6/11/09 @ The Excelsior - supported by Pirate

With a global music scene drowning in indie, it's pretty easy to forget what real musicians sound like. As much as I can listen to Kings of Convenience records all day (and I can), jangly 4/4 and single-note guitar solos can only be so satisfying. Slotting Falsimilies From The Factsmachine into the CD player some weeks ago was the punch in the skinny jeans I'd been yearning for. It's the third EP from Sydney progfreaks Captain Kickarse and the Awesomes and it's choc full of chops, time signature changeups and drumming intensity. Last night saw them throw down an official release of the EP at the Excelsior (the spiritual home of the distortion pedal) to a crammed house.

I had this idea a few months back for a Youtube video clip. I was going to line up hundreds of beer bottles. All would be meticulously filled to appropriate levels, such that when I sprinted passed them with a stick they would sound out The Flight Of The Bumblebee. I was stoked at the idea. I'd even thought of particular circular configurations for the bottles, which would allow me to jump from one section to the next and back again. I'd sorted out the venue for the shoot, started hoarding some bottles etc etc... So you could imagine I was pretty deflated when a friend suggested I watch this.

Bears. We're the only continent that's never had them. Yet they are unquestionably the animal du jour in the Sydney band name stakes. Earlier in the year I interviewed Bearhug (who had recently changed their name from Skeletal Explosive to become more bearlike), and this week I have the pleasure of talking to Boy And Bear. On top of this, the next Sydney band on my 'to-see' list is the doubly bearish Brown Bear Black Bear. They've come as hugely recommended from a few sources, and i'm certainly excited to see a band that boasts twice as much bear as your average.

Most of us would like to think we're pretty open minded when it comes to music. That said, in the privacy of our own iPod headphones, we still tend to confine ourselves to particular genres (though perhaps not so much as this guy). Whatever our comfort levels with other genres, there's usually a more-than-healthy dose of contempt reserved for anything that could be labelled experimental. As much as the late John Cage was lauded for his vision and musical innovation, 4'33" is a real buzz-kill on any party playlist. I'll admit I sniggered at a Sydney University bandcomp performance some years back, where a doublebass was being dragged along the floor by one 'band' member while the other was reading a book at a desk... crucially, the page turns were mic'ed up.

I was part of a vegetable collective once. It cost me $60 every two weeks for a huge box of fruit & veg that would slowly rot on my kitchen counter. I was told i was saving the planet by purchasing organic, fairtrade, bionic, free-range and whatever-else foodstuffs. But there really wasn't much in it for me. Am i really going to know the difference between a hydroponic and non-hydroponic eggplant?? And Rambutans? WTF.

Being the inaugural gig review for the blog, I was hoping to deliver a hard hitting, super-critical and 100% fluff-free treatise. Praise would be rare, lest we look like we're pandering to the scene. Nobody respects a yes-person* and certainly nobody would put their faith in commentry from a yes-blog. Unfortunately for me then, I had probably the best live music experience I've had all year (perhaps a close second to the collective joyful weeping induced by the Fleet Foxes playing the Metro). Each of the three acts were brilliant and genuinely engaging, but for completely different reasons.

Flirting with children's singalongs might be considered a cred-hazard to many music punters, but Cuthbert and the Night Walkers have really made the artform their own. Since the unfortunate passing of the legendary Adelaide songster Baterz in 2002, there's been little to fill the void of intelligent children's music (ICM anybody??). Thankfully CATNW pick up where Baterz left off; cheekily hiding their musical maturity beneath the cutesy singalongs. Don't be fooled, the songs aren't all gooey - the first time I heard Red Frogs I was too caught up in a solid rock song to forsee that months later I might be singing the lyrics to my 5 year old cousin.

The band joined me on the Guest Programming Bridge on Monday 31st August. I figured that to suit the mood I'd administer my Nursery Rhyme Quiz (see below for an audio grab of the Quiz). They also threw down a titillating rendition of an upcoming track Walk To Work. Their second album is due out at the end of this year, and if the first single Pace Ourselves is anything to go by, there'll still be plenty to sing along to. --- JZ

Cuthbert links:
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Tracklist - 31/08/09:
Pace Ourselves - Cuthbert and the Night Walkers
Sunny In Splodges - Kyu
Then Came The Sun - Brian Campeau
Musings Heartthrob - Megastick Fanfare
Untitled - The desks
The Barber's Son - Jack Ladder
Havin A Party - Little Lovers
Jonathan Richmond - Little Lovers
Etcetera - Betamax Bandits
Walk to work (LIVE!!) - Cuthbert and the Night Walkers
PS I Love You - Richard In Your Mind