The Null Device

For those reading this in Melbourne: the mighty FourPlay String Quartet are playing at the Espy on the 7th of April, and Brunswick Street's Bar Open on the 9th (with not one but two sets). If you've seen them, you'll know that they rock; if not, go and see them. You won't regret having done so.

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Some photos from last night's FourPlay gig at Bar Open:

The gig itself was excellent. They played two sets, each of a bit under an hour, to a packed venue, with the usual virtuosity and energy, doing all the old favourites (The Sweetest Perfection, Meshugganah, Gypsy Scream) and some great new (well, newish; a few of them were around when they played Apollo Bay last year) songs, with really intricate arrangements. And they'll be back next year, with a new album. I look forward to it.

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Apparently FourPlay are finally able to make it down to Melbourne to do a gig; they will be playing at Bar Open on Sunday the 30th of November. They're very impressive live and well worth seeing.

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It's official: Radiohead are touring Australia next year. They're playing the Rod Laver Arena on April 26, with tickets going on sale in about a week. I'm not sure I'll go; I went to see The Cure (yes, I know) at the Rod Laver Arena some years back, and needed to rent a pair of binoculars to actually see the band; had they been booked into, say, the Metro (where I saw New Order and Kraftwerk) or the Forum (where Moz tore the roof off the place), I'd buy a ticket in a flash.

In other rumours, a certain Scottish band may be touring Australia next year; they'll probably play at the Corner or the Prince or somesuch, undoubtedly supported by Architecture In Helsinki or The Lucksmiths or someone like that.

And speaking of touring bands, FourPlay are coming down to play the Queenscliff festival. So Melbourne fans will be able to see them slightly more conveniently than by travelling up to Sydney.

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Excellent; FourPlay cover Radiohead's How To Disappear Completely, one of my favourite Radiohead songs. I can't wait to hear what they do with it.

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Tonight was a good night; I went to Pony, to see a number of bands play. First up was Midstate Orange (a project of Tim from Lacto-Ovo), who were good (perhaps a bit Cure-inspired in places, almost shoegazer in others, and they did one song which was best described as Northern Soul with Casios). Then Lacto-Ovo came on, and did a great set, playing various album and non-album tracks; people started dancing at this stage. Finally, an act named Winterville played; they consisted of 2 guitars, drums and a double bass, featured Michelle formerly of Ninetynine in their lineup, and sounded a bit Dirty Three-inspired.

I met a number of people I knew there; Peter from FourPlay was down from Sydney, and Nick and Naomi from Dandelion Wine also came along. A bit later, I ran into Cameron from Ninetynine, and talked with him a bit. Apparently, Ninetynine have signed a distribution deal with News Corp. "indie" subsidiary Trifekta (though retaining their own copyrights and creative control, so they won't end up being turned into the next George), and at the end of the month depart for some 3 months' touring overseas.

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The FourPlay show last night was excellent. They played two sets, with both old and new songs (bringing back their cover of PWEI's Ich Bin Ein Auslander; a rather timely inclusion, given the recent political climate), with Peter DJing in between, and playing all sorts of weird, glitchy beats. They performed with great energy and enthusiasm, and the crowd loved it, spontaneously clapping along during Meshugganah and erupting into wild applause after songs.

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31/12; 7 hours remaining (cont.):
Favourite CDs of 2000:

Cocteau Twins - Stars and Topsoil

A collection of some of the Cocteau Twins' best material from 1982 to 1990. Has some great songs, like Aikea-Guinea and Heaven or Las Vegas

Radiohead - Kid A

Yes, it was over-hyped; the press wouldn't shut up about it and your local Sanity/HMV had stacks of it. And yes, others said it was a load of wank. But once you get past that, you have an interesting album. Some have compared it to The Cure's Pornography, perhaps fairly, only with more of a Warp influence and some odd time signatures. Favourite track: probably How To Disappear Completely.

Minimum Chips - Freckles

An EP from a local act, in a sort of Stereolabish vein; hope they do a full album soon.

Baxendale - You Will Have Your Revenge

Electronic pop (though not synthpop) with tongue firmly in cheek. Some of the songs get boring after a while, but I Love the Sound of Dance Music is a classic.

Stone Roses - The Remixes

Some great reworkings of the Stone Roses, ranging from Rabbit in the Moon's acid-rave remix of I Wanna Be Adored (which sounds as if they could have done most of it with ReBirth) to Kinobe's mellow reworking of Elizabeth My Dear.

FourPlay String Quartet, The Joy Of

Their second album, with some great tracks, including a dub/klezmer two-part and a vicious-sounding PWEI remake. Their remix CD, slated for early 2001, will be something to look out for.

Piano Magic, Artists' Rifles

Arty and understated and hard to describe, though something I've been listening to a lot.

With honourable mentions going to Broadcast, Extended Play Two, Björk, SelmaSongs, Beulah, When Your Heartstrings Break, Deepchild, Hymns from Babylon, LTJ Bukem, Journey Inwards, Yo La Tengo, And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out and Black Box Recorder's various EPs (mostly for the B-sides), (Note: this is counting only CDs I acquired this year.)

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