Frustration ahead

{--- this is me, right now, with my shitty computer.


Anywho, about two hours ago, I asked Neil Young if I could be his friend, and he said yes.

No, I'm not a left-leaning groupie extraordinaire with a pensioner fetish. I'm finally stretching a toe onto the mySpace bandwagon. I have had the most surreal couple of hours, just playing six degrees of separation and friending everyone from the flaming lips, to bands my real-life friends know that I saw play just a few weeks ago, to people I actually know in real life, properly. You know, talk on the phone to, have drinks with, borrow money from, force my taste in music upon.

I can see how some people spend hours on this thing, and what a great tool it is for bands of stature towering or minute. But it's a little scary. I'm "friends" with Neil Young for Christ's sake. What does that even mean?

/end cyber-philosophy rant.

Tune of the mo: (as in moment, not moustache)
~mp3~ Maritime - "Parade of Punk Rock T-Shirts" (thanks to Taylor)
I can't believe I've been missing out on these guys for so long, apparently they've been drifting about the blogosphere for yonks. This song gets me out of bed of a morning. It could almost be a track from the new Phoenix album. Dig the vibe.

may the sauce be with you.

As of Monday I will be a member of/contributor to everyone's favourite Aussie music blog, The Sandwich Club. I'm extremely excited. File hosting! People actually read it! I'm the only female contrib! But seriously, I was stoked to be invited. Clubs were, like, THE thing in Year Six, and only once did I ever get asked into the cool one. These boys know their tunes and, most delightfully, unlike most of the other blogs I read, they actually talk about gigs I can go to. A girl can only read so many posts saying "We Are Scientists & Cold War Kids playing tonight...in Scranton!" without snapping a few pencils in bitter fury. Add us to your favourites and stop in for a bite every now and then.

More good news (the universe owes me after the semester I've had): as a reviewer for my uni's weekly rag, I get to preview the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie on Wednesday morning! Unfortunately I can't take anyone with me - it would have been brilliant to be able to see the look on a friend's face as I said "want some early Deppage?" but it's the media preview screening and there are no plus ones. Oh, and when I say "early Deppage" I mean early, it's at 9:30 in the morning. On a Wednesday. That'll be weird. But I'll let you know how it goes...

I've been watching a lot of Boston Legal lately and my poor fried brain just threw up a random image of Captain Jack Sparrow and Denny Crane in a never-ending loop of self-affirmation.

Jack: Captain Jack Sparrow.
Denny: Denny Crane.
Jack: Captain Jack Sparrow.
Denny: Denny Crane.

And so on. Oh, lordy me, I cannot WAIT until this semester is over.

~mp3~ Gay For Johnny Depp - "Kill The Cool Kids"
~mp3~ William Shatner - "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"

"I'm eating scrambled eggs, from a shoe, with a comb."

Remember that episode of Black Books where the back room is really, really messy, and Manny says it look like Dresden? My room's a bit like that. Yes, it's true. I am a royal slob of the first order. Let metell a story to illustrate.

A few weeks ago I peered into a polystyrene cup at the back of my desk. As I don't have a fridge in my room I often bring cups of milk down from the dining room so I can have tea at my desk while I pretend to work. This one used to have milk in it. As I peered over the rim in trepidation, already suspicious due to the fact that I couldn't actually smell anything resembling sour milk, I was surprised to see that the ex-milk had only developed a slight skin around the edge of the meniscus (how often do you get to use that word? HOW OFTEN?). Nevertheless, I'm doing Arts, not Science, so I decided to forgo testing what would happen in another week or so, and picked it up to throw it in the bin outside my room.

And the milk didn't move in the cup. Not a ripple. It had solidified. I tipped it slowly, all the while dreading a sauce-bottle-esque sudden rush of liquid. At about 40 degrees, the edge of whatever it now was slowly but jerkily pulled away from the side of the cup, like a band-aid being removed from arm skin. At that I shook my head and regained my senses, and scurried outside to drop the offending mutated dairy product in the bin. To this day I don't want to know exactly what it was about the air in my room. Moral of the story: somebody, please, buy me a mini fridge.

