Broken Record

Why Alberto Iglesias Deserves The Oscar

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 03:50:00 +0000

Compared to last year's debacle involving movie scores being denied consideration for an Academy Award nomination, this year's list looks positively dull. However there are some quiet acheivers amongst the potentials. While the inimitable John Williams is competing against himself with both The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse vying for a gong, the real standout efforts are coming from relative international minnows in the film score pond.

Although Alberto Iglesias has been composing music for over 30 years, it is only relatively recently that his work has gained such a global audience. Sex and Lucia obviously garnered him with some attention, but it was The Constant Gardener which really brought his music to Western audiences. Fitting, then, that Iglesias should once again take the helm of composing the audio landscape to a book by John le Carré. With the score to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Iglesias has captured the same bleak and desolate atmosphere that he created for Gardener. While the action in Tinker Tailor is much more sparse compared to its predecessor, the tension Iglesias has created with the music is even more heightened. It not only accompanies but emphasises the tension that is rife throughout the complicated plot of the film.

It is surely more deserving of an Oscar than something like War Horse, which sees Williams at his gushiest, and indeed laziest. He has followed the textbook (admittedly written by him in the first place), letter for letter, and has come up with a score that predictably swells and sighs its way into teenage girls' hearts. The only thing more emotionally engorged than the score is Steven Spielberg's own direction, but he hasn't been nominated for direction, so that point is moot.

While Ludovic Bource's score for The Artist is a quiet masterpiece, and arguably more important to its respective film than Iglesias's due to the fact it is one of the only things actually heard throughout the film, the impact Iglesias's work has on Tinker Tailor makes it a superior product. I have yet to see Hugo, and so Howard Shore might have outdone is outstanding work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but he will undoubtedly we lavished with yet more Oscars when The Hobbit films are released. Now therefore is the time for the for the already twice nominated Iglesias to be recognised for his work.

Treat Your Ears To Something Good This Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:58:00 +0000

It's most likely been about two months (at least) since you heard your first complaint about Christmas decorations being put up in shop windows. However now that we're well into December, it is finally justifiable to even mention the Silly Season here.

Unfortunately, accompanying those decorations strewn around malls and shops is often the most hideous pandemonium of Christmas music you are ever likely to hear. If it's not the cheesy pop hits of the past 30 years, or updated and cringe-worthy upbeat versions of already terrible carols, it's unexpected and strange duets (I'm looking at you David Bowie & Bing Crosby and Bruce Springsteen & Bon Jovi). Admittedly some of the old classics are just that, classic. It's difficult not to feel festive when you hear Bing Crosby begin to croon some festive songs (aside perhaps from the aforementioned Bowie duet), or enjoy Nat King Cole singing The Christmas Song and to a depressingly lesser extent The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot.

However, for every great Yuletide song you can hear each year, there is a fountain, nay a mountain of turgid shit that pollutes the airwaves and CD stands. But this does not mean that lovers of good music must shut their windows and close their doors, unable to take part in the holiday season with good festive songs. There are plenty of tracks, some even within the last few years, that put their own spin on Christmas and happen to actually be great to listen to.

Beginning with something mildly epic, the Trans Siberian Orchestra's version of Carol of the Bells brings the 100 year Ukrainian chant some well deserved rawk. If when Carol of the Bells is mentioned you even dare think about listening to Destiny's Child annihilation of the tune, stop and let the metal maestros blow you away with their complex and stadium-sized rendition of the chilly Winter's tale (except that it's actually originally about Spring). If you'd prefer to go old school, then you can't much go past RUN DMC's Christmas In Hollis. Or better yet, the Christmas tune that RUN DMC samples for Hollis is Clarence Carter's Back Door Santa; the funky (and exceptionally seedy) soul number.

Tim Minchin: Knows what's important at Christmas.

For something more comical but with an undercurrent of serious thought, Tom Lehrer's A Christmas Carol is one of the only honest Christmas songs ever written. Lehrer explains in just a few minutes exactly what the true meaning of Christmas really is; money. All the more startling, and somewhat depressing then to note that it was composed in the 50s. But infinitely more beautiful than Lehrer's leering and snarling American accent, is Tim Minchin's lilting and heartfelt White Wine In The Sun. It sums up perfectly what it is like to be secular at Christmas, and slightly bemused by all the religiosity that surrounds the holidays. After money, family is of course the most important thing at Christmas, and Minchin's ode to his daughter really is a touching tale of how she will always find her family's love and security, no matter how overwhelming life gets.

For something altogether more alternative arranged on one very handy little compilation, you can't go much past Just Say Noël. Featuring tracks by the likes of everyone from Beck to an excellent track from XTC to possibly the best version of Amazing Grace by Ted Hawkins, it is the most eclectic collection of Christmas songs you're likely to find.

There are many other great Christmas songs that I could have included on this distinctly incomprehensive list, but that is part of the fun of tracking down some festive musicality. The hunt through the crap to find the kernels of greatness is what it's all about. Of course, I could just be keeping some under wraps so I have something to talk about this time next year. Merry Christmas.

Fukuyo's Fables Debut EP Is A Quiet Achiever

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 19:53:00 +0000

You could be forgiven for thinking that if you're not a drum and bass or dubstep producer in Wellington you're not going to go very far on the live cicruit. Almost every night of the week you'll find a venue pumping out the massive beats to the ever increasing masses. However, for every hard and fast DJ there are about four hard working fledgling bands jamming away and looking to get noticed, and of those four bands, one of them will be great. Fukuyo's Fables is one such band, and if you haven't heard of them yet, it's only a matter of time.

The band have been playing together for over a year now but have only recently been making real ripples with the release of their self-titled EP in September, accompanied by a gig at the San Fran Bath House. What really stands out throughout the record is the overpowering and often complex medley of vocals. In fact it can often be difficult to determine what exactly is breathy vocal and what is instrumental accompaniment, the two blend so well.

The first track, Buildings, begins by evoking a wistful reminiscence of love on a seemingly chilly Winter's day. The timbering acoustic and vocals shiver through the beginning of the track, before being trodden on by a thumping folky percussive shuffle, then calming back down to finish as it started. Drag 'Em is a rollercoaster of tempo, with an upbeat ditty descending into a lounging folk number, and back and forth again effortlessly. The juxtaposition of these two styles is hard to pull off, and can often seem jarring. But the journey this song takes you on is much deeper than the intro would first suggest. My Oh is a small but perfectly formed package of heart-warming if bitter-sweet delight.

Coffee Shaped Treat fully embraces the altogether darker and more moody atmosphere that up until this point had only been hinted at. Ethereal vocal harmonies usher in Scott Maynard's forlorn ballad, and return to back him up as his vehement sighs overlay the frantic guitar and drums. Coffee Shaped Treat is a tailor-made jamming beauty that gives the band the freedom to explore as much or as little of it as they want. It's the kind of song you could see being either wrapped up at a gig in four minutes, or drawn out and played with as an eight or nine minute epic of acoustic despair and harmony.

No Such Thing As A Green Eyed Fox, not content with merely being a fantastic track title, rounds out the EP as an example of just how proficient the band are at their harmonic couplings. The band come together gloriously on this track, with Jeremy Hunter's skilful guitar, along with Maynard's lilting vocals, taking the lead and proving that The Phoenix Foundation don't have the monopoly on alt-folk in New Zealand. The track ends on a laid back and sombre jam that leaves you full, but aching for more.

Fukuyo's Fables have stated their appreciation of Fleet Foxes, and they've already covered Bon Iver's Woods in their live shows, so it's plain to see where their influence lies. But this is not to say that the band has merely tried to sound like those who inspire them. There is very definitely a stamp of individuality at work here, with Maynard's distinctly Kiwi vocals at the heart of it. At times fragile almost to the point of breaking, at other times warm and comforting, he leads the rest of the band in superb vocal harmonies and polished acoustics that soar above their humble station. This is a band that, whatever inevitable success may come their way in the future, seem content with their very strong musical formula. The quiet brilliance of their songs comes from their modesty, and when you listen to the EP, you in turn are likely to be quietly blown away.

Listen to (and buy!) Fuyuko's Fables' EP HERE.

Moving House Music. Not Moving House Music

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:38:00 +0000

I haven't updated the blog in a little while because I've been in the process of moving house, so don't be confused by the title. I'm talking here about music to move house to, not moving House music like some sweeping beatless remix of Trentmøller's 'Moan' or the like. It turns out one can go on quite an unprecedented journey when going through every stressful stage of moving house, even to the point where you can to give up and pack the record player.

It's a journey that takes you by surprise as you never think to plan what you'll be listening, not unless you're very particular and plan ahead for every single aspect of your life. You find yourself beginning the packing process by simply moving things around, and whatever is playing at the time seems fitting enough. When you've accumulated years worth of stuff that suddenly needs moving, it can be extremely difficult to figure out exactly where to begin.

Therefore, when what I happened to be listening to at the time finished, I had to think about what would best fit the mood for packing away the big stuff into boxes. The potential shown in Mumford & Sons' Sigh No More seemed to fit well with my apprehension about getting a mortgage and moving to the country. Like my move, the record shows great potential, but like packing, its tempo and rhythm can get somewhat repetitive. The attempt at a grand scale of folk rock did fit well with the whole 'beginning of a new era' that our household was feeling at the time, and it really added something to packing up the big furniture.

When it got down to packing the little stuff, it took a lot longer, so the whole Fat Freddy's Drop back catalogue was in order. Starting off with possibly the longest and most value-for-money EP Live At The Matterhorn, it shows not just how far the band has come since 2001, but how tight they were way back when it all began. Hardly surprising when you have the likes of Trinity Roots founder Warren Maxwell playing with you. It seemed appropriate since we'd be moving to within a stone's throw of Maxwell's Stonefeather Studios.

Fat Freddy's Drop: Good to move to.

By the time Live at the Roundhouse was finishing up, we were getting behind schedule, and needed to kick things up a notch. So, with the help of Christchurch-born producer Tom Cosm we finished off the packing with some good old fashioned happy hardcore, a little technical dubstep wizardry thrown in, and his superb 2007 set at Melbourne's Make It Snow Festival to round off the frantic packing, taping, shouting, and heavy lifting.

Once everything but the sound system was packed, it was down to cleaning, and Cosm's superior had put us in the mood to go out rather than stay in to do the cleaning, so we needed a complete mood changer. Brian Eno's four seminal Ambient albums did the trick, and strangely, gave scrubbing a kitchen floor quite an epically ethereal quality. Somehow I found myself really feeling that I was making a great social difference by cleaning this floor. I suppose I was in a way, giving my family the best start for the future by scrubbing the hell out of this floor and ensuring we got our full bond refund. But Eno's sweeping dream-like album which, at over 35 years old, remains as contemporary as ever, will make anything you're doing at the time seem like the most important thing in the cosmos.

When the boombox was finally packed away, the last thing to leave the house before we did, all that was left to do was decide on what to listen to while driving through the Rimutaka Ranges. As has been done on so many day trips away, it felt wrong to listen to anything but old faithful Salmonella Dub's One Drop East.

Defending The Jumping Flea: There Is Much More To The Ukulele Than You Might Think

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:51:00 +0000

Recently on a Stuff blog one little instrument was labelled as being "ruined by a fad". Its recent resurgence in popularity has had the Hawaiian little brother of the guitar come under attack, with the music played on it criticised as dumbed-down and insulting. I would like to take this opportunity to defend this innocuous but delightful little instrument, and go some way in explaining why the seemingly unstoppable demand for the 'jumping flea' is a good thing.

While there is no denying that it seems every single song in the history of music ever has its own ukulele cover, this can also be said for many other instruments. You can just as easily find covers of popular songs played on the acoustic, the bass, drums, string quartets, full orchestras, and even hundred-strong choral interpretations. A song does not simply have to be imitated to be appreciated, but can be reinterpreted to bring a new atmosphere to the music. While some may see that as a watering-down of the music, I prefer to think of it as an added value that you otherwise would not have found. Sure the ukulele cannot bring the sweeping epic bliss of a Sigur Rós song truly to life, but it can add its own quiet fortitude to something like Hoppipolla, and you'd be surprised by just how much grinding metal can be gleaned from an electric ukulele putting Slayer's Angel of Death through its paces.

Are covers played by people in their bedrooms all over the world less legitimate than, say, an album the aforementioned blog claims will not help the ukulele go beyond "novelty value"? Eddie Vedder's relatively recent release Ukulele Songs came out of left field for a lot of Vedder fans, and its reception was fairly average to say the least. The main criticisms seemed to focus on the restriction that comes from playing the ukulele, and perceived that as a lack of depth in Vedder's songwriting.

Eddie Vedder's album Ukulele Songs has received a mixed back from critics.

However it seems that the subtle nuances that can be achieved with the ukulele, and the often bittersweet sound it is capable of, are often overlooked by critics who confuse light-heartedness with childishness. Yes using one instrument is going to be restrictive in its scope, but that should be no surprise when the record is called Ukulele Songs. What difference is there between that any other form of acoustic album. Is simply the fact that the guitar is a small one make the music infantile? Of course not.

No one ever criticised Cliff 'Ukulele Ike' Edwards for being immature, at least not musically, and the maestro Bill Tapia has never been considered childish. So why is ukulele music at the brunt of criticism from some music aficionados? To answer that question you have to first understand why the ukulele has become so popular. There are a number of contributing factors, but it is clear that in the past two years, ukulele sales have increased ridiculously, by 42% in some cases.

Some put it down to the global financial crisis forcing people interested in learning an instrument to compromise for the more inexpensive option offered by the ukulele. Others are claiming it to be all the Magnetic Fields' doing, with it featuring extensively on 1999's 69 Love Songs While some put it down to the indie-folk revolution from the likes of Mumford & Sons (though I'm sure the same aficionados would hasten to note that Country Winston Marshall plays a banjo and not a ukulele.) If it is the cheaper cost of the ukulele that is the main reason however, then that will have gone some way in determining the demographic that is primarily playing the instrument. Twenty-somethings who can't afford their own acoustic guitar and pluck for the ukulele are going to start their musical journey covering other peoples' music. That's just how it's done. With the advent of social media, and especially YouTube, we now have access to people practising those new-found skills in their bedrooms whereas before, if they managed to secure one, we the listener only got to see the end product in the pub or at the local social club.

The fact that the ukulele is dangerously close to becoming considered the chosen instrument for the hipster, or the go-to instrument for use in the latest Apple ad, has turned a lot of people right of its twee-leanings (tweenings?) So it is perfectly understandable that music critics and general lovers of music over the age of 25 are going to be suspicious about this resurgence. The novelty of the ukulele had already worn off for them even before the recent rise. So when someone like Amanda Palmer jumps on the uke bandwagon and covers a song like Creep no less, they are going to project their feeling of the song being devalued onto the instrument that they believe is devaluing the song.

Amanda Palmer enjoys playing the popular hits of Radiohead on her ukulele.

If you listened to the Ukulele Ike and Bill Tapia songs I previously linked, you will find them to be very different from the sounds made by Vedder and Palmer and the like. There is more to the ukulele than some tropical strumming and a light-hearted ditty about a happy feeling. All of the very same themes and emotions that can be wrought from an acoustic guitar are just as possible when playing the ukulele. Though some misguided artists may feel the instrument is an easy string to add to their bow, and therefore fail to learn how to properly tune or indeed play a uke, the majority do bring their own value to the songs they are playing on the jumping flea.

Modern artists who really know the intricacies of the ukulele are very much around, and can be found for those willing to search. Beirut's Elephant Gun is a perfect example of just how beautifully a ukulele can combine with the rest of a band to really bring life and depth to a song, while Jake Shimabukuro's now famous rendition of George Harrison's While My Guitar Gently Weeps is simply one of the greatest solo renditions ever played on the famous Hawaiian guitar. While most show how easy it is to learn the instrument, very few can demonstrate just how difficult it is to truly master. That is not a restriction of the ukulele so much as a restriction of the player.

Demo Tracks By Your Favourite Band, On A Friday, Discovered After 25 Years

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:35:00 +0000

You might not have heard of a little-known band from the 80s called On A Friday, but you will have heard of their later incarnation after bassist Colin's brother joined the band. We already have a lot to thank Jonny Greenwood for (not least his most recent score for We Need To Talk About Kevin), but without him, Radiohead could have been a sax-heavy new romantic outfit.

Two tracks from a 1986 demo tape were rediscovered and uploaded onto YouTube in the past two weeks. The person who uploaded them said their husband used to know the band, and was given the demo when he was 17. They've been kept safe and sound all this time, now being released at a time when the band could quite simply not be any bigger or more influential.

The first of the demo songs, Girl (In The Purple Dress), is more accomplished of the tracks. Very few 17 year old bands around then or now could emulate quite the same quality from a very early attempt at songwriting. Everybody Knows is a little less fluid but still an enjoyable 80s ballad worthy of the time. Yes they're a little rough around the edges and Thom's voice is still getting comfortable at being being the mic, but to criticise these tracks that were recorded 25 years ago by teenagers who presumably never thought hundreds of thousands of people would some day listen to them would be like a parent punishing their beloved child for not colouring in exactly within the black lines.

Perhaps the most surprising thing however is the blaring sax solos that barge their way into the middle of each song. With so many people being so intimately familiar with Radiohead's back catalogue, it seems altogether bizarre that the saxophone should play such a prominent part in these songs. Especially when you consider that their only use of it to date is the beautifully shambolic inclusion of a jazz band mash up on The National Anthem. It is intriguing to wonder what happened to their friend and the culprit behind the saxophone Raz Peterson.

What is not, perhaps, surprising is that these songs are actually good, and in the case of Girl (In The Purple Dress), really good. The beginnings of what would later become Radiohead are already there, impressive for being six years before their seminal debut single.

The Gaslamp Killer and Crushington @ Sandwiches, Wellington (19/11/11)

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 23:21:00 +0000

A large portion of the seating had been taken out of Sandwiches when I arrived to catch the second of The Gaslmap Killer's only two New Zealand shows. Clearly they were expecting some big numbers to be packing out the venue. In the meantime, it was Superautomatica who were trying to make up the numbers as their bouncy dubstep melded nicely with downtempo breaks lured people into the evening. Some hip hop breaks had people enticed and heads began to nod, but when the hip hop crunk shifted up a gear and the sampler was put through its paces, people really began to take note. Soon enough the fish started to bite in earnest, perhaps it was Method Man's obscene proclamations of what he would do to the listener's asshole that did it.

The duo consisting of Benny Tones and LRD JXN then unleashed a grand psybient vibe blended nicely with an undertone of original hip hop, before violating the floor with sample heavy breaks that really brought the noise. The pair danced around each other with consummate ease, playing around with their catalogue and sublimely picking up where the other left off. It was down to some grimey dubstep to see in the end of their impressive set, which, when married with Roni Size & Reprazent's signature drum and bass classic Brown Paper Bag had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand.

Their finale couldn't have been a greater introduction to Crushington taking to their set and wowing the crowd. Superautomatica had perfectly set them up, and it was Crushington's turn to knock them down. It is hard to believe it's only been just over a year since their first ever live show, but Wellington's finest bass producers looked like seasoned professionals as they kicked off their night with offbeat pounding dubstep that immediately had the room jumping, bar staff included.

They went on to test the limits of tempo before dropping some face-melting dubstep breaks, and somehow managed to briefly fuse hardcore house with full on 'step madness. The rest of the set went by in a blur of flurry of big sounds, with hardcore beats to rival the likes of Scotch Egg, and massive dub drops that could give Skrillex a run for his money. The speakers threatened to blow under the strain of the bass-heavy grime exploding out from them, all while the duo looked to be laughing manically at times to what they were subjecting the crowd to.

There's nothing quite like that split-second anticipatory moment just before a huge dubstep drop, and Crushington laid out countless of those moments throughout their all-too short set. The crowd couldn't nod their heads any harder lest they break their noses off on their own knees, but the Wellington duo settled for making their ears bleed with delight instead. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves and appreciate the reciprocation from the crowd, and they earned it. Their sound is one that should already have taken lands beyond New Zealand by storm, but given time they'll be recognised as masters of their craft.

The Gaslamp Killer seemed to have his work cut out for him to top Crushington, but from the moment he quietly approved of the bass powerhouse by Wilhelm Screaming his way into the start of his set, he was in the driving seat. Starting off minimalist, GLK dropped some 16-bit beats and mixed it all up with a seemingly endless supply of other styles, even showing off his significant turntablism skills.

Peppered throughout smooth hip hop dub beats, GLK would sprinkle some Beatles Happiness Is A Warm Gun with soulful Dr Dre and throw in a dash of Wocka Flocka's Hard In Da Paint for good measure. Like a kind of Weird Al Yankovic of grimestep, GLK looked to be having more fun than anyone as he went from mashing up a golden oldie with some dirty hip hop dubstep and back again.

To say GLK's set was eclectic would be like saying people went along to Sandwiches to hear traditional Romani music. But of course, at one point it very much sounded like that's exactly what GLK had dropped amidst the hip hop dubstep and fresh LA beats. It was difficult to tear yourself away from the dancefloor, but even if you did, you'd be met with the bar staff dancing on the bar. Not a soul in the joint was standing still come the end of the set, confirming it had been a good idea to clear out nearly all of the seating. Showing big love for New Zealand ("when the shit hits the fan in America you better believe I'm on the first flight to Aotearoa"), and providing the crowd with a perfect blend of old classics and new sounds, Gaslamp Killer confirmed his place as one of the most original and diverse DJs on the circuit today.

Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 08:59:00 +0000

To say Kate Bush's album releases have been sporadic would be quite the understatement. Before 2005's Aerial, it had been twelve painstaking years before anyone had enjoyed a studio release from the English songstress. Now, in 2011 fans have been treated to not only Director's Cut in the first half of the year, an album of restructured and reissued tracks from two previous albums. But as Winter closes in around the Northern Hemisphere, Bush has swept the world with a breathtakingly bleak yet surprisingly temperate studio album in the form of 50 Words For Snow.

At first glance the tracklisting might look as bare as a Winter chill, but with only one track clocking in at under seven minutes, Bush has taken her time with every aspect of the album. Her website first alerted fans to the fact the album would be "set against the backdrop of falling snow", and begins her wintry opus with Snowflake, about the falling of a single flake and its desire to be caught. The distant rolling of piano chords coupled with the faintest hint of electronics serves to emphasise the loneliness felt by a single snowflake amongst a drifting blizzard. That snowflake is given a rousing voice by Bush's son Bertie, calling out amidst the echoing atmosphere and blending fluidly with his mother's backing vocals.

Of course Snowflake could be about a lost pet, caught in a snowstorm, as the next luxuriant track, Lake Tahoe, finds a woman calling out for her own Snowflake amid a lolling piano, lakeside bird calls, faint percussion and choral accompaniment from Stefan Roberts. Misty starts with the creation of a snowman innocently enough, but subverts into something altogether more bittersweetly erotic as she lays down with him and feels him "dissolve" beneath her. Only Bush could get away with singing about the coupling between woman and snowman and it would be somewhat creepy if not for the way her simply beautiful and sumptuous voice conjures up the imagery in a strangely alluring display.

Wild Man goes further and altogether darker as the blistering winds give way to a lament for the "Kangchenjumga demon," or Yeti of the Himalayas. It tells a fantastical tale of many well-researched place names where Bush sings of sightings of the eponymous wild man, and her attempts to protect him from discovery and death with the help of a Himalayan tracker sung by Andy Fairweather Low. A bizarrely forgettable and overly-romantic duet with Elton John sees two seemingly time-travelling lovers proclaiming their love while Rome burns, or as one is dragged away in war torn 1942, before losing one another during 9/11 in New York.

If such a duet with Elton John seems bizarre, then hearing Stephen Fry recite 50 different way to convey snowfall over a fusion of chillout electronica and slide guitar is altogether comedic. The relish with which Fry sounds out the different terms ("diamanti pavlova" and "spangladasha" being the more sedate of them) is evident. Bush encouraging Fry to complete the 50 as part of her chorus is a stroke of light-hearted genius. If you're going to get anyone to revel in the glorious nonsense of language then I suppose there's no one better than the most famous linguist of them all.

The lounging piano returns for Among Angels to round out the album, with Bush alone in reminding us (if a reminder were needed) of her vocal range and haunting solo presence. 50 Words For Snow is a peculiarity, but of course what else could a Kate Bush record be? Few albums in recent memory have focused on a single subject matter so incessantly, and it does indeed evoke a stark and boreal landscape. Yet it is Bush's voice that brings the consistent warmth throughout each track, thawing them out and allowing us to savour her otherwise glacial offerings.

Google Music - A Game Of Catch-Up Or A Game Changer?

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 02:25:00 +0000

The recent announcement that Google Music is open for business has been met so far with deafening silence. With the demise of Buzz and the less than impressive showing of Google+, it seems users are reluctant to get all that exited about yet another product to add to their pantheon of online apps and services. Of course the media's spin on the release is the inevitable comparison with iTunes, not least of all the NZ Herald which claims "Google is hoping to gain traction over iTunes". The reality is however that there is very little competition to be had as the choice was already made for people long before Google Music ever even existed.

The simple fact is, if you own an iPod, iPhone etc. you're already using iTunes and aren't about to ship your entire music library over to Google Music (something which you'd be hard pressed to do anyway). Google Music has not been created to try and entice Apple users away from their beloved smart devices, but to ensure that Android users aren't missing out on what was becoming an ever widening gap in the market. Google's key demographic is already there, so the creation of Google Music was a no-brainer, but the real job for Google now is to convince their customers that it's worth their time uploading their libraries and furthermore, buying future music from the Android store.

They of course have bonuses to try and entice people to do so, such as the offer of an exclusive Rolling Stones live set from 1973, or a recording of Pearl Jam's recent gig in Toronto (along with other less impressive incentives like a Shakira or Coldplay live EP). But Google are hoping that the real boon to their release will be the fact you can share whatever tracks you have in library (so long as they have been purchased from the Android store) with people in your Google+ circles. Apple is incapable of using such a social networking tool, however does not necessarily need to as at present links to where users can buy a song from on iTunes appear wherever that song pops up on YouTube, ironically part of the Google conglomerate.

Back in July the Google CEO had already claimed that over ten million people were using G+, so the ability for those people (which has surely swelled by a fair few millions by now) to share their libraries with people in their circles could see the greatest burgeoning of shared music yet witnessed. Will this prospective online community of music lovers attract iTunes users to cross the floor and abandon their Apple love? Probably not. But if it pays off for Google, it will mean there is at least one other behemoth in the music-sharing world, and competition can only be a good thing.

Of course the real winners out of all of this are the major record labels, all of whom (except for Warner Music) have already signed up with Google Music. Independent labels are by no means under-represented however, with over one thousand of them also jumping aboard. There is also something to be said for Google Music's 'Artist Hub' which will allow minnow artists and bands to promote their work. If that gains traction then Google Music will at least make it easier for them to get their music out into the world, though it may take quite a while to get to the level of established names who, under Google Music, will be able to set whatever price they like for their music online.

Google Music, like Google+, is more likely to be a slow-burner rather than something to blow the rest of the market away. If the technology is easy enough to use, and compatible between different devices, then non-Apple users will take to it just as quickly as their iCounterparts have. Making the use of the service free is a good first step, but you would expect nothing less (or more in this case) from Google.

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:38:00 +0000

It is relatively safe to assert without (too much) retribution that before the band's implosion, Oasis was akin to a stagnant pool atop a fairly mediocre plateau. Noel more than anyone would have ultimately been grateful for the break-up, as it has now given him the creative freedom to do what he likes without having his irritating little brother buzzing in his ear. High Flying Birds is the very embodiment of that freedom come to life, and while the influences of the past are undeniable, and indeed wholeheartedly pepper almost every song, it is the best of that past that comes to mind.

The first track on the album, Everybody's On The Run will undoubtedly be opening sets at stadiums around the world for years to come for that's what it has been seemingly designed for. That's of course no bad thing as it's the older of the Gallagher brothers who is known for the really symbolic gestures of anthemic rock.You can imagine the lighters in the air and the flags fluttering in the Glastonbury breeze as it echoes over Worthy Farm along with the other sweeping rock anthems (I Wanna Live in a Dream in My) Record Machine and Stop The Clocks.

Dream On is the first of the shambling folky numbers that parade through the record which also includes the first single from the album, The Death of You And Me, and the delightfully mournful Soldier Boys and Jesus Freaks. The second single from the album, If I Had A Gun..., is as Noel himself has said, unsurprisingly more than a little akin to Oasis since it was written while he was still with the band. Similarly AKA... Broken Arrow could have been written for Liam, and you can almost hear his voice quivering in the background, but it's (Stranded On The) Wrong Beach that really brings Oasis fans back to the good old days. The throbbing guitars and upbeat percussion is really one for the Summer and a great example of just how much fun Noel has had in making his own unique record.

It's with AKA... What A Life! that Noel breaks away from his recognisable influences and styles and delivers something altogether more uplifting and, dare I say it, dancey. His effortlessly soaring vocal oversees an infectious piano fused with some hectic and footloose guitar work. It leaves one wondering what else Noel could do if he put his mind to different genres. He has made guest appearances on tracks for artists ranging from The Chemical Brothers to Goldie, so it would be interesting to see what he could do with influences that strayed further from his well-defined comfort zone that AKA... What A Life! does.

Overall the album just breathes confidence. Noel is not trying to make a statement with Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds but merely give fans the music he knows they will enjoy. This is a record for Oasis fans, of course, and it's impossible to ignore the influence, but it's also greatly accessible to others who just couldn't get past the arrogance and, later mediocrity, that came with the once Biggest Band In The World. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds is, of course, more than just the man himself. They are a band after all, and it's the work of members like session pianist Mike Rowe and former Zutons bassist Russell Pritchard that help tie everything together and underpin that accessibility. Nor is it easy to ignore the presence of Beady Eye's debut album Different Gear Still Speeding when listening to NGHFB. But unlike Oasis-minus-one's drawn-out and often lagging effort, this doesn't try to snatch at something it feels it deserves, but nestles comfortably in the purely enjoyable musical experience borne by a seasoned professional.

David Lynch - Crazy Clown Time

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:03:00 +0000

There will undoubtedly not be one review of David Lynch’s first solo album that neglects to compare it to his long and sordid history in film. Pitchfork at least manages to focus on the music he has used in his films, and indeed the music he has created or co-created for past projects. Needless to say, very few people listening to Crazy Clown Time will approach it without some preconceived ideas about what they expect to hear. Such comparisons to Lynch’s filmography are somewhat justified given that a lot of the music evokes some very Lynchian imagery.

The album kicks off with Pinky’s Dream, picking up almost mid-riff where seemingly something dark and unsettling has left off. Karen O brings her textbook dark indie punk vocals to one of the strongest tracks on the album. The track also introduces listeners to the intense reverb that permeates heavily throughout the entire album. The guitars are barely distinguishable from the distant bass as they echo off the outer reaches of the song.

Good Day Today, the first single from the album, changes the style if not the pace or the atmosphere. Akin to a super-sensitive Moby track, the electronica blends surprisingly well with Lynch’s own synthesised and distorted vocals and would have sat very well on the Twin Peaks soundtrack. Those vocals become a repetitive feature throughout the rest of the record, with So Glad’s simplistic lyrics underpinning the simplicity of the whole track. Noah’s Ark, while continuing with the monotonal distorted vocals that defines the album, has lyrics that provide an interesting spin on how the title of the track gets its name.

The vocals for Football Game must have been laid down on a busy day for Lynch as it sounds like he’s still finishing his sandwich. That or he decided to actually play a football game where someone had broken his jaw before heading into the booth. The lazy reverbed guitar lolls and echoes back and forth and, coupled with the very similar I Know, would cause one to drop off if it weren’t for the truly surprising Strange and Unproductive Thinking. The track features a pounding bassline that really works and fast becomes Lynch’s most upbeat number, but is starkly juxtaposed with his vocoder ramblings on positive thinking, cosmic awareness, the existence of opposing ideas, the pursuit of critical thinking, and seemingly most important, an emphasis on dental hygiene and plaque formation. It has to be heard, whether you find the long robotic sentences mesmerising or jarring, it is undeniably Lynchian.

The title track is probably the most unsettling for a variety of reasons. Lynch has said that "crazy clown time" simply means the fun that can be had whilst drinking beer. But listening to Crazy Clown Time should be a reminder to all never to drink beer with David Lynch. His aching falsetto that squirms its way throughout the track feels like it gets into every pore and makes you want to take a shower. The stabbing backwards effects, the dirty blues guitar and the pained orgasmic moans of the backing vocals all make you feel like you've just stumbled upon the Devil's Rejects relaxing on their front porch before doing a number on someone. Most likely you.

Most of the rest of the album sinks back into a comfortless and dark place, with the almost painfully strained vocals pining for lost (or rather taken) love, highlighting the loneliness that comes with considering inanimate objects as friends, and lamenting the loss of identity. She Rise Up rounds off the album with Lynch reinterpreting the dark alternative blues that has punctured the record into a synthesised ballad for another lost love, once again making good use of his vocoder.

While nowhere near as disturbing as one might have expected from the man who brought us Blue Velvet, Lynch's debut LP is more unsettling. That almost makes it worse, as you can feel the tension and creepiness building the further into the record you get. It is most definitely worth a listen, and although it may not be known as one of the classic albums of this young decade, it will most certainly make you want to cleanse your soul after wallowing in its grime.

Tokyo Prose @ Sandwiches, Wellington (11/11/11)

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 02:15:00 +0000

It feels very unnatural to head out the door at 1am, with your evening’s entertainment still ahead of you. Or perhaps I’m just getting far too old, but it seemed many people hadn’t come out at all when I showed up to Sandwiches to catch Tokyo Prose. Jonny Kon was just finishing his set to a disappointingly populated floor. Nonetheless this didn’t deter Kon from belting out some nicely fused liquid drum and bass that had those on the floor smiling from ear to ear. The resident MC unfortunately added little to proceedings, as is often the case with resident MCs, but dropping shots with the DJ lifted his confidence just enough to deliver some slick lines before sinking back to one-word chants. Kon finished up by projecting some old school drum and bass onto the floor and getting a nice reaction, but really ended on a high as the sounds got dark and gritty.

But the young revellers who had seemingly been hiding during Kon’s set soon came out of the woodwork when the Auckland producer got down to business. Straight off he laid out some soaring chords populated by big drops that even consumed the MC, stunning him into silence for a time. The variation in the vocal samples by Prose is what is most refreshing in his live work, with bluesy riffs fluidly bleeding into soaring ethereal vocals. As his name would suggest, the Japanese influence made a serene appearance, with the highlight of the night featuring a Koto-style Japanese string riff that lead into a collective drum and bass experience to rival the best producers working not just in New Zealand today, but anywhere else.

While a sweeping comedown threatened to clear the dancefloor as people recuperated or went to the bar to refuel, they were soon back as the sense that something else was building soon permeated throughout Sandwiches. Prose slid effortlessly into a smooth and golden lounge drum and bass peppered with chocolate vocals and a deep piano that was so smooth it had people fixed to the floor. The set plateaued on a high, with solid beats adding yet more bodies to the floor before soothingly sinking back down into soulful and laid back drum and bass once.

