Angus and Julia Stone at The Metro, Sydney

ANGUS & JULIA STONE
The Metro, Sydney
27/03/10

It's nice to be right. I've been championing Angus and Julia Stone since the early days, so it's especially pleasing to hear news that their second record, Down The Way, has kept that largely rubbish Lady GaGa release from the top of the Australian album charts for the last two weeks.

What better way to celebrate your record going gold, than by playing three sold-out shows over two days in your home city? Following Friday night's gig, the siblings played a matinee performance to an under-age audience on Saturday afternoon. Cue a Beatlemania-esque frenzy from the crowd as fourteen-year-old girls took time out from screaming every word of every song to yell requests of impregnation to Angus. If it was all a bit much for the shy, unassuming Mr Stone, then the evening was happily a more chilled-out affair.

Before a subtly-lit backdrop which was decked out like a living room, the duo took turns in playing compositions from their new LP, along with a few classics and a couple of covers. After disposing of recent single, And The Boys, early on, Julia - looking hippily pretty in a floral dress - offered songs of love and melancholy: I'm Not Yours being the unhappy sequel to I'm Yours, while oldie Chocolates and Cigarettes sounded as touching as ever. Angus, hiding - as always -behind beard and hat wooed the crowd with his sweet ditties, while showing a different edge to his songwriting with Draw Your Swords, a taut love song that strains to breaking point.

After being joined onstage by support band Boy & Bear for a cover of Fleetwood Mac's Rain, the brother and sister ended with the wistful Santa Monica Dream. After a few more dates in Australia, the US and the UK beckon. The sheer strength of their new album alongside their ever-growing confidence in the live arena suggests the wave of success they are riding will not be confined to their home country.

Friends of Mine

You may have noticed a little widget down the bottom of the right hand side of the page. If not, check it out as it links you to some of my dear friends' blogs that I think are really rather good. Amongst the wry wit of Portsmouth's own Rhys Jones and the freelance writings of Guy Wilkinson and Colin (once, twice, three times) Delaney, you'll find blogs from Sydney's two finest photographers, Cybele Malinowski and Daniel Boud (above).

There are some owls and some pipsqueaks, and, amongst others, a newish fashion related offering from Sydney-based model Olivia Dunn Frost (below) and her sister Emerald. (If you would like your blog added to the blogroll, then drop me a line).

As for this blog, I'm looking to add to the music-related gubbins by branching out a little further, so keep your eyes open for interviews with people from the world of film, TV, fashion and many other creative areas.

Abdoujaparov interview

London-based musician and Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine legend Les Carter (aka, Fruitbat) is currently in Australia with his band, Abdoujaparov. I grabbed a few words with him about the tour and his upcoming visit to Sydney:


"I got asked for I.D. at a pub the other day. I'm 51 years old. That's just stupid."

Back on another Australian tour, the delightfully affable Les Carter, Fruitbat to you and I, may have to carry his passport around with him when hitting the town, but it'll take more than the occasional officious bouncer to spoil his fun in the hazy Autumn heat. "My overall memories of Australian tours are of relaxation, sunshine, booze, friends and a great attitude towards rock 'n' roll," he reminisces, as talk turns to why Australia keeps drawing him back year after year.

"When we split up Carter USM [in 1997]," he explains. "I promised myself that my new band would come over to Oz. I had such a brilliant time when Carter came over to do Big Day Out in 1993, but for some reason our record company would never let us come back."

And so Fruitbat has kept the promise he made to himself and brought Abdoujaparov to the sunny side of the world on several occasions, and will be back at one of his favourite Sydney haunts, The Excelsior, this April 15th. "I'm looking forward to meeting up with the great bunch of friends that turn up at the gigs and having a few decent beers. Sue at The Excelsior is a legend too. She always looks after us." As has become the norm, the dynamic of his band changes when he hits this side of the world, "We are playing with two boys from Perth this year, so Sydney gig goers will get to see a slightly different blend of the Abdou sound."

Clearly, Australia holds a special place in the Londoner's heart, but it seems he won't be packing up his possessions and relocating from South London on a permanent basis anytime soon. "I did have dreams of moving here, but Australia seems to be a lot more buttoned down than it used to be. There are bits of 'nanny state-ism' that seem even worse than in the UK. With each passing year, I have seen Australia becoming more American and less Australian and I think that's a real shame." Even if he did want to make the big move over here, the masses of red tape involved in immigrating might prevent him from doing so anyway. "I'm not a plumber or a hairdresser, so I don't think Australia will let me in. My only option would be to find myself a nice Aussie chick and marry her. Any offers?"

So, after a whirlwind tour of Aus, the indie legend will head back to Blighty to play to his English fanbase. While there won't be another of his other band's hugely successful gig exravaganzas in the near future, there will be plenty of opportunities for fans to catch an Abdoujaparov show. "Myself and Jim Bob are concentrating on non-Carter stuff this year, so there won't be any Carter gigs until at least late 2011, but this year is gonna be tour, tour, tour as far as I'm concerned. I want to beat our annual gig count and play in as many new places as we can."

And as for some new Abdoujaparov material, well, that's hopefully on it's way too. "We are determined to get something out this year. There has been a new Abdou album in the works for over a year so far. It is proving to be quite a difficult birth. I have about 30 songs but have only recorded 4 of them so far." And, as well as his ongoing Carter and Abdoujaparov projects, he has other irons in the fire too, like a musical that he has been writing over the past few years. "My musical is still waiting in the wings. It is almost finished actually and is very good. I am hoping to write more games music this year too; that is great fun. I did start writing an illustrated children's book some time ago, but couldn't find a publisher so it got a bit stuck. It's called King One Ear Bigger Than The Other."

For now though, Fruitbat is concentrating on rocking his way around Australia. And what can Sydneysiders expect when they turn up to The Excelsior? "A good fun night out, with some class tunes and a great atmosphere," he promises. "Expect to leave with a big smile on your face."

For a full list of Abdoujaparov's tour dates, click HERE.

The Bundles - The Bundles

The Bundles’ eponymous debut album may have only taken a few days’ studio time to record but, in reality, it was over eight years in the making. Beginning with a get-together between Kimya Dawson and Jeffrey Lewis in 2001, The Bundles became a full band a year later with the inclusion of Anders Griffen on drums and Jeff’s brother Jack on bass. However, due to the growing success of their individual projects, it took until 2009 for the quartet (along with troubadour Karl Blau) to record an album.

The Bundles sees those original Dawson and Lewis’ demos tidied up and given depth with extra instrumentation and some rather nice choral singing at appropriate junctures. There are a few new tunes too, which were written on the spot by all five artists in the studio. A mix of sweet, slow acoustic ditties and lo-fi garage, the album’s ten songs often have a Moldy Peaches-style structure to the vocals, with Lewis and Dawson alternating or singing different lines on top of each other at the same time. This sense of ordered confusion layers the songs, as different snippets of each lyrical thread take prominence randomly.

While possibly only for existing fans of the anti-folk genre, this DIY, raw and ramshackle album has warmth and charm without the slightest hint of pretension and is another example of the honesty of the individual members of The Bundles. As Dawson herself puts it on Over The Moon, “Everything that I am doing isn’t the means to an end/It’s the means of creating a meaningful existence/And I just wanna sing with my friends.”

Smirnoff's Black Room VIP opening night

Sydney is awash with art at the moment, as it is officially Art Month Sydney. Along with an extensive programme of official events and lectures etc, there are also plenty of other non-affiliated art exhibitions going on. I was recently invited down to Carriageworks for the opening night of the Smirnoff Black Room, an exhibition which then went on to open at Blank Space Gallery in Surry Hills.

The event was attended by the glitterati of the Sydney art scene. Here are some pictures.



This shot of vodka tasted and smelt of white chocolate. It is the nicest spirit I have ever had.

Daniel Johnston at Monster Children, Sydney

Here are some pictures of Daniel Johnston playing on the steps outside the Monster Children Gallery in Sydney. Johnston seemed a little overwhelmed by just how many people showed up to see him, and, as is the way for someone with no concept of time, only played two songs.

