LITTLE DEED.
I have this playlist, and you know it is currently my favourite one.
I wouldn’t normally pick a favourite child like that, but it’s just so much more lovable than the others. For decompressing, disappearing with or even just being acceptable at dinner (at least in comparison to the grinding noises and disjointed art projects of my other playlists).
See I jammed it full of one of the more timeless sounds going right now – this minimal, spaced songtronica. A cold minimal beat, warm human voice, off time piano, VERBBBB. We’re talking SOHN, Erik Hassle – beautiful list.
But I am still wracked, WRACKED with guilt because it is currently unaustralian. You see, YOU’RE allowed to listen to whatever you want but this is an Australian music blog and WE have our responsibilities. It’s not all champagne and private jets writing for revenue-free blogs – sometimes we also need to bloody look after the koalas and have sunset beers on the beach and flaming listen Australian. There is good stuff close to the sound, but nothing native yet that has been at home in that list.
So imagine my delight when this one bubbled up from Sydney’s Little Deed. Low plays on the first track, so we shoppers are in on the first floor this time.
‘Neon‘ is totally in that same wonderful space. It slips from anthemic to claustrophobic, epic to personal. There’s a vintage influence too, I can’t feel if it’s a kind of blues or soul hint maybe.
This seems to be some kind of radio edit (my sleuthing has gone as far as the song title – you’re welcome), but I’d definitely eat 6 mins of this, so maybe she has a plan for an EP with a longer cut.
Thanks Little Deed, whoever you are, you’re about to break into my current fav playlist.
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Adam
THE FURRS.
Brisbane based two-piece The Furrs have been causing a bit of a stir with their bluesy rock’n’roll of late.
Gabriella and Jimmy make self-directed blues infused swagger that seems to propel itself forward like you wouldn’t believe. The guys have already garnered a bit of love with support slots (they’ve supported Cults recently and are supporting DMA’s next weekend at BlackBear Lodge up in Brisbane). The two-piece become four live – a dude called White Stag on drums and Moonfaced Hendrix on bass fill it out.
We got the new single ‘Little Boy’ taken from the bands’ debut self-titled EP released a couple of weeks ago. It’s pretty nuts and has just enough ‘don’t-give-a-fuck’ attitude for your Sunday afternoon.
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Miks
EAST BRUNSWICK ALL GIRLS CHOIR.
East Brunswick All Girls Choir. I’d heard the name, but had always assumed everything that this band is not – i.e. twee folk music.
Nah, actually, this be some thrown against the wall bluesy worn out clusterfuck of a track. It’s raw, weary, but my gosh does it kill. You can stream ‘Dirty Bird’ below.
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Miks
NEW MATT WALTERS.
Matt Walters just posted up a new song to his soundcloud, and, as ever, it’s pretty lovely. It’s a bit more of a mellow sound that the stuff off his first album, but man, it still takes a hold.
The track was recorded in New York last year after Matt spent some time in the states recording his new EP.
Looking forward to the new stuff!
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Miks
THE VASCO ERA.
We’ve been lucky enough to have a bit of a listen to The Vasco Era‘s new LP before it hits the stores next week. And man, it kinda kills. Good, hard working bluesy rock ‘n’ roll. There’s a feeling of authenticity about the sound, you get the impression that it comes from somewhere pretty genuine.
This is the guys third album, but their first done so independently. It seems a little more relaxed which is kinda cool – you get the impression that they’re a bit more free (and yes, I am aware of how wankerish that sounds).
All the tracks are strong on this release. You would have heard Child Bearing Hips, apparently a track about bigger blokes, not curvy babes, on the j’s – it’s getting the shit played out of it…and rightly so. Other tracks that really stand out for me though are ‘Rock And Roll Is The Only Thing That Makes Me Feel Good’ and ‘Every Boy Is The Same’. We got a bit of an exclusive stream of Every Boy Is The Same just for you!
The Vasco Era – Every Boy Is The Same
The guys are also set for a national run of dates, co-headlining with Sydney gents Papa Vs Pretty. You can check out more deets on their website.
YES!
Miks
LAURA JEAN.
I gotta be honest. I saw Laura Jean years ago support Ben Lee at Ding Dong lounge in Melbourne town about 6 months before Lee had that big Catch My Disease etc album. And I really didn’t dig it. Granted, my taste was a bit different back then and things that were a little different, and not as poppy kinda scared me. Not as in BOO scare. Just as in, I didn’t know what to think.
Anyway, cut 6 or so years down the track and I’m sitting in my bedroom listening to Zan host 2011 on Triple J. And she plays this song by Laura Jean…and yes. It is good! Still bluesy, but it makes sense to me now. Track is called Missing You and you can grab it for free from her facebook page. It’s a really well written song, sounds like Melbourne, but still has that bluesy feel. LIKE!
Abbe May + Tame Impala
Abbe May is a Perth based blues singer songwriter and has been making a bit of a name for herself, especially of late. Her track Mammalian Locomotion has been getting a fair bit of play on Triple J, and rightly so. It’s this straight out blues number that kind of kicks it hard. Check out the clip below and if you like, grab it on iTunes.
We also a remix Kevin and Cam from Tame Impala did of the track. Although they don’t change the track itself that much, they do make it a heap darker and plenty and plenty of filters.
Abbe May – Mammalian Locomotion (Kevin Parker + Cam Avery Remix)
bleeding knees club
Bleeding Knees Club are two dudes from up on the Gold Coast, doing some saweeeeet as bluesy punk. Guys have signed to I Oh You (They’re the dudes behind Howl) and they’re debut EP entitled Virginity was dropped a few weeks back (grab it from iTunes).
Their stuff sounds like it’s over before it’s begun, but then you remember the party you had for that 2 or 3 mins and you wanna hear it all over again. It’s stripped back indie bluesy punky pop like you aint heard before
The fellas also have a few gigs coming up. Deets over on their MySpace
And for you listening pleasure, we got their track Bad Guys off their EP. YES!
Bloody Hell! It’s a Skeleton Horse!
How does this sound for a description of a band’s sound?
“Instead it sounds like The Pixies and Sonic Youth got together to record a country album that was written for them by Bob Dylan and Jack White”
Impressive aye? Yup. The band is Joseph Liddy and the Skeleton Horse. And that’s exactly what they sound like.
The band is a bit of a side project for two of the dudes from The Middle East which is always a good thing (maamf is quite the fan of the Townsville band). They’re quite a bit more crazy and ‘ragged’ though. Very Bob Dylan meets Jack White. They’ve got an album coming out hopefully very soon. The tracks were written by Mr Liddy whilse he was a case worker in a rehab clinic…so you can imagine the stories he’s got to tell.
Anyway, here’s probably my fave so far (I’ve heard four tracks so far…)
delta blues
For me, I think it’s important to give all kinds of music a shot. Maamf might seem to push electro/indie-dance down your throat, but there is also this love of great local singer-songwiters, blues+roots, funk and…
Australia has a fair few ‘blues rock’ style bands. Dudes like Wolfmother (who I’m not that much of a fan of), The Mess Hall (I like), and Tame Impala (yeah…they’re ok) push this skuzzed out kinda sound.
A new band that brings that same kind of sound is The Delta Riggs. These guys are out of the Blue Mountains up there in NSW and they’ve got their debut EP coming out on March 26th. The EP is self-titled and features the track Soul Train, which you grab for free just below. The dudes have also set up their own label (Rah Rah Radio), the EP and a 7″ companion single of Soul Train (both of which you can grab March 26th), and a NSW tour (Dates below).
Check out the vid for Soul Train too – was filmed whilst recording the EP up on a farm somewhere…
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The Delta Riggs Tour Dates
Thu 11th Mar – Old Manly Boat Shed, Sydney
Sat 13th Mar – Oxford Arts Factory, Sydney
Fri 14th Mar – Secret Garden Festival, Camden
Sat 20th Mar – Oxford Tavern, Wollongong
Thu 1st Apr – Hotel Gearin, Blue Mountains (Residency)
Sat 3rd Apr – Park Hotel, Bathurst
Thu 15th Apr – Hotel Gearin, Blue Mountains (Residency)
Fri 16th Apr – World Bar, Sydney
Thu 22nd Apr – Hotel Gearin, Blue Mountains (Residency)
Thu 29th Apr – Hotel Gearin, Blue Mountains (Residency)
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Jaimi Faulkner – Kiss & Ride
ok. This dude played a killer set of new material at the Coner Hotel on Saturday night. It was as part of his Kiss & Ride tour, in support of his new album of the same name. If you haven’t heard about this guy and you like good blues (with a bit of soul and some good rock hooks) then you really need to check this guy out. I really like this album. I remember buying his first album and having it play, and play, and play etc etc etc. I didn’t seem to get tired of it. Maybe because it was because I was studying music at the time and I was perhaps more open to other musical styles. Or maybe it was because Jaimi was doing the same music course as me. So yeah, this album has the same sort of feel.
I think the biggest difference would be, to me, lyrically. There seems to be a lot more tracks written about the laaaaaaaaaddddddddiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeessssssssss! oooh. oh gee. can you actually read that? it says ‘ladies’ in case you can’t be arsed trying to figure it out. Haha…anywho, the lyrics, yeah, they seem to be more focussed on falling in love and losing love and all that kind ofstuff. So, ladies, he’s a bit of a romantic it would seem! The album also seems to have an urgency behind it which I really like. It pushes on from track to track which is good given that there are 14 tracks on this album.
So yeah, if it sounds good so far, you should probably (do yourself a favour, and) buy this album. But if you really want to experience his goodness (struggling for words a bit? I think yes.), you really should check him out live. The songs translate so well live.
On Saturday night, he opened with the great Dublin Girl. The track itself is great and has a really nice sing along style feel. But live, it was bigger and better. There are two tracks on this album that featured on an EP Jaimi released inbetween album number 1 and 2. They are Shame and Back To You. Both have been changed for the album, and when I heard the album versions, I must admit I was a little dissapointed. But then I heard them live and all was forgiven. They were both really solid.
Probably the highlight of the night for me was his rendition of Hold On Babe, a track off his first album. On the album, the tracks features the amazing vocals of Mia Dyson. You can purchase some of her stuff here. Live, the track featured Liz Stringer, a stalwart of the Australian blues and roots scene. It was simply beautiful. It’s such a great track anyway, but to hear it done live, in the way it was, it was just stella.
You can check out some of the photo’s from the gig via our facebook page.
So yeah, that’s the album. You can check it out here on iTunes. It’s also available at JB Hifi as well.
To leave you with, a track that you can download off his Triple J Unearthed page. It’s off that middle EP I was talking about earlier. It’s a track called Roll, Tumble, Smuggle & Stumble and is pretty rock. But it’s a great intro to his work.
Jaimi Faulkner – Roll, Tumble, Smuggle & Stumble
K. That’ll do the ramble for now.
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
So either you don’t use the internet AT ALL, or you’re just plain forgetfull…or you have shite as music taste (sorry. you probably have GREAT music taste), but if you haven’t read or heard anything about Grizzly Bear’s latest album Veckatimest, then you’re just plain MISSING OUT. Wow. Caps Lock overload anyone?? I’m sorry. I’m just plain excited to be writing about this album!
Album reviews don’t usually start with a blatant statement such as this one, but, this album is, so far, one of my favourites of the year. Pretty top notch review given I’d never heard of these guys before their track Cheerleader leaked online. And I was impressed with Cheerleader. But, it didn’t scream to me ‘Best Album of the Year’. But then I heard Two Weeks (definite favourite) and then the whole album. Cheerleader fits the album perfectly. All the songs do.
On the whole, I don’t really know who Grizzly Bear sound like. Although, I am reminded of Thom Yorke in the vocals. I’m not a massive Radiohead fan, but, for me, there’s hints of OK Computer (Karma Police especially).
Like I said before, my favourite track of the album is definately the first official single, Two Weeks. Not only does it fit the album, but it sounds great by itself, which in my opinion is the best thing about a good single. It’s just a great great song. I love the slow drawn out feel of track four, Fine For Now. Kinda seems ironic that one of the main lines in this track is There Is Time when it’s such a slow drawn out track.
There’s some people that say the middle tracks, say from track 6, Dory, to probably track 8, About Face, don’t really fit in the scheme of things. They don’t suit the flow of the record. And whilst I can see what they’re saying (the album doesn’t really take you from nothing and build up during the middle and slowly let you back down again at the end). But, I think the middle tracks take you somewhere else, almost like a sidestep. That’s why it’s probably so hard to put them into a particular genre or say they sound like a particular band. Anyway, to me, the fact that the album moves you somewhere else during the middle is just as good as the wanky ‘build up during the middle’ line I used before.
One of those middle tracks caught me by suprise. About Face uses repetition so well. From the continous drums that seem like they never stop, to the repetition of the keys in the chorus. It’s a really sweet sounding track which I really like. I live With You is almost like an album in itself. It starts off soft, builds and then comes back down again (but still manages to have a big finish). The other thing I really like about this track is that it actually sounds a little crazy! It’s as if it has a mind of it’s own – especially the out of time drum fills.
Anyway, it’s a great album in my view. I’m so happy I heard it in the first place. I’m going to explore their older stuff now just to see how this album matches up in the scheme of things.
To finish off with, some goodies just for you. I accept cash payment ($100,000) and above thanks. Yeah, umm, not really. I don’t take money. “Thank god for that!” you’re thinking. “Was worried for a moment there!”
First up, their amazing performance of Two Weeks on ‘Later…with Jools Holland’
Second, the Fred Falke remix of Two Weeks. You guys can expect me to get back into my electro loving soon – am thinking of a Fred Falke feature. The dude just has too many remixes!
Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks (Fred Falke Remix)
K. That’ll do the ramble for now.
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