Vale Chris Magor 1971 - 2006

Chris bowling one of his deceptively pacy deliveries in one of many games of street cricket.
(More pics in the pictures section of the Brown couch website)

I heard this morning that an old friend of mine died on Sunday - the details were scant but he was hospitalised late last year with serious liver problems (I think) so I assume it was related.

I'm kind of floored really. Chris had a most amazing mind, knowledge, ideas, talent, humour and generosity of spirit and now it's all gone. Sure, he wasn't perfect, noone is but all in all he was a top bloke and I'll always regret the way we kind of drifted apart over the last few years. My fault and my loss.

It's a cliche but he was the candle that burnt far too bright for far too short a time.

See ya Tarquin

(And for the first time, I really appreciate Ginsberg's Howl - a small chunk I'll quote here)

Howl

I

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night,
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat up smoking in the supernatural darkness of cold-water flats
floating across the tops of cities contemplating jazz,
who bared their brains to Heaven under the El and saw Mohammedan angels staggering on tenement roofs
illuminated,
who passed through universities with radiant cool eyes hallucinating Arkansas and Blake-light tragedy among the
scholars of war,
who were expelled from the academies for crazy & publishing obscene odes on the windows of the skull

Update 7/2/6
Dedicated the last half hour of the show to Chris, playing a combination of tracks that I thought he would like and which also summed up some of my feelings about the whole thing. While the title of the Bukowski track mightn't seem so flattering, I reckon he would appreciate the joke.

Star Star Rolling Stones.
The Death of an Idiot 2:31 Charles Bukowski Charles Bukowski Reads His Poetry
Gold Soundz 2:40 Pavement Crooked Rain: LA's Desert Origins
A Fond Farewell 3:58 Elliott Smith From A Basement On The Hill
Where Is My Mind? 3:41 Frank Black Francis Frank Black Francis
This Charming Man 2:43 The Smiths Hatful Of Hollow
Perfect Day 3:44 Lou Reed Legendary Lou Reed (Disc 1)
Chinese Rocks 2:53 Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers Mojo: I Love NY Punk

It was really nice to see so many of the old crew at the funeral - obviously never a time people would choose to come together but nice to see them nonetheless. Probably a more religious service than I would've expected but as they say, funerals are for the living and Chris' mum and dad certainly deserved the kind of service they wanted having been so good to him over the years.

His brother Anthony selected a nice Coltrane track for him and Paul and Russ got the Stones (Sweet Virginia) and Ride in there too. There was a nice little table with some of the relics of his life - a book on Kiss, the complete works of Shakespeare, the Rolling Stone guide to Rock and Roll; and some dvds including Leaving Las Vegas and Shameless - an English series currently on SBS that I'd just discovered last Monday. His guitar was also propped up there and on his coffin was draped his punk leather jacket - it looked right.

Big turnup - lots of friends and family, standing room only in the end. Standing (in some small strange way maybe) made it seem a little more like a gig, which I guess he would've liked.

Anyways, enough of this - time to get out and live the life that you should be big guy.

Show tunes

Tunes played on yesterdays show (excuse the delay, blame the technology)

Roadrunner The Modern Lovers 4:55 The Modern Lovers
The Latin Theme Carl Cox 5:22 Human Traffic (Disc 2)
Black Steel Tricky 3:42 J Files - Best covers of all time
She-Riff Magic Dirt 5:06 Young And Full Of The Devil
Part-time Punks Jeffrey Lewis 2:35 Stop me if you think...
Kool thing Sonic Youth 4:06 Goo
Chromakey Dreamcoat Boards Of Canada 5:47 The Campfire Headphase
Smash it up International Noise Conspiracy 3:12 Garage Days
Zombie Girl Spazzys 3:39 Aloha! Go Bananas
For My Woman [The Easybeats] Intoxica 3:20 Used And Recovered By
Lick The Bacon Osterberg 2:08 Osterberg
Monkey23 The Kills 3:06 Keep on your mean side
Search and destroy Iggy and the Stooges 3:29 Raw Power
NY Excuse Soulwax 4:48 Any Minute Now
Miles Away Yeah Yeah Yeahs 2:18 UNCUT - Neat Neat Neat
Buddy Holly Weezer 2:39 Weezer
Sorry The Easybeats 2:34 Rage 1

Original Sins Chris Bowden 7:36 Xen Cuts
No Wonder Neil Young 5:45 Prairie Wind
Summer78 Yann Tiersen 3:54 Goodbye Lenin!
Into Temptation Jimmy Little 4:48 Messenger
I hope I never Lisa Miller 4:09 She will have her way
Year of the rat Badly Drawn Boy 4:43 One plus one is one
Our faces split the coast in half Broken Social Scene 3:42 Broken Social Scene
Get up The Smallgoods 4:23 Listen to the radio
Stoneage Cinderella Died Pretty 3:15 Do the Pop
I don't love anymore Belle and Sebastian 3:56 Tigermilk
Anxiety Full Fathom Five 3:49 07Seven
Long way to go with no punch Dirty Three 4:57 She has no strings Apollo
Morning rain The Sleepy Jackson 2:06 Lovers
Take you home Devastations 3:53 Coal
Love me like you The Magic Numbers 4:51 The Magic Numbers
Love goes on The GoBetweens 3:12 16 Lovers Lane
Average Man Turin Brakes 2:43 Ether song
Can you forgive me? Lupine Howl 5:37 The bar at the end of the world

Tunes for today

AA XXX Peaches
Discipline/Punish Nou
Comet Wire
Lick the bacon Osterberg
Check level The Rogers Sisters
The heart's a lonely hunter Thievery Corp (featuring David Byrne)
Doris Dirty Three
The Zither Player Dirty Three
Ain't no easy way Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Pills The Mess Hall
Cherry Chapstick Yo La Tengo
Speakers push the air Pretty Girls Make Graves
Recoil TZU
Back to Front TZU
Take, Take, Take The White Stripes
Turn a square The Shins
Igloo The Screaming Tribesmen
Something good Ruck Rover
Burn in Hell Rocket Science
Breathe Prodigy
Nothing on my mind Paul Kelly

Thrillseeker Josh Abrahams
Zatopeks Spazzys
Johnny & Dee Dee The Eastern Dark
Time will tell Ice
Seahag Fu Manchu
N.I.B Black Sabbath
Ramble On Led Zeppelin
Why can't you be nicer to me White Stripes
Crack Whore Blues Neckbones
Send a message to her Beck
Space Monkey The Patti Smith Book
Asthma Attack The Fiery Furnaces
Short memory The Superjesus
See the sun Rocket Science
Kick it in Bored!
Kick it Peaches featuring Iggy Pop
You're gonna get yours Public Enemy
Take it or leave it The Strokes
Lose my breath My Bloody valentine
Take me away Ween
She breathes in The Blackeyed Susans

5 reasons to watch King Kong (Peter Jackson's version, obviously)

Yes it feels like it's been overhyped and yes it's long but with hardly a bump in the road, this is a new classic.

1. A giant monkey (well d'uh)
2. All the stuff with dinosaurs and the other inhabitants of Skull Island
   
3. A decent amount of time dedicated to getting the characters right and sympathetic
4. Great design and general film-making craft
   
5. Jack Black, Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody

For some reason I didn't rush to see this when it came out, the marketing all seemed a bit shlockbuster, the reviews were half-hearted and I wasn't really sure what could be done with a film I've seen the original of enough times to know reasonably well.

I should've put my trust in Pete.

Now this maybe some kind of heresy but towards the end of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it was starting to lose it for me a little - obviously still entirely speccy and a big grand sweeping story in a big grand sweeping world but I thought there was a bit of heart, a bit of soul missing. (Though I should go back for a revisit now that the dust has settled I guess).

