AWAAM's Godless Christmas: a How To

The Christmas Tree Cluster

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We decorated my parents’ house and their Christmas tree yesterday. And it was while I was twining tinsel around every object in the house that I realised something: I really like Christmas. Not just the tinsel, but everything else. The lights and the shopping and the wrapping of presents. The food, the family, the fights. The deep breath before the start of a new year.

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For an atheist, it was a small revelation. Ever since I was a child, and I lost my belief in Santa and God in rapid succession, I’ve always enjoyed the time off, the presents and the togetherness, but never the trappings. I’ve merely tolerated the festive season. This year, however, something changed.

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I’ve decided that Christmas – or the summer solstice, or the winter solstice, or what have you – is, as the religious believe, a fantastic opportunity to celebrate and be thankful. To enjoy tradition and ritual, and to honour something larger than ourselves. So this year, I’m celebrating something pretty special: the birth of the universe.

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And I’m doing it the traditional AWAAM way: with food and music.

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Stars are already a symbol of Christmas - why not co-opt them in the same way that Christianity did from the pagans? It was, after all, in the furnace of the earliest, dying stars that the heavy elements of the universe were forged, from which all life eventuated. We are all star stuff. Celebrate that by busting out these delicious looking Star Cookies, found at the ever wonderful Souvlaki for the Soul.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wonderful and hilarious ode to a godless universe. This gorgeous cake is a recreation of one of my favourite scenes from the series. Nothing says ‘let’s celebrate our brief existence’ like a whale and a bowl of petunias, recently come into being and plummeting towards the earth. You can find detailed instructions on Geek Mom.

My recommended listening this Christmas is something a bit different. Gather your family, find yourself a radio, and tune into a dead station. Listen to the static. Most of it is caused by random electromagnetic interference, but about 1 or 2 percent of it is 13 billion year old radiation left over from the Big Bang, expressed in microwaves that can be picked up by your radio. What you are hearing is the birth of our universe.

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And if you’re still in any doubt that the universe and our place in it is worth honouring, watch this extraordinary video.

Happy Christmas everyone.

Bits and Pieces of 2010

Good afternoon bloggers, and welcome to perhaps the most overdue post of A Whistle and A Milkshake’s life. I must admit I’ve neglected this blog recently... but I have excuses! In fact several infuriating factors have precluded me from logging on. Exploding laptops, shaped internet, and that ever present guilty feeling that keeps me from blogging at work. Nonetheless, this post is just disgustingly overdue. I've got a long list of recipes and tunes to catch up on, so please bear with me, this could be a bit of a mess...

So what have I been up to lately? Well, the last month or so has seen me busily preparing Christmas hampers for my friends and family. I think hampers make a great alternative to the usual Christmas gift giving. Personal, equitable (everybody gets the same thing!) and a pleasure to prepare. Oh, and I haven't had to set foot in a shopping centre this December, an added bonus given that inner city Melbourne is an orgy of gift-grabbing craziness at this time of year. This year I've made lime jelly, turkish delight, chocolate truffles and incredibly delicious but hard-to-master macarons. Rather a lot of work has gone into preparing and packaging these little bits and pieces, but with the help of my partner and a couple of charitable friends, it's all coming together quite nicely. Expect a couple more posts on the specifics of hamper making soon, including a post about macarons and the importance of reading the recipe.

What else have the last few months meant for me? In light of my recent transition back to vegetarianism, I've been trying to wrap my head around as many new vegetarian and vegan recipes as is humanly possible. I've memorised so many uses for the humble chick pea that I fear I may be pushing important names and dates from my memory, but exploring vegan cooking in particular has been hugely rewarding. Messy Vegetarian Cook is an excellent veg and vegan blog, with recipes for everything from sweet potato pie to japanese inspired tapioca rice balls - vastly more delicious than they sound. I'm also loving Vegan Yum Yum for the great salads, and I finally tracked down my very own copy of the inestimably wonderful Veganomicon. A great addition to any kitchen, whether one is vegan or not. But I'm not just reading recipes, I've also read a great number of books on all things vegetarian: Johathan Safran-Foer's Eating Animals is a deeply affecting read from one of my favourite authors. I've also read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, Peter Singer's Practical Ethics (quite the heavy going tome) and perhaps my favourite non-fiction book of the year The Face on Your Plate by Jeffrey Moussaieff Mason: a psycho-analyst, and a strict vegan. The man is sixty eight years old and looks younger than my fifty year old father. His spritely looks and way with words have me inching ever closer to a completely vegan diet.

Oh! and music! What have I been listening to? Glenn Richards released his new solo effort Glimjack, and I've played the thing so much that every note is now committed to memory. The album is wonderful. Dark, full of self-deprecating complaint and bitterness, and yet occasionally so breathtakingly lovely as to cover me in goosebumps. "I'm the soldier who in his dead hours, took the flesh of the horse and made only joy, then to faint in the flowers, to dream of his woman's kiss and of the April showers of home" - the man still has it people.

Joanna Newsom's epic Have One On Me has also received several thousand plays this year. It's just about as good as everyone has been saying. I don't have the words to do the thing justice, so you should probably listen to it for yourself. Try this for starters:

Other bands that have featured prominently include The Jezabels, who have released three EP's to date and put on perhaps the most impressive live show I have seen this year. Jónsi's debut solo effort Go Do worked it's way to the top of my scrobbling list and induced the odd sneaky tram cry on my morning commutes (it's just beautiful). I've also been listening to Seabellies, Firekites, and the debut EP from Brisbane band Pensive Penguin. Three lovely Australian bands whose tunes suggest car rides with the windows down despite the fact that summer still seems very far away indeed. More on these guys soon, I hope!

So there you have it. A long, rambling brain dump of everything that I have been intending to blog about over the last few months. I have three complete blog posts sitting on my old laptop. They appear to be written entirely in something like windings, so if any of you know how to repair a corrupt word file please let me know? In the meantime I'll try to muster the energy to write the things again. I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions, but I promise to bore you all with long, confused blog posts throughout 2011. Xx.

The Package Project

About two months ago I signed up to participate in a lovely little blog initiative called The Package Project. The Project - created over at Cupcake Couture - pairs package partners and fellow bloggers, who swap pretty packages and handmade delights from different corners of the globe.

I have happily been paired up with Tonia over at The Fairly Constant Reader, and after much agnoising, rummaging through stuffed full craft drawers and trawling through local markets and charity shops, I have finally put together my package and posted it off to England. I will share a little more about my package once I'm assured of its safe arrival in the English countryside, and I'm definitely looking forward to unwrapping what is currently on its way to me.

I urge any and all of you fellow bloggers to take part in The Package Project's next run. I've enjoyed putting together my little parcel almost as much as I've enjoyed corresponding with its recipient. I've been getting to know her through stalking her online perusing her blog, and browsing her online store too - just gorgeous. Brown paper packages tied up with string really do make my list of favourite things, and sending one to a near complete stranger has been a pleasure.

Oh, and just as a complete aside (I cannot think of a natural segue between mailing gifts and the musical stylings of Colin Meloy.) I cannot. stop. listening. to his cover of Joni Mitchell's "A Case Of You". I fell into The Decemberists' hipster trap some years ago, and if he keeps covering the likes of Joni, I'll be happily trapped forever.

For Emily, Wherever I Might Find Her

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A few weeks ago Canberra lost one of it's loveliest ladies. Journal editor, inner north compatriot, fellow vego, lover of soft cheeses, poetry, secret passageways and robots, my friend Emily packed it in for a life of glitz and glamour in Melbourne.

We are going to miss her like crazy here. I'm hoping to join her down there one day, but in the mean time I thought I'd share some of my favourite Emily endorsed tracks (right click to download).

Grand Salvo - In the Morning

Dirty Three - Quarantine

Machine Translations - The Zither Player

These tracks are gorgeous - they're landscape art. Thoroughly Australian, subtle and sweet. This girl is on to good things, as you can see. As a small parting gift, my fellow blog mistress has devised some wonderful Melbourne adventures for her - we hope you enjoy.

Books For Cooks – A lovely little shop full of books... for cooks. It’s worth a visit, as is almost every other store along Gertrude Street.

ACCA (The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art) – The slightly peculiar cousin of the NGV, and only a hop-skip-and a jump away if you’re planning to do the Melbourne Gallery rounds. We had an incident with the giant wall of spotlights... very interesting exhibitions indeed!

Double Happiness - This place is 1920’s speakeasy meets Mao era Chinese revolutionary hideout. A little on the expensive side, but the cocktails are delightful, unusual things and the staff have great taste in music. Try the plum martini. Yum.

The Brunswick Green (313 Sydey Road, Brunswick) – a lovely Sydney Road pub, it doesn’t look like much from the front but the beer garden out the back is fantastic. Great on Fridays – full of friendly folk, and the staff will deliver you a pizza from next door, but only if you ask very nicely.

Trippy Taco – amazing Mexican vegetarian restaurant on Smith Street, Fitzroy. The special quesadilla is to die for, and the sweet tamale dessert is killer too. I can’t recommend this place enough. (Also, Matt Preston eats there!)

Enjoy, lovely lady.

Everyday is a party in my tummy

Oh. My. Word. Best show ever? This actually makes me want to have kids. So we can watch this together, eat green beans, and then dance.

I don't even like green beans. Or kids.

U9FYS3ND5DMD

Dear Weekend

We had some good times, didn't we? I'm sorry that it ended so soon. But I will always think fondly of our time together.

Like the Farmer’s Market’s (or…Farkets) on Saturday morning. Buying purple mystery turnips and visiting the Mushroom Man from Mittagong. Discovering that there are still delicious, ripe plums being sold. Perusing the amusingly shaped pumpkins. Buying 3.4 kilos of fruit. And having eaten most of it already.

Finally seeing The Last Unicorn. And it exceeded expectations. From Mummy Fortuna and the three breasted harpy, to the soundtrack by America, to the way it always felt like it was just on the verge of becoming Jem and the Holograms. Prettiest. Unicorn. Ever. Working on my minestrone recipe. Although the barley and the pasta turned out nicely, sadly it was not to be a good batch. Slightly overcooked green beans. Slightly undercooked cabbage. Forgetting to add tomatoes. Weekend, it was just not meant to be.

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This apple tart however, was a triumph. Despite making a very sticky pastry dough, and not refrigerating it for long enough, it pulled through, all flaky and buttery and delicious. Recipe and photo from Smitten Kitchen.

Listening to Heartland by the former Mr Final Fantasy, Owen Pallett. It's wonderful - dark and earnest, dense with sound and story. Listen to these tracks here, and buy it here.

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Tryst with Mephistopheles

Lewis Takes off His Shirt

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Oh Weekend, I miss you already.

Breadwinning

Working full time often brings the full time work blues with it. I find this manifests in several different ways. An unhealthy attachment to the stationary catalogue. Borderline abusive relationships with excel spreadsheets. And occasionally hypothesising a new pokemon based on office supplies.

I've found several ways to combat the crazy. The first is pretending I work on a film set and dressing appropriately. Today I am a secretary in the 50's. Tomorrow, I will be a secretary in the 80's. Next week? I will be an administrative assistant from the future.

The other - making everyone hella jealous of your packed lunch. You know what works every time? Toasting your homemade bread in the staff kitchen. Nothing smells better.

Remember when I told you to go out and make bread? If you didn't you should really try this recipe. A method to save you from the mid-week malaise is at hand. Slightly adapted from this marvelous recipe.

For this recipe you

Do not need to knead anything

Do not need a bread maker

Do need to be able to leave this sucker overnight. It takes about two minutes to mix, 12 - 18 hours to rise, two minutes to mix again, and another hour or so to rise for a second time. Planning is sometimes required!

What you will need

• 3 cups baker's flour.

Baker's flour is not ordinary plain flour, and it is not breadmaker mix. It will be marked as "baker's" or "strong" or for bread and pizza dough. There should be some at your local supermarket or health food store. Don't get anything with yeast already added!

• 1 cup wholemeal flour

• 1/8 tsp instant yeast

Not interchangeable with "active" yeast. Instant yeast you can add to the dry mix, active you have to add to water and let froth. We're going for super easy instant here.

• 2 cups lukewarm water

• 2 tbsp white or caster sugar

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 1/2 tbs vegetable oil, or 3 tbs melted butter, plus a bit extra.

What you will need to do:

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. The dough is going to double in size, so make sure it's large enough.

If you're me, you probably think 1/8 of a tsp of yeast isn't enough and add a bit more just to make sure things happen. Control yourselves! 1/8 is plenty, I promise.

Add the oil or melted butter to the lukewarm water, just to make things a bit easier, and then mix the wet ingredients with the dry. There's no art here, just whack them all together, make sure all the dry stuff gets wet.

Drizzle a bit of oil or butter over the top of the mix, spread to cover. This is to make sure the surface doesn't dry out while the dough is rising.

Cover with clingwrap and leave for 12 - 18 hours. Make sure you don't leave it somewhere too cold or too hot. I leave it in the laundry in summer and the kitchen in winter.

12 - 18 hours later it should have risen. Deflate by stirring well with a wooden spoon.

Grease a loaf tin, and turn the dough out into it. Make sure it's relatively evenly distributed, not just sitting in a lump in the middle. This will take some scientific pushing and prodding.

Dust the top with a bit of flour. Leave in a warmish place to rise again.

When the dough has risen to about 1/4 inch above the loaf tin (probably a minimum 40 minutes, and definitely a maximum 2 hours before it starts to look like the blob), preheat your oven to 200 degrees celsius.

Put the tin in carefully - we don't want it to deflate this time.

Bake for about 35 - 50 minutes, or until it is browned and crisp on the outside. People say you can tell bread is done if you knock on it and it sounds hollow. This has never, ever worked for me. It should definitely be crisp enough for you to knock on it though, and then feel free to disregard whatever noise it makes.

This is the really hard part: let it cool. Don't cut into this baby for at least 3 or 4 hours.

And then? Then you get to go to town. Or work! And make that hole-punching pokemon jealous. It's especially good toasted with soup or stew. Or pasta sauce, or curry. Or pretty much anything! Enjoy while listening to the following workaday ditties:

Frankly Mr Shankly - The Smiths

Expectations - Belle and Sebastian

Middle of the Road Class War - G.A. Richards and the Dark Satanic Mills Bros.

Homemade and handmade

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My week started with a cooking adventure. I made bread for the first time. It didn’t go too well. But the second time around it worked a charm. So here are some things I've learned about baking bread:

• There are different types of yeast. Read about them here.
  
• You’ll probably use instant or active. The main difference is that instant can be mixed in with the flour, while active should be mixed with water.
  
• Instant yeast will last 12 months (after opening) in your freezer.
  
• The bread continues to cook while it’s cooling, so be good and don’t cut it for a couple of hours at least. Some people suggest a day or more. But they’re clearly crazy.
  
• You should probably make this recipe: No kneading required! But pay attention to temperatures.
  
• Fresh bread is the best with ripe avocado, a generous squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper.

Om nom nom.

Apart from making bread, I’ve been blogging about sea creatures over at I Know My Goat. It's not exactly food or music, but there are otters holding hands. I've been recovering from the surreal and wonderful This is Not Art festival, at which I managed to eat a lot of free food, and scored a delicious recipe for rhubarb and strawberry coulis.



And finally, I've been listening to Voss' debut long player, The Inland Sea, which I'm pretty sure you should be listening to also. Especially if you like well crafted songs about myths and maps and legends, sweet and ambling violin, vocal duets, and the sound of rain.

The Inland Sea is concerned with Ludwig Leichardt's quest to cross the continent, which was, in turn, inspiration for Patrick White's novel Voss. This mess of artistic tribute somehow suits the album, which takes fiction as inspiration perhaps more than fact.

It isn't hard to see much Australian fiction as an attempt to rewrite history - to reinterpret convict suffering not as judicial punishment, but as spiritual trial: at the end of which we receive the promised land, having earned it. This artistic endeavor sees us make heroes of criminals and prophets of madmen. It's an uneasy inheritance, but Voss seems to embrace it. Ludwig Leichardt didn't die: he disappeared into myth. No death mask marked his passing, but perhaps we have been making them ever since.

Recurring themes of domesticity and tribulation, great flights and love, find their way into the lyrics. It's a bit rough around the edges, and hesitant in parts – but it's also surprising and a little bit sublime. A little bit like an inland sea.

Buy it online here. It comes with a gorgeous poster by Alice Carroll (last seen here making jam) and the lyric booklet is tied with string.

Listen to:
Charley's Forest Hall
Leichardt Mask

Check out:
Myspace

A Happy Dweller of a Garden Good

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Korobow Vadim

You know, I’ve always fancied myself a gardener. With absolutely no evidence, skill or inclination to back this up. Quite the opposite really: I’ve killed anything I’ve attempted to grow, I sunburn within 8 seconds of being outside, and I’m really pretty scared of bees. (I’ve never been stung, and I'm still waiting for it. I’m pretty sure bee stings – like chicken pox – are something best got out of the way in childhood, because it’s still going to hurt when you’re an adult, and you’re not allowed to cry in public.) It's just that gardening is so - well, lovely. From Beatrix Potter and The Secret Garded, to idealistic visions of self sustainability, gardening is just so very wholesome.

So it was with this foolish sense of optimism, and visions of serene ladies in large hats, that my housemate and I walked across the street to the Garden Centre and harangued the young clerk into helping us set up our very own herb garden.

Now I’m not promising anything. I don’t have any books, magazines or general knowledge about gardening. I’m kind of banking on the fact that if you stick something in the ground, it’ll grow. Think of it as a kind of ‘trial and error guide to a very small amount of gardening’. With pictures!

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. Yes, in that order. Yes, for that reason.

Lettuce and rocket. NB: spread the individual plants out more than we did! See? We trial so you won't error.

We also have onions and mint! Think of all the impending deliciousness!

So it's all going pretty well so far! We bought them in winter, and took them outside in the morning, and brought them in at night to avoid the frost. It all went pretty well, even if we have, somewhat disconcertingly, started to refer to them as our babies. I imagine it might be a bit heartbreaking when we eventually, hopefully, cook and eat them.

I promise to try my very best not to kill them, and to keep you updated on their progress. In the meantime, here are some sweet tunes to garden to.

The Good Gardener - Augie March
The Garden - Mirah
Gates to the Garden - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Lionesses

I've had a strange few weeks. Wonderful, exciting, terrifying. I'm emotionally exhausted, and for once I've turned away from the quietly crooning poets that are my usual comfort: I'm not wont to sit in the dark and have a silent cry, rather I'm craving a little bit of fearless feminine strength. These women inspire me, their music marks the soundtrack to my life, and oh - I love them so.

Neko Case

Neko Case is an indie queen, a red headed bombshell with an amazing voice. She sings about tigers and foxes and men who'll tear your heart out. She's strong, totally sexy, and her music makes me feel grounded somehow, even when I'm crying my eyes out over her broken heart.

Listen to: Furnace Room Lullaby - Live From Austin TX

Joanna Newsom

Joanna Newsom got me through my very first year of university. I hated every minute I spent "studying", and listening to this lass croon about bridges, balloons, and Cair Paravel transported me the hell away from university to a vastly more inspired place.

Listen to: Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie - The Milk Eyed Mender

Kate Bush

Kate Bush reminds me of my mother. Of nights spent lying on the floor listneing to Hounds Of Love and feeling totally out of this world. She's a freakin' goddess, unearthly and fierce and vulnerable all at the same time.

Listen to: The Big Sky - Hounds Of Love

Bjork

My all time favourite Lady Vocalist has got to be the eternally individual Bjork. My love for this lady knows no bounds, she's a staggeringly talented vocalist, a gifted musician and a fantastic producer to boot. I adore each of her albums, they're overflowing with colour, strength and fearlessness. Also, the woman can rock a costume! Lady Gaga eat your heart out. This classy lady occupies a special place in my heart.

Listen to: The Anchor Song - Debut

Watch these beautiful ladies in action too, they're inspiring.

Of Acorns and Bowerbirds

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I don’t know why, but these two bands are inextricably linked in my mind, despite the fact that I grew to love them many months apart from each other.

Bowerbirds kept me company for a semester spent studying Bacchus and Shakespeare. “You're the kindling still that burns below my heart / You’re the hooves that lead me through the forest” became a mantra as winter turned into spring. The next winter, I found The Acorn. They brought drums and fireflies to long walks home in the early dark, cups of tea on cold mornings and quiet revelations.

There’s something earthy, dark and mountainous about these bands. Their lyrics are full of forests and floods, lockets, brambles, birds, turning tides and dangerous winds, long journeys in fading light. Each song is a small fairy tale, melodious and whimsical.

