After eight years in absentia, Something for KateMelbourne based three piece science fiction folk rock band, didn’t pick the best of times to make their triumphant return. In fact, lead single ‘Situation Room’ arrived just as Australia entered lockdown.
Still, to borrow a phrase from the band’s back catalogue, the promise of ‘The Modern Medieval’ has been a light at the end of this tunnel for many listeners. This was certainly bolstered by the fact that the four singles released in its lead-up have been some of the best of the trio’s career. Expect more emotive, widescreen indie-rock to follow – as it has for over 25 years.
Something For Kate’s ‘The Modern Medieval’ is out via EMI Music on November 20th.
Southern Australia’s own King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard released a full-show video of their performance at New Belgium Brewing Company in Asheville, NC this week.
Unlike a typical show video, however, the Melbourne sextet didn’t have an official film crew on hand to capture the moment. Instead, the band pulled cellphone clips from dozens of fans in the crowd and edited them together with official soundboard audio.
The 17-song set began with “Evil Star” before two Infest The Rats’ Nest tracks, “Self-Immolate” and “Venusian 1”, followed by a couple of Murder of the Universe songs, “Alter Me III” and “Altered Beast IV”. After “People-Vultures”, “This Thing”, and “Beginner’s Luck”, King Gizzard brought the show to its midpoint with an upbeat “Rattlesnake”, followed by the trancey and danceable “Cyboogie”.
The fan shot clips, as well as periods of black screen when presumably nobody filmed, continued as the band flowed into “Loyalty”, then “Horology” and “Boogieman Sam”. “Plastic Boogie”, “Mars for the Rich”, and “Hell” then led to the show closers “The Lord of Lightning” and “The Bitter Boogie”. With songs spanning the band’s entire discography, the 90-minute performance kept fans engaged from beginning to end.
In other King Gizzard news, the band also recently shared a collection of demos to their Bandcamp page, entitled Demos Vol. 1 + Vol. 2. The 28-song album contains demos of songs released throughout their 10-year career.
If you’re a Something For Kate fan, you should already be suitably excited about the imminent release of their first new album in over eight years. ‘Come Back Before I Come To My Senses’ is the fourth track we’ve heard from the album and it’s yet another reminder of the power of Paul Dempsey’s song writing and the band’s ability to make those songs, In the year of 1994, from the diverse city of Melbourne, Australia, alternative rock band Something For Kate formed. Starting in high school, the band originally consisted of vocalist and guitarist Paul Dempsey and drummer Clint Hyndman. In 1998, Stephanie Ashworth joined as the new bassist and the three have stuck together ever since.
Something For Kate released their first studio album, Elsewhere for 8 minutes in 1997, a year before Stephanie joined. Their second studio album, Beautiful Sharks (1998) was Stephanie’s first album with the band. To date, the band have released seven albums, including one B-sides, a best of and one live. The band are due to release a new album The Modern Medieval in November this year. The album will feature recent singles “Supercomputer” and “Situation Room”. Something For Kate have been nominated for 16 ARIA’s, achieved six gold and platinum albums and received several awards such as Best Single, Best Live Band and Best Album from various music outlets such as Rolling Stone Magazine, Triple J and iTunes.
Something For Kate’s seventh album The Modern Medieval will be out next month.
Melbourne band Quivers have released the music video for their cover of R.E.M.’s ‘Losing My Religion’. The cover is the first track off Quivers’ complete re-imagining of the iconic group’s 1991 album ‘Out Of Time’. Quivers initially released the cover last week after being asked by Seattle label Turntable Kitchen to remake a classic album. The full album of covers will be released on vinyl later this year.
The music video was filmed by Ursula Woods in southern Tasmania earlier this month. Watch the clip below: “The middle era of R.E.M. is the one I grew up hearing through the next room – where this opaque angular jangle band becomes an MTV monster,” Quivers’ Sam Nicholson said in a statement. “We spent four days in a rehearsal studio with our producer Matthew Redlich (Holy Holy, Husky), and made it up as we went along. We all sang, and Bella [Quinlan] takes the lead on our next song out – ‘Texarkana’.”
As for the music video, Nicholson said the clip makes him feel “homesick” for Tasmania. Their dog looking at an albino wallaby is all I need to get through a few more weeks before we can hopefully record music together again.”
This is the 1st song from Quivers’ song by song re-imagining of R.E.M.’s classic Out of Time (1991) for Seattle vinyl label Turntable Kitchen. Out now through their vinyl club. https://www.turntablekitchen.com/2020…Their full album cover of R.E.M.’s “Out of Time” flips the script on tracks like “Shiny Happy People,” reimagines classics like “Losing My Religion,” and transforms the cult classic “Country Feedback” into a gorgeous and stripped down piano ballad.
Alternately brash and endearing Melbourne foursome Twerps return with new single “Work It Out”, their first new material since last-year’s celebrated self titled debut album. After a three month stint in the US earlier this year, which took in SXSW and a 18 date tour supporting Real Estate, the band jumped back into the studio to record this new three song single, which emerges as a co-release between Chapter Music and New York label Underwater Peoples. While maintaining the band’s trademark cheeky charm, Work It Out shows a newfound confidence, an extra lick of polish. In contrast, B-side He’s In Stock is a driving, bratty complaint, while Recall admits catchily to forgetting the name of a one night stand. He’s In Stock was premiered on Stereogum in August, and picked up by the likes of The Fader, Pitchfork, RCRD LBL and many others. It has now had almost 40,000 Soundcloud listens.
The new single comes out just ahead of another North American tour in October, taking in CMJ showcases and a run of dates with Real Estate bassist Alex Bleeker. Before they leave Australia, they’re also performing at this year’s Sound Summit Festival in Newcastle (as part of celebrations for Chapter Music’s 20th birthday) and Brisbane Festival, then return- ing home in December to play at Meredith Music Festival.
El Tee writes honest songs about the perennial push-and-pull of holding space for yourself and giving it up for others. Listeners are swept up in stories delivered via introspective lyrics embedded in warm and nostalgic tones of instrumentation. El Tee’s songs saunter through intimate moments, and then drive hard and fast straight into the pit of your heart – all within the same few minutes.
The singer-songwriter – real name Lauren Tarver – explained the track’s origins in a statement. She noted that the song is “a very descriptive narrative” of a personal experience she had while travelling in New Zealand. Tarver also described the song as “emotional, to say the least” in a post to her Instagram.
‘Everything Is Fine’ joins two previously released singles on the album’s ten-song tracklist: ‘How I Like It’ in August last year, followed by ‘Keep Walking’ in March. “I went on a road trip with a friend, and was so full of anxiety the whole time,” she said. “It was bottled up and I couldn’t shake it. I literally felt trapped by the mountains of NZ.”
An American expat, Tarver recorded the album in her adopted hometown of Melbourne in 2019. Andrew McEwan engineered and mixed the album in addition to playing drums.
Melbourne-based singer-songwriter El Tee has announced her debut studio album, ‘Everything Is Fine’, days after premiering the record’s title track. Melbourne community radio station 3RRR premiered the single on Monday (May 11). The song’s accompanying music video the following day. Dan Cahill directed the video, having also worked on El Tee’s video for ‘Keep Walking’.
Debut album ‘Everything Is Fine’ out September 18th, 2020
Released September 18th, 2020
The Band:
Guitar (rhythm) by Lauren Tarver
Guitar (lead) by Tim Scott
Drums by Andrew McEwan
Bass and BVs by Mimi Gilbert
Written by Lauren Tarver
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have released a new single and music video, entitled “Straws In The Wind”. The video finds the Australian cross-genre rockers in the midst of a green screen twister.
This latest single follows recently-released tracks “Some Of Us” and “Honey“. “Straws In The Wind” also comes as the first single King Gizzard has put out since drummer/manager Eric Moore announced his departure from the group late last month.
The video for “Straws In The Wind”, a song that features Ambrose Kenny-Smith on lead vocals, finds the band employing a green screen to its fullest potential. With footage of tornadoes ripping through landscapes, and the band getting hit with actual debris whirling around the room, Amby ponders the philosophical query, “Straws in the wind/Is it all ending?” While the title may bring to mind the Kansas classic “Dust In The Wind”, it’s clear that King Gizzard took little inspiration from the classic rockers.
Amby and Stu collab on the tune and Jase is back on the tools for the video. Damn this was fun to make! We shot trash around the room with a leaf blower and pretended that we were in a trash tornado. What has the world come to…
Watch the new music video for “Straws In The Wind” by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.
Filmed, edited and directed by Jason Galea Additional filming, wardrobe and direction by Ambrose Kenny-SmithAmby: Vocals, Harmonica, Keyboards Cavs: Drums, Percussion Cookie: Guitar, Piano, Keyboards, Sitar Stu: Guitar, Vocals, Bass, Keyboards, Percussion, Flute Recorded by Stu Mackenzie and Michael Cavanagh
The moniker is simply explained: A phonetic spelling of singer-songwriter Lauren Tarver’s initials. El Tee’s music itself, however, takes a little more elaboration. It’s centred in the realm of indie-rock, but creates an atmosphere that immediately deviates from the norm. Tarver’s vocals know their way around arresting melodies, her words striking a chord with each line pulling at the heartstrings. El Tee writes honest songs about the perennial push-and-pull of holding space for yourself and giving it up for others. Listeners are swept up in stories delivered via introspective lyrics embedded in warm and nostalgic tones of instrumentation. El Tee’s songs saunter through intimate moments, and then drive hard and fast straight into the pit of your heart – all within the same few minutes.
Comparisons to Julia Jacklin and Stella Donnelly are inevitable on ‘Everything Is Fine’, but considering how excellent they’ve been of late, it’s worth keeping an eye on El Tee. A similar trajectory to stardom isn’t out of the question.
El Tee’s forthcoming debut album, ‘Everything Is Fine’, is out 18th September, 2020.
Guitar (rhythm) by Lauren Tarver
Guitar (lead) by Tim Scott
Drums by Andrew McEwan
Bass and BVs by Mimi Gilbert
After releasing the acoustic, micro-tonal infused track “Honey” back in July, Australian psych-rockers King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have shared another new song, “Some of Us,” along with an accompanying music video. The song was written by guitarist Cook Craig and features vocals from Stu Mackenzie. The video, like most of King Gizzard’s filmed content, was made by John Angus Stewart, who also directed the band’s recent concert film, “Chunky Shrapnel”.
This Cookie penned, Stu sung song came together early this year as the world was slowly descending into madness, but before it was truly on fire,” wrote the band in an Instagram post about the song. The also hinted at the release of more new music on the horizon: “We’ve made heaps of tunes lately. Currently putting some sparkles on em. Can’t wait to show y’all before we go down in flames. King Gizzard were set to play two of their biggest shows to date this summer, headlining two nights at Red Rocks. Unfortunately, those were postponed due to coronavirus.
“ Filmed on a Thermal Imaging Camera designed to capture and read heat temperatures. These cameras are currently in use by the military and science community to assist with monitoring of COVID-19.
There is something about seeing heat in its raw form that is deeply disturbing. I think it’s got something to do with seeing the body broken down to it’s most mechanical function. It’s a not so gentle reminder that we are just meat, bone and blood. ”
Amby: Harmonica Cavs: Drums Cookie: Piano, Bass, Percussion, Guitar, Keyboards, Synthesiser, Clarinet, Flute Stu: Vocals, Guitar, Clavinet, Xylophone, Bass Recorded by Cook Craig and Stu Mackenzie
Killer psych rock that sizzles!, BHDC is a stellar band with great vocals, a tight sound and expert musicianship. With its Wall of Psychedelic Sound, Setting Sun is one of my favourite songs of the year. This outstanding band is for real.
Sparkly magic mountain-drops fall from the outer cosmic reaches in the re-imagined mind-forest of The Flower Captain. Gloom/doom singer/songwriter Sasha L Smith envisions a brave new dark age of droney bliss in the sonic bazaar. Domenic Evans fret wizard, Deon Slaviero bass dealer, Andy Nunns time machine & Gabbie Potocnik Italian keys are on the magic bus we call “The Black Heart Death Cult”. Recorded over a sprawling 2 years (Sing Sing & Newmarket Studios) from early 2015 & produced by Ricky Maymi from The Brian Jonestown Massace, their self titled debut LP was released Jan 2019 through Oak Island Records (Kozmik Artifactz).
Debut single “She’s a Believer” & the “Black Rainbow” EP downloadable from theblackheartdeathcult.bandcamp.com
Debut single on limited sweet 7” vinyl format for your listening pleasure from Death Cult Records or download here right now for instant gratification.
The Fat Angel Sings 