Totally Addicted to Hi-Hat

And we'll all float on anyway...

2008-05-24T03:06:00.002+10:00

Dear faithful and non-existent readers of this blog.
It is 3am, and all I know right now is that Float On is the most beautiful and stunning piece of music in my itunes collection. In fact, it has, for some strange reason, managed to move me to tears this morning. Appreciate.
And now, sleep.

Metal and Death Cab.

2008-05-24T01:13:00.006+10:00

I have noticed a very interesting trend...

"Metal heads" as I refer to them... whatever sub-genre of metal they choose to listen to, appear to have a tendency to enjoy certain bands that seem grotesquely out of context when compared to their usual music taste.

These certain bands often appear in the genre that I find more aligned to myself and James. I am unsure whether I should be offended that people with such choices in music also appreciate music that I do... Or whether I should applaud their attempt at crossing stiff genre borders (metal and indie should always be kept strictly separate).

My primary example is none other than the kings of indie, Death Cab for Cutie.
Has anybody else noticed that many metal heads these days also enjoy the sweet melodies of our very own Cabbies? This confuses me no end! One of the biggest fan of Death Cab that I know IRL, is Tom, my ex-boyfriend and self-confessed metal head. He loves that shit! And his top artists include; Lamb of God, SikTh, Tool and Nine Inch Nails.
Other known metal heads with Death Cab high up in their overall artist charts include my frienemy Richard, his girlfriend Lauren, and of course, my boyfriend Ricky (whose somewhat rocky relationship with Death Cab I have mentioned a couple of times already in this blog). I'm beginning to think I should be interviewing him and others on what they see in Death Cab.
I cannot, for the life of me, work out in my head where the music of Death Cab, and the music of, say Tool, find common ground... at all! And if they claim to simply be enjoyers of fine music in all genres... then why are they listening to Tool, and why aren't they listening to Kanye West?

Secondly, Radiohead. I understand these guys are hugely, massively, mind-blowingly popular with the entire human population, however, I still fail to see an alignment between Radiohead and Lamb of God and their genre companions. At this point I'm starting to feel a little close-minded, because, I although I indulge in sub-genres of metal sometimes (hang on, Atreyu are my second top band... oops), and I obviously enjoy indie... I still feel no alliance to people like Tom, Richard or Ricky when it comes to indie music. Could somebody enlighten me please?

Other bands I have noted include, Sigur Ros, Coldplay and Gotye.

I leave you with a couple of SMS quotes from my primary example, Thomas Gordon:
"New death cab is awwwwwesome. Actually very different to plans, \m/ fucking metal!"
"Haha yeah it's metal, i love "talking bird" when ben does that scream about 1min in: "KILLING TALKING BIRDS!! DEAD ZOMBIE BIIIYAAAAAARGHDS!" You know the bit?"

I rest my case. Metals heads are insane.

Last.fm Beta Site

2008-05-23T11:44:00.003+10:00

So I noticed Steph isn't a Last.fm subscriber any more, but I still am so I can tell you about all these cool things that we get access to. Admittedly it isn't a whole heap most of the time (no ads, you can see who's recently visited your page), but every now and then you get access to every computer geek's dream: the beta.

Every now and then before releasing new features, Last.fm releases a beta version that subscribers can try out and give feedback on. This time they've gone a step further and put out a whole new beta website, with everything revamped and upgraded.

And it's pretty darned cool.

One of my favourite new things is your personal 'library', which contains records of all the songs you've ever played. Mine currently contains a paltry 311 artists, something which I'll be working on rectifying before the beta gets released to everyone. For comparison, Steph has 772 artists in her library, Nick has 575, and Steve has 76 (I included Steve pretty much to make me feel better).

Another very welcome feature is the ability to go through old shouts. It always annoyed me that you could only see the most recent few, but that has now been fixed. Woo!

There's also a Facebook-esqe activity feed (but less creepy!), and charts are a lot more customisable.

Obviously, being a beta, it's still missing a lot of polish, and there's still a few issues here and there, but I'm really looking forward to see it in its finished form; it's really awesome!

So if you want a sneak preview, become a Last.fm subscriber now ;).

Sexy Boys Make the Best Music

2008-05-13T18:52:00.004+10:00

The Arctic Monkeys, are pure over-hyped shite.
The Last Shadow Puppets - a side-project between the Monkeys' Alex Turner and The Rascals' Miles Kane, are, on the other hand, quite magnificent.
Their album, The Age of the Understatement, is sexy.
Just goes to prove my theory, it's the sexy boys who make the best music. Take the sexy boy out of a shitty band and you get sexy music. Actually, I made up that theory just then because Alex Turner is sexy.

Fighting at AIH

2008-05-12T21:33:00.003+10:00

So in all the gigs I've ever been to prior to last night, I've never personally witnessed a fight. This includes gigs such as Brand New and Arcade Fire, both of which seem more likely a place than an Architecture In Helsinki gig at The Metro, one of the most laid-back venues you can find. Yet last night, there were three, maybe four fights. Crazy stuff!

Admittedly only one of them was during the actual concert; the others were after it had finished, but still! The first seemed to be caused by somebody spilling their drink and somebody else getting pissed of by it, resulting in a hefty uppercut and a fair amount of blood, and the second was possibly the same people. The other(s) was/were aftermath.

Doesn't this seem a bit unusual? I mean, Architecture were putting on such a fun show, you'd think you would be hard-pressed to get angry about anything. The only difference between that and any other gig was that there was a combination of alcohol (usual) and underage show-goers (unusual, and quite weird). But the douchebag fighters were all at least 20, so it's hard to see that getting in the way.

Any ideas?

Hilarity was ensued

2008-05-12T20:15:00.003+10:00

Hilarity was indeed ensued when I attended an Avenged Sevenfold concert and noted that in two of their songs they used a disco beat (a.k.a LOTS OF HI-HAT).

Metal meets disco indeed. He he he.

This is the point where you forget that I said I attended an Avenged Sevenfold concert *runs from violent indie mob*.

New MMJ

2008-05-08T12:27:00.001+10:00

Oh no! What happened to My Morning Jacket!? They sound completely different! Well, I've only heard Highly Suspicious... but wow. Sounds like a completely different band. I'm hoping the radio announcer just got mixed up. Please.

Last.fm Compatibilities

2008-05-01T19:26:00.004+10:00

Last.fm compatibilities... how are accurate are they?

I ask this because I have just been moved up to 'Super' compatibility with my boyfriend, whose music taste I consider to be quite different to mine. I mean, he doesn't even listen to indie, apart from Death Cab (see earlier post). It's just because we have a few of the same bands quite high up in our charts, I'm fairly sure.

With James, who I would expect to have quite good compatibility with, I am a High, and a low-ish one at that. Hmm.

With my best friend Elise, I am Very High, which I find mildly surprising, I mean, we definitely have similar general music taste and like a few of the same bands a lot, but our actual charts look quite different... quite a few mutual artists but at very different ranks on each chart.

My other best friend I'm Low with. No surprises there (sorry Jez :P ) he's been listening to the Finn Brothers though lately, which is very very good in my books

And with le Ex I am Medium. Also no surprises there.

THE MORAL OF THIS STORY: Find friends and a boy/girlfriend who you have Super compatibility with... if only by Last.fm's calculations!!

Splendour 08

2008-04-23T20:24:00.003+10:00

Dear Lord,
thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou for giving us a Band of Horses sideshow.
Yours forever, Stephanie

Splendour line-up is an indie dream! I could probably afford to go if I saved, but none of my friends would go...

BAND OF FUCKING HORSES.
Sigur Ros
The Presets
Vampire Weekend
Cold War Kids
Ben Lee
The Wombats
The Fratellis
The Vines
The Grates
The Panics
MSTRKRFT

Amazing.

2008-04-06T10:52:00.002+10:00

Aha!
My indie band to-see list has been reduced by three now.

Leaving:
Band of Horses
Death Cab For Cutie
The Hives
The National

as the main remaining bands I really want to see live.

Hot Hot Heat were amazing <333

You know you should disown your boyfriend when...

2008-04-02T11:47:00.008+11:00

....they leave a post in your last.fm shoutbox saying they are embarrassed to be listening to and enjoying Death Cab for Cutie. Alone, this is reason to disown your boy.

BUT,

If their top artists contain, amongst others; Bullet for My Valentine, Hawthorne Heights, Metallica, Disturbed and/or In Flames, then where the hell do they think that their opinion on DCFC even stands in the eyes of us educated indie kids!? It doesn't even exist.

Clearly they have no idea of what constitutes embarrassing music, and the joke is actually on them. Oh the irony.

Perhaps playing them Goodnight Goodnight by Hot Hot Heat would give them the idea. Speaking of... I'm looking forward to a great show from them tonight.

Love, Steph

PS. Single girls, to avoid such a dilemma, may I suggest you hunt down my colleague, James. Haha.

Indie Shirts That Would Probably Sell

2008-03-12T01:00:00.008+11:00

My highlight of the day recently arrived in the form of a link sent to me by James over MSN... it bore an article entitled "Indie Rock T-shirts That Would Never Sell".
Some of the designs were just so witty and/or true that I had to post them here!!

Indie shirts that would never sell...
More...

Yo from James!

2008-03-11T22:46:00.005+11:00

Hello there! Sorry, it did actually take me a little while to get on to this post, but better late than never, no? Anyway, I'm James, and thanks to Steph I'm now an official contributor to this blog! I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to write about indie culture, but I really can't profess to be an expert on any form of social inquiry. However, I shall do my best to enlighten you, dear readers, to the wonders and joys of the world of indie.

Whatever that is...

Anyway, I guess I should put something music-related in my first post. So I shall narrate to you my current musical obsessions, all of which are surprisingly very indie indeed. Here goes:

Dappled Cities (Fly) - Granddance

I first heard these guys live supporting LCD Soundsystem, and was really impressed. They perfectly suited the way I was feeling on the night. When I first got their album, I wasn't so sure about it, but a friend mentioned that he always thought of them as more of a summery band. It's true; lately I've been playing them on lazy, warm Sunday afternoons, and they're awesome!
Highlight: Fire Fire Fire

Coconut Records - Nighttiming

This is the band of Jason Schwartzman, who I've loved ever since seeing The Darjeeling Limited and becoming obsessed with Peter Sarstedt's Where Do You Go To (My Lovely). Anyway, a friend recommended picking up the album, and it's totally worth it! As usual, I can't really explain what they're like, but it's just kinda nice poppy indie mixed in with something you can 'bop' to, at least in some tracks.
Highlight: Nighttiming

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Pershing

I didn't actually realise until a while after I 'obtained' this album that it's actually not released yet. I just wanted to hear what they were like! And this is what I could find. But seriously, who could resist, with a band name like that? Kind of reminds me of a cross between Elliott Smith and the soundtrack to Maltilda (don't ask how I relate it to either of them, I just do. I don't even remember Matilda).
Highlight: Um... Glue Girls or Dead Right, I guess.

Hopefully I can write something more useful next time! :D

And sorry those albums don't have pictures, I couldn't work out how to make them work properly. So much for being an I.T. student...

Last.fm Subscription

2008-03-11T15:57:00.003+11:00

Hola!
I just 'subscribed' to Last.fm for a months, just to see what would happen, haha.
So far, not much, except I can see who has been looking at my page! And I am blue.
I like supporting Last.fm though, they are the cheese to my macaroni!

I recruited someone to write in this blog. Looks like he hasn't introduced himself yet, but he might write something later, eh James? Perhaps not though. He is a last.fm subscriber also, the only one that I know of.

Updated CD Wish List

2008-03-09T10:18:00.003+11:00

In anticipation of selling my guitar amp (and as a consequence, having some money)... I have designed a new CD wish-list:

City & Colour - Bring Me Your Love
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Spoon - Kill the Moonlight
Softlightes - Say No! to Being Cool, Say Yes! to Being Happy
The Rakes - Ten New Messages
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
The National - Alligator
Stars - In Our Bedroom After the War

What else!??!

Storebought Indie at Its Finest

2008-03-04T23:43:00.003+11:00

Today at Uni, I saw this kid. A boy.
He had on:
- Okkervil River T-shirt
- Bright Eyes hoodie
- Sigur Ros patches on his bag

Ok we get the drift, you're like, totally indie. For god's sake.
You may have been attractive if you had just one less of those items on you.
There is such a thing as too indie.
He didn't even have headphones in, so he can't dig the music that much.

Interpol at Festival Hall

2008-02-26T00:00:00.003+11:00

INTERPOL
Festival Hall, Melbourne 25/2/08
Supported by Youth Group.

Just a brief review.
Firstly, they were fantastic. I didn't know what to expect but the boys were absolutely brilliant. They played a full one hour 40 min set that covered songs from all three albums, biased slightly towards the latter two. However, their encore consisted purely of Bright Lights songs; NYC, Stella Was a Diver, PDA. Absolutely gorgeous, especially NYC.

Stand out tracks included Slow Hands, which actually people in the stalls up on their feet dancing, Evil, which is my personal favourite, was just devine. Pioneer to the Falls was brilliant also. Actually, just about every track proved to be of the highest standard. They managed to fill the expansive Festival Hall without much trouble.

Paul Banks' voice was an exact replicate of its recordings. I was surprised actually, by how unique and strong his voice is, even when he was talking, although very little of that happened. Prize for the best guitar-dancer int he indie scene definitely goes to Daniel Kessler... his dancing was absolutely mesmerising! I caught myself on more than one occasion with my mouth dangling open, eyes glued to his hypnotic back and forth dancing. How embarrassing! And he's like an energetic little puppy on stage, skittering around, annoying the cool and collected Carlos, and drummer Sam Fogarino. Ah, Carlos. The notorious man with his famous moustache and infamous reputation. Well, even where I was situated, some distance fomr the stage, and on the opposite side from him, I could still quite clearly make out his moustache, and a bleached-blonde lock of his hair.

Oh, I'd almost forgotten how Paul's voice makes me weak when he sings Evil. Listening to it live was just awesome.

Overall, an a amazing gig, a good healthy-sized set and a good crowd (and a surprising lack of store-bought indie kids as I had predicted in my Arcade Fire review).

Bands I Want to See

2008-02-19T16:45:00.003+11:00

Indie bands I desire to see live:
Interpol
Hot Hot Heat
Modest Mouse
Band of Horses
The Hives
Bloc Party
Death Cab for Cutie
The Shins
Rilo Kiley
The National

Of those, I have a ticket to Interpol, Modest Mouse and Hot Hot Heat.
I've not long ago missed The National, Bloc Party and The Shins
I'd die to see Band of Horses.

Arcade Fire and the Superbowl

2008-02-05T01:54:00.001+11:00

Apparently Fox used Arcade Fire's No Cars Go without their permission, in an ad televised during the Superbowl.
That pretty much sucks for Arcade Fire. I hope they royally kick Fox's arse for this.

Thanks, Pitchfork.

Canadians in the Indie Industry

2008-02-04T23:21:00.000+11:00

Under construction: Focus on Canada's indie talent.

Believe it or not, it's not all maple syrup and ice hockey in Cananda. And there's more to their music scene than Neil Young and Nickleback. Here's my short overview of notable indie artists that lived/formed/are based in Canada.

If we were traverse the country of Canada systematically from right to left, we would begin in British Columbia, specifically, in Victoria.
It is here that we come across one of Canada's most successful indie artist. Although successful is debatable in the current context. Their fourth album Happiness Ltd. did nowhere near as well as its predecessor Elevator, with all three of its singles failing to chart above #100. Hopefully this will not spell the end of Hot Hot Heat, however.
Also in Victoria, we find Frog Eyes, who, for their great abundance of releases, unfortunately only seem midly popular because of their distant association with Wolf Parade/Sunset Rubdown.
Onto Vancouver we travel! Say hello to the New Pornographers! Another very successful Canadian export. Last year's release Challengers, celebrated the ten year anniversary of the band by charting considerably well.
Moving into Alberta now... Ah yes, just the one notable artist. And if I recall correctly, one half of this duo resides in America anyway. But here we find at least point five of the gorgeous twins Tegan and Sara Quin, whose 2007 album proved to be their real breakthrough into the mainstream.
Skipping two province/territories, we move into Ontario. Now although it's not appropriate to mention Alexisonfire here, it is approriate to mention singer Dallas Green's side project, City and Colour. Indie, emo, whatever you want to call his music, it's beautiful, and I personally like the fact that colour is spelled inclusive of the U, haha. Looking forward to his imminent release!
I feel I must mention Tokyo Police Club, even though I am not too fond of them. Finally an NME indie darling that's not from Britain!
In Toronto we find popsters Metric, epic supergroup Broken Social Scene and now defunct dance-punks Death From Above 1979. Whew. That's a lot of talent in one city. And very diverse and innovative talent at that.
Canada's capital, Ottowa, seems relatively bare compared to the rest of the country!
And into Quebec we finally arrive, whew! Nearly there.
Montreal is positively teeming with indie love! It seems right to begin here with Canada's most popular indie band, as this band is one of the 'big three' of current indie music. Yep, it's Arcade Fire. And boy do the Canadians love this band. This much was evident as they desperately pleaded for my ticket to see the band only a week ago.
Also, we have here the well-known well-known Wolf Parade/Sunset Rubdown, The Unicorns, Stars, annnnd the Handsome Furs.
We're nearly at the end of our Contiki Tour of music now, our last stop is Nova Scotia. Here, all on her lonesome, we find Feist!
Whew. I think this more than proves that Canada is now one of the biggest exports of quality indie music, alongside England and America.
Just to clarify, as their name is rather misleading, Of Montreal are definitely not from Montreal, or Canada at all. Neither are Boards of Canada. Just like I'm From Barcelona are not from Barcelona. Cheeky devils.
Enjoy.
PS. yes, of course I used a map.

