So the world runs away - Josh Ritter

I've been listening to the new album by Josh Ritter via NPR this morning. I first heard of him when I read that he was supporting The Swell Season on their American tour. The album echoes the style of both Simon & Garfunkel and Bob Dylan (in terms of both the poetry of the lyrics and the style of music). I found it really easy to get into. Ritter has a beautiful songwriting craft - the playful Lark, the melocholy Folk Bloodbath. I really love Another New World. The preview is available until the album is released on May 4th.

Read more at his MySpace page.

Little bit more on music ...

Recently via NPR, I've listened to concerts by Jenny Lewis, Joanna Newsom, Josh Ritter, Rachael Yamagata, The Arcade Fire and Neko Case; and Jonsi's new album (the lead singer from Sigur Ros). I'm looking forward to hearing Josh Ritter's new album (from Tuesday).

The Jonsi album which is a number of great and catchy pop tunes. One of the highlights of the Jenny Lewis concert (thanks Deb, who recommended her to me ages ago), was her version of Handle with Care (a Travelling Wilbury's cover). Rachel Yamagata on was great, her latest album has two discs, the first is mellow and acoustic, which highlighted her voice (which reminded me of Jennifer Knapp - who as an aside has a new album due out in May), the second disc is a little bit more edgy. I enjoyed listening to these concerts and the new albums. NPR will be great to keep a watch on especially given some of the names on the Metacritic site (though I'm not holding my breath for the albums on the list to come out (or be on NPR if they do)

Along with NPR, I've also enjoyed keeping an eye on daytrotter - which has also opened my ears to a few other bands -- I really loved the Session's of Noah and the Whale, J.Tilman, Josh Ritter, and Lisa Hannigan (who toured with Damien Rice).

I am enjoying the new albums from Laura Marling and Broken Bells. Broken Bells is the singer from the indie band The Shnis and Danger Mouse, it has a great-catchy sound. Laura Marling is more folky which
really appeals to me (as you can see from the bands I've recently started listening too.

The Storm...

So, the biggest sports story this week is the story of the Melbourne Storm. The only thing I would say is that, it would have been great if the leaders of the NRL had taken 48 hours, or more to think through their decision and especially the penalty. As it stands, a team is being sent out to play in effect for nothing, yet with an "illegal roster". Imagine this was a sprint, and the Storm are a team caught before the race taking steriods - would the officials let them run? In any event, I think that its important for the NRL to have a team in Melbourne.

Lest we forget..

On this day, with sorrow and thankfulness, we remember before God all those who in time of war offered their service for the protection ofour land and liberty, and especially those who gave their lives that we might live in freedom.

And we pray to Almighty God for those who have given all, that we may so follow their example of faith, that both in life and death, we may live forever with Him, whom to know is life eternal.

A fresh look

I figured that it was time to update my blogs look, so I've used one of the new templates on blogger to do this. They do have a few good options to chose between. (Hope you all like it!).

In other bits of news:

We haven't got up to too much, went out to "Fat Noodle" for dinner last night (Fat noodle is a Vietnamese resturant in Star City - its run by the same people who run Red Lantern in Surry Hills)


I also caught a little bit of the Sydney Swans game against North Melbourne today. It was a pretty solid win - Sydney's started the year beautfiully with wins against Adelaide (in Adelaide) and Richmond, and a close loss to the Saints

Tomorrow, we're having lunch with Fi's family which will be great. 

While I've started talking a little bit about sport - this week should be great with the first legs of the  Champions League Semi Finals. They promise to be great with - Inter Milan playing Barcelona and Lyon tackling Bayern Munich. (Wednesday and Thursday morning).


I'm also meaning to write a little about some new music I've been enjoying at the moment, but I'll save this for another time.

London..

I finished Edward Rutherford's London today. It is the kind of book that I love - telling the history of a place, through the events in the lives of families. I guess even though I did find the stories a little 'soap-opera-ish in parts, that's actually what history is filled with too ... our personal history. It was really interesting how much he wrote about the history of the Church in England.

Anyway, here's a little section which kind of sums up what I like about the book:

"Imagine", he had said, "a summer. At the end of it the leaves fall. They lie on the ground. They almost dissolve, you might say, but not quite. The next year the same thing happens again. And again. Thinned out, compressed, those leaves and all the other vegetation build up in layers, year after year. It's the natural process. Its organic. 

"Something similar happens with man, and especially in a city. Each year, each age, leaves something. It gets compressed, of course, it dissappears under the surface, but just a little of all that human life remains. A Roman tile, a coin, a clay pipe from Shakespeare's time. All left in place. When we dig down, we find it and we may put it on show. But don't think of it just as an object. Because that coin, that pipe belonged to someone: a person who lived, and loved, and looked out at the river and the skiy each day just like you and me. 

"So when we dig down into the earth under our feet, and find all that is left of that man or woman, I try to remember that what I'm seeing and handling is a huge and endless compression of lives. And sometimes in our work here [Muesuem], I feel as if we've somehow entered into that layer of compressed time, prised open that life, a single day even, with its morning and evening, and its blue sky and its horizon. We've open just one of the million and million of windows hidden in the ground."

 And how in the artefacts of each age we open windows into our shared history. I'm looking forward to reading Dublin, Ireland and New York.

page turning...

One of my idle thoughts for this year, was to read more; especially seeing as I've been blessed with more time in which to do it. I will attempt to write a little bit more later about my thoughts on these books.

Finished ... Ian McEwan - Saturday
Phillip Roth - The American Pastoral
Michael Chabon - The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Kirsten McKenzie - The Chapel at the End of the World
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - The Thing Around Your Neck
Joseph Conrod - The Heart of Darkness (and a few other short stories)
Malcolm Gladwell - The Tipping Point

Still working on ... Edward Rutherford - London
Paul Kelly - March of the Patriots

Then... Ian McEwan - On Chesil Beach
Leo Tolstoy - War and Peace
Malcolm Gladwell - Outliers, or Dog.
...  and leave a recommendation or two. 

The Apple Isle...

Cradle Mountain

Been a while since that I've written a newsy blog entry. I probrably write more that link to other people's thoughts, which seems quite easy to do. But given I've got a little bit this afternoon I thought I would take some time to write down what's been happening. I should note that during March this year, we celebrated 20 years in Australia. In some ways now, it feels like I've always been here. But yes, I still support the Kiwi's. :-)

In March, Tasmania was added to the list of Australian States we've been to. We did the traditional circuit: Hobart > Strahan > Cradle Mountain > Launceston > Freycinet > Hobart. I think my favourite stop was Cradle Mountain. The drive in seemed so out of this world. We did a few great walks - up to Crater Lake, around Dove Lake. Along with great weather, we also were blessed with the opportunity to see Tasmanian Devils (both in a wildlife park, and outside of one) up close. It was also surprising to wallk around the corner and see a Wombat.

I found it quite like NZ in that you'd drive for a couple of hours, along widing roads, and watch the countryside change a few times. The two drives which stood out was the drive from Hobart to Strahan, which though a little bit hairy in parts (like heading towards Queenstown) was great. It gave you an impression about how isolated the West Coast is. The drive from Launceston to Coles Bay and then to Hobart was beautiful as you drive through the forest, down the pass and the along the coast

In other news ... Barneys, now not only has a DA approval for the new building, a demolition contract for the old building; and we are working on getting builders. Our prayer, is that we'll be home for Christmas next year (2011). Please pray for us and that God would lead us to our new Pastor.

Since we got back from Tasmania, we went down to Canberra for Easter. It was lovely to spend time with Fi's family. While we were in Canberra we went and saw The Last Station, which though it took a little bit of time to get going, it showed me a little bit more of Leo Tolstoy's life. I've added his books to my reading list, and with that I'll say goodbye, for now. 

Good night, and joy be with you all - The Swell Season (Sydney, April 5)

On Monday we went to The Swell Season at the Opera House. There's something unique in seeing The Swell Season, its like two (or three) concerts in one. The three things I love about The Swell Season, are Glen and Marketa's ability to tell a story through song (and also in introducing songs); the genuine humility they seem to have about how fame struck them, and how they introduce people to the music they like. In addition to the songs they normally play, they invited LJ Hill onto the stage to play a song, they heard him him play at the Blues and Roots festival and were captivated by his songs. He played a song called 'The Pretty Bird Tree' which was just beautiful (and fitted into the night so well).

The highlights, in terms of the songs they played ... (that I expected and and the surprises) -- Gold (from Once); and two songs original recorded by The Frames (Lay Me Down; and Red Chord) and Marketa's performance of I Don't Know How to Love Him; in terms of the stories he told (about buying a grave, a tough man and tears on a plane ride, and the 'Irish' farewell), and just their presence on stage. It might have been me, but it seems that Marketa has got a little bit more comfortable, and is starting to talk a little more, and introduce songs with stories as like Glen with stories, before she introduced Fantasy Man she spoke of a Czech Easter tradition. It was quite sweet how he thanked the band, for letting him have time off to follow this road (and come along for the ride).

My recollection of the setlist is below, though I'm sure the order is wrong, I think all the songs are there:
Gold / Low Rising / If You Want Me To / High Hope / The Rain / In These Arms / Say it to me now / Lay Me Down / Leave / Astral Weeks / Fantasy Man / I Have Loved You Wrong / The Pretty Bird Tree [LJ Hill] / Feeling the Pull / Back Broke / The Court of New Town / When Your Minds Made Up // I Don't Know How to Love Him / Falling Slowly / Lies / Red Chord-Hey Day-Parting Glass.

In sum, I'd see them again tomorrow night, and love it just the same. I wonder whether the future has another Frame's album and tour in store... will be great to find out.