Paraless

Let me tell you all a story.

There was once a young lad who travelled around the world quite a bit with his family. Whenever he was at an airport, he liked to purchase a magazine to read. One American winter, he bought a copy of Alternative Press. It was a time of musical discovery for this young lad, and little did he know that his life would be changed forever after that purchase.

There was an ad for a band with a cute frontwoman touring the States at the time. This band's name was Paramore and my literal thoughts at the time went something along the lines of 'oh. she's cute'. So i came home to Australia and downloaded the album All We Know Is Falling. At first, it was a little pop punk guilty pleasure, and it felt nice to have listen to a band that not many knew about way back in 2004. My sister's reaction was: 'He sounds like a girl'. How far we've come.

I like to gauge it this way. When i first started listening to Paramore, they had about 4,000,000 scrobbles on last.fm. Now they are fast approaching 100,000,000 and are arguably one of the biggest bands on the planet. I grew to love them like no other band i had listened to before. Radiohead engaged me intellectually, The Mars Volta, spiritually (lol) and Muse made me smile a lot, but I never really loved them like i did Paramore. It was a funny thing, but the kind of devotion Parawhores have for these people borders on idolatry. I hadn't quite gone that far, but I did order the $80 deluxe edition of Brand New Eyes, had it shipped to a friend in NZ and then posted over to me. Make of that what you wish.

As time went on, and as Riot! came out, the guilty pleasure soon blew out into complete and utter fanhood. When i found myself perusing their blogs and reading about the Farros trip to China, which sounded suspiciously like a 'mission trip' i was sold. Excellent music and (what appeared to be) excellent faith? I couldn't love them any more.

I went to their concert at the Roundhouse in 2007 (my sister's first concert ever) and fell in love even more with the undeniable charisma of the one and only Hayley Williams. I declared my undying allegiance to the band of Paramore.

The Final Riot came out, and the jam at the end of Let The Flames Begin further strengthened my love. In what was obviously a prayer of sorts, and their musical passion and dare i say, prowess, went straight to my heart. Further jams on youtube, Miracle outro and Brand New Eyes tour intro made me just amaze.



Ignorance was released as a single and i listened to it on repeat while in vacation in the States in 2009. Then Brand New Eyes dropped and I really lost it. The album was all killer, no filler, in the truest sense of the phrase.

I saw Paramore perform 3 times in 2009. Twice in February as part of Soundwave, and then again on their headlining tour with Relient K at the end of the year. And they did not fail to impress. As my friend Jen said, 'they are pretty much my favourite humans ever'. While Josh did seem a bit despondent in his performance, my sister assured me that's just how he plays. And no one suspected a thing.

And then come December, and the bombshells were dropped.

What I learned from it all, is that bottom line, the music industry simply can't be trusted. We are manipulated and our thoughts are shaped to no end. Essentially, we are directly lied to our faces without apology and without remorse. Fans of Paramore love the band as a whole, and acknowledge that Hayley gets a lot of the attention, but it was definitely something more than 'the coattails of hayley's dream'. However, it would appear that there was no 'whole' to the band to even begin with. A tragic end for many, as people's worlds were essentially shattered (hyperbole alert!) beyond repair. I can't even listen to Paramore in the same way any more.

Boo, you whore.

Anyway, this pretty much sums it up for me.



Time to move on to bigger and better things methinks.


/end story.

Ennui [änˈwē]-

noun;

a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement.

Relevant.

Citizen of the Sea

The band in which we play music and sometimes go for late night macca's because it is tasty. The demo tracks are rough but will do for now.

Exciting times!

http://www.myspace.com/citizenofthesea


(more demo tracks to come soon!)

Photos by Lisa McG

first post in a long time.

While listening to Triple J's Hottest 100 yesterday, I realised how out of touch I was with what the hip kids are listening to these days. 2009 was the year I really got into the punk side of life(Soundwave, Warped Tour, Thrice, Paramore...) and as a consequence I felt little to no connection with the music yesterday. I'm no Nick Underhill. lolz.

Thank goodness for Mumford & Sons.

