Lance Ferguson is most well known for his work with the Melbourne soul/funk outfit The Bamboos. However, during his busy schedule he has found time to somehow put together a side project album, and get the majority of the Melbourne music scene to sing along on it. Blind Bet by Cookin’ on 3 Burners, (by far the coolest band name I’ve heard in recent times) is a cracking set of tracks.
It’s pretty exciting that finally in 2014 we’re able to get our ears around Shy Glow, the debut album from Sydney duo Fishing. It’s been a couple of years in the making, but trust me on this one, it’s been well worth the wait. Having seen the group play once in Geelong, back in 2010 supporting The John Steel Singers at the Nash, I was immediately entranced with the luscious electro beats that were being thrown down.
After signing their first record contract in 2008, sister duo Johanna and Klara have proved with their third release that they’ve got what it takes to stick around. Stay Gold is filled with chiming vocals in the sweet folk/country tunes that we’ve fallen in love with. The 10-tracks are so infectiously happy that you’ll be seeing little furry creatures frolicking through green pastures in no time.
You know those scenes in the movies where some badass guy is driving a hotted up car, arm out the window with the music pumping? Well Islander’s new album Violence & Destruction would be the soundtrack to that scene. Islander are relatively new to the nu-metal and alternative scenes, but they’ve already been making waves with big names touting them as the “ones to watch”.
The Lion won’t be a band that you’ve heard of before, and that’s because they are still yet to break into the fold of the music industry. But boy are they a band you should get to know. With no previous exposure to The Lion, it was hard to know what to expect. But as soon as the unsettling post rock sounds of ‘Brace for the Fall’ began, I was hooked.
BADBADNOTGOOD are your new favourite band that you’ve never heard of. Originally from Canada BBNG, as they are more commonly known, have released their third studio album in four years. The first album to feature solely original compositions, this set of tracks is quite an interesting listen straight from the beginning. The band are obviously quite accomplished jazz musicians and mix in electronic and hip hop break beats to add something a little different to the mix.
In stores now is the new Behringer ULTRALINK ULM100USB Wireless Microphone. Providing the freedom to leave expensive wireless receivers behind, the ULM’s tiny receiver dongle can be connected directly to any BEHRINGER UFX, QX and Q-Series ‘wireless-ready’ mixers, plus similarly equipped EUROLIVE active loudspeakers.
The most exciting local release this year to date is Tim Hulsman’s debut Dead Man’s Garden. Throughout the twelve tracks, the folky acoustic lap steel and rootsy sound that we have all grown to love over the past couple of years is present. The first time that I ever saw Tim Hulsman play was at Beav’s Bar a couple of years ago.
Though we may roll our eyes at the need for musicians to create a ‘persona’, let’s face it, it’s damn entertaining when they do – especially when they get it as right as Merrill Garbus does in tUnE-yArDs. Her third album, Nikki Nack is a theatrical 13-track album chock-full of expression and experimentalism. ‘Water Fountain’ deceives us with its uppity guitar strums, rhythmic clapping and percussion while we bop along to some seriously deep lyrics.
Rose Water, the new EP from Melbourne’s own Milwaukee Banks (MB), is an impressive release. At first, ‘Pluto Bounce’ comes across as a simple electro RnB track, yet the more you listen to it the greater depth and more detail you will find within the vocal samples and instrumentation. A collaboration between Edo and tight lyricist and wordsmith Dyl Thomas, it’s easy to hear how Milwaukee Banks have been compared to the likes of James Blake and Earl Sweatshirt.