Sunday, January 31, 2010

Laneway Brisbane 2010

The lineup this year was not bad. Not great but enough to keep interest. Echo & The Bunnymen pulling out the day before was greeted with alarm by more than a few people who seemed to be buying tickets just to see them. Dirty Three stepping up to replace them was a good thing because at least it saved me the choice of Echo v Black Lips. Having seen Dirty Three just last week and not seen Black Lips before I was going to see Black Lips. Of course all this is of little interest to you dear reader because my mics died sometime between Wild Beasts and Daniel Johnston.

All I have for you is Wild Beasts, part of the Daniel Johnston set and Eddy Current Supression Ring. The Daniel J and Eddy Current sets are recorded through the DR-07 internal mics and while the instrumentation is clean the vocals are a little echoey.

I post them because I have them.

Wild Beasts - Live @ Laneway Brisbane - 29 Jan 2010

Daniel Johnston - Live @ Laneway Brisbane - 29 Jan 2010

Eddy Current Supression Ring - Live @ Laneway Brisbane - 29 Jan 2010

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Dirty Three and Laughing Clowns

To finish off the 4 day weekend [and me] Dirty Three played Ocean Songs [1hr 40min] and Laughing Clowns played History of Rock n' Roll Volume One [1hr 05min].

Started at 8.00pm, 30min break between bands and i walked out at 11.30. Absolutely exhausted. Absolutely thrilled.

Not much you can say about these two bands. You just have to listen to it.

The Laughing Clowns - History Of Rock n' Roll Volume One - Live @ The Tivoli - 25 Jan 2010

Dirty Three - Ocean Songs - Live @ The Tivoli - 25 Jan 2010

i heart hiroshima say goodbye

With Susie Patten re-locating to Berlin for a while this may be the last i heart show. ever. bugger.

Kick off with bigstrongbrute whose music is big and strong but hardly brute.
bigstrongbrute - Live @ The Powerhouse - 24 Jan 2010
Next is Dick Diver [Melb] whose every now and then reminded me of Television for some reason though the connection is clearer in the rising slide progression in Future Self Ver. 2. This is a good thing. Marquee Moon is probably my all time favourite LP. And the non-Television stuff is fun too.
Dick Diver - Live @ The Powerhouse - 24 Jan 2010
i heart hiroshima played two sets. One for each CD. Tuff Teef and The Rip. And an encore. Matt Somers was not well. At times he strained to sing at all. At one point he dropped a song from the set and Susie asked for suggestions. I was louder than the rest so they played Feel It which I first heard in Jamies Carpark in April 2006 [also I think the first time I saw the band] As an aside that was also the first time I saw Scul Hazzards when they were a 5 piece. Scul Hazzard are back from a long visit to Europe [two years?] and playing in early Feb. That, I am looking forward to oh yes.

Anyway two albums of seriously great pop music. The more I listen to The Rip the better it gets. And it's even better live. The vibe at the show was great. It was an all ages show and kids aren't too cool to dance at all. I loved it. I will miss the band.
i heart hiroshima - tuff teef - Live @ The Powerhouse - 24 Jan 2010
i heart hiroshima - The Rip - Live @ The Powerhouse - 24 Jan 2010
i heart hiroshima - Encore - Live @ The Powerhouse - 24 Jan 2010

Lovers Of Modern Art

released their new CD on Friday night and were supported by The Cheats [Melb] and The Horrortones [Bristroit]

The Cheats played to a small early audience and apart from the vocals on the cover of Ballroom Blitz did a fine job.
The Cheats - Live @ The Troubadour - 22 Jan 2010

The Vegas Kings were supposed to support but Angus the drummer had a touch football accident so The Horrortones stepped up to the plate and hit it hard in their stead. They claimed that they hadn't rehearsed at such short notice but they were recording on Saturaday so I imagine some work had been done. In any case thought they played just fine. Unfortunately they didn't and asked me not to post the recording. I look forward to the double 7' single with gatefold sleeve featuring a popup of the band.

Went for walk to Clubhouse and heard a couple of songs from Moon Jog
Moon Jog [Two Songs Only] - Live @ The Clubhouse - 22 Jan 2010

Lovers Of Modern Art played an enjoyable set of indie pop. Silas the keyboard/theramin player entertained the crowd throughout.
Lovers Of Modern Art - Live @ The Troubadour - 22 Jan 2010

Swamp And Surf

A packed Saturday night at the Zoo with local band Swamplords headlining a twang packed bill.

Keep on Dancin's started the night. Moody reverb drenched ballads.
Keep On Dancin's - Live @ The Zoo - 23 Jan 2010
Two thirds of the way through the excellent Running Guns set I checked my gear and ... nothing... new batteries dead. Change, get last two songs.
Running Guns [Two Songs Only] - Live @ The Zoo - 23 Jan 2010
Down the newsagent, new batteries, back for the Sulphur Lights who were a little too reverb drenched tonight for the sound system but still an enjoyable set.
Sulphur Lights - Live @ The Zoo - 23 Jan 2010
Finally Swamplords. I had seen only the Shit! Life! performance and was looking forward to this. That cemetery set was a lot more relaxed than this but I really enjoyed the performance. Looking forward to how they develop.
Swamplords - Live @ The Zoo - 23 Jan 2010

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Sunset Sounds 2010 Day 1

A lot of people I spoke to were less than enthusiastic about the lineup on Day 1 but I thought it held together well.

DZ played a good set and the stage sound was fine. This did bode well for the rest of the Festival and overall the Sound people did a very god job.

The Phenomenal Handclap Band were not at all Phenomenal. Average, very average. I'm told they have a popular song that was played a lot on the radio last year. People even hummed it to me to remind me of it, I must have heard it. Shows you how much radio I listen to and how far a band can go on the strength of a song that gets played a lot on the radio.

As an aside, I do not these days listen much to the radio mainly because the only time I really have to do it is in the car to and from work and I uniformly hate breakfast and drive time radio, or in the evenings. I listen to a couple of specialist shows on Community Radio [plug alert: 4ZZZ and 3RRR ] but otherwise I'm here or reading or out listening to live music. Any new music I hear these days in intermediated by people on the internet and the people I'm talking to haven't heard The Phenomenal Handclap Band either. If they have they haven't mentioned it. As well, if I am going to a festival or even a concert, and I will see bands I haven't heard I usually don't listen to their stuff before hand so I'm open to what they do with few pre-conceptions.

Kaki King is a very good guitar player and I thoroughly enjoyed her show. Mind you, I was expecting a lot more guitar work having heard her reputation rather than any of her work [see above]

Seasick Steve was a lot of fun. I don't know how much of his shtick is real but it's easy to suspend disbelief and go with the stories.

I had heard a couple of Rodrigo y Gabriela tracks but didn't realize they didn't sing at all. A very happy audience and I'm glad I went. There was some kind of problem with my mics in this set and whole sections of the left channel were just missing. The problem didn't re-occur the next day so I don't know what happened. In parts of this recording then I have copied the right channel over the left. You may notice it; you may not. Fortunately there are only the two instruments on stage and the separation was good. I don't think you lose much positional feeling.

Apparently Moby played a blistering set and was a smash on the Main Stage. I'm happy with my choice.

Verdict DAY 1: 4 out of 5. Bands excellent [except the happy clappers, I didn't even get to hear the hit]. It almost rained but didn't but real sore feet.

DZ - Live @ Sunset Sounds - 06 Jan 2010

The Phenomenal Handclap Band - Live @ Sunset Sounds - 06 Jan 2010

Kaki King - Live @ Sunset Sounds - 06 Jan 2010

Seasick Steve - Live @ Sunset Sounds - 06 Jan 2010

Rodrigo y Gabriela - Live @ Sunset Sounds - 06 Jan 2010

Sunset Sounds 2010 Day 2

Yesterday I stayed away from the Main Stage and today I was there for all but 1 band.

The John Steele Singers started the day with a upbeat set that had the crowd bouncing around. Loved the horses heads but didn't understand them at all. A great lead in to King Kahn.

King Kahn & The Shrines killed it. Just brilliant stuff. Even did a cover of 'Know Your Product' in honor of Brisbane i guess. Had the JSS horses on stage for that one as well. King Kahn was magnificent in his blue robe, underwear and the arse end of a bird stuck to his head. And of course shoeless, because Indians always remove their shoes before they do anything sacred.

The Editors were a bit of a comedown after that but next to The Bloc Party they are probably my favourite current English guitar band. The crowd went wild enough.

Meanwhile over at the other stage Grizzly Bear also sent the crowd wild though I'm physically unmoved by them. I enjoyed it but jeez, maybe they could take a minute halfway through to crank it up a bit? One speed gets a bit monotonous. They need more.

Karen O has the crowd in her hands. I'm down the front and there's lots of crowd noise but I had a good time thanks for asking.

Day 2 Verdict: 5 out of 5, half point off for Grizzly Bear [they need it] but half a point extra for King Kahn [he doesn't need it]. Got sunburned but some people bought me a beer. Hello to the Corner Crew from Splendour. I have many more stories for August.

John Steele Singers - Live @ Sunset Sounds - 07 Jan 2010

King Kahn & The Shrines - Live @ Sunset Sounds - 07 Jan 2010

The Editors - Live @ Sunset Sounds - 07 Jan 2010

Grizzly Bear - Live @ Sunset Sounds - 07 Jan 2010

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Live @ Sunset Sounds - 07 Jan 2010

Friday, January 8, 2010

Sunset Sounds 2010 - A Taste

Over the weekend I'll clean up and upload the sets from Sunset Sounds which overall was really really good. Until then here are some tracks from the two days.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Hello Again

Roots Manuva supported by Amp Fidler and Thunderheist. Not a bad evenings entertainment.

Some uneven sound in Thunderheist's set and I boosted the vocals a bit. The vocalist worked hard and captured the front few rows at least.

Amp Fidler was OK , fun but a bit generic.

Roots Manuva has a great show. Would have liked more of his early stuff and a bit more of him and not so much of his crew but worth every cent.

Welcome to 2010

Thunderheist - Live @ The Hi-Fi - 01 Jan 2010

Amp Fiddler - Live @ The Hi-Fi - 01 Jan 2010

Roots Manuva - Live @ The Hi-Fi - 01 Jan 2010