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SEQUENCE: Sampa The Great

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Sampa The Great-26

photos by Pat O’ Hara

We recently spent a cruisy Sunday with Sydney via Zambia songwriter Sampa The Great & her producer Dave Godriguez.

Sampa really hit her stride last year – rousing our attention with her expressive spoken-word prose, flanked by Dave’s progressive funk & jazz tones.

Pat shot series at Dave’s house in Newtown, before rolling onto their show on the rooftop of the Museum of Contemporary Art (how about that sunset, hey).

Get your free download of Sampa’s debut The Great Mixtape, then head along to one of her upcoming dates at Golden Plains, WOmadelaide or supporting Guilty Simpson. More information right here.

 

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(View full photo set below) 

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PREMIERE: S M Jenkins – ‘Mikrowave’

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SM Jenkins B+W

Forget cohabiting and childbirth. When all the records you once revelled in start reaching their milestone second and third reissues, that’s when it’s appropriate to start mourning your age. In just a few months, it’ll be almost 21 years since Pavement released their third record, Wowee Zowee –  an opus full of stoner oddities, and songs about castration, brazil nuts and other stuff only Stephen Malkmus could apply his half-baked, poetic genius to.

It’s a decent milestone to reference – as Steve Bourke has done. S M Jenkins (Malkmus’ alias on Wowee Zowee) is the new name of the Step-Panther frontman’s solo project. ‘Mikrowave’ is the first track off his upcoming EP, Out There In The Zone.

Bourke wrote and recorded the EP when he was living in “relative isolation” in Mittagong, in the NSW Highlands located 110KM out of Sydney. Bourke is on his lonesome here, so Step-Panther fans shouldn’t be expect the Superchunk anthems (cc: ‘User Friendly’, ‘Zombie Summer’) the band stirred up on Strange But Nice.

‘Mikrowave’ rolls on at a steady pace with the kind of breakfast positivity Kurt Vile rallied when he brought out ‘Walkin’ on A Pretty Day’. Try as you may – it’s hard to hate this song. Bourke’s nuances are affected with that self-effacing slacker drawl, here ironically singing about “saving time” instead of wasting it. Bourke notes that the track was about “trying to make the best out of whatever you’ve got going on”. And he does – as he murmurs some perspective over ‘Mikrowave’s melodic mid-tempo guitar line, assuring us that it’s alright to be just where you are. 

 

Out There In The Zone is set for release in late February.

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LISTEN: Australia Day 2016 – Podcast

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You don’t need to be the sharpest tool around to see that our country’s largest music poll – ironically held on Australia Day –  is hardly representative of the best local music being produced here (in our un-biased opinion).

To solve all that, Robbie’s made an Australia Day podcast. Plug in your headphones, swig something good and be that person who absolves all the cringeworthy cultural crimes, excessive meat consumption and heinous levels of ‘Hotline Bling’ outros that need to be drowned out wherever you’re BBQing across the nation today.

Happy listening.

LISTEN: Good Morning – ‘To Be Won’

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good morning glory

‘To Be Won’, the latest single from Melbourne two-piece Good Morning, is largely a song of pauses and sighs. It’s like looking out the window of a train when you forgot where you’re going for a second. Or sitting at home watching nothing happen. It’s kinda like thinking about stuff but not doing a thing.

Previous single ‘Cab Deg’ had that same insistent guitar thing (maybe borrowing a little more than necessary from Deerhunter? Who could say.), pushing it into territory where words like ‘catchy’ and ‘immediate’ are called for. ‘To Be Won’ makes you want to listen by just sounding really nice, with plenty of warm room noise, the rise and fall of the guitar melody breathing steadily. The line ‘I tried, but it’s yours to be won’ has the same sweet relief that comes from cancelling plans, giving yourself a break and giving up on something you didn’t care much about anyway.

I like how it ends loose too – if they’d put one big finishing note in there it might have ruined everything, but they pull back before reaching outright sentimentality. Even when that old piano sound (used so often to beat you into nostalgia) appears, the song remains restrained, nudging towards a kinda wistful end. They know they might have to try again in the future, but right now chilling out is pretty chill.

Good Morning’s second EP, Glory, is out Thursday, 28 January.

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LISTEN: Waste-a-Life – Bedroom Suck Records 2016

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bedroom suck records

It’s fair to say, and in no way hyperbolic, that Bedroom Suck is well on its way to joining the ranks of classic Australian independent labels like Au Go Go, Waterfront Records or Chapter Music. Although only slightly more than five years old, BSR’s prolificness, and the sheer quality of its releases, make the label stand out at the forefront of the local independent landscape.

Run almost entirely by Joe Alexander (who drums in Terrible Truths, one of the label’s flagship bands), Bedroom Suck has staked its claim through releases sourced from all over this wide continent. From the early days of twisted, experimental Brisbane rock (Per Purpose, Slug Guts, Blank Realm) through to dusty Melbourne jangle pop (Boomgates, Full Ugly, Scott & Charlene’s Wedding) and recent releases from the beloved Totally Mild and Love of Diagrams, Bedroom Suck has got it all. It’s a one-stop shop for the music nerd who thinks they’ve heard everything.

Although most folks would be warranted in taking some time to sit down and enjoy a drink after such an exhaustive 2015, Bedroom Suck show no signs of slowing down. In fact, they’ve just compiled a sampler of in celebration of the year to come. At 11 tracks, there’s the usual swathe of genres and bands – from Grand Salvo’s lulling pop to Terrible Truth’s angular, post-punk – as well as a brand new song from Free Time. Whatever your taste, there’s something to whet the palate; your new favourite band ready to discover.

As if this compilation weren’t news enough, Bedroom Suck will be taking over the North Fitzroy Bowling Club every Sunday for the next three weeks, showcasing bands from the label as well as local favourites. RSVP on Facebook.

Sunday, 24 Jan:

Free Time
Ciggie Witch
FOOTY
Liz Mitchell

Sunday, 31 Jan:

Terrible Truths
Lower Plenty
Masses
Hot Topic

Sunday, 7 Feb:
Scott & Charlene’s Wedding
Sweet Whirl

MORE TBA

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MAP – January 2016

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Here’s another round of new tunes from our blog friends around the globe. White Lodge is our Australian submission this month, serving up some loose vibes with their track ‘Bleach Coma’.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 15-track compilation through Dropbox here.

 

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Sebasti·n Kramer – Absolutos Principiantes

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2016 started with sad news about the passing of rock legend David Bowie, so we thought it would be a good time to share this cover of Absolute Beginners. It was recorded 10 years ago by Sebasti·n Kramer, former member of Jaime Sin Tierra, for a Bowie tribute album by independent netlabel Licor de Mono. Long live the Thin White Duke!

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
White Lodge – Bleach Coma

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Brisbane four-piece White Lodge have been busy the last few years, touring Taiwan with acclaimed Taipei-based band Forests, and supporting the likes of The Growlers and Thee Oh Sees on tour. Their latest single, Bleach Coma, serves up equal parts Brylcreem, surf scuzz and a dose of relentless psych-garage peddling. When artful balladry or an experimental noise opus just doesn’t cut it, White Lodge proves you don’t need to reinvent the wheel to have a good time.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Elza Soares – Maria Da Vila Matilde

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Maria Da Vila Matilde is one of the strongest tracks on A Mulher Do Fim Do Mundo, the acclaimed album released by Elza Soares in 2015. At 78 years old, this is her 34th album. This song has an experimental approach of samba, rock and jazz, and lyrics about a woman rising against domestic violence.

CANADA: Ride The Tempo
Merival – A Better Deal

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First Rate People’s Anna Horvath is releasing solo music under the moniker Merival. You may recognize her voice from Swim Good’s song Since U Asked, which was featured in Ryan Hemsworth’s label Secret Songs and remixed by Star Slinger a while back. Now swing back with the gorgeous folk tune A Better Deal.

CHILE: Super 45
Oso El Roto – Ordenacion

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To define Oso El Roto in a musical genre may be problematic. At the same time, it’s one of the best indications that we have something interesting on our hands. In Ekeko, his most recent record, Oso El Roto aka David Loayza is loyal to his own lo-fi style, developed during the 90s, which is characterized by absurdity, madness and childishness, and all amplified in his bizarre live shows. Ordenacion (featuring Dadal˙) is brand new for 2016.

(Listen to the full playlist below). 

 

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LISTEN: Free Time – ‘Who Owns the Moon’

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free time

Free Time is a one-quarter NYC, three-quarters Melbourne outfit headed by Dion Nania, who you might recognise as the former front man of Panel of Judges. Nania has been loitering around in the big apple for a few years, but since he touched back down in Melbourne, Free Time have been playing a few precious gigs here and there, most recently closing out Bedroom Suck Records’ Melbourne Music Week Bike Ride. They’re gearing up for an album release later this year, following on from their self-titled debut and a 7″ released through Underwater Peoples in 2014.

Their latest single, ‘Who Owns the Moon’, has musical touchstones in a bunch of local talent – and looking at the line-up here, that’s no surprise at all: Free Time is about the closest thing Melbourne’s got to a supergroup. Martin Frawley from Twerps on bass? Totally Mild’s Zach Schneider on lead?! Terrible Truths’ Joe Alexander on drums!?! Oh my stars.

Free Time is harnessing some of 2015’s golden boys of sick tunes, and on ‘Who Owns the Moon’, it’s nice to see they’re not just along for the ride – each brings their distinctive style to the picture, while thankfully not overpowering Nania’s vibes. Schneider’s wobbly, high-necked plucking is out in full force, plus Frawley and Nania work in tandem for a cooing, nasal vocal delivery (which sounds bad, but isn’t).

Free Time’s second album, In Search of Free Time, will be out in mid-2016.

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