Monthly Archives For December 2014

STUFF WE LIKED IN 2014

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2014 has been another great year for Australian music, cementing the perception both here and abroad that there’s something very special going on down under. Courtney Barnett continued her project of total world domination, touring the globe, selling out show after show back home and putting out a lovely little mixer on her label, Milk Records.

We heard stunning new albums from Total Control and Blank Realm, which were utterly deserving of the international acclaim. Cut Copy gave the Melbourne dance scene a critical shot in the arm, bringing some terrific acts together on the Oceans Apart compilation. The managers behind Pond and Tame Impala launched their own imprint, Spinning Top Records, bringing the charming Peter Bibby into our lives, with his drunken burble and shifty grin. Sydney label Plastic World expanded its catalogue of stylish retro club music, curating EPs from the likes of Retiree, Savoir and GL. The local hip hop scene did what had hitherto seemed impossible and produced a number of very promising MCs and producers. And, in one of the biggest surprises of my year, old mate Chet Faker put out a track that didn’t make me feel nauseous (though it did sound quite a lot like James Murphy).

Faced with such an embarrassment of riches, we figured it would be unfair – not to mention too difficult – to fashion a definitive list of the year’s best releases. Instead, our contributors have come up with their personal top three moments of the year in Australian music. If you’re a real stickler for lists you can always check out our newest Spotify playlist, featuring 100 of our favourite tracks from 2014.

Read the team’s contributions below.

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INTRODUCING: Mope City

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Mope City copy

Australia’s in the shitter at the moment. We’re currently run by a bloke who outdoes the definition of misogyny whilst also being the national Minister For Women. That’s an irony to cruel for a higher power. Often, the best sort of bands present themselves to soundtrack dire times. Lo and behold, here’s Mope City.

Featuring members of Day Ravies and few others of Sydney’s finest, Mope City have kicked around for a while. The band have two creatively titled EPs to their name, Disneybland and Boo Fuckin Hoo. Where their former material rekindled the likes of Teenage Fanclub, their latest, Halfway House is a mid-fi pop choke-chain that brings out the darker elements in their music.

The production in this EP sums up with Mope City are aiming for, more firmly than previous material. Only three songs long, the material is tightly wound – but slides from rainy day pop, to more perturbed vibes. For an Aussie climate where the bitter heat is the least of our problems, Mope City provide an uncomfortably appropriate soundtrack.

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Mope City will be performing on the following dates in support of the release:
Jan 8th – Liberty Social, Melbourne (w/ Tam Vantage and Pure Moods)
Jan 10th – The Metro, Adelaide (w/ Wireheads and Men With Chips)
Jan 16 – The Haunt, Brisbane (w/ Bent + W.D. Fordy & Shrapnel + Karl’s Dog + Falco)
Jan 22nd – The Union, Sydney (w/ The Cathys + Avoid Island)
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Mope City’s Halfway House 7″ is out now through Tenth Court.

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LISTEN: Flower Drums – ‘Bad Websites’

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Flower Drums

It’s been a big year for Perth’s Flower Drums. The four-piece made their breakthrough at Laneway Festival in February thanks to Triple J Unearthed, and have since released a string of impressive singles. While their latest single ‘Don’t Wait’ looks set to propel the band off into a Flume-ian trajectory, ‘Bad Websites’, their previous single is also an intriguing listen.

‘Bad Websites’ opens with the kind of hiccupy rhythm you’d expect to hear sputtering from a bastardised Casio. However the track quickly changes course – dropping some lush synth pads that fall on just the right side of chill-out soundtrack cheese. Leigh Craft’s cooing vocals and gentle guitar ramblings blend subtly into the chorus, which is a near-perfect synthesis of delicate falsetto, silky-smooth synths and funky guitar licks.

With their debut EP 28 Mansions due for release early next year, it’s looking like 2015 could mark the start of even bigger things for Flower Drums.

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SEQUENCE: Klo

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Klo, a fresh electronic duo out of Melbourne, are kinda a big deal. They’ve had a litany of press, been shot by the right photographers and contacted by major labels the world over. Their debut single, ‘Make Me Wonder’, set the ball rolling, even drawing them attention from BBC Radio One’s Zane Lowe.

This is no small feat for cousins Simon Lam and Chloe Kaul, who recently released their EP, Cusp—and it’s largely thanks to the mothers who brought them together in the first place. For this electronic duo, playdates have given way to rehearsals in Simon’s home studio, which we were lucky enough to be invited to.

Located in Melbourne’s sandbelt, Simon’s shack, tucked behind his parents’ house, is something of an enigma in a region renowned for Alex Perry-laden housewives, Liz Hurley cameos and lads.

Kaul’s voice is also an enigma of sorts, sharing a lineage with the likes of Yukimi Nagano (Little Dragon) and Martha Brown (Banoffee)—artists who have demonstrably shifted R&B vocals into new contexts.

One of the most striking things about Klo is Kaul’s vibrato. It really does hit you like a train. Klo’s minimalist electronic palate aids this to a degree, but even on less vocally oriented tracks like ‘False Calls’ Kaul deploys an understated range with precision.

Their influences are more or less a melange, spanning Fantasia and James Blake to early cuts by the Streets.

Lam’s studies in audio engineering are readily apparent in the EP’s production. The intricacy of Kaul’s layered vocal parts is in no small part thanks to Lam’s experimentation, which you may have previously heard in his work with I’lls.

Next time you chuck on the velveteen textures of ‘Make Me Wonder’, please pay your respects to Mama Lam and Mama Kaul.

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LOOK: Paradise Music Festival 2014

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Photography by Bec Capp & Ed Gorwell

A friend described Paradise to me as a combination of his three favourite things: Lake Mountain, clubbing, hot chicks. That aside, shooting Paradise Music Festival was a photographer’s wet dream. The best aspect of the festival was the landscape, and the local bands and artists who filled the giant mountain clearing with some great tunes. The toboggan run turned amphitheatre is surrounded by dead white snow gums from the 2009 bush fires. Despite the stark reminder, it’s a dramatically beautiful setting. Compared to larger local festivals, the humbler crowd numbers meant for ample lounging during the day, and elbow space in the crowd at night. Festival creature comforts were all there; flushing toilets, hot showers (!), good coffee, lentils for dinner and a three level indoor ‘club’ inside a ski lodge.

Femi, Klo and Rat and Co played leisurely daytime sets, while Young Franco and Oscar Key Sung were first night standouts. I think most who attended would agree that arranging I’lls, Kirin J Callinan, Total Giovanni and Kirkis‘ back-to-back sets on Saturday night was curation goodness. Retreating indoors after midnight for an eight hour dance was fun and was a great way to beat the cold temperatures at night. Otologic and Harold closing Clubland to the backdrop of the sun rising over the mountains was more of a good thing that any dank city basement could afford. It may only be in it’s second year, but Paradise did live up to its name.

 

 

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MAP December 2014

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Melbourne garage rockers ScotDrakula are the Australian submission for this month’s Music Alliance Pact, the excellent ‘Shazon’ featuring alongside tracks from around the world – from Denmark to the Dominican Republic.

Check out all 17 entries below, and keep your eyes peeled for Robbie’s Mapcast, coming soon to Soundcloud.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 17-track compilation through Dropbox here.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Pablo Dacal y Fer Isella – Los Caminos

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Singer-songwriter Pablo Dacal (MAP February 2009) invited fellow musician and friend Fer Isella to perform a concert together. In return, Isella proposed that they record an album. After years of conversations they finally got together, then the two artists visited Ulises Conti (MAP March 2009) at his Buenos Aires studio and invited him to produce the album. Right there, the newly-form trio recorded piano, vocals and other arrangements. The resulting album is called Los Caminos and here’s the self-titled first single.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
ScotDrakula – Shazon

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Steeped in a love for fuzz and 60s rock’n’roll, Melbourne trio ScotDrakula transcend the novelty of their name with songs so catchy they make Gangnam Style look about as appealing as week-old haggis. The band has just released their debut album and it’s drowning in two/three-minute garage super-soakers. Shazon is irresistibly charming, enough to convert the stalest individual to a headbangin’ conqueror of the dancefloor.

CANADA: Ride The Tempo
LYON – Cut Me Loose

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Cut Me Loose is the latest track from Toronto’s Lauren Malyon aka LYON. It’s a difficult one to get out of your head once you listen to it, like the girl next door you can’t forget.

Hear the full list after the jump:

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