The Week Has Landed

Warning: This post is a note of things to come, about things to have come before.

So I'm about 1 hour off running out the door and onto a plane bound for the States and a bit of client-pandering, but I felt the need to let you know that I'm alive and well.
This is no mean feat - the last week has been something of a mission, energy-draining but fantastic in the way that the latter lets you keep going despite the former.

Culprits responsible include my good friend Piers, my flatmates (past and present), a cold, several bars and some joker named Alex Metric. Honourable mention goes to my partners in crime, including the aforementioned along with this years Osaka Gaidai Massive.

More to come. Stay tuned.

Where's a cherry when you need one

Warning: This video is everything good indie music vids should be.

Much as I semi-vowed to myself that I wouldn't just do "youtube posts" here, I do feel this has brought sufficient good cheer to my sleepy Tuesday afternoon that it warrants serious viewage. Upbeat indie/ska + music video that looks like it was as fun to make as to watch = Doug Schachtel's take on Junior Kickstart by The Go! Team. Booya.
PS. The guitar at the start reminds me of old-school Placebo, ie. Teenage Angst. Yummy.

Part of the Weekend Really Never Dies

One of these things is not like the others...
Warning: This post only works 2 days a week.

So we're halfway through "Rock-tober" (or should that be "Electroctober" given the predominant genre of events this month?), and it's really going quite swell. I'm sure recovering from a hernia has never been this fun.

A week ago I attended my first Nagisa Music Festival, a day-long event that happens in spring and autumn here and features an array of local DJ talent with a few obscure gaijin acts. It has big hippie roots, with a lot of psy-trance and conga drum groups, but there was a solid dnb and electro base too, and the small crowd (mostly driven away by the rain) responded in kind. I have one photo I took on my cell - will get it up when I manage to work out why it won't send on an email.

One week later, and I'm recovering from a 3 day weekend that started with everybody's friends Soulwax and ended with my good mates Pitch Black.

Soulwax was intense - big convoy of gaijin a la the JET program boys & girls, plus Mio and myself made for a quality outing. The venue was a little packed and badly-airconditioned (what is it with these guys only playing hot sweaty venues in Japan?), but fantastic. My mate Piers nabbed an awesome shot of them at Park Life in Melbourne - their set-up was the same in Osaka.

Their set included wonderful live versions of Miserable Girl and KracK, along with covers of tracks by LCD Soundsystem (Get Innocuous) and Daft Punk (Robot Rock). Soulwax have done a good job of reinventing their live side just when their DJ work was beginning to feel a little old-hat.

They did put on a DJ set afterwards, and it was by no means terrible, full of oldies-but-goodies and a couple of newer tracks (eg. Don Rimini's Let Me Back Up), but yeah a lack of flow mixed with the length of the set meant I wasn't really cheering for an encore.

Pitch Black (@Triangle with Extrawelt, Sunday 10/12) were also in good form, and I was glad I didn't miss them as I did last year. I've only managed to catch them once before, opening for Salmonella Dub, and their computers crashed 10 mins in. Ah well - this time they didn't disappoint.
Triangle being the small club that it is, I took the chance to grab them for a few photos (and shots of tequila). After all, they played Soliton, my all-time favourite dub track, so the least I could do is get drunk with them.



Rest of the photos can be found on my Facebook or flickr.

Isn't She Lovely

Warning: This post contains some damn good political satire.

Is there anyone out there who doesn't like Tina Fey? She's the best answer to series of so-so SNL regulars of late that I've seen in a while. Sure, Steve Carell is gold at times, but Will Ferrell is so tragic it's no longer even slightly funny, and guys like Dan Fogler are just far too like Chris Farley for me. Even if they do well on the show, so many of them do so badly off it that it's not really much of a "launching pad" anymore.

But Tina shows there is a light at the end of the unamusing tunnel. 30 Rock is a great show - great like Scrubs, Seinfeld and Family Guy in their heydays. It's the best thing to happen to sitcoms since Arrested Development, and the day they decided to cancel Two & A Half Men (not yet, sure, but that day will come, and I'll be there with the ticker tape).
Her debut movie lead Baby Mama didn't rake in the box office results, probably because people probably thought it was a real chick flick rather than a comedy-with-minor-love-story, and it went up against Sex & The City and lost. I saw it on a plane a few weeks ago and it was easily better than Get Smart and probably mildly beat Forgetting Sarah Marshall (which also has some awesome comic talent, but the ultimately doesn't use them to their funny-potential). The story is a little predictable but it's not about that - its the sparks flying between Tina Fey and fellow SNLer Amy Poehler (also the mum in Mean Girls) that is worth the watch. Steve Martin is also possibly the funniest I've seen him ever (possibly because this is not a "Steve Martin movie"). Anyway, Fey vs. Poehler. Successful-but ultimately-way-too-uptight-businesswoman in a surrogate mother relationship with white-trash-party-slut. I don't care who you are, that's funny right there.

Probably though the role that has put Tina's name on everyone's lips this year has been her parody of Republican VP-hopeful (well, she might hope, but we don't) Sarah Palin. Her feminist address with a parodical Hillary Clinton was eerily spot-on, while also hilarious. But it's the "Biden vs. Palin" debate parody SNL aired last week that has me in stitches.

The pretext for the parody is that neither candidate really debated one another, they merely said what they had rehearsed and come there to say. For Biden it was finding ways to attack McCain (a fair strategy, as people are voting for him and Palin doesn't need attacking, she takes her rifle to her own foot quite deftly). In Sarah's case, she'd got all the lines memorised, but seemed to forget she was supposed to adapt them to the question. Nevermind, she delivered them anyway.
Tina nailed Sarah so subtly in this sketch and yet so obviously that its comic genius. It's a pisstake, but it'd be damn hard to argue any point was slander or political smearing. It's also nice to see Biden made fun of too - after all, this isn't about picking sides, this is about laughing at the stupidity of people!

Here's the vid - my mate Eion says he can't load it, but so far he's the only one who's had trouble. Enjoy.


While we're on the topic of SNL, here's one of my favourite sketches from them: "Maraka", the fantastic parodia de Dora. Es muy hilaranta ;)

Everything In Its Right Place

Warning: This post talks in maths and buzzes like a fridge. Like a detuned radio.

Yesterday, October 2 2008, I saw Radiohead live. I've been clinging to the faintest hope I might get the chance for around 11 years (when I first got OK Computer). Words like "dream come true" seem so cheesy, and yet so right.

This was their second night in Osaka in their Japan tour, supported by Modselektor (German techno duo). In hindsight going to both nights would have been well worth it (more on that later), but we were well rewarded with a fantastic set spanning The Bends to the new album (90% of it). 25 tracks of haunting, discordant Radiohead goodness.

Modselektor were pretty decent, if perhaps a little unsuited for the crowd (who were either a bit old for techno, or mainly from the alt-rock side of the fanbase). Their quality of sound was fantastic, and great visuals (eg. woman dressed in loose yellow ethnic dress waving poles amid gridlines like an altimeter). They dropped Suckerpin (the only song I know by them) which went off, but much of it was quite minimal. All in all though they were a fitting warm-up act, getting everyone a little bit rhythmic whilst not stealing the show. Highlight was their remix of Bjork's Dull Flame of Desire (Remix For Girls). Fantastic track, only made all the more beautiful by destroying the music behind the haunting vocals from Bjork and Anthony.

Roll off the turntables and drop down 60-odd vertical lengths of clear plastic piping in a grid above the stage, resembling an inverted forest of leafless stalks suspended over the band. Intriguing. But even moreso, as Radiohead walk out 20 mins later and the pipes light up like fiber-optic cables. Reckoner from In Rainbows is first up, and a wide screen at the back of the stage displays cameras trained on each band member (a lot like their In The Basement recordings). It's all quite surreal. Radiohead. Thom Yorke is a lot shorter in real life, but his presence lets you forget that fairly quickly.

They roll through an initial set constructed around In Rainbows (House of Cards is the only track missing by the end of the night) but well peppered with tracks you wished they'd play, and others you'd never think they would. Here's where I'd probably quote a few standouts for example, but to be honest it's so hard to pick just one. National Anthem and Jigsaw Falling Into Place did it for me big-time, showing the band really are a rock masterpiece. An unrecognisable version of The Gloaming was odd, then downright creepy. Idioteque was fantastic (I've previously disliked the dance-ish live version but hearing it in person for the first time changed my opinion drastically).
The more mellow All I Need and Wet Fishes were spectactular, along with everything else.

Possibly my absolute favourite moment was Thom leaning into a b&w camera over the piano, his sick/drunken/beaten-up look leering out from the massive screen at the audience, and stumbling over the opening to You And Whose Army? When the song broke, his face accordioned out into 7 different windows of the same camera. Who, I ask, needs drugs when you have Thom Yorke?

He was in a chipper but typically quiet mood, but responded well to heckling: "Radiohead!!"
"Yes?"
"You guys rock!"
"...We may rock, but not in this particular song." - before gliding into No Surprises(!!!)

Back on for the first of two encores, my friends and I had prayed for more OK Computer, and were rewarded with Airbag. The Bends finally got a part, with very rock-heavy versions of Just and Planet Telex. And they would have had more, if not for...

Thom coming back on stage alone to play Street Spirit (Fade Out), but misplacing his bloody lyric sheet! I only found out later as to what he couldn't find, and I'm pretty gutted. Instead he played Fog (a B-Side), which was nice, but doesn't really compare.

Second encore closed out with Karma Police, and Everything In It's Right Place, as the plastic pipes (and the cameras on screen) turned the colour of oily-rainbows. Daft Punk's pyramid suddenly had a serious contendor for most-awesome-visual effects. Burning after-images in our minds, the lights faded, but the buzzing feeling in my head ceased to go away.

Set List
01. Reckoner
02. Optimistic
03. There There
04. 15 Step
05. All I Need
06. You and Whose Army
07. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
08. The Gloaming
09. Videotape
10. Morning Bell
11. Faust Arp
12. No Surprises
13. Jigsaw Falling into Place
14. Idioteque
15. The National Anthem
16. Nude
17. Bodysnatchers
Encore 1
18. Airbag
19. Knives Out (Which they played barely anywhere on tour and so I can't find a vid)
20. Just
21. Where I End And You Begin
22. Planet Telex
Encore 2
23. Cymbal Rush / Fog
24. Karma Police
25. Everything in its Right Place (Our version had rainbow lights...)

The first gig had Pyramid Song, Talk Show Host, Paranoid Android and Exit Music (For a Film), but they didn't get No Surprises or Karma Police. Oh well - you can't have everything. My advice? Go to every Radiohead show you can. Pretty much guaranteed to get a great new setlist every time.

Thanks for coming guys.

Youtube Clip of You And Whose Army:

Holla back at ya boi

Warning: This post is dedicated to you.

Most Likely to Win a Rake

The above pic is courtesy of yearbookyourself.com - one of those fabulous ways to kill time needlessly on the internet. With dozens of facetypes to choose from, who wouldn't want to become a timeless piece of high school history?

Isn't it nice to have friends. I sure think so. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, they come in a variety of shapes and sizes, not to mention orders of magnitude: from the "BFF(ROFLMAO)", the Drinking Buddy all the way to the Facebook Friend and the Workmate. These guys tend to be the ones who care you're still alive (before you ask, no I'm not suicidal). They might be the ones who listen to you ranting like a moron. Or the jokers who want to pose for photos with your ugly mug at parties. Hopefully they laugh at your vain attempts at humour, or at least don't leave you stranded at 3am in a nightclub with no ride home. In some cases, they might just be that guy you know in that far-off place who wouldn't mind if you crashed on the couch for a few. Note: These people are not to be confused with family, who are legally obliged to do all that (unless they're a Jerry Springer family).

So, in celebration of friends everywhere (the world's best volunteers!), here's a shout out to all of my mates who deserve a bit of Mcluvin. If you didn't make the cut, don't worry - I've merely temporarily forgotten you exist! Feel free to remind me. I'm looking forward to writhing in guilt.

Alan: Yes, you're my friend. I bet you wish you weren't! When you die I will inherit your hats.

Alex: I know you're my ex-roommate, but you can still be my boyfriend. Just wear lippy more often. Looking forward to the next gig dude.

Andris: Congrats on being a dad! Can I come see the little damburger in January? I didn't say damburger, I said damburger!

Angelo: You sexy beast - why haven't we slept together yet? Probably because our combined libido would make the bed explode. That and you having a penis and all. Miss you dude! Come by Osaka some time!

Mr. Chris: Loving the shaved head dude. It's a shame we didn't see the Phoenix together, but it was still awesome to hang out as much as we did. Don't be a stranger man - you're a more important friend to me than our lack of contact would suggest. Possibly the nicest guy I know.

Daniel K: I'm finally back in the saka of O, so lets hit the Blarney!

Danny: You are my favourite Greek. Yeah - more favouriter than Achilles and Stankopolos!

Dhiresh: How's the mines, Mocha Bear? I wonder if I should call you Hot Fuzz (some play on the fact that you work with copper). You have no idea how awesome it was to see you in Welly - and to get some of that Bill action!

Diana: I miss you! You're the only one who ever called me "Kiwi"!

Dora: I don't think I'll ever visit Hokkaido again - hanging with you there is the best image and I don't want to taint it. Or maybe I'll just come visit you. In Croatia would be awesome though!

Eion: That was too long between meetings dude. I know it's my turn to visit you, but I still wanna see you come hang in Osaka. Next year might be your last chance! Also cool to see Teresa all fun & friendly. She still can't steal my cat though. PS. I want to be a lion tamer! I've got a hat!

Flapy: Hola Espanol! Como es Madrid? When you get back here, let's go to karaoke and take pictures of my girlfriend!

Gemma S: Don't think you ever read my blog, but you were the best thing about 2nd year physics. You wanna host me in London if you're still there in 2010?

Grant: I tried to visit you one weekend on Muritai Rd and you were in Taupo, you SOB. Just for that you owe me a trip out here. I'm waiting. Glad we did touch base though. Need to more often.

Hannah: Now I know you don't read my blog, but I still like you. And your little guy! He's so kyute! ;) Keep up the big work, lil' sis.

Ingrid: Still haven't worked out that nickname. But missing you and all our movie watching immensely. I still owe you one for hanging out with my incapacitated self.

Jess T: Row, row, row your boat honey. How'd your fancy dress party go?

Jenbee: What's up, Rainbow Brite? Hope England hasn't turned you into a coarse hooligan. Though that might be entertaining... Keep on rockin', become a famous improv actor and I'll see you at the Globe when I'm next over! Mwah.

Kat: Acoustic Flowers in The Wind? I hate you so much I think I like you. Hope Scotland doesn't take your life or your FREEEEEEEDOOOOMM...I left green tea for you with Chris. Raak his Asian ass up for it.

Laura W: Tall and amusing as ever, I see. Next time lets hang some more - wanna come visit me over here? PS. I think I'm in love with your boyfriend. Is that OK?

Louise K: I know you're quitting and starting up German translation study (which is awesome), but you'll always be a "planner" to me. Actually, you'll always be the chica with a good Python memory! Now, bring me a shrubbery!

Luke: Hope the eye's all good. Don't slack off just yet! I'm forming an itinerary for our Japan escapade. Do you like penguins?

Mindy: Was awesome to have coffee and catch up. You're still the coolest!

Mel R: Tiny, tiny Mel. What can I say? I actually had more fun seeing you in September than all the other times put together. You's a'ight wit' me.

Melissa: You're in London? Man, you get around. I'm like, way jealous and stuff. Miss your smiley face!

Rajeev: The fact that you would suffer the asthmatic nature of Prescott's apartment just to pop by and see me speaks more for itself than, I dunno, a thousand speaking birthday card things. Was great to see you're well - looking forward to the next ICW production.

Rivan: I promise you I will visit you in Kouchi one day. During which time I will make you the most popular man on the island. Oh, and I'm reading a book about a guy in Bombay - sounds awesome. When can I visit?

Sam De V: Bonjour Chocolat ;) Looking forward to seeing you on New Years man. Underworld play in Ghent in November at I Luv Techno - gutted! I know you want to hit somewhere down south for NYE, but are there any good gigs on in Ghent around that time?

Sarah/OhDarling: You know, me and you were in the same country for 3 days, and I didn't even realise. Enjoy being back in Welly - see you next time! PS. Now I can finally read your blog, I'm loving it ;)

Sukanda/Ben: How come I no see you online no more? Remember how we used to hang out and stuff? Gimme suma that!

Tom M: I think you have a very photogenic memory too. Next time I come to Melbourne I am so photogening it. Hope you're there next year!

Travis: Your sexy ass might just be enough reason to come visit you in the States. I'm working on the job thing, but I only have one as a call girl. Do you swallow?

Mr. Whore: All that relaxing and having fun in Melbourne can't be good for you. I command you to go back home. PS. You have no idea how big a grudge I hold over your seeing Boy 8-Bit before I did.