Perth Music

Well the Australian Record Industry Association Awards have come and gone for another year and luckily it haven’t turned into the Brownlow Award yet with an hour long red carpet special or taking itself too seriously. Here a few thoughts I had on the night:

- Hamish & Andy actually did an ok job at co-hosting and only seemed to be trying a bit too hard a couple times.
- Gabriella Cilmi needs to learn how to talk. She had 6 chances at it and failed each time.
- I’m happy Sam Sparro didn’t win anything.
- Faker = Awesome.
- The Living End = Always awesome.
- It was weird that they invited Axle Whitehead back and then every chance they could, reminded everyone what he did to get in trouble 2 years ago.
- Well done to The Presets. Album of the Year, Best Dance Release, Best Group & 3 Artisan Awards.
- Seems Nick Cave doesn’t really care about the ARIA’s at all anymore.
- The Panics the only WA winners with best Adult Contemporary Album.
- Don’t really understand why some of the presenters were chosen: Axle, Jabba, Ruby Rose, Myf, Ricki-Lee.

The Awards were run very professionally and tight and the organisers should be extremely happy with the outcome. My thoughts are that hopefully next year it can be a little rougher around the edges.

All the winners can be found here - www.ariaawards.com.au

OK, so I sat down to write a review of the Pnau and Van She gig I went to last Wednesday (which was great by the way, it had fantastic songs, crazy people in strawberry and dove outfits, huge balloons bouncing around the whole club and a tonne of little instruments used instead of samples). What I ended up writing and seemed to notice more and more at the show was the crowd and I guess just the state of the youth in 2008.

What started as an eighties revival in music and in fashion has started to blend with some nineties influences and kids just don’t know what genre they are into anymore. People wear fluero and hypercolour shirts next to their friend that is wearing a plain white t-shirt labeled “Fuck Fluero” and don’t get me started on popped collars. It does seem funny that clothing a lot of twenty-somethings would have in their wardrobe from primary school is now in again and sold at shops for such a high price, wear and tear already included. There are still groups of different styles in the room but they have definitely become less and less obvious and styles are mixing together. Skater styles have mixed with mod and goth styles to create emo and now even more Frankenstein styles are getting created by the youth unknowingly.

Another thing that was quite obvious in the room was that at least one out of every three people had a camera and didn’t mind taking a photo every 5 seconds. Most of the time the photos were not taken of what was happening on stage but just simple photos of themselves and their friends, holding the camera with one hand slightly above their head and a silly pose on their face. What started as a fun thing to do on MySpace has become essential to the youth of today going anywhere night or day for MySpace or Facebook or their blog or Flickr or their MSN Messenger display pic or their laptop wallpaper…you get the point.

Mobile phones were out in force that night as well. I think it would be safe to say every single person in The Capitol had a mobile phone. And they weren’t afraid of using them either. You could see people smsing their friend that was on the other side of the room, back and forth all night. There are also no need for lighters at gigs any more for the slow loving songs as mobile phones do a good enough job apparently. I’ve even seen videos of flames that people can download off the internet onto their mobiles so that the flame plays on the screen at concerts.

Mmmmm anyway Pnau and Van She were awesome.

There are some great Perth artists playing at the 2007 Big Day Out Tour including Bob Evans, The Sleepy Jackson, Little Birdy, John Butler Trio and a band that has almost climbed to the top of the tree: Eskimo Joe.

In fact the 2007 Big Day Out has got more Perth artists touring nationally than any other year.
2006 only saw End Of Fashion doing the national Big Day Out tour,
2005 - John Butler Trio, Eskimo Joe and Little Birdy,
2004 - The Sleepy Jackson,
2003 - Jebediah and The Waifs,
2002 - Eskimo Joe,
2001 - None,
2000 - Jebediah,
1999 - Jebediah,
1997 - None,
1996 - Ammonia,
1995, 1994, 1993, 1992 - None.

Of course there are local stages at each Big Day Out and these have local bands relevant for each city. But looking at bands that are doing the entire Big Day Out tour in 2007 shows that it is a milestone for Perth Music. It has been acknowledged by many that bands coming out of Perth have been world class in the past few years and it is great to see the a world class music festival acknowledge it as well.

The lineup order for the Big Day Out is always criticized and the band that some people believe should headline is not always the same band that other people believe should headline. But given the lineup that is up on the Big Day Out website (www.bigdayout.com) and Perth artists are quite prominent.

Eskimo Joe are listed 5th in the official line up which is above international acts such as The Streets, The Killers, My Chemical Romance and Kasabian. This is no mean feat for a band lucky to get a good crowd to a free gig at a Murdoch Uni open day only a few years ago. The past 12 months have seen the Freo lads (Kav Temperley, Stu Macleod and Joel Quartermain) break through and make their mark on the Australian music scene. Their third full length album (Black Fingernails, Red Wine) went to number 1 on the ARIA charts and their single by the same name won this years ARIA Award for Single Of The Year.

John Butler Trio are highly regarded among the public and their musical peers. One of only a few socially active, political bands left in Australian music, they also have the musical talent to back it up. John Butler has the ability to sit in a group of 10 or on stage in front of thousands and hold every person’s attention by simply playing guitar. Just last weekend the Trio busked at the Fremantle markets as a surprise gig for free, something they did many years ago just to earn a little extra cash.

It is also great to see Little Birdy and The Sleepy Jackson playing at the same Big Day Out. Siblings Katy Steele (Little Birdy) and Luke Steele (The Sleepy Jackson) are in two of the most successful Perth bands at the moment and I am sure they will cherish being able to play at a festival where they can also watch the other play at. The Steele family is regarded by many as Perth music royalty with Katy and Luke’s father Rick Steele, a Perth blues music legend that actually had a top ten hit in his native New Zealand.

Bob Evans (Kevin Mitchell from Jebediah) can’t put a foot wrong this year and has been rewarded with his first solo Big Day Out tour. After getting signed to EMI and releasing his critically acclaimed sophomore album Suburban Songbook, he also won an ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Artist. He also has a new digital EP coming out soon of covers that should tide fans over until Jebediah start recording again.

With these fantastic Perth artists touring nationally alongside the extraordinary existing lineup (Tool, Muse, Jet, The Violent Femmes, The Streets, The Killers, Scribe, Evermore, The Presets, Something For Kate, You Am I, The Butterfly Effect and many more) and the local stage showcasing incredible local bands, the 2007 Big Day Out looks set to be a summer highlight for music lovers.

Congratulations to Bernard Fanning and Eskimo Joe for winning the Album of the Year and Single of the Year ARIA Awards last night. It was great to see the rock bands back to the top of Australian music and also Australian Hip-Hop starting to get the respect it deserves.

In my mind, this years awards really showed the evolving nature of Australian music and by looking at the nominees and winners of most categories, you can see a few trends popping up here and there.

One trend that might be finally coming to an end is Australian’s love affair with manufactured Pop. Even though 3 of the 5 nominees for Highest Selling Single were ex-Australian Idols and 1 nominee was a cover, the award went to TV Rock for Flaunt It. It was quite a surprise to see a dance song as the highest selling single of the year but a pleasant surprise as a TV show wasn’t selling the song.

The Breakthrough Artist Award is a joke at the ARIA’s and should really be replaced with Best Newcomer Award. Having a look at the nominees for Breakthrough Artist Single Award proves this with the winner (Youth Group) being together for 10 years and releasing 3 albums, nominees Hilltop Hoods starting up in 1991 and releasing 5 albums and Gyroscope forming 9 years ago and releasing 2 albums. Surely a Newcomer Award would make more sense than awarding an old band with finally breaking through.

One category that shows a need for more Australian variety is Best Male. 2 of the nominees are on a break from their usual bands (Bernard Fanning and Bob Evans), leaving Ben Lee, Dan Kelly and Pete Murray. The only usual nominees missing are Alex Lloyd and Keith Urban meaning their are only 5 male Australian artists making music at the moment and Pete Murray and Alex Lloyd really make the exact same music. There was a time when we had John Farnham, Jimmy Barnes, Paul Kelly, Diesel, Tim Finn all making incredible music that was completely Australian.

Other things from the 2006 ARIA’s to take note of are:

Best Children’s Album is still dominated by 2 nominees with The Wiggles and Hi 5 winning 10 out of the last 12 years,

Australian Hip Hop has finally started to give up copying Amercian Hip Hop and thanks to groups like The Hilltop Hoods, it sounds good to hear an Aussie accent in a Hip hop song,

Even though Human Nature finally won an ARIA after 15 unsuccessful nominations, it was quite ironic that they won an ARIA singing other people’s songs (Reach Out:The Motown Album),

Great to see Album of The Year nominees The Sleepy Jackson and Augie March getting recognised for being artistic and not necessarily popular.

I was going through some old CD’s I had the other day, one’s without labels and some that I hadn’t listened to in years. It got me thinking about the bands that just don’t quite make the impact that they should have, bands that you have big hopes for but only one or two EP’s are ever released.

Sometimes it’s better to just have the memory of the few songs released and maybe a few live performances that showed so much potential then to have some dissapointing albums that turned you off the band. One example of a band from Perth that I loved but didn’t quite achieve what I had hoped for was The Fergusons. Having only released two EP’s and a single, the band finished things in 2005 even after glowing reviews from Triple J. I’ve heard three of the original five members are starting up again but maybe with a new name so I count this as a new band.

