Desert island playlist

Triple J is celebrating the twenty year anniversary of it's annual Hottest 100 music poll with a one off 'Hottest 100 of the last 20 years' countdown. It got me thinking, if you were exiled to a desert island and given a choice of a ten song playlist to take with you, which songs would you choose?

I'll admit, this question is enough to send me into a mild panic. How could you choose only ten? And would it be wise to not choose your very favourites. You'd have to listen to those ten songs, only those ten, forever more. Would they end up sending you mad? Would listening to them over and over eventually destroy that which you loved? 

I asked Rich. He stared at for me for a moment while I watched his brain explode behind his eyes at all the possibilities. Then, an incredulous reply that he'd need to spend at least a week with his entire music collection to even come close to choosing ten. Even then, he thinks it impossible.

For the sake of a bit of fun, trying really hard not to over think it (SO. MANY. SONGS) here's my desert island playlist:

• Go your own way, Fleetwood Mac
• Cannonball, The Breeders
• Feeling good, Nina Simone
• Into my arms, Nick Cave
• Hallelujah, Jeff Buckley
• Watch over me, Bernard Fanning (specifically the version he sang with Clare Bowditch and Kasey Chambers at the ARIA's)
• Seven Nation Army, The White Stripes
• Cut Chemist Suite, Ozomatli
• Waltz #2, Elliott Smith
• Settle down, Kimbra

I reckon this list could serve me pretty well as I went crazy in the coconuts.

What songs would make your desert island playlist?

Belinda x

* Photos from a sailing trip on our recent holiday. We were willingly stranded on a tiny island in the Great Barrier Reef, free to snorkel and explore. The BEST day.

Summer love

Summer has always been my favourite. I love the light and colours of Autumn, the smell and energy of Spring. Winter's ok. Maybe if we had lashings of thick fluffy snow, I'd be a bit more partial to Winter? But for all the crazy weather in Summer, I forgive all when the sun shines. It's all plums and mangoes, summer dresses, lazy beach jaunts, it's melting ice creams, it's social get togethers; planned and impromptu and it means there's an almost endless list of music, art, dance and theatre performances on offer.

January is the month of the Sydney Festival. An annual program of events for grown ups, kids and families, often free and all over town. This year we didn't get to see nearly as much as we'd have liked but managed to get along to a few live shows, most notably David Byrne and St Vincent and their choreographed marching band (mind.blown) and Bat For Lashes (utterly charmed). 

Her performance was so clever and beautiful and captivating. AND, she wore a cape of rainbows. Couldn't have loved it more.

Source

Have a wonderful weekend!

Belinda x

Life Music

Ask any of my family or old timer friends to name my all time favourite band, they would all tell you without hesitation, Arrested Development. 

I was obsessed. I drew their AD band logo on all my schoolbooks, on my hands like a jailbird tattoo (engraved it on a few school desks too if I'm really honest!)  When 'Revolution' was released, I recorded it off the American Top 40 radio show that was broadcast in Sydney on Sundays and made each of my friends listen to it on my walkman on the bus to school the next morning. My family were the ones who had to put up with my obsession the most though, I would watch the Arrested Development documentary on video after school every day for months. Literally, EVERY SINGLE DAY. I also remember a particular family holiday to Adelaide where I held my tape-player 'ghetto blaster' on my lap for the two days it took to drive from Sydney, and I played Arrested Development just about the entire trip. Occasionally the odd Bob Marley album was thrown in the mix for good measure or when I felt in a good mood, I'd let my brother play one of his Run DMC or Michael Jackson tapes. My brother and sister know just about every word to every song, AD are just as much a part of their growing up as mine.

Arrested Development's brand of hip hop, and themes of love, equality, standing up for what you believe in and being thankful for what you've got, really hit a nerve with me as an awkward, shy teenager. I never felt as cool or as pretty as any of my friends, I felt different and gave myself such a hard time about it. Looking back I'm sure most of us felt exactly the same way, but at the time I felt completely alone in it. Arrested Development lifted me out of my head and gave me something so positive to hang onto. They called it 'Life Music' and it made an enormous impact on me. I loved deeply their music and what they had to say.

This week, my sister, my husband and I caught a ferry over to Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour for Arrested Development's 20th Anniversary show.  Needless to say, WE. HAD. THE. BEST.TIME.

Belinda x

What I'm listening to

*sigh* Friday afternoon. Music filling this house, lifting us out of our week and into the weekend. Here's a little taste of what we're nodding our heads to round here lately...

The brilliant collaboration of St Vincent and David Byrne, Love This Giant. (Touring Sydney in January) I cant get enough of this song and video clip!

Bat For Lashes. New album, The Haunted Man launches on October 23 but she has already streamed half of it here. I am in love with this song, Laura.

Lately, our calendar has been filling up with gigs and shows, for me that always signals that Summer is on her way (although you wouldn't know it in Sydney today!) I think my summer festival days may be well and truly over but I still love the feeling of looking forward to see a favourite artist perform. The Black Keys, Arrested Development, Ben Harper, Kora, First Aid Kit, St Vincent & David Byrne all coming up in the next few months!

And, I'm especially excited that Lissie is currently back in the studio (according to her updates on Instagram, follow her @Lissiemusic) which means we'll be treated to new stuff from her soon enough too!

What is your go to track/album on a Friday arvo?

Enjoy your weekend!

Belinda x

Mis Amigos

ladies lunch from elsieandjoan on Vimeo.

On the weekend, I was reminded again how important my girlfriends are to me.  New friends to the oldest friends, all of them have enriched my life. How lucky I am to have friends to lean on, draw inspiration from, compare notes, laugh with.

We women dont generally take time for ourselves too often. Life seems to move faster every day. Family, work, errands, sometimes much less important things, monopolise our time and, before long, it feels like a lifetime between jugs of sangria with the girls! (or Daiquiri Mocktails as the case may be)

On saturday morning, a couple of us hit the road early and escaped the city for a glorious day of lunch, laughs, sharing stories and generally catching up on the things we never get around to chatting about when limited by time to facebook updates or that ten minutes over the phone driving home from work or cooking dinner for the family etc.  It felt a bit like coming back to centre.

This whole idea was practically forced on us by Katie-Sue who offered up her family holiday house as our base camp.  I'm glad you stuck to your guns KS, I know we're all the better for it.  Thank you! xx

Thanks also to the lovely staff at Rojo Rocket - especially Matt - who made us feel so welcome to sit back in the sun and relax all afternoon in their fantastic mexican restaurant. It was perfect! Recommended!

Gangster handsign to ma homies.

Belinda x


* Music source: 'Wise up' by Ruby Boots A fab band unearthed by Triple J, this beautiful song is currently available for free download, go check 'em out!

If you see your neighbour jamming harder than you, covet his or her jam

We were lucky enough to get tickets - and amazing seats - to two great shows at The Sydney Opera House during the Vivid festival.

First, Janelle Monae & The ArchAndroid Orchestra.  Tiny lady, massive voice, killer moves!  

It was a brilliant show, she's clever, quirky and crazy talented. I'm completely won over with a big band sound especially if that band is dancing the whole time.  And, although I appreciate that she's created an avant garde, Alice in Oz fantasy world and the show was intended to feel immersive much like Michael Jackson and Prince have done before her, it did feel a little too scripted at times.  It was clear that everyone on stage and off were having a great time.  I don't know, I guess I get more from a show when it's more fluid and the artist is responding to the audience and translating that into their performance, real time.  It makes for a more unique and personal experience to me. That being said, it was completely fun.  Her ridiculous voice.  Love her.

Then there was The Temper Trap.  Holy Heck.  What.a.mother.flippin.show.  

These boys had just returned home and were pretty pumped about it, you could totally tell. It was a dream combination, that sound and those vocals in the Sydney Opera House.  Didnt hurt that we were just 3 rows back from the stage too!

That last image of The Temper Trap's bass player, Jonathon Aherne, makes me smile.  Dude can play.  But not only that, he's so amazing to watch.  Wears his bass high, which I love, and he just gets inside the music.  He dances with that axe as if it's an extension of himself, like a samurai. He's having such a great time, you cant help but feel it too.  Brilliant!   (See what I mean, here.)

All images taken with the iphone. I wanted to give you a taste but the quality doesn't do the shows justice, unfortunately. I always worry about taking a camera for fear of some door rule that forces me to leave it in the cloak room.  Then, inevitably during the shows, I always regret not bringing it. 

Right! M'off to enjoy more of this Sunday sunshine, who knows how long it will last!

Happy weekending.

Belinda x

Top Five

Rich and I went to see Angelique Kidjo the other week, which was really nostalgic for me since I've loved her since I was fifteen.  She turned me onto world music and a whole world of music I hadn't ever been exposed to.  

My brother, sister and I share a love (obsession) of music.  As kids, we grew up listening to whatever was in the charts, it wasn't until we were older that we really got our education in music. We have deaf parents so we didn't have their musical influences shaping our own.

I remember distinctly hanging out at my friend Katie's house when I was fourteen, working our way through The Beatles back catalogue she had grown up listening to, learning about them for the first time ever. Sure, I'd heard a few of the songs by then, but I really didn't have a clue who they were! It was only then that I realised that there was so much more to music than songs that made you feel good on a top 40 countdown.

Homebake Festival, 2008

Arrested Development

Baba OJ !

Kings of Leon (pre Sex on Fire) 

Rage against the Machine

Laura Marling 

Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco

Lissie & me!

So many memorable live shows over the years, and I've been thinking recently about my all time top five.  It's difficult to choose because there are so many variables and reasons why one might stand out. It's not always just about the music either. More often than not, it's also about those that you share the experience with. Or those songs from our life's soundtrack that remind us of certain times and memories.  My list is always going to be sentimental, I cant be any other way.  This is my (current) all time top 5 and why:

1. Faith No More, The Horden Pavilion, 1995.

I went to this gig with some friends of mine who played in a band.  When those distinctive first few chords of 'Epic' were played, we ran from our seats down to the mosh pit.  Before I knew what was happening, my mates had hoiked me up off my feet and let me go…..I was crowd surfing. I will always remember those moments of making my way to the stage - above the crowd - and looking over at Mike Patton just metres away.  I'm not a crowd surfer or even that much of a mosh pit enthusiast to be honest, but that moment was seriously (mother flippin) incredible.

2. Erykah Badu, The Sydney Opera House, 2012.

Ask any of my friends and they'll tell you, I pretty much die for an awesome female singer.  From Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, to Beyonce, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Alela Diane, Lissie...the list goes on and on!  Erykah Badu is one I had waited to see for a long time and finally got the chance earlier this year. And she didn't disappoint! The SOH is a very respected venue, there is a certain reverence, which means seeing your favourite bands or artists play there can be somewhat subdued or 'unplugged'.  But Erykah had the place jumping out of their seats. By the third song, I had kicked my heels off to join the crowd in a massive dance off.  That gig for me was all about the music, her overwhelming talent and the pure joy that everyone in the room felt by being there. It was electric.

3. Michael Franti & Spearhead, Byron Bay Blues & Roots Festival, 2003

Every year from 2001 to 2005, 'Blues Fest' was a staple in our events calendar.  If I had to rate the best festival of all time, this would be it, without a doubt.  We saw some seriously mindblowing and historic performances, discovered loads of amazing new and 'new to us' artists & bands.  But this performance in particular makes my list because that year my sister joined for the first time. She is is seven years younger than me and was nineteen at the time. She was wide-eyed and excited and we went to this show together. Just the two of us. We kicked up the dirt and danced, we sang 'all the crazy people make the beauty of the world' we hugged strangers, we hugged each other, we hugged Michael Franti and we left with the hugest smiles. Sharing this moment with her is forever in my heart.

4. Radiohead & Beck, The Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco, 2008

That line speaks for itself, really. It was as awesome as it sounds.  ok so, technically it was two gigs, they didnt play together on the same stage, but I cant choose one or the other.  People were up trees and flagpoles to get a glimpse, I've never seen so many people at a show actually. There was a sense of seeing something truly special, we were lucky to be there. 

Oh! AND, we stayed in the same hotel as Thom Yorke, I passed him in the lobby and for the smallest of moments, we locked eyes.  I'm sure he'll remember that moment forever ;-)

5. Hollie Smith, The Vanguard, 2008.

My music loving husband introduced me to Hollie Smith, she is another one of those to die for female voices. This was back when Rich and I were dating, sharing music and love song dedications.  We got amazing tickets, sat spellbound in front of her keyboard and watched her play barefoot and sing her heart out.  She's stunning, in every sense of the word.  It was special, and especially so for us.

*sigh* it's been fun to relive those moments! 

I'd love to hear about your all time favourite gigs too. Share!

Belinda x

Between the tea and the toast

After an exhausting week which included a quick business trip overseas, I've been so relieved to be home this weekend. Sometimes when you're feeling a little beaten down and too tired to think, you don't know what it is you need. Thank goodness the universe often takes care of that for you. Turns out I needed all of these things and I'm so grateful for them:

• Dinner with my closest girlfriends, in the neighbourhood where it all began 23 years ago.
• Afternoon naps.
• Quiet hours reading magazines and blogs.
• Beautiful music.  Listening to old and latest favourites, discovering new ones.
• Dinner with new friends (laughter is the best way to describe it)
• Most of all, being wrapped up in the arms of the man I adore.

This photo was taken from my hotel balcony while I was away. Before the commitments of the day began. Before the phone rang, before emails.  A cup of tea, this sunrise, a few long deep breaths.  Balance.

"Of all the days we've ever had,

it is these quiet days that leave me satisfied the most, when our holy ghosts

have room to dance

between the tea and the toast." *

Belinda x

(*Lyrics: Clare Bowditch and The Feeding Set)

Appletree

Erykah Badu in concert.
Wearing these shoes.
Four rows from the stage.
It's SO amazing when someone you have adored for 15 years exceeds expectations in real life, isn't it !

This pic captures the mood :-)

Hope you had a joy filled weekend !

Belinda x