We gave you the best of this summer’s festival and music experiences. Mixtapes, interviews, guides. It all culminated in sending Andrew and Cristie all the way to Coachella. Judging by these photos they had a real good time.
#Volley #Coachella
We gave you the best of this summer’s festival and music experiences. Mixtapes, interviews, guides. It all culminated in sending Andrew and Cristie all the way to Coachella. Judging by these photos they had a real good time.
Ali Barter has made us a mix for those who like easing into a long weekend with beautiful lyricism ringing in their ears. Grab that glass of wine, it’s singer songwriter time. (Though, you know, not exclusively.)
A lot of great songrwriting with a lot of great modern production. A lot like—you guessed it—Ali’s music.
A Mix by Ali Barter for Volley Up by Volleyvolley on Mixcloud
I think, at this point, we’re all a little fatigued by revolutions. Which is why we like Melbourne’s Ali Barter. Evolving the delicate, sincere singer-songwriter strain of folk that started somewhere around Joan Baez instead of turning it on its head. Evolving and bolstering the sound with modern production and varied instrumentation. After all, Janis Ian was never much for synthesisers. We asked Ali our customary questions ahead of her upcoming dates supporting Katy Steele across the country.
What is the best film with Diane Keaton in it?
Something’s Gotta Give. I love watching old people make out. Especially Jack Nicholson. I’d go there.
James Brown, the Sex Pistols, Johnny Cash. For some science fictiony reason the discography of only one can survive.
Johnny Cash ALWAYS. Give me a guitar, a cigarette, and a runaway train any day.
Favourite artist; worst album. To make it difficult: the artist must have subsequently released a great album.
So, my favourite artist is Cat Power. My least loved album of hers is the latest, Sun (sorry Chan). But I trust that the next album will be amazing so… there.
Everybody has fantasy band names. What’s one of yours?
Ali Babaganoush.
Money is no object, neither is reality. What’s your ultimate fictional festival to play?
In a forest, at night. Salem, Massachusetts. Everyone is dressed like animals. Lineup is Fleetwood Mac, Father John Misty, Kate Bush, Black Sabbath. Dancing under the full moon. Jack Nicholson is waiting backstage for me in a leopard skin onesie.
Nun have been killing it out of Melbourne. A four piece making brittle synth pop (it’s not really pop) that sucks up influences from John Carpenter movies through to Throbbing Gristle and spits them out like a radio transmission from somewhere that may not even exist.
Speaking of throbbing, there’s a lot of people throbbing to hear more from them. Until there’s a proper release we’ve got single ‘Solvents’, Tom answering a few questions for us and an excellent mixtape from the band we’ll be putting up soon.
What is the best film with Sissy Spacek in it?
This one is contentious, but I don’t think anyone has really brought a disembodied brain to life on screen quite as well as Sissy did as Anne Uumellmahaye in The Man With Two Brains.
James Brown, the Sex Pistols, Johnny Cash. For some science fictiony reason the discography of only one can survive. Who and why?
Definitely give me Sex Pistols glam masterpiece Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols over anything the others ever released. The aliens can take the rest of the Pistols (and related) discography while they’re at it for all I care.
Favourite artist; worst album. To make it difficult: the artist must have subsequently released a great album.
Alice Cooper, Thin Lizzy and Neil Young all took a few records to warm up before releasing great albums but I don’t know if that counts. So let’s go with Lou Reed. Again, the first record is pretty weak, but then you’ve got Transformer and Berlin. Sally Can’t Dance, terrible record, followed up by Coney Island Baby (great), Rock and Roll Heart (decent) and Street Hassle (great).
What were some other names you considered before Nun
We were nearly called Blood on Satan’s Claw…
Money is no object, neither is reality. What’s your ultimate fictional festival to play?
Sissy Spacek and Steve Martin co-MC’ing the event. Sex Pistols, Phil Lynott—back from the grave—fronts Jailbreak era Lizzy. Alice Cooper. (Young) Neil Young. Headlining would be the greatest collaboration of our time: Lou Reed and Metallica.
WE HAVE A WINNER!
Feels like Andrew’s telling a story here. Summers past and future and all that. We like it so much we’re sending him to the US to attend California’s biggest music festival.
If you want to keep up to date with when we do another crazy thing like this or just want some discounts, head to volley.com.au and sign up for the newsletter.
It’s generally a different type of volley we talk about here but, holy crap, that’s still pretty impressive. 143 volleys in 43 seconds by Cara Black.
Well, that’s it for another summer. We’re about as happy about it as you are. Which is to say: not very. In the spirit of keeping hearts warm when the weather turns cold we’ve compiled five of our favourite summer films. We went alphabetical because there’s really no separating these things.
And those who actually prefer cold weather? You can shut it, because they’re all damn good films and you should be glad we reminded you of them.
So, you see, everybody wins.
Dazed and Confused
Space is prohibitive so we’re just going to list the actors that didn’t get famous after starring in Richard Linklater’s 1993 coming-of-age film set in Austin, Texas. Actually, we don’t even have to do that. Because it amounts to zero people. And remember: you just gotta keep on livin’, man.
Do the Right Thing
It’s easy to make a case for Spike Lee’s third feature (we’re excluding his student film Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop) being his best. All his signatures are already there. That weird putting-people-on-a-dolly thing he does so much. Recurring actors like Samuel L Jackson, John Turturro, Ossie Davis and, well, himself. Most of all it’s how vividly his beloved Brooklyn is rendered. Sure, it might be hard to relate to simmering racial tension in Bedford-Stuyvesant all the way over in Australia but that’s what makes it great.
Puberty Blues
So many quintessential summer movies are coming-of-age movies. And Bruce Beresford’s 1981 Puberty Blues is the quintessential quintessence of an Australian one. You’re either going to cringe at it or be nostalgic for it but—either way—it captures something essential about what it is to be young in Australia.
Rear Window
You didn’t think you were going to get away with just watching movies made after the ’80s did you? And though a 1954 Hitchcock film set entirely in one apartment might sound like a snooze—boy oh boy is it not. Outside of the suspense and a generous amount of humour (something Hitch doesn’t seem to get enough credit for) it’ll make you glad you were able to get out during summer rather than cooped up in a Greenwich Village apartment with a broken leg during a sweltering New York summer. Plus, you get to stare at Grace Kelly or James Stewart for 112 minutes. Or both. You know, whatever you’re into.
Wet Hot American Summer
Though this list is alphabetical the best may have ended up being last. If you know it you love it (and are most likely a big comedy nerd). Wet Hot made $295,206 in its theatrical run. So, you know, not a hit. But it has become a cult classic and launched the careers of Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper, Elizabeth Banks and Amy Poehler. A comedy set at a Jewish summer camp, it doesn’t try to do anything but be funny. It features the best montage sequence ever set to film and the best movie credit ever. Namely: H Jon Benjamin as Mixed Vegetables.
Buzzcocks! Madonna! Bananrama! All the post-punk synth weirdness you’ve never listened to but wish you had! It’s the Nun mixtape. Just in time to stave off an impending Monday. Or: fight it once it’s here.
Mixtape Tuesday, you guys. Because it just ain’t a Tuesday without sexy didgeridoo synth lounge and balaeric space epics. Thanks Client Liaison.
A mix by Client Liaison for Volley Up by Volleyvolley on Mixcloud
‘International in flavour, cosmopolitan in style’. Client Liaison are the new sound of an old antipodean summer. Just watch their clip for ‘The End of the Earth’ and you’ll know what we mean.
Since you’re going to be hearing a lot more of their sophisticated synth pop in the future we decided to ask them some questions before they blow up all over the scene. More over the scene that is.
What is the best film with Michael Douglas in it?
Basic Instinct hands down! This 90s classic offers a thorough profile of San Francisco Architecture, whilst harbouring one of Michael Douglas’s most seminal performances to date.
James Brown, the Sex Pistols, Johnny Cash. For some science fictiony reason the discography of only one can survive.
James Brown. For without this visionary there would be no Prince.
Favourite artist; worst album. The artist must have subsequently released a great album.
Prince’s Kamasutra (1997) was written for his wedding to now-ex-wife Mayte. You can read more about this truly dismal piece of music here.
What were some other names you considered before Client Liaison?
None! In turn, we’ll take this as an opportunity to reveal how we chanced upon the name Client Liaison.
One afternoon at work my boss received a phone call from a car loans officer who was performing a reference check for an ex colleague’s car loan application. When asked by the loans officer what roles this past employee undertook, one of the titles I overheard my boss mention was ‘Client Liaison’. I immediately laughed as I hadn’t heard this outdated corporate term for some time. Note, I was also laughing, as this past employee was by no means fit for any type of loan.
Money is no object, neither is reality. What’s your ultimate fictional festival to play?
The Michael Jackson Thriller Resurrection Spectacular. What would be advertised as a tribute show to raise funds to aid the declining health of MJ’s long time companion Bubbles the Chimpanzee. Client Liaison would host a star-studded line up, set to cover the entire Thriller catalogue. With a festival sized stage positioned over MJ’s burial site the show would open with a fully choreographed recreation of the Thriller video clip. Then in a dramatic twist of fate—during the ‘Thriller’ breakdown a zombified Michael Jackson would raise from the grave in a messiah-like fashion and then go on to perform all the crowd favorites.
How was playing Golden Plains?
Highlights included the fresh coco-nut stall, a close encounter with a brown snake and most importantly the warm reception we gratefully received from the crowd.
