Sunday, August 31, 2003
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 The Anyones - Live Sydney
Opening with the sweetly nostalgic Orange Bubblegum , it‚s a great benchmark for all the perfect pop rock we‚re about to sample from Melbourne group, The Anyones.
Brothers Steve and Mal Pinkerton are the legs of the five-piece, managing to see to samplers, keyboards, guitars, tambourines, vocals and flute between them. The vocal harmonizing between them, as well as with bass player Nick Murphy is used to great effect, a throwback to the 60s sound of The Beach Boys and The Beatles.
In fact, The Anyones manage to delicately blend the best of the 60s, 70s and 80s into their sound, often into the one song, while maintaining a modern sensibility (as opposed to becoming yet another tribute to the past).
Their strength comes from a solid base in melodies and catchy riffs. Nobody can deny that we have a band with musical ability on our hands. But on top of this The Anyones add an interesting twist to their rock makeup, with samples of old film footage, quirky bitter synth-keys, whistling and put-on voices, as well as the use of classic instruments such as the flute. But none of it sounds like a gimmicky attachment.
Instead it seamlessly blends into their sound, adding an extra layer of complexity to their likable pop sound. They move through their songs with a confidence that doesn't see them try to be good......they simply are good.
Monica |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 07:42] |
Thursday, August 28, 2003
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Practice Your Keyboard Skills
The Touretteaphone play sad swearwords on this online synth/keyboard... Fantastic stuff.
This is what the internet was created for.
Thanks to Bondi Modern Lovers for the pointer.
Bondi Modern Lovers will be playing at the first 12 Apostles club night, Call To Prayer on 27 September at the Hollywood Hotel in Surry Hills Sydney. |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 04:39] |
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
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Meem
Now Canberra boys and girls The Bumblebeez are making it onto the likes of Rough Trade lists and becoming XFM fave of the week as well as appearing in the UK style mags .
We'd just like to remind you that it was the apostles who told you about their White Printz ep at least six months ago as well as their chaotically refreshing live experience supporting the truly dreadful Death in Vegas a couple of months ago
Now it's time to tell you about funky dread house boy Meem who has just released his new CD the Big Hoo Hah. It'll be rippin' up euro dancefloors next summer.
We especially like it because of the fact that his mum sewed up all the ltd edition felt cd covers. |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 07:18] |
Monday, August 25, 2003
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Anarchy Old Fogey Style
The Pistols were amazing.... They rocked a packed 9:30 Club big time.
A leaner, meaner Johnny Rotten was in fine voice 'n' fettle, by turns praising our enthusiastic response & goading us in vintage style, all the while with trademark maniacal look on his face. Cookie kept the beat superbly at the back, while Glen Matlock played expertly & looks like he's barely aged a bit!
As for my all-time guitar idol Jonesy, what can I say? It was everything I hoped for. I camped out about 30 feet from his backline & reveled in blast after blast of his awesome powerchords (my head is still ringing this morning -- always the sign of a good gig!). The man is a guitar god, end of. Sure, he's put on about 4 stone, but he still rocks like a muddafugga.
The band were great, the sound was great, they played every song in their catalogue except Did You No Wrong,"Satellite (2 of my faves, actually, but oh well), & "I Wanna Be Me," & the crowd loved every minute.
We did get a rare airing of Belsen Was A Gas though, which brought a wry smile to my lips since that's a song immortalised by Patrick's unique, albeit unintended, jazz-fusion interpretation of playing it on the bass in a completely different key to the rest of the band during Suburban Relapse's big Charterhouse Concert Hall debut in 1980!
This is one of the best gigs I've seen. I got to the club at 9:00, they came on as billed at 9:30 putting the punk in punctual, they rocked the house for an hour, & I was back home & tucked into bed with my hot cocoa by 11:00 -- now that's anarchy old fogey style & I love it!
Thanks to our rawk correspondent in DC... the one and only big Kev |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 23:28] |
Divine Comedy?
How better to pass a Bank Holiday Monday (in the UK anyway) than checking where about in Dante's Inferno one should be residing?
If the results don't look too good worry not, at least the views are stimulating. |
| [posted in Bow :: at 19:15] |
Biftek! Live
Saturday night and the Oriental room of the Mandarin Club had become the meeting place for electronic music loving nerds of all ages to feel cool, be cool and try so hard to look cool they were cool.
DJ OB, Dsico and Sub Bass Snarl warmed the crowd up with a mix of wicked beats, breaks and electro.
Around 12.30 the women of the hour finally stepped up dressed immaculately in black with silver ties. It was B(if)tek's album launch and they certainly impressed their fans with some diverse explorations of chilled ambience and electro dance tunes.
Monica |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 04:39] |
Sunday, August 24, 2003
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Afghani Riot Girlz
Germany's surprise hit of the summer has been the Burqa Band
Three Afghani women musicians who are have unsuprisingly decided to stay clad from head to foot in their video as some of their male countrymen might not quite understand the power and thrill of drums, bass & guitar. |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 05:39] |
FlashMobbing - The New Rock'n'Roll
Sydney's first flashmob happened yesterday. See the video
Hound Dogs and Rockin' cats
Careful you don't get Flash Mugged though.... |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 05:29] |
Friday, August 22, 2003
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Small Change
Move over 50 Cent - here comes 50 Shekel and his Jew-unit.
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| [posted in Bow :: at 09:33] |
Burning Man Festival Next Week
The apostles are jealous The Burning Man festival starts next week in Black Rock Nevada and none of us will be there due to bourgeois constraints such as jobs, children and lack of money.
If we were there we'd be attending events such as the Mad Cow Country Club Prayer Flags Meeting / The Tribal Penis Gourds Workshop / Tea Time / The Turnip Head Cult & Mai Tai Monday
And without a doubt we'd be at the Church of WOW where they tell us
In the beginning was the word, and it was WOW! Join us for full days of ecstatic play, get down with the Church of WOW Techno-Gospel Choir, witness in the come-to-WOW Tent Revival and Temple of Rowdy Blessings, channel wowness with the High Priestess of the TaLK ShOw, hear what your friends have to say in the do-it-yourself Funeral Parlour. By night, come to the Light of the Laser Cathedral and transform your physical body into a light being at one with the grooves. Recover with morning yoga and start it all again. Be here WOW!
Maybe next year... |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 01:01] |
Thursday, August 21, 2003
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Mono Is Best
Want to know what's happening music wise in Aus & NZ... don't read us, read Mono. Net
All the newest bands from around the country and it all looks very nice as well. |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 07:18] |
Sounds Like...
Has anybody noticed how much new Sydney band The Mess Hall who are being touted as the aussie duo answer to the likes of the White Stripes et al sound like an early version of The Fall especially so that singer whose name I now forget.
Anyway... this apostle says ... at long last Mark E needs to take a rest.. step up The Mess Hall |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 07:05] |
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
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A Modest Proposal from GNN
"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty" so said Edward R. Murrow some years ago...
...and the folks over at Guerrilla New Network are here to remind us that it still holds true as they (Channel) Surf the Apocalypse (big file but well worth the effort of getting to see it). While you're in the vicinity check out the excerpts from 'Aftermath, unanswered questions from 911' for a shot of conspiracy/truth narrated and scored by Paris. |
| [posted in Bow :: at 20:49] |
Sunday, August 17, 2003
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Jazz Funk Weekender
Here at 12 Apostles we are more than a little excited to see that arch wreckers of civilisation Throbbing Gristle are to re-unite next may as part of a weekend long 'celebration of industrial music in the 21st century'. RE~TG will be taking place over 3 days at Camber Sands and looks to be using a similar format to the All Tomorrows Parties event. In addition to TG the line-up so far includes, Lydia Lunch, Pansonic, Coil, Matmos, Thee Majesty and Merzbow plus rare footage from the Derek Jarman film archive and site specific artworks from the Chapman Brothers. |
| [posted in Bow :: at 15:40] |
Tallinn Tales
Whilst passing through Tallinn the other day this apostle heard favourable mention of the thriving club scene there. The guys at Vibe have both a permanent base at Prive and also throw parties in some of the more grandiose old industrial spaces in and around the city with local heroes DJ Meri and DJ P Julm. Meanwhile Mutant Disco are bringing in the likes of Kid Kameleon and Ripley to play. Elsewhere around the city both Terrarium and Opium Club seemed to be doing a pretty good job on the publicity front. |
| [posted in Bow :: at 11:30] |
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
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Dub Floyd
It had to happen at some point... and in a way it's somewhat surprising that it didn't happen sooner... New York outfit the The Easy Allstars have recorded a dub version of the Floyd's multi-squillion seller Dark Side of the Moon and renamed it Dub Side of the Moon.
