Skip to content

Posts tagged ‘australia’

Sep 19

Album Recommendation : The Paper Scissors – ‘In Loving Memory’

‘In Loving Memory’

The sound of The Paper Scissors is not something you’ll necessarily love at first listen. But, they’re one of Sydney’s most lovable musicians – and for a good reason. The music has really grown on me.

’In Loving Memory’ is the band’s second album. The songs were written during the band’s travels; from home in Sydney to as far away as Queens, New York, in various studios and via email through numerous long sessions. Jai Pyne has written lyrics about a range of topics from family, love, drunkenness, alcoholism, death, sex, the ocean, weather, isolation and more, bringing a disparate collection of musings into one of the most coherent and focused collections of songs from an Australian band this year.

And this is the result! It is in the easiest way summed up a quirky garage rock album with electronic vibes. It’s catchy and it is hard to get. It’s indie rock and post rock. It’s different and at the same time recognisable.

The music is flawless and interesting produced. The trio is clearly talented and have a fascinating way of writing/playing music.

It’s possible a top notch album for the fans, but maybe a bit hard to get (I’m still working on it, and ‘Yamanote Line’ (from ‘Less Talk More Paper Scissors’ – 2007) is still my favorite from them..)

May 27

11 Q’s to : Rowan Galagher (The Mad Pride)

If you like music from Mike Patton, Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Syd Barrett and Radiohead, you’ll also like The Mad Pride, the creation of singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Rowan Galagher.

In addition to the comparisons that have been made (including Jacques Brel, Mr Bungle, Danny Elfman, Jeff Martin, Muse, Grizzly Bear, Midlake and David Sylvian), the music is difficult to pigeonhole, as it has a bit of everything; from weird classical post rock, to dark wave, psychedelic and everything in between.

He released three original albums in 2009 and 2010, and they’re all  avaliable for free download on several places online, including Soundcloud. They’re highly recommended!

1. What’ve you been up to today?

Listening to music, replying to messages, shopping for food and cooking.

2. Describe your music in a haiku.

Lost in mindful sounds

Emancipating myself

From the world around

3. What makes you happy?

Spending time with my son and playing music.

Scapegoat

4. Who or what inspires you?

Empathy and kindness.

5. What was the first song you learned to play?

I can’t remember. It would have been something on piano.

6. What’s your favourite flower?

Passionflower

7. Who would you like to record/perform a song with?

David Andrew Sitek

8. If you had one day left to live, what would you do?

Spend it with my son.

9. What was the last song you listened to?

Molten Light by Chad VanGaalen

Fade Away

10. Who would you say is the most underrated musician in history?

Jacques Brel

11. What are your top 5 favorite albums?

Radiohead – OK Computer

Jeff Buckley – Grace

Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

Ani Difranco & Utah Phillips – Fellow Workers

Sia – Some People Have Real Problems

Follow The Mad Pride on Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter and Reverbnation.

Apr 14

Guineafowl – ‘Little Fingers’

Guineafowl’s debut EP Hello Anxiety is one of the hottest new things coming out of Autstralia right now.

The band has just announced they’re taking part of of the massive 2011 Splendour In The Grass line-up in July, and are heading out on a tour with Brisbane favourites Ball Park Music this month.

Hello Anxiety’s first single out is ‘Little Fingers’, a track that easily sum up some of the elements from Guineafowl. Which is a nice mix of indietronic, indie rock and some roots – something you also can hear a lot on rest of the EP.

Little Fingers

Jul 30

Shadow Thieves – Space Between

Shadow Thieves – Space Between EP

Shadow Thieves are an alternative rock band based on Gold Coast, Australia. They are Matt Buckley (vocals, guitar), Joey Green (drums, vocals), Jack Letizia (bass, vocals) and Cassidy Wilson (keyboards, vocals).

The band was discovered by Blue Tongue Management, and recorded the two first tracks (Promise and Mystery) of the EP in 2009, at Loose Stones Studios with producer Matt Bartlem and later had them mixed by Forrester Savell (Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus). The last four tracks were recorded at Loose Stones Studios, this time with producer Shane Graham of Rock Group ‘Fatis Valour’.

Shadow Thieves were included on the 2009 Big Day Out, Loud Fest and Caxton Street Festivals. They are signed to Lungata Records, so things can only go forward when they release the debut EP “Space Between” on August 24, 2010.

When a new band releases their first EP, you can expect one of two things; 1) an EP so carefully crafted, you can almost hear that they’ve “found their sound”, or 2) an EP so inventive you can hear the band is still playing around to find their sound. Or you can hear a mix of both; Shadow Thieves are one of these bands. On six tracks they give you everything from rock (Dinosaur Skin, Promise), roots rock , atmospheric rock, jungle rock, to progressive rock.

The opening track Gardens consists of almost all of the elements mentioned above; it is a good opening track that gives you a sum of of what you can expect from ‘Space Between’. It’s some steady riffs, intensive rock, jungle/roots rock, some pretty cool sound effects and proper vocals that suit the music well!

Never Seen Today was the first song that first caught my attention. The instrumental part (rock, atmospheric rock, piano interlude) of this song is just amazing, and the way the vocals interact makes this one of the highlights.

Jun 11

New Video: Goodnight Owl – Maps & Compasses

Thanks to Sabrina at Sabi’s Aus Music Blog for the heads up about Goodnight Owl’s debut video for Maps & Compasses.

Btw, check out her site, you’ll find an amazing list of a lot of great Aussie bands (new, unsigned, indie) there!

Goodnight Owl are Eddie Alexander, Joe Walker, Bella Walker and Eric Moore, an electronic pop band formed in 2008.

Goodnight Owl’s debut EP was recorded in November of 2008 with producer Nick Huggins, using a studio, a church, and a bedroom in the inner city suburbs of Melbourne.
‘Maps & Compasses’ and ‘She Kept A Secret’ have received airplay on radio stations such as Triple J, Triple R and ABC Rural as well community stations Radio Adelaide, 2SER and PBS FM.

Maps and Compasses

..
MySpace
Triple J Unearthed

May 2

The Jezabels

The Jezabels

The Jezabels were formed at Sydney University, New South Wales by friends Hayley Mary (vocals) & Heather Shannon (piano) and Nik Kaloper (drums) & Sam Lockwood (guitar) in 2007.

They have released two EP’s “The Man is Dead” (2009) and “She’s So Hard” (2009).

This music is beautiful! A brilliant mixture of an energetic and at the same time gentle musical composition consisting of some steady drums, piano, an acoustic guitar and some dramatic vocals, makes this music nothing less than remarkable.

Hayley’s vocals can very easy remind you of Kate Bush, something you clearly can hear in “Hurt Me”. This track is dramatic and it’s a mix of dramatic pop and modern rock.

The Jezabels are going on a tour with Tegan and Sara – starting May 3rd!

Hurt Me

Mar 26

Interview: Soar (Somerset, Oh and Rhode)

Soar (Somerset, Oh & Rhode) is a band from Sydney, Australia. And are one of those bands who have made a good music career in the popular social network site ‘Second Life’. It might be the future for other bands who want to play live – on the internet, in front of friends and family all over the world at the same time, without leaving the livingroom. Get to know them here.


How and when did Soar (Somerset, Oh and Rhode) form?

Well I am Ian MacCarthy and I play keyboards; Our Lead Singer and Guitarist is David Llewellyn and our Lead Guitarist, Bass Player and Singer is Charles Nicholls. We write our songs either all together or as duos or individually.

We formed way back in 1989 as “Nicholls, Llewellyn & MacCarthy”and recorded our first and only real album a year later. For most of this century we have been apart because we all moved away from each other … hundreds of miles in fact so performing music together just couldn’t be done anymore. We dabbled in recording music over the convening years by sending computer files to each other which each one of us would then add our instruments/vocals to until a song was finished.

Then Second Life came along. David joined first in around 2007 and told me all about this wonderful 3D world. It took me a good year and a better computer before I was willing to “risk” Second Life. Late in 2008, after having absorbed this new “life” for a few months, I started to check out the music scene and immediately thought “heck our music is much better than a lot of these performers.” So I approached David and suggested maybe we could “reform & perform” in Second Life. It took a bit of convincing as well as getting Charles set up in SL as well … he’d been on the sidelines the whole time.

Eventually, after we had completely set ourselves up as a SL band with SL names: David = Bright Oh; Ian = Experiment Rhode and Charles =…erm..Charles Somerset! We then found a manager and once we were thoroughly rehearsed etc, we debuted “live” in March 2009 after having written and performed a tribute song, “Too Many Tears,” for the victims of the terrible bushfires in Victoria, Australia in early 2009. This song was the perfect vehicle to launch us into Second Life and we garnered a number of interviews including one with CNN. We performed the song on SL TV as well and even got our tribute song played on Sydney radio!

