OCTOBER MIX.
Ah yes, the final tape. The last supper. Last drinks have been called. and hey, let’s insert one more tiresome analogical wordplay here for good measure.
maamf. as it stands: done and dusted. don’t know? keep up.
So this is the last time where this writing, will accompany these songs on this site. I said I wouldn’t go on about it, and I won’t. For too much longer.
Just, really, I just wanted to say the following:
Thanks.
Alright then. No more going on. This is it. My fave selections for October below. Some writing about four of them. Nice tape, as always. A thank you to the artists that helped make it all happen. Full tape at the end.
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This track, ‘Be Brave <3’ from The Descenters, a project headed up by Melbourne based Matthew Stoff, throws a distortion fuelled melange of noisey off-cuts at a wall, and what speaks back to them is something tightly wound, cacophonous, but with a therapeutic clarity. Music hey?
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There’s quite the comfort in this cover from Melbourne’s Parading. It feels justifiably lazy. Lazy within the confines of a slightly drawn out pop song, but lazy nonetheless. Compared to the original from Paul Kelly, ‘Big Heart’ – taken from the band’s second full length Jungle Songs – proves an obvious, distinctive take. This shows the versatility in song writing on Paul Kelly’s behalf of course – a song that that some 29 years later, feels to have stood the test of time. But positioned within a vastly different musical vibe, the melodic dirge that is shoegaze, Parading give this song a new prolonged life, thanks to the grand vision of this Melbourne four piece.
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Perhaps a theme of sorts emerging within these tapes is a vague focus on young musicians emerging away from the main hustle of ‘typical’ music cities like Melbourne or Sydney. Tia Gostelow, an Indigenous woman from Mackay, is 17, a recent finalist in Unearthed High, and writing songs that speak to a potential full blown and successful career in this thing. Capturing that intricate and sophisticated approach to song writing reminiscent of fellow high schooler Gretta Ray, ‘Vague Utopia’ is an incredibly accomplished sounding track.
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It feels a little arduous and obvious to draw out the link between Telling and Gotye. The links are there – Tim Shiel, one half of Telling, founded the excellent Spirit Level, which houses this release, with Wally a little while back. There are also quite obvious similarities production wise, however ‘Guessing Games’ tends more towards Tim’s own intricate, electronic canon of work. As a vocalist, Ben Abraham’s voice lends an almost perfect tone to Tim’s production. What sits Telling at the top of the hill is this combination of two, clearly incredible musical minds.
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That’s it.
Full tape is here. Just for your ears, your eyes and your little beating hearts.
And finally, to borrow from myself, one last thing:
A thank you and good night to each and every one of you. Wake up tomorrow, attack the day ahead and go to sleep knowing you contributed in a positive way to the life of this guy here, Miks Everitt from Melbourne, Australia.
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Miks.
JULY MIX.
It’s round two. Back. Proper music writing. A nice collection of tunes this time around – chock to the brim and all that. Some thoughts and reflections on the tracks within the tape are below. Have a read and a listen would ya?
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It feels as though songwriters are a hell of a lot better now at accessing a classic song structure and injecting it with enough personality and originality that it pops, so to speak. On this tape you can here it in the layers in L.U.V‘s track ‘You’ll Never Let Me Go’, the embrace of more traditional blues and soul instrumentation of ‘Down To Rest from Tom Stephens. And then of course you have the Waitsesque jaunt of Lost Animal‘s ‘Do The Jerk’ with its organ and sax combo. Dorsal Fins have always been on that classic pop tip – to the point where every single hit/strum/connection of brain to voice feels purposeful. My Brother’s Friends do the sing-a-long duet real well too, offering two perspectives on a track, simply via the differences in phrasing between the verses.
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The cultural significance of movements like LISTEN and Sad Grrrls Club isn’t going unnoticed. Of course there’s forever to go, but the fact that female identifying and GNC artists are now visible is all sorts of good. What makes me (a white cis-dude) a little uncomfortable though is the fact that these artists easily compete (not that it’s at all a competition). It’s not the fact that these artists are themselves good, it’s the question of who the fuck are we to be only now realising that ‘hey music is cool and gee there are some bloody talented people out there’. What the hell were we (predominately white music guys) doing to only get this now. in 2016. Who the fuck are we to put structures in place (like casually sexually assaulting women/overly sexualising women/fetishising those artists that identify differently) that purposefully favour some artists over others? Artists like L.U.V. and Rachel Maria Cox and Julia Jacklin and Tracy Chen and Ninajirachi. All making these tightly wound tracks, some full of more intimacy than you can bear, some with these super tight guitar pop structures. All really really catchy and good (hence why they’re in this tape). We should all make considered and thoughtful choices about who we choose to support.
