sleepmakeswaves @ the John Curtin Bandroom, 23/12/2011

Well what can I say? After sleepmakeswaves' phenomenal show at the East Brunny earlier in the year, as soon as this show was announced I put it on the calendar and knew that it was going to take a most unfortunate set of circumstances to prevent me attending this. And yes, another fantastic show, although I was slightly disappointed by the fact that the setlist was exactly the same as last time (minus one (GREAT) song). But I had a chat to guitarist Otto Wicks-Green after the show and he explained that due to drummer Tim Adderley being very new to the band (this was only his second show), they decided to play it safe setlist-wise this time and mix it up a bit on tour next year. Which I look forward to immensely. Adderley seems like a very capable replacement for longterm drummer Will Smith; he clearly knew the material well and injected plenty of enthusiasm and his own interpretation to the sleepmakeswaves material. Although listening back, and from what I remember of the night, he played some bits a little too intensely and sort of overpowered the rest of the band, taking away from the subtle nature of the music. But yeah, he fits in well otherwise. It seemed a little strange that like last time the band played, there'd been some pretty intense things going on in my own life during the lead-up to the show, but I dunno, that kind of made the set even better. When this band is playing, you're able to totally forget whatever is happening in your own life and just immerse yourself in the epic riffs and song structure. Anyway. Great set. Can't wait till the 2012 tour. Oh, I should say that my friends and I were hanging up the back of the room and we weren't watching the stage, so I didn't have the recorder ready to go when the band started. So the first little bit of the first song is missing. But no biggie. Sound quality's a bit variable, which I attribute to me sitting down on the floor the whole night. Yep. It was that kind of gig. And also, to the idiot yelling things such as "TEN MORE SONGS!", how original. Please FOAD. Unfortunately he timed it while Alex Wilson was talking, so I guess I had to leave it in there.
SETLIST:
our time is short but your watch is slow
a gaze blank and pitiless as the sun
(hello) cloud mountain
to you they are birds, to me they are voices in the forest
now we rise and we are everywhere
we sing the body electric
in limbs and joints (extended outro!)

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

Yes, we got there late and missed most of the support acts. We saw a solid bit of Meniscus though. Can't wait to see them again and actually have the recorder out :)

Portishead @ Harvest/The Gathering Festival, 12/11/2011

Well, here it is. I couldn't believe it earlier this year when the rumours began of a festival run by AJ (of Soundwave infamy) with Portishead as the headliner (amongst a healthy selection of other amazing bands). I couldn't believe it when the festival was actually announced, confirmed, and tickets were onsale. But now it's over, and here's this recording, and it appears that I actually did see Portishead play live in Australia for the first time in 14 years.

The set itself? Everything I expected from this band, and more. If I had just one complaint, it would be that they didn't play every single song they've ever released. What I'm saying is that some people would look at the setlist and say, "Oh, they didn't play (this song), what a shame", but come on (they probably could've played a bit more from their second album though). Portishead came to Australia, and really, they just fucking delivered. There is no way anyone can legitimately complain about this set. The recording itself is listenable, but not amazing. My friends and I were a fair way back in the crowd, and there was a bit of talking going on around us. But what can you do? Here it is. Portishead, live, amazing.
SETLIST
Silence
Mysterons
The Rip
Sour Times
Magic Doors
Wandering Star
Machine Gun
Over
Glory Box
Chase the Tear
Cowboys
Threads
----Encore----
Roads
We Carry On

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

As for the rest of the day, this was my first outdoor festival with my recording gear, and for whatever reason I just wasn't really inspired to bother with it for the rest of the day. Don't get me wrong, there were some great performances that in hindsight it would have been nice to capture, but with all the wandering around and talking to friends and such that you get from a festival like this, I just couldn't be bothered to mess around with recording. Obviously, Portishead were a must though. I really hope this festival delivers again next year, because for a first-time festival in this country, it ticked pretty much all the boxes.

