neighbours is getting all topical soonish when a terrorist bomb blows up the pub and buildings… (also gives producers a chance to renovate Erinsborough with a cactus garden and wine-bar)

check eminem’s new anti-bush song mosh here.

based around “he’s a dream” from the flashdance movie, deep dish’s latest single (named after the movie) is what the music industry might call a totally hook-laden pop song with lots of sex appeal.

but to me it just sounds like tired pop music - like the kind of thing that some sony studio hack knocks off as the response to an actually great song (like the brilliance of earlier deep dish songs, mohammed is jesus anyone?).

anousheh’s vocals sound like low-ebb shania twain and the beats are just boring. the remixes are alright, but the vocal’s just too crap and pollutes everything it touches.

who’s up for giving the flipside to my negative review?

another friday another radio show… here’s what lex and i played on the show last night.

proem - standard naming convention (80 bpm lacklustermx) - psychonavigation/couchblip
decoder ring - somersault - inertia
rhian benson feat slum village + dwele - say how i feel (bugz in the attic remix) - v2
international observer - two steps at a time sweet jesus - round trip mars
koolism - self portrait - invada
genuine electric latin love machine - smarty time - peeping tom
macromantics - hyperbolic logic - penny drop
bugz in the attic - booty la la - v2
eternia, fame, macromantics + mr clean - skillville school dance - inertia
the detroit experiment - think twice - ropeadope
boom bass + etienne de crecy - bit torrent - solid
mr projectile - love here (l’usine mix) - semisexual/couchblip
daniel meriweather - she’s got me (calculators mix) - cdr
eedl - too few arguments (no arguments at all lacklustermx) - psychonavigation/couchblip
mia - fire fire - xl
amp fiddler - i believe in you (bugz remix) - v2
twotone - pentax zoom - bug
i wolf feat damon aaron - lil things - klein
dj zeph feat raashan - floorwax - inertia
urthboy - come around (hermitude mix) - elefant traks
jill scott - rasool - a touch of jazz
lotek hifi - ram dancehall - big dada
savath and savalas - interludio humedo - warp

as always in …artist - track name (remix) - label… style.

distant sense of random menace is an album full of killer songs. i would say that, urthboy is my brother. but lots of other people have said much the same thing. various radio stations from 2ser and fbi through to triple j had it listed for high rotation, and amongst all the greatness of that album, no rider stands out as the kind of song to take things to another level.

like much of the best pop music it contrasts dark jaded lyrics with uplifting musical rhythms. the track features luke dubs and elgusto from hermitude on keys and drums, gus’s sis aja on bass, their dad john on guitar, two guys from latin group babalu on trumpet and trombone, and urthboy and toefu on vocals.

anyway, if this song isn’t in the hottest 100 in january next year there is something very wrong. the first step is getting it into the net 50 so that enough people can hear it!

the act is so different to other places i’ve spent time… and i think the key to it is the way that communities operate. from the family unit to churches, cultural groups, or in my case music or arts niches. anyway, i just found act communities who attempt to bridge these divides, by making some of the groups more accessible.

just a quick mention that the canberra film festival starts next week. movies from across the globe - turkey, germany, scotland, us, sweden, argentina, taiwan, chile, israel, czech, denmark, norway and spain. the lineup of films looks pretty good, like ae fond kiss, the romeo and juliet story of a glasgow pakistani dj and the white teacher he falls in love with.

it’s also worth checking out the electrofringe show at ccas. curated by gail priest (who was the electrofringe coordinator this year) it features work from some of the best video artists involved with the festival. i recommend checking out work from khaled sabsabi and scott morrison.

i also recommend checking out somaya langley and michael ascroft’s new work familiar circuits at the old bus depot markets on tuesday oct 26. their audiovisual work built around urban atmospheres is curiously engaging.

after joc from livid pulled out, i was asked at the last minute to speak to an audience of artists, writers, film makers, musicians and actors about staging events, festivals or projects.

it was at the gold coast cultural summit - staged by the gc council last weekend - and meant that still reeling from tina, starting a new job, the art school ball, as well as my regular thursday nighter at toast and 2 hours sleep after djing with the fantastic urthboy, ozi batla and hermitude, i was up on the gold coast, sitting on panels, presenting a couple of talks, and chairing a workshop.

i was a bit tired, but in retrospect it was a great event. good to see a council trying to support the arts community, encourage them to prepare better, and generally have a more interactive relationship. lots of good people.

though i must admit my favourite part of the day was climbing back into my friend gemma’s car for the trip back to brisbane, where i promptly fell into bed. i woke more than 12 hours later feeling better than i have in weeks. easy sunday morning, followed by a trip down to the fantastic rocking horse records, which is fantastic. unfortunately i couldn’t buy much, too much purchasing of late - especially in newcastle - but i did pick up a few cool lps…

common - one day it’ll all make sense
v/a - detroit soul
as one - best of
iron and wine lp

I posted ages ago on this page about lobbying to remove state government to make a slightly simpler hierarchy… local councils precincts and federal government.

however, christopher sheil’s excellent back pages has made an alternate suggestion. in light of the incredible contrast between state and federal voting - compare the swing to howard nationally to stanhope’s 6-7 % swing in the act legislative assembly on the weekend - perhaps all the states and territories could secede at once?

sounds so crazy it just could work! :)

public education, health and welfare run down across the board. australia fasttracks its move to a user pays system. the only outcome? an ever widening gap between the haves and have nots. our country is turning into a selfish, mean-spirited place that leaves me ashamed to be here.

the howard government plays tragedies like bali, s11, refugee arrivals and the cycle of koori poverty to its political advantage. along the way dismissing civil liberties and our obligations under international law.

they have lied, undermined and manhandled the laws and freedoms which are fundamental to our democracy. and each time they get in they go further with their slash & burn economic reform, damaging misleading and dishonest public coverups.

limited media ownership makes it difficult for people to be exposed to unbiased news coverage… can’t really blame them for going with the status quo in that case, but back in with an increased mandate and the senate control they’ve craved, the howard government will destroy the last checks on media ownership creating the sorts of media monopoly that will ultimately and completely undermine the token democracy we live in.

this is so depressing.

i can’t really explain how angry, confused and disillusioned this makes me feel, but my brother managed to put it into words in a post on his website here.