Hypothesis: partying with Beck, Justice and The Libertines is the most ideal way to kick a new festival off the ground. By all calculations, it turns out that reality lives up to the theory.
Sydney City Limits is Australia’s answer to the renowned Texas event that has become a cornerstone of America’s festival circuit. Like Austin City Limits, SCL is set to make its mark on the industry here at home. The event came out swinging in its inaugural year with a glittering lineup that echoed festivals past (Big Day Out, Soundwave), beckoning some big acts who haven’t been this side of the shoreline in a while (what we like to see).
Brit punk icons The Libertines, the infinitely talented Grace Jones, mastermind Beck, and French electro/indie powerhouses Justice and Phoenix all joined a rich and diverse bill of local and internationals acts. Aussie wares like Gang of Youths, Stella Donnelly, Winston Surfshirt, Alex Lahey and The Avalanches sat alongside comfortably showcasing staggering talent.
The kick-off was a one-day affair set to four stages and was peppered with boutique food, beverage and retail stalls, including The Grove VIP section, for anyone malcontent with the sweaty mosh life. While around 14,000 turned up to muzz, the Centennial Park space was easy to navigate between stages and the lines for food and drinks were spread out and moved quickly, thanks to the abundance of vendors. It was a jam-packed schedule which meant that we weren’t bored for a second. We’ll definitely be back next year.
Photos by Dani Hansen.
Thundercat
Gang of Youths
Oh Wonder
The Avalanches
Future
Ocean Alley
Grace Jones
Justice
Phoenix
Photos: Dani Hansen/Howl & Echoes
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:
Midas.Gold – 000000
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzODkysbl3c
Part of a new wave of fantastically fresh Aussie hip-hop coming straight from Brisbane’s underground is Midas.Gold, who earlier this week came out swinging with a video for his new single 000000.
If you dig trap rappers like Future or Travi$ Scott and reckon they’d go alright with just a hint of Australian flavour then Midas.Gold is straight up your alley. This one is definitely fiery, backed by stellar production from the Bedlam Records crew with the MC declaring ‘I swear to God it’s dollar time’. It just might be for the Brisbane MC, not a lot of Australian hip-hop is taking a direction like this and he’s done so with aplomb.
The music video is a ripper too, Midas.Gold and crew having a great old time atop one of Brisbane’s many inner city carparks (shouts out to the security guard who politely rolls past the whole show in his golf cart) and the heart of Queen Street Mall. There’s lightning flashing in the background but the real lightning is the stuff Midas.Gold has captured in a bottle here on 000000. Stick that in your pipe and huff it, Allday.
Dan Kelly – Everything’s Amazing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce3qHtacVMY
Things you didn’t know about the nephew of Australia’s greatest Kelly (sorry Ned) Paul, one Dan Kelly: there is no terrain he can’t rock a Korg on, be it on a beach or in a stream, also he can create musical instruments using lightning beams shot from his hands. That’s if you take his latest music video for single Everything’s Amazing! as gospel (I am).
Taken from his 2015 LP Leisure Panic, The track itself is a serene, happy-go-lucky love song and will have you nodding your head in utter contentment. The video for Everything’s Amazing! features some absolutely jaw-dropping natural landscapes in both Cambodia and in Dan’s local Victoria. He gets right in touch with Mother Nature for this one. Featuring flying CGI dolphins and galloping horses while Dan and friends sip coconuts on bamboo rafts, have singalongs on tree branches and do a spot of holistic (probably) dancing here and there, it’s got just everything you want there to be in a music video by far.
The Blaze – Virile
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UivZrL2znh0
Popping across the Atlantic for a stop in France for this next one, with French production duo The Blaze and their new single Virile.
It’s a dark and stormy cut just made for the midnight hour, a mellowed out backbeat buoying along some bass-heavy vocals, the synths kicking the door in around the halfway mark make the whole thing just soar. The video depicts what looks like a real good boys night in, an apartment full of dancing and durries and great times between the pair, the bromance spending the entirety of the music video teasing a ‘will they or won’t they’ proper romance.
The song can be caught on the aptly in this case titled Bromance Records and their latest compilation album, Homieland Vol. II. Look out for this French duo in the future too.
Oh Wonder – Lose It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgwcPiCjQ-0
Just a hop, skip and a jump across the English Channel into London with duo Oh Wonder for this next video, one that will absolutely tug at your heartstrings.
Lose It is the title, a track from their gobsmacking 2015 self-titled LP: a year-long project that saw a new track released each month. It’s electro-pop that will soothe the soul, gorgeous vocal harmonies dancing with some brassy synths and a lilting piano to create a four minute slice of paradise on the ears.
The video is so refreshingly cool too, Oh Wonder setting up a fake audition for dancers to star in their music video. Each dancer thinks they’re competing for the one spot, it’s only when the confetti explodes from the roof and a horde of backup dancers join them that they realise they’re already starring in the video. Reactions are priceless.
Having just slayed Australia on a tour including stops at Falls Festival, Oh Wonder are poised for a very, very bright future with tracks and visuals as stunning as this.
Eskimoe – The Ceiling (ft. ThisisDA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6avMypJH_E
Sticking in the UK for this next one, although going a little dark and somber. It’s the latest track from Oxford RnB singer Eskimoe, The Ceiling. Gritty and gloomy, an atmospheric backbeat that mimics an English drizzle with Eskimoe’s haunting vocals spread over the top, a featured verse from Bristol MC ThisisDA upping the tempo, the combination creating a lights-off deep thinker of a track.
The video complements the sound wonderfully, grainy black and white shots of the wintery grey skies and ceaselessly tagged buildings of urban Britain that’ll have you thankful for the summer heat of Australia or tugging your jacket a little tighter if you find yourself in the Northern Hemisphere.
Watch the hype for Eskimoe escalate in the very near future.
Run The Jewels – Meowpurrdy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzkkm_m3mVE
Jesus Christ. Just when I thought I couldn’t hate cats for the horrific little creatures that they are, rap kings Run The Jewels are fixing to have me in a cold sweat every night re-visualising their latest music video.
Yes the cat-noise remix album we all didn’t know we needed (we definitely did though) was definitely so much cooler than I initially thought it ever could be. They’ve already released two videos for tracks from the album (both of them terrifying) to date, but this is on another physical plane of nightmare right here.
Made for Meowpurrdy (the remix of initial album-starter Jeopardy), it features a whole lot of melted face and creepily warped out cats all over your screen. Created by English animator Cyriak, it’s a trip and will probably have you glancing at your nearest feline friend forever just to make sure it doesn’t grow a third eye and start trying to murder you. Despite all that cat-induced terror, the song still goes as unbelievably hard as ever and is a nice little reminder that Run The Jewels 3 is imminent…
The Chemical Brothers – Wide Open (ft. Beck)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC2dRkm8ATU
Manchester electronic royalty The Chemical Brothers have a brand new and mindbending music video out this week for their latest single. Taken from their number one album Born In The Echoes from 2015, Wide Open is a cracker, featuring Kanye West‘s favourite Grammy-winner of all time, Beck.
Those same familiar, pulsating beats and synths that The Chemical Brothers have made a multi-decade career out of, with Beck’s unmistakeable voice guiding it all, Wide Open is a banger in every facet. The video ups the ante as well, dancer Sonoya Mizuno reanimated for a dance around an underground parking lot in ways that will have you double-taking at the sheer effort the visual effects team have gone to here.
Stellar and creative through the absolute roof, you’d expect nothing less from a duo as seasoned as The Chemical Brothers.
The Rubens – Hold Me Back
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs58pcvDsXA
Fresh off of taking out 2016’s Triple J Hottest 100 in polarising fashion, The Rubens aren’t resting on their laurels for a second. Immediately after taking out perhaps the biggest bragging rights in Australian music for chart burner Hoops, the boys have hit up with a video for their latest single Hold Me Back.
The video is a warm and fuzzy, sepia-toned snapshot of Australia. It might as well have been any number of Hottest 100 parties this year, verandah drinks and beach trips set to a soundtrack of world-beating modern Australian rock interspersed with shots of the band rehearsing and fooling around, the whole thing culminating in one of their mammoth live shows with frontman Sam Margin crowdsurfing in an inflatable pool.
Say what you will about The Rubens, this latest music video is a cracker and a snapshot into their lives as a band that fans will appreciate.
I have never seen as much excitement and appreciation for indie music as I saw at Oxford Art Factory last Wednesday night. London-based duo Oh Wonder were due to play their first sold-out Sydney show, while in town to perform at Falls Festival. We know from our interview with Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West that they were both surprised and humbled that so many people from the opposite side of the world had found them, and we were now able to see them in the flesh.
Once the huge crowd finally settled in, supporting act PLGRMS graced the stage. Although I had never heard their music before (given that only two of their songs can be found online), they played a solid set. Their sound reminded me of what it means to be young and without a care in the world, even delivering a throwback to 2007, covering MGMT’s Electric Feel. They ended their set with their latest single, released four months ago Pieces, which has a seductive feel combined with a slightly dark vibe.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbTHbErVWV4]
After a short break, the curtains opened to reveal a giant ‘OW’ behind the stage, which then lit up throughout the set. As Anthony and Josephine walked onto the stage, the audience welcomed them with a loud roar. Oh Wonder began their set with Livewire, the dancing crowd recognised the song immediately and began to sing along. The sing-a-longs didn’t stop all night, with Josephine even mentioning how extraordinary it was that we knew all the words to their songs.
Following their stellar live renditions of Dazzle and Shark, they took a break to introduce themselves. Announcing London as their hometown prompted an audience member to yell something out in a fake British accent, to which Josephine winkled her nose, stating it was the worst British accent she’s ever heard. The venue filled with laughter as Body Gold began.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ufw5oIcw2o]
Throughout the show, you could see that both members of the duo had different habits while performing. At the beginning of Lose It, Anthony slowly grooved to the beat, clicking his fingers and singing, until the time came for him to chime in with his guitar. You can see how he feels the music, closing his eyes to sing. Josephine, on the other hand, likes to look around at the crowd while she performs. She closes her eyes at times, however, the main thing I noticed was her beautiful big eyes scanning the sea of faces. Her matching smile said it all; seeing that we were enjoying ourselves seemed to fill her heart with joy.
While they set up for Without You, Josephine revealed an exciting surprise to us all.
“Are there two people here who have come in single and will come out engaged?”
There was suddenly a wave of excitement over the crowd. A man answered over the loud conversations and confirmed that she had indeed said yes. Josephine timidly admitted that she had forgotten his fiancé’s name.
“I want to say, Jennifer?”
It was Bridget.
“Oh damn it! That was my second guess!”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLAhRiUeJ8E]
To be honest, they didn’t have any significantly stand-out tracks, but that’s only because you can’t separate them unless you have a deep connection to a particular song. They each told different stories, leaving us with different feelings. Their signature laid-back sound transgressed throughout their magnificent set and each track added to the atmosphere. As the show came to a close with Technicolour Beat, Anthony apologised to the disappointed crowd for not writing a longer album. It seemed that no one wanted it to end.
I have no doubts that Oh Wonder will be back again soon with another great set and plenty more eager fans waiting to see them.
Check out our photos from the event here.
Read our interview with Oh Wonder
PLGRMS
Oh Wonder
“Cancer is a horrible thing and we wanted to eject a little hope and light into it.”
Oh Wonder’s Josephine Vander Gucht passionately explains the idea behind White Blood. Inspired by a couple of fans she and partner-in-crime Anthony West met, they decided to pen a song that would embody the relationship these people had while one of them suffered from a deadly brain tumour.
“[Steven and Wendi] just represent everything that is good about the world and kind of the epiphany of what we are trying to achieve with our music, which is to bring people closer together and make people realise how important other people are and how we need other people’s support.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6esRjpMjNc
Josephine and Anthony come together to form Oh Wonder, a duo based in the UK. I was able to have a quick chat with them just as they finished up their tour in England. Even though they were exhausted from the jam-packed day, they were just as warm and lovely as I hoped they’d be.
Josephine explains on behalf of the pair each of their roles in the band. “I come from a more classical background. I started playing classical piano. The piano is kind of my other arm, another limb where I have a way to express myself, writing chords.”
“Anthony conversely is an amazing producer, who grew up recording bands, being in his own bands. So he’s kind of a production wizard.”
Together, with their songwriting skills, they became an unstoppable duo.
These two people who describe themselves as “procrastinators by nature” came to attention after they began uploading their music to the Internet. “The Internet is the reason that people far and wide have shared our music and discovered our music. We are hugely in debt to it, we’re really grateful that we saw it come that way,“ Anthony says.
As they continued to upload their music, fans from all over the world shared their tracks with others. It got to the point when they started getting millions of listens on Soundcloud. This concept still blows them away.
I’ve been a fan since May after hearing about them from social media. As I’ve learnt, the laid-back, calming nature of their songs can be quite helpful in times of distress. In fact, I mentioned that one of their songs Landslide had been getting me through something recently. If you’re nursing a broken heart, I highly recommend you check that one out. Anthony commented that it was “amazing that one of their song could do that for [me]” because there are so many songs that have done the same thing for them.