Bright Eyes @ The HiFi (2011-11-10)

Supported by Emma Russack and The Fuzzbirds


The first time Bright Eyes played in Melbourne was in 2005, and as good as it was, I left a little disappointed that the set list was almost entirely IWAIM songs. Having jumped on the bandwagon just after Fevers And Mirrors and being obsessed by the time Lifted came out, I was hoping for some songs from those albums. Turns out I had only to wait another 6 years to get the Bright Eyes gig of a lifetime. Last week at The HiFi Conor Oberst and his band delivered an exhaustive two and a quarter hour career spanning performance that surely was intended to please as many Melbourne Bright Eyes fans as possible. And I'm glad I recorded it! The crowd was understandably excited and talkative and so there is some noticeable chatter during quieter songs, but otherwise the recording turned out really well. Enjoy.

Setlist:
1. Four Winds
2. Old Soul Song (For The New World Order)
3. Arc Of Time (Time Code)
4. Triple Spiral
5. Something Vague
6. Landlocked Blues
7. Jejune Stars
8. Lover I Don't I Have To Love
9. Shell Games
10. Approximate Sunlight
11. Falling Out Of Love At This Volume
12. Cartoon Blues
13. Spring Cleaning
14. Take It Easy (Love Nothing)
15. Poison Oak
16. Another Travelin' Song
17. I Believe In Symmetry
18. The Calendar Hung Itself
19. Ladder Song

20. Lua
21. Gold Mine Gutted
22. Road To Joy
23. One For You, One For Me

Length: 2:15:40

Sample: Falling Out Of Love At This Volume

FLAC: http://ul.to/f1r5fylu [680MB]
MP3 (V0): http://ul.to/eb7ve6oq [201MB]

Creepshow Festival 2011 @ the Espy, 29/10/2011

Well, Saltar Hype did it again. I won't say too much review-y stuff about this since I already wrote a blog about it on my other page, but yeah. Here we go.

Anna Salen (AKA "The Super Anna Salen Brothers")
After getting a good response last year for their "Mario" theme, Daiv Morgan, Paul Risso and Shaun Scott decided to do it again this year, once again to great effect. It's great to have a recording of this - you'll hear plenty of Mario sound effects in the middle of their own songs, care of Shaun's triggers, and there's a couple of good covers of the theme music between songs. Also, watch out for a special guest drummer in Karate (Shaun played guitar). Dinner's On is fast becoming one of my favourite Anna songs, although I should say that the new (and amusingly titled) one they opened with at this show and the night before is IMMENSE.
SETLIST:
Tit Dirt
-Mario Theme 1-
Communist Rocket
-Mario Theme 2-
Dinner's On
Karate (featuring Matt Crute, hence Daiv renaming the song Karutey)
Vehicles

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

The Khyber BeltSo for the uninitiated, The Khyber Belt are basically the closest thing Melbourne has to a supergroup. Vocals, Forbes McKail, formerly of Rook. Guitar, Tyson Fish, formerly of Rook. Guitar, Guy Shenfield, formerly of Bushido. Bass, James Livesy, formerly of Sleep Parade. Drums, Alex Dinic, formerly of Bushido. Rook and Bushido have broken up, and James isn't in Sleep Parade now, so it's great to see all these musicians still doing their thing in this band, and this was only their fifth show in total, due to the fact that Forbes lives in Brisbane so they can't play together very often. Anyway. The first time I saw them it was a bit like, "FUCK YEAH! ALL THESE GUYS, AND FORBES IS SINGING, HOW GOOD IS THIS!" But now... it's like the honeymoon is over. Don't get me wrong, they're still a very good band. And it is fucking awesome that Forbes is still using THAT VOICE. But... this band isn't Rook. I know it's wrong to compare a band to the bands that their members came from, but when you've got Forbes singing, and Tyson playing guitar, you can't help but make the comparison. Pretty much what I'm saying is that in terms of the songs, SO FAR, this band isn't living up to my expectations. But it was actually a pretty good performance on the night, and the EP, on sale for the first time on this evening, isn't bad. I definitely think there's some potential here, and if they can get their shit together, they could definitely be as good as Rook in the future.
SETLIST:
(Intro on recording)
Sun
In Time You'll See
London
(unknown)
Don't Look to the Sky
We the PeopleDOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

Full Scale Revolution(recording to follow)

