Things have gone from bad to terrible for the Big Day Out with the recent announcement that this year’s Aukland event will be the last.

This year they’ve seen downsizing, Vivian Lees leave and a partnership with C3 Presents. It’ll be sad if the festival doesn’t continue, but genre festivals have made it so easy to see a certain type of band without most of the bogans.

If you feel like getting your sad on, The Mountain Goats are touring in May.

I’m actually looking for someone to come to the Melbourne show with me, so if you’re keen tweet, email or carrier pigeon me. I promise I’ll only swoon a little bit.

The dates are as follows:

The Bakery, Perth
Tuesday 1st May

The Great Northern, Byron Bay
Thursday 3rd May

The Zoo, Brisbane
Friday 4th May

The Metro, Sydney
Sunday 6th May

The Clarendon, Katoomba
Tuesday 8th May

The Corner Hotel, Melbourne
Thursday 10th May

Surely Gene Simmons doesn't need a codpiece THAT big

If you like rock and rolling all night and partying every day then you’ll be more than happy to hear the Kiss are coming in 2013. Sure, given their collective age of 2 million there’s a possibility it might be a bit shit, the pyrotechnics alone will be totally worth it.

However at the moment, there are no dates.

If you’re anything like me, Valentine’s day usually involves copious amounts of chocolate and Colin Firth movies. But this year you’ll be able to get your quirky pop on  because Aleks and the Ramps will be releasing their 3rd album Facts. 

The first single Middle Aged Unicorn On Beach With Sunset (I think I need a lie down after typing all that) is excellent and the album will be out on digital download or vinyl depending on how much of a hipster you are.

2011 saw the class of 2009 return with new albums, dubstep becoming inexplicably popular and Adele causing mass crying amongst all the single ladies.

On the local front, Gotye finally got the recognition his music deserves (although the album was something of a let down), Triple J Unearthed became a radio station and Boy & Bear proved that you can still win an ARIA if you use instragram to create your cover art.

Since this is a personal music blog, this list is more about what I enjoyed the most, rather than the objective best albums of the year. But I hope you enjoy it anyway

19. Los Campesinos!- Hello Sadness

Los Campesinos! have always walked the thin line between total sincerity and irony and with each passing album they seem to be heading into darker territory. Like previous releases Hello Sadness combines Gareth Campensino’s desperate vocals and witty song writing backed by frantic indie pop.

With the departure of violinist Harriett Campesinos, this is a much darker and more masculine album. If you’re looking for the angsty party tunes from their debut you will be disappointed. But if you enjoyed Romance is Boring, chances are you’ll love this album just as much.

18.Ball Park Music- Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs

It would be easy to write off Ball Park music as yet another sunny Brisbane indie band. And inmany ways there is very little separating them from the likes of Hungry Kids of Hungary or whoever else Triple J is flogging this week. However there is something a shambolic about them, as thought it could all fall apart at any second.

This aspect of the band has yet to be shown properly on record, but their debut album is still a solid one.

17.Yae!Tiger- Casualty of the Avalanche

Yae!Tiger could be on this list for the pop-up cover art alone. However the music on their debut album is also worthy, featuring the kind of lo-fi indie pop that The Pains of Being Pure At Heart should have released this year.  A whole lot of fun, a little bit serious and a perfect summer album.

16.Mountain Goats- All Eternal’s Deck

Their relative obscurity is both the best and worst thing about the Mountain Goats. The worst because that kind of talent should be admired by even the most casual of folk fans, yet the idea of 16 year-olds writing the lyrics to No Children on their Facebook walls is downright scary.

Despite their high album count, every Mountain Goats album is all about the lyrics and All Eternal’s Deck does not disappoint. John Darnielle could write about what he ate for breakfast and make it sound poetic and while not as personal as 2005’s The Sunset Tree, the lyrical content is both raw and memorable. Even if the music comes second.

15.The Decemberists- The King Is Dead

2009’s The Hazards of Love was ambitious to say the least. Even for a band known for its literary influences and unusual instrument choices a fairy tale rock opera is hard to pull off. While they managed it in style, it’s not hard to see why they wanted ot turn back of their folk roots.

