Eddy Current Suppression Ring

Are The Drones the best live band in the world?

No gimmicks, no explosions, no hundred-dollar haircuts. I first saw The Drones in a gritty Melbourne venue about six years ago and they played to only twenty people. They were amazing then and they play with the same intensity and vigor now. The best musicians play for themselves, not the audience and that’s exactly how The Drones do it. Their music is so full of emotion that it can be intimidating.

The Supporters

Some bands never get the respect nor the notoriety they deserve. Last year, The Supporters released a full-length album and, very quietly, it collected a swag of rave reviews. Then whenever they played gigs, they blew away whoever had the good sense to show up. Today they still play criminally small venues, and they are still totally under-appreciated. If fast, uncompromising Aussie rock is your thing, The Supporters are your band. It doesn’t come any grittier and satisfying than this.

Nirvana destroy Top Of The Pops

Following on from Michael Lavine’s seminal portrait of Kurt and Courtney for the cover of Sassy! [pssst, he also took the photo for the Nevermind album cover], we got the inside word from British music journalist, and infamous Nirvana bedfellow (in the least literal sense of the word), Everett True on Kurt, Courtney, and those damn persistent rumors: ‘No, I don’t believe he was murdered. I don’t particularly go into this in my most recent Nirvana book — partly through lack of time, partly through lack of interest — but let’s view it this way. Examine any event that has happened in the past, however trivial, and discrepancies will appear. 9/11. John F Kennedy. The death of Princess Diana. The fact my cat had to be put down at the age of sixteen. Why I forgot to take my iPod to London this morning. All of these could be contested, violently and with real — and valid — opinion. That’s because history does not exist except in books. Suicide is particularly ripe for innuendo: after all, the only person who can tell you what really happened is — er — dead. Still. I have nothing against conspiracy theories, especially if they’re fun’. Read more

Ummm, Beyonce’s Single Ladies anyone?

It’s not surprising that the fifteen-year-old boy I tutor introduced me to this video. Spatial geometry and the causes of the Vietnam War gathered dust, as he made me view it numerous times, pointing out which girl was his favourite and why: the one on the left, because she’s hot; the one on the right because she is ‘hittin’ her moves’; and Beyoncé, because, well she’s Beyoncé. To be honest, after the first ten seconds of our first viewing, I became a very willing participant in the whole discussion. We talked about why Beyoncé’s pseudo-feminist lyrics sometimes annoy me (Jay-Z did ‘put a [HUGE] ring on it’) and which moves were our favourites (mine occurs at the 52 second mark, he likes the one at 1:32). Truthfully, I barely like this song, but this video is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I wonder if we could cut the sound and get Sir David Attenborough to narrate it.

Children Collide interview

It’s hard to find a misstep on the full-length debut from Melbourne band, Children Collide. The Long Now doesn’t sound like a first album: its mature, yet completely varied sound and lyrical concept makes it feel like something you’d expect from a band on their third or fourth album (you know, after the ‘cursed’ second album). Children Collide are most definitely in control, something that could have been lost while working with big-name producer, Dave Sardy. It’s rare that you pick up a CD and feel like the band has decided on everything, right down to the artwork that encases their killer album. We threw guitarist-singer Johnny Mackay a few questions about how they managed to wrap everything up in such a … errr … tight little package. Read more

The John Steel Singers’ Rainbow Kraut video

I can say with an unwavering amount of conviction that kaleidoscopes are the greatest things ever invented. Well, one of them at least. Brisbane band, The John Steel Singers, take that statement and turn it into a super cool video for their song, Rainbow Kraut. I think Oliver Sacks would agree: phantom hands should always play keyboards.