Doves - Kingdom of Rust - Album Review

1. "Jetstream" – 5:30
2. "Kingdom of Rust" – 5:11
3. "The Outsiders" – 3:28
4. "Winter Hill" – 5:18
5. "10:03" – 4:04
6. "The Greatest Denier" – 3:59
7. "Birds Flew Backwards" – 2:51
8. "Spellbound" – 5:39
9. "Compulsion" – 5:14
10."House of Mirrors" – 4:20
11."Lifelines" – 4:26

Rating: ****1/2
The 4th studio album from UK band Doves is my favourite album of the year so far. I hadn't listened to Doves since they released Some Cities in 2005 and had somehow forgotten how good they are. I have rediscovered their back catalogue in a big way after hearing Kingdom of Rust which was an easier first listen than their previous releases. They have a small following outside the UK, despite rave reviews around the world, like fellow underrated Manchester lads Elbow. They also released their 4th and most accomplished album last year, taking out the Mercury Prize for The Seldom Seen Kid. Kingdom of Rust is of the same quality and is my early tip for this years Mercury Prize. Doves were nominated for their first two albums Lost Souls and The Last Broadcast but missed out. Both bands have taken great steps on their 4th albums and with Gomez are the best bands out of the UK at the moment.
Opening track "Jetstream" is a perfect example of Doves epic sound and they do it naturally without overdoing it. First single "Kingdom of Rust" is an instant classic that starts with a Spaghetti Western feel and soars into an epic piano driven chorus. The highlight of the album appears on the 9th track "Compulsion" and it's all about the funky bass. The whole album is excellent and although it might not achieve commercial success, it will be a favourite among real music fans and critics alike.

Splendour in the Grass 2009 - Lineup - (Updated 16.6.09)

The 2nd Announcement for Splendour in the Grass 09 has just been announced and here it is.
The complete second line-up is:
Happy Mondays (in their only Australian show)
Doves
You Am I
The Beautiful Girls
Downsyde & Drapht
Architecture In Helsinki
Kisschasy
Little Red
Bluejuice
Children Collide
Miami Horror Live
Art vs Science
Paul Dempsey
Dappled Cities
Dananananaykroyd
Holly Throsby
Bridezilla
Deya Dova

The highly anticipated Splendour in the Grass festival is returning to Belongil Fields in Byron Bay once again and have delivered another stellar lineup, especially on the local front. On the international front we have Janes Addiction reforming with their original lineup after disbanding for the second time in 2003 after their great Big Day Out shows which I witnessed on the Gold Coast. Last years hype band MGMT are coming back after visiting Australia in December last year which will get the kids dancing. Splendour whores Bloc Party return for their 3rd time adding their new album Intimacy to their already impressive swag of hits. The Flaming Lips will bring their quirky sounds to the festival for the first time.
The local talent on the bill is just as impressive with something for everyone. Kram will be playing without his Spiderbait bandmates who played some great sets at the festival in 2002 and 2004 and his debut album has plenty of festival friendly tunes. Bob Evans, Sarah Blasko, Augie March and Josh Pyke will bring some cruisy sounds to Byron Bay and Midnight Juggernauts, Hilltop Hoods and Grinspoon will pump up the festival crowd. Leader Cheetah have just released their excellent debut The Sunspot Letters and have recently played some well received support shows with Elbow, Dan Auerbach and The Temper Trap. All tickets will sold online at http://www.qjump.com.au/ and go on sale on Thursday 14th May at 9am. Here is the full line-up so far.

Bloc Party (only Oz show) / The Flaming Lips / Jane’s Addiction / MGMT (only Oz show) / Hilltop Hoods / Grinspoon / Midnight Juggernauts / The Specials / Sarah Blasko / Augie March / Josh Pyke / Friendly Fires / Little Birdy / Birds Of Tokyo / The Gutter Twins / Manchester Orchestra / Yuksek / Bob Evans / White Lies / Kram / Yves Klein Blue / Decoder Ring / Lost Valentinos / Leader Cheetah / Jack Ladder / The Middle East / Polaroid Fame / Glass Towers.

Saturday July 25th and Sunday July 26th 2009
Belongil Fields

New Music - April 2009

Here are some of my favourite songs and their film clips from the year so far. Enjoy.