Engine Three SevenAnother high quality set, really the only way the Engine boys know how to play I think. Good to hear a BRAND newie in there (although it definitely sounds a bit rough; I think Casey's not even singing real words half the time) and Erasure getting its third consecutive airing. I think it's safe to say that one's back for good. Thank God! Anyway yeah, not much to say here. The recording starts straight away into their set because I was busy talking to mates and didn't realise they were so close to starting. Ah well. Also, contains lots of singing. My singing. I think I need to invest in my own magic hat or something, but goddammit I love Engine Three Seven!
SETLIST:
Hysterical Hysteria
Automatic Everything
Over Capacity
Erasure
Atmosphere
Cops
Velociraptor (BRAND NEW SONG!)
Have it All
Easy Graceful Descent

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

JericcoSo it's been quite some time now since this performance actually took place, but I do remember it quite well, because it was Jericco, and thus, it was awesome. Brent made a pretty awesome bearded lady and I don't know many other bands that could have kept the energy going at this time of night/morning (they were onstage at 1am). And Brent's solo acoustic song was cool. That's about all I've got to say really. Again, excessive singing/general excitement warning.
SETLIST:
Dahab (Remix) (not sure if that's what this is "officially" called, but yeah, it's got the Oud and the intro sounds like the recorded version, so that's how I'm gonna label it)
Rujm (Pile of Stones)
Sun
Cause and Effect
Always
No Solution No Problem
Nice to See You
Moonlight Highlights
Safe to Say
B-Song
Promises Made of Glass
Chilli
Monsters

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

Alcest @ the John Curtin Bandroom, 27/10/2011

I'd heard many good things about this Alcest band before but I never really got around to checking them out. Then they announced an Australian tour, so I thought I'd give them a long-overdue listen; turns out they're fucking awesome and I was really looking forward to this tour. I was especially glad that they announced this second show, as the first one clashed with another gig I absolutely had to attend. So here we go.

First up was Encircling Sea, a band I've seen live quite a lot over the past few years but that's OK, because they're usually pretty awesome. Still, the previous show had Nekrasov supporting; I would have rather seen him because yeah, Encircling Sea play quite often and Nekrasov barely plays at all, in fact I heard that it was going to be his last show ever. Anyway, this is about Encircling Sea, not Nekrasov. A friend of mine who's a bit more familiar with the band than I am, informs me that this set consisted of a new unreleased song at the start, and then a section of their Ecru piece at the end. I was contemplating just posting this as one solid file because it really did seem like one long jam (not that that's a bad thing), so thanks Garrett, now I can do something a little bit more accurate.
SETLIST:
(New song)
Ecru (partial)

(recording to follow)

The inclusion of Heirs on the entirety of this tour was something I had no complaints with, as they're always a stunning live act and on this occasion they delivered yet again. Little disappointed they didn't bring out the projector like usual but I suppose they didn't want to upstage the headlining act or whatever. Anyway. It was a damn good performance, but I've been really surprised while tracking this to discover that they only played FIVE songs. I know that some of their songs are lengthy, but I didn't expect this. I guess there's a bit of difference between the studio and live versions of their material. Anyway, here they are. Very good set.
SETLIST:
Fowl
Burrow
Mockery
Men
Symptom

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

Alcest. Man, I had some high expectations for this show and they pretty much met them with great ease. They had a few sound problems though, or more accurately a recurring series of one major problem - vocals being way too quiet. It apparently happened onstage as well, with Neige asking to be turned up at one point, only to be told he was turned up as loud as possible. "Oh, OK then!" he replied, clearly a little bit disappointed. Anyway, other than that it was a beautiful show. Being that they have some lengthy songs, only nine in total were played but it didn't really feel like we missed out.
SETLIST
Le Secret
Les Iris
Summer's Glory
Écailles de Lune (Part I)
Printemps Emeraude
Solar Song
Souvenirs d'un autre monde
Percees de Lumiere
----Encore----
Elevation

