Another month has come and gone, and frankly, it's been pretty boring in the Arcady front. Most of us are back in Uni, and in my case, full time job (I got offered a permanent position, wa-hey!)
Weekends are mostly spent at home watching "Ten Things I Hate About You", "Law and Order" and "American Psycho" than actually going out and socialising.
Wow, we're lame.
So I leave you with this. An amazing piece of work. Don't feel bad, Jared Leto is now emo remember.
Olivia Desianti Editor/Creative Director
MAILING LIST
Covers - by Natasha Theoharous
5
"This Charming Man" Death Cab For Cutie
Never have the works of Morrissey been more deceptively upbeat.
4
"Disco 2000" Nick Cave
And never have the already fairly bleak lyrics of Pulp sounded even bleaker.
3
"Hounds of Love" The Futureheads
Oh ah oh oh ohhhhhhh ...
2
"Everybody's Gonna Be Happy" Queens of the Stone Age
Not only did this cover convince me to get into The Kinks, but the visual image of Nick Oliveri looking like he'd just stepped off Carnaby Street in a red crushed velvet double breasted suit, cape and knee-length boots is just too good to pass up.
1
"Norwegian Wood" The Fiery Furnaces
This song was practically written for Matt and Eleanor.
No, I'm not biased on this matter.
And no you cannot check my last.fm.
And as much as I love you Graham Coxon, your Libertines covers are terrible.
Melbourne's British India are on a somewhat utilitarian mission.
Seemingly discontented by bands who alienate their audience through the habit of "showy poetry of flowers and dust which hardly means anything to the person who wrote it, let alone those who are hearing it," frontman Declan Melia instead insists that British India aim to "be a band that appeal to a lot of people; we never wanted to be a niche band."
And alienating they are surely not. As indie rock oxymoronically becomes increasingly commercial, British India, who for nigh on 18 months toured relentlessly in support of their debut Counter Culture EP and its additional singles, seemed destined to be the next blimp on the hype radar. Their hook-laden, guitar-driven indie, from the onset of Hives-esque debut single "Outside 109", could never have had anything but widespread appeal.
And the hype which ensued was truly insane. While debut LP Guillotine was Triple J's Feature Album of the week, its preceding single "Tie Up My Hands" took number one honours on the JTV chart.
As British India's chief songwriter, Melia's relationship with the Melbourne scene is expectedly ambivalent. The rousing, frenetically punk single "Black & White Radio" seemed to blatantly attack the very 'indie' scene British India were so inextricably part of. Yet Melia insists "it's more of an attack on a much larger scene. More than anything it's about peoples' relationship with music." Unlike genuine music fans, the track berated those "who hear a song on Nova while they were getting changed, and then they hear it in a club and think it's the best song ever and download it the next day."
Yet Melia's hostility toward transient music fans – some of whom undoubtedly are fans of his very band – does not envelop all the implications of the internet revolution. "Despite the venom", claims Melia, the instantaneous nature and accessibility of online communities like MySpace is "making that environment where everything is so capable and easily acceptable.
"It doesn't cheapen music for those who knew music's value in the first place. People are against so many bands willingly and easily putting up tracks on MySpace, but what could possibly be the problem with that? I think it's great."
Fretful of the band's debut EP, which Melia sees as "flashy and showy" in retrospect, the attitude with which their first long player was approached he assures was infinitely better, with no small thanks to producer Harry Vanda (AC/DC). "Always a reassurance, Harry's influence on the songwriting was big. He infected us with a love of pop music." Such a fondness for the 3-minute wonder greatly informed Guillotine, as Melia and bandmates attempted "to write pop songs that a lot of people would like. Pop has become a dirty word. There's nothing harder to write than the perfect pop song."
This utilitarian desire to reach the largest audience possible stretches to Melia's lyrical output. Immersed in the British scene as Australia may be, Melia attempts to define an essentially Australian experience. "I really try to make lyrics that people can relate to, that people will see something of themselves in, but at the same time I don't want to write lyrics that are purely descriptive, like Arctic Monkeys, or Jamie T or The Streets, laying in black & white what happened on Saturday night and the girl who looks good on the dance floor."
The resulting product unmistakably achieves this goal, as their Strokes-esque guitar pop infiltrated alternative radio airwaves off the back of the album's release.
Touring nationally throughout September/October in support of the Guillotine, Melia assures you can expect the record's energy to translate successfully to the stage. "Our music and lyrics are injected with that energy. It's as much a part of the song as the melody."
The City Lights have just released their second album, El Sol. I spoke with Harry Roden about monkeys, the circus, as well as things that actually have happened to the band…
How did The City Lights form? What brought you all together? James and I were brought up in the same orphanage together because we are brothers so we knew each other right from the start. The other guys James met when he was in the merchant navy. James used to live in this squat in Bondi when he was onshore and it used to be a hang for all these people - actors, hustlers, race car drivers. The other guys James met because they used to turn up to score. Eventually we all ended up jamming in the lounge room and The City Lights were born!
Are there any parts that really distinguish El Sol from your previous work? Yes. We have a brass section on this one. We also have instrumentals. Also, we have a lot more guests this time and we recorded onto tape which makes it sound deep and lush, like Kit when he talks.
What's the basis of The City Lights sound? The basis is guitar, bass, drums and vocals. Pretty standard really. Of course we add in extra things on top like keys, brass, Clavinet, Moog, Melotron, a monkey choir we had specially trained by Danny Allen and field recordings of various things such as the wind humming through a field of wild Datura at dusk etc. Just the usual stuff.
What's your musical background and of the other members of the band? James used to be in The John Reed Club, I used to be in Hoolahan, Danny is currently in Youth Group, Kit is in Rocket Science, Bruno is in Peabody and Graeme was the drummer in Peabody . I guess you could say we have paid our dues to sing the blues.
What bands were most influential to you growing up? What affect have they had on the way you write/perform/think about music? Growing up in the circus I guess James and I were fairly limited to circus type music. Which is great, don't get me wrong. We only heard rock and roll when we got booted out for letting the monkeys out.
Are there any bands who you have toured with that have had an impact on your songwriting? Well Rocket Science of course. "Stand Accused" is a song James wrote in the hope that Rocket Science would play it but they laughed at him and pushed him down the stairs so we played it and it was picked up by radio straight away.
When recording El Sol you opted for recording on tape rather than using ProTools, was this to create a different atmosphere on the record? To perhaps bring a more lo-fi aspect to it, or to simplify the process? Have you recorded this way in the past also? It is in fact more hi-fi. If you are recording onto 2 inch tape on a Studer tape recorder you are at the zenith. The digital medium can never match the analogue because digital is only ever a sample (mind you a very high sample, on a CD it is 44.1kHz, i.e. 44,100,000 samples per second) of the sound wave. On tape you have the entire sound wave therefore analogue wins (there are other issues with bandwidth and tape compression but I won't discuss them in this weeks column). Eventually everything has to go onto Pro Tools at some point because that's how we get it to CD but the longer you keep it on tape the better. Tape sounds better. It sounds real whereas digital sounds more harsh. To understand what I mean listen to a vinyl LP and then listen to the same song on an MP3 player through your stereo (not headphones). Obviously there are varying degrees of quality in the digital realm. I use Pro Tools 7.3.1 through a Digidesign 003 at home and it sounds really good (in fact it Is close to as good as it can get) but even if I compare this to my mate Tim's Otari 8-track reel to reel it comes up second. And, yes, Hoolahan used tape to record their album. So there. Bored? Good.
The references towards the sun are apparent with this new record, what is the significance of this theme? Is it also linked to your time spent in Spain?
It is just random. We played this great club in Madrid called El Sol and because we had so many songs about the sun (and 'son' trainspotters) we thought, "Why not call it that? I feel hungry. Sleepy".
Whats the weirdest show you have ever played? Or had experienced the strangest audience reaction? People liking us is pretty weird so, once again, I have to say that everywhere in Spain was weird because we weren't used to such a great reaction. People would come up to the front of the stage and smile!! It was great!
Which city has been your favorite to perform and visit? El Sol in Madrid and Los Picos in Lierganes, both in Spain . Both brilliant. Have I mentioned we went to Spain?
Jenny Hoyston compares booking her US tour to the first Rocky movie – "an interesting experience of triumph and tears."
When talking about Erase Errata, a few words come to mind: post-punk, post-feminism and post-riot grrl. Having grown up around grunge music, post-riot grrl hits me like a sentimental brick every time it's mentioned. And because it's such a powerful movement, the playfully-nicknamed EE always find themselves being compared to Le Tigre and Sleater-Kinney.
"In addition to the obvious gender similarities, I can imagine that we might be compared to Sleater-Kinney because they were excellent rock musicians and we might be compared to both of those bands because they weren't afraid to tackle political themes in their music," Jenny Hoyston, Erase Errata's lead singer and trumpeter said.
Like with many of the bands in the grunge/riot-grrl clique, Erase Errata have an affinity to Sonic Youth. "Erase Errata toured with Sonic Youth years ago. They are great people. Kim and I made up a bunch of songs together between soundchecks and showtimes." The result was Anxious Rats, about which Jenny reminds us that they are "not broken up, but the opportunity to be in the same place at the same time is limited."
With Erase Errata currently on hiatus, Jenny Hoyston has taken the time to write and record her first solo album. While it may not be her first solo effort, it's the first time she has used her own moniker in her releases. "I've been making solo 4-track recordings for almost 20 years. The first official release of them was under the name Word. The most prominent releases of my solo recordings were under the name Paradise Island. I'm going under my name now because it's fun to make changes."
Isle Of comes from the "fusion of my previous solo band name with my ideal, Love." Jenny said. "While I think Erase Errata's sound is very interesting, it is the result of the collaboration of three people with three specific instruments. Isle Of is all over the place. I'm playing Hammond Organ on many of the tracks, acoustic guitar, toy drum machines from the 80s… and Isle Of is completely without genre."
Like most storytellers, Jenny Hoyston writes her songs in such a way that you'd think that they're based on her own experiences and adventures. "The songs are autobiographical, except for the last track." She pauses. "I have never encountered a rabid baby."
They started guitar lessons three years ago, then by the winter they began writing songs, Shane (10 years old) and Hunter (13 years old) teamed up with their father Brian, who plays the drums, to form The Muldoons
The fact that they have started playing in a band so young, Shane and Hunter are proving with their amazing rock music and raucous performances that rock n' roll has got absolutely nothing to do with age. When I spoke with them about how they feel about doing live shows and whether they get nervous, they replied "We don't get nervous at all. We always go out and try to be as professional as possible. We pick shows we think will be interesting to get involved with. We spend a lot of time thinking about what songs will be good and how they will fit together for that night, sometimes we'll learn a certain cover tune for a particular show if we think it would be cool. We practice entire sets over and over prior to shows to work on timing. It always feels different when we're in front of a few hundred people playing than it does rehearsing by ourselves. Playing live is way more fun."
