We at the optional e are really excited for the hectic lineup of the quintessential Aussie music festival Big Day Out in 2014!
We were all pretty stoked to see heavyweights Pearl Jam and Arcade Fire headlining next year's fest, but unfortunately Blur pulled out recently. However, Blur has been replaced by the talented Beady Eye, Deftones and The Hives (all of which the optional e are massive fans of).
Also, we recently launched our very own Facebook page (with the help of our newest writer Anthony!) and to celebrate, we're giving away to one lucky person two Sydney tickets to Big Day Out.
To be in the running to see Pearl Jam, Arcade Fire, The Hives, Flume (2013 ARIA award winner), Tame Impala (2013 ARIA award winner) and many more, all you need to do is head over to our brand-spanking new page, hit the 'like' button and 'like' the giveaway photo. Share it with your friends for extra fun - there are two tickets after all! :-)
This giveaway will be drawn short after the New Year.
In the meantime, get stoked for an Aussie summer full of music festivals!
On a side note, I think Kevin Parker of Tame Impala deserves some sort of medal for wearing this outfit to the ARIAs:
Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
I'm pretty sure Kevin's shoes were virtually non-existent. In fact, these guys look like they've just stepped out of some hippy caravan. You go, guys.
I've been smugly asking people how they've spent their weekend so far, so that when the question is put back on to me I can say that I went to a record fair.
At First Sight was a lovely fair, with heaps and heaps of vinyls (there were actually so many) and some really good local bands playing sets.
The actual Carriageworks site was pretty cool - Wilson Street in Eveleigh (which was off King Street) and it had this really gritty industrial feel to it.
The bands playing kind of varied in their appeal - I found some to be really spot on and polished while others weren't really to my taste. Best set of the day I feel went to Client Liaison, although Day Ravies and Twerps were fantastic as well.
This was actually the coolest gig around. There were heaps of bands playing:
but I personally prefer more vocal than electronic acts. Super Wild Horses was really quite good but I'm not exactly the biggest fan of Holy Balm.
I did find some amazing Beatles records (still in the shrinkwrap hey!) but I actually didn't buy anything. I was planning on grabbing this Debbie Harry single and a David Bowie/Mick Jagger single (Dancing In The Street) but honestly I was really there just for a browse. I'll get another turntable and then just
An entire box of Bowie records?!
There were actually heaps of people there although I was a little intimidated by the fact that I was probably the youngest person there. There were a few junior kids helping their parents sell the records, but to my surprise I saw no one of discernible high school age.
I was a bit let down because I won wristbands through Concrete Playground but I arrived a bit too late to claim them. Never mind.
Carriageworks is a pretty cool venue and now that I know the place I'll probably pop by with some friends or whoever and see the other events they hold there.
I'd love to hear the history of the place though so I might lobby Michael of Past Lives/Near Future to do an article. Keep your eyes peeled, people.
So as you know I'm back and I realised that there's only one Bubble and Squeak that I've done and it looks kind of odd if I have a #1 but no #2.
Here are some random things that will give you a glimpse into the strangely wired inner workings of this mind of mine. Careful, it's hot.
1. Papillionaire bikes.
LOOK AT THAT BEAUTY
This, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the most beautiful contraptions known to man.
If you saw my Maui post you would've realised that I took a random photo of a random bike because it looked randomly pretty. Serendipitous, I know.
These guys at Papillionaire make the most beautiful vintage bikes and I want one. I need about $500 though, so if any of you readers are charitable billionaires - actually, pa-billionaires (you laugh here) - please contact me as soon as possible. I do accept messages by homing pigeons and underpaid social networking interns.
2. Kaisercraft bookends.
ADORABUBBLE I KNOW
As an avid bookreader (not bookworm. I am not long and thin), I encountered a frustrating hiccup today when my wonderful books toppled over and wouldn't stand back up. It was so horrible. I was being rejected by my own children.
Anyway I found these adorable bookends from Kaisercraft and they make me so happy.
I'm annoyed because although they cost $18 at the least, the shipping is about twice that and the ones with free shipping are $40 anyway. My dad is whipping up some crazy concoction in the garage as we speak I type. Alone.
The bicycle ones are my favourite and because they're MDF you can paint them or wallpaper them or staple mini bunting on or leave them plain.
If you haven't worked it out yet I love vintage bikes.
3. Maple Bacon Sundae.
Yes, folks, these things do exist. (They're endemic to America).
Heart attack right there, folks.
I had it at a Denny's diner on my holiday and I will admit that it wasn't that bad. The bacon bits were really crispy and all but the maple syrup and ice cream tasted pretty good. Try it.
4. The Lord of the Rings.
I found that my uncle had this lovely old copy of all the Lord of the Rings books in one massive volume compilation thingy.
It's massive and heavy because it's hardcover and the font is ridiculously small but I love it so much.
And Gollum is freaking HILARIOUS. "Nice sensible hobbits." I want to name any child I ever have Gollum or Meriadoc or Legolas. Or maybe Batman. That sounds nice.
5. The Great Gatsby film.
Well this film is probably going to be my life.
Not only does it have amazing actors, it was filmed in Sydney (straya pride?) and the soundtrack is spectacular. Andre 3000 and Beyoncé covering Amy Winehouse. Jack White covering U2. Florence + the Machine. Gotye, The xx (OH MY GOLLY GOSH I LOVE THEM). Sia. (No Lana del Rey. I'm not a fan.)
The cast is amazing although I would think that Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) would look a bit younger and less mafia. I can't really complain though. This film will be phenomenal (I hope.) It will be a bit odd seeing the Roaring Twenties in 3D but I think I'm here for the set and the costumes. Yay.
6. Tom Odell.
This man is now my new music crush. Seriously. His voice is so emotional, his songs and performances have such truthfulness about them and he has a nice face. Or at least cool hair.
His music is ridiculously good. Take a listen.
And here below is his cover of Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble".
Brilliance at its brilliant best. And the way he says 'love' is just...ah.
6. Two Door Cinema Club - "Handshake" video.
This video is crazy and surreal but it is so intriguing and there's lovely close ups of all the band members' faces and seeing Alex Trimble poke out his tongue to help a scruffy looking man win the game of his dreams makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside like hugging an unshaven man that's just been popped on the barbecue. In a good way.
7. Sleeping With Sirens new album.
ANYONE ELSE PUMPED FOR THIS NEW RELEASE?! actually after hearing the lead single "Low" I'm still quite excited but I have to say that it isn't as good as some of their other releases. It's still spectacular but I was expecting a much more different sound to their last work. I guess the dramatic change with Bring Me The Horizon kinda swayed my expectations for the new Sleeping With Sirens album. Even so the song is still pretty awesome.
And that's the Bubble and Squeak for this time! Maybe I should do one at the beginning and/or end of each month, when I decide to change my desktop wallpaper. Although I set it to this lovely scheme that changes every half hour to accommodate my short attention span.
Being the idiot that I am, I forgot to do this post.
It seems that every time I do a song of the week, I struggle to wait a week to do the next song. And during that wait time, I completely forget to do a new post.
Although I have been overseas without a laptop. So I can't link songs until I go home and add YouTube vids to my posts.
So this week's song is going to be Funeral For A Trend by British India.
This is a rocking song. The vocalist's (I forget his name) singing has a nice tone in that half the time he's just speaking the rather awesome lyrics.
The guitars waft around with their understated heaviness. These guys are like lazy rockers.
I also picked this song because they have just released another album - Controller. It has a pretty wicked album cover. I'm really excited to listen through it - Funeral For A Trend is from Thieves (2008). The lead single from the album, I Can Make You Love Me, has a pretty cool video involving minotaurs. Epic.
They are from Sydney (woo!) and I was really excited because we know someone who is pretty cool with their manager. He goes to quite a few of their gigs and everything. I think that's pretty cool, but you guys in the back are probably rolling you eyes and muttering 'good for you'. Yes, good for me.
So there's the song. I wouldn't say it's punk, although the vocals aren't always sung. It's a sort of mature-cathartic-uplifting-nonchalant-discombobulated garage rock. Oh, and they're Australian.
Update: The vocalist's name is Declan Malia and he plays guitar.
I love airports. For some reason they just appeal to me so much.
Well I flew out today and I remembered that although I love airports, I hate plane trips with a vengeance. Well, the trip isn't too bad. The views are amazing, even though we went at night and you couldn't even see Gollum clawing at your window. It was so dark.
Nah but after take off we saw the lights of Sydney below us and it was so pretty. And you could see the heavy traffic on Parramatta Road. Of course.
But oh dear I hate plane food and the pressure and the claustrophobia and the bathrooms and the cloying thought that you're going to plummet 10000 m to the ground. I used to think it was like a train ride. Yeah, like trains can just fall from the sky, burst into flames and become a Titanic of the skies. You get the idea.
I like heights. The view is always cool. But I also like heights because I know that I'll be safe on the ground soon after the adrenaline rush. I get no adrenaline rush on planes. This is not a comfortable situation.
The food is horrific. Hate to say it, hate to think about it. It's bland and heavy and gluggy and I know there's nothing I can really do about it except fly business class. But still. It's pretty gross. I swear they could put anything in there except rats' tails and human foetuses. And we ended up paying like $120 for the family.
Planes would be cool if you flew during the morning and saw the sunrise, then landed just after sunset. The sunset was beeeeeautiful and I'm just waiting to see this sunrise in the land of sunshine. Pfft.. That's a new one.
I'm still on the plane, but obviously I can't post it because it would be a safely hazard violation and then the CIA will come and take me to Area 51 and lock me in a scary basement. Because the Americans have basements.
Oh, and also because international roaming data costs crazy amounts of money. You'd need a home loan to finance a blogger's Internet abroad.
Well considering I'm on my phone, surrounded by sleeping people, sitting on a tin can, listening to my awesome music and reading The Lord of the Rings, this isn't a bad plane trip. As long as the meal agrees with my stomach.
