Philippe
Filed under: Radio Eps | Tags: Cat Black, Circle, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Emma Russack, Mark Moldre, Miniature Submarines, Mukaizake, Music Vs Physics, Rowland S Howard, The Snowdroppers, Yes I'm Leaving
Phew! 2 shows in 2 days. This is what happens when you don’t pre plan these things and decide to record programs in the early rise of the morning sun. But I shall not bore you with that…
This week was an exciting show in that we much newness despite it being a quite time in music circles. We kicked off the show with the newest stuff from Eddy Current Suppression as well as expansive lilting stuff from Mukaizake who have a mini album of sorts called Unknown Knowns, and new stuff from former Lola Flash singer Emma Russack. Speaking of circling around, we had 3 of the 5 members of Circle come in and chat as well as play a live tune in the studio. They also have a mini album out that has a Christmas theme called Xmas Omas preceding a full release next year.
Enjoy!
The Band Next Door #23 – December 16th
Playlist
(Artist – Track)
Eddy Current Suppression Ring – Anxiety
Yes I’m Leaving – Silk
Mukaizake – Slack Bees
Mark Moldre – Troubled Genius
Rowland S Howard – Ave Maria
Emma Russack – By The Shore
Circle – Old Holidays (Live)
Circle – Henry James
Cat Black – Love Is Gone
Music Vs Physics – Desperate Was The Colour Of My True Love’s Eyes
Miniature Submarines – The Little Room Under The Stairs
The Snowdroppers – Rosemary
Filed under: Radio Eps | Tags: Arrows, Drawn From Bees, Goodnight Owl, Lions At Your Door, Royal Chant, The Church, The Winter People
Hello ya’ll!
Yes I know I have neglected this little blog for a bit. It was basically due to a little festival in Meredith in Victoria. Fun was had, live music was consumed, and I came back slightly sunburnt and worse for wear.
Today I do have the latest radio show for you from last week, and hopefully the show from this week will be up in a day or so. There was a lot of interviewing going on in this show, The Church’s Marty Wilson-Piper joined me to chat about his busy year doing what seems hundreds of solo recordings. The Church also had been busy releasing 4 records in the past year. The latest one being Operetta, an EP which also has a track which came from the Untitled #23 record earlier this year. There was also a collaboration kind of thing with science fiction writer Jeff VanderMeer called Shriek Excerpts From The Soundtrack as well as the reissue of the 2006 internet only release Back With Two Beasts. That’s some releasing schedule going on right there.
But also in addition to that, there is also an interview I had with both Julia, who was organising a gig at The Annandale Hotel raising some funds for local community charity, Youth Off The Streets. Lions At Your Door were one of the bands playing at said gig and Dirk from the band also joined in for the chat as well about the gig as well as how music inspires young people deal with their problems.
The Band Next Door #22 – December 10th
Playlist
(Artist – Group)
Royal Chant – Sea Chanty
Drawn From Bees – Long Tooth Setting Sun
The Church – Operetta
The Church – Deadman’s Hand
Arrows – We Only Speak On Weekends
Goodnight Owl – Coles Boy
The Winter People – Two’s Company
Lions At Your Door – Shake It
Yes I’m Leaving – ‘Silk’
(From a self released cassette, out now)
How about them cassettes, hey? It’s a music format which I think which has gone by the wayside over the years and somewhat forgotten until recently. There’s been a somewhat of a resurgence of new music being released on the medium. One of these interesting gems of bands like Yes I’m Leaving have embraced this slow (?) resurgence and have released a cassette with some music that could sound something huge on your little 80’s boombox.
Onto the music though – can’t say much else except this is raw, rough and rowdy. Mess your hair up to this folks.
The Bedroom Philosopher – ‘Party In My Head’
The Bedroom Philosopher – ‘Jesus On Big Brother’
(Both from the album Brown And Orange)
Please stop me now if I may be getting slightly to astray with this blog’s core values, but I needed a laugh, and Justin Hamilton is the ticket. I really need to be in a good mood for this trip down south and I find refuge from comedic musicians. It’s that uncommon – music and comedy work well with each other with many stand ups. I mean off the top of my head I can think of The 12th Man, Austen Tayshus, Chris Franklin, Paul McDermott and The Scared Weird Little Guys. Without sounding too putdownable, there’s an element of pandering to the blokey audience a little too much to my liking. Hmmm maybe not McDermott so much, but I’m sure you know what I mean.
In any case, what I wanted to say was that out of this country’s small collection of musician-comedians, the most under appreciated of them all would most probably be this guy – Justin Heazlewood. Aka The Bedroom Philosopher. He’s a bit nerdy, but quirky enough to love. Oh, and 2 women-friends I know want to be his groupie, so at least he has that going for him!
The Bedroom Philosopher – ‘I’m So Postmodern’
Free Choice – ‘Candy Flip NYE’
Something totally weird today in the form of new project for Jarod Ziadic from Fabulous Diamonds, although the music making in this form really has been around for a few years now. Atmospherics is the name of the game here, and I like that kind of thing in music at times, hence the reason of me featuring it today. Light and airy, you can’t think of anything else other than floating in a “Lucy-In-The-Sky-With-Diamonds” style. It’s never obtrusive, and simple with a hint of impro, although seeing their live show (where they go under the name “Free Choice Duo” for some reason) suggest it really isn’t. Something to really zone out to today on the blog. Please ensure your head doesn’t fall on the keyboard though.
