[Warner Bros. : 2002] The Lips have been around for over twenty years. They’ve experienced several highs (winning three Grammys, being voted the creators of the Official rock song of Oklahoma) and survived a number of lows (hardcore drug addiction). At different stages of their existence as a band they have evolved from the psych-rock garage scene, through the early grunge movement (the scene that produced their only “hit” to date: ‘She Don’t Use Jelly’), into an experimental phase of instrumentation and noise, and most recently a unique and psychedelic style of alternative rock. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002) was their tenth full length album, and it remains one of the most ambitious, lush, chaotic, thought-provoking and sonically beautiful records released in the last ten years. From the album’s thoughtful opener ‘Flight Test’ to the bubbly electronic-fused pop of the title track, to the joyous single ‘Do You Realise’ – an existential journey in layman’s terms that is simultaneously sad and uplifting. The Flaming Lips belong on the list of bands to see before you die, and we are super excited to see them at the Splendour in the Grass festival this year.
Glaswegian six-piece self-described “fight-pop” band caused a stir at South By South West this year, leaving critics raving about their almost violently energetic live shows. They are about to hit the road for their first ever tour of the European summer festivals, as well as quick stopovers in Australia (including splendour in the grass) and New Zealand. Callum Gunn, the band’s hyperactive front man, took some time for a chat with Album of The Week. Their debut album ‘Hey Everyone’ is out this week and is insane fun, comprising pop, punk, hardcore, sing along tomfoolery and blinding dance rock. Woo! Album of The Week: Hello callum Callum: Hello how’ve you been? Album of The Week: Good how are you? Callum: Not too bad at all Album of The Week: Good – are you in the middle of a lot of interviews? Callum: I am yes – it’s not the kind of emotional torture I thought it was – it’s actually quite enjoyable. Album of The Week: Okay cool. What are you guys doing at the moment – are you in the middle of touring or are you just about to start? Callum: Actually we did a show yesterday in Glasgow and then in three days we’re playing in London with the Eagles of Death Metal Album of The Week: Nice! Callum: Yeah, we’re just kind of warming up before we go back out (on the road) again in a months time Album of The Week: And last nights show – that was a home town show? Callum: In Glasgow yeah, yeah. It was a little show that we put on ourselves, to kind of warm up and get back into the whole head-banging thing, get the muscles aching. Album of The Week: A lot of friends were there? Callum: Yeah – it was pretty nice to see everyone so it was good. Album of The Week: You guys have a heap of festivals coming up... do you enjoy the festivals or do you prefer playing the solo shows? Callum: Well, we’ve never actually played many festivals, so this is set to be our first festival summer, so we’re all really keen for it. We’re used to being on the other side – waking up in a tent, so we’re all super excited. We’re all really looking forward to it. Album of The Week: Are you guys excited for coming down to Australia? Callum: Oh god yeah definitely yeah. Um, that’s kind of like the thing we’re looking forward to most. It’s going to be our first time and we’re playing Splendour In The Grass, which I’ve heard is absolutely amazing. Album of The Week: It is – it’s in a great area of Australia as well. Callum: Yeah! I’ve already been told I have to go surfing. Obviously it’s something I’ve never had the opportunity to do in Scotland. Ha ha ha! Album of The Week: That’s great! So are you planning on doing a lot of touristy things while you’re here? Callum: We actually have quite a few days off, so we’ll have the chance. I’ve never been to Australia before but I’ve always wanted to, so it’ll be good to have the time to get about and see what’s going on. Album of The Week: Back to Splendour – we’re looking forward to seeing you play. You guys have quite a reputation for your live shows, what can we expect when you play Splendour? Callum: Ummm... you can expect a lot of infantile cuddling and childish behaviour and a lot of positive, good vibes and very very loud music. And hopefully people will respond energetically. Album of The Week: Do you guys have a fitness regime to keep your live shows up to par? Callum: (laughs) I wish – unfortunately the live show IS our fitness regime. In the beginning all of us partook in a little bit of jogging, but it never really became very serious and we try to keep fit, but