Gig Review: Fabulous Diamonds

FABULOUS DIAMONDS

WHITE HEX / PEOPLE PERSON

2 SEPTEMBER 2012

CURTIN BANDROOM, CARLTON, VICTORIA

Melbourne hypno-groove duo Fabulous Diamonds spent three days in June 2011 recording their third LP, the tongue-in-cheekily titled Commercial Music, in the upstairs bandroom of the John Curtin Hotel in Carlton. How fitting it was, then, for them to return to the scene of the crime three months later to launch that very album. And really, this evening was to be a stunner, for joining them were two very engaging local duos, White Hex and People Person.

White Hex kicked off the proceedings with aplomb, delivering a mesmerising half-hour set of splintery, spidery gothic post-punk tunes in the vein of Cocteau Twins, Crime And The City Solution and Faith-era The Cure. These two “tropical goth” musos – Tara Green on bass and Jimi Kritzler on guitar – were absolutely brilliant, proving to this scribe that it pays to arrive at gigs early.

People Person were up next, another boy/girl duo. Standing side by side in front of a pair of tabletop sequencers and mixing boards, Nathan Gray and Julie Burleigh created a pastiche of post-experimentalist ambient electronica with the beating heart of an 8-bit video game. Riveting and hypnotic, it sounded a bit like Aphex Twin having been commissioned to perform the soundtrack to Castlevania.

When Fabulous Diamonds made their way to the stage, the Curtin’s bandroom was nearly packed. Nisa Venerosa perched behind her drum-kit, and Jarrod Zlatic sat behind a large and rather archaic looking synthesizer and then they were off. There are many adjectives to describe the music of Fabulous Diamonds – tribal, forceful, assertive and enigmatic certainly come to mind. Venerosa and Zlatic set the tone of their set right off the bat with Commercial Music’s strange, ethereal opening track, "Inverted Vamp".

A veritable wall of noise was created in which one could lose one’s self. With Venerosa’s commanding voice dissected by distortion into a crescendo of discombobulated syllables and her thundering tom-heavy drums layered over Zlatic’s icy synths and vintage electronic sounds, Fabulous Diamonds’ new material came across as supremely textured and fully realised statements of sheer sonic hooliganism. Closing out their set with an epic and gleefully deranged song called "Downhill", Fabulous Diamonds proved tonight that not only are they a bloody force of nature, they’ve also released one of the most captivating albums I’ve heard in quite some time. Summed up as a whole, this gig stands out as one of the best of the year.

Please find below a track selected from the new album Commercial Music - the haunting and beguiling "Lothario". Cheers, kids!

Gig Review: Cut Copy.

CUT COPY

5 MAY 2011

PALACE THEATRE

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Cut Copy brought their shimmering white-light disco stylings back home to Melbourne on a beautiful and crisp Thursday evening at the stately Palace Theatre in the CBD, and my wife and I were there to breathe in the intoxicating fumes of one of the more reliably consistent live acts I've had the pleasure of seeing multiple times. But this was the first time I've seen them as a quartet as opposed to a trio, and funnily enough my wife C. and I were standing next to a nice looking couple near the mixing booth at the beginning of the show (we'd missed, sadly, the opening band, The Holidays) when the gentleman leaned over and told us that he was the bassist's brother-in-law. He pointed at his partner. "That's his sister," he muttered, sounding as if he'd had a few beers. Her brother, of course, would have been Ben Browning, who was brought into Cut Copy's fold for the recording and touring of their third full-length album Zonoscope. Browning's sister looked rather embarrassed, and then they moved on to another location; I'd reckon she probably said something like this to him later: I'd really appreciate it if you didn't say that to strangers again. Who knows; C and I found it funny and rather charming. I'd probably tell people if I was related to a member of Cut Copy.

