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78 Records Music To Your Ears!
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16/7/2010
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The new financial year is here, and reading the paper last Sunday I stumbled upon an article that peaked my interest; "Tax dogs pay better than tax dodge". Apparently expenses related to mans' best friend (ie food and vet bills) can be claimed as tax deductions when said dog is connected to income generation. This got me thinking...
I'm sure, like me, there are many of you that cut it fine when racing to the bus/train each morning on your way to work. Might it also be reasonable to suggest that like me, many of you rely on your trusty car radio or mp3 player to ready you for the day? Nothing better prepares me for the day ahead than the familiar bounce of Four Tet's Pause
or, if I've had a particularly late night, I find Leonard Cohen is best at coaxing me into waking life. Not only does the music I purchase help me get to work awake and on time, but I'm also reasonably convinced that listening to music at work also increases my productivity. I've never met a 3 o'clock lull i couldn't remedy with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Parliament, or the Kinks. And I certainly find myself much more motivated and enthused to do menial duties like cleaning and tidying when I have a rockin' soundtrack to spur me on. And so we've reached the crux of my some what far-fetched arguement.
I'm quite convinced that the music I listen to has a direct connection to the generation of my income. Not only do the records I buy get me to work on time but they also improve my performance at work. And so, someday, just as we can now claim the cost of a trusty doggy, perhaps we will be able to claim the cost of a trusty album or two.
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In Short
Up Coming Releases
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare
Bliss N Eso - Running On Air
Clutch - From Beale Street To Oblivion
Fat Freddy's Drop - Live At The Roundhouse
Linkin Park - Scorpio
Paramore - Careful
Soilwork - Panic Broadcast
Tame Impala - Innerspeaker on vinyl!
36 Crazy Fists - Collisions & Castaways
Washington - I Believe You Liar
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New Releases
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Birds Of Tokyo - Birds Of Tokyo
July 23rd will see the release of the third studio album from local lads Birds of Tokyo. A year in the making, the self titled album is one of 2010's most anticipated releases. Stay tuned!
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PVT - Church With No Magic
Church With No Magic sees PVT (formerly known as Pivot) deliver a brilliantly tempered amalgam of rock synthesis and propulsive rhythms with huge melodic strength and powerful vocals. In store 17th of July, we can't wait!
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Staff Picks
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Mardi - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti Before Today
Before Today is simultaneously forward thinking and nostalgic. A genre bending album that swings from 60s pop to 80s R&B and even glam rock. Ultimately creating a charmingly experimental pop album.
Rory - Leatherface Stormy Petrel
If you don't like Leatherface, you should. Six years since the radical Dog Disco, it has been a while between drinks for Stubbs and the lads (not literally I hope), but as usual they don't disappoint. With an OZ tour anounced for later this year, it's time to get excited.
Daymo - Born Ruffians Say It
In the red corner, Vampire Weekend, in the blue corner Born Ruffians. With latest offering Contra Vampire Weekend are the reigning indie kings, but Born Ruffians aren't new-comers to this game either. Unleashing a sophomore album full of killer hooks, off-kilter rhythms and sing-along choruses, methinks these relative unknowns will punch well above their weight! The packed house is baying for blood. Will the Vamps be drinking or will the Ruffians steal the crown? DING!!
Ewan - Wild Nothing Gemini
For fans of 80s college art-rock bands Book Of Love and Til Tuesday, or the 00s equivalents M83 and Beach House. Dreamy, romantic guitar pop. A guilty pleasure for some, a knife to the heart for others.
Micheala - The La's Box Set
Pure Pop! A 4cd set of outtakes, live performances and previously un-released material. "Son Of A Gun" - It's a must have!
Zoe - High Places High Places vs. Mankind
Combining the unexpected and unlikely, with beautiful results, High PLaces' second album continues to show the bands' interest in dance rhythms, stereo effects, melodies, dub, and a love of layering, while they begin to take new directions.
Fang - Gaslight Anthem American Slang
Moody, understated third album from New Jerseys' "Boss-Annointed" keepers of the modern rock'n'roll flame! The album is packed with solid tunes, whilst bringing a more mature sound to the plate.
Dayv - Margins (Self Titled)
Members of abrasive rock bands such as The Nation Blue, Ricaine and Blacklevel Embassy (to name a few) have reduced their normal tempos and volume to create the first Margins album.
Much like Tortoises album of 1996 "Millions Now Living Will Never Die", the Melbourne band have created an instrumental album almost as if it were written as a film score. There's plenty of space endorsing the less is more technique which is succeeded through intricate musicianship and subtle instrumental atmospheres that are ever evolving from beginning to end.
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Upcoming Gigs
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Parklife 2010
Groove Armada, Dandy Warhols, Cut Copy, Missy Elliot, Midnight Juggernauts, Mix Master Mike, Soulwax, Washington, Bag Raiders, The Wombats, Holy Ghost, Memory Tapes, Delorean, Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, Kele, New Young Pony Club, Jesse Rose, The Glitch Mob... Need we say more?! Tickets are here!
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Basement Birds
The homegrown super-group will be gracing the Astor Theatre on the 13th of August as part of their national Good Evening and Goodnight tour. Get tickets in store now, and make sure you get down to the shop on July 16th for the physical release of their debut album!
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Feature Album - Elvis presley 'From Elvis In Memphis' (RCA, 1969)
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After a 14 year absence from Memphis, Elvis Presley returned to record what was certainly his greatest album. The fact that 'From Elvis In Memphis' came out as well as it did is something of a surprise in retrospect. Presley had a backlog of songs he genuinely liked and wanted to record, and had heard some new soul material that attracted him, and none of it resembled the material that he'd been recording in recent years. Since his cyclonic rise to fame in the 50's, Presley had really done nothing else but films and soundtracks, with the occasional 'non-soundtrack' album. Down on confidence and dispirited with the material he'd have to work on for the films, Presley was certainly in a downward spiral in terms of both sales and credibility. Fortunately a deal with NBC television for a one hour Christmas special enabled him to re-claim his 'king of rock n' roll' crown.
A landmark event in contemporary music, Presley literally worked his ass off, leading to the realization he was still as vital and exciting an entertainer in 1968 as he was a dozen years earlier. Recorded at American Studios in Memphis under the watchful eye of legendary producer Chips Moman, with musicians such as Tommy Cogbill, Reggie Young and Bobby Emmons, Presley turned in perhaps one of the greatest southern white soul albums ever recorded, with brief but considerable forays into country, pop and blues. Artistically rejuvenated, it is perhaps a shame that Elvis's career once again slipped into a downward spiral in the late 70's, as he joined the Las Vegas circuit and began recording generally insipid and uninteresting albums.
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Daymo's 5 Favourite American indie/alt rock albums of the mid 90s!
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Archers Of Loaf Icky Mettle (1993)
Is this the perfect indie-rock record? Quite possibly my favourite album of all time, The Archer's 1993 debut is song after song of what indie-rock is all about. Guitars are crunchy and jagged, ringing loud and true, their dissonant interplay utterly genius. Eric Bachman's vocals soar with a passionate urgency that makes your heart race and your soul shiver. Every song is great. Spikey and rusty while at the same time angelic and otherworldly. It jangles, it totally rocks, it's super intense but completely melodic. The arrangement is bizarre and the parts unlikely, but that only serves to make it that much more unique and unforgettable. In my opinion, this one set "the bar".
Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream (1993)
My, what a sound! Whatever was to become of Billy and co, on this Butch Vig produced sophomore album, Corgan does away with pretension by twisting it into glorious rock anthems and beautiful alt-pop. The playing is incredible; the bombastic jazz tinged assault of the drums balanced perfectly by blasting electric riffs, sprawling melodies and whirling psychadelic passages, all building into orchestrated euphoria. Although future efforts were more ambitious, the Pumpkins never made an album this flawless again. Classic.
Pavement Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994)
Angular, lazy, sometimes mellow, sometimes frenetic, sloppy yet tight, catchy as hell. This glorious album of sun-drenched indie-pop is by far more accessible and radio friendly than any of their previous or post releases and is, to me, damn near perfect. The music is wondrous and perplexing and Stephen Malkmus' immense talent for writing simultaneously ambiguous/absurd and yet deeply meaningful lyrics is the icing on the cake. A true indie masterpiece.
Weezer Weezer (1994)
I really don't think Weezer ever made a more consistent, more infectious, or more charming album than this, their debut. It's got it all; loud, heavy swirling electrified guitars that create a lush wall of sound, undeniably catchy sing-a-long melodies thatare bubblegum sweet, witty, quirky, cynical and self-deprecating lyrics, all delivered with an amazing pop sensibility... really, how can you go wrong here?!
Built To Spill Perfect From Now On (1997)
Built To Spill's major label debut is a complex, innovative, transcendent genius of an album. The talent of this band lies in their ability to craft a 3 minute hook laden pop song, dream up some of the most inventive and wildly original arrangements, play those arrangements with only basic rock instrumentation, and then stretch that song to its logical, or illogical conclusion. These textured journeys shape-change with Doug's chameleon like overlapping guitar tapestries, and are utterly hypnotic. Just listen to the track 'Randy Described Eternity'. Oddball lyrics are juxtaposed with transcendent music and ultimately build to an emotional climax that defies logic or explanation. To me that perfectly encapsulates the perfect paradox that is BTS. The existance of both the ridiculous and sublime in the same place at the same time. EPIC!
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It was jazz legend Louis Armstrong who'd never heard a horse hold a tune, and speaking of animals, a famous composer once claimed that "My music is best understood by children and animals."
Find out who in issue 5, and until then, happy listening!
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