because of my utter disappointment at the live 8 line up (dont get me started....dont...you'll regret it), i felt i need to a music extravaganza worthy of the "AID" family name. so while surfing the interweb a few week back, i saw that the WAVE AID dvd was about to be released.
In the aftermath of the Tsunami on boxing day, the australian community rallied to their neighbours to the north unlike anything i have ever seen. you can say what ever you want about the Aussies, but you cant say they dont have compassion and the ability to dig deep. they were by far and away the single largest contributor of funds per capita in the world. and to help, a bunch one of events were set up. there was a big tv show with some live music outside the opera house, there was an allstar cricket game at the MCG. but on the 29th of january, only one month after the disaster happened, the event that capped off the tsunami effort came to be. 50,000 people converged on the MCG cricket ground for a musical sceptical, the likes of which the country had never seen since some guy blew down a long hollow branch and said "WOW" . the bill was as follows
The Waifs-
Missy Higgins-i like her, shes upbeat, jazzy and a unique voice
Nick Cave-
Kasey Chambers-
Pete Murray- A cult following of hopeless romantics...altho he always looks in a bad mood
The Finn Brothers-
The Wrights- Can anyone say supergroup?
The John Butler Trio- Stole the show, musical amazing and excellent performers
Silverchair- Duh, special cus this was their first gig in over 2yrs
Powderfinger-reminds me of an updated skynard live. great music...and a harmonica
Midnight Oil-Royalty in Oz. Headlining and a sorta of reunion. i didnt know that much about them as they werent my generation.
Besides rolf and men at work, these are the biggest things in australian music. and as you can see, there are no pre manufactured pop acts in there...no backing dancers, no costume changes....all these guys were specifically chosen for the their impact on australian music and the fact that there music has some form of authenticity in such a humbling time. they didnt wont kylie telling people that she couldnt remove people from her head. they wanted MUSIC TO LIFT THE SOUL.
And yesterday my copy of the dvd arrived in the mail. i have only had time to scan the entire concert. but i was blown away by the john butler trio set. they player 5 songs (Peaches and Creams, Treat Your Mama, Hello, Betterman and Zebra). since i have been back from my travel, this band has slowly become probably my most listen to band...there is just something very earthy and natural, something very powerful about them. but i had never seen any live footage. so John Butler come out by himself and plays peaches and cream..and im not sure if it was the moment or if was actually on something but he was on another level. also i have never seen a band..a morden band that uses a double bass. but the JBT bassist is incredible. amazingly fast hands, and make some of the most incredible sounds. during one of the songs he gets a drum stick and just starts using it like a giant pic, getting a funky pop out of the bass. and then just as quickly he will pick up the bow and be "conventional". the flowed ..thats the best way to describe it.
They raised alot of music and it was pretty much organise by two managers, so very little record company pressure to put more radio friendly, or sponsorable acts on the bill, which i fear is the case at live 8. i shall be doing the WAVE AID DVD TOUR...so if im coming to location near you, ill let you borrow it as it would be great introduction to a number of bands you may not know.
No this is not a jack johnson post..altho that is a very good album, and i suggest all to purchase, steal, borrow it.
im not to sure what to write here. i feel compelled to write something but im not sure why. well first of all, im gonna enlighten you to a certain moment where i realised that im so thankful for my parents send me to private school.
well a few days ago at work, i was reading mikes website, and he had posted a piece about how the current strengthening of the patriot act in the states is very reminiscent to the McCarthyism witch trials of communist supports in the 50s. basically accusing anyone liberal of being a supporter of the enemy. arent you glad you live in a country where you guilty until proven innocent. anyway, i digress. i left a comment saying that the moment both politics and eng lit became appealing to me was when i realised that Arthur millers classic play "the crucible" was a direct indictment of these communist witch trials hidden in the backdrop of the salem witch trials of the 17century. well i couldn’t remember who wrote the crucible, so i turn around and ask a few co works...none of them had ever heard of it. well i wasnt going to pass judgement, its american history. then when i found out it was Miller...they were like "who?" now that is just plane ignorant. then when i was asking how to spell indictment, i had to explain what it ment to 3 co workers. so i say, mum and dad, thank you. if all i got out of private boarding school was an appreciate on for literature in society and a extremely high level of cynicism, i thank you!
moving on from this, i do have a certain haven of intellectual companions at work..i think its the combination of being highly medicated or old that makes them slightly more interesting to talk to. anyway we were talking about dreams. did you know that the average dream only last 10mins..that is to say brain activity and REM. now to me, that raises some startling ideas. we have all had dreams where you have played out days, even years in a single dream. but how is that possible in 10mins, how can all that information be surpesed into such small time scale. or is it that packets of thought are released in 10mins bust..but like all thought, we experience after the moment and spend the rest of the time asleep processing and reacting to it. i dont know, im not that well read on dream physics. i am alittle better informed on dream interpretation however. when you have an ex gf whos mum is an extremely talent and revered psychologist, not only are you paranoid the entire time your around her, but i learnt so much from her about how the mind works...for free! basically, the misconception with dream interpretation is that the subject matter is the most important thing, its not. it does play role, but more of a mood setter. what is really important is how you react and feel about what is going on in the dream. its not that im flying in a dream, its the feeling i get because im flying that is the key to your subconscious. just alittle piece of wisdom i thought id share with the world.
sorry if i was supposed to say anything else but i dropped some brown acid at woodstock 69....some say thats when the 60s died....december 31st 1969...haha...love it
As some of you may know, i have solved my bored at work problem. i have created my own radio station. this may sound extremely impressive, but its not really.
it was getting to the point where i would actually slam my head in the scanner if i heard another minute of mecury FM. so, while i training the week before last, it dawn on me that i can listen to radio over the internet. so for a few days i was listening to Triple J in australia, but due to the time changes..i was getting the grave yard shift, so the standard of music was ecleptic to say the least. then one afternoon i noticed that launch customer station. i thought youre gonna have to pay or something. but i checked it out and it was totally free. basically how it works is you start off by saying what genres you like and a few of your favourite bands. you then get a little screen that is your like your radio dial....so songs will come one, with album cover, info and a star system to rate the artist, album and song. what this does is learns your styles or music. the more you rate the more refined the music becomes. you get hear all youir favourites and bands that you have never head of but the pc thinks you will like, based on how you have rated previously. also if you want to hear specific band, you can type it in and rate the artist within an artist page, and the station will then include them in the playlists.
there are two things that makes this far superior to normal radio. firstly you can skip and pause..which is so useful. and secondly, the songs dont have to be singles! it will find any song on an album!
launch has an extremly varied music cataloge, including some extremly unknown artists. its a yahoo product, so you have to be a member, but it doesnt cost anything, and also sigining on gives you access to personalised yahoo pages, yahoo messenger, and unlimited views on the launch music video section.
i would suggest anyone to check it out and start their own. or just listen to mine..i like to feel its pretty well round and is all a good standard of music.
http://music.yahoo.com/launchcast/station.asp?u=1721621308
Still working on a name for the station tho