Tuesday, August 19, 2008

10 Reasons to Watch the Olympics

Warning: This post is rather shallow and materialistic - but then again, aren't gold medals?

Deprived of anything productive to do all weekend, I spent my time camped out on the sofa watching the Olympics. New Zealand made Saturday evening entertaining enough (see previous post), but there was a lot more on offer for those who had the time (and I had oodles).
Track & Field events have always been more entertaining to me than the swimming or the team sports - though gymnastics is worth a look in. I used to think it was because I like watching people run fast. But I'm fairly certain it's not just about that - it dawned on me, midway through a beer-punctuated Sunday afternoon, that track & field girls are really rather hot. This spawned a mass trawling of internet image sites (showing the obvious deprived state of my sorry self) to find more athletic booty - here's the ten contenders at Beijing that I'd like to..."set a lap time with"?

10. Shelly-Ann Fraser

The picture isn't great - but noone knew this girl until she caned everyone in the 100m final. She's 21, still has braces, but the most perfect shoulders I've ever seen on a black girl. Plus she was the friendliest, smiliest 100m sprinter I've ever seen before a race - the rest are all hardened and fired up, while she just looked like she was there to have fun. That kind of attitude wins big with me.

9. Ivet Lalova

There are far better looking photos of this 24 year old Bulgarian sprinter online, but I wanted one that shows off her navel tatt. She does have that Eastern-European arrogant air about her, but then again, she's hot and she knows it. She reminded me of a whiter, skankier version of Eva Longoria. That (and the tattoo) might be the only reason she really perked my interest.

8. Jennie Finch

She's not my type, and softball's not my sport, but there's no denying Jennie is a looker. She was voted Hottest Female Athlete by ESPN viewers in 2004, but she's just a bit too Beauty Queen for me. Plus all her publicity shots with Bush don't go down well in my ratings book. However, she must be a decent pitcher - America have decimated all in their path to gold in Beijing.

7. Laura Ludwig

I wouldn't say I've been disappointed by the beach volleyball - guys and girls alike with fantastic physique flexing muscles on sand is hardly disappointing - but not a lot of the women are very...attractive as such. A nice face means a lot to me, probably moreso than a nice toned body. Maybe that's why I like Laura - she's got that cute German face to go with the smooth curves. Plus she's not too bad at volleyball either - though they did get put down by the Chinese and the Austrians.

6. The beach volleyball cheerleaders

OK, so they're not athletes. But they are at the Olympics, and lets face it, these girls are just here to look hot. Which they are. Gold medal.
On a separate note, much as I love the cheering, this only further lowers beach volleyball's reputation as less of a respectable Olympic sport, and more of a blatant exposition of the flesh. It's not like you see bikini girls introducing the events at the pool, or hot water girls for the high jumpers.

5. Sandra Izbasa

Before you get worried that gymnast may = minor, let me assure you that Romania's gold medalist Sandra Izbasa turned 18 in June. She won the floor exercise - by far the sexiest gymnastics section. Poise, style, grace - use what words you will to describe a successful gymnast - I'm mainly picking her because she's damn good looking.

4. Alicia Sacramone

Yes, another gymnast. No, she's not 12. Alicia from the American team is actually 21 later this year. But she's got that hot teenage cheerleader look, and fantastic skin. What makes her better than Sandra? Well, age difference aside, Alicia is a little less like a skeleton (I prefer girls who aren't wafer-thin; I'd rather not have to think twice before hugging them in case they break), and I'm hoping the language barrier would be less of a problem with a girl from Boston. Girls are far sexier when they laugh, and it helps if they understand your jokes...

3. Stephanie Rice

Triple gold medalist Aussie Stephanie is worth more than her medals' weight in...uh...gold, as far as looks go. Thankfully she hasn't cut her hair short like some of the older swimmers - she's only 20 - and its a perfect complement to a pristine set of shoulders. Not to mention swimmer's legs...

2. Ezinne Okparaebo

Ezinne is the third 100m sprinter I've included here, so maybe I have a thing for fast girls. The 20-year-old Norwegian certainly looked out of place when she lined up - sporting serious makeup and looking fantastic. Not like she couldn't run - she made the semis before the Jamaican storm swept her away. If she needs some consoling, I'm here.

1. Allison Stokke

A picture says 1000 words, and most of the ones that expel from my mouth when I see this picture start with "fuck" and end with "holy fuck". Admittedly it's a tremendous shot, but I can't see how you could take a bad photo of this American pole vaulter. Key point? Skin. It conjures up words in me like "glaze" and similes involving milk and baby's bottoms.
The punchline, however, is that she's not even at the Olympics! But to be honest, with a picture like this, I'm not holding it against her. Sadly I'm not the only one who's attention she's grabbed - there's some fairly inane and spammish sites dedicated to Allison and how badly people want to see her in Playboy. I pray to God she doesn't - morals are one thing, but I've honestly never seen a naked pic of a celebrity that I liked. Sports Illustrated? Tight athletic clothing that shows off maximum skin? Now, that's a different story. It's always so much more fun to dream.
Speaking of dreaming, I'm off to bed, and I'm taking Allison with me.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Look what I found...

...A factory that makes these!




Muhuhuhuhahahaha!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Call Me Loyal

Warning: This post features passion.

To every Kiwi who put on a black shirt and did their thing today.

Whether you came first, third or 28th.


Whether you were told you shouldn't race for the sake of your health, or not.


Whether giving your all was so intense you didn't feel so hot afterwards...

...or you danced to music playing just for you.


Just know you were a part of something special. That every Kiwi who saw you was proud to be a Kiwi today.


And that noone, no other single race, will ever look as awesome celebrating with a full tongue than a 193cm, 110kg Samoan from South Auckland.


Booya.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Awards Ceremony

Summer Sonic: So hot right now.
No, really.

Warning: This post didn't win a medal, but it had the most fun possible in not doing so.

So I'm back in China, and to be honest none too happy about it either. The reason might be because I had one of the most amazing weekends of my life at Summer Sonic. Screw the Olympics. The real awards belong to what went down on Maishima Sports Island in Osaka on Sat & Sun.

Honourable gold medal winners

Speaker climbing: Alice Glass (from Crystal Castles)

I walked into CC's set a little late as we had to trek over from the other side of the event, but it was well worth the walk. Jumped in just as they hit Courtship Dating, with Alice jumping around like some kind of demonic jackrabbit. Ethan and their set drummer were both wearing neon blue mesh sacks which made them look like hazardous waste disposal terrorists. Alice herself had a black ring around one eye and the sexiest black goth skirt known to known to man. Shortly after she proceeded to mount one of the side speakers, lie down and writhe on top of it to the delight of the packed out crowd. Erotic? Very yes.
Crystal Castles' set ended 10 mins earlier that it was supposed to, but Alice's performance alone was enough to think we'd all got our money's worth at only 3pm.
Highlights: Courtship Dating, Love & Caring


Synchronised flouro shirt wearing: New Young Pony Club

My Roommate Alex had told me NYPC were worth it, but the pop sound wasn't doing it for me. Live, however, they were fantastic. Lead singer's Tahita's cropped, bleached hair bobbed with the crowd as we got high on the upbeat synth and live drums. After seeing Prodigy live a few times, my opinion is that hard techno or the like is only dominated by live drumming, but with electropop the raw sound only adds edge that studio records can't pull off. It especially works well if your drummer is a tall sexy chick in a bright dress.
Partial credit should go to myself - we had about 6 Aussie guys jumping up and down but I felt the testosterone levels were too high, and roped in a few of the nearest Japanese girls. One thing you have to love about Japanese is they do respond well to peer pressure. Suddenly we had 6 girls half our size dancing around with embarrassed grins on their faces. Very impressive and even more fun than CC.
Highlights: Icecream, The Get-Go


High Jump: Hadouken!