My week in music.

2008-01-31T22:27:00.000+11:00

Albums that I've purchased/discovered/been enjoying, this week:

Chris Walla - Field Manual

I know I've already dedicated an entire post to this album, but it's really that good. It's sweet and endearing, very Death Cab, but with its own special something. With gorgeous vocals and melodies, this album is just a dream! If an album could be my boyfriend this would be my perfect suitor.
Feature track: Two-fifty

Andrew Bird - Armchair Apochrypha

Why has it taken me this long to discover this little gem of a solo artist?! This album, his latest, is full of beautiful songs with intelligent and witty lyrics. It has rarely seen the outside of me CD player since its purchase.

Feature track: Imitosis

The National - Boxer

I downloaded this long ago and forgot about it. After one listen I decided it needed to be my next CD purchase. And then I kicked myself for missing their show which was only a week previous, hard. The first time I listened to it, I was in a stunned state for the whole album, the whole time just thinking, wow. It's a masterpiece. The singer's deep voice caught me off-guard, but it grew on me immediately, and continues to, it's so unusual and hardly seen in indie music.

Feature track: Fake Empire

Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

A boy(friend) put a track from this album on a mix CD months ago and I didn't really pursue them further (Spoon, not the boy). Anyway, they were meant to support Arcade Fire, so I did a little research on them, and bought their latest album as it was on special. I was pleasantly surprised, I don't know I expected, but it's very listenable. Unfortunately, they pulled out of the support slot for the concert.

Feature track: The Ghost of You Lingers

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

Say hello to this year's first 'it' band. I purchased this album purely on hype, which has landed me with some fairly shoddy albums in the past. Anyway, these guys are proving to have a bit more originality about then than most 'it' bands. I'll need to listen to it more, and I'll get back to you, but from the first couple of spins I say that I don't hate it. Watch out for 'em.

Also recently purchased/downloaded/enjoyed:

The Octopus Project - Hello, Avalanche. I love the cover art! The songs are electronic pop bliss.

Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon. Another impulsive album art purchase. Oops.

Shout Out Louds - Howl Howl Gaff Gaff. Very easy to get into, some quality songs on here.

Modest Mouse - Everywhere and His Nasty Palour Tricks [EP]

Chris Walla's "Field Manual"

2008-01-30T01:18:00.000+11:00

Chris Walla (Death Cab For Cutie guitarist/producer) has just released a solo album entitled "Field Manual", may I strongly suggest every one who reads this, downloads or buys it post haste.

Anything and everything related to Death Cab is guaranteed to be glorious. This album is absolutely no exception.

Arcade Fire. (No 'the')

2008-01-29T22:42:00.000+11:00

29th January 2008, The Forum.

In case you weren't aware. There are three bands dominating the world indie stage these days.
Four years ago it was The Strokes, the White Stripes and Franz Ferdinand.
Today it is Modest Mouse, Interpol, and Arcade Fire. No, neither the Arctic Monkeys nor Bloc Party qualify.

