Straight from the Whore's mouth

Put more succinctly...

2009-06-29T18:07:00.004+12:00

SFTWM is being continued under another guise over at...

I'll be leaving SFTWM as it is until I decide what I want to do with it.

Turning a new page

2009-06-28T12:30:00.005+12:00

Ok, so I've been pondering the future of SFTWM and what I wanted to do with this after having kicked things off way back in the '05. I am no longer the consumer whore I once was, the target audience has subtly evolved over the years, the things I want to blog about have also changed, and blogger.com places limitations on what I can do with post.

So yes, times have changed and it was time I moved with them.

The end result of some deep soul-searching, and excellent technical assistance from a good friend, is that I've made the call to migrate SFTWM over to a new site.

The new home for my online musings from here on out? hakopa

I was told to come up with a url of around three syllables that was fairly intuitive in how it would be spelled, and the only thing that came to mind that wasn't ridiculous or already taken was to use my own name. More precisely, my name in Maori, hence the red / white / black colour scheme.

Although the site is kinda live, there is still a lot of work to be done to bring it up to spec. I've still got some work to do on tweaking various bits to the new site, as well as updating the blogroll and getting in touch with various people about updating their links here.

Why yes

2009-06-24T23:30:00.001+12:00

I am too lazy to look for pictures to open my posts.

It's been one of those nights / days / weeks / months / years.

I'm not easily offended, but...

2009-06-24T23:24:00.003+12:00

... if someone is going to make money by selling off bastardised representations of the rich tapestry that is the cultural heritage of my people, the least they could do was do it in a way that I wouldn't mind forking out money for.

Artist / designer Paul Shih is now based in New Zealand and thought he'd produce an 8" figure as a tribute to the Maori people of his new home (being New Zealand). Can't say I'm too keen.

Love the stamp on the bag though.

Where maths = good

2009-06-24T23:18:00.003+12:00

Marshall has a pretty good review for the new Transformers film. What makes his review so good?

Marshall has with one sentence managed to do what none of the trailers or the previous film ever could: leave me genuinely interested in seeing the film.

That sentence? "So now you don’t need to have characters that are voiced by the dude who does Spongebob"

Ka pai Marshall. Ka pai.

Oh! Oh! Oh!

2009-06-24T22:59:00.002+12:00

Piers introduced me to the webcomic A Softer World because of my new iPhone and this great webcomic.

Here's a youtube clip following A Softer World's Joey Comeau and Emily Horne as they put together another webcomic.

Although the process itself seems rather underwhelming, the clip does at least draw out some entertaining interactions between the two.

Anywho, A Softer World are now opening up their archives to be blown up all over your walls with 16" wide prints. Amazing. I've been thinking about getting this one or maybe this one. What do you think?

To clarify...

2009-06-24T22:09:00.003+12:00

I have not slept with this man, but do know a few people that have and yes they have been freaking out about that.

He is not, nor has he ever been, the kind of guy I would go for or have even the vaguest semblance of interest. This man, however, is.

In short, you needn't feel concerned for me.

Excuse me?

2009-06-19T13:38:00.001+12:00

Mixed news

2009-06-18T23:45:00.000+12:00

The video is out for The Gossip's Heavy Cross. Very glam.

I've got the album that this track is from, Music For Men, but haven't had much of a chance to listen to it. Judging by EMJ's review, I'm not sure I'd be rushing to play it anytime soon.

Pity.

Secret revealed

2009-06-18T23:20:00.000+12:00

Ok, so you know how I let slip about something big on the way? You know, back sometime in January.

Anywho, well it's almost here and I don't see any reason in being so coy anymore.

What I've gone and done is get one of these.

Let the envy begin.

Something to look forward to: SOHOMO

2009-06-15T03:23:00.004+12:00

Sohomo is coming back to Wellington, this time with Aucklanders Brand New Math headlining the night and DJ Lotion, Oscar Nutt and DJ Shorty K (aka Kelvin from Crackhouse 5) in support.

Should be a good'un.

The music video below was one of the better aspects of NZ Music Month for me: Brand New Math with 'Idiot Savant'.

Oh god

2009-06-15T03:00:00.004+12:00

It's 3am, I'm so very hungover, insomnia means blogging is a better use of my time than staring at my ceiling in the dark, and I have meetings in a matter of hours.

Awesome.

Anyone want to do lunch today? I'm in the mood for karaage.

Recitar!

2009-06-15T02:35:00.002+12:00

This is a turn of the century recording of Enrico Caruso singing Leoncavallo's 'Vesti La Giubba' form the opera Pagliacci. The compact nature of Pagliacci has meant that 'Vesti La Giubba' doesn't suffer from the over-exposure of say Tosca's 'Recondita Armonia' or Rigoletto's 'La Donna E Mobile'. The song's sad subject matter and tragic tone make it less than ideal for selling spaghetti.

I like this recording over later ones by the likes of Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo, because it soars on the strength of the Caruso's voice alone. We don't have gaudy visuals of eccentric make-up and poor visual match to the character to contend with. Caruso also seems to do a better job with his timing and intonation so that it comes across as desperate and pained, a man's inner monologue as he grapples with his petty jealousies and trivial insecurities. The tinny sound and scratched recording certainly don't hurt.

I've said it once and I'll say it again: the song is so moving yet bittersweet.

I hope you think so too.

Ascension : update on progress

2009-06-15T02:24:00.000+12:00

I've had the macbook for six weeks and it is going swimmingly. Everything seems intuitive and can be customised to pretty much whatever I want it to be and do. Installing applications is ridiculously easy and I'm not forced to deal with the bullshit of driver updates and bug fixes as was the case with my previous laptop. It is also ridiculously stable and has shown no signs of crashing despite being on pretty much constantly since taking it out of the box. I'm still learning the hotkeys and it is slow going after spending so long on a PC (bad habits are hard to shake), but that is hardly a deal breaker.

Put simply, the macbook is everything I need it to be and it does it very well.

What worries me though is that with the new macbook pro's having just come out in the states, and with money piling up in my savings account, will I be able to resist temptation and not buy a new one while I'm less than half a year through the one I already have?

I'll let you know.

Surely

2009-06-15T01:34:00.005+12:00

I'm not so fussed about the song (it has that air of 90s alt rock about it), but the food in the video for Cobra Khan's 'Liquid Separation' intrigues me something wicked. The rice dish with fish in a cream sauce. The red vegetable mould. The mince tartare. The jelly with citrus rind. All of it.

I seem to have reached a stage where I'm so bored with the dishes I've been cooking of late (roast chicken with saffron nut stuffing, Jesus fries, Toblerone chocolate mousse, balsamic and feta green beans, salt and pepper-crusted lamb cutlets, etc.) that I'm bored in the kitchen. This has happened every now and again but usually for reasons of not having the time to cook. Since my parents headed overseas a month ago, time in the kitchen hasn't been an issue nor has there been a dearth of people to cook for while I have the place to myself.

If I ate pig, I'd get right behind @Tomatom's (it's a twitter thing) pork fixation. It wouldn't require much prodding given how mesmerising Ryan Farr's online tutorials over here have proved in recent months. My fascination has certainly reached a point of frustration at such a thing not being generally available here in New Zealand (although I would be very happy to be proven wrong on that point). I mean, how awesome would it be to be taught how to hack your way through a pig beast to produce a dizzying array of tasty treats? Very, is the answer I'm looking for people.

This would be something I'd be really keen to get behind and, where appropriate, to drag as many of my friends along as I could muster. Hands-on cooking classes that go beyond simply turning up somewhere to watch someone else cook and then try what they made.

Surely I'm not the only one to think it worthwhile.

Surely.

UPDATE: Ok, so maybe I forgot I have this mad thing for katsudon and katsudon happens to be crumbed pork fillet with savoury egg and onion on rice. Oh and gyoza too. Oh god. Ok, maybe I do eat some pork, just not ham or bacon or proper pork.

Recovery

2009-06-15T00:52:00.002+12:00

Hard weekend. Taking a wee breather. Back once sobriety sets in. Shouldn't be long. Inshallah.

Not so bad

2009-06-09T23:24:00.004+12:00

I happened upon this talk thanks to Nerdcore and as disturbing as some of the subject matter increasingly proves, it does at least leave me feeling very normal as a person.

Lego was a big part of my childhood, with a trip to Legoland in Denmark proving a particularly strong memory of my pre-New Zealand life. I have the ice cream containers full of bricks to prove it. You'll find them in the ceiling next to the (many) boxes for most of my more recent toy collection. Many bricks are charred, worn, discoloured, and broken with the sets they originally came from being largely incomplete. I won't sell them online for more recent children to enjoy, but then I don't want you to think I'll dig them out one day in a fit of nostalgia. I just don't get off on selling stuff I've previously enjoyed.

The point of all this prattling is I guess to rationalise my own fleeting-if-intense obsessions, certainly to a point where I don't feel quite so weird for so freely giving into them. After all, I could be worse.

I don't know

2009-06-08T22:57:00.003+12:00

I've been mulling over the verdict from the David Bain retrial and still don't really know what to think of it all.

I can understand how the jury concluded there was sufficient reasonable doubt to decide he was not guilty. This doesn't mean he is innocent, and his innocence certainly wasn't anywhere near the slam-dunk as with Arthur Allan Thomas or seems to be the situation for Peter Ellis, so doubt Bain would succeed if he claims compensation for wrongful imprisonment. I'm also not sure the retrial left many New Zealanders in a position of sympathy as could be seen with Ahmed Zaoui. As disturbing as it is to hear such things I don't know that the verdict would be much different even if the jury did hear testimony that he'd rationalised how he could get away with the suggested rape of a woman he knew around the time of the murders. We didn't even get to enjoy the CSI fantasy of DNA and micro-fibres delivering a clear outcome.

It all seems so messy and unclear just what happened all those years ago that I don't know that this will ever be fully resolved. What is clear is that we have a kinda creepy guy from a kinda creepy family finding he now has to resume a life that wasn't much before he was imprisoned. Little in the way of life skills, hardly employable and will likely remain known for the most public trials we've had in a few years. Awesome. David Bain might want to consider moving overseas, if only to make a fresh start of everything. At least until we've all ceased to care whether or not he did actually kill his family all those years ago. Your guess is as good as mine as to when that might be.

Rationalising the irrational

2009-06-04T23:21:00.004+12:00

Cormac McCarthy's Child Of God treads similar ground to The Road in the sense that we're delivered a winding tale of increasing depravity. That however is probably where the similarities end.

Child Of God centres around the miserable daily existence of a man, Lester, that loses a lot of what most people would take for granted. A place to call home. A place to take shelter. A reason to life beyond simply waking up each day. In essence, he lost a lot of what binds most of us together and it is in that that we see a man progressively drift further and further away from what we might consider 'appropriate behaviour'. There is an instance where Lester happens upon a dead couple in coitus in a car on the side of the road. It is here that he commits a series of actions that while entirely unplanned all the same bear the marks of a person becoming less and less... well, 'human'.

The book isn't entirely about sickening scenes. Rather interestingly, the related stories of Lester's past and upbringing serve as a suggestion of fate running its course, of a person satisfying the less-than-stellar expectations of his community. What makes this interesting is that for all Lester seems to abandon the trappings of civil society, and for all civil society finds him abhorrent, civil society all the same abides and tolerates what they themselves consider intolerable. The permissive behaviour of the community to what they knew to be really quite wrong behaviour on Lester's part raised questions I am still struggling to answer: is Lester the realised consequence of his past, or the product of a society that didn't care enough to stop him from becoming 'inhuman'?

I know my language is vague and I've meant for that to be the case. To be more precise and exacting would be to reveal too much of a book I think you might enjoy if you enjoyed The Road. You will certainly see shades of one in the other, but there is enough different in each for them to stand on their own merits. Just don't expect something quite as gripping or awkwardly tender about Child Of God.

hhhhhrrrnnnngggggg

2009-06-04T19:44:00.005+12:00

The lineup for Parklife came out today and it truly is something to behold.

A-TRAK
AEROPLANE (DJ Set)
ART VS SCIENCE
AUTOKRATZ (First ever Australian show)
BENI
BERTIE BLACKMAN (Sneaker Set)
BUSY P (DJ & Host)
CLAUDE VONSTROKE
THE COOL KIDS
CRYSTAL CASTLES
EMPIRE OF THE SUN (First ever live show)
EROL ALKAN (First ever Australian show)
JUNIOR BOYS (First ever Australian show)
KASKADE
LA ROUX (First ever Australian show)
LADY SOVEREIGN
LITTLE BOOTS (First ever Australian show)
METRIC (First ever Australian show)
METRONOMY
MSTRKRFT
SHAZAM
THE ASTON SHUFFLE
THE GLIMMERS
THE RAPTURE
TIGA

This leaves me less depressed about missing Melt, but only slightly.

People of Melbourne, I shall be making a nuisance of myself in your fine city on and around 3 October 2009. You have been warned.

This seems REALLY dumb

2009-06-04T01:20:00.003+12:00

3D graphics did enough damage to creative gaming by setting up the paint-by-numbers bias towards hi-res sports games and FPS. Before then, games weren't anywhere near as disposable as they have since become. The blame for that doesn't entirely lay with 3D graphics, but I'd argue that it certainly contributed to game creation tipping over to the dark side of banality and tech-wank that verges on the masturbatory.

Which brings me to the above promo video. Can you imagine how shit and bland the games would be for a family-friendly system like this?

This promo makes me want to give up on my Xbox360 and just turn my back on gaming, and while I'm at it I may as well just hand in my man card. Every self-respecting male has a console or a mate that has one. Such is the importance of gaming to the male character.

Jesus.

Let the nightmares begin

2009-06-03T01:12:00.002+12:00

Accidentally happened upon this documentary earlier this evening. If ever something said it was time to turn the TV off and get some sleep, this was it.

Good night.

Wah-ee boo-ee ee-ee oh-ee

2009-06-03T00:47:00.004+12:00

My folks emailed me from Istanbul a couple days back and the thing that really stuck with me amidst the related food adventures and tales of avoided shop touts was their comment about staying somewhere really close to a mosque. The muezzin's call to prayer remains one of my most indelible memories of my time in the Middle East, and arguably something I long to relive. Sure the hours suck, but the adhan really is something special.

Sadly a lot of the Middle Eastern music videos on TV over there followed the rather uninteresting pattern of an ugly hairy guy wailing whilst walking along a stagnant waterway, lamenting an impossibly-attractive lost love. As with most 'world music', there is only so much of this one can handle before going mad.

Bigstereo were instrumental in introducing me to Rainbow Arabia sometime last year, and I will forever be grateful. The Middle Eastern rhythms, the noise pop aesthetic, the insane set-up for their live shows, the incomprehensible lyrics.

Colour me smitten.

The video above is for their more well-known track "Omar K" and it remains my favourite of the tracks of theirs that have been floating around the blogosphere. Rainbow Arabia released an official music video for the track earlier this year, but I prefer this live performance. I like that it is so much more ridiculous than their music video, but for reasons other than a quirky aesthetic. You've got two people belting out a great track in a set-up that so obviously needs more people to do a proper job of it, but they make it work all the same.

"Omar K" features on their Basta and Kabukimono EPs. Well worth tracking down, people.

The times, dear reader, they are a changin'.

2009-05-28T23:47:00.003+12:00

Kinda busy sorting through a few things the last few weeks (hellishly disorganised iTunes library on the macbook, oppressive backlog of blog tunes, a possible spot writing for another blog, working through options for the future of SFTWM, deciding what to do with my 4kg of wagyu, etc.).

However, plans have changed on the Leipzig trip as I'm now no longer able to go (long story there that I'd rather not get into here).

On the upside, I've got a bunch of stuff building up as draft posts that I plan to drip feed out over the coming weeks.

In the meantime, hunt down the following for guaranteed improvement to your contentment:

Cormac McCarthy's book Child of God

Ted & Francis' self-titled EP

The Field's album Yesterday & Today

Grauzone's album Die Sunrise Tapes

The Disco Balearica mix that Aeroplane put together for Mixmag

Cash to get into Shazam's first NZ show at Mighty Mighty tomorrow night (tomorrow being Friday night)

More on the way. I promise.

Ok, here's the plan

2009-05-14T21:18:00.004+12:00

1. Save money for return flights to Frankfurt

2. Sort myself a ticket to Melt Festival

3. Work out how I'm going to get from Frankfurt to Leipzig

4. Work out how I'm going to get from Leipzig to Ferropolis

5. Work out where I'm going to stay in Ferropolis / Leipzig

6. Sort out meeting up with various of the womenfolk whilst in the neighbourhood

7. Prepare letter of resignation should work decide they don't want me to take leave after all

8. Hope like hell I haven't spent too much before the trip

9. Hope like hell I remember to catch my flights

10. Give this man a bearhug

11. Have the time of my life

12. Stumble home

13. Hope like hell I didn't cause an international incident

14. Wonder what to do with the rest of my life

15. Remember I need to be in Singapore in October

I wish I was a polar bear

2009-05-13T22:19:00.003+12:00

Grauzone's Eisbaer.

My first experience of this song was to find it nestled between the Erol Alkan remix of Justice's Waters of Nazareth and Riot In Belgium's The Acid Never Lies on Cut Copy's Fabriclive mix. The cross-mixing in this part of the mix is especially great and the tracks either side likewise amazing, so it came as quite a surprise to find out that Eisbaer is a relic of the early 80s. Amazing.

The reason for digging this all up is that I heard in an interview with Ted & Francis on FBi Radio that the inspiration for their song I Wish I Was A Polar Bear was Francis' mother translating Grauzone's Eisbaer pretty much word for word for them. Nice. Can't say I've noticed much in the way of similarity, but that's ok. I like both songs enough to let it slide.

The interview with FBi radio is definitely worth grabbing for the pre-mix chatter and the 23 minute mix of predominately Ted & Francis tracks. The timing is quite good with this Friday seeing the Australian release (and I'm assuming with that the New Zealand release) of Ted & Francis' self-titled EP.

They released a promo trailer for it not so long ago, featuring some of the songs on the 4-track EP.

I love the first song Livings Lost and the second one Think About Enough. The last song in the promo is Erlend, which has previously done the rounds of the blogosphere and felt the blog love. The one song from the EP that isn't in the promo? I Wish I Was a Polar Bear.

Why did no-one tell me about this?

2009-05-13T21:10:00.003+12:00

St Vincent's Actor Out Of Work from her album Actor.

The blogs were gushing about St Vincent last year but I pretty much wrote it off as hype for some achingly indie act that everyone says they enjoy because you're not cool if you don't say you like them. I mean just check out this press photo of her.

The weird stare. The taut face. That jawline! It all screams indie folk of the kind that leaves everyone splurging on over-priced tickets only to spend most of the gig nattering away by the bar about how great it is to be there.

Ranting aside, I'm really enjoying her latest album, Actor. It is very surprising with tenderness, pop and intriguing touches throughout. Her voice kinda throws you into thinking the song will go one way when the music itself takes you in another altogether enjoyable direction.

I'd put it in a similar vein to The Invisible, but you shouldn't take that to mean they sound the same. The similarity comes more from being surprisingly good at being... well, surprising good.

5 minutes and 15 seconds

2009-05-12T21:26:00.003+12:00

I was talking with Paul just earlier about how young Shazam seems and we got onto how the same thing was being said about Surkin back in 2006 (he says like 2006 was another era entirely). That brings me to the video above. It's a promo for the release party Ed Banger organised for Justice's Waters Of Nazareth EP and Surkin appears around the 5:15 mark, dropping Justice's Let There Be Light.

Now, I ask you... how old does he look to you? 13? 14? 15?

Yes, I wish it could always be this good

2009-05-09T19:06:00.003+12:00

The Future Will Come is the second album by DFA's The Juan Maclean and it is an album I can't stop enjoying.

Up top is the video for the song One Day. Now, One Day isn't the first track from the album to be released as a single, but I think it was the first that was released around the album (the brilliant Happy House and subsequent remixes predate the album by quite a while). I don't know that I'd even go so far as to say One Day is the best track on the album.

Comparisons have been drawn with The Human League and I guess I can see why with the whole he sings-she sings aesthetic, but the comparison seems fairly thin to me. The Future Will Come is a nu-retro disco album of the fine DFA tradition. The songs are by and large fairly solid and rather enjoyable, despite what Faisal thinks about Happy House.

I guess what I'm arguing is that you should understand that while you're enjoying the song, the album itself is actually a little better and definitely worth the effort of tracking down at your nearest or most convenient music retailer.

I saw The Juan Maclean when they opened for Cut Copy last year and was left sufficiently smitten so as to be unable to claim to be the most impartial of listeners.

Hard to bear

2009-05-09T19:04:00.000+12:00

The Gossip have been working on their follow-up album to the more well-known Standing In The Way Of Control, and the first song to whet our appetite is their song Heavy Cross. Other bands have pursued a path of evolving their sound with the changing times and the growing popularity of dance beats. This isn't something you can say about The Gossip after listening to Heavy Cross.

The Gossip have decided to stick to their knitting and continue along the rough indie rock path they've previously followed, and good on them for doing so. For me, the song is a clear hit when so many of the more-recent offerings of others have been misses (Fist Of God anyone?). Portishead's long-awaited third album, Third, was an instance where an act stuck to their knitting and produced something that ranked in most people's Top 10 lists of last year. On the basis of Heavy Cross, the same could inevitably be said of Music For Men when it comes out June 22nd.

To get your hands on mp3s of the original and the Fred Falke remix, head here. The remix is typical Fred Falke with disco rhythms filling in the sparseness of the original and his signature bass guitar underlaying the whole track. It's good, but for different reasons to why the original is good. Try his remix of U2's Magnificent as a basis for comparison and you'll likely reach the same conclusion. Well, except that the new U2 album is kinda lame to start with.

Vision of a past not my own

2009-05-09T17:15:00.000+12:00

If I was at Coachella this year, I would have no doubt experienced this in person. I wasn't. So here's a minor consolation.

"Are You The One?" was the standout track for me from their first album Beams and the Van She Tech remix of the same song was arguably my favourite remix until recently.

The Presets have done something evil and filthy and right with this song, and I like it. I like it a lot. With news that Van She are giving their album V the Night Versions treatment, one can only hope that Modular might think to do the same with a formal release of a redone Apocalypso. While we're on this bandwagon we may as well add Cut Copy's In Ghost Colours to the wishlist.

Feel free to check out other clips of their Coachella set here. It's time I had me some fun with meat.

Yeah...

2009-05-08T19:26:00.002+12:00

... nah!

Warring starships beat talking robots any day.

It had to be said.

G.I. Joe for adults?

2009-05-07T23:25:00.003+12:00

I can't face the prospect of the G.I. Joe film after seeing this, so was quite glad to find my childhood nostalgia nourished by other means. Warren Ellis was asked to write a nine-episode micro-series that did new and different things with the G.I. Joe franchise and the results were screened by Adult Swim not so long ago.

By "new and different" I mean things taking a darker turn. Duke seems to be perpetually pissed off, Snake Eyes has his silence explained, a number of Joes are killed off without much aplomb, and some of them show a disturbing enjoyment from killing off groups of vipers. If you thought that was jarring for a Saturday morning childhood staple, try having this all wrapped up in an anime style reminiscent of the 80s original.

These episodes make me wish I'd taken better care of my G.I. Joes.

Snake Eyes FTW.

The enjoyably inappropriate euphemism

2009-05-07T22:49:00.004+12:00

The Big Sleep is both a euphemism for death as well as my new favourite book. Crime noir has a classic formula with popular cliches riddled throughout. The world-weary PI that abides by a code only he understands, the femme fatale that is both alluring and dangerous, the bent cops, the straight crims, its all there.

Raymond Chandler's first novel with private investigator Phillip Marlowe as the protagonist, The Big Sleep tells the story of a man hired to do a simple job for a family for whom simplicity does not come easily.

What perhaps sets this book apart from the rest of the airport fiction you might otherwise pick up before boarding a long-haul flight in cattle class is, put simply, the writing. This may have been written in the 30s but it still reads like it could be about events that occurred only recently. You do have to excuse the occasionally hokey phrase, but I gladly stand behind calling the writing rather timeless.

The plot unfolds in a way where you know something doesn't seem quite right and you're left with the feeling that there must be more to the story. Indeed, as I was reading the book and found the initial puzzle swiftly being solved, I kept looking at all the pages yet to be read and openly wondered what more there was to discover. I can't recall the last book I could say such things.

If you're looking for something to fill a gap, I can't recommend more highly The Big Sleep. Thanks to Penguin Modern Classics you should be able to pick it up at a decent bookstore near you for the princely sum of NZ$13.

I've since picked up Chandler's second "Phillip Marlowe mystery" and shall provide a review in due course.

In the meantime, would you be a darling and get me one of those deck chairs?

12 shades of win

2009-05-07T22:33:00.005+12:00

Star Trek came out tonight so I figured I'd see it with Te Papa. I really enjoyed it. Really.

I should probably start by getting the bad bits out of the way first. The interior of the Enterprise looks too tacky in a Lost In Space kinda way (which is never good), Chekhov's accent is just terrible (I wanted to strangle the little fucker), the enemy ship is just impossibly huge and quite plainly stupid in every respect, and the Romulans lacked the cunning and superior air of the Romulans on the TV series and later Star Trek: TNG films (I'm thinking Nemesis).

Now for the good bits. It ticked along at a good pace, never found itself dwelling too long on any particular aspect, the in-jokes were there and obvious but far from belaboured, the Federation ships looked great (point defense systems = wow), Karl Urban is a great Bones, a noticeable absence of the gratuitous romance that too often plagues these kinds of films, the new twist to the retcon was kinda convenient but very nicely handled for the new franchise.

All in all, I really liked it and was left wondering during dinner afterwards (we went to Hede to satisfy my unusual craving for karaage and gyoza) when would be a good time to see it once more. Surely that is a good thing. Surely.

Best. Movie. Ever.

2009-05-03T20:57:00.003+12:00

JCVD + Bolo Yeung + late 80s slo-mo montage-o-rama = amazing television

Really.

Catch it on C4 now!

Ascension : complete

2009-05-03T20:44:00.003+12:00

iPod : check

iPhone : check

Macbook : check

My ascension to the iClan is now complete.

How

2009-04-27T03:02:00.003+12:00

How do people earn a living off such rubbish self-promotion like this?

More importantly, how do they overcome the social stigma of dragging advertising as crap as this around our city streets?

Vicariously?

Vivify?

Pfft!

On the plus-side, don't you just love how this photo came out? Loving this iPhone!

In the spirit of completeness...

2009-04-27T02:25:00.002+12:00

... I thought I should also probably blog about the other video floating around for another track off Tiga's Ciao!, namely Mind Dimension.

This was the first track to "leak" from the album and it succeeded admirably in helping me form a very bad impression of what Ciao! might actually become. So successful in fact that I almost didn't want the album to come out lest it destroy my affection for Tiga's work. The song lacks all the cheeky pop and filthy electro of his more loved tracks and remixes, instead opting for the obscurely relentless. Is this what house music was like in the 80s and 90s?

Unlike Shoes, this video doesn't improve one's appreciation of the song. The only thing that does seem to rescue the song is the age old practice known as The Repeat Listen.

Give it a go.

What's that sound? I like that sound. I love that sound.

2009-04-27T01:04:00.004+12:00

Tiga's been killing it for so long he seems almost like the old guard of electronic music. His remixes have been floating around long enough that most people should at least know who he is. It seems odd then that his latest album, Ciao!, should only be his second album (or third if you count his DJ Kicks mix).

As much as this year has become a great year for music, Ciao! stands out among the rest of the long-awaited releases thus far. So much more accessible than Sexor. So very cheeky. So very hot. So very Tiga.

