(Monkey Puzzle/Inertia)

This is the type of DVD that is custom-made for fans – TV Is My Parent is success, not just because it includes a great combination of live material, doco footage and videos, but because it captures the true essence of its subject, the worldly Australian vocalist Sia Furler. The main feature is a 2007 concert recorded at the Hiro Ballroom in NYC, an intimate performance that lives up to the child-drawn artwork of Sia’s latest album Some People Have Real Problems. Buttons opens the performance, with Sia and band in fluorescent kid drawing outfits, prompting the frontwoman to comment "Hope you haven’t taken mushrooms tonight!" Back to normal outfits for the rest of the set, but a goofiness is present throughout, as Sia cracks jokes betweens songs, while still being able to convincingly pull off tortured torch songs, personalised soul/funk and cooing electro-lullabies. The back catalogue of former collaborators Zero 7 is dipped into, as is …Real Problems’ 2004 predecessor Colour The Small One, with signature tune Breathe Me an inevitable crowd favourite. The extras are just as good. On the face of it, behind-the-scenes tour doc Where The Magic Happens is stock standard stuff – Sia signing autographs, enjoying down-time with her amiable, blokey band etc. But it’s Sia’s charisma and charming personality that makes you a willing participant in the journey – she just seems like a fun person to be around. Also, the innovative videos for Buttons, Day Too Soon, The Girl You Lost and Soon We’ll Be Found are present, showing Sia as a considerably edgier prospect than her oft-compared contemporary Dido. Facial distortions, shadow puppetry and multiple costume changes present a visual portfolio of an artist nearer the envelope-pushing of Björk than the coffee table glossiness of Norah Jones.

****

MATT THROWER