photo by boudist.com

Lenka – ‘Follow’

Lenka started out her career as an actor in tv and films but soon discovered a true a bigger passion for music. I find it impossible not to fall in love with her voice. Dom has blogged about Decoder Ring previously, but thanks to some lucky myspacing I discovered that she is writing and recording solo material. She has kindly given us the exclusive on her solo track ‘Follow’ produced by Decoder Ring’s Xavier Frjac. Opening with sweeping harmonies, this track’s minimal production is what I’m used to hearing from her, but I’m excited to think what she would come up with in the future. Lenka is heading off on an international writing trip to LA, NY and London, hopefully we get to hear some new tracks before too long.

http://www.myspace.com/lenkamusic

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The Crayon Fields – ‘Choir of Tiny Boys’

When I was 18, Melbourne band The Crayon Fields were a three piece who made vaguely arty indie pop (I used to compare them to Pavement, but in retrospect I think I have compared every indie band I like to Pavement at some stage). When visiting their home town for a little less than a week, I saw them play twice. I also got two copies of their first EP, Worms, Worms! and a badge bearing their name in colourful writing that adorned whatever god awful v-neck sweater I thought was sweet at the time.

That was 3 years ago. Since then I have purchased their The Good Life EP, as well as a three inch mini CD and a whole bunch of badges. I have organized poorly attended shows for the band and have spent an hour trying to find the then drunk, now ex-drummer in Surry Hills at 2am one Saturday night. I have been disappointed upon discovering that they did not make a patented Crayon Fields sweater in my size (borderline pregnant), and overjoyed when seeing them support amazing bands like The Unicorns, Deerhoof and Calvin Johnson.

Most recently I have been overjoyed while listening to their debut release, Animal Bells, out now through Trifekta/Chapter Music, two amazing Melbourne indie pop labels responsible for releasing some of the greatest indie records in my collection. And Animal Bells is possibly the greatest indie record either label has released, an incredible soup of harmonies, twangly guitars and sleigh bells.

I’m certain that every review is going to describe this record as “Melbourne’s answer to Brian Wilson, The Byrds, blah blah blah incessant comparisons”, but I think the most accurate way any writer could review Animal Bells is by simply posting a picture of their pasty mug, grinning madly as they listen to the doo’s, da’s, ooh’s and la’s heard throughout second track ‘Would it be so Strange?’, or to the handclaps that hold ‘Impossible Things’ together.

There are several songs available to listen to and download at the bands MySpace, but I thought I’d post album opener ‘Choir of Tiny Boys’. The album is full of longer, larger pop songs, yet I find myself continually coming back to this, a short, simple and perfect introduction to my favourite Australian album in years.

http://www.thecrayonfields.com
http://www.myspace.com/thecrayonfields

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Snowman – ‘Smokes and Mirrors’

Inspired by my post on Snowman a few weeks back I chatted to multi-tasking band member Joe McKee about what to expect from their debut full-length album, released on September 23rd. By chat, I mean via email, because real life is such a chore for me these days. Though not for Snowman, it would seem. Their album sounds like it’ll be kind of something… “It takes what we do live and feeds it with acid” (Joe McKee, Q&A with Sophie Braham, Who The Bloody Hell Are They? September 2006) would be the obvious contender for a press release. They’ve also heroically offered us their new single for a listen, which has been tearing up the airwaves on local sydney radio stations FBi, 2SER and national broadcaster Triple J.

How is this album different to your last one? You all played quite an array of instruments on you last album, have you picked up any more this time round?

Yeah…we like to attempt to play with all sorts of toys… trumpets, string quartets, sax, theremin, pianos/keys, toys (literally), violin, guitars, noises, harmonica, lots of percussion. The album differs from our first EP because the songs are far better and the sounds are more full… there are more colours in the sounds, they have more depth. This is partly to do with the chap we recorded with, Mr Dave Parkin. Basically, it is a completely different kettle of fish to the EP. It takes what we do live and feeds it with acid.

I reckon your music would make a great soundtrack to a horror flick. Do you watch a lot of movies?

I think that film is kind of the ultimate form of creation because so many art forms go into it, but it doesn’t really leave much to the imagination for the viewer like music does. We like the way sound complements imagery and we certainly take that on board to a degree when writing. As for horror flicks: I can’t really be bothered with them anymore… that was the ‘zombies…’ EP for us. The new album is vast in scope and covers more ground than the EP.

