17 April 2014
The City By The Bay, and a lovely bay it is. San Francisco is a fascinating city, with numerous landmarks and things to do that characterise it and make it one of the main places to see in California, if not the States.
17 April 2014
I feel kinda bad about going on and on and on about all these rad music festivals happening overseas, so I’m just gonna let y’all know about one more exciting prospect before retiring the topic for a little bit. The 9th annual Amnesia Rock Fest will be taking place this June (20-21st) in Montebello, Canada, and has a line-up that is nothing short of jaw dropping: Motley Crue, NOFX, Megadeth, Weezer, Lagwagon, Cypress Hill, Danzig, Anti-Flag, Dead Kennedys, Henry Rollins…
3 April 2014
Award winning Singer songwriter Timothy Carroll and Producer cross Guitarist Oscar Dawson came along 3 years ago to create the band Holy Holy, demoing in stairwells and apartments in Stockholm and Berlin the boys released a full length Album on their return. Driving along listening to triple J yesterday I had to pull over and shazam a song that turned out to be Holy Holy’s latest single ‘House of Cards’.
3 April 2014
If intro songs were the be all and end all of an album, then Teeth & Tongue would have Grids in the charts. Starting off with their track ‘Good Man’, also played on triple j, listeners are immediately acquainted with the quirky, slightly ’80s sounds of Teeth & Tongue.
3 April 2014
There’s nothing quite like an album that opens with a track titled ‘Whore’ and then follows it up with 15 equally original, albeit less insulting, track titles. Born and raised in Detroit, Rollo Ellis has been playing in bands since he was 14-years-old. Amongst his vast history in the music industry, he’s played solo naked, traded in a Les Paul guitar for an acoustic, and numerous other interesting life events.
3 April 2014
Is it wrong to be sold on an album based entirely on their cover design? If it is, then call me a sinner because Future Islands’ album, Singles, is damn attractive. Luckily, the contents of the pretty cardboard casing aren’t too bad either. Just imagine the typical ’80s video clip with a man singing evocatively by the beach and you’ve got Future Islands’ sound down to a T.
3 April 2014
One of the ABC’s more overlooked success stories of the last few years has been the Agony series of programs. Kicking off with the six-part Agony Uncles in 2012, writer/director/creator/host Adam Zwar went around to a bunch of his comedian mates – with a few wild cards mixed in, like former businessman John Elliot and his son – and asked them for their relationship advice.
3 April 2014
Young Justice is never coming back – and that’s the worst thing in the world. Let me explain why. While Marvel definitely runs the cinematic world with its adaptations, the realm of animation has always firmly belonged to DC. The X-Men and Spider-Man series from the ’90s are borderline unwatchable these days due to their badly aged animation and fairly by the numbers exploration of character.
3 April 2014
Gays and their enablers alike rejoiced earlier this month when Dame Kylie of Minogue released her twelfth studio album, Kiss Me Once. The record marks the first feature-length release from Minogue under her new management team, which just so happens to be helmed by Jay-Z, placing her under the extensive Roc Nation umbrella and, theoretically, opening more doors for her in the US than she could possibly dream of … Theoretically.
3 April 2014
Twelve Foot Ninja (TFN) has been somewhat of a case study for THTH of late. There was that time they crowdsourced a bunch of money for a video clip; then there was that time they released that video clip – both instances put under the microscope, loosely, as the new technological fashion to gain fans, respect and ultimately tours or cold hard cash.
3 April 2014
Wow! Last weekend’s Sleepy Hollow double header was bigger than the proverbial Ben-Hur! The double header was unusual for the Club, but may well get a rerun, given the interest. The event turned out to be standing room only right from Chubby Rae and the Elevators kicking off, through to Sweet Felicia and the Honeytones winding up.
3 April 2014
When I was on my last legs in London – no job, no money and a return ticket dated only a few days away – I was desperate to stay in my new home country. I wasn’t done with the UK and really wasn’t ready to go back to Australia, so I started applying for jobs on Gumtree. Luckily I got a job interview for a job in Paris! It sounded amazing, and slightly too good to be true, and my aunty who I was living with at the time was a big sceptical about it, but I went to the interview anyway.
3 April 2014
While Australia certainly isn’t LACKING in festivals, it does seem that we’ll never get to experience the ginormous multi-day festivals Europeans take for granted every summer. The Reading and Leeds festivals in the UK are beyond ridiculous, as you probably know from reading English language music magazines, but another festival with a similar set up (two cities at the same time; shared line-up over several days) is Germany’s Rock am Ring and Rock im Park, taking place in Nurnberg and Nuremberg this June.
20 March 2014
In news that saddens us greatly at Splinters, it seems Lady Gaga’s ArtRave Ball Tour isn’t selling as well as expected in Australia. Whilst most General Admission tickets across Australia have actually sold out, it has come to light that many of the seated tickets (including a number of highly-priced ‘package’ tickets) are still available. However, in Perth, ALL of the tickets (bar the meet and greet) are still available to purchase!
20 March 2014
In case you didn’t hear, Joey Jordison has left Slipknot. Shortly after the departure a statement was released suggesting he decided to leave. Then I saw a lead for an article stating Joey didn’t decide to leave. Intriguing… So, in a world first Forte exclusive, THTH will continue to dissect the goings-on behind the scenes in the Slipknot camp in the only way we know how: speculation. This is THTH’s Holiday Joey Departs Slipknot Fanfic. [Part VI – The Final Chapter]
20 March 2014
In my last article, I talked about women in the blues – and believe me, there’s more around on that than the little I put in front of you. But, I figured that rather than spend time on too much in the way of general articles, I should alternate with a bit of detail on specific artists. More than that, specific local artists. I came to Geelong in 1998, and even though I had lived in Melbourne for a while back in the ’70s, I’d never been to Geelong, or for that matter anywhere in south-western Victoria.
20 March 2014
Have you ever been to Barcelona? If you haven’t, firstly please add it to your bucket list. Not only does it have fairly year-round sunny, vibrant weather, it’s also home to some of the most astounding architecture. For someone who has no knowledge, or admittedly any interest in architecture, you cannot help but be wowed as you walk through the cobbled streets that are home to some of the oldest churches, cathedrals and buildings, most of which were designed by the incredibly talented and famous Antoni Gaudí. Look him up – some of it will take your breath away!
20 March 2014
Wow, more awesome overseas festival news that shows, once and for all, that Australian promoters need to get their shit together. Heavy Montreal takes place this year on August 9th and 10th – in Montreal, funnily enough! The line-up for this two-day affair includes Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Bad Religion, DRI, Body Count, Dropkick Murphys, Pennywise, Madball, Lamb of God, The Offspring, Fucked Up, Three Doors Down and dozens more.
20 March 2014
So, is Australian television drama dead or what? The news last week that the premiere of Ten’s big hope for early 2014, Secrets & Lies, had failed to draw anything like a decent audience – 404,000 according to the ratings; which is not enough to keep it on the air – coupled with the long-awaited return of Puberty Blues also getting its lowest ratings ever (538,000) suggests that it might be time to get out the shovels.
20 March 2014
Fiction tends to give crime a glamorous sheen that otherwise doesn’t exist in the real world. Stray Bullets removes that sheen and leaves us with brutal, unforgiving and often sad violence. While comics are no stranger to the world of crime fiction, Ed Brubaker’s Criminal being a particularly exciting and pulpy example, David Lapham’s Stray Bullets is one of the best at stripping it down to its core. It’s human interaction at its ugliest.
20 March 2014
Geetroit Rock City was shaken up as the inaugural Motor City Music Festival hit the showgrounds over the Labour Day weekend. Celebrating 20 years of the Blues Train, there were some fantastic artists showcasing over the weekend. A couple of my favourite sets included the big electric guitar showcase featuring Australian blues royalty in Lloyd Spiegel, Jimi Hocking and Geoff Achison.
20 March 2014
As a massive fan of Mikhael Paskalev, I was super excited to see his debut Australian album release of What’s Life Without Losers released last Friday. For most, the part-Norwegian part-Bulgarian indie-folk popstar is known for his incredibly catchy and short tune ‘I Spy’, which featured in the Kellogg’s LCM bar ad where the kid gets overly super excited about the LCM bar being in their lunchbox.
20 March 2014
There is absolutely no doubting past Voice contestant Michael Paynter has an incredible singing talent; shown the whole way through his newest album, Weary Stars. Kicking off the album is a song you have heard plenty of times before, ‘How Sweet It Is’, an old single released by Paynter during his time with major record label Sony BMG in 2011, an odd choice for me as there are plenty of great fresh new tunes on this album.
20 March 2014
There’s something so understatedly catchy yet appealing about the Dum Dum Girls’ third full-length album Too True. The band has brought back their iconic indie-pop sounds, with their simple yet piercing lyrics being a feature throughout.
