Posts Tagged Australia
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February 27, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
Antipodes: Good Winter
Antipodes Good Winter Rattle Trust Rattle to find the gems. Well, I do. Utterly. For a quarter-century or so now a small team has been creating CD-artworks (yes, the format is dying, dead – but they breathe life through commitment to liner notes, design, the idea of creating the artefact) and yet this could only […]Archive
February 18, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
Sam Newton: Stare Into The Dark
Sam Newton Stare Into The Dark Sam Newton/Independent Sometimes exactly what you want is a songwriter that is dialing it right back. Across three albums Australian singer/songwriter Sam Newton has been exploring that concept. Here with his latest it is almost entirely about ‘the song’. Sure he has a pleasant voice – he summons the requisite vulnerability, heartbreak, and in fact a range of emotions. He’s […]Archive
February 16, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs: # 222 – Foo Fighters, Sydney, 2018
It wasn’t that I was desperate to see the Foo Fighters again – although I was curious (call it a perverse ‘professional curiosity’ if you like…) I saw the Foos when they had only just formed and were rather good. I saw them again, two albums later, as part of a Big Day Out. And they were quite shit. […]Archive
January 22, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
Ali Whitelock: and my heart crumples like a coke can
and my heart crumples like a coke can Ali Whitelock Wakefield Press I finished reading Ali Whitelock’s poetry volume the day I heard of Mary Oliver’s passing. I had been savouring the pages of “coke can”, taking my time, reading no more than four poems in a sitting; deep stories, they require a lot of you (in the best possible way), they sit with […]Archive
December 17, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 112: The Triffids – “Calenture”
I so love the album Born Sandy Devotional that even if The Triffids did nothing else of value at all I’d still tell you they’re one of my favourite bands. Turns out they made a small handful of perfectly imperfect albums and I’m still getting to them. I hadn’t heard Calenture – which has changed […]Archive
October 1, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Jo Meares: Back To The World
Jo Meares Back To The World Bandcamp/Independent This new one from Australian-based singer/songwriter Jo Meares was recorded across the last two years in Sydney and Melbourne – two different bands contributing to the final album, the Melbourne crew and the Sydney crew.Archive
September 26, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Cold Irons Bound: Don’t Lose Your Mind
Cold Irons Bound Don’t Lose Your Mind Cold Irons Bound Formed from the ashes of two Canberra bands this now Melbourne-based four-piece is, if you want a simple tagline, The Australian Jayhawks. That’s how they come over on Highside, the subtly exhilarating opener of Don’t Lose Your Mind, the band’s second album. From there it’s to […]Archive
September 4, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Lo Carmen: Lovers Dreamers Fighters
Lo Carmen Lovers Dreamers Fighters Chiquita Records The breathy, smoky voice of Australian country-rock songstress Lo Carmen should set your world alight – or at the very least let you know whether you’re in or not – almost instantly with the opening, title track of this, her seventh album. But if you want the safest […]Archive
August 30, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The Necks: Unfold
The Necks Unfold Ideologic Organ Back when this was released – a double album from The Necks arriving early 2017 I was so excited I blogged in anticipation and then forgot to actually review the album. It happens. And yes, I know there’s already another new (brand new!) Necks album – and ahead of that […]Archive
August 22, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Spencer P. Jones
Spencer P. Jones has died. I loved so much of the music Spencer P. Jones created and assisted. For he was behind so many bands and various guises, sometimes a sideman, often out front – his songs…someone else’s songs…killer player! The Australian guitarist – best known for his involvement in The Johnnys and Beasts of […]Archive
August 16, 2018 by Simon Sweetman