The Squeeg Files

In Profile: Chris Avellone

alivetinyworld:

First published in Atomic magazine, republished in PC & Tech Authority. I tracked down Chris while he was in Melbourne for GCAP, and asked him for his thoughts on Kickstarter, his design philosophies and goals, and Australia’s largely stagnant development scene.

kyrajade:

no but why is nicki minaj telling people whether they can sing or not

She’s classically trained, apparently

Eleventh He Reaches London/Rachael Dease/Foxes @ The Bakery 15/12/2012

ELEVENTH HE REACHES LONDON/Rachael Dease/Foxes/Only Hope

15/12/2012

The Bakery

 By Me!

Saturday night at The Bakery served up a range of raw, uncompromising music from diverse line-up charged with angst and emotion. Just in time for Christmas.

            Foxes grimly took to the stage after Only Hope, setting the tone immediately with the screams of singer Alex echoing through the cavernous Bakery band room. Without once breaking from his anguished screaming he poured everything into the set, backed by no lack of enthusiasm from the rest of the five-piece. After a quick, and impressive, mid-song cymbal change drummer Jake proceeded to beat the hell out his kit for rest of the show. While the angst is delivered through Alex’s voice the indie-style melodic guitars differentiate Foxes from the average hardcore act. On stage they pulsated with energy as they thrashed around and indulged themselves in extended instrumental sections, but you could hear a pin drop between songs. In what is an otherwise tight show, the awkward silences detracted from the atmosphere they were building. Red-faced from screaming, Alex finished the set by dropping his microphone and leaving the stage, while the rest of the band built up to their frenetic crescendo.

            “We’re kinda the wildcard of the night,” said songstress Rachael Dease after her first song, “I’m still very angry, I just express it differently.” With that in mind inclusion of her ambient-pop style to the line-up seemed less odd and strangely fitting to the melancholic theme of the night’s music. Armed with omnichord, a drummer and her haunting voice, Dease had little trouble casting her hypnotic spell over the audience. Through her solo work Dease has been picking up a lot of buzz and it’s not hard to see why. The dark, moody, ambient synth tones made a perfect match to her rich voice and somehow worked as an effective counterpoint to the shoutiness of the other acts of the night. She wove through All In All Out and Win The Losing Game with the sort of power and vocal control any talent show wannabe would sign their soul over for (and probably do).

            To celebrate the vinyl reissue of 2006’s The Good Fight For Harmony Perth’s cult favourites Eleventh He Reaches London made their first and only appearance for 2012. To whet their deprived fans’ appetites and to mark the occasion they played the album in its entirety. The band looked instantly comfortable on stage with the slow build of Coronation into Say You See Why, which left Ian Lenton’s vocals a bit drowned out by the three guitar attack. As the sound mix issues were sorted out through the set the intricacies of the mournful post-hardcore really began to shine. In an act befitting of the moody atmosphere Lenton made a quick dash off stage for a bottle of whiskey before launching into the next song. The wall-of-sound the three guitars made were impressive mixing heavy with sombre, and the frenetic timing changes were handled expertly. With little time for banter Eleventh He Reaches London roared through the set with the crowd eating up every bit of it, quenching their appetites until the next show early next year for the upcoming album.