"here we come dropkick, half nelson, full nelson, willie nelson, willie nelson..."
i decided to chronicle my thoughts about the entire day's music listening. vingnettes and all.

11am david grubbs - the thicket
this makes me feel like i should be in a car (preferably a jalopy of some sort) roadtripping across middle america, through the cornfields and blue skies of iowa, like a modern day horatio nelson jackson, straight out of a ken burns' one hour pbs special if you know what i mean.

11.45am cryptacize - dig that treasure
they sing like late 80s/early 90s pop artists, she in that pam berry, kerrie bolton (cat's miaow) vein and he like a young dustin reske (rocketship). it's positively vintage and rather delightful (nostalgic much?). i am listening to this record because i'm putting a couple tracks onto a mixtape for a friend of a friend who likes deerhoof and also wants to know what i am listening to. that's the worse kind of question to answer at a bangin' club on a saturday night, so i choose to say it with a mixtape instead. also i realise i keep typing the band's name as "crypaticize". LOLZ. i make myself giggle much sometimes.

12pm p:ano - brigadoon
actually i'm only really listening to the opening song 'covered wagons' coz it fuckin kills. group singalong, trumpet and harp flourishes, banjo, all harkening back to a sloop john b-framework.

12.04pm disco inferno - d.i. go pop
i somehow only managed to get 4 tracks of the album on the itunes. the other tracks decided to stay home and snuggle in bed instead. i can understand that. this is pretty all over the place but it's good to hear stuff old stuff to get a better historical context for the music that i do like. i'd read that Hood got a lot of their sound from DI and i can hear bits of the electronic bits but there's also a dark post-rock thread through the sound, a bit even like shellac.

12.17pm eyvind kang myspace
just checking this guy out to see if i want to hear a whole album. i'm not sure, it's kind of medieval experimental drone, sounds alright but i'm not sure i'd be able to differentiate between the nuances of this and all the other improvised drone i already have. perhaps a touch too much classical for me. but it does prompt me to have a listen to...

12.20pm efterklang - parades
it's a good bridge between eyvind kang (it even rhymes) and what i'm waiting to check out next, our broken garden. she's a member of efterklang but also has her own ep out. as for efterklang, i can only ever take them in small doses. the cacophany, the intricacies can all be a bit much for me sometimes, especially when i need simpler structures for me to concentrate on work. so only after a couple tracks in, i head over to...

1pm our broken garden - lost sailor ep
this is really gorgeous stuff. i like the organ sounds, somewhere between the wooziness of beach house, with vocals like rubies/concretes/laura gibson et al.

1.22pm bowerbirds - our dark horse
i've switched over from the headphones to the computer speakers, so i'm continuing with the mellow sounds so as to not frighten the workmates. bowerbirds it is. i'm really coming around on this. i think his laconic style suits this more than the indierockness of ticonderoga (the former band). i missed out on seeing them in austin, i should've because lee raved on about them but i couldn't get up early enough. at the same time, i'm looking at "dream beds" in an m+n thread, and combined with this, i wouldn't mind curling up for an afternoon nap. zzzz....(in a good way)

2.20pm tussle - telescope mind, kling-klang
i've switched back to the headphones to drown out my colleagues, not in a bad way but we've just an impromptu birthday celebration with gelato cake (yum!) and there is quite the jovial atmosphere, but i actually need to do some urgent work and it's way loud right now. in my ear, is tussle's whose album i am getting into proper-like after really sticking onto the "hits" for a long time.

i prefer the first album kling-klang to telescope mind actually, even though most reviews out there do not share my view. i find tm a little clinical and cold even, although warning and second guessing are killer tracks and up there as their best.' kk is more dubbier and i think more playful and warmer sounding. that said i tend to listen to both albums at once when it comes to tussle for some reason.

3.17pm fujiya & miyagi - transparent things
i just went for a walk down the block to see if i could my haircut today but i forgot they aren't open on mondays. blast. when i came back, tussle was still banging the drums and shaking those egg shakers but it just wasn't cutting it. i need something to allay my disappointment. so i've opted for the tongue-in-cheek motorik goodness of f & m. except i like them best when they actually veer away from the krautrock most and go soul instead. like on collarbones. new favourite party song. it's going straight to the next dj set (which'll be the powwow 10, in july with touch typist. excited!) i like it when these english gents sing their french in classic non-french pronunciation. just like how i would. also i think it's cute how they like to throw in "sock it to me!" in multiple songs.

3.50pm pause/record myspace
on the basis of a clever, slightly self-aware blurb posted today on m+n, i decided to check them out. i really REALLY like their work. i'm a surprised really how good it is. sydney and melbourne are not short on drone/improvised noise bands but this duo stand out to my ears, i like the strong brushstokes as it were. 'tidal loop' is the best out of the lot, sort of eerie psychedelic, and coromandel's not far behind with it's pulsating metallics. i'll be keeping an ear for them. here's the myspace.

4.28pm hot chip - made in the dark
as the end of the day nears, i start to seek more famiiar sounds. my brain is less equipped to deal with new sounds, whilst my body needs a good shaking. i've come to this record very late because i wasn't sure i was going to like it (i really only loved about half of the warning and bad reviews etc) but now i'm making up for lost time because this album is fucking great! i can't be the only one who likes this more than the last one am i? i think it's more consistent for sure, the warning had some killer songs but i would skip past every 2nd track, where as this one is good all the way through. i actually really like the r&b elements, and the lyrics also seem more playful, bit cheeky (hello songs about wrestlers!) it really is what a third album should sound like, a combination of 2 previous, patchier efforts. 'ready for the floor' is electro pop brilliance.

5pm tape relay playlist
this hasn't happened yet but in 12 minutes time i will put my pen down (figuratively speaking, since i only ever pick up a pen to sign my name on correspondence) to give the next show's playlist a run through and put yet more words to electronic paper to document my thoughts of the music i will be showcasing. it would be highly post-modern of me to then include my mini-chronicles to this already lengthy detailing of the day's listening, but i'm not that advanced. anyway it's probably nothing i haven't already said here before. for the record though, i'll be listening to collections of colonies of bees, helios, montag, thank you, bowerbirds, jonquil, the first 4 p's in the life at 45rpm series, borko, rational academy, okay, butcher the bar, cloudland canyon and dirty projectors. in that order. yes, i am THAT prepared.

this has been an interesting exercise. my day has passed remarkably quickly, and yet i was still productive workwise. might be worthwhile to do it again sometime. it certainly helped me tackle some albums i've wanted to make words about for a while. okay bye now. thanks for reading this far.

Filed under: None | Posted by traffic sounds at Monday, 26 May 2008 5:22 PM
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mobius band - heaven
came out last year, did not get hype but that's a shame because they make good no-nonsense synth-twinged guitar pop (as much as synth pop can get no-nonsense) which is not particularly new or sexy but sure is satisfying (forget your coke zeros, i'll take an old fashioned sarsparilla any day).

some of his singing and the solid weightiness of the songs remind of the Dodos in that regard and look at how well they've been received. at other times, the sparkly guitars reminds me of the best parts of French Kicks (more solid structures though). Last year's album came out as a joint release between Ghostly International (an excellent label from Ann Arbor that i'm just coming into this year) and Misra Records (home to always high quality indie music).

myspace / website (where you can download a valentines day covers ep right now)

Filed under: random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Thursday, 22 May 2008 1:55 PM
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Helios - Ayres
Heavens above! I've not had a reaction to music like this in such a long time, I can barely contain myself. I'm not sure why entirely, since it's hardly a stretch from the other laptop folk I like, such as your Hoods, Brackens, Múm, Son Lux even.

But the impact is so visceral. the music has such a light, deft touch but at the same time feels quite dense, almost oppressive but in a good way... I feel quite ridiculous saying all that but I'm so giddy with excitement right now.

It's the first time in a long time where i've actually thought 'holy crap!' and can hardly contain my enthusiasm (but doing a good job nonetheless since it is monday morning after all, and i'm sitting at my desk all sedate-like, listening to this on the headphones but an instant ago, I had to yank them off and relay all the above information to my workmate Ben who is looking at me a little weirdly now)

helios/keith kenniff myspace

Filed under: random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Monday, 19 May 2008 11:46 AM
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from failcake to spazchow, thanks to frankieteardrop. loves it!

i've been listening to lots to the lymbyc systym in the last week or so because they're on tour at the moment and i'm thinking of them driving around all over the states in their shaggin wagon (is it weird when someone you know feels extra further away because they are on tour or busy with work/study, even though they live on other side of the world anyway, and you only see them once a year as it is? yeh it feels like that, i miss them even more)

in other news, i made some videos of my recent holiday. i put them up on youtube, and talked about it here (at great length) but then i didn't like the ytube compression on my mac much, so i've just made em available for download anyways.

Filed under: None | Posted by traffic sounds at Tuesday, 6 May 2008 4:46 PM
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ola podrida - self titled (plug research, 2007)
actually there's none of that singing at top of any lungs, instead it's all hushed vocals and occasionally yearning but still soft, cries. i like the more ambient stuff like the gorgeous track 'instead', more textural on an otherwise  alt-country/folkpop record. a band of many former texans i think, now based in brooklyn and lead by a film composer. also notable (for me at least) for having ken from the analog set playing bass in the band (but not on the record though).

also for some reason, despite the fact that plug research is distributed by inertia, this one never got released here. hmpf.

Filed under: random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Tuesday, 29 April 2008 01:27 AM
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The Accidental - There Were Wolves
today's new favourite record: English folk pop of the modern kind, yet still sounding rather timeless. Beautiful stuff, especially if you like Tuung (though this is not at all electronic) or The Memory Band (since the Accidental is made up of members of the aforementioned bands). I only wish it were summer and i was sitting in a meadow full of tall grass to fully enjoy the experience, instead of sitting in a grey office looking out the window to an even greyer day. *sigh*

Filed under: random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Monday, 28 April 2008 01:20 AM
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Tape Relay in addition to broadcasting live in Sydney on 2SER 107.3 and streaming live at 2ser.com, is now archived at taperelay.podomatic.com. well the pre-produced packages are anyway - stuff like the interviews, regular segments and other random bits i might come across. i've even uploaded a whole show in it's 90 minute entirety - the Austin, TX special of music from the area. it's a show i really enjoyed recording, which i had to pre-record as it went to air (and a couple others) during the time i was away in the states.

which brings me to...
my trip to the US. first timer to texas, first timer to sxsw. fuckn hell! brilliant! although about half way through the week in tx, it did occur to me that i'm not really a festival goer (i hate crowds, i really do) so i'm not sure why i was so gung-ho on the festival aspect of south by, but it was still fun. a lot of it had to do with hanging out with my friends who are locals... my friend lee is quite possibly my favourite person in the whole of america at this point in time. big call right. he is a very smart and perceptive bloke, knowledgable as they say, friendly too and took me to some off-site shows which were awesome. i saw something like 22 bands in 4 days, so i think i will need to post a separate update later.

lee also loaded up my mp3 player with heaps of new music, but even since then, i'm coming across something like 20 new albums a week. so quite simply, i'm overwhelmed with new music. this is both good and bad. a little suffocating but also exciting, and i can't ever say i've got nothing to listen to. and it's making tape relay varied at least.

new records to the fold, that i don't even feel i can make a judgement call on, let alone write a paragraph review, but does at least warrant an initial yay (as opposed to nay) includes:

no kids - come into my house (08, actually have had this one for a while now, but haven't written about it yet. it's classy y'know? i rate it up there as one of my faves for the year already)
the notwist - the devil, you and me (08, yes. it's the notwist though, very similar to neon golden)
the dodos - visiter (08, too much hype but i find myself drawn to it anyway. folk meets only the SLIGHTEST bit of ambient drone, like you would say the same for rand and holland)
borko - celebrating life (08, earnest sure)
a weather - cove (08, slowcore. pretty)
windsor the derby - how we lost (08, new one. goes shoegaze pop. if you like their other records though, just be prepared for something a bit different)
this will destroy you - self titled (08, if you don't like mogwai or explosions in the sky, you probably won't like this. or might like it more than said band. coz that's me, in the latter camp)
glowworm - coachlight woods (08, portland post rock. pretty but)
crypaticize - dig that treasure (08, sleeper this one!)
the black angels - directions to see a ghost (08)
ghost in the water - tooth (08)
diskjokke - staying in (08, norwegian folk techno, have my listening tastes progressed or regressed back to my youth of 1998? it's a fine line)

old news but new to this old dog:
talkdemonic - beat romantic (06, folktronic)
maserati - inventions for the new season (i think it's an 07 release. post-rock, post-metal drones)
a place to bury strangers - self titled (07, noisy as hell, some ok, some really great. it's true though, they really do sound like JAMC meets joy division with a nice bit of metal thrown in for good measure)
kim hiorthoy - my last day (07, oh my god brilliant at sxsw. was so excited to order this cd, and then as soon as it arrived, i forgot about to listening to it. the urgency was lost i'm afraid because it's so last year!)

hmmm...
subtle - exitingARM (08, intially disappointing. doseone, why sing? it's not like yr yoni wolf. but i need to give this more time probably)
islands - arm's way (08, enjoying it for now but i suspect i might really hate it in a few months time)
french kicks - swimming (08, starts off well, 'abandon' is a gorgeous opening song but like all french kicks records, just gets annoying by half time)

Filed under: general music guff |random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Wednesday, 23 April 2008 5:22 PM
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it sometimes feel like i save all my best opinions for mess and noise! so here's me quoting myself, instead of rehashing it all anyways...

- the new notwist is actually quite lovely, and not as disappointing as the early single might have you believe. (it works well in context though, as the opening track). and i'm sneakily enjoying the synth pop delights of neon neon (boom bip meets super furry's gruff rhys, with occasional input from spank rock and fat lip)

- really coming around to this dodos' album 'visiter'. wasn't particularly sold on their sxsw show, but i don't think seeing them at a noisy outdoor environment, surrounded by industry hacks, TELLING me that they were hot shit, was the best way to see them for the first time and before hearing them on record.

but the album is solid. folk pop essentially, i still think *pfft* at this supposed drone - it's less so than say, rand and holland (who is the closest i can think of for drone-meets-folkpop), but ignoring misplaced hype, i think it's a pretty good record.

also the cryptacize album 'dig that treasure' is worth checking out. minimal art-pop, which reminds me of fog's '10th avenue freakout'. with the ex-deerhoof fella at the helm, it's has a similar angular vibe to it.

- on don caballero: i frequently have the urge to listen to american don as i have done in the past hour, but then by the last track, somewhere about 2 mins in, and only 3 minutes to go, i conclude that the noise is driving me crazy, i've had enough and i just can't make it all through to the end. this has happened the last 8 times i've listened to this album.

but then a sufficient amount of time passes, i forget and then i start all over again. weird.

''you drink a lot of a coffee for a teenager'' it must be a noted is a damn fine piece. 2:41 of math rock awesomeness. it's what sold me on the band in the first place.

Filed under: random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Wednesday, 23 April 2008 3:41 PM
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lunch
natural yoghurt with a drizzle of honey
alfafa, tasty cheddar and rocket and parmesan chunky dip on multigrain
amber nectarine
raw brazil nuts, cashews and almonds

sounds
of montreal - hissing fauna
jonquil - lions
fog - 10th avenue freakout
d_rradio - d_rradio
fugazi - the argument
tape relay interviews my disco
a,tx series on tape relay
the new year - the end is near
baseball - animal kingdom
ii - landlakes
macha - see it another way
triosk - headlights serenade
the mercury program - all the suits began to fall off

misc
radio
holidays
carpal tunnel / rsi
the kelly gang and other mythologised outlaws

Filed under: general music guff | Posted by traffic sounds at Wednesday, 27 February 2008 5:01 PM
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friends of mine (the zombies)
know your onion (the shins)
crazy (gnarls barkly)
spanish dance troupe (gorky's zygotic mynci)
final countdown (europe)

you ain't no picasso has decided to archive them all for our benefit. awesome! there's a whole tape relay special just begging for airtime.

Filed under: None | Posted by traffic sounds at Friday, 1 February 2008 2:21 PM
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5 songs you could put on a mixtape if you loved me already but wanted to tell me just once more:

sparklehorse - shade and honey
sparklehorse - some sweet day
summer hymns - way you walk
album leaf - always for you
beulah - weight of my tears

Filed under: None | Posted by traffic sounds at Friday, 1 February 2008 2:15 PM
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the word 'douchey' is mildly offensive for all its connotations but today i am strangely enjoy the american usage of the word in all its forms. tiny mix tapes and undead industries, i thank you.

this morning's albums on repeat:
mice parade - bem-vinda vontade
mice parade - mice parade
why? - alopecia
boom bip - blue eyed in the red room

not on repeat but still enjoyed:
nobody and mystic chords of memory - tree colored see
slint - spiderland

it's been 26 hours since i last listened to:
american analog set (random live mp3s notwithstanding)

lunch:
umeboshi (brown rice good, overly tangy filling not so)
tofu fritter (crispy and tasty. but should be called rice, with occasional tofu, fritter)
pear (bit ripe, still had to cut it up like a nanna to eat it though. i have an ulcer in my lower lip from biting into it accidentally)
tim tam (barely cold from the work fridge)
dr stuart's skin purifying tea (nettle, red clover, dandelion, burdock root blend)

Filed under: None | Posted by traffic sounds at Friday, 1 February 2008 1:55 PM
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listening to this new Beach House record, Devotion. it's good but does it live up to the hype? (well actually i don't know how much hype exactly, i'm only going off on two people's opinion on m+n but they are very important people to me at least whose music opinion i always respect). dreamy? tick. floaty? tick. a bit much after 11 songs? probably. BUT 'Gila' and 'Heart of Chambers' are killer songs. the creamiest and the dreamiest. rather gorgeous.

Filed under: general music guff |random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Thursday, 31 January 2008 8:18 PM
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leigh's top words for record reviews:
languid
driving
understated/subtle (same diff)
ethereal
yearning

this means i either need a better thesaurus
or i really just like the music i like.

or perhaps that there i have the ingredients for my musical ideal?

one band checks them all off. not at once though, that would be a bit weird. i bet you can even guess who it is *looks below*

Filed under: None | Posted by traffic sounds at Thursday, 31 January 2008 3:57 PM
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last week i made a mix for someone incredibly awesome whose own musical output has been formidable to say the least. it was an australian-only one which made it fun and a little easier, though of course it's always a battle to not just include friends' bands, even if they could easily fill 650mb with their awesomeness.

aside from the usual suspects (said friends), i was quite happy to include Drunk Hands (a relative pop ditty 'Gilltone' from the usually dirgy melbourne band), dynamic and possibly beat-heavy tunes from otherwise moderate indie rock bands like Touch Typist (Nostalgia is a Lake), and Aleks and the Ramps (i went 'Pisces vs Aquarius' instead of 'Brain'), the hauntingly insistent Because of Ghosts (Upwards! Forwards! Towards the Sun!), and i ended with the raw power of some live Scientists ('Blood Red River') for something a little bit different bit unusual.

^ i hope it works.

Filed under: general music guff | Posted by traffic sounds at Thursday, 31 January 2008 3:43 PM
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very much an underrated local record from 2007, i like it more and more when i listen back. young band from melbourne, average looking blokes, perhaps lacking the necessary cool or quirkiness factor for it to have generated much hype, but a really impressive album nonetheless.

there goes that word again: understated. a lot going on - ethereal synths and pretty glitches, a really driving beat (be it drums, performed live on occasion standing up or by guitar or by tig's keys), a half-spoken languid-meets-laconic delivery in a distinctly australian accent from nick huggins to match his equally deft guitar strokes (bringing to mind the the amanset school of subtlety). all played down by a light, almost feathery touch - but by no means light-weight.

the cd btw was number 5 in the powwow series from sydney/melb label feral media. good work by feral.

touch typist myspace

Filed under: general music guff |random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Thursday, 31 January 2008 3:15 PM
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thanks to the fairy godbrother otherwise known as captain k-rad i am listening to the new Why? album, Alopecia and it's bloody awesome. it is very much what i was expecting/hoping for, though not nearly as dark and bleak musically as the 'single' (the hollows) or the opener (the voweks pt 2) might have suggested. yoni wolf has never been short of musical ideas but on earlier releases they sometimes sounded half-realised. last album was great, the song-craft had improved immensely and still maintained the slightly chaotic, anything-goes approach. now that essence is distilled even further, but as an album it works really well as songs blend seemlessly into another. anyway still digesting the record, i'm only on my 3rd listen as i type so more later.

Filed under: general music guff |random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Wednesday, 30 January 2008 4:26 PM
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mahjongg 'problems' download
macha 'cmon cmon oblivion' download
macha loved bedhead 'believe' streaming

Filed under: general music guff | Posted by traffic sounds at Wednesday, 23 January 2008 2:29 PM
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todays top 5
hot contrast 'kiss kiss bang bang' myspace
tussle 'warning' the song
tortoise & bonnie prince billy 'thunder road' mp3
boom bip 'eyelashings' myspace
aesop rock 'none shall pass' myspace

class of 2007 mixtape
The Sea and Cake - Lightning [Everybody]
Mice Parade - Tales of Las Negras [s/t]
Pram - The Silk Road [The Moving Frontier]
Fridge - Clocks [The Sun]
Kid Cornered - Film Career / KC Swimming [s/t]
Múm - Dancing Behind My Eyelids [Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy]
Thee More Shallows - Night at the Knight School [Book of Bad Breaks]
Why? - The Hollows [The Hollows 12-inch]
Lymbyc Systym - Birds [Love Your Abuser]
Aleks and the Ramps - Brain [Pisces vs Aquarius]
Andrew Bird - Heretics [Armchair Apocrypha]
xoxo, panda - The New Kid Revival [The New Kid Revival]

Filed under: general music guff | Posted by traffic sounds at Wednesday, 16 January 2008 4:25 PM
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favourites:

* Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
* The Sea and Cake - Everybody
* Thee More Shallows - Book of Bad Breaks
* Kid Cornered - self-titled
* Aleks and the Ramps - Pisces vs Aquarius
* Bachelorette - Isolation Loops
* Mice Parade - self-titled
* Fridge - The Sun
* By The Fireside - The Great Hartford Fire
* Múm - Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy
* Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
* Rand and Holland - Caravans
* The Tigers - Beautiful Forest
* Lymbyc Systym - Love Your Abuser

Honourable mentions:
* xoxo, panda - The New Kid Revival
* Akron/Family - Love is Simple
* Tuung - Good Arrows
* Odd Nosdam - Level Live Wires
* Apostle of Hustle - National Anthem of Nowhere
* The Go Find - Stars on the Wall

disappointments (ie i like yr old stuff better than yr new stuff):
pinback
arcade fire
band of horses (sort of, for the most part of good, but some duds)
okkervil river
machine translations
sun

overrated:
radiohead
animal collective
jens lekman

I went to see a lot of bands this year. some of the most memorable though:
* Founder, Midget @ Cad Factory
* Mice Parade @ Bottom of the Hill, SF
* Dan Kelly and the Alpha Males (Alpha Males farewell show) @ Northcote Social Club
* Lymbyc Systym, Boy in Static @ O'Nest, Tokyo
* Apples in Stereo @ Summerstage, NY
* Deloris, Charge Group @ Spectrum
* Tigers, Tucker Bs @ Hopetoun
* Adam Said Galore, Tucker Bs @ Hopetoun
* The Woods Themselves @ the Sando
* actually The Woods Themselves at any venue I've seen them in
* Aleks and the Ramps @ 303
* Kid Cornered, Joel Silbersher @ Last Bastion
* Aleks and the Ramps, El Mopa, Single Twin, Matt McBeath @ Edinburgh Castle
* The Evens @ Glebe Town Hall
* Aleks and the Ramps @ 2SER, live on Tape Relay
* Aktion Unit @ house show in Thornbury
* Bachelorette, Underlapper @ Ruby Rabbit (RR gets my vote though for worst venue in sydney EVER)
* Calexico @ The Basement

i've had the pleasure of listening to some amazing demo records last year too, and if they're anything to go by, the quality of 08 releases will be outstanding. look out for afxjim, single twin, the woods themselves and matt mcbeath.

post-edit 29.2.08: actually i didn't get around to really listening to the Of Montreal cd until recently but it pretty much goes to the top of the list as of today. yeh it's that good.

Filed under: general music guff | Posted by traffic sounds at Wednesday, 16 January 2008 4:06 PM
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I didn't actually write this, Jasper (OMP founder) did but I did release it so I'm archiving it for your reading pleasure. Braving the Seabed / Deloris split 7-inch.

Filed under: general music guff |random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Monday, 22 October 2007 11:42 PM
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Sadly the band are no longer around, but I still think of the record in the same fond terms now as I did when I wrote this at the end of 2000 for the OMP. Braving the Seabed - self-titled.

Filed under: general music guff |random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Monday, 22 October 2007 11:35 PM
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I've been trawling through the Oz Music Project archives lately and came across a couple of old reviews that I'd written back in 2000. Turns out I didn't write much for the OMP in the end. I'm hardly prolific at the best of times, but I was already doing the Tribe and Yap columns at the same time (and getting paid for it no less) and Osmosis was a fairly time-consuming exercise as it was. But of the very few reviews that I did do, I'm glad to say that I still stand by the two major pieces I'd written - I still feel the same way about the bands and the records, and I don't mind the way it was written as well. Looks like I still use the same turn of phrases and the same way of describing music today as I did then. Some things don't change!

The first one's here - Deloris, The Pointless Gift. (Incidentally have been going through a big Deloris phase in the last couple days from having seen them play at Hopetoun on the weekend just past. Everytime I see them play, a renewed love appears. It's like one of those gas flames in the old fashioned water heaters in the bathrooms of art deco apartment buildings - might be turned down, but never off and ready to ignite when the timing is right!)

Filed under: general music guff |random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Monday, 22 October 2007 11:32 PM
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kid cornered - letterhead.
songs don't have to scream at you to command your attention. in fact i find the most insistent ones are those that come to you in moments of quiet time, when the mind has a chance to collect its thoughts and the body regains composure. and so very subtlely, a song slips in your head and you find yourself singing along, wondering where the chorus comes from and why you've assumed the backing vocals instead. i can't actually write about this song when listening to it, because i have to stop and just listen, paying careful attention for the pauses betweens a single pluck of the strings or a gentle tap on the skins, not wanting to miss a precious second. there's a lot of space in the song, on this record in fact, that leaves you with an incredible yearning desire. the only thing to do is hit repeat until sated, which i do so gladly.

Filed under: general music guff | Posted by traffic sounds at Thursday, 18 October 2007 01:15 AM
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very excited about the new batch of albums this week (yet i'm still buying records like there's no tomorrow? there is no end to my affliction. xoxo, panda please help me.). standouts:

seabear - the ghost that carried us away (very browning/because of ghosts type title. love it!). strummy folky iceland pop, so unbelievably pretty sounding.

pinback - autumn of the seraphs. i hate the artwork - bit gargoylely for my liking - but i guess it's fitting with the angel theme. not as immediately pop as summer in abbadon (which i LOVED) but there is still some early contenders. pinback are definitely greater as the sum of their parts.

fog - ditherer. this is a bit of orright, but truthfully i might just be more open because of andrew broder's connections with dosh, andrew bird and a whole bunch of other anticon dudes. in case i haven't mentioned it for the billionth time already, i am in love with anticon. an.ti.con. a.n.t.i.c.o.n a.a.a.a.n.n.n.n.t.t.t.t.i.i.i.i.c.c.c.c.o.o.o.o.n.n.n.n

in other news: last night, adam said galore at the hopetoun. oh my. it was god's way of telling me how much i love them. how much they need to live in sydney. stunning. andrew ryan, voice like honey, arms like a model. what's up with perth and their frontmen? smoothest manliest vocals this country will ever hear (examples: adam said galore, the tigers, tucker b's, braving the seabed/the leap year/rob schifferli rock god, mukaizake). no boys here, just men.

coming up on tape relay: all of the above, plus an interview with jon chapple (ex-mclusky) of shooting at unarmed men. bit novelty, bit cock rock. but we can't all be serious chin strokers all the time now can we? worth tuning in anyway.

Filed under: general music guff |live music |random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Saturday, 1 September 2007 1:07 PM
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i have a new radio show yo. ironically (or not) in my old timeslot.

tuesday nights 2SER 107.3fm.

myspaz/taperelay

indie. in the broadest definition of the word. cuddlecore to folktronic to progpunk. 45s to mp3s.

tune in!

Filed under: general music guff | Posted by traffic sounds at Wednesday, 15 August 2007 6:19 PM
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today's top 5 ridiculous band names but ridiculous in a good way:

suburban kids with biblical names
someone still loves you boris yeltsin
flowers from the man who shot your cousin
saturday looks good to me
casiotone for the painfully alone

Filed under: general music guff | Posted by traffic sounds at Monday, 23 July 2007 4:33 PM
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the lucksmiths - there is a light that never goes out (plaintive)
bart & friends - hounds of love (simplicity)
true love always - september (joyous)
dan kelly & martha wainwright - slave to love (smouldering)
nick cave - i'm your man (swaggering)

Filed under: None | Posted by traffic sounds at Friday, 6 July 2007 1:03 PM
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awesome song of the week:

"film career" by kid cornered.

kid cornered is sydney's matt toohey (who used to front another excellent band, browning) and his merry gang of minstrels (who are also in other merry gangs like el mopa, the woods themselves and founder)

i love the twang, the gallopping beat, the languid delivery, the graceful grunt of the guitars, the muted trumpets, the pretty melody. mmm... delicious

Filed under: general music guff | Posted by traffic sounds at Tuesday, 15 May 2007 3:18 PM
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1. beulah - emma blowgun's last stand. talk about a build up. 2 minutes of strings, a bit of tabla, a rolling kick drum, that organ and then.. what a release! fuzzed out guitars, and the greatest trumpet melody. and miles singing without his sneer and i'm a believer. dip my head in the waters of san francisco baby!

2. american analog set - come home baby julie, come home. i am struck. paralysed for 6 minutes by the hypnotic guitars and the bass groove and the sweet vibraphone and the incessant beat and the perfect harmony of man and instruments to create something so beautifully ethereal and yearning. amanset understand the effects of anticipation and delaying instant gratification, which are lessons i can stand to learn from time to time.

3. dan kelly and the alpha males - babysitter's of the world unite. a little bit sad, a little bit soulful, a little more rock, a whole lotta pop. what a combination. i don't think i've ever heard this song just once and stopped. always gotta be at least 3 times in a row. i can not get past that grooving bass. i imagine a good follow-up to this song would be titled "bad spellers of the world untie!"

4. acid house kings - do what you wanna do. oh my god, my heart wants to tear itself out of my body and do a little jig on the dancefloor whenever i hear this song. it's like they wrote this exactly to melt my stone cold exterior or something. how does the norsk gene produce such perfect pop moments?

5. aden - (swords and) falconry. i have never road tripped in new england but i always imagine i am whenever i hear this song. the song is all red autumn leaves, winding roads and jeff gramm's dulcet tones.

in other news, i'm reading "love is a mix tape" (by rob sheffield) at the moment. it is sad and beautiful, and altogether quite fitting because i'm in the middle of making the ultimate american road trip mix for myself and whoever my travel companions may be. also, the story is an inspiration for all those who harbour secret desires to unleash their inner appalachian punk rock girl.

Filed under: books |general music guff | Posted by traffic sounds at Wednesday, 2 May 2007 10:26 PM
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whatever happened to the guy who spent a year in his bedroom with nothing but the internet and a credit card? this was of course from many many years ago when the internet was still a novelty, and i was still subscribing to wired magazine. today i virtually spent the day holed up in front of laptop, banging my head gently against the external harddrive as i contemplated life without all the fancy software that i cannot afford to own. my, what dramas of this modern life. nevertheless it struck me that it would not be in the realms of impossibility that i too could live in a bedroom with nothing but the internet as entertainment and an unlimited credit card for sustenance. although i do prefer flesh to sensuous flesh interaction (i'm all about the hands and the eyes), i do often derive more pleasure from learning about something rather than from the thing itself, which equates to hours of enjoyment from wikipedia alone.

but the consequences are unknown. would i come out unscathed? did the fella who underwent the year long experiment recover and go on to operate as a functional member of the community, maybe even making a substantive contribution? or did he stay as recluse, unable to deal with the rest of society after his self-imposed exile (not unlike the hikikomori of japan)?

