it's the 80s special! (25 july)

1. beat happening. bewitched (jamboree)
2. chris knox. grand mahl (seizure)
3. the cure. pictures of you (disintegration)
4. yo la tengo. barnaby, hardly working (president yo la tengo)
5. xtc. grass (skylarking)
6. galaxie 500. blue thunder (on fire)
7. my bloody valentine. nothng much to lose (isn't anything)
8. the clean. platypus (tally ho! b-side)
9. the bats. treason (daddy's highway)
10. daniel johnston. walking the cow (hi how are you?)
11. jesus & mary chain. justlike honey (psychocandy)
12. spacemen 3. take me to the otherside (perfect precision)
13. violent femmes. gone daddy gone (s/t)
14. the chills. the weird world (kaliedoscope world)
15. the cure. just like heaven (kiss me kiss me kiss me)
16. david bowie. fashion (scary monsters)
17. the smiths. stop me if you've heard this one before (strangeways)
18. echo & the bunnymen. rescue (crocodiles)
19. sea urchins. pristine christine (7" single 1987)
20. tall dwarfs. nothing's going to be happen (three songs ep)
21. the feelies. original love (crazy rhythms)
22. half japanese. firecracker firecracker (sing no evil)
23. dinosaur jr. little fury things (you're living all over me)
24. sonic youth. silver rocket (daydream nation)
25. husker du. something i learned today (zen arcade)

song for lonely giants

HI well i hope you all enjoyed the show last night, i thought it was pretty awesome IF I DON'T SAY SO MYSELF!

can't remember if i mentioned this last night, so i'll post it here... next thursday (the 27th) is this cool thing called ACOUSTIC BISCUIT.

basically it involves four christchurch bands - the bats, pine, the undercurrents and atlas - playing nice intimate acoustic sets which are getting FILMED to be put on TELEVISION!
the cool thing is - it's going to be in the isaac theatre royal which will mean great acoustics and atmosphere. tickets are $20 from ticketek. big ups to gorilla pictures and maiden records for putting this on - it should be an awesome night!


THEN the next night you can head down to capitol bar for the mixtape connection 1st birthday party!

the party features live act coco solid (auckland) and 5 1/2 mins from chch. per usual dr hitchcock, missy g and indie slut will be mixing up the wicked shit on the decks so make sure yr there!
and don't forget about drink discounts and free mix cds for all RDUnited members!!!!!

lastly i'd like to bring to yr attention the newly released cd "lanzafame" by british act tap tap
(from catbird records):"Tap Tap is a fine lad from London called Thomas, and I have a hard time accurately describing what this record sounds like, though some friends of ours did describe the disc as "a gloriously messy, ebullient, shiny pop album."
the cd's being put out by catbird records - which is also a really awesome mp3 blog catbirdseat. here's the dealio on the new cd
"Lanzafame comes in 2 different editions: there's the regular edition, which comes in a really nice standard jewel-case sort of packaging, and then, there's also the limited (200) edition, which comes in a book-style case, hand-covered/boundin bookcloth, with a 3 song bonus CD."
i've only heard this first track, 100, 000 songs but if the rest of the album is this good then the album is bound to be really really good!

pick up the album here!

seeyaz!

i know where syd barrett lives. playlist 18/july

1. shapes & sizes. wilderness (s/t)
2. icy demons. jump off (tears of a clone)
3. syd barrett. no good trying (the madcap laughs)
4. big star. mod lang (radio city)
5. thurston moore. ono soul (psychic hearts)
6. pavement. loretta's scars (slanted & enchanted)
7. skygreen leopards. mother the sun makesme cry (life & love in sparrow's meadow)
8. the weird weeds. one-eyed cloud (weird feelings)
9. peter & the wolf. people of the night (s/t)
10. m ward. post-war (post-war)
11. leonard cohen. diamonds in the mine (songs of love & hate)
12. matthew friedberger. ruth vs richard (winter women)
13. lawrence arabia. buisness planning (s/t)
14. johnny cash. love's been good to me (american v: lost highways)
15. panda bear. 5 (young prayer)
16. the mountain goats. new monster avenue (get lonely)
17. smog. teenage spaceship (knock knock)
18. grizzly bear. plans (yellow)
19. serena-maneesh. chorale lick (s/t)
20. deerhoof. the magnificent bird will rise (reveille)
21. tv on the radio. let the devil in (return to cookie mountain)
22. devendra banhart. lend me yr teeth (oh me oh my ...)
23. the jam. pretty green (sound affects)
24. black heart procession. broken world (amore del topico)
25. ted leo & the pharmacists.the great communicator (tyranny of distance)
26. mount eerie. the moan (no flashlight)

fiery furnaces @ the schooner tavern. 05/07/06

hey, well the gig last night was AWESOME.

it was at a (relatively new) venue in auckland called the schooner - a long narrow room with a nautical theme!
i missed the first opening act coco solid but arrived in time to catch auckland band the whipping cats. these guys played a really nice bluesy rock set on a smaller stage halfway down the room. this was cool as the fiery furnaces got to set up on the main stage at the end so there was hardly any waiting in between the two sets.
the fiery furnaces were just awesome. i found their live show surprising in that there were no keyboards/organs, and these play a very central part in all of their albums (in particular their latest effort bitter tea). instead we were treated with a much more guitar-driven set, featuring (of course) matthew and eleanor friedberger (both on guitar), with two touring members jason lowenstein (on bass), and bob d'amico (on drums).
one thing that was similar to their recordings was their musical experimentation - they take a song, deconstruct it, speed it up/slow it down, change the rhythm and produce a brand new (but still familiar) product.
eleanor personified the tough female rockstar, she constantly reminded me of sonic youth's kim gordon or perhaps a younger (and slightly less abrasive) patti smith! she rocked out well (especially considering she had a cold), as did matthew who had a pedal which made his guitar sound like an alien ray-gun (which is possibly the best thing anyone has ever invented!)
they performed a variety of tracks from their rather prolific catalogue - off the new album bitter tea highlights included "i'm in no mood", "blackhearted boy", "waiting to know you" and a vaguely reggae(!) styled "police sweater blood vow" (this sounds bad but it was actually awesome). other highlights included "quay cur", "crystal clear", "south is only a home", and "tropical iceland". finally, to cap off what was a very enjoyable encore, they played "don't dance her down", one of my favourite fiery furnaces tracks, and one i definitely wasn't expecting.

here are a couple of snaps i took!





THEN on friday i went to the cassette album release party at the dog's bollix. based on the venue name, i was sort of expecting some sleazy drunken pub venue but it was actually really cool. nice and intimate with a sunken stage and small booths around the dancefloor.
lawrence arabia opened and really exceeded my already high expectations! at times he sounded like he was with a full band as he provided his own percussion (stomping), accompaniment (kazoo!!!!) and of course his guitar and vocals. you should all try and catch him at the media club this friday. it's only 5 bucks.
cassette were pretty cool too. nice and laidback - reminded me of those 70s soft rock bands but also had a tinge of alt.country.

yeah.

so i just got back from auckland so haven't had much time to get NEW STUFF, but we'll see how it goes. hope yr all good. and stuff!

cheer up cheer up cheer up. playlist 4/7/06

1. neutral milk hotel. naomi (on avery island)
2. frog eyes. caravan breakers (daytrotter session)
3. apples in stereo. strawberryfire (her wallpaper reverie)
4. fiery furnaces. south is only a home (gallowsbird's bark)
5. little wings. boom! (like green leaves)
6. grizzly bear. lullabye (yellow house)
7. syd barret. gigolo aunt (barret)
8. liars. mr yr on fire mr (they threw us in a trench and stuck a monument on top)
9. the books. take time (lemon of pink)
10. guillemots. made up love song #43 (through the window pane)
11. bonnie prince billy. blokbuster (summer in the southeast)
12. iron & wine. the night descending (sea and rhythm ep)
13. wooden wand. eagle claw (harem of the sundrum & witness figg)
14. big star. feel (#1 record)
15. the beatles. taxman (revolver)
16. velvet underground. rock & roll (loaded)
17. nick cave & the bad seeds. curse of millhaven (murderballads)
18. spoon. jonathon fisk (kill the moonlight)
19. clinic. cement mixer (7" single)
20. death from above 1979. going steady (yr a woman im a machine)
21. joy division. disorder (unknown pleasures)
22. elliott smith. ballad of big nothing (either/or)
23. chris knox. the woman inside of me (seizure)
24. the curtains. go lucky (calamity)
25. daniel johnston. casper the friendly ghost (yip/jump music)
26. the mathletes. i hate bright eyes (a battle rhyme) (jest/earnest)

oops forgot yo la tengo. next week promise. ok thx!

when the moon is round and full