Playground Weekend

The fact that such an amazing line up and amazing festival was sitting right under my nose only reinstalls the notion in my mind that I can be very lazy and slack when it comes to keeping up with the times.

Not for a moment will I advertise the line up as something for everyone, but it is something for everyone with an ounce of taste to their credit. I noticed when telling others of my excitement at going to this event, the "who's playing" line had me dropping The Presets to gasps and cheers but really the rest left people happy for me, but not anything else.

It made me realise three things.

1) My friends have very narrow and uneducated tastes
2) Those motherfuckers should stop spending all their time at the roller disco and read the fricken blog.
3) The whiteboydancefloor readers comprise the finest tastemakers, but few I know personally.

Anyways moving on, You heard us get excited for a Big Day Out filled with plenty of fantastic and mostly competent acts. But when I name drop just my favourite bands playing this three day festival, it seems I could be here for hours. So here goes.

The Presets (obviously Gosh!), Chk Chk Chk (!!!), Bang Gang Dj's, Riot in Belgium, Valentinos, Dappled Cities Fly, The Ghosts, The Hate Game, Avalanches (Dj set), Cut off your hands, Teenagers in Tokyo, Operator Please, Soft Tigers, The Paper Scissors & Deepchilds.

As I went through, not only did I salivate but I swear Sandwich Club must have had a hand in picking the line up, you're bullshitting me if they didn't. Either that or the are crazy tastemakers (ok ok probably the later).

The point is, with the chance for a 3 day camping trip at your fingertips & a line up like that, I dont need to carry on with some bullshit hype-a-thon like we had to for Big Day Out. This quality speaks for itself and what I've mentioned is just my own little cave of preference.

Go check the Full Line Up and set aside a good hour to firstly go through the insane line up, pick who your taking and then arrange how you are going to get tickets, get there and live for 3 days. The event takes place over the weekend of 9th-11th March @ the exotic sounding Del Rio Resort.

If you wanna try your luck to score some free tickets, head over to 12 Major Chords and use your creative spark to win a double pass to this fantastic event down at Wisemens Ferry.

For more details head to the Playground Weekender Website.

Oww and lastly, I honestly believe the way this event is going to run will really set a new benchmark in quality, value for money festivals. I've spent the good part of 2 hours reading over every little bit of information regarding the event and the thought, detail and in depth thought that has gone into every aspect of the overall festival goer experience is nothing short of impressive.

Look out Ken West, your communistic bullshit isn't going to last much longer.

Neon Professional

Its dark, emotive and precise. Angular, spontaneous and extremely stylish. Too many adjectives describe San Serac. He is criminally under-appreciated it seems, with blog love thin on the ground. That will change I'm sure, as soon as everyone gets sick of hyping up French house and start turning to more sophisticated styles of dance music. San Serac aka Nat Rabb from the US serves up music that takes cues from the clinical Kraftwerk and more house oriented artists ala Daft Punk, serving up something that owes plenty to the past yet delivers much in the present. His new album Professional will be released in April, with 2 new tracks just released on his MySpace profile, which may earn this gent some more deserved acclaim.

MYSPACE: San Serac



Well this week I finally came around on Arcade Fire. For the best part of three years I denied their quality and refused to believe the hype, but after sampling some of the tracks from their new LP I think we may be in the presence of greatness here. Funeral to me was so pretentious it bordered on ridiculous, and from what I've heard of Neon Bible it's still ambitious but it seemed to hit the right notes for me. Arcade Fire appeared on the horrible SNL over the weekend an the team at Pitchfork have the performance available to stream here. Neon Bible will be released on the 6th March

No mp3's from me today sorry, my computer decided it can no longer connect to the internet. I love Windows.

Lets Merge About It

The record industry, in turn, is much like any major competition. You have big teams, small teams, teams with rich owners, teams with the best players and of course the teams that nobody likes. When the competition gets bigger, broader and with more players in the field it of course becomes harder to survive and steps must be taken.

