Band Crush: Totally Enormous Extinct Dinoaurs

The Boy has been listening to this band for months and months but they've only just started to get airplay here.

Their name pretty much won me over but if it didn't there is no way I could not fall head over heels in love with this song.

Listen and dance people...listen and dance!

BUY THIS ALBUM NOW!

M83 take me to a happy place. I'm sure you've all heard it by now but listening to Midnight City from the recently released album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming always improves my mood - so enjoy.

 They are also playing the St Jerome's Laneway Festival early next year so get tickets now!

Happy ears

I can not stop listening to 'Lose it' by Canadian three piece Austra. Katie Stelmanis has an incredible and unique voice (although The Boy thinks she sounds like Florence Welch so I guess that's a matter of opinion) and I can't wait to get my hands on their album.

And don't they just look so damn cool?

The Drums

On Wednesday night I met my friend H and her boyfriend at the Hi-Fi Bar to see The Drums play live. We stood at the front of the balcony (hence my rubbish photographs -you can see some professional photos from the gig here) which gave us unobstructed view of the New York City hipsters otherwise known as The Drums. Their set was brilliant and made me beyond happy. I literally could not stop smiling the whole night!

They were supported by a band called Tiger Choir from Tasmania who had a really interesting sound. I love discovering new things to listen to at festivals and gigs :) Anyway here are some dodgy photos taken with my trusty Canon Ixus. Enjoy!

A-dressing a dilemma - Part 2

From Blondie's love of leather pants to the platform shoes of the Spice Girls, you can’t deny that fashion and music go hand in hand.

In recent years, the enduring and constantly evolving romance between the two has given us sparkly leotards (thanks Karen O), latex dresses (no thanks Katy Perry) and of course the ubiquitous skinny jean/leather jacket combo of indie bands everywhere.

I think it's pretty obvious when I say that in this partnership, boundaries don't exist. The lovechild of self expression means you can flirt with pretty much whatever style you want and it's this that makes dressing for gigs and festivals especially fun...as long as you don't go overboard.

Personally, I think that expensive frocks, heels of any kind and that 'fashionable' feathered headdress are best avoided as they will get trashed and look ridiculous on a muddy field/in a sweaty bar.

So what do you wear to a gig, that is both fashion forward and comfortable?

I need a quick answer to this question if I'm going to kill it at The Drums tomorrow night! I've tried turning to my favourite It girls but as I haven't been blessed with their twiggy arms and endless legs I find 'channeling' their look rather difficult at time. The Asos' 2011 Festival shop which has recently launched for the northern Summer, is brimming with micro denim shorts, baggy singlets and fedoras, outfits well known to the indie hipster...but again not really my most flattering friends. So what to wear?

I think I'm going to go with black. I know, not exactly original - but rest-assured there will be leopard print and red involved too. I can see you rolling your eyes again...'but it's just so "done"' you say. Well I don't care! It will still be fabulous like!

The wolf ring is the only thing I've decided on. I'm torn between three options that inspired/are inspired by (you can do both people) the below picture board:

1. My leopard print Motel dress, gladiators and jacket/cardigan.
2. My grey-spotted Motel dress with ballet flats/brown boots plus cardigan
3. My adored Motel 'Patty' dress (are we seeing a pattern here?) OR
4. Skinny jeans, t-shirt, leather jacket.

So what will it be?? Any new ideas for me? Am I a walking, talking cliche wearing any of these?? HELP!

Gig/Festival fashion final by Kirst84 featuring a punk clothing

Happiness in my headphones

What do classic design, meatballs, and ridiculously good-looking people have in common? Why that would be Sweden – also home to the tremendously amazing Lykke Li.

I wasn’t blown away by her first album a few years ago but Wounded Rhymes is a massive step up from Youth Novels and even though it’s not the happiest of albums to listen to, I can’t seem to stop!

 

Have a look and take a listen for yourself:

If you’re happy and you know it…clap your hands!

Guess what?

I’m going to The Drums gig!!! My friend H and her boyfriend bagged me a ticket today and now I’ll be dancing my butt off with them on the 4th of May. This is most excellent news don’t you think? I actually clapped my hands with excitement and nearly jumped up and down when I got the word.

Ok, so putting it into perspective it’s not exactly as exciting as when The Boy told me he booked his flights back to Australia to live (that induced more of a Justin Bieber tweenage fan type reaction) but it totally made my day.

Now that I’m in a celebratory mood I’m baking rose macarons (I'll let you know how they turn out in a future post) and I’m going to put up some photos of 5 things that make me happy…

Holidays and TRAVEL!! I took this in the Greek Islands...so picturesque

Hydrangeas in Victoria, B.C. Canada.

Snowboarding - taken in my beloved 'home for a while' Whistler

Photoautomat in Berlin. I firmly believe there is no better way to spend 2 Euro and 10 Minutes.

Cupcakes and baking. I made these for a friend's Birthday.

So i know this is nothing particularly special but sometimes I just want to share a pretty picture to spread a bit of the happiness I'm feeling right :)

Sweet dreams everyone

xx

They make my heart beat!

Woop woop! The Drums are playing in Brisbane at the Hi-Fi Bar!

I have been listening to them for months now and think they would be so much fun live. Does anyone want to go surfing with me?

New music, new love

The Boy posted this song to me and I fell in love with it immediately. He knows me so well. Apparently this poorly-named (in my opinion) band are from Manchester. I am excited to see if they have any more songs I fall instantaneously in love with. I predict that within 18 months they will be huge!

Of course, my predictions hold absolutely no value because, well, what do I know? But still, take a listen and feel the New Order-y vibe. There isn't really a video for it (yet again) but listen and fall in love anyway.

My new love: Foster the People

A few months ago I became a little obsessed with Foster The People and their song 'Pumped up Kicks'.

A few weeks ago I heard their new song 'Helena Beat' and once again I immediately bought it off itunes. It has been playing on my iPhone and in my head pretty consistently ever since.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! There is no official video for the song yet but I found this on Youtube so you can at least see a nice picture while you listen.

La La Laneway

On Friday I finished work early to attend St Jerome's Laneway Festival in Brisbane. It is generally a smaller music festival with amazing bands and this year was no exception. I've been to the festival before but in my time overseas, it has gotten bigger and better, expanding to a new site with better facilities.

Laneway happened to be on a particularly humid day in Brisbane but despite the unbearable heat, it was one of my favourite festival experiences in recent times. Don't you think my friend Char and I look great despite the humidity?

My afternoon started out with a little bit of Beach House and The Antlers and then moved on to the much hyped, all girl band from LA - Warpaint. I find their music quite mesmerizing and although you can't really see it in the below photo they also have great style.

Warpaint

Char and I at Warpaint. Note I am wearing my favourite headband. You can NEVER own enough leopard print.

After Warpaint we headed over to the Main stage to see Two Door Cinema Club. They were so energetic and fun that we danced and sweated our way through their set with huge grins on our faces!

Two Door Cinema Club

See I told you - huge grins while dancing!

Yeasayer were next on our timetable plan and they were phenomenal. To me their set felt quite atmospheric and sounded beautiful.

Yeasayer

Next up was one of my highlights - Australian band Cloud Control. I have missed seeing them a couple times recently (at their own gig and at Sunset Sounds) so I was beyond excited to finally see them live - even if it meant cramming myself into an alleyway with a couple of hundred sweating festival goers and having my arse groped by drunken fools. It was so worth it. They played an amazing set, pulling out a cover of Kid Cudi's 'Pursuit of Happiness' and breaking into Butthole Surfers 'Pepper' halfway through a song. The sound was great and I had a pretty good view too!

Wonderful, wonderful Cloud Control

As the evening wore on the heat began to take its toll on us. Foals followed Cloud Control, but we decided to have a little sit down during their set, to listen and conserve some energy for the Jezabels who unfortunately were my biggest disappointment of the night. They sounded great but they just weren't loud enough! Whilst they played on the same stage as Cloud Control, they didn't really own it to the same extent and the audience was quite restless and moving around a lot which made it difficult to try and appreciate the band. :-(

Cut Copy closed the festival, playing some of their new album alongside some old favourites. It took them a while to get it together but once they started the whole crowd went with them; dancing and singing under the stars...the perfect (lane)way to end a great day!

It's how I roll...

So it's the weekend update, starting with Friday night.

Philadelphia Grand Jury – affectionately known to fans as the Philly J’s – played the Hi-fi Bar in Brisbane on Friday night (supported by The Howls). This was my maiden voyage to this great Brisbane venue as it opened just before I went travelling and I can honestly say it was an interesting night.

Vinyl Bar

Sweaty, sweaty man

The décor of Vinyl (the front bar) on Boundary St reminded me of raiding my parent’s liquor cabinet as a teenager. The bar set up was reminiscent of the 1970’s with the dark wood panels and mirrors encasing gin and whiskey and old records lining the walls (just like Mum and Dad’s classic ‘Cabinet of magic’). Thanks to Movember, the place was also peppered with indie boys sporting moustaches adding to the whole 70s feel.

 

I do love me an indie boy*. 

