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
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:
Beach Baby – Limousine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWlxEURsgjY
Coming out of London earlier in 2015, this has been one of my favourite tracks all year. Bursting at the seams with wildly contagious hooks, Limousine charters territory through 80s new wave, post-punk and even some 60s surf pop thrown in for good measure. Catchier than the clap is what it eventuates to being, a blissful three minute rock and roll song.
The video features the band playing in the kind of garage this song feels like it was recorded in while two young lads prepare for a Mexican standoff over, what else but, a girl. The video really captures the drearily suburban feel the song evokes, leaf green forests juxtaposed with winding streets. There’s something inherently creepy about these kids too…
Cloves – Don’t You Wait
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_Jk_uQ4gSg
Sticking with London for now, although this time by way of Melbourne, we caught the video for Don’t You Wait by disgustingly talented, honey-throated 19-year-old Cloves. The track comes from her upcoming debut album XIII and all indications thus far are that the hype is real and it is spectacular.
The gentle and clean electric riff that opens the song with her voice is spine-tingling before a lilting piano joins in and the song really takes off. The video itself is a simple document of the song inside the studio, which is perfectly fine as it directs the focus straight to Cloves’ stunning voice, smoky as an Autumn bonfire. Don’t You Wait leaves you with the kind of warm feeling you were chasing in Winter, though the song won’t lose any of its appeal in an Australian summer.
Cloves is just one of the many absolutely amazing young women to come out of Australia and put their musical stamp on 2015, you won’t be hearing the last of her any time soon.
Yeo – Icarus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFXX2JNnMgU
And this time staying in Melbourne, producer Yeo has unleashed a fresh video for the latest single from his upcoming album Ganbaru. The track is all kinds of funky, building up to a warped out synth chorus that will grab you by the collar and hit all the right buttons.
The video shows Melbourne after dark, cameras drenched with haze capturing the neon lights and empty car parks. A couple of dudes eat Paddle Pops in said car park while they’re given a contemporary dance routine. Visually splendid, and made me feel like a BP freezer’s worth of rainbow Paddle Pops.
Milwaukee Banks – Faded
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VUrakBQnr8
We enjoyed the heck out of Brisbane hip hop twosome Milwaukee Banks when we caught them opening for Big K.R.I.T. earlier in the year. Their signatures are still fresh on the dotted line of their deal with Dot Dash and their debut album Deep Into The Night is finally afoot. Faded is the first single from that album.
The video is as gritty and grimy as the track itself, another after dark joint featuring outer suburbs service stations and road trips through the city double-parking Pabst Blue Ribbons. There’s a rooftop car park dance routine in the bitter urban cold. The whole thing is captivating, and leaves us eagerly awaiting their first shot at an LP.
Lime Cordiale – Not That Easy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5QQt_bYyvM
It’s really great to see a band put out a music video that aims to raise awareness of a current issue as well as doing some good towards helping that issue. That’s exactly what Sydneysiders Lime Cordiale have done with their brand new video for Not That Easy.
Focusing on the droughts currently ravaging North Queensland, the clip was filmed in places like Winton, Longreach and Townsville, the barren, dry landscapes juxtaposed with shots of regional residents enjoying some ice cold frothies at their local.
As someone from North Queensland, the band taking the time to share these people and their stories with their wider audience, most of whom reside in coastal or urban areas far flung from any notions of drought, is really heartwarming. Helps that the song is an absolute cracker too.
Lawrence Rothman – Oz Vs Eden (feat. Charli XCX)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mcVtixWKug
Creepy and unsettling as all fuck is probably the best way to describe this one. If Lawrence Rothman is a new name for you, picture the baritone of Nick Cave mixed with the alternative theatrics and aggression of Marilyn Manson with just a splash of David Bowie and you might have an idea.
The video is a fever dream set to an absolutely filthy, bonechilling track, a mix of electro, pop and darkwave. Rothman’s deep and snarling vocals blend perfectly with the ethereal voice of Charli XCX, who features. I could go through and describe everything I watched in this film clip but I think it’s better if you just experience it for yourself. It’s possibly the most visually stimulating and confronting music video I’ve seen in quite some time.
Citizen Kay – Life Gives You Lemons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kufiqwix0tc
Having just kicked off a national tour to launch his debut album With The People, an album that followed up his AIR and ARIA award nominated mini-album Demokracy, Canberra-via-Ghana MC Citizen Kay is at the forefront of a refreshingly good and straight up ass-kicking Australian hip hop scene.
He’s just dropped a clip for Life Gives You Lemons, one of the standout tracks on With The People. The beat of the song, infused with a staccato saxophone riff and other vintage funktastic elements, will have you nodding your head along to Citizen Kay’s scuttling side-to-side flow. The video is a POV day-in-the-life piece featuring skateboarding, a trip to the supermarket (with extended shots of the lemon pile) before the subject of the video gets a little uh… nuts in the kitchen smashing said lemons using as many interesting methods as possible.