The sound of the band is a bit like Sonic Youth and Fugazi, but with a bit more rawness. Hunter says his greatest influence is Dee Dee Ramone, "all his songs have the best lyrical content" and his guitar hero is Kurt Cobain, whilst Shane says he admires Johnny Ramone because "he had the great punk rock attitude" but his guitar hero is Beck. With such great influences, and considering how early they have started making music, things can only get better and better for The Muldoons.
These days there are a few bands around that are similar in age, I asked if they had any advice to kids thinking of starting a band, "We always say you're never to young. There are a lot of kid bands now that no one has heard of (we look for them through Myspace). There's always been kids making cool music. They should check out bands like Old Skull, The Prats, Red Kross, some of that music is twenty years old, but still sounds amazing today!"
Shane and Hunter's father, Brian used to play in The Go with Jack White, now Jack is producing their records. I asked them if Jack had given either of them any advice on playing the guitar to which Shane told me, "Honestly no, I don't remember ever asking Jack stuff like that, Brendan Benson showed us the right way to play Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive" on guitar a while back. He also gave tips on bass playing when we recorded our album with him. We had never played bass and we wanted to add it to some of the songs we were doing".
Upon asking whether The Muldoons would ever be able to tour Australia, Hunter replied, "My parents have said if there was a way to cover a trip like that playing shows we could do it.There are no plans yet. Someday we'd love to though. We'd all be there in twenty four hours or how ever long that plane ride is from Detroit!"
Drums man Nate fromShy Child reckons they are better than sliced bread. From this we can derive that he is lethal with a bread knife.
Tell us about the new album, Noise Won't Stop.
We worked on it for about a year; a week here, a week there, which was cool cos we've never had that much time to work on an album before. We had some people on the album, like Spank Rock was on one of the songs, which was really cool for us to have him on, and there's a guy who created his own instrument which he calls the 'samchillian tip tip tip cheeepeeeee'.
…
There's a lot of e's in that. You'll have to do some research on it, I don't know how to describe it. Basically it's a computer keyboard that he wears and plays, and every note he hits is an interval. It's a crazy experimental keyboard. We had him on a couple of songs doing some solos.
Speaking of instruments, you must get this a lot: the keytar! You don't see that much around any more...
Yeah! Well, Pete plays the keytar not for any sort of kitschy reason. It's just a lot easier for him to move around the stage, he doesn't have to stand behind a keyboard stand looking like a tool.
Is there a specific "Shy Child" sound? How would you describe this new album to somebody who is not familiar with the music you make?
In it's simplest terms it's rock music with keyboards instead of guitars. It does have some dance elements to it, but you know. We're a band, we're not bedroom producers. We've been doing some remixes, we really enjoy doing that. We did one just recently for The Death Kids. Hopefully down the line we'll be swapping remixes with Hot Chip. We did one for The Boggs and that's been used in the trailer for the new Grand Theft Auto game, which is pretty cool for us cos we're fans of the game.
Listenin g to the music you guys make, the name Shy Child seems kind of strange. So how did you pick the name for the band?
When we first started playing a long time ago, the music was a little bit more electronic and mellow and the name fit better. But now I like that it's weird, I like that it doesn't really fit. Also I find in some countries it's really hard for them to say. I like it better cos I like to watch them struggle with it, trying to say the name of the band, it's funny.
Have you been to Australia before?
No, this is our first time.
Been getting up to any shenanigans that the general public should know about?
Definitely not that the public should know about.
Maybe that'll surface in some tabloid magazine a few months from now…
It'll just be me in pictures with Amy Winehouse and other people that they love to put in there.
So, what do you think of Australia so far?
It's awesome, we love Australia so far and we hope we get to come back soon. I haven't seen any koalas.
Are you disappointed?
A little disappointed. Maybe if I saw a dingo it'd be OK.
And if it ate a baby?
If I saw a dingo eating a baby, I'd probably have to leave Australia right away.
As the Australian public grapples with an ever-growing list of "the next big things", Liam Casey talks to Johnny MacKay of Children Collide, a band who just might deserve the hype.
When ARCADY catches up with Johnny Mackay of Children Collide, he's relaxing in Coffs Harbour, "like a knitting Nanna on her second brandy". He's putting together ideas for his band's debut album, which will follow on from their two EPs, We Three, Brave And True and Glass Mountain Liars.
It's hard to equate the image of an elderly woman with that of a young man who declared "snobby band fucks in Fitzroy think we're a pop band and mainstream people think we're weirdoes" to Mess+Noise in January this year. "I kind of regret saying that, because I'm sure I look like both of those types of people to varying ends of the spectrum. I was obviously feeling insecure that day," he says now. "Our live show generally wins a lot of people over, but you can't expect everyone to like you." Mackay has been making noise with friend and bandmate Heath Crawley and an ever-changing line-up of drummers (they're on their fourth) for about three years now. "Going from being just friends to being business partners, creative collaborators and room mates living out of each others pockets a lot of the time has definitely changed things," he says of Crawley. "You need to be able to trust someone you're working this closely with. I guess most bands will tell you it ends up more like a marriage to someone you're not attracted to than anything else."
The band's releases and shows have met with mixed reviews, usually at one extreme of the love-hate spectrum. So how do they deal with it? "It depends. If it's silly acclaim, it's embarrassing. If it's well thought out acclaim or from a source you respect, then obviously it makes you proud. Just like constructive criticism can be helpful, while a bitchy review can just piss you off."
