''Notes from a Ceiling'' is the second album from the Australian two-piece rock band

The Mess Hall The Mess Hall were a two-piece drums and guitar combo based in Sydney, Australia, specialising in "raw, edgy bluesy rock." The band consisted of Jed Kurzel (lead vocals/guitar) and Cec Condon (drums/backing vocals) for most of its tenure. The b ...

, which was issued on 20 June 2005. It peaked at No. 8 on the ARIA Hitseekers Albums Chart. It won an

ARIA Music Award The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austra ...

for Engineer of the Year for

Matt Lovell Matt Lovell is an Australian audio engineer, record producer and mixer. He has won three ARIA Music Awards for Engineer of the Year: in 2005 for his work on The Mess Hall's' ''Notes from a Ceiling'', in 2006 for ''Black Fingernails, Red Wine'' ...

, and a nomination for

Producer of the Year The Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical is an honor presented to record producers for quality non- classical music at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors i ...

for

Chris Joannou Christopher Andrew Joannou (born 10 November 1979) is an Australian musician best known as the bassist for the Newcastle-based alternative rock band Silverchair. He is a twin to sister Louise Kipa. He was the first of the three band members to ...

and the group. It was short-listed for the inaugural Australian Music Prize and was included in both

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

and Rolling Stone's

Top 50 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...

of 2005. According to Jed Kurzel (

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

ist), the only recollection he has of recording the

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

is that Cec Condon (

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

) nearly set fire to the studio whilst barbecuing, and that while suffering

vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

, the attending doctor was more interested in whether the band were touring on the next

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...

than attending to his illness. In early 2004, ''Kurzel'' lived somewhat of a nomadic lifestyle. Having moved house once, he kept moving from friend's place to friend's place. His main memory of that year is "staring up at different ceilings, wondering what the hell I was doing" which is how the album title came about.

Track listing

# "Diddley" – 5:23 # " Pills" – 4:00 # "Call It Black" – 4:12 # "Disco 1" – 3:59 # "Skyline" – 6:01 # "Shaky Ground" – 3:28 # " Metal And Hair" – 2:35 # "Disco 2" – 4:38 # "Holes" – 2:41 # "Red Eyes And Sunshine" – 6:34

References

External links

The Mess Hall
{{Authority control 2005 albums ARIA Award-winning albums The Mess Hall albums Shock Records albums Albums produced by Matt Lovell