RTRfm Stories

The Boat People - Chandeliers

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0800

For a throw away pop album, The Boat People’s sophomore effort Chandeliers is solid – it contains enough slick harmonies, tambourine shakes, super hip fills, and minimalist drumming to get any toe tapping. But beneath this slick exterior there is nothing that isn’t a lesser reincarnation of what has already been. The crystal clear sounds and unadventurous song structure left me hanging for something which wasn’t offered in 40 minutes of clinically produced surface music.

As Chandeliers meanders on the band repeatedly draw from the same bag of tricks, and the lack of any real emotional connection is starkly exposed. The lyrics in particular lack imagination and inspiration.
The whole album feels a bit like an ikea couch.

What Chandeliers gives is immediately obvious, for better or for worse. No effort is needed to enjoy this album, I just don’t see how anyone could really like it. So put it on in the background, tap along, and expect nothing but a brief distraction and a few moments of bright escapism. It won’t grow or surprise, but hey, that’s pop music.

Records/Songs bought this week and the lessons learned: Week 21

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0800

The fact that it’s a story has become a story—the carefully planned release of Barack Obama’s iPod. Inevitably, it has come to be called the “oPod” but let it be.

The release came with a cover story by Rolling Stone on the Presidential candidate, along with their endorsement. That it failed to critique the release, or the music on it, is testament, I suppose, to the mag’s love affair. As Alex Pappademas writes in The New Republic “any iWonk worth his noise-cancelling Sennheisers knows that in the age of the 80-gig iPod, the metric that really matters is ‘play count’.”

We don’t have that for the oPod. What we have is a brief description of its contents, which we’ll get to shortly. But as Pappademas knows, we’re craving those other details—play count, the size of the iPod, are there podcasts, and, if so, which ones?

What we do have is Obama riffing on some of his favourites. On Dylan: “..one of my favourites during the political season is ‘Maggie’s Farm’.”

On Springsteen: “Not only do I love Bruce’s music, but I just love him as a person. He is a guy who has never lost track of his roots, who knows who he is, who has never put on a front.”

& generally: “I have pretty eclectic tastes. I grew up in the Seventies, so a lot of Seventies rhythm and blues and pop were staples for me: Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind and Fire, Elton John, Rolling Stones.”

Obama says that his iPod contains a lot of jazz—Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker. And that he’s also got Howlin’ Wolf, Yo-Yo Ma, Sheryl Crow and Jay-Z. Eclectic it is. It’s also inoffensive (he both defends and challenges the existence of hip-hop with first with insightful historical context, and second with his platitudinous fears of the genre’s misogyny and violence). As Pappademas writes of the list: “It’s exciting, modern, and a little vague, like Obama himself…”

The Sheryl Crow inclusion is either evidence of electoral cynicism, bad taste, or both. But we’re still left with a potential President who not only knows who Jay-Z is, but says he knows him. Ditto with Ludacris. Equally exciting is Obama nominating The Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” as his favourite song of theirs. And no, he doesn’t mention the Fab Four.

Much will be made—and rightly so—of the superficiality of these discussions, as if the zeitgeist has finally captured its largest subject, or its largest subject is happy to play. Point is: there is a lot of froth surrounding Obama. Not only in his political rhetoric, but in its enthusiastic consumption.

But let me say this: there is nothing superficial about excitement, and Americans are entitled to it after the last 8 years. It would be a shame if the press failed to hold his feet to the coals, in an attempt to sharpen the rhetoric—to play both to hope and to practicality. That is their job. But I refuse to believe that the two are mutually exclusive, and I believe that Obama believes the same.

The Lurid Yellow Mist - We Wuz Curious

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0800

After a week with this CD I still find myself at wits end trying to describe what the hell I’m listening to. We Wuz Curious seems to be a fusion of jazz, funk, blues, folk, pop and cheese. From the opening tracks seedy funk guitar riff to the DEMO button synth sounds in later songs this album is strange, or to put it more poignantly, leftfield.

While most tracks musically have something to offer, in a jazz lounge/elevator way, Dave Graney’s out-of-tune ‘jazz’ vocals come off as extremely off putting. Call me old fashioned but I like my vocalists to sing and sing in tune. The lyrics themselves seem to make little sense, but it feels as if this just adds to the enigma or supposed coolness of the band.

Noticeable highlights included pop driven Just Passin’ Through and the drum and fuzz guitar heavy, almost Beck sounding, Punk Dies. You just can’t help get the feeling that the cheesy riffs, Dave’s vocals and the forever changing tone and feel from song to song is a band trying so hard to non-conform and stay different, if only to be different.

The sticker on the album cover states, “…They have suffered from being ahead of the pack. ALWAYS.” These guys aren’t ahead of the pack, the pack’s casually doing their thing while The Lurid Yellow Mist are talking backwards and wearing shoes on their hands. If you’re already a fan you’ll know what to expect, but for others it might take a little more mind expansion and non-conformity ‘till your ready.

NAIDOC Week

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0800

Morning Magazine prides itself on its coverage of Indigenous matters and this morning commenced its coverage of NAIDOC Week.

The National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and communities and their contribution to modern Australia.

Morning Magazine will be covering the weeks events and activities and Meri Fatin spoke to NAIDOC Committee Chair Glenda Kickett.

A Life of Redemption

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0800

What happens when you lose sight of right and wrong? What happens when the injustices you’re fighting against, pale in comparison to the crimes you create? What happens when you realise how wrong you are?

David Everett was Australia’s most wanted man, a criminal mastermind and incredibly troubled soul. ‘Shadow Warrior’ is the story of David’s upbringing, his years of service in the SAS and how, after some very wrong choices, David came to be a hunted man.

Meri Fatin spoke to him about crime, loss and redemption on Morning Magazine.

The Bug - Warrior King

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0800

Kevin Martin is The Bug. This London based producer has just released an extroaordinary new album including collaborations with many artists amongst the flourishing UK dubstep scene.

Dave Cutbush caught up with Kevin on the new release program Out to Lunch and started out by asking him about his musical heritage.

Frightened Rabbits - The Midnight Organ Fight