The Crooked Fiddle Band – ‘The Butcher of Bessarabia’

Always had a soft spot for a good fiddler. I don’t know I guess it’s all the imagery of period films that comes to mind everytime I hear a violin getting ripped in the middle of a world music tune. This song jumped out of the radio when I heard it on Triple J as one of their unsigned finds. On their page they jokingly (or not) described their sound as folk/hardcore/roots music. I suppose it is pretty hardcore for world music. And some of the rhythms do have hard rock qualities, in reverse fashion as how System of a Down infuse elements of Armenian music into their rock songs. It’s not too hard to imagine that maybe, in days gone by Europe, gypsy music like this was the rebel underground movement that cool kids mosh to. Maybe they have their have their equivalent bands of Ramones-like concept bands or Sex-Pistolesque outcasts decried by their government as practicing the devil’s music. Would be an interesting art film festival entry I’d say. Gotta be smoking something good tho.

www.myspace.com/thecrookedfiddleband

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The last time we talked about Dukes of Windsor I mentioned about how they sided with an iPod me too product to be able to record their album independently and keep ownership of the record. Since then their song ‘The Others’ have been remixed by hyper commercial electronic duo TV Rock, and have gained lots of mainstream airplay and boosted the band’s profile in the mainstream media, even getting the opportunity to perform in the cheesefest that is Australian Video Music Awards (MTV Awards down under). Again a good example of what can extend the life of a record, and in this case elevate it to another commercial level.

www.myspace.com/dukesofwindsor

For those of you who really love this song, here’s the original clip:

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The Baggsmen – ‘Bubblegum’

These guys produce the freshest beats in the country, and though their second album Eleven Stages did well on radio, in the stores, and earned them two Big Day Out tours, the did not make it big enough. Maybe their luck will change with this new album. The Baggsmen are producer/bassist Tony Buchen (who has done work with Macromantics, Kid Confucius and Earl Gray), drummer Lok Brahe and new addition to the lineup Welshman Brad Munn. In this record they again collaborated with friends Jake Stone of Bluejuice, who featured on this track, Janny Cassanova of Rastawookie and Earl Gray of, well Earl Gray. This is the only song that I have heard from the album, so looking forward to hearing more

www.myspace.com/baggsmen

I don’t mean to detract from Baggsmen’s musical merits, but for those of you who remember, Jake Stone was once arrested mid-show on stage for wearing a police uniform. He was cleared of all charges, but the accompanying youtube is priceless:

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Grafton Primary – ‘Relativity’ (mp3)

Grafton Primary are brothers Josh and Ben Garden from Sydney. Their previous track ‘Hidden Cycle’ rotated on lots of radio playlists round about last year. They’ve since recorded an album due to be out soon titled 2020 vision. ‘Relativity’ is so 80s in instrumentation, arrangement and lyrics I almost tuned the radio out, until it reached the bizzarely catchy hook of ‘we equal m c squared..’ ??? I can’t explain it but it’s a hook that would have worked twenty, thirty years ago, and thanks to the current music scene’s obsessions with 80s beats and synths is now working today.

www.myspace.com/graftonprimary

This song reminds me of a childhood favourite:

Thomas Dolby – ‘She Blinded Me With Science’

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Road to recovereeeeeeee…..

www.myspace.com/midnightjuggernauts

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Jackson Jackson – ‘Eliza’

Just got this album yesterday and I gotta say it’s one of the more interesting albums I’ve heard from an Australian artist this year, both in its high production values and lyrical playfulness. They are playing the Corner Hotel in Melbourne tonight and I’m going so join me cos I heard they are pretty damn good live.

www.myspace.com/jacksonjacksonmusic

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