Blog Archives
Off The Wall
This Tuesday, 4th September Off The Wall is hosted by Workshop. This ensemble of underground graffiti artists and their work begins with a live graffiti session on the opening night. Be sure to get down between 6pm and 9pm to sample the action (and a few nice brews). INFX recently checked a show by curator and exhibitor Hayley ‘Sketch‘ Walker -whose styles will cushion the event. It promises to be a winner: unique talents will be on display; showcasing works that are just a little bit different to what you‘d expect from contemporary graffers. Need I say more? Come on down.
Off The Wall: Tuesday, 4th September 6pm – 9pm at Workshop -upstairs off the corner of Elizabeth & A‘Beckett
Secret Walls: Melbourne 2012
That‘s right, now is the time for all you arts and graff heads to get up in it. The gates are open to field your blockbuster creative nuances to the Secret Walls team. Don‘t sweat the name change: you will know Secret Wars from the sell-out crowds that rocked this live art battle series in 2011. It‘s the same crew, the same rules and quality competition showdown: but with a new name comin‘ back to rock ya. Submissions are open for the next week only -see all the details below:
War of the Walls 2011
December again brings the 2nd annual War of the Walls live graffiti battle back to Collingwood. Last year‘s winner, the industrious ADNATE is also back to present the event, fresh from a tour-of-duty in Berlin. He joins industry judges alongside the definitive Crowd Vote that holds a lamp to the current batch of writers; 5 graffiti up-and-coming Kings comprising RAD 11, Ohnoes, Mr Reliable, Eltoasto, and Broes. The 5 finalists will compete in an epic 2 hour aerosol battle, with hip-hop and soul breaks on the make by DJ Tom Showtime.
From 7pm at The Void, 1-35 Wellington St Collingwood Saturday 3rd Dec. Tickets: Click Here.
www.warofthewalls.com
‘Monk Ey
This is one of the fresh, hip-to-the-game, young tings runnin‘ tings in Mexico City. ‘Monk Ey recently featured in Mexico‘s Street: Active Lifestyle magazine, mapping out his musical and contemporary cultural endeavours. He has achieved notoriety as the founder of Square Root Of Pi, known officially as √π and along with the Pi posse, they‘re lording it over the underground scene in Mexico.
I caught up with the mad monk in between his DJ gigs and the cutting edge live band, hip-hop and electronic music ensembles that √π is renowned for:
INFX: What kind of tunes are you working into your DJ sets at the moment?
‘Monk Ey: Old Chicago House, House, Disco, Acid And Techno, Basically.
INFX: What do you make of the club scene in Mexico City, And how do you fit in?
‘Monk Ey: It‘s Kinda Bizarre. It‘s Not Merged, It‘s Not United, It‘s Not Going Anywhere. Most Of It Are Playing The Same Tracks (Psycho Dubstep @ 160 BPM), It Sucks. It‘s Difficult To Push The People To Other Style Of Music. Some People Love My Sets, Others Hate Them. 120-130 BPM That, For Me, It‘s The Best.
INFX: Seems like they prefer the Happy Hardcore - When was the last time you dropped Acid in a club?
‘Monk Ey: Actually, A Month Ago. The Results… Everybody Loves It, Nobody Knows It For Real. When I Play Acid It‘s When The People Go Nuts Dancing And Screaming Like There Is No Tomorrow, But They Aren‘t Aware Of It. It‘s Like Acid Is A Party-Only Music.
INFX: It‘s a fucken party alright. Finally, though, tell me: Do you know of any mad real cocktail recipes?
‘Monk Ey: Indeed, I Do! A Friend Told Me About “Mascara De Gas“, Or In English, “Gas Mask“. It‘s A Drink With Vodka, Whiskey, Tequila And Fire. They Mix Up All, Put Flames On It And, Keep The Gas In A Glass Upside Down, You Take The Shot And Then, You Breathe All The Gas On The Glass, Then… You‘re All Dizzy. Ha!
Well, no doubt my man ‘Monk Ey will be busy gettin‘ dizzy all weekend. Big Up‘s to the monk, and stayed tuned for an upcoming exposé on the √π crew. Meanwhile, here‘s a sneak peek of ‘Monk Ey and the team in action:
Tom Tom Crew
The Tom Tom Crew present a tour-de-force of hip hop culture, acrobatics, beatboxing and contortionist curiousities that leave you gripping your seat and chanting for more!
I‘d only just got the chance to see them at The Forum the other night; and the show has been running since the 4th October. It winds up on the 23rd too so there are only a couple of shows left. The crew is headed up by Tom (beat-boxer extraordinaire and established graffiti artist). They formed at the 2006 Woodford Folk Festival and became an instant hit. You get the impression that there was a hip-hop & breaks crew warming up alongside an acrobatics and trapeze troupe; and they suddenly realised “let‘s mix both acts together“. Since their inaugural show, the crew have toured globally, from the Adelaide Fringe to Edinburgh, London, New York, Berlin, Taipei, NZ, Belgium, and the Netherlands; as they‘ve criss-crossed the world in the last 5 years. This is a truly epic performance show, and a lot of fun. If you get the chance, they‘re well worth seeing.
MF Doom
The Overlord MC Supremo of Stone‘s Throw Records MF Doom did eventually grace the front room stage at The Espy some 2 weeks ago; after suffering from an unknown ailment across the seas in New Zealand.
And what a show it was! The gig recorded a sell-out crowd, with punters elbowing their way amongst each other in order to catch a glimpse of our masked MC hero. The set featured a great list of tracks including Figaro, Sofa King, America‘s Most Blunted and many more -including 2 encores that sent the crowd nuts.
I‘m sure all of those heads that attended thought it a great show, from which is compiled the featured video of “People, Places, And Things LIVE” -courtesy of yours truly. Enjoy.
stonesthrow.com
Public Enemy
Just over a week ago, some friends and I witnessed Public Enemy live (again). Although this concert was a long way from the grand expanse of The Forum in Kentish Town, North London, the gig was rabble-rousingly intimate at The Corner hotel in Richmond.
This time round the militia were pumping their tour of 1990‘s Fear Of A Black Planet. Although they gave the show a lot of effort and their skills were there to thrill -it was all too clear in my mind that these guys had long since fallen asleep at the wheel. Or, to be sympathetic: are now well past their prime.
However, they fronted up for over 2 hours and gave us all a thrilling set. Apart from catching Flava Flav lip-syncing every now and then; everything else was overwhelmingly enjoyable -the fresh set list complete with crowd participation, political spiels, guests (including members of 2 Live Crew) and a tight freestyle battle between Chuck D and Flav that pretty much clinched the value of the $90 ticket, or therebouts. All-in-all, it was a brilliant show for the die-hard fans and certainly no staggering disappointment for the rest of us. And then there were the ageing Aussie homeboys: but that’s another story entirely.
-TW
The Beat Invitational
Braving the storms of a previously excessive foray into the night until morning, I was joined by some outrageous and tender-hearted friends to check the Producers Showcase at Roxanne.
Although arriving after Cinderella got home from the ball, live art was still in effect by the “insanely talented” Otis Chamberlain and the mad bass of hip-hop fused dubstep was on the make. Featured producers included Dizz1, Sean Deans, Cosmo, Mike Kay, and Chopper whom were “showcasing their latest creations and unleashing their unreleased beats …the future sound of Australasia’s beat heads”
Obey, Ableton Live, and Jazz Crimes presented the freshest dope music-makers dribbling beats and boinks in an ensemble of the next musicological greats. Check the art below by the crafty and guilely Otis Chamberlain, complemented by breaks from ITF Champion and X-Ecutioners DJ Total Eclipse on the night:
-Rock The Boat
Kid Koala
Yes,
It is Friday evening here in the Antipodes and although I’ve been quarantined amongst the Digital Cinema Compliance appendages, I have dug up a lovely musical event for you all to peruse and enjoy. Dim the lights, Maestro!
Kid Koala (AKA Eric San) is a native of Montreal; he writes graphic novels and narrates them with his scratch-sonic soundtrack. He’s a turntablist and producer, debuting on Ninja Tune with the 2006 release Your Mom’s Favourite Dj. He was integral in the production of Deltron 3030 alongside Del the Funky Homosapien and in Mike Patton projects Lovage and Peeping Tom.
He’s touring currently -playing in Melbourne this Wednesday night at The Corner Hotel in Richmond. He is presenting ensemble act THE SLEW; of which his website alludes to “a puppet musical about a robot who works at a cookie factory (complete with turntable orchestra pit), a quiet-time headphone / beanbag tour for the non-dancing listeners, and a hilarious Roller-rink tour which should be fun for the whole family” (kidkoala.com).
Imogen Heap
Matters of the heart have never been easy subject matter for me. When a conversation about the heart surfaces, I will only have two kinds of opine: positive or negative.
As a music junkie, I always have my soundtrack for things: be it good things or bad in my life. Music will always be supreme in expressing one’s feeling and it’s so close to real life; a composition will connect with one’s heart no matter what. I won’t talk about songs that may represent the good things; here is a lovely song that I’d love to hear thousand times when I’m in a bad state of mind.
I love this song a lot, it reflects the condition of this chaotic heart of mine.
Pain on pain on play, repeating
With the backup makeshift life in waitingEverybody says that time heals everything
But what if the wretched hollow, the endless in-between ?
Are we just going to wait it out
I heard this song for the first time during Imogen’s Live concert in Jakarta. Imogen Heap, as a well-talented singer, is really successful in singing this bitter song in a really wonderful way.
The concert was just amazing. All songs were performed in a strong and stable voice. She also did a good job binding the emotional feeling between the songs and the crowd. I can only sum up the concert in one word: fantastic. Previously, Imogen joined a British electronic music duo named Frou Frou and a multi-cultural British experimental pop band named Acacia. In her solo career, Imogen specialises in heavily produced and arranged singer-songwriter pop -incorporating elements of rock, dance and electronica. She’s famous for her skills in using manipulated electronic sounds. She performs all of her songs in a unique way; she sometimes tries to mix ambient sounds into her music. No wonder that she was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2006 and also recieved 2 Grammy nominations -winning Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for her latest solo album in 2009′s Ellipse. When it comes to Imogen, it’s always magic.
-Blommer22
Faith No More – Melbourne 2010
Right! Just got in…
A fine show. Certainly, the prelude of Andy Kaufmann alter-ego inspired babble proved a continuous farce; but the set list was spot on.
I was inclined, though to flirt with the idea of a down-tempo approach to this live outing and the subsequent adherence to fans and their mode of life. Actually, to be honest these ideas made me think of the Rolling Stones playing ballads to geriatrics. Fear not though! That isn’t to define the quality of songs and performance, in toto.
Personally, I vied to hear ‘Crack Hitler’ but without which the bulk of songs from King For A Day and prior releases certainly satisfied. On lesser thoughts however, it’s Tony Clifton’s said invocation that may well play into Patton’s seemingly endless entertainment satire. Well done!
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GOOD VIBES – Interview with a Norwegian
So… this 24 year old Norwegian girl came bumbling in on our little group in the queue for a vodka slushie. She had tears streaming down her face and said ‘Don’t you just hate men?‘. She didn’t get much of a response from us, just small nods of polite agreement, but we thought at the time she might be good to interview. Weaved in there between Busta Rhymes and Salt’n'pepa, she gives a nice little peephole view into the modern woman’s woes of wooing.
.Good Vibrations 2010 with your on-the-spot reporter: Smigroid .
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