Sound Relief - Benefit Concert

The tragic bushfires and floods that have devistated Victoria and Queensland this past month have left many affected. To help rebuild the lives of those affected, Australia's music community has got together, in some cases playing together for the first time in many years, to play concerts at Melbourne's MCG and Sydney's SCG. All profits from the Melbourne show will go to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal. For the Sydney concert, 50% of the profits will got the Bushfire Appeal and 50% will go to the Premier's Disaster Relief Fund Appeal to aid the victims of the floods in Qld.

The date for this once in a lifetime event will be Saturday 14th March and tickets will go on sale on Wednesday 4th March at 9am from Ticketek www.ticketek.com.au . Tickets are only $75 and will sell out very quick with General Admission on the field and Reserved Seating in the stands available for both concerts.

As well as the impressive Australian talent appearing at the concerts, Kings of Leon and Coldplay have also volunteered their time for Melbourne and Sydney respectively, playing a set early in the afternoon before playing shows that night. Jack Johnson will also take time away from his Australian holiday to appear at the Melbourne event. Re-forming for the event are Midnight Oil, Hunters & Collectors, Split Enz and Icehouse which is sure to make the tickets sell out in less than an hour. Wolfmother and Jet will be appearing at both events and there will be other special guests appearing via video in between sets. See below for the full lineup and you can head to the Sound Relief website for more details or to donate to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal.

www.soundrelief.com.au

Melbourne
Midnight Oil
Jack Johnson
Kings Of Leon
Paul Kelly
Split Enz
Wolfmother
Augie March
Hunters & Collectors
Jet
Liam Finn
Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson
w/ Troy Cassar-Daley
Bliss N Eso with Paris Wells
Gabriella Cilmi

SYDNEY
Coldplay (ACOUSTIC)
Eskimo Joe
Hoodoo Gurus
Icehouse
Jet
Josh Pyke
Little Birdy
The Presets
Wolfmother
You Am I
+ more acts to be announced

Here are some clips from some of the bands performing.

Dark Was the Night - Various Artists - Album Review

Dark Was the Night is an excellent double cd featuring 31 exclusive tracks including a number of covers. The profits for this release go to benefit the Red Hot Organization – an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV and AIDS through popular culture. This is is their 20th year of releasing compilations and this is the 20th release.

It features a who's who of alternative artists, the highlights being tracks by The Arcade Fire, Spoon, Bon Iver, My Morning Jacket, The Decemberists and Stuart Murdoch from Belle and Sebastian fame. My favourite track on the album is Conor Oberst and Gillian Welch's beautiful rendition of the Bright Eyes track "Lua". Below is the tracklist and a few choice selections provided by the website.

THIS DISC
1 Knotty Pine – Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
2 Cello Song (Nick Drake) – The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
3 Train Song – Feist + Ben Gibbard
4 Brackett, WI – Bon Iver
5 Deep Blue Sea – Grizzly Bear
6 So Far Around the Bend – The National
7 Tightrope – Yeasayer
8 Feeling Good (Nina Simone) – My Brightest Diamond
9 Dark Was the Night (Blind Willie Johnson) – Kronos Quartet
10 I Was Young When I Left Home (Bob Dylan) – Antony + Bryce Dessner
11 Big Red Machine – Justin Vernon + Aaron Dessner
12 Sleepless – The Decemberists
13 Stolen Houses (Die) – Iron and Wine
14 Service Bell – Grizzly Bear + Feist
15 You Are The Blood – Sufjan Stevens

THAT DISC
1 Well-Alright – Spoon
2 Lenin – Arcade Fire
3 Mimizan – Beirut
4 El Caporal – My Morning Jacket
5 Inspiration Information (Shuggie Otis) – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
6 With A Girl Like You (The Troggs) – Dave Sitek
7 Blood Pt 2 – Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
8 Hey, Snow White (Destroyer) – The New Pornographers
9 Gentle Hour (Snapper) – Yo La Tengo
10 Another Saturday (traditional song) – Stuart Murdoch
11 Happiness – Riceboy Sleeps
12 Amazing Grace (traditional song) – Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues
13 The Giant Of Illinois (Handsome Family) – Andrew Bird
14 Lua – Conor Oberst + Gillian Welch
15 When the Road Runs Out – Blonde Redhead + Devastations
16 Love vs. Porn – Kevin Drew

Mat McHugh & the Black Bird - Ruby's Lounge - 13th Feb 2009

Friday night is the best night for live music and getting to see my favourite Australian singer songwriter at an intimate venue like Ruby's was hard to pass by. A group of friends and I arrived just as the support band Cats are Black got on stage. The band has only been together for 2 months and the singer, Matty Woo, is the tour manager for The Beautiful Girls. They were quite enjoyable as background music for about half an hour but when they got to their last song they had my full attention. For a new band to have even one song as good as "The Beaver Trail Leads to the Country" shows a lot of promise, especially with Matty Woo's voice hitting notes rarely heard since Jeff Buckley died.