Is it any good ?
Well in this apostles eyes (always a sucker for this type of thing) it's suprisingly ok ... no better or worse than the sort of stuff Nightmares on Wax put out. OK we all know that familiarity helps... we know what's happening next on each track and even though there are a few D&B rhythms chucked in, nothing really jolts us out of the warm reverie that is the Dark Side of the Moon experience ... and it sounds pretty good with the required ganja intake too.
This isn't going to change the world but at least it celebrates good musicians, some fairly enjoyable dub and is a great way to while away an hour and a half in the car.
Choose it over the endless dance comps in your local record store. |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 07:18] |
Sleepy Old West Australia
W.Australia spent a number of years in the doldrums after the late eighties flowering of groups such as The Triffids, The Scientists et al.
The renaissance though is gathering pace and here at the apostles like everybody else, are saying, spend your cash on the Sleepy Jackson debut album Lovers. One of the few albums from 2003 that you'll still be playing next year and the year after.
I won't go into detailed track descriptions but in this album I get a sniff of The Smiths, Joni Mitchell, Tim Buckley, Astral Weeks + a myriad of great aus bands like, Chad's Tree, who never made it. The album doesn't sound like any of the aforementioned but more importantly when it's finished you know that you won't be hearing anything quite like it for a while... more importantly it's conquered the trap that many new aus acts fall into - the curse of crap production / mastering. |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 07:08] |
Monday, August 11, 2003
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Underwater Love
Surely one of the busier acts on the live Sydney circuit is Telemetry Orchestra, support for Full Fathom Five at the Hopetoun on Friday. It's easy to see why these guys are well liked. Their exquisite electronic concoction, derived mainly from keys, sythns and mixers is easy to digest.
The beats and sampled sounds move from playful to funky to chilled. Some live elements are thrown in like a bass to add some darker shading and Charlotte's softly pleasant voice weaved in as vocal snippets. Smooth, lilting rhythms entrance the audience as their seductive progressions trickle and wash over your ears like cool water.
Full Fathom Five offer something a little more challenging and a little darker. They are quick to suck you in, encouraging you to explore dark, moody corners to soaring heights. All triggered by imaginative guitar solos, dance vibes, some fun trip hop as well as a fair dose of haunting ambient noise.
All in all, while I find FFF less musically intriguing than, Sydneysiders,Decoder Ring, whose emotional subtly is hard to top. They are altogether a livelier proposition with their interests spanning from rock, to electro &dance: and then ending the night on a country note, albeit washed over with their electronic sensibilities.
In the end, FFF manages to get under your skin filling you up with musical goodness.
Thanks Monica Check out her blog |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 23:26] |
Wednesday, August 06, 2003
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Mc Masher Updates Site
McSleazy has updated his site with links, info etc.
Bootlegging has moved away from its underground days if a quick look at this site is anything to go by... we see European tour dates, MTV mentions and he's even thinking about having a shop on the site..
That said this apostle likes the odd bootie/mash so I'll be checking in every now and then |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 02:56] |
Tuesday, August 05, 2003
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Khmer Rap : No Gang Bangers Here
Even Phnom Penh has a hip hop scene these days
"Enjoy Freedom! Be free!" is the dj’s catch cry at La Casa where they play hip hop and techno to a crowd of a 1,000 every Saturday.
DJ’s include DJ Cake, who says There's a three dollar charge to get in, so it's mainly the middle class and wealthy who can afford to rip loose.
He also says that crowd is a mix of overseas Khmers and Cambodians born inside the Kingdom. There are few, if any, Western or non-Khmer partygoers.
Other spinners on the wheels of steel include DJ Lux who started MC-ing last year in Khmer Lux says he got into rap because he didn't like the other types of music coming into Cambodia.
"I don't like the Thai techno style. It's too fast.
We also learn from the Phnom Penh english daily that DJ Sope is the self-styled Sean "P Diddy" Combs of Cambodia, more a producer than a performer. Much like P Diddy, Sope has a stable of MCs, collectively known as the Phnom Penh Bad Boyz. Their first album came out three years ago, and a third will be released soon. The Bad Boyz rehearse every evening at Sope's studio-a flat just off Monivong Boulevard.
Sope's MCs we’re told come from a varied background, and all have full-time jobs. TJ is a former monk, but currently works as an air-conditioning repairman. Sdey, another rapper, is a teacher.
Because hip-hop is still a relatively new form of music in Cambodia, Sope takes the bass lines and music from US artists like Dre, Snoop Dogg and Eminem and then puts Khmer-language rap tracks over them.
"In Cambodia we can't rap like they do in America," says DJ Cake. "They sing about gangs. They sing about drugs. We can't do that. We have to be polite and teach people how to be good people." |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 10:02] |
Holy Sampling.... Batman
Great site recently discovered by this apostle - listen to passages read from both the Koran / Quran & The Bible
You'll need Real Audio
Go here for both books of wisdom |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 09:45] |
Hot Action
That's the title of My Robot Friend's one and only album.
M.R.F is out of New York and we reckon bar Ladytron makes the best pop electro tunes on the planet at the moment.
Not only do tunes like I am the Robot : Way Down : Understand Your Man & Walt Whitman rock the speakers they all have that element of fun in our oh so irony filled world.
M.R.F doesn't have to pretend to be cool like the rest of them because he/she/it understands the power of real pop (not the Britney et al variety).
Anyway how can you resist an album that sings about freedom loving poets, the pet shop boys, hackers, overly confident men and walking jewish
Buy this album now and ignore all the rest of the pop / electro garbage falling out of record companies catalogues.
It's only available from the Robot site and costs a paltry $US10
Beep Bop & Out as the Robot says. |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 05:04] |
Monday, August 04, 2003
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Fine & Dandy
This apostle loves Australia’s Channel V … last year they gave me the Vines for free and Friday last, on a chilly winter evening , about a 1000 of us at Fox Studios saw an endearingly shambolic set from the beautiful and decadent Dandy Warhols.
This free gig designed to showcase the band to a tv audience for the first time in Aus meant that we got to hear all the hits old and new … Godless, We Used To Be Friends, Bohemian etc etc..
But the best was saved to last with a wonderfully funky psychedelic workout of the Stooges , Loose.
For this apostle the following 10-15 minutes has to be one of the best music moments from the last decade. We started with the Dandy Warhols take on the Stooges and then listened on as Loose loosened around them until it became a number of moods all wrapped up in the one work out.
Along the way we were treated to the Doors, Dr Dre/Neptunes & Royksopp just to name a few ,..whilst never losing that Bass line.
Then they ambled off.. no histronics.
This apostle can’t think of another band to match this lot at the moment.
|
| [posted in Bondi :: at 05:13] |
Friday, August 01, 2003
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Sun Shines A Little Less
Sam Phillips died yesterday aged 80 ... we won't bore you with useless biographical information.. if you don't know it you should.
The apostles say all you need do is listen to Elvis' versions of Mystery Train and Blue Moon of Kentucky
Here's the Sun Records website |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 06:35] |