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

The Butterfly Effect @ Pier Live, 21/10/2011

Well, it was The Butterfly Effect's "10 Years" celebratory tour, but strangely enough, there was no gig in the immediate vicinity of the Melbourne CBD. Luckily some friends were attending this gig, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to finally cross TBE off the list. Supports were fellow Queenslanders Helm, and by the sounds of it, two other no-namers from around the Frankston area. My friend did his research and said we needn't bother turning up early for bad Karnivool rip-offs, so we didn't.
Helm
A very good friend of mine has been talking up this Queensland band for quite a long time, and I ended up seeing them at the Sonic Forge festival late last year and I was suitably impressed. Since then I've actually managed to listen to and become quite familiar with their material (again thanks to aforementioned good friend) and I was very much looking forward to seeing what they'd do tonight. As can probably be expected, there weren't many in the crowd getting into it but the Gold Coast boys were genuinely making an effort with their performance, and I, and the friends that I was there with, really enjoyed them. When I first heard their cover of Great Southern Land I thought, "Oh, another one of those "let's do a totally unexpected cover in a progressive rock/metal style"", but I definitely appreciate it a lot more now. It went down very well live and Lucas definitely sings it well. Great set all around really; in fact in my opinion they were the only thing that didn't make this night a complete waste of time and money. Can't wait to see them again soon; one to keep an eye on over the next few years I think.
SETLIST:
Burn the White Flag
Great Southern Land (Icehouse cover)
Bullets
At the Waters Edge
Soldier
Home
Collapse (with drum solo!)
Watch it Burn

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

The Butterfly Effect
Oh my. I'd never seen this band before, as I got into them a little later than most, and did so kind of because I had to, being a fan of all the other bands in the scene, such as Cog, Karnivool, Full Scale, etc. I do really enjoy some of their stuff, but they've never really struck a major chord with me. I was hoping a solid live performance with a setlist packed full of their songs I really liked would properly convert me. I don't know what I was expecting from these guys, but it wasn't this. I was genuinely disappointed. Where to start? Clint's vocals were quite off the mark at times, and tellingly he was very often directing his microphone at the crowd to sing along. I'm not going to say it's a BAD thing that Clint (and indeed the others in the band) were really energetic onstage, but I don't think the way they were flailing around really suits their kind of music, as I've never really seen them as a "heavy" band at all, except for maybe their earlier material. Speaking of that, they decided to play an entirely chronological setlist, starting with a couple of songs from their first EP and then moving through a few tunes off each album, ending with the most recent. It was an interesting decision to make, but ultimately I don't think it worked, as all the heavier material was in the first part of the set and by the time they were closing with Worlds on Fire (one of their best songs), it seemed like people had very little patience or energy for a sprawling seven-minute long prog-rock song. Mixing it up would have definitely been a much better idea. It was also disappointing not to hear any new material, and there were a few other album tracks (read, not just the usual "popular" anthems) I would have liked to hear. I thought I was just not enjoying it because we were a little way back in the crowd and I was tired but everyone whom I saw on the night (some of whom were in the "pit") agreed that they have played better shows in the past. So yeah. If you're a TBE fan you might enjoy downloading this, and I for one am willing to give them another chance (because I KNOW they can't be this bad all the time), but yes, it certainly did not live up to my expectations.
SETLIST:
Black Lung
Take it Away
Perception Twin
Crave
One Second of Insanity
Always
Aisles of White
A Slow Descent
Gone
Reach
Room Without a View
Final Conversation
Window and the Watcher
Worlds on Fire

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

I Am Duckeye @ Greyhound Hotel, 13/10/2011

Well then, here it is. The first ever performance at Alcatraz, a new weekly event taking place at St Kilda's Greyhound Hotel. I've lived in St Kilda for almost four years and there's never been anything on here that I've been interested in, but now with Crutey taking it over once a week over the next couple of months, I'm sure I'll be making it a bit of a regular thing.

