One of our favourites of the last year, Courtney Barnett, has released the video for her excellent Avant Gardener single. The track comes from her LP The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas due out October 15th. Continue reading VIDEO: Courtney Barnett | Avant Gardener
Wellington, NZ band The Golden Awesome are heading to Melbourne for a handful of shows in October after they support Beach Fossils in their hometown later this month. If you’re a fan of dense, layered hypnotic rock music then you’ll want to get along and check them out. They continue the same psych lineage of bands like MBV, Lush, Ride and JAMC while also tipping … Continue reading TOUR NEWS: The Golden Awesome announce Melbourne shows
It’s good to see Uncle Al Jourgensen ageing disgracefully in the clip for PermaWar, the first single from what is purportedly the final album under the Ministry name. As usual Jourgensen has made a play on words calling the album From Beer To Eternity. The song itself ticks all the industrial metal boxes and it chugs along with just the right balance of menace and … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Ministry | PermaWar
The big single released this week was Reflektor, the title track to the new Arcade Fire double LP due out on October 29th and it sees the band stretching out into a more rhythm based realm. James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem) is all over the track with its indie disco vibe and its nod to bands like Talking Heads. I’ve got to say the first time I … Continue reading EIGHT DAYS A WEEK: September 13th, 2013
This week I got to listen to a preview stream and review the new LP Dream River by the always reliable Bill Callahan. The review will be in The Music next week (and online) so I won’t give too much away other than to say it is a wonderful album, a very, very good record and a stylistic change for him in some ways yet … Continue reading EIGHT DAYS A WEEK: September 6th, 2013
Sydney’s Greta Mob are picking up some great gigs at the moment (Beasts of Bourbon) and building some buzz around their music which is built on a visceral mix of Australian swamp rock and dirty post punk blues. We recently caught up with drummer Luke Millar who plugged in the memory card for Sonic Kicks and took a look at some of the albums that … Continue reading SONIC KICKS: Greta Mob
by Chris Familton The years roll by but New Zealand seems to have the consistent knack for throwing up bands that continue the lineage that was formed in the early 80s while still carving out a niche for themselves in the overcrowded world of left-of-centre guitar rock. Popstrangers have already released a stellar record this year and now Ghost Wave have turned potential into an … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Ghost Wave | Ages
by Chris Familton Over the space of a few years Julia Holter has quickly established herself as a composer, songwriter and singer with a special talent for creating sonically exquisite music. Hers is a musical style that channels classical, jazz, folk, electronica and the avant-garde and Loud City Song stands as her most fascinating and fully realised album to date. There is a feeling akin … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Julia Holter | Loud City Song
by Chris Familton Recorded at Terminal 5 in New York in July 2011, Live In NYC marked the release of Jane’s Addiction’s most recent studio album The Great Escape Artist. As with most live albums you are left with a ‘you had to be there’ feeling but as far as aural representations of live shows go this is a dynamic, visceral and sonically engaging recording. … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Jane’s Addiction | Live In NYC
For many In Utero is their favourite Nirvana LP where the band carved out their most unique collection of songs and felt like they were developing into something truly special outside the hype and platitudes of press and mass appeal. Indeed their reaction to that and everything else that was happening in Cobain’s world ran deeply through the record. Universal Music Enterprises will commemorate the … Continue reading NEWS: Universal announce ‘In Utero’ 20th Anniversary Reissue
by Chris Familton Fat Freddy’s Drop don’t rush things with this only their third full length album in 14 years (excluding a pair of live albums). That steady approach is also one of the defining aspects of their sound and their propensity for slowly evolving electronic, soul, dub and funk workouts that equally nurture listener’s limbs and ears. Blackbird is without doubt their most cohesive … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Fat Freddy’s Drop | Blackbird
by Chris Familton Finally the debut solo album from Sydney’s mercurial Kirin J Callinan sees the light of day. As a member of Mercy Arms and subsequent sonic game changer for Jack Ladder he has become a familiar figure on the local music scene. After the disconcerting music clips that preceded it this felt it was going to be a special album and indeed the … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Kirin J Callinan | Embracism
Doubtful Sounds 