Ahh, the things you find on YouTube.  When I wrote my Retrospective post, I spoke about Switchkicker, a great project that’s no longer around.  Well thanks to someone on YouTube, I’ve found the video for the first ever Switchkicker single, ‘Drown’. The song itself got a thrashing on national youth radio station Triple J so I thought it would make a nice reference point for those interested in hearing a bit of Switchy.

Sorry about the annoying beginning too!

Previous post: Retrospective #1

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It’s not that new, but it’s the most recent single lifted from The Butterfly Effect’s new album Imago.

Previous posts: The Butterfly Effect

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Film clip for Josh Pyke’s new song ‘Memories & Dust’.  This probably won’t be available on CD until next year though.

Previous post: Josh Pyke

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In a comment by ‘ad’ in response to my post about Cog, he mentioned that they’re the best live band he’s seen.  So I’ve done a bit of digging around and thanks to everyone’s new favourite website YouTube, I’ve managed to find a live clip from Cog which was recorded back in 2002, just after the release of their first EP Just Visiting Part 1.  Recorded for a TV show called The Gig which airs (or used to air) on the Australian cable music station Channel [V], this clip demonstrates Cog’s great live performance and presence.  You also get to see the amazing drumming skills of Lucius Borich.

The band used to always open their sets with ‘Moshiach’ and now thankfully on their current tour, they’re opening with it again.  This song demonstrates the old progressive nature of Cog’s songs, and you can definitely tell by this song that the band started as an instrumental act.

Previous posts: Cog

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The Basics – ‘Just Hold On’

I’ve only recently heard the music of The Basics, although I’ve been aware of the band for some time.  I heard ‘Just Hold On’ on the radio and instantly fell for their retro-pop sound – it brings to mind acts like The Monkees, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and The Hollies.  It’s a welcome change from a slew of retro inspried bands who seem to be “influenced” by the same core groups.

If that voice sounds slightly familiar, that’s because drummer/vocalist of The Basics is Wally de Backer, the man behind the Gotye project.  The Basics maintains the pop sensibilities of Gotye, except unlike that project The Basics is a three-piece made up solely of drums, guitar, bass and the vocals of all three members.  They have an album entitled Stand Out/Fit In due for release early 2007 and two other tracks from the album ‘Speak to Me’ and the rocking ‘Rattle My Chain’ can be heard on The Basics’ MySpace page and a bunch more songs can be heard at their official page.

http://www.thebasics.com.au
http://www.myspace.com/the3basics

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Although we haven’t actually posted about the Sick Puppies yet, I think that it’s still important to post their clip for ‘All The Same’ which has over 2 million views on YouTube and has been gaining significant media attention in Australia.  The film clip tells the true story of Juan Mann who walks around Sydney offering people free hugs.  It’s an interesting clip because on one hand it demonstrates the (often unfounded) trepidation we have towards others, but on the other hand the film clip shows how compassionate and loving people can be.  On top of that, ‘All The Same’ is actually a pretty cool tune. The Sick Puppies are originally from Sydney but now reside in LA.

http://www.sickpuppies.net
http://www.myspace.com/sickpuppies

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Cog – ‘Resonate’ (mp3)

I was gonna get on my soapbox and make some rant about the general state of the music “scene” and the scenesters and everyone’s love for dirty synths and all that kinda shit that pisses me off as a music fan because while everyone goes nuts for bands without bass players that believe Wham! was the best band of all time, there’s Australian bands like Cog that get overlooked.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of some of the cool kids’ bands, but when it comes to overall music brilliance and world-beating ability, it’s hard to look past Cog. They’re as good, if not better, than most of the bands that sell millions of albums overseas. They’ve constantly made amazing music ever since they started. In terms of the Sydney music scene, their residency at the Excelsior Hotel in Surry Hills is legendary – every Wednesday for three months they sold out the place, and they hadn’t even been together for a year! It helps that you’re playing music light years ahead of your peers, that your drummer is one of the best Australia has produced, and your live show is an phenominal tour-de-force.

So who are Cog exactly? Well, they’re a three piece from Bondi in Sydney, they were kicking around the Aussie scene for a couple of years and released two great but poorly recorded EPs called Just Visiting Part 1 & Just Visiting Part 2. Then in 2004 they jumped on a big ol’ jet airliner and travelled to Weed, California to record their amazing debut album The New Normal with producer Sylvia Massy-Shivy (Tool, R.E.M), which was released the following year It was the first time that Cog captured their massive live sound on a recording. The album shed some of the progressive rock/Tool comparisons Cog were generating, and it showcased a more mature and succinct act.

The band have also been quite political in the past – on one of their tours they screened the John Pilger documentary Breaking the Silence – The Truth and Lies on the War on Terror and much of their lyrical content deals with political issues. In their filmclip for ‘Run’, drummer Lucius Borich has “Bush, Howard, Blair Fuck Off” written on his drum kit and the filmclip itself was set in a detention centre to highlight the plight of refugees being detained by the Australian government. Check it out below!

A few quick notes to finish off – Justin Cotta of VAST fame was going to sing for the band. In 2003 Cog recorded a cover version of Leftfield’s ‘Open Up’ which opened them up (no pun intended) to a national audience. The band are about to go back to Weed to record their second album. They are planning on touring North America in February. They are touring Australia right now. Cog are the most promising act in Australia. Go!

http://www.cog.com.au
http://www.myspace.com/wwwmyspacecomcog

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