Anyway, to I Am Duckeye. For those that don't know, they're a band with a couple of dudes from Sydonia (guitarist Sam and drummer Sean). Except unlike Sydonia, this band is NOT at all serious. They're as much a comedy act as they are a band. I really don't know how to describe them, except to say that you should definitely go and see them if you like stoner rock with dick jokes and bad choreography. Little bit of crowd noise from me and my friends but ah well, it's not too bad. And there was absolutely no way I was going to remove the onstage banter.
SETLIST
Time Worms
Stink Lines
1960's Chickenhawk
Punching Dicks
Baby Money
Die
Teabag
Mowees
Cotton

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500 @ Corner Hotel (2011-10-11)

Supported by Sand Pebbles

I never thought I'd get to see Galaxie 500 but now I'm not so sure I need to, an actual Galaxie 500 reunion would have a hard time topping the show I saw last night. Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500 was everything I could have hoped for. What a guy.
This is the first gig I've recorded in several years but I think it turned out very well. There's some chatter during the first song but otherwise a very polite crowd.

Setlist:
1. Flowers
2. Pictures
3. When Will You Come Home
4. Snowstorm
5. Decomposing Trees
6. Strange
7. Summertime
8. Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste
9. Blue Thunder
10. Listen, The Snow Is Falling
11. Tugboat
12. Fourth of July
13. (break before encore)
14. I'll Keep it With Mine
15. Hearing Voices
16. Temperature's Rising
17. Ceremony

Length: 1:23:31

MP3: http://ul.to/x5hich82 [171MB]
FLAC: http://ul.to/6nj3ejd3 [276MB]

Mushroom Giant @ Evelyn Hotel, 24/09/2011

So, I was pretty hungover from attending another gig (and subsequent shenanigans) the night before and I got to the Evelyn about ten minutes before Mushroom Giant started their set. THANK GOODNESS. This band always impresses me live, even if they are only playing support/mini-festival slots where they don't get nearly enough time to play! Anyway, this was another really good set from the Melbourne four-piece. I've said it before and I'll say it again; I could not be more happy with their decision to ditch their vocalist and become an instrumental band again, because this is where they absolutely shine. Unfortunately there was quite a bit of talking among the audience, which is especially noticeable because this is a band with lots of quiet moments. Also, there's a song I've never heard before at the end of the set, so I asked guitarist David Charlton if it was a new song. He informed me that it's actually a very old song that they never released, but it will probably be on their next album. And speaking of that next album... where is it?! I am really looking forward to hearing where they'll go next. So yeah, all in all, a very good set. Nice to hear Pigeons again, and also I did laugh at Simon's little blunder regarding a single of theirs that sold out years ago.
SETLIST:
400 and Falling
Drake Equation
Pigeons
Graven Image
Scars

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

The other bands on the bill were Quiet Child and The Khyber Belt, unfortunately I didn't record either. Quiet Child's first few songs were a little too slow and lacking in the requisite "zing" required to wake me up after the previous night, so I had to leave to go and get some caffeine. As for The Khyber Belt, it was nearly 12am by the time they got onstage, and the crowd was way too sparse and I would've felt rather awkward with microphones on. They're a good band, though.

Sheriff @ Pony, 16/09/2011

So I was sitting at home looking for something to do on Friday night and after checking a few potential gig Facebook events, I was surprised to find out that some good friends of mine were playing a gig at Pony. They were only the opening act and so didn't really advertise it much but I decided to head along anyway, as they're always a lot of fun to see live, and I had nothing better to do. I might be biased because they're friends of mine, but I think they're a really good live band. And you should go and see them one day. They're called Sheriff, and here's their brief but awesome performance from a typically loose Friday at Pony. I thought the sound in the venue was pretty average but it's actually turned out alright. As you can hear Jimi explaining before What You Want, they shot a film clip for that song a couple of days later, and without a doubt it was one of the most fun things I have ever been involved with. Can't wait to see the finished product.

SETLIST:
Gig From Hell
Mary
Your Mother's Daughter, Your Father's Son
Creep and the Sicko
You're Not Too Cool (So Baby Dance With Me)
Simon Young
What You Want

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

There were other bands on the lineup of course, but I was only really interested in recording Chico Flash. And then by the time they got onstage it was really late and I was a little bit drunk and I couldn't be bothered. In hindsight I do regret that. It was a really interesting performance featuring a guest appearance from some saxophone player known as the Blowfisch. It was all completely improvised and some bits didn't quite work, but on the whole it sounded pretty good. Or maybe that was just because it was nearly 2 in the morning and my sense of judgement about such things was a little bit skewed. Anyway.

Dead Letter Circus @ Hi Fi Bar and Ballroom (24/08/2011)

In the past 12 months I have seen Dead Letter Circus five times, and I think this will be the last for quite a while. I don’t mean to sound too negative but this is probably the performance I enjoyed the least out of the eight times I’ve seen them play. They’re a great band and all but I think they could put a bit more of an effort into ensuring that fans who see them multiple times aren’t subjected to damn near identical performances each time. That and the fact that I don’t really like the Hi Fi Bar as a venue and the support bands were average, meant that this particular DLC gig wasn’t anything to write home about.

The supports were Wolves and Closure in Moscow. You know what’s worse than having a support band that you expect to be bad and they are? You guessed it – having a support band that you expect to be good, but they’re not. Wolves started out pretty bland but their last few songs were marginally more interesting. Also, they were a classic case of “band that has a slightly unusual instrument (in this case a violin) but has it way too low in the mix to actually make a real difference”. I guess this might not have been the band’s fault. And it improved toward the end of the set. I’m willing to give these guys another crack as they showed some promise. Closure in Moscow really threw me – I’d heard comparisons to The Mars Volta thrown around and I was looking forward to what they’d do. They seemed pretty cool – until the singer opened his mouth. The rest of the band is actually very talented and interesting to watch, but I found myself wishing I could just listen to instrumental versions of their songs, not have some half-whiny emo vocals over the top of it. And what the fuck was he wearing?! I’m glad I didn’t record these guys. So Wolves and Closure in Moscow failed to score points, which was really disappointing as I’ve usually seen some really good bands support DLC – Sydonia, Rook, Black Devil Yard Boss, [Me] and Floating Me, namely. And just to rub it in, the rest of the tour has Jericco on the bill.

Anyway, so DLC came on and did their thing and that was pretty enjoyable, except, like I said, not much setlist variation. Moving around one or two songs does not constitute rotation. And they’ve even dropped The Drum this time around, which is a little disappointing. Oh, right, they played Tremors for the first time in ages. That was actually quite enjoyable, although it seemed like way too many in the crowd didn’t know what it was, which always annoys me at gigs. Towards the end of the set, it looked like they weren’t going to play Alien like they had on most other shows on this tour. That’s cool, I thought. I’ve seen it before, and they’ll probably do something else cool that they didn’t do elsewhere. Oh, an unplanned drum solo! NICE! ...Until I got home and looked at the setlist from the Geelong show. Alien AND a drum solo! Yeah. We actually got one less song (or piece I guess... a drum solo’s not really a song) than Geelong. Great. Also listening back to the recording, perhaps it wasn’t as spontaneous as I thought. Kim says “Did someone say drum solo?” but all I can hear is requests for Alien... hmm. It was quite a good drum solo though! The rest of the set was pretty standard stuff; This is the Warning as a closer is getting a little over-done. Someone from Closure in Moscow did the floor tom, but on the fifth tour since the album, that’s really lost its impact. I think they need to do something a bit more creative with it, instead of just sticking to the EXACT same rhythm that’s on the CD. What’s the point in that? Anyway. I know it sounds like I didn’t enjoy this gig at all, but I genuinely did. It was just the same-old same-old and I won’t be going to see them again until their tour announcement declares that they’ll play new material. Nevertheless, it’s a reasonable recording of a band I’ve always wanted to have a performance of.

SETLIST
(The Mile intro thing)
The Mile
Reaction
This Long Hour
Disconnect and Apply
The Space on the Wall
One Step
Tremors
Cage
Lines
Drum Solo
Next in Line
----Encore----
Here We Divide
This is the Warning (with Mansur Zennelli of Closure in Moscow)

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

sleepmakeswaves (album launch) @ East Brunswick Club, 22-07-2011

Alright, here's a late one, but a good one. One certainly can't accuse Australia of having a lack of high-quality post-rock bands around at the moment, and on this chilly winter's evening, four amazing acts did their thing at the East Brunswick Club. The headliners were well-respected Sydney four-piece sleepmakeswaves, launching their highly-anticipated debut album - something that their small but loyal and steadily increasing fanbase have been excited about for quite a long time now. They were supported by a great collection of likeminded acts from around the Melbourne scene, namely This Is Your Captain Speaking, These Hands Could Separate the Sky, and Lunaire.