The Acorn’s first full length album is named Glory Hope Mountain for the songwriter’s mother, Gloria Esperanza Montoya. I think perhaps that sums them up better than I ever could. You can purchase on their label page, here. And listen to the following, here:

Glory
Hold Your Breath

Bowerbirds have just released their second studio album, Upper Air. You all really should mosey on down to your local friendly music purveyor and have a listen. But if it's a choice between Upper Air and Hymns for a Dark Horse, their absolutely outstanding first album, I'd say start with Hymns.

Start with this:

Hooves
Then this, House of Diamonds

Oh and this. Watch this. One of the best film clips of recent years:

These Demon (Holi)Days

Jennifer Davis - Float

Not studying and working part time is a pretty sweet deal. I seem to spend most of my time making lists. I have made you one today:

What I am eating right now, that I think you should probably be eating right now too: Ricotta on toast with a thin slice of fresh tomato, salt, pepper and a drizzle of balsamic. No really. It’s super tasty and your mum will be pleased you’re having vegetables for breakfast. (NB: Get your ricotta from the deli, it should be firm and crumbly. Don't get that soupy stuff that comes in containers, it would be terrible on toast!)

Music I am listening to right now: The Evangelist by Robert Forster (from the Go-Betweens). It is really, really nice. He's the guest speaker at the launch of the Nick Cave Exhibition at my work, and I will be quite thrilled to be in the same room as him. Although not allowed to go anywhere near him, I suspect, for fear of embarrasing the fine institution for which I work. Demon Days is so lovely.

Art that I am enjoying browsing online and dreaming of owning: Jennifer Davis, (see above) with thanks to Ellen for sharing her with me.

Things I have cooked recently: Ricotta Berry Muffins, Fresh Corn Casserole, and Tomato Pasta Sauce.

What I am regretting: Not listening to Animal Collective’s latest album sooner. I could have spent that many more days with it. Wasted time, my friends. If you haven't yet, listen to My Girls, the timpani drum that comes in at about 2 minutes made me stop in the middle of the street. (Maybe don’t listen to it while you’re crossing the street).

Reasons I am pleased the internet exists: Free Rice.com, which is the best thing ever. Waste time on the internet and help the poverty stricken at the same time! TVTropes: because I’m really into this wasting time on the internet thing. Janene Garofalo on Youtube. She is my number one celebrity crush and I want to be her best friend.

Things I plan to make brave attempts at cooking: Bread. For the first time. When I find a recipe I'm happy with / not scared of. Paneer. I dream of the curries I could make with paneer...

Movie trailers that made me weep like a small child with a skinned knee: Just this one.

Look Out Honey, Cos I’m Using Technology

Fuco Ueda

So Triple J have been asking listeners for their top ten songs. Ever. And seeing as I’m pretty sure only two or three of mine will make it anywhere near their Hottest One Hundred of All Time, I thought I’d share the rest with you. By which I mean, it’s my blog, and I’ll cry if I want to! (And on the same note, you may notice my interpretation of 'ten' is somewhat liberal...)

Oddly, if I made a top ten list of artists or albums, I'm not sure there'd be that much crossover. I went for songs that are really good at being songs.

Animal Collective – The Purple Bottle. I cannot keep track of how often I’ve listened to this song. My iPod is positively embarrassed. It’s like a choose your own adventure, but in a song! You can hear it a hundred different ways. It’s mechanical, repetitive, dynamic, melodic, intricate. And it’s a love song.

Augie March – The Honey Month, live with the WA Orchestra. I could have done a top ten purely of Augie March songs. Count your lucky stars that I didn’t! While you’re counting, listen to this exquisite little number.

Broken Social Scene – Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl. This song got under my skin. It’s like a little bouquet of musical motifs that I love: repetition, minimalism, simplicity; but it builds and builds and becomes something else. A quiet revelation one day walking home from school.

The Flaming Lips - Suddenly Everything Has Changed. Even thought The Flaming Lips were one of my best live experiences, I don't listen to them much these days. This one's an old favourite, though, and it's perfect in its own small way.

Iggy Pop – Search and Destroy. There is some kind of genius here. Thrills me all the way down to my toes. Makes me air drum. Magical.

