Supported by: Songs, The Maple Trail

Two things first before I delve into the specifics of this gig:

1) I knew it was going to be a good night when I was stamped at the door and it was a dinosaur stamp.

2) This show was nowhere near capacity and it should have been. What else are you going to spend $14 on? Two Happy Meals? Come on Sydney, lift your game and support local talent some more – this was a pretty awesome night.

Onwards, now that that’s out of my system.

Fronted by Belles Will Ring guitarist Aidan Roberts, The Maple Trail is more a solo project on record but live, becomes an amalgamation of Australian musicians near and far with an array of exciting and innovative instruments. The set ranged from Roberts crooning softly with an acoustic guitar to more upbeat tunes where he smacked a bow against his guitar strings, voice dancing delicately with that of Pip Smith, all the while playing host to harmonicas, saxophones, Casiotones and a whole lot of heart. The ethos of The Maple Trail follows along the same lines as many folk-rock singer-songwriters before Roberts, and yet their sound remains fresh and invigorating; closing with a friend-filled rendition of ‘The Drug’, including upcoming singer-songwriter Caitlin Park on tambourine, it was evident that Roberts and co. had won over many hearts by the toe-taps and smiles around the room.

Songs have become one of this city’s most beloved and intriguing live fixtures in the last couple of years, and tonight’s set was no different. Joined by Melbourne folk man extraordinaire Guy Blackman on keys tonight, the band took a while to sound check and after a couple of false starts, launched directly into the jangly ‘Farmacy’. It’s difficult to describe this band’s appeal – certainly to say that they give energetic performances would not be accurate, as they seem to adhere more to the shoegaze aesthetic, very focused and very serious throughout performances. And yet it wouldn’t be wrong either to call them energetic, because within their reservedness is a very quiet, resolute energy, which becomes more evident when they play songs like ‘Different Light’ which induce a whole lot of dancing (kudos to the 50-something man breaking it down in the front row – this band appeals to everyone). The band also played a new song written with Blackman which was less complex than their other material, relying on straight guitar chords rather than intricate patterns, and featured more interplay between vocalists Max Doyle and Ela Stiles. There’s not much to say about Songs except that they are a group that just gets better and better with every live performance. Get out and see them ASAP.

Set:
Farmacy
Something To Believe In
Clouds
Different Light
New song
Just An Idea
???
Oh No

Launching her new album Stem tonight and also appearing with her band for the first time in Sydney, Melbourne’s Pikelet, aka Evelyn Morris, was dressed down, no shoes, and every bit the casual conversationalist with the audience. The most impressive thing about Morris was her quickness with each of her various instruments, including a sampler, keyboard, acoustic guitar and her voice, an instrument in itself thanks to its range of diverse and fascinating intonations. Playing mostly songs from the new album, as well as two new ones (one of which was drenched in ‘80s-like synth, total joy), Morris and her bandmates weaved some amazing sounds out of their instruments, including castanets, clarinet and a woodblock attached to the drumkit. Highlights included Toby Light (met with a rapturous cheer), Red Pleather (dedicated to her dad) and Allergies (despite having to start again), and the last song was dedicated to her bandmates as a show of friendship before she emerged again, alone, for a “bullshit encore”. Any naysayers of electronic-driven music really need to get out to a Pikelet show – one look at her fingers running all over the keys and sampler is proof enough that it’s not a walk in the park, and yet her laid back and just plain real demeanour suggests that it is.

Set:
Swooping Buzzards
Allergies
Smithereens
Red Pleather
New song
Gameland
Weakest Link
New song
Toby Light
???
—
???

Arts & Crafts – May 4 2010

The last time we properly heard from Canadian supergroup Broken Social Scene was in 2005, when they released their self-titled album; between then and now there’s been a smattering of ‘Broken Social Scene Presents…’ records, which essentially are just solo outings by individual band members, backed by their BSS pals at times. So it’s a great relief and pleasure to see the band back in business with their fourth studio album, which is shaping up to be one of this year’s finest releases.

Where a lot of BSS’ earlier work was marked by semi-experimental outings that didn’t make immediate sense upon listening, Forgiveness Rock Record instead is more succinct and conventionally melodic, but not at the cost of tirelessly voyaging across the musical landscape. From first track ‘World Sick’ it’s obvious that this is a very ambitious record – building up over a wordless crescendo for the first minute before introducing a modest guitar refrain, the track slowly unleashes its tremendously wild heart which only serves to swell at every chorus, tapering as quickly as it bursts. From this dreamy prelude, the record does a 180 and launches right into the frenetic synth/horn bubble of ‘Chase Scene’, also flipping on other songs to such reaches as brass and, in the intro of folky ‘Highway Slipper Jam’, a nod towards more traditional forms of music.

There are moments of total self indulgence, as expected, like the second half of ‘Ungrateful Little Father’, essentially an atmospheric mesh that can either mean everything or nothing, depending on how you want to interpret it, and moments of uncomplicated indie rock, such as the wholly instrumental highlight ‘Meet Me In The Basement’ with its simple but effective four-note refrain.

Of course, there are moments on the album that aren’t so perfect; first single ‘Forced to Love’ has a really weird quality about it that kind of brings to mind the Boys Night Out’s 2005 emo concept album Trainwreck…yeah, I don’t get it either…and with closer ‘Me and My Hand’, it’s hard to tell whether or not Kevin Drew is having a laugh at our expense (and just FYI, P!nk is having a field day). But the questionable moments are few compared to the great ones, although the album probably could have done with more female-led tracks like the bubbly ‘Sentimental X’s’ and the string-laden, airy ‘All to All’; one of the best thing about BSS is their diversity and flexibility, and yet Forgiveness Rock Record has a marked lack of lighter vocals.

As with every BSS record, there’s an incredible array of guest musicians on this album, including returning members Feist and Emily Haines as well as new collaborators such as Spiral Stairs (Pavement) and Jason Tait (The Weakerthans). The band has sometimes fallen victim to criticism for just that – after all, such a palette of contributors can only hint at excessiveness. But the entire point of this band is to stretch things to their utmost, and certainly with such a range of influences and players there is much more opportunity to expand a formula that already works quite well.

In life, you sometimes come across albums that are so enormous in their scope that it’s kind of humbling in a sense, in a “what the hell am I doing with my life if I’m not making this kind of music?” kind of way. This is one of those albums – it’s not something to be taken lightly and it’s certainly not background music, because there is no choice but to absorb every moment of its hour completely. If you haven’t latched your ears onto Forgiveness Rock Record yet, I can only urge that you do just that. Love it for its dramatic excess or hate it for that exact reason, it’s definitely one that’s hard to stay neutral on.

DOWNLOAD: World Sick (mp3)

Hipsters, get your tissues ready – another Splendour sideshow is on the cards, this time starring indie darlings Grizzly Bear in their second Australian appearance for the year.

The Grizz last popped up on our shores in January, selling out Sydney Festival crowds thanks to the hugeness of their 2009 album Veckatimest. They’ll return in July for shows in Sydney and Melbourne (the rest of Australia must be pretty pissed), in venues significantly larger than those of their tour six months previous.

Dates as follows:

Sunday July 25 – Enmore Theatre, NSW
Tuesday July 27 – Palais Theatre, VIC

Tickets on sale next Tuesday May 4 through Ticketek for the Sydney show and Ticketmaster for the Melbourne show.

As part of my mission to revamp and personalise my blog, I’m introducing a new weekly segment called Throwback Thursday, in which I will post a song a week and talk about its significance in my life.

There was never any other option for me as to which song to start with. People know this song from all sorts of different times and places – from the film Tootsie, from Family Guy, probably from some shitty karaoke sessions. But the reason for this song being quite possibly the most important one to ever come into my life is because I don’t remember anything before it. Quite literally, this song is my first memory.

