2024 WORLD TOUR #6 AUSTRALIA JAN|JUN 2024 - PLAYLISTS
2024 WORLD TOUR #6 AUSTRALIA JAN|JUN 2024 - ALBUMS
Love Changes Everything
THE DIRTY THREE
Released 28 June 2024
Anchor & Hope
*****
To describe them is indescribable, but at a stretch, I’d call them post-punk-jazz. Music made with subtlety, freedom and empathy, that rides on waves, that narrates without the need for lyrics. There is a vibe…
Love Changes Everything comes 30 years after the trio's - violinist & pianist Warren Ellis, drummer Jim White and guitarist Mick Turner - self-titled (official) debut, though they weren’t harbouring hangovers this time around and they took more than a day and a half to create it, 5 in fact plus a year to mix it in Melbourne with Nick Huggins who had worked with the band previously.
All the compositions carry the album’s title, except the following numeral I-Vi, and as one would expect not a word is uttered.
So of course the question is how does Love Changes Everything sound… It sounds free, free for the three members of The Dirty Three to create without boundaries. There is a freshness that 12 years apart brings, Love Changes Everything harks back to discovering the band for the first time. That maniacal response to being able to listen to Jazz, but Jazz played by punk rockers and rastas has returned.
Read more ... 13th Floor NZ
Love Heart Cheat Code
HIATUS KAIYOTE
Released 28 June 2024
Brainfeeder
*****
For its high number of pleasurable components and intricacies, Stevie Wonder-worthy changes in key and tempo, and philosophical goodwill, "Make Friends" is the band's new creative apex. Palm's morphing into a one-woman Wonderlove seals it at the end.
Early into it, Love Heart Cheat Code seems to have the makings of the first concept album by Australia's premier hardcore avant-soul/jazz/funk/hip-hop band.
(The album-opening) "Dreamboat" enables dynamic-as-ever singer/guitarist Nai Palm and the preternatural rhythm section of Perrin Moss, Paul Bender, and Simon Mavin to travel the spaceways.
It leads to "Telescope," a glimmering groove of interstellar wonderment where everything apart from an interpolation of the Temptations' "My Girl" seems otherworldly. The following "Make Friends," however, departs from any perceptible sci-fi narrative with Palm praising a he, a she, and a they for being down-to-earth companions.
"Everything's Beautiful" is one of several songs that both references the sun and incorporates flute and harp, and on the lysergic Dilla-fied funk of "Dimitri," though that could be set in the Land of Oz.
Surprises and oddities flourish - "Cinnamon Temple," is a spasmodic eruption of technical life metal and "Longcat" pays swirling tribute to the Japanese feline whose figure became an Internet meme.
The band finishes off the album with a raucous remake of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" that shoves the acid rock classic in front of a fun house mirror. Increased chaos and whimsy only heighten Hiatus Kaiyote's ability to enchant and exhilarate.
Read more ... AllMusic
New Moon | Silver Moon
THE ORBWEAVERS
Released 28 June 2024
Mistletone
****-
...an illuminating album. As always, Dyson and Stuart invite us to listen ever more closely to the land and hear its unfolding history.
New Moon, Silver Moon is the fourth album (first in seven years) from The Orbweavers - Marita Dyson and Stuart Flanagan, with Paddy Mann (bass), Jen Sholakis (drums), Biddy Connor (viola), and Laura Hertaeg (trumpet).
It's a response to the many-layered histories of two places: Naarm / Melbourne, and Broken Hill on Wilyakali Country, and surrounding Barkindji Country. Songs explore waterways, ecosystems and the impact of industry, all infused with personal notes from the present. 'Silver Saltbush' is one of many examples, blending scenes of daily life in Broken Hill with reflections on the region's flora and mining past.
The Orbweavers are careful observers, finding connections between seemingly separate elements. They write about geological links between north and west Melbourne, and the shared birdlife of local creeks and the Menindee Lakes. Field recordings are added to their lush folk arrangements, evoking specific locations in the music.
The Orbweavers are patient too. Speaking with Kate Kingsmill on The Distant Sky, Dyson said: "Sometimes there can be a long distance between coming up with an idea and wanting to make something out of it, and then ending up with something you can share, like a recording or a gig or even a story."
Read more ... 3RRR
Love & Fire
THE BLACK SEEDS
Released 17 June 2022
The Black Seeds
****-
Love & Fire is a skillfully woven album of soul, dub, roots, reggae, funk, Afrobeat and other elements brought together by well-honed musicianship and production.
Love & Fire began with jams and demos at The Surgery in Wellington, NZ, back in mid-2018, resulting in a “huge collection of ideas and song demos that were to be refined over the next two years to become Love & Fire,” says Barnaby Weir.
Originally planned as a classic ‘band-in-a-room’ recording, like many other creative projects, the album took an unexpected turn with the arrival of COVID to New Zealand. Lockdowns saw studio sessions cancelled and bandmates unable to gather – resulting in a lot of zoom-based creativity. Weir and keyboardist Nigel Patterson’s studios became the hubs for pulling everything together into a cohesive body of work.
Read more ... Easystar
Alibai
EMMA VOLARD
Released 14 June 2024
The Operatives Records
*****
Alibi sees Emma stepping confidently into their own sonic world, expanding further on their introspective storytelling and pushing the limits of the future soul sound.
Emma Volard is one of Narrm’s | Melbourne's most enigmatic and staunchly authentic acts. Her music is entrenched in lavish harmonies, broken-beats and gut-wrenching lyricism, and has garnered attention from national and international tastemakers alike.
After the avalanche success of their debut album ‘Deity’ in 2022, future soul artist Emma Volard's sophomore album ‘Alibi.’ represents years spent honing a signature sound that encapsulates Naarm | Melbourne’s experimental neo-soul and jazz scene.
Emma has never shied away from being a warrior for inclusivity, and these themes are often at the forefront of their storytelling. This has placed them as a leader within the Naarm music community, and turned the heads of industry heavyweights such as Gilles Peterson, Jamz Supernova, Thundercat, Cory Henry and Zan Rowe.
Read more ... Bandcamp
CARE/TAKING
JESS CORNELIUS
Released 14 June 2024
Tender Loving Empire Records
****-
On her new album CARE/TAKING, Jess Cornelius offers a poignant record of upheaval and transformation, charting her journey from New Zealand to Melbourne and now Los Angeles.
Collaborating with LA based musician Mikal Cronin, the album navigates themes of motherhood, loss, and self-discovery.
Lead single 'People Move On' shows the album's introspective nature, blending jangly guitars and an insistent bass line with lyrics on life's changes. Opener 'Tui Is A Bird (The Work)' sets the tone with vintage '70s sounds and an expansive rock groove. 'Back to the Mainland' is a cinematic ballad, with a balance of strength and vulnerability that's shown across the record.
Work on these songs started years ago as Cornelius sketched ideas on her Yamaha Portasound keyboard. “There was a lot of change happening in my life,” she says. “I was coming out of a relationship with the father of my child. It was a turbulent time being from New Zealand, living in L.A., and realizing that this family unit wasn't sustainable.”
While that dissolution was a heartbreaking shift in her life, Cornelius felt grateful for the stability she did have: her support system, the home she felt settled in, and her craft. CARE/TAKING reflects all this, serving as a poetic document of resilience in the face of change.
Read more ... RRR
Warrangu; River Story
DOBBY
Released 14 June 2024
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
****-
The album is filled with powerful orchestral sounds and energetic beats, while his voice – together with those of fellow knowledge holders – shares the plight of important NSW rivers.
DOBBY - drummer, rapper, composer, producer - proudly identifies as a Filipino and Aboriginal musician, whose family is from Murrawarri and Ngemba lands (Weilmoringle, Brewarrina NSW).
This moving and immersive story-telling album is an urgent call to take action and care for country. The stories follow three rivers that form cultural boundaries in Brewarrina NSW: the Bogan River to the South, the Culgoa River to the North, and the Barwon River to the East. Water theft on a grand scale has been occurring in the region for years. In particular, over-irrigation and redirection of the waterways known as the Murray Darling Basin for the profit of almonds and cotton have caused horrific and irreversible damage to our ecosystem. In addition, last year up to a million fish died in Menindee NSW, rendering it the biggest fish kill in history, due to the high levels of Blue Green algae in the rivers.
It is evident that the waters in our rivers have been mismanaged on a catastrophic level, and DOBBY's explorations provide the soundtrack for community grown demonstration against the commodification and privatisation of a water source that is depended upon by over three million people.
Songs like Water and Language Is In The Land speak directly to the devastating impact on the Murray Darling Basin as a result of illegal mass irrigation, while events like this create a platform and opportunity to educate and protest corporate greed.
