This week...

I am trying with all my might to get into the festive spirit...hard when working twelve-hour shifts in retail serving rude, arrogant people who want cheapo-presents and are killing my mood/soul more and more on a minute-by-minute basis....

Anywho, I am trying to be upbeat (can you tell I am struggling!?)- this helped:

She & Him- 'Baby it's cold outside'

This week...

Am digging Unknown Mortal Orchestra! The Portland-based band will be heading our way very, very soon to play Meredith Music Festival and a side-show at The Toff! Bound to both be a lot of fun!

TV On The Radio

American art-rockers TV On The Radio are one of my favourite bands, so yes I have some bias when I say THEY ARE AMAZING! Their gig at The Palace on Wednesday night was high-energy and amazing! The set list covered all the best from all their 5 albums. Of course there was their expected major hits 'Wolf Like Me' and 'Staring At The Sun', but there was also the amazing 'Will Do' and high-voltage 'Repetition' from their latest album 'Nine Types Of Light' and a finale of 'Satellite'.

I love it when you can tell that singers are 100 percent connected to and meaning the words that are coming out of their mouths! Lead man, Tunde Adebimpe does this, when he sings he puts his all into each line, into each song! Love love love!

This week...

I am hanging for the weekend to come! For Harvest to commence in Werribee!

Harvest Festival that is, featuring some of my most favourite bands: TV On The Radio, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Flaming Lips, The Walkmen and Bright Eyes (as well as many other brilliant musos):





oohhh yeaaah! Forecast says good times ahead! (Oh and 14-23 degrees)
If you don't know these names, and/or don't have a ticket change this immediately! Be proactive, reward your senses!
SEE:
Can't wait!

Occupy

You can have your say between 7 and 9am.
Business hours are for work,
not talking, dissent or thought.
Keep it down, keep your heads down.
Eyes on what we're told is the only way.
The only way we know,
this aint no democracy.
ssssshhhhhhhh!
Get off the streets and back to work.




Freedom of speech is a precious thing, these lines above were circling my head last night after seeing the news and seeing protestors being dragged out of public places by police. I thought 'Where the fuck am I?!'....

I heard Cohen talking last night,
He was whispering in my left ear.
He said he knows, that it aint right,
for the daughters were killing off Lear.

Whispering softly that I am a bit lost,
that my loves are nowhere near me.
He says that all loves comes at a cost,
that I was naive to think it was free.

That's not what he said, but what I got
Cold bruises still aching in memories' thigh.
He says that time is no friend, but use your lot.
Don't spend it crying, don't say goodbye.

"You'll be fine."

- wrote this a long time ago, not the best thing ever...just re-found it....-

A dark memory

they text me
to tell me the news
they were sorry
text me
to say my sun had gone
to tell me my
source of light
and sunshine
my warmth
my closest friend
was no longer mine
you were gone.

my phone beeped
fucking beeped
I read the tiny black words
a fucking machine told me
my world had changed
part of my heart collapsed

I miss you constantly
I ache and freeze
it's like I am forever
reading that text everyday
it's breaking me
over and over

they text me
to tell me
you died.

4/9/11

This week...

Am digging the tunes of Ghostpoet... nice one bruv...cool voice, lyrics and cruisey beats...

'Cash and Carry Me Home'

'Survive It'

He will be in Melbourne soon! Keep an eye out for dates at NSC!

The Boroughs Music and Cultural festival!

Create a short film over 72 hours themed around New York City and a surprise ‘prop’ supplied at The Boroughs Film Director’s meeting (as below). Your film will be presented in front of the Boroughs’ audience of professionals and peers.



Prize:

Thanks to the Astor Theatre, Findie, T-Sqaut and Film Ink Magazine, the winner will take home a DSLR camera and package, also included is an internship with Big Dog Productions to work on the behind the scenes for a Wolf Creek film production.
Also those films that are shortlisted for viewing on the day will receive a Film Ink Magazine subscription worth $80! Entries are now open! Action!



Entry Details:

* Buy a special edition “Brooklyn Film Festival” Boroughs ticket
* Complete online registration form
* Registration must be completed and submitted by September 5th 2011.



Competition details:

* The competition begins on 6pm Friday September 30th and closes at 6pm on Monday October 3rd
* Entries to be titled as “The Boroughs Brooklyn Film Festival – Film Title” and delivered to 20-28 Chatham St, Prahran, Melbourne.
* All entrants must attend a mandatory Directors meeting at 5:30pm on Friday September 30th (20-28 Chatham Street, Prahran)
* All entries must be submitted by 6pm Monday October 3rd 2011 to 20-28 Chatham Street, Prahran.

DO IT! See: www.theboroughs.com.au

This week...

Meredith ballot tickets and lineup have been released! The 21st year is going to be a smashing one!
Wowza!

Grinderman, Ladyhawke, Mudhoney, Kurt Vile and The Violators, Eagle and The Worm and Gang Gang Dance just to list a few! Can't wait!

See: http://2011.mmf.com.au/

R.I.P Amy Winehouse

Sad news hit us today, Amy Winehouse was found dead in her Camden apartment. The 27 year old English-singer singer joins a long list of cool cats that died at the same young age, including Cobain, Hendrix and Joplin.
R.I.P young lady xx

Paper planes fly at Croxton High School Assembly, Fri June 24th

Back at high school was not exactly where I had planned to be on Friday night, but was where I found myself... at the Croxton High School Assembly listening to The House Cats (the school band) doing their version of Radiohead songs.
Ok so it was not actually a school assembly and The House Cats are actually Sex On Toast, but at times it did feel that is was a real mid-year assembly and I was cringing! What was presented as Year 10 Drama really did feel like Year 10 Drama and the Thornbury Theatre did look a little like my high school's hall...

Ben Pobjie did a great job as Principal (M.C) for the night, telling off naughty students in the audience, and introducing the guests. The guests included the superb Tripod, DC3 and The Bedroom Philosopher, with his band The Awkwardstra.
Tripod were fantastic as usual. Amusing the audience with such comedy gems as an ode to Sunny Boys and a song dedicated to a horrible P.E teacher. The highlight was a romantic tune about setting down, buying a massive four-wheel drive, moving in to the inner city and closing down all the local music venues! Hilarious!
The Bedroom Philosopher (Justin Heazlewood) did his thing, strutting around the stage like Jarvis Cocker back in the day and singing his very funny hits 'Northcote (so hungover)' and a very sad song about leaving his hairdresser.
This was much more exciting than anything I ever saw while in high school!

If there is another Croxton School Assembly, I suggest you don't wag!

That time of the year again...

when my friend C wants suggestions on where to drink away the years on her Birthday...
my suggestions for cool as fuck places in Melbourne:

Loop

Art space and bar combined, sounds good right..it is.
23 Meyers Place, Melbourne town...


New Guernica

This place gets some great djs playing there, and feels like you're in a cubby house... what more could you want?! 322 Little Collins Street (upstairs)


Horse Bazaar

Their manifesto: "Horse Bazaar is driven by keen interests in culture, technology, politics, music, and the arts."
397 Little Lonsdlae Street

This week...

The 2011 Parklife Lineup was announced!
Some acts I would happily pass on, BUT some others will be amazing- including Santigold (pictured above), The Streets, The Gossip, Lykke Li, Crystal Fighters, Adrian Lux and Little Dragon!
Could be a fun day... ticket price yet to be announced, you can register for pre-sale at:
http://www.parklife.com.au/

R.I.P Gil Scott-Heron

This weekend the world lost the amazing poet/rapper, Gil Scott-Heron. Who has passed away in New York at the age of 62.

His work is truly meaningful, honest and inspirational.

This is one of my favourites:

Also...

thought I would share just a couple of examples of what comes out of my amazing friends with you...

A friend of mine (Sophie) takes rather rad photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shoot_at_everyone/

A friend of mine (Nathan) opens his mind to you:
http://curiouserthanusual.blogspot.com/



(photo from Nathan)

This week...

Am digging the latest Tv On The Radio album '9 Types Of Light', especially loving the track 'You', amazing!
Ok so this clip is kinda shakey, but close your eyes and listen bitches...so cool...

or even better, just go and buy the album and listen to the studio version!


Also enjoying the new album 'Blood Pressures' from The Kills. Can't wait to see them do their thing in Australia in a couple of months!

Darwin Deez at the HiFi....

here's a review I did for thedwarf.com.au....
Darwin Deez
HiFi Melbourne 29/4/11
By Annie Mullen




I was skeptical, surrounded by a crowd of fashionable moustaches and all the hype that the New Yorkers Darwin Deez bring. Although the show was not sold out, the HiFi was packed with trendy Melbournians and an energetic buzz.
Opening was Owl Eyes, an up-and-coming Australian chick and her support band. Although they may not have captured the whole audience (which is hard for any support act), they were quite sweet and agreeable. Her, Brooke Addamo aka Owl Eyes, has a lovely, interesting voice which presents simple and relatable lyrics. The general vibe was upbeat, cruisey and cool. I am sure we will be hearing more of her name in times to come.
Soon after an extremely lanky, skinny man with an amazing set of curls, neat moustache and a brown typically ‘retro’ jumper enters the stage to adjust guitars and sound pedals. It’s him, the face of Darwin Deez, Darwin Smith! He fixes stuff, looks around then leaves the stage again.
About 5 minutes or so pass and he returned, with the band; guitarist, bassist and drummer. They rock onto stage to a mash up of noise and voices before opening with ‘Up In The Clouds’. Darwin’s skinny legs wrapped in skinny jeans energetically bounce around the stage as he belted out the songs from their self-titled debut album. Lead singer Darwin clearly relishes in being on stage, so it’s easy to get swept along and enjoy watching him enjoy himself.
The band was tight, the backing vocals were great, there were choreographed synchronized dance moves, and a pretty hilarious rap.
The audience ate it all up, and it was clear Darwin and the band loved every second of the set too.
The only let down was Darwin telling everyone to “Buy a t’shirt”….umm…not necessary, just tacky. Stick to the music, leave marketing to someone else.
As expected the poppy hit ‘Radar Detector’ was last song of the set. But was then followed by an encore which ended with another hit- the upbeat and fun ‘Constellations’, in which both the band and the audience really let loose. It’s poppy, but with a lot of quirkiness chucked in there for good measure.

There is a very talented (and fun) man behind that indie mo of his!

news....

There has been some major news headlines recently; a royal wedding and Osama being killed by Americans to list a couple that everyone was talking about non-stop and I care little about....

There has also been some really sad news, that I do really care about. One of my favourite bands Tv On The Radio lost a member last week. Gerard Smith, Tv's bassist has passed away at the age of 36 after battling lung cancer.
This is a big loss to the music world, and no doubt the world in general.
The band wrote this message on their website:

"We are very sad to announce the death of our beloved friend and bandmate, Gerard Smith, following a courageous fight against lung cancer. Gerard passed away the morning of April 20th, 2011. We will miss him terribly."

This week...

I am saving my pennies in an attempt to make it to Splendour 2011!
The line up is far too good to miss this year!

Pulp runited!, The Hives, Kanye West, Modest Mouse (who are a staple in my music diet), The Mars Volta, Elbow, Children Collide, Mogwai, DJ Shadow, Regina Spektor, Gomez, The Kills, James Blake, Kele, the list goes on and on! AMAZING line up this year!
Many bands I have been wanting to see for a long time, and many I have seen and LOVE! Very exciting times!
Especially cannot wait to see good old Pulp (particularly the amazing Jarvis as pictured above) do their thing!

See:http://splendourinthegrass.com/# to buy me a ticket!

loving:

James Blake, I am really really loving his debut self-titled album very much at the moment...Get your hands on it!
If you like this track, you will most likely enjoy the album too, which includes a great cover of Feist's Limit To Your Love!

This week...

Am digging:

The new stuff from TV On The Radio! Love these guys rather a lot...I suggest you keep an eye out for their new album 'Nine Types Of Light' is bound to be fantastic...



Am liking this from Noah and the Whale...


Also digging Melbourne cats trying to do what they can to help lovely Japan in their time of need.... for example
To Japan, with Love..an event happening at Golden Monkey this coming Wednesday!


go to: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=162371027149689

This week....

am looking for new bands to inspire me....
or old bands that are just new to me... suggestions welcome!

So far I have found...

Wolf Parade, not new on the scene but new to my ears (thanks AnnaMaree):



and Anna Calvi, with her new (self-titled) debut album




also still been listening to some favourites this week, ofcourse I cannot help it! Loving good old Nick Cave and Sonic Youth this week! Cannot forget them in times like these...

This week....

Sorry has been awhile since the last little blurt of information from me...but have been so effing busy! Will attempt to make up for it today!

I thought I would share some of the stuff I was listening to while attempting to drive around England's tiny, over-populated streets....some English classics seemed only right:

Suede!


Blur! I love love love this song, 'Coffee and TV' from their album 13


Pulp!



Are you digging the Britpop goodness?

Oasis!


The Smiths!


The Smith's leading man, Morrissey:
(when you travel around England, not just the touristy parts but the little odd-ball towns The Smiths/Morrisey really resonate more than ever...)



Also wanted to share some of what I have been listening to this week:

God Is An Astronaut these guys may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I quite enjoy them especially at the end of a rough day!


Iron & Wine also goes down quite nicely this week!

Upcoming gigs worth checking out (in my humble opinion):

Pulled Apart By Horses:
Friday March 11 at The (famous) Tote!
See: http://www.myspace.com/pulledapartbyhorses

Eagle and The Worm (with Ball Park Music and We Say Bamboulee)
Sat March 19th at Northcote Social Club!
See: http://www.myspace.com/eagleandtheworm (and will give you a facebook link)

The Last Dinosaurs:
Friday 25th of March at Northcote Social Club!
See:http://www.myspace.com/wearelastdinosaurs


Hope this overload of info and music makes up for the last couple of weeks lack of it!

x

This Week...news from London town

Sorry, have been travelling around Europe and therefore slack with my postings... hope you have not missed me too much!

Last week I saw American band, The Walkmen live at Concorde 2 in Brighton! They were really amazing and I would recommend seeing them live to you if you're a big fan or not! (Bonus was it was this gig was only 12 pound a ticket! fab!!!!!) Highlights were 'Angela Surf City' and the opening to the set 'Blue as your blood.'
Here is 'The Rat' which was also a highlight- so energetic and intense live, it made me love them that little but more!


In the UK this girl Jessie J is climbing the ranks and has just announced a big UK tour...not sure what I think of her...but those calling her an amazing feminist need to check their facts, I am not sold on that claim...grabbing your crotch doesn't make you a feminist does it??


On a very different note to the above, Adele is doing really well in the UK chart with her album '21'...I like the beat of this track, and the image of the water vibrating to that beat is maybe not very original but pretty cool (you will have to watch it to know what the hell I am talking about!)


Also real big here in the UK are The White Lies, much bigger than they are back in good ol' Aus...


I am quite liking Oxford Trio, Trophy Wife who are starting to get some attention here...and I really like this filmclip for 'The Quiet Earth', check it out:



more soon...