Category Archives: Review

CD Review: The Medics – This Boat We Call Love

Review: Lana Harris

The Medics   Thinking about Cairns, music is rarely the first thing that comes to mind. And when the brain cells do get around to firing in the melodic direction, the image drawn most frequently is that of cover bands playing ‘Down Under’ to hopelessly intoxicated backpackers. So it’s good to know that there are original, independent muso’s inhabiting the tourist Mecca, artists who can battle the salty humidity and lure of cheap pink drinks to produce a unique contribution to the Australian music scene.

The artists in question are known as The Medics, a four-piece emotive indie outfit with an arrangement of electric and

acoustic guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion and vocals. Their contribution is their second EP This Boat We Call Love. Continue reading CD Review: The Medics – This Boat We Call Love →

cd, cd review, Music, Review

Music Review: Field Music – Measure

Review: Duncan McKimm

Field Music - Measure   Following the brilliance of Tones of Town, it appeared Field Music were entering a possibly terminal hiatus due to the Brewis brothers’ aversion to touring and their seemingly disparate musical desires. However, a couple of excellent solo projects in the form of School of Language (David’s baby) and The Week That Was (Peter’s) appear to have not only brought the focus back to Field Music, but also added some excitement to the flagship band. Maybe the critical success of the two side-projects and the removal of tour pressure during this time (which the brothers hate) reinvigorated the old girl – but whatever it was, she’s sounding fantastic.

Continue reading Music Review: Field Music – Measure →

cd, cd review, Music, Review

CD Review: Cate Le Bon – Me Oh My

Review: Lauren Sherritt
Cate Le Bon - Me Oh MyWelsh singer songwriter Cate Le Bon’s quiet, haunting tunes featured on her debut album Me Oh My will follow you for a long time after the CD finishes playing. Filled with melancholy lyrics, soft repetitive choruses and a darkly ever present awareness of mortality, this album is about as far away from pop as you could get.

Cate’s claim that she only ever writes songs in the dark is indeed accounted for in the lyrics on Me Oh My. Phrases such as “I fought the night and the night fought me/Knocked on the door and used its key” (Me Oh My), “Eyes so bright they just steal the night” (Eyes So Bright) and “It’s just baby I’m headed for the black” (Sad Sad Feet) pepper the album, which holds a resigned heaviness for its entire length.
Continue reading CD Review: Cate Le Bon – Me Oh My →

cd, cd review, Lauren Sherritt, Music, Review

Bluesfest 2010 Highlights!

Review: Elize Strydom
BluesfestBluesfest
[Photo: Stuart Blythe]
There comes a point during the festival – usually when you’re trudging through the mud towards the Mojo tent to get a good possie for that band you can’t believe you’re about to see – when you get the blues. For the past few days you’ve existed inside a bubble of banjos, harmonicas, dust bowl/mud pit dancing, university cigarettes, gumboots, ferris wheels, Hare Krishna fare and music from across the globe. You’ve been wrapped up in a place where Crossroads, Mojo and Jambalaya (and maybe the port-a-loos) are the only destinations you need to remember. All of a sudden you realise it will all go up in smoke tomorrow. You’ll have to pull down your tent and sit in a traffic queue for an hour before you get to the highway and start your journey back to reality. I guess that’s why people come back again and again; to get another injection of the magic.
Continue reading Bluesfest 2010 Highlights! →

Concert, Festival, Music, Review

Ebony Bones! – Bone Of My Bones : CD Review

Review: Lauren Sherritt
Ebony BonesIt’s difficult to describe what exactly the phenomenon of Ebony Bones’ music is like, only safe to say that listening to it is an experience like not many others. This is perhaps why the first track on her new album Bone of My Bones begins with a deep, rumbling introduction stating simply that “this is the sounds of Ebony Bones!.” What I can say is that it’s intense, it’s unique, and if for some reason you’re opposed to having a good dance about the house; be careful, because this record is overwhelmingly movement inspiring.

It’s hard to believe that this psychedelic, carnivalesque album was produced mainly by Miss Bones herself in her small London bedroom.
Continue reading Ebony Bones! – Bone Of My Bones : CD Review →

cd, cd review, Lauren Sherritt, Music, Review

CD Review: John Butler Trio – April Uprising

Review: Lana Harris

John Butler Trio - photo credit Polly Armstrong
John Butler Trio – Click here for John Butler Trio at iTunes		   John Butler and his newly revised trio (bringing Nicky Bomba to drums/ percussion and Byron Luiters to bass) have made every effort to make April Uprising an accessible folk rock record. Single ‘One Way Road’ was available for free download from several media outlets last year, on top of being the summer promo track on a certain digital sports channel, which guaranteed the single reached new ears. The Trio have also value added the LP by including a poster, environmentally friendly sized lyrics booklet and free trucker’s hat to those who buy the physical CD rather than download.

Continue reading CD Review: John Butler Trio – April Uprising →

Artist, cd, cd review, Music, Review

CD Review: Carry Nation – Like a River Does

Review: Victoria Nugent

Carry Nation   Brisbane solo artist Carry Nation’s debut album Like A River Does is the perfect soundtrack for lazy summer days spent in contemplation, with its rich, full sound and intimate lyrics. Built around the foundation of the voice and guitar of Brisbane songwriter Jessie Warren, the recording sees her joined by bass, string and percussion players, with their music making the ideal accompaniment for Warren’s strong and honest vocals.

Warren began playing guitar at sixteen, writing her first song at seventeen, and playing her first show at the Verve Cafe at eighteen.

Continue reading CD Review: Carry Nation – Like a River Does →

Artist, cd, cd review, Music, Review

Live Review: The Dead Weather @ The Tivoli, Brisbane 23 March 2010

Review: Duncan McKimm

The Dead Weather - Photo by Nic Adler
[Photo: Nic Adler]		   The seemingly subdued nature of the crowd at the Tivoli was jarring upon entry – but after five or ten minutes I realised I had misdiagnosed. It was like a room full of ex-boyfriends and girlfriends trying to act cool and disinterested in front of the other – but the butterflies were everywhere. As the roadie tuned guitars and tested keyboards, the hum of the audience chatter bounced to ever more excited levels. Supergroups hold so much of the unknown in them, but at the same time so much familiarity.

While no one was expecting a dud show (unless Jack White had broken all four limbs he’d still be worth watching), it felt impossible to set a level of expectation on the impending set. The only thing that could be assured is that with the combination of talent on stage, it would at least be memorable.
Continue reading Live Review: The Dead Weather @ The Tivoli, Brisbane 23 March 2010 →

Brisbane, Concert, Music, Review

Live Review and Photos: Angus & Julia Stone, Boy & Bear, Lavelle Collins @ The Palace, Melbourne 25 March 2010

By Luke Sutton
Click here to view photo gallery

Click image to view photo gallery
Angus & Julia Stone
[Photos: Anna Kanci] 		  Brother and sister duo Angus & Julia Stone are making their mark on 2010. With a new album, Down The Way having just been released, the Stone siblings embarked on an Australian tour to promote this wonderful new release for a wide circle of fans. The stage had been decorated into a furnished room, which lamps, old cameras, and a backdrop made of wallpaper decor’ and old photo frames. The term ‘Intimate gig’ could not have been truer, despite being played at the Palace.

Opening up the night in Melbourne was local singer songwriter Lavelle Collins. Playing solo with only his guitar in hand, Collins played a somewhat generic folk set.

Playing an acoustic set due to two of Boy & Bear’s band member’s being on tour with Laura Marling, Boy & Bear was comprised of a trio tonight. Reminiscent of the UK’s Mumford & Sons, Boy & Bear are such a wonderful band to watch perform. Such being, it was incredibly disappointing to see the three remaining members having to compete with the chatter of a crowd who really did not care. Many moments of perfect harmonies were blown away by the chatter of some stoned/drunk girls in the front of the floor area. Regardless of this, paying attention to the band, we were treated to a strong, honest and wonderful set which was closed with the excellent Mexican Mavis. Boy & Bear have an EP released in stores and online soon.
Continue reading Live Review and Photos: Angus & Julia Stone, Boy & Bear, Lavelle Collins @ The Palace, Melbourne 25 March 2010 →

Concert, Melbourne, Music, Photos, Review

Live Review: Massive Attack @ River Stage, Brisbane 23 March 2010

By Denis Semchenko

The River Stage is still somewhat quiet by the time I cross the Goodwill Bridge and walk up the familiar hill, most of the crowd seated on the grass and listening to Martina Topley-Bird’s unassuming, often lovely songs. Previously known as the co-vocalist on Tricky’s lauded ‘90s records such as Maxinquaye and Pre-Millenium Tension, the diminutive songbird is in a relaxed mood, engaging in humorous banter between songs.

Sparsely arranged – a keyboard, an electronic marimba and a beatbox – and led by that unmistakable, slightly breathy voice, the numbers from 2003’s acclaimed Quixotic, 2008’s The Blue God and the forthcoming third album provide a suitable start to the evening. Poison is gently seductive, the Loop Station-assisted newie is undeniably catchy and the set closer Too Tough To Die has Martina rock out on a quirky-looking electric guitar. A total, albeit brief, pleasure.
Continue reading Live Review: Massive Attack @ River Stage, Brisbane 23 March 2010 →

Brisbane, Concert, Music, Review

CD Review: Rotting Christ – ‘AEALO’

Review: Ben Hosking

Rotting CHRIST AEALO
Rotting Christ – Buy: Rotting Christ at iTunes		   Rotting Christ is, for the uninitiated, a very strange beast upon first listen. Credited as being one of the progenitors of the second wave of Black Metal (BM) at the dawn of the 1990s, the band has amassed a sizeable and remarkable body of work spanning some 11 releases.

What sets Rotting Christ apart from their contemporaries is their ability to seamlessly inject their Greek heritage into the music. This is done largely within the accepted construct of the BM rule book and without a hint of cliché or pastiche.

Continue reading CD Review: Rotting Christ – ‘AEALO’ →

Artist, cd, cd review, Music, Review

CD Review: The Dillinger Escape Plan – ‘Option Paralysis’

Review: Ben Hosking
Dillinger
The last few years have been pretty turbulent for The Dillinger Escape Plan. While their records and their live performances have always been violent musical explosions of fury, the latter usually quite unpredictable in nature, it did seem at one point that the band ran the risk of becoming victims of their own chaos. As front man Greg Puciato recently put it, the band was engulfed in “a vicious tornado of animosity” that led to the departure of drummer and co-founder Chris Pennie.

As history sits, their last album Ire Works was completed and toured with the help of Gil Sharone of avant garde group Stolen Babies. However, this proved only a temporary solution, with Sharone leaving the group at the end of 2008.

Certainly, Dillinger is not a band known for their stable line-up, with guitarist Ben Weinman the lone original member. Regardless, the group searched for permanent replacement through 2009 – no easy task considering the relentlessly brutal barrage of erratic blast beats that permeate most of their music. What they found was 25-year-old Billy Rymer.
Continue reading CD Review: The Dillinger Escape Plan – ‘Option Paralysis’ →

cd review, Music, Review

Live Review: Devin Townsend @ The Tivoli, Brisbane 12 March 2010

1 Comment

Review by: Hannah Collins
Devin TownsendWhat do you say about a person that seemingly has everything, can do anything, and pleases mostly everyone with his never-ending display of musical prowess? >Devin Townsend is such a man. At almost 40 years of age, his list of achievements both in and outside of the music industry, have never ceased to amaze us. His list of albums and sprouting projects is as long and lustrous as his hair once was, with their both differentiating and intriguing sounds as diverse as Devin’s facial expressions. He was once dubbed the “boy genius” by Steve Vai at only 19 years of age and 20 odd years later, he’s definitely lived up to the hype that precedes him.

In his early days, Devin debuted his original works as the founder, songwriter, guitarist and vocalist for hard hitting, extreme metal act “Strapping young lad” (whose debut album “City” was declared to be; “possibly one of the best metal albums of all time”).
Continue reading Live Review: Devin Townsend @ The Tivoli, Brisbane 12 March 2010 →

Brisbane, Concert, Hannah Collins, Live Review, Music, Review

Live Review: Emilie Autumn @ The Metro, Sydney – 18 March 2010

1 Comment

By: Bek Grealy
Emilie Autumn

Last night, we encountered Emilie Autumn and her Bloody Crumpets at The Metro theatre, Sydney.

Emilie Autumn’s performance was a two-hour theatrical extravaganza, a conceptual wing-ding that has only a tangential relationship to the normal procedures of rock ‘n’ roll. I recall Emilie’s My Space page a couple of years ago, which included portions of a predictable rock line of attack, and depicting evidence of this in the future events, with the maintenance of two support bands. It was, basically dubbed, a gig.

But now, it’s a show, and the difference is distinct. Emilie Autumn has taken a decisive step towards theatre. No support bands tonight – just an elaborately dressed stage, some equally elaborately dressed Bloody Crumpets, and Emilie Autumn the queen of the performance.
Continue reading Live Review: Emilie Autumn @ The Metro, Sydney – 18 March 2010 →

Concert, Music, Review, Sydney

CD Review: Bec Plath “Unrequited”

Review by: Lauren Sherritt
Bec PlathBec Plath’s debut solo EP Unrequited is the kind that sells live gig tickets. To put it plainly, this young woman has guts, a trait she showcases most beautifully on the record. With an honesty so often lacking in modern day song writing, Plath bravely explores to a remarkable extent the story of her life and herself throughout Unrequited, and compels the listener to come along for the journey.
Continue reading CD Review: Bec Plath “Unrequited” →

cd, cd review, Lauren Sherritt, Music, Review