One Sentence Album Reviews

Because it took me forever to finish my 2011 list, here's the first for the year!

Tennis - Young And Old (2012): another girl/boy duo making dreamy summer tunes; makes me think of pastel polo shirts and country clubs 3/5

Anti-Flag - The General Strike (2012): As always, Anti-Flag make a fun punk album full of catchy hooks and politics. It's damn catchy 4.3/5

Every Time I Die - Ex Lives (2012): typical ETID album: features the same guitar/vocal styles & funny titles but with a more metal edge 4.3/5

Bleeding Through - The Great Fire (2012): This metal album tries hard, but falls short. Especially with its overuse of fake synth violin 3/5

The Mars Volta - Noctorniquet (2012): The poppiest album Omar/Cedric have released yet. Short songs, no spacey solos, understandable lyrics 3.7/5

Caliban - I Am Nemesis (2012): Breakdowns, samples, clean singing parts, swearing. A fairly typical metalcore album 3.2/5

Hank Williams III - Rebel Within (2010): Someon with a hardcore background decided to imitate the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack 4/5

Air - Le Voyage Dans La Lune (2012): accompanying soundtrack to the 1902 movie is a return of form. The music doesn't even need the movie 4.8/5
Sonic Armada may be the song of the year

Quiet Steps - Secular (2012): The screamo influence is largely cast aside on this album, substituted for some great noodly melodies 4/5

Bleeding Knees Club - Nothing To Do (2012): Retro sounding garage rock from the Gold Coast. It's like a 60's surf party! 4/5

Narrows - Painted (2012): Every year there's a dirty, sludgy hardcore album I dig. I'm pretty sure this is it for 2012. 4.2/5

MxPx - Plans Within Plans (2012): A flashback to when I was 16 and pop-punk blared through my car windows as loud as it could go 3.8/5

Sleigh Bells - Reign Of Terror (2012): Not much changed for the 2nd album, except the riffs are more 80's power-metal. Not in a good way 2.3/5

Fanfarlo - Rooms Filled With Light (2012): Delightful indie-pop, but the album lacks a standout wow factor, it'll be forgotten quickly 3.5/5

Fun. - Some Nights (2012): Imagine if you were in a cute romantic (indie) movie, this would be your soundtrack 4/5

Kaiser Chiefs - Start The Revolution Without Me (2012): Unlike their last few albums, they don't sound totally bored. Still not great 2.4/5

Useless ID - Symptoms (2012): The melodies! I find this album so gosh darn catchy in a good pop-punk way 4/5

Lucero - Women & Work (2012): A more upbeat Lucero album, probably thanks to all of the horns. Magnificent whiskey fueled rock still 4.6/5

Ceremony - Zoo (2012): It appears the hardcore and anger is gone, replaced with a brooding almost indie sound. Not what I was expecting 3.3/5

Young Guns -  Bones (2012): an attempt at a big stadium-rock, radio-friendly sound. Meh 2.3/5

2011: Best of Photos

2011 was a big year for me in photography. I got my first SLR at the end of 2010 and up to July 2011 I only was able to take band photos in little venues after sweet talking the bouncers. By the end of 2011 I had photographed two massive festivals of international bands, broken 1 lens mid-Future of the Left gig, broken 1 camera mid-Soundwave Counter-Revolution festival, had photos printed in a magazine (in Canberra of all places) and been able to get up close with so many bands I loved.

It's been fun. I would like to thank Alternative Music Hub and Tone Deaf for allowing me to occasionally photograph for them. 2012 will see me dragging my camera wherever possible and hopefully being able to take some more larger bands/festival photos. If you're reading this and you want me to take photos for your publication/band/etc, please hit me up on photo@moshpitson.com.

Now that's all done, here's my favourite live music photos I took last year. This list has been impossible to make as I keep changing my mind and I tried to only limit it to 1 photo per show.

20. The Chariot, Sun Distortion Studios, April 20

This gig was absolutely insane. Despite being a small room with one small bulb from the roof making for horrible lighting, the band was so crazy that most photos turned out. Even this one of the bass player being carried out the door while still playing.

19. The Damned Things, Soundwave Counter-Revolution, Riverstage, September 24

Although not an action shot, I just really enjoy this picture of Damned Things/Every Time I Die lead singer Keith Buckley walking off stage. (See the full gallery here)

18. The Walkmen, Harvest Festival, Riverstage, November 19

I had been waiting the better part of a decade to see the Walkmen. This picture of the lead singer looking suave and slightly 1950s is everything I had ever imagined about this band. (See the full gallery here)

17. The Grates, Tivoli, October 28

Patience, the energetic lead singer, is generally the focus of attention in the Grates live show. However, in this picture, John shows he can still get his boogie on. (See the full gallery here)

16. Alesana, Soundwave Counter-Revolution, Riverstage, September 24

I may not be the biggest fan of their music, but their live show was sure fun to watch. Even though my camera was minutes away from breaking, this shot of the guitarist mid-dance at the back of the stage managed to capture some of the action. (See the full gallery here)

15. Army of Champions, the Jubilee, November 17

It was the first time I had seen, let alone heard of, this band and I fell in love. This picture captures all of them singing/shouting at once, in the Against Me! punk vibe they put out.

14. Man Overboard, The Globe, September 3

Whenever I watch a punk show, it's always my goal to get a picture of a guitar jump. It's bloody hard and very rarely works out. This shot was taken just as I put the flash on my camera and before I even had it set up properly and it needed a lot of post-editing to not be dark. The post-editing gave it a very old-school film feel I think. (See the full gallery here)

13. Raein, Sun Distortion Studios, December 31

This was one of the last photos I took in 2011, of the Italian screamo band playing the last Sun Distortion Studios show. The whole energy of the set was intense, with almost everyone in the band screaming into any microphone that was near them and just jumping around like madmen. Was a great way to see out 2011.

12. Periphery, the Zoo, July 29

The first gig I shot for any reason apart from for fun. Although I had to jostle with the crowd a lot to get shots, they were just fun to photograph. Every shot I took had them in different poses and it was really hard to pick a single photo for the best of list! (See the full gallery here)

11. Nuclear Summer, Sun Distortion Studios, December 31

Nuclear Summer will go down as one of my favourite local bands in 2011. This shot shows basically everyone you see regularly at gigs in Brisbane just getting into the song as well.

10. The National, Harvest Festival, Riverstage, November 19

The lighting, the mist, the composition... I think it really just goes hand in hand with the style of music that is the National. (See the full gallery here)

9. La Dispute, the Zoo, January 25

Adam Vass screaming into the mike. This was my favourite photo for the first half of the year.

8. Architecture in Helsinki, the Tivoli, September 25

I couldn't take my eyes or lens off the front man of Architecture in Helsinki. I think of this picture as the hipster music version of Egon from Ghostbusters. (See the full gallery here)

7. Every Time I Die, HiFi, September 23

The second Keith Buckley picture of the top 10. He's just such an an enigmatic front man, you can't help to take a lot of photos of him. This photo was part of a set of photos I took of him just tossing the microphone around in between singing. (See the full gallery here)

6. Trash Talk, Step Inn, February 25

This was taken the night before Soundwave festival, in a special flood benefit fundraiser in the small band room of the Step Inn. Trash Talk, as always, were absolutely nuts on stage and barely kept still. This photo made the countdown purely for the expression of the guy on the side of stage. That's what everyone feels like after watching the insanity and non-stop movement of the Trash Talk live show.

5. Jim Ward, Alhambra, August 13

If I was to give an award for the worst lighting in a venue to take photos in, it would be Alhambra. One spot light and a mirror behind the performer. But I managed to get this shot with the lights above the bar reflected beautifully in the mirror. Artistic almost. (See the full gallery here)

4. AC4, The Zoo, April 7

I was lucky enough to see Dennis Lyxzen (lead singer of Refused/International Noise Conspiracy) twice this year in different forms. Dennis is renowned for his stage performane, and at the Zoo in his hardcore band AC4 he showed us all why. Despite only landing in Australia a few hours earlier, he danced like a mad man and finished writhing on the floor while still singing.

