EELS @ PALACE THEATRE 15.08.10

Ever seen a rock concert performed by mental patients? It’s as energetic and unpredictable as it sounds. And it starts with a Disney symphony.

E’s dressed in all white, the band’s sporting beards, sunglasses and varying forms of headwear, and the show kicks off with the soft slow sounds of Grace Kelly accompanied by slide guitar.

After a few quiet tracks, the frenzy begins with hard fast explosions of the likes of Gone Man, and this how the concert moves on: Tender, sad and sweet then RAH! RAH! RAH hysteria. It’s the full spectrum of E’s emotions in the space of a set; including his own brand of humour.

Following his declaration “Fuck winter” we’re treated to his cover of Summer in the City, a helluva lot cooler than the original. We witness him air-guitar his maraca in Dog-Faced Boy. The crowd goes wild for Fresh Blood and Prizefighter, where the whole band freeze, a kooky silhouette in red light. What will come next?

It’s said that you don’t know what to expect from an Eels gig... maybe not specifically. E has rejected million dollar deals from advertising agencies and filmmakers; he’s fought hard to protect his work even from his own labels. Here is an artist who’s always true to himself, and that’s why you CAN expect that every show will be good. It’s 100% E and his kickass crew, including Koool G Murder on bass and Knuckles on the drums.

The Palace Theatre responded: different ages, interests and styles all dancing/ rejoicing (no shit, people singing with their eyes closed, arms flailing in the air) because they were experiencing a true artist LIVE; no gimmicks, no marketing strategy, just E being E, because he doesn’t know how to do it any other way.

Jamie Lidell - Compass

Originally posted at http://itsofficial.com.au/

I knew jack about Jamie Lidell when I heard this album. Beck produced his album, so I was expecting it to be good.

It made me feel like my brain was exploding... but not in a good way.
Slammed with a mix-mash of distortion, I frantically searched for a melody until finally Jamie’s voice rung out... salvation.
This happened a few times throughout the album. Song starts, it’s going nowhere, and then Jamie pulls it together, his soulful tones reminiscent of a white-boy Andre 3000, with as much personality.

She Needs Me is super-sexy with simple keys. It’s an old school soul track with new school production.

I Wanna Be Your Telephone sounds a lot like Beck’s Sexx Laws; which is a really great song, in both executions.

And Enough’s Enough has the upbeat vibe of a 70s bloc party; with kickass flute, it’s a definite mood-turner.

From this point on the album’s best described as “Meh”.
The songs would be better if there wasn’t so much going on. When Jamie sticks to his soul/funk roots adding just a little something extra, it’s perfection. But he overdoes it and it’s ruined.
It may be creative, it may be interesting, but it’s also inconsistent; some good songs and some capable of aural injury.

He does end with a couple of corkers: Big Drift, with acoustic guitar and backup female vocals, sounds like a brooding storm before the rain falls.
Then Compass ends with You See My Light, a glorious track with a gospel feel and real emotion.
I do love a happy ending.

For The Homies

(Photography: Chauntelle Roelandts)

Originally posted at http://itsofficial.com.au/

You know your favourite t-shirt? The one that feels so comfortable it’d be harder to let go of than a relationship in tatters.
That’s the kind of shirt Pete Le Chic aims to make. He wants his label For the Homies to supply your favourite t-shirt... and your favourite pair of jeans, and your favourite jacket.
He wants to make you clothes that you don’t just wear, but clothes that you feel.
And do we all feel the same? Hell no, so he makes them bespoke, custom-fit to you.

ROOTS

After starting out doing graphic design for skateboard companies, Pete was asked to design clothes. With no experience he got himself an apprenticeship; and like all apprenticeships it was a glamorous year of fetching coffees, cleaning up, lots of questions and zero pay.
But here’s the payoff, he continues to use those tailoring skills in what he makes today. So it may be a street wear piece, but it’s made with the same technique, and the same deliberation, as a fine suit. And it may be a street wear piece but he’ll do it in leather, using good quality leather and good construction.

MESSAGE

Pete’s first designs were an exercise in venting. From music to failed relationships it was his outlet for life’s frustrations ...and it created some very funny pieces. And although people related to the comedy rather than the abyss it came from, they were relating and that was his purpose: there was an exchange.
As an artist Pete wants to create an experience, not just another piece of clothing. He meets you, he measures you, he designs and makes a garment just for you. And the result is a completely independent piece; a collaboration of designer, item and owner.

INSPIRATION

His inspiration comes from old magazines. In his next range in particular it comes from the zines he read in his early days of skateboarding.
“I was getting photocopied zines from a shop called Snakepit, they used to do their own and I still remember what the paper felt like.”
This influence gave the new line a more punk/DIY feel. Designs were drawn, photocopied, drawn, photocopied and then drawn over again, rather than just artwork done on a computer. They’re tangible, they’re tactile.

And between designing lines for his label, he gave something back to his magazines...

The latest issue of Acclaim Magazine: For The Homies Edition.

After 3 weeks shooting in Japan and 6 months hard work, Pete Le Chic has ticked another box on his to-do list; his contribution to the forgotten art of magazine, that he believes is on its way back. The media you can pick up and experience again and again.
Make sure you check it out; and more importantly ... make sure you feel something.

NB: For more Pete Le Chic deigns hit forthehomies.com

It's Official, Harvey Pekar is dead.

Originally posted at http://itsofficial.com.au/

On July 12 comic book writer and music critic Harvey Pekar, most famous for his autobiographical work American Splendour, died. And I’m in mourning.

1) Because he was a great writer.

His comics were a standout in a time when your comic book options were limited to superhero stories marketed to kids. But Harvey always found that life was “complicated enough”, without the need for spandex-clad theatrics.

He couldn’t draw to save himself but that didn’t stop him either. He had pals Robert Crumb and co. for that. And his written word, his concepts, the humanity that shone from the stick figures on his page were so real, so apart of all of us and of life’s frustrations, that illustrators were able to execute them with ease.

Harvey’s work gained the respect of his peers, critics; and the audience he related to so well... and we eagerly awaited his next addition...his next droll comment on life.

2) Because he was one of us, a working man until the end.

Although Pekar won awards (the American Book Award and the aptly named Harvey Award), and his work was celebrated worldwide, he never ‘made it’; he remained a hospital file clerk until he retired at 62.

There is no doubt his comics were better for it.

God knows you can’t legitimately agonise over life’s constant disappointments when you’re rolling through Cleveland in a Hummer. The truth is Harvey Pekar wasn’t capable of being mainstream; it wasn’t part of his make-up. His foray into prime time television, ending in a Dave Letterman showdown, proved this. Harvey would never lie back and live off the mainstream dollar.

But he did leave a legacy; a small solace when the fear of our own mortality creeps over us and we ask ourselves “what’s the point of all of this?”
And he was honest.

Although often described as depressing, critical, dissatisfied and hopeless. I found his honesty refreshing and true to his nature. We aint all happy-go-lucky, why should we pretend for other people’s sake? Is that any way to live? Pretending?

To be dead, without an original masterpiece, but remembered as a really swell guy...

Nuts to that.

Harvey’s wife reported that on his last day on earth Harvey Pekar went to bed “in high spirits”.

It was official, Harvey Pekar was dead.

B.o.B. @ BILLBOARD 21.07.10

(Photography: Chauntelle Roelandts)

Originally posted at http://itsofficial.com.au/

OK, so even though it’s a B.o.B review, massive props go out to local support Diafrix.

MCs Momo and Azmarino combine quality lines with quality delivery.

Azmarino transitions between gruff growl, high-pitched rhyme and gospel song; but it’s the energy, humour and kinship between the lads that makes the Diafrix performance bloody brilliant.

Acts like this are responsible for the rapid growth in the Aussie hip-hop fan base; they’re bringing world-class music to our local venues. My tip: see them while you can, ‘cause soon the internationals will come looking for the boys whose shit is ‘too hot to handle’.

And onto our main man... Atlanta’s B.o.B

He’s 19 and people are making a pretty big deal about it.

For me there’s 2 ways this can go: you’re either using your age as a gimmick (aka. Lil Bow Wow - shudder) or you better prove yourself.

Because call me a cranky old c@#t, but when I’m presented with a teenager my first thought is “and what the fuck do you think you have to offer”?

B.o.B replied with “a shit load”; consisting of booty dancers, backup vocals, bass, guitar, drums, keys, DJ/hype man; plus appearances by Playboy Tre and TJ’s DJ’s founder cum photographer, TJ Chapman.

Hit

The crowd went nuts for hip-hop tracks Haterz Everywhere, Fame and Nothing on You and here’s why: B.o.B put so much effort into his band that it sounded like a studio recording. We witnessed the onstage energy missing from the album without sacrificing a single element of the songs we love.

Don’t Let Me Fall showed B.o.B’s rhythmical skills and quality rhyming. He’s nailed rap at 19 and like the Good Will Hunting of hip-hop he’s bored and branching out... the boy sings, he strums his electric acoustic, he does a pop synth cover of MGMT’s Kids, he does the vulnerable moment on keys; and most of the time he pulls it off....

Miss

An electric-acoustic war song about a returned solider who’s wife has remarried.

Sing from experience or FAIL.

B.o.B was confident, he was warm, he literally jumped into the crowd, and he had a dance.

He’s got heaps to offer right now; and his potential for the future... well you can take it from the man himself:
“I’ll be in the sky”... I tend to agree with him.

Betty & Mim

We’d been asleep for an hour or two
By the time she got home.
She burst through the door, dumped her bag on the table and flew to the bathroom
Just like she usually did.

When she came out, she sat on the edge of the lounge and started crying.
Just like she usually did, lately.
We tried to say something, to distract her
But it all seemed so hopeless at the moment.

So we pretended to be asleep.
And she pretended she was fine again.
Just like we usually did.

Faith

I was already waiting when you arrived.

Something about your red sun-damaged face and freckled skin caught my attention.
You looked like you’d been on a worksite all day, maybe had a few beers after work to celebrate the coming long weekend… forget your problems for awhile, forget about the loneliness.

I watched you arguing. I heard your voice rise.Your ginger hair wobbled as your head shook from left to right; I could barely hear your words over the sound of the train entering the tunnel.
Then I heard you clearly “You never had any faith”, you looked directly over your right shoulder staring
“You never had any faith in nothing”, then you shook your head disappointed and hopeless.
But there was no-one by your side.

You glanced at the other passengers and when your back was turned they stole glances at you, and at one another as if you were crazy.
While I kept my eyes on you, while I strained my eyes to see the person who sat next to you, the person who never had any faith in nothing.