New sounds

Very good things to get your hands on :
(take a listen by clicking on the artist name and going straight to their myspace)

The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride

YAY! Soon to appear on our shores again for what will surely be yet another sell out tour.

Quality release as always from John D.

Magnetic Fields - Distortion
'welcome back, welcome back, welcome back'


Cat Power - Jukebox
More gorgeous covers

That's not all - a small package arrived on my desk with 2 wonderful cds I ordered from Canada's Maple Music some time ago, but am so happy to be surprised by them today:

Amos the Transparent - Everything I've forgotten to Forget
Fabulous folk/indie tunes. This is something you won't want to forget.


Cuff the Duke - Sidelines of the city
I first saw these guys supporting Hayden back in Vancouver. I still think they are great.
Alt country/rock fun.


and last but not least a lovely little EP from Ireland

Drunken Boat - Cut the Engines, Raise the Sails.
Lie back, listen and enjoy

Top 10 Australian releases

ok so a few of these made my overall top 20 already, but I still thought it was relevant to showcase separately some of the great stuff that was put out by artists 'down under' this year. Click on the album covers to got straight to their myspace and hear.

top ten in no particular order:

Dappled Cities – Granddance

Just try turning it off once it takes hold

Jordie Lane - Lover's Ride EP

As I've said before, when I see Jordie I feel like I'm on a journey somewhere between Hank Williams and Ryan Adams, somehow familiar and yet wonderfully new....great stuff from a really talented local guy

Grinderman - Grinderman

Nick Cave leads a few of the Bad Seeds in this side project for some really enjoyable and as the Guardian described it 'foul-mouthed, noisy, hairy' music.

Angus and Julia Stone - A book like this

I can't get Tom McRae out of my head every time I hear Angus Stone (and a little bit of Joanna Newson in the voice of Julia) but that is not at all a bad thing. As the name might suggest this is an album of gorgeous stories. A brother/sister duo who are all class.

Touch Typist - You cannot kiss a laughing mouth

Released as part of a new iniative with Feral Media to showcase local artists, this is a very fun 30 minutes of self described "levitating spacerace instrumentals and flying car freakouts with lyrics about alternate realities and the beauty of household objects"

New Buffalo - Somewhere, Anywhere

Beautiful sounds from the woman who penned 'that' (ipod) song for Feist.

Ed Kuepper - Jean Lee and the Yellow Dog

A new and long awaited album from an Australian music legend. Features appearances from Warren Ellis and former Saints bandmate Chris Bailey this is a concept album which is loosely based on the life of Jean Lee, the last woman hanged in Australia. Great stuff.

Gotye - Mixed Blood

Seeing him live at Meredith only confirmed for me how great this guy is. (Clearly I'm not the only one judging by his Male Artist of the year ARIA) For a person who doesn't usually go for remix albums, I think this ones a keeper.

The Panics - Cruel Guards

Another quality release from WA band the Panics - enough to earn them last years Triple J Australian album of the year.

Midnight Juggernauts - Distopia

As quoted in Mess+Noise "the headiest brew of disco, prog and electro, not to mention Bowie and Daft Punk, you’re likely to hear"

Melbourne in January

Melbourne in January is a good thing.....not only are we enjoying summer in our land down under, but also we have a constant stream of great bands arriving on our shores.

The New Year kicked off with a beautiful show from José González on the 2nd. He played a fairly subdued, but beautiful gig. (featuring a particularly killer version of fold which completely bowled me over.)

Unexpectedly the next night I found myself at The Go! Team playing HiFi bar in the city. Not usually a band I'd go and see, but that kind of attitude would have been my own loss. It was a tight, energetic and extremely fun set.

Seeing these two acts back to back was an interesting thing. I wouldn't say before that I was the biggest fan of Go Team! and their second album did not (for me) reach the heights of Thunder, Lightning, Strike. However, the energy of their live gig and the connection they made with the sweaty, but appreciative crowd at HiFi Bar really won me over. It was just a really fun musical night out, and it made me want to go home and listen to them again. José on the other hand, whilst singing gorgeously and performing impeccably, did not quite live up to the expectation that Veneer and In Our Nature had instilled in me. There was just something missing....maybe the lack of connection with the audience, maybe it was just all too perfect and precise. It seemed at times not like a live performance. So is this a bad thing? Is he to be faulted for being flawless? Of course not. On the whole the concert was like I said, gorgeous, but it did leave me wanting a little bit more, a little bit more of him, his self, his humanness.....which is not entirely what going to a live music performance is about, but it does definitely leave an impression.

At any rate, this is a small quibble. The year has started off well, and there are many many more gigs filling up the calendar. Highlights of the next few weeks will be Sufjan Stevens, The National and Arcade Fire ....and that's just the beginning!

Stay tuned for a gig filled summer