england is like some kind of beautiful dream, where every day is filled with magic and wonder. I was apprehensive before leaving Christchurch, city of dreams, but I knew as soon as I reached Birmingham's bricked victorian slums that I had reached "something special."
its not the miserable people that are incapable of smiling.
its not the constant rain and walking around in new "tresspass" anorak, picked out by my grandmother who said it made me look "swave." [sic] it has a detachable hood.
this image is meant to represent the average English spring day, unfortunately I don't have a picture of myself "rambling" in my blue anorak, suffice to say, its pretty sexy. number of babes scored whilst wearing anorak = seven.
its not the fear and racism
it was the kiss cover's night
I didn't realise that anyone even liked Kiss (typeset as KISS), to be honest. I thought they existed as some kind of joke that they have successfully played on the music scene that still serves to earn them considerable sums of money, kind of like "dem Klappies". Although even the Klap don't earn as much as Kiss(typeset as KISS). And certainly not the non-lead-singer members of aforementioned CHCH band.
according to wikipedia, the only reliable information source,
The resulting Kiss Alive/Worldwide/Lost Cities/Reunion Tour was the top-grossing act of 1996 and 1997.
i don't know waht that means in real money terms, but probably a lot.
Anyway, worldly advice from J. Phillips
"don't go to a KISS covers night, like seriously, don't"
The covers night was filled with the combined mass of Wolverhampton's forty something music elite, with teased dyed blonde hair and spandex for the mostly overweight women and every older rock guy cliche possible.
Sidenote.
It must be hard when you are facing middleage and increasingly your lifestyle choices begin to impact on your ability to get an "easy lay." I guess joining together with like-minded females who have made the same decisions and are seemingly stuck in 1986 is the only possible way that these guys can...
FUCK, having real issues, lost my COMEDIC EDGE.
FUCKCKCKCKCKKC
...proceed to, during the "process" of the night, make out horrifically with the eighties post-babes . It was like being caught in the beginning of a sexcapade, like a really bad set up for a pornographic film or something. It felt so seedy. I thought there was nothing seedier than power rock from the seventies performed by middle aged men who paint their face and wear spandex, but in the fans I discovered that there are even deeper bowels of seediness.
My knowledge of KISS consisted of a number of eighties hits. I didn't like any of them. Leaving the concert I still didn't like any KISS songs. It was pretty alarming to be in an audience of people who loved and adored the back catalogue of Kiss. It was encouraging to find people so passionate about something so wrong. I felt a brief tenderness towards these sweaty delusional beasts rampaging to "Psycho Circus." If they could, for a night, ignore the pallid versions of these expendable songs, ignore the plasticky beer taste from the jugs, ignore their problems at home, then maybe other people, not just Kiss fans could ignore the not-so-awesome aspects of life for a night.
I thought England was going to be nothing but violence and drugs, racism and hot beats. As it is, England is everything but the hot beats.
other KISS news
PAUL "STARMAN?" STANLEY LIVE IN WELLINGTON, why did I ever leave New Zealand?
Proof that scene-ness/cool-ness has moved to Auckland.
Stop being dumb Christchurch. Follow the lead of lead blogger and leading man J. Phillips. Leave your flat and the flat. Move yourself into some big smoke.
Follow the GATZ
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
It was lonely for an hour or so until upon leaving the national express coachline some man, more recently arrived than I, stopped me.
“Where are we?” he asked helplessly.
I told him. And as I walked on I was lonely no longer. I was a guide, a pathfinder, an original settler. He had casually conferred on me the freedom of the neighborhood.
Is eating meat "wrong"? Are you a "fag" if you don't eat meat? What about veganism, in the words of David Klein, is it "all or nothing man"?
What are you going to do Eamonn! I am sorry that the "world of warble" blog draft doesn't really exist. Is it ethical to eat a Burger King salad burger?
Is this guy right or wrong? Back to ethical dilemmas:
You would think that as a satirical collaborative website, this blog would have no/a tiny carbon footprint. You'd be wrong. If you only knew about all the car rides that have taken place in order for blogs to happen. Darian's Volkswagen Golf, assuming it is a V8, probably 2 litres plus. And what about Jonathan Phillips flying half across the world, just for repose? Assuming he flew in a Boeing 747, we're pretty much fucked.
"yrgoldenage = totz unethical" - Quote Ross "the poet" Brighton outside Lawcafe.(sidenote alert: best or worst cafe on campus? Personally, I prefer cafe 101, but, you know, so subjective. Cultural preferences are totes relative? I mean, not everybody enjoys a vegetarian samosa or a ham-and-cheese pinwheel...)
Is relaying gossip about people on a website unethical? Can one person suffering mild embarassment be justified if the website has a lot of hits/makes a lot of people happy? Are popular blogs more morally acceptable? Are blogs with few followers and not many hits immoral?
So many questions for the ages. Not really that "philosophical" though so can't really get that deep. I'm just a blogger y'all. I probably have more answers than chickybabes though:
But then again, I'm sick of the YGA team all having similar views. Lets shake things up with a new blogger, somebody to really "get you thinking". It could work really well or it could work out really horribly with the blog becoming too "political" and would totz loose touch with the gossip.
Just want to post "funny vids".
OH WELL, better "hit the hay" since I have work in 8 hours. Hate working for "the man", ust wish blogging was way more lucrative. Don't keep yourself awake at night with ethical dilemmas. Just get a Big Mac and relax with your girl/boy and put on a movie.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
I imagined every sitcom had the laugh track removed. Where the fake laughter from the programmers desk was, it was replaced by a prosaic silence. I think it would be better that way.
Lawrence Arabia has made a new album, it is called "Chant, Darling." I have listened to said album now ten times fully through.
Lesson Learnt
Total Time of Album: 36.2 minutes
Amount of Guitar Solo Time on Album: 1.26 minutes
I don't know what Mr. James Milne learnt during his time in London/Port Chalmers/other places cited in press release where he recorded the album, but it clearly wasn't mean guitar solos.
2 stars out of 5
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
with a heavy heart,
I am leaving CHCH, city of dreams. I bought my ticket three months ago. Honestly, like completely sincerely, been spending lots of days lately just walking around inner city CHCH looking at the buildings and people talking to each other in cafes. I felt like an "outsider" or something, there is so much to see in Christchurch I guess if you walk around and start noticing the way the buildings work together and form a "dialogue" with each other, or the way the autumn makes everything look different in the city.
I think CHCH is the best in the Autumn, how about you?
The Klap have made a new video. It is "objectively" shit, well at least the song is. I thought the video was pretty good, "objectively". I am being sincere. I mean I had to skip ahead for bits, and the song had to be muted. But yeah, I like the recording artist Tom Waits, do you? The Klap do too! Maybe you guys can become friends?
Has anyone else noticed that Christchurch has no good bands anymore?
Like serious decline. Like the roman empire, all decadence and hedonism and lead in the aquifers. On the television and in yr newspapers they talk about the recession, I hear a lot of talk about the recession.
All this free time in Merivale without internet access has left me thinking about a lot of things. Is yrgoldenage dead? Should I have just majored in something "worthwhile" like Geology? Are you that desperate that you're willing to lower your standards that much? Is sitting in the U.S History section of the library an authentic place in which to blog from? Is post irony and new sincerity synonymous? Is Beyonces song "Halo" the best song ever written?
Seriously. So much going on y'all. But lets keep it scene gossipy. OK.
Should Thunderkitties and Da Klappiez fuse to create a super gang? Does Tim Moore know how to ride a skateboard/can your favourite thunderkitty change his/her life to fit into the Klappiez/Cartel lifestyle, ie becoming interested in: "cocktails, wine, cigars, beautiful women and imported beers". Oh yeah, don't worry guys, incase you were wondering what you can call your new gang, I suggest THUNDERKLAP? Works well, no?
Do Pig Out still exist? Is Marie Celeste maybe just a trademe model now? Pretty lucrative deal y'all
Actually apparently Pig Out have a new song but not actually listening to it, just focusing on thier new black/white/heather grey/navy blue aesthetic. And Kit Lawrences new hair do'.
Tipz4Kit: Maybz in your hair dye arrangment, you could organise the dye in a more ying yang formation? Embrace a more spiritual 90's mum aesthetic?
Has Mount Pleasant "gone viral" by showing up on secret file sharing hubs? Will I be banished to computer science nerd hell for posting a screenshot of this? JUST LOVE THE HUB SO BAD <3>
Did The Bang Echies expose themselves to a whole new audience by playing the Linwood block party? totez meant to go, but was kind of too busy being consumed by the Merivale lifestyle at Merivale Mall buying $14 (a piece) measuring spoons.
Is Eamonn the golden sun that shines bright on all things good?
Is putting a song on a playlist for a hot babe with lyrics like "I'm watching you and all the things you do" a bad idea? Should I try and loose my "deranged intense diva" reputation amongst hot babes?
But seriously, is this blog really dead? Did anybody see our minute mention by Chris Cudby in Real Groovy? omg celebzzz. Where do I go when yrgoldenage is truly dead forever? Do you think stuff.co.nz would hire any of us to write on thier shitty blog section? Sorry g2g y'allz. Academia calls.
towards an urban poverty. you may see in yr small towns, some of "our losses", some indications of the death of "our city": it is yr death. this is yrgoldenage, "live it love it". each empty building, vacant lot, is our failure. this recessed city troubles in waking fear, of bottle green violence, of sullen and sallow bodies heaving against each other in brick lined alley holding close "do you love me" she says, "of course i love you" he says. they stare so quietly at each other as if the city can hear their silence, as if the city has become their silence, as if every empty shop building and forgotten golden sign is them and filled with their presence. my golden age is ending, maybe I don't want to leave. just want every street to "become me", so that the streets begin to trace the lines on my hands and body and I am christchurch. maybe we all are.
This isn't actually a "local" quotable quote, does it make it any less "meaningful"?
Probably.
I found it on the most important website on the internet, Pitchforkmedia, in their review of the new U2 album.
Important to note, as a sidenote for yrgoldenage contributor/scene royalty Darian J. Wood's recent topical post on racism, notice Irish rock royalty "The Edge" allowing himself to be photographed with an elderly asian lady.
QUOTE OF 1990, but still pretty relevant today
"You've got to balance being relevant and commenting on something that's happening today with trying to attain timelessness," The Edge, the guitarist, not the NZ Mainstream Radio Station
Pretty important sentiment not just for a platinum selling arena rock band, but also for yrgoldenage and maybe hipsters in the chch/NZ/eastern seaboard of the United States(thanks for reading Universtiy of Mass.)
yrgoldenage new aesthetic?
timelessness?
searching out yoko ono and getting photographed with her? hopefully she is in tokyo between april 9-11?
This next quote was actually quipped a very long time ago, so not only does it hint at handy tips instructing us how to attain timelessness, but probably 'transcends time' itself.
No legacy is so rich as honesty - William Shakespeare
This dialogue between yrgoldenage and the Christchurch scene should end, or at least transfigure shit-talking into something helpful. While never intending to abuse our position of modesty and removal from the scene we have nevertheless reached an impasse. While bound to a scene that is noncommittal-largely denying its very existence-and writing in a voice that is mostly not our own, shit-talking for the sake of shit-talking, our writing has become a sort of minor heresy. The unfortunate conjunction of utilizing the gossip that comprises the majority of conversations on the scene in an attempt to alleviate this problem, through recognizing it and publishing it thus invalidating the gossip is ignored. Many choose to see yrgoldenage as a trumped up, bloated selfish act.
While I am in no position to suggest to anyone a course of action that may prove beneficial to the scene (who would follow my suggestions anyway?) I feel obligated to try to create something honest and direct, as these two qualities are currently denied on this website as it is spoken through a voice which is only a small part of my personality, just as the drunken and drugged nights of the new hedonism represent only a part of the scene who are just as emotionally fraught and troubled by their failures and mistakes as we all are. How can we take this scene seriously enough to invest most nights attending gigs and money in dressing appropriately, but not seriously enough to critically analyze ourselves and attempt to improve ourselves and the greater whole?
My suggestions for self-improvement are irrelevant anyway, predicated on a firm-seated belief in authenticity and legitimacy. I sincerely hope that people can do more with their lives.
Positive aspects of Christchurch include
A series of well maintained gardens and parks ideal for events in which discussions of art, politics and culture could occur. Furthermore, self-promoted exhibitions and performances could be held within such areas. They currently are not; most events occur within rigidly defined areas such as galleries and bars.
A small population in which everyone knows each other, and so events can be organized easily and need minimal promotion.
Small groups of people committed to promoting and improving Christchurch, for example Red Panda, the Moores, Okay Jams, Alt Music Christchurch, High Street Project, Physics Room. Such groups should become the central driving force behind making Christchurch a real cultural centre for New Zealand.
Well equipped amenities, a public library with free internet, spaces where performances, speeches, and listening parties can occur.
Positivity. In the 2006 Big Cities report, surveyors concluded 'the majority (87%) of Christchurch residents rated their emotional well-being positively, stating they were either very happy (33%) or happy (54%).'
The alternative is walking down Bealey Ave on Friday night. That is what the reality of Christchurch is, boy racer violence. I would prefer to try to alleviate this problem and create something actually meaningful in this city rather than trying to deny it. As it is, by simply wearing clothing purchased from Honour & Obey or perhaps the new World store and drunkenly attending gigs and sullenly standing with arms crossed and offering muted criticism in hushed tones, this scene will remain as dull and staid as Warren and Mahoney's Clarendon Tower.
Feeling really anxious. Sitemeter's world map has revealed that the New Zealand government is watching yrgoldenage, monitoring? Kinda happy I never wrote that post about Steffie Key. It was going to be a good post, not in a "Lolita" way.
New YrGoldenAge Mission Statement
No more insidious anti government tracts, no more anti John Key propaganda. Just keep it honest and direct, and "for the people".
Is this what we are paying our bureaucrats for, to sit around idly reading blogs?
Christchurch is a small place, kinda hard to run away from your problems when there are constant reminders of heartache/angst/aggression wherever you look. I know this all too well, it's hard y'all. Especially at University, was just trying to join some authentic clubs like Young Acts/Pro Life/Classoc/Winesoc but then there are shitty reminders and so I go to class and the super deep lecturer will say something like "everything has a beginning, middle and an end. Especially relationships". Fuck. I've been thinking though, there are probably some pretty sweet escapist options:
1. Commence working out so you are in your prime for sweet scene aggression. Just beat up anybody who has hurt/annoyed you or made you cry. Is it still chill to be a pacifist? Who needs pacifism when you have a pair of these? I AM FOR REAL THESE ARE REAL SHOES FOR SALE AT #1 SHOE WAREHOUSE.
2. Just embrace pop culture and make cool "mainstream" playlists. Has irony gone too far when you are considering going to Summer Jam 2k9? Just want to see Miley Cyrus's bro ~in the flesh~.
Pretty much only listen to this playlist now. Tried to listen to Wavves but it was fucking shit. Just wanna listen to pop music that "gets me" and my sad feelings/bad vibes. "Is this the way it's meant to be, only dreaming that you're missing me, I'm waiting here at home, I go crazy, now you're gone"Now You're Gone - BASSHUNTER. Pretty authentic track of the now.
3. Just take the Neon Sleep route and pretend like jocks don't exist. (Kinda rude, I mean, bros just wanna have fun. Is that so wrong? Just wanna see what it's like outside of shooters/the strip. Since when was variety a crime?)
4. Embrace past hipster trends and wear a gem sweater everyday.
Whenever you start to feel sad/angst about shitty things in Christchurch, just grab a gem and powerful vibes/feelings of euphoria will materialize from within. Dazzling vibes. Maybe wear a dreamcatcher as a necklace too? Spiritual people, give me all your advice/tips. WOAH SIDENOTE ALERT HOT GIG THIS WEEKEND HOLY FUCK (not the band, just real actual excited)!!!:
"Whether you're seeking information or inspiration,
inner peace or mental stimulation, or you’re just curious about what's out there, the Body Mind Spirit Festival invites you to revitalise your body, stimulate your mind, and pamper your soul..."
Um yeah anyway hope this post wasn't too lame buzz. Haven't written in awhile because things are a bit tricky right now and it's kind of easier to just stay off the internet because you just end up looking at peoples facebooks and it can be pretty heartbreaking if you catch my drift. BTW has anybody seen He's Just Not That Into You THE FILM yet? I saw it yesterday and it was pretty amazing apart from being late and walking into the theatre alone feeling like everybody was watching me fumble my way to my seat thinking "shame, look at that single loser. I bet she is trying to get tips on how to meet men. shame, shame, shame". They're probably right.
In conclusion, run away from your problems using my sweet methods. They work pretty well, trust me. I am living proof. Sorry, should this post have been more scene goss/less self indulgent drivel? Just trying to recover from the loss of Matt Mcauley y'all, can you blame me?
Matthew McAuley, who has officially removed himself from YrGoldenAge, was a fine writer and a better friend. His singular work for YrGoldenAge has been removed as he had unveiled himself in front of an audience and feared the inevitable backlash. His restlessly inquiring mind led him into many areas of gossip exploration and his work was characterised by a lightness of touch and a tone of wry amusement. For the past four months he was my friend and a constant source of inspiration.
A handsome, lean man with a fastidious dress sense, Matthew was ready to laugh at the world and himself when the occasion warranted. Yet he could discourse as knowledgeably on hip-hop as he could the relative merits of local hipster bands and gossip. His contribution to this website is undeniable, his presence propelled the blog into new heights of sincerity and signaled a movement away from the rigid gossip that characterized his single piece of writing for this web-blog.
He will be focusing, most probably on his university studies and band, BraiNZ, who are supporting Die!Die!Die! soon. We wish him the very best of luck
It's getting a bit stale, eh (can't really talk, I posted one blog and then just used this account for all the non-moderated comment perks).
So yeah, I'm out.
Matthew H. McAuley
P.S. Jon/Simone, when are you going to unleash the majesty of all those unpublished drafts??? "Being Daniel Hewitt" blew my mind. And "World of Warble"? WoW is right. P.P.S. Probably not bloggable. Sorry.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
I am a New Zealander. I am "political". These terms aren't mutually exclusive.
Love political cartoons, even when I don't "get it". Haven't really been paying attention to any news, apart from local gossip - the only "real" news. Did John Key get beaten up or something and is Bill English taking over control? Don't watch the news or read anything ever aye, too busy listening to hot new beatz (heard the new "black dice" yet? fucking rad) attending art openings, making my new album, having sex with hot babes that want to feel my authenticity/penis.
I utilise social networking sites now only to express my politics, don't want to "share the Facebook experience" anymore, just want to get really involved in changing the world/new zealand/chch.
Facebook is the best possible medium for political action. It is the only medium. Where were you before Facebook? Probably on Myspace, eagerly awaiting an all pervasive social networking site which can use all yr details and probably sells them to companies as market research. (Maybe)
I am passionate and proactive about Blackout Political Cause. This law may hurt me. I'm all for Palestine destroying Israel or Zimbabwean independence or whatever, but the fact that I may have to refrain from breaking copyright law really pisses me off. This won't be like the time I bought that rad Palestinian scarf because James Grant wore one in the video for Pop Eats Pop--this time I mean it. I'm so pissed I'm going to change my facebook avatar black.
Q: How will my bros who aren't yet facebook friends with me find me if they can't spell my name properly?
A: They won't. We're making real sacrifices here. Our friend counts may stagnate for the time being.
But as Ghandi said:
"First they ignore your facebook photo, then they ridicule your facebook photo, then they fight your facebook photo, then you win." - Mahatma Ghandi
(http://creativefreedom.org.nz/blackout.html).
Important Trends for 2k9, as ascertained from Camp A Low Hum, the underground fashion/band/aesthetic defining festival
Now that this years most important and meaningful festival has faded into repetitive and seemingly never-ending images on social networking site "Facebook", in some desperate attempt to "keep the dream alive", or as anarcissistic urge to justify yr hipster status with yr friends.
(TBH, don't actually know who this hot hipster babe is, but felt I had to protect her identity from web predators with a black bar across her eyes "just in case". Those excited hand gestures highlight the carefree attitude and good vibes that coloured CALH09 in the colours of old photographs
"just want my whole life to look like photos from the fifties, even if it means adjusting them in Adobe Photoshop/Apple iPhoto to make them look more authentic/rad" Jonathan Phillips, new 2k9 photographic mission statement
What this photo fails to address is the long term impact that CALH09 will have on the New Zealand/international indie music scene. While the anonymous hipster smiles a carefree smile and raises her hands in a gesture representing her immediacy, being "lost in the moment", the issues being addressed and challenged by the music of local and international acts/ the sartorial options displayed can, only in hindsight, begin to be understood and utilised in defining our individual responses to being a hipster in CHCH/ NZ.
(authentic facial expression probably expresses how many of you are feeling, where is the fucking gossip, just want to know about J. Chillips' "hot hookup" with "scene celeb" L. L. Watson/ the drug demons that plague entry level hipster Eamonn Mara/ mean street babes.)
Scene Gossip is really bad aye, and can really damage and destroy reputations on the scene/ reinforce stereotypes and create and justify scene violence, the writers of YrGoldenAge only believe in promoting "good vibes" and exciting new music/fashion/alt lifestyle opportunities that can "change lives."
Valuable Lessons of Camp 2k9
1. Widespread and seemingly unironic embrace of "The Edge", (lead guitarist of U2, not the mainstream radio station)
U2 made several surprising cameo performances at this year's leading underground music festival. Clearly hot underground acts Over the Atlantic/So! So! Modern!?/Secret Knives all had, instead of listening like most people, to Mount Eerie/Grouper on repeat, found redemption in U2's signature guitar sound.
Many of the Australians attending camp were a little confused by the wholehearted embrace of delayed arpeggiated guitar riffs:
"who the fuck are these guys? U2?!" some rad australian overheard during the SoSo Modern mainstage performance
"just want more chiming delayed guitar solos from bands, lolz" ironic quote from Jonathan, of Paint Yr Golden Face,
For a comprehensive overview on delay and the edge, for those local bands who really want to improve on their stadium rock show and impress a crowd- (the Klappies, Clap yr Hands Say Riot, B!ng B!ng ?ch!?), this website, A Study of The Edge’s (U2) Guitar Delay might create a sophistication to your band's sound/modern forward focused aesthetic to a band facing the issues of economic recession.
2. Post ironic embrace of the nineties, grunge bands, grunge aesthetic
(photograph by local photographer Christopher J. Andrews, capturing local scene celebrity/ heartthrob Ross the Model's new aesthetic. So many questions, Is dirty hair the new "clean hair"? Are you "into" his facial hair "approach"? Will ross the model define every season's authentic approach to fashion for both male and female hipsters? Will females start growing facial hair? so many unanswered questions )
ouch my face, the stabs, east brunswick all girls choir, dhdfds, wilberforces, mean street were all fucking rad at camp, and were all pretty nineties. I don't know how I felt about it all, I didn't think it was quite time for an "early nineties revival" quite yet, maybe it could be time to cut my hair into a bowl cut and preempt the brit-pop revival. It is probably unfair to pigeonhole bands to their nineties equivalents, but here goes:
stabs = nineties vibes, especially the drummer, probably the best/most authentic person at camp
east brunswick= vaguely jeff buckley-esque, without the shitty songs and whole drowning thing
dhdfds= vaguely early red hot chilli peppers, lead guy probably the best performer in contemporary new zealand music, apart from d."avey tare" woods
wilberforces/mean street = sonic youth
But what does this all mean for the average hipster in small town New Zealand? Is Wanganui our Aberdeen, Washington. Does that make Sets our Kurt Cobain. Probably.
It is clear that the early years of the nineties are making a "serious comeback this season." While popular Yr Golden Age sideproject "street flashion" was not seriously documenting the fashion approaches of New Zealand hipsters, (for two main reasons, firstly, Christchurch street fashion is superior, secondly, there were no streets at camp) it became increasingly evident that plaid is going to be "big this season."
