Bad Habit!!

 
Ok .... everybody singalong:


She's a Naughty Girl with a
Bad Habit
Bad Habit for Drugs!!!

 

Ok ... whatevs australia!!

 Ok ... RIP AUS IDOL!!

 

Radiohead In Rainbows - my thoughts

OK  … In Rainbows

 
Firstly where’s the cover art biatches …. Surely they could have emailed that through along with the download link … or at least some information on who’s played what … and lyrics!!!

Anyhoo, Blow by Blow:

15 steps  .. lousy opener … same klattering percussion and biz-as-ush radiohead chord progressions … with his strangled yelp, its always a bit hard to hear what Thom is singing about … and the children’s shout outs at the end don’t really add anything to this … so moving along peops

 

Bodysnatchers … nice opening riffs …this should have been the opener I think … more strangled yelping from Thom. This sounds like early radiohead … Its actually a nice little rock-out in a fairly straightforward fashion …

 

Nude …. The album’s first slowey. Thom is developing a nice little vibrato on his falsetto. I am a little sick of this 6/8 time signature … but this is pleasant enough. There are some predictable but lovely chord resolutions. And the string like guitar passages help to flesh out the spare instrumentation on this track.

 

Weird Fishes/Arpeggi – ok triplets over a 4/4 beat …. This is typically radiohead … and a little passé …this is reminiscent of Thom’s solo effort Eraser … but the track does build up … which may seem obvious … but this is an experienced band … and its no mean feat … I suggest that you play this loud … and go with the cresecendoes …

 

All I need … ok midway through …. And this track makes me feel it … thankfully this is a short. I think this would work better live … lots of opportunities for Thom to emote … and lights to change … and the rest of the band rocks out till the finish.

 

Faust Arp …. Ok so far hands down my favourite track. Simple in execution … acoustic guitar and strings … almost beatlesque … but not quite. And best of all … it doesn’t outstay its welcome.

 

Reckoner … on first listen I felt I’ve been down this road so many times … but I think this will be the track that I will keep coming back to. I guess this makes sense … I liked the radiohead sound … which is why I Iove the band so much … and so why shouldn’t this radiohead-by-numbers track not appeal to me? My only real criticism of this track is that it just simply fades out … quite abruptly.

 

House of Cards – another mid-paced track … and it’s the most “happy” that I have heard Radiohead sound. There are no emotional peaks in the vocals … but the track is punctuated by swathes of synthesized sounds and distorted guitar passages that add a touch of nostalgia to this somehow … hard to explain but this is making me feel homesick … I do like it.

 

Jigsaw falling into place – this is pedestrian … not a lot I can say about this … but most likely the track that I will skip – there’s a pleasant enough key change towards the end … but not enough I’m afraid.

 

Videotape – phew! Last song … promising piano start. Nice off-kilter melody line … and curious but strangely addictive percussive riff playing underneath … and so it ends.

Another Radiohead release over and done with.

 

In summary, I don’t think this will win them any new fans … but I’m pretty sure that current fanbase will be happy enough with this release. On the plus side, I’m more likely to return to this album than I did Hail to the Thief … but I suspect that I will tire of this after a few listens like I did with Eraser. I guess we always hope for an Ok Computer or a KidA … but the band is getting older and a darnsight wealthier … but bowie still manages to pull it off … why can’t Thom and Co?? I think more effort has gone into the marketing (and peops lets pull the wool off our eyes … the pay what you want is a marketing strategy!!) of this than the music itself. Maybe they lived with these tracks for too long now … but it lacks the usual spark … maybe it’s the bit rate … maybe it’s the fact that I’m denied the physicality of a CD and the cover art and the credits … I have nothing to pour over and its left to the music in its entirety to move me … and so far so unmoved.

Radiohead Angst

Ok … Radiohead Angst!!! I have decided to order the Radiohead disc box online. I’m still not sure if I should do it now and risk not being here when the damn thing arrives, or wait until I get back from Singers. Oh this is too hard!! The digital download is available today. So I have bit the bullet and ordered that. I paid 5 GBP which I think is fair.

  

I can’t wait for the download now. I’m so distracted at work thinking about it. I even emailed the bloody customer service to ask their advice on delivery dates. But on the plus side, I have organized BDO tix … so I finally get to see Bjork live!! Hopefully Battles/LCD Soundsystem & Arcade Fire do not clash as they are the other 3 acts that I’m hanging to see. I can’t wait. I may even walk to the Showgrounds. I’ll have to be good and give the side shows a miss. I will be paying off my trip at that stage.

 

You know how I mentioned Spring in a previous post …. Well today is a stunner of a day. And having a long sleeve t-shirt over a short sleeve T is overdressed .,. that’s how nice it is. I think I should bring my camera to work soon and take some random snaps. There’s a piece of the library building sitiing on a parapet near the delivery entrance that has a hand carved on it. I sooo want to steal it for the garden … its times like these I wish I had a whizzbang mobile with a camera. Or at least one of those slimline sony cams. Knowing me by the time I get round to organizing this, it would have gone.

 

I’m writing this at work because the bloody system is down … and has been since 9.30am and its now 2 in the arvo. My work is piling up so it’s a little inconvenient. And I’m a bit snuffly so I hope I’m not getting M’s cold. So please cold go away!! I was sick at my last B’day too, and I’d really like to have a fun time this year.

Systems back on ... so its back to work peops!!!

Mr Britpop-lite ... cya Later!

Ok .. so I don’t want to keep waffling on about Aus Idol but Britpop night left me totally underwhelmed. But I did get choked up with Jacob getting booted out. He was so gracious when he sang Let it Be and shook everyone’s hand. Poignant really, a hymn to fatality or creativity .. depending on which side of the denominational fence you are. Yet again I ask … what the fuck is Carl still doing in this competition!!! 

Fave listens at the mo: PJ Harvey and Alice Smith

 

Oh and we saw Ratatouille … I think M got more out of it than I did, but it was a lot of fun … and I absolutely adore the Sun Cinema in Yarraville … in fact I adore Yarraville full stop … we had a yummy lunch at HausFrau … We shared a chicken and rocket focc and a sweet corn and parmesan muffin … really good coffees too!!

 

And I have to curb my clothes spending … damn you David Jones sale!!!! No more unnecessary purchasing until singers …. But I still lust after those Kenneth Cole calf length boots.

 

Spoke to Dad yesterday and heard that C sold his Aura Park flat as part of an en bloc sale!!!! (sorry yet another Singers reference)  I loved that place. Wish I had digital photos to upload … but the last time I took pics over there I was still entrenched in the dark ages of celluloid film. It was perfectly positioned and had such a great outlook and feel. Plus there were a few hot bods below … with their slutty sarong party (only Singaporeans would get this and then would say that its pot calling the kettle black … haha) girls … you know the ones … straight floppy hair, perfect tan … designer jewelry and shoes!! Oh I so always wanted to be one … HAHAHA! And who could forget those crazy nuns in the convent across the way … screaming with laughter one new year’s eve, and the middle-aged german frump who always seemed to take her cigga break on the balcony when I was frolicking in the pool …and the pebbled floor of the showers …and Mariah wafting through the common void from the apartment below …oh happy days.

 

I made myself depressed again by googling my old schoolmates … well the ones that I remember anyways … its too pathetic isn’t it. But to bolster my confidence, I wrote a song .. now if I can only remember where my fingers should be on the piano …… hehe.

 

(The sewing machine is a hydra louching over my pillow whilst I sleep …. The red zip and cardie pulsate in my dreams … and everywhere I see shorts, shorts and more shorts)

Ok I am back … just kinda freaked out about the whole sewing machine saga … and because I’ve got that Imogen Heap song stuck in my head .. it’s like a constant reminder …

 

“Hide and Seek

Trains and Sewing Machines”

 

 

You know what peops, I really don’t want to grow old … or rather I really don’t want to act old and be around old people (and I’m not talking age). People who are excited about new things and pop culture craziness!!! People who still like drinking and laughing at silly totally unconnected things. Oh well.

 

I’m going to stop rambling now. Sorry readers!!

The Zoo .... as promised

Ok the Zoo the Zoo, hate to be parochial, but Melbourne Zoo ain’t no patch on Singers … and for $23, I really want more bang (or growl, or snarl) for my buck. Don’t go after lunch … the animals have fed and are sleeping their meals off … which means that you need bloody ultraviolet to pick out the fauna among the flaura. It was a lovely sunny day … and it is something to do. There weren’t too many photo-ops I’m afraid, only because most of the animals were in hiding or in shadow. The elephant trail was pretty impressive … but it would be even better if you got there when the elephants were actually walking through. We got to see one soaking in the water playing with a log which was entertaining enough (god they’re huge!!) but the set up (sort of faux idonesian/thai village) reminded me of the Malay village in Singapore … which by the way is woeful ….don’t even waste your time!!!

Oh and some of the punters … lordy lordy!!! We weren’t sure whether we were meant to look at the baboons in the cage or out of the cage!!! As for the hyenas … they were pretty quiet …. But girlfriend over here was giving an excellent demonstration of how they would sound like when hunting in a pack … !!

Oh and far be it from me to critique other people’s dress sense, but honey, if you’re preggers and know that you’re going to be walking round the zoo with your skanky ass boyfriend … don’t wear white pvc, pointy, high heel boots … apart from being soooo last season … its just going to make you grumpy and you know what …. Ur preggers …. Ur well and truly boned … no one’s going to be worrying about the turn of your heel or how thin your ankles aren’t!! Put on those Diana Ferrari slip-ons and slop into some traky-daks. If you need to bling it up, as invariably your types do … stick a bloody juicy couture patch on and pretend you’re in LA LA!! (or should that read Vegas) Oh am I being too mean … I’m sorry but try-hard fashion is worse than clueless fashion.

Anyways, here are some piccies … got to love those meerkats .. wish I had a gaggle of them in my backyard. .. way too cute!!

  

Spring can really hang you up the most

Ok so Spring can really hang you up the most!!

Once I was a sentimental thing,
Threw my heart away each spring;
Now a spring romance hasnt got a chance
Promised my first dance to winter;
All Ive got to shows a splinter for my little fling!

Spring this year has got me feeling like a horse that never left the post;
I lie in my room staring up at the ceiling,
Spring can really hang you up the most!

Mornings kiss wakes trees and flowers,
And to them Id like to drink a toast;
I walk in the park just to kill the lonely hours,
Spring can really hang you up the most.

All afternoon those birds twitter tweet,
I know the tune, this is love, this is it!
Heard it before and I know the score,
And Ive decided that spring is a bore!

Love seemed sure around the new year,
Now its april, love is just a ghost;
Spring arrived on time, only what became of you, dear?
Spring can really hang you up the most!
Spring can really hang you up the most!

Spring is here, theres no mistaking
Robins building nests from coast to coast;
My heart tries to sing so they wont hear it breaking,
Spring can really hang you up the most!

College boys are writing sonnets,
In the tender passion theyre engrossed;
But Im on the shelf with last years easter bonnets,
Spring can really hang you up the most!

Love came my way, I hope it would last;
We had our day, now thats all in the past!
Spring came along a season of son,
Full of sweet promise but womething went wrong!

Doctors once prescribed a tonic,
Sulphur and moloasses was the dose;
Didnt help a bit, my condition must be chronic,
Spring can really hang you up the most!

All alone, the partys over,
Old man winter was a gracious host;
But when you keep praying for snow to hide the clover
Spring can really hang you up the most!

I love this song … it’s the perfect encapsulation of what bittersweet is. I never really fully appreciated the mood swings that the change of seasons bring until actually working full time in Melbourne. Winter gets really glum in the final weeks and getting out of bed in a cold weatherboard house is a challenge and a half. But all this turns around when you get that light summery smell in the air …. And mounds of tissues start piling up, not because everyone has taken to their beds with colds, but because there’s a marked increase of pollen in the air as flowers start getting frisky with the warmer weather.

There’s literally a Spring in my step during Spring. Everything seems a little crisper, sharper somehow. The way the outlines of buildings in the city seem to almost slice into the blue sky above. The way the sun is warm on your face, but the wind chill cuts through your thin jumper that you put on now just because it is no longer winter by the calendar. There’s also a sense of hope and promise, you may have misspent the past of youth, and the future seems to have flat lined … but today! today! in the sun, nothing seems worth complaining about.

The Magnolia tree flowering in our backyard  signals the start of Spring for us with its pinky white flowers that really don’t stay on the tree for very long … a light gust of wind is enough to send them propelling to a murky brown death on the lawn below. For some reason I always think about friends and what they mean to me. We’re lucky to have such a rich tapestry to draw from. We’ve culled the fly-by-nighters and fair-weather acquaintances. And what we’re left with is so richly rewarding in so many ways … friends with no expectations. I always jokingly say that I’m not looking for new friends, but there is truth in this. Why would I need more when I have so much already? 

But I also think of family … and can’t help but feel a small pang of loss for childhood. This is my adult life now, separate and in some ways so very solitary. I no longer hide underneath my mother’s voluminous sari. My father no longer teases me with funny noises as he tickles my sides. No more shared epicurean joys at the dinner table, laughing at Peter Sellers and his minky, my brother C does not sing Misty at the piano, Jonah doesn’t show me pictures from his Birds of Prey book or scare me with stories of devilled Dobermans prowling the jungles around our estate, I don’t hear Benji quietly singing Dan Fogelberg’s Longer while strumming his guitar, left ear gently resting against the polished wooden frame listening to the acoustic vibrations coming from within .. they’re not laughing at my obsession with Abba and dressing up in the angel’s costume from the church nativity play ….

 Aah …Spring! It can really hang you up the most.

I guess no one really likes Portuguese Tarts

Ok ... so no more Mark Da Costa!! Pity ... I did find him mildly interesting. Although he's one of those blokes that shouldn't do the spray on jeans look ... especially with the cuban heels ... I know its all MatRock (sorry its a singers reference) and everything ... heavy metal T and red cord flares .... hanging out at Peninsula Plaza in the 80s ... but it just didn't gel with him ... FUCKnHell peops why is Carl still in ... c'mon australia ... we seriously can't all be that boring?? This is a sad call to arms for integration!! They should have a taste test for immigration ... we have enough conservative vanilla munching religious bigots who are scared of the sky falling down on them every time they step out of their suburban boundaries and god forbid!! experience something beyond Channel 7, 9 and 10, the local takeaway and their nearest stepford mall ... are you interesting culturally by default, speak a LOTE, eat or better yet cook foreign food, then tick yes and c'mon in .... 

 

 

After last Sunday's idol performances, Ben has moved straight to the top of my list with a rocket!!! I can't get that Imogen Heap song out of my head now. I didn't realise that "85% of the youth" would know this song ... is it on some OC-lite show somewhere?? But anyhoos ... the original is particularly spectacular .. in that its all vocoder, multitracked and acapella ... sorta Laurie Anderson on prozac. Ben did a sterling job ... why no touchdown Mark .... and how the hell did Daniel get one??? Just coz he got a little emotional?? thats coz he knows that he really doesn't cut it in this competition ... rabbit in the headlights.

 

Oh and before I forget ... P, I'm not getting aggressive!!! Its always been this way honey.... and I've decided that you can pull off a one button Assin jacket ... and those THomas Cameron pants are hot!!! I soooo need to get there and get tailormade!! I found an Akira my size ... I tried it on and then walked away .... I am very proud of myself for doing that ... however I caved in with an AG top. Oh and Saba has SS sizes ... P ... I think they would fit you perfectly.

 

Ok back to Idol ... this week its Brit pop nite .... now its always tricky when they set these themes .... are we talking any british based pop? Or are we talking BritPop as  journospeak genre ... meaning Blur, Primal, Oasis, Pulp et al??? Who knows ... but I'm hanging to find out the songlist.

 

On a slightly less savoury note ... I have a question ... why do we have armpit hair ... what fucking purpose does it serve??? Answers on the back of a postcard!!

 

(oh and yes Zoo Pics in next entry ... r u excited??? well then more fool you!!)

 

((oh and Heroes is Back!!! Milo shirtless and handcuffed in shipping container ... ooh babeee!!!))

 

 

Another Canto-Pop Karaoke Singer Bites the Dust!!

Ok … so they’ve finally booted Lana out!! She was a car crash waiting to happen anyways. Bless her, she’s young and pretty … but we don’t need another canto-pop karaoke singer … for south-east Asians old enough to get this …. Tracy Huang anyone??!!! Need I say more.

Tarisai was in the bottom three not because black rnb (not Pop … RnB) singers have never been a major market in Australia, not because she is a new Australian with big hair, big lips and big hips but because this girl needs to let rip and stop pretending to be the modest daisy among the tulips … if you have attitude show attitude!!! Don’t cry and pretend to be “oh Lana is my roommate and bestie” when you clearly were uncomfortable when she reached across to give you a hug at the start … you only went in for the kill when the camera was fully on you … oh honey!!! We’ve soooo got your number!!!

 

I think that Ben and Matt still remain my favourites, although I really didn’t think that was a touchdown performance … gosh we are so being manipulated here … but whatevs!!!

 

Daniel continues to bore me …. I’m going to have to downgrade him from husband material to one night stand … ok maybe fuckbuddy … coz I can’t resist that chest and face. Mark da Costa is great … but just not my cup of tea … BUT who knows … if he gets rid of the metal riff histrionics … I may very well be surprised … as for Carl ………………………………….. oops sorry I must have dozed off. Where was I, oh Natalie … you know she’s bordering on a Cossima for me … great voice, great expression on her face, seems like a really nice girl … but I think her range stylwise is limited. She needs to do the quiet "girl at her keyboard" songs. I bet if she sang Joni Mitchell’s “River” or “A Case of You” we’d have waterworks.

 

Now I hope everyone is watching Damages with Glenn Close and Rose Bryne!!! FAN-FUCKIN-TASTIC!!! As long as it doesn’t fall into a turgid screenwriters black hole like LOST did, I’ll be watching it till the cows come home, get fed and then slaughtered for some nice rump steaks for the Barbie. It twists and turns and you never know who to trust … orgasmic!!

 

Oh and how the hell did I get sucked into “So you think you can dance” and whats more … how the hell did M get sucked in along with me????