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!

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.

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 5^th of January, with tickets on sale from the 8^th of August.

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

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.

Green Day v Recovery

Remember this post about the greatest Recovery moments? Well, after some clever YouTube-ing I found the amazing Green Day interview for your viewing pleasure.

The quality is awful, probably due to the fact that this clip was once taped on a VHS (I know! What is a VHS?), but it is hilarious. The band look tired and/or stoned and obviously think host, Dylan Lewis is a major tool.

I taped this when it first aired and watched it constantly...so much so that my VHS (ancient technology) actually broke from all the wear and tear! Oh, the memories. Oh, the perils of live television!

Pearl Jam Twenty

I cannot wait for this:

Being a big Pearl Jam fan, I am really, really keen to see this. Lots of interviews, lots of footage from the vault and its directed by Cameron Crowe! Sure old Cameron has directed some crap films (Vanilla Sky) but he's also directed some gems (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Almost Famous? Oh yes!).

The trailer is so great...it gave me goosebumps.

It says it's out in Fall 2011, which I guess means it'll be out between September and November this year.

New York, New York!

This isn't really related to music, but in two months, I'll be here:

I am insanely excited and am starting to count down the days already (58 days to go...if you're wondering).

I must be subconsciously working up to my trip because I've been listening to a hell of a lot of Ramones, Talking Heads, James Brown and old Frank Sinatra recently. Every time I listen to New York, New York I get way over-excited.  

I want to catch a band or two while I'm there. Primus and Portishead are both playing (as well as a stack of others that I wouldn't mind seeing), so we definitely have options, people.

Oh, please let the next two months fly by!

The Rumours Were True!

Remember this post about the heavily rumoured Harvest Festival? Well, the rumours were true! Full details of the festival were announced a couple of days ago, including the (really decent) lineup and the dates.

 

I'd love to see The Flaming Lips, Portishead, Bright Eyes and a couple of the other bands, but at $135 a ticket, it's pretty steep...particularly given all the other great festivals and gigs that have come our way recently.

 

Anyways, here are the details:

 

The Flaming Lips
Portishead
Bright Eyes
The National
Mercury Rev
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
Family Stone
Holy Fuck
Death In Vegas
The Walkmen
Dappled Cities
This Town Needs Guns
Foxy Shazam
PVT
The Holidays
Phosphorescent
Kormac’s Big Band


Saturday 12th November – Werribee Park, Melbourne
Sunday 13th November – Parramatta Park, Sydney
Saturday 19th November – Botanical Gardens, Brisbane

Welcome to Blah-town

You know how I said I was (with a great degree of trepidation and scepticism) excited about the new Blink 182 and Red Hot Chili Peppers' records? Well, within the last week or so, both bands released the first singles from their new albums. People, I was right to be sceptical because both singles are very much a trip to Blah-town.

Blink 182’s effort Up All Night sounds like a cross between singer, Tom De Longe’s side project, Angels & Airwaves and Blink’s 2003 self-titled album…which is not a good thing. Basically it’s boring and takes itself way too seriously. Not to mention that the intro sounds nothing like the Blink 182 that we know and love. I actually had to skip to the middle of the song to check that I’d downloaded the right thing! This song lacks the fun, the innuendo and the pop-punk party spirit that the old Blink 182 gave us in spades.

And the new Chili Peppers song, The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie (worst song title ever!), isn’t much better. It’s just…dull. Sure, it sounds like the Red Hot Chili Peppers but it doesn’t deliver the same punch and energy that a lot of their other singles have in the past. The lyrics and tempo are predictable, Anthony Kiedis’ vocals sound stale, and new guitarist, Josh Klinghoffer hasn’t brought anything exciting or innovative to the table. To me, the Chili Peppers have long been about musical innovation and the seamless mixing of genres but this song is just a big nap. We’ve heard it before and we’ve heard it done a lot better than this.

Will the records be better than the singles? Will there be some hidden gems that recapture the magic of these once great bands? We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess.

Men in Kilts

Hooray! Boston-Celtic punks, Dropkick Murphys are headed back to Australia!

It seems like just yesterday that they were here, playing in the torrential rains at the No Sleep Till festival. Despite the bloody awful weather (it was December, it was pouring nonstop, it was freezing), the Dropkicks played a great set full of Celtic punk favourites.

They are returning in October and are brining alt-country punks, Lucero with them. There will be bagpipes, accordions, kilts, possibly even a jig or two. And the Brisbane leg is at the Tivoli. Should be a grand evening all round!

19th October Tivoli Theatre, Brisbane

20th October Enmore Theatre, Sydney

21st October Panthers, Newcastle

22nd October Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide

23rd October Metro City, Perth

25th October Forum Theatre, Melbourne