These undulations continued well into the night as some Jungle-heightened beats brought everyone back to the peak of their energy. The fusion between jungle and hip hop was so expertly done as to go largely unnoticed, and then Prose’s superb blending back in of drum and bass over the hip hop fluidly married the two. Only was it towards the dying minutes of his set that Prose really got down to the dirty end of drum and bass. Big drops and even bigger beats were the order of the day, and left everyone pumped and ready for more.

Tokyo Prose’s set was as soothing and yet as epic as the tide itself. It could go from soaring highs and massive sounds rights down to smooth relaxing bass that left one drifting from side to side and thinking about sweeping Japanese mountain ranges. It’s strength came from its regularity, yet still managed to throw in some very pleasing surprises. You not know exactly what you’re going to get with a Tokyo Prose set, but you know you’ll come away all the better for hearing it.

Why We Need The Pop Music Axis Of Evil

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 00:21:00 +0000

It is the easiest thing in the world to jump on the Bandwagon of Hate and spout our abhorrence at the popularity of, not just the five people I have featured above, but a whole myriad of terrible artists who produce terrible music. Being negative is so much easier than being positive that the Bandwagon of Hate is full to overflowing, and there is barely any room for anyone else to jump on board.

However, in attempting to put a positive spin on the state of popular music today, it quickly became apparent that these very same people are exactly what is needed in the music industry today. Let me explain. Popular music has always been shit. Always. Now, very few of you will have been around to remember music from the 50s and 60s as it was being produced, but I'm willing to wager that most of you will immediately think of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and a whole host of other seminal musical geniuses who have brought so much to the industry. "You just don't get bands like that any more. I wish I could have lived back then when some of the best music ever to be created was topping the charts." By comparison, you probably think you live in a wasteland of creative nothingness; where record companies regurgitate musical superficiality on the masses. But back in the 50s and 60s, the young people of that day would have been saying almost exactly the same thing.

In April of 1950, Eileen Barton was top of the Billboard charts with If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake. Even nostalgia cannot temper how bland and frankly bad this song is, its only redeemable quality being the title boasting an impressive three apostrophes. In 1953 That Doggie In The Window was number one for two whole months, and in 1962 it was the almost unbearable Lion Sleeps Tonight. For every enduring icon like Tony Bennett and Elvis Presley, there were about ten bands you've never heard of who were topping the charts. Many of them were just as manufactured as Justin Bieber is today, and some were just as all-encompassingly loathsome.

How many (US) number ones do you think some of the most seminal artists of all time have achieved? Discounting The Beatles, whose freakish genius excludes them from most comparative lists, you'd be surprised to find, not many. Led Zeppelin? None. Jimi Hendrix? None. Bob Dylan? None. Bob Marley? None. Creedence Clearwater Revival? None. Radiohead? None. Little Richard? None. James Brown? None. Frank Zappa? None. Bo Diddley? None. Jerry Lee Lewis? None. Jackie Wilson? None. Smokey Robinson? None. Grateful Dead? None. Johnny Cash? None. The Who? None. Pink Floyd? A staggering ...one.

Popular music is a very misleading term, for it doesn't take into account a time frame to give that popularity context. Without Googling, tell me who released the biggest one hit wonder of all time; Macarena ... Unless you move in very strangely niche musical circles, you won't have a clue, despite the fact that it stayed top of the Billboard for over 14 weeks, remained in the Top 100 for 60 weeks, brought about its own Guinness World Record, spawned thirteen other versions, and sold over 11 million copies. Are the architects of such a track (Los del Río, by the way) considered popular? I thoroughly hope not. There are two different types of popularity therefore. Present Popularity encompasses everything that is selling well in the charts along with much of that which receives critical acclaim in the here and now. While the best chart position a band like Noah and the Whale have managed to achieve in 2011 is #14 with L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N., they have an air of endurance about them that will be remembered for decades to come. Or Kasabian, who have only managed three top ten hits from their 15-single back catalogue, are sure to be rocking venues for many years hence. Their popularity is undeniable, if not reflected in the charts. Therefore along with Present Popularity, they are likely contenders for Enduring Popularity. Of course, time will tell.

The Pop Music Axis of Evil spans many decades and includes hundreds of artists, not just those of today.

On the other hand, the ludicrously popular acts that have been dominating the charts for the past few years, do not have that same air of endurability about them. Since 2000, the artists that have been hitting the Billboard top spot has been an unhealthy mix of reality talent show winners (and losers), New Hip Hop(NHH)*, and other assorted terrifying pop slurry. In fact, since the turn of the century there have been precisely four bands that have reached Number One, and by bans I mean, vocalist, guitarist(s), and drummer. The Billboard has been completely saturated, some might say smothered, by NHH artist after NHH artist, or wide-eyed open-mouthed pop starlet featuring NHH artist, or two NHH artists featuring a pop starlet. Some track titles of those number ones include; Bootylicious, Buy You A Drank (Shawty Snappin'), Bump Bump Bump, In Da Club, Gold Digger, Love In This Club, Like A G6, This Is Why I'm Hot, and the ever insufferable Moves Like Jagger.

The charts have been dominated by people singing about being awesome and/or sexy, having or acquiring sex, and indeed having or acquiring everything else. Many songs take place in, on the way to, or returning from a club, and the vast majority treat trivial matters such as record label disputes, not having enough (or too much) jewellery, and others not being as awesome as they are, as mostly serious issues. It is interesting that in these times of economic uncertainty, the proliferation of songs featuring such excess are increasing ever more rapidly. Rappers' cars are getting bigger, they are now wearing more than one Rolex at any one time, and they can afford to have at least four hos on their payroll. When excruciating artists such as Justin Bieber or Jessie J need some kind of credibility in their music, they will undoubtedly get a NHH artist to feature on their latest single. The easy acquisition of music thanks to the Internet, and indeed the Internet's own ability to create many new pop stars, has brought about this vastly deep well of terrible music. The music itself is just as bad as pop music has always been, but the sheer volume of it could lead people to be forgiven for thinking that pop has never been worse than it is now.

So, does this mean we should be depressed or angry about the state of popular music? Well no, of course not. The fact that Pop has two definitions in music means the vast majority of the Present Pop music will be a distant memory in years to come. Talk to middle-aged women of today about the Bay City Rollers, Barry Blue or The Rubettes and they will undoubtedly roll their eyes and look embarrassed. The fans of the day no longer want to remember the bands they would have given their left arm to meet mere decades before. The same will happen again. And again. And again. Until either the end of the world as we know it, or at least until you need a Government-issued license to practice good music.

However, getting on to the subject of why we actually need this Pop Music Axis of Evil. It's really quite simple. Know your enemy. Everything from butterflies, to octopuses, tree frogs to baboons display how dangerous they are as a prominent warning to others to stay away. These bright colours and explicit signs are very important for other animals in knowing who to avoid and who makes good eating. In the same sense, then, are 'loud' dresses and extravagant displays just as important for music lovers to know which artist they should avoid. Those attracted to bright colours and superficial light shows will be helplessly drawn in, and all we can do is watch as we move elsewhere along our musical journey.

The Pop Axis of Evil spans decades and encompasses hundreds of artists. Thankfully they have made it easy for us to spot them, as their music will always come second to some other facet of their act. Whether that be showy displays of supposed controversy, how they behave at awards ceremonies, their dress sense, or some other shallow act of attempted dominance that overrides their music. These people are needed in the industry so that we can find whatever their opposite number is, and head in that direction. No sustenance can be gained from feeding off the poison that coats the skin of the Greater Spotted Gaga or the Glitter Crested Ke$ha. Much better is it to lie in wait for a more wholesome band, or spend many days tracking an Enduringly Popular artist that you can then feed off for many years to come.

*NHH, or New Hip Hop bears very little resemblance to the Hip Hop that originated in 1970s Bronx. New Hip Hop encompasses, but is not exclusive to modern Gangster Rap. Unfortunately it has superseded and all-but replaced Hip Hop.

Parklife Brisbane @ Botanical Gardens, Brisbane (26/09/09)

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:22:00 +0000

It might have surprised anyone not familiar with a typical Brisbane climate to learn that even though it’s not summer yet, Mother Nature had turned up the heat to a stroke-inducing 32º, leaving many people to think we were in the throes of a heat wave. However such was the lot of the Parklife faithful who had a blisteringly good day to soak in some sun, some alcohol, and some killer music.

With any festival, it is obviously impossible to cover every single act, and, as much as that was the intention, some were missed, but one early starter who deserved not to be missed was Junkbeats opening up the Air Stage. Coming out with their live show, they won over the crowd early by employing the services of dancing animals to throw candy at the crowd. Dave Basek had an auxiliary-percussion back up working overtime to compensate the smooth House he was laying out.

Early on in the Fire Stage’s day, Fans! DJs showed off some nice mixing and mashing and was a good accompaniment to the early afternoon vibe that permeated around the area, stretching from the Earth Stage, through Woods, and up to Fire. When 99 Problems, the most overused track in most mix bags, was spun, it was time to venture further into the Botanic Gardens.

That venture turned into more of trek, but before a Sherpa’s services were called upon, the winding track was finally negotiated and opened up to the Riverstage, and to the sounds of Miami Horror who by lunchtime, had claimed most of the Parklife crowd. Front of stage was already packed, bodies heaving to the Melbourne-based band’s ‘80s inspired electro. Down front wouldn’t have had any sounds issues, but it certainly didn’t seem loud enough to fill the ears of those taking in the view from the top of the hill.

Taking it down tempo a notch were Dubmarine, one of Brisbane’s best homegrown Dub and Reggae bands, at the Woods Stage. D-Kaz Man was giving it his all on the man, stirring the passing crowd into bouncing along to tracks including their infectiously Eastern inspired track Singie and finishing up with the funky Dancehall beats of Pass It On. The only problem with the Woods Stage was that it did seem somewhat sandwiched between the three other intermediate stages, so it was on occasion difficult to concentrate on an act without hearing the dull thud of a different tempo emanating from elsewhere. However, the roar of the crowd was unmistakable, and, as Dubmarine were packing up and making way for The Loops of Fury, the rapturous ovation demanded investigation.

Coming from the Air Stage, it was the sounds of Art vs Science filling its own corner of the Gardens with their fiery and blistering performance. Their ballsy set got into full flow with the likes of Parlez Vous Francais?, New Order and they kept the energy and the pace rocking with the biggest track of their show, Flippers. The hill in front of the Air Stage writhed as one wave of people, with thousands lapping up the raw energy of the boys’ set, and the dial was turned to 11 when they came out with a brilliantly original cover of Where’s Your Head At.

The Loops of Fury were doing a great job with the relatively small stage they were given, packing out the makeshift dancefloor as best they could and throwing out some bassy breaks in the afternoon sun. Operon tried to keep the energy going and it was all looking good but for some lacklustre MCing and a technical hitch here or there emptying the floor out somewhat. When the music he produces is so good, it’s better to let it speak for itself rather than blare over the top of it.

With the intention of catching a bit of Little Boots, preparations were made and provisions packed for the second expedition towards Riverstage. Obviously weather conditions were too treacherous as our party were informed that capacity was reached and the stage was closed. The Air Stage made a good base camp though and we were more than rewarded with a solid set from Autokratz. The London duo rocking out with some electronica liveliness in the form of What You Want, What You Got and a blinding cover of Primal Scream’s Swastika Eyes.

Not getting to the Riverstage had been a wise move as it might have meant missing one of the highlights of the Air Stage. The host for the venue, Busy P took his turn on the decks and blew everyone away with an absolutely banging set that started off with a certain Italian duo’s hardcore release Warp that you might just have heard of, and only got better from there. The crowd looked to be enjoying it almost as much as he was, especially with one fan showing him two particular motivational aids.

Highlight of the day was the Earth Stage in general. Few stages had the consistency of greatness on display here, none more so than Junior Boys. Their chilled out electronica suited the stage and the atmosphere perfectly. In The Morning typified a perfectly balanced and laidback style that ran throughout the set, Jeremy’s finely tuned vocals suiting Matt’s skilled production down to a tee.

Reaching the summit of Riverstage once more it was clear to see (or hear) that the sound restrictions were only going to become more intrusive as the night wore on, so what was indeed a great performance from The Aston Shuffle, with For Everyone a definite highlight from the ACT boys, was somewhat dampened by the curbing of the noise. If you weren’t in the thick of the pit front of stage and prepared to stay for the whole day then you were going to miss out.

Coming back down to Earth, the second half of the greatest piece of lineup scheduling was well under way, as Aeroplane carried on immaculately with the vibe that Junior Boys had carved out. The space in front of the stage lent itself well to having lots of room, and as a result it was the sanctuary within the park. Plus, when you have the smoothest of DJ sets from the likes of these Belgian maestros then you have a recipe for a perfect festival experience. Every track they laid out, from Joris Voorn’s Sweep The Floor to some subtle inclusions of their own making like Now Til ‘69, was met with stoic appreciation from the happiest crowd in the park. They brought the sun down over the park with their minimal tech and there was simply no better way to meet the dusk.

The draw of the Air Stage was ever present and it was difficult to miss Erol Alkan who pulled off one of the most eclectic sets of the day. Combining a healthy dose of disco house, jungle, bass heavy breaks and driving techno, there was something for every raver in the crowd. The Gossip had never sounded so good after Joakim had finished with a powerful mix of their big sounding Heavy Cross.

Catching Tiga finish up the day at Air Stage was a sight to behold. The strobes dousing the crowd in intermittent blue rays of intense energy gave the whole area a vibrancy that seemed to represent the electricity that had been building up at the Air Stage all day. This exploded in raptures when he dropped his signature Mind Dimension, one of the strangest but most compelling tracks to come out of the Montreal house scene in years. Never has a DJ so seemingly unassuming had so much success with a track that can hold one note for so long.

Not wanting to stay away from the best stage in the park it was back to Earth and back to minimal with Claude Von Stroke sealing the deal on Parklife for the night. His dark and seedy samples, the smoky and melodic synths all framed within a subtle but contagious beat, was an overpowering concoction of superior electro that rounded off the day beautifully and left those who had found the jewel in the crown of Parklife wanting more.

Shapeshifter @ The Hi Fi, Brisbane (11/09/09)

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:19:00 +0000

When this Kiwi live act is described in press cuttings and reviews, the words “dynamic” and “explosive” are often the first that wordsmiths go for. The only problem with these terms, aside from being repeated time and again, is that they don’t go far enough in describing the complexity of their euphonic brilliance. Almost a year ago to the day, Shapeshifter were showing The Zoo what it was like to take a chunk of New Zealand’s greatest music and plant it firmly in Brisbane for a night.

A year on and the anticipation of a great night of drum n bass hadn’t changed, just the venue had. With The Hi Fi hosting Shapeshifter for the first time (though with most members being individually familiar with the place), there was the potential for a bigger crowd and a bigger sound.

First though, it was down to Sunshine Sound System to lay the foundations of the evening and they more than answered the call to arms. With Downtown Brown manning the wheels of steel and mixing in some infectious hip hop beats, and Killa Puha and MC Switch on the mic, ushering the crowd to get some drinks down them and dance, there were few left in the crowd who didn’t feel the need to move.

Giving us the fundamentals of breaking down a track and mixing it in with some matching loops and vibes, Brown was displaying how: one track added to one track, makes one track, multiplied by the spirit of both. Trust me, it made sense at the time, and was this reviewer’s excuse for getting down to some Red Red Wine by British jamsters UB40 mixed in with some righteous hip hop flavour.

Puha and Switch also showed off their freestyling skills, getting the crowd to lift up anything so they could rhyme off about it, all to the rhythm of a reggae-inspired reworking of No Diggity. The boys weren’t just showing off their skills on the mic when it came to fresestyling, but in keeping the crowd geed up as best they could, especially when, half an hour after their due time, Shapeshifter were still nowhere to be seen.

Puha had been crying out “are you ready!?” for about half an hour, and the answer was now an emphatic and resounding “yes!” So when Tiki Taane, Shapeshifter’s touring sound man and live legend in his own right, took to his desk as his ownhis hip hop thumper R U Ready? rang out, it was clear that things were beginning to move.

A sign of just how desperate the crowd was getting for the band came as Red from the band came out and, in testing his bass drum, got an unexpectedly huge roar from the crowd. This faded into a whisper however, compared to the sound The Hi Fi made when he was joined by the rest of the boys. It was the kind of cheer that you don’t just hear, you feel, inside your head and throughout your body. The guys always look genuinely pleased to be in each city, and often say as much. Tonight was no different, because this particular city was genuinely pleased to see them.

Some old favourites got people in the mood early, with New Day Come blending seamlessly into Bring Change. If you’re a fan of these guys then you’ll know that these tracks are their old faithfuls and are well on their way to being established as Drum n Bass classics, and a staple in any serious DnB fan’s collection. They dropped these two in the same order last year and they’ll keep doing it as long as the people keep loving it. Personal favourite Electric Dream kept the Hi Fi’s sound system busy as it poured out thick bass. The signature electronica of the track had never sounded so crisp and the grinding backing synths nearly blew some hoodies off the crowd as it tore through the room. It was the kind of relentless hardcore that you can feel lift you off your feet and make you do anything but remain static.

This was mercifully followed up by some smooth liquid dnb with a jazzy edge and allowed for some slow grooning from side to side as people caught their breaths listening to Devin work his magic on the sax. But it didn’t last long as an unknown 2-step track from the new album showed off the drummer’s vast array of skills, going from a banging bass-mongering terrier of a tune to finishing in a percussive flurry of jungle floor toms.

Possibly the highlight of the night came in the form of an astoundingly explosive (yes I did just say “explosive”) version of Stryka. The 2-step intro is already powerful enough but with the added reverb and amplified bass that was latched onto it, it was the essence of cool in musical form. Hands floated in the air in front of you as you twisted your body and ground your shoulders to the techy riff laid over the top. Then the dark breakdown hits and you’re left swooning and waiting for the all-too-brief buildup which soon comes in an overwhelming wave of effects and percussion.

You watch the people as they begin to rise to their toes and lift their hands until the shockwave dealt out by the DnB climax shakes people violently; arms flailing and heads going off on neck-cracking tangents. When the 2-step kicks back in it’s even more pronounced and that’s you for the rest of the track; flipping between the two and feeling heightened all the way along.

The end of the set proper came in the form of new track Metals that gave Sam the freedom to rock out, with some punk-inspired hard and heavy guitars pounding through the equally hard and heavy DnB beats. It ended the set on a high, and left everyone wanting more, which they of course got. After some rhythmic floor stomping and chants from the crowd, they came out to finish the night with one of their more special tunes.

One is the kind of track that, if you’re a fan of Shapeshifter, is very personal but at the same time makes you feel an affinity with your fellow fan. It typified a set that had no surprises; they mostly end their encores with One. However just like the familiarity with the set itself, the track provides a warmth and respect that, coupled with the security brought about by P Digsss’ smooth vocals, culminates in a track that brings all the Kiwis home to their land, and all the rest of us yearning to visit the kind of place that could produce such musical forces of nature.

Jack'd High: Barefoot Bowls @ Toowong Bowls Club, Brisbane (05/09/09)

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:18:00 +0000

It was a mild Saturday afternoon and all was set for a nice quiet game of bowls down at the Toowong Bowls Club. Some of the old regulars were polishing their bowls and getting ready to line up the jack, puzzled but unperturbed by the lack of fellow bowlers. Sadly for them, no one had told them that the Jack’d High circus was rolling into town and wouldn’t be leaving ‘til well into the wee small ours.

Things were kicking off at 5pm and by that time the Bowls Club was already overrun with punters ready to take advantage of the “attractive” drinks offers and the prospect of coming away with top prize in the eventual bowls comp. The outside tent was set up for some smooth and steady beats while indoors was going to be focusing on the slightly harder stuff.

Verner made his mark with some impressive hip hop beats that had a bevy of fans grooving in the evening light, but when the tent gave way to Dan Gavel the beats turned up a notch and had the green vibrating. The sun had truly set and in the light of the full moon the atmosphere was one of happily fuelled punters and enjoyable banter.

Ducking indoors and, despite having half the people appreciating his stellar form,Chappo had twice the bass pumping through the speakers. There was a nice balance of big beat rhythms with some juicy tech, and all came together in the form of a very crisp and inviting set.
The casual bowls continued well into the night; though perhaps without the same level of skill that had (mostly) been on display during the comp earlier in the night. IndoorsCosmo Carter had taken over the reigns and was inspiring some dangerously athletic dancefloor moves by some of the more “jovial” punters with his proficiently old school set. Despite the low numbers, the thin crowd that did remain had a similar energy to any up-for-it crowd you’d see in the Valley on a typical Saturday night.
Outdoors it was left up to Manuka to finish proceedings and it was done in style with some wonderfully laid back psy-inspired beats that really captured the mood of the evening. The dropping of Underworld’s Dark & Long emphasised this mood completely and was a perfect choice to capture the soul of the evening outdoors. It was a night of hard drinking, yes, but it was also a night to sit back, take in the beautiful evening, and enjoy the surrounds of people dancing to good music and others trying to bowl. The total lack of stress was not only reflected in the people who attended, but in the music itself.

That’s of course until you went back indoors where Digital Divide were closing the inside set-up with a bang. There was some premium house on display, which, if it had have been blasting out the speakers in any club in Brisbane, would have absolutely killed. All the elements were there for a quietly epic set; the floor getting into the dizzying heights of double figures by the end of the night, the smoke machine sputtering as best it could like heavy breaths on a Winter’s morning, the sound system struggling to keep up with the fine house that is being pumped through it.

Jack’d High had everything you’d ever need for a thoroughly good night out, a plethora of beats, beers, and bowls. Who could ask for more?

Salmonella Dub @ The Hi Fi, Brisbane (26/06/2009)

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:06:00 +0000

On a rainy night in Brisbane, the Hi Fi were playing host to two of New Zealand’s best exports, one who’s been doing the live circuit on both sides of the Tasman for well over a decade, and the other who was simply doing a gig for a $50 bar tab a few short years ago.

Thankfully the rain hadn’t dampened anyone’s enthusiasm for coming out and the queue was well stocked with soaked music fans. Once we were finally in, The Mighty Asterix was showing off his enthusiasm for reggae and lyrical dexterity with some nicely chilled out beats that encouraged people to make their way from the bar to the floor and sway along with him. The room really got warmed up as Ladi6 took to the stage alongside able accomplice DJ Parks.

The Queen of NZ hip hop has been touring with some of the best Kiwi and international artists for years, and finally, with the release of her debut album Time Is Not Much the fans have something they can truly get their teeth into when not seeing her live. Her attitude and flair on stage all lent itself to her being much bigger in the future; she has a wonderful mastery over her lyrics, and with DJ Parks backing her up with the beats, it’s a finely crafted performance that you can’t help but groove to. The fans cheered when she brought out Call You Out, a particular favourite from the album, and her vocal contribution to the Fat Freddy’s Drop wunderkind track Roady went down with style.

But it was new 12” Go Get It that really hit pay dirt. This bouncy little 2-Step track has a fantastic big band rhythm section and with Ladi 6’s sultry vocals all over it, it’s a smoking release that will undoubtedly be a popular choice when included in all of her future tours.

In the interim between Ladi 6’s fantastic appearance and the main act for the night, Asterix helped drop some drum n bass with the help of Paddy Free from Pitch Black to get people moving, including the odd hint of who was up next here and there. Soon enough the kiwi dub royalty Salmonella Dub took up their places and kicked off the night with an effects-driven reworking of Dub Survivors. Almost instantly the smell of something illegal was in the air, and the mood was set.

After a percussion-driven jam that ebbed and flowed with the skill of seasoned dubsters,Push On Thu was met with enthusiastic recognition. Love Sunshine and Happiness too was a popular choice, the chilled summer tune being infused this time around with a more DnB vibe than the mellow original. Their tour of the remix EP Freak Local was obviously allowing the band the freedom to play around with some older tunes.

For the most part this worked, but a divergence from the usual way some of the tracks were played had an element of roughness to them, as though alternative versions of tracks hadn’t been as ingrained as the studio versions. Having said that, the performance of title track Freak Local was played with an animated funky vigour that spread throughout the band and into the crowd.

Another DnB jam was called for and the band let loose with some towering improvisations, Dave on the drums really working the toms and getting as much funk out the jam as possible, and Mark slapping the bass with relish. The floor was bouncing and jiving (mostly) in time and having a lot of the fun with this fresh approach to Sal Dub’s sound.

The band slipped back into a on older favourite Slip n Slide, and finished with a relaxed and soulful dub sound that allowed everyone to take a deep breath and end the night in a chilled mood. The band benefited greatly from Asterix’s inclusion, his enthusiasm and authoritative Rasta vocals brought up each track he came out for and encouraged the people to get into it. It was a strange gig in the sense that almost everything played was a divergence from the typical Salmonella Dub sound, but for a band that in the past have been accused of not being fresh, can’t be a bad thing.

Outrage feat. The Bloody Beetroots @ Family, Brisbane (25/06/2009)

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:02:00 +0000

It was April of this year that saw Arcade Creative bring Sinden & Fake Blood to the Empire, the word of the night being sweat. They ripped up the place and brought everyone on a hectic journey through garage, electro and some glorious dubstep. After Thursday night at the Family, that night in April now seems about as hardcore as adopting a kitten. Arcade Creative had this time snagged The Bloody Beetroots, and those in attendance couldn’t so much be described as revelers but casualties of war.

As we ticked over into the break of Friday, the crowd welcomed Ajax with open arms. Getting stuck into his set from the get go, the grinding synth was working overtime and devastating the crowd with a dirty bass that almost shook the skin off your back. Ajax cuts an unassuming figure behind the decks, which made his hard house all the more impressive as he let the fast and loud beats speak for themselves. His buildups were tuned entirely to the crowd reaction and they responded in kind with some perfectly timed bouncing.

The admirable job the security were doing of clearing out the people who couldn’t handle the pace was getting increasingly difficult as the masses crowded in at the back to catch the start of the Beetroots, pulverising those at the front who had no choice but to spill out onto the sides of the stage. The crowd had turned into a voracious stockpile of energy and were chewing their own faces off in anticipation, and Ajax hadn’t even finished yet. So when he did end his set on a very considerable high, there was an explosion of hysteria, but they barely had time to applaud him off before they were screaming for the oncoming Italian duo, who were already holding up their kit bags in triumph.

Luckily, security were more on top of things by the time the Beetroots took to the stage, and were hauling out shattered victims of the packed room by the bucketload with well-practised regularity. The Family has never been so crammed on a Saturday night, so it was remarkable to remember that this was a Thursday. Even if the dancefloor hadn’t been reduced to make way for a floor-level stage in place of the enclosed booth, the building would still have been busting at the seams to contain the masses at this sold out pandemonium.

The Bloody Beetroots ripped the Family a new one, rolling the purest of trance, house, techno and electronica all up in a ball of voracious hardcore. They taught the insatiable gathering of lunatics really what it meant to go insane, how to pound the dancefloor and each other with their bodies and how to disregard all pretense of personal safety and let the music take you to the asylum. The Family isn’t going to witness a night like this for quite a while to come, the building is probably still a bit shaken up about what it had to play host to.

The rhythmical hardcore of the electronica buzzed with the lethal ferocity of Leatherface with a chainsaw and even when a relative breather was bestowed upon the crowd in the form of the Beastie Boys’ Sabotage, it was given a good going over and bent to the will of the Bloody Beetroots. Having said that, come 2AM things had calmed somewhat to a mere deafening roar and some 2-Step goodness was unleashed, the drilling snare cutting through the cloud from the smoke machine like a knife through butter.

As the 2-Step built once again into the driving techno the crowd knew and loved, we were wondering how much more the duo had left to give. We were soon put in no doubt that there was a lot more gas left in the tank. Tommy Tea crawled under the table to get at the flailing hands of the crowd and they turned into a ravenous horde, diving for him, wanting to grab a hold of just some of that insane genius. It was then that they let loose their most recognisable tune Cornelius, and only from the Bloody Beetroots could you catch the combination of atmospheric Gregorian chants with pulsating hard house and a mass of seething revelers screaming “Hey!’ over and over.

The Bloody Beetroots have been described as the product of a grisly union betweenThe Misfits and Daft Punk, so it was no surprise then that the latter were given some exposure in the form of One More Time. Only, where this track is one of the more upbeat and merry moments on Discovery, the Beetroots subverted and corrupted it with a searing intensity that ripped through the crowd and made the sweat pour once more.

They built upon that new found hysteria brought about by the use of Daft Punk by bringing out their relatively recent collaboration with Steve Aoki, the impeccably unyielding track Warp. There had been an initial fear that coming out so strong and pummeling the crowd with such staggering brutality would have led them to climax too early, but when Warp peaked, the crowd peaked, and quite simply blew the lid off the Family. The full capacity of the venue moved as one throng, as one of the best tracks to come out of the year so far tore through everyone equally, whether they were on the floor, on the balconies, or at the bar.

The crowd truly went ballistic and were left in a worn out trance until the Beetroots came out and finished them all off with a comparably mellow encore, giving out another little touch of Cornelius, but before it went back into a proper frenzy, they ended the night with an appropriately hyperactive dissemination of the 50s classic Shout. By 3AM I had to leave Danny T to work his techy breaks magic on the crowd; I was spent, and unlike most of the young’uns here, I had work in the morning.

This night will be remembered by those in attendance as resembling more of a warzone than a dancefloor. The shark pit that was the main floor was at every moment throughout the set, a rampaging multitude of crazed fans that lapped up the refreshingly hardcore beats the boys were masterly and unrelentingly dealing out. This gig had Beetroots, but if it had have been any more brutal, there really would have been blood.

Saturdays @ Family pres. Kid Kenobi & MC Shureshock, Brisbane (20/06/209)

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:01:00 +0000

There are two different types of hangovers; the first is defined by a solid kick to the face by an imaginary demon as soon as one of your eyes blearily cracks open and before it’s even focused on anything, your head has imploded and your brain is seeping out your nose.

The second is more deceptive and begins without any hint of pain at all. You wake up and feel wonderful, you get up and it’s a beautiful Sunday morning, the trees are singing and the birds are swaying. Then, just when you begin to think about cooking a mammoth fry up, something crawls into your head, defecates all over your mind before festering in your stomach for the rest of the day.

I only mention this to excuse myself from my fragmented memory of the night before; and to explain that the intended reviewer for the night bailed on us and left it up to a pisshead to pick up the pieces of what turned out to be a (no doubt) awesome night.

After stamping their authority in Brisbane when they last visited, the powerhouse duo ofKid Kenobi & MC Shureshock were back in the Family for another round of speaker-blowing tunes. The glass booth had been abandoned for the night and a stage was produced up front in the main room. Prior to the main event, Jason Morely was making the new stage his own with a 3 CDJ set up and a turntable being used as nothing more than a shelf for the next few CDs he was lining up, alas. By 11PM the main room was a hive of well turned-out bodies making their mark upon the dancefloor.

The Family always knows how to put on an impressive light show and the massive expanse of bulbs decked out against the back wall added a thoroughly disco feel to proceedings, even if what was stomping through the speakers was greatness of the more techy variety. What drew me away from all the pretty lights fanning out across the main floor, was an alarmingly unexpected display of what I like to call CockArt. An artist by the name of Pricasso had set up a little studio in the members area and was showing off the artistic flair of his own member, painting surprisingly good portraits of those willing to sit and stare at his tool of the trade for half an hour.

As mesmerising as watching a man paint with his penis was, when Kenobi and Shureshock came out, all attention turned to the stage. They came out strong, with Shureshock getting straight into and geeing the crowd up for a night of hard beats and heavy bass declaring that “tonight, this is your family!” Fending off bugged-eyed, teeth-grindingly enthusiastic fans who took to the stage, his performance was professional and did the trick in keeping energy levels in the room on a constant high.

The two have been working together for the past few years and they bounce off each other nicely, with Shureshock’s explosive outbursts timed to perfection but never overpowering the beats being thrown out by Kenobi. Some of his moves left a little to be desired, but nonetheless it was entertaining to see him almost poke some of the frontrowers’ eyes out with a pelvic thrust or two. The set itself (from what my post-hangover head could recollect) started off with the nicely accessible dance to ease people into a night that got harder and faster as it went on. One particular highlight of the night had everyone gleefully signing along to the massive Justice vs. Simian trackWe Are Your Friends.

Kenobi’s mastery of his set up and the tracklist he had fun playing around with meant the night went off with maximum amounts of energy and very little let up. The two make a great team and with their powers combined made for a great night, it would have been so much more memorable if I hadn’t been off the clock and making up for a week’s worth of non-drinking in one night.

The Presets @ The Riverstage, Brisbane 07/06/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:59:00 +0000

You’d have to have been living under a rock (or at least have been overseas) for the past few years not to have noticed how meteoric the rise of The Presets has been. From playing to crowds in the tens a few years ago to selling out stadiums and arenas is no small feat. Sydney duo Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes have not only stamped their inimitable mark on the Australian dance scene, they’ve taken their sound around the rest of the world. On Sunday night, at the very end of their successful campaign across the globe, they were sharing the end of their adventure with Brisbane.

Sadly, due to Riverstage time and noise constraints, no gig ever goes for as long as it should, or is as loud as it could be. Despite this, the crowd were treated to more than ample support from Van She and Architecture in Helsinki. It wasn’t until the epic synth fanfare announced the arrival of the main act that almost the whole hill shook with applause and excitement. The welcoming roars from the crowd changed pitch to screams when the fanfare melded into Talk Like That. Kim on the drums really amplified the bass that shook the ground and kicked the set off with an infectious beat to the third single from Apocalypso. Five minutes in and they had everyone hooked, and following up with Yippiyo-Ay kept the crowd moving. Opening their shows with these two tracks has been a tried and tested formula for getting the best out of the crowd early on, and tonight was no different.

The Presets don’t just seem to have the monopoly on the Australian dance scene, they also seem to have some of the most fanatic fans. When seeking a good vantage point it was at times difficult to move without stepping on a pint-sized reveller, their too-tight jeans flailing in excitement at not having school on Monday. They just seemed to keep coming, threading their way through the static fans as they maniacally wheeled their way down to the stage. At particularly acute high points during the set, the front of the stage was nothing but a sea of power-grabbing, pointing, flapping, maddened jazz hands. Obviously seeing some of the crazed looks in fans’ eyes, even Julian had to comment, “don’t get too nuts down the front.”

As for the rest of us, we were too busy enjoying A New Sky to pay much attention to the unnervingly young specimens running around. To give the finale a fuller effect later, the rhythm was taken down a notch or two with earlier release, Girl and the Sea. It would be wise at this point to give special mention to the lighting, as the projections on-screen and otherwise were timed to perfection, no more so than when Kim got on the xylophone for a beautiful rendition of Aeons. The lights coursing through the on-stage rods that were scattered about, burst out with aurora borealis luminescence and added a depth and beauty to the music that would have been lost without such illumination.

If the seething mass of fans at the front didn’t know what to do with themselves during this relatively down tempo interlude of chilled out electronica, they were back on track when If I Know You kicked off. Are You The One kept the energy levels up, especially with the particularly effective climax to the track’s build up knocking the first couple of rows over with its reverb, while Together had even the older fans (us mid to late twentysomethings) towards the back moving and doing some pretty exhausting head bopping. This Boy’s In Love went out to all the fans who’d seen The Presets at Ric’s five years ago (“all twenty of you”), and as the track made the crowd go crazy (all couple of thousand of them), it was interesting to think what it must have sounded like five years ago. The Presets have such a stadium sound that it is almost impossible to imagine what venue, other than a few thousand capacity arena, they would otherwise be comfortable playing to.

This Boy’s In Love is a perfect example of that sound, with a leading piano, some epic synths and the soaring vocals easily taking in a crowd of thousands and keeping them dancing. The track has now become a finale trio that has been tried and tested at Presets gigs, and so the boys finished with _Kicking and Screaming_ and the ridiculously good My People. The latter is arguably the best track on their acclaimed album Apocalypso; it fits its anthem status very well, as the bass throbs, the industrial electronica pummels the eardrums, and the forthright lyrics carry everyone along on a track that just gets better the bigger the venue.

Then, it was time at the hideously overpriced drinks tent, and the boys were backstage for their obligatory pre-encore disappearance. When they came back out, a nice double header of Anywhere and I Go Hard, I Go Home rounded off the short but very sweet set. This was a well rehearsed set, and one mirrored throughout the land, but it shows that the system works as the crowds had been treated to a typically brilliant Presets show.

It is true they have been relying on a tried and true setlist, and using very much the same set throughout most of their Australian tour could have fatigued some of the die hards going to multiple shows. However two things have to be taken into account, firstly that this was the last night of what has been a very long and undoubtedly exhausting tour, and secondly, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

The Presets obviously have a bright future ahead of them, so it was nice to have had a tour the length and breadth of Australia before they move on to bigger and better things. Now that the tour is wrapped up, the Sydney duo are squirreling themselves away to work on their third studio release, but they deserve a break before they achieve well earned world domination.

Wonderland feat. The Potbelleez @ The Met, Brisbane (22/05/09)

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:58:00 +0000

You couldn’t have turned on a radio two years ago without hearing a certain little song called Don’t Hold Back. It was arguably the biggest dance track of 2007 and helped fill out dancefloors all over Australia. A certain half Irish, half Australian four-piece were bringing the sounds of their self-titled debut album and more to The Met, and they weren’t leaving until they’d rung the sweat out of everybody in the place. Before they had the chance to, however, Pete Smith had the bass pumping and the strobes working overtime as he worked through some nice house tunes. By the stroke of midnight the floor was full to the brim and the numbers never really dropped the whole night. While about half of those were lit up by the glow of their mobile phones, the rest were getting on with the business of dancing.

It’s always fascinating to stop and take stock of just how far music has come over the decades, which makes it interesting to note that it’s usually reworkings of 80s club hits that never fail to get the best reception when they’re thrown into a set, and tonight was no different. Sweet Dreams went down with much enthusiasm and was the highlight of Smith’s set, with the reverberating electronica of the Eurythmics and Annie Lennox’s commanding vocals inspiring hands in the air all round. For those who’d heard it all before in the plethora of sets where reliable 80s classic are given an airing, well, the dancing girls were always a distraction.

When 1am rolled around it was time for Pete Smith to make way for the main attraction.The Potbelleez, or at least half of them, came out to as good a reception as the Met could muster, which, when packed is quite something. DJs Dave Goodie and Johnny Sonic took to the stage and got straight into it, proclaiming “We have one job tonight – and that is to fuck you up.” With an effects-addled intro to Don’t Hold Back kicking off their set, they came out punching and started out on a high, but the night was young and they had plenty more energy to release on the crowd. With a very welcome divergence into the all-to rarely used Nightmare by Brainbug, the beats were rolling throughout the main room, all the way back to the bar.

Pog Ma Thon (or Kiss My Ass for those not fluent in Gaelic insults) went out to all the Irish revellers in the crowd and there must have been a few as ample cheers sprang up around the room, but it wasn’t just the Irish who grooved to the dancey number. There was certainly no lack of enthusiasm during the set on the part of the duo either, but just to make sure they had the crowd on side, there were plenty of shout outs to Brisbane, and no small number of mentions of its superiority to Sydney. Future DJs take note; if you want to win over a Brisbane Met crowd, just tell them they’re better than Sydneysiders and they’re putty in your hands.

Then to build on this vibe and gee up anybody planning on sitting down or going to the bar any time soon, the most leftfield choice of the set was thrown in. Killing In The Name Of had the Met briefly rocking out and screaming along to Rage’s bawling angry epic. It did its job and picked the people right up again, the ballsy guitar riffs ending to shrieks of applause.

Precisely one hour in the remaining band members, vocalists MC Blu and Ilan Kidron, took to the stage looking pepped and ready to see out the rest of the set with as much energy as the crowd had put into the first hour. As if he was playing to a stadium, Kidron took command of the stage to the sounds of Trouble Trouble. The two were leaping about and thoroughly enjoying it, whipping the crowd up into a frenzy while the DJs laid down some heavy bass before settling behind the mics for Everything.

Some of the stragglers towards the back of the crowd had thought about going back to the bar to refuel but when the unmistakable piano riff of Are You With Me started flowing out of the speakers, there were some literally running back to the stage to catch it. This melodic little track wouldn’t be out of place on a Coldplay album; the recurring piano melody combined with the simple but gratifying lyrics have that same formulaic but successful sound that have made the English U2 wannabes what they are today.

Junkyard soon shook off any sentimentality and upped the tempo, getting the room pumping again to the big club beats. Kidron had already showed off some of his guitar skills, and that combined with Blu’s MCing and the DJs ripping up the decks all solidified to form a pretty tight group that compliment each other well and know where to shift the focus to at any one time. It was time then for this to all culminate in their biggest single to date and the biggest moment of the night when The Potbelleez finally let Don’t Hold Back loose on the masses.

Kidron played the signature acoustic guitar and the crowd immediately erupted. The beats seeped into the rhythm until that massive club track of 2007 was in full swing and the crowd were soon jumping and waving as one. It eventually slowed its pace until it was just the guitar again, and so the set finished with the crowd belting out the chorus along with the band until both could do no more. Seemingly going against management, they got on with the encore almost immediately and tore straight into Hold On, one of the technically more sophisticated tracks that has a very welcome hint of breaks. It would have been good to get a fuller exposure of it during the set but alas their time was up and they, along with most of the crowd, flooded out into the night.

Junglettes vs Shifty @ The Empire Moonbar, Brisbane (16/05/09)

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:57:00 +0000

Primetime Saturday night in the Valley, and the Moonbar was playing host to theJunglettes versus Shifty. It was a night featuring all styles to suit all tastes and certainly delivered a varied mix of old school beats and more current face-melting bass.De la Haye and Syntax were first up battling between early hip hop and the relatively recent, so there was a healthy mix of everything from O.P.P. to ODB. Of course no night of hip hop on display would be complete without Paid In Full getting its turn, and if there had have been more than a few people on the floor, it would have undoubtedly got them moving.

Sadly though, it was taking a while for people to be drawn away from the middle bar and make it to the top floor and so far the bass emanating from downstairs was at times more pronounced than what was pumping out Moonbar’s speakers. For the last half an hour or so the pace was changed as the hip hop gave way to a more dubstep feel, and some of the people who’d been loitering around the fringes edged closer and began to breathe a bit of life into the floor.

Chancing upon this, and with de la Haye nowehere to be seen, Syntax gave way to Dr Dom & Phylum who immediately set upon the crowd with a striking DnB assault onRadiohead’s Creep. The heavy bass and the thick beat of the hardcore rhythm somehow married perfectly with the vocals and really lifted the remix beyond your average DnB track. It certainly inspired a few hands in the air, and more were sure to follow.

It was looking like the packed floor would be there for the night, but the numbers seemed to inexplicably fluctuate, with one minute there being a sea of bodies, and then ten minutes later the floor had the look of closing time with a few stragglers drunkenly bopping as best they could to the beat.

Despite of this, or perhaps because of it, the duo determinedly refused to relent the hardcore pace and only did so to introduce another nice DnB reworking of a recognisable track. They turned their hand to the biggest track for Pharoahe MonchSimon Says, and gave it driven and nicely craft DnB edge, with Monch’s lyrics being amplified by the deep bass. The numbers on the dancefloor had fluctuated in the negative when they blasted out the highlight of their set, namely one of the biggest tracks of 1996, Ready Or Not by you-know-who.

Justus kept the momentum going, and like everyone before him, enjoyed periods of a crammed dancefloor to a dearth of souls reluctant to move their feet to the beats on offer. Following on from his predecessors, Justus threaded some soulful hip hop throughout his set that poured a nice mix of DnB and dubstep into the set, with No Diggity a notable highlight of his hour in the spotlight. He soldiered on and put in a solid hour of some great tunes, accompanied by, it should be mentioned, some great visuals by Dilate that distracted from the frustratingly low turnout.

At 2am it was the turn of Cutloose and he was definitely the highlight of the whole night. Breaking out some of the deepest, darkest dubstep he could find, Cutloose planned to use his hour as fully as possible. Going berserk behind the turntables, he showed off a hefty mixed bag of floor-shakingly loud breaks-laden beats to booming funky electro dubstep.

If the whole night had had the kind of energy that the aptly named Cutloose showed, the people who had come to the floor to pack it out the first time, probably wouldn’t have left. It is always a pleasure to see DJs who take great pleasure in what they do, and the fact that Cutloose had the kind of attitude to his set when the room was hardly bouncing means that his professional approach towards his music means that he’ll go far. He already is, with some dates in California and Vegas over the coming months. Before he sets off for the States he has a few more dates lined up in Brisbane so catch him before he becomes too big for his home city.

Tahuna Breaks National Tour @ Stepp Inn, Brisbane (15/05/09)

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:55:00 +0000

Tahuna Breaks have been making waves in New Zealand and emerging as one of the pre-eminent live acts to catch this year. Their Australian commitments mean they’ve been coming back to our shores on a regular basis, which is just as well as they certainly know how to get a party started. The Stepp Inn had already seen a night of some great support with the occasional smattering of live drum and bass, reggae, and ska, so when Tahuna Breaks hit the stage the venue was already packed.

From the outset they had some funky grooves to ease everybody into their set with help from the likes of tracks such as Empower Me (the first single from the new album) reflecting how frontman Marty Greentree feel about fatherhood. A feel-good reggae track with some nice rhythm guitars that flowed into elements of rock, all proficiently carried out by guitarist Tom Charleson, this had heads moving, and feet were sure to follow. Following on from this, Jonny on sax and Tim on trumpets provided some smokin’ horns to the funky number that evidences its roots in blues, with Marty’s gravelled voice thrown in a few Brownesque “WAOW”s along the way.

You don’t often get a sombre sounding reggae tune but Tahuna have achieved a soft and contemplative number with Real Life that, whilst retaining some funky elements, especially from James Winkle’s bass, convey a theme of going through hard times from the heartrending lyrics and longing sax. An upbeat, effects-driven ska number that made the people go from swaying to bouncing promptly followed. The momentum was kept up with debut album title track Reflections, a fast-paced bouncy reggae number that, after an atmospheric and soft bassy intro, really got going with Tim Gemmell’s drums really going for it and Tom’s guitar adding some smooth reverb to his soaring guitar.

Casually Acquainted really let the band cut loose with everyone giving it their all in possibly the funkiest big band track on the album. It could have been an early incarnation of James Brown and The JBs on stage, with Marty really exercising his vocal chords and the band swaying and grooving as one. The biggest single on the record, Voodoo, sounds like a modern reggae classic and gained a big cheer from the crowd. It’s a short, very tight little track with a great rhythm section reminiscent of some of Marley’s best, adding a fresh approach with uplifting drums and accompanying horns. If it wasn’t obvious who influenced this track, the band flowed directly and seamlessly into _Could You Be Loved? With Tom being dead on the money with the instantly recognisable riff and the rest of the band following suit.

After that they owned the crowd and so finished by milking the funk for all it was worth. There was real groove you could get your teeth into, with some juicy fat funk inspiring curious disco moves by some of the crowd on the floor. They’re possibly one of the largest bands to fit on the Stepp Inn stage, but they made a sound much bigger than their seven-strong turnout let on. With Adam Fuhr really letting fly on the keys, and James’s bass in full swing, all of the band were really giving it to the crowd and going out with a bang.

After a brief disappearance they wanted to get straight back into it and were eager to get into their encore, which went off with a screaming funk climax. The band jammed together and were obviously comfortable in each other’s abilities, flowing nicely from all out funk to some more laidback grooves and then back into it again. The Sex Machinewas a fitting homage to the Godfather of Soul and the perfect way to end the night.

Tiki Taane @ The HiFi, Brisbane (07/05/09)

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:54:00 +0000

The debut solo album from ex Salmonella Dub frontman Tiki Taane was released in late 2007, and to celebrate with his Australian fans he played a number of dates this side of the Tasman including Brisbane’s newly opened venue The HiFi. Looking like a stylishly converted corporate cinema, the West End hotspot had friendly door and bar staff, a very clean-cut finish in the main room, and a simple but effective layout that slopped progressively down to the stage, which (height permitting) is easy to see from almost anywhere in the room. All it needs now is to feel somewhat more “lived in” and it will be one of the premium locations in Brisbane to spend your weekly pay packet when the weekend rolls around. If their upcoming rundown of artists they’ve got coming up is anything to go by, it won’t take long for business to be booming.

Touring with Tiki on his Past, Present, Future LP tour were the Dub Soldiers in the form of a select group of Shapeshifter regulars making up the live accompaniment. Two of those members, DJs Sambora and Reno started the night off with a healthy plethora of industrial dubstep rhythms and smoothly paced reggae beats that mixed perfectly with the laidback but eager atmosphere permeating throughout the crowd. Some climactic DnB that simmered with the faintest hints of the Shapeshifter sound had the packed house moving and turned peoples’ attention to the stage almost immediately. It was the perfect warming up they would need for what would turn out to be an exhausting and uplifting performance. Sambora’s set finished with the kind of aplomb and expertise you’d expect from a Shapeshifter co-founder who is a triumvirate of ‘ists’; guitarist, keyboardist, and percussionist.

An excited tension descended on the crowd as they awaited the arrival of the Kiwi dubster, and so it was interesting just how discreetly Tiki made his way to the stage, surprising everyone. But this didn’t mean a less rapturous applause when he began, conch in hand, with the smoothly restructured dudstep prologue of Whakapuaki. The conch produced a beautifully haunting lilt that permeated throughout the room and soared far beyond it. Then, along with his live support, Tiki was joined onstage by his father Uekaha, who spoke the ethereal Māori chant of Whakapuaki and complimented the conch with what looked to be a Kōauau flute. With the combination of the synths and auxiliary percussion, this powerful incantation transported all the ex-pats home, and invited everyone else to sample the beauty of an Aotearoa Awakening.

Then the lights exploded into life and the people followed suit when Now This Is It hit. It was time to build on the atmosphere that had been created, but at a totally different pace, and the Hifi was exposed to some bass-heavy dubbed out hip hop beats. A perfect opening to a live set, this track turns up the energy levels, not to mention the sound levels, so it was satisfying to hear the venue’s sound system more than cope. Another of the Shapeshifter crew, Paora ‘P Digsss’ Apera’s vocal talents were brought to the fore on his and Tiki’s collaborative track Faded. This uplifting funky track is sure to be a dub classic in a few short years, and did its job of inspiring smiles all round. The duo certainly seemed to particularly enjoy performing it, along with the rest of the band.

The dial was then turned up to 11 when Wotcha Got followed on from the upped pace that had been set. Merging an almost jazzy percussion with an industrial DnB backing, fast-paced lyrics and a metal undercurrent, as the opening lines explained, it had a “little bit of this, a little bit of that.” Not only did it have the people at the stage really going for it, but the ripples from the combination of all these styles were spreading all the way back to the bar as the people danced waiting for their drinks and loose change to arrive. The crowd were then treated to a track not on the album that, on the night, was calledClayt Dog. An effects-infused blend of reggae harmonies and chilled out beats, it was a suitable follow-up to Faded and served nicely as a segue to Music Has Saved Me. The good feeling that had been generated from the set so far was built upon when Tiki asked, “who loves guitars?” He certainly does, and his love of balls to the wall heavy metal was plain to see on this amped up version of his most personal track on the LP. Indeed Sam Trevethick, AKA the aforementioned Sambora, looked like he was enjoying himself as he was given free reign to let loose on the guitar and rock out along with the crowd.

From such a heightened peak, the mood was vastly changed and the crowd, aside from the odd holler of appreciation, were reverently hushed to the sound of the eponymousPast, Present, Future. Dedicated to loved ones who have passed, it afforded the crowd a solemn moment of reflection rarely expressed in live music, and when Uekaha reappeared to provide some superbly poignant falsetto vocals, the atmosphere created was positively touching. Easing out of the title track was a toned down but sleek reworking of Saviour Dub that, on the album has its roots very much in the origins of jungle and DnB but here was given a more laidback reggae twist.

No Tiki Live show would be complete without the gathered masses being given possibly the most evocative track on the album, Tangaroa. This tribute to the Māori god of the sea is a terrific track on the album, but is something else to behold in a live setting. Combining a thundering drum, with razor sharp synth effects, this stirring haka epic being bellowed out by P Diggs, Uekaha and Tiki literally shook the freshly made construction dust of the new venue from the ceiling. It is one of those tracks that you can really relish when playing live as the beat is just irresistible not to move to and its fluidity means it can be forever improvised and played with depending on the crowd. The crowd on this particular Thursday night were very much up for it and bounced enthusiastically to the tribal-inspired beats that rumbled and cracked over their heads. The coming together of such primal rhythms and electronically enhanced effects really amplified the vibe in the room and got to the heart of everyone on the floor.

Tiki and the Dub Soldiers left the stage to the applause of all and as an encore, Tiki returned with his most recognisable release Always On My Mind. Showing off a love of the acoustic as well as the electric he closed (or so we thought) the night with the popular love song that you could just as easily hear being sung round a campfire as you could in an arena. Audience participation was actively encouraged, with Tiki getting all the boys to sing the chorus to the girls, and then the girls to respond in kind. With time to spare, a mini impromptu acoustic Salmonella Dub set consisting of Love Your Wayswas instantly recognised and sung along to. The rest of the band got in on the act when Tiki started up Longtime, which this time was the last track of the night. The crowd were reluctant to leave, lingering to savour the waning moments of the positive energy that had filled the room, before going out into the night to finish off the working week.

Empire & Shifty pres. The Nextmen @ The Empire, Brisbane (02/05/2009)

noreply@blogger.com (Marconi Rebus) — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:53:00 +0000

As we entered the Moonbar, Cornershop greeted us with A Brimful of Asha care ofSlynk. It’s a crime that this was the first time I’d caught the local funkster as his set was filled with a confident mixing of funky beats and chilled out grooves. Sadly the number of souls on the floor at the time didn’t reflect the attention this set deserved, but by 11.30pm the floor had filled up a bit as it was becoming difficult to not get your groove on to the skills on display.

Those skills really came to the fore just as Sampology was preparing to take over. The two briefly played back and forth with beats and pieces of their own styles, with Slynk showing that he can scratch it with the best of them. When the Butter Beats golden boy took over proper, he didn’t waste any time in getting the floor bouncing and the room reverberating to Ol’ Faithful soul classic California Soul. The combination of the liquid gold vocals of Marlena Shaw and Sampology’s chilled out but stirring bass had done their job, but it was time to turn it up a little bit.

The driving funky beats came in the form of everything from FAZE-O’s Ya-Ba-Da-Ba-Duzie to some more recent funky breaks of True Skool by Coldcut. One shot from leftfield had this reviewer pleasantly floored with a perfectly paced groovy reworking of I Can’t Go For That. An already skilfully proficient set that showed Sampology’s technical skills in his mixing and scratching was topped off with a nice liquid dnb inclusion of The Specials classic Ghost Town, a possible hint at the kind of set we’d be treated to by the main event?

Starting a little later than billed, the laptops were switched over and the extra two decks were employed to begin what was billed as a four-turntable two-hour extravaganza by the Nextmen. The set began with quick breaks cutting from Head Over Heels overlaid with Michael Jackson vocals to Superstitious, which would have gone down really well if the sound hadn’t suddenly cut out…

...but they were soon back on track moments later when a bass-heavy funky edit ofBittersweet Symphony limply resurrected the set back to life. The Dizee Rascal debutFix Up Look Sharp was a popular, if brief choice, and really stepped up the movers and shakers, but it was all too suddenly cut into by the increasingly overused 99 Problems. Thankfully, due to the nature of the Nextmen set, it didn’t last long and we were quickly on to the most popular inclusion of the night.

They’ve been known to do some tasty remixes of New Zealand dub, most notable among them the great job they did with Shapeshifter’s New Day Come, but I’d never heard Fat Freddy’s Drop sound so good during a set, at least not since they played the Tivoli recently. The Nextmen’s 2-step remixing of Roady got the biggest cheer of the night. All arms were in the air and feet were pounding the floor as this live classic was rejigged to great effect.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes though when Welcome to Jamrock started to impede on the previous excellent blending of liquid dub and garage 2-step (possibly only 99 Problems being more overused in funky breaks sets), but when it was shifted to bring a booming drum n bass to the fore all fears were allayed. There was a noticeable release in the room as everyone really let loose and stomped the floor with delight as the wall-shockingly loud DnB bombarded the crowd with superb beats. In fact, it was only when the set descended (or should that be ascended?) into dnb, was everyone at their most enthusiastic.

Sadly, as was now to be expected, this didn’t last long, and we had shifted genres once again, being subjected to INXS staple Need You Tonight, with an admittedly smooth sounding and perfectly matching bassline from Bob Marley & The Wailersmasterpiece Could you Be Loved. Certainly a replay of Hall & Oates lost its sheen with Sampology having already skilfully included it in his own set. It was beginning to feel like student night at the local dive when Kiss came on and sealed the deal, and by this stage the MC’s often misplaced and all-too frequent chants of “making some fucking noise!” and “oh shit!” were beginning to really grate.

Relief came when he didn’t stick around for the finale, and while some thinly veiled disappointment from the duo due to the fact the crowd didn’t make as much “fucking noise” as required, it was sufficient to warrant a Nextmen encore filled with blaring trumpets and big band funk with a Sexual Healing flavour. The crowd promptly dissipated, and no doubt those seeking a night of recognisable intros to tracks they could sing along to whilst chasing tail, were the happiest of the lot.

Acts that can skip effortlessly from one genre to the next show off great skill and proficiency with their equipment, but rarely the intuition for gauging the mood of the night. Sadly this is how the Nextmen gig can be summed up. They are technically brilliant at what they do, but to deliver about ten seconds of a hip hop classic and make it judder into an 80s poptacular tune makes it difficult to really get into any one song. The Nextmen skipped from hip hop to jungle to 2-step to garage to dnb to indie inspired breaks with the deftness and skill of some of the best, but spreading yourself too thin in the space of what turned out to be just over an hour and a half denotes quantity over quality.

A deaf preschooler could have noticed that when they dropped the drum and bass the crowd went ballistic, but this good work was undone when they continued on in their journey of an extensive genre-spanning track list, and betrayed a lack of precision in catering to the mood. Sometimes it seems that, sadly, international acts that haven’t played in Australia very often feel the need to play to the commercial masses. What needs to be realised is that to work your way through a set of less popular but far superior gems until you hit that sweet spot where the crowd reacts, and reacting in kind, is much more rewarding.