We play regularly in SecondLife. Usually between 6 – 10 one hour gigs a week. Unfortunately due to the time differences in Australia and America/Europe we do our gigs when half the world is sleeping! But for Aussies and the UK we can be heard at reasonable hours!

All I can say is join “SecondLife” – You will not be dissapointed!!

You have two separate music profiles on ReverbNation where you promote your music. What is the difference between Soar (Somerset, Oh and Rhode) and Nicholls, Llewellyn & MacCarthy?

No difference really. NLM was us in Real Life and Soar is us in Second Life though I think we will become Soar everywhere now..much easier! But I’d put NLM on Reverbnation just before we became Soar and then later another band member went and put us on it as “Soar”. So its been fun seeing which of the two is more popular and we are very close in terms of fans and on the charts but I think Soar is winning!

Can you tell us about SecondLife?

Second Life is a free 3D virtual world where users can socialize, connect and create using free voice and text chat. It was launched in 2006. For Soar it is the only way we can perform live because of the distances we live from one another. We had never really performed live previously so we had no idea whether we had an audience out there who would like our music. This was the easiest way for us to find out and we were amazed we had a following almost immediately.

The comments from SL residents over the last year about our music have been incredible. Other people have even built (virtual) venues just so we could perform at them! We also perform regular gigs for charity – our number one charity being for Autism which we almost dedicate all of April too as its “Autism Month” around the world. We even performed live to the soldiers in the Gulf last year!

How would you describe your music?

Well, it is predominately acoustic-based and if the songs need “producing” we add drums, electric guitars, bass and keyboards. No matter what form the song is in it will always have our harmonies, courtesy of our love of The Beatles, Beach Boys, CSN & America etc. Most of our songs are usually slower ballads/love songs but once in awhile we will do more uptempo material. We have also done a few Guitar Instrumentals in the style of The Shadows, Ventures etc.

Some of our songs have very Australian themes to them like “Brindabella” (which is a small range of mountains); “Cry The Lucky Country” (about how artists vs. politicians see our land); and “Camvilla” (about a pioneering family in the goldfields of the 1800′s). The majority of all the songs we write are about love – gained or lost. We hope that we have a style that is timeless. It has worked for quite a few years already.

What is your favourite song you’ve written and recorded so far and why?

Thats a tough one! I/we have so many favourites as do our fans. But for me the most satisfying are 3 songs that are very close to my heart inparticular.

The first is “Too Many Tears”. As I said earlier we wrote this song for the victims of the tragic bushfires in Victoria, Australia last year. The words were written with my girlfriend, Mariposa after hearing first hand stories from the fires. David then added some beautiful music to them.

My fave 2nd and 3rd songs were also inspired by Mariposa. Her son, Chance, is Autistic but writes the most amazing stories and poems. We took one of his poems and set it to music – “Song For a Broken Soul”. To say he and his mum were impressed would be an understatement. Then soon after we wrote another song, this time especially about Mariposa and Chance but dedicated to all “carers” in the world. This song is called “Special” and we debuted it at an Autism Charity event in SL last April. This song probably gets the most requests of any of our songs. It also causes the most tears! Those 3 songs are very special to me but I love a few dozen more too lol.

How do you promote your music?

Yes we have a manager/booking agent – Mariposa, who happens to be my girlfriend as well! She is also an accomplished musician in RL. All venues that we play at in SL promote our gigs as well and we also have a fan club/group within SL called “The Soar Pandemonium” which has over 130 members at the moment. Thats pretty good for SL! We get the occassional song played on internet and community based radio around the world too. We also promote our music heavily on many websites like:

brightoh.com (official site)

ReverbNation

The sixtyone

alonetone.com

soundclick.com

uvumi.com

Can you tell us about what you’ve released so far, and any future releases from Soar?

Our first and only Real Life album was released on cassette back in the 90′s and was called “A Girl Like You”. We are actually re-issuing this album on CD in April 2010. It will be completely remixed with re-recorded vocals and a bonus track. This will be available from our website as a download or as a hard copy through the mail (autographed as well!). No name for the CD as yet. It will be out probably late April 2010. Then before the end of the year we will have a brand new CD out with all new songs which we have been recording on and off since last year. We have a backlog of over 50 original songs to choose from so its difficult picking the tracks.

Thanks to Ian for the interview! You can find a video made for the song “Too Many Tears” here.

Mar 4

Montpelier

Montpelier

Montpelier is a four piece indie pop band from Brisbane, Australia.
They are Dave Butler, Greg Chiapello, Andrew Stone, and John Pickering.

They have previously performed across Australia under a different name, and took a hiatus, before they were reborn as a new band, Montpelier, in early 2009.

They spent some time in Los Angeles, recording their debut EP “Montpelier EP” to be released on March 5, 2010. The EP was produced by Kevin Augunas (Cold War Kids, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Yves Klein Blue).

The typical sound of Montpelier is a combination of modern pop rock (influenced by the likes of Crowded House, Passion Pit, The Temper Trap and the Boat People).

That, combined with some upbeat piano-driven pop tunes, makes this music sound refreshing and upbeat. This music is easy to like, it’s comfortable to listen to, and it gives you a floating style, from some clearly well established musicians.

The Rafters

Mar 3

Sherlock’s Daughter

Sherlock’s Daughter

Sherlock’s Daughter is an alternative folk band from Sydney, Australia. They are Tanya Horo, William Russell, Liam Flanagan, Jonti Danilewitz and Tim Maybury.

They released their self-titled debut EP in late 2009, and have so far toured with School of Seven Bells and the Temper Trap. Now it’s their turn to take the world by storm.

“Sherlock’s Daughter” consists of five uplifting, folky and atmospheric tracks. And it’s like a mix of psychedelic folk, hippie folk, dreamy and experimental pop and indietronica.

This is something that makes this music well developed, and ahead of time. And somehow, a lighter (and less quirky) version of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.

Song for old people

Jan 19

1 Comment

Little Red

Little Red

Little Red are Adrian Beltrame (guitar, vocals), Dominic Byrne (vocals, guitar), Quang Dinh (vocals, bass), Taka Honda (drums) and Tom Hartney (vocals, percussion). A five piece pop band based in Melbourne, Australia.

Little Red was formed in 2005, and was featured on Triple J Unearthed. They released the debut album Listen to Little Red independently in Australia in 2008 and have received regular plays on Triple J (Australian nation-wide radio station) and were voted #47 on the 2008 Triple J Hottest 100.

Listen to Little Red will be released internationally in early 2010.

This band could just as well be a oldies rock and roll band like the one they had in the 60′s. Try an unabashed guitar, and funky punk pop and you have Little Red.

This music makes you wanna dance and sing like no one is watching. Little Red makes the sound of modern time rock ‘n’ roll and with the combination of  ‘doo-wop punk’ and three vocalists singing for your attention. They can’t do it wrong.

Jan 10

We Grow Up

We Grow Up

Some music is just adorable. Like this, Adelaide, South Australia based indie pop band, We Grow Up.

They are Jonathan Mortimer (vocals, guitar & keyboard), Anthony Golding (vocals, Guitar, keyboard & bass), Tom Mackay (drums) and Walter Marsh (guitar).

Their musical influences comes from Elliot Smith, The Beatles and various folk pop artists. They’ve been gigging around in South Australia since the formation on 2007.

And have so far released their self titled debut album (2007), Night Kitchen (2008) and the third album (Kids on Love) is set to be released in early 2010.

Celia carries the influences of being a The Beatles and late 90’s folk inspired track. With some modern folk pop vibes.

Wrote it all down in my Diary is a typical good feeling song, it’s adorable. And it almost makes you wanna go over to the situation where you want to sit on a pink cloud and sing.

Office Christmas Party

Oct 14

Blame Ringo

br!

Blame Ringo

Blame Ringo are a Brisbane based band, consisting of Pete Kilroy (guitar/vocals), Rosco Pearson (guitar/vocals), Jessiah Cocks (bass/vocals) and Tony Garrett (drums/vocals).

They are formerly known as ‘Goodnight Vienna’, but they had to change the band name when they unfortunately were named after Ringo Starr’s 4th studio album. Something that gave the band a mission; to blame Ringo ..for everything.

Blame Ringo released the debut album ‘Lucky number 9’ in 2009. Along with the debut single ‘Garble Arch’. The music video was filmed outside Abbey Road and it was one of the most viewed videos on YouTube the week it was released. It reached 50,000 views within the first 24 hrs.

This music is uplifting and possible one of the brightest debut albums coming out in 2009. They have some 60’s influences, well, 60’s pop to be precise. And the lyrics are original, developed and suit the music perfectly.

You hear the mix of new pop, retro pop, the good folk sound ..with flute and the last touch of some good guitar riffs.

Garble Arch