Luluc

photo courtesy of thevine.com.au

Melbourne folk duo Luluc head up my Melbourne gigs of the week. They play a free instore at Polyester city on Flinders Lane this Friday from 6:30pm. Luluc are about to release their independent debut Dear Hamlyn, songs from which are already getting FBI, JJJ and RRR rotation. Zoe (Grand Salvo) and Steve (Wagons) launch the album on August 8th at The Corner Hotel. Their tunes are up on myspace too and with excellent new management and label support from Shock, plus a New York tour planned for late August, you can expect big things from these guys over the next 12 months. More info on the group is at their official site.

Also happening this Friday 25th July is a cool show at The Evelyn Hotel in Fitzroy. The lineup of Pikelet, Aleks and The Ramps and a new project for James from Architecture in Helsinki looks very promising... plus visuals from Robbie (Grey Daturas) and aural-wallpaper from Dj Faux Pas. Lock it in.

Hottest Digital Music Sites

I'm caught in a dilemma. I'm back in Melbourne, feeling very out of the loop with the local music scene and goings-on, but with a lot of time on my hands in the Victorian countryside. I have zero motivation to post to the blog, and if i did i couldn't use my Mac since i have no way to connect it to the computer/broadband here (until i get an ethernet cable). So, I've little else to do other than be lazy, whingey and sissy-dicked. I have been trawling the net a little in boredom though, and scoping out some recommendations from friends, hence this which came to me from Danny Jumpertz at Feral Media. Wired's Listening Post Hottest Music Sites Online. According to them:

Sites were chosen based not only on what they currently do for music fans, but also on their potential to impact the future development of the music industry. Based on how things go with the first iteration, this list could be updated periodically and opened for voting.

Fave's of mine get a look in like RCRD LABEL and MUXTAPE, plus some new ones too which i'm yet to have adventures within. Anway, I now share it with you. Tada.

Beaches

photo by Lauren Bamford.

I have a new favourite band to check out when I return to Melbourne next week - Beaches - an all female shoegazy psych-garage 5 piece formed around members of Spider Vomit, Panel of Judges and Love of Diagrams. They wear amazing jeans, and create one hell of a noise... plus the blessed label Mistletone is set to put out their debut, which they are recording with Jack Farley as we speak.

The next Beaches Melbourne show is on July 18th at the Old Bar. More gigs and tunes are on their myspace.

Oh, and yes, i'm back from hiatus!

2am Curfew Protest in Melbourne

Below is footage from the protest on Friday in Melbourne against the Victorian state government's 2am curfew proposals. The "lockout", which will be a 1/4 year trial to begin with, essentially means that "nobody may enter a licensed premises after 2am even if you have already been inside that venue. Exemptions include pokies littered RSL’s, Crown Casino and Bottle shops." These new laws have the potential to impact upon the city's thriving small bar and music scene, at a time when other cities are trying to emulate the vibrant night life and culture that Melbourne has built over many years.

Full details of the protest and the new laws are available here. It seems that more venues are winning exemption from the trial but the picture is still looking grim. The Age has more details and latest updates today:

"Fifty-three venues have already been granted a stay from the lockout by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal after agreeing to conditions set down by the Director of Liquor Licensing.

The conditions included extra security, no passouts, and no promotion of opening hours after 2am. Twenty-seven more venues today joined the legal fight against the Government's three-month ban that applies to the Melbourne, Port Phillip, Yarra and Stonnington council areas. "

No passouts? What is this Blue Light Disco circa '86? And who's to say the venues and clubs applying today for exemption aren't the same places where the troublemakers usually drink and fight. Der!

Anyway, the video below made me so proud of Melbournians willing to come out and fight for their right to party (sensibly).



There's also a very big discussion about this on Mess and Noise.

Visa Dramas

photo by simply steve

With the expiry of my own UK working-holiday visa forcing me back 'down under' in July i've developed a new found sympathy for others facing a similar fate. I'm sparing thoughts today for M.I.A. who could soon be forced to return to London, or decamp to Montreal when her US visa runs out in June. Jam Showbiz and Daily Swarm report that the 29 year old singer is fast running out of time and exploring other options besides a return to the UK:

“I’m thinking of moving to Montreal in June when I leave my apartment. Basically at the moment I can choose between Montreal and London. My mum’s like, ‘I want you here!’ I haven’t seen her in, like, forever, so I have to choose between my mum and Montreal.”

Although she says Kanye might make a good woman of her so she can stay:

"I think he'll marry me to keep me in the country. He was really dead serious about it."

Hey Maya, why not move to Melbourne with us! We can drown our sorrows over a big chicken parmigiana and a jug of Coopers at The Standard in Fitzroy. Mmm. Parma... Better than Kanye.

Lifestyle Brands

Ever get that feeling where if you hear a piece of useless jargon uttered one more time you're gonna slip out into the street, unholster your uzi and let it spray at the unsuspecting public? No? Ok. just me then...

