Typhoon are masters of drama. All of their tracks bring together the orchestral elements, paranoid lyrics and killer dynamics, like a less wanky Arcade Fire that you don’t hate the members of. 

Their new 7″ Common Sentiments is currently available on bandcamp and I got my copy in the mail. After my parents sitting down to tell me that my latest record delivery was rattling and almost certainly broken, I opened it up to be pleasently surprised by finding 6 badges and a bonus record in the paracel. Not sure if that’s the usual thing they do, but it was awesome.

Both the tracks are great. Common Sentiments is all drama and tension and my god is it captivating. Green is definitely the b-side in this situation with it’s slow-building tempo but it’s a total grower and very different to the Daytrotter version which I also recommend.

Both tracks are from a record coming out this year.

I’ve started at a new university, bought a turntable that wasn’t from Aldi and collaborated with Miks from Me And All My Friends and Sabi from the Aus Music Blog on mistmatch.tv

I’ve decided that I should keep this blog running but this time with a focus on records and music outside of Melbourne that I can’t post up on Mismatch. 

So stay tuned.

It’s been two years since The Antlers released Hospice, a harrowing concept about cancer that was all mechanical whirrs and haunting falsetto. Since then then they’re expanded their sound to include a remix album (Together) and Burst Apart which was a much easier listen than its predecessor.

Undersea, a four track EP sees them evolve even further and like Hospice’s hospital machinery, the underwater theme is strong with haunting synths and enough reverb to make it sound like the entire thing was recorded in a submarine.

Undersea is their most sonically interesting release to date. All four of the songs provide something different and there isn’t a bad track among them.

Drift Dive is nothing short of gorgeous with subtle horns and echoey synths.

Endless Ladder comes in at over eight minutes and while the lyrics don’t offer the emotional punch of previous records the repetitive backing vocals and delicate keys make it perfect late night driving music. Crest is the shortest track and adheres to the theme the least. Not that that’s a complaint as it’s as good as anything on Burst Apart.  

If you’re attracted to the emotional intensity of The Antlers, you may be left disappointed. But for everyone else this is a quality EP that is hopefully a sign of things to come.

The Meredith line-up is good. More than good in fact. I don’t know how Aunty does it but once again they’ve delivered.

It’s happening on the 7th, 8th and 9th of December and it’s still the same price as last year and BYO. Amazing!

Here’s the line-up. I for one, am super keen for Silence Wedge. Those guys rock!

Primal Scream

Spiritualized

Four Tet

Turbonegro

 Grimes 

Sunnyboys

Omar Souleyman

 Regurgitator

 Big Jay McNeely

Chet Faker

 Rahzel & DJ JS-1

 Pond

Twerps

 Saskwatch

 Hot Snakes

 Snakadaktal

 DJ Yamantaka Eye *

J.B. Smoove

 Earthless

Toot Toot Toots

Meredith Sky Show

 Brous

 Bitter Sweet Kicks

The Town Bikes

 Otologic

Fraser A Gorman & Big Harvest

Angus Sampson

Royal Headache

City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band

Silence Wedge

We’re starting to see the first summer festival announcements trickle through and as usual Meredith are offering the goods with the first two acts announced.

current it-women Grimes and legendary Australian band The Sunnyboys have been announced to play the festival from December 7-9 and it will be awesome.

The Sunnyboys are a particularly exciting band to have play. Lead singer Jeremy Oxley developed schizophrenia and it was generally accepted that we’ll never see them play live again. With a sound that is a throwback to the mod bands of the 1960s their albums still sound fresh today.

If you haven’t got a copy of their debut, it’s around $10 at JB Hi-Fi. Do your ears a favour, it’s excellent.

The ballot is open and you need to enter before August 12.As usual it will probably sell out.

1.It’s on tonight on the Grace Darling. A band with terrible banter once informed me that the Grace Darling was named after a lady who saved 13 men from a sinking ship in the 1800s. So that’s pretty cool.

2.How often do you get to see a showcase, a single launch and a homecoming gig all in the same night? Probably not often enough.

3. The bands are all awesome. All of them.

4. Owls of the Swamp has just returned from Europe. It’s his first show back in Melbourne which means new songs and interesting banter. Not that his banter is ever boring. He brings the dad jokes.

5. Elephant Eyes are fantastic live and just keep getting better and better. It’s their single launch and it’s an awesome song.

6. Siobhan is scarily young and talented. You should see her now to say otu saw her first to impress your super indie friends in a year or so.

7. It’s only $10 and for the cost of a pizza, you really can’t go wrong.

Firstly, here’s the version fun. did live on Dutch radio. It’s not a huge departure from the original, but as a big fan of The Format (their old band, do yourself a favour, they’re great) it’s been in high rotation. Also love that they used the midi strings, which is one of the best things about the original.

If you like your pop songs a little darker, Ben Howard did a a great folk version on Live Lounge. He managed to turn the cheesy pop song into something that extends beyond novelty value and it completely fits his style.

In recent months we’ve had The Vengaboys, Hanson, Aqua and S Club 7  3 tours Australia. However if you haven’t had enough of a nineties nostalgia fix, Everclear will be touring Australia in October.

The band haven’t been to Australia in fourteen years and have a new album due out later this year, which if the current trend of 90s bands continues, will be a little bit rubbish.

Wednesday 10th October – Cooly Hotel, Coolangatta
Thursday 11th October – HiFi, Brisbane
Friday 12th October – HiFi, Sydney
Saturday 13th October – HiFi, Melbourne
Sunday 14th October – Capitol, Perth

The National have recorded a song for the Game of Thrones soundtrack. I’ve never seen the show so have no idea how it relates to the storyline etc but the song itself is pretty menacing.

Rufus Wainwright will also be coming to Australia in September following the release of his latest album Out of the Game. 

Saturday 8th September – Canberra Theatre, Canberra
Sunday 9th September – Opera House – Concert Hall, Sydney
Wednesday 12th September – QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane
Saturday 15th September – Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne
Monday 17th September – Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide
Wednesday 19th September – Riverside Theatre, Perth

You can always tell when a band has made it when the bogans in the crowd outnumber the hipsters, and for Boy & Bear’s sold-out show at The Forum that was definitely the case. The band were solid, the Jim Beam was flowing and the venue, as always, was lovely.

If the Stonefield theory is to be believed, Jungle Giants will be massive. With an average age of 17.5 and a track on high Triple J rotation, their jangly indie pop won over most of the crowd.  Bass player Andrew Dooris contributed to about 90% of their stage presence, while guitarist Cesira Aitken stood motionless on the other side of the stage. It was a strange sight that dampened the excited of watching a female guitarist but given the size of the venue, nerves could certainly be a factor. Mr Polite went off and was a fitting end to a solid set.

Boy & Bear walked on stage to ominous music and for the first time, a background which was one of the more interesting aspects of the show.

The thing is, Boy & Bear make pleasant music. It sounds good in supermarkets or on national youth broadcasters but when watching them  live it becomes clear how much their music all sounds the same. There’s no conviction or passion, or anything that you would hope to see from a band who play vaguely folky music.

That said, Their sound  translates well to stage and they are growing as live performers. Rabbit Song kicked things off with a decent amount of reverb on the vocals and Lordy May got a few members of the crowd excited. The middle of set slumped as they only have a limited amount of material and their new song Three Headed Woman was nothing to write home about. And Dave Hosking apologised for swearing in it. How scandalous.

Fall At Your Feet was the highlight of the set, both in terms of it being a classic song and crowd involvement. The inclusions of Neil Young’s Heart of Gold in the middle added a nice touch.

The latter part of the set was more inspiring with a string of their most popular songs. Feeding Line, and the double whammy of Mexican Mavis and Golden Jubilee was a satisfying end to a solid, but largely uninteresting set.

Photo: Ben Christensen

With songs about dysfunctional relationships, child abuse and a decent sprinkling of biblical references, it would be easy to assume Mountain Goats shows would be a sombre affair. Instead Thursday night’s show at The Corner felt like a massive party dedicated to shouting lyrics back at the stage, great banter and swooning during each song. And I loved every minute of it.

Catherine Traicos and the Starry Night kicked things off, but failed to grab the restless crowd’s attention. Her mellow folk songs were nice but given the anticipation for the headliner’s set, they acted as background music. Despite her efforts to entertain the crowd with her between song banter, it was hard not to think that she would be better in a headlining show.

Opening with In Memory of Satan, the first of many from the upcoming Transcendental Youth album, the Mountain Goats completely captivated the sold-out crowd.

Photo: Ben Christensen

The setlist drew from a number of the band’s 17 albums, with a heavy emphasis on fan favourites The Sunset Tree and Tallahassee.

See America Right saw the former acoustic lo-fi band in full-blown rock mode and Birth of Serpents

A brief solo part of the set was extended at Darnielle’s insistence as the crowd sang along to Jenny, The Colour in You Cheeks and You or Your Memory.

It’s clear that The Mountain Goats have the ability to move people. Between the girl on my left gasping at the start of each song, the tall guy up the front who knew every single lyric, and the countless song requests, to the uninitiated it probably looked like a scene out of Jesus Camp

The band also seemed to be enjoying themselves and by the end of the night it was hard to tell if the audience or John Darnielle was having more fun.

The new tracks Transcendental Youth and The Diaz Bothers were both catchy and incredibly well received, with the former being a piano based ballad that caused maximum swooning up the front.

The final part of the set went well into singalong territory. Love Love Love got a great reaction and This Year went off completely.

The band’s no planned encore policy lead to a conference about how to play Never Quite Free and the most entertaining  tuning I have ever seen (Nobody would probably object if the band chose to release Guitar Explorations part 2).

The band left us with No Children and as we hurled insults at each other it was clear that there was no place anyone in the room would rather be.

Photos are by Ben Christensen. He’s a camera master and has a gig photography blog: bensgigs.tumblr.com