He briefly stuck around to sign autographs and for a few photos (like the one below), but soon scuttled off, saying "I have to go and get a soda." The following sunday, he played a longer set at Laneway Festival.

End of Decade Review

I know I'm a couple of months late with this. Don't blame me, blame Toshiba for selling me a faulty computer which took forever to repair. Anywhere, here is my end of decade review:

TOP TWENTY ALBUMS OF THE LAST DECADE

1. Is This It - THE STROKES
At a time when the likes of Limp Bizkit were considered the height of talent in indie circles, thank God The Strokes came along and changed everything.


2. Hearts and Unicorns - GIANT DRAG
Post-grunge guitar genius that still sounds as fresh now as when it was released in 2005. In Annie Hardy, Giant Drag have one of the most unique, witty and talented frontwomen around.

3. I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning - BRIGHT EYES
Conor Oberst's best album. The quality doesn't dip for the slightest second.

4. The New Fellas - THE CRIBS
Brilliant sideswipe at London's 'scene'. Raw indie pop tunes so catchy you'll be singing along the first time you hear them.

5. The Moldy Peaches - THE MOLDY PEACHES
A triumph for songwriting, imagination and charm over fancy production. A defining moment in anti-folk.

6. Rings Around The World - SUPER FURRY ANIMALS
Visionary to the point that it makes more sense now than when it was released in 2001. One of the Welsh band's greatest achievements.

7. Garfield - ADAM GREEN
The lo-fi, largely acoustic debut from one half of the Moldy Peaches proved what a diverse, weird and wonderful songwriter Adam Green is.

8. Funeral - ARCADE FIRE
Beautifully grand and epic.

9. Alas, I Cannot Swim - LAURA MARLING
This record is not only impressive because it belies her tender years or because it is her debut offering. Far from it; the genuinely exquisite Alas, I Cannot Swim would be a marvellous achievement for anyone, regardless of whether they were 18 or 80.

10. Up The Bracket - THE LIBERTINES
The album that - before it all went wrong - proved Doherty and Barat to be great poets, capturing the dirty London bohemia perfectly.

11. Myths Of The Near Future - KLAXONS
With Myths Of The Near Future, Klaxons defiantly transcended the hype and created a truly dazzling album. Rave? Hardly. Apocalyptic pop? Possibly. Bloody brilliant? Absolutely.

12. The Felice Brothers - THE FELICE BROTHERS
Old-fashioned yarns of jailhouses, alcohol, drugs, woozy romance and family ties.

13. Man Comes Around - JOHNNY CASH
Heartbreaking.

14. Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope
Her first step towards the mainstream consciousness, while still remaining joyfully left of centre.

15. Real Gone - TOM WAITS
Tom Waits beatboxes in a wardrobe (or at least that's what it sounds like), bangs blocks of wood together and comes up with a dazzlingly original album.

16. White Blood Cells - THE WHITE STRIPES
So many standout tunes, and the whole thing was probably recorded in about half an hour on a budget of four quid.

17. Panic Prevention - JAMIE T
Bouncing capriciously between indie, dancehall, punk and rap, Jamie T’s unrelenting tales of London life give a nod to Joe Strummer, and are told with an equal amount of wit and aggression.

18. Who Needs Actions When You Got Words - PLAN B
Acoustic rap? Surely not? Well, actually, it's really awesome, as Ben Drew washes his dirty laundry in public through lyrics delivered with venom. Whether his upcoming reincarnation as some kind of soul crooner is as good remains to be seen.

18. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots - FLAMING LIPS
Like the soundtrack to a robot's hazy dream.

20. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not - ARCTIC MONKEYS
Urban storytelling well beyond their years.

