BAM! The Chemical Brothers are back in the house!

Just had a listen to their new album, it's groovy man, groooovy. On first listen it's managed to capture me much better than Push the Button did (tho that album turned out to be pretty decent with repeated listens after omitting two annoying tracks).

Last time they started messing with their formula, which didn't always work. This time around it's worked wonders, so we have an album with a bunch of classic sounding tunes along with plenty of new, interesting takes on the recipe.

'We Are The Night' should be out next week, i think.

Instant Review: Queens of the Stone Age – 'Era Vulgaris'

I just finished listening to this album 2min ago, so here are my immediate impressions:
It’s pretty good, I definitely like it better than 2005’s ‘Lullabies To Paralyze.’ It’s a much dirtier, distorted and psychedelic sound for them this time around. I like the new style but it may turn some people off. After this first listen I find the middle of the album a bit repetitive but the end kicks it back up to the level of the first few tracks- which really gave me an awesome first impression. ‘Sick Sick Sick’ especially has a great riff, it works really well around the warped vocals. I’m not sure how this record will go with repeated listens but as it stands now I’ll definitely be shelling out for a ticket when they tour again.

Howard's musical tastes

Got this in a forward:

yay

I found new Radiohead songs...

and they're awesome!

V festival roundup

Hells yeah! It was a great little festival, with above average toilet and eating facilities along with the usual slew of bars, atms and market stalls.

Of course the amnemnities are all well and good but in the end it's all about the music:

The New York Dolls: Old rockers rocking on, quite amusing to watch really.

The Rapture: Great! They played a really nice danceable set- and i can't disapprove of any band which has a sax.

Jarvis Cocker: I really liked the half of his set i saw, he was a funny old brit who had some great songs to play.

Beck: I expected him to just stick to his last two albums but he actually performed a fair amount of old stuff, from the hits ike Loser and Devils Haircut to stuff from Seachange. I'll admit at first i was a bit disappointed but as the set went on it kept getting better, his backing band was awesome. He had the ultimate rocker looking base player- all dylan-esque and dressed in head to toe in leather. Then there was the guy who's whole job was to dance around the stage and perform various odd tasks- like putting a series of larger and large boom boxes at the front of the stage, or serving food to the band when they set up a table to eat while beck soloed the seachange material. Of course in true Beck style the table was hooked up to a mic and the band started playing tunes with the cutlery. Then there were the puppets, oh the glorious puppets...

Pet Shop Boys: Odd and weird, and not really that exiting to watch.

Pixies: Ah so good, they played great but having seen them the night before i already knew what to expect. They pretty much did the exact same set with some of the more feedback filled tunes cut out.

Kneel before King Richard!

Man, this V festival thing looks cool, a great step in Richard Branson's plans for world domination:

Fairly dancy line up but a lot of good acts in there, now if we could just have the Bumblebeez assassinated by march...

March 31, Centennial Park

Pixies

Pet Shop Boys

Groove Armada

Gnarls Barkley

Soulwax - Nite Versions

2manydjs

The Rapture

Phoenix

Softlightes

Bumblebeez

Mercy Arms

The Temper Trap

Tickets are about $130, steep but that is the price of big name festivals these days
V Festival site

I wonder if i could convince Virgin to pay me for the free advertising, i penetrate an important market of about 4 twenty something year olds and my mother.

Yann Tiersen

Thursday night Yann Tiersen put on a good show at the metro, it wasn't really what i expected but still pretty cool. With his Amelie and Goodbye Lenin soundtrack work i expected more accordion and piano stuff, but he only took out the accordion once! Most of it was french rock, epically styled with the use of a lot of echo. It was good but after a while most of the rock stuff was a bit samey, the violin stuff on the other hand was fantastic. Afterwards we had a long, long wait for the night ride bus and encounters with many horny drunk teenagers , one anal bus driver and one angry busy driver.

I've got some shots from before:






















and during:

My Happy Playlist

1) Elliott Smith - Coast to Coast
2) Stan Bush - Dare
3) The Postal Service - Such Great Heights
4) The Chemical Brothers - The Sunshine Underground
5) Yeah Yeah Yeah's - Gold Lion
6) The New Pornographers - The Bleeding Heart Show
7) Keane - Is It Any Wonder
8) Lighthouse Family - Forever
9) New Order - The Perfect Kiss
10) The Hidden Cameras - Awoo
11) The Red Paintings - Pickles
12) The Arcade Fire - Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)
13) Sigur Ross - Hippipola
14) Sigur Ross - Meo Blodnasir

Thoughts:

The Sunshine Underground: It just sends shivers up my spine, at that bit just before it peaks i get a funny feeling behind my ears.
Dare: After listening to this you will realise that inspirational synth rock truly did peak in 1984.
Gold Lion: Is this really a happy song or just an awesome one?
The Bleeding Heart Show: Probably one of the happiest songs i've ever heard, best example of how to build up a song that i can think of. By the end i feel like gathering a group of people together so we can dance in a circle with our hand held up high.
The Perfect Kiss: Awe-inspiring synths and some amusing lyrics. The original 8min version even has synth sheep AND frogs.
Pickles: I love violins.
Meo Blodnasir: I think perhaps my favourite song of theirs but it really has to be played after Hippipola, it works so well coming out of the silence at the end of that song.