Ghoul - A Mouthful of Gold EP

This EP is really very good. Sydney four-piece Ghoul are offering it as a free download on their Myspace.

If you don't like Myspace, here is the direct link.

Here is a picture of the CD.


Expect a more coherent CD review of this to pop up somewhere (either here or otherwise) in the next week or so. I'll link to it. Not that you need me to convince you anyway. It's free and good.

There are some surprising elements mixed into this EP. The vocalist is a real crooner, which is a bit disconcerting at first but it will grow on you. The instrumentation is really pretty at times, lots of nice synth sounds. It's very diverse despite the short, 20 min running time. Can't really think of any local parallels to these guys at the moment, they sound a bit different.

They aren't the only group called Ghoul. Last.fm says there are 7 bands by this name. A death metal band wins ownership of that site's Ghoul profile. Good for them!

New Crab Smasher album available free on Last.fm

The new Crab Smasher album is available to listen to/download at Last.fm.

This is their first proper release since the 2007 3" CD-R 'Impossible Monsters', which I reviewed for Mess+Noise here.

More information/comments will be forthcoming. In the meantime, listen to the album for yourself.

Crab Smasher Myspace - www.myspace.com/crabsmasher

(Once my swarming deadlines are swatted, this blog will be more lively)

amazing sydney line up tonight

Been very busy, but profiles of all these bands and more will be forthcoming soon.

Currently working on a few artists with a bit of history / large background, will be back soon.

Tired Hands

ALBUM: Split Cassette with Not Waving

LABEL: Tuff Puffin

RELEASE DATE: 2008

LOCATION: Sydney

Tired Hands is the solo guise of Sydney's Kell Derrig-Hall, best known as half of Moonmilk and guitarist/vocalist for now defunct art rock group Piano Get Small. Tired Hands has also released a cassette entitled Good Neighbours (2008, Tuff Puffin) which is described on Tired Hands' myspace as "surburban explorations meditating on synthesisers, organ, field recordings, guitar, television and the flight path."

Tired Hands' side on the Not Waving split is a varied spool of Moonmilk-esque drone, psychedelic vocal manipulations and organ noise. Perhaps the key distinguishing factor between this project thus far and Moonmilk is the prominence of Derrig-Hall's vocals, which, while technically outstanding and capable of standing alone (he has performed a cappella live), still become subsumed by colourful swirls of static and four-track hiss here.

The result is a dynamic conglomeration of sound tied together by faint traces of melody and structure. The recording has a spatial quality that - similar to Moonmilk - never resorts to extremity but somehow coalesces the harsher regions of popular drone music with the ethereal qualities of shoegaze ala Flying Saucer Attack. Some of the best ambient music in Australia comes from these quarters.

Kell is currently recording songs for a new album. Tracks currently on the Tired Hands myspace ('Routine and War') indicate that it will be a more song-orientated affair with a greater emphasis on vocals.

LINKS:

Tired Hands Myspace: www.myspace.com/24zzz

Moonmilk Myspace: www.myspace.com/moonmilk

Piano Get Small Myspace: www.myspace.com/pianogetsmall

Tuff Puffin Myspace: www.myspace.com/tufftapes

Do The Robot

ALBUM: Amp on Fire
LABEL: Valve
RELEASE DATE: 2008
LOCATION: Brisbane

At the beginning of this decade when the post-punk 'sound' was making its gutted return, it felt for a while that the only bands that resonated from that era were the likes of Gang of Four and Wire. One of the bands that arguably kicked that period into gear – Public Image Limited – hadn’t registered to most, or maybe that cylindrical metal box in the vinyl bin seemed a bit daunting. It should be daunting: ‘Metal Box’ was a landmark moment, and Brisbane’s Do The Robot have co-opted the reverberated, dub-influenced qualities of that record and almost made it their own on Amp on Fire.

In this ideologically safe decade, Do The Robot don’t appear to harbour the subversive tendencies of PiL, though they have written an astoundingly infectious album. Vocalist Sera Mucha utilises the same swirling, incrementally evolving vocal couplets that John Lydon did, though they’re more minimal and suggestive than they are cryptic. She’s a charismatic front woman whose feminine swagger sits uncertainly but effectively on the bobbing, windswept rock ensemble. The delay soaked guitars stretch and repeat over sustained panoramic rhythms, with the gentle colour of glockenspiel providing melodic anchorage.

The songs take a few listens to reveal themselves through the often repetitive compositions, and the anti-intuitive temperament of Mucha’s vocals can prove challenging. Stick with it though, because the subtle dynamism of this album is its most enduring strength.

LINKS:

Do The Robot Myspace: www.myspace.com/idorobots

Live Event: Talons Album Fundraiser

LINE-UP: Talons The Holy Soul, Further, Dead China Doll, Sherlocks Daughter, Atrocities
DATE: Sunday, September 7, 2008
VENUE: Hermanns Bar, Sydney
TIME: 4pm (Talons play first)
ENTRY: $12

Sydney art rock three-piece Talons are putting on a show to raise funds for their debut LP.




LINKS:
Talons Myspace: www.myspace.com/talonsband
The Holy Soul Myspace: www.myspace.com/theholysoul
Further Myspace: www.myspace.com/furtheraust
Dead China Doll Myspace: www.myspace.com/dancingwithachainsaw
Sherlocks Daughter Myspace: www.myspace.com/sherlocksdaughter
Atrocities Myspace: www.myspace.com/atrocitiesaus