Wild Nothing 's Nowhere single from last year was an obvious tribute to the Go-Betweens . Australia's Dick Diver have done one better. An entire album that could be construed as a tribute to that great band. The Melbourne quartet is the primary band of Rupert Edwards and Al McKay. They get help from the moonlighting Steph Hughs ( Boomgates ) and Al Montfort ( Lower Plenty, The UV Race, Total Control and Straightjacket Nation ). All four members contribute songs to the record which provides some variety, but for the [...]
Free Time Biography: Free Time formed in the summer of 2012 around Melbourne luminary songwriter Dion Nania (Panel of Judges). After moving to New York in 2011, Nania kicked around for a while, played some lead guitar with fellow Melbourne transplants, Scott and Charlene's Wedding, then helped out the Twerps, playing bass on a national tour. Shortly thereafter, he began writing new songs with the intent of putting a new band together, eventually enlisting the support of Adrienne Humblet on bass, Jonah Maurer on guitar, and Michael Mimoun on drums. Filling out Nania's jangly, sometimes heartbreaking pop, [...]
Visit Indie Shuffle to download. Sounds like: Real Estate, Twerps, Smith Westerns Song: Smile - Born Again [download here ] What's so good? As cheesy as [...]
Here's a brand new Free Time song we've been looking forward to sharing, and it's taken from the band's forthcoming self-titled debut on Underwater Peoples. It's a free, laid back track that's just what we need for an emerging spring. ... Continue reading
Pop lovers who love melodic dissonance (aka jangle-pop) on vinyl rejoice. The fine folks at the Melbourne based Chapter Music are set to release the Stevens eponymous six song EP. In case you missed last year's Finest-Kiss-Melbourne-Extravag anza , the Stevens are pure pop brilliance smack dab in the middle of that current brilliant Melbourne pop scene. The band self-released the EP last year on on homemade cassettes, CD's and downloads, but now it's about to get released as a seven-inch single. That's not all, the band are putting the finishing touches on an [...]
(Words/grovels by Mel Tan) Festival reviews. Generally a good place to describe the weather in hourly increments, tweet-debate the best burger van based on the number of guys with sleeve tatts and flat caps standing in line, maybe say some nice comments about some bands. Like every other media outlet covering this festival this year, I would have liked to wring out some nice prose describing every set in such detail so that anyone who who didn't get along could have heard how awesome Real Estate were, smelt the sweat seeping from the abundance [...]
Long have we supported the good folks over at Chapter Music in Australia, who brought us the great music of Twerps and The Crayon Fields . One of their lesser-known acts has really been making huge leaps and bounds, as far as popularity goes: Dick Diver . The group is about to release their new record Calendar Days from the label in March, and we've got one of those new tracks for you. [...]
Here's the lilting, endearingly wry new single from Australia's Dick Diver , taken from the group's forthcoming LP Calendar Days . Fans of their like-minded Melbourne homies + labelmates Twerps will find plenty to love in " Water Damage ," a lovely, understated little jangle-pop gem that evokes a bittersweet yearning, managing to remain sunny/hopeful and pensive at once. Calendar Days is due in March on Chapter Music .
A festival that has become so renowned tickets are impossible to buy even from scalpers. It was my first time at Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre and I was about to get a crash course on how to have the weekend of my life. There were only good things to be said about the festival as we headed there and although the queues were long, hot and uncomfortable, we were greeted with Red Bull fairies handing out refreshments in the line. The ticket swiping was all done very quick and we were on the dusty path to our campsite in [...]
Ok, so here it is. my favourite 10 tracks of 2012. I think I'll let the music do the talking instead of me crapping on about how each track made my year. All I will say though is the criteria I had for this list It had to be a track I kept on coming [...]
For the rest of the year, we'll be spotlighting our KEXP DJs Top Albums of 2012 . You can see what our listeners voted for as their Top Albums of 2012 here . None of these albums are on that list. The Sea & Cake at KEXP, 11/03/12 // photo credit: Janice Headley Janice's 2012 Top Ten Albums As I've mentioned in previous years , I'm not a DJ here at KEXP -- I work behind-the-scenes in the Programming Department, [...]
This is the first official UK release for Melbourne band Twerps. They make chiming, charming indiepop in which you hear the sound of the Go-Betweens, The Clean and Real Estate. ‘Work It Out’, a litany of relationship complaints, is all upbeat swaying rhythms and strumming guitars while ‘Recall’ is bright and sparkly, although it’s about the singer finding the name of a one-night stand so he can officially dump her. Despite the darker lyrical matter, the music is gloriously uplifting jangle-pop.
BOOMGATES are quite simply a great band. Composed of a bunch of Melbournian friends, the five piece just want to hang out, write songs and play gigs. So they do. They aren't just any regular band though, they're a super group, respectively. Made up of members from Eddy Current Suppression Ring , Dick Diver , Twerps and other great projects, Boomgates are a serious cluster of musicians who really just seem to know what they're doing. Their music has been described by their label - Bedroom Suck Records - as [...]
11. Kelley Stoltz - Caroline ( Les Disques Steak ) How many songs have been written about Caroline? Who knows? Kelley Stoltz adds one more to the list, but instead of being about Caroline it's about all the songs that have been written about Caroline. It's kind of like looking into a mirror reflecting a mirror with a great pop song for the soundtrack. Put it on repeat for optimum effect. [...]
In 2012, The Orchard’s large catalog grew way larger, thanks to mergers with IODA and IRIS. To manage the influx, we put all of the new tunes onto a 50TB external hard drive, stuck the USBs into our left ears, and swallowed 168 hours-worth of “5 Hour Energy.” When we ...
Our year end coverage begins with the three chiefs over at the ATH offices reveling in what was an incredible year in Austin, musically speaking. Tons of rad bands blew us away with their live sets, and, well, there were just tons of bands. I think we did more show coverage this year than in previous years, but as always, the great thing about our site is diversity. We're also linking back to our full reviews and photos of some of these nights, so you can get more of a feel of our thoughts, not to mention, checking out Brian's [...]
As part of Chapter Music ’s 20th Birthday celebration, a double vinyl compilation has been released featuring Minimum Chips , Bum Creek , Pikelet , Twerps and today’s specialty… Crayon Fields . 'So Do I' has a heavy eighties feel to it, maybe it’s the pipe organs, the tree bells or the fact that you can see the montage of overlapping pictures of close ups of their faces, cliff faces and the ocean… Either way, Crayon Fields have such a nice vibe to them that you just [...]
Chapter Music's 20th anniversary show in Melbourne, as part of Melbourne Music Week. Pictures by Alan Weedon. This show and the Sydney event last night were total love fests. Great artists embraced by a visionary label, started by Guy Blackman in 1992 and joined later by Ben O’Connor in 1995; Chapter Music is one of Australia’s longest running independent labels. Highly regarded for nurturing unique talent, Chapter has reaffirmed its importance by releasing the 20 Big Ones compilation to mark their anniversary. Consisting of a double vinyl compilation of 20 tracks from the Chapter archives, featuring unreleased tracks from Twerps, Crayon [...]
Photo by G. Video by MTV Hive. Weird Vibes As you all know, my life is filled with fun, excitement, art, rock & roll, celebrities and experiences that are at times too bizarre to be true, and yet, I have no reason to lie (plus I have proof). That's why I started carrying a camera around with me. One of the most awesome things to happen to me in 2012 was getting a call from MTV Hive to host their CMJ-themed episode of "Weird Vibes!" For [...]
Man, what a great day with two great announcements. The first announcement is that are friends over at Chapter Music in Australia are celebrating their 20th anniversary. It's a great feat for any label, let alone a small label offering across the sea; they've been making huge waves in the States with acts like Twerps and Dick Diver . The second announcement comes with the release of 20 Big Ones , a compilation celebrating the anniversary. I'm stoked because it features this new song from [...]
the finest kiss
Treble in Trouble
indie shuffle
Audio Milk
Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Austin Town Hall
Gorilla Vs. Bear
Stoney Roads
me, and all my friends
KEXP Blog
SoundsXP
Purple Sneakers
The Daily Rind
According to G
Watch The Lonely Island rap through mid-life crises in “Diaper Money” video
MVSCLES- Sweet n Sour
The National
No Title
