as open as the sky

orias: If I Ever Get Around To Living - John Mayer I went...

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:28:07 +1000

If I Ever Get Around To Living - John Mayer

I went through a pretty big John Mayer phase a few years back, and still rate Continuum and the Where the Light Is live recordings as bonafide classics. The music is very accessible, and attracts criticism for it, but it does have some wondrous bluesy guitar and fairly profound lyrics that really speak to me.

In 2009, Battle Studies was released and it was essentially full of self-indulgent nonsense. The new album is Born and Raised, and the lead track Shadow Days is just so pathetically trite that I don’t see the point in buying it.

However, If I Ever Get Around to Living is interesting in how it hints at the Mayer of old - the one who finds an interesting groove, and builds it as he riffs on a relevant theme with elegant lyrics backed up by thoughtful guitar - before reverting to type by going on an unremarkable tangent that yearns to be profound, but doesn’t quite make it.

My disappointment is probably a product of unrealistic expectations, but in any case I’m looking forward to a new album that’s infused with a little more inspiration than what we’ve been treated to lately.

Fun fact of the day

Thu, 31 May 2012 19:42:50 +1000

scapegoatedbyagirl:

The Dutch word for dull or boring is ‘saai’, which is pronounced like the English ‘sigh’.

xntrek: “Is Mitt my mommy?” snuff-d-rooster: One more reason...

Thu, 31 May 2012 16:20:24 +1000

xntrek:

“Is Mitt my mommy?”

snuff-d-rooster:

One more reason to move to Australica.

flaviia: Yesterday I mimicked the animals at the museum. That...

Thu, 31 May 2012 12:58:00 +1000

flaviia:

Yesterday I mimicked the animals at the museum.

That is so silly of you, Flavia.

theworldsgame: The US team was nowhere to be found tonight. I...

Thu, 31 May 2012 12:33:30 +1000

theworldsgame:

The US team was nowhere to be found tonight. I blame the shirt. (via)

newyorker: What Mad Men Missed: the Real Jaguar Ads of the...

Wed, 30 May 2012 18:47:31 +1000

newyorker:

What Mad Men Missed: the Real Jaguar Ads of the 1960s and 70s. http://nyr.kr/LQGizx

Autumn, it’s been fun.

Wed, 30 May 2012 18:46:03 +1000

Autumn, it’s been fun.

sprinkledwords: It pains me that Somebody That I Used to Know...

Tue, 29 May 2012 20:59:27 +1000

sprinkledwords:

It pains me that Somebody That I Used to Know has been so crazily successful (and it is so deserved), and yet this song passed virtually unnoticed, internationally. Where was everybody in 2006?! Where were your ears?!

In 2006 I was on the other side of a four-year relationship, and at that time this song appealed for Wally’s incredible voice, his eclectic sampling and the song’s rich variety of tone colours more than anything else.

Today, standing on this side of it, it’s the lyrics that make so much more sense. And the music too. The bass in the chorus, running contrary to the descending vocals, has a deep poignancy that’s somehow redolent of each tense attempt to understand how and why things were the way they so often were.

Your heart’s a mess
You won’t admit to it
It makes no sense
But I’m desperate to connect
And you can’t live like this

The chorus really does tell the story. On some level breaking up felt like conceding defeat, leaving behind a long and frankly difficult journey of attempting to really, well, connect. But the slings and arrows at the time didn’t leave room for any other options, and the absurd (but true!) stories I could tell you about what’s happened since really have validated that decision.

Wise words:

Love ain’t safe
You won’t get hurt if you stay chaste
So you can wait
But I won’t waste my love.

andywhiteshoes: GPOY

Mon, 28 May 2012 22:46:33 +1000

andywhiteshoes:

GPOY

"What is a poet? An unhappy man who hides deep anguish in his heart, but whose lips are so formed..."

Mon, 28 May 2012 22:29:25 +1000

“What is a poet? An unhappy man who hides deep anguish in his heart, but whose lips are so formed that when the sigh and cry pass through them, it sounds like lovely music…. And people flock around the poet and say: ‘Sing again soon’ - that is, ‘May new sufferings torment your soul but your lips be fashioned as before, for the cry would only frighten us, but the music, that is blissful.”

- Søren Kierkegaard, Either - Or (via cite-belle)

gq: 50 Things a Man Does Not Have to Do Before He Dies 42. RUN...

Mon, 28 May 2012 10:17:10 +1000

gq:

50 Things a Man Does Not Have to Do Before He Dies

42. RUN WITH THE BULLS

Sometimes it’s the fate of a good writer to bear the blame for what he inspires a bunch of idiots to do. Hunter S. Thompson is on the hook for a generation convinced it’s charming to be a drug-addicted asshole. Jack Kerouac spawned a million annoying vagabonds. And then, of course, there’s Ernest Hemingway, who has to answer not only for reams of bad, muscular prose but also for turning the San Fermín festival, celebrated in the town of Pamplona, Spain, into a three-minute institutionalized rite of passage, offering a frisson of real danger to the proceedings without being automatically fatal. It’s worth remembering, though, that courting death is not, ipso facto, cool. If there were a contest in Toledo where you drank a bottle of Drano and saw what happened, would you be proud to tell stories about it over dinner?

…ouch.

Photo

Mon, 28 May 2012 10:14:00 +1000

classicmusic: Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat Major,...

Mon, 28 May 2012 01:37:00 +1000

classicmusic:

Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat Major, which some say draws heavily on a Beethovenian influence (listen to this movement and then this, the Marche Funebre from Symphony 3, which is not quoted, but has moments of resemblance).

You can follow along! Enjoy that tenor clef.

Today we suffered an appalling 3-1 loss to Old Xavier. Xavier...

Mon, 28 May 2012 01:27:39 +1000

Today we suffered an appalling 3-1 loss to Old Xavier. Xavier College has a pretty poor reputation around town - their kids famously shoplift ski gear on overseas tours and go on vandalism sprees - and in a similar vein, their attitude today was downright terrible. It was an ugly game that turned spiteful, for on top of the invective they were the kind of team to play the man and yet fall like a sack of potatoes at the slightest touch. Two of their goals were courtesy of our goalkeeper’s errors, and we hit the crossbar twice, which makes it all the more unsatisfying.

But our coach seems to think I did okay, which makes it sting a little less. I had another assist, a Viduka-esque overhead kick that was turned in for our equaliser, but we should’ve really put away three or four more than we did. The return leg is sure going to be interesting.

Dear person I'm jealous of...

Sat, 26 May 2012 22:36:00 +1000

…living in New York City making a living as a musician is a pretty incredible thing to do! But all those hours at Berkeley St had to lead to something great, and really, who better to reap the rewards but someone as down-to-earth and real as yourself. It’s much more about awe and respect than jealousy, to be honest.

Dear past me

Sat, 26 May 2012 22:31:47 +1000

Although the glittering international football career was not to be, when you were a bit bored with school at the end of Year 8 and took up the saxophone that actually turned out pretty well. Practise practise practise!

(Just imagine how silly it would be to be teaching music there in the future. Completely ridiculous, right?)

I dare you.

Sat, 26 May 2012 21:57:00 +1000

sprinkledwords:

I will write about the following, leave one in my ask box

Dear person I hate,

Dear person I like,

Dear ex-boyfriend,

Dear ex-girlfriend,

Dear ex-best friend,

Dear best friend,

Dear *anyone*,

Dear Santa,

Dear Mum,

Dear Dad,

Dear future me,

Dear past me,

Dear person I’m jealous of,

Dear person I had a crush on,

Dear girlfriend,

Dear boyfriend,

Funtime potential.

Just for once.

St. Vitus' Dance: Australian Mixtape

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:05:00 +1000

St. Vitus' Dance: Australian Mixtape:

stvitussdance:

01 heart’s a mess - gotye
02 we’re mostly made of water - kid sam
03 nullabor - lower plenty
04 wandering limbs - kimbra
05 mirror ball - the crayon fields
06 nobody’s baby now - nick cave and the bad seeds
07 lullabye - the cat empire
08 a man dressed in lightning - young werther
09 you’re a good sportsman - east brunswick all girls choir
10 wooden ships - dappled cities

I will be downloading this for the unfamiliar ones, but I love the ones I know. May I respectfully add:

11 grab a gun - jackson jackson
12 eyes wide open - gotye (two mentions because school loyalty)

lulz-time: The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog. I feel...

Thu, 24 May 2012 19:35:18 +1000

lulz-time:

The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog.

I feel like I’ve been preparing for this image all my life.

The internet is over, everyone can go home

The internet is over, everyone can go home

THE INTERNET IS OVER, EVERYONE CAN GO HOME

midcenturia: Sacha Chimkevitch, Jazzman, c. 1960’s. via

Thu, 24 May 2012 00:03:48 +1000

midcenturia:

Sacha Chimkevitch, Jazzman, c. 1960’s. via