Another plug…

Here’s a music video clip from one of the many talented people from my local Church community. She’s written this song to promote awareness of post abortion syndrome.

Her MySpace page is at http://www.myspace.com/amyksmusic

Flight of the Conchords Season 1, Episode 2

“Inner City Pressure”

Pet Shop Boys – “West End Girls (2003 Remaster)”

There’s a suspicious similarity between these clips…

I’m hooked on Flight of the Conchords. I used to watch them on Australian comedy tv shows, when they were playing them on free-to-air tv, anyway. Their songs regularly get played on Triple J radio, too. So, imagine my excitement a year or so ago, when I turned on the tv to find that FOTC had their own tv series! Hooray!

FOTC is rated M in Australia. (15 years +.)

A little Hillsong…

Back in 2002, as a new convert to Christianity, it was almost immediately made clear to me that I’d better brush up on my knowledge of all music Hillsong (and, to a slightly lesser extent, Planetshakers). Having never heard of Hillsong before, I really had no clue what or why they were so significant. But it’s almost impossible to be an Australian Christian without meeting people who have made the pilgrimage to Sydney to sing along with a few hundred thousand other Christians. Being a Victorian, I will admit I have little interest in anything Sydney, and will happily stay in the south freezing cold with our all-black dress sense, cheaper housing and oversized population of wannabe writers and artists. Not to mention that there is roughly 1 cafe for every 2 Melbournians (possibly an exaggeration).

Anyway, it was during part of my husband’s and my quest to discover more about his Ukrainian heritage that we discovered that Hillsong have also made themselves a home in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. So, purely for interest’s sake, I present to you the Australian Hillsong worship song “All I Need Is You,” followed by the Ukrainian version. Wow! The similarities are eery, and I think the only obvious difference is the language.

By the way, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the Hillsong United band live once,  when they led worship at my local church, and they were fantastic. They really conveyed such a wonderful heart for God and we saw many teenagers and young adults wanting to learn more about becoming followers of Christ at the end of the night.

Question #3 – Moooosic

Reading this on Facebook Notes? Hit “View Original Post.”

What kind of music do you listen to at the moment?

Here’s the reader question of the day / week / month (whatever it happens to be)…

Feel free to leave an answer in the comments section. All views will be tolerated and it’s not meant to be a debate forum – just share what you think!

Shadows

If there’s one band whose lyrics have been speaking to me lately, it’s this one. Here’s an excerpt from one of the albums that’s been getting the most action on my CD player (yes, I buy CDs!!)…

It’s so poetic, I find it really inspiring.

So take me in these fleeting moments of solitude in you

Remove this sordid fascination with shadow

And remove this shattered self of preservation

All that you forgave and give all you promised to…

Can you see this shadow lifting?

Drifting home again

“A Shadow on Me” by Project 86, from the album Songs to Burn Your Bridges By.

Excerpt from http://www.christianrocklyrics.com/project86/.

Project 86 info at http://www.project86.com/ and http://www.andrewschwab.com/.

Care Bears Movie II

I love the old 1980s Care Bears tv shows and movies. My favourite was always the Care Bears Movie 2, and this is one of the songs from the movie. I guess it’s one of those things I can’t rationalise or justify, but I love the old school Care Bears, and so does my preschooler daughter!

Washed Out Punk Fest

Saturday 29 March 2008 8.55 pm

Nothing like spending all day at a soggy music “festival” only to have it washed out an hour before your favourite band.

Punk Music Fest

Friday 28 March 2008 11.20 am

I’ve somehow managed to score a ticket to a punk / indie music fest tomorrow. Unfortunately I’d long since thrown out my black punk wardrobe from 10 years ago. Hmm… I’m probably going to look right out of place.

- me, t-shirt and high pants

- a non-conformist looking at me like I’m a freak

Hmm, time to buy some clothes?

My Talented Friends – Part 2

Just thought I’d take the opportunity to plug the music of some of my super talented friends. So, here’s the second one. I posted the first one here.

Check out Michelle’s music at:

http://www.myspace.com/mishthomas

My Talented Friends – Part 1

Just thought I’d take the opportunity to plug the music of some of my super talented friends. So, here’s the first one. I’ll post the next one here.

Check out Liesl’s music at:

http://www.myspace.com/lieslfieldmusic

Concert

Friday 7 March 2008 – 10.11 am

A fw nights ago we went to a concert. I think the timing was terrible – I’m still recovering from surgery. But the concert was great. Mind you, I had a throbbing jaw ache, was sitting down the whole time, and was all ear plugged – but it was good.

- The Chemical Brothers

- The skinny geek dance

- The chunky bloke dance

- The sound / lighting guys appeared to be enjoying it

- Thousands of people represented by squiggly lines

- The cool girly raver dance

228. Guitar

Photograph, March 2008.

In this case, I’m the model, not the photographer. Playing an A Major chord, in case you’re wondering!

220. Guitar Grrrl

This is from a series of recent photos of me and my guitar. This one wasn’t one of the best, I think it gives the illusion that my chin is massive. Oh well…

Grrooooaaaarrrrggghhhh

Sepultura – “Territory”

Unknown man
Speaks to the world
Sucking your trust
A trap in every world
War for territory

[Lyrics excerpt from http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/sepultura/territory_20123353.html.]

Ahhhh…. what better than to spend a quiet night in, watching mud-covered guitarists screaming about the perils of racism? This song was one of my favourites when I was a senior high schooler.

I Can Dream That I’m Someone Else

Skunk Anansie – I Can Dream

Pain is your beauty
It hurts the vision in your eyes
Your eyes are smiling now
They watch me cry, they watch me die, watch me die

I can dream, I can dream
I can dream that I’m someone else
I can love, I can love
I can love – whoa – love someone else
My saviour, my darling

[Lyrics excerpt from http://www.lyricsdepot.com/skunk-anansie/i-can-dream.html.]

This song takes me straight back to my teen years! Memories of late-night radio listening, pumping up the guitar sounds. Good times…

The VB Symphony

This is sheer brilliance!

To explain it, here’s one of the original VB ads. Listen carefully to the music and you’ll realise how brilliant the symphony is!

Portraits

One of our hobbies, if you can call it that, is photography… specifically, photos of myself!

Here are some recent ones that were taken by ML, you can see more of his photos at flickr.com/photos/barelyeffortless/.

I wanted something reminiscint of the great grrrl rock bands of the 1990s… music has never been the same!

Taken in the city…

The Day I Realised That I’m Probably Obsessed… With Project 86

 

Now playing: Project 86 – The Forces Of Radio Have Dropped A Viper Into The Rhythm Section
via FoxyTunes

Ok, I’d like to think that I’m not a total teenybopper. After all, I’ve gone to plenty of gigs over the years, and never hugely flipped out over meeting any of the bands. I mean, it’s cool and stuff, but I don’t think I’d ever just about fainted with overwhelmedness…

So I don’t know what happened to me yesterday when we were lined up in the cold and rain to meet Project 86. I mean, dude, am I really that big a fan?! Apparently, yes, yes I am that nuts. I started to think about it… my Facebook Profile is covered with Project 86 paraphernalia – a video clip here, a fan group membership there… Not to mention that they’re in my top 8 MySpace contacts. And I even occasionally watch their vodcasts. I don’t think my husband knew what he was getting himself into when he first introduced me to Project 86’s awesomely awesome music.

I wish I could say that the gig was fantastic, but it got washed out. I mean, they didn’t even get to go on stage. Noooooooo!!!!! For the first time in years, I was actually looking forward to a live gig – and I mean, I’ve been to some pretty good ones, including U2, Jars of Clay, Antiskeptic, Rammstein, and The Chemical Brothers (in no particular order)… but Project 86’s music speaks to me on a level that no one else seems to. They’re in my top favourites, anyway, somewhere alongside Tool and Rage Against the Machine (both of whom I missed out on). Sigh!

Anyway, here’s some photos (click on images to see them in larger size). It was a good day and I’m so happy to get to meet the band.

Me, operating the front of house equipment (as in, the sound desk)… hmm yeah right.

As it turned out, a bunch of our friends were on the technical crew for the event.

The looming rain clouds before they halted the gig…

…and me, possibly the only person who wore something other than black & white at this thing.

And seriously, who organises an outdoor gig in the moutains outside Melbourne in Autumn?!

There are plenty of indoor venues…

Project 86…

This fan had a poster made up and was getting other fans to sign it.

The words on the poster are from a Project 86 song… in case you didn’t work it out.

He was flying around Australia to catch all the Project 86 events.

I feel really sorry for all the people I met who travelled interstate to catch the gig.

Me and Project 86… this was easily the highlight of my year so far.

(Ok, yes, there’s more to life than meeting your favourite band,

but this was the first time I can remember feeling this happy in a very long time.)

 

(Photography by Matt.)

 

An Aussie, Reminiscing

Midnight Oil – “Blue Sky Mine”

My gut is wrenched out it is crunched up and broken
A life that is led is no more than a token
Who’ll strike the flint upon the stone and tell me why
If I yell out at night there’s a reply of bruised silence
The screen is no comfort I can’t speak my sentence
They blew the lights at heaven’s gate and I don’t know why

But if I work all day at the blue sky mine
(There’ll be food on the table tonight)
Still I walk up and down on the blue sky mine
(There’ll be pay in your pocket tonight)

(Lyrics excerpt from http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=116207.)

Songs that take me straight back to my childhood… Nothing like a hefty dose of Aussie rock. In this case, political social action rock.

Between the 1970s through to early 2000s, Midnight Oil had a number of popular albums. True to the political nature and social conscience of the band, their singer Peter Garrett is currently a member of Parliament with the Australian Labor Party, and is the Minister for Environment, Heritage and the Arts.

Pettidee – “I’m A Vet”

Pettidee

I must say, I do rather enjoy his music. He has a positive, life-affirming message and he’s not afraid to speak it.

Dooms Night – Our Song!

Being inclined towards scepticism and cynicism at times, I must admit that I’ve always found the notion of couples having “our song” a bit… well… painfully corny and laughable. Apparently people do have their songs though, something signifiying the coming together of their relationship. I remember one wedding I attended – I was playing flute backed up with church organ for the ceremony. The song? Bryan Adams’ “Everything I Do, I Do It For U.” Shudder! Sorry, I guess it’s just not my thing. But really, “our song”? We had often specualted over the course of our 6 years (so far) of marriage the seeming ridiculousness of having a song. I mused that perhaps the most appropriate might have been LeAnn Rimes’ “Can’t Fight the Moonlight.” Because as much as I don’t like that style of music, it was all over the radio and at every uni on-campus party when my husband and I met (we met when we both lived on the student residences back in 2001). I personally would’ve put my vote in for Rage Against the Machine’s “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” Why? Not because it’s particularly romantic, I just like the song, I like the band, and I thought The Grapes of Wrath was a good book.

This morning my husband pulled out one of his old mixed CDs. He skipped to a particular track and said, “this is probably the closest we have to ‘our song’.”

The song?

Azzido Da Bass’ “Dooms Night” (Timo Maas Remix). Mmm, random. Here’s a You Tube clip -

 And, you may ask, why on Earth would you pick that as “your song”?

Well, it seemed quite rational:

• it’s the first song to which we danced together
• it was played frequently in the first year of our relationship
• it always takes us back to when we first met…

The downside? I don’t want to have an “our song.” It just makes me think of that Seinfeld episode, when Elaine’s boyfriend who was all caught up in “his song…” And it feels a bit… ummm… well I don’t know if it’s really “us.” !!

My husband was wondering if it should be more like the scene in Casablanca where the girl makes her request – “play it, Sam…” And it brings up old and sometimes painful memories for the couple.

Maybe we’re stuck with “our song,” whether it’s deliberate or not. Because whenever we hear Azzido Da Bass’ “Dooms Night” (Timo Maas Remix) we’ll be taken back to our early days, when we danced the night away at the student union lounge…

Project 86 – “My Will Be A Dead Man”

All is quiet in the dusty alleyways
Few men dare to penetrate this land
And live to tell this terrible tale
My trusty six shot, my own right hand
There comes a day
There comes a time
There comes an hour when…

I’m not talking ’bout killing a man
I’m not referring to dirt, this land
There’s no showdown here besides the one
That’s erupting inside my head

My will be a dead man

(Excerpt of lyrics from http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Project-86/My-Will-Be-A-Dead-Man.html.)

Project 86 is one of those bands that I seem to obsess over. I’m not sure my husband knew what he was getting himself into when he suggested that I would enjoy Project 86’s meaning-laden and awesome hardcore / metal / rock. I have no idea what it is that’s captured me, but I think their musical style is great. The lyrics are so poetic. And I think the clip to this song is hilarious.

Ween “Your Party”

 

 This song never fails to make me laugh. I first encountered it on radio station Triple J. Here’s part of the first verse:

There were beverages laid out for the party
There were candy and spices and tricolored pastas
The meat carved was drawn from succulent juices
Served on platters of the purest gold

 [From http://www.metrolyrics.com/your-party-lyrics-ween.html.]

Anyone who sings about tri-coloured pasta must be a genius!