Catalogue

Boy Omega

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Boy Omega is the roof under which Swedish multi-instrumentalist Martin Henrik Hasselgren (formerly Gustafsson) collects his songs.

Boy Omega's unique brand of pop is at once fragile, vibrant and wholehearted, and has drawn comparison to the likes of Elliott Smith, Sparklehorse, The Cure, Bright Eyes, Sufjan Stevens, Iron & Wine and Xiu Xiu.

Since he began writing songs under the Boy Omega moniker in 2001, Hasselgren has put out an impressive, rich body of work, including five full length albums, two compilations, four eps, and numerous singles.

Over the last decade, Boy Omega has played close to 300 shows and shared stages with the likes of Isobel Campbell, Great Lake swimmers, Califone, Akron/Family, John Vanderslice and Herman Dune, to name a few. Hasselgren is also a member of the electronica-duo Kubot.

In 2011, Gaga Digi digitally released three of our favourite Boy Omega offerings: the 2006 full length lp The Black Tango, the 2008 ep Quiet Maneuvers, and the 2011 single Let the Dark Light In. Have a listen to the single in our player above, and pick up the releases from the iTunes Store via the button below.

Breathe Owl Breathe

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Breathe Owl Breathe came together in 2004 when three people in different places doing different things -- printmaking, music teaching, cartography -- decided to head out to a cabin in the Michigan wilds to live and make music.

From the beginning, Breathe Owl Breathe was as much an art project as it was a band: the band's first recordings were 'short story songs'; soon after this, the band recruited their friends to make a zombie film that was also a romantic comedy.

Out at the old cabin, which the band dubbed 'magic central', the trio lit upon a unique and timeless sound -- 'a wild rumpus of harmony and rhythm,' as Paste Magazine wrote. 'While some peers have reveled in reinvigorating the old, weird side of Americana, the band's flare for pop-addled melodies flips the contemporary folk aesthetic, eschewing freakiness in favor of charm. It's a dynamic built on coupling clever arrangements with lyrical whimsy.'

Since then, Breathe Owl Breathe have gifted us with five albums and an ep, and have traveled far and wide, mesmerising crowds with performances that merge meticulous musicianship, storytelling, and an absolute love for what it means for this trio to be creating things -- every moment of the day.

Their newest release is a remarkable children's book, written and illustrated by the band's Micah Middaugh. The new book was three years in the making, and comes accompanied by two gorgeous new tracks, The Listeners and These Train Tracks, which are out now via RAD/Gaga Digi. Listen to the tracks in our player above, and find out more about the new book and single in our interview with the band.

Love Migrate

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Melbourne indie-pop sextet Love Migrate were originally known as Goodnight Owl, until they reasoned that there were enough animal named bands in the city already.

Although a number of Love Migrate's members come from local acts like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Sleep Decade, the band's sound is entirely their own, at once open sounding and controlled. Love Migrate have been demoing their debut album for the last few months with Damien Weatherly, and plan on releasing it in early 2012.

Taken from the forthcoming (and unnamed) long player is the great opening single Little Kid. An immediate, upbeat and light-hearted track on the surface, Little Kid is also possessed of an underlying intensity that makes it linger –– and that makes us very keen to hear what comes next.

Manor

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Adelaide-based duo Manor (formerly Our Husband) started out in early 2011, when Nathaniel Morse started writing and playing with Caitlin Duff. Inspired, variously, by The Beach Boys, the Cocteau Twins and Paul Simon, Manor make intricate, original pop, driven by arctic, jangling guitar, layered percussion and soaring vocals.

Manor's music conjures all the things good pop music should: longing, wonder, surprise, swooning. The duo's first single, Rhodesia, hits some pretty rarefied heights, combining spectral, lilting vocals with Nathaniel's icy, reverb-drenched guitar figures to immediate and devastating effect. Rhodesia is out now on iTunes. Manor's debut lp is currently being recorded, and is due for release in 2012.

Joseph Liddy and the Skeleton Horse

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Joseph Liddy and the Skeleton Horse is the new project from former The Middle East banjo player Joseph Ireland. Described by one critic as 'like The Pixies and Sonic Youth got together to play country songs written for them by Bob Dylan and Jack White', it is as far from the sound of his former band as one could go. Gone are the gentle harmonies and intricate guitars that characterised his former band, replaced with Ireland's distinctive, bourbon-soaked vocal and a wall of snarling, overdriven guitars.

Before joining The Middle East, Ireland worked as a drug and alcohol counsellor in a rehab clinic in his home town of Townsville, working mostly with homeless aboriginal men. The songs of Joseph Liddy are a direct response to this, sharing their stories and experiences with a passionate empathy.

The debut album from Joseph Liddy and the Skeleton Horse is being released in three parts. In homage to Neil Young's Rust Never Sleeps, the first two 'sides' of the 3-sided release are alternately electric and acoustic, with an emphasis on guitars, banjos and mandolins. The third part of the album comes back to electric, but this time adding organs and keyboards to complement the already considerable wall of noise.

Part 1 of Joseph Liddy and the Skeleton Horse is available now.

Aleks and the Ramps

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Way back in 2005, Aleks Badham took a year off studying film to record an EP of meandering and blippy psych folk. 'There should be a band to play these songs live', someone remarked. This advice was heeded and the Ramps were formed, ostensibly to perform only one 'launch' show. For whatever reason, further shows were booked and more songs were written, like what a proper band does.

In 2006 they set up a temporary studio in a far-flung Scout hall on the Victorian coast and returned with an album called Pisces vs. Aquarius. This debut long player was 9, 10 or 11 (depending on how you count them) songs ranging from stoner jams, indie spaz-outs to morose country singalongs. It was released in 2007 and audiences were delighted and/or confused. Later that year their drummer left the band and moved to Perth to get married and write dense and long-winded fantasy novels. Fair 'nuff. Jon swiftly replaced him, and in 2008 they ventured out of the country for a DIY tour of Canada, with a showcase performance at NxNE in Toronto.

Upon their return they went into an actual real recording studio to commit songs to hard disk with Chicago-bred ex-pat Casey Rice. Additional tinkerings were undertaken in a Brunswick shed and voilá! Midnight Believer was born, a critically lauded 40 minutes of strange and addictive pop. The album's first single, Antique Limb, was played on the radio extensively, and its psychedelic video clip was seen on TVs in Australia and YouTube far beyond.

2009 was spent touring the country a few times (plus one trip across the Tasman) in support of the album. In 2010 the band started work on a new record, creating 'demos' that slowly morphed into 'the actual songs' in their studio space in a Fairfield. One of the fruits of this labour was Bummer, a single they released on the cusp of a Japan tour. Shortly thereafter, Janita left the band to concentrate on Denim Owl and her knitwear collection. A new Ramps membership card was made with 'Sez Wilks' printed in 24pt Helvetica and promptly put through the laminator.

Jon also left the band in 2011 to attend to his other bands ii and Speedpainters, the online radio show Paper Radio and the billion other things that he manages to occupy himself with. The bedroom pop wunderkind Pascal Babare high-fived Jon in the lobby of ramps HQ, and thus his status as 'drummer' was solidified.

The as-yet-untitled album was finished in late 2011, to be released on Valentine's Day 2012. The new single, Middle Aged Unicorn on Beach with Sunset, has hit the airwaves and will be out via Gaga Digi, along with re-releases of Pisces and Aquarius and Midnight Believer, on October 27.

The Hondas

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

After Taka Honda graduated from Tokyo University, majoring in genetics, he came to Melbourne, determined to be the greatest scientist ever.

His life, however, took a strange and unexpected turn, when he became the drummer for a band called Little Red. As the band's popularity grew, Taka decided to quit science and make a new life as a musician. Two successful records and countless sold-out national and international tours with Little Red followed.

In 2011, while having a well-deserved break from Little Red's relentless tour of duty, Taka took up a guitar, recruited some friends, and made an album under the moniker The Hondas. A bunch of cross-dressing, rock 'n' roll-loving mad musicians, it's safe to say The Hondas are not your average band.

The Hondas' debut single, I am a Homosexual, is out now on iTunes. The Hondas' debut album, From Tokyo to Melbourne Town, is due out in 2012.

