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I am counting the days until the new album is released on 7th of May.

Until then I’m getting my fix from these adorable noisey videos:

1. Do Cute Kids Love Indie Rock?

Review of Chi-town by tiny tots. Can you say adorable?

2. Playdate/Interview

After 7 year old reviewed the Cribs (refer above), singer Ryan Jarman wanted to meet up and pick her brain - Noisey set up a playdate slash interview at the kid mecca of North London, Clown Town.

I’ve been looking forward to this gig, but there was a pretty major mishap. Tired from our drive back from Daylesford earlier today we decided to give the opening acts a miss (I would have loved to see Millions otherwise). So I checked @lastdinosaurs’ twitter feed for their set time, and saw that they were coming on at 10.30 pm. So we took our sweet time and got to Phoenix Public House at 10.35 only to find out that they have been playing since a bit before 10. Gutted! Yes I dropped the ball on this one.

We went in anyway, just in time for them to introduce their cover of Lady (originally by Modjo). The intro led me to think they were going to play Spiller’s Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love) instead before launching into their disco rock version of Lady, and then I realised/remembered they used essentially the same sampling. To my delight Last Dinosaurs did a medley/mash-up of both songs, and completely made it their own. They owned the stage and completely killed it. I cringed at the thought of the rest of the set that we have missed.

Making me feel even worse, Sean Caskey announced that the next song would be one of the last songs for the night. It was Honolulu. One of the tracks I first heard of the band and I have loved for its optimism. The part where the song goes “The story only just began / surely it should never, ever end” always makes me merry. The live version was so much better, the band killed it and the crowd was really getting into it.

And the show climaxed appropriately as they closed the set with Zoom. Everyone just went mental and the band gave the song that extra OOMPH live. The band put on a stellar performance, at least for the songs that I managed to catch. So the next time Last Dinosaurs are in Melbourne I’ll make sure I’ll be at the show nice and early. The band is embarking on a European tour next month, do yourselves a favour if they’re in your area, try and catch them. You won’t be disappointed.

I have said before how much I love Community. One of the actors on the show, the multi talented Donald Glover, who plays Troy Barnes on the show is also a rapper under the name Childish Gambino.

I’m not gonna pretend I know much about the genre, but he does have good beats and flow. He’s an amazing performer, rocking the stage with broken foot and all as evident in his Coachella performance.

This is a bit of an overdue post, but this is the first time in awhile that I have time to sit down on a Saturday morning awake and aware. Plus, I’m taking a week off work starting Monday.

While we’re in the subject of work, even though I work in an industry that’s synonymous for being boring, I am blessed with amusing and interesting colleagues. One of them is one of my “bosses”, a movie snob and an unlikely Wrestler. Not too long ago, a junior said his taste in music was “old”, so he went and sought out new music. He was kind enough to share some of them with me.

Capybara - Late Night Bikes

This is a great track, layered punchy sounds and somehow reminds me of a road trip. I tried closing my eyes and pick out their influences, there’s bits of the song that reminds me of Bombay Bicycle Club, but then when it gets to the chorus I think the sharpness reminds me a bit of Vampire Weekend and Foals. But then maybe it’s a bit of everything, there’s a folkish-ness to the sound as well. Nonetheless, a very enjoyable track.

Princeton - Clamouring for Your Heart

Hello synths! Hello sweet 80s sounds! It could have fit in quite well in McAlmont’s catalogue, but fresher. And can I just say I love the song title and the chorus, “if only for a day, clamouring for your heart”, oh the romance!

Wild Nothing - Nowhere (feat. Twin Sister’s Andrea Estella)

I’m a sucker for a lo-fi sound, jangly guitars and male-female vocal harmonies. A bit of twee doesn’t hurt either. It’s no surprise that I enjoy this track. The comparisons to The Go-Betweens is justified and Andrea’s part reminds me of Club 8.

Tennis -Origins

I saw Tennis last year at the Bowery and was stunned by how perfect Alaina’s vocals is live. This track again showcases her sweeter than honey vocals and lovely nostalgic pop sounds.

The Postelles - 1 2 3 Stop

Retro, garage pop-rock merrymaking tune. Cute lyrics. The band apparently met at a Manhattan high school. Albert Hammond Jr, whose influences are quite evident in this track, produced their debut. I think if you like the Kooks you would enjoy their songs, and quite appropriately The Postelle recently toured with The Kooks.

I have been listening to a lot of Fleetwood Mac and Summer Camp and came across this beautiful cover of “Everywhere” by Summer Camp.

It is just so dreamy, a perfect soundtrack for a summer fling. Gorgeous video too.

I love Community. It is probably one of the smartest US television shows I have seen in a long time. Most of all I love how “meta” the show it and how much cross-popular-culture references they can fit in, within an episode and across a few episodes. It’s like an ongoing inside joke.

One of my favourite “inside jokes” is the use of this song by Michael Haggins - Daybreak
Original song :

Someone on the wonderful world of youtube has kindly put together all occurrences in which the cast hummed or made references to the song (although I think it might be missing one from the episode prior to Pillows vs Blankets):

I particularly love Troy’s expression whenever he’s enjoying “the smooth sounds of Daybreak”

Logically, my parents would have influenced me to listen to Earth, Wind and Fire growing up. But they didn’t. I grew up listening to a lot of Disney songs, the Beatles, 80s power ballad, 90s pop and some rock and roll. In my tween years I fell in love with britpop and grunge. It wasn’t until I was 14 or 15 that I was introduced to more jazz, funk and soul tunes by my ex boyfriend. For Valentine’s Day one year, he gave me an Earth, Wind and Fire greatest hits CD. His band was playing September for our graduation, it kind of became an “anthem” for our year. I did grow to appreciate EWF immensely, their songs colouring most of my high school days, despite the band being popular decades before.

My brother was quite excited about their concert, being a jazz fan himself, so we got pretty good seats, second from the front row.

The Palais is one of the most beautiful live music venues in Melbourne seems appropriate. The audience ranging from teens with their parents to middle aged couples reliving their youth.

The band has been together for 41 years, with 3 of the original members on stage that night. They put up an impressive performance, especially the three founding members, who have aged quite considerably but still have the energy levels of a 21 year old.The choreographed dance, sterling vocals, the instruments were all very impressive. It was impossible not to dance to Boogie Wonderland, Fantasy, Shining Star and Got to Get You into My Life. Each member of the band got the opportunity to show off their skills with their weapon of choice.

They slowed things down a little bit for After The Love Has Gone and Reasons. Boy did the memories come flooding back.

The absolute highlight was when they did a medley of September and Let’s Groove, almost everyone in the audience got up and danced.

Closing the night with their encore of In The Stone, everyone in the audience, no matter the age left feeling good from Earth, Wind and Fire’s performance.

This post is long overdue, so I probably won’t due the performance justice. But I just had to say something about how amazing Bombay Bicycle Club is live! Their first time in Australia, they were initially booked to perform at the Corner and due to overwhelming demand were upgraded to The Forum. I haven’t been to a gig at The Forum in ages, so I tend to forget what a beautiful venue it is, the acoustics aren’t half bad either. Exhibit A: the following photo:

Anyway, I was a bit of a late adopter when it comes to this band, but they do hold a special spot in my playlist. Cancel On Me and Always Like This got me through a lot of long lonely worknights when I was half-dying from a flu in Marietta Ohio last year. They definitely did not disappoint. Songs from the older albums like My God and Ivy and Gold along with the aforementioned tunes rocked so much more live. The more serene highlights of the new album were simply exquisite. How Can You Swallow That Much Sleep is a new favourite after that night.

Definitely worth seeing live.