Boy T is an Indie boy of the very finest calibre. In fact my indie boy description is pretty much just a description of him (and some of the other delicious eye candy at the Hi-Fi Bar on Friday night of course). But anyway, back to the case at hand; the Philly J’s. They were freakin’ awesome and despite some douchebag spilling his entire drink on my cute black and gold Primarni flats I still had a totally rad time.

I wore a simple navy and grey dress accessorised with a leopard print head band, a truckload of black eyeliner and let’s not forget my adorable Primark shoes that got drenched in beer.

Lead Singer of Philly J's

The sighting of an evil ex-boyfriend quite nearly ruined the night but thankfully a kick arse performance from the band, a tasty Carlsberg and some eye-fucking madness with a couple of indie boys redeemed the evening. My girlfriends and I met the band after the show too. You know, it’s just how we roll. 

Saturday is an entirely different story filled with tapas and cocktails at Bread and Butter on the Gold Coast, my very first (champagne fuelled) limo ride and just a few hours sleep after hitting Coolangatta's Never Land. Boys with full-sleeve tattoos and tanned girls wearing the best in body-con dominated the scene and the vodka tasted toxic. But it was still a great night out to celebrate my friend's Dirty 30!

Fooling around with the Limo

*My definition of an Indie Boy: generally wears skinny jeans with a cool t shirt or a flannel, sometimes seen sporting a man-igan or square rimmed glasses with a tousled yet trendy haircut. Into great music, fashion, a bit of art, culture and travel. Intelligent enough to have a decent conversation and damn damn sexy too! Not to be confused with Emo Boys. N.B. dyed black hair, too much eyeliner and a sad face are NOT ATTRACTIVE! Some good examples of hot indie boys: The Kooks and the Drums!

That's all for tonight. I'm going to bed to dream of hot Indie boys...or maybe just one in particular.

xx K

Getting Naked - don't you know people write blogs about bands like this?

I discovered The Naked and Famous a few months ago. They are from New Zealand and sound a bit like a cross between Passion Pit and MGMT. I instantly fell in love with their song 'Young Blood' and have been flogging their album constantly on my iPhone ever since. Lucky for me I saw them on Saturday night at the Tempo Bar for just $15! Yes, a small and dingy venue it was but all the better for a more intimate gig...and I can tell you that the lead singer has hair as amazing as her voice. 


If you haven't heard them. Download them now. I'm not kidding. On your way now.

Not the best photo but just look at her hair and outfit!

Daily life

Eastside Gallery, Sept 2009. Longest remaining section of the Berlin Wall.

I guess we should start with a few things I'm interested in at the moment. Firstly I'm reading a fantastic book by Serge Schmemann on the Fall of the Berlin Wall and Soviet Communism. Berlin is quite possibly my favourite city and my love for it goes hand in hand with a deep fascination for its history.

Schmemann, a Pulitzer prize winning journalist was in Berlin the night the wall fell and he offers a really great overview of the moment that 'changed the world' and how it contributed to the fall of the iron curtain. I can't imagine what it would have been like to witness such a moment in history and this book is helping me to understand even more about the checkered history of Deutchland's capital.

Speaking of Germany, it's been almost a year since I was indulging in bratwurst and bier at Oktoberfest during the last month or so of my 4.5 month adventure around Europe. Oh how I can't wait to return to Europe next year.

Yum yum yum!

In other news I'm looking forward to Friday night dinner at Simpatico in Paddington and maybe drinks afterwards at The Lark . I've wanted to go to both for years and never actually made it there so I say let's bring on the tapas and cocktails. Hopefully they'll also be playing some decent tunes...some naked and famous, delphic , two door cinema club and The Drums certainly wouldn't go astray! I heard this song on Triple J this morning and downloaded the entire album within minutes! Some more new music to fall in love with...and one another musical note; Sunset Sounds tickets are going on sale soon! Can't wait to hit the Riverstage and Botanical gardens to dance my butt off to rad tunes.

Until next time xo

I'd like to introduce myself

Greetings. 

I am the girl you see rocking leopard print gumboots at a music festival. 

The girl you see on the bus with different coloured nail polish every week.

The girl who cracked her ribs snowboarding. 

The girl who works that dancefloor like nobodies business.

The girl who is up for any adventure whether it be trawling the shops to find that perfect dress, jumping off a boat into the Adriatic sea or giving that guy a chance over dinner.

I'm also that girl you see walking into that office building to a job she doesn't exactly love. So to distract me from this existence, I will blog about the things I do love. Cupcakes, Zimmermann dresses, my travels, my lovers and the world I live in. Welcome to my blog - hopefully it will be an interesting experiment for both of us.

Love K