AND IT HAS A SAXOPHONE SOLO.
Just brilliant. One of the better names in contemporary Aussie hip hop.
MØ – Kamikaze
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVD9j36Ke94
The Danish singer-songwriter’s second album, the follow-up to 2014’s rapturously received No Mythologies To Follow, is on its merry way. Kamikaze is the first domino to drop, premiering on BBC 1 last week and with an accompanying video this week. The production on the track, by none other than Diplo, is stellar, MØ’s serenely sweet pop vocals layered over it to perfection.
The video is utterly wild. Shot in Kiev in the Ukraine, MØ has a day out to remember featuring dirtbikes, dangerously choreographed highway car rides (replete with moving rooftop dancing), fisticuffs, dirt field dance routines and a whole lot of other off-the-beaten-path tourist activities to do in Kiev, we’re sure. It’s a fantastic and feel-good track and video and her sophomore album can’t come sooner.
Freddie Gibbs – Fuckin’ Up The Count
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23O2U41p6cY
With new album Shadow Of A Doubt set to land on November the 20th, Gary, Indiana native MC Freddie Gibbs has shared the video for lead single Fuckin’ Up The Count ahead of what is sure to be a stellar LP. Produced by a tag team of Boi-1Da and Frank Dukes, the beat is a laid back piano number and accompanies an expressive flow of rhyme from Gibbs.
The video itself is a snapshot of the hard knock life of an African American teenager. The mixture of family life and gang violence is harrowing, reflective of the somber lyrics and sound of the track. It’s pretty clear Gibbs is concerned with the present conditions a great deal of American youths live in, this video draws ever-needed attention to that.
– Read our live review of MØ.
– Check out our gallery of MØ and Elliphant live at Oxford Art Factory..
Photos by Angie Osman
Check out our full photo gallery of MØ & Elliphant here
I’ll admit it: having been repeatedly exposed to the music video for the MØ-featuring Major Lazer and DJ Snake’s Lean On, which features MØ singing and dancing in a variety of culturally inappropriate outfits, I was under the impression that she was rather one-dimensional. Adorned in bindis, kohl and little else she became in my mind the poster girl for white women trying to access their ‘exotic’ side. This image that I had couldn’t have been more wrong.
Walking down the stairs into OAF the excitement is tangible. The crowd is mostly sober. They aren’t here to get fucked up, they’re here for their girl. When she finally does come on stage, MØ is refreshingly low-key, so much so that I initially mistake her for one of the band members. Dressed in a t-shirt adorned with the words ‘DEATH METAL’, a tight, utilitarian bun and not a scrap of makeup, MØ looks more like the androgynous member of a metal band than one of the biggest up-and-coming names in pop electronica.
Devoid of any pretence, MØ connects with her audience instantly. She is raw, authentic, completely unassuming. It isn’t often that a female artist stands on stage and just doesn’t give a fuck what she looks like. She lets her face distort into absurd shapes, she allows her forehead get sweaty and her bun get messier as the night goes on. All in all, these physical touches somehow accumulate to build an incredible sense of honesty.
I find myself becoming completely lost in the sound, such is her power to truly feel her music and convey that feeling to her audience. The barriers between audience and artist truly are non-existent. MØ spontaneously jumps into the crowd two or three times during the evening. You can tell that she feeds off the energy of the crowd just as we feed off hers.
What strikes me most about MØ, and perhaps what I was most wrong about, is the incredible influence she takes from other musical genres. She’s no simple pop/electronica artist. In 2007 MØ and her friend Josefine Struckmann formed the punk duo MOR, which lasted until 2012. As a child MØ got into music via the Spice Girls, but was heavily influenced by punk music as well as anti-fascist movements in her teens and early twenties. Bands such as Black Flag, Nirvana and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are heavily present in MØ’s gutsy sound alongside more recent electronic influences.
For their part, Oxford Art Factory do a really good job of keeping the crowds in line. Whilst waiting for my friends on the staircase I am told to wait somewhere else. Standing in line for drinks my friend and I are told to move further along the bar. Standing pretty much anywhere that isn’t right in front of the stage gets some kind of reprimand.
With two strikes to their name and a fascist state government keeping tabs on their every movement, its no wonder things are a little strict. Music venues have been under an incredible amount of police surveillance since the lockout laws, and with The Imperial Hotel receiving their second mandate to shut down for 72 hours this month, the threat of OAF losing their liquor license is very real. They didn’t let it taint the night though. That in mind, nothing could take away from MØ’s incredible performance, she is fucking awesome.