Chill City 09 - Melbourne - Friday 10th April

Chill City was the closest Victorians could get to Bluesfest this year with most of the artists on the bill also playing the legendary event in Byron Bay. With only one stage, the organisers picked a lineup to entertain all ages which ranged from young children through to seniors, all seeming to be enjoying themselves. My wife and I arrived at 2:30 to catch the beginning of Ben Kweller. His latest album Changing Horses is a country album and sounded great live with his slide guitarist providing some authentic country fills. After opening with the an older track "Walk On Me", the upbeat set covered his whole catalogue swapping between guitar on piano with varying success after some technical issues with the mic. His smile showed it didn't dampen his spirits any, even hugging the roadie at the end of the set to show there was no hard feelings."On My Way", "Sawdust Man", "Falling" and "Sundress" were all crowd favourites and the set finished with the highlight "Penny on the Train Track".

The Easy Star All Stars are a band who have re-recorded reggae versions of whole albums including Radiohead's OK Computer, The Beatles' Sgt Peppers and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon with excellent results. Opening with "Sgt Pepper" and "With a Little Help From My Friends" they played tracks from all 3 albums and got the crowd up and dancing, especially the children. The set finished with a fantastic version of Radiohead's "Karma Police". Chill City was living up to it's name and whole families were able to enjoy themselves on their deck chairs or picnic rugs with a great soundtrack.
Paul Kelly was next on stage playing an hour long set of crowd pleasers. It is no mystery why he is one of Australia's most popular singer-songwriters and most of the crowd left their chairs and blankets to get a closer look. Back up singers Vika and Linda Bull were a great addition to the band on "Love Never Runs on Time" and "Deeper Water" with Vika Bull providing the days highlight taking the lead on a chilling version of "Sweet Guy". Other classics included "Dumb Things", "Before Too Long", "To Her Door", "When I First Met Your Ma" and the newer track "God Told Me To" evoking many a sing-along amongst the diverse crowd. "How to Make Gravy" was also greeted with crowd delight and rounded out the best set I have seen Paul Kelly play yet. Next up was The Bamboos feat Betty Harris who are a great instrumental band and went down well with about half the crowd, others were just awaiting John Buter Trio's arrival to the stage.

At 8pm John Butler Trio got on stage for a 2 hour set to please the old and the new fans. I fall in the former category and haven't listened to JBT much of late but a few songs into the set was reminded why I loved them in the first place. JBT sound best in a live capacity and their ability to win a crowd is as strong as ever. Over several lineup changes, John Butler has always been an excellent live performer and songwriter and put on one hell of a show on this occasion. This was also the last time this trio would be playing together in Melbourne and John Butler's only shows for 2009. Opening with "Company Sin" the hits were paraded out early with "Pick Apart", "Betterman" and "Used to Get High" warming the crowd up for the longer tracks that were played mid set. The epic instrumental track "Ocean" showcased Butler's excellent guitar playing skills and as the song built to a dramatic climax the crowd went wild. During "Good Excuse", drummer Michael Barker broke into the best drum solo I have ever seen which went for about 10 mins and made me wonder why John Butler would let this genius leave his band. The set finished with an extended jam version of "Zebra" featuring some call and response from the crowd. For the encore, John Butler took the stage by himself with his acoustic guitar for the ode to his children "Peaches and Cream" which was favourite from Sunrise Over Sea and only was only improved when the band joined him the second half of the song. The banjo was bought out for "Better Than" and the slide guitar was also featured earlier in the set on "Treat Yo Mama". That bought an end to a great day of music and rekindled my love for one of Australia's best musicians.

Gomez - A New Tide - Album Review

Rating: ****
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"

I have waited a few weeks to let Gomez's 6th studio album sink in before making any judgment on it and after repeated listens, A New Tide has started to grow on me. It is not their best but they are a band that don't make the same album over and over and that's one of the reasons I love them. It is less radio friendly than their previous effort How We Operate, sounding more like their underrated 3rd album In Our Gun. Not to say that they are no catchy somgs on the album with tracks like "If I Ask You Nicely", "Natural Reaction" and excellent first single "Airstream Driver" all having an upbeat vibe. The acoustic guitar is heavily featured on this album and all 3 vocalists share the lead on singing duties, with some excellent backing vocals on every track. Their latest offering has received mixed reviews but I really enjoyed it as whole album, even though there were not as many stand-out tracks as usual. I may be biased though because they are probably my favourite band. The distinctive vocals of Ben Ottewell on "Little Pieces", "Lost Track", "Bone Tired" and "Sunset Gates" are reason enough for Gomez fans to be excited about another release. I am glad I persevered with this album becuase it is getting better with every listen and a worthy addition to their impressive catalogue. I will look forward to seeing them back in Australia to tour this album, hopefully this year sometime.

Ben Harper - Triple J's Like a Version

Here is the audio from Ben Harper's recent visit to Triple J's studio to perform "Number With No Name" and a cover of David Bowie's "Under Pressure" for Like A Version. It also includes an interview discussing the new album White Lies for Dark Times,the Bluesfest shows, his recent time on stage with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr and the his new band Relentless7. Also included is the video of "Under Pressure" and "Number With No Name" from JJJ's studio without the interviews.

Lady of the Sunshine - Smoking Gun - Album Review

01. Silver Revolver
02. Home Sweet Home
03. White Rose parade
04. Jack Nimble
05. Big Jet Plane
06. Smoking Gun
07. Daisychain
08. The Wolf
09. Anna
10. Kings Black Magic
11. Dead Mans Train
12. Lady Sunshine
Rating: ****
Ever since hearing the first single"White Rose Parade" played on JJJ I have been anticipating the new album by Lady of the Sunshine, Angus Stone's side project . Smoking Gun is a more eclectic album than previous releases by Angus and Julia Stone with his sister. The album is great on it's louder moments when he swaps the acoustic guitar for an electric on "Smoking Gun" and lead single "White Rose Parade" . "Kings Black Magic" starts nice and gentle with an acoustic guitar strumming over soft vocals but then morphs into a thumping chorus which provides one of the albums highlights. "Big Jet Plane" is one catchier songs on the album featuring a chorus that has been stuck in my head many times, same goes with opening track "Silver Revolver". The slower acoustic numbers highlight Stone's songwriting talents, particularly on "The Wolf", "Daisychain" and "Anna". "Jack Nimble"and "Lady Sunshine" show off Stone's impressive vocal range and are standout tracks. Hopefully this will not be a one-off project for Stone but there have been no live dates announced as yet. A fantastic debut showing a new side to a very talented musician.

V Festival Melbourne - 4th April 2009 - Review

This years V Festival line-up was not quite as impressive as 2008's but as the festival was so well run I decided to go again. This time it was with a 10 strong posse to celebrate my friend Ako's 30th. After starting the day off with several schooners at the Newmarket Tavern we got through the gate as The Do were playing their fantastic song "On My Shoulders". After grabbing some beers at the bar we headed straight for That Stage to catch the band that I and a few others were most looking forward to seeing, Elbow. The Seldom Seen Kid was one of the best albums of last year and was featured heavily in the hour and fifteen minute set. Opening track from the latest album "Starlings" opened the set with the whole band playing trumpets and it sounded fantastic. Also joining the band on stage were 2 identically dressed violinists who also played in moved in unison and added something special to the stage. "The Bones of You" and "Mirrorball" from the Mercury Award winning album followed and sounded as good if not better than the recorded versions. Singer Guy Garvey interacted with the crowd with ease as he told jokes and introduced the songs with the confidence that comes with 18 years of playing live. The title track from the bands previous album "Leaders of the Free World" upped the tempo a bit and the crowd seemed to be getting into it, even the though it was not as big as it should have been. The crowd favourite from the set would have been "Grounds for Divorce" featuring the best guitar slide riff ever and would have been the best track of the day had it not been for the set's closer "One Day Like This" which I'm still getting chills from just thinking about it. It is a mystery why this band isn't bigger than Radiohead and should have attracted the biggest crowd of the day. Even more baffling was when half of my friends left to see Vanilla Ice try to steal another 15 minutes of fame. But for those who were there to see it, it was an amazing performance and my favourite set of the day.
After Elbow finished I was free to enjoy the day without worrying too much about the timetable. Razorlight were up next on This Stage (Main Stage) and decided to catch half of their set before seeing The Kills. They sounded great and I got to see plenty of their hits including "Back to the Start", "Stumble and Fall" and "In the Morning" before heading the The Other Stage for The Kills. I only started listening to The Kills about a month ago when it was announced they would be playing V Festival and have become an instant fan. For a 2 piece they pumped out some volume and played a great set with the highlights being "U R A Fever", "Black Balloon" and the excellent "Cheap and Cheerful". It was another great set that had the crowd dancing and singing along.
Next up were Kaiser Chiefs who played a great set that had the crowd singing due to their easy to remember and repetitive choruses ("Ruby", "Na Na Na Na Naa"). At a festival after a few beers though it is exactly what you want. It was the most fun we had for the day and was surprised at how many hits they had over 3 albums. Highlights were "I Predict a Riot", "The Angry Mob", "Never Miss a Beat" and the sets closer"Oh My God". I decided to have a look at Snow Patrol but after high energy performance of Kaiser Chiefs they seemed a bit dull so we headed back for the final act The Killers. I've never been a fan of The Killers before but everyone else I went with were big fans of Hot Fuss and were excited to see them so I gave them a chance to win me over. I was glad a did because they played a good set, especially when they played anything from Hot Fuss and the crowd went ballistic. The newer material didn't receive as good a reception but they spaced out their hits for the first half of the set before they finished with a string of crowd favourites (see setlist below), "All These Things That I've Done" and "When You Were Young" were my personal highlights. Once again the V Festival has organised a great day and although the lineup didn't impress me much on paper, in the end there was great live music played all day and I will be back next year as long as there is one great band on the list like Elbow to get me there.

The Killers Setlist
Spaceman / Losing Touch / Somebody Told Me / For Reasons Unknown / This Is Your Life / Joy Ride / Human / Bling (Confession of a King) / Shadowplay / Smile Like You Mean It / A Dustland Fairytale / Sam's Town / Read My Mind / Mr. Brightside / All These Things That I've Done
Encore: Bones / Jenny Was a Friend of Mine /When You Were Young

Simon and Garfunkel To Tour Australia and NZ

Simon & Garfunkel have just announced that they will be touring Australia and New Zealand for the first time in over 25 years. This comes as exciting news to me and many others who will no doubt snap up the tickets in no time. Art Garfunkel recently joined Paul Simon on stage for an unannounced one off performance in New York and there are no other dates planned for 2009 as yet.
This will most likely be the last chance to see this classic duo live in this country and they have a large catalogue of hits to pick from, especially if Paul Simon plays some of his solo material. Tickets go on sale on Friday 17th April.

Tour Dates are:
13 June - Vector Arena Auckland, NZ
17 June - Entertainment Centre Brisbane, QLD
20 June - Acer Arena Sydney, NSW
21 June - Acer Arena Sydney, NSW
25 June - Rod Laver Arena Melbourne, VIC
26 June - Rod Laver Arena Melbourne, VIC
30 June - Entertainment Centre Adelaide, SA
2 July - Burswood Dome Perth, WA

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz - Album Review

****
1. "Zero" 4:25
2. "Heads Will Roll" 3:41
3. "Soft Shock" 3:53
4. "Skeletons" 5:02
5. "Dull Life" 4:08
6. "Shame and Fortune" 3:31
7. "Runaway" 5:13
8. "Dragon Queen" 4:02
9. "Hysteric" 3:50
10. "Little Shadow" 3:57

For their 3rd album, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have headed to the dancefloor replacing their loud guitars with synth to great effect. Kicking the album off with first single "Zero", Karen O squeals, croaks and moans beautifully through the songs sexually charged lyrics over dance beats and synth. It's one of their finest songs to date and one of the highlights of It's Blitz. "Off With Your Head" is their catchiest song to date and will stay in your head long after you've heard it. Hidden amongst all the beautiful choruses and dance beats are darker moments like the atmospheric "Skeletons" and the albums closer "Little Shadows". Other highlights on the album are "Shame and Fortune", ""Dragon Queen" and "Hysteric" with no real filler unlike the YYYs previous two albums. With word of an Australian tour for later this year (possibly for Splendour in the Grass), they are sure to be one of the biggest bands of 2009.
TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek and Nick Launay (Nick Cave, Supergrass) add to their already excellent track record with production on this album. Below is the great new clip "Zero" as well as a track from each of their previous albums, "Maps" from Fever to Tell and "Gold Lion" from Show Your Bones.