Monday, February 03, 2014
Gifs Gifs Gifs.
I love gifs quite a bit. It's like a little movie that plays without sound that makes you laugh and sometimes fart when you laugh. Anyhow, that got personal pretty quickly. Here are a few gifs that I love at the moment.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Five Things Australia Could Learn From America.
I was recently in America for an extended period of time. In America, a period is a full stop, or the end of a sentence. In Australia, a period is a bloody mess. It was my second visit to America. Whilst I do love Australia, the current political idiocy running the nation is making it difficult to love the country I call home.
So, on Australia's day of day's, here I am talking about five things that Australia needs to put in place that America does better. They're in no particular order. Afterwards, I'll throw up five things that America could learn from Australia, just to be fair.
So, on Australia's day of day's, here I am talking about five things that Australia needs to put in place that America does better. They're in no particular order. Afterwards, I'll throw up five things that America could learn from Australia, just to be fair.
Dogs Dogs Everywhere.
In Perth, you used to be able to go to the cappuccino strip in Fremantle and sit and enjoy a cup of coffee with your canine pal next to you. Nowadays you'll get a $100 on the spot fine before you've even bitten into your cannoli.
In America, the land of the free, the home of the brave, the something of the somethings, you can take your dog wherever you please. There are restrictions of course, like when you want to fly from LA to New York and you have your dog with you, you have to ensure that your furry pal will sit on your lap all through the flight, or maybe stick him in a bag if you can. But, basically put, for no extra charge whatsoever you can have Henry Peirce sitting on your lap for a five hour flight from one fantastic city to another.
Dude has a pretty fucked up face, but a very nice looking dog.
If I wanted to fly with Henry from Perth to Sydney I'd have to arrive at the airport a couple of hours early, stick him in a crate and let him get taken to the bottom on the plane where your bags are and then wait for him on the other side. No lap journey of luxury - although I'm pretty sure my lap is not that comfy for five hours straight. I wouldn't know.
I have a feeling this dog has died. Woman has pretty stinky feet. Should have bought Dolce and Gabbana.
If I felt like shopping for a Gucci handbag or a Dolce and Gabbana pair of shoes (that's right, right?) at Macy's - the biggest department store in the world (up until 2009 that is) - and I wanted to get Henry's opinion of whether the pair of Dolce and Gabbana shoes would suit me or not (they wouldn't, they don't do size eleven shoes. I think), I could take him up their escalator's, all eight floors of them, and peruse their shoes and gowns and stuff, and nobody would care. Nobody would say, you can't bring that hound in here. They would keep walking on by talking about what Shenae did last night and how that bitch better learn some respect and stop stealing my men. They wouldn't care about the one eared Schnauzer giving advice to his owner about what shoes to wear.
I Would Like All Your Dr Pepper's. Right Now.
Online ordering is brilliant. It's divine. It is a thing from the heaven's. At eleven o'clock at night, when you feel like having a Dr Pepper and there is no Dr Pepper in the house at all, and the shop is just so far away yet the internet is so near, you just pop onto delivery.com and order yourself ALL THE DR PEPPER THEY HAVE. And then half an hour later, a little exhausted Mexican man who rode all the way over to your apartment on his bicycle in the Polar Vortex gives you ALL THE DR PEPPER THEY HAD and then leaves.
In Australia, if I want a Dr Pepper at eleven o'clock at night, I can't do this. I can't order ALL THE DR PEPPER SOMEBODY HAS because nobody has Dr Pepper, and nobody delivers at eleven o'clock at night. A delivery service like this - where they will deliver within the half hour - needs to come into effect in Australia. Now.
Specifically, a delivery service for all of the fast food or restaurants who do takeaway. Don't feel like getting a pizza? Pretty much the only food that is available in Australia to get delivered to your front door. Then tough, because the only hot instant food that will come to your front door in Australia is pizza. And whatever attempt at not-pizza Dominoe's is doing this month. Feel like chinese or pasta? Tough, you have to get into your car and go and pick it up. Nobody will bring it to you.
Am I lazy? Yes. But I would like nothing more than to live in a world where all I need to wear is my boxer shorts all day long and only have to quickly pull on my pants and tshirt when someone comes and delivers ALL THE DR PEPPER THEY HAD to my front door.
What Do You Mean You're Out of Dr Pepper?
Which brings me to my next point.
The lack of Dr Pepper available in Australia. If there is one carbonated beverage which I admire the most in the world, it is Dr Pepper. It's not Pepsi for it's can-do attitude to sticking it to the man (Coke) and trying to do their own thing. It's not Mountain Dew for being a blatant lie. It's not Red Bull for, well, I don't know why anybody would put Red Bull as their favourite beverage unless they're named Felix.
Dr Pepper is Texas nectar. No, not Texas tea. But, Texas nectar. It defies medicine for Mr Pepper is not a proper Dr and it is not going to cure anything.
Except thirst.
This is not the right use of this gif.
Dr Pepper is heavenly. If I woke up at 2am in America and felt like a Dr Pepper, I could walk down to the local Duane Reade (how come this asshole gets his own store?) and buy ALL THE DR PEPPER THEY HAVE. I could also buy alcohol and get a flu jab, but that's besides the point. If I wake up at 2am in Australia, I'm screwed because the only thing that is open is McDonald's where I can get sweet fuck all Dr Pepper.
Taxi Please.
Public transport in Australia is a bitch. If you miss your train, or your bus drives past you five minutes prior to it was due to arrive (I'm still bitter you bus driving ass, you think you're better than me because you can drive a bus and because I'm at your mercy with when I get to where I want to go on time), you're fucked. You have to wait an hour for the next bus or train to come and even then it'll suck.
In New York, you can mostly catch a taxi to wherever you want straight away. Stick a hand out and some man driving a yellow car will pull over and take you to where you want to go. Or maybe you could go to the subway and wait five minutes for a train to arrive. That one was too full? Oh well, wait another five minutes and another one will be around that'll be emptier. The bus system is a little questionable in New York, but in LA it works well enough.
The subway system in New York will take you almost anywhere. Or, in fact if you don't want to go anywhere in Manhatten, Queens, the Bronx or Brooklyn, then fine, you can catch a train to pretty much anywhere in America. In Perth, I can go to Mandurah or Joondalup. And even then, the place you want to go to is going to be at least a half hour walk away from the train station or bus stop.
Quicker than any taxi in Perth. Guaranteed.
Don't get me started on the taxi situation in Perth. You'll be waiting at least an hour to two hours for a taxi in Perth. Standing on the side of the road with your arm out will get a beer can thrown at your head.
Food Glorious Food. Oh How I Want to Bathe in You.
Ok, maybe not bathe in it. (Yes, I want to bathe in you hotdogs.)
Here's a hypothetical situation. It's 2am (it's always 2am in these situations), and I feel like a hotdog. Because there are no places in Perth that do takeaway hotdogs because hotdogs are foreign food and we don't like foreigners here. Turn back the boats and all that. I can't walk down the street and find a lonely food vendor selling his tubed meat on the side of the road as the snow comes down around him.
For starters, it doesn't snow in Perth because that's another thing we fail at. Secondly, any man down the road selling tubed meat is not a man you want to purchase tubed meat from because he's not selling the type of tubed meat you want to eat at 2am. If he is the sort of man who is selling tubed meat you want to eat at 2am, then please stop reading my blog.
Not entirely the tubed meat picture I was looking for. But none the less, this is quite a stylish dog.
In New York, there is always somebody somewhere selling some kind of tubed meat. And I mean the sort that you do want to eat at 2am. It'll cost you about two dollars - plus a tip - and it will make your belly very very happy.
This dog is substantially less interesting than the one above.
In fact, the only kind of meat I can get at 2am is McDonald's meat and I can't even get that delivered to me so it's pointless because it's there and I'm here and it's 2am and in all of these scenario's I'm sitting there asking myself, why am I asking myself these questions at 2am and what am I going to do about it?
Nothing.
I'm going to do nothing about it.
One to Wolf of Wall Street at 1am Please.
I know, I know, I can't count. I said five things, and now there's a sixth thing and really who cares because you only scrolled down to see what the captions would be for the things and nobody has read this far. I promise.
America has cinemas everywhere. Well, almost everywhere. Due to this, they have films showing pretty much all the time. Sure, there's no four am screenings of Frozen, but it's near enough. Plus, nobody wants to see Frozen at four am. Not even if there's tubed meat involved.
The sort of people you are likely to see at a 1am screening of The Wolf of Wall Street.
The last screening in Australia is usually at 9pm. If you're lucky, it'll be 910pm. There's nothing later unless you're going to a marathon on a long weekend, but the time you were sixteen and would go to marathon's is a lot further away than when you'll be forty.
The other thing which is great about American cinema is the fact that they show the ad's prior to the advertised session time. Say you're going to see the 1am session of The Wolf of Wall Street and you get there at 1am, then you have just missed the fifteen minutes of ads that played prior to 1am. You'll arrive, find your seat, and the trailers for other films you may want to watch at 1am will play. Ten minutes later and the film has started. None of this arriving at 9pm and then waiting forty five minutes for the film to play only to have the very last ad be an ad for the Candy Bar where they remind you that the Candy Bar is open right now even though you walked right past it or even purchased your tickets from there you go, oh, ok, I already knew that, and the film should be starting now, but sure. Then you decide that fuck it, you will get that overpriced Coke you've been contemplating for the past forty five minutes because you really wanted a Dr Pepper but they don't have Dr Pepper so fuck it. You get up, go to the Candy Bar and then find that the Candy Bar has in fact closed because you decided to see the 9pm screening of The Wolf of Wall Street and they don't serve popcorn after 915pm. You curse a little and then you go back to the cinema only to find that you've missed the first hour of the film and Leo's already snorting coke out of a woman's buttcrack.
So, Australia, please put later screenings on.
And now five quick things that America needs to do that Australia does better.
1) Pay your employee's correctly. If there's one thing Australian's (and Scottish) don't like to do, is paying people for shit that other people should be paying them for. I don't like sitting there, having enjoyed my meal and then having to figure out how much to tip the person who brought me a menu and just existed for an evening. It's not my fault they aren't paid properly and I shouldn't have to make up their pay by tipping. Especially when the service isn't that great. It especially annoyed me greatly when the service was terrible, and then when the bill came the 18% gratuity would be added already. I have no choice but to pay that. And then complain about it later on the internet.
2) Move quicker. When buying stuff at stores, the average time was fifty years for them to process the payment for the item. This is not an exaggeration. I am still waiting in line at Best Buy to buy a DVD. I don't really need the DVD because I can probably stream it later on, but I'm in the queue and there's no way in getting out of the queue right now. In Australia, we don't like to deal with customers so we want to get them out of our face as quickly as possible. We have paywave almost everywhere so by the time the item is in the bag we've already paid and are out the door.
3) Fix your McDonald's. Or fast food in general. You'd think the country that helped make fast food what it is today would have better standards of fast food, but it's quite the opposite. Fast food in America is shit. Literally. The one time I bought a 'burger' from McDonald's - in a stinky smelly McDonald's in a Macy's store - it tasted like a thong. The service was shocking and the food was worse. At least I didn't have to tip. The food in Australia's McDonald's is three Michelin star food compared to McDonald's in America.
4) ATM's. What the fuck is with the ATM's in America? The majority of them look like you're trying to return some terribly dodgy porn that you ended up with to someone in a hole in the wall. Let alone looking like a hunk of metal that looks like it'll steal your money in an instant rather than give you money.
5) Coffee. Seriously America. You have Starbuck's everywhere. Fix your fucking coffee. Iced Coffee in America is literally ice and coffee. I'm certain it used to be coffee beans on ice until someone said, wait, why don't we add some liquid to this thing? It's just awful. I had to end on a downer, but seriously. What. The. Fuck.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Top 25 Films of 2012 - Revisited.
Last year I did my top 25 films of 2012. As I usually do. The list can be found here. However, a year on, I thought it was time to revisit my list and adjust it how I feel it should be a year on. Instead going from number one down.
1. Young Adult
Not only am I convinced this was the best film of 2012, it's also managed to creep its way into being one of my favourite films of all time. I've lost count how many times I've watched Young Adult this year. Charlize Theron's performance is astounding - I would not hesitate to say it's right up there as one of my favourite performances ever.
2. The Cabin in the Woods
Still one of the best horror films of recent years, and still a rewatchable classic no doubt. Just no longer number one.
3. Margaret
If Charlize Theron turned in one of the finest performances of the year in Young Adult, then Anna Paquin wasn't far behind. I stand by what I said about Margaret last year, it's a powerful film.
4. Beasts of the Southern Wild
Maybe my love for this film is powered by one of the finest scores of recent times. An immensely powerful score for an immensely powerful film. The line 'if Daddy don't come home soon, I'll have to eat my pets' still gets me.
5. The Master
Joaquin Phoenix is still one of the - if not the - great actors working today. The Master cements that.
6. The Raid
You still haven't watched this yet have you? You have no soul.
7. Hugo
You know that meme that went around where people took a picture of them and a can of Pringles and said, still a better love story than Twilight? Well, apply that to The Artist. Basically, when you're thinking about watching The Artist, pick up Hugo instead.
8. 50/50
We already knew that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was a good actor, but really the revelation here is Seth Rogen. He's always been great to watch, but finally here is a role that is closest to his great work in Freaks & Geeks.
9. Les Miserables
The film that spawned a year of me getting angry at people in cinemas. Shut up please will be quoted for years. Les Miserables will still be a good movie in years, but it isn't perfect. Anne Hathaway is great though. As always.
10. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
One of my most desired films to get a Criterion release in 2014. The reason to have a state of the art home cinema.
11. Prometheus
Yeah, ok, some of the characters actions make no fucking sense whatsoever, but I still don't give a shit. Haters are going to hate this film, and they can all go hop on their own soapbox and shout at the neighbours because dammit, this is still an enjoyable film.
12. Bernie
If it weren't for the Before... series, this would be Richard Linklater's greatest film. It is easily Jack Black's greatest film for sure.
13. Kill List
The ending of The Wicker Man still gives me chills, but Kill List's ending is the one which makes me think twice about getting a good nights sleep. Where The Cabin in the Woods is a comical horror flick, Kill List doesn't give a shit about your feelings and shits all over your ability to think straight.
14. Skyfall
I have no interest in the Bond films at all. With that said, I've watched Skyfall a fair few too many times. This is not only a damn good film, it's a damn beautiful looking film. Daniel Craig nails it as Bond here and takes the character to a whole new level. I know people complained about Bond turning into Bourne, but if that creates films like Skyfall, then quit your whinging.
15. Killer Joe
Ah, this is still insane fun. I still can't believe the final scene's of this film.
16. Headhunters
Just like The Raid up above, you still haven't seen this have you? Just terrible.
17. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Still the best coming of age film.
18. Safety Not Guaranteed
Any worries about Colin Trevorrow directing Jurassic World disappeared after I watched this. It's whimsical and fun, but most importantly, Trevorrow understands what it takes for the viewer to accept and believe in the universe they have created. By the end of the film you'll believe that Mark Duplass has invented a time travel machine.
19. Woody Allen: A Documentary
Only disappointing thing about this is that it doesn't cover Blue Jasmine a little more. I really shouldn't complain about that, but Blue Jasmine is so damn good.
20. Take This Waltz
Just like 50/50, this cements Seth Rogen as someone to watch. I'm still not sure how to feel about things in this film, but that's the power of a good movie - especially a Sarah Polley film.
21. Margin Call
I still haven't watched House of Cards, but I'm sure that it's not as good as Spacey's performance here.
22. Compliance
After reading more about this case, it's still quite a terrifying little story.
23. Cosmopolis
Still an argument inducing film with Bernadette and myself. Still very good in my eyes.
24. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
After seeing the subpar West of Memphis, it goes to show how perfect this trilogy of films are.
25. Seven Psychopaths
Good to watch as a double alongside Hugo.
On Sharks.
I should start this little rant with a preface - something a little bit similar to when someone says, look, don't get offended, but... - that whilst I'm more of an animal lover than a people lover, I do appreciate the human race. If I manage to offend you with this post, then that was not my intention, but... y'know... I did say don't get offended.
The population of sharks in our oceans is rapidly being reduced. Humans on the other hand continue growing - in fact, I remember being in high school and waiting for the world population to tick over to six billion people; it's now just over seven billion people.
Where the problem occurs - and this is not news, it's just something I feel like getting off my chest because dammit, the guys playing cricket next door are drowning out my yelling from my soap box - is that there is no population control for humans. Emotionally, because we're the superior species, we are attached to numbers of ourselves. We're attached to the idea of family and the idea of having more of ourselves around. It's in our nature and it's completely understandable.
So when a shark takes a person from the waters where the shark lives, the knee jerk reaction is to destroy that shark. Keep in mind that if a drunk driver smashes into a van carrying a family and kills all of that family, he is able to go to jail, repent for the trouble he has caused and then carries on his way. Sharks are simply doing what they do in the world they live in. Just like humans do what they do in the world we live in.
Now, I'm not suggesting something as radical as population control for humans - that's a boundary that nobody is ready to cross - but we, as a species, need to have a greater understanding of the other animals that live on our planet. We need to accept that losses like this occur. Yes, it is awfully depressing for the family that has lost a son, a brother, a husband, a father. But, I'm not suggesting they simply move on with their lives, just to accept the loss. When that family is killed by a drunk driver, the remaining members of the family will no doubt say 'I wish he was dead for killing our family' but the law protects him for being lynched. There is no law to protect sharks, or wildlife for that matter.
We are more than happy to cull corellas, lorikeets or seagulls if there are too many of them and causing a disturbance. Yet, humans themselves are unable to accept any form of loss, no matter how small. Whatever happened to every life being equal?
I don't have a solution to the problem of people being killed by animals except to say that we as a country need to accept that in the environment we live in these problems will occur. Sharks do not make a habit out of attacking and killing humans - they are not serial killers. The comparison of them being a drunk driver in the sea feels trite, but that's what they are - they don't know that they are killing a human and they show no remorse for their actions. This does not mean we should react to violently against them.
We as humans need to start accepting our losses caused by nature, as because of us there will be more happening over time.
The population of sharks in our oceans is rapidly being reduced. Humans on the other hand continue growing - in fact, I remember being in high school and waiting for the world population to tick over to six billion people; it's now just over seven billion people.
Where the problem occurs - and this is not news, it's just something I feel like getting off my chest because dammit, the guys playing cricket next door are drowning out my yelling from my soap box - is that there is no population control for humans. Emotionally, because we're the superior species, we are attached to numbers of ourselves. We're attached to the idea of family and the idea of having more of ourselves around. It's in our nature and it's completely understandable.
So when a shark takes a person from the waters where the shark lives, the knee jerk reaction is to destroy that shark. Keep in mind that if a drunk driver smashes into a van carrying a family and kills all of that family, he is able to go to jail, repent for the trouble he has caused and then carries on his way. Sharks are simply doing what they do in the world they live in. Just like humans do what they do in the world we live in.
Now, I'm not suggesting something as radical as population control for humans - that's a boundary that nobody is ready to cross - but we, as a species, need to have a greater understanding of the other animals that live on our planet. We need to accept that losses like this occur. Yes, it is awfully depressing for the family that has lost a son, a brother, a husband, a father. But, I'm not suggesting they simply move on with their lives, just to accept the loss. When that family is killed by a drunk driver, the remaining members of the family will no doubt say 'I wish he was dead for killing our family' but the law protects him for being lynched. There is no law to protect sharks, or wildlife for that matter.
We are more than happy to cull corellas, lorikeets or seagulls if there are too many of them and causing a disturbance. Yet, humans themselves are unable to accept any form of loss, no matter how small. Whatever happened to every life being equal?
I don't have a solution to the problem of people being killed by animals except to say that we as a country need to accept that in the environment we live in these problems will occur. Sharks do not make a habit out of attacking and killing humans - they are not serial killers. The comparison of them being a drunk driver in the sea feels trite, but that's what they are - they don't know that they are killing a human and they show no remorse for their actions. This does not mean we should react to violently against them.
We as humans need to start accepting our losses caused by nature, as because of us there will be more happening over time.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Top 10 Albums of 2013.
Without a doubt, 2013 will go down as one of the greatest years in Australian music. Artists have been delivering albums that have been their finest works to date - and if not their finest, then a damn fine album which stands up perfectly fine with their previous works. Internationally, the work was good, but not as strong.
10. Once I Was an Eagle - Laura Marling
Best Track: Master Hunter
Laura Marling is one of the finest female singers working right now. Consistently perfect in so many ways, Marling sings beyond her years. Her releases between Alas I Cannot Swim and Once I Was an Eagle have been consistent, but Once I Was an Eagle is the first album which matches Alas I Cannot Swim perfectly. Lyrically it's as beautiful and harmonic as Alas I Cannot Swim, but where Eagle soars (sorry) is the fact that it moves and shakes like one whole beast. The album has been designed to be listened to from the first track through til the end and it works best in this mode. It's always exciting to hear Marling's new releases, especially when they're this consistently strong.
9. Hobo Rocket - Pond
Best Track: Whatever Happened to the Million Head Collide
I couldn't give two shits about Tame Impala. I'll say that right away. I have no patience for their music at all. But, Pond - which kind of swaps out some of Tame Impala at times to be a rotating musical act of goodness - are just too damn good. The lead track, Whatever Happened to the Million Head Collide harks back to the heyday of The Sleepy Jackson and even throws in a little Gomez style horns at the end. Sure, they go a little Wolfmother-y with stupid song titles, but that's ok when the music is this good.
8. Unfold Yourself - Ian Ball
Best Track: Open Sesame
Just like Ian's first solo effort, Who Goes There, I was not impressed the first time I heard this album. Nor the second, third, fourth and fifth times. I just simply wasn't taken with it. I figured, that's ok, I love Gomez a heck of a lot and I admire Ian, but maybe this just wasn't for me. Then just recently I saw Ian perform live and the album transformed in front of my eyes. The work that Ian's put into this album is phenomenal. Maybe I was stupid for not realising it straight away, who knows. It really is an album which translates perfectly live and is best experienced that way - even if it was just Ian, a guitar and an iMac laptop. There's no desire to stretch away from what Gomez do here, it's just Ian showing what he's best at doing and that's creating beautiful music. Sure, it took me a few listens to crack the code, but dammit, it's a good album.
7. What Would Christ Do?? - The Growl
Best Track: Clever Leaver
Earlier this year The Growl supported Tame Impala on their international tour. They played to sell out shows and gained a heck of a lot of exposure. From what I understand, Tame Impala were very good on those shows, but even better was The Growl. I've seen them a fair few times in Perth and they consistently knock you over with the wall of sound they create with their dirty guitar licks and yowling bass. As perfectly dirty an album as you can get. If there was any justice in this world, these guys would be much much bigger than Tame Impala.
6. Push the Sky Away - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Best Track: Jubilee Street
Winner of best album cover of the year right here. Nick Cave is a monument in Australian culture. Anybody else this far into their career would be struggling to maintain such perfection, but Cave makes it seem effortless. With Push the Sky Away, alongside his perennial Bad Seeds, he has turned in one of his finest albums - dare I say it's almost (just almost) equal to Henry's Dream and the Murder Ballads. Jubilee Street should go down as one of the great Australian songs.
5. Ballet in the Badlands - The Chemist
Best Track: Heaven's Got a Dress Code Now
Unfortunately Ballet in the Badlands will go down alongside Ammonia's Eleventh Avenue and Institut Polaire's Make Your Own Mayflower as one of the great one shot albums from a WA band. The quality on this release should have shot these guys to national status, but unfortunately for whatever reasons they couldn't stick around for another album. This release is just bonkers good. The guitar work is addictively insane to listen to.
4. Harlequin Dream - Boy & Bear
Best Track: Harlequin Dream
Just listen to that saxophone at the end. Goddamit. Really, this album and the next three all could be the best album of the year. Just like Moonfire, Harlequin Dream is one of the most consistently perfect Australian albums. Even though some of the songs feel a little trite, there's something truly heartbreaking when Dave Hosking sings through A Moment's Grace, or when he sings about being a role model for his kids in Old Town Blues. Moonfire is a perfect album without a doubt, but Harlequin Dream is an album which other bands should aspire to match.
3. All Day Venus - Adalita
Best Track: Trust is Rust
Quite simply put, this is the finest piece of work that Adalita has put her name to. Yes, it tops anything done with Magic Dirt. It's an astounding album full of all the heart break that her first solo album had. The hole that Dean Turner left in Adalita's life is still there, and whilst her self titled album dealt with that perfectly by herself, All Day Venus feels as if she's getting past those demon's with a band behind her. It's a masterpiece of a record that just astounds you on each listen.
2. I See Seaweed - The Drones
Best Track: Nine Eyes
To say I was nervous about this release is an understatement. I shouldn't have been nervous at all, but fuck, The Drones previous album Havilah is without a doubt the finest album I've ever heard. I've lost track how many times I've listened to Havilah - I'm on my third copy of it given how many times it's been scratched to shit from being carted around so I can listen to it. Needless to say, I See Seaweed - it doesn't disappoint. Gareth Liddiard is hands down the finest singer songwriter this side of David McComb. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if somehow Liddiard made a deal with some shady devil in Bunbury and bought McComb's soul. The Drones always come on like a slap in the face, a kick in the guts and punch in the nuts all at once. Whilst this is no Havilah, it's pretty much right there next to it. There is no finer band working in Australia right now than The Drones. Does it sound like I've got a hard on for them? Well, sure, maybe, but how many other bands have heard write a song about Google Street View and make it one of the finest songs of the year?
1. Kiss My Apocalypse - Abbe May
Best Track (Also Song of the Year): Sex Tourette's
There must be something in the water down in Bunbury. In the space of a few years, the sleepy little death toll town of Bunbury spawned both Abbe May and The Drones. Whatever is in the water down there, they better keep putting it in. Kiss My Apocalypse is an evolution. A sexual evolution of synth beats and discarded guitars. It's an album of an artist evolving into something phenomenal. Design Desire hinted at this, but Kiss My Apocalypse comes on like napalm. It's thirty four minutes of something crawling in your head and just having their way with you. Unlike Abbe's previous albums, there isn't a track out of place here. It's an aural exercise in being as tantalising as possible. Abbe May is an artist who is on the brink of major things and once she hits it big, people will rediscover her older music and think, how did we miss this? Add the fact that Abbe can turn a cheesy 90's R&B track into one of the sexiest covers ever is a testament to her talent.
This year as well I feel I can finally manage to throw together a top ten live acts that I saw. So without any explanation, here's the best live acts I saw this year.
1. Bruce Springsteen - Hanging Rock
2. Paul Simon - Blues & Roots Festival
3. Abbe May - The Astor Theatre
4. The Brothers Grim & the Blue Murders - The Indi Bar
5. Ian Ball - Mojo's
6. The Drones - The Astor Theatre
7. Something for Kate - The Astor Theatre
8. Rufus Wainwright - Blues & Roots Festival
9. The Graveyard Train - Blues & Roots Festival
10. Ben Ottewell - Mojo's
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)






















