My kind of dance music. Heavy slap bass (almost the only thing needed to sell a song to me), punk-funk vibe, darker club undertones. 'Everything Starts With An A' put it best: They do not come from New York, they certainly are not pigs but they do seem to funk! This Edinburgh 8 piece came out from nowhere in 1986 to appear on Concrete Productions (400 Blows owned label) Funky Alternatives compilation album, released one superb EP (this) then disappeared just as quickly. Think funky slap bass, wah wah guitar, [...]
This is a band that truly means alot to me. A (surprisingly) relatively unknown dubby post-punk band from the UK; The Lines. Falling somewhere between the minimalist funk of A Certain Ratio, the angular Spartan punk of Wire or early Cure, and the atmospheric art rock of fellow coulda-beens the Sound, the Lines existed between 1978 and 1983, releasing five singles, one EP, and two LPs. The group apparently never toured and, more obviously, never took off, disappearing off the grid to all but the most avid collectors. But when those singles and EPs were compiled last year as [...]
Shriekback is not an easy band to classify. They borrowed heavily from funk but had a very different agenda; their music (in their later years) was more suited for contemplation than for parties. They combined synthesizers and drum machines with throbbing bass lines and unorthodox vocals to evoke a blurred primordial world. The first Shriekback release was the six-song EP Tench, which appeared on the iconic English label 'Y Records' in 1982. It was followed in 1983 by the LP Care, also on 'Y', which featured the quasi-hit "Lined Up," the song that put Shriekback on the map for [...]
Truth be told, I don't have one single cousin in my family. Weird I know, but I still get by in life with relative ease. However, for one Friday night this week I shall have a cousin, well, everyone in that basement will have a cousin and his name will be Roy. I don't care if you have never heard of this new estranged cousin but trust me, you are going to love him. Sure, he is a bit of a party boy who actually successfully co-ran the now defunct 'Pop Your Funk' monthly party with Brennan Green in NYC... [...]
Mildlife is a name that you'll hear alot of in the second half of 2011. A four piece afro-kraut electronica collective, their rhythms are the kind you want to get lost in a trance to in a dark corner of the room with no-one watching. The boys are launching their debut single 'Milk & Wool' at The Toff In Town in Melbourne on Thursday the 9th of June with some awesome supports; dubby post-punk wonder bros Absolute Boys , and dirge-y, sharp motherfuckers Cocks Arquette . These bands need your attention. [...]
My Bloody Valentine are my favourite band. Always will be. The only person to ever improve an MBV track is Andrew Weatherall with his classic remix of 'Soon' in 1990. The only track that feels like it was meant to be mixed into/out of that song, is 'Aruca'. Thrashed out in 1992 by US band Medicine on their debut album Shot Forth Self Living (also released on Creation in the UK; Def American in the US), 'Aruca' sears and burns your ears before launching into one of the best drum rolls in early shoegaze outside of 'Soon'. Listen. [...]
Released back in 1979, Mouzon Electric Band (pet project of Alphonse Mouzon) had a one-off boogie funk hit with 'Everybody Get Down', with the equally as classic 'I Still Love You' on the 123 flip. The original has a deep, low roll that only picks up speed from the percussion that really brings this one to life. MP3: Mouzon Electric Band - Everybody Get Down Cant find much info on Eddie Craig, and whether he's one and the same as Eddie C . Perhaps Patch can fill us [...]
Crash Course In Science were a post punk band formed in 1979 in Philadelphia. They avoided the sounds of conventional instrumentation by using toy instruments and kitchen appliances to augment the distorted guitar, drums and synthesised beats. Championed by local radio station WXPN DJ Lee Paris they recorded the single "Cakes In The Home" (with the B-side containing "Kitchen Motors" and "Mechanical Breakdown") for his Go Go label. This track comes off their 1981 release on Press records, 'Signals From Pier Thirteen' (also featuring the cult classic 'Flying Turns', heard on about every cold synth mixtape in the [...]
Welcome to the new server, fellow Wavers. New surprises are on the way very soon. Some African inflected deep house from the US, released in '93 on cult label Citi Records. The 'Close My Eyes' EP was the only thing Grey Area properly released, but it's a classic. MP3: Grey Area - Close My Eyes Another cult track from another enigmatic American act, this time its some soft and plump lazer-funk from U.S. Import. The B-Side to thrash it out, released 1984 on Orchard records. [...]
Woah, that's a move I don't want to do again... Apologies for the lack of posts, the wackiness with the website and all that jazz. We have just shifted servers (fingers crossed its not slower [feedback appreciated]) and in the process have left behind a lot of the older mp32s that are now in a virtual void in the interwebs galaxies. We will however re-upload mp3s from the more recent blog posts very shortly. It should be noted that from now on, mp32s that are held on the server will have a shelf-life of 2 months before being [...]
Coming up at the end of April is one of the most exciting and eclectic events announced in recent years, The Sugar Mountain Festival . Dig the release: The Sugar Mountain Festival will provide a welcome boost to Melbourne's thriving arts scene on Sunday 30 April 2011. Taking place over multiple locations in Melbourne's city centre, including The Forum Theatre, No Vacancy Gallery at Federation Square, and The Atrium, Sugar Mountain will celebrate the diverse creative forms of music and visual art, with a focus on the natural meeting points between. Curated [...]
Probably best known as the drummer with German Prog act Grobschnitt, he has also been an innovative sound explorer since the mid-60's, and a talented multi-instrumentalist. As early as 1967, Eroc had developed his own methods of multi-tracking and phasing effects, with vocals and instruments, and he explored other creative streams of music. In 1970 he recorded the revolutionary echo vocal collage work "Horrorgoll" for his solo debut, very much like a piece of Dadaist sound-poetry (yet with a rock aesthetic). His solo work includes a wild mix of synthesizer music, space-rock, krautrock, schlager and folk. This track comes [...]
'The Night He Came Home EP' is the latest release by Melbourne local Francis Inferno Orchestra and his debut on the international Sleazy Beats Recordings , home to, among others, Waves favs Eddie C and Tornado Wallace. After a handfull of releases on labels the likes of Dikso, Wolf Music and Under The Shade, Francis Inferno Orchestra is destined for greatness. The EP is full of down tempo deep house and disco grooves, punctuated by the track 'Rush Back'. I have to say though, this one I dig right up until the vocals slide in and [...]
One of the most exciting bands to be rumbling away in the Melbourne underground music scene are No Zu . Australian label/genre coiner New Weird Australia put it best with their write up on the band upon their collaboration and release together: NO ZU first came to the attention of the label with their debut release, the 'Graffiti EP' in 2009, displaying early indications of their wild, 'heat beat' sounds, where delay-drenched trumpet meets worldly percussion & squalling synths jam with unashamedly plastic funk-dub bass-lines. This fusion has led to NO ZU being [...]
One of the few American bands to base and style themselves on England's burgeoning early 90s Shoegaze scene, the Drop Nineteens , though they had the talent, never really broke the sound in a big way in the US, like it had Europe. This is by no means a discredit, as their second album 'Delaware' is an amazing example of a cross between Sonic Youth and 'Isn't Anything' era My Bloody Valentine. One foot in grunge, one foot in Shoegaze. This track and, Kick The Tragedy, is a sprawling 9 minute epic with a gorgeous, nostalgic centerpiece [...]
Across to Belgium! 1000 ohm or 1000 Ω was pretty much the biggest dance success that Belgian 80's New Wave scene saw. I don't usually like New Wave, and really know nothing about the 'Belgian 80's New Wave Scene' but the beat is contagious and you find yourself singing the chorus while you make your morning instant. All that really matters right? MP3: 1000 OHM - A.G.N.E.S
After living in a post-fire bedroom for the past month, the smell of the water from the fire brigade is making me feel one of two things. 1, A little sick and 2, depressed. So of course this would lead me to listening to cold wave. Martin Dupont drew mostly from post punk and Goth (of course). With a typical echo Goth beat, dark wave synth fuzz and vocals vibrating up and down sit just perfectly. I am a little scared however that all this dark/cold/goth wave is creeping to close to industial techo. Im hoping tastes don't evolve to this, Its a thin line... ie. [...]
Continuing on from my Das Moth/Cutters post , I would like to introduce Nile Delta aka Joel Dickson. Well, actually, I may have already blogged some Delta remixes (not origanals) up on Waves in the past - check here and here . He is also part of Voltage with Cutters Records boss/Cut Copy's own Dan Whitford, which was previously blogged here. . Back in the day, Joel was also one half of Riot in Belgium... Finally, after a long wait, Joel has just brought out his debut EP "Channel/All [...]
Since our previous guest, Das Moth (as fantastically interviewed in depth here ) mentioned a few of his influences, I thought I would just touch on one key artist. Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) began as a 'one off' band, with Haruomi Hosono taking Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto on board as session musicians for a cover album of Martin Denny's Firecracker, which ended up being more popular than expected, exploding the three onto the 70's Japanese electronica scene. Seen as synth pioneers, alongside Kraftwerk etc they produced some gold, and admittedly some awful, dinky shit. This taster [...]
Das Moth is Timothy Sullivan. Ex-rocker (Damn Arms, Gimme Um), nomad (Australia/London/Norway/Japan ), babysitter aka "manny", and of course producer/DJ. His first 123 'Moon/Wrong' EP under the Das Moth moniker made its debut not so long ago - released on the Cutters Records label. I've heard the vinyl is practically sold out everywhere but the digital (which contains some great remixes from the likes of Jacques Renault, Kink & Neville Watson, Sidwho?, DJ Maar Dexpistols and last (but not least) Brisbane's Rio Lobotomy) is widely available on the internets. To purchase the digital, choose your path: [...]
Waves at Night
Bison - Quill
Neutral Milk Hotel- Aeroplane Over the Sea
Shinichi Osawa – Big Beach Mix 2012
