Franz Ferdinand are coming to Australia in March for the Future Music Festival and have announced sideshows in Melbourne and Sydney. And no Festival Hall!
Tickets go on sale on the 10th of December and the dates are:
Wednesday 3rd March –The Forum Theatre, Melbourne
Thursday 4th March –Big Top, Luna Park, Sydney
When you have been making music for as long as John Butler has, it would be easy to fall into the same routine and release the same album again and again.
Luckily he still manages to keep things interesting and part of this is forming a new Trio every few years. While it is sad to see previous members and amazing musicians in their own right, Shannon Birchall and Michael Barker leave, if his new single One Way Road is anything to go by, a new trio might just be a step in the right direction.
The video for One Way Road has just been released and the song is a bit of a departure from his Grand National sound, which I must admit for the most part I wasn’t really in love with it. It’s definitely more upbeat and almost rocky while still retaining his signature sound. The riff sounds oddly familiar though. Does anyone else think this? It’s driving me mental trying to figure out where it’s from.
Also, if you are like most people and have trouble understanding the lyrics, they’re included in the description when you watch it on youtube.
Phoenix are one of those bands that are very hard not to like, especially after releasing Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix an almost flawless pop album that was also their most critically acclaimed release.
They came to Australia very briefly this year and are coming back for a tour(minus Adelaide) in March. Not too thrilled about the choice of Festival Hall, which is a bit of a shit hole but it should be good. The tickets go on sale December 10 and Miami Horror are supporting.
Monday March 1 – Brisbane Convention Centre
Tuesday March 2 – Sydney Hordern Pavilion
Friday March 5 – Melbourne Festival Hall
Saturday March 6 – Perth Belvoir Amphitheatre
I was originally going to post an Andrew Bird cover today, but I had one of those days that reminded me why I love buying the physical copies of music so much.
Okkervil River are quite possibly my favourite band in the world right now and I saw their Overboard and Down EP which is quite hard to get at my local second-hand CD store for $12 and decided to buy it. The guy at the counter noticed it only had five tracks and discounted it to $8.
As you can imagine I was feeling pretty happy at this point and as I was ripping it, I had a look to see if it was on Ebay or Amazon and to my surprise apparently people are paying over $140 for it!! I think I just had a heart attack.
Anyway, the EP is amazing like most things Okkervil River release, especially Love To a Monster which is possibly the most bitter break-up song ever recorded. The EP also contains a cover of Big Star’s O Dana. It isn’t hugely different to the original, but uses horns which makes it sound kind of cheerful-at least for an Okkervil River song.
Vampire Weekend have given us a second taste of their second album Contra, which will be released early in 2010.While the first preview track Horcheta showed us a more mature and laid-back side of the band, their latest single Cousins is the same bouncy and fun Vampire Weekend that fans know and love. It’s a bit like A-Punk’s little brother, complete with an awesome video.
While many people are skeptical about Contra, if the singles are anything to go by, even if it doesn’t live up to expectations, it’ll at least be a fun little summer record.
When was the last time you heard music that blew you away?
For me it was last week when I received Goodnight Owl’s EP in the mail from their manager and music blogger Sabi. As soon as I checked the letterbox, I ran upstairs, put it on and was amazed at just how good it is.
Goodnight Owl play lush folk music with electronic beats layered underneath. The result is something like a cross between Josh Pyke and The Postal Service but with a distinctly Australian flavour.
Goodnight Owl is composed of main songwriter Eddie Alexander who moved from Central Australia to Melbourne, Joe Walker who provides all of the electronic work and Bella Walker on piano. All three members were friends in Alice Springs and met up back in Melbourne.
Apparently Eddie Alexander used songwriting as a way to overcome the homesickness and other emotions that came from living away from friends and family and it shows in the heart-breaking yet hopeful nature of the music and lyrics.
Although acoustic instruments are mainly used on the EP, the use of electronic glitches though out the record blend everything together in a subtle and interesting way. This is particularly noticeable on the opener and standout track Maps & Compasses, which is probably the most electronic track on the EP.
Verandah is a delicate song about childhood memories in Alice Springs and I’m sure that anybody, regardless of where they’re from could relate to some of it. The final track Stale Bread comes all too quickly and is the least electronic track which draws attention to the lyrics. It is definitely one of the EP’s highlights and leaves the listener wanting more.
The only track that let’s the EP down is She Kept A Secret, which starts off well but tends to drag on towards the end, especially after repeated listens.
There aren’t many bands like Goodnight Owl, particularly from Australia. These guys should be huge, and in time, I’m sure they will be.
9/10
Young Heretics are made up of Kitty Hart and Matthew Wright, the former frontman for The Getaway Plan. Any Getaway Plan fans who are expecting a similar sound will no doubt be disappointed as this duo create slightly warped pop music rather than melodic emo/screamo/whatever you call it nowadays.
The band are releasing their self-produced debut EP The Dreamers and will tour part of Australia during November, with the EP launch on the 4th of December at the Newton Worker’s Club in Melbourne.
The dates are:
THURS 12 NOV – Sands Tavern, MAROOCHYDORE w/ Philadelphia Grand Jury + Kid Sam
FRI 13 NOV – Troubadour, BRISBANE w/ Philadelphia Grand Jury + Kid Sam
SAT 14 NOV – Troubadour, BRISBANE w/ Philadelphia Grand Jury + Kid Sam
SUN 15 NOV – Neverland, GOLD COAST w/ Philadelphia Grand Jury + Kid Sam
TUE 1 DEC – East Bruswick Club, MELBOURNE w/ Gin Wigmore
FRI 4 DEC – Newtown Workers Club, FITZROY w/ Gatherer + Alpine + Accolades – EP LAUNCH!!
WED 30 DEC – Peats Ridge Festival
THU 31 DEC – Purple Sneakers NYE House Party, SYDNEY
SUN 3 JAN – Solar Festival, MORNINGTON
SAT 9 JAN – Sandcastle Festival, ST KILDA BEACH
SUN 7 MAR – Push Over Festival, MELBOURNE
I also have a mp3 from these guys to post for you today. The track is from their EP and is called Bones of a Rabbit. I admit that it did take me a while to get into, but it a great little dark pop song. I especially like the use of piano. Very haunting.
Young Heretics-Bones of a Rabbit.mp3
I’ve decided to start a new feature on this blog: cover songs on Tuesdays.
Why Tuesdays?
Because it is a bit of a nothing day. It isn’t dreaded like Monday, it isn’t in the middle of the week like Wednesday, it isn’t near the weekend like Thursday and Friday and nobody I know gets Tuesdays off. So from now on, it will be covers day. At least on this blog anyway.
The first cover I have for you today is a cover of Animals Collective’s My Girls by :Kinema:. The bio they sent was incredibly short so all I can tell you is that they met on a European road trip and they make smooth electronic music. I can’t say I am a huge fan of this cover, especially the highly synthesised vocals but I’m sure they’ll be people out there who think otherwise.
For many people listening to Lady Gaga is like driving past a car crash. You know you’re not supposed to look but…hang on a second…did she just say the words “disco stick?”
Despite the fact that her lyrics really are quite hilarious there really does seem to be a lack of Lady Gaga covers, especially considering male singer-songwriters and punk bands generally seem to love this kind of thing.
Today I have a cover of Poker Face by Yelka, a young singer songwriter from Melbourne. She has a great voice and plays in a style that can easily be compared to the likes of Clare Bowditch, which is what makes this cover so good.In fact, it almost sounds classy.
You can hear the cover and some of her original songs on her myspace.
The Boxer Rebellion are one of those bands that are quite big overseas yet their success hasn’t really caught on in Australia. Based in London, the band made history to become the first unsigned band to break into the Billboard top 100 albums charts with a digital only release, their second album Union.
Perhaps their lack of recognition of Australia will change with an upcoming tour, including a Purple Sneakers house party on NYE for all you Sydney people. The dates for the tour are:
Wed 30th December – PYRAMID ROCK FESTIVAL, Phillip Island
Thu 31st December – PURPLE SNEAKERS NYE HOUSE PARTY, Manning House, Sydney
Sat 2nd January – THE LAURIETON HOTEL, Laurieton w/ Philadelphia Grand Jury
Fri 8th January – SOUTHBOUND FESTIVAL, Perth
Tue 12th January – THE FORUM, Melboune w/ The Temper Trap
The Boxer Rebellion are also releasing their track Flashing Red Means Go as a single in Australia. It is a great atmospheric track and the lead singer pulls off some incredible falsetto vocals. Nice.
This year has been a big one for the Big Day Out. The event has sold out in all states(and New Zeland, which everyone knows is just an extenstion of Australia really) and an etra show has been added in Sydney for only the second time the festival’s history. Many people were expecting a big second announcement and there were rumours of bands such as Phoenix and Vampire Weekend.
Instead, the actual second line-up is looking a little bit crap. I mean Jet. Seriously. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for boring bogan rock but does anybody actually care about them anymore?
Not so boring are the annoucements of Passion Pit, Devandra Barnhart and The Middle East.
The full line-up is:
Jet
Sasha
Devendra Barnhart
Passion Pit
Simian Mobile Disco DJs
Beenie Man
Silent Disco
Hilltop Hoods
Decoder Ring
Itch-E and Scratch-E
Maya Jupiter
Miami Horror
MDX
Sugar Army
DJ Sam La More
The Scare
The Middle East
Wagons
Phrase
Grrilla Step
