Difficult Fun

A newish Australia-based music platform, publishing contemporary long-form music writing every Sunday

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

"Does openly professing your uncool traits and tendencies thus make you cool?"

This week: @MitchLRyan writes on @fenniscool's new album 'The Definition of Cool', threading Raymond Carver, social media influencers and the meanings of "cool"...

https://t.co/RGPAzQj8WR

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

"I think that anyone making music is referencing their time and place."

Last Sunday Bridget Chappell interviewed NUN about the technical and emotional aspects of their music, discussing how the group approached creating their new album 'The Dome'.

https://t.co/Xzslc0igJv

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

"It was mainly just to do things differently to other labels I’ve been involved in."

This week Nicholas Kennedy talks w/ Alex Macfarlane about starting Melb label Hobbies Galore, Macfarlane's numerous musical projects, and the thoughts behind his output.

https://t.co/0brzcqMrok

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

"She acts various roles and emotions, and matches her expressions and fashion, but what gives her dimensionality is that she holds this acting up for us to admire."

This week: @tiarneym on pop, emulation & failing to write on @kylieminogue's 'Golden'.

https://t.co/1kEI72FQzb

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

"A banality reframed in a way that seems otherworldly. An instant chicken soup turned into a souffle."

This week: @angela_bermuda on @sylvester_ds's album 'Touch a Tombstone', released earlier this year.

https://t.co/EeDdMzIESC

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

"I think it took probably around 20 years or so for me to realise that I was probably more of an artist than a musician."

This week Mino Peric talks w/ David Chesworth about his early work (particularly Essendon Airport) & how he approaches music making.

https://t.co/1UVrXlbLz2

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

"It's no wonder then why this year’s event was sold out. It showed variety through open-mindedness, courage and diversity."

This week Stephanie Barahona looks at Sydney festival Soft Centre, discussing motivations & curatorial rigour behind the event.

https://t.co/WULedm251i

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

"‘Otherness’ as a concept is always seen as a problem to solve rather than something to embrace, at least outside of creative thinking."

@tiarneym talks to Shoeb Ahmad (Tangents, Agency & her solo projects) about music, experimentation, identity & place.

https://t.co/13ernPRkXr

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

"It’s hard to prove to people that when they’re being strict about what they think music is, they’re potentially creating a social and cultural hierarchy."

This week Fjorn Butler & @shiny_droppings pull apart how whiteness & patriarchy function in music.

https://t.co/xo92f99RI6

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

👏👏👏

[Swampland Magazine @SwamplandMag]

“’Big Skies’, too, feels full of threat, kindling bone-deep anxieties of white bodies pitted against an ancient landscape.”
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Swampland editor @2bottlethomson on @mere_women, the Australian gothic, and the ennui of endless rural plains, found in #swamplandmag 4.

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

@lizpelly Agreed! There's especially no infrastructure to support more local/underground releases/bands/artists. That's why something like Difficult Fun started - we're a newish Australia-based music site, publishing one long-form music review or interview every Sunday morning.

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

"‘Strange Light’ is a standout, and doesn’t need a spot on a @GuardianAus poll in between The Saints and Go-Betweens to stake its claim as a song for Brisbane." #songsofBNE

@algerrans reviews recent show with @thegoonsax, Kitchen's Floor + Sarah Spencer

https://t.co/UF4M2QH6Hp

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

"It exists not as a means of inflating the ego of musicians, but rather such a collection fosters a collective memory within the community..."

This week! @MitchLRyan on Jake Ollett's photos and bootlegs, and the power of the archive.

https://t.co/uxSpm3CoQX

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

"I was genuinely thinking, “Let’s see what happens when I take my amp outside onto the street in Melbourne and scream noise at people.”"

This week @tiarneym talks with Kusum Normoyle about screaming in public, how she uses her voice & being 'occulty'.

https://t.co/c6P5QfEndW

[symbolic human @mxcreant]

I chatted with QLD/VIC post-punk band Bloodletter & reviewed their new 12” EP ‘Protection’ for @difficult_fun, among thoughts on “cultural capitals”, artistic influences beyond the tangible & DIY music post-2010: https://t.co/nABZZPZOmu

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

"DIY music is where the risks are taken and where the weirdos come out."

This week @mxcreant writes on Bloodletter and also interviews the band, talking about punk origin stories, making music outside of 'cultural capitals' and the question of influence.

https://t.co/yFNVANNa2x

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

"There’s a lot songwriters who aren’t afraid to get dark, but few can do it as honestly and poignantly as it’s done here."

This week! Alex Pink reviews Harmony's recent album 'Double Negative', released by @poisoncity

https://t.co/ve3yUxiTD0

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

"But the fact is, everyone’s right about Little Ugly Girls. It’s the album 2018 needed long before anyone knew what 2018 would look like."

This week David Nichols reviews Little Ugly Girls' recent album, which took over 20 years in the making.

https://t.co/2aNGPjxXiB

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

"The position music has in our society today means musicians need support from each other."

DF is delving into long-form interviews and this week @shiny_droppings interviews Nicola Morton about their electronic project Equalizer 24K & alternative spaces.

https://t.co/Dvdbj2bXIZ

[Difficult Fun @difficult_fun]

"Should he ever win the Nobel, the two have a further collaboration planned: a recording of Murnane’s wait on hold to Centrelink, declaring the prize money as windfall income."

If you missed it: Brendan Casey on Gerald Murnane's album 'Words In Order'.

https://t.co/5bMkpXwPn0