ALBUM REVIEW: Feedtime – Gas
It’s been two decades since their last album but time and musical trends seems inconsequential to Feedtime as they return to grind out another slab of primitive and unrelenting rock. They’ve still got that leaden lurch and queasy slide guitar that shifts and shudders like a displaced iceberg in a drunken sea. Perennial underdogs, they proved immensely influential on a raft of bands, from Jesus … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Feedtime – Gas
LIVE REVIEW: Spoon
Spoon + Mike Noga @ Metro Theatre Sydney, Australia, March 23rd, 2017 Mike Noga has stepped things up and fleshed out his live show with a full band that at times featured a triple guitar approach. The transition from solo performer to band leader mean he’s lost a bit of that Dylan-esque raconteur vibe but one can see where he’s taking it – giving the … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: Spoon
LIVE REVIEW: Belles Will Ring
Belles Will Ring + Le Pie + The Wednesday Night @ Factory Floor, March 17th, 2017 Three shades of psychedelia ruled a wet and windy Sydney night as Belles Will Ring triumphantly returned after a five year absence from the stage. The Wednesday Night recently released their debut LP and through shifting lineup changes have been refining their live show, becoming more nuanced and hypnotic … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: Belles Will Ring
ALBUM REVIEW: Sleaford Mods – English Tapas
The masters of minimal post-punk and street poetry return with their first album for Rough Trade, In the last four years the duo have gone from something of a curiosity to an established act with a cutting line in socio-political commentary and stark, primitive music. English Tapas continues the sound and content of its predecessors. On Divide & Exit (2014), Andrew Fearn concocted a sound … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Sleaford Mods – English Tapas
NEWS: Thurston Moore announces ‘Rock n Roll Consciousness’ LP
Thurston Moore has been teasing his new album in interviews over the last few months and today we get the official announcement of Rock n Roll Conciousness, due for release on April 28th via Caroline Australia. It’s a five track album (track listing below) which features Deb Googe (My Bloody Valentine, Snowpony) bass, James Sedwards (Nøught, Chrome Hoof) guitar and Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth, Crucifucks) drums and was produced by Paul Epworth (Adele, Paul McCartney, Glass Animals) … Continue reading NEWS: Thurston Moore announces ‘Rock n Roll Consciousness’ LP
LIVE REVIEW: PIXIES @ Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, 07.03.17
Returning for their fourth post-reunion Australian tour, Pixies have a new weapon in their arsenal in the form of last year’s album Head Carrier which saw a balanced return to their classic sound with fresh songwriting and a renewed edge. In support, The Murlocs fulfilled their obligations but a 40 minute opening slot of mid-paced bluesy garage-rock fell flat ahead of the headliners dynamic onslaught. … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: PIXIES @ Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, 07.03.17
ALBUM REVIEW: Moon Duo – Occult Architecture Vol. 1
Moon Duo return with the first of two albums they plan to release in 2017, with both volumes rooted in balanced and oppositional ideas and textures. The conceptual approach of the double album is, in their words “an intricately woven hymn to the invisible structures found in the cycle of seasons and the journey of day into night, dark into light.” That Yin Yang format … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Moon Duo – Occult Architecture Vol. 1
ALBUM REVIEW: Jesca Hoop – Memories Are Now
Hot on the heels of her collaborative album with Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam, Jesca Hoop backs it up with a new solo album that dives deeper into her experimental songwriting, drawing on folk, indie and art pop. The songs here are minimal, skeletal even. Simple percussive elements, at one point just the keys of a typewriter, form the basis for hypnotic melodies and lyrical … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Jesca Hoop – Memories Are Now
LIVE REVIEW: Margaret Glaspy
Margaret Glaspy + Slow Dancer @ Newtown Social Club, 6th March 2017 Slow Dancer had the task of warming the crowd and for the most part the Oh Mercy guitarist (Simon Okely) caught and maintained their attention with his brand of solo, soulful indie music. He has a fine line in emotive chords and a guitar sound like garage rock filtered through a slowed, stoned and hazy … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: Margaret Glaspy
LIVE REVIEW: Big Thief
Big Thief + Gabriella Cohen + Body Type @ Newtown Social Club, 1st March 2017 Three shades of emotive indie guitar music were on display this evening with Body Type the most conventional of them. The quartet boast three lead vocalists and a fine line in songs that ranged from swerving slacker rock in the vein of Courtney Barnett, to the dreamier climes of bands like … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: Big Thief
INTERVIEW: Margaret Glaspy
BALANCING INSTINCT AND REASON Margaret Glaspy has had a career-high last 12 months that has seen her go from working long hours to pay New York rent to touring large venues with The Lumineers. She takes Chris Familton through the creation of her debut album and the changes it has brought her. With so much work going into the writing, recording and producing of Emotions … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Margaret Glaspy
NEW MUSIC: Bad//Dreems – Feeling Remains
Bad//Dreems have released the second single from their forthcoming new LP Gutful (out April 21st). Feeling Remains is reliably and solidly straight from the BD songbook. It has those tension-filled verses they do so well, full of tumbling toms and rolling bass, with Alex Cameron’s guitar clipped and urgent downstrokes carving out a stacatto rhythm that contrasts with a Saints/Sex Pistols descending chord progression. It defines their … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Bad//Dreems – Feeling Remains
Doubtful Sounds 