So Lunaire kicked things off; I'm surprised to find that these guys are from Warrnambool, as it isn't exactly the kind of area you'd expect post-rock bands to come from. Then again, these guys proved to be a little more uptempo than the other bands on show tonight; they delved into My Bloody Valentine-esque shoegaze on some numbers, complete with the constant whammy bar strumming action that Kevin Shields was so known for. All in all, Lunaire's sound was a pretty enjoyable start to the evening, albeit slightly unfocused. They seem like a pretty young band who haven't really found "their" sound so to speak, but what was on show tonight was pretty promising. I do regret not recording them. Oh, and they were giving away their demo for free, which is always nice. Well worth checking out, and I think/hope we'll see a lot more of them in 2012.

sleepmakeswaves... wow, what can I say? I remember this whole night like it was yesterday. I remember being so excited to hear these tracks for the first time (though it was the album launch, the album itself was only available the day before, so yeah, I hadn't heard it yet). I remember being even more excited during the week when Tim Charles from Ne Obliviscaris announced that he would appear with the band during their set to reprise his amazing violin parts on their immortal song one day you will teach me to let go of my fears, which I, being a newish fan of the band, had never had the opportunity to witness before. But most significantly, I remember hearing some really sad news from two friends who rocked up just before sleepmakeswaves got onstage, and that cast a really emotional shadow over the whole evening. And then when they played one day..., fuck. Such an intense set from the Sydney post-rock gods; probably my favourite Aussie gig of the year. I really must apologise for my inebriated friends conversing during some of the quiet bits.

SETLIST:
our time is short but your watch is slow
a gaze blank and pitiless as the sun
(hello) cloud mountain
to you they are birds, to me they are voices in the forest
now we rise and we are everywhere
we sing the body electric
in limbs and joints (with vocals!)
one day you will teach me to let go of my fears (with Tim Charles)

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

(recordings of These Hands Could Separate the Sky and This Is Your Captain Speaking to follow... when I can be bothered...)

Overground 2011

This is the second year running I've attended the mini festival held inside the Melbourne Town Hall which is part of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival.

Overall I think I enjoyed last years slightly more but it was still a great event.

Most of the recordings are complete sets, some are not. Yep.

Nic Tammens, Marco Fusinato, ZOND - 23:10

DOWNLOAD

Scott Tinkler, Oscar Noriega, James Rushford - 11:57

DOWNLOAD

Blank Realm & Andrew Tuttle - 17:23

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Time Berne, Anthony Pateras, Gareth Thompson - 17:19

DOWNLOAD

Yoshida Tatsuya, Clayton Thomas, Lloyd Honeybrook, Angus Leslie - 10:56

DOWNLOAD

Shags Chamberlain, Laurence Pike, Jean-Herve Peron - 6:48

DOWNLOAD

Nekrasov - 19:20

DOWNLOAD

Will Guthrie, Lucas Abela, Emma Albury - 9:21

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Fabulous Diamonds & Naked On The Vague - 21:24

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Sean Baxter, Jerome Noetinger, Faust - 7:16

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Tony Conrad & Chris Abrahams - 37:55

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Two rounds of Floating Me...

Well, last year it wasn't a good year for Cog fans, with that giant question mark over the band's existence seemingly answered in the negative by the end of the year. However, as a small consolation prize of sorts, later in the year we got the formation of a brand new band by the name of Floating Me, which involved former Scary Mother members Andrew Gillespie (vocals), Antony Brown (guitar) and Tobias Messiter (keys) joining up with Jon Stockman of Karnivool, and of course, Lucius Borich of Cog. With a lineup like that, it was fair to say expectations were set pretty high even before the group released any material, but when debut single Sugar hit our eardrums, the result was quite pleasing indeed! The band's debut album was released in April this year, and I highly recommend buying yourself a copy, as it's pretty damn incredible. Anyway, Floating Me have been hitting the touring circuit quite a bit lately, and in the space of a month, I saw them supporting Dead Letter Circus's April tour, and then their own headlining show in May.

