Pinky Beecroft and the White Russians – ‘Fabulous Driving’

If you think you knew Pinky Beecroft, it might be time to re-evaluate your preconceptions. For better or worse, his new material sounds nothing like Machine Gun Fellatio – free from the constraints of the ‘quirky’ pop image to which he was once forced to pander, Beecroft has moved to produce the most affecting and beautiful music of his career.

His debut album with the White Russians retains his dry sense of humour but appropriates it to more mature compositions and lyrical narratives.

‘Fabulous Driving’ is a piano-driven ballad that reminds listeners what a great voice Beecroft always had beneath the spandex and ridiculous glasses. It’ simple, fragile, and the bare arrangement is fleshed out by an understated, sombre tone.

The only thing as good as discovering an artist with this king of talent is rediscovering an artist who you never knew had it in them. (Then again, he is credited as co-writer on ‘No Aphrodisiac’ – though the merit therein is almost as subjective as his involvement with MGF).

www.myspace.com/pinkybeecroft

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Sailmaker – ‘Build A Fire’

Sailmaker make music that would sound right at home in a mid-1990s Triple J playlist, slotted in nicely between Jebediah’s ‘Harpoon’ and Something For Kate’s ‘Captain’.

‘Build A Fire’ is the very sweet title track from their most recent EP and is all clean guitars, handclaps and plaintive vocals

The Sydney band has played supports for Operator Please, British India, Horsell Common and most recently Epicure.

www.myspace.com/sailmakermusic

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Former Rogue Trader Natalie Bassingthwaighte has unveiled the first taste of her solo record. In the video for her debut single ‘Alive’, she’s challenging Kylie Minogue for the queen of hot pants. And I think she just might win.

Wait… what about the song? What song? OH! There’s music here too… well, it’s pretty much your average suburban house shit.

http://www.myspace.com/nataliebassingthwaighte

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Cut Copy – ‘Far Away’ (Damn Arms remix) (mp3)

www.myspace.com/damnarms
www.myspace.com/cutcopy (more…)

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The Nation Blue – ‘I See Colours’

For a while there, The Nation Blue were Australia’s premiere post-hardcore / rock’n’roll band, garnering some big-name supports and trekking across the globe, making it as far as Brazil. Their 2007 disc Protest Songs built them quite a fan base and a few friends (such as Dave Grohl, which publicists LOVE to include in their press releases). And then… they kinda fell off the radar.

‘I See Colours’ is the latest release from this Melbourne trio and it comes with a pretty harrowing backstory courtesy of vocalist/guitar Tom Lyncoln.

“‘I See Colours’ is about having my drink spiked on New Years 1999/2000 and falling down a flight of stairs onto a slate floor and then waking up during a CT scan and thinking I was dead… I ripped the tube outta my arm and bent the needle and destroyed my arm…took me three days to sit up in bed, four days to walk again and a week of phone calls to find out what happened to me.

“Still don’t really know but think it was a girl at party… toxicology report says I had 3 x the maximum dosage of MDMA in my system and this song is a description of what I saw when I first woke up. In contrast I wanted to write a really tweaked chord progression and pack the song full of ghost notes. Tick.”

The band are playing a couple of shows this week, and they’re on their MySpace page.

http://www.myspace.com/thenationblue

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Much-loved Who the Hell sons Pivot are back in Australia this week and playing some shows. If you’ve never seen them before, here’s what you could be potentially missing out on. The song they’re performing above is ‘O Soundtrack My Heart’ recorded in France. It’s such a crushing song live with its simultaneous infectious and annihilating rhythms.

The remaining tour dates are:

Friday 21 November
Rocket Bar, Adelaide

Saturday 22 November
The Corner, Richmond, Melbourne

Friday 28 November
The Zoo, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane

Saturday 29 November
The Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills, Sydney

Friday 5 December
The Bakery, Northbridge, Perth

http://www.myspace.com/pivotpivot

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