19 Comments on “Once Again It’s 8pm and I Have Not Posted Anything Today, So Please Enjoy This Song From a 90s Australian Band”

1. I rather have another cat photo. And yes after reading your blog without posting for 15 years this is what I chose to start with.

2. I prefer “Lock it”. I think it’s the better song, but that’s my opinion.
   

3. “Lock It” is pretty great too. In fact the whole first album is lovely.

4. One thing that’s always surprised me about bands from the UK (no matter if it’s England, Scotland, Wales, or Ireland) or Australia/New Zealand (there MUST be someone besides Keith Urban from there, even though I can’t think of any names)–there’s no noticeable accent when they sing. Unless you tell me a band’s from somewhere in the UK or Oz/NZ I couldn’t tell you they weren’t from the USA. And yet, when I hear the singers talk, there’s often a very strong accent. (It’s like Alan Cumming on “The Good Wife”. No accent on the show, but listen to him talk in real life…) Go figure.

5. Have you ever checked to see if your music video posts drive the purchase of those songs on iTunes or perhaps improve their rotation on Spotify?

6. FL Transplant – I have that same issue a bit from the other side – I’m sometimes surprised that a group or singer is North American (US or Canada) when I hear them talk – their songs are very bland English, but when they talk they have a regional accent I have trouble following. I think singers often follow a certain style, and end up with the accent from it. It’s a cause of some complaint outside the US that some local country singers sound American when singing, even if they’ve never been outside their own country.

   Here’s a pretty extreme Australian example – Iggy Azalea. She’s lived in LA since she was about 16, but when talking she still has Australia in her voice. When she sings – not so much, I’d never pick her as Australian from that.
   Here’s an interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2vP0ZQhA2M
   Here’s a song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zR6ROjoOX0

7. @F L Transplant- There are one or two famous Australian music acts- A/C D/C, INXS, the Bee Gees, Olivia Newton -John, Skyhooks,the Divinyls,Rick Springfield, Natalie Imbruglia ,Silverchair to name a few. There are however, no famous New Zealand acts.This is because as soon as a New Zealander becomes famous, the Aussies claim they are Australian. This is, of course, due to the Aussies convict heritage, which leads them to steal any thing they can. It is not limited to musicians, bot has also included racehorses (Phar Lap) and desserts ( the pavlova)
   Thieving bastards.

8. Yep, the better song. Also, with considerable presumption, I say on behalf of the entire Australian (including those of us without convict heritage) that “we only steal from the best”.

   Thanks for the songs.

9. Oops, I was going to say “entire Australian nation”…but maybe my subconsciousness couldn’t bear that level of presumption.

   Again thanks for the songs.

10. I would like to say i saw them before they were famous, but mate and i only managed to see them once i think at the anu uni bar even though we tried a few times.
    Something something alcohol.

11. I’m not sure if I’ll will ever post for the sake of posting. I just simply conclude that I have no inspiration and thus nothing to write about.

12. I’m the only person I know who has even heard of them. I’m glad to learn I’m not the only one. Do they have more than one album? I’ve only ever heard the one.

13. This point about accents in speech but not singing is interesting. Opera singers often sing in languages they don’t speak well, or at all, yet their accent can be near native. I have a friend, opera trained, who sings in 3 or 4 languages, 2 or 3 of which she speaks who perfectly illustrates my point . She is German, her English is good albeit slightly American accented. When she sings English it’s quite different and without American accent.

    My conclusion is that singing words is not even close to the same brain process as speaking words. Which just adds to the great mystery that is music. In the last few days I have seen videos of blind elephants paying close attention to a man playing a piano, a parrot that dances to pop music, and a cat playing a piano with some sense of rhythm. So it’s not just a human mystery. But I digress…..

14. People of a certain age might recall the Easybeats’ “Monday I’ll have Friday on my mind” and Men at Work’s “ I come from a land down under.”

15. I am very flattered by this musical selection :)

16. Missy Higgins has good singing technique but has kept her Australian vowels. I like it. Try “Sugarcane” from the album “On a Clear Night”.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aeOnUxYliA

    Or this concert:

17. Is it just me or does this sound like a jangly version of a Donovan tune?

18. Australian singers were encouraged by the music industry in Australia for a long time to sound English… and then they were encouraged to sound American. It’s actually fairly rare to hear an Australian singer or group where the native vowels are retained. Missy Higgins is one of them, I’ve also noticed that Mick Thomas (of “Weddings Parties Anything” fame, as well as a number of other side projects) keeps his. But generally, we’re strongly encouraged to either sound like Poms or Yanks, depending on the genre.

    (It happens in other countries too – one of the most noticeable things about Dolores Riordan of The Cranberries was that she kept her Irish vowels regardless. Sinead O’Connor dropped them while she was getting famous, then picked them back up again).

19. Its mandatory when discussing 90s Australian music that the Clouds be included at some point, so here we go: