Music From The Cast Iron Balcony
Getting Down, Down Under
I frequently lurk about Blogger On The Cast Iron Balcony to assure that I am up to snuff on the contemporary feminist perspective in Melbourne, Friday Dogblogging, and, of course, Meaningless Twaddle.
On occasion, music also erupts from this source, and such was the case yesterday with the posting of La di da, down by the sea, which is described as
While those adventures themselves are a worthy read, I want to focus on three of the acts who performed at the festival and were mentioned in the post.
Tess McKenna
I first heard of Tess McKenna from a much earlier mention of her music on Blogger On The Cast Iron Balcony and have become a full-fledged fan of her guitar-based, often percussion-heavy songs that display their country roots sans twang. She puts a great voice to work on both subtle acoustic numbers and straightforward, high amp garage. She also has a knack for grabbing a lyrical hook in just the right way to leverage the irony of the line, producing some excellent specimens of rock and droll.
Tess McKenna has a web site and, of course, a Tess McKenna MySpace site, which streams a selection of her tunes.
She also has a song or two on YouTube, including All You Need:
The Band Who Knew Too Much
Since hearing these guys on their MySpace site yesterday, I’ve developed an intense yearning to watch The Band Who Knew Too Much perform at a not quite reputable bar in Brisbane while knocking back pots of XXXX.
That I had never before heard of this group Blogger On The Cast Iron Balcony calls “Iron Men of Australian music,”2 couldn’t locate Brisbane on a map of Australia with a GPS and a Rand-McNally Atlas,3 can’t recall the last time I was in a bar of any repute, and never managed to develop a taste for beer despite a four year effort during med school at the University of Missouri attenuates that longing not a whit.
Who wouldn’t get off on a band that includes in its own description these passages:
In addition to their MySpace site, The Band Who Knew Too Much can be seen on a YouTube Video:
Dallas Frasca
Dallas Frasca is a union of Janis Joplin and Big Mama Thornton with a soupcon of Cindy Lauper.4 She definitely falls into the must be seen (and heard) to be believed category. Happily, besides her Dallas Frasca MySpace slot, she also appears in a few YouTube videos.
Dallas Frasca - Narooma Blues Festival (October 23, 2007)
Dallas Frasca - Live in Abbotsford (July 11, 2006)
Footnotes
- Helen, who is the “Blogger” of “Blogger On The Cast Iron Balcony,” was the percussionist for Tess McKenna during Apollo Bay music festival sets ~back~
- She also labels them “Melbourne’s fastest band.” ~back~
- The location of Brisbane, it appears, is not the rate limiting step in this equation, given that The Band Who Knew Too Much is based in Melbourne - which I also could not locate without extensive guidance ~back~
- Blogger On The Cast Iron Balcony describes her thusly, “She’s a mighty red hot mama with a voice and stage presence like Nina Hagen meets Robert Plant.” I’m pretty sure we’re talking about the same performer. ~back~
