• Music

    Dirty Three – Whatever You Love, You Are

    November 8, 2022 - By 

    The Dirty Three are Mick Turner, Jm White and Warren Ellis, and between them, they have worked with a who’s who of alternative music like P.J. Harvey, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and Nick Cave among others.  What’s most impressive about their sound, however, is that they can sew together angular post-rock with a charming, nearly folkish sound.  This is the band’s best album in my estimation, and that’s saying a lot considering the quality of their work, but please do give it a listen and enjoy one of Australia’s finest instrumental bands.

  • Music

    John Wall – [Computer​]​-​[​Piano] Part II

    August 14, 2022 - By 

    John Wall is Australia’s foremost experimental music composer.  I had lost track of him many years ago, but it’s good to see that he is still composing bold music.  From his Bandcamp site: “As with the previous Computer-Piano release these three compositions consist of piano recordings (that are not subject to any computer manipulations) and computer manufactured sounds that were built around the (analogue) piano of [Computer]-[Piano] part II and [Computer]-[Piano] part II Variation 1. The objective (as before with Computer-Piano ) was to create a work that combined the analogue and digital into an aesthetically convincing structured work. The…

  • Music

    The Traffic – Fire​/​Bangarang

    July 29, 2022 - By 

    The first thing that came into my mind hearing The Traffic was that they have mastered the psych-soul formula to a tee.  The first track, Fire, is a Jimi Hendrix cover where the flute takes the place of Hendrix’s legendary guitar playing, and it sounds damn solid.  The second track, Bangarang, sounds like something that would have fit in well with a hip Blaxploitation soundtrack, with a heavy funk element to the track.

  • Music

    Freyja Garbett – MAYA

    April 3, 2022 - By 

    Freyja Garbett, a Berklee graduate has made a remarkably innovative album.  From her Bandcamp website: “Garbett’s heady compositions draws influence from a vast range of styles and musicians. A graduate of the Berklee College of Music, she lists pianists and composers such as Fred Hersch, Gerald Clayton and Maria Schneider as critical influences to her music, along with the likes of Flying Lotus, J Dilla and Snarky Puppy. “The pieces from my debut album are an exploration of an electro-acoustic approach to jazz composition and improvisation,” begins Garbett. “These compositions are springboards for improvisation and creativity. An added element to…

  • Music

    Puscha – Etterath

    March 20, 2022 - By 

    Puscha is an Australian sound designer and film composer who hails from Australia and his music ranges from deep, cinematic ambient dub to cold, icy minimal techno.  I’ve been out of the techno world far too long, as this release is astounding, and it’s making me wonder what else I’m missing these days. The beats remind me of something like Cinematic Orchestra and Monolake colliding.  As both are legends of electronic music, Puscha is using some fine reference points to create his music.

  • Music

    Delay 45 – Flux

    March 11, 2022 - By 

    Australian jazz continues to impress!  To my ears, Delay 45 combine a tinge of Chet Baker and early trumpet-laden Durutti Column with the improvising abilities of fellow Aussies The Necks, and the results make for a free fluid, and even somewhat sensual experience.  This will be seen as a classic in the genre in the next few years.

  • Music

    Andrea Keller / Wave Riders – Systems Over​-​Ride

    February 19, 2022 - By 

    I was going through a tag titled “Australian jazz” on my free time this week and came across this stunner of an album by Andrea Keller & Wave Riders. From her Bandcamp site: Systems Over-Ride is the new album from Melbourne-based pianist & composer Andrea Keller, featuring her latest musical venture, WAVE RIDERS. The quintet performs Andrea’s music with grit and spontaneity; bringing together her somewhat disparate fascinations of free jazz and doom metal, combined with potent harmonies and yearning melodies. Dichotomous relationships abound as she grapples to reconcile the brutal and the beautiful, all the while focussed on stripping…

  • Music

    Various Artists – Pyramid Pieces 2

    November 10, 2021 - By 

    This is a comp we won’t have to wait too terribly long for.  The Roundtable is a record label out of Melbourne, Australia which documents some phenomenal jazz from down under.  Apparently, the first installment of Pyramid Pieces was a tour-de-force of Australian spiritual jazz, and the comp sold briskly, introducing the world to Jazz Co/Op, the Brian Brown Quintet, the Alan Lee Quartet and others.  In this installment, new names such as Allan Zavod (whose track is the only one available to sample currently), The Charlie Munro, Out To Lunch and several others.  My limited exposure to Aussie jazz…