I Want Lots More Of Deacon's America

I mentioned only days ago the Dan Deacon show in January (still one of the best shows of 2012, in no small part due to the arresting performance by John Maus). Well, the Baltimore alchemist has brewed his next elixir, calling it America, and is giving us a booster shot with leading track 'Lots'. Seriously, this guy can always pull me out of a funk, and this track is as sugar-high, sonorous, orgasmic technicolour ear candy as always.

Happyfest Playlist

I haven't spoken much about Brisbane community radio station 4ZZZ other than in passing, but suffice to say it is the only way to hear decent music on this side of the world on the radio (of course you could stream WFMU, but I like my wireless). Anyway, they have a mega old transmitter of death, it's on its last legs, and the station has been raising funds (aiming for around $30 000) to replace it. Good news is they have almost done it. Better news, you can help get em over the line by going to a cool boutique festival they are putting on this Saturday, at the last show at the sadly defunct(ing) Woodland. The festival's called Happyfest, and the lineup is pretty radtacular. As far as outside bands go we have Lost Animal (Melb), Kirin J Callinan (Syd) and Ghastly Spats (Syd), with the local contingent led by Blank Realm, Feathers, Dreamtime, Martyr Privates, Nite Fields, Per Purpose, Cannon, Outerwaves, The M-Humm...Jesus tittyfucking! For a palty $20 you can be there, have the time of your life, see off Woodland in style, and help save your local musical taskmasters. Win-win, kids. And if THAT doesn't win you over, check out this lil playlist. See you there punks.

Blank Realm - Full Moon Door
Feathers - Wild Horse Mountain
Dreamtime - Robe
Nite Fields - Come Down

Get Lost In The Zoo On These Shjips

The great shows continue tonight, with SF psych legends Wooden Shjips sailing into The Zoo to deliver what will most likely be an incendiary tripped out performance. Ably supported by Secret Birds and Nite Fields, this is going to be one of the best shows of 2012, HANDS DOWN.

Wooden Shjips - Lazy Bones

No Anchor Will Give You Enough Rope...

Brisbane's local proponents of black sonic sludge gunk No Anchor had a 7" to throw your way. Titled Rope/Pussyfootin', it features four tracks including an ace cover of Big Black's 'Jordan, Minnesota'. Coming in at under ten minutes, the 7"s offerings of short and concise songs are a testament to their ever-evolving songwriting (despite apparently doing the recording in 4 hours - that's sixty minutes a song), and the power that these songs exude (especially 'Rope') is jaw-dropping. Metal for the indie crowd? Well, it certainly is more accessible to an extent, but still as loud and abrasive as fuck.



Recorded by No Anchor's own Donovan Miller and Innez Tulloch on new(ish) Nowhere Records, Rope/Pussyfootin' will be available on March 17 in both limited Blue (100) and Black (150) vinyl. Digitally though, you can pay what you want - get it here - but be warned, there will be no Big Black cover on the digital release.

To coincide with the launch, No Anchor hace a party for you! They will be playing at Woodland, ably supported by Whitehorse(Melbourne), Quiet Steps, Tiny Spiders and DJ Swedetooth. Its all for a paltry $12, and doors at 8:30pm. More about this when it comes down the rabbithole...

No Anchor - Rope

Strangely Transfixed By Royal Baths (Updated)

I'm still not wholeheartedly convinced that I like Royal Baths. I mean, the Brooklyn-via-San Francisco band tick the right boxes - dark, brooding, garage based tendencies, drone tinged rock, a love of Spacemen 3... Yet I can't quite get them. Whether it's because I think/thought they're style over substance, or that they are/were a little over-hyped, I'm not sure. I wasn't enamoured with their debut Litanies (on Woodsist), but I listened to it quite a bit anyway. Weird.

I'm equally flummoxed by how much I'm enjoying them right now. I find their songs to be fairly insidious in how they squirrel under my skin without my notice or permission. It kinda hurts my head, because I can't put my finger on it, yet there it is, on repeat, making me happy and maudlin at the same time. Their new album, Better Luck Next Life, is coming out through Kanine next week, and it will be interesting if there is a similar sensation to the first. Likewise, I'll keep you posted as to whether it bewitches me the way the first one did, or if I genuinely dig it (or genuinely loathe it - nothing is off the table here...).

UPDATE - Royal Baths will be playing in Brisbane! Yep, they have lined up Woodland for Thursday March 29. I think it's time I settled my love/hate stance once and for all...

Royal Baths - Black Sheep
Royal Baths - Darling Divine

Prince Rama & Sun Araw Touch Out In Woodland

US psych-pop bedfellows SUN ARAW and PRINCE RAMA head down under this Summer for Sugar Mountain Festival in January, but can't get enough of Aussie sultriness, so are hitting Woodland tonight! The bands join forces for a kaleidoscopic double whammy, bringing their dubby dance jams and transcendental melodies in their wake. Prince Rama's Trust Now and Sun Araw's Ancient Romans were two solid releases of 2011, so this promises to be one hell of a show. Supported by one of Brisbane's best bands of the moment, Blank Realm, along with Rites Wild from Adelaide, and all for $20-odd, get to this show - your life depends on it. Tix can be gleaned here.

Prince Rama - Summer Of Love
Sun Araw - Bump Up

Total Control/Thee Oh Sees Split

What a delightful meeting of minds! San Fran crazy horses Thee Oh Sees are touring the States with Aussies debauched maurauders Total Control in tow, and have this split for you to ascertain how these two acts sound meshed together under one seedy sweat-stained roof. It is the usual spastic exuberance from Dwyer and co, whilst the four tracks from Total Control are embedded with seething disdain, a bizarrely corrosive counterpoint. Why it works I don't know. Maybe that cat that got it on with Paula Abdul is onto something...

And further good news is Thee Oh Sees will be playing in Brisbane at the turn of the New Year. Yes, they will be playing Woodland (after their show this time last year was cancelled due to the floods) on Jan 11. Maybe TC can make the trip northwards too?

Thee Oh Sees - Dead Energy

Total Control - Nervous Harvest

And for the live stuff?

Watch live streaming video from lepoissonrouge at livestream.com

Royal Headache/Dick Diver Gig

just a quickie here. As previously mentioned, Harvest (featuring Portishead, Flaming Lips, Mogwai, The National, Holy Fuck and a host of others) hists Brisbane's Botanical Gardens tomorrow, followed by the amazing iPhone replaying of the Flaming Lips' epic Zaireeka album as orchestrated by Wayne Coyne himself. Also on that night will be Melbourne's great exponents of post rock atmospherics Laura, playing at Woodland. But if you want to start your music overdose early, get to Woodland tonight, as the bands responsible for two of the most exciting albums of 2011 are converging for a night of drunken passion.


Royal Headache (self-titled) and Dick Diver (Now Start Again - listen to the whole thing here) are going to blow everyone away, and this is a promise. Very exciting! Supported by local act Loose Grip, and at just a tenner, this promises to be a stellar show.

(As a side note, my mate (and now brother-in-law) can't get into RH because the vocalist sounds too much like Ted Leo. As I haven't seen them live yet, I cant pass on the definitive verdict - but that summation is fucking funny.)

Royal Headache - Down The Lane

Dick Diver - Through The D from Chapter Music on Vimeo.

Migrating To The Woodland And Into Your Drunken Heart

Murky fuzz band and local whale enthusiasts Tiny Migrants are releasing their debut EP on CD (7” available through Mere Noise later this year) at Woodland tomorrow night! Ive been a big fan of every facet of this shambolic collective ever since I saw them support Mark Sultan in February - they were literally the first "new" band I saw when arriving back in Brisbane, and they still delight with every show, especially their interesting set when in support of the brilliant Ty Segall.


Now this show will be incrediballs, not just due to this (and they love to drink, so you know it will get fuzzy and friendly), but the supports have stepped up in the form of motivated party-bunch Cannon, reverb spiked Sunshine State and the return of punk trio the Sulphur Lights. That is huge, shitfaced-worthy news, and seeing as its all for $8 you cannot go wrong. CAN NOT. So get there. And to sate you, here is the first song I heard them play that really grabbed me...

Tiny Migrants - Honeycomber

Double Dose Of Not Not Fun Fun

Seriously, summer is looking like a killer season for Brisbanites. Another amazing show to add to the list is the pairing of psych mind-melters Sun Araw and Prince Rama (pictured above). Both acts have put out some amazing records in the past few years, and both have great ones out now in the form of Ancient Romans and Trust Now respectively. They will be playing Woodland (where else?) on Friday January 20. So here's an idea - get blitzed and drop out with these guys, and continue the sun-bleached vibes into Australia Day! There's no better way to spending that holiday in an altered state. All for $15 +bf! Amazeballs - get on that!

Sun Araw - Bump Up

Prince Rama - Golden Silence

Double Baltimore Magic

It was sad news indeed that two Baltimore acts, Double Dagger and Ponytail, have hung up their chaps in 2011. Both bands were up in my top ten live acts of all time (as witnessed by me - that's how these things work, right?). But two other B-more acts continue to ply their trade with excellent results.


First up we have the electro-shock artist and dance-party authority Dan Deacon, renowned as one of the world’s funnest and most epic live performers. I saw him play at London's ULU in 2009 - such an amazing show, it had all the funky white kids shuffling (they are too hip to dance). The Dr Marvin Monroe maniacal yet lovable alchemist, is equal parts crazy and inspirational, participatory and energetic, and his intense live show breaks down audience inhibitions to enable mass mayhem and fun. He has just signed onto Domino Records, and is making his way to Australia in January 2012! What's more he is bringing his ensemble - sop full band awesomeness! AND one such member is Denny from Double Dagger! Wow.

But the excellent times do not halt there, as he will be supported by one of 2011's most lauded artists in John Maus. His groundbreaking new album We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves (released on one of our fave labels ever, Upset The Rhythm (as if you didn't already know!!!), distributed locally through Inertia) has been one of the iconic records of 2011. The confrontation of punk, the fleeting poignancy of 80s movie soundtracks, the insistent pulse of Moroder and the spirituality of Medieval and Baroque music all find salvation in John Maus.

The show is rounded out by locals Toy Balloon, whose sound is a collision of shambolic noise, plump dance grooves, brother / sister vocal harmonies and rigid polyrhythms. The result is a brilliant and confounding bastardisation of pop music that few people can resist. With one foot in a world occupied by new wave, cosmic disco, early hip hop and acid house, and the other foot firmly planted in the introspective, experimental indie rock world, the four piece has built a scene-busting following through their dynamic and diverse live shows. It all happens at Woodland on Thursday January 12 - grab your tickets here. AND A NEW ALBUM IS ON ITS WAY!!!

Dan Deacon - Red F


Then we have Future Islands, who also played that titular ULU show. Their new album, On The Water, is every bit as great as was hoped, and whilst they aren't known to be touring Australia soon, this album is more than enough to keep you afloat! Grab it here.

Future Islands - Give Us The Wind
Future Islands - Before The Bridge

With these two acts in business, the world is not a cold, dead place...

Thos Voices Will Guide Us To The Very End

I saw Times New Viking play earlier this year in what was one of the best shows of 2011. However one thing they mentioned struck me as a little...well, sad, although I understand the idea. The band mentioned that now that they are in their thirties, they feel a bit silly from time to time creating noise and thrashing about, and are considering their options for the future. The Columbus Ohio trio are fantastic, and self-confessed Guided By Voices fanatics (no less due to the hometown connections), so I hope they look to Robert Pollard to see how it can be that they make it work.

Guided By Voices go from strength to strength, and have just released the below track off the forthcoming Let's Go Eat The Factory LP (featuring the classic line-up that includes Tobin Sprout - and he's writing songs again!). Pollard has also released an awesome album with side project Boston Spaceships which will be here very shortly. These guys have been around much longer than TNV, and are still finding ways of being inimitably awesome. Hopefully some of that Columbus mojo will rub off on them...

Let's Go Eat The Factory will be out New Year's Day - what a way to bring in a bleary-eyed 2012! Actually, maybe the world cannot handle this record - this is what the Mayans warned us about! Ah well. In that case, I guess there is no hurry in keeping TNV together...

Tracklist below (the amount and brevity of tracks also heralds TNV - come on guys, stay on for the good of humanity!!!)

Laundry And Lasers
The Head
Doughnut For A Snowman
Spiderfighter
Hang Mr. Kite
God Loves Us
The Unsinkable Fats Domino
Who Invented The Sun
The Big Hat And Toy Show
Imperial Racehorsing
How I Met My Mother
Waves
My Europa
Chocolate Boy
The Things That Never Need
Either Nelson
Cyclone Utilities (Remember Your Birthday)
Old Bones
Go Rolling Home
The Room Taking Shape
We Won't Apologize For The Human Race

Guided By Voices - The Unsinkable Fats Domino

I Love Laura 1200 Times Over

Here is an album that I didn't even know I was looking forward to!

Melbourne instrumental act Laura put out two great albums in the mid-2000s, Mapping Your Dreams and Radio Swan is Down, as well as live album (re)Capitulate. I came to the band from this last release and fell in love with these ambient rockers, quickly working backwards through these two albums. I then promptly went overseas and thought that was it - all was quiet on the Laura front. It appears that life got in the way - but Laura didn't disappear into the ether. Releasing EP Yes Maybe No in 2008 (obviously I missed that one), its taken over five years (or as band member Andrew puts it, it'll have been 191 million heartbeats) but a new longplayer is on its way - Twelve Hundred Times.


As complex and cinematic as ever, Laura are bringing forth their best album to date, and they are bringing it north to Brisbane, playing Woodland on Saturday November 19. Some of you may recognise the date - that is also when the massive Harvest festival touches down, featuring the likes of Flaming Lips, Mogwai and Portishead amongst its many amazing artists that will be on board. This really hurts for us Laura fans, but the band are intending to go on as late as possible in case you want to catch one more stellar performance that evening. There are efforts afoot to get em to play an early all ages instore on the Sunday - I will keep you posted on that venture. In the meantime, if you aren't going to Harvest, this is THE show to get to. Twelve Hundred Times is available now.

Laura - This Grey Earth

Banned Books Grip The Guillotine

Banned Books have done something pretty amazing here. They have remixed current "it" hip hop crew Death Grips (whose Ex-Military album is great, actually) by layering it on top of their track 'Malio'. Its been on constant rotation over here (alongside the aforementioned Future Of The Left EP and God Bows To Math LP), so waste no time - have at it already!

Death Grips - Guillotine (Banned Books Remix) by banned books

And for added pleasure, here is a live version of 'Malio' where they are joined by the amazing Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier! He is so mental! Just something to get you excited about the imminent Australian tour in January 2012!

"Malio" By Banned Books feat. Greg Saunier of Deerhoof from Banned Books on Vimeo.

And finally, to end this day in triumphant manner - here is Ex-Military in its entirety! So good...

Death Grips - Exmilitary by deathgrips