Here and Howl & Echoes, we love Japanese Wallpaper. The young Melbournian, otherwise known as Gab Strum, has had a well documented and acclaimed rise to prominence over the past year, where he released his debut EP Japanese Wallpaper, performed a slew of shows across the nation, spoke to us, all while completing his final year of high school.
He’s kept fans clamouring for more with the incredible batch of artists featured on his album, such as Airling, Pepa Knight, Wafia and Jesse Davidson. Now, after a period of relative musical silence since his Charli XCX remix, the man returns with a deluxe remix EP featuring UV Boi, Sable and more.
Brisbane native UV Boi lends his skills to Waves featuring Pepa Knight, while Sable does a rework of the Between Friends, the track that brought Japanese Wallpaper to forefront of the Triple J Unearthed comp. Also featuring on the EP will be Anatole, Elkkle, Grynpyret, Foxes In Fiction and Ceres.
Forces has been remixed by both Teen Daze and Yumi Zouma. The song starts out as a slow and gentle collection of drum beats, perfectly complemented by Airling’s soothing vocals.
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The prodigal young bedroom producer has a big performance bill ahead of him. He’ll be playing nationally across the Laneway Festival circuit just as his EP drops, so keep your eyes peeled for this boy wonder.
Japanese Wallpaper Deluxe EP is out January 29 on Zero Through Nine via Inertia.
More: Read our interview with Japanese Wallpaper
In an interesting new sales trend, the sale of old albums in the US has overtaken the sale of new albums for the first time.
According to US sales tracker Nielsen Soundscan, catalogue albums (that is albums older than 18 months) sold 122.8m total album unit sales last year, compared to 118.5 million new releases sold.
Source: Nielsen
However, new releases still took the lead in digital album sales slightly, with 52.5 million new releases sold in 2015 compared to 50.9 million catalogue albums.
Interestingly enough, Adele’s 25 contributed 7.44m of the 118.5m ‘current’ album sales, which is an incredible feat considering that this is 6.3% in total. It’s also interesting to note that it was only 10 years ago that ‘current’ albums outsold catalogue albums by 150m units.
Vinyl is still doing well, with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) recording sales of nine million vinyl albums in the first half of 2015, compared with 14 million in 2014. The last time vinyl sales were this high in the US was in 1989, before CDs began to cannibalise vinyl sales in the 90s.
In terms of physical album sales, Nielsen recorded 71.2m catalogue albums sold across CD and vinyl in 2015, a decline of 2.7% form the year before, while 65.8m non-digital current albums were sold.
Source: Nielsen
Catalogue tracks also outsold their more current counterparts in digital downloads, with a sale of 484.9m units in total in the US in 2015.
And despite the music industry bemoaning the loss of sales to digital downloads, surprisingly 48.7% of the US recorded music market’s total income came from CDs, vinyl and digital albums combined according to the RIAA.
Source: RIAA
It only seems fitting that one starman pay tribute to another. Sitting far above the world and orbiting a planet full of grieving fans, British astronaut Tim Peake has payed tribute to legendary singer David Bowie via Twitter.
Saddened to hear David Bowie has lost his battle with cancer – his music was an inspiration to many. @DavidBowieReal
— Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) January 11, 2016
Peake sent his message from the International Space Station, where he has been in orbit since December, after it was revealed Bowie had passed away from an 18-month battle with cancer on Sunday.
It was only fitting to commemorate the life of Ziggy Stardust with a condolence from space, the etting for so many of his songs and personas. Always fascinated by the cosmos, Bowie penned Space Oddity in 1969 to tell the story of ‘Major Tom’, an astronaut adrift in the vast nothingness of space, “sitting in my tin can, far above the world.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYMCLz5PQVw&w=420&h=315]
The song was given a very fitting rework in 2013 when Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield did a zero-G version with his guitar as he orbited Earth aboard the space station. The clip was viewed millions of times and Bowie himself gave the seal of approval, calling it “the most poignant version of the song ever created.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo&w=560&h=315]
Hadfield tweeted his condolences on Monday.
Ashes to ashes, dust to stardust. Your brilliance inspired us all. Goodbye Starman. pic.twitter.com/FbcxlAzces
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) January 11, 2016
Read our obituary on David Bowie and his impact on a Howl & Echoes editor
As celebrities and people worldwide continue to mourn the loss of one of music’s greats, one artist in particular was left haunted by David Bowie’s last message. Brian Eno, one of the world’s most renowned experimental musicians, revealed that he had been in touch with Bowie as recently as last week.
Eno told BBC News that he and Bowie had been in talks to revisit 1995’s Outside in a new project altogether.
“About a year ago we started talking about Outside – the last album we worked on together. We both liked that album a lot and felt that it had fallen through the cracks. We talked about revisiting it, taking it somewhere new. I was looking forward to that.”
Bowie’s latest album, Blackstar, was released just two days prior to his death, a seven-song set viewed by many as parting gift to the world. Eno, like many, are still reeling from the shock of his sudden exit.
“David’s death came as a complete surprise, as did nearly everything else about him. I feel a huge gap now.”
“We knew each other for over 40 years, in a friendship that was always tinged by echoes of Pete and Dud. Over the last few years — with him living in New York and me in London — our connection was by email. We signed off with invented names: some of his were mr showbiz, milton keynes, rhoda borrocks and the duke of ear.”
“I received an email from him seven days ago. It was as funny as always, and as surreal, looping through word games and allusions and all the usual stuff we did. It ended with this sentence: ‘Thank you for our good times, brian. they will never rot’. And it was signed ‘Dawn’.
Eno finishes on a solemn note. “I realise now he was saying goodbye.”
Bowie and Eno worked together on Bowie’s legendary Berlin Trilogy in the mid-1970s, when Bowie was sharing an apartment with Eno and Iggy Pop, a period of three albums that came to be characterised by minimalist and ambient themes. Low (1977), Heroes (1977) and Lodger (1979) all reached the top 5 in the UK charts.
“His death was no different from his life – a work of Art. He made Blackstar for us, his parting gift,” said Bowie’s producer, Tony Visconti, in a Facebook post on Monday. “I knew for a year this was the way it would be. I wasn’t, however, prepared for it. He was an extraordinary man, full of love and life. He will always be with us. For now, it is appropriate to cry.”
Visconti added: “He sang with powerful energy and determination, his performances were brilliant. He will live forever in our hearts, mine especially.”
Bowie succumbed to cancer at the age of 69 on Sunday after a silent battle with the disease. Read our editor’s touching tribute to the Ziggy Stardust.
New Year’s Eve is always a bit of a gamble, usually resulting in either a roaring success or an absolute flop. However, there is one route which is always guaranteed to be fun and that’s choosing to spend your last few days of the year at a music festival. The music festival of choice for me this time round? Lost Paradise.
Lost Paradise is a festival still in its infancy; it only began last year and was much smaller in numbers. This year, they chose to amp up the patronage as well as the scope. Once again set in the idyllic Glenworth Valley, the drive down the punishingly steep 5km road into the festival gave you the kind of views normally reserved for a fairytale.
Set just a stones throw away from Sydney at a brisk one hour car journey, Lost Paradise was certainly easy to get to. Festival are jammed packed events chock full of activity, so we’ll aim to give you a categorical breakdown of the attributes that went into making Lost Paradise as good as it was.
Location, location, location…
The Lost Paradise organisers could not have chosen a more idyllic location. Set in the gorgeous and edenic confines of a beautifully forested valley, swathes of lush eucalyptus trees blanketed the valley walls under the blue summer sky. A cool breeze swept through the valley, and through the geographic good fortune of being situated in a valley, managed to create a gentle wind tunnel which kept temperatures down to an enjoyable 28 degrees.
It is hard to understate the impact that one’s environment has on the experience you have, least of all at a music festival. The stresses of work fade away, the banality of everyday life dissolves and you can just be. You come away feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, ready to take on another year. And as clichéd as it sounds, a better appreciation for good ol’ Mother Nature. Never underestimate the impact of your environment. This is in part a reason for Lost Paradise’s impetus on the ‘Leave No Trace’ mantra, which aims to minimise the impact of the festival on the Glenworth Valley.
Amenities
One of the best things about Lost Paradise was the sheer amount of space. The smaller patron numbers can account for this, and unlike bigger events, our campsite never felt boxed in. We’d especially like to shout out the lovely river, snaking through the valley, perfect for a soothing late night swim.
However, one of the detriments of big open spaces is a lack of shade. It was hard to keep cool. Sure, you have your Bunnings tarp to keep you out of the sun, but the shade has a funny habit of shifting throughout the day, leaving you and your friends frying under the harsh summer rays. Similarly, portaloos aren’t exactly enjoyable in strong sunlight, effectively turning into giant ovens. The smell almost knocked us over backwards. I suppose this is an inevitable byproduct of summer, but it didn’t help that many of the toilets very quickly went out of commission, with those in need left waiting in massive queues.
The food, however, was sensational, offering a wide variety of cuisines like German, Vegetarian, Mexican, Yemeni and pizza, to name a few. Even better was the money system, or lack thereof, on hand. The ‘cashless’ wristband system in place meant that you had to go to a cashier and deposit credit of your choice, which would then be placed in an electronic account you could access by paying with a little microchip inside your wristband. This is an incredibly convenient, modern, shrewd system: you, as the patron, didn’t have to carry around cumbersome loose change and the vendor doesn’t have to fiddle around either; a seamless, quick transaction that benefits both parties. A friend, who worked at the festival in 2014, even mentioned that a benefit is preventing her co-workers from stealing from the till, which apparently happened a lot during the festival’s inaugural event.
Music
Of course, a music festival is nothing without the music, and Lost Paradise well and truly delivered. Offering up a hearty selection of electronic, acoustic and indie tunes, punters could chill out during the day in front of the main stage on the grass, catching the more down-tempo acts while saving their energy for the DJ sets playing at night.
City Calm Down and Angus and Julia Stone brought the chill factor, keeping crowds placated under the heady summer sun while they swung in tune to the mellow cadence of the music. At night, revellers would head towards the thumping beat of the teepee stage, a triangular stage housing all the DJs who came show off their skills on the turntable.
On the first night, it was Hayden James, revered homegrown DJ act, who energised the crowd after a successful first day of festivities. Permission to Love and Something About You were obviously pleasers, as well as the Odesza remix of Something About You.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfttyNSCI-g&w=560&h=315]
Touch Sensitive really needs to release some new material, because his set felt both tired and short. He didn’t seem to be into at all, looking like someone who was simply going through the motions, or a worker desperately praying for his shift to be over. However, his lack of energy was certainly made up for by his perpetual partner in crime George Maple, who strutted onto the stage shortly after, looking seriously lit in a fishnet body stocking. Absolutely destroying her most iconic hits like Talk Talk, Vacant Space and What So Not’s Gemini, the only question on my mind is, why isn’t this songstress bigger? She’s immensely talented and so charismatic, with huge vocals seldom possessed by any other Australian female singer at the moment.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6nt3Sw3Isk&w=560&h=315]
Of course, the main act everyone was hoping to catch on the second night was the wonderful Jamie XX. Appearing on the main stage at around 11pm, he completely enraptured the crowd with tracks from his recent solo album, In Colour. Loud Places was simply a treasure, swaying the crowd in gentle, rapturous glee as everyone danced to one of the best tracks of 2015. Playing most of the tracks of his critically acclaimed debut, In Colour, the crowd was lost to to hypnotic beats of his music.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP9luRtEqjc&w=560&h=315]
Lost Paradise was awesome. It was a great way to ring in the new year, surrounded by your best mates and the gorgeous Glenworth Valley. A real concluding highlight was how easy it was to leave; we just packed up, headed out and were on our merry way.
The festival is undoubtedly still young and developing, but its teething issues were no deterrent. It was one of the best New Years experiences I’ve ever had.
One of the hardest parts of planning your New Years celebrations is exactly where to go. If you’re picking a festival, you’re not exactly starved for choice. If there is one festival that is surely the place to be this New Year’s Eve, it would definitely have to be Lost Paradise.
Established almost exactly one year ago, Lost Paradise impressed audiences from the start. Set in the bucolic confines of the Glenworth Valley, just over an hour out of Sydney, the festival has succeeded in combining all the elements of an amazing music experience: a boss lineup, a beautiful location, fantastic amenities and plethora of daytime activities. Hell, you can even bring your kids!
For those of you who are still unsure where to spend your NYE – look no further. We’ve compiled a list of why Lost Paradise should be your number 1. destination.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E0Q7X8bOZQ&w=560&h=315]
You don’t have to rough it
For the faint-of-heart, there’s the option of ‘glamping’ in the very comfortable and palatial confines of a decorated teepee, which resembles a hotel room more than a run-of-the-mill tent. However, these oases of comfort have almost sold out, so get in quick.
If that weren’t luxuriant enough, you can enjoy a three course meal at the CornerHouse prepared by UK fine chef Simon Sutcliffe. You and your mates can enjoy a good feed to rejuvenate you after a long night of partying, consisting of spit roasts and food with a local tropic flare, all while listening to some ambient music in the background courtesy of a private band.
And it wouldn’t be a boutique festival without the availability of a spa, where you can cleanse your weary soul with an organic facial and massage.
Get around it , y’all
The music, duh
Activities aside, we’re all going for one reason: the music. And at Howl & Echoes, there’s nothing we love more than music and trust us, Lost Paradise delivers an awesome lineup. Must see acts include Four Tet and Jamie XX on DJ duties, who has had a massive 2015. He released his solo debut album In Colour to widespread critical acclaim and punters cannot get enough of his adorably dorky bedside manner and ambient brain melts.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP9luRtEqjc&w=560&h=315]
She’s the Aussie songstress with the vocal chops potent enough to blow you off your feet, so it’s safe to say George Maple will be one to watch at Lost Paradise.Collaborating with some of the biggest names in Australian music, such as What So Not on Gemini, Maple is also a regular partner in crime of Touch Sensitive, the creating an unmistakable blend of synth-tastic power ballads that sound fresh and symptomatic of the Australian golden age of music.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6nt3Sw3Isk&w=560&h=315]
Other acts you cannot miss are Angus and Julia Stone, Hayden James, Daniel Avery, Anna Lunoe, Saskswatch, City Calm Down, Grizzly and Sons of the East.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mVJJvx04_w&w=560&h=315]
So. Many. Activities
Normally punters are content just to get their tent pitched and head straight into the moshpit with of all of their mates. But if you’re feeling like you’d like to keep yourself entertained in other ways, then LP has got you covered. The Glenworth Valley has over 200 quality horses for you to pick from, allowing anyone from any skill level to see the world from the back of one of these majestic beasts.
However, if you’re feeling like you need to give your arms a bit of a workout, escape the heat with some kayaking in the peaceful upper reaches of Mangrove Creek. For the steeplejacks out there, test your hand at the abseiling or connect with your inner-kid and verse your mates in a game so lasertag. There’s even an ‘organised’ skinny dip you can partake in as well. I wasn’t lying when said there were MANY activities.
I wasn’t making the skinny dip bit up either
Get A Little Weird (in the best way possible)
Most festivals are a chance for you to shed your plebian outerwear for something a little more, well, festive. Lost Paradise goes a little further to suggest that you most definitely should get dressed in your finest and weirdest attire. New Year’s Eve is the night to shine and LP has its own costume shop Snog The Frog to help you out if you’re a little lost for ideas. There’s even a marketplace where you can flog your own wares at the festival.
And when the sun goes down, the carnies will come out to play. Delight in the extravaganza of the travelling circus performers, who will stimulate the senses every night between 9pm to 1am with trapeze and clown acts – you can even take a few classes and have a go with the circus equipment.
Get Jiggy with it
Find yourself
LP helps you rejuvenate your soul after a long year of working hard (or hardly working). Head to the Shambala Tent for a morning meditation sesh or lose it in one of the guided laughter yoga classes. Or show your salutations to the sun during a yoga class. Get your rig out and work those abdominals at the Belly Dancing workshop so learn some moves straight out of Bollywood.
Catch up with the Raw Sisterhood sisters Brenda and Vivian for ideas on how to eat healthily (and deliciously) without compromising the nutritional integrity of the food. Or visit one of the many healers, meditation experts or yogis to reset the dials on your body and your mind. The variety of experiences on offer in this tent are truly staggering.
Hopefully you’ll walk out with a body like this
So get around it and buy your Lost Paradise tickets here.
Lost Paradise 2015 Lineup
Hot Dub Time Machine
Daniel Avery
Hayden James
Sampa The Great
World Champion
A.D.K.O.B.
Angus & Julia Stone
Jon Hopkins Live
The Jungle Giants
Tkay Maidza
George Maple
Saskwatch
Seekae
Northeast Party House
Crazy P
Touch Sensitive
City Calm Down
The Babe Rainbow
Lime Cordiale
Little Bastard
Steve Smyth
The Lulu Raes
I Know Leopard
Hockey Dad
Bootleg Rascal
Sons Of The East
High-tails
Big White
Ocean Alley
The Sea Gypsies
Polish Club
Burn Antares
Deep South & Down
Tropical Zombie
+ more to be announced
DJ sets
Jamie xx
Four Tet
Motor City Drum Ensemble
Âme
Ben UFO
Finnebassen
Prosumer
Anna Lunoe
Young Franco
Grizzly
Will Saul
Bjorn Wilke
Goodwill
Pantheon
Color Castle
Phil Smart
Kate Elsworth
Mikail & Emel Rowe
Francis Xavier
Mo Funk
Motorik Vibe Council
Robbie Lowe
Cassette
Gabby
CO-OP
Sam Roberts
Foreigndub DJs
Mantra Collective
Kali
Valerie Yum
Tristan Case
Mark Craven
Phondupe
Danny La Ru
Tuesday night is always a hard slot to fill. You’re still getting over Mondayitis and you haven’t reached the middle mark of Wednesday yet, so you’re in pretty benign no man’s land. But what better way to banish the banality of the work week than catching KLP and Neon Indian at Sydney’s Oxford Art Factory?
Despite the small turnout before the main course, KLP, the moniker of Sydney-based artist and Triple J presenter Kristy Lee Peters, brought a life and energy to her performance, hitting every note perfectly and dancing like nobody’s watching. The Hands remix by D-Cup was a special treat, the live version doing justice on the original.
A few minutes passed in between the sets before the Texan ensemble took to the stage, the curtains parting as the band members took their places nonchalantly. As soon as they started to perform, however, it was like someone had run an electric current through the floor and had decided to turn it on, flipping a switch that instantly transformed front man Alan Palomo from a normal human being into a powerhouse of slick dance moves.
Performing a career-spanning repertoire, early track Annie was one of the openers, setting the bar high for a level of energy that would not dip for the entire duration of their performance. It had been approximately five years since Neon Indian last visited Australia to perform, and the sound has changed markedly since the release of 2011’s Era Extraña.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdkqq0SpePU&w=560&h=315]
Glitzy Hive, one of the tracks off latest album VEGA INTL. Night School, is an accurate summation of what their latest work offers: that glitzy, glamorous escapism that makes you want to jump to your feet and get down with it. The lyricism is more solidified and dance-friendly as opposed to the warped and warbling psychedelics of Era Extraña. But don’t get me wrong, the music they produced in their earlier years is just as great, and when Terminally Chill came on, crowd were happy to oblige and sway like a warped auditory acid trip.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l17qkJQIUww&w=560&h=315]
But it was Slumlord that many were most eager for, the song which best encapsulates that regal sense of authority imbued within the thematics of the album. The 80’s-esque, synthy keyboard rift at the beginning of the track makes it the perfect backdrop for the heady, ambiance of the official music video and a live performance under the diffusion of neon lights.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0wPHAau1ts&w=560&h=315]
However, it was Deadbeat Summer that was one of the most revered performances, the crowd swaying to the song that sounds like a simmering New Mexico heat wave. The usual “let’s depart the stage and then come back for our final song” spiel was enacted, not before an cheeky Palamo returned and cried out, “We didn’t come halfway around the world to half ass a set!”. Impeccably dressed and effortlessly energetic, Palomo and his band charmed the crowd with their pitch perfect performance.
Since releasing their debut track Hold Me Down almost a year ago, Sydney trio Mansionair have become a go-to, permanent fixture in many people’s music catalogs. They’ve racked up millions of streams, toured some of the biggest and best festivals in the country and got to take their talents to the US, UK and Europe to support CHVRCHES on tour.
Their genre-defying sound has earned them near universal acclaim from the likes of NME, BBC Radio, Stereogum and of course your humble correspondent here at Howl & Echoes. And for good reason too: their idiosyncratic brand of incandescently beautiful indie-electronica will lift you up and carry you away. Lead singer Jack Frogatt’s hypnotic falsetto holds you down from the moment it begins. So it was with great pleasure that I was able to catch them at their Sydney show at the Oxford Art Factory on Saturday night.
Sold-out and crammed full of eager punters wanting to hear the three-piece ensemble, there was an inquisitive air hanging about. Having released just four of their own original songs thus far, what else would be played to fill the hour long set? Turns out quite a lot.
Forbes native and opening act Vera Blue got the crowd started with Hold, a soothing and sultry track that was the perfect entree to the rest of the night. Pick Me Up, their latest release, was an effervescent affair, the soaring vocals of Frogatt highlighted by the atmospheric instrumentals of band members Alex Nicholls and Lachlan Bostock. The crowd stood transfixed, letting the melodious sounds sway them ever so gently as heads bopped up and down in euphoric enjoyment.
One of the best songs in Mansionair’s repertoire happens to belong to someone else; Future Islands to be exact. But their incredible cover on Like A Version for Triple J made it their own. The hauntingly bittersweet rendition of Seasons (Waiting On You) was a treat, the live performance amplifying that raw and visceral texture that Mansionair’s cover made possible. It may have been one of the best songs of the night, but it’s also one of the best covers of the year.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5AInHhyXzE&w=560&h=315]
The seemingly portmanteau-ed of the name ‘Mansionair’ is an apt description of what the band offers. A palatial soundscape imbued with a gentle magnitude that is as light as ‘air’. Nowhere was this more apparent than during the performance of Speak Easy, the track currently making continuous rounds on the Triple J airwaves and a beloved favourite. The ephemeral quality of Froggatt’s vocals were lush and heady, sweeping everyone up like a gust of warm summer wind.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc_rJHpXeEk&w=560&h=315]
For the devout followers of Mansionair, any new material is quickly devoured and played repeatedly on loop. So when when the crowd got to hear new songs, which we will all hopefully hear on the forthcoming album, it felt incredibly generous and intimate. It’s always a bit difficult to gauge brand new material from a live experience, but the so-called Shadows was a showstopper. The worst part was their was no actual track I could go and listen to obsessively afterwards.
Finishing with their most renowned track was a no-brainer, and Hold Me Down entranced. The set was surreal, the lyricism more potent when sung directly at you, endemic of the band’s adept songwriting skills. Now the real question remained: when would a full length album finally come out? Hold me down, but don’t hold out on us for too long guys.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm_o7wMq9dQ&w=560&h=315]