Because ultimately that is what we all want out of music – some fun. Sure, I like a little dourness every now and then but not when the aim is to cut loose. With this in mind, I can not begin to explain how wide of the mark the faux-soundtrack Almost Alice actually is.
Commentary
12
Apr 10
Searching For Fun: Almost Alice & New Young Pony Club
8
Mar 10
The Defamation of Ben Drew
Back in the early days of The Music Blogs I wrote about the brave choices artists often make, in particular when they leave one band to start another. Ben Drew aka Plan B, though a solo artist, has effectively just done the same thing.
17
Nov 09
We can work it out? Apparently not.
If we want to be truthful we can blame The Bubblies. If it wasn’t for this obscure French Pop band we may not have this current insult to the music world. I am talking of course about Apple Corps bizarre decision to release The Beatles collection on an Apple shaped USB Stick.
19
Oct 09
Soon the recorded music industry becomes the performing music industry
An excellent article written in 2007 by owner of Littoral Records, Alan Jones that looks at the decline of the traditional business and marketing model of big record labels and predicts they’ll be run down and overtaken by smaller, more agile, responsive and smarter labels.
19
Jun 09
The Solomons: Not the Island
I recently discovered a local Melbourne band called The Solomons and it surprises me that they’re not more well known, despite having played at some of Melbourne’s best live music venues.
8
Jun 09
Statement Of Intent: A Key Ingredient To Making It In This World
Like the great musician Joey ‘The Lips’ Fagan, I believe in starts. Once you have the start the rest is inevitable.
17
Apr 09
I’ll fest your blues in a minute.
The stampede to see Toni Childs.
It’s been three days and the post-blues blues are sort of beginning to fade. The 2009 East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival was my first Bluesfest, and proved to be a superb way to pop the cherry and chill out in Byron Bay for a few days.
What was awesome?
1. Blue King Brown – I’ve never seen BKB live before but the energy and mood of their whole set was simply joyous. Natalie Pa’apa’a was smoking in some short-shorts and a leetle black singlet. I chugged two Smirnoff Ice’s and danced the whole way through.
2. Seasick Steve – what a fascinating man. The 68 year old guitarist still looks like the hobo he used to be (and took frequent swigs of whisky from a bottle under his chair in between songs) but his sound is superb and his stories are humbling. Easily the crowd favourite among the smaller Bluesfest acts. Continue reading →
9
Mar 09
Indie and the Buzzwords
Let me start by saying – Indie is not a genre. It never has been and it never will be because that’s just how it fucking is. The fact that there are hundreds of shitty “Indie” bands out there who all sound the same is insulting to the independent music world and should all be killed in the most inhumanely way possible. The fact of it is, independant music technically ceases to be independant once it signs itself to a major label – but it doesn’t always mean they cease to be good – that happens a lot, but in few cases you get lucky.
A famous example is with The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. When the Warhols signed to Capitol, Anton flew off the wall. I think, deep down, he wanted them to get success without having to feel the need to help the music industry out anymore. A strange twist of fate occured, however, as The Dandy Warhols are pop and the luxury of achieving some mainstream successes and the film DiG! ultimately led to Anton and the BJTM becoming better known across the globe.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
4
Mar 09
Induce Vomiting If Swallowed
I don’t know how I should go about introducing myself – I’ve recently started a blog over at GuitarZero.org where myself and my compadres have begun a crusade to bring you the finest in underrated, unknown and underground music, both local and offshore. A few worth mentioning are; Riff Random, Nunchukka Superfly, The Hard Ons, Ghosts Of Television, Day of the Meerkat, Coda and The Church. These bands have inspired me and have reminded me that Australia’s music scene is just as strong as any out there – they’re just not out there.
Music never ceases to amaze me – no matter how old I get. There’s always something when listening to new good music that will remind me of something or introduce me to something foreign and makes me fucking feel. Feeling is the most important thing about music, there’s no doubt about it – you know it and I know it. What bugs me about the commercial and mainstream world is that they’re lying about these feelings. They’re bottling them up and manufacturing them, running them through auto-tuners and compressors and feeding it to us on television, advertisements, in films and on radio. It’s beyond disgusting – it’s a betrayal and ultimately, as insane as it may seem, a way of numbing what you know to be true and real.
20
Jan 09
…Or rock some mink boots in the summertime like Will.I.Am
Love them or hate them, U2 are the only band to have lasted so long and with the same lineup while still managing to release big selling albums and hit singles.
If we can blow our own trumpet for a second.5
Dec 08
The Maladies & The definition of artistic license =)
I never knew that there were places (homes, institutions or whatever you want to call them) for people who were deaf. Daniel Marando from the diabolically bluesy Maladies sits across from me, staring out the window. Something seems to catch his eye as he turns and waves to an older lady sitting across the room, intently watching the Bold and the Beautiful with closed captions blaring.
“HI MARGARET, HOW ARE YOU?”
2
Dec 08
Are AC/DC to blame?
This was possibly the most ridiculous and incredibly amusing thing I have read all day.
Thankyou NineMSN for making my day.
Please note the name of the writer. L-O-L
AC/DC blamed for financial crisis…
1
Dec 08
Where has all the music gone?
Now live music, to me in Sydney has always been great, and there has always been lots of it. But even in the past year I’ve noticed a steady downturn in not only the amount of live music that’s been going on (everyone shout – hooray economic downturn!) but also the amount of people who just don’t even seem to be keen for it anymore.
As someone who used to have a lot to do with all ages live music around the Sutherland show, I saw hundreds of kids pack themselves into a venue to watch local bands do what they do best, for a reasonable amount of money at least once a month minimum. Now, these shows have been canned for reasons beyond the promoters control and the kids just seem to have… lost it? Almost all the kids who used to come to Engadine to see bands they love would have turned 18 by now, but do I ever see any of them out at venues watching the same bands the used to love struggle to hit it in the city scene? No.
And this frustrates me.
19
Jul 10
I can’t help it if I’m happy. I can’t help it if I’m happy not to be sad.
Continue reading →