Posts By Melissa Tan

LISTEN: Hollow Everdaze – ‘It’s Growing’

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Hollow-Everdaze

When a band describes their sound as ‘neo psychedelia’, there’s usually a throwback haircut, rough cut out of a 60’s babe sitting in a liberal position on their record sleve and a polka dot shirt that you can smell from a mile away involved. Hollow Everdaze were probably everything I expected. And then some.

I’ve waited way too long to post this band on the blog. But procrastinating apparently pays off, because the band’s latest release says more about these guys than the other great tracks they’ve put out.The Melbourne four piece have been doing the live thing for a while, but have only given two singles a proper release ‘Selfish’ and ‘Handsome Sums’. These are both excellent tracks; ‘Selfish’ steers it’s way through moody blues and ‘Handsome Sums’ pilfers at what I’m guessing is an good appreciation for Alex Turner and Brit-rock’s best tunes to come down to.

Hollow Everdaze have just put out It’s Growing – a 16 track album featuring unreleased tracks from 2009 to 2012. Any guess at those babyfaced smirks would have that 2009 to 2012 probably spanned most of their adolesence. Whether these tracks are leftovers or a nostalgic memo to their earliest teen jams, it’s definitely should have been the one that soundtracked mine.

And that’s the best way I can describe this record. It’s not a youth highlights reel. It’s a blur of lights, awe, paranoia and void filling noise. Reminds me of lot of my adolescence actually. Didn’t smoke weed, didn’t wear a snap back or feel compelled to document #teenlyf in low saturation like any half-exciting band is preaching these days. In truth, I spent most of my time being bored, flirting with acne cream and staring at a wall.

There’s a restlessness that hangs over this album. It’s boredom and melancholy. Maybe a whole rehash of the archives if you like; in low-fi technicolour with Girls’ Christopher Owens sitting at the end of the rainbow, burning a huge cigarette hole right through the middle.

Tracks like ‘It’s Growing’ and ‘Buying Milk’ have that familiar starry-eyed psychedelia running right through, but the whole sentiment becomes blurred by the end. Every track on here contains bits of every song you’ve probably ever heard. Each track wanders around seperately without any real intention, but that’s the best thing about this.

There’s Bauhaus with a string section on ‘Seediest Bar’ and at a completely different angle, muted electronica on tracks like ‘Tapdance’ and ‘Forrest’. My favourite is probably ‘Stardusted Mess’ – a glorious waltz with spaced out vocals and falling confetti for piano lines.

The EP of unreleased material sounds more like Neutral Milk Hotel drinking liquid nitro, rather than the bluesy psychedelia on the tracks they’ve given a proper release. Whoever’s providing vocals for ‘Tightrope’ sounds really like Chris Owens. The melancholia’s still there, but it’s a little more poignant and less paranoid instead.

I often wonder what happens to all the good tunes that end up in the scrap heap. The other tracks the band have released properly are equally as excellent, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg really. This release might be hanging out in offcut purgatory, but it definitely deserves your attention.

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MIXTAPE: Vol. 9

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pbs

 

Yo look, we baked you another mixtape. Here’s a selection of 30 tracks from our favourite locals – including Yon Yonson, Shining Bird, Greyjoy and another glorious tune by Tim Fitz that makes us feel like we’re exiting the womb of the universe. #FERK

Pressing play is easy, but make sure you support these artists too. The full track listing is below so you can stalk these locals down, buy their goods in physical form & get along to their next show.

Happy listening.

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Vol 9. Tracklisting

 

