Lately on the stereo

A lazy blog post about some tracks I’ve really been hammering to death on my music player. I thought I’d share some and post a few youtube live performances for you appreciation.

Tenuousness by Andrew Bird from “Noble Beast”.

I think I’ve finally ‘got’ Andrew Bird on this latest album. Not that he wasn’t good before, I just didn’t think much of his previous records – I didn’t know the way in. This song in particular has opened that door.



Little Secrets by Passion Pit from "Manners".

Call them what you will, but this album is a cracker. This song has a great chorus and is a godo alternative to the other more radio friendly songs off this record.



Percussion Gun by White Rabbits from "It's Frightening".

A recommendation from a friend of mine. This album is not bad, but I really like the record opener.



Another One Goes By by the Walkmen from"A Hundred Miles Off".

The Walkmen have defined 2009 for me. This Mazarin cover from "A Hundred Miles Off" recalls the dreamy dancehall sounds of the 50s and 60s.



Young Adult Friction by the Pains of Being Pure at Heart from "The Pains of Being Pure at Heart".

How anyone in 2009 is going to top this record, I’m not sure how. I really love this song and I really hope the Pains make the trip across to Australia sometime soon.



You can tell that I’m in the middle of essay writing hell. I have a lot of assessment and no motivation to write. Frequently, I try kick myself out of these ruts by returning to blogging, hence the series of posts I’ve managed to smash out over the last few days.

Phoenix: Live at the Enmore 2009

“So, how do you think the show will turn out tonight, Mr. Mars?”

“Well, I’m going get changed, eat a croissant, go out on the stage and rock the fucking shit out of the place.”

“Wow, that’s some plan.”

Extract from my made up interview with Thomas Mars, lead singer of Phoenix.

Actually, Thomas Mars probably wouldn’t be that crass. The vocalist for French indie-pop band Phoenix seems like too nice a guy to say anything that rude. His partner Sophia Coppola would probably wouldn’t be too impressed by that sort of language. And you don’t want to get Sophia angry, she might make a movie out of your private life.

It has been some time coming, but due to unforeseeable time constraints, my thoughts on Phoenix’s Enmore gig have been delayed nearly three and a bit weeks. Well, the wait is over. Aren’t you excited?

Sarcasm aside, Phoenix are riding a wave of well deserved praise following the release of their fourth studio album “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”, which followed the superb third album “It’s Never Been Like That”. If you’ve heard the latest record, you may agree with me when I say that is one of the most fun albums to be released this year. Their live show had a lot to live up too.

Fortunately, Phoenix delivered in spades, playing a show that I’m told was one of the most complete performances ever to grace the Enmore Theatre in Sydney. This being my first visit to the venue, I cannot say whether it was or not, but I can say that it was FREAKING AWESOME.

I arrived at 9pm, slightly boozed I must say, being that my pal Derek and I had consumed a few pitchers of lager prior to the trip out to Newtown. Luckily, we’ve inadvertently timed our attack run to perfection, arriving just in time to see the band hit the stage.

Phoenix open with Listzomania, inspiring the crowd into the sort of mania that the song derives its name from. From there, it’s a feast of danceable hits. Songs from their last two albums dominate the show, though 'Funky Square Dance' from ‘United’ debuts early in the set. Thomas Mars occasionally addresses the crowd between songs in a cordial and generally 'I'm glad to be here' manner, but chatter is kept to relative minimum. The music does all the talking, and it is clear that the band revel in their art. One cannot but notice the controlled ferocity of their drummer, as he beats the skins like man possessed by Romanian gypsy demons. After a rousing version of 'Too Young', 'Girlfriend' and the six-minute almost instrumental 'Love Like Sunset', Phoenix close their set with 'Rome' to rapturous applause.

As can be expected, the crowd demand more, and Thomas Mars returns to the stage to perform a slower tempo version of 'Everything is Everything', before the rest of the band join him on stage to blast out 'If I Ever Feel Better', from which I suspect that many people die of pure joy. The night is brought to a close with the lead single from the latest album, '1901', and many happy punters vacate the Enmore. I certainly was quite satisfied.

Blame Ringo To Launder Good Times

I meant to write about this a lot sooner but a combination of work and university study has kept my music writing hobby to a minimum. I do think you should read about the upcoming tour by local Brisbane indie pop group, Blame Ringo! who are about play a whole heap of laundromats over the coming two weeks down the east coast.

If you haven't heard of Blame Ringo! well you obviously haven't been reading the music press or the Courier Mail or listening to ABC radio, because they're beginning to garner a bit of well deserved attention. They released a great little record earlier this year called "Lucky Number 9", which hearkens back to the best bits of the Kinks and the Beatles and which you should immediately go out and purchase.

Not only that, I insist you check out the Garble Arch video featuring the many tourists attempting to replicate the Abbey Road album cover.



The tour kicks off tomorrow with a set at my local laundromat in Ashgrove, Brisbane at 4pm before moving on to the Paddington Laundromat at 5pm. I'm going to be there, but will YOU!?

The tour is as follows [Source: myspace]

Thursday, August 27th - BRISBANE
Ashgrove Laundromat – 483 Waterworks Rd - 4pm
Paddington Coin Laundromat – Cnr Given Rd & Latrobe Tce - 5pm
New Farm Laundromat – 540 Brunswick St - 6pm
Bar Soma, Brisbane w/ Dave Di Marco - 8pm

Friday, August 28th - NSW COAST
The Washing Well, Yamba – 27 Coldstream St – 9am
Grafton Laundromat, Grafton – 205 Prince St - 10:30am
Northside Coin-Op, Coffs Harbour – Park Beach Rd - 12pm
Willing & Able Laundrette, Port Macquarie - 17 Short St - 3pm
The Lass O’Gowrie Hotel, Newcastle w/ Like… Alaska - 8pm

Saturday, August 29th - SYDNEY
Elizabeth St Laundry, Surry Hills – 571 Elizabeth St – 10am
My Beautiful Laundrette, Newtown - 110 King St -12pm
Annandale Laundrette, Annandale - 20 Booth St - 1pm
The Lewisham Hotel, Sydney – Budget Music Festival - 2pm

* Photo 'borrowed' from the web. If I've done something wrong here boys, get in touch and I'll take it down.

Decoder Ring, Bridezilla @ The Zoo, Brisbane, August 22, 2009

Are Decoder Ring the Australian incarnation of Scottish post-rock maniacs Mogwai? There are certainly a lot of similarities – long epic jam-outs devoid of vocals, melodies that seem to wash over you like acid, burning through your eardrums and knifing into the emotional response receptors of your brain. Regardless of the lofty comparisons, Decoder Ring are as equally enthralling as their northern hemisphere brethren.

A Decoder Ring concert is a dramatic, visceral, and enjoyable exercise. I’ve managed to catch them a number of times but their recent set at the Zoo was the first time I’ve seen them in the post-Lenka, fully instrumental guise. I was a bit sceptical about how they would go about pulling this off, but I should not have been. After all, the band started off as an instrumental electronic-rock act.

As any aspiring music critic does, I arrive too late to catch the first support, whom I’m told on good authority were quite enjoyable. A shame, really. Anyway, Sydney indie outfit Bridezilla, the primary support act, put on a worthy performance that caught me a bit unawares. I had managed to catch them at the Golden Plains festival earlier in the year and they seemed a bit unsure of themselves. However, this performance allayed my doubts. Front-woman Holiday Sidewinder and her Abbie Dobson-esque vocals are the stuff of teenage boy wet dreams, and the violins and saxophone provide fresh dynamics that make the songs, well, a lot more interesting than the usual triple-j ilk that seems to be doing the rounds at the moment. “Chainwork”, “St. Francine” and “Forth and Fine” make appearances during what is a very enjoyable set.

Decoder Ring manages to walk out on stage just before eleven o’clock to a crowd that both seem very appreciative and very inebriated. Actually, I was puzzled by the appearance so many people who seemed so outrageously drunk. For a brief moment I pondered if these characters might be Coldplay fans that had converted to the church of Decoder Ring after the band appeared supporting the British pop behemoths during their recent tour of the country. Of course, this relies on the assumption that Coldplay fans are all severe alcoholics, an argument backed up by the fact that I feel I have to be completely hammered to enjoy Chris Martin’s increasingly boring brand of pop-rock.

Decoder Ring play many of the songs from their recent album “They Blind the Stars, and the Wild Team”. Visual effects that rapidly flicker between cavorting horses and bird migrations keep the eyes occupied while the band plays epic song after epic song, repeating and converging melodies and sounds like they were going out of fashion. My personal favourite from the new record, “Charlotte Ramping” appears early in the set along with “And Grass Will Grow Over Your Cities”. Lead single “Beat the Twilight” prompts wild celebrations from a drunk guy next to me, causing him to shake his fists in the air with unbridled enthusiasm. An instrumental track from Somersault makes an appearance, before they take the foot off the pedal, playing some slower numbers like “Point No Point”. The highlight of the evening has to be the drum’n’bass infused “Serac” from “Fractions”, followed by distortion draped “Welcome Shoppers” from their first long player – arguably the two best songs of the night and cause bodies writhe with pleasure within a sweat dance pit, while senses are sucked out of people’s brains as Decoder Ring construct a gravitational singularity within the venue, and peoples minds’ are dragged beyond an event horizon. You could say I was somewhat impressed.

The band indulge the audience with a perfunctory encore and retire into the night, like gregarious vampires, never to be seen again…..at least until the next date on their Australian tour. They’re not Mogwai, but they are every bit as accomplished.

Fancy going to Victoria/Tasmania for New Years?

Well, the initial line up of the Falls Festival has been leaked, and there are some large names on the bill. Some names that might even encourage me to make the journey to either Lorne in Victoria or Tasmania for the second time.

Three great acts in the form of Grizzly Bear, Andrew Bird and Future of the Left are set to take the stage alongside other international artists such as the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and Moby. There seems to be a fair few great Australian artists set to play including Lisa Mitchell and Philadelphia Grand Jury. Looking to be a great line up already!

You can have a sneak peak on the Falls Festival website.