Tag: "album review"

Moonface : With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery
0 Comments. 1,158 Views. Posted 31 May 2012 @ 12:02pm.
When you hear Spencer Krug’s voice, there’s no mistaking it for anything else. When it comes to committing to one particular sound, however, he’s something of a shapeshifter. The now-defunct Wolf Parade was his sturdiest anchor, with Krug indulging his wilder experimentations under guises such as Sunset Rubdown, Frog Eyes and Swan Lake. He has now settled into the Moonface moniker, though going... Read More
The Exploders : Orche.Stratros.Pheric
2 Comments. 2,041 Views. Posted 16 May 2012 @ 4:00pm.
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 always conducive to the continued longevity of a group, with the ability to replicate the intensity that their initial flame created often unachievable. The Exploders entered the Australian music scene... Read More
Gin Wigmore : Gravel And Wine
0 Comments. 1,828 Views. Posted 15 May 2012 @ 5:49pm.
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... Read More
Ray Davies : See My Friends
0 Comments. 1,122 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:20am.
Though it could be argued that they were the smallest of the British invasion’s big four, The Kinks still hold an influence on contemporary rock that proves just as strong as The Who or The ‘Stones. Unlike those stadium-storming dinosaurs, there’s next to no chance of a Kinks reunion tour of any sort, thanks to the brothers Davies being separated by enough acrimony to make... Read More
President Roots : Shark Den Blues
0 Comments. 956 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:23am.
No decent music ever emanated from my footy club. It was long Saturday nights spent drunkenly slurring the chorus to Khe Sanh, punctuated with soulful interludes droning on about some hotel in California littered with of two-bit hookers and mountains of cocaine. It was male bonding, verging on homo-eroticism. If Freud had been present, he’d have downed a couple of Sub Zeros and run... Read More
Norah Jones Featuring… Norah Jones
0 Comments. 1,625 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:23am.
Maybe it was the endless press releases that stated that she was the daughter of Ravi Shankur before they mentioned her own talents – or maybe she was always a maverick; either way – ever since Norah Jones nestled into the public consciousness with Come Away With Me, she’s refused to follow a stereotypical career path. While her ubiquitous 2002 debut had her pegged as a... Read More
The Bees : Every Step's A Yes
0 Comments. 972 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:22am.
Anyone familiar with The Bees’ back catalogue would love to exercise their prejudice in approaching Every Step’s A Yes. With such songs as Who Cares What The Question Is?, These Are The Ghosts and Chicken Payback in their illustrious past, one could hazard a guess as to the nature of this new offering. Fortunately, the band from the Isle Of Wight aren’t out to repeat themselves... Read More
Underoath : Disambiguation
0 Comments. 2,255 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:17am.
Like many long term fans of Underoath, having loved their hits such as Reinventing Your Exit and A Boy Brushed In Red, Living In Black And White off earlier albums They’re Only Chasing Safety and Define The Great Line; I wasn’t immediately ready to give their new record Disambiguation a warm reception. Since drummer, second vocalist and founding member Aaron Gillespie departed... Read More
Bruce Springsteen: The Promise
0 Comments. 1,311 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:17am.
In 1978 Bruce Springsteen was mid-way on his journey from rock ’n’ roll saviour – courtesy of Jon Landau’s hyperbolic review of a 1974 Springsteen concert – and his coronation in the 1980s as America’s rock ’n’ roll poet laureate. With Born To Run, released in 1975, Springsteen took the spirit of rock ’n’ roll into the American... Read More
Micah P Hinson : And The Pioneer Saboteurs
0 Comments. 846 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:23am.
Micah P Hinson may look like an emo Elvis Costello, but he wields a ragged baritone not unlike Bill Callahan’s, albeit in his murkier Smog years. Hinson has been serving up blood-soaked Americana since his debut, but this latest gun-toting effort comes with an extra few licks of blood. He embraces his American gothic tendencies, and any cries to his maker tend to be in vain – for... Read More
