Showing all posts from December, 2007

2007 in lists

top ten mp3s most listened to according to last.fm

1. paul mccartney – letting go
2. cornelius – omstart
3. bachelorette – a lifetime
4. pikelet – bug-in-mouth
5. solo andata – a ballet of hands
6. phillip glass and david bowie – heroes (aphex twin mix)
7. j dilla jay dee – stop
8. the knife – silent shout
9. steely dan – king of the world
10. inxs – burn for you

top five obsessions

- paul mccartney (wings-era and mccartney ii)
- late 70s / early 80s soft rock
- last.fm
- that dodgy theremin synth sound from ableton that appears on nearly every new faux pas track/remix created in 2007
- dungeons and dragons

top 15 good times and great classic hits

10cc - the things we do for love
christopher cross - ride like the wind
fleetwood mac - big love
foreigner - urgent
icehouse - cant help myself
loverboy - turn me loose
michael jackson - human nature
michael mcdonald - i keep forgettin
prince - i would die for you
robert palmer - looking for clues
simple minds - promised you a miracle
steely dan - rikki dont lose that number
suzi quatro - primitive love
toto - i’ll supply the love
wings - band on the run

top two late night infomercials

- the midnight special
- the soft rock collection

bottom two late night infomercials

- proactiv
- that thing with the ball and nick lachey

top five unlikely places i went to in 2007

- japan
- living in country victoria for three months (the coastal town flooded on my birthday)
- walking around perth in the wee hours of a saturday morning with a microphone wearing a cardboard andrew g mask
- to and fro on rrr program grid
- triple j rotation

top ten albums that won’t be appearing in my top ten list. sorry

- justice
- midnight juggernauts
- animal collective
- panda bear
- lcd soundsystem
- burial
- italians do it better
- battles
- caribou
- m.i.a

everyone liked the same albums this year, which i found boring (the homogeneity, not the albums)… most of the albums this year everyone thought were amazing, i thought were simply great or even just good… to be honest about half of these i haven’t even listened to i’ve been so put off by the hype

top one prevalent over-arching musical trend, as has always been and always will be

- recycling

my top ten overseas

1. black moth super rainbow - dandelion gum
2. the field - from here we go sublime
3. bachelorette - isolation loops
4. oh astro - champions of wonder
5. skeletons & the kings of all cities - lucas
6. james blackshaw - the cloud of unknowing
7. yeasayer - all hour cymbals
8. disasteradio - visions
9. antibalas - security
10. paper - as as

seven more albums i liked from overseas

artanker convoy - cozy endings
bruce haack - the electric lucifer
folk is not a four letter word vol 2
pantha du prince - this bliss
principles of geometry - lazare
tele & the ghost of our lord - beach party blast/quasi immaculate deception
tussle - telescope mind

top three life-changing live shows

- andrew wk at meredith
- andrew wk at meredith
- andrew wk at meredith

top two most misjudged albums

architecture in helsinki - places like this
air - pocket symphony

favourite australians, alphabetically

aih
aleks and the ramps
always
brothersister label
cleptoclectics
curse ov dialect
devastations
nick huggins
pikelet
pretty boy crossover
roam the hello clouds
solo andata
zeal

top three rediscoveries from past headspaces

metallica - ride the lightning
simian (pre mobile disco)
the alan parsons project

new years resolutions

- learn to play ‘big love’ on acoustic guitar
- build a kingdom in that house on the hill
- figure out whether i like space/beardy/italo-disco or not
- become more inaccessible and change my name to ‘major cartologist’ in a cynical move to endear myself to the avant garde hipster set and too-knowing trendoid blogopshere
- become more accessible and buy myself over-sized novelty sunglasses in a cynical move to endear myself to the so-uncool-its-cool indie-disco doorlist jagermeister set
- become more drunk, buy myself tight leather pants, and vomit and/or bleed during live performance and also just general conversation in a cynical move to endear myself to the great unwashed melbourne dont-know-why-i-do-but-i-love-dirty-rock-despite-being-an-accountant massive
- become more theatrical in my descriptions of my character’s movements and give away magic items from my backpack in a cynical move to endear myself to the other PCs in my party
- become more cynical in a cynical attempt to endear myself to you

2008 anticipations

- ween touring australia in march
- new album from max tundra… i hope…?
- jason forrest band tours melbourne (cmon jason, DO IT)
- hot chip
- 19 debut albums by joh-un
- debut of faux pas live show (one man on stage in pyjamas sobbing uncontrollably into a microphone - think the famed commanding onstage presence of nick drake combined with the charisma of daryl somers and the musical talent of a pigeon with one leg and no ears)
- not one but two new faux pas albums

time spent writing these totally well thought out and meaningful end of year lists

- 20 mins

more top top lists:

- amazing, inspiring and obscure top 50 with mp3s, from rad turkish blog undomondo.com
- great folk-flavoured top lists at moteldemoka.com
- cool hipster disco lists at alainfinkielkrautrock
- local acts including always, francis plagne, geoff o’connor (and me) posting lists at rosequartz.blogspot.com

silver bells

merry christmas

MP3: Stevie Wonder - Silver Bells

santa claus has got the aids this year

misguided aids awareness song? subversive confrontational comedy? heart-warming, heart-wrenching melancholy? all of the above…

MP3: Tiny Tim - Santa Claus Has Got The AIDS This Year

santa doesn’t cop out on dope

has he ever even tried it? well you know the answer’s nope

MP3: Martin Mull - Santa Doesn’t Cop Out On Dope

merry christmas

unbridled joy and enthusiasm for the festive season, in the mix

MP3: Wesley Willis - Merry Christmas

narcissism update

a lot happening at the moment in the world of faux pas. forgive me while i wrap a few things up, for those of you playing along at home.

- - - -

blink and you’ll miss it - my “changes” ep has been a featured release over at the itunes store for the last week. the itunes release of “changes” includes a bonus exclusive remix by cleptoclectics called “live shine see” - its currently the only place you can get it! my other two releases “faux feels” from 2005 and “entropy begins at home” from 2006 are now also available at itunes worldwide. clickity click

- - - -

a couple of weeks ago i was lucky enough to join declan kelly on his RRR show “against the arctic” here in melbourne, where he kindly let me take over the show for 40 minutes or so and treat the city to some lazy sunday electronica. i took the opportunity to just play some of my all time favourite tracks, and it was lovely. we also chatted a bit about “stuff.” the show can be downloaded here.

tonight tune in to 106.7 pbs fm in melbourne after 8 pm, when i’ll be joining bevin on the blend for a chat. pbs streams online - and you can also listen to the show at any time after its aired on demand. clickyy clickty

every week, with my friend dave, i present a show on 102.7 rrr fm. its called “ to and fro.” also, in case i forget to mention it later, i’ll be doing a special christmas set on rrr from 10pm to 2am christmas night, pulling out all my favourite christmas novelty tracks. yep i’ve got four hours of them. tune in if you haven’t already gone to bed, bloated and contented. its 102.7 fm if you are in melbourne, or you can stream it online here.

- - - -

a big massive thanks to all of the wonderful people in radio who are supporting my new EP - rrr, pbs, fbi, 2ser, 4zzz, rtr - i’ve had the good fortune to talk to and meet many of the awesome volunteer broadcasters that do great work at these stations, and i can safely say that they are all of them, without exception, hot stuff. at the risk of sounding obnoxious, self-serving and lame - lets face it, i was already at that point long ago - people like me simply would not be able to make music and get it heard without independent radio. community radio stations remain the backbone of the awkward hunky vertebrate that is independent music.

also.. thanks to all my friends and family who have sent me excited sms messages about how they are hearing my songs on triple j. woo!

- - - -

coming up this wednesday night, again in melbourne town, are four great bands playing at bar open on brunswick st in fitzroy. the line-up includes: anonymeye (avant-guitar laptop soundscapes), joel saunders (party-beat synth freak-folk), pretty boy crossover (makers of one of the best local electronic releases of the year), and - zeal, the man behind “yumi and the sky,” as remixed on my changes ep. i’ll be there spinning tunes between the bands. its free! come on down and say hi.

find out more at this ghastly internet forum.

hot & cold - two palmers

there are two kinds of palmers.
some like it cold:

some like it hot:

how hot is the guitar work in this track! and also, i think robert palmer may actually have been some kind of genius. if only we could somehow erase the whole “simply irresistible” era from palmer’s legacy. and also, how cool is it to play moogs in stadiums

thanks ‘the stabb’

current listening

so much great stuff i have just gotten to hearing. wow.
lets get into it.

principles of geometry have a full length out on tigersushi. apparently their album has been censored on itunes. because it has boobies on it. this mix they did for website allez-allez is possibly the best mix i’ve heard in ever. “their upcoming album on tigersushi ‘lazare’ is an ambitious album synthesis of decades of electronic music incorporating influences like john carpenter, terry riley, wendy carlos and the aphex twin. this hour long mix gives an idea of the sounds that have influenced them. put simply it is stunning.” allez-allez.co.uk

uncovering burial's secret identity

burial is so hot right now.

MP3: Burial - Archangel (Leif remix)
picture of leif | myspace of leif

this clip from wellington NZ’s disasteradio is guaranteed to make you feel awesome, but the coolest thing about his brand new album visions is not necessarily the andrew wk meets moroder pick-me-up power pop songs, but the hot fairlight/commodore 64 instrumentals! check this out!

MP3: Disasteradio - Stairdancer

buy the album visions on mp3 format here. do it now, you fools!

(artwork by cailan burns, member of pretty boy crossover)

these tracks you’ll have to track down your bad selves. please do.

Pretty Boy Crossover - A Different Handwriting myspace
Paper - Mountain myspace
Joakim - Rocket Pearl myspace
Harmonic 313 - Arc Light myspace

TOO MUCH GREAT MUSIC! MUSIC IS THE BEAST THING EVER HEY GERARD

faux pas on the sound lab / cleptoclectics remix

last night i entered the tardis…
to chat with fenella kernebone on her show the sound lab on triple j radio.

we talked about my new ep “changes” and played a few tracks from it, including a brand new remix by cleptoclectics!

MP3: Faux Pas on the Sound Lab

this is the only place where you can hear the brand new cleptoclectics remix of one of my unreleased tracks “live shine see”. its pretty cool, although triple j’s audio streaming quality isn’t great. just wait til you hear it at full quality! but don’t be kvetching like a hommus, brother. the remix will be released on december 12 as the exclusive bonus track on the itunes release of the “changes” ep. hold up, magneto and titanium man! solid!!

i’ve edited out the other tracks we played and just left the talking, because i love the sound of my own voice - but you can stream my music at better quality at last.fm or myspace, so go there if you’d rather hear just the actual music. aside from the clepto remix, the tracks featured during the interview are all available on the standard shiny disc in cardboard wallet version of the “changes” ep.

more on cleptoclectics soon - tom and i are currently involved in some kind of self-congratulatory repeating blogger back-slapping feedback loop, and its my turn to say nice things about him. he recently called me an “internet juice mongering dynamo”. ha! i’ve always considered myself more of a crimson dynamo…

now here is a picture of me and my wife juliette upon first hearing the cleptoclectics remix of “live shine see!” see how despite a few hours on the hippie lettuce i’m still mildly shocked by its awesomeness! marvel at my darling wife as she allows herself a knowing grin, despite still entertaining suicidal thoughts following a disastrous hairdresser situation!