But I digress. At 10 sharp, the lights went down and the lilting notes of the instrumental "Visions," from In Ghost Colours, began streaming from the speakers. Segueing perfectly into "Nobody Lost, Nobody Found," the 90-minute set sparked into life, bathing the sold-out environs of the Palace in a delectable feast of sparkling guitar-based synth-pop that not only reminded one of the halcyon days of the best of the '80s, but also revealed a bopping '60s mentality that wouldn't have been out of place on a Beach Boys record. Of particular notice were the tracks off the new album, which – man, oh man – they positively shone, they were so damn tight and achingly beautiful. "Need You Now," the slow-burning and powerful first single off Zonoscope, practically soared through the ceiling with Dan Whitford's angelic vocals and Erasure-reminiscent synth loops. "Take Me Over" never ceased to delight, what with its impossible-to-shake-from-one's-head catchiness – as I said before, a great driving song. A shimmering surf-rock feeling washes over the sunny "Where I'm Going," and the chants and droid-dance quirkiness of "Pharaohs & Pyramids" gave the audience a taste of the influence Kraftwerk has had on their musical palates. But, I was most curious about, what was "Sun God," that 15-minute behemoth of majestic synths, boisterous percussion, squalling guitars, and dreamy rhythms, going to sound like in a live setting? Fucking awesome, is the answer. I'm telling you: It was simply crazy. Say what you will about the Cut Copy live experience – "Sun God" was different. They just went batshit. Crazy feedback, an extra drummer, a video screen in the centre of the stage displaying objects blowing up in slow motion in a desert somewhere, aggressive lighting, and, simply put, four dudes on stage grinning like idiots and having the time of their lives made this a bloody standout. 


Oh, Cut Copy: your live shows are turning into events. And that's a great thing. After two encores, they finished with the gorgeous "Feel The Love." I think the crowd filing out of the Palace Theatre felt that way about Cut Copy's music. It was amazing, and I for one cannot wait to see what they do next.


Here's 28 seconds of "Sun God" I filmed on my iPhone:

setlist

visions

nobody lost, nobody found

where i'm going

so haunted

corner of the sky

lights and music

take me over

saturdays

pharaohs & pyramids

hearts on fire

sun god

-----

need you now

out there on the ice

-----

feel the love

Oh, and here's Cut Copy performing "Saturdays" live for NYC's Fearless Music.

Album Review: Seekae.

SEEKAE

+DOME

©2011 Rice Is Nice/Popfrenzy

Sydneysiders Alex Cameron, George Nicholas, and John Hassel – better known as electronic "ghetto ambient" trio Seekae – have released their sophomore LP +Dome and connoisseurs of intelligent and thoughtful music everywhere can rejoice. "Ghetto ambient." This description of their sound, half-jokingly coined by the band to describe their ebullient and emotive crossbreeding of ambient electronica and glitchy experimental pop. Being a record that generously rewards repeat listens, +Dome expands greatly from where its predecessor, 2008's The Sound of Trees Falling On People (GREAT album title, BTW) left off. It builds on the kick-ass 8-bit fuzzy electronica and ambience with a stellar washing over of layered beats, string arrangements, sampled noises, and the heavy bass one might expect to hear at a late-night London drum 'n' bass club. And there's glockenspiels! Bloody glockenspiels! I don't know about you, but I'm crazy mad for glockenspiels.

The magic begins with opener "Go," with its slow-building guitars over a snare drum and a throbbing bass, releasing finally with the aural imagery of a stream of icy cold water trickling over a field of pebbles as we launch into "Blood Bank," which I think of as a beautiful melding of Kid A-era Radiohead and Crystal Castles. "Two" invokes images children playing, it's so delicate with its intricacies and fragmented percussion. The lovely "Gnor," with its sparse strings, swells with emotion – I'm reminded of a sunset, the colours of the sky changing minutely as the sun bids adieu. There are so many surprises and wonderful moments on +Dome; I won't try to tell you about them. Rather, this is a record that demands to be listened to multiple times. There's always something new lurking in the background or just around the corner that hasn't been noticed before. Fucking amazing. One of the best records of the year, so far.

Here, for your listening enjoyment, is "Mingus."

Album Review: Cut Copy. "Zonoscope"

CUT COPY

ZONOSCOPE

©2011 Modular Recordings

One knows, as soon as Cut Copy's third full-length album Zonoscope begins with opening track "Need You Now" and its delightfully delicate marriage of crystalline synths and dreamy guitars, that this Melbourne band's trajectory is true. 


On the 27th January this year, when Cut Copy first released "Need You Now," I'd written:

"Dan Whitford's vocals are as emotive as ever, and the rhythms put forward by Tim Hoey and Mitchell Scott, while tinged with a delicacy and deliberation that bring to mind the best of '80s New Wave, still contain a contemporary edge guaranteed to get asses out there on that fucking dance floor." 

Well! Now that the album's been out for a couple of months, and Cut Copy is poised to return home for their homecoming Australian tour in a week's time, I feel the need to squawk a bit from my little box and declare just how fucking awesome Zonoscope is. A great rollicking song that's perfect for driving can be found in the wonderful "Take Me Over." "Alisa" brings together '60s harmonies with a surf-rock sensibility. The rather surreal "Blink and You'll Miss A Revolution," one of the album's denser tracks, brings to mind some of the house epics that were popular on dance floors back in the early '90s and positively soars at moments. And then there's the experimental "Pharoahs & Pyramids," that's abuzz with cool sound effects, vocal distortions, and a nice bass-y synth line that bumbles merrily along its way. 


