So Cosmic

It's now been a year since I saw Cut Copy perform at Rhythm and Vines. Why can't they visit NZ more often?

See photos I took at their first NZ gig, here.

too erotic for the bus!

L-R: Sean, Ash, Eammon, Ellen. Photo by Liam.

This is my favourite photo from last summer, taken at Camp A Low Hum. It reminds me of beers in the sun, watching good music with good friends, warm summer breezes and mid-afternoon naps (a.k.a. The Power Nap) under a tree. You can tell it's summer because my legs have some semblance of a tan (my face doesn't because I always put sunblock on my face, though my nose is a bit pink in this photo). When the polaroid developed, we realised how much it looks like a band photo. Thus, too erotic for the bus! was born. I can't remember who came up with the name, but I have a sneaking suspicion it was Eammon.

Though I've learnt a bunch of instruments throughout the years, I can't play anything more than 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' on any of them. I can't sing for peanuts either, so I think I was given tambourine duties. The other three are all talented musicians in their own right, and they clearly have more experience with band photos than I do. I look like a loon, grinning away in the corner there. They've got the 'cool' thing down better than I do. Each of them have a couple of musical projects on the go, and they're all so lovely and modest about it you wouldn't really know it unless you happened to stumble across one of their gigs.

Sean and Eammon (along with another one of our friends, Chris) join forces to make sweet music in Seth & Merle (download here), Sean's solo project is Seth Frightening, Eammon also plays under the moniker Basketball Nightmare (download here) and Ash plays bass for Over the Atlantic (easily one of my favourite bands to come out of NZ these last few years) as well as creating music as Secret Knives (download here).

As I understand it, Ash has only played a couple of gigs (the first of which was at Rhythm and Vines last year) because he's so shy about it. There's a funny story that I've heard about Ash, I'm not sure exactly how accurate it is, since I wasn't actually there and this might be a case of Chinese Whispers, but apparently at a party his friends put on a Secret Knives song, which Ash didn't recognise at first and said something along the lines of "Is this Interpol? I like it." and it was only when he heard his own voice coming through the speakers that he realised his mistake. I wouldn't really say that Secret Knives sounds like Interpol, but I can maybe hear some elements of them in there, in some of the guitar parts.

Every time I see Sean, Eammon and Ash I bug them to come play a gig in Melbourne. Maybe if I nag them enough it'll happen.

One song I can see myself trashing this summer is 'The Community Service Announcement' by Jonathan Boulet, Modular's latest signing. You can download the song here. I'd heard the song a lot on Triple J, but it was only when Modular announced the new signing that I was able to figure out who the song was by. I love the whimsical feeling of it. There's something about the song that reminds me of all those wonderful things about summer that I mentioned at the top of this post. Do you have any songs that you like to listen to because they remind you of summer?

A friend and I are doing the graveyard shift on Melbourne's SYN, the place where I did the radio course last month. We're doing it on Thursday 8 October 2-6am. I'll be playing a lot of the music I have mentioned on this here blog, including Jonathan Boulet, and some other sweet tunes that I'm loving at the moment. I have no idea how we're going to stay awake, any tips?

(repost) Light, Sound, Dance

The last time I saw the Bang Gang DJs play was August '07 in Sydney. There is only one word to describe that night: loose.
Question: can you say you saw a group of DJs "play"? It's not like they're playing any instruments. Or even their own songs. Can you call it a gig? I struggle to find words that suffice.
Despite only getting 2/5ths of the Bang Gang, last night at Good Luck was sufficiently awesome. More so, even. Since they're with Modular Records, they have the pick of the crop when it comes to great dance music. Hoodrat (or Angus as I learnt later) responded to my shouted requests for Cut Copy and/or the Presets with a grin. So you can imagine my euphoria when they put on Lights and Music and then My People within the space of 15 minutes.

Last night I christened my brand new camera, a Sony a350. I was taking photos for a secret squirrel mission that I may or may not tell you about later and I had great fun doing it. It was interesting observing the way people treated me because I had a camera in my hand. Everyone pouted and posed when I pointed the lens their way. I was treated as a friend rather than a stranger all because people wanted me to take their photo. Hardly anyone asked why I was doing it. I kinda felt like they each wanted their own 15 seconds of fame by being caught on camera at some cool bar where some cool DJs were playing. That's not to put down anyone that I took a photo of though, they were all really lovely and everyone was having a great time. Heck, I've posed for those kind of photos before. At fashion week there were numerous times when someone would come up to me and ask if they could take my picture. Before they could even begin to say "I'm from (insert publication here)" I was already smiling for the camera. I have no idea where most of those photos turned up.

I got asked last night if I was Neon Sleep. Haha! No, I'm not.

That weird situation was almost as perplexing as the time I went up onto the street to get some fresh air. I was by myself and sitting on the stone wall outside Good Luck, watching the interactions between drunk groups of people - always a fun way to pass the time. I had my camera in my hands and some guy came and sat next to me asking me questions about my camera. I was polite and answered all the questions he had but I would have preferred to be left alone. Out of the blue he said "So you like me and I like you, why don't you come back to my place?" I was all "Huh?!" It was sick, I think he was hoping that I was more drunk than I actually was and wouldn't be able to remember what I had been saying to him. So he said, "Yeah, you just said that you're interested in me, so how 'bout it?" I was completely dumbfounded. I didn't know what to say. Did he really think I was so stupid/drunk that I would fall for it and say "Well okay, if you say that's how I feel, then it must be true." Needless to say, I vacated that stone wall pretty quickly.

Good Luck often turns into a rather sweaty affair (Hawnay Troof anyone?) because of its low ceilings and restricted space and this time was no different. Fringes can be a bitch in those situations.

When the lights were turned on and we were all told to leave, I was still keen to party. Thank goodness for San Francisco Bathhouse!

Speaking to them afterwards, they said the Wellington show was better than the Auckland one. Haha. Hopefully I get to see them again soon, since they're always so much fun. Whether that's in NZ or Australia or somewhere else altogether, who knows?

Cat and the Eye

I almost gave up trying to find Roxanne Parlour, but I'm so so glad I persevered. Numerous times I walked up and down Lonsdale and Russell streets, hoping to find Roxanne's laneway that Google Maps had told me was somewhere near. I was going in search of this:

The bouncer at Emerald Peacock (another bar I must check out sometime soon) told me I would find it in Chinatown, but wasn't exactly sure where. I dodged girls in traditional Chinese robes trying to stuff pamphlets in my hand, all the while keeping an eye out for Roxanne. I knew I was getting near when I found myself behind a group of well dressed people singing  "Roxanne, you don't have to put on that red light... " in the tempo of um, drunk. 

There was no signs in the laneway (see, already adapting to the Melbourne lingo!) apart from one for a strip club, so I tentatively asked a bouncer if he knew were Roxanne was. He laughed at me, opened the door and pointed inside. I caught the lift upstairs, it was one of those really awkward ones, where we all knew we were heading to the same place and therefore had some common ground, but weren't sure whether to make polite small talk with each other. What would we say? I'm particularly bad in awkward lifts, all I want to do is laugh out loud at the situation.  I bit my lip. The music that was seeping down the lift shaft from the bar was the only escape from the awkward silence. As soon as the elevator doors opened everyone went their separate ways without looking back. 

I don't know a lot about Australian bands outside those who have been on bfm, played at Camp a Low Hum or those who are on Modular's roster, but I am very very keen to get to know them. I am keeping an open mind, not wanting to judge a band based on their name. I didn't flinch when I heard the band on stage were called 'Scientists of Modern Music'.  I arrived just as the Scientists were ending their set, at which point they announced that their next song, "is called Generic Dance Music." Oh, haha, I get it. Irony. I like it. Unfortunately for them, it actually was generic. I think it was made for people who have never listened to a Kraftwerk or Devo album. It was a lite version of Kraftwerk. Even their synchronised dance moves seemed totally pathetic to me after seeing Metronomy only a few months before. The crowd loved it, everyone seemed to be having a great time, getting all dancey and sweaty and stuff. They have an album coming out later this year so who cares about integrity or originality when you're rolling in it, right?

Van She was the headlining act and the fact that they were late on stage did not sit well with some people. I managed to squeeze my way to the front, right next to the huge speaker that was hanging from the ceiling. Some guy behind me kept getting more and more aggressive as time went on and the sound guys were still setting up. It was pretty rude, he was abusing the people on stage as if it was their fault the main stage was running late. I ignored him, apart from occasionally swatting away his elbows when they got a little too close to my head. When Van She finally got on stage the first thing I noticed was what the lead singer was wearing. Now I know musicians generally dress well in a "skinny black jeans and cool vintage clothing" kind of a way, but this guy had an eye for detail I haven't really seen in a singer before. I was impressed. When he crouched down to plug in his guitar, I noticed tartan socks poking out from his jeans. The girls next to me noticed too and practically swooned at the sight. He was wearing a really nice jacket too, which reminded me of this Karen Walker coat, only a male version of it: 

Here's a picture I took, to give you some idea what it looked like: 

They played all my favourite songs, including Virgin Suicide and Changes. Of course they left Strangers and Kelly 'til the end. The whole time I was just grinning. I had been told that Van She put on a good show, but boy, you really don't know it until you see it. I love them even more now. Here are some more photos I took:

Seeing Sounds was a benefit concert hoping to raise awareness about youth violence and drunken violence at gigs.  Unfortunately the crowd at Van She was exactly that, aggressive and drunk. No one was really looking out for each other and it was a bit of a mess. The speaker next to me was swinging dangerously for most of the gig, I narrowly missed getting hit in the head. Idiots.