1. Greyjoy – ‘Distance’

2. High Highs – ‘Open Season’

3. Running Gun Sound – ‘Best Of It All’

4. Dune Rats – ‘Red Light, Green Light’

5. Tiny Migrants – ‘Uncontrollable’

6. Elliott Wheeler – ‘Feel Thing’ (ft. PJ Wolf and Sui Zhen)

7. Woollen Kits – ‘Susannah’

8. Ali Barter – ‘Run You Down’

9. Elizabeth Rose – ‘Give In’

10. Yon Yonson – ‘Closer To The Sun’

11. Shining Bird – ‘Distant Dreaming’

12. Tim Fitz – ‘Happiness Is Tugging At Your Heart’

13. Jesse Davidson – ‘Winter’

14. Summer Flake – ‘Racecar’

15. Brighter Later – ‘The Woods’

16. Wild Oats – ‘Family Band’

17. Mark Moldre – ‘Killer Anxiety’

18. Morning Harvey – ‘Sundown’

19. Dick Diver – ‘Water Damage’

20. André – ‘Mend’

21. Kirkis – ‘Ballad For A Venus Flower’

22. Cull – ‘Good People Disappear’

23. Glass Towers – ‘Tonight’

24. Meg Mac – ‘Should’ve Known Better’

25. Dirt Farmer – ‘Delilah Lightning’

26. We The Brave – ‘All Good Things Must Come To An End’

27. Au.Ra – ‘Pyramid’

28. Francolin – ‘Singinging’

29. Emerson Snowe – ‘Bella Rose’

30. Dancing Heals – ‘Always On My Mind’

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Listen to our previous mixtapes here.

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PREMIERE: Saskwatch – ‘I Get Lonely’

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Saskwatch_I Get Lonely

And here’s the ‘premiere’ of the new track from Saskwatch. You’ve probably already heard it getting flogged on Kingsmill’s show on Sunday. So technically…it’s not really a premiere. But it is the first official place on the internet where you can break your play button – before this track gets a proper release or is played the point of oversaturation (which it probably will).

Saskwatch recorded ‘I Get Lonely’ with Mikey Young (Eddy Current Suppression Ring) at the Curtin Bandroom late last year. It’s definitely a grittier track; sounding like the hypothetical of Tote patrons migrating to Cherry for a throw-your-hands-up boogie on a Thursday night instead. Young knows how to keep a good track potent – those simple riffs that fire off against Nkechi Anele’s vox are the guts of this tune. Add in the horn section midway, and King Khan is dancing.

‘I Get Lonely’ will be released as a one-off, non-album single tomorrow on 7” via Northside Records with the Brain Children (Young and Max Kohane) remix of ‘Your Love’ as the B-side.

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WATCH: Camperdown & Out – ‘Manly’

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Camperdown&Out

We’ve been diggin’ on Camperdown & Out a whole lot (the guys also wrote a little something for last month’s Collective Peg).

Here’s the video premiere for their loveable track ‘Manly’. And in all its boot drinking, ferry hopping, leisurely paced bro-venture glory, it’s probably a good contender for Manly Council’s unofficial theme song too.

Camperdown & Out’s album Couldn’t Be Better is out March 22 on Popfrenzy.

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LISTEN: MKO

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MKO

Calvin Harris once said creating a good pop song was like ‘making a ham sandwich’. Or something like that. While you should never reference smut from DJs in writing, ever – there’s definitely a correlation between listening to a good pop song and comfort food. This song does that. Whatever arguable things make up the general alchemy of impressionable pop (pre-chorus build-up, throwbacks, lyrics about getting laid), ‘Snarly’ by Brisbane’s MKO has all of them (and a singer that looks a little bit like Robyn).

Not sure how long MKO have been kicking around for, but Hannah Macklin (Hannah Macklin and the Maxwells) is definitely fronting a fantastic sound from this Brisbane group. Too many great things happening here to quantify this is as just a great single. Music on my computer usually plays in the background, but I closed all my windows just to pay attention to this one.

Between some clever production and a bit of urban groove, the first half of ‘Snarly’ sits on the slow burner. The track shows a lot of restraint, considering the belt-out content of the chorus that follows. Macklin winds up the vocal zoetrope that happens around 2:42. It”s little bit Amber Coffman, a little Becca Kauffman on Ava Luna’s ‘Ice Level’, maybe our old pal James Blake on the soprano pitch rocket. She’s got a great tone to her voice too, but it’s never excessive to the point of detracting from the effortlessness guild here.

‘Snarly’ is available as a free download at MKO’s bandcamp. They’ve also teamed up with 7 local illustrators and animators for some great shorts called ‘Scribs’ released over 7 weeks – worth a watch here.

 

Lily Lotus Orchid Sunflower is released March 15.

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COLLECTIVE PEG #6: 2013 Picks

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Collective Peg 6

Yeah, new music gets us off…but that doesn’t make us any less indecisive when it comes to everyone’s favourite numerical categorizing system, the end of year ‘BEST-OF’ list. All of us decided to take simultaneous holidays interstate and overseas last December to even try and avoid it. For your curiousity, our ‘list’ would have probably included D.D Dumbo‘s self titled, Grand Salvo‘s Slay Me In My Sleep and perhaps a mention of Bored Nothing‘s track Shit For Brains – titles of which all aptly sum up how we feel about the whole situation. So now you know. We don’t like numbers.

