Kora - ‘Burning’

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I’m not sure if Darwin could explain it, but for some reason Kiwis have an innate sense of dub and reggae - think Salmonella Dub, Fat Freddys Drop, Katchafire and The Black Seeds. It’s even got its own Wikipedia entry!

Kora stand out from the pack because they infuse their music with a heavy dose of rock and funk; they’re the support act for the upcoming Cog album launch tour, which demonstrates this band’s major crossover appeal. It’s a great album for someone like me, who has more of a rock background but has always enjoyed dub music. It’s a very diverse record, traversing dance, dub, hip-hop, rock, soul and funk landscapes, always maintaing a wicked, infectious groove.

‘Burning’ is the opening “song” (barring the Lord of the Rings-esque cinematic epic ‘Intro’ on track 1) and a tune which I think best represents this album. I was going to put up the tounge-in-cheek tune ‘The Delivery Man’ because it’s just so damn funky, but I think I’ll put that one up later. If you’ve never heard Kora before, that song might not give you the right impression of the band. ‘Burning’ however is just so naturally groovy that you can’t help but bop with it.

http://www.kora.co.nz
http://www.myspace.com/koraroots

Embarrassingly I’ve only got around to catching these guys a few weeks ago, they were really good and deserving of the top spot in the old school album charts.

And here’s the final clip for the week. I hoped you’ve enjoyed this week’s more visual Who the Bloody Hell Are They. I thought I’d leave you this week with everyone’s favourite heavy rockers, Cog, and the clip for their latest single ‘Bird of Feather’.

http://www.cog.com.au
http://www.myspace.com/cogrockmusic

Phase 2, part 2: Bertie Blackman and the clip for her new single, the rather infectious ‘Fast Bitch’. Who’s the fast bitch? Bertie, or someone else? I refuse to believe BB’s a bitch!

http://www.myspace.com/bertieblackman

Thus begins Plan B - posting film clips to mask the fact that we’re not uploading new blogs. First off the rank: Happenstance.

http://www.myspace.com/happenstanceband

CakeHole - ‘Stab You’ (mp3)

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Before I get into this little writeup, I just wanted to say we might be a little scant on the postings this week. It’s busy days ahead, but please bear with us and we’ll be back to the usual programming in no time. Hell, we might just throw up a bunch of YouTube vids to pass the time.

It’s one of those songs that you hope is meant to be ironically bad. CakeHole is a bit of a mystery band: the vocals are immediately obvious as Jess Origliasso from The Veronicas, but the other characters I’m not too sure of. I think one of them may be Azaria, singer of The Follow (and Jess’ new beau) but the other dude… no idea. Any clues readers?

The aesthetic is amateur electronic J-pop, but with lyrics like “I will stab you here / don’t ask me why / I will stab you with / Stab you with my wife” I can only assume - and hope - that CakeHole are supposed to be tongue-in-cheek bad. Honestly, who would write crap like that and mean it to be serious? The problem, though, seems to lie in Jess’ incongruent vocal melody that doesn’t lock in with the music. This ain’t no Veronicas pop tune, honey.

In the end, it’s fairly vacuous but innocuous electronic dribblings that won’t amount to much. But somehow it’s irritatingly memorable.

http://www.myspace.com/cakeholemole

Ricki-Lee - ‘Can’t Sing A Different Song (Supermelody Remix)’

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Yeah, yeah, so we’ve copped a bit of flack in the past for journeying into pop territory by posting one or two songs from former Aussie Idol contestant Ricki-Lee. Well, when a remix of one of her songs arrives in my inbox that’s this whacky and it’s been done by ex-Architecture in Helsinki member James Cecil (who goes by the pseudonym Supermelody)… then we have a duty, nah an obligation to the Australian music-loving folk of cyberspace, to post this!

