Tuesday, February 26, 2008

sans air conditioning. playlist feb 26

1. breathe owl breathe. playing dead [ghost glacier ep]

2. thee oh sees. ghost in the trees [the master's bedroom]
3. mt eerie. don't smoke [black wooden ceiling opening ep]
4. someone still loves you boris yeltsin. oceanographer [

5. vampire weekend. cape cod kwassa kwassa (black dominoes remix) [demo]
6. quinn walker. smile for me [double lp]
7. please quiet ourselves. color chart [s/t]

8. big blood. in the shade [big blood & the grouse]
9. say hi. northwestern girls [the wishes and the glitch]
10. the weird weeds. red [i miss this]

11. lullatone. pyjama party pop [p-a-j-a-m-a in the usa ep]
12. leonard cohen. one of us can not be wrong [the songs of leonard cohen]
13. the boy least likely to. a balloon on a broken string [forthcoming]

14. garbage & the flowers. carousel [catnip 7"]
15. pit er pat. dogtown [covers ep]
16. velvet underground. i'm not a young man anymore [live]

17. dinosaur jr. feel the pain [without a sound]
18. the minutemen. black sheep [joy 7"]

19. pants yell! reject, reject [alison statton]
20. golden hotel. the trouble behind mr peterson's eyes [the silver wilderness]
21. the breeders. night of joy [mountain battles]

22. nat baldwin. dome branches [mvp]
23. the scotland yard gospel choir. aspidistra [s/t]
24. devotchka. transliterator [a mad & faithful telling]
25. the tiger tones. macho italian boys [s/t]

26. this heat. paper hats [deceit]

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

that's why we're running away. playlist feb 19

1. volcano! fire fire [beautiful seizure]

2. team robespierre. 88th precinct [everything's perfect]
3. beat happening. our secret [s/t]
4. new order. ceremony [ceremony 12"]

5. wild birds and peace drums. doubt/hope [heartcore]
6. icy demons. miami ice [miami ice]
7. robert pollard. gratification to concrete [robert pollard is off to business]

8. el guincho. antillas [alegranza]
9. sam amidon. saro [all is well]
10. the radio dept. against the tide [lesser matters]

11. valet. we went there [naked acid]
12. religious knives. it's hot [it's after dark]
13. wounded knee. anthem for the call centre worker [s/t]

14. high places. sandy feat [03/07-09/07]
15. rollin hunt. the bum [demo]
16. spectrum. touch the stars [soul kiss (glide divine)]

17. flying saucer attack. come & close my eyes [further]
18. broken social scene. stars and sons [you forgot it in people]
19. our brother the native. we are the living [make amends for we are merely vessels]

20. crystal castles. good time [s/t]
21. imaad wasif. wanderlasting [strange houses]
22. the coathangers. shut the fuck up [s/t]
23. foot village. protective nourishment [friendship nation]

24. lawrence arabia. young crew [demo]

Friday, February 15, 2008

CAMP A LOW HUM

CAMP A LOW HUM 2008
FEBRUARY 2-5, TATUM PARK


It’s difficult to think of a catchy or succinct way to sum up Camp A Low Hum, a four-day festival that encompasses live music, arts and crafts, knucklebone competitions and “Boxwars”, but creator Blink (real name Ian Jorgensen) does it pretty well; “a music camp for people who can’t handle regular music festivals”.

Blink created Camp A Low Hum with the hope of removing all irritating aspects of large festivals; the long queues, overpriced food and alcohol, corporate advertising and timetable clashes; all the things add up and ruin the overall festival experience, even if the bands you’re watching are incredible. Camp A Low Hum is pretty small (no more than 700 people), most bands play twice and it’s BYO, but perhaps the key to its success is that it’s not about “what bands are playing”. Blink ensures this by not announcing a line up, but rather pushing the unique vibe of the festival. It’s certainly a difficult thing to sell, and before the first camp in 2007 many people (including myself) felt a bit too sceptical about travelling to a campsite an hour north of Wellington to watch a mystery band line-up. As it turned out, however, Camp 2007 was a total success, with many of my friends coming back raving things like “I can’t explain why it was so good but it was seriously the best weekend of my entire life”. After that I was basically sold on Camp 2008.


Due to my poor organization I missed out on the first day of Camp, but arrived nice and early on Sunday, ready for three full days of exciting festivities. I got pretty stoked just walking around and checking out the site and facilities. Blink is really into eighties nostalgia/aesthetics which is why there was a tuckshop selling Juicies, toffee milks, candy bracelets, Jaffas and marshmallows (in brown paper bags), mixtape swaps, and a movie room that played a selection of the best camp films. On top of this was a myriad of other stuff; a camp radio station, an arts and crafts room, tug-of-war competitions and pool parties, and over 50 bands playing in various locales around the 32-acre holiday park.


Basically, all the best New Zealand bands played; The Brunettes, The Phoenix Foundation, The Ruby Suns, So So Modern, Reduction Agents, Die! Die Die! Liam Finn and Connan and the Mockasins were just a few of “bigger names” to grace the main stage each night. It was a really encouraging to see that these bands have become so well received and established, particularly when I can recall seeing many of them a few years earlier performing to much more humbler crowds in dingy Christchurch bars. It was also fitting to see them playing at a festival created by Blink, who has undoubtedly played a major part in helping them achieve success through his A Low Hum monthly tours and compilations.

For me, however, it was the smaller shows that epitomised the entire DIY, relaxed vibe that Blink was hoping to achieve with camp. The festival was particularly accommodating to smaller acts, with a variety of outdoor and indoor sites available for anyone who wanted play a gig/DJ/whatever. This was an excellent opportunity for bands with smaller profiles to perform to an interested and open-minded crowd, and for punters to watch some bands that might not play any shows in their hometown. There was a certain charm felt when walking around the campsite and seeing all these handmade, felt-pen-illustrated gig posters pinned on some tree trunks, then picking a band who had a cool name or poster, and being really blown away. I think the success of these shows is testament to the unique environment Blink created, where everyone was just really excited and happy and fully embraced being a part of such an awesome event.


The next Camp A Low Hum will be happening in February 2009. Check www.campalowhum.com for further details; don’t miss out!


All photos taken by Neon Sleep! Thanks!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

playlist feb 12

1. cass mccombs. that's that [dropping the writ]

2. panther. her past are the trees [14kt god]
3. man man. top drawer [rabbit habits]
4. dirty on purpose. always looking [hallelujah sirens]

5. tickley feather. tonight is the nite [forthcoming]
6. the ruby suns. morning sun [sea lion]
7. nat baldwin. lake erie [mvp]

LADYBIRD & SMOKIN HOT BITCH LIVE IN THE STUDIO!

LADYBIRD - THE VASELINES

8. birthglow. transatlantic homesick blues [ultimate relief]

SMOKIN' HOT BITCH - OCEAN NOOSE

9. seth & merle. unknown track [demo]

LADYBIRD - MA MAMAN M'A DIT

10. envelopes. party [here comes the wind]
11. the mae shi. lamb and the lion [hlllyh]
12. ghetto cross. dog years [7"]

13. clinic. free not free [do it!]
14. metabolismus. snowy meadows [7"]

15. golden axe. dognapped [party alarm bells]
16. blank dogs. leaving the light on [diana]
17. the helio sequence. hallelujah [keep yr eyes ahead]

18. ladybird. cockroach [love will conquer all]
19. james blackshaw. running to the ghost [dead in the woods]
20. tangerine submarine. the life of a porcelain doll [the sun and the red hill]

21. okay. panda [huggable dust]
22. evangelicals. snowflakes [the evening descends]

23. minisnap. innocent [s/t]