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.

Bon Iver for Australia

photo by angela n

Very excited to hear today that Bon Iver will be touring Australia for the first time this Summer. And he's playing some massive shows - The Forum and The Hi Fi in Melbourne, plus three nights at the Spiegeltent in Sydney. I saw him at ATP in Camber Sands UK earlier this year. His set was without doubt the highlight of that festival and Bon Iver's album "For Emma, Forever Ago" is one of my favourite records of the past year. Tickets for these shows should be on sale now. Check Handsome Tours for details.



And speaking of ATP (All Tomorrows Parties), more artists have been announced for the upcoming event at Mt Buller in January. They include The Reels, Bill Callahan (who also plays the Sydney Festival) and The Dirty Three performing their classic Ocean Songs.

Also announced this week was the 2009 Golden Plains Festival lineup. It takes place on the Meredith site on 7-9 March next year and will feature The Drones, Gary Numan, Luluc, Of Montreal, Black Mountain, Mogwai and You Am I among others. Details on the official site. I've missed out on tickets in the initial ballot, so fingers crossed for the second one!

Well, I Neverever...

Klaxons photo by NRK P3

Modular celebrates its 10th birthday this year with their big, 4 date, cross-state festival Nevereverland. The event last year focused around Daft Punk's Australian tour, and the linup for this years' festival, which takes place in December, has just been announced.

Its an exciting mix of mainly electro/indie types including Klaxons, Hercules and Love Affair, Presets, Ladyhawke, Cut Copy, Tame Impala and Whitest Boy Alive. Controversially it takes place in Melbourne on the same weekend as the now sold out Meredith Music Festival. More details about Nevereverland are on The Vine. Tickets on sale November 7th.

J Tillman

Lucky punters seeing any of the Fleet Foxes UK shows over the next month will have the chance to check out folky bluesman J. Tillman in the support slot.

Joshua Tillman is not only the drummer with Fleet Foxes, but an accomplished singer-songwriter in his own right, ploughing a field similar to Iron and Wine, Nick Drake, Sun Kil Moon and Damien Jurado (who he has also toured with as a drummer). Its sparse, sometimes haunting, at times meloncholy, at others uplifting. There's an authenticity to his approach, a craftsman's ear at work in the production.

Autumn Tone Records are releasing his three albums, which were previously only limited runs, but you'll still have to dig around Australian record stores to find them.

Hear more J Tillman on his myspace page and download some tunes from "Cancer and Delirium" at Yer Bird Records who sell his albums online. His new album "Vacilando Territory Blues" is out in January but available online in a couple of weeks time.

Oh, and tickets for the Fleet Foxes' Melbourne show in January have now sold out, but are still available for the other two gigs in Sydney and Brisbane. Details at Handsome Tours. Fingers crossed we can get J Tillman to do a little sideshow or something while he's down under!

Busy Ned

photo by elspop.

With another Europe/UK trip planned for October, there are now only a few opportunies left to catch prog-indie wonderkid Ned Collette and the band before they wing their way away from us.

I myself haven't seen him since a gig early last year at Monto Water Rats in London where he supported Besnard Lakes and which came at the end of a string of dates with Joanna Newsom. It was probably the best show I'd seen Ned do up until that point. But he now has a more stable band, a great critically acclaimed second record under his belt, and the confidence that comes from having already successfully traveled far from home to flog his wares.

Ned Collette Band play on Friday night at Roxanne Parlour in Melbourne with Deloris and Over The Atlantic (NZ). He'll be solo for a special "in the round" show on August 24 at The Retreat in Brunswick with fellow Melbourne songwriters Lisa Miller and Ross McLennan. Then up to Sydney on August 27th for the Shoot The Player website launch.

UK types can catch him from October 9th onwards. Check his myspace for dates.

Ned Collette's album Future Suture is in stores and worth every penny... he's a video for the tune "The Country With A Smile"...

Dirtbombs vs INXS

THE DIRTBOMBS are slaughtering unsuspecting crowds across Australia at the moment and playing the sensational Golden Plains festival this weekend. I found the incredible video above of them covering 'Need You Tonight' by INXS and almost wept that I wouldn't be back home seeing them. Boo! They also have a new album "We Have You Surrounded" which I'm yet to hear, but the songs online sound promising.

Tour dates are up on The Dirtbombs myspace.

Countdown to Shakey

photo by silversmile from Neil Young's recent Vienna show.

I get to see one of my music heroes on Thursday night when Neil Young plays at the Hammersmith Apollo here in London. He'll be supported by his wife Peggie and he'll do two sets, one of acoustic numbers, then a full rock set. Having seen the recent setlists from this tour up on Sugar Mountain i can only cross my entire body that he whips out Cortez The Killer and Like A Hurricane my fave tracks... or Revolution Blues! imagine that! i will squeel and fill my dacks. I last saw Neil in Melbourne playing his Greendale set in the Myer Music Bowl in the rain, so this gig should go someway to make up for my disappointment at that show which was a half baked load of twaddle.

Ongoing coverage of the tour can be found on this great little blog.

Its My Disco, Now You Do The Math.

photo by dreadfuldan

Good news on Mess and Noise today with MY DISCO announcing the release of their new record Paradise and an Oz tour in March. Alongside Eddie Current Suppression Ring, they're probably still the most compelling live band in Melbourne, and scrubbed up quite well on their 2006 debut Cancer, which contained songs written while Liam was battling Hodgkins Disease. The new album was recorded and mixed by knob-twiddlin' god and self-confessed poker nut Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago and is out on Feb 25th on CD and vinyl.

2008 Tour dates are now online, and of course swing over to their myspace for the new tunes.

MY DISCO also materialize in an ace DVD called The Super 8 Diaries... a no-budget DIY film featuring a swag of artists from the independent Ausrock community. Here's a taster of My Disco's set: