The Journey Itself Is Home

Seoul actually smells nice. I went out with a friend yesterday and I really like the city, though it does look a bit weird. A substantial part of it seems to be made from clusters of houses that are so much alike that there is something obsessive about it. It is like a wardrobe of a person with obsessive compulsive disorder, ten pieces of identical suits, twenty white shirts and seven red ties…

We had great food, Korean barbecue and cold noodles that I was a bit suspicious about, but they turned out to be delicious. And the barbecue was fantastic.

The language problem is another matter. So far it has been very difficult to have a conversation in English with the Korean people, though I’m aware that I have not met many of them yet and so cannot generalize. But even the staff in the hotel I’m staying in speaks English very badly. At the same time they CONSTANTLY smile at you. They try so hard at appearing nice that it gets artificial. Sometimes feel I’m staying with The Stepford Wives. Except that here the Wives are of both sexes.

Please, don’t get me wrong. I’m really impressed by the Koreans, I think they are smart, cultivated and beautiful. I just wish the hotel staff would relax and be more human. As it is, I feel like I’m an outsider in an alien world.

(Probably just the Blackberry withdrawal talking…)

We got this email from our beloved tour manager:

“Hello All,

“Just to let you know that your cell phones will not work in both Korea & Japan. It may be worth informing all family and friends that you will only be contactable via the internet or via the telephone in your hotel room whilst in Korea and Japan..

“No point anyone calling or texting you as it won’t happen.

“As for all crackberry users I think it’s a week long trip to rehab for you guys and gals !!”

(It sure is rehab time for me, an incurable Blackberry addict that I am!)

We had a nice gig in Jakarta on Tuesday. The audience was very enthusiastic and it was lovely to play for them. During Declare Your Independence I took a great videoclip which I plan to publish - eventually. I have posted a photo from it below. It is of Chris Corsano of course. Wouldn’t you say he looks just like a Jedi master?

Obi Van Corsano, perhaps?

After the concert there was a party in an interesting bar called CJ’s. Some of us got a bit wild there - I’m not naming any names! But it definitely was the first bar I have been to (or, at least, I think so) where most of the women were prostitutes. It was really weird.

We have just arrived in Seoul. As we were driving into the city I saw numerous chimneys blowing smoke into the air. I thought that kind of a thing had vanished from the face of the Earth. Obviously not.

I wonder how Seoul smells like. But I’m saving that for laters; it is morning now and we were travelling all night - I intend to catch a few hours!

Here is a nice one from the elephant ride, showing Wonderbrass (minus Sylvía Hlynsdóttir) and yours truly!

This one is from Damian, regarding the photo below:

“The guys in the photo were Nate and Pete from New York who make up the band Shy Child. They played “Later With Jools Holland” with us and I sat a few meters in front on Nate’s drumkit and was totally blown away when they played “Drop The Phone”. Pete famously plays a “keytar” which is a keyboard you wear with a strap, like a guitar. He modified his so he can play it with two hands so he can control a couple of different synths at once. Shy Child were on the bill at Big Day Out (I only caught their set in Perth as they were on early but they ROCKED it there!) and they also opened for us at The Sydney Opera House.

“I love the raw energy they have, their sense of humour and their sense of synchopated rhythm and the fact that they are the only people I’ve ever seen playing in that configuration. It’s like they’re a cross between The White Stripes and Kraftwerk with a bit of The Beach Boys and Silver Apples thrown in - and with a total party vibe. I’d urge anyone who has the chance to go see them live, and if you can’t do that, buy their album “Noise Won’t Stop”, or even better, do both!

“Oh, and the real Shy Child trainspotters would know that they did a remix of Tokyo Police Club which for some bizarre reason was rejected. It got leaked onto the net and it’s brilliant, I thrash it regularly and think it shows a lot of the potential the band have. I really like them because I’m genuinely excited to see where they’ll go from here - and I love having that feeling about any musician in any genre.

“Oh, and just incase you or anyone else was wondering, they were very very good guest Reactablists!”

More info: http://www.shychild.com/

http://www.myspace.com/shychildmusic

Jools Holland Performance - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIamkGkUCaU

We had a GREAT, UNBELIEVABLE time in Bali. Some of the highlights were consorting with monkeys in a temple dedicated to Shiva, seeing the Batur mountain and going elephant riding.

The latter was a bit scary (it isn’t exactly like riding in a car), but I got used to it fairly quickly.

The weather was also wonderful, though maybe a bit hot.

We arrived in Jakarta today. I should say most of us are now rested and ready for another go at doing music!

Here is photo of Chris Corsano, Erla Axelsdóttir and Mark Bell. I took it in the hotel lobby in Auckland. I think the photo is really endearing because it captures so well “the spirit of going to a gig.”

And I can’t describe it better than that!

Tonight was our last concert in Australia. This time it was in Perth.

Perth is by far the hottest place we have been to in a long time. It is AWFULLY hot. A true hellhole.

(This reminds of one of the Rambo movies, with the slogan “what others called hell, he called home”. I thought I remembered that the pianist Percy Grainger lived in Perth. He had a love affair with his mother, or something even worse. I could have said about Grainger that “what others called a hellhole, he not only called home, he really lived there”. But after checking my sources I found out that Grainger never did. Good for him!).

The concert was OK. It was the last day of Big Day Out, and as usual when we appear on festivals we didn’t have a sound check. So the new version of the song I mentioned (which I’m not naming right now) is going to wait until we have had a chance to rehearse it.

Tomorrow we are going to Bali! And will have a vacation for an entire week!

Björk told me tonight (after I had done my spider breakdance with Arcade Fire) that in Bali you can take fairly cheap courses in Gamelan playing, diving, cooking and other things. She asked me what I would prefer. I haven’t decided yet. Maybe cooking?

Below is a photo I took tonight of Damian with two guys who helped him play the ReacTable. Damian, who are they?

BTW, Damian told me that people in Australia often speak as if everything they tell you is a question. Here is part of the above in Australian:

Tonight was our last concert in Australia? This time it was in Perth?

Perth is by far the hottest place we have been to in a long time? It is AWFULLY hot? A true hellhole?

Etc., etc.

Well, tonight was our second to last show in Australia. It was pretty good really, though it sounded unusually loud. I didn’t hear too well for quite a while after the concert.

We arrived in Adelaide yesterday. Unfortunately I haven’t had time to see much, but I did some shopping this morning (I bought a table cloth with aboriginal art on it - it is really nice!).

I did see a koala bear though. It was in the restaurant back stage tonight and am including a photo of it below.

Speaking of restaurants, I’m not too much into hamburgers, but I did try the Australian version of Burger King the other day. It is called Hungry Jack’s - why I don’t know. I took one bite, then stood up and walked out. It was the most revolting meal I have had in a long, long time. Plus there was bird shit on the table! Not exactly appetizing, eh?

On a more positive note: The music of the tour is constantly evolving. There may be some changes to what instruments I will be playing on in Japan and also in the UK, and in addition we recently discussed a major change to one of the songs we have been performing regularly. Glad our work is never a routine!