Song Of The Day 170: Hatchie
Laneway rolls into Brisbane this weekend. Traditionally (or at least in recent years), it’s been the first stop in Australia (after Singapore and New Zealand) but this time it’s been relegated to the last weekend. I don’t really envy everyone playing in Brisbane on Saturday (sunny and 33 degrees Celsius forecast) and then having to […]
Song of the Day 169: Tropical Fuck Storm
One of the many things I spend far too much time thinking about (I really should write a list and see if there’s any consensus or if it’s just me) is the ‘side project’. It’s funny how musicians all have ‘projects’ now. What perplexes me as a non-musician type (well, I can bash out a […]
Q&A with Cable Ties
Photo: Teds Records Cable Ties hold a special place as one of Melbourne’s most beloved bands, one in strong pedigree of fearless rock acts that are seemingly constantly shattering the boundaries of what you think they may achieve. In February, they’ll join artists like The War on Drugs, Aldous Harding, and Anderson Paak, in touring Australia’s […]
Gizzfest 2017 @ RNA Showgrounds, Brisbane, 18.11.2017
Rain. Wiping a small ocean away from my face I make peace with the realisation that this year’s Gizzfest isn’t something to be attempted sober. I slide a drink out of my pocket and into my mouth, wincing. Alright. Okay. All good, some pitch shifting reggaeton chugs out from the radio from a car that […]
The Melvins + Red Kross @ Crowbar, Brisbane, 10.11.2017
Here’s a true story. The Melvins play Crowbar Friday night. Supporting them are Red Kross. Equally notorious, these Californians pave their contemporaries’ way with languid metal and throttling punk. A thundering performance comes littered with time-honoured rock gestures, power pop hooks and plenty of lose-your-shit moments. As the Melvins take the stage I’m reminded of […]
The Collapse Board Interview: The Stems’ Dom Mariani
The ’80s were a decade defined by its sense of materialism and elitism. Capturing the zeitgeist music responded in kind with glitzy new wave, arena rock and synthetic pop dominating the airwaves. But as the raw sounds of the punk movement were petering out, evolving or sliding back into obscurity, a new generation of artists […]
A Passion Unstated but Deeply Felt: Beaches’ ‘Second of Spring’
There are few Australian groups which can truly grasp the mind-manifesting ideas of the psychedelic sound and its underpinning ethos but Beaches are an act that consistently strikes the anvil on its head. A collection of members from well-known Melbournian acts with a few more extra hands thrown in, the five-piece have retained a lengthy […]
Habits @ QAGOMA, 07.08.2017
Habits traverse an area few of their more visible Australian contemporaries dare venture. The pair’s 2016 debut Ugly Cry makes nods to the sounds of Melbourne’s electronic underground, acid house, industrial, synth pop, club music and future R&B. Wherever the two find their inspiration, they make it exciting, without losing a grip on creating music […]
Radio Birdman, Died Pretty @ The Tivoli, 23.06.2017
My first Radio Birdman experience was at the Golden Plains Festival in Meredith, Victoria back in 2015. I didn’t know much about them at the time. My friend Warren used to bang about them all the time. It seemed that their main guy, Deniz Tek, was some sort of modern day renaissance man, who could […]
Beth Orton @ Triffid, 18.06.2017
When do you fall out of love with a musician? At what point do you decide to quietly (or otherwise) withdraw your patronage and stop taking an active interest in what do they do? I’ve always considered myself to be fairly reasonable in that I’m generally happy to overlook a disappointing follow-up to a dazzling […]
