May 2012
8 posts
2 tags
Interview: Ned Collette
I chat to Ned Collette about new album 2 and his upcoming Australian tour.
Ned Collette Interview on Everguide
3 tags
Interview: Def Wish Cast's Pablo Chiacchio (Die C)...
I recently had a chat to Pablo Chiacchio (Die C) from Def Wish Crew. I don’t listen to a lot of Aussie hip hop but it was interesting hearing their story. I was amazed at just how long they’ve been around. They supported the Beastie Boys back in the day. How cool is that?
I wrote this feature based on my chat with Pablo:...
5 tags
Maths & Magic presents: Elephant Eyes, Owls of the...
If you live in Melbourne, this might be of interest to you.
Maths & Magic is holding its first showcase event at the The Grace Darling Hotel and you’re invited. The alliteration loving boutique management and publicity company, who’ve been kicking around for almost a year and a half, are showcasing their fantastic roster of local artists. Expect performances from soulful...
tumblrbot asked: WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU ARE IN A BAD MOOD?
1 tag
3 tags
RIP MCA
Woke up to the sad news today that Adam Yauch, better known as MCA of the Beastie Boys, has passed away at age 47. They’re saying he’d been battling cancer since being diagnosed in 2009.
I saw the Beastie Boys at my first ever Big Day Out back in 2005. They headlined the festival and were absolutely amazing. I remember the crowd going crazy and huge spotlights following around each...
3 tags
Get A Grip
With a name like Death Grips, you could be forgiven for thinking we were dealing with just another emo/metal/hardcore cookie cutter band from the US, right? Well, truth is, you couldn’t be more wrong.
Death Grips are in fact one of the most exciting outfits I’ve heard in a long time. Bursting out of Sacramento, California, they’re a forward-thinking trio who wield an uncompromising concoction of...
April 2012
7 posts
3 tags
Tupac V 2.0
You’ve probably already seen this but here it is again. It’s both really creepy and really cool.
RIP Tupac
9 tags
Guide To Most Unlikely Forays Into Hip Hop
Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon is getting together a new hip hop project with Minneapolis rapper Astronautalis along with Bon Iver drummer S. Carey and producer Ryan Olson. Betcha didn’t see that one coming. Sure, he’s collaborated with Yeezy, but this is still one artistic curveball hurled straight outta left field.
This change of direction got me thinking about musicians who’ve tried their...
12 tags
Splendour in the Grass 2012 lineup coming soon
Okay. It’s time to get excited. The full 2012 Splendour in the Grass lineup is dropping next Thursday morning. Yippee!
If I had a time machine, I would jump in it now and let you all know exactly who is playing - but unfortunately I don’t. So instead I’ve peered into my crystal ball and compiled a list of a few bands and artists I think (and hope) will be making the trek to...
2 tags
3 tags
Future Visions
If Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four had a soundtrack, it would be Grimes’ Visions. Her latest record is futuristic, dark, brooding but with a warm underbelly of heartfelt, glitch-y dream pop. Grimes – aka Claire Boucher – hurls a plethora of influences into the record in a Jackson Pollock spray of sounds and ideas, ranging from the sporadic artificial twitch of Aphex Twin through to the sensual...
3 tags
Introducing: Charli XCX
Imagine if the Cure’s Robert Smith and the Eurythmics’ Annie Lennox met in a secluded nightspot, hit it off and then spent a lust-fuelled evening together. And, imagine if nine months later they conceived a child, and that child grew up nestled closely to the musical bosom of these two iconic songwriters, soaking up both their goth aesthetic and ear for a well placed melody. Though it’s a only a...
6 tags
Introducing: Secret Hands
Happy Easter. Along with all the chocolate eggs I’m sure you’re enjoying right now, I have one more treat to share with you: the music of Secret Hands.
If you like atmospheric indie/pop that comes tugging on your heartstrings, then you’re bound to love Secret Hands - the project of multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and producer Nuno Cordeiro.
Released in March this year, his debut EP How features...
March 2012
6 posts
6 tags
Fan Collectives
So it’s Sunday and I’m relaxing at home. The weather is miserable outside and I’m about to recline on the couch and finish Nineteen Eighty-four. It’s pretty awesome. You should check it out. In the meantime, here’s a guide I’ve put together about fan collectives. Have a read and let me know your favourites or if there’s any obvious ones I’ve missed.
...
4 tags
Introducing: Twinsy
If you’re a fan of triple j, then you’ve probably heard a song called `Water Bombs’ by Twinsy receiving an absolute flogging lately, and rightly so, it’s one damn catchy Tropicana-inspired little dance gem. But wait, exactly “who the fuck are Twinsy?” I hear you say. Well my friends, let me explain.
Twinsy are your new favourite indie/dance/mash-up supergroup. They’re what happens when Guy...
2 tags
Interview: My Disco's Ben Andrews
My Disco’s music is not for everyone. The trio’s sprawling noise-rock, full of droning, repetitive guitars and sparse vocals is probably a challenge too far for those who like their music served easy, safe, and undemanding. Originally formed in Melbourne, My Disco have released a string of EPs and three albums, the most recent being 2010’s Little Joy. The lads spent a decent chunk of 2011...
2 tags
DZ Deathrays `No Sleep'
Stupid name. Great band.
Can’t stop spinning this.
2 tags
Gold Plains Sixxx, Meredith Supernatural...
Saturday
After pitching tents and filling eskies, a large crowd gathered in the amphitheatre to watch scruffy Ballarat lads Hunting Grounds kick off proceedings with their energetic garage rock. Formerly known as Howl, the guys powered through new material that really showed how much they’ve matured as songwriters. In high school they were shrieky, Strokes wannabees – now they’re falsetto...
14 tags
Soundwave Festival, Melbourne Showgrounds, March 2
photo: Corey Taylor of Slipknot by Masteryodes
Last Friday morning, things looked a little different at Melbourne’s Flinders Street Station. Instead of the regular flurry of businessmen in suits and school children racing in opposite directions, the place was awash in a sea of black t-shirts, facial hair and tattoos. A buzz of excitement radiated from groups of shaggy haired teens as they...
February 2012
6 posts
4 tags
Interview with Bad Religion's Brooks Wackerman
“My parents still come out to Bad Religion shows and my dad is 82-years-old’’ – Brooks Wackerman
Last weekend I interviewed Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman in the lead up to their appearance at Soundwave festival. This interview was rescheduled 3 or 4 times. Truth be told, I didn’t really know a great deal about Bad Religion beforehand. I had to do a lot of research for this...
1 tag
1 tag
1 tag
SBTRKT, Prince Bandroom, Feb 9
Live review of SBTRKT at Prince Bandroom, St Kilda, Feb 9
7 tags
In the crowd
The Horrors @ St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, Melbourne, Feb 4
The Horrors @ The Forum, Melbourne, Feb 3
OFWGKTA @ Big Day Out, Melbourne, Jan 29
Röyksopp @ Big Day Out, Melbourne, Jan 29
3 tags
Big Day Out, Melbourne, Flemington Racecourse, Jan...
photo: Ian Laidlaw
This year I was given the opportunity to review the Big Day Out for Everguide. It was easily the biggest event (pun intended) that I’ve had the chance to cover. And I went as part of the media with guest tickets and all. I was shitting myself before it but I was also excited too. I wanted to do a good job. I ended up writing the following review:
Big Day Out: The Bands,...
January 2012
4 posts
2 tags
Washed Out
Ernest Greene - aka Washed Out – makes music that sounds exactly like his stage name suggests: it’s wispy, dreamy and free flowing, so it should come as little surprise that it’s been tagged as part of the so called `chillwave’ movement. Greene started working on his brand of ambient synthpop a couple of years ago and got his first real break when songs he recorded in his own bedroom studio were...
2 tags
Interview with Rainbow Serpent festival's Tim...
Ever been to the Rainbow Serpent Festival in country Victoria?
Yes? No? Is there a few hands raised out there in internet land? I really can’t be sure. I, personally, have never been to the festival but it’s one that has always fascinated me. It’s kind of tucked away in the middle of nowhere and always features hundreds of artists that I’ve never heard of. I’ve...
1 tag
Prince Rama
Prince Rama are the real deal when it comes to psychedelia. Don’t believe me? Well, for starters, the band formed when they left the confines of an isolated Hare Krishna farm near Florida in the summer of 2007. Armed with free spirits, goat-skin drums and prayer bells, the trio headed out into the world and quickly made a name for themselves with their live shows blurring the boundaries between...
6 tags
My top albums of 2011
Hello again.
I hope you all had an awesome holiday break and got plenty of rest/drank heaps NYE/fucked a complete stranger/embarrassed yourself in front of your family at Christmas dinner by turning up on acid… well, maybe I speak for myself with those last few.
So it’s 2012. Yay? Not much has happened yet. Jay Z and Beyoncé had a baby girl. That’s pretty cool I suppose. But Blue Ivy Carter is a...
December 2011
6 posts
1 tag
I heart Battles
I heart Battles. You should too.
1 tag
Red Berry Plum interview
Red Berry Plum are a seven-piece out of Melbourne who write wistful folk pop. It’s quite lovely home-grown stuff that’s perfect for chilling out to during warm summer days. You can head over to their Facebook page to stream a couple of their songs, `Moon Owl’ and `Seaweed and a Feather’. I recently got the chance to have a chat to their vocalist/guitarist Pete Baxter ahead of their...
1 tag
Introducing: Oscar & Martin
Melbourne duo Oscar & Martin prove that sometimes less is more. Emerging from the leftovers of indie pop band Psuche, Martin King and Oscar V Slorach-Thorn’s minimalist pop drifts along on a sea of delicate crooning, bleeping keyboards and driving percussion. It’s honest. It’s stripped-back. It’s a bit like James Blake or Panda Bear and is bound to come tugging on your heartstrings. Their...
Watch
1 tag
Introducing: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
Let’s be honest, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have one of the most ridiculous names buzzing around the local music scene at the moment. It’s the kind of name that when you mention them to people who haven’t heard the band, chances are you’ll be greeted with bemused enquires of, `king what and the whatty what? Come again, please?’ But rest assured, these seven lads won’t be a well kept...
1 tag
21st Meredith Music Festival
I’m sun burnt, my ears are ringing, my clothes are covered in glitter… but I had the time of my life at Aunty Meredith’s 21st birthday bash.
Two friends and colleagues - Tim Fisher and Bianca Faux Ami - and I gathered our thoughts together for this collective review of the festival.
Meredith Music Festival 2011, Meredith, Dec 9 - 11 review on Everguide.
The best thing that...
November 2011
6 posts
3 tags
Interview with Jae Laffer of the Panics
“Rain on the Humming Wire comes from me thinking about this place in the hills of Perth where I grew up. After there were storms, the whole place would be buzzing but there was no one around to hear it. All the powerlines would send out this buzzing sound. So I thought it would be interesting, with a record that is about looking back a lot of the time, to have its title taken from the...
5 tags
Flaming Lips, The Palace, Melbourne, Nov 17
photo: Ian Laidlaw
Seeing the Flaming Lips live is a very special experience. One that will probably change your perspective on live music forever. It’s not just a rock n’ roll gig - it’s a bonding experience between band and audience that’s complete with copious amounts of lighthearted silliness and eye-popping visuals.
Please see them live before you die.
Or,...
2 tags
Kashmere Club - Blood Runs Dry
My boys in Kashmere Club have a new video out for their song `Blood Runs Dry’. Wrap your eyes around it. Pretty impressive stuff, ey? Looks very professional. Watching it, you do get the feeling they would have been shaking the sand out for a good couple of hours afterwards- but you’ve got to go the distance for art. Expect to see it pop up on Rage in the next couple of weeks.
And...
2 tags
Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
I had M83’s `Midnight City’ stuck in my head all day. Literally from dawn until dusk. On repeat. So when I finished work today the first thing I did was call my local record store and asked what time they closed. I then raced over and picked up a copy of their new album, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.
I haven’t been this excited about an album in a long time, and this...
1 tag
Sam Carmody and The Warning Birds interview
It’s been a productive year for Sam Carmody and The Warning Birds. Emerging from Perth in Western Australia, the catalyst for the indie folk five-piece was sparked when singer and songwriter Sam Carmody booked some studio time in late 2010 to record his own solo material. Armed with six songs, Carmody’s initial desire to record a minimalist acoustic collection faded when he enlisted the help of...
October 2011
5 posts
1 tag
happy Halloween
It’s not really a big thing in Australia, but get in the Halloween spirit with these ghoulish music videos before you go trick or treating tonight or just getting drunk at some house party somewhere.
* busting out some Thriller dance moves is optional but certainly encouraged *
3 tags
Ball Park Music, East Brunswick Club, Oct 21
photo: Amy Freshwater Photography
I wandered along to the East Brunswick Club last Friday to catch Ball Park Music. I’ve never been there before so I was a little surprised when I discovered it was such a small venue. The floors are sticky but the place has a nice welcoming atmosphere with its modestly sized stage and pub next door.
I wrote this review for Everguide.com.au. Check it.
...
1 tag
Introducing: Northeast Party House
Northeast Party House are six lads out of Melbourne. I saw them for the first time last Friday when they supported Brisbane’s Ball Park Music at the East Brunswick Club. They’re pretty fucking sick. They sound like Foals sitting down and having a picnic with the glossy beats of Passion Pit. Just straight up sugary pop goodness. Check them out.
Download their tune `Dusk’ here.
2 tags
Interview with Jebediah guitarist Chris Daymond
Okay, so not everything went my way when I interviewed Chris Daymond from Perth rockers Jebediah last Thursday evening. I was prepared as usual. I had done my research on the band, had my questions organised and had my recording stuff in place. Chris called my home phone a little after 5 pm. We talked for a few minutes and then the line went silent. I panicked. He called back a few minutes...
2 tags
HEALTH - Goth Star
I love this song at the moment. It sounds like the soundtrack to some dark sci-fi from the ’80s was thrown in the washing machine with a slab of modern dream pop akin to Washed Out or Beach House. It’s actually a cover of a Pictureplane song (sorry Pictureplane, but I still like HEALTH’s better).
You can download HEALTH - Goth Star here.
September 2011
7 posts
9 tags
Melbourne Parklife 2011
It’s the Tuesday after Melbourne Parklife and my brain is still scattered. I haven’t slept properly the last few nights and my ears are still ringing from the music. I’m piecing the day together in my mind, and from what I can remember, I had a good time.
My friends and I always drink way too much before going to music festivals. The whole morning consists of breakfast and beers. You want to be...
2 tags
Interview with Ball Park Music's Sam Cromack
I interviewed Sam Cromack from Brisbane indie rockers Ball Park Music last Friday. I always get really nervous before interviews, but once we got chatting it was ok. Turns out we have a couple of things in common: we both like Radiohead and Richard Dawkins. Sam also didn’t laugh at me when I couldn’t work out how to hang up the speakerphone at the end of the interview, and for that, I award him...