Lou Reed – Coney Island Baby. Actually my favourite Lou song is probably Andy’s Chest, it makes me ridiculously happy (“The funny thing is what happened to her nose - it grew until it reached all of her toes! Swoop swoop, oh baby, rock rock!”) – but this song is something else. It talks to you, and it gets you when you’re not looking…

Mt Eerie – I Hold Nothing. This song reduces life to its simplest parts, moves like clockwork, and thrills me like science. I could listen to it forever.

Joanna Newsom – Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie, from the Ys Street EP. I love Joanna’s longer, more complex songs, but this one is pretty special. Stripped back, simple, sweet and starry, starry, starry.

World's End Girlfriend - Birthday Resistance. The only instrumental track to make it on here, but golly it's a good one. Playful and sublime.

Songs: Ohia – Farewell Transmission. “Mama, here comes midnight with the dead moon in its jaws.” My deep and abiding love for blues and country had to be represented somehow, and if it wasn’t Townes Van Zandt it was going to be Jason Molina.

The Smiths – I could have done a top one hundred of just The Smiths. I nearly went for I Know It’s Over or There is a Light: honesty, melody, brilliant articulation of human anguish, etc. but one of my favourite things about The Smiths is their sense of humour. So I’ve gone with Sheila Take a Bow because it is just the right about of self deprecating and irreverent, it makes your head think and your booty shake! Much like the wonderful Pictures for Sad Children comic below:


Bonus Question:

Radiohead – Pyramid Song. If aliens came to earth and wanted to hear some of our Earth music (it’s likely, right?) I think I’d play them Radiohead. I’m pretty sure that’s what universally awesome means.

Actually I lie, I think I’d play them Love Cats because A) Resulting confusion about human biology would give us an advantage in the inevitable intergalactic war and B) I wanna see aliens dance, and you gotta dance to that song, man. You just gotta.


P.S. No Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Love, Cat Stevens, Beach Boys or Simon and Garfunkel. This kills me a little bit. And I feel like my dad will be disappointed in me!

Music to Keep You Warm - Firekites and Seagull

We seem to have missed autumn this year. As soon as the leaves started to turn the cold, cold weather set in, more winter than autumn for my money. Thick fog in the morning, frost on the windshield. Bitter winds that cut right through you and tell you somewhere, not far away, it's snowing. When I was a kid my brother and I would fill a frisbee with water and leave it, upturned, on the grass outside. In the morning we would have a perfect disc of ice, with a couple of perfectly preserved insects in it if we were lucky. I'm pretty sure it's ice-frisbee time of year already.


There are upsides, of course. Coloured stockings. A renewed interest in knitting. Soup, oh, so much soup. And a certain kind of music that lends itself to stillness. Music to listen to huddled up on the bus, or snuggled down under the doona. I imagine if I were walking through the cold city, looking pensive, perhaps warming my hands at a convenient barrel fire, then the following two albums would be my soundtrack.

Seagull - Goodbye Weather

Seagull is a lovely Australian band. Seagull is the project of bright young thing, Chris Bolton, and his friends. Their debut long player Goodbye Weather promises, according to the band's most excellently written press release, "tragical romanticism" "universal melancholy" and "distorted folk apocalypses". Now, I'm not sure I'd enjoy a folk apocalypse, but I do enjoy Seagull.
Simple, sparse, melodic. Minimalist lyrics, deceptively complex arrangements, and a kind of fondness for feelin' blue.
I think Seagull is a good band to have in your headphones when you've missed the bus and have to walk to the city in the cold. Push your hands into your pockets and enjoy the grey sky.

Seagull - Half Sleep
Seagull - Joy
Seagull - Label page
Seagull - Myspace

Firekites - The Bowery

Newcastlians and all 'round nice people Firekites have been making a scene with their debut album The Bowery. But the scene is a rather nice one, with a fireplace, drawn tea, and maybe someone teaching you how to crochet. (I really would like someone to teach me to crochet.)
The Bowery is careful and considered, sweet without being twee and subtle without becoming background music. There is a depth to the melodies, and an intricacy behind the pleasing vocals and violin motifs. Firekites are nice music to have on the stereo of a winter evening when dishing up lovely big bowls of pumpkin soup to friends and loved ones. And the film clip for Autumn Story is just beautiful.

Firekites - Last Ships

Firekites - website
Firekites - buy