five by five » northcote

Bigmouth strikes again

mic — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:18:02 +0000

Well that was fun.

Last night I sang with around 80 people in Stephen Taberner’s Bigmouth choir at the Northcote town hall.

We sang stephen’s arrangements of numbers like The Smiths’ “There is a light that never goes out”, and Garbage “Only happy when it rains.

Between choir pieces, he’d orchestrated performers like Dan Whitton of the Wikimen, and a group of singers from Princes Hill HS. These were all amazing and a delight to experience.

I feel bad for not inviting all my friends now. I’d only been to 3 rehearsals and there were around 10 songs so I kinda thought I wouldn’t even perform. But somehow managed to learn most of them in time. The last song i had to have lyrics on my phone, and sneak in a look.

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Flap! is beautiful

mic — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:07:21 +0000

I’ve seen this bunch of diehard jazz freaks play a few times now: at the Village in Edinburgh Gardens, supporting the inimitable Bohjass at the Northcote Social Club.. and now headlining at the East Brunswick. And each time i see them, i love them even more.

Such brilliant musicianship, such joyful playing, such contained energy in the singing. It’s modern Northcote music that draws on the traditional jazz styles of the 30′s and 40′s. Songs of love.. songs about the chicken truck that goes up High Street late at night.

My dad was mad for a bit of trad jazz, and i think he would have approved of this crowd as well.

The trombone player just goes off! Her energy is well furious. Eamon’s trumpet is sublime, and his singing is so understated it’s really beautiful. I really appreciate the way the two lead singers sing in their own voice, without American or English accents, and without being affected at all, just straight-up genuine.

At one point, there was a guy in the crowd who was overdoing his enthusiasm – oh yeh it was during the “Naked” song. So much that the lead singer had to mention her state of being married. Which led to some confusion as she implied she was happy about not being married to the trumpeter. Whoops.

Anyway, i’ve managed to track down their Youtube channel. Hopefully they’ll have an album out on the stands before too long.

I’m a poor man (but i’m not ashamed)

Down down down

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Launch of the 8 foot felix

mic — Sat, 21 May 2011 20:04:58 +0000

We all know there’s no shortage of mad latin/gypsy pirate bands at Open Studio in Northcote.

Just when you thought the world could brook no more such narrative, along comes the wonderful 8 foot felix. Their shtick is that of a group of sailors setting off on a wild and perilous journey, with adventurer Will Tait at the helm. On this night* they set sail, gradually building up to a rollicking, fast-paced mayhem, that had the crowd jumping, stomping and crying out for more.

Brendan’s carousing trumpet plays first mate to Will’s captain Tait. And there’s the masterful Kirri on fiddle, Francesca playing a soulful cello, as well as Steve on perčussion and others on delightful French horn and double bass.

This is meant to be a video from their myspace, but i’m not sure it’s working.
Excerpt from Amorcito Corazon

8 Foot Felix | Myspace Music Videos

..and here’s their performance of “Biggalong”:

Will wrote the final piece for first chorus by first chorus, so I’m familiar with his work, having sung it before. A brooding and dramatic number it was.

[Links]

Upcoming gigs on their own WordPress site; plus
they’re on Myspace, and faceboo of course.

* ‘this night’ was the launch at Open Studio, mid-May.

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Susy Blue is a burning star

mic — Thu, 19 May 2011 03:26:35 +0000

Well take a look at this. It’s only a tiny glimpse of the amazing Susy Blue. i had no idea her music was so beautiful.

Moose Hooves on Vimeo on Vimeo

via Moose Hooves on Vimeo.

and more

Seesaw – Susy Blue from Susy Blue on Vimeo.

You’ll see her at the Northcote social club on the 18th of May.

POSTSCRIPT: i went to the gig last night and it was LoOvely! They’re so full of delight and fun. Susy’s music is lively and bouncy and gorgeous. Great arrangements. Louise Goh on the keys totally rocks my world, as does Michael Hanley on banjo.

And The Nymphs played a good support. Four ladies mixing up the harmonies and singing acapella. Their best was a combination of “Mr Sandman (send me a dream)” with “Enter Sandman” – in the same cutesy fifties style. Sweet. Ooh look, they did it on Spicks and Specks once:

Barons of Tang go wild in the usa

mic — Thu, 12 May 2011 22:54:00 +0000

I love the Barons of Tang!

Ok for a few years I’ve found them too hard core, and they were always playing at the same time as spoonbill, so I would never stay and listen.

But tonight* they hit the spot like never before. They are extraordinary. And they’re going to the usa. i don’t think i’ve seen them properly since Aviva joined – her clarinet and bass clarinet riffs added a lot to the sound for me. Loved it.

Dance! Did we? I love those gigs where you start out kind of half-hearted, an you wind up jumping like a mad thing and shouting for more.

*When i say tonight i mean: Northcote Social Club 30 April.

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Ajak Kwai is astounding

mic — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 22:34:04 +0000

i’ve seen this woman before somewhere. She plays a very good innocent character, pretending to be no-one in particular, who then goes on to take the audience’ breath away with her incredible voice. So as well as buying her cd, i went out hunting on the youtubes and found these live performances, from a show in Melbourne in 2008: “Yego Luelku (Leave Me Alone)”

Wait, there’s another one: “All My Wives”.

And here is a video where she’s interviewed on her experience of being Sudanese in Tasmania. (Just skip past the hokey travelogue at the start.)

