Lev Lafayette – Page 2 – Rocknerd

New Order: Music Complete (2016).

17 June, 201625 August, 2016 Post-Punk, Record 1

At almost sixty-five minutes, New Order’s tenth studio album Music Complete. On vinyl it is provided as an impressive heavy-grade double album with an abstract cover design by Peter Saville, which reminds one of True Colours by Split Enz or a 1980s L’Oreal advertisement. With no sense of embarrassment, the album also includes a twelve page booklet of blank pages and uncoloured designs. This ill-considered use of the planet’s declining arboreal biomass can possibly amuse children for a couple of hours as they provide a more interesting expression of colours. As is the fashion with albums these days a digital download code is also provided.

New Order and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Opera House, June 4, 2016

10 June, 20161 January, 2017 Classical, Live, Post-Punk 0

The concert hall of the Sydney Opera House is, of course, one of the world’s great venues. Filled to capacity of over two-and-half thousand the audience were displaying an enthusiasm that would continue throughout the night. Although older on average, there was a fair sprinkling of younger faces indicating that the reputation of one of the world’s great electronic and synth-pop bands was still continuing.

Shriekback: Without Real String or Fish (2015).

23 April, 201625 August, 2016 Post-Punk, Record 0

For a band formed in 1981, Shriekback have certainly had a couple of notable breaks in their productive career.

Jesus and Mary Chain “Psychocandy” 30th Anniversary

29 March, 201625 August, 2016 Goth, Indie, Live 0

It is rather frightening to think that it’s now over thirty years since Psychocandy by The Jesus and Mary Chain graced the airwaves. Well, frightening to people of a certain age such as this reviewer.

The fall of The Fall

25 March, 201628 August, 2016 Live, Post-Punk 0

This review has been sitting in the ‘to post’ box for a while, for reasons that will become evident.

The Charlatans: Modern Nature (2015).

30 December, 201528 August, 2016 Indie, Record 0

As one of the great British indie synth-rock bands (hey, just call it “Madchester”) of the 90s, The Charlatans, left an indelible impression on

Last Words (EP) by Muzzle

24 December, 201514 October, 2016 Indie, Record, Rock 0

“Last Words” (2014), is the debut EP for young Fremantle independent rock band, Muzzle, with three-piece Daniel Panizza on bass, Daniel Prince on drums,

Nick Cave: 20,000 Days On Earth and Q&A session

19 December, 201428 August, 2016 Film, Post-Punk 0

At a special screening at The Astor, the Nick Cave documentary 20 000 Days on Earth was screened, with Nick present for a Q&A

Notes On The Accounting of Musical Taste

13 December, 20143 May, 2017 Opinion 3

Recently I gave a presentation on The Philosophy of Music. Putting aside the definitional and ontological questions for a moment, perhaps the most troubling from a reviewer’s point of view was an epistemological one; what sort of knowledge does musical and lyrical content give us?

Skinny Puppy: Weapon (2013).

10 December, 201428 August, 2016 Industrial, Record 0

As perhaps the most important industrial band of the 1980s, Skinny Puppy developed a loyal following with their harsh instrumentation, samples, and politically blunt

Yours Is No Disgrace: A Small Selection Of ‘Yes’ Trivia

22 November, 201429 March, 2017 Prog 2

A small selection of oddities as a potted history in the “Yes” story, some of which are well known to aficionados, but nevertheless will give all a taste of the flights of these starship troopers.

65daysofstatic: Wild Light (2013)

6 November, 201429 March, 2017 Prog, Record 0

It’s a cute fashion for the originators of subcultures to declare its ‘death’ just as it is starting; thus the hippies of Haight-Ashbury declared

Radio Birdman Boxed Set (2014)

4 November, 201428 August, 2016 Indie, Record, Rock 0

Courtesy of our friends at The Dwarf your author had the opportunity to see the legendary Radio Birdman as long as finger was put

Pop Will Eat Itself, Hi-Fi Bar (Melbourne Australia), September 07, 2014

8 September, 201415 December, 2016 Indie, Live 0

(PWEI at Fortitude Valley, image by Jeff Ram Photographer) After three years of a band having a ‘new’ lineup one would think that they’re

Pop Will Eat Itself – New Noise Designed By A Sadist (2011)

5 September, 201414 October, 2016 Indie, Record 0

With their last and most successful general release album released in 1994 (Dos Dedos Mis Amigos), it is a long time between releases for

Archive: Axiom (2014)

20 August, 201429 March, 2017 Film, Industrial, Prog, Record 0

Archive are a pretty superb combination of electronica, trip-hop, with progressive elements, something like a fusion of 65daysofstatic and Portishead. To say that they’ve

Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine, 11 May 2013

19 May, 20136 May, 2017 Live 0

In my much younger days, like many others with simultaneous libertarian and socialist convictions, a gravitation towards the political side of punk rock had

Midge Ure, Melbourne, 19 April 2013.

22 April, 201329 March, 2017 Live, Pop 0

Midge Ure is a musician who shouldn’t require much of an introduction. He’s travelled from from the Rich Kids in the 1970s, to Visage,

Simple Minds, Devo, The Church: Palais, November 30

3 December, 20127 May, 2017 Live 2

Among the aging fans of good eighties music the prospect of The Church, Devo, and Simple Minds all at one show came with some

The Sisters of Mercy, Corner Hotel, Melbourne, March 1st

12 March, 201228 April, 2017 Goth, Live 0

The “industrial groove machine” known as The Sisters of Mercy recently performed twice in Melbourne at the Corner Hotel and apparently also at the

The Damned, January 20, 2012, Melbourne

27 January, 20127 May, 2017 Live, Punk 0

In previous reviews the general superiority of Billboard as a venue has been mentioned and they remain applicable here; the light is better, the

The Clouds, The Wonder Stuff, Jesus Jones: August 19, Melbourne

26 August, 201110 May, 2017 Live 0

The Clouds, The Wonder Stuff and Jesus Jones make a very good combination of acts, although holding the event at The Palace was a

Gary Numan and Severed Heads, Forum, Melbourne, May 14, 2011

15 May, 201110 May, 2017 Industrial, Live 0

The Forum is one of Melbourne’s many stylish venues. Built in the 1920s it has a baroque level of art nouveau features with a

Leftfield, Melbourne, March 18, 2011

19 March, 201110 May, 2017 Dance, Live 5

The early 1990s were a depressing time, and even more so in Victoria, Australia. The Gorbachev revolution, which successfully led to the unravelling of

Hawkwind, Billboard, Melbourne March 12, 2011

13 March, 201110 May, 2017 Live, Prog 0

As they announced, these are the warriors on the edge of space and time. Now in their forty-second year of performance and correlating with

Tears for Fears, Spandau Ballet: Melbourne, 21 April 2010

24 April, 20105 May, 2017 Live, Pop 0

I originally picked up a Rocknerd account so I could review international acts from non-crap bands that made it to the great southern lands.