Top 25 - 28 September, 2014

SAFIA + Azealia Banks!

1. SAFIA - You Are The One





2. Kilter ft. Tkay Maidza - They Say





3. Dear Plastic - Epic Delay





4. APES - Pull The Trigger





5. Scholar - Skin (NEW)





6. Jessie Ware - Say You Love Me





7. The Belligerents - I Don't Want To Be In Your Arms (NEW)





8. Pretty City - Flying (NEW)





9. Megan Washington - My Heart Is A Wheel





10. Winters End - Walls





11. Little May - Dust





12. Tkay Maidza - Finish Them





13. Tkay Maidza - U-Huh





14. Azealia Banks - Chasing Time (NEW)





15. Zola Jesus - Go (Blank Page)





16. Robert Muinos - I Was Dreaming (NEW)





17. George Kalpa - Leave That Street Alone (NEW)





18. Jack Ladder and The Dreamlanders ft. Sharon Van Etten - Come On Back This Way





19. Stella Angelico - Prey





20. All Our Exes Live In Texas - Tell Me (NEW)





21. Bertie Blackman - War Of One





22. Stevie Nicks - 24 Karat Gold (NEW)





23. Alison Wonderland - Cold (NEW)





24. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - My Club





25. Flight Facilities ft. Emma Louise - Two Bodies

Video Review - I Don't Want To Be In Your Arms

I Don't Want To Be In Your Arms

by The Belligerents

Who do you want to be when you get older? I’m not talking in a week or two, or even a few years from now, I’m talking 30, 40 or 50 years from now. It’s something some of my friends and I have spoken about often, how is age going to work for us? Especially those of my friends who are into their music a little heavier, a little faster, an intense number of beats per minute? Will gigs be the same in 30 years as they have been all our lives? Will we still have the energy and interest to jump and dance and smash into each other in mosh pits as we always have? I don’t know, but I hope if I can’t quite move the same, my sense of humour might remain…which brings us to the latest clip from Brisbane’s own The Belligerents.


A fun beat, a fun little pop rock song, an elderly woman, an elderly man, a dog, a TV and some goats is all it takes to get me thinking about these concepts and make me a little bit uncomfortable but also incredibly amused, because while I hope my sense of fashion and style will remain as it is when I’m old (no matching florals or white ugly shoes for me), I hope my sense of humour remains just as strong as the star of ‘I Don’t Want To Be In Your Arms’, because if it does, I might have the want and the courage to remain in those mosh pits and on those dance floors for a good 40 years or so yet. Here’s hoping.

 Jo Michelmore gives ‘I Don’t Want To Be In Your Arms’ three Michael Hutchence heads out of five…


The Belligerents will be launching the single 'I Don't Want To Be In Your Arms' in Brisbane and the Black Bear Lodge on Friday, 26th September. Ooh I hope there's some cool retirees there to enjoy the fun. Seriously. #notevenjoking

The A to Z of Pop - W is for WTF

The A to Z of Pop

by Jo Michelmore

It was actually a couple of weeks ago that I first knew what the W in the A to Z of Pop would stand for. One part of me just wanted to post clips of Robbie Williams, another part of me wanted to post pics of pop stars that deserve the hashtag that has become popular amongst those of our IMKOS team who attended BIGSOUND - #wankwankwank (and no, I myself do not think Robbie Williams and that hashtag could be one and the same thing, although I understand a lot of people would disagree with me). 

W was inspired when a friend of mine got out of their car one day to meet me and proclaimed upon seeing me; "Pop music. Like, just...WTF?" (yes, they did use the letters, not the words and hence the G-rating of this post). When I enquired as to what they meant exactly, they described their confusion at the songs they had recently heard on the radio and why they were angry and a more than a little confused. Now, dear readers, I shall share their confusion with you and maybe you can shed some light on the matter. Or not. Either way, I'm gonna admit, I kinda agree with my friend and I guess that's why we're friends.

"I'm bringing booty back"

Er, Meghan, where do you think booty went? Booty has actually never gone anywhere, except for maybe a brief year or two in the early 90s when heroin chic became such a thing, but even then, Sir-Mix-A-Lot was going on about Becky's butt well before Nicki started on about anacondas, so how could you possibly be bringing it back? WTF?

"Bring the beat back"

Katy, the beat never went anywhere. Just because you decided to ignore it with what I personally consider is your worst song, the actual beat never disappeared. It's written into your freakin song. The beat never went anywhere. You stopped it. This is a tool sometimes used in music. Stop pretending you didn't know it was going to happen. WTF?

"Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?"

You know what Sheeran? The cheek is actually the soft part of your face below your eyes. If your eyes were on your cheeks, they'd actually be in the middle of your face, next to your nose and that would just be weird. Or they'd be on your butt and now we're just getting back to old mate Trainor and her claim to bring booty back from somewhere and this is why I dedicated the S in the A to Z of Pop to you. WTF?

Top 25 - 22 September, 2014

Jessie Ware!

1. Jessie Ware - Say You Love Me





2. SAFIA - You Are The One





3. Dear Plastic - Epic Delay (NEW)


 
 
4. Tkay Maidza - Finish Them





5. Little May - Dust (Re-Entry)





6. APES - Pull the Trigger (NEW)





7. Jack Ladder and The Dreamlanders ft. Sharon Van Etten - Come On Back This Way





8. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - My Club (NEW)





9. Tkay Maidza - U-Huh





10. Zola Jesus - Go (Blank Page) (NEW)





11. Stella Angelico - Prey





12. Kilter ft. Tkay Maidza - They Say





13. Winters End - Walls





14. Megan Washington - My Heart Is A Wheel





15. Saskwatch - A Love Divine





16. Flight Facilities ft. Emma Louise - Two Bodies (NEW)


 

17. BAD//DREEMS - My Only Friend





18. Bertie Blackman - War Of One





19. Swick and Lewis Cancut ft. Tkay Maidza - Wishes





20. Jack Colwell and The Owls - Seek The Wilde





21. Our Man In Berlin - Cirrhosis





22. Jack White - Would You Fight For My Love (NEW)





23. Lanks - Brave Man





24. George Maple - Talk Talk





25. Damien Rice - My Favourite Faded Fantasy

The A to Z of Pop - V is for The Very Best....And Very Worst

The A to Z of Pop

by Jo Michelmore

It really seems a bit ridiculous to have the A to Z of Pop stand for anything other than the two artists I have chosen this week, which also happen to represent, in my opinion, the absolute very best of pop music....and the very worst. But I write a lot of things on this blog and I feel like I've given up so much information about myself to the glorious internet that if someone was to be watching me or investigating my life via internets, they'd already know too much. 

So, in my true not-so-mysterious but-a-little-bit-enigma style, I present to you, dear reader, two artists, both averagely famous in the world of pop (perhaps one a little more than the other) and one who I consider to be the very, very best that pop music can offer. Pure bubblegum, hands in the air, fun in your pants pop music. The other? One who I consider to be the very worst, boring, bland, bad bad bad, possibly the worst pop 'musicians' to be offered to our society since popular pop music became popular pop music. Welcome to V in the A to Z of Pop...

The Veronicas

Vengaboys

Very good or very bad, which is which then? Anyone who has read more than two or three things I've written on this blog would know, but I'm not going to make it that easy for you. Some things are better left unsaid. 

Album Review - There There

THERE THERE

by Megan Washington (out now)

Special kind of dreaming
When you sleep with the television on
And with the lights on
And with your clothes on
And with your shoes on


Sometimes there's album titles that you look at and just think, what an absolute load of wank. And then you ask yourself, "who came up with that wankery in the first place?" In Fiona Apple's case, it's all Fiona Apple's fault. Salt 'N Pepa's A Salt With A Deadly Pepa is also a personal hated fave. Most artists don't even bother to pick a title that reflects the album they are offering up. Megan Washington isn't one of them. I couldn't possibly think of a more appropriate title for her sophomore LP than There There. It's a half-hearted pat on the back with a shrug for navigating your way through Washington's not-so private heartbreak. Which is a surprise, right? No, not that she can pick winning album titles. I mean it's a surprise that after hearing previously released singles like the bouncy indie jam and bonafide crowd-pleaser, 'My Heart Is A Wheel' or the effortless, rock-chic number 'Who Are You' that There There is quite the emotional investment. Really though, I should have known better than to be surprised by the ever evolving creative force that is Megan Washington, who's crafted an almost perfect mix of lovelorn-tinged ballads and alt-pop singalong gems. 


Establishing her identity from the start, 'Yellow and Blue' separates Washington from the local contemporaries she could be lumped in with. In this field you could be a Higgins, a Blasko, a Julia Stone or even an Emma Louise. Megan Washington is simply a Megan Washington and she's exquisite in her loneliness. Even that 'bounce' in 'My Heart Is A Wheel', all Preatures-y in the infectiousness of the music can't completely hide away the thought that our leading lady is falling apart at the seams. The 'lonely' factor is compressed into the much more relatable track, 'Limitless'. Let's be honest... there really is, "a certain kind of lonely where you sleep in your jeans." It's one of those Debbie Downer facts that becomes much more digestible in the form of a delicious song like this. Those final oooh's that emerge as everything winds up are the icing on the cake. I think I'm hungry? Enough with the digestive talk. Moving along, 'Begin Again' is a stunning album highlight and our first ballad and a true testament to Washington's songwriting talents. And it's not even the best ballad on the album. That's right, kiddies... more than one ballad on an album in 2014! Hallelujah, praise Yeezus.

Washington wraps up There There with not one, but two more pieces of engrossing piano-led balladry. We go from the tough decision of choosing 'To Or Not Let Go' to a confession of being 'One For Sorrow'. It's like being stabbed in the heart and then that knife is twisted and your heart is pulled out of your body and you're just left standing there like... I die. Alright, I'm exaggerating. 'To Or Not Let Go' is definitely the big heartbreaking moment the album builds up to, but interestingly enough 'One For Sorrow' is one of the rare bright sparks that There There delivers. A final and most welcome reprieve. It's awesome. We were just talking about Megan's songwriting talent and I can't get over how simple, yet incredibly effective these lines are;


One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a girl and
Four for a boy
Five for the young
Six for the old
Seven for a story that never gets told
Eight for the east
Nine for the west
Ten for the worst but all for the best


An absolutely beautiful piece of work that you need to hear for the performance, the music, the words. It's Megan Washington's finest moment on a mighty fine album that sees her grow from the emerging indie ingenue of yesterday to the worldly woman of music she's become. Her heart is a wheel and her heart has a skyline (in a 'look out at over that distant skyline' way, not a 'check out my fully sick Nissan Skyline' way). Her heart is a lot of things and if There There proves anything, it's that Washington's heart is big enough to handle love lost and all the love to come. And I love this album. I'm sure you will as well.

Matt Bond gives There There four Michael Hutchence heads out of five...
 

BIGSOUND 2014 - Gig Gallery

BIGSOUND 2014

Fortitude Valley, Brisbane (10-11 September 2014)
Words by Jo Michelmore
Pics by Cordell Sanders

We know you probably think you've heard all there is to hear and have seen all there is to see about BIGSOUND 2014, but it's such an incredible event we're not quite ready to let go of it yet. How could we forget the gold spandex pants of The Bennies, the stomping of feet with Tkay Maidza, the hairstyle time forgot of Client Liaison or the absolute beauty of the sweet sounds of Little May? We can't. While each of us here at It's My Kind Of Scene experienced our own special favourite moments in the madness that is two nights of music and mayhem on the streets of Brisbane's Fortitude Valley, our honorary blogger/photographer/generally smarter than the rest of us with tech stuff guy; Cordell, saw BIGSOUND through the lens of his camera and now you get to live it all again with us one more time, until next year. Welcome to our 2014 gig gallery, from what has become one of our favourite live music events of the year.