Abandoned

This video made me laugh, and it is set up so well.

It’s not in Youtube, but if you follow this link you should find it. Otherwise, just Google the Font Conference.

I wonder how accurate those words in Windings are….?

Song of the day: I’ve Got Soul - The Tracks. Okay, that song isn’t there, but True Romance is just as good.
They’re a really bop-along/sing at the top of your voice band, but still they have banjo? and other quite things going just chilling in the background. Not that that really means a lot, but I like it.

The guy has an interesting, kind of Gomez-y rough, growly voice, which I rate.

My trusty Jmag said, “Can you imagine Tom Waits doing Cat Empire? Take a look at the top roots sprowting The Tracks!”. So that’s proof enough for you already!

Here’s my 10 top albums and 10 tops songs now that it’s 6 months later (is it?). They’re not really in favourite order, but it’s the general idea.

10 top albums

1. Corner of an Endless Road - Lior

2. Narrow Stairs - Death Cab for Cutie

3. Absolution - Muse

4. Apocalypso- the Presets

5. Ziggurats - The Beautiful Girls

6. Like Drawing Blood

7. Heart Full of Wine/Chocolates & Cigarettes - Angus & Julia Stone

8.  Between Last Night and Us - The Audreys

9. Wincing the Night Away - the Shins

10. Begin to Hope - Regina Spektor

There! That was a task and a half.

Now for the favourite songs. I can’t really order these, they’re all favourites.

Jerusalem - Lior
Sing for Absolution - Muse
Space Dementia - Muse
I Will Possess Your Heart - Death Cab…
The Call - Regina Spektor
Love Sunshine and Happiness - Salmonella Dub
Play the Drum - Zeph and Azeem
Highlights fromt the Phantom of the Opera (Original London Cast or no, I love em)
Just For Me - Bec Watts
Better - the Basics

There we go. Have fun listening if you can be bothered!

For the rest of the year, I have decided to post video clips that I like as well as everything else. So, may I present to you Gotye’s Heart’s a Mess

I think I mostly like the creatures in this, cos they’re so random and unreal but still resemble real insects and the likes… if that makes sense.

I was looking at the videos, and I can’t help myself, I’ve got to share this one too!

I am a total sucker for hand shadows, and people who can do them like this are amazing!
I remember the first time I actually saw a proper person do this kind of thing was on Spicks & Specks, and the guy was doing it to What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

Rachel Brady is an unearthed girl, I’ll put it to you bluntly, who’s song Prodigal Daughter was in the Uneathed podcast (lazy, no need to think it!) I really like it, it’s just… nice.

Ben Folds. Rather famous, among my people at least.
In the early ’80’s, Ben joined the group Majosha, which released several locally produced records.
About 10 years after gettin together, Majosha broke up, in the early 90s then Ben started Pots and Pans which lasted about a month - record!

In 1995, so that’s 13 years ago! He and his band (the Ben Folds Five) released their self titled debut album. 2 years later came Whatever and Ever Amen, which I reckon is probably one of the best Ben Folds Five albums, featuring Brick, Kate, Evaporated, and Song for the Dumped.
After that came Naked Baby Photos, which I know very little about, and a few other albums.

Next one that I know anything about is Songs for Silverman, which features lots of beautiful songs and piano accompaniment. Jesusland, Bastard and Gracie are probably the most widely known songs, and I love ‘em all.

Okay, so he’s my absolute hero at the moment

He started out in my ‘I don’t mind em’ list, but has totally inspired me recently!

I went to see him a couple of weeks ago, in Bellingen, NSW, and was absolutely amazed at his incredible voice and guitaring skills!

He is an Israeli-Austalian, and only his debut Autum Flow was released in 2005, and followed up this year with Corner of an Endless Road.

Grey Ocean got onto the 07 Coastal Chill, but other than that he’s not really  totally famous.

He uses a range of different instruments including the main guitars and piano and drum, but random things like the clavinet, the oud, organs (of various natures), santur, and such likes.
I really respect people that use  different instruments because I think it really adds to the vibe of the song

I personally just love Lior’s voice, I find it totally amazing, especially in Bedouin Song, April Bloom, and Jerusalem. It’s totally amazing really. Sorry, I’m overusing the word ‘amazing’.
And his guitaring is really good too. Not that I’m a great judge, failing at playing guitar myself. But he’s in the top 1000 guitarists in the world if you ask me.

Supporting Lior were Kahn Brothers, another band who I didn’t love on first impression (Myspace), but they have a lot of Beatlesy harmonies, and are good chill music, but their songs do get stuck in your head very easily.

Only Love is Real is a favourite from their debut album Love Melts Fear though not on myspace.

The Kahn brothers also make up the core of Aussie band Gelbison who have released 2 records, and I have to say, I’m not very familiar with.

Gelbison are a more toned down version of the Kahn Brothers, who also feature some different instruments.

In 2007 Fingertips and Mountaintops was released, featuring Elbows By Darren Hanlon, that was my favourite song that I actually didn’t know for a while, but now that I know it better, I love it more 

Darren, currently living in Sydney first started performing solo in 1999. Since then he has released 3 albums (Hello Stranger, Little Chills, Fingertips and Mountaintops), 2 EPs, and four singles with Candle Records. 

His genre is described as folk-pop, folk-rock, and folk-punk. One gets the impression he has a folk base.
Darren plays guitar, banjo, and I think a few other instruments as well as singing beautifully
I would have to say that Wish That I Was Beautiful For You, Elbows, and Punk’s Not Dead are my favourite songs so far.

Before going solo, Darren was in the Singletons, and also played keys for The Lucksmiths, which I’ll get to later.

His lyrics are described as intelligent and witty, and he likes to do ‘intimate’ shows, which means he goes to the small towns, and just plays in the local pub. Twice he has played in my very own tiny hometown, the first time I had never heard of him, and therefore didn’t know about it, and the second time I was going to another concert the next day, and I wasn’t allowed to

But if I’m still around when he gets back from touring the UK, and he happens to be playing near me, WATCH OUT, I’ll be first to get tickets, maybe.

The Lucksmiths are also with Candle Records, and equally as great in my opinion. Now, I actually don’t have much to say on them, not owning any records, having only head their stuff while on roadtrips with friends, all I can say is go to their Myspace, and decide for yourself!

Branching into another world really, I am going to talk about Corduroy, an acid-jazz outfit, based in London, who it’s great to have a little wiggle to
Just so you know, I know next to nothing about acid jazz, except for the fact that it’s great music! Corduroy have released 5 albums, and unfortunately, their Myspace only has one song - boohoo.

Well, I officially have a stupid (no, dumb) cold, so I shall try to blog more often… if you can relate those to phrases, please tell me what the link is!

Ciao!

I was reading my monthly jmag, and it said there was like, 5,000,000 artists or something amazing like that on Unearthed.com, and I realised how it’s like, WOW! But, it hasn’t daunted me in the slightest, for it was only the other day that I went (thanks to jmag) and found another 3-4 bands on there that I really like - Pear, The Tiger & Me, and Lei Mai Swan - and there was more, but I’m lazy

Unfortunately I am not going to do all the hard work for you today, as the internet has been going SUPER slow, and only going to some pages - Unearthed isn’t one of them, so I am actually unable to make it easy for you. BUT! IF YOU FOLLOW this LINK, you should get to Uneathed.com! Hopefully the fact that I can’t access it should mean nothing!

Okay - review time.

Pear (A.K.A Steph Lees) is from Brisbane, and plays everything from guitar, to piano, to accordion, (sounds a bit like me) and I LOVE her voice!  Really rootsy etc.
She is also in the band Maudlin, Moot and Badger - which I also cannot find anywhere - anywho. Steph’s blog is here, and I found it interesting to spend 10 mins reading the list of bands that she likes….

Next up-The Tiger &  Me.

Beautiful. That’s what I say. They have the whole girl/guy harmony thing going, so there is a hint of Angus & Julia, but Alleyway is more pianno-y/jazzy, but the ‘chorus’ is so sad, and pretty. Just listen. I think you may understand me then, maybe.

Murder In Uniform is really good also, but as with That Ghost - Brendan Welch  (that song isnt’ there, but it aint anywhere else!) I find the lyrics a bit creepy.

The Forsaken Few is yet ANOTHEr great song from these guys - they must be good, I like ALL THREE of their songs! This one has a more Laura Marling style, but Jane and Ade switch around with the vocals, which I like, cos it adds a lot more variety…
Mei Lai Swan is great! So great that I actually went and bought her cd!
She has a nice, deepish voice, and beautiful cello playing done by herself.

I’m Always Doing Good is a darker piece with (for lack of better description) a swaying feel.

Come as You Are is has a lot more of layered strings and harmonies etc. It also doesn’t have as much of a firm beat. Not my favourite, but still good.

Whereas Remember The Circus is again a laidback jazzy piece. In this, as all jazzyish voices do, I am reminded of the Waifs’ Sundirtwater. With the cello doing all sorts of cool jazzy basslines (actually, maybe it’s not a cello… it sounds a bit deep to me. Well, I can’t tell you. Sorry) it even has a horn and saxophone section - yum.
Now I was going to do another 3 bands or something, but I really am not kind enough to stay on the computer one minute longer - I’ve been on it for the last 4 hours, and am DREADFULLY tired - and my excuses run out….

Well, I hope you have a great time listening, it’s good stuff! I spose I should probably do more on the weekend eh? My list of bands to blog about is about 15 long, and growing. Sigh.

Taataa

I have been VERY busy digging up songs from Unearthed.com lately - the podcast has helped a great deal, but a lot of it I’ve done on my own. It is one of the best feelings to listen to all this crap music, then one random person you click on has a great voice, and good instruments. Example: Melbourne’s Becc Watts! She has an amazing voice - one I would compare with the Waifs’ lead singer   -Vikki Simpson - the Waifs are another great band I suggest you check out - Sundirtwater is a GREAT song!!!!

Back to Becc… I find the whole sparce piano, light drum beat GREAT! One of my favourite songs at the moment is Just For Me - which is the only one she has on Unearthed.

Now to Camille! She was born and raised in Paris, trained as a ballet dancer during her childhood and she was intrigued by the whole American ‘musical’ (play) thing. Camille released her debut album Las Sac Des Filles as recently as 2004. She has only released 1 other album (Les Fil)  but her next album Music Hole is being released on April 7 (hey, that’s only one week away!) 
Camille has a really avant-garde sound, with most of the percussion and backing vocals consisting of er, interesting sounds from the mouth. Which I find quite cool.

Making the Triple J’s Hottest 100 last year with Ta Douleur is how I really discovered her. It went from the whole ’she’s a bit weird, so I’ll just not listen to it at the moment’ to ‘yeah, I really like the avant-garde sounds, and the french bits!’ Which has pretty much been my attitude to any music not completely normal - which is most of the music I like nowadays…. anyway!

Something More Than Ordinary is a band I discovered partly via Unearthed, and partly via Myspace. I love the keys in it, although I personally think the vocals could maybe do with a better voice (just my opinion, don’t harrass me about it!)
Probably my favourite song of theirs is Something More Than Ordinary.

Boogie Warehouse is an unsigned band, also from Unearthed - oh the joys of it! A dance/pop 5-piece from Sydney who I just like to groove to, despite the fact that  I only discovered them on Saturday!

Oh, and keep a lookout for me under the alias ‘Lamplit Shadows’! After much thought and desperation I have come across that name and intend to start my booming musical career using the name! Just you watch out, I’ll be the next big thing - not! (It’s not even my goal)

I leave you with this picture from Bibomedia:

I

My new favourite artist at the moment is Laura Marling.

I discovered her thanks to the ever influencial Triple J! Yay for nationwide radio!

Laura is from Eversly, in the UK, only 18, and her her debut LP was released only like, a month ago, but she has  2 EPs, which were released in 2007, I think.

