Sep 20, 2015
Favourite Music Q3 2015
This one is a little early, but I’m going on holiday. Apologies to anyone releasing kickarse music in the last week of September …. Because of my holiday (AUD .69c OMG) I took the pedal off acquiring new stuff the last couple of months, but this list is chockas with A list and numerous that will make my top 10 or 15 of the year. Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin – Lost Time The second of... read more
Jul 3, 2015
Music Q2 2015
Here is the first quarter list, and here are notable albums from April, May and June listed in order of acquisition as recorded here. UPDATE: I did this whole post then stupid WordPress ate it and although I had been saving it, none of the revisions are there. So, sincerely fuck you WordPress. I wrote some stuff for some of them but can’t really be bothered to do it all again so … anyhow... read more
Apr 9, 2015
Dave & Phil Alvin and The Guilty Ones @ The Basement
When the Bluesfest acts (and therefore, most importantly for me, Bluesfest sideshows in Sydney acts) were announced, one stood right out as my must-see: Dave and Phil Alvin (with The Guilty Ones). They did not disappoint. Phil has the horizonless, slightly tart classic blues shouter voice and Dave the songwriting and lead guitar, which you think would make them perfectly suited to each other musically... read more
Apr 2, 2015
Music Q1 2015
IT IS APRIL ALREADY WAAAAAHHHT? Bob (duh), Joe (swoon) and Rhiannon (also swoon) are my picks for 2015 so far but all these are great. I‘m keeping track of all the music I get (spreadsheet alert)this time so hopefully at the end of the year I won’t forget about so many things …. Bob Dylan – Shadows in the Night Joe Pug – Windfall Rhiannon Giddens – Tomorrow is My... read more
Dec 6, 2014
Favourites 2014
This was a very lovely year for music. Rather than having one “yes this is absolutely THE album of the year” it just had many, many, many, many that were in the convo. I did a favourites list on this blog half way through the year so I’ve just cut and pasted and tacked those on the end of the new additions (and the ones I forgot). For a trip down memory lane, here is last year’s... read more
Oct 30, 2014
Out on The Weekend – Melbourne
I booked my flights and accommodation to go to this new festival back in July when it was first announced. A bit of an impulse buy ’tis true but I loved the line up and consider it my contribution to supporting a new Americana fest. I did make the promise, since I spent all this cash going south, not to see any of the individual artists when they did Sydney shows, which somehow I stuck to –... read more
Aug 31, 2014
Dylan @ The Tivoli, August 27th
The Tivoli is on a drab one way street in a largely light industrial enclave, bookended by the Showgrounds (ghosts of many Ekkas past in the shuttered jacket potato stalls visible through the fence) and Fortitude Valley – think the blanker parts of Parramatta Rd, one shabby dollar store for every 10 residents side by side with a clutch of self consciously funky theme bars selling Vietnamese pork... read more
Aug 18, 2014
Bob 2014
I’m doing Bob’s five Sydney shows in September – 3 at the State and 2 at the Opera House. I decided not to go interstate since there are 5 in Sydney and one shouldn’t be greedy and also the seated arrangement means its a lottery as to how close to the front you can get (I will spare you my thoughts on the somewhat shambolic organisation of the sales, suffice to say Chuggy could... read more
Jul 6, 2014
Favourite Music – First Half 2014
In alphabetical order of artist ….. Acey Monaro – EP No videos ;-( Reel of Joy – Andy Baylor Babineaux Sisters – Quoi Ca Dit Reissue: Bobby Charles – Bobby Charles Light the Stars – Bonsoir, Catin Reissue – Dylan’s Gospel – Brothers & Sisters Tightrope – Chatham Country Line Common Ground: The Songs of Big Bill Broonzy – Dave and Phil... read more
Jun 3, 2014
Got my usual 10 ticket package, plus one to the opening night. Time’s a little tighter this year with my Russian exam during second week not to mention the World Cup ensuring some early mornings so I don’t know if I’ll get to any others. Usually I see about 80% docos, it’s a little different this year as I a) chose to see a couple of the buzzier films, which I basically never do....
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Film Festival Picks
Apr 4, 2014
Hanggai – The Basement
Chinese band Hanggai put on another great show at the Basement a few weeks back. Pretty similar to their 2012 show at the same venue – with addition of some tunes from their new album Baifang – which is fine by me because they are great. Lead singer Ilchi is a real rock star and the blend of traditional instruments like the morin khuur blend perfectly with the Fenders. And of course... read more
Apr 3, 2014
A big discovery last year was Valerie June and her debut album Pushin’ Against a Stone. She’s going to be at Bluesfest this year, and is opening for Booker T in Sydney and Melbourne. I love Booker T and would be going to see him anyway, but it’s a pity Valerie June isn’t getting her own show. I predict (hope) she’ll be back soon as a headliner. Here’s a...
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Must See: Valerie June
Apr 3, 2014
Between 15th February and 26th February this year I saw six Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band gigs, in four locations in three different states. Here are some tl;dr raw statistics followed by super long rambling: By my count, over the six shows I saw a 107 different songs (willing to be corrected on this, maths are hard y’all) Run times of shows: 3hr 24m, 3hr 48m, 2hr 59m, 2hr 58m, 3hr 06m, 3hr...
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Springsteen Road Trip 2014
Apr 3, 2014
Some things I’m wondering about the upcoming Game of Thrones, Season 4. I’ve read all the books and intend to refer to most of the major events assumed to be coming up so SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS and don’t read ahead if you haven’t read the books ……. or you’re just like a generally chill person who just doesn’t care. The Purple Wedding. Oh...
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Thoughts about Game of Throne S4 (SPOILERS)
Jan 9, 2014
8tracks – Some 2013 songs
[8tracks width=”300″ height=”250″ playops=”” url=”http://8tracks.com/mixes/3175401″] read more
Jan 2, 2014
These are the books – 105 in all – I read in 2013, thanks to logging them all on Goodreads. I’ve set my Goodreads target to 80 books for 2014 as I intend to put my foot down on my French and Russian studies which is tres le time sink. It might be a bit cheaterly to include some French grammar books but I only included the ones I spent significant quality time with (time which would...
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Books 2013
Dec 12, 2013
Leonard Cohen, Ent Cent, November What more can one say about Leonard Cohen? What need one say? Nothing. He is sublime. If you are not of this view, pray shuffle on from my presence (far from my presence) in silence. A photo I took. And a video I didn’t. Mandy Patinkin and Nathan Gunn, Opera House, December Like all right thinking people my first wave of obsession with Mandy Patinkin was from...
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Recent Live Shows
Dec 8, 2013
That time again! Roger Knox and Patty Griffin are clearly my numbers 1 and 2 but after that it’s all much of a muchness. Looking over the list it’s clear this has been a fantastic year for female singer -songwriters particularly making their debut or their breakthrough albums. I usually have a few “world music” entries in my list but there wasn’t much that grabbed me...
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Favourite Music 2013
Aug 1, 2013
If you look at my last.fm profile of basically everything I listen to, you’ll see all the usual suspects but may be surprised to see at number 1 a singer you may (probably) not have heard of: Mike Stinson. Yes, more spins than Dylan, Cohen, Bruce …. This tally is largely the result of discovering his first three albums (Jack of all Heartache, The Jukebox is Your Heart, Last Fool in the...
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Mike Stinson – Hell and Half of Georgia
I like music. 
