Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Welcome to for people who can't read, a(nother) blog about music.

Feel free to snoop around and make yourself at home. We don't have much here just yet, but hopefully that'll change soon enough - we've got some couches arriving next week and the fridge is fully stocked with SueƱo, so make sure you bring round the Bombay Sapphire yeah Jono? Oh, and get on the blower to Miss Jelly Hands, Jesstron V, and The Sebarillo Kid to see if they can bring the coconuts. Sound.

Our title is stolen from inspired by the ludicrous Frank Zappa, a man who named his four children Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan, and Diva Thin Muffin:

Most rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, for people who can't read.
This quotation is so right it's practically wrong - yet again, the man was lightyears ahead of the pack, although it's also possible he just passed too close to the Sun. Either way, we dig his words.

So here's how it works. Our plucky contributors will be writing on a regular basis for Farrago, the University of Melbourne's student paper. They'll be doing their best to disprove old Frank and take their readers on a cosmic interstellar reviewing odyssey™ to galaxies as yet uninvented by bored astrologers.

Sadly, their musical appreciation can be but one voice among the billions, which is why we created this blog. If you loved | liked | were indifferent to | despised (delete as appropriate) the reviews printed in Farrago, this space is for you to register your own feelings about the music under scrutiny. And while you might be tempted to launch an attack on the reviewers themselves, remember, writers are humans too.

for people who can't read (fpwcr) will also serve as a soup kitchen for undernourished and homeless reviews. If the print budget for Farrago doesn't stretch to the 72-page pull-out supplement we are fantasising about (OK, so maybe it's just me that's fantasising about that), there's a good chance some contributions will end up here. Of course, in time these forgotten works will be regarded as classics in themselves, and will be collected in a four-volume, hippopotamus-hide, limited edition release for all the futurehipsters to devour greedily. But for now, you can comment on those here too.

Dig in people. I'll leave you with a couple of pearls from our posthumous patron, Frank Vincent Zappa:
My theory is that music is good, it's the only religion that delivers the goods. And anybody who wants to hear any kind of music is entitled to hear that music because it's good for you – it makes you feel good. If you like it, go for it. Just because I don't like it doesn't mean anything – it's a matter of personal taste.
And of course my own personal maxim:

Remember there's a big difference between kneeling down and bending over.
Shine on you crazy diamonds,


Scotland

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

El-P | Flyentology | I'll Sleep When You're Dead

Joss Stone | Tell Me About It | Introducing Joss Stone

Jarvis Cocker | Don't Let Him Waste Your Time | Jarvis

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Strange Form Of Life | Strange Form Of Life

Nekromantix | Gargoyles Over Copenhagen | Life Is A Grave And I Dig It

CocoRosie | Houses | The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn

Avril Lavigne | Girlfriend | The Best Damn Thing

Bright Eyes | Four Winds | Cassadaga

Kings Of Leon | On Call | Because Of The Times

Modest Mouse | Dashboard | We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank