The power of cheese

Who doesn’t love a good power ballad?

Power ballads bring all the feels in the cheesiest way. And if you’re sentimental like I am, you want your feels as cheesy as possible.

The best power ballads are hyper-emotional rock songs that are over the top big! Big sounds, big emotions, big hair. They must be just the right tempo for slow dancing or dramatically falling in heap. And there has to be a crescendo. This is crucially important to drown out the sound of your audible wailing as you lament your lost love.

If you're an 80's kid, this playlist is dripping with nostalgia. Padded out with a Wham! song or two, some Spandau Ballet and Madonna's 'Like a Prayer' this would have been the playlist of choice for 10 year old me. 

So if you’re looking for something to belt out your lungs to… or hanging for a good cry, this playlist has got you covered. 

Get ready to get down and cheesy!

Smooth moves and good vibes

I’ve been feeling cautiously optimistic lately. Most likely because of the imminent reprieve from the bitter cold of winter. Here comes the sun and not a moment too soon! In my haste to shake off the winter blues, I’ve put aside the goth rock, post-punk and industrial metal to embrace some more mellow, hopeful sounds. 

I’ve been listening to a lot of Tropicália music. Tropicália is a Brazilian artistic movement that began in the late 1960’s and was rooted in political upheaval and a desire for social change. Following the overthrow of the elected government of President João Goulart in 1964, Brazil's newly installed military government was cracking down on dissent in all forms, including strict censorship of media and critical songs.

In response, Brazilian artists fought for creative freedom through the revolutionary movement Tropicália; an artistic movement that includes music, film, visual and performing arts. Tropicália music combines traditional Brazilian music with elements of pop, rock and jazz. 

Smooth moves and good vibes is a playlist inspired by Tropicália, but it's a mixed bag of French electro, krautrock, afro funk, 80’s pop and a bunch of other gold thrown in for good measure. 

But do you have to be good at maths?

I have a soft spot for math rock. And no, you don't have to be good at maths to dig it.

Math rock is a sub-genre of progressive rock; a broad term which covers pretty much any style of rock that pushes the boundaries of conventional rock music. 

It's no secret that I'm a fan of the unconventional and math rock certainly fits the bill. So called because of it’s unusual, frequently changing time signatures; math rock has tight rhythms with precise changes in style and tone. There's lots of stopping and starting and changes in tempo. This creates a jarring affect which can feel a bit frantic. Math rock has unusual time signatures which are technically complex and harder to play, so people who play math rock are really skilful.

Math rock became a notable genre in the late 1980s - early 1990s and some my favourite bands that are considered math rock, like Polvo and Shellac, started back then. There's also a lot of great Japanese math rock bands like Tricot.

                               

I discovered math rock in my early 20s. I always listened to a lot of punk and post punk music and the math rock sound is not dissimilar. It's noisy, chaotic and often interspersed with delicate melodies. And it's powerfully emotive. But what really got me about math rock is all that noise and chaos is actually very controlled in a masterful way. I love that.

So, do you want to hear some math rock? Because I've got you covered! I've put together the perfect playlist so you can dive head first into the sonically complex world of math rock. All you have to do is hit play.

I'm Back Baby!

I know most of you thought I was dead, but no, actually what happened was I got really, really quiet. For almost five years. And I know that's a long time between blog posts, but what is it they say? If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all?

It's not really fair to say nothing nice has happened in music in the last five years. We've seen the runaway success of Amyl and the Sniffers and the debut of Silk Sonic. We heard the true story of Wham! resulting in vindication for Andrew Ridgeley (I freaking love that guy). And St. Vincent, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Janelle Monae, Public Image Ltd. and Blur all released new albums.

Post COVID, it seems every band and artist is touring, and even though I don't know anyone personally who was able to get tickets for Taylor Swift's upcoming Melbourne show, somebody somewhere must have snagged one. And the nicest thing of all? Guitar Wolf played at my local. Guitar Wolf!! At my local!!!

While it's true I have not blogged for many years, I have not given up making stellar playlists. You could even say it's a hobby of mine. I love to think about the way songs fit together thematically to tell a story, or express a mood or feeling. 

This playlist pulls togther a collection of tunes that span decades and musical styles; ranging from The Zombies' 1960's psychedelic rock and the lovely Yé-yé sounds of Françoise Hardy, to the smooth soul of Erykah Badu, the hard rocking Rollins Band and the drum n' bass stylings of Josh Abrahams. You know, to remind us all that it's complicated.

January 2019 Playlist

It's taken almost all month, but here it is; my first post for 2019. Happy new year to you all, by the way. 

I feel good about the year to come. The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades. The shades also stop the scorching, Australian sun from burning my eyes out. Seriously, it has been so freaking hot. Temperatures of the likes we've never seen before. No such thing as climate change, my arse!

So, the Roxy talks Music January Playlist has a very positive vibe. It wasn't intentional, it just turned out that way. But it's definitely reflective of my current outlook. It's crazy that it's taken me so long to put some Roxy Music on a playlist, but I really have been listening to them a lot lately, and I have to say, there's no better way to start the year. Aaaaand.... Weezer's version of TLC's 'No Scrubs' from their recently released Teal album of covers makes me laugh. 

December Playlist

I took the last couple of months off from Roxy talks Music to recharge my batteries, binge on Netflix and try to make sense of this crazy thing called life. But now I'm back with a fresh new playlist for the holiday season. Of course it includes Run DMC's 'Christmas in Hollis' because, well duh.

On the subject of 'the holiday season', it can be a complicated time. Sometimes sad, sometimes joyous, sometimes riddled with anxiety. I'm getting some freaking awesome Lego this year, so colour me excited! Also, I suspect there may be a record or two waiting for me under the tree. Fingers crossed one of them is Juliana Hatfield's 1995 album 'Only Everything' recently repressed and released on coloured vinyl by Run Out Groove.

During my break from Roxy talks Music, I managed to catch the Mystery Lights at one of my locals. That's amazing for three reasons; one: I already knew and loved the Mystery Lights, two: they are a freaking fantastic garage rock band all the way from New York (which is worlds away from my regional Victorian city), and three: it only cost me ten bucks to see them live. Wow did they rock! They were super high-energy with a somewhat 1960's psychedelic, Westcoast sound. They sounded great, the crowd was pumped and it felt very much like an intimate jam session at times.

On a more sombre note, legendary Buzzcocks frontman Pete Shelley passed away this month. The Buzzcocks were hugely influential pioneers of pop punk. In Shelley's honour, I've included everybody's favourite Buzzcocks song 'Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)' on the Roxy talks Music - December Playlist. I hope you enjoy it.

September Playlist

I've been feeling sentimental of late. I think I'm a sentimental person generally, but lately almost everything makes me emotional. Emotions! Gah!! Who needs them, amiright? I think that's why quite a few of the songs on this month's playlist are sentimental. Some just in general, some specifically for me. It wasn't intentional, that's just the way the cards have fallen.

Again, not much new music here, but I plan to rectify that in the coming months. That said, I did discover Meg Myers, who's second full length album 'Take me to the Disco' was released in July this year. Stephen Kallao wrote a profile on Myers for NPR's World Cafe: essential and emerging artists, describing her sound as 'a bit like Nine Inch Nails got into a fight with the Pixies'. THAT got my attention. 'Numb' the second track on the album, is very Pixiesish - with the loud/quiet shifts and the long, wistful guitar licks.

Look, The Roxy talks Music - September Playlist may be sentimental, but it's not all melancholia. There's a light at the end of the long, wintry tunnel. Spring has sprung! And I'm about ready to kick up my heels and go out for a dance. 

So, put it on and play it loud, my people! And maybe I'll catch you out there on the dance floor.