Howlin Wolf - Smokestack Lightnin'

The rains are heavy, the clouds are dark and even a redhead wouldn't burn under this sunlight. It's a nice day for a blues track. Throw on Smokestack Lightnin' by Howling Wolf. It might not make you feel better but damned if he doesn't empathise with you. Smokestack draws you in with a slick, crisp blues riff and humming harmonica attached to Wolf's growling voice. Pick up a cigarette and pour yourself a whiskey, it's that kinda song.

Single Review


Twin Shadow - Five Seconds


With gritty, synth-laden, simple emotive lyrics, Twin Shadow, aka George Lewis Jr., has produced what I consider the first stand out track of 2012. I've been waiting all year for something to capture my attention but have been left wanting with many of the releases. “Five Seconds” will evoke obvious comparisons to new wave and the Eighties sound and it definitely edges on that nostalgia. Listening to it, one can imagine themselves driving through the water soaked streets of New York City blindly following the black tar, just to get away from that person who “made you cry”. It seems to be that alt-folk music short era is drawing to a close and thanks to artists like Twin Shadow, a more pensive sound is evolving. It's a more than polished single and I can't wait for the entire album, “Confess”, to come out in July.

 

Punk and Gatt Present the Amazing Race Around Perth

So I stumbled across this in my documents and never actually showed anyone. For those of you that were lucky enough to partake in this incredible event organised by one Michael Gatt (and whose blog you should also check out http://punkluckdesign.blogspot.com/) and Mr Andrew "Punk" Brookes, this will hopefully be a race down memory lane. For anyone else foolish enough to read this thing, hopefully you get the idea of what this fantastic day was about! Oh, also you should definitely check out the amazing (no pun intended) trailer at the end brought to you by PGav!

Sorry!One more thing, as usual, this thing isn't finished :)


Punk and Gatt Present The Amazing Race around Perth

Part One – Start to Stage Three

A bucket full of keys thrown into a typical warm Perth breeze followed by a manic scramble of fairy wings, a married couple, martial artists, punk rockers and criminal escapees shot gunned the beginning of the first Amazing Race around Perth. Following the directions of one of the organisers (Punk) of “almost anything goes” contestants threw their competitors keys in every direction, as people frantically searched for their belongings and made a mad dash to their cars to be the first off the block to secure pole position to the first stop. Straight off the bat a contestant's work vehicle (of which the company shall not be named) careered left of round-about to be speeding their way to the first stop as described by the not-so cryptic clue left on the windscreen while the contestants were being prepped for the race. Teams were quickly separated as they took to their own routes, either in search of bonus points or to gain the upper hand and complete the tasks with haste.

The first task indicated that the wicket-keeping skills of Gilchrist were required at the DNA Tower in Kings Park. Since Gilly was presumably unavailable at the time, our own catching prowess would have to suffice. Upon landing at the destination amid illegally parked cars and potential saboteurs, Punk informed the teams as they dribbled in that one member would be required to sprint up the tower holding five water balloons and drop them to their partner below where he or she simply had to catch only one of the falling bombs. This was obviously easier said than done as evident by those with drenched t-shirts and wet hair (although I'm pretty sure Punk didn't help their cause) but even they were soon on their way to stop number two.

The next challenge given was to find the next John Butler in Fremantle and have a photo with the “talented” busker. Of course in between these challenges bonus points were awarded for various feats which were not always easy to accomplish but those who went out of the way were duly rewarded come the end of the race. Luckily for teams who were not so adept at these bonus point challenges, easy points were on the cards (unless you were hooning down on a motorcycle) if you were quick enough with the camera on Stirling Highway to take a snapshot of the iconic big red dingo on the flour mill. The biggest problem with this type of race involving Fremantle is the limited legal parking space. Fortunately, if you were resourceful enough (e.g., willing to stretch the definition of “legal parking”) this problem was easily solved and all that remained was to find a willing busker. My partner and I were lucky enough to find an accordionist fellow, wise in his years, who was more than willing to accommodate us and another team with a smile which just goes to show that Freo folk aren't as kooky as you may expect.

The third challenge required contestants to traverse the oft-rumoured “Highway to Hell” east down Canning Highway in search of Gatt apparently playing rugby in a park somewhere. A serious, high-stakes event such as this would not be complete without some sort of culinary confrontation. Like a frat-boy social, one member was to be blindfolded while the team mate fed an unknown “food” to the other. Personally, the canned food was not the gastronomical abhorrence I had psyched myself up for, but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy two dollar canned chicken again.

Hottest 100 2010

Happy endings don't exist. Ask Angus Stone. Fortunately for him he has the ability to turn unrequited love into the number one song in Australia, combining with his sister Julia to produce “Big Jet Plane”. The sibling-duo topped Triple J's Hottest 100 in a list dominated by local acts. So now that the most asked question has been answered, how did the rest of the list fair? The 2010 hottest 100 lacked the fist-pumping, foot-stomping, dance crazed appeal of previous years. Gone were the giants of the international music industry and instead those places were filled with a mixture of pop and folk from artists that are still really finding their place on the world scale.

Perhaps it was because I was away for more than half the year but the top 10 seemed awkward and uninteresting. Maybe Little Red's track “Slow Motion” deserved to take the place of their second placed effort “Rock It”. Maybe I don't like the radio-friendly direction Birds of Tokyo are going with in “Plans”. Maybe I simply prefer the original version of “Fall at Your Feet” covered by Boy & Bear. Maybe Cee-Lo's soulful charm in “Fuck You” was wasted on me because I wasn't around for the hype, or perhaps it is slightly overrated. Or maybe Art vs Science should have taken a drink from their “Magic Fountain” before following up their much more original “Parlez Vous Francais?”. It should be noted that Ou Est Le Swimming Pool's infectious indie hit “Dance the Way I Feel” did thoroughly deserve to be up there and Swedish muso Adrian Lux churned out a surprisingly head-in-the-clouds track with “Teenage Crime”. Whatever the reason the majority of this year's top ten appeared off-kilter and not at all up to par with previous years.

As for the remaining ninety percent, the Australian influence in the poll was clearly evident with local names taking charge with American and British artists taking a back seat. An interesting direction of contemporary music is also happening. Like with most art forms there is an ebb and flow in what becomes popular. There's no denying indie is currently en vogue but definition of the genre is up in the air. Folk is stealing it's way into the vernacular and electro/pop is sometimes used as a synonym. The masses are confused what era they should be drawing from, should one follow the sounds of the heart-wrenched warbling of Simon and his pal Garfunkel or is it cooler to recreate the vibrancy of Gang of Four. Triple J's Album of the Year will have you believe psyche-rock is in with Tame Impala re-creating the ethereal sounds of the 70s.

It's quite possible that I'm looking at all this far too in depth and that this year's crop of music just was sub-par. Or maybe I just have crap taste. None-the-less on a compilation level the entertainment value for the top 100 tracks of 2010 was lacking. Here's hoping 2011 brings out something spectacular. 

Pre-amble

So, if you read the last post you'll notice this is not Part II of Southbound as I had originally intended. Long story short, I got lazy and I figured most other media had covered the music side of the festival pretty well. Also I was pretty happy with the way that article turned out so I thought I'd leave it on a high :)

It has been awhile since my last review of any sort so here's a succinct critique of the Hottest 100. I've been told that I was pretty critical of the way the festival was run and generally write on most events with a negative spin. In light of this I tried to remain positive with the Hottest 100. I failed. 

If anyone is curious, I voted for:

Angus And Julia Stone - Big Jet Plane
Crystal Castles - Not In Love {Ft. Robert Smith}
Delphic - This Momentary
Two Door Cinema Club - Do You Want It All
Funeral Party - Finale
King Cannons - Take The Rock
National, The - Terrible Love
National, The - Sorrow
Split Seconds - Bed Down

