news. news and other views

so what has happened in the world of luke?

hmmm, good question, i hate being revelatory in my blogs (that was the reason i left myspace). i don't know, i like being a mystery and really the only people who read this already know everything about me. i do find the process rather redundant. but there is nothing else to do while i wait for the soccer to begin and i don't want to wake up alex by singing out of tune.

so let me bring you up to speed, finished uni (again), started a new job (which rocks) and bought a house or indeed unit. i've seen belle and sebastian, split enz and you am i this month. three amazing shows, which i enjoyed immensely. my fave shows for the first half of the year are

1. belle and sebastian (june 7: perth concert hall) - the new songs were so excellent live, why didn't i follow them around oz, it's the money fool. they played jonathan david and electronic renaissance. i was in the front row and complete heaven. i love you, i love you, i love you.

2. the shins (jan 2: busselton) - yes it was the second day of the year and it was fuckin packed in that tent. but hearing those songs live again made everything worthwhile. i don't know how they actually sound better live and james is very shy on stage. but it only adds to their appeal. their new album was meant to be out already.

3. split enz (june 16: burswood dome) - i know it may seem i'm favouring the later gigs, but with the enz you had to be there. they come out under a pod. a pod i kid you not and dressed so sharply. they played every classic you could've imagined and we saw tim finn shake his ass which isn't as scary as it sounds.

4. sleater kinney (jan 27: the gaelic club) - i will say this, they played "YOU'RE NO ROCK AND ROLL FUN". stop the press they played "YOU'RE NO ROCK AND ROLL FUN" so much energy and more rock than the garden variety. what an unstoppable and arresting presence these girls have.

5. this last spot is aggravating because i could make persuasive arguments for sigur ros, broken social scene, franz ferdinand and les savy fav. not to mention the white stripes, the mars volta and the grates. but i have to make room for jens lekman. i must confess i was disappointed by his show last year with darren hanlon at mojo's. but this show more than compensated. his voice was amazing and he then serenaded everyone on the bricks of the rosemount. what a man, what a man.

the tim and tex show was probably the only show i thought was a bit shit, but i'm sure others will come to mind. white stripes at sydney bdo was also average.

bring on coldplay, the yeah yeah yeahs and possibly wolfmother and death cab for the month of july. but i got to save money now. goodnight friends.

top 10 andd over the bend

for a break from the study mind melt action, my favourite top 10 albums on this the shortest day of the year are

10. american water - the silver jews
9. in the aeroplane over the sea - neutral milk hotel
8. elastica - elastica
7. since i left you - the avalanches
6. the white album - the beatles
5. 16 lovers lane - the go betweens
4. yankee hotel foxtrot - wilco
3. slanted and enchanted - pavement
2. purple rain - prince
1. odessy and oracle - the zombies

warning this will change next time i do it.

apologies to nirvana, pj harvey, hole, david bowie, the smiths, ash and anyother artist who i may have forgot.

proper blog someday soon

nme albums

i sent this as an email to my friend, but it's verbose enough to be a blog entry.

i don't how i feel about lists for me they are always sort of irrelevant. i guess the best to way to contextualise them is of as an opinion of the population at that point in time.

i guess the thing is that every place in the world would have a different perception of their favourites. the hood in brooklyn wouldn't have any of these albums and if you do it in australia, powderfinger/cold chisel would be on top. and if it does by guiness/nme, it is another form of cultural imperialism and black music isn't represented at all.

despite all that, it still does interest me. i'm surprised at the success of oasis and their music must still so much to a lot of people. sgt pepper is always up there, but it's my least favourite of their albums.

radiohead and pink floyd are two sides of the same coin, dour music that sort of reflects something like a quite british gritted teeth way of suffering through things. every other entry is pretty standard.

the main surprise for me is the appearance of the strokes and the libertines. and i guess you can put it to the way they have defined a generation. if we cast our minds back to the year 2000. music was very disjointed and the strokes took it upon themselves to determine how this decade is going to sound. the libertines did it in a british way. which is now only reflected with chart success to various bands. but the style did infiltrate its way to pop music like kelly clarkson hence the riff of since you're been gone or that title. which out strokes the strokes and interpol with probably one of the best riffs of the decade.

check the list here
http://www.nme.com/news/oasis/23227

updates of my life

i'm sorry i don't update this that much, but i'm making an effort to stay away from the net and mobile phones and wonders of our technological world. truly people i've watched about 25 films in the past month and read 5 books since making a concerted effort to stay away from the net. admittedly i do feel a lot better after taking a breather.

so what has happened?

well i'm about to start a new job on tuesday as a librarian at woodvale library, which means a lot more money and responsibility. i will actually have more time as i don't have to work weekends anymore. woohoo!

belle and sebastian are playing on wednesday night and i'm so excited, i just can't hide it. b + s are finally in my town after such a long time, i'll probably make a fool of myself in front of a too cool for school crew screaming out for my favourites. but i don't care, because i really doubt if any of them love that band as much as me.

uni is about to finish up and project greenlight is starting up again. i've got a couple of scripts to polish and i'm going to enter. i had a dream i was talking to peter sarsgard about starring in a movie, so guess who i'm going to make a role for? i feel excited i know something is going to happen :-)