Melbourne in January

Melbourne in January is a good thing.....not only are we enjoying summer in our land down under, but also we have a constant stream of great bands arriving on our shores.

The New Year kicked off with a beautiful show from José González on the 2nd. He played a fairly subdued, but beautiful gig. (featuring a particularly killer version of fold which completely bowled me over.)

Unexpectedly the next night I found myself at The Go! Team playing HiFi bar in the city. Not usually a band I'd go and see, but that kind of attitude would have been my own loss. It was a tight, energetic and extremely fun set.

Seeing these two acts back to back was an interesting thing. I wouldn't say before that I was the biggest fan of Go Team! and their second album did not (for me) reach the heights of Thunder, Lightning, Strike. However, the energy of their live gig and the connection they made with the sweaty, but appreciative crowd at HiFi Bar really won me over. It was just a really fun musical night out, and it made me want to go home and listen to them again. José on the other hand, whilst singing gorgeously and performing impeccably, did not quite live up to the expectation that Veneer and In Our Nature had instilled in me. There was just something missing....maybe the lack of connection with the audience, maybe it was just all too perfect and precise. It seemed at times not like a live performance. So is this a bad thing? Is he to be faulted for being flawless? Of course not. On the whole the concert was like I said, gorgeous, but it did leave me wanting a little bit more, a little bit more of him, his self, his humanness.....which is not entirely what going to a live music performance is about, but it does definitely leave an impression.

At any rate, this is a small quibble. The year has started off well, and there are many many more gigs filling up the calendar. Highlights of the next few weeks will be Sufjan Stevens, The National and Arcade Fire ....and that's just the beginning!

Stay tuned for a gig filled summer

random music news

The Art of Letting Go
Ahead of his upcoming tour Ryan Adams spoke to Brisbane's Courier Mail about the new 'peace' in his life and responds to all those enfant terible descriptions:

"And I guess a 'terrible child', a tempestuous child, to say that about a man, in my opinion, it sounds loaded with bitter jealousy. I work very hard at what I do, and I do a lot of what I do, and I'm actually really quite good at what I do. I dream and I create because I'm a machine built to express art. This is what I made myself into being – an art cockroach. No matter what, I will find my way to the art."

The A-Z of Bob, and other wierd stuff
Random Dylan facts in Melbourne's Age today.

and over the weekend:

R.I.P Tony Wilson

From across the pond comes news that Tony Wilson, the man credited with putting the Manchester music scene on the global map, has died of cancer. Wilson was the founder of Factory Records which was home to Joy Division/New Order and Happy Mondays.

Back...

Home from 2 weeks in Indonesia - not exactly cutting edge music centre I have to say! Have been completely out of the loop and now feel like am still struggling in the musical wilderness. Have I missed much? What's new on everyone's stereos right now? Whatever about the tunes - I can't get The Mighty Boosh off my itunes at the moment - helps get through the work days at least. (need some humour right now.)

othings making an appearance:

Interpol - Our love to Admire

John Vanderslice - Emerald city

the day the music died!!

within my first hour back in Australia my most treasured possession (yes - the ipod) was gone - and with it all the new tunes I had collected from my music loving friends in Ireland and Canada!!!! aargh......this was NOT a happy event.

luckily enough I did download my entire itunes library onto Gary's computer before I left Vancouver - but there's no telling when I will be able to co-ordinate their complete return..........so until such time I am slightly floundering.

This is nothing less than a disaster! ;)

On the plus side - my good friend Michael has very, very kindly stepped up to the plate and has let me borrow his ipod in the interim - but he hasn't updated in forever, and of course all my fave stuff is missing. waaaaaaaaah.

As a result of all this all my spare time right now is spent on limewire and itunes trying to retreive a select few of my most favoured tracks....and the very good news is that I am also discovering some things along the way. It may not be the same, but the music situation is definitely improving! (plus Michael should have a much better collection by the time I'm finished)

it's a great time of year for concerts here in Melbourne as well, so any other feelings of loss I've been having lately are slowly being chased away by the pleasant memory of live gigs - the next few weeks are jammed packed with what promises to be a stellar lineup of bands from home and abroad.

Bring on the music I say!

obsessions

welcome to my new dedicated music blog.
I figured rather than bore the pants off everyone else on my regular blog, I'd just start another music one to obsess with those who are interested.
(the title comes from an old Merle Haggard song - covered by many including one of my all time favourite bands The Jayhawks)