The Bonniwells : Unprofitable Servant
0 Comments. 2,218 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:23am.
Many a power ballad has been conceived in the wake of romantic disaster. A jilted lover left with nothing but a compendium of distant memories, a few broken melodies and a burning desire for catharsis. All too often the deep-seated emotion is clouded by self-indulgence and pretension, and the listener is left with the distinct impression the jilting was justified.   The opening track, I... Read More
Second Lovers
0 Comments. 588 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:23am.
Local cabaret queen Emma Dean is back with her sophomore release, another quirky ten-track venture brimming with whimsy. On the surface, certainly, there’s much fun to be had here, but Dr. Dream is not without its pitfalls. Dean’s latest effort proves childlike, playful, but predictably so, as Dr. Dream displays little in the way of any creative risk on the artist’s part.... Read More
Emma Dean : Dr. Dream And The Imaginary Pop-Cabaret
0 Comments. 1,612 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:23am.
Local cabaret queen Emma Dean is back with her sophomore release, another quirky ten-track venture brimming with whimsy. On the surface, certainly, there’s much fun to be had here, but Dr. Dream is not without its pitfalls. Dean’s latest effort proves childlike, playful, but predictably so, as Dr. Dream displays little in the way of any creative risk on the artist’s part.... Read More
We Say Bamboulee : Bush Tricks
0 Comments. 2,231 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:20am.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee! It’s summertime! People have synthesisers! Lollipops! Iceblocks! Equal parts The Postal Service, chip music, The Neverending Story soundtrack and Architecture In Helsinki, We Say Bamboulee’s Bush Tricks is pretty double rainbow.     Doug Wright (brother of Al Wright – of Cloud Control front-man fame) fronts We Say Bamboulee, a synth-indie-... Read More
Alpine : Zurich EP
0 Comments. 3,057 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:17am.
Once playing under the moniker ‘Swiss’, Melbourne’s Alpine have a distinctly Scandinavian feel to them. This promising EP delivers some icy, clipped sounds that would perhaps better suit a winter release, but there’s enough pop smarts packed within these five songs to make it a suitable summer soundtrack too. Perhaps it has been perfectly timed for the... Read More
Dead Farmers : Go Home
0 Comments. 1,404 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:17am.
What is it about a noisy, brattish, barely listenable garage rock record that makes it so utterly compelling? There’s little but white noise, indecipherable lyrics and a frenzy of drums that’s crying out for a dose of Ritalin. It’s angry, pissed off, confronting, arrogant and fucked-up to the point of requiring long-term incarceration. The agents of respectable... Read More
Sunset Circus EP
0 Comments. 1,019 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:23am.
As we’re all aware, first impressions are important, vital even. They are known for opening and closing doors, creating new opportunities and occasionally crushing expectations. So, it is a good thing that Sunset Circus got their debut release right.     The Melbourne-based ‘heavy’ pop/rock outfit are said to have combined their collective influences, which... Read More
Subjektive : My Perception EP
0 Comments. 1,705 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:23am.
There are times when – if you’re so inclined – you’ve simply got to love groove-based metal. Especially when it’s got touches of melody flitting about throughout, it’s a genre that quite readily can get your head bobbing and your heart pumping. Subjektive are a Melbourne-based two-piece, who obviously love Machine Head and Pantera, and here on... Read More
The Coralinas : Free Energy
0 Comments. 651 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:23am.
The lapsed physicist in me – albeit one of only matriculation standard – questions the notion of ‘free energy’. It’s the transformation of energy that is significant – the law of conservation of energy suggests energy is always looking for some visual, aural, thermal or kinetic manifestation. If that’s the case, how can energy be... Read More
WakingUgly : Say Something Sweet
0 Comments. 1,314 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:20am.
WakingUgly have ironically made a name for themselves as an underground secret of sorts. The Melbourne-based pair, Lydia Gardner and Darren Pace, joined forces back in 2004 and with no releases or recordings attached to their name for nearly six years, they have undoubtedly spent a long time in the shadows. But with the release of their debut EP Say Something Sweet, it is pretty... Read More
Kvelertak : Kvelertak
0 Comments. 696 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:20am.
Progressive-punk. These are two words that sit extremely uneasily together. In fact, they’re very much at odds with each other. In fact, it almost seems an oxymoron. Is there even such a genre? It’s certainly not a term you hear very frequently. Or at all. But this crazy Norwegian six piece, Kvelertak, seem to have pulled it off big time, and possibly coined a phrase... Read More
INXS : Original Sin
1 Comments. 1,037 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:20am.
On this album INXS and a bunch of guest musos re-interpret songs from the band’s enviable back catalogue. Although the results are often of a high quality, it’s hard to understand INXS’s decision to tinker with their impressive legacy.   This project would make more sense if all of the new versions were a marked improvement on the originals or if they functioned as... Read More
Big Scary : The Big Scary Four Seasons
0 Comments. 3,242 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:17am.
What started out as a deceptively simple premise – record an EP named and inspired by each seasonal turn – has turned out to be a major creative project for local Melbourne duo Big Scary. With the onset of Summer, comes the final piece of the seasonal set. The completists among us will already be chasing down those last limited copies, but to celebrate they’ve... Read More
A Day To Remember : What Separates Me From You
1 Comments. 3,352 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:17am.
When you first listen to What Separates Me From You and the guttural distorted riffs and commanding screams of Sticks And Bricks assault your ears, you may briefly wonder if you’ve managed to mistakenly cue up a Parkway Drive album instead. By the time the chorus eventuates, however, and distinguishably catchy clean vocals off-set the song’s initial heaviness, you... Read More
Doobie Brothers : World Gone Crazy
0 Comments. 1,337 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:23am.
You’re celebrating your fortieth year in the recording saddle and you’re named after the herb superb. So who do you enlist to write a new song and sing it on your 24TH album? Well, the Doobie Brothers chose Shotgun Willie Nelson (now aged 77 and back on the Lost Highway again with regular dope busts). The singing septuagenarian is guest vocalist onI Know We Won – his co... Read More
Amaya Laucirica : Early Summer
0 Comments. 2,472 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:20am.
Early Summer – the follow-up to Amaya Laucirica’s 2008 debut album, Sugar Lights – is an enveloping record that draws on the pensive intimacy of the talented Melbourne songstress.   But it’s also a record that requires a certain degree of dedication from the listener. It’s cloaked by an almost opaque blanket of reflective contemplation, whereby... Read More
Gypsy & The Cat : Gilgamesh
1 Comments. 4,585 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:20am.
I feel a little ashamed for really liking this album. It reminds me of MGMT and Empire Of The Sun and other bands of that ilk that I liked for a short amount of time but quickly grew sick of once their music oversaturated the airways and, really, any audible space available. It’s got that dazzling pop aesthetic that ties in ELO and The Bee Gees and Hall And Oates with synthesised drums and savvy... Read More
Bryan Ferry : Olympia
0 Comments. 1,433 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:17am.
The thirteenth solo album from the ever-cool Bryan Ferry is not nearly as dead-eyed as its drippy Kate Moss-adorned cover would suggest. Olympia revels in the pastiche sound of late Roxy Music, and why not – there are enough current young bands aping it.   Ferry owns his sound, pulling together all of the best elements of his variable solo work. It’s a reliably... Read More
The Suzan : Golden Week For The Poco Poco Beat
0 Comments. 2,000 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:22am.
The mere knowledge that The Suzan are a Japanese garage-pop girl band, combined with cursory attention to the title of their new record – Golden Week For The Poco Poco Beat – gives you a reasonable indication of what’s in store. Basically, it’s going to be pop, it’s going to be enticing and it’s probably going to be out there.   And... Read More
Swans : My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky
0 Comments. 1,582 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 11:22am.
It’s very rare that you listen to an album and believe that it might well be a masterpiece. There’s no shortage of great albums around, but the long awaited Swans album deserves more than passing congratulations.   It’s been 14 years since Michael Gira and his band of artful gentlemen last put out a record; under this name anyway. Indeed, after such a... Read More
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