Tag Archives: Music

Interview with Tom Fleming of Wild Beasts

Interview: Elize Strydom

Wild BeastsIt is 9 o’clock in the morning and Tom Fleming has already been down to visit his parents and is now on the train headed for Leeds to meet up with his band, Wild Beasts, for rehearsal.

Bookish and brooding, self important and slick, the Wild Beasts are on the verge, threatening to wow the world with their three part harmonies and suggestive, erotic and at times dark themes. Their second record Two Dancers was unleashed a few months ago and, far from being a difficult and disappointing follow up to last year’s Limbo, Panto, it has pushed them into the spotlight and all the way to Australia for January’s St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival.

Fleming says that was something the band accepted gladly, will smiles on their faces, to boot.
Continue reading Interview with Tom Fleming of Wild Beasts

John Butler Trio – ‘One Way Road’ Single and Tour

John Butler Trio Tour Poster   * The John Butler Trio makes a welcome return with their new single ‘One Way Road’. This is the first radio song from their new studio album called ‘April Uprising’.

* With over a million copies of two of their previous albums, ‘Sunrise Over Sea’ & ‘Grand National’ sold around the world, and sell out tours in USA/ Canada/ Europe & Japan, JBT continue to prove they are one of Australia’s greatest musical exports.

* The new album ‘April Uprising’ was recorded in John Butler‘s Studio, ‘The Compound’, in Fremantle WA. John revisited the same partnership of the highly successful ‘Sunrise Over Sea’ album with Robin Mai on engineer & mixing duties and Nicky Bomba returning on drums. The album is produced by the JBT which includes new bassist Byron Luiters.

Continue reading John Butler Trio – ‘One Way Road’ Single and Tour

Live Review & Photo Gallery: Fergus Brown w/ Richard in Your Mind, Wim, Sherlock’s Daughter and Brian Campeau @ The Oxford Art Factory – 10 December 2009

Author: Vittorio E.
Photographer: Arfy Papadam

click image to view gallery
Fergus Brown
[Photo: Arfy Papadam]
  The first trip to the bathroom reveals that we’re in for a longer night than we could have possibly expected. It’s a Thursday night – a school night, I stress – and the bill on the door leading to the toilet declares that there will be five bands on the night. The last Fergus Brown is to start at a quarter to midnight, and will be filmed for the forthcoming feature film, LBF.

Brian Campeau is up first, and he’s brought one quarter of his band, The Common Misconceptions, along for support. She, a certain Elana Stone, accompanies on accordion and vocals. Brian Campeau is a folk singer – or at least what he does is grounded in folk; the reality is that the music is a little spacier than all that. It’s partly the reverb and partly his inventive guitar playing style, in which the rhythm is supplemented by harmonics, trills, hammer-ons and surprisingly inventive tapping. He sings four songs, she sings two, and the crowd is entranced.

Continue reading Live Review & Photo Gallery: Fergus Brown w/ Richard in Your Mind, Wim, Sherlock’s Daughter and Brian Campeau @ The Oxford Art Factory – 10 December 2009

Interview: Matthew Clark of White Rabbits – First Australian Tour

Author: Denis Semchenko
white rabbitsDenis Semchenko (LMM): Firstly, are you guys looking forward to touring Australia for the first time?

Mattew Clark (MC): Definitely. It’s one of those places that you hope you’ll be able to go to before you die. Added bonus is that we get to play music and not just vacation.
LMM: You’ve played a number of major festivals worldwide and you’re going to appear at both Falls and Southbound festivals in Australia – do you prefer playing festivals or intimate gigs?

MC: I would say we are a club band. We don’t like playing in sunlight too much. Festivals are just a different beast than what we are used to. Also, we tend to go on first when we play festivals. Which means you have to get up mad early, kid.

LMM: Speaking of venue gigs, you’re also playing shows in both Sydney and Melbourne – what can the uninitiated attendees expect at a White Rabbits gig?
Continue reading Interview: Matthew Clark of White Rabbits – First Australian Tour

Escape The Fate – Soundwave sideshows (Sydney and Melbourne) February 2010

Escape The Fate   Escape The Fate is running straight for rock stardom, exuding a spirit of chaotic mischief, reminiscent of the riotous Motley Crue, which they capture brilliantly in their electrifying live shows. Hailing from the world’s most outlandish city, Las Vegas, Escape The Fate have been conquering crowds and packing venues throughout the world, enslaving a legion of faithful fans at each stop with their brand of boisterously addictive rock.

