Category: Film Clips

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Enter the Theatrical Mind of Emma Dean

Emma Dean is one of those special artists that brings a sense of theatre to her music. She calls to mind such strong female performers as Kate Bush and Amanda Palmer with her sophomore album Dr Dream and The Imaginary Pop-Cabaret.

“Essentially, I think of my original music as being piano- based cabaret-tinged pop which is presented with a theatrical flair. In short, I call it pop-cabaret”, she explained in a statement.

“This particular body of work explores themes such as imagination, insanity, fear, obsession and dreams. Dr Dream is one of the characters from my Imaginary Friends tour and this album is all about me sitting in his office, on his big black chair and rambling on about the inner-most workings of my mind. It’s about letting go of all the things I’m normally too afraid and ashamed to speak of and unashamedly airing them in song. It’s been scary but therapeutic.”

This video for “Sincerely Fearful” gives you some idea of what you’re in for when you take a journey through Emma Dean’s mind. She brings this same sense of theatricality to her live performances, which also feature her corseted, dancing “Imaginary Friends.” If this sounds like something you want to experience, make sure you get to one of the upcoming album launch shows.

20 November 2010 – The Raval @ The Macquarie Hotel, Sydney (18+)
26 November 2010 – The Old Museum @ Studio One, Brisbane (All Ages)
27 November 2010 – The Toff In Town, Melbourne (18+)

Image used with permission from Stephen Green Consulting

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Chrissy Amphlett Diagnosed with Breast Cancer

I was saddened to hear the news this morning that Chrissy Amphlett has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She’s currently undergoing treatment in her New York City home, where she lives with her husband.

In typical Chrissy fashion, she’s pledged to fight the cancer, just as she has Multiple Sclerosis. That disease means she can’t have radiation treatment, so she’s in for one hell of a battle.

But if anyone’s up to it, it’s Chrissy. They don’t make them much tougher than her after all. My thoughts are with her and her family at this difficult time.

Moments like this make me want to revisit some of the music and remember performers at their height of their power. For me, it doesn’t get much better than Chrissy belting out “Boys in Town.” What’s your favourite Divinyls track?

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Israel Cannan’s Epic Aussie Journey Inspires Amazing Album

Israel CannanI love discovering new music that really revs me. The latest act to get me excited is Israel Cannan, a young singer-songwriter who’s taken a long literal and metaphorical journey to reach the place he’s at today.

Israel released his debut EP at the tender age of 18, but after a few successful tours and radio attention he soon became disillusioned by the corporate machine. And so earlier this year he decided to leave his home in coastal New South Wales and travel around the country.

With little more than a guitar, a beat up old van, and a great friend by his side Israel travelled to some of Australia’s most remote towns, using the money he made from busking to get from one spot to the next. He offered free singles to the people who came to hear him play, and learned a lot about Australia and himself.

From this epic journey came Walk, Israel’s debut album. It’s an impressive piece, especially considering that he wrote all the tracks, engineered them, and played all the instruments.

Israel documented his travels through a series of 22 video blogs, which you can now see on his YouTube page, along with this film clip for the incredible song “Letting Go.” If you love gentle indie folk in the vein of Iron & Wine and Ben Harper, you need to check this out.

Walk is currently available through Israel Cannan’s website and digitally from iTunes. Check it out!


Image used with permission from Stephen Green Consulting

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

“No Secrets” – The Angels

As I spend my last full day in Adelaide, I figured it was time to go back in the vault again. I’ve done Chisel, so there seemed like just one obvious choice: The Angels. Doc Neeson and the boys had so many hits, but I think my favourite has to be “No Secrets.” Long before I really understood the words I was singing them loudly; I’m not sure whether that’s a good or a bad thing!

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Congratulations to Luke and Kate!

My apologies to Guy Sebastian. I’m sure this Adelaide resident would rather forget his first single, and that electrified hair. But this song does have some beautiful words, and on this day where I’m witnessing the wedding of my friends Kate and Luke it struck a nerve. Planes probably brought them to Adelaide rather than angels, but the sentiment remains the same. May they have a lifetime of wedded bliss ahead of them!

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

“Gravity” – The Superjesus

“Gravity” by The Superjesus is one of those tracks that takes me back to my angry early twenties. It seems a lifetime ago looking back, but then the crunchy guitar chords and strong vocals of Sarah McLeod definitely hit a nerve. And if I’m honest with you, they still do! Listening to this song it’s hard to believe it’s more than a decade old; how time flies!

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

I’m Adelaide Bound!

Today I’m getting on a plane bound for Adelaide and taking a very well earned holiday. I could leave you all to your own devices, but I’d much rather give you something to look at while I’m gone. Keeping up with news was always going to be impossible, so I figured I’d treat you to some of my favourite music videos from Adelaide artists. The city is a wealth of musical talent after all, so sit back and enjoy the tunes!

I had to kick off with my favourite Adelaide act, Cold Chisel. There are so many tunes I could have picked here, but I settled on “Cheap Wine.” This was actually the track I fell in love with first. My sister and I got a real kick out of singing about booze as youngsters. Fun fact; it was actually released the year that I was born, yet it still sounds fresh as a daisy.

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Chaingang Take Us On a Holiday

It’s not entirely coincidental that I’m posting the video for “Holiday” from Sydney’s Chaingang today. Tomorrow I’m jetting off for a well-earned break, but rest assured I’ll leave plenty of goodies for you to browse while I’m gone.

At any rate, when this song passed my desk the timing seemed too fortuitous to ignore. This is a far cry from Madonna’s poppy “Holiday.” Chaingang’s version is much dirtier, in more ways than one! I love the sexy rock notes of this, not to mention all that milk and tomato sauce in the music video! This is really fun stuff, as any good holiday should be!