With the digital revolution at hand (well its been going for about 5 years now actually), we've already seen two of what was the five major record labels (Sony and Bertlesman) merge to become the massive revenue-raising pop-idol machine that has become Sony-BMG. And now, after all this time and many years of trying, it looks like Warner are finally about to merge (or buy, as the bigger ones do) with EMI. Why are these once powerful forces of the industry relying on each other for survival? Just over a week ago EMI released its P/L statement showing a massive sales collapse in the US. The primary cause of which is online music distribution (free and licensed). Its taking the necessity off CD's and other physical media and hence the money out of the wallets of these labels.

The interesting statistics of 1. how much will EMI cost? and 2. who stays and who goes (rumours are that robbie williams will get the flick - OMFG!) are still yet to be revealed but this will all be in the works as soon as this time next month.

And if any of what I just said makes sense, or you are compelled to learn more about the current state of the companies BEHIND the people behind the music, then I IMPLORE YOU - READ THIS article it could very well open your eyes.




Everyone knows who Will Ferrell is. If you don't, you're quite stupid or you've been living under a rock for quite a while now, regardless I doubt you'd be able to afford a movie ticket and if you did I dont doubt that you would be ejected by the end of the opening credits for your foul smell and generally disorderly conduct as well as dishevelled recluse-esque appearance and dress sense.

But anyway, the man is loved and hated by many. Some people see him as a poor actor who gets laughs out of toilet humour and infantile jokes about penises and basically playing an idiot. What people dont understand about the man is that he is a very character-based actor. From his early SNL material to the Producers (which I havent even seen) and of course to Anchorman he shows that he can really play a part. Its just unfortunate he's chosen some bad parts to play. Not, however, the role of Harold Crick.

I went and saw Stranger Than Fiction the other night and hence ended up seeing one of Ferrells best performances to date. The amount of parrallels this film provides are sure to make it standard viewing material for English classes to come for many years. Treading the fine line between comedy and tragedy he plays a man who has lived his whole life by an absolute routine every day, until, of course that whole routine gets shaken up and his life is never the same. Im not going to tell you much about the film apart from the fact it gets a positive recommendation from me and the fact that I think its ironic that Ferrells most reserved character to date is easily one of his best.

Oh, and one more thing




Now thats rock n roll..
Until next time

I got hugs for you if you were born in the 80's

Brooklyn darlings and whiteboydancefloor royalty, Tigercity have dropped some new music and all you Aussie kids are going to make love to its splendours first on whiteboydancefloor. You may remember Tigercity's floorless dancefloor smasher of 2006; “Are you sensation” made it into the Whiteboydancefloor Top 20 songs of 2006 and it seems as if 2007 is going to be no less an amazing year for these guys.

Now not a single one of you out there that knows me can go Tigercity, Are you sen-what?. Any of you who know me personally and been around to my illustrious castle otherwise known as my Western sydney residence (which being a 2 story house is castle like for the west) will have been exposed to the instantly lovable “Are you sensation”. I spent 3 months searching Hype Machine everyday for someone to post an mp3 of “Are you sensation” and even applied for a credit card just so I could buy the E.p.

Skip past my ranting and into 2007. Tigercity have dropped “Let her go”. It goes on a different tangent to “Are you sensation” and attacks the art of love making music making love from another seedy city backstreet avenue. “Let her go” is seductive, saucy bass driven gold which has the same kind of subtle groove evident in Tigercity side project Games' track "future". It's the kind of track you see fly electro kids putting on when they want "do their lady right" and put it this way, it doesn't matter how average you are in the sack, Tigercity will do the rest.

Big thanks goes to Joel from Tigercity for being very generous and allowing you whiteboys (and girls) of Australia to get a crack at this track first.

Mp3: Tigercity - Let her go

What better to compliment a track of this callibre than a video for a track of equally high quality. I awoke this morning and had to messages waiting for me. One was the excitement of the new Tigercity track which sent me into fits of gittish school girl screams ("purple drapes, all my life ive waited purple draps") and the second was a myspace message from Whiteboydancefloor's favourite yank Devon @ Pocketrocket has introduced me to something so infectiously catchy I really couldn't believe it. There is so much I could go on to say but really Devon sums it up best so check out his post here.

Such a simple tune which delivers so much joy. Kids born in the 80's, this one is for you!!!

Good Vibrations 2007 @ Centennial Park, Sydney

As summer approaches its end, the summer festival action seems to just get better. Very warm temperatures, a mystery guest and acres of sun and grass greeted punters at Centennial Park for Good Vibrations 2007. The late change of timetable and the vacant spot on the schedule caused the more in tune punters to think of only one name: Snoop Dogg. His appearance at only the Gold Coast and Melbourne left Sydney punters disappointed, but this small change of timetable left the door ajar.



Upon arrival the timetable change caught me and my entourage off guard as Van She were just about to take the stage earlier than anticipated. Again this band proved why they are the real deal; their cool new-wave inspired tunes, their knack for creating infectious hooks and their fashionable threads combine to make them the hottest ticket in town. Crowd favourites 'Kelly' and 'Sex City' were complimented by a strong repertoire of new songs which I believe sound even better than their self-titled EP's material.



With a wander around my ear caught parts of Dirty South, responsible for that horrific Evermore remix, and Trance queen Amber Savage under her Miss Savage pseudonym dropping some great house/electro tunes under cover to very appreciative crowds who enjoyed both the music and the welcome shade. Back to the main stage, Melbourne 80's lovers Cut Copy emerged to cool down the masses and send them into a writhing frenzy. Their set was patchy with some songs not holding up well in a festival environment, however with highlights such as 'Saturdays', 'Bright Like Neon Payphone' and their new and very good track 'Hearts On Fire' Cut Copy get a thumbs up from me.



Ajax provided the interlude music between Cut Copy and Sneaky Sound System and as with all the previous times I have seen him DJ he just gets better and better, playing and mashing even more crazy and fantastic tracks. But he was merely an appetiser for Sneaky who were surprisingly fantastic. Previously I have slagged off this band on this blog, as I have always thought they were this superficial band from superficial Bondi, lacking any real substance. I still think they are superficial, but now I believe they are a perfect party band. Their songs are fluffy and easy on the brain, full of cool synth melodies and Connie Mitchell's adorable vocals. Full marks for stage presence, with MC Double D bouncing around like an 8 year-old after its first hit of Cotties Red. Interestingly, 'Pictures' featured twice, once in orginal form and then at the end of their set in remix form which worked a treat





The time had come to reveal who the mystery act was. Before his/her/their arrival, the area in front of the main stage was not very full, leading me to believe that many people were unaware of who it was that would surprise the crowd. If you didn't know by then you were an idiot. However front of stage real estate became a premium once the guest emerged and his unique intonations reverberated around the venue . It was Snoop Dogg, the king of West Coast hip-hop. Being a fan of the 'Dogg since the age of 10, this was a very special moment for this blogger. Clad in an oversized South Sydney jersey, apparently a gift from Russel Crowe (genius marketing if you ask me), Snoop's hour long set saw him deliver all his big tracks. 'Whats My Name'. Check. 'Gin n' Juice'. Check. 'The Next Episode'. Check. He was charismatic as you would imagine, interacting with the crowd using call and response, even at one stage giving kudos to Tupac during their classic track '2 Of Americas Most Wanted' , with the crowd dutifully responding to every command. In true Snoop style he smoked a joint on stage and implored the crowd to do the same, and judging by the smell in the air they obliged. The rest of the day seemed insignificant at this point, Snoop Dogg was worth the ticket price alone.


The Beastie Boys followed with a cameo from Snoop, having already seen these guys live I didn't hang around, instead wandering to the smaller stages to catch some Timo Mass and John Course, who both ended the day in superb fashion. Kudos must go to Justin Hemmes and the whole organising crew for this festival. The line up was solid, the toilets ample and the bars plentiful. Good venue, good music, Good Snoop Dogg. That was Good Vibes 2007.



Thanks to Clint and news.com.au for the photos

Weekend Post: Am I Sick? Bored? Aroused?

Last night involved the musical stylings of a 75 year old female Dj at Penrith Paceway. While the rest of you were out sampling Sydney's finest, I endured 3 hours of Grease megamixes, Alice Cooper dance edits, Bon Jovi and but ofcourse that infuriating song about Detroit that implores tools at the bar to stop what they are doing and throw their hands up in a ridiculous fashion.

Needless to say awaking to find some sublime music awaiting my ears is always a bonus.

Sean Lennon is a maestro of luscious pop music. Lyrically and vocally Sean Lennon is stunning and if you can pull your ears away from his voice for a few moments you can hear the intricate and subtle additions the music brings to Lennon's dreamy voice. I don't really give a shit who he is related to. However I must admit the music does have a shine to it that obviously seems guided by the great ones hand. No Yoko I am not talking about you. Idiot.

Friendly fire (2006) demonstrates a real maturity and depth to the musician that is Sean Lennon. Pop music hasn't had this kind of glow to it in my opinion for quite some time. The music dares to be grand and soars high above just the sum of someone’s parents.

Mp3: Sean Lennon - Spectacle

Giving Up On Love

It's Valentines Day, however I don't believe in it so I am not posting any love song. But I will post some songs you will love, and that may create a massacre on the dancefloor. (Lame)



With Electro-house filtering into the mainstream, there is nothing better than pulling out some clinical and edgy Electro tracks that re-instill your love for the genre and make you calm in the knowledge that those jocks down the street wont be yelling out 'This track is hectic' anytime soon . Franz & Shape do it for me. 'Maximum Joy' from their just released 'Acceleration' LP slams you with its thumping bass and precise synths creating a dark robotic world, with submission to your new robot overlords the only option. An early contender for track of the year.


MP3: Franz & Shape - Maximum Joy
Buy Acceleration from Amazon



Electronic music owes a lot to the pioneering sounds of the 1980's, but Kavinski maybe does it a little too much that it borders on gimmicky. But that is of little consequence when the tunes are this good. He has a new EP on the way entitled, surprise surprise, 1986 which is full of those wonderful synthetic sounds that evoke nostalgia of a time where I only existed as a mere infant. You may have already heard 'Testarossa Autodrive' which sounds like the soundtrack to a Knight Rider episode, and this SebastiAn remix of it is pretty killer, with SebastiAn trademarks all over it. Speaking of Killer, Kavinski will be supporting SebastiAn at Killer on the 3rd of March at the Metro in Sydney which looks like a must see.

MP3: Kavinski - Testarossa Autodrive (SebastiAn Remix)
MYSPACE: Kavinski

Funboys Go Global!

Right now as I sit here, the Whiteboydancefloor crew are riding on a high after this week showed us just how many people actually read what we have to say. I mean we always carried an undeserved sense of arrogance and grandeur but what's worse is that now, we are starting to believe it.

We don't pretend to be nice people at all and as such to have people who hate us is a comforting feeling, almost a dream come true. After our Big Day Out Part 1 Post, it seems people were flocking to read what the Whiteboydancefloor crew had to say about this momentous occasion. Right from the get-go, the opinions were scathing and The Spazzys were first cab off the rank to cop a tongue lashing from the Whiteboydancefloor crew with Dayve and Pix being far from complimentary.

As a result, a no doubt avid fan of Whiteboydancefloor took offense to our spiteful words toward their favourite mistfits and posted a link to this post on the illustrious Spazzys Forum. The response was equally as scathing and the jealously toward the Funboys was oozing. Obviously with the help of their Bachelor of Arts Degrees from Charles Sturt College, the Spazzy's fans voiced demonstrated just how scathing and intelligent they can be all at the same time. Oww and thanks for the extra 250 hits your hatred got us.

What then resulted was Whiteboydancefloor and the Funboy's finest hour. The Spazzys themselves seem to be closet diehards of the blog and it seemed our ferocity didn't go unnoticed. The Spazzys have now added that famous Funboy's Pic to their myspace page display pic. As such, The Funboys get even more recognition and the crazy train continues.

I must say, I am impressed that The Spazzys seem to be seasoned at handling criticism and have taken our words with a lot more integrity than their fans so I must give them kudos for that. To show a bit of spiteful love back to the terrible trio, we returned the favour over at Whiteboydancefloor Myspace HQ. Would be great if you commented too, good, bad (preferably) or indifferent!

If anyone out there is a wholesale shirt maker, let us know because it seems like it wont be too long before everyone (including the Spazzys) will be knocking down our door for shirts.

Now hopefully this post gets a bit of attention because I am going to use it to inform everyone as Sandwich Club has that The Vendettas have been forced to change their name due to impending legal action over a band of the same name having a bitch.

Now as Sandwich Club pointed out, this is crippling for the hype train a band needs to build in order to get everyone on the band wagon, so now please refer all your love for the heavenly and seductive Larissa Rate & co's new band name The Hate Game.

My undying love for Miss Rate will never go away but aside from that, The Hate Game are really making some great music which translates even better live. I've seen first hand that it isn't easy to get a crowd at Candy's Apartment pumping when your first cab off the rank and everyone hasn't had a chance to let the pingers kick in yet but The Hate Game did it with ease.

Larissa you are Sydney's number one fox.

Check out the Hate Game in full flight supporting Expatriate on their Ep Launch. Whiteboydancefloor shall be heading down for a look. You should too!!!

February, 17 2007 at Expatriate EP launch at the Annandale hotel
Annandale on Broadway, Annandale, New South Wales
Support: The Hate Game (formerly Vendettas)

Triple J Unearthed: The Hate Game

Down South

South by southwest brings about its 20th birthday this year. For those who aren’t in the know its one of the biggest industry festivals in the world, held in Texas, where many of the worlds most talented acts come to perform for and meet with international industry professionals showcased on over 50 stages in Austin. Many Australian bands use the festival to try and further their international careers and hope for foreign distribution with a major. And as always there is no shortage of Australian artists chomping at the bit.

Sarah Blasko, Macromantics, Dallas Crane, Evermore, I heart Hiroshima, The Panda Band, Wolf and Cub, You Am I and even local favourites The Presets will all be among the Aussie contingent showcasing their material between March 14-18 and while none of us will actually be able to get there (despite how freaking awesome it would be.. wbdf review of SxSW) it will certainly be interesting to find out how our local talent went.

For a full list of international acts, just click here

In other industry news the gloves are off in the war between Apple and the record companies in the US as the boys from Apple demand that the RC’s negate digital rights for songs sold on iTunes. Whether this has anything to do with the fact that in Europe Apple is under attack from companies and foreign government asking that they make iTunes compatible with other devices is under debate – with claims that Apple are making most of their profit off the fact that you need an iPod to listen to their music, and the fact that most people, once obtaining an iPod are more likely to go and download the MP3s off a p2p program anyway. I know I do. I’m tending to side against Apple on this one. Working on compatibility issues would make the online music market a lot more universally accessible and would perhaps stem the rut of free illegal downloads… (maybe not for me though)

Last but not least if you’ve not been paying attention, very much like myself you may not have heard the new single from Silverchair. I have – and I know what you’re all asking – what do YOU think Javid? I think this – the song is essentially homosexual. While people might love the beauty of it, I certainly hope the album has a lot more to offer. But with that in mind you have to give them credit for always supplying the unexpected. I know I just said its gay but at the same time it’s still interesting, and Johns’ voice is back at its resounding best. Make up your own mind by clicking below.

Hear 'Straight Lines' here

Worry About It Later

Just when I thought you couldn't milk this 80's revival thing for much longer, out come wbdf faves Cut Copy with a preview of their new album and prove that plundering anything created pre-31st December 1989 still works. 'Hearts On Fire' keeps the airy synths and disco-house spirit of their earlier work and create a subtle and insidious groove that may take a few spins to hit the sweet spot. Dan Whitford effortlessly intones over some slinky bass lines and guitar riffs, leaving me wanting more. Bring on the new album!

MYSPACE: Cut Copy - Hearts On Fire



MP3: The Futureheads - Worry About It Later (Switch Remix)

This remix has been around for a few months now and many DJ's around are giving it space on their playlists, so I thought I'd post it today. In a mixing session with a couple of mates recently I can't count the amount of times we played this song so it is firmly implanted in my head so I want it implanted into yours as well. I wont go into too much detail analysing this track, all I will say is that The Futureheads seem to sound very good remixed (Hounds of Love and Skip to The End for example) and Switch just plain rules.

