Tuesday 9 August 2011

Soundwave Revolution Cancelled!

It’s been a bad week for music news. First the amazing Alexisonfire call it quits and now news has broken that the Soundwave Revolution festival has been cancelled!


There are a lot of rumours doing the rounds which suggest that headliners, Van Halen pulled out of Soundwave Rev and that festival organisers weren’t able to secure a suitable replacement in time.
 
According to promoter, AJ Maddah, a lot of the festival bands will still be coming to Australia to put on shows and multi-band mini festivals, details of which will be announced over the next week.
 
It is pretty disappointing that this festival has been cancelled…but honestly, I’m not that concerned because it was originally scheduled for the same day that I arrive here:


I’ll take New York over Van Halen any day of the week!

Monday 8 August 2011

Alexisonfire Split

Sad news. After a solid 10-year stint, post-hardcore group, Alexisonfire have called it quits. According to the band’s official statement, Dallas Green has decided to concentrate on his City and Colour project and guitarist, Wade MacNeil has also decided to focus his attention on a new project.


I’m a big Alexisonfire fan and was lucky enough to see them live twice. It’s really disappointing that they’ve called it quits as it seems that they were really on top of their game. Their last two albums, Crisis and Old Crows/Young Cardinals, were both fantastic and their live shows were incredibly tight.

Wednesday 3 August 2011

Mary Hits Brisbane

Remember when I said that I love musical theatre? Well, last week it was announced that the Australian production of Mary Poppins will be heading to Brisbane after its season in Sydney! How exciting!

The show, which recently won eight Helpmann Awards, opens at the Lyric Theatre, QPAC on the 5th of January, with tickets on sale from the 8th of August.

Yes, I’ve already seen it twice but don’t think that I’m not going to go again…because I am.

Tuesday 2 August 2011

Candy Apple Grey

I am currently obsessed with Husker Du’s 1986 album Candy Apple Grey. I started listening to Husker Du about seven years ago because a lot of my favourite bands cited them as their favourite band. I have a few of their albums but Candy Apple Grey is by far my favourite.


This album is a definite departure from Husker Du’s classic hardcore/punk sound and sees the band experiment with more melodic, almost emo styles of song writing.

Like their previous albums, Candy Apple Grey is still frenetic and angry, but is much broader and well-rounded than their other records. There are the fast-paced punchy punk songs peppered with resentment but then there are some really pared-back, beautifully solemn tracks.

As usual, Bob Mould and Grant Hart individually wrote tracks on the album and shared vocal duties. Both Bob and Grant’s vocals are fantastic, as are their lyrics. To me, stand out tracks include Don’t Want to Know If You Are Lonely (one of my all-time favourite songs), Eiffel Tower High and Sorry Somehow.

After a few listens, it’s easy to see how this album influenced bands like Soundgarden, Green Day and particularly Nirvana. Candy Apple Grey is full of angst, anger and alienation but is beautifully put together. It’s hard to ignore the similarities that exist between this record and Nirvana’s Nevermind.

Unfortunately, it’s a shallow and tinny recording which will put some people off, but to me, it adds to the atmosphere of the record.