Transformers: The Movie

I'll try not to give too much away, but basically for those who don't want anything about the movie spoilt I can put this very simply; This movie was one of the most awesome movies I have ever seen. Now don't take that as gospel as my film knowledge is very limited in scope. However I think when a good movie comes along, I know how to spot it. Plus, for me to see a movie on its premiere date is pretty extra-ordinary considering going outside is not something I am a huge fan of without good cause.

*** For those not wishing to have any of the movie ruined, stop reading now***

What struck me most about this movie is that there is very little time wasting and the respect for the audience is at its premium. Without going so far as to say it has an all-star cast, Transformers has countless face you will know from other movies, many of which playing outside roles they are normally typecast to like John Turturro who jumps outside his usual comedy comfort zone. Rather than delaying the inevitable introduction of the Transformers which we all know are coming, Director Michael Bay, a maestro of these action films, rather than starving you, feeds you bit by bit, little by little.

After seeing some scenes from the Middle East where we see some "unknowns" attacking U.S soldiers which we of course known are Transformers, evil transformers (deceptacons). We are first introduced to the lovable Bumblebee who is bought by Sam Witwicky (played by a faultless Shia Lebouf) at the whacky car dealership of Uncle Bobby (Bernie Mac). Of course this is the beginning of what becomes a touching bond between man and machine. It's not surprise that before this crazy adventure, Sam was a sad dateless loser.

Then slowly like little bread crumbs picked up by the lumberjack looking for Hansel & Gretel, we are gradually introduced to more and more of the Transformers. The peak obviously being the point where we are introduced to the Autobots, namely the one and only Optimus Prime. Now I thought he was voiced by none other than Don La Fontaine however it turns out he was actually voiced by another familiar voice, that being of Peter Cullen whom we all known from his work on Winnie the Pooh.

The plot in summary is fairly obvious, the whole Autobots need to save humankind from the evil plans of the Deceptacons. But I think where the makers of Transformers make a really good move is that they don't bog the story down in tonnes of back story, rather they appreciate the audience (mostly kids growing up in the 90's) don't need all this explanation. So instead they sprinkle enough in to keep the n00bz happy and allow the enlightened to press on.

As I said the script itself is quite stock standard save the planet stuff, but where Transformers succeeds is some edge of your seat action & suspense with some transformer fight scenes that are a testament to the people who made the transformers come to life. The melting of people and the machines is almost unnoticeable, quite lifelike in my opinion.

Much like your movies like Independence Day, several plots are going on at once and all come together in the need to save the world. So with a lot of expected stock elements I hear you saying, "why on earth should i bother?" Well all I can really say is that, this kind of movie has not been done this well in many many years, for any self respecting 90's kid who watched the cartoons it is a must see and they don't change too much up from the original transformers you know and love.

Also, for anyone who has seen the cartoon movie, the ending isn't what you think. I'd have to say Bumblebee's role in this movie is far more integral than you'd expect and I must admit is does detract from making that quintessential connection with the mercurial Optimus Prime quite a bit. Basically what I mean is, you do like Optimus Prime, but you LOVE Bumblebee.

The only criticisms I could say of this movie is that as a friend said, they didn't get a well known band to cover the Transformers theme song and to the best of my knowledge, I don't remember Megatron being a plane? However from what I remember he was like a gun or something, which is pretty gay I guess.

Most impressive and surprising elements of the movie were obviously the technology used was state of the art (and I expect nothing less from Bay & Speilberg), the fantastic intertwining of the many different story lines and the vast amounts of good comedy scripted in between the action which must be accredited to the work of Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman.

Even better than all this and without spoiling your ending, as the credits roll and you think all is resolved, you see Deceptacon, Starscream who flies away into space. Which means only one thing:

SEQUEL

Head to the Hoyts website for all the session times so you don't miss out. 90's kids, who were born in the mid to late 80's, this isn't something you can afford to miss. Bring on a Beast Wars movie as well!

Tilly & the Wall - Bottoms of Barrels

I always knew there were many parts to Tilly & the Wall but I had never actually bothered to go past a superfluous flirt with them on Triple J’s airwaves as I mindlessly drove to work.

My mistake.

What I now know is that they've played with The Faint, they've been on David Letterman & those who have the chance to see them at Splendour in the Grass are more than lucky!

I’ve given the album a good few month’s spin and what I got was some kind of hybrid which told me stories like The Blow do and left me euphoric like Polyphonic Spree do. Their energy is unmistakably infectious and the percussive tour de force that runs throughout upbeat moments like “Rainbows in the dark” and “Urgency” really set a vivacious tone for the rest of the album. By the time the Red Army march of “Bad Education” rolls around, Tilly & the Wall have won me over and I give into the insanity.

However the kind of unrivaled euphoria that inspires awkward dancing is quickly taken away and the tempo takes an abrupt gear shift. Bottoms of Barrels dips toward the slower songs quite early. I know I like the slower moments but I’m not sure if tracks like “Lost Girls” & “Love Song” might have been better left as a moving climax to the dynamo of what came before it.

After just watching a special on Fidel Castro, I feel as if “Sing songs along” is the kind of track that sparks a revolution. Not necessarily an oppressive socialist movement like that of the Cuban one, but I mean maybe if the Cubans had Tilly & the Wall, their revolution would have been a whole lot more flowers and good times and a whole lot less “we need subsidies from the Soviets because we’ve run out of sugar to sell”.

They preach to the converted quite well, lyrically quite sophisticated yet they are still able to get their point across. Tilly & the Wall certainly are able to get a lot across in just 10 songs. However I think what has grabbed me about this album that previously hasn’t with Tilly & the Wall is that while only 10 songs, very few go under 4 minutes long and their intentions are really able to wash over you.

Now I realise throughout I’ve made many communist analogies and by no means are Tilly & the Wall in anyway communist at all. More so it has to do with what I've been reading about of late (No, I am not socialist either, I vote Liberal not Labor). But for me personally, when I listen to this, it takes me to Europe around the middle of the 20^th Century when revolution was everywhere and the hope of an exciting new world to follow.

However, unlike the new world communism delivered, I am thinking the new world according to Tilly & the Wall is going to be all sunshine & lollypops.

Myspace: Tilly & the Wall

We are all filled with clutter

Since the hits seem to suggest you lovely people will come here on the weekends, I thought another weekend post was in order. I feel bad for those of you out there who are not living it up on the weekend, going out and sampling the finest of everything the world has to offer. But being winter, I'm sure it is not just me who is over worked, sick and sitting inside a well heated house.

Today's post won't really be very musically orientated, but for those after some music. Here is what I have for you:

• Midnight Juggernauts drop new song "Into the galaxy" on their myspace. They are overseas currently but they'll be back in Sydney around August.
• Lost Valentinos (formerely The Valentinos) drop new song "17 Deaths" on their myspace

and announce mammoth tour dates to support first single off up coming album.
Now my main point of business for today was that I thought I'd deliver you a weekend post with a twist. No real music as such. Rather just some enjoyable videos from a very perceptive & unique comedian named Demitri Martin. Attached I've dropped his stand up routine followed by an episode of the mini series called Demitri Martin Finds Clearification. If it interests you, links to the other episodes are provided too.

It's not for everyone, but it is certainly for me. Maybe you too?

• Stand Up Routine

• Demitri Martin Finds Clearification, Episode 2: Welcome to the I.A.P

• Demitri Martin Finds Clearification Episode 1: Rare Condition
• Demitri Martin Finds Clearification Episode 3: Electric Brain
• Demitri Martin Finds Clearification Episode 4: Demitri. The subject
• Demitri Martin Finds Clearification Episode 5: Nature/Naturalness (personal favourite)
• Demitri Martin Finds Clearification Episode 6 (Sorry couldn't find youtube, stream via Website)

It's very off kilter stuff but I think it involves the kind of left of centre, higher order thinking the whiteboydancefloor readers are renowned for. Renowned with who you ask? The I.A.P teaches you not to ask. <- (in joke once you've watched them all)

Thanks to Cam for sending me down this path of enlightenment

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

Yes it snows in Australia. No I don't drink Foster's, have a kangaroo as a pet or speak like Steve Irwin.

Today it is winter solstice, in other words it's the depths of winter and the shortest day of the year. Being so cold as of late, I have invented a machine. This machine possesses the unique capability of being able to channel the seasons from the northern hemisphere and make them exist in the southern hemisphere simultaneously. To make this machine work, all you need to do is listen to the following tracks on the solstice and I promise you will feel like it is summer. Images of swimming pools, sexy parties, hot pavement, summer romance, cricket matches, windows wound down with wind-blown hair, ice-cream vans and sprinklers will appear before you. Your skin will turn scarlet and the aroma of sunscreen and freshly cut grass baking in the sun will fill your nose.

The Go! Team - Grip Like A Vice

The Teenagers - Sunset Beach

Islands - Joy

Big Star - September Gurls


If you still feel the chills of winter after trying out my fabulous claptraption, I cannot be held responsible. Your house/office/prison cell must have poor heating.

Take a chance & dance electro

When I saw Justice play at the Big Day Out, I knew I was seeing an act of immense originality and quality. In my opinion, Justice producing a track like "D.A.N.C.E" was a clear indication to me that they didn't feel the world was ready for a full scale onslaught of their more Waters of Nazareth tinged music.

Now on the flip side when I saw Diplo play, I knew just about every song he played but I'd never heard it like Diplo did it. In my opinion, Diplo got the kids dancing far more than Justice.

So what's my point?

Well sometimes if you're out at a club, with your best threads on and your favourite dancing shoes with Hoodie Crew in tow, you are not looking for a Dj to go out and reinvent the wheel every weekend. For me, sometimes you want to go to a club knowing they are going to drop all the dance floor stompers. The excitement I guess is that you don't quite know in what order.

Meaning absolutely no disrespect when I say John Glover is one of those Dj's I know will deliver all the songs I want and seems to only throw in the unknown tracks he knows are definitely going to make you dance. Much like the enormous array of internationally sought after Djs that Sydney has playing every week, John Glover is apart of those Djs we Sydney kids often take advantage of, not always appreciating what's in our own backyard.

What impresses me more than all of this is the effort John Glover puts into making mixes for the kids to dance to when they aren't able to get out to Sydney. He is very interactive with his fans and really more so treats them like contemporaries responding to requests for track listings for his mixes and all the rest. Really for someone as established as John Glover, he doesn't need to bother with answering his own myspace, but he does, I like that.

Mp3: John Glover - Dirty Funken Beats Promo (June 2007)

Myspace: John Glover (Check his bulletins for many more mixes and individual tracks)



My thanks to the beautiful Tanya the Great for sending these my way.

Here in my car, I feel saftest of all...

Cars rule. These songs are good to drive to. And I'm sure these cars are good to drive. Try it for yourself. I gave you the songs now all you need to do is find the cars.....



Kavinsky - Testarossa Autodrive


Kraftwerk - Autobahn (Single Version)



Cristina - What's A Girl To Do (Remix)





MiRAGE - Lake Of Dreams


All the cars above have a few things in common. Guess one of them correctly and I will give you a prize. Not

Gettin Dizzee

If anything I guess you can consider this post Javid's first official CD review but first I'd better lay down the track for this steamroller.

Dizzee Rascal (aka Dylan Mills) is a young man on the move. Since his arrival on UK scene with the release of his debut album Boy In Da Corner in 2003 (at the age of 18) the sky has been the limit. The album went into the top 40 in the UK, spawned a top 20 single in Fix Up, Look Sharp and established him as someone destined to succeed. Confronting lyrics about social situations in an urban environment, gangsters and bitches of course (he was stabbed the same year the album was released) mixed with a rascal attitude turns it almost into a black comedy mixed with ecclectic beats and samples combined in a way not many other people were doing. He won the Mercury Music Prize in the same year, beating The Darkness and Coldplay to name but a few.

Then came 2004 - but instead of resting on his laurels like many artists who've had a highly successful debut he was back in the studio to record his follow-up album Showtime. A year later and he had already surpassed his previous effort with the album and lead single both appearing in the UK top 10. While the commercial success was greater and the album is still a solid effort, there were always pricks out there like myself who preferred the gritty undertones of the first album. The steam behind the engine started running out and the last single released off the album was greeted with apathy and while the man himself labeled the album as 'not as strange' it was the unique oddity of the original that made him appear such a genius.

