The Yuletide Wind-down

Sleep deprived and run-ragged seems the default option for many at this time of year, myself included. If doing breakfast radio shifts, waking at 4:45am, isn't enough, I'm still dragging myself into work for a normal 8 hour shift, with little time left to prepare for the next days broadcast, let alone buy presents, food, decorations and booze for Xmas. Hmm.

Plus I'm on cooking detail for Jesus' birthday too. Which, actually I'm really looking forward to. Cooking and listening to music are the great pleasures in life, and guess what? You can do them at the same time. Perfect. So fish is on the menu this year, less as a homage to the newly birthed Lord, more as a way to try something new, instead of the underwhelming old faithfuls - ham and turkey. I've got some choice baked fish recipes too, cooking the whole thing Thai style with lots of coriander, chili, thai basil and garlic. Yum! So i'll be off to the fishmongers tomorrow, after the stint at Triple R, and then to the fresh fruit and vegie market for the rest of the shopping. I have the day off work (joy!) and can begin a small Yuletide wind down of my own.

Speaking of Triple R, and if you are keen for some decent Xmas listening, there is a team of special presenters on board for the 25th, with 'sweet' tunes for your listening pleasure. A full list of who's on air is online now. And you can check out the music we've been playing on the Summer Breakfasters page of the Triple R site.

Oh, and peace and love to you and yours over the silly season. And as someone said to me today: "drive safe".

Triple R - Summer Breakfasters

I am presenting Breakfasters on TRIPLE R for two weeks with the irrepressible Jess McGuire, Defamer blogger and presenter of I'd Rather Jack.

We start tomorrow, Monday morning, 15th of December. We'll also be on-air for Xmas day! Open your presents to our dulcet tones. It will be your pleasure.

We have the usual Breakfasters stuff like whats-in-the-papers, news on the half hour and regular special guests. We're talking film with Cerise Howard, books with Lou Swinn, sport with Jesse Fyfe and 'superlingo' with Georgia Webster.

Plus we'll be covering coolsie events, happenings and gossip in Melbourne leading up to Xmas and an absolute tonne of kickarse music. You can listen in Melbourne from 6-9am on 102.7FM or tap the glorious MP3 stream at http://www.rrr.org.au/programs/streaming/

If you are in London, we are on between 7 and 10pm, Sunday to Thursday. Breakfast for dinner, yum!

Brighten The Corners

The expanded reissue (Deluxe!) edition of Pavement's super fourth LP Brighten The Corners has at last been released (follow link for full Australian release info). If it is as well packaged, thorough and essential as the previous reissues, i'll be nipping down the local record shop this weekend to have me one of them spiffy 2CD packs, oh yes.

Fader get stuck in with Mitch Easter who may not have played the role of primary producer, in spite of what was reported at the time of its initial release... and Aquarium Drunkard ask "What sort of Pavement fan are you?"

I'm the Wowee Zowee devotee: "Someone who embraces chaos and finds life’s meaning in the constantly shifting nature of existence and human nature."

Pitchfork TV have the excellent doco on Pavement - A Slow Century - up online for free, for just one more day only!

Best Music Videos of 2008

The Best-of lists are kicking off everywhere, and Pitchfork.tv have weighed in with their fave music videos on the year, many of which are completely new to me. Check it. I gotta admit a soft spot for the floorshakin' Jerk It by Thunderheist:

War On Drugs

photo by Lauren Eileen.

I'm really getting into this record by Philly band War On Drugs. Its called Wagonwheel Blues and came earlier this year, but I somehow missed it. Fans of the woozy, countrified outings of Dylan, Neil Young, Blitzen Trapper, Beachwood Sparks and Jesus and Mary Chain should check it out.

Take a listen on myspace.

Sellers and the GBV

I'm on a bit of a Guided By Voices bender at the moment. A combination of re-discovering the fan-fave Bee Thousand in the lead up to my DJ set at Death to 1994 last week and reading the book Perfect From Now On by American writer John Sellers. He's a bona-fide GBV nut, compulsive listmaker and card carrying indie-rock fan, much like myself, and his book is a really kick-arse read. Here's a little excerpt:

At 193 listens, the song I had played most often during the previous twelve months was written by a band that most people have never heard of. In fact, the top ten songs—and seventeen of the top twenty (and thirty-five of the top fifty, and sixty-three of the top one hundred)—were all by that same band or its offshoots. The facts told me what I had only just begun admitting to myself: I was obsessed with Guided By Voices.

