New Music

Rewiggled Party feat. Dead Letter Chorus

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Murray, The Wiggle

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Dead Letter Chorus – Wiggle Bay

I went along to the Rewiggled party with a healthy dose of skepticism tucked firmly into my pocket. I mean, it’s a Wiggles cover album – those songs were cool when I was in diapers, but there’s no way they can transcend genre boundaries (as well as a couple of decades) – and the live performance wasn’t going to be any better. Boo to me, it turns out. Dead Letter Chorus pulled out one hell of a cover, and delivered their own track Run Wild with their usual style – and the album, well shit. It’s fantastic.

Dead Letter Chorus

Rewiggled has only just gone into final production, but the gentlemen and women at the ABC were kind enough to provide a preview CD, and I can assure you, it’s damn delightful. At points it’s bittersweet – listening to your reimagined childhood is an odd experience – but one full of grins and these ridiculously warm moments. It jumps across all kinds of musical boundaries – rolling folk from Dead Letter Chorus, hard-style rawk from Frenzal Rhomb, softly spoken awesome from Oh Mercy and almost heart-breaking stillness from Paul Greene (among so many others) – and really captures the heart of The Wiggles, as well as showcasing some of Australias best music.

Dead Letter Chorus

I really can’t wait for you all to listen to this, ‘coz it’s one hell of an experience. To say that The Wiggles have had an impact on Australian culture is a massive understatement – and Rewiggled truly does them justice. Stay tuned for more of this goodness – or head along to the ABC store and get your pre-order on. There’s also a Facebook page, where you can check out a few previews, and revel (wriggle?) in the musicy goodness. You can pick it up on November 4.

Oh, and check out Dead Letter Chorus. They’re real good. By the way, that guy at the top – that’s Murray. He’s a Wiggle.

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Laneway 2012 Line-up!

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The Laneway 2012 line-up was announced this morning! At first I was underwhelmed and wondered who the headliners (apart from Feist) were. But then I re-read it and realised there were heaps of rad bands in there and got pretty psyched. What are your thoughts?
  • Active Child
  • Anna Calvi
  • Austra
  • Bullion
  • Chairlift
  • Cults
  • DZ Deathrays
  • The Drums
  • Feist
  • Geoffrey O’Connor
  • Girls
  • Givers
  • Glasser
  • The Horrors
  • Husky
  • John Talabot
  • Jonti
  • Laura Marling
  • M83
  • Oneman
  • The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
  • Pajama Club
  • The Panics
  • Portugal The Man
  • SBTRKT
  • Toro Y Moi
  • Total Control
  • The Very West
  • Twin Shadow
  • Washed Out
  • Wu Lyf
  • Yuck

http://www.lanewayfestival.com.au/

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The Novocaines – 'Trampled Hearts'

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The Novocaines make rock music in Australia and don’t turn into shallow bogan-progsters while doing it. I’ve seen them more times then I care to mention, drawn to their chaotic awesome (and an unstoppable live show). Hell, they even made it onto the soundtrack for Scream 4 without being gross pop-whores. So in a nutshell, they’re alright.

Their new track, ‘Trampled Hearts’, has a harder edge than most of their previously recorded stuff – as well as managing to capture more of the energy of their live performance in a single song. Plus it was mastered at Abbey Road, so theres that. This is rock, and I love it -the Novocaines know their biz.

The Novocaines have FB, and a debut album coming out soon. Check it.

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Bleeding Knees Club – 'Teenage Girls' (video)

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(mp3)

BKC’s newie is essentially an American Apparel advert with enough turquoise hair and holographic cats to service a Waaves fan’s wet dream. Yeah yeah…the lo-fi garage punk thing is a trending cartoon bleat, but hey, everyone’s a sucker for choppy drumming, three chord riffs and mindless lyrics about chicks in cars, chicks stealing drags, chicks getting haircuts and other important stuff. Whether this is predictable or pubescent joy to your ears, it’s definitely a fun jam. Apple bong.

‘Nothing To Do’ is out Feb 2012.

BKC FB

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Texture Like Sun – 'Bottle'

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‘Bottle’ (mp3)

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Local hip hop isn’t something in my scope, but this guy’s solo material is a far pitch away from highlighting the best parts of our already uncouth accent. Back in 2007, Mark Pearl was part of a collab with Pip Norman (TZU) called The Commas. Although he’s lent his raspy vox to a handful of Urthboy and Mantra tracks recently, he sounds much more at home on ‘Bottle’, the first track under the moniker Texture Like Sun.

Pearl’s husky tones are a subtle opener to the track before banjo and whistles get thrown into the arrangement, setting the drift somewhere between Scott Matthews and Andrew Bird. It’s clearly a well thought out tune, and it works. Although I reckon this guy would thrive if he went all Patrick Watson and dabbled in orchestral samplers and perhaps some chamber pop, there’s still a wonderful pastoral quality about his voice that would sound pretty special pared back in a surburban lounge room.

A nice sampler of his record which is due out early next year.

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Dead Letter Chorus – 'All Mine'

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Earlier in the year, in the depths of winter, Dead Letter Chorus dropped one mighty-fine, super-summery clip on our doorsteps, accompanied by one darling of a film clip. Now, as we’re launching back into the warmer months, we’ve got a wistful-wintery tale, accompanied by a suitably darker clip. The track is All Mine and it’s the perfect follow up to Yellow House, as well as a rolling, harmonious, heart-wrenching ballad that deserves more adjectives than I could ever think of.

Both tracks are off Yearlings, Dead Letter Chorus’ recently released third album. Usually I avoid reviewing albums but this one deserves an extended mention. The album has a lot of guts, rolling deep in quality tracks and feels truly complete – every song owns its place.

It’s easy to harp on about the death of Australian folk music (and who can blame those who do?) but listening to the musical and lyrical scope of Yearlings, I’m less inclined to beat my head against the nearest hard, wall-like object. You can pick it up now, so you should. Personal favorite is I Belong With You, but honestly – it’s all fantastic

As an added bonus, they’re on tour right now – FBi Social this Saturday in Sydney and next Thursday at The Old Museum alongside favorites of mine Founds. More details, tickets and information for all y’all that like that kinda stuff is available here..

Check out Dead Letter Chorus on FB/Twitter

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