20 March 2014
Melbourne trio Calling all Cars’ new release, Raise the People, is the band’s third studio album. Dubbed to be slightly more toned down in comparison to the boys’ past releases – Hold, Hold, Fire peaking at 72nd on the ARIA Albums chart back in 2010 and Dancing with Dead Men that made it all the way up to number 20 on the same elusive chart in 2011.
20 March 2014
Windows down, tunes on – there isn’t a better feeling than travelling down the Great Ocean Road to a music festival. This was exactly the case with Apollo Bay Music Festival this year. Heading down on the Friday Night, the options were quite simple for whom to check out as I arrived. Heading along to support local talent Jamie Pye, I was surprised by what I heard.
6 March 2014
We’re slowly getting closer to the April 8 release date for OFF!’s brand new album, Wasted Years. It features the…
6 March 2014
Underbelly’s back! Only it’s not called Underbelly anymore. It would be both unfair and inaccurate to suggest the name-change came about because of a slow but steady trashing of the brand thanks to a long line of sub-par series over the years. (Reportedly the real reason why they changed the name was to do with claiming the Federal Government’s 20% Producer Offset tax rebate. The money-back offer cuts out after 65 episodes of a series and they couldn’t persuade the Tax Office that each Underbelly series was its own stand-alone show, so no money back for them unless they made a different series.) But the fact that it seems reasonable to assume they changed the name for promotional reasons underlines just how far the Underbelly brand has fallen.
6 March 2014
Cameron: The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All is a master class in short fiction. Laird Barron proves that with…
6 March 2014
Reviewers risk sounding like broken records when talking about Kerri Simpson. It’s just that the Melbourne-based singer is so bloody good at what she does, we want everyone to know. She’s one-of-a-kind. She’s paid her dues – with interest. She’s worked with virtually every artist of note from the local blues and roots scene. Here she’s backed by a selection of long-time mates in music, including Belmar studios producer Steve Purcell.
6 March 2014
I made a special effort to check out these Sydneysiders in Melbourne at AWME in November. After all, they’d been touted as the newest prized addition to the Chugg Entertainment stable. And if Chuggy is prepared to put his proverbials on the line for an act, they’ve gotta be worth a listen. Since that successful southern showcase gig, there’s been a bit of a buzz around Lime Cordiale. They’ll head to SXSW in Texas next month alongside a US release for the EP.
6 March 2014
Since it’s more or less a music director’s mixtape, a movie soundtrack is bound to be at least good. Sometimes you get something great (The Breakfast Club, Top Gun); sometimes you get something… not so great (Alvin and the Chipmunks, Britney Spears’ Crossroads). Fortunately, American Hustle tends towards greatness, with a selection that includes hits like Elton John’s ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ and Tom Jones’ ‘Delilah’, as well as tracks like Mayssa Karaa’s Arabic cover of Jefferson Airplane’s ‘White Rabbit’ and an unreleased Jeff Lynne track called ‘Stream of Stars’.
6 March 2014
Supermodel of the World and high-profile drag queen extraordinaire RuPaul has unveiled her long-player Born Naked, a high energy collection of 10 (mostly) thumping tracks that take the formula of Ru’s previous sounds and elevates them to the standards of today. Featuring a slew of guest stars (RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Michelle Visage, electro-pop king Frankmusik, living legend and all-time-icon Martha Bloody Wash and rap royalty Big Freedia, to name a few), the album peaks with the stunning ‘Sissy that Walk’, a high-octane track that sounds like it could have made a killer Girls Aloud single, and a song whose construction is meticulously crafted yet completely bonkers in its conviction.
6 March 2014
In case you didn’t hear, Joey Jordison has left Slipknot. Shortly after the departure a statement was released suggesting he decided to leave. Then I saw a lead for an article stating Joey didn’t decide to leave. Intriguing… So, in a world first Forte exclusive, THTH will continue to dissect the goings-on behind the scenes in the Slipknot camp in the only way we know how: speculation. This is THTH’s Holiday Joey Departs Slipknot Fanfic. [Part V]
6 March 2014
So, for my first lyric poem addressing the blues, I thought I’d stir some reaction by talking about women in the blues, and list a few Australian blues women that we can rightly be proud of. This should bring a torrent of abuse for not including the favourites of most readers. What can I say? I’ll always take the medicine. Oh, and start your own web page listing and commenting on them!
6 March 2014
I thought there was nothing more fitting than writing my first piece about my favourite place in the world: Paris. Why is it my favourite? Get comfy, and let me tell you about just a small snippet of wonderful and amazing things you can see and do there. To start off with, arguably the most famous landmark in France, if not the world, is Le Tour de Eiffel, or the Eiffel Tower. No matter how many times I re-visit this city, this spectacular 324-metre high piece of iron never fails to take my breath away.
20 February 2014
The big loser in the recent Sunday night clash of the Aussie dramas was the first episode of the new series of Rake (ABC1, Sundays, 8.30 p.m.). Which makes no sense if you think about it, because Rake is an actual good show that’s entertaining on its own merits, while both Seven’s INXS miniseries and Nine’s Schapelle Corby telemovie were firmly in the trash TV bracket.
20 February 2014
So, DC doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to movies. Sure, The Dark Knight trilogy is a high point (though I have serious beef with The Dark Knight Rises), but most other (live-action) attempts have been sub-par at best. (Opinions on Man of Steel are divisive to say the least.) So, when local comic sage Darren told me that Superman: Earth One was what Man of Steel should’ve been, I was cautiously optimistic – the comic stories are inspirational for a reason, after all. I definitely wasn’t disappointed.
20 February 2014
So Long, See You Tomorrow is the latest release from London indie kids Bombay Bicycle Club, and their fourth album to date draws on a sound that the band has been working on for quite a while. Breaking into the music scene with their debut album I Had the Blues but I Shook Them Loose in 2009, they stormed on to the scene with the singles ‘Always Like This’ and ‘Ghost’. Fast-forward five years and the band are now making blissful electronic music.
20 February 2014
Grew up in regional Victoria. Rehearsed in a big shed. Line-up features siblings of the female variety. Natural harmonies influenced by cranking rock from the ’60s and ’70s. Embraced by major off-shore festivals… I suspect this local rock/roots trio would be happy to never hear the name ‘Stonefield’ ever again.
20 February 2014
Flesh and Blood is the latest release from the new incarnation of the John Butler Trio, and their sixth album to date takes on a lot more of a different direction to their previous releases. One of the main catalysts behind this move was bringing in Jan Skubiszewski to produce the record. Jan is Owl Eyes’ longtime collaborator and is the man to work with in Australia for electronic music and production.
20 February 2014
No need for a ‘happy hippie’ alert here. Queenslander AKoVA (Andy Kovacic) wears his new age sensibility unashamedly on his op-shop chic sleeve. Described as “the love child of Cat Empire and Xavier Rudd”, the latter reference is the most applicable. Formerly of roots/reggae group Shoebox, Earth Recruit is AKoVA’s solo debut. The one-man band deftly wrangles guitars, vocals, cajon, djembe, ankle bells, ukulele, kazoo and sundry percussion tools.
20 February 2014
The brand new Kylie Minogue single is here and it is safe, safe, safe. There seems to be a cloud of controversy surrounding the release of ‘Into the Blue’ as well, with many online claiming Kylie plagiarised fellow Australian songstress Delta Goodrem’s ‘Sitting on Top of the World’. But THEN AGAIN, Delta HERSELF copped claims of plagiarism when she released ‘Sitting on Top of the World’ last year, after claims Goodrem had actually stolen the riff and melody (the same one Kylie’s used!) from Arcade Fire’s ‘Rebellion (Lies)’. Amazingly, when asked about it, Delta’s response was so flawless she may as well have said ‘I’ve never even heard of Arcade Fire’. Will Kylie take the same approach?
20 February 2014
In case you didn’t hear, Joey Jordison has left Slipknot. Shortly after the departure a statement was released suggesting he decided to leave. Then I saw a lead for an article stating Joey didn’t decide to leave. Intriguing… So, in a world first Forte exclusive, THTH will continue to dissect the goings-on behind the scenes in the Slipknot camp in the only way we know how: speculation. This is THTH’s Holiday Joey Departs Slipknot Fanfic. [Part IV]
20 February 2014
Woot! There’s a new Me First and the Gimme Gimmes album on the way. The record will feature punk rock versions of songs by divas of the Christina Aguilera/Mariah Carey/Barbara Streisand/Lady Gaga variety. Even so, it’s gonna be AMAZING! This tour better come out to Australia, because if it DOESN’T… *shakes fist*
20 February 2014
It’s not often you fall in love with a band the minute you hear them for the first time, however Geelong’s own The Stackshots are certainly a band who break that mould. Originally forming at school during a VET music program early last year, frontman Corey Cookson explains how the band came about. “We all just clicked really. Dylan and I decided that we wanted to start a band, since we’d both been involved in little projects that kind of stopped before they started, so we were keen to do something real and stick with it.”
6 February 2014
Spicks and Specks is back! And if last night’s episode was any guide, it’s like it never left. Well, apart from all the hosts now being brand new people, but even then they managed to fill the various slots in the S&S machine without too much going too wrong. As someone who was never that big a fan of the original series, I may have failed to pick up on the no doubt many subtle differences between the old and new versions; I’m also fully aware that the original cast members were so well-loved by the general population.
6 February 2014
Anthologies are cool. Horror movies are cool. Despite this, I’ve never really been enthused about horror movie anthologies. For me a lot of horror relies on world building. It’s the slow increase in tension; the building of fear as I lose myself further into the movie. When there is less room for this slower build I feel a lot of horror loses what makes it scary. V/H/S, however, proves me wrong. V/H/S has five separate found footage stories surrounded by a sixth story about some burglars stealing videotapes. Each tape they watch makes them realise that perhaps everything going on in the house isn’t kosher.
