Song of the day – 171: The Rolling Stones
The one Rolling Stones song I like. I’m clearly posting it up here because of this.
notes from an email to an organiser of Sound Summit…
…I’m happy for you to come up with the questions, thanks Chris. The dialogue between myself and Shaun Prescott over the Washington review is interesting, gratuitous personal insults aside. He thinks it’s pointless to focus on the mediocrity that always exists (and I can understand that attitude because it means less space is actually given over […]
Song of the day – 170: My Friend Wallis
My Friend Wallis have a bandcamp page where you can download a whole bunch of great “tropical dream-funk from Vancouver” like this, for free. Sole band-member Crystal Dorval like the female Panda Bear, and I didn’t even realise I liked Panda Bear that much …
sound summit
So I thought I’d give a short plug to this DIY/independent/experimental music conference happening in Newcastle, 30 September – 4 October. I wouldn’t have volunteered to participate if I hadn’t thought it interesting. (This is not a complete lie. My tolerance for music industry conventions (alternative or otherwise) is generally very low. I don’t even […]
Everett True and his First Ladies Of Rock
I still write for a few other places. One of these is the excellent NYC femme-focused magazine, Bust, for which I write a regular column, Everett True and his First Ladies Of Rock, a short consumer guide look at some of the fine, unheralded, female-led bands around. I’ve been on at my contact at Bust […]
Song of the day – 169: Arrington de Dionyso
Olympia, Washington from Arrington himself, sending me download links to yet more of his imaginative, multi-dimensional, freestyle music. I never quite know what’s it going to sound like: from full-on demented Pop Group-style distortion, to throat singing, to abrasive atonal squalls of noise on unaccompanied bass clarinet, to this latest project Malaikat dan Singa. The […]
Song of the day – 168: The Monster Women
There’s this big beautiful chunk of 12-inch vinyl sitting on my desk. There’s a picture of a mermaid on the front, with stars over her nipples, and a small rocket-ship in the background. The album is called Murmaids From Mars, and I guess the red planet underneath the mermaid’s tail is indeed Mars. Anyway, the […]
Music Criticism for Dummies
1. I’m a music critic. That means that sometimes I don’t like certain records, and I’ll try and explain why. 2. I’m a music critic. That means that sometimes I don’t like certain shows, and I’ll try and explain why. 3. I’m a music critic. That means sometimes I might “criticise” the people who make […]
Song of the day – 167: Smudge
Effortless brilliance. The song is called ‘Superhero’, the city is Sydney and the era is early 90s, slacker generation. Here’s what I had to say about the recent Smudge compilation for Mess And Noise. I’ve since been advised that Smudge have never broken up, have gigged sporadically for several years and might well be recording […]
more on Washington
I wrote a review of the new Washington album for The Vine. You can find it here. ————————————————————————————————————————————————— Washington I Believe You Liar (Universal Music) Australia. You worry me sometimes. I’ve seen this album hailed as 2010’s saviour of pop. (This is what happens when you allow fucking radio presenters to moonlight as music critics, […]
