I feel like I’m watching a video clip that The Clash or the Sex Pistols would have made for an infant MTV.
Jun
29
The Smallgoods - ‘Traipse Through The Valley’
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
A rich and woody western ride with lolloping bass lines and ghostly harmonies, The Smallgoods return with this kitsch and peculiar single as a prelude to their forthcoming album, Down on the Farm, due out in September. Alongside the sounds of Lonestar, the boys have worked the misty magic of Simon and Garfunkle into their gothic trail ride, and the result is familiar but unusual.
Jun
28
Magic Dirt - ‘Bring Me The Head Of’
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Still angry after all these years, Magic Dirt are back with a seven track EP of furious rock ravages, starting here with Bring Me The Head Of. A heart-racing squealer, it starts out fast and plunges on blindly through the steady stream of Adalita’s thick punk growl, pounding mercilessly with nary a break until the band all collapse on each other at the end. Much better than things have been with Magic Dirt for a long while.
Jun
27
Small Mercies - ‘Innocent’
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
I’m having one of those moments you sometimes get flying long-haul in economy class. Squished in with all those unwashed bogan freaks for so many hours, it becomes apparent that most people in this world are not like me. Most people in this world think that Sam Newman is pretty hilarious and that Kyle Sandilands in a credible judge of talent. ‘But don’t you see?’ I want to scream, ‘Kyle Sandilands is a no account fat head from commercial radio. He is, by definition, incapable of telling you what good music sounds like.’ But actually, plenty of people think that Kyle is worth listening to. He’s got his finger on the pulse, old frog-face. And he would probably give Small Mercies a hearty thumbs up. Because lord knows it’s time our country produced more bands that sound like they’re secretly Christian.
Cut Off Your Hands - ‘Oh Girl’
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
After a brief tour with them last two weeks this song stood out the most for me from their fast and frantic repertoire. It’s probably because the order of each night was rock-punk-hard-hard music and it’s good to get slower love song in the middle, a break for the ears. The lyrics are pretty standard courting lines that any guy would have thought of, but I guess the more important things in life are usually cliches.
Cut Off Your Hands used to be called The Shaky Hands until an identically named rock band in the US sent a cease-and-desist or something. Recently they did a deal with Levi’s jeans where the clothing label flew them to the UK, paid for the recording of their EP while letting the band keep the copyright, gave them some free band merchandise to sell at shows and lots of promotion in the press. In exchange for all this Levi’s got to use their band image for their current advertising campaign. Aligning the music and fashion world isn’t anything new, but this is the first that I know where a fashion label actually started a record label just for short term commitments, without having any intention in creating any assets in the form of copyright. Their only benefit is being seen as the fashion label that is closely involved with the local and up and coming music scene. The Levity label is in the lookout for more bands once they’re done with COYH.
I’m not entirely sure this would work for everyone. I think in COYH’s case it has worked well and the ads were done very tastefully. This idea could easily go very wrong with less discerning labels and their marketing teams, in fact I could see a copycat program happening real soon, much like how every liquor brand have their own talent search program. I’m definitely not against commercialising music, and I do believe for most music genres (excluding pop/rnb) this is a better way of doing things rather than getting involved a major label nowadays.
Jun
25
Macromantics - ‘Physical’
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Recorded with Tony Buchen as a prelude to a tour, Macromantics opens her new track with the warning that she’s gonna get cardio in this shit, missing somehow both irony and comedy (and surely she can’t be serious). From here, she launches into a better brand of battle rap than I’ve heard previously from this Miss, mouthing off about her own excellence in mixed rhythms and bouncing rhymes with the able-bodied Buchman providing flickering low-profile beats behind. She’s sporting a good run of words (in her self-aggrandising way), but its humourless. And the chorus has a slick appeal, but it’s not quite memorable.
The kids are at it again…
http://www.bridezillamusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/bridezillaa
Jun
22
Kate Miller-Heidke - ‘Words’
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Apparently the folks on Sunrise are big fans. They took some time out from their heavy programming schedule to run a little advertising feature on the ex-opera singer from Brisbane and her inevitable forthcoming success. I myself didn’t need to actually hear the manic, warbling Kate Bush-wannabe tremors of this determinedly wacky pop poppet. Koshy’s recommendation was enough for me.
The Go-Betweens & Patience Hodgson - ‘Lee Remick’
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The history of The Go-Betweens is folklore amongst the Australian music industry. They’re one of the most influential Australian acts of all time, coming to fame during the New Wave boom of the late 70s, and finding success during the 80s.
Though they were quiet during the 90s, the band reunited when the 21st Century came around, recording an album entitled The Friends of Rachel Worth with all three members of Sleater-Kinney. However, the Go-Betweens came to a tragic end when frontman Grant McLennan passed away due to a heart attack in 2006 at the age of only 48.
So, what do you do when an iconic band dissipates? You record a tribute album, that’s what! It all came about from a tribute concert held at the Tivoli Theatre in Brisbane in 2006, spearheaded by Dave McCormack, best known for his work in Custard and his own band The Polaroids. The original members of The Go-Betweens are all involved here, but Grant’s vocals are replaced by some of Australia’s best contemporary singers, including Sarah Blasko, Josh Pyke, Dan Kelly, Bob Evans and Dave himself.
Patience Hodgson from The Grates contributed vocals to ‘Lee Remick’, The Go-Between’s very first single, originally released in 1978. I’m not sure if it’s about the actress or not, but I’d assume so.
Jun
20
Cloud Control - ‘Buffalo Country’
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The first time I saw Cloud Control was in a small back room of a venue in Sydney called World Bar, in Kings Cross, with an average PA and about 400 of my closest friends. And even though I couldn’t really see them apart from the drummer, and with the room being brick the sound was bouncing all over the place, the quality of their songs still shone through.
These Sydney folk shot to “fame” when they won a Sydney University band comp. The night I saw them they were supporting Who the Hell faves The Basics, and since then have been a regular fixture at many a Sydney indie gig. They’re currently preparing to record an EP and ‘Buffalo Country’ is a demo of one of the songs that will most likely appear on said EP. Vocalist Al Wright has a warble not too dissimilar to that of Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons. I don’t really have a nice summary sentence so suffice to say, check it out!
Jun
19
Dead Letter Chorus - ‘Laces Bound’
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Blah, I hate colds. They suck. But this isn’t about what ailment I’m suffering at the moment, it’s about Sydney band Dead Letter Chorus (no, not Dead Letter Circus, or Dead Letter Opener). Don’t ask me why everyone’s fascinated with undelivered mail…
To be honest I don’t know too much about these guys. From their various bios and press releases, it doesn’t look like they’ve been around too long. There’s six of them, and the vocals are swapped between Cameron Potts and Gabrielle Huber. Judging by the title of their brand new EP Listen Carefully (We Shall Say This Only Once), they’re ‘Allo ‘Allo fans. The EP is getting a national release on July 7 (yep, 07/07/07).
The band were gracious enough tho send through an MP3 of a song from their forthcoming EP. The song, entitled ‘Laces Bound’, is just the sonic warmth I needed to get through this damn cold. The vocals are courtesy of Gabrielle on this one, and her voice reminds me of someone, though I can’t remember for the life of me who. Oh well, it ain’t important. What’s important is that this is a really great indie/foilk tune, and hopefully it’ll be as comforting to you as it is to me.
Jun
15
Leroy Lee - ‘Drawing Smoke’ (mp3)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Missy Higgins recently teamed up with the radio station Triple J and their website triplejunearthed.com to help choose unsigned artists to open for her on her latest national tour. Sydney boy Leroy Lee was chosen by Missy for her Sydney show. A couple of years ago, especially in Australia, there was an explosion of roots/folk artists when guys like John Butler and Xavier Rudd took off, and a lot of it started to sound the same - at the end of the day, there’s only a finite number of options when it comes to a voice and an acoustic guitar.
But there’s something about Leroy’s music that stands out. Maybe its because he moves away from blues influences like so many others and instead embraces more pop-esque melodies of acts like The Beatles and Elliott Smith (and you can hear a lot of Elliott Smith in the layered vocal harmonies).
Something about this clip is so mesmerising.
Jun
13
Kit Pop - ‘Less Focus’ (mp3)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Whilst attempting to begin my remix career via the Triple J Unearthed website, I came across the electronic works of Kit Pop, an artist based in Perth. I’ve always harboured a love for glitchy electronica, and his track ‘Less Focus’ takes the cake.
It’s a cut-and-paste-and-fuck affair, influenced by hip-hop and abstract electronica. Make of it what you will, but it’s a pretty sweet tune if you dig this kinda sonic manipulation.
The Seabellies - ‘Our Ghosts Don’t Disappear’
Six piece placid pop group The Seabellies begin this track from their Wave Your Fingers EP with a quiet play of boy sweetness and an acoustic guitar, the innocent loveliness of Trent Grenell’s voice slowly drowned in strings and distant drums. Billowing around in fragile gusts, the song takes flight half way through in the classic strike of an early period Elton John piano part before collapsing into the Autumn leaves again, drifting aimlessly with the ghosts of lost love. Eventually it builds up again, into a storm of sounds and strings and sweet, fervent, fragile dreams that crumble away with the end of the song, leaving you transported but melancholy.
Jun
08
Mr. Percival - ‘All Of The People’
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
It seems like every week I’m falling in love with some new Aussie release, and I guess that’s the benefit of working at a music mag and a radio station - you get a flood of new CDs crossing your desk every day.
So my new musical infatuation comes in the form of Out of the Loop, the sophomore release from the truly amazing Bondi-based singer Mr. Percival (or Darren Percival as he’s otherwise known). There’s not enough space to say how much I’m loving this album at the moment. It’s such a positive, uplifting record and Darren’s voice is just phenomenal. I mean, this guy trained under Bobby McFerrin - the same guy who sung ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’!!
Influenced strongly by gospel music, Out of the Loop is created solely by Darren’s voice - every drum beat, shaker, vocal backing and double bass is mimicked and created by Darren. By utilising a variety of loop pedals, he records the backings and then has the ability to stop and start them whenever he wants. Check out his MySpace page for videos, because it’s a hard one to understand if you’re not up with the workings of loop pedals.
So everything you hear on Out of the Loop is created live, and that fact alone is mindblowing, and that’s before you even hear his heaven-sent voice. He’s toured with some of Australia’s biggest acts, as well as graced the recordings of many a fantastic artist, including trumpeter extraordinaire James Morrison (not the UK bloke).
He’s playing heaps of dates around Sydney, so go see him if you live there - expand your musical horizons, break free of your indie safety net and… just listen to this album!
http://www.mrpercival.com
http://www.myspace.com/mrpercival
Why do these kids, who annoy me so profoundly with their vacuous fashionista posturing, insist on writing these awesome songs? I mean Christ. It’s inconsiderate. That’s the problem with rock and roll, though, you know? Talent blesses the most random assembly of knuckleheads.
Jun
06
Former Child Stars - ‘These Demons’
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Former Child Stars is an Adelaide indie-rock five piece who formed in 2006 and have since released a debut EP, which was recorded at HotHouse Studio in St Kilda, Melbourne with engineer Finn Keane. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to listen to the EP, yet if the songs on their myspace are anything to go by then they have a knack for song writing, with the tunes baring catchy hooks not unlike the Strokes, yet without the jadedness of the New Yorkers. The band are getting stacks of good press around Adeliade, and much love from fans (not just the female fans either) on their myspace.
