onthebeatntrack

More double letter love this week people – though, not so much love as loss. Oh, don’t worry I’m still watching Gossip Girl (as an aside, B is the ultimate modern day heroine – and yes KD from A-Town, we would totally be besties if we all lived on the upper east side of Manhattan … I have thought about moving there more than once). And yes, I’m even still listening to the XX and wondering if they’ll ever lose their subtle shine. So where is the double letter strife? Last week I got 44 scrabble points from just 4 letters, what’s changed? Well, it’s like I’m left with two tiles that read FF and have nowhere to place them on the board despite really really wanting to! Hmmm …

There is still a whole lot of double letter abbreviation love at the moment but nothing can seem to console that which has been taken away from me like sweet and sour pork at a country Chinese restaurant. It was the perfect budding romance – the semi random meeting via the compilation, the $14.99 price tag on their album at JB Hi Fi, the whole album being ROCK-dang-SOLID, them becoming my new favourite band and THEN the anticipation of the day that we were to finally meet from afar and I, like Geoffrey Edelsten at his actual wedding, was to declare my love in person in front of a few thousand complete strangers. But this day shall not come – at least not for now.

Let’s set the scene. The cloudy Melbourne sky was fierce this day my friends – and with good reason. “Friendly Fires have cancelled Good Vibes!! DEVO!” was the short but very potent post on my Facebook wall at the very start of my day – ouch. Like a Charlie Chaplin movie I had no words. Ok, you know me by now, that’s so not true – I verbalised every feeling of disbelief and disappointment that I could muster to anyone that would – or wouldn’t – listen. Sunset Strip (as we call our corner of the building because we are the lucky incumbents of west-facing window seats and frequent spectators of spectacular sunsets and “THE (Port Phillip) BAY”) was not so sunny that day as my colleagues weathered the emotional storm brewing whilst I searched for answers. Why? Was it true? Would I live? Will there be any other Forrester men that Brooke can get her remarkably youthful looking mitts on so she can make a clean family tree sweep? Over time I was able to answer only the first three of those questions. In order: Family illness. Yes, it was true. So far, I have survived. But, time will only tell how many more Forrester men Brooke has left in her … pun not intended, but deserves to be acknowledged nonetheless.

I have been waiting for this moment – Friendly Fires at Good Vibrations – for what feels an excited eternity. Like a virus, their infectious vibe has found a host in many of my friends too – sure, I’ve given them a piggy back ride to their destination but not even I can mess with science … viruses can be contagious, that’s just what they do. But there’ll be no Photobooth, White Diamonds, Paris, In the Hospital and, yes, not even any “Skeleton Booooooyyy” – however, I will “close my eyes on the dancefloor” more than once in their honour. They are doing a substitute ‘DJ set’ whatever that means.  I have been known for junkie behavior in the past, so it’s possible (um, likely) that I’ll sneak off in the hope of sniffing a whiff of any of the aforementioned tracks. Or anything at all … scraps is fine (please look away, no one needs to see this).

But on the eve of the eve of Good Vibrations (that’s the Friday before the Sunday) it’s time to turn my attention to those that WILL be there. And this is not just some ‘rebound’ lineup – more than a few of my other favourites and genuine contenders will be there. The Gossip and Kid Cudi both kept my ears company for many hours in 2009 (sorry Art vs Science … but I think the Kid is going to win in the battle of the 3pm festival clash, even if I will be flying solo), Busta “Bus-a-bus-damn-sumthin” Rhymes should gimme gimme gimme some of that Hip Hop (baby baby, thanks NASA), Armand van Helden should give us some straight up dance boogie love in the finale and I’m more than a little keen to see the hard work that I put in way back in year 7 learning all the words to Shoop and Whatta Man (please keep your little jokes to yourself, thank you) paying dividends when Salt’n’Pepa add their flava to the day. So it’s time to get my excitement orrrrrrnnn! I should also pay a respectful note to Basement Jaxx who gave me one of my first and finest festival moments Meh-heh-ANY years ago, playing a MASSIVE 3 Missy Elliott tracks in their set during a period where Missdemeanour was just about all I lived for – second fiddle only to a packet of Stuyvo Filters.

So this will be Part One of my Good Vibrations update. Let’s hope Part Two is called Part Two: Part Won! I suspect it will …

What? That’s it? No ‘semi relevant diversions’? No ‘looking back’? C’mon D-Rock, you’re KILLING US! … Oh, you guys, You KILL ME! You’re ALL crazy. You should just yell “Encore, Encore!” and be done with it – either way, I’m totally feeling it. Let’s see what I’ve got for you …

CD’s I’ve bought this week … Groove Armada’s Black Light. I have already repeatedly gorged on the ‘Paper Romance/ I Won’t Kneel’ meal deal combo in a serious but, at this stage, harmless way. I’m bursting with hope that someone (I’m looking at you Armand Van Helden) plays one OR (holy shit, imagine) BOTH at Good Vibes tomorrow (I’m now writing on Saturday – these things take some time). Fingers crossed.

As a result of my impending world exploration, I’ve set a limit of one CD a month (there’s a whole dossier of fine print that I won’t even bore you with here) BUT on the recommendation of one of onthebeatntrack’s favourite subscribers (shout out to TIGA) I have already exceeded my monthly limit in week one (we’re taking baby steps). I got myself a copy of Washington’s How to Tame Lions EP (that’s Extended Player – not quite a Long Player which is an album, but usually more tracks than a single) today at JB Hi Fi at a sly $6.99 for 5 tracks – bargain! I only knew (and loved) the title track but have given the disc a few spins and liking it A LOT. If you’re not familiar click here to hear How to Tame Lions – the vocalist is a Melbourne chick, Megan Washington.

Speaking of TIGAs … I spent some time with Sexor today as I journeyed to and from the city. Pleasure from the Bass still absolutely rocks my dancefloor world and, as I start to countdown to my overseas adventure, (Far From) Home could be become a little mantra of sorts.

See you rock stars next week for some more good vibrations …