Since it’s international Women’s day I’m going to keep being fan gurl over all the women making it as independent musicians. Kristina Miltiadou has been putting her sweet sounds out in Oz for a while, but now with her debut self-titled album out, people are catching on to this delish diva. #finally.
You’ll find singles Heartstrings and Carousel on the record, but as a whole there’s a hell of a lot more flavour. Essentially a pop release, the album brings beats, rhythmic vocals, smooth soul grooves and some slower tracks that prove she knows exactly what she’s doing with her uniquely beautiful voice. The record is fresh and full of sass, so it’s no surprise it’s getting a lot of love both locally and internationally.
Kristina dropped by the studio to chat about the record, her love of the 80’s and what she’s got planned coming up for what is undoubtedly going to be a huge year for her. Check out the podcast here:
Here’s a track from the album that I’m hitting repeat on lots.
I know right. It’s just fucked. As in amazing. This is Twincest, and if you’re anything like me, you’re already all over their Facebook, Twitter, Youtube channel and garbage bins.
Twincest* is Sydney duo Hayley and Laura who, along with their a capella army of bad bitchez, are making people from all over twerk into their bedroom mirrors.
Hayley and Laura came to Melbourne recently and played a SLAM Day show along with Mojo Juju and Stella Angelico. Before the show, the pair joined me in studio to chat about fan fiction, the origin of twincest and to alleviate any awkwardness I had about stalking them on the Internet. Here it is.
Twincest’s latest single is called Saint and it’s out now.
*Although the two are not twins in the biological sense, they’re two halves of a whole lotta sass and complete each other musically (which is really beautiful in a Parent Trap kinda of way).
We’re now in a period of musical enlightenment where even the most holy of retrophiles are forced to acknowledge the existence and power of the web. In the earlier dot com days those brave band pioneers who ventured online rewarded their fans with low res band snaps that took years to download, especially considering the hot property the landline telephone once was. Now, with the Internet being a vehicle for distribution, moneymaking and communication for artists, those that are good online frequently enjoy greater success offline.
Remember Brightly? The brand new electro duo doing some super cool stuff with not only sound, but imagery too? Well Brightly are back with a new release and they’re using the net to get the word out.
Beginnings and Endings is the band’s debut album that’s being preceded with the new singe Pre Flight nerves. Ok, so that seems pretty normal. How about this
If you head to beginnings.wearebrightly.com, you can download your copy of the single along with a unique code. When 10 people sign up using your code, you get a copy of the album for free. Sweet.
The thing is exponential and out of control. You can even check how far your influence has spread on a map. The web savvy Charlie can proz explain it a lil better – listen here.
With web services like Spotify, Rdio, Bandcamp, Soundcloud and Pozible leading the (literal) band wagon, it’s so refreshing to see a new creative idea from an independent band. The Beginnings and Endings project doesn’t run on money, just hype so get up in it!
Obviously Charlie has some serious web skillz, which means his creative endeavors aren’t limited to Brightly’s air miles. After the parliament voted on the marriage equality bill, Charlie came up with a way to make those in power individually accountable for their votes. Check it out at the the41against.com to talk to the upper house and the98against.com to talk to the lower.
What’s the only thing better than creating beautiful music and fighting for equality? Bringing me flowers will do it.
Brightly will be launching Pre-Flight nerves at the Toff tonight. My Unique code is 2dG
I’ve always wanted to be one of those girls that goes to the races and looks nice until their make up starts dripping off their face before stumbling up the stairs to Madame Brussels to drink Pimms by the jug. But I did go to the The Garden Party on the last sweltering Sunday, which I reckon is probably even better.
Held in a vacant lot in Southbank this summer, The Garden Party was a series of gigs curated by the Melbourne recital centre and made even better with the addition of cider on tap and legit woodfire pizza. Over the summer, the Garden stage has hosted the likes of Gurrumul, Tinpan Orange, Brous, The Raah Project, Mat McHugh, Axolotl, Electric Empire, Little Bastard, Kira Puru & The Bruise, The Bamboos, Art of Sleeping, Husky, Jonti, Jens Lekman, Van She, Mia Dyson, Graveyard Train, Oscar + Martin, The Cactus Channel, Softwar, Kashmere Stage Band, Gossling, The Trouble with Templeton and many more.
On Sunday however, I was naturally exhibiting my usual gig punctuality anxiety so arrived in the heat of the day to see Jess Ribeiro and the Bone Collectors open for Henry Wagons and Matt McHugh.
Given that Jess grew up in rural Australia (check out her song Truckyard <3), I can understand how she managed to look so Pine O Cleen fresh when everyone else was slowly melting into their back sweat. Yet with her massive sunhat, laidback vocals and deep grooves she was an afternoon delight. I am not surprised in the slightest at her successes this year that include an AIR award and a nomination for the Australian Music Prize.
Prior to her AMP gig at Federation Square, Jess and Bone Collector, Rob Law, joined me in studio for a chat and a live song.
Check it out here!
Jess’ latest album My Little River is out now. Here’s a taste called ‘Sweet Refined Things’.
Sometimes I take for granted the fact that I get to lock my favourite people in a room for 20 minutes and ask them a bunch of questions. It’s REALLY COOL.
On the cusp of releasing her sophomore album, The Magician’s Daughter along with an Australian tour, I was super glad Mama Kin had time to swing by the JOY studios and get real with me about everything from religion and magic, to books and creativity.
Like anyone who’s ever attempted an okCupid profile, I knew that two entertaining phone conversations did not guarantee an equally pleasurable face-to-face encounter. But in this case, after having had two excellent phone interviews with Mama Kin, I was pleased to confirm the soulful energy, warmth and insight you hear on her records translated exactly when I finally met her in person
If you missed it on the airwaves, hear it here:
Anyway, if hearing her speak then inspired you like it did me, go and get your hands on a copy of The Magician’s Daughter make some toast, write down a checklist of everything you have wanted the time to think about and get to it.
You can also catch her at one of her shows around the country; Melbournians sit tight until April 11. As a side note, I am super excited to be catching up with her again in WA in just over a week at Nannup festival, where I’m lucky enough to be an MC at the stage she’s playing. Talk about magic.
The Magician’s Daughter is out Feb 22nd, but until then refresh your memory with Mama Kin’s most recent single ‘Was It Worth It’.
This guy is the musical equivalent of a super virus: constantly evolving and fucking infectious. Considering Yeo’s last album, Home, might have been your country folk soundtrack to long drives and epiphanies, it’s weird to think that same artist can deliver beats that make you want to paint your face and sweat it off again.
If you stop dancing for a moment, you can still hear the same songwriter from earler albums in ‘Sell out’. This is no shallow disco; the lyrics are soulful, the beats are effortless and the keytar solos are solid. Most of all, I love that the tongue-in-cheek album title actually rang true at the launch on Saturday night. From where I was standing (obvz I was actually dancing and not standing) at the Toff, my new bedroom jam had everybody sold.
Yeo dropped by the studio before the gig to chat about the new album, the launch and kissing with glasses on. Hear it here:
Stream the single ‘Covered in Gold’ here then flick him some dollar$ so he can make more records.
Melbourne-based DJ-duo Naysayer and Gilsun are leading the club night crusade with their own blend of audio visual magic. You may have experienced their tasty beats while eating your own face around 3am on Sunday morning at this year’s Golden Plains festival. If you didn’t, they’re doing the same thing next year.
Giving partying an extra dimension, it makes sense that Naysayer and Gilsun would be taking part in the celebrations for Melbourne Music Week – 7 days, fully constipated with the best music Melbourne has to offer. Much of this musical frivolity, N & G included, will manifest around a PR-perfect top secret location known as Where?House.
A couple of weeks ago I chatted to the duo about their show and what they’ve got planned for their Where?House performance. At the time of interview, not one of us knew the secret location of Where?house, however I asked them to take a wild stab. Now I knew the pair were bright, but I didn’t know they’d be…err…right. Hear their astonishing display of foresight below.
While we were technically supposed to wait until November 16 to find out the location, a good secret is hard to keep. So if you’re keen to see Naysayer and Gilsun play NGTV live, get along to Where?House on Novemer 17th. Where?house is, in fact, The Argus building in Melbourne’s CBD.
Remember that time in back to the Future when Marty Mcfly was out of plutonium and almost got stuck in 1955? Yeah well, that almost happened to this other guy i know. His name is Dj Tom Loud. Luckily however, he had a substitute power source: Hot Dub.
Wait back up, I’ve gone too far ahead – let me explain.
Dj Tom Loud is the pilot of the Hot Dub time Machine, a dance-powered, time travelling party that takes you from the mid 1950′s to the present day through music alone. It’s a phenomenon. I have to admit, I stepped into the time machine late off the bandwagon and saw the show as part of the Edinburgh Fringe festival. But I’ve since caught up and when I heard the time machine was making a stop in Melbourne, I just had to have a chat to the dude behind the wheel. (Only thing is, when I went to do the interview, some hyped-up fan girl posed as me and got there first…) Check it out.
You can take a ride on Tom Loud’s Time Machine on Friday the 19th of October (that’s tomorrow!!) at the Prince. If it’s your first time on board, here’s a travel tip: don’t wear anything you intend on keeping on – this is a messy, sweaty, amazing night.
With supreme skill, and an expertly curated musical route, DJ tom Loud proves that it’s not the destination, it’s the journey. Bon Voyage.
Well here it is. My long promised and even longer overdue post. It’s just that it’s taken me two weeks to muster the courage to talk about the following events in the past tense. But, seeing as I just caught myself spending another idle hour looking up pictures of Nicki Minaj’s rear on the internet, I thought I’d better let go of the past and look Melbourne in the face. So writing about a few (FEW) of the musical highlights (keepin’ it relevant) I had whilst away is the closure I need to start functioning as a person again.
The Gnaoua World Music Festival.
This annual festival takes place in on the beach in Essaouira, Morocco. The sleepy seaside medina has a bit of a rep for attracting the hippies and is the alleged inspiration for Jimi Hendrix’s Castles made of sand (This is probably not true, although Jimi Hendrix did live there for a short while). During festival time, however, the atmosphere starts buzzing and the whole of Essouaira is woken up with an incredible street parade. Post-parade comes a week of shows by all kind of artists from all over the world – both packed concerts from big names as well as Gnawa street performers testing out their hand made instruments. And, the majority of this music is available to see and hear for free!
However, whilst this is undoubtedly one of the best musical congregations I’ve ever been a part of, there’s a piece of advice I’d like to share.
Babes beware: with an arse that won’t quit comes arse grabbers that really won’t quit. So, if you attend festival Gnaoua, I’d suggest you have your rear end well protected by at least two intimidating males. Or buy a ticket.
Now, Any Moroccan will tell you that buying a ticket is as good as throwing your dirhams off a medina wall, and many a stingy traveller will agree. However, a festival pass gains you access to the front of the stage, an excellent view and most importantly, the ability to relax and enjoy the music.
It took me a while to realise that sometimes it pays to pay, but for single female travellers, I’d recommend paying the 200 or so dirhams (20 euros) to enjoy a week of incredible music, unhassled in the area obviously favoured by the local women. For me, standing up the front shakin’ it to my festival favourite, Malinese artist Oumou Sangare, alongside women from all over the world was a pretty fucking magical experience.
An unplanned appearance and Worldwide music festival.
My Gnaoua festival experience was the door to new music I’d been looking for, so after that, the rest of my trip because more of a pilgrimage. On a recommendation from a trusted fellow traveller, I went to see sick radio dj and new idol, Gilles Peterson’s, Worldwide music festival in Setè, France. Now in theory this festival sounded like an excellent spontaneous frolic from spain to france, however in the practice it was quite the mission.
With transport options to and from Setè fairly limited, in hindsight planning ahead wouldn’t have been a bad idea. But, thanks to some new friends along the A1 highway, I made it to the festival in time to see kiwi electro-soul band Electric Wire Hustle, and berber-tuareg group Tinariwen who, like me, had made their way from the Sahara desert to the south of france. Twinz.
Tinariwen
Electric Wire Hustle
Further north to the Edinburgh Fringe festival.
Edinburgh in general is a pretty magical city. It’s got castles and gave birth to Harry Potter. But during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the city seriously starts buzzing like a muggle’s Quiddich World Cup.
I arrived for the first (cheap) week where the festival is really a lucky dip. The reviews aren’t out, so shows can be hit or miss which just adds to the excitement. Although I was only there for a week, I saw 18 shows, 2 of which changed my life, 1 that made me want to gauge my eyes out and 2 that gave me a new love for stand up poetry.
Luckily one of my life changing shows comes from an Australian, so I may just get to see it again. In my whole life I have never got so real than when I set foot into DJ Tom Loud’s Hot Dub Time Machine. Powered by dance, this ‘time machine’ takes you from the 50′s through to the present day using music alone. The vibe inside the time machine was palpable and when DJ Tom arrived in 2011 with ‘a song from his home town’ i.e Gotye’s ‘Somebody I used to know’, I felt my first ever pang of patriotism.
My other festival highlight was comedian/sick babe Louisa Omielan and her stand up show What would Beyonce do? Hilariously covering everything from crumping to cow mooing, as well as beautifully inserted discussion on serious subjects like addiction and depression I feel like this show was made for me and I want her to come to Melbourne and be my friend.
Rock en Seine.
I’m going to keep this one short. Basically, while I was away I had to sacrifice 3 major events. Seeing Lady Gaga, seeing the Shins and going to Splendour in the Grass (which also involved the Shins). Whilst being away was great, I lamented missing out on seeing my favourite band.
But, as if the musical gods decided I’d won the lottery, they placed the Shins in Paris the day before I flew home. So, without any of the composure the Parisians exhibit, I blubbered and pushed my way to the front to see them and came away with this:
You know those times when you’re not at a world music festival in Northern Africa? Well that’s been me for more or less my entire life.
So right now, I’m one hand typing, one hand packing to go to Morocco.
With a bit of luck and a map, I’ll be attending Festival Gnaoua, a world musical festival held in the coastal town of Essouria. Stories coming soon.
Keep thing in to the show while I’m gone though, it’s in brilliant hands with another fabulous JOY presenter. And when I return, expect the show to go a little exotic.