A reason which I think draws me to her music is that it is really quite sparce, frequently it is just the vocals and guitar or piano, but it also (if I remember correctly) builds up with strings etc. She only has 2 songs on her myspace, which, with the amount most artists have nowadays is very little.

Anyway… now lets see if I can conjure up an Unearthed person… I’m sure there was one, I wrote it down the other day…. erm…. Okay, so this isn’t the one I’m thinking of (I wrote that one down on my schoolwork or something, so I haven’t the foggiest idea where the name is), but I quite like Illzilla. They’re hiphop, and Live Enough is my favourite song of theirs - I love the keys on that, just the syncopation/beats and all. The Score is also quite a good song!

Thankfully though, when it was featured on Triple J a few weeks ago, I got to hear the WHOLE album (Alas I Cannot Swim).

…Upon a time is NOT the theme of this movie. My sister introduced me to it, and I really, really love it!

The basic storyline is guy, girl, he busks, she meets him, they end up playing music together, they get a band, record an album, and then all go their seperate ways. Kind of thing.

One thing I really liked about it was that it had the Napoleon Dynamite style hand-held cameras, and the fact that the only music was played by the actors, and most of the time it showed you them playing it.

If you are into that kind of thing, and even if you are not, I highly recommend it as a great, quiet watch…. although, not really ‘quiet’ quiet with the way the guy sings.

Some other really cool things which I liked about the movie were that neither of the main two actors had acted before, the guy (Glen Hansard) is from The Frames, and he wrote all the music himself… I don’t know if she (Marketa Irglova) helped. AND another randomly weird thing about the movie is that they never say anyone’s name!!!! Not once does it let you know their names….. Only I have a slight inkling that her name was Sarah. But I’m pretty sure I made that up

If you actually do check out the Discards’ blog you may notice that they have a competition for drawing a cd design. This is my lovely work. Which under NO circumstances will I be showing them…. unless they land here of course.

I was reading the Discards blog and saw that they had their ten favourite albums. So I thought I’d be a dag, and copy. Their goal is to right reviews on them, but I think I have already done that. Instead, I will, I dunno, link to the reviewing blog/add things. I might make it up as I go too.

Top Ten AlbumsBegin To Hope - Regina Spektor
Book Like This - Angus & Julia
Stand Up - Blue King Brown
Bring It On - Gomez
Like Drawing Blood - Gotye
Stand Out/Fit In - The Basics
Fire Is On The Bird - Jackson Jackson
Because of the Times – Kings Of Leon
White Moth - Xavier Rudd
If The Ocean Gets Rough – Willy Mason

This is only a present list - what I mean is that in 6 months it is likely that none of those albums’ll be on the list cos I’ll  have discovered a HEAP of more stuff. Yeah. And spent a heap of money on it too! An unearthed person which I discovered while I was getting around to listening to the Unearthed podcast from some months ago was Jennifer Boyce. I REALLY like her style. Nice and Ben Folds-y…. has a bit of bounce to it.

They are ‘unearthed’ (as such = not signed), but I believe they are working on releasing their debut album. They’re actually some of my ‘friends’ which means I hang around with them (for two reasons - reason a: they have the same friends I do reason b: they’re cool)

My absolute favourite song of theirs is WAY up in my favourites it’s called Girl In The Yellow Dress. Following that Coldest Day (not technically the Discards, but their part of Something Not Taken, and Something Not Taken is non-existent now, as far as I know), then The Waiting, then You Know Why I Came.

I understand that one of the singers has… an interesting, untrained voice, but they’ve got some great music ideas, so I listen to it anyway. I’m kinda of used to it so, yeah.

New Subject:

Have you ever heard of Like A Version?

Well, it’s basically triple j recording people doing covers. Two of my favourites are Regina Spektor - Real Love (it made it into the Hottest 100 this year) and Ben Folds - Such Great Heights. I only have the Like A Version 3 CD. But there are three, and I suggest buying all of them, because I am fairly confident that you will find at least one song that you like on it.

This beautiful artwork was done by my 12 year old sister, who is a great artist. And I was thinking ‘this blog needs a bit of a spruce up. More pictures too.’ So here is the first of, hopefully, many pictures to come.  A round of applause please for Susannah Sylvester!

Well, I was just looking back at the past few months, and what I’ve said and stuff. And my thoughts about this blog have totally changed. Strange. It’s a good thing though, cos it is meaning that I am learning a whole heap of stuff that I might never have learnt about bands, and people, so that is cool. Also, I am telling people about bands practically no one has heard of, and having fun raving about more popular bands that I love. I think that is a truly good blog purpose.

I am still, although almost not, thirteen, am still playing the piano. But the chances of me actually recording any tracks, and then putting up here… Not gonna happen. Anyway, I thought I’d just update you on the ‘purpose’ of this blog.

Thankyou for actually reading it, that bits great, to know that people actually spend time clicking on my blog, or reading it. That is gold.

Yeah, I’m not actually  the type for self promotion or ‘thanking people with tears in my eyes…’, so I’ll shutup RIGHT NOW!

Cheers

Samsara. GOOD BAND. I really like them. Possibly has something to do with the fact that I’m going through an african/reggae stage at the moment, but I like them. That’s the main thing. I found them on Myspace the other day, when they sent me a note saying ‘check us out, tell us if you like the music’. So I did that. And now I’m going to share it with you!

They remind me a bit of Bob Marley. Which is as good, only, I reckon they have a bit more variation than Bob Marley does (hate to say it, but I can’t listen to more than a few Bob songs at a time).

Samsara are not exactly an unearthed band, seeing as they recently (? I don’t know when… they’re not in Wikipedia)  released their debut album -Full Circle. Which I like what I’ve heard of.

Samsara are from Brighton, UK.  and, sadly, that is all I’ve heard about them.  But, hopefully, when you listen to them yourself, that will be enough.

I REALLY love this song, it’s called Like An Arrow ( The Red Sun Band),

also Bella - Angus & Julia Stone (sorry, no link),

 and Piccadilloes (Clare Bowditch).

Some of my other favourite songs are:

 Not Really Love (Abbey Skye),  

Real Love - Regina Spektor,  

Where I Stood (Missy Higgins),

Smoke (Ben Folds Five) - also no link,

 International Society of Bad Dancers (Jackson Jackson), 

Superstar (Lupe Fiasco feat. Matthew Santos), 

This is one to sing your heart out to, as well as having a full on rock out! - Gone (the Butterfly Effect),

Okay, I know this is kinda unfair, but I LURVE ALL THESE SONGS!!!!! Get Aquainted (Gotye/Faux Pas), The Only Way (Gotye/Karnivool), Learnalittlegivinganloving (Gotye),

But I’m going to be just as generous with the Basics (I know, that’s kinda Gotye too… sad, I know.) I suggest you listen to ALL their songs on their myspace page - Just Hold On, Hey There, Rattle My Chain, Looking Over My Shoulder, and then go buy a cd, and listen to it like, at least once a week for… a month?

Man. There are just SO many awesome songs… I guess that means this will end up with a sequel

Clare Bowditch is definitely one of my favourite singers at the moment. And even though I don’t have a CD (soon in the coming), I have spent a LOT of time on her Myspace page, listening

I love her amazing voice, the harmonies the Feeding Set do, and Clare’s interesting/sweet lyrics. Actually, if I wrap it up, I just love her.

One noticable feature about Clare is her hair. It’s like a mixture between carrot, and red, I personally think it is very cool.

Her latest CD - the Moon Looked On, is, in my opinion, (from the songs I’ve heard on her site) very good. The Moon Looked On has quite a range of heavier, smooth, or tear worthy songs.

Clare has been singing for ages. She formed her first band in 1998, with John Hedigan - Red Raku, which disbanded sometime before 2004, Clare Bowditch was given her first recording grant, then the Feeding Set AKA: Marty Brown (Clare’s husband/drummer), Libby Chow (vocals/french horn), Warren Bloomer (bass), Tim Harvey (guitar), and Clare Bowditch recorded and released Autumn Bone.

October 2005 showed their second album What Was Left, later, as in October 2007, The Moon Looked On was released.

I think I first heard about Clare Bowditch on Coastal Chill 07, even though she was in the 05 Hottest 100 twice (I wasn’t quite old enough to be listening to it in those long ago days) - I heard Which Way to Go, and at first, as I usually did, I didn’t put it onto my MP3 player, because I didn’t actually like it, as I did with many other favourites.

All in all, I think she’s a great singer, they’re a great band, and more people should know, and love them.

They are a very good band!

I think they’re from Melbourne, or somewhere down around there, but they are largely based in the UK. Their first EP was signed with a major UKain record label (LittleBIGMANrecords). They have 3 cds out, I think, one of which - their latest Cruel Guard won the 2007 J award.

Band members include: Jae Laffer, Drew and Miles Wootton, Paul Ottway, and Julian Douglas.

I love, like LOVE the sound of the singer’s voice (Jae?). I really only know two of their songs - Don’t Fight It, and Get Us Home.

Don’t Fight It was the first song of theirs that I heard, and due to a massive amount of playing on Triple J, I was able to hear it QUITE a bit, and now absolutely love it. Get Us Home is the new song that Triple J play, and it’s getting quite a bit of airing, so I am slowly getting to learn the words and stuff - of course I like it.

Now, even though The Panics’s CD is some way down on my list of cds that I urgently want to buy, I can’t wait till it is number one.

Hey. Well this is the promised ‘concert rave’ post.

 Okay, so we get to Centennial Park spot on 3 pm (when the gates open). Queue up to get our tickets, then get in the main line. Fifteen minutes later we are buying water and merch.

Ash Grunwald starts playing, we’re sitting on a picnic blanket, talking among ourselves, watching Ash play. It’s great.

Then we’re deciding whether to go to the loo/get something to eat now, or after the ‘Beautiful Girls’s’ set, when Blue King Brown starts up. THAT decided it for me. So, we stayed, we sang along, we clapped, and we wrote down the phone number for texting if you wanted to know more about nuclear energy and such things.

The Beautiful Girls come on, I stick around while they play one of my favourite songs, then dash off to get something to eat. More eating follows, then, ‘whoa. They’re starting now!’ I say, when I see Ollie McGill sitting at his keyboard. So we pack up the picnic blanket and move towards the front to join the dancing crowd. Well, 5 minutes later we sit down and start to talk again, THEN after a few more false alarms (the background music sounded VERY similar to one of their songs) the Cat Empire start to play.

I’ve got to say, it’s definitely one of the best concerts I’ve EVER been to!!!! They played all the favourite songs, had everyone jumping up and down and/or clapping or swaying their arms (except my little sister, who just clapped along or stood and watched. I think it might have been shock.). Then, at 9:12pm they say ‘this is our last song’. They play it, then after a few minutes of random callings of ‘encore’. The crowd manages to get into a rhythm of ‘encore, clap, clap, encore! clap, clap’ So the Cat Empire come out and play another two or three songs.

Ahhh. Definitely a highlight of my life!!!!

I am going to see 3 GREAT bands on Saturday - The Cat Empire, Blue King Brown and the Beautiful Girls. Which is SO exciting, anyway I’m just writing this as a warning that there WILL be a rant/rave post. WITH photos. Oooh, I can’t wait.

Hopefully as the year goes on I’ll get back to discovering more new music, but till then… nothing.

Actually, have I told you about Gotye (Gaw-t-yeah)?

Walter (Wouter) de Backer. Born in Belgium, but raised in Australia-he’s this amazing guy who samples a HEAP of stuff then mixes it all, adds his incredible voice and sells.

He released his debut single in May 2006, and then a few months later his first album (Like Drawing Blood).  Then last year he released a ‘remix’ cd, on which other various people had remixed some of his songs. Among those people was one of my friends’ brother… so I kind of feel like I’m some distant relation, but it hardly qualifies really.

Wally’s first band, Downstares grouped and un-grouped while he was in his teens, that’s when his solo stuff first started happening, and now he is also in a band called The Basics, who the same friend’s OTHER brother got asked to drum for when he went to see them.

I am a BIG fan of both Gotye and the Basics, and thought it would be good if I shared this fanhood with all youse!!!!

Well, at last I am back home, well browned and relaxed.

The Hottest 100 has just been released, and it’s… good. Not as good as I expected it, but still good. :] Number one is Muse, I can’t remember the song, and No. 2 is Silverchair - Straight Lines - apparently there was only 13 votes difference, but I’m glad it was that cos it would have been RUINED for me if silverchair came first.

Well, I hope you all have  a great Australia day etc. and life in general.

Adieu

Well, just let me say Happy New Year, and I hope it’s a good one.

I thought I’d leave just a few recommended songs to rock the year in.

Take Me Back To Your House - Basement Jaxx

Peachy - Missy Higgins

Water - Blue Kind Brown

Cherry Bomb - Spoon

Like an Arrow - Red Sun Band

Another Day - Angus & Julia Stone

The Signal - Urthboy

Spanish Town - The Beautiful Girls

Thanks For Your Time - Gotye

Supermassiveblackhole - The Muse

Two Shoes - the Cat Empire

International Society of Bad Dancers - Jackson Jackson

Fire In the Sky - John Butler Trio

Camero - Kings of Leon

Conquest - White Stripes

Anyway, I’d better run off to get some sleep.

… is a singer. SURPRISE!

She is actually a trained Operatic singer, but has migrated to the cooler side of the world, and does pop/operatic stuff in her songs. 

While she was still doing the opera thing, she actually did Gilbert and Sullivan operas - interesting.

She was formally part of a Brisbane band called Elsewhere, which broke up in 2001 (another great loss to the world.) and obviously she liked this side of music so much that she stayed with the (as Wikipedia puts it) ‘popular songs’ side of things.

I personally don’t particularly like her stuff, I mean, some of it is cool, but the opera thing kind of puts me off.

My mum, however LOVES it, and I gave her Kate’s latest cd (Little Eve) which she likes, and listens to at least once a day (or some parts thereof).

Kate is a not new, not old, artist and has a totoal of 4 cds out, she’s doing pretty well at the moment - she was nominated for 5 Arias, and performed *’Words’ at the Arias.

* ‘Words’ is probably one of her more popular songs, and if you’ve heard any of her songs, it’s likely that you’ve heard that. 

I really miss blogging about bands and doing research and learning stuff about them and whatnot, BUT I’m heaps busy and just don’t have the time at the moment, and I’m possibly going to the coast for a week or two, so it may be a while before I can actually get around to blogging.

But I have some exciting news and that is that Jack Johnson is coming to Australia and doing a few shows (and I might be going - YESSS).

Yeah, that’s all I have to say.

Bye

Well, I’m just going to warn you, peoples, there’s a very low chance of me writing in the next week…. I’m working till Saturday, then I’ve got a heap of rellies who’ll be at my place for a week… and then I might be going away, so you’re welcome to keep checking to see if I’ve updated, but, (and I hate to disappoint you) I might not have.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year. Have a party, buy some stuff, do whaterver - just have some fun!

Bob Marley, John Lennon, Louis Armstrong, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Carlos Santana, David Bowie, Frank Sinatra,  Elvis Presley…. the list goes on. They’re all legends.

It’s  weird how there are so many musical legends. And I was wondering the other day what makes them ‘legends’. Well, Bob Marley = political. John Lennon = The Beatles. Elvis Presley = cos he was weird?

I don’t really think there is a defining point in what makes someone a musical legend. There are certain things that are required - lots of publicity, not being middle of the road, having a style, helping third world countries… whatever.  But the thing that I reckon is weird, is that, at some point in our lives we have heard at least one of there songs - because they’re a legend and their songs get played over and over as ‘classics’.  So therefore, any musician is actually influenced by the legends. How come then, that even though we are all influenced, not every one gets to be a legend?