Van She Tech played a few hours later, a DJ duo consisting of Van She's singer and synth player/guitarist. Van She Technologic remixes are some of my favourites, especially their reworking of Feist's 1 2 3 4, and Klaxon's Gravity's Rainbow. I ended up dancing til the wee hours, it was the perfect ending to an already great night.

That was just a Dream

Some photos I took of Cut Copy at Rhythm and Vines:

Tim was the only Cutter to come on stage to help set up beforehand and some guy behind me (who was wearing a Cut Copy t-shirt, he was a fan, obviously...) pointed at Tim and yelled "I can see Dan!"

The whole band was full of energy, Tim especially. They seemed as electrified by their music as we were. I'd seen in an interview with them that they do sometimes get bored of playing the same songs night in and night out, as you would expect, but if they were bored during this performance they certainly hid it very well.

"One thing that I just can't conceive is how to let you go..." (Far Away was one of the highlights of their set)

I never truly appreciated Strangers in the Wind until I saw it live.

Fight!

I didn't see it since I was right up the front, but a friend who was standing at the back told me that by the end of Cut Copy's set, everyone who had been sitting down were up and dancing.

As a child I knew /// That the stars could only get brighter

Cut Copy live at Nevereverland 2007, photo by mattbooy on flickr

I have spent most of the afternoon/early evening trying to ignore the fact that my friends are at Nevereverland today and I'm not there to party with them. As I type, Hercules and Love Affair are about to take to the stage. I was going to go, had my ticket sorted and everything, but work took precedence. Nevereverland would have been my festival. It's always been my dream to go to a gig/festival where both Cut Copy and The Presets were playing and Nevereverland would have been the ideal opportunity. My love of electro and all things Modular is no secret. While nothing could beat the amazing-ness that was Daft Punk last year, Modular brought together a great line up of bands to help them celebrate their 10th birthday. 

It would have been great to finally see the Klaxons perform, after having my plans to see them in Sydney last year crushed when Jamie broke his foot while stage diving. Am I doomed to never see them live, ever? Probably not but still, it would have been a good way for karma to make up for last year's incident.  

DFA'S Hercules and Love Affair would have been fun, these past few weeks I've listened to Blind at least twice a day. Can you believe they only performed live for the first time earlier this year, after their record release? Apparently it was an amazing gig.

There seems to be a bit of bad blood going on between Modular and Muscles, who was originally on the Nevereverland bill. On his blog a few weeks ago, Muscles explained that he got a call from his record label (Modular) saying he can no longer perform at Nevereverland because they can't afford it. Understandably, Muscles was rather angry about this - his own record label had dropped him from the line up of their birthday party. I did have a sneaking suspicion that tickets weren't selling very well (Are you crazy?? One of the best festivals of the year!) and this only confirmed my thoughts. Modular then posted this on their Mod Blog:

"Muscles is signed to Modular Recordings and his services are still required under that agreement. He was offered a spot at NEVEREVERLAND which still stands and whether he chooses to play or not is his decision. Obviously we would like him to be part of our 10 year celebrations and hope he turns up to perform."

Hmmm, curious. He wasn't in the final schedule. Will this be the end of Muscles' relationship with Modular?

One of the ways that I have passed the time is by watching (again) Cut Copy live in New York on Pitchfork tv, getting me ridiculously excited about seeing them at Rhythm and Vines in only 16 days. I can't believe it's taken them so long to get here, it's just as easy to fly from Melbourne to Perth as it is Melbourne to Auckland. Now that they're super popular, I've missed my chance to see them in a more intimate venue as I would have liked. But hey, I'll take what I can get. There's no doubt that their live show will be amazing and the Pitchfork videos prove it. I'm particularly excited about hearing Future and Hearts on Fire live, I can tell things are going to get crazy.

Hearts on Fire live on Pitchfork.tv

While it would be awesome to meet Cut Copy the rational side of me thinks that would be a bad idea - every other encounter I've had with bands/musicians I love have been kinda embarrassing. I just get too star struck, in a style reminiscent of Toby Young. When I met Nick Zinner the first thing that came out of my mouth was "OhmygodcanIpleaseshakeyourhand?!" What a dick!