Big Day Out 07 Review Part 3

Hot Chip - And I Was A Boy From School (Live at BDO Melbourne)

I had prepared this post yesterday and for some reason when I posted it, it was deleted for some reason. So instead of me giving my two cents and retyping it all again, ill let Javid's summary to the talking, as it is sufficiently poignant and controversial. Enjoy.

So another Big Day Out has come and gone and once again we're all filled
with that little void inside us that happens this time of year. Because
Splendour is so far away.. but before we finally put the Big Day Out 07 to
rest there are just a few things I'd like to say:

1. To me, one of the most important factors a band needs to consider before
deciding to play a festival like the Big Day Out is if their sound is up to
it. You need an engineer who knows what he's doing and you need to know what
you want out of the sound otherwise, while it might sound good through your
foldbacks, The crowd cant hear shit. while many bands displayed exemplary
sound quality, some were shite. work out if you're a festival band. if
you're not, don't play festivals.

2. I've been going to the big day out for a while now and theres a few things
im used to. one of them is Australian flags (with the Sydney BDO
traditionally being on Australia Day, although not always) and the other
thing is the good nature of people at music festivals. this year it was NOT
on Australia day, for whatever reason you choose to believe. But STILL, the
place was absolutely packed with Australian flags - more than usual! Why?
It's not Australia day, its not really THAT hot to walk around with nothing
but a flag for a cape all day. The simple answer is because people are
incredibly fucking stupid. The media, the people who are supposed to help
promote the event, went in every single fucking direction with it and hence
the patriotic dickheads thought they'd take their flags a day early. Because
the press told them not to. Honestly, they interviewed Pauline Hanson for
fucks sake. Notably controversial and god knows certainly no longer an
important figure in this country with her 'you don't like this place ill
drive you to the airport myself' mentality. Why would you show that? Who
gives a fuck what she thinks about the Big Day Out ? So many out of context
interview snippets made so many dumb impressionable fucks bring their flags
and a stupid bogan mentality that has made this the WORST Big Day Out crowd
I have ever been a part of. particular highlights include friends being
phsyically thrown across the place, and watching these bogans tackle people
for no fucking reason, and into bins etc. It is because of these people that
I have developed a strong level of contempt for our flag and anyone that
chooses to wear it. You talk about how proud you are of this nation yet you
brandish our biggest symbol of ownership to another country that really
doesnt give a fuck about our dying land? (but thats another story
altogether)
So to the bogans, I salute you - with a middle finger. And to anyone who
wore an Australian flag - WHY? That is my question. If you can honestly and
succinctly explain to me WHY you wore a flag when it wasn't Australia day
then maybe ill be satisfied. Because this BDO showed just how stupid people
are, and it could be the start of an unfortunate decline for Australia's much
loved festival. iIwould also like to give a big FUCK YOU to the following
people for making this happen:
- every single person who brought a flag because they were told not to
- Th Daily Telegraph
- A Current Affair
- Today Tonight
- commercial networks 7 and 9
- any other program with no credibility that made this as unneccesarily
massive as it was
- Pauline Hanson and all other ill-informed politicians grasping for
attention
- the people of Sydney (this problem was nowhere else)
and for once I would like to COMMEND the work of security forces and police
(and thats not something i do often). If you were there to have a good time,
they were no trouble. They had a hard job to do and did it well - and for
once it wasn't about people bringing drugs in, it was about making sure
nothing got out of hand which i don't doubt was a massive task.

The BDO - still one of the best, but for how much longer? While the bands
were absolutely amazing, the crowd brought the whole day down many notches
with the mentality and maturity of an 8 year old with ADHD. Fuck our flag. -Javid

(all views represented solely by javid van der piepers as opposed to the
wbdf crew. if this angers you or makes you feel like you've got a smartass
paragraph thatll make you feel imporant till i reply and cut you down,
please address to myself and not my associates).