Perth Music

The West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival will again deliver the finest collection of blues, roots, soul, rock, R&B, country and world acts from across the globe on Saturday, April 18.

And joining the festivities down amongst the pines on the beautiful Fremantle Esplanade Reserve is the axe-wielding wizard that is Jason Mraz. Mraz is no stranger to the Blues ’n’ Roots, making his WA debut at 2008’s festival. Since then he has exploded into the public consciousness with his album (We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.) selling more than 100,000 copies in Australia alone – the tenth highest selling album of 2008. Three 2009 Grammy Award nominations later and Mraz is truly en route to international stardom.

Also making the journey west for the sixth annual Blues ’n’ Roots is the now world-acclaimed Augie March. It’s been a long and crazy ride for these Melbourne visionaries – from poetic obscurity to the top of the charts. We warmly welcome Augie March to their debut West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival.

Joining our most eclectic line-up yet, crammed into one value-for-money day, is WA’s most acclaimed suburban tunesmith Bob Evans. This is a rare appearance for the loveable lad, who is currently bunkered down in Nashville working on the follow-up to his 2006 ARIA Award winning album Suburban Songbook. Hear his next anthems before anyone else!

Minnesota native Charlie Parr plays the blues like he lives it. So it’s no surprise he’s the next international to join the festival. With a fine pedigree of influences – from Charlie Patton to Dave Van Ronk – Parr works his resonator guitar and fretless banjo like a man possessed. Be privy to the magic, right in the heart of Fremantle.

New Zealand has an outstanding legacy of punching above its weight in bands – and Little Bushman is no exception. Inspired by the blues rock greats – Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and The Who – and including a handful of the Fat Freddys Drop gang, this is a band not to be missed.

And adding the spice to this final announcement for the sixth annual West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival is Melbourne’s acclaimed Labjacd. This dynamic nine-piece outfit have been making a big splash lately with their exhilarating mix of old school hip hop, Cuban salsa, jazz and Andean folk music. And with a new album in the works be the first to hear the new material, only at the Blues ’n’ Roots.

This mighty fine list of talent joins The John Butler Trio, Missy Higgins, Zappa Plays Zappa, Paul Kelly, Easy Star All-Stars, Ben Kweller, Tony Joe White, Blue King Brown, Seasick Steve, Eric Bibb, The Special Beat, Luka Bloom, Blues Traveler, C.W. Stoneking & The Primitive Horn Orchestra, Little Red, Ruthie Foster, Kev Carmody, Rodney Crowell, Whitley, Kora and Mama Kin.

Bacardi have just announced the upcoming release of the eagerly awaited EP from this year’s Bacardi Express headliners Groove Armada. The EP is available to adult music fans via the B-LIVE Share application that can be found at www.bacardi.com. Remixes of one of the EP tracks, ‘Drop The Tough’, came courtesy of Australian Electronica duo Van She Tech and Brazilian dance duo The Twelve’s.

The EP will be delivered through an innovative online sharing mechanic called Bacardi B-LIVE Share. Bacardi B-LIVE Share is a pioneering online application encouraging and rewarding consumers who share music from Groove Armada’s new EP with their own online communities.  Sharing can take place through the site and widgets that can be integrated into social networking environments. The more consumers share, the more tracks from the EP are released to them. Additionally, Australian users have the chance to win a VIP experience with Groove Armada onboard the Bacardi Express this March – see www.bacardi.com for details.

B-LIVE Share is a pioneering application, as it empowers sharing as the future model for music content distribution. Sharing music via this method is legal because the rights owners — the artists, Bacardi B-LIVE Records and the publisher — are all compensated for the downloads and shared files.

The EP release highlights an eight month first-of-its-kind collaboration between the premium spirit brand Bacardi and the music group. In April 2008, Bacardi announced a ground-breaking global music agreement with Groove Armada. Groove Armada side-stepped music industry tradition and worked with Bacardi in touring, recording, and producing Bacardi B-LIVE — the global experiential marketing programme, which reaches its climax in March this year when they jump onboard Australia’s Bacardi Express.

The online sharing application is available now through to March 1st, when the EP will be available via commercial digital release.

In a treat for the fan of the beat, two of Australia’s favourite hip hop acts are celebrating a huge 2008 by joining together for a massive 09. Long time west coast kings Downsyde team up with new prince Drapht, for what will prove to be a tour of royal proportions, with both acts taking their current albums out on the road for a very extensive national jaunt.It’s the largest tour either act has taken on for years, and to make sure it’s something really special the longtime Syllabollix Crew members are locked up together in a rehearsal room cooking up a combined set that’s going to knock people’s socks off. With the collection of killer cuts from their back catalogue and a long history of working together, “City Brothers Tour” will be a 16 legged beast that is going to bring the thumpin’ jams like no party before.

