Mike Katz here, AKA Harvey Sutherland \u2013 producer, synthesiser guy, DJ and one-time Mess+Noise forum lurker. My new record, Debt, is about \u201cthe cost of doing business in the meme economy\u201d \u2013 reckoning with the idea of myself and my work as just another drop in the endless scrolling ocean of content and losing all sense of identity in the process.<\/p>\n
I have drunk deeply from the swill and now lie bloated and brain-rotten, when I probably should have been touching more grass.<\/p>\n
1. Chaos in the CBD DJ compilations<\/p>\n
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Beans and Louis from house music duo Chaos in the CBD have made it their duty to unearth the most unhinged and cringe moments in global DJ culture, from the evergreen EDM clown show<\/a> to highly aspirational bedroom jocks<\/a>. It\u2019s a broad church.<\/p>\n 2. Michael Caine tweets<\/p>\n Why do we fall? \u2014 Michael Caine (@themichaelcaine) August 19, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n I am going down with the ship over on Twitter (never \u201cX\u201d). Forever a home to the funniest people on the internet, even the ones such as Michael Caine who probably don\u2019t intend to be. \u201cBatman Begin.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. Lil Wayne leaf blower<\/p>\n Allow TikTok content?<\/p>\n This article includes content provided by TikTok. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.<\/p>\n This scratches my brain in a very pleasant way. The swivel to the camera at full throttle cracks me up.<\/p>\n 4. Yacht Rock (the Channel 101 web series)<\/p>\n I am not beating the Millennial Unc allegations<\/a>, but 20 years on this remains an endlessly quotable sketch series rivalling More Cowbell<\/a> in its impact for fans of album-oriented rock.<\/p>\n The episode where Van Halen hypnotise Doobie Brothers producer Ted Templeman to help them make I\u2019m the One is pure mania. Smooth Jesus made me do this.<\/p>\n 5. Aura Deleter<\/p>\n Allow TikTok content?<\/p>\n This article includes content provided by TikTok. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.<\/p>\n This has ruined me; I cannot go through airport security without thinking about this video. Who is this man? The hunch. The unnecessary, awkward torso exposure. The commitment to the bit, whatever this bit is.<\/p>\n 6. La Fuerza est\u00e1 con Cerveza Cristal (The Force is with Cristal beer)<\/p>\n This is a masterful display of product placement. The story goes that in order to avoid commercial breaks in the Chilean TV screening of Star Wars, they just spliced in some extra shots along the way. Cue: Obi-Wan Kenobi reaching into an Esky to fetch Luke Skywalker an ice-cold brewski. The triumphant \u201cCerveza Cristal\u201d jingle really ties it together.<\/p>\n 7. Kaye Loggins AKA Time Wharp \u2013 The Pulse of the Culture<\/p>\n Allow Instagram content?<\/p>\n This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.<\/p>\n Kaye Loggins opened for us at Brooklyn venue Baby\u2019s All Right a couple of years back. I knew her music on Leaving Records<\/a> but didn\u2019t quite realise how tremendously funny she is. She has a strong Twitter game and her lo-fi vox-pop Pulse of the Culture series is brilliant, as she runs around Times Square to a free jazz soundtrack asking people about \u201cthe best American band of all time\u201d. Spoiler: \u201cThey\u2019re actually British.\u201d<\/p>\n 8. Every Australian professional theatre monologue<\/p>\n Allow TikTok content?<\/p>\n This article includes content provided by TikTok. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.<\/p>\n Theatre kids really cop it on TikTok. Is it fair? Probably not, but if we\u2019re looking for rarefied sources of cringe it\u2019s a great place to start. \u201cWhere did you get this video of my failed Nida audition?\u201d<\/p>\n 9. Bad Rube Goldberg machine<\/p>\n Allow TikTok content?<\/p>\n This article includes content provided by TikTok. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.<\/p>\n This is probably the most wholesome of my selections \u2013 it\u2019s just a great silly bit. Also: couple goals? I love how much fun they\u2019re having through this whole elaborate process. <\/p>\n 10. Lil\u2019 Travioli<\/p>\n Allow TikTok content?<\/p>\n This article includes content provided by TikTok. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.<\/p>\n Trav is the people\u2019s champion, skewering government bureaucracy with his earbuds wrapped around his head. There\u2019s shades of Ben Mendelsohn in his sinister MyGov character.
So we can learn to pick ourselves up.
Batman Begin<\/p>\n
Harvey Sutherland\u2019s latest album, Debt, is out on 10 October. He tours Australia <\/a>in November.<\/p>\n