Taking lead from Missy Elliot, this remix of ‘Can’t Sing A Different Song’ contains a rather awkward, non-syncopated beat, and a bridge that completely shifts the style of the song. Ricki-Lee’s never sounded so cool.

http://www.myspace.com/rickileeofficial

Plug-In City - ‘Blank Photo’

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Modular’s newest wunder-kids, Plug-In City, bring us something, uhh, new… ‘Blank Photo’. I guess this is what Robert Palmer would sound like if they’d cryogenically frozen him, brought him into the 21st century and set him to work writing New Wave tunes. Just a lot blander. There’s a air of Joy Division we don’t care-edness and that ostenisbly cool exterior bands like Van She and The Lost Valentinos were perfecting in 2006. This sounds like Plug-In City missed the boat. They need to bring the rave synths back, pronto, and drop the ‘Old Man Sam’ bass.

http://www.myspace.com/plugincity

Scribe - ‘Say It Again’

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From the man who reckons not many, if any, flow like him, comes the decidely Jay Z influenced ‘Say It Again’ from Scribe’s album Rhymebook. It’s hard for Pacific rappers to simultaneously not sound too local, but not sound like an aping American gangster wannabe. Scribe manages to straddle that fine line incredibly well, so maybe he’s right - not many dudes I know flow like him.

http://www.myspace.com/scribedirtyrecords

Plastic Palace Alice - ‘The Girl Who Cried Wolf’

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I always think of Plastic Palace Alice as being the Melbourne equivalent to Sydney’s The Seabellies, just with a grander love for Lou Reed. Plastic Palace Alice have always had such great potential, and the Arcade Fire-fronted-by-Bowie ’Empire Falls’ always did it for me.

But I feel as though they’ve taken a step backwards with their new song ‘The Girl Who Cried Wolf’. Rob McDowell’s vocals aren’t strong enough to lead a song that doesn’t have enough interesting instrumentation. It does its thing but doesn’t really leave you wanting to hit the play button again.

It’s the first single from The Great Depression, the band’s debut full-length album. While this song may not be the strongest, I still have faith in what’s to come.

http://www.myspace.com/plasticpalacealiceband

Dukes Of Windsor - ‘It’s A War’

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So they made their name thanks to a (vomit) TV Rock remix, but can Dukes of Windsor recreate that success on their own? Hmm…

‘It’s a War’ is the first taste of their new album. Sounds like they’re aiming squarely at the dance market, but it was produced by the same guys that helmed Refused’s seminal hardcore album The Shape of Punk to Come. Can you say “WTF?”

And does anyone else think that Jack Weaving sounds like Korn’s Jonathan Davis? I think it’s his vocals that turn me off a bit, plus their songs never seem to do anything all that exciting. This one’s OK, but doesn’t do all that much for me. Maybe it’ll grow on me the more I listen to it. There’s some nice melodies in parts, but I just wish it packed more of a dancefloor punch.

http://www.dukesofwindsor.com.au
http://www.myspace.com/dukesofwindsor

The Phoenix Foundation - ‘Bright Grey’

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OK, so The Phoenix Foundation have a lot to thank The Flaming Lips for, but seriously, have a listen to their sound album Pegasus and you’ll see this New Zealand six-piece can stand on their own. They’ve been on the receiving end of many plaudits from the music press, released three albums and scored the film Eagle vs Shark. So they’re doing pretty well for themselves.

Their latest record, Happy Ending, follows the Flaming Lips blueprint of pop more closely than their previous efforts, but they do it with a lot less weirdness. There’s a definite throwback to the psychedelica movement in their music, which lends it a sense of ethereality and escapism. Ahhhh……

http://www.thephoenixfoundation.co.nz
http://www.myspace.com/thephoenixfoundationnz

Trial Kennedy - ‘Neighbours’

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Where’ve you been hiding your mad skillz, Trial Kennedy? Lost amongst a sea of post-punk bands and the Boomtown Records sound, this is the first song of theirs that’s really burst out of the speakers; a veritable anthem of a song that rocks from start to finish and never lets you go. I guess that’s what going to Atlanta to record your album does for you. Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come.

http://www.myspace.com/trialkennedy

Man Ray - ‘Catch Me’

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MAN RAY should have won the Sydney heat of the Australian V Festival’s ‘Garage to V’ competition. Not that the winners (Cassette Kids) aren’t worthy; it’s just that these guys are a bit worthier. Listen to ‘Catch Me’ from their first two track demo, and try to argue otherwise. Seriously, I’ll wait.

http://www.myspace.com/wearemanray

Gabriella Cilmi - ‘Sweet About Me’

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Here comes the trend shift. Can you feel it beneath your feet? Say goodbye to the ’80s, don’t even stop to scream your salutations to the ’70s because we’re not resting here… it’s the Swinging Sixties we’re heading to. Peace, love and all that other hippie mush. We might even dip out toes in the pool of the Fifties while we’re hanging around.