I was two or three years old and it was one of my dad’s favourites. The first thing I remember about life is lying on my parents’ bed alone, listening to the song on a cassette player. I was a sharp kid and learned to speak and understand quite early on, and so I remember hearing the lyrics and thinking about the pictures they were describing. “I’ve been passing time, watching trains go by” – I was a tomboy and trains were my favourite, so I dug that. “Lying on the sand, watching seabirds fly” – I dug that too, because seagulls were pretty neat and they ate my bread at the beach.

It seems like such a weird first memory, especially since it suggests that I was able to process those kinds of semi-complex thoughts at such a young age. But as much as I try to remember otherwise, or as much as I try to recall with such vividness events preceding that one, I can’t.

The song was all around. In the car on the way to music lessons, it was on. Whenever my parents watched Tootsie (and they watched it A LOT), it was on. My dad sang it all the time and put it on one of the little mix tapes he made for the car (along with ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream’, which also features prominently in my early life memories). This song, I swear, was EVERYWHERE.

And the thing that is so great about it, to me, is the fact that it’s so simple and not overly complicated. I was barely walking and I already was able to find my little slice of meaning in it, and I really believe that that shaped the way that I decided to live my life when I got older and remembered this specific incident. It was one of the stepping stones to who I am now and the way that I feel about and interact with music, and for that, Stephen Bishop, whenever I may find you, I owe you several million high-fives.

In honour of the recently announced Australian leg of Metallica’s ‘World Magnetic’ tour, I would like to share some conversations that ensued today about everyone’s favourite past-their-prime metallers.

SCENARIO ONE, in which I message my boyfriend to inform him of the joyous news that the Sydney date is also my birthday.
Giselle: OMG METALLICA PLAYS SYDNEY ON MY BIRTHDAY.
Peter: OMG I WILL TAKE YOU.
Giselle: We can totally make out during ‘Nothing Else Matters’, because no one else in the history of ever has done that.
Peter: But how can we make out when I’m holding up my lighter?

SCENARIO TWO, in which I inform my work friend, Edwina, about the tour.
Giselle: Dude, Metallica is touring in November. Happy birthday me.
Edwina: I once dated a guitarist who had two fatty tumours in his arm. He named them Lars and James.
Note: I loled forever but then felt bad because we were talking about tumours. But the lol still stands, however guiltily.

And in case you were actually interested in the dates for this tour, here they are:

Monday October 18 – Brisbane Entertainment Centre, QLD
Friday October 22 – Burswood Dome, WA
Wednesday November 10 – Acer Arena, NSW
Monday November 15 – Adelaide Entertainment Centre, SA
Thursday November 18 – Rod Laver Arena, VIC

Tickets on sale Thursday May 13 via Ticketek, with a presale happening from noon on the 11th. Tickets are limited to four per customer – because, you know, I wanted to buy six for myself and that’s selfish.

News of Splendour sideshows are starting to roll in and it looks like electronic big guns LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip are teaming up for a hell of a show.

The double bill, which will hit Sydney and Melbourne ahead of the festival in its new Woodford location, may well be the last time you ever see LCD live – frontman James Murphy told triple j recently, “This is our last tour. So this is our crazy, no punches pulled… we have to do the weirdest stuff. It’s like the most ramshackle basement show ever. It’s the end of this type of thing for us.” How very cryptic.

LCD Soundsystem last wowed Australian audiences at the 2008 Big Day Out and are releasing their third record, This Is Happening, on May 14. Hot Chip played here last BDO to sellout crowds and are back again on the back of their latest effort, One Life Stand.

Dates are as follows:

Monday July 26 – Hordern Pavilion, NSW
Thursday July 29 – Festival Hall, VIC

Tickets on sale next Friday May 7 from Ticketek, either online or via phone (132 849). Snap ‘em up quick if you’re keen on this one, they’re sure to go fast.

And as an aside, ‘All My Friends’ is still one of the fucking best songs ever.

Tulsi/Liberator – April 9 2010

Family ties can make or break musicians, thanks to the constant comparisons that often plague reviews (Julian Lennon, anybody?). This review is no different but Harper Simon can’t escape the blame – rather than using his father Paul’s work as an influence, he’s copied it note for note.

The folk rock singer/songwriter’s self-produced and self-released debut does have some truly stunning moments, but almost every song on the record sounds nearly identical to a Simon & Garfunkel or Paul Simon song, right down to the vocal inflections. ‘Berkeley Girl’? More like ‘The Dangling Conversation’. ‘Tennessee’? Good to see someone rewrote ‘Kodachrome’ (a cowrite with Paul himself, no less). ‘All to God’? The result of an affair between ‘Star Carol’ and ‘Scarborough Fair/Canticle’, surely.

It’s also interesting to note that while Paul penned some of his greatest songs with S&G at the age of 23, Harper is turning 38 this year and only just beginning, seemingly, to dip his toes into the world of songwriting. The songs on this record, whilst lovely, do sound like the first outing by a boy much younger; surely with Harper’s life experience, more could be offered here both lyrically and musically.

This all may seem like harsh criticism, and to be fair Harper’s debut record is a really enjoyable listen, having become a semi-permanent fixture in my car (with the aforementioned ‘Berkeley Girl’ being a particular favourite). But to evolve from ‘For Originality, Whenever I May Find It’ (ha!) to something really special, the trick is to stop taking so many obvious cues from Daddy and pave a separate path.

DOWNLOAD: Berkeley Girl (m4a)

Supported by: Ghoul

The really cool thing about this show is that it presented the opportunity to see three incredible local bands for one super low price in a very intimate venue. The Sando usually plays host to a whole heap of metal and punk shows, so to see such a different bunch of people in on a Friday night was odd, to say the least. With the guest list overflowing with industry people, reviewers and pals of the bands, it was obvious that what was to come was one special evening.

Up first was Sydney’s Ghoul, who have been around for a few years now but never quite received the recognition they deserve. The four-piece, who have shared the stage and collaborated with some big local talent including Seekae, were the perfect start to the night with their electronic tunes, the genre of which really is quite hard to pinpoint. Ivan Vizintin, who was dressed in an oversized Mickey Mouse shirt on this occasion, has eerie vocals which nod at Thom Yorke and Jeff Buckley a little while still maintaining a personality of their own, and the other three members hunched over their instruments with intense focus to create sounds that, when mixed with the looping of the keyboard, culminated in an ethereal yet grounded experience. I fell in love with this band after seeing this show – you can download their 2008 EP A Mouthful of Gold in its entirety from their MySpace. Don’t expect to have anything else playing on your stereo for a while, though.

Brisbane’s Seja, also known as the keyboardist for Regurgitator, took the stage with two bandmates to showcase tunes from her own debut album, We Have Secrets But Nobody Cares, which borrows heavily from ’80s synth-pop. The set began with an uneven mix that drowned out Seja’s vocals, but once that was fixed she became more confident in creating a pulsating dance floor for the eager crowd. Seja may appear shy but her stage presence is quietly powerful; the great thing about her songs, both live and recorded, is that they call for nostalgia (and wouldn’t sound out of place in The Breakfast Club), and that nostalgia is what makes them so relatable to absolutely anybody. Seja took the stage alone with a guitar for a solo number before being joined on stage again not only by her bandmates but also Hazel and Martha Brown of Otouto, who accompanied her in a choreographed dance in what was an adorable end to an equally adorable set.

If you haven’t heard of Otouto by now there’s a high possibility that you’re living under a rock; the Melbourne three-piece have been generating considerable hype of late, especially following the release of their excellent debut album Pip, which they launched this night. Pip has some extraordinary sounds that you’d expect would be somewhat difficult to recreate live; for the most part, the band executed it with ease. Drummer Kishore Ryan took the back seat for the performance but hit the kit with precision and sturdy focus, while the Brown sisters weaved their vocals around eight of the ten songs from Pip as well as a few new ones. Martha’s focused Casiotone performance was exact and notable, especially on songs like ‘Sushi’ and the key-heavy ‘W. Hillier’, and her plucked viola added that extra something to ‘Cartoon Shoes’. My only real criticism about the performance is that Hazel’s vocals struggled a little in the higher register, which did dampen the set at times, and several false starts were made. But what was really clear from this set was that this band has an absolutely enormous future before them – to make one of the year’s most surprising albums so far and then to recreate it so well live is not an easy feat. There are huge things ahead for Otouto – catch them live as soon as you can, because soon you won’t be able to get as intimate when they begin to take over Australia before taking over the world.

Supported by: The Snowdroppers

Sydney’s The Snowdroppers certainly started things off with a bang, shaking up The Factory with their rockabilly sounds. Frontman Johnny Wishbone has probably read the rock and roll manual word for word, with his Morrissey-esque quiff and suspenders offset by his sometimes downright awkward stage antics that reeked of trying too hard (there’s only so much talk of sucking dick that an audience can take). Still, the band was received enthusiastically – a mid-set cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Cecilia’ picked up the pace and by the end of the performance, the audience was slinging a call-and-response refrain back and forth with endless vigour. A really enjoyable set, despite some over-the-top theatrics.

To say that The Avett Brothers have a strong following down under is a gross understatement. The North Carolina group, comprising brothers Seth and Scott Avett on banjo, guitar, drums, harmonica – oh, everything really, Bob Crawford on electric and upright bass and touring cellist Joe Kwon, made their first Australian appearance this tour and as soon as they stepped out on stage, the floor was literally quaking. The Avetts’ set, including material from 2009′s I and Love and You as well as a decent slab of older songs, proved without question that the brothers’ gorgeous harmonies are even stronger live than they are recorded. Highlights included the beautiful ‘Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise’, the steady roll of ‘January Wedding’ and Seth’s intimate acoustic solo, ‘The Ballad of Love and Hate’. Kwon’s impressively violent cello antics, including the use of the instrument as percussion, saw his bow hair coming off in shreds. The audience was in full swing, singing along and unashamedly flailing their limbs to every song, which skyrocketed during a particularly upbeat ‘Kick Drum Heart’ which saw the band members literally kicking down the bass drum and stomping all over it. A heartfelt ‘I and Love and You’ closed the main set before the band reemerged for ‘The Weight of Lie’ and a foot-thumping, hand-clapping, hollering extended jam, segueing from the traditional ‘Old Joe Clark’ into a cover of Led Zeppelin’s ‘How Many More Times’, that was the perfect end to the long weekend with all the Bs that make the world a happy place – bluegrass, beards, banjos and babes (Scott Avett, call me).

Set:

Go To Sleep
Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise
Shame
Backwards With Time
Left On Laura, Left On Lisa
Wanted Man
January Wedding
Distraction #74
The Perfect Space
Famous Flower Of Manhattan
Paranoia in B-flat Major
The Ballad Of Love And Hate
Slight Figure Of Speech
Tear Down The House
Kick Drum Heart
I And Love And You
—
The Weight Of Lies
Old Joe Clark/How Many More Times

I’ll admit that prior to meeting my current boyfriend, I was pretty indifferent to Blur – to me they were that band that had that one “woo hoo” song that was on that one car ad when I was growing up, and sure, it was a decent song, but I never gave them much of an afterthought.

But once I met Peter that had to change – this is, after all, the guy who went halfway around the world last year and saw 5 of the band’s reunion shows. Craziness. And so I picked up all of their albums, had a listen, chose my favourites, and while they’re still not my favourite band I certainly have a wider appreciation for them than I once did.

It’s been 7 years since the band released any new material (the last being that year’s excellent Think Tank), and excitingly they are back now with a new single ‘Fool’s Day’, recorded and released for Record Store Day and pressed onto 1000 limited 7 inches. Have a listen above and if it takes your fancy, download it from their website on either mp3 or uncompressed WAV.

2010: the year of Blur? Let’s hope so.