My Bloody Valentine

My recent solo trip to Melbourne has given me plenty of things to write about, and rightfully so. It was the first time I went back to Australia since the end of my Brisbane stay back in 2009. But let's save that for another time. The main reason I went there and spent stupid amount of money that was going to fund my dream amp - Twin Reverb - was to see one of my favorite bands of all time : My fucking Bloody Valentine.

Not in order : 

1. Fugazi

2. Dinosaur. Jr

3. Sonic Youth

4. My Bloody Valentine

5. Unwound

This is a list of "Bands I Need to See Before I Die" that I mentally made back around 2007. Back then, the list seemed pretty impossible. I did get to see Dinosaur Jr in 2008/2009 and Joe Lally solo show (probably the closest thing I'll get to Fugazi, somehow missed The Evens a few years ago argh!). My chance of seeing Unwound has always been less than zero percent. Now that Sonic Youth is taking a hiatus, I doubt that i'll get to see them as well.

It is worth noting that back then My Bloody Valentine was still 'inactive', so when I heard about their tour to Australia, i pretty much lost it. I was originally going to see them at All Tomorrow Party, but that thing sold out in like five hours. Hope was not all lost because they did announce their side shows a few weeks later.

I had browsed through the internet to see their setlist for ATP and Japan tour, and the Melbourne show was pretty much the same with different song order. It's a good mix of Isn't Anything (would've been more awesome if they had played Sueisfine though), Loveless, and songs of their EPs. They played one track of the new record, New You. I actually expected them to play more since I am quite fond of the new album. 

Earplugs were handed out at the door and that was enough to make me all giggly inside when entering the venue. I was there pretty early in hope of getting some merch or records. I can't tell you how disappointed I was over the fact that they didn't have any records with them. Total bummer. I'd love to get a copy of 'm b v'.

My Bloody Valentine was glorious. Kevin Shield's guitar, as you would expect was about twice as louder as the other instruments. Even the frantic drumming was no match for it. I saw a double stack of Marshalls and a few Fender combos behind Mr. Shields, perhaps some Vox too, I'm not too sure. Although it was weird hearing all the pre-recorded synth lines, Kevin Shield's guitar tone was pretty magical to my ears. The big, processed swirling guitar was there, banging at my ear drums and it was lovely.

The vocals were really low in the mix, causing them to be a bit inaudible. I don't know if this was intentional or not. Belinda pretty much stayed on her spot the entire night and didn't say much bar a few words through her microphone. She looked amazing as always. By midway through MBV's set, it was pretty much impossible to move around because well, every inch of floor was filled with people. 

There was no encore and MBV closed their set with 'Your Made Me Realise', complete with the extended 10-minute noise part. I have to admit that it got pretty fucking loud at some points where I kinda had to cover my ears with my hands. At no point throughout the show did I put on the earplugs. Fuck earplugs. It's pretty amazing how my ears were not ringing after the show. Maybe it was not loud enough heh.

In conclusion, the show was definitely worth the trip. It was a sonic experience, quite like no others. It would've been nice if they had changed up the setlist a bit and surprised us (Sometimes, maybe?) but I guess it's hard when you're playing a dozen shows on tour. They were probably the second loudest band i've seen, just slightly behind Dinosaur Jr. 

Thanks to Andrew, Lee, Steph, Madrim and Bianca for making the trip possible.

A few videos that I took myself : 

Venue/Gig Review : FX Music

One of the biggest problems with independent music scene in Jakarta is the lack of venues. It’s even more problematic for hardcore/punk scene who doesn’t attract as many show-goers as say, the metal scene due its low-profile, DIY nature. Delight in Kemang was one of very few venues where hardcore shows consistently being held on. I personally think it was just an alright venue, but it’s better than having no shows at all. Unfortunately the owner decided not to extend their contract and thus, since mid-year of 2010 Delight is gone.

The last few punk/hardcore shows I’ve been to had been held at FX Music studio. FX Music is a hip music store who sells music instruments, band merch, as well as providing studios for practice or recording purposes. They also have a bar with a small stage directly across from it for bands to play. It gives them a really café-esque vibe. To make it even more bizarre, FX Music is located in FX Senayan, a mall in one of Jakarta’s busiest central-business-district area.

Despite all the unpunk qualities FX Music possess (hahaha), the reality is that they provide a really nice, well-equipped studio that’s big enough for a hardcore/punk show at a very reasonable rate. I too, would rather go to a warehouse show that smells like piss and beer with no lights on, but hey, at this point we’ll take what we can get! Plus, the venue is very accessible from every part of Jakarta (easy public transportation access, etc) which is a huge plus.

I went to the show with the intention of capturing live action of the bands, one song per band. However, I did miss Sense Of Pride set due to hanging outside the studio for a bit. I also didn’t get any recording of Moz Is The Reason, Degenerate and Hellowar despite staying throughout their sets. I was keen on getting some Hellowar footage, but they decided to play in the dark instead. No bueno.

I’m not doing a review of band-to-band performance. I’ll let the videos speak for themselves. I've also put myspace links for every band on the bill just in case you’re interested enough to check them out. I will mention that most of the bands playing are in the hardcore variety with the exception of Grave Dancers (thrash/crossover), Hellowar (metal/crust), Ninja Hattori (power violence/fast shit) and Moz Is The Reason (guess what they play :p). Grave Dancers got the best reception that night, and their set was the most fun.

Overall, the show went really well!

Clicky :

Final Attack myspace
Braveheart myspace
Grave Dancers myspace
Hellowar myspace
Raincoat myspace
Still Resist myspace
Sense Of Pride myspace
Moz Is The Reason myspace

I couldn't find myspace for Degenerate and Ninja Hatori. Maybe they don't have one?

On to the videos :

Final Attack


Grave Dancers


Ninja Hatori


Still Resist


Raincoat


Braveheart


Enjoy!

Show Review : Daniel Striped Tiger, Circuits, To The North, No Anchor (The Step Inn 7/5/2009)

Nothing gets me excited more than a show with a good line-up. Daniel Striped Tiger were playing 2 shows in Brisbane and i couldn't be more happier with the supporting bands since i considered them to be some of the best bands Brisbane has to offer at the moment (No Anchor and To The North on the 8th of May and Tear Gas and Quiet Steps on the 9th) . I got to the venue at about 9 o'clock, and to my surprise (and relief since the fliers says the door opens at 8) there were only a few people in there and no band has played yet.

Fifteen minutes after stepping my foot into the Step Inn, No Anchor was set to open the show. No Anchor is a 2 piece band - drums and bass/occasional shouts/vocals. I believe the drummer used to play in Look!Pond, another awesome band. To describe No Anchor sound would be quite a task. Just imagine a fuzzed out rock with Sabbath/Melvins riffs meets Boris stretched out into an affair of droning mess. Their set that night consisted of all songs from their new album Steam if I'm not mistaken, my memory is a bit fuzzy (pun intended). I managed to get my hand on a copy that night. The packaging is quite unique and cool, just like they did with their debut Fire Flood And Acid Mud. A lot of thoughts seemed to be put into the artwork to reflect the band's aesthetic and sound which is something i really admire.

No Anchor website
No Anchor myspace



To The North were up next. The venue was a bit more filled by the time they're about to play. For those who aren't familiar with the band, think of Kinsella's bands (especially Owls and Ghosts and Vodka) meets Hot Cross with some jazz tendencies and you're somewhat close. In my opinion, these guys mashed their influences pretty well and turned it into something refreshing and relatively new. With only an EP and a 7" split with Ohana in their back catalog under the span of 3 years, they have managed to sustained a small group but loyal following. Their set consisted of mostly new songs that they have been playing for a while now except for "We Are Not Ashamed "which can be found on Face First Compilation (www.myspace.com/facefirstcomps). Their new LP should be out in a few months.

To The North myspace
To The North blog



Up next is Circuits, from Melbourne who happened to be Daniel Striped Tiger national support for this tour. I had heard a few tracks on their myspace prior to the show and they didn't sound too bad. It turned out 3/4 of the band are also in Majorca with the chick who runs Yellow Ghost Records on vocals and ex-bassist of Quebec. Straight off the bat, they launched into song after song with very manic and enjoyable performance. The music itself has that thrashy screamo vibe to it with a lot of melodies and octaves. I could definitely hear parts that reminds me of His Hero Is Gone and more current bands like Ampere. Some parts are really cool, and some are just downright sloppy. It'd be interesting to see where they would go from here, after all they're still a young band.

Circuits myspace

Daniel Striped Tiger were the last band to play and it's no secret that i like their music a lot (see a few post below). They launched into their set with "Dawn Flared Into" off the Desert Bird EP and their set that night pretty much consisted of a few songs from each releases plus a new track, Was It? which will be on their upcoming split with Teenage Cool Kids from Texas. Singing along to "Untying Knot" is still the highlight of the night for me as it's probably my favorite Daniel Striped Tiger song. At the end of their set, the crowd asked them to play more songs. And they did!

Overall, it was a really good show although the turnout is somewhat disappointing. There were maybe about 40-50 people tops. It might have been because the show was on Thursday night. Whatever. They've missed out on a great show!

Daniel Striped Tiger myspace