ALBUM REVIEW: M. Craft – Blood Moon

Martin Craft has created a holistic and moving third album. Born from time spent on the edge of the Mojave desert, these piano-based meditations on time, space and nature feel both intimate and expansive with hushed, dreamy vocals that blossom into much larger orchestrated sections. There are all manner of ambient environmental sounds in the mix, lurking below the surface of the recordings and adding … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: M. Craft – Blood Moon

NEW MUSIC: Ghost Wave – All U Do Is Kill

  New Zealand psych pop explorers Ghost Wave have a new LP called Radio Norfolk ready for release on July 9th via Flying Nun Records. It follows their excellent 2013 album Ages and going on this first single, All U Do Is Kill they’ve headed further out into the sonic wilderness. Pre-order Radio Norfolk Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Ghost Wave – All U Do Is Kill

NEW MUSIC: M. Craft – Chemical Trails (Video)

M. Craft has a new album out called Blood Moon (Spunk Records) and it’s a mesmerising, and moving collection of songs created on the fringe of the Mojave Desert. We’ll have our review of the album up shortly but here’s the new clip to the song Chemical Trails… “Chemical Trails emerge from the desert haze with rich melodies, choruses and verses like Mercury Rev in a sad and beautiful … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: M. Craft – Chemical Trails (Video)

TOUR NEWS: The Sonics Return To Australia

Seminal garage rock band The Sonics return to Australia this September. Last time they were here they ripped it up at the Dig It Up! festival, showing the young punks how it is done. In 2015 band released their first studio album in nearly 50 years with This Is The Sonics. Led by saxophonist Rob Lind and featuring one time Kingsmen bassist Freddie Dennis and drummer … Continue reading TOUR NEWS: The Sonics Return To Australia

NEW MUSIC: Witch Hats – Deliverance

Melbourne band Witch Hats are back with their third album Deliverance. It’s a damn good encapsulation of the evolution they’ve shown across their records to date. Plenty of dark lurching rock ‘n’ roll with howling dirges and claustrophobic angst. The bass on Deliverance is deep and heavy, anchoring the songs as they stagger off into Stooges proto-punk, and nihilistic post-punk. The key is the melodies that … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Witch Hats – Deliverance

ALBUM REVIEW: Steve Gunn – Eyes On The Lines

At the forefront of the loose scene of guitar adventurists that include Cian Nugent, Ryley Walker and Chris Forsyth, Steve Gunn is another who has figured out how to expand his sound to a full band and incorporate his lazy psych-rock vocals. The touchstones of Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine (Television) are obvious in the sparkling, spiralling guitar phrasings while on tracks such as Nature … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Steve Gunn – Eyes On The Lines

ALBUM REVIEW: Dexys – Let The Record Show: Dexys Do Irish And Country Soul

Kevin Rowland has been bandying around the idea of an album of Irish songs for 30 years. Now he’s finally done it, in the process expanding out the remit to include non-Irish songs such as To Love Somebody (Bee Gees) and You Wear It Well (Rod Stewart) among others. They’ve applied a sparse and clean soul treatment to the songs, reinterpreting tracks made famous by … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Dexys – Let The Record Show: Dexys Do Irish And Country Soul

NEW MUSIC: The Avalanches – Frankie Sinatra

It took 16 years for them to follow-up their groundbreaking sampledelic debut LP Since I Left You but finally Sydney’s The Avalanches (Robbie Chater, Tony Di Blasi and James Dela Cruz) have released their first song and video from their forthcoming album Wildflower. Frankie Sinatra is built on a sample of Wilmots Houdini’s Bobby Sox Idol and features Danny Brown and Madlib with some tripped … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: The Avalanches – Frankie Sinatra

INTERVIEW: Mikelangelo & The Black Sea Gentlemen

A SHOCKWAVE OF MODERN MULTICULTURALISM With a brand new album based on the Snowy Hydro-Electric Scheme, Mikelangelo talks with Chris Familton about the genesis and process of the project and how it relates to contemporary Australia. Many musicians might be loathe to admit to making concept albums but basing your album around one of the largest engineering projects of the 20th century must surely make … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Mikelangelo & The Black Sea Gentlemen

NEW MUSIC: Arbor Labor Union – Volume Peaks

Taken from their new LP I Hear You, out on Sub Pop, here’s Arbor Labor Union‘s clip for the single Volume Peaks. Tough, gritty, rolling guitar dirges that dig in and stretch out. They’re a mangled mess of post punk, post rock, indie rock and freewheeling’ jam band psych grooves. Dig it. Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Arbor Labor Union – Volume Peaks