besotted

Just when you think music is the most important thing, you fall for someone.  Then music, remaining ever important, becomes the soundtrack to the trials and tribulations that seem to abound when I find my heart wanting.  Music has an amazing affect.  Listen to sad songs when particularly vulnerable and it makes you feel rather sorry for yourself.  Find a good bunch of break up songs of love lost and you feel some solidarity.  I used to think this wasn’t true, but as I’ve gotten a little older and wiser and suffered through more heart breaks than a girl my age should have I have a few songs that run to the top of my playlist.  First and foremost The Lucksmiths Hiccup in Your Happiness is the greatest break up song of all time, it feels like an old friend comforting you.  It acknowledges how much things suck, but softly reminds you that things will be ok and get better; “today will end and your heart will mend if by degrees”

“The start is the hardest part to step inside and announce a newly broken heart, and louise you’re ill at ease, you bite your tongue and tug your skirt below your knee; and it hurts even more than you thought, and it feels like forever just now but one day you’ll look back on this, as a hiccup in your happiness …” this song is full of friendly and useful advice. Wine, time, friends are what will get you through.  I’ve taken another blow, but I’ll get through.  All is not lost but things are messy and after a whirlwind romance I’m having to say goodbye for a time.  The Hiccup song will come in handy later, but for now I’m listening to nicer love songs.  Sal Kimber’s Besotted about really liking someone, probably too much.  The Decemberist’s Red Right Ankle.  I Could Die Looking At You by Jordie Lane… and any other song that is suiting this mood of new found lingering lust and hope mixed with sadness and expectations.  I shall have to cut this post short as my computer seems to be having a fit of sorts.

I shall have to ponder love loss and music another time.

x

Jersey Boys and the Parmarama

So here’s a fun fact about me, I work in a fine establishment called Mrs Parma’s.  We specialise in the Australian classic meal (which we stole from the Italians) known as Parmagiana, Parmy or Parma.  We also specialise in Victorian Microbrewery beer.  I’ve been there coming up to a year (a bloody long time in hospitality) and am thus somewhat of an expert on all things parma and beer.  When I first started the show “Jersey Boys” (the musical tale of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons) had recently begun at the theatre next to us.  I had been informed that the cast often came in for a Parma.  One sunny Monday I received a call at about 8pm or so, we were quiet.  The call was from a boy, who was rather intoxicated, requesting a delivery of one of our spectacular Parmas.  I informed him we did not do take-away let alone home delivery.  He was desperate and we chatted for a while before he revealed he was one of the main cast of Jersey Boys.  I said I’d look him up and look out for him next time he was in.  I did, and he’s a rather handsome and lovely young man.  Through him and Mrs Parma’s I’ve now met most of the cast, and the Irish star of the show Bobby who is a regular at Mrs P’s.  So last Wednesday when Mum and I finally got to go I was rather excited and felt like I was off to see friends perform.  My housemates had long grown sick of me listening to the soundtrack when I borrowed it from work back in February.  It is a great show, good fun, good music, I think the star’s voice wasn’t in form which was a shame.  I kinda want to see it again!

pretty ugly blog

So I’m aware that my blog isn’t the prettiest thing to look at, formatting has never been my strong point, even in primary school I’d get an A+, and the girl with the fancy pencils (and the talent to use them) would get A++, heartbreaking for a young girl who can’t draw, my content was less important as I couldn’t present it well. It is important to standout, be eye-catching, presentable etc. I do well in this aspect with my clothes, very creative dresser. It is how I express myself, colourful and crazy outfits, and Melbourne is such a wonderful place for that because I’m not going it alone. Though much of Melbourne fashion is black, which I do shy away from for bolder colours like pink and green, the funky, vintage, op-shop style is lauded. I’ve gotten off track. I hope soon to have a blog-lesson-session with my dear friend (in the “real” world) Bunny, or spaceophelia.wordpress.com. She has always been much savvier when it comes to prettiness, presentation and most importantly in this instance, internet!
Right now however I must dash, I have an exam on development concepts and then I’m off to see Jersey Boys with mum!
Will be sure to follow up with a blog about the boys soon.

The musical happenings of last week.

Thursday evening at the East Brunswick Club found Ryan and I enjoying the Australian folk tunes of The Band Who Knew Too Much, they reminded me of my childhood growing up at folk festivals, Ryan just seemed to enjoy them, because. With almost all the instruments that make up a great band (piano accordion, double bass, trombone oh and washboard) they coaxed some to the dancefloor. I preferred the songs I knew, two covers one by Loudon Wainwright III (This summer I went swimming, this summer I might’ve drowned etc…) and the other one from that ad “I’ve been everywhere…” But the main act Flap! were who I was really waiting to see. And they didn’t disappoint. Jess is adorable and charming. Amon an incredible trumpet player. (and my friend Aahron’s teacher) And we were all happily dancing along with bellies full of Indian food.

Friday night I had a slight déjà vu when Amon appeared at the Corner Hotel at sound check, turns out he is Zulya’s trumpet player and keys player. For Friday afternoon was spent readying the puppets for our mystery shadow show in support of Zulya.
Julian was still making them at the very last second. But we walked through the audience carrying lanterns before making our way onto the small stage and gathering our puppets and beginning the show. It went, interestingly. Hectic as usual, rummaging around for puppets at the right times. But we got through it. And it was good fun. Zulya’s show was lovely, I prefer when she doesn’t sing in English but rather Russian or the other language/s. I was accompanied by a different Ryan to this show and afterwards we trotted into the city to Pony where I enjoyed people watching before heading home. I very musically enjoyable weekend, now for exams.

Mix Tape for Jacob.

So I haven’t had time to write up the last couple of musical outings.  So for now I’m including the track list of a mix CD I have compiled for my dear friend Jacob.  I like to write a little about the song for the person to read along with.  So here it is, he hasn’t even received it yet.

War On Summer – Francolin                                                              My friend Staffan’s band, a wonderful pop tune of goodness.

Dink You – The Little Stevies.                                                               A sweet folk-pop outfit form Melbourne, this song is lovely, and I’d like to ride around the world, or at least Melbourne.

Coconut Skins – Damien Rice                                                           This is one of my favourite songs, I don’t know why, not even sure I know what its about, it just gets under my skin, the passion I think, subtle passion.

Macauley Station – The Lucksmiths.                                               First luckies song on here, you know these guys are my most favourite band EVER for their incredible lyrics and Tali’s amazing voice.  This song reminds me there are better things to come and Tali’s voice makes things better anyway!

Hiccups- Darren Hanlon                                                                 Darren is another major favourite and its always so hard to pick which of his songs to put on a mix, but this is the first Darren song I heard on a mix given to me by my first love so its special and a great cute song. 

Something More – Flap!                                                                         A wonderful new discovery, who I know you know as we danced to it together, well, I danced anyway.  This song sums up never wanting a magical night to end.

The Storm – The Guild League                                                          Tali from the Luckies other band.  Also a beautiful band, this song reminds me of Melbourne and is just, gorgeous.

Winter Winds – Mumford & Sons.                                                  Very fitting as I’m currently shivering in the wintery weather.  I’m obsessed with these guys at the moment and could’ve put almost any of their songs on here cos I love them!  But I think I like the message of trying not to fall for someone.

Tomorrow Wendy – Broderick Smith                                                An impassioned song about somebody dying, not the most pleasant topic of song I know, but an incredible song by a man with an incredible voice.

All I Want – Sleep Decade                                                                      A young band from down my way, friends of mine, I love Casey’s vulnerable voice, simple lyrics sung with passion.

Three Words – Fling.                                                                           The celtic influenced Aussie folk group.  Just, nice.

The Other Side of The River – The Whirling Furphies                       I grew up loving these guys, and I think they were a great band.  The pianist and violinist are incredible players. 

Calling all the children home – John McCutcheon                      Again difficult to pick which songs to choose of this epic folk singer.  But I think this one has it all, good lyrics, beautiful singing, alas no hammer dulcimer sorry.

Patron Saint of Loneliness – Rory McLeod                                    Best harmonica player, incredible artist.

Another Sweet Summer’s Night On Hammer Hill – Jens Lekman  A beautiful song about life being simultaneously horrible and beautiful.

Elephant Gun – Beirut                                                                       Such a talented musician.

I Thought You Were God – Clare Bowditch                                    This song means a lot to me.  Reminds me of young love and adoring someone in the most extreme manner, and also its end.  A beautiful songwriter.

How Can I Keep From Singing? – John McCutecheon        Beautiful.

Toledo – Staffan Guinane (of Francolin)                                           My friend, a lovely tune.

Seeing Other People – Belle & Sebastian.

Dangerous Creatures – The Tiger and Me                                      Such a beautiful piece. Love the Uke. Love these guys!