it’s not really the case. Album of The Week: Callum you used the be the drummer right? Callum: I did, yes I did. Album of The Week: And how’s the switch? Do you enjoy the singing more? Callum: Ah... yeah I do. Honestly I miss the drums a little bit, but I get my moments during the live shows cos parts of the songs I get to play the drums. I get my drum fix. Album of The Week: So there’s a bit of swapping? Callum: Yeah – we all do a little bit of it at some point. Album of The Week: In the beginning, how did Danananakyroyd get together? Callum: We got together about three and a half years ago when two of us, we were all in different bands around Glasgow all playing in the scene that we had a few years ago, and those bands all kind of dissolved so what happened was we all just kind of fell into a unit of bored youth (laughs). And we decided to form a ridiculously fun band – with no real agenda or anything – so we just all got together and started playing that music. Album of The Week: Do you listen to the critics – getting the positive feedback must be pretty good? Callum: Well to be honest I don’t really check it too much myself but my mum does ha ha! So I get my reports from my mother who is infinitely proud of her son – bless her heart. She tells us whenever someone has said something good about the band in the newspapaers or anything like that. Album of The Week: Aw that’s good. You recently had a band member leave how did that pan out? Callum: Yes we’ve got a replacement in and we’ve done two shows with him to see if it worked and it fortunately does! Album of The Week: With your album, did you guys record it live – just go in a play it? Callum: Yep it was recorded in New York with ¬¬Machine (producer) who did Lamb of God and lots of metal bands, and we just went into the studio for two weeks and tried to do as much live as possible, really try to capture the live sound. We’re predominantly a live band so we really wanted to put the essence of our live shows into the record. Album of The Week: Okay nice. Hey, who does your artwork? It’s pretty cool. Callum: Yeah! It’s this guy from London Keaton Hensen, a really really talented guy. One of the guys from the band really liked his work and thought this is our man so we got in contact with him online, we kind of struck up a good relationship with him and has a continued part in our work so far yeah. Album of The Week: We are always interested to hear what other peoples Albums of The Week are and what they are into. What are you listening to at the moment? Callum: Umm, ahhh geee. This is a hard one. Well kind of catching up on a lot of things and getting back into metal. One album would be Agoraphobic Nosebleeds their latest record Agorapocalypse. Very very harsh record that we’re into at the moment and in no way represents the band but we like it a lot.
Album of The Week: Ok great. We are very much looking forward to seeing you guys down here soon. Callum: Thanks we are really looking forward to it. Album of The Week: And hopefully you’ll be able to get some surfing in. Callum: Oh yes definitely, I am not the best but I will give it a shot.
Another nice little splendour related giveaway you might want to know about. The fantastic Gutter Twins are touring and will be playing a Sydney side show on Thursday the 23rd of July. If you are in the area and would like to go: be the first three people to email us your name and you will get yourself a FREE double pass to the show. Be quick. email us now!
British Band White Lies are hitting Australia and if you want to see them and missed out on Splendour in the Grass tickets don't despair they will be playing two side shows at the Metro Theatre in Sydney and the Hi-Fi in Melbourne. AND if you purchase your ticket online you will get their album 'to lose my life' for FREE. The album is a winner and definitely worth a listen and its FREE.
[2009: Unsigned] Album of The Week has been a long-time fan of DJ Aristocat, but it’s about time we spread the word and stopped keeping his awesome skills all to ourselves. A fixture on the Californian hip hop scene for years, the young LA-based DJ was mixing his Busta Rhymes with the Bangles long before “mash ups” became super popular through Belgium’s 2ManyDJs and, more recently, Pittsburgh awesome copyright infringement case Girl Talk. His most recent mix, Wonderland, shows off Aristocat’s ridiculous collection of tunes – old and new, as well as his amazing musical knowledge and the unique creativity with which he approaches mixing songs – like crossing Dire Straits “Money for Nothing” with “I Get Money” by 50 Cent, or indie rock band VHS or Beta with AC/DC. Clever. aware and tongue-in-cheek, but most importantly it sounds good.
The man has a reputation of getting people on the dance floor and keeping them there. So we’ve asked him to recommend ten tracks that never fail to get bodies moving. Here it is:
DJ Aristocat - Break In Case of Emergency On The Dancefloor Tracks (In No Particular Order)
10.Nightcrawlers - Push The Feeling OnThis is classic, reminds me of house parties and everytime I drop it, it takes me back and wakes the crowd up. 9.Michael Jackson - P.Y.T.This is a no brainer / tribute, if you are a dj and you don't have this in your crate/hard-drive, you suck. 8. Basement Jaxx - Red AlertAnother classic that when it drops, usually so do the girls asses. Basement Jaxx ruled my cd player for like 2 years. 7.The Outhere Brothers - Boom Boom BoomAnother classic, this totally kicks the crap out of that Black Eyed Peas Boom Boom Shit track - play this and you get my respect and the crowd screaming "way-ohhhhh!" 6.Crookers - Il Cattivo This one I was on the fence about, it murders in the right situation, in the wrong situation it can get you murdered, play at your own risk... 5.Robin S. vs. Steve Angello & Laidback Luke Show Me Love (Hardwell Bootleg) - This is the ish in LA right now, pretty much any 90's dance remix is, you can play this most anywhere and when it drops in, you have a party on your hands. 4.Cajmere - PercolaterIt's time for the Percolater, it's always time for the Percolater. 3.CeCe Peniston - Finally (Vandalism Remix) I love this remix, it's effective and electro...and it's a 90s dance song remix...nuff said. 2.Stardust - Music Sounds Better (Discotech Remix)Discotech do awesome remixes that are pounding and effective, this is no exception. 1. Justice - D.A.N.C.E. (Mstrkrft Remix)Justice meets Mstrkrft, I think Mstrkrft should do a Justice remix album, then I could just throw that on at the club and go get a drink as my work would be done for me.
Check out 'Wonderland', DJ Aristocat's latest mix and his other excellent party mixtapes at the link below.
Courtesy of a great tip-off from their label (Hidden Shoal Recordings) the incredibly beautiful, melodic sounds of Australian band Apricot Rail have been brought to our attention. Who better to introduce them than one of the band’s many multi-instrumentalists, Ambrose Nock. We asked him a few questions about the band, their plans and their enigmatic sound…
Describe your music to us
It was described once in a live review as ‘the soundtrack to some time-lapse Belgian art house film about clouds or migrating ducks’. Its generally quite pretty, melodic & experimental with lots of different instruments used to carry the melody.
What are the origins of Apricot Rail – how did you form?
Very gradually, with members being added along the journey. The actual concept of the band is quite old but really was only fully realized when Mayuka joined after about our fourth or fifth show sometime in the middle of last year.
Compare your sound to other bands – to give people a reference point?
Some ball park names would be: Sandpit, Mum, Tortoise, Bluetile Lounge, Mogwai, Sigur Ros, Braving the Seabed, Broken Social Scene.
What’s your favourite song or songs?
From the album? ‘If You Can’t Join Them, Beat Them’ is still my favourite. Actual fave song? Hard to go past ‘Huddle Formation’ by the Go! Team
What is Apricot Rail’s ultimate collaboration – who would you love to collaborate with?
This would be different for all of us… For me I’d go with Emily Haines who sings a few tracks for Broken Social Scene and plays in a band called Metric – In my head I can hear her voice over my songs and I think they’d be something pretty special.
Tell us about your touring plans – where can we see you?
Hopefully everyone will be back in Perth in March next year working on a new record and then after that we’ll see.
Which artists are influential to the band?
In terms of guitars Sandpit, Sonic Youth & Braving the Seabed. In terms of melody and instrumentation: Tortoise and Mum. Jack and Daniel listen to a lot of electronic and minimal techno type stuff as well which is gradually starting to filter into a few songs and could feature a bit on the new record.
Where does Apricot Rail hope to be in the future?
Our goals are strictly musical – and as long as we get this part right we’re happy to end up wherever it takes us (barring Gaol or the Liberal party) [Ed: that’s an Australian political party]
Which bands did you listen to as kids that made you want to be musicians?
At about aged 14 I decided i had to play guitar after hearing Sandpit. Before that I'd been dablling in piano and bass guitar listening to a lot of random 80's stuff like XTC, Spandau Ballet, REM, Thompson Twins. But I always wanted to play music I don't think it was based on hearing anything particular.
Finally, what is your album of the week?
The new Pond album "Corridors of Blissterday" is in the car stereo at the moment and well worth everyone’s attention.
Apricot Rail’s self-titled album is out now, so we suggest you check it out post haste. This band is definitely one to watch out for, so keep them on your radar.
[2008: Spunk] This adorable collection of country-tinged folk songs and quirky soulful ballads is the result of the complementary pairing of indie balladeer M. Ward and songwriter/singer Zooey Deschanel – more commonly known for her acting roles (she plays the wilful sister who presses the Simon and Garfunkel record into the hands of William Miller in ‘Almost Famous’). A few covers aside, all the songs were written by Deschanel who has a husky, lilting country tone to her voice that is a perfect match for her wistful, romantic lyrics. Case in point, the opening track ‘Sentimental Heart’ in which she gently croons “piece of the puzzle I’m your missing part. Oh what can you do with a sentimental heart?” – Awww! The arrangements by M. Ward are effective in their simplicity – upright piano, acoustic guitars and a restrained use of strings – that beautifully balance with Deschanel’s effortless voice. Their cover of Smokey Robinson’s blues classic ‘You Really Got a Hold on me’ is a standout, but there is so much to like about this album as a whole. As my grandmother would say, it’s “darling”.
[Spunk: 2009] The Middle East have only recently been getting attention since their beautiful song ‘Blood’ was featured on a Spunk Records singles compilation in 2008. While ‘researching’ the band I found it extremely difficult to come across any information on the group. This mystery surrounding the group and its members –whether intentionally or not – adds to the ethereal image of the band, that comes across strongly in their sound and style of music. The Middle East create soft, delicate lo-fi folk songs in the vein of Art of Fighting, Sigur Ros and a touch of Arcade Fire. This five-track EP is surely going to gain them many more fans. The opening track ‘The Darkest Side’ is an amazing mini epic using beautiful male and female harmonies with an acoustic guitar hook that’ll have you humming the tune for hours to come. Blood, the standout track, uses the wonderful combined vocals over simple instrumentation to sublime effect. The only downside to this release is the number of songs – only five. We eagerly await more music from this elusive Australian group.
[Inertia:2009] Miike Snow is not a guy called Mike but in fact Swedish production duo Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg, and American song writer and singer Andrew Wyatt. The collaboration results in a great pop record of irresistible melodies and infectious beats, akin to a less rock ‘n’ roll version of Phoenix or a more up-tempo version of The Whitest Boy Alive. The album kicks off with five little gems in a row: ‘Animal’ the bouncy opener, ‘Black and Blue’ which features a kicking disco/house chorus, ‘Silvia’ a yearning love song with a peppy beat, the sweet xylophone melody on first single ‘Burial’, and ‘Song For No One’ which features an addictive keyboard riff. There’s no doubt about it: Miike Snow know how to write a song that your ears like to hear, and with a really “clean”, very Scandinavian production approach sometimes the sound can verge on feeling a little too inoffensive – a little too “IKEA” if you know what I mean?... But there is absolutely nothing wrong with a bit of shameless pop - and when it comes to shameless pop these guys know what they’re doing: Karlsson and Winnberg won a Grammy for producing Britney’s ‘Toxic’ – one of my favourite Britney recordings – so we’re in good hands. Miike Snow have given us an album that’s well-packaged with a shiny finish and it’s pretty darn addictive.
His life, death and amazing career have already been scrutinised, eulogised, debated and mourned, so there’s no point in us trying to add too much to the noise. He may have lived a very tragic life, but his music will never stop bringing joy to people. ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Something’ will never fail to get people on the dancefloor, ‘I Want You Back’ will always belong on a mix tape, and new generations of kids will continue to do the Thriller dance to ‘Thriller’. Throw your fedora aside, grab your crotch and put the needle on a bit of MJ. Shamon!
