Perth Music

Vanessa Amorosi is back! After five years away from the public eye, the young lady responsible for hits such as Absolutely Everybody, Shine and The Power has grown up and released her new rocky, gritty new single Kiss Your Mama! Vanessa caught up with Justin Middleton for this exclusive interview.

Click here to download the podcast of the entire interview. (9:07 - 8.5Mb)

“I love pop music and it was beautiful for me for when I was 13, 14, 15, 16 coz that was when I was out there doing it, but this is what I evolved to and this is the music I grew up listening to” says Amorosi about the rockier sound of her new single and album.

Kiss Your Mama! is the lead track from her October-due album Somewhere In The Real World. It was recorded in Los Angeles with Ron Aniello (Barenaked Ladies), Greg Wells (Mika, Timbaland), and Cliff Magness (Pink, Avril Lavigne), and was mixed by the legendary Grammy Award winning Chris Lord-Alge (Green Day, Pink, Avril Lavigne). Even though it may have seemed daunting to work with these high profile American produces Amorosi explained “I came to them with a lot of ideas and I’ve been doing a lot of production the last couple years so I’m very hands on when it comes to that & that was an element that they found really quite unusual and I think I won a lot of respect”.

The video for Kiss Your Mama! was shot in Melbourne with London director Stuart Gosling (Good Charlotte, Roni Size, Feeder) in a place where Vanessa most comes alive - the stage. Says Vanessa “I really took a long time to work out who I wanted to do the producing of that clip and to get the idea across. I’ve been touring for so many years and doing so many shows, that for me (the important thing was to have) a videoclip that represents me and that is performance”.

After touring Australia and Europe for the best part of a year, Vanessa spoke of her someone who gave her a lot of inspiration - Joe Cocker. “I heard him sing every night You Are So Beautiful and With A Little Help From My Friends and it was like the first time ever hearing these songs, every night and it just brought people to tears. Thousands and thousands of people would be just sobbing, like big babies and it like the most spiritual thing”.

Kiss Your Mama! is available in-store and on-line on September 15.
Taken from the album Somewhere In The Real World coming October.

Amorosi will be playing A Day On The Green at Sandalford Caversham Estate on Thursday 11th October along with Jimmy Barnes, Colin Hay, Richard Clapton and Mahalia Barnes.

For more info visit www.vanessaamorosi.com or www.myspace.com/vanessaamorosi

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals – Lifeline

It is obvious that Ben Harper is proud to be the soulful, roots based and no nonsense artist that he is and the liner notes on Lifeline prove this.  It reads “The record, Lifeline, was recorded and mixed in 7 days on a 16-track analog tape machine.  No computers or pro-tools were used anywhere in the process”.  It goes to show in an age of computers and electro-pop music, that simple musical talent can go a long way.  Another thing that this helps, especially with the amount of touring that Harper does, is that seeing him live is not a disappointment compared to listening to the album.

The album is not a party album or an album to dance to but is perfectly suited to a Sunday afternoon just lounging around or background music for eating dinner or spending time with that special someone.  With this in mind, there aren’t any stand out tracks or obvious singles but best to listen to as an album as a whole.  This could be the reason why Harper has had much more success in Europe than in his home country, the US.  Without stereotyping them too much, all Americans like throwaway pop music and nothing else.

Ben Harper has the respect of his peers and the public and the guitar work and vocals on Lifeline only strengthen these accolades.  The Innocent Criminals must also get credit where credit is due.  They do not get the recognition or faces on posters but most of the songs on Lifeline show the close relationship all musicians in a band must have.  So if you haven’t heard of them before, Oliver Charles, Leon Mobley, Juan Nelson, Michael Ward and Jason Yates should be congratulated as much as Ben Harper on a superb acoustic album.  8 out of 10.

Bob Sinclair – Soundz Of Freedom

I must admit that the only thing I really knew about Bob Sinclair before listening to this album was that he sang that Love Generation song from a couple of years ago that was on the radio every 30 minutes and pronounced as the song the summer.  After listening to Soundz Of Freedom I came to the conclusion that Sinclair may have peaked with Love Generation.  In saying that Bob Sinclair is definitely the best French, house, dance DJ that I know.

This is a remix album much in the same vein as Ministry Of Sound albums where each song blends into the next and is perfect for those Saturday nights where you just need a beat going on and on and don’t want it to stop for 80 minutes.  One can just imagine a bunch of teenage girls listening to this album in the back of a limousine going to their school ball paying a friend to buy alcohol for them. Considering that Sinclair is 40 years old, it is quite an achievement to still be able to relate to the younger generation.

There is only so much an artist can do when sampling songs, or what Bob Sinclair calls it; ‘extrapolations’.  And when the only photo in the CD sleeve is Sinclair wearing a dinner jacket with no shirt there is only one assumption you can make….he’s French. 4 out of 10.

Richard Hawley – Lady’s Bridge

Richard Hawley is an English singer/songwriter who has had a tough life and has the tortured lyrics to prove it.  He toured with Brit-band Pulp in the late 90’s which actually helped him clean up his act after getting addicted to the drink and drugs.  He then started a successful solo career leading to Lady’s Bridge, which is his 5th studio album to date.  Hawley is highly respected by fellow musicians and has contributed to a variety of albums and tours including Nancy Sinatra, R.E.M, All Saints and Gwen Stefani.

First single, Tonight The Streets are Ours, reached number 40 on the UK charts and is definitely the stand out track of the album.  That being said, almost any song would have fit perfectly on the Trainspotting soundtrack and every song is unmistakably English.  For an Australian audience this isn’t always a good thing but if you are in the mood to just let the music flow and rather feel it then hear it, this album is perfect.  6 out of 10.

Elefant Traks and New World Artists presents The Three Strikes Tour: the triple billed hip hop tour of the year featuring Urthboy, The Tongue and Hermitude.

Urthboy’s brand new album The Signal has so far been a feature record on Triple J, Groove FM (Perth), PBS and flogged on FBi and a host of other networks. The lead single We Get Around has been play-listed on radio and television across the country. Urthboy’s live show unleashes charisma, good vibes and energy by the truckload, with fellow Herd MC Ozi Batla joining him on mic duties.

The Tongue has been in constant demand since appearing with his Bad Education EP in 2006. Though only 5 tracks deep, two were played endlessly on Triple J whetting the appetites of hip hop fans all over Australia for his debut LP. That LP is titled Shock and Awe and it will drop jaws when it’s released in September. The Tongue is one of, if not the hottest new talents in the hip hop scene and is aided by the phenomenal talents of DJ Skoob (current NSW DMC champ).

Hermitude are highly respected and lauded producers of hip hop breaks and instrumental music, with releases available worldwide and the likes of DJ Krush counted as fans. Their brand new EP is titled The Rare Sightings, written on their 2006 tour to destinations such as Japan, Norway, Spain, England and America. With an upbeat live show and exquisite musicianship, Hermitude deliver an animated and charming performance that is un-missable.

All three artists will be celebrating brand new releases and each artist will headline separate shows, so stay tuned to find out the running order at each show.

Hermitude – Urthboy – The Tongue
The Three Strikes Tour Dates

Friday 26 October - Rosemount Hotel, North Perth
Saturday 27 October – Dunsborough Hotel, Dunsborough
Sunday 28 October - Swan Basement, North Fremantle

Tickets on sale this Thursday 30 August.

Something For Kate – The Murmur Years

Something For Kate are one of the most popular and enduring Australian rock bands of the 1990’s and 2000’s, so a 2 disc best of album should be the perfect way to show off the talents of Paul Dempsey, Stephanie Ashworth and Clint Hyndman.  And that it is.  Covering songs from their 5 albums, 2 EP’s, covers of Blondie, Midnight Oil, Bruce Springsteen, The Clash and a brand new song, this best of has it all.

Every song on this album could stand up for itself but to have them all together on two discs just proves the musical power of this band. The fact that they are uniquely Australian should be treasured by the Australian music lover as the band have never tried to sound like another band or be “in” fashion.  Paul Dempsey’s lyrics have always sounded tortured and sometimes his scratchy voice takes some getting used to but if you are in the right mood, then it can be the perfect sound.

Although a best of album can sometimes mean that the band is on their last legs, the band has assured the public this is not the case.  The quality and quantity of the songs on the album justify the need for a best of album and the band were involved throughout the process so it was not just a record company executive making the calls.  This is also a way a band can re-invigorate themselves and possibly start the process of going in a new direction.  If this is the case than it will be interesting to see what happens in the future for Something For Kate. 8.5 out of 10.

Editors – An End Has A Start

For those that haven’t heard of Editors, they are a four piece indie rock band from Birmingham, England in the same musical vein as Snow Patrol, Joy Division and even early U2. Their sophomore album, An End Has A Start comes with a lot of praise from the UK where it reached number 1 on the UK charts.  After the worldwide success of Snow Patrol and especially after the Grey’s Anatomy sponsored song Chasing Cars, it would be easy to judge Editors as just another band trying to cash in on what is hot at the moment.  The difference is that Editors frontman Tom Smith has the vocal and lyric writing talent to prove that they are their own band.

The album was produced by Grammy award winning producer Jacknife Lee, who has worked in the past with such artists as U2, Green Day, Beck and Bloc Party and will soon be working on Bob Dylan and REM’s new albums.  The result is and rich sounding album that sounds like English indie-rock without being overtly English.  The only worrying aspect of this music is that if the industry is flooded with Snow Patrol copycats, Editors may get lost in the bunch and forgotten about.

The album as a whole does struggle sometimes to keep its quality high but songs such as first single Smokers Outside The Hospital Door, An End Has A Start, Bones and Escape The Nest are definitely highlights.  If you are into the softer indie rock than give this record a try otherwise maybe wait until the next album from Editors which hopefully will see a mature band shine.  6.5 out of 10.

Damien Leith – Where We Land

If you don’t count the quickly put together and money-grabbing album The Winner’s Journey, this is really the debut album from the 2006 Australian Idol winner Damien Leith. 9 of the 11 songs on the album were written or co-written by Leith with help from such artists as Alex Lloyd and James Roche (from Bachelor Girl).  The bonus song on the album is the traditional Irish song Danny Boy which suits just about any Irish sounding singer (or any drunk group).

No matter how the music sounds, the two things that any Australian Idol winner has against them is the fact that they will always be labeled as the Australian Idol winner and that past winners have not had much luck commercially or artistically after 1 album.  Leith has some quality songs on this album and shows off his now famous falsetto in songs such as All I Want Is You, Blew It All Away and Danny Boy but can the public see past his Idol achievements.

Most of the album does sound like an average Alex Lloyd album but first single 22 Steps is quite original and worthy of a nod to Leith’s voice and the album’s production team.  Where We Land will still probably sell a million copies but critical acclaim will probably escape it, something that has happened to past Australian Idols and most probably future Australian Idols.  Sorry but the album doesn’t get a “Touchdown” from me.  5.5 out of 10.

Grinspoon – Alibis and Other Lies

For Alibis and Other Lies, Grinspoon have departed the pop road they were traveling on in recent albums and have returned to producer Ramesh Sathiah, who produced their early EP’s Licker Bottle Cosy and The Green Album.  It was widely reported that the recording of this album was interrupted when singer Phil Jamieson entered rehab due to an addiction to Ice.  Jamieson has discussed how his addiction caused him to have an affair and steal from his bandmates but musically the band sounds as strong as ever.

There are still acoustic based songs on the album (Minute By Minute, Leave It, Find Your Own Way) but many of the songs are very reminiscent of the sound created on their first album Guide To Better Living.  Black Tattoo, Outside Looking In, Living In the City and Gun For Hire all show the trademark Pat Davern heavy guitar that dominated the Grinspoon sound of the 90’s.

It is promising that the album debuted on the ARIA charts at number 2 but if Grinspoon believe they can keep their early fans that love the rockier sound as well as their newer fans that love the pop sounds, ala Chemical Heart, then they are destined for failure.  Alibis and Other Lies is a great transition album for the band to get back to the rock sound but the next album will need to all or nothing.  6.5 out of 10.

Smashing Pumpkins – Zeitgeist

The Smashing Pumpkins 6th commercially released album is a return to the more guitar driven sounds of early Pumpkins material and as a result is a much better album to listen to than the electronic driven Adore and Machina.  Although this album is stated as a Smashing Pumpkins album, the only original band members are Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlain.  This really only effects the live concerts as it is common knowledge that Billy Corgan recorded almost all of the guitar and bass parts for past Smashing Pumpkins records anyway.

The drumming on the album is superb and Jimmy Chamberlain really shows the listener why he is still in the Pumpkins while James Iha and Darcy Wretsky are not.  The drumming on the ten minute epic United States was done in one take, while most other songs prove that Chamberlain is still one of the most powerful drummers in rock music.

Of course there are the usual dark lyrics from Corgan on most of the songs, but with songs such as For God and Country and United States and with the Statue of Liberty sinking in, what could be, blood on the album cover there is also a political feel to the album.  First single Tarantula and (Come On) Let’s Go are probably the most radio friendly songs on the album, but none of the songs have the overly gothic sound that were a big part of the Pumpkins last two albums.

Overall it is quite a good album from a band that has only just survived many meltdowns in the past decade.  7 out of 10.

The line up for the second installment of the annual Wave Rock Weekender has just been announced and it looks to be a great start to the WA Music Festival season.

Making the trek to the Wave Rock Weekender this year will be none other than Australian, singer/songwriter Mia Dyson, AMP Award winners The Drones, Katalyst, Snowman, C.W. Stoneking, Hermitude, Rocco Deluca (US), Grace Barb & Sound Sista, Earthlink Sound System, Whitley, Jess McAvoy, Little Organ Trio & Dallas Frasca, while returning to the campsite for their second year in a row will be the unmissable Sunshine Brothers, Day Of The Dead and Abbe May, this time with her band The Rockin Pneumonia.

Saturday’s line up starts after the opening event of the AFL Grand Final telecast and cerebral music played for you and not at you that will help you settle in to the weird and wonderful terrain around the rock. Blues, roots, rock, pop, art-rock, country music and more.

This is no English country garden festival or sports oval event….this is a weekend long experience on the edge of the desert in Western Australia; prehistoric rock formations, eerie salt plains, shiny salmon gums, wildflowers and big, big sky. Let the music bring it alive.

On Sunday the Weekender is built up from Saturday’s inspirational artistic base to ramp up into a party to end all parties.

It will start nice and easy with soloists to gently tug you in from the surrounding camp areas into what feels like the greatest Sunday session on earth and roll through soul, blues, roots, dub and reggae to beats, breaks, hip-hop and more.

You can only buy tickets to the Wave Rock Weekender from the Soul Highway website. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Monday 27 August and are on sale now to last year’s members/patrons. If you check out www.soulhighway.com.au - this is where you will get info on entry, travel and accommodation options to make sure that having a great time is easy for every single one of you.

The Woodenelves have another reason to celebrate as they host their cocktail party at the Paddington Ale House this Sunday (August 26) – with the news they’ll be supporting Melbourne rockers Borne at two of their Perth shows next weekend.

Borne were last in WA for the Make Poverty History Concert in July and are now back for four shows.

It’s part of a national tour that follows the recent release of their highly-anticipated album, Loss of Signal.

The Woodenelves will support Borne next Friday (August 31) at the Leopold Hotel in Bicton and Saturday September 1 at Inglewood’s the Civic Hotel.

Presale tickets can be bought from the venues or on the night at the door from 8pm.

And this Sunday night, The Woodenelves will, as promised, be unveiling the Paddington Ale House’s two newest cocktails – The Woodenelf and The Purple Gorilla.

Cocktail sampling kicks off around 6.30pm.

The gig continues until 10pm, with free entry.

The first line-up for the fourth annual Southbound Festival has just been announced.

To begin with: The almighty Kings Of Leon and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Also the sophisticated grooves of Groove Armada, the genuine folk genius of The Waifs. Then there’s The Go! Team, José González, Built To Spill, Blackalicious, Girl Talk, Gotye, Lior, Midnight Juggernauts, Neville Staple’s Specials, The Mess Hall, Angus & Julia Stone and The Beautiful Girls.

And this is merely the beginning! More than 30 international, national and local acts will grace four stages at the fourth annual Southbound Festival on Saturday, January 5, at Sir Stewart Bovell Park, Busselton. Stay tuned for more artist announcements soon.

Busselton will become Southbound world from Friday, January 4 to Sunday, January 6, again with camping entertainment commencing on the Friday night, the main festival taking place on the Saturday, with campers leaving the festival site on Sunday.

The hugely popular Friday night entertainment will again offer plenty of money-can’t- buy experiences exclusive to campers, including special acoustic performances from The Waifs, The Beautiful Girls, Lior and Angus & Julia Stone, plus a groove tent, outdoor street theatre, outdoor movies, karaoke (remember Michael Franti last year?) and an open mic stage. More acts will be announced shortly.

And the main festival on the Saturday will see some of the globe’s finest purveyors of sweet sound on four stages, garnished with a colossal feast of art, culture and community at WA’s most environmentally friendly major festival.

Tickets for The Southbound Festival are $107 + booking fee, available from www.sunsetevents.com.au or Ticketek on 132 849 or at www.ticketek.com.au(.) We encourage you to pay the Optional Green Fee for an extra $2, which will be used to offset your carbon emissions to and from the festival.

Or head to Live Clothing Stores, 78 Records, Mills, Beat Music, Planet Video, Trax Music (Mandurah), Blue 62 (Busselton), Swell Sounds (Margaret River), Nob’s Musique (Bunbury), 3 Bears Bar Bottle Shop (Dunsborough) and Vibes (Albany).

Happy Camper tickets – which include two nights camping on Friday and Saturday night, plus the exclusive camping entertainment – are an extra $68 + booking fee and strictly limited, and also available from all outlets listed above. Or if your up for a bit of luxury, snap yourself up a Pampered Camper ticket, which will make it all the more cosy – arrive with your tent already set-up in a special area with bedding, towel, a welcome pack…and even a clean shower. Now, that’s the business.

Head to www.sunsetevents.com.au for more information.

Tickets go on sale Monday, September 10.

Saturday August 18th
Rosemount Hotel
Morgan & The Rising
Fools Rush In
Matt Gresham

On a perfect Perth night The Rosemount Hotel was almost full to the brim to celebrate Morgan launching her new EP (and her birthday).  The ideal way to get the night started was to play some ‘get up and dance’ music and Matt Gresham was just what the doctor ordered.  Matt looks and plays a little like Xavier Rudd and he was able to connect with the audience straight away.  With ‘Mr Pringles’ on harmonica and Matt on guitar and step drums, every song got more and more audience members up and dancing.

The energy of Matt Gresham was hard to follow on with for Fools Rush In as they played their brand of pop/rock/punk.  A few sound and timing issues did not help their cause and the audience lost a little interest in the music but for a young band Fools Rush In definitely handled themselves well.  Playing a mixture of soft and loud, fast and slow songs showed that they have a variety of sounds that they may need to start to focus on.

With an audience of fans, family and friends, Morgan and her band The Rising were very excited to play a bunch of new and old songs.  Morgan has played acoustically around Perth for quite a while now and it showed with her comfortableness on stage and her musical ability.  The band definitely puts a punch to some songs when compared to the acoustic versions and Richo, Rob and Jesse all seemed as comfortable with the songs as Morgan was herself.  There were two separate points in the show that Morgan played acoustically and, although this probably should have been just done once, the crowd loved it.  It is obvious that Morgan has a lot of potential and a bright future ahead of her and even if it a while to eventuate she certainly had a Happy Birthday on this night.

Fools Rush In

Morgan

Morgan

Tuesday August 14th
Llama Lounge
Leena
Jess McAvoy

The Llama Bar is just another busy Subiaco night club on weekends but starting this week it has decided to try and support local original music and become The Llama Lounge mid-week. Every Tuesday the Llama Lounge will host original music, stand up comedy, quiz nights with food from 6pm, shows from 8pm and free entry! To start it all off Leena and Jess McAvoy contribute their acoustic skills to Subiaco’s new original music venue.

Jess McAvoy explained to a growing audience that she had just returned from the eastern states and had a new album and plenty of new songs to show off. In between songs Jess tried to joke with the crowd but most were eating their pancake thin pizza and drinking their Heinekens, so she recommended that everyone drink a lot more. Back in Perth, Jess explained that she was helping her family out and working at the family’s café and it had even caused her to write a song called Cake which she had finished writing only 30 minutes before the gig. The audience was getting bigger and bigger and therefore louder and louder so Jess started playing louder and louder. For a gig with a difficult audience Jess McAvoy handled it really well and showed that she has a talent that should be appreciated by all of Perth.

Next up was singer/songwriter Leena and her guitar sidekick Clem. With an extensive back catalogue of original songs and some covers that perfectly fit her style Leena played with vigor and confidence. The crowd seemed a bit more appreciative to Leena and Clem and even after a short wardrobe malfunction and a short intermission the crowd was a healthy size. It was explained that most of Leena’s new songs had only been played by her guitarist Clem through email between the two and that tonight was the first time they had played a lot the songs together. Considering this, the songs sounded fantastic and the highlight for many was the cover of Neil Finn’s Sinner. The Llama Lounge had produced a great midweek night of original Perth music and hopefully Perth audiences will support it in the upcoming weeks.

Jess McAvoy

Leena

Leena