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Music

Can We Talk | New Music

by Amber on March 13, 2010

Last night I saw Wellington band Can We Talk play; they had won a competition to support The Mint Chicks with their cover of ‘Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!‘. While the Mint Chicks’ performance went somewhat astray, Can We Talk were really good. Like, super good. At the end of their set they kindly handed out copies of their EP to people in the crowd. This morning, faced with a 1.5 hour drive into the countryside, I popped it on in the car and listened to it.

Their sound is soothing folk-pop; made with keys, guitar, drums and a mandolin. I really like the girl-boy vocal play – especially on the song ‘New Season‘. It reminds me a little of early Los Campesinos! and Architecture in Helsinki. All in all, a fun, uplifting, toe-tappy sound that’s worth checking out. I’m looking forward to hearing more from Can We Talk.

Can We Talk playing at Bacco (picture swiped off their myspace).

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It’s (Not) All About The Music | What To Wear To A Festival

by Amber on February 18, 2010

Tomorrow I’m off with friends to Splore – a three day music festival where we’ll camp, dance and make like merry hippies. Hence I thought now is the perfect occasion to talk a little about what I’ve found works and what doesn’t when it comes to executing a fabulous festival outfit. After a lot of oh-so-tedious (not!) research at a multitude of concerts and gigs, I think I’ve got the basics down.

My picks for love a festival in a cold climate – it’s all about layers and balance (look good, keep warm):

- A simple merino wool dress will keep things looking cute; and whip away any moisture if you get damp. Merino is also notable for its “breath-ability” – it acts as a second skin with temperature control. Perfect for changing environments and crowd density.

- All the rest are just layers – a scarf to wrap on and off, a cloak or a gilet to loose yourself in (I am so partial to faux-fur right now), stockings, chunky motorcycle boots etc etc. You know the drill!

- I like the idea of fingerless gloves – they let you easily nip into your bag and grab things… It’s good to be dexterous!

- A clutch with a strap is also useful. Ever tried to get into a bag that’s hanging off a arm encased in a coat? Well, if you’re anything like me you’ll find coats hinder all movement. A clutch on a strap keeps things where you can see it, and makes for easy access.

This is my fail-proof uniform for an outdoor love-hippies-at-one-with-nature event, a la Splore*:

- Covered shoes (preferably sneakers with thick soles) to protect my feet from the elements.

- Dark shorts – there might be a lot of sitting on dusty/grassy ground, so keep the colour dark to avoid stains. The short option keeps you looking ladylike – I’ve seen it a million times – a girl sitting on a hill in a skirt, flashing the world. Don’t be that gal.

- This is the place where you can afford to have jangly, pretty jewellery – as hopefully there will be enough space for you all to wiggle to the music in peace – and therefore not rip any one’s skin to pieces with your accessories. Bon.

- An analog camera. Keeping it organic.

- A satchel big enough to carry all my junk while I’m away from camp.

- A big ass sun hat to keep your neck and face happy. Don’t forget to put SPF everywhere else though, including the backs of your hands!

* That is Laza sitting on the Tree Of Life at Splore 2008. I am conveniently standing behind the outfit.

For an inner city summer stomp think of the Girl Scout motto – “Be Prepared” – for any weather, any crowd:

- This is the place where you can afford to wear cute shoes. The ground will usually be paved so you can survive with a little heel, or some wedges. Want something strappy but tough? Try a Roman sandal, like you used to wear at school, they take a lot of punishment!

- I am a massive fan of the onsie – they’re playful, look good and you only have to make a single decision. Just make sure it isn’t too hard to slip in and out of when you pay a visit to the port-a-loo. Also, choose a playsuit made out of cotton rather than your fancy Karen Walker silk one if you’re worried about festival damage.

- Nylon raincoats scrunch up to fit in even the smallest bag. Bring your own if you don’t want to end up wearing a cheapie poncho, or worse – a garbage bag! I adore my Moochi raincoat.

- Packed festivals are no places to party with a digital camera (especially a DSLR). Unless you’ve got a tether and hella good protection, go disposable! If it gets lost in the fray, no worries. Diamante encrusted throwaway anyone?

And in brief…

BAD: Silk play suits, jeans, complicated wraps, bulky handbags, mega expensive/cherished garments, delicate accessories, pastels (careful careful), flashing the world.