But I swear, as soon as my exams are over, I'll clean. I have to anyway, as next semester I'm moving - to the room across the hall from Princess Paris. And she can't take mess. I've never told her about the milk, so let's hope she doesn't decide to start reading my blog now. As long as I keep my floor clean and my hair pretty, she'll still love me.

~mp3~ The Rakes - "The World Was A Mess But His Hair Was Perfect"

PS. After that DJ played "Neighboorhood #3 (Power Out)" on Saturday night, I've realised what a great song it is. I don't think I'm going to be getting over my cynicism regarding the Arcade Fire any time soon - the hype ruined them for me - but I'm one step closer to being able to appreciate the music for itself.

california in the house

grrrrrrr.

First of all, big ups to the lovely young gent (you know who you are) who sorted tickets to Louis XIV at Rebel Rebel for Princess Paris and myself on Saturday night. We were very much amused, except for the two extremely annoying seppo lads who clearly hadn't been informed the correct application procedure for those who wish to join our entourage. Note: thanks for the drink, Tyson, but pogo-ing up and down incessantly by my side screaming "CALIFORRNYA IN THE HOOOOWSE!" during the better part of the Red Riders' (awesome) set is not the way to my heart. (Claiming to be in A&R for Columbia and offering to try and scam me Arctic Monkeys tickets is a good start, though. THOSE Californians, I liked. In an unrelated matter, I also liked the bassist for the Red Riders. I'm royal. Call me.)
But the Louis boys were great. Huge props to the lead singer: mullet that puts shag carpet to shame + swigging from a bottle of red + fag hanging artlessly from sneer + lyrics like "Pull down your shirt and show me a little tit". So blatantly, unabashedly rock'n'roll. Plus I love the venue; I'd never been to Home before, let alone RR, so it was a great surprise to get in there and find it wasn't a huge chrome-trimmed doof-doof warehouse, but a half-shadowy, half-glowy room (that reminded me, I'm sorry, of nothing more than The Bait Shop - especially from our vantage point on the VIP balcony) with an intimate little stage, plenty of dim back corners with cushiony chairs, and a jewel-like, minute, window-walled back room looking out on Darling Harbour with a tiny stage and clusters of disco balls growing out of the ceiling. The Mares played there after the main show, and Paris & I ducked in there as we were leaving (her delicate legs were protesting after all the walking and dancing). I was keen to see them - they've been recording at Ginsberg Studios with the Expatriate boys this year - but Paris wasn't impressed. What would she know anyway? Two words for you, your highness - Mylene Farmer. Pffft.
But yeah. It was fun. And double props to the DJ (who looked an awful lot like the singer from The Devoted Few) for playing the Pulp song I'd had in my head all day.

Exam time. Musical hugs to all my fellow sufferers at Sinny Yooni. Start working on your friendly local bulk-billing GP for medical certificates now.

~mp3~ Louis XIV - "Paper Doll" (official site)
~mp3~ Pulp - "Disco 2000" (live at Glastonbury 24/06/1995 courtesy of obscuresound.com)
~mp3~ The Replacements - "Fuck School" (buy "Stink" EP from Amazon)

take the weather with you

my head is weird and soggy and wandering in seven different directions today, so i thought i'd just post a mix, with some of the songs I've been listening to on my 'pod in the last week - mostly ones that made me feel well-soundtracked as i scuttled around Newtown rugged up in my special winter coat and my white scarf, jumping puddles.

~~~The Raincoat Mix Tape

~mp3~ The Weakerthans - "Plea From A Cat Named Virtue" (how much love can I give one song?)
~mp3~ The Shins - "Kissing The Lipless" (clapclapclapclapclapclapWOO!)
~mp3~ Nada Surf - "Do It Again"
~mp3~ Preston School Of Industry - "Caught In The Rain" (duh)
~mp3~ Ambulance LTD - "New English" (jaunty as a sideways beret)
~mp3~ The Stills - "In The Beginning"
~mp3~ The Dresden Dolls - "Dirty Business" (this is a brilliant track with hilariously twisted lyrics from their newie, Yes, Virginia)
~mp3~ The Long Winters - "Pushover"
~mp3~ Elliott Smith - "Memory Lane"
~mp3~ The Rosebuds - "Blue Bird" (thanks to Taylor at M4KWCRG for introducing me to this pretty, cooing little gem of a tune)
~mp3~ The Decemberists - "Shiny"
~mp3~ Emma Davis - "Happy Song"

Enjoy. I won't be lazy enough to post big mixes very often. Oh, and by the way, Sydney readers, don't forget to check out my girl Emma supporting Tinderbox at the Hopetoun tonight (Thursday). Check her myspace to hear what you're in for.

Visit & buy The Shins at Sub Pop, Nada Surf & The Long Winters at Barsuk, The Stills at Vice, The Dresden Dolls at Roadrunner, Elliott Smith & The Weakerthans at Anti, The Rosebuds at Merge, and The Decemberists at Hush. Give love to the artists and indie labels that share their shiz for free.

A lot of night music

because staring at my darkened reflection in the nighttime windowpane is only fun for so long.

In which our heroine may or may not relate the thrilling details of:
*two really, really great songs
*and one more that makes me giggle even in the midst of the up-chocolate-creek-without-a-popsicle-stick FIASCO that is my academic career
*a broken green earring
*antipodean blog goodness
*an entire thing of candybeans (or rather Tim Tams)
*my undying love for Zach Braff
*a sudden enthusiasm for soccer
*one very, very late American Politics essay.

Let's start at the very beginning. It's a very good place to start.

I ate an entire thing of chocolate biscuits. It was so good. And so very, very bad. I am currently compensating with an orange.


anywho. ONWARD!

Several bloggers have made the point of late that a lot of obscure music is thrust upon the blogosphere daily without an overwhelming regard for true quality, because let's face it - everybody wants to be able to claim that they were the first to post on the Uber-Clapping Antipodean Glasswolves or whatever bestially/onomatopeiaically-named-excuse-for-the-kind-of-hyperbole-everybody-used-to-sneer-at-the-NME-for-embracing is next in line for descent upon the unsuspecting blogerati. So with that in mind, Connor from iGiF today posted this song:

~mp3~ Arms - Tiger Tamer

Because he really thought it stood out. and it really does. Don't listen to MC Lars (laa laa laa laa, la la la laa...damn, it's catchy, though), download THIS song. it's really, really, really good music. I won't bother repeating everything Connor said about it being DIY, homemade stuff, whatever. Really good tunes go beyond all that. It's a fantastic track. Read the post, and try not to let the comparisons to Wolf Parade and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's inital promise turn you off for fear of being up the front on a soon-to-be-very-full bandwagon. I almost did. *shudders to think*

The other slice of brilliant soundwave comes in the form of Nathan Asher & The Infantry's "Turn Up The Faders". Where Arms is only tonight's discovery and the glee-and-squee sensation is yet to stand the test of time, i have been listening to this song for a week straight and I can't see myself getting one foothold on this side, let alone getting over it any time soon. (Did we get the gate metaphor? Like the song's a gate and i'm climbing...never mind. I've forgotten my keys a few too many times this week...) It won the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, which sounds well impressive and all but not as impressive as the actual song. By turns it reminds me of Bright Eyes (Nathan's vocals are actually quite a lot like Conor's, but less damaged and vulnerable-sounding), Springsteen, The Album Leaf, and charcoal city almost-morning nights and not being as drunk as you were an hour ago and thinking the world is slightly less beautiful than it was when you had a little less scotch in you and a lot more idealism and suddenly you find yourself walking down the quiet street you grew up on, and you go sit down on the small strip of grass next to the road and it's enough to lie down and watch the sun come up sideways with your head on the cool concrete of the curb.

Download the song from his mySpace now. Send tearstained notes of heartfelt fanboy/girl thanks later.

Opening line of the week:

"Why don't you ever wanna play?
