Flying Lotus

A lot of people I know hate hip-hop. I don't blame them, there's a lot of shite out there. But one of the things that makes good hip-hop great, is the beats behind them. So what happens if you take out the rhymes and focus on the music? You get Flying Lotus.


For those of you that watch Adult Swim, he produces most of the beats for the cuts and promos. Even if you ignore how awesome those 10 second cuts can be, his new album is a stand out reason to listen to him. Called Cosmogramma, it has electronic, hip-hop and just random hipsters all over the world raving. Oh, and me. It's hard to describe, as he goes from orchestral moments in songs like A Cosmic Drama, to bass heavy beats like in Nose Art and trip-hop like in Drips. It's just an amazing album of modern music.

We're lucky enough to get him out on a tour Sunday the 2nd of January at the Tivoli. 18+

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The Lemonheads tour a classic album

It's a damn shame when a band is best-known for a cover song. The Lemonheads hit their popularity with a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's Mrs Robinson. But just before they put out this song, these 90's alternative rockers released a great album: It's a Shame About Ray.


To celebreate almost 20 years since then (shit eh, lots of bands from my youth are doing that now, I'm getting old and they figured out how to milk us for money) they are coming around and doing an intimate club tour to perform the album (and hopefully a few other songs as well). For those of you that didn't realize, most of this album was actually written in our fine country.

30th November at the Zoo. 18+

They put out a CD earlier this year called Varshons, featuring their take on some amazing (and probably obscure to most people) covers. I recommend you check it out on the hope that they play some of these songs.

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Praise to the Reverend!

Pyschobilly. It's an under appreciated genre that mixes punk, rockabilly, country and a little bit of goth/horror overtones. One of the best bands in the genre, formed the same year I was born, is Reverend Horton Heat.

As you can see from the video, that is what psychobilly is about. It almost makes you want to dress up like in Back to the Future when Marty goes back to the 60s and just dance around like an idiot.

Luckily, we'll get the chance to do that soon, as the Reverend is bringing his show out to Brisbane. Playing December 12 at the HiFi, 18+. Tickets

If all country music was this amazing, I'd love country music.

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Inxs

When I lived in America, the one Australian band I couldn't stop listening to whenever I felt homesick was Inxs. Kick is still just an amazing album. And here's the proof:

Of course Michael Hutchence is gone now (RIP you legend), Kirk is a celebrity Masterchef and the new singer JD Fortune comes and goes with his cocaine addiction. As far as I know, he's back, as he played the first AFL final with Inxs a few weeks back. The final was obviously a practice for them, as they are about to hit the road for yet another Day on the Green run of shows (who have had some stellar line ups this year).

They'll be playing the Sirromet winery in Mt Cotton on January 30th. And being a Day on the Green, you know there'll be bands of the same era and style playing. This tour has Australia's 90's rockers Baby Animals, Sean Kelly (lead singer of the Models) and from America, Train (the band that made Charlie Sheen beat his wife).

The Paper Scissors

The last week or so I've been announcing lots of indie tours in the new year, based around bands with what I deem "jangly indie guitars". So I think it's time I mentioned a local band doing it, instead of my fan-boy worship of the Canadian bands that seem to do it oh so well.


Introducing the Paper Scissors. These boys have been doing the Australian indie scene for a few years now and you've probably heard their music if you've ever listened to Triple J or seen all of Underbelly (they had a song pop up in the series, in between the shootings and the hookers and the cocaine).

They've got a new album coming out soon, but for now they've got a new single out, called Lung Sum (grab a copy of it here). They are about to embark on a great Australian tour to show case their new stuff, and you can catch them at Alhambra on the 21st of October (18+/$10).

MySpace

Edit: Their MySpace said Tempo, but apparently it's Alhambra. My bad. Thanks to SGC for pointing that out

Born Ruffians

Born Ruffians is a Canadian band that slots into that nice little genre I like so much: indie with jangly guitars and offbeat tempos.


I haven't listened to their new album yet (called Say It) but I hear that it's just good toe-tapping indie fun like their first album, which I do like.

They'll be playing the Zoo on January 5th (18+). I think whoever booked this in Brisbane needs to have his head examined. The same night as Sunset Sounds, they may not get a very good turnout.

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Owen Pallett

It's good for people to listen to a different kind of music every now and then. And Owen Pallett is a very long way away from a lot of the music I listen to. And I still like it.

Owen is a multi-instrumentalist known for a few things. For one, he composes a lot of the string arrangements for Canada's orchestral-rock supergroup, the Arcade Fire. He's also known for his solo work, which up until recently has gone by the name Final Fantasy.

This year he changed monikers back to his name and put out an excellent album by the name of Heartland. His style can best be described as layered strings in an electronic-orchestral style with haunting vocals. His new album is a narrative about an ultra-violent farmer having a one sided dialogue with his creator. An interesting concept, which you would think doesn't lend itself to his style; but it does.

Sure, it may not be what a lot of my friends listen to, but give it a chance. He will be coming to Australia and playing a show at the Old Museum on the 25th of January. I think it will be a beautiful surrounding for his beautiful music.

MySpace

Review: Ben Kweller/Delta Spirit, the HiFi, October 5 2010

I'd like to thank the HiFi for giving me tickets to this show. I didn't even know about it until I entered the competition in their email, and I was mighty surprised to win. Luckily, my roomate is a Ben Kweller fan, so it wasn't hard to find someone to go with.


I went along not expecting much, just to enjoy the show. I had heard both bands before and they weren't exactly my scene: more of an alt-country style of music, with Kweller being a singer-songwriter that all the young ladies swooned for. This show blew away all of my expectations.

Delta Spirit from California were the opening band, who on record sound like country/surfwave indie. Nice and relaxing, with some absolutely beautiful songs, but not what I would imagine great live. They obviously had a point to make with me, as they came out with a great wall of sound and noise, nothing like their recordings. Although the crowds weren't into them (there was lots of audible talking in the quieter moments) they kept up a great intensity. At times the band members were running off and coming back with extra drums or rubbish bin lids just to make more noise.

Through all of the noise and energy, they still managed to sing some absolutely beautiful songs. Delta Spirit's song writing is just a step above.

When they finished, I had a look around and was blown away. The HiFi was almost packed like a can of sardines. Ben Kweller had a much bigger and more loyal fan base than I knew. Ben Kweller himself, he was like a baby-faced Dave Mustaine, wearing a camouflague tank top and rocking a rock-star like hangover. Which he kept apologising to the crowd about, in between spraying his throat with both numbing gel and lube.

Ben was backed by 2 absolutely amazing musicians on drums and bass. The bass player was so amazing that I spent most of the show just staring at his quick fingers; he is definitely in the wrong band here. Ben's songs translated well to a large band, and he played up to it. At times he was dancing around dancing to the music and busting out some quite impressive guitar solos.

Surprisingly, I recognized most of his songs. And so did the crowd. Lots of sing alongs. I was extremely sirprised by how great this show was. So thank you HiFi for the free tickets!

Future of the Left tour

As I'm sure I've mentioned on here a lot, I love noise rock. I especially love noisy non-sensical rock that loves to take the piss. So I love the scrappy Welsh noise rockers Future of the Left.

They just put together a lot of noise and a lot of non-sensical lyrics. They came out here last year (almost to the day of their upcoming tour) and put on one of the loudest and best shows I have ever seen at the Zoo. Everyone loves them, given the makeup of the crowd: metalheads, hipsters, old people, hippies... everyone.

There's no better way of describing them apart from saying "a damn good time." You can have a great time with them on January 3 at the Zoo. They sold out quickly this time last year, so get in quickly. 18+

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Comeback Kid/Architects/This Is Hell/Rolo Tomassi

On December 3 there is going to be an amazing hardcore show at the HiFi, featuring the all international line up of Architects, This is Hell and Canada's Comeback Kid. Well, we're going to get even luckier, as a fourth international band has been added: Britain's Rolo Tomassi.



Don't know Rolo Tomassi? That's a pity, you should. They are a female led, synth-driven mathcore. There's nothing about that description that does not make me instantly happy.

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