Tagged By folk

LISTEN: Seagull – ‘Written Word’

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It was raining on the beach yet our Austrian visitors still decided to swim naked. On the drive home, we listened to Seagull’s new album Ocean From Above. Through the car’s air conditioner, I could smell that someone was burning off in the distance. As we crossed over the West Gate, I tried to place Seagull’s sound. There’s a little bit of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy in there, a little bit of Sleep Decade, of Elliot Smith. As the album progressed I often felt as if I was listening to a darker version of Low; a haunting melody slowly (always slowly!), shifting with that typical Kishore Ryan (Kid Sam, Otouto) minimalist-style drumming.

Yet, Written Word – and the album as a whole – strays into ambience much more than it ever does into darkness, or dissonance. Take the vocal track on WW, about two minutes in that cuts and loops over itself after Christopher Bolton mutters: “Soon enough, I’ll be on medication”.  And to say that WW is dark is to discredit the odd bits of humour that surface in Seagull’s lyrics. Bolton pauses as he sings “The end of our connection / came with The Age…. of civilisation”, as if to play on the image of society’s severed connections arriving with the morning paper.

As we reached home, unpacked the esky and the blankets, it struck me that Seagull doesn’t necessarily remind me of a particular band, but a mood. There’s a certain sadness inherent in their sound, in those delicate guitars and sparse melody lines. Yet Seagull don’t offer colossal, cathartic finishes. Rather, their form of sadness hangs around in an anti-climactic, repressed manner. And, as the opening seconds of WW started up, as Bolton’s voice began to waver, the only thing I can think of were naked Austrians running into the water, a long drive home and the smell of burning wood.

 

Listen to Ocean From Above in full here.

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LISTEN: The Phoncurves – ‘Heartstrings’

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Sometimes when I get sent press releases that describe a band as the ‘darlings; of a particular scene, I like to set my laptop on fire and throw it out the window.

Luckily, in the case of excellent Brisbane two-piece The Phoncurves, I restrained myself and listened to the song. The duo’s latest single ‘Heartstrings’ is actually pretty sweet. Abbie Roberts and Naomi Burrell’s voices are the most immediately striking; their harmonies are open and resonant – filling up all the space in what appears to be a seemingly simple acoustic pop song. But multiple listens reveal a depth in their songwriting. This is a track that swings and moves in waves; it’s well-structured and smart while still being soft on the surface….

‘Heartstrings’ is the first single off The Phoncurves second EP to be released early next year. Catch the duo heading out on these dates in December:

Thur, 5 December – SYDNEY @ Factory Floor

Fri, 6 December – MELBOURNE @ Victoria Hotel

Sat, 7 December – BRISBANE @ South Side Tea Room

 

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INTRODUCING: Little May

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Little May

I love Australian folk music. I’m in Canada right now, and being away from home has made me appreciate the distinct sound of our local singer/songwriters on a whole new level. Right now, it’s Sydney outfit Little May who are helping with the queasy feeling of homesickness.

Little May’s debut single ‘Boardwalks’ is such a wonderful package of everything you love about folk music: soft, weathered vocals, a driving rhythmic section and lyrics that offer something a bit more. It’s difficult not to fall in love with the trio as they send you down a pensive spiral with their words and sounds. Taking inspiration from Fleetwood Mac and Local Natives, the trio features Liz Drummond, Hannah Field and Annie Hamilton. While the trio are relatively new, having formed only last year. They may be a folk outfit, but they are also undoubtedly resonating.

The three piece have handpicked certain elements to create their own fusion of percussion-heavy, guitar-driven folk. Coupled together with some intriguing storytelling, they’re doing it right.

 

‘Hide’ is the second taste of Little May’s upcoming EP, due in November.

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PREMIERE: Woody Pitney – ‘You Can Stay’

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woody-pitney

Woody Pitney is a 22 year old singer from Melbourne. His debut EP garnered traction after hitting top spot on the JJJ Unearthed charts and he’s previously notched up some great support slots for Vance Joy and Big Scary. Did I mention he has a great beard? (Apparently a necessary commodity for being a successful artist nowadays…see here, here.)

The video for Pitney’s new track ‘You Can Stay’ plays out like a Smith Journal reader’s wet dream. Pitney is seen doing ‘manly’ stuff, like harpooning trout, lying in dirt and splashing his chiseled beard/good looking face with mineral water from some free-flowing stream. There’s also a great shot of Woody and his band playing instruments made out of driftwood and looking really stoked, despite the obvious splinters. Whattaguy.

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‘You Can Stay’ is taken from Pitney’s forthcoming EP Afterdust, which will be released on the 30th of September.

 

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INTRODUCING: Jimmy Tait

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Apologies to any Sarah Blasko fans out there, but acoustic guitar-slinging songstresses have never really been my thing. You know, the ones who write weepy ballads about their ‘man’ or, possibly worse, peppy empowerment jigs about moving on. The same thing goes for the boys, I guess. Hopefully one day John Butler’s dreadlocks will strangle (or at least gag) him.

For some reason, these lightweight, folksy ballads irk me more when they come from women. That probably makes me sound like some sort of iron-trousered, neo-Thatcherite anti-feminist, but hear me out. In an industry that’s still mostly male-dominated, when a woman gets herself out there I just don’t want to see her ‘femininity’ come off so darn cliched.

What I do want to see are post-punk hellraisers like Savages, fall-down drunks resurrected like Cat Power, psychedelic mums like Beaches‘ Alison Bolger, digression-prone eccentrics like The Orbweavers‘ Marita Dyson. Or jaded cynics like Jimmy Tait front woman, Sara Retallick.

‘All my friends/Sitting on the fence/They’ll never rush to my defence,’ Retallick sighs on new single, ‘All My Friends’. She sounds a bit mournful, but mostly just resigned. She’s been referred to as ‘Australian gothic’, but the result is less gauche than that might lead you to believe.
The new song creeps up on you, accruing some satisfying little touches as it goes along – like the bend in the main guitar riff and the low voice that shadows Retallick’s lead. With the swaying choral ensemble of the last few bars, it’s probably the most melodically beautiful thing Jimmy Tait has produced so far.

Retallick has been performing as Jimmy Tait since 2008. The band’s current incarnation features members of the Gin Club, The Orphanage and The Wintership. People like to point to the influence of slowcore on Retallick’s songwriting, and there are intimations here of Low’s Things We Lost in the Fire, but her music also calls to mind the deep drawl and simple riffs of Smog.

That alt-country link rings true to some extent – Jimmy Tait was named after Retallick’s drover grandfather James Tait, and the upcoming album was recorded in her home town of Katunga, a blip on the map of North-East Victoria. The record is due out some time in September. If it lives up to the promise of ‘All My Friends’, Australia’s got a new singer/songwriter worth getting behind.

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WATCH: Fraser A. Gorman – ‘Dark Eyes’

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Fraser A Gorman

Running through a field singing a love song as starched up as a wool cravat; Fraser A Gorman certainly isn’t the first guy to put it on video. That being said, for the good-guy niceties of everybody’s favourite Dylan doppleganger, Fraser’s always been modest than he deserves to be.

Fraser’s better known around these parts for bringing his alt-country jams around town. If haircut, likeability and ability to cut a slick tune are the first factors of charisma to win over the masses, then the dude wins at all three.

‘Dark Eyes’ is a shift away from Fraser’s usual pastoral tones; the chords are looser, the country jaunts traded in for sunnier strums and a giant hug of a horn section past the bridge. His band Big Harvest usually takes a front seat in the live side of things, but here it sounds like they’re satisfied just to saunter along for the ride. It could be the way those strings fill out against Fraser’s honest tone, or perhaps the cross-point that stands some place between melancholia and optimism – but there’s something that is unequivocally very Lucksmiths about this track.

I should also mention the duo from Arthur & Angus have done a brilliant job on this video. The clip was filmed in one take, on a property of an 1820’s mansion near Ballarat in Victoria. Also during filming, four prized race horses managed to escape from the paddock. (The video should probably go viral, but is available for your viewing here.)

There’s a real endearing thing about getting a guy to run 3km in a suit, singing then have him plunging into a cold dam without breaking out the ventolin. Another great one from Fraser that’ll keep me grinning like an idiot for a while.

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Catch Fraser A. Gorman on Wednesdays in July at The Spotted Mallard in Brunswick.
3rd July – with Stu Mackenzie (King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard)
10th July – with Bob Harrow (Immigrant Union)
17th July – with Mike Skinner (Mallee Songs)
24th July – with Tim Neilson (The Death Rattles)
31st July – with Forever Son

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Amanda King – ‘Yellow Velvet Mountain’

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Amanda King – ‘Yellow Velvet Mountain’ (mp3)

Amanda King has just released her new EP Rapids. ‘Yellow Velvet Mountain’ is the first track on the release and I was quite taken by her gentle vocals. Having been captivated by First Aid Kit earlier this year, the “produced in Stockholm” line in King’s bio, peaked my interest. King has a similar folky story telling ability but there is a lot less country in this release. Instead its a winding journey of guitar amplification and feedback looped into an atmosphere that allows King to use a tone that describes vast lanscapes and disparate climate. Really nice cover art by Danilo Stankovic adds additional charm to this fine release.

Follow her page here – http://www.facebook.com/amandakingmusic

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