The Panics

Last Friday night Highlighter braved the cold to go and review my favourite Perth expats The Panics for FasterLouder. The Bakery was playing host and as it was filthy weather you knew it was gonna be a packed house inside. They played a really, really good show besides a few minor letdowns that you can read on the review if you like. I recently purchased their new LP Cruel Guards which came with a bonus CD of covers. There are a couple of Bob Dylan's, a Rolling Stones' and Leonard Cohen, but the standout would have to be their Happy Monday's cover of Lazyitis which is simply brilliant. I have also posted the title track from the album which is a standout for the album even if it is a little mellow. And lastly a fan favourite from their last album Sleeps Like A Curse. Go and get the new album its fantastic, and in fact go and grab their other 2 LP's while your there, you won't be disappointed

The Panics - Cruel Guards

The Panics - Lazyitis (Happy Mondays Cover)

The Panics - My Best Mistake

Cut Copy Rarities

After being so excited by the new Cut Copy track that Binny posted last week. I thought I would dig around and post some old and rare Cut Copy tracks that you might not have heard. I am really quite worried that Cut Copy will release five singles (like Muscles did) before their album comes out and then only have 10 songs on the album. Anyway i'm sure they won't and i'm not gonna complain too much if they keep giving us tracks the quality of So Haunted. So without further ado.

Cut Copy - Stars

Cut Copy - Future (!!! Remix)

VHS or Beta - Night On Fire (Cut Copy Remix)

Control

A week and a bit ago I went to a preview screening (Thanks JJJ) of the new Ian Curtis biopic, Control. I can't profess to be the biggest Joy Division buff but I was really impressed by the film. Director Anton Corbijn has done a terrific job with the mood of the film, which is black and white, really echoing what I would imagine late 70's Manchester to be like. It gives a really quite moving account of the tragedy that was Curtis's life with his battles with depression and epilepsy. Sam Riley who plays Curtis (and kinda looks strangley like Pete Doherty in my opinion) does a really good job, including the singing he does. I would recommend it to anyone who likes music, not just Joy Division, as it really helped me to get grasp a better grasp for the band's music. Here are two of my favourite tracks from the movie.

Joy Division - Digital

Joy Division - She's Lost Control

Also I have been stumbling across a few Joy Division tributes and covers, I thought the Killers cover was OK and I love the Wombats tribute track and then I stumbled across this Nouvelle Vague track, I generally like Nouvelle Vague but this track completely strips the song of any original emotion that was intended and in my opinion cheapens it greatly, anyway feel free to disagree.

Nouvelle Vague - Love Will Tear Us Apart

Also I have two FREE in season tickets to any Control showing in Perth and if you want them leave a comment and I will get back to you.

Newly Single

Some fresh meat recently out of the recording abattoir and right onto the musical weber- so grab those steak knives and get stuck in.

† Hot Chip - Shake A Fist.mp3
To be honest- these guys weren’t an immediate favourite of mine- that was until I saw them live. They seem to do electro in a way that I’m not quite sick of yet. Describe as electro-pop with a neo soul it's just a little more mellow and a whole lota fun- and their new release 'Shake A Fist' (off their forthcoming 3rd album Made In the Dark)- which they have been dropping into their live shows for a while now, is the perfect example, so “If you have a pair of headphones you better get them out and get ’em cranked up cos they're really gonna help you on this one".


† Cut Copy - So Haunted.mp3
So some pretty mixed reviews on this one… And with their nu LP on the way (In Ghost Colours, due Feb 2008 on Modular) it’s a bit of a tasters of what’s to come. To be honest I didn’t even recognise their sound at the beginning of the song but then around the 47 second mark it kicks in and all Cut Copy uncertainties are dismissed. The sound is a little less synthy with some hard angular guitars, this may be the effects of their new co-producer for the album- who is none other than Tim Goldsworthy (of the famed NYC Label DFA). So- on a scale of 1 to 10- it’s a grower.

† Tokyo Police Club - Your English Is Good.mp3
Tokyo Police Club should have been on your radar for a little while now with their insanely good 2006 EP- A Lesson in Crime. And this non-album single, released in early July, carries on their trend of summery guitar pop and catchy chorus shouts. To say I cannot wait for their LP is a colossal understatement.


And because you might need something to wash down that meat you’ve just consumed- have a sip on this- the RAC remix of Be Good. It’s probably the best thing since the invention of grandpa mix (if you don’t know what that is I feel profoundly sorry for you). This is taken off their forthcoming 4 track EP titled Smith.
Bon Appétit- Tokyo Police Club - Be Good (RAC Remix).mp3



Oh you didn’t think I send you off without dessert did you..? Here’s a few slices of Pavlova aka Aussie singles-

The Panics - Dont Fight It.mp3
Faker - This Heart Attack.mp3
Cut Off Your Hands - Still Fond.mp3 (yeah I know they’re not from Aus- hmm but they can be like the kiwi fruit on top of the Pavlova..yeah that works)

†rash Out ■

Snap, Crackle and Pop, Glorious Pop

My girlfriend said to me the other day, "When are you going to stop listening to all this electro and pop crap and get back to indie rock?" It was a good question as I hadn't really considered that I had listening to much pop, electro yes, pop no.

But then I realised that there was a fair chunk of pop that I actaully had been listening to. Pop music would have to be one of the most problematic terms to define. You could elaborate it to popular music which it originally started as back in the days of Tin Pan Alley where popular music overtook the Broadway and vaudeville sounds so popular at the time. Then along came blues, jazz and good ol' rock n roll.

Today pop music has been dirtied with the mass produced shite that occupies the commercial charts today (Mika i'm talking to you c*nt). Pop has been tarnished with r&b barbies and Freddie Mecury wannabes that get super-producers to mask their shitty vocals and get massive PR firms to put their face on every bus stop and Pepsi bottle. This is the definition of pop as popular music, which the 14 year old girls lap up like a cat to a milk-filled saucer.

But fear not dear music lovers, their are still artists out their pushing the envelope in terms of melody, non guitar based, beautiful pop. Guillemots deserved Mercury award nominated debut was an amazing example of this and it really kicked off my love affair. And more recently Jens Lekmans album version of Arms Around Me really tickled my fancy along with Feist's 1 2 3 4, two tracks that are blogged to death but I just can't get enough of.

I have decided to call this new expansive genre nu-pop, yes i know i'm a wanker, but I just really, REALLY hate some of the absolute trash that gets tagged as pop in the charts today. Anyway here is a mixceedee of tracks I have been loving that are around the mark.

Nu-Poppers, They Aren't Shit
by DJ Benjimite

Jens Lekman - Your Arms Around Me
Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
The Soft Lightes - Heart Made Of Sound
Architecture In Helsinki - Like It Ar Not
Fields - IfYouFailWeAllFail
Guillemots - We're Here
The Paper Scissors - Yamanote Line
Phoenix - Too Young
Rufus Wainwright - Instant Pleasure
The Shout Out Louds - My Friend And The Ink
The Brunettes - Her Hairagami Set
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Underwater (You And Me)
Feist - 1 2 3 4
Peter Bjorn and John - Let's Call It Off
Figurines - The Air We Breathe
Loquat - Time Bomb
Maps - Eloise
Andrew Bird - Heretics
Mates of State - Goods

And just for good measure I have to throw in this bonus track (It won't fit on the ceedee) just cos it is such a damn good song.

Sufjan Stevens - Chicago

Love yous all

Southbound 2008

So maybe this is a little premature, like seeing candy canes at your local IGA at the beginning of October, But after the second announcement I just couldn’t wait to get into the forth coming Southbound line-up...

Kings of Leon
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
The Go! Team

Built To Spill

José González

Midnight Juggernauts

Bonde Do Role

The Panics

The Dirty Secrets

Etc…


Oh boy, where do I sign up? (..err Mills, Planet, 78’s…) Or you could join the 21st century and purchase yourself and E-Ticket from Sunset Events or Ticketek. And although it may not have quite the same number of huge name bands like- say a festival such as Splendour in the Grass *cough which I attended cough*… it still contains enough awesome bands that any music lover should be frothing over. This can be proven by the fact The Falls Festivals in Lorne, Victoria and Marion Bay, Tassie, which holds pretty much the same line-up to Southbound, have sold out!

So if you haven’t already, mosey on down to the local beats store and forked ova the $ for a ticket… because it’s not really summer holidays until you’ve been Douth, and it’s not really Douth until you’re chilling out listening to good music. So following that logic I made up 5 seconds ago, I expect to be seeing everyone’s tanned chevy chase's down in Busselton on the 5th of Jan '08! (not the 4th- i camped last year...and lets just say it was an experience...i'd like to never have again) And I don’t want to hear about that Summerdayze nonsense being on the next day…have a big glass of harden the fuck up.

So here is a little taster of what’s to come pounding through your tympanic membranes (yeah I Wikipedia-ed that) at this summer’s SB!

Kings Of Leon - My Party (Kenna And Chad Hugo Remix).mp3

Well I assume everyone reading this already has all 3 of KOLs LP, so here’s a nice little remix for youS…

Rebel Motorcycle Club - Not What You Wanted.mp3
Also if you have the patience, watch this clip of Nick Jago (BRMC’s drummer) refusing to leave the stage at the 2003 NME Awards. Very amusing… What’s he on..?

The Go! Team - Ladyflash.mp3

It’s an oldie (by oldie I mean 2005) but a goodie. Can’t go past it! This song is about as colourful as a pack of multi coloured highlighters.

Built To Spill - Conventional Wisdom.mp3

Explosive guitar pop.

José González - Crosses (Stanton Warriors Remix).mp3
Stanton Vs González? No way José…! Alrite that was awful...The song is not.

Midnight Juggernauts - Deadly Venom.mp3
A bit of electro terror from an old (yeah I still mean 2005) EP.

Bonde Do Role - Office Boy.mp3

Office Boy makes me feel happy with its updated version of Brazil’s baile funk.

And here- of course, is the humble playlist of top songs an ace remixes of or by the 2008 Southbound Artists. Just a little something from me to you-

+ José González - Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division Cover).mp3
+ Regurgitator - Drinking Beer Is Awesome!.mp3

+ Gotye - Coming Back (Faux Pas Bellheadless Remix).mp3

+ The Beautiful Girls - La Mar (Live At The Metro).mp3

+ The Go! Team - Ladyflash (Hot Chip Remix).mp3

+ Peter Bjorn and John - Lets Call It Off (Girl Talk Remix).mp3

+ The Dirty Secrets - Best Friends.mp3

+ The Presets - Down Down Down (Midnight Juggernauts Remix).mp3

+ Bonde Do Role - Gasolina (Radioclit Remix).mp3

+ Angus and Julia Stone - The Beast.mp3
+ Groove Armada - Get Down (Daft Mix).mp3
+ Panics - Sleeps Like A Curse.mp3

†rash Out ■

Coming Down

After the monstrosity that was Parklife today has been nothing short of a complete and utter mess. So with that in mind, I thought I would post some Parklife photos, give some highlights and then post the Come Down EP, for all those mornings or afternoons when you wake up in struggle town.

After arriving at Parklife and making a quick stop-off to the bar, it was straight to the Earth Tent to check out Chicago electro-punkers Greenskeepers who really impressed. I really am a sucker for a keytar and Greenskeepers were no exception. With the band all in karate suits and lead singer in what looked to be an American civil war jacket, they looked like a million bucks and it was a shame there wasn't more of a crowd to appreciate it.






Next up was wunderkind of the moment Muscles who's debut album Guns Babes Lemonade has just arrived in record stores throughout Oz, I'm not sure about international release yet. I actually preordered mine through JB and was hoping to get it before yesterday as it was in shops on Friday and one would assume if you preorder then you would receive it on the same day as shops, obviously not. Anyway with a full artillery of tracks at his disposal, and even though it was the third time I had seen him, the kid from Shepparton rocked many socks including my own.





Next highlight were Sweden's The Sounds, who's gorgeous electro-pop really impressed and frontwoman Maja is every bit as smoulderingly hot as she looks in photos (Sorry mine is a bit shit).



The unexpected but fucking awesome set of the day definitely belonged to Freq Nasty who blew me away with his vocal party breaks and cool as visuals. Digitalism were also amazing, with Pogo probably being one of the days most anticipated tracks and they didn't disappoint. Justice and MIA were clashing headliners and we started at MIA watched a couple of songs and headed off to Justice. Neither really held my attention that firmly which was disappointing as Justice were one of the acts I was most looking forward to. Nonetheless an absolutely amazing day and it was certainly good to have it so well organised this year as opposed to the shambles that was '06. Perhaps it was the Moshcards that worked so well, a great innovation.

Today, the day after, I was the epitomy of a shattered man. And all I wanted was some good chillout tunes to lullaby me off to sleep and I didn't even have a decent chillout playist to do so. So I thought I'd put one together for those days where all that matters is perfect tunes to rebalance the equillibrium. So here is the....

Come Down EP

Sebastian Tellier - La Ritournelle
Dub Pistols - 6AM
50Hz - Smooth Rhodes
Stars - The Night Starts Here
Black Moth Super Rainbow - Forever Heavy
Lux - 100 Billion Stars
Massive Attack - Live With Me
Matthew Dear - Don & Sherri (Hot Chip Remix)

Enjoy