BUT – nothing on this great blue Earth could have prepared me for the joyous awesome power of the closing track, "Sun God." Holy crap, it's ... shit, it's just fucking amazing. Fifteen minutes and five seconds of just pure, incredible, and game-changing pop, "Sun God" WILL stop you in your tracks and cause you to say to yourself, "Wait – what? What the hell was that?" And then you'll play it a second time and let its lush brilliance wash over you again. A hypnotic piece of ever-shifting musical ideas, "Sun God" as a whole is made up of several distinct genres, constantly evolving and becoming something else as it charges along on a crazy, wonderful ride. Hyperbole on the part of this blogger? I doubt it. When I listen to it, I can't help but wonder if the boys have been listening to a lot of Kraut Rock; there's a distinct Tangerine Dream feel to the whole affair, with some Can-style percussions thrown in here and there and was that a ghost of Kraftwerk I heard in there at 9:19? Check out the cowbells that kick in at the three-minute mark! Oh, I just love this track; it's worth the price of admission alone. Here – listen to it yourself and see.


 Cut Copy - Sun God by modularpeople 


And here's the video for the first single, "Need You Now."





Cheers, friends, and have a great day!

Safely Landed.

Well, kids – I would seem to have safely returned to the land Down Under. It's been a tough few weeks, but I've finally re-tiled, re-carpeted, and re-painted my San Francisco flat; and, having found a property manager, have rented said flat to a couple of nice tenants. SO! Now that I'm back on terra firma (the time spent in planes and airports to get across the Pacific Ocean is obscene), I would like to officially announce that Second Drawer Up is back in business. Cheers everybody – and thank you for your patience! Coming up in the next few days are going to be some reviews of new music by Art Vs Science and Cut Copy, a look at Sheffield noise artists Cabaret Voltaire, Gary Numan news, a foray into some great DJs, and – of course – the music, videos, and photos you've come to expect from my little corner of the internet. I, for one, am totally looking forward to it! Thanks again. You guys mean the world to me!


The above picture, by the way, is that of an echidna – one of two mammals (both Australian natives) that lay eggs. Bonus points to whoever can comment with the other egg-laying oddity!

New Music: Cut Copy.

Zonoscope, Cut Copy's eagerly awaited third album, will be released 4 February this year. I, for one, am tremendously excited; Cut Copy has always been a riveting band, delivering music that is breathtaking in its delirious futuristic beauty. The quartet from my adopted city Melbourne, Australia (they used to be a trio, but they've recently brought on their fourth member, Ben Browning, on bass), through their first two albums – Bright Like Neon Love (2004) and In Ghost Colours (2008) – have exhibited a singular grace and elegance that is unmatched by their contemporaries. Dan Whitford's vocals are as emotive as ever, and the rhythms put forward by Tim Hoey and Mitchell Scott, while tinged with a delicacy and deliberation that bring to mind the best of '80s New Wave, still contain a contemporary edge guaranteed to get asses out there on that fucking dance floor.


So it is with great pleasure that I share with you today the first single off of Zonoscope, "Need You Now." Give it a listen. Then give it another. And another. My God, it's gorgeous. Cheers, friends. And enjoy.

Cut Copy - Need You Now by cutcopymusic

Gary Numan Is Visiting OZ.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure today that I announce the dates for Gary Numan's 2011 Australian tour. Yes, the man who helped pioneer electronic music into what it is today is bringing his The Pleasure Principle Tour down under – and you know what that means. You got it – Numan will be performing his 1979 masterpiece The Pleasure Principle in its entirety, plus a special encore with selections from his entire career, from albums such as Replicas and Telekon through to Pure, Jagged, and the soon-to-be-released Splinter. So! Excited yet? As if that weren't enough, Sydney "Aus-electro" masters Severed Heads have been tapped to be the supporting act! How fucking awesome is that?


Here, for your reference, are the dates of his Australia/New Zealand tour. Please note that Severed Heads will not be performing at the Perth and Auckland shows.

12 MAY 2011 – BRISBANE – THE TIVOLI

13 MAY 2011 – SYDNEY – ENMORE THEATRE

14 MAY 2011 – MELBOURNE – FORUM THEATRE

16 MAY 2011 – ADELAIDE – HQ

17 MAY 2011 – PERTH – ASTOR THEATRE

21 MAY 2011 – AUCKLAND – AUCKLAND TOWN HALL

And, if you click here and subscribe to Red Ant Touring, who's promoting the tour, you can get yourself two free Gary Numan downloads, and three free Severed Heads downloads! So, you know, go and do it, already.

See you there, kids. Stay well, and talk to you later! From 1979's Replicas, with Tubeway Army, here is Gary Numan at the Old Grey Whistle Test in London performing "Are Friends Electric?". You can be sure this is going to be huge live. Cheers!

Happy Australia Day!

Well, today is Australia Day – and my first one, at that! I've got to give props to my adopted country; everybody has been incredibly warm and inviting for the first four months of my stay. True, the paperwork hasn't gone through all the channels yet, but patience, I'm told, is a virtue. But still – I'm really enjoying it here, and I have been made to feel at home.


That being said, I'd like to showcase some music from the 1986 Richard Lowenstein film Dogs In Space. Set in Richmond, Victoria (an outer suburb of Melbourne), this examination of the 1978 Melbourne punk scene – starring Michael Hutchence of INXS in his first leading role – doesn't, unfortunately, hold much water in the story-telling department. Chockfull of wooden performances, stilted dialogue, and a whole lot of nothing happening throughout its 103 minutes. BUT – and this is a huge 'but' – the music! My gosh, the music gracing the soundtrack, put together by Lowenstein and Ollie Olsen (who was part of the scene back in those days; a member of the post-punk band Whirlywind), is pretty much playing nonstop; so it more than makes up for Hutchence's "acting" (which pretty much amounts to rolling around on the floor in a heroin stupor 75% of the time, all the while "speaking" in hardly anything but barks and grunts). Hutchence: brilliant singer, crap actor. But I digress.

Featuring pulse-quickening tracks by late-'70s acts such as Iggy Pop, Thrush and the Cunts, Primitive Calculators, Ollie Olsen, Gang of Four, Brian Eno, and Boys Next Door (Nick Cave's band before it transmogrified into The Birthday Party), the soundtrack to Dogs In Space is fucking fantastic. And if one is interested in knowing more about the scene personified in the film, one can check out an ABC 1 documentary entitled We're Living On Dog Food, which takes its name from the Iggy Pop track that opens Dogs In Space. So without any further ado, here are some of my favourite tracks from this well-meaning film. 

First up is "Win/Lose" from Ollie Olsen. I love the bit in the film where he sings it in the main house's living room, backed up only by a tape machine!

Here is "Pumping Ugly Muscle" by Fitzroy-based Primitive Calculators. Some brilliant anger going on in this track, with a lot of cathartic screaming and wailing!

What can one say about a band called Thrush and the Cunts? Great hooks, interesting name. Here is their seminal track from the so-called "little band scene", "Diseases." 

Here's "Shivers" by Boys Next Door, which would then become The Birthday Party. Goddamn, look how young Nick Cave is! And dammit, he makes this song fucking ache.

During the closing moments of the film, where Michael Hutchence's character's girlfriend has been buried (she died of a heroin overdose), we're treated to "Rooms For The Memory," a track written and performed by Ollie Olsen, and sung by Hutchence. This collaboration would result in a short-lived side-project called Max Q – which almost broke up INXS, seeing as Hutchence did the recording behind his band's back.

And last but not least, here's "Endless Sea" by Iggy Pop. Now, I know he's not Australian. However, that being said, this song – which plays in the background while Saskia Post's character has her fatal overdose – so completely works in the movie, I just had to include it. And there you go, as I leave you with Iggy. Have a fantastic Australia Day, people.

Gig Review: Grinderman.

GRINDERMAN

17 JANUARY 2011

PALACE THEATRE

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Sure, sure, sure ... this is an electronica blog, you might say. And yes, you're right. BUT, this is Nick Cave we're talking about here, and goddamn it, I'm going to review his show I had the honour of witnessing when he dropped down in his hometown (of sorts) of Melbourne, Victoria. So there.

Longtime Bad Seed Conway Savage (1990 to present) was the opening act, sitting at an electric piano and accompanied by a guitarist. He was a quiet and graceful presence; subtlety and a glass of red wine perched atop his instrument were his constant friends -- alongside those audience members closest to the stage who could actually hear him over the din of the talkers and shouters in the back of the house, who were constantly on the cusp of completely drowning out Savage's bluesy concoctions. I had to leave my wife in the back for a spell so I could get closer to hear some of his intoxicating melodies. I really had never listened to his solo stuff before, but from what I could discern, his music would be a lovely companion to a night drinking out – I was reminded of Tom Waits, to be honest. I'm looking forward to picking up his most recent release, 2009's Live In Ireland. With a quiet "Thank you," and a nod to the crowd, Savage left the stage.


At around 10.00, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis (guitar, violin, percussion), Martyn P Casey (bass), and Jim Sclavunos (drums, percussion) took to their instruments and basically just brought the fucking house down right then and there, ripping wholeheartedly into "Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man" off their second album, the deliciously dirty and demented Grinderman 2. "And he sucked her, and he sucked her, and he sucked her DRY," bellowed Cave, delivering karate kicks into the air and following up with his Big Bad Wolf howl, "AWOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!" I swear, the intensity present in the room as he and his cohorts let loose on the first date of their Australian tour was buzzing, man. In fact, there were moments where old Cave – circa The Birthday Party – seemed to have come out to play, it was filled with so much giddily recounted mayhem and chaos. Grinderman has always been the id of a sweaty, hairy, sex-obsessed nasty man; Sclavunos's and Ellis's mountain-man beards certainly did nothing to dispel that particular aspect of their music. How was it that Sclavunos explained their new album to NME last year? Oh yeah – "No I'm not going to tell you anything about any of the songs. But they're great, and they cover a variety of topics from bloodshed to hairy animals to young girls masturbating in bathtubs ... on the first album you felt the weight of distended testicles swaying in the breeze of a mid-life crisis, whereas this one is a magic carpet ride floating over the rich spectrum of life," is what he said. Nice! And correct. This show displayed not a single flat note, glitch, or boring moment. It was the aural equivalent of a rampant locomotive with no breaks, steamrolling through anything and everything that gets in its way. "Get It On," with its chorus of "GET IT ON / GET IT ON / ON THE DAY THAT YOU WERE BORN" was simply fucking explosive. "No Pussy Blues," a treatise on a woman who just won't put out, no matter what one does for her, was fluid in its frustration.

The scathing "Honeybee (Let's Fly To Mars)" was fantastic in its punk-rock fervour, and "Worm Tamer," a rollicking track with one of the funnier lines to ever be sung ("Well my baby calls me the Loch Ness Monster / Two great big humps and then I'm gone") nearly hypnotised with its grungy dirty-ass blues. Fittingly, Cave and company closed things down with the first Grinderman's self-titled track, "Grinderman." "Yes I'm the Grinderman / In the silver rain / In the pale moonlight / I am open late / Yes I'm the Grinderman / Yes I am / Any way I can."


Damn right, Nick. Yes, you are.

setlist

mickey mouse and the goodbye man

worm tamer

get it on

heathen child

evil!

when my baby comes

what i know

honeybee (let's fly to mars)

kitchenette

no pussy blues

bellringer blues

-----

palaces of montezuma

man in the moon

when my love comes down

love bomb

grinderman

Here for your viewing pleasure is Grinderman's "Heathen Child," directed by John Hillcoat, director of fantastic films The Proposition (which was scripted by Nick Cave) and The Road, based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy (which featured music written by Cave and Ellis). It's NSFW, just so you know – featuring nudity, violence, and grown men prancing around in Roman Centurion costumes.

Grinderman - "Heathen Child"
Uploaded by naivepromo. - Watch more music videos, in HD! 

Future Music Festival 2011!

Well! This should be something! Here, in all its glory, is the Future Music Festival making its way through Australia this March! All told, the lineup is absolutely solid. Here's where the Festival will be touching down in Oz, and when:

BRISBANE

SATURDAY, 5 MARCH 2011

PERTH

SUNDAY, 6 MARCH 2011

SYDNEY

SATURDAY, 12 MARCH 2011

MELBOURNE

SUNDAY, 13 MARCH 2011

ADELAIDE

MONDAY, 14 MARCH 2011

Fantastic! Looking forward to it. Now let's take a look at the lineup, shall we?

THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS

PENDULUM

DIZZEE RASCAL

MGMT

MARK RONSON AND THE BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL

KE$HA

ART VS SCIENCE

THE PRESETS

LEFTFIELD

PLASTIKMAN

SVEN VATH

SANDER VAN DOOM

STEVE AOKI

LOCO DICE

ZANE LOWE

COSMIC GATE

JAMES HOLROYD

STEVE ANGELO

DON DIABLO

ETIENNE DE CRECY

...

and many, many more.

How awesome is that? I'm really looking forward to a few of these acts. Chemical Brothers, yes. Leftfield? Yes, please. Art Vs Science and The Presets (who are releasing their new album mid-2011)? Definitely. MGMT is always fun. Dizzee Rascal is going to be a hoot and a holler. Pendulum put on a terrifically intense live performance, so they'll certainly be worth checking out. But one of the nice things about festivals such as this is that it'll also be a day of discovery -- nothing beats stumbling upon a new band and totally digging it.

Anyway, from time to time during the next couple of months, I'll be returning to this lineup and sharing some of the music to expect at Flemington Race Course this autumn!

Cheers, boys and girls -- can't wait to catch up!

Art Vs Science!

The year was 2007, and Dan McNamee had gone to see a Daft Punk concert in Sydney. Inspired by the techno spectacle (as well as anybody should!), he rang up two old high school mates, Jim Finn and Dan Williams, and proposed that they form a band. Art Vs Science was born, and the rest, as they say, is history. And I'm really, really impressed by what they've turned out so far.

There are many pleasant surprises that have engaged me during my stay here in Melbourne (if one is interested, then visit my Oz-ward Bound blog to read about my adventures trying to gain Australian citizenship). Victorian architecture,  flocks of parrots, the colourful flora and fauna, the laid-back personality of the local population, and -- yes -- the nearly obscene wealth of fantastic electronic acts that have been formed here. From the Presets, to Severed Heads, to Cut Copy and Midnight Juggernauts, to Pnau and Empire of the Sun, to Grafton Primary and Infusion, and to Art Vs Science and Sean Quinn and many, many more, Australia has produced some of the more original and eclectic electronic soundtracks to grace my playlist in many a moon.

So, back to Art Vs Science. They formed in early 2008, and have so far released two EPs: 2009's Art Vs Science and 2010's Magic Fountain. Their first full-length (title TBA) will be released in February of 2011, and they've also covered Split Enz's "I See Red" for the new compilation record He Will Have His Way, a compendium of Tim and Neil Finn covers. They've also recorded a minute-and-a-half little ditty about bad breath for the Australian kid's science TV show Sleek Geeks (think about rhyming "halitosis" with "diagnosis"), and are currently on tour with Infusion and Sean Quinn (they hit St Kilda on the 10th of December at the venerable Prince Bandroom -- you should totally go)!

An enthusiastic and bombastic stew of experimental synths, disco-punk, and techno, Art Vs Science's music is fantastically catchy, a frenzied hodgepodge of forward-thinking boom 'n' bass 'n' noise. Utilizing guitar and bass and live drums, their work has something for everybody, including those music snobs who tend to steer clear of bands that "just noodle at keyboards and sequencers." But holy shit, there's a lot of fun to be had here. "Parlez-vous Français?" will not only get your ass moving on the dancefloor, but will also make you smile -- there's a lot of quirky humour on display. "Take Me To Your Leader" delves deep into Empire of the Sun territory -- it reminds me quite a bit of Mr Steele's "Swordfish Hotkiss Night." "Magic Fountain" maintains a serious Daft Punk sensibility throughout its hardcore bangin', and -- if you're listening to their Magic Fountain EP -- there's even a live cover version (recorded at Splendour in the Grass) of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince's "Boom! Shake the Room" that's just ... fucking special.

OK, I've talked enough. Here's some music for y'all, my favourite readers in the whole wide world.

art vs science

"parlez-vous français?"

art vs science ep

art vs science

"magic fountain"

magic fountain ep

New Music: Grafton Primary.

Sydney-sider brothers Josh and Benjamin Garden, AKA Grafton Primary, have been very busy, busy bees this last year, putting together their sophomore album, tentatively entitled Sophomore and preparing for their new tour, which hits Melbourne tomorrow evening in St Kilda's wild Prince Bandroom. Should be a whole hell of a lotta fun, so Second Drawer Up highly recommends heading down there if you've wondered what's worth doing this weekend!

Having been formed in 2006, and with two EPs and their first album Eon under their belts, Grafton Primary (who tour with a live drummer and bass player) are willing and ready to unveil their new(ish) sound to the masses. "This tour's not so much a dusting as an absolute renovation," Josh told Inpress Magazine - and to my ears, it sounds like it's going to be a veritable shitload of fun. I love the sounds that burst from my speakers when I play Eon or the Relativity EP (which I'm listening to right now as I type this) - they're quirky, noir-ish, and clever. Take what's best from Jan Hammer and Harold Faltermeyer's 80's synth-soundtracks, Australia's "2nd wave of nu-rave" (whatever the hell that means), and indie-pop, throw them in a blender, and you might have something similar to the sound made by the brothers Garden. Keep an ear out for the new single, "The Eagle." Josh seems particularly buzzed about it, so I can only reckon it's going to kick ass.

So get your ass to the Prince Bandroom, already! Grafton Primary are going to be supported by Wollongong electronic pioneers Infusion; so it's going to be twice as fun as you thought. Serious!

Here's "Relativity" by Grafton Primary for ya - cheers!

grafton primary

"relativity"

relativity ep

Man of Colours.

Well, it's a lovely Wednesday morning, and what should pop up on my playlist but "Man of Colours" by Icehouse? Taken from the 1987 album of the same name, I really have to admit that this track is a quintessential example of what can make Icehouse such a special band. "Man of Colours" tells the story of an old man in an upstairs room painting vignettes from his life and examining them with a mixture of pain and pride. The album itself, Icehouse's fifth release, also contains gems such as "Kingdom," a magical examination of a woman coming to peace with herself, "Sunrise," a scorching anti-war statement of epic proportion, and then, livening things up a bit, the biggest hit of Icehouse's existence, "Crazy," which is, quite frankly, a fun love song.


I'd mentioned before that Iva Davies was an accomplished oboe player - and on "Man of Colours," there he is, playing it to his heart's content. It's a mournful sound, laid over an achingly beautiful synth and a deceptively simple drum beat. It soars - it reminds me, in a way, of the sensation of flying through clouds. Towards the end, when Davies practically cries the lyric "And I can see, see through these tears, tears of a man, a man of colours," it nearly breaks my heart. And what's really nifty about the video for the song is that Iva Davies' father himself is the star, the old man upstairs. It's simply gorgeous.


With no further ado, here's "Man of Colours."

icehouse

"man of colours"

man of colours

And, while there's no video for it, per se, here's the anti-war track "Sunrise." Listen for Davie's anguished scream towards the end as the crashing cymbals signify the end of all that's good in the world. "You'll never see the faces of the fishermen, but you may see their shadows burned against the wall." Damn, Iva - intense.

icehouse

"sunrise"

man of colours

Three Australian 80's Hits.

Well! I've now been in the land down under for just under a month, and it's been absolutely spectacular. Things are going great with my girlfriend, I'm getting some healthy color, and I've lost two and a half kilos (probably from all the fresh and organic food I've been eating) -- so all in all at this moment, I'm pretty tops. Still need to quit smoking, but I'm now under a pack a day, so we'll see where I'm at in another month, shall we?


So today I was thinking: How's about I put together a nifty little package of early 80's Australian music for you, my faithful readers, this weekend? Sounds like a plan, thinks I. So with no further ado, here's some 80's treasures that will, today, be on my humble blog!

From 1983, QED were a Sydney band featuring Jenny Morris, a Kiwi from discontinued band The Crocodiles. Wrapping up the rest of the group was Rex Goh (ex guitarist for Air Supply!) and Ian Belton on bass guitar. Featuring Amanda Vincent on keyboards (though for the life of me I don't know who's doing them in this video), QED evoked a sound that to this day evokes in me a tremendous feeling of nostalgia (because, really, what is this site but a musical nostalgia choo-choo train?). They only released one album, Animal Magic, before disbanding (Jenny Morris went on to great acclaim as a solo artist) -- and "Everywhere I Go" was their first single. And here it is. Love Morris' purple coat!

qed

"everywhere i go"

animal magic

Yeah, yeah -- I know everybody on the planet knows who Men At Work are, and can probably sing "Down Under" line for line at the drop of a dime. But I don't care. I'd like to think of today's post as a bit of comfort food, if you will, and since I've started with the year 1983, I figured I'd stick with it. Think of it as something of a theme. So. Men At Work. From the southern Melbourne suburb of St Kilda (love that 'hood), they only released three albums: 1981's Business As Usual, 1983's Cargo, and 1985's Two Hearts. Today's track comes from Cargo, and personally I find it to be quite an effective anti-war song that still holds water. I'm speaking of course of "It's A Mistake," and here it is for your listening pleasure.

men at work

"it's a mistake"

cargo

Though best known for their (rather crappy) 1986 cover of Lipps Inc.'s "Funky Town," Melbourne's Pseudo Echo back in the day composed music that was extraordinarily similar to the output of fellow 80's stalwarts Ultravox. Their debut record, 1984's Autumnal Park featured many high points in early 80's synth-pop, but none rose so high as their hit single "Listening." I remember back in 1985 when I first bought the album (entitled Pseudo Echo in the United States) -- I probably bugged the shit out of my parents by having kept lifting the needle and going back to start this track over and over and over again. It's a great tune; I haven't heard it in a long time, but it's great to go back to a priceless pop gem. Here's "Listening" for your listening pleasure on this gorgeous and sunny Saturday afternoon. Cheers!

pseudo echo

"listening"

autumnal park

R.I.P. James Freud.

It is with great sadness today that I have to report that James Freud, the troubled lead vocalist of Australian band Models, has killed himself after losing his battle with drinking. He was 51 years old. Second Drawer Up extends its deepest condolences to surviving friends and family. It's only been one week since Models were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame; Mr Freud declined to attend the ceremony, citing "other commitments."

Based out of Melbourne, Models began in the late 70's, pushing forward an interesting hybrid of post-punk laced new wave music, with a touch of glam and a propensity for lyrics that veered towards the macabre. Then, in 1982, James Freud took over lead vocals from Sean Kelly, and with the release of 1983's The Pleasure of Your Company, the band began to experiment with more straightforward electronic impulses. Mr Freud stayed on until the band's hiatus in 1988; rejoining them for a brief spell in the early naughts, then in 2006 and, for the final time, in 2008. He'd always had a weakness for the bottle, and sadly the bottle has finally won out.


So R.I.P. dear James Freud. You've left a lasting contribution to the world of modern music, and you will be sorely missed.

models

"i hear motion"

the pleasure of your company

Just Feel Like Some Kylie.

While I won't go so far as to call Kylie Minogue a guilty pleasure or anything that resembles in part a back-handed complement (really, what is a "guilty pleasure" anyway? If it makes you feel good, then just go out and fucking enjoy it without feeling guilty, already), I've got to admit that as far as music that's just flat-out fun goes, you really can't go wrong with Kylie. The pint-sized pop star is the perfect package for tunes that you really can't listen to without sporting a grin on your face. Her songs are catchy, perky, classy, cheerful, and are chockfull of an absolutely hummable energy -- it will get your ass out on the dance floor in a quick, and get you moving!


Last year, I had the opportunity to catch this glimmering princess on her first ever tour of the United States at the stately Fox Theatre in Oakland with my friends Lynn, Kimon, Andrei, and Summer. Imagine my surprise at the very beginning of the show when Kylie, descending on the stage perched on a gigantic mirrored skull, was accompanied by the ethereal countdown of my favourite Kylie track of all time, "Light Years" -- "Ten, nine, eight, seven ..." -- and the crowd went absolutely fucking apeshit. And for good reason. There's everything to love about this Australian chanteuse, and I will never forget the vibe in that theatre last year whilst Kylie and her dancers cavorted on stage in a flurry of fuzzy lasers, amazing technological effects, and a stage design that the handlers of wannabes such as Lady Gaga and Madonna can only dream of. And she's beautiful, on top of all that.


She's Kylie. And she's awesome.


Here she is in 2002 during her Fever2002 Tour in Melbourne, Australia. Nice splice of "Light Years" and "I Feel Love," that's for sure. Enjoy!

Congratulations To The Church.

We here at Second Drawer Up HQ would like to take the opportunity to congratulate Steve Kilbey, Peter Koppes, Marty Wilson-Piper, and Tim Powles (drummer Richard Ploog's replacement, after his tragic psychological meltdown) of Australian band The Church on their induction into the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Hall of Fame this last Wednesday the 27th of October, 2010. It's been one hell of a ride for The Church, with a career chockfull of highs, lows, changing fortunes, drug addiction, musical successes, and commercial failures. I have to say that The Church has never been anything less than interesting -- personally, I count them as one of my favourite bands of all time. From their beginning in 1980, with the audacious debut Of Skins And Heart, the new-wave and synth-y Seance and Remote Luxury, the massive success of Starfish and its runaway hit single "Under The Milky Way," the psychedelic musical maelstrom of priest = aura, and to lackadaisical but still quite charming Gold Afternoon Fix, The Church have always gone their own route; they've always done things on their terms, and damn the consequences. They're true mavericks, in the truest sense of the word, and I salute them. Carry on, may you prosper onwards, and always have a trick or two up your sleeves. I'm very proud of you!


And now for a couple of my favorite songs. This is "Constant In Opal." One of Kilbey's greatest strengths is his razor-sharp wit, and way with words (You can watch his speech here - it's just freaking awesome). The clowns creep me out a bit, though.

the church

"constant in opal"

remote luxury

Ah, "It's No Reason." What a gorgeous, gorgeous song. I love the women's voices in the background - one could lose oneself in this tapestry.

the church

"it's no reason"

seance

This, "The Unguarded Moment," was their very first hit single. Goddamn, if the guitars don't excite you, then you just might be a zombie, mate.

the church

"the unguarded moment"

of skin and heart

And, here's probably my favourite track of theirs, "Destination" from their 1988 album Starfish. Here it is being performed live for an Italian TV show - pretty awesome.

the church

"destination"

starfish