isn't she lovely

I just returned from a 'Laura Marling listening party'.  Pretty rock n roll I must say! As you can imagine my fellow party goers were pretty wild and shit got out of hand. Her new album 'A Creature I Don't Know' is set to be released in the coming days and I jumped at the chance to hear the album before its release - a giveaway tweeted by Frankie Magazine. It was quite a buzz sitting in the happy little bar in Collingwood, red wine in hand. This album is much darker than her others however she is just getting better and better. She blows me away. Announce a tour please Laura!

i'm ready to go if you say so

I’m pretty sure my eardrums are going to pack up and burst any second now but it’s been a fun week of Splendour sideshows! Was introduced to some new stuff when I tagged along to see Wild Beasts at The Corner last Thursday night. They’ve gained a fan in me, with two mesmerising voices fronting the Beasts.

Friday night it was a Friendly Fires affair, heading into a packed Billboards to get my dance on. I saw these guys a few years ago and found it to be quite an interesting before and after comparison. The front guy Ed seemingly taking the rock and roll lifestyle in his stride. Back then they seemed eager to impress, now they held a whole new confidence to their set. Bit disappointed with them leaving a few of their good songs out from the first album, though if I’m honest their second album Pala doesn’t really impress me too much. Songs like Paris, Lovesick and Skeleton Boy making my night.  

I never would have bet on a Tuesday night gig going down as a highlight of my year. Kele may have been the perfect package. As a Bloc Party lover (with a blog title like mine do I really need to point that out?) he can do no wrong in my eyes. Kele has made a few trips down under over the years for festivals but rarely partakes in sideshows.  Night two in Billboards was in no way as hectic as FF. A little more spaced, and with revellers fairly aware it was a school night, Elise and I realised we could get pretty close. We ended up being against the barriers with a happy crowd around us and perfect view of The Man. Kele was pleased to be there, talked to the crowd and sang quite a few Bloc Party songs for the ‘Old Fans’.  Not too bad to look at either! He knows how to work the room and I’ll see him again and again and again.

we are one but we are many

This week’s delivery of goose bumps served straight up, no chaser.
It makes me proud to be Australian!

i was only for your very space

Who's heard Bon Iver's self titled new album? Get onto it people, amazing!!

i can’t do the talk, like the talk on the tv

I heard on the radio an old favourite the other day. Romeo and Juliet. But not the Dire Straights’ original; this was The Killers’ version. Brandon Flowers gets me every time.  He has me thinking that this version is better than the original. I know there will be some very protective Dire Straights fans out there, but this version is the one I flick to time and time again on my iPod. Obviously it is nothing without the original’s popularity etc, but sometimes it’s just better the second time around. Mark Ronson made a whole record hoping to achieve this. He got pretty close with Valerie! Most people wouldn’t know who sang the original to Florence and the Machine’s You Got The Love, she’s made it her own. How about Johnny Cash and Hurt? Below are my pick. What are yours?

can I get an encore, do you want more

I have the Glastonbury blues.

As far as music goes, I don’t think I have been a part of anything as special as this clip below. Stevie Wonder had just given Eavis a gift for all the good he brings to the world through creating and running Glastonbury. It was a gift he had only given to one other person- Barack Obama.  Then he belts this out for Glastonbury’s 40^th year. Spine tingling! 

 

I'll be wistfully watching this year unfold.

sun is shining, weather is sweet

Chiang Khan. What a gorgeous place!  I love it’s style-so far my experience with the heavy touristy Koh Samui, Bangkok and also Koh Phangan had left me with the impression that Thailand didn’t have a savvy style within. Well, excuse my ignorance! Cue Chiang Khan. A sleepy village that lies somewhere between hip and hippy. On the main stretch there are gift shops and guesthouses made of dense wood, but walk a little further and there lies a French inspired treasure with polished cement floors and minimal furniture. LOVE. Sitting out on the balcony little geckos run over the white walls.

A lot of the guesthouses on the main street (including mine) back onto the Mekong River. Laos is a doggy paddle away and it’s pretty tempting since every night we could hear music. Would someone tell that country next door to keep it down?!

This place is a holiday destination but it’s Thai tourists it attracts-mostly younger. The gift shops are mainly packed with postcards and t-shirts with bikes on them. Each shop trying to out cool it’s neighbour. Please take your shoes off before entering...

like a rolling stone

Being in 'a mood' when travelling solo can be dangerous- if you feel like taking a back seat for the day you miss out.  You can’t fall on your travelling buddy to do the organising or tell you to get a move on.

This was one thing I worried about when I went to Chiang Mai for a few days on my own, staying in a hotel instead of the usual choice of a hostel.  If I got in one of my indecisive moods I could spend way too much time tethered to my hotel room. This is coming from someone who can spend an hour wandering the supermarket on the way home from work due to being too indecisive to pick one thing to cook myself for dinner.  Hopeless.

Don’t get me wrong-I’m not someone who needs a schedule for the day and I like to wander, that’s when you come across the sparkly gems. But since I was only there 3 days I needed to have a bit of a clue as to what I was doing to make sure I was content.

It was almost looking grim too.  After a few small outings on foot I still wasn’t feeling motivated to look into what I could do, and the place was starting to have a dirty Bangkok feel to it with lots of dodgy looking massage parlours.  Luckily I threw out a floating device and saved me from myself. I went and talked to a girl at the hotel and found out where Thai “teenagers” (I think she meant 18-30year olds because the area was next to a University) hung out.  Also I booked a cooking class, and found out where she liked to go with her friends for dinner (ah...that makes me sound like a creep!). Now that wasn’t hard, was it?!

The day started with pointless wandering and warning bells, but finished strongly with looking around a great cafe strip and finding some beautiful jewellery.

In the evening after dinner I followed the sound of music to the other side of the river only to find the local fruit and flower market. The colours and exotic fruits were magic. Add in a night cap Long Island Iced Tea back at the hotel bar...life is good!

food glorious food

Order, eat, repeat. Here are some amazing dishes I tried in Chiang Mai. I honestly didn't stop eating!

going to the chapel and we're going to get married...

There are some travel experiences that money can’t buy and this weekend I’m going to be a part of one. A wedding! A wedding in Thailand! Before you envision a Phuket beach with sunburnt bridesmaids, this one is a little different. The real Thai deal. My Cousin and his wife-to-be are getting hitched in her home town Chiang Khan which is a little place in North East Thailand. Sitting on the border of Laos there may be no beaches in sight but there will be sun. Oh yes, get me out of this Melbourne freezer.

My cuz Andy has explained the format of the day, which starts when the Monks rise and walk through the village during their morning alms. As they walk through we will offer them food. The wedding and 'parade' is then at 9:09am (the specific time relating to good luck and prosperity) and the Groom’s side (that’s me!) carry plates of food and also plants as we jig, dance and sing down the village towards the Bride’s house. The groom then has to retrieve the bride from the house and pay his way in! The final instalment to the day is in the evening, where we eat beautiful Thai food and be merry with my old friend Thai whiskey. Oh what fun! Family, culture, food,  sun. I am one excited girl.

Sa wa dtii ka.....

every breath you take

Daddy's little girl - Daddy being Sting...

there's a bear in there....

I love gigs like Friday’s Boy and Bear at The Corner. $20 tickets, snap them up before they tour in another years time...tickets will be $50 by then. The guys will be wishing they charged a little more, selling out all three shows with their first show selling out in record time for The Corner-40minutes. The Corner has seen some legends in their time so well done to B&B. They owe Crowded House a drink since a big part of their success and ‘Triple J appeal’ is thanks to a little tune ‘Fall at your Feet’.

The gig was fun, everyone was in good spirits and although I’d like to give my own two bob about the show I’m afraid I've got my Friday vino lightweight reputation to uphold, so things are a little hazy.

A more worthy review:

http://lipmag.com/arts/live-music-review-boy-bear-the-corner-hotel-27-may-2011/

What I remember of the night:

Wrong gig? Oh. I'll do better next time.

she don't think straight