North Carolina's Annuals are producing some amazing lush sounds and to this day, I still can't fathom how the band's main architect, Adam Baker, could only be 20 years of age. They recently recorded a session for Daytrotter , which was reportedly after the longest drive of their tour. The track Bleary Eyed suddenly takes on a new meaning (well, different to the one described by Adam at Daytrotter). Annuals - Dry Clothes (Daytrotter Session) Annuals - Bleary Eyed (Daytrotter Session) [...]
Miss Macro released one of the albums of 2006 here locally, and recently dropped Moments in Movement in the US on Kill Rock Stars (home to The Gossip , Deerhoof ). Her distinct word-weaving rhymes is highly addictive and she will bring all her hotness to the Spectrum not once but twice this week. Thursday is with Muscles , who just like Macro, has been getting noticed by people in high places , and Friday is with local emcee The [...]
David Bowie, Glastonbury @ Openair Cinema - 2 Feb 07 Hot Chip @ Beck's Festival Bar - 27 Jan 07 Jet @ MTV's Foreplay - 26 Jan 07 Gareth Liddiard & Michael Noga @ Annandale Hotel - 18 Jan 07 Hot Chip - Boy From School [...]
Tim from The Basics had flagged this to me earlier, but it now looks like their month-long residency at The Hopetoun Hotel has been booked for April. However, it's not just Sydney that will get a taste of the sublime musical stylings of these sharp-dressed men. They will be somewhat ambitiously attempting to travel up and down the eastern seaboard for a whole month, and also play shows in Brisbane and Melbourne. Dates posted on their myspace : 3 Apr - The Hopetoun w/ The Saturns (Sydney) 4 Apr - The Troubadour w/ [...]
There's nothing quite so captivating as dream pop made good. With layer upon layer of guitars meticulously put together, and muted melodies over droning drums, She, Sir have created a sound that is as opaque as it is alluring. Recently dropped EP, Who Can't Say Yes , has obvious nods to Kevin Shields, but these classically trained Austin Texas natives are taking shoegaze to places that have not yet been tread. Highly recommended. She, Sir - You Can't Catch A Thing She, Sir - It's [...]
Wed 10: Big City Exile + Wons Phreely + Sea Bellies + House of Kings @ Hopetoun Hotel $8 Thu 11: Children Collide + Flamingo Crash @ Gasworks, Parramatta *Free* Inga Liljestrom + Brian Campeau @ Annandale Hotel $12 Lucy & the Pheronomes + Emergency Emergency + Best Friends @ Spectrum $10 De Jah Groove + Pablo Discobar + Learn to [...]
I first saw Finn Andrews and The Veils at a church in northern London way back in 2003. At the time, he seemed like this shy kid who had been with Rough Trade for a year or so, but also possessed one of the most interesting voices I had ever heard. It was an acoustic set and it was this strange, impassioned voice that filled the room, and he had the whole congregation speechless. Having spent most of his teenage years in New Zealand (later moving to London), he returns to play at the Auckland [...]
A last minute call out for NZ/Melbourne's Batrider proved to be well worth the trip out to the inner west 'burbs last night. We first heard about the band when Polaroids o' Androids reported on their ace night out back in October, and whenever their name was dropped, it always piqued my interest. Despite all that, I never got around to check the music out, and thus I was not really sure what to expect - art punk screamo with a dash of Tegan & Sara? (I couldn't help making that comparison based on the few [...]
Due to the threat of legal action by a band based in Portland Oregon, Shaky Hands have now become Cut Off Your Hands . In what must be a huge inconvenience for the young NZ band, not to mention their adoring fans, to their credit they have just gotten on with things and made a clever switch with the name of their much loved EP from 2006. Rolling Stone once said about them "awesomely angular, New Zealand's new finest purveyors of controlled chaos" , and they will strutting their stuff at this year's [...]
Wed 3: Modest Mouse + Dappled Cities Fly @ Enmore Theatre $55 Pang + Trilling Robotics + Sol Levy @ Annandale Hotel *Free* Special Patrol + Miyagi + Alec Eiffel @ Hopetoun Hotel $8 Thu 4: The Golden Age + Kids From Russia + Jarvis + The Saturns @ Annandale Hotel $10 That 1 [...]
It has been an incredibly fulfilling year here at gblk - lotsa new discoveries and friends made through this little corner of the interweb, that was only really created out of boredom. Who woulda thunk it? I just wanted to thank anyone and everyone who stopped by, left a comment, and gave encouragement along the way. Special thanks to all the other Sydney bloggers (be sure to check them out on the right nav bar) for all the support over the last few months. It has been quite a ride! I'll be partying mostly on [...]
30. Ground Components "Hands in the Air" 29. The Gossip "Standing in the Way of Control" 28. The Panda Band "Ghosts Have The Best Time" 27. The Strokes "You Only Live Once" 26. MSTRKRFT "Paris" 25. Richard In Your Mind "New Sun" 24. Low Lustre "Dancing Blind" 23. Midlake "Roscoe" 22. Destroyer "Painter In Your Pocket" 21. The Little Ones "Lovers Who Uncover" 20. Beirut "Interior of a Dutch House" 19. [...]
It has been quite a year in terms of live music around these parts. By my shaky calculations, I attended 62 shows/festivals and saw entire sets from 113 bands/artists in 2006 (Shudder to think how much that would have cost). With that being said, here are our favourites of the year: #1 - Broken Social Scene / New Buffalo @ Metro (4 Mar) A phenomenal show of epic proportions. They played for almost 3 hours, and for the duration the crowd was in total raptures. The set consisted of pretty much everything I wanted [...]
Fri 22: Vespers + The Holidays + Diamond Daggers @ Candy's Apartment $10 David McCormack & the Polaroids + Bruce + Trevor Ludlow & the Hellraisers @ Hopetoun Hotel $15 Gerling + Dappled Cities Fly + Hand Me My Jet Pack @ Annandale Hotel $25 Sneaky Sound System + Pomomofo + The Heat + PNAU + Van She Tech @ The Forum $18 Rizzo & Pizzo + Lucy & the Pheromones + Robot Chop Shop @ Melt [...]
Yesterday, I was forced to take this site down momentarily and put this message up: "Due to a recent court ruling in Australia, this site will be inactive temporarily, while we figure a few things out. We expect to resume normal programming by tomorrow." The court ruling basically allows the recording industry to target individuals who link to copyright material from their blogs or myspace. You can read more about it at SMH . No, I was not directly targeted, but I guess if this [...]
Sydney's Wons Phreely is calling all internet/myspace star wannabies to help make him his next music video. The track for it will be Rules Of Nature , which will be in the forthcoming EP scheduled to be released in January. First download the track and go to his myspace for lyrics . Learn the song and then do as per Wons' instructions.. Set-up your cameras, web cams, or phone cameras and make your very best music video of you performing "Rules Of Nature"! Now don't worry [...]
The Christmas party season is well and truly in full swing, and it shows through the lack of updates here. From various amounts of free alcohol/food consumed, to staying at friends' couches throughout the week, I had to somehow fit in an incredible amount of gigging, not to mention work! It didn't help that when I did have a moment or two, one Adam Gilchrist was flailing his bat about , for some unmissable tv action. I shall attempt now to recollect the week that was.. --- My Latest Novel @ The [...]
Wed 13: The Holidays + The Vendettas + Wallspace @ Spectrum $8 Richard in Your Mind + A Squid Eating Dough.. + Catty & the Void @ Sandringham Hotel $5 Frenzal Rhomb + The Lawrence Arms + Jungle Fever @ Manning Bar $25 Thu 14: Expatriate + Jack Ladder + Bridezilla + Soft Tigers DJs @ Annandale Hotel $12 I [Love] Space [...]
If that face looks slightly familiar, it's because it belongs to Justin Rice of indie band Bishop Allen . He plays the lead in his former roommate Andrew Bujalski's new film Mutual Appreciation . "With two utterly distinctive features under his belt, ( Funny Ha Ha ) Andrew Bujalski is emerging as arguably the major new voice in US independent cinema. Clearly influenced by the semi-improvisational strategies of masters such as John Cassavetes and Mike Leigh, with dashes of early [...]
Midlake @ Gaelic Club, 8 Dec Friday night was Midlake . The band from Denton Texas, to my mind, had a lot to live up to, but thankfully they exceeded all expectations I had of them. It was a wonderfully understated performance, and one had the sense that they were in total control of their craft. If it weren't for the showstoppers 'Roscoe' or 'Young Bride' , it was the three-part harmonies of 'Head Home' , and the truly magnificent 'Balloon [...]
Get Big, Little Kid
Bison - Quill
Neutral Milk Hotel- Aeroplane Over the Sea
Shinichi Osawa – Big Beach Mix 2012
Mr Fogg - Eleven
