Amarina Waters will launch her New Single on the 24th March at the Gasometer Hotel.

I advise you to attend, as this will be a beautiful evening..

Delicious sounds and light-hearted visuals, “A Sense of You”.. filmed entirely on location, in the place it was filmed. Haunting and ethereal, mildly surreal..

(PS i have heard rumours there might be an album in the works… hopfully!!) 

Went roller skating with friends in the gardens on a recent Sunday afternoon. So much fun. Was looking up the best roller skating videos for the FB event, and found this delightful treat from Chet Faker:

i saw Childish Gambino live on stage at Falls Festival in Lorne and i loved his performance. I loved the way the crowd knew his material intimately and could recite his rap so exactly and so quietly. The crowd even knew when to have their hands in the air, and when not, as if they were in some kind of hive-mind unison.

So i’m looking him up later on, and it’s only now i realise it’s Donald Glover from Community!! Of “Troy and Abed in the morning”!!

Okay, i’m late to the party. I remember someone telling me that now.

The Worst Guys (ft. Chance the Rapper)

These women have already experienced more than their fair share of dystopian future in Putin’s Russia. So they know what they’re talking about when they warn us against a #maga fascist regime in the USA.

Trigger Warning: this video contains scenes of systemic state violence against women.

On a brighter note, you’ll love their video for “Straight Outta Vagina” (feat. Desi Mo & Leikeli47). Funny, sexy and political all in one go. Thanks Pussy Riot.

Feast on their other artworks over at youtubes.

An extraordinary festival within another festival, The Village couldn’t be further from Falls, and yet it’s right next door, behind the main stage.

What a pleasure to be involved here, performing with The Real Hot Bitches, and also as a guest of Gherkin Khan’s Amusement Alkazar. Great crew, funny funky times and the best musicians in the whole wild world. Anyone who has had the pleasure of dancing to Tek Tek under the moonlight will know exactly what i’m talking about.

Most fun to be had? Watching all the different band line-ups and working out how many bands all these superstars were across. Carrie Webster, Steph Brett, Paul Dornau, David Bramble, Esther Henderson, Kat Karvess, Thomas Mitchell, Ros Jones, Ania Reynolds – all somehow featured in 3 or more of the supergroups on stage.

Most hilarious moment? David Bramble getting a buzz cut during The Haircuts’ song “Buzz Cut”. Or perhaps when Flaps Salad of the Real Hot Bitches strutted their Mulletty Hotness across the grounds during The Haircuts’ rendition of “Disco Mullet”!!

Most touching moment? Meeting Charlie, a 21 y.o. dude from Frankston who was out-of-sight blown away by the whole Village experience. “Forget the Falls Festival,” he told me, “this place is blowing my mind.. i never knew stuff like this existed.. i just want to find out how to get involved!”

New discoveries? Lisa Skye is a very funny human!!

Out there in the crazy world of the Falls Festival, we also saw some delightful music, eg Client Liaison, London Grammar, Childish Gambino, and the very wonderful Gretta Ray on her first big festival stage. Oh and The Avalanches live on stage for special NYE fun – they were so good!!

Some of the bands i can remember seeing at The Village at Falls:

• Tek Tek
• Sugar Fed Leopards
• Papa Chango
• Los Cojones
• Owl Egg Omelet
• The Haircuts
• Afrobics
• Deep Vein Trombosis
• Lord Apocalypso and his Komodo Kittens
• DJ Wolf Nipples
• DJ Uncle Barnie
• Steph Brett solo

Seriously wish i was at Cygnet Folk Festival this year, if only to see the magical Jarron Freeman-Fox and his Opposite of Everything.

I saw them for the 4th time the other night at Bar Open, and they are an extremely delightful treat as always. This time around, they’ve added a woman who plays accordion, flute and some kind of jazzy keys as well. Yep, she brings the wild storm, just like the others do.

Let me urge you to put this magic into your earholes now. Go and buy their album on the bandcamps. Much satisfaction will be your reward.

Just discovered Belinda Totino and her To Do List. Here’s one to watch if you’re getting strung up by your New Year’s Resolutions. Belinda is funny!!

“It’s not a resolution, it’s a revolution!”

How long have we been waiting for this?

(Answer: A Long Time, or since August 2014.) 

The exquisite voices of Kelly Day and Jane Hendry come together once more in a delightfully dreamy single release. Hopefully we’ll find out there’s a new album in the works as well (“Vacancy”, early 2017).

• 12 November at The Toff in Town.

• Soundcloud
• Bandcamp
• Book of Faces

Thanks Virginia Bott for reminding me of this beautiful album that Emma Tonkin made with First Chorus Band of Singers.

I’d been a big fan of Emma’s work for years, so it was inspiring to be a part of the recording ..and what an experience that was, learning the complex rhythms and harmonies Virginia and Emma created to accompany Emma’s deeply moving songs. If you’ve never listened to it, here’s your chance. (Listen below on this page, or over at bandcamp.)

• emmatonkin.bandcamp.com
• Plus the CD comes with stunning artwork by Jessie Tucker.
• First Chorus is also on soundcloud at firstchorusbandofsingers

Magical work from Melbourne’s Gretta Ray, who has just taken out the TripleJ Unearthed High best in class award. I saw Gretta play last year with If You See Her Say Hello, and she is really great. Here’s an old video from Sofar in July 2015. Can’t rave enough about this singer-songwriter; her lyrics and vocals are astonishing and beautiful.

Oh wait, here’s the “surprise” video from TripleJ, with Amarina and Mim somewhere in the background, because they are her awesome teachers.