrew McMahon and then somehow missed the show?”

I think she said this to tease me about my worry that we’d forgotten to bring the tickets from Sydney, knowing full well we had them. But I admit to having a moment of panic when, upon entering the venue at 9:45pm ahead of the advertised 10pm starting time, we heard Andrew’s distinctive voice drifting down the corridor through the building.

Yes, he’d started early — so we only made it to the surprisingly packed floor as Andrew finished playing his first song, solo on the piano. He stayed seated at the piano for the rest of the show though he was joined by Jack’s Mannequin bandmate Bobby Anderson on the guitar for the rest of this set. They were lovely in harmony with each other, and even with just the two of them and an instrument each on stage they played with gusto and had a surprisingly amount of energy.

Andrew was adorable on stage — endearing and utterly earnest in performance. He introduced every single song, sometimes adding colour with anecdotes about song name choices and his motivations for writing a song (or admitting he couldn’t remember why he’d written it!) Some of them were serious and illuminating, like the story behind the rather depressingly titled Hey Hey Hey (We’re All Going to Die), and some were just amusing, like his reminiscing about being a stoner and insisting on a blue light in his room for about six months as an intro to She Paints Me Blue.

The set list was a treat, with both Jack’s Mannequin and Something Corporate songs getting an airing. It was a fun singing along to JM songs I love (like La La Lie at Andrew’s urging and the affirming The Resolution) but it was also great, as more of a latter-day JM fan, to be introduced to older Something Corporate cuts like the beautifully sad Down. Andrew even threw in a cover of Elton John’s rocket man, which worked well with his voice and his great piano work.

Andrew left the stage after just over an hour. All through the night there’d been the occasional call for Konstantine from the audience, but as Andrew returned to the stage for the encore, some obnoxious fans started to really yell for the song. Andrew tried charmingly to reason with them about why wouldn’t be playing it, but he became a little flustered as his words fell on mostly deaf ears, and the calls continued. (For the interested, the reason is to prevent him from having to play the song every night of his life — if he plays it at one gig then every following audience would demand and expect it. Fair enough.) However, the night still ended on a lovely, upbeat note with a singalong to Dark Blue, the song staying with me and looping through my head as we walked back to our accommodation.

All in all, I loved seeing him play again, to hear him play a longer set than I've ever managed before. Even though it was a solo tour, which restricted him to the piano and he couldn’t bounce around and be all energetic and muppety, he really is a pleasure to see and hear live.

photo from primroserobinson

Hammer and Strings (A Lullaby)
Mix Tape
Crashin’
As You Sleep
Holiday from Real
She Paints Me Blue
La La Lie
The Resolution
Rocket Man (Elton John cover)
Swim
Down
21 and Invincible
Hey Hey Hey (We’re All Going to Die)
Bruised
Spinning

Punk Rock Princess
Olive (Bobby Anderson side project)
Dark Blue

Menomena - 7 Feb 2011 - Factory Theatre

2011-02-16T12:47:00.004+11:00

The last two Menomena albums made my favourites list of their respective years of release, so I was really really looking forward to this show, on their first tour of Australia. And they did not disappoint!

They started loud, strong and muscular with the aptly named Muscle’n Flo followed by two great tracks from Mines, their fantastic album from last year, including the awesome, funky TAOS. All through the show they were such a joy to listen to; the multilayered music, bouncing from atmospheric to rocking, from energetic to haunting and reflective, all with the restless, driving rhythm. I loved the vocals provided by the whole band, strange lines of harmony weaving in and out of each other, an odd mix of voices that shouldn’t work and yet sound so good together.

The four-piece band were fun on stage, with a great line in sweetly snarky banter between themselves and the small but dedicated audience. Justin Harris made time to thank the crowd for appreciating the deep cuts they were playing as they dipped into material from first album I am the Fun Blame Monster!, including The Late Great Libido, one of my favourites, which Harris said was the first time they’d played it live in four years! They were also fairly patient with the obnoxious elements of the crowd who kept heckling and yelling for Evil Bee, which the band demurred from playing since it’s usually sung by recently departed band member Brent Knopf.

The Late Great Libido

Despite the fact it was only their fourth show with Brent’s replacement, the enthusiastic, prone-to-dancing Paul Alcott on keyboard, the band were great, throwing themselves into the performance with abandon, giving it their all. Justin Harris was suffering a cold that was causing him to lose his voice – he apologised after some songs where his voice was noticeably breaking but powered on through the show, singing and playing with skill the baritone sax (to my great instrument-geek joy). And Danny Seim was just AMAZING to watch as he pounded away - the drumming, oh the drumming.

Even though their set was a little over an hour long, they were so charming and talented live, with a show so full of wonderful music, I didn’t feel cheated at all and enjoyed every moment.

Muscle'n Flo
Five Little Rooms
TAOS
Weird
Tithe
Strongest Man In The World
Twenty Cell Revolt
BOTE
The Late Great Libido
Queen Black Acid
Dirty Cartoons
Rotten Hell

Ghostship
The Pelican

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas (TBR Challenge Book 1)

2011-01-31T10:34:00.004+11:00

It all starts at that well-known symbol of the Australian summer, the suburban backyard BBQ. In attendance at Hector and Aisha’s house one hot summer afternoon is a party doubles as a cross-section of modern Australian society - young and old; friends, family and colleagues; and a mix of races and cultures. Then in one heated moment, Hector’s brother slaps the recalcitrant child of another guest. The Slap then follows the story of ten people at the BBQ that afternoon as they navigate and weather the repercussions of that moment in their own lives.

If you’ve never encountered Tsiolkas’ writing before, The Slap may be the place to start – it’s his most accessible novel to date. He leaves behind in-your-face tales of the marginal and the grotesque that so marked Dead Europe and Loaded and focuses on the heart of the suburbs, that bubbling cauldron of fidelity, friendship, family tension and race relations in every day Australian life. The characters he draws are so vivid, so human; presented with myriad flaws that can make them hard to like, but Tsiolkas is smart enough to flesh out their motivations that you can never fully condemn each person for their apparent sins.

My main issue with the book is that the divergent character points-of-view never quite gel together as one narrative for me. ‘The slap’ ties all the characters together but not their stories, and the exploration into the personal life of each character takes away from the overall narrative drive. But as standalone character pieces, they’re each an interesting commentary on romantic, familial and platonic relationships in contemporary Australia, though some are arguable more successful than others in their critique and/or emotional impact. The sections that struck me the most were Manolis’ bittersweet elegy on ageing, as Hector’s father reconnects with his past, with the brothers-in-arms who immigrated to Australian alongside him, who supported each other through those early days in an unfamiliar clime; and the joy of being young and alive in the tender, surprisingly hopeful ending section seen through Richie’s eyes.

Tsiolkas is such a powerful, angry writer that in the end, it doesn’t really matter that this ambitious, sprawling novel doesn’t completely hold together. I appreciate that it’s a good, uncomfortable read, a book that challenges, repels, and provokes thoughts about the ugly truths and issues that are too often kept hidden under the facade of polite and respectable society.

TBR Challenge - my 12 books for 2011

Best of: Music in 2010

2011-01-16T11:06:00.005+11:00

Here be my 10 favourite albums of the year:

1. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West
All those crazy, musically-diverse layers - beats, lyrics, themes, ego and doubts - through the album.

watch: the trailer (or "moving portrait" as Kanye called it) for the video for 'Power' (which is rumoured to be 40+ minutes long), my favourite song along with 'Monster' (but I love Monster more for Nicki Minaj's verse - she steals the song out from everyone)

2. The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
The album did not grab me on first listen, but it was definitely a grower - just like previous album Neon Bible - and by the end of the year I had completely fallen in love with the storytelling, the atmosphere. The music is lighter, but the claustrophobia of the Suburbs is clear still within, the dark heart under the beautiful, peaceful surface.

Listen: 'The Suburbs' / 'Month of May'

A. The Suburbs

AA. Month of May

3. All Days are Night: Songs for Lulu by Rufus Wainwright.
I love that Rufus Wainwright's idea of“stripped back”still includes gorgeously lush piano-driven heartbreaking paens to grief and love.

Download: 'Who are you, New York?'

4. Everything Under the Sun by Jukebox the Ghost
So many fine, catchy pop songs, so much intelligent thought behind it. Great follow-up album.

Watch: the band being interviewed at the 'Bean' in Chicago, where they talk about Ben Folds Five comparisons and why they have such a weird band name.

5. Mines by Menomena
I love the musical layers in the songs, from the different qualities of the voices to the fuzzy bass to the beat to those great horns.

Download: 'TAOS'

6. Danger Days by My Chemical Romance
Anthemic and built to be played loud - it's not rocket science, but it is damn catchy and fun.

Watch: Art is the Weapon - a trailer of sorts for the first single, the intro for the thru-story and palette and concept for their whole album.

7. Life is Sweet! Pleased to Meet You by Lightspeed Champion
Great songs that are more complex than they seem at first, with lush orchestral arrangements, clever lyrics, and diverse musical styles.

8. Steel Train by Steel Train
Sweet, fun indie pop that I've had on repeat constantly this year.

Listen: 'Turnpike Ghost'

9. The Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens
I'm still not sure I entirely like this album end-to-end though that might be my reflex reaction to at times deliberately harsh electronica mix through his trademark his beautiful, floaty music. But the album does have some absolutely terrific moments, such as I Walked and the 25 minute standout, Impossible Soul.

Download: 'I Walked'

10. The ArchAndroid by Janelle Monae
I love her voice, and the ambitious mishmash of genres and styles all through her music, while remaining catchy as hell.

Watch: the video for 'Tightrope' - great song, great storytelling, creepy video with some mesmerising footwork. What's not to like?

Honourable Mentions

Bad Books – Bad Books
Belle and Sebastian - Belle and Sebastian Write About Love
Annuals – Sweet Sister EP
Boy & Bear – With Emperor Antarctic EP

Looking forward to new releases in 2011 from:

Patrick Wolf (Lupercalia)
Panic! at the Disco (Vices and Virtues)
The Decemberists (The King is Dead is out now)
Bright Eyes (The People's Key)
Okkervil River (I am Very Far)
Manchester Orchestra (Simple Math)
Taking Back Sunday

also rumoured to release new albums are:
fun.
Radiohead
Blink-182

It's looking to be an exciting new year of music! And hopefully some of these guys tour, which brings me to...

live music from 2010!

I saw a total of 19 bands at 16 shows. This included seeing Kevin Devine 3 times and Brand New twice in the space of five days and I don't regret any of that at all (as you will see from the list of best shows below).

Nine Favourite Performances

1. Kevin Devine @ East Brunswick Club, 29 Mar
2. Brand New @ Enmore Theatre, 25 Mar
3. The Decemberists @ The Metro, 19 Jan
4. The Pixies @ Hordern Pavilion, 14 Mar
5. Delta Spirit @ Factory Theatre, 3 Oct
6. Band of Horses @ Enmore Theatre, 29 July
7. Spoon @ The Forum, 7 May
8. Sunny Day Real Estate @ UNSW Roundhouse, 23 Feb
9. Neko Case @ City Recital Hall, 12 Jan

Upcoming Shows:
Sufjan Stevens, Menomena, Andrew McMahon, Belle and Sebastian

Dec 2010 live music compendium (Lemonheads, Jebediah, Lightspeed Champion)

2011-01-10T20:11:00.004+11:00

I had three shows lined up for December and unfortunately all three were rather frustrating.

The Lemonheads - 1 Dec 2010 - The Metro
To be honest, this was really 'Evan Dando and friends who are not the original Lemonheads playing through It's a Shame About Ray and then another twenty songs'. All within an hour and a bit, mind - it was an automated assembly line of songs, one note-perfect, joyless rendition after another. The room, sweaty and fully packed for the sold-out show, perked up at the singles and created a nice atmosphere with nostalgic singalongs, but on stage there was nothing fun at all. Dando barely acknowledged the audience, saying about ten words the whole night - and eight of them were 'thank you'. There was a one song encore, a shambolic version of Outdoor Type with old friends and support band Smudge, but at least Dando seemed to be enjoying himself for the first time all night. The band were proficient in their playing, and he still has that great voice (rather unfairly, it seemed that all that hard living has agreed with him) but ultimately, it was not a rousing comeback or even a fun nostalgia trip.

Jebediah - 9 Dec 2010 - Annadale Hotel
And Jebediah was not the fun nostalgia trip I was looking for either. I had such a good time at their last show at the Annadale. This time though...yeah, they were still loud and energetic and still ridiculously young looking (Kev Mitchell has surely drunk from the fountain of life). But after the late start, an hour of listening to them play obscure songs from their back catalog and none of thie hits, weaksauce banter and one too many moments of tech problems, we decided to bail. Just one more song, Al and I said, wanting to give them the benefit of the doubt, but after four times we gave it up for lost. You can't go back to being sixteen again...again.

Lightspeed Champion - 3 Jan 2011 - Spectrum
This was a show steeped in chaos from the start. Cancelled and then rescheduled in the new year, after Devonte Hynes was stuck in New York due to snowstorms, it was a tiny crowd that gathered about a foot from the stage on the night, with the much more popular Born Ruffians show on at the same time just three doors down the road.

Hynes' was truly playing a solo show - just one man on stage, with an electric guitar, an acoustic guitar, a keyboard and...a laptop. And this is where things get kind of bizarre - he chose, for half the set, to sing along with his backing tracks playing on his laptop, forsaking live instrumentation for the pre-recorded version, even when he *had* said instrumentation at his disposal. This meant that at times, it felt like we were watching someone at karaoke - well-sung karaoke, sure, but still a little underwhelming as an audience at a show. The biggest shame was that when Hynes chose to go without the track and just accompany himself on guitar or keyboard, he was really good and the music was really really lovely. The highlights, for me, were an acoustic version of Deadhead Blues and of Flush Out, a new song (which he released for free download today!).

He was well-received, none the less; surrounded by enthusiastic fanboys and one very persistent photographer, he struck poses and sang his heart out and for the last song, a cover of Hello, he sang to the crowd in the thick of the crowd on the tiny floor, which finally broke the nervous atmosphere and gave the show and the room some life, just a little too late.

2010 reading round-up / The 2011 TBR Pile Challenge

2011-01-09T22:25:00.011+11:00

So in 2010, I read 113 books, which was a fair bit up on last year's total (of 68). Yay for public transport time once more!

My top 3 books from last year were:

Fun Home - Alison Bechdel
This is such a rich, wonderful book - in story, in themes, in the storytelling. It’s a memoir in comic form, tracing Alison Bechdel’s childhood to her early twenties, her relationship with her somewhat distant father, and the complex, related issue of sexuality. It’s beautifully written and drawn, funny and heartrending in turn, as she circles closer and closer to an understanding of childhood memories that seem to gain more sinister meanings in the wake of her father’s death a few weeks after she comes out to her parents. Beautifully written and drawn, funny and heartrending in turn.

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
I started one morning before work in April, thought about it all day when I wasn't reading it, and finished by that night. And months later, I still find myself thinking over it every now and then. I loved so much about this - the different voices, the different genres he plays with, the fantastic structure folding into each other.

The Orchid Thief - Susan Orlean
This was such a fascinating, beautifully written piece of journalism, thoughful and detailed and somehow quite loving about the very insular, slightly crazy world of orchid breeding and collecting. I definitely looked at orchids in a different light after reading it - and I don't even *like* orchids.

rounding out my top 10:

The Fall of Kings – Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman
Perfect Circle – Sean Stewart
The Cutting Room – Louise Welsh
The Monkey's Mask – Dorothy Porter
In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
Magic for Beginners – Kelly Link
Hikaru no Go (manga series)

Where do I get all these books from?! Well, every year I love seeing where and how I economically acquired each year's reads. As always, Alison is my greatest single book enabler...

47 borrowed from Alison (which includes 29 volumes of manga)
22 bought from secondhand bookshops, Book Basement and other discount book sellers
13 from the library
11 from Bookmooch
10 read for free at bookshops
4 borrowed from other friends
2 bought full price

This brings me to The 2011 TBR Pile Challenge. I may read a fair bit, but it's safe to say that I acquire even more books each year - and a large number of these then sit forever on my 'to be read' shelves (and I literally have four shelves of books TBR). Hence, the TBR Pile Challenge:

The Goal:
To finally read 12 books from your "to be read" pile, within 12 months.

Each of these 12 books (plus 2 alternates, just in case you can't finish one or two of the original 12) must have been on your bookshelf or "To Be Read" list for AT LEAST one full year. This means the book cannot have a publication date of 1/1/2010 or later (any book published in the year 2009 or earlier qualifies, as long as it has been on your TBR pile).

So I went through the pile and decided on:

1. The Slap - Christos Tsolkas
2. Foucault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco (see Alternate no. 14)
3. Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood*
4. A Contract with God - Will Eisner
5. We So Seldom Look on Love - Barbara Gowdy
6. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
7. The Flight From the Enchanter - Iris Murdoch*
8. Nekropolis - Maureen McHugh
9. Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
10. Beauty - Shari S. Tepper
11. Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy*
12. The Mysteries of Pittsburgh - Michael Chabon*

alternates
13. Beauty - Robin McKinley*
14. On the Road - Jack Kerouac

* indicates a book I've borrowed from Al, most likely for years

One of the requirements of the challenge is to post book reviews as I go, so that should ensure that I blog at least 12 times this year...which would probably double the amount of posts, ahahahasigh. So watch this space!

Foodie week

2010-11-28T22:40:00.005+11:00

So I was pretty sick for most of this week and there were some other RL problems, but I was determined to make it through a gamut of food-related fun things. In the end, I fine dined, enjoyed a workplace Christmas dinner, and on the weekend I baked, cooked and ate some more. All with tonsellitis, hah.

You can see some evidence of the fine dining above. :) It was nice, which seems a very anaemic word to use about such a meal, but I kinda knew going in that I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to be ultra-excited. I couldn't smell a thing due to being sick, and between that and having to socialise I just felt so buggered by the end of the night.

Work Christmas dinner at Rhodes Phoenix was fun and relaxed. We did have chilli lobster, which is a nervewracking thing to eat in front of company anyway since it's so messy and fussy, and then on top of Joey (of FoodiePop started analysing my work practices through the way I tackled the lobster, heh. (I was told I was "logical" in the way I removed all the shell from the pieces of meat before me before I started eating, just like how I sort all the medicines from our daily suppliers alphabetically before I put them away. Logical, or obsessive-compulsive? You decide...)

And then I spent a fair bit of time in the kitchen over the weekend. I made choc chip cookies for a fundraiser at church, and then dinner on Sunday night for my parents.

This recipe made about 50 cookies. And my favourite comment was "These are even better than Subway cookies!" Yes, yes they are.

Choc Chip Cookies
originally from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc At Home cookbook, via Baking Bites

2 1/3 cups plain flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
225g butter, , chilled and cut into small pieces and divided equally in two portions
1 cup (packed) brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
400g chocolate (mix of dark and milk), chopped

Preheat over to 180 Celcius. Grease and line a baking sheet with baking paper.

In a medium bowl, mix flour and baking soda and salt.

In a big bowl, beat half the butter with an electric mixer until softened. (Because the day was so hot, I kept the other half of the butter in the freezer just to keep it chilled in the meantime.)

Add in the brown sugar (original recipe called for dark, which I'd run out of - but I think it would make an even more delicious, chewy cookie so I'd love to try it again with the dark brown sugar) and the white sugar and cream with the butter.

Beat in eggs, one at a time. (We had a near-miss at this point as it turned out the first egg I cracked was a bad one!)

Add in the vanilla extract, then beat in the remaining butter at a med-high speed until well incorporated. It's quite a fluffy mixture at this point.

Mix in the flour mixture at low speed on the mixture (or if you want strong arm muscles, fold in by hand).

Stir in the chocolate chunks. (I lessened the amount of chocolate from the original recipe, but was still told by appreciative eaters that there was plenty of chocolate in each cookie.)

Use a tablespoon to drop rougly 1 inch balls (about 1 rounded tablespoon) onto the baking sheet, leaving about an inch and a half between for spreading.

Bake for 13 minutes until cookies are set, matte-looking and lightly golden brown.

Cool for 3-4 minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to cool on a wire rack.

Tonight's dinner was spaghetti with seafood ragu, herbed mushrooms stuffed with mozarella, and a simple garden salad with a honey-balsamic dressing. The critics at home declared the pasta the hit of the night but rejected the mushrooms completely (I screwed up on that one as I substituted too many things because I didn't have half the ingredients).

But the ragu...oh, the briny, tomato-y deliciousness. Would definitely make again!

Ragù di Pesce
originally from The Wednesday Chef

1 kg seafood/marinara mix, roughly chopped
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup minced herbs (I used basil and parsley)
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 can canned tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
450g spaghetti
Chilli flakes (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Finely dice the onion and garlic. In a wide, deep pan, cook over medium heat in olive oil, along with several spoonfuls of the minced herbs. Keep stirring to make sure the mixture doesn't burn.

About 7 minutes later, add the seafood mix and stir well to coat the seafood in the oil, onion, garlic and herb mix. Cook for a few minutes until the seafood takes on colour around the edges.

Add the wine and let it cook down for a few minutes.

Add the tomatoes (fresh and canned) to the pan and stir. Throw in a good amount of salt (I used a teaspoon). And a nice pinch of chilli flakes if you want it a little spicy (mmm, spicy).

Let the sauce come to boil, then let it simmer away for about 10-15 minutes until it has reduced and is a little thick. Then turn off the heat, stir in the rest of the herbs and add cracked black pepper for seasoning (and salt if necessary).

Cook your spaghetti until al dente, then drain it and add it to the pan with the sauce and mix well before serving.

Ben Kweller/Delta Spirit - 3 Oct 2010 - Factory Theatre

2010-10-04T00:31:00.013+11:00

Having not seen any live music in a while, I was itching to catch a gig when I saw that Delta Spirit, who really impressed me at Lollapalooza last year, would be supporting Ben Kweller. I like both artists, the tickets were cheap - I was sold! And I'm so glad we made such a last minute decision to go because I had a really enjoyable night of country-tinged Americana rock.

picture from Delta Spirit by delta spirit

When I saw Delta Spirit for the first time last year, I hadn't heard any of their songs before, but I was so taken by their great stage presence and their catchy tunes. Frontman Matt Vasquez isn't hard on the eyes either...

Tonight, they launched into a rocking set with so much energy, and it was fantastic. I fell a little bit in love with the amazing drummer and the fact they often had double drums going. The band were multi-talented, switching between instruments with ease (and Matt played the harmonica also!); plus the band played so tightly together, which was all the more surprising when they announced the touring guitarist was only playing his second show ever with the rest of the band.

Their eight song set heavily featured songs from their just-released second album History from Below but it was pretty darn catch and melded well with the dips into their older material. The highlight me for me was the back-to-back pairing of Trashcan and People C'mon, though the rollicking set closer - intro'd as the first song they ever wrote - was also lot of fun with its call and response sing-a-long and the instructions for everyone who was enjoying the gig to 'get low' - and most of the room got to their knees obediently!

Delta Spirit - Trashcan (live @ Factory Theatre, 3/10/10)
It was a great show and surrounded by happy, dedicated fans, the 40 minutes went by too fast.

Bushwick Blues
St Francis
Trashcan
People C'mon
History from Below
VIvian
Children
(?)

Confession time - I haven't listened to a full Ben Kweller album since, oh, 2004. So I wasn't really sure what to expect from his set apart from wanting to hear at least one or two songs from his earlier albums. One thing I really really didn't expect was how young he looked as he came on stage in his black Ramones T-shirt and red jeans. Despite seeming like he's been around the music scene for a long time, he's only 29 and he still looks and sounds like he could be 18.

On stage, he was adorable, throwing in ad-libs about not having played Make It Up in forever and apologising when he messed up the words at one point. I was happy two songs in when he played Commerce, TX and even happier a song later when he played a raucous fun rendition of I Need You Back. He played a mean guitar too - and his small band (a bassist, a drummer and a bare set) jammed well together with a shaggy, shambolic charm.

On My Way
Commerce, TX
Make It Up
I Need You Back
Red Eye
Walk on Me
Wantin' Her Again
...

We left after about seven songs. If there hadn't been a more pressing need to find a sweet supper (a mission which failed) and to get home before the last train, I would've been happy to hear some more from him.

Mixtape (Sad Bear, October 2010)

2010-10-02T00:02:00.006+10:00

Long time no mixtape, eh? Let's revive an old tradition around these parts...

Side A

Ezra Furman and the Harpoons - We Should Fight
(indie rock)

I wrote this song inside a paper bag

Dr. Dog - Heart it Races
(indie rock-pop)

And we go back to where we moved out
to the places
heart it races

Jukebox the Ghost - Hold It In
(indie rock pop)

Baby I'm in love and maybe it's not to tell
Only thing that I can do is hold it in, hold it in

Delta Spirit - Children
(indie rock, Americana)

Children shut your eyes
we'll tell you what to see
this world is burnin' down
and you're the ones to lead

Lackthereof - Last November
(lo-fi, experimental)

I'm arriving in style
More importantly, alive
And there's something
To be said for
Surviving

Side B

Arcade Fire - Black Mirror
(indie rock, baroque pop)

Black mirror knows no reflection, knows not pride or vanity
Cares not about your dreams, cares not for your pyramid schemes

Shearwater - Red Sea, Black Sea*
(indie folk-rock)

In place of the sun
In place of the moon
A terrible light
Will flood every room

* The link takes you to the artist page on their label. I would download not just Red Sea, Black Sea, but everything on this page. The songs are all really good.

Boy & Bear - Mexican Mavis
(indie folk-rock)

'Cos my love's not a limit

Minus the Bear - Guns & Ammo
(indie, experimental, math rock)

Skip the "you don't understand"
Skip the "you're such a petty man"
Skip the way you'll never listen
You never listen

Annuals - Brother
(indie rock, experimental)

I fell down in a creek bed
Brother wept
In his face I met fear
That I could die right there

2010-09-26T18:24:00.003+10:00

I know when you haven't posted for a while, the rules are you should come back with actual content, but I couldn't resist this meme.

Here are the rules:

1 - Go to the Superpower Wiki.

2 - Click the “Random page” button on the left hand side once. Only once.

3 - Revel (or dismay) in the fact that this is your new superpower. But I bet it's awesome even if it's crappy because you now have a superpower. Who wouldn't want a superpower? No one, that's who. Unless you're a dude and you get Pregnancy, which admittedly kind of sucks as far as powers go. Sorry about that.

4 - Post the results. No cheating!

Water Manipulation
The power to control water molecules with one’s mind. Also known as Hydrokinesis, Aquakinesis, Waterbending, Hydromancy or Moisture Manipulation.

Oooh. It says I can make water balloons! And known users include Sailor Mercury, Poseidon and Moses, lol.

donuts and muffins and blondies, oh my!

2010-08-03T17:09:00.002+10:00

A semi-successes, and a success from a previous failure. Yes, it's time for more baking adventures!

The last time I tried to make snickerdoodles - said to be some of the easiest to make cookies ever - I failed big time. They didn't rise, they were flat and hard and horrible. I still don't know where I went wrong. :( And I've been resisting them since. But then I got a square baking pan (finally!) and read this very simple recipe and took a punt on another snickerdoodle related baking attempt...

Snickerdoodle Blondies
originally from Baking Bites

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup white chocolate chips (optional)

1 tbsp sugar + 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 8×8-inch baking pan (I forgot to do this and it turned out okay).

Cream softened butter and sugar together until light. Add in salt, egg and vanilla extract and combine well. Stir in the flour, mix well, and stir in the choc chips evenly through the batter.

Pour (or push - it's quite a thick dough) into the pan and smooth out the top.

Mix together the extra sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle this topping evenly over the dough.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the edges are lightly brown. Cool in the pan before slicing into bars.

I added the choc chips on a whim, and I should've compensated by dialing back the amount of sugar (which I have done in the quantities listed above).

But I guess these turned out okay as I took them to church for morning tea, and didn't even get to try a piece as it all went quite quickly!

**

And these I made this afternoon. It was ridiculously easy, just a straight combination of ingredients, but they don't really taste like donuts. :(

It made for a decent, quick afternoon snack at least.

Muffins That Taste Like Donuts
originally from tasty kitchen

1 3/4 cup plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 whole egg
3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

Prepare a 12-cup muffin tray. Preheat oven to 180C.

Mix together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon).

Combine oil, sugar, egg and milk. Pour into dry mix, and stir until just combined.

Pour batter into muffin holes until just below the rim.

Bake for 20-30 minutes until tops are just lightly brown.

Melt the butter in a bowl (I just microwaved it). Combine the sugar with cinnamon in a separate bowl. Dip the still hot muffin in the butter to coat its top, then into the sugar/cinnamon mix.

Let the muffins cool on a rack.

Band of Horses - 29 July 2010 - Enmore Theatre

2010-07-30T21:37:00.005+10:00

This was a rather nostalgic show, for one main reason that had nothing really to do with Band of Horses at all: as I stood on the floor of the Enmore with my best friend, we realised it was almost exactly twelve years to the day we saw our first live concert together, at the Enmore. Ah, plus ça change, and all that.

It was also the third time I'd seen Band of Horses in three years, and while it could not reach the same transcedenscent heights as that glorious time two years ago at the Metro, I certainly still enjoyed last night a great deal, and came out with a big grin, the songs ringing in my ears. They really are wonderful musicians, individually and as a band, and they have a really lovely laid-back presence on stage that works well with their music and their audience. During Detlef Schrempf - which sounded utterly beautiful - someone put up their lighter to Ben Bridwell's glee, and soon, with his encouragement from the stage, everyone raised their lighters in their air. For the rest of the song there was a sea of flickering yellow glows in the dark, and it was just perfect (and perfectly old school; it's just so much prettier than a sea of mobile phone glows) in that moment.

I liked the visual component too: they beamed spliced together footage of live shows and backstage antics as a frenetic backdrop to the more upbeat songs, which were fun; while the slower songs, particularly the more country-sounding tunes from latest album Infinite Arms, were matched with quite peaceful, lovely views of empty American landscapes - snow-capped mountains, endless skies, star filled nights.

At times I thought the mix was a little uneven, I couldn't hear Ben Bridwell over the music sometimes, which made me sad because, man, that voice is golden. But it might not be the sound guy's fault, because we were also stuck next to an intensely irritating couple who talked loudly through 80% of the songs. Also, he was saying stuff like, "Play something I know, I paid good money for this!" and "We should've gone to the Strokes instead." I'm pretty sure everyone around us wished they'd gone to there instead too, then we wouldn't have to listen to them whining incessantly, and tempting us to punch his face in. :p

But apart from that annoying blip, the rest of the show was a delight. Highlight of the night for me was the back-to-back pairing of Ode to LRC, stomping good fun as always, and The Funeral, magnificient. I was a little sad that they didn't play Our Swords and they didn't play Monsters, but I couldn't really fault them when they closed with Am I A Good Man, which was so unexpected but so so appreciated. I'm glad they're still covering that, and I loved hearing the interplay of Ryan Monroe and Ben Bridwell's voices on that song live again. :D

I was keeping note of what they played, except after the seventh song I accidentally deleted it from my phone, d'oh. The set list below is from the review by jayhorn5 that I stumbled across.

The Great Salt Lake
Is There A Ghost
Weed Party
NW Apt.
Islands on the Coast
Blue Beard
Compliments
The General Specific
Older
Marry Song
Detlef Schrempf
Factory
Cigarettes, Wedding Bells
(new song)
Laredo
Wicked Gil
Ode to the LRC
The Funeral

No One's Gonna Love You
Am I A Good Man (Them Two cover)

No One's Gonna Love You (video from phlegmphatale", who braved sore arms once again)

baking adventures in June(ish)

2010-07-03T15:27:00.002+10:00

It's been brownie-central here! :)

Black and White Brownie Bars
originally from Baking Bites

1 1/2 cups milk and/or dark chocolate, roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp Kahlua
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 180C, Grease and line a baking pan with aluminium foil.

Cream together butter and brown sugar. Beat in the egs one at a time, then add Kahlua (or vanilla essence), salt and flour, mixing until there are no streaks of flour, and it is just combined. Take 2 cups of this batter and put it in a separate bowl.

Melt 1 cup of white chocolate in the microwave (in 30s intervals) and stir until all chocolate is melted and smooth. Pour into one of the batter bowls and mix in well. Do this quickly since the chocolate will set again quite quickly and then it's really hard to mix it into the batter!! (says she who FAILED at this step)
Pour this white choc batter into the pan. Scatter the remaining 1/2 cup of both milk/dark and white chocolate evenly over the surface.

Now melt 1 cup of dark or milk chocolate and add that to the other batter bowl, mixing well. Drop small dollops of this chocolate batter on top of the chocolate chip layer, then use a spatula to gently spread the chocolate batter into an even layer.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached. Cool in pan, then lift the brownies out with the foil and slice into long, thin slices.

I deviated from the original recipe only because I discovered too late that I didn't have any semi-sweet chocolate, only blocks of milk chocolate; nor did I have any vanilla extract. So I made do. I still got told they were delicious. :)

Turtle brownies
originally from Technicolor Kitchen

Brownies:
55g unsalted butter
90g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup (70g) plain flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (200g) caster sugar
2 large eggs
¼ cup (60ml) whole milk
1 tbsp Kahlua

Topping:
1 cup (200g) caster sugar
1/3 cup (80ml) heavy cream
1 teaspoon Kahlua
¼ teaspoon of salt

Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease and line a buttered 20cm baking pan with foil.

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside. Melt butter and chocolate together and mix until smooth. Let cool slightly. Whisk together sugar and eggs until pale and fluffy. Add the chocolate mixture, milk and vanilla to the egg mix, and combine. Add flour mixture and mix until well combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a skewer/toothpick inserted into the centre of brownies comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet (~30 minutes). Let cool on a wire rack.

While brownies are baking, boil 1/3 cup (80ml) water and the sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved. When mixture comes to a boil, stop stirring, and brush the sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Continue to cook, swirling pan occasionally, until medium amber, 5 to 7 minutes.

Remove from heat, and immediately add cream in a slow pour (if you're too quick it clumps up!). Add vanilla (or Kahlua) and salt. Gently stir with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula until caramel begins to cool and thickens slightly, about 1 minute.
Pour caramel over cool brownies. Refrigerate until cold, 30 minutes to 1 hour.

The caramel will still be quite runny. I had a hell of a time trying to cut these up. But they were so delicious; soft, almost fudgy batter plus sticky salted caramel - om nom nom!

Howl / Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)

2010-06-08T13:12:00.006+10:00

Howl (2010, d. Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman)

Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)

I saw these two films on back-to-back nights, and it worked out to be a seredipitously well-matched pair. Both are films about art: what is art, and who gets to decide whether it is so? Who is the arbiter of this mysterious quality that makes art admirable: is it the artist, the cultured audience, or the man on the street?

Both purport to be based on real stories, ostensibly centring around a 'real life personage', an artist (arguably). In Howl, which is composed of overlapping layers of transcripts - a poetry reading of Howl, an interview with the poet, court proceedings - we are given a glimpse of Allen Ginsberg in the period just after the 1955 publishing of his seminal work. In Exit Through the Gift Shop, we are introduced to Thierry Guetta, a French-American man who becomes a LA art personality through his connections with well-known street artists, including Banksy.

The men draw us in, but the stories are really about their works and the arguments over the legitimacy of their work as art. Howl is challenged as an 'obscene' work in the US courts in 1957, though Ginsberg himself is not on trial but his publisher instead. The case hinges on the use of obscene words; the prosecution takes to asking if certain words - cock, balls, blown and so on - are 'necessary' to the poem, if it reduces the artistic merit by being so crude. The issue debated in the court case is really whether art only qualifies as worthwhile if it is morally uplifting. Howl is also derided as illegitimate for its free form jazz rhythms, for not having conventional form and thus, lacking function.

Howl the film approaches this all with a lovely sincerity. It believes in Howl the poem being art, as an true expression of emotion, both of Ginsberg's personal feelings, and that of the human condition. The film is part factual logic - the recreation of the court case with its facts and expert opinions and the final judgement - and part poetic expressiveness, through the double rereadings of the poem; Ginsberg (as ably portrayed by James Franco) performing Howl for the first time in a cramped room full of friends and fans, and a second recitation married with Eric Drooker's illustrations brought to life in simple but fluid animation. It is not a biopic about Ginsberg, choosing only to focus on a sliver of time, with short flashbacks to give historical background to relevant periods of Ginsberg's life. We are introduced to some central characters to Ginsberg's personal life and artistic growth: his institutionalised mother, good friends and fellow Beat poets Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady, his partner Peter Orlovsky and the beleagered publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti, but we never hear them speak. The words that matter are Ginsberg's, and the words that matter most are the words of Howl the poem. I think it's a particularly fine film because of this narrow focus; it's very satsifying in its passion about the poem and in its defence of it as literature.

Meanwhile, Exit Through the Gift Shop begins just before the new millenium, as Guetta begins documenting the street art movement after filming his cousin in France, the mosaic artist 'Invader', for kicks. After he finally makes contact with the elusive and now infamous Banksy, who admits Guetta into the inner workings of his art process, Guetta is first challenged by Banksy to turn his years of footage into a street art documentary - which we are led to believe is an abject failure due to Guetta's lack of talent - and then to hold his own art show. Guetta is then painted as an art monster of sorts, with Banksy his remorseful Frankenstein, as Guetta becomes a 'star' with his derivative pop/street art mashups and proclivity for hype, an unfortunate triumph of style over substance.

But it's all very tongue-in-cheek, to the point of insincerity. Exit Through the Gift Shop, as a piece of art itself, adheres strictly to the documentary film form, but its tone is arch, the intention satire. Banksy, or a shadowy figure purporting to be Banksy, bemoans the instant, seemingly undeserved success of Guetta - or rather his alter ego Mr Brainwash - as one who hasn't paid his dues to the gruelling process of artistry, who has piggybacked on the art and talent and hard work of others, who's in it for the money and the fame. It seems that Banksy is positioning himself - and other street artists - in opposition, as the artists' establishment; and this, then, is the true driving force behind the film. Exit ... is not about Guetta, Exit... is about Banksy and his attempt to outsmart his critics.

All art is commercial to some extent, and in a remix culture, is there any true originality in art? 'Invader' takes the cultural familiarity of the Space Invader monsters and positions them in unexpected, mundane contexts; Shepard Fairey takes Andre the Giant's mug and plasters it across the world in endless repetition. How are these men any more artists than Guetta? How is Banksy, with his talent for provocative statements to attract media attention and commodification, any less a 'sell-out' than Mr Brainwash? The film is both irritatingly smug on this point as it is endlessly fascinating and interested in teasing out these ideas of artistic (and the artist's) superiority; slyly contesting the right of the establishment to be the arbiter of what is art, all while challenging our ability (as supposed man on the street) to understand and judge this issue.

As the film progresses, as we're led to believe that Guetta is more than a deluded by harmless man with a camera but rather a monster of Banksy's unintentional making. But I think the true monster is this movie, and Banksy is unabashedly proud of his deliberate creation because he gets to show how clever he is. He says, in the film, "art is a bit of a joke". His 'former spokesperson' muses on Guetta's meteoric rise on the same theme, saying, "The joke's on...I don't know who the joke's on. Maybe there is no joke." That's disingenuous. There is a joke, and it's not the art or whether we're laughing at Guetta or the rueful Banksy during the film. The movie is a critical success, and making good money for an indie film; and so, the joke is really on us, the audience, as Banksy laughs it up all the way to cultural and artist supreriority AND to the bank.

Exit Through the Gift Shop may be an entertaining and thought-provoking film, but for all that it's hard to like. I much preferred Howl, and its warm way of championing contentious art. Howl is a flawed but lovingly crafted small gem; Exit Through the Gift Shop is a flashy diamond that can't shake the fact it's a lump of coal at heart.

Cobra Starship - 16 Mar 2010 - UNSW Roundhouse

2010-06-05T10:26:00.004+10:00

So Al and I may have way before doors opened coughbecausewewereattendingthemeetandgreetcough* but we weren't really prepared to jostle in the building crowd of kids with artfully messy hair and neon leggings who were already thronging around the door.**

We hung around the near deserted 18+ area upstairs for Owl City's set; the songs have pretty melodies but none of them were memorable except for one song that riffed on Pachebel's Canon. We moved downstairs before Cobra Starship took to the stage, and watched warily as the floor filled with small, underdressed teens dancing for their lives at all the songs on the PA before the show. I'd seen Cobra Starship three times before, as they languished in support acts for their more famous labelmates, but after the popularity of a certain summer hit featuring Leighton Meester, they'd obviously picked up a much younger, much more mainstream audience. And for the first time ever I felt truly truly old at a gig.

However, the show was still great fun. Gabe remains one of the most charismatic frontmen I've seen, with his propensity for rambly rants part of his charm. The band manages to hold their own too, with Alex taking on banter duties for most of the show while the rest of the band demonstrated a fond, long-suffering patience as Gabe invariably sang and danced all up in their space. Audience participation was, as with all Cobra shows, an essential, from the girl who went on stage to do a spirited version of Travis McCoy's rap in Snakes on a Plane to Gabe calling on the crowd to put their fangs up (though this time round, with fewer die-hard fans, the audience needed some prompting as to how). The band also orchestrated a Mexican wave from one side of the room to the other, rather patronisingly asking the young crowd if they knew what a wave was before giving us step-by-step instructions, leading Al to witheringly say in my ear, "I feel like I'm at a Wiggles show".

The sound was fuzzy as it always seems to be in the Roundhouse, but the band brought a lot of energy and joy to the night, and Ryland's guitar moves were hot (white hot! *g*). The set was heavy with songs from the latest album, Hot Mess, which the adoring, party-hearty crowd loved, though I was a bit said to see only muted response for some of their equally good older material. Also, considering they have three albums to draw on, their set was ridiculously short; they played for only 45 minutes before leaving the stage. The reason for that was clear though when they returned for an eagerly awaited encore. Gabe's vocal issues have been widely reported in the last year; his singing was fine through the main set but it was obvious by the encore that his voice was shot. He continued cracking jokes with his hoarse voice though and they pushed through two more songs, closing with massive hit Good Girls Gone Bad to the crowd's cheering delight.

The City is at War
Pete Wentz is the Only Reason We're Famous
Nice Guys Finish Last
Kiss My Sass
My Moves Are White (White Hot That Is)
Wet Hot American Summer
The Church of Hot Addiction
Send My Love to the Dancefloor I'll See You in Hell (Hey Mr DJ)
Smile for the Paparazzi
Snakes on a Plane
Hot Mess
Guilty Pleasure

The Scene is Dead; Long Live the Scene
Good Girls Go Bad

* So, my first meet and greet, heh. It involved a lot of waiting in lines with young, squealy, mostly female fans. Al and I had discussed a plan of attack before our turn; we were going to stick together so we wouldn't get stuck making awkward conversation with individual band members...but we were split up as we stepped up. I awkwardly talked to Alex Suarez, the bassist, about seeing the Pixies as he signed for me, followed by the rest of the band in quick succession with little more than a quick 'hi'. Lead singer Gabe Saporta told me he was happy to see a fan of their earlier stuff - I'd brought the CD booklet of their first album - and gave me a high five when I told him it was my favourite of their albums. Al was brave enough to ask them to do hands hearts with us for our one allotted photo.

You may have noticed...tall band is tall

** As we sat a little aways, this kid came up and asked if he could wait with us since he was on his lonesome for the gig. He was here for support act Owl City, but after he and Al started chatting about pop-punk bands they were into, he acquiesced to give Cobra a try. :) He was adorable, not least because he thought we were still in uni, lol. But we gave ourselves away after a while of chatting about bands we'd seen, when he remarked "Wow, you guys go to a lot of shows". Of course we had, in comparison; he was probably in kindegarten when I went to my first show (I wish I were joking, but...)

Pixies - 14 Mar 2010 - Hordern Pavilion

2010-06-01T19:09:00.001+10:00

I remember when I missed out the last time the Pixies toured here in 2007, Al taunted (okay, gently teased) me that I might never get the chance to see them again. Hah! Luckily they returned (and will return again in July for Splendour), this time celebrating the 20th anniversary of Doolittle by playing it in its entirety. For once, I was easily among the 'youngsters'; the crowd was full of fervent fans from when the album was first released, and they showered the band with love and adoration throughout the show. The band, in turn, were visibly happy to be there, and Kim Deal's grin could, and did, light up the room (when I could see it...gah, tall people).

The show was so so good all through. They started with a four song run, all B-sides from Doolittle, building the anticipation so when the jangly guitar riff at the start of Debaser finally rang out, the room was just primed to explode in glee. Al turned to me and said, "They've still got it!" and then two seconds later, one of the guys in front of us turned to his friend and said exactly the same thing. They really did still have it - from Frank's wild growling vocal, Kim and Frank's voices in eerie harmony on Silver, those wonderful bass lines, the guitar hooks ringing out - everything sounded familiar and wonderful and not at all dated.

If I had to pick a highlight I'd pick, after a great deal of deliberation, the back-to-back amazingness of the first four songs off Doolittle, and of course Gigantic, which sounded so full and warm, and capped off a great night.

Dancing at the Manta Ray
Weird at My School
Bailey's Walk
Manta Ray

Debaser
Tame
Wave of Mutilation
I Bleed
Here Comes Your Man
Dead
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Mr. Grieves
Crackity Jones
La La Love You
No. 13 Baby
There Goes My Gun
Hey
Silver
Gouge Away

Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf version)
Into the White

Mind
Planet of Sound
Dig for Fire
Gigantic

Kevin Devine - 29 Mar 2010 – East Brunswick Club (Melb)

2010-06-01T18:50:00.003+10:00

First we had to endure a boring few hours in East Brunswick (where everything closes after 4pm, grr) then we couldn’t tear ourselves away from the pitiful support act (Black is the Colour) out of some sense of horrimusement. The lead singer slash guitarist actually introduced a song by saying it was “about AIDS and whatever”. He and the bassist looked like they were going to have a fight either on stage or immediately after the show, and they were both monumentally bitter about the fact they were a support band, constantly telling the audience gloomily that they knew we were only here to see Kevin Devine. These guys should have been thanking their lucky stars they’d managed to get a slot as a support band. It was possibly the dullest half hour I'd ever been subjected to, and Al and I only got through it by making up stories about how the band was going to break up backstage.

The room was really tiny, and it wasn't packed by the time Kevin made it on stage, but it was a warmly receptive crowd nevertheless. I am really glad that he played his own shows on this tour – it was great to see him in both settings, whether it be backed by a hard rocking band to emphasise the strength and power of his songs, or playing acoustically in small rooms where the skill of his songwriting and voice really shines. I hadn’t thought songs like Brother's Blood and Carnival – so rich in instrumentation, loud and powerful on record – could be just as good when only performed solo with just a guitar, but Kevin Devine played his voice like an instrument to give his performance greater depth and emotion. Acoustic nowadays seems to be a synonym for ‘soft and somnolent’ but in this case it was anything but – the rage and range he managed to convey with the naked voice was amazing; I get all verklempt when I think about it still.

Brother's Blood (acoustic)

The setlist was good, weaving between songs from latest album Brother’s Blood to older material and a nod to his influences with a Neutral Milk Hotel cover. Older songs saw adjustments, additional verses, like the extended Burning City Smoking. The undercurrent of political anger that drives so much of his work was more present in this solo show than the crowd-friendly support sets he’d played; that said there were still plenty of light moments during the gig, with joyful renditions of crowd favourites such as Just Stay and No Time Flat.

Kevin wandered through the crowd before the gig, calmly greeting fans who were brave enough to walk up and say hi, and he promised to stay around after the gig to talk to more people. Al, after saying very emphatically that she did not need to meet him, scored herself an impromptu chat when, at the very moment she reached the merch desk to buy her copy of Brother's Blood, Kevin came and swapped places with the merch guy! :D

Billion Bees
Brooklyn Boy
Just Stay
I Could Be with Anyone
Hand of God
Carnival
No Time Flat
Yr Husband
Burning City Smoking
Holland, 1945 (NMH cover)
(?)
Wolf’s Mouth
Another Bag of Bones
Brother’s Blood
Me and My Friends

Kevin Devine / Brand New - 28 Mar 2010 – Palace Theatre (Melb)

2010-05-31T18:13:00.000+10:00

We got onto the floor about five minutes before Kevin Devine went on stage. Once again, he was supported by his temporary band, and once again, he was in fine, energetic form. The theatre was yet to really fill, but there was a good sized audience covering about half the floor, and Kevin was well-received enough. He played the same set list as Sydney though this time Jesse Lacey came on stage to growl through a verse in the Nirvana cover. Jesse sounded hoarse and rough, but it suited the song so I thought nothing of it at the time.

Brother's Blood

Cotton Crush
Carnival
Time to Burn (Another Bag of Bones)
You're Trailing Yourself
School (Nirvana cover; with Jesse Lacey)
I Could Be With Anyone
Buried by the Buzz
Just Stay
Brother's Blood

By the time Brand New were due on stage, the theatre was packed tight. Al and I were lucky to grab a spot on the steps at the back of the floor, which gave me the best view I’ve ever had of the band. Unfortunately, Jesse had lost his voice between Sydney and Melbourne. He didn’t let up though, tearing through the first four songs of the set, the same Daisy screamfest as they did in Sydney. It was painful to listen to at times, but I appreciated that they didn’t cut the night short to save his voice, but rather did the best they could as a band. They made some great setlist changes too, again mixing old with new, adding Mix Tape (the first time I’ve heard it live!) and swapping Shower Scene for The No Seatbelt Song , Limousine for Bought a Bride.

Mix Tape

At the end of the night, Jesse closed with Play Crack the Sky solo, as he did in Sydney. Halfway through, a second figure came onto the dim stage with a guitar, then proceeded to trip over some cords, stopping Jesse in his tracks. Kevin Devine (for it was he) and Jesse then had a very cute exchange, bantering about Kevin ruining the whole performance ("you just ruined like two hours of music!"), before they tried to resume from the second verse - which Kevin missed. Lololol. Jesse’s voice was still cracking and off-key, but it was lovely to see them perform together, and they obviously enjoyed each other's presence.

Play Crack the Sky

Sound-wise, this night was a bit of a bust, but it didn't matter. I got this feeling, from both nights, that these might be the last times I see Brand New perform for a long long time, if not forever – it felt like a farewell tour, from the fantastic career-spanning setlists to the way the band connected with the audience and played to fans in a way they hadn’t always before. I think the Sydney show was slightly better - Jesse still had his voice, hometown bias, plus better overall atmosphere - but I wouldn't have missed the Melbourne show for anything, just to see them live again. I'm grateful that I got to see them supported by Kevin Devine, an artist I never would've heard of and loved had it not been for Brand New and their incestuous music making circle; and I'm glad to have had the chance to see them play such different sets each time they toured. But there was a sadness this time round too, the feeling that it was the end of an era, whether for them, or for me, or both.

Sink
Vices
Gasoline
In a Jar
Sowing Season (Yeah)
The Archers Bows Have Broken
Okay I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don't
Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades
Mix Tape
The Shower Scene
Jude Law and a Semester Abroad
Seventy Times 7
Jesus
You Won't Know
Degausser
You Stole
At the Bottom
Limousine
Play Crack the Sky (with Kevin Devine)

Kevin Devine / Brand New - 25 Mar 2010 - Enmore Theatre

2010-05-30T08:18:00.000+10:00

I have no objectivity left regarding these two artists/bands. Let's just say that last night was AMAZING and I am so glad that I will get to see them at least once again in the next week. They met my stratospheric expectations and went beyond. I'll try to write a proper review of the run of shows when I get back from Melbourne...

OK, so it's two months later, and I still have hearteyes when I think about this night.

I'd seen Kevin Devine once before, on a sidestage at Lollapalooza with his Goddamn Band, and it was one of my highlights of the festival. I didn't hold much hope for seeing him again, not in Australia at least, for he had practically no profile here; so you can guess how ecstatic I was when I discovered not only were one of my favourite bands, Brand New, returning to Australia, they were bringing Kevin Devine, a friend of theirs, as the support.

He'd played a solo acoustic gig at the Annadale the night before (which I kinda regret missing now) but in his support slot, Kevin Devine was amped and backed by a temporary band that included Brand New's Vinnie Acardi on guitar. They played a great set, mostly of his punchier songs, which suited the excited crowd and atmosphere. I was blown away, once again, by the power and emotion in his music; Brother's Blood is electrifyingly intense live, with its slow burning passion, building up to the dizzying climax of his throaty screams of 'my sorry heart' and the guitar wailing its solo after to lead to its weary, quiet end.

Cotton Crush
Carnival
Time to Burn (Another Bag of Bones)
You're Trailing Yourself
School (Nirvana cover)I Could Be With Anyone
Buried by the Buzz
Just Stay
Brother's Blood

Even though not all fans have embraced last year's album, Daisy, as they have the two before it, there was a buzzing crowd waiting in the Enmore for Brand New. They started with a scream-tastic block of songs from Daisy, loud and raucous and bold, but it wasn't until the fifth song - Sowing Season from previous album The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me - that the crowd really went nuts. Al noted that the set was a travel back in time, going from Daisy to TDAGARIM then back to Deja Entendu and then even further back to poppier favourites from first album Your Favourite Weapon.

This unexpected but welcomed dip into the past was part of what made this concert feel like one for the fans. While I love them to bits, the previous times I've seen Brand New there's always been a level of disconnect between band and audience, as if they, in keeping with the inward looking music, were often playing for themselves and no one else. This time, the music was still in turn angry and restless with energy, but the atmosphere overall was somewhat lighter and less introspective; the band seemed to have gotten the hang on enjoying themselves, losing themselves in the music, while bringing the audience along with them.

It wasn't all sweetness and light though; the second half of the set was dominated by moodier songs, a reminder of how hauntingly good Brand New are with the painful, the emotional. No encore, but the set was so satisfying - in length, in song choice, in performance - that I didn't mind. And I left with my fannish fervour renewed, and with even greater anticipation for the Melbourne shows.

Sink
Vices
Gasoline
In a Jar
Sowing Season (Yeah)
The Archers Bows Have Broken
Okay I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don't
Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades
The No Seatbelt Song
Jude Law and a Semester Abroad
Seventy Times 7
Jesus
You Won't Know
Degausser
You Stole
Bought A Bride
At the Bottom
Play Crack the Sky

Oscars predictions 2010

2010-03-06T23:32:00.005+11:00

I was hoping to do a week of Oscar posts, reviewing nominated movies I'd seen, but time has totally gotten away from me. And since RL has intervened, I'm not even going to be able to watch the Oscar telecast. *sigh*

So briefly, my predictions/hopes:

Best Picture

* “Avatar”
* “The Blind Side”
* “District 9”
* “An Education”
* “The Hurt Locker”
* “Inglourious Basterds”
* “Precious: Based on the Novel‘Push' by Sapphire”
* “A Serious Man”
* “Up”
* “Up in the Air”

A return to 10 nominees in this race after a break of 60+ years. I've seen only half of these (An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Up and Up in the Air) and if it were all about my tastes Inglourious Basterds would win almost everything because it just blew me away. I will say that of the five I saw, I only disliked Up in the Air and felt it didn't deserve all the acclaim it received early in the season, though both the actresses in it were great, and a cut above the rest of the material (including the screenplay, the direction, and the lead performance from George Clooney). However, the buzz has all been about the seemingly two horse race between Cameron's Avatar and Bigelow's The Hurt Locker.

wish: Inglourious Basterds
prediction: The Hurt Locker

Actor in a Leading Role

* Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
* George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
* Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
* Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
* Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Like I said, Clooney was overrated in Up in the Air; he gave a much better performance, I felt, in Fantastic Mr Fox. I thought Colin Firth was so good as a restrained, repressed, grieving professor in A Single Man. Jeremy Renner was also great as the adrenaline seeking US Army soldier in the Hurt Locker, making a loose cannon of a character likeable and somewhat understandable in the circumstances. Morgan Freeman is lucky to be nominated (Invictus was lucky to be remembered at nomination time, really), but the momentum of the race has been with Jeff Bridges most of the way through awards season. It's his award to lose.

wish: Colin Firth, A Single Man
prediction: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Actor in a Supporting Role

* Matt Damon in “Invictus”
* Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
* Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
* Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
* Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

If Christoph Waltz doesn't win this it will be a truly immense upset. And I want him to win all the way - who didn't come out of IB both appalled and strangely attracted to him?

wish/prediction: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Actress in a Leading Role

* Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
* Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
* Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
* Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
* Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

I only saw one of these performances (Carey Mulligan in An Education) and while I thought Mulligan was great in the role, I don't know if it's strong enough to take down three other very strong, much more highly rated performances in this category (Helen Mirren was a surprise nomination, and the movie has little buzz).

wish: Meryl Streep
prediction: Streep or Sandra Bullock (it's still too hard to call!)

Actress in a Supporting Role

* Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
* Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
* Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
* Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
* Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Both Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick were very good in Up in the Air, bringing depth to thinly characterised female characters, making them complex emotionally in just small gestures and looks. Maggie Gyllenhaal had not made a showing the awards season at all before this Oscar nomination, and has little chance. Penelope Cruz was also, some say surprisingly, nominated over co-star Marion Cotillard, the other actress to get critical acclaim from a movie that mostly bombed; and she's playing a variation on a character that has already netted her past Academy success, so she's not likely to win here. But the one with the most acclaim, and the one who has swept most of the awards in this category over the awards season, has been Mo'Nique.

wish: Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
prediction: Mo'Nique, Precious

Animated Feature Film

* “Coraline” Henry Selick
* “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
* “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
* “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
* “Up” Pete Docter

Coraline and Fantastic Mr Fox are sharper, more daring animated films, with a very keen sense of its visual style. But I found Up so darling - like all the Pixar movies, it balances story, whimsy, humour and beauty in a way that can be appreciated at all ages. I loved the detail, in its look as well as in its ability to capture some of the tougher emotions in life.

wish: I'd be happy if either of the 3 I mentioned won
prediction: Up

Directing

* “Avatar” James Cameron
* “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
* “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
* “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
* “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

TARANTINO. Because IB is a film lover's film, directed with such skill that each episode stretches, building tension, until it's wonderfully AND terrifyingly resolved, while leading onto the next part in story and in action and in look. But like Best Picture, this has been seen mostly as a race between Cameron and Bigelow, and on that score, I'd say Bigelow all the way. The Hurt Locker is a well paced movie, and it looks and feels as realistic as the action it depicts, almost effortlessly, unintrusively setting the viewer inside this hitherto shadowy world of the soldiers at war in a hostile place.

wish: Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
prediction: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Foreign Language Film

* “Ajami” Israel
* “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
* “The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
* “Un Prophète” France
* “The White Ribbon” Germany

I really want Un Prophete to win this, because it was such a good movie - exciting and interesting with a strange, dirty beauty. But I've heard that because of its gritty subject - it's about a guy trapped within racial conflicts, in prison, trying to escape the confines of this life - there's a chance the judges will go for a more conservative choice. Last year, the race seemed to be between two highly acclaimed features that had swept up all the awards before it; in the end the Oscar went to a lesser known Japanese film with a sentimental bent. So I've heard that this year, rather than the race between Un Prophete and The White Ribbon as it would seem from awards season, Argentina's 'El Secreto de Sus Ojos' might be the one to watch instead.

wish: Un Prophete, France
prediction: El Secreto de Sus Ojos, Argentina

Music (Original Score)

* “Avatar” James Horner
* “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
* “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
* “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
* “Up” Michael Giacchino

prediction: Up, Michael Giacchino

Music (Original Song)

* “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
* “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
* “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
* “Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
* “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Do you know, they're not having live performances of the Best Song this year! So it's unlikely we'll see Jeff Bridges performing The Weary Kind, or Marion Cotillard singing Take It All, not even in truncated, medley form. Bah.

prediction: The Weary Kind, Crazy Heart

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

* “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
* “An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
* “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
* “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
* “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

I came out of Up in the Air disappointed by its glib smooth surface, masquerading as some kind of emotional touchstone for a disenfranchised middle America, and the more I think about it, the more I think the problems lie in the screenplay. The original screenplay by Sheldon Turner, which is closer to the original book, is meant to be even worse. I just felt it was a clumsy attempt to try to give a soulless man a soul through trite and predictable storylines and words about family and relationships. I really really hope it doesn't win.

You can read the original Lynn Barber memoir that An Education is adapted from. I found Hornby's adapation to be smart, faithful to the general sentiment of the memoir, if sugarcoating some of the events a little.

But I believe the frontrunners to be the movies I haven't seen yet! So I am making this prediction without great confidence.

wish: An Education, Nick Hornby
prediction: District 9, Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

Writing (Original Screenplay)

* “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
* “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
* “The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
* “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
* “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

I think the buzz (and the general momentum) behind The Hurt Locker could take it to a win in this category too, and it is an interesting look at the Iraqi conflict from a very US-centric but incredibly intimate view (Boal was a journalist embedded with a explosives disposal unit, which is the focus of the film). But I think there's support behind Tarantino in this category too, and it may be the one award it picks up as a consolation.

wish: Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino
prediction: Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino

I'm not going to bother with all the technical ones, but I hope Avatar doesn't dominate just because it's high tech, blah blah blah. And I really really want Bright Star to win the award for Costume Design, because it was just such a beautiful movie with some beautiful (and relevant to the story!) costuming, but it is up against the almight Sandy Powell for The Young Victoria, sigh.

related reading:

The Red Carpet Campaign: Inside the singular hysteria of the Academy Awards race

Excellent, absorbing article on the Oscars race and the strange ups and downs, and driving narratives, of the awards season. Reprinted this weekend in the Good Weekend magazine of the Sydney Morning Herald (but you can read it here for free!)

Five Acclaimed Directors Speak Directly

Fascinating LA Times round table with the nominated directors Bigelow, Cameron, Daniels, Reitman and Tarantino about their films, processes and experiences.

Keats Speaks

On Keats, language, the spoken word, and Bright Star.

past nomination posts:
Oscars predictions 2008 (on The Stirrer)

Taking Back Sunday - 25 Feb 2010 - The Metro

2010-02-26T00:56:00.009+11:00

There were an agonising few weeks back in January when I realised Taking Back Sunday had scheduled their sideshow for the same night as the My Chemical Romance concert that I already had tickets for. But when MCR cancelled their Australia shows, I took some small consolation in the fact I could now see Taking Back Sunday live.

It can be a real revelation, catching a beloved band live. Some bands are made to be heard in person, and some artists made to be seen in performance. Taking Back Sunday, as lead singer Adam Lazzara pronounced at least twice during the show, are a "professional rock band". A rock band they most certainly are - they played hard and loud and fast - but 'professional', well. That was my revelation last night: while Taking Back Sunday may have build their live reputation in some part due to the showmanship of Lazzara and his antics, last night Lazzara was more sloppy than professional, the show and sound shambolic as a result. But Lazzara was so charmingly sloppy, and the whole band so sweetly enthusiastic, that they almost got away with it; I had fun, and sang my little heart out, despite the faults.

While Taking Back Sunday hurled themselves musically and physically into the start, banging out crowd favourites from all four of their albums, Lazzara started to really flag in the middle third. His vocal was like his (infamous) mike swinging - all over the place! Guitarist Matt Fazzi's vocal kept things on track, and together the harmony of their voices works really well. The rest of the band, with an extra touring guitarist for oomph, are solid performers and supported well. But the personality of the performance, the driving force of the energy, centred on Lazzara; so when Lazzara chose to sing while kneeling on the floor for large chunks of the show, he may have given the front row a great view, but the rest of the room had little to focus on, and the momentum of the show ebbed whenever he was obscured from sight.

But there was still a great deal of passion on show, if not precision, from Lazzara: his long hair whipping around, screaming catharsis in song, giving rambly but sweet speeches to the audience. He waxed lyrical on our screen obsessed culture (he wanted us to put our cameras away), on the existence of drummer Mark O'Connell, whose parents were in the audience ("they did it and so we have Mark - win win for everyone!"), and also on "manlove", as he sadly noted that any suggestion of his great affection for other males, usually members of his band, elicited much greater response than any serious sentiments he uttered.

And then they pulled it out for the last third of the night and started "killing it", as Lazzaraa urged guitarist Eddie Reyes to do on the intense, magnificent 'Everything Must Go' from 2009 album New Again. From them on, it seemed Lazzara was back to his former self in terms of energy and vocal ability, and the crowd responded in turn.

Everything Must Go
It helped too, that the set was composed of an even mix of songs. There were plenty of old favourites from the earlier albums for the diehard fans who know every word, balanced by the newer, poppier songs to keep the night rolling on. But they finished to great excitement with a trio of songs from their best selling album to date, Louder Now, featuring some great instrumental solos and a chance for the tiny Matts (Fazzi and Rubano, on guitar and bass respectively) to shine.

MakeDamnSure

Cute Without the E (Cut from the Team)
Sink Into Me
What It's Feel Like to be a Ghost
Set Phasers to Stun
You're So Last Summer
Carpathia
You Know How I Do
One-Eighty by Summer
Lonely, Lonely
My Blue Heaven
Timberwolves from New Jersey
Everything Must Go
A Decade Under the Influence
Liar
Error:Operator
MakeDamnSure

Jimmy Eat World - 23 Feb 2010 - UNSW Roundhouse

2010-02-24T13:26:00.008+11:00

With an unpretentious setting - the lack of any splashy backdrops, minimal lighting - it was obvious that the music would be the star of the show at the Roundhouse last night. The last minute addition of Jimmy Eat World, replacing My Chemical Romance as one of the headliners at Soundwave Festival, made this huge five band line-up a must-see for any self-respecting punk/emo kid.

(photo from Justin Pierre's Twitter)
We missed RX Bandits due to a public transport miscalculation, and arrived just in time to hover near the barrier of a mostly empty floor for US pop-punksters Motion City Soundtrack. Frontman Justin Pierre, with his mad-scientist hair, led a tight 7 song set of mostly new tunes (from 2010's My Dinosaur Life) almost bookended by their two biggest hits to date. Closing with poppy favourite 'Everything is Alright', the small but dedicated crowd cheerfully yelled back lines such as "I used to rely on self-medication/I guess I still do that from time to time" to the wry amusement of Pierre. Their set was short and FUN, as ably demonstrated by their hard rocking keyboardist and enthusiastic air drummer. :)

Disappear
The Future Freaks Me Out
My Favourite Accident
Delirium
(?)
A Lifeless Ordinary
Everything is Alright

(I wasn't taking good notes, so I *think* this is correct. Anyone know which song I'm missing?)

Didn't catch Glassjaw, but returned to the now-packed floor for veterans of the scene Sunny Day Real Estate. I've been told that many of the other bands on Soundwave have tweeted at one time or another about being reduced to gibbering fanboys in the presence of SDRE, and I can believe it. They played a good set of epic songs: tuneful anthems that slowly built to massive choruses, engulfing the audience in sound. It was LOUD and INTENSE and I kinda loved it. I wasn't very familiar with their songs going in, but now I will not rest until I find out what that amazing fourth song of the set was.

(eta: the song was '48'; and you can listen to a recording of the set, thanks to Morris.)

There was only a short twenty minute wait for Jimmy Eat World to take the stage, but the anticipation was palpable, as the floor packed to a hot, sticky crush. With just over an hour to the "strict curfew" (hah), Jimmy Eat World launched into 'A Praise Chorus', then zipped through a song from each of their last four albums culminating in the well-received 'Work' (from 2004's Futures). The set ended up being a good balance of old and new(er), of poppy hits and slow burners (including a performance of a truncated 5 minute version of Clarity closer 'Goodbye Sky Harbour').

While I had fun, there was an unfortunately limpid feel to the show; I don't know whether to put it down to a "respectful" crowd (as frontman Jim Adkins kindly called it in a rambling bit of banter about the pitiful crowdsurfing), or because the sound was a bit off, somewhat uneven. At times the guitars and drums were way too loud in the mix, the vocals lost in a mushy muddle of sound, and at other times big soaring pop songs like 'Futures' ended up sounding hollow and tinny. It was a shame, because Jimmy Eat World were giving their all, and there were great moments: like when you could clearly hear the lovely harmonising voices of Adkins, Linton and Burch, or when that great guitar riff in '23' sang out over and over.

A Praise Chorus
Big Casino
Crush
Work
Dizzy
Futures
Lucky Denver Mint
Goodbye Sky Harbour
Pain
23
Bleed American
Let It Happen
Always Be
Blister
Hear You Me
The Middle
Sweetness

'Sweetness' live @ Roundhouse 23/2/10 (from soxfang)

The Decemberists - 19 Jan 2010 - The Metro

2010-01-21T14:17:00.006+11:00

Sydney's much hyped - and ubiquitous support band - Bridezilla opened the show to an already fairly full Metro Theatre. Their reception was tepid and distant, much like the band itself, who didn't try for engagement with the audience. Though their music was atmospheric and dramatic, and they looked striking lined up along the front of the stage with their violist writhing away over her instrument, musically they were all moody sound and little fury.

(photo from Chicago, 2009)
But the night belonged to The Decemberists and a palpable anticipation was in the air by 9:30pm. This was the Decemberists' first non-festival show in Australia, something frontman Colin Meloy was quick to point out as the band took to the stage to rousing cheers. They were playing for an audience who had been waiting six years and five albums to see them, their music and reputation for live shows preceding them. They did not disappoint. Fun and funny, engaged and engaging, The Decemberists played a hour and a half long set packed with old favourites, new material (a song from the upcoming record, one a cover so new Meloy still needed lyric sheets), and tonnes of enjoyment for both the band and the audience.

Highlights of the night often involved Meloy demonstrating something akin to a God complex as he orchestrated audience participation. Halfway through 'Billy Liar', Meloy divided the crowd into left and right hand sides by an invisible line stretching the entire length of the theatre, then pitted the two sides in a battle of impassioned singing of the 'ba dum bah' refrain. Flattering each side in turn to raise the volume of the singing, Meloy then became the puppetmaster, raising and lowering the volume in jerky motions with his hands, the audience complying with his every move!

He was back to his tricks again in main set closer 'The Chimbley Sweep'. Meloy and guitarist Christ Funk began mock-duelling midway through the song, showing off their skills on their guitars with licks and riffs until both were playing their instruments above and behind their heads, to the audience's glee. Meloy followed this by sinking to the floor, and soon the entire band had followed suit. With a wave of his hand, the entire theatre began to sink to its knees too, until every person was low to the floor. Oh the power! Meloy pretended to be asleep before mischievously narrating the 'awakening' of the theatre, as Jenny Conlee's sweet voice brought us back into the song.

The whole band were consummate musicians, switching easily between a variety of instruments. 'The Rake's Song', possibly the most fun anyone can have singing about infanticide, hurtles along with an ominous triple beat, with Conlee and Funk joining John Moen on drums. And on the last song of the night, 'Sons and Daughters', it was a wondrous sight to look across the stage and see the accordion, upright bass, drums, bouzouki and hurdy gurdy playing in fantastic harmony to great effect.

But I was won over long before that last note, long before Meloy's banter had me clutching my sides laughing, long before the beauty of the quieter moments, the slower songs. For me, from the moment they launched into the second song, the epic 12 minute long 'The Island', with its prog rock intro to its hushed, sad ending, I knew I was in for a glorious show. The power of the music, the talent of the band; it was just amazing. This concert, this night, will be a hard one to top.

My friend braved sore arms to capture the entirety of 'The Island' on video, and she is my hero. :)

The Crane Wife 3
The Island
The Sporting Life
Billy Liar
July, July!
Shankill Butchers
The Engine Driver
On The Bus Mall
(new song)
The Rake's Song
O Valencia!
16 Military Wives
The Chimbley Sweep

Eli, The Barrow Boy
Bye Bye Pride (Go-Betweens Cover)
Sons and Daughters [another great video, taken by celerity59]

Neko Case - 12 Jan 10 - City Recital Hall

2010-01-13T15:29:00.009+11:00

After seeing Neko Case from afar, red hair streaming in the afternoon breeze, her clear-as-a-bell voice ringing out over the gathered crowd on a hot Sunday afternoon at Lollapalooza, I was itching to hear her again, this time in a more intimate setting, closer to home.

I came away pleased with the show, still completely infatuated with the sound of her voice, humming snatches of her songs all night long.

Let's get the bad out of the way first: yes, as noted in other reviews, there were some sound issues. For me, at times the four piece band threatened to overwhelm Neko Case's fantastic instrument of a voice, but luckily it never quite could subdue the beauty of it.

Obviously it was bothering others too; an audience member on the floor took advantage of a tuning lull to yell for the amps to be turned down.

"Lady, this is a rock show," Case shot back as she pulled her mane of flaming red hair into a messy bun. "You're in the wrong place."

The (inappropriate) request seemed to give Case a spark that diffused some of the rarified atmosphere stifling audience and performer alike in the City Recital Hall. For the first few songs the audience seemed to be at a much more formal show, afraid to voice their appreciation. Case herself seemed hesistant and subdued by the hall, bouncing on her toes before the mike every now and then nervily. She spoke very little, and often in a rushed stream that rendered the words inaudible. It was up to Kelly Hogan, her backup singer, to liven up the show with her endless stream of softly spoken quips and giggles.

But musically, it was bold from the get go, starting with the Americana twang of 'Things That Scare Me' (with some great banjo work), followed by another song from earlier in her career, 'Maybe Sparrow'. But as Case noted, tonight was almost the one year anniversary of the start of the tour for her 2009 album, Middle Cyclone, and the set was heavy with songs from that great album.

I was glad to hear all my favourites from Middle Cyclone, from the back-to-back pairing of 'The Pharoahs', the first time that night I felt Case's voice really break through the sound issues and just wrap its soaring spell around the audience, and the smoky 'Polar Nettles'; to 'Prison Girls' live, with its ominous, dark sound; and the closer to the main set 'This Tornado Loves You', thrumming with energy and longing, until its very end with Case and Hogan's voice harmonising fantastically on that heartbreaking last line, "What will make you believe me?"

We ran into Jess in the lobby, and she let me take a picture of the setlist she scored, and told me the changes, which was great because I hadn't been keeping notes for once! :)

Things That Scare Me
Maybe Sparrow
People Got A Lotta Nerve
Fever
Hold On, Hold On
I'm An Animal
Middle Cyclone
The Pharaohs
Polar Nettles
Deep Red Bells
Margaret Vs. Pauline
Prison Girls
The Tigers Have Spoken
Red Tide
Don't Forget Me
That Teenage Feeling
This Tornado Loves You

Vengeance Is Sleeping
Star Witness

Songs of 2009 part 7: Top 10 Albums of 2009

2009-12-31T10:57:00.011+11:00

Argh! Running out of time to get this up before the end of the year... (okay, I didn't really make it. Happy 2010!)

Below are my favourite albums of the year. Most of these I knew I loved upon first listen, and only grew to love even more as I listened and relistened and played each to death over the year, in the car, on my ipod, while studying, doing my chores.

First, some honourable mentions:

About Time (EP) by Straylight Run

More upbeat and yet at the same time angrier and harder than before, Straylight recovered from the disappointment of being dropped from their major label with a great four song EP. I look forward to seeing what they come up with next.

Buy: About Time (for only US$4!)

Lost in Pacific Time (EP) by The Academy Is...

Following on sonically from their underappreciated third album Fast Times in Barrington High, this is a great five track EP, all jangly guitars and a driving rhythm section overlaid with great melodies after a pop sensibility.

Buy: Lost in Pacific Time (AU$6)

Dark Was the Night

A compliation two disc album where the proceeds went towards HIV/AIDS work. The contributors read like a who's who of indie music, an amazing list of artists and songs and collaborations. I highly recommend getting a copy for yourself, it's worth checking out for Sufjan Stevens' reworking of 'You Are the Blood' or for Cat Powers' lovely version of 'Amazing Grace' or for Gillian Welch and Conor Oberst together on 'Lua'.

Buy: Dark Was the Night

And now, to the actual list... *drumroll*

10. There Is No Enemy by Built to Spill

A return to form for veteran band BtS. The album has that fuzzy guitar sound, Doug Martsch's yelp-like voice, and some almost-alt-country melodies as the lyrics contemplate the fears and worries of the everyday and this world.

listen: 'Things Fall Apart', a standout track; slow, and slow-building, almost-dreamlike.

9. New Again by Taking Back Sunday

It's a patchy album, but when TBS are good they're really good. Bookended with the best songs: the 1-2 punch of the album opener 'New Again' and lead single 'Sink Into Me'; and the revengeful, regretful closers 'Capital M-E', 'Carpathia' and 'Everything Must Go'. The latter is particularly bitterly heartbreaking as everything - the lyrics about the end of a dream and Adam Lazzara's angrysadbrokendown voice and all the rage and regret - comes together in one fantastic song.

Listen: 'Everything Must Go'

8 Middle Cyclone by Neko Case

Her voice is so beautiful, and it rings through the alt-country tinged songs of this album, soaking it in an atmosphere of smoke and tenderness and longing.

Download:
People Got A Lot of Nerve (click to download)

7. Hold Time by M. Ward

I love the sound of this album, all lo-fi and folky, matched perfectly with the lazy huskiness of his voice. There's something for everybody, from the upbeat collaborations with Zooey Deschanel like 'Never Had Nobody Like You' to slow, grand songs like the sombre, beautiful title track.

Download:
Never Had Nobody Like You

6. Zounds by Dappled Cities

Dappled have gone with a more electronic, darker sound on this third album, but they haven't lost their touch at building great songs: there's the same great grasp of melodies, blending shimmering synths and layers of guitars and dreamy vocal calls over evershifting drumlines.

Download:
The Price

5. I and Love and You by The Avett Brothers

Late to the party, but oh, I'm so glad Al pushed them time after time at me. A little folk, a little Americana, a little alt-country, but most of all, plenty awesome. From beautifully sweet songs like 'I and Love and You' to the fun, witty 'Kick Drum Heart', the songs are perfect in their simplicity.

Watch/Listen: 'Kick Drum Heart'

The Avett Brothers - Ch 7: "Kick Drum Heart" (Official Music Video) - Watch more top selected videos about: The_Avett_Brothers

4. Brother's Blood by Kevin Devine

Kevin Devine is a singer-songwriter who says his influences are "comic books, 90's guitar rock over and underground, good folk and country music, punk rock, social justice, books in general, books and books and books", which comes across most strongly in his way with words. He writes great songs about things going wrong (with the world, with relationships, himself) with an angry, weary passion and I love the way this album makes me feel; that yeah, even when sometimes we're bruised and hurt we press on the bruises, we go back for more.

I really really recommend the two tracks below; they are fantastic, complex songs, lyrically and musically.

Download:
Brother's Blood
Carnival

3. Hazards Of Love by The Decemberists

Not content with having one concept album under their belt (previous album The Crane Wife, based on a Japanese fable), the Decemberists returned with a full rock-opera, originally planned as a musical. Having seen them perform this in its entirety, I can say unequivocally that it is meant to be enjoyed in this form. And the more I listen to it, the more I am amazed that a band has the guts to make such wonderful anachronistic music and be celebrated for it.

Buy:
The Hazards of Love

When it came down to these two albums, I couldn't justifiably rank one above the other. So I cheated; I have two absolute favourite albums of the year.

1. = Daisy by Brand New

Still moody, but maybe even more angry and frustrated and resigned this time around. I was surprised by the relative simplicity of Daisy compared to the more accessible but complex previous album The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me, but I love it all the same for the directness of emotion that comes across in the harsh, restless music. It's the sound of a breakdown in process, an unravelling; it's raw and painful and mesmerising. I will always remember the first time the hymn slid without warning into the screams on 'Vices', surprising and shocking me into the mood of the album.

Watch: a stripped back version of 'At the Botton' in the studio

Brand New - At the Bottom (Daisy Sessions) from The Old Man and the Seymour on Vimeo.

1. = Mean Everything to Nothing by Manchester Orchestra

I was sucked into this from the moment Andy Hull sings the first line: "I am the only one who thinks I'm going crazy". The first half of the album is packed with layered, intense rock songs, howling and powerful and almost overwhelming, save that it's balanced by a sense of insecurity and worries in the lyrics. The latter half of the album, however, is more contemplative; softer and more vulnerable and emotionally painful. Andy Hull's voice is amazing; it roars over the pounding guitars and drums, and cracks in the softer moments, tender and broken. I listen to this album when I'm feeling down, bruised, and scared; not because it tells me that everything will be okay, but because it gets how I feel.

Download:
I've Got Friends

Songs of 2009 part 6
Songs of 2009 part 5
Songs of 2009 part 4
Songs of 2009 part 3
Songs of 2009 part 2
Songs of 2009 part 1

Movies of the Decade: 2009

2009-12-30T23:44:00.008+11:00

Finally: my favourite movies for this year. I know I missed 2008, but that was because the movies I saw were rather middling; though Persepolis was beautiful if a little unevenly paced, and I really enjoyed the bubblegum-coloured Speed Racer, for all its flaws and the critical drubbing it received.

Just quickly, some Honourable Mentions for 2009: Where the Wild Things Are, Bright Star, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (see review), I Love You, Man

These were good movies, enjoyable movies; and the first two are probably the most beautiful movies I saw this year in terms of set direction and artistry. I think what kept them from being in my top 5 was that I didn't *feel* as strongly about these, or I didn't have as much to mull over when I left the theatre.

So what made the top five?

5. Whip It! (d. Drew Barrymore)

Sure it's flawed: mostly I noticed how staidly it was filmed, even the exciting roller derby scenes. But I could care less when something is this warm and fun to watch; I just wanted to give this movie a big hug at the end. I loved that it put women front and centre and made them all kinds of people but you could like them all, even the supposed 'bad' ones. It's got this infectious, happy energy to it, and it deserved a lot more love than it got.

4. An Education (d. Lone Scherfig)

Such bittersweet but hopeful movie. I didn't so much identify with Jenny than I remembered wanting to be a girl like her; someone school-smart and well-read, who wants to be cultured and sophisticated, who starts to think that academia may not the only way in life. But the movie, based on Lynn Barber's memoir, also shows how Jenny is maybe not as smart as she thinks she is, and that sophistication and culture doesn't always lead to that perfect life she dreams of. It's a gorgeous movie, from the romantic sojourn in Paris to all the 60s costuming, and filled with some fantastic performances: Carey Mulligan, of course, as Jenny who starts off the movie so young and idealistic and finishes with a wise, sadder look in her eyes; but also Rosamund Pike as a beautiful but rather dim friend of Jenny's older boyfriend who lends the film a comic charm.

3. Star Trek (d. J.J. Abrams)

This was just rollicking fun. I heard so many times from friends this year that they loved it, when though they don't love Star Trek/science fiction; and also from people who were ardent ST/SF fans who also loved it to death. I didn't have so strong an opinion, except for wanting to yell "Science doesn't work like that!!" (though according to this, sometimes it can. Bits of it anyway. Bits that are not red matter). But the more I thought about the movie afterwards, the more I realised sometimes it's just enough to enjoy something without overthinking it to death, particularly if it's something upon which popular opinion and actual quality coincide happily for once.

2. The Class (d. Laurent Cantet)

Absorbing, naturalistic, almost documentary-like feature about a year in the class of a junior high school in the 20th in Paris. Based on the real life events documented in Francois Begaudeau's book on his own teaching experiences, the author plays Mr Marin, who teaches French to a class of 14/15 year olds, and tries to push them to be more engaged with learning and thinking in general, by challenging, and on occasions, mocking them, about their behaviours, attitudes and beliefs. In doing so, I couldn't help but be challenged the same way. I remember Amanda, Belinda and I having a rather heated discussion about race afterwards, feeling our ways toward understanding the society around us through the lens of this high school class.

But unlike many Hollywood movies about inspiring teachers, it's not some cut and dried heartwarming tale that ends in the salvation of a previously recalcitrant class. True to life, there are some children who blossom under this intense environment, and others who fall by the education wayside, the consequence of not one but many conflicting factors of class and race and societal pressures and personality.

1. Inglourious Basterds (d. Quentin Tarantino)

From the moment the last line was spoken I knew I agreed: this is Tarantino's masterpiece.

There's a lot of debate about IB out there on the internets, and even personally I had three email threads about it going on post-movie, in my eagerness to rehash and argue why I responded so positively to it. For starters, it's very funny, super thought provoking, and ridiculously film geeky in the very best of ways. There's just so much to mull about, from a moral angle, from a film history angle, from a history angle...it's amazing.

Each of the five parts is perfectly constructed, with the tension ratcheting slowly and terrifyingly and absorbingly until it's almost unberable, begging for a release, begging for the violence to give us relief, and then sicken ourselves all over again. I talked with some people who felt that IB goes too far in its ending, that it satisfies, and could be read as encouraging, an unacceptable bloodlust. I think IB is the ultimate revenge fantasy for a world that takes the holocaust to be the biggest moral infraction of the last century, but I also think that in the way Taratino does it, the film then questions us in return: now that we have an idea what that revenge would look like, do we still want it or feel the same way about it?

It still catches me in moments, after a few months; images still very clear in my head (like Shoshanna putting on her warpaint, reflected in the glass and in the poster and all around so beautifully) and thoughts still buzzing about its knotty ethical implications.

**

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this rambling little series on the movies that have made the most impact on me these last ten years! Here's to more fascinating, thought-provoking, beautiful, memorable films in the coming year...

Movies of the Decade: 2007
Movies of the Decade: 2006
Movies of the Decade: 2004-2005
Movies of the Decade: 2003
Movies of the Decade: 2002
Movies of the Decade: 2000-2001

Songs of 2009 part 6

2009-12-29T18:12:00.001+11:00

Are you starting to see a pattern in my song choices yet? I feel like I've used the words 'driving beat' and 'fuzzy guitars' and 'makes me want to dance' about fifty gazillion times by now. At least now I know I have consistent taste! :)

## Panic Switch by Silversun Pickups
from Swoon

Fuzzy guitars like sirens in the background, that gravelly growly voice that goes so well with it. The album is good, not great; maybe I was expecting a few more stand-out tracks like this one.

Watch:

## Hell by Tegan and Sara
from Sainthood

I am so torn by their new album. The first time I listened to it I really didn't like it. I didn't enjoy the new direction they'd taken, all jagged edges; I missed the sweetness of their folkier, heartfelt songs. But I've given the album a few more spins and I think I'm getting it more now: they are no less heartfelt under the layers of guitars and driving beats. This song is fantastic: it's catchy, but the grittiness of the lyrical content is conveyed in, and suits, the rockier sound.

Watch: live performance vid, which means cute Canadian accents and banter and rambly stories about weird hair diseases guinea pigs get :D

## Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap
from Conditions

I tried to resist, but they started playing this endlessly on the radio and it became a highlight of my work day, when they'd play this instead of the bland, mainstream junk. It's so pretty and lovely and joyful, as the insistent beat drives the whole thing on while that lovely falsetto vocal floats over the top.

Watch:

## You and I by Wilco
from Wilco (the album)

A duet, featuring Feist. Jeff Tweedy's voice works so so well with her voice; they meld in this lovely harmony, the textures complemeting each other. The song is lovely too, a slice of alt-country pop with a melody that just begs to be sung-along to.

Watch: in performance

Zero by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
from It’s Blitz!

From the synth-heavy opener to when Karen O's sublime voice slinks over it, this song always always makes me want to dance. And be as badass as Karen O in the video, ever dancing and performing so freely for an unseen audience. :)

Watch: Cutest moment: the whole band smushed onto one trolley!

Songs of 2009 part 5
Songs of 2009 part 4
Songs of 2009 part 3
Songs of 2009 part 2
Songs of 2009 part 1

Movies of the Decade: 2007

2009-12-28T20:10:00.001+11:00

Last post before my top movies of this year! :)

Hot Fuzz (2007; d. Edgar Wright)

I was going to try and fit in a repeat viewing of this before writing it up, but alas it was not to be. This movie is hilarious; I saw it twice within the space of a week around Christmas two years ago, and it was as ridiculous and fresh and fantastic the second time around. I love that it's smart about the genres its parodies, but in a loving way.

Juno (2007; d. Jason Reitman)

In the years since it came out, this has been much maligned. Even when we went to see it, as the lights came back on I turned to the friends who saw it with me and said I liked it, only to have the other two make faces. But I've seen it again since then, and I still find it really lovely and charming. If you look past the rather obvious affectations ('honest to blog' is still a really irritating, nonsensical quip), it navigates an ethically tricky story with heart, not judging Juno for becoming pregnant, not judging her nor explaining in depth the choices she makes, just allowing her to be a confused but smart sixteen year old with some big decisions to make. Ellen Page is so good as Juno, letting her be prickly on the outside while always giving us glimpses of the softer girl inside. The rest of the supporting cast are great, particularly J.K. Simmons as Juno's dad, and Jennifer Garner as the uptight but desperately maternal Vanessa.

No Country for Old Men (2007; Joel and Ethan Coen)

Bleak and affecting, an old story told very well, and filmed beautifully. Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin) takes $2million out of a drug deal gone wrong, and a scarily focussed killer (Javier Bardem) tracks him down for a form of justice. There are some immensely suspenseful moments in this, the pacing just-so for them maximum heart-in-mouth moments, and the killings, even as they decrease in violence, increase in meaning and heartache. Excellent supporting cast - Tommy Lee Jones plays his straightforward sheriff with just the right amount of bewilderment and wisdom as he contemplates a world more violent than he can patrol, and Kelly Macdonald really surprises as Moss' southern wife.

The Simpsons movie (2007; d. David Silverman)

I must admit that my first feeling upon leaving the theatre was relief; relief that the movie hadn't sucked. So my expectations were not high, going in. That said, this is really funny. Sure, the story doesn't always hold together, but then, do we really expect it too? And it manages to feel more than several episodes strung together. The jokes are a great mix of visual and verbal, with the kind of wittiness and sense of fun that the earlier series had.

Zodiac (2007; d. David Fincher)

A very tense movie that somehow sustains the subtle horror of the unsolved serial killer mystery throughout the whole movie, allowing the story to conveying the weary reality of chasing the unknown criminal to no, typical, satisfyingly pat end. Good performances all round, though Robert Downey Jnr. is the best thing in this movie (as he often is).

Movies of the Decade: 2006
Movies of the Decade: 2004-2005
Movies of the Decade: 2003
Movies of the Decade: 2002
Movies of the Decade: 2000-2001

Songs of 2009 part 5

2009-12-28T15:15:00.000+11:00

Had this open in the window all day, and forgot about it until now! It's all been a bit hectic...

eta: one late addition at top

## Moth's Wings by Passion Pit
from Manners

I was lucky to receive this CD for Christmas. This song is so pretty, all glintering noises as a backdrop and driving beat and airy voices.

Download:
Moth's Wings

## The Good News by Philadelphia Grand Jury
from Hope is For Hopers

Aussie pop-rock, immensely catchy with great fuzzy guitars and a rhythmic keyboard line that should drive me mad but really just makes me want to dance.

(If you missed it, here's the write-up of their show at the Factory a week ago.)

Download:
The Good News

## 1901 by Phoenix
from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Shimmery electro-pop. I love the first half of the album more than the latter, but in the right mood it's a lot of fun, and again, totally makes me want to dance.

Download:
1901

## These Are My Twisted Words by Radiohead
online single

A new Radiohead song is always welcome. A free one even more so! This is a moody (hah - when is it not?) track that's a touch of Amnesiac (wait! come back!) and In Rainbows era sound.

Download:
These Are My Twisted Words

## Bodies by Robbie Williams
from Reality Killed the Radio Star

Ignore the faux-irreligious nonsensical lyrics; focus on the music. The genius of Robbie Williams' latest album sees a return of some ridiculous catchy pop songs like this, that marries a jagged electronic sound with a lush string section and manages to sound so grand and pretty.

Watch: This video is crap. But it has brooding Robbie, on a motorcycle.

Songs of 2009 part 4
Songs of 2009 part 3
Songs of 2009 part 2
Songs of 2009 part 1

Movies of the Decade: 2006

2009-12-26T21:16:00.000+11:00

Happy Boxing Day aka yearly avoid-the-heat, watch-a-blockbuster movie day. :)

I went to see Sherlock Holmes, which I enjoyed in a brain-dead, in love with RDJ and Jude Law and Rachel McAdams kind of way.

And so we continue into movies I have also enjoyed, from 2006:

Little Miss Sunshine (2006; d. Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris)

I know it's manipulative, but aren't all movies? It's a funny, bittersweet and very human tale, with some great characters, and it mostly manages to steer clear of mawkishness. Steve Carell is particularly good as the depressed, second most pre-eminent scholar of Proust. I watched the beauty pageant scene again recently, for a class on the sexualisation of pre-teens, and was struck again by how funny and uncomfortable little Olive's routine is, and how well that whole scene is constructed to make the audience laugh and squirm.

Look Both Ways (2006; d. Sarah Watts)

A lovely Australian movie about the difficult reconciliation of coping with death and loss while being alive. Over a summer weekend, a motley group of loosely related people - particularly Meryl, whose father has just died; and Nick, who's just learned he has cancer - deal with the emotions of losing lovers and parents, their own fear of death and loss, finding new people to care for, and so on. It sounds like a heavy mix, but it's actually quite a hopeful film, grounded in reality and well-rounded characters, that asks for some thought in processing the various relationships that are formed, held and broken. Also, the mood is broken up with some really beautiful animation work by the director, who illustrates Meryl's wild imaginative scenarios of death and shows Nick's own mirroring thoughts in photo collages.

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006; d. Guillermo del Toro)

I don't normally cry at the movies, but I was sobbing by the end of this movie. It's so wonderfully made and terrifyingly beautiful; the storytelling is excellent, and from the tears, you can guess that it had a great emotional impact on me. I came home and I could not stop talking about it with my family. But it's certainly not a movie for the fainthearted.

Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2006; d. Michael Winterbottom)

I declared this movie the best of the year immediately after I watched it, and while the other three in this post are strong contenders I don't know if any of them match this in sheer ludicrous, free-wheeling enjoyment. It's meant to be a film adaptation of a rambling 18th century English novel that has been dubbed "unfilmable" but it is also a film about the film of an adaptation of a rambling 18th century novel and it is actually a film about the film of a... Whatever it actually ends up being, it is very very funny and clever and knows just how to send up its pretentious roots. At one point, Steve Coogan, playing an actor named Steve Coogan, pompously announces, though he hasn't read the novel the film is based on, "This is a postmodern novel before there was any modernism to be post about."

And he's kind of right. You don't have to have read the novel either, and that's one of the running jokes of the film, that no one on set has actually read the 600+ pages of novel. While the set up is completely confusing, it makes complete sense on camera, and unfolds wonderfully on-screen as actors, directors, and actors playing directors, and actors playing themselves break the fourth wall to talk to the camera, while moving between scenes and sets and "real life", all with a funny, hyper-realistic script that flows naturally between all the different modes. This is a film for people who love film; there's plenty of inside jokes, I'm told there are even inside jokes inside inside jokes for those who are really obsessive about movies.

The cast is amazing. A veritable list of great British actors cross the screen doing good work no matter how big or small their part. In particular, Steve Coogan is great - he's such an vain, insecure man as 'the actor', but he also shows a softer side playing a new father, and it makes him endearingly human and thus likeable - plus he also has to play Tristram the narrator and Walter Shandy his father. But apart from the clever ideas, the great acting and the tamed chaos, there's also a lovely sense of the visual joke. See the picture I've posted? That's one of my favourite scenes of the movie.

As Steve Coogan is lowered head first, complete with his 18th century costume, into a big pink uterus model, he has an argument with the production assistant about how he is positioned.

"[Mark, the director] wants it to be as realistic as possible."

"He wants realism. Yeah. I'm a grown man, talking to the camera, in a womb."

Original post-movie reaction and review.

Movies of the Decade: 2004-2005
Movies of the Decade: 2003
Movies of the Decade: 2002
Movies of the Decade: 2000-2001

Songs of 2009 part 4

2009-12-24T09:47:00.000+11:00

## Merrimack River by Mandy Moore
from Amanda Leigh

Bet you didn't know that a) I'm a closet Mandy Moore fan, and b) she released an album this year. A world away from the teen pop princess she once aspired to be (but could never quite be, ala Britney and Christina), Moore has, after a bumpy few transition albums, matured nicely into a singer-songwriter of some very pretty folk influenced adult contemporary music. I really like this opening track, stripped back, gentle and waltz-like.

Watch: live @ Walmart Soundcheck

## Help I’m Alive by Metric
from Fantasies

Emily Haines' pretty voice floating over fuzzy guitars and a relentless drum beat "like a hammer". I'm in.

Watch:

Download:
Help I'm Alive (acoustic)

## Satellite Skin by Modest Mouse
from No One’s First and You’re Next EP

This one is rollicking and full of attitude, Isaac Brock's growly voice, jangly guitars and an unexpected lightness. I must admit that apart from this song the EP didn't really grab me, but MM haven't lost the ability to rock out from time to time.

Watch:

## I Belong To You/Mon Coeur S'ouvre A Toi by Muse
from The Resistance

I just did not get this album at first. Muse have always been OTT and grandoise in their music and ideas, and I love them for it, but The Resistance was just too much on first listen. But then Al linked me to this review at Strange Horizons by Adam Roberts and I was so taken by how he lovingly describes and embraces it all that I gave it another go, this time with the SF framework as a guide. And it made all the difference. The album is still a little cold and synth-heavy for general listening, but when I'm in the mood for some storytelling it's evocative and interesting.

This song is immense and lush and darkly romantic, with its thumping beat and crashing piano chords and Matt Bellamy's voice poured over like syrup; and THEN they add a power-ballad bridge in French and throw in a jazzy woodwind interlude for good measure.

Listen: the karaoke version, complete with lyrics and random art. :)

Songs of 2009 part 3
Songs of 2009 part 2
Songs of 2009 part 1

Movies of the Decade 2004-2005

2009-12-22T23:39:00.001+11:00

Better late than never! We're at the halfway point. :)

Bad Education (2004; Pedro Almodovar)

This is a dark, complicated, lush, morally complex movie. It pitches you into three or four different time periods and timelines, where characters exist in all these different story arcs, but are not what they seem; somehow, he manages to draw these strands tighter and tighter around each other until they become one narrative...or do they? It's confusing and maddening and so gorgeously coloured and filmed (the presence of Gael Garcia Bernal, playing three characters, doesn't hurt!) that no matter the end the journey is totally engrossing and worth it.

The Incredibles (2004; d. Brad Bird)

I loved this take on the post-superhero experience in a family friendly redux of the Watchmen premise. Instead of darkness, Bird manages to milk a great deal of humour from the situation, but balances it with a pathos and an emotional complexity. It also smartly plays with the conventions of comic books and cartoons, in the script, the beautiful and thoughtful design of the film, and the gorgeous animation. It was my last film of 2004 and I couldn’t have capped the year off with a better movie.

Original post-movie reaction and review.

Mean Girls (2004; d. Mark Waters)

I saw this in a packed theatre full of teen girls, the target audience. They laughed and giggled at all the jokes, and there were a lot of the great script from Tina Fey, capturing the zeitgeist while using high school and teen movie clichés to skewer teen behaviour. In doing so it points out the damaged attitudes teen girls have each other and tries, in some small way, to fix things. Unfortunately, in our theatre, about three minutes after one of the characters says something about "don't call each other sluts and whores because it just makes it easier for guys to label you that way", a scuffle happened near the bottom of the theatre and a very clear female voice was heard to yell, "You slut!" But I appreciated the efforts of the film, the way it’s so very funny and quotable, and the very good performances by the cast as a whole (and Lindsay Lohan has never been as appealing and personable as she is in this role).

Mysterious Skin (2005; d. Gregg Araki)

As the last scene faded and the credits rolled, there was a complete silence in the theatre, a hush unlike the end of a multiplex popcorn film; whether it was from shock, or deep thought, or sadness - or even, as I felt, a mixture of all three - it was an eerie feeling. This was a deeply moving film about the loss of innocence. It was a very hard movie to watch at times, even when none of the actual abuse is actually depicted; the hardest part is watching two lost characters stumbling through adulthood, trying to make sense of a world that has already failed them and will again and again. But it’s darkly funny too, walking a fine line between the ridiculous and the pathetically profound, and a strange beauty in the horrific details (I can still see the shower of rainbow colored fruit loops that a young Neil gleefully delights in, that his abuser uses to reel him in). The movie adapts the books really well; for me, the ending of the book is one of the most beautifully written passages I‘ve ever read, and the movie comes close to matching the loveliness in the pathos, the beauty in its sadness. My first reaction, when I walked out of the theatre, was of how amazing this movie was, and how I never wanted to watch it again.

Original post-movie reaction and review.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005; d. Shane Black)

This is really funny, highly enjoyable neo-noir take on the buddy movie. Robert Downey Jr is so good as the nervy, fast-talking, no good anti-hero, Michelle Monaghan is so appealing as the ultimate girl-next-door, and there's great chemistry between all three leads. I love the construction of the style, the snappy narrative voice, the way the film hurtles back and forth along the timeline, the gloss of the Hollywood setting against the seedy happenings and people.

Kung Fu Hustle(2005; d. Stephen Chow)

I finally saw this last year, and I'm so glad I got to. It is so much fun; I laughed myself silly. It has a shambolic charm, using a well-worn forumlaic David v. Goliath story to hang its many bizarre, funny and wonderful flights of fancy. The restless referencing to old movies - Hollywood musicals of the 40s, classic kung fu pics of the 70s - is great and geeky. It's major failing is in a romantic subplot that is both boring, underwritten and infuriating (he makes her a one-dimensional, actually mute character!).

Movies of the Decade: 2003
Movies of the Decade: 2002
Movies of the Decade: 2000-2001

Songs of 2009 part 3

2009-12-20T18:57:00.001+11:00

Part 3 of 7 of my favourite songs for 2009 (released in 2009, only one per artist, in alphabetical order by artist) -

##Alpha Dog by Fall Out Boy
from Believers Never Die

I listened a lot to Fall Out Boy's Folie a Deux through the first half of this year, but since their singles collection was released a few months ago this song has gradually become one of my most-played. It seems they will never run out of big sounding stadium-ready pop punk anthems with clever, biting lyrics about the fleeting, unstable illusion of fame. This makes me happy though, because I don't think I will get sick of hearing such songs any time soon.

Watch:

Alpha Dog

Fall Out Boy | MySpace Music Videos

## Drumming Song by Florence + the Machine
from Lungs

I cannot get this song out of my head. The awesome drumming that builds and builds the song in relentless movement, the almost chant-like music, and Florence Welch's unearthly voice over it all...every time I hear this I want to dance and whirl around and just expel the energy that comes from this (the video captures this feeling pretty well!)

Watch:

## Walking the Dog by fun.
from Aim and Ignite

Late last year, I 'discovered' this awesome band The Format...then discovered they'd just broken up. :( Luckily, frontman Nate Ruess went on to form fun. It's got the same bombastic jaunty pop sound, but there's possibly even more going on (instrumentation, arrangements, his musical-theatre-rich voice) at all times, and a lot of referencing of other musical genres. At first, I thought it was all a bit to much, but I listened to a stripped back acoustic set yesterday and actually missed the OTTness of it all. I guess I've been won over!

Listen:

Have some more fun.!

## Two Weeks by Grizzly Bear
from Veckatimest

I'm a sucker for jangly, summery tunes and this, by indie darlings Grizzly Bear, is perfect in its shimmery lightness contrasting with the slightly mournful vocals and 'oooh aaaah' flourishes.

Watch/Listen: The video is creepy. :(

Songs of 2009 part 2
Songs of 2009 part 1

Movies of the Decade: 2003

2009-12-20T14:47:00.000+11:00

Today's Movies of the Decade post brought to you by the number 2003.

Finding Nemo (2003; d. Andrew Stanton)

This movie is so joyous. I don't there really is a bad Pixar film but Finding Nemo remains one of my all time favourite pick-me-up movies. It's so beautiful and gentle and funny; when my friends quote a Pixar movie it's most likely to be a line from Nemo ("Mine! Mine!", "Fish are friends, not food", "...now what?", pretty much this whole page).

Also, this, Happy Feet and Moulin Rouge are the movies that have brought me the most grief (and okay, fun) at uni as I get into my 849th argument about what constitutes an Australian movie.

Kill Bill I (2003; d. Quentin Tarantino)

I was so tense all through this movie; props to QT for sucking me into the story of the Bride so completely. It's such a fantastic movie, from the eye-popping visuals, the layers of music and sound, all those references to older films, the great acting from Uma Thurman. It's funny too, full of deft comic touches that fit seamlessly into a very gory, fastpaced revenge tale. If only part two had been as consistently good and evenly paced as this...

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003; d. Peter Weir)

For a movie with no women, full of guns and battles and ships - topics I am not normally interested in - I was utterly engrossed in this, and loved it so much I went back and reread a glut of Patrick O'Brien books until I finally got sick of guns and battles and ships. But oh, it's such a great adventure, the friendship between Aubrey and Maturin is so well conveyed and served through the storyline and the fantastic acting by Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany respectively, and it's such a handsome film as well, all expanses of ocean, furious storms, and exacting period detail.

Peter Pan (2003; d. P.J. Hogan)

A beautiful, wonderful film that captures the essence of Barrie's Neverland so well, both fantastic in its bold colours and lush scenery, and dark, as dark as it needs to be to convey the subtext of Barrie's work. The child actors are so good, particularly Rachel Hurd-Wood, who does such a subtle, lovely job as Wendy on the precipice of the end of innocence. It made me fall in love all over again with Peter Pan, restoring the depth in this children's book that had been missing from the Disney version I grew up with.

Chicago (2003; d. Rob Marshall)

I've seen this twice on the big screen, the second while picnicing at twilight in a park. It's a catchy, bold spectacle of a movie, that takes the great songs and balances it out with visuals that both capture the theatrical nature of the original stageshow as well as giving it a fluidity that it could only have onscreen, leaving an indelible impression. Both female leads in this are impressive; Catherine Zeta-Jones is fabulous as the clever, hardened cabaret star/husband killer, and Renee Zellweger plays Roxie well, all shiny surface and 'razzle-dazzle'.

Movies of the Decade: 2002
Movies of the Decade: 2000-2001

Philadelphia Grand Jury - 19 Dec 2009 - The Factory

2009-12-19T23:58:00.000+11:00

We headed down to The Factory while the sun was still up (!) for an all-ages (!!) gig, a night of Aussie music. To be honest, Al and I bought our (cheap!) tickets in a bit of a kneejerk reaction to reading A Reminder's post on the top Aussie and NZ bands of 2009 and feeling like we didn't know half of them. It was time we did our bit to support the local scene!

We got there early enough to catch half of the Tom Ugly set. They had good energy and some catchy hooks, but the vocal was weak under all the noise. They were pretty enjoyable nevertheless.

Cassette Kids were up next. They were polished and had good stage presence, despite their drummer having continual technical problems, but after a while every song sounded the same - the same driving beat, spiky guitar riffs and wailed vocal. They sounded like a mix of Metric, Phoenix and Yeah Yeah Yeahs - all bands that released good albums this year - and in the end they just seemed, as Al said, "very now" and derivative.

Watch: Lying Around

Headliners Philadelphia Grand Jury are currently seeing a great deal of airplay for their ridiculously catchy song The Good News, and just released their first album Hope is For Hopers in September. They played a fun, crazy and hilarious set, ripping through ten songs in just over half an hour. Singer/guitarist Simon Berckelman knocked his mike off the stand every second song and had to borrow bandmate Joel Beeson's mike, then the drummer's mike, to keep singing until the hardworking tech ("Give it up for George!") duct taped the mike to secure it to the stand. Berckelman then lost his glasses due to his energetic performance - maybe he needed everything taped down?

The duo finished the night with their four strongest songs back to back - I'm Going to Kill You, Going to a Casino, The Good News and I Don't Want to Party (Party). All of them ridiculously simple and a little on the repetitive side but so catchy it sucks you into dancing along. They threw in a chaotic outro with feedback and shambolic playing before dragging two fanboys on stage and letting them loose on bass and drums to play at being rockstars.

Download: The Good News

All in all, a fun, relaxing show to finish off the year. Yay for the Australian indie music scene!

On the downside, on our way to the Factory we were surprised to see an enormous queue snaking its way around the Enmore. What, we wondered, could gather so so many fluoro-tights-wearing teen girls with choppy hair around the doors at 5pm? The answer: Short Stack. Be afraid, Australian music lovers, be very afraid.

Songs of 2009 part 2

2009-12-16T19:27:00.000+11:00

The aim: a manageable list of my favourite songs of 2009

The criteria: released in 2009, and only one per artist (this was hard!)

Presenting part 2 (of 7), in alphabetical order by artist:

## Good Girls Go Bad by Cobra Starship
from Hot Mess

I don't think Leighton Meester should be encouraged in her music career, but you can't deny that this is one catchy fun song and video. Cobra Starship are courting commercial success with collaborations such as this on their shinier and glossier third album. While it doesn't have the heart and consistency of their great first album I'm just glad to see this long time fave (they do great live shows!) getting some recognition.

Watch: Good Girls Go Bad (HQ video)

## Nikorette by Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
from Outer South

Sure, it's lighter in tone and meaning than anything Oberst was able to churn out as Bright Eyes. But how can you not love a rollicking, toe-tapping song that restlessly drives towards a great acoustic guitar solo breakdown in the middle? (If you're still jonesing for the old stuff, check out Ahead of the Curve, one of Oberst's contributions to the Monsters of Folk album also released this year.)

Download:
Nikorette

## From the Hips by Cursive
from Mama, I'm Swollen

I've seen this described (derisively) as emo for grown ups. Whatever it is, I love the dark, slow-build towards the furious, howling conclusion.

I'm in my worst when I'm at my best
I'm at my best when I'm trying to look and think and talk
And sing and read and write like all the rest
We're all just trying to play our roles
In a play that runs ad nauseum
I hate this damn enlightenment
We were better off as animals

Download:
From the Hips

## Little Bribes by Death Cab for Cutie
from The Open Door EP

The cheeriest song about love between two problem gamblers in Vegas. Also, one of my favourite lines of the year: Pretend every slot machine is a robot amputee waving hello.

Watch:

Death Cab for Cutie - Little Bribes from Ross Ching on Vimeo.

## Every Time You Lie by Demi Lovato
from Here We Go Again

I know, Disney Spawn. But this is a really good album! She has a great, husky voice beyond her years, and an arsenal of unashamedly pop songs that touch on all kinds of styles and genres. This track has a nice swing feel and is great for belting out loud in the privacy of your car. :)

Watch:

Songs of 2009 part 1

Movies of the Decade: 2001-2002

2009-12-15T17:23:00.001+11:00

Continuing with my Movies of the Decade list, of movies I find particularly memorable for one reason or another over the last ten years.

Today we're looking at 2002 (with a quick trip back into 2001, and forward to 2003). Yes, here's the requisite Lord of the Rings trilogy mention...

The Lord of the Rings trilogy (d. Peter Jackson)

Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Two Towers 2002)
Return of the King (2003)

The trilogy certainly made choosing a Boxing Day movie very easy for three years, and all three years I felt the wait, and the incredible length of the movies, were completely worth it. I know they're not perfect films, but I was, and continue to be, awed by the very scale of them; an epic undertaking of an epic series. The films are beautiful too; I can still remember my glee at the the spread of flames over all those wonderful remote mountains in RotK when Pippin manages to light the beacon. That Jackson was able to make all three installments exciting and fascinating, gripping and enjoyable from a sprawling, difficult and universally loved text is testament to his abilities.

Oh, I found another RotK memory: "It was the most emotional wearing of the trilogy - I cried the most during Fellowship, but I felt more tense in this one with the constant battles and with each weary step that Sam and Frodo took to Mount Doom...I had Steph practically yelling for Frodo to look up on one side, and Emma hiding her face on my shoulder on the other, so it made me just that much more nervous." Thanks guys!

I really should dig out my extended edition set, and rewatch all three of them.

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001; d. Wes Anderson)

Wes Anderson is so good at making films about sad sad people hurting their loved ones and making everyone more sad. I know that doesn't sound like a recommendation, but he manages to make his films so funny at the same time, as well as poignant and visually distinct.

This is my favourite of his films, I think, because of the sprawling cast, all those sad lives and stories, that he somehow manages to weave together so they rasp against each other and create even more stories, more ideas. I love the sense of family - the good and the bad - that I get from this even as each character projects loneliness; ideas about biological family and how they make you crazy because of some inexorable pull that binds you together even when you would do anything to be free of them, and also ideas about created family, how its not only biological ties that count but the people you take into your lives, sometimes without you even realising.

Lovely and Amazing (2002; d. Nicole Holofcener)

This is a small film about ordinary lives and I love it because this intimacy and celebration of the everday. The four main characters - an aging mother who is hospitalised after a cosmetic procedure goes wrong, her two diffident daughters in their 30s, and her pre-teen adopted daughter - are well-fleshed out characters who make mistakes and hurt themselves and others but they're understandably prickly and very real. At heart it's about mothers and daughters, and how women look at themselves, and how women are looked at, and how all these things contribute to how women think of themselves. It's one of the few films I honestly relate to.

It's also a film by a woman that is truly about women. Al pointed out two articles to me today that I found great, if sad, reads (thanks Al!). The first is a piece by New York Times film critic Manohla Dargis on women in Hollywood that sets out, with the cold facts and figures, a slight increase in the number of films made by women but points out that the power women hold, and the scope and funding of the films they make, are not increasing. The second is Dargis with the gloves off, a fiery interview in which she lambasts the Hollywood system for the way it treats women, on screen and off screen and behind the scenes.

About a Boy (2002; d. Chris and Paul Weitz)

I was very conflicted going into this movie. On one hand, Hugh Grant. (My love for Hugh Grant knows (almost) no bounds.) On the other hand, my least favourite Nick Hornby book (then. A Long Way Down has taken over that title solidly.) But I enjoyed About a Boy so much that as the credits rolled and my friends turned to ask me what I thought, I was so animated in my response that I spilled an entire box of biscotti over myself.

The movie makes the characters more likeable and relatable, without erasing all the edges from them. It strikes the perfect balance in telling a potentially downer story - about a fatherless young boy (Tony Hoult), his depressed mother (Toni Collette) and the selfish slacker he adopts as an unlikely mentor (Hugh Grant, who has never used his bastard-or-nice-guy? façade to better effect) - with just the right touches of humour to leaven out the darkness.

Infernal Affairs (2002; d. Lau Wai Keung and Alan Mak)

I grew up on Hong Kong movies, so I hold a great fondness for many of them despite the patchy quality. But this is a classy, beautifully composed movie; despite the (overly?) intricate plot it's tense and exciting and moving. It's far from a perfect film; the three female characters feel shoehorned into the narrative, not all the twists make sense, and it relies on the dark, absorbing atmosphere and a
pair of very good performances by Tony Leung and Andy Lau to carry it through. The scene in the picture above, a meeting of two adversaries who, at this point in time, still believe themselves to be long-ago friends, is beautifully shot and perfect in its understated direction. Ultimately, this a fine film from an industry that often panders to the lowest common denominator for the profits, rather than attempt something bold and smart for art's sake. (It is also - unpopular opinion time! - a better film than the Scorsese remake.)

Movies of the Decade: 2000-2001

Songs of 2009 part 1

2009-12-15T07:41:00.001+11:00

The aim: a manageable list of my favourite songs of 2009

The criteria: released in 2009, and only one per artist (this was hard!)

Presenting, in alphabetical order by artist:

## Not a Robot but a Ghost by Andrew Bird
from Noble Beast

I have this weird word association problem: say the word 'robot', and I think 'Radiohead'. So I don't know if this is why I always think of this song as rather Radioheadesque; or if the combination of the shuffling, insistent beat, the pretty, tremulous melody in minor key and Bird's croon really is reminiscent of Thom Yorke and co. Either way, it's a good song.

Watch: live at Lollapalooza 2009 - I was there! Nowhere as close as the person taking this video was though.

## Travelling Woman by Bat for Lashes
from Two Suns

I love the dreamy, atmospheric mood of this song, how it suits Natasha Khan's dusky voice.

Listen:

## Blood Bank by Bon Iver
from Blood Bank EP

This is muted but so pretty, and I think it's really romantic in a small, quiet way, like being caught out in the snow with someone you love.

Download:
Blood Bank

## Love Drunk by Boys Like Girls
from Love Drunk

This is the musical equivalent of candied popcorn - colourful and nutritionally useless, but it's so damn more-ish. :)

Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_uQO6NeFis

## You Belong to Me by Butch Walker

The Taylor Swift original is a guilty pleasure of mine (pleasure because it just begs you to sing along to its catchy lovelorn self; guilty because, well, it rightly sits amongst the pantheon of top 5 psuedo feminist anthems). This gender-flipped cover is equally as catchy, if not more so because it involves a plucked mandolin.

A mandolin! (And not a ukelele, as the link below claims it to be.)

Have I ever mentioned my love of unusual instrumentation in pop songs? :)

Listen:
You Belong With Me (Taylor Swift cover)

Tomorrow: Movies of the Decade 2001-2002

Movies of the Decade: 2000-2001

2009-12-14T10:26:00.000+11:00

It's year end, and that means LISTS! In the next two weeks I'll be posting each day, alternating between my Movies of the Decade and my Songs of the Year countdowns.

Movies of the Decade is not about the best movies of the decade, because I have no real standing to judge what is 'the best'. It's mostly a list of movies I find particularly memorable for one reason or another over the last ten years.

So let's start at the very beginning (I hear it's a very good place to start):

American Beauty (1999; d. Sam Mendes)

This squeaks into my list because it was released early 2000 in Australia. I remember walking out of the cinema already heatedly debating moments from the movie with my best friend. She stayed the night, and we talked about it into the wee hours of the morning, we were that rapt in it. I haven’t seen it since then, but even after almost ten years, I can still see iconic moments from the movie in my head. Strangely enough, for a story that is about Kevin Spacey’s Lester Burnham, it is the women I remember most: Mena Suvari draped in the rose petals on the ceiling, Thora Birch lifting her shirt in front of her bedroom window, Annette Bening breaking down in the immaculate house she’s trying to sell.

Billy Elliott (2000; d. Stephen Daldry)

This was the first movie I saw post-HSC. Maybe it was the timing, but the theme of dreaming big and defying your family and expectations resonated with me; however, I have seen it a few times since then and I still love everything about this movie, from the opening credits with Billy jumping and dancing on the drab beds of his house to T-Rex, in slow motion and yet conveying so much free energy; to the graceful, almost stilted drama of the last scene. The movie handles the relationships in this so beautifully, from the slow implosion of the tension within Billy’s family, to the way Billy finds and provides support to other misfits around him.

Bring It On (2000, d.Peyton Reed)

I will not hear a bad word about this movie. It is bold and splashy and fun, and it doesn’t try to intellectualise or dumb down its subject and its character; they just are, imperfectly human and a little bitchy but ultimately good people. The romance is sweet, the leads are charming, and there’s a lot of very quotable lines and memorable moments. Not to mention the cheerleading sequences are fabulous to watch. One of my favourite pick-me-up movies still.

Gosford Park (2001, d. Robert Altman)

The first time I watched this I went in with the wrong impression; I was expecting an Agatha Christie-like country house mystery, like the box seemed to promise, and I came out a little disappointed. But I watched it again; and then again; and each time I discovered something more, a new way to read the scenes, different facets of the (large) cast of characters. I came to an appreciation for how Altman allows scenes to flow almost naturally, conversations and interactions tumbling over each other; while structuring each scene just so, such that it carefully eases into view a new piece of the social puzzle each time, revealing bit by bit the manners and mannerisms of the house, the secrets and lies underneath. It’s a smart, beautiful film, bolstered by some great performances from a cast that reads like a who’s who of British film; I particularly love the slow burning tension and attraction between the Mary the maid (Kelly Macdonald) and Clive Owen's Robert.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001; d. John Cameron Mitchell)

The music is great – it’s hard to come out of it not singing the songs – the acting is great – John Cameron Mitchell is funny and heartbreaking and scary and scared and wonderful in channeling Hedwig – and it manages a lot visually on a low budget. I don’t have the words to describe this one, but this New York Times review by Stephen Holden basically articulates everything I wish I could.

What were your favourite/most memorable films from 2000 and 2001?

Tomorrow: Songs of the 2009 part 1

Dappled Cities – 22 Aug 2009 – The Metro

2009-08-22T19:02:00.000+10:00

Dappled Cities finished their Wall of Zounds tour with a sell-out show at the Metro in front of a hometown crowd. The enthusiastic reception they received from the crowd was matched in turn by the band’s obvious joy and appreciation, all of them grinning and happy.

Not that the night went smoothly – they were plagued with technical difficulties at the start, with Dave Rennick shuffling on and off stage trying to fix things while Tim Derricourt led the rest of the band in a meandering jam session and apologised to the restless crowd. And though Derricourt, bouncing all over the stage in excitement, is of the opinion that new album Zounds, only released in the week prior to this gig, is the band’s best to date, there’s a palpable sense of ‘I like your old songs better than your new songs’ from the audience through the rest of the night.

Still, Dappled bravely play half their set from an album that hardly anyone has had time to get to know. The new songs are more sombre in tone, but sound great anyway. The biggest response of the night though is saved for Holy Chord from previous album Granddance. Derricourt says the song is about universal love, and encourages each person to hug the one next to them.

About an hour in, the band leave the stage surprisingly early. But the crowd is mollified by two amusing segments on the backing screen from Alphabreaks, the band’s side project of children’s edutainment (Y for Yodel, and H for Harmonica). Then to top it all off, the band return to the stage in homemade suits adorned with lit up fairy lights to continue playing, including new single The Price which goes down well with the crowd. They get an even better response of cheers and catcalls when, upon leaving the stage, Rennick has to do an impromptu strip out of his suit as his lights have gotten tangled up.

With the crowd still chanting and cheering away, the band return to stage one final time. Rennicourt tells the audience that they hate encores and don’t normally do them, but they make an exception for their adoring audience to play one final song, “a farewell song” that closes Zounds. Here’s hope they it’s not another long goodbye, and that they’ll be back touring the country soon.

Colour Coding
Peach
Vision Bell
The Night is Young At Heart
Wooden Ships
Fire Fire Fire
Miniature Alas
Beach
Answer is Zero
Holy Chord
Cream

(Alphabreaks)

The Price
Apart

Stepshadows

Lollapalooza 2009 - Grant Park, Chicago

2009-08-10T13:07:00.001+10:00

day 1 - 7 Aug

We thought we were making good time until we hit Grant Park and found the ridiculous line stretching blocks from the main entrance and then around the corner. We joined it at the base of the short side and started panicking a little when we were still so far from the front after gates supposedly opened at 11. We heard Manchester Orchestra soundchecking I Got Friends as we passed the north corner; they were pretty much the one band I really really did not want to miss and they were on at 12:15. But in a stroke of luck, we were so far back in the line that we were shunted into the north entrance ie. the one at the top of the block we were on. Phew!

As we slipped into a spot in front of the Budweiser Stage waiting for Manchester Orchestra it started to rain. We didn't have any rain ponchos or our umbrellas (turns out you can bring them into Lolla - something definitely worth knowing beforehand!) but we thought hey, whatever, we can buy 'em inside the grounds if we need 'em. So we were a tad cold and damp as we watched Manchester Orchestra rock out, but damn, were they worth it. It was a short set and mostly of Mean Everything to Nothing songs, but so powerful and moody, everything I love about them. I only wished they'd played longer, and maybe thrown in more than one song from their older material. I missed their Australian tour while I was travelling! I hope they come back soon.

Shake It Out
Pride
In My Teeth
Now That You’re Home
My Friend Marcus
I’ve Got Friends
Everything to Nothing
The River

Andy Hull, of Manchester Orchestra

We managed to catch three songs of The Gaslight Anthem set, but it was getting hard to enjoy any of the music when all I could think about was how I had the rest of the day to stand under this rain. So we left the festival grounds, blindly walking into various shops trying to find cheap ponchos. We finally walked into a 7/11, dripping, and the manager by the door just said in a knowing tone, "Ponchos?" They must've made a killing that day.

Once esconsed in our ginormous yellow sheets (I felt like a drowned duckling, and at one point I swear some guy walked past and quacked at me) we booked it back to make it to see Kevin Devine, missing only the first song. He was playing one of the smaller side stages, and what the crowd lacked in numbers they made up for it in enthusiasm. He played a great set, a mix of old and new, ending with the amazing Brother's Blood. It might have been the near-perfect combination of music and setting - he and his Goddamn Band and their slow-build intensity, surrounded by light rain, grey skies, and trees. This was probably the highlight of the day for me, and that's high praise considering how many of my favourite acts were to come.

Yr Husband
Carnival
Another Bag of Bones
No Time Flat
I Could Be With Anyone
Burning City Smoking
Just Stay
Cotton Crush
Brother’s Blood

Back at the main stages, we caught the tail end of Bon Iver - well, I heard Creature Fear, at least - and then huddled under some shade and waited out Ben Folds. I had been looking foward to seeing him solo, having somehow missed him the 400 or so times he toured our country in the past few years, but I was really put off by the bitter, women-hating charmlessness of the first few songs, particularly the supposedly jokey Bitch Went Nutz, one of the fake songs he "leaked" prior to his latest album. But I did enjoy hearing some of the older stuff late in the set, and I was singing along by the end.

Bitch Went Nutz
Effington
Landed
Bitches Aint Shit
Dr Yang
Hiroshima
Rockin’ The Suburbs
Kate
Narcolepsy
You Don’t Know Me
Army

There was a blessed respite from the rain during Fleet Foxes which was great because we could venture closer to the stage to see them. My brief notes, written on site, read: "beautiful harmonies, very beard-y". I think this sums them up pretty well. They really sound amazing, from the acapella start with all those voices melding together on Sun Giant, to the last notes of my favourite, Blue Ridge Mountains.

Sun Giant
Sun It Rises
Drops In the River
English House
White Winter Hymnal
Ragged Wood
Your Protector
Tiger Mountain Peasant Song
He Doesn't Know Why
Mykonos
Blue Ridge Mountains

The Decemberists started barely moments after Fleet Foxes finished, with a solid crowd camped around the stage way before, so we contented ourselves with a good view of a big screen, and clear sound. I know Colin Meloy had promised us the entirety of the Hazards of Love but then they really did it! Which I thought was a really ballsy set for a festival, but I totally appreciated it. It really is made to be heard in that form, and it a sight to behold live with Becky Sharp in a long white gown with dramatic sleeves, and Shara Worden looking fierce in a silver spangled, asymmetric black dress. Utterly crazy, in the very best of ways.

We were so so cold by that point, but I hung on to catch Andrew Bird. He got a huge reception from his hometown, and he played a lovely set, singingly beautifully and letting loose on his violin, backed by a complement of odd looking instruments. He played Not a Robot But A Ghost, which I love, and he intro'd it as something they hadn't been playing live much. :D

Fiery Crash
Masterswarm
Opposite Day
Fitz and the Dizzyspells
Oh No
Effigy
Not A Robot But A Ghost
Anonanimal
Imitosis
Scythian Empires
Tables and Chairs
Fake Palindromes

day 2 - 8 Aug

We made a concious effort to get to Lolla early, having learned our lessons about massive lines. We waited and wilted in the heat for the gates to open (weather whiplash - freezing wet one day, ridiculously hot and humid the next...) then dashed to see Yuto Miyazawa on the Kidzapalooza stage. He played a guitar which was the same size as he was! He might only be nine years old, but he's a really adorable and consumate guitar shredder, and watching the few kids haunting the front of stage in awe was almost as fun as watching him play.

Yuto Miyazawa

We wandered around, listened briefly to Ezra Furman and the Harpoons, who weren't bad, then caught the Delta Spirit set. I thought they were really fun, and musically really talented. The frontman had this great old school charm, and they played a great set of catchy rock n' roll.

Delta Spirit

By this time the heat was getting to us, so we had a quick rest back at the hotel, found some lunch and some awesome public art (Chicago just has a Picasso and a Miro lying around, no biggie), before we headed back to see Coheed and Cambria. They played fast and furious, and threw in a great cover of Under the Milky Way.

No World for Tomorrow
Gravediggers and Gunslingers
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Ten Speed of God's Blood and Burial
A Favor House Atlantic
The Writing Writer
Blood Red Summer
Under the Milky Way (The Church cover)
Everything Evil
Welcome Home

And then we hit the lowlight of Lolla. A quarter of the way into the Glasvegas set I just wasn't getting it - the songs, which sound simple in an almost endearing way on record, were bland and incredibly amateur live. Then lead singer James Allan revealed himself to be a giant dick, apropos of his obsession with them considering how many references he made to his own during a five minute rant; he then started harassing their female drummer about just needing a big dick. So we left. None of that was worth sitting through just to hear Daddy's Gone live.

The good thing was that we left early enough to make it to the other side of the park and catch the last third of Santigold. She finished with Creator, after first hauling about fifteen excited fans on stage to show off their (negligible) dance moves alongside her. It was like a big squishy happy dance party over here, and it was so much fun, and the perfect thing to wash out the bad taste that was Glasvegas.

We caught three songs of the TV on the Radio set, including Golden Age, a favourite. But I'd seen them live before and we wanted to see a bit of Rise Against too, so we did the cross-park trek again. It was worth it - they played a fast, loud and tight set that had our tired selves moving along. They fitted in a last minute addition to the set, Dancing for Rain, and as that's one of my favourites I was really happy! Plus afterwards they very sweetly apologised to the sign-language lady for screwing her up, since she obviously wasn't prepared for a set change. Then they finished with Ready to Fall, which got the crowd going.

[saw the Fleet Foxes sideshow at The Metro that night, but after 3 nights and 2 solid days, I hit a wall at this point. I sat it out, which meant I didn't have to suffer through the interminable Dungen set while tightly packed with a gazillion people in an incredibly stuffy theatre with no A/C on a very hot night, but it also meant that I saw very little of Fleet Foxes. They sounded, once again, utterly delightful. But by this point it was all I could do stay cognisant and awake to hear the music.]

day 3 - 9 Aug

Luckily we were expecting a late start to this last day, so after a recuperating sleep and a lazy hour-and-a-half long breakfast (where we pored over the local street press and goggled at the large number of bands we'd love to see who would be playing in Chicago over the coming three months) we finally made our way back to Grant Park. We caught a bit of Friendly Fires, who were decent if not particularly exciting or original, as we waited to see Portugal. The Man. I really enjoyed Portugal. The Man - they were a great jam band, their music was layered and really interesting, and lead singer really knew how to use his voice as an instrument. I've been listening to them a bit since we got back.

Church Mouth
Lay Me Back Down
And I
The Sun
New Orleans
Bellies are Full
My Mind
Chicago
1989
AKA M80 The Wolf

Portugal. The Man

It was getting so so hot under the sun, we escaped under a handy bank of trees where we had a mostly unimpeded view of the big screens for both main northern stages, and caught all the afternoon acts from there. Kaiser Chiefs were a lot of fun and great to sing along to with their bouncy pop-rock.

Never Miss A Beat
Everything is Average Nowadays
Everyday I love You Less and Less
Ruby
Can’t Say What I Mean
Love’s Not a Competition
Like It Too Much
Modern Way
You Want History
I Predict a Riot
The Angry Mob
Take My Temperature
Oh My God

During The Raveonettes I chilled out with their soothing but not distinctive music in the background and write up some of my Chicago adventures.

Neko Case was just beautiful to listen to, her wonderful voice strong and clear even from a distance. She had a Middle Cyclone-heavy set, and particular highlights for me were slower songs like The Pharoahs where the music soars. She had lovely stage presence too, and a nice rapport with her band, as they wound down their tour, but also with the audience. It was perfect for a summer's afternoon, drowsy and heavy with sunshine and breeze.

Heading down to the southern end of the festival, we caught most of the Cold War Kids set, which I thoroughly enjoyed. They were great live, solid and catchy, and a new song (Santa Ana Winds) gave an indication that the new material will be just as good. We took a dinner break on a bluff overlooking the swarms of people around the stage where Snoop Dogg was peforming. Even from afar it looked like fun.

Then we found a contestable spot, slightly raised above the crowd, where we could watch Silversun Pickups. They were really good, gravelly and punchy, with a good selection of songs from Swoon that blended in seamlessly with their older material.

Growing Old Is Getting Old
Well Thought Out Twinkles
No More Secrets This Year
The Royal We
Little Lovers So Polite
It's Nice to Know You Work Alone
Substitution
Kissing Families
Panic Switch
Lazy Eye

And on the last night, we finally caught one of the headliners. The Killers started off bombastically, as expected, with Brandon Flowers flouncing along the front of the stage in flowers and big gestures. For every great song though, there was a dull one, and numerous rambling, earnest anecdotes to be heard. But by Mr Brightside they had tempted me down off my comfortable, very-far-away vantage point onto the field to dance, and I'm glad I did because I really enjoyed myself for those last few songs.

Human
This is Your Life
Somebody Told Me
For Reasons Unknown
Bones
Joy Ride
Bling
Shadowplay (Joy Division cover)
Smile Like You Mean It
Spaceman
A Dustland Fairytale
Read My Mind
Mr Brightside
All These Things That I’ve Done

Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
When You Were Young

Band of Horses - 7 Aug 2009 - House of Blues, Chicago

2009-08-08T13:05:00.000+10:00

Lesson of the day: never ever again rely on Google Maps alone to find an unfamiliar venue. DDDDDDDDDDDDDD:

I was quite grumpy by the time we ended up at the HOB, an hour after we first set out, despite the fact it's only really two blocks from our hotel. Add to the fact the venue layout sucked, the floor was already packed full of obnoxious and tall people, and Cass McCombs played a boring support set and I was not a happy chappy at all by the time Band of Horses took the stage.

They really are very accomplished musicians, and they played a great mix of songs from both albums, as well as a few new songs from their upcoming album (which I know is called Night Rainbow because Ben Bridwell plugged it at every possible opportunity!). They were decidedly more country-sounding than usual, including a Gram Parsons cover amongst the midst, and looking less beard-y but more dressed in flannel than before. I enjoyed it, but I felt like I'd seen a better show the year before at home; I couldn't tell if that was actually the case though, or just my residual resentment at the everything else seeping through. I finally got to hear Monsters live though, even if I did get mocked by the (IRRITATING AND DRUNK) girl next to me when she caught me singing along.

The Great Salt Lake
Is There A Ghost?
Lamb on the Lam
Weed Party
Marry song
(new song)
Cigarettes, Wedding Bands
Window Blues
A Song for You (Gram Parsons cover)
(new song)
Funeral
Wicked Gil
(new song)
No One’s Gonna Love You
General Specific

Our Swords
The First Song
Monsters

The Decemberists - 6 Aug 2009 - The Metro, Chicago

2009-08-07T13:03:00.000+10:00

Heartless Bastards were already on stage when we squeezed onto the packed floor at the Metro. I hadn't heard their music before, but their blues-tinged rock was enjoyable, and lead singer Erika Wennerstrom's voice is amazing.

Colin Meloy talked about the process of selecting the night's set list as an introduction. The 'All Request' online vote notched up 20 000 votes but as Meloy noted, there were only about 1000 of us present. So, he drily concluded, they might be playing for the 19 000 others. And then he warned us that poll results were pretty much as expected, so if we were one of the fifteen who voted for an obscure song then we were probably going to be disappointed. I prepared myself. Then they launched into the Tain, all 18 minutes of it. ?!

After that unusualy start though, the set list did run along 'best of' lines, albeit with an emphasis on The Crane Wife songs. Though the band on stage included Becky Sharp (of Lavendar Diamonds) and Shara Worden (of My Brightest Diamond), their Hazards of Love lineup, material from their latest album was restricted to only The Rake's Song, though Meloy reassured the audience that the next day's set at Lollapalooza would be the Hazards of Love in its entirety. He also, at this point, took time to make fun of people who choose to shorten Lollapalooza to Lolla, which included their stage manager (and me).

There was such a great atmosphere during the concert. The band sounded great, polished but enthursed, and Becky and Shara's voices worked beautifully with Colin Meloy's, providing a lively, lovely countepart to his distinctive voice. There was a nice emphasis on interaction between fans and the band too, from Meloy's constant banter with the audience between songs - Meloy quipped that a lull while instruments were being tuned was by request too - to the hilarious contest between upper and lower floors iniated by Meloy during an extended 16x32. He asked each level to sing the 'la-di-dah' refrain, while shaking our fists in mock rage, to see who was the loudest. Sure, we must have looked ridiculous, but it was so much fun! From the grins all around me, in the balcony above, and those onstage, I'd say that everyone was having a good time. I felt like that for the whole show; I could've heard them play for hours more.

The Tain
July, July!
The Rake’s Song
Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect
We Both Go Down Together
Yankee Bayonet
The Crane Wife 3
The Calamity Song (new)
16x32
O Valencia
Crazy on You (Heart cover)

Red Right Ankle
Sons and Daughters

The Mariner’s Revenge Song

Blink-182 / Fall Out Boy / Panic! At The Disco - 4 Aug 2009 - Marcus Amphitheatre

2009-08-04T17:41:00.000+10:00

Panic! At the Disco actually split in two a month ago, leaving behind lead singer Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith to carry on the name and their touring responsibilities. But to their credit, it would've been hard to spot that this incarnation of the band, with two temporary touring members, has only been playing together for a week or two.

The arrangements are a little more muscular than before, sacrificing some of the hippie folk-rock lightness of the second album, but otherwise the songs sound pretty much the same. The set was made up of mostly first album songs too, a return to the more emo-electro sound. They were only on for about half an hour, but they made the most of it with good sound and energy. Sadly the crowd wasn't much into them, apart from pockets of fervent fans dotted around.

Time to Dance
But It’s Better if You Do
The Only Difference…
That Green Gentleman
Lying is the Most Fun…
Camisado
New Perspective
Nine in the Afternoon
I Write Sins Not Tragedies

The crowd was really into Fall Out Boy, and they kept the audience happy with another set of hit after hit. It was my fourth time seeing them, and I would happily see them do it again, they keep improving their sound and their stage presence. Patrick now totally struts all over the stage, owning it.

Near the end of the set, Pete Wentz asked the crowd,“Do you want The Take Over or something old and fun?"

I cheered for The Take Over, but got Don't Stop Believing instead which is only, oh, one of my favourite 80s power ballads, yeah! Patrick said afterwards, "That was old and fun - like Mark Hoppus!" and Pete added, "That's for saying "All The Small Things”was written about me!"

Sugar We’re Going Down
Thriller
Sixteen Candles…
Grand Theft Autumn
Headfirst Slide…
Arms Race
I Don’t Care
America’s Suitehearts
Don’t Stop Believing
Dance Dance
Saturday

Getting to hear the re-formed Blink-182 play live was a little about reliving 16 all over again. The set didn't disappoint, packed full as it was of hits and nostalgia. The light show background was way cool, busy but not too distracting. There were plenty of highlights apart from the music itself: Tom Delonge taking off one of his guitars midway through the show and just handing it away to some kid in the pit (and yeah, the pit went into a frenzy trying to get to it), the fan who got pulled up on stage so all three band members could sign his arm, Mark Hoppus’ genial stage presence, Travis Barker's amazing drumming and his flying drum kit.

However, it's hard to imagine Blink-182 continuing on as if there had never been a break between the three of them. Mark and Tom’s fraught relationship was on show too, and it's hard to gauge how much of it is performance and how much of it is real animosity. Things got pretty uncomfortable towards the end of the night. Tom became more and more belligerent on stage, swearing at the audience and his band, “mock” hate directed in both directions. Mark admonished him at one point, saying something about this happening when you've been drinking all night. In the end he apologised, and Mark sand a little made-up tune "Sorry about my friend Tom!", but the two of them had some truly awkward moments on stage.

Dumpweed
Feeling This
Rock Show
What’s My Age Again
Go
Violence
I Miss You
Stay Together For the Kids
Down
Always
Stockholm Syndrome
First Date
Man Overboard
Don’t Leave Me
Not Now
The Country Song
Adam’s Song
All The Small Things
Reckless Abandon
Josie
Anthem (pt2)

(drum solo – Travis)
Carousel
Dammit
(drum solo – Mark)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009, d. David Yates)

2009-07-18T17:45:00.000+10:00

I went in expecting to be disappointed yet again, but I came out feeling like the series had been re-energised in preparation for the big finale. For one, the pacing and structure is much better in this movie, particularly in the first half, than it has been in the previous movies. David Yates’ direction has the urgency and tension that I expected from the last movie and didn’t get. Also, this is one of the prettier HP films, as if someone finally realised how to match the technical wizardry and art direction with the magic of the world of the books.

Characterwise, the cast in this movie was solid. I really liked the way Jim Broadbent played Slughorn, an annoying character in the book that he rescues with interpretation. He managed to show that the bravado, the amorality hiding behind respectability, the constant name-dropping, hid a scared and sorry old man inside. Evanna Lynch continues to be the perfect Luna Lovegood, and steals every scene she's in.

I loved the way they translated the burgeoning teenage relationship mess in the book to film. They even manage to make me like the Harry and Ginny together; I particularly appreiated how Bonnie Wright plays Ginny, the quiet surety of her. She’s got steely cool that matches Harry’s hot-headedness. The Lavendar-Ron-Hermione triangle was portratyed on screen well too; the Ron and Lavendar bits were funny, and Jessie Cave's Lavendar was perfect, good naturedly delusional and hormonally in love. Emma Watson's acting has improved a lot, and I really felt sad during the scene where Hermione and Harry are commiserating over their unrequited crushes on others.

Props where it’s due - Dan Radcliffe has improved in leaps and bounds as well. Harry on Felix Felicitas was hilariously done, the stoner-vibe was a good touch, his voice and demeanour completely altered but in subtle ways. And I really liked Harry in this movie, more than I felt when reading the book - in the book he’s starting to become a hero-figure, something unreal. In this, you can chart his growth as a person, but he did come across as flesh and blood, that gap between child and man.
A really good example was the scene in the cave. Both Radcliffe and Gambon do such good jobs, as the roles between the old and young are reversed, and Harry has to be mature and brave to complete his task.

The Draco plotline of this book was one of my favourites in the series, and while I wished they played up Harry’s obsession with Draco a bit more I also understand that it wouldn’t work as well in the movie, and what they did do helped keep the movie going at a good clip without having to backtrack and exposit about Draco's actions later. I liked the repeated imagery for Draco’s plotline, the pulling down of the cover of the cabinet at each try, the grand gesture of it all. Tom Felton does a good job as Draco, striking just the right tone of petulance, frustration and growing fear in all his scenes.

The ending is a mess though. It completely negates the point of Draco fixing the Vanishing Cabinets if the Death Eaters do not use the opportunity to terrorize Hogwarts, as it happens in the book. By leaving the Hogwarts community intact and safe, the narrative lacks the sense of danger they need to experience to be galvanized into action against Voldemort. However, the killing of Dumbledore retained its heartrending feel - Gambon hit it out of the park with his tired but knowing “Please” at Snape, and Draco’s near-hysteric unraveling in the moments beforehand. The one benefit of the annoying change where Death Eaters are just useless audience members is because without the increasingly frantic chain of events beforehand, the shock of Snape killing Dumbledore has more resonance - it really does seem to come out of nowhere, and the moment has time to make an impact.

There was a weird disjunct between the first and second half, where the first half knows how to go for laughs when it needs to, while the latter is much much darker.
I was disappointed in that dreadfully dull last scene. I guess it was trying to show that they’re growing up, they have to leave the sanctuary of Hogwarts behind and Fawkes flying away was a nice shot but it just seemed an insipid way to end an exciting and mostly dark and unnerving film.

Forever the Sickest Kids / Jack's Mannequin - 25 Feb - The Metro

2009-02-25T21:16:00.000+11:00

First act Bayside were loud, and played a solid set of surprisingly tuneful songs.

Jack's Mannequin were poptastic and fun, and very warmly welcomed by the already packed theatre. Andrew McMahon was an adorable muppet, throwing himself around the stage with the same abandon he bashed at his keyboard and sang. Set list was an almost even mix from both albums: Crashin', The Mixed Tape, Spinning, Bloodshot, Dark Blue, The Resolution, Bruised. Thirty minutes was too short a time - I would love to see them headline one day.

Forever the Sickest Kids were enjoyable beyond expectations. They came out to a pre-recorded tongue-in-cheek announcement, with half the band sporting amazingly emo hair, and wearing lolzy band t-shirts (Creed, Nickelback). It wasn't so much their musical ability - a bit shambolic live, which lessened the poptastic impact of their songs on record - but rather their energetic, ironic performance that really sold their show. Frontman Jonathan Cook worked the crowd into a frenzy with his cult leader like posturing, and the blond drummer was fun to watch too, with his endless stream of stick tossing tricks. They were a lot of fun to watch overall.

We decided to not catch RJA, and ended up having a later dinner at the same restaurant in Chinatown as Andrew McMahon, Bobby Anderson, and friends. :)

Fall Out Boy / All-American Rejects / Hey Monday - 21 Feb 2009 - Acer Arena

2009-02-21T19:15:00.000+11:00

Despite my misgivings about their youth and relative inexperience, Hey Monday just about won me over with their adorable bouncy show, their bright (if not particularly memorable) pop tunes, and lead singer Cassadee Pope's sweet voice (noticeably stronger in the higher register). I thought Candles - acoustic at the start with just Cassadee and a guitar - was a particular highlight.

The banter for the All-American Rejects was forced and a bit arrogant (as was coming out to the 1812 Overture). The crowd on the floor was really into them though, particularly in the big hits that started the show (Swing Swing, Dirty Little Secret). Musically they were solid, but it wasn't a dynamic set, and it left me a little cold.

This was probably the best I've seen Fall Out Boy live. Pete Wentz was in a fine mood, cracking jokes about being a R.Patz fan, and telling rambling anecdotes about drunkdialling his friends. Lead singer Patrick Stump looked every inch the rock star, and his vocal has improved so much, noticeably when he reached some really low notes in Headfirst Slide...

Cassadee came out to sing on Sugar, and she and Patrick sounded really nice in harmony, and it does make me wish that they could somehow clone Patrick so he could harmonise with himself live.

There were some great surprises, such as Lullabye, a hidden track for Wentz' baby boy on their latest album Folie A Deux, which was lovely though it was a jarring segue from that into the loud singalong that is Arms Race. And they jazzed up the show with some great pyro displays to punctuate their more anthemic songs.

Anyway, it was a really fun, high energy show, pakced with hit after hit, and the crowd obviously adored them.

Thnks Fr Th Mmrs
Thriller
16 Candles
American Boy
Sugar
Lullaby
Arms Race
I Don't Care
Beat It
Headfirst Slide
Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner
Take Over, Break's Over
I Slept With Someone in Fall Out Boy...
Disloyal Order
Grand Theft Autumn
American's Suitehearts

Patron Saints
Me & You
Dance Dance
Saturday

TV on the Radio - 24 Jan 2009 - The Metro

2009-01-25T18:22:00.000+11:00

Adelaide band Wolf and Cub were an interesting surprise, playing a 45 minute, 7 song set of chest thumping 70s throwback prog rock. The fourth song was an epic twelve minutes long. They were technically brilliant, and the two drummers were amazing to watch as they played in tandem and drove the massive sound of the songs. It did feel a little tedious at times though, particularly towards the end of the set; musically they could be a bit more adventurous. Also, weirdly, the sparse vocals were a detraction and we could've done without them.

TV on the Radio played an energetic, absorbing hour and a half to a rapt, packed crowd. They started with Young Liars, a surprising choice, but it worked as a great introduction to frontman Tunde Adebimpe's awesome style (getting his groove on from the start, dancing up a storm until his shirt turned a light terracotta to a dark brown from sweat), and the falsetto vocal/harmony from Kyp Malone.

Unfortunately, the muddy sound that would plague the entire night was also evident from the start, which meant that at any given time, the distinctive vocals of either singer could be buried under a chaotic wall of guitar-heavy sound. That said, there were still moments of brilliant music from the 7 piece band on stage (two saxophonists rounded out the line-up and helped to add that brassy note that a lot of the newer songs have), with the crowd particularly worked up over the songs from Return to Cookie Mountain.

A lot of the songs were given more muscular arrangments live, which worked really well in the case of the older songs like Dreams and Staring at the Sun. They played a great set stretching back to early EP material, punctuated by a lot of songs from last year's Dear Science; though in my mind the highlight of the night was the back to back pairing of Golden Age, as funky as you could get, and the howling amazing Wolf Like Me. Apart from the disappointment of not hearing Family Tree nor Halfway Home, and even with the bad sound, there was a lot to enjoy from the band, and their tight, high energy, passionate performance that got the crowd moving and singing along.

Young Liars
The Wrong Way
Dreams
Crying
Golden Age
Wolf Like Me
Dirtywhirl
Stork and Owl
Shout It Out
Dancing Choose
Red Dress
DLZ
Satellite

Love Dog
Blues from Down Here
Let the Devil In
Staring at the Sun

Lupe Fiasco - 20 Jan 2009 - Enmore Theatre

2009-01-21T18:21:00.000+11:00

From the moment Lupe came on stage, there was this incredible energy in the theatre, feeding the crowd, and feeding off the crowd. The first half - about five songs - was brilliant, starting with an early hit, Kick Push, that had the crowd singing along and dancing to the infectious beat, and ended with his fantastic rapping skill demonstrated in Go Go Gadget Flow, living up to the boast of the chorus. The band was amazing - tight, and as into the performance as Lupe himself, jumping and dancing to their funky selves.

So far, so good. Though the small breaks between songs constantly decreased the intensity of the energy, it was cute to see Lupe to stand at the side of the stage, literally trying to cool down with the help of a fan, leading to Lupe gleefully repeat a sad joke about the audience waving their hands at him - "fans as fans".

But then the night becamed unfocussed, unstuck. Even though the night continued with a string of well received songs, after only fifty minutes on stage Lupe was performing his big hit from last year, Superstar, ending with a drawn out, almost angry outro, milking the popularity of the song for all it was worth.

After a brief intermission, where no one actually left the stage so the audience had no idea whether the night was almost over, or just starting, Lupe reeled off line after line from songs everyone wanted to hear - but a line was all we were going to get. Tease. Then Lupe went into a ramble about Obama ushering in a new and wonderful age by tomorrow morning, and the crowd went nuts, and it served as an extended intro for last song Daydreamin', which featured his awesome guitar player and his falsetto. Right after that the concert was over though, and it was all to soon for my liking.

A solid performance, and the first half was truly amazing, but it just kind of peetered out and felt a little unsatisfying.

Kick Push
Hip Hop Saved My Life
Sunshine
I Gotcha
Go Go Gadget Flow
? (might have been a song here)
Hi-Definition
Paris Tokyo
We Love You
Superstar

Daydreamin'

Stars - 3 Jan 2009 - The Factory

2009-01-04T18:01:00.000+11:00

Missed Bridezilla, who played first, but caught second support act, Newcastle band Firekites. They were fine - very young, and intensely quiet in performance, with moody atmospheric songs, largely instrumental. Their stagecraft needs work; the lead singer mumbled into the microphone between songs and I'll be damned if I have any idea what he said.

Stars came on a little late, but threw themselves into the performance from the start. Torq started grabbing bunches of petals from the flowers strewn across their amps and tied to their mike stands, and threw them into the air like white confetti as a mood setter, and they were as idiosyncratic and sweet from there on.

I think they had some minor sound problems, and sometimes the instruments (particularly the keyboard) overwhelmed Amy and Torq's voices, but overall they sounded good together. Especially when Amy and Torq harmonised and sang to each other; I will never tire of hearing how their voices work together. Alone, Amy has a lovely, light tone, while Torq is a little rougher and less polished, but somehow their voices just mesh perfectly.

I really do think their partnership is the backbone of the band; even their banter complements each other. When Torquill started rambling about losing his glasses, and not being able to see into the crowd without them, Amy cut in, saying "I have perfect vision", telling Torq that she couldn't share his gripe. At which Torq said, rather put out (in a joking way!), "Perfect pitch. Perfect vision. Amy Millan, she's just too perfect," or something like that, and made a face. Then he gave Amy the finger and she just giggled along with the rest of us. But he obviously adored her, and spent most of the night either singing to her, or leaning into her space to sing with her.

The crowd was fairly subdued to start with; even during well-known and upbeat tracks like Ageless Beauty there were swathes of people in front of us standing stock-still. This could be explained in part by the fact that a good part of their usual fanbase, the indie hipster crowd, was probably across town at the sold out Fleet Foxes gig instead; something Torq himself acknowledged when thanking the crowd for being here instead of there, or at least for buying a ticket to Stars once FF sold out.

Highlights included the joy on their faces as they let the crowd sing their best-known song, Your Ex-Lover is Dead, to them; the very cute sad robot impression Torq did on Amy's command: "That was your sad impression, where was the robot?" "It's inside."; and the chaos of the penultimate song, Calendar Girl, as Torquill crawled onto the middle of the crowd on the floor, with fans surrounding on their knees, as he yelled the song's refrain, "I'm alive!" over and over again, joyously and manically, to the end. When he finally returned to the stage, his face was so red from the exertion, but he was grinning from ear to ear. The energy they put into the show, and that they drew from the crowd, was amazing, and well worth seeing.

Slumdog Millionaire (2008, d. Danny Boyle)

2008-12-14T18:30:00.000+11:00

I originally gave Slumdog Millionaire a three out of five, but thinking it over the past few weeks has made me downgrade it to a 2 1/2 at best. It seems to me that by using a "fairytale" framework, the movie feels free to use plenty of cliche and sentiment. "It is written"? UGH.

I found it predictable - poor urchin overcomes great odds by cunning and a big dose of luck and gets his dream girl and lives happily every after - and the sensationalist violence left a sour taste in my mouth in light of the offhand dismissal of the gritty lives these kids emerged from.

The story itself is hampered by gaping plot holes that are ignored in favour of hurtling toward the inevitable happy ending (and the big song and dance routine, which was fun and the redeeming factor of the ending).

Dev Patel is the weakest link in an otherwise decent cast full of appealing and capable child actors; he appeared to me to be sullen and dull throughout the film, rather than quick-witted and deserving of the fate he lands. Frieda Pinto is beautiful, but the film casts her in that role alone - she is a cypher, a pretty fantasy for Jamal to live his life hoping to achieve, but neither the audience or Jamal is allowed to see or access anything more about her, which makes their supposedly fated connection unsatisfying.

The cinematography is vivid, the sights and sounds of Mumbai - the beautiful tourist attractions as well as the grim of the slums - conveyed with an eye for detail. It was an enjoyable enough experience in the theatre, and the furious pace hides a lot of its sins, but in contemplation the film is as pretty and as empty and hollow as the romance at the centre of the film, and hardly deserving of the hype and praise heaped upon its slight self.

Brideshead Revisited (2008, d. Julian Jarrold)

2008-11-04T18:38:00.000+11:00

The film is lavishly beautiful, and I was touched by some of the moments. But it's very ordinary in direction, has some odd shaky camera moments quite out of character for the material, and the story itself remains unbalanced, with the first half much more intriguing than the second. When Sebastian and Lady Marchmain leave the story, so does much of the interest.

The film emphasises Lady Marchmain's obsession with Catholicism to the point of using much leaden symbolism and lingering camera shots to bring about the point that her trenchant observation of her faith has ruined her children's lives. It tries to tell us that God has ruined Sebastian and Julia's chances of happiness.

But then the film has to deal with Waugh's ending (and the fact the author struggled with his own feeling about his faith) because we see that Lord Marchmain relents on his deathbed, to his children's immense relief, and Julia leaves Charles because she cannot cut herself off from His grace. It is ultimately Charles who is punished for his ungodliness - Sebastian lives broken and exiled, but of his own choice, and Julia has to live without Charles but at peace with God of her own choice - but Charles is the one character at the end of the book who has nothing that he has ever desired - not Julia, not his wife, not Brideshead, not his identity as an artist.

It is as if the film has no idea how to resolve the film. It wants to condemn God, but Waugh does not choose to do that in his text. And so, the film peters out uneasily and lost, through the final half hour.

I really liked Ben Whishaw as Sebastian; in looks he isn't quite what I would've expected, not blond and carefree from the text, but he manages to show Sebastian's fey frailty without being ridiculous. It's easy to see why Charles would've been attracted to him, and his life, at the outset. Matthew Goode (who is so very pretty) does struggle a bit, particularly in the latter half of the film, to convey poor Charles' emotions; probably because Charles is written as so much of a blank slate who just wants to adopt some code or convention to become someone else completely. Hayley Atwell is fine as Julia, but Julia was always not very well-fleshed out nor likeable. Emma Thompson is good as Lady Marchmain; her particular arch coldness comes more from the script than any translation issues from the original text.

Opera Australia: My Fair Lady

2008-10-06T16:59:00.000+11:00

I enjoyed this production of My Fair Lady at the Theatre Royal, which was musically sound and handsome on a small scale. The production stuck very closely to that of the film in aesthetics (sets and costumes) and staging.

I was so happy that we did get Richard E. Grant as Professor Higgins, and he didn't disappoint - he's a decent singer, and very much Henry Higgins in his delivery of those cutting lines. He's much more physical in his performance that I'd expected for the role, constantly in motion, but it works since he is a much younger Henry than usual. When they took their bows at the end, he was a little teary-eyed, probably out of relief at successfully pulling off his musical theatre debut.

Taryn Fiebig has a good singing voice, but I found her a little harder to hear in dialogue, since she seems to swallow her words - I don't know if that's an operatic training thing. She looked lovely though in the Ascot and ball costumes. And John Wood was very funny as Alfie, though I question the amount of eyeliner they used on him...why would a common dustman wear so much eyeliner (or any at all, really)? The supporting cast were good too. There was a slight tendency towards the hammy (from the whole cast, though I'd single out the actor playing Freddy as a particularly notable example), but it's always had that feel, especially in the 'cockney' folk-of-the-street numbers.

The 'romantic' ending (that of the original musical and film, not Shaw's Pygmalion ending) worked better for me here, this time. They chose to play up the romantic tension from earlier on, and in the scene at Mrs Higgins' house they make it much more explicit that both Eliza and Henry have feelings for each other, but it's more a battle for Henry to acknowledge Eliza as more than his marvelous creation, as her own self instead. Which makes their reconciliation sweeter, and more understandable.

Conor Oberst - 4 Oct 2008 - Enmore Theatre

2008-10-05T16:55:00.000+11:00

The concert, showcasing Oberst' new eponymous album of upbeat indie-folk rock songs with trademark depressing-as-hell lyric, was good. Musically, the five piece Mystic Valley Band worked together well, backing Conor solidly as he strummed a variety of guitars and threw himself all over the stage and played in their faces. They even took lead vocal duties on a few songs.

The only problem was the sound was quite muddy, and the band overpowered the vocal quite a lot. I enjoyed it a lot more when Conor played the simpler arrangements, usually himself and one other member accompanying him - in those moments it was clear how beautiful and unique his voice is, how affecting the songs are. I particularly loved a slowed down version of Cape Canaveral, with the guitar slapping and extended band jam. Actually, all the band jams were good examples of Americana folk rock at its best. And Conor clearly adores his band, from his descriptions of them as amazing and lovely, and the random shaking of their hands in thanks, and the group hug at the end of the second last song.

Conor himself was ADORABLE. He was a tiny man, smart and oddly formal in a dark suit and tie. He was obviously enjoying his time on stage, playing with passion, dancing oddly around with his arms in the air or outstretched at other times. He even climbed up on the drummer's riser, then onto his bass drum, where he proceeded to play and sing half a song during the encore. He also came and sat on the edge of the stage for Central City, to the joy of those lucky fans at the barrier. His voice was, as already noted, in good form, and he had this great growl in the more bluesy songs that was both unexpected and much appreciated.

The set list was pretty obscure; apart from nearly every song from the new album, there was a scattering of covers, unreleased songs and rare tracks. Milk Thistle ("This is a therapeutic song" was Conor's introduction) was amazingly moving live, and I really liked the blues cover Corinna, Corinna.

Sausalito
Get-Well-Cards
Danny Callahan
Central City
Smoke Signals
Cape Canaveral
I Got A Reason #1
Moab
Ten Women
I Got A Reason #2
Sun Down
NYC - Gone Gone
Souled Out!!!
Milk Thistle

Lenders in the Temple
Corinna, Corinna
Kodachrome (Paul Simons cover)
I Don't Want to Die (In The Hospital)
Breezy

Jebediah - 5 Sept 2008 - Annandale Hotel

2008-09-06T15:52:00.000+10:00

Inside the venue it was warm and already packed with an older crowd ready to relive their late teens and early twenties with a good Aussie band playing a good Aussie gig. And they'd have to be a tough critic with a heart of stone to have come away disappointed at the end of the night.

Jebediah played mostly old favourites from their first two albums, mixed in with a few later songs as well as some new material due out next year. The new songs are catchy and fit in fine with the rest of their set, but it was the old songs that the crowd really came for, and what they really enjoyed. It was a sight to have bald men in collared shirts bouncing up and down to the music like fifteen year olds at their first gig.

Kevin Mitchell has the most adorable grin, and he had it on a lot; the band were obviously very happy to be back on stage after a three year hiatus ("Emo happened," Kevin deadpanned as an explanation). The weird thing was that the band didn't look like they'd aged at all. I last saw them nine years ago at Homebake, but even as we surged closer to the stage they looked just as they had all that time ago. I heard a lot of people around us murmuring the same thing, and I'm leaning towards the band having a collective portrait somewhere in an attic that's growing uglier by the moment ala Dorian Gray, though I suppose 'vampires' could also be a valid explanation.

After about an hour of playing, and having played a good amount of their best known songs - Feet Touch the Ground, Harpoon, Animal, Please Leave - they started taking requests. Teflon was hugely fun, with the whole crowd jumping up and down and yelling '1, 2, 3, 4' happily back at the band leading out of the chorus. At the 'end' of the show, after leaving the stage for a few minutes while the crowd were treated to a wall of reverb, the band returned to the audience's joy, and went into their biggest song of all, Leaving Home.

Then promptly returned to taking requests, throwing in some long forgotten tracks (Benedict! That really took me back to being fourteen again), as well as admitting that they couldn't remember how to play Military Strongmen (to the audience's disappointment), and deflecting the odd audience comment ("But we've already played Teflon!" Kevin said, wryly amused, to one obviously persistent fan). Finally, they settled on Invaders as their last song, as per two fans in the front row, who were then invited to come up on stage and take over vocal duties, which they really took to, complete with air guitaring and rock star moves. It was a hilarious and awesome way to end the night, feeling that no matter how much time had elapsed, Jebediah were still a great band with a connection with the local fans who loved them.

NDC
Feet Touch the Ground
(new song)
It's Over
Animal
Please Leave
Harpoon
No Sleep
(new song)
Fall Down
Teflon
Star Machine
Jerks of Attention

Leaving Home
Monument
Benedict
Invaders

Panic at the Disco / The Academy Is... / Cobra Starship - 22+23 Aug 2008 - Acer Arena + Rod Laver Arena (Melb)

2008-08-24T15:38:00.000+10:00

Saw this gig two nights in a row, once in Sydney and once in Melbourne.

Cobra Starship

Cobra Starship were lots of high energy fun, as usual. Frontman Gabe Saporta continues to have the best grasp of showmanship I've ever seen live, he really knows how to work a crowd. In Melbourne they were even more animated than the night before, with Gabe mouthing off at a mile a minute between songs, jumping all over the stage, hanging off his bandmates as he sang for an already enthusiastic crowd. They were fun, as always, though they played exactly the same set in both cities, and were running close to the script with regards to banter.

The City Is At War
Hey Mr DJ
The Church of Hot Addiction
Smile for the Paparazzi
Snakes on a Plane
(Hollaback Boy)
Guilty Pleasure

The Academy Is...

The Academy Is... were much improved from when I saw them last. The two new songs they playedm, from the just released third album Fast Times at Barrington High, worked well live, and were well received by the audience. William Beckett remains a really earnest frontman, though they were slower to warm to the crowd in Melbourne, with less banter and connection.

Their set list overall was a bit odd though, not enough high points with lesser known songs from older albums. They slightly reshuffled of the set in Melbourne, though they played the same songs in both cities, much to my disappointment.

Neighbors
Slow Down
Forever Young = Summer Hair
The Phrase That Pays
We've Got a Big Mess on our Hands
About A Girl
Everything We Had
Checkmarks

Panic at the Disco

Like the other bands, Panic at the Disco played the same set in both cities with banter along similar lines, though there was spontaneity in how they'd react to the crowds' response, and warmth in how much they enjoyed performing. Concerts in stadiums have crap sound, usually, and unfortunately it was true of both Sydney and Melbourne - the mix was uneven such that I could always hear one guitar over the other, and while that meant I got to enjoy Ryan Ross guitar solos very clearly, moments like Brendon Urie's solo in Pas De Cheval had lesser impact, sounding muddier and lost in the mix.

The band had new arrangements of older songs, trying to bridge the difference in sound between their first and second albums, and they sounded good. Apart from the musical aspect, they played such a *warm* show, all light and joy (and flowers and bubbles!), and it reflected the atmosphere of the set.

Fans kept throwing thing on stage, which made for some enjoyable interaction between band and crowd - at one point, Ryan repeated "Brendon just got paid!" since a total of 65 cents had been thrown at Brendon. And I laughed when Ryan declared proudly that he was keeping '20p'. Wrong country! But it was a nice exchange, indicative of how relaxed and amused the band were on stage.

We're So Starving
Nine in the Afternoon
But It's Better If You Do
Camisado
She's a Handsome Woman
The Only Difference Between Martyrdom And Suicide Is Press Coverage
Behind the Sea
Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off
I Constantly Thank God For Esteban
That Green Gentleman
There's A Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Figured It Out Yet
Folkin' Around
I Write Sins, Not Tragedies
Northern Downpour
-
Time to Dance (acoustic)
Pas De Cheval
Mad as Rabbits

Death Cab for Cutie - 19 Aug 2008 - Oxford Art Factory

2008-08-20T15:36:00.000+10:00

They started with Champagne from a Paper Cup, and from there played a short set of rather obscure song choices. One for the diehard fans, with barely any singles (and not the well known ones), reaching back to their second album (of six), barely a nod to their best known albums, and and two non-single, slower songs from their latest.

It seemed to make sense - an intimate gig in an intimate venue for the hardcore fans - BUT the problem was the gig didn't feel intimate at all. Because it was recorded and broadcast live for myspaceTV, the focus seemed to be on reaching the audience out there, watching on their screens, and not those who were crowded at the band's feet.

Ben Gibbard's banter was for those watching online; all the live audience got was a passive aggressive telling-off for talking (you, in the front row!). Though Chris Walla got in a terrible pun that I liked at the end, when they were talking about the possibility of this gig being watched on the space station, and suddenly this voice pipes up from the side, "Myspace station, heh heh heh!"

I enjoyed this gig anyway - it was free, I got to see Death Cab live again, I got to hear songs I wouldn't normally expect to hear live.

Champagne from a Paper Cup
A Movie Script Ending
405
Talking Bird
Grapevine Fires
Photobooth
Title and Registration (video)

Band of Horses - 5 Aug 2008 - The Metro

2008-08-06T15:34:00.000+10:00

I'm kind of stuck on "IT WAS AWESOME THEY WERE AMAZING I WANT TO MARRY BEN BRIDWELL'S VOICE". It's tempered on the CD and sounds pure and sweet, but live it just rings and soars. Even when it shouldn't sound so warm, when phrases end in yelps, it sounds like a bell, high and clear. Normally, I get very restless during slow songs, and the middle of the set was packed with softer moments, but I just closed my eyes and let the music wash over me in bliss. The musicianship of the whole band was great, particularly in the guitar work which reminds me of the good parts of classic rock, and the blues. It just sounded so so good overall, note-perfect but with heart and atmosphere that makes a live show worth it.

Apart from the music itself, the band were fun and relaxed on stage, bantering amongst themselves (culminating, at one point, with a foul-mouthed rant from their keyboardist, Ryan Monroe, about New Zealanders and sheep) as well as joking with the audience. Upon being greeted with the typical Whooooooooo! of excitement as they took to the stage at the start, Ben Bridwell returned the call, and would do so throughout the night, a goodnaturedly mocking call and response. A happy fan exclaimed, after a rollicking first four songs, "You guys sound great!" which fell upon a unexpected hush over the room, such that it carried not only the stage but all through the theatre. The band laughed and acknowledged the fannish adoration, attributing it all to the sound guy. They just seemed very easygoing as performers, and cutely aware of the relationship between them and their audience; as they sounded out the very well-known and probably very eagerly awaited for first notes of their best known track, The Funeral, Ben Bridwell called out that this was their "fake last song", and at the end bid us their "fake goodbye", a nod and a wink at the encore to come.

Certain other things kept me amused during the night - the crazy, pogo-ing fan who managed to jump up and down excitedly during every song, regardless of the tempo or mood; the fact that BoH may well be one of the most hirsuit bands I have ever seen and their fans likewise (it was truly a Band of Beards, with muttonchops and moustaches aplenty on the 5/6ths I could see) - but what kept the smile on my face was the band's amazing talent and the wonderful songs. From familiar singles to older songs to fantastic covers to audience sing-a-long as Ben Bridwell pointed first to us and them himself in the refrain of "you...me..." in The General Specific that ended the night, the overwhelming feeling was one of joy, from the band and reflected back by the crowd.

Is There A Ghost
The Great Salt Lake
Islands on the Coast
Weed Party
? (featured a harmonica)
Thirteen Days (J.J. Cale cover)
Marry Song
Cigarettes, Wedding Bands
The First Song
No One Goes Out Anymore (Tyler Ramsey)
Detlef Schrempf
Older (Ryan Monroe)
No One's Gonna Love You
Ode to LRC
Wicked Gil
The Funeral

Our Swords
Am I A Good Man (Them Two cover)
General Specific

Jens Lekman - 8 Mar 2008 - Manning Bar

2008-03-09T17:32:00.000+11:00

Jens Lekman was only in Sydney two months ago, playing a solo gig at The Vanguard, plus a cosy impromptu set afterwards to a group of lucky fans milling outside the venue. But here he was again, this time performing to a much larger crowd in Manning Bar at the University of Sydney. Though when the live experience is this charming and enjoyable though, one can hardly quibble about the frequency with which it comes around.