Hottest 100 2010

• 1. Angus & Julia Stone - Big Jet Plane
• 2. Little Red - Rock It
• 3. Ou Est Le Swimming Pool - Dance The Way I Feel
• 4. Birds Of Tokyo - Plans
• 5. Boy & Bear - Fall At Your Feet
• 6. Adrian Lux - Teenage Crime
• 7. Cee Lo Green - Fuck You!
• 8. The Wombats - Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)
• 9. Art Vs. Science - Magic Fountain
• 10. Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. - Somebody To Love Me {Ft. Boy George & Andrew Wyatt}
• 11. Pendulum - ABC News Theme {Remix}
• 12. Drapht - Rapunzel
• 13. Sia - Clap Your Hands
• 14. Kanye West - Runaway {Ft. Pusha T}
• 15. Duck Sauce - Barbara Streisand
• 16. The Jezabels - Mace Spray
• 17. Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. - Bang Bang Bang {Ft. MNDR & Q-Tip}
• 18. Cloud Control - There's Nothing In The Water We Can't Fight
• 19. Flight Facilities - Crave You {Ft. Giselle}
• 20. Washington - Sunday Best
• 21. Two Door Cinema Club - Undercover Martyn
• 22. Children Collide - Jellylegs
• 23. Bliss N Eso - Addicted
• 24. Sparkadia - Talking Like I'm Falling Down Stairs
• 25. Gotye - Eyes Wide Open
• 26. Crystal Castles - Not In Love {Ft. Robert Smith}
• 27. Florence & The Machine/Dizzee Rascal - You've Got The Dirtee Love {Live}
• 28. Darwin Deez - Radar Detector
• 29. Illy - It Can Wait {Ft. Owl Eyes}
• 30. Yeasayer - O.N.E
• 31. The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio
• 32. Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks
• 33. Tame Impala - Solitude Is Bliss
• 34. The Naked And Famous - Punching In A Dream
• 35. Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. - The Bike Song {Ft. Kyle Falconer & Spank Rock}
• 36. Chiddy Bang - Opposite Of Adults
• 37. Gorillaz - Doncamatic {Ft. Daley}
• 38. The Naked And Famous - Young Blood
• 39. John Butler Trio - Revolution
• 40. Gyroscope - Baby, I'm Getting Better
• 41. Bliss N Eso - Down By The River
• 42. Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill
• 43. Yolanda Be Cool/DCUP - We No Speak Americano
• 44. Crystal Castles - Baptism
• 45. Boy & Bear - Rabbit Song
• 46. Bag Raiders - Way Back Home
• 47. Birds Of Tokyo - Wild At Heart
• 48. Pendulum - Witchcraft
• 49. The Jezabels - Easy To Love
• 50. Hot Chip - One Life Stand
• 51. Yeasayer - Ambling Alp
• 52. The John Steel Singers - Overpass
• 53. Bliss N Eso - Reflections
• 54. Miami Horror - Holidays {Ft. Alan Palomo}
• 55. Vampire Weekend - Giving Up The Gun
• 56. Sia - Bring Night
• 57. Example - Kickstarts
• 58. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
• 59. Washington - Rich Kids
• 60. Children Collide - My Eagle
• 61. Ou Est Le Swimming Pool - Jackson's Last Stand
• 62. Angus And Julia Stone - Hold On
• 63. Arcade Fire - Ready To Start
• 64. Gypsy & The Cat - Jona Vark
• 65. Dead Letter Circus - One Step
• 66. Cold War Kids - Audience
• 67. Vampire Weekend - Holiday
• 68. Andy Bull - Dog {Ft. Lisa Mitchell}
• 69. Pendulum - Watercolour
• 70. Groove Armada - Paper Romance
• 71. Gypsy & The Cat - Piper's Song
• 72. Two Door Cinema Club - I Can Talk
• 73. Gypsy & The Cat - Time To Wander
• 74. Tame Impala - Lucidity
• 75. Hungry Kids Of Hungary - Coming Around
• 76. Kings Of Leon - Radioactive
• 77. Big Boi - Shutterbugg {Ft. Cutty}
• 78. Gorillaz - Stylo {Ft. Bobby Womack and Mos Def}
• 79. Little Red - Slow Motion
• 80. The Black Keys - Howlin' For You
• 81. Klaxons - Echoes
• 82. The Black Keys - Tighten Up
• 83. Arcade Fire - Modern Man
• 84. Washington - The Hardest Part
• 85. Hot Chip - I Feel Better
• 86. Evil Eddie - Queensland
• 87. Birds Of Tokyo - The Saddest Thing I Know
• 88. Kanye West - Monster {Ft. JAY-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver}
• 89. Interpol - Barricade
• 90. Art Vs. Science - Finally See Our Way
• 91. The Bedroom Philosopher - Northcote (So Hungover)
• 92. LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change
• 93. The National - Anyone's Ghost
• 94. Xavier Rudd - Time To Smile
• 95. Broken Bells - The High Road
• 96. Jonsi - Go Do
• 97. Parkway Drive - Sleepwalker
• 98. Foals - Spanish Sahara
• 99. Dead Letter Circus - Big
• 100. Muse - Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever

Southbound - Part One

Part One

Let me get this out of the way. I had a brilliant time at Southbound. I heard some great music, met loads of people, got my dance on like no ones business and kicked around in whatever I wanted without being shunned by Perth's self proclaimed fashion elite. That said, the festival down south was the most poorly executed and organised festivals I have ever had the privilege of attending. From the obscene threats of ticket destruction to uninformative and advertised-soaked booklets I could not help but think that this once premier summer festival concerned with culture, arts and music had turned into nothing but a money spinner.

Gone were the drumming circles after dark, the impromptu indigenous performing arts, the eccentricities of Perth's finest artists. Instead we were exposed to shiny lights illuminating a 15 foot metallic construction filled with cans (it's been done), a toy bobcat perched upon a collection of rubbish bin lids (something I thought was actually a pile of rubbish until I gave it a closer look) and photo booths which may or may not have being taken from your local shopping centre. It seemed the event organisers had taken a “less is more” strategy when thinking of ideas to occupy the $300 paying patrons time when they weren't checking out the artists on stage. It was not surprising at all when, on the last night, bored festival goers decided that a group march would be the best form of entertainment when the music stopped at 10PM. Two mediocre tents open after hours just doesn't cut it when it comes to entertaining 20+ thousand campers.

The major downfall of the festival was also its biggest selling point. The camping section at Southbound this year was always doomed with the announcement and scare tactics of a total alcohol ban. Perhaps it was this in conjunction with the sweltering heat that resulted in a Happy Camping section derive of energy and atmosphere. Alternatively it could've been the ludicrous rules imposed on the campers. A 2am curfew for campers who not only have paid the money to stay, but who are legal adults, is completely patronising. Being told to go to bed by any one other than your folks is really bad form on the organisers part.

I understand that large amounts of money need to come from somewhere to support such a huge endeavour that is a three day music festival. But does it need to come in the form of giant plastic balls with a certain insurance company's insignia plastered all over it? Do we need every major landmark on the even grounds named after a particular sponsor with their brand smashing in our faces? I can't claim to be adept in the study of event management but I have attended enough festivals to realise that there are better ways to achieve the same goal. I think the abundance of advertising can be concluded simply by perusing the home page of the festivals site, 16(!) sponsor plugs compared only four (three of which are concerned with the betterment of social needs) on Denmark's leading festival home page, Roskilde.

To Event Managers – Please look to the world's premiere music festivals if you want to keep your festival running. Give people access to their cars. Provide free or highly subsidised transport to Busselton. Allow campers to take in some alcohol. Get rid of any curfew you have in mind. Give campers a priority section where you provide 24 hours entertainment around the clock. If you're going to claim to provide an arts festival, perhaps display something a little more nourishing than something by Mr. Squiggle (although he is very cool). People are paying money to have fun, give it to them.

Jay-Z and U2 - December 19 2010

Ambition (n.)

- 1. An earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction, as power, honour, fame or wealth, and the willingness to strive for its attainment. Too much ambition caused him to be disliked by his colleagues.

- 2. A common trait executed with vigour by two of the biggest performing artists of our time. Jay-Z and U2 combine to bring a show full of talent, showmanship and ambition to the shores of Western Australia.

Jay-Z

Businessman, entrepreneur and musician, Jay-Z exhibits all these traits as well as a multiple array of achievements that few could boast. It's unfortunate that Jay-Z was welcomed by a relatively sparse crowd upon his entrance to Subiaco Oval (Patterson Stadium) on the last balmy Sunday before Christmas. However, those that had made the effort to come early obviously knew the reputation of the hip-hop mogul and provided a buzz of anticipation with the countdown of the clock on the 360° screen. There's maybe only two working bands in the world at the moment (the other being the Rolling Stones) that would be able to get such an artist to support their show. Although it may be an interesting “support slot” choice for the 'biggest rock band in the world', Jay-Z would undoubtedly go close to stealing the show from U2 if he was let loose in their multi-million dollar playground.

I'm going to be up front and say that I'm not familiar with the majority of his works, I know a few of his more well known tracks and the stuff I've heard, including his collaborations, have suggested that I really should go out of my way to give this guy a listen. But it didn't matter that I only knew “99 Problems” or “H to the Izzo” or that “Empire State of Mind” and “Numb Encore” had a major influence by featuring artists that were not present, Jay-Z and his band got me (and everyone around) “bounce- bounce- bouncing”. With his trademark black sunglasses and big leather jacket, black t-shirt, long shorts with sneakers and military style cap, Jay-Z oozed street cred and embodied, at least in my view, New York hip-hop. It's a big ask to warm up a crowd of guitar hungry fans, but Jay-Z's brand of lyrically strong anthems and his solid stage presence were well received by at least the front mosh of the stage. As it was U2's circular stage, it may not have been Jay-Z's choice to only utilise a fraction of the floor space, but it would have been hard for the fans behind the main arena to enjoy the quality on display. Jay-Z seems to be the sort of character that has never entertained the thought of achieving anything less than he imagined, I just can't wait to see what he imagines next. 

U2

The four pronged attack of The Claw surely must have symbolic reference to the magnitude of the impact of the four individuals that combine to make U2. Or maybe its just because it looks really cool. U2 burst onto the stage playing their instrumental track “Return of the Stingray Guitar” with the Edge raging a powerful riff, Adam Clayton pumping out a bass line reminiscent of the best of Muse, Larry Mullens Jnr. pounding the drums and Paul Hewson strutting around on stage like he was Bono. Hold on. That aging rock star, complete with leather pants Jon Bon Jovi would be jealous of, IS Bono. Segueing into “Beautiful Day”, the voice of U2 didn't waver as Bono soared into the chorus accompanied by over 50000 back up singers. I'm not really sure why, but Bono has a trend of extended verses unnecessarily (mostly adding lyrics from popular songs) which for some tracks work, but U2's more established songs suffer under this technique and unfortunately this was case for the their Grammy Award winning single.

It was always going to be interesting to see how the much publicised 360° stage and screen was going to be put to use by the ambitious quartet. To be honest, it was a valiant effort but one that did not quite come up to par. This became apparent early in the set not long after “New Years Day”, a solidly performed rendition of a track from their wonder years but it seemed they lost the crowd just a tiny bit when they got into their more contemporary works. The crowd were definitely attentive, and even entertained, but the energy on the vast stage did not seem to transcend downwards and fans did not really seem to know what to do when Bono was conducting the audience away from them.

U2 have an expansive back catalogue but it was their defining era of the 80s with tracks from October, War, The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum that provided many of the night's highlights. The usual suspects were on display (“I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For”, “Desire”, “All I Want is You”, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, “One”, “Where The Streets Have No Name” and “With or Without You”) and every one of them were performed effortlessly and with great love for their work.

U2's anti-establishment roots are well documented, but these opinions (although valid) cause the show to drag especially when voiced by their front man. “Miss Sarajevo”, for example, is brilliant (Bono's delivery of the operatic solo still gives me goose bumps) but his two cents worth after combined with a video montage is a bit much. Perhaps this method works though. Thinking back to the gig, I remember more about his ideology than about specifics of his performance. Peace. Love. Tolerance. Political activism. It's all good. But in the moment, it takes away from four great musicians still at the top of their game.

U2 and Jay-Z are the royalty of their respective genres. They both have their critics, but its mostly due to their extracurricular ventures outside the stage rather than the incredible catalogue of musical credentials to their name. Ambition – it's something to strive for.

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