02/04/2011 - Corner Hotel, Richmond (supporting Dead Letter Circus)
So, first off it's the first Floating Me show I ever saw, at the Corner Hotel supporting the mighty DLC. As expected, I was mightily impressed by their efforts on the night, even though I had no idea what half the songs were - their album was only onsale at their shows at that point, and I'd obtained a leaked copy only two days before, which of course wasn't enough time for the music to sink in. But they were still awesome. The band were really tight and there was good chemistry between the members. Watching Lucius Borich was of course a real highlight, check out his epic work on Bezhumous. At the end of their set, they paid tribute to their past and did a Scary Mother cover, which I didn't record because, well, at that point I decided to head to the bar for some refreshments before the main event :) Anyway. At the end of this show, I was thinking to myself that I didn't mind the loss of Cog so much if this is what we're getting as a replacement. Also, this was my last ever show recording on those slightly dodgy mics. It's not the best recording; there's a bit of the old crackle which unfortunately shows up most prominently during the best song! But as Chris says, any recording is better than none.

SETLIST:
Piano
Deathless
Spirals
Narke
Sugar
Breaking to Breathe
Bezhumous
Tai Laeo (Scary Mother cover; not recorded)

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Pretty soon after that show came the announcement of a headlining set at the Northcote Social Club. Despite the distance of that particular venue from my house I was still very keen to give them another go, especially with a solid month between the shows to fully absorb their new album. By the time May rolled around I'd been enjoying the album a whole lot and with Sleep Parade supporting I was willing to make that epic journey to Northcote to check out Floating Me again. AND I HAD NEW MICS :) How appropriate that from the last gig I recorded on the old mics, my first outing on the new mics would be the same band.

05/05/2011 - Northcote Social Club, Northcote (first headlining tour!)
Sleep Parade, hmmmm. I'm not quite as interested in this band as I used to be; they've just taken too long to get a new album out there, and some of the songs that they've been playing live just haven't done it for me. Plus it's kind of distracting that they seem to change lineups every second show or so. I wasn't sure whether they were going to be good or bad this time around. Turns out they were actually quite alright. Red Black from A State of Flux was doing his thing on the second guitar and keys again (apparently he's not a permanent member of the band anymore), so whenever he plays it's always a better show. As usual, due to the lengthy nature of Sleep Parade's tuneage they could only squeeze five songs into a half-hour set. But they were good ones. The two newest songs (Collision and Home) were better than some of the others I've heard at their last few shows. I just wish they'd finish their album already; they have so much potential as a band.

SETLIST:
Mr Identify
Everyday
Collision
Home
Weeping Walls

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So, with the album pretty much dominating my earspace over the ensuing month, I had a lot of expectations for this show and I'm happy to say they were met. The band played every track except one off the album and of course, the Scary Mother cover again, which went down pretty well with a few crowd members. Apparently there are still some hardcore Scary Mother fans out there that have made the transition to this band. The band looked a lot more comfortable on the stage this time around and Andrew Gillespie seemed like he wanted to interact with the crowd a bit more than last time. When one punter shouted "LORD OF THE FLIES!" (another Scary Mother track), Gillespie wasn't bothered, simply saying, "Maybe next time, we'll have to practice that one!" The sound wasn't the best but I'm pretty sure that's because this venue's never been known for being amazing in that department. Anyway, the band did their best and their best was more than enough to satisfy a packed bandroom. Bezhumous was a highlight again; Lucius Borich is just amazing to watch. Also, Across the Gulf is an amazing song and it worked so well as a closer. In summary, I suggest you should all see this band the next time they come to your part of town, which will be in July on the Thousand Reasons tour with Thousand Needles in Red. I see a bright and exciting future ahead for them. ALSO, if someone reading this knows where I can get a copy of Scary Mother's album, PLEASE let me know. I'm very curious to give them a listen.
SETLIST
(Intro on recording)
Deathless
Spirals
Narke
Xtoto
Sugar
Short Cuts to Feeling
Piano
Breaking to Breathe
Bezhumous (with epic jam)
Tai Laeo (Scary Mother cover)
Across the Gulf

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