After some solid touring and spending solid time focusing on the establishment of his record company Dirtee Stank, a label based on the hope of connecting 'the street' and the world - signing talented, if somewhat controversial artists with something to say that may ward off major label interest, Dizzee Rascal is back with his new effort - Maths and English - and I can tell you now that this album heralds the arrival of a man who has turned linguistics into an art-form.
The name derives from the combination of beats (Maths) and words (English), although its interesting to think that these two basic elements and how well you understand them can determine your path in life as well. But thats just me looking too far into it. First of all I might as well give a brief mention to production since it holds significance in my enjoyment of an album and its solid. Crisp vocals (which is surprising as he's not the cleanest speaker) and synthetic beats that would make your mate with a massive sub crap his pants mixed with guitars here and there as well as catchy-as samples all form together to give the album a very complete feel. And the tracks?

The only song that lets this album down is the opening track 'World Outside', a little too ambient and directionless for my liking but with the onset of the following track 'Pussyole (Old Skool)' its sure to get your hands up and your feet moving as James Brown samples and tehno-synth melodies come together. The dancefloor keeps pumping with the first single 'Sirens' featuring fat bass and some guitar-riffs heavier than a brick shithouse. 'Excuse Me Please' provides some incredibly poignant social-commentary while songs like 'Suck My Dick' are better explained by saying 'just listen to it'.

'Da Feelin' is another summertime anthem reminiscent of Lily Allen's 'LDN' and speaking of Ms Allen she makes a guest appearance on the track 'Wanna Be' which is an amazing combination of their contrasting yet similar styles. Another guest appearance on the CD is by the Arctic Monkeys with the track 'Temptation' also being released as a B-Side for themselves. It impresses me to see that all these talented young artists are joining forces and working together to help each others development in a music industry where its survival of the fittest. The CD closes with the bitter and aggressive tones of 'U Can't Tell Me Nuffin' with horror movie music ending the CD in a strange but still satisfying way.

Now for the last part of this miniature essay: It takes alot for me to enjoy a hip-hop CD from start to finish. Its not my favourite genre but people and releases come along occasionaly that show artists at the height of their talents. Like The Streets 'Original Pirate Material' and Eminems 'Encore' (shut up) Maths + English is a complete package. By separating and identifying the two aspects most important in the creation of this album Dizzee Rascal has honed his skills at both. A picture of a hard town and a tough story is told over music that breaks definition and keeps things refreshing. When Dizzee Rascal speaks, I'd recommend you listen - because based on the strength of this album, he's still got plenty more to say. 9/10

And thats all for now as this is long enough already.. Till next time.

Le Pony's Picks #1

Today marks the first of what I hope is many posts like this. Each week rising Dj & internet traveler Le Pony Boy scours the internet for fresh tunes to send the way of whiteboydancefloor. So rather than me constantly dropping the fine tunes of the great Le Pony Boy and call them my own, I decided to create what may become a series of posts entitled "Le Pony's Picks". As you can imagine, It took hours and hours on end to think up such a creative title.



Foals are an act who are making all the right moves in the UK. In 2007, the boys have already line up themselves support shows with the likes of Bloc Party, Go! Team & even a spot at the Reading Festival alongside even more big names. They have a sound which is very "now" but like a rare crop of acts, they do it better than most. Jangled electroclash which would send people at dance halls into fits of spastic movement and non-stop jubilation. Certainly an exciting prospect which will hopefully make their way down under very soon. If you like music like The Rapture, Foals are definitely for you.

Myspace: Foals


Grand Prix 86' are a really cosy indie band from Norwich. Despite the everyday strains of living in an area responsible for one of the most average Premier League challenges in recent soccer history, Grand Prix 86' give the good people of Norwich some hope. Using very minimal amounts of sound and simple lush choruses, the relaxing tones of this brand of indie pop are impossible to fight again. Rather allow yourself to be swept away and taken to somewhere better than here. I haven't heard more personally enjoyable use of the good ol' Casio keyboard since Hot Chip.

