Myriad Harbour - The New Pornographers

I love them not only because they're pornographers, but also because they're new to it (although they've been making ace music for quite sometime now). (Under that name). (I wonder if anyone will ever start referring to them as "The Pornographers").

(Also, now I want to start a cover band and call it "The New New Pornographers").

(Also, how freaking great is the line:
"Someone somewhere asked me is there anything in particular I can help you with? 
/All I ever wanted help with was you" )

Hot Water & Milk - Spiderbait

A.k.a. the song that I was tracking down yesterday. So. Damn. Rock.

For some reason I couldn't embed the proper film clip one though. That ones better, so check it out here.

Lonely in your arms - Deep Sea Arcade (In which Gareth pines for the days of Australian alternative rock and roll...)

So I spent today in a nostalgic haze... For some reason I started listening to a bunch of the old Australian bands I used to love in the late 90's/early 00's and I was just blown away with how great and relevant they still sounded- but then remembered just how much I hadn't been getting into anything recently. How could Aus music, having been so incredible, experimental and, most importantly, interesting take such a wrong turn down the neon-lighted, but soulless dance avenue, or the laid-back, emotionless surfer one-pieces.

That's not to say there isn't anything around anymore, there's always worthwhile music out there somewhere, but it's certainly not being played on the radio. I'll defend Triple J until the end of my life, no matter what shift they put the doctor on (or hell, even if they hire Robbie Buck back) but I think everyone knows they're not the station they used to be.

Is it their fault? Has the audience changed and this is their new desire? Am I just now too old and I have a little of the what-I-thought-was-hot-is-now-not syndrome going on? Maybe... but at the same time- fuck that!  Yes, music is subjective, but great music is not. Great music is for the ages. Great music never gets old. Great music gives you that all-over tingle and gets stuck in your head, but in the best way possible. I'm talking about dropping your preconceived notions of what kind of music you're into.... there's good stuff in every genre.

Lastly though, great music sometimes get lost. If I have a point to get to in this post: its that. So, in an effort to remind myself of bands I'll probably at one stage forget, and with the hopeful side effect of getting some other people to listen to them, I'll put linking one song per day from now until I run out of songs (or get bored). Maybe I'll write some words to go with, maybe I wont. It's a mystery. Tune in regularly to see what answer to it is....

Lonely in your arms
By Deep Sea Arcade

So another genre thats popular and sooooo at risk of being over exposed at the moment is what a friend of mine has deemed "Cuddle Pop". It certainly seems to be dominating the local scene at least. However, I don't want to through out the dishes with the dishwater, as it were. Lonely in your arms is a bittersweet masterpiece with a catchy chorus and a killer bridge. If I had to compare it to a creme biscuit it would be one of those ones with the orange creme.

Music blog end of year finale - Bangin' on about the classics

And so.... Here we are at the end of the year, with what looks like to be the final music blog. However- we will be back next year if there is enough popular demand. The music never stops, so why should this blog?

Heroes
By David Bowie

Aka The Thin White Duke Aka Starman Aka Ziggy Stardust. Bowie is a justifiable legend. If the music scene was like some kind of fantastical far away land, David Bowie would be some kind of rare beast. Like a Unicorn. NO!.. Like King of the Unicorns. David Bowie is the Supreme commander of all Unicorn kind.

This song has been covered many a time, but the original is still the best. It's also something of a karaoke staple, so it really gets my goat when they don't have it available to sing.

Spanish Castle Magic
By Jimi Hendrix

In this ficitonal far-away land, Jimi Hedrix would be a wandering minstrel with an enchanted loot wandering from town to town and casting spells on himself to get high. Eventually he'd cast sleep on himself too many times and wind up dead. Then his bust german wench would commit suicide. This isn't a happy fantasy land...

This song is for screaming out the window while hurtling down the highway on a roadtrip... Or sitting in your room.

Quinn The Eskimo
By Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan would be a drunk dwarf. And be followed around by his posse of similarly drunk dwarves.

Best drunken sing-along chorus ever.

Super Bonus Modern Classic:
Paranoid Android
By Radiohead

Radiohead would be like scientists, holed up in thier technofortress trying to kill magic because they don't fit into a magical based world.

If they created a nation of sentient robots and then attempted to invade the fantasy world, this would be their anthem.

Super Late New Australian Music Time.

War Coward
By Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire!

Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! have an awesome name and are from the awesome city of Adelaide. The song came from the band members love of WW2 rather than any recent war atrocities. My favorite part is how the guitar part seems to sound like its a totally different song with totally different timing.

Flippers
By Art Vs. Science

Art Vs. Science, or AVS for short, are from somewhere in New South Wales and could very well be the next Presets. I'm not entirely convinced about their credentials as scientists, but they can rock a fine beat, so I guess they bring the art. This is also the 2nd or 3rd best song about dancing like a fish. That I can think of at the moment at least. Well.. I like it better than the salmon dance at least.

My Sun
By The Temper Trap

This one is actually a little older, but the Temper Trap have recently released their first album so I dont think its cheating to add it here. They also follow the great Australian tradition of having their early stuff be VASTLY different to what eventually ends up on the album (I'm still pissed at Expatriate.... why no killer cat damn you!), but their album is actually pretty nice too, so I'm sure I'll live.

Never Mind The Bollocks...

Holiday In Cambodia
By The Dead Kennedys

Oops.... Kinda forgot to update this blog last week :S. I figure the only way to make up for it is with some punk rock. It's a large logical jump to get to that assumption, but if this blog is about anything, its large logical jumps that don't really go anywhere.

Speaking of not really going anywhere... I don't have that much to say about this song. The Dead Kennedys are a seminal Californian punk band from the 80's. They've stolen everything that was good about 70's British punk (see below), but they do it in such an out of control way its OK.

Ever Fallen in Love
By The Buzzcocks

For things that are good about 70's British punk, check out this song.

Believe it or not, there wasn't really anything dirty going on behind the band name. At the time, in Manchester, the local slang for youngster/teen/delinquent was 'cock' (as in the chicken). So naturally (in another massive leap of logic that goes nowhere) the name originated from the phrase "What's the buzz, cocks?"

Anarchy In The UK
By The Sex Pistols

Generally regarded as the founders of punk (But they aren't! The Saints were doing it in Brisbane like a year before them!) they are also, according to the movie "24 hour party people" the catalyst of the entire British music industry.

There's also a ridiculous amount of mythology to the background of the band. For a start, the bass player Sid Viscous was so supposedly so bad that when they played live they would unplug him and have another guy hidden in the wings play the bass parts.

Furthermore, the manager of the band named them The Sex Pistols as a way to promote his clothing shop... Since this means that at its core, the first punk band was all about commercialism, I think it's safe to make the massive leap in logic that punks not actually dead after all, since it was never really alive to begin with.

Bonus Track:
Too Drunk To Fuck
By The Dead Kennedys

One more, for the road. I think it's pretty self explanatory.

Bittersweet songs for a bittersweet Sunday night.

Forever Lost
By The Magic Numbers

This could also be a post about songs with killer choruses... This one is not quite as killer as the following ones, but it's still got an awesome hook that totally hit me out of the blue. That alone was enough to make me choose it for this week.

The Magic Numbers themselves are a English band that had mild success a couple of years ago but have kind of dropped off the radar a little unfortunately. Unfortunately, they are most known for walking off of 'Top of the Pops' after the host made a comment about their weight :S.

Beat Of Your Drum
By 78 Saab

78 Saab are an Australian band that have been around for ages but still haven't received the kind of recognition they deserve.... If they were a little more prolific in releasing albums I'd consider these guys heading to You Am I levels of unfair obscurity.

This song is off the 2004 album Crossed Lines (which is an excellent album all up) and features an unbelievable build up and catchy chorus.

There She Goes, My Beautiful World
By Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds

Nick Cave doesn't get anywhere near enough credit. I mean really... What has John Farnham done lately? What has he done to secure his position as Australia's most know male singer?

Not that I think Nick Cave would like that.. I definitely can't see him doing 'For the last time' style tours. Or performing in Jesus Christ Superstar. Maybe it's like Nick Cave is the Anti John Farnham? Maybe they are two opposite sides of the same coin? Maybe... just maybe, they are twins separated at birth... and Nick Cave is like the evil twin.

Also he dated PJ Harvey. Good on him.