Mum Smokes

I'm spending my Sunday with the incredible new double album from Melbourne indie quartet Mum Smokes. Easy/House Music is as close to perfect as anything else released this year, overflowing with brainy-pop and smooth jazzy-indie. Artist Mark Rodda also created the cover art and the band is Jonathan Michell from The Ancients, Karl Scullin of KES, Julian Patterson of Minimum Chips and Justin Fuller of ZOND are Mum Smokes and they launch their double CD in Melbourne on June 26 at The John Curtin Bandroom in Carlton with supports Fabulous Diamonds & White Woods. More dates and tunes on their myspace page and they release through Sensory Projects. Check out their video below which was also created by Mark Rodda.

Dick Diver

I saw this band, Dick Diver, play a few weeks ago at the Curtin Bandroom in Carlton. The bassplayer danced around and wore a wifebeater and a cowboy hat. Steph, who shares Home and Hosed presenting duties on Triple J is their drummer. She used to drum for Screamfeeder and Children Collide. The two young dudes out front share vocals and trade slippery guitar lines. They are pretty much fantastic.

They describe their sound as Tropical German-Pop Soul. Are they being funny for their myspace page? No. Its true. I can imagine them playing behind the wall, with nice trousers and boatshoes, near a wading pool, with an ice-cream van nearby, and sunscreen on, in 1965, supporting The Beatles but kicking their ass. To be fair they actually owe a debt to The Go-Betweens from Brisbane and their peers more than anything. There's also little bits of Pavement and Crow in the mix too.

They are finishing a recording so the best I can offer you to hear is the ace music on Dick Diver's myspace and try to see them when they play with The Middle East and Grand Salvo at the Northcote Social Club on June 13th.

Firekites

Thanks to Zan at Triple J for the tipoff with the video below from Newcaste group Firekites:

Firekites AUTUMN STORY - chalk animation from Yanni Kronenberg on Vimeo.

Firekites full length debut album, The Bowery, is worth owning too and makes for perfect rainy Sunday listening.

Jonathan Boulet

Got the hot tip about this guy, Jonathan Boulet, from Steph at Triple J's Home and Hosed. I can hear why she's a fan - lovely tropical pop-folk in a way similar to something like Vampire Weekend but less preppy, or Ruby Suns but less 'way-out'. Why doesn't everyone know about this guy!? He's from Castle Hill in NSW and has a full debut album available online too. Check his myspace for the tunes and details of the record. You can also download the excellent tune "Community Service Announcement" from RCRDLBL.

Wolf and Cub

The first album for Adelaide outfit Wolf and Cub was one of the more satisfying local debuts of recent times. Vessels, released around two years ago, had an urgent energy and a widescreen sheen that is still present on the followup Science and Sorcery. But with help from Chris Colonna (Bumblebeez) and after some member reshuffling the 'cub seem up for some groovy lo-fi experimentation and deconstruction. "One to The Other" and "The Loosest of Gooses" are the chugging boogie-rockers but opening cut "Seven Sevens" and the closer "Blood" say the most about the overall tone and vibe. There's more space this time, its more open texturally, sometimes more pop corners are explored... and its more vocally adventurous but just as lyrically obtuse. I'm going to stick with it. Remote Control are handling the Wolf and Cub release which sees the album drop into stores this Saturday 18th of April.

Music journalism in Australia

Mess and Noise have a well considered and passionate article online from Andrew Ramadge on the state of music journalism and music criticism in Australia. It takes as its stepping off point an article in Rolling Stone by Everett True (which I'm yet to read) and dissects the predicaments facing street press and the value of cultivating and supporting online music sites/blogs with an Australian bent:

"...the web has, or will very soon, become the major source of news for Australians. This month the Communications and Media Authority reported that the internet had surpassed newspapers, TV and radio as the nation's most trusted source of information. One of the biggest challenges that Australian music journalists face is ensuring that local music history doesn't get lost online – but it isn't the street press, or Rolling Stone, who are going to tackle it."

Read the full article and the ensuing discussion on Mess and Noise.

Crayon Fields at Laneway

Piss-smelling inner-city streets, the stinking-hot weather and a ridiculous inability to get into the smaller stages detracted from what was one of the better festival lineups of the summer - Melbourne's now annual St Jerome's Laneway Festival.

Those who didn't cough up the $99 for a ticket had the opportunity to partake in the spirit of the fest at two FREE stages - one in the QV complex (see photo below) showcasing acoustic music. Tobias Cummings, Emily Ulman and Grand Salvo being highlights here...



...and around the corner Holly Throsby, Luluc, Oh Mercy (below) and more were on the Library steps, providing a more upbeat electrified experience.



As the sun slipped behind nearby buildings the pink-skinned crowd at this stage lounged around on the grass drinking smuggled cans of Carlton, smoked ciggies that were banned in the main event and allowed themselves to be wooed by the dreamy pop of Geoff O'Connor's group The Crayon Fields.


Crayon Fields - not at Laneway. Pic by Snipergirl.

The local four piece are back in action after a small hiatus, with a new 7" in tow...



"Mirror Ball" from their forthcoming, but delayed longplayer All the Pleasures in the World, is getting plenty of radio play on Triple R and Triple J, and they sound more exciting live than ever before. Adding cello and violin to their show at Laneway, they bopped their way through some older classics and a swag of fresh material. Geoff was at his bashful best and the rest of the dudes were rock solid in the clammy heat. "We should have gone into the library" he quiped shyly at one point "they'd have air conditioning. And books and computers". Nerdly banter rules.

Pitchfork approve of the new tunes too, and you can read all about them and download Mirror Ball for free. Guy Blackman, who often sits in with Geoff in his other project Sly Hats, is releasing the album through Chapter Music, hopefully sometime soon this year. But you can get the 7" now or grab their excellent first LP "Animal Bells".

The band play again tomorrow night, February 3rd, at Billboards supporting Stereolab from the UK before skipping over the Tasman to play in Auckland and Wainuiomata. Then they're off to Europe in April and May. Dates, as they stand, are on the Crayon Fields myspace page.

The Middle East

A band from Townsville, Queensland, was the support last night for Bill Callahan at the Thornbury Theatre. They are called The Middle East, and three of their members came to town and wooed us with their lush, folk harmonies and dreamy anthem-indie tunesmithery. Just two guys and a girl with keys, acoustic, electric, glock and makeshift drums. Perfect for the venue, and the seated audience seemed very responsive to this relatively unknown entity.

The Middle East are releasing music independently, and also feature on the Spunk Records singles club. You can hear some of it on their myspace and even buy the record there or on the Who The Hell blog.

They play the East Brunswick Club on February 26th with Leader Cheetah. Nice gig!

Leader Cheetah

A couple of years ago, when I presented a radio program called Local and/or General on Triple R, I got sent some great tunes by an Adelaide indie group called Pharoahs. I also saw them play in Melbourne and was suitably impressed by their swagger and repertoire. They've since called it a day (although they still exist on myspace), but from the ashes now grows Leader Cheetah, a band quickly gathering the kind of hype and hubbub that the Pharoahs could never quite attain.

The sound is, not too surprisingly given current trends, more 70s folk-rock inspired, shifting away from Pharoah's indie-disco abrasiveness. Less angles, more widescreen perhaps. Leader Cheetah have supported Dinosaur Jr and Blonde Redhead in their very short time together and are featuring on the upcoming Laneway Festival too. Their debut was recorded by legendary US producer Kramer, who worked on all of Galaxie 500's classic albums. Its called 'The Sunspot Letters' and is released in February through Spunk Records.

I'm actually quite excited by this band, and while we wait for the album, here's Leader Cheetah's clip for "Blood Lines":

Compelling Music Writing

With the cricket burbling away in the background, I'm devouring some quite fine music writing. The first article, by Ben Gook, is entitled "Teh Interwebs: Best Mixtape Ever?" on newmatilda.com:

"People have been fretfully holding a stethoscope to the chest of the Australian music industry ever since its birth. But the prognosis has been fundamentally altered in recent years, as technology-led changes to the consumption of music on the internet have ripped the heart out of the CD market and opened up many different paths to hearing music. One provisional — or should that be provincial? — result of this is that Australian artists can navigate the music industry more easily: DIY production has been supplanted by online tools. Another immediate result is that local musicians are less isolated." LINK

And I've also been bashing my way through an excellent article by a guy called Nick Sylvester, dissecting the "artist" known as Girltalk. From "GIRL TALK, THE MASHUP DETONATOR":

"If Girl Talk has done anything, his dead-end project is a reminder of how fiercely dominant Western pop music has become. This is a capitulation, an audio essay even, of the last 25 years of American pop music: loop-based, interchangeable parts that, turns out, are more similar than maybe we'd like to admit. The "isn't it funny how 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' sounds like that Boston song" moment is taken to its darkest, veil-lifted extreme. That we're back in the Tin Pan Alley, and all pop music might actually be the same after all. That the difference is truly manufactured, that the concerns of each song are not interesting. Taking cues from the Grand Wizard Theodor: pop music is not art, but sound design." LINK

Girl Talk is coming to Australia at the end of the month, playing the Laneway Festivals.

Thanks to Tim Shiel (Triple R announcer and the artist known as Faux Pas) for the tip off about the article above. Funnily enough he's also quoted in the top article too!

Podcast - Episode 6

After another long hiatus, I've finally got a new podcast for you to hear. Its the usual combo of upbeat, scuzzy indie and pastoral folk, with a focus on new, excellent Australian music. Comments welcome!

everythingatonce_006.mp3

The details of the tracks are as follows:

Wolf and Cub - Seven Sevens
Jack Ladder - Best Kept Secret
Deerhunter - Saved By Old Times (Session Version)
St Helens - Get Up
Seagull - Dust Storm
J Tillman - Evans and Falls

Please visit the artists' websites and if you dig their tunes maybe give them some of that stuff clogging up yr wallet. Jack Ladder and St Helens both play shows in the coming week too, so check local gig guides for details. I can't recommend them highly enough.

ARIA washup

Dancefloor-maestros The Presets (above) and popmoppet Gabriella Cilmi were the big winners at the 22nd annual ARIA Awards last night in Sydney. The Presets haul of three awards (including Best Group and Album of the Year) adds to the two already garnered for production and artwork on Apocalypso.

The results for Australia's two-bit version of the Grammys held little surprises overall, with Cilmi and The Presets being hotly tipped to dominate. In fact we ran a tipping contest at our place last night over a couple of bottles of red, and I think there was only two awards where the four of us* didn't pick a winner. There was disappointment though that Eddie Current Suppression Ring didn't get a gong for Best Rock album, but frankly they never stood a chance against the other nominees, with the award going to The Living End.

Cut Copy and Midnight Juggernauts also missed out, and we thought Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu would pick up more than just the one award for Best Independent Release. It is interesting to note though that most nominees and winners, especially those for the big awards, either now live overseas or have had significant success outside Australia.

All the news and results are up on the ARIA Awards news site.

* disclaimer: one of the people in the room had actually voted in the awards, so, a good tipping result may have been assured!

Smudge and The Zebras

Melbourne fans of classic Australian jangle/power-pop should get down to The Empress on Friday October 17th for this ace double-header: Smudge and The Zebras!

Smudge (pictured above) formed in Sydney in the very early '90s, and played around fairly consistently until around 2000. They put out a tonne of singles and EPS, plus four albums, but in spite of this strong output frontman Tom Morgan gained more fame as a songwriting collaborator with Evan Dando (The Lemonheads). Smudge's first two albums Manilo and You, Me, Carpark, Now are both excellent, although probably sound somewhat dated now. You can hear some tracks on their myspace page. Smudge also do Saturday at The Empress, and then play again towards the end of the year in Sydney at The Annandale. Rumours is they're playing some new songs too.



Originally hailing from Brisbane, The Zebras (pictured above) now call Melbourne home and have just completed a successful tour of Europe. They're also toting a brand new 5 track EP - New Ways of Risking Our Lives - and have added Lachlan Franklin (frontman for The Smallgoods) to the lineup.

Buy the new EP at Lost And Lonesome and check out some of The Zebra's sunshine-drenched indie-pop on myspace.

ATP Mt Buller Australia - Lineup

The first lineup announcement and details are in for All Tomorrow's Parties in Australia. Here's the guff for the Mt Buller event:

In Victoria, All Tomorrow's Parties is to be held over two days - January 9th & 10th - in the remote yet easily accessible location of Mt. Buller Ski Resort, some 3 hours drive from Melbourne City. Punters will have the option to either stay on the mountain in a selection of ski-chalets, lodges or hotels, or down the mountain in nearby Mansfield. Both on-site and off-site fans alike will have the opportunity to enjoy all that Buller offers: a fully serviced township complete with bars, cafes, restaurants, walking trails, bike trails, ski-lifts and a gymnasium plus ATP's trademark rock 'n' roll trivia, cinema and 30+ bands performing over 3 stages.

The Lineup for Mt. Buller so far includes:

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
The Saints
Spiritualized
Robert Forster
Afrirampo
Bridezilla
Fuck Buttons
Harmonia
James Blood Ulmer
Laughing Clowns
M Gira
Primitive Calculators
Rowland S. Howard
Silver Apples
The Necks
The Stabs

First release tickets for All Tomorrow's Parties, Mt.Buller will be sold as an accommodation/ticket package and are exclusive to those wanting to stay on the mountain. These tickets will guarantee acommodation for each ticket holder and are onsale immediately from www.atpfestival.com only. Tickets ar AU$199 plus booking fee and DO NOT include cost of accomodation.

I'm thinking that the one day Sydney event might be better value and it could be more fun to spend a weekend in the Harbour City.

Incoming

I'll be presenting the Incoming program this Wednesday October 1st, filling in for Richard Moffat. Tune into Triple R on 102.7FM in Melbourne or online from 4pm AEST for the latest Australian music, and maybe even an interview or two!

Tame Impala

Also floating my boat at the moment, and gathering the attention of many switched on radio announcers, is a new band from Perth called Tame Impala. I put them on my recent podcast and they have been added to the bill of the now sold-out Meredith Music Festival in December. They are also spreading their scuzzy 60s psychadelic witchery around the land with Oz rock-royalty You Am I for their album tour, as well as international supports in October for Yeasayer and The Futureheads. Groovy!

Catch You Am I and Tame Impala for the "Lets Be Dreadful" tour here:

Thursday October 16th – Settlers Tavern, Margaret River
Friday October 17th – Fly By Night, Fremantle
Saturday October 18th – Fly By Night, Fremantle
Wednesday October 22nd – Metro Theatre, Sydney
Thursday October 23rd – Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta
Friday October 24th – The Zoo, Brisbane
Saturday October 25th – Sands Tavern, Maroochydore
Saturday November 1st – The Govenor HIndmarsh, Adelaide
Sunday November 2nd – Prince Of Wales, Melbourne
Monday November 3rd – Prince Of Wales, Melbourne
Thursday November 6th – Theatre Royal, Castlemaine
Friday November 7th – Karova Lounge, Ballarat
Saturday November 8th -San Remo, Philip Island
Sunday November 9th – Barwon Heads Hotel, Barwon Heads
Thursday November 13th – ANU Bar, Canberra
Friday November 14th – Wollongong Uni
Saturday November 15th – Cambridge Tavern, Newcastle

Blow your little mind at Tame Impala's myspace! Freak Out! Or check this great remix by Canyons of their tune "Skeleton Tiger"...

