SBTRKT @ Roxanne Parlour October 21st

In what quickly became the hottest ticket in town, SBTRKT (the indie-electro way of spelling Subtract alla MSTRKRFT) played at Roxanne Parlour last Friday night. Drawing a healthy hipster crowd, the venue was packed and the vibe was sweet. The set itself was very entertaining and kept the crowd in awe for the majority of the 90-minute show. Starting off slow, but not in the boring sense, with a smooth beat which enlisted a feeling of anticipation within the crowd.

Hailing from London and donning his mysterious tribal mask, SBTRKT created a mystical vibe with a deep and strong sound paired with a touch of dub step and melodic vocals. Launching into crowd favourites such as ‘Right Thing to Do’ and ‘Trials of the Past’ and throwing in remixes of well known tunes such as ‘You’ve Got the Love’ pushed Roxanne’s dodgy floor to near collapse. The crowd lost their ‘cool’ and screamed the lyrics back to him.

The music SBTRKT produces is new level; the combination of deep bass and melodic vocals is a mint partnership. It’s music that is hard to define; some would say it’s a remodification of dub step. It’s not as dark or repetitive. There is melody, which has appealed to the less hardcore dub step fans. It is music to take you away.

Roxanne also proved to be an appropriate venue, despite the flights of stairs and overpriced drinks. They didn’t try and fit in so many people that you couldn’t even move let alone dance while still being very much a full house.

Musically gig was well worth the $25, which means the real deal will be well worth the cost of a Laneway ticket where they will be featuring next February, and fingers crossed for sideshows. 

By Anna Gilfillan

NEW FALLS FESTIVAL ACTS - THE NAKED & FAMOUS + GROUPLOVE

You get greedy when you see a line-up for a festival. You think to yourself “Yeah it’s good, but I want a little more”. Well Falls Festival has certainly delivered putting on FOURTEEN more acts for us to vibe with over new years. 

Grouplove, The Naked and Famous, AND The Scientist of Modern Music are all set to play both Falls Festivals in Lorne and Marion Bay. The other eleven acts are playing in Lorne only, they are: Bleeding Knees Club, Bombay Royale, Boy In A Box, Clairy Brown & The Bangin’ Rackettes, Dub FX, Guineafowl, Gyuto Monks of Tibet, Kim Churchill, Lewis Floyd Henry, Miles Kane and Puta Madre Brothers.

With only two short months until the festival hits do not be fooled and wait until the last minute to grab a cheap ticket, scrounge around for one now in the hope that some poor bastard has to work over new years and can’t attend this one.

The Falls Line-Up so far:

Arctic Monkeys 
Arj Barker 
Crystal Castles 
Easy Star All Stars (performing Dub Side of the Moon in full) 
Fleet Foxes 
Aloe Blacc
Dan Deacon
Emma Louise
Josh Thomas
The Kooks
Lanie Lane
Metronomy
Missy Higgins
Nouvelle Vague
Pnau
The Jim Jones Revue 
Young MC. 
J Mascis 
Josh Pyke 
Papa Vs Pretty 
The Jezabels 
The Wonderful World of DJ Yoda 
Tim Finn 
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Regurgitator
The Grates
Beirut
CANT
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
Alpine
Grouplove (USA)
The Naked And Famous (NZ)
The Scientists of Modern Music 
Lorne only –
Bleeding Knees Club
Bombay Royale
Boy In A Box
Clairy Brown & The Bangin’ Rackettes
Dub FX
Guineafowl
Gyuto Monks of Tibet
Kim Churhill
Lewis Floyd Henry (UK)
Miles Kane (UK)
Puta Madre Brothers.

By Huw Nolan

GOLDEN PLAINS + BON IVER

So summer festival season is fast approaching with Parklife just wrapping up and line-ups for Big Day Out, Golden Plains and Laneway starting to be released youngsters and music lovers are saving their hard earned pennies on some summer lovin. Golden Plains is Meredith’s sister festival being held at the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheater. Much like Meredith we love everything to do with this festival, “There’s no commercial sponsors, a no dickheads rule and it’s BYO”. What more could you want from a festival? It’s a calm relaxed atmosphere, you can bring your own piss, and oh I forgot to mention Bon Iver is playing a special extended Sunset set with a nine piece band. We cannot wait. 

The rest of the line-up is announced on October 17th but we suggest you make your way to enter the ballot because you do not want to miss out on this one. While you’re at it have a go getting a Meredtih ticket too, the line-up can be viewed here: http://2011.mmf.com.au/whos-playing/.

To get you excited about the upcoming festivals we have dropped a Bon Iver track up top for your to vibe with.

Florence + The Machine - What The Water Gave Me

It seems as though Florence Welch can do no wrong. Florence + The Machine’s sophomore release ‘Lungs’ was an instant success, with now producer Paul Epwoth pronouncing that their were no weak tracks on the album. The new album may be heading down the same path with their new track What The Water Gave Me indicating promising signs. What The Water Gave Me is a rollercoaster ride of belting crescendos and haunting whispers, with a goosebump inducing chorus melody that we can come to expect from Florence + The Machine. The song is not as commercially appealing as previous releases such as You’ve Got The Love, however it is a dramatic theatrical piece that contrasts heavily in its musical form and written lyric. The harp versus heavy guitar and the references of suicide and unrequited love give this song balance and depth. Being a relative fan of Florence + The Machine this exceeded my expectations for their new album. I’m not quite sure if fans will agree with this point of view, as their ‘pop band’ status maybe should have brought with it a ‘poppier’ sound. Either way fans should be excited because if What The Water Gave Me they is anything to go by they have done it again, belting vocals and beautiful arrangements, the Florence + The Machine we know and love . The new album is out November 7th this year.

By Huw Nolan

Poolside - Harvest Moon (Neil Young Cover)

I’ll be honest, who are Poolside? I had never heard of them before this track of a Neil Young cover hit my inbox. A song’s success can be measured by the approval of music peers and Harvest Moon has been covered by a lot of well respected acts such as Death Cab For Cutie and Pearl Jam. However this cover takes the track in a completely different direction, taking it from an emotional acoustic romance to a groovy funk. Neil Young of course is a genius and this song must be accredited to him, however Poolside’s rendition is smart, inventive and inspired. Where there is difference, there are naysayers, and I could definitely see die hard Neil Young calling this cover a ‘travesty against rock n roll’, but for the rest of you who aren’t yet sick of this synth pop sound, you are in for a treat. Soothing synths, a melodic falsetto vocal and of course a walking bass line make this take on the Neil Young classic upbeat rather than depressing. Get your Hawaiian shirt on, your pina colada and pull out that banana lounge because you are going to be spending the sunny summer poolside.

By Huw Nolan

Wavves - I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl

Wavves reminds me of a pop influenced bunch of Kurt Cobain wannabes with a beach boys twist. I find their ignorance as a bout as refreshing as a punch in the face, with the gaul to call their epcoming EP ‘Life Sux’, in saying this however I am getting more and more involved in their music. The band has a strange commercial appeal due their overly alternative facade enabling them the ‘cool’ title amongst angst-y teens. Im no San Diegan so I suppose surf punk rock was never on my agenda growing up, but it is starting to grow on me. As much as I liked Wavves earlier stuff, with trippy tracks such as Post-Acid, and as much as I think their title track is a grab for attention, ‘I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl’ has me wanting to vandalize, surf and dance. No bias here, I like it.

By Huw Nolan

I Break Horses - Load Your Eyes- Hearts (2011)

I got a taste of @Ibreakhorses yesterday and immediately had to purchase Hearts. I’m pretty much blown away.

Give this tune a listen. A fantastic beat coupled with Maria Lindén’s soothing and sensual vocals give it an ethereal but upbeat feel. The gradual addition of instrumentation throughout keeps your head bobbing. And that fantastic beat — just flippin’ awesome. And, finally a subtle close, that keeps you begging for more. Love it.

I’m really diggin’ the album — been hooked since purchasing it yesterday. And, it jump started my Thursday in the perfect way. 

Purchase the album via iTunes. More info on I Break Horses. 

Posted By indietunes:

Unknown Mortal Orchestra are one of those ‘I told you so’ bands. They run around the internet like wildfire and start playing festivals in support of bigger bands, and so the fascination grows. A majority of the time these acts are over-glorified alternative types riding the wave of a new indie trend. In this case I think the I told you so theorem could be applied to the Portland based band because their true sound speaks for itself. New Zealander, Ruben Nielso, started out the band as a way to get some exposure for his solo projects, Unknown Mortal Orchestra was a one piece band. Once the love started flowing in from industry powerhouse Pitchfork and several blog websites the time came when he decided to make the band legit.

Their track ‘Ffunny Frends’ seems quite one-dimensional on first listen and melodically I was expecting more due to the hype surrounding this band. UMO seemed to play it safe, a simple drumbeat, guitar riff and chord progression. But I must say it won me over, who’s to say simple isn’t good? Does every song need to be as complex as Wings’ ‘Band On The Run’ for it to be recognized as musically viable. I mean Seven Nation Army was simple and it became one of the songs of my generation. Much like Seven Nation Army, ‘Ffunny Frends’ has a hypnotic drumbeat and repetitive guitar riffs, and it gets increasingly addictive with every listen. Without the climax that The White Stripes achieve, this track is more of a listener than a stomper.

The band as a whole reminds me of an amalgamation of Cold War Kids and The Black Keys, with a dash of psychedelic dream rock. If you these two, you will fall in love with Uknown Mortal Orchestra. If you enjoy this track check out another one of theirs entitled “How Can U Luv Me”.

By Huw Nolan