I reckon these two could be really good.

..

Skin and Bone

Lauren Simmonds (had) an exhibition opening Thursday 3 June at the Napier Hotel – Skin and Bone - upstairsatthenapier.org/ Lauren also had a huge piece at the Trocadero in Footscray recently which was astounding and beautiful.. her work draws you into its intriguing depths.

..

The World at Large

Plus i’ve just had a sneak preview of Ahmarnya Price’s latest collection. Ahmarnya’s opening at Gilligan Gallery on the 12th June, a Saturday matinee session. There’s a whole year full of diptych works that had me staring in wonderment for as long as i could. Each month echoes the themes and motifs of the month before, telling a story of hair and skirts and transformation.

Don’t you love that delicious sensation of being surrounded by genius artistic people!

While you’re out cruising the interwebs, take a look at Ahmarnya’s blogspot: she’s collected bundles of her past work:

• ahmarnyaprice.blogspot.com/
• exhibition page on the fackbook site.

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There’s been so much going on in my life lately:

• moved house back to Northcote which is very delightful, Lou and Anto have been putting heaps of energy into making a new dream house with a beautiful garden.. i’m struggling to deal with all my excess baggage newly out of storage (move on, baggage, move on);
• went to Womadelaide music festival, an extremely exciting and wonderful trip involving South Australian salt beaches, Mama Kin, Ojos de Brujo, Nortec Collective from Mexico, and much more;
• went to see Alice in Wonderland and loved it – except for the 3D;
• riding my amazing new bike every day and getting so much enjoyment from it – so super fast i have to be really careful;
• joined in Tim and Sam’s working bee sessions up at Elphinstone Manor, put up curtains in their bedroom, worked on a new carport with Tim, planted some trees and helped dig a long ditch for the plumbing pipes;
• read Russell Banks “Dreaming up America”, a history of the USA through his experience of film;
• went to see Lauren Simmonds’ exhibition down in Footscray, an intriguing paper-based installation;
• saw Monsters of the Deep in 3D at the Comedy Festival – very funny;
• joined the first chorus band of singers in recording with Emma Tonkin at Fairfield tafe studios;
• catching up with Buffy season 8 in comic book form, and it is getting super scary,
• plus all sorts of other things involving meditation and yoga.

But telling stories here on the blog.. haven’t had the follow-through lately. Too busy enjoying life, too nervous about writing in public, too stressed about moving house and finding new workplaces.

So there’s the overview.

Maybe i’ll come back with some detail, one day soon.

photo credit: cloud_nine

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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:

• Emma Bathgate,
• first chorus band o singers

photo credits: yewenyi (thanks)

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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.)

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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.

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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.

Northcote is jumping !!

Cross the river if you have to.

Yum.

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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.

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She’s just put a bunch of her work up on a blogspot thing. Totally worth a look.. luscious, beautiful, surreal images. I especially like the collection on “Water and Air“.

Visit her blog site thing. Feast your eyes, drink in the sumptuous-ness.

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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:

• on myspace
• on last.fm
• the gig on last.fm

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• 3-8pm this Sunday 1st March at
• Northcote Uniting in High St.
• Heidi’s choir Expressive Women
• Kavisha Mazella
• Rod Quantock as MC.

$10/15 money goes to uniting church Victorian bushfire appeal.

Daryl says: “Please come and have a great time with us in solidarity with those who have not only lost so much but now contemplate a long physical and emotional rebuilding process.”

(Some moments of reflection involved.)

PS: i caught Heidi’s choir, and they were really good. Heidi sang solo and she was fab. Then Zeena and i fled the choir scene, over to Wesley Anne where “The Tiger and Me” were playing. They Were Good. Alt-Country-ish.

plus: get your Flyer here: Northcote-Concert-Flyer(pdf)

.

photo credit: alana jonez

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i am completely blessed .. as the wonderful Louise invited me to a delightful brekkie in the wilds of westgarth, only moments from the action.

Yes this is the first year i’ve been an off-world visitor to planet northcote during the high vibes festival. i was feeling a bit sad, but being rescued with French Toast and Fruit Salad is such a good way to build up your spirits and get ready for a day of pleasure.

as i arrive, gray is tapping away on Renato’s drum kit, in time with Bessie Smith. Life is deliriously gorgeous.

The sun is shining, there are thousands of angels pouring gigalitres of love into the whole festival, and i’m filled with joy, as we wander up the hill to join the throng.

Everything is so packed, and the weather is so gorgeous that we don’t actively listen to much music .. but i dance to a couple of Tzigas numbers outside Open Studio; and Gerard has a funky dj in his backyard next door. That was fun.

The gig that i really savour later on is the magnificent spoonbill at 303 .. who plays a very enjoyable set. Listen here to his version of Gum Tree:

It was a bit weird when he invited dj drizzle on stage to do some MC work, and this guy just wouldn’t let go of the microphone. Some of the crowd shouted at him to get off so we could enjoy the spoon .. but mr bill was too polite to grab back the mic.

Ah madness. Oh fun. Potato cakes and broken yellow buckets. Huge sunglasses and crazy thongs made out of rubber LP shapes. Lots of wonderful people from the Northcote tribes.

.. and i forgot my camera, so only mobile phone photos. Will post if i can get the blue teeth to work.

Later in the week, i read in the local paper that there were 100,000 people at the event .. 30,000 more than last year. Big !!

Ciao.

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Emma Tonkin is playing the Uniting Church .. but not alone; she has a choir behind her to really stretch the beauty of her songs. (Have a listen here, or visit her space.)

Competing with “Girl, interpreted” which is a celebration of Auslan song interpretation. Oh, why are they on at the same time.

Boo.

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• “Sparkly Square” is a much more fun than Northcote Plaza;
• Walking distance to miles and miles of parkland – but i’m walking, not jogging yet;
• Hundreds of new restaurants within minutes of home ..
• many more cheap variety stores, with all manner of precious junk (which i am not thinking about buying, at all! Too much junk in my life already, which i still haven’t cleared out.)

Sydney road has a different character from Northcote High Street .. can’t quite describe the difference just yet. Larger range of ethnic diversity? More established cafes and hotels?

But all these new cafes, i need a local tour guide ..
and where are all the musicians madly improvising?

Thank Evans i’m still cycling distance from the Northcote hill.

image thanks to deepwarren at flickr

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