2006 Music to me

Listening to: Stone Sour - Come What(ever) May

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If you haven't already seen it, go check out my new photoblog, Take A Photograph. I've started it up so I can post random meaningless (or perhaps meaningful) images that I capture day to day. On my phone, with my cameras, I don't care.



Songs of 2006 (otherwise known as my turn to try and sound like a real music reviewer):

1. The Butterfly Effect - A Slow Descent

Rocking, pounding, soaring melodies and vocals from one of the best Australian bands going round. This, for me, is probably the best song they've written, at least from a rock & roll point of view. The film clip is also very well made and produced, using a pretty simple set-up but creating a cracker video.


2. The Mars Volta - Viscera Eyes

Long, complex and fascinating prog rock track from a group that I've heard mentioned as the System Of A Down who like to write songs longer than two minutes. It also seems they're out to make longer songs than Dream Theater - I never thought that would be possible. I'm new to these guys, but theirs is a sound that I'm still exploring and I'm liking what I find.


3. Tool - Vicarious

Five years later and their sound hasn't really changed, but this song is a triumphant return to the scene. Brooding, dark lyrics with trademark Tool sounds that seem to almost hide the fact it's a seven minute song. I just love the way it grows slowly, then recedes, only to return with a arse-kicking finish.


4. The Living end - Wake Up

A departure from their usual style, this song seemed to strike a chord with the radio audience across Australia. A political message mixed with haunting melodies and vocals. Chris Cheney might not have a voice as complex and Clint Boge from The Butterfly Effect or Ian Kenny from Karnivool, but he grabs your attention and doesn't let go till the very end. A true classic.


5. Eskimo Joe - London Bombs

I heard this song on TripleJ not long after Eskimo Joe released Black Fingernails, Red Wine and it stuck with me for months. When we picked up the album, it was the first song I went to. The title track had been played that much I could almost make out all of the lyrics. But London Bombs is such a beautiful, warm track I could listen to all day and night.


6. Trivium - Ignition

I've seen these guys cop some serious shit for sounding like Metallica. But to me, these guys make the music I wish Metallica had made, but they don't have the egos and arrogance to go with it. I'm really hoping I can grab a ticket to the Big Day Out, because Trivium are on the bill. Their sound is raucous, loud and almost unrelenting its pursuit for your eardrums. For me, I like to secretly pretend I'm listening to what Metallica could've been.


7. Stone Sour - Reborn

Corey Taylor from Slipknot has a softer side. Sort of. Stone Sour was his (and Slipknot guitarist James Root) band before Slipknot came along, and with the release of their second album, they are growing up and becoming a really solid hard rocking group. Reborn was the first track I heard from the album Come What(ever) May, and it's probably the toughtest song on the CD. Now to cross my fingers and hope they tour here soon.


I know there's only seven here, but that's I got right now.

As for 2007, here are some of the releases I'm crossing my legs to get hold of:

1. Cog

This one goes without saying really. The guys are about to head to the US to start recording the follow-up to The New Normal, their first full-length release that turned into a bit of a juggernaut. I'm a shameless Cog fan, so it shouldnt' be much of a surprise that it tops my list. They played some new tracks at their show late last year and they sound awesome. So as soon as I hear a release I'm setting up camp at the local CD shop. Good thing I know one the guys who works there. ;)


2. Sunk Loto

These boys have been fighting a tough fight to keep their heads above the water lately, with dodgy record labels, shitty deals and band members exiting stage left. But they toured late last year, with Cog and their own headline tour, and previewed new tracks from the album they're about to start recording (if they haven't already). They were brutal, loud, fast and heavy songs that my ears are already tingling to hear again.


3. Fear Factory

I'm quietly holding out hope that Fear Factory will get back in the studio and fix the mistakes they made on Transgression. I fucking love this band, and Archetype - their previous release - blew my head off with its power and strength. But then they release Transgression a year later, and it felt rushed, disconnected and pretty lame, with two covers and a bunch of bitsy tracks on it. Not to mention when toured Australia, they skipped Adelaide. Last time, they left Korn on the tour bus and took Static-X to the Heaven nightclub and tore it a new arsehole. So they've got some work to do in my eyes. Here's hoping they pull their fingers out.

4. Swayback

Ok, so this one's more obscure to those reading this who don't know me. I know the guys from Swayback, and have done some website design & photography work from them - my stuff even made it into their CD sleeve. They spent the latter half of last year touring pretty heavily to get themselves out there. This year I'm hoping they'll be getting into the studio to recored the follow up to The Quest For Rock & Roll, the album that saw them sign to Half A Cow Records. They're a great bunch of guys, and they know how to write a catchy, cool rockin' song or two. Keep an eye open for them.


5. Dream Theater

It's been a couple of years since the godfathers of prog rock (to me at least) churned out an album. Their last studio release, Octavarium, didn't grab me like their earlier works - at least not as a whole album. I know they've released a couple of live CDs in the last year or so, but I've already got three live CDs from them - I don't really need more versions of the same songs. So I'm hoping they're writing new stuff and are putting together another masterpiece like Six Degrees Of Inner Tubulence. While I'm talking DT, hurry up and tour Australia, god dammit!

6. Mudvayne

Their 2005 release, Lost And Found had a lot of self-created hype, but it was a pretty major let-down for me. Their second CD, The End Of All Things To Come was a brilliant listen, full of complex songs built on head-kicking rhythms and vicious vocals. But Lost And Found didn't come anywhere near the kind of progression I was waiting for. It was far too "more of the same" for me to enjoy. And it felt like all bar about one or two songs were written on the same day with the same inspirations. There's no real diversity or creativity here. So these boys, like Fear Factory, have some ground to make up with me.


Ok, I think I've had my music reviewer fix for now. If I come across stuff I like, I'll abuse your eyes with more of my ramblings.

It's Official

I'm a Cog tragic. I have Open Up as the ring tone on my phone.

It's too damn hot to write anything else. 40°C days suck hard.

Monty Python Is Not Funny

Listening to: Cog - The River Song

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Don't get me wrong about this. I used to think it was fucking hilarious. I would listen to it hour after hour - I could recite most of their most famous sketches word for word. I could even mimic their accents. Thing is, over the years the novelty and humour has worn off for me. To the point where I don't find it funny in the slightest.

And therein lies the problem. See, three of the guys in my office love it - to them, it's one of the funniest things ever. So it gets played, quoted, recited and sung loudly all the time. The first couple of times I found it amusing enough to smile or maybe even chuckle. But now it drives me Up. The. Fucking. Wall.

So between sales reps wandering in and talknig about bullshit, Monty Python blaring through other peoples' computer speakers, and all the hammering and bashing/crashing that goes on around work, I'm verhy slowly starting to boil. I've stuffed earplugs as far as possible into my ears (I think I hit the eardrum), and it's cut a lot of it out.

But I can still hear Monty Python. *twitch*

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Listening to: Cog - Open Up

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The Good:

We decided that we needed to get out of town for a couple of days, that we needed a change of scenery. So a sudden trip to Melbourne was planned and booked. Qantas into Melbourne, staying in a hotel spotted on Wotif, and Jetstar back to Adelaide. Great in theory, but more on that later.

Fly into Melbourne just after lunchtime on Thursday, grab the shuttle bus to Spencer Street and walk to the hotel (only a couple of blocks away). The room's pretty small, but ok. Get sorted there, then head out and wander down to Federated Square, with its funky buildings and loads of trendy people everywhere. Order a couple of Iced Coffees and a bowl of chips while we figure out our next move. Jump on a tram to St. Kilda, not knowing that Luna Park isn't open Thursdays, but oh well. So we wander St. Kilda for a bit, then head back to the hotel. Dinner is a couple of fresh pizzas from the Melbourne Pizza Bar down the street. Very nice. Hit the sack, as we have a bit planned for Friday. Get woken up a few times, thanks to the King Street traffic outside. Yay.

Friday starts with a tram ride to the MCG for a guided tour. I manage to grab a pile of photos while we moved around, including from on the grass. I'd say it was as spiritual thing, but it wasn't quite. Nonetheless, that's one impressive piece of real estate. After lunch in the Bourke Street Mall, we jump a tram up to the Victoria Markets, for a bit of retail therapy. I buy a new ring (just need to get it fit my fat finger now), and Kel buys some stuff as well. Typical Melbourne, it starts to piss down, so we jump another tram, then get off when we figured we're heading in the wrong direction. Jump the tram coming the other way and end up back at the hotel, for a nap.

Stir an hour or so later, and get ready for a night at the Crown Casino. Ask the dude on the front desk of the hotel to order us a taxi. He seems to think that's too hard, and suggests we just walk. Go outside and snag one a few metres down the road. $5.80 later and we're inside the Crown complex. This is the second time I've been there, but I forgot how big it is. At least compared to Sky City in Adelaide. We grab some food, then get drinks and start to wander. Seems casinos don't like $5 Black Jack tables anymore, which blows. We end up on an touch-screen Roulette wheel (you each get your own touch-screen booth and can place your own bets - much easier). Pretty soon we're both $25 up. A few more drinks and a trip to the downstairs Poker Room, and we're back on the Roulette table for some more fun.

Bomb out about 11-ish, and prepare for the trip home tomorrow.

The Bad:

After killing some time in the morning, we headed down to the newly renamed Southern Cross station to get the shuttle bus to Avalon Airport (we were flying back on JetStar). Fifteen minutes after it was supposed to leave, the bus turns up. Driver gets out, opens the luggage doors and steps out of the way so we can load our own luggage. Good start.

So we load up, jump on and sit while aforementioned driver purchases tickets for those onbaord who couldn't be fucked getting their own. Eventually we get rolling out of the station, with the driver telling us not to worry about making it to Avalon to get the flight - apparently we've got plenty of time.

We pull out onto the main road and are crusing towards the Yarra River in the right-hand lane, when there's a "pop", and the bus tilts to the left. Driver stops the bus and gets out. A couple of minutes later he returns to tell us we've blown one of the airbags in the suspension. A couple of minutes after that, the right-hand airbag goes.

After about twenty minutes of sitting in the fuckin' road (to quote Samuel L. Jackson in Die Hard With A Vengeance), a replacement bus arrives. After shiftin our own luggage into the new bus, we're off again. All the driver can say is useless shit like "These things were sent to try us."

Halfway to the airport and all's well. Until the driver hits the brakes and swerves over to the side of the road. Apparently the bus is overheating now. After a couple of minutes we're rolling again. I guess he had visions of me stuffing his head into the radiator to plug the leaks.

Fortunately for us (and for Sunbus), the plane is thirty minutes late arriving at Avalon, so we made it in time. JetStar were kind enough to hold Check In open for us. Avalon Airport isn't much of an airport. I'd call it a couple of boxes and a runway or two. But the flight home with JetStar was good - the crew were very nice, and the pilot did a good job of landing in what must've been some decent winds (the plane swerved a couple of times on landing for which I quietly held my breath).

The Ugly:

The bus driver.