“My grandmother Mary Clapham Nee Shearer was born and raised in Brewarrina. Her father, George Shearer, was born under the birthing tree on Murrawarri land on the Culgoa at Corella Station. WARRANGU; River Story is a journey back home to my family’s history, a connection to Culture” – DOBBY.
Read more ... DOBBY
Don't Forget To Have Fun
DON GLORI
Released 7 June 2024
Deep Matter Records
****-
The musical companion to the 2023 book of the same name - the ultimate illustrated commemoration of iconic Australian musicians Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter in songs, stories, photographs and tributes.
A product of the not-so-underground, genre-bending melting pot that is Naarm (Melbourne, Australia). producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Don Glori's (AKA Gordon Li's) new album ‘Don’t Forget To Have Fun’ follows his much-heralded 2022 LP ‘Welcome’,
On the album’s title, Don explains: ‘The name Don't Forget To Have Fun is a nice reminder to myself about the journey of the album. How you can change the narrative by keeping a positive attitude, trusting the process and continually experimenting.’ A true work of art, traversing jazz, funk, soul, RnB, samba and beyond, this record is hard to describe, but even harder to forget.
Read more ... Bandcamp
Dubs From The Neighbourhood
CHRISTOPH EL TRUENTO
Released 3 June 2024
Christoph El Truento
****-
From Aotearoa (New Zealand), Christopher Martin James alias Christoph El' Truento has now blossomed into one of the best producers in Aotearoa. No matter what genre – his extraordinary style encompasses many – El' Truento proves again and again that it is second nature to him, as he wanders unerringly through the genres and makes them his own as if he were sleepwalking.
With his new album “Christoph El'Truento: Dubs From The Neighbourhood“ (Haymaker Records) he continues where he left off in 2019 with the Aotearoa Dub-Classic “Peace Maker Dub“ and pays tribute to the inventors of the Dub through his unique South Pacific lens. The highly anticipated new album takes us on a musical journey inspired by road trips through small towns, sunshine, deserted beaches and deep green primeval landscapes. Listeners can expect a sound that has matured in complexity. What you hear is the sonic reflection of an artist who has become a little older, more mature and wiser. While the idyllic landscape on the cover is typically associated with carefree joy, the album adds details and textures that point to the inevitable downside of grief and loss that befall us on the journeys and impasses of life.
Read more ... Dubblog
Songs From The Kitchen Table
ARCHIE ROACH, RUBY HUNTER
Released 31 May 2024
Archie Roach Foundation
****-
The musical companion to the 2023 book of the same name - the ultimate illustrated commemoration of iconic Australian musicians Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter in songs, stories, photographs and tributes.
Archie Roach AO, a Gunditjmara and Bundjalung man, was born in Victoria in 1956. Taken at the age of two from parents he never saw again, he was placed into foster care. He started writing songs after meeting his soulmate Ruby Hunter when they were both homeless teenagers. His heartbreaking signature song, ‘Took the Children Away’, from his 1990 ARIA award-winning debut album Charcoal Lane, has become an anthem for the Stolen Generations. The song was the first to win an Australian Human Rights Award and the album was featured in US Rolling Stone magazine’s Top 50 in 1992, won two ARIA awards and went gold in Australia. Archie’s recording history includes twelve albums, soundtracks, film and theatrical scores and his books include the award-winning memoir Tell Me Why, accompanied by a companion album, and the picture book Took the Children Away, illustrated by Ruby Hunter.
Ruby Hunter (1955-2010) was a proud Ngarrindjeri, Kukatha, Pitjantjatjara woman from South Australia. She forged a remarkable music career, releasing three highly acclaimed albums, while raising a family with her lifelong partner and soulmate, Archie Roach. Through her songwriting Ruby tirelessly championed the rights of Aboriginal women and children out of a deep desire for positive change and equal opportunity. Like Archie, Ruby was forcibly removed from her family when only a small child. Ruby expressed their shared story through her evocative drawings for Took the Children Away, their last collaborative project.
Read more ... Google Books
Sinking Cities
TRAFAEL KARLEN,
THE AUSTRALIAN VOICES AND CAMERATA,
QUEENSLAND'S CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Released 31 May 2024
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
****-
How do you articulate the heartbreak of erasing 12,000 years of history and the drowning the homes of tens of thousands of people?
This album takes us to the Turkish town of Hasankeyf: once one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, home of empires and civilisations, now deep underwater as part of a project to dam the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
Composer Rafael Karlen and lyricist Pearly Black chose to focus on questioning what is gained, what is lost and how we choose what to preserve and remember. This thought-provoking and profoundly moving work is performed by two of Australia’s finest contemporary music ensembles: the instrumentalists of Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra and the brilliant singers of The Australian Voices, with the plaintive saxophone of Rafael Karlen weaving its spell in and around the orchestra and choir.
Read more ... ABC
Trails (EP)
ROBBIE BELCHAMBER
Released 31 May 2024
Dune Castle Records
****-
"Trails" captures ... the bubbling rhythms of water, melodic inventions of currawongs and magpies, pervasive scents of the bush, all changing with the seasons.
Robbie Belchamber is a guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and composer based in Naarm (Melbourne).
Drawing upon elements of jazz, brazilian, west african and folk music, the seven compositions that comprise "Trails" are centered around the soft timbre of fingerstyle nylon-string guitar, with subtle arrangements incorporating voice, flute, percussion, mandolin, accordion and electric guitar filling out the texture.
Speaking on the record, Robbie said “During lockdown I spent a lot of time exploring Melbourne's northern waterways, riding my bike along the Birrarung, Darebin creek and Merri creek. These opportunities to slow down, reflect, observe and spend time in nature formed the genesis of many of the compositions.
"Trails" is Robbie's first studio record, and features contributions from Melbourne musicians - percussionist Lucky Pereira (Glass Beams, 30/70), vocalists Hannah McKittrick, Aidan Ryan (NoLess) and Grace Robinson (Empress), accordionist Moses Carr, and flautist Erica Tuccerri.
Read more ... Bandcamp
Gravity Stairs
Crowded House
Released 31 May 2024
Lester Records / BMG
****-
Appearing a mere three years after "Dreamers Are Waiting", the 2021 album that debuted the third iteration of Crowded House, Gravity Stairs finds the veteran pop group settling into their new skin.
In most regards, Gravity Stairs isn't far removed from its predecessor. Like "Dreamers Are Waiting", this 2024 record moves slowly, not so much marching at a deliberate pace as drifting along with a wayward breeze. The difference here is, Crowded House choose to linger, dwelling upon different moods and melodies instead of letting the moments slip away. Individual tracks may be distinguished by subtle flair -- vocal harmonies, a spike of fuzztone or tremulous treble guitars, a wash of analog synths -- but the accents are never so pronounced that they distract from the overall sense of comforting reverie.
Enough of Gravity Stairs contains a distinct pulse to keep it from sleepiness -- "Oh Hi" bears a polished punch reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac circa Mirage, "I Can't Keep Up with You" fittingly breaks out into a spirited trot, "Teenage Summer (aka Life's Imitation)" conjures the slightest hint of adolescent romance in its crystalline hooks -- yet the overall record carries a distinct dreaminess. To Crowded House's credit, Gravity Stairs may feel cozy, but it never feels lazy. Some of that surely lies in how the band chooses to camouflage its strong melodic core with fluid, shifting surfaces -- a decision that winds up emphasizing sound over song while also directing focus to the familial chemistry of the band. Neil Finn still functions as the center of gravity in Crowded House but the addition of his sons Liam and Elroy, as well as his long-term collaborator Mitchell Froom -- they all join the other constant in the group, bassist Nick Seymour -- transforms the band into an empathetic collective who gain strength from their communal warmth. They're now built for comfort, not speed, a shift that can pay great dividends as Gravity Stairs illustrates.
Read more ... AllMusic
Dawn Is Melody
FINN REES
Released 31 May 2024
Mr Bongo
****-
“An effective snapshot of the talent and versatility of the young Melbourne jazz scene, and positions Rees as a bandleader, composer and musician whose profile, like that Tasmanian sun, is guaranteed to rise." - Jazzwise
Expert keys player for 30/70 and Elle Shimada, one-half of Close Counters and an exemplary jazz artist in his own, Finn Rees has fast become one of Melbourne's finest talents.
In Finn’s own words: “My intention with Dawn Is A Melody was to create a world; a microcosm of colour. Something rich and beautiful that allowed the melodies and compositions to reach their full potential. It was driven by hope, curiosity and the search for beauty and reassurance in this ever-changing world. The emotion behind the music is really about the journey of life, growing up and changing, as well as my relationship with Tasmania’s natural landscapes where I grew up, a part of the world that is incredibly unique and beautiful.”
Plotting a course from Alice Coltrane, through Herbie Hancock, to Arthur Verocai, this is a debut nourished by the past but firmly made in the present. A record unable to be age-stamped, casting ambiguity as to when, what era and by whom it has been crafted. Like a vintage lens capturing a current scene, Dawn Is A Melody is warm and familiar yet focused on the here now.
Read more ... Bandcamp
Senseless Acts Of Beauty
ROWENA WISE
Released 24 May 2024
Beloved Recordings
****-
“Life is confusing. Sometimes we wanna eat the rich, sometimes we wanna be the rich, sometimes we wanna make-out with someone cute, sometimes we wanna slow-dance around the room like our grandparents did, sometimes we wanna be good, and sometimes we just wanna be bad.”
Rowena Wise is a Naarm/Melbourne based artist hailing from the Western Australian surf town of Margaret River.
She is a songwriter, inspired by poetry and storytelling. She believes truth lies in fiction. With a voice that can caress you in one breath and carve you apart in the next, she has been praised for her sharp storytelling and raw performances, earning the moniker 'lyrical assassin' from the Australian triple j community.
An artist whose ruminations on love, alienation, and self-empowerment are fast catching attention, her music has been described by CLASH as “carefully etched indie folk”.
Rowena Wise’s musical journey began at a young age. Together with her mother (a folk musician from Chicago) and father (a luthier who builds the custom guitars she plays today), they performed as a family band throughout her youth, playing folk festivals all over. Now, grown up and living on the opposite coast in Melbourne, Rowena is on the precipice of something exciting of her own.
Inspired by the strong storytelling sensibilities of 60s folk icons and making a sound that sits her snugly alongside the likes of Aldous Harding, Julia Jacklin, and Waxahatchee, Rowena found her spark during a down moment while traveling at the end of a relationship.
Read more ... Bandcamp
Don't Thank Me, Spank Me!
DON'T THANK ME, SPANK ME!
Released 24 May 2024
Don't Thank Me, Spank Me!
****-
“Life is confusing. Sometimes we wanna eat the rich, sometimes we wanna be the rich, sometimes we wanna make-out with someone cute, sometimes we wanna slow-dance around the room like our grandparents did, sometimes we wanna be good, and sometimes we just wanna be bad.”
Don’t Thank Me, Spank Me! are a genius combination of sublime songwriting, good hair and matching Fender Mustangs - Aussie Fran Fines on dexies, sipping cheap chardonnay and wielding loud guitars. The soon-to-be cult Melbourne outfit is made up of best friends Nitida Atkinson (vocals and guitar) and Esther Henderson (vocals and bass).
Their self-titled debut album packs a punch. “This album is basically a love affair between our greatest musical influences. We love girl bands from the 70s like the Runaways and the Slits for their attitude and badass-ery and girl power. We love the crass 80s pop/rock aesthetic. We love 90s RnB. We loved Britney Spears with all our hearts! And of course we couldn’t make an album without our parents’ taste in music creeping in - you can hear some real ELO moments and Cate Ceberano themes going on.”
The album’s themes speak to the duo’s experience as women moving through the world.
Read more ... Bandcamp
Koi Kingdom
KOI KINGDOM
Released 17 May 2024
Earshift Music
****-
Koi Kingdom's latest album is not just a collection of songs but a narrative that unfolds over six chapters, each marked by its own mood and atmosphere.
Koi Kingdom is the project of Melbourne musicians Cheryl Durongpisitkul (alto saxophone and voice), Stephen Hornby (double bass and voice), and Marcos Villalta (guitar, voice)
Renowned for their boundary-defying compositions and instrumental virtuosity, Koi Kingdom’s third and most ambitious, (self-titled) album is a tale of transformation and resilience that delves into themes of friendship, loss, grief, rebirth, and joy, showcasing the special musical connection and shared creative vision that the trio have nurtured over years of collaboration.
Founded in 2016, the trio has evolved into a powerful force in the Melbourne scene, celebrated for their original compositions and mutual respect for each other's craft. Over the past two years, the band has dedicated themselves to weekly composition and rehearsal sessions, culminating in a narrative-driven album that transcends their previous work. The project was conceived and composed collectively, a process that tested and strengthened their communication and friendship, resulting in a work that interweaves a conceptual story into a cohesive musical journey.
Accompanying the record is a short graphic novel illustrated by Marcos Villalta, which visually narrates the album's story, adding another layer to their multifaceted project.
Read more ... Earshift Music
The Loop
JORDAN RAKEI
Released 10 May 2024
Decca
****-
London-based, Australian-raised singer Jordan Rakei has spent the past decade or so steadily growing, both in popularity and quality. That growth continues in 2024, as his fifth album The Loop sees him in better touch than ever.
Rakei's voice has always been a treasure, and he sounds both at his most relaxed and most confident here. The deep digging he started on 2021's What We Call Life continues here, as the artist navigates both his own emotions and the world around him.
His often-introspective explorations help lend a sense of intimacy to the record, ensuring its stunning sound, which is far more opulent than anything from Rakei's past, doesn't dull the emotional impact of these songs.
The Loop is packed with dusty beats, sleek orchestral swells, and deft yet unimposing guitar lines. Its production owes a fair bit to 70s funk, but much like how golden age hip hop gave new life to old records, Rakei's voice makes a classic artform feel current and vital.
"I wanted to get back to why I fell in love with music in the first place," he explained in a statement.
"I found myself listening to my favourite artists again and I wanted to make an ambitious record that was centred around my vocal. I had a no-judgement approach when it came to production and songwriting choices."
That means a fairly broad remit when it comes to the music, but Rakei's voice ensures every one of its grand sounding tracks works in symbiosis.
It's not entirely fair to say this is Rakei at his most ambitious – there are four other albums that prove he's an artist that has always looked to push into interesting new musical spaces – but it's his most accomplished work to date.
Read more ... DoubleJ
Eye To Eye
DAVID VERSACE
Released 3 May 2024
La Sape
****-
Eye To Eye is composed by eight meticulously built tracks and invites us towards an introspective journey, delving into the complexities of human experience through captivating melodies and David's masterful rhythmic storytelling.
From Brisbane | Meanjin, Australian multi-instrumentalist David Versace unveils his sophomore album, Eye To Eye, on La Sape Records. Following up on the mesmerizing Okra (La Sape Records, 2022), this new records explores with more detail the serene soundscapes that were present in its predecessor, maintaining influences of jazz and latin music textures.
Versace leads with his signature groove-oriented rhythm section but creates ample space for exploration.
Eye To Eye is composed by eight meticulously built tracks and invites us towards an introspective journey, delving into the complexities of human experience through captivating melodies and David's masterful rhythmic storytelling.
Read more ... o sotao
Hold Your Horses
KARATE BOOGALOO
Released 3 May 2024
Colemine Records
****-
This is ancient-to-future music, rooted as much in psychedelic blues, funk and rock as in the trancey, propulsive rhythms of northern Africa's Maghreb: Gnawa, Amazigh, Hassani and Houara music.
Sitting at the heart of Melbourne’s burgeoning instrumental soul movement, Karate Boogaloo (Henry Jenkins, Hudson Whitlock, Callum Riley, and Darvid Thor) have been playing music together since their playground days. Meeting as high school preteens, these four friends explored the teachings of the great small combo instrumental bands à la Booker T & The MG’s and The Meters.
Their latest album, Hold Your Horses, is their first album of all originals since "Carn The Boogers" and follows 2021 release "KB's Mixtape No. 3"
What’s particularly interesting about the Boogers album is that it was recorded back in 2017, then set aside until College of Knowledge Records convinced Karate Boogaloo to release it in 2020. So there has really been seven years between albums, and Hold Your Horses showcases the group’s progression.
Recorded and mixed by bassist Henry Jenkins, the album spotlights a new maturity in Karate Boogaloo’s distinct interpretation of instrumental funk and is a fantastic listen from beginning to end.
The band’s style is rooted in instrumental funk, drawing influences from the deep funk of the late ’60s and early ’70s, European film music, and the new wave of instrumental soul. Their sound is characterized by a restrained instrumental approach consisting of drums, guitar, bass, and organ, creating a consistent and distinct tone throughout the album.
Read more ... Bandcamp, The Blurb
From The Fire
AUDREY POWNE
Released 26 April 2024
BBE Music
*****
Audrey Powne's stunning debut album is set to be one of those must have LPs in any music lover's collection. Something of an auteur release it features nine tracks all composed by Audrey, with all string arrangements and all produced by her.
UK-based Naarm/Melbourne artist, producer and multi-instrumentalist Audrey Powne is a creative force carving out a distinctive path in the future jazz and soul world.
Having honed her craft in the vibrant Melbourne music scene Powne can now be found performing in some of the most visionary musical circles globally.
Audrey's decision to produce the whole album herself came from a desire to take creative control of her music and apply techniques developed from the influences of the producers she had previously worked with.
If all of the above were not enough Audrey also wrote the lyrics for those tracks on which she sings, and as a multi-instrumentalist contributes piano, Rhodes and organ. She also features as a trumpeter with dextrous and soaring solos,
Read more ... Bandcamp
Live at The Sydney Opera House
NGAIIRE
AND THE SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Released 26 April 2024
Dot Dash Recordings
****-
It is an extraordinary performance, heaving with her trademark energy and rhythmic drive but now coupled with the power and textural richness of the Sydney Symphony. Even after all this time, Ngaiire is still pinching herself that it ever happened.
Hailing from the Eastern Highlands & New Ireland provinces of Papua New Guinea, Sydney-based Ngaiire has a career that crosses genre and artform.
Recipient of 4 National Live Music Awards & the inaugural Australian Women in Music Award for Artistic Excellence, Ngaiire’s music is celebrated around the world & seen her grace the stages of Glastonbury to to tours with Sufjan Stevens & Alicia Keys.
In 2022, Ngaiire and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra gave a sold-out performance on the Forecourt of the Sydney Opera House as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations, with thousands of people captivated by this extraordinary performer.
The concert feature many of the songs from Ngaiire's exceptional 2021 break-out album "3".
Read more ... Bandcamp, Sydney Opera House, Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Til My Song Is Done
EMMA DONOVAN
Released 19 April 2024
Jindahood / Cooking Vinyl Australia
*****
"I know this album is just the start of continuing to stand strong not only for my daughters but for all the other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women working in the Australian music industry today".
Faced with an opportunity to record her first solo album since the 2004 EP project titled Changes, and her first album after eight years without The Putbacks ensemble, Donovan says she was propelled into some deep introspection.
“I wanted to approach the album as a clean slate, but looking back at what makes me who I am,” Donovan explains. “I began by asking myself, who am I? Who is Emma Donovan? And what do I want to do? I want to be the deadly granddaughter, niece and daughter. I want to make my family proud.
Til My Song is Done is honouring that legacy of our family country music ways.
“That's exactly what this album is for me, like if they're proud and they're happy, if the family is honoured, that's all I need to know. And mum would be proud.
Read more ... Emma Donovan
Ashd Out
DASHD
Released 19 April 2024
Danfield Productions
****-
Tell Mama's debut, although brief (only 8 tracks, 28 minutes), showcases a top quality band that is soulful and fully-formed, surely overdue to break out of their hometown Adelaide.
Dashd is a Melbourne based producer, beat-maker blending a mixture of downtempo, ambient , lo-fi , trip hop & electronica: continually developing the sounds with new producers, singers and rappers, both local and international.
Read more ... Bandcamp
Mangos
MILAN RING
Released 13 April 2024
Astral People Recordings
****-
It's another accomplished body of work from an artist who's deserving of much wider recognition and acclaim.
Australian artist Milan Ring is a certified polymath. A seasoned producer, songwriter, and music director who sings and slays on the guitar, she's a respected figure in Sydney/Eora's local R&B scene.
Her impressive credits includes collaborations with Questlove, Ta-ku, Sampa The Great, B Wise, Winston Surfshirt, and an LA studio session with Chance The Rapper's band The Social Experiment and SZA (who she covered for Like A Version).
That rap sheet is a solid indication of the quality and sound of Milan Ring's own solo work, beginning with her 2021 debut album I'm Feeling Hopeful.
After showcasing the breadth of her talent and heritage on that too-good-to-ignore release, Milan Ring continues her artistic journey with her second accomplished album.
Mangos is every bit as juicy and summery as that title suggests. Like its predecessor, it's ripe with world-class R&B, sensual neo-soul and funkified grooves that's as good as any coming out of this country.
Inspired by a summer fling, and the deeper philosophical digging that romance prompted, the album encompasses music that organically glides between poignant and playful.
If there's a blemish to the otherwise spotless Mangos it's that there's simply not enough of it to savour (it's 10 songs come and go in just 31 minutes).
But, nothing on the record feels especially underdeveloped, quite the opposite – you can feel the care and craft put into it. But by the time you emerge from this immersive listening experience, you'll only be satisfied with diving back in and soaking in the details again.
Read more ... ABC Listen
Ramona
GRACE CUMMINGS
Released 5 April 2024
Sugar Mountain Records
****-
Ramona is a work of raw truth rendered in its most beautiful form.
Melbourne-based Grace Cummings traveled to Los Angeles to work with producer Jonathan Wilson (Angel Olsen, Father John Misty) and dreamed up a lavishly orchestrated sound that fully accommodates the depth and scope of her vocal prowess. With its visceral reflection on grief and self-destruction and emotional violence, Ramona brings a stunning new grandeur to Cummings’ music while refusing to soften or temper its humanity.
Where her previous arrangements were often achingly bare, Ramona luxuriates in lush orchestration, creating the set dressing for the performance that is the character of “Ramona.”
The record consistently reaches for the biggest emotion possible, with every song the last one before intermission. The fact that it works as often as it does is a testament to Cummings’ sheer power as a performer, her voice a force arriving with force and star power. Ramona can be overwhelming when taken in as a whole, and that’s something that might ultimately keep many at arm’s length from the album. But, if you let Grace Cummings in, Ramona might just surprise you yet.
Read more ... Bandcamp, Pitchfork
Fluxcore 94
FLUXCORE 94
Released 7 April 2024
Get Fluxed
****-
Fluxcore 94 uses improvisation to bridge the gaps between musical ideas, creating free-flowing sets that take the audience on a journey through funk, jazz and more abstract breakdowns of musical conversation.
Fluxcore 94 don't give much away on their Bandcamp and they rate barely a mention anywhere else on the web, but they're yet another dazzling combo from that seemingly bottomless, hip Naarm|Melbourne scene.
The band comprises
Clyde Saniga - alto/baritone sax, vocals. Archie Beattie - guitar, tenor sax.
Stan Saniga - synthesisers.
Max Hazeldine - percussion
Sanaga's musical pedigree extends back to the Australian Boys Choir, its adult version The Vocal Consort and Jazz (saxophone) at Melbourne University.
Percussionist Hazeldine's reputation precedes him too, with a background in bands including Grace Robinson State of Grace and with spiritual and free jazz trumpeter Marly del Prete.
All we can say is this combo cooks - like an antipodean Sons Of Kemet.
EARTHEN
SAM ANNING
Released 5 April 2024
Earshift Music
****-
Sam Anning’ earthen draws on the resilience of spirit in a dedication to music icon Uncle Archie Roach.
Melbourne bassist-composer Sam Anning’s third septet album Earthen, is dedicated to the indomitable spirit of Indigenous Australian music icon, Uncle Archie Roach. Featuring an ensemble of long-time collaborators, Andrea Keller, Kyrie Anderson, Mat Jodrell, Carl Mackey, Julien Wilson, and Theo Carbo, the album draws on the deep well of Roach’s wisdom, connection to the moment, resilience of spirit, and the medicinal power of music.
Anning’s experience as bassist for three years with Roach before his passing in 2022 was a profound and musically enriching journey. Roach was an award-winning singer-songwriter, musician and respected elder, known for his songs that often told powerful, poignant stories about Indigenous Australian experiences, particularly the pain and trauma of the Stolen Generations. The experience offered Anning a unique opportunity to contribute to a powerful legacy of social activism and healing through music, providing a profound connection with his music and his audiences, reflecting on the themes of loss, resilience and hope.
“We were gathered around Archie’s bed in the ICU, Stephen Magnusson and I had taken our instruments and were playing softly as he greeted and farewelled family.
He then gestured toward my bass “This is earthenware”, then at Stephen’s guitar “and this is earthenware. They are made from the earth, music comes from the earth and these instruments carry it, and it goes back to the earth”.
In these final words to us he had distilled the entire experience we had had playing with, and marveling at, this great story-teller and songman.
Read more ... Earshift Music
Undertow
FIRETAIL
Released 4 April 2024
Firetail
****-
While unfolding the investigative endeavors of its titular character, Sugar also features several background scores and tracks that perfectly complement its drama.
Firetails music spans from 70’s jazz-fusion, South Indian Carnatic music and Melbourne's own brand of jazz-tronica. Formed in 2018 as a collaborative recording project the band has developed an ambient approach that mixes bass heavy rhythms with evocative melodies and driving percussion
Firetail describes this album as "a deep dive down the whirlpool of space-jazz-funk".
“Truly a musical journey that moves in and out of jazz and neo soul textures to progressive experimental post rock with heavy doses of psychedelia all smacked with a wet sloppy kiss of jazztronica flavors”......American Pancake
'Dadaistic nu jazz, by one of the best emerging acts from Australia' Last Day Deaf
"I love this uninhibited band not only for their absolute commitment to creating this whacky music, but because they have a distinctly Melbourne sound that never fails to bring me back to the dark, sticky bars of my hometown."ABC Jazz
“This is how musical cognition may sound” Grotesqualizer
Read more ... Firetail
Cosmic Cliffs
MOUNT KUJO
Released 29 March 2024
Milano Music
****-
Passionate, soulful and dynamic; Mount Kujo is a Naarm (Melbourne) based act blending Psychedelic Funk, Jazz, Latin and Afro-beat. A vibrant collective of culturally diverse musicians from all around the world, playing lush arrangements of polyrhythms, unexpected changes and explosive horn sections.
As a new generation of musicians, Mount Kujo have cultivated an inspiring communal mentality with a dedicated inner circle and rotating outer members who remain integral to the family no matter where they move on to. A resemblance to other musical collectives can be found: the freeform bombastic nature of Funkadelic, the experimentation of The Pink Floyd and even the progressive global vision of Embryo are all similar to the Mount Kujo ethos – “We create the space”.
The group excels with their increased familiarity, seeing each live concert as a chance to curiously tweak their compositions and are always eager to lock into their pulsating groove for dancing crowds. Their songwriting has gained a foundation over the many band trips and sessions in magical places, resulting in their sound becoming increasingly unique and recognisable.
They have even graduated their artistic vision into mixed media, with a fun neo-noir video clip for their cinematic jazz single, ‘Mr Pink’, celebrating the cities’ more shadowy corners. Mount Kujo’s cosmic vision of highly innate dancefloor jazz, a worldwide musical family and constant experimentation make them one of the hottest and most interesting bands coming out of Australia right now.
Read more... Mount Kujo
Love. Be in It
SUGAR FED LEOPARDS
Released 19 April 2024
Sugar Fed Leopards
****-
Breaking hearts and starting dance-floor fires since 2013, Melbourne's Sugar Fed Leopards play sweet original music emanating from somewhere in the sequinned space between disco, soul, doo-wop and rock n roll.
Described as "…Saturday Night Fever meets Kath & Kim on acid", the band has emerged in 2024 with new moves, new fashions, new wigs and a new full length LP.
Sugar Fed Leopards is celebrating ten years of making music together, which is why they dedicate their latest album, ‘Love. Be In It.’, to all the audiences and venues that have joined them on their love quest over the past decade or so.
The album is an ode to the spirit of friendship, to music and to nightlife, as well as 'love' as a verb and a way of living shared energy. Could there be any better reason to make an album?
Ultimately, ‘Love. Be In It’ is an invitation, urging everyone to find the mood, get into it, get off the couch, come to the show and be in the music. It is also a command, a direct reference to the ‘Life. Be in it’ government fitness campaign from the 80s, inspiring people to get love-fit through real connection and being moved by music.
The reference also makes its way into the music, with a healthy dose of 80s sounds and feels throughout.
Read more ... Bandcamp
Broken Melancholy
DJ CAM
Released 29 March 2024
Laurent Daumail
****-
Parisian maestro DJ Cam is well known for his radical reinventions, a life-long musician who’s groundbreaking work established him as a pioneer in the worlds of hip-hop, trip-hop, and the dance scenes stretching from New York to Paris to Tokyo and beyond.
Laurent Daumail (born 1973), better known by his stage name DJ Cam, is a French record producer whose music is largely rooted in hip hop, combined with elements of jazz, dub, and ambient and composed using samples.
Daumail first rose to prominence in the 1990s with records such as Underground Vibes and Underground Live, which have been credited as early examples of trip hop, and he emerged as a leading figure in the decade's "ambient hip-hop" scene. He founded the record label Inflamable. In addition to his own musical output, Daumail has produced several compilations and albums for other artists.
Fact named his 1996 release Abstract Manifesto the ninth best trip hop album of all time.
Read more ... Musicboard, Bandcamp
Max König
MAX KÖNIG
Released 27 March 2024
Max König
*****
In an era hungry for authenticity, Max König’s debut album is a testament to the power of music as a unifying force, transcending cultural and religious boundaries.
Prepare to embark on a mesmerising journey as Max König, the sensational saxophonist, unveils his highly anticipated debut album, 7 years in the making.
Max König’s music captures the essence of both spirited celebration and religious devotion. An accomplished composer, Max König paints vivid musical landscapes, reminiscent of ancient synagogues, transformative meditations and the soul-stirring rhythms of Arabic dabke. Simultaneously, König and his band, steeped in the jazz tradition, embrace the spontaneity of spur-of-the-moment improvisation and the unrestrained flow of the stream of consciousness. It is evident König’s music evokes his deep love and reverence for the Jazz, Jewish and Arabic musical legacies.
With each track, König and his band launch into a new mystical, introspective exploration, brimming with bustling energy, immersed in a world where spirituality meets experimentation, conjuring a wide range of powerful emotions that resonate deep within. The album is a true personal reflection of König’s profound musical and spiritual odyssey, with certain tracks dedicated to individuals who have significantly changed the course of his life.
The saxophonist’s daring vision and virtuosic skills, alongside his first class band, create a truly unique listening experience that will captivate audiences around the globe.
Read more ... Beat
Okere (EP)
SAI GALAXY
Released 22 March 2024
Soundway Records
****-
Big Yawn's ability to blend complex rhythm sections with infectious basslines, deep synth work, and tongue-in-cheek sampling remains ever-present, and perhaps is the most advanced we've heard yet.
Hailing originally from Australia, Sai has spent a lifetime developing his skills as a composer and multi-instrumentalist, culminating in a style of rhythmic & melodic funky music. His dynamic combinations of vocals, synth, and instrumentals transition seamlessly from Disco to House to Afrobeat with meticulous flow.
Sai tours internationally as a musician, performing in countries like Japan, Brazil, Ibiza, Italy, additionally a member of Politcal Activist Band Sorong Samarai from Papua New Guinea. He co-produces Sorong Samarai with Papua New Guinea Drum Master Airileke & tours in Papua New Guinea regularly. If you’re a fan of Disco Dance and Funk with African Sounds & squelchy synths, be sure to check out Sai Galaxy’s upcoming releases on Soundway Records, and follow him on his journey to becoming one of the best producers in the world.
This EP chronicles the journey of Sai Galaxy as he traverses through the annals of history, riding the ancient, infinite sound known as Anahat—the unstruck sound of the universe. The result is a mesmerizing fusion of jazzy house, dubbed-out saxophone, smooth vocals and intricate percussion.
Read more ... Sai Galaxy
Some Days
SIMON MARVIN
Released 22 March 2024
Mavin Music
****-
"These days, I don’t have the urge to be a virtuosic musician anymore. I still love the heavy shit, but it’s not for me for some reason. I just want to sing on the piano. That’s what I think I’ve done with this record.” Simon Mavin
Some Days is Melbourne / Naarm artist Simon Mavin’s first solo piano release. It documents seven individual moments in time, spanning roughly over a five year period.
Simon (who is most well known as the Grammy nominated keyboardist/co-producer and co- writer of the celebrated Australian band Hiatus Kaiyote), sat down at the piano or a keyboard and recorded whatever came to mind, usually settling on the first take. The nature of the piano as a dynamic instrument means that nothing can ever be played exactly the same way twice.
Some Days it’s about the space between the notes, the rhythmic pulse within the tides. Some Days, it’s a lonely night in a Los Angeles hotel room, capturing a golden melody that helps put a friend at ease during a long tour when the road is only singing the blues.
Some Days, it’s a phrase captured perfectly imperfect on an iphone, never to be replicated, never to be replaced, somehow reminiscent of David Lynch.
Some Days, it’s a demo that just feels right as is. Playing with an ostinato pattern in 7/4 with some spring reverb, everything in support of the melody, to make it sing. One finger louder than the rest.
Some Days, it’s an improvised piece, played on a keyboard plug-in that just didn’t sound as good on an actual piano.
Some Days write themselves after getting lost in a sound and utilizing the soft pedal.
Some Days are for getting rid of the expectations. Not even listening. Just to sit, breathe, relax, leave the ego at the door, and maintain a state of neutral creation.
Some Days can wash it all away.
Read more... Bandcamp
Wonderlust
ON-LY
Released 22 March 2024
La Sape
****-
Melbourne / Naarm artist On-Ly is the solo and collaborative moniker of pianist and producer Joshua Smeltink.
Spanning genres, On-Ly’s house and hip-hop history is ever-present and imbued with the hard-hitting post-bop jazz-rock of the 60’s / 70’s, harking back to bands such as Weather Report and Miles Davis Group (70’s).
Reflecting on great leaders and great bands and what makes them essential; there is not too much more that On-Ly has considered for Wonderlust.
Distinct in that it inaugurates his first release with a band.
The album takes on a facilitating role in the style of great psychedelic albums as one finds themselves at the whimsy of through-composed pilgrimages to soft, heartfelt song and back to sun-soaked heights woven with engaging arrangement, a one-of-a-kind production style and an incredible pedigree of musicianship.
Wonderlust features:
On-Ly (Joshua Smeltink) - Fender Rhodes (track 6), Bechstein Model-A 1912, Keys, Synthesiser, Trumpet, Engineer, Producer
Daniel Waddingham - Electric Guitar.
Ash de Neef - Electric Bass.
Phil Stroud - Congas/Percussion, Co-engineer, mixer
Bryce Zelno - Drums.
Mixed by Joshua Smeltink.
Read more ... Bandcamp
Good Morning Seven
GOOD MORNING
Released 22 March 2024
Good Morning Music Company Worldwide
****-
A band and album that is deceptively down-tempo and atonal at first listen, but reveals its melodic hidden charms and complexity the more often it is played. Another gem.
Their sense of humor and panache is evident in Good Morning's Spotify bio:
"Good Morning is a band/duo/recording-thing from Melbourne, Australia.
Stefan Blair (29, brown hair, 6 foot something) plays most of the instruments and sings half the songs.
Liam Parsons (30, brown hair, 6 foot on the dot) plays the rest of the instruments and sings the other half of the songs.
Their seventh record 'Good Morning Seven' is a double album filled with strings, synths, samples, and singing.
This is their 10th year anniversary of being a band. It's all downhill from here."
Read more ... Bandcamp
Songs The Night Bird Taught Me (EP)
THE MOON MOUNTAINEER
Released 22 March 2024
Heide Hackworth
****-
"My new EP: Songs The Night Bird Taught Me was inspired by the bittersweet, solitary sound-world of the nocturnal. I hope to take the listener on a journey through starlit waking dreams, inside the liminal world that hums between moonset and sunrise".
The Moon Mountaineer is South Australian musician Heide Hackworth who produces neoclassical piano, ambient and electronic music inspired by nature. Odes to the love and loss of wild places; playful, bittersweet melodies sparkle, float and take on transformational properties as they journey through landscapes of memory and metaphor.
"Somewhere between the world of dreams and our wakefulness is a place that The Moon Mountaineer has explored in this four-song neoclassical EP.
Songs The Night Bird Taught Me has etude-like qualities - sort of musical study but instead of exploring musical themes, The Moon Mountaineer provides an intimate audio reflection of the feelings and experiences leading up to the dream - like passing through a narrow, moonlit grove, before leading off to vast vistas of the imagination.
The motifs are simple yet alluring - pensive and introspective with the sensation of loosening one's grip on the construct we've built in our wakeful state." ~ Stolace Global Relay Station
Read more ... Spotify
New World (EP)
EVENING NEWS
Released 22 March 2024
Dune Castle Records
****-
Evening News is a Melbourne-based instrumental dance/electronica group. Drawing from experience curating dance floor music in both a live and DJ setting, the group incorporate House and Nu-Jazz sounds with the sonic breadth of Jungle and 2 Step.
Evening News is an ethereal and driving collection of instrumental electronica performed by the group, formerly known as Beatnik Collective.
Evening News is a Melbourne-based instrumental dance/electronica group. The band is Influenced by artists like Squarepusher, Apex Twin and u-Ziq, the 4-piece have meticulously honed their craft on dance floors around Melbourne.
New World features:
Dan Rock - Bass Guitar, Sequencer, Executive Producer
Christy Wositzsky-Jones - Rhodes, Keyboards, Synthesizers and Sequencers
Winton Findlay - Synthesizers, Keyboards and Percussion
Miles Henry - Acoustic Drumset
Mixed and Produced by Moses Carr
Recorded by Quin Grunden
Jay Gabriel - Vocals
Read more ... Bandcamp
The True North
PETER GARRETT
Released 15 March 2024
Sony Music Australia
****-
“The True North has a sonic footprint similar to the 2016 solo debut A Version Of Now: firmly rock ‘n’ roll, but more gentle than an Oils album, tinged with folk, country and pop …. The lyrics on this album are as powerful and urgent as ever, and Garrett somehow finds new gears to sing them.” (Andrew McMillen, The Weekend Australian)
Recorded in his hometown of Sydney with producer Tony Buchen and featuring artwork by daughter, Grace Garrett the songs span infectious rockers like ‘Permaglow’, the atmospheric title track and a new focus track called ‘Paddo’ – a rap paean to the SCG (among many other things!).
Read more ... Bandcamp
Monster In Your Head
HORNS OF LEROY
Released 10 March 2024
Horns of Leroy
****-
"Monster in Your Head" is the third LP from Melbourne's homegrown, New Orleans-style jazz band Horns of Lacey. They're a down-to-earth combo that, in typical Aussie style, may be found playing venues of all sizes, from suburban hotel beer gardens, to fully blown national festivals.
The band is comprised of seven key members:
Ben Harrison & Travis Woods – Trumpet
Chris Vizard & Nick Pietsch – Trombone
Jay Scarlett – Sousaphone
Daniel Berry & Tim Clifton – Percussion
Together, they make a fine fist of creating an authentic-enough, Antipodean version of the Bourbon Street blues, especially considering that all songs are originals, credited mostly to Harrison.
However, the standout tracks on this album are those in which they invite Zimbabwean-born soul diva thndo and powerhouse Melbourne vocalist Loretta Miller.
Considering the diversity of the Melbourne music scene, the potential for casting a wider collaborative net in future is an enticing prospect.
Read more... Horns of Leroy
Dakar Bamako
AUSECUMA BEATS
Released 8 March 2024
Music In Exile
****-
The band are constantly shifting shape and sound, in search of a synthesis between West African highlife, boogie, afrobeat and funk with some more contemporary inputs from Melbourne’s flourishing soul, jazz and dance music scenes
In late 2022, Boubacar Gaye and Bassdi Koné, members of the Melbourne-based Afro-Cuban ensemble Ausecuma Beats, returned to West Africa in the culmination of an idea that had been brewing since the world first went into lockdown in early 2020. The pair wanted to return to their homes in Dakar and Bamako respectively, to be reunited with family, friends, country, and with the vibrant music communities in those cities they had left behind when emigrating to Australia.
More than this, they had a vision of bringing their three home cities - Melbourne, Australia; Dakar, Senegal; and Bamako, Mali - together in an album that celebrated the intense creative energy coursing through the streets of these three places.
Ausecuma Beats’ third studio album, Dakar Bamako, features a total of fourteen musicians from three cities around the world, coming together in a true cross-cultural collaboration that celebrates stories of migration, cooperation and the unifying power of music and dance as a force to bring humanity together.
Read more ... Bandcamp
Phases
STELLAR MOON
Released 7 March 2024
Monique Le Lievre
****-
Full power vocals, ethereal backing vocals and strong horn lines, all drenched in SOUL with undeniable Country-Rock roots and Funky undertones.
Stellar Moon is First Nations artist hailing from the Kimberley in Western Australia. A proud Nyikina Jarndoo (Nyikina Woman), she's now releasing her debut album after being in cover bands for 20 years and songwriting in secret!
A sassy style with punchy powerful vocals, Stellar Moon writes important songs about healing and empowerment aiming to stir revolutions in the listener.
Her songs are all soul with dashes of funk, rock and other flavours.
This album of eclectic genres blends deep thoughtful lyrics with compelling riffs, intriguing solos and dynamic instrumentation. The concept of living by nature's cycles, specifically the phases of the Moon, woven into the stories of life as Stellar hopes to stir inner revolutions in us all.'
She writes: "Just like the Moon, we all go through patches of both darkness and luminance in life, sometimes we bask in the light and sometimes we hang out in the shadow. It’s all needed and important. No matter what phase we are in, like the Moon, we are still always whole.
I work as a life coach and sound healer as well as a Musician and I taught Music in schools for 20 years. I’m obsessed with human behaviour, what makes people do what they do, what sets us alike and apart. I’m forever inspired by the stories of my clients and students and the sometimes incredibly tough experiences they’ve survived to be sitting in front of me.
This album also reeks of my own journey of healing and empowerment, the journey to be feeling ok with myself, to moving through thick cloaks of self-doubt and criticism, to knocking down the tall poppy’s and imposters in my head, to free myself enough to take that next step in doing what I love. To being ok to shine".
Read more ... Bandcamp
Chorus
MILDLIFE
Released 1 March 2024
Mildlife / [PIAS] Australia
*****
Chorus is the sound of singular entities coalescing into a wondrous whole. It’s harmonious togetherness and celebratory symbiosis. And it’s the band’s ultimate statement of their borderline mystical unity, their unified theory of groove.
On their third studio full-length, Mildlife link microcosmic personal meaning with a macro view from on high.
“Chorus is about a coming together of disparate elements. Not in some sort of utopian aesthetic where everything works perfectly, but in the natural flow and state of things,” shares the band’s Jim Rindfleish. “It’s about cosmic compatibility and chemistry: what makes things work? Not just what makes the band work, but what makes good music, art or love? It’s the rhythm of nature”.
Following 2020’s Automatic and 2017’s Phase, Chorus arrives as Mildlife’s most optimistic record, serving as a sonic testament to the band’s unwavering adoration for the beguiling realms of 70s psychedelic and cosmic sounds. Delve deeper, and you’ll unearth Polish jazz, Italo disco and a sprinkling of contemporary electronic sounds. Chorus is the dance of an expanding and contracting universe - its groove is forever and always, cyclical and evolving. In its most human moments, the album luxuriates in the velvety embrace of Tomas Shanahan’s bass lines, Halliwell’s luminous guitar riffs, Kevin McDowell’s hushed and alluring vocals, Rindfleish’s intricate percussive tapestries and the spiritual rhythms of regular collaborator Craig Shanahan. Swept up in the chorus, the lines between individual and ensemble blur.
Read more... Bandcamp
Nemesis
(Original Series Soundtrack)
HELENA CZAJKA
Released 1 March 2024
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
****-
ARIA Award winning composer/producer Helena Czajka blends her classical training from Australia and her work as an orchestrator in Tokyo, with a passion for sound design and electronic textures. Her distinctive style and unique approach can be heard across her film and TV projects.
Helena has composed the music for acclaimed productions including documentary Blind Ambition; SBS thriller series Safe Home; Walkley Award-winning ABC documentary series Revelation; SBS mystery drama "The Tailings", as well as episodes of the Emmy-winning hit children’s show Bluey for ABC, BBC, Disney.
Helena has received a 2023 ARIA Award nomination for the documentary Unseen Skies, crafting the music by manipulating NASA-recorded sounds from space to create a distinctive and experimental score. Her previous work includes Network Ten series "Australian Survivor", the feature film "Beast", the Foxtel TV series "The Queen and Zak Grieve", ABC's " Making Muriel", and SBS "Look Me In The Eye".
Read more ... Helena Czajka
Tender Heart
MIA DYSON
Released 23 February 2024
Mia Dyson
****-
There’s something electric and urgent driving Dyson's latest album. Something momentous, that has her plunging open-heartedly into the magical, terrifying, mundane, mysterious business of life.
It started with an earthquake. Karl - Dyson’s husband & writing partner - felt the earth move one evening during the pandemic, literally, when a quake rumbled through their LA home. He heard, moments later, Mia calling his name from the bedroom. Entering the dark room, he spoke to her, heard nothing, touched her motionless hand, and fumbled for a light. That was when he saw Mia ‘slumped against the wall’, he said later. ‘Your eyes looked like they were made out of wood.’
For Karl, the story was earthly and confusing and desperate. The earthquake. The darkness. The wooden eyes. His own muttered pleas. He found himself breathing air into a body that had stopped breathing, unaccountably, upon experiencing an earthquake. Karl remembers feeling the responsibility of bringing Mia back to life, thanking her over and over ‘for coming back to me’ when she started breathing again. It seemed, he said, ‘like you were in another place, like you were not here anymore. It was really clear. I’ve never seen anybody do that before.’
Mia did leave. She was somewhere else. She was, as she puts it, ‘Far, far away, and in darkness and nothingness. Nothing was wrong.’ She came back into her body as she was revived, ‘slowly and terribly’, feeling completely pinned down. Technically, she was dead. Her heart had stopped beating (she was later diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia and treated with a defibrillator implanted in her chest) and the pain and confusion of coming back was intense.
Being able to recover while taking her time to create Tender Heart with her cherished collaborators has been a joy. Syd Sidney (drums), Dan Wright (vocals, bass), and producer Scott Hirsch are friends and creative partners in the real-time musical processing of one small moment in time that almost prevented the album from happening at all.
It's a profound album. It’s gentle and thoughtful and you can listen to it without knowing any of the depth of experience and love behind it.
The crafted simplicity of this album – the lyrics, the easy, rolling musical journey of each track – hints at larger, more magnificent, harder, tougher, deeper things. In that way, it’s less like a series of short stories. It’s like poetry. A poet, breathing life into a poet, beaming joyful, unfettered love out to the rest of us.
Read more ... Bandcamp
Polymorphic
by Maddison Carter
Released 23 February 2024
Earshift Music
*****
Maddison Carter is a Melbourne-based drummer and composer, quickly making a name for his vast textural palette, versatility and extended rhythmic vocabulary as an improviser.
Polymorphic is the groundbreaking project from Melbourne based Maddison Carter, a visionary percussionist and composer. The project emerges from the creative expanses of Melbourne's lockdowns, capturing a new direction in Carter's artistic journey. Polymorphic is a reflection of Carter's life, his connection with his ensemble, and an intimate portrayal of his artistic and personal growth, inviting listeners into a world of deep emotional and rhythmic exploration.
Formed amidst the solitude of 2021 lockdowns, "Polymorphic" began as a solo exploration and evolved into a sextet ensemble, symbolizing Carter's commitment to melodic richness and the unconventional use of the vibraphone. "Polymorphic first grew during Melbourne’s many lockdowns," explains Carter. "It was born out of a change of lifestyle and my frustration with playing only non-pitched material. This music brought me back from a period where I spent far less time on music." The ensemble’s journey mirrors Carter's own artistic transformation, from a period of diminished musical activity during the lockdowns to a rekindled passion for composition and performance.
Read more ... Bandcamp
Every Dog's Hotel
DAWN AGAIN
Released 23 February 2024
Hell Yeah
****-
The superbly welcoming Every Dog's Hotel is a place to pull up, sink a drink, and soak into some lavish and escapist downtempo sounds.
Every Dog's Hotel is a dreamy and breaks-driven downtempo excursion that the artist, Australian producer Dawn Again, has dubbed "pubwave."
Melbourne-based Nick Verwey has been crafting solo and collaborative cuts for the best part of a decade on labels like Houseworx and Enjoyment Division.
He operates in a world where danceable grooves are paired with laid-back moods. His lo-fi sound is both sunlit and sunset-ready and is for grown-up crowds who like to get down on rooftops, sandy enclaves, or laidback living rooms. This new album was conveyed during lockdown when Nick and his friends were missing their favourite communal drinking spots.
"My friends and I were missing the pub, missing dance floors, missing being able to hang out and have fun," he says. He came up with the idea of creating something similar but in his own way, initially with spoken word poetry over the top. I think it still nails the dreamy, Balearic "pubwavee" feeling".
The gorgeous cover painting is by Nick's mate Holly Hunt. It's an old English haunt called the Old Neptune, and what nails the brief more than a pub that is literally on the beach?"
Read more ... Bandcamp
Moments Between Dreams (EP)
ELLA HABER
Released 16 February 2024
Soul Has No Tempo
****-
Ella strives to carve out a space for reclamation and self-celebration through music. 'Moments Between Dreams' represents a refined and evolved expression of her artistry.
Multi-talented Eora-based artist, Ella Haber's highly-anticipated EP, 'Moments Between Dreams’ is written by Haber and co-produced with longtime collaborator, Yianni Adams (Kyoshi).
The EP is a beautiful journey of discovery, the artist opening herself up into intimate new worlds both musical and emotional.
A six-track record that follows Haber through a myriad of awakenings, the songs were all written and conceptualised on pianos in bedrooms. The intimacy and quietness of these spaces, combined with the emotional resonance of her treasured instrument, shaped the album's soft and close-knit atmosphere.
The treasured collection of songs poured out in the warmer months of 2021-2022 with urgency and passion, Ella reflects: “I needed to release myself from my own numbness, isolation, inactivity and loneliness induced by successive lockdowns, a long-term relationship coming to a close and a disconnection from my own body and heart.”
Read more... Bandcamp
Yirinda
YIRINDA
Released 16 February 2024
Chapter Music
*****
A stunning fusion of timelessness & the contemporary, indigenous language & contemporary music.
Yirinda means 'Now' in Butchulla language and it is the name taken by duo Fred Leone and Samuel Pankhurst, who combine ancient Aboriginal language with sublime modern production. Their music invokes thousands of generations of story and culture, while emerging as something entirely new.
Fred is one of three Butchulla songmen - a song and language custodian for the Butchulla people from the Fraser Coast region of Queensland, including K’gari (formerly known as Fraser Island). He sings the songs on this album in the endangered Butchulla language, now spoken by only a handful of people.
Samuel is an internationally acclaimed contrabassist / producer known for his kaleidoscopic harmonies and polyrhythmic mastery. He has scored extensively for contemporary dance, recently for notable choreographer Thomas Kelly’s celebrated work SILENCE.
Their self-titled debut album was recorded in Brisbane by Samuel, then mixed in London by Jake Miller (Björk, Arca, Yves Tumor) and mastered at Abbey Road by Alex Wharton (The Beatles, My Bloody Valentine).
The album sets Fred’s powerful vocals against striking experimental soundscapes, rich with strings, horns, double bass, synthesizer, piano and percussion. The result is otherworldly, a timeless art music outside Western convention.
Read more ... Bandcamp
Yours Forever
JESSICA MAUBOY
Released 9 February 2024
Jamally / Warner Music Australia
****-
Long established as one of Australia's foremost performers in pop music, television, film and celebrity, Jessica Mauboy's fifth solo album finds her at a new label with broadened musical ambitions.
She jumps between gospel-inspired soul (Give You Love), fierce funk (Flashback), effortless mainstream, vibey pop (The Loneliest I Ever Was, Whitney), trap (Tell ‘Em), and acoustic balladry (Goodbye).
Mauboy has bravely decided to simplify her melodies and instrumentation – going for less is more and succeeding in the results. She’s also accepted that her voice has changed over time, with her vocals now packed with an at-times perfectly dirty rock and roll rasp.
She’s not just the girl next door R&B singer you’ve come to know (or still expect). She’s so much more.
Read more ... The Music,
Opelousafried
OPELOUSAS
Released 19 January 2024
Galileo
****-
A powerful female-fronted collaboration between Kerri Simpson, who has successfully traversed musical genres from gospel to country, dance and rock; Alison Ferrier, a prolific songwriter and talented lead guitarist; and drummer/percussionist Anthony Shortte, who is well known to Australian blues lovers and has brought his unique down-and-dirty grooves to a new level with Opelousa.
Opelousafried showcases an evolution in the interplay between Kerri Simpson’s visceral vocals and powerfully raw guitar, Anthony “Shorty” Shortte’s hypnotic grooves and swamp-soaked percussion, and
Alison Ferrier’s menacing electric guitar, keening amplified fiddle and sultry vocal tones.
The smoky ingredients for Opelousafried resulted in a smoldering serve of Étouffée; a spicy Cajun stew of brooding atmosphere and pulsating rhythms straight out of the belly of the blues, with a piquant smattering of rock ‘n’ roll energy and punk attitude that ain't cooked “over easy”.
Read more ... Opelousas
Allambie
ALEX ALBRECHT
Released 18 January 2024
Analogue Attic
****-
Allambie’ glides off into the ether and back with comforting, pillowy textures building towards deep house crescendos.
Melbourne-based producer Alex Albrecht has amassed a discography that explores the dreamier side of ambient electronic music. Utilizing field recordings, ambient soundscapes, and minimal, propulsive drum rhythms, Albrecht’s solo work evokes the pensive melancholia of landscapes scattered along seemingly endless journeys.
What Alex Albrecht gets right in his approach is imbuing tracks with an emotional core without hitting you over the head with what you should be thinking. The label doesn’t present a narrative that lays out what listeners should take away. There’s terms in the album description to pique one’s interest, but it’s vague enough to allow listeners to take their own journey with the music.
‘Allambie’ demonstrates Albrecht’s ability to pull from different realms of the electronic world and put his own spin on it, allowing it to rise above the many artists operating in this realm. ‘Allambie’ has great individual moments, but the album taken in as a whole is completion of the journey. Each song builds and morphs between one another that you become enveloped in the sonic world Albrecht constructs.
Read more ... Inverted Audio
Anywhere Here
COMETS
Released 12 January 2024
Melted Records
****-
COMETS are back with their second LP: a mixed bag of tracks and guest appearances.
COMETS are back with another seemingly effortless number in Anywhere Here. It was recorded in a similar fashion to Rain Faces, out at Ghostriter, but this time the band sent word to a few friends to throw some sounds over the top and see what happened.
The result is a sprint through an overgrown city with Mika Kohlman’s sprightly saxophone on ‘Lost Car’ or of curious robots studying human behaviour (hear Mikey Young’s glimmering synth on ‘Dress for Texture’). It’s also Koral Chandler’s introspective meditations, rising and falling, reflecting on ‘Sun Standstill’. It all culminates in the last tune with Blake Scott’s revolving tale, delivered swaggering in swing with the
band, putting his pinch of salt on ‘Lipschutt’. Clocking in at over 11 minutes and weaving many moods,
Music by Brad Barry, Shaun Gionis, Stacey Gray & Scott Redford.
Lyrics Vocals by Koral Chandler ('Sun Standstill') and by Blake Scott ('Lipschutt').
Sax by Mika Kohlman ('Lost Car')
Synth by Mikey Young ('Dress by Texture')
Flute & Casiotone by Ryan Taylor ('Lipschutt')
Read more ... PBSFM 106.7 Melbourne,
Whoopee
J. MCFARLANE'S REALITY GUEST
Released 12 January 2024
Night School / Felt Sense
****-
The duo dive deep into electronic pop tropes, mining digital synths, samples, breakbeats and deep bass grooves, largely dispensing with live instrumentation.
Whoopee, the second album by J.McFarlane’s Reality Guest, is an esoteric, kaleidoscopic movie in music form directed by Julia McFarlane and co-conspirator Thomas Kernot.
Full of life, breakbeats and smokey vignettes on the fragile nature of interpersonal relationships, Whoopee is a stylistic evolution from everything McFarlane has done before. Surreal, beautiful in parts and replete with the aching wisdom McFarlane’s songwriting has always promised, this Reality Guest pulls back the curtain on a whole scene of naked truth.
Recorded in Melbourne in bursts since the release of 2019’s Ta Da, Whoopee features a new sound palette and band member in Kernot.
If Ta Da took twists and turns with your expectations, offering a Dada-ist, monochromatic take on pop music, Whoopee is McFarlane’s subterranean love-sick pinks, reds, greens, purples and blues.
Read more... Bandcamp
Birdsnake Begins
BIRDSNAKE
Released 8 January 2024
Bathtub Music
****-
Naarm|Melbourne's groove merchants Birdsnake are crafting a name for themselves as one of the most entrancing acts in the local scene. They provide a free-flowing sensory experience that seamlessly combines acid jazz, psychedelic funk and down tempo grooves. The band's immersive live show is a blend of dubbed out rhythms and percussive textures that pull audiences into transcendental, droney realms.
On their journey exploring hypnotic soundscapes, Birdsnake's debut (album) delivers the same electric energy and airy melodies that people have come to love from their live shows. Tilting towards an electronic palette, Birdsnake Begins is a flavorsome and varied body of work showcasing the group’s love for synthesizers and pulsating beats. This release marks not just the birth of a record, but also the crystallization of the band's evolution thus far. Listeners can expect a meticulously mastered record that explores the marriage of digital and organic sounds. This record is an auditory treat for both seasoned listeners and new explorers of the Birdsnake universe.
Read more... Bandcamp
Console Me
Tell Mama
Released 7 December 2023
Home Body Records
****-
Tell Mama's debut, although brief (only 8 tracks, 28 minutes), showcases a top quality band that is soulful and fully-formed, surely overdue to break out of their hometown Adelaide.
Here's the 2023 debut album from a emerging Adelaide neo-soul outfit with a sound that invites favourable comparisons to the work of Cleo Sol, Hiatus Kaiyote and the like.
Announcing the release of the album, the band's Facebook page declared "It took a village, approximately two whole years, blood, sweat, tears and buttload of learning curves. And we are super bloody proud of it".
Fronted by Grace Mensforth's marvelous vocals the band behind her simmers along with some tasty playing by Jack Spyker (keyboard, synths), Billy Beger (guitar), Jayden Dawson (bass) and Lewis Dimitropoulos (drums, percussion).
Read more ... Bandcamp