Hadouken suggested they were going to be intense from the get-go, opening with Get Smashed Gate Crash, and the crowd became a moshpit in turn. James Smith responded with multiple high jumps off the drum stand and vicious, English-accented young-white-boy rap. All in all? Pretty full-on.
Declaration of War is the band's best track, but it was actually relatively tame in comparison to the rest of their set. The heat was so intense and I'd run out of water that I was ready to get some air with 10 mins to go, but then they dropped Breathe by the Prodigy. Heavy on the synth, dark and hard, I'd almost have to say they performed it better than Flinty & Liam Howlett themselves. Mint.
Highlights: Get Smashed Gate Crash, Game Over, Breathe (cover)

Heavyweight sound champion (Saturday): Justice

And here I was worried they'd be bollocks. I'd heard their live sets were boring and too much like their album, but when the roadies started stacking fake speakers around a large fake hi-fi system upon which were most definitely perched some turntables, my heart became all aflutter. I'm seeing Justice? The Justice? I should be so lucky. And lucky we were.

The lights went down, the leds on the hi-fi came up, and two hairy Frenchmen stepped onto the podium. Applause ensued. Earblasting synth followed. And suddenly we were swept into a raw, discordant, broken beat tempest of everything that's so fantastic about Justice. It was heavy, it was hard, it was unbe-flipping-lievable.

In typical French style, it wasn't just about the music. The light show was immense, especially impressive as it was nearly all black&white. With 15 to go, Xavier (the less hairy one) walks out in front of the (fake) Maxwell speakers, and puts his hands to them like a deaf man feeling the bass. Gaspard puts his finger in the air like Moses. The sound blinks out at a crescendo. The speakers light up from behind, suddenly seethrough white like a reverse-polaroid. The crowd goes nuts. 20 seconds that feel like forever go by. The DJs, motionless. "Justice! Justice! Justice!" resonates. And just as suddenly, the drop appears from nowhere, driving a frenzy throughout the excited masses. And so it went on.

French people are lazy too - they managed to make us sing We Are Your Friends for them for a good few minutes. And they needed some serious help on D.A.N.C.E. But credit to them, they managed to crank out a far superior version of The Party along with a climactic Waters of Nazareth all by themselves.

The Aussies I met at NYPC seemed to think Justice was the best thing they'd ever seen. This was coming from guys who had seen, nay, witnessed, the miracle of Daft Punk's Alive tour. Justice was fantastic, there's no doubt, but so much of it felt like it was following in the wake of Alive rather than beating upon its door. The extravagant stage, the arms in the air to form a crucifix, the exclusivity of the tracks all felt like someone had cottoned on to a very good idea and made it their own. Not that that didn't make it bloody good. If you can't beat them, join them.


Earliest successful set time: Yelle


1.30pm isn't the best time for a gig. Noone good has been on before you, and everyone's still saving all their energy for the evening. But it didn't seem to phase French electropop star Yelle. Her outfit, like a designer glossy black&white bag with armholes, complete with glittery black tights, seemed like it belonged on a catwalk in Paris rather than on a humid stage in Osaka. But her emphatic grin and bounce got everyone going. She's another one of those artists that is too poppy for my on wax but the live drumming (and sassy French attitude) brought the fanboy out in me.
A Japanese girl half my size rolls up, and starts singing all the (French) lyrics at me with a big smile on her face. Flustered and embarassed, I did my best impression of lipsynching to songs I don't know the words to in a language I don't understand. More fun than it sounds.
Then came the moment I was waiting for: A Cause De Garcons. And in the middle of the damn thing, TEPR (who indeed was touring with her) flicks it over to his remix. I went three kinds of apeshit. Demanded everyone in a 5-person radius of me to defy gravity. My feet still ache from all the fancy footwork.
Yelle = 1000x better live.
Highlights: A Cause De Garcons, Je Veux Te Voir, watching a cute french girl dance like crazy and not sweat a drop.


Synchronised backing singers: Santogold

We like Santogold. We really do. And we were so glad she came to visit. We're also glad she brought her entourage, along with two Buddy-Holly sunglassed, frilly blouse wearing statue-backup-singer/dancers with her. They stood, still as lions outside a library while the girl herself layed in with You'll Find A Way. This was my turn to sing along at my new tiny Japanese friend. Enter bridge and chorus, and suddenly the backing singers burst to life in a semi-robotic, synchronised dance, lasting all of 10 seconds - then back to statues. Class.
The crowd was small but they were all about her - perhaps me more than most, hence the bouncing and lipsynching along. But what's not to like about Santogold? She was even nice enough to make eye contact with me, not once or twice, but no less than six times throughout the set. I know sometimes when you think someone's looking at you they're really looking at the hot guy next to you, but she was looking at my enthusiastic self alright. My sweaty, white embarrassed self, just grinning back for fear of doing something dumb. Well, besides being sweaty, white and embarrassed.
A solid set, not heavy on the jamming or alteration from the album, but with enough live edge to make it lots of fun. Plus, as always, credit has to go to the half-dozen people around me who were happy to make an improv jumping circle with me, to my delight. Yay Japan! Yay Santogold, baby. Here's hoping the positive vibes call for a tour down the track.
Highlights: Say Aha, Lights Out, Creator (her final track), hell it was all good.


Debutant medalist: South Central

Man - for a band I only found out were actually a band on Friday, by the time their set finished on Sunday afternoon, South Central had me wondering where they'd been all my life. Dark rock with a techno punch? Yes please.
Their album is much more electronic-sounding than they are live - which works very well. The lead singer rocked out a key-tar looking like it was from the depths of the underworld, and - much to my liking - had a series of foot pedals that fucked with his voice. The crowd responded with what I pick as the dance-pit of the festival - no elbows and swinging arms, but plenty of movement and just insanity. I tackle-hugged 12 guys in 2 minutes. What made it better was the flow of the set - just when you thought you'd given your all, a softer track came in and everyone could chill. It was almost as though they wrote their songs with us in mind. Cheers guys. It was fucking fantastic.
Highlights: Golden Dawn, Revolution, Higher State of Consciousness (final track).


4 track medley: The Prodigy

So I missed most of the Prodigy to hit Pendulum, as I've seen the former twice but the latter have been on my to-do list for some time. However the boys have still got it going on - the 4 tracks I saw were fantastic. In just 20 minutes we covered Their Law, Breathe, something that sounded new (The World's On Fire?), and Spitfire. Past, present, future. All of with the freak-show-gone-wrong Keith Flint and the perennial warrior in Maxim. Damn that guy is scary. And we weren't without the vicious stares ("are you yelling at ME?!") and the fatal bass that got all 15,000 people watching up and jumping.
Can't wait for the new album.



400m sprint: Myself (heading to Pendulum)


To make sure we caught the start of Pendulum, my mate Kobo-chan and I took off at the last minute from The Prodigy. The rushed entrance left us kinda out of breath for the Perth boys, but we soon got back in the fray.
I have mixed feelings about the Pendulum gig - on the one hand it was fantastic to see them live and finally mosh with a mass of fans. But they're no longer what they were. Even the drumnbass roots of Hold Your Colour feel lost in their live set now. Partly its the drums that make it feel repetitive (the bass & synth should be driving the tracks), partly it's that, well, they're no longer a drumnbass act. And without real rock roots, they feel too polished and manufactured to work with the rock. They need more distortion, more chaos, or just more..."grimey".
Still, was pretty damn good. And not a bad way to finish off a phenomenal weekend.
Highlights: Mutiny, Fasten Your Seatbelts, Hold Your Colour (but who wouldn't have wished they'd played Vault?


Honourable Mention: The Fratellis
Stuffed from South Central, I popped in on their (packed) gig and sat in the bleachers. Typically brilliant. Wish I'd had the energy to mosh. Every track sounded even more epic than the "drinking songs" they were before - they've really come a long way.

Missed the cut: Myself (for Does it Offend You, Yeah?)
Apparently they blew the roof. But they'll be back next year. I had to see Biffy Clyro, even though the crowd was...


Did Not Finish: Crowd (at Biffy Clyro)

Biffy were awesome. Come on topless, red pants, white hi-tops? Mate. The tracks were tight, many from the new album but all winners. I moshed my head off, but it was just me and 3 other guys. The crowd was half-empty, and silent. Though I blame the band for half of the awkward silences between tracks - usually there's vacant noise from an amp, a beat or two from the drummer or some banter from someone in the band - but there was nothing. Oh well. At least they didn't shut up when it counted.
Highlights: Living is a Problem Because Everything Dies (which was the only song we got a mosh pit going for), Who's Got a Match?, 9/15ths...again, just everything was awesome.


Off the pace: Late of the Pier
The only beef I had with the weekend came first thing on Saturday. British indie-electro boys Late of the Pier were just tragic. You can blame the midday set time on an open air sauna stadium, where they really belong in a dirty basement club (I think their make-up was running), but they just didn't adapt and the crowd weren't sure how to take their slightly cynical randomness. Music was OK, but wrong time, wrong place.

All in all, to be fair, best music festival I've ever been to. Wow.

Friday, August 08, 2008

I'm going to see - South Central



The final installment in this showcase of exciting fresh musical goodness is my pick for Sunday evening - bar Pendulum, whom I've already mentioned here before. Brighton self-proclaimed "experimental/punk/electro" madmen South Central have nailed themselves a formidable 4.45 set time on Sunday, and their NLLR mixtape is enough to make me want to see them purely for a DJ set.

When I found out this afternoon they were playing live, I was excited but apprehensive. Now that I've downloaded their album The Owl of Minerva, I'm just excited.

They're another one of those we-can-play-but-we-also-dj bands, but their sound seems quite a bit heavier than their counterparts. They're big on static, big on twisting knobs and warping the sound in the middle (something I think 2manydjs made famous, but now everyone does - not that I'm complaining), and big on yelling. I also happen to be big on yelling. How...convenient.

Here's The Golden Dawn - that robot-y voice reminds me of We Are Rockstars. There's also a few live sets kicking around which are well worth checking out.

I'm going to see half of - Cajun Dance Party


So Santogold and all her female warrior glory will probably absorb much of my attention, such that I am going to miss half of Cajun Dance Party's set. But I've been impressed with their freshmen effort The Colourful Life, such that they warrant me running like a madman over to their stage, at least to catch the last few tracks.

What makes CDP better than your average indie band? I like the vocalist - he doesn't sound pretentious, has a good voice with a decent mix of emotion and indifference. Plus they have beautiful, edgy guitars.

Cajun are hardly "lesser known" themselves - having played Glastonbury last year, and in April '07 had an NME "Track of the Week" in their first single The Next Untouchable. Nice to see the accolades coming in - provided they don't go and get a pop following. Man, I'm cliquey.

Here's Amylase, the other single of theirs I'm rather fond of.

I'm going to see - Santogold



OK, so these acts are supposed to be the "lesser knowns", but if you don't know Santogold, well, you really should. Shame on you. But here's hoping you know her for the talent she is, and not the pop sensation she may well be becoming.

The common description is to compare Santogold to M.I.A. ("all I wanna do is bang bang bang and take yo' money..."). And to be fair, they've both got that jungle hip-hop vibe going on. But that's where the comparison ends - Santogold achieves a sound that makes M.I.A. sound cheap and nasty, genuine underground hip-hop-cum-electro that is just plain quality. Her album is well worth the price of admission, and she's hot without looking "sell-out hot". Plus collaborations and remixes with the likes of Switch, Diplo, TEPR and Sinden, she's heading in all the right directions.