Kong has heart - very occasionally Naomi Watts seems a little bit closer to the big guy than I was entirely right with - though to his credit, he worked for it in battles to save the fair maiden. This is very much a labour of love by Peter Jackson, who has said that he's wanted to remake this since he was a kid.

Dive in and enjoy this one, leave your disbelief at the door and come out after 3 hours having had a ball.

5 reasons to watch Memoirs of a Geisha

1. Looks pretty spectacular in parts
2. Ummm...
3. Let me see...
4. Nope
5. That's about it.
   

Ok, so I guess there is one reason to watch Memoirs of a Geisha - maybe 2 if you read the book and want to compare. There's nothing realllllly wrong with it, the story moves along at a reasonable pace and the performances are all pretty fair but director Rob (Chicago) Marshall and the big man himself Spielberg have stamped big Hollywood schlockfest all over this.

It's the tale of a country girl who gets sold to the madam of a "we are sooo not hookers" Geisha house and the trials and tribulations she undergoes on her way to become a famous classy hooker (sorry, Geisha). (Yes I get that the art of Geisha is about more than sex but to watch this film you'd think the girls get a root once in their lives, if you'll excuse the earthy)

I'm not sure how you could make a film about sex workers so snoreworthy - though I note the book was written by a guy - that might be a clue.

Just the one reason to watch this then.

5 reasons to watch Nothing

That'd be the film called Nothing, obviously.

1. Directed by Vincenzo Natali, the legend behind Cube (and thankfully not Cube 2)
2. Original, creative, humourous and quirky (not in the bad way either)
3. Bouncing heads
4. Tofu
5. Based on a true story (we assure you)

In short, two guys suddenly end up (with their house) in a big wide empty nothing, just after it looks like their lives couldn't get much worse. Then they discover why they're there and a pretty amazing new power they have. A little weird but very wonderful.

I could go into more detail here but the concept of this film is really what makes it - so enjoy.
I found it at Civic Video in Braddon in the comedy section, so it's out there.

Quote: (from IMDB)

(A cop on a horse has just knocked on their door)

Mounted Police Officer:Dave Johnson?
Dave:Yes?
Mounted Police Officer:You're under arrest. For embezzlement
Dave:[closing door] Oh, hang on a sec, let me just get my horse.

Tunes for today

Pacific State 808 State 3:53 24 Hour Party People
Film International Karate 3:52 Weapons Of Mass Protection
Naked as we came Iron and wine 2:33 SubPop : Patient Zero
Wicked Game Chris Isaak 4:49 Wicked Game
Summer of love Black Cab 4:51 Altamont Diary
Yoshimi Battles Snoop Dogg DJ BC 4:06 Internet Exclusive
Ivy The Dearhunters 5:12 Red Wine and Blue
Springtime Genshen 3:45 Someplace Else
Holographic Universe Thievery Corporation 3:42 The Cosmic Game
Midweek morning The Lucksmiths 3:05 Naturaliste
World Divided The View From Here 3:15 Songs Of Protest
New Slang The Shins 3:51 Oh, Inverted World
Hotel California Gipsy Kings 5:47 The Big Lebowski
Plans Bloc Party 4:10 Silent Alarm
Look to the sun Gersey 3:58 Storms dressed as stars
Bananas And Blow Ween 3:34 White Pepper
Chom chom generator Jack Planck 3:49 To hell with you, I'll make my own people
Words Fail Me Tex, Don & Charlie 5:01 All Is Forgiven
Everyday Is Like Sunday Morrissey 3:34 Suedehead: The Best of Morrissey



Rebel, Rebel David Bowie 4:30 Best Of Bowie 69-74
Hello Operator The White Stripes 2:36 De Stijl
Salt Water Fish Ruby 3:28 Salt Peter
The Supernova that never quits The Powder Monkeys 4:24 Meredith - 10 years
I wanna kill your boyfriend Hoss 5:48 You get nothing
Gutless Wonder Paul Kelly 4:56 Words And Music
Everybody's Gonna Be Happy The Kinks 2:18 High Fidelity
Burn It Off Blues Explosion 2:56 Damage
A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturdays" De La Soul 4:02 Rage 2
Song In Space The Church 5:24 Forget Yourself
Nature Boy Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 4:54 Abattoir Blues
Power Is Boring D.O.A. With Jello Biafra 2:49 Last scream of the missing neighbors
Second Solution The Living End 3:00 Soundscape 01
Limited Liability Chris Knox 3:24 Songs Of You And Me
Down Down Down Presets 3:16 Beams
Cominagetcha The Propellerheads 7:01 Decksandrumsandrockandroll
Smells Like Teen Spirit Nirvana 4:47 From The Muddy Banks Of The Wishkah
No Way Out Love Of Diagrams 4:01 Kill Your Idols
Nude School Painters And Dockers 3:34 Used And Recommended By

Tunes for today

Some of the tracks I'll be playing today - hope you enjoy them :)

Hot Kids Riff Random 4:04 Kill Your Idols
Woman Wolfmother 2:41 Kill Your Idols
Where Eagles Have Been Wolfmother 5:33 Wolfmother
No Way Out Love Of Diagrams 4:01 Kill Your Idols
Girl & the Sea The Presets 4:40 Kill Your Idols
Help You Out The Golden Age 3:05 Mexico City Bees
Big in Japan The Inches 3:39 Trust me
Take You Home Devastations 3:53 Coal
The Night I Couldn't Stop Crying Devastations 4:58 Coal
Rubin The Anyones 3:34 The Anyones
Sabotage The Beastie Boys 2:59 The Sounds Of Science (Disc 2)
Yo Mama Butterfingers 3:20 Breakfast At Fatboys
Say Goodbye Hunters & Collectors 4:53 Living In Large Rooms And Lounges (Disc 2)
Get Off The Dandy Warhols 3:11 Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia
Useless Depeche Mode 4:53 The Singles 86>98 (Disc 2)
Mr. E's Beautiful Blues (Untitled) Eels 3:59 Daisies Of The Galaxy
We Care A Lot (Original Version) Faith No More 4:03 Who Cares A Lot? The Greatest Hits
Self Abuser The Fauves 2:54 Future Spa
Love will tear us apart Joy Division 3:12 Series 7 - The Soundtrack

Dirty Lives Love As Laughter 3:09 Terminal Sales Vol. 1 (SubPop)
What I Want Mark Hilton 3:47 At Crossroads Of Collingwood And Fitzroy
Sunshine 78 Saab 4:49 At Crossroads Of Collingwood And Fitzroy
Lay Down Dallas Crane 3:16 At Crossroads Of Collingwood And Fitzroy
Promised land Edan 3:11 Beauty and the Beat
Heart In A Cage The Strokes 3:27 First Impressions Of Earth
Killing Lies The Strokes 3:50 First Impressions Of Earth
[radio espantoso] Latin Flute Deodato 4:46 GTA VC Radio Espantosa
Weight Of The World Black Rebel Motorcycle Club 3:41 Howl
Metal and Hair Mess Hall 2:35 Notes From A Ceiling
I See A Darkness Johnny Cash 3:42 American III: Solitary Man
La Di Doh Ed Kuepper 6:34 With A Knapsack On My Back
The Complaint Buju Banton 3:49 Under the Influence (Ian Brown)
Time Edwin Starr 2:54 Under the Influence (Ian Brown)
Winter in the Hamptons Josh Rouse 3:12 Uncut 2005
Chinito Chinito Ry Cooder 4:54 Uncut 2005
Tin Pan Valley Robert Plant & The Strange Sensation 3:48 Uncut 2005
Shame PJ Harvey 2:33 Uh Huh Her
Government Center The Modern Lovers 2:03 The Modern Lovers

Cute Overload

You know those times when the day is a bit sucky and you just want some kind of mindless diversion to bring a smile back to your face? Pretty hard to go past this regularly updated site.
www.cuteoverload.com

Here's one of their recent offerings.

Ricky Gervais Podcast

Ricky Gervais - star of The Office (David Brent) - has a 12 part podcast up on the Guardian Unlimited Website.

Teaming up with Steve Merchant (co-writer on The Office) and Karl Pilkington (their producer from their radio days), they pretty well just have a general rant about anything and everything for 30 odd minutes about life, the universe and everything. (As well as midget fighting leagues, monkey astronauts, charity collectors and a new plan for zero population growth - all in the first two episodes)

Well worth a listen if you can squeeze in some uninterrupted listening time.
Ricky Gervais' website is also worth a squiz - at www.rickygervais.com

Musical Highlights of 2005

Well, for the world it might have been a less than stellar year (though personally it was pretty good) but at least there's always the music to keep you going.

In no particular order, these are some of the songs/artists/albums that did it for me. (as played on the show yesterday)

Turn Up Your Radio The FBi Idols 4:06 Kill Your Idols
This is the final track on a great album put out by FBi, a community station in Sydney.
Great range of tunes on this and I've always liked this Master Apprentices track, performed here by a supergroup including Dave McCormack and Sarah Blasko, possessor of a most sexy rock growl at the start.

Pyramid Wolfmother 4:28 Wolfmother
Wolfmother had a big year in 05 with their big, enthusiastic Sabbath/Zeppelin driven rock. Lots of fun and hard to get past some great dirty 70's guitar and vocals - it'll be interesting to see if they're more than a one trick pony. Missed their show at the ANU bar though reports were pretty positive.

Smokescreen Amusement Parks On Fire 4:11 Amusement Parks On Fire
Well hyped critically at the start of the year, APOF have an interesting guitar drenched shoe gazer sound - early 90's style. On the surface this album seems slightly derivative but begs repeated listens to dig down to the treasure that seems to lie just below.

Girl and the Sea Presets 4:46 Beams
Another artist that the FBi compilation put me onto this year, the Presets have a low key, at times sombre (for electronica) sound with compelling beats and vocals. Their sound is very much their own - I'd almost drawn comparisons to my first experiences of Depeche Mode or New Order but only for a lack of anything closer.

The Night I Couldn't Stop Crying The Devastations 4:58 Coal
Take You Home The Devastations 3:53 Coal
Probably my favourite album and live show of the year. The Devastations live in the same general neighbourhood as the Bad Seeds, Tex Perkins and Leonard Cohen. Every part of the band comes together to produce sophisticated and emotional songs of thought and beauty - which also manage to rock out with some inspired guitar and well placed keyboard. Their show supporting Clare Bowditch at the ANU bar was inspiring and all too underappreciated

Dirty Harry Gorillaz 3:43 Demon Days
Hard to go past Gorillaz for sheer joy and inventiveness in tunes, yet another great offering from them in 05.

451 Decoder Ring 4:10 Fractions
Coming across these guys firstly through their impressive work on the Somersault soundtrack, I was pretty blown away by the accomplished tracks of energetic and slightly moody electronica on this album.

Rebellion (Lies) The Arcade Fire 5:10 Funeral
A firm critics favourite for 2005, I think I still need a few more listens to this album but this track in particular gives a pretty good indication of what's good about these guys - all the pieces fit together so well and in a way that still brings something new while having a timeless kind of sound. (if that doesn't sound to wanky :)

Blue Orchid The White Stripes 2:38 Get Behind Me Satan
Take, Take, Take The White Stripes 4:22 Get Behind Me Satan
Definitely my other big highlight of the year, this album didn't leave the cd player/iPod/etc for weeks. Ideas, emotion, humour, power, clean sounds - it's got it all.

Kawasaki Z117 50 Rock'N'Roll The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion 3:13 I Love Guitar Wolf... Very Much
Cyborg Kids J. Mascis And The Fog 5:19 I Love Guitar Wolf... Very Much
A late entry (only listened to it properly on New Years Eve after having it sitting in the back of the car for a week before) but well deserving. Guitar Wolf are probably the loudest band I've ever heard (in a good way) - taking that whole Japanese cool 50's leather jackets, motorbikes and surfing rock sound and injecting 10000 volts of pure energy through it. This is a compilation of other artists paying them a well deserved tribute.

