La Blogotheque's Take-Away Shows

I don't usually post links or videos here, at least not on their own. But if you haven't seen any of the Take-Away Shows, then you simply must do so.
From the website:

Every week, we invite an artist or a band to play in the streets, in a bar, a park, or even in a flat or in an elevator, and we film the whole session. Of course, what makes the beauty of it is all the little incidents, hesitations, and crazy stuff happening unexpectingly. Besides, we do not edit the videos so they look perfectly flawless, instead we keep the raw sound of the surroundings. Our goal is to try and capture instants, film the music just like it happens, without preparation, without tricks. Spontaneity is the keyword.

Some of the notable appearances have been from Beirut, Sufjan Stevens, Jose Gonzales, Fleet Foxes, The Shins... whoever picks them has fine taste.

Here's the website
and here's their YouTube channel

PrYdEri'S LiMp bIzKiT PaGe

Sometimes if I'm doing a bit of research for this blog, I stumble on all sorts of music related websites. Some of them are very minimal, with no links, no nothing. Like a church website. More often, if I'm searching for song lyrics, I'll end up on a site that is completely cluttered by advertising that surrounds the tiny bit of information that the site was set up for. I'll be tempted with offers of ring tones, online blackjack tournaments, and "singles in your area", and about 5 extra pages will spring up from nowhere.

What I don't see so much of are fan pages like this. These DIY websites were very popular when I was about 15 and are now a thing of the past; partly because of blogs, partly because they're crap. Check out PrYdEri'S LiMp bIzKiT PaGe. It's not mine, at least I don't think it is - it doesn't look like it's been updated since 1998 so I suppose it's possible I made it and forgot about it. But I was never a huge fan of Limp Bizkit (weren't they great?), so that's unlikely. I love the lowercase/uppercase teen angst writing, and the fact that every page has about one item with "more to come soon" promised. It's been 10 years, and we're still waiting.

Awkward Bushfire Relief Concert

I got this idea from a Facebook status of Tracey's. Midnight Oil and Kings of Leon will be playing at a fundraising concert at the MCG in March for the bushfire victims. 'Beds are Burning' and 'Sex on Fire' are two big hits that will surely be performed... is that a good idea?

Here are some other potentially awkward songs for a bushfire concert:

Elvis Presley - Burning Love
Talking Heads - Burning Down the House The awful Tom Jones/Cardigans cover would be even worse.
Bruce Springsteen - I'm On Fire
Bloodhound Gang - Fire Water Burn Imagine how the refrain of this song would go down...
Arrow - Hot Hot Hot The disco vibe of this song would make it doubly inappropriate!
Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water
The Doors - Light My Fire
Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire
Jesus and Mary Chain - Catch Fire

You should listen to...

Nick Drake - Bryter Layter



Some people have called this the ugly duckling of the Nick Drake trilogy. I can kind of see why; besides the hideous album cover, there's a lot of weird instrumentation on this album and it doesn't have the trademark Drake glumness. It has quite a 70s sound, and it borders on being, perhaps too 70s. But Bryter Layter is a very solid album with some wonderful songs. There's a lot more to it than the much praised Pink Moon, in my opinion. It opens with a cinematic sounding instrumental track and the songs remain surprisingly upbeat throughout. I can understand why this album's sound might grate with some, but I think it's right up there with Drake's other stuff (on par with Pink Moon but not as good as Five Leaves Left). If people have put you off this album, it's worth giving it a go anyway.

By the way, if you haven't heard them, you should definitely listen to Nick Drake's other two albums as well.

Ethnic Parody Bands

If you like stereotypes, terrible puns, and music - something you can lose a lot of sleep over, is trying to think of potential ethnic parody bands. Here are some that Nick G and I created.

Italian 80s pop/rock band - Mario Speedwagon

Japanese post-punk band - Sushi and the Banshees

African soft rock AM radio number one hit making duo - Zaire Supply

Orthodox Jewish metal band, quite big in the late nineties - Fear Phylactery

Communist Russian hillbilly southern hard rock band - Lenin Skynyrd

Traditional Greek indie band - Smash Your Plates Say Yeah

Dutch rock band (inexplicably) big in the nineties - Counting Croquettes

Belgian alternative/folk punk band - Violent Flems

Arab rock from the 70s - The Dubai Brothers

Zimbabwean fascist post punk band - Mugazi

Militant Colombian hip hop - FARC da Police

Cheesy Indian folk group - Mumbai Ya