I Like Cats – ‘Compass’
I Like Cats – ‘George Clooney’
Quirky name. Quirky name of tune dedicated to some-might-say hunky actor. Amusing antidote of how everyone likes said actor. Quirky song structure (it seemed an age for any vocal to come in). Unusual line up of instruments. A cello in a band that’s not necessarily post rock / ambient / classical? It all works someway and it makes a stirring pot of jarring melodies and sounds. I don’t know – it seems to be a welcome sound to these ears after a seemingly drab day listening to podcasts of dreary American songs.
Before I go insane with congruential tangents that don’t make sense, I do want to mention that one of the reasons these tracks sound so fresh is that it really isn’t conventional. I Like Cats don’t like to expand too much lyrically, keeping words to a minimum, and allow the flowing chords and noise to tell the story instead. It makes me have hope that creativity and originality is still happening in music in general.
Little Scout – ‘Paper Aeroplanes’
(From the EP Different In The Distance. Out now independently)
I’ve been a little too Sydney-Melbourne centric with this blog lately and I needed to rectify that soon. So hopefully in the next month or so, I’ll try and feature more bands outside the two main centres of music in Australia. I thought I’d start with Little Scout, a twinkler of a band from out of Brisbane. I say that because all their songs shine with a lovely lilting indie popness that simply flash towards you and in a moment it’s gone. Songs like’Paper Aeroplanes’ give the visualisation that the members of Little Scout spend humongous amounts of time in fields of flowering dandy’s while putting Different In The Distance together. It gives the music a certain lovely chamber feel that relaxes you. In the danger of trying to sound like a cheap advertisement you’ll see on TV, all I think that needs to be said is this: Little Scout – it’s music that makes you feel good.
Because Of Ghosts – ‘Canadia’
Because Of Ghosts – ‘Dreaming Is Essential’
(Both from the 2008 album This Culture Of Background Noise. Out through Feral Media)
I was listening to some old CD’s on shuffle the other day (yes! CD’s!) and came across this little gem of a band. Because Of Ghosts surely don’t hide that what they do is post-rock. This band also has led me onto discover many, many more quality instrumental bands of that post-rock mould over on this side of the world as well in which there are plentiful.
What they do slightly differently is that they explore further into the darkness with their instrumentation. The Culture Of Background Noise has an eerie feel throughout, very reminiscent of all the Kranky / Constellation crew in a way. But at the same time not sounding to rich with orchestras and the like. It very much is the three players for most of the album, and for that we get a slight rawness surrounding the sound.
Because Of Ghosts – ‘You Fool’ video
Filed under: Radio Eps | Tags: Captain Kickarse And The Awesomes, Emily Barker And The Red Clay Hero, Magic Dirt, Radiant City, Richard In Your Mind, Rowland S Howard, Super Wild Horses, Telafonica, The Blackeyed Susans, Underground Lovers
On the show today, new music from Telafonica and Richard In Your Mind. Also on the show we heard a chat I had with Glenn Bennie, founding member and guitarist from the legendary Underground Lovers. They were a band much lauded in clubs around Australia in the 90’s whose members have gone onto collaborating in various forms of musical endeavours in this decade.
Rubber Records have re-released all the band’s output on that came out on that label all those years in a digital format only. In addition to that, the band have decided to reform for a few gigs in Melbourne and Sydney as well as play at this years Homebake festival, which I’m sure will reinvigorate the nostalgia once again in many-a-fan.
The Band Next Door #21 – December 3rd 2009
Playlist
(Artist – Group)
Richard In Your Mind – Make It Chill
Captain Kickarse And The Awesomes - Doubletank
Magic Dirt Feat. Rowland S. Howard – Summer High
Emily Barker And The Red Clay Hero – Despite The Snow
Super Wild Horses – On The Corner
Underground Lovers – Cold Feeling
Underground Lovers – All Strung Out
Telafonica – The Quest For Love Aboard The Belafonte
Radiant City – Urban Drill
Blackeyed Susans – To Skin A Man
Telafonica – ‘The Quest For Love Aboard The Belafonte’ Download
Telafonica – ‘Time To Move The Nest’
(Both from the album Love On The Second Star released on 4-4-2 Music)
I am in the mood at the moment for a more spaced out sound lately. Australia has an abundance of bands that fit into that description, encompassing many genres. One of them being Kyu which I have raved about a bit already in the past week. Telafonica though are of a much more happier, quirky bent. There is a slight hint of melodic electronic pop with a vibe that all but a bit weird to comprehend at times. The twisty kind of feel evident on Love On The Second Star makes you think about the music that you’re listening to. Somewhat a journey of sorts, but such a strange one that you can’t really explain it in visual form.
The dudes from Telafonica do the bloggy thing quite regularly for those who want to be kept abrest of their activities. They have a few more free downloads as well as for you including a whole heap of remixes of ‘The Quest For Love Aboard The Belafonte’.