I'm tired of this piece of string."
- The Weakerthans, "Plea From A Cat Named Virtue"

That always makes me smile. Seek that song out on The Hype Machine. Somebody somewhere posted it this week. The entire song has got me through every morning this week where I've woken up and realised how badly I've screwed up my Government unit this semester; it leaps nimbly up into my lap, twines its fuzzy melody softly around my arm, purrs its insistent but warm drumming onto my tummy, looks me in the eye and quirks its gaze as if to say, what are you so grumpy about?

More tomorrow. It's stuvac, so I've got free time where I would normally be busy making up excuses not to go uni.


For reading this far, you totally have the right to spare Arms.
~mp3~ Whirring
~mp3~ Jon The Escalator

bitter, but SWEEET!

headlines just aren't my thing today.

so here i was, all thrilled because we scored tickets to splendour, which i have been wanting to go to for YEARS, and has a great lineup this year (including DEATH CAB! and the SCISSOR SISTERS! and JOSE GONZALES! and MATISYAHU, my favourite new jewish reggae/hiphop artist - live at stubb's is amazing, i'll post my review for the uni rag when i'm finished). we even managed to book spots at a camping ground nearby before they sold out too. and THEN i read the lineup for the austin city limits festival on stereogum, and have an uncomfortable sensation i soon identify as wishing i lived in the states. read it and weep, fellow antipodeans: tom petty, van morrison, massive attack, TED LEO, ben harper, the flaming lips, john mayer (i still heart him, i don't care what you say, seth mcfarlane), the raconteurs, THE SHINS, ween, ben kweller, g love, MATISYAHU again, GNARLS BARKLEY, DAMIEN RICE, cat power, damien marley, kings of leon, iron and wine, calexico, NEW PORNOS, GUSTER, gomez, stars, NADA SURF, FEIST, PHOENIX, kt tunstall, GOLDFRAPP, the long winters, okkervil, alexi murdoch, and my darling JOSE again. and that's only the part of the lineup i got REALLY excited about, it accounts for about a third of the acts playing. suddenly the prospect of the yeah yeah yeahs isn't as much to gloat about as it seemed yesterday.

and then ON TOP OF THAT (my shift key is getting the kind of workout that usually happens to pause buttons belonging to a porn connoisseur), i read another entry on stereogum (matt is so not my favourite blogger today) telling me someone dies on the final episode of the OC. so what else is new, you ask - apparently it's someone IMPORTANT. he kindly refrains from revealing who, but THEN on best week ever i see a link to an IMDB article that reads "OC fans furious at [insert name of doomed character's portrayer here]", for revealing their character's imminent demise before the show even aired in the US (on thursday night).

children, cover your eyes. FUCK FUCKING ASSFUCK DRAT IT ALL. i HATE reading spoilers accidentally. i'm just waiting for [censored] to come out and quip "rumours of my character's death have been greatly exaggerated."

anyway, good things this week:

* extensions on assignments. fiona is the best american politics tutor in all the immediate vicinity of the Usyd government and IR department.

* my mate emma davis and her band CANING the competition in the uni band comp heat #2. as her head rock hack, i feel it is my duty to review her performance: but, biased as i am, all i can say is she has a beautiful voice, somewhere in the musical triangle between katie noonan from george, beth orton and touches of emiliana torrini (yes, it's true, davis, don't you "shucks" me), and gorgeous material, original, engaging and affecting. seriously. i'd buy it. and listen to it. a lot. listen now at her myspace.

* lano and woodley at the enmore on thursday night. no sleeping bag dance, unfortunately, but hysterical rants about drinking soup from grandma's scooped-out bum. much more innocent than it sounds.

* another mate being on TV tonight: mr benjamin jenkins made it to some very awesome level of a comedy competition and subsequently ended up performing at the melbourne international comedy festival. if you're aussie keep an eye out for him during the special tonight.

* the emusic free downloads promotion. thankyou, you lovely emuses, for iron and wine/calexico, spoon, ted leo, beirut, sun kil moon and soulwax.

* other new tunes. bitter:sweet (from IGIF), the new james figurine (jimmy from dntel) single, cryptically christened "55566688833", (from everywhere), camille's "ta douleur" (great clip, amazing song, created entirely with her voice), and guillemots' "trains to brazil" (sounds like live morrissey, or manics, or something britpoppy and ironic and intellectual.)

* this line: "over and over and over and over and over, like a monkey with a miniature cymbal..." brilliant. if hot chip were a pizza i'd order them every night. with double topping and thin-and-crispy crust. and they'd never arrive lukewarm.

* being a rock hack. i interviewed urthboy from the herd yesterday, i'm reviewing the matisyahu live album this week. admittedly it's only for the uni rag, but still. even lester bangs had to start somewhere.