GOOD: Sundresses, cotton stretch onesies, small satchels, disposable cameras, skin protection, merino wool, flexibility, deodorant, layers, cardigans (tie them round your waist, make a turban, whatever!), happy attitudes, good friends.

Agree? Disagree? Do you have a fail safe festival costume you rock every time, perhaps experiment depending on the event, or do you always show up in the same thing you usually wear out?

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6 Albums Recently On Repeat

by Amber on February 14, 2010

These are a few of the recently released albums that have been punctuating my days of late. Design observation: it’s funny how many of them (and other new releases) feature head shots… of sorts. The profile pic is back.

OneLifeStand

Hot Chip: One Life Stand. My favourite electro-pop band from London has finally released a fourth album! A fun fact I recently learnt – the boys from Hot Chip went to the same  school in Wandsworth that produced Burial and newcomers The Xx. Favourite songs thus far include Thieves In The Night, Alley Cats and the title track One Life Stand. Pleasingly the vocal quality has drastically improved since the days of Over and Over in 2006. Not that they were bad then, but Alexis and Joe now seem to have a lot more control over their chords.

ExquisiteCorpse

Warpaint: Exquisite Corpse. I do love an all girl experimental-art-rock band! Hailing from Los Angeles, Warpaint ticks most of these boxes; with Jenny Lindberg on bass and vocals, Emily Kokal on vocals and guitar, Theresa Wayman rocking the vocals, guitar and keys, and Josh “Jocelyn” Klinghoffer on drums.  There’s only 5 songs on the Exquisite Corpse EP and they are all stellar, but my favourite is Billie Holiday. It’s a sweet, quiet song and the name of our heroine is chanted letter by letter.

Contra

Vampire Weekend: Contra. NYMag cleverly suggested “Now your little cousins may very well be rocking “Horchata” while they’re tacking up their Taylor Lautner posters” – indeed Vampire Weekend are doing well for themselves in the ‘mainstream’. They deserve it. Contra is a slick album, with more calypso and sharper lyrics. My picks: Horchata, Cousins and California English: “Blasted from a disconnected light switch / Through the condo that they’ll never finish
Bounced across a Saudi satellite dish / And through your brain to California English”.

DeadMansBones

Dead Man’s Bones: Dead Man’s Bones. We know Ryan Gosling is a hot piece. Turns out he is an accomplished musician as well. With his best friend Zach Shields, they have released a concept album under the name Dead Man’s Bones. The single Pa-Pa-Power seems to be permanently playing in my house. Often I see children’s choirs as gimmicky but on this record, it really works with the spooky pseudo “Halloween soundtrack” theme.

IRM

Charlotte Gainsbourg: IRM. IRM is Charlotte’s third studio album. The daughter of Serge and Jane Birkin released her first album in 1986 and the second in 2006 – a long time between records. 2010’s IRM was produced by Beck, and he duets on a couple of songs, including the lovely  Heaven Can Wait. My other favourites are Master’s Hands and Time Of The Assassins – but the whole album is rather nice – you can imagine it as the soundtrack to a bildungsroman film set in the outskirts of Paris shot in cracked, flaking 16mm. Or something.

Odd Blood

Yeasayer: Odd Blood. Yeasayer’s sophomore offering is a gem. Could this be another Merriweather Post Pavilion – the best album of the year, released at the first breath of the calendar? ALL THE SONGS ARE BRILLIANT. I’m looking forward to sampling a few remixes – so far enjoying Ambling Alp (The Very Best ‘Mulomo’ Remix).

dot

What have you guys been cranking on the stereo of late? Feed me new noises please!

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Viewfinder: When I Grow Up

by Amber on February 12, 2010

Burning question: Who do you want to be when you grow up? Fever Ray, Shirley Manson and the Pussy Cat Dolls all have uh, different dreams. I think when I grow up I totally want to writhe on some scaffolding, wearing combat boots. Possibly looking like Fever Ray.

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Hi, How Are You. Let’s Play A Game.

by Amber on February 7, 2010

Daniel Johnston’s recent outing at the fantastic Laneway festival reminded me of a little something I saw at the end of last year.

Hi, How Are You

It’s hard to believe at first, but in our iPhone obsessed world there is even an app dedicated to the music and art of Johnston. It’s entitled, ‘Hi, How Are You‘; and suprisingly is not just a vanity project, but a well thought out puzzle game that is pretty fun to play!

Swirl

Hi, How Are You the game features classic Johnston characters like  Joe Boxer and Jeremiah the Innocent; the stalk-eyed-froggy-creature who is famously depicted on a mural in Austin, Texas, Johnston’s adopted home. The game focuses on a couple of motifs common to Johnston’s work – fighting the evils of the outside world, and searching for the girl of  his dreams through that quagmire.

The game itself was created by two Austin based developers and costs around US$0.99 (or a more splashy NZ$4.50)  – it’s an affordable, fun experience for any technologically endowed Daniel Johnston fan.

See also: Daniel Johnston’s official site | App Advice’s full review of the game

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The Laneway Festival and The Ana{b}log

by Amber on February 4, 2010

The event:

The first Auckland Laneway Festival (an offshoot of the St. Jerome’s tour) was held on Monday. Acts like Dear Times Waste, The 3D’s, Cut Off Your Hands, Daniel Johnston and Sarah Blasko took to alternating stages in the heart of the city, and performed their little hearts out.

Crowd

Acts of the day? The Xx – never seen a skivvy look that sexy … and that Florence woman. She was amazing, yelling about the weather, shimmying and throwing out such a powerful voice from her tiny frame. I think 5000 people fell in love with her at the same moment..

Rayban count 36% down this year

The blog:

The Ana{b}log was a public blog created on site on a large-scale blackboard. We (2 writers, 2 scribes) updated it constantly through the 12 hour day. There was a lot of chalk snapping and laughter. Content was of the highest quality – reviews, interviews, news and gossip.

Using the chalk dust to do the Melbourne Shuffle

The Ana{b}log is a spectacle, an antidote to the same-same expectations of Web 2.0 – a genuine conversation with kids on the street. That was my favourite part of the day (aside from the bands) – watching people engage with the board, pick up a stubby piece of chalk in their hands and add to it. Or if they weren’t sure of it, they’d come have a chat!

The Ana{b}log is but a fleeting moment in time… a record that is subject to the elements – the wind, the rain and 15-year-old boys writing naughty words about their anatomy.

ana{b}log

Above is a picture I snapped of Tana and Brock hard at work, to the left is the “Twitter” feed. Below is what we deemed as quote of the day – a truly wide ranging vox pop on how people were finding the day thus far garnered this answer:

"Good"

It was a great day and topics spanned from a review of the waffle caravan to festival tips (plastic bags make a good poncho) and Fashion Pit – our hourly fashion assessment. Florals reached saturation point, Raybans were 36% down.

For more photos check out the digital version of the Ana{b}log. Thanks to the shockingly talented Tana Mitchell and  Red Bull for making this happen!

Thanks RedBull!

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Viewfinder: Laneways Edition

by Amber on January 29, 2010

On Monday the inaugural Auckland Laneways festival is taking place in the city! Exciting! It might not be a sassy wee alley like St Jerome’s but Britomart will be rocking I’m sure. Here are a few videos I’ve pulled up in the last couple of days – bands I am gagging to hear live.

Black Lips – Bad Kids

The Black Lips live show is meant to be pretty badass – I’ve heard reports of band members pashing, vomiting and getting raucous on stage. Will they show Auckland a naughty time?

The xx – Crystalised

SEXY VOICES. Can they pull it off live? And will they duet with Florence?

Echo & The Bunnymen – The Killing Moon

Echo doesn’t want me to embed his 80’s gold, but here’s a link to the video anyway. The next video is very reminiscent of The Killing Moon aesthetic:

Florence and the Machine – You’ve Got The Love

Nearly a year ago I blogged about F&TM and now she’s playing here! Felicity commented on that post, and yay, you get to see her on Monday.

The Naked And Famous – All Of This

LOVE. All of this.

St. JeromeI’m working on the day as a writerly type person so say come say HI! - I’ll be lurking around a giant blackboard for Red Bull. (I would love to interview some people and get their thoughts on how the day is going!)

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Viewfinder: The Books

by Amber on January 22, 2010

I saw The Books play in Wellington on Tuesday night, as part of a double billing with Glaswegian heart breakers Camera Obscura. The Books are Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong; and they make what they describe as “collage music” – a pastiche of found sounds and original folk melodies.

Books

Samples are sourced from thrift store cassettes, home videos, and things like “the voice recorder from Home Alone 2″.  They don’t use a drum kit for their percussion, preferring children’s toys and filing cabinets, which are sampled and looped.

“And the library keeps swelling, especially when Zammuto and de Jong are on the road. Trolling Salvation Army and Goodwill stores in the towns they encounter on tour, they’re particular about what they’ll buy; they’re partial to old instructional videos for products that don’t exist anymore.” [The Boston Globe]

I really enjoyed the gig, and while some may see the mash-up and looping approach as juvenile and too accessible, I found it quite fresh; especially when accompanied by the most glorious instrument of them all – the cello. Here are a few of The Book’s entwined songs and videos:

Be Good To Them Always:

An Owl With Knees:

Take Time:

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Rhythm and Vines 2009

by Amber on January 7, 2010

Rhythm and Vines 2009… or What I Did For My (continuing) Summer Vacation. R&V, as it is ever so fondly known, is a 3 day music festival set amongst rolling hills and the  green vines of the Waiohika Estate vineyard.

Small town NZ

It’s a 6.5 hour drive from Auckland to sunny Gisborne (first place in the world to see the sun every day), which Duncan and I did at pace. The beautiful mural photo is from tiny town in-the-middle-of-nowhere that we stopped at.

Gisborne - Main Street

Jester

In Gisborne we met up with the Wellington crew – Felicity, Jo and Thomas -  at our 5-star villa accommodation (complete with friendly cats and vege garden). Each day saw us skip merrily towards town, a mere 15 minute walk away from the house, and catch a bus out to the festival.

The Bus

R&V

Once at the festival it was all on – a magical vine smothered playground that was ours to explore. In order of awesomeness: the Vines Stage, the Cellar Stage, the dubby Vital Sounds at the end of the Avenue and the Rhythm Stage. Oh and bus converted into a stage.

vines

cellar

magic cloud

My favourite act of the festival was Major Lazer; who cranked it with Diplo, dancers and Skerrit Bwoy . Swigging cider + mad tunes = dancing out of control. Pon de Floor was THE song of the festival, I can’t count how many times it started winding in other people’s playlists. Here’s the video – kinda NSFW, similarly not safe for breakfast viewing with your parents, but I digress.

cider

I also loved Fake Blood! His set in the forest was definitely the highlight of Day 2 for me.”I Think I Like It” should be on your iPod now. Sad bit of day 2: I was super excited for LCD Sound System, however it was billed as a “Special Disco “. Despite my high hopes it turned out to be  Too Much Disco and a super traditional sound.

Fake Blood

Thanks Security guard!

The purchases of the festival included a Tiger hoodie and sweater respectively for Thomas and I, some mean glasses for Flick & I. Also of note was a free poncho (negotiated from $5 to nothing, score), and nommy samosas with chutney. We paid for VIP upgrades which was pretty good – a place to chill out away from the crowds and a free bottle of champgane. Let’s just say I can’t bear the thought of drinking any ever again.

Tiger Sweater

sunset

All in all it was an awesome week and I was very content as I flew back to Auckland (master move for you there kids).  The penultimate question… Will I go again next year? Well, it depends on the line up. A decent international on NYE would go a long way… But the fireworks, weather and people were amazing.

Above the clouds

PS. Here are my shoes. I bought them new, and this is what happens when you dance for 3 days straight. They survived pretty well actually – it was dry and dusty. If it had been raining, well that’d be another story.

festival shoes

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Kind Of Amazing | The New Moon Soundtrack

by Amber on December 18, 2009

You never thought you would see the world Twilight on Code For Something*, did you? Well today is a special occasion. I’ve found the music.

Holy Shit, it's the New Moon Soundtrack

Here’s a listing of for New Moon – The Soundtrack… It’s kind of amazing – as hard to believe as that is. Indie darlings Bon Iver and St Vincent!  Thom Yorke with a brand new song! Swedish hottie Lykke Li! Brooklyn babes geniuses Grizzly Bear!

  1. Death Cab For Cutie – “Meet Me On The Equinox”
  2. Band Of Skulls – “Friends”
  3. Thom Yorke – “Hearing Damage”
  4. Lykke Li – “Possibility”
  5. The Killers – “A White Demon Love Song”
  6. Anya Marina – “Satellite Heart”
  7. Muse – “I Belong To You (New Moon)”
  8. Bon Iver and St. Vincent – “Roslyn”
  9. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – “Done All Wrong”
  10. Hurricane Bells – “Monsters”
  11. Sea Wolf – “The Violet Hour”
  12. OK Go – “Shooting The Moon”
  13. Grizzly Bear – “Slow Life”
  14. Editors – “No Sound But The Wind”
  15. Alexandre Desplat – “New Moon (The Meadow)”

Go, download it (or stream the entire thing on Myspace) and listen. I think it’s rather lovely that  because of this, so many fantastic bands are going to get the mainstream popularity they deserve. It’d be an awesome album to play while opening presents under the tree.

