Classic Carrot Clarinet
March 14, 2010
Zoe comes into work the other day and starts raving about a party in Newport where she saw Lindsay Pollak playing, and his partner leading the whole crowd through a silly bum dance. i’ve never heard of him, so Zoe says, “Look him up”.
Turns out he’s been uploaded all over youtube, and featured on Boing Boing and everything. This is hilarious: watch Lindsay drill some holes in a carrot and then start playing a series of loops.
Music videos from Barkly St (wealth of nations)
November 16, 2009
Wealth of Nations – the fringe festival experience – is all over, but i managed to grab some photos and videos. Lachlan’s uploaded them to places like youtube and flickr.. and there they are.
Pete and the Tar Gang were one of my favourite performances from the season. Pete is such a bold character on stage, with his old sea shanties.
They played the following week at the Fringe Club in North Melbourne, and followed up with the Tar Pit Men’s Choir. One of the guys sang a truly amazing solo piece which got the whole crowd turning their heads (at the Fringe CLub). Talk about upstaging!
Mamushka were hilarious and jazzie. Aviva is so stunning up front, and when she pulls out that bass clarinet, you know you’re in for some rollicking.
(i saw them again last week at Open Studio.. without all the costumes. They leap from their circus jazz into a bit of rock thrash every now and then.. and back again. What a blast.. but why was nobody dancing?)
The Kurtletts of course were thoroughly gorgeous.. Kirri and Sofiya play so beautifully together.
Links:
- more videos from the Tar Gang, and their myspace
- mamushka on myspace
- sanctum theatre (main site, youtube, flickr)
Oh, and the photo slideshow, which has some of my photos mixed in with other people’s too.
Spontaneous Tram Choir !!
October 3, 2009
Ah this could make you smile.. the Spontaneous Tram Choir on the Lygon St Tram.
i hope we’ll see more from this bunch:
from You tube of course.
Ha ha. Thanks Logan for this video.
Singing in the rain (first chorus meets emma bathgate)
September 28, 2009
It was windy, raining and cold.. but the show must go on, isn’t it!
Emma Bathgate opened this extraordinary gig at the Fairfield Amphitheatre by welcoming 8 year old Zafiya Witkoski-Blake on drums and poetry. Beats and words. There is something really moving about a child who’s able to get up and work her performance magic in front of a bunch of adults. Plus Zafiya is an amazing performer. A great way to start the show.
Several of Emma’s songs i’ve heard before, having seen her perform with Natalia Mann the incredible harpist in Shima and the Wikimen as well as solo. i enjoy the way her soulful voice jumps across various registers and tones as she searches for the most authentic sound at any moment. Great to hear Emma step away from the crowd-pleasing (crowd-horrifying?) Dilapidated Diva and sing as her own self.
.. and so it was lovely to be a part of the backing band of singers (first chorus), singing This Ancient Land, Flame Trees and Adoration – a song devoted to Emma’s singing teacher for many years. There were a few emotional moments in the show, especially when Emma was talking about her inspiration for the song about the wombats during the 2009 bushfires.
Plenty of deliberation before the show about whether to go ahead in the cold windy rain. In the end Tim the sound guy who’s had experience running outdoor gigs said, “Let’s just do it!”
i hope someone got a photo of the choir with all our umbrellas out. i’ll have to settle for these photos of the bridge at Fairfield park.
Links: myspace pages for the musioes:
Mind-blowing soundscapes, Quiver
September 25, 2009
An astonishing evening of the musical kind. A program including 2 world premiere performances. This was delightful, and strange. i don’t have the musical vocabulary to describe what happened.
Quiver | New Music Ensemble | is a group that plays some kind of Alien Spacecraft Contemporary Classical music. Plucking the strings of a grand piano, playing tuba without the mouthpiece, blowing the clarinet reed into a bowl of bubble bath.
Such beauty.. in the church setting, with the organ up on high.
One chapter of the performance used the full organ to great effect.. a drummer who would intermittently cease drumming to cry out his quotes from cinematic history (or was it comic-book history?).
Nothing ordinary about this performance.. very enjoyable.
Links:
Can’t find any link to Quiver online, but Aviva the magical clarinet player also plays with Mamushka who have some great tunes online.. and who are playing Wealth of Nations this Thursday 1st October. i can’t wait!!
Listen.
Extraordinary music!!
.
fIRST cHORUS excitement (a fringe festival event)
September 25, 2009
First Chorus is part of the Melbourne fringe festival, this time featuring in
- an event with Emma Bathgate
- at the Fairfield amphitheatre.
- More details, plus book tickets at the Melbourne fringe site.
- (This Sunday 27 September at Fairfield Amphitheatre, near the Boathouse.)
- (Here’s the faceboo event page if you have a residence in that place.)
—————————————-
Plus, from the Victoria hotel event in August:
The choir i’ve been singing with had our big big night.. seven original songs by the songwriters in the choir. Songs in genres including folk, pop, jazz, operatic and gothic-epic, the arrangements all worked by Virginia Bott the amaazing musical director.
i wish i could put up the video right now, but it’ll take ages to be ready. i’ve heard the bootleg recording came out well.
The first show was electric and intense.. while the second was more sedate, laidback, and somehow harder work. Probably because we were already exhausted. As Lou said, it was as though we had a whole season, from opening to closing night .. in the same evening.
The Victoria Hotel has really picked up its game, reshaping into a kitschie Melbourne style classic. Upside-down lampshades hanging from the ceiling.. which any self-respecting Melbourne bar must have.. since the Night Cat started the tradition back in ooh 1990-something.
Really great to be involved in such a dynamic and powerful performance, eh!
Lovely people.
Vibing it, high style
September 23, 2009
Totally feeling the vibe of the 2009 High Vibes festival.
Of course i must kick off with the very wonderful Flying Scribble, my favourite band in the whole world. Mal Webb at 303 was hilarious, doing mad things with his beat-boxing, a loop pedal and several trombones.
Then i bumped into some extremely glamorous and funky dancers from the first chorus band of singers, who’d created an impromptu dance floor outside Subterrain. Good venue! The dj was spinning plenty of funky dance tracks from the 80’s and 90’s. When i arrived it was Blondie doing “Rapture”. For a while we danced up and down the tram tracks.
Perfect and ideal, both at the same time.
.
.
Barons of Tang had everyone dancing at the Open Studio end of town, and the Jelly Tub Rollers took the dance party back inside for a whole lotta jumping. Lovely.
Ooh look here’s some more great shots: The very talented and wonderful Les with his lighter sculptures (how did i miss that?) (Thanks michaelpickard)
Plus the no-black-keys piano that lived in the Town Hall field during the entire music feast. Yes one night we had a play along. Great idea.
More good photos over on Lonely Radio’s flickr site. (Thanks Lonely.) Plus i found on flickr you can get the most interesting photos from high vibes over the years.. here. (“interesting” according to flickr’s secret algorithm that is.)
Gas Stew & Dump .. rock Brunswick Laundromat
September 23, 2009
Now i really feel part of Brunswick. Invited to a special performance by the one-and-only Gasoline Stew and the Dump. Lou and Anto put on their magic rubbish dump costumes and transform themselves into the essential oil of Grunge Itself. Where else but Andy’s Laundromat. Killer gig. Loved every minute.
Big thanks to the Stew and the Dump.
Plus, special treat .. Anto hands me their brand new freakishly amazing camera and says would i mind taking some shots. So i pretend to be a rock photographer. Yes this was back in late october 2008, but i’ve just tracked down the video:
and here’s their mad backyard video clip for “put that thing on”:
i dream a highway.. 2nd birthday
September 14, 2009
I Dream a Highway just had their 2nd birthday gathering.
(If you don’t know yet, it’s a funky retail outlet on the Northcote Hill opposite the Wesley Anne, with clothes and cds and lovely arty stuff.)
Ben and Rhi laid on the liquor and some scrumptious Mein Leibe pizzas for all their friends, family and neighbours.
- Yum.
- Lovely glamorous lusciousness on the top of the Northcote Hill. So stylish.
- Hats and weird-stuff jewellery and crazy little punk voodoo dolls.
So of course i had to lay out a tiny bit of shopping moulah. Stimulate the local economy. It’s all about fighting the GFC you know.
In the end i bought another one of the Bohjass discs, “Chocolate Ice” (2001). Bohjass are a very cool and creative outfit from the heart of Northcote, led by Tim Pledger who also plays with The Boys, Opa.. and half-a-dozen other jazz impro bands around town.
..and this really sweet ring made out of a number 10 knitting needle.
Lynne came across too.. we danced a country jig, and then headed over the road to see Lou and gray release their first single, “animation in my head” at the Wesley Anne.
Here’s Bea the shop dog, featured on the IDAH website.
Vocal harmonies at 303
September 6, 2009
Zeena dragged me reluctantly along to an evening at Bar 303 on Northcote High Street. “Harmony on High” they called it.. and if i’d known what it was called i wouldn’t have gone because i have a strong repulsion for all the shops that call themselves whatever “on High”.
How very prejudiced and resistant of me.
Because this was a beautiful gig.
Zeena’s friend Matt is in a band called Vocal Agents. They started the night with some lovely and innovative harmonies. Some of the arrangements were better than others. The crowd loved their version of Mad World.. it wasn’t my favourite. However, even though it wasn’t to my taste, i had to admire their talent and strengths.. and risk-taking. Really good voices, blending well. The bass guy had a solid deep line going throughout. Different people led various songs. They were a good intro to the night.
The Hazelman Brothers were delightful. 2 out of the 3 brothers made sweet harmonies together, and captivated the audience. Nice lyrics too, although i couldn’t tell you what they sang about now. Relationships and stuff.
Cadmium Waking have changed their name to Aluka.. they’ve been snapped up by Clare Bowditch’s management to tour with her, and i’m not surprised. Sweet strong voices, wonderful harmonies and really, really good arrangements. When the timid blonde girl next to the wall hit her bassy lines in the final song, i was thrilled.. why didn’t she sing in that lower register all along!! Enchanting sounds.
Could have stayed for the stars of the night, but we skipped away to catch the final number from Woohoo Revue at Open Studio. Ooh they were good. We walked in and the crowd was dancing like kids in a jumping castle. Fun.
i wish i could have been at both gigs really.. and i heard the Wesley gigs were good too: missed The Boys (clarinet jazz), but will try and catch them next Saturday evening. Apparently there were 4 part harmonies on the Wesley stage too.
Music music music.
Cross the river if you have to.
Yum.
gray kicks bass !! (updated now with video)
September 3, 2009
Extraordinary moments.
For the Melbourne hall of fame 2009, i would nominate the Flying Scribble percussion artist gray taylor for her one-armed drumming set at the Wesley Anne, sunday 28th June.
Not only did she valiantly play with her left arm out of action, she played one song blindfolded. Go gray! You are a star and a legend. We love you.
Oh and Louise was good too. You both rock.
PS
Ooh look here’s Lou and gray again playing at Anytime Place in July, filmed by the Qua on his mobile phone. Video is lame.. get closer man, but it sounds good. This was a really good set. Many people dancing.
And guess what! Update! They’re having a CD launch (single) next Thursday evening 10th September at Wesley Anne.
Woo hoo. Can’t wait.
PPS:
yes Flying Scribble was magnificent:
-
- Fab to see gray double-armed again.
- And Louise’s new fully electric hot red mini-organ sounds just as good as the 6-ton-slider.
- The Bon Scotts were fun too.
