Mt.VictoriaMist

Natives are Out and About

2011-01-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

A little patch of the Blue Mountains NSW can harbour a great bounty of gems. The floor of the bush, is a revolving show of constant subtle change to any bushling who cares to look and watch attentively.

Take the time to be a gumnut child of the bush no matter if you are an old crusty bugger or a nymph. Look about and you can see a whole new world lost to the traditions of other climes. It is amazing, allow yourself to enjoy it.

2011-01-14T04:22:00.001-08:00

2011-01-14T04:20:00.002-08:00

2011-01-14T04:20:00.001-08:00

New Years Honeymooner Swooner

2011-01-12T23:08:00.000-08:00

More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mt-victoria-mist/

New Years at the Imperial, Mount Victoria NSW

2011-01-01T23:09:00.000-08:00

This years new years was spent in Mount Victoria. The was a spontaneous crowd of crooners, swooners, ad libers, honeymooners and travelers. It was a great night. No hassle from drunk derros, no obnoxious overcrowding, a make do and create your own fun vibe, surprise performances, dancing, singing, poetry, chat and banter. A traditional 'auld' welcome to the New Year. Full credit to the organizers for promoting a good night of unharried frivolity. Job well done !

The mist is grey pink

2009-11-08T04:20:00.000-08:00

" The light in the right direction, usually afternoon, can turn a dark grey pink. The air around Mt Vic can be seen to reflect the pink of the stones and the pink and white of the settlement on the hill." this is a quote I like. Not because it is always true but because it always feels true to me.

Mountains Mist and Victory

Feasting Slowly @ altitude

2009-10-15T13:11:00.001-07:00

The Blue Mountains has a slow food inclination. Another of it's beauties. Bands of locals in the heart of the heights have gathered and voiced their community desire to eat together. Rejecting McDonaldification and establishing cafe culture, locavore aspiration and a slowfood precinct.

The culture of the mountains operates in it's kitchens, dining rooms and diverse tables. Families and guests mix and combine, new and customary foods cross benches and trigger sensations hourly. Native foods, colonial wet weather staples, and vegetarian innovations diverge with rising Cittaslow appetites.

The apples of Shipley and the stonefruits of Bilpin grace plates with handmade breads and permacultural harvests. That is the ideal.

I hope that family feasts and diverse eating only increase across the blue mountains city. If it is ever just like everywhere else it will be too far away to visit something that is just the same. And that is true of Australian culture too. It's value lies in it's difference.

Cosmopolitan Roving by Mount and Flat

Every second year has become a trend

2009-06-27T06:07:00.001-07:00

It is sweet to visit the Winter Magic Festival and greet the winter solstice with a stroll.

Winter Magic 2009

2009-06-27T06:04:00.001-07:00

It was great to see the locals out and about this winter solstice. As it always is. It was great to see not just colour but community discourse being represented.

Son of a Lion - Son of a Gun

2008-06-09T20:28:00.000-07:00

Son of a Lion - Son of a Gun

With sympathy for the Pashtuns we could transform our hearts. I had the good fortune to attend the Sydney Festival Premier of "Son of a Lion". Directed by Ben Gilmour. It gives an insight into the human side of the North West Border of Pakistan.

Sydney Festival: Karsten John of Cologne

2008-01-10T03:01:00.000-08:00

One of the gems the Sydney Festival has given us this year is the late night sophistication of Nujazz and master vibe maker DJ Karsten John.

Direct from Cologne, with a swathe of events and new-Europe club showcases under his belt, Karsten's skillful broken beats, jazz, funk and soul-vinyl smoothness brings the cut of the European mix scene direct to Antipodean ears. Sounds that have enticed the vibe-set stretching from Budapest, through Vienna, Dublin to Munich and back again. With intelligent sounds and aural excursions mined from the deepest grooves of vinyl parlours across the continental Jazzmix soundscape; Karsten John shows us what a record collection can bring to life.
Karsten John's late night set at the Beck's Bar 2008 venue was just a taste of the nujazz stylishness built from smart and serious selection of beautiful tunes. It was a sweet treat to be there, with an appreciative crowd of late night revelers who wanted more, asking for an afterparty to carry on the niceness and vibery. So sweet it was.

If you can catch him whilst he's still down under, do so. Or if you are ever in Cologne head to one of his 'Vinyl Vibes' nights where the freshest nujazz reigns.

Mojo Juju and the Snake Oil Merchants

2007-07-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

Burla Excerpt
(expanded article & drawings are in the relevant edition of the Burla)

You should catch Mojojuju and the Snakeoil Merchants. A caravan of feral gypsies and carnies channeling the Weltschmerz of half a dozen fallen aristocrats, the incandescent joy of deranged pychic mediums from the carnie diaspora, buskers, lovers and the possessed; they perform with maddening passion.

So many fine young itinerant talents traversing the landscape, banjos, guitars, saws and accordions in hand makes a festival spontaneously combust wherever they intersect..

Mojojuju and the snakeoil merchants, refined their exploits in the underworld of minstrelsy and their enchanted wanderings make dark deals on their audiences behalf. Spirits of love, desire, death and song rise up and play with them. The mask of comedy and the pants of gravity each find a place in this Novacastrian sect.

They urge you to rise from your chair; with or without skill, they urge you to rise and enjoy. Gently cajoling or swearing at the dying of the light, you will be a participant.

You are not made to feel that everyone else in the room is a qualified lindyhopper, the beat bids you sway, become just a little intoxicated with the snake oil, stomp, or if you wish, bob to the rhythm. The more perverse your dancing the better, shaking and quaking will not be discouraged in the church of the Juju gypsy spell. The music is made for it.

We have caught them at the Factory and the Underbelly, and we are pleased.

MojoJuju & the Snake Oil Merchants

So how good was Mr. Percival ?

2007-07-25T02:36:00.000-07:00

How good was He ? Tops mate. He seemed amused that we, the paying public might go to see him loop his voice and build great vaults of sound and atmospheres from it, but we were marveling. We marveled big time.

We caught Mr. Percival at the Clarendon Katoomba. That neat venue that keeps on giving. Tipped off by friends that we would miss something if we missed this something, we cracked a few bottles of the sparkly stuff and sat back and listened. A sweet night of music ensued.

Mr Percival has the ability to make a crowd join in. Humour, fun and a simple idea excellently executed, couple this with an amazing vocal range and you have a vox out of the box that charms you out of your socks. Why is it that truly talented people are so damnably nice ? The joy he finds in the vocalisations he creates on stage live before your very ears are a warm thing indeed.

On the night we heard him he was fresh out of CDs so we missed out, but we'll catch him elsewhere if we are tipped off again. We would love to hear him create a song or two using his Australian voice with an Australian accent, especially those that are about Australia. Seems a challenge worth pursuing, and one a talent like his could meet. But you can't have everything even when you want it. Nevertheless, furthermore, moreover and however, he was a bloody charmer and that can be enough for a nice night's fine entertainment. In fact, given that he builds every performance from scratch and throws in lashings of spontaneous sounds, he is not the type of performer who is going to bore you with identical shows every house. So catching him twice or thrice may prove nice.

www.mrpercival.com

2006-07-20T03:30:00.000-07:00

Martin Martini and the Bone Palace Orchestra

2006-07-20T03:26:00.000-07:00

Mr Martini is so far underground, living diversely in the crypts of Melbourne cathedrals and the plumbing of the colony, he threatens to undermine the town and knock all the buildings over, a gig at a time. Mr Martini compels us to listen a little closer to our own voices. He speaks a tongue that cuts through crud like a plough. He is said to arrange his manic toy acolytes in basement recitals and bludgeon them to bliss and recklessness. These dark assemblies of carnival magic then set about en masse into the suburbs, they walk amongst us, and one of them may be your neighbor.

Martini ‘bawls out at your guts’ as the Australian brogue classic demands. With a style distinctly his and his menagerie’s, he plays the ringmaster to a black night of the burlesque soul. He is not afraid to shout, to sing, to spruike to the beat of drums, play or even stand on a chair to do this. He is a gruff street sleeper of the music scene. Mr Martini and his band are martialing tellers of stories to the power of megaphone. He uses any means at his disposal to put his proposals. Loudhailers, tap-dancing, keyboards, cheap wine and soliloquy. Imagine a band of side-show bastard children, improvising and loitering with intent and skill deep in the bowels of the Sydney Opera House, in a vault long forgotten even by Utzon, picture this ratbag occupation of musical talent holding a perverse court there, and there you have a visitation from MM & the BPO.

2006-07-20T03:20:00.000-07:00

Sugartime's Snowball Burlesque in the Blue Mountains

2006-07-15T19:03:00.000-07:00

http://snowballburlesque.blogspot.com/

CODA evokes Lindsay

2006-06-23T03:09:00.000-07:00

Norman Lindsay, was an Australian artist who held court in the beauty of the Blue Mountains. He who tended upon the sirens so that they might inspire him in his southern idyll, was a devotee and connoisseur of the Australian showgirl and burlesque. He would have revelled in the many exultations of fun and beauty that are rising in his name around Sydney. Here is such a one. And Winter Magic brings more naughty cheek, costumery and frivolity to the mountains so that art, so closely aligned with love, may thrive.

Coda is a tremendous group of musicians who try new things, always innovative with a fantastic reflection on our rich culture right here in the Antipodes. The performance at the sydney Opera house recreated a soiree of the bohemian Sydney of old, and birthed something new into the world by making the tableaux come to life in the 21st century.

I have posted earlier about an innovative performer Lola, whom has included elements of Australian art traditions (namely Norman's Etchings) into her work as a burlesque vamp, seems quite a rich seam the Australian Boheme.

King Culy does the Warrimoo

2006-06-04T00:11:00.000-07:00

Warrimoo SoundLounge [the Primary School hall] is the place to be. It must be the newest (and possibly cutest) venue to grace the cultural calendar in the mountains. The hall has already debuted with Kaya, and now has established a rep as the grooviest goods in the lower mountains with a concert by King Curly ! The band has just toured the south-east of Australia with gigs from Canberra to Melbourne to Sydney, and topped it off with a return home show for the Warrimoo. King Curly charmed the room with his many talents, none of which include pretension. The band prepared with a sound check and lasagne check earlier and now were up for anything. The scene was set. The Warrimoo Public School P&C must be a particularly sharp set. Lamington drives and raffles have their well warranted place but this school rocks. Literally. They're a canny lot up in the hills. Taking quality national musical performers and putting them to work for the discerning and ticket buying concert goers of the mountains is a beautiful thing.

King curly made the most of the intimacy of the venue. The fairy lights were noted and the hand crafted heart decorations a la' Primary School chic did the trick nicely. The music of King curly is hard to describe, other than beautifully written, humorous, anecdotal, rich and natural. The group captures nicely the mountains-quirk in it's jazz/folk sounds, or the quirk/jazz sound of folk. A zombie punching his way out of his coffin for a Revenge song is no easy thing to combine with love song. But the King does it. Stories drive songs as much as atmospheres describe the vibe. It's a sound you must hear. With instruments at hand made of old palings and offcuts, the band experiments. The result of these forays will be heard on their third albumn. The sweetness of their live gig is a necessity for anyone who is into good song writting, recognises something original and is prepared to go out and find it.

(the MCs impromptu act mixing a diverse salad of characters from Kath'nKim and Little Briton whilst channeling Effie simultaneously was further proof of mountains talent bursting at the seams around Warrimoo way...)

Warrimoo gets full marks for effort and goes to the top of the class for performance.

Katoomba Winter Magic Approacheth !

2006-05-29T03:53:00.000-07:00

The KookaBurla

2006-05-25T01:22:00.000-07:00

Kookaburra spotted in the Mt Victoria Mist

2006-05-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

Well that explains that then ?

2006-05-20T17:10:00.000-07:00

What is original in the Australian Burlesque ?

2006-05-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

The Question has been asked, "Why the interest in Burlesque ?" and Dollo responds by posting me a Kookaburra !

Toward a theatre of adequacy.

A theatre of adequacy is made of clay. It is found in the banks of rivers and billabongs. It derives from a vernacular dreaming of the 20s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, taking it’s lineage from prior traditions which reach back much further than any can suppose. It is a laughing theatre, a dressed up earth. It was spoken during happyhour, between the exchange of quids and the handing over of wet glasses. It was danced in the open beside outdated bullock drays. It is a frolicking swimmer watching the fashionable bake. It is a poor bugger’s effort to even aspire to kitsch. It is native intelligence speaking to the noise of the wowser. It is a longing for belonging and a celebration of dag.

The theatre of the Australian sun is a burning issue. It is feared at the same time as it is loved. With fondness do the antipodeans regard their memories of this easier dream but also they know its question. It could be a bushfire.

This sunburnt burlesque is an uneasy cabaret. It is all smiles but an open question. It is at once real and at the same time no worry. The southlander will make do with it.

Those who have dismissed it as kitsch or trivial have missed the opportunity to embrace a popular theatre of the possible. The burlesque empowers it to stand under tin shed spotlights and speak of the commonwealth. What is common, what is our wealth? The burlesque could celebrate it and serve as a departure to currency.

Dollo.

Ka-Broome-ba ...

2006-03-20T13:37:00.000-08:00

They came and met our mob and played us a line of songs that tracked down from the kimberly mountains to the shores of Broome and beyond. The Pigram Brothers seem to be a gentle reminder that the friendly (yae folky) life still abides. Yarns of divers and northern life made sweet by the blends of many cultures. If our part in the world can bring us this sweetness it is a good thing.

Katoomba Music Folk Festival

2006-03-20T13:20:00.000-08:00

See something of it here... http://katoombafolk.blogspot.com/

Pigrams might fly in ...

2006-01-15T18:39:00.000-08:00

Seems like there will be a great time to be had by moi at the Blue, Roots and You Beauts Gumboots festival this March in Katoomba. There really is nothing quite like walking through the mist to another good concert or insightful event in the high summer cool air of a Blue Mountains Music Festival. this Year the Pigram brothers are to be coming too, what a sweet sweet event it should be. These champs from the north are the essence of Seachangeygoodness.They represent a style that is distinct as a district, province, mode or what you will, of Australian sounds. Yes there are distinct flavours of sound that can be comprehended in the aural feast that is Australia, and here is a beaut. Looking forward to supping well upon it !

Blue Mountains Music Festival of Folk, Roots and Blues

2006-01-14T16:49:00.000-08:00

Cool bananas: Harry's coming back !

Listen to the lyrics. As every bit as worthy as the Mohan.

Blue Mountains Music Festival of Folk, Roots and Blues

Flickr: Photos from Mt. Victoria Mist (dodgy art dept.)

2006-01-11T14:15:00.000-08:00

Flickr: Photos from Mt. Victoria Mist (dodgy art dept.)

Ash Grunwald - Goes Off Mate !

2005-12-19T15:59:00.000-08:00

... And so it was that he did come to the Clarendon and he did play upon his tin thing. Reflective guitar, that is, chrome dazzling twanging thang. Grunwald said he had just been asleep in his hotel room, so he was feeling "sooky" when he came on stage. It must have been an inspired sleep. The mountains Crowd, and not a few interlopers who had come to the mount for the sound of the riff, warmed in a flash. The surfing blues boy belted out his rhythms in a house electrifying gig. It was enough to make even the most staid bystander stop standing by. The clapping and stomping got loud, mate. The mic fell off his drum, he improvised and strapped it back together in a truely inspiring display of 'making-do'the antipodean way. He did not lose a beat. He gained some. And then more. The crowd stomped more. He is a down and dirty improvisor on stage. His shark song is a triumph of ideolect. If a shark had bitten off both limbs in the water he would play with his toes. [if you don't know what I'm saying then go see him] Throwing in his three bits worth between clarion twangs and metalic gruff. If there were pots there we would all have bashed along with him. As it was my hands were sore from clappin'. He had us all standing by the end. Strong persuader that he is. Energy in the altitude dark he was, thankyou ashman thankyou.

MtV.M

Ashok Roy

2005-12-01T17:27:00.000-08:00

"May i sit !", enquired the venerable sarod player. Of course, i replied, with a joy reserved for occassions when the talented wished to sit with the awed. It was 5 minutes before the performance, and before stepping on stage the master musician came to take in the crowd he was to be playing for tonight. There were music loving regulars, mountain musicians (some of whom had played this room themselves but were now coming to listen), acolytes, katoomboreans, mistdwellers and vegans all smiled quietly in the dim light. Our anticipation was not to be let down. Ashok played as a man in control of his art.

The night started with sitar. Tabla joined for a fantastic accompanyment. The human prowess on display multiplied the joy of hearing it. Speed and precision was delux. The ladies on my left and right swooned in most unladylike fashion. When Ashok entered the set the night became an inevitable venue of mountains accord. Music like this belongs on the Blue Mountains. Not historically but spiritually. The quarter notes of the fretless sarod and the drone of the sitar are cosmological bretherin to the clapstick and the chant. They are from another musical heritage entirely to the eon long songs of the escarpement tribal lands, but with some humility on the part of the listeners they can open the mind to how exotic a place we inhabit and free us from the conventions of limited experiences in the mundane world of conventional listening habits. Somehow they ready us for hearing the music that has been lost. Anything that frees us a little from convention prepares us for listening to the unheard.

In it's own right the night was an evening of spectacular talent playing in an ancient land. And if it was my place to invite him to sit with us I would.
Mt.VM

The Talented Mr Curly

2005-06-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

Deus Protect King Curly...and so say all of us.

Having had the good luck to come across Mr Curly playing a gig on his tour of the Australian continent last year which finished in the UK (Upper Katoomba) @ the Gearins Hotel, along side Karma County, I can only say go see him when you can. A laid back and sensuous vibe eminates from the cheeky tones of this local boy. Sweet, calm and yet driven in a post-RSL world to grand statements of simplicity. He's touring again, you beauty. Seek out his stuff.

A Fresh Breeze.........

2005-05-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

I dig didge. The thing that makes Blue Mountains based band 'The Reluctant Friends of Steve' novel is the inclusion of didgeridoo in the band. The player is pseudonymously known as 'Breezy' and he adds a distinctive tone to the sound of the band which might otherwise be dismissed as celt-rock. The didge is entirely appropriate, in a modern context, to a place as environmentaly significant as the Blue Mountains. Given the world heritage value of the place and the indigenous harmonies the sound of didge has come to evoke contemporary Australia. If I could ask for more from this band it would be less rock and more space to explore the juxtaposition /juncture of the celtic Australian culture and a modern Australian culture, aware of it's cultural location, symbolised by the band's elements. But that is a personal inclination to instrumental experiment & innovation, not a Pub band's perspective. A Pub band is usually faced with the realities of getting people up and thirsty. Which the 'Rels' do. Everytime I have seen them they have had the locals up, on the floor and dancing. The 'Rels' should be given credit for doing this with the driving sounds of didge included in its line-up. There is opportunity for guest recordings of native voice perhaps and instrumental space even in the performative realm. This challenge, to create a local idiom free of false accent that still pays it's way, is the greatest one facing local talent. I hope this band continues to evolve and suprises us. More power to the didge!

The Good Oud

2005-05-03T22:59:00.000-07:00

Moroccan, Sufi and Gaelic an improbable combination. But what a beaut buffet the stage of the mountains provides us. By turns rhythmic and searing, melodic and intoxicating the music this impressive ensemble worked it's way through at the Claro was swoony. A collection of sets that proves the point of Katoomba as one of the stop-offs and stays in the alternate world.

MtVM