Iggy and the Stooges return with their first new music since The Weirdness (2007) and the passing of guitarist Ron Asheton. The Stooges have had James Williamson back on guitar duties for a few years now and his slashing chords are all over Burn, the first track to be released from their new LP Ready To Die which is due out April 30th. Burn already sounds … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Iggy and the Stooges | Burn
Sydney songwriter Bryan Estepa has been releasing music for a decade now and on Heart vs Mind he has consolidated those years of songwriting, performing and developing his craft to produce a superb album that excels in effortless, meticulous and timeless songwriting. The predominant feature of the record is how versatile Estepa is as a musical magpie. He dips into all manner of stylistic pools, whether it be the … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Bryan Estepa – Heart vs Mind (2013)
by Chris Familton Psychedelic music in its many forms has experienced a healthy renaissance in recent years. Sure it has never gone away but for a long time it was relegated back to the underground, the place where it first emerged. Now we have everything from wigged-out psych rock at the heavy end of the spectrum down to lightly tarnished psych folk, not too far … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Foxygen | We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic
Sydney band Bearhug have a new EP Over Easy on the horizon and they’ve set free the first song from it – Fireworks. It jangles, shimmies, chops and swings with a sweet haze and towards the end they drop a late night groove to bring it all home. I’ve only caught the band live once when they supported Lawrence Arabia but they impressed. Keep a … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Bearhug | Fireworks
by Chris Familton In a rare use of the Sydney Town Hall for rock n roll, Sydney Festival honoured both the original and seminal 1972 Nuggets 60s garage rock compilation and its recent Australian tribute Antipodean Interpolations of the First Psychedelic Era. The night was a chance for six of those bands to play short sets that gave a snapshot of their own Nuggets-spirited sound. … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: Nuggets: Antipodean Interpolations @ Paradiso at Town Hall (25/01/13)
Spencer P. Jones has a knack of surrounding himself with superb collaborators whether it be in The Beasts of Bourbon, The Johnnys, or with the likes of Paul Kelly, Chris Bailey and Kim Salmon. Now he has teamed up with James Baker (The Scientists/Hoodoo Gurus) and Gareth Liddiard and Fiona Kitschin from The Drones and recorded a fantastic collection of visceral rock songs as The … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Spencer P. Jones & The Nothing Butts
by Chris Familton Take a musical icon who has made a career out of balancing art and popular music, combine him with a quirky indie songstress and you have a fascinating meeting of age, gender and artistic creativity. David Byrne & St Vincent released their album Love This Giant last year and received much praise for their translation of the songs from record to stage, … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: David Byrne & St. Vincent @ State Theatre, Sydney (18/01/13)
Melbourne musician Suzie Stapleton has only just come onto our radar but it only took 30 seconds of the first song we heard to get drawn into her dark and moody sound that equally draws on gothic blues and swamp rock, mixing it all up in a contemporary rock miasma. The thing that anchors it all is her jaw dropping voice with its rich and … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Suzie Stapleton | Obladi Diablo
by Chris Familton Lenny Kaye compiled the seminal garage/punk-rock collection Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 forty years ago and to mark the anniversary two new compilations have been released to celebrate the equivalent Australian scenes in the late 60s and in 2012. Nuggets: Antipodean Interpolations of the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968 is the closest you’ll come to a snapshot of the … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Nuggets – The Original, Antipodean Interpolations and Down Under…
by Chris Familton These are prolific times for Neil Young, even more so than usual with the release of two Crazy Horse albums, a memoir, continued work on next volume of Archives and the development of a new high-end digital music format. Add in touring to promote all of the above and it is something of a landmark year for the 67 year old. Psychedelic … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Neil Young & Crazy Horse | Psychedelic Pill
by Chris Familton After an eight year recording hiatus The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion have returned with an album that finds them in fighting form and returning to some of the touchstones that made them such an exciting and visceral rock n roll band in the 90s. Meat + Bone recaptures some of that stripped down blues and funk that the band built their name … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion | Meat + Bone
We look at six songs that stand out as important moments in modern music, changing the playing field and inspiring legions of other musicians… JEFF BUCKLEY – GRACE (1994) With alternative music (as it was known at the time) in the grip of grunge and hard rock it took a sensitive young man with an angelic voice, good looks and a mesmerizing guitar style to … Continue reading FEATURE: Signposts in Modern Music
Doubtful Sounds 