After 23 glorious years, Falls Festival continues to provide us with the most unforgettable moments across the New Year festivus. The 2016-17 lineup saw some major international names, as well as our best local acts rounding up another year in style. In Byron Bay, it was a balmy 33 degrees across the three day event and climaxed with a torrential downpour for the very last performances on day three.
Straight into day two, multi-instrumentalist Hein Cooper opened the amphitheatre to a nice swell of punters, braving the extreme heat just after midday. Meanwhile, Sydney locals Middle Kids ambled their way across the Forest Stage with a stellar set, followed up by Norwegian act Lemaitre. Ultra-talented crowd favourite Matt Corby delivered an as-per-usual spine-tingling performance, with POND and Violent Soho going on to take the Valley Stage later in the night. Finally, The Avalanches and The Rubens clashed to close out another massive day of amazing music.
In this gallery you will find Hein Cooper, City Calm Down, The Jezabels, Middle Kids, Lemaitre, Matt Corby, POND, Ta-ku, Violent Soho and The Avalanches.
PHOTOS: Falls Festival Day I
PHOTOS: Falls Festival Day IIIHein Cooper
City Calm Down
The Jezabels
Middle Kids
Lemaitre
Matt Corby
POND
Ta-ku
Violent Soho
The Avalanches
Photos: Dani Hansen/Howl & Echoes
It’s just about to tick over into December, which means one thing: we’re less than a month from the 24th annual Falls Festival. With just a few weeks of shitty Christmas carols and resisting the urge to murder everyone at your local Westfield who also decided to buy presents at the last minute in a rain of blood, we took a breather to look at the acts on the bill you should, nay, must see lest you want future generations to snicker when you try to tell them tales of your Falls experiences that don’t include:
Childish Gambino
Gambino’s return to Australia is set to be meteoric in scale. The man is about to release what is sure to be one of the top contenders for album of the year this Friday in the long, long LOOOOOONG anticipated Awaken, My Love!, and what we’ve heard of it already has us dribbling.
His set at Falls will be one of the first chances for fans anywhere in the world to cop a big old earful of new material in a live environment, plus you just know that amphitheatre is going to be absolutely seething to the likes of solidified belters like Bonfire, Freaks And Geeks and 3005 among swathes of others.
He’s not playing a single sideshow either, so if you go to Falls and don’t see Childish Gambino, we can’t be responsible for the twisted ruin your soul becomes in the coming years as it shrivels with regret.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp7eSUU9oy8
Jamie T
Having not been spotted since a goosebump-inducing set at last year’s Splendour In The Grass is London vagabond Jamie T. With his latest album Trick up his sleeve, the inimitably-accented rocker is back for summer to captivate audiences once again.
You may remember him from yell-along hits such as Sheila, Sticks And Stones and Zombie among many others, but if you’ve never seen him live and you do at Falls, you’ll remember him from the shivers you get up and down your spine thinking back to that moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEQXJQn8LZg
Grandmaster Flash
The crafty veteran of the bill is the granddaddy of the decks in Grandmaster fucking Flash. Seriously, it’s 2016 and Grandmaster Flash is on a festival bill. What a time to be alive.
The man has seen damn near everything in hip-hop since its genesis. I’m not sure if he’ll be making his entrance from a beam of light bursting down through the heavens but such is his myth that it’s more than likely.
His set will be full of vintage hip-hop for the soul, but let’s face it, if you don’t make it your business to bask in the glory of The Message played live, you will have to look St. Peter in the eye one day and tell him why he should let you into heaven when you already passed up the chance to be there once before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYMkEMCHtJ4
Bernard Fanning
Do you feel that? It’s elation, it’s ecstasy, it’s euphoria… it’s the unofficial Emperor of Queensland Bernard Fanning. Yes, there’ll be heat-induced visions of Milton Mangoes and Castlemaine Cranberries by the Brown Snake with the 1994 Maroons re-enacting their Miracle Try as the singer-songwriter-sacred deity takes to the stage guitar in hand at this year’s Falls to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that none of us are worthy.
One of the few bonafide legends of Australian rock still making noise today, miss Bernard Fanning live and be condemned to a lifetime of being jersey-slung out of bed by Gorden Tallis every morning instead of an alarm clock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYlyghmTSIU
MØ
Danish sensation MØ (fun fact, that’s actually pronounced ‘Mer’) might be best known for her vocal contributions to that one Major Lazer song that became a small hit, but she’s a pop star in her own right as well, with stunning solo album No Mythologies To Follow an absolute ripper.
Possessed of a badass swagger and a bloody great set of pipes on top, prepare to get absolutely lost in the MØ live experience. Just see if you can even begin to handle the pure pop rapture that is Kamikaze at any rate, you’ll be hooked for life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVD9j36Ke94
Marlon Williams
Yet another Kiwi export that Australia will no doubt be claiming for its own very soon is smoky crooner Marlon Williams. If you’re looking for a change of pace from a frenetic Falls to a laidback lounge in the grass, you’d do well to catch Williams, whose 2015 self-titled debut set hearts aflutter and saw swooning rates increase by 600% (approximately).
Williams is a throwback that’ll stop you in your tracks, and with three days of being absolutely buckled to push your way through, it’s so important to take some time out to chill here and there. Let Marlon Williams be the soundtrack to at least one of those brief periods of peace.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow8qMY8JkR0
Client Liaison
Speaking of throwbacks, Melbourne’s Client Liaison do late 80s/early 90s dance pop better than anybody on this planet. They’ll be riding into Falls in an off-white limousine (probably) and pulling out all the stops onstage. These guys are showmen to the bone (frontman Monte Morgan a true treasure) and their set will be absolutely wild.
With a debut album’s worth of new material to light up the night with from this year’s Diplomatic Immunity, (Canberra Won’t Be Calling Tonight ought to bring the house down the moment that first kookaburra starts warbling, as will Wild Life and World Of Our Love from that same album), expect elaborate stage props and costumes, choreographed dancing and glorious, tear-inducing saxophone solos.
Client Liaison live aren’t just a pick-me-up, they’re a grab-you-by-the-collar-and-throw-you-into-the-galaxy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XnyF-tDia4
City Calm Down
An enthralling live act, Melbourne’s City Calm Down have been one of Australia’s biggest breakout acts of the last year since sophomore record In A Restless House first exploded onto the national consciousness.
Post-punk in the vein of The Cure (frontman Jack Bourke’s wide-ranging vocals eerily reminiscent of Robert Smith), the City Calm Down boys bring their sprawling sound from record to stage with razor sharp precision and professionalism and leave audiences breathless. They’re known for a blisteringly honest cover of Bowie’s Let’s Dance and their own signature tunes in Rabbit Run, Son and the anthemic Your Fix always leave a crowd breathless.
City Calm Down are a group on the upswing and there doesn’t look like a zenith in plain sight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26AQCCQKkcc
Grouplove
If you like unbridled joy, superhuman levels of energy and dancing, all of the dancing, then California’s Grouplove will unquestionably be for you. They too have a brand new album this year in big hit Big Mess and they’ll no doubt be bringing a sizeable horde of fans to life with good vibes exploding from the sound system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNDXUhKFPA4
Catfish And The Bottlemen
Having an outstanding year are blue-chip Welsh rock and rollers Catfish And The Bottlemen. Their latest album The Ride has been thrilling and chilling auditory senses and uppercutting everyone directly in the feels since its release earlier in 2K16. They’re back to turn it up to 11 in Australia once again and their loud, evocative rock and roll is nigh on perfect for a summer festival.
If you don’t drunkenly sway while holding a pair of Extra Drys aloft and off-key bellowing the chorus to 7, were you even at Falls?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibv5N70ncsk
If you’re of the opinion that this list is lacking a little in Aussie talent, not to worry. Keep an eye out for our list of Aussie Acts to Catch at this year’s Falls Festival coming soon.
Image: Miss Dimplez
Words by Dani Hansen and James Tait.
With this year’s Splendour In The Grass happening in just a few days time, our excitement and anticipation levels are in overdrive. You may not have had the chance to peruse the timetables for each day and plan out who you’re going to see. We personally think you should be able to catch every single act on the Splendour bill, but that would be impossible without a time machine and a great deal of patience. Instead, our own recommendations are:
James:
Gang Of Youths
Sydney quintet Gang Of Youths are responsible for some of the most emotional and evocative rock and roll to come out of this country. A huge wall of sound, probing and introspective lyrics, huge soaring choruses and, most of all, raw energy. Frontman David Le’aupepe is as captivating a performer as you’ll ever find and his vocal range is enough to induce goosebumps.
There will be plenty of raised fists and hearts on sleeves as they rip through a ferocious Saturday afternoon set at the amphitheatre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJzLc8Cj-AY
City Calm Down
Melbourne quartet City Calm Down had a breakout year in 2015 with the release of their album In A Restless House to rave reviews off the back of singles like Rabbit Run and Son. Giant synths buoying songs full of twists and turns and clever pop melodies that grab you and take flight, they’re a part of the new wave of Australian rock but City Calm Down are a band who play with the aplomb of a group well beyond their years and their live set will keep you mesmerised from start to finish.
Catch City Calm Down dishing out the chills like candy to many a weary head on Sunday at the amphitheatre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26AQCCQKkcc
Spring King
Heading out to Australia for the very first time are Mancunian energy fiends Spring King. Having just released their debut album Tell Me If You Like To and blowing up in a big way after singles like City, Detroit and Rectifier took off. Harnessing the sound of the swinging 60s, yanking it into the 21st century and infusing it with so much raw energy and aggression, the mosh for Spring King on Saturday in the GW McLennan tent promises to be just ludicrous. There’s also something special and awe-inspiring about a drumming frontman and Tarek Musa’s ability to sing while his limbs are flailing almost impossibly everywhere will drop jaws.