Mat McHugh and the Black Bird opened the set with the first single from Seperatista!, "Darling This Scene Must End" which was the first of about six in a row from his fantastic debut album. The whole band sounded great and featured the drummer from the Beautiful Girls, Bruce Braybrooke. The venue was perfectly suited to the laid back tunes and it was a shame the crowd didn't come to life until the band played some songs from The Beautiful Girls repertoire. Starting with "Dela" he got the crowd singing along to "Let's Take the Long Way Home", "Periscopes" which began with Paul Simon's "The Boy in the Bubble", "Freedom Part 2" and an extended jam version of "Music" which lead into a funky version "Ring the Alarm". As there was no backstage area, Mat announced that they would stay on stage rather than head off for encore and finished with "The Bottle" and my highlight of the night "La Mar". All in all it was a faultless set, getting to hear some classics mixed with some new songs made for a perfect gig. I hope this band will play some more shows around Melbourne and make another album, they did play a new song so the may do so.

V Festival 2009 - 2nd Announcement

The V Festival has just announced a 2nd round of acts that will be touring around Australia in March/April. The full lineup is:

The Killers / Snow Patrol / Kaiser Chiefs / Elbow / Madness / The Kills / The Do / The Human League / Duffy / M83 / Louis XIV / Tame Impala / The Temper Trap / Canyons / Jenny Lewis / Jackson Jackson / Howling Bells / Wolf & Cub / Children Collide.

Not as good as last year's lineup but given that the festival is run so well it is sure to be an excellent day all the same. I went to the Melbourne V Festival last year and was inpressed with the layout and being an Over 18 event means there are no designated drinking areas which makes a big difference. Elbow will be the band I will be looking forward to seeing the most. Their Mercury Prize winning album of last year The Seldom Seen Kid was their best to date. The dates for the Festival are below and for more details go to the official V Festival website.

http://www.vfestival.com.au

Centennial Park, Sydney, 28th Mar
AVICA Resort, Gold Coast, 29th Mar
Melbourne Showgrounds, Melbourne, 4th Apr
Claremont Showgrounds, Perth, 5th Apr


Here are some tracks by Artists playing at V Fest this year.

Mat McHugh (The Beautiful Girls) - Australian Tour - Feb/Mar

This Friday 13th Febraury, Mat McHugh will be playing a solo gig at the awesome venue Ruby's Lounge. It's a great chance to see one of Australia's best singer songwriters play some songs from his debut solo album Seperatista!. It is the start of an intimate set of dates around Australia. See details below

Tune in to Triple J's Breakfast Shift this Friday morning at 7:45am to hear Mat play an original and a cover on Like a Version.
For those who missed it, here is the audio of Mat McHugh live on JJJ having a chat with the Breakfast Shift and performing "The Bottle" from Seperatista! and a great cover of Yazoo's "Only You". Also the video from "Only You"






Mat McHugh (Beautiful Girls) + Cats Are Black
Ruby's Lounge, VIC
1648 Burwood Highway, Belgrave 3160
Fri 13 Feb
08:00 PM
$22 at Door


Its been a stunted start for Mat McHughs solo mission thanks to an untimely motor bike accident that left him bed ridden in the USA for a month. The injuries have healed, the tour has been rescheduled and Mat is ready to bring his solo project out into the live forum and so he announces his Seperatista! Australian Album Tour. Which brings us to SEPERATISTA!, a free-floating animal of rare sensitivity and grace, recorded with a band largely seconded from the Sydney jazz scene. Off-kilter drums, deep bass, horns, piano, organ, melodica and cello flesh out Mat's voice, acoustic guitar and occasional ukulele on an album rich in precious sonic details. $18+BF$22 at door.

http://www.moshtix.com.au/Event.aspx?id=23622&pLock=&vip=&skin=&ref=

Australian Tour Dates
12 Feb 2009 8:00 P
The Toff in Town Melbourne, Victoria
13 Feb 2009 8:00 P
Rubys Belgrave, Victoria
14 Feb 2009 6:00 P
The Palais Hepburn Springs, Victoria
19 Feb 2009 9:00 P
Settlers Tavern Margaret River, Western Australia
20 Feb 2009 8:00 P
Fly By Night Fremantle, Western Australia
21 Feb 2009 6:30 P
At The Beach Scarborough Scarborough, Western Australia
22 Feb 2009 7:00 P
Speigeltent - Garden of Unearthly Adelaide, South Australia
1 Mar 2009 12:00 P
Corinbank Festival Corinbank, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
5 Mar 2009 8:30 P
The Zoo Brisbane, Queensland
6 Mar 2009 8:00 P
Joe’s Waterhole Eumundi, Queensland
7 Mar 2009 6:00 P
Quiky Pro-Show Tweed Heads, Queensland

Below is the clip for the excellent first single from Seperatista! "Darling, This Scene Must End".

St Kilda Festival - 8th Febuary 2009

I only got to see a couple bands at St Kilda Festival due to the delicious beers at the Village Belle holding me hostage but they were both excellent. The first band I saw was the Black Market Rhythm Co,who played on the AIR stage at about 4pm. The before mentioned beers put me in the perfect mood for this funky four-piece as they played tracks from their latest release Low-Fi Records, Hi Fi Radio. This was the 3rd time I seen this gold coast based band live,the first time was at the Gold Coast BDO in 2008 and the other was supporting Roger That at the Evelyn in Fitzroy.




Lead singer Christopher Ernst was celebrating his birthday on that occasion and confessed that he was quite drunk after playing a cover of Radiohead's "Exit Music for a Film" in the wrong key, still a great gig though.

Their set at the St Kilda Festival ended a little too soon but all in attendance were dancing and having a good time in general which is what you want in a gig. Their last song "Low-Fi Records, Hi-Fi Radio" was a crowd pleaser as they moved to the groovy horns and guitar and sang along during the catchy chorus. They will be a band to watch in the future, click this link for their My Space page where you can preview some of their music.
http://www.myspace.com/theblackmarketrhythmco





I only got to see a couple of songs by Jackson Jackson, partly because they played the song I wanted to hear "Eliza" early on. The band I was really looking forward to seeing was The Angels. Admittedly, I haven't listened to The Angels in about 15 years but growing up with 3 older brothers they were heavily played in the house in my younger years. Funnily enough I still remembered all the words after all these years and knew every track they played. My mate Ako and I heard "Dogs are Talking" from the bar across the road and sped off towards the stage singing all the way.
From there we were treated to a non-stop marathon of hits from the past including "No Secrets", "Be With You", "Face the Day", "We Gotta Get Out of this Place", "Take a Long Line", "Marseilles" and their signature track "Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again", which was played early on. As the chants of "No Way, Get Fucked, Fuck Off" echoed around St Kilda I noticed there were a number of punters younger than me singing along which was good to see. It was also good to see Doc Neeson's voice was as good as ever and his theatrics were as present as ever. The set was a great dose of nostalgia and was enjoyed by all ages. After a few chants of "Angels" CLAP CLAP CLAP, Doc Neeson came back on stage to play a quick encore of "City Out of Control". I was completely deflated after the gig and unfortunately didn't have the energy for Tex Perkins & his Ladyboyz but a great day was had by all.

Dan Auerbach - Keep it Hid - Album Review

****
The solo debut album from Black Keys singer/songwriter/guitarist has just been released and it is a must have for all fans of The Black Keys or for those that wish they were a four-piece. Dan Auerbach has taken full control of this album, singing over a number of instruments including lead and rhythm guitar, drums, keyboards and percussion as well as taking responsibilty for the production and engineering at his own studio, Akron Anaolog.

The album opens with a great acoustic gospel song called "Trouble Weighs a Ton" and is the biggest departure from the heavier sound The Black Keys. The next track "I Want Some More" sounds a bit more familiar featuring some bluesy guitar and funky organ and one of the many highlights of the album. Like all good albums, it takes a few spins before the meldoies reveal themselves but it's worth the effort. Keep it Hid has all the things I love about The Black Keys but with the extra instrumentation and backing vocals, is different enough to be set apart, especially on tracks like "Heartbroken, In Disrepair", "Real Desire", "The Prowl" and "Street Walkin'". The quietier moments on the album like the before mentioned opening track, "When the Night Comes", "Whispered Words", "When I Left the Room" and closing track "Goin' Home" gives the debut album more depth. In conclusion this is a worthy and ecelectic release from The Black Keys frontman and after seeing him in action in January, more proof that he is a legend of our time.

Unforunately there are no film clips from the album yet but I here is the audio for "Street Walkin'".

Favourite Albums by Decade

2000 - 2009
1. The Dandy Warhols - Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia
2. Gomez - In Our Gun
3. The Beautiful Girls - Learn Yourself
4. Johnny Cash - American IV: The Man Comes Around
5. Mason Jennings - Century Spring
6. The White Stripes - Elephant
7. You Am I - Dilettantes
8. The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
9. The Strokes - Is This It
10. Jack Johnson - Brushfire Fairytales
11. Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R
12. Matt Costa - Songs We Sing
13. Ben Harper - Diamonds on the Inside
14. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
15. Damien Rice - O
16. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
17. The Black Keys - Attack and Release
18. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News
19. Cold War Kids - Robbers and Cowards
20. Gomez - How We Operate
21. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
22. Kings of Leon - A-ha Shake Heartbreak
23. Xavier Rudd - Solace
24. Beck - Guero
25. Jurassic 5 - Power in Numbers
26. Michael Franti - Songs from the Front Porch
27. Tool - 10,000 Days
28. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
29. Angus & Julia Stone - A Book Like This
30. Dr. Dog - Fate
31. Eels - Daisies of the Galaxy
32. The Beautiful Girls - Ziggurats
33. Mason Jennings - Boneclouds
34. Ween - La Cucharacha
35. Gomez - Split the Difference
36. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever You Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
37. Ben Harper - Both Sides of the Gun
38. Something for Kate - Echolalia
39. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
40. Okkervil River - The Stage Names
41. The Bees - Octopus
42. Donavon Frankenreiter - Self-Titled
43. Josh Pyke - Memories and Dust
44. Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová - Once (OST)
45. The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
46. Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
47. John Butler Trio - Three
48. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
49. The Panics - Cruel Guards
50. The Zutons - You Can Do Anything


1990 - 1999
1. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
2. Ben Harper - Fight For Your Mind
3. Rage Against the Machine - Self Titled
4. You Am I - Hi Fi Way
5. Stone Temple Pilots - Purple
6. Gomez - Liquid Skin
7. Jeff Buckley - Grace
8. Faith No More - King for a Day, Fool For a Lifetime
9. Tool - Aenima
10. Radiohead - OK Computer
11. R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
12. Pearl Jam - Vs
13. Elliott Smith - Figure 8
14. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
15. Beastie Boys - Ill Communication
16. Nirvana - Nevermind
17. Soundgarden - Superunknown
18. Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape
19. Something for Kate - Elsewhere for 8 Minutes
20. David Gray - White Ladder
21. Gomez - Bring it On
22. Spiderbait - Ivy and the Big Apples
23. Ben Harper - Welcome to the Cruel World
24. You Am I - Hourly, Daily
25. Radiohead - The Bends
26. Weezer - Self Titled (Blue)
27. Pearl Jam - Ten
28. Supergrass - Self-Titled
29. Ween - Chocolate & Cheese
30. Snout - Circle High and Wide
31. Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire
32. The Tea Party - Splendor Solis
33. Regurgitiator - Unit
34. Tool - Undertow
35. Ben Harper - The Will to Live
36. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
37. Faith No More - Album of the Year
38. Stone Temple Pilots - Core
39. Ween - The Mullosk
40. Tumbleweed - Galactaphonic
41. Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty
42. Nirvana - In Utero
43. The Lemonheads - It's a Shame about Ray
44. Soundgarden - Down on the Upside
45. The Verve - Urban Hymns
46. Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness
47. Stone Temple Pilots - Tiny Music
48. Red Hot Chili Peppers - One Hot Minute
49. Wilco - Summerteeth
50. Elliott Smith - XO




1980 - 1989
1. AC/DC - Back in Black
2. Faith No More - The Real Thing
3. Metallica - Master of Puppets
4. Violent Femmes - Self Titled
5. Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill
6. Cold Chisel - East
7. U2 - The Joshua Tree
8. Midnight Oil - 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
9. Travelling Wilburys - Vol. 1
10. Paul Simon - Graceland
11. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Mothers Milk
12. Aerosmith - Pump
13. Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction
14. R.E.M. - Green
15. Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
16. Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason
17. Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
18. The Angels - Two Minute Warning
19. Crowded House - Self-Titled
20. INXS - Kick
21. Cheap Trick - Lap of Luxury
22. Fleetwood Mac - Tango in the Night
23. Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
24. Cold Chisel - Twentieth Century
25. Minight Oil - Diesel and Dust
26. Guns N Roses - G'N'R Lies
27. U2 - Under a Blood Red Sky
28. Men at Work - Business as Usual
29. Pink Floyd - The Final Cut
30. Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A.

1970 - 1979
1. AC/DC - Highway to Hell
2. Neil Young - Harvest
3. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
4. Led Zeppelin - 4
5. Bob Marley - Exodus
6. The Beatles - Let It Be
7. Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman
8. The Doors - Morrison Hotel
9. Paul Simon - Self-Titled
10.The Who - Who's Next
11. Nick Drake - Pink Moon
12. John Lennon - Imagine
13. Lou Reed - Transformer
14. AC/DC - Powerage
15. Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps
16. The Angels - Face to Face
17. Pink Floyd - The Wall
18. Midnight Oil - Head Injuries
19. Radio Birdman - Radios Appear
20. Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic
21. Neil Young - Zuma
22. Bob Dylan - Desire
23. AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
24. The Eagles - Hotel California
25. Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
26. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
27. Paul Simon - Still Crazy After All These Years
28. Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
29. Aerosmith - Rocks
30. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

Free Download of new Gomez track

Click this link http://gomeztheband.com/ to get a free download of the excellent new Gomez song "Airstream Driver" from the upcoming album A New Tide. The album will be released on March 28th 2009 in Australia, March 30th in the UK and March 31st in the US. Gomez are my favourite band and can't wait for this to be released after hearing a preview when they played "Mix" and "Very Strange" on their tour of Australia last month. Here is the tracklisting and artwork for the new album.

1. "Mix"
2. "Little Pieces"
3. "If I Ask You Nicely"
4. "Lost Track"
5. "Win Park Slope"
6. "Bone Tired"
7. "Airstream Driver"
8. "Natural Reaction"
9. "Very Strange"
10."Other Plans"
11."Sunset Gates"








Here is a great live version of "How We Operate" from the bands previous album of the same name and the film clip for "Notice". I have also included "Machismo" and "Rhythm & Blues Alibi" for those who might not have heard the excellent sounds of Gomez before.

You Am I Clips

Here are a couple of great clips from You Am I's new Album Dilettantes which was my favourite album of 2008. I have also added Berlin Chair from their first album Sound as Ever just because I love it.

Tonight: Franz Ferdinand - Album Review

****
The new album by scottish four piece Franz Ferdinand is a return to the form of debut album. Their 3rd album opens with the funky dance track "Ulysses" which begins with a smooth bass line over whispered vocals leading into a thumping synth riff that keeps building until the catchy chorus kicks in. It is their best track since debut single "Take Me Out" and has been stuck in my head for a week. It is a promising start after their hit and miss second album You Could Have It So Much Better.

The album continues to bring the funk with "Turn It On", "No You Girls" and "Twilight Omens" featuring their trademark harmonised choruses and guitar hooks. The second half of the album doesn't quite reach the same level but there is enough good here to make it an enjoyable listen from start to finish. The epic length album version of "Lucid Dreams" does not work as well as the original 3 minute version that was released last year, but still has it's moments. "Bite Hard" opens with some gentle piano which transforms into another pumping dance anthem. "What She Came For" is another catchy dance/rock track as is "Can't Stop Feeling" which features some more dirty synth riffs.

The albums closing tracks "Dream Again" and "Katherine Kiss Me" are a quiet departure from the rest of the album, ditching the electronic sound for a more mellow vibe. This supports the bands assessment of the album having a dusk to dawn theme that starts with party songs and winds down as the album finishes. Although this album for the most part is more of the same, it is still their best album to date and an excellent addition to their catalogue. Here is the clip for the great new single "Ulysses"

Ben Harper and the Relentless7

Here are some cool live clips of Ben Harper with his new band Relenless 7 from a club in California called Spaceland in December last year. Hopefully they will play some extra shows around Australia when they come down in Easter to headline Bluesfest in Byron Bay. Their new album White Lies for Dark Times is due to be released on May 5th. Go to their My Space page to hear "Shimmer and Shine", the first taste of the new album as well as covers of Led Zeppelin's "Good Times, Bad Times" and Prince's "Purple Rain".

http://www.myspace.com/RELENTLESSSEVEN

Under Pressure (David Bowie Cover)


Lay There and Hate Me


Skin Thin


Boots Like These