September 'Top 10'

Josh Hunt is a BFG (Big Friendly Giant), but don't let the height fool you, he is fierce when it comes to today's culture (and especially it's music). When he sent me this list I couldn't possibly edit his blurbs on the songs provided... so i've left them up for you all to enjoy!

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1 - Mumford & Sons - White Blank Pages, from the EP 'Lend Me Your Eyes' 

blurb: You'd have to be folk music scenely deaf to not have heard of Laura Marling over the last year. Marcus Mumford and Ted Dwane are her right hand genetlemen for bass and percussion. Mumford & Sons is their band, and they produce some great warm folk ballads. Check it out now before it gets on the next Greys Anatomy Soundtrack.

2 - Mew - Introducing Palace Prayers, from the album 'No More Stories are told...'
blurb: Based out of Copenhagen, Mew are their own genre: heavy reverberating guitar, synths and falsetto. Think Sigur Ros crossbred with Battles to form a danish musical lovechild. Their last album, containing Introducing Palace Prayers has an epically long title, so don't bother reading it, just listen.

3 - Bombay Bicycle Club - Always Like This, off the album 'I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Lose'
blurb: Again, another hybrid lovechild, but this time from the streets of London. Bombay Bicycle club are a little bit Vampire Weekend, a little bit Born Ruffians, a little bit Strokes and a lot of indie rock pop. If you don't feel a beat and want to dance during Always Like This, look at purchasing new headphones.

4 - Dan Auerbach - Whispered Words, off the album 'Keep It Hid'
blurb: Keeping with the side project them, Dan Auerbach of Black Keys fame, released a stellar blues rock album in April this year. Grey skies, cold winds outside. Hot tea, blanket and an iPod with Dan Auerbach playing inside. Theres not really a better way to pass the time on cold wintery days waiting for summer to come, unless you count cuddling with your significant other...

5- Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks, from the album 'Veckatimest'
blurb: This one is for all those lucky enough getting tickets to the Falls Festival. Put it this way: You'd be silly to miss seeing Grizzly Bear at this years festival. Their album has had raving reviews from all over the music industry. Two Weeks is their first single off the album, but its highly recommended you listen to the whole album. A serious challenger for 2009's album of the year.

6 - Bon Iver - Flume, from the Daytrotter Session, July 21 2008
blurb: Good music is hard to top, especially anything by Bon Iver. When that stuff by Bon Iver is a live acoustic session and can be downloaded legally for free from http://is.gd/33LJT . This is just one of many Daytrotter Sessions, as there are new recordings added daily, so check it out!

7 - The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea, from the album 'Primary Colours'
blurb: Ian Curtis walks again. You'll be so suprised listening to this track that you'll have to pinch yourself that it isn't Joy Division. Even more amazing is the fact this song was released only a few months ago. The Joy Division messiah has come ladies and gentlemen.

8 - Rumpunch - Suck 'Em, from their self titled album 'Rumpunch'
blurb: It's midnight. You've had a few drinks and considering sleep. Put Suck 'Em on and you'll be injected with an intoxicating mix of reggae, funk, jazz and hip hop. This will redefine the term 'Aussie Hip Hop'. 

9 - Air France - Collapsing At Your Doorstep, off the EP 'No Way Down'
blurb: You know those times you're in a hotel lounge or restaurant and you hear really cool electro? That sub genre of electro that has the power to change your mood and make you happy but not want to start a drug induced brawl? It's probably Air France's 'Collapsing At Your Doorstep' that is playing.

10 - The Dodos - Longform, from the album 'Time To Die'
blurb: So you've listened to Two Weeks by Grizzly Bear and want some more I hear you say? Longform is a song that is just like that. It's great, vibrant indie pop rock. Listen now, or save it for the opening track on this summer's roadtrip playlist.

SHALOM

HEY BLOGGERS,

Haven't forgotten about you crazy cats out there. Kicking it in the Holy Land at the moment and just lounging in 35 degree heat waiting for my brother to get married.

Hope everything is sweet back in the land of OZ.