TOP TWENTY SONGS OF THE LAST DECADE

1. Do You Realize?? - THE FLAMING LIPS



2. Sampson - REGINA SPEKTOR



3. Hard To Explain - THE STROKES

4. Dreaming Of You - THE CORAL

5. Anyone Else But You - THE MOLDY PEACHES

6. Time For Heroes - THE LIBERTINES

7. Be Safe - THE CRIBS

8. Maps - YEAH YEAH YEAHS

9. No Cars Go - ARCADE FIRE

10. Hurt - JOHNNY CASH



11. Hey Ya! - OUTKAST

12. Toxic - BRITNEY SPEARS

13. Golden Skans - KLAXONS

14. Road to Joy - BRIGHT EYES

15. Presidential Suite - SUPER FURRY ANIMALS

16. Take Me Out - FRANZ FERDINAND

17. Ballad Of Lou The Welterweight - THE FELICE BROTHERS



18. Fake Tales Of San Francisco - ARCTIC MONKEYS

19. Commercial Breakdown - THE SUNSHINE UNDERGROUND

20. Time Is Running Out - MUSE

TOP TWENTY FILMS OF THE DECADE

1. Juno

2. Shaun Of The Dead

3. The Royal Tenenbaums
4. Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain
5. Little Miss Sunshine
6. Young at Heart
7. Anvil! The Story Of Anvil
8. Lost in Translation

9. Mar Adentro
10. Memento

11. Ghost World

12. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

13. Sideways
14. Garden State

15. Being John Malkovich

16. Borat
17. The Orphanage
18. Grizzly Man

19. Donnie Darko
20. City Of God

(slight glitch in the system in the above list: 3. is The Royal Tenenbaums, 8 is Lost In Translation)


QUOTE OF THE DECADE
Take a bow, former Queens Park Rangers manager Ian Hollway, for this gem following his team's rather lacklustre victory against Chesterfield:

"To put it in gentleman's terms, if you've been out for a night and you're looking for a young lady and you pull one, you've done what you set out to do. We didn't look our best today but we've pulled. Some weeks the lady is good looking and some weeks they're not. Our performance today would have been not the best looking bird but at least we got her in the taxi. She may not have been the best looking lady we ended up taking home but it was still very pleasant and very nice, so thanks very much and let's have coffee."

New Young Pony Club - The Optimist

Taking New Wave influences and turning them into posturing New Rave disco was undeniably fun but, despite boasting some shimmering songs and a gutsy frontwoman in Ty Bulmer, New Young Pony Club always came across as poorer cousins to the likes of Klaxons. Three years on, with New Rave being little but a memory, one might wonder how relevant the arrival of a sophomore album from NYPC is. However, while Klaxons interminably stutter over the release of their follow-up record, it turns out that NYPC have grown up and changed with the times.

Self-produced, self-funded and self-released, The Optimist leaves aside the smutty winks, nudges and the shiny, throwaway disco of Fantastic Playroom in favour of a tighter, darker sound with lyrics that show genuine emotional depth. Lost a Girl opens the album with Bulmer taking a deep breath before bursting into a quick-fire verse that shows a newfound vulnerability to her lyrics, “I’m making you smile/Why am I doing that?” Some great hooks, crescendos and big choruses later, and it’s enough to make the once delicious Ice Cream seem flimsy and banal in comparison. This strong start continues with Chaos, as Bulmer’s deliberate drone morphs into another catchy chorus over handclaps.

As the album ebbs and flows, the occasional brooding moments - like the electro-ballad, Stone - counterbalance its dancey edge, giving things a well-rounded feel. The Optimist is the sound of a band shedding its glossy skin and showing what’s inside. Put simply, this is a really strong comeback from New Young Pony Club.

Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard, Oxford Art Factory, Sydney

JEFFREY LEWIS & THE JUNKYARD
WIFEY
LITTLE LOVERS
Oxford Art Factory
10/03/10

The first of two Sydney-based support acts, Little Lovers played upbeat indie rock with an occasional country feel. The trio’s songs were unpretentious and often rather catchy. Wifey’s set was slightly less vivacious but the grown-up melodic tunes were a nicely dreamy way to take the edge off lyrics about frontman Andy Calvert contemplating chopping his penis off.

Three-piece Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard (of which Jeffrey’s brother, Jack, is the bassist) took to the stage minus set-list and treated the audience to a hugely entertaining 90 minutes. Purists may scoff at Lewis’ beaten up old guitar and his less than perfect vocal, but they would be missing the point. Disarmingly affable, the New-Yorker was recently described by none other than Jarvis Cocker as “The best lyricist working in the US today,” and he soon set about proving this with a collection of varied songs that ranged from touching to hilarious while always connecting with the audience through everyday truths.