The King Is Dead is not the best Decemberists album and nor is it close. With guest appearances from Gillian Welsh and REM guitarist Peter Buck it wears its influences on its sleeve. And while the lyrics at times boarder on old English instead of content territory, there’s something so charming about this album that makes it worth repeated listens.

14.Cults-Cults

Cults seemed to come out of nowhere this year, but they caused a massive splash. Their sound is half 60’s girl group and half modern indie band, with just enough lo-fi buzz to stop their songs becoming saccharine.

Singles Go Outside and Abducted are by far the best tracks, but the album as a whole is still excellent.

13.Mogwai- Earth Division EP

While Mogwai released Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will this year, it’s their Earth Division EP that really grabbed my attention. Mogwai have never been a very melodic band, with the quieter moments in their music usually met with loud crescendos only moments later.  On this EP however, we get to hear them in strings mode and while it’s not their best work, it’s an interesting change from what we expect from them. The songs are pretty and delicate (never thought I’d say that about Mogwai) and it’s interesting to say the least.

12.Geoffery O’Conner-Vanity is Forever

This is not the first time Crayon Fields front man Geoffrey O’Conner has released a solo album, however it is the first under his own name. His previous solo work as Sly Hats had an adolescent quality to it, with bedroom style production and a certain sense of insecurity. Not this time.

Above everything, Vanity is Forever sounds good. An 80’s sheen covers all of the album’s tracks which suits the laid-back songs perfectly. And it isn’t too heavy on the synths, something that more bands last year really needed to take notice of.

11.Slow Club-Paradise

Much like Los Campesinos! Slow Club’s sound has matured greatly in-between releases. Their debut Yeah So felt a bit like reading a diary from your teen years to a quirky indie-folk soundtrack, and while some of their angst is still there, Paradise presents a much different sound.

Instead of focusing on the harmonies between Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor, Paradise sees Taylor taking lead vocals for most of the tracks and the result is a much cleaner, more darker and much more timeless record.

10.Kurt Vile- Smoke Ring for My Halo

No matter what he’s singing Kurt Vile sounds somewhat detached  on Smoke Ring For My Halo.  Given the way folk music has started to cross over into over-earnest territory, it’s just the thing the genre needs right now.

There are no gimmicks on this record, just fuzzy Americana which is precisely why I rate it as one of the best released this year.

9.Wilco- The Whole Love

The Whole Love could almost be a best of with the amount of ground it covers. From the 70’s rock of I Might to the sweeping 12 minute One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend) it combines all of the things there are to love about Wilco. It’s no Yankee Hotel Foxtrot but it’s the sound of a band who could play it safe, yet still push forward.

This is how you do an eighth album.

8.Laura Marling

Taylor Swift is 22. And she’s still singing about being the unpopular girl at school. Laura Marling is 21 and she’s released three albums that would rival anything someone twice her age can create.

On A Creature I Don’t Know she follows three separate characters and if you didn’t know anything about the record, it would be hard to pinpoint when it was released. There’s a depth to her voice that sounds like 300 heartbreaks. While it may not have the hype behind it that other female songwriters enjoyed it is nothing short of excellent.

7.Beirut- The Rip Tide

The Rip Tide is Beirut’s most accessible album to date, and his first that focuses on his own town rather than globetrotting through his influences.

The horns are still there, and so is Zach Condon’s unique voice, but this time the songs themselves seem more important than influences. Goshen is a beautiful piano driven ballad, while Santa Fe ventures into electro-pop territory.

6.Girls- Father Son Holy Ghost

Forget logcabins and broken hearts, Christopher Owens has the most interesting back-story of any current indie artist. Growing up in a religious cult, forming a band with Ariel Pink and indulging in a plethora of illicit substances has lead to the creation of some interesting and excellent music.

The album maintains a retro feel but jumps from style to style. Honey Bunny has a garage twinge while the shoegazey Vomit is an album highlight. But what makes the album so great is that Owens’ personality is visible on every track. At times its uncomfortable listening, but more often than not it’s familiar and universal.

5.Okkervil River- I Am Very Far

I Am Very Far is Okkervil River’s first non-concept album in eight years. In the past each of their releases have had similar themes running through them, making their albums a cohesive package that fans can easily spend months obsessing over.

Will Sheff’s lyricism is as strong as ever and the rock and roll lifestyle, broken relationships and metaphors about sailing still manage to find a way in. The sound however is very, very different. With many of the instruments layered in post-production it’s the biggest the band has ever sounded and for once the music is just as important as the words. The only fault of the album is that Mermaid, easily one of the year’s best songs, was cut.

It’s no Black Sheep Boy but with repeated listens it is a very rewarding album.

4.The Antlers- Burst Apart

2009’s Hospice was a concept album about cancer, death and strained relationships. It’s was a haunting, sad and beautiful listen that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Burst Apart is the follow-up and while there is no theme, The Antlers show they are just as capable of making brilliant music without one. There may not be as many heart-wrenching tracks and Peter Silberman’s voice sounds a lot stronger, but there is plenty to love. I Don’t Want Love and Putting The Dog to Sleep are must-listens.

3.Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues

So you’ve released a highly acclaimed, near flawless debut that almost single-handedly sparked a folk revival. What now?

For The Fleet Foxes the answer was to expand on their sound and take a few risks. And it’s certainly paid off. Helplessness Blues sounds like a band in transition. All of the glorious harmonies and gentle folk that made everyone fall in love the band are still there. Montezuma echoes the insecurities of being young perfectly and Helplessness Blues is the best first single you could hope for. On the other hand, Shrine/An Argument uses aggressive horns and Battery Kinzie sudden end would be out of place on their debut.

But there’s no use comparing really. This is an album that stands up on its own and shows that second albums can be worth the hype.

2.Bon Iver- Bon Iver

In 2009 Justin Vernon’s trip into the woods would become the stuff of legend. For Emma Forever Ago helped nurse countless broken hearts and all of a sudden he became a sensation. He appeared everywhere from a Kanye West album to David Letterman and there was no way his follow-up record could sound anything like For Emma.

Bon Iver has a much fuller sound but Vernon’s falsetto is as haunting as ever. The tracks are less wispy than those on the debut and all of them are sound-outs, even the heavily eighties sounding Beth/Rest. It’s an album that’s as enjoyable on the 50^th listen as it is on the first.

1.Sigur Ros

Am I allowed to include live albums on this list? Who knows? But as a release, nothing else from 2011 could match Inni, both in terms of how often it graced my stereo and sheer musical brilliance.

Taken from a film that focuses on a live performance from 2008, all of the songs except one have already been released. In fact for the most part, the track list reads like a best of that spans across most of the band’s albums. The songs lose none of their warmth live and it’s almost unbelievable they can pull a sound like theirs off without studio trickery.

Inni is my album of the year purely because nothing else released was going to be able to sound better than this.

Dev Hynes is something of a musical chameleon. At only 25 he’s tackled thrash punk (Test Icicles), indie pop (Lightspeed Champion) and in his latest musical incarnation Blood Orange, r&b. With its layered grooves and full sound, the thought of him replicating Coastal Grooves in a solo show was enough to bring on at least mild panic. But like all of his other projects, the gig was well and truly a success.

If Fleet Foxes and The Doors had a Radiohead obsessed child, they would sound a lot like openers Tehachapi . The harmonies were strong and the musicianship was good, but at times it felt as though the band are in need of an editor with long instrumental jams taking up too much space in many of their songs. A cover of Radiohead’s Last Flowers to the Hospital was a definite highlight lead by drummer Laura Christoforidis on vocals. They have a lot of potential.

Dev Hynes walks on stage wearing a lot of leather and the stage set up of a laptop, guitar and synth looks strangely bare. However all of that is forgotten once he opened his mouth. That voice. Incredible. Hard to believe that not that long ago he was having vocal surgery and now possesses a falsetto to rival Prince.

Singing over a backing track can easily turn into terrible karaoke, but Hynes used his guitar playing abilities  and crowd interaction to his advantage. The stage never felt empty as he ran between each side of the room, and from the third song in he frequently leapt into the crowd to play a solo or even an entire song.

Lead single Sutphin Boulevard got the biggest reaction of the night while Forget It got everyone dancing. A new song was also trialled at the gig and, it appeared to Dev’s surprise, sounded fantastic. While some of the backing tracks sounded a little thin, it was hard to deny the talent or the quaility of the songs being played on stage.

When the time to end the night came around, the cheers for an encore were met with Hyne’s admission that he didn’t have any more tracks. Instead he packed up his gear while chatting to fans. And what more could you want out of a night than that?

Until then, I thought I’d share some music news with you.

AQUA ARE COMING!!

I’ll just let you digest that fact a little bit.

Yep, they still exist and I’m pretty sure they are still terrible.If you want to relive the hilarity of 90′s pop, they are playing a string of Australian dates, however it won’t come cheap, with tickets to the Melbourne show at $60 each. For that price, they had better play Barbie girl at least twice.

Thursday 8th March – HiFi, Brisbane
Friday 9th March – Cooly Hotel, Coolangatta
Sunday 11th March (Adelaide Cup eve) – HQ, Adelaide
Thursday 15th March – Palace, Melbourne
Friday 16th March – HiFi, Sydney
Sunday 18th March – Metropolis, Fremantle

After announcing their beak-up at Meredith, Grinderman are releasing a remix album. However rather than adding phat beats and dubstep, they’re getting the likes of Josh Homme and Matt Berninger of The National to rework the songs.

The tracklisting looks like this:

1 Grinderman / Fripp – Super Heathen Child
2 A Place to Bury Strangers – Worm Tamer
3 Nick Zinner – Bellringer Blues
4 UNKLE – Hyper Worm Tamer
5 Joshua Homme – Mickey Bloody Mouse
6 Cat’s Eyes with Luke Tristram – When My Baby Comes
7 Barry Adamson – Palaces of Montezuma
8 Silver Alert – Evil [ft. Matt Berninger]
9 SixToes – When My Baby Comes
10 Andy Weatherall – Heathen Child
11 Factory Floor – Evil
12 Grinderman – First Evil

5. Ball Park Music @ The Gaelic Club

In July I went to Sydney for two weeks of PR work experience, Thai food and gigs. I spent most of my trip realising just how much of a stereotypical Melburnian I am (wearing black, eating from lane ways and being obsessed with decent coffee don’t bode so well in Sydney) and sizing up our rival city’s live music scene.

Towards the end of my trip I got sick, but luckily one of the friends I made convinced me to see Ball Park Music launch It’s Nice to be Alive. Having written them off as just another sunny Brisbane band, I was completely blown away by their shambolic and fun live show. I’ve seen them since and  was not disappointed.

4. Harvest Festival @ Werribee Mansion 

Life Music Media

With the cancellation of Soundwave Counter Revolution many were expecting Harvest The Gathering to fail. However with a killer line-up and a relaxed atmosphere it showed how one day festivals should be done. Unless you wanted to eat, drink or use the bathrooms that is.

Much has been said about the queuing situation and the lack of beer and it did put a dampener on what would have been an amazing festival. But with bands like The National, The Flaming Lips, Mogwai and Portishead on the bill, the music made up for the terrible organisation.

3. Will Sheff @ The Toff

It’s no secret that I’m a massive fan of both Okkervil River and The Toff and Will Sheff’s solo show totally exceeded my expectations. With excellent support from Mike Noga and Jimmy Stewart there wasn’t a fault the entire night. Except for perhaps Mike Noga’s hangover.

The songs from I Am Very Far really shone without the layered instrumentation that bogs down the entire album, revealing the great tracks that lie underneath. We were also treated to some older tracks such as Happy Hearts and The President’s Dead, which has seem largely forgotton since its muse left the White House.

2. Pulp @ Festival Hall

The Vine

Reunion shows are often quick cash-grabs that leave the audience unsatisfied. But there was none of this to be had when Pulp played Festival Hall after almost fifteen years since their last Australia visit.

Their intelligent brand of britpop is just as relevant as ever and despite the lack of new material, the band played as though they still had something to prove.The set was largely made of their greatest hits with surprises such as Like a Friend and Party Hard thrown in for good measure and it was perfect. In fact this would have been the best gig of the year if it wasn’t for a certain festival in country Victoria.

1.Meredith Music Festival

Meredith Music Festival combines all the things a festival should have: no clashes, acts that play in a mixtape-esque order and a very, very relaxed BYO policy.

With bands ranging from the hilarious Viking hair metal of Barbarion to the 1920′s stylings of Frank Fairfield there was literally something for everyone provided their tastes extended beyond the top 40. The lack of clashes meant that there were no difficult decisions in picking bands to see and most importantly we got to see Grinderman go out on a high. While the secret act turned out to be DJs it was the only downer in an otherwise perfect weekend.

You know it’s a bad time for festivals when even the Big Day Out is struggling, but none of this seems to be a problem for the organisers of the Meredith Music Festival, who continued their tradition of delivering one of Australia’s best festivals for the twenty-first year.

After leaving for Meredith at 7am, my camp decided that the best way to celebrate the beginning of the festival and ward off lack of sleep would be to drink everything in sight. And seeing that the festival has such an amazing BYO policy, Friday was quite a blur.

King Gizzard and the Lizzard Wizard kicked off Meredith with a lot of noise and a cover of I Want To Be Your Dog.The set went down well with the newly arrived punters and it was a great way to start the festival. While Cash Savage played moody country that while decent, failed to set the amphitheatre alight.

Kurt Vile and the Violators were once of my most anticipated acts, especially after hearing wonderful things about their sideshows. Unfortunately muddy sound dampened things a little, however all was redeemed by hearing  Baby’s Arms live.

On paper Barbarion seemed like an odd choice for the festival, given the fact that they’re a medieval hair metal band. But the over the top guitar riffs, costumes (including what appeared to be bondage gear) and ridiculous lyrics were just what the festival needed and were an unexpected highlight. The pyrotechnics added another level of awesome to the set with giant flaming axes and flames whenever appropriate, which is always, of course. Their songs ranged from cocaine wenches, to favourite wives, shouting Barbarion repeatedly and axes. It was hard not to spent the rest of the weekend randomly shouting “Put down your sack/ Pick up your axe.”

From our spot in Top Camp Explosions In The Sky sounded great and I heard reports that they got a well deserved booting. My attempts to stay awake for Future of the Left thwarted by falling asleep in a camping chair, but the first few tracks sounded great.

I kicked my Saturday off with a bacon and egg sandwich and the sounds of Oscar +  Martin. The 11am Saturday slot is often regarded as a showcase of the next big things and judging by the eager crowd at the front of the ampitheatre, it seems the organiers chose wisely.

The Rechords bought retro rockabilly to the festival. With just two guitars and a double bass they caused some serious dancing. While it was nothing new, it was highly entertaining.

Deciding to skip Adalita,  Off! and Joelistics after a quick judgement from top camp, we ended up at a cocktail party in Bush Camp. We weren’t sure who was sponsoring it, but watching a guy in a wheelchair hitting a playboy model shaped piñata was one of the more surreal moments of the festival. Luckily he wasn’t hurt when he inevitably fell out.

The dark rock country sounds of Graveyard Train came complete with  members playing the ball and chain and the washboard, a clear sign of how country a band really is. Having wowed audiences at Golden Plains it was great to see them higher on the bill, and it was clear most people felt the same and dozens of boots made their way into the air. It’s a mean feat for a band to sound sinister in the bright afternoon sun, but they pulled it off perfectly.

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears would probably have received he boot if Graveyard Train didn’t get in early. Every year Aunty adds relatively unknown bands to the line-up and this time she picked a winner. Described as a rock band with horns, they were exactly that and at 6:30 on a Saturday, who could ask for any more.

Icehouse are a strange choice of nostalgia act. Sitting in that awkward space between being legends and completely daggy they seemed to leave a large amount of the crowd underwhelmed. That’s not to say that their set was sub-standard, as hit likes We Can Get Together and Great Southern Land could have easily have come from a slightly cheesy album recorded this year. But coming before Cut Copy, it meant that most of crowd just weren’t in the mood. However it sounded good from the Meredith Eye, so that’s a plus.

There’s no denying Cut Copy are a great festival act, and now with three albums of crowd pleasers under their belt they were sounding better than ever. So Haunted and Need You Now got great responses but it was Lights and Music that really got things going with the threatening rain finally reaching the festival, seeming to encourage even crazier behaviour among the animal costumes and genral debauchery.

Nick Cave is a hero for many and even seeing him in the flesh was enough for most people in the amphitheatre. Little did we know at the time we were witnessing what could possibly be  Grinderman’s last ever show. With a silver curtain, red carpet and a million stage lights the band completely owned the stage. Nick Cave looked like a creepy sex-depraved uncle and crawled all over the barrier engaging everyone in the crowd. I sincerely hope nobody was having a bad trip during Kitchenette as the sight of him screeching “I JUST WANT TO RELAX” was frightening enough. No Pussy Blues went off as expected, and Worm Tamer was sufficiently sleazy. And a special mention must be made of Warren Ellis’ majestic beard. Leaving the stage with the words “that’s it for Grinderman, see you all in 10 years when we’ll be older and even uglier” it was hard to know if Cave was joking. Reports suggest he wasn’t.

The lunar eclipse was hidden by cloud but that didn’t stop Angus Sampson from getting up in a cherry picker and causing a mass sing-a-long to the national anthem of the moon, Total Eclipse of the Heart, before showering everyone in confetti.

The Juan Pablo Family Hour just turned out to be Yacht Club. Lame.

Big Freedia on the other hand was something else completely. Specialising in New Orleans bounce music, he/she gathered 10 or so scantily clad ladies to shake their asses on stage. It was a sight to behold at 2am and it seemed we all shared a look of confusion and amazement. Musically, there wasn’t a lot going on, but it’s hard not to get tracks like Azz Everywhere stuck in your head.

Silence Wedge were awesome.

Sunday started out with Master Song’s Tai Chi. Joining the other hungover bodies (as well as some bodies drinking goon at 9am) we stumbled our way through the exercises and tried not to laugh when the soundtrack gave out.

Eagle and The Worm sounded fantastic, especially after all of the reports from my friends of how terrible they are live. Catchy pop with horns was almost enough to make us forgot about the impending drive home and that Meredith weekend is a sometimes weekend.

We couldn’t see much of the gift but Denis Commeti’s commentary was spot on as he showed massive favouritism, encouraged a fight between naked girls and was just the right amount of sleazy.

The best thing about Meredith wasn’t just the carefully crafted line-up or the egg and bacon Sandwiches. It’s that the organisers have created a festival that encourages new and random traditions, and attracts the kind of people that are happy to see men dressed as dogs do beer bongs at 9am, yet frown upon dick heads. There’s less pretension, friendlier security and more couches than any other festival I’ve been to. Which is exactly why it has lived on to its 21st year. Bring on Golden Plains!

The East Brunswick Club’s days as a live music venue may be numbered, according to the Moreland Leader. According to the article an unnamed EBC staff member has : “Some of us have been told the last show is at the end of February…The old owners have sold it, they’re retiring and the new owners are developing it into a five-storey apartment block.’’ However Mess and Noise are reporting that this may not be the case.

It’ll be sad to see another venue go, especially as Melbourne’s newest venues are much smaller in size. On the bright side, a new venue is set to open in Northcote in 2012.

After the release of their second album Ceremonials, a nervous appearance on X Factor and a sponsored show in Sydney, Florence and the Machine will embark on an Australian tour early next year. The Melbourne show is a Rod Laver Arena, and as amazing as her voice is, it will be interesting to see how the arena sized shows go.

Thursday 17th May – Burswood Dome, Perth
Sunday 20th May – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
Tuesday 22nd May – Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
Thursday 24th May – Entertainment Centre, Sydney
Saturday 26th May – Riverstage, Brisbane
Monday 28th May – Vector Arena, Auckland

Speaking of large venues, I’m amazing Kanye West’s Big Day Out sideshows aren’t in arenas. Where else can you find a venue big enough for his ego?

After being dropped from the Big Day Out in Perth and Adelaide it’s strange that he sideshows are only in Sydney and Melbourne at this stage, as surely he is the main draw card for most of the Big Day Out demographic.  Soundgarden have also announced side- shows, but lol the 90s.

Friday 27th January – Sydney Entertainment Centre
Tuesday 31st January – Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne

It looks like Faker are in struggletown with a low selling tour, line-up changes and limited radio play. Now they’re releasing their third album for free download. Not pay want you want, but 100% free.

From December 2 you can download their album Get Loved from the band’s website.

With so many artists mixing folk and electronica, it takes a special kind of band to stand out from the crowd. Western Australia’s Anton Franc are certainly up to the task.

Recorded in basements and bedrooms in the Kimberly, their debut EP balances just the right amount of warmth with haunting isolation, resulting in a rewarding and memorable listen.

Lead single Letting Go came out of a failed fishing adventure. It was nominated for WAM song of the year contest in 2010, as well as featuring in two European advertising campaigns and it’s easy to hear why. The slow build-up and delicate electronics work to create a song that is highly memorable and possibly one of the best tracks of the year.

Other songs such as Jessy combine world music influences with standard indie, resulting in an interesting take on a well-trodden genre. Lady of the Night is atmospheric with unexpected harmonies. Despite the slower tempo it feels much shorter than it really is, which if anything, is a sign of a good song.

EP closer Memo was also nominated for WAM song of the year, in the love category. The song is well and truly bittersweet, with the most noticeable electronic elements on the entire EP. Like Letting Go it shines above most of the current indie fare and deserves plenty more attention.

The one flaw in the EP is opener Oh, Darling which doesn’t sit well with the other tracks. While the instrumentation is interesting and it is undeniably catchy, the tongue in cheek lyrics fall a bit flat compared to the rest of the record. But then again, considering this is a debut EP, it still lives up to even the highest of expectations.

There’s no doubt Jaimie Kuzich and James Bowyer, the pair behind the music have great things ahead of them. The Anton Franc EP could put many more established bands to shame and is a definite must-buy.

9/10

Seagull kicked things off to a very small but appreciative crowd. With their drummer and bass player absent, Chris Bolton performed with the help of a keyboardist. Chris Bolton’s vocal are reminiscent of Thom Yorke at times, and it’s pretty clear that they are certainly an influence. The drummer from second support Near Myth joined the band on stage for the final two songs, which added a different element to the set.

Near Myth played a set of buoyant indie with a vocalist that sounded eerily similar to Paul Dempsey. The banter between tracks gave bizarre explanations about the songs, my personal favourite being the track inspired by walking around Docklands car parks wearing nothing but a cardboard box. It was hard to tell how seriously they wanted to be taken but after hearing that it was only their third ever gig, I’m sure we’ll find out in time.

I’ve often wondered why Aleks and the Ramps aren’t more popular. Even at their single launch, the venue was 3/4 full at the very most. The band combine the jangly pop of most bands coming out of Brisbane with experimental electronics and Aleks’ deadpan vocals to create a unique but very enjoyable sound that would probably appeal to both Triple J listeners and the indiest of indies.

Tonight’s stage was set up with fairy lights that were triggered by the instruments, giving the set a mini light show effect. The band gave it their all with tracks like Walking in the Garden proving to be frightening and danceable in equal measures. Older single Antique Limb was a highlight of the set and as close as the band has come to writing standard Triple J fare.  The purpose of the gig, Middle Aged
Unicorn At Sunset sounded great. With offbeat lyrics and a catchy tune its hopefully a sign of things to come from the band.

Aleks and the Ramps proved themselves as a live act to be reckoned with. If only more people were there to watch them play.

Anyway, here’s some music news to accompany your hangover.

After one album and countless drummers, Philadelphia Grand Jury have called it quits for good. The band announced a hiatus is March, but today they revealed on Twitter that the band has broken up:

“After years of touring together, recording together, working together and living together, we’ve decided we need our own space. Big, big thanks to everyone who has supported us and given us the opportunity to have what is pretty much a dream existence. Most of all, thanks to all the drummers that have put up with us both.”

The band were incredibly fun live and Hope is for Hopers, although cheesy in places, still holds up well. It’s a real shame to see them go.

This is the first result for the BDO on google images. Yup.

Viven Lees and Ken West, the promoters behind The Big Day Out parted ways after 20 years. Lees has pulled out of the partnership, stating that he wants to spend more time with his family. Ken West will become the festivals sole promoter.

AJ Maddah is continuing his run of being the most frustrating promoter in Australia.

Hole have pulled out of Soundwave 2012, which of course resulted in a spate of hilarious tweets.

As far as Harvest news goes, Kevin Devine’s sideshows were cancelled with no proper announcement (I’m still mad) and festival attendees in Brisbane and Sydney can only bring one sandwich (no word on baguette or rolls).

The full details for travel announcements, etc can be found here.