Ani DiFranco : Which Side Are You On?

0 Comments. 57 Views. Posted 3 Feb 2012 @ 8:17am.
After three years, her longest gap between albums ever, Ani Difranco releases Which Side Are You On?, an album with two sides of its own. The New Orleans-based wife and mother (hard to fathom for some long-term fans) and the provoked politico seem like they would butt heads, but instead flow side-by-side in this complex, fulfilling album.   With 16 other studio albums to compare to, Which Side Are You On? plucks inspiration from 1999’s To The Teeth onward. The title track is the classic folk standard made famous by Pete Seeger, which Ani performed at his 90th birthday in 2009. Updated... Read More!
Barry Adamson : I Will Set You Free album, review, music.
0 Comments. 108 Views. Posted 3 Feb 2012 @ 7:39am.
  When Howard Devoto decided to pick up the dog-eared pages of Magazine a few years ago, Barry Adamson was there to help recreate the classic Magazine sound. Adamson’s subsequent departure was lamented by fans, but did have the positive outcome of allowing Adamson to continue exploring his own über-cool solo activities.    Adamson is, to quote the psychotic Dennis Hopper in Blue... Read More
Nightwish : Imaginaerum album, review, music.
0 Comments. 92 Views. Posted 3 Feb 2012 @ 7:17am.
I am an unabashed fan of Nightwish, and indeed many of their female-fronted contemporaries. Their incredible 2004 album Once is an absolute landmark release in the genre, it's the one where everything came together for them compositionally, and it broke them on a worldwide scale as well. 2007's Dark Passion Play was an extremely strong  follow-up as well.   It's been another lengthy... Read More
Vintage Trouble : The Bomb Shelter Sessions album, review, music.
0 Comments. 105 Views. Posted 2 Feb 2012 @ 7:45am.
I had high hopes for this record; talks of ‘juke joints’ and the ‘essence of the original soul movement’ got me quite excited. The dapper looking cats who make up Vintage Trouble certainly look like they could belt out some soulful sounding vintage rhythm ‘n’ blues but unfortunately what’s on offer on The Bomb Shelter Sessions is some standardised blues rock with a, dare I say it – ‘funky’ edge... Read More
Rich Davies And The Devil’s Union : Rich Davies And The Devil’s Union album, review, music.
0 Comments. 150 Views. Posted 2 Feb 2012 @ 7:39am.
  Back in the day, rock’n’roll was denounced as the devil’s music. It was hardly an original condemnation – Robert Johnson famously (and almost certainly gratuitously) suggested he’d sold his soul in exchange for prowess on the guitar – while the tight bond between church, state and high art in centuries past provided a convenient opportunity to marginalise any proletariat musical form as... Read More
Single Of The Week - Cage The Elephant : Aberdeen review, single, music.
0 Comments. 15 Views. Posted 1 Feb 2012 @ 8:45am.
  I like Cage The Elephant, they know how to write a song. Aberdeen has Pixies-like mountains against the whine-pitched pop punk landscape, especially around the chorus. The Frank Black-style vocal welts that Matt Shultz musters are a gentle kind of mind-bending. Makes me wish I saw them last week when I had the chance. Read More
Grinderman : Bellringer Blues (Nick Zinner Remix) review, single, music.
0 Comments. 50 Views. Posted 1 Feb 2012 @ 8:39am.
Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Nick Zinner has worked some serious magic with the Grinderman two track Bellringer Blues – part of a Grinderman remix album due out in late March. Zinner’s interpretation strips the warped and stuttering original down, creating a near-acoustic, minimalist render with a slight electro edge. Read More
Jason Mraz : I Won't Give Up review, single, music.
0 Comments. 49 Views. Posted 1 Feb 2012 @ 8:34am.
  I wanted to take a shower about two bars in. This is the ickiest crap load of cheeseball piano pop romantica I have ever heard. It sounds like Boys II Men, and not in a good way. I don’t know if there is a good way. I think I have hives now. Damn you, Mraz. Read More
The Chemical Brothers : Don't Think review, single, music.
0 Comments. 29 Views. Posted 1 Feb 2012 @ 8:29am.
This Friday, for one spectacular night, The Chemical Brothers 2011 performance at Fuji Rock will be aired at selected cinemas in 7.1 Dolby Surround Sound. (What the fuck is Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound, you ask? I have no idea, but don’t it sound awesome?) Don’t Think is the title of the doco and also this here supporting single. Originally composed for the Black Swan soundtrack, it’s a belting C/B... Read More
Leonard Cohen : The Darkness review, single, music.
0 Comments. 48 Views. Posted 1 Feb 2012 @ 8:03am.
Old smoky throat has a new album out on February 3 called Old Ideas, his first new record in eight years. The lead single is slinky and jazzy – maybe a little too jazzy, to be honest, but let’s forgive him his geriatric foibles and bathe in the still shiver-inducing romantic decay that he weaves with his words: “I caught the darkness / It was drinking from your cup / I said is this contagious... Read More
Ladyhawke : Black, White & Blue review, single, music.
0 Comments. 47 Views. Posted 1 Feb 2012 @ 7:58am.
I am so easily distracted. For example, not caring much about Ladyhawke myself, I just remembered seeing Jane Gazzo on Channel [V] last weekend, talking about how much she was looking forward to the new Ladyhawke album. The interesting thing about that is that Jane Gazzo is radically less annoying than she was in the mid '90s. I guess time heals all wounds. Coincidentally, Black, White &... Read More
Tommie Sunshine And Disco Fries : Don't Look Back review, single, music.
0 Comments. 295 Views. Posted 1 Feb 2012 @ 7:55am.
The PR team got out ahead of the storm with this one, describing Don’t Look Back as One More Time meets Lola’s Theme by The Shapeshifters. If the youth of today weren’t such a bunch of ignorant, feckless guppies they would realise this tune is a pale imitation of the Daft Punk classic and consign it to the reject bin for musicians of limited imagination. But no, it features on the most recent... Read More
Rizzle Kicks : Mama Do The Hump review, single, music.
0 Comments. 6 Views. Posted 1 Feb 2012 @ 7:52am.
  Produced by Fatboy Slim, this hip hop hoe-down by UK up-and-comers Rizzle Kicks blends Wham-like pop guitar samples with dancehall beats, banjo and upbeat yet bluesy backing vocals. This kind of high energy, tongue-in-cheek rap follows on from The Streets and seems idiosyncratically British – it has more in common with Supergrass and The Specials than Snoop Dogg. But anyway, it’s tinny... Read More
Jay-Z And Kanye West : Niggas In Paris review, single, music.
0 Comments. 8 Views. Posted 1 Feb 2012 @ 7:49am.
  Just when you thought all the beats were used up, here come these two wise guys, with their slow rocking boom crunch opera, to show you something different. Doing so much with so little is a wicked kind of genius. The Blades of Glory sample they chunk into the otherwise straight-faced gangsta rap flow is kind of hilarious, and I didn’t even like that movie. It’s just a spastic little out... Read More
The Big Pink : Future This album, review, music.
0 Comments. 145 Views. Posted 1 Feb 2012 @ 7:37am.
  In a courageous sophomore effort three years in the making since their buzzed debut, A Brief History Of Love, The Big Pink bring Future This; an equally big-sounding release full of driving melodies and loaded beats that make for a worthy foray into pop anthem territory.   The first track Stay Gold is the leading single, and also the strongest of a bunch of genre-defying and very... Read More
Tune-Yards, Sunday January 15, The Corner live, review, music.
0 Comments. 52 Views. Posted 31 Jan 2012 @ 5:15pm.
From the moment Merril Garbus walked out on stage and started things off by warbling, sideways-yodeling and growling a meandering a capella soliloquy in that inimitable deep tribal timbre, before looping said voice over itself in the same vein to kick-start opener You Yes You, it was fairly apparent this wasn’t going to be your typical ‘buzz-band’ show.   For starters, Ms Garbus’ tUnE-... Read More
CSS, Thursday January 5, The Corner Hotel live, review, music.
0 Comments. 55 Views. Posted 31 Jan 2012 @ 5:04pm.
  Cansei de Ser Sexy might translate as ‘tired of being sexy’ but last week’s show at the Corner Hotel proved CSS are far from it.  Visiting our shores for the first time as a foursome since the departure of Adraiano Cintra in November, the curtains of the Corner open to reveal the Brazilian party crew in a pose and ready for action. Lead singer Lovefoxx sets the tone, asking the... Read More
So Frenchy, So Chic In The Park, Sunday January 15, Werribee Park live, review, music.
0 Comments. 79 Views. Posted 31 Jan 2012 @ 4:59pm.
  As the sun sets on my 20s and I find myself creaking towards middle age, small changes in my tastes let me know that I am, for better or worse, getting older. Things like developing an appreciation for country music, the realisation that I’ll probably never get into dubstep, or the simple joy of a perfectly curated music festival.   The So Frenchy So Chic brand, which regularly hits... Read More
Joe Robinson, Wednesday January 11, Bennetts Lane live, review, music.
0 Comments. 38 Views. Posted 31 Jan 2012 @ 4:49pm.
In 2008 a 16-year-old Joe Robinson took out Australia's Got Talent with his humble charm and impressive guitar playing, his victory clinched with a performance of the Tommy Emmanuel arrangement of Classical Gas. But rather than cashing in on his notoriety and youth with a rushed album of covers, Robinson relocated to Nashville, where he has spent the last few years refining his style and... Read More
Blood Orange, Wednesday January 11, Northcote Social Club live, review, music.
0 Comments. 60 Views. Posted 31 Jan 2012 @ 12:35pm.
It was this time a year ago that Devonté Hynes last visited our shores under his old moniker, Lightspeed Champion. What was touted as being a full show with backing band turned out to be a solo gig, a rather baffling one at that. At its worst it was glorified karaoke, in retrospect, the shy, wooly-jumpered indie kid that attempted to rouse a near-empty East Brunswick Club was one in a phase of... Read More
Mistletone Fright Night, Friday January 13, The Corner live, review, music.
0 Comments. 382 Views. Posted 31 Jan 2012 @ 12:29pm.
  For a dude that’s done nothing but incredibly cool shit over the past year, Sydney’s Jonti still possesses one hell of a dorky disposition. Performing from the Swan St side of the bandroom (what’s usually The Corner’s DJ booth was transformed into a full-on second stage for the evening), Jonti crafted a fine set of dance jams with his vintage synth-led setup. Signing off, he played the... Read More
Penguin Café : A Matter Of Life... album, review, music.
0 Comments. 164 Views. Posted 30 Jan 2012 @ 4:05pm.
Embracing the torch passed down from his father Simon, Arthur Jeffes carries on the musical legacy laid out by his dad’s own musical collective Penguin Café Orchestra. Though he drops the ‘orchestra’ label, Jeff es Jr.’s own instrumental compositions are no less lush or collaborative. Even without a background in the typically high brow realm of modern classical, A Matter of Life’s minimalist... Read More
Patrick Wolf : Brumalia EP album, review, music.
0 Comments. 139 Views. Posted 30 Jan 2012 @ 3:36pm.
Patrick Wolf slides back into the limelight with this, his brand new eight-track EP. Brumalia is an extension of his most recent album, Lupercalia.Here, Wolf branches out with new sounds, sidesteps and detours merging comfortably with those hallmarks that helped make Lupercalia brilliant. Brumalia indulges in grandiose melodrama, embracing wild gestures and unabashed fl amboyancy.   The... Read More
The Unthanks : Diversions Vol. 1 album, review, music.
0 Comments. 122 Views. Posted 30 Jan 2012 @ 2:50pm.
  How do you finish a banner year after releasing a critically-acclaimed sophomore record? Well, if you’re contemporary folk act The Unthanks, by releasing a live album of covers, of course. An eclectic one at that.   Doing exactly what it says on the tin, Diversions is an unedited audio document of a one-off performance at the Union Chapel in London, in which the baroque five-piece... Read More
Ty Segall : Singles 2007-2010 album, review, music.
0 Comments. 102 Views. Posted 30 Jan 2012 @ 12:37pm.
  The late Jay Reatard openly admitted rock’n’roll was the only pursuit available to him other than a life of drugs, alcohol and criminal behaviour. That Reatard was ultimately unable to secure his grip on the safe side of the illicit pharmacological precipice suggests that rock’n’roll can only go so far in saving a troubled soul.   Ty Segall is cut from a cloth similar to Reatard’s,... Read More
Five Finger Death Punch : American Capitalist album, review, music.
0 Comments. 159 Views. Posted 30 Jan 2012 @ 10:34am.
  Another album, another lineup change. Surprisingly shedding Matt Snell, aka ‘that dude with the beard’, 5FDP continued recording the follow up to 2009’s War Is The Answer with producer Kevin Churko taking over bass duties. Fortunately, this has not altered the band’s drive or focus and their new effort, American Capitalist, lives up to the standards they have previously set. Their fi rst... Read More
Various Artists : The Great Australian Songbook album, review, music.
0 Comments. 206 Views. Posted 26 Jan 2012 @ 12:10pm.
  The Great Australian Songbook is a double-CD compilation of what is billed to be “40 of Australia’s finest recording artists performing 40 of the best Australian songs from ‘Last Century’ and ‘This Century’”.   As you can imagine, any collectionwith such noble and lofty ambitions is likely to generate heated debate amongstmusic fans as many listeners will have strong feelings about... Read More
First Aid Kit : The Lion's Roar album, review, music.
0 Comments. 336 Views. Posted 26 Jan 2012 @ 6:56am.
  First Aid Kit often get compared to Fleet Foxes, perhaps due to them getting their big break via their YouTube cover of Tiger Mountain Peasant Song. Aside from I Found A Way having the same romantic urgency and wavering flutes of Your Protector, Johanna and Klara Soderber’s assured second album cementstheir sound as something quite different - younger, subtler and leaning a lotcloser to... Read More
Single Of The Week - Drake Feat. Rhianna : Take Care review, single, music.
0 Comments. 98 Views. Posted 25 Jan 2012 @ 4:45pm.
  A low key R&B track in the Usher mould, with booming bass and a watery, submerged synth line and not much else. This is a nice change of pace from the epic scale du jour of the Kanye-led commercial hip hop scene, and it features a really interesting break down – more minimalist drums and clever layers of vocal samples from an old blues singer. Rhianna’s performance is also muted and... Read More
Sunset Blush : Monkeys Taking Over The Zoo review, single, music.
0 Comments. 134 Views. Posted 25 Jan 2012 @ 4:42pm.
  An odd, minimalist, marching rock tune with a heavy strummed guitar line and vocals that sound isolated and troubled, as the guy known as Sunset Blush sings about rats taking over the kitchen, monkeys taking over the zoo, and other signs of long-repressed mutiny. It’s weird, but oddly vulnerable. Read More
Cat & Spoon : In My Pocket review, single, music.
0 Comments. 140 Views. Posted 25 Jan 2012 @ 4:36pm.
  That isn’t the voice I expected. The gentle ripples of acoustic guitar that launch In My Pocket are overly familiar - the light, lilting gestures that usually precede a kittenish female folk singer. Not in this case though. The voice that breathes over these romantic guitar notes is rough and masculine, closer to Tom Waits than Julia Stone. It’s a pleasing kind of dissonance, softened in... Read More
Sol Nation : Every Reason review, single, music.
0 Comments. 174 Views. Posted 25 Jan 2012 @ 4:30pm.
Sol Nation are a Melbourne reggae collective with roots in East Timorese folk and Afro-Beat. They have a self-titled EP behind them and this new single ahead, to be launched at the NSC on February 3. It starts out pleasantly enough – a loping, electric guitar laced reggae tune with buttery vocals, but things get really interesting three minutes in. The tempo ramps up to a heart-starting Cuban... Read More
Olivia Newton John : Mickey review, single, music.
0 Comments. 224 Views. Posted 25 Jan 2012 @ 4:19pm.
I think ONJ is probably a nice woman, but the disaster of her Toni Basil cover is only paralleled by the disaster that is her plastic surgery. Lifted from the soundtrack to A Few Best Men –a terrifying return to filmmaking by Priscilla director Stephan Elliot – this queer-as-fuck electro house interpretation of the tongue-in-cheek classic is as tacky as the film’s premise. Read More
Mark Lanegan Band : The Gravedigger's Song review, single, music.
0 Comments. 130 Views. Posted 25 Jan 2012 @ 4:14pm.
  Next month, the former Screaming Trees front man and occasional vocalist for Queens Of The Stone Age releases his first Mark Lanegan Band album since 2004. The Gravedigger’s Song is a steady, creepy opener, wide in scope and full of malice. It evokes the horror rock of Marilyn Manson, without descending into full bore goth hysteria.   Read More
Michael Kiwanuka : Home Again review, single, music.
0 Comments. 123 Views. Posted 25 Jan 2012 @ 4:09pm.
Winner of the BBC ‘Sound of 2012’ accolade, UK singer songwriter Michael Kiwanaka has a bluesy voice not too far from Ben Harper, and a sweet, lamenting debut single that sounds like David Gray with a gospel swing. Easy listening but lovely. Read More
Feist : The Bad In Each Other review, single, music.
0 Comments. 97 Views. Posted 25 Jan 2012 @ 3:52pm.
  The Bad in Each Other features one of Feist’s more cloying choruses, a tilting male/female duet that sounds like a bad early '80s folk pop tune. The production is beautiful though, with a rough, minimalist rhythm described by the label as sounding like stones falling down a mountain. I can’t really improve on that.   Read More
Grimes : Genesis review, single, music.
0 Comments. 89 Views. Posted 25 Jan 2012 @ 3:36pm.
Canadian song smith Grimes (aka Claire Boucher) is set to release the album Visions on March 9 and Genesis is the sweet, upbeat slice of art pop candy that serves as an entrée. Opening with a skittering synth line reminiscent of Close Encounters, the track pulls dreamy electro layer over dreamy electro layer, then adds a slapping dance beat to make it all jump. Meanwhile, Grimes’ voice chases... Read More
Delaney Davidson : Bad Luck Man album, review, music.
0 Comments. 225 Views. Posted 25 Jan 2012 @ 12:49pm.
  Delaney Davidson lives the proverbial peripatetic lifestyle. Born in New Zealand, Davidson travels the world playing his guitar, imbibing the local culture and transposing his idiosyncratic observations into country garage tunes. If Davidson was American, he’d be prone to jingoistic hubris; as a New Zealander, Davidson’s narratives are dripping with pathos, irony and the odd splash of... Read More
Amy Winehouse : Lioness: Hidden Treasures album, review, music.
0 Comments. 318 Views. Posted 25 Jan 2012 @ 11:47am.
It’s not too often that you are able to listen to music that hasn’t been made for sales, for numbers, for demand and for A&R guys. Rarer, even still, is to be able to listen to the treasured songs that never did make it onto the original records that were intended for commercial success. Perhaps it is artistry in its truest form; however that would be an understatement for the late Amy... Read More
A Few Best Men film, review, arts.
0 Comments. 48 Views. Posted 25 Jan 2012 @ 7:50am.
In the early '70s Australian filmmakers gave the British public a taste of some uniquely Australian larrikin humour with films like The Adventures Of Barry McKenzie and Barry McKenzie Holds His Own, which traded on crude cultural stereotypes and distinctly Ocker humour. Now nearly four decades on, the British have returned the favour, exporting some boorish British boys behaving badly down under... Read More
Grouplove, Wednesday January 4, The Corner Hotel live, review, music.
0 Comments. 165 Views. Posted 24 Jan 2012 @ 3:46pm.
  Undercolours staged a flaccid, unadventurous set, effectively typifying the fate of your average support act - that is to say, while there was nothing truly objectionable about the band, that may have been the problem precisely. Undercolours’ complacent Triple M rock repertoire failed to pack much of a punch, any lasting impressions eluding the Corner crowd. Their set, while accomplished... Read More