The QUT lecture theatre was half filled with about 150 blokes, mostly baby boomers, waiting to see and hear blues and jazz guitar legend Robben Ford . Some were carrying guitars, maybe unaware of the format of the master class or hoping to jam with their hero. With his much larger than life image projected on the wall behind, Robben Ford proved to be a friendly, interesting and interested focal point who invited everyone to ask questions any time throughout the 2.5 hours of music and conversation. The questions were a bit [...]
Les Paul was a true original and was one of western culture's most influential men during the second half of the twentieth century. In 1941, Les Paul invented the electric guitar . This enabled the guitar to be amplified and to rise above the sound of the other instruments. This paved the way for rock 'n' roll and through to music as we know it today. In 1952 Les Paul helped the Gibson company to create and produce the Les Paul model [...]
The Furia Sound Festival was held on the weekend on the outskirts of Paris and we attended the ROCK 'N' ROLL ( in the small tent in the corner ) day on Sunday. It was a very strange festival because in one little corner, in an old circus tent, there were some influential and rocking bands playing, which I will discuss soon, but on the two main stages there were some very wimpy and boring folk and pop bands ... it was nothing in comparison to the musical consistency one tends [...]
The Arkitekts are a French independent rock/pop trio who formed in the middle of November 2003. But their musical roots go back to the 1990s when front man on guitar and vocals David Law and drummer Vortex shared the stage in the group Flyshoes, who played about 300 concerts in France. With the addition of Tom Bass on bass guitar and keyboard (often played at the same time!) to complete the trio, The Arkitekts play an interesting mix of slightly goth, slightly grunge, slightly psychadelic, slightly [...]
This blog has been a labour of love and loath for over four and a half years now. It is always a time consuming process to manage the posts, researching bands or contemplating gigs, choosing and uploading photographs and writing the posts. In that time Something Old, Something New has received over half a million hits, a (small) number of thoughtful emails and comments, an equally small number of emails and comments slightly less thoughtful, far too many emails with nothing to do with music or what is posted here and a [...]
Villette Sonique is an annual music event in Paris aimed showcasing new and old Rock, Pop and Electro artists ... this blurb is from their website Will Future in music pass by a return to primitive instincts? These days, everybody speaks about tribalism, tropicalism and the new sound sensations quest. Villette Sonique 2009 takes place right in this mutation with a line up out of the usual musical boundaries. Following a breathtaking 2008 edition with rare bands performing amazing concerts (Devo, Shellac, Throbbing Gristle), this year's leitmotiv is an unstoppable metronome. [...]
Almost a month ago we were lucky enough to see one of the elder statesmen of electronic and experimental music in France, Pierre Henry , performing live at a six night spectacular of music and dance celebrating his amazing creations at Théâtre de la Cité Internationale . Pierre Henry was possibly the first formally educated musician to devote his energies to the (then) newly evolving electronic medium. He was a member of the first group responsible for the development [...]
Last Saturday there was a very interesting music/performance/science experiment at Saint Merri , this time celebrating Alvin Lucier . Two pieces were presented, Music for Solo Performer (from 1965) which is a performance for enormously amplified brain waves and percussion and Music on a Long Thin Wire (from 1977) which is a sound installation for audio oscillator and electronic monochord. Alvin Lucier was an american [...]
Bruxelles Sonic 2009 was billed as a night celebrating the Belgian electronique and Post-Rock music scene. We arrived at la Maison des métallos early enough to wander around listening to the "environment sonore" created by Jerome Deuson, which was on a constant loop for the entire evening, and to wander around the various spaces of the venue. The event proper began with The Aktivistv and Natalia De Mello , an audiovisual performance par excellence. The stage [...]
Glaz'art is a groovy music space in the 19th arrondissement (north east corner of Paris) which features all types of music but on Friday March 27 it presented a night of Post Rock and Noise. It is a small and skinny venue, and was very crowded on this cold Parisien evening, so securing a standing position with a view of the stage was very difficult. One Second Riot are a two piece from Lyon, France who create [...]
104 (centre quatre) was built in 1894 and was once a funeral house in the north east of Paris. In a rather well publicised and redevelopment the building was converted into a public art space consisting of numerous studios and performance halls which opened in 2008. Only a day after arriving in Paris we discovered that Philip Jeck and KK Null, amongst others, were to play free gigs there as a part of the Présences électronique 2009 festival. First up on a late Friday afternoon was a "Concert couché" [...]
I last saw the The Triffids play live in 1987, first in July at the Roskilde Festival in Copenhagen and then in October at the Town and Country Club in London. This was during one of the times when the band were trying to break into the European market, with some level of success, and they were really well received at both gigs. But those shows, and the earlier ones I was lucky enough to witness during their formative years in Perth, were worlds apart from the performance in February 2009 [...]
It seems to have been a year of attending gigs by bands who have broken up and reformed or no longer exist than seeing much new music. Last month I caught the newly reunited and original line up of the Stray Cats. And I was also lucky enough, thanks to the intervention of Mr Graham Lee, to attend the wonderful reunion/celebration gig by The Triffids in their home town. Added to this is the old bands I caught at the All Tomorrow's Parties [...]
It was back to the Powerhouse for the final night of Brisbane's disjointed version of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival and as a whole, this was to be my favourite evening. I was lucky enough to be at the very front and centre for most of the performances, except when a very rude and insisted Fuck Buttons fan kept squeezing in before their set started, after which she stood transfixed, seemingly unmoved by the power of their music – surely it should be about the music, not some idol-esque, blind [...]
The All Tomorrow's Parties full day festival in Brisbane was held at the Riverstage, surrounded by the Brisbane River on one side and nudged up against the Botanical Gardens, a lovely location for this music festival generally aimed at, and certainly attended by, a more mature audience. We arrived on a hot summer's afternoon to a venue with little shade to catch most of soul / jazz / guitar legend James Blood Ulmer's performance, who played a very personable and enjoyable set. It must have been disconcerting for the artists performing early in the afternoon, as [...]
The All Tomorrow's Parties festival has finally made it to the (east coast of) Australia, so I just had to go east. It is being presented in Brisbane over 4 separate days, but what a wonderful (disjointed version of this amazing) festival it has been so far. Harmonia opened the proceedings at the Powerhouse on Tuesday night with a set not too removed from many of the laptop performances of today. Harmonia were a Krautrock [...]
A little bit Elvis, a little bit Jerry Lee, a lot of Perth talent. The Burger Kings play southern fried Elvisonic Rock & Roll and cool cabaret and consists of musicians who between them have played in a very large number of quality Perth bands over the decades. Craig Wheel has played in seemingly countless bands including The Waltons , Deb, Love Pump and The Hoovers Hugh Veldon is another local legend [...]
The Howling Desperados , from way down deep in the West of Australia, saddled up and hit the trail in late 2007. They have quickly become the meanest bunch of no good, snake bellied, stone hearted killers on the whole of the Perth metropolitan alt-country music scene. The Howling Desperados are all about playin' original alt country music with style and havin' a grand ole time doin' it. So when folks come to their gigs they walk away smil'n and know'n they've just seen a kick ass [...]
Scante Regarde were (mostly) a three piece playing and recording in Perth between 1982 and 1984. They also spent some time touring the east of Australia The band consisted of Ian Young on guitar and vocals, Andrew Yates playing drums, Norm Parkhill on bass and vocals and for the final month or so of the band's existence (and for the posted track) Kate Bent doing vocals and trumpet. Between them the had previously played in a number of Perth bands including Eep Of The Grass, Photoplay, and would go on to play in [...]
Kno Matter played many gigs in the mid 1980's and were often as celebrated for their stage performance as for their musical abilities. Drummer Russ Wilson had played in a number of well respected Perth original bands and vocalist and guitarist Matt Wilson would go on to help create local circus troup Bizircus and eventually become a part of the legendary Circus Oz . Some of Kno Matter would also go on to form party band extraordinaire the [...]
Something Old, Something New
Bison - Quill
Neutral Milk Hotel- Aeroplane Over the Sea
Mr Fogg - Eleven
Crocodiles - Endless Flowers
