Aug 15 - Angel Olsen / Big Thief

It's the last day at the office for me, and I'm headed to New Zealand for the food festival tonight! I can't wait. This day seriously can't end soon enough.

So I'll kill a bit of time with this blog. And I'll tell you about bonsai. There's not much to tell, but I went to a bonsai lecture the other day. I've been to a few lectures at the Japan Foundation since moving here. Generally they get someone over from Japan to talk about their career or hobby or whatever. I previously went to a lecture from a photographer, then a female sumo wrestler, and the other night I went to a lecture from a bonsai master.

The guy explained about bonsai to us, and the concepts behind it and how to think about it. Which was very interesting, because it's not just tiny trees. It's really the idea of taking these trees from nature, or growing them, and recreating a minimalistic, somewhat abstract environment in a pot, that mimics reality. You're supposed to think about how trees would actually grow and change in nature, and try to prune or shape the tree to mirror that. But then the interesting thing to me was also how some of the trees they end up shaping look so unnatural in a way, but everything they've done has taken nature into consideration. After the lecture the guy actually shaped a tree for about 45 minutes, which was fascinating. I'm a bit obsessed I think. Luckily there is a bonsai society in Sydney, so I may try to go to a few events of theirs. They have an annual exhibition coming up, but sadly it's during my next trip to Europe. I'd love to try my hand at bonsai, even, but I think I'm gone too much to actually care for a bonsai tree. Maybe one day.

Now for today's music. I shared The New Pornographers' new single the other day, and much like they are a band I'm not crazy about who have a great new single, so does Big Thief. They actually put out an album earlier this year, called U.F.O.F., which was nice, as most of their music is. But they are actually going to put out a second album in 2019 (much like Foals), and that one is called Two Hands, due out in October. The first single, Not, came with the album announcement earlier this week, and I actually think it may be their best song to date. I really, really like it. So that's where we're starting today.





Then we have the new single from Angel Olsen, All Mirrors. This was also the first single off her upcoming album, also called All Mirrors, released with the album announcement. And the album is also due out in October. It's also a great song, but I do actually like her more than I like Big Thief or The New Pornographers. I don't think she's amazing or anything, but she's good and she's got some great songs which have appeared on my blog previously. And this is a strong start for the next album. Looking forward to all 3 now!

Aug 13 - Marika Hackman

So Nikki got stuck here over the weekend. She was supposed to leave on Friday night, but a huge typhoon came through Shanghai and the airport closed. So she got stuck here for 2 more days. It was a bit hectic getting everything sorted out, but in the end she had to reschedule all her flights and she went directly from Sydney, which was a plus. But it was also more expensive. But she got two more days here, and didn't get stuck in the airport in Kuala Lumpur for 48 hours, which is what would have probably happened. So we got to spend the weekend together before she left, and she made it out safe and sound on Sunday. It was a pretty chill weekend, I guess. Just went to a few markets, ate a bunch more, and had a barbecue.

Oh! Which reminds me! I won a meat raffle! That is anything but ordinary. So a meat raffle is exactly what it sounds like. And many pubs do them. Me being me, once I learned about it I obviously wanted to take part in one. And then by chance I found out that the pub next to my house does them on Friday nights. By chance I mean I was in the pub with Nikki a week ago and they asked if we wanted to buy tickets. So we did. And we lost. But then we were back there for a pre-airport drink last Friday and this time we won! So we then grilled it up on Sunday and it was extremely tasty. And Nikki also got to partake because of the delays. Win-win.

Ok now on to music. Today is Marika Hackman, who has just released her new album Any Human Friend. She's been on my radar for a couple of years, since her last album, pretty much. I don't remember what exactly I had heard by her, but I just remember a while after the last album came out something came onto a playlist and I liked it a lot and did a bit of follow up, but not a lot. Well now that the new one is out, I've followed up. And it's a good one. In fact, she kind of reminds me of St. Vincent. So up first is the one, my favorite track off the album.

And then we'll throw in one more good one, which will be any human friend, the title/closing track on the album. Less St. Vincent-y than the one, but still great.

Aug 9 - KOKOKO!

So happy it's Friday. But not so happy that it's Nikki's last day here. I have to take her to the airport tonight, but her flight isn't until 10pm so we'll be able to have dinner. Plus I'm leaving the office at noon since I have a meeting in the city at 1 and won't come back. So I get most of the day with her, which is nice. And then I'm going home to sit alone and not talk to anyone for the first time in like 3 weeks. That will also be very nice.

For today's music we're heading to Africa. Specifically the Democratic Republic of Congo to listen to KOKOKO!, a new music collective who have just released their first album, Fongola. I have no idea what they are singing about, but I love it. It is super fun. So we'll start off with Likolo, the opening track on the album, which is one of my favorites.





So the band started making music together at block parties, fusing traditional music with electronic elements, thanks to producer Makara Bianko, and then threw in a bunch of dancers. Who are on full display in the videos. And in Azo Toke, I love the masks and costumes. This was actually the first song I heard by them and it instantly caught my attention.





But Azo Toke is still not one of my favorites. My other favorite is probably Tongos'a. So you'll get a third song today.

Aug 6 - Joyero / The New Pornographers

Things are still quite stressful at work. And quite boring. Fun combination. I have very little to do a lot of the time, and there are things outstanding, that I'm basically just waiting around for, which are stressing me out. Who doesn't love that? But I'm trying not to focus on that. Let's focus instead on Nikki's visit.

So my friend Nikki is here visiting from Shanghai. She's a teacher, so she gets like 6 weeks summer break, 4 of which she spent at home in the UK, and 2 of which she's spending here. She's been doing her own thing during the day, since I have to work and all, but in the evenings we basically just go eat stuff. There really isn't so much to do at night here. And we're not that into just going out drinking and trying bars. We have done a couple of fun activities, like a concert and some other random events I've found out about, but it's also just been a few nights of going out for dinner for a couple hours, then a walk (or maybe walk first) and then back home to watch a bit of TV before bed. It's kind of like my normal schedule, but not alone. So I like it!

We've only got a few nights left actually, and we do have plans these nights. Tonight we're going to Bennelong, which is the fancy place at the Opera House. And tomorrow we're supposed to go to pub trivia, but we might go to a listening party for the new Bon Iver album instead. They're holding them in cities around the world, and there's one here in Sydney. My friend who was going to come to pub quiz is totally on board for Bon Iver, just gotta see if Nikki is. But I would much rather do that and hear the album 3 weeks early! Plus I've never been to a listening party, so should be fun.

Then we also had the weekend, where we just drank all night Friday and Saturday, bought stuff all day Saturday (I have a problem. For real, though), watched some roller derby Saturday night (Harry Potter themed no less), and then took a little day trip down to Kiama on Sunday, about 2 hours south. It was pretty chill, actually, but we did so much it felt super long. Plus all that drinking didn't help. We got like 6 hours of sleep a night. Oh! And we did the backstage tour at the Opera House on Saturday morning. That was great. I've been wanting to do it for a while and been waiting for someone to visit. Only problem is it's only at 7am so you can get in before they start setting up for shows. Which means I can only do it on the weekend. When I don't want to wake up to start a tour at 7am. But we did it. And after staying up until 1am, no less. Which was also not the plan, but you know how one beer turns into like twelve and then it's very late? Well that happened.

Ok, let me give you some music now. We'll start of with Joyero. This is the new solo project from Andy Stack, the drummer for Wye Oak. I didn't even know he sang. But apparently he does. And while Jenn Wasner is off making her own music as Flock of Dimes and then officially joining Bon Iver last week, I guess he felt like he should also go do something. Not that he hasn't been doing anything, but something for himself this time. His debut album, Release the Dogs, is coming out later this month, and he's put out 3 singles so far. All of them are quite good, but the newest one, Steepest Stairs, is my favorite so far.





Second song for today is Falling Down The Stairs of Your Smile, the lead single from The New Pornographers upcoming album, In The Morse Code of Brake Lights. I have to say, I am not a fan of The New Pornographers. I should be. They make exactly the type of music I love. Think Broken Social Scene and Arcade Fire. Along those lines. But for some reason, I just don't really like them. But this new song, this one is great. So maybe I'll finally get it? It is a great song title, and I do like this one, so we're at least headed in the right direction.

Aug 2 - HAIM / Junaco / Twen

We'll go with some female music today. Meaning music made by females. Or at least sung by females, I guess. The first one is all female, but then we're onto male/female duos.

Anyway, exciting new release of the week is Summer Girl, the new single from HAIM! This is the first song since 2017, when they released Something to Tell You. They had been teasing it for the last couple weeks, with a couple of live clips of the song as well, which, to be honest, did not excite me very much. I actually thought the song did not sound very good from the live clips they were releasing. But actually, I like it! It's a solid single. No word on any album or anything yet, but it's a good start for something to be released in 2020, I'd say.

And now on to a couple of new boy/girl duos, but fronted by women, so I'm counting it as female music, and making that the unifying theme of the day. First is Junaco, a pretty relaxed, rocky little band from Northern California. They just put out their debut EP, Awry, 2 weeks ago, and it's a pretty chilled out little number. The opening track, In Between, is what brought them to my attention last month, so I'll leave that one here.

And lastly we move to the east coast for Twen, a new band out of Boston. They do have a live EP from a while ago, that apparently got them some buzz and kept them touring for a while, and now they're starting to release studio recorded songs, I guess in the run-up to some official EP or album. They make pretty great rock, the dreamy song that blooms. Case in point: Baptism, which is my favorite track by them, but I'm loving everything so far.