“The joy about being musicians is we get to help lots of people without even knowing it,” he adds.
Josephine lists artists such as Joni Mitchell, Chilly Gonzales, Angus and Julia Stone, Patrick Watson and Max Richter, saying that she listens to sad music when she is feeling down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiGt9C76U0s
In September last year, they began a song writing project where they wrote one song per month. “At the start we were really blasé about it, ‘Oh, we’ll just do this every month, it will be kind of easy’. Turns out it wasn’t the easiest thing, but it wasn’t as hard as we thought.”
“The first song we wrote was a song called Body Gold. We’d never tried that kind of production before and we were really just experimenting and then once we decided we were going to do 12 more of them, we had to think of more ways to produce the tracks.”
This project turned into a full length album, which was released in September this year. Anthony eagerly tells me which song from the album means the most to him.
“Early on, we did a song called All We Do. It was one of those songs that just came out remarkably quickly. We just sung it through and the lyrics came. Every time we start, we play a little bit of piano, we start recording just in case something pops out. This song sort of just fell from the sky, landed on our lap and it just played itself. We looked at the recording and it went for five minutes and we’d written it. That song’s really special to me because it didn’t feel like we wrote it.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyyJF_rbaqg
Josephine agrees, adding: “If was as if we were channeling something. It was odd.”
So will they be doing another year-long project for their next album?
“Alas no. We have too many commitments now,” Josephine explains, while assuring me that while they will not be releasing the tracks as regularly as before, they will be writing and recording on the road.
Josephine and Anthony will be coming down to Australia for our Falls and Southbound Festivals. Although they have travelled to our lovely country before (Anthony’s brother lives in Melbourne), this will be the first time Anthony and Josephine have actually performed here. “[It’s] totally a dream come true. We were there a couple of years ago and we never thought we’d be in a band, let alone playing on the other side of the world. So it’s all very new and exciting for us,” Anthony said.
Remarkably, their side shows sold out in 48 hours and needed to be upgraded to new venues. Josephine said they were astounded by the idea that they had made this big of an impact on the other side of the world. “We’re so grateful for the opportunity to take our music around the world and perform it. It’s a dream. We are living the dream, if you like, because we are able to perform our art. It’s amazing.”
Australia isn’t the only country on their schedule in 2016 with their European and American tours also on the horizon. The knowledge of this has allowed them to set three goals for the new year.
“Survive, would be the first one,” Anthony quips. “We’re touring a huge amount and it excites us a lot. There will be a lot of times when we are just in a tour bus for 30 hour drives across America. It’s going to be great.”
He continues: “I want to start running more. I used to run a lot, but since being on tour it’s been kind of a challenge to get up and run.”
Josephine interjects, confirming their final two goals for 2016: “So we want to run more and write more songs.”
I thought it sounded like a great plan and can’t wait to see what 2016 has in store for the duo. If you liked the embedded tracks, you might want to check out more of their music on Soundcloud and follow them on Twitter. To see these song writing geniuses live in action, tag along to their Aussie shows in January.
Oh Wonder side shows:
Oh Wonder is currently preparing for the release of their debut album in later in the year, however, this hasn’t stopped them from carrying on their year-long tradition. The London-based duo have promised to release a new single for their fans every month for a year. White Blood is the latest one. The moving track has a slow piano medley and a beautiful vocal harmony throughout. It has a very chill tone, like the majority of their other tracks.
This track has an inspiring story behind it. According to a post on their Facebook, it was inspired by some fans they met in the US named Steven and Wendi:
They are both remarkable people – generous, warm-hearted and so spirited. Steven is a doctoral student at MIT, and after a voluntary academic scan he discovered a baseball-sized cancerous brain tumour, which was successfully removed after a 10-hour awake brain surgery. We are humbled to have collaborated with Steven on the artwork for our forthcoming single, ‘White Blood’. The image is a very zoomed-in image of part of his brain tumour, photographed under a microscope by the man himself!
We wrote ‘White Blood’ to explore the idea of needing immunity from disease, sadness, hopelessness or fear, not only in the physical form of white blood cells, but also with simple human love and support. This song is for you, Steven and Wendi, and for anyone else out there that is dealing with difficult physical or mental health circumstances. We are all here for each other.
If you like Aquilo’s new EP, you’ll love Oh Wonder. Check them out on soundcloud and follow them on Twitter to get a buzz when their next track comes out.
Their debut album will be released on September 4th.