There were punky rock outs and gentler - really wordy - acoustic numbers that showcased his writing talents, as themes of self-doubt, lost love and depression were treated with sincerity and humour. He told fantastical stories about various ways he could commit suicide (while suggesting that Pitchfork would only give his death 3.6 out of 10), played old classics like The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane and sang simple ditties about things like moving house (“You’re not sure, but you’re going to claim the blinds were busted like that when you came,”). He even gave a lecture called The Complete History of the Development of Punk Rock on the Lower East Side Of New York City from 1950-1975, which was performed entirely in rhyming couplets interspersed with snippets of covers from the likes of The Velvet Underground and Patti Smith. There were also projected slide-shows set to music, most notably the genuinely interesting history of the legend of Native American, Sitting Bull.

So all this begs the question, why was the venue half empty? No wonder the Sydney live scene is struggling if people won’t part with $25 for a show as inventive, intimate, intelligent and downright feel-good as this. Still, those who were there left happy in the knowledge that they had been in the presence of a genius. And a humble, self-deprecating genius at that.

Future Music Festival, Sydney

The Future Music Festival took place last weekend at Sydney's Randwick Racecourse. The festival is predominantly dance-based and combined DJs with bands like Does It Offend You, Yeah? and was headlined by a typically barnstorming set by The Prodigy. It wasn't just for the danceheads though, and any rogue indie kids could escape the doofdoof with Franz Ferdinand, Empire of the Sun and Operator Please.

An innovative addition to the festival was the Cirque De Surreal-themed Smirnoff Precinct. Located next to the Pink Flamingo Stage, the two storey precinct featured live streams of the onstage action and had the appearance of a mad hatter's party, with a massive table in the middle where performers put on an hourly show while punters drank Mojitos and Mules. Upstairs, festival-goers escaped the carnage of the festival at a chilled out club with heaps of comfy seats and table service, while others took advantage of the elevated dance podium which overlooked the main stage.

In a time when promoters can be lazy enough to just stick a load of bands on a stage and get away with charging stupid amounts for tickets, it is pleasing that there are still some nice touches like this at festivals. As anyone who has been to the likes of Lattitide or Glastonbury will tell you, a festival experience should be as much about what is happening off the stage as on it. It seemed that, with the death of the wonderful, relaxed and diverse Great Escape Festival, Sydney had given up on the idea of a festival that offered more than just the bands on the bill. However, with Playground Weekender being all about the FUN and with thinking outside the box like the Mad Hatter's crazy precinct at Future Music, maybe there is hope for us who want more for our festival dollar than watching Dizzy Rascal turn up for the zillionth time.

Adam Green - Minor Love

Six solo albums on from The Moldy Peaches' indefinite hiatus, Adam Green has gone back to his roots. After albums that have offered lush strings, ambitious arrangements and, on last album Sixes & Sevens, a shimmering mix of swing, soul and jazz, Minor Love lands back in the anti-folk realm of his magnificent debut, Garfield. By playing almost every instrument on the record and recording it in one go, the New York-based artist may have stripped things back, but this is no regression. In fact, he shows an emotional maturity never before offered in his usually flippant and potty-mouthed lyrics. You see, this is Adam Green's break-up record.

Following the end of his marriage, Minor Love finds Green in introspective mood, and Breaking Locks is a downbeat start: "I've been too awful to ever be thoughtful, to ever be nice." If it weren't for that distinctive baritone croon, you'd struggle to believe this was someone more used to penning words like “There's no wrong way to fuck a girl with no legs.” However, this isn't a journey through tear-soaked self-pity, there are still sniggering mentions of flatulence in his often cryptic lyrics, but more so than ever, there are really interesting themes and stories which punctuate sadness with moments of optimism.

Jumping between acoustic ditties and occasionally ramshackle garage-rock songs, Minor Love may not contain the obvious, leftfield pop gems that have been scattered through his previous albums, but it is his most coherent record to date and finds a happy middle-ground between Adam Green's deliciously irreverent past and a new sense of humility and depth.