If  – Vin Garbutt                                                                                 Folky as.

Going Song – Rory McLeod                                                                    A beautiful song about travelling, leaving, coming, going and loving it.

We Are All Writers – Julian Nation                                        Speaking of first loves, here he is.  I was going to pick one he wrote about me, but this one if my favourite.

The Ballad of Queenie and Rover – Paul Kelly                          Prolific man, incredible song!

Shine On Me – The Lucksmiths                                                        This is a favourite among most luckies fans, especially from Melbourne as its all about lovers on Brunswick Street, Julian lives off Brunswick street so this tune is very special to me.  (the “shine on me” bench is opposite polyester records, the home of the luckies)

The Town and the Hills – The Lucksmiths

On the Radio – Regina Spektor                                                  Another one of my favourite songs for its beautiful message which sums up life to me; this is how it works…

She Dreams all Different Colours – My Friend the Chocolate Cake   Such a talented band, an incredible love song.

Joy Of Living – Rory McLeod                                                            Just a beautiful song with a beautiful message

Anything You Want – Spoon.

Tim Scanlon                                                                                       Gotta love the harmonica.

For a Short Time – Tiddas                                                                      A beautiful song, Mick Thomas sings this one, such a sad tale.

Gravel – Ani Difranco                                                                      Gotta love this woman!

Island Man – Loren                                                                     Reminds me of you.

Aeroplane – Women In Docs                 

Raining on the Rock – John Williamson                                               I know, lame, but it’s a beautiful song truly!

What’s Going On? – Sweethearts.                                                    This is me.

Hold On I’m Coming.

Sharing the Music.

I love my sharehouse in Northcote.  We are a motley crew who have become like a family, and we appreciate that we have something special here because one would imagine that 6 people living together could cause some tensions and find some clashing personalities, not to say we are a haven of peace and love, but we just get along.  We also like to go out together and whilst I am the folky representative in a house which attended Rainbow Serpent (a festival of psy-trance and other “music” akin to) together (sans yours truly) we all have a range of tastes.  In fact a couple of my fondest memories here are dance sessions in the backyard to an assortment of music, mainly soul (of particular note Tina Turner’s Proud Mary).  So back in March when I returned from Port Fairy Folk Festival, a festival I cherish and have been attending since the age of 3, have performed at and now stage manage at, raving about my latest discovery of the cabaret infused gypsy folk outfit The Tiger and Me (http://www.myspace.com/thetigerandme) they were happy to accompany me down to the Edinburgh Castle to check them out.  With so much live music going on in Melbourne it’s a great house-outing.  This Thursday just gone 3 of us had separately chosen to head down to Baropen to see Custom made for a small room, Sleeping Patterns and Patinka Cha Cha, me because my friend Staffan of Francolin (http://www.myspace.com/francolinmusic) plays in Patinka Cha Cha.  So we all headed down with various friends of housemates and enjoyed the soft-poppy sweetness of the adorable Japanese Custom Made For a Small Room.  Sleeping Patterns were entirely out of place.  And Patinka Cha Cha with a plumped up horn section (clarinet, trumpet and saxophone) are good, but I think I need to listen to them on CD to really get into them, hear her lyrics and see how her voice records.  They are also cutesy indie pop rock.

Meanwhile this is an exciting upcoming week for music.  Thursday night Flap! Are playing with The Band Who Knew Too Much at the East Brunswick Club.  Its 15 bucks, Flap! won’t be playing again for a while and I’ve only seen them twice at Port Fairy Folk Festival so I’m excited to get a chance to dance again to their folky-gypsy sound.  Their trumpeter is an impressive player and singer and song-writer.  And Jess the feminine touch in her floral 50s dresses is the adorable daughter of ABC radio presenter Derek Guille.  Then Friday night I am supporting Zulya at the Corner Hotel, Richmond at her CD launch.  I am not going it alone, but a team of us are putting on a shadow puppet show re-enacting folk tales.  It was something we did at Turramurra (a folk music bush camp which will be discussed in a later entry) so I’m very excited about being up on stage again and reporting back on how it all goes.

Recently listening to; Mumford & Sons, Jordie Lane, Doch, Fling and The Whirling Furphies.

An Introduction to Audible @ Young Folk

Welcome to my first foray into the blogging world.

I will be going by one of my many real world nic-names “Audible”.

It works on two levels as this blog was conceived from the inspiration of one Ms JF who suggested I document my musical misadventures, so this blog will be focused on something that is so central to my life; MUSIC.

I don’t claim to be an authority on the subject, no more than any other music-lover, that is my disclaimer.

But I have grown up going to music and folk festivals with my parents since the age of 3.  I was surrounded by music, played Piano, Harmonica, Cello and Flute.  My brother the violin, mandolin and guitar.  My Father Mandolin, Harmonica and Guitar.  Plus the ABC radio and the grand CD collection of my parents, who encouraged the musical, were the soundtrack of my childhood.  So I hope to attend many gigs and tell you about them, as well as talking about artists, cds and life in general.

Let me break it down a little and introduce me and my music taste.

Who?

Audible.  22.  From Ocean Grove (Coastal, Western Victoria, Australia) now residing in Northcote, Melbourne for some years and attending La Trobe, about to finish International Relations (so the blog may stray to the political).

Fluent Spanish speaker and avid traveller. Lived in; Argentina and the UK, (Buenos Aires and London) visited; Bolivia, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Holland, Mexico, Peru, Spain, and Uruguay. 

You will learn more about me as the blog develops.

What?

A musically-based look at life.  But what sort of music do I like?

I’m partial to Australian music.  I’ve grown up with amazing folk music at festivals (and I don’t mean Bob Dylan) I mean more than that, beautiful song-writers, story-tellers as well as celtic inspired stuff.  Aside from Folky stuff, I like the indie-rock-pop stuff which is the latest “it” music I suppose.  I feel like ”indie” is used instead of “alternative” nowadays, because alternative sounds so, off.

Soul music inspires me.  It’s the best music to dance to and just fills me with joy.  I played in a soul band for some years in High School and love the passion.

You will find an extensive alphabetised list of artists below. Those in bold are my most favourite.

Al Green, Ani Difranco, Archie Roach, Anna Ternheim, Antony & the Johnsons, Architecture in Helsinki, Arctic Monkeys, Aretha Franklin, Ash Grunwald, Austin, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Beirut, Belle&Sebastian, Ben Folds (Five), Ben Harper, Ben Kweller, Billy Bragg, Bernie Hayes, Black Keys, Blue King Brown, Bob Marley, Bonjah, Bright Eyes, Camera Obscura, Carus, The Cat Empire, Cat Power, Christy Moore, Clare Bowditch, Colin Hay, Damien Rice, Dandy Warhols, Darren Hanlon, Death Cab for Cutie, The Decemberists, Doch, Doug Anthony All Stars, Earth Wind Fire, Elliot Smith, Emiliana Torrini, Emma Dean, Flap!, Fling, Florence and the Machine, Francolin, Franz Ferdinand, Frou Frou, Gotye, The Grates, The Guild League, Holly Throsby, Hunters & Collectors, Iron & Wine, Jack Johnson, James Brown, John Butler Trio, Jeff Buckley, Jens Lekman, John Mayer, John McCutcheon, John Williamson, Jordie Lane, Jose Gonzales, Joss Stone, Juanes, Joy Division, Julian Nation, Kate Miller-Heidke, Kate Nash, Kings of Convenience, Kings of Leon, The Kinks, The Kooks, KT Tunstall, Lazy Susan, Lily Allen, Lior, The Little Stevies, Lisa Mitchell, Loren, THE LUCKSMITHS, Lucky Soul, M. Ward, Mark Seymour, Matt Walters, Maximo Park, My Friend the Chocolate Cake, Mia Dyson, Michael Franti, Michael Jackon, Missy Higgins, Mick Thomas, Modest Mouse, Nano Stern, The New Electric, Nina Simone, Otis Redding, Paul Simon, Paulo Nutini, Paul Kelly, The Periscopes, Pornland, The Pogues, Pulp, Ray LaMontagne, Regina Spektor, Reinder Section, Richard Thompson, Rory McLeod, Roy Bailey, Rufus Wainwright, Ruby Hunter, Ruck Rover, Sal Kimber & The Rollin’ Wheel, Shakira, The Shins, Sleep Decade, The Smiths, Snow Patrol, Spoon, The Strokes, Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, Sufjan Stevens, Sweethearts, Symbiosis, Tiddas, The Tiger and Me, Tim Scanlon, Tracy Chapman, Van Morrison, Vin Garbut, The Waifs, We Are Scientists, The White Stripes, The Whitlams, Xavier Rudd. etc.