Scott Kelly & John Baizley

0 Comments. 77 Views. Posted 3 Feb 2012 @ 8:09am.
The impending arrival of Scott Kelly and John Baizley, two titans of underground heavy music, will have many metal heads, punkers, stoners and proggers salivating. However, given the nature of their solo work, those with an ear for plaintive, introspective, personal songs played deftly and simply on an acoustic guitar would be wise to get themselves a ticket too. Neurosis’ Scott Kelly is all too aware that his work as a solo artist is not always fully appreciated by fans of his heavier work. In fact, Kelly claims to have “gone closer to a fist fight at a solo show than I ever have at a... Read More!
The Beautiful Girls feature, music.
0 Comments. 115 Views. Posted 3 Feb 2012 @ 7:52am.
In the ten years that The Beautiful Girls have been delivering their fun-loving mixture of roots, reggae and rock, they’ve played in all sorts of venues. But there’s been one type of venue they haven’t played – until now, that is. With the Melbourne Zoo launching its 150th Anniversary Celebrations with a series of concerts featuring some of Australia’s best performers, Mat McHugh,... Read More
Guilty Pleasures feature, arts.
0 Comments. 74 Views. Posted 3 Feb 2012 @ 6:52am.
The crowd at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) are about to get all loved-up. As part of its First Look program, ACMI will present Guilty Pleasures, a documentary about the world of romance novels directed by Julie Moggan (As The Sun Begins To Set, Waiting For A Lift). While much of the film doesinspect the romantic lives of various people, all connected by some... Read More
Tim McMillan Band feature, music.
0 Comments. 374 Views. Posted 3 Feb 2012 @ 6:42am.
Australia is well known for breeding kickarse guitarists. Angus Young, Tommy Emmanuel, Brett Garsed….Tim McMillan is up there with the best of them. This dude combines the melodicism of Jeff Buckley with the eclecticism of Frank Zappa, the harmonic creativity of Devin Townsend and the technique of your Stanley Jordans and Chris Brodericks. McMillan is about to release his latest album, Angel... Read More
Publicist dance, feature, music.
0 Comments. 137 Views. Posted 2 Feb 2012 @ 3:50pm.
  Sebastian Thomson can’t be contained. As the drummer for post-rockers Trans Am and punk outfit Weird War, Thomson took to the skins like a bat out of hell. He had a presence that spoke for itself. Yet even within the many releases Thomson was a part of with Trans Am, there was a consistent musical growth. Trans Am, pioneers of their genre, kept pushing the boundaries of what could normally... Read More
Phil Jamieson feature, music.
0 Comments. 174 Views. Posted 2 Feb 2012 @ 12:41pm.
Phil Jamieson is this generation’s first ‘laconic anti-hero.’ He represents an ‘imperfect idol’ who is a role model to an even less perfect youth with both walks of life having become distorted in a period of unparalleled economic boom that has seen many Australians live a life of misspent excess. Having grown up on the sleepy Northern Coast of New South Wales, Jamieson was thrust into Australia’... Read More
Evanescence feature, music.
0 Comments. 166 Views. Posted 2 Feb 2012 @ 7:57am.
  Amy Lee from American gothic rock outfit Evanescence turned 30 years old in December 2011. Her band formed in 1995, and so if you do the maths she was just in her mid teens when she put together the outfit that has gone on to sell records in the tens of millions, win Grammy Awards and gain all sorts of other awards, accolades and successes since. However, she tends not to view this in such... Read More
Unwritten Law feature, music.
0 Comments. 52 Views. Posted 2 Feb 2012 @ 7:23am.
They've sold more than one million albums, survived a multitude of record labels and line-up changes, even bomb attacks. They've survived. After six long years Unwritten Law are back in the mix with their sixth studio album, Swan.  “We were still playing, but everyone was doing their own thing, spending time with their families.”  says vocalist Scott Russo, the only original... Read More
The Straits feature, arts.
0 Comments. 159 Views. Posted 1 Feb 2012 @ 7:45am.
Set in the tropics of Far North Queensland, The Straits is a drama unlike anything Australian TV has seen before. It tells the story of the Montobellos – a crime family who run an empire of guns and smuggling in Cairns and the Torres Strait. The waters, as you may already suspect, are far from crystal clear, and when patriarch Harry Montobello announces his retirement, he sets his children... Read More
A Chorus Line feature, arts.
0 Comments. 400 Views. Posted 1 Feb 2012 @ 7:30am.
“Five six seven eight: turn, turn, touch, down, back step.” A Chorus Line opens on a gruelling dance audition, a cattle call held on the vast empty stage of a Broadway Theatre. A mass of young and not so young hopefuls are working hard to keep up with the assistant director, Larry, who is putting them through their paces. The beat is driving, and this group of chorus kids can really... Read More
Bombay Bicycle Club feature, music.
0 Comments. 103 Views. Posted 1 Feb 2012 @ 7:24am.
Seven years together and still in their very early twenties, Crouch End’s Bombay Bicycle Club have got all the time in the world, and they’re not wasting any of it. Barely out of high school when they released their debut album I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose, only a year on when they released the acoustic follow up Flaws, and now, only another year on, we have their latest... Read More
D12 dance, feature.
0 Comments. 77 Views. Posted 1 Feb 2012 @ 7:18am.
Sitting in the sweltering heat of Melbourne days after the aptly-named Heatwave Festival, the thought of the rapidly-approaching phone call from Detroit rap legends D12 is one that brings out the most intense of nerves for this little music journalist. The infamous six-piece collective, whose colourful history extends all the way back into 1996, are no strangers to a little controversy, with a... Read More
Laura Marling feature, music.
0 Comments. 377 Views. Posted 1 Feb 2012 @ 7:12am.
“You start off on a light foot, fall into a crevasse and then come back up again,” laughs Laura Marling. She’s talking about the journey that unfolds on her third album, A Creature I Don’t Know. It’s Marling’s latest critically-acclaimed composition and further proof that the 21-year-old (22 on February 1) from London is en route to becoming one of the most prolific and respected songwriters... Read More
Mayer Hawthorne feature, music.
0 Comments. 176 Views. Posted 1 Feb 2012 @ 7:03am.
  ‘Flashy But Classy’ – that’s Mayer Hawthorne’s motto, and those are the words that he lives his life by. The Ann Arbor, Michigan performer is known for his falsetto croon and his immaculate throwback soul productions, but he walks the walk as well as talking the talk, clothing himself in outfits that hark back to the era when sartorial elegance in music was key. His outfits are retro with... Read More
Harvest N’ Graze Festival beat eats, feature.
0 Comments. 26 Views. Posted 31 Jan 2012 @ 12:08pm.
The Harvest N’ Graze Festival brings together the best, handpicked delicious and mouth-watering gourmet producers, mixed with the freshest local seasonal growers, blended with demonstrations by celebrity chefs, topped off with a variety of activities, roving performers and children’s entertainment and thrown into one big pot with some of Australia’s most outstanding musical talent. Fisher... Read More
Good People feature, arts.
0 Comments. 147 Views. Posted 31 Jan 2012 @ 12:00pm.
  David Lindsay-Abaire’s stage drama Good People may question the American Dream, but given recent world events such as the global financial crisis, it’s just as relevant to Australian audiences halfway across the planet. According to actress Alexandria Steffensen, who plays the character of Kate, at the core of the play lies the question, ‘Does one’s fortune come down to blind luck or hard... Read More
Circa Survive feature, music.
0 Comments. 80 Views. Posted 31 Jan 2012 @ 11:29am.
  Band names can be funny things, and the way bands come up with them can be just as curious. Sometimes they just appear and everyone in the band agrees (although it's safe to assume this is pretty rare.) Sometimes they come after a drunken night raiding dictionaries, thesaurus' and other similar reference works. Occasionally band members throw words into a hat and draw them out. And in the... Read More
Donavon Frankenreiter feature, music.
0 Comments. 112 Views. Posted 31 Jan 2012 @ 11:23am.
  Donavon Frankenreiter’s passion for music and surfing is undeniable. For much of the last decade he has travelled the world, playing music and surfing wherever and whenever he could; his love for both never wavering since he first discovered them as a child. Now he has packed his acoustic guitar and his surfboard and he’s getting ready to head down to Australia for a mammoth run of shows... Read More
Jordie Lane feature, music.
0 Comments. 97 Views. Posted 31 Jan 2012 @ 11:16am.
A farewell within a farewell. That’s what will be happening when Jordie Lane plays his final show in Melbourne before he heads off, like so many of his Australian contemporaries, to the musical hotbed that is the US of A. The show, which will be taking place at The East Brunswick Club will act not only as a farewell for Lane but also for the venue itself as not long after it will be closing its... Read More
Million Stylez dance, feature.
0 Comments. 22 Views. Posted 27 Jan 2012 @ 7:18am.
The musical and cultural lines between reggae and hip hop are not that far separated. For Kenshin Iryo (aka Million Stylez), it sews the fabric of his career. Born and raised in Stockholm, he is son to Japanese and French immigrants. He has gone on to make a big splash not only in his homeland but also in the birthplace of reggae, Jamaica. From Europe to the Caribbean and now heading to Oz for... Read More
Neon Indian feature, music.
0 Comments. 376 Views. Posted 27 Jan 2012 @ 7:03am.
2011 was a busy year for Alan Palomo of Neon Indian fame, and if his recent New Year’s Eve celebrations are anything to go by, 2012 looks to be just as jam packed. “I played on New Year’s Eve in Dallas,” Palomo begins when asked how he rang in the beginning of 2012. “It was a crazy rave in downtown Dallas with Diplo and Girl Talk and some others. It was a lot of fun. I ended up having an early... Read More
Kitsch Australiana feature, arts.
0 Comments. 279 Views. Posted 27 Jan 2012 @ 6:42am.
Walking down Swanston St, lined up along the pavement are a plethora of garish souvenir stores, each one offering goods of green and gold. Beach towels emblazoned with the Southern Cross, tote bags decorated with the Sydney Harbour Bridge (despite the landmark being more than 700 kilometres away) and little creatures made by some poor soul gluing ‘googly’ eyes onto seashells and gumnuts. ... Read More
Chairlift feature, music.
0 Comments. 316 Views. Posted 26 Jan 2012 @ 7:25am.
Chairlift’s Patrick Wimberly shifts restlessly, preoccupied with a very important milestone: the impending release of the band’s sophomore album,Something. He inadvertently reflects the anticipation of fans both here and abroad. “It’s really exciting. It makes me nervous, actually, really nervous,” he admits. “We’ve been sheltered for the last two years. We spent a lot of time working on this... Read More
Rodrigo Y Gabriela feature, music.
0 Comments. 331 Views. Posted 26 Jan 2012 @ 7:05am.
Ixtapa is a comfortable, timeless Mexican beach town on the Pacific coast. It’s some five kilometres northwest of Zihuatanejo, the town that Andy Dufresne fought tooth and nail to escape when he broke out of Shawshank Prison. It’s something of a paradise, and it’s where Rodrigo Sanchez calls home.  As half of the hybrid Latin rock duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Sanchez considers Ixtapa to be a... Read More
Plump DJs dance, feature.
0 Comments. 112 Views. Posted 25 Jan 2012 @ 7:52am.
Named after a girlie mag called Plumpers, it’s no surprise that the Plump DJs have a reputation for dirty, good times. Widely regarded as some of the earliest pioneers in breakbeat, the Plumps have managed to endure in a way that many of their peers in the scene were unable to – formed in the ‘90s, the London-based production and DJing duo are a force to be reckoned with, a filthy mixup of... Read More
Weekend feature, arts.
0 Comments. 347 Views. Posted 25 Jan 2012 @ 7:37am.
  Since the ‘90s we've seen a blossoming of queer cinema that has gradually made headway into the mainstream via directors like Gus Van Sant (Milk), Todd Haynes (I’m Not There) and, more recently, Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right) – but more often from indie directors like John Cameron Mitchell and Gregg Araki, hardcore arthouse doyens like Derek Jarman or B-movie mavens like John... Read More
Friendly Fires feature, music.
0 Comments. 419 Views. Posted 25 Jan 2012 @ 7:25am.
They’re one of those “We have to go and see them!” bands. Why? Because the fact of the matter is, Friendly Fires understand what it means to entertain their audiences. With everything from their catchy tunes to Ed MacFarlane’s ‘80s-inspired dance moves and quirky Hawaiian shirts, the Hertfordshire threesome are getting ready to play our very own Future Music Festival in just over a month’s time... Read More
Toro Y Moi feature, music.
0 Comments. 546 Views. Posted 25 Jan 2012 @ 7:19am.
Better known as Toro Y Moi, Chaz Bundick is the mastermind behind what could be described as danceable music with a personal twist. Think classic soul meets '80s synth-pop, along with indie rock touches, and you’re still hard-pressed to put a finger on his style. He’s been cited as one of the artists at the forefront of the ‘chillwave’ movement, the industry’s favourite new buzz word, along with... Read More
Tsuyoshi Suzuki dance, feature.
0 Comments. 132 Views. Posted 24 Jan 2012 @ 10:29pm.
Japan is about as culturally advanced as you could possibly imagine a country to be. Art, music, fashion – it’s all there and it’s always about as unusual and distinctive as you can get. No surprise then, that the man in question hails from the land of the rising run, despite his eventual move to the UK to more closely align himself to the electronic music scene – and it was his upbringing in... Read More
Passi Jo And Warako Musica feature, arts.
0 Comments. 319 Views. Posted 24 Jan 2012 @ 11:16am.
In a world where joy and good vibes are so scarce, Passi Jo and his feel-good band Warako Musica are the perfect remedy. Performing at this year’s Globe To Globe World Music Festival, the Congolese music legend says a world full of insecurity and poverty should be holding dancing and singing competitions, not wars fought with guns and ammo.   “I like to put on a show that expresses the... Read More
Saves The Day feature, music.
0 Comments. 284 Views. Posted 24 Jan 2012 @ 11:02am.
  Interviews are often a necessary evil that musicians must endure ‘til no end. Tired and weary of answering questions that sound no different from the last batch, it’s not always the most enriching process for the creative mind. Yet there are times when the process helps musicians better understand the music they’re being quizzed about. It can be a therapeutic event, one where the musician... Read More
Big Day Out 2012 - Ken West feature, festivals.