They are as dashingly handsome as the biggest major label band and though I haven’t seem them live, they seem to be a golden child of Triple J, with the demo of The Next In Line featured on Triple J before the band had even done a show. Former Child Star have a number of shows planned in Melbourne and Adelaide in the upcoming months, with plans to get to Sydney soon. Have a listen and let us know how bright you think they shine.
Jun
05
Sly Hats - ‘Vampire Sips’
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Geoff O’Conner of the Crayon Fields steps out solo as the Sly Hats, uniquely cute and unassuming against bongo beats, wooden scrapes and a dreamy choir of sweet girl angels. Bespectacled and mooning over the long kisses of his vampiric love, he sings quietly and bravely with the full conviction of his geek lord stature. Fragile but adorable.
Jun
04
The Crooked Fiddle Band - ‘The Butcher of Bessarabia’
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Always had a soft spot for a good fiddler. I don’t know I guess it’s all the imagery of period films that comes to mind everytime I hear a violin getting ripped in the middle of a world music tune. This song jumped out of the radio when I heard it on Triple J as one of their unsigned finds. On their page they jokingly (or not) described their sound as folk/hardcore/roots music. I suppose it is pretty hardcore for world music. And some of the rhythms do have hard rock qualities, in reverse fashion as how System of a Down infuse elements of Armenian music into their rock songs. It’s not too hard to imagine that maybe, in days gone by Europe, gypsy music like this was the rebel underground movement that cool kids mosh to. Maybe they have their have their equivalent bands of Ramones-like concept bands or Sex-Pistolesque outcasts decried by their government as practicing the devil’s music. Would be an interesting art film festival entry I’d say. Gotta be smoking something good tho.
Kiosk performing live at the Cake Shop in New York City last year. It’s not the greatest quality vid, but it’s raw as fuck which is part of the reason I wanted to throw it up here.
Also, for those living in Sydney, Cat Kelleher, the vocalist for Kiosk (and you might know her from her solo hip-hop project Catcall) is performing in a play penned by playwright Wayne Tunks called Unrequited, which is on at the Newtown Theatre. It’s running from May 30 - June 23. Tickets are $27, or $22 if you’re lucky enough to still be a student. Go, it’ll be cool. They’ve even got a MySpace site - www.myspace.com/unrequitedtheplay.
The last time we talked about Dukes of Windsor I mentioned about how they sided with an iPod me too product to be able to record their album independently and keep ownership of the record. Since then their song ‘The Others’ have been remixed by hyper commercial electronic duo TV Rock, and have gained lots of mainstream airplay and boosted the band’s profile in the mainstream media, even getting the opportunity to perform in the cheesefest that is Australian Video Music Awards (MTV Awards down under). Again a good example of what can extend the life of a record, and in this case elevate it to another commercial level.
www.myspace.com/dukesofwindsor
For those of you who really love this song, here’s the original clip:
Cuthbert and The Night Walkers - ‘Newtown (La La La)’ (mp3)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
I can unabashedly say I love this song! If you live in Sydney. especially the Inner West like myself, it’s a great geographical name-dropper of a song. If you don’t live in Sydney, you can hear about some of our great suburbs.
Cuthbert and the Night Walkers really are one of those great feel-good bands. Yes, there are 10 members in the band. This includes five wonderful backup singers. So it gives the band a kind of Polyphonic Spree vibe. Richie Cuthbert is the brainchild of the group, and his songs, at their core, are indie-folk tunes, with lyrics that tell a story (Bob Dylan is listed as an influence) and music that’s heavy on melody. Add 9 more people to the equation and you get a Sufjan Stevens / Architecture in Helsinki type feel.
I had the group (not all of them, they wouldn’t have fit in the studio) on my radio show a few months back, and they were such awesome guests. I implore you to go and see them when they do their thing live. Although, they’re taking a 3 month break, so, I dunno… write yourself a Post-It note to remind yourself of this 10 piece extravaganza.
Their new single is posted here - ‘Newtown (La La La)’ - and it’s such a happy-go-lucky number. It’s my MySpace profile song now, because it makes me smile.
Loading ...