A few months ago, Melbourne-based artist Faux Pas released a free (or you can donate) EP on his website and for whatever reason I haven’t mentioned it around here yet (and I really should have as it’s a great little EP). The opening track, Chasing Waterfalls is a fantastic, colourful piece of electronic music (I could see fans of Architecture in Helsinki digging this one) while Rose’s Lament is built around a driving rhythm and some of the most effectively used vocal samples I’ve heard in a while.

If you’re keen to check these out along with the rest of the EP, just click here. If you want just try one on first…

Download:
Faux Pas – Chasing Waterfalls

Tim Shiel (who is Faux Pas) is also an excellent blogger so be sure to keep an eye on his blog if you’re keen to get some insights into his creative process and watch his incredibly random YouTube finds.

I’ve written about The Drones so much over the last six months it feels a bit redundant to once again review another ferocious Drones gig. But I’m going to anyway. The Drones once again took to the stage at the Metro last night and proceeded to do irreversible ear damage to anyone without earplugs.

Opening with a trio of songs off last year’s Havilah, the band came out firing on all cylinders. While many cite the magnificent Shark Fin Blues as the band’s finest moment, I think last night’s performance of Nail It Down may have changed a lot of minds. The way the song is teased out in its live incarnation is brilliant.

To temper the heaviness of the opening portion of the set, Your Acting’s Like The End Of The World was welcomed as a bit of a toe-tapping, sing-along. While this is not something you readily associate with The Drones, it is another weapon in their frighteningly well-stocked arsenal. Luck In Odd Numbers and Shark Fin Blues followed before the band delved back into their slightly more obscure catalogue with a couple songs off The Miller’s Daughter to end the set.

Personally, it was these final two songs of the set, She Had An Abortion That She Made Me Pay For and The Miller’s Daughter, that were the highlights. Both were delivered with a ferocity seldom seen at rock gigs. Gareth Liddiard’s vocals on both were even more venomous than normal and both Gareth and Dan Luscombe abused the hell out of their guitars as the set drew to a raucous close.

Gareth and drummer Mike Noga then returned to the stage for a harrowing take of Gala Mill’s convict narrative Sixteen Straws. Featuring just Gareth on acoustic guitar and Mike on harmonica, the song, as it always does, silenced the crowd as the tale unfolded. It was a magnificent performance. The rest of the band then returned for a cover of (support act) Kev Carmody’s River of Tears which featured on last year’s Cannot Buy My Soul compilation. The song slowly built from Gareth’s guitar and vocals to include the rest of the band and it drew to a powerful close which bled directly into the night’s final song, I Don’t Ever Want To Change.

As the band left the stage and the feedback faded away I once again felt like I’d just watched one of the finest live bands around. Make sure you check them out while you can.

Setlist
Nail It Down
Oh My
The Minotaur
Six Ways To Sunday
Locust
Your Acting’s Like The End of The World
Luck In Odd Numbers
Shark Fin Blues
She Had An Abortion That She Made Me Pay For
The Miller’s Daughter
———
Sixteen Straws
River Of Tears
I Don’t Ever Want To Change

While I missed Witch Hats’ support slot I was lucky enough to catch Kev Carmody’s set. The legendary songwriter told stories, sang songs, and generally endeared himself to the crowd over the course of his all too short set. I was totally new to Carmody before last night (was aware of him but hadn’t actually heard him) but even I was singing along to From Little Things Big Things Grow with the rest of the audience.

All in all a great gig. A few of my photos up here.

If you want to check out Gareth Liddiard solo, he’s playing the Annandale on May 10 along with Jed Kurzel of The Mess Hall and others.

If you weren’t already excited for The Eternal, you are now. Sonic Youth haven’t sounded this vital in a while.

Download:
Sonic Youth – Sacred Trickster

What an awesome way to open the new record. The Eternal is released on June 9 (presumably a few days earlier here in Australia).

I was reading a thread about Japandroids on At Ease a while back and someone described their album as being filled with “grubby little anthems” and, I think, that’s the best description I’ve read about this Vancouver band. While the record has (and will) draw comparisons to the likes of No Age and Wavves (minimal guitar/drum set up, distortion, grungey, etc) I think this anthemic quality is what sets Japandroids apart from some of the bands they are compared to.

Back in January I said Post-Nothing was one of my most anticipated records of year. Well, a few months later and it has become one of my favourite albums of the year so far. Songs about being away from home and growing up always get me and this record has a couple of these that resonate with me long after I finish listening. Young Hearts Spark Fire might be the best song of 2009 so far and Sovereignty’s chorus about not giving a fuck about the rain in Vancouver is quickly becoming a staple around our house.

Post-Nothing sounds best loud. And it sounds even better when you’re screaming the lyrics. These are grubby little anthems and more people should be singing along.

Download:
Japandroids – Young Hearts Spark Fire
Japandroids – Heart Sweats

Post-Nothing, Japandroids’ debut record, is out on April 28 through Unfamiliar. Preorder the LP (no CDs!) through Insound. Stream it on Last FM. The band are also touring the hell out of North America at the moment. See their MySpace for all the dates.

In April 1998 I saw my first Radiohead show. The band were just winding down the final shows of the (nearly destructive) OK Computer tour and they brought Spiritualized along for the ride. In 1997, OK Computer was pretty much the unanimous choice for album of the year in most major music publications. One glaring exception was the NME which placed it second, behind Spiritualized’s epic, heart-breaking, and triumphant Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space.

Despite this, I hadn’t heard the album before seeing the band on stage opening for Radiohead. In fact, I didn’t know the band at all. But I, along with my friend CJ, were both instantly taken with Spiritualized’s set (which likely resembled this) and at some point in the days following the gig I went out and picked up Ladies and Gentlemen and it totally blew my mind.

Even before a note was played, the album was perfect. Presented in artwork made to look like a prescription drug package (check out the LTD edition), it was evident that what sat inside the “tablet” was going to be pretty special. Sixty seconds into the opening title track I was already in disbelief. By the time it ended I was in awe. And eleven years later it is one of my favourite songs of all time.

The record itself is also one of my favourites. I still listen to it all the time and it hasn’t aged a bit. From the majestic title track to the cacophonous No God, Only Religion, there isn’t a single element that seems out of place. The fucked-up, heroin-referencing groove of I Think I’m In Love? The frenetic pace of Electricity? The stately grace of Cool Waves? The sufficiently heartbreaking Broken Heart? The power of Come Together? The lengthy brilliance of Cop Shoot Cop? It’s all essential and it’s all absolutely amazing.

The impetus for this post was the recent announcement from Spiritualized that the band would be taking part in ATP’s Don’t Look Back concert series later this year in which the band will play the entirety of Ladies and Gentlemen complete with a choir, a strign section and a horn section. While some great albums that I love have been given the Don’t Look Back treatment before (including Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation which I was lucky enough to see), this marks the first time that a band will be playing an album that has had a deep impact on my life. I would kill to see this. So let’s hope for some sort of tour beyond the four dates so far announced in the UK.

I may have to settle for enjoying the reissue of Ladies and Gentlemen which will be released in October to accompany the shows. Since details are non-existent at this point I can blindly hope for an official release of the “Elvis Mix” of the title track as well as some unheard demos and mixes.

If you’ve never heard this album I implore you to check it out. It’s miles beyond nearly everything else that has been released in the last decade.

Watch: Come Together

With the exception of Radiohead, I believe the Super Furry Animals have been the most scarily consistent band of the last fifteen years or so. And just when I thought the band might be quietly slipping into safe mode (after the excellent but slightly more even-keeled last few records), Dark Days/Light Years arrives and is easily one of the Furries’ finest, most bizarre and fun records to date.

It opens with one of the oddest songs in the Furry canon (Crazy Naked Girls), continues along with one of their most infectious groove-based pieces (Inaugural Trams), and then explodes with, perhaps, one of the finest songs the band has ever released, Cardiff In The Sun. And that’s just the first half of the album.

The record can be purchased digitally now through the band’s website but it will be released locally here in Australia on April 18. Get on this one.

Download
Super Furry Animals – Inaugural Trams

Next month, Grizzly Bear release one of this year’s most anticipated records, Veckatimest on Warp. Many internet circles went a little crazy when the record leaked a month or so ago but I have yet to hear it. After the slowburning Yellow House, I expect Veckatimist will be much the same.

The first (legal) sample from the album is Cheerleader and it, like most of Grizzly Bear’s stuff, has been ever so slowly growing on me the past couple weeks.

Download
Grizzly Bear – Cheerleader

The Drones, currently on tour in the US (hey Seattle friends, go see them on April 12 at the Sunset Tavern), will be returning to Australia shortly to play shows all around the country. This band kill it live every single night and if you’re not going, there is something wrong with you. Seriously. Here are all the dates:

23rd Apr: The Corner Hotel, Melbourne
24th Apr: The Corner Hotel, Melbourne
25th Apr: The Metro Theatre, Sydney (tickets)
26th Apr : Fly By Night, Fremantle
29th Apr: The Hi Fi, Brisbane
30th Apr: ANU Bar, Canberra
1st May : The Gov, Adelaide
2nd May: Groovin The Moo, Townsville
3rd May: Ripe Festival, Noosa
9th May: Groovin The Moo, Maitland
16th May: Groovin The Moo, Bendigo

I’ve heard that Qui, who were originally going to be suporting The Drones gigs are no longer doing so. Witch Hats will be supporting most of The Drones headlining gigs. Keep an eye out here for more details on support acts.

Now, someone somewhere (a label/promo rep) has given me a copy of The Drones latest record, Havilah, to give away. All you need to do is leave a comment or email me (sean at a-reminder dot org) telling me why you’d give the CD a good home. I’ll choose one at random on Thursday afternoon.

Here’s the latest single off Havilah, Your Acting’s Like The End Of The World.

Download:
The Drones – Your Acting’s Like The End Of The World

UPDATE
Thanks to everyone for the emails and the comments but there can be only one winner and that winner is Michael. Hope you enjoy the album.

So M83 and The Dø played the Metro last night. I was there for the headliners so let’s start there.

I’ve been an M83 fan since the brilliant Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts but I had yet to see him/them live. M83 are definitely more a studio project than a live entity so I was concerned/intrigued with how the multi-layered songs would be achieved in a live setting. Currently, Anthony Gonzalez (who is M83) is accompanied live by a drummer, a guitarist, and a keyboardist, while Anthony himself jumps between keyboards/samples/guitar. I’m never a fan of bands using backing tracks live but M83 are pretty much forced to; taking that into account I thought the band did a decent job of making the songs take on a life of their own live.

The energy in Graveyard Girl and A Guitar and a Heart were great. In fact, I was pleased with every song the band did play (pretty much highlights from the last three records). However, the band were plagued by sound problems all night, punctuated by the vocals in Kim & Jessie drowning out every instrument on the stage. I’m not sure if the sound engineer was asleep or what but it pretty much wrecked the song. While this was the only problem I noticed/heard the band were clearly unhappy (but apologetic) for the entire (short) one hour set. It wouldn’t surprise me if we missed a song given the rather quick exit the band made after A Guitar and a Heart.

Returning for an encore the band overcame their issues and ended the night with a great version of Couleurs. As the band left the stage I felt a bit weird. I liked what I saw but felt the band could have played a while longer. And with little direct connection with the crowd, M83 really need to step up the visuals at their gigs. Screens would be great but even decent lights would have helped. Last night the band were shrouded in total darkness. Not something you see at a lot of “electronic” gigs where the musicians take care with the visual sides of their shows.

Setlist
Run Into Flowers
*
Graveyard Girl
We Own The Sky
Teen Angst
Don’t Save Us From the Flames
Kim & Jessie
A Guitar and a Heart
———
Couleurs

What made the slightly disappointing M83 performance more palatable was the fact that The Dø were so friggin’ awesome. I had only heard a few songs and they clearly gave me no indication of the energy and weirdness The Dø bring to the stage. Lead singer Olivia Bouyssou Merilahti was all over the place and her stage presence was exceptional. I fully expect this band to do great things in the future. Right now I’m off to find the album.

A few photos from the gig here.