So I had a pretty damn good weekend. Excellent mix of relaxation and activity. I had a great Sri Lankan dinner Friday night with one friend and his friend, and also found a great wine bar not too far away at the same time. Well, before dinner, but close enough. And then Saturday had a nice yoga class and ran some errands, and went to my first Sofar Sounds event in the evening (more on that later, but this is what we're here to talk about today).
Then on Sunday, I got up early and went to help a friend try to sell products she's making at the weekend market in Bondi. It was her first time at the markets, selling her own products for the first time, so it was nice to be there to support. And then I went to the French Film Festival in the afternoon, and watched what turned out to not be a French film, but an incredible film. It is apparently a French production, but not in French at all. It's all in English. It's called The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir, and it is the best movie I have seen in a very, very long time. It's basically a sort of modern fairy tale about an Indian guy who goes to find his father and ends up on this crazy journey. It is so well made, so well written, and made me so happy. I honestly can't recommend it enough. Go find it and watch it.
Ok, but now back to Sofar Sounds. I had heard of it before because I'd seen videos on YouTube. They basically do pop-up secret concerts. What I did not know previously is that they are all over the world and you can just apply to go, and if you get selected, you go. I was told by a friend when I moved to Australia that you can sign up for it, so I have been applying every month and finally got accepted. All I knew is that we were going to some random place they sent us, and we could bring our own booze, and we'd be seeing a concert. It turns out we sat on the grass in someone's backyard and had 3 sets from 3 local up-and-coming bands, each very different. It was a super friendly and wonderful atmosphere, and I would highly recommend to anyone to check it out in your city and try to go. Best $15 spent this month, probably.
So today I'm sharing songs from the 3 bands we saw. The first was Kadimakara, a sort of soul-y group made up of the singer/bass player from Indonesia, guitarist from Colombia and Malaysian drummer. Out of the 3 bands, they were definitely the one with the most room for improvement. Their songs had nice bones, and you could hear what they were trying to do, but it seemed like they just need to practice more and flesh the songs out a bit more to get to a really great level. But anyway I'll share their song Owl. It's only got 4 views on YouTube, so go listen and support them!
Then we've got Good Pash, a rock band made up of four women here in Sydney. Actually I think the drummer is American, but at least the two guitarists / vocalists are from Sydney. And no clue about the bass player. They make rock, with witty and ironic lyrics. Think Courtney Barnett. And they were probably the best of the night (although I'm putting this in chronological order, so they come second). They don't have a lot of songs available online, so I'm sharing A Yacht in Sydney Harbour, their newest single. This may have actually been my least favorite song of the night. And in fact, my favorite songs were the ones sung by the brunette singer (this one is sung by the blonde lady). No clue what their names are. But they do make some great songs, if you can find more. Or if you happen to have the chance to see them.
And lastly is singer-songwriter Tay Oskee. This guy is from the rural Northern Territories of Australia, and he writes pretty typical singer-songwriter songs, but they've got pretty great messages. He would talk about each song a lot, which I'm not sure how much I like, but I like what he had to say. Pretty much all about being a good person. Which I'm a fan of. Musically, like I said, he's a pretty typical singer-songwriter, with strong influences from The John Butler Trio (which he admitted to later in the set, when he closed with a cover of Ocean, one of their tracks). When I was just starting to get into music, I listened to a ton of singer-songwriters, so now I'm pretty hard to impress when it comes to a guy and his guitar. So I really found him to be nice, but nothing amazing. But he was the clear favorite of the night. Which I also get. I get that people love singer-songwriters. I think I've just listened to more than most people. Anyway, he's pretty good, and he's got the most music out there, and I'm sharing his song Like Waves.
Then on Sunday, I got up early and went to help a friend try to sell products she's making at the weekend market in Bondi. It was her first time at the markets, selling her own products for the first time, so it was nice to be there to support. And then I went to the French Film Festival in the afternoon, and watched what turned out to not be a French film, but an incredible film. It is apparently a French production, but not in French at all. It's all in English. It's called The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir, and it is the best movie I have seen in a very, very long time. It's basically a sort of modern fairy tale about an Indian guy who goes to find his father and ends up on this crazy journey. It is so well made, so well written, and made me so happy. I honestly can't recommend it enough. Go find it and watch it.
Ok, but now back to Sofar Sounds. I had heard of it before because I'd seen videos on YouTube. They basically do pop-up secret concerts. What I did not know previously is that they are all over the world and you can just apply to go, and if you get selected, you go. I was told by a friend when I moved to Australia that you can sign up for it, so I have been applying every month and finally got accepted. All I knew is that we were going to some random place they sent us, and we could bring our own booze, and we'd be seeing a concert. It turns out we sat on the grass in someone's backyard and had 3 sets from 3 local up-and-coming bands, each very different. It was a super friendly and wonderful atmosphere, and I would highly recommend to anyone to check it out in your city and try to go. Best $15 spent this month, probably.
So today I'm sharing songs from the 3 bands we saw. The first was Kadimakara, a sort of soul-y group made up of the singer/bass player from Indonesia, guitarist from Colombia and Malaysian drummer. Out of the 3 bands, they were definitely the one with the most room for improvement. Their songs had nice bones, and you could hear what they were trying to do, but it seemed like they just need to practice more and flesh the songs out a bit more to get to a really great level. But anyway I'll share their song Owl. It's only got 4 views on YouTube, so go listen and support them!
Then we've got Good Pash, a rock band made up of four women here in Sydney. Actually I think the drummer is American, but at least the two guitarists / vocalists are from Sydney. And no clue about the bass player. They make rock, with witty and ironic lyrics. Think Courtney Barnett. And they were probably the best of the night (although I'm putting this in chronological order, so they come second). They don't have a lot of songs available online, so I'm sharing A Yacht in Sydney Harbour, their newest single. This may have actually been my least favorite song of the night. And in fact, my favorite songs were the ones sung by the brunette singer (this one is sung by the blonde lady). No clue what their names are. But they do make some great songs, if you can find more. Or if you happen to have the chance to see them.
And lastly is singer-songwriter Tay Oskee. This guy is from the rural Northern Territories of Australia, and he writes pretty typical singer-songwriter songs, but they've got pretty great messages. He would talk about each song a lot, which I'm not sure how much I like, but I like what he had to say. Pretty much all about being a good person. Which I'm a fan of. Musically, like I said, he's a pretty typical singer-songwriter, with strong influences from The John Butler Trio (which he admitted to later in the set, when he closed with a cover of Ocean, one of their tracks). When I was just starting to get into music, I listened to a ton of singer-songwriters, so now I'm pretty hard to impress when it comes to a guy and his guitar. So I really found him to be nice, but nothing amazing. But he was the clear favorite of the night. Which I also get. I get that people love singer-songwriters. I think I've just listened to more than most people. Anyway, he's pretty good, and he's got the most music out there, and I'm sharing his song Like Waves.
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