The first single off the album is Shoes, and if I was honest I'd have to say I really didn't like this song when I first heard it. The lyrics are ridiculous and the rhythms just absurd. It sounds like a joke. Thankfully, it wasn't long until the video below was released and like an epiphany on a musical road to Damascus (a great city to visit if you get the chance) the song suddenly made sense.

I mean, what isn't there to like about the song after watching that? The half-naked drummer boy? The father figure rocking that whole Mastroianni-meets-Mr Rogers aesthetic? The model with the fugly teeth? I love it. I love it all.

And this sentiment mirrors how I feel about Ciao!. The songs aren't deep and meaningful. They don't bring about zen-like revelations of eternal truths. What they do do is bring a smile to the face, a shimmy to the waist and a tapping to the feet. I've heard that a number of the tracks just kill live, and rightly so.

For a taste of the album and some insights to the songs from Tiga and Gonzalez (as well as some ridiculously funny commentary between the two of them), you should head over here and grab the podcast he put together. It's a good'un.

The one shame about Tiga, and I can't help but take this to heart, is that he really hates blogs. So much so, his label PIAS Recordings has a hard-line attitude to anyone posting any tracks even remotely linked to Tiga. Original and remixes of his tracks have had some fairly hard-out takedown notices thrown against a lot of people that thought they'd share them with the rest of us. I'll still buy his album and still really like the man's work, but he doesn't make it easy for a blogger to do so.

Awash in the water of life

2009-04-26T23:43:00.003+12:00

Gin is far and away my favourite drop. Enjoyed with a splash of indian tonic water and wedge of rubbed cucumber, it never fails to satisfy. Well... so long as it is made by my own hand, that is.

Far too often a night at a bar or club has been ruined by the bartender either serving up sub-standard gin or getting the proportions all wrong. Either way, I've reached a point where I'm better off just drinking beer for the sole reason that it is difficult to go wrong with beer.

Thankfully, a few friends of mine come back from overseas with a bottle of my favourite drop, so the financial constraints suffered by others can more easily be overcome.

It seems however that not even my own privileged circumstances are enough to get me to London for a unique event by Bompas & Parr known as Alcoholic Architecture. Gin & tonic mist? Negro, please. I know I'm not the only one that would kill for some of that.

So... where am I going with all this?

I'd really like a gin, but I don't have any mixer and I'm far away from the point of desperation to drink it straight.

2 minutes and 36 seconds

2009-04-22T19:50:00.003+12:00

This is hands down the perfect ad for Wellington. If none of this or very little of this makes sense to you, take that as an indication you really should come here.

I'm looking at a few people in that regard, and certainly one more than others.

Hat-tip to the ever-reliable Fluro for the video.

Ceci n'est pas boeuf

2009-04-21T22:57:00.006+12:00

Ladies and gentlemen, this meat is from a cow but I'd struggle to call it beef. I struggle to call it beef because to do so would give the impression these four steaks were even remotely as disappointing as the beef you might otherwise buy from the supermarket or butcher.

No.

This... this is wagyu. 2kg of full-blood wagyu scotch fillet, to be precise. I don't want to describe this as the god of meats, but it is pretty fucking good. It also has this habit of usually tasting rather incredible.

The picture above was the remnants of the last lot of wagyu (we get it in 2kg blocks) so it's a good thing I have 4kg of the stuff arriving soon.

Can't. Wait.

Bullshit

2009-04-21T22:55:00.001+12:00

It is a lot colder than 6 degrees right now.

Weather this cold makes a man asexual.

Permanently.

Girl & The Robot

2009-04-20T18:59:00.003+12:00

... is probably my favourite song of the year thus far and here we have Royksopp appearing live on some euro music show with Robyn. Sure it sounds like a backing track, but it still sounds damn good.

Junior has proved to be an album that was definitely worth waiting for, with some solid tracks and fairly giddy rhythms. That said, I do miss the more sombre awesomeness of The Understanding and Melody AM, but I'm happy to wait for Senior's rumoured afterthought to the more upbeat Junior (I'll believe it when I see it or leaked tracks from the album on the blogosphere).

Hat-tip to Blair for the vid.

Could his bum be any paler?

2009-03-23T22:43:00.003+13:00

I don't claim to understand what Patrick Wolf is aiming for with the video for the first track, "Vulture", from his forthcoming album, The Bachelor.

David Bowie-meets-Goldfrapp-meets-Madonna-meets-gay bondage softcore porn?

Despite the amateur artcore music video, the song itself is quite good and bodes well for the album's eventual release.

Nostalgia sigh

2009-03-23T20:45:00.004+13:00

Shaun dropped this at Sohomo a couple weeks back and I half expected Tiga to rise through the stage floor. Alas, he didn't and Shaun's unitard was too differently delicious against the three-piece Tiga is rocking on Top Of The Pops, but still.

I love that he sings with a snarl.

I really hope Ciao! isn't lame.

To the uninitiated...

2009-03-23T20:39:00.002+13:00

... this is Sohomo.

SOHOMO from Paul Phillips on Vimeo.

Shaun is the guy in the sailor suit. Paul is the one in the pink shirt. The music is hot. The crowd drunk and sweaty. Me? I'm really quite glad I don't feature in the video.

Teenagers DJ set that night. Great night.

The guy on the right is...

2009-03-18T23:30:00.003+13:00

... Swedish producer Andreas Tilliander, someone probably better known as the guy cranking out the beats for Familjen (the guy on the left).

Anywho, he not so long ago dropped on the blogosphere a track of his called "Caught In The Riot" and it was really quite good. Quite sparse, almost minimal, but enjoyable all the same. If you're interested, you should feel free to swing by Discobelle for a listen.

Anywho, Discobelle have pulled out another first (but one of many, I assure you) Andreas has just dropped the music video that goes along with "Caught In The Riot" and although nothing especially special, it goes with the song quite nicely.

I wish I could be more witty and lyrical but its been a long day and I face the prospect of another couple long days. That and I really quite like this song but not so much that I feel too much more needs to be said. It's that sweet spot known as contentment.

Awesome.

And so it begins!

2009-03-18T22:54:00.000+13:00

What comes before first impressions?

2009-03-18T00:21:00.002+13:00

Koi is rather conveniently located so near my place of work that I happen past it many times most days. From what I've seen from the street, they've painted the walls white, hung minimal-if-decorative signature pieces on some of the walls, have upholstered the seats with white vinyl/plether/leather, and have arranged sparse reed-like foliage on parts of the bar / cashier bench.

All in all it seems so very bright and consequentially so unlike what my beloved Copita ever was, nor ever should have been.

I don't know what the food is like because it hasn't opened yet, but my expectations remain fairly low after the calibre of the food that used to be made there. The American and myself will be heading along there soon after it opens to see if it is any good.

Fingers crossed it doesn't disappoint I hope Koi at least serves wagyu.

The Asahi sign on the front awning genuinely worries me.

Wholesome and nutritious

2009-03-17T23:56:00.003+13:00

Peaches has a new album coming out soon that is as suggestively-titled as her other albums. The album is I Feel Cream and if you'd listened to a couple of the advance tracks currently doing the rounds on the blogosphere, you too would start feeling even a little giddy.

Of the two, the Simian Mobile Disco-produced track "More" is the more attractive of the two.

Maybe it's the fuller sound. Perhaps the signature Peaches drum machine kick beat. Possibly the rhythm that compels you to move ever more wildly. Either way, I really quite like it.

Have a browse of both "More" and the Soulwax-produced "Talk To Me" over at LA Friendly.

You won't regret it.

Of all her songs "Boys Wanna Be Her" remains my favourite Peaches song.

When she performed this at Parklife I was instantly smitten. This is because despite her every-reducing stage wardrobe, her performance was so overwhelming the guy in front of us had to ask me if I was new to her. I didn't know what to say then and seeing this video kinda brings that all back to me now. Nostalgia!

I was kinda out of it a the time, but we needn't get into that right now.

And no, the picture leading this post doesn't do much for me either.

Coming in from the cold?

2009-03-16T01:59:00.004+13:00

Too Many Sebastians blogged a day or so back that Whitey was looking to release two albums this year. Now, that would make 2009 an incredible year for music.

It has been godonlyknowshowlong since Whitey came out with his stellar debut album, The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is A Train, and just now listening to his more recent track "Individuals" streaming on his myspace, I'm immediately taken back to when dance-punk was all the rage.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the kind of music I was raving about last week. This is exactly the kind of thing 2009 needs to save itself from obsolescence and mediocrity. Ok, maybe that is putting things way out of proportion, but you get me point. New albums from Whitey would totally make my year. Fingers crossed they see the light of day.

Order The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is A Train here from JB Hi-Fi - believe me when I say it is worth every penny.

Time for a change

2009-03-16T01:21:00.003+13:00

Their myspace says: "Towards the end of 2006, three friends – Dave Okumu (Jade Fox, Matthew Herbert), Tom Herbert (Jade Fox, Polar Bear) and Leo Taylor (Gramme, Zongamin, Matthew Herbert) – started work on what was initially intended as Dave’s solo project. An exciting, beautiful album gradually emerged and during the process of its creation the three Londoners fused into a fully-fledged trio; The Invisible was born."

What I say is that the self-titled album by The Invisible is well worth hunting down.

I'm not really sure how to describe it. There are no synths. This is in no way electro. This isn't indie rock full of jangly guitars and screechy vocals. This is what their promoters describe as "a unique strain of danceable, multi-layered genre-spanning spacepop imbued with ethereal yet gutsy vocals - something alien but simultaneously completely familiar."

I don't know about that, but you should definitely check out this music video for the album's fourth track, "London Girl".

You can get the Nightmoves remix here on Voules Random, the Cereal remix here on Get Weird Turn Pro, the Dolby Anol Pre and Post-Op remixes here on Ohh! Crapp. The Joe Hot Chip remix is amazing, but I've only been able to find that streaming on their myspace page.

The only place I've been able to find where you can buy the album is here on Amazon.co.uk for the princely sum of UK$7.98+shipping.

I don't know how good a price that is given how exchange rates are completely screwing us over down here in New Zealand, but then I'm not sure what other choices we have with nothing coming up on iTunes or JB Hi-Fi. You might want to hassle your local music store for a copy.

Hmmm

2009-03-16T01:13:00.003+13:00

After becoming somewhat besotted with the music video for Deichkind's "Luftbahn" (you can experience my not-so-private shame here), I thought I'd see what the rest of their album Arbeit Nervt was like.

Sadly, none of it sounded even vaguely like "Luftbahn". Instead it sounded like this.

It would seem their rather successful dalliance with pop music was little more than a one night stand.

Sigh.

Something to look forward to: Royksopp, Junior

2009-03-16T00:42:00.004+13:00

Norwegian duo Royksopp's third album Junior arguably ranks as an album worth forking out for when released later this week.

It has been three and a half years since The Understanding and it doesn't disappoint. Well, much. Where The Understanding was an evolution from their debut album Melody AM, Junior sits like a comfortable swing back between the two earlier albums. Where Junior lacks the ponderous and weighty elements one found in The Understanding, perhaps that will come with the release of Senior later this year / early next year (one learns to take release announcements as dates to mark in pencil, rather than pen).

Guest vocals feature on this album with Robyn and Fever Ray / The Knife's Karin Deijer helping out here and there. The track that features Robyn's voice, The Girl And The Robot", is perhaps the strongest and most engaging of the 11 tracks on the album.

Electro pop perfection.

For the purists looking for something a little more like what they remember from the earlier albums, I'll point you towards "Happy Up Here", a track that sounds like "Eple" has come of age.

Junior is fun and bouncy and helps lift spirits when you need a pick-me-up.

Pre-order the standard album here from JB Hi-Fi for the princely sum of AU$19.99+shipping. You won't regret it.

Trying new things

2009-03-15T17:14:00.004+13:00

I thought I'd give the new U2 album, No Line On The Horizon, a go last night. Sadly, it left me shuffling through the album's tracks, wondering if the album had anything I'd want to listen to. Can't say I did.

I'd describe the album as "inoffensively dull", and please understand that I'm being my kindest there.

Sunday saviours

2009-03-15T16:43:00.005+13:00

I don't enjoy working weekends. I don't know many people who do.

I'm working this weekend because this coming week is nightmarishly-abridged so we can sing kumbaya arm-in-arm as we ford rivers and embrace a future of workplace adversity having been overcome. There are many things I don't need right now and three days of team-building is right up there.

The one thing that has been holding back the bitterness today has been Justice's live set recorded for their A Cross The Universe CD/DVD set. It doesn't shatter earth, drop jaws or break ground, but what it does do is maintain an endlessly helpful high tempo through the delivery of songs I've really quite enjoyed in the last few years.

Including LCD Soundsystem's "NY Excuse" in the encore was inspired and Nancy's vocals the very welcome addition to my afternoon. Can't say I'm so fussed on what I assume is the Justice remix of Metallica's "Master Of Puppets", but you take the good with the bad in all things.

I'm not really sure what the cleaner thinks of it, but then she's probably used to electro blaring from my office during all the weekends and late nights we've shared.

If you don't already have it, you can pick up the CD/DVD set from here from JB Hi-Fi.

What does this mean?

2009-03-14T18:40:00.004+13:00

The March Ed Banger Records newsletter says...

Get ready, SebastiAn will play live for the first time ever at Sonar Festival in Barcelona this summer! This festival will also host the Ed Banger "Gazpashow" afternoon, with James Pants, Bullion, Breakbot, Outlines, DSL, and Busy P."

Does this just mean he'll be dropping his own stuff, instead of dropping other people's songs? "Dolami", "Ross Ross Ross" and "Walkman" would be clear highlights of a SebastiAn set.

I just hope he's mustered a fair amount of new material so he doesn't have to rely on the lacklustre "Motor" / "Momy" / "Army". Surely its about time he came out with an album. Surely.

More importantly, just what would be 'live' about a SebastiAn set?

Drunk on... life?

2009-03-14T17:18:00.002+13:00

This box was full of wine grapes from my uncle's place up near Gisborne.

This box was full of the most juicy, most delicious and certainly the most sweet grapes the human palate could ever hope to register.

This box was full until moments ago.

I'm not feeling entirely myself right now.

Thanks, diabetes!

What is the world coming to?

2009-03-14T17:04:00.003+13:00

Page 9 of the Indulgence supplement to today's issue of The Dominion Post has a number of recipes from well-known Wellington caterer Ruth Pretty.

The picture of a beef, tomato and bacon tart had me intrigued and interested enough to read the recipes she'd included in this week's issue. You'll have to colour me perplexed when I read that one of the recipes described a dish that I didn't think needed description.

To explain, I'll repeat for you the recipe verbatim.

EMMENTAL CHEESE & HAM ROLLS

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS
6 x 60g soft bread rolls
30g (3 tbsp) butter (softened)
45ml (3tbsp) Grain Mustard Mayonnaise
85g Emmental cheese (cut into 12 thin slices - for ease use a cheese slicer)
150g ham (carvery sliced)
6 sprig Italian parsley

METHOD
* Cut rolls on an angle to three-quarters of the way through the roll.
* Butter each cut side of the roll and then spread with mayonnaise.
* Place a slice of cheese on the lowered buttered edge, followed by a folded 25g piece of ham and a second piece of cheese.
* Garnish each roll with a sprig of parsley. Eat immediately or after no more than 30 minutes. Store covered in refrigerator to serve later that day.

Have things really reached a point where people need instructions on making even the most rudimentary things? Have sandwiches become too daunting for the everyperson to contemplate making themselves? Is this why fast food, packet and pre-cooked meals are selling quite well despite the economic recession?

I don't want you to think this makes me angry or anything. It just confuses the fuck out of me is all, and right now I just need answers that make sense to me.

Corned beef confessions

2009-03-14T16:29:00.004+13:00

Sweet Etcetera beat me to the punch on Scanwiches, and he's right that "This is exactly the kind of beautifully pointless website that the internet was made for".

The myriad of different sandwich cross-sections shows a habit among Americans to abandon balance and proportion for extremes. Too wet, too dry, too much of one thing, not enough of others. It all seems so very Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Well one example where I'm quite happy for balance and proportion to be abandoned is this delicious morsel above. Corned beef, mustard on rye from Katz Deli.

Corned beef has always held a special place in my heart. Perhaps from the Maori predilection for 'boil up'. Perhaps from an upbringing more carnivorous than had by others. Perhaps because, like brussel sprouts, it has become an underdog food.

Either way, piled high between two slices of sturdy bread, each slice buttered and mustered, corned beef becomes something that wipes away the bad memories with every bite.

I'm sorry but to me, this is the stuff that dreams are made. Really.

Wrong on so many levels

2009-03-10T22:34:00.002+13:00

"Luftbahn" by German act Deichkind.

The youtube video isn't so flash, so you might want to download the HQ version here, so you can *coughs* get a better view of how badly they're playing their *coughs* instruments.

This is so obviously a pisstake, but I can't discern any target. Pop music? Boy bands? Shampoo commercials? Cadbury? Body-waxing?

Apparently it is from their 2008 album Arbeit Nervt. Excuse me while I track it down.

Oh and if you can work out what song this sounds like, please let me know. Antz reckons it sounds generic, but I'm not so sure. It actually does sound like a couple of actual songs. I just can't place them.

Ugh.

Reasons why I love my iphone

2009-03-09T00:52:00.003+13:00

Following on from the convenience of gmail/facebook/twitter at anytime and the genius that is Touch Physics, comes a game I have Piers to thank for putting me onto: Zen Bound.

Zen Bound is a really simple game that involves spinning wooden shaped blocks in ways that see a yarn thread wrap itself around the object. The purpose of the game is to achieve as much contact between the thread and the block as possible, whilst involving the least length of thread possible.

Sounds kinda stupid, but it isn't. The visuals are sumptuous. The binaural sounds just dreamy on the headphones. The challenges ever more difficult, but never too difficult.

This game has been chewing up more battery power than running both Facebook and Twitterific for long stretches on 3G. Well worth the effort and the expense.

Where to from here?

2009-03-09T00:28:00.004+13:00

Albert has already blogged about something that has been gnawing away at me for a fair few months now. I've been meaning to blog about it myself but it hasn't really hit me until today just how much I'm feeling like the old guy in his Seinfeld analogy.

In compiling an email for friends of mine of some of the better tracks I've come across on the blogosphere, I was left seriously struggling to compile around a dozen links of all the tracks I've picked up the last couple weeks. Like, seriously struggled.

What I have noticed is that most of the music coming out these days bears little resemblance to the music that blew me away in 2006/2007 and parts of 2008. The bedroom producers that made bloghouse into something aren't pumping out the unofficial remixes in the quantity or quality that they used to. Similarly, a lot of what is coming out is tending towards the migration into dub, dubstep, minimal, electro pop, the MSTRKRFT-school of overdone bangers, the future retro sound that is "nu disco" or the breezy balearica of the more recent Swedish releases.