3. Touche Amore, Old Museum, September 8

I got to take most of my pictures on stage, which is rare for me in such a large venue. I was singing along the whole time and this whole band photo, with Jeremy screaming, was turned into a poster for my friend Jess who's hand is sticking out in the crowd. (See the full gallery here)

2. Flaming Lips, Harvest Festival, Riverstage, November 19

Anyone who has seen a Flaming Lips show will know about how insane it is. The photo pit was packed and I took about 400 photos just of the first 3 songs of these guys. So much was going on it was so hard to keep up with the action. This is a shot of Wayne just as he unleashed streamers from his blow gun, with more streamers in the background and all of the photographers trying to get a good angle. (See the full gallery here)

1. Fucked Up, Alhambra, December 9

What you can't see is the fact that I'm singing like a manic into the microphone while taking this photo.

A weekend (in pictures)

Well, what a weekend for me musically (and photographically). 2 gigs, 1 festival, 17 bands and me lagging all my camera equipment around.

First up was Every Time I Die/The Acacia Strain/The Word Alive at the HiFi on Friday night.

Every Time I Die as always had great energy and put on a killer set. You can view the full gallery of all three bands at AltMusicHub (click here).

Saturday was the Soundwave Counter Revolution festival at the Riverstage.

Highlights include Scott Ian's beard (see above). Lowlights include my camera dying halfway through the day. I was so bummed. I had never photographed a music festival before, let alone bands in the daylight. Looking through my photos of the day, I think it's some of the better ones I've ever taken. And then my camera had to die. Enjoy the gallery over at AltMusicHub of the first 11 bands (of 19) (click here).

Sunday, after a lot of crying over my dead camera, I managed to secure a loaner camera and headed into the Tivoli to see Architecture in Helsinki.

They are currently at the peak of their hipster stage, that's for sure. Doesn't that picture above look like a clip from Revenge of the Nerds? Anyway, the full galleries are over at ToneDeaf.
Mitzi
Oscar + Martin
Architecture in Helsinki

The camera is currently in for repairs, so I guess it's a forced 10 day vacation for me from gigs.

Every Time I Die

Every Time I Die hold a special place in my heart, as they've been the opening act in two of my all time favourite gigs (Norma Jean and Dillinger Escape Plan). Plus, wherever they go, they bring a party. Even in a skate rink.

If you get a chance, chase down their Shit Happens DVDs. These guys not only make some great rock and roll, they have a great bloody time doing it.

They were coming out as part of the Soundwave Revolution, which of course has been sent to the scrap pile of music festival history, but they weren't added into the reorganised festival. Which is just as well as they are now doing their own headlining show: September 23, at the HiFi. Expect a lot of drunken antics and moshing. 18+ of course.

TripleJ Impossible Music Festival

For the first time in years, I actually listened to Triple J in my car the other day. I had left my CDs at home, 612ABC were droning on about rugby league and 4ZZZ were talking about god knows what, so I had no choice. But they were asking people their 3 favourite live acts. All in anticipation for their Impossible Music Festival.

This festival is when Triple J listeners vote for their favourite live acts and over the course of a weekend live sets of these bands are played. It's a novel idea. Back in the day I took a few down on casette and I still have Frenzal Rhomb's and Rage Against the Machine's. I lost my At the Drive-In one though. (Future project maybe, copying these to my computer...) So I got thinking, what are my three favourite live bands and what were my three concerts over the approximately 200 I've been to in the last 9 years?

Live bands:

3. The Bronx (the lead singer chugging wine in the pit while singing at Soundwave 2007)
2. The Matches (so much energy, stage presence and character. Also the lead guitarist broke his hand and played everything one handed)
1. The Dillinger Escape Plan.

And my favourite concerts in general:

3.Norma Jean/Every Time I Die/Darkest Hour/A Secret Death, 8th June 2007 at the Arena in Fortitude Valley

At the time, I knew maybe 3 Norma Jean songs, but was told to go. And I was glad I did.

The crowd was only half full, but the Norma Jean singer encouraged us to get into the music, just to "scream any words, it doesn't matter if you don't know the song!" And we did. The final song featured the singer climbing up and hanging off of the Arena's rafters while screaming into the mike. Not to mention I heard Every Time I Die for the first time.

I can't wait for Norma Jean to finally come back.

2. From Autumn to Ashes/The Bled/The Getaway Plan/The Paper and the Plane, 23 November 2006, at her Majesty's Basement in Brisbane

This was a great day for me. Earlier in the morning I went to the opening day of the Ashes cricket match, where Steve Harmison famously did this in the first ball:

I also got offered my engineering job that day. And later that night, Clus and I trooped into Queen Street Mall at 11 pm to go to this show. There were maybe 50 people in the audience. We didn't know of the problems with FATA losing their singer just days before. We didn't realize they had brought in a drummer and that Fran, the original drummer, only just learnt how to scream the vocals (as a consequence, he did his voice in and the tour was cancelled days later).

It was pure insanity as the clock ticked over towards 2 am. I was already tired (and fairly intoxicated from the morning). The Bled came out hard and fast, doing their first song as a sound check. The lead singer was stopping halfway through and asking for "more kick and snare" on his monitors. FATA squeezed onto the tiny stage and instead of doing an encore just played Short Stories with Tragic Endings (apparently for the first time in 5 years). There was broken glass and falling moshers everywhere, my legs were cut to shreds. There was a guy that had just got out of prison an hour before and had the band sign his parole docket. I walked out of that tiny basement stage as deaf as I have ever been.

1. Dillinger Escape Plan/Poison the Well/Every Time I Die/Evergreen Terrace, 25 February 2009 at the Forum in Sydney

This was a sideshow to the Soundwave festival and Clus and I trekked down to Sydney for it. Fucking hell Clus, you were standing next to me for all of these shows. I guess I've got you to thank for it all.

The lineup was incredible for Australia, 4 international bands that I loved for $40. The crowd were pretty shit for the first few bands and I got stuck in a lineup trying to get in for most of Evergreen Terrace (Nine Inch Nails were playing directly across the road and it was chaos) but when Dillinger came on, my entire idea of what live music is was changed forever. This video of Milk Lizard I took on my phone was about as quiet as they got all night:

Quiet, yet they are still jumping around like idiots. At one point the singer was climbing on the PAs, one guitarist was 2 storeys up swinging off chains while the other guitarist was on the balcony leaning over it and playing like a madman. I have never seen a band put so much energy into a show before.

Special mentions also go to:

Brand New (July 5 2003 at Gabes Oasis in Iowa City and 22 January 2008 at the Tivoli in Brisbane) - In Iowa City they were bumrushed on the stage and had all of their instruments unplugged. Jesse climbed up to the roof, hung upside and played Weezer's Say it Ain't So, while the rest of the band plugged their instruments in and joined. Never once did they make us clear the stage. And at the Tivoli they were a band possessed, trashing their instruments in an amazing 10 minute finish of Welcome to Bangkok (I think).

Mars Volta (24 January 2006 at the Arena) - Third time of seeing them, yet the first as a headliner. No openers, just them playing for hours of insanity. Including Frances the Mute.

Q: Anthrax + Fall Out Boy + Every Time I Die = ?

A: The Damned Things

The singer from Every Time I Die, guitarists from Anthrax (including Scott Ian's beard) and the drummer and guitarist from Fall Out Boy make up the Damned Things. And on first demo, they do Southern inspired rock/metal (which seems to be quite the flavour of the week).

Not sure how I feel about it yet, but there's definitely potential there. Check out their demos yourself:

http://www.myspace.com/thedamnedthings