I had only just reached the corner of Flinders and Swanston streets when it became apparent that many, many fans of Arcade Fire missed out on tickets. It was here that I first began to get hassled to sell my own to the desperate. The heckling continued all the way up Flinders, to the Forum, and around the corner, where the line to get in went further back than I could see. I noticed that majority of the people who had pleaded with me to part with my precious ticket, were middle-aged, male, fat, and Canadian. No surprise considering the band themselves are Montreal-based, but it made a stark contrast to majority of the ticket holders waiting in line. I had never seen so many indie kids in one place at one time (granted, I do not attend Pogo, St. Jerome's or shop at Savers often). The cream of the cream of Melbourne's indie crop had emerged from their bedrooms tonight, removed from their oversized headphones (but not their Wayfarers), most attired in generic indie fashion, as my housemate affectionately calls them; "storebought indie". These are my people, I feel at home amongst them. If there were one gig that would collect such a vast amount of such people, it would be this (moreso than the still-not-sold-out Interpol gig in February).

The doors opened late, and it was slow-moving to get inside. The entire journey into the actual venue, through the foyer, via the merchandise stand was rather long-winded and slow. There was no support band. Spoon had pulled out from tonight's show, but not tomorrow's. This suited me just fine, however, as I often find support bands tiresome, and judging by the myriad of instruments and contraptions set up along the entire length and width of the stage for Arcade Fire, I presume the task of setting up the stage for them would have taken a good hour after Spoon had finished.
I looked up and momentarily mistook the roof for the night sky, it was a pleasant feeling. The venue was perfect for Arcade Fire; gloomy and haunting.

When Arcade Fire took to the stage at 8.30pm precisely, the first thing that became apparent as the stage lit up, was that Arcade Fire were a big band. I know there are seven core members of the band, and tonight in addition, were three others. They covered the stage from end to end! First song in, Win Butler, the lead male singer, almost launched himself into the crowd. And the crowd in turn launched themselves at Arcade Fire, figuratively. It took only half a minute for everybody to start dancing, hand-clapping and singing. It was hard not to give in to the energy that the band gave off, even the old dude beside me was shaking his booty!

If there was one member of the band that became the 'centre' of the stage, the attenion-seeker(-and-getter), it was Win's wife, the lead female singer, Regine Chassagne, who also proved to be apt when seated in front of a drum kit, or keyboard, accordion, xylophone, and, er, hurdy-gurdy. She was full to the brim with attitude, pure attitude, it was written all over her face, when she snarled at the crowd, shouting the lyrics at us. She sure plays a mean tambourine. Yet when it came to her songs in the set, she transformed into the sweet, childish girl you would expect to be behind the gorgeous voice on Une Annee Sans Lumiere.

The two multi-instrumentalists, who switched between, to name a few; trumpet, clarinet, tuba, baritone saxaphone stayed very much in the background. Up the front, left of stage, were two violinists/celloists, who also kept their stage-presence low key. Then there was the drummer, and three others who switched between percussion, guitar, bass and synth duties amonst themselves, Win and Regine. As much as it would on their recordings, the abscence of any one of the instruments or band members would leave a gaping hole in the unique, complex, beautiful and ethereal sound that makes Arcade Fire exactly who they are.

The crowd's enthusiasm hardly waned as the band traversed through all four songs in the Neighbourhood series found on Funeral, and were particularly energentic during #3 (Power Out) (predictably so, as it's 'everybody's favourite Arcade Fire song'). As well as other old favourites Wake Up, Rebellion (Lies), Une, and newer Keep the Car Running and Black Mirror. During Neon Bible it was magical to hear the crowd cooing the chorus in hushed voices 'ne-on bi-ble, ne-on bi-ble' along with Win.

The set list was almost equally divided between Funeral and Neon Bible material, though slightly skewed towards the former.

During the latter part of the set, one got the feeling of deja vu during the songs, as if they had already played that song, but then I realised, they hadn't, it was just that Arcade Fire's songs, blasphemous as it is, all sound very alike. Is it just me or are most of their songs in the same key? Maybe that's where the sense of repetition originates.