Check out our interview with Tarek from Spring King.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yONyEewXraU
The Preatures
Sydney four-piece The Preatures are another frenetic and infectiously energetic live experience. Frontwoman Isabella Manfredi is rock and roll to her absolute core, able to alternate between the lightness of Stevie Nicks and the swagger of Joan Jett on a whim. The Preatures’ sound harkens back to a golden era for rock and they’re four of the best young musicians in the country to boot.
Good luck trying to watch their Sunday night set at GW McLennan and without dancing uncontrollably.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtDXezAhes8
Violent Soho
There may be few moshpits larger and more frantic in the history of Splendour than the one that will greet Mansfield heroes Violent Soho for their set this year. Having released one of the hottest records of 2016 with the devastating WACO, the Soho boys somehow survived a national tour with Dune Rats and DZ Deathrays and are here to leave a crater in their wake. Seriously, The Avalanches may not have a stage to play on after Violent Soho get done.
Look out for the return of the fabled gumboot bong as Violent Soho cause carnage on Friday night at the amphitheatre. Read our interview with guitarist James.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRWi-SvzviY
Dani:
The Strokes
Simply legendary. We saw guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. hit up Mountain Sounds Festival in February flying solo (what a set), and with the release of the band’s comeback EP Future Present Past in May, rumours were flying that we might just see The Strokes come to Splendour.
The same rumour seems to go around every year and we’ve been left disappointed, but now it’s actually, really, truly happening and you finally have your chance to see a piece of New York indie rock history in the flesh. Don’t mess this up, guys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT68FS3YbQ4
Flume
Our forever-21-year-old-electronic-savant Harley Streten, the man otherwise known as Flume, has made it through his self-described “dickhead phase” and emerged… a genius (what we already knew tbh). Released in May, Skin is the highly-anticipated and very solid follow-up to his self-titled debut. After a four year hiatus, Harley recently announced a massive world tour to unveil his new live show, which we already received a taste of earlier this year at Laneway.
Let me tell you, folks, I was shooting at Laneway and never have I seen a photo pit so packed in my life, staying and watching the entire set just mesmerised. Compared to the last live performance from three years ago, his live show and on-stage presence have considerably evolved to be simply incredible and the beats are second-to-none. Also, a highly collaborative album means a high chance of special live guests, as we saw at Laneway with Kai, KUČKA and Vince Staples all joining Flume on stage. Best buckle-the-hell up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fAzM5cI5FM
King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard
Melbourne garage rockers King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard are no stranger to hard yakka. Over the span of their four year career, they’ve released a ridiculous eight studio albums, with another four projects supposedly set for release next year alone. Nonagon Infinity, released earlier in April, is a much heavier answer to 2015’s all-acoustic Paper Mâché Dream Balloon, with frontman Stu Mackenzie maintaining it’s “not really metal but… inspired by stuff like that.”
Where these guys seriously impress though (that is beyond their insane artistry), is seeing them in their sweaty, bent-over, hair-flying, psychedelic glory onstage. If Mac DeMarco crowdsurfing during their Falls set in Marion Bay earlier this year isn’t any indication of what to expect, I honestly don’t know what is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f78_Tf4Tdk
Fat White Family
“The most rebellious act is to revel in your own misery and patheticism,” chimes Lias Saoudi, frontman of this raucous five-piece from Brixton. The band had barely released their first album before they were swaddled and hailed on high by the likes of NME, Rolling Stone, even Letterman.
Anti-establishment, anti-gentrification, anti-Arctic Monkeys, they’re overly portrayed as some kind of Sex Pistols-esque train wreck whose implosion is imminent but, honestly, who doesn’t appreciate a bit of sobering vulgarity? Their reputation as a brilliant live band is to be seen in their constant crowdsurfing or stripped naked guitar playing or the general ramshackle and extremeness of any given performance of theirs. If you want a band that’s not there to run through the motions, Fat White Family are what you’re looking for.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKNt_qq6N7o
Green Buzzard
Fresh meat from the I Oh You family who have been working with some amazing acts of late (DMA’s, Violent Soho, MOSSY, City Calm Down etc.), Green Buzzard are a five-piece Sydney garage outfit who, I swear, get better every time I see them.
I caught their second ever gig supporting Palma Violets and The Vaccines on their Splendour sideshow last year, so for them to be playing at the festival this year is a huge step up. Live, they’re a wall of utterly satisfying fuzz, smoking speakers and all. Their newly released EP Eazy, Queezy, Squeezy is a lo-fi delight, reminiscent of the whole 90’s Britpop thing, as well as Dinosaur Jr, Weezer, Sebadoh etc. Worth the watch and worth the listen.
Check out our interview with Green Buzzard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtMbPm7Q8Ec
Image: Your Friends House
In our video round up this week we have more up and coming talent than you can poke a stick at. So much so that it would be remiss not to pull up a chair in front of your laptop and get lost in this stellar selection of clips for a while. Not to mention, majority of these gems come from some of our favourite Australian acts of the moment. Get behind them and get clicking below.
Gussy – Looking at Myself
A slow languid drawl propped against a gender transcendent figure pirouetting in a black room, pensive and introspective, harnessing an undercurrent of aching that seems to be contained just beneath the surface but never quite breaks through. Such are the feels of Sydney based artist Gussy’s self produced and directed single Looking at Myself. The hypnotic track deconstructs normative ideas of gender and sexuality, while exploring the existentialism of a modern break up. It is just the beginning for these chiseled cheekbones and we look forward to hearing a lot more.
You check Gussy out in the flesh at Heaps Gay x VIVID at the Factory Theatre on June 12th, or at Oscar Key Sung’s Single Launch at Plan B, June 24th
https://youtu.be/_zJI0mdLq0M
City Calm Down – Border on Control
The latest single from City Calm Down’s acclaimed debut In A Restless House continues the anthemic and synth driven throwback sound that has propelled the band to such great heights in recent times. In the accompanying video, the metronomic drumbeat falls in time with the scene of a geriatric table tennis match, with the seemingly endless rally meditative in its repetition. The game provides an apt metaphor to accompany the themes of stagnation sung in Jack Bourke’s signature baritone vocals. The clip is not only a notable showcase of this rising act, but also of A-grade table tennis at its very best. One way or another, you will be impressed.
https://youtu.be/mUgzOlK0nC4
Coops – Frankincense & Myrhh
UK rapper Coops has just this week released his debut LP God Complex with a gritty black and white video to accompany single Frankincense & Myrrh. The track was produced by up and comer Ollie Twist, and has a moody antique vibe aided by jazz sampling and pensive lyricism. The clip, directed by Chas Appeti, builds on these themes with scratchy transitions and noir shadows at every turn. Coops provides some stellar verses and if this offering is anything to go by, the LP has lots of promise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My3k6vsQi6Y
Alex Cameron – Take Care of Business
Sydney’s Alex Cameron has given us a taste of his upcoming album Jumping The Shark with a surreal, mesmerising clip for single Take Care of Business. At a time when a plethora of videos released are self-describing their aesthetic as obscure or Lynchian, while kind of missing the mark, this one actually achieves the label. With Cameron’s surreal, aged performance invoking avant-garde eeriness in a remarkably endearing way, Cameron’s onstage writhing and droning vocals are reminiscent of a Birthday Party-era Nick Cave in slow motion. The introduction of keys and an increase in tempo around the three minute mark is an unexpected joyous injection, making this already loveable track all the more so. You can pre-order the album due out August 19th here.
https://youtu.be/6tGqK8_6hL4
Third Floor – Falling
The luscious beats of Third Floor’s Falling provide a palette of sounds to paint with, the accompanying clip bringing them to life with explosive movement. Figures contort in dance against a black backdrop with 3am nightclub vigor as the track ebbs and flows through the grooves. This is the last of four clips in the cinematic Dream State EP story arc, so if you want to enjoy the full experience, make sure to check out the first three instalments here.
https://youtu.be/B2xwuML2NX0
Venus II – Inside Your Sun
You might have never heard of upcoming act Venus II, but the duo that make up the band are no newcomers. Jarrad Brown (Eagle & The Worm / Dorsal Fins) and Ryan Grieve (Canyons) manage to create a fusion of layers that sounds like the perfectly combined sum of their parts, and the results are wondrous. The sundrenched infectious hooks remind me of that time when Midnight Jugganauts released 44 and Rising and I had it stuck in my head for months, driving me blissfully insane. Check out the clip, shake off the winter blues, and get psychedelic. It doesn’t get much better.
https://youtu.be/9GQHonquaqY
Banoffee – I’m Not Sorry
Banoffee makes no apologies with her latest clip, a track she says is: “a push back to all the things we’ve been told so many times we now tell them to ourselves. Woman are brought up bound and gagged in shame for being different, for giving a shit, for being ambitious—all because we’re powerful. We can’t be accused of black magic anymore, but it’s so entrenched we’re now killing ourselves to try and mentally survive. I guess I’m saying I’m done saying sorry.” It’s a strong statement with strong imagery to match from a genre defying and promising young artist.
https://youtu.be/skY9qtRIMP0
Homeboy Sandman – Eyes
Still fresh after the release of wonderful album Kindness For Weakness and subsequent videos for Nonbelievers and Talking (Bleep), comes the Stones Throw rapper’s new video for Eyes. The first thing to note is how vastly different each of his videos is stylistically. This one, directed by Pace Rivers, sees the rapper tell a spooky story, with the narrator at home – in the bath, with a woman, on the couch – spliced between ominous outdoor scenes where you see him followed and spied on at every turn. The motif of the eye carries throughout each character, scene and scenery, while the clip grows more paranoid, surreal and suspenseful as it progresses.
https://youtu.be/qkg-OMDiyG4
Image: Venus II
It’s video roundup time! Once again, Howl And Echoes are coming in hot with the freshest, most eyeball-stimulating music videos to be dropped by the artists you love and some of the artists you don’t know you love yet this week. We do all the dirty work and herd them all into one convenient web-based location for you to enjoy every Friday so that you don’t have to. Have yourself a good old gander at the latest offerings from:
Xiu Xiu – Into The Night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgBcmaRfxlE
Kicking off with the San Jose grown experimental noise pop trio Xiu Xiu and their enormous new single Into The Night. With their twelfth studio album Xiu Xiu Plays The Music Of Twin Peaks arriving today, an album that, you guessed it, sees the trio covering music from the Twin Peaks soundtrack. A challenging project given the show’s manically cult following.
At a gigantic 12-and-a-half minutes, it’s a sprawling opus of distorted noise and crosses the threshold of a litany of genres, making for some gripping listening. The video, directed by Diego Barrera, explores the creation of the alchemical siren, a union between masculinity and femininity. The visuals are like a confronting dream and are very open to interpretation, best to watch for yourself to get the best understanding.
Xiu Xiu Plays The Music Of Twin Peaks is out now via Polyvinyl.
Gonzo Jones – Misty Dreams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu5AnZB8lWc
The latest Good Manners Records signee is Gonzo Jones and Misty Dreams is his debut single. Hailing from Cape Liptrap in Victoria, the singer-songwriter has kicked off his career with a beautifully melodic, cloud-soft rock tune in the vein of Mac DeMarco. Some of the easiest and breeziest listening you will do all this week.
The accompanying video is a sepia-tinged road trip in a Mustang convertible through sand and scrub, the late-60’s aesthetics striking. As auspicious a debut as they come, we’re looking forward to some very big things from Gonzo Jones.
Mitski – Your Best American Girl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_hDHm9MD0I
Popping over to Brooklyn next with the latest single from singer-songwriter Mitski. Part of the lead-up to her fourth studio album Puberty 2, she has released Your Best American Girl with its video this week and the results are pretty much stunning. Soothing vocals over a gently strummed acoustic guitar, before the amps turn on and the drums crash around grungy riffs and Mitski’s vocals lifting off. It will reach down as far into you as it can in pushing your emotional buttons, side effects include goosebumps.
The video is equally as striking, a young couple exchanging a passionate kiss with each other juxtaposed with Mitski having an equally as passionate exchange with her hand. It’s a metaphor for, as a Japanese American girl, not quite fitting in in white America.
Puberty 2 is out June 17th on Dead Oceans via Inertia.
SilentJay x Jace XL – Rockabye
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyRHe6KWZjY
Joining forces once again on this next one are producer-singer tag team Silentjay and Jace XL. Part of the Hiatus Kaiyote ensemble, their newest track is Rockabye; a track full of soft RnB melodies, shimmering production and the soulful vocals of Jace XL weaving the narrative. Late night bedroom listening at its finest, this is a song that will warm you up with colder months ahead.
The video is as sensual as the song itself, a tender love story covered in a haze of smoke and lights both warm and inviting and the neon of the nightlife. Rockabye is part of the lead-up to the duo’s forthcoming debut EP but this is a pair that definitely needs to stick together.
Sacrifice is out next Monday April 18th via Rhythm Section.
Noonie Bao – Reminds Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnjSkmMdm34
Lauded as one of pop’s greatest hidden talents (though we’re not sure how hidden you can possibly be when you’ve been nominated for a Grammy Award) is Stockholm’s Noonie Bao. Reminds Me is her latest single, a track that begins off-kilter with dreamy verses delivered like lymerics before building to a chorus that takes flight. Haunting and frantic, it’s easy to see why people rave about Noonie Bao.
The video, directed by Sebastian Mlynarski and shot in Death Valley in California is gorgeously picturesque, a collage of cut and pasted shots with the chorus finding her running across a desert highway in and out of the moonlight particularly striking.
Noonie Bao’s latest EP Noonia is out now via 2ManyFreckles.
Ash Koosha – Mudafossil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kSm7saCoXQ
London producer Ash Koosha has a brand new single this week. Mudafossil premiered on Adult Swim on the weekend just gone. Distorted and ambitious, the track features Eastern instrumentals and production that is as warped and fluid as the accompanying visuals.
Yes this video is a trip. We’ve seen quite a number of CGI-based videos popping up lately, but this one takes the cake as far as sheer trippiness goes. Conveying the overarching themes of his album I AKA I, the video merges the human body with technology using rippling, pulsating effects. Just watch and absorb yourself.
I AKA I is out now on Ninja Tune via Inertia.
Bibio – Light Up The Sky
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgrgCaSo8e4
Next up is another English producer in Bibio and his latest single Light Up The Sky. A track that begins with big piano chords and 80s-style synths, it quickly melds into almost dripping tap percussion and some ethereal falsetto vocals. The video is a rainbow of colours and lights, a live performance with a twist with microscopic mineral imagery projected onto the instruments to breathtaking effect.
The effort and love put forth into this video cannot be understated, shot in three days and edited meticulously. It’s another stellar track from Bibio’s latest record A Mineral Love; out now on Warp Records via Inertia.
Kate Martin – Kintsukuroi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oSpl4CZ-fg
Back home for this next video, with Melbourne-via-Townsville singer-songwriter Kate Martin and her first single since 2013’s Awaken in the brilliant Kintsukuroi. Textured, beautifully layered with gentle guitars slithering across the track and rich, gentle vocals anchoring it all. The song crashes like a roiling wave in its crescendo.
The video is simple but effective, featuring Kate twirling in the darkness and playing her guitar, the focus solely on her as it should be. With a third studio album, Set My Life To Fire, on its way in Autumn of this year, amazingly prolific for an artist only 24 years of age, this is a very encouraging sign of things to come.
Catch Kate Martin on her Kintsukuroi single launch in May and June.
Elizabeth Rose – Playing With Fire (ft. REMI)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmihmGgHi8E
Interactive music videos are catching fire in 2016, and Elizabeth Rose has teamed up with the good people at Google Play in crafting one of her own for her latest single Playing With Fire from her huge debut LP INTRA. The song mixes modern day trap beats with melodies and production that harken all the way back to the pop music that was commanding the charts in the late 90s and early 00s. REMI stops by to drop a hard-hitting verse to add a lot of extra depth.
We won’t spoil the fun for you, but you can literally play with fire (and apparently Elizabeth Rose’s own emotions) by going to https://www.elizabethrose.com.au/play/
INTRA is out now via Midnight Feature/Inertia
City Calm Down – Your Fix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26AQCCQKkcc
One of 2015’s biggest breakout stories were City Calm Down. Releasing their Bibically-proportioned album In A Restless House and enjoying lauded spots on festivals and headline tours around Australia. They’ve not shown any sign of slowing down in 2016, just announced for Splendour, currently on an all-but-sold-out headline tour of Australia and this week releasing the video for one of In A Restless House’s standouts in Your Fix.
It’s a New Wave belter, driving synths and guitars over frontman Jack Bourke’s Robert Smith-reminiscent vocals. The video is awash in neon pinks and blues, the band playing the song on a rotating Lazy Susan stage and somehow not looking the slightest bit dizzy. Great stuff from one of Australia’s best bands going.
In A Restless House is out now via I Oh You. Catch City Calm Down on their In A Restless House tour now.
City Calm Down have taken to the tripe j studios for Like A Version today, in support of their recent album In A Restless House, and tour which kicks off today in Sydney.
After a brief April Fools Day gag of pulling out a recorder and starting on the intro of Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg‘s The Next Episode (to be honest I was really hoping this would break out into a full band version, because that would have been sick,) they launched into one of my personal favourite songs in the history of indie rock, Foals’ Spanish Sahara.
And my goodness did they do it justice.
The track is rich and rumbling, with vocals soaring up on high above those dramatic chords – it would’ve made Yannis Philippakis and co. proud.
This is just the absolute perfect song for City Calm Down to cover – their ability to craft lush, sweeping atmospheres meets with one of the most beautiful, emotive melodies Foals have ever produced, like it they were born to do it.
This is a powerful, passionate cover of an incredible tune – one that we can only to see them perform live on tour this week!
https://youtu.be/86-_pY8cI28
Read our interview with City Calm Down
City Calm Down Tour Dates
Friday 1 April: Oxford Arts Factory, Sydney
Saturday 2 April: Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane
Friday 8 April: Fat Controller, Adelaide
Saturday 9 April: Corner Hotel, Melbourne
City Calm Down‘s In A Restless House is undoubtedly one of our favourite Australian albums of the year. Embracing a rich, expansive, not to mention thoroughly enjoyable sound, it’s unsurprising that they achieved a Triple J album of the week, an already-huge reputation as a stellar live act, with sold out tour dates across the country and an ever-growing fanbase. This week, they released the gorgeous new video clip for recent single Son.
Directed by Pran Sen, religion meets rock in this black-and-white clip, with scene after scene of shots crafted to embellish the regality, even holiness of the soundscape itself. Each band member, and one mesmerising dance feature in scenes surrounded by their instruments, wide ceilings and stained glass windows. Sen has captured Son’s atmosphere down to the tee; the visual output embodies the song’s soaring regality.
City Calm Down will be performing at Falls Festival (Lorne) across New Years, and Sugar Mountain Festival in January. They’ve also announced a string of shows in April 2016 – we highly recommend catching them live. Dates below, grab your tickets here.
Fri 1 April 2016: Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
Sat 2 April 2016: Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane
Fri 8 April 2016: Fat Controller, Adelaide
Sat 9 April 2016: Corner Hotel, Melbourne
In A Restless House is out now on I OH YOU.
It’s video roundup time! Once again, Howl And Echoes are coming in hot with the freshest, most eyeball stimulating music videos to be dropped by the artists you love and some of the artists you don’t know you love yet, of this week. We do all the dirty work and herd them all into one convenient web-based location for you to enjoy every Friday so that you don’t have to. Have yourself a good old gander at the latest offerings from:
LDRU – Keeping The Score
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDv8Qu8S7ac
Part of a new wave of Australian producers coming out of the gate young, hungry and bursting at the seams with sonic brilliance, LDRU has dropped the visuals for his absolute airwave scorching banger Keeping Score. With a chorus that’s custom built to lose your shit to whether it be on a dancefloor or in a festival moshpit, the accompanying clip does its absolute darndest to pour every colour of the rainbow into one fever dream of a ride. Full of tropical motifs that match the sweltering beats of the track, this one is a hell of a watch.
8 Graves – Two Wrongs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzlc-uE1QlM
Having freshly released their debut EP War Out There, New York City RnB duo 8 Graves have followed up with a powerful video to go with one of the tracks off that album, Two Wrongs. Dealing with social equality, the clip features a series of simple black and white shots of the interactions of various couples, all clearly deeply in love.
The song is uplifting and the message is even stronger: two ‘wrongs’ can make a right. Beautiful.
Gideon Bensen – All New Low
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT3tdb_uxso
If Gideon Bensen is a name that tugs at some far flung corner of your memory, you’ve probably also seen him pulling guitar and co-vocal duties for one of Australia’s best and brightest new bands The Preatures. As most musicians this talented in their own right are wont to do, Bensen has released some stellar solo work with new single All New Low and a video for it.
There’s some star power on the track, with one Megan Washington drafted for backup duties and fellow Preatures guitarist Jack Moffitt also stepping up to the plate to help out. Bensen’s slow-burning baritone will mesmerise you over the top of a melting pot soundscape of jazz, soul, electronic, hip hop and a touch of the rock and roll (with a killer guitar solo) that he and his Preatures bandmates are so lauded for.
The video looks like a lo-fi Bond intro, full of silhouetted dancing girls and crimson red lighting that’s as ensnaring visually as the song is sonically.
Leisure Suite – Feel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvSk90ScFKw&feature=youtu.be
If you’re looking for some ice cold electronic pop to relax with on a Friday afternoon, the new track and video from Melbourne duo Leisure Suite might be just up your alley. Silky smooth vocals and a minimalistic backbeat are the soundtrack to an oddly soothing video, just lo-fi shots of the backs of people’s heads as they stand or lay or walk around doing their daily activities in various locales.
It’s the kind of song that goes well with a glass of red in a dark room. Look out for their forthcoming EP.
Harriet – American Appetite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSbrlk8PvGs
Lyric videos are usually lame as hell, but the one for American Appetite from Los Angeles quartet Harriet is beyond a cut above the rest. A POV day in the life of a faceless suite, the way the lyrics are presented just gets increasingly more and more creative as the clip goes on. It’s actually quite fitting that the lyrics to are the main focus, as they’re superbly penned, dealing with the ENRON scandal of a couple of years back.
American Appetite is heavy on the hooks, lightly smoked in some nifty jazz and builds to a positively raucous crescendo. It’s a track and a story that will keep you coming back again and again. It’s off their debut album of the same name dropping January 29th next year.
Breaking Heights – High
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wDtVtLgdN0
Sticking in the City of Angels for this next one. High is a song I’ve gone through and listened to several times now in the writing of this, still don’t know what to make of, but nonetheless love the holy heck out of. It’s like some kind of eclectic mashup of elements of psychedelic, grunge, funk, reggae and electronic. And then that chorus, that breezy, soaring chorus is magic. Then all of a sudden, swerve, we have a rap verse but then we’re back to that skyscraping chorus again. It all just works and has me hitting the repeat button even now.
The video is amazing too, with the Breaking Heights trio taking a wander around what looks like where Trevor lived way out West in Los Santos and just having every shred of fun they can have amongst the dust and the shimmering afternoon California heat. I checked their Facebook for some more details on these guys and found it populated by a grand total of 11 people. 11! Does nobody else have ears?
If they keep putting out songs and videos as infectiously good as this that number is going to get a couple of zeroes added to it, I’m certain.
J Motor – Jungle Daze
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fD2aN6HT8E&feature=youtu.be
Also in the business of bangers is J Motor, also known as Jonathan Vassallo, who has dropped the video for his debut single Jungle Daze this week. With soaring vocals over clever trap beats, J Motor also samples the trumpeting of elephants, those wise old lords of the animal kingdom, Jungle Daze has summer written all over it. The video is a vibrant explosion of colour, featuring elephants, cobras, crocodiles, waterfalls and a whole bunch of other jungle staples.
Not only that, but J Motor’s aim behind the song was to raise both awareness and financial assistance for the plight of elephants around the world, so even if you don’t dig the track, that’s a message everyone can get behind!
Metric – The Governess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvIuswQc1XY&feature=youtu.be
Toronto indie rockers Metric have released the latest single from their sixth studio album Pagans In Vegas this week. The Governess is beautifully simple and slow burning rock, the twang of the acoustic guitar riff and the slow stomp of the beat perfect for the music video documenting the lonesome journey of frontwoman Emily Haines down a highway somewhere between California and Nevada and into Las Vegas both in the glitzy neon of the strip and the seedy underbelly just beyond it.
I loved this video purely because of the intense nostalgia of an American road trip of my own a few years ago, if you’ve ever done a similar trip or even just been to Vegas, you’ll love this too.
The Tallest Man On Earth – Darkness Of The Dream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI7J018XGiY
Having released his latest album Dark Bird Is Home to an uproar of critical acclaim earlier this year, The Tallest Man On Earth, otherwise known as uber-talented Swedish musician Kristian Matsson, has this week released a video for the latest single from that LP, Darkness Of The Dream.
Full of gorgeous scenic shots in areas both leafy and barren and juxtaposed with some fantastic contemporary dance routines, the song and clip are gloriously warm and soul-stirring (there’s also a puppy!). The Tallest Man On Earth is responsible for some of the most beautifully introspective music around and he’s done it again with Darkness Of The Dream.
City Calm Down – Son
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_vimerqyJo
Currently basking in the end of a mammoth breakout year and the recent release of their amazing debut album In A Restless House after three long years in the making are Melbourne rockers City Calm Down. Son was the last single they released before dropping that album and they’ve now dropped the accompanying video for the track.
Son is full of crafty hooks and melodies, subtle horns dancing around the molten, echoing baritone of frontman Jack Bourke. It’s just one of a wide range of styles the band melded an album out of and most of all it’s catchy as all hell, especially that whirlwind chorus. The video, entirely in black and white, features the band playing in a grand cathedral. Bourke croons from the front of the church, a monk twirling around in a visual representation of the internal struggle of the song.
Marvellous.
City Calm Down’s debut album, In A Restless House, has been a long time coming for the Melbourne outfit formed in 2012. We recently chatted to front man Jack Bourke about finding creative balance across the group, some of the reasons behind the delay, and knowing when to shut up.
“There’s an element of trust that goes in with being in a band,” Bourke said, “Each of us won’t like every single thing that we do 100%. There’s always going to be things that we don’t like about certain songs but if you can’t come up with an alternative yourself and there’s a whole lot of push behind it from the other members of the band then… it’s up to you but you should shut up.”
The building of this mutual trust finally allowed the release to come to light, and with expectations running high after the highly lauded single Rabbit Run, these eleven-tracks had a lot to live up to.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW6OiFjOnbk]
From opener Border on Control, Bourke channels his Lou Reed meets Matt Berninger signature baritone croon and kicks off a sonically layered, intricate journey. In some ways it is easy to see why it took so long; each sound is carefully placed like the furniture in a display home, complementary and polished in its presentation. The vocal track climbs through an 80’s power anthem build, and slides effortlessly into exuberant second single Son.
The moodier Rabbit Run won’t be new to most, having received very high rotation in the lead up to the release, but still certainly shines as a standout. The restrained, refined gloominess pull you in slowly, before quickly plunging you headfirst into the shouted chorus. The sentiment is continued through Wandering, and cements the album as one for aching hearts and sing-a-longs. Just to strike a balance, feel good highs are reached on tracks Your Fix and Falling with enough energy to power a crowded dance floor.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCl3JGa7lrU]
The infectious mix of synthesisers, church organs and guitars across the record refuse to let the band be pinned into a single genre. They fuse 80’s new wave, early 2000’s indie, and elements of stadium rock in a wonderful concoction of noise that proves that good things really do come to those who wait. While it may have taken a little while, In A Restless House is a sophisticated debut release that will be turning many heads. With their sound firmly established, hopefully their sophomore won’t be so far away.
You can grab the album over here.