Now I wouldn’t exactly say Eva Cassidy was a legend as such, but she sure is a great, and beautiful singer. 

She died in 1996, at 43 (I believe it was cancer) but she is still one of my favourite singers.

She has over eight cds which is quite a lot for nowadays standards, and I think that’s great.  I only own one of them though - Songbird. 

I heard about Eva when my friend got Eva Cassidy as a birthday present, she played it to me, we raved to each other about how great she was then I stole the cd to put it into iTunes (mwahahaha).  My mum however is very ‘to the letter’ about copyright and had to make sure we owned all the cds on iTunes or anywhere else, so I now own it, which is nice, cos I like owning cds. It’s nice to know that if I wanted I could stick it in the cd player and listen to a whole cd without earphones stuck in my ears.

De Grussa Band is my Unearthed peoples for today. Now, they’re slightly weird, but I reckon their track is pretty easy to get into. They only have one song - A Shock, and the lyrics are really, well, strange. But I reckon they’re just funny!!! And I love the piano jazz in it!

Now, if you feel like just sitting down, reading a book, or are just about to start up the barbie, then these are my listening suggestions:

1. Paper Aeroplanes - Angus & Julia Stone
2. Between You and Steve McQueen - The Audreys
3. No Longer There - The Cat Empire
4. White Flag - Dido
5. Between The Tea and the Toast - Clare Bowditch
6. Staring Down the Sun - Josh Pyke
7. Chinese Translation - M. Ward
8. Salt To the Sea - Tim Finn
9. Don’t Look So Sad - Kasey Chambers
10.   Sing Sing Along - Margaret Helen King
11.   Belle - Jack Johnson
12.   Sugarcane - Missy Higgins
13.   Lonely Moon - The Cat Empire
14.   Thanks For Your Time - Gotye
15.   Swing - Form of Audio
16.   Knocked Up - Kings of Leon
17.   Littlest Things - Lily Allen
18.   Fidelity - Regina Spektor
19.   The Albatross - Sarah Blasko
20.   Better People - Xavier Rudd
21.   Sun Dirt Water - The Waifs
22.   Caroline - John Butler Trio
23.   The Flicker and The Spark - Jackson Jackson
24.   Making A Fire - Holly Throsby
25.   Anniversary Song - Eva Cassidy

 Hope you enjoy it!!!

Today, I just couldn’t hold out on blogging about The Cat Empire.

They are officially the coolest band EVER!!! (And if I ever say this about another band I mean besides the Cat Empire.)   With an absolutely amazing range of genres, the Melbourne band rocks the house! Not that I’ve ever been to a concert… but I do know people who have.  It’s been said (by the people who I know that have been to many a concert) that they’re the best live act to watch!

With a total of 4 EPs, and one single, which were recorded in all over the world, The Cat Empire have also been doing some massive tours this year. Including playing in Burnie, Tas, for the AWOL concert (which I missed by 5 days :*<),  and playing at many festivals this summer

My absolute favourite songs are The Darkness (play me any song with that Spanish/Russian/dark feel and I’ll love it!) Panama, One Four Five, The Wine Song,  Two Shoes, The Car Song, and a HEAP more.  

Their latest EP ‘So Many Nights’ reached #2 on the Australian charts.  Funnily enough I reckon it’s their best album that I’ve heard.

The members of the standard band are:Felix Riebl, Harry J Angus (also in Jackson Jackson), Will Hull-Brown, Ollie McGill (wish I could play like him) Ryan Monro, Jamshid Khadiwala (aka Jumps), Ross Irwin, and Kieran Conrau. I have been told though, that they’ll meet someone at a café or something, and then just invite them to play with them. I’m not sure if it’s true though.     

Unearthed personnel of the day:  Eleanor Dunlop. I REALLY like her style. It’s just so… something!I’m the kind of gal who either likes full-on, dance along music, or quite, eerie music, and sometimes, I like middle of nowhere music… and I think Eleanor kind of falls into all three categories - as many artists do.