Small Change

Small Change is one of the standout tracks on the most recent CD from Gersey, and it's appropriate as I'm going to use this post to talk about some of the music I've been listening to recently, which is just a small change from all the cycling-related posts I normally write. That said, I'm sure the world will manage for a while.

Before that, however, I have another matter to address. My very good friend Rodney Olsen has been wrongly imprisoned! This Friday he will be held in a Fremantle prison, and his release will be dependent upon people making donations for research into Cystic Fibrosis. You can read more about that here. I'm going to donate $20 myself, and I defy everyone who reads this post to match it.

The most recent CD I bought was Black Holes and Revelations from Muse, and it may well be the album of the year. From the opening track, the rhythms and the voice of the lead singer grab your attention, but what's most impressive about this album is the lyric. It's rare these days that a band has the balls to tell it like it is in the world today, but these guys don't hold back. Tracks like Soldier's Poem and City of Delusion ensure that we are right in the picture. Yet tracks like Invincible move beyond that, almost providing hope for the future if things change in the world.

What Was Left from Clare Bowditch and The Feeding Set might also have been a contender for "album of the year" if I hadn't taken so long to get around to grabbing a copy. Why I took so long on the strength of the previous album is a mystery. The acoustic arrangements on this album make it easy to listen to, with a real laid-back feel. Some of the more melancholy aspects of contemporary life come out in the lyrics, and there's almost a yearning for something simpler.

Wincing the Night Away is the third album from The Shins. They had a hard act to follow after Kissing the Lipless, and seem to have gone for a slightly more contemporary sound. For all that, however, the distinctive sound of The Shins is still in evidence, largely through the voice of James Mercer. They also combine great song-writing with sweet melodies, and of course, the notoriously strange song titles.

The fact that I named this post after a track from No Satellites, the latest album from Gersey, and the fact that this was on my playlist when I still had this listed on my blog template some time ago, says a lot. They also had an impossible album to follow up in Storms Dressed as Stars (arguably the greatest album of the last decade), but they have just about pulled it off. They have a uniquely atmospheric sound, and the lyrics to complement that perfectly.

The only downside is that they are so good, they'll probably never get the airplay they deserve, simply because the great unwashed simply aren't cultured enough to appreciate probably the best Australian band for a decade or more.

Moo You Bloody Choir from Augie March is a title that would do The Shins proud. The album itself isn't half bad either. A lot of the tracks seem to have a mellow, late night feel about them, although both times I've managed to play it have been late at night, which might explain that. Nevertheless, the lead singer's voice is gratifying, and musically the album is comfortable to listen to.

It's also worth mentioning that I am, for course, still regularly listening to both albums released by Sarah Blasko. If you haven't taken a listen to Sarah yet, you have simply deprived yourself of the opportunity to hear the most beautiful voice in the world. It's said of some exceptional singers that they "could sing the phone book". A recent ABC TV program, Spics & Specs, had Sarah sing an excerpt from a cook book, and she actually pulled it off. I think that says a lot.