Against The Bemsha Swing

 

Some more raucous post-punk noise from New Zealand comes in the circular form of Against Friends & Lovers, the debut LP by Auckland duo (and drum machine) The Bemsha Swing (the Thelonius Monk reference is...well, unexpected to say the least). These guys have been killing it of late, scoring white hot support slots of the likes of Wire and Holy Fuck, and one listen to the record it isn't hard to see why. Abrasive patterns and beats, frenetic guitar hooks, blood-curdling screams and howls - it's steel wool to the ears, cleansed with a bottle of cheap vodka and a William Faulkner tome. Like a more industrial Die!Die!Die!, Against Friends & Lovers takes no prisoners, and The Bemsha Swing should make waves come 2013.

 

Grab Against Friends & Lovers through Muzai Records here. It's good.

New Dreamscapes & Nightmares Beyond Axxonn's Light

 

It's been a while since we have seen AXXONN AKA Tom Hall in our midst, and a little longer since we have had any new material. He had an amazing debut in noisy melange Let's Get It Straight, and his abrasive electronics called to mind the likes of Fuck Buttons and Growing. Since then he has winged over to LA, and is about to drop followup album Beyond Light, which is much more accessible and almost dance-oriented in his synthesised approach to sonic exploration - an extreme backflip on past endeavours. That said it still isn't easy listening, or club fodder (although 'Oceans Clear' with guest vocals (?) from gets close - plus it's a stellar burn of a track, a clear highlight), yet there is some fun and genuine growth here. It reminds me a little of some of the tracks off Errors' brilliant LP from this year, Have Some Faith In Magic. Hall has been flirting fast and furiously with Hollywood, which we will hear more about very soon. It's still the same guy, but it's evidence on how a change in environment can evoke exciting about-turns in creativity.

 

Beyond Light is out through Sonoptik next week - pre-order the cassette here.

AXXONN - Sequel To Acid
AXXONN - Sky's One Kite

Spider Bags Are Shitheads

The rad droogs at Sophomore Lounge have had some tasty treats out recently – Spider Bags’ Papa Was A Shithead 7” is one of them. Following on from their LP Shake My Head (out through Odessa Records here – I'm yet to hear it, would love to hear some comments), these two tracks are a definitive ball tearer. Led by Chapel Hill songwriter Dan McGee (of DC Snipers fame), Spider Bags have been serving up steaming hot piles of garage country swagger and sleaze for some time now, all sweat stained checked shirts, horned forearm tattoos and whisky showers. The titular A-side is more akin to straight up boozy punk of the spit-soaked persuasion however, (something not too far removed from an Oblivians staple) and is a jagged piece of rock that proves that yes, Papa was indeed a shithead, no doubt. Then we flip to ‘I Wish I Had Never Fed You’, a longer country waster that starts half way to an alcoholic stupor, and finishes with a caterwaul of distortion and disdain.

 

If you aren’t privy to Spider Bags, here’s a good place to start. You can grab it here – be quick cos it’s 300 copies only (on translucent purple vinyl to boot).

Spider Bags – Papa Was A Shithead
Spider Bags – I Wish I Had Never Fed You

Friday Cover Up - Pixie Landladies and Tiny Anchors

Photo © Sasha Arutyunova 2012

 

It’s been a while since we’ve had a Friday Cover Up – so let’s have two!

First up we have Brooklyn six-piece pop explosion Landlady, who have just released the single ‘Above My Ground’. The band was started by 24 year old Adam Schatz, who has played keys and horns with the likes of Sleigh Bells, Those Darlins, Will Sheff and Twin Shadow, but this little experiment is all his own. The vegetable based video for the single is below. But we are here for the B-side as well, which is an amazingly epic version of The Pixies’ ‘Oh My Golly’, which is beautifully original in approach and conception. Every time I listen to it my chest swells – I feel like I'm about to watch a VHS tape of a lost Sergio Leone film. Weird, but true. Great stuff.

 

 

 

 

Now on to one of my favourite local bands, No Anchor. They have done some recordings of late and will be appearing on some splits and singles in the near future (more on that later), but in one final sweep of that apocalyptic cupboard they have collated all the remixes, live tracks and rarities that they like and put it onto a cassette titled The John Dominance Tapes (which you can still grab here). It’s very very good, especially when other artists get involved. Two of the tracks I’ve decided to put here. One is a remix by one of NA’s bassists Donovan Miller of the track ‘Key Cutter’ off their last (and excellent) LP Real Pain Supernova. And one is a live version of 'ACWOWTFE' by another great local act, scrap rock duo Tiny Spiders. Really great takes on aggressive, intense music – one ethereal yet unsettling, the other a slightly lighter shade of darkness from the original. Both are damned ace.

No Anchor – Key Cutter (Donovan Miller remix)
Tiny Spiders – ACWOWTFE (No Anchor cover)

Have a great weekend folks! Be sure to check the site this weekend for some more excellent, left of centre sound – that is right, I’m back on the clock!!

Strange Ex-Pat Forces Listen To The Bloody Birds

 

Berlin-via-Brisbane psych trio Strange Forces have unleashed their psych-drenched LP onto the world. Caustically titled I’d Rather Listen To The Bloody Birds, the album is seven slices of unbridled psych mayhem with more than a little humour tucked into the corners (the album title comes from an interview conducted by famed Aussie philanthropist and bushman Malcolm Douglas, whilst the opening track is named after Daryl Somers, the MC of defunct variety show Hey Hey It’s Saturday, and an occult paperback by Kenneth Grant – make of that what you will). It wavers from indolent to aggressive, an eclectic ride on the black rainbow, vocals kept to a minimum, yet these guys know that the inherent staple of psych rock is the groove. The entire album is a mind melt from start to finish, but one that will have you in metronomic convulsions and a lopsided grin, even as your face goes all Raiders Of The Lost Ark all over your moth-eaten band T-shirt. So yeah – it’s fucking good.

I’d Rather Listen To The Bloody Birds is out now through Strange Forces’ own label Under Fire Is Born – get it here.

Strange Forces – Daryl Somers Presents Beyond The Mauve Zone
Strange Forces – Dino Brain

A Secret Avian Hexagon

Secret Birds, a local noise experiment in mood and temperament, has been consistently ruffling the feathers (sorry) of the global avant garde community for some time now, with prolific output of releases in all forms and a guerrilla style of playing that expands and contracts in membership and sonics depending on the environment and availability of willing participants. At the epicentre is one D. Black, and his excursions into the farther recesses of drone music's consciousness. In Hex was recorded last year when Black was hunkered down in Tokyo, and has more of a loop-oriented focus than much of his other fare, yet still holding onto the spaced out fascination with oscillation within a textured aural wasteland. At once hypnotic and energizing, In Hex is yet another shuffle towards enlightenment by an artist who is unafraid to play with repetition, texture, pace, rhythm and space, always searching for the darker answers in the spaces in between.

In Hex is out now through No Kings. Secret Birds will be playing the Lost Race Festival at Cooparoo Bowls Club in Brisbane on November 17 opposite the likes of Blank Realm, Dreamtime, Cobwebbs and Nite Fields, where he will officially launch this and another release. Get on down.

Secret Birds - In Hexagon

Mapping Tortoises On The Margins

It has been a hectic few weeks on the international band touring front and will continue to be so up til Santa comes to town. Last night was the incredible Grouper (sorry I didn't do the call out on that one, but if you didn't already have tickets to her only show in Australia, more fool you), and tonight is another corker in the form of the incendiary Tortoise. The Chicago instrumental giants are twenty years young, and have been spending 2012 celebrating the fact (alongside the 20th anniversary of Thrill Jockey Records, which wouldn't exist in its current capacity without Tortoise's involvement). They are still at the top of their game, so this is an amazing opportunity to see original, creative music up close and personal. The supports aren't to be sneezed at either, with local SM fave Mr Maps and Melbourne's Margins offering different vocal-less counterpoints.

Tortoise is playing at The Zoo tonight - grab tix here. And if you aren't excited about this show, just listen to the below track. Easily one of the best headphone tracks ever written - scratch that - one of the best songs, period.

1st Birthday of Live Celebrations



(poster by Matt Deasy)

Well here it is, the "Big" announcement. It's actually been floating around the traps and the social medias for a while, but it ain't official before it's launched here. This month marks one year since Sonic Masala started supporting the local bands of Brisbane, putting on DIY shows for friends and bands that I like and want to help out. We have had a single launch, an album launch, and even had a couple interstate and one NZ band join the fray. The future looks incredibly rosy for this arm of Planet Masala, with some bigger shows, niche shows and such planned for 2013, but let's forget about the future and party in the present! As part of local venue The Waiting Room (who are also celebrating its first year putting on amazing shows) we are putting on a three night extravaganza! Its mainly to thank everyone for supporting us over the past year, but also to see bands that we like and who like us. So its a big love in, basically!

THE LINEUP:

Thursday 25 October

Ghost Notes



Anonymeye



Feet Teeth




Friday 26 October

The Rational Academy



Tiny Spiders



Undead Apes



+ DJ Monster Monster

Saturday 27 October

Tiny Migrants



Go Violets



Do The Robot



+ DJs Don Candon & Pete Vegas

Three nights of awesome fun times, Im sure you'll agree! Tickets a $10 on the door, or for $20 you can go to all three nights! And of course its BYO, so you know it will be a cheap and easy night. Tiny Migrants promise to "blow y'all cocks off", so the bar has been set. See you there!

Silver Looped Linings

I'm gonna finish the day on this delectable single from Manchester dreamer Molly Macleod, AKA SILVER. The ethereal guitar drifts and elegantly haunted vocals are a heady mix, and on AA side Behemoth//Rib they are perfectly balanced. There is something raw hidden just under the surface of these experimental guitar looped pop meanderings, which make them all the more attractive and alluring. More please.

Throwing Up All Over You

A quick shout out to those scrappy snots Throwing Up, whose debut record Over You has just hit the streets. The London based trio are all about confrontation amidst their punk-tinged pop nuggets, and 'Snake' is no different. I'm yet to hear the album, but I have championed their wares in the past and reckon this will be a razorblade-in-candy style of delectably horrid delights. Herpes for the ears.

Be Nice To Tachycardie

Now I'm tearing myself out of my cave with noise and bluster with the aid of Be Nice To Music, an ironic album title from French noisenik Tachycardie who does his utmost to abuse and violate your cerebral lobe. Think Ex Models, think Lightning Bolt, think early Liars, think That Fucking Tank! - shit, think of any aggressive noise outlet with propulsive hedonistic drumming and squalling guitars that nevertheless incorporate pop sensibilities into the mix (albeit screwed up almost beyond recognition) and that is Tachycardie's MO. I have had this album sitting around for a while, and I'm might pissed I haven't taken it on board before a couple weeks ago. This is a lot of white heat, mind melting fun.

Be Nice To Music is out through French label Cocktail Pueblo (who nonetheless have an 80s picture of Australia's The Big Banana as their banner - weirdly awesome!). Get it here.

Tachycardie - Futuristic Dancer
Tachycardie - Bicycle Riding

T(t)otal Source Of Yellow/Silver/Black

I don't know what it's like in your end of the world, but here in "sunny" Brisbane it's gloomy, grey and raining. So I thought that I would get all gloomy myself by locking myself away in order to listen to two of Twin Lakes Records' newest releases.

First up is The Said, a three-track EP from Source of Yellow. The Brooklyn-based band borrow heavily from psych touchstones, as is most evident on opening title track and clear standout, but they also play with the genre, focusing on groove and rhythm more than languid noise jams. This combined with their debut release back in 2010 pinpoints Source of Yellow as a band of great import, and The Said is the perfect introduction into their world.

Then there is Ttotals, the Nashville duo whose Silver On Black 7" is more straight up space blues jams a la Black Mountain, White Hills and The Black Angels. These three tracks are a great hazy rumble when combined, and prove that these dudes rule the outer blues. Awesome stuff!

Daring Tigers To Dream Of Coffee

Here's some dreamy, hazy pop to finish off the day, my first back in Planet Masala. This is a band called Tiger Dare. The single 'Coffee' is languid, Galaxie 500/Yo La Tengo fare, the type of jangly whimsy that could soundtrack those micro-seconds when you close your eyes whilst laying on the grass and can see the sunlight through your eyelids. It drifts along without a care, and you won't want it to end. They are currently in the studio preparing their debut EP - I can't wait to hear it.

Pandering To The Kid On The Scary Monster Juice

 

I spoke recently about Irish one-man garage wonderkind No Monster Club (who intimated he had kicked the bucket, but it wasn't the case - see here for more info on that). Well not that long ago he did a split release with Italian punky scrat Panda Kid. Well these crazy dudes released their first LP Scary Monster Juice on cassette not too long ago (out through Already Dead), which is 10 slices of skronky garage punk jams. There is a little bit of Digital Leather in this stuff, with just enough accessibility amongst the clatter and din to excite the senses. They are prepping to travel around the Italian countryside before attacking the rest of Europe, landing in the UK in November and December. Keep an eye out - this is some great stuff. Panda Kid - Junkie Girl Panda Kid - A Long Long Summer

Pollard's Off The Reservation, Out Of The Factory, Back On The Ranch

Guided By Voices have always been prolific, but 2012 has been especially so, what with three records (all of varying levels of good value) and some re-issues. But ringleader Robert Pollard hasn't stopped there, with some Boston Spaceships action and two solo records, the latest of which, Jack Sells The Cow, came out in vinyl form last week. I admire his voracious attitude towards making m

Making music, but it can admittedly be scattershot, and sometimes you just want him to settle down and write consistently. But his inconsistency, his swerves and twists in creative flights of fancy, is his major trump card. So it goes with his solo work. Still there is always gold to be mined, so it’s worth the time and effort combing through these records for that Pollard gem. I tell you, if someone were to make a definitive GBV/Pollard best of compilation, it would be three LPs of the best music you have ever heard. Until then, you will have to do the hard work – and it will reap its rewards.

Most of these releases, including Jack Sells The Cow, can be found through Fire Records - check em all out here.

Robert Pollard - Who's Running My Ranch

Lost Festival In Race To Become A Local Classic

 

Lost Race Records are a new boutique "un-pop" label here in Brisbane that over the past year have put out the Happy New Year/Nite Fields 7" split, the Caterpillar Hood cassette and have the new Cobwebbs, Nite Fields and the long-awaited vinyl re-pressing of Ceiling, the only album from the sadly now defunct Loomer records in the wings. To celebrate they are putting on their own day-long festival at Cooparoo Bowls Club on Saturday November 17. Besides Nite Fields and Cobwebbs launching their albums on the day, Secret Birds will be releasing their In Hex cassette (a review is on its way) and hopefully some vinyl, whilst one of Australia's best young psych bands Dreamtime have their second LP ready too! PART-Y! Along for the ride are a plethora of local and interstate bands. This is going to be goddamned incredible, and being the day before Harvest, will mean a weekend of excellent music the likes of which you aren't ever likely to see! Tix to the show are $15 here, or $20 on the door - talk about a bargain!! See below for a list of bands with links, and a "mixtape". SO GOOD!

Bands playing Lost Race Festival:

Cobwebbs
Nite Fields
Secret Birds
Dreamtime
Blank Realm
Do The Robot
Primitive Motion
Naked Maja
Occults
Pale Earth v Subsea
Day Ravies (Sydney)
Four Door (Sydney - Holy Balm/Naked On The Vague)
Charles Buddy Daabul (Sydney - No Art)
Uplock
Black Vacation
Greg Boring

Faux-mixtape!

Green-Eyed September Girls

It's been three weeks since I've properly put my blogging hat on, and I apologise for the lateness of this particular review as it was written last month, but not posted. Dublin's September Girls know when to bring a single out. Dropping on the month of their moniker, Green Eyed/Danny Wood is  the perfect mix of brooding and bubbly pop. They remind me of another all-girl band called Feathers, with the ability to slide around the 60s girl-led, guitar-driven pop tropes, crafting something that is immediate yet avoids being disposable. The A-side is especially killer. They are a bright commodity with lots of potential - I can't wait for something even more substantial to come into play from them. Until then though, Soft Power Records are putting this beauty out on 7" in a couple weeks - pre-order it here.


September Girls - Green Eyed
September Girls - Danny Wood

A Rational Plea

Sorry about the unexplained absence! I have a few bands wondering where their promised posts are, and a metric fuck tonne of emails and releases stuffing up my inbox, external hard drive, desk, record player and CD player (my pimped out Ford Laser be stylin). And whilst this isn't a fully formed comeback - that will be in a couple of days, with heaps more Aussie content and some truly amazing stuff - I wanted to turn everyone's attention to great Brissie band The Rational Academy. They are raising monies so that they can put out their next LP Winter Haunts on Kickstarter acolyte site Pozible. The incentives are awesome, including guitars, pedals, T-shirts, secret shows - possibly a jar of Ben Thompson's sweat! They are also a sweet bunch of peeps, and would really appreciate the support. So head over here - there is only 6 days left and they are shy of $600 - to see how you can help or if you just want to give back to the bands that give so much to you.
And here is Yellow Pony that they will have on Winter Haunts - it's great. Check out all of their stuff here - there is so much! And they are involved in our next Sonic Masala show - more about that in the next couple of days!

Pop In Some Strange Way

I had the pleasure of seeing Transistors play the Kiwi bash party pre-BigSound Live last night, and despite the short running time (15min or so) they killed it. If you managed to get tickets for tonight, they are playing at Ric's Cafe alongside Super Wild Horses and The Gooch Palms, and promise to be incredible. But this post isn't about Transistors, but another ace NZ band called Popstrangers, whose Happy Accidents EP back in 2010 I quite enjoyed (see here). It's been close to two years since I have heard anything new from these Auckland lads, but that doesn't mean they have been sitting idle. They have an album on its way that should smash up the beginnings of 2013 (as long as the Mayans don't blow up the world before then). Expect to hear a lot more in the lead up to this.

Popstrangers - In Some Ways

Art Is Hard...And Free

It's been quiet here again, and there are many reasons but I wont go into it. Suffice to say I have shit tonnes of excellent gear coming your way very very soon. Like this!

Art Is Hard Records is turning 2, and to celebrate - they're giving away their entire back catalogue (12 releases and close to 100 songs) for free download! They have gone rug warehouse crazy! They aren't eccentric left wing billionaires however so it only lasts til midnight tonight (Tuesday 18th September). Head to their Bandcamp to grab it all! I have posted about most of it, and I've lost track of all the Bi-Weekly Singles they have put out but know they are ace, so get in there!

They also have a reworked logo (see above) and a new shirt out (see below).


And here is one of my favourite AIH-discovered bands with one of my favourite songs of theirs...

Throwing Up - Wasting Time

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIH!