In America
Posted: January 28, 2004 Filed under: BLOG | Tags: united states Comments Off(Loc: Waikiki. Hawaii) OK, so I said dodgy films, but one was not so bad: “In America”. Samantha Morton (last seen in Morvern Callar) is just stunning. She has an extraordinary quiet to her. I’ve rarely seen an actress with so much presence. And the kids in this film are just remarkable. There’s something about Irish kids: no affection.
Talking about being In America, its very bizarre if you think about it. Imagine going to a country you’ve never been to before and yet already knowing how people dress, eat, live, work etc. American culture is so intimate to us because of its pervasive presence in our pop culture that visiting there is like seeing pictures and fantasies come to life.
Still, I’m currently experiencing a hybrid American culture. Its really Polynesian – American. Although it won’t be so in LA…
Australia Day
Posted: January 28, 2004 Filed under: BLOG | Tags: australia day, hawaii, waikiki Comments Off(location: Waikiki, Hawaii) I spent Australia day in a depressing diner LA airport watching both Poopie and Hewitt lose. Damn.
The plane trip was fairly horrendous. United Airlines has shabby planes, shabby food, dodgy B-grade films (general screen for the entire plane) and a liking for hiring cranky middle aged American women as their flight attendants. But the prices are right, so after 24 hours with little sleep I find myself in happy Hawaii.
Imagine the most beautiful day in Sydney summer and you’ve got Waikiki beach in the middle of winter. I’m staying at the Polynesian Hostel Beach Club and have met some cool dudes here. Will hopefully be moving onto another section of the island tomorrow!
Big Day Out
Posted: January 25, 2004 Filed under: BLOG | Tags: Big Day Out, festivals, music, Sydney, sydney music scene Comments OffWell I was hardly going to leave you without a review of the biggest event of the year. The lineup this year was spectacular, but often its the smaller, unassuming acts which impress. Like Poxymusic (aka. Ken Cloud and Pocket) whose techy breaks were just superb to start the day. Nothing like a good ass shaking to get the blood racing. The green and purple stages graced some big names in low key fashion such as Kings of Leon and The Mars Volta. Unfortunately, both sets left me hankering to see their more intimate sideshows. Muse filled their main stage time with a vision of operatic, melodramatic tragedy, the three piece holding as much presence live as on CD. Too bad The Strokes couldn’t say them same. While they played their songs, they were great. It was the constant messing around between that grated. The lightning display the weather decided to hold simultaneously almost stole the show. Ending the day with Basement Jaxx is near becoming a tradition, but we bailed to catch the last of Flaming Lips. And boy was this a good move, ending the day on the best set of the festival. Somehow, The Lips manage to get straight to the heart with their quirky music and quirkier stage props (including a lot of people dressed in animal costumes). While Big Day Out remains the most aggressive festival of the year, all the great acts just about makes up for it.
My voice
Posted: January 22, 2004 Filed under: BLOG | Tags: fbi, plugs Comments OffIf you ever wanted to know what I sound like you might have caught me on FBi in the last week. Did some spot reviews (La Haine/Asian Dub Foundation gig on Sunday, The Lab on Wednesday) and this afternoon talked about Chinese New Year on Chris’ show (being the FBi’s token Chink).
I really dig FBi (Sydney community radio station 94.5FM if you didn’t know). For something that’s non profit and run mainly by volunteers (only 8 paid staff) they run an amazing station very professionally.
After my show stint I was roped in by Dan to help him record some stuff for his show “Sunday Night at the Movies”. So Sunday night at 8pm you should be able to hear me wolf down a meal like a pig and vomit into a toilet (for anyone curious, we used water with beef chunks for the vomit effect) ;o) good fun.
PS. Damn I use brackets a lot, don’t I? (I really do).
The Cops
Posted: January 20, 2004 Filed under: BLOG | Tags: music, Sydney, sydney music scene, The Cops Comments Off@ Vic on the Park: The Cops have a wicked song in ‘Rectify’ which is doing the rounds on FBi and Triple J, and was their finale. But you’re not going to last long on one song alone so I skipped a few doors down to the Vic in order to see if The Cops can live up to all the buzz that surrounds them. And yes, they are good. They’ve got style. Their songs are party shake your ass rock. Their lead has personality. Everyone can play their instruments. And Rectify is even better live. But the songs apart from that tend to blend one into the other, so there’s still some work needed to be done on creating a real Cops sound. But they’re bursting with potential.