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It’s something that’s been pushed a lot recently – we have a real super exciting electronic scene in this country. And yeah mate, we do. But the most exciting stuff to my ears (and hopefully yours) is happening away from the spotlight and away from the most hearted and reposted on soundcloud. We got a couple of those in here, from the warm and moving sonics of acts like LAIKS, Braille Face, and Ninajirachi; right through to the more pop sound of CDAD and Yon Yonson. I think special mention needs to be made of Tracy Chen‘s ‘Eggs’, which knocks me over into some tingly mess each and every time I press play on the thing. And it would be remiss of me not to make mention of Japanese Wallpaper, the exception to my most hearted and reposted rule.
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And all the others in this here tape. This tape especially has felt quite a pleasure to post. If you just can’t wait to read more of me writing, then you may well want to sign up to the maamf mailout. Thanks to all those who have done so already. For those yet to, it’s a monthly mailout full with many of things I been reading and enjoying over the past month. You can sign up here. You can check out the past issues here.
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Miks
JUNE MIX.
Sometimes I find it difficult to really properly get at what I’m trying to do with this. As new music hits the inbox, the submit page and the submithub profile, it’s easy for this thing to move further away from its initial purpose. That purpose is to write about and support those new artists I come across and love and am excited by.
That’s not to say I haven’t been inspired somewhat. The past two mixtapes have had me digging deep inside in an attempt to find some purpose in what I’m meant to be doing with all the time not spent ‘doctorating’. It has sparked many an idea, or rather a collection of ideas all focussed around one central big project. I will still write about ol’ mate Steve, but you can head over here for that.
Now that that’s all clear, perhaps we move towards a brief summation as to the contents of this here tape. I think from here on, I’ll write about a selection of those included in the tape. Around 4 or 5. To write about all (in this case) 19 tracks would make for a long read (and let’s be honest, you just come here for the list, not the writing). That’s not to say that all the tracks don’t deserve some level of reflection. Just know that there are plenty of other (and arguably better) spots to find that. maamf mailout is a good place to start. You can press play on the tape below.
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I’ve always been a sucker for local references in popular music. Allan Smithy‘s ‘Four Letter Reason’ does that nicely. It’s becoming an all too common tale within Australian music (especially those in Sydney) to rightfully bemoan the state of living. Nicely, and quite masterfully can I add, using the loose structure of the love song as the base, Smithy details the movement and stagnation of both friends and himself.
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It’s not until the final vocal line, just 20 seconds before the end, that we get a feeling Aeora has reared her head from the underground. ‘Afloat’ kicks along at a careful and constructed pace, not quite quick enough for the listener to forget the self-conscious and reflective lyrics, but with enough classic dark electronic pop to create a tension in the mind of the listener.
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Occasionally I’ll feel flawed. It’s partly due to an inability to adequately articulate myself. The majority of it though is simply testament to the sheer quality of music I find myself listening to. I wrote to Lee Hannah, or Sessility a little while ago in response to their email about ‘Plaza’, a new track taken from an EP that’ll feature collabs with Yeo and Kira Puru. Below is that inability to express when I’m being pommeled with deep deep cuts.
“It’s really something else – those live sounding drums really get me. And those little key lines that sound improvised and off the cuff but fit so beautifully within the structure. Really, Plaza is super super cool.”
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Finally, I wanted to briefly run through some thoughts on Good Boy‘s ‘Poverty Line’. It’s easy to cast this off as a vain Eddy Current Suppression Ring-lite project. Originally I had been sceptical. And either Mikey Young himself from Eddy Current is in dire need of work, or he’s cool with it because the man mixed and mastered the thing and from that point I immediately rethought my initial hesitancy. Again, a comment on traversing the difficulties modern being shoves in your face, Good Boy were probably in kinder when Brendan and co were thrusting around Melbourne’s scene. But still, this nails down an attitude and way of being that is forced upon many of those younger than you (maybe) and me (definitely). The more cut throat this place becomes, the more of these mini revolts happen.
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So that’d be it. I know I know, every coupla months, I change things up. I have historically stuck to things that are easier, and what I find easy changes. What I find challenging doesn’t though.
See ya for the July tape in a month or so.
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Miks
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