PIXELATED

After the initial horror of realising my birthday gift of Pixies tickets were bought in the seated section ... and then being placed behind the barred off penitentiary area of Festival Hall under the under the hawk eye of the security patrolling the barricade (possibly because many others were doing what I was - dreaming up escape routes into GA)... I decided that despite all my rage I was still just a rat in a cage, and so I jumped on my wheel determined to have a good time. Soon enough the renditions delivered from the underrated pioneers of post-punk grunge began, acting as a creamy Savlon soothing the wound.

They built up slowly, opening the set with 'Weird at My School' and 'Dancing with a Manta Ray.' This material from their later, somewhat lackluster, albums didn't do much by way of mobilising the shoe gazing masses (or maybe I was still stewing...). The gig really began to dig for a fire when Francis Black's signature howl took shape in 'Debaser,' beautifully contrasted by Kim Deal's sweet folky echoes.

With their bizarre lyrics taking inspiration from all variety of taboo subjects - from incestuous relations (Holiday Song, Nimrod Son) to apocalyptic folklore and mutilation - the concerts appearance mimicked this content. Being of the art school drop out, post punk set ... the Pixies, similar to peers the Talking Heads, Devo and the like, have utilised their past technical training in their musical creations. This was notable in the running surrealist film projected as the backdrop to the gig in an ode to Debaser's reference to 'Un Chien Andalou'. The appreciation of the audience was felt, and most definitely heard (if the dude standing behind me and his grating screams straight into my ear canal were any indication...) at its peak during 'Gouge Away,' which fought to compete with the din of Dr. Martens stomping for more.

The ear drum assailant

By the close of the set they had proved their worth of five sold out Melbourne shows by taking us on a journey through their versatile musical history; we heard everything from the ultra poppy 'Here Comes Your Man' to the harder sounds of 'U-Mass' and 'Planet of Sound.' It was too bad Francis and Santiago didn't seem as thrilled as the crowd; maintaining non-plussed expressions for the the duration of the gig. Deal made up for the rest though, taking the role of entertainer and beaming at the adoring thirty somethings completely transported to their college rocking, boxer wearing hey days.

Rad. To the power of awesome.

If you want to catch the Pixies live, look into tickets to the Splendour in the Grass festival, where they will one of the headline acts amongst an absolutely stellar line-up of bands.

Movie Review 'Micmacs à tire-larigot'

I arrived at the Palace Como in South Yarra to a lively crowd who had gathered for one of the biggest draw-cards of the annual French film festival - Jean Pierre Jeunet's Mic Macs. The usual whisper quiet refinement of the elegant art-house theatre was buzzing with anticipation for a film Jeunet has described as 'his best yet'. Against an impressive resume of direction including the much acclaimed Amelie (1996) and Delicatessen (1994); expectations were set with a towering benchmark. I entered the theatre amidst the burbling of the cool Francaise set and Jean Pierre enthusiasts for what I was sure would be another quirky and vivid spectacle in Mic Macs...

Micmacs à tire-larigot is the tale of a misfortunate fellow named Bazil (comedian Danny Boon). After suffering the loss of his father at war as a young boy, we are fast forwarded to a middle aged Bazil doing the graveyard shift at his job as a video store clerk where he becomes a victim in a drive by shooting ... leaving him with a bullet lodged in his scalp. To add to the sting of having a bullet floating at the surface of his mind tank, which could very well kill him if moved, he is released from hospital to find himself without home or job. After being informed of his replacement at the movie store, he is offered a small piece of information which becomes the catalyst in his plan for revenge - on the weapons manufacturers responsible for the bullet and the mine that took his father.

Turned out onto the streets, Bazil gets up to some creative shenanigans in the streets of Paris in his attempts to get by. During this time he meets a Back to the Future-esque mad scientist type, who gives him a home and job in his junkyard laboratory. Here he is introduced to his new 'family' - a collective of strangely situated misfits. The film from here follows the comical ventures of Bazil and his newly acquired circus troupe of friends in their mission to serve the two head honchos of the weapon manufacturing companies their just desserts.

This film certainly has Jeunet's trademark whimsy ... and as usual remarkably traverses the boundaries between the fantastical and the everyday. It had the usual line-up of pointedly imperfect characters with their extreme eccentricities. Yet with a plot very reliant on the theatrics of the characters to fill the many gaps in dialogue, the effect is of a circus like spectacle for the viewer. Boon's presence as lead is without the charm of Audrey Tatou in Amelie and his Chaplin attempting antics achieve merely a very good mime or an inferior Mr. Bean.
All in all, while this eclectic cataclysm of characters serve up some extremely silly scenarios to comical effect, within a setting distinctive of Jeunet's magical vision ... that characters failed to totally engage me. Although, their was some shrewd political content worthy of commendation.

Jeunet fans should see this for the wonderful detail and imagery of his sets and some classic moments of black humour. Beginners - see 'Amelie' first. And for the young this could be a fanciful introduction to foreign film as perhaps a refreshing substitute to Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

COME AS YOU ARE...

In 2010 when we gain status in an update, catch up with friends via tweets, and post our lives and loves in online journals welcoming others to click on in...

displays of individuality have never been more pronounced.

The everyday is now entertainment and the rawness of our being beautiful...

And not only thanks to the multiplication of gap toothed models currently so tres-fashionable.

à la Jess Hart

Increasingly we peer through the windows of those 'somebodies could be anybodies' to admire their crafty ideas, clever opinions and zany thoughts.

Colour Me Katie

Street style has become the latest zeitgeist of the fashion world; led by the likes of Scott Schumann, aka The Satorialist, and French belle Garance Dore.

So this is to be a tribute to individualism...

To all of you out there relentlessly adding colour to life's palette.

A Celebration of US, a celebration of YOU.

So, COME AS YOU ARE.