When we attempted to rank all the records from 2012 based loosely on which made us sweat profusely, who made us cry, who we spent all our money on – we realised it’s now Feb and that no-one cares about that shit anymore (unless you’re compiling ‘TOP 10 DRUMMER FAILS’ for <unnamed music press> each week).

In the absence of our ‘Best of 2012’ list, we’re instead celebrating five diverse Australian artists who we predict will be having an excellent 2013.

We’ve selected ex Parades/Colours offspring Au.Ra, ambient/electronic kinfolk Rat & Co, This Thing conspirator Wooshie, Sydney slackers Camperdown & Out and songwriter Jay Kranz aka Brighter Later.

Good influences play a big part in creating great tunes, so we asked our 2013 predictions to curate their favourite local artists for this month’s edition of Collective Peg. We kinda missed the ‘Best-Of 2012’ train, but here’s a cluster fck of a musical daisy-chain for you to enjoy in the new year instead. Happy listening.

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AU.RA


Au.Ra are Tom Crandles and Tim Jenkins. Crandles was a member of Sydney based group Colours, while Jenkins played guitar in sadly no-more Sydney band Parades (who Who The Hell’s co-founder Jerry formerly managed). Both songwriters, the duo met by chance while studying in Sydney. After a few bedroom jams with two guitars, a drum machine and one mic, they immediately “discovered songs amongst the noise”. Check out Au.Ra’s clip for their latest track ‘Morning’ here.

soundcloud.com/au-ra-sounds


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Day Ravies – ‘Double Act’

I like this Day Ravies for their ability to mould unconventional melodies and rhythms into sweet and warm sounding pop songs. The guitar and drums seem to be at a constant push/pull with each other at the centre of a dream created by Lani’s floating vocals. Day Ravies LP will be out on Popfrenzy records real soon.

dayravies.bandcamp.com

 

 

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RAT & CO

Rat & Co started out as a bedroom project for Joshua Delaney (Red Berry Plum , Chet Faker house band)
Two years ago, Delaney travelled to the USA With close friend and guitarist Kaia McCarty-Smith, further sparking his interest electronic music and cinematic soundscapes. When he returned back to Melbourne, Delaney’s music seeped through the thin walls of his Carlton sharehouse tempting drummer Nick Park to jam along from his adjoined room. Guitarist John Waller soon joined, and when Kaia returned from overseas, the guys formed Rat & Co.

Rat & Co put out their debut album ‘One (壱) Uno (壹) Ein’ last week (note: it’s awesome).

soundcloud.com/ratandco

 

 

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Coober Pedy University Band – ‘Moon Plain’

“Coober Pedy University Band are going to be the next biggest thing” – one of our mates.

Combining the funky Lewis Day (Tornado Wallace), songstress Tom Moore (OTOLOGIC) you get powerhouse disco sensation Coober Pedy University Band. They have just released an EP titled Moon Plain on Kinfolk and it is one of the grooviest things we have heard ever come from Aus. Enlisting good buddy Nick Murphy aka Chet Faker to do vocals on the title track, CPUB channel their name through into the track, carrying an air of early australian dance music. The beat chuggs along like a train through the desert, whilst the 80’s piano stabs ring out with a definite certainty. Really keen see a video or a live performance from these legends. We hope you enjoy this as much as we do. Moon Plain EP is out on 10″ through Kinfolk.

 

 

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WOOSHIE

Wooshie

 

Wooshie is producer Dylan Michel.

After releasing a handful of beat tapes and a 7” on Meupe Records in 2007, Wooshie made the move from Perth to Melbourne and established the beatfeak collective //THIS THING//. While he’s casually taking his time to release an LP, Wooshie’s inclination to explore beyond straight loops has already attracted the ears of international listeners like the Gaslamp Killer and Carlos Nino. Wooshie released his EP Boyfriend Material last year. We think he should get onto that LP soon.

w00shie.bandcamp.com

 

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Friendships – ‘Ur A Drag’ (ft. Skinimin)

A problem I have with a lot of the new music I listen to is that it’s just not very good. It’s fun.
It’s somewhat of a guilty pleasure, but most of it doesn’t go much further than that for me. I get kind of obsessive and puzzled by trends in music, always trying to predict what’s coming next but also equally as confused as to why people liked whatever it was the first place.

Nick’s unique personality and sensibility still comes across in his productions. Even though his work is based around post internet trap cliches – the early 90’s rave and sea punk aesthetic, his own sound is completely recognisable (even if he is just playing an 808 snare once every 2 bars).

The very ‘internet’ sounding ‘Ur a Drag’, the opening track from Friendships’ debut EP is a perfect example of this. There’s something about how simple and badly mixed /mastered this beat is that gives it even more personality. It’s amazing how something so formulaic and cliche with little mid-range can still sound incredibly emotive and unique.

 

 

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CAMPERDOWN & OUT

 

Camperdown & Out are a Sydney-based four-peice who specialise in lazy-ryhmes, chords and rhythms.
They openly call themselves the most “unambitious band of 2013”. They one day hope to cover ‘Religious Experience’ by Kevin Ayers but this is unlikely as the band wishes to recruit new members to fulfil their positions in the band before the end of the next financial year.
Applications now open.

soundcloud.com/camperdownandout

 

 

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Woollen Kits – ‘Sussanah’

Nathan Roche: Woollen Kits are one of those bands that you go and watch and find yourself singing along to every song of the set.
‘Susannah’ off their record Four Girls has been one of my live favourites since the first time I heard it. We were lucky enough to support the band for their album launch in Melbourne a few months ago. I remember being very, very drunk and grabbing the saxophone mic off the stand and singing backing vocals like a rambling derelict at the front of the stage. All members of this band are extremely kind and genuine people – and boy can they can write damn catchy pop songs. This one is a highlight for me. Buy their record instead of ours.

woollenkits.bandcamp.com

 

 

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BRIGHTER LATER

Jay Kranz has done a lot of things. She’s written and published fiction, worked in radio and penned songs all over the world — behind the hum of plastics factory in the middle east, by freight tracks in Louisiana and singing to empty wharf sheds. After spending time in New Orleans, she returned to her native Melbourne to study music and write songs. Kranz set up shop in a converted church in Melbourne’s West doubling as an underground concert venue and Kranz’s home. With the help of a three piece band, Kranz’s forthcoming record as Brighter Later titled The Wolves drops next month. Listen to previous single ‘The Woods’ here.

www.brighterlater.net

 

 

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Human Face – ‘Bottom Of The Hill’

‘Bottom Of The Hill’ is the first outing from newbie Melbourne four-piece Human Face and it made me instantly curious about what else they’ve got up their sleeve when they head into the studio soon to record the rest of their LP. I love the grainy static-riddled synth that keeps us company from the get-go, propelling the song forward and spawning permutations mid-way through. It manages to be its own character in the song without ever obscuring Dan Fox’s winsome, sometimes melancholic vocals.

There’s no fear of being epic here. The beautiful breakdown moment towards the end recalls Beach House and Fleet Foxes for me, though I love that the 80’s and 90’s influences are worn with equal boldness. Just when you think it’s over, it all comes back. And though we have “heard it all before”, it gets going just enough and stops just soon enough, to require me to hit repeat.

Again.

www.humanfacemusic.com

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See previous editions of Collective Peg HERE.

 

 

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MAP February 2013

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map

You, reader. Stuck in the throes of your dull room in suburbia? Need some enlightenment from your work square? Here’s an audio vacation.

In case you’re 52 editions late to the party, MAP is an initiative we’re part of where 39 countries around the globe pick their best new artists for your leisurely listening. We like to think it’s the more inclusive, all-encompassing little brother to Eurovision; a little less spandex, thrusting and voting bigotry in exchange for the best happenings in music around the globe.

Them Swoops are our contenders for Oz this month, but also notable are Finland’s ‘psych-doom’, as well as India and Chile’s artists for this month.

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 39-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

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ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
The Omelettes – Perfect Wave
The Omelettes’ sophomore album seeks to part from the 60s British sound of their first work and the result is something much more psychedelic and introspective. Perfect Wave is one of our favorite tracks from the new record, The Drawing & The Traveller. You can also watch a video of their song Mondays here.

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AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Them Swoops – Too Fast For Love
Never trust a happy song, right? While Tame Impala are still trumping the globe with Lonerism and Gotye’s break-up song is STILL stalking us everywhere, we do make mood-lifting songs here in Australia. Indie-pop ain’t a dirty word, especially when bands like Them Swoops make tracks like this. Too Fast For Love will probably sound like the first time you heard The Shins. Felt good, hey? We’re not such a sombre bunch after all.

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AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Sex Jams – Shark Vs Apple
The alternate girl/boy singing on Shark Vs Apple and its saucy, playful lyrics make it an instant favourite. Basically, the first single from the new Sex Jams album Trouble, Honey is what Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta would have sounded like had Grease been a noise-rock musical. Half of Sex Jams also play in May 2012’s MAP band and this year’s Eurosonic favourites Mile Me Deaf.

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BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Sambanzo – Xangô
Sambanzo is one of the projects of saxophonist Thiago França, also a member of Metá Metá and collaborator of artists such as Gui Amabis and Romulo Froes. Xangô is taken from the album Etiópia, which features some experimental music with strong influences of jazz, Candomblé, Afrobeat and rock.

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CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
Barbarosa – Sinking West
The title track of Barbarosa’s debut EP calls up images of the Wild West – rugged, romantic, ruthless and without rules. Sinking West’s menacing undertone is brightened by modern pop sensibilities, and the playing is fast and fierce. The full EP is available now on the band’s website.

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CHILE: Super 45
Perrosky – A Mil Millas
Perrosky, a duet formed by brothers Álvaro and Alejandro Gómez, offer a local interpretation of the music styles that gave birth to rock ‘n’ roll in the USA. Their fifth album Vivos is swarmed by distorted guitars, vocal effects and, of course, a great set of songs. Our highlight is the touching blues ballad A Mil Millas (“A Thousand Miles Away”), which depicts a man searching for himself but whose possibilities seem blocked to him.

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CHINA: Wooozy
Tengger Cavalry – War Horse
Deeply influenced by the nomadic culture of north Asia, Tengger Cavalry’s music evokes ancient times when wandering warriors, steeds and wolves danced across the great grasslands. The melody of horse-head fiddle, the rhythm of heavy drum, the echo of Mongolian throat singing and the distortion of guitar all create an expressive scene of pagan culture.

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COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
La Pulpafonic – Camelia
Jam for the ears, that’s how we can describe the sound of La Pulpafonic. A project born in Bogotá, it aims to present Colombian folklore within a new context and a new flavor: the taste of the fruit pulp. Electronic sounds literally extracted from fruits, mixed with an eclectic explosion of dance rhythms from this century. From their first work released in 2012, we squeeze out the song Camelia.

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DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Freja Loeb – W.O.M.D.
Earlier this month Freja Loeb followed up her 2011 debut album Odyssey with the release of a new EP titled W.O.M.D. Where the album stood on the shoulders of the 1980s pop scene, the EP finds its sources of inspiration in the same decade’s rock scenes. Here’s the title track as a MAP exclusive.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Las Acevedo – Cena En La Terraza
Love is still in the air, after a Valentine’s Day full of fresh romantic tunes brought by several Ibero-American bands. Las Acevedo, the hippie twin sisters of folk, present this breezy love song about dining in terraces, chasing fireflies and packing away your significant other inside a trunk with flowers in their hair.

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ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
Marley Muerto – Dorado Salmon Violeta (featuring Frances Possieri)
Marley Muerto is led by Daniel Pasquel, a musician and producer who was born on the same day that Bob Marley died. This project sees him play with a range of electronic sounds and collaborate with some important local artists. Pararmar is his debut album released while his band, Can Can, takes a break.

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ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
GNOD – Visions Of Load
Taken from GNOD’s forthcoming album Chaudelande (released on February 25 by Rocket Recordings), Visions Of Load captures neatly – that is to say, powerfully and sprawlingly – the krautrockin’, shoegazin’, prog-metallic sludginess of this Salford band at their most freakily magnificent. “It recalls Can’s ga-ga go-go music while the singer yelps like Alan Vega doused in even more echo,” said our New Band of the Day writer, who nevertheless promised that, notwithstanding the far-out sonics and instrumental melee, you could still dance to it. He just didn’t specify what type of shoes you might need.

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