However this grunge revival will not be "cut from the same cloth" as the US predecessors of the Seattle "Scene". Although check shirts and dirty hair were evident, in general trousers retained the tightness which has been a defining feature of pursuing an alt approach to fashion in the noughties. More common at camp, as a seasonal look, jeans were carefully cut off just above the knee. Who is defining this particular alternative look? Who suggests that this is the appropriate place to cut off jeans? Is this really a grunge aesthetic, or is everyone too self aware to really achieve an effortless and unaffected approach to fashion?
Pearl Jam = Completely Unaffected/ RAD Aesthetic
For the alt babes approach to grunge, wasn't really paying too much attention, I was more interested in listening to the new music, maybz if Darian was writing the post he could elaborate on some of the details aye, he spend a lot of time with babez at camp. I guess there is only one real example to look up to, she fucked Kurt Cobain (Good Vibes), and Billy Corgan (Probz really regretted the morning after aye)
Courtney Kobain-Love = Something to aspire to.
Hopefully this grunge revival doesn't extend into graphic design, fucking hate David Carson aye. (Although, bro knows how to pull a good pose/sell out/ "change the public face of graphic design"- Newsweek)
3. making really shitty music, but still being really popular
What with the show is the rainbow= average version of yacht/dan deacon, teacups = wannabe fuzzy fuzzmins and bonaparte= adult version of the wiggles : "who wants to bonaparty", it seemed the more mainstream/shit you got, the more popular you were. Bonaparty were seemingly everyones favourite band of Camp 09, it seemed that making the most unimaginative party music is guarenteed to win you fans. Even B?ng B?ng !ch!, seemed edgy in comparison.
Neil fucking Finn playing the main stage?
"not even tim, the "cooler" finn"- some hipster overhead during their set/the biggest event of CAL09 )
Admittedly they did have Elroy Finn playing, he is clearly the "dark horse" of the family, during a Finn family set that was the event of the final night. But it all seemed somewhat incongruous with an underground music festival that had Justice Yeldham on the main stage two nights previously. Oh well, just spent every day post camp listening to my "Recurring Dream: Best of Crowded House" reliving the memories.
"Walking down the room singing Stormy Weather,
at 67 Mount Pleasant street" - from the song "Weather with You" by Neil Finn, OBE, covered by Jimmy Buffett on his album "Take the Weather with You"
This amour de la merde continued throughout the festival, people cheering when maltstream beatz came on during the "baywatch" beach party, serious impassioned defenses of Kings of Leons Albums overheard near tent, 1.00am kareoke versions of metallica. Sometimes it didn't seem like I was at an underground music festival.
3. local scenesters/babez getting wasted and embarassing themselves
Local scene bad-boy Eamonn Marra getting trashed on speed/no doze, Laura Lee Watson, of hot and upcoming Christchurch supergroup Pop! Hits! City!, spending a drunken night with J. Phillips - the biggest "scene hookup" of 2k9? local celebrity/scene elder Fran passing out for twelve hours because of drunkeness? nick robinson being rushed to hospital because of mysterious accident? probably more gossip, but
fuck,
"Scene Gossip is really bad aye, and can really damage and destroy reputations on the scene/ reinforce stereotypes and create and justify scene violence, the writers of YrGoldenAge only believe in promoting "good vibes" and exciting new music/fashion/alt lifestyle opportunities that can "change lives."
YRGOLDENAGE PLEDGE FOR 2k9
4. local blogger/correspondant darian j. getting highly terrifying
camp highlights- ruby suns, darian krumping? with the holiday with friends lead singer and anything that moved. We could only look on with horrified fascination.
Did I miss any important trends?
Will there by any more photo albums devoted solely to camp experiences?
Is Christchurch the Seattle of the Grunge Revival?
Should I invest in some baggy jeans/flannel, dust off my copy of Pearl Jam 10? Is Opiate by Tool an acceptable grunge album? Is it more authentic to listen to Tad and early grunge, or listen to new underground grunge bands from Leeds like Dinosaur Pile Up/Wonderswan?
Should I write some pop hits with jangly guitar and cultural appropriation/world beatz and headline next years Camp with my two sons?
Now that CALH09 has been covered by YGA, does this mean there is closure? Can I finally be "over" camp? What does the possibility of living without "camp" mean?