clearly i must've had a lot of time today to contemplate such questions. actually they came after one of those sunday afternoon naps which are the highlight of my weekend. i've only said it a thousand times already but i do love a good sunday afternoon nap. especially at the tail-end of the winter and summer extremes, when the afternoon is warm but still breezy, and i have music playing and cares are non-existent (or at least pushed to the back of the brain, right next to guilt over my inertia). but i digress. i woke up from my nap today with a flurry of thoughts, not including a strong desire to create a blend of surreal art and factual films which was influenced by my viewing right before nap time. which was so very inspiring (i note, i am talking very much in self-evident sentences here)

the science of sleep is the latest michel gondry film. it is wonderfully surreal and imaginatively rich and creative and whatever superlative you can think of. and there's the notion of parallel synchronised randomness, a concept for which i never knew the name of, but had regularly experienced. even as of recently, i feel a certain kind of fateful connection in which my life interpolates with that of someone else's. or perhaps i just read too much into things, which i am prone to often enough (rather to my detriment).

then i watched the art safari episode of maurizio cattelan - i don't know what i enjoyed more. the tongue in cheek commentary (bordering on the ridiculous) on modern art by the jocular italian artist or the delightful affection for his subjects displayed by the charming host, ben lewis.

Filed under: None | Posted by traffic sounds at Sunday, 25 March 2007 11:35 PM
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i saw the tigers play live for the first time ever. i'm not to be blamed though, the last time they were in sydney was june 1999 or something. that's a really long time ago. they were great, as good as i expected. chris c is like a cute little angry pixie. a cute squinty angry pixie when he took his glasses off. i hope they come back soon. they are criminally underrated. there was a time early on when triple j played the tigers and it seemed this smartsy band from perth were going to do really well, but they didn't quite get there. i guess richard kingsmill will only talk you up so much.

in other news, i am flogging the deloris album, ten lives. i have been hung up on it since seeing them play at the spectrum a few weeks ago. the show was spectacular, the band could not have been a better cure for my sorrows if they tried. anyway the album: it is more rockin' than rollin', which i am loving, because i always hoped they would steer towards that direction. it looks you in the eye and pulls no punches. ever so respectfully throwing down the gauntlet and saying, here i am, like it or lump it.

Filed under: general music guff |live music |random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Monday, 29 January 2007 10:01 PM
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Mates of State - Bring It Back
First impressions of the new Mates of State record "Bring it Back" is: pretty excellent, almost a wow.

I'm listening to this for the first time as I type...

Not nearly as punchy or dynamic as "Team Boo", but this is not a bad thing because by the same token, this album is not as abrasive and noisy and could probably stand the office cd player test.

It really is like they took a step back from the sound of "Team Boo" and toned it down - especially in the vocals and drums, which is a lot lower in the mix than previously. For the first time in 4 albums, they don't sound like they're shouting at you, they're singing kinda softly in a slightly restrained away.

I wonder if this was the unintended effect of new unofficial 3rd member (ie baby Magnolia for the married couple)? Or more likely, it seems instrumentation has been pared back somewhat, less cacophony, and more simplicity.

Recording and arrangement issues aside, the songs are very strong. Kori and Jason make melodies that make me want to cry. And harmonise the hell out of 2 vocals. They've even experimented a little with genres - 'What It Means' has a psych-pop, retro tinge that is not far removed from Olivia Tremor Control or Ladybug Transistor. "For the Actor" also has a slight Copacabana tropical-holiday rhythm which I think would be perfect for dancing to when getting ready in the morning. Instant pick me up.

Other notes: The first half of the album is more progressive sounding for the band, by the second half of the album, it starts to sound like vintage Mates of State, and much closer to the Team Boo sound.

Links:
Official site
Fraud in the 80s mp3 (select "save target as")

Filed under: random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Friday, 7 April 2006 2:09 PM
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Complementing my random music musings is my last.fm profile which displays only the music I am listening to on my iTunes at work.

See what latest cds I am loving!
find out what bands I'm revisiting!
Discover who my latest musical crush is!

http://www.last.fm/users/trafficsounds

FYI, I'm between crushes at the moment as they are quite emotionally and financially exhausting, and it takes a long time to recover between each one. I have just come up for air from an obsessive phase of Jenny Lewis (minus the watson twins, they're so creepy) which culminated in the purchase/viewing of troop beverly hills (starring shelley long and a tweenage J-Lew) under the guise of re-living my favourite movie from 1990.

Prior to J-Lew, it was Amanset (again) and Beulah (again)... I seem to revisit those 2 about once a year.

Filed under: None | Posted by traffic sounds at Tuesday, 21 March 2006 2:51 PM
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The Robot Ate Me - Carousel Waltz
Ryland Bouchard has a lot in common with sally russell, you could almost say a male version of New Buffalo. or maybe like a less chintzy, less cocktail lounge jens lekman?

Sparse instrumentation but still lushly arranged, very warm and intimate sounding. Delicate, hopeful, ever so twee. Lots of muted horns (french, trumpet, clarinets?), acoustic guitars, gentle percussion and brian wilson-like harmonics (that occasionally border on the baroque flourishes of say, the polyphonic spree).

Best tracks:
Tonight
Just One Girl
Hi, Love

Links:
Bad Feelings mp3 (select "save target as")
Official site

ps. my friend rob used to have this band called the war effort, and his friend scott sang in the band, and in the song "come together", it sounds so much like this war effort song i have on cassette. same kind of strummy guitar, and scott and ryland have a similar twang.

Filed under: random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Tuesday, 21 March 2006 1:25 PM
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can Neko Case top her best effort? "If You Knew" is such a wonderfully sad and yet strong song. And despite her despair, she's still a pillar of graciousness. I love the live version of it from The Tigers Have Spoken.

Filed under: general music guff | Posted by traffic sounds at Thursday, 9 February 2006 2:36 PM
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Cosigner - Let's Fast Dance
Okay so they evidently worship Pavement and Stephen Malkmus but I have never really held a band's influence against them because everyone pilfers from everyone else anyway. What Cosigner does really good is make excellent country-tinged mid-tempo pop songs sound a little sad - perfect for tugging at heartstrings. Sometimes they're even a bit rocky, or a bit dancey, but either way, they make for enjoyable listening at any time of the day.

Stephen Tootle has this voice which is a little bit plaintive and hints that he may be on the verge of losing it big time, maybe over a girl, or over his circumstances. It's music that resonates and has a lot of delightful charm.

Anyway top album from a really underrated pop band - especially when consider less vibrant and charming pop bands (even though i still like them) are on labels like Subpop.

Best of the bunch: Soft Drowsy Song, Sorry, Eye, Follow Your Leader

Links:
Cosigner blog
Cosigner mp3s

Filed under: random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Wednesday, 25 January 2006 11:33 AM
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This will be the first in a series of random and occasional thoughts about records I own or have "borrowed" (read: pilfered) from the radio station's library, generated whilst listening to my iTunes at work.

My strong desire to talk about records is tempered slightly by my rather heavy workload, so it'll probably be a bit brief and stream-of-consciousness like but I'll try and provide links to longer/proper reviews.

Beulah - Yoko
Their last album and what a shame, because I think a lot of people really wanted more from Beulah after this album. I think it even won over some of the too-cool-for-school hipsters who never gave Beulah a second thought previously (excluding Pitchfork, who still gave them a crappy review).

Various adjectives that could be used to describe the sound: melancholic, moody, bittersweet, soul-baring, heart-breaking, emotionally raw, highly arranged, considered, spacious, beautiful, weighty, not-twee!

On that last note, on Yoko I think they really tried to shed their previous e6/beach boys tweepop comparisons which is fair enough because they were mostly misplaced and rather unfair comparisons, but it made them shy perhaps too much away from the glorious pop hooks of albums past.

Nevertheless I think it was a natural move for the band to the more alt-country leanings of Wilco and Neil Young - they had previously hinted at it on the bossa-country tinged record, The Coast is Never Clear. I interviewed Miles once, in 2001, for the Australian release of When Your Heartstrings Break but at the time they were in the midst of recording Coast, and he really stressed that his some of his musical references were bands like Wilco and the Beatles, not Beach Boys.

I get a bit sad listening to this record for all the things it represents. Sad for Miles and his break-up (the theme of the album), sad for the band and their post-album break-up, sad for the world who will never get to hear new Beulah. Oh well, I’ll just have to wallow whilst listening to Yoko.

Best tracks: A Man Like Me / Landslide Baby – breakup song parts 1 & 2. Landslide Baby is also laden with pop hooks galore. You’re Only King Once (I picture myself as the other voice in that song), Hovering, Your Mother Loves You Son, and Don’t Forget to Breathe (the last 2 are from the latter half of the album which becomes more Beatles-eque)

Links:
Guardian review
All Music Guide review

Filed under: random record review | Posted by traffic sounds at Monday, 23 January 2006 1:43 PM
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i am about halfway through the first book in my first batch of the 33 1/3 series and i have already decided that i want to collect most of them (if all, budget permitting). but i fear that i'm reading the best one in the entire series and that might be clouding my judgement slightly.

neutral milk hotel, in the aeroplane over the sea - by kim cooper. its written with such loving care and detail and the author is not at all egotistical and it is making me pine for the album all over again. the book tracks the genesis of the band, the e6 movement and the making of the records and it really has elevated the already-loved album in my heart.

the smiths, meat is murder - by joe pernice. on the other hand, from reading the first 5 pages, this seems to be a very indulgent piece from pernice about the album's influence on him. seems more like a book for pernice fans, but then again that doesn't really surprise me given the low opinion i already hold of the author. will keep reading it again nevertheless.

ramones, ramones - i forget the name of the author. haven't cracked the spine yet.

from the rest of the series i'm looking to acquire the ones about (in order of preference):

*harvest
*doolittle
*pet sounds (this probably would've been first but it has been so extensively documented already by films and the very good liner notes of the remastered cd)
*dusty in memphis
*let it be (the replacements' album, as written by colin meloy (of the decemberists). i'm more curious about colin meloy than the album, which i actually haven't heard).
*velvet underground and nico
*armed forces
*loveless
*kick out the james
*electric ladyland
*daydream nation

i hope continuum do one on a blondie album (preferably parallel lines). it would be criminal if they didn't! also, i'd like to see one on the raw power by iggy and the stooges. look out honey cuz i'm using technology! and for an australian favour, stranded by the saints.

Filed under: books | Posted by traffic sounds at Monday, 23 January 2006 01:20 AM
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hello. recently caught the ramones documentary "end of the century". its not the best doco ever made but if your a fan of the band or you think yrself as any kind of punk, then it must be watched. and try not to laugh too much at deedee. i think he was unfairly maligned.

Filed under: film | Posted by traffic sounds at Friday, 28 January 2005 01:25 AM
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