Myspace: Grand Prix 86'


And finally in this inaugural installment of Le Pony's Picks is a clip from The Damn Arms. Now for anyone who reads whiteboydancefloor, we can only assume you also sample the other finest blogs which come out of Sydney and as such, Damn Arms need no explanation or introduction. Here is a clip for their track "homewreckers".

Parklife 07

So finally we have installed a new hit counter for us to check out if anyone actually reads the waffle we go on about. Quite frankly I am stunned that regardless of our piffle, you people keep coming back. I am beyond the point of just loving you all by now. So I figure if you people are going to be that good to enough to stick with whiteboydancefloor after this long, we should start giving you some weekend content god damn it! We are going to be squeezing it even more I hope.

As always, Le Pony Boy has you beautiful whiteboydancefloor people front row center in his big heart and he's forwarded the Parklife 07 line up for me to pass on to all you people. The faithful who mix in the same scenes as we do will have already seen it, but hey, some of you are different to me and have lives, jobs, futures, hopes, dreams, good looks...etc.

So here it is, I've thrown in some myspace links where possible.

Sun 30th Sep – Sydney
(playing other states too)

Adam Freeland - myspace
Ajax - myspace
Busy P - myspace
Craze - myspace (i think)
Derrick Carter - bio @ Dj directory
Digitalism (Live) - myspace
Dj Delicious - myspace
Freq Nasty feat. Afrobots & Spragga Benz - website
Goose (Live) - myspace
Greenskeepers (Live) - myspace
Justice (Live) - myspace
K.I.M. - myspace
Lyrics Born (Live) - myspace
M.I.A. (Live) - myspace
MSTRKRFT - myspace
Muscles (Live) - myspace
Riot In Belgium - myspace
Scratch Perverts - myspace
Shapeshifter (Live) - myspace
Stereo MCs (DJ Set) - myspace
The Herd (Live) - myspace
The Sounds (Live) - myspace
Yacht (Live) - myspace
Yelle (Live) - myspace
+ many more to be announced

I mean for a first announcement, you can't really ask for much more. Again for the people into this kind of music, they have ticked all the major international and local boxes. I mean hell you'd be safe to pencil in Bang Gang, if Ajax is there, they'll be there, playing or otherwise. Still, the festival has some real good street cred to it being able to pull the likes of Digitalism, Justice & M.I.A, these are acts who pack out in the bigger festivals like Big Day Out. It's exciting the think the intention and delivery for that kind of granduer may not be far off for Parklife. Infact, it might already be here!

Website: Parklife

Enjoy your weekend beautiful people.

I love sounds.

Where will I be on Sunday? Glad you asked...

WE LOVE SOUNDS

ROYAL HALL OF INDUSTRIES
22.00-00.00 James Zabiela & Nic Fanculli (One+One)
21.00-22.00 Midnight Juggernauts (live)
20.00-21.00 Riot In Belgium
18.30-20.00 Alan Braxe & Kris Menace
17.15-18.30 D Ramirez
16.00-17.15 Riton
14.30-16.00 Sharam Jey
13.45-14.30 Goodwill
12.45-13.45 Ben Morris
12.00-12.45 The Heat (live)

HORDERN
22.30-00.00 Tiga
21.00-22.30 DJ Shadow w/ Gift Of Gab
20.35-21.00 James Taylor
19.15-20.35 Kid Kenobi
18.15-19.15 The Infadels (live)
18.00-18.15 James Taylor
17.00-18.00 Paul Mac (live)
16.45-17.00 James Taylor
15.45-16.45 TZU (live)
14.45-15.45 Mr Thing + Maya Jupiter
13.45-14.45 Poxymusic (live)
13.00-13.45 Dance With Voices (live)
12.00-13.00 K.I.M.

