Kate Hennessy : Freelance Writer

First published on Mess+Noise, here.

Even before the arrival of Grand Salvo’s sixth record, Slay Me In My Sleep, Paddy Mann’s folk music was unparalleled in its evocation of nature, nostalgia, love and loss. In place of life’s more evident dramas, Mann dwells on the minor notes: the once-cherished objects; the overlooked sentiments of underdogs, animals, and children; of those long bereaved and of those freshly bruised. In doing so, he differs from most. In a world that insists on pace, Mann pauses to hold the small, quiet things to the light and spin them around, clarity and colour angling from their depth like opals.

(more…)

Rating:

Before every band was a synth band, Fabulous Diamonds was “the” synth band. Since 2006 the po-faced Melbourne duo have been perfecting their ‘hypno-sensual jams’. While previous releases enchanted and rejected like a hard-to-get highschool crush, Commercial Music is all grown-up and game. This record is all seduction, all the way.

But they haven’t turfed all their old tricks. Mixed messages remain central to their sorcery. Nina Venerosa still sounds aloof but here, in the languorous, droning murk, her voice is something fixed to hold on to. And, while all signs point to closing your eyes and losing yourself, it’s probably wise to keep one wide open as Jarrod Zlatic’s keyboards can still take a sinister turn.

Rating:

This six-track record from Philadelphia duo Blues Control is split down the middle. The first three songs are peculiarly captivating, making an odd, icy meld of Santana’s latin jazz rhythms and show-pony guitar solos with the avant-rock atmospherics of The Duratti Column. The first half is so gripping it takes time to realise you’re un-clutched by the last half of meandering, piano- lead jams that enact their voodoo far more indifferently.

Throughout, Blues Control keep the door flung wide to the willful experimentation that buoys the album – Iron Pigs, for example, revs off with a sound like a distressed starter motor. And it’s refreshing to hear piano – at times fresh and tinkling, at times bassy and ominous – instead of keyboard.

Blues Control “Love’s A Rondo” from Drag City on Vimeo.

First published on Mess+Noise, here.

It’s no wonder New War named their debut LP eponymously. As though born of the same grim resolve, ‘war’ aptly describes this record’s overtones of steely, purpose-built weaponry and undertones of tribalism and savagery. The operation launches with ‘Game of Love’, a song that drags you by the collar from the second it starts, probably because it’s safer to go than to linger in the path of drums that are advancing like volleys of machinegun fire.

(more…)