L.E.S. Artistes is her only single with a video (that I could find), but my personal favourite is Say Aha (especially TEPR's remix). You'll Find a Way is also mint.



We can only hope The Neptunes don't get their hooks in her too badly. I'd rather see her in a collab with Boys Noize than with Snoop Dogg.

I'm going to see - Yelle


French music is so hot right now.

Well, not just now. From quite a while back, really. The French bought us the likes of Daft Punk, Air, Bomfunk MCs (and their one-hit wonder), Mr. Oizo and Martin Solveig. Formidable.

But these days, its a freaking explosion of Musicien francais: Justice. SebastiAn. Kavinsky. The Teenagers. DJ Mehdi. Uffie. Vitalic. Gildas & Masaya. Mr. Flash. TEPR. And of course, Yelle.

Yelle got herself famous for a track saying a French hiphop star has a small dick. And she hasn't looked back. Partly because it's still one of her biggest singles - Je Veux Te Voir. Her style is termed as "electropop", which I guess in the end is probably the closest interpretation, but I'd fear to lump her in with the pop crowd (maybe its just my hate of the word "pop"...)

She's another one of those artists that remixes just superbly, and I've heard better things about her live performances that I have about her album Pop-Up.
A remix of her track A Cause De Garcons (mixed by Riot in Belgium) was on a Need For Speed installment, but the best thing to come of this feisty French chick's music is a little remix of the same track by TEPR:



Rumour has it TEPR does some touring with Yelle's band, but I have no idea if he's going to be there on Sunday afternoon - here's hoping.

Gotta go - time to practise my Tecktonik.

I'm going to see - Hadouken!



The exclamation at the end of the header may well be taken to be one of excitement, which is fair enough. But Hadouken! are actually one of those annoying bands that like to have bikkuri-maaku in their titles. Luckily, that's all that's really annoying about them.

Hadouken!'s music (I'm dropping that fucking punctuation from now on) reminds me of an angry version of The Whip, and they're both that kind of indie-electro that gets you jumping around like a madman(I sense a trend in the bands I'm keen on lately). They all look like they're not old enough to actually get into some of the clubs they may play at, but they know what they're doing.

Their standout track is most definitely Declaration of War and its assortment of remixes, but here's hoping they're not just a one hit wonder.



By the sounds of their other singles (such as That Boy That Girl, I may well be in luck.

Thursday, August 07, 2008

I'm going to see - New Young Pony Club


New Young Pony Club are one of those artists that I just know are going to be good, without actually having basis for it. Or perhaps there is some kicking around. First, they're on Modular's label, the guys who also bring you Cut Copy, The Presets, Klaxons and MSTRKRFT (and who also recorded back-to-back fiscal year losses, despite their bulging package of talent). Second, well, they have this song called Ice Cream -



- which I happen to like quite a lot. Although the Bang Gang Deejays remix is far superior. Still, its like the Scissor Sisters went and finally got good. If further argument is needed, they have a fairly hot chick drummer. And everyone knows that a fairly hot chick + is a drummer = a very hot chick.

Oh well - if they're no good, there's always The Kooks, and their drunkenness. I love how they're the only band to come two years in a row that actually got a worse set time than the previous year.

I'm going to see - Biffy Clyro(?)


Later in the afternoon on Saturday, I've got to make the toughest decision of the festival - choosing between the electro-rock monster that is Does it Offend You, Yeah?, and the mildly-delirious Scottish rock beast of Biffy Clyro. And much as I want to see a black man in pyjamas jumping around on stage, the 3 years I've loved Biffy dictate that it's high time I check them out.