Here’s a review of the single already over at Mess and Noise where you can listen to the song.. in one piece if your bandwidth will do it. Oh and read the comments as well as the review.. you’ll find a funny NZ story and Ben Butcher’s shoot of the ladies gettin glamorous on a Northcote monkey bar.
Fly scribble fly.
Do you remember? Of course you do..
August 26, 2009
“Golf Course Do you remember? Of course you do..”
Well i never saw The Ears back when they were one of Melbourne’s shambolic fun-times charismatic underground driving forces..
i did see Sam Sejavka on countdown once when Beargarden caught Molly’s attention, and of course we all went to see Dags in Space over and over again. So for people who witnessed the world of music through the mainstream filter of countdown, when Dogs in Space hit the cinemas we had graduated from suburban living rooms to the wild world of big white volkswagens.
i remember driving around in the back of Meredith’s VW, pretending we were in the movie. Pretending we had some connection with the musical underground, but always knowing that Hutchence wasn’t the real Sejavka.. that this was a mid-eighties commercialised and dressed-up version of the real thing. That we were playing at being in a fictional reality.
So yes i knew the hutchence/ lowenstein versions of the songs..
(For those who don’t know or haven’t worked it out by now, the band of the movie Dogs in Space is loosely based on this Melbourne group from the late 70’s, early 80’s).
Lovely to get to this reunion gig of The Ears and experience a bunch of people re-living the wild exuberance of the original times.
Recognising folk from the “Living on Dog Food” movie.. so i give Sam a big smile as i walk by.. can’t help acknowledging the star of the show, and he asks if i’m Steve. That was funny. No i’m michael… but you look familiar too.
Great show. He’s a fully energetic performer with that lush flamboyance that i adore..
i knew i’d love The Ears’ version of The Ears.
Sean kelly came on and played with them. That was cool. Some of the support acts were fun too – David Bridie has a lyrical voice – and Steve Kilbey was amazing of course.. but i really had to listen to St Kilda get done by Essendon on the radio outside didn’t i. Ouch.. should have stayed in the gig!
Stop press:
huge thanks to Brendan of Brilliant Films for the live footage he’s posted on youtubie. Here is the one and only Dogs in Space by The Ears Live:
Plus: Sagging Insects Live:
..and an original video from way back when: Leap for Lunch:
Loads of links related:
- Lots of photos from the gig by a proper photographer over at flickr, but for some reason they won’t let me embed the slideshow here (copyright protection i guess).
- ooh look more photos, by rockpool73 at flickr.
- Sam’s been writing plenty about the set over on Sails of Oblivion.
- Plus he’s interviewed on mess + noise. The comments make good reading too, after the gig.
- Here’s the gig on Last.fm (including links to the support bands).
- (Here’s the movie version of Golf Course. i can finally say, “Not a patch on the real thing”.)
- But wait there’s more: who remembers Sam’s other band: Beargarden live on Countdown in the full throes of the new wave.
- Another original video on youtube: Triple Treat.
That photo above comes from the flickr set by amd300466. Completely copyright and i really shouldn’t have put it here. Thanks anyway. i’ll see if any of the photos on my phone match up.
Scribble-folk fly again
March 16, 2009
How much delight can a melbourne music goer bear?
On a night when the rest of the world was huddled around the s/MCG watching everyone from Kylie to Wolfmother and Split Enz, Annie and i headed for Northcote’s Wesley Anne to see the ethereally magnificent Flying Scribble with Pikelet playing solo.
Louise and gray are in very fine form; their new magic shines wonderfully just like the old numbers. gray’s drumming always astonishes and Louisie somehow manages to play 15 instruments at once, pumping out eg bass, organ, accordion and macbook samples.
Yes i was transported again by their beautiful rhythmic genius.
Here they are caught on video back in ‘07:
Great News: they’ve finished recording the new album!
Bad news: Shame the wesley still shuts down sound at 11pm.
Who’s Flying Scribble?
Lou and gray are one amazing melbourne duo. Find out more:
