Private Function, Being Jane Lane, Ascot Stabber and the Unknowns @ The Bearded Lady (15.2.2020)
Over the last few years, Private Function have established themselves as one of the most chaotic, engaging, memorable live acts in the Australian punk scene, and beyond. The Melbourne band bring forth top-quality, raucous punk music that is also highly entertaining, and oftentimes downright hilarious. They headed into this tour off the back of their brilliant debut full-length album St Anger, and a hosting gig on rage which saw them feature legendary artists like Limp Bizkit and Crazy Frog.
4ZZZ Top 20
1. Eliza & The Delusionals - Swimming Pool (Single)
2. Adele & The Chandeliers - Love You More (Single)
3. Good Boy - Extended Heavy (Single)
4. The Double Happiness - Wild Bikini (Single)
5. Steve Spacek - Houses (Album Of The Week)
6. Jaguar Jonze - Rabbit Hole (Single)
7. Cable Ties - Self-Made Man (Single)
8. EGOISM - You You (Single)
9. Tame Impala - The Slow Rush
10. Ella Fence - All I Do Is Think EP
11. Val Flynn - Deep Water (Feat. Kaylah Truth) (Single)
Jeremy Neale - 'We Were Trying to Make it Out'
Since his 2017 debut album release, Neale has had some great wins, he took out the 2018 Queensland Music Award for Song of The Year for single Dancin’ & Romancin’, signed a global publishing deal with GAGA International / Rough Trade Publishing, received extensive play across US college radio and was the recipient of the Grant McLennan Fellowship.
As part of this fellowship Neale spent three months in NYC during 2018, attending a songwriting masterclass at NYU, collaborating with local writers and as it turns out, most importantly, resetting his life. Many years stuck in a cycle of ever-changing work, relentless side-hustling and various degrees of financial ruin had taken a toll and the opportunity to escape the pressure cooker for a brief period of time helped immensely to cure the burnout.
We Were Trying to Make It Out is a record written across two cities and two years. Early Jeremy Neale recordings might have read as a tribute to those who came before him, but here on his second record - he has found his sound and his voice.
21st February 2020
King Krule: Man Alive! (Remote Control / XL Recordings)
Banoffee: Look At Us Now Dad (Dot Dash / Cascine)^
Review: Opera Queensland presents Hayley Sugars 'Songs of Desire'
It was the night of Valentine’s Day as the audience gathered in the Conservatorium Theatre, South Bank for an intimate performance that celebrated ‘Songs of Desire’. Although I was looking forward to witnessing the Opera Queensland Studio for the first time, the change of venue (due to unforeseen maintenance at the time) still made for a cosy night ahead where the audience could appreciate the talented mezzo-soprano Hayley Sugars.
Grimes: Miss Anthropocene
- A noticeable trend in these stream-heavy times is the tendency for artists to release a multitude of singles in advance of an album release. Tame Impala had four singles out prior to last week’s release of The Slow Rush, while Grimes has already released five singles from her brand new record Miss Anthropocene.
Wilsen: Ruiner
- I first discovered Wilsen in 2017 via a seemingly random YouTube auto-play algorithm. Their first full length album I Go Missing In My Sleep came out the same year. As a hazy series of quaint, yet fully realised vignettes, the Brooklyn trio were a welcome surprise. Approaching their second album Ruiner, it was clear that Wilsen would continue to dive deeper into their songs about the natural world.
King Krule: Man Alive!
<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>- At this stage, there has already been a lot of thought and words laid out over King Krule’s musical whims. All that are interested hear it clearly: an effortless blend of genre, a <em>woozy</em> production style, his commanding vocal delivery - bring out your <strong>Clash</strong> references or any other street-savvy UK band between here and the '80s and you can crack a <strong>King Krule</strong> conversation in a minute.
The Necks: Three
<p><span><span><span>- I feel like I should start this review with an apology. It’s kind of ridiculous that -</span><em>every time</em><span>- when I approach a new record by The Necks, I always do my head in with the meta conversation about what type of band is this, anyway? Are they jazz or an endless backing track? Are they experimental or just trucking infinite mindlessness? Are they some kind of live, traditionally orchestrated spin on techno? Would that relieve them of the unasked for intellectual burden placed upon them??
Various Artists: Seven Wonders - New Directions In Jazz And Soul
- Can you play a Rhodes and not sound jazzy? Perhaps that’s why a virulent strain of jazz has been steadily infecting the steadily evolving music -from Laneous to Jordan Rakei and a whole lot more- of (rhodes adoring) Australian neo-soul.