My mate Dhiresh hooked me up with two of Biffy's first three albums, Vertigo of Bliss [2003] and Infinity Land [2005] back in '06 (cheers Mocha Bear). Their eclectic style (many tracks containing both ballad-y melodies and loud screaming) is one that interested me, but I could see how they were a fairly inaccessible band. I wasn't likely to put one of their albums on in the car, for fear of the passengers leaping out at red lights. Still, I thought they were pretty awesome, and tracks like Bodies In Flight and Diary of Always got regular airplay on my 'Pod.

Last year Biffy released Puzzle, which while still sounding unceasingly like the Biffy of old, is a huge step in the direction of accessibility. It flows superbly as an album, and each track maintains that feel of discord while keeping everything within a logical realm. Its kind of as though until now Biffy were a moshpit where everyone wanted to punch you in the face (ie. fun but exhausting), and now suddenly the whole pit is working together to propel everyone into chaotic and frivolous madness.

Searching Youtube should find you their older stuff along with a few tracks from Puzzle, along with the first (seriously awesome) single Living is a Problem Because Everything Dies, as embedded below.
Other recommendations include the choir fuelled discordant 9/15ths and the numerous covers you can find on youtube, including a fantastic one of Franz Ferdninands Take Me Out. Warning: It starts beautifully, but it doesn't stay that way for long.



Biffy toured here in March, but thanks to being in China I missed them (and Modest Mouse...). Here's hoping they still want to kick ass for the Osaka massive. Mon the Biffy!

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

I'm going to see - Crystal Castles


So Crystal Castles are probably the band I know least about of the ones I want to see, but I'm making amends for that this week, via the wonder of the intertubes.

First up on my list of stops is the effervescent wikipedia, who (after directing me away from the wiki on the 1983 Atari Game of the same name) tell me the band - a DJ/vocalist duo from Toronto - are named after Crystal Castle from She-Ra rather than said game. Which I find ironic, because the band sound a hell of a lot more like an 8-bit video game than a lesbian warrior. Actually, maybe a bit of both.

Youtube will give you insight into CC's sound, which is like someone took a Commodore 64 and played pinball on it - or took a pinball hammer to it, or perhaps both at the same time. Delicious 8-bit samples riding an edgy female vocal make them an act that gets you to sit up and listen - though Ethan (the DJ) does have other releases under CCs name that are very laidback (and just as 8-bitty). The standout track is Courtship Dating, though everything from the chilled out Crimewave to the can't-you-see-I'm-DANCING-HERE xxzczx me are all entertaining (and short, so surely you have no excuses not to check them out).




Extra: If you like this, you may well enjoy Anamanaguchi, who are my favourite "8-bit band". Below is Power Supply.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

I'm going to see - Late of the Pier


Warning: This post wanna be your frieeeeeennnd.

Late of the Pier are a British indie group who got themselves on the airwaves via the fairly successful Moshi Moshi label (which sadly doesn't actually involve Japanese acts). I first came across them thanks to this guy and his often explosive introductions to new music. The first time I heard their single Focker, I was hooked.

LOTP do well for themselves in keeping from the rather unimaginative sound that often emanates from indie groups (it's a good sound, but they all sound like the same damn band sometimes). The key to this is in their heavy electro influence - rock-bands-turning-to-electro is the new electro-music-with-heavy-guitars. Like the best Aussie indie groups atm (Cut Copy, Van She), they sound like they'd be just as much at home behind decks - and occasionally are. Their sound though is ultimately a live, raw, rock-out one, and I'm looking forward to seeing them do just that despite their set time being 12.25pm.

They have 4 singles kicking around on Parlophone Records, the stand-out for me still being Focker, but Space in the Woods and Heartbeat are well worth a listen. Album Fantasy Black Channel is out Aug 11.

For now, here's the Focker video. Fun times (though Heartbeat is a better video).
The last 60 seconds are what really do it for me.

Here we go



Warning: This post is preclusive to showboating.

Summer Sonic has always been good to me. Sure, it's robbed me of a lot of hard earned cash (over $US800 in tickets and probably around $US300 in water, beer, watermelon and yakisoba), but it gives so much in return.
Summer Sonic has brought me the likes of Daft Punk, Tool, DJ Shadow, Nine Inch Nails, Fall Out Boy, Deftones, Muse, Bloc Party, Phoenix, Interpol, Editors, MSTRKRFT, Klaxons, Weezer, Vitalic, LCD Soundsystem, Digitalism
, and Massive Attack. Its no wonder it may possibly be my favourite weekend of the year.

So with less than a week until SS08, I figured I might tell you a bit about some of the "lesser known" acts (not in the circles you tread, Jake) who I'm keen on checking out. They're really very good. Trust me.

Stay tuned.

That Was Lucky

Warning: This post probably won't increase your odds, except maybe in refreshment.

Went out into town today, walking around in the sweltering evening heat with hundreds of other twilight shoppers.

My throat was dry, my mouth parched and my face sweating profusely.

My body and wallet cried out to purchase a refreshing beverage.

Lucky there was a drink at the conbini which did just the trick.

Mr. A to Z

Warning: This post doesn't involve playing its songs just like on the albums.

That hat would piss me off, but he pulls it off far too well.

Photo Source: steinbaugh.com

Last week I finally saw my man Jason Mraz. The gig was a long time coming - I've been a fan since his first album, but no more-so than after I got his bootleg from a coffee shop in San Diego called Java Joe's. The vibe of the gig (just him with an acoustic and some joker named Toca on bongos) is quite simply the best you could ever expect to get out of a free coffeeshop artist - light and bouncy, lamenting but not intense, and with an awesome sense of humour. From his rendition of "At Last" by Etta James to his Spanish ad lib of "Our house (in the middle of the street)", its beauty and comedy with a six-string.

I missed out on seeing Mr. Mraz at Fuji Rock in '06, so I was stoked to hear he was adding onto his tour this time around to include Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima. Everyone has always told me he's 1000 times better live, and I believed it. Boy, ain't that the truth.
The man exudes flair, modesty, talent and...well, geek, in one lovable combination that shines out on stage. His band don't let him down either - along with bass, drums and the ever-present Toca on percussion (the dude's a big half-black guy with braids, a cowboy hat and Oakleys - and yet exactly like the nervous joker on the bootleg from JJ's), on the latest tour he also sports a 3-piece brass ensemble (sax, trumpet, trombone) that would steal the show if the man wasn't so damned entertaining himself. I haven't seen a band have this much fun since Ben Harper and his Innocent Criminals, but Jason's take-nothing-too-seriously attitude pulls my strings just a little bit more.

Opening with Make It Mine, he quickly (but not rushedly) moved through a set heavy on the new album (We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things). Older tracks Geek In The Pink, Bella Luna and of course Remedy (I Won't Worry) featured too, but you could tell the band was really digging the fresh material and new stuff to jam with, as that's where all the fun was to be had. I'm Yours a very mainstream track by Jason's standards (sure, he sounds poppy, but there's just so much more to his style that mere Jack-Johnson/John Mayer analogous sound) was so much more entertaining live, especially with a Bob Marley sing-a-long in the middle ("every little thing, is gonna be alright!").

Other standouts included The Dynamo Of Volition (classic Jason geek-rap) and Butterfly, a sexy track that only gets sexier when infused with the jazz trio. And of course noone there would forget A Beautiful Mess - the whole crowd held their breath until the last string was plucked and the last lyric spilled (Jason had to step away from the mic to let people know they could clap - and clap they did, going crazy to make up for all the silence throughout the track...)

In the encore Jason took the time to introduce his band, taking Polaroids of everyone and flicking them into the crowd. Some lucky joker got themselves a timer-ed shot of the whole band, though I don't think anyone needed a memento - somehow feel noone there is going to forget the night anytime soon.

Thanks Jase. And though I'm disappointed you didn't play the track below, it was still the best live gig I've seen this year.

Tell me...

Warning: This post sets off metal detectors.

...what do you think?