0 Comments. 944 Views. Posted 24 Jan 2012 @ 10:33am.
Pacing fervently around the Flemington Racecourse, soon to be home to this year’s Big Day Out with founder Ken West, it’s near impossible not to be swept up within the whirlwind of the festival's astonishingly rich history. Since its inception as a Sydney-only festival in 1992 the self-professed ‘travelling circus’ rapidly evolved into a nationwide extravaganza, underpinned by its devoted and... Read More
Australia Day At The Tote feature, music.
0 Comments. 499 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2012 @ 2:52pm.
In the name of tolerance, acceptance and cultural diversity, there is an Australia fundraiser happening at The Tote on Thursday January 26 and a bunch of awesome bands are coming together (for the second year) to raise funds for The Refugee Council Of Australia. Good dudes. We talked to the organiser and a few of the band-folk about what will no doubt be a fantastic way to spend 'Straya Day.... Read More
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti feature, music.
0 Comments. 696 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:18am.
Ariel Rosenberg is ready to cut loose. After a long day of fielding interviews from his Los Angeles home, he admits to me, “After [this round of interviews], I’m going to get tanked. Hammered!” Rosenberg, who goes by the nom de stage of Ariel Pink, had an absolutely brilliant 2010. His latest album, Before Today had been released to very favourable reviews and his newly minted... Read More
Zeds Dead dance, feature.
0 Comments. 125 Views. Posted 19 Jan 2012 @ 1:11pm.
Toronto-based duo Zeds Dead – made up of the high energy duo DC and Hooks – have been making beats together since 2004, but a massive year has seen their international profile skyrocket. Zeds Dead's numerous productions have garnered millions of views on YouTube, topped the charts on Beatport, and earned them the support of the world’s top DJs, all in a very short time.   “I think it was... Read More
Bassnectar dance, feature.
0 Comments. 242 Views. Posted 19 Jan 2012 @ 1:06pm.
You know you're a true party animal when the rave you throw along with your mates racks up more than $100,000 dollars in fines for violating noise and city ordinances. Bassnectar – the alias of dubstep and electronica producer Lorin Ashton – has, sadly, experienced this. To be fair, though, if you've ever been subjected to the Bassnectar live experience, you'd probably agree it was worth it, as... Read More
Camo & Krooked dance, feature.
0 Comments. 97 Views. Posted 19 Jan 2012 @ 12:12pm.
  Reinhard ‘Camo’ Rietsch and Markus ‘Krooked’ Wagner aren’t fans of growing moustaches. But, the rising Austrian drum and bass duo put their opinions aside for the creation of Make The Call featuring Bristol drum and bass producer and DJ Tom Casswell (TC) which was included on the Defected compilation Mo Grooves, released in conjunction with Movember last year. “We are... Read More
Soundgarden feature, music.
0 Comments. 908 Views. Posted 19 Jan 2012 @ 9:09am.
On April 16, 2010, Soundgarden played their first 21st century gig at The Showbox in Seattle. On the guest list were Eddie Vedder, Built To Spill’s Scott Plouf, Exene Cervenka of LA punk legends X and Mudhoney’s Mark Arm and Matt Lukin. “We were playing in front of an audience who were primarily friends, relatives and peers,” says lead guitarist Kim Thayil of the momentous night. “This is what... Read More
Death Cab For Cutie feature, music.
0 Comments. 347 Views. Posted 19 Jan 2012 @ 8:56am.
  Looking back over more than a decade in the music industry, Nick Harmer sees a life well lived. While his band has risen to prominence as one of America’s most beloved indie rock mainstays, the Death Cab for Cutie bassist has travelled the world ten times over. But it’s a small world, he explains, and everywhere he goes, he runs into old friends.   “It’s just really exciting to be... Read More
Lamb Of God feature, music.
0 Comments. 682 Views. Posted 19 Jan 2012 @ 8:53am.
Ever since their early days as Burn The Priest, Lamb Of God have utilised a no-bullshit attitude to ensure each album released has been a progression on its predecessor. They trumped the now classic Ashes Of The Wake with the release of Sacrament – winning both a Grammy nomination and a horde of new fans. Having set the bar high, they met the challenge with the organic and raw... Read More
Sam Amidon feature, music.
0 Comments. 405 Views. Posted 18 Jan 2012 @ 11:38am.
The history of folk music could – and probably already does – fill a thousand doctoral theses.  With its antecedents in the Celtic story-telling tradition, folk music is rich with narratives of human experience, perseverance and tragedy.  New England performer Sam Amidon has spent much of his musical life exploring old folk tunes, and constructing his own idiosyncratic folk music... Read More