Ok, maybe your sides aren't yet split asunder... but he also goes on a piss-funny booze-soaked roadtrip to hang with Bob Pollard and writes about his pre-GBV obsessions with New Order, Pavement and Morissey. Perfect From Now On (also the name of the best Built To Spill album) can be found locally or on Amazon. Thanks to BK, who gave me the book for my birthday!

Top Five GBV songs, from their Best Of CD, by opening guitar riff:

05 Cut Out Witch
04 Everywhere with Helicopter
03 Surgical Focus
02 Game of Pricks
01 I am A Tree

Podcast - Episode 6

After another long hiatus, I've finally got a new podcast for you to hear. Its the usual combo of upbeat, scuzzy indie and pastoral folk, with a focus on new, excellent Australian music. Comments welcome!

everythingatonce_006.mp3

The details of the tracks are as follows:

Wolf and Cub - Seven Sevens
Jack Ladder - Best Kept Secret
Deerhunter - Saved By Old Times (Session Version)
St Helens - Get Up
Seagull - Dust Storm
J Tillman - Evans and Falls

Please visit the artists' websites and if you dig their tunes maybe give them some of that stuff clogging up yr wallet. Jack Ladder and St Helens both play shows in the coming week too, so check local gig guides for details. I can't recommend them highly enough.

The Avalanches

News from Triple J this week on a new album from lost-in-action sample-maestros The Avalanches (pictured above before they reverted to just a 3 piece).

Modular's label chief Steve Pav told Triple J:

"After many, many moons and several years that have passed by and several promises of getting a new album I've been assured that on Christmas Day they're going to deliver their new album to my little grotty hands." link

If it does surface (and this scribe isn't hedging any bets) it will be The Avalanche's first release since their incredible album of 2000 - Since I Left You. Pitchfork were reporting on the existence of its mythical follow-up way back in January 2007, quoting the band as saying of the new album, which never surfaced:

"much of last year was spent cutting up the spoken word/instructional records we need to tell the albums musical story, and we have some 40 odd songs we're narrowing down and finishing. so its real, it exists, and you know we wouldn't be serving anything up unless it was gonna give you that same special feeling that since has. funnily enough its ended up sounding like the next logical step to since, we just had to go around in a big circle to get back to where we belong." link

Oh, yeah? So the last two years have been spent doing what exactly? Going around in more circles? Some new Avalanches sounds (about 52 seconds anyway) has popped up on this teaser for the upcoming Nevereverland festival. It will be interesting to see if this represents their future aesthetic (more orchetral, pastoral, lush). But even if Santa does give Pav the album for Xmas, its likely to be a while before we get to hear it. No doubt the sample clearing is gonna be another monumental effort.

In the meantime (which could be a long time) check out details on their epic Since I Left You (a must own record) on Wikipedia, more of their tunes (including remixes) are on myspace and below is the lovely little video of that album's title cut...

1994

I have my lazy blogger socks on at the moment - no time, even less enthusiasm. There's so many gigs on this weekend i could plug: Songs/Love of Diagrams split 7" launch; Tame Impala at The Espy for free tomorrow etc. Good shit. Great for the soul. Beat has the word (of course).

But for the moment I'll get the self-indulgence on and just plug my DJ gig next Friday at the Red Room at Roxanne in the city. I'll be spinning music from 1994, a golden year for some... a shitstorm of mediocrity for others. Its free entry, and a chance to rock out to daggy/awesome tracks from Blur, Beasties, Charlatans, Pavement, Weezer, Hole, NIN etc. Feel free to suggest some tunes... and check the flyer for details!

Bon Iver for Australia

photo by angela n

Very excited to hear today that Bon Iver will be touring Australia for the first time this Summer. And he's playing some massive shows - The Forum and The Hi Fi in Melbourne, plus three nights at the Spiegeltent in Sydney. I saw him at ATP in Camber Sands UK earlier this year. His set was without doubt the highlight of that festival and Bon Iver's album "For Emma, Forever Ago" is one of my favourite records of the past year. Tickets for these shows should be on sale now. Check Handsome Tours for details.



And speaking of ATP (All Tomorrows Parties), more artists have been announced for the upcoming event at Mt Buller in January. They include The Reels, Bill Callahan (who also plays the Sydney Festival) and The Dirty Three performing their classic Ocean Songs.

Also announced this week was the 2009 Golden Plains Festival lineup. It takes place on the Meredith site on 7-9 March next year and will feature The Drones, Gary Numan, Luluc, Of Montreal, Black Mountain, Mogwai and You Am I among others. Details on the official site. I've missed out on tickets in the initial ballot, so fingers crossed for the second one!