FORUM
22.30-00.00 Hernan Cattaneo
21.30-22.30 Infusion (live)
20.00-21.30 Audiofly
18.30-20.00 Ben Watt
17.00-18.30 Spirit Catcher (live)
15.30-17.00 Spencer Parker
14.00-15.30 Zoo Brazil
13.00-14.00 Robbie Lowe
12.00-13.00 Minimal Fuss DJs

BANG GANG
20.00-00.00 Bang Gang DJs & Friends
18.30-20.00 Surkin
17.30-18.30 Ajax
16.00-17.30 Headman
15.00-16.00 The Outlaws
12.00-15.00 Bang Gang DJs

3D WORLD
21.30-00.00 Ben Watt (Alfresco Encore)
20.00-21.30 Spirit Cartcher (DJ Set)
19.00-20.00 Stick Figures (live)
17.30-19.00 Telefunken
16.00-17.30 Jimi Polar & Jamie Loyd (live)
14.45-16.00 Deepchild (live)
13.30-14.45 Nathan Maclay
12.00-13.30 Noodles and Noel Boogie

My pick of the bunch have been highlighted in Pink! There aren't as many widely known acts apart from the obvious Tiga but for anyone who loves this style of music and this scene of people, there is more than enough quality to warrant the ticket price. Look out for Ryu & Ken from streetfighter busting out some funky shuffle time.

Happy Happy, Joy Joy

Anything remotely influenced by the sound of France (whatever that sounds like), whether it be a sultry French-accented chanteuse, a song with a little muted trumpet or a petite string section sends me wild. Even if its psuedo-French, which is better than no French at all.

April March is certainly a strange lady. A singer-songwriter since the 1980's in bands and as a solo artist, she also moonlighted as the main animator for everyones favourite mid-90's cartoon Ren and Stimpy. When you hear her sweet intonations you can hardly believe that at the same time she was drawing the barf on Stimpy's head flung from Ren's throat and the inside of whale carcasses. Plus she also worked on Archie Comics , animated sequences for Pee-Wee's paedorific Playhouse and composed the theme song to I Am Weasel.

Her music is timeless and stunning French-pop, made stranger by the fact she was born in California and lives in Brooklyn. To make things even stranger, the song 'Chick Habit' features on the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's bizarre new film Grindhouse. Strange enough for you?


MP3: April March - Chick Habit

Tuesday Tunes

Bit of humour to break the ice...

Mp3: Jakobinarina - "Sleeping in Seattle"

It's always good to be surprised by new music. These occasions are even fewer where the surprises are pleasant ones. Regal Records in the UK definitely have their fingers firmly on the pulse of uplifting alternative music. I won't sit here and pronounce "Sleeping in Seattle" to be like nothing I have ever heard before but it embodies that great British alternative rock sound infused with the must have pop sensibilities. The song gets the heart going faster but has an easy listening (not the genre, the adjective... I think i mean adjective) quality to it as well.

Mp3: Night of the Brain - "Theme"

I must admit when I got the email for some band called Night of the Brain, I was reading to skip over the email as I sometimes am tempted to do. But it said Cristian Vogel's new band and it got me thinking, I know that name. Being a member of Super Collider (w/ Jamie Lidell) was enough for me to download it. Vocally has a firm Julian Casablanca charm to it with the bass doing no harm to the Strokes approach comparison but musically it is less straight forward and more of a mildly enchanted walk in an Eastern palace garden. Only mildly enchanted though. Impressive none the less. Debut Album "Wear this world out" is due 4th June, of course Aussie release is TBA.

Mp3: Yves Klein Blue - "The Streetlight"

This is the kind of music anyone who is a true lover of good honest music will love. Winners of MTV's kickstart competition, I think Yves Klein Blue could bring me out of any old blues. The unassuming happiness this song evokes is undeniable. Without going over the top, this little number really brings the sunshine out for me. I couldn't really tell you what sets this apart from the millions of other songs out there, but it is unmistakably joyful. As with most Aussie gold, I must give the tastemakers @ Sandwich Club a big nod for this one. In my failure to quit my job and head down to the S/Club parties, I missed these guys and am kicking myself!

Mp3: Pheugoo - "Jimmy Mack's Sweet Escape"

Now I expect some of you out there will be lining up to drop some flack on me for posting this mash up. But if you have a soul, I think you would be hard pressed not to have been driving in your car alone or sitting in your room or browsing myspace and not had the urge to sing the annoying yet fun Akon hook. I love how everyone has their own way of singing those ambiguous noises that Akon squeals which aren't really words. Intepretation is beautiful. Best part is you don't hear Gwen Stefani for any part of the song I do believe.