*Unless I was making extremely disgusting jokes. Requests for these awful jokes will be taken in the comments section.

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Viewfinder: Animal Collective Collection

by Amber on December 12, 2009

Animal Collective played at Auckland’s Powerstation on Tuesday night. It was a great gig; here was no dithering around and chatting – just a constant wave of sound and light.

Animal Collective in Auckland

They layered songs from the albums and the new EP up over and around each other – stretching the new single, What Would I Want? Sky out for 25 minutes. In celebration of a lovely evening with friends, here’s a few AC videos.

They didn’t play Peacebone, so I have placated myself by watching the video ten times or so – it’s very romantic.

My Girls was the encore song! It was very blissful.

And to finish, Summertime Clothes - featuring the Brooklyn based FLEX dance crew.

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Christmas In The Heart | Holidays With Bob Dylan

by Amber on December 9, 2009

When I heard Bob Dylan had put out a Christmas album, my first thought was “This is a joke right…?”

And my second was “Had he covered the world’s most grating festive tune – Feliz Navidad?”

Christmas In The Heart

The answer to that is no. But there’s plenty of other classic carols to satisfy all your seasonal cravings.

Pitchfork describes it best: “When Bob Dylan– the patron saint of sneering, disaffected poets– announced he was releasing a collection of classic Christmas songs for charity, smirkers got smirkier: What, after all, is more absurd than a beloved iconoclast embracing the schmaltziest, most achingly commercial genre of all? It sounded insane. And it is insane, sort of.”

The idea of it is insane yes, but listen to it. Somehow pretend it’s not Dylan, more like a record from the dusty collection of your errant uncle and it all becomes okay. Plus it’s all going to charity. The perfect soundtrack to the Christmas joys of cuddling your lover and looking at lights. Preview the merry wee album at Bob Dylan’s site.

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Viewfinder: Lisa Mitchell

by Amber on November 27, 2009

Lisa Mitchell is an Australian singer-songwriter. I interviewed her in September and found her to be a super-charming girl – very down to earth. We had a nice chat over coffee about her new album, Wonder, playing festivals, and what she’d do if she wasn’t a singer-songwriter (something in design or maybe aid work). At the end of it all she yanked off her grape Melissa/Vivienne Westwood shoes at the café table and flourished them for my inspection. A real cutie.

Here’s three of her videos for your perusal. All were directed by Vanessa Casswill and have a sort of twee teacups and polaroids feel to them.

Coin Laundry:

Funnily enough when she performed at an industry showcase in Auckland, the venue was right next to a Laundromat. Coincidence?

Neopolitan Dreams:

Click here to watch the video (unfortunately the video autoplays, so not embedded) – it’s my favourite song on the album!

Neopolitan Dreams

Those of you in the UK may recognise the song from a Surf laundry ad on television.

Clean White Love:

The latest music video, which completely indulges me in all my English countryside fantasies – wellingtons, umbrellas and ponies.

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Mixtape In Motion

by Amber on October 26, 2009

Photography by Extra Medium

Do you ever look at other people wearing headphones on the bus, train or ferry and wonder what they’re listening to? I do, often. Especially the toe tapping, seat wiggling ones. It’s kind of like a silent disco – we are all moving through the same space, listening to a different tune.

One day (just a day) I dream of running my own art bus, where instead of paying fares, you pay in knowledge. Get on for free, just share your playlist. What are the people listening to?

Seriously, I’m fascinated. Do people listen to more upbeat music at 7.20 am in the morning, or on the way home? Are suits all secretly death metal heads? Does the woman who reminds you of your mother listen to Chopin like your father? Or there a bizarrely high percentage of racy romance audio-books?

At the end of the day we’d make a giant mixtape and give it to everyone. It’d be amazing and hopefully everyone would find a little some new to make their commutes sound sweeter. So, the question is, what do YOU listen to when you’re riding public transport? Let’s start work on the mixtape now!

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