I’m a little late on the update for this chic who’s been topping the UK’s ‘one to watch’ lists for the last 6 months or so. Still it’s better to be late than never hear the lyrical styles of this fiery little nutter. Back in the UK Azealia Banks is causing a bit of a storm don’t you know.

London based, but Harlem born, Azealia Banks made it to number three on the BBC’s Sound of 2012 and was dubbed NME’s Coolest person of 2011. (Though they’d obviously never heard of you before!?) Bringing a hip hop lyrical edge to some street spat rhymes, Azealia Banks, or Miss Bank$ as she is sometimes known, has been popping up on blogs, lists and radio spots on both sides of the pond since her cover of interpol’s slow hands last year.

Azealia Banks

At that time Miss Bank$ was signed to XL recordings but has since moved on, starting a major label rush to sign her up. Reflecting on the  recent split she told BBC NEWS “I was like, ‘This is not what I worked so hard my entire life to do – to be rejected by some English guy in West Bumblefrickin’ nowhere London, telling me I’m amateur or something like that’. So I just said, ‘Screw you!’”…and screw them she did.

The same interview calls her ‘brunt and bratty’ and whilst that, she may be, she posses an edge about her not seen for some time. Blending boundaries between UK dubstep and grime with good old fashioned Harlem hop hop there will be much more of this girl to come!

The current single 212 features Lazy Jay and showcases her trademark lyrics. New material will be out soon but for now enjoy what’s out and about on your local neighbourhood blogs and/or YouTube. …or just tune in to Bondi FM when I’m on and put the request on for her!

Millions

Brisbane garage pop out outfit Millions are sneaking in a cheeky Sydney show ahead of their official February tour dates this Friday. Performing Upstairs at the Beresford before spinning some tunes at the World bar for a little after party action… If all goes to plan they’ll be joining me for breaky at Bondi FM for Saturday morning, before heading up to Newcastle for a gig there.

The rambunctious shenanigans look set to continue with a killer spot at Brisbane’s Big Day Out before taking on East Coast tour duties as part of the Triple Treat Tour with Nantes and Northeeast Party House. It’s all part of a packed schedule that has seen them support Gold Fields, The Belligerents and Bleeding Knees not forgetting the opening act of Splendour in the Grass this year. Not bad for a band that have been performing together for less than a year!

The lead single of the new EP is out now and yours for the price of an email. Head to the Millions bandcamp page for your free download. Then meet me upstairs at the Beresford to party like a mofo with a mojo!

Join us at Bondi FM, Curlewis st. Bondi from 9am this Saturday 14th Jan.

Passenger

What better way to start the new year than with a little  trip out the mountains to catch Passenger as part of his 2012 regional tour. Brighton’s boy wonder, Mike Rosenberg, aka Passenger, has teamed up with on/off tour buddy Stu Larsen and Boy & Bear’s Tim Hart to share some inspiring tales and tunes with regional Australia.

The Passenger live show has been attracting steady critical acclaim over the past few years due mainly to the depth and craftsmanship of this man’s guitar and vocal work. Lyrically his honesty & wit shine through, often with a dash of humour that is always in a manner befitting the moment. His depth of material allows him an impressive collection of heartbreakingly beautiful moments. Early tracks such as Caravan, the live favourite of Simon & Garfunkle’s The Sound of Silence and more recent numbers such as Shape of Your Love all transcend the realms of troubadour, transporting listner to a world that is so easy to relate to it is instantly recognisable as their own.

No stranger to our Aussie shores Passenger recorded his last album in Sydney’s BJB studios after spending time on the road with some of our favourite artists: Lior, Josh Pyke,Boy & Bear, Elana Stone and Matt Corby to name but a few. The current tour line up showcases rising talents of Stu Larsen and solo action from Tim Hart. Yes, perhaps the line up of this regional tour could do with a boost from a female voice to mix things up a little, but I’m certain these boys will not disappoint.

Katoomba (11 Jan),  is the closest date for Sydney locals and trust me, it always goes off out there!  If you’re keen to venture further a feild, I visited Joe’s Waterhole close to Noosa recentenlty and the crowd there was bonkers, the setting would be perfect for these fella’s to do what they do best, perform rich songs, full of the magic of story telling.

Excellently showcasing the lighter side of his music, his latest track, I Hate, which featurs the line “I hate the X-Factor for murdering music, You bunch of money grabbing pricks!”  is yours for free. Just have to share it from his Facebook page to help spread the word!

Full tour dates and some excellent free downloads are available through Music Glue so go on and start your year the right way!

Passenger’s new album, All the Little Lights, is due out 24th February.

Thanks to all of the awesome bands that have stopped by the Walk of Shame studios for breakfast this year, and to all of you who have come by the blog, keep spreading the word!

Look forward to sharing many more tunes with you in 2012. Peace out xxx

Elephant Eyes

After much speculation, a strong dose of airtime and more than a handful of knowing nods Melbourne quartet, Elephant Eyes have officially released their debut single I want to know. The track is a smoulderingly subdued piece that stands out for what isn’t there, as much as what is. Stripped back and laid bare, the dual vocals weave intimately between the sparse jazz beats as a sweet melody drifts by on the breeze. It’s The XX, meets Joan as a Police Woman combined with some Thom York magic for good measure.

The guys where kind enough to take time out and answer some questions I had for them and I think their answers give a pretty warm insight into their music, and their future!

Congrats on releasing the new single, I want to know, it sounds ace. Where have you drawn your inspiration for this track?

Kate: Hmm, well, I actually wrote the lyrics and chord progression for this song a couple of years ago, but I never developed the song properly, because I always knew it needed guitar (it was written on the piano). So I showed it to Stu one day to see if he could help, and he came up with the bass line and it just took off from there. I guess lyrically, it’s a bit apocalyptic. There was a lot of stuff in the news about natural disasters, and I felt a bit helpless in it all. That’s where that line comes from – ‘I want to know if the sun comes up today, and if i will get a say in it or not’.

Stu: We definitely took a less is more approach to the song. The melody and duet vocals work so well on their own, so all the band had to do was keep it really simple and sparse. Of course we couldn’t help letting out a little craziness for the ending, where the skipping stop/start drum patterns are blatently stolen from Radiohead.

The track has been receiving some much sought after attention, even in it’s demo form. How much has that reception helped cement your focus as a band?

Kate: I guess it’s just reassuring to know that people are liking what we’re doing. Helps us be surer that we’re going in the right direction.
Stu: Well it has cemented the idea that we should write more duets! Yeah it’s been really surprising and awesome to hear our track on the radio, especially when it was the fairly rough and recorded-for-free version.

How are you working as a band, is there a clear leader or is it more collaborative?

Kate: D’oh. I guess that’s me. I’m a benevolent, democratic leader though Most of our decisions are made democratically. We often vote on things. If someone really, really hates something we won’t do it. That would be unfair. Musically, we’ve got two approaches. The first is that I come up with a skeleton of an idea. So, the lyrics, basic chord progression, and a basic structure, and then we work that idea as a band. Everyone writes their own parts, and we often change the songs quite a bit from their original form. The other way we do it is we jam on an idea, and then I take it home and inject some structure and lyrics.

Where does the name Elephant Eyes stem from?

Kate: Haha, it stems from necessity! We needed one to get gigging. What were some of the options we had guys?
Stu: Elephant Fires. Picadilly Lilly. White Fox. Son of Bear.

The band has a real mixture of sounds rippling through it, what influencers lie behind the music?

Kate: Mine include Joan as Police Woman, Feist, Howling Bells, PJ Harvey, gutsy female singers. And Radiohead, Augie March, Midlake etc.
Stu: Portishead, The Restless, Ben Folds Five, Ainslie Wills. As well as heaps of funk, folk, metal, even drum & bass stuff. From the perspective of the drums I’m always trying to hold back and do less fills, and just lock into a single groove or pattern instead, a la Elbow/Radiohead/Joan. It’s almost imitating electronic drum loops. Partly because I’m not a flashy technical player, and partly because I find that drummers who do that, who just play the bare minimum of what’s required for the song to work, they really engage you way more than hitting every part of the kit and overpowering the music. It also makes it possible for me to sing harmonies at the same time.
Tom: Much like Stu, just trying to lay a solid foundation with a good groove and try to find the best tone for specific sections of songs. I listen to a lot of Omar Rodgriguez-Lopez, The Black Keys and Radiohead.

If there’s one song as a band that really gets you excited what is it? It can be one of yours or someone else’s?

Kate: Hmm, dunno. We’re gonna have to brainstorm this one. Out of our songs I reckon it’s Need. We always seem slightly out of breath by the end of that one. Other people’s? Maybe Paranoid Android by Radiohead? Or something epicly jazz?
Stu: Definitely Need. Audience members always tell me it’s their favourite. They are probably all musicians though, who love how the song switches from 5/4 to 6/8, and how it has 4/4 drums over everyone else doing 5/4. We love nerdy music school stuff like that.
Tom: Need definately, Mother Said and also Sunday Inertia are particular favourites.

What’s next after the single, are there plans for an EP? …and when will you be coming to Sydney?

Kate: after this single? Jamming the summer away, coming up with enough money to do an EP or maybe another single. Writing grant applications so we can make it to Sydney with 3 keyboards in tow! Playing around Melbourne as much as possible. We’re also playing at Moomba this spring, which should be awesome. I reckon we’ll come to Sydney once enough people ask us to or maybe to promote the next release.
Stu: We will be adding even more strange effects pedals and noises, as well as some Melodica if you’re lucky. Looking forward to playing more festivals and big support slots.

You can find out more about Elephant Eyes from their website and catch the single below on their bandcamp page. Enjoy.

Nantes

Nantes have just released their new clip for their sunshine enthused tune, Charlie! The track has been on high rotation with Triple J since it’s release and with the added bonus of this spangley new clip they are sure to get even more attention. Bursting full of life and colour the video compliments the song perfectly.

The band are teaming up with fellow Unearthed mates, Millions and Northeast Party House as part of The Triple Treat Tour which will take them along the East coast this February. They’ll play the Oxford Arts Factory on the 24th so get in early to avoid disappointment.The trio providing a formidable force of post-punk, garage pop for the summer.

For more info on Nantes you can visit their facebook page and for all of the Triple Treat Tour dates head over to Triple J.

You can watch the clip for Charlie here!

Enjoy.

DJ Shadow Scale it Back

Had a tough day? Crack open a cold one, pull up a chair and get this new tune from DJ Shadow on your stereo. Featuring the vocal talents of Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano this blissful collection of beats and lyrics feels like the waves of a hard day being washed out to sea on a summer’s eve. It’s full of the warmth of the setting sun as the steady drum beats over the the breezy lyrics that rise and fall over the course of the track.

The is lifted of the recent album The less you know, the better and has been use in remix competition that has spawned some amazing off shoots. According to the DJ Shadow website over 400 people have submitted mixes and from the ones I’ve heard competition is stiff. All tracks are listed so let me know which one is your favourite and I’ll play them on the show in the coming weeks.

The video continues the same high level awesomeness with it’s quirky card ready who delivers a random tale that may, or may not, go with the music. I can’t see a single edit in the clip, which means directors Casey Raymond and Ewan James Morris would have shot this number in a single swoop. Another feat of greatness for the man who deplores musical buffoonery, Mr DJ Shadow.

The single Scale it Back is available now through his online store, iTunes and even real life shops!

Little Comets

Newcastle’s Indie rockers, Little Comets are back with a new tune, Worry. If you’ve not heard of them yet they’d sit alongside, Vampire Weekend and Jinja Safari in your record collection. Upbeat, roots music, bob along an ocean of melodies with lyrics that surface like coral cays, brightly lit and full of life.

Sony Music have their releases scheduled for Australia in the new year so keep your eyes peeled for this British mob as they are soon to be getting a bunch of attention our way. For now enjoy the splendour of the latest Little Comets offering with new single Worry.

TiGERTOWN

It’s fair to say TiGERTOWN have had a busy few months since the release of their latest single ‘Go Now‘. So I was pretty excited when they answered the call to come into Bondi to play a few tracks for us on the Walk of Shame.

The six piece who hail from the desserts of western New South Wales have recently played alongside Husky, Emma Louise & Charlie Mayfair. The immediate future looks just as busy with a host of gigs ahead with Matt Corby, Set Sail and Calling all Cars. Early birds may have even seen them play on Sunrise this weekend as part of the Oz Jam sessions they’re running

Tigertown have been playing together for less than a year but have already amassed a steady live following and picked up many a blog post for their rich melodic tunes and soundscapes woven through the sands of time with tales of honesty and friendship. Their songs evoke an infectious warmth from their genuine love of life. There’s complexity among the layers of melodies and percussion, and honesty within the lyrics, but what shines through strongest is that warmth. In a live environment their music takes on another level as the energy rises and the two families, the six friends, take you on the journey to Tigertown.

Talking openly on the show, the guys shared their thoughts on the pro’s & con’s of being self managed, the plans for the next year and the curious way in the band was formed. It started when family members Charlie, Kurt, Crystal took to the road as their families toured the pubs & clubs of small town Australia. The remaining three joined the gang when Charlie met Chris, a young musician with a rich musical history. This marriage formed the start of Tigertown.

Sydney folk can see Tigertown perform this Thursday 24th November at the Oxford Arts Factory, or head over to the unearthed site for a list of upcoming shows. Below is a little snippet of what you’ll hear recorded live on for the Walk of Shame this weekend on Bondi FM.

Florence + the Machine

There’s always so much excitement to be had in catching a big band play a small venue and last night’s Florence + the Machine gig at the Seymour centre was no exception.

The show which featured as part of Mastercard’s Priceless Music campaign was a knockout. Looking as elegant as ever and sounding as ethereal as always Miss Welch took the small crowd on musical adventure through the wonderlands of her music. Backed by the full band, featuring dual drummers, that harp, guitars keys and additional backing singers they meandered through songs the new album Ceremonials together with some classics of the debut album Lungs.

Stand out moments came from an awesome rendition of Between two lungs which featured the sublime vocal talents of Welch together with some outstanding drumming from the bassist and the lead drummer. Plus the crowd’s favourite  Shake it out and the masquerade masks that were adorned by all.

The new album, Ceremonials, is outstanding, if you’ve heard it yet then do your soul a favour and submerse yourself in the beauty that is Florence + the Machine. I think this is the fourth time I’ve seen her in Australia and she still gives me goose bumps, still knocks me out with the power of her voice and the glory of the performance.  Much thanks goes out to Mairead and my lovely lady for sorting out the tickets!

For more info on Florence + the Machine head here.