Sounds of Oz – Page 692 – Australian music news and reviews

Posted on 12/03/201013/03/2010 by Lauren Katulka

Would You Raise Your Hands for the Rogue Traders?

“Would You Raise Your Hands?”, the new single from the new look Rogue Traders hit radio this morning. The glam-inspired electro tune is the second track the band has released with new lead singer Mindi Jackson.

I must admit, I wasn’t sure how the Rogue Traders would replace Natalie Bassingthwaighte. But after watching the band perform on breakfast TV recently I’ve changed my tune. Mindi put her own stamp on the band’s back catalogue, performing with plenty of energy and flair. She’s more than simply a great performer though, as she co-wrote many of the tracks on the band’s upcoming release Night of the Living Drums. The album will hit record stores this June.

To celebrate the new single the Rogue Trader’s will play a very special one-off launch show at Star City’s Lyric Theatre on April 10. You can expect to get a sneak peek of the album, plus hear all your old favourites. Tickets are available for the all-ages show through Ticketmaster now.

Image used with permission from Sony Music Australia

Posted on 11/03/2010 by Lauren Katulka

Down the Way – Angus & Julia Stone

One of the best things about writing this blog is the music I have access to. Angus & Julia Stone’s sophomore effort Down the Way hits stores tomorrow, but I’ve already had a week or so to let this beautiful music wash over me.

Beautiful is the word that I keep coming back to with this album. It truly is a thing of beauty, whether the tracks are delicate and unadorned or lush tapestries of sound. Down the Way has both kinds of songs and they help to support one another, taking us on a journey that’s been two years in the making.

It’s an easy journey, relaxed and comforting. The songs are gentle but passionate, obviously crafted with love. They sneak up on you too, easing underneath your skin with every listen. There are no obvious singles, although the gorgeous “And The Boys” has been selected as the album’s first. That’s a strength though; rather than an album mixed with show ponies and fillers we have a record that’s a truly cohesive body of work. That’s surprising considering songs were recorded everywhere from Cornwall to Coolangatta, but it’s a credit to the band.

“For You” is my favourite song at the moment, although with an album like this that’s always subject to change. Right now though, the understated piano and deeply emotive lyrics are striking a chord. “Black Crow” feels like it could have been written thirty years earlier, with Angus’ easy folk voice and its mellow grooves. “Draw Your Swords” is an epic number, and I can’t imagine a more perfect conclusion than the gorgeous “The Devil’s Tears.”

Down The Way is the ideal soundtrack for lazy Sundays and quiet nights in. It will hit Australian record stores tomorrow ahead of the UK and European release on March 15 and the North American release on March 30.

Posted on 11/03/2010 by Lauren Katulka

DJ El Devine Joins Bacardi Express Off the Rails Tour

DJ El Devine will join Art vs Science on the upcoming Bacardi Express Off the Rails sideshow tour. El Devine, aka Elliot Devine, was handpicked from hundreds of entries received through inthemix.com.au.

“I’d like to throw a massive thank you to everyone who took the time to vote for me in the Bacardi Express competition,” said El Devine. “It’s a great opportunity and I promise I’ll make the most out of it. I can’t wait to warm-up the crowds for Art vs Science, and expect that the shows in Perth, Adelaide and Albury will be completely off the hook.”

El Devine went the extra mile with shameless promotions and this clever campaign video, leaving the other 20 finalists in his wake. The Bacardi Express Off the Rails show will hit the following venues with great music and exclusive Bacardi mojitos. Listen out to Nova in Perth and Adelaide and Star FM in Albury to win your way into the shows!

11 March 2010 – Paddington Ale House, Perth
12 March – Live, Adelaide
13 March – Paddy’s, Albury

Image source: inthemix.com.au

Posted on 10/03/201020/05/2016 by Lauren Katulka

Discover The Delta Riggs

You may not have heard of The Delta Riggs yet, but you need to. With their frills free, back to basics approach to music, they’re like a breath of fresh air on the contemporary landscape.

The Blue Mountains based rockers are about release their debut EP, simply titled The Delta Riggs EP, and a companion 7 inch single “Soul Train.” Oh how refreshing to find an act releasing a 7 inch! To save dusting off your record player though, you can actually get “Soul Train” for free in modern MP3 format by right-clicking this link.

Trust me, you want to click this link. The intro reminded me of The Spencer Davis Group, the vocals are like Gavin Degraw with stacks more grit, but no comparisons really do these guys justice. You just need to hear them! And if you like what you hear, you need to see them live. Catch The Delta Riggs at the following shows.