Yoshimi Battles Snoop Dogg DJ BC 4:06 Internet Exclusive
Sanctuary's Over (Youth Mix) (The Doors vs. The Cult) Smash Mash-Ups 4:11 Internet Exclusive
One of the things I've tried to do with Monday Sunset through 05 has been seek out interesting tidbits online and the mashup movement has been of particular interest. There is a link to these (and others) in a previous posting

Crackajack 2UP 3:18 Player's Club
Aus Hiphop has been another highlight in the last year or so (and ideally I also would've included tracks from outfits like the Speakeasies and TZU in this listing but forgot - oops). After the Tastes like Chicken ep that 2up put out a while back, I was pretty keen to see where they are now - and they really impressed. Fantastic, intelligent and funny lyrics, great samples and djing. Still loving the line "Bad to the bone like osteoporosis".

Gabrielle Ween 3:29 Shinola (Vol. 1)
Ween continue to fly just a little below the radar doing their thing, playing with genres and making them their own as they always do. This album has everything from this Thin Lizzy inspired track to songs that sound like they belong on kids tv.

Panther Dash The Go! Team 2:45 Thunder, Lightning, Strike
Hard to describe but fun, energetic and original sounding (while still not being afraid to plunder the last 50 years of music for sounds)

No Way Out Love Of Diagrams 4:05 We Got Communication
Caught these guys supporting the Rogers Sisters at the Annandale earlier this year and was way impressed. Great urgent indie rock.

Girl Beck 3:29 Guero 16/05/2005 7:17 PM
Heaven Hammer (Missing) (Remix by Air) Beck 4:54 Guerolito
Shake Shake Tambourine (Black Tambourine) (Remix by Adrock) Beck 3:36 Guerolito
Maybe Beck is a little overrepresented in this listing but I'm a fan so what can you say. Two great albums this year - well one album and a remix album but both pretty bloody interesting. Revisiting the Odelay sound a little but why wouldn't you.

Like Dylan In The Movies Belle & Sebastian 4:26 If You're Feeling Sinister Live At The Barbican
If You're Feeling Sinister Belle & Sebastian 6:09 If You're Feeling Sinister Live At The Barbican
Belle and Seb are another of the bands to bring out the fanboy in me (as some of my gorgeous-yet-slightly-twee-indy-folk-pop hating friends will attest). Great b-sides compilation out this year in Push Barman to Open Old Wounds but this late starter snuck through to become a quick fave. It's the If You're Feeling Sinister... album performed live and it's a corker.

Doris Dirty Three 3:26 Cinder
Great Waves Dirty Three 3:28 Cinder
Another of my musical faves, I could never really go past a Dirty 3 album - and if you've ever seen them live I hope you'd feel the same way. This is a bit of a change of pace for the D3, lots of songs, nothing more than 6 minutes and new instrumentation thrown into the mix (including the best rock bagpipes since um...). Great Waves, a track with vocals from Chan Marshall of Cat Power is another highlight.

Lavender The Go-Betweens 3:09 Oceans Apart
The Go-Betweens continue their triumphant comeback with their 3rd album of recent years being another great one.

Six Months In a Leaky Boat Little Birdy 3:53 She Will Have Her Way
Don't Dream It's Over Sarah Blasko 4:42 She Will Have Her Way
Fantastic compilation of covers of Tim/Neil Finn songs as performed by a swag of Aus female artists (and I think I'm getting a crush on Sarah Blasko's voice). (Give the Renee Geyer - Into Temptation track a miss though - no idea what she was thinking but it's tragic - doubly so as it's one of my fave Crowdy's tracks)

Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole Martha Wainwright 3:14 Martha Wainwright
From a family of musical freaks, Martha puts it all out there for the world to see in a particularly beautiful way with this song apparently about her dad.

Where the wild roses grow Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 3:47 B-Sides And Rarities Volume II
No new album from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds this year but this 3 cd compilation was fine compensation. And to think that these 50+ tracks are the ones that didn't make previous cds. This version of what is perhaps his biggest hit - Where the Wild Roses grow - features the grand teutonic vocals of Blixa Bargeld, now ex-Bad Seed.

The Rider #1 Nick Cave & Warren Ellis 1:15 The Proposition Soundtrack
One of the reasons there was no Bad Seeds album this year? Atmospheric, eerie, haunting etc soundtrack to one of a swag of great Oz films this year.

Creep (Ft. Fred From Fitter Ha Radiohead 3:29 Me & This Army: Radiohead Remix
More delving into online sampling/remixing/mashing with this cute version of Creep as performed by computer voice Fred - from Fitter, Happier, More Productive)

Don't Call Me Red Ry Cooder 5:00 Chavez Ravine
3 Cool Cats Ry Cooder 3:00 Chavez Ravine
Ry Cooder continues his exploration of different musical genres with this concept album looking at a Mexican neighbourhood in LA in the 50's.

Keith And Tina Sodastream 5:42 Take Me With You When You Go
Sodastream get dark with this great tale of fucked up lives in America in their thoughtful acoustic style.

John Wayne Gacy, Jr. Sufjan Stevens 3:19 Illinois
Prairie Fire That Wanders About Sufjan Stevens 2:11 Illinois
Another pretty interesting concept album from a guy on a mission to release an album about each of the 50 states in the USA. Lots of stories in song.

Harry Was A Bad Bugger Tex, Don & Charlie 5:19 All Is Forgiven
Cold Chisel legend Don Walker teams up with Tex Perkins and all-star Oz guitarist Charlie Owens in his song about a bad bad man which has classic written all over it. Great telling of a story in a bone dry Oz voice.

Mashups

CultureBully: CultureBully's 10 Favorite Mash-Ups 2005

Here's a fantastic list (with MP3 download links) of one blogger's ten fave mashups for 2005:

1. DJ BC "Yoshimi Battles Snoop Dogg"
The Flaming Lips vs. Snoop Dogg vs. Will Farrell

2. Aggro1 "Pull Up the Poor Bitches"
M.I.A. vs. Mindless Self Indulgence

3. DJ BC "Can You Hear Biz Knocking?"
The Rolling Stones "Can You Hear Me Knockin'" vs. Biz Markie "Let Me See You Bounce"

4. DJ Riko "Stand Up and Ring My Doorbell"
Ludacris "Stand Up" vs. The White Stripes "My Doorbell"

5. CCC "One of These Heatwaves"
Pink Floyd "One of These Days" vs. Wings "Rockestra" vs. Martha Reeves The Vandellas "Heatwave"

6. Smash Mash-Ups "Sanctuary's Over"
The Doors "When the Music's Over" vs. The Cult "She Sells Sanctuary" vs. pop beat

7. DJ BC "Money"
Wu-Tang Clan "C.R.E.A.M." vs. The O'Jays "For The Love Of Money"

8. FullMickTon "1000 Miles N Jiggin"
N.W.A. - 100 Miles and Running vs. Martyn Bennett - No.6 (untitled)

9. DJ Payroll "Intergalactic Enemy"
Beastie Boys "Intergalactic" vs. Rage Against the Machine "Know Your Enemy"

10. DJ iTrain "Frontin' on the Root Down"
Beastie Boys vs. The Who

Thanks to Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing

Praise and Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone - 05 was an interesting one - great personally but globally boy did it suck. Here's hoping 06 is da shizzle all round.

My friend Lisa paid me (what I consider) a great compliment yesterday - she said that my show was the closest thing that Canberra has to RRR (which probably means a whole bunch more if you're from Melbourne - but given that I am, it does). Thanks Buj.