The Null Device
Posts matching tags 'sir'
2003/8/10
I just came back from the Heligoland CD launch, which was pretty good. The DJ (Electric Sound of Jim) actually played some Field Mice (Missing The Moon, actually) which made my day. Too few of us Mice fans in Australia.
I also got a look at a copy of the newly-pressed new Sir album, titled Trapped In A World Of Make-Believe, that Jesse had with him. It looks quite promising; the artwork looks very crisp, and the track listing has various songs they've been playing since The Night I Met My Second Wife. I look forward to hearing it, and probably spinning it in a DJ set or three.
(And speaking of DJ sets, hopefully there'll be some good news about those in the not-too-distant future. Watch this space for details.)
Oh, and Ninetynine have a new 4-track EP coming out. (Yay!) Unfortunately, it's only coming out in the US and UK; Cameron says it's because nobody's interested in putting them out in Australia. I wonder why that is; whether it's scene politics rearing its ugly head, the local market being too conservative to accept casiopunk as a valid genre, or collateral damage from the Back-To-Basics Rock Revival. Anyway, time to keep checking Twee Kitten, I think.
And the Heligoland gig was good. They played some new tracks and some older ones, in their usual æthereal style, and as an encore did their cover of Kraftwerk's Neon Lights.
2003/5/12
Local music scene news/gossip: apparently Ninetynine won't be playing around town much in the future, as Laura is moving back to Perth (where her family live). Though they're playing at the Love of Diagrams CD launch next weekend, and possibly a few shows after that. Or so I'm told. (I hope this isn't the end for them; if they broke up after the tour de force that was The Process, it'd be a shame.)
Meanwhile, Sir's new album will be released on local indie Unstable Ape, who are also home to local post-rock/grindcore fusion outfit The Night Terrors. The title won't be "Only Lonely", as previously suggested, but something else.
2002/10/8
It looks like the second Sir album hasn't vanished into the black hole of heartaches, heartbreaks and inter-city relocations; according to their US label, its title is Only Lonely and it's slated for January 2003; and they have two MP3s from it, including one which fans will recognise from gigs. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on this one... (thanks to Jarrod for the heads-up)
2002/1/26
Tonight, I went to the Czech Club to see some bands: The Grey Daturas, Sir and The Bird Blobs. The Grey Daturas were a sort of wall-of-noise outfit, playing one very lengthy instrumental piece with lots of feedback, flanging, delays and such, and some drums kicking in towards the middle; a little What Is Music?, or perhaps like Mogwai only not quite so melodic. Sir were good as always, though played with a reduced lineup (as bass-player Matt Bailey was in Tasmania). The Bird Blobs were sort of drone-rock, like a post-Nirvana Joy Division or something.
Most impressive was the synchronicity between the bands and the movies being projected behind them, which was mostly accident. Sir played in front of Buñuel and Dali's Un chien andalou and Jean Cocteau's Le Sang d'un Poète playing behind them, which was most appropriate for their music; they should play more soundtracks to old silent films of fraught relationships and troubled lives.
Oh yes, and the beer wasn't too bad either. I had a bottle of a Czech lager named Kozel, which was quite flavoursome. I also was going to try another beer called Radegast, but they didn't have any. (I wonder whether Tolkien ripped off the name for one of his wizards, or vice versa.)
2002/1/17
Tonight I went down to the Empress to see New Buffalo. The supports were various former bandmates of Sally's: one Lara M., who played keyboards and guitar, accompanied by a Roland PMA-5 and a sampler, and an outfit named Friendly Injun. The New Buffalo show was quite good, and probably the last one for a while, while they work on a full-length album.
I also ran into Libby from Sir there; she mentioned that Sir are going overseas (touring the US and Europe) soon, so their last show before they leave may be next Friday's, at the Czech Club in North Melbourne.