11 March 2010 – Old Manly Boat Shed, Sydney
13 March 2010 – Oxford Arts Factory, Sydney
14 March 2010 – Secret Garden Festival, Camden
20 March 2010 – Oxford Tavern, Wollongong
1 April 2010 – Hotel Gearin, Blue Mountains (Residency)
3 April 2010 – Park Hotel, Bathurst
15 April 2010 – Hotel Gearin, Blue Mountains (Residency)
16 April 2010 – World Bar, Sydney
22 April 2010 – Hotel Gearin, Blue Mountains (Residency)
29 April 2010 – Hotel Gearin, Blue Mountains (Residency)

Both The Delta Riggs EP and “Soul Train” 7” vinyl will be released on March 26. The EP will be available through iTunes and independent record stores, with the vinyl is available through the Delta Riggs website. Both EP and vinyl will be sold at the shows too, which is even more incentive to catch the gigs!

Image used with permission from Andy Kent & Associates

Posted on 09/03/2010 by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with The Cassette Kids

The Cassette Kids are a band on the brink of greatest. They’ve just come back from some massive shows in the UK, and they’re on the bill for this month’s South by Southwest festival in the United States. Before they pack their suitcases for more jetsetting, lead singer Katrina Noorbergen and drummer Jacob Read-Harber to chat about their busy touring schedule and soon-to-be-released debut album.

You’re generating some major buzz in the US and UK and your debut album hasn’t even been released yet. How does that feel?
K: It’s amazing actually. I know this is a bit sad that I Google my own band name, but I get Google Alerts because I just want to see what’s happening in the blog world. And to see people blogging about the remixes and the film clip and the song and the fact that we’re doing South by Southwest, it’s such a good feeling. Our sights are really set. We’d love to go overseas and do tours overseas and major touring.

You’ve just completed a run of dates in the United Kingdom. How did the crowds there respond to your music?
K: Really, really well. We had no preconceptions about what it would be like. It was sort of a preliminary reach out for anyone that had heard of us, any sort of industry people, to try to create a bit of a buzz. And we ended up playing three shows to basically packed out rooms, especially the last night at The Barfly which is a really well known and established venue. We’ve got an agent now over there, and we were really, really stoked with the response. And we weren’t expecting it by any means.

Your new music video for “Spin” was picked up the American music site Pitchfork. How did that come about?
K: I’m not really sure. I think we had someone in the US, we got someone to try and create a bit of a buzz for us before South by Southwest. And the girl rang our A&R here at Sony and said “Pitchfork want to premiere the clip.” And we had like a Skype thing – we were in London at the time – and we had a Skype thing, and I was just jumping around the hotel on the couches and stuff. And everyone else was asleep. Apparently we’re the fourth Australian band ever to have their film clip premiere on Pitchfork. It was Wolfmother, Crowded House, and INXS I think.

Oh wow. That’s pretty good company!
K: Yeah, yeah. It was pretty big. A major deal for us.

“Spin” comes from your debut album Nothing on TV. What can you tell me about the record?
J: I think the record, it’s fairly eclectic as far as different styles of song go. “Spin” is definitely on the dancier, poppier end of the scale. That kind of stems from our love of dancing and just going out and having fun, and we just kind of wanted for people to have that track to grab on to.

K: It’s a big, festival party song.

J: Yeah, yeah. So that was the intention with “Spin.” The album altogether, we try to showcase a fairly big variety. We’ve got some pretty dark stuff on there as well. It’s not all kind of poppy and commercial. Hopefully we’ll appeal to a wider audience.

Continue reading “Q & A with The Cassette Kids” →

Posted on 08/03/201008/03/2010 by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Katie Noonan

Katie Noonan first came to our attention as the frontwoman of Brisbane band George. Now she’s captaining a new ship, stepping out as lead vocalist of The Captains. I had the pleasure of chatting with Katie recently about her new project, balancing motherhood and music, and her hopes for the planet.

You’re about to release your new album with The Captains, Emperor’s Box, which I believe is the album you’re most proud of. What do you love about it?
It’s basically a return to that organic band sound that I think I’m most in love with. I love collaborating and I’ve finally found the right collaborators to share my music with.

When I listened to it what struck me most is the beautiful lush instrumentation. What have The Captains been like to work with?
Well I guess you can hear how wonderful they are as musicians and the craftsmanship they’ve brought to my songs and to our sound. We really just wanted to work on making an organic band sound that sounded cohesive and sounded like people that really enjoyed making music together.

The lyrics are also so gorgeous. After recording the covers album Blackbird, what did it feel like to get back into writing original songs?
Well I never left it, because I’m always writing. And I was writing the songs for this record all through the making of that record as well, because my main motivation is always writing my own music and trying to find my own sound, as a singer and a keyboardist, and a co-producer on this record.

So some of these songs are really old, and some of them are really new. Some were freshly inspired by being with The Captains and writing with them. Some of them evolved really slowly, some of them are 11 or 12 years old and they finally found the right home with The Captains, and some are really new written specifically for this band. It’s a real mixed bag.

The Blackbird thing was a real sidestep for me. It was a jazz record, and as you say I wasn’t singing my own songs, so that’s kind of a real sidestep for me from my main trajectory as an artist. But it was just such an incredible opportunity to work with these amazing musicians, and I couldn’t possibly pass it up. It was just amazing to work with them.

You worked on the tracks for the new album with some amazing people as well, including Tim Finn, Sia, and Don Walker. Who else is on your wish list for collaborating?
It’s not like I had a wish list. It was just circumstance and fate that led to those meetings and those pairings. I mean, Tim has been on my wish list to co-write with for a while. It took a few years to get that one together. Basically I’ve always been a big fan, but when I heard his record Imaginary Kingdom I was blown away. It’s such a hot record. So that was kind of the main wish list person that I had.

And then of course to work with Don Walker was such an honor, because he’s such an incredible songwriter. And then the others, Josh [Pyke] and Sia, are more contemporaries of mine, and we just kind of found each other through a series of circumstances and enjoyed the collaborating process.
Continue reading “Q & A with Katie Noonan” →

Posted on 08/03/201008/03/2010 by Lauren Katulka

MGMT Plays The Metro and More on Aussie Congratulations Promo Tour

MGMT promise to be very busy on their upcoming tour. The New Yorkers will perform six pop-up concerts in secret locations around the country.

Once fans register at this website they’ll receive clues about the band’s surprise concert locations. The first ten people who arrive at the venue will be part of a special MGMT event.

If that all sounds a bit like pot luck, don’t worry. The band will also perform one very special show at Sydney’s Metro Theatre on April 6. The band will play old favourites and new cuts from their sophomore effort Congratulations, which hits stores on April 9.

This show is bound to be popular, so fans will only be able to buy two tickets each to give everyone a chance. They’ll be on sale from 9 am on Thursday March 11, but don’t delay. I’m expecting this one to sell out in no time.

Image source: DaigoOliva @ Flickr

Posted on 07/03/2010 by Lauren Katulka

The Dynamites Bring Funked Up Soul to Bluesfest and Sideshows

One of the things I love most about festivals season is the chance to discover bands that might ordinarily pass us by. One such example is The Dynamites, a hot 10-piece soul outfit from Nashville preparing to play Byron Bay’s Bluesfest and a couple of sideshows.

With a healthy dose of James Brown and a dash of Motown and Memphis sounds, this great big band featuring industry veteran Charles Walker is set to wow us. They’re here in support of their first local release Burn It Down, which will hit stores on April 2.

While that album manages to catch some of the band’s energy, seeing them live with the horns blazing and rhythm section throbbing takes things to a whole new level.

“You can only do so much on a record,” explained Charles Walker. “The performance is a lot different. I can’t stand doing songs exactly the same. I have to stretch out a little bit. That’s part of my thing.”

You can catch the band at the following shows and see what the fuss is all about!

1 April 2010 – The Esplanade Hotel, Melbourne
2 April 2010 –Bluesfest, Byron Bay
3 April 2010 – Step Inn, Brisbane
5 April 2010 – Bluesfest, Byron Bay

Image used with permission from Heapsaflash

Posted on 07/03/201008/03/2010 by Lauren Katulka

Local Talent Comes to Perth

Perth will be treated to a couple of fabulous shows by some great new Aussie talent in the coming months.

Perth’s favourite swing king Earl Cole will perform another tribute to the sounds of yesteryear on March 19. The show at Mt Lawley Bowls Club features a great selection of standards and support by DJ Moogy. With Earl generally performing dinner and show nights, this is a great opportunity to catch his show for less. Tickets are $55 from Heatseeker.com.au.

Next month Australian Idol season one semi-finalist Chelsea Gibson will bust out the hits of Moulin Rouge with a dinner and show night at French restaurant Bouchon Bistro on April 28. In keeping with the French theme, Chelsea will also perform tracks from Parisian songbird, Edith Piaf. Tickets cost $110 for the show and a three-course meal. You can book your table by calling (08) 9387 3898.

And finally, classical crossover artist and Australia’s Got Talent finalist Grace Bawden will bring her show to Mosman’s Restaurant on May 6. Grace will perform songs from her debut album Gifts of Grace and much more. The night costs $120 for the show, a three-course meal, and sparkling wine on arrival. You can make a booking for that night by calling (08) 9383 3388.

Image source: LunaMirt @ Wikimedia Commons