Dialect & Despair

Dialect - Prolific (mp3)

I will be the first to admit I know next to nothing about Hip-Hop. Sure, I was big on Eminem as a 10 year old and enjoy the rap spots on Gorillaz records, but it's more or less an unknown quantity to me.

Luckily, the high school connection with one Nelson Hedditch, a.k.a. Dialect, gave me the impetus to jump headfirst into the second record from an MC that is being described by people far more qualified than I as one of the more talented up and comers of the Australian Hip-Hop ranks. And you know what, this album is pretty excellent. While at 16 tracks it proved a little much for me to jump into at first, Dialect's lyrics and Despair's consistently smooth production makes for an immersive listen. And it is peppered with some sweeet hooks.

And the lyrics: Dialect flicks around with syncopated rhyme structures and phrasing, crafting some really sweet hooks around words at times clever, at times deep and always captivating.

Anywho, this track is pretty great. My Only Vice feat. Social Change is also pretty great. 'The Vortex' is out through Uknowho records, a brand new Adelaide label with distribution through Butterthief records, also pretty great to see such burgeoning talent and industriousness in Adelaide outside of my usual tastes.

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Eagle & The Worm

You might remember Eagle & The Worm supporting Dan Kelly at Jive a few weeks ago along with some other band. They had a pretty cool schtick I must say, with a set of dare I say 'groovy' jams rooted heavily in the late 60s and early 70s, recalling aspects of the Stones led by some crazy stretched-rubber-band vocals from their frontman, who also played some kind of bass-guitar mustang hybrid, with half the strings that of a guitar and half bass, with a different pick up for each routed through a different amp.

It took me about 4 songs to figure out just what the heck was going on there. Apparently their full line up numbers around the eight person mark, but with members of Fearless Vampire Killers their relatively modest five piece line-up was pretty effective.

In a few words I'd say they remind me of a Lola/Powerman era Kinks fronted by the fella from Ween (given the only Ween song I know is that Push Th' Little Daisies number). Futureman is just 'dope', far and above the highlight of their set for me at least.

Eagle & The Worm - Futureman

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Vi-dee-oh

Darren Hanlon - All These Things

This video just makes me happy. It's the way Hanlon waddles around in the dance sequences like a pigeon toed Ricky Gervais, it's the utter whimsy that oozes from every pore of the thing. And that kind of childlike twee-ness coming from someone as umm... not a child... as Hanlon is something to be celebrates. Peter Pan indeed.

Goodnight Owl - Maps & Compasses

I think I mentioned this track a long long time ago, and I'm a little surprised they haven't put together a new single or something to make a video out of, but what the hey. It is still pretty wicked.

Steering By Stars - Closer

I'd be utterly remiss to post videos without drawing attention to this little masterpiece, even my blogging laziness of late means I am perhaps literally the last conceivable person to gush about it. At any rate I still dig this track, especially in the context of their soon-to-be-released album Cables.

Tiger Choir

I came to the sad realisation that while last year I had periods where I would average a show a week (September through to December were good to me), this year has been pretty quiet. Upon reflection I remembered that I've still been to many shows, it's just they were We Grow Up shows and I played in them. While this has exposed me to a lot of old favourites (I've seen the Honey Pies and Box Elder too many times to count), it's also occasionally thrown in some nice surprises.

Tiger Choir were one of them, a three piece from Hobart who aside from being utterly unable to shake Animal Collective comparisons mine a really cool vein of off-kilter synthy pop puncuated with squirts of guitar. While my dad thought they were utter rubbish ("It's just noise!") I quite enjoyed their set, and their self-titled EP received a thrashing in the following weeks.

Anyway, Young Loving is my favourite track of theirs. Dancers is pretty sweet also.

Tiger Choir - Young Loving

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Our Husband

Our Husband - Villages (mp3)

Our Husband, who might rank as one of my favourite Adelaide boy-girl 'tweed pop' duos were it not for all those other great ones that make it a dead heat, today put out this here track. Villages is the first single from their debut album which they are currently working on and was a bit of a pleasant surprise, with Nathaniel Morse on lead vocals and keyboard drums - a bit of a departure from most of the stuff I'd heard from them.

It almost sounds like a less reverb-soaked Beach House in parts, with a buoyant vibe all over it. The song reminds me of something else as well for the life of me I cannot pick it. Anyway, its pretty tops.

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