The era’s producer de jour, Phil Spector, and his Wall of Sound, the music of Motown, the jazz of Sarah Vaughan and Nina Simone… these are the starting points for the new musical fad that’s slowly emerging thanks to the likes of Amy Winehouse, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and eager DJs sampling sweet soul music.

Sure, musicians are time-travelling vikings, pillaging decades until there’s nothing left and then zooming off to the next untouched era - but we could be taking lead from worse periods of time (Boy Bands anyone?) Gabriella Cilmi (pronounced “Chill-me”… seriously) is Warner Music’s secret weapon that they’re gonna be hoping rockets into the stratosphere (because labels are struggling, you know). Many will compare her to Amy Winehouse (sans the coke, booze and dawn undies run), which is fair enough, but she was discovered when she was only 13, years before Wino ran head-first onto tabloid mags and Perezhilton.com.

Now sixteen (hello jailbait), Cilmi’s moved from her home town of Melbourne and is basing herself out of London. She’s on tour at the moment with the Sugababes and recently shared the tour bus with Parisian’s Nouvelle Vague. Her debut album, Lessons To Be Learned, will be out later this year but for now, here’s the first song off the record called ‘Sweet About Me’. I dig it, but then again I love those old-school jazz tones.

http://www.myspace.com/gabriellacilmi

Happenstance - ‘If I’m Not Mistaken’ (mp3)

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We can charge the ’90s for heinous crimes against the pop genre, forever ruining its image. For some. But not for others, like Sydney’s Happenstance, who don’t care whether you like pop or not, because they sure do and aren’t afraid to show it.

But this four piece is far from derivative. Fantastic vocal hooks, smooth, melodic bass lines courtesy of David Grant and subtle attention to detail in ‘If I’m Not Mistaken’ elevates it from being just another bottom-rung, stock-standard pop-rock tune into a fine example of good songwriting. Something bright, anyway, for your Friday!

http://www.happenstance.com.au
http://www.myspace.com/happenstanceband

New Rules For Boats - ‘Skips On My Record (Part 2)’

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Following in the footsteps of The Panics and The Panda Band, Perth’s New Rules For Boats create pop music with a country inflection. After releasing a couple of EPs, this quintet unleashed their debut album Thousands in September of 2007. And as you may have guessed, the jovial ‘Skips On My Record (Part 2)’, laden with rolling drums, constant acoustic guitar strumming and a bevy of vocalists, comes from said record.

http://www.newrulesforboats.com
http://www.myspace.com/newrulesforboats

Mojo Juju & The Snake Oil Merchants - ‘Transient Being’ (mp3)

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We’ve got a proud history of great vaudevillian and gypsy acts in Australia: Monsieur Camembert, The Tango Saloon, Unkle Ho, Waiting For Guinness, Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen… I could go on, but suffice to say, the enigmatic Mojo Juju & The Snake Oil Merchants can stand proudly amongst that ilk.

But who exactly Mojo Juju is is somewhat of a mystery. Much of the legend surrounding Mojo Juju has been summarised on this website. What I know for certain (well, at least I hope so) is that they’re from Newcastle and there’s a lot of Snake Oil Merchants. ‘Transient Being’ comes from their self-titled album, and aside from that I’m not sure of much else… except that this is a great tune.

http://www.myspace.com/mojojujuvoodoo

Nina May - ‘Crazy/Insane’

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Nina May (or, “That band that has the Treasurer’s daughter in it”) have kindly given us the first taste of the new material that they’ve been working on, which will serve as the follow-up to their debut EP Make Love To Your Stereo. Called ‘Crazy/Insane’, it highlights a more mature Nina May, focusing on stronger hooks and tighter song structures.

http://www.myspace.com/ninamaymusic 

Sugar Army - ‘Now You’re Old Enough’ (mp3)

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There’s something instantly likeable about Sugar Army, even before the beat kicks in. ‘Now You’re Old Enough’ is dance-punk played by hard rockers. Ian Berney’s dirty bass line forms the perfect bed in the verses to keep it on the forward beat, then the whole band rock the fuck out in the chorus. Seriously, what’s there not to like here? This is the first song I’ve heard from this WA four piece, and I’m really impressed.

http://www.myspace.com/sugararmybarracks