Liz Ansley, Author at Howl & Echoes • Page 3 of 8

Get ready for all current emojis to be rendered obsolete, because there are DAVID BOWIE EMOJIS on the way.

Well, kind of. The two new emojis, part of a release of 72 new emoji with Apple’s iOS 10.2, are technically named “singer” emojis but they both sport Bowies’ trademark Aladdin Sane-era lightning bolt facepaint along with some crazy ‘dos. I guess you could argue that they’re as much Lady GaGa emoji as they are Bowie emoji, but you’d probably get some pretty strong side-eye from a lot of people.

Aside from the Bowie emoji, there’s actually a lot more to love about the new wave of tiny lil pics to decorate your messages/Tweets/status/Insta captions with. Now women have a much richer wealth of diversity in their emoji choices. Instead of just like a princess or salsa dancer or bride, there are also emojis depicting professors, scientists, doctors, farmers and more that are female in appearance. Pretty fitting that this more inclusive range is the one that Bowie’s own depiction comes as a part of, given his track record of combating gender norms and stereotypes.

David Bowie was a goofy, dad-joke crackin’ dude who loved pop culture. He was even a voice actor on Spongebob Squarepants. As incredible and timeless and important as his contribution to music was, he was not one to take himself very seriously. Case in point:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duOoOUfFQeI]

Oh, and the time he took the absolute piss out of Rove McManus:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8PVtzAH2ig]

So, yeah. Not the most serious of all humans, which honestly makes him all the more loveable. Plus, Bowie was a tech innovator and computer programmer in his own right too, so what better way to pay tribute to this dearly departed modern day renaissance man? Idk about you, but my ‘recently used’ emojis will never be the same.

Image: CNN Money

Welcome to The Soundtrack, a column where we plumb the depths of our musical knowledge to bring you the best* (subjective) music to listen to for very specific life situations. This week, we got your back with music to revive a dead Halloween Party, because it falls on a freakin’ Monday this year so any sensible person will be waiting till next weekend. If you’re not big on the dedication/cleanup that comes with an actual *party* there are plenty of Halloween-themed gigs around for you to attend after you’ve had your fill at home as well. And like last week, each and every track in this Halloween edition of The Soundtrack is from Australia-based artists.

I know there are a lot of people out there who recoil in disgust at the idea of Halloween IN AUSTRALIA. “But that’s an AMERICAN thing!!!!” they gasp, hands over their mouths and feet itching to scurry away from anything that might be kinda fun. And sure. Yes, the USA has the market on commercially-driven Halloween activities well and truly cornered. Besides, it’s not like we celebrate any other Pagan-origin holidays in this country, like Christmas or Easter. But what is truly flabbergasting about these people is that this is the only situation in living memory where Australians have not only turned down, but outright BALKED at the opportunity to get shitfaced with their mates. TLDR; Get over yourselves and learn to have fun.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s take a closer look at what Halloween parties are actually like. People in stupid costumes (“going as yourself” counts as the stupidest of all costumes), check. Free-flowing booze, check. Music – erm. Sort of check? The music selection at Halloween parties tends towards the camp, the overplayed, the cheesy and regrettable. The same damn twenty songs on repeat. You know what I mean. Thriller. The Monster Mash. Ghostbusters. Anything from Rocky Horror. It’s fun the first time this happens, but if I don’t think I’m alone in saying if I have to do the time warp again this year I’ll jump to the left straight outta that party. Don’t let it happen. I don’t care if you’re the host or not. Grab this playlist on Spotify and snatch the AUX as fast as you can.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Red Right Hand

Nick Cave’s music is full of creepy AF themes, some downright disturbing and yuck. This is probably his least #problematic of the songs in that particular vein (I wouldn’t advise putting a song that discusses sexual violence on at a party for many reasons, all of which should be obvious). The tolling bells and rich, descriptive narrative in the lyrics make this track feel like you’re being told a ghost story by your weird uncle. Except this ghost story is actually kinda scary, because it doesn’t start with a chaste couple in their car at Makeout Point or end in something about a hook hand. This is a good ‘un for when guests are still trickling in. A real mood-setter, if you will.

Ecca Vandal – End Of Time

Anyone who hasn’t gotten on board the Ecca Vandal train is missing the hell out, my dudes. She’s an unapologetically powerful presence and a genuinely innovative musician and we are so here. for. that. There are so many seriously disquieting musical elements to this track – her snarling vocals that trail out in a threatening whisper, the shadowy pulsating synths, the eerie twinkle of keys. Even the artwork for Ecca Vandal’s EP (of which this is the title track) houses some pretty blatant nods to Halloween-y themes. Skulls and B&W aesthetics and creepy font-faces, oh my!

Nightcrawler – Planète

Okay, time to step back and remember this is a party, not a dedicated “spookiest Aussie tracks” listening sesh. Although hey, if that’s what you’re all about then more power to you. But every party needs a solid, driving electro track with no pesky words to distract you from whatever that kind of obnoxious but admittedly really funny dude over on the couch is saying now. (There’s always one. At every single party.) You also don’t want the ~spooky~ vibes to dissipate, though, so it’s not like you can chuck on something euphoric like Wave Racer, so get the goods from Melbourne producer Planète instead.

Violent Soho – Son Of Sam

This crunchy, grungy Soho track from their eponymous first album is a fittingly brutal number that is also named after a serial killer. That serial killer terrorized New York City in the late 70s until he was caught because he went to a police station to pay a parking ticket and they recognised his handwriting. So, you know. Not the brightest serial killer in the world. But a pretty fun Party Anecdote (TM) for you to share with everyone while you let this track simultaneously energise you and make you sorta uncomfortable with its loud/quiet/loud dynamic. It’s also pretty fun to chuck on early Soho tracks and just ruminate on how far they’ve come. That’s not to say that their early work feels lacking or unfinished in any way – far from it. But the sound has definitely morphed into something less heavy, in a traditional sense. Not knocking that, though. Look where it’s got them. Bloody legends the lot of them.

LUCIANBLOMKAMP – Help Me Out

This is best left till everyone is basically completely off their heads, because it doesn’t start out sounding like a party track but hooooo boy is that build worth it. Atmospheric and tense till a meticulous, dark release, Help Me Out is the brainchild of LUCIANBLOMKAMP (yes that is actually his real name), who won FBi’s coveted Northern Lights competition some time back. I caught him at my very first BIGSOUND a few years ago and he blew my goddamn mind. There’s something truly unsettling about the way this song unfurls – is it the pitched-down vocals? The building synths? Who knows/cares, all that matters is this is the perfect post-midnight addition to your Halloween playlist. Just try not to lose vital parts of your ~super topical~ costume as you thrash around like an actual possessed person to this one.

Image: Know Your Meme

Confidence is a curious thing. Some days you might feel a quiet self-assurance, other days you are brash and bold to a fault, and others still your reservoir of certainty is completely drained. But sometimes – probably a rare occasion – you might wake up, put your clothes on, leave the house; all the while feeling a static buzz in the air around you. Suddenly you catch your reflection in a shop or car window. You meet your own eye with a knowing glint. It’s not vanity, it’s a corner of your mouth curling up into a smirk. It’s a complete unlearning of the word ‘hesitation’, even if only for a second. The world is yours. One can only suppose this is the shining moment that ALTA inhabit constantly. Their second EP Sincere does not fumble, it does not flounder, it does not falter. It is pure perseverance, running breathlessly to the edge of the world, constantly breaking new ground.

ALTA’s first release in 2015, Awake For Days, undeniably positioned them for excellence. The response – HypeMachine charting, over a million SoundCloud and Spotify plays, critical acclaim, and now a signing to record label Soothsayer – indeed appears to have injected the Melbourne duo with an unshakeable sense of confidence. To their credit, this never translated to ham-handedness or egotism; just restrained innovation.

Boundaries are pushed, broken, and revisited with a nostalgic tone. Lead single Plans, like the other songs on the release, is highly syncopated, driven by tuned percussion with nods to world music. It weaves in and out of various musical echelons, refusing to sit still for too long but maintaining a coolly calculated focus with a steely eye. Vocalist Hannah Lesser has a delicate yet sharply compelling timbre not unlike Little Dragons’ Yukimi Nagano, while producer Julius Dowson flirts with techniques favoured by those such as SBTRKT – but the finished product sounds nothing like either influence. Instead, Sincere is a fresh, unique development of ALTA’s sound, poised constantly and deliberately on a knife’s edge. Closing track Same positions itself as the perfect bookend to Plans, an extension of Dowson’s enlightened production methods.

Unbelievable and Company dip their toes into RnB and downbeat chilltronica respectively, proving ALTA are unafraid of inter-decade experimentation. Simply put, this EP is not the creation of a pair of music snobs. With layered, textured synth sounds borrowed from hallmarks of the 90s and 00s – all the way up to today’s innovative bedroom producers – Unbelievable is a breakup jam that sonically feels ready to jump straight back into bed for makeup sex. Where Company is understated and repetitive despite its trap/jungle influences, Unbelievable is a layered, textured slow burner.

All of Sincere feels like it belongs on a go-to playlist for an inhumanly early morning, when the hedonistic chaos of the night is less visceral but still very much present. Mess is the epitome of this, surely designed and crafted specifically for worn-out souls at witching hour with its soulful tumble towards building euphoria. And like the rest of the tracks on this EP, there’s an emphasis on Mess truly being a product of the sum of its parts. Every noise created is as essential to the songs’ narrative and emotional positioning as Lesser’s lead vocals, treated with utmost care and respect, polished like a prized trophy.

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Image: Mushroom Promotions

Welcome to The Soundtrack, a column where we plumb the depths of our musical knowledge to bring you the best* (subjective) music to listen to for very specific life situations. This week, we bring you music to spin while you’re playing out your very own shopping montage IRL. Also, this time, ALL of these tracks are from artists based right here in Australia.

It’s a very, very tired trope. Person has important thing to go to. Person needs to buy a new ‘fit for the occasion. Person traipses to the mall with zany BFF in tow to try on a series of clothes. Some are gross. Some are hilarious. And then one is just right. It’s like Goldilocks, but with more capitalism! Yay! Played-out romcom montages aside though, this is actually a real situation that most can probably relate to, but on a much less ~quirky~ level. Like, the thing you have to go to more than likely isn’t all that pivotal. You kinda don’t need new clothes but you just want em. Your BFF maybe isn’t that much of a crazy character and their reactions to your various sartorial options are almost definitely mostly subdued. And the outfit that you eventually pick is, in all likelihood, gonna have some kind of fundamental flaw whether you notice it in-store or not (probably that it was made in a sweatshop). Political commentary aside, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to inject a bit of whimsy and humour into the situation by just leaning into the montage cliche as hard as possible and Soundtracking it.

Pluto Jonze – Hispedangongonajelanguiro (Capiche?)

Let’s face it: no matter who you are, trying on clothes is objectively horrible. Sizes are not standardised, the changing rooms have questionable stains on the carpet, it can take HOURS to find what you’re looking for, and literally NOBODY looks good under that god-awful harsh fluorescent lighting. You’re gonna need pepping up pretty much straight out of the gate. This song is complete nonsense and that’s why it’s so entertaining. It is total chaos and so eccentric it’ll make up for the fact that the mate you tagged along is kind of vanilla. Fun fact: Pluto Jonze is now a member of Hey Geronimo. Not-so-fun-fact: he hasn’t released anything as Pluto Jonze in roughly 5 million years, or at least that’s what it feels like. #ComeBackPluto

Tkay Maidza – Uh-Huh

There is actually no disputing that Tkay Maidza is a literal queen. Her rise has been so meteoric and her presence so constant that there is actually no denying this objective fact any longer. Lucky for us, she is a kind and benevolent ruler to us all and uses her sovereignty to bless us with multiple bangers. This particular banger is (IMHO) the best “feelin’ myself” song to come out of this country in years. I don’t care what your gender or level of kinetic intelligence is, you WILL be booty-popping to this song in the jeans you just tried on. Hopefully ur mate takes a video because this song is known to increase dancing ability approximately one hundred fold.

Loon Lake – Cherry Lips

RIP to a very fun band who wrote an even more fun song. This one’s perfect for your personal shopping montage – it really has it all. Cheesy lyrics like “shake your sexy hips“, a wailing guitar solo, and a driving groove that’ll have you turning that awkward dance everyone does to get into slightly-too-tight pants into something a bit more suave. This is a good time for you to oh-so-hilariously suggest to your buddy that they also try on a crazy outfit, preferably a matching or horribly clashing one, and then you both bust out of your respective changing rooms and strike ridiculous poses.

Ash-Leigh – Never Been

This track is an iridescent, so-bright-it-hurts-to-look-at f*cking pop GEM. Don’t be fooled by the subdued start, because this baby houses one of the most absolutely insane, completely perfect choruses not just from Australia, but on the entire planet. Maybe that’s hyperbole, but look, probably not. Chuck it on when you’re getting changed out of a “no” outfit and are about to try on what looks like it’s gonna be a “yes”. Even if it doesn’t look as slammin’ as you’d hoped, I promise you, you are NOT going to care. All you’re going to care about is twirling around with your arms in the air while other shoppers call you a fucking crumb behind your back. Sadly this one is not on Spotify, but you can listen below. I promise you it’s worth it.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb4u3IKyhAM]

Babaganouj – Can’t Stop

Get it? Because you can’t stop thinking about when you’re finally going to find the right damn clothes for your purposes and get away from all the mallwalkers and weird mingling food court smells. No, but really, every shopping montage needs a cute as hell track like this. It’s actually a crime that this song isn’t famous the world over. Who doesn’t love a good call and response? During this song, you will find what you are looking for*, so put it on last otherwise you’ll miss out on all the other incredible tracks on this playlist (*not guaranteed).

Image: Paramount

Welcome to The Soundtrack, a column where we plumb the depths of our musical knowledge to bring you the best* (subjective) music to listen to for very specific life situations. This week, we bring you music to help you set the sexy-but-not-too-intense mood for your first Adult Sleepover with someone new and promising.

So, you’ve started seeing someone, hey? Good for you, putting yourself out there again. For a while there you were just focusing on yourself, which is also neat, but now you’re set on the idea of a buddy to cuddle while you sip cheap terrible wine and catch up on Luke Cage – and you reckon this new person in your life might be just the ticket. They’re charming, funny, down to earth, AND say “please” and “thank you” to waitstaff. So far, so good. Things are moving just a liiiittle slower than you’d like, so you’ve invited them over for a ~sexy~ dinner (if you’re cooking you might want to check out The Soundtrack from a couple weeks back). You’re keen to set the mood just right – relaxed but not too casual, sensual but not too obviously sexy, and you also really wanna impress them with how cool and eclectic you are BUT you definitely do not want them knowing you’ve chucked on a specific playlist just for this occassion. That’s why you’re here. Jesus christ, can’t you do anything for yourself? Just kidding. I have the goods for you. Happy to help.

Free Weed – High With Me

Let’s face it, you’re probably both a bit nervous. In all likelihood, both of you want this to turn into an Adult Sleepover, but neither of you want it to seem like you’re expecting anything. My recommendation is that you both relax, man. Just chill out. However you’re inclined to do that is up to you. I’m not condoning anything, but I am also not your mum. Regardless of how you reach maximus relaximus (but don’t go TOO far, you don’t wanna fall asleep without banging at least one out first), this song is a very Good and Nice complement to that. Shoegaze-y, reverb-y, underwater-y goodness with a touch of carefree rebellion. Plus chucking this on is a tried and true way to check if your potential paramour is a friend to the four-n-twenty (not the pies).

Portishead – Glory Box

Oh, come on now. Don’t pretend like you didn’t know this song was going to be here. FACT: there is no other track in modern memory with such a pinpoint sense of nuanced sensuality. This song belongs on every single damn playlist you have, actually, but especially ones you chuck on when you think you might get lucky. The one thing to watch with this one (while the person you’ve decided is probably the love of your life is there to impress), though, is the volume. Because turn that shit up and it’s practically obscene-sounding; wind it down to half-way or less and you have a gorgeous subdued dinner-appropriate song.

Little Dragon – Constant Surprises

I’m probably a tiny bit biased here because this track has personal significance, but honestly, it does such a bang-up job of walking that tumultuous line between omg I have feelings, isn’t this sweet and let’s get it on. This works for just about any stage of the night. You answering the door, looking adorably flushed from standing over a stove and them grinning at the sight of you. Them sharing some choice self-deprecating anecdotes about their week as they pour you both another glass of wine. You going to town on each other for the third time at 2am. It’s just so diverse that way. And let’s not ever understate the fucking incredible talent that is Yukimi Nagano. That voice could make anyone fall in love/take their clothes off (same diff).

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – Tender Is The Neck

This song is best saved for a verrrry specific moment. You know the one. The delicious meal that you slaved over (or ordered on Deliveroo) has been well and truly polished off. The wine has been flowing freely for a few hours now. You’ve passed through the awkward small-talk right to the deep stuff and you’ve just stumbled upon some really significant piece of common ground that has left both of you somewhat breathless and starry-eyed. You kiss the kiss of people who have just started to think they could maybe, possibly, someday fall in love. RBCF begins to play, wistful and soft and ooooohhh, feel those goosebumps? Things are definitely still in PG-rated rom-com territory right now, but the winds are about to shift and you both know it.

Hiatus Kaiyote – Nakamarra

Well, they didn’t win a Grammy for not making sexy music. And, if your potential beloved is a music person, you’ll likely get a chance to bond over the amazing trajectory of the band too. Share stories of seeing them live. Nothing bonds people quite the way that can. And if your potential beloved is not a music person, it’s time to order them an Uber and tell them how nice it was to meet them. Kidding (sorta). That said, though, have this one queued up waaaaay at the tail end of your playlist so the repeated “I love you, love you, love you I do”s don’t leave a weird heavy feeling in the air. It’s just a song, my dudes. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, okay?

Image: YouTube/Fox Animation

It’s that time of year again: the denim jackets are peeled off, the BBQs begin to sizzle in backyards across Australia, and we’re suddenly hit with a veritable cornucopia of incredible music events to signal the march towards the end of the year. There are festivals being announced left right and centre, sure, but not all of us are wallet-endowed enough to skip from fest to fest just to catch our favourite acts for a paltry 30 minute set. Thank god for the Spring headline tour. But, you might say, there are so MANY tours being announced! I feel overwhelmed with choice – how can I make sure I won’t miss the best of the bunch? Shhh. We got you. Credit cards at the ready, fam, let’s dive into the creme de la creme of upcoming tours over the next few months.

NGAIIRE – Inside Blastoma tour

Ngaiire’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric and we are bloody stoked as hell about it. Her album Blastoma climed to #41 in the ARIA charts, #6 on the Urban charts, and is shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize. Ngaiire is fresh off touring with Listen Out festival, before that she absolutely SLAYED at Splendour in the Grass (I should know, I was there). She’s insanely talented, a phenomenal live performer, and even has Grimes‘ stamp of approval. Oh, and the incredible Woodes and Wallace are supporting. Literally what the hell other reason do you even need to pony up the dough and head along to her last headline tour of the year?

Tickets for Ngaiire on sale now via www.ngaiire.com.au

Fri 25 Nov | Corner Hotel, Melbourne
Fri 2 Dec | The Factory, Sydney
Fri 12 Dec | The Zoo, Brisbane

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYmbZkP3LfU]

Polish Club – Beat Up tour

I’ve been on the Polish Club train for a very long time now and it warms my heart to see that they are finally embarking on their very first headline tour. The thing about seeing Polish Club live is that you will feel very euphoric, then utterly confused as to how the fuck two people can make such a glorious racket, and then very euphoric again. You’ve probably heard their rock banger Beeping, because it climbed its way up into triple j’s 15 most played tracks for a while there. They played BIGSOUND this year and have racked up a laundry list of supports featuring music’s who’s who: Courtney Barnett, Northeast Party House, Gang Of Youths… it’s a little bit ridiculous actually. Oh, and they’re releasing their debut album next year. Why are they so talented? I bet you they’re really nice guys, too.

Tickets for Polish Club on sale now via www.polishclub.co

Horrorshow – If You Know What I Mean tour

This one has actually already kicked off, so if you’re a fan of not missing out on cool things then you might want to jump on tickets very, very quickly. Horrorshow are touring the country – yes Perth, you included! – in support of their super-tight track If You Know What I Mean. To add onto the pile of very good reasons to catch the Sydney duo, rapidly rising MC B Wise will be joining Solo and Adit across the run of dates. Watch the Harry Hunter/ENTROPICO (Hayden James, Touch Sensitive, The Meeting Tree) directed video for If You Know What I Mean below and get keeeeeen.

Tickets for Horrorshow on sale now via HORRORSHOW.COM

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rRAc7_Z4G4]

Julia Jacklin – Don’t Let The Kids Win tour

Julia Jacklin seemed to come out of frickin’ nowhere (although, of course, this is never the case) to dominate the back half of 2016. The accolades are stacking up faster than you can say “fuck, I missed out on tickets” – with BBC 6, LA Times, Uncut and Mojo all heaping praise on the alt-country singer and her raw, stunning debut album Don’t Let The Kids Win. There’s only one other Aussie artist whose rocket-fuelled trajectory has taken off this fast in recent memory and her name rhymes with Schmourtney Schmarnett. So you should probably catch Jacklin on this tour before she starts playing her tunes on the US late night television circuit and appearing on Ellen.

Tickets for Julia Jacklin on sale now via Oztix

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fua9nrkUYew]

LANKS x Hein Cooper – Co-headline tour

Q: What’s better than one innovative Melbourne musician embarking on an 8-date tour? A: Two innovative Melbourne musicians embarking on an 8-date tour together. You likely don’t need an introduction to either of these dudes. LANKS, perennial striped shirt-wearer and top notch human being, just wrapped a national support with Vera Blue and released his second EP Viet Rose, and I honestly have no words for how good it is. Basically, he’s been busy dominating and it really doesn’t seem like he intends on stopping. Hein Cooper is like Ed Sheeran if Ed Sheeran was cool and made good music (there I said it). To hear his gorgeous singles Art Of Escape and Rusty (together they boast over 3 million streams on Spotify) is to feel feelings. They’re gonna make a formidable duo and if you don’t go see them you’re dumb.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQNvaGJyraA]

Good Boy – Plum EP tour

Hi, have you been living under a rock? Good Boy are a band that are, as their name suggests, very Good. They are also all Boys I guess. They’re touring in support of their EP Plum, aka one of the best, most self-aware snapshots of the Aussie youth zeitgeist we’ve seen in recent memory. Their set at BIGSOUND was so packed I had to stand on a chair and triple j are smashing their tunes basically on the daily, like new single S.O.G.K. They put on a bloody good show. Get your butt to one of them.

Tickets for Good Boy available from Oztix

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rm6zVEsvXc]

Teen angst is a difficult thing to capture in its entirety, but my god that has not stopped anyone from trying. There are a million movies, TV shows, and more relevant to this article, songs that attempt to deconstruct what it is to be caught in that purgatory that exists between childhood and adulthood. When you’re in the midst of the chaos, everything feels like the end of the world. The stupid, awful things you did when you were drunk seem endless in their ability to affect the rest of your life consequentially. Your first love is surely going to last forever, your first heartbreak doubly so. The niggling sense of ennui you start to feel seems as if it’ll never go away (okay, that one is actually true). In 2005, the year I turned thirteen and officially entered the hormone-addled kingdom of the teenager, a band from Claremont, California called The Mountain Goats released their ninth studio album. In 2010, five years later, amidst personal crises that were both more and less significant than I perceived them to be, I fell in love with The Sunset Tree.

To be fair, though, The Sunset Tree is not just about adolescence; it’s a reflection as an adult on the abuse that songwriter and frontman John Darnielle experienced at the hands of his stepfather when he was a child and teen. A harrowing subject matter, to be sure, and although the sad truth is many people can personally relate to it, I could thankfully not. But that didn’t stop this record from snaking its tendrils around me and rooting itself firmly in my brain, attaching to memories and idiosyncrasies from my late teen years so permanently that I still hear the fingerpicking of Magpie when I experience an involuntary jerk of fear, like all those years ago.

Darnielle writes lyrics in a way that eludes just about every other artist I’ve come across. It can be raw, obvious, tangible, but it hits you in the fucking guts like a cannon ball. There are fantastical, whimsical drawn-out metaphors, taking you on journeys across oceans and skies and worlds; these then boil down to a statement so simple and plain that it forces you back down to earth with a thud that bruises your soul just a little. Traditionally a low-fi band, The Mountain Goats (colloquially known as tMG) released a record called Tallahassee in 2002, a giant leap into a more polished, produced sound. But let’s never forget that tMG have over forty songs in total whose titles begin with the words”Going to…”. That might give you some insight into the kind of mundanely genius, or genius-ly mundane, artist Darnielle is.

St Joseph’s Baby Aspirin, Bartles & Jaymes, and you… or your memory. It’s a simple line, the chorus of the album’s opening track You Or Your Memory, and like with many of the songs on The Sunset Tree, what isn’t said is far more important, far more screechingly loud, than what is. No human being alive needs it explained to them that physical objects, particularly ones that have the potential to aid in self-destructive processes, can be inextricably tied to painful memories. Nobody needs drug or alcohol abuse spelled out for them, nor grief. Darnielle’s stepfather Mike Noonan died in 2004, this album followed a year later with a liner note wishing Noonan “the peace that eluded [him] in life”. The Sunset Tree is the revisiting of all the damage Noonan dealt to Darnielle, the long-reaching consequences of this, the strange love Darnielle could still feel for him.

To be human is to flirt with self-destruction and call it poetry. Like many others, I began experimenting with this inexplicably stupid behaviour as a teenager. My experiences were not the same as Darnielle’s addiction to Dilaudid, for me it was other means of damage – but I felt as heady and chaotic and romantic as Now you say you love me/Pretty soon you won’t implies. Doing the things that will destroy you, and finding comfort in it. Pushing people away for no other reason than to wallow alone. Thankfully, most of us grow out of this, and I did. Some don’t. Listening to this song back now is such a visceral experience for me that it gives me flashes of what my life might have been like if I didn’t. Whatever your “poison” was – or is – this is universal.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dhyw30g__Q]

The Sunset Tree is riddled with religious name-checks and cultural references from Darnielle’s childhood – the title is derived from a tale of abuse over a hymn, the lyrics skip over the Watergate hearings in Dance Music. These are trademark devices in Darnielle’s quiver. So is the unfair and illogical elevation of love to a cure-all antidote for pain. What aching teenaged heart, searching for meaning and purpose in a blur of mixed messages and confusing trials, never sought escape by burying their face deep in someone’s neck? There’s unbridled freedom amongst untold anxiety to be found in Broom People, where Darnielle finds refuge with a girl he dated as a 14 year old from the beatings he endures at home and at school – he describes himself as a “scrawny little fellow”.

I’ve briefly discussed just how affecting Love Love Love is before, but this cannot be overstated. As a teenager searching for true connection in all the wrong places and with all the wrong people, this track was a sorely needed lesson. I credit it with teaching me to look not only within, but to concepts, experiences, and knowledge to experience real love – instead of trying to find it in other people. Of course, an eventuality of this lesson is that when the right person comes along you’re actually able to form a solid, real connection. But in the interim, in those confused and pained days, Love Love Love calmed down my desperate whirlwind and allowed me to refocus.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv3-vANWwcU]

This album should never be discussed without unpacking the seminal anthem of rebelliousness, courage and defiance that is This Year. Stomping and major, uplifting in its scenes of young love and motorcycles and video games, This Year spits in the face of young life’s troubles. It’s We’re Not Gonna Take It for the California indie alt-rock ex-lo-fi scene. It’s bolstering, reckless and comforting without being patronising, acknowledging “the bad things to come” but staying out past curfew anyway. I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me becomes a mantra unto itself. A catch-cry for anyone with a pained youth. In the midst of identity crisis and loneliness and make-or-break moments in my academic and personal lives, I clung to it with a desperate strength.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii6kJaGiRaI]

I’m not sure I could ever fully unpack The Sunset Tree, or fully explain its significance. Perhaps if I could write like Darnielle I could. Not likely – there’s a bloody online petition calling for him to be named a US Poet Laureate, for chrissakes. Suffice to say that through its depiction of anxiety, escapism, pain and beauty, this album taught a seventeen year old me how to be calm.

Image: The Mountain Goats Wikia

You sit down at your desk at 9am, the weight of the day’s tasks all but crushing you into a bloody pulp. You answer the emails, you check the checklists, you do the thing – for 2 hours – and then you look at the time again, and it’s 9.15am. If, like the vast majority of the planet, you have to perform various tasks in order to fluff your bank account enough to pay for rent, bills, food and entertainment, it’s pretty likely you’ll know what I’m talking about. Don’t get me wrong – without bragging, I’m #blessed to work a job that I bloody love. But I remember these days all too well. The days when you try to sneak in fifteen minute toilet breaks, simultaneously feeling righteous and anarchic for “sticking it to the man”, and also undeniably guilty to the point of being physically nauseous because of all the shit (lmao) that still needs to get done. You’re busy, but it’s a hard slog. The clock is ticking literally fifty times slower than it usually is, you swear. You desperately need pepping up out of your funk, but you REALLY need to get these reports done by 5pm, so you can’t get distracted. Well, we got you. What you need is something upbeat, familiar, and vital. You almost definitely won’t be finding any new fave songs from me this week, but you’ll have a damn good time.

Sugababes – Overload

Warning: this is a pop playlist (with a generously broad definition of what that means), so if that offends you, then just go away forever. This song is as “stereotypically” pop as we’ll get this time around, but if you haven’t been clued in to its boundless genius then please let this be your awakening. This. Song. Is. A. Banger. Overload whips around in a chaotic frenzy that somehow never loses its head, which is exactly the ticket for a brain that’s struggling to keep up with everything it has to do. And just when you think you’re sinking right on into the repetitive familiarity of the track, it hits you with that insanely uncomfortable dissonance in the chorus. Don’t get too comfortable, fucker, it’s saying. You still have a lot of crap to get done.

Darwin Deez – Radar Detector

Okay, you’ve been put through the sexily-intimidating mill enough by the Sugababes, now you get a break. Well, not really because you’re at work, and you’re practically chained to your desk. But you do get to go on an infectious little audio equivalent of a sugar high. Maybe raid the kitchen and see if Deb has any of those chocolate chip Coles cookies to keep this party going? Darwin Deez might have had abhorrent hair when this song came out, but we can almost forgive him due to the way this track makes time speed up to a mind-blowing rate. And it’s the shortest song on the list, too.

The New Pornographers – Think About Me

This one is your breath of fresh air, because unless you have two lego blocks for ears then you know this song, but you maybe haven’t heard it like this. The trademark bright, crunchy New Pornographers guitars lend a power-pop sensibility to this Fleetwood Mac classic that turn it from instant classic to a feel-good anthem. Something that you can fantasise quitting your job and running off into the sunset with your ~lover~ to. But it has enough volume, the right number of quirks, to keep you firmly rooted (yep) in the tasks at hand.

Hall & Oates – You Make My Dreams Come True

Being a bit lame is kind of cool sometimes, or at least that’s what my mum always told me. Regardless of the truth of her advice, I’ve found it to be indisputable that cheesy retro love songs are a sure-fire way to help distract you from the bleak hamster wheel that is life. Just kidding, life’s pretty neat, and so is this song. Maybe just have a look behind your shoulder to make sure your coworkers aren’t copying your dorky AF finger-points in between answering phone calls with the most upbeat voice you’ve used all week. Hall & Oates can do that to a person.

Kisschasy – Do-Do’s And Woah-Oh’s

If that opening guitar work doesn’t immediately make you grin like a dopey nostalgic idiot, then you are just an actual plain old idiot. Yup, it’s time to put on your pop-punk hat and forget about how much you care about being “cool”, because this time you’re not even being ironic. Surely your boss won’t mind your extremely ham-handed headbanging as long as you’re getting work done. And let’s face it, there’s nothing more motivating than feeling like you’re a sardonic rockstar queen/king of the world while you absolutely SMASH that keyboard. Oh, you’ve got 10 emails to reply to in the next 5 minutes? NO PROBLEM MATE.

Image: Goliath

When people ask me what kind of music I like, I’ve struggled to come up with an answer more intelligent than “Uh, lots of stuff really. Most things. Good music?” It’s a notoriously tough question to broach, because there aren’t many people who genuinely only listen to a select two or three genres or artists, and even within artist repertoires and genres there can be wild variation.

Until recently, I’d settled for rattling off a few artists I had on high rotation at that point in time. It wasn’t until someone was asking me to explain why I didn’t like the music of a particular artist that I realised what my answer to the aforementioned loaded question was. I like music that I can’t predict all the way through. Music that surprises and challenges me. Music that pushes boundaries, whether that of the artist, the genre, or even my own. And this perfectly describes the music of Oliver Perry, also known as D.D. Dumbo.

Image: Mushroom

Perry’s debut album Utopia Defeated is untouchable, but it reaches out to touch the listener with alarming frequency. It’s intangible, but it bursts with references to organic life. Recorded over two or three months in 4AD‘s in-house studios in London, it took on a life all its own, with “no loop-pedalling on the album at all”. The result is a green de Bono hat of an album – double-thinking, investigative, provocative.

Opening track, and the second single released from the album Walrus is characteristically glitchy, rich, and textured. There’s a use of the voice as an actual instrument – another thread in the tapestry of abstract sounds that create a work that’s somehow still wholly approachable for all its abstractness and complexity. Both contrasting and complementing is lead single Satan, which follows directly after, alternating between a menacing chug, peaceful lilt and a bassoon motif that sounds ripped right from an iconic children’s song. On paper, that sounds absolutely batshit. And it is. But it inexplicably works – and god it works so very well that it left me thinking, after hearing it for the first time months ago, that D.D Dumbo is one of the most formidable musicians we have seen in recent times.

D.D. Dumbo’s love of colliding sometimes unidentifiable sonic elements means his sound is chameleon and extraordinarily difficult to pin down. It’s a savage ride, please keep your seat belts on and your arms and legs inside the cart. There’s the aching, stripped-back nature of In The Water, which owes its melodic structure to folk and perhaps even country music. It might seem erratic that the same album houses the alarming, expansive disco beat of Cortisol, but Utopia Defeated is not the result of a kid who got ahold of a watercolour set for the first time and rushed unthinkingly to use every colour in the palette. Every move made is deliberate. Everything is in its right place.

There’s a certain vicious undercurrent running throughout the album – particularly exemplified by King Franco Picasso. Sinister and cascading, here be monsters: a waking fever dream realised through pitched-down vocal samples and a demonic conviction in Perry’s voice. The importance of which, by the way, should not be understated. Alihukwe is anchored by his instantly-recognisable wail, and the existential pain and terror present on Utopia Defeated are made all the more affecting through ungodly yelps and screeches on Oyster and Cortisol respectively.

For all the aforementioned references to the natural world – there’s a particular fascination with the ocean here, name-checking salt, bugs, water, molluscs and more – there are much larger questions at play. The First Day I Found God is pure awakening, set against a glistening backdrop. It paints a fantastical portrait of god, framing the concept in both a claustrophobically personal and inaccessibly universal light. There’s a pervading sense that when Perry sings about the seemingly mundane there’s always a philosophical reason, and that perhaps this can be applied to every conversation we have in our short lives.

Toxic City is another pertinent example of this. Despite its literal, surface-value story, which sees Perry swimming amongst blue molluscs as the sun rises, it feels like the closest thing to a traditional love song on Utopia Defeated. That’s not to say it doesn’t still absolutely belong in a sonic sense – skittering piano and unintelligible sounds twinkle lightly and unknowably in the background, even as Perry’s voice takes centre stage. His lyrics are never as clear as here, his true meaning never as instinctive.

Album closer Oyster arrives at the crux of the album’s knowledge (rooted in the known unknown), answering the questions Perry has about his place in the universe with yet more questions. It’s a crowing, aching acceptance of uncertainty, even a celebration of it, between gasps of the inevitable pain of existence.

Utopia Defeated feels like a natural progression from Perry’s debut EP, if the word “natural” can here mean “inhumanly evolved”. The narrative that’s building around D.D. Dumbo is one of mythos, and he’s fast become a figure of legend while in the peak (so far) of his musical output and visibility. The man lives in a room/studio attached to an old horse stables on the outskirts of Castlemaine, for god’s sake. He’s music’s new enigma, and his work only serves to elevate him further to this deserved status. It injects every strange, unexpected flourish in his work with an even more intense sense of wonderment. Existential and dark, with a complexity that flirts with unknowability without quite greeting it – this is music lover’s music. D.D. Dumbo is a musician’s musician, the outsider’s creative messiah. Perhaps that’s oxymoron at work, but there’s no denying that Utopia Defeated is the work of someone who understands something innate and essential that some people search for their whole lives. I can’t tell you what it is. That’s the whole point.

Image: D.D. Dumbo Facebook

Welcome to The Soundtrack, a column where we plumb the depths of our musical knowledge to bring you the best* (subjective) music to listen to for very specific life situations.

Most of us, hopefully, aren’t complete disasters in the kitchen. Sure, when nobody’s looking you might sometimes revert to a cheese and tomato toasty for dinner, but you probably have a solid handful of go-to meals you’re pretty confident with, if nothing more than a nice colourful stir-fry (if not, please work on yourself). Regardless, that’s actually not what this week’s The Soundtrack is about. This week we’re talking about those times you’ve bitten off more than you can chew (heh) and gone absolutely ham (heh heh) with cooking something far fancier than you’re comfortable with.

Perhaps it’s a first date you want to impress, or the in-laws are coming over, or you’re throwing your first Grown Up Dinner Party. Something has motivated you to crack open that dusty old French dining cookbook your parents gave you in the hopes you’d grow up to be a fully functional human being (sorry, mum and dad). You’ve bought the ingredients, got the right cookware, and are now completely broke and scared shitless that you might not actually be able to pull this off. You need to remain focused and calm, but the clock is also ticking and your confidence needs a boost – you need The Soundtrack.

Björk – It’s Oh So Quiet

Let’s get stuck in while your anxiety is still relatively low. This song will make you feel like you’re cooking in a light-filled apartment in Paris, with posies in your window-box and nothing but time. You’re not a cuisine-challenged twenty-something, you’re Amélie and everything you’re doing is super quirky and endearing, even – especially – the mistakes you make as you go along. It should be noted that yes, this is a cover, but it’s arguably even more intrinsically charming than the original, and that’s what you need right now. It is a truth universally acknowledged that woodwinds in a pop song will transport you to another, much more Wes Anderson-y reality. Knead that dough lovingly with the confidence that Our Lady and Saviour Björk is watching over you, and she believes in you.

Kelis – Jerk Ribs

Alright, perhaps the song this album is from (Food) is what made it spring to mind initially, but just you fucken try chucking this bad boy on and telling me it’s not perfect. Hear that beat? That definitely sounds like pots and pans, right? You’re a regular Nigella Lawson, playing each kitchen instrument just so to make this meal sing. That meaty brass section is the key here – taking organised chaos to a more self-assured level. “It feels just like it should” – I mean, you can’t argue with that. The water is boiling, you’ve lined up the spices you’re going to need to use all nice on the bench in front of you. Honestly? Maybe this won’t be so hard. Maybe you ARE a culinary god/dess after all?

The Internet – Gabby

Okay, don’t panic, but you forgot to include butter way back at the start when you needed it. Look, it’s okay, it’s fixable, but this is your first really huge roadblock, and you’re going to need something that will play backdrop to your valiant corrective efforts as well as berate you gently for being such a fucking moron. This little slice from The Internet is simultaneously smooth as HELL – to soothe your frazzled nerves – and kinda uncomfortable in its chord movements, creating the same sort of environment as a good friend telling you “Look, you screwed up, but she’ll be right mate”. And you will, if you can keep your cool, which leads us right into…

Desmond Cheese – Dope Vhs Master

There’s only one kind of song that can help you level out now: a slow-moving soulful instrumental jam. Something steady, something that feels as fresh as it does familiar. Brisbane duo MakCheese and Desmond Bagely are otherwise known as Desmond Cheese, which is simultaneously both the coolest and grossest name I have ever heard. Everything they do is incredibly groove-based and delightfully weird, but this song is the ticket to the state of calm you’re going to need to make it through this stressful time. Warped, tropical synths and a simple motif that repeats but develops each time will ground and inspire you as you carefully back-track to where you went wrong. You’re good now. Everything looks as it should, basically. Give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back – except…

UV Boi فوق بنفسجي – Running Out Of Time

Oh shit. Your guest(s) are due in like twenty minutes and, according to this incredibly convoluted recipe, you have thirty minutes of work left to do before you plate up. This is literally your own personal version of MasterChef, and the clock is ticking. You might be rolling your eyes at me for choosing a song with such an obvious title for this situation – chuck it on and I think you’ll see just how appropriate this is. Suspenseful, rolling toms dash in and out of the mix, with some particularly apt clock-tick effects thrown in for good measure, reminding you that you are literally the worst ever at time management. But this track isn’t all about stressing you the fuck out – faux-choral sounds take this vibe back from the edge of tension and throw it all the way back to the whimsical. Because, let’s be honest you guys – it’s just dinner. If you royally screw it up, there’s always Deliveroo.

Image: Wallpaper Cave