Music and art.

I recently picked up an older compilation from Rough Trade Shops called 'counter culture'. I had bought one years back, loved it and had been keeping an eye out for these, but they seem to be hard to come across. They are an eclectic and great mix of  tracks their staff and customers love from the previous year. They feature more independent releases from alt country, punk and electronica. Some may find some of the tracks unlistenable or weird, but there are usually little nuggets of gold in the compilations. I picked a few up recently online and here are a few of the more enjoyable (and listenable) tunes from them.



This first track- 'The oil rigs at night', by The Delines has a lovely quality to it. It feels as if you are in this woman's head as she thinks things through. There is no grand swelling of strings or vocal acrobatics, just warm intimacy. In its story telling I am reminded of 'By the time I get to Phoenix'.
The Rough Trade compilation has the studio version, but I thought I would share this live version from KEXP:

The Delines- 'The Oil rigs at night':




This next track has a mellow vibe. I recall hearing it as I was working and immediately thought..Hmm, what was that track? I like it.

Real Estate- 'It's real'.




This next track is kind of fun and cheeky. It makes some great points and be warned- it does have a couple of swear words in it.

Dan le Sac versus Scroobius Pip- 'Thou shalt always kill'




These next two tracks you may have heard before. They both have a mellow and chilled retro feel:

The war on drugs- 'Red eyes'



Soulsavers- 'Revival':




Lastly, the Liars. They have been about for a while and this is a great headphone track. And remember, as the chant goes- 'facts are facts and fiction 's fiction'! The clip uses computer generated images to warp reality to represent different variations of 'reality'. I am not sure what is fact and what is fiction here.

Liars- 'Mess on a mission':



all music and images copyright of the respective artists.

Also, speaking of cheeky! A cheeky reminder of the group show I am in and which opens this Sunday!
I hope you can pop in for the opening or anytime while it it on. The exhibition ends on Wednesday the 12th.

My new exhibition: Group Show - '5 of Us.' From 02 August -12 August at Steps Gallery

Some exciting news! I am part of a group show at Steps Gallery (62 Lygon Street, Carlton.).
It is called ‘Five of Us.’
It is on from Sunday the 2nd of August -Wednesday the 12th of August.


It is a diverse group, and you will see drawing, painting, watercolour, and my experimental photographic and mixed media works.

I will have 10-13 pieces there, plus cards for sale!

Join me for opening drinks on Sunday the 2nd of August from 2pm- 6pm.

The exhibition then runs daily from 11am till 5pm and ends on Wednesday the 12th of August.

I will also be at the gallery on Saturday the 8th and Sunday the 9th of August. So pop in and say hello!

I hope you can make it!
Here is the flyer:

Photos, film and oh, I destroyed your images!

I thought it would be fun to share a few new film photos and some photos which are not mine, but AK's. He sent them to me and I think I misunderstood what he wanted from me, as I messed about with them in photoshop and he didn't particularly like the outcomes, in fact I think his reaction was akin to me destroying his images! Talk about overreact!.... Anyway, he has given me permission to share them, so fear not. You dear reader, may be blessed with good taste, like moi! and may like my interpretations as much as I do... and yes my tongue is planted firmly in my cheek ;-)

Firstly, here is my fun, pop art inspired "Gum on a disposable coffee cup (in pink)."

Here is AK's boring original version:

Next is my subtle enhancement and crop, of a piece I have called "The artist deep in thought."

Here is AK's wider and slightly less interesting original:

Here are some film images I took earlier in the year, but just scanned in now.

Positive light

Abbotsford Convent.

AK never stays still long enough for me to able to correctly manually focus the camera! I think he sabotages my film shots on purpose ;-)

Lastly, I wanted AK to hold his hands up but he didn't understand what I meant, so I had to model for him:

My Hands (positive version)

All images copyright matthew schiavello 2015, except where otherwise noted.