Hello,
Writing is coming along nicely for the next release - just not entirely sure how/when it will come out and what shape it will take...
In the meantime, here's my picks for 2009...
MEW "No More Stories...." - points for the extra long album title (do a search for it), and luckily the content backs it up. I seriously wondered how they would top "Glass Handed Kites", but they did with this. In an another universe, they would be the worlds best pop band. Wait on... they already are. A tour please, gentlemen...
HAVE A NICE LIFE "Deathconsciousness" - this actually came out in '08, but I only discovered this year, so it gets on this list by default. No physical release that I am aware of, so had to make do with downloading, not something I am overly fond of (apart from the odd rarity/b-side etc). Sounds like a home recording - if you could imagine "Pornography"-era Cure, Joy Division doing a evil waltz with some of that weird, reverb soaked music that Buffalo Bill was listening to in his hideout in "Silence of the Lambs", then you're in the ballpark of what this sounds like. Awesome stuff! And kudos for best song title, that being "Waiting For Black Metal Records To Come In The Mail".
THE CHURCH "Untitled #23" - Australia's (and the world's) most criminally overlooked band. The Cure have forever been my favourite band, but The Church are making the kind of music I wish Smith and co. would make. A sublime album - up there with their other highwater marks "Priest = Aura" and "After Everything, Now This". Saw them a couple of weeks ago at the great Northern in Byron Bay and it was a priviledge, because a band of this calibre should be playing theatre venues at the very least. And, just for the record, Peter Koppes is the man.
NO ANCHOR "Steam" - Brisbane two piece (swinging sludgy bass and drums) that I still haven't caught live yet, but need to. Apparently they have another bass player since this release, so I pity the PA systems in Brisbane and beyond!
JESU "Infinity" & "Opiate Sun EP" - two slices of Jesu goodness this year. "Infinity" is a 50 minute song which goes through all sorts of sound scapes, at one point touching on his hardcore past with some serious growling. My favourite part is around the 20:30 mark, all fuzzy bass with blissed out guitars... nice! "Opiate Sun" is a 4 song ep showcasing more hooky leanings, albeit through some monster sounds.
SUGAR "Beaster"- yep, straight from 1993 this one, but its my list, my rules. Bob Mould's finest work, which is no mean feat considering his career. One of the few records that I pull out once a month or so, and listen from start to finish. Handy hint - PLAY LOUD! And, while we're on the 90's....
JAWBOX "For Your Own Special Sweetheart" - great re-issue/remaster of a seminal album. Goodbye mid 90's life-sucking compression, hello massive bottom end! And, again, while we're on the 90's....
SWERVEDRIVER "Raise" and "Mezcal Head" reissues - once again, the bottom end is given a great deal more presence than the original release, but not at the expense of those magical guitar lines and Adam Franklin's cool as fuck vocals. Is there a better bassline than on "Deep Seat"? I doubt it. Most praise from the this era seems to always be heaped upon My Bloody Valentine. MBV were/are a great band, no question, other worldly even. But Swervedriver had the sounds AND the songs. The only bummer with these reissues was that they were not a little more comprehensive, as the band was incredibly prolific around this period. "Raise" alone had another album's worth of high quality b-sides. Ah well, save it for another day.
THOM YORKE "FeelingPulledApartByHorses" Single - trippy electronics from some guy who has significant day job
SONIC YOUTH "The Eternal" - which they are. I always flog the absolute heyzus out of a new SY album, then forget about it for 6 months. Then come back to it. To my ears, this sounds like the logical follow up to "Dirty" (if SY had decided to cash in back in the day).
DECODER RING "They Blind The Stars, And The Wild Team" - I didn't mind when they added vocals to their arsenal a few years back, but this feels like the true version of the band. Everything that is great about them comes to the fore on this album. Terrific live show too.
AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD "Century Of Self" - I wouldn't say a "return to form" as such, just a return to the road more travelled. After the slight detours made on "Worlds Apart" and in particular "So Divided" (which I didn't actually mind), "Century" finds the band playing to the strengths that made "Source Tags And Codes" such a brilliant album. A great show at The Zoo topped it off.
THE SOUND MOVEMENT "Memory And The Human Heart" - cracking e.p. from my good friend Graham's band in the U.K. Andrew Day writes wicked tunes!
AXXONN "Masters Of the Epic Day" - tasty mini release from the Brisbane electronic 2 piece. Boys that bring the noise...
DINOSAUR JR "Farm" - JLouMurph add some, dare I say it, classic rock swagger/swing on some of the stuff on this, and it sounds awesome
FUCK BUTTONS "Tarot Sport" - a head fuck of emotion and noise. Took me awhile to get past the first song because its so damn good
NIRVANA "Live At Reading" - If Nirvana ever pulled off a better gig than this, then I would have loved to have seen it. Powerful, ragged. Someone who I have a lot of respect for recently called Cobain an "accidental musician", however I'm pretty sure you don't write and perform music like this by accident. The "Nevermind" material comes across somehow bigger here (love the deliberate sabotaging of "Teen Spirit"), but for me, its the stuff from "Bleach" that really flys. You kind of wonder where his music would've gone if he had stuck around.
MAGNETIC MORNING "A.M." - Adam Franklin (mentioned above) has one of the most sublime voices. It kind of drifts.... His solo release "Spent Bullets" was cool too.
A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS "Exploding Head" - do a fine job of taking the last 20 or so years of prime noise guitar (JAMC,MBV, Cure) and making it their own
MONO "Hymn To The Immortal Wind" - I didn't give this too much of a listen before seeing them last Sunday, but it's been getting belted ever since. I read an article recently that described Mono as "Mogwai's plane crashing into a Beethoven concert" (or words to that effect), and I fully agree. They do it brilliantly.
Notable shows (saw plenty, so just going off the top of my head here) - Cult Of Luna at The Tivoli, Mogwai at The Tivoli, The Church at The Great Northern, School of Seven Bells at The Zoo, Butcher Birds at The Shark Bar, Axxonn at The Hangar, Trail Of Dead at The Zoo, Flaming Lips at Splendour In The Grass, Hazards of Swimming Naked album launch with Restream at The Zoo, Mono & Laura at The Hi Fi Bar, The Specials at Splendour In The Grass, Decoder Ring at The Sound Lounge
