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[Domino: 2009]
‘Dreams-come-true-girl’ Cass McCombs’ lovely, lilting surf-pop ode to one helluva lucky lady is one of the sweetest songs I’ve heard this year. Cass quietly sings “You aren’t my dream girl. You aren’t my reality girl. You’re my dream-come-true girl.” Sigh. It’s one of those songs that you really wish was written about you. California-bred troubadour, Mr McCombs, has actually been around for a while – he released his first record in 2002 (Not The Way) - and has an impressive list of self-confessed fans, including Spoon’s Britt Daniel, Okkervil River’s Will Sheff, and psych-folk duo Beach House.
Catacombs is Album of The Week’s first taste of Cass McCombs and we are already somewhat smitten with his combination of off-kilter folk, laidback alt-country, and 1950s crooner pop. Album highlights include ‘Prima Donna’ - with off-beat Bob Dylan guitar strumming, ‘Executioner’s Song’ – a quiet and contemplative ballad, and of course – ‘Dreams-come-true-girl’. This record is a welcome change of pace and well worth a listen.
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Album of the Week have been loving Philadelphia Grand Jury, or their 'street' name the Philly Jays music all through 2009 and now the Sydney Band are about to release their debut long player at the end of the week (25th of sep to be exact). If you don’t believe me see it and stream it here!
Hope is for the Hopers. Philadelphia Grand Jury
philly jays on myspace
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Like most peeps we at Album of the Week love to hear what other people are listening too, been influenced by and/or generally love. This week we were lucky enough to get the fantastic Hungry Kids of Hungary to fight over and compile a list of their favourite tracks. (in no particular order)
Kate - Ben Folds Five
The Rain Song - Led Zeppelin
Teenage Riot - Sonic Youth
Strawberry Fields - the Beatles
Don't Talk (Put your head on my shoulder) - The Beach Boys
Peaches En Regalia - Frank Zappa
The way we get by - Spoon
40 Day Dream - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero's
While My Guitar Gently Weeps - the Beatles
Banshee Beat - Animal Collective
Brisbane 4 piece Hungry Kids of Hungary have only been around for a little while but have grabbed much attention with their killer second EP Mega Mountain, so get on it!
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We probably haven’t seen as many live gigs as we should have recently and when it comes to catching local acts we have been especially slack. Last week Australia’s miniature answer to Austin's South by South West, Big Sound, featured a showcase of local, unsigned, and indie acts in live music hot spot, Brisbane, and we were fortunate enough to catch a set of Last Dinosaurs. They look about 16 and I’m guessing they’re not far off, judging from the way they gulped their glasses of water in between songs and awkwardly looked at their feet. I’m generally a stickler for a good ‘performance’ factor when a band play live, but the very nervous, very shy stage presence of the four boys from Last Dinosaurs was inconsequential because the music they were playing was that good. Combining the pop melodies of The Cure, the off-kilter Brit-punk riffs of The Cribs, the energy of early Strokes, and a bit of 1950s bandstand thrown in, I can honestly say this is the most excited I’ve been about a new band in a while. It’s little wonder that Yves Klein Blue selected Last Dinosaurs to support their tour, Fingers crossed that this band will release something awesome in the next 12 months, and in the mean time check out their myspace page for a taste.
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[Speak 'n Spell: 2009]
Upon release of Dappled cities third album Zounds I was quite excited and deservedly so; Their second album Granddance was released in 2006 and it quickly became one of the highlights from that year and would still have to be one of the best Australian albums in the last 5 years.
The band have always leant towards the experimental side of music making and with Zounds they take this up another gear, they use everything from guitars, drums and synths to strings and chanting.
Where this could have easily become too much noise to handle the strength of the song writing and the ever refreshing mix of Tim Derricourt’s and Dave Rennick’s vocals easily keep the album intact. For Zounds they’ve turned down the pop and turned up the prog but in doing so have kept their wonderful dramatic sound and produced a fantastic album for the senses.
Dappled Cities are on tour now.
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[Inertia: 2009]
This record is an exhilarating reminder that there’s more to instrumental music than Kenny G.
Decoder Ring have joined forces with ‘audio wizard’ producer Scott Colburn (Animal Collective, Yeasayer, Mudhoney, Arcade Fire), ditched regular vocalist Lenka Kripac, and the results are the soaring, epic songs that explode with raw emotional energy – even more so than Kenny G’s platinum selling G-Force. The amazing first single “Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom” perfectly represents Decoder Ring’s desire to create a sonic experience you can get lost in – uplifting, vast and captivating.
They Bind The Stars, And The Wild Team (a double album separated into two distinct movements) opens with Decoder Ring’s trademark enmeshing of electronic machines (reverberating synths and 808s) with live percussion and huge, My Bloody Valentine-esque guitars. From there the journey kicks off and you are sent soaring into space – or wherever it is that you let the explosive highs and trembling lows take you – and beyond. We try to steer clear of going down the “journey” road when it comes to describing albums because it seems so lame and clichéd, but the absence of a singer and a formulaic structure on this record kind of immerses the listener into the creative process – you take from the music whatever it is you want. You’re not forced to consider “my lovely lady humps” or “99 problems” - you just let the story go wherever you want. That is very cool and very beautiful.
decoder ring on tour throughout australia now
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[Inertia: 2009]
Upon first listen, Guns Don’t Kill People scared the shit out of me. It sounds as if Electro, Reggae and Dancehall got together at a rave one night and ended up going back to the future to have some kind of marijuana-fuelled three-way. As much as that concept makes me quake with fright, I have to admit that it also kind of makes me more than a little bit enlivened.
The masterminds behind Major Lazer (Diplo and Switch) decided that if they were going to create a marijuana-fuelled musical orgy where better to record it than at Tuff Gong studios in Kingston, Jamaica - home of Bob Marley’s rebel mavericks, The Wailers. Every track on the record reads like a who’s who of Jamaican vocalists – Turbulence, Ms Thing, T.O.K. and Mr Vegas, and the result is the most progressive-sounding version of dancehall available to your ears. Quite frankly, Guns Don’t Kill People has a touch of hyperactive cut-and-paste sample overload, but remember these kinds of tunes are geared toward the dance floor where it works its erratic charms to perfection.
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listen to major lazer
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[Domino: 2009]
