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Watch: Little Barrie 'Surf Hell'

Pete — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

English blues pop trio Little Barrie took their time creating their third album, King of the Waves –– five years in fact, during which time singer/guitarist Barrie Cadogan rendered his services to the likes of Paul Weller and Primal Scream.

King of the Waves finally arrived in the middle of 2011, and it was entirely worth the wait –– twelve tracks of tightly coiled, gritty pop that The Times, in a four star review, called 'a string of hard, fast and strikingly inventive songs, confirm[ing] that Little Barrie is a band with a much bigger future.'

NME wrote that the lp 'rekindles the band’s effervescent spirit but injects a fiery determination into Barrie’s blueprint.' It's well worth a listen. Wrap your ears around a couple of tracks in our player above, and check out the great new video for the album's first single, 'Surf Hell', below.

Little Barrie are on Gaga Pub via Touch Tones Music.

New Dulux 'The Coast' TVC. feat. Rohin Jones

Pete — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Last year, much loved Townsfolk indie folk outfit The Middle East called it quits, after two critically acclaimed albums, a couple of lps, and a heap of touring. Since then, the various members of the band have kept themselves more than busy: Bree Tranter has released her gorgeous debut single, and Jordan Ireland and Rohin Jones, the band's two primary songwriters, have pursued various recording projects, including Joseph Liddy and the Skeleton Horse, who are releasing a three-part album via Gaga Digi.

Rohin recently created a beautiful composition for a Dulux commercial about the Australian coast. The beautifully shot spot also featured none other than The Bis. Check out the spot below.

Knesset: Coming of Age

Pete — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

A late entry into our favourite records of 2011 comes from young Phoenix outfit Knesset, whose debut lp Coming of Age is getting some pretty heavy airplay in the office of late.

Coming of Age is a strikingly assured bit of lush indie rock, drawing upon various influences –– the shimmering pop of fellow Southerners The American Analog Set, the rousing anthems of Broken Social Scene, the huge, immersive textures of classic British shoegaze –– but remaining its own beast.

And what a pretty beast it is. Have a listen to standout cut Tell Me All Your Lies:

Coming of Age is largely the work of Evan Fox, who worked with Jeffrey Olsen and Michael Bell (Lymbyc System) to write and record the lp, making use of a private collection of vintage instruments, which give the album its wonderfully rich, warm tone. The album was mixed by John Congleton, who has worked with the likes of St. Vincent, The Walkmen, Black Mountain and Explosions in the Sky.

Check out the clip below for another great track from the album, Bitter Hearts, which sounds a bit like American Analog Set covering Slowdive. We like very much.

Knesset are on Gaga Pub via Rough Trade. Pick up Coming of Age from the band's Bandcamp.

Handsome Furs: Serve the People

Pete — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

One of our favourite records from 2011 was Sound Kapital, the latest lp from Canadian electro pop duo Handsome Furs.

Handsome Furs is the brainchild of husband and wife Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry, Boeckner being best known for his work with indie rock outfit Wolf Parade.

At the end of 2010, Wolf Parade went on indefinite hiatus, which allowed Boeckner to focus fully on the Handsome Furs. Wanting to write a new record, their third, Boeckner and Perry decided do things differently, and make themselves work harder: they resolved to write the album entirely on keyboards.

It was a telling move. The resulting album, Sound Kapitol, sees a calculated shift away from the ragged guitarwork Boeckner had become known for, the duo instead creating a refined, emotionally resonant brand of synth-pop that has deservedly won them much critical acclaim.

'Handsome Furs no longer feel like a stripped-down antidote to Wolf Parade,' Pitchfork wrote of the lp, 'but more like a band that's able to execute progressively grander, emotionally resonant ideas while staying within their limited means.'

Sound Kapitol was partly inspired by Boeckner and Perry's recent travels, in which they visited several countries, including Burma, and performed alongside many bands who, by necessity, were truly underground. One of the songs inspired by these journeys is the rousing 'Serve the People', which has a wonderful, moving clip directed by young Chinese director Han Xia.

The clip, which you can watch below, is based on an old high school classmate of Xia's, a lonesome cleaner obsessed with indie music, and was filmed in the director's hometown of Beijing.

Handsome Furs are on Gaga Pub via Third Side Music. Sound Kapitol is out now through Sub Pop.

Merry Christmas // Gaga Summer Sounds

Pete — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

And so another year is done and dusted. We'd like to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and new year, with lots of sun and surf (or snow), or whatever takes your fancy.

Before we head off to eat large amounts of slow moving birds, we've put together a collection of our favourite summer songs for your listening enjoyment over the coming days and weeks, featuring sunny, sublime cuts from The War on Drugs, Real Estate, Buckley Ward, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Breathe Owl Breathe and many more. Perfect for any and all summer moods and activities.

Merry Christmas!

The Black Keys' El Camino Goes Gold

Pete — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

The juggernaut that is The Black Keys' new album, El Camino, keeps rolling, with the album going gold in Australia within a few weeks of being released.

In the US, the band's seventh lp is hitting some pretty rarefied hegiths, coming in at number two in its first week of release, second only to a Christmas album by Michael Buble, who, it seems, cannot be defeated by earthly forces.

Drummer Patrick Carney told MTV this week that he and bandmate, Patrick Auerbach, had a sense that their star was rising further than ever before in the lead up to the album, but thay they 'tried not to let it get into our heads. It definitely didn't affect the making of the album, but, you know, we were trying to take advantage of the situation, because we've been a band for a decade and the whole point, for us, was to play to as many people as possible without compromising. So we put a lot of time and effort into the new record. We've made records in 14 hours before; this one we spent 40 days on.'

Working again with producer extraordinaire Danger Mouse, the band took their time recording El Camino, focusing on the little things.

'When we started the songs, it was completely organic, but once we start going, and we get the foundation done, we really start to concentrate on the little details that sort of make it what it's going to be, because sometimes those little details can be really impactful,' Auerbach told MTV.

We can't stop listening to it. Have a listen for yourself in our player below.

The Black Keys' El Camino Is Here!

Pete — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

This week, the mighty Black Keys gave us an early Christmas present: their seventh lp, El Camino, the follow up to the rightly acclaimed Brothers.

And what a present it is. Already, critics are proclaiming El Camino as right up there with the finest records of the band's career. 'El Camino is the Keys' grandest pop gesture yet,' Rolling Stone wrote, 'augmenting dark-hearted fuzz blasts with sleekly sexy choruses and Seventies-glam flair.' The Guardian, meanwhile, wrote that 'they sound like a band who think they've made the year's best rock'n'roll album, probably because that's exactly what they've done.'

We wholeheartedly concur: El Camino is 38 minutes of pure, thrusting rock and roll, the sound of a band at the height of their powers. Have a listen to a few tracks in our player below.

Watch: Waters – Back To You

Pete — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Here in the Gaga office, it's not uncommon to find us reminiscing about about the abundance of great music that came out of that grand old time known as the 90s, in particular the great, fuzzy, lovably shambolic indie rock that defined the era (for us anyways).

It's a sound we hold very dear to our hearts, and it's one of the many reasons why we're loving WATERS, the new project from former Port O'Brien frontman Van Pierszalowski.

WATERS came together gradually, as Pierszalowski travelled in the wake of Port O'Brien's demise, first to Oslo, then to Alaska and Brooklyn, then back to Oslo again. For his new band, Pierszalowski wanted to create a bigger sound, and Out in the Light, WATERS' great debut lp, is big indeed, filled with catchy, raucous, immediately likeable songs, steeped in the woolly, classic indie rock of yore.

For the new clip for Back To You, the band ramped up the 90s homage a little more, the video heavy on denim jackets and fuzzy footage –– so much so that watching it, we got a little dizzy with nostalgia. Check out the video below, and listen to some more of Out in the Light in our player above.

Guest List: Boys Boys Boys!

Pete — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

We're very happy to announce that Perth synth-pop sextet Boys Boys Boys! have joined Gaga Pub and Gaga Digi.

Boys Boys Boys! started out in 2007 on a lazy afternoon in Perth, when a few friends suddenly decided they would be pop stars –– like Britney, but entirely on their own terms.

Soon enough, said friends moved into a run-down old share-house in north Perth, filling it with every casio keyboard, synth and flea-market student guitar they could find, while still making time for the essentials –– i.e. outfits with sequins.

The music of Boys, Boys, Boys! is a joyous synth-pop assault, steeped in 80s electronica, full of infectious pop hooks and sugary all-girl vocal harmonies.

Since forming four years ago, Boys Boys Boys! have taken their pop dreams to the next level, playing numerous festivals and supporting high-profile international acts around the country.

We're very happy to be putting out the band's two thoroughly excellent releases to date, debut lp Yes! and latest single Casio Joy, both of which are out now on Gaga Digi.

2011 has been a big year for Boys Boys Boys!: they took home a Western Australian Screen Award for Best Music Video for Ticky-Ticky Boom (watch the clip below), and followed up with a national tour in support of Regurgitator.

Boys Boys Boys! are currently back in the kitchen completing the writing of their second album, which is due for release in April 2012. We recently caught up with Koko, one of the band's singers/frontwomen, and asked her about what she's been listening to, her most treasured bit of musical equipment, and what movies everyone should see before they die.

My favourite song right now:

M83: Midnight City.

My current musical obsession:

Everything and anything Warpaint. And the Smiths always and forever <3

A great, under recognized record:

Aquarium by Aqua... haha, not really! Okay maybe... but lets also say The Mavis' Pink Pills, 90s electronic pop ahead of its time.

At the moment, I'm reading:

The comic American Splendor: Our Movie Year by Harvey Pekar, and the graphic novel The Death-Ray by Daniel Clowes.

Three movies everyone should see before they die:

The Breakfast Club
Labyrinth
All of Twin Peaks, the TV series plus the movie too. Best!

My dream collaboration would be:

Fun musical party with CSS, or Uffie girl rap battles. Or Tyler, the Creator for musical muck arounds.

My alternate, non-musical vocation would be:

I would love to be a comic book/zine writer living in Paris, eating macaroons all day, and making short films on the side with my pals David Lynch and Michel Gondry. Wishful thinking ;)

If cash/logistics were no object, I would do a tour of:

Japan! Would be so much fun! Then on to the USA.

The last thing I bought:

Oversized Eazy-E tshirt and silver glitter eyeshadow, for that extra sparkle ;)

Most treasured bit of gear:

My beloved Microkorg synth.

Ideally, I will retire:

When I'm a millionaire, sipping margheritas with my neighbour Kanye. I know. I'm a silly dreamer, haha.

Hey Rosetta Wow Oz, Release Great New Clip For Bandages

Pete — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0700

After wowing Australian audiences in April this year, Canadian indie-pop six-piece Hey Rosetta are back on Australian shores, supporting The Jezabels on a three week, fourteen-date tour that wraps up this week. Reviews of the shows have been overwhelmingly positive, with the band's renowned, high-energy live show earning them a legion of new fans.

By all accounts, the band are very much enjoying their return trip, overcoming bouts of sunburn, over-priced food and the Qantas strike to take in the country's many and varied delights, even finding time to pop into the studio and lay down some acoustic versions of their songs.

Just before jetting over to Oz, the band released a great, stirring clip for standout single Bandages, from Seeds, their third lp.

The clip, which you can watch below, was lovingly shot in the band's native Newfoundland, on cliff tops, in small apartments, in cafeterias, and alongside tanks full of seals. Kind of makes us want to move to Canada.

Rohin Jones

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rohin Jones is best known for his work in Townsville indie folk outfit The Middle East, which he co-founded with Jordan Ireland in 2005. After two acclaimed albums and a couple of EPs, The Middle East disbanded in 2011. That same year, Rohin won an APRA Professional Development Award in the Popular Contemporary category, which has allowed him to focus on his solo work.

Rohin is a prolific writer, and is involved in various recording projects in Townsville; he also performs in Joseph Liddy and The Skeleton Horse. In the summer of 2011/12, one of Rohin's solo compositions appeared in a Dulux commercial, which you can watch below.

Jess Ribeiro

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

In 2008, Darwin singer-songwriter Jess Ribeiro formed an acoustic duo with Rob Law; before long, the two had picked up more more players, and had become Jess Ribeiro and the Bone Collectors.

Ribeiro and Law's sound has a distinct, raw energy, the duo's dark and dusty ballads drawing comparison to the likes of Karen Dalton, Cat Power, Neil Young and Johnny Cash.

Since forming, Jess and her band have traveled the country supporting esteemed country-folk artists including the Waifs, Mama Kin, Charlie Parr and Darren Hanlon. In early 2008, the pair released their debut EP, Pilgrimage, and were subsequently Unearthed by triple J as one of the new crop of artists to watch in Australian Music Month.

The band has been acclaimed by the Australian press, featuring in the Australian Rolling Stone magazine, and getting glowing reviews from triple J Music Director Richard Kingsmill, who wrote, 'Jess is a great singer. I really love the way she delivers a song, and she never overdoes it.' Radio National's Tim Ritchie, meanwhile, reviewing a live performance, wrote that Jess sings 'like someone who had been on the stage forever, but with a delicate and intimate tone. Her lyrics were simple and honest, but much more than that, she put words together in fantastic ways and then delivered them effortlessly.'

In 2011, Jess and Rob released their much awaited debut album, My Little River. The duo and band continue to tour heavily around the country, where they've gathered a steady and loyal following.

Coby Grant

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Coby Grant is a fiercely independent Australian pop singer-songwriter. Originally from Perth, the past few years have seen Coby do a stint in Melbourne, tour extensively in both Australia and overseas, and eventually move to Europe, where she currently resides.

Coby's intimate, sweetly confessional acoustic pop combines heartfelt lyrics with immediate, winsome melodies to great effect. In the past three years, Coby has self released two EPs, a live lp and a digital-only acoustic lp, and has won herself a growing fanbase both at home, where she's toured nationally four times, selling out venues in most major cities, and abroad, where her focus currently lies.

In 2010, Coby's track 'A Song About Me' featured in a Scandinavian TVC, which eventually led her to tour through northern Europe. (Watch the spot below.) The great response to Coby's tour saw her pack her bags and move to Europe in 2011, where she's since played over 200 shows. Coby currently lives in Germany, where she is hard at work on a debut album for release in Europe.

Baptism of Uzi

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Starting as a two-guitar and drums acid-garage prog-punk riff jamboree with a sound lying somewhere between Neu!, Devo and Black Sabbath, Melbourne psych-rock outfit Baptism Of Uzi found their genesis in 2010 in an unrenovated shack beneath the Westgate Bridge. The band have since added synth and bass to the mesh, creating a space-rock juggernaut founded on driving motorik beats, twin lead guitarmonies and rich analog synth-scapes.

The band have quickly become renowned for their fierce, fevered live shows, led by dynamic frontman Bojan Stojanov. In 2011, the band performed at iconic New Zealand festival Camp A Low Hum, and the St. Jeromes Laneway Festival in Melbourne; they also helped relaunch their hometown's iconic Tote Hotel.

In March of 2011, Baptism of Uzi released their great Cassette ep through Gaga Digi, launching it, as they did their first ep, to a sold out, sweaty crowd. A more sonically rich affair than their debut tape, the Cassette EP provides another glimpse into the vision of experimentation and progression that BoU doggedly pursue.

After a solid year of touring, Baptism of Uzi were voted one of the country's 'best new-ish' acts in the 2011 year-end Mess & Noise Readers Poll.

The band are currently hard at work on their much awaited debut album, which is due for release in 2012. Stay tuned.

The Little Stevies

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Rarely do you see a band with such an ability to connect with their audience as Melbourne's The Little Stevies. The trio's unique blend of emotive and honest songwriting, catchy pop melodies and beautiful three-part harmonies actually do what so many others claim to: give their audience license to really identify with them, and to feel that they're sharing something of themselves.

The Little Stevies are made up of sisters Sibylla and Beth, and their childhood friend Robin. They descend from a long line of great Australian acts that includes the likes of Frente, The Waifs and Paul Kelly –– acts whose music retains a sense of fun while maintaining an emotional depth and maturity. It's not uncommon to see people standing in a Little Stevies' audience with a smile on their face and tears on their cheeks.

The band's approach to songwriting and storytelling is uniquely Australian, but also universal, as evidenced by the great response the band has received on their overseas tours. Indeed, the band's charming lyrics, luscious harmonies and uplifting aura are winning hearts throughout the world.

Kikuyu

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Kikuyu is a micropop project by Melbourne artist Sez Wilks. Building on five years as a vocalist and synth player for The Surly Mermaids, Kikuyu sees Wilks establish her own small-scale, lo-fi style, looping warm vocals and wartime diva harmonies with the fuzzy built-in beats and bright tones of an Italian combo organ.

Kikuyu’s debut album, Hunter Gathered, came about after Wilks rescued a Baleani audiosonic organ from a secondhand shop and decided to make it the focus of a set’s worth of songs. 'I found it in the corner all clunky and unloved,' Wilks explains. 'I felt sorry for it. It reminded me of a dog we had when I was little, last in the litter with its front feet pointing in. Later someone taught it to shake hands. Hopefully I’ve helped this old organ do a similar thing, musically!

Hunter Gathered takes listeners on a pleasantly beguiling journey where minimal arrangements embrace heartfelt harmonies and combo organ kitsch.

The album’s two singles, Infodome and The Rescuing, were released in late 2011, both receiving deserved attention online and on national and community radio. Check out the clip for Infodome below.

Wilks is also a member of Aleks and the Ramps.

Donny Benét

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Donny Benét. Solo artist. Son of Antonio Giacomelli Benét, the famous Italian accordionist who made his name recording popular disco songs of the 1970s.

Antonio called Australia his new home after falling in love with the daughter of an accordion repairer, and, after eloping to Leichhardt, they were soon parents to Donny. Donny grew up following his father's footsteps but changed his mind at the age of 15 and began to play the electric bass as he soon realised that nobody wanted to hear disco accordion anymore. Donny still plays accordion for the old people at the Scalabrini Retirement village but for the moment is focusing on getting a residency in one of the top Las Vegas hotel lobby bars and one day becoming a television personality.

2011 has heralded the new era of Donny Benét. Due to the apparent lack of interest in disco accordian and jazz bass playing, Donny has taken the plunge and recorded his debut album, Don't Hold Back, in the famous Donny Land Studios. Armed with a drum machine, a Fender Rhodes and a Moog synthesizer with a pitch bender that won't stop, Donny has worked hard to create an album that will hopefully make him the most famous disco accordian/jazz bassist of the 21st century.

Waters

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Spring 2010 saw the demise of Port O'Brien. Founding member/frontman Van Pierszalowski, needing a break from the hectic, wonderful mess that is touring, stumbled into respite in Oslo, Norway, and spent some time away from making music. Van explored the new city, swam in the Norwegian fjords, enjoyed the weather and the experience of the seasons changing. He found his bearings and fell in love again.

Inspiration arrived and as he wrote, Van was compelled to fuel the process further by changing his environment once more. He spent most of the next year traveling: to Alaska, where he'd spent summers working on his father's commercial salmon fishing boat; to California, where he'd grown up in a seaside town off Highway 1; and eventually to New York, where in Brooklyn he endured relentless blizzards and a cold nearly reminiscent of Oslo.

Van gave his new musical project a name: Waters. The songs he was writing veered away from the loose, punchy anthems of Port O'Brien, and as he intensively pieced each one together, he sought a bigger sound –– something louder than he could play on his own. So Van returned to Oslo, where his new journey had begun. He put together a band of fine Norwegian gentlemen and spent every day of the next two months rehearsing in a small practice space outside of the city.

This band went with Van to Dallas, Texas, to record with producer John Congleton. Over a brief 10-day recording session in April, Congleton –– who has worked on some of Van's favorite albums (by artists including St. Vincent, Bill Callahan, and, yes, R. Kelly) –– kept the production stark, maintaining the songs' intimacy and emotional intensity. Out In The Light has a louder, fuller, more aggressive and raw sound than any of Van's earlier works. It's a mix of fuzzy, pealing guitars and crashing drums, and easy, alternately soaring and languid, indelible melodies.

According to Van, 'The record is about waking up. It is about getting out of a situation that seems endless, and realising you're not too old to make dramatic and sudden changes in your life. It is about starting over.'

Buckley Ward

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Like their name, it’s deceptively difficult to trace the sound of Melbourne indie-pop quintet Buckley back to its source. Deviance and derivation, vivacity and everyday tragedy; it's all there. For a year and a half, Jimmy Allen and his bande à part have been plotting their vision –– an aural semblance of life and listlessness in the city.

Instrumentally and stylistically versatile, Buckley is a musical chameleon. They sweep you up in the reckless joy of blood-pumping indie pop, stop you in your tracks with eloquent lyrics that catch in your throat, and give your senses a good hard slap with jungle beats you can feel in your nethers.

The band's opportunistic and always evolving writing and recording process ensures Buckley Ward's music consists of equal parts head and heart. Buckley is a band absorbing their musical landscape, giving it a talking to, and spitting out a sound that makes you feel at home, in a place you’ve never been before.

Buckley Ward's debut lp, So Pretend, will be out in early 2012.

Megastick Fanfare

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Megastick Fanfare are a young five-piece experimental pop band from Sydney. Megastick employ a variety of instrumentation, both acoustic and electronic, to create their dynamic, wide-ranging sound, with all five members playing multiple instruments and collaborating in the songwriting process.

Live, the band are quickly becoming renowned for their energetic, unique performances. Every Megastick show is opened with a brand new 'fanfare': a special piece of music unique to that night.

In their short history, Megastick have been Unearthed by Triple J, supported Cloud Control, Seekae, High Places (USA) and El Guinchio (Spain), appeared on Spunk! Records impressive singles club compilation and released a split 7" with fellow Sydney experimentalists Kyü. In May 2011, Megastick Fanfare released their debut album, Grit Aglow, to critical acclaim: The Brag called it 'one of best albums to come out of Sydney this year'; JMAG described it as 'a sonic explosion that will leave you flabbergasted' (JMAG).

Recorded by the band with friend Frey Lindsay in the band's own rehearsal space, and mixed by Jonathan Boulet, Grit Aglow experiments broadly with both texture and structure, while maintaining a firm pop grounding and melodic focus. A variety of influences and instrumentation culminate in an album that traverses the full experimental pop spectrum, from abrasive intensity to incendiary sparkle.