The Future Classic crew once again filled out The Civic top to bottom with various flavours of electronica, some deep, some discoey and some techy. Personally, I didn’t rate Isolee’s set – it didn’t go anywhere near as deep as I thought it might. In fact, the whole night was musically so-so, with Simon Caldwell stealing the show.

A slightly odd occurrence on the night -I felt sorry for those who were forced out of the hotel adjacent to the club due to a fire alarm, and found themselves exiting the stairwell into the laneway which was being annexed by the venue, converting it into an outdoor area for the venue – for smokers, and the German BBQ delights. A lot of club goers were quite confused when they saw parents with young children walking through the space.

View the photo gallery on Flickr.

Hipster douches with bad hair and 80s retro fluoro stone wash fashion sense got you down with their fixies and poor city riding skills? Then check this out.

Jennifer Cardini in the mix

Some photos I shot from the Kompakt Label Party / 6th Birthday for Deep As F*ck gig at The Cross a couple of weeks back.

I wasn’t overwhelmed by the gig – a modest turnout on the Sunday, which was due no doubt the countless gigs (We Love Sounds for one) that had occurred across the long weekend. Musically though was where I was underwhelmed – it certainly wasn’t anything to adventurous and I have to feel that like the Kompakt label, it’s lost a little of it’s fresh edge that we used to see a few years back.

However, I was overwhelmed by the ‘flu which I came down with the next day and am still recovering from.

Astronomy Class rocked it at the Annandale on Friday night. Go and buy the album – dope Australian dub hip hop. Enough said.

Here it is, the new Astronomy Class video for Where You At? currently on high-rotation on Triple J. A new album and tour are coming shortly.

Robert Christgau’s guide to grading records.

An A+ record is an organically conceived masterpiece that repays prolonged listening with new excitement and insight. It is unlikely to be marred by more than one merely ordinary cut.

An A is a great record both of whose sides offer enduring pleasure and surprise. You should own it.

[...]

It is impossible to understand why anyone would release a D- record.

E records are frequently cited as proof that there is no God.

Read the full list of grades on his site.

I feel that Señor Coconut might be out of a job thanks to Microsoft Songsmith.

Check out the Mariarchi version of The Police’s ‘Roxanne’ below.

Today was hot. Ridiculously hot.

I played cricket and felt like I was melting. Batting for over an hour, sucking in super-heated 41 degree air. Gasp! Another 2…. on my way to 45 as we finished with 191 which was well and truly enough as we demolished the opposition for 87. I took 1/8 off 4 which was more than reasonable.

Racing off home, I had to make it to the Opera House to see The Matthew Herbert Big Band – another Sydney Festival event.

Herbert’s Big Band project combines the cream of the jazz scene, both locally for the tour and from Europe, on trumpets, trombones, saxophones, piano, bass and drums – with Herbert’s own mad professor tomfoolery and the one moment booming, the next, dulcet tones of Eska Mtungwazi (pictured).

Herbert played a ’secret gig’ at the Spiegeltent that night, which we planned to go to for a while but fatigue set in. The same reason as to why we didn’t make it to see Mathew Jonson either – but he’s playing again this weekend.

Two things I’m enjoying right at the moment – Monteith’s Summer Ale. Well, I’m enjoying the Original Ale, the Summer Ale and the Radler right at the moment and secondly, Âme’s Fabric mix is getting a nice work out in the car.

There’s a strong message here that you can’t ignore. High end production qualities too. A quality viral piece from the Cancer Council?