Die! Die! Die! grace/destroy the stage at the Gaelic this friday night as the headliners of this week’s Purple Sneakers Presents: Last Night shindig. The band has been touring non-stop since the release of their last album Form and are set to head straight to the USA after Sydney shows this week. Catch them if at all possible as they are an insanely great live … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Before Last Night | Die! Die! Die!
written by Chris Familton For diehard fans it must have been a pant-wetting moment when they heard that Stone Temple Pilots had added a 2nd Sydney show to their tour – at the 1100 capacity Metro Theatre. The excitement would have also been heightened by the surprising fact that this was the band’s first Australian tour. You would have thought they’d have been a sure … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: Stone Temple Pilots @ Metro Theatre, Sydney (21/03/11)
written by Chris Familton With recent tours from The Bats and The Verlaines, the prominence of 80s NZ bands has never been higher but the act many have been waiting for is of course The Clean – that seminal Velvets/krautrock/psych trio that pretty much kickstarted the NZ scene in the late 70s. San Francisco’s Sonny & The Sunsets opened proceedings with a fun and artful … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: The Clean @ Factory Theatre, Sydney (09/03/11)
written by Chris Familton Through consistency and a single-minded vision for his music Jamie Hutchings has slowly built an impressive body of solo work post Bluebottle Kiss. Avalon Cassettes is another stellar collection of pure and poetic Australiana songs that confirms Hutchings’ stature as a songwriter of the same quality and ilk as the likes of Dirty Three, Gareth Liddiard and Nick Cave. Over the … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Jamie Hutchings | Avalon Cassettes
written by Chris Familton Touring on the back of two albums that came out in the 90s can pigeonhole a band as a nostalgia or heritage act and many attend to relive that part of their youth when they connected with the music. Leftfield are one of the ‘Big Four’ of UK 90s electronica alongside Chemical Bros, The Orb and Underworld yet they are probably … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: Leftfield @ Enmore Theatre, Sydney (17/03/11)
The BBC have been doing a brilliant job over recent years with their Britannia series focusing on a different genre of music that has impacted culturally on Britain. Reggae Britannia is essential viewing for anyone into the ska, reggae and dub sounds of Jamaica, the Two Tone scene of 70s/80s UK and the ragga and lovers rock trends that followed. The same BBC Four series … Continue reading VIDEO: Reggae Britannia
The 2nd annual Taite Music Prize nominations were announced earlier this month. The Prize was established to champion the finest release by a New Zealand artist or group, specifically focusing on the artistic merit and creative excellence of one album released in the previous calendar year. The award acknowledges creativity and musicianship regardless of sales figures or genre. The eight New Zealand albums in the running … Continue reading NEWS: New Zealand’s Taite Music Prize nominations…
written by Chris Familton Ahead of the release of their new album ‘Belong’ we revisit the interview I did with frontman Kip Berman late 2009… The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart are a band that don’t hide from their influences. From the angst ridden moniker to their jangly 80s indie pop songs they appear as a band from another time. This of course is … Continue reading INTERVIEW: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
PJ Harvey has been gradually releasing a separate video for each of the tracks from her recent and brilliant Let England Shake. The latest is The Colour Of The Earth featuring an a capella intro by the band. The videos have all been directed by Seamus Murphy. Head over to LetEnglandShake to see the rest of the films… Continue reading VIDEO: Watch the latest film from PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake
On June 6th Depeche Mode will release their 2nd collection of remixes spanning their entire career. Remixes 2: 81-11 also marks the return (kind of, not really) to the band of orginal member Vince Clarke and long time member Alan Wilder. Both contribute remixes and have had increased contact with DM with Clarke working on a dance record with Martin Gore and Alan accompanying Gore onstage … Continue reading NEWS: Depeche Mode release new remix album…
Everyone’s been getting worked up about the release of a new Burial 12″ ahead of a full length set to drop later in the year. I’ve already ordered my vinyl copy and I’d recommend getting in quick over at Boomkat or Bleep as this one is guaranteed to sell out. In fact most sites seem to have sold out their presales already! The brilliant blog … Continue reading NEWS: Hear the new Burial tracks…
25th March…Purple Sneakers Presents… Last Night… Cuthbert… Metals & Owl Eyes… sounding pretty good huh? We sat down (virtually) with the ex Nightwalker and subjected him to our Before Last Night interrogation. He comes across as a pretty fascinating and engaging guy and someone who can rock a good full-body beard – here’s what he had to say… INTERVIEW: Do any of you have any … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Before Last Night | Cuthbert
Doubtful Sounds 