13 May 2014
The artist chosen for the second instalment of Forte’s ‘Nature Sessions’ is Luke Legs. Based in Ocean Grove, his elegant folk/country works nicely amongst the trees of the Barwon River. Luke Legs’ voice mixes well with the birds and the sound of the river in the background.
12 May 2014
Forte Magazine has joined forces with local Geelong Lad’s Nick Rushbrook and Olly Friend to bring you ‘Nature Sessions’. Each episode will display one original song by a local musician who will be performing in natural surrounds somewhere in the Geelong Region.
1 May 2014
Chris Lilley’s back, and going by the ABC’s latest attempt to promote his upcoming new series, they’re not all that confident he’s served up a winner. For this weekend only (assuming you’ve grabbed this copy of Forte as soon as it hits the streets), the entirety of his new show Jonah from Tonga will be available to watch on the ABC’s iView streaming service – from 6 p.m. Friday, May 2 until 6 p.m.
1 May 2014
It really looks like its Image Comics’ time to shine this year. The nominees for this year’s Eisner awards were announced a little while ago, and Image is absolutely dominating the list. All up, Image has 20 nominations, with four out of the five nominees in the ‘Best Continuing Series’ category belonging to the rising-star publishing house. The comic I’m talking about this time around is actually one of the Image titles up for an Eisner award (‘Best New Series’) – Lazarus.
1 May 2014
If you need music to pick you up on a Monday morning, well have I got the fix for you! M&R, the latest release from Brisbane indie soulstress Bec Laughton, is a disco and RnB toe-tapping release that is sure to keep you warm throughout winter.
1 May 2014
Blue Mountains natives DJ Morgs, MC Tuka and MC Jeswon, collectively Thundamentals, are back with the follow-up to 2011’s Foreverlution. And it lives up to that legacy. ‘Smiles Don’t Lie’ has been getting radio play for a while now and is probably the best track on the album, familiarity aside. It’s clean (the sound, not the lyrics), has a great beat and is just a good groove.
1 May 2014
It feels like ages since we heard Saskwatch’s 2012 debut Leave it All Behind, but luckily their sophomore has finally arrived and is well worth the wait. After a couple years’ break, the band has had time to fine-tune their style in their new release, Nose Dive. This time around they’ve stepped away from the ‘soul band’ tag and have experimented with a bit of rock and funk.
1 May 2014
After three years with several delays, the boys from The Murlocs have released their much-awaited debut, Loopholes. At four-and-a-half minutes, ‘Control Freak’ eases you into the unique sound that is The Murlocs. With country twangs, garage rock and their own brand of soulful RnB, it’s hard to pin them to a genre. Coming from the Surf Coast of Victoria, it makes their style a little bit more understandable.
1 May 2014
Over the years, the Palace Theatre up the top of Bourke Street has been very good to me. To be finally saying goodbye due to the redevelopment into apartments is very sad, but having the opportunity to see English indie kid Jake Bugg there was very exciting indeed. Out here for the recent Bluesfest at Byron Bay and Deni, as well as sideshows, it was very exciting to see Bugg in action after hearing so much about him and watching live videos on YouTube.
1 May 2014
I’m normally a fence-sitter when it comes to produced music, but Sohn’s new release, Tremors, has me reconsidering my position. After a false start with a few very repetitive, somewhat over-produced tracks with elements that just don’t gel, Tremors soon gets on to the good stuff with ‘Artifice’. The track starts off strong, with multiple complimenting layers, before Sohn’s vocals come in and an African-esque drumbeat continues throughout.
1 May 2014
Queen of Pop and current Queen of Instagram, Madonna is tipped to “pull a Beyoncé” by dropping her reportedly ‘finished’ album very soon. Those closest to the star have taken to social media in the past fortnight, claiming to have heard the completed album in full, with Girl Gone Wild video director Mert Alas even going as far as to include unheard lyrics from the record into his social media post.
1 May 2014
It appears a conclusion has been reached in metal’s most mundane, bitter, childish legal spats no one really gives a shit about: the one that owns the Queensrÿche moniker. THTH has been following this saga for the years it has spanned. We here at THTH are super tired, so for one last time let’s recap: Geoff Tate, original vocalist for the band, was fired in 2012 after 30 years of fronting the prog group.
1 May 2014
It’s one thing to select a pizza off the menu, but when you’re at home or with friends, you can select and mix and match exactly what you all like. OK, so that’s a weird way to start a music column, but what I want to talk about this time is “jamming”. Many people have seen the term, but don’t really know what it’s about, or think it’s just for musicians only, which is definitely wrong. Jamming is nothing more or less than musicians getting together and playing together.
1 May 2014
We finished last week on San Francisco. To head down to Las Vegas it’s a 4-5 hour drive down Route 66, or a quick one-hour flight. Vegas is a weirdly wonderful place: where else in the world can you find a host of casinos and all of the glitz and glamour that Las Vegas has to offer, in the middle of the desert?! Only a one-hour flight, the airport is close to the main strip, so a cab shouldn’t cost more than a tenner.
1 May 2014
The Fest (a rad punk/indie/alternative rock festival held in Gainesville, Florida, that goes for three days each Halloween) has announced its 2014 line-up, and it’s a doozy! The Descendents will headline, alongside Hot Water Music (who will be celebrating their 20-year anniversary as a band!), New Jersey melodic punk heroes Lifetime, Over It, Masked Intruder (who have a new album on the way!), Less Than Jake, Kepi Ghoulie (of the Groovie Ghoulies), The Menzingers, Mixtapes, Cheap Girls, Canadians The Flatliners and Chixdiggit.
17 April 2014
It’s no secret – well, it’s no secret if you’ve been reading this column – that movies have seasons. Over the course of a year, what’s available at the cinema changes; not just individual movies, but what kind of movies. On one level, this is obvious.This issue of Forte is out at the end of school holidays, and so over the last few weeks we’ve had a couple of hard-core kids’ movies on in cinemas – Sherman & Mr Peabody and The Lego Movie.
17 April 2014
So, I’ve never been a huge fan of Captain America. He’s always come across as kinda cheesy, and, much like Superman, has that Boy Scout personality that just doesn’t sit well with me. I like my heroes with flaws, dang nabbit! Despite my distaste for the comic version of the character, I’ve particularly enjoyed the way he’s been portrayed on film by Chris Evans in the MCU. Captain America: The First Avenger turned my perception of Cap around and I absolutely loved the film.
17 April 2014
Brisbane duo The Phoncurves are back with their new EP entitled Heartstrings. With luscious vocal melodies, this group has already mixed it with the likes of Josh Pyke, Thelma Plum, Asta and The Paper Kites to name but just a few.
17 April 2014
You’d be hard-pressed to find a musician that has been working harder than Shaun Kirk over the past few years. Steer the Wheel, a majority crowdfunded record, is a stunning full band affair this time around, featuring the talents of Danny McKenna and Grant Cummerford as Kirk’s rhythm section.
17 April 2014
Get to You is the debut record from Melbourne band The Night Party. A collaboration between Buck Lexton and Rick Sands, this album draws some comparisons to the likes of The Black Keys and The Rolling Stones. Although the album only goes for 30 minutes, throughout the twelve tracks there is an extensive music landscape created through each of the tracks.
17 April 2014
Discovering Ásgeir was one of the best things to happen to me this week; then I got given his album to review. Already becoming the fastest-selling debut album in Iceland by a domestic artist, Ásgeir is now ready to show Australia his “Folktronica” sound inspired by the likes of Mumford & Sons, Bon Iver, Alt-J and James Blake in his English language version of Dyrd i Daudathogn (In the Silence).
17 April 2014
For this issue of Splinters, it was strongly considered to embark on an ARIA chart round-up but, seeing as the current ARIA Singles Chart is dreary enough to make even the most potent of amphetamine addicts feel like falling flat on their faces after collapsing into unconsciousness, I figured we’d forget about that trash and focus all of our chart-related energy looking back on the glorious yesteryears.
17 April 2014
Keeping with the theme of modern music industry case studies and less with metal, for this edition anyway, news is that the Wu-Tang Clan is set to release their new album, The Wu – Once Upon a Time in Shaolin soon. What’s so fascinating about this album release is that Wu-Tang are only going to make a solitary copy of the album.
17 April 2014
Four years ago I was at the Anglesea Music Festival, on the prowl with my trusty recorder, searching out people to interview. One of the people I spotted was Jessey Jackson. She came across as young, self-assured and exuberant – just the sort of person for an interview, and so she was. It was a good interview; she happily talked about her music, her ambitions, the life she saw ahead.
