by Chris Familton Welcome to the inaugural Eight Days A Week column where every Friday morning I’ll round up what caught my ears and eyes over the week, what is coming up in the near future in terms of gigs, new releases, news etc. plus any other goings on in my music dominated life. This week much of the internet chatter surrounded the flatulence of … Continue reading EIGHT DAYS A WEEK: August 30th, 2013
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 Mix small town pessimism, youthful optimism, suburban nihilism and a lo-fi aesthetic and you have some of the ingredients that make the essential sound of Bad//Dreems on their superb Badlands EP. The Adelaide natives have been teasing/threatening us for a while now with a string of singles (Chills, Tomorrow Mountain and Caroline) and now those songs plus another trio of equally terrific … Continue reading REVIEW: Bad//Dreems | Badlands EP
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
by Chris Familton This was a night where two bands rooted in guitar music came together from quite different directions. Wavves drew the notably larger crowd on the back of their notoriety and accesibile punk pop while Unknown Mortal Orchestra drew from the well of classic psych rock and soul music. One band caressed and cajoled their melodies while the other shouted and bashed out … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: Wavves, Unknown Mortal Orchestra @ The Standard, Sydney (25/07/13)
by Chris Familton On his debut album Daughn Gibson painted a fascinating world soundtracked by Americana, electronica and gothic balladry. The artwork for that album was subdued black and white and fittingly, in line with the music within, the cover of Me Moan is a darker themed explosion of pink and purple sexual and religious imagery. Gibson has taken the basic musical premise of All … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Daughn Gibson | Me Moan
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 Eleanor Friedberger has followed up her 2011 debut album relatively quickly and for that we should be thankful as it continues where that record left off with razor sharp observations of life and love in her typically infectious and deceivingly poetic manner. The four year hiatus of The Fiery Furnaces has been a golden period for Friedberger, allowing her to spread her … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Eleanor Friedberger | Personal Record
By Chris Familton Just over a decade after their defining and most successful album Songs For Deaf, Josh Homme and gang return with their sixth studio record in the highly anticipated …Like Clockwork. Since that 2002 peak the band have increasingly explored darker, more eclectic musical territory and while much of it was brave, genre defying and often fascinating there was always the nagging question … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Queens of the Stone Age | …Like Clockwork
by Chris Familton Choosing a name for the collection of songs that you’ve spent hours, days or often years sweating into existence can be a stressful and difficult exercise. There are countless tales of bands leaving it to the last minute with no inkling of what to christen their creative work. There are also many albums where the musician has a theme, concept and a … Continue reading What Should We Call It? (Naming an Album)
by Chris Familton Melbourne quintet Beaches produce an excellent debut album five years ago that reinforced the continued relevance of creative guitar music. Thankfully the group have again convened to collectively pen a new batch of free-ranging, sonically psych-imbued songs that highlight their ability to compose songs rich in melody across an expansive musical terrain. In some ways Beaches are an instrumental band. Sure they have … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Beaches | She Beats
Doubtful Sounds 