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Friday, January 23, 2004
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 There's A Moon In The Sky And It's Called The Moon
It's official .. the B52's are coming to Sydney.
The Hordern Pavilion 1 March.. they might have been around for a while but that's no excuse to miss them.
Their debut is still one of the best knocking around and the apostles predict that after this electro & post punk thing fades these guys will be the template for the new new sound. |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 01:35] |
Thursday, January 22, 2004
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The Grammy Website Provides Winners Search Engine
You can now find out the most boring songs and acts of a specific year by doing a search on the Grammys Website
Did you know for example that in 1999 the Best Packaging award went to Buddy Jackson, Ray Benson & Sally Carns,art directors for their work on Ride With Bob's Asleep At The Wheel
Now you know.... |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 23:27] |
Rock'n'Roll Rock'n'Roll Rock'n'Roll Rock'n'Roll Rock'n'Roll & Some
It's nights like these that remind Sydneysiders why they live in the best city on the planet.
A warm muggy night and all the beautiful young healthy things stroll, chat and gyrate their bodies (it's all about the body in this city in january) in the courtyard of Hyde Park Barracks.
Tonight as part of the Sydney Festival we're being treated to Spod, Regurgitator & the fabulous Peaches.
We missed Spod, sorry dahlings we spent to long dallying over our Sushi. But we were unfortunate enough to catch most of the gurge's set. They sounded almost radical on appearance ten years ago but now they look like an overgrown Blink 182 and the sound...mud mud and more mud. Here is a band that I thought prided themselves on the taut and funky rock bassline, no longer. Call it a day guys, it was good while it lasted.
The pre set tape/cd for Peaches is the best we've heard since the Strokes played Newtown a couple of years back. The Psychedelic Furs, Bowie, X-Ray Spex. Old hat some of you may say but much more entertaining than most of the mulch that passes for music played between sets at 99% of our live outings.
Then before we know it, she's on stage, not looking underdressed on this warm night in a white pair of hotpants and black bra. The Peaches wannabes up the front are set to explode with excitement as she enjoins them into call and response mode.
For the first few numbers the apostles aren't sure whether we're just going to get an above grade cabaret show or what's been promised by the pr machine. Suddenly she moves up a gear and we're treated to an hour of fantastic rock'n'roll theatre with decent songs although we both wished afterwards that they'd turned it up a couple of notches.
Most of the numbers played come off the latest album, FatherFucker and subject matter can be distilled into half a dozen words: Pussy, Come, Cock, Peaches, Rock'n'Roll & Fetish It works though, the audience, smiles, laughs dances and hollers for more. And..her energy levels are turned up higher than most of us mere mortals could hope for. Even if all her songs were crap, which they're not, you'd think you'd been to an amazing event simply on the strength of her energy and performance skills.
For an encore we get her duet with iggy pop, Kick It, superbly executed, with her on stage standing to right of video screen and the ig standing to the left ..the performance bringing to mind a Bruce Nauman piece.
Then it's over.
It's only the 21st of January but I doubt I'll see another live performance so enjoyable in 2004. |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 04:27] |
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
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Pass The Acid Please
Last night at the Metro in Sydney we were all treated to a crowd pleasing dose of acid from Cornwall's finest Mr Luke Vibert and Mr Richard James aka the aphex twin.
Although at times some of the Aphex stuff does become a bit unrelenting you have to respect a guy who as the main act comes on to the stage almost unnoticed as a deliberate act and then just segueways into his work without any histronics .. . I also like the fact that he decided to sit in a lower postion than Vibert and hide himself behind a couple of laptops and other electronica gear and concentrate on his sound.
His sound.. i won't attempt to descibe it, you either know aphex twin or you don't and if you don't I imagine your not going to start a deep love affair now. What did surprise me though was the fact that at high volume the nasty stuff tends to make a lot more sense than on the home stereo. My only gripe.. would have been interesting to hear some of his more subdued work.
Also... could somebody please explain why we had to watch scenes from Carry On Up The Khyber and an American Werewolf In London during the set. If we're making a political statement.. it's all a bit tenuous isn't it ? |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 05:30] |
The Cops - Vic On The Park
The Cops have a wicked song in 'Rectify' which is doing the rounds on FBi and Triple J, and was their show finale.
But you're not going to last long on one song alone so I managed to find myself at Vic on the Park Saturday in order to see if the Sydney band can live up to all the buzz that surrounds them. And yes, they are good. They've got style. Their songs are party, shake your ass rock. Their lead has personality.
Everyone can play their instruments. And Rectify is even better live. But the songs apart from that tend to blend one into the other, so there's still some work needed to be done on creating a real Cops sound. But they're bursting with potential.
monica |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 01:23] |
The NowNow Festival
The other night night I found myself entering through a crack in the wall on Cleveland St for the nownow festival .
I'd never been to the lanfranchis discotheque but its an awesome venue. You follow these wooden stairs, its dark and quiet with only a string of fairy lights and then emerge into a largish room in which there's a large red wall, wooden floorboards, lines of colourful lampshades (with lights) and a whole lot of people sitting very quietly on retro couches and lounges or on persian rugs on the floor.
The first act I saw was one dude on "drums", one on "saxaphone" and another on a laptop (I think, he was sitting on the floor so it was hard to see). When I put those instruments in quotation marks its because they don't really play the instruments in traditional fashion. They don't make music they make noise and they explore what other ways these musical instruments can create sound. At first the improvised cacophony of bangs or blows or taps or brushes or beeps or glitches seem really disorganised and erratic. But if you persist a progression or narrative does emerge and you realise they are persuing some ideas or evoking certain moods. The best thing about this act was the organic way in which they worked off one another, one person might bring up the whiff of an idea and the other two pick up on it, run with it and soon it emerges into a fully matured construction.
The second act (The Decompositiongs) was even more stripped back. Six guys on assorted electronics (eg. speakerphone, sampler) sit down and create one "note". The resulting sound is this high buzzing noise, like maybe of a computer or neon lights. Then they sit and we sit for half an hour listening to this noise. My friend said this kind of thing pisses her off, but I actually found it really interesting. Firstly, it IS art because the "musicians" do create the sound and are there, on stage, with their instruments (doing nothing until they fade or stop the sound at the end) and we, as the audience have chosen to sit there and listen to this sound in this environment (on stage) and thus qualify it as art.
Secondly, after continued listening, much like the first you begin to notice things, like how its not really just one buzzing noise, a few voices emerges (there's the general static sound, there's something more pulsating) and any changes in speed or volume become quite dramatic - which is possibly the point - to tune yourself to such tiny fluctuations. Not to mention the fact that they're capable of making us go, yes, that buzzing noise from your electronic goods and home can be music/art.
MONICA
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| [posted in Bondi :: at 00:59] |
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
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What Is Music
Australia's best experimental music sheebang is on the road again in Feb.
From 6-8th in Brisvegas, 10th-14th in Sydney and then down to Melbourne from the 15th-20th
Bizarrely there seems to be no web address anywhere on their programme so you'll just have to believe when we say that if you like extreme noise this is the year to attend... artists include merzbow / whithouse noriko tujiko / pumice (NZ) / fahalim Ooshcasky (uzbekistan) and my favourite Dead Man Eating |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 03:00] |
Monday, January 19, 2004
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Live Soundtracking Works
Well in this case it does.
Asian Dub Foundation probably Britain's only decent politically minded band since the Specials and the early Clash appeared at the Enmore theatre in Newtown last night and performed their live soundtrack interpretation of the French cultural tour de force La Haine
Not only did they manage to provide a pumping soundtrack that incorporated their trademark bass and tabla rock / beats sound at high volume, they managed to do it without drowning out the meaning of the film. Especially enjoyable were the chase and the dj'ing out of the window scenes. Full marks to them for bringing the concept to Sydney.
As is usual, many of those who live the Sydney version of La Haine (current hot spot the SW suburbs) would have been totally unaware of the event ... Maybe next time the band could take the performance to a few social / youth centres and show / play to those whose life reflects the movie.
Only complaint... can somebody please re-subtitle this film. |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 08:22] |
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
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Check Your Wallet
Got $10k to spare? Fancy becoming a music mogul? Want to own your own record label? Then get yourself a bit of pop history over at bid4assets.com where they are auctioning off Grand Royal - the Beastie Boys own record label. The label was founded in 1993 by the illsome beasties and unleashed a torrent of creativity on an appreciative audience till the hard times came, closely followed by the bailiffs.
The lucky winner will get the remaining recording, license and distribution agreements plus masters and product inventory (including 836 copies of Burn, Berlin, Burn by Atari Teenage Riot and 51 lime green Luscious Jackson t-shirts). If you buy it let us know and maybe we can talk about helping to shift some of those Buffalo Daughter records.... |
| [posted in Bow :: at 14:16] |
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
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Our Sydney Stockist Of Choice
Looking for that Dj Foundation / DSICO 12" you always wanted but never knew how to get hold of it... we suggest if you're a sydney type to pop into Reefer Records In Crown Street Surry Hills. |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 08:53] |
The Sort Of people Who Buy Our Records
When an order for a 12 Apostles 12" came in from Sevenuy we thought we'd better check his site
Great graphics in the Victime de Monde range |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 08:50] |
Saturday, January 10, 2004
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Stockists Of Choice
Selling records is hard work and in Sydney these two emporiums have been great in helping us get out to our adoring public !!
Reefer Records in Crown Street.
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| [posted in Bondi :: at 02:27] |
Thursday, January 08, 2004
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It's Summer So It Must Be A Beach Festival
Bondi is playing host to the Livebait festival over the next couple of weeks.
We've got plays in shipping containers on the beach, hip hop workshops, electro projections and the mystery van.
Soundtrack to the festival will be provided by a host of local dj's ( every other person in bondi is a b- grade dj) and music from Fourplay who's oeuvre is classical renditions of the likes of Meticalla's Sandman and the Beastie Boys Sabotage. Also on stage during the festival will be the Baggsmen, dreadlocked funky housester Meem, Loonaloop, Darth Vegas, Prop, Entropic and the legendary Necks of whom the Guardian has said entirely new and entirely now... they produce a post jazz, post rock, post everything sonic experience that has few parallels or rivals
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| [posted in Bondi :: at 07:25] |
Monica Starts 2004 Gigging Marathon
Turin Brakes @ Metro: Turin Brakes, aka. Olly Knight and Gale Paridjanian, aka. two mates and a couple of acoustic guitars make some tender, heartfelt music. And tonight they don't fail their patient fans (who've waited a good many years) with tunes that siddle up to you like a warm breeze, blowing though your mind and unsettling all sorts of memories of old faces and places which you could have sworn were forgotten. Of course you get this with their albums too, intimate and sincere, but seeing them live probably enhances the feelings just a touch, makes the response a little more immediate and a little more deeply felt.
Enon + Faker @ Hopetoun: The more I see of Faker the more suitable I think their name. These guys can play, and they know how to look good playing. But other than a few catchy pop songs, they're more style than substance and leaves me feeling like where's the soul? OK so everyone seems to want our bands to strut out some attitude nowadays but when I'm feeling the post-NY blues it doesn't do much for me. The good looking crowd would probably disagree, but I'd give them a similar verdict as the band. New York's Enon followed up with the teasingly, lightweight yet sultry voice of Toko acting as a lovely contrast against the genuine NY cool voice of John. |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 07:23] |
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
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Vote For DSICO...Now
Australia's national radio station Triple JJJ is now taking entries for its annual Hot 100
Make sure you vote for the 12 Apostles very own punk as pussy ep by DSICO |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 23:39] |
Resistance Is Futile Only The Anonymous Will Survive
We love a good file sharing service here at the apostles especially those that go out of their way to annoy the recording industry... such a service is Earth Station 5.
We learn from the Economist that these guys have supposedly based themselves in the Jenin refugee camp in the heart of the West Bank so as to make themselves impossible to prosecution / closing down by the US or any other recording industry bodies.
We're told in the article that at any one time 19 million people are using the service mainly from non english speaking countries.
A double plus for the apostles... file sharing based in the Holy Land -- what more could we ask for. |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 05:35] |
You Really Got Me
Couldn't help reporting this one... Ray Davies made the mistake of chasing a couple of muggers in New Orleans and received gunshot wounds for his pains - see the full story on the BBC |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 02:34] |
Sunday, January 04, 2004
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Big Day Out - Up Soon
The Big Day Out is soon to visit all aus capitals.. line up is massive as usual.
Metallica, The Strokes, The Flaming Lips, The Mars Volta, The Dandy Warhols,Aphex Twin, Basement Jaxx, Black Eyed Peas, Peaches, Luke Vibert, The Hoodoo Gurus, Something For Kate, Trey, Downsyde, Gerling, Jet, The Butterfly Effect, Magic Dirt, The Datsuns, Muse, Kings Of Leon, The Darkness, Felix Da Housecat, Audio Bullys, David Holmes, Lostprophets, Thursday, Poison The Well, DJ Afrika Bambaataa, Salmonella Dub, Sonicanimation, The Sleepy Jackson, King Kapisi, P-Money and Scribe, Friendly, Skulker, PNAU, 1200Techniques, Peewee Ferris and Blood Duster.
Check the site to see if you can still get tickets. Bondi Apostle will be off to the Peaches & Aphex Twin side shows. |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 01:08] |
Holiday Listening
It's hot but you still wanna rock...driving the country roads of nsw there's only been one soundtrack this summer... The Morning After Girls ep |
| [posted in Bondi :: at 01:03] |
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