onthebeatntrack

“Where are my comments? I thought you said that they were ‘the gift that keeps on giving’ … hmmm?” And so it went with Skeleton Girl last week – as if it’s not bad enough that a post plastic surgery Catherine Zeta-Jones is apparently her ‘doppeldanger’, I am now depriving her of gifts of the textual kind. Well, when someone tells me where my ‘The Boy Is Mine’ cd single by Brandy & Monica is, I might be prepared to answer your little needy questions! Seriously though, the cd was last seen and heard en route to Terang one weekend back in 1998, and I remember the song so fondly – “you need to give it up” the feuding late 90’s rrr’nnn’bbb starlets would be telling me now … that is IF I had the frickin song to listen to! But nonetheless the irony is I no longer have the song to take their sassy advice. Why me?!

Skeleton Girl is right – I’ve had other things on my mind lately and haven’t been as attentive to my (dis/semi/at times) loyal readers.  My mind is like a 44 point not-allowed and not-even-existent word in Scrabble (with a double word score) which would read XXGG. You know by now that the XX are a band and have all but started sharing my underwear (we’ll call that 6^th base … I’m pretty sure that’s the only place we haven’t gone yet) but WHAT is this mysterious GG that contributes a base of 6 points to the game (that’s without the double word score)? Is it the Governer General? The Golden Goose? Keep guessing … Ooh ooh, Ginnifer Goodwin? (No, but I do have big love for Big Love). The Great Gatsby? Pah-lease – do you even know who I am? It’s Gossip Girl – and I’m in wa-hay-haay over my head with this one – kind of like when Little J (that’s Jenny, Dan Humphrey’s younger sister) starts messing with the big girls.

Those that have seen it will know what I’m talking about (see how I put a respectful ‘a’ at the beginning of ‘bout’ … Marcia has finally left the building darlin’ boy/gerrlfriends – hold your applause until after the Outro, please). They’re mostly totally obnoxious and yet somehow loveable. In non-Gossip Girl world I find obnoxious about as appealing as lurking seagulls (that doesn’t sound all that unappealing to most, but to me they are the devil – THE DEVVILLL!). Sure they’re spoilt “upper east-siders” in Manhattan, born to the social elite with trust funds and a diamond crusted Tiffany’s silver spoon planted firmly up each of their arses, but sometimes all we want from a show is to entertain us without any need for thought. Plus, the writing is dripping with the sort of wit we all wish we secretly had and the actors are dripping with the sex appeal we not-so-secretly wish we were HAVING. Hell, even HAD would be quite ok.

I know that this is a music blog, but it wouldn’t be the first time I have deviated from my chosen topic. To reign it back in I can give you a snippet of what we are dealing with here – they called the soundtrack OMFGG (Original Music Featured on Gossip Girl) – seriously, try to find a better home for that than my blog right here. It looks hot – I’m totally keeping it.

But in more serious credibility building news, I was oh-so-fortunate enough to see the XX last week – and not once, but TWICE! Yes, if moderation is an art form I am like a 4 year old finger painting – that is doing what is actually a really shit job but loving every single second of it!

The first came at the Laneway Festival on what we can call a ‘very warm’ day … ok, a very feckin HOT day! I can hear your concern about my difficult-to-tan complexion, but don’t worry we tried to stay well hydrated by double parking cans in our warm digits all day. My teeth even tore their way through a Magnum sandwich – yum! Ron Burgundy himself would be proud of the class on display that day. As we waited for the XX to come on stage around 5pm there wasn’t a patch of attainable shade in sight that had a good view of the stage. Now, I have been known to sweat ‘a little more than a little’ under some ‘a little less than a little extreme’ conditions but this was major even by my standards. Why am I telling you this? Not entirely sure … wait, I’ll find a reason … oh, well it shows my commitment to the cause - that is being not quite front or centre, but still in direct eye line with the stage because I had a feeling that this was going to be something special – And. Special. It. Was. They lived up to all of my expectations, and even then some. Their live sound was more upbeat and danceable than it sounds on the cd – Crystalised in particular was a highlight and sounded like it was an up-tempo remix of itself and we was dannncin’! I’ve now taken something new away from seeing them live – before they were mostly a night-time/ down-time/ downright-beautiful-time kind of companion but since Laneway I’ve listened to them more than a couple of times as I journey on foot to work each day and they’ve given me more than a little spring in my step (segue time: I’ve made a list of some of my favourite musical exercise aides in the Outro for those that like to get their heart rate up to some pumpin toones! Think of me as your one stop musical and lifestyle consultant – charitably, the only thing I’ll ever ask you to pay is attention).

And I witnessed the second coming of the XX few days later at the Corner Hotel. I was overcome with envy at friends who had tickets (it was Sold Out) and I just wasn’t ready to say goodbye – plus, it was a 30+ degree day and the Corner rooftop is as good a place as any for a beverage – so I ventured down in a bid to hustle me some paper that said Admit 1. Desperate? Yes. Excessive? Usually. Rewarded for my commitment to the cause? You bet your sweet ass we were! I took a random chance on a security guard to see if he’d seen any shady characters divesting of tickets to the gig – he hadn’t. Oh, but what he HAD seen and DID know is that they were about to release 20 tickets ON THE DOOR, so we’d better get in line. So my fellow music loving Mocha friend and I quickly hauled ass into line and waited but a brief few minutes and both managed to nab tickets – I believe hers was the very last one. Ohhhhh yeeeaeaaaah! By the time we did get in it was after 10pm and I’d been drinking since 6pm (yawny), but it was again worth the wait and effort. If I’m being honest it wasn’t as spectacular or special as their Laneway performance but when you’re in love those things don’t really matter – I had their companionship for a further 50-ish minutes and that soothed my heart just enough. Don’t get me wrong, it was still amazing – hearing Heart Skipped a Beat in such an intimate setting has given me an even greater appreciation of that little gem – it was outstanding. Laneway just absolutely left a major mark on my musical memory that will be tough to beat.

The XX now have slotted themselves into not only the Top 3 spots on my iTunes 25 Most Played list, but they occupy a total of 7 of those 25 positions – if you saw the eclectic mish mash that is my 25 Most Played, that is no mean feat – I will share that list with you the next time I am lacking original inspiration for a topic.

AND last but SO NOT least from Laneway … was Florence and the Machine. WOW! Her voice booms through your ears and ends up somewhere in your spine – it’s that good.

At Laneway she had me at My Boy Builds Coffins – the show’s opener and an absolute love of mine – and kept having me right through with Hurricane Drunk, Drumming Song, Between Two Lungs, Dog Days Are Over and then the closer Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) – an epic song like I’ve never heard before and another that puts more than a spring in my step on many a morning. Cosmic Love might just be my new favourite though and was more than just a highlight from that day. Her entire performance was one of the best that I’ve seen at a festival – ever. Florence was – and is – a sensation!

If you haven’t got the album Lungs yet I’d strongly encourage you to do so – I truly think there is something for everyone here. It’s epic and melodic, theatrical and diverse and hearing the lyrics is like panning for gold – all that plus a healthy dose of eccentric to make sure things are never dull.

It was, and is, such a different vibe to the XX and yet both were, and are, totally magic in their own way.

The Outro ….

A little sumthin’ sumthin’ to get yo’ movin’ movin’ ….. 

Sure, I’m a sucker for the soft and tender stuff that gets me right ‘here’, BUT isn’t it awesome when you hear a song that really gets you right ‘there’ and makes you want to start punching the air like your Rocky Balboa running in front of a semi truck? Ohhh yeah, you all know that feeling, I can tell. I do quite a bit of walking each day to and from work and spend most of that time in the company of my iPod. Some (probably most) mornings are a little tougher than others to get going – to be honest, if I had my way there would only be afternoon and night and we would all live under rainbows – and it’s on these sluggish mornings that I pull out the BIG GUNS to set my feet on their pace winning way. I should warn you about now that if I was a character on Seinfeld my episode would probably be called ‘the Fast Walker’ – and that’s even without the following BIG GUNS backing me up.

I’ve just put all of these onto a playlist too, so if you want me to get you a copy of this just say the word – I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s walk already.

• Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control) – Groove Armada with Mutya Buena (the best Sugababe ever)
• Gifted – NASA with Kanye West, Santogold & Lykke Li
• Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) – Florence and the Machine
• Forever – Chris Brown
• Talk to Me – Peaches
• Telephone – Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce
• Me Plus One – Annie
• Sweet Dreams (my LA Ex) – Rachel Stevens
• Turntables – Ciara with Chris Brown
• The Girl & the Robot – Royksopp with Robyn
• Stronger – Kanye West
• Please Don’t Stop the Music – Rihanna
• Kicking & Screaming – Presets (and the first half of Apocolypso!)
• Gimme More – Britney Spears
• When You’re Gone – Bryan Adams & Mel C (I know it’s a bit random but makes me feel so good)
• Yeah – Usher, Lil John and Ludacris
• Avalon – Juliet
• Get Together – Madonna (and just about the of Confessions on a Dancefloor)
• Closer – NeYo
• Banquet – Bloc Party (and the first half of Silent Alarm!)
• Light Your Ass On Fire – Busta Rhymes featuring Pharrell Williams
• You Know Me Better – Roisin Murphy
• Pass That Dutch – Missy Elliott