Posts By Melissa Tan

SUBURB SERIES: RaRa

, , No Comment

RaRa

Craft is transient, as are its makers. When the creative hunch strikes, it’s not uncommon to move as far as we can from familiarity – but more often than not, we seem to return back to the places from where we begin. We spent a day driving around suburbia with Melbourne based alt hip hop group RaRa for our new ‘Suburbs’ series, which aims to shine a light on local musicians and their ongoing relationship with the places where they live.

Nestled in the cosy suburbia that is Melbourne’s inner east is Doncaster; more commonly known to locals as ‘Donny’. A leafy, working class suburb bordered by Eastlink and the Yarra, ‘Donny’ is marked by prams, modified Commodores and rendered 80s brick family dwellings with sloping double carparks.

Middle class Pleasantville seems miles from the the stomping ground where you would have expected RaRa’s slanted genre-bending hip-hop to have taken shape. But from what we saw driving around the neighbourhood; touring empty swimming pools, wandering into unused houses that were former party sites and visiting the family homes the boys still reside in – even if the four boys claim they’re “from another planet”, this will still be home.

Director / Film: Anthony Juchnevicius

Photography: Bec Capp

Animation: Nelson Armstrong

With thanks to: RaRa, Bec Capp, Annie Toller, Oscar McMahon

Featuring: RaRa (Ll’vo, The Lovely Me, KL, River Deep)

000050RaRa_BEC_CAPP

RaRa are launching their new EP Planet 2016 at Shebeen in Melbourne on the 19th of December, supported by ESESE & friendships.

Planet 2016 is out now via Zero Through Nine.

Read Post →

MAP: November 2015

, , Comment Closed

map-november

The year has almost rolled over, but there’s no shortage of grand track cuts in this month’s MAP compilation. Our Aus selection this month is Spookyland’s ‘Bulimic’, which is possibly the band’s best track to date. It’s a en epic purge – a bit like ayahuasca without the mess. While you’re there, make sure you check out dancefloor vibes below from Japan’s submission Shigge (behind Yesterday Once More) and Italy’s Dumbo Gets Mad, who’ve just released an album inspired by the man, the mystery – Neil De Grasse Tyson.

Right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 18-track compilation through Dropbox here.

 

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
El Violinista Del Amor & Los Pibes Que Miraban – Inofensivos

Listen to

El Ruido y La Culpa: Una Opereta Lastimera is the band’s fourth album in more than six years on the road. It’s a crazy journey through an eclectic salad of genres, something we’re quite used to with them. Their music overcomes drama, bad mood and guilt with humor, irony and abandon.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Spookyland – Bulimic

Listen to

Forget wearing your heart on your sleeve. This track stabs it profusely, draws a stake through the middle and stands over watching as your arteries bleed out in 4/4 time. Sorry for the emotional terrorism, but hear this track from Sydney outfit Spookyland and you’ll probably agree it warrants the description. Marcus Gordon’s prose is stark, its delivery brutal at times – but you get the feeling there’s something important to be said beyond the rhetoric. It’s a stoic, turbulent six-minute epic – and the ending is worth the wait.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Bonifrate – Museu De Arte Moderna

Listen to

Museu De Arte Moderna is the title song from Bonifrate’s new album. It has the psychedelic vibe of the whole record, plus some Beck influence that makes it more contemporary. His album is one of the jewels of the Brazilian indie scene in 2015.

(Listen to the full list below)

(more…)

Read Post →

LISTEN: Broadway Sounds x Paradise Festival Playlist

, , No Comment

broadway-sounds

Broadway Sounds have been shredding and sweating all over dance floors with their quasi afro disco / calypso beats over the last few years. The trio are playing Paradise Music Festival next week at Lake Mountain Resort – and because BS are all about ~ vibes ~ they’ve made a playlist to get you there and back. The playlist includes Amsterdam’s Hunee, Total Control and a good dose of Mondo Rock. All guarantees there’s no fighting over the stereo or enduring your designated driver’s Biggie Smalls playlist on the way up. Check it out below.

Final round tickets for Paradise are available to purchase at the festival website. If it’s likely that you’ll be FOMOing at work next week, check out this photo essay Bec and Ed shot at last year’s event that might change your mind.

Read Post →

MAP: October 2015

, , No Comment

cairo

Our submission for this month’s edition of the Music Alliance Pact comes from ‘fresh to death’ Adelaide four piece, Fresh Kills. The guys have just released a double album comprising We Are and The People – what they describe as a “sprawling collection of 22 genre-pashing soul-punk anthems”. It’s loose. Real loose. And don’t just take our word for it.

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 18-track compilation through Dropbox here.

Listen to the full list below.

(more…)

Read Post →

LOOK: Totally Mild – Europe Tour

, , No Comment

totallymild-7

Totally Mild recently returned from a two month jaunt touring around Europe with Terrible Truths. Here’s some snaps the band took on tour – playing in-stores in Paris, filming video clips in German gyms and chowing down on vending machine burgers.

Totally Mild have been nominated for three Age Music Victoria awards in the ‘Best Album’, ‘Best Emerging Artist’ and ‘Best Band’ categories. Voting is open to the public until November 6th, so swing some kudos to your favourite local acts here. 

totallymild-1 totallymild-5 totallymild-4 totallymild-3 totallymild-2 totally20

 

(more…)

Read Post →

MAP – September 2015

, , No Comment

map

For this month’s edition of the Music Alliance Pact, we’ve selected a grand track from Jack Colwell – because the world needs to see and hear more sauna based choreo . You can grab a September’s full 18-track compilation through Dropbox here.

Our new MAPCAST podcast is out too. Robbie’s a riff-nerd, so he’s selected the best new tracks from guitar-based bands from around the world. Check it out below:

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Argonautas – Perfecto

Listen to

With a career that spans more than 20 years, this independent prog-rock band from Ramos Mejia, a Buenos Aires suburb, performed a couple of shows last month after being inactive for quite some time. So we thought it was a great opportunity to share this fine track from Argonautas’ third album, also called Perfecto.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Jack Colwell – Don’t Cry Those Tears

Listen to

On his latest EP, Only When Flooded Could I Let Go, classically trained musician Jack Colwell blends the popular and the arcane to stunning effect. He has a grand vision and the chops to pull it off, creating compositions that dabble in everything from chamber-pop to doo-wop. Don’t Cry Those Tears, a tribute to 60s pop, brings together strings, organ and a small choir with the seamlessness of a jigsaw puzzle. As a vocalist Colwell is often compared to Nick Cave and Patrick Wolf, and his performance on Don’t Cry Those Tears is an expert balance of melodrama and levity. He is undoubtedly an artist to keep your eye on.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Emicida – Mandume

Listen to

Brazil’s most famous rapper, Emicida, has just released a new album in which he explores themes about urban life in his homeland, mixing it with African rhythms. In Mandume, he’s surrounded by a group of new Brazilian MCs: Drik Barbosa, Amiri, Rico Dalasam, Muzzike and Raphao Alaafin.

 
(more…)

Read Post →

PREMIERE: Mihra – ‘I Wonder’

, , No Comment

I Wonder - Mihra

Mihra are the latest outfit from new Melbourne label Wigwam. Recently launched in July, the small label houses a diverse selection of bands; psychedelic act My Elephant Ride (who Mihra’s lead Chevaunne Keleher also sings in) – to crash course in experimental pop, Ministry of Plenty. Label owner Nathan Abbey also yarns self-deprecating poetry in the key of Peter Bibby – and throwing Mihra into the mix, it’s a colourful lot. ‘I Wonder’ is the newest track from the jazzy six piece, set to appear on their debut out later this year.

‘I Wonder’ saunters in with a breezy piano hook, the Bossa Nova type that holds in-flight soundtracks and wine grazing tours together. Mihra are aware of the periphery of jazz-pop twee, and tip-toe carefully around it. The band are devoted to their own sincereness and bask in it at times. Vocalist Keleher sings about feigned hope after the end of a relationship, while the bass line politely coaxes a muzak sample as harmonies cross fire in-between. Lyrically, the track is light on the ‘poetic’ side. It’s more of a casual late afternoon muse compared to some of the new ‘future soul’ crowd who divulge in more sonic landscapes, but it’s sweet listening overall. With Keleher’s lead in a different context – I’m not ruling out a quasi shimmy into a JAALA riff/scat-off at some point in the future. 

If you tripped this track over in the street, it’d probably recite you a psalm and cradle your face in its hands, as easy listening does. Politeness is a comfy place for music to be, but Mihra have the foundations to turn up the goods. Looking forward to hearing more – and perhaps watching these guys throw some (syncopative) shade.

Mihra launch ‘I Wonder’ at the Workers Club in Melbourne on the 30th of August, with fellow newcomers Nafasi and Tetrahedra.

Facebook / Soundcloud 

Read Post →