I guess where I'm finding myself is here on a laptop, trawling god knows how many blogs lined up on my RSS reader, waiting expectantly for gems to float my way that make me feel the way I did when I first hooked into music blogs. Sure the novelty of all the new music played a large part in my ecstatic ingestion of a lot of that music back then.

I'm all for the evolution of music to satisfy the evolving tastes and needs of listeners. Without that, I'd be left largely unimpressed by a lot of classical music, or potentially much worse. With music seemingly moving away from the kind of music I've enjoyed so very much, two questions come to mind: where will the next big thing emerge for me, and will I know it when I hear it if I'm stuck in 2006/2007/2008?

What can I say?

2009-03-08T21:52:00.000+13:00

Ozymandias is no Jeremy Irons.

This is the best thing about the movie Watchmen

2009-03-08T14:15:00.002+13:00

Really.

I'm sorry but the film is three hours of pretty but shallow. None of the major plot points were given enough screen time to have really mattered, the slow-normal-slow fight scenes didn't make much sense against the more appealing thriller element to the film, Rorschach was the only character in the film with any character, and maybe it was the digital film but I didn't get much of an impression of an oppressed America or a world on the brink of destruction.

And Antz is right. Ozymandias is a wimpy twink with a wonky nose. I don't know what this says about the film-makers if this is what they find attractive, charming and disarming.

Hat-tip to Bobby for the cartoon.

One thing leads to another

2009-03-05T23:43:00.003+13:00

With the new toy comes new applications, and one in which I have become particularly obsessed is the one that lets me tweet and read the tweets of others on Twitter.

I really don't recommend that you follow me on twitter, but if you really feel you must, then I can be found on http://twitter.com/hiswhoreness.

It's all really rather ridiculous, but I have to admit that I quite enjoy the hassle-free experience that is micro-blogging. That said, one should not assume my tweets are any more erudite than my posts here.

Far from it.

Mixed media

2009-03-05T23:08:00.000+13:00

Is it selfish to want someone to make me one of these just so I can have it stand on one of these?

This just in

2009-03-05T22:51:00.003+13:00

Source: Seeing Stars

Let There Be Night break the bad news about Tim leaving Damn Arms. With Tim leaving Damn Arms, is Damn Arms now just G.L.O.V.E.S.?

Fluro Mag let slip about Melbourne DJs Slap & Dash (aka Scattermish and Mu-gen) headlining Sandwiches the night of Friday the 13th. They've never disappointed when I've seen them in Melbourne. I am however a little worried about the crowd it might attract if it is indeed a Homegrown afterparty.

Busy P blogs about the news that Daft Punk will be scoring TR2N. I'm not sure this is such a good thing given the Sebastien Tellier / Mr Oizo / SebastiAn score for Steak was almost as unlistenable as the effort Massive Attack pulled together for Unleashed / Danny The Dog. Besides, this only gets in the way of Daft Punk completing their next album in a timely manner, to then tour the world so they can once more bring joy and happiness into our otherwise mundane lives.

Aleks over at Discodust blogs two new remixes of "New In Town" by Little Boots. The Fred Falke Vocal remix is just incredible and sounds a lot like this, but Little Boots-y.

Asian Dan follows up the teaser trailer with the music video proper for Sebastien Tellier's "Roche". Sumptuous. And blue. If the dailymotion video doesn't work for you (like it didn't with me), try this one on youtube.

Starlifter.TV has me thinking about my own top 5 songs. What to choose? What to choose? What to choose?

This will have significance in your lives come September, and before you ask, it has nothing to do with this.

Some Bastard and his delightful significant other are in Melbourne right now, and I couldn't be more jealous right now.

Harbour Master looks amazing. Again. We miss her.

Overheard In New York is my new daily online addiction.

Faggotry comes through with some salient patriotism on our esteemed Prime Minister.

It starts with a cat

2009-03-04T21:22:00.004+13:00

Gabriel Stebbing (aka "the hot guy in Metronomy") has a sideline indie band called Your Twenties and they've done a music video for their song "Caught Wheel". It starts off quite cute (with the cat), becomes very Metronomy and then ends. That said, the song doesn't sound that much like Metronomy. I think that may be because it isn't as overtly fun and quirky as Metronomy is known, but I do enjoy the song all the same.

Their myspace also has demos of tracks "Billionaires" and "Gold". I'm sensing a theme there.

I hope that made sense.

How many times did I mention Metronomy? Five times.

My new hero

2009-03-03T19:21:00.000+13:00

i'm lovin it

2009-03-03T18:24:00.002+13:00

I don't remember Ronald looking like this when I was a kid.

Love that accent.

And the hair.

Hat-tip @nedwin

I'm sorry, how much?

2009-03-02T21:35:00.006+13:00

Urban garnish

2009-03-02T14:52:00.003+13:00

Ok.

I can see why the city would plant ornamental kale along the median strip that follows the Golden Mile, but curly-leafed parsley out by the Intercontinental?

Really?

Things to look forward to : Little Boots

2009-03-02T01:00:00.003+13:00

Source: myspace (Copyright Gabriel Green)

I'll probably get into trouble for blogging this, but Little Boots let slip what could be the tracklisting for her forthcoming debut album.

How many tracks do you recognise from either list? I count about six.

Colour me very excited by the release of this album.

Very excited indeed.

Apologies for all the mixed metaphors

2009-03-02T00:29:00.003+13:00

I've had a particularly strong affection for Teenagersintokyo for the last few years, affection that could only but grow with the heavily-personalised EP and photos that arrived for my birthday back in 2007.

Well it seems that they'll be performing a farewell gig in a couple weeks in Sydney before heading off to the UK to focus on their first album. I'm really happy to see them move up and up as their self-titled EP just screamed of better things coming their way.

It does however kill me a little bit to know they'll be jetting off before I get a chance to see them live, to see this live...

Although "End It Tonight" is the song that originally had me hooked, it was "Very Vampyr" that impressed me the most. That may or may not have something to do with "End It Tonight" being:

a) on high rotation on my itunes for over two years now.

b) used to sell tampons to active young women.

c) not quite as energetic as "Very Vampyr".

d) all of the above to varying degrees.

If you don't already have their EP, shame on you! You can pick it up here for a song.

While you're at it, Jerry over at Who The Hell has an exclusive remix of "Robocat" by G.L.O.V.E.S. (aka Yama from Damn Arms). I really like the original, but G.L.O.V.E.S. has made it so deliciously filthy you can't help but wallow in it.

Ripe with opportunity

2009-03-02T00:12:00.002+13:00

Maybe it was the beer talking at the time, but I've been offered a fair amount of seed capital to start up any business I felt could make some more money, and I wouldn't even have to do the books.

Score!

Not sure what I'd do though. I've never really given it much thought. My talents seem to instead lie with helping other people make more money from what they're already doing or could branch into doing, and that doesn't strike me as a particularly lucrative line of work.

Oh no, wait!

2009-03-01T23:51:00.002+13:00

Star Trek from Yuri Prado on Vimeo.

I forgot about the new Star Trek film!

Yeah.

Spaceships beat talking robots.

Even on Wednesdays.

Sorry, but its true.

The mystery deepens

2009-03-01T23:41:00.003+13:00

Here's the GI Joe TV spot that screened during the Superbowl.

Colour me somewhat less impressed than previously.

Channing Tatum is no American hero, Dennis Quaid has seen better days, Ray Park is a CGI puppet like in all his other films, Marlon Wayans says way too much, oh and I'm well over the whole slo-mo CGI scene. We're talking well over it.

This could very well be what was needed to engender in me more than a passing interest in the new Transformers film.

This came out over a year ago, but...

2009-03-01T23:33:00.002+13:00

Buraka Som Sistema - Sound of Kuduro from Mel Ugly on Vimeo.

... I still can't get enough of it.

"Sound Of Kuduro" from the album Black Diamond by Portugal's Buraka Som Sistema.

It might be a bit bro or ethnic for some, but they just need to build a bridge and get over it. We're talking some ridiculously fun music here, people.

Genuinely gutted I didn't get around to seeing these guys when they were touring across the pond not so long ago.

20 hours 'til Bag Raiders

2009-02-27T01:51:00.001+13:00

Can't.

Fucking.

Wait.

How come we didn't see these guys at Parklife last year?

We have five items on the agenda for today

2009-02-27T01:07:00.003+13:00

In the first instance...

The forthcoming album from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It's Blitz, leaked not so long ago. As sad as I am that this would happen to a band like the YYYs (and I genuinely am), getting a sneak peek at the album has only cemented my resolve to buy it when it comes out April 10.

It is very electro rock and quite the polished progression from the grittier Show Your Bones and yet-grittier Fever To Tell.

You'll love it. Clear highlights for your blogger are "Heads Will Roll", "Zero" and "Dragon Queen".

In the second instance...

Depeche Mode - "Wrong" (official music video)

Depeche Mode have released the official music video for their song "Wrong" from their forthcoming 12th album Sounds Of The Universe.

I'd say it was a lot like the music video La Roux released for their track "In For The Kill", but the similarities kinda end with a car and driving being the dominant theme. Whereas La Roux go for fierce, Depeche Mode instead opt for progressively disturbing. Check out how it ends.

Nice.

In the third instance...

I've been checking Depeche Mode's website almost religiously and am yet to see anything more helpful than Pre-order the Deluxe Box Set Edition: links coming soon!

Ugh.

In the fourth instance...

La Roux's second single "In For The Kill" isn't as good as "Quicksand", but remains a hell of a lot better than a lot of the other stuff coming out of late (Fist Of God anyone?). The music video has lots of driving and singing and more driving and singing. Looks very stylish and Elly looks quite dashing in the driver's seat.

As good as the song is, and as much as I can't get into dubstep, Skream did manage pull out a marvelous remix. I love how it slowly builds and builds on what appear to be largely repetitive lyrics. This isn't the first time Skream has impressed me with his remixing. The job he did on DM frontman, Dave Gahan's "Saw Something" is similarly top notch.

Pick up Skream's Let's Get Ravey Remix of La Roux's "In For The Kill" over at Ohh Crapp!. They've also got the video for you to have a gander. They're so obliging.

Oh and LA Friendly have a cheeky remix of the same song by The Twelves.

In the fifth instance...

I love my new iphone.

I really do.

WRONG!!!

2009-02-23T22:15:00.002+13:00

LA Friendly have a sneak peek at Depeche Mode's forthcoming album Sounds Of The Universe that is so very far from wrong.

Titled "Wrong", the song marks a very welcome return to the Violator sound, a sound free of the more experimental electronica they've been pursuing through Exciter and more recently Playing The Angel. Don't get me wrong. Both are great albums. Its just that Violator has always been the truly DM album for me.

Following what Radiohead did with In Rainbows, Depeche Mode are releasing the album as a deluxe box set that includes:

CD 1 - Sounds Of The Universe
1. In Chains
2. Hole To Feed
3. Wrong
4. Fragile Tension
5. Little Soul
6. In Sympathy
7. Peace
8. Come Back
9. Spacewalker
10. Perfect
11. Miles Away / The Truth Is
12. Jezebel
13. Corrupt

CD 2
Bonus tracks
1. Light
2. The Sun And The Moon And The Stars
3. Ghost
4. Esque
5. Oh Well

Remixes
6. Corrupt - Efdemin Remix
7. In Chains - Minilogue's Earth Remix
8. Little Soul - Thomas Fehlman Ambient Mix
9. Jezebel - SixToes Remix
10. Perfect - Electronic Periodic Dark Drone Mix
11. Wrong - Caspa Remix

CD 3
Demos
1. Little 15
2. Clean
3. Sweetest Perfection
4. Walking In My Shoes
5. I Feel You
6. Judas
7. Surrender
8. Only When I Lose Myself
9. Nothing's Impossible
10. Corrupt
11. Peace
12. Jezebel
13. Come Back
14. In Chains

DVD
Video
Making The Universe / Film (45.23)
Usual Thing, Try And Get The Question In The Answer (55.12)
Sounds Of The Universe [A Short Film] (10.05)
Wrong (promo video - 3.16)
Studio Sessions:
Corrupt (4.08)
Little Soul (3.52)
Stories Of Old (3.24)
Come Back (6.05)

Audio
Sounds Of The Universe plus bonus tracks in 5.1 surround sound
1. In Chains
2. Hole To Feed
3. Wrong
4. Fragile Tension
5. Little Soul
6. In Sympathy
7. Peace
8. Come Back
9. Spacewalker
10. Perfect
11. Miles Away / The Truth Is
12. Jezebel
13. Corrupt

Bonus tracks
1. Light
2. The Sun And The Moon And The Stars
3. Ghost
4. Esque
5. Oh Well

Packaging / additional content:
2 piece custom made box with foil blocking.
2 x 84 page hardback books:
The first featuring the lyrics to all the songs from the Sounds Of The Universe sessions accompanied by exclusive photography by Anton Corbijn.
The second featuring exclusive and candid studio photography by Daniel Miller, Ben Hillier, Luke Smith and Ferg Peterkin.
2 exclusive enamel badges
1 poster
5 artcards, sealed in a collectors envelope
1 certificate of authenticity

I'm pre-ordering the sonofabitch the moment a link pops up on the DM website.

Depeche Mode are the last great band I'm desperate to see live and Sounds Of The Universe is my In Ghost Colours for this year. I couldn't be more excited right now.

Really.

Oh yes I did!

2009-02-22T01:25:00.002+13:00

... and we love it!

Now, if anyone has played Touch Physics can they please get in touch with me about beating level 8?

I've dropped a wedge on the damn ball but it won't budge, and I'm not sure how I'm meant to get it across to the star unless I draw a line from the white snowy peaks to the arm of the snowman, but then how do I get the damn ball to roll down that line to the snowman?

Ugh. Fuck. Shit. HELP!!!

All good things come to an end

2009-02-22T00:49:00.003+13:00

Fallout 3 has claimed an obscene number of my hours since I got the game late last year. The game is immersive, open-ended and painfully addictive. Don't even ask how many times I've checked the clock on my cellphone only to realise it is four in the morning.

As addictive as the game is, I'm about ready to give it up for good. The main thing that kept me coming back, besides the gratuitous slow-motion head shots, was character development. I liked that the character grew in ways I wanted and that one could see the effects of those improvements.

Well, I've reached level 20 with my character and the game has decided that that is that. Any further development is from skill books, and I'm sorry but that just doesn't do it for me. I'm not even halfway through the main quest and have a good number fo side quests left to do. Its just that discovering new places, hunting down ever rarer loot, taking on enemy after enemy - none of it seems to matter much anymore.

If anyone wants to give it a go, let me know and I'll pass it on. I can also provide a few pointers so you don't end up restarting your character as many times as I did.

This is my blog under section 92A

2009-02-19T01:22:00.003+13:00

... boring, eh?

If you're in Wellington, there's a protest action at Parliament around 12:30pm. I plan on being there.

So should you.

Important life decisions

2009-02-17T12:10:00.002+13:00

Should I get an iphone this week or instead book flights to Auckland for WOW at Neonsleep's website launch party in Auckland in a couple weeks?

Which is it to be, ladies and gentlemen?

"I'm pretty fed up with guitar - Indie and techno can get a bit monotone after a while."

2009-02-17T11:50:00.003+13:00

I was tempted to headline this post with some gibberish as might be uttered by the Swedish Chef off the Muppets, but that would confuse the point of this post.

The 2007 album Det Snurrar I Min Skalle by Sweden's Familjen is proving just the thing I needed to listen today. I don't care that the lyrics are in Swedish, and so mean very little to me. The beats and rhythms are bouncy and fun and bear a striking resemblance to the baggy house of Black Grape and others in the 90s, albeit far less obnoxious than those acts were back then.

The album is just ridiculously fun with "Kom Sager Dom", "Huvudet I Sanden" and the title track "Det Snurrar I Min Skalle" proving very strong favourites.

It helps that I saw these guys twice on my last trip to Melbourne (Parklife and support for Ladytron), but the album is still a winner.

Pick it up if you don't already have it. I'm sure it's somewhere on itunes if your local CD store isn't borad-minded enough to get an album like this. JB might have it. I think I got my copy at Polyester.

Moments of maddening envy

2009-02-16T22:25:00.002+13:00

Never Ever Land is returning to the UK with a line-up that includes Afrika Bambaataa, Drums Of Death, Holy Ghost!, The Golden Filter and Zomby as well as a number of Modular acts in support. The trip across to the other end of the globe would be worth it for Holy Ghost! and The Golden Filter alone.

The Human League are playing the V Festival across the pond end of March / early April and more than that, they're performing their album Dare live. Sweet Jesus! It's a shame the rest of the line-up is fairly ho-hum (Killers, Snow Patrol *yawn*)

It's official!

2009-02-16T21:13:00.002+13:00

I've downloaded as much as Telecom will allow me until the cap clicks over to the next month's 10gb allocation of online goodness. So here goes with some announcements I've left wanting for reasons that are really quite lame...

Dan Deacon is playing Bodega this Thursday and you suck wet hairy ass if you aren't going to be there. Should be as good as Girl Talk minus the plastics and their anxious oaf boyfriends. Apparently his album has leaked and from what I've read, because of course I can't download anything right now, it is less dancey than Spiderman Of the Rings, which should make for a very interesting evening. Tickets are $25 ad doors open at 9:00pm. High Places and DJ Lotion are support.

Paul has let it be known that pre-sales for OK OK with Bag Raiders may still be available on UTR so you better be in quick. This the first of a series of Modular nights being held here in the land of the long white cloud and Bag Raiders are not an act to be missed. Cool Kids Club and DJ Lotion are support. OK OK is at San Fran on the night of February 27 and pre-sales are now $20.

Paul has also let it be known that Sohomo is coming back to Wellington the night of March 8, and he's bringing Over The Atlantic, DJs A.D.A.M. and Babes!Babes!Babes! (Shaun is too much fun) down with him with DJ Lotion representing our nation's capital. Should be a grand grand night, but then Sohomo never disappoints. Door sales are $10 and they open at 10:00pm.

Quintron and Miss Pussycat are coming to Mighty Mighty the night of 11 March and I really might have to go. Pre-gig puppet show? Hell, yes! Tickets are $20 and doors open at 9:00pm.

The Kills can't get here soon enough. Everyone's favourite asian got me a ticket, I just need to pay him back for it. He's good like that. They play San Fran on March 26. Tickets are $50 and I couldn't care less who is playing support. It's The MOTHERFUCKING Kills.

Santogold is now Santigold. Yeah. I was thinking the exact same thing.

Paul must be chasing sainthood with his not-so-obvious news that Le Castle Vania will be appearing in New Zealand in May. Granted it'll be in Auckland, but holy shit! I'm going, and so should you. Roadtrip anyone? Le Castle Vania plays Casette 9 the night of May 3. No word on ticket prices, door times or support. Yet.

How awesome are the new albums from Bat For Lashes, Fever Ray, The Juan Maclean and Junior Boys? Very, is the answer I'm looking for, people.

So, what's new with you?

Something big must be going down

2009-02-15T12:00:00.004+13:00

It sounds like every fire truck and ambulance in the city is roaring past my office window, most with police escort.

Traffic musn't be getting the fuck out of their way because the fire trucks keep honking their horns.

Ride of the Valkyrie

2009-02-14T16:32:00.004+13:00

I saw Valkyrie with Te Papa last week and have five things to say about the film, namely:

1. It played like an action film of old, before they became ruined by irrelevantly large explosions, by "state of the art" special effects, and by the now-ubiquitous over-use of CGI.

2. I'm not sure I liked that the good guys had English and American accents, while the bad guys had German and faintly-Russian accents. Just a little too obvious.

3. I liked that the pointless sentimentality was saved for the very end.

4. Tom Cruise was actually pretty good in it.

5. I genuinely enjoyed the film.

That is all.

Far from rough trade

2009-02-14T16:13:00.003+13:00

I lunched at Trade Kitchen earlier this week with the wives and had a marvellous time. Good food, good company, good conversation, good timing.

The related experiences of others that have been there had me a little anxious how things would go. Whether around problems with the service they received or the food they were served, I wanted this to go well.

And went very well.

The lunch menu had a range of items that could tickle the interest of most people, but without burying us under a fussy and cluttered menu. Two of us went with the pea and halloumi fritters while the third of us went for wild mushroom and chicken risotto. The fritters were really rather good with the sweetness of the peas working well with the saltiness of the halloumi and the basil mayo and sliced avocado adding a nice smoothness and coolness to the overall dish. The roast beet and kumara side was cooked so well the balsamic syrup was made entirely unnecessary.

The food really was well done and I wish I'd thought to offer my compliments to the chef. Ah well, next time.

The service wasn't half bad either with staff who knew what they were talking about and got the job over and done with in a good and orderly manner.

My one gripe would be the layout. Trade Kitchen straddles a vacant corner store in an awkward L-shape and we were perhaps unfortunately situated along the more cafe end of the restaurant, which meant it all had a rather awkward ambience as mothers tried to push prams past us. Ok, so maybe it was only the one mother, but it was still awkward.

Would I go again? Definitely.

Would I go with just anyone? Probably not.

A cry for help

2009-02-14T12:59:00.002+13:00

It seems appropriate to share this BBC news item that found its way to my inbox earlier today.

Before we get into what it says I feel I should point out that I am neither in the position to, nor of a disposition to, embezzle money from my employer to feed a habit my ample disposable income more than ably satisfies.

Long story short, some guy in the UK was arrested for embezzling a fuckload of cash from his employer and when police raided his place they found numerous cases of dunnies in his attic that he'd bought from ebay.

Although he says he pocketed just over NZ$1.5m to feed his "gambling addiction", it does seem odd that someone would choose to do that by buying dunnies. Sure they're worth ridiculous amounts of money online, but then you tend to have to spend that amount of money from the moment Kidrobot release them onto the market.

Maybe its the cycnicism speaking here or perhaps I'm reflecting my own motives on his motives, but I think he bought as many of them as he did because he liked them, and that worries me from what it says about me and my 'affection' for the dunny figure. I'm not indiscriminate in my purchasing of the figures. Far from it. I've passed on a number of the 8" releases and stopped getting blind boxes when POPUP was from sold out in that particular series. I do have restraint, albeit difficult to discern from my collection.

I love dunnies.

I make no bones about that, because it's true.

Challenged a couple of weeks back on just how many of the little figures I had, I just last week pulled down from the ceiling all of my dunnies. Stacked together, I was quite taken aback by the 13 full cases of figures (with 25 of the 3" figures in each case), the smallish bag of assorted 3" dunnies and the 15 8" dunnies I've got lined up in my room. Adding yet more to the private himiliation was the feeling that I still wanted more of the little buggers. Lots more.

I just wonder if I'll need someone to slap me in the face, to grab my shoulders and shake some sense into me should this ever get out of hand.

What do you think?

Cookies!

2009-02-11T19:12:00.002+13:00

The cellphone camera is a beautiful thing, when images like this appear from nowhere.

The internet truly is a beautiful thing, when something like this springs from a post like this.

I never did ask Kell if it was wholesome and delicious.

TRADING : Ye Olde English Dunny Series

2009-02-07T23:55:00.004+13:00

Ok, so anyone not interested in dunnies can just ignore this post.

For those that are and have also been collecting KidRobot's latest dunny series, please allow me to be the saviour of your completist fantasies. Yes, it is trading time.

I have gone a bit mental for this series and picked up a lot more in a shorter period of time than I normally have, but then POPUP only got in 20 cases and I'm not sure they'll be able to get anymore. When I left the store on Thursday afternoon, they still had around three cases left, and it is easy to see why. The production and quality problems they had with Series 5 seem to have been well and truly resolved and this series features some really stand-out designs. KidRobot also seem to have worked out that we're happier collecting more and more of the dunnies when they ensure the more frequent pick-ups are designs good enough to warrant buying just one more blind box.

And so on the basis of that explanation I hope you'll understand when I unashamedly declare I've picked up 63 dunnies from the Ye Olde English series. Yes, just over 10% of the dunnies that POPUP got in from this series.

Here's a breakdown of what I've got so far:

McFaul x 4

Mimic x 3 (black) x 1 (red)

ilovedust x 2

Jon Burgerman x 4

TADO x 8

Doktor A x 7 (tree)

UAMOU x 4

Clutter x 2

Peskimo x 6

HiCalorie x Julie West x 1

Frames x 5

Triclops x 2 (TASH) x 8 (rainhead)

Shok-1 x 6

[I'll throw pics up once KidRobot get around to including these designs in their online roster of dunny releases]

The dunnies in this series I am very interested in are the McFaul (but then who isn't), the rainhead Triclops (looks very cool en masse) and the TADO (just adorable).

Now, here's how I prefer to do things:

1. I'm more interested in trading dunnies rather than taking cash.

2. I'm more interested in multiples of the designs that really float my boat, rather than filling the few gaps I have in my collection.

3. I'm not so fussed on the rarity of a figure, so will take more common dunnies in exchange for rarer ones where I like the design of the dunnies being offered.

4. I'm happy to trade across the different dunny series, so let me know if there are figures you want or can offer from any of the previous series.

What do you have? What do you want? What are you willing to trade to get what you want? Let's talk.

Post a comment or email me on the address in the sidebar to your left.

Priorities

2009-02-05T15:46:00.001+13:00

I was going to buy an iphone today but then decided I'd rather buy dunnies instead.

So I did.

Fuck it!

2009-02-05T00:52:00.003+13:00

The Telecommunications Carriers Forum have developed a draft code of practice for ISPs to follow when dealing with infringement notices they receive from copyright holders. This was developed in response to the imminent entry into force of the provisions of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act 2008.

You can find the draft code here and they are seeking feedback on the draft code with submissions due Friday 9 March 2009.

Now, for those not used to plowing through dull documents like these then I suggest you head here to see what InternetNZ had to say about the draft code. It provides a pretty good overview of the key aspects of the code that bloggers and other internet users ought to be aware, especially if and when you find yourselves on the receiving end of the resulting process.

Oh and in case you were wondering, yes I will be putting in a personal submission on the draft code.

Points of clarification : Little Boots

2009-02-04T00:45:00.000+13:00

Source: myspace (Copyright Gabriel Green)

Three things.

Firstly...
The Escape supplement in the immediate past Sunday Star Times has a brilliant piece on Little Boots cobbled from an item syndicated from the Guardian News & Media. Much like with the coverage Ladyhawke has received in our local media, I'm still somewhat amazed to see mainstream media over here pick up on acts I normally assume to be too niche to ever appeal to too many people down here in the ass end of the South Pacific.

Anywho, the item ends saying her EP (the Arecibo EP???) was released exclusively on itunes on Monday, but I'll be buggered if I can find it. The only Little Boots item on the NZ store I could find was the Fake Blood remix of "Stuck On Repeat" from some otherwise dreadful Ministry Of Sound compilation. Ugh.

Secondly...
A super friend of mine of the yet-to-meet-in-real-life variety is seeing Little Boots in New York tomorrow and I couldn't be more happy for her or jealous of her. I really do need to sort my shit out and head up north to see Little Boots myself. Anyone want to come see her in Paris in April? Oui? Non?

Thirdly...
I picked up a number of Little Boots' demos when she uploaded them sequentially onto her myspace over a month or so and one of them was her cover of Freddie Mercury's "Love Kills". I haven't heard the original so don't know how faithful a rendition she's made. What I do know is that madame's cover is a lovely gem of a song (which you can still check out on her myspace - radness). What I also know is that the Buffetlibre guys and Sidechains remixed it for the Rewind 2 series, and in doing so produced one of the clear stand-out tracks in the 89 song series. Is it wrong for me to prefer the poppier cover to the banging remix? Because I do. I really do.

Fourthly...
I know I said I only had three things, but I just had to squeeze this in.

Who needs a backing band when a tenorion can do it all for you?