The Maple Trail

I love it when I get really into a band, convinced they are from somewhere 'cool' like Brooklyn or San Fransisco or Copenhagen, only to discover they basically are in my backyard. Its what has just happened to me with The Maple Trail, a solo project for Aidan Roberts from Belles Will Ring. Aidan is based in the Blue Mountains, NSW and has just released his debut full length album Dirty Echo Park. On it he weaves classic sunset-glow pop tunes with romantic/nostalgic narratives, perfect for the newly sprung Spring. You can here more on The Maple Trail myspace page.

Thanks to Who The Hell blog for the geographic tip-off! I have been listening to this album for weeks on my mp3 player when i found it at my friend Chris' place while housesitting.

Dirty Echo Park is out through Broken Stone Records.

Clue to Kalo

Fans of psychadelic pop-electronica can rejoice with the release of the new album by Adelaide's Clue To Kalo. Mark Mitchell anc co. have crafted a joyful, technicolour concept album centred around a fictional character, Lily Perdida, with each song being sung by a different figure in Lily's life.

Although we never hear from Lily Perdida herself, Mark told online music site Mess and Noise:

"It was kind of like the idea of a portrait which acknowledged that no portrait of someone is ever going to be accurate. So I thought that a good way to do that is to actually never even hear from the character, never really have any idea about this character, except through all these different perspectives of what this one character is, which essentially is as close as you can really ever get anyway.”

The full article is worth reading, and you can hear the new music from Clue to Kalo's Lily Perdida on myspace. The album is out through Mush Records.

ATP Festival at Mt Buller

My favourite music festival in the world is the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in the UK. The combination of bands curating the often inspiring and esoteric lineup and comfortable self-catering chalet's by the British seaside is a winning combination in my book. And now the franchise is coming to Australia.

ATP's Don't Look Back concert series was well received here earlier this year and now Faster Louder reports that the full festival, curated by Nick Cave (pictured in Grinderman mode above), will be taking place on January 9, 10 and 11 next year. No other acts have been announced.

Fingers crossed we get the kind of experience that New Yorkers will have in just over two weeks time at the My Bloody Valentine curated ATP in the catskills. Check out the lineup!

Best Australian Albums Ever

The results are in from a poll on Mess And Noise to find the Top 50 Australian albums of all time. The top ten ended up being:

01 The Saints - I'm Stranded
02 You Am I - Hourly Daily
03 You Am I - Hi-Fi Way
04 Triffids - Born Sandy Devotional
05 Radio Birdman - Radios Appear
06 Avalanches - Since I Left You
07 The Saints - Eternally Yours
08 Augie March - Sunset Studies
09 The Birthday Party - Junkyard
10 The Dirty Three - Ocean Songs

The full 50 and subsequent discussion is here. The poll came as a comment on the list compiled by The Age newspaper which asked music industry types to pitch their oz top ten. The results for their poll is here, with Midnight Oil's 10-1 leading the list. The full article in The Age is also online.

But my own votes for the Mess and Noise poll were thus:

01 Dirty Three - Ocean Songs
02 You Am I - Hi Fi Way
03 ACDC - TNT
04 The Avalanches - Since I Left You
05 Golden Rough - This Sad Paradise
06 Grand Salvo - 1642-1727
07 Gaslight Radio - hitch on the leaves
08 INXS - Kick
09 Drones - Wait Long By The River...
10 New Buffalo - The Last Beautiful Day

I think the top three are basically interchangeable, and even for someone who presented an Australian music program for 8 years on radio it was tough to pick my ten favourites of "all time".

On You Am I's "Hi Fi Way" which features toward the top of all the final lists, music journalist Ed Nimmervoll has this to say:

It’s still hard to believe how much You Am I accomplished with their epochal second album. Vibrant, even thrilling, in sound, but imbued with melancholic childhood memories and a sense of coming of age that was idiosyncratically Australian, Hi Fi Way set a benchmark that hasn’t been matched since.

True.

I've included INXS on my top 10 because it rules, and it was the first album I ever bought with my own pocketmoney. Also true.