:)

Radiohead ftw

So i finished my radiohead binge last week. And it did not leave a bitter taste in my mouth. I learned several things from this little experiment:

1. I did not really tire of it. In fact i was strongly considering continuing on radiohead for the rest OF MY LIFE. but then i realised that i sorely missed my dear hayley. As talented as mr yorke is, sometimes i just a good ol' punk song to kick out the jams. As much as man does not live on bread alone, so too does he not live on one band alone.
   
2. It did not substantially alter my outlook on life. I did feel a little more negative about things, but this can be attributed to the 2 exams i have looking over my head like a cloud of bad dreams. (last exams EVER!). What it did change was my capacity and willingness to think a bit more about the bigger picture of existence and life. It drew out a dormant cynicism i have for much of life in ways i was not expecting, most in particular was the quote from last week i found from Steven Soderbergh about movies and how much i resonated with it. One could say that i was climbing up the walls a bit with it...I've wanted to read more than i ever have before, and i don't know if this is a side effect of radiohead in my head, or just my normal urge being enhanced, but the urge is there!
   
3. If you ever want to engage a bit more with your darker side, listen to radiohead for a week. Not Nine Inch Nails, that's a bit too dark. And not My Chemical Romance, that's a bit too emo. Radiohead is where it's at.
4. Radiohead is a genius name for a band.
   
5. Kid A is excellent and underrated.
   
6. I learned that 2+2=5 and that the ice age is indeed coming sooner than we expected.
7. I learned that 4th year medical and radiation physics is a bit too easy. But actually, I already knew that.
   

In conclusion, the qualitative nature of this experiment meant that any error encountered in data collection is negligible. Radiohead are a band with an extensive and varied back catalogue and can be used as a way to enhance one's mental capacity and ability to engage with intellectual materials (such as the study of physics and/or metaphysics). However, this may be done at the expense of one's ability to engage meaningfully and pleasantly with the outside world. It is recommended based on my findings that while it may be useful to listen to only one artist for a period of time, it is potentially unhealthy to extend this beyond any period outside of a week or a possibly fortnight without lasting side effects.



lol

*******************

This week, i listened to a lot of jeff buckley. Then i watched michael jackson's this is it. Tortured geniuses both too good for this earth. I have this theory (possibly heretical) that maybe every now and then, God sends down a soul too pure just to live out that the old adage the brightest candle burns out the fastest.


it's late and i like blogging when it's late. bahahahahaha.

I don't write songs for Sony.
I write songs for the people screaming
down the road in their car,
crying with the radio on full blast.

Jeff Buckley's diary. During the post-Grace period when he was experiencing pressure from his record company to write a 'couple of hits' for his second album My Sweetheart The Drunk. I watched his Grace Around the World DVD today and was reminded of how amazing and pure the man was as a musician and an artist. It's a real shame, even an injustice that he isn't as big in his own country as he is here in Australia or Europe. The bigger shame is that he died so young and so needlessly.


Do yourself a favour and listen to Jeff Buckley. Like NOW.

In Exile

I am in exile, a sojourner
A citizen of some other place
All I've seen is just a glimmer in a shadowy mirror
But I know, one day we'll see face to face

I am a nomad, a wanderer
I have nowhere to lay my head down
There's no point in putting roots too deep when I'm moving on
Not settling for this unsettling town

My heart is filled with songs of forever
The city that endures when all is made new
I know I don't belong here, I'll never
Call this place my home, I'm just passing through

I am a pilgrim, a voyager
I wont rest until my lips touch the shore
Of the land that I've been longing for as long as I've lived
Where they'll be no penalties anymore

beautiful words. It's also a beautiful song. So simple and elegant. The whole album is so rich in lyrical depth that I'm surprised they aren't as big as they should be. 10 points to whoever figures it out without googling it.

And for all you facebook kiddies out there, these posts are all found at my blog fyi.
http://www.houseofkloo.blogspot.com

Good night...and good luck.

brand new eyes

The new Paramore album is good.



But it needs more breakdowns!



Oi Paramore...DISRESPECT YOUR SURROUNDINGS!!

PHYS452- Medical Imaging

The worst part of only having one exam that is the easiest subject i've ever done is that it is not for another 5 days and I can't shirk it off! It's like a bad dream hanging over me and I know it should be a pretty easy exam, but I can't shake off the feeling i should be studying more in the offchance that it is a difficult exam! I think it's mostly because it was such an easy subject that if i did badly the final i will just drop out of uni in shame. Or as in BM, it will be very malu...

In the meantime, Thrice are really really good. Was watching their House Of Blues dvd last night and i love the depth of their sound even though they are only a 4-piece. Their balance between light and dark, heavy and pretty music is quite exceptional. Super excited for VANS WARPED TOUR ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha (July 19th, New Jersey). Bought tickets the other week and they're so cheap compared to our international line-ups...which makes sense since america is where they're from actually.

Others i'm looking forward to are:

• Alexisonfire
• Underoath
• Chiodos
• A Day To Remember
• The Devil Wears Prada
• A Skylit Drive
• Anti-Flag
• Meg and Dia (chiiiiiiicks!)
• Gallows
• Dance Gavin Dance
• Flogging Molly
• VersaEmerge etc etc (admittedly i've seen most of these before...but not on Warped!)

I'm hoping to flaunt my aussie accent and gain backstage access to the whole show. Should be fairly successful i think! "Hi i've travelled 156 hours from Wollongong to get here. Love me!"

I am currently listening to Taking Back Sunday who are not playing Warped tour, but are also very very good! gotta get the new album sooooooooon. I am also learning to love Dillinger Escape Plan. These get me through the drudgery of exam periods...

hmm...

Christmas Playlist 2 Of 2

Another day, another playlist. Hmm. 

Music for the more 'discerning listener'

• Icelandic gibberish that makes you very happy on the inside: Sigur Ros with Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur 
• If it sounds like American indie, it's The Shins' Australia
• A song with a lot of snare drum 'Who do you carry the torch for my young man? Do you believe in anything?' is Brand New's Archers
• Same Gyroscope song as below. 'Take 22 of 3 and we'll see how well she takes a hit, if she makes it'
• Two girls singing at once 'I listened in yes i'm guilty of this you should know this' is Canadian indie sweethearts Tegan & Sara with hit single The Con
• 1 2 3 4 by Feist. You should be able to figure this one out
• A girl who goes 'whoaa whoaa whoaa' a lot- Marvellous Things by Eisley. Named after the Mos Eisley Cantina from Star Wars. A very well-dressed group of Americans. Christian too i think.
• I may or may not have put Smashing Pumpkins' Tonight Tonight on here
• 'Maybe maybe nothing could prepare you...' Aussie group Something For Kate with single from 2006 (?) Cigarettes & Suitcases
• 'You used to get it in your fishnets, now you only get it in your nightdress' Arctic Monkeys' Fluorescent Adolescent. Listen to the lyrics for a cheeky story. hehe.
• Bloc Party Sunday starts with drum tom rolls and goes 'heavy night, it was a heavy night'
• Electric guitar intro with female singing 'what's my Hlife but some hell?' - Aussie indie pop siren Kate Miller-Heidke with one of my friend's 'couple songs' with her ex-bf (sorry lau)- Space They Cannot Touch
• 'You know what they say about getting older. It's only a doorway away'. Here We Go Again by Angus & Julia Stone.  See below
• 'I think I'm in love with the girl next door. It's driving me crazy i can't take it any more. I hear her playingthe drums late at night. The neighbours complain but that's the kind of girl i like' love those lyrics. haha. Mystery Jets Two Doors Down. These guys are playing in singapore on sunday. Wish i could go since i missed them in sydney. :)
• Chorus: 'my heart is a cold acre. nothing grows in a cold acre' Aussie balladeers Augie March  with The Cold Acre
• Might be another Augie March song on here called One Crowded Hour
• 'Come and rescue me, in the water deep...' classic song from the 90s. Powderfinger Up & Down & Back Again
• 'Across the niiiiight, i watch the moon as it stole my slumber' classic album Doirama 2002 from a grown up Silverchair Across The Night

So that's what i had written down in my ipod. Hmm...not as much aussie stuff as i initially thought. It may or may not vary accordingly. Please shoot any questions my way asap. Eugene- track 8 was smashing pumpkins? Doesn't sound right...help me out here guys.  

Cheers big ears.  

Christmas Playlists 1 Of 2

Due to popular demand here are the tracklists for the Christmas mixtapes you may or may not have received from me (if you didn't...it just means I don't love you that much...jkz haha). I made two main CDs- one with happier, more poppy tracks and another CD for the 'more discerning listener'. I didn't give out tracklists 'cos i didn't have a printer handy. I may have mixed the tracks up a little bit between discs so here's what I have left. I'll give some lyrics so you can figure it out yourself. 

i aimed to introduce a good mix of Aussie music to you guys. Plus some non-aussie ones too.

'Fun Disc'

• 'Breathing from a hole in my lung, waiting for someone...' Aussie rock royalty turned pop whackjobs Silverchair with their biggest single yet Straight Lines
• 'You're keeping secrets, there's only one I need to find...' older Aussie rock Motor Ace with Keeping Secrets. These guys are no longer a band
• 'If I've learnt anything from this, it'll all be gone, all be gone...' new Aussie punk darlings The Getaway Plan with Where The City Meets The Sea. I do quite enjoy this single even if their album is a bit boring.
• 'Give me 20 good reasons to let you go/i need to know' Aussie pub pop rock faves Thirsty Merc with the song called 20 Good Reasons funnily enough
• 'Do you belong to a song, does it drag you along by the tongue at the top of your lungs?...'American punk weirdos The Matches with Salty Eyes
• 'Did I say I'm just a boy?...' Aussie acoustic folk bro-sis duo Angus & Julia Stone with Just A Boy
• 'From the brightest side of this star, i'll forget just who you are...' 22 Of 3 is one my favourite songs from another Aussie group Gyroscope
• There's a song called Funky Tonight by The John Butler Trio (Aussie) which you should be able to figure out yourself
• 'Sugarcane in the easy morning, weathervanes my side to cross to...' or something like that. Panic At The Disco (minus the !) with Northern Downpour
• 'She wants to go to the seaside, but it doesn't mean that everybody wants to go...' British indie heartthrobs The Kooks with Seaside
• Such Great Heights by Iron & Wine is a deadset classic and you should recognise it yourself
• 'Taking everything I know, and put in into action...' Aussie acoustic duo Playjerise with Safe To Say. Not on commercial radio. Christian too.
• 'We all have a weakness, some of us are easy to identify, look me in the eye...' it's Incubus baby!! Dig from their new album
• I'm pretty sure this song has an msn sound in it somewhere. Or maybe that was another song. Shimmy Shimmy Quarter Turn from American hipsters Hellogoodbye
• 'I got the way, the way has got me...' Aussie indie-pop siren Kate Miller-Heidke with I Got The Way. She's a looker.
• Speaking of lookers, Hayley Williams owns my heart forever...ha. Tasteful Foo Fighters cover My Hero by Paramore
• 'I see your shadow on the street now, i hear you push through the grass to get...' real Aussie rock royalty Powderfinger with classic My Happiness from the 90s.

Well that's enough playlisting for one post. I'll get the other one together at a later date. This might be the actual order some of you might've received the CD. I didn't mix it up that much tbh. Let me know if this helps at all.

Comprende? 

(:

The Created Void

It's all in my head,

if you want you can look inside.

There's nothing but red,

and all the mess I've been.

It's all in the way

I say what I don't mean 

and

mean what I don't...

I need to speak 

of 

You.

I friggoin love Underoath. Here, have a photo of us that is totally and completely irrelevant to the above. We are playing Transformers Monopoly. Clockwise from bottom left: Joanna, Me, Marie, cousin Eugene (newly bankrupted i do believe), Steph, cousin Adrian (birthday lunch event), Transformers display case, Anderson, Benjamin's hands I think. Courtesy of phye beng and others not featured in the photo.

MER-MER-MER-MER-MERCURY

BLOC PARTY- Yet another concert review i wrote for my last.fm

Before I get into this little review I must say that admittedly I’m not a Bloc Party fanatic. While I thoroughly enjoy moving my feet to their unique brand of indie electro, I wouldn’t go totally out of my way to see them. On the other hand I am somewhat guilty of harbouring a Hayley Williams obsession, and if Omar and/or Cedric were to grace me with their presence I would be struck dumb for fear of breaking their mystique. Similarly could be said of Matt Bellamy and co.

After last night though, I was completely won over beyond my expectations.

I anticipated a night of great dancing and lights and yes, of course we got that. But there was so much more on offer from Kele and his ridiculously-young-looking group of musicians.

From interviews and other general knowledge from the music scene, I was expecting Bloc Party to be somewhat aloof and distant in their presentation. Their music is distinctively cold which is part of the allure for me- Silent Alarm in particular. However Kele’s genuine joy last night was infectious for me, and it proved to make the Hordern as intimate as it could be. The bare backdrop was a surprise but this brought the focus on the boys and their musicianship, which was more than proficient.

Similarly in interviews, it was apparent that it took some time for them to actually learn Intimacy live. Luckily for us they didn’t seem to make any major mistakes and the setlist did well to weave in and out of the visceral energy of Intimacy (Mercury and Ares anyone?), and the surprising beauty found in both City and Silent Alarm (Blue Light, Song For Clay, This Modern Love, Little Thoughts).

Discovering this live beauty was the real highlight for me last night. Like mentioned above, Bloc Party make distinctively impersonal music, which I guess could be derived from their electronic tendencies. However last night, their pure onstage honesty combined with Kele’s amiable charisma (“If we could only tour Australia over and over we would”) really opened my heart to their music. Not just my feet.

I started off towards the back amidst the people reluctant to move anything other than their toes and necks. Already separated from my friends due to an early toilet visit I had to fight my way to get a better view, and find more mobile company. I felt sorry for my 15 year-old sister who had trouble seeing anything the whole night…but heck so did my 21 year old friends with her. I eventually found a more excitable group of people and tried to get my dance on. This proved more difficult than anticipated due to the cramped area. And so I moved onwards.

When I found the guy in the Parkway Drive shirt I knew things were picking up. Apologies to anyone who did not enjoy this but a circle pit is a circle pit, albeit somewhat misplaced. For crying out loud I’ve been in a Little Birdy circle pit! I never start them. I just join in. And to be honest, you should too.

So this was all in good fun and by this time I had made quite a staggering progression towards the front. We all enjoyed doing Eating some Glass, a bit of Praying as well as Hunting For Witches. Positive Tension was an early hit (one of my faves) and Helicopter (I couldn’t help but think of all the Guitar Hero nerds around. Represent!) and Banquet were true crowd-pleasers. The inevitable encore was not a letdown with Flux and some other song with two drumkits of which I can’t remember because I am currently listening to excellent Taking Back Sunday B-Side Brooklyn. But I was quite impressed at this simple twist to the band dynamic. Who needs a bassist anyway? Haha. Matt Tong’s unwavering technicality continued to impress me the whole night. The lasers were a very welcome addition to the night too. What wasn't played was ultimately outbalanced by what was.

The second encore had This Modern Love finish the night quite nicely. Suitably sweaty I simply didn’t want the Party to end. Usually after a night like this I am wrecked, ready for my McChicken at Sylvania Macca’s, brush of teeth and bed. Au contraire, this particular night left me quite wired and begging for more. We pumped Bloc Party again in the car and only when we had neared Wollongong an hour later did we finally ‘come down’.

I was seriously considering buying another ticket for tonight’s show but dad wasn’t too impressed hehe. It’s sold out anyway and I guess with Coldplay being $140 it’s better that I not spend unnecessarily.

So thanks Bloc Party for an unforgettably enjoyable night and just being so darn friendly about it…well, thanks to Kele anyway. (:

My only regret is not bringing glow sticks.

With a voice...

I drew this while listening to chiodos for the first time- studying statistical mechanics at uni. The tables were all occupied by students prepping for exams. The boy and girl next to me were napping. A friend had dropped by and made me smile as always. I ran into someone I hadn't seen in a long time. We chatted about life and uni very briefly but it was nice. Admittedly I didn't recognise her at first, but this only lasted 1 minute or so. I studied for a solid 5 hours today...

So ask yourself, "with a voice that high, who needs girl's pants?"