Monday, November 22, 2010

Single of the Week


You might imagine the variety of demos my inbox delivers and though some songs just take a few listens before the music really takes hold, I know a hit when I stumble across one. Today the debut single 'Exit The System' from Brisbane's threesome The Moniters landed safely in my hands and I am one happy little blogger.

The Moniters are comprised of frontman Jimi Lucas, drummer Matt Schrader and bassist Barney Gickel, the three band members met at a Killers concert a few years ago and have been recording demos with Jack and cigarettes ever since. This year the lads have been working closely with Melbourne based producer Forrester Savell (Dead Letter Circus, Birds of Tokyo) stringing together their debut EP 'Sex City Lovers' due out in 2011.

My first thoughts of 'Exit The System' was that the track is dirty, sexy and electric. The more I listen to the verses, the more I hear elements of Paul Banks in Lucas's vocals, it's quick and immediately catchy. Quite personally, I'm not the biggest 'electro' fan but this sound is a step in the right direction for electro rock. More rock than "magic fountain", The Moniters deliver a little bit more edge into this saturated market.

Give the track a spin and also check The Moniters east coast tour dates riiight here.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Bob Dylan once said, "The times they are a changin'..", and even though Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young are music giants from our Dad's day, they don't seem to have any issue with keeping up to date with what's, erm, fresh? The two genius's (well, one was Jimmy Fallon dressed as Young) recently schooled the elementary aged Willow Smith by rearranging the mega hit 'Whip My Hair'. A hit is a hit, no matter what you do with it.
Get schooled, old school.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Farewell Powderfinger

Alright, so I'm not going to lie.. Somewhere in my room back at home, amongst all my discarded PJ pants three sizes too small and polly pockets lies a Powderfinger record or two. I'm by no means their greatest fan. I saw them twice, once at BDO and at that Silverchair double show they did years ago, both times I was greatly underwhelmed. I should have been stoned.
I'm sitting back as the Australian media swarms at the ankles of "Aussie rock gods" now Powderfinger have finally split (two records later than they should have). The Brisbane band played their last set ever (John Farhnam, anyone?) yesterday and everyone is acting like it's Crowded House on the Opera House steps again. I am not going to say they didn't write some good songs over the years but I have to say their generic charm was long lost on me post 'Vulture Street' and my year ten certificate.
I think it's a perfect example of "It's better to burn out, than fade away." I am sure we will be treated to a slew of solo work and more hits than your trades Ute can handle.
I think the point I am trying to make is that Powderfinger will not be missed by me and though I respect their past work, I really think that Australian music scene is sick if our biggest export is just another state band doing regional tours for fifteen years.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

If You Believe.

There are just some bands I believe in and I like to put all my energy into them until everyone I know has given them a spin. I've done it with Papa VS Pretty and Parades who are now busy crafting and delivering records and I'm still doing it with Cameras. These three local Sydney acts captivated me years ago and I am yet to lose interest as they continue to not only wow me but make a difference in the Aussie music scene.

Cameras just recently played here in Melbourne and despite the large amount of rookie errors that come along with having your guitar smashed up by Qantas, the trio + bass stand-in put on a perfect southern show. The soulful Sydney kids were here to promote their perfectly crafted debut E.P which is available NOW through all decent digital retailers.

However I've left you a sample of my favourite track off of this perfect six song package and it's a track titled 'Break/Hands'. It's honestly one of the most beautifully sung tracks I've come across the last few months. It's soulful in a sense of morose bliss but incredibly infectious. Check it out here. Girl can sing.

Also, it's not just my eye that's been caught by devilishly talented Cameras, there are a lot of international whispers and a few rumblings in the festival underground. Stay posted!

Monday, November 8, 2010

Vote Your Blogger A Trip Overseas

I won't spam this, but if you're a follower I'd love for you to support us in getting a rad opportunity to travel overseas to get our blog on. I'm not a hugely competitive person but this would mean the world to me to even try!

Click here to vote for me to travel with Channel V!

Your support would be amazing!

My Debut @ Beat TV

So, I mentioned briefly I was doing some presenting work with Beat TV here in Melbourne and you can actually catch my first interview with Australian artist Ryan Meeking.

All you need to do is visit www.beat.com.au and select Beat TV and that's where you will find my first on-camera foray. It's not amazing, and I have a long way to go but this is the transition from behind screen to onscreen.

My Favourite Album This Month - Belle & Sebastian - 'Write About Love'


Over my years of avid music listening, Belle & Sebastian have been referred, recommended and preached over and over. It might not shock you to know I am terribly stubborn. If one band is pushed so far, I will probably just avoid it, though this time I did have my reasons.

Let me take you back to a Petersham bedroom rented by five boys in 2008. I was sleeping with another music blogger/pseudo pianist and this was long before I'd even started this blog. I used to wake up in his single bed which resembled a hospital bed, to the happiest music every single morning. I am not a morning person, I am a miserable person until at least 7pm at night so when I wake up you're lucky to even get The Cure out of me most mornings because even that can sound too happy to me.

"What is this?"
"Old Belle & Sebastian."
"It's too happy"

"Figured you'd say that"
- Picks up keys, walks out of the room.

So, I guess ever since then, even after High Fidelity and 500 Days of Summer references, I couldn't get interested. I know of all their classics and I know a lot of musical elitists and muses I follow really love them but it wasn't until I saw 'Write About Love' in my Uncles music folder, that I decided to give them a spin almost three years later. Safe to say my love affair with said blogger too faded in these years, maybe weeks after, bless youth.

The cover art reminds me of that of the 'Louder Than Bombs' Smiths record, you know the one featuring British playwright Shelagh Delaney at the ripe age of 19, cigarette in hand. Anyway, the first track is 'I Didn't See It Coming' and it sounds happy, upbeat, I mean it isn't Matt Berninger from The National singing baritone lullabies of misery but there are (no pun intended) moments of lyrical sinister. It was exactly what I expected at the same time as it wasn't at all. I was impressed. From the first lines of, "Make me dance/ I want to surrender", I had done just that alone in my kitchen. I was cooking and suddenly there was, I guess, a bit of a rhythm in my pancake making from that point on.

'Write About Love' then slips into one of my favourite songs on the album, 'Come On Sister', which follows the album recipe of starting with something big, then taking it up a notch and again to the formula Mr Nick Hornby describes of making a mixtape, you have to cool it down it a bit, 'Not blow your wad right away' and the tempo drops to a romantic ballad 'Calculating Bimbo' which is actually bitterly sweet.

'I Want The World To Stop' is an incredibly catchy in that pop-repetitive way and I guess there's that element of The Smiths in saying something depressing in a cheerful manner, that I can appreciate. 'Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John' is said to be the best work on the album and it's a low tempo collaboration with Norah Jones. Maybe it's because I hate Norah Jones but if it's not background noise, this song doesn't do much for me. The tempo of the album is then awoken by the infectiously album titled track 'Write About Love' featuring the gorgeous Carrie Mulligan. This is the cutest piece of music I have heard in some time. I really enjoy the adorable, "I hate my job/I'm working way too much/Everyday I'm stuck in an office" offset by Murdoch suggesting there's a prettier way of living, "Just get on your skinny knees and pray". This song has been on high rotation since its discovery.

'Write About Love' proves to be buoyant as it continues into, 'I'm Not Living In The Real World', even though it's a three minute song, it's so sweet it ends before you realise it's begun.

Now the part where the tale end of the record twists into low tempo and I'm not saying it's a top-heavy work, but I find the last few songs to be a little less catchy, a little less enlightening until the closing track of 'Sunday's Pretty Icons' which is a lovely little piece that certainly does leave the listener satisfied and wanting more.

It's hard to write about a respected band or artist when you really don't know their work. This is the eighth studio release by Belle & Sebastian and unlike all the other reviews that incorporate all bands errors of the past, I really have nothing to say. I know I now need to work backwards into their catalogue and maybe that can be a benefit when you think about it, kinda like buying a box set and not having to wait for a new episode every week. Bad analogy. Anyway, if you're like me and you've never really bothered with Belle & Sebastian, I'd say give it a spin. This is one of my favourite records this year and as summer in Australia beckons, I know 'Write About Love' will be on high rotation here at OWM.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Evening Outrage.

NME’s ‘Best Debut Albums Ever’ poll by "the people" voted Arctic Monkeys ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’ over Joy Division’s ‘Unknown Pleasures’. Fuck. Right. Off.
Arctic Monkeys debut also took out Interpol’s ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’, Nirvana’s ‘Bleach’, The Libertines ‘Up The Bracket’ and Jeff Buckley’s ‘Grace’. What the fuck even? Who let these morons choose?

I'm embarrassed to be alive.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Dropping the ball, picking up the pace, losing face.

Updates and all things new coming soon!
It's been a busy these last couple of weeks. I've been filming and celebrating a birthday so now that I am dignified and old, I am sure I can clog your screens with my rubbish.

I look forward to it.