Boys Boys Boys!

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Boys Boys Boys! started out on a lazy afternoon in Perth, when a few friends, whiling away the day flipping burgers, were suddenly hit in the face by an idea: they would be pop stars, like Britney, but on their own terms!

The friends moved from the kitchen of the restaurant to the kitchen of a run-down old share-house in north Perth –– the kind with white statues of lions guarding the letterbox. They dropped every casio keyboard, synth and flea-market student guitar they could find out onto the cold, brown floor. They would make music for themselves! First, though, they would need outfits with sequins. Priorities!

The music of Boys, Boys, Boys! hits you in the face. An energetic, eclectic mix of bright personalities, their music is a synth-pop assault. They have a unique arsenal of catchy pop riffs, dance moves, sugary all-girl vocal harmonies and 80s electronica –– and they're not afraid to use it.

In 2009, the band offered up their first lp, Yes, a thoroughly excellent, vital slice of pop that quicky saw them come to wider notice. Have a listen to Yes in our player above, and click this here iTunes button to pick up a copy on iTunes:

In the last couple of years, Boys Boys Boys! have taken their pop dreams to the next level, providing support for touring acts including Uffie (USA), Van She, Matt & Kim (USA) and Bluejuice. They've played numerous festivals, including Parklife, St Jerome's Laneway Festival, Southbound, One Movement For Music, Summadayze and Good Vibrations.

2011 brought the band a Western Australian Screen Award for Best Music Video for Ticky-Ticky Boom (watch the clip above) and an opportunity to support Regurgitator on their national tour. It also saw the release of an awesome new single, Casio Joy, which you can listen to below:

With that excitement under their belts, Boys Boys Boys! are currently back in the kitchen completing the writing of the second album, which is due for release in April 2012. Stay tuned!

Winterpark

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Winterpark is a collaborative studio project born out of the ashes of Matt Ridgway's indie-punk-rock dreams. Matt took the do-it-yourself ethos away from slinging guitars around on sticky carpet stages to tweaking delay pedals in his studio, creating melodic and atmospheric music that is experimental enough to not be pop, acoustic enough not to be electronic, and eclectic enough not to be dull.

The often dark and brooding sound-scapes of Winterpark's 2006 debut album, One Night Alone, found a home on many a TV soundtrack ranging from Underbelly to Offspring.

Throughout 2007, Matt took the band to the international stage, filming video clips in the backstreets of Brooklyn, playing parties at the Iceland Airwaves festival for free drinks, carrying equipment to shows via the Paris underground and writing much of what was to become Winterpark's excellent 2008 album, Falling Men and Flying Dreams, in a makeshift apartment in Berlin.

Falling Men and Flying Dreams is available now via Gaga Digi. Have a listen to it in our player below.

In recent times, Matt has settled back into Melbourne, playing guitar and bass in Ross McLennans' Sympathy Orchestra, helping to facilitate audio visual jam sessions, teaching sound production and writing music for TV and film.

Matt's third lp, Sunday Morning, arrived in mid-2011. An album that effortlessly echoes the ebb and flow of Matt Ridgway's multifaceted musical career to date, Sunday Morning is a record written on the bottom of a broken dream, but radiates hope and warmth with every chord.

Laura Imbruglia

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Laura Imbruglia. You've probably seen the name around. Heard a song or two on the radio. You may have even seen her live. Laura's been kicking around the Australian music scene for nigh on 10 years now; she's toured Oz countless times and Europe twice. She's played with The Eels, Tegan and Sara, New Pornographers, Fiery Furnaces, Violent Femmes, Josh Pyke, Sarah Blasko and many more. Some of these bands even watched her sets and said nice things.

Laura's debut ep It Makes A Crunchy Noise (2003) introduced the world to her unusual sense of humour and awkward confidence. She followed it with her first, self-titled album in 2006, which featured a more expansive sound and more assured emotional depth. Said album boasted the songs Looking For A Rabbit (which reached #2 on JTV's chart & won a bronze medal for Most Innovative Video at the prestigious New York Festival's International Television Broadcasting Awards); It's Getting Worse (chosen by MTV to promote their addition to the iTunes network) and My Dream of A Magical Washing Machine, which is probably being used for prototype inspiration at Whirlpool HQ right now.

The second album, sarcastically titled The Lighter Side Of... (2010), was a meeting of the two sides of Laura –– the smart-arse and the angry heartbreak-ee. Produced by Melbourne's Nick Huggins (Whitley, Kid Sam) and Laura herself, and featuring backing from avant-garde drummer Robbie Avenaim (Phlegm, Wog), Nick Huggins, and special guest appearances from members of You Am I, Talons and Seagull, this album struck a chord with the public.

Singles ranged from dark country (When It All Falls Apart) to power pop (Pauly) and lovelorn indie pop; the hugely popular music video for I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend reached #1 on Myspace Australia and was Rage's Indie Clip of the Week in July 2010. Check out the DIY masterpiece for yourself below.

In late 2010, Laura relocated to Melbourne and introduced herself with a splash by hosting her infamous 'Allsorts Residency' at Fitzroy's Old Bar. The residency ranged from intimate solo shows to all-out band feasts (Melbourne's legendary Even backing her for one special show) and climaxed with a karaoke show finale! Following this, she soon found herself invited to tour and share stages with respected acts The Gin Club, Adalita (Magic Dirt) and Sebadoh. As you do.

Now completely settled in her adopted hometown, Laura is back to offer a taste of the new material she's been working on. This comes in the shape of new single, Why'd You Have To Kiss Me So Hard?, a psychedelic about-turn from her recent alt-country explorations.

Produced by Liam Judson (Cloud Control, Belles Will Ring) in the Blue Mountains, NSW, and backed by a smoking hot band featuring members of Talons, Songs and Jewel & The Falcon, the single shows yet another side of this versatile, shape-shifting artist. Why'd You Have To Kiss Me... showcases Laura's trademark lyrical wit, though in subtler form, blurring the line between the literal and figurative.

Why'd You Have to Kiss Me So Hard? is out September 12 via Gaga Digi.

The Harpoons

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Harpoons are a young, R'n'B-inspired Melbourne pop band.

Brothers Henry and Jack Madin write short, catchy tunes and long soulful ballads, accompanied by the delicate yet powerful vocals of Bec Rigby and backed by the vibealicious drumming of Martin King (Oscar + Martin).

The Harpoons' debut ep, Faith, out now on Gaga Digi, is four tracks of immediate, irrepressibly alive pop –– inspired by classic 60s pop, but possessed of a spark and a charm all its down.

The Harpoons continue to play every tiny venue in town and are currently planning the release of a new single, to compliment their growing selection of recordings found on various blogs and music journals.

Kate Martin and the Shallowsea Choir

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Kate Martin has packed a lot of music into her twenty years.

The daughter of jazz musician parents, Martin taught herself how to play piano at the tender age of three. Over the next ten years, she went about teaching herself any and every instrument she could find. By 12, she was singing jazz standards in her father's band. In her teens, Martin began writing her own folk-pop songs, eventually picking up supports with the likes of The Middle East, Little Birdy and Hungry Kids of Hungary.

Last year, Martin released her gorgeous debut album, Synthetic Shoes, Leather Boots, an eclectic and wide ranging exploration of Martin's diverse musical influences and considerable instrumental talents (have a listen here). Since then, Martin has kept trying new things, swapping her acoustic guitar for an old Stratocaster she found in a junk shop and forming and reforming a band (now known as The Shallowsea Choir) to record her much awaited sophomore lp.

Apples is the gorgeous first single from Martin's new album. A beautifully paced, intricately played song, shot through with subtle instrumental flourishes and coloured with rich harmonies, it's a thoroughly inviting window into Martin's new sound. Have a listen to the track below, check out the gorgeous clip above, and then head on over and pick up a copy on iTunes.

Apples is out now on Outer Records/Gaga Digi. A second single will follow in 2011; the lp will be out in February 2012.

The Frowning Clouds

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

It's not entirely surprising that music with a sly hint of surf would come out of the wilds of Geelong. Nor does it confound that a little motor city mayhem should infuse the sounds emanating from that particular city. Melbourne's little sister, resplendent with sand and sea and home to the Ford factory, Geelong has given us a bevy of amazing music over the year's, and their latest export, The Frowning Clouds, continue that sterling tradition.

The first sample from the five-piece's upcoming album –– the follow up to last year's Listen Closlier –– All Night Long, gives an immediate indication of just where The Frowning Clouds are at circa 2011: somewhere around 1965.

All Night Long is easy to get lost in. Jangling guitars, a scrumptious riff and a jauntily swinging beat hypnotise and delight. Higher order thinking is circumvented as the song makes a beeline to one's most primal regions and urges. Oscillating one's hips is mandatory, whilst Beatles-style head shakes and the odd heart palpitation are neither optional nor avoidable.

Though it sounds as if it was recorded in Ray Davies' garage, All Night Long and its single-mate Dame A Dozen were committed to glorious four-track cassette in friend Owen Penglis' (Straight Arrows) lounge room. Both tracks are infused with the warmth, intimacy and energy that only lo-fidelity can engender.

In keeping with the rough and ready modus operandi that has heretofore typified The Frowning Clouds, All Night Long was recorded a mere five minutes after being written in the backyard during a 40 degree scorcher –– a song as spontaneous and alive as the band themselves.

Hammocks and Honey

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Melbourne electronic-pop duo Hammocks & Honey came together in 2009, the meeting of classically-trained-cellist-turned-synth obsessive Prudence Rees-Lee and multi-instrumentalist Alex Nosek, of experimental electronic outfit ii.

Hammocks & Honey's rich, enveloping sound combines baroque chord progressions with hypnotic, pulsating beats, tropical percussion and the purest of pop sensibilities –– all wrapped in a cloud of strawberry-scented smoke. Hammocks & Honey's early demos caught the attention of blogs far and wide: they were the first Australian band to be featured on Altered Zones, who dubbed their sound 'extra beautiful and totally intriguing,' while Rose Quartz included them in their best of 2010 honour roll.

Hammocks & Honey's debut ep, the aptly named Spellbinder, was released in 2010 on gold vinyl through Special Award Records, and is now out on iTunes via Gaga Digi. A mesmerising and sure-footed 20 minutes of ethereal pop, Spellbinder takes in treated island sounds, Balearic pop touches and spacious atmospherics, all of it cohering around Rees-Lee's beautiful, breathy voice. We can't wait to hear what's next.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Hear one too many jangly, polite homages to Dick Dale and Deltones and you may agree: too many of the nouveau surf-rock brigade deliver on the surf but forget about the rock.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, however, are cavernous and ragged. Seven man reverb-tank choirs. Guitars echoing out into the red. Bursts of spastic lead fuzz. The result is jarring, schizophrenic: that mellow buzz you get from the inexplicable familiarity of 50s pop churned up in a mess of squealing theremin and wailing harmonica. Anglesea punks King Gizzard take a well known formula, fuzz it out, crank it up and make it seem, well, reptilian.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's debut ep, Anglesea, is out now.

Dads

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

At the end of 2010's long winter, Tom Iansek, one half of rising eclectic indie pop duo Big Scary, began a particularly fertile period of writing and recording. Holed up in his house, the prolific Melbourne songwriter laid down a full album of solo recordings that would eventually be gathered under the Dads moniker.

Recorded variously in his garage, bedroom and living room, Man Of Leisure, Iansek's debut Dads lp, bears a similar wide-reaching, anything goes approach to that of his main gig: ranging from warm, hushed balladry to cathartic rock numbers to gorgeously spare instrumentals, the tracks are united only by an effortless pop sensibility and lightness of touch that are quickly becoming the hallmarks of Iansek's ever-growing body of songs.

Where Big Scary's tracks typically make use of just a couple of instruments, Dads finds Iansek experimenting with a fuller, more layered approach, adding flourishes of bass and piano and vocal harmonies and mandolins and glockenspiels to his intricate guitar work, making for a rich, diverse and rewarding listen.

Sailor Days

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Biddy Connor is the string wizard behind artists and bands such as Laura Jean, Kes Band, Super Melody and Magic Silver White –– and now behind new outfit Sailor Days.

A respected composer whose work traverses classical, experimental and pop genres, Biddy's music has been performed everywhere from the big and small screens to regional playhouses, from the Sydney Opera House to any number of sticky-carpeted rooms and dimly lit bars.

Formal recognition for her composition work includes a 2005 nomination for the APRA-AGSC Screen Music Awards in the category of Best Music for a Documentary for her work on the film Switch on the Night.

That same year, Biddy teamed up with Kate Neal and Wally Gunn for Dead Horse Productions, a company dedicated and committed to the presentation and promotion of new Australian composition. Over the next few years they performed new works to packed houses at The Meat Market in North Melbourne alongside Anthony Pateras and Brett Dean, upstairs at The Forum and at The Fairfax Theatre, Arts Centre. For this Biddy performed solo works for viola, voice and live loops. One of these pieces had 50 audience members joining in by playing music boxes resonating on small pieces of wood.

In her new project, Sailor Days, she finally reveals the compositions closest to her heart. Serpentine, dizzying and rich, Biddy's songs play gracefully with harmony, melody and structure, creating strange and beautiful architecture.

Completing the magic triangle to Biddy's viola, voice and organ are Laura Jean Englert (Laura Jean, Kes Band) on bass and Jen Sholakis (Laura Jean, Jen Cloher and The Endless Sea) on drums and bells.

On their self-titled debut album, strings pluck and hum. Voices call, respond and harmonise. Organs creak and bassoons murmur doubtfully while a viola becomes a ship to sail upon. The album is reminiscent of Deerhoof in a reflective mood or Kate Bush minus the histrionics, but ultimately sounds like itself.

Sailor Days' self-titled debut album is out now on Gaga Digi, as is Species Counterpoint, the album's first single, which features remixes from Super Melody and Magic Silver White.

Tiger Choir

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Young Hobart trio Tiger Choir came together a couple of years ago, when three friends began experimenting with pop amid tangles of instrument cables, furniture and musical equipment in cramped sharehouses. Together, the three––Sam Nicholson, Hamish Cruickshank and Elliot Taylor––lit upon a precise, dynamic, inventive brand of pop that quickly brought the band to wider notice, first in their hometown, and then on the mainland and beyond.

Shows around Australia soon followed, with fellow free spirits Rat vs Possum and Richard In Your Mind, with the band finding time in between to drop their debut ep. Tiger Choir's self-titled ep amply showcased the trio's unpredictable, combustible sound, which manages the feat of being at once experimental and otherworldly while remaining completely immediate––inspired dream pop played with math-rock precision.

2011 has seen the band come to wider and wider notice and acclaim, with attention-grabbing slots at the Falls and A Campus A Low Hum festivals, and shows with the likes of Deerhunter and The Drums, with whom they've just completed a national tour, drawing a steady stream of superlatives from all who saw them.

In April, Tiger Choir released their keenly awaited debut lp, Unicycles. To record Unicycles, the band headed down to the wilds of Bruny Island, south east of Hobart, where, in between bouts of recording, the three holed up at an isolated shack and tried their hand, variously, at foraging for food, rowing back to the mainland on a boat with broken oars, and drinking.

'It was an invaluable experience in pop survivalism,' Nicholson told The Mercury. 'We forgot a bag of studio gear and had to make several compromises in the recording setup. We went foraging for food and got a bunch of mussels and made delicious shellfish pasta.'

Eventually the trio returned to Hobart, where they completed the album. Featuring the gloriously woozy dreamhop single 'Dancer', Unicycles is a remarkable slice of energetic, mercurial, intelligent pop––bright and nimble and alive, informed by the luminaries of experimental pop while remaining entirely its own beast.

'Layering lazily half yelled group vocals above rolling, satisfyingly punchy live drums and surrounding the lot with loose guitars and electronics, Tiger Choir's Unicycles is another consistently solid step into dreamy, cotton wool pop,' Who The Hell wrote of the lp.

What happens next is anyone's guess. 'For our next album we're definitely thinking of doing a similar thing,' Taylor says. 'Maybe we'll go somewhere in Tasmania; we're somewhat interested in going to the West Coast to see what sounds that brings out. Or maybe go overseas to Papua New Guinea or New Zealand or maybe even India. You need to be nomadic and adaptable to be a pop survivalist.'

Barbariön

Thu, 12 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

One cold winter's morning a (relatively) young Myles-Harald Tauchert was out and about beating his chest and being generally manly when a very strange thing happened...he started to sing.

Now this may not seem all that unusual to you, but to put things into perspective you need to know a little about the man. Myles was from the notoriously dangerous Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne. He liked cars, he liked meat, but he certainly did not like singing.

Myles-Harald was as amazed as any of the startled onlookers to hear the notes spewing forth from his oversized and overused mouth. It started as somewhat of a musical convulsion...'Oooh!' he chanted.

'Ah Oooh!' was then blurted out straight away.

Pretty soon he was power posing on the footpath chanting 'Oooh Ah Oooh!' over and over with a steadily building crowd watching.

It turned out that Myles-Harald was having an out of body experience. One that would change his life and the course of mankind for ever (or so he tells it anyway).

He was now a singer and he knew that it was his destiny to form the greatest band in the history of everything. He wanted to call it 'The Greatest Band in the History of Everything' but was quite wisely advised to choose a shorter name...BARBARIÖN!

Myles-Harald set about approaching some of the most powerful musical warriors on the planet, many of whom were instantly put off by his lack of personal hygiene and extreme arrogance. After many months of searching the globe, from Hawthorn to Box Hill, he finally found a group of outrageously talented outcasts who joined together to help realise his vision.

They quickly set about hammering, welding and bashing together all manner of hard-core rock and soft-core metal concepts into a sound that transfers mere mortals all over the world into mighty god-warriors, capable of breaking free of the bland shackles of the mundane.

There is more to Barbariön than raw musical power. The Barbariön stage show combines historically inaccurate, sexually ambiguous, highly flammable costumes with hastily assembled pyrotechnics in confined spaces, and incorporates ‘carefully’ choreographed guitar moves and plenty of exposed flesh. There is rarely a dull moment when those crazy Barbarions are around.

In 2009 Barbariön released their debut album, Feast on the Beast. This was quickly followed by the call-to-arms EP AAAAARRGGGHH! in 2010, which is out now on Gaga Digi. In 2011 they toured Australia as part of the Big Day Out festival and founded the mighty Barbariön Horde.

According to Myles-Harald, by 2013 97% of the world's population will have heard of them and by 2015 the whole world will be enslaved by them. On a sad note he also predicts that by 2020 half of the original band members will most likely be dead. Although he has not so far provided any statistical evidence to support his claims, he assures the public that his predictions are very, very accurate.

Barbarion's legacy shall be a world where it is no longer acceptable for men to use moisturiser, a world where coffee shops will only serve beer and every car will be a V8. It will be a world where 'haircut' is a dirty word and all meals come with a side of steak. It will be Utopia and Barbariön will force you to love it.

So...do you want...Barbarion...AAAAARRGGGHH!!!

Baptism Of Uzi

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Starting as a two-guitar and drums acid-garage prog-punk riff jamboree with a sound lying somewhere between Neu!, Devo and Black Sabbath, Baptism Of Uzi found their genesis in 2010 in an unrenovated shack beneath the Westgate Bridge. Baptism have since added synth and bass to the mesh, creating a space-rock juggernaut founded on driving motorik beats, twin lead guitarmonies and rich analog synth-scapes.

Since forming less than twelve months ago, Baptism Of Uzi have played at the St Jeromes Laneway Festival and iconic New Zealand festival Camp A Low Hum; launched the first EP of their lo-fi home experiment series, Dictaphonium 1, to a packed Melbourne crowd; been featured on German release Berlin Mix Tape on the Fallopian Tunes imprint; and helped relaunch Melbourne's rescued Tote Hotel.

Late last year BoU went into the studio to try capture some of the magic of their fearsome live show. The fruit of this labour is the mightly Cassette EP, out now on Gaga Digi.

A more sonically rich affair than their debut tape, the new EP provides another glimpse into the vision of experimentation and progression that BoU doggedly pursue. With the home studio nearly complete, the Cassette EP release provides another puzzle piece to the rich landscape that the band are ensconcing themselves in.