Some other local bands that I believe ended too soon are Cartman, Love Camp 7, Spencer Tracy, Turnstyle, Beaverloop, Purrvert to name a few. I know that bands come to an end all of the time and that band members don’t always get along. But is it better for some very talented bands to end prematurely before reaching their peak than to end after their most creative period?

Let me know of bands you think ended too soon and some you think didn’t end soon enough.

In the past few years we have seen some fantastic albums that have been released by solo singers that are usually in bands or side project bands. Bernard Fanning (Powderfinger), Bob Evans (Jebediah), Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Dissociatives (Silverchair), Gwen Stefani (No Doubt), Birds Of Tokyo (Karnivool), Tim Rogers & The Temperance Union (You Am I), The Racontuers (The White Stripes), Lost Gospel (Grinspoon) are all examples and I don’t believe that they are all needed. There is usually one reason why a solo album or side project form, and it is to create something that is different to what they usually do.

The question that I pose is - Does the public force an artist to create a separate entity rather than letting a band try something different. Bernard Fanning songs are not that different from Powderfinger songs but the feeling on the album is much more acoustic and that is why they are separate entities. But why couldn’t the public accept a change from an established band? Why would it be so hard for Silverchair fans to accept a more electronic album like The Dissociatives album released by Silverchair? It’s a fear of change.

Would The Beatles have been as big if George Harrison released Sgt Peppers as a solo album or if Ringo released Yellow Submarine as a side project? Maybe not. This solo album nonsense needs to stop and bands need to stop pigeon-holing themselves and start releasing different styles of albums. And the public needs to be more accepting and open minded to bands experimenting and evolving.

By the way, when did it become common thing for the audience at a concert to use the light on their mobile phone instead of a lighter when a slow song is played?

And one last thing, Mutto absolutely murdered Eskimo Joe’s Black Fingernails, Red Wine last night on Australian Idol.

There seems to be a growing number of ‘rock’ bands that are following a formula of trends that they think makes them ‘rock’. As more and more bands follow these trends it causes rock bands to become almost as fake as engineered pop bands.

One trend that I’m getting sick of is the half mullet. The full mullet almost made a complete comeback but I think people got scared of 80’s memories so it seems that it has turned into the half-mullet. Rock bands have all got these now and I’m getting sick of it. But this isn’t quite as bad as the painted finernails. What once started as a goth and emo trend has come over to the rock bands and it’s catching on like a house on fire. Phil Jamieson, lead singer of Grinspoon and new band The Lost Gospel, was on JTV on Saturday morning and he had pink fingernails. Pink! Painted fingernails on guys just doesn’t shock people like it used to, it just looks stupid.

One final rock trend that I’m getting sick of seeing, I blame At The Drive In for. It’s the big afro on the white guitarist. Off the top of my head I can think of Gyroscope and Wolfmother in helping this trend and they need to stop. Yes rock bands had afros in the 70’s and yes 70’s rock music is making a comeback but that doesn’t mean new bands need to try and look like they have come from that era.

The formula for a rock bands image might as well be constructed from a reality show: Get 4 white guys, let three of them grow half mullets and a bit of stubble, one to grow an afro, paint their fingernails, wear op shop t-shirts (or a shirt with a skeleton on it) and ripped jeans. Record 2 songs about girls, 3 songs about drinking, 1 song about fighting, 2 really catchy songs about nothing, 1 slow song and 1 fast 2-minute song. Call them something that makes no sense but has a ring to it and something that they’ll hate having to explain for the next 5-10 years.

If you’re a rock band starting out, just be yourself because people admire individuality above all else.

OK so I need someone to explain to me how and why clubs are playing remixes of Rock music. Not pubs, but clubs. I went out on the weekend to a club and it had a coverband section and a club music section. Now I don’t know when these two genres became so entwined that they could mix and match but I don’t like it.

It just sounds wrong when an extended Tricky remix of a 50 Cent song blends into a version of Bernard Fannnings ‘Wish You Well‘ that even Bernard himself would be ashamed to put his name to. I seriously doubt that Evermore wanted a room full of 19 year old girls booty shaking to ‘It’s Too Late‘ when they wrote that song. And don’t get me started on a Doof Doof version of a Wolfmother song.

Every 2 or 3 years there’s a new club version of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit‘ which would make Kurt Cobain turn in his grave. I understand it’s a good song but to go completely against the nature of the genre is like prostituting music. It’s the same with Emo music which has come about by blending pop and punk music. Punk music started to be almost the opposite of pop music so the blend just doesn’t make sense.

Anyway it just got on my nerves.