"We like the dark and moody vibe" Electronic music lovers around the world seem eager for new material from established bands like LCD Soundsystem and Justice. It is in fact a well loved local band (who initially grabbed the attention of aforementioned Justice) leading the way and exciting their audience with new single This New Technology, leaked online last month and quickly pushing them up the chart as the most blogged artist on reputable music blog aggregate, The Hype Machine. Midnight Juggernauts have withdrawn from their dance anthem beats, suggesting a move towards their psychedelic [...]
"We like the dark and moody vibe" Electronic music lovers around the world seem eager for new material from established bands like LCD Soundsystem and Justice. It is in fact a well loved local band (who initially grabbed the attention of aforementioned Justice) leading the way and exciting their audience with new single This New Technology, leaked online last month and quickly pushing them up the chart as the most blogged artist on reputable music blog aggregate, The Hype Machine. Midnight Juggernauts have withdrawn from their dance anthem beats, suggesting a move towards their psychedelic [...]
Michael Moore has always been fat, preachy and so left-wing he has no room for even-handed discussion with "corporate fat cats." But he was once somewhat charming. He was a voice for the little guy (no matter how incompetent they were). In his early days on The Awful Truth I found Michael Bore actually quite funny and engaging. He had a small team, who knew their stuff (and would even be allowed a bit of camera time), to assist in his white collar crime busting investigations. It was cute. His people were SMART. Moore, being a director, [...]
Missy Elliott - Teary Eyed Who would've thought that Missy Elliott had a soft side (apart from her supple rear-end)? I have only recently discovered what some might affectionately term "ghetto music." I loooove this power woman. Usually a fun hard-edge lady, with words in her songs like "I'm a pain in your rectum, I am that bitch y'all slept on," Missy here is more like early "retiree" Lauryn Hill. Which is good considering that the joy of Lauryn-Ms-get-over-yourself's world now lies in God, money and her children, not music as Sister Act part 2 would [...]
"I figured one instrument per song would be the way to go." When I ask BRIAN CAMPEAU whether or not his Canadian roots are to account for the imagery used in the video for the beautiful song Montreal and for the artwork of new album Mostly Winter Sometimes Spring, my naivety shows like an American in Paris. After Brian reveals that the director of the video was essentially trying to swindle him into giving money he never had, he adds, "on the outset I think [the director] put a lot of stereotypes in, with the idea [...]
The best video I've seen in ages. Nothing cooler than music which both disturbs and compels you to dirty dance...
Gossip Girl is not, as you might predict from the title, a "chick flick" tv series. It's similar to The OC in that it's about wealthy upper class privileged teenagers with problems, and in that both series were/are created by Josh Schwartz. I watched The OC fairly avidly but I was never a big fan. I found that often issues would be closed off in a matter of episodes (before any full ramifications could be explored), leaving little room for character development. I've always liked Schwartz's "No heroes, no villains" approach to the creation of his [...]
David E. Sugar comes off the back of the dance life in London. He writes his own music, regularly produces and is doing one of those "song a week" internet things I always find a bit tacky... But he's got a good breadth of music, from chilled symphonic to egdey rock. And sometimes just mental electro trance. Good for spinning in circles. Essentially the best part about this excitable nugget is that he can write a good melody, rather than just relying on beats and experimentation with sound. I first heard David E. Sugar on the [...]
Image taken from here Dan Black - Wonder Buy Dan Black falls into the category of blogged hype and accessible pop but he hits something long abandoned. There's a very nineties feel to the whole album, Un, as we get a bit of R n' B, dance and acoustic electronica. Starting out using the drum beat from Rhianna's Umbrella, Dan Black shows he's really at his best when he's doing his own stuff, like in Wonder. Chad VanGaalen - Sing [...]
What iiiiissss it, you ask? It's the MIGHTY MAX CASTLE! Oh man, I loved Mighty Max when I was a wee-tuck! I had been all jealous of my sister's Polly Pocket and then Bluebird Toys FINALLY decided boys don't just like trucks. (I always preferred Polly Pocket to trucks.) I've gone for some old nineties songs this weekend winddown time! Enjoy the memory lane trip. Primitive Radio Gods - Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in my Hands This one comes off one of my well loved and [...]
"I try to share my time with other people's music" No one really knows what YUKSEK, also known as Pierre-Alexandre Busson, means when he says "Now I try to walk and talk, I need the extraball, it's purely physical" in the song Extraball, but no one seems to mind. Mostly because Yuksek has an amazing ability to produce music which spans a multitude of genres. This depth of appreciation may stem from his music roots, working at a Conservatoire as a pianist till the age of 17 and eventuating into a world of electro [...]
"This [indie] approach requires you to have some control of your own destiny and helps you discover what you can and can't do." In the inner suburbs of Melbourne stands a neon sign of a girl with a skipping rope. If this girl, fondly known as Little Audrey, could speak, oh the history she could share. This sign, when lit at night, shows Little Audrey skipping. But over the years the skipping girl (who once stood above a vinegar factory) has deteriorated and is in desperate need of restoration. This sign provided Mark Lang and his [...]
I haven't heard anything from Adelaide band Special Patrol in aaaages! They caught my attention (and the attention of many) with the song Changing Emily. They've toured with the likes of Ben Kweller, The Mountain Goats and Turin Breaks, and had plenty of air play around the nation. They're set to release a new album, The Stranger's Dozen, August 14. Given the samples released (see below) it looks like these guys have hit their niche, rounding out their catchy melodies with selective instrumentation. Note the subtle string arrangement on New Year's Eve, and the children's choir [...]
Image taken from here The Middle East - The Darkest Side It's nice to come across beautiful songs via international blogs and find out they're Australian. Soft guitar strumming, heartfelt music and lyrics, female backed vocals... I have been missing Angus and Julia Stone so this is a warm welcome. A couple of their other songs have come off very shoegaze. Hopefully they'll stick more closely with the sound of this song. Now if they could just release an album and do some more national touring! [...]
When Clare drove away from her funeral home, bawling her eyes out to Sia's Breathe Me as a montage of every character's death revealed "Everything. Everyone. Everywhere. Ends" in the final episode of Six Feet Under, you probably weren't thinking "Wow, I wonder what Alan Ball (creator/writer) will make us feel depressed about next?" Well this time he has taken a different tack. Taking the trashy but fun Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris, Ball has developed a slick and engaging series, True Blood. What makes it so good? Well there's Ball's signature feel all over it (compared [...]
Ahh The Paper Scissors... It is refreshing to see you still don't take yourselves too seriously. Especially compared to bands like Empire of the Sun (whose video clips seem laugh-at-wank funny yet boring at the same time). For those unfamiliar, this New South Wales band are probably best known for their bird cawing groove We Don't Walk. ("We fly!") They're a bit silly but in a fun way, they sound somewhat like a combination between Modest Mouse, TV on the Radio and Beck. They have just released a new EP and are currently touring the golden [...]
Peter Rosewarne Gone is the softly-softly folkstress who first released Headway in 2004. BERTIE BLACKMAN stepped away from folk to rock in 2006, and this time has gone dark with her latest heavily electronic album, Secrets and Lies. "I wrote a lot about dreams and nightmares I've been having," Bertie reveals. "There are bits in the record about family and friendships I've had. It's really personal. Not directly about certain people but about these things that have impacted on my life. I didn't want to hold back in any way and I like the challenge of [...]
Thanks to blogger's repetitive deletion of my posts without notification or warning I have now moved to greener pastures! Follow me here http://ahasbeenthatneverwas.wo rdpress.com Feed yourself
Peter Rosewarne How does any band start? Perhaps it begins with a group of youths mellowing in the lounge room, listening to Pink Floyd and feeling a “connection,” deciding it would be their music that would really change the world. It wouldn’t matter that they were drunk or possibly high, it would “feel” important. Hancock Basement’s formation was humbler, ballsier and less bullshitty. Lead singer and guitarist Nick Craven tells me that he met Nick Beresford-Wylie while lining up to register at the Australian National University in their hometown, Canberra. The duo worked well together (with [...]
Up in the Sky # 1 (1998) - Tracey Moffat Mother’s Day is this weekend: don’t forget! I actually remembered to buy a gift to send up to my Mum, but forgot the wrapping paper etc. And does anyone else think cards are kinda redundant now? Well, I guess I’ll find out if my Mum agrees… I think I’m getting sick with cold and flu. I won’t know if I am or not for a while. This is how winter goes for me. Still, it’s very satisfying bundling yourself up on the [...]
A Has Been That Never Was
Song : Porcelain Raft : “Think of the Ocean”
Frau – Tarian Sari (stream)
“Is Burial actually Four Tet?” hoax resurfaces online
The Postal Service – “A Tattered Line of String”
