Australian Power and Gas Power Stage

Australian Power and Gas Power Stage

Mao's Last Dancer

Based on the inspiring autobiography of Li Cunxin, Mao’s Last Dancer chronicles the hardships and ultimate triumphs of a young boy, removed from his family in poverty stricken China and developed into one of the world’s most renowned ballet dancers.


Directed by Bruce Beresford, the film delivers a succinct interpretation of the book of the same name.


The cultural and political divide that exists is played out against a backdrop of affluent western civilisation, high society and the hotly contested ballet stage.


As a young boy Li Cunxin was chosen under the communist rule of Chairman Mao to be moulded into a ballet dancer. This was the opportunity of a lifetime; a chance to escape the life of poverty and oppression that otherwise awaited him.


What followed was years of loneliness as Li, separated from his family, endured physical and psychological conditioning, and borderline abuse at the hands of strict rule.


Li was invited to train in the United States of America where he experienced a life of material wealth and freedom, a life far removed from the world he knew and the life he would eventually leave behind.


Li Cunxin travelled the world dancing to honour the family that he believed he would never see again after being exiled by his homeland China.


The Arts and politics take centre stage in this inspiring film about family values, dreams fulfilled and personal triumph.


One drawback, was it really necessary to cast Deni Hines as a news reporter from the Houston Chronicle, complete with tight curls and American accent?

Shake Hands With Danger (Lyrics)

Carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders

Every single song on the radio brings you down
Get a little sunshine on your face, pack a little bag
Hit the highway out of town


Smoke a few cigarettes, sip a little gin
Get a taste of the free world on your tongue
Put a smile on your face, hold up your chin
Shake hands with danger


In a crazy way
Like a strange twist of fate
In a crazy way
Things just come together


Jumping around like a fish out of water
Take a deep breath, settle down, you’ve been found
Time to figure out now who you want to be
There’s a change blowing in on the breeze, new in town


I know you’re trying to forget but everybody bleeds
There’s a song on the radio about love and loss right now
Put a smile on your face, hold up your chin
Shake hands with danger


In a crazy way I know a place where we can go


Like a strange twist of fate
In a crazy way
Things just come together


I know a place where we can go
The answer is yes to every no
And its not far from here


In a crazy way


Like a strange twist of fate
In a crazy way
Things just come together

Invictus Review

Invictus the film is nowhere near as accomplished, heartfelt, deep and meaningful as the poem by Ernest Henly from which the film takes its name.

The film has all the hallmarks of a classic Hollywood beat up.
Based in South Africa, the film tells the tale of Nelson Mandela’s unification of South Africa, played out through the triumphant 1995 South African Rugby World Cup.
The South African Rugby Team are a bunch of useless hackers, losers, that is until Mr Mandela uses the team as his political football (stop it).
Nelson Mandela inspires the Captain, who in turn inspires the team, who in turn inspire and unify the whole nation. Enter triumphant music, Mr Mandela and team captain hold the world cup trophy aloft. Pause scene, fade to black.
Morgan Freeman portrays Nelson Mandela brilliantly, evoking the gentle nature of a man driven to make a difference. Equally, Matt Damon is convincing as football captain Francois Pienaar, buff and with a near flawless South African accent.
It helps if you’re a rugby union fan. If not you’ll tire of the slow motion football action. Some people have rated this film the best they have seen. I can’t see it.
Everybody loves an under dog story, and this one lays it on thick. A little too thick for me.
Invictus is a brilliant, timeless poem, a catalyst for inner strength that ultimately kept Nelson Mandela company through his prison term. As a film, unfortunately Invictus fails to justify the poems core, its rich heart of strength and possibility.




Invictus


Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.


William Ernest Henley

30 Albums

In no particular order


Amos Lee - Self Titled
Ray LaMontagne - Trouble
The Gabe Dixon Band - Self Titled
REM - Monster
Bad Religion - Recipe For Hate
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Eric Clapton - 24 Nights
Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsies
Ryan Adams - Love is Hell 1
Ron Sexsmith - Cobblestone Runway
The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree
Neil Young - Dead Man Soundtrack
Van Morrison - The Healing Game
Augie March - Waltz EP
Kurt Elling - The Messenger
David Gray - A Century Ends
Grant Lee Buffalo - Might Joe moon
Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen - Moonburn
The Tragically Hip - Phantom Power
Dave Matthews Band - Crash
Iota - Self Titled (1st EP)
Pearl Jam - VS
Joe Satriani - The Extremist
Living Colour - Vivid
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood
The Counting Crows - August and Everything After
U2 - Achtung Baby
Green Day - Dookie
Nirvana - Nevermind
Led Zeppelin - IV

The Four Fifteen (Lyrics)

We are strangers to these streets

With our heads bowed at our feet
Blistered by the pavement, the summer heat
Still feels cold


It’s been so long now though it seems
Like yesterday, when our dreams
Crumbled down the mountain, the summer breeze
Carried us home


So lets leave now
We’ve got time to make the 4:15pm
Lets leave now
We can land on our feet again


No one even knows us here today
The truth will rise, find it’s own way
Eventually, if we stay
Our cover will blow


So lets leave now
We’ve got time to make the 4:15pm
Lets leave now
We can land on our feet again


No more time to think
About the little things that went wrong
Just get on board, be quick
Don’t forget where you’re from


So lets leave now

We’ve got time to make the 4:15pm
Lets leave now
We can land on our feet again

The Smith Street Turnoff (Lyrics)

Chasing my tail, on constant repeat

The weather’s not bad, but I don’t think this city’s for me
We could sail away and watch the city fall down
Like dominoes, in the distance, caught on the breeze


I’m turning this thing around
So lost in this town


Way back in my day when the pace was slow
When the sunshine slept it was safe to go
Where ever your feet would lead you
And your friends were strong enough to carry you home


I should have known when I pulled into town
I took the Smith Street turnoff
All the way to the sea
I just couldn’t see it,
I must have been blind
This used to be paradise, apparently


I’m turning this thing around

So lost in this town


Way back in my day when the pace was slow
When the sunshine slept it was safe to go
Where ever your feet would lead you
And your friends were strong enough to carry you home


The traffic sits at a standstill all across town
Plastic bits, on the beaches, golden brown

Nothing Really Matters Anyway (Lyrics)

Take a moment

Take your time
With pen to paper
Make a list, draw a line
And say what you mean
Do what you say
Raise your hand
Shoulder the blame
For at the end of the day


Nothing really matters anyway


Speak the truth
Tell no lies
Free the secrets buried deep for all time
And don’t forget to breath
As you run for your life
You float away with the outrunning tide
For at the end of the day


Nothing really matters anyway


Strip away everything you feel
Time to reinvent the wheel
To keep on turning

With the world
On your side
Your conscience is clear for the rest of the ride
No you don’t feel afraid
You’re happy inside
The wrinkles on your face disappear
No more lines
And at the end of the day


Nothing really matters anyway

Letter to Michael Parncott

Michael let us apologise for murdering your entire family and smashing your favourite bong on the way out.

What a predictable result from angry smurf.
So there it is, finally the local street press gives an independent band with considerable experience and the balls to actually record an EP without one single distorted guitar a voice. It’s a great pity though that a magazine of supposed credibility gives Michael Pindick the opportunity to wield his stick over what is a perfectly accessible, well crafted EP.
Why would an editor hand a collection of acoustic pop songs to a moron who clearly displays a severe lack of journalistic and creative judgement? Probably because it’s funny. What’s even funnier is when the musicians, songwriters, producer, engineer, assistant engineer, studio owner, manager, graphic designer, 894 Myspace friends, Facebook friends, personal friends, work colleagues, families, friends of friends and the multitude of people who have listened to and purchased the EP and who actually appreciate the acoustic genre will consider Rave Magazine to be nothing more than bog roll not worthy of their future advertising spend.
Michelle uses words like almighty deity, smoting, smotation, assault, hell, foaming at the mouth, wailing and gnashing of teeth, annihilation. Not quite how I’d describe the subtle ‘Departure’ EP, more so an individual who no doubt still lives with Mum and Dad, has more pipes than friends and thinks he’s in the music industry.
Critique the critic. I’d say Michael is quite familiar with Australian Idol and all things High School Musical. He’d have to be in order to make the comparison. It’s interesting also that Michael likes to take the sword to Aust Idol in the majority of his gripes. Sour grapes perhaps, Dicko didn’t like your audition? What an embarrassment for someone so hard and angry.
Apologise for misleading your readers with such self indulgent drivel, and apologise to the Dan Carroll Band for being so jealous.
You say your annihilation is complete, lets hope so. Glad we could help.

More or Less

Exercise more Eat less Drink less Alcohol Earn more money Ask for a pay rise Smile @ Strangers Stay young Think wisely Slow down Learn something new Keep a diary Take more photos Take more risks Walk in the rain Work to live Buy flowers Reminisce Give to charity Sign a petition Support local artists Get a hobby Save your money Spend your savings Eat more chocolate Drink less beer Drink less coffee Sleep Wear less make up Take a drive Visit a winery Quit your job Start a career Talk more Fight less Cry Trust yourself Learn an instrument Learn a lesson Play a sport Don’t diet Don’t bother Email less Vote Watch soaps Get a tattoo Chose a football team Attend your school reunion Say the F word Watch horror movies Turn off your phone Go camping Book the penthouse Sleep in Watch the sun rise Write a letter Post that letter Read more books Stay up late Don’t be late Confess Get a massage Turn out the lights Light more candles Gamble and win Lose track of time Throw fish back Play board games Don’t steal music Swim nude Take turns Love animals Star gaze Get lost Don’t panic Protest Listen up Dress down Roll down hills Remember names Get a website Get a Brazilian Connect Attend a ball Fun run Chew cough lollies Don’t call now Deliver a speech Get a mentor Eat comfort food Make time Make a difference Discover the truth Tell the truth Break a record Break wind Don’t blame the dog Don’t die young Age gracefully Scream Create havoc Plant a seed Make plans Make out Don’t hold your breath Breath easy Play hard Be fair Bring the house down Don’t worry? Don’t screen calls Call for help Be done with it Do it now!

James Blunt Ramble

James Blunt



In an age when finding an angle to promote an artist sees PR departments pushing war veterans, ex prisoners and astronaughts, all suddenly exposed as possessing musical and song writing genius, it tends to cloud the true purpose of exposing fresh talent. The Song!


Is it the music that drives an artist’s career or a past soaked in supposed good and evil?


What for the artist committed to a life of tabloid mediocrity. How can you possibly finish school, achieve good grades, earn a degree, meet a girl, settle down, perhaps even get married and achieve critical acclaim for your songs? Musical suicide it would seem in the current musical climate.


The under dog privately toils away writing hundreds of worthy songs about the world he knows, delving into an imagination tapped through song. Songs crafted over time and delivered live in pubs and clubs to a handful of faithful, a troubadour in a pure musical sense. A mundane job pays the bills and fuels a talent that goes largely unnoticed.


In a world far removed, enter the wise and enlightened troubadour, eighteen years of age and committed to exposing a past full of toil, heartbreak and secondary sub par musical offerings all designed to translate into something extraordinary and magical. Please.


Take for instance UK man of the moment James Blunt. A worldwide phenomenon thrust into the music market like a shot from a cannon. He writes about pretty girls at train stations who ignore him, your typical run of the mill singer songwriter fodder.


With a supposed history of macho warfare and bravery, of army tanks strapped with acoustic guitars and artillery fire threatening lives you’d anticipate songs of true insight and lessons learnt from a life changing experience. If anybody was going to write a classic, it’s this guy.


Not so. It’s high school poetry scribbles that do the trick.

The fact that James Blunt served in the military has zero bearing on the songs he has written. Back to Bedlam no doubt refers to his return to society and his failure to adjust to the single life. The correlation between the song writing content and the public relations spin is distant.


All we know is that James Blunt maintains a military background, but are his songs really any good? What do they have to offer the world? You’d think they’d offer more than school girl ramblings. And the fact that many radio stations around the world refuse to play his music based purely on his annoying voice remains justified.


As an artist James Blunt has the opportunity and the pedigree to contribute timeless music to a world in suffering. He is one person who can offer insight to a population glued to the six o clock news.


I don’t care if you’re attracted to girls. I want James Blunt to deliver on the promises hammered home by his Record Company. Deliver on the hype associated with your past and be the spokesperson for a generation.

Mountain Goats Review

The Mountain Goats

The Zoo
Brisbane

For a Tuesday night, the Zoo is comfortably packed. It’s a mixed bag of young and old, embarrassing haircuts and the worst fashion display I’ve seen in some time. People relate to the Mountain Goats, they feel comfortable and safe and happily form part of the Mountain Goats choir.


First up Texas Tea perform as a duo. She sits, plays guitar and hits the tambourine with her foot. He also sits, strums his guitar and hits the bass drum with his foot. It’s a novelty more than anything. Texas Tea performs slow country songs. They open with a Kris Kristofferson cover before moving into their self penned set, all the while sounding like Kasey Chambers. It’s ok for the first couple of songs but the whole set plods along never really moving out of first gear. I know, I know, that’s what they do!


“Hi, we’re the Mountain Goats”! From that moment they held us in the palm of their hands. The Mountain Goats started their set early tonight. They had two encores up their sleeves and they used them both. They’ve done this before it would seem.


No drummer, just two lone figures onstage, four chords on an acoustic guitar, a bass guitar that at times delivered piano melody and lyrics that cut you to the bone.


Singer John Darnielle has eyes that pinch close together. He discards his glasses early but is clearly blind as a bat. But what he cannot see he no doubt feels as a warm energy crackles through the room. Brisbane loves the Mountain Goats.


John Darnielle’s songs draw on deep-seated emotions and experiences; he delivers impassioned songs rich in narrative displaying keen wit and observation to an audience that hangs on his every word.


The band played old and new. The two unassuming indie heavyweights reacquainted themselves onstage with an old song buried deep in their memory, a request. It took a few minutes to remember the second chord but they fired it up for a dedicated fan.


The Sunset Tree album was prominent in a set that also included tracks from their Australian only Tour EP ‘Babylon Springs’. ‘Broom People’ was abruptly brought to a halt before it really began as technicians worked to restore the lost lead vocal mic from the mix. No tantrums though, just good humour.


Dance Music got an early airing tonight whilst crowd favourite ‘This Year’ rounded out the set, driven home by the Zoo choir.


It’s refreshing to see a duo deliver where many bands cannot. The Mountain Goats share a genuine repour with their fans and treat them to a passionate display of insightful song in its purest form.

The Mountain Goats plan to return to our shores by January next year. You should go.

Amos Lee Review

AMOS LEE

THE BASEMENT
SYDNEY AUSTRALIA


I flew interstate to see Amos Lee perform in the intimate surrounds of the Basement club in Sydney.


For a mid week gig, the venue was suitably packed with fans eager to witness what the rest of the world will surely catch on to. Perhaps the Australian audience is finally catching on to what the rest of the world already knows. Either way tonight is an opportunity to witness a singer songwriter on the cusp of breaking through.


Amos hit the stage without fan fare, he’s unassuming in his pork pie hat and spectacles that he continually retrieves from the end of his nose.


As a fan I was instantly rewarded as Amos Lee and his band open with two of my favourite tracks, Keep it Loose, Keep it Tight and Freedom. I stood twenty feet from the stage as Amos delivered songs from his two albums, the first self titled, the latest ‘Supply and Demand’


Amos Lee presents his songs effortlessly, although he does admit to struggling in his bid to hit some high notes in songs that he recorded two and three years ago. Three years of constant touring will mature any voice!


Tonight, it’s as a three piece that the songs are truly given justice. Its bare bones, no elaborate staging, lighting or gimmicks, just passionate storytelling through songs that hit their mark with the audience that seem well acquainted with every word of every song.


Amos paused briefly through tonight’s set to acknowledge the support from his Australian fans, thank the support act, deliver some friendly banter and introduce his touring band.


I got the sense that Amos Lee is a career singer songwriter in a world of two-minute TV karaoke hacks. It’s nice to know that people can see straight through the drivel and appreciate the cream that’s rising to the top.


Amos wrapped up the band’s set to thunderous applause. He left the stage and returned not thirty seconds later to feed the hungry crowd with an encore.


Tonight’s set at the Basement was exactly as I had hoped it would be. A true talent, Amos Lee is a career musician relying on nothing more than his gifts for singing and song writing. Spread the word!