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Bob Marley & The Wailers – Exodus
[Island Records: 1977]
Seeing that summer is upon us here in Australia, Album of The Week has been sorting through our favourite summer records and songs in preparation for sunshine, ocean, sweat and impromptu backyard barbecues. Bob Marley needs no introduction – discovering his music is almost like a rite of passage for each generation, and he’s an artist who has an entire culture connected to him. I should know – I used to drive a VW Kombi and got many a presumptuous look if I ever happened to be playing a bit of Bob. I’m not a Rastafarian or a pot smoker (I swear Mum), but there’s something about his music that takes you to a very certain, very relaxing place – a place where it wouldn’t be inappropriate to have a lazy snooze while being fanned with palm leaves by hot topless Jamaicans.
Exodus was the defining album in the career of Bob Marley & The Wailers that not only brought the group huge popularity outside of Jamaica, but it also played a seminal role in introducing the rest of the world to reggae music.
We could go on and on about Bob Marley’s extensive back catalogue, but if your only experience with his music is occasionally hearing Legend at parties, the time is now to discover Exodus and play it on those warm afternoons. And remember: if you’re in the sun don’t forget to wear a hat.
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Ladyhawke – Ladyhawke
[Modular: 2008]
Think of some of the greatest ladies of the Eighties. Let’s say Debra Harry, Pat Benatar, Annie Lennox, Susannah from The Bangles, Cyndi Lauper, Stevie Nicks and that chick from Roxette. Then combine them all together into one incredible mutant superwoman of 80s pop music – complete with synthesisers, drum machines, basic lyrics, and the requisite cheese factor – and you have Pip Brown AKA Ladyhawke.
Her shamelessly retro debut is a collection of heavily synth-infused new-wave pop songs that are so nice, so infectious, so outrageously danceable that it sounds like it could be an album of fabulous Eighties hit singles - as opposed to the debut record from a shy New Zealand gal. Who cares if it’s all a bit derivative? – She’s named “Ladyhawke” after the 1985 Michelle Pfeiffer movie for heavenssake! - so she clearly wears her influences on her sleeve (painted in glitter and puff paints, no less). Ladyhawke is a charming homage to some of the most iconic female artists in pop music history. Viva la Eighties!
In honour of Ladyhawke’s excellently eighties-inspired debut, Album of The Week has put together a little list of our top ten
ladies of the eighties. In no particular order:
Cyndi Lauper – An inimitable voice, a take-no-shit Queens attitude and an outrageous, trendsetting approach to fashion,
Cyndi also wrote the theme song to awesome eighties movie, The Goonies.
Debbie Harry – As the lead-singer and namesake of seminal new-wave band Blondie, DH is a legendary streetwise and sexy icon of punk
Wendy James - lead singer of alternative UK rock group Transvision Vamp, most notable for the ass-kicking pop/punk single "I Want Your Love" and platinum hair
Pat Benetar - Rock n Roll Hall of Famer, four time Grammy winner and singer of some of the best karaoke tunes of all time
("Love is a Battlefied", "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"), Pat was the spandexed Queen of Eighties Rock
Annie Lennox - Amazingly charismatic front woman of synthpop duo Eurythmics, famous for her androgeny and reputation as "the greatest white soul singer alive"
Chrissy Amphlett - Husky-voiced Divinyls singer epitomised sex, drugs and rock n roll. Invented the concept of the "naughty
school girl" and offended mothers everywhere with "I Touch Myself" her paean to... touching herself.
Kylie Minogue - Adorable pop pocket-rocket is considered as a national treasure in both Australia and the UK, and is proud owner of one of the world's most famous bums.
Madonna - It goes without saying. Didn't just break boundaries in the eighties - destroyed them. Released the stunning pop album 'Like A Prayer' in 1989 managing to piss off the Catholic church, Pepsi Corp and millions of right-wing folk worldwide.
Has since sold 200 million records, rocked a conical bra, frenched Warren Beatty and become most powerful pop-culture identity living on earth.
Chrissie Hynde - Fender telecaster-weilding punk style-setter and songwriter for the Pretenders. Known for her lyrical candor
and being effortlessly cool. She dated both Sid Vicious and Ray Davies from the Kinks - enough said.
Stevie Nicks - Famous for her distinct vocals, mystical gyspy vibe and coke-snorting partner-swapping days in Fleetwood
Mac, Stevie's 80s hit 'Edge of Seventeen' was famously sampled for Destiny's Child's Bootylicious.
Honourable mentions go to: Martika, Belinda Carlisle, Marie from Roxette, Cindy and Kate from the B52's, Donna Summer,
Olivia Newton-John, Tiffany, Dolly Parton, Sade and the ladies of The Bangles and Bananarama
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The John Steel Singers – In Colour
[Dew Process: 2008]
There must be something in the water in Brisbane, Australia because there seems to be an outrageous number of awesome bands popping up each year. Maybe it’s got something to do with the fact that they’ve just approved the use of recycled sewage for drinking water…
Anyway. The John Steel Singers’ EP makes you want to… be one of the John Steel Singers. This is clearly a band that appreciates the way each member’s part adds to the overall effect of each song – rather than being a showcase of one or two particular talents or egos, the instruments and voices mesh beautifully in an almost Beach Boys-ish way.
In Colour seems like a genuine, feel-good family affair. The opening track ‘Rainbow Kraut’ is a technicolour explosion of sound, combined with a contagious beat and trumpet fanfares that put it in contention as one of the best Driving Songs that has emerged this year. With hints of Belle and Sebastian and the Beatles’ Revolver to be found in the other numbers on this 4-track EP, we eagerly await their next step.
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Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
[Inertia: 2008]
Justin Vernon, the man behind lo-fi Indie folk outfit, Bon Iver, recorded the majority of ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ during a three month stint in his father’s remote cabin in the Wisconsin woods, following the breakdown of his long-term relationship.
Devastating break ups have resulted in some truly beautiful records over the years, such as Beck’s Seachange and Ryan Adams’s Love is Hell, and Bon Iver’s stunning collection of stories of love, loss and regret is no exception.
For Emma, Forever Ago combines evocative songwriting, poetic lyrics and an exquisitely soft vocal performance to deliver a sonic recreation of the cold and wintery atmosphere of the place where the record was made. Beautiful and understated.
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