Very special guest at almost every show is festival favourite Pez - heading out on his largest tour yet!

Tickets go on sale this Tuesday 27 January.

Downsyde & Drapht City Brothers Tour Dates:
With special guest Pez*
*Pez not appearing in Byron Bay and at all WA shows

Thur 5th March - Del Plaza, Southport
Fri 6th March – QUT, Brisbane
Sat 7th March – The Woombye Pub, Sunshine Coast
Sun 8th March - Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay*
Wed 11th March - Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour
Thur 12th March - Woodport Inn, Erina
Fri 13th March - The Black Friday Oball – The Bar On The Hill, Newcastle University
Sat 14th March - Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Sun 15th March - Reverb 09 @ Waves Towradgi Beach Hotel
Wed 18th March - Roi Bar, Albury
Thur 19th March – ANU, Canberra
Fri 20th March – The Hi Fi, Melbourne
Sat 21st March - The Pub, Bendigo
Sun 22nd March – Ruby’s Lounge, Belgrave
Tue 24th March - Republic Bar, Hobart
Thur 26th March - Hotel New York, Launceston
Fri 27th March - Fowlers Live, Adelaide
Wed 1st April – The Foundry, Cannington*
Thur 2nd April Prince of Wales, Bunbury*
Fri 3rd April & Sat 4th April - Rosemount Hotel, Perth*
Sun 5th April - Railway Hotel, North Fremantle*

Saturday 24th January 2009
Supreme Court Gardens, Perth

It was that time of year again for Perth to look and sound like a little slice of Jamaica and even though the attendance was down from last year there was still a nice turnout for the premiere Raggae festival of Perth. There were plenty of dancing, smiles and just happy people all around Supreme Court Gardens and with the river, the Bell Tower and the new Perth Ferris Wheel as a back drop, it was definitely the place to be.

A band that formed over 40 years ago in Jamaica had the growing crowd excited that they had arrived early and as soon as their most recognisable song started to play, they controlled the stage. That band was Inner Circle and that song was Bad Boys, from the movie of the same name and the TV show COPS. Their sound and passion have not diminished in time and it was a great start to the day.

Next up were a band that you can’t help but fall in love with every time that hear one of their songs, Arrested Development. There were plenty of dancers on stage for Arrested Development and the band are still as political as ever celebrating the recent inauguration of Barack Obama. Hits such as Mr Wendal, Tennessee and People Everyday were all played and brought a lot of the people in the crowd back to the 1990’s.

After a break that many people used to get a drink or to try and find some shade to rest, Shaggy’s band came on stage and played a drawn out intro. Shaggy then arrived and, like he has done for many years, talked to all the ladies in the crowd and got everybody to put their hands in the air like they just don’t care. Even though it did seem at times that Shaggy talked a lot more than he actually sang, he did sing a great set including Mr Boombastic, It Wasn’t Me, Angel and In The Summertime. He also spent some time with the microphone down his pants.

After playing at last year’s Raggamuffin with his band UB40, Ali Campbell was flying solo this year but with a set as good as today’s you almost couldn’t tell. Campbell took control of the stage and was quite impressive for a 50 year old. He played great hits including Would I Lie To You, Can’t Help Falling In Love, Kingston Town and of course Red, Red Wine.

What could possibly follow a classic, reggae inspired 50 year old singing classic tunes but a classic reggae 60 year old singing classic reggae tunes. Eddy Grant arrived on stage and got on with business allowing the setting sun to make the moment even more beautiful than one would expect. Electric Avenue, Romancing The Stone, War Party, I Don’t Wanna Dance and Gimme Hope Jo’anna were all part of Grant’s impressive set.

After another short break, the headliner of the day Ziggy Marley arrived on stage with a smile on his face and a swagger in his step. The oldest son of Bob Marley has achieved so much in his illustrious career, winning Grammy awards, being part of The Melody Makers with his siblings as well as being an accomplished solo artist. The crowd raised their Jamaican flags high above their heads, put their arms around their mates and sang along loud and proud as Marley dazzled with hits including Black Cat, Raw Riddim and True To Myself. Tonight Marley truly did bring a slice of Jamaica to Perth.

Photos thanks to Antzpantz.

It is almost impossible to overstate the importance and impact that Wiley has had on UK urban music. From UKG’s ‘Nicole’s Groove’ to being a member of Pay As You Go, Boy Better Know and, of course, Roll Deep, this enigmatic MC and prolific producer has more than earned the title of Godfather of Grime but is now perfectly placed to take the scene to new boundaries with what will no doubt be his biggest album to date. See Clear Now is the hotly anticipated new album by Wiley out January 17th. The album features a heavy-mixture of grime, house and electro-pop melodies as well as special guests including Hot Chip, Kano, Daniel Merriweather, new kid on the grime block Scorcher, Pharrell protégé Kenna, Sam Young and Mark Ronson to name a few.  Wiley caught up with Justin Middleton for this exclusive interview.

See Clear Now is Wiley’s third full length album and was released in the UK late 2008. There have been some reports of Wiley not being that happy with the album so I asked him to explain the process of creating this album and if he is happy with the final product. “What happened was that I was more like a robot on this album, I just listened to what I was told. Sometimes you have to do that to be able to see the big picture so that’s what I did. There was some stuff that I didn’t like but I did it anyway and I didn’t argue and at the end I kind of felt that there was a bad energy about the whole album. But then I listened and listened to it and realised that the album wasn’t made for my normal crowd but for a wider audience. That’s when I saw the bigger picture.”

Wiley has been given the unofficial title of the Godfather of Grime and is highly respected in the music industry with artists such as Dizzee Rascal and Kano publicly stating that he is their idol. “I said to my father that I didn’t want to be known as the Godfather of Grime because I’ve always felt that Godfather means an old man and he said to me that in music there’s Godfathers like James Brown is the Godfather of Soul, there’s Kings like Michael Jackson is the King of Pop and that being labelled like the Godfather of Grime is a very important thing and I shouldn’t just brush it aside. He said to be called a Godfather of a genre is a very powerful thing and that other people in other genres will respect me and even if they don’t like my music they will respect me. So I am trying to embrace it from that advice.”

I also asked Wiley to explain the formation of Grime music and what he thought of the genre in Australia. “I was partying in the Garage, 2-step scene and there were a lot of people that were older than me that I looked up to and a lot of people that were younger than me looking up to me. I think the Grime scene evolved from the Garage scene and kind of formed from all the people that wanted to get into Garage but weren’t able to get fully into the scene. I haven’t stopped making music for at least 5 years so when I got here to Australia I was so happy. It seems like somewhere I can take a break as well as make music at the same time. The Grime scene in Australia is small so I would love to build it up and be completely involved. I used to think you had to live in London to do what I do but I’ve come to realise that I can live anywhere in the world especially now with the Internet the way it is.”

See Clear Now is out now. For more information on Wiley visit www.myspace.com/eskiboywiley

Godfather Of Grime 2009 Australian Tour Dates:
Fri 16th January - Rosemount Hotel, Perth
Sat 17th January - Metro Theatre, Sydney
Wed 21st January - Meche Nightclub, Canberra
Thur 22nd January - Prince Of Wales, Melbourne
Fri 23rd January - Adelaide Uni Bar, Adelaide
Sat 24th January - Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast
Sun 25th January - Zoo Nightclub, Brisbane

In anticipation of the upcoming broadcast on ABC and subsequent national DVD release, the Something in the Water documentary team presents a two-disc compilation and remarkable showcase of the music that inspired the film.

Featuring a diverse array of the bands who were and (alas) were not showcased in the film, this very first (and hopefully not last) extensive Western Australian music compilation is testament to our rich musical past, present and future.

The Triffids, Little Birdy, the Stems, the Sleepy Jackson and the Scientists, as well Eskimo Joe, Snowman, Ammonia and the Panics are just a few of the homegrown produce included that has made our scene what it is today.

So join us in celebrating a piece of WA music history with those bands that have done us proud.

Sat 31st January - Rosemount Hotel, North Perth
Doors open 8pm

With performances from…
Cinema Prague
Sugar Army
Abbe May And The Rockin’ Pneumonia
Sex Panther

Tickets available at the door.

Perth’s own Little Birdy have a new single Brother coming out soon and PerthMusic have it here for you all to check out.

It’s a soft, unique tune that may give a glimpse at what to expect on Little Birdy’s forthcoming third album due early 2009. It features Australia’s most iconic talent Paul Kelly on Harmonica and back up vocals.

Check it out and let me know what you think in the comments.

Little Birdy - Brother.mp3 (Right-click and save as)

Lykke Li can’t stay still. Her life and her career are relentlessly pulled forward by an impatient desire to see what’s just around the corner, her music full of ideas about moving on and breaking free. Just 18 months ago she was complaining to her mentor, Bjorn ‘of Peter and John fame’ Yttling, that everything had gone wrong because she was 20 and still hadn’t released an album. Now 22, she’s finding that things are on track. With the release of Youth Novels in Sweden through her own label LL Recordings in January 2008, she’s been surprised and maybe a little embarrassed to find that the world is falling at her feet. She’s just the kind of person people can’t help falling in love with. The album Youth Novels, in all its minimalist brilliance, has just been released in Australia and Li has just completed touring Oz playing the Falls Festival and Southbound.  Lykke Li spoke to Justin Middleton for this exclusive interview.

Click here to download the podcast of the entire interview. (6:31 - 0.7Mb)

I asked Lykke Li to give us a rundown of how the album came together and formed. “I wrote songs and then meeting Bjorn (Yttling) at one of my shows allowed me to have somebody to bounce ideas to. Meeting him was definitely the most important part of the album. I kind of wrote songs on piano and then took them into the studio and wrote re-wrote them. Then we recorded it bit by bit for two months.”

“We didn’t have a lot of time for recording in the first year so it only about once a month so all together it was about two months recorded but over a longer period. It was very frustrating and seemed like life was passing by.”

Playing two festivals in Australia, I asked Lykke Li if she enjoys music festivals and if she had played many in Europe. “I did festivals all of last summer in Europe. I like festivals as long as they are good festivals but I do my best for every show that I put on. I really enjoy playing live.”

I also asked Lykke Li if she thought there were any artists or bands that influence her and her music. “I don’t think any artists actually influence me. I don’t know that many contemporary artists and when I made the album I was listening to a lot of old music. And I still listen to old music. I listened to a lot of music growing up but I’d need to be a psychologist to know if any of that influenced my music now. I mean that could be as influential as running into a tree or fainting.”

“I’ve been on tour constantly for the past year so I haven’t really had any spare time to even think about new songs or even my next album.”

Youth Novels is out now. For more info visit www.lykkeli.com

Lykke Li can also be heard collaborating with Kanye West and Santogold on an upcoming album by NASA (North America South America) which is a collective of like minded artists who got together to make great music with heavy Brazilian / favela funk influences. She has also released a remix/cover of King’s Of Leon’s Knocked Up.

Knocked Up (Lykke Li Remix)

N.A.S.A ft.Kanye West, Santogold & Lykke Li - Gifted

After their sold out Australian tour in August 2008, Billions Australia are pleased to announce the return of Death Cab for Cutie to Australian shores for a run of summer dates this February. Kicking off the tour with an outdoor show in Fremantle, Death Cab for Cutie are then set to perform in intimate theatre surrounds in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

The year just past saw Death Cab for Cutie’s sixth studio album Narrow Stairs, debut at Number 6 on the ARIA Album Chart and an impressive Number 1 debut on the US Billboard Chart. Narrow Stairs is rapidly approaching Gold sales (500,000) in their home country. After touring Australia last August, Death Cab for Cutie toured North America with guitarist and song writing great; Neil Young, toured the UK and Europe and capped off 2008 with two Grammy Award Nominations for Best Rock Song for “I Will Possess Your Heart” & Best Alternative Music Album for “Narrow Stairs“.

With the Grammy Award recipients announced on February 8 in Los Angeles, that same month sees Death Cab for Cutie take off for a string of shows in Japan before heading to Australia.

Tickets for Death Cab for Cutie’s February 2009 tour go on sale Friday 9 January.

Tour Dates:
Thur 19th February - Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle (Licensed/18+)
Sun 22nd February – Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide (Licensed and All Ages)
Mon 23rd February – Forum Theatre, Melbourne (18+)
Tue 24th February – Forum Theatre, Melbourne (18+)
Thur 26th February – Enmore Theatre, Sydney (Licensed and All Ages)
Sat 28th February – Tivoli Theatre, Brisbane (18+)

Saturday 3rd January 2009
Sir Stewart Bovell Park, Busselton

After a warm, dusty, uncomfortable camping night it was time to start Day 2 of Southbound and with the first bands on stage around 11am there wasn’t much time to wake up properly or shower for most. Violent Soho were the first band on the main stage that had not been used on Day 1 and they made the most of the early time slot. There was a small crowd watching the Queensland youngsters but they got a slap in the face to start the day in the grunge variety. Their diehard fans were moshing at the front but most fans sat back admiring the band and nursed their hangovers from the day before.

Also on early, French cutie Soko drew a huge crowd to the undercover Other stage. Soko is currently a Triple J darling with her acoustic I Will Never Love You More so many fans arrived filled more with curiosity then a strong knowledge of Soko’s songs. Soko played the ukulele, cried while singing and swore like a sailor and still seemed sincere and cute. For those that were curious, the French singer impressed and undoubtedly sold a few albums with this performance.

Up next on the undercover stage were Aussie youngster duo Dash and Will. These cute 18 year olds only drew a quarter of the crowd that Soko had on the same stage but those that were there had a lot of fun. There was some sound issues at the start of the set but the girls showed professionalism and talent taking turns playing guitar, singing and even some interpretive dancing. Dash and Will’s single Pick You Up got the crowd moving and the strength in the live show and musical talent definitely points to keeping an eye on these girls in the future.

A definite highlight for many on Day 2 was on next on the main stage, Santogold. A large crowd waited in anticipation for Santi White to come on stage but had to wait while her DJ mixed and scratched a great set for at least 20 minutes. Santi then walked on stage accompanied by two backup singer/dancers dressed head to toe in gold sparkles and black hoods. The very popular L.E.S.Artistes was played early on and got the thousands in the crowd dancing and moving around. Santi smiled throughout her set and genuinely seemed to be having fun and enjoying herself which also created a great vibe for the audience.

Swedish singer Lykke Li was up next and even though there was a big crowd watching her, it took a little while for the crowd to really get into her music. Much like the audience for Soko, it seemed many were there out of curiosity and didn’t know quite what to expect from the Swede. Lykke Li performed very well, banging drums, dancing around crazily and singing with passion but the initial quirkiness took the crowd a while to respond. Once Li’s single I’m Good, I’m Gone was played the crowd seemed to click and started to appreciate the singer and her music and got completely into it for the rest of her set. Although quirky at times Lykke Li is another artist to watch in the near future.

Canadian sisters Tegan and Sara had many fans in attendance and they didn’t disappoint. Their mid afternoon set put some indie rock back into Southbound and the high touring schedule they have had showed with the tightness of their singing and music. Without much banter, the sisters got on with the show and let their music do all the talking for them. At the same time on the smaller stage UK indie band Mystery Jets arrived dressed in colourful clothing and even more colourful personalities. The crowd watching Mystery Jets wasn’t huge but as soon as the band started playing Young Love everyone there started dancing.

The Kooks have had a lot of great press in the UK and all the hype may have caused a lot of people to see if they deserved it. Again there wasn’t a lot of interaction between the band and the crowd but The Kooks were tight on stage today and proved they are a good band. Naive was the big crowd pleaser but most people probably don’t remember many other songs that they played.

It was now time for the business end of the festival and a lot of great live bands were scheduled to be on either at the same time of straight after each other. Faker have a great live reputation and they proved themselves today to be one of the best Aussie live bands at the moment. Frontman Nathan Hudson did his usual running around frantically on stage looking for anything to climb on and creating an electrifying show. Hurricane, Sleepwalking and This Heart Attack created the biggest response from the crowd and pumped up everyone enough to get excited for the rest of the night.

Another great Aussie live band were also on in the undercover stage with Brisbane’s The Grates. It didn’t take long for The Grates to get the large crowd excited and frontwoman Patience Hodgson started her almost trademark jumping up and down from the get-go. Two songs into the set and Hodgson even climbed down from the stage and into the crowd creating a real buzz in the undercover tent. Aw Yeah, Burn Bridges and 19 20 20 were crowd pleases but an unfortunate jumping accident left Hodgson with a badly sprained ankle and had to leave the festival in an ambulance.

Karnivool had not played in Perth for a while and with a new album out very soon, fans were packed to see the hard rockers on the smaller stage. Cote opened up their set and got the moshpit moving, followed by a new song and then Shutterspeed. There were a couple new songs in the set but unfortunately they did not mix well with the older heavy songs. It will be interesting to hear how they sound when recorded and also how they sound after being played live a few more times. Themata and Roquefort ended the set and with Franz Ferdinand playing on the bigger stage almost the end of the weekend.

Headliners Franz Ferdinand took to the main stage with a huge crowd screaming their name. Do You Want To was a great way to start the set and a fantastic way to get the crowd even more excited. Frontman Alex Kapranos controlled the crowd with ease and had them eating out of the palm of his hand from the start. With a new album only a month or two away Franz Ferdinand played a few new songs with great reception. Their live show was good but not great and wasn’t quite the same level that The Hives had set the night before but Take Me Out was definitely the song of the festival.

For more photos of Day 2 click here (Thanks to Noodlez)