More Ross Noble @ MICF 

[ Pre and post-show drinks at Spleen ]

Caught another dose of Ross Noble at this years comedy festival last night since my sister and her boyfriend are down from Edinburgh and wanted to catch some decent comedy. Turned out Ticketmaster made an error in our tickets and printed LAST Wednesdays gig as opposed to last nights so our seats were double booked. We had to stand which kinda sucked but I’m used to standing around for hours waiting for tickets or watching bands. The only problem was that the Athenaeum theatre gets incredibly hot and when you’re standing at the back, all the heat sits there like a bad smell. Luckily the inclusion of alcohol is permitted into the theatre otherwise I would have come out looking like I’d just sat in the sauna for two hours.

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Thursday, March 31 2005
 
Comedy
 

Micah P. Hinson 

[ Micah P. Hinson ]

We haven’t heard much about this artist in Australia yet but for a 22-year old, he has much to tell. You can read more about him here. I just got my hands on his debut record ‘Micah P. Hinson and The Gospel of Progress’ after a friend read my last post and recommended it. It’s one of those records that seems like it came from someone twice his age. The first thing I noticed is that he didn’t sound 22. Listen to demos in the MP3/Video section for proof. But it’s not just his vocals.

But it’s not just his vocals. His songs are very personal as well and they’ll click with a lot of people. Another of those ‘wise beyond their years’ types. Musically, he’s not overly produced which really suites his down-to-earth smoky vocals. He collaborated with The Earlies but their electronic influence hasn’t overshadowed his guitar-based songs. They only step in to support it and thank fuck. The final track on the album and his debut single Day Texas Sank to the Bottom of the Sea is the standout and keeps on building and building. Lyrically it brought flashbacks of David Gray’s This Years Love in its hope for something better to come along.

Seriously though, through all my clich’ed praises, he’s one to look out for. If you manage to catch him live, count yourself lucky since he’s relatively unknown at the moment and chances are you’ll catch a cheap and brilliant gig (like at the recent South by Southwest festival).

Photo copyright Abi Smith

 
 
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Saturday, March 26 2005
 
Music General
 

Hooverdusts Top 6 Albums Right Now 

[ The Top 6 new albums you must have! ]

It’s all new music and damn fine listening to boot:

[ BRIGHT EYES - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning ]

1. Bright Eyes - I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
Yeah I know I’ve raved about Bright Eyes (aka Conor Oberst) on this site before but this particular album has been rotating so heavily lately that a constant recommendation will hopefully drive home the point - get it now! The very first track At the Bottom of Everything has Conor singing about a group of people about to crash their plane into the ocean and seeing some sort of depressing beauty in it. Things don’t really get much happier along the way. In fact, it’s all pretty gloomy stuff. Yet there is something raw and brutally honest about his lyrics while you can sense a degree of optimism here and there. For example in the drug-fuelled Lua he confesses “So I know you have a heavy heart. I can feel it when we kiss. So many men stronger than me have thrown their backs out trying to life it. But me I’m not a gamble. You can count on me to split”. Don’t look for this album to be a pick-me-up but like all great albums, it’s an experience you won’t forget any time soon.

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4
 
Sunday, March 20 2005
 
Music General
 
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