Hipster Runoff on the weekend let fly with this overdue attack/piss-take on the all pervasive 'lifestyle brand' putrid shit concept that seems to be clogging up the 'real' world we live in. I know that I should be able to just get over my anger at this all pervasive, erosive marketting bollocks, after all i work in PR/Marketting myself... cough... but something snapped inside me when i saw the post and i'm ready to sign up wherever is needed to purge the Earth of the LB. Can i get an Amen?

...Or as one person commented: "this post just set me on my life's path". Amen.

Pikelet

photo by Lauren Bamford

Evelyn Morris (aka Pikelet) has got a new EP out according to Mess and Noise, who say that while not being quite on par with her debut, it nonetheless "lightly picks you up, applies some caressing, some probing, then puts you back down again, a little shaken a little breathless." Sounds good to me!

Any time invested in Pikelet is time well spent according to this scribe. I've been a devoted fan of everything Evelyn touches - from her important contributions to True Radical Miracle and Baseball, to her mesmerizing and beguiling live shows. Her Chapter Records debut of last year is worth hunting down, and you can hear selections from it on her myspace.

Pikelet ventures toward the equator this weekend with a show as part of Brisbane's all-ages No Culture Festival. In fact Evelyn plays 3 times on Saturday with her other bands too. Busy busy! Saturday's lineup is Baseball (Melbourne), Turnpike, Luca Brasi (Melbourne), Arrows, True Radical Miracle (Melbourne / Adelaide), Charge Group (Sydney), Alps of NSW (Newcastle), Pikelet (Melbourne), Kes Band (Melbourne), Rialto Decibel Choir (playing potentially their final show), The Surrogate, Willows, Maiden Names, Fourth Is To Burn Warehouses, Otters, and Swandive. Full details and timetable on that link above.

Lichens

One of the highlights of the Explosions In The Sky curated ATP festival on the weekend was the Sunday performance by LICHENS on the mainstage. His primal, looped vocal squeels and drones over the moody improv-guitar washes were very warmly received by the crowd. Combined with his kinky Kramer hair and crazy WWI moustache, it was an incredibly captivating performance, both aurally and visually.

Robert Lowe is Lichens, and his records come out through Kranky. More details here too.

Lichens was a lovely surprise at still the best indie-music weekend around. Battles were startling as ever, and Dinosaur Jr earnt themselves some new converts, while De La Soul, Silver Jews and Jens Lekman impressed in the hollow surrounds of the Pavillion stage. But many of the performances lacked the spark and buzz of those the previous weekend in Camber Sands (curated by Pitchfork), and its difficult to think of anyone at the ATP in Minehead who I would describe as utterly compelling. The accommodation is better though, and as usual the vibe just as positive and relaxed, but i quite often left venues with a shrug of the shoulder - satisfied, but not excited. I did make a few new discoveries though, over both festivals, which i'll post about at a later date.

Oh, here's a video of Lichens in Paris:

ATP and sunshine

Make Ryan happy. I'll be cruising down to Camber Sands today for ATP vs Pitchfork, then out of action blog-wise for a while. I'm also in Dublin next week so if you can recommend a good inner city drinking hole or band venue, then drop me a comment. Will post some ATP photos and analysis from both festivals on my return. Peace out.

Edinburgh and The Rosie Taylor Project

I spent the bank holiday weekend in Edinburgh, my first time in the Scottish capital. Sitting on the grass in front of Princess Street with the sun shining onto the castle and the Old City area was just beyond magical. We even went on the very daggy whisky tour, and got stuck into the Talisker. Mmm, smokey, peaty.

So with two nights there I had scanned The List to find a decent gig on either Saturday or Sunday. Vampire Weekend had sold out but I found something at the Bongo Club on Sunday with a charming group from Leeds called THE ROSIE TAYLOR PROJECT. They come across like Belle and Sebastian or The Lucksmiths in their stylee - gleeful, intelligent pop tunes with strummy guitars, subtle trumpets and intimate, wistful vocals. Right up the girlfriend's alley and in the right context, mine too.

So we had ourselves some evening drinks at a couple of boozers on the Royal Mile, filled up on burritos and tortillas (traditional Scottish fare!) and hoofed our way to the venue at around 9pm only to find it closed. Outside we bumped into one of the Rosie Taylor Project who told us that they weren't on until midnight, and that doors didn't open until 11. Far too late for us alas! I don't understand why the venue wouldn't open earlier on the night before a bank holiday monday... put the bands on at 9 and 10pm, then DJs go from 11 to whatever. I guess every venue has their reasons, and I think its a regular indie club night on Sundays, but we we're a little disappointed.

So, although we promised we'd try to come back later in the evening, we had to retire, and apologies to the nice chap we spoke with outside the venue, I hope the gig went well!

The Rosie Taylor Project release through Bad Sneakers and have some of their fab tunes on myspace and i've also posted one of their videos below: