Artist: Big Star
Title: #1 Record
CD/LP: LP
Pressing: 2010 Reissue
Purchased: Dixon’s
This is early 70s power pop at its absolute finest. I’ve been meaning to get hold of this one for a long time and as the odds of finding a reasonably priced original pressing are similar to the odds that Kylie Minogue will become the next Queen of England I finally caved and bought a reissue.
I’ve been intending to put together a summer playlist for quite some time. Seeing as the first week of summer is almost over I figured i’d better get my act together.
You can listen to most of my playlist here. I couldn’t find either of the tracks from the Aussie bands but there are links to each of the bands’ Myspace pages where you can check out the tracks. I couldn’t find the Shin’s version of Plenty is Never Enough so I included the original in my playlist. Enjoy!
When watching Whip It last night I was very surprised to find that a song from the debut record of Strokes drummer, Fabrizio Moretti’s side project, Little Joy, was featured on the soundtrack. Why is it so surprising, I hear you ask. Well, the film is the directorial debut of actress Drew Barrymore. Made the connection yet? No? Fabrizio and Drew dated for five years after meeting at a concert back in 2002 until Moretti called the relationship off in early 2007.
Obviously things between the two are on reasonably good terms. I say this because not only is one of the songs from the record in the film but the particular song chosen features the vocals of Binki Shapiro, Moretti’s band mate and new girlfriend.
And what a beautiful song it is…
I was lucky enough to catch Vivian Girls play on Saturday night at Spectrum in Sydney. Having not read any reviews of their live act I was pleasantly surprised by their on-stage antics. Not only is bassist Kickball Katy a total babe, she wasn’t afraid to get out amongst the crowd. She even played half a song lying on the floor in the middle of the mosh. The girls also managed to pull off a seamless mid-song instrument swap over during their encore. Talk about multi-talented.
They’ve announced another Sydney show at the Hopetoun on Sunday the 3rd of October. I am very tempted to go but circumstances beyond my control (read: excessive amounts of uni work) will prevent that from happening. I would highly recommend the gig to anyone who has a taste for anything vaguely resembling garage/punk/shoe aze/jangle pop etc..You won’t be disappointed. Oh, and you can’t use the excuse that it’s a school/work night as it’s a public holidays on the Monday!
Seeing them has further solidified my desire to start a garage band. I’ll get around to it one day…
EDIT: It looks as though the Hopetoun is closed until further notice. This gig will now be happening at
Hellen Rose-Schauersberger LabOratorium
Level 1, 17 Waterloo St, Surry Hills (cnr Kippax St)
Doors 7pm
For tix ($20) go to here
A couple of weeks back a friend informed me that on their upcoming Australian tour, punk rock band The Bronx would be supporting themselves as their alter-ego ‘Mariachi El Bronx‘. When another friend gave me a copy of the album to say I was skeptical would be an understatement. Surely this was a joke. Even if it wasn’t, surely a hardcore punk band would fail miserably at any attempt to create a legitimate mariachi record.
In the interests of full disclosure, it would be pertinent to reveal that I have never been a fan of the Bronx. This may go a little way to explaining my reluctance to give the album a chance. Luckily, my curiosity was strong enough to overcome my skepticism. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered that the record is not just great musically, but Matt Caughthran’s voice seems strangely appropriate.
To say that I am well versed in the nuances of the mariachi genre would be to tell a lie but I am so impressed by the record that I am considering buying tickets to their upcoming Sydney gig. All I can say is, I hope that die-hard Bronx fans will give this record the credit it deserves!
The Decoder Ring Design Concern have come up with two great alternatives to the traditional gig poster. The first is a pillow advertising a Broken Social Scene gig. According to their website “the poster was printed on pillowcases, with a cute lil’ line suggesting that you cut the pillow in half”, signifying the ‘broken’ social scene which occurs when a couple split up. Very clever indeed.
The second clever idea was in the form of a promotional book cover used to advertise a Decemberists gig. 500 Reader’s Digest compendiums were salvaged, covered with the poster and placed in various bookstores, bars, record shops and cafes.
As well as coming up with innovative ways to advertise gigs, Decoder Ring Concern are also doing a darn good job of the old fashioned paper poster. One of my personal favourites is this Spoon poster.
They have also designed CD packaging for the likes of The Hold Steady, Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, Ben Kweller and Lucero.
The further my eyes traced down the page on the Continuum Books website dedicated to the thirty three and a third series the more excited I became. The series was launched in 2003 and takes its name from the speed (33 1/3 revolutions per minute) required to play an LP. Each of the titles in the series focuses on a particular album and gives an insight into the significance of that album historically, musically and for the author him or herself. Rolling Stone dubbed the series “[i]deal for the rock geek who thinks liner notes just aren’t enough“.
Out of all the titles covered by the thirty three and a third series a few really caught my attention. First and foremost was Elvis Costello’s ‘Armed Forces‘, written by Franklin Bruno, singer-songwriter, academic, writer, music critic and occasional member of The Mountain Goats. If you have been following my blog you’ll know that obsession with Elvis Costello is no secret.
Another of the titles which grabbed my eye was Magnetic Fields’ ‘69 Love Songs‘ told by L.D Begtol. I only discovered this triple album quite recently after The Shins cover the Magnetic Field’s song ‘Strange Powers’ prompted me to delved a little deeper. ’69 Love Songs’ has been heralded as the strongest of the Magnetic Fields’ releases and so was an obvious first choice in exploring the band’s back catalogue. The book is a fully illustrated history of the 1999 release from the perspective of Begtol who has written extensively about pop music for Time Out New York, The Advocate and The Village Voice and who performed on the album.
Other titles in the series cover which I would very much like to get my paws on include The Flying Burrito Brothers’ ‘Gilded Palace of Sin‘, Belle & Sebastian’s ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister‘, Bob Dylan’s ‘Highway 61 Revisited‘, Beach Boys’ ‘Pet Sounds‘, Joy Division’s ‘Unknown Pleasures‘ and R.E.M.’s ‘Murmur‘. In fact, I would love to collect the entire series. You can see the full list of titles here.
‘Heavy Rotation‘ is in the same vein as the 33 1/3 series although the focus is more on the personal impact the album on the author rather than the historical or musical significance of the record, asking writers to discuss how the record influenced their lives in a profound way. Unsurprisingly, the writers’ stories are as varied as the albums themselves ranging from Benjamin Kunkel‘s Smiths induced transformation into an ‘adolescent Anglophile’ to Pankaj Mishra‘s tale of how a bootleg cassette of ABBA awoke him to a world outisde of his small village in India. The publisher’s website calls it ‘unforgettable celebration of the unique and essential relationship between life and music‘ which sounds just a bit wanky to me. I still want to read it though.
Funny boy, Russell Brand (left) and Dan (aka Dandy Lyon) from Sydney psyche band the Dolly Rocker Movement (right) could be mistaken for pups from the same litter. This probably has a lot to do with their slight frames, mutual appreciation of tight pants, shared ability to make the potentially disastrous double denim look work and tousled hairdos.
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the moon landing Buzz Aldrin has collaborated with Snoop Dogg, Quincy Jones, Talib Kweli and Soulja Boy on the single ‘Rocket Experience’. He is definitely a leading contender for the title of ‘Worst White Rapper Ever’. Check out his seriously cringe-worthy old white guy dance moves.
Elvis Costello joins a growing list of artists to boycott Israel
28 MayWhether he has done the right thing or not is a question I cannot even begin to answer. For one, I don’t feel as though I’m well enough informed about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and secondly I am not going to deny that I am quite biased when it comes to matters concerning Mr. Costello. He has described his decision as ‘a matter of instinct and conscience’. You can read his full explanation here.