"Keep It Real, Pyke!"

A fair few Saturdays ago (Feb 20th), Rhones and I went to see Josh Pyke play at the Astor Theatre. We worked out that it was the tenth time we'd seen him live, including two Basement Birds gigs and The White Album Concert he did with Tim Rogers, Phil Jamieson and Chris Cheney. We're both big fans of his music and we know that we're always going to get a good show when we see him.

I forget exactly when I started getting into Josh Pyke, but I think it was after hearing Middle Of The Hill on the JJJ Hottest 100 Volume 13 compilation and seeing the film clip for Lines On Palms. I thought they were both great tracks, and I was particularly taken by the LRB-esque harmonies on the latter. I was unable to hold on to any lyrics of the clip, but I was taken by the vibe and the harmony sound. It had such a melodic hook too.

I was unable to catch the name of the song though, and when Volume 14 of JJJ's Hottest 100 came out I hoped that the Pyke track on the album would be the one of the video I saw. It wasn't. It was Memories & Dust, which is another excellent song, and includes some of my favourite lyrics of his:

"Comfort comes to those with faith in mysterious ways/

But for me faith don't make up for what we lost"

Armed with the knowledge that I would like at least three tracks, I took the plunge and bought the Memories & Dust album. Mercifully, the opening song was Lines On Palms and the mystery was solved. It didn't take long before I fell in love with the whole record and absolutely thrashed it. I shared a few choice cuts with Rhones, most notably Sew My Name, and she became a Pyke devotee as well. 

I became pretty obsessed with Memories & Dust, and saw the album as one I would have liked to have made myself. Wonderful lyrics, predominately acoustic production, lush harmonies, catchy melodies; all choices that I would have made. I started to seriously analyse it, and when I joined AllMusic as a freelance album reviewer, I wrote up a critique. 

For some reason it took us a while to step into his second album. We even got a free .mp3 download of The Lighthouse Song, thanks to a promotion by The Sunday Times, but it lay on our PC dormant for some time. We did buy Chimney's Afire eventually and begun to dig it (nearly) as much as M&D. The Lighthouse Song has now become one of our big Pyke faves, possibly thanks to the last line of the chorus:

"I'll just hold you tight and we'll not let those fuckers in"

The first time we saw him play was at the old Fly By Night in Fremantle, on the Chimney's Afire tour. We were both hugely impressed by his live performance, and that of his three piece backing band, who all took harmonies and swapped instruments throughout the night. I have a feeling that they were all at the Astor on Feb 20th too.

We won a trip to the Gold Coast in 2009, and while we over there, I found a copy of Pyke's Feeding The Wolves EP. I can still remember that first listen as we put it into the stereo of our rented car, and the opening guitar of Beg Your Pardon filled our ears. The track Goldmines from that EP has now become one of my Top 5 songs of Pyke's.

Anyway, to cut through the story a little, we're big fans of his, and each subsequent release has not diminished our fondness for the man. We've got all his albums, found EPs on iTunes, got our hands on his Lone Wolf box set and have a few cherished items signed by Pyke as well. Yeah, we're big fans, did I say? We even have lyrics from Make You Happy on our bedroom wall:

"And if you keep me on your right/

Could I keep you on my left?"

We were delighted when we saw pillowcases bearing those words for sale at the last Pyke show. Needless to say, they now adorn our bedroom too. 

Going back to that Astor show in February, one of the best moments came from a well-timed heckle. Pyke was explaining that instead of going off stage at the end of the night and waiting for that encore-inducing applause, he was just going to play through. So, he sort of announced that the encore was starting. An audience member yelled out "Keep it real, Pyke!", to which he responded with the exuberant notion of getting a tattoo of that statement, to keep him grounded. If possible, the exchange endeared the audience to Pyke even more. 

Anyway, I'm going to finish off this entry with a list of some of my favourite Josh Pyke tracks. If you're keen to start digging, I suggest these songs to start you off:

RECORDINGS 2003-2005 (2005)
Kids Don't Sell Their Hopes So Fast
Silver

FEEDING THE WOLVES EP (2005)
Goldmines
Private Education
Middle Of The Hill

MEMORIES & DUST (2006)
Fed and Watered
Monkey With a Drum
Forever Song
Sew My Name

LINES ON PALMS EP (2006)
House at Pooh Corner (Kenny Loggins cover)

CHIMNEY'S AFIRE (2008)
The Lighthouse Song
Make You Happy
Our House Breathing

THE BLACK BALLOON (2008) (soundtrack)
When We Get There

BASEMENT BIRDS (2010) (w/Basement Birds)
Not The One
Waiting For You
Cinnamon And Smoke

ONLY SPARROWS (2011)
Clovis' Sons
Coffee Cups
Love Lies
Tapping On A Secret

THE BEGINNING AND THE END OF EVERYTHING (2013)
Warm In Winter
Order Has Abandoned Us

BUT FOR ALL THESE SHRINKING HEARTS (2015)
Be Your Boy
Doing What You're Told
Songlines
Hollering Hearts

Mulder and Scully Revisited IX (AKA Scully, Skinner, Doggett, Reyes...and Mulder!)

The ninth season wasn't very highly revered by critics and fans, but I still think the show did the best they could without the character of Mulder. This season had a few episodes that focused primarily on Doggett and Reyes, and I think they worked better than the ones that didn't. Trust No 1 teased us with Mulder's possible return at a train station, only for him to be yanked away without so much as a smile. A shadowy figure running through the dark was all we got. It could have been a series highlight, but it was clumsy in its execution and we all knew that Duchovny wasn't returning until the finale anyway. Said episode, The Truth, was a tad disappointing too, acting like a bit of a summary of the series, rather than an ending. I quite liked the addition of Cary Elwes in the role of A.D. Folmer, and Lucy Lawless' appearances in the first two episodes are great. I know her pregnancy stopped her from appearing in the rest of the season, but I think she would have been a great recurring character.

The latest X-Files revival has been and gone, and for the most part, I enjoyed it. I know not every X-Phile was happy with them, but I thought it was great to see Mulder and Scully again. Anyway, back to season nine...

**Warning: spoilers ahead**

4-D (9ABx05)
The idea that parallel worlds exist is not a new one, but I like the notion that two Doggetts can't be in this dimension. In another realm, Agent Doggett tracks a serial killer and unknowingly crosses over into our world, which rips away our Agent Doggett. Confused? It makes more sense when you watch it. I like how Reyes has to convince the hospitalised and otherworldly Doggett of her theory. The hows and whys of how the killer can travel through dimensions is never really addressed, but it doesn't matter. It just happens, and it's how Reyes and Doggett II deal with it that's important.

JOHN DOE (9ABx07)
One of my favourite episodes of the Doggett era. Waking up somewhere in Mexico, Doggett has now idea where he is, how he got there or who he is. Not an original idea, but the execution is excellent. The episode was also obviously influenced by Steven Soderbergh's 2000 film Traffic, with the Mexican scenes very harshly lit. When Doggett finally remembers who he is towards the end of the episode, he has to relive his son's death all over again. It's a truly heartbreaking scene with horrible timing, as he and Reyes are in the middle of a shoot-out. Robert Patrick's performance is flawless. This is everything that was good in the ninth season, and it was written by Vince Gilligan too! It acts as a great stepping stone to the Breaking Bad series.

AUDREY PAULEY (9ABx13)
After being hit by a drunk driver, Monica Reyes is hospitalised, and soon falls into a coma. She wakes up in a phantom hospital that is suspended in space with two other patients, and they assume that they have passed away. Meanwhile, Scully tells Doggett that the comatose Reyes is braindead, which he refuses to believe. This is easily the best Reyes-centric episode of the series and an engrossing watch to boot.  It also benefits greatly from Tracey Ellis' wonderful performance as the title character (you might remember her as Lucy Householder in the third season episode Oubliette). 

WILLIAM (9ABx17)
The arrival of a mysterious man, who may or may not be Mulder (and has no qualms about laying into Skinner), sets off a chain reaction that ultimately ends with Scully deciding to give up William for adoption. While it does turn out to be Jeffrey Spender, the episode confirms for the audience that the Cigarette Smoking Man is definitely the father of both Mulder and Spender. I like the whole "is he?/isn't he?" conceit of this outing too. Although Mulder only appears briefly on screen, the episode was directed by David Duchovny himself.

RELEASE (9ABx16)
I really enjoyed Robert Patrick's role as John Doggett throughout the last two seasons. I was disappointed to learn that his character wouldn't return to the tenth, but understandably, Patrick says he's not one to look back and revisit old characters. As the season was close to wrapping up, it seemed fitting the resolve the story of Doggett's son. Jared Poe's performance as the detached, but psychic, FBI Cadet Rudolph Hayes also makes this episode a memorable one. I also like seeing Elwes' shaking A.D. Folmer after taking revenge on the man who had extorted him for so long. Patrick's acting in this outing is excellent as well, although he didn't hit as high as he did in John Doe.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Improbable, Provenance, Sunshine Days and The Truth.

STINKERS: Jump The Shark, Underneath and Trust No 1.