Plug It In: Ecca Vandal

Plug It In: Ecca Vandal

Check out this AWESOME new track WHITE FLAG by ECCA VANDAL.

It's like the future on toast - electro, punk rock, grime and amazingly ruff 'n' ready to bludgeon your speakers! And oh - the vocal…exotic, incendiary, unswerving, stunning!

Great enough to pogo to; overfilled with bop to fill a dance floor.  And it will hook you like a fish!

I cannot wait to see her live!  Hoping for her to blister the radio waves for an age to come.

EP out early 2015.  :-)

Here's the video on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIfne0Z5OJk

The song is available via i-Tunes - so do yerselves a favour and buy it now :

https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/white-flag-single/id904242267

Triple J Unearthed page here:

https://www.triplejunearthed.com/artist/ecca-vandal

And 'like' on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/EccaVandal

That's Entertainment : Gypsy & The Cat

That's Entertainment : Gypsy & The Cat

A long, long time ago…back in middle of winter 2010…I heard a song on RAGE that I really took a fancy to.  It was Time To Wander by an act called - interestingly enough - Gypsy & The Cat.  Now the days of CD singles had ended and I really liked the song, and luckily enough, the full album was $14.99.  What the hell, I thought, justifying the expense.  At the time I was loading up single songs in to our new Mac i-Tunes, so I uploaded Time To Wander, put the song in to my faves of 2010 list and left it at that, shelving the CD.

Come late summer early '11, I'm listening to a song on the radio and thinking what a wonderful little pop gem.  I was keen to track it down and thankfully, at the end of the song, the DJ says it's Gypsy & The Cat with a track called The Piper's Song.  LOL! I thought and as soon as I got home, I excitedly ran to the spare room, found the CD and uploaded the whole album this time, which immediately started a brief love affair with the band, while the album quite quickly became one both Lee and I adored.  

The debut album Gilgamesh is a wonderfully warm pop album, something brilliant.  It's awash with 80's synth sounds, contemporary good time vibes and shiny vocals.  In fact, there is not a single duff track on the album and had I bothered to listen to it in full when I first bought it, I would have been wowed then.  Oh well, better late than never.  And Gilgamesh is an album that has to be listened to in full, running the full range of emotions, commencing with the epic Time To Wander and ending with the stunning The Perfect 2.  Considering it is a debut, it's almost like a 'greatest hits'.

In no time at all, I was listening to the album day in day out.  As a surprise, Lee bought me tickets to see them play at the Metro for my birthday, although funnily enough on the night, she felt off colour [she was pregnant with Zach at the time].  Gypsy & The Cat were as amazing live as they were recorded, and they seemed fresh, young, excited.  Unbeknownst to me, they'd been a bit of a summertime hit with their singles Jona Vark and The Piper's Song,  (they blitzed the Triple J Hottest 100 with 3 entries), and the Metro was bursting at the seams with punters singing every word, heaving to the pop-tacular tunes.  And not only that - Gypsy & &he Cat ROCK!!!  It was a cool little moment seeing a band arriving and as we shuffled out in to the cold night, we wondered how big these guys could become.  

Luckily for me, the SMH in conjunction with Apple did some online competition which I entered and won 2 tickets to see them with 98 others at the Bondi Apple Store, playing live and exclusive for our pleasure, and afterwards we got to meet the band.  For the second time in as many weeks, Gypsy & The Cat did not fail to deliver, in fact, having the mixed crowd eating from the palm of their hands.  Get a pic with the guys after the gig was cool, though considering the room was full of nubile young lasses, I very much doubt they'd even remember the creepy oldie hitting them up for an autograph and a pic…LOL!

Hopes were up, they were winding down and heading back to the studio.  To tide us over, a remix album and an exclusive i-Tunes live album were released.

By late 2012, the sophomore LP, The Late Blue arrived.  Mixed by Dave Fridman (The Flaming Lips, MGMT) the band changed tack.  Gypsy & The Cat reinvigorated their sound, moving away from the '80's trappings and tapping in to a slightly more chilled out, breezy summer time vibe; a bit of an Eagles/Fleetwood Mac taste to it.  Bloom was the new single, with a chugging bass, propulsive beat and glorious vocal, it had mega-hit written all over it.  I'm not sure why it didn't explode, but it gets played a hell of places when I'm out and about.  It really should have been Top 5, but I guess people are happier with their Red Foo.   The Late Blue, Broken Kites (a bit Gorllaz for mine) and Sorry (all funk jangle) were high points of the album and it certainly is a grower and a keeper.  Released independently, I can only assume not having a record company advertising and touring budget cruelled its chances of connecting with a far broader community in Australia, but it did good business in Europe where they have a tendency to appreciate substance over style.

Recently, FB posts have the band mixing new material and I get excited.  Gypsy & The Cat are a dynamic, entertaining band with a real knack for a beat and a hook.  Both Gilgamesh and The Late Blue are essential in your collection.  Two similar but very different albums, these guys aren't afraid to fuse their influences and create something special.  The next time they tour, I'll be there front and centre again.  And with summer just around the corner, Gypsy & The Cat are the PERFECT band to have playing while you're barbecuing those sausages, dipping in the paddling pool and mixing cocktails or a tonic for those summertime blues.

So treat yourself - you won't be disappointed!  

I-tunes and JB HiFi have both albums - https://www.jbhifi.com.au/Search/results/?keywords=gypsy%20and%20the%20cat

Time To Wander https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioier5yELZw

Jona Vark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YboETF6ZHQ

The Piper's Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFE9FpD86JY

The Piper's Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Aycp5DGqUA

(Aeroplane Tape remix)

Watching Me, Watching You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSNvgPa48Zo

Gilgamesh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiIIW4afTt8

Running Romeo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib0tbswMV3Y

Sorry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt9rXLF_uSI

Bloom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3d2a5xpCgw

The Late Blue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAxCtdPKkf0

That's Entertainment : Bluejuice

That's Entertainment : Bluejuice

Once in a generation, a band comes along and rocks the house!  It isn't an easy act meshing your influences to create your own sound and style that makes you stand out from the pack.

Bluejuice was such a band.

Now I'm not going all wanky here, saying 'oh, these guys were MY band!' and all that.  Nope.  Bluejuice were a peoples band enjoyed by many in this great land of ours.  They played their fair share of festivals, got Triple J support and did an awful lot in their shortish time as a band.  There'll be no grieving because the memories and the music remain.  Still…bastards!  Go and leaving me like that!  

I first heard of them on a Homebake sampler (first time I'd heard Gotye too) back in 2006.  Vitriol was the song and amongst all the other dross, it twinkled like a beacon.  The film clip is a cack too!  They seemed like fun blokes having a crack and good on 'em.

But don't get me wrong, whilst Bluejuice infuse their music with doses of fun, their is plenty of darkness bubbling underneath.  They were typical Aussies - willing to take the pi$$ out of themselves, willing to give it a go…have a crack, and hit the turps hard and fast all in the name of making you boogie your blues away.

I first saw them supporting We Are Scientists when Lee was pregnant with Alex.  In fact…you'd have to say, that was the first gig Alex ever attended and the first live band Alex ever heard, albeit in utero.  

Anyway, they became a favourite.  Something to cheer you up.  And geez they were infectious.  Ebola?  Nah.  Bluejuice was catchier.  The sing-song shouty vocal, funky organ, the disco electronica and rippin' riffs.  Yep, they covered all bases without really trying.  They sounded familiar, they sounded different.  Being different is the killer because people get caught in their ways.  Bluejuice's fan base knew what they were in for though and never did Bluejuice disappoint.

And after three classic albums