The Exploders : Orche.Stratros.Pheric

Online aggregators like the hype machine and triple j’s unearthed platform enable bands to quickly skyrocket to great heights of popularity in a very short time frame. The method of which is not...
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Father John Misty : Fear Fun Posted 16 May 2012 @ 9:49am 109 views 0 comments As the dust settled on another hallowed Fleet Foxes album, the various members scatter and make hay with their side-projects. On the downside, Poor Moon (featuring two Fleet Foxes members) have released a five-track EP of dull AM radio rock that hardly leaves you anticipating any further releases. On the positive side, the new album from ex-drummer Josh Tillman is a wonderful release. Like Poor...
Gin Wigmore : Gravel And Wine Posted 15 May 2012 @ 5:49pm 15 views 0 comments Gin Wigmore’s sophomore release, Gravel And Wine, sounds like gravel and should be enjoyed with a big glass of the best red wine (or a bottle-full of the cheap stuff). New Zealand’s sultry, gravelly-voiced blonde bombshell has produced an album of attitude-soaked blues rock. Although, she did learn during its recording process that she doesn’t really have the blues – not the ‘real’ blues anyway...
Max Crumbs : Maidenhair Posted 15 May 2012 @ 2:45pm 67 views 0 comments Maidenhair is a party album of sorts, hitting an appealing middle ground somewhere between civilized dinner party and 3am PARTY. Bedroom electronica can be obscure to the point of only turning up in a select few other bedrooms, but the latest sample-swamped collection of collages from Max Crumbs (aka sometime hardcore drummer Max Kohane) is destined to be enjoyed by a wider audience.  ...
Paul Weller : Sonik Kicks Posted 15 May 2012 @ 8:23am 37 views 0 comments Sometimes it’s hard to decide whether Paul Weller really gives a flying fuck about anyone other than himself. Despite his genesis as a angry young mod, and evolution as a songwriter disposed to political tirades, Weller appears to have no loyalty to external constructions of himself, or his songwriting. That is to say, Paul Weller makes the music Paul Weller wants to make, and fuck you if you’re...
White Rabbits : Milk Famous Posted 15 May 2012 @ 8:18am 47 views 0 comments Milk Famous is the third album from Brooklyn, New York-based sextet White Rabbits. White Rabbits can often create an unusual balance between the engaging and the banal, past releases sometimes feeling as though barely any personality is expressed through their songs.   Milk Famous does manage to create moments of energy and enjoyment, however a frustration with the album is that it is...
Magic Bones : Magic Bones Posted 11 May 2012 @ 3:35pm 71 views 0 comments When a genre has a resurgence, as 70s rock‘n’roll has of late, suddenly bands spring up all over the place waving the flag, and it can become a battle to sift through the debris to find a genuine article. Magic Bones, however, leave the mediocre bands in the dust­, because at the core of their retro rock‘n’roll sound are quality songs. Their self-titled debut EP is lean and muscular in...
Various Artists : The Best Of Blues & Roots 2012 Posted 10 May 2012 @ 12:26pm 90 views 0 comments Glancing down the track list of Best Of Blues And Roots 2012, you’ll see Lanie Lane, Josh Pyke, John Butler Trio, Donavon Frankenreiter, Ash Grunwald, Blue King Brown, The Jezabels, The Waifs, Gurrumul, Justin Townes Earle, Michael Franti and Spearhead and Tim Finn. I don’t think I even need to continue with this review – you get the idea, right? The CD is jam packed with blues and roots...
Various Artists : Strong Love – Songs Of Gay Liberation 1972-1981 Posted 9 May 2012 @ 7:32am 262 views 0 comments   By the late '60s, popular music had become synonymous with the progressive causes of the day: the crusades against American involvement in Vietnam, desecration of pristine wilderness, women’s liberation and the idyllic quest for a libertarian personal and social existence.    Notwithstanding the presence of (male) gay protagonists in the radical fringe of popular music –...
Sinead O'Connor : How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? Posted 8 May 2012 @ 12:04pm 74 views 0 comments   Sinead O’Connor came out fighting on her 1987 debut, The Lion & The Cobra, and 25 years on, she still sounds like that girl with fire in her soul and a foot looking for an arse to kick on How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? Yes, anger has continually infiltrated her work, be it directed at her parents, the opposite sex or the Catholic church, but during the last 25 years, we have also...
Catcall : The Warmest Place Posted 8 May 2012 @ 11:24am 179 views 0 comments   The Warmest Place marks the full-length debut from Catcall, the solo project from Sydney’s Catherine Kelleher, and you gather the sense it’s been a long time coming. There’s a scattershot allegiance to many expired trends that defined the golden era of alternative pop balanced out by some impressive displays of sheer pop smarts.   August grinds along with a pseudo-industrial aplomb...