She appeared as the game show guest in Trent McCarthy’s “Dr Game Show”, showing at the Northcote Town Hall. Kevin Kropinyeri was the other third of the show, giving us his Aboriginal Game Show. He’s very funny, and more than a little bit wrong in his comedy.

[Spoiler warning: after the break]

We all went because the wonderful Sam and Booshie were also in the show. That’s right Samara “Hotseat” Hodson owes all her success (on Eddies Hotseat show) to the advice she received from Trent McCarthy. Apparently. According to the promo on the big screen above the stage.

Hilarious.

Trivia: Trent is also a Greens Councillor for Northcote.

Links: Kevin Kropinyeri

A review of the show in the Leader.

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Boho Masquerade Fun

mic — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:14:35 +0000

So i’ve been looking for photographs of the Bohemian Ball. Luckily there are some really good photographers hanging around with this crowd. There’s even a new book coming out that seems inspired by the ball and its coterie of performers – “This City Speaks to Me“.

The shows have been hit and miss over the years. i think i went to the first one at the Regal Ballroom in Northcote, and the music was decidedly non-boho. Disappointing in fact. But they’ve settled on a combination of Spoonbill and the Barons of Tang for recent years, and also for their whirlwind tour of Australia last year.

Found a set of (NSFW!) photos from the March 2010 ball, by Luke David Kellett over at flickr.

Mojo Juju’s version of “I put a spell on you” is amazingly full-on. i’ve seen it three times now and she really knocks the house down, especially when singing in the close confines of Open Studio or the newly opened Windmill Studios in Thornbury. But i worry she’ll damage her voice, there’s so much power in it.

Last October’s ball was a real treat. This March was a delightful evening, but somewhat lacklustre on stage.

So anyway i tracked down this video from the early years. i really like the aesthetic that the ball manages to create.

Plus another more random collection from flickr. This time i did a general search for the tag bohoball, sorted by the flickr tag known as ‘interestingness’ and grabbed the slideshow. Some bizarre photos in here, including videos too. Who knows what we’ll see here (if anything.. did it work?). At lot of pictures of them touring. Ooh look there’s Aviva, the amazing saxophonist from Barons of Tang! Plenty of star-spotting in this slideshow.

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[secret location] Northcote Cup Day Derby

mic — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:06:27 +0000

i just found this entry from Dellywood. Yay for Dell she caught the photo finish at the [Secret Location] Cup Day Derby. i have some photos too from last year’s Billy Cart Rally but haven’t put them anywhere public yet. i heard rumours that the guy who won had been training for months. He was a wild-card re-entrant after being knocked out early on. He is also the one who filmed all the other races by following on his skateboard; and for that i think his victory was so well-deserved.

Eastment St Derby 2010 on Vimeo on Vimeo

Here’s some footage from 2009, shot by Man Monkey Durphy. The winner that year was top3 in 2010 as well, i believe.

Dan also has 2009 shots on flickr, here in a slideshow.

The Age has photos from 2009 here.

Hope they run it again and again.

Too much fun.

On top of all that, there’s also a lovely animation too. Dell has skills.

Sleepy from dellstewart on Vimeo.

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Awesome evening of magic and gorgeousness

mic — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 06:24:34 +0000

Finally we made it to the performance night.

“first chorus: a retrospective” was a celebration of the first 4 years of Virginia Bott’s amazing Band of Singers. Such a joy to be involved with a magic and gorgeous bunch of good people.

The venue: Anytime Place in Brunswick. Gray Taylor and her team of speakeasy angels worked hard to get the venue looking its best. They are incredibly adept at adapting their environment to suit different kinds of performance.

The acoustics and sound engineering: Simon did a truly amazing job with the sound setup. What a dude. Thanks to Marianna and Ro for pointing out the need to turn down the band and the solo singers. Amazingly, we really had a good balance of volume from choir and soloist/band. (i heard later on from someone who sat both back and front that it was still pretty quiet out back in the standing room.

The audience: what a delightful and generous audience we had, filling out the space with warmth and focus.

The director: everyone knows now that Virginia Bott is a complete genius.

The new CD: Cave of Lights, the collaboration between Emma Tonkin and first chorus: band of singers is now available, hot from the CD burning presses. Launch should be around February. So lucky to have a preview copy that we gave a good spin last night after the gig.

Woohoo. Wish we’d recorded it.

Did anyone video?

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3 wise jellyfish at Abbotsford Convent (must see!)

mic — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 05:05:44 +0000

You won’t believe it but Jessie Tucker is having her 3rd exhibition this year, and it’s a beauty.

Another round of 3D painting-style sculptures, this time focussing on fables like the 3 wise jellyfish, the pigeon and the birds of paradise, the tiger and the moth. Gorgeous, magical pieces.

Get yourself to the nunnery and drink in this splendour.

C3 Gallery, Abbotsford Convent, until 14th November – hurry!

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Exhibitions approaching.. paper & paint and acetate

mic — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:25:55 +0000

This is Melbourne, there’s always a dozen amazing exhibitions to visit.

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:

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Life is packed full.. of good fortune and adventures

mic — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:21:06 +0000

It’s always good to remember how incredibly lucky i am, living in a developed country, having a roof over my head, access to public transport, and some kind of employment, as well as amazing social support networks. Many people around the world don’t get this lucky.

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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Singing in the rain (first chorus meets emma bathgate)

mic — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:12:07 +0000

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:

photo credits: yewenyi (thanks)

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