After an hour and a quarter of blissful music, they left the stage.
In reponse, the audience began to start singing the melody from the last song that was played, to woo the band back. When they did return, for the encore, they did seem impressed by our encore tactics, and started playing along with us. Eventually, the drummer got us to stop, and they launched into their encore, consisting of No Cars Go. Exactly an hour and a half after they began, Arcade Fire left the stage, leaving their crowd well impressed and more than satisfied.

CD Wishlist

2008-01-29T02:31:00.000+11:00

In order of preference:

Sons and Daughters - This Gift
Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
The National - Alligator
Shout Out Louds - Our Ill Wills
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna...
Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends
Built to Spill - Ancient Melodies of the Future
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
Shout Out Louds - Howl Howl Gaff Gaff
Vampire Weekend - s/t
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
Albert Hammond Jr. - Yours to Keep
Chris Walla - Field Manual
Death Cab for Cutie - We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes
Menomena - Friend and Foe

Indie? No.

2008-01-28T00:18:00.000+11:00

Arctic Monkeys:
C'mon. I bet that you look good on the dancefloor was not even good. A prime example of an NME indie darling that really should not have been. I admit that Brianstorm is an OK song, until you get 39 seconds into the song, that is. Overrated is an understatement. The only positive is the attractiveness of lead singer Alex Turner.

Architecture in Helsinki:
Ugh. I thought I liked twee as a genre... Until I came across this band. Please, go back to primary school if you want to sound like a bunch of 5-year-olds. Pardon the 5 reference. Not intentional. I loathe that song, and its video too. My friend offered me a free ticket to their gig, I declined.

The Gossip:
OHMYGOD how catchy is Standing in the Way of Control!?!? I KNOW! You know what? Everyone who claims to like this band have only heard this song (and its copius and unwarranted amount of remixes). Everyone else has heard the rest of the album, or just knows better.

Klaxons:
Once again, NME/Click Click/Pogo darlings that should not have been. All their songs sound the same! All annoying! Cashing in on the indie dance hype, on the cheap.

Le Tigre:
Hooray, you're lesbians and you're really, really proud of it. Good for you. The idea is to make your music good enough that it sells itself, not via cheap marketing ploys. Take a leaf out of Tegan and Sara's book, not t.A.T.u's.

Simian Mobile Disco:
see entry for Klaxons.

Operator Please:
I don't care if they're only 19, and that NME love them. If it's just a song about ping pong, why is it worthy of being a song? No, no, vindictive.

The Wombats:
I liked them. Past tense. Their CD got old after the second spin. All their songs sound exactly the same. And they have that stupid over-the-top Brit accent I hate, ugh. I am sucker for their use of the hi-hat, naturally, I was ensnared, but I have escaped.

The Pigeon Detectives/The Young Knives/Tokyo Police Club:
Are these actually separate bands? They all sound like the Arctic Monkeys! NME stop throwing us the same old shit, we've heard enough of this, please, I beg you, send the people something innovative!

2008 Prospectus - It's no 2007.

2008-01-25T12:00:00.000+11:00

One bad thing about having a great year in music where just about everyone releases a new album, is the inevitable slump in new releases the following year, a.k.a. this year.

It's a good time for new bands to be discovered, of course, so I suspect there will be quite a few new sensations this year.

There were a few in 2007. Initially I liked the Fratellis, but I'm already sick of them. Same goes for the Wombats. Plz stick to one album guys. Hopefully this year will bring some decent "NME indie darlings",

I'm looking forward to checking out Vampire Weekend and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.

However, I've been scouring the net looking for news of new albums this year from my favourite artists, and it's not all bad, but it is slim pickings.

City and Colour - Bring Me Your Love (Feb '08)

Hot Chip - Made in the Dark (Feb 5)

Flogging Molly - Float (March 4)

Thrice - Alchemy Index Vol. 3 & 4 (April 15)

Phantom Planet - Raise the Dead (April 15)

Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs (May '08)

My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges (June 10)

Ben Kweller - Changing Horses (Sept '08)

Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping (Oct '08)

The Postal Service, Franz Ferdinand, Gang of Four, The Faint, Alkaline Trio (?? '08)

Oh well, at least it's something. I was looking through my top artists on Lastfm and at least two thirds of them released new albums last year, many of the rest were disbanded, or dead.

I'm hanging out for next year already.