listening ears on

music

Champagne, Corby and Kelly

I’m finding snippets of last week’s Daniel Champagne gig in Wollongong last week bubbling back up at me. Such an interesting musician, who’s crafted a fascinating relationship with his acoustic guitar. Not just using it as a percussive instrument (which he does brilliantly) but also as a stage prop, almost another character on stage with …

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Up From Down Under, by Jeff Apter

Appropriately enough, I finished this book, subtitled How Australian Music Changed the World, on Australia Day. That’s appropriate on two fronts. First, the focus of Up from Down Under is the success of Australian bands in the US and other overseas markets, specifically Peter Allen, Helen Reddy, Olivia Newton John, the Little River Band, the …

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Which Podcasts Should Web Designers and Developers Be Listening To?

We asked the Smashing community what podcasts they listened to, aiming to compile a shortlist of current podcasts for web designers and developers. We had what can only be called a very strong response — both in number and in passion. First, we winnowed out the podcasts that were on a broader theme (e.g. creativity, …

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A Summer of Rock Books

Well, here it is the third day of March, which means summer in Australia is technically over. As I sit here in 30 degree heat looking at a cloudless, sparkling blue sky with just a mild, cooling breeze – that’s hard to credit. Nevertheless, it’s as good a time as any to summarise my summer …

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Don Walker

When I started this binge of Oz Rock books, I was fully expecting that some individuals would recur from book to book, being significant figures in our music industry – people like Ted Albert, George Young, Philip Mortlock, Michael Gudinski and Molly Meldrum. And, indeed they all do pop up variously in The Angels by …

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French’s: A Facebook Love Story

Ah, Facebook. Love it or hate it, you’ve got to love it, haven’t you? Yes, I know that doesn’t make sense. Which is why it sums up how I feel about Facebook. The trouble is there’s just so much to love and hate about the pervasive, addictive, simple, complicated, easy-to-use, frustrating-as-hell social media giant. I …

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ashton d29ceqtsb

My son Cormac has been talking about picking up the guitar again. Being 12 now and all grown up, the 3/4 size Valencia nylon string classical he used in early music classes is not going to cut it. He’s been displaying more interest in making music lately, and I was pretty impressed when he worked …

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vince jones

It must feel pretty good to stand on a stage under a spotlight in front of an audience and open a show by saying, “I’m a jazz singer”. Vince Jones says it as a simple statement of fact, and goes on to explain just what that means. “A soul singer uses a diatonic scale and …

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the giacomo variations

I went to see the Sydney Festival production of The Giacomo Variations at the Sydney Opera House on Saturday night. It was as challenging, engaging and inspired a piece of theatre as I have seen in many a day. To my mind, it is ideal festival fare, stretching the boundaries of how theatre and music …

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living is easy

John Petrozzi is an enterprising and dynamic chiropractor based in inner west Sydney. His Leichhardt practice gives him strong local roots, but his vision extends to improving the health of as many people as he can reach. Among his diverse range of projects is a weekly 30 minute radio show called Living is Easy on …

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