New Estate : Recovery Posted 4 May 2012 @ 11:40am 187 views 0 comments   The contemporary phenomenon of the outer-suburban real estate development – described conveniently as a ‘new estate’ – is at best a planning abomination, and at worst a dysfunctional planning and architectural monstrosity. Beneath the utopian rhetoric of these contrived communities exists the disturbing reality of a lack of public infrastructure and isolation from the surrounding...
Gruntbucket : Songs From An Empty Room Posted 4 May 2012 @ 11:19am 179 views 0 comments About 150km north of Melbourne lies the regional Victorian town of Nagambie. Like most Australian towns, Nagambie has weathered its share of slings and arrows of outrageous modern economic and social fortune: reduction in community services, fatuous political promises, skewed demographic migration patterns.    Nagambie, however, has punched above its weight in one key, and frequently...
Soulfly : Enslaved Posted 4 May 2012 @ 9:44am 216 views 0 comments Enslaved is Max Cavalera’s first foray into the world of the concept album, with the album based thematically around the concept of, you guessed it, slavery.   Since their formation in 1998 after Max’s departure from the legendary Sepultura,  Soulfly has slowly evolved with each album, moving from the tribal, dub-infused nu-metal heard on early albums such as Soulfly and Primitive,...
Beach House : Bloom Posted 2 May 2012 @ 10:37am 497 views 0 comments There’s a brutally efficient way to summarise the Baltimore duo’s fourth LP, and while labelling it as Teen Dream 2 is perhaps not an unsurprising summary, it unfairly underlines a ‘if it ain’t broke’ mentality that betrays Beach House’s characteristically organic craftsmanship.   Naturally Bloom’s predecessor was the pair’s breakthrough album, critics and fans alike flocking to the most...
Bruce Springsteen : Wrecking Ball Posted 1 May 2012 @ 11:49am 257 views 0 comments   Bruce Springsteen refuses to quit. Throughout his career, he’s painted the landscape of the “behind the scenes” America, that of the blue-collar factory workers, the catalyst that lets the dudes in the skyscrapers keep rolling in benjamins. Or that of the country drowning in debt, hiding to the rest of the world behind silver screens everywhere. As The Boss has put it, he’s spent a life...
Kate Miller-Heidke : Nightflight Posted 1 May 2012 @ 11:44am 301 views 0 comments Believe it or not, Nightflight is actually Kate Miller-Heidke’s first solo album in three years. The success of its predecessor, Curiouser, rippled so triumphantly for so long, it’s as if Miller-Heidke never withdrew from the limelight. Nevertheless, she’s back, presenting a satisfying return to form.   Buoyant opener Ride This Feeling offers an electrifying first impression, bristling with...
La Bastard : La Bastard Posted 30 Apr 2012 @ 9:25am 199 views 0 comments   Once a derogatory description of a child born out wedlock, bastard has long evolved into a commonplace reference to an acquaintance whose perceived bastardry is more than likely to be the consequence of a razor-sharp comic wit, or a demonstrated ability to consume vast amounts of alcohol.   All of which probably means next to nothing for Melbourne’s La Bastard. La Bastard play the...
La Sera : Sees The Light Posted 30 Apr 2012 @ 9:21am 222 views 0 comments Break-up albums are a dime a dozen, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a more lighthearted breakup album than La Sera’s Sees The Light. Opening song Love That’s Gone has all intentions of being an introverted, self-pitying song going by its title and musical style, but when Katy Goodman kicks things off with the lyric ‘I love my life without you’, it suggests something quite different. After this...
dEUS : Keep You Close Posted 30 Apr 2012 @ 9:17am 121 views 0 comments   The name literally means ‘God’. They are not yet so deified but are they bigger than Jesus? In Belgium at least they could well be. They are the biggest band in the land. So big in fact, that other pretenders to the throne such as Dead Man Ray or Zita Swoon feature past or present members of dEUS. On the eve of their first Australian tour, Keep You Close is timely. At least to Australian...
Simone Felice : Simone Felice Posted 26 Apr 2012 @ 6:12am 200 views 0 comments   That Simone Felice has had an eventful last couple of years is an understatement of the most perverse kind. Having taken the first cautious steps out from the shadow of his elder brothers with The Duke and the King, Felice wrote a couple of critically-acclaimed books, and made two ill-fated attempts to cross the Pacific to tour Australia, the second aborted trip after having been forced...
M. Ward : Wasteland Companion Posted 25 Apr 2012 @ 8:27am 278 views 0 comments From the man who’s collaborated with everyone from My Morning Jacket to Bright Eyes to actress Zooey Deschanel, it’s no surprise that folk luminary M. Ward’s latest offering is superb. Wasteland Companion hits all the right notes, whether they are happy and poppy, mellow and evocative or dark and bluesy.   Opener Clean Slate is typical M. Ward mellow acoustic strumming, but the following...
Battle : Dross Glop Posted 24 Apr 2012 @ 12:00pm 209 views 0 comments The unique rumble of Brooklyn art-funk-fusion outfit Battles has always been begging to be remixed. Now, thanks to the sweeping success of their sophomore album, the un-spoonerised Gloss Drop, their music undergoes a full makeover.   Having been handpicked by the trio themselves, the sheer variety of producers and beat-makers on offer reflects the group’s eclectic tastes. Much how its...
Hoodoo Gurus : Gold Watch: 20 Golden Greats Posted 24 Apr 2012 @ 11:52am 206 views 0 comments   It doesn’t take a compilation to confirm the merit of the Hoodoo Gurus’ contribution to the contemporary Australian rock’n’roll canon. Having started out as Le Hoodoo Gurus in 1981 (the ‘30th anniversary’ tag associated with both the Dig It Up! tour, and this compilation is somewhat misleading) as a three-guitar, bass-less purveyor of bubblegum pop infused ‘60s garage, Hoodoo Gurus have...
Johnny Gibson : Endless Search For Gold Posted 24 Apr 2012 @ 10:39am 193 views 0 comments   Every now and then a drummer steps out from beyond the cloak of their drumkit and reveals themselves as both songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Johnny Gibson, drummer for a host of Melbourne staples; including The Currency, Streams Of Whiskey and Swedish Magazines has done just that, presenting to the world his first solo album, Endless Search For Gold.Opener Back Roads is...
Courtney Barnett : I've Got A Friend Called Emily Ferris Posted 20 Apr 2012 @ 8:22am 311 views 0 comments   Courtney Barnett probably has a lot of friends. As well as the obvious namesake of this EP, there's also Brent DeBover (of The Dandy Warhols and Immigrant Union), Pete Convery and Alex Hamilton (of Merri Creek Pickers). Courtney and this particular group of mates gathered in a lounge room recently to record the eight tracks that make up this honest, easy and notable debut.   With...
Audego : Abominable Galaxy Posted 19 Apr 2012 @ 4:43pm 321 views 0 comments   Paso Bionic has been around the Australian hip hop scene for more than a minute now, known for his work behind the boards on five Curse Ov Dialect albums as well as four from TZU, he even had time to drop a solo record under his own name. The other half of Audego female vocalist Big Fella is less known, but equally as important. It may have all started with a remix, but it has led to a...
Jack's Mannequin : People And Things Posted 19 Apr 2012 @ 2:30pm 222 views 0 comments   Jack’s Mannequin and frontman Andrew McMahon and are back with their third studio album People And Things, released alongside the band’s performances at Soundwave this year. Their first record to be released since McMahon’s recovery from leukaemia, the album debuted in the United States at number one on the Billboard alternative rock albums chart, with a top ten showing on the Billboard...
Tangled Thoughts Of Leaving : Deaden The Fields Posted 18 Apr 2012 @ 6:45pm 212 views 0 comments Recipients of a Western Australian government grant, recorded locally but mastered in Sweden, allows the band to develop a contrary sound and engage the listener in sounds oblique enough to capture the imagination. With tracks rambling along to over ten minutes and sometimes 15 minutes in length, it is an achievement in this present age of digital quick fire play-delete almost ADD syndrome...
Clark : Iradelphic Posted 18 Apr 2012 @ 6:42pm 248 views 0 comments   After prolifically turning out albums in his own quasi-retro style, Chris Clark returns with what appears to be his most accessible album in Iradelphic. Recorded over three years in six countries, Clark treads explores sounds which we’ve not come to expect from him, namely pastoral, down-tempo pop. With this new flavour, Clark entwines flourishes of texture, Kraut-rock and scarred...
Sheriff : Sheriff Posted 18 Apr 2012 @ 3:19pm 283 views 0 comments   If you’re looking for slick production, atmospheric soundscapes or catchy pop hooks, you best look elsewhere. If you dig fat, bawdy grooves, lots of exuberant hollering and music that’s generally free of spit and polish, then Sherriff are your bag.   This is the Melbourne three-piece’s debut EP, and it’s a raw and beer-soaked as it is fun. This band’s music sounds like it’s the...