Continue reading Escape The Fate – Soundwave sideshows (Sydney and Melbourne) February 2010

News: THE FRAY AUSTRALIAN TOUR – MARCH/ APRIL 2010

It seems that Australians just can’t get enough of The Fray. The band’s last tour in March sold out in every city well in advance of the shows, and the performances themselves gripped crowds across the nation.

Luckily, The Fray can’t seem to get enough of us either. With that in mind, The Frontier Touring Company is very pleased to announce headline shows for the multi-platinum-selling band in addition to their performance at 2010’s Bluesfest in Byron Bay.
Continue reading News: THE FRAY AUSTRALIAN TOUR – MARCH/ APRIL 2010

Tour News: Devin Townsend Project Australian Tour – March 2010

Devin Townsend   Some 15 years ago, Steve Vai dubbed the then 19 year old Devin Townsend “The Boy Genius”. Vai was being most sincere, rather than sarcastic.

Since then Townsend has amazed, beguiled and occasionally baffled all comers in numerous incarnations spanning the extreme noise metal of Strapping Young Lad to the intricate melodies of Ocean Machine; Devin has had his hand in almost every genre of music, from industrial metal to progressive rock to ambient sounds. All of these projects had one thing in common: GENIUS.

From the perfection of the wall of noise that was ‘Strapping Young Lad’ to the brilliance of ‘The Devin Townsend Band’, Hevy Devy has embarked on his most ambitious project yet;

Continue reading Tour News: Devin Townsend Project Australian Tour – March 2010

Live Review: Mono, laura, Del Toro @ The Hi-Fi, Brisbane 6 December 2009

Reviewer: Denis Semchenko

Mono
[Photo: Stuart Blythe]
  Concluding my adventures in Hi-Fi (Brisbane) (to paraphrase an R.E.M. album title) for the week – Sia on Thursday, Jarvis Cocker on Saturday – is a Sunday night event with a bill that looks like post-rock lover’s wet dream: Japanese celestial noise giants Mono, sublime Melbournians laura and Brisbane’s own math soundscapists Del Toro. In contrast with the packed earlier shows, there’s room to move and the alcohol-fuelled rowdiness, frequent at “name” gigs, is absent: everyone’s here to listen to MUSIC.

Continue reading Live Review: Mono, laura, Del Toro @ The Hi-Fi, Brisbane 6 December 2009

News: BIG DAY OUT 2010 – THIRD ROUND OF ACTS ANNOUNCED

Summer has begun, the New Year is just around the corner, and so is the BIG DAY OUT! We’re thrilled to let you in on the final artists who will be touring with the BIG DAY OUT in 2010 plus the local acts taking to the stage in each city.

BIG DAY OUT 2010 is hosting the mother of all celebrations – FEAR FACTORY’s 21st birthday. Continue reading News: BIG DAY OUT 2010 – THIRD ROUND OF ACTS ANNOUNCED

News: Datarock Australian Tour – January 2010

datarock-sml    Norway’s Datarock have returned with the follow up to the geek-chic party album of 2005, Datarock Datarock and will be heading down under to serve it up live to Australian audiences.

Their debut mixed Happy Mondays punk-funk with warped Devo humour, and was well received locally with ‘Computer Camp Love’ landing #12 on Triple J’s Hottest 100. The new album, Red, has lost none of the duo’s aptitude for so-classic-you-must-haveheard-it-before hooks, but this follow-up is an altogether more concept-driven beast.

Continue reading News: Datarock Australian Tour – January 2010

Live Review | Dream Theater @ Brisbane Convention Centre 3 December 2009 with Pain of Salvation

By: Hannah Collins

With the Majesty symbol out in force, The Brisbane convention centre slowly begins to fill as fans old and new await a set of mammoth proportions.

Dream TheaterThe venue is still relatively empty as support act, Pain Of Salvation (Sweden) begin to play. The 5 piece, consisting of Daniel Gildenlöw (vocals/guitar), John Hallgren (Backing vocals/Guitar) , Fredrik Hermansson (synthesizers) Léo Margarit (drums/backing vocals) and Per Schelander (bass guitar/backing vocals) announce themselves as “A Swedish band, with a French drummer… somewhat like Meshugga, but with notes”… an interesting analogy.

Their sound comprises of powerfully accentuated guitar work, progressive yet full, with a large and differential vocal range, being contributed to by the excessive use of backing vocals from three different members of the band. Although submitting to be a backup vocalist only, Hallgren seems to have a larger more substantial vocal sound, not only contributing to backup but taking whole sections of songs to claim as his own with his husky larger than life undertones.
Continue reading Live Review | Dream Theater @ Brisbane Convention Centre 3 December 2009 with Pain of Salvation

Live Review: Aria Awards 2009 Red Carpet Wrap up

The Aria’s Red Carpet
By: Bek Grealy
Aria AwardsAria AwardsAria AwardsAria AwardsAria AwardsAria AwardsAria AwardsAria Awards
[Photos: Stuart Blythe ]

36 degree heat blistered the red carpet as an entourage of stylish Limousines followed suit to the entrance of the red carpet. The fans eagerly awaited their stars, one hand grasping their digital cameras in anticipation, the other holding a makeshift fan and the odd shout of “Robbie or Keith” could be heard from a distance.

As the stars made their way up the red carpet, photographers, Television production crew and journalists fought their way to the front to capture the moment.
Continue reading Live Review: Aria Awards 2009 Red Carpet Wrap up

Interview: Sam Clark – Broken

Sam Clark   Since Neighbours first aired on Australian television it’s almost been de rigueur for its stars to branch out and launch a singing career. It’s fair to say that the move has panned out better for some than others (Holly Valance anyone?). Sam Clark is the latest actor to step up to the plate. Elize Strydom (LMM) caught up with him a few days into a three month promotional tour from his new single ‘Broken’ and discovered this kid ain’t no one hit wonder.

Life Music Media: Where do I find you this afternoon?

Sam Clark: 662km from the city..city..of…thhh…Sydney. Ah, I can’t even speak! I’ve been driving for too long already.

LMM: You have a relentless schedule ahead of you for the next three months. How are you going to handle it?

SC: I’ll just have to man up and deal with it! It’s all good fun. I get to play my music. I’m releasing my first single so it’s exciting. I just have to look at all the positives and the workload is something that has to happen.

LMM: You’re no stranger to hard work. Tell me the difference between the average day on the set of Neighbours and the average day as Sam Clark the rock star?
Continue reading Interview: Sam Clark – Broken

DOPE (USA) + SOIL (USA) Australian Tour December 2009

Dope   Australia, strap yourself in, ‘cause dope and SOiL are joining forces to make one huge, hell of a show and throwing it our way! These two hard-hitting bands are renowned for their wild and industrial driven live shows, which will be sure to blow audiences when they both tour Australia’s east coast for the first time.

dope, with their politically charged, sonic arsenal of sounds mixed with a grooving, melodic style appeals to metal fans across the board. Their live set has been described by reviewers as crazy, primal, tight and pumped full of raw energy, and they get their audience going wild, so you know you’re in for one hell of a show. Not only do these boys play kick-ass music, their sex-drugs-and-rock-n-roll attitude and swagger will leave you craving more of them.

Continue reading DOPE (USA) + SOIL (USA) Australian Tour December 2009

News: Another electrifying artist announce for Bluesfest 2010!

The second major round of artists to perform at the 21st Anniversary Bluesfest has been announced! Australia’s most awarded and internationally renowned festival officially will be held at its permanent new home – at the Tyagarah Tea Tree farm just off the Pacific Highway, 12 minutes north of Byron Bay. The Easter weekend dates for your diary are Thursday April 1 through to Monday April 5, 2010!

Festival goers should also note that the new and updated playing schedule is now online, and one day tickets are now also on sale – just visit www.bluesfest.com.au to see it all. This announcement marks the first time so many artists (over 50) have been unveiled this early, along with the playing schedule – giving fans more time than ever to plan their Easter holidays. Continue reading News: Another electrifying artist announce for Bluesfest 2010!