Le Butcherettes: Soundwave Festival 2015 Highlight #1

Le Butcherettes I’m Getting Sick Of You Live @ MTV Iggy.

The most powerful and captivating band of the day at the Melbourne 2015 Soundwave Festival was hands down Le Butcherettes. That rare quality you find in a handful of great artists across the stratosphere that have equal parts harmony, conviction and entertaining menace, is all mixed up in lead vocalist Mexican Teri Gender Bender.

Reminiscent of watching Kathleen Hanna perform with Bikini Kill, nobody knew what she was going to do next, but we could not leave that sweltering shed that was persisting to melt off our faces without seeing it for ourselves. Alternating between jiving behind the keyboard, and flinging her guitar around on stage while she sang Teri was completely enthralling to watch.

At one point Teri stared deep into the crowd and ran straight off stage and into the alleyway to accost unsuspecting patrons, and the band played on nonchalantly like she does this all the time. The crowd went nuts upon her return to the stage, as this entertainer can conjure up her own whirlwind any time she goddamn pleases!

Killer Be Killed: Things to see @ Soundwave Festival 2015

Video: Killer Be Killed Wings of Feather and Wax Official Video.

Take 3 kings of metal – guitarist Max Cavalera (Sepultura, Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy, Nailbomb), bass player Troy Sanders (Mastodon), vocalist Greg Puciato (The Dillinger Escape Plan) and add one amazing prog-rock drummer Dave Elitch (Mars Volta, Antemasque).

Killer Be Killed thus have 3 amazing metal vocalists in one band! Just try to stop your feet from walking over to their stage to watch them perform!

Predicted Highlights:

• Hearing that guttural scream of Max Cavalera and watching a sea of metal zombies rush across the field to hear him play.
• Banging your head to the sublime bass of Gandolf the Grey Troy Sanders.
• Waiting patiently until Greg Puciato throws down his guitar and climbs some dangerous scaffolding.
• Throwing your chips in the sand as you realise Dave Elitch isn’t playing with the band due to the new two-day festival bullshit (he’ll be playing on the opposite day with his good mates in Antemasque*). Converge drummer Ben Koller will be filling in on drums. But don’t worry, he’s good – have you checked out his band Mutoid Man?

* Why will Elitch play for Antemasque instead of Killer Be Killed you ask? Well, because Killer Be Killed is a side project. Antemasque appears to be a front-project, and are likely to constantly be on the road (ala Mars Volta).
Muso Rule #1: Always choose the side of the constant paycheck!

Dave Elitch, Max Cavalera, Greg Puciato, Troy Sanders of Killer Be Killed, Source: https://www.facebook.com/KillerBeKilled

Antemasque: Things to see @ Soundwave Festival 2015

Video: Antemasque 4AM Live @ Union Transfer, Philadelphia 6 November 2014.

2/5 of At The Drive In, and 3/7* of Mars Volta = Antemasque who are touring for the Soundwave Festival 2015. Guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is good friends of Le Butcherettes who will also be performing at Soundwave – so cross your fingers for some kind of guest appearance along the way.

Predicted Highlights:

• Cheering as Omar and Cedric Bixler-Zavala perform together again after their year of musical separation.
• Watching vocalist Cedric scream and wiggle profusely until his keys fall off his hips.
• Clapping in time to Dave Elitch whacking the drums with wild abandon.
• Observing Omar shred on his guitar until you fall in sync with his dance moves.

* Ratios have not been verified by an independent third-party.

Antemasque, Source: https://www.facebook.com/ANTEMASQUE

RIP Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dream)

‘There is no death, there is just a change of our cosmic address’ – Edgar Froese.

Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dream), Source: https://www.facebook.com/facethemusicaus

German electronic music pioneer Edgar Willmar Froese sadly passed away on 20 January 2015 in Vienna from a pulmonary embolism at the age of 70. Founder of krautrock band Tangerine Dream, Froese released an epic 100 albums with the band since their conception in 1967, and provided scores for over 60 films (Sorcerer, Risky Business, The Squid and The Whale) and computer games (Grand Theft Auto V).

Best Albums of 2014: The Year in Music

The average album is only played 1.6 times according to some American researchers from the 1980’s*. You probably bought many albums last year that you discarded after 1.6 plays never to be listened to again, unless you want to get your monies worth via self-sabotage by listening to dodgy crap over and over again.

A great album will be on your repeat listen playlist. Nowadays your music player can even keep count of how many times you played a track**, proving what your album of 2014 was without prejudice.

Your favourite album doesn’t need to be cool and get the hipster seal of approval. I share with you my favourite 10 albums of 2014, so you can find a little goodness that you may have missed in 2014.

The Legacy of Shudder To Think

Video: Shudder To Think So Into You (cover) Music Video.

I read a Pitchfork interview recently that was from 2008 with the lead singer of Washington DC’s indie-rock band Shudder To Think, Craig Wedren. Wedren wasn’t exactly sure if Shudder To Think had left a lasting legacy on music since their break-up in 1998.

I thought that was kind of sad, given how interesting the music of Shudder To Think was. It had heart, swagger and style. So I decided to start a quest. Okay, some might call it a list.

TV in 2014

From music highways, kick ass human clones, supposed true stories, hunting down serial killers, late night TV hosts retiring, movie reviewers retiring, absurd news hosts, to time travel comedies. TV in 2014 was truly bizarre and two choruses of the Everything is Awesome Lego classic tune.

Join me on the journey to celebrate 365 days on the tube:

Augie March (Sounds of Melbourne)

Video: Augie March There Is No Such Place Music Video.

One Crowded Hour was a wonderful little ditty by Melbourne indie-folk band Augie March. Before that international hit, the band spent many years playing in pubs across my hometown to craft their fine music.

There Is No Such Place is a song from their first album Sunset Studies (2000) and I’m sure you can hear the way the song is delicately delivered, and you would understand why Augie March would go on to become one of Australia’s greatest bands.

In 2014, after a 5 year hiatus the band returned in remarkable form with a new album Haven’s Dumb. The album contains one of the most chilling songs I have heard played live in my life, Definitive History. It captures the starkness of Australia today all too well.

Banks: Tiny Desk Concert

Video: Banks Performs Beggin For Thread, Alibi, and Brain Live at NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts.

It is no secret that Los Angeles alt-pop artist Banks has impressed me in droves this year. Her album Goddess is an absolute stunner and I fall for her songs a little more every time I hear them.

By far it is her vocal delivery that keeps me enthralled. A short example of her amazing tone and ability to sing the heck out of a song is in this video from NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concerts. NPR Music always seem to capture some of the best desk concerts you’ve never been to.

I’m yet to get to a desk concert of any kind, but they sound fantastic. Anyone featured on this little blog is hereby invited to perform live at my desk anytime they feel like. But it would be better if you called ahead to make sure I’m at home 😉

Run The Jewels and Christmas Miracles

Video: Run The Jewels A Christmas Fucking Miracle Film Clip

I saw Santa today, and he wished me a Merry Christmas. I thought he had forgotten about me! He did seem a little thinner than I remember, so I presume that he doesn’t want you to leave out any cookies for him tonight or you might ruin his health kick.

Ah, Christmas music, doesn’t it make you a little sick in the mouth? The 8-year-old me used to love Last Christmas by Wham, I thought it was the best of the Christmas songs. Thankfully, I’m over my Wham phase. Rest assured parents of One Direction afficionados, your pain and suffering will one day end. Until then, be strong.

I dished out my Run The Jewels self-titled CD the other day and chucked it on the old beatbox, and low and behold after track 10 (A Christmas Fucking Miracle) I discovered a few bonus tracks including Pew Pew Pew. I was enlightened.