Luckily for those who may have missed these shows, there is still hope: while most musicians will claim an affinity for Australia while touring here, Lekman actually moved to Melbourne this year to escape his Swedish home, the sleepy suburb immortalised in the title of his latest offering Night Falls Over Kortedala.

Lekman takes to the stage late in the evening, a small figure dressed down in a jumper and neat slacks, his hair light and rather fluffy under the lights, looking more like a friendly accountant than an internationally acclaimed musician. Yet the crowd is vocally enthusiastic in their welcome, and he responds with the first verse of “I’m Leaving You Because I Don’t Love You”, his unaccompanied voice strong and clear.

The set draws heavily from Kortedala, his third full-length album, providing plenty of ethereal lush pop songs, ranging from the seemingly upbeat paean to loneliness “The Opposite of Hallelujah” to melancholy ballad “Shirin”. While the album, with its strings and horns and trilling flutes over samples and jaunty beats, can seem sickly sweet at times, in live performance the songs are warm and charming Lekman rotates between strumming his guitar, pressing the keys, or dancing as he sings, supported by his Swedish-Australian five piece on drums, bass, cello and violin, as well as one member in charge of sampling from a laptop onstage, providing instrumentation – trumpet, additional strings - in the absence of the real thing. Jens’ baritone, with its slight tremolo, the clipped sounds betraying his accent, may not be a powerhouse vocal but its suits his music perfectly, gentle and pleasant to the ears.

Lekman has stated on his blog what he loves about pop music is “everything that is unique and personal”. This is evident in his approach to his own music, with songs crafted around imperfect memories of conversations and events in his life, and never more ably demonstrated than in “A Postcard to Nina”, a song presented as correspondence between Jens and his German friend Nina, narrating an awkward family dinner during which Nina, a lesbian, hides behind the fiction that Jens is her boyfriend for the sake of her elderly conservative father. In performance, with the skill of a seasoned raconteur, Lekman adds a spoken prologue, and throws in new details, dramatic pauses, even the hint of different voices to draw out the tale within his song.

Such anecdotes are peppered through the whole night, not only tying the songs together, but imbuing them with additional meaning that serves both to bond Lekman with his audience, and his audience with each other as a worldwide collective of captivated fans. An older track, “Black Cab”, is introduced by way of a story about the Turkish fan who could only identify his favourite song by its two note refrain; while another story about Florentine fans disgruntled by Jens’ kind words about their hometown leads to Jens yelling “F*** Sydney!” in a deadpan voice that has the crowd giggling in knowing appreciation.

Lekman further establishes his ability to use any moment in his personal and professional life as creative material by turning Google map directions, used to guide taxi drivers from his home in Sweden to the airport (Kortedala, apparently, being akin to a labyrinth – easy to get into but hard to leave), into a song he introduces as “New Directions”. It is this personal and unique storytelling element that elevates Lekman’s songs and performance to the sublime. He attempts, and arguably succeeds, in capturing everyday experiences – love, loneliness, regrets, infatuation, grief – with a wistfulness that acknowledges the shifting impermanence of memory, and with a keen eye for observation that is almost sociological, revealing depths of in the seemingly mundane moments of life.

So it is understandable that when Lekman leaves the stage after only an hour, disappointment is evident in the murmurs of the crowd. But Lekman returns, first with his band for two more songs, including a rousing rendition of “A Sweet Summer’s Night On Hammer Hill” that culminates with band members climbing out from behind their instruments to swerve around the stage, arms outstretched in joyous dance.

Jens then comes back onstage for a three song solo encore, throwing in some more dryly amusing banter - “This is a song about a girl. You may ask, Jens, why do you write so many songs about girls? (pause) I like girls.” - followed by an interactive exercise, one more way of drawing the crowd to him. He divides them into two sections; those with “darker voices” are called to sing the chorus, while those with “lighter voices…shut up.” And yet closer “Pocketful of Money” resounds with both dark and light voices, the entire crowd eager to be included in the Jens Lekman experience, to maybe find themselves the subject of another story to be told to another crowd on another night like this in his future.

Juno / No Country For Old Men / There Will Be Blood

2008-02-24T21:26:00.000+11:00

Oscar best picture nominees in quick review:

Juno (d. Jason Reitman)

I found this charming, if rather obviously aiming to be lovably quirky and indie. I really like Ellen Page as Juno - I think, in portraying a prickly kind of character, her best work is in the glimpses of the softer girl inside. Michael Cera is adorable, even if he is playing the same character as always; the rest of the supporting cast are great (particularly J.K. Simmons as Juno's dad, and Jennifer Garner as the uptight but desperately maternal Vanessa) and do their best even with broadly characterised parts. I like where the story went though, ethically tricky as it could've been, not judging Juno for becoming pregnant, not judging her nor explaining in depth the choices she makes, just allowing her to be a confused but smart sixteen year old with some big decisions to navigate.

No Country for Old Men (d. Joel and Ethan Coen)

Bleak but beautiful in its cruel way. Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin) takes $2million out of a drug deal gone wrong, and a scarily focussed killer (Javier Bardem) tracks him down for a form of justice. There are some immensely suspenseful moments in this, the pacing just-so for them maximum heart-in-mouth moments, and the killings, even as they decrease in violence, increase in meaning and heartache. Excellent supporting cast - Tommy Lee Jones plays his straightforward sheriff with just the right amount of bewilderment and wisdom as he contemplates a world more violent than he can patrol, and Kelly Macdonald really surprises as Moss' southern wife.

There Will Be Blood (d. Paul Thomas Anderson)

This has a fantastically tight and interesting first half, but then it meanders and comes apart under the weight of its own ambitions. Daniel Day-Lewis is good as Daniel Plainview, but in that epic histrionic way; Paul Dano has his moments as brothers Eli and Paul Sunday, but in that finale just loses against the insanity of Day-Lewis' Plainview (in so many ways). I felt the movie's 2hr 40min running time greatly by the end. It does do some wonderful things in conveying concepts of family and greed in the struggle of the man within the monster. Loved the use of sound and score, particularly in that sparse beginning, with the shrill alien noises against the empty landscape, the rhythm of the mines as Plainview works his way to a fortune.

Rufus Wainwright - 29 Jan 2008 - State Theatre

2008-01-30T17:28:00.000+11:00

This was a fabulous show, musically beautiful, and really fun because Rufus Wainwright’s personality really shone through the performance. It didn’t hurt that he played a great long show (2+ hours), mostly of songs from his latest album Release the Stars, but with wonderful dips into the repertoire from all over his career, from old favourites to an Irish folk song taught to him by his mother to a couple of songs from his acclaimed Judy Garland show.

He started out the night in a multicoloured striped suit dotted with more sparkly brooches (and matched nicely by his band in *slightly* more subdued costume), singing the title track from Release the Stars, followed by a stint at the piano for Going to a Town, then strapping on a guitar for the song after that. He, and most members of his seven piece band, were skilled multi-instrumentalists, playing everything from recorder to banjo. Apart from the fantastic musicianship, the show was a lively affair with costume changes – Rufus performed the second set in lederhosen, then returned for the encore in a fluffy white bathrobe which concealed the surprise in store for the finale; fan participation; deprecating humour and arch little asides, and a fair bit of off-the-cuff banter that drew the audience into his confidence and under his spell.

Highlights for me were The Art Teacher, which was just fantastic live: the piano bass ominous and dark, and yet sounding so so lovely and warm in regret with the French horn accompaniment; and Do I Disappoint You, an Eastern toned song full of major-to-minor chords that give it this weird shifting feel, and live it opens up into this amazing piece, baroque in its instrumentation, giving it a wild sound. It starts off with just the guitar and the electric guitar, an almost harsh strict intro, and after the massive build up of the song, it ends with just a flute at the end, a balance of sweet leavening the bitter.

Rufus’ lovely, chocolate-rich voice was showcased so well in so many different ways; apart from his own songs, he performed two numbers from his Judy Garland at the Carnegie Hall 1961 show - a Gershwin (A Foggy Day) and a Noel Coward piece (If Love Were All) - accompanied only by a piano; and after he remarked admiringly on the decor of the State Theatre again and wondering whether it had any history as a vaudeville theatre, he stepped away from the microphone into an actual vaudeville-like performance of an Irish folk song his mother, singer Kate McGarrigle, taught him, I was pleasantly surprised by how well his voice carried in the theatre without amplification, even over the diminished acoustic band accompanying him.

It seemed the finale would be a rousing finale of 14th Street, ending with an extended jam after Rufus left the stage, as each musician took their turn showcasing their skill on their instrument, then bowing out until only the banjo/guitar player was left to do a solo. However, there was an encore, and oh, what an encore. Rufus came back on stage in a white fluffy bathrobe, and proceeded as if nothing was amiss.

After two older songs, both well received (Poses, with Rufus solo on the piano, was just as lovely as I could’ve ever hoped for), the stage darkened, and he moved to the front of the stage and sat down on a chair there. He then put on some more shiny jewellery, holding up each piece to the light for the audience to see; then carefully applied bright red lipstick; then cheekily held up a pair of black heels to applause before putting them on; and as he moved back onto the dim stage, a band member dove out to stand behind him to protect his modesty while he removed the bathrobe to reveal Rufus channelling Judy Garland in no more than a black fedora, a tailored black suit jacket, and shapely legs in opaque stockings and heels. The ensuing performance of Get Happy was awesome – yes, happy, and so so much fun, with band members diving all over the stage in enthusiastic choreography around Rufus as he danced and strutted and performed his divalicious heart out – with the audience obviously, audibly appreciative of the theatrics and joy of the act.

And then to round out the night, a nice performance of Gay Messiah; though overshadowed by the immensely enjoyable piece before it, it served as a good summary of the Rufus Wainwright experience – full of the good sly humour he’d shown all night long, the subversiveness of words and song, the wonderful music.

Release the Stars
Going to a Town
Sans Souci
Rules and Regulations
Matinee Idol
The Art Teacher
Tiergarten
Leaving for Paris
Between My Legs
-
The Consort
Do I Disappoint You
A Foggy Day
If Love Were All
Beautiful Child
Not Ready for Love
Slideshow
Macushlah
14th Street
-
I Don’t Know What It Is
Poses
Get Happy
Gay Messiah

Brand New - 24 Jan 2008 - Enmore Theatre

2008-01-24T20:28:00.000+11:00

It wasn’t until mid-afternoon that we heard that the previously unannounced support act was heavily rumoured to be Jesse Lacey (lead singer of Brand New) himself, doing an acoustic set. So just before 8 we went in and waited impatiently on an already quite packed floor. 8 came and went, then 8:15, and there was a twinge of doubt settling in; but finally, just before 8:30, Lacey walked out onto the dim, green-blue backlit stage to great cheers, and proceeded to play a short but beautiful acoustic set.

untitled 1
Play Crack the Sky
Oh Comely (Neutral Milk Hotel cover) (video)
Soco Amaretto Lime
Coca Cola

Lacey's voice, accompanied only by the guitar, is simply gorgeous – big, emotional and affecting. It was brilliant to hear Play Crack in its stripped back glory, as it is on second album Deja Entendu. Also, we saw Jesse crack a smile, and it was amusing as the Brand New set following was, admittedly, pretty damn emo considering the low lighting, the songs, and the anguished performance.

There was only a brief break before Brand New took to the stage. The band, plus another three touring members (including a second drummer), came on and just hurled themselves into a blistering instrumental; it felt amazing from the start, absorbing this wall of sound and fury, the bass reverberating through my chest. From there they launched into two faster paced songs off their last album, The Devil and God…, which were well received. But it wasn’t until Okay I Believe You… that the mosh really went nuts, which was fun to watch from our position on the outer rim of the seething mass. There was a good atmosphere during the whole gig, such an improvement on last time where the timid audience dampened the mood.

There was a slower section, building the tension towards an absolutely amazing string of songs, starting with Millstone, which really could’ve been a second single considering how the crowd reacted, followed by glee from the audience as Jesse introduced Gloria with an offhand comment, “This one’s about sex.” Tatou served as a brief lull before an entirely unexpected and oddly sweet cover of Jesus Loves Me sung by Jesse, which served as an intro for the song Jesus.

I loved hearing Degausser live again; it’s one of my favourites from the album, and it’s always seemed to me a song of quiet desperation, but last night they played it as this tortured monster of a song, a perfect performance of a breakdown in process, which carried brilliantly into You Won’t Know, which closes the show with Jesse’s anguished repeating of the refrain over and over. It still gives me chills, feeling the haunting unravelling quality of Jesse’s voice over the dark of the theatre.

The encore was mildly disappointing; after a prolonged delay filled with cheers and calls for the band, they came back on slowly, starting with Vince on his own playing a riff which Jesse then took over, and continued into an extended instrumental jam. It was mesmerising, but when the concert ended abruptly after that, it left me wanting more – more songs, more time with them - because their music is so powerful and intensely affecting.

Welcome to Bangkok
Not the Sun
The Archers Bows Have Broken
Okay I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don’t
Jaws Theme Swimming
The No Seatbelt Song
Luca
Millstone
Sic Transit Gloria…Glory Fades
Tatou
Sowing Season
(Jesus Loves Me)
Jesus
Degausser
You Won’t Know

Arcade Fire / Spoon - 23 Jan 2008 - Enmore Theatre

2008-01-23T20:22:00.000+11:00

My expectations for this gig were stratospheric - both bands produced albums last year that made my top 10 list - and Arcade Fire have been on my list of must-see bands since I heard Funeral for the first time and fell in love. That's a lot of years of pent-up anticipation, plus they have a great reputation as a live band, so I was resigned to either being disappointed, or just satisfied. But do you know what? THEY BLEW ME AWAY. Last night's concert has gone straight into being one of the top two gigs I've ever seen in my life, for amazing musicality, exuberance, enjoyability and the utter satisfaction of knowing that everything you've ever dreamed about a concert experience has pretty much materialised before your eyes.

Spoon came out dressed in requisite hipster musician wear - black shirts, black jeans - except for the keyboardist, who seemed majorly dressed down in flannies in comparison. Britt Daniel is strangely magnetic on stage - Kevin admired him for "having style" - he really threw himself into playing and singing, and pulls the performance together. It was a very solid set, amazing for a support slot, and they played for around a hour, fifteen songs all up, the bulk from latest album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. It was a shame that the audience at this point wasn't very responsive, but Spoon still gave it their all, and were well worth seeing.

We watched in wonder as the roadies tried as quickly as they could to clear the stage and put out the gazillion instruments that Arcade Fire need, including odd and amazing things like a twelve-string guitar, a hurdy-gurdy, a silver/gold double bass, a small pipe organ, and an accordion. When the band finally came out, at least seven members lined up along the front of the stage, instruments at the ready, and launched into the glorious Wake Up; and from the first word, the adoring audience sang along strongly, and it was amazing, hearing one of my favourite songs played live while watching the interplay of musicians and instruments (Regine played the hurdy-gurdy!) and their captivated audience.

After a few very well-received songs from their first album, Funeral, they took a dip into their early EP for I'm Sleeping in a Submarine to lead into a slightly more sombre but still wonderful section of Neon Bible songs. The dark undertone to the seemingly sweet sounding Black Wave merged into the more ominous Bad Vibrations, the grandeur of My Body is a Cage with the crashing organ chords, the protest of Windowsill, and the lovely interchange from the racing pace into the slower, prettier end of The Well and the Lighthouse, all these were fantastic in live performance. I think the ultimate highlight though, in a night full of amazing musical moments, was the back-to-back pair of Power Out and Rebellion (Lies). It was a beautiful, wonderful, all dancing and singing affair to end the main set, and even as the band left the stage, Richard and Will each carried off a megaphone, singing the outro refrain and keeping the audience echoing them as the stage lights dimmed.

The encore began with, to be absolute delight, No Cars Go. It was awesome to hear it live, to see it performed beautifully and with so much energy. That was followed by a really fun performance of Haiti, sweet and sexy at the same time, after which the band looked like they were really done for the night, saying their goodbyes and basking in the thunderous applause. However, as the light stayed dim, the audience cheers rose until the band trickled back on stage, starting with just Win on an acoustic guitar, and followed by the rest either singing or playing the hell out of their instruments (the double bass took a real beating at this point), to do an impromptu, rocking cover of the Violent Femmes' Kiss Off.

If there were any complaints to be had, and I'm clutching at straws here, it would be that the vocals were a bit low in the mix, so sometimes it could be hard to hear Win or Regine over the rest of the music. But I don't think the exuberant atmosphere dropped at any point during the night, on stage or off. The band were obviously having a great time, and they were so playful in performance - Win had a big grin on his faces as he played to his band, whether it was Regine having her turn on the drums, or with the duo of violinists, or towards the crowd before him; Richard and Will (most out of all the band) running around the stage playing anything and everything with gusto; Regine dancing as she sang with her pretty voice, and making accordion-playing sexy; Win venturing onto the barrier twice and INTO the crowd once towards the end, while the crowd surged towards him in delight. The crowd response was amazing too, a room full of clearly loving and enthusiastic fans, who sang and yelled and clapped along, who danced and raised their hands to the music like they were caught up in an almost religious fervour. It was beautiful evening to be a part of, because it was so joyous and incredible, and it just felt perfect for the music.

Wake Up
Keep the Car Running
Black Mirror
Neighbourhood #2 (Laika)
I'm Sleeping in a Submarine
Black Wave / Bad Vibrations
My Body Is a Cage
Windowsill
The Well and the Lighthouse
Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)
Intervention
(Antichrist Television Blues)
Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)
Rebellion (Lies)

No Cars Go
Haiti

Kiss Off (video)

Sufjan Stevens - 12 Jan 2008 - State Theatre

2008-01-12T19:24:00.000+11:00

The State Theatre is possibly the only place where the blue crystal, red velvet drapes, gold gilding and art deco flourishes rioutously work together. It was uncharacteristically filled with a younger, t-shirt and denim jeans wearing crowd than normally seen in its opulently decorated interior, leaving beer cans and plastic cups all over its foyers, and rather bemused ushers in their wake.

In interviews Sufjan Stevens comes across as rather shy, the music tends towards the quiet and lyrical, and the setting seemed rather too grown up for anything but a serious music show. So I was pleasantly surprised by what a great concert this was: a perfect mix of brilliant musicianship, soft delicate beautiful moments and bright stomping joyous rock songs, visual whimsy and Stevens' rambling charm.

The concert began in a hush, as the ten membered band (including Stevens) filed onto the darkened stage and started playing the quiet beginning of Seven Swans. The first three songs were played without a break in between, one piece segueing seamlessly into the next, from near-acoustic moments of voice, melody and harmony, to the blare of the full band, which included a five-piece brass section, in the more complex instrumental interludes. The band were excellent and uniformly talented, between them playing a vast collection of instruments including a bugle, a trumpet, a clarinet, a saxopohone, a straight (tenor?) sax (the last three played by the same guy), a French horn, a trombone, at least five different people on piano during the set. Stevens himself rotated between acoustic guitar, piano, ukelele and even cowbells!

All through the night, I was struck by how complex the songs are, the beauty of them often obscuring the fact that they are wonderful constructions of melodies and counter-melodies, rather fugue like as each instrument picks out its call and answer lines. The Tallest Man, in particular, was wonderfully immediate and better live in performance, for the ability to visualise the clockwork nature of the music. And I would've been happy to just bask in the amazing interplay between the instruments and Stevens' pretty husky voice woven within it, but he proved himself to be an endearing artist between songs too, starting with a meandering list of things he liked about Australia set before a slideshow of Sydney scenes, and moving onto to rambling, dryly humour anecdotes about inspirations for certain pieces of music (the one about his sister's college roommate that prefaced Jacksonville was by far my favourite, in delivery and in story). I also really liked the humour and whimsy in the presentation: the band's matching multicoloured patchwork tops, the hula hoop girl during BQE and Sufjan's matching display with his own lit-up hula hoop, and the pretty wings the whole band wore during the last song of the set.

When Stevens and the band left the stage the first time, the audience gave them a standing ovation, and were rewarded by a two song encore; the first piece a more acoustic performance of The Dress Looks Nice on You followed by the perfect closer in the magnificent Chicago. It seemed so much care had been put into making the concert experience as relaxed, sweet and enjoyable as possible, and to me they fully succeeded.

Seven Swans
Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
THE BLACK HAWK WAR, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience But You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, 'I have fought the Big Knives and will continue to fight them until they are off our lands!' *
Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!)
Casimir Pulaski Day
Jacksonville
All The Trees Of The Field Will Clap Their Hands
4th movement (abr.) of Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!
To Be Alone With You
Sister
The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders
Majesty, Snowbird

The Dress Looks Nice On You
Chicago

* yes, that is the title. In full.

My Chemical Romance - 30 Nov 2007 - Sydney Entertainment Centre

2007-11-30T19:18:00.000+11:00

The second support act Circa Survive were a little rough at the beginning of their set, and the crowd response was minimal, but I quite enjoyed them by the end. Their frontman was crazy into performing, and also had a surprisingly high voice which contrasted with their heavier sound. They also had this crazy sense of rhythm, a lot of syncopation in their beats, which kept things on edge, and lead to some really interesting (and also kind of alarming) resonance.

But I was here for My Chemical Romance, and let’s be honest: I love everything – the theatrics, the mouthy attitude, their concern for fans, the unashamed rock roots in their punk music, the grand anthemic songs. The show did not disappoint despite seeing them only a few months ago – it was a bigger affair overall with the larger venue, the pyro, the fantastic solid playlist of hits and old favourites. The energy on the floor was great, and the band were playing well (despite losing their drummer to a wrist injury a few weeks ago and having to play with a substitute instead). I spent most of the night watching lead singer Gerard Way, with his deliciously camp showmanship, and guitarist Ray Toro with his halo of hair and power stance guitar playing.

Highlights for me included Mama (complete with Way's hilariously OTT fake crying at the end; Toro's awesome extended guitar solo leading into Teenagers; the grand, slow-build of Sleep; and once again, the incredible feeling of joy that I get from seeing and hearing Famous Last Words live, my arm in the air like every other kid there, yelling the same affirmative words. I also loved the amount of songs they played from second album Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge as well as getting to hear songs that are not usually in their live shows.

How I Disappear
Dead!
I’m Not Okay
Give ‘em Hell
The Sharpest Lives
Mama
Cemetary Drive
Welcome to the Black Parade
I Don’t Love You
House of Wolves
You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison
Teenagers
Helena
Sleep
Cancer
-
Desert Song
Famous Last Words

Muse - 17 Nov 2007 - Sydney Entertainment Centre

2007-11-17T19:07:00.000+11:00

We wanted to be close enough to watch Matt Bellamy play, so we zipped from space to space until we were about 8 or so people behind the barrier right in front of Matt Bellamy by the middle of the night. It was a magnificent sight to behold! Muse were in rock god mode last night, and watching Matt shredding on his guitar was so awesome. There was also the awesome piano, which was transparent and lighted-up at times, and when the camera threw up on the big screen Matt's fingers on the keys during the spectacular piano solo during the middle of Butterflies and Hurricanes it was a musical epiphany for me.

Muse seem to have a certain backbone to their set list where they cycle certain songs within that framework, and it seemed the energy levels didn't spike until New Born, when the mosh really picked up. I was glad for the slowed down period in the middle with the ballads, to focus on listening to the lovely music and Matt’s unearthly voice - Ruled by Secrecy was absolutely beautiful live - and watch him play from a good distance without the frenzy of the mosh getting in the way.

The highlight for me was Time Is Running Out and Bliss back to back, with the pretty pink confetti balloons making a reappearance, the songs sounding crazy fierce with awesome energy and the crowd mightily appreciative all around me. The first encore was good too, another dose of joy and energy from hearing two well-loved songs. It was an interesting set overall, pretty evenly distributed with songs from the last three albums (*nothing* from Showbiz though other recent set lists have seen Sunburn substituted for Invincible), with lot of extended intros and outros between songs of riffs from (mostly) b-sides, an appeasement for the hardcore fans seeing them for the second time within a year.

I was massively dehydrated by the end and yet soaked in sweat, my legs sore and shaking as we walked out of the Ent Cent. But during the dying moments of Knights of Cydonia, I looked across to this tiny girl near me and we just got each other - we were both wrecked and sore but we had matching smiles because, yeah, it was an awesome experience.

Take A Bow
Map of the Problematique
New Born
Butterflies and Hurricanes
Supermassive Black Hole
Citizen Erased
Feeling Good
Ruled by Secrecy
Invincible
Hysteria
Fury
Starlight
Time is Running Out
Bliss
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Plug In Baby
Stockholm Syndrome
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Knights of Cydonia