It's impossible to avoid mentioning Children Collide's signature track, "We Are Amphibious". Like the indie cousin of Bjork's "Oceania", it's a grand song that attempts to encapsulate the history of human evolution in a three-minute rock song.
Rather different from the "I like this girl, but she doesn't like me" whining that clogs most early EPs, don't you think? "Ha ha!" laughs Mackay, who has written all of Children Collide's lyrics so far. "I've liked plenty of girls who didn't like me back but I reckon there are a lot of people who do the love song thing much better than I do, so I tend to leave it alone most of the time. There are so many things to write songs about. Sometimes it'll be a very direct and intentional idea – like "We Are Amphibious" – but my favourite songs are generally the ones where the lyrics come to me more as a stream of consciousness and it takes me a couple of weeks to work out what I mean and where the idea was coming from."
While we're on the topic of evolution, we discuss the state of the Australian music scene. Mackay thinks things are looking pretty healthy in his adopted home of Melbourne ("I immediately felt more at home there than anywhere else in Australia"). "On a larger scale I think the industry goes through phases of pushing total shit and very occasionally taking risks on more interesting music," he adds. Mackay's own music has often been described as nouveau grunge but, to be honest, I just don't hear that influence, so I ask Mackay what he hears when he listens to his own music. "We are part of a generation who has had access to so many different kinds of music, and to be honest that's what I hear," he says. "We all listen to and love so many different things but it's also the ideas and attitudes in some music we love or hate that influences us. I guess what I hear is a feeling and an attitude that I could just as easily get from a piece of music made without drums, guitar or bass. It's the delivery of that feeling on our particular instruments and the way we play them that lends itself to pigeon-hole journalism. Which I'm fine with, people who've never heard you need a way in."
Its been 8 months since I last spoke to Cut Off Your Hands, (previously known as Shaky Hands), and found out that a lot more has happened than just a name change for the band.
The release of their new EP Blue on Blue, the name taken from the final song "On Blue" which was named after an 'in joke' within the band, has seen them embark on a huge international tour, as well as recording in London with Bernard Butler from Suede. I spoke with lead singer, Nick about what this experience was like working with him, "It was great, Bernard brought alot to the songs, and to the way that we write music now. We only had a short amount of time, due to our budget and that we had to leave london to get back to New Zealand, so we had a week in which to pre-produce, record and mix the 4 songs. We recorded at Edwyn Collins' (Orange Juice) studio and got to use some great gear like Jonny Marr's 12 string 335 and Paul Cooke's (Sex Pistols) drum kit, from Nevermind the Bollocks, so it was kinda daunting being surrounded by all these amazing musicians!"
Blue on Blue differs form their debut Cut Off Your Hands as it "develops on the tuneful elements from the first EP". Also, Nick says "there's still alot of energy present, a couple of the songs from Blue on Blue have been in our set basically as long as the songs from the first EP, so we didnt feel like it was a huge change of sound".
In terms of how the band has changed so far, Nick tells me "we are now where we had hoped we would be, by this time, it's been a good year, in that we've managed to maintain our touring schedule as well as record and release an EP and travel and play in London, New York, LA and Texas as well as a bunch of tours in New Zealand and Australia. But we're constantly looking ahead to the next thing, and how to achieve it".
Their current tour takes them to new destinations across the world, but they say they're most excited about "getting to Iceland for the Airwaves festival, theres a bunch of great bands that we love playing there...CMJ festival in New York will be rad, we're playing some cool shows there like the French Kiss Records showcase with Les Savy Fav, who we are huge fans of...and our tour with Foals through UK, theyre a great new band, we're really excited about touring with them".
Apparently the change in the bands name occurred as "there was another band from USA called Shaky Hands, who issued us a cease and desist letter from their lawyer, and basically took the hardest stance they could on the matter...if we wanted to release or play in USA we'd have to change our name, and they didn't allow anything with "shaky" and "hands" in the same name...so we went with "cut off" as it was the name of our first EP, and the closest to our initial name we could have!".
Their new video for the single "Still Fond" made by their friend/artist/designer Joel Kefali, is definitely worth a look. Nick tells me they "trust him with most of the creative decisions" but they had some input into what they were to wear for the video. In terms of the overall style of the video Nick said it developed form an idea where "we wanted to do something with this 60's psych footage we had, which was this old grainy kaleidoscope footage of these mod kids, that was the starting point for the idea which Joel developed".
A year ago, Midnight Juggernauts are the worst kept secret of the Melbourne indie electro-pop scene, now they're about to take on the world.
How did Dystopia come together?
We started working on it late last year, working on demos and tracks at home in our own studio for a couple of months. Then we started working in another studio in January this year, then spent a couple of months mixing and working on stuff. When it came to recording, we were doing the 9-5 kind of job where we would get to the studio really early and be there for 10 hours and then go home and then we were in the studio the next day. Overall it was a good experience recording it, we didn't have any fights between band members or anything, all good.
What are you inspired by?
A lot of stuff we take influence from is a lot of older kind of things, soundtrack music, films are a good one I guess… and uh… I don't know, my girlfriend?
You guys have done quite a few remixes; !!! , Damn Arms and The Presets to name a few. Who's next?
The main thing that we like in remixing is to do bands and artists that are far away in style from us, so when we get our chance to work with it we can really turn it into something else. I'd like to do an Air remix. Slayer, maybe a remix of Slayer, could be cool.
What makes the Midnight Juggernauts live experience so awesome? I think live our stuff sounds a bit different. There's a lot more energy and craziness on stage, jumping around way more, tending to fall over each other and our instruments getting damaged and those kinds of things. The energy is really intense on stage with a drummer. You sometimes have to make sure you get off stage quickly after a set because there might be some drumsticks or drum things flying around, being thrown after we play.
Name the best Midnight Juggernauts song to play live.
"Shadows", that tends to be the track that everyone pretty much goes insane for. It's a big kind of disco tune, and I think the fact it had a lot of radio airplay in Australia and the 12'' travelled really far overseas as well, it just seems like people go extra crazy for that one.
What's next on the agenda after the national tour?
I think in October we're in the US , November we go back to Europe, maybe even for a couple of months we'll base ourselves in Europe somewhere when the album comes out over there. Hopefully we can come back and do another headline tour, but it looks like after this tour our next shows could be just at all the festivals around Australia in December/January. We'll see.
What are the things you miss about Australia when you're away?
I think that our way of life over here is pretty amazing, we're really fortunate. It's the lifestyle for me in Melbourne , life's really slack and I appreciate it when we're overseas. I realized that when I went overseas to places like London , which were very cool, but also a little nutty.
First there were two of you, now there are three. What happened?
We met Daniel three years ago and he started playing drums for us part time for a while. He just added so much energy for the live show and really made the band sound a lot better. He's really clued on, he's got great ideas, he understands kind of the directions that we're going in, so now he's a full part.
Who gets the most groupies?
That's a tough question, we're all in relationships with people that we really… love? Ha-ha… I definitely don't get much attention, I tend to just disappear after we play. Vincent being the frontman obviously gets a lot of attention, most people gravitate towards singers of bands. So it'd probably have to be Vincent.
If you weren't doing what you're doing right now, what do you think you'd be doing right now?
Hmmm, that's a really good question! I've always thought I'd be doing something in music, but if I wasn't I'd probably be doing some mundane job I don't like. I couldn't imagine what else I'd be good at so I'd probably be… who knows. A ticket inspector or something.
El Sol, is the newest release by Sydney band The City Lights. Who we have not heard from since their debut album Escape From Tomorrow Todayback in 2004. I guess with good reason as the band being comprised of 6 members, all from other rather high-profile Australian bands: Danny Allen (Youth Group), Bruno Brayovic (Peabody), Graeme Trewin (ex- Peabody), Kit Warhurst (Rocket Science) and James and Harry Roden, it could prove difficult to get everyone together in the same place.
There are bits and pieces throughout this record that are appealing but overall it doesn't seem to quite capture the specific feeling it appears to be trying to. It sounds like it's trying for a slick and clean Kinks meets Clash sound with some surf guitar and a small mariachi band in tow.
In the opening of the third track "Got The News Today" is quite promising, the trumpets work nicely to disjoint the regular sounds of guitars and drums that play along like most other bands in this particular genre. Both the "Spy Theme 2" and "Spy Theme 3" are quite enjoyable little instrumental breaks between main songs on El Sol. Tracks like "Everyone Out", "Get Steady" and "Never Let You Go" are the strongest, that suggest with bands members of such high acclaim from their other bands can put together some solid pieces.
Overall there's parts of this record that are enjoyable but the catchy uncontrolled and raucous guitar driven tracks are what make this album more appealing.
The 747s debut album Zampano sounds immediately familiar in the opening track "Night & Day", but in more of a comforting way rather than an "you totally ripped off that song/band" way.
It's also quite a safe sounding record much like the Kooks recent release Inside In Inside Out, of whom the band has toured with of late.
The band has a composition of different sounds that would perhaps come from the grouping of the multi-national members of the band. Irishman Oisin Lynch (vocals/guitar), Englishman Ned Crowther (bass) and Italian Massimo Signorelli (drums), were all acquainted before they came across a German busker: Freddie Stitz (guitar/vocals) to form the 747s.
The theme of the album is a mixture of vaudeville/cabaret, but perhaps intended to sound less theatrical as they have used bits and pieces of the styles like honky tonk piano, swank and swaying rhythms and echoing vocals but to an interesting effect, on tracks like "Miles Away" and "Nature's Alibi".
The title Zampano comes from the name of a travelling circus featured in Federico Fellini's film La Strada.
These sounds of previous styles are mixed almost quite bluntly from time to time throughout the record, with modern song structure, and that distinct "guitar and drums" sound of the moment: like Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, Interpol, etc. Tracks like "Missed That Sun" and "Anxiety" are examples of these modern style configurations.
Its not an original sounding record, but mostly an enjoyable listen that only slightly borders on becoming a little tiresome by the end through lack of variation. Although "Goodbye For A While, which features towards the end of Zampano does capture your attention by putting you into a world from the 50s, as if your in some high school dance setting, dancing close with your loved one.
Reading the cover booklet containing a touching letter from Gabrielle Drake to her dead brother, and a memoir of Nick by a childhood friend is requisite to understanding and appreciating this album. Think of looking through your grandparents' photo albums or reading the inside cover inscription of a second-hand book, and it's that feeling of holding a piece of some other persons' history that makes Family Tree a bit more than just 'one for the fans'.
The album is a substantial collection of twenty seven live rarities, covers and traditional songs entirely recorded in his family home. The majority of Family Tree is played solo by Drake on acoustic guitar, in the company of his family. Bits of conversation, laughter, and movement in the background remind that these songs are much more intimate and personal than recording studio outtakes.
"Milk and Honey" begins with the singer wondering aloud (in mock Russian-English) what he could play 'zat vould be interestingk'. Drake's performances, impromptu as they are, nevertheless are played with virtuosity. Subtle pastoral flourishes amongst the gentle blues and folk are evidence of his classical roots.
While his studio albums like Five Leaves Left and Pink Moon are worth having on hand to soundtrack rainy days and occasions when you've some self-pity in which to wallow, the bare-as-bones blues of Family Tree is something for a road trip through rolling countryside in a car on the wrong side of thirty years old.
This album contains:
- the likes of Akon, Nicole Scherzinger (one of the Pussy Cat whoresDolls ) and Fergie
- gratuitous images of Daddy Yankee himself encased in bling, burning money, and generally being a great big poser
- lyrics almost entirely in Spanish, except for the obligatory 'whut??!'s and 'yehhh!!'s
- absolutely nothing worth listening to
P.S.: Remember that really fucking annoying song that went "gaso-liiiii-naaaaa" you may have heard being pumped from many a one-car thug-orgy? Yeah, this guy did it. 'Nuff said.
Siouxsie Sioux: Goth pioneer, infamous Pistols groupie, punk icon.
As her descendants increasingly permeate mainstream fashion, who better to make their return than the scene's original purveyor of style? Siouxsie's first solo release of her 30 year career, Mantaray bursts into existence with the cojones of a decade-spanning expert, the electro-rock stylings of opening track "Into a Swan" proving she is able to challenge her contemporaries with the same fervour the Banshees tackled punk with all those years ago.
With everything from grunge to hip hop woven throughout these 10 tracks, it almost feels as if Siouxsie is drawing inspiration from the very artists she's influenced throughout her eclectic career.
While "About To Happen" sounds like a bastard hybrid of Muse and LCD Soundsystem, "Drone Zone" taps into pure jazz, and "Here Comes That Day" sounds freakishly reminiscent of Blu Cantrell's thankfully-forgotten "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)."
Although it's fantastic to hear such enjoyable output from a well-weathered punk veteran, Mantaray often sits poorly as an album, the vast genre-leaping tracks lending it the messy atmosphere of a career retrospective at times.
Jumping on the Australian incarnation of the indie-dance bandwagon, Sydney 's Teenagersintokyo put forth, on their debut EP, one leg-jerking hit after another.
Kudos to anyone who can explain the recurring inclusion of Tokyo in band names of late, but here the kookiness it evokes is all too appropriate. Like Robots in Disguise sinking desperately into a K-Hole, "Robocat" and "Death Rides A Horse" challenge the male-dominated dance-punk of their contemporaries Damn Arms or Dardanelles.
Highlight "End It Tonight" takes the pulsating disco-punk of Test Icicles and drenches it ethereal synths, guaranteeing its place on indie dancefloors in the very near future.
It's bands like this who prevent Australia being typecast into soft-rock mundanity, and for this very reason their stylised electro-punk seems destined to impress both scenesters and music geeks alike.
ED'S NOTE: Pshaw. The rest of the ARCADY team has disagreed and wants to give it at LEAST 7/10 =P Sounding more Punjabi is a good thing yo!
To say that M.I.A's second album Kala had a lot of expectations would be an understatement. M.I.A has been recognized globally as someone with that certain flair of je neu se quais. She puts her spin on the music she grew up listening to, making it her own.
Sadly, Kala doesn't grip me in the same way that Arular did. It seems fairly flat and mundane in bits, if not all. M.I.A sounds more Punjabi than she has done in the past, inspiring this morning's breakfast to re-evaluate its position in my stomach. That is until "Mango Pickle Down River" by Australia 's own Wilcannia Mob starts.
When that song was first released here, it exploded in a massive way and soon everybody was singing its praises, quite surprised that indigenous music could have such an impact on them. The sound of the didgeridoo laced over M.I.A's beats is quite striking.
The two seem to go together like fish and mango pickle, or like damper and honey. Sadly, this is one of the only highlights.
"20 Dollar" steals lines from the Pixies "Where Is My Mind" and almost instantaneously the thrill of the song before disappears. Considering this song, as well as "Bird Flu", were written when she ended up in India live recording drum patterns with local percussionists, she probably could've done a much better job of stealing lines from another song, or even writing her own.
By definition this album is every bit of the word "World Town". Recorded and written while she was meant to be taking time off travelling, getting her old pals $witch and Diplo in and even producing some of it her own. Whether or not this album will leave such a massive footprint on the earth of world music remains to be seen.
Despite being recorded entirely on analog systems – that is to say, not a single computer was used in its creation – Liam Finn's debut solo album, I'll Be Lightning, is as densely and interestingly produced as anything using cutting edge technology. It shouldn't be surprising, however: just 24 years old, Finn has already released three EPs and two albums with his band Betchadupa. Although Finn was always the band's primary songwriter, the material he was writing as he developed as a man and a musician was increasingly incongruous with the group's sound and hence we have this solo outing. I was expecting a Neil Young kind of affair: guitar, piano and a thin sounding drum kit. That preconception was destroyed immediately by the thick double bass of opener "Better To Be".
There are a few archaic sounding tracks, but they are charming rather than outdated. "Lead Balloon" sounds a little like mid-80s jangle-pop outfit The Siddeleys, while "This Place Is Killing Me" and the title track could be "Sgt Pepper's" outtakes.
Of course, it would be impossible to complete this review without mentioning Finn's father, Neil (of Crowded House and Split Enz, in case you're somehow ignorant of that fact). There are similarities between the two men's voices, and Finn Jnr also possesses his father's strong and sometimes kooky sense of melody.
It's a strong and quirky pop-rock album influenced by folk. Although that is to be expected, it's the fantastic production that surprises. It's a charming album that should impress life-long Crowded House fans and, despite sharing many similarities with his father's bands, it holds plenty of appeal for Finn's own generation. The cover image of Finn leaping in a forest suits the album perfectly: an organic and joyous affair (in completely recycled and biodegradable packaging!).
Saturday 11th of August, 2007
The Athenaeum, Melbourne
During such an incredible week of international acts appearing in Melbourne; The Cure, Bob Dylan, The Horrors, Arctic Monkeys and Tilly and the Wall, it was great to settle down on Saturday evening to see Gotye and his mini-orchestra perform at the Athenaeum Theatre.
Apart from earlier bands in the week, it was nice to see someone perform without an ounce of ego.
Supported by Mountains in the Sky, performed their set with some incredible animations and abstractions. Their electronic sampling mixed with live drumming, it was a nice introduction to what was going to follow in the main act.
Gotye (aka Wally De Backer) is an awesomely talented drummer; his sense of timing is amazing. From time to time it looked like he had eight arms to play the kit. I didn't even hear him come close to missing a beat, or sounding like he was out of breath as he sang.
Hearing his music being played live was quite a different experience to playing his records. The mini-orchestra was comprised of a strings section, percussionist, bassist and horns section, with Wally on drums and synth. This brought the music as close to you as it could be, to hearing every part of the songs originally comprised of samples, in a live performance.
At one point in the show the lights dimmed to almost nothing for a longer period of time than usual between songs, as this was to bring out tall cardboard cut-outs of the characters featured in the well-loved "Heart's A Mess" film clip. There is an amazing feeling that that song demonstrates: perhaps a feeling of being lost but at the same time admiring the scenery as you get further and further away form where you began, as the lyrics describe broken-down love, but countered musically by a sweet travelling journey. "Thanks For Your Time", "Coming Back" and "Learnalilgivinanlovin" were other highlights of the evening, the songs coming off as sounding fuller than in their recorded state.
From the first song until the last of the encore the audience had the same level of applause: as if each song was to be the finale. Appearing almost quite humbled by the experience of such appreciation by the audience, Wally went on to thank every member of the band, as well as the lighting supervisor and sound tech, who do usually miss out on a chance to be recognized by the crowd.
One of my favourite gigs of the year, and there was little wonder why this show sold out.
The Amplifier regulars were nowhere to be seen when Mach Pelican played their final Perth show here. They were replaced with black, leather, studded belts, piercings in weird places you never thought possible and the classic punkers you would've seen at the Ramones shows in the '70s.
Seeing as this is "the Japanese Ramones", its not surprising. In their long tenure, they've played with the likes of Nirvana, moved from Japan to Perth to Melbourne and have only managed to garner up a small but aggressive following.
They shoot through what seems like every song they ever wrote in an hour and a half set, with people stage diving every chance they got. The bouncers did nothing to stop them, preferring to watch the anarchy unfold.
It was a most triumphant way to say sayonara to the first Australian city to call them their own and its obvious that they'll be sadly missed.
The Ruby Suns take to the stage knowing that most of the people there had no idea who they were. Their set started off excellently, but after a minute of the same thing people were already looking for something new. And the band didn't do much to entertain them. They made for the perfect support band for the Albuquerque band, but the lack of stage presence made the experience terribly boring. Soon enough you could hear the crowd talking over the band and the random handclaps in the middle of their songs proved that the crowd was lost.
The Shins have played Perth a few times now and each time the crowd has more than doubled. They've got a reputation of being the best live band you're ever likely to see and this reputation doesn't exceed them. Within the opening seconds the crowd is theirs. The band seems to play hit after hit and the crowd knows every word. They sure have come along way since they played Beck's Verandah, maybe fuelled by that infamous moment in Garden State, maybe because they just are damn good.
It seemed appropriate to group these two shows together as my last experience of both bands was about two years ago as they were enjoying a rapid rise in popularity, success and hype. Two years ago both bands were still learning their craft, their showmanship and the ropes, so now after two years on the road and two albums each, how do they compare?
Kaiser Chiefs and their more poppy blend of rock are in the larger venue, the horrendous Festival Hall, which is like an aircraft hanger with a stage and unfriendly staff who try to give you the feeling that you're privileged to be served by them, not the other way round. After a set by the ubiquitous Operator Please and the not-as-rock-as-expected Wolf & Cub, Kaiser Chiefs take to the stage with a sound, light and stage show worthy of a stadium band, when did they go from becoming quirky pop-rockers to Rock superstars? The lights are perfectly synchronised, matching and manipulating the mood of the crowd as Ricky Wilson puts into practise a skill he has become a master of, initiating crowd sing-a-longs. He runs at the audience, he jumps into the audience, he throws the microphone into them and they know every word. Kaiser Chiefs remain one of the best and most fun live shows you will experience from a young rock band, they make no pretensions of seriousness or originality and no one cares, especially the band.
Maximo Park have the smaller stage, their slightly more eccentric blend of Indie Rock not quite as commercially viable and appealing to the masses. Operator Please were supposed to be on the bill tonight as well, but they unexpectedly cancelled, and frankly I'm relieved, not only because I'm overdosed on the band, but also because I wouldn't haven't experienced the wondrously restrained and arranged set of Ghostwood. After a short break filled with Indie Disco classics it's time for Maximo Park to show us what their made of and it's instantly apparent that they've become more accustomed to larger stages, singer Paul Smith and his trademark flying leaps looking slightly restricted by The Prince of Wales's stage. The band put on an equally energetic stage show, their frantic sound and songs keeping the audience moving and singing, the front of the stage is a seething mass of bodies, it's surprising that despite the lack of security there is no stage invasion at any point throughout their mammoth hour and a half set.
A lot of large international bands can treat Australian shows as just another one on the list to tick off, little realising that to their audience this could be the only time they will experience the band any time soon, both Kaiser Chiefs and Maximo Park not only acknowledge this but pull out all the stops to ensure that everyone in the room, the band included, has a great time, after two years both bands have matured but it's evident that they're still enjoying what they do and so do the crowd.
Last night, whilst witnessing an absolutely spectacular show by British act The Horrors, I couldn't understand why the gig wasn't sold out...where were you? In these days of completely contrived acts following suit, becoming exactly what the last most popular band was, you would think there would be a thirst for some kind of real substance in a band. What The Horrors provided was pretty much that, it was an awesome mix of past rockabilly configurations against some manic Birthday Party overtones.
If I had any doubts prior to this show, they were cut short in the opening moments when they began with a cover of Joy Division's "No Love Lost".
Clearly not just here to show us how good they look in their stovepipes. Of course the style present in the five members of The Horrors is an important part of the show, and also something that gets them on peoples bad sides, appearing as if their style is more important than the music they make.
To quote a wise man, beyond his years in knowledge of fashion and of life in general: Noel Fielding once said it's not music that matters, "it's about what you look like".
This aside they hurled each song at the audience with awesome intensity, and on two occasions it was Faris who hurled himself in our direction: walking across a forest of hands and heads whilst screaming the words to "Gloves".
The Horrors feel like they are meant to be in some other place in time, perhaps supporting The Cramps at a gig in a mental asylum. Of course they don't seem out of place in this time either, as they manage to incorporate a new kind of wildness and strength into this kind of music scene.
Being seated in the armpit of Festival Hall provides for an odd experience. Strangely disconnected from the actual event taking place, the terrible view and okay acoustics are definitely made up for in leg room. Not being completely enveloped in the night's proceedings actually gave me time to absorb that I was finally going to see Bloc Party. After an aborted attempt back in 2005 as a naive seventeen-year-old, I seemed to fall out of favour with Bloc Party's music. While I still maintain that their albums lack that certain punch, leaving me unfulfilled and wanting, listening to their recordings have always provoked my deeper thought processes.
Whilst coming to the bitterly ironic realisation that half an hour earlier I had sold a friend's spare GA ticket to a sixteen-year-old, opening act and Melbourne's new favourite sons of electro, Midnight Juggernauts took to the stage. With their recently beefed-up line-up and debut album up for release, you would imagine the Juggers would have all of Festival Hall spasming like they'd taken one of the many illegal substances for sale in the general West/North Melbourne area. The trio's sound, however, failed to fill the venue, with the first 10 rows on the floor appearing to immerse themselves in their futuristic vocoded groove whist the rest of us were left staring at the lighting effects.
As the lights of the dim hall brightened once again we see Kele Okereke appear on stage with the rest of Bloc Party trailing behind, crowd voicing their excitement. Okereke's falsetto pierced the hall as he begins with album opener "Song For Clay", the song setting the pace for the rest of the evenings proceedings: lyrics instrumentation and vocal styling, sincere, almost painfully naïve, stripped bare and dripping with seriousness leading way into breakneck rhythm and thrilling hooks.
Crowd surging back and forth and those in seating having stood up at first opportunity, Bloc Party powered through their set, an equal smattering of tracks from both albums, including the terminally energetic "Positive Tension", "Blue Light" and "Hunting for Witches", crowd erupting at the first few opening bars of each.
During A Weekend In The City standout "Waiting for the 7:18", Matt Tong sheds his shirt as if he's acutely allergic to it, and steps his drumming up to a level once thought impossible.
I should mention at this point the fantastic lighting on display at this point; completely in sync with the rhythms and energy displayed in the music; strobes flashing in and out of time. Even the embarrassing literal blue-flooded stage during "Blue Light" can be forgiven, as judging by the knowing giggles around me at the sight of this, the lighting definitely added something to the experience.
Powering through the rest of the set, crowd reactive positively to each song as if it was a single, the boys left us with "Like Eating Glass", closing the set at just under an hour.
Encores usually prove themselves to be somewhat anti-climatic, but truly the opposite can be said for this four-song punch in the face thanks to Okereke and co. Exploding back on stage with personal favourite from Silent Alarm, "Price Of Gasoline", the quartet thrashed themselves about stage with a renewed sense of energy, resulting in a spilt drink and seemingly related technical difficulties in relationship to Okereke's guitar. Regardless, they continued with bassist Gordon Mokes taking to a second set of drums for "Sunday", rhythm flooding the crowd, leading us into "She's Hearing Voices" and of course, "Helicopter". Okereke, having abandoned his problem-plagued guitar bounded across stage tackling guitarist Russell Lissack with a series of hugs, serenading the ever-diligent problem-solving roadie, who appeared deliriously happy, smile matching Okereke's, and then reaching into the crowd and riding the encore out.
The lights dimmed back down, leaving the crowd breathless; sounds of elation and fulfilment echoing through the hall, and leaving me wanting to join those on the floor -- when the four returned to the stage. Unscripted encore. "Pioneers". Oh crap.
My inner seventeen-year-old, although seething with some residual anger left over from 2005, was left with a big grin on her face.
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