Have you made any video clips?

Yes, we have just completed shooting a video clip for ‘Smoke and Mirrors’. Lots of shadows and lamp lighting and smoke has been used. Keep an eye out.

Are there some other Australian bands you’re getting excited about at the moment?

Well… we like bands that don’t necessarily influence us. It’s a bit difficult to pinpoint what artists are influencing us… from this to that to whatever. I think we are currently more influenced by ourselves. As for new stuff: I think the new Liars record is good. And the new Wolf & Cub. I still get excited about the Dirty Three also.

Do you feel far away from the rest of Australia in Perth? Do you like the isolation?

I think the isolation has been a benefit for us… it gave us a lot of time to work on our sound before some bigwig fatcat purchased our soul!!!

Have you guys toured at all outside of Australia? Where would you love to go?

We have never played outside Australia. There are vague plans to do so next year. We would like to tour every corner… we are very keen on the idea of getting to Japan and playing. We like playing to virginal snowman audiences and getting a confused response.

The people who makeup your band hail from all across the globe [Snowman are pretty much the UN, with band members from England, Iceland and Indonesia] , has this had any impact on your sound or the way your band works?

Yes I think it has… we have been exposed to different cultures from a very early age so different sounds have been drilled into our heads… abnormal experiences in general…these things would contribute to our ‘other worldly’ sound perhaps. I can’t imagine what it would be like if we all came from a farming town in WA… actually I can, and it scares me.

http://www.thesnowmanempire.com
http://www.myspace.com/thesnowmanempire

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The Butterfly Effect – ‘Reach’

The Butterfly Effect (named long before the Ashton Kutcher film) are one of those bands that seem to divide people – either they love them, or they hate them. They first came to the attention of the Australian public courtesy of Triple J radio presenter Costa Zouliou who fell in love with their song ‘The Cell’ off their debut EP. At the time, the band were still independent – and I ended up seeing them in 2001 at a small pub in Sydney called Bar Broadway supporting Cog and now both bands have become two of Australia’s biggest alternative-rock acts. The band had an incredible knack of creating the right blend of melody and heavy riffage, and the soaring, operatic vocals of Clint Boge topped it all off. It wasn’t long before these guys took off.

Which takes me back to my original point – people love or hate them. I think it may come down to Clint the vocalist – some people love his voice, and others can’t stand it. Also, he exudes a fair amount of confident on and off the stage and a lot of people take that as arrogance. Earlier this year he went on a drunken tyrade on the band’s official message board (funnily enough the band no longer have a message board on their site), so that didn’t help Clint’s image. But I interviewed him earlier this year and found him to be a really nice guy, so the question remains unanswered.

The band released the rock-fueled Begins Here LP a couple of years ago (their debut long player) which cemented their place at the top of the Aussie rock contingent. They then took a step sideways and released the far-more melodic Imago a couple of months ago, which they recorded in the States with producer Joe Barresi (Tool, Tomahawk, Queens of the Stone Age). The sound on the album is nothing short of huge, and contains some fantastic songs. It’s taken me a while to get into the album because even though I love melodic music, Imago is a big change from Begins Here, but still excellent nonetheless.

http://www.thebutterflyeffect.com.au/
http://www.myspace.com/thebutterflyeffectau

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Here’s my take on The Presets. Australians seem to over magnify the success of local bands that when they get criticised overseas people adopt the “why-are-they-picking-on-us?” sentiment. I like the Presets, they play fun party music and everytime I’ve seen them I have a great time, but that’s because the only expectations I have from them is to be a decent live version of their recordings, nothing more.

I mean how adventurous can they get on stage when they play to a backing track anyway? This video shows how strict the Presets can be on the live stage, even with singer Julian doing his best electrospaz dance moves. In the booming atmosphere of a club surrounded by frenzied partygoers, you’d probably have a good time. But watching in retrospect through the sterile microscope of YouTube, it’s clear that they have limitations performing as a two piece.

Previous post: The Presets 

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The Presets – ‘The Girl and The Sea’ (mp3)

The phrase ‘Who the bloody hell are they?’ doesn’t exactly apply to The Presets.
The Presets are ubiquitous. But I feel it’s time to reflect. This stinging, funny, and irritatingly smug review in Pitchfork from a few months back was my catalyst. I felt surprisingly wounded after reading it. Dismissing something on the basis of its association with the ‘scene’ is a bit rich coming from Pitchfork. Just as the ‘record’ seems secondary to the ‘label’ bit of the aggressively fashionable Modular, Pitchfork itself is a brand. Oh what a surprise, the solo multi-instrumentalist with the personal mythology has captured your hearts! But should the merit of individual writers be detracted from just because the aggregate sum of their ideas is an occasionally bland consensus made easily digestible for the indie set? Should the work of The Presets be hated because it has been bastardized by a skinny jean wielding majority?

Their name itself suits this analysis. The Presets: neat and inoffensive, so obvious I can’t believe nobody else thought of it earlier. It implies autopilot, not really having to think about anything. Herein lies their marketing strategy: their aesthetic is polished and very exportable. Offering the hipsters from Berlin to misshapes in New York a cosy feeling of familiarity, The Presets are able to ride on this (new) wave of scenesterdom.

The local release of their 2005 album Beams was met with big sales and strong reviews. In hindsight, it’s not a very coherent listen. On one hand there’s a satisfying, suave, OC-included pop gem like ‘Girl and the Sea’. But then we have to endure really tuneless experimental numbers like ‘Worms’ which could get away with seeming gothic-glam in the haze of a seedy indie club, but it kind of makes me squint in the harsh light of day. Hear the good one above, though it’s such a pity I wasn’t somehow able to offer The Presets iconic Tsubi skull t-shirt up for download- our site viewing figures would’ve soared!

But back to the Pitchfork review (not that I care what they think or anything). What it missed was a sense of was what a good gig the boys put on. Julian Hamilton’s liquid robotic vocals ground Kim Moyes’ mild behavioral problems (the violent shoving of unauthorised stage-goers at one memorable show I saw, for example.) But it’s the redemptive power of the clear synths and the booming bass that have captured some sort of zeitgeist. And it has proven just as appealing in the Northern Beaches as the grubby inner-city of Sydney.

To be honest I’m sort of annoyed at myself for feeling the need to undergo this public ritual cleansing of Presets mania. This desperate bid to contextualize is unfairly holding them responsible for everyone else’s reactions.

Just like the bland, dialogue-driven Australian film that has the mandatory wide shots of beautiful landscape and therefore finds itself on the receiving end of all sorts of off-putting noises from an over-enthused Margaret Pomeranz, perhaps we occasionally err on the side of giving new Australian music too much benefit of the doubt. Just cos it happens to tick a few boxes, references the right influences. Then Pitchfork tells us it wasn’t that good in the first place and the backlash begins. Fast-forward and “Skinny jeans” becomes the call-cry of lazy, debilitating self-conscious writers who use it to distance themselves from a sub-culture that’s under attack, as though they’ve never scraped on a pair of drainpipes themselves. Clearly I lost sight of the possibility of conclusion long ago; I guess I’m just insuring myself against the prospect that the bands I’m gushing about on this blog today now will probably be the beneficiary of Pitchfork bile tomorrow.

In a way I am kind of intrigued to hear what The Presets do next and how they handle the burdens of their own success.

http://www.thepresets.com
http://www.myspace.com/thepresets

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Clare Bowditch

There’s an abundance of folk-inspired music around at the moment, but Melbourne singer-songwriter Clare Bowditch manages to do it a little differently.  At their core, her songs are folk, but she layers them with such wonderful instrumentation, courtesy of her backing band The Feeding Set, which includes a couple of well-known Australian indie musicians such as Marty Brown from Art of Fighting & Sodastream, and J. Walker of Machine Translations (although he’s not officially a Feeding Set man).

I wasn’t sold on her when I first heard her tunes, but she soon won me over with her fantastic vocal ability and her wonderful lyrical strength.  In the vein of classic songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and even modern-day writers such as Adam Duritz and Ryan Adams, she tells great stories that engage the listener, with just the right amount of Australiana.  Clare’s released two albums with The Feeding Set, Autumn Bone and What Was Left (I own the latter of the albums).  She’s completely independent, but with the help of government funding, Clare has been able to get her music out to the masses, and do so quite successfully.

It’s been a little while between records – What Was Left came out almost a year ago – so Clare is currently in the alchemy chamber with her band brewing up a new batch of songs.  So I thought I’d grab a track from her latest release, an interesting number called ‘Divorcee by 23’.

Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set – ‘Divorcee by 23’

http://www.clarebowditch.com
http://www.myspace.com/clarebowditch

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