New posts will be coming when I get back, so hit up Minnie in Graceland in approx. 3 weeks for a bucket load of new posts streaming from all sides of the globe.

Peace (Shalom)

MIG

Liftoff

HEY BLOGGERS,

I apologize for the lack of posts over the past week. I am getting ready to head overseas for my brothers wedding at the end of the week and then to make the big move to Sydney after that. 

...SO, as you can probably fathom, I have been SLIGHTLY busy.

BUT, fear not, and keep following, because in the next 3 weeks there are going to be some kick-ass posts coming from all corners of the globe.

Peace! (and safe travels!)

MIG

A nickel for Nicholson.

There are so many reasons why Jack Nicholson is awesome.

Take this photo for instance... CIGARETTE SNORKELING!!! (i am not endorsing smoking here kids)

But fuck he's great.

I recently watched The Shining and was completely mesmerized by the fact that Kubrick used 500km of film for this epic movie. Now, if you haven't seen this thriller, you are seriously lacking in what I like to call, film cool. With famous quotes like "HEEEERE'S JOHNNY" and possessed chants of "redrum", this film has influenced hundreds of thriller spoofs and a whole generation too. SO,  GET ONTO IT. 

Essentially, this post is a homage to the brilliance that is Jack Nicholson, and his extremely bizarre attachment to sunnies and a decent 80's leather jacket.

So here's to you Jack!

Olivia Dennis - TAKE 2 - Part 1

*THIS IS A NEW POST*

Olivia Dennis is an ambitious young writer who is studying Creative Writing at RMIT University. Though most of the time, she thinks her writing is "a bit shit", she still manages to produce beautifully crafted lives and events from blank pages.

To my great dismay (and joyful delight!) I had to replace my previous post on Olivia Dennis' writing due to a pending submission elsewhere on that particular work.

What has replaced it is a two part story that she has written especially for this blog:

My hands were frozen, shaking with the fucking lighter and blue with the fucking breeze. It all smelt so dirty around here, the rain tainted, the grass growing dead. I felt bad, I did, but I also...well, I also couldnt really give a damn, to be honest. Thats me; morally selfish...or just selfish, actually. They'd figure out our departure soon anyway, and not care about our return for another few weeks, at least. They might worry, but I highly doubt it; no-one really did around here. I shook the lighter in my hands, my unlit rollie hanging from my lips as I pathetically attempted to light the damn thing. It did, eventually. I inhaled. Exhaled. Drag. Drag. Exhale. I was squatted on those lone benches in the middle of the park, waiting for him to come back. If we're being frank, the extended view actually looked alright; the city was being puppeteered by a full moon, dimly lit and glowing for a few miles to the east, and minus three miles to the west. The immediate surrounds were fucking dire, yes, but I guess I could see the beauty in far away...the romanticism. I turned around and called out to Harry. Where the fuck was he? My rollie was getting limp and soggy from the rain and I had no shelter to hide under. The tree's were all leaking shit as well, so I couldnt hide out under them (other than the rollie, none of this really mattered anyway...my hair was pissing all down my back and my broken loafers had soaked through already so...). I called again. Probably having a wank, I thought, or shagging that girl from earlier in the night, secretely in the fucking bushes. I pulled my watch out from my pocket and checked the time. As long as we're gone by 7...

Can you hear them Toons?

Jonathan Heilbron (not so formally known as Toons), is an up and coming bass player who tends to spend a hell of a lot of time refining his tunes down at the Victorian College of the Arts. 

This precise act has led to his first unique and mesmerizing solo exhibition being held at BUS Gallery in late September of this year.

Described as an "exploration in the fluctuating energies that can coexist within a relatively small space", Bassounds deals with the sonic architecture of specific spaces, directing and manipulating sounds to form new aural entities that exist unseen, in an attempt to bridge the gap between the physical presence of a work and the metaphysical experience it creates.

Although the concept may sound complicated, the simple contrast between the constant lighting and the improvised sound of the bass will continue to resonate and enclose around its viewers for the entirety of the exhibition.

Opening on the 22nd of September and running until the 11th of October, be sure to head to 117 Little Lonsdale St, to be immersed in the ebbing improvisations of this talented young artist. 

not ANOTHER MAGAZINE.

cheque savings or credit?

pin or sign?

manual or automatic?

inside or outside?

smoking? non-smoking?

small, medium, or large?

ribbed, studded or extra slim?

HOW MANY FUCKING OPTIONS ARE THERE THESE DAYS!?

This issue is of no exception to the crazy amounts of magazines available to today’s society, and the major question that needs answering is "which one should we choose?"

Well, with nothing else to do after abandoning my career as an academic, I have put my newly appreciated stack of time into researching the best magazines (the cream of the crop) under the most important topics. 

...BUT, as I went into Borders one day to pick up my beloved KINGBROWN magazine, I couldn't help but stare at the people who were spending too much time trying to choose a magazine... and, I decided right then and there to save the planet one step at a time, and alleviate some heavy pressure imposed on us all when faced with the masses of excellent magazines on offer.

ART:

Art World

SOCIETY:

KINGBROWN

FASHION:

Oyster

INDIE:

YEN Magazine

TRAVEL:

Conde Nast Traveller

FOOD:

Gourmet Traveller

MUSIC:

MOJO Magazine

FILM:

Film Comment

CULTURE:

Interview Magazine

TRASH:

Grazia 

ENVIRONMENT:

Green Magazine

ARCHITECTURE:

Curve

INTERIOR DESIGN:

InDesign

ALL ROUNDER:

Time Magazine

NB: There are many other excellent magazines out there which unfortunately could not make the extremely strict cut this list exposes. However, i do encourage you all to do your own research and find the magazine that suits you best.

August 'Top 10'

The name's  Nathalie... not Natalie. It's french.

1. Velvet Underground - pale blue eyes 
2. Jeff Buckley - hallelujah 
3. Bob Dylan - dont think twice 
4. George Harrison - while my guitar gently weeps 
5. Oasis - Champagne Supernova
6. Supertramp - bloody well right 

7. Elliott Smith - memory lane 
8. Pink Floyd - money
9. The Eagles - hotel california 
10. The Killers - glamorous indie rock n roll 

A born and bred Sydney-sider, Nath is just as eccentric as her taste in music. 

Claiming that it took her 50 times to get the list right, Nath has chosen songs that are "a bit mainstream" but "old school" ...so, "good mainstream".

Nath is into taking trips down "memory lane".

Real Blood is for SUCKERS.

I know, I know... I'm running a little late on this fixation.

... In fact, I'm running approximately 17 episodes and an entire season late.

But, this TV series is just too tasty to pass up.

Created by Alan Ball, True Blood tells the tall of co-existence between vampires and humans after a synthetic blood drink is created in Japan, replacing a vampires need for human blood. Set in the fictional town of Bon Temps, in the American South, it follows the story of Sookie Stackhouse, a telepath, who meets a 173 year-old vampire named Bill Compton (and inevitably falls madly in love with him). 

BUT HOLD IT BOYS!

... Enter, a handful of other mythical creatures such as shape-shifters and werewolves, and you've got yourself a spellbinding cast with a hell of a bite. In fact, this series is less about love, and more about murder, sex, racial conflict and violence.

... done tastefully of course.

So go check out True Blood on Showcase (available on Cable TV) Tuesdays at 8:30pm. 

And if the vampires in the show don't dazzle you, then the kick ass cinematography and story-line will.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Brother Baba Budan is a quaint and exceptionally tiny cafe serving some of Melbourne's top coffee to the office types and everyday passers-by.   

Situated on 359 Little burke St, Brother Baba Budan boasts an impressive selection of coffee blends, and the baristas serving are all too happy to attend to any prerequisite you may have.

Although wooden chairs line the ceilings, finding a seat can be likened to finding a needle in a haystack. However, with blends named Mr Miles and Gypsy, the effort is well worth the unique coffee experience that surely follows.