Myspace: White Rabbits

Finally I thought I'd drop in a quite word on these guys from New York. They have a sound which is really going to take them places, well even more places than it does already. Their sound has this real unique streak to it and to use my old cliche, it's quite dramatic. But in the search for something more specific, I was struggling for adequate superlatives only to find the band describe their music better than I ever could "honky tonk calpyso" and I could not agree more. They are fantastic story tellers and the music accompanies like the perfect soundtrack. They seem to be a large ensemble and hey, Aussies love big families like the Cat Empire so you can't go wrong. Love it! Thanks to #1 Whiteboy scout & #2 DJ (we can't dethrone Shengg) Le Pony Boy for pointing me in this bands direction.

Hearts on Fire @ Manning Bar

Hearts were indeed on fire @ the Manning Bar on this Thursday just gone as the young Sydney glitterati turned out in full force for what was one of very few chances to see Cut Copy. They are gaining a knack for selling out venues of late. Missing out on tickets to their other shows, this rare chance to see the return of the DFA touched lads was too good an oppurtunity to miss.

All the kids (myself included) pulled out all stops in the fashion stakes with PeteVersusToby responsible for what I thought was a killer set of threads. I fear these guys won't stay my little Glebe Market secret for very long. Deadset, when I see people wearing the Tsubi range available at General Pants, I nearly die of laughter, you might as well go buy Jay Jays because less people would have it.

Moving on. The line up for this show was equally as tasty. It wasn't solely about Cut Copy. Starting off this evening (apart from a DJ whose name I am not aware of but was indeed very very good) was the Dardanelles. Normally it isn't really appropriate or "the done thing" to dance to the opening act of the night and hailing from arch nemesis Melbourne, a friendly response was not assured for a non hometown act. However, the kids seemed to ditch that kind of thinking because a band like Dardanelles deserves more than arms folded and head nods. The injection of some furiously strummed guitar was a slicing and salivating sound to my dance filled ears. I even made sure not to fold the arms and to provide a bit of leg movement however I was not ripping out any moves just yet. The mountains of empty space would have made me mediocrity stand out too much. Personal favourite was "Ofcourse you said" as I knew it well from the RIB remix, but I mean I was highly impressed overall. My knowledge of the band was limited to what S/Club had provided me with however I left impressed.

Myspace: Dardanelles

Next up was Ajax. I won't go into his set too much because I mean anyone who is reading this and isn't aware of what Ajax can produce is really sheltered or not from around here. When he arrived, the dance floor was completely packed out. That is not to say the Dardanelles didn't get close to that also. For Ajax's standards, I wouldn't say it was his most technical or mind blowingly crunking performance however Ajax never disappoints. He's still a white boy king though.

Myspace: Ajax

Charging onward to the arrival of Cut Copy. From a fantastic vantage point at what is now one of my favourite venues for viewing music, Cut Copy arrived on stage with little mucking about or drawn out introduction. It was clear they had come to do what they did best and didn't really bother incorporating any unnecessary theatrics. They were buoyed by the crowds response and it was evident the music would enchanting enough to keep the hords of screaming trendy's at bay. Giving the kids everything they want and more, Cut Copy ripped out all the expected ones like "Saturdays", "Time Stands Still" & "Going Nowhere" you could not have asked for more. I believe, Cut Copy ripped out a few new tracks (either that or I've become uncultured) and from what I heard, Cut Copy have certainly got one of the releases of 2007 in their hot little hands, waiting to be released to the salivating kids keen for dance floor glory.

Myspace: Cut Copy

With the obvious closer "Hearts on fire" leaving everyones heart pumping enough to hang around for some solid without being fantastic sounds produced by Bandit DJs. In farness, Bandit DJ's did get better as the set went on and the other kids did not stop dancing so maybe it was just me. I suppose they did bring a bit of much needed white boy crunking action to the fold. I guess when I come from an area that produced the horrors of resident Bloc Djs, I cannot comment. "Put ya hands up" *gunshots*

All in all, for a night that cost a ridiculously cheap 24 bux, I couldn't sing the praise of the night high enough. Fun shouldn't be this easy.