Sunday, March 28, 2010

Century




Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Hung Over As The Queen in Maida Vale

The best time to listen to this song would be from 06:38 - 06:56:17 am in that perfect time and state when one of Pills' parties reaches the first light. At this exact moment when you are still kind of intoxicated, past tired yet your mind is failing to allow you to focus, you know that you need at least one hour of sleep so you can not drown in the pool the next morning, that you will get a killer breakfast and during the night and early morning you have experienced literally every emotion known to mankind, from bliss to love, hatred to total depression that this moment in life is flawless. You may have had the most fantastic time in your drunken state, but the rising sun and birth of light on the new day after incredibly emotional D&Ms is the moment you will cherish forever.

This song represents this utterly life-changing experience that may never be surpassed in your life.

The perfect balance of youth, maturity and awe. Everyone silently enjoys each other's company, harmoniously amazed at the stunning sight of first light, the sheer beauty that reveals the backyard and the bottles and the tables and the chairs, the empty cups thrown carelessly upon the lawn.

Sunrise is only worth it if you've stayed up all night. Waking up early is cheating.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Need A Job

I'm going job hunting again today in a little while. Hopefully this time it'll be more successful. I'll have my availabilities on the resume this time so that's cool and all. I'll hit the same shops again, notably EB because that guy now recognises me and my plea for employment. And Dan Murphy's at Menai, that'd be a pretty cool job and you know it.



That was me playing Big Buck Safari with Nick yesterday. I won. I shot an elephant and a zebra and seven kudu and some birds. It was a good day out in the plains of Africa.

Ol' Dirty Bastard ft. Kelis - Got Your Money

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The Rolling Stones, Hyde Park, 1969

Free tribute concert to Brian Jones. July 5th 1969.

Setlist included:
  • Honkey Tonk Woman
  • Stray Cat Blues
  • Midnight Rambler
  • Street Fighting Man
  • Sympathy For The Devil



Sunday, March 21, 2010

Movies

You know what's a great film? Pleasantville.



It's pretty beautiful. Lovely art direction, interesting story and characters that are interesting. Wonderful, really. Maybe, probably in my top ten.

Also, I've just downloaded The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.



I'll watch part 1 tomorrow on the way to uni and part 2 on the way home. It'll be a good day because of it. I've been wanting to see this film for many years. I guess I should download A Fistful of Dollars and A Few Dollars More, but we'll see. I also need to see Once Upon A Time In The West. Apparently that's shredalicious as well. Western films are hilarious.

If I made a western, it'd have these songs:

Devendra Banhart - Fall

The Gun Club - For The Love of Ivy

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Hyperstimulation

Pavement:

And so began my tri-fector of alternative rock gods concerts. Enmore Theatre, 4/3/2010, about 7:30pm from recollection. After a pleasant walk down Enmore Road and waiting in the line for a little bit, we set up camp at a lovely spot on the barrier at the back half of the floor. After Gursey (what the fuck's a Gursey?) and a beer, I was internally jumping with excitement to see Ol' Malky & Co rock the shit. And rock the shit they did. A surprisingly long two hour set filled with material from their entire career was just a hilarious and fantastic experience. Malkmus is just too dopey on stage, star-jumping with chord changes and just lank-ing around in general. The stage lights were nice and pretty, with fairy lights webbed across the roof. I thoroughly enjoyed this show, specifically the songs I knew (uh-oh, just sounded like a poser fag) like "Cut Your Hair", "Summer Babe" and "Conduit For Sale!".



Dinosaur Jr.

And so the trilogy continues with Dinosaur Jr. at The Metro on March 11th. Made some friends in the line who had driven down from Newcastle for the spectacle and they were pretty hilarious dudes. Some mediocre support from Bed Wettin' Bad Boys and a Melbourne "alternative guy" shitstorm from Deaf Wish destroyed my ears well before J, Lou and Murph had the opportunity to. However, Dino Jr. were just so fucking loud that my ears became even more fucked. It was just so loud. With a killer spot right on the front barrier just in front of Lou Barlow, the gig was an experience unmatched by anyone else I've seen. Screaming at Lou and J along with all the other drunkards (we weren't intoxicated) requesting "The Leper" and "Forget The Swan", a twelve-minute solo and "Freak Scene", this had it all. A lovely encore of "Kracked", "Sludgefeast" and "The Lung" polished off what was an unbelievably radical time. I regret not buying the Green Mind t-shirt. Because I had no money. D':



Newcastle buddies.



Pixies

And so the conclusion, Pixies at The Hordern Pavillion on the 15th. This place is officially my least favourite venue now. Fuck, being such a short arse I can't see shit. Anyways, THEART were initially promising, giving a bit 'o "fuck yeah rock'n'roll" vibe but ended up being trash, with samey songs and shithouse lyrics. Then we saw Murray from The Wiggles and Harry and I were all "OMG IT'S FUCKING MURRAY!" and that was all well and good. We shuffled into the mosh (I would say about 2/5ths back) and settled in expectantly. They projected the surrealist film "Un chien Andalou", a source of inspiration from not only "Debaser" but I guess the album as a whole. Masked by backlighting, the silhouetted figures opened the show with B-sides such as "Manta Ray" and "Bailey's Walk" and then they kicked into "Doolittle". This is when the show picked up because I don't care too much for those B-sides. Two planned encores and the show ended with "Vamos" and "Where Is My Mind?" and they were all well and dandy. This show was a bit of a let-down for me. Mainly because I couldn't see shit (no-ones fault really) but the backlight silhouetting effect just pissed me off. Also it was no where near loud enough (no tinnitus post-gig) and it just seemed a little tired really (bar Joe's solo in "Vamos" which was bound to rule ass). Overall, it's a bit unfortunate it was $93.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

"The Man"

The term "The Man" is one used more loosely than it should be. I'm guilty of using this term to describe many men I have met or talked about. However, I like to think that there can be multiple "The Man"s, specifically, one in each nation. I guess it can also apply to your interest.

In one sense, Marty McFly is film's "The Man" because he fucking rules at everything and has the greatest name ever and shreds hard. Also, if you like your art, Jackson Pollock may be "The Man". Not to me because I personally dislike Pollock because I prefer traditional art like Monet because it's pretty and serene.

So really, America's music "The Man" is Tom Waits as he's crazy badass and eats gravel for breakfast to get himself so grumbly. I know this for a fact, we hang out and have sleepovers and that's what is in his pantry. Gravel. Gravel and flint so he can make fire to heat up the gravel so it burns down smoother. Tasty.



Tom Waits - Gun Street Girl

Australia's alternative is Nick Cave. Nick Cave is just too good to be real. Therefore Nick Cave isn't real. Which means he's God. But God doesn't exist. But Nick Cave exists. Therefore Nick Cave is mortal. But mortals just can't be as good as Nick Cave. Hoo boy, ain't this just a crazy twist!? Whatevs. Nick Cave: The Man.



Nick Cave - She's Leaving You

Canada has Neil Young. Neil Young is fucking sick. Yeah, now he's old and kinda fat and doesn't look as outrageously gnarly as he used to in his younger days. And yeah, his voice is quite pissy compared to Tom and Nick, but Neil has the balls to sing "Keep on rockin' in the free world." Not many dudes would sing a line that gay and make it as cool as Neil does. Also "On The Beach" is like the 2nd greatest folk record ever.



Neil Young - Vampire Blues

Englad has Keith Richards. I really can't understand how this man was ever not impossibly cool. I reckon that when he was in high school, he was that rad dude who ALWAYS had a guitar in his hands and a cigarette in his mouth. He probably even looked cool on his first day of school when he was like six. Keith is the kinda guy who probably went to class just so he could pay out the teacher with snide remarks, then get all the honeys to giggle and look at him all adoringly and then he's give them a sly smile out of the corner of his mouth and then they'd all melt. Fuck yeah.



The Rolling Stones - Shine A Light

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Ys

Ys:
1. A mythical city built on the coast of Brittany and then swollowed up by the om nom nom-ing ocean. British legends are pretty lame, so I assume the stories about Ys follow this trend also.

2. A video game series that's like Zelda except no one gives a shit about except for Japanese people. It's also kinda like Dragon Quest in which one mirrion different games have been released in the series in Japan but like one has made it to Australia. Apparently they are quite good games, but like, cbf to play through an RPG that's in Japanese so I won't have any idea what to do.

3. A spectacular record by Joanna Newsom. It's like progressive folk because there are 5 songs in the 55-minute record but it's not really progressive because it's not wanky like Yes or Rush. Wanky, wanky bands (even though I quite like Yes, especially "Close To The Edge", it's radical).



She's got a pretty wacky voice. I mean she can't really sing and kinda sounds like Julia Stone. Except she's better. And is good. And is pretty damn smokin' too. The album has amazing orchestral parts that make the songs exponentially better and more interesting than the songs on her debut "The Milk-Eyed Mender". Her debut is like a Devendra Banhart album because they're both minimalist folk-y and both just try to sing into the mic. Ys is like if Devendra played his guitar along to a Stravinsky piece because Strav rules and so do the orchestral arrangements in Ys. Also, it's pretty good how a 9-minute + folk song can maintain interest. This is because the music is so great and because Joanna's lyrics are all stories and interesting and just in general great. This bitch can write a song, lemmetellyathis.

Does it sound like I'm raving on about this album? Yes? Yes! because it's that damn fucking great. Do yourself a favour and have an ear to what folk music can hold dear to them. It's Joanna and old Dylan / Young / Drake records. And Leonard Cohen. He's sick.

FIVE OUTTA FIVE, YO!

Joanna Newsom - Monkey and Bear

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

University

So, it begins. Two days in and let's check the results:
  • I have my three course readers for this semester.
  • I have just received my text books. There are four for Art History.
  • I have drunk a mere two beers in two days.
  • I have eaten one Ragin' Cajun Chicken Burger.
  • I have eaten one kebab.
  • I have made one friend; her name is Rebecca, she's Singaporean and will have premo notes as she is smart as she's doing Arts Law.
  • I have fallen asleep in one lecture.
  • I have laughed at a vegan because she was hosting a barbeque but she can't because she's a vegan.
Yeah, we're gonna have a real cool time.

David Bowie - The Secret Life of Arabia