From Somewhere out the Back: Sinful Sounds from a Vintage City by I [Love] Space

Posted on April 4, 2018 by Stupidity Hole

It was either late 2003 or some time in 2004. Fairly certain it was 2004. Or 2003. One of the two.
I was listening to FBi when a song by the name of ”6 phase” came on. It was interesting.

Some time later in the indeterminate future, another song called “Kung Fu Know How” by the same band came on which was one that I was more drawn to than “6 phase”. Maybe it was due to how much more immediate it was. I enjoyed both, but in my mind, “Kung Fu Know How” was stronger.

There was another song in there somewhere called “Lions vs Christians”, but I remember that one much less.

So I found myself enjoying I [Love] Space, or at least what I heard of their stuff.

Over a few years I lazily tried to hunt down Retroceso..1.2.3. with no success and then I kind of forgot about the band until 2006 when a new song of theirs was used on Channel Ten. It was “Birds.Attack” and whilst it sounded different to what I had previously heard, it was new music from this band I had previously enjoyed and so it was not long before I bought Sinful Sounds from a Vintage City.

I played it once.

I’m fairly certain I played it again a couple of years ago, although I can’t quite remember.

—–

I [Love] Space had this kind of power pop sound going that was mostly jettisoned for something that was gloomy and brooding.
Spindly guitar sounds on oft-repeated and underdeveloped vocal lines permeate throughout the whole thing that in unison seriously drag down the whole E.P.
At times the melody will be counterbalanced by something a bit lighter and fun, but these moments are few and far between and don’t seem to offer much other than a slight change.

Clean playing is the style of most of the songs which for the most part is okay as it does allow for a fair bit of space and headroom. Occasionally there’s something a bit louder and energetic, but otherwise much of the sound of the instruments is kept firmly away from overdriven rocking.

The first problem with Sinful Sounds from a Vintage City is that it sounds so much like the band had little to no interest in what they were doing whilst at the same time come off as pretentious in parts. The songs mostly limp along, go through the motions and whilst the compositions themselves are fairly interesting, there’s not enough effort put into them to really make them work.

—–

Here’s a listing of some of the lyrics from the E.P.:

Sometimes, sometimes, feel alright sometimes
Well it gets you out
It gets you out sometimes
Sometimes, sometimes, get back sometimes

Gotta call to call up
If you want to made up
Gotta call to call to you
And I forgot to mention
That I’ve got a short attention
Yeah I forgot to mention to you

Don’t feel like anything you feel, like feeling
You feel. Do you feel?
We believe you are going safely into treason
Eyes deceive as the world is slowly, slowly moving in
For the kill, for the kill
The kill, for the kill, for the kill

You go and get outside yourself
You go and get inside yourself
‘Cause I’ve been free to go and get out of myself
Right out of myself
You’re free now, you can do whatever you
When birds attack, when birds attack yes they dohoo.

I’ve left out two songs, but all you’ve missed out on is one that seems to be about two people committing suicide (and one of them doesn’t want to), and another that I’ve got no clue as to what it’s about, which in its defence, is pretty much the same when I try to work out the other songs on the E.P. so I guess at least there’s only one song that strays from the norm (lyrics-wise), which leads to the whole thing being fairly consistent, which is a positive.

This highlights the second problem with the lyrics; they come off as seriously underdeveloped. There are some lines that are really strong but they’re undermined by everything else around them. There’s nothing wrong with lyrics being obtuse or abstract, and brevity can work really well, but there are issues when they feel lazy and inane.

Now that I think about it, perhaps the lyrics feeling as such is underlying some sort of hidden genius. After all, the front-man does say that he has a short attention. Perhaps the lyrics are a reflection of that and in the minutiae of their perceived errata the sublimity of their direct, yet subtle meaning is finally revealed to all, vindicating the lyrics. In that case, if there is any hubris related to this farrago, it is well-earned.

—–

What Sinful Sounds of a Vintage City does best is showing how a band with promise can screw up so easily. Despite my criticisms, the E.P. is actually interesting. However, it has more than enough working against it for it to be little more than that and is ultimately easy to forget. In place of a power pop sound is now this gloomy, underdeveloped thing that shouldn’t have been released as it was.

Something that I can say which is kind of a positive is that Sinful Sounds from a Vintage City makes me want to hear Retroceso..1.2.3. more than I had previously wanted.

There’s nothing wrong with a drastic shift, but if you’re going to do such a thing, you need to make sure that either the stuff is good or it shows promise and neither of these are present. Sure, the songs are well-composed, but they sound like a limp, lazy imitation of many other artists out there.

Probably the biggest issue with this release is not that it’s a jarring, poorly done shift, the underdeveloped lyrics, or the even more jarring inclusion of a “remix” of “Kung Fu Know How” that sounds a little like Nine Inch Nails (which, whilst nicely expansive and image-evoking, leaves the whole thing feeling even more off than before and ends up clashing far more than it should with the rest of the E.P.); it’s that the best that can be said for the whole thing is that it’s interesting.

Sinful Sounds from a Vintage City was symptomatic of an issue with the mid-noughties pop scene in Sydney that saw a bunch of bands appear to be well loved and then mostly forgotten quite fast due to what seemed to be an inability to work with their potential. It’s an issue common to plenty of other music scenes but (probably due to living in Sydney) it stuck out to me that a bunch of bands seemed to almost completely disappear in quick succession after doing well to some extent.

I [Love] Space had potential but they didn’t work enough to grow it into something better and that’s what shows in Sinful Sounds from a Vintage City. It’s interesting but it needed a lot more work.

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Passing Under Sydney Harbour Bridge

Posted on April 4, 2018 by Stupidity Hole

I’ve tried to get a decent shot of the underside of Sydney Harbour Bridge whilst passing via ferry a few times.

I think it’s due to seeing many photos of the underside from land which kind of irks me as whilst it makes for a nice shot, a photo from the water is still showing the bridge.

I think.

Anyway, here’s a photo of the underside of Sydney Harbour Bridge.

It’s a bit on the darker side of things, but I think that it shows the structure nicely whilst also giving a good idea of the area around the southern end of the bridge.

This is my entry into Leanne Cole‘s Monochrome Madness for this week.

Due to this one being themed (as it’s the first M.M. of the month), I think the photo fits the theme well, which is “From Under”.

I recommend checking it out and considering submitting if you are a photographer.
It’s a fun event driven both by Leanne Cole and the small community that participates.

I also recommend that you check out Leanne Cole‘s work outside of Monochrome Madness.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 406: More Rude Customer Stuff

Posted on April 3, 2018 by Stupidity Hole

Why do customers seem to think that it is okay to be rude when they don’t get their way?

Why do customer think that it’s totally appropriate to say something such as “Thanks for nothing.” at the end of a call when you try to help them as much as you can?

Why do customer think that it is okay to overtly suggest that you’re not helping them by saying something along the lines of “I haven’t gotten any customer service” and using it as justification to demand some sort of compensation when you’re doing what you can to help them?

I don’t understand as to why so many customers feel so overly-entitled to get what they want.

Customers are important and that does not change, but I don’t understand as to why they think they can make unreasonable demands or say shitty things to you.

To be fair, a good number of them, whilst expressing some sort of annoyance will accept the answer or solution that they are provided. Some are pretty happy with a solution.

However, there’s a few that become quite passive-aggressive when they don’t get what they want and resort to really immature, juvenile tactics.

Talking to a customer service representative over the phone is not a time to throw a tantrum.

There is something that I really need to stress to people that I really wish I could say over the phone to every customer who gets shitty when they don’t hear what they want to hear.

The only thing that you’re entitled to is good customer service, and the answer and solution to your questions and issues. You are not in any way entitled to the answer or solution you want unless those happen to align with what you are given.

Getting shitty when things don’t go your way only leads to growing enmity.

There needs to be more respect given to customer service representatives.

There are plenty of good customers out there and they make the job wonderful, but there also are plenty of people that make the job far more stressful and difficult than it needs to be.

We’re not paid to put up with your crap. We’re paid to provide customer service.

Why make the job harder for us? Why say shitty things to us that only leave us less likely to go out of our way to assist you?

Why not try being nice?

Why say something like “Thanks for nothing.” when we are helping you?

I think that too many people feel a sense of entitlement because they think they are entitled to more than they get and nothing more than that.

I think that this is a really bad belief, or attitude to have.

People who behave like this should be treated with the contempt that they deserve and nothing more. They certainly earn that contempt and not the right to be treated well.

Perhaps if they were a bit more polite, they would get better customer service.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 10:14:66

Slow, but this was being thought about much more than most of my posts.

I think that there’s a good point to be found here, but perhaps I was a little bit too overbearing about the point.

Written at work.

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Luna Park Ferris Wheel

Posted on April 3, 2018 by Stupidity Hole

It’s another Ferris wheel.

However, this time it is one at Luna Park.
How droll.

I think that the colours contrast well with the buildings in the background.
The Ferris wheel cabins appear to be colourful and bright enough, whilst the buildings seem to be dull and almost lifeless.

I like how the frame of the wheel seems to cut into the sky and create its own pattern.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 405: Nearing the End of a Long Weekend

Posted on April 2, 2018 by Stupidity Hole

So we’re nearing the end of a long weekend, and the end of the long weekend is near.

Tomorrow is the return to the regular week, but for now the long weekend reigns supreme and there is something to do that awaits.

I am sitting at work, waiting out the end of the shift, for the end of the shift is near and there are things to do after the shift ends.

There are always things to do, which is a good thing as it means that I stay busy when I need to stay busy.

There will be some extreme relaxation occurring once the day is over.

Yes. That will be what happens.

I think that I’d much rather go out and take photos, which can be relaxing, but I would rather the photography to be intense and pressure-inducing, as that would be much more exciting than relaxing and taking it easy.

Or would it be? That is the question.

Well actually, there is no question to ask.

So I’ sitting here at work and it’s a slow, relaxing day which is nice, but I do kind of wish that I was at home in my underpants working on music.

Still, the pay is decent today and the customers aren’t tearing my head off for little to no reason, so I’m having what I think could be described as a good time.

After work, it shall still remain a good time, but how good is really up for debate at this point.

Actually, it is not up for debate.

There is little right now that could be considered as being up for debate, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles when you’re sitting on a chair and writing about the things that are happening, even though you’re not really writing about the things that are happening.

Instead, you’re just prattling on, killing time and yet feel like writing so you’re killing time through writing, even though you want to write about something much better than what you are currently writing but don’t have much to go on as you’re probably a little too relaxed.

Of course, by “you”, I mean “me”.

It’s one of those days where everything feels pretty easy and there’s little to worry about, despite there needing to be work, such as cutting a few stems of some plants that I’m growing as they’re parts that have died and I want the plants to grow a bit bigger so that they produce more fruits… and so on.

Still, that should be an enjoyable experience and shouldn’t take too long, but then again, only time will tell.

Perhaps it will take all afternoon, therefore slowing my ability to get other things done, but of course we’ll have to see how it all pans out, which is pretty much what I just said before, but as I seem to gravitate toward repetition, you get it twice in a few sentences, which is kind of a bonus.

Kind of.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 06:34:13

I like the overall tone of this one as it feels as relaxed as I currently happen to be, so I guess that’s a good thing.

Not great, but has a good flow.

Written at work.

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Ferry Wake

Posted on April 2, 2018 by Stupidity Hole

Here we have a photo of the wake of a ferry.

I like the way the (mostly) undisturbed water disappears between the wake, and I also like how the wake seems to be crashing over itself.

I think that it creates interesting textural patterns.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 404: Spiffy New Tongue

Posted on April 1, 2018 by Stupidity Hole

Once upon a time there was a person who was working in an office.

On one particular day, they were chewing on a toothpick, as their teeth at one point needed picking, but not at the point where they were chewing as the picking had by then been completed and now they were just chewing on a toothpick, as you do sometimes when you are bored and trying to kill time, for there is now an object in your mouth that has helped to dislodge other objects and whilst it is a small bit of wood, you still feel like chewing something and don’t have any gum handy to chew, so instead you’ll chew on the toothpick as that is at least already partially in your mouth and it’s much better than chewing on your own tongue which is something that you don’t want to do, unless you do want to chew on your own tongue, in which case be my guest, but most people don’t want to do that as it’s probably a dangerous thing to do and if you end up biting really hard onto your tongue by accident you’ll end up with a bit of a mess on your hands which may lead to you going to hospital to get your tongue sewed back together unless the bit that was bitten off atrophies really quickly, in which case you may have a shorter tongue for the rest of your life which you would probably get used to, but it would most likely cause a few issues at first and then you’d have to learn to cope with the sudden loss and whilst you would get used to it eventually, you may still get something akin to a phantom limb, but that’s the path you walked and it is now one you must continue walking as there is no diversion that you can now take unless somehow there is some sort of tongue transplant invented which would mean you’d be in luck as, due to your accident you would now be able to sign up as a test patient for the transplant and you’d have a spiffy new tongue tip (so long as the tongue didn’t reject it), which would then lead to your feeling some sense of completion, but it would never be your original tongue as it is a tongue tip that belonged to someone else and nothing you can do will change that, so you’d have to get used to it and deal with the new change that has now come your way, so you’d better get used to it as you cannot turn back the clock and instead of chewing on your own tongue, choose instead to chew on a toothpick, so you’re now stuck with this new alleviation to a life of having a tongue that was not a complete tongue.

But still, at least it’s a lot better than being in a sea that was made entirely of salt.

That could suck.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 06:37:63

I like this one.

Not great, but I do think that it works well enough.
Fair bit of repetition, but it has a good flow and it’s (mostly) grammatically correct.

Written at work.

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Sydney Harbour Bridge Structure

Posted on April 1, 2018 by Stupidity Hole

A photo taken of the underside of Sydney Harbour Bridge whilst on approach.

There’s going to be a fair number of test shots appearing here for a while whilst I work out how to use the new camera. This is one of the shots.

I think that there’s a good amount of detail that can be seen in the frame of the bridge and I like the patterns that can be seen.

I hope you enjoy.

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Brief Respite

Posted on March 31, 2018 by Stupidity Hole

So a few days ago I acquired a new camera body and have been getting pretty snap happy with it as it’s, well, new.

That and I feel I’ve much more possibility now, even though I had the same amount beforehand.

It does mean that photos from the 60D will reduce in prominence.

Anyway, here’s a photo of a coworker of mine on a brief break before getting back into the thick of things.

I hope you enjoy.

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Somewhere in Chinatown

Posted on March 30, 2018 by Stupidity Hole

See title.

This was taken during an excursion to Chinatown in order to have a meal and a hanging out with a friend.

I think that the different types of buildings, both in external design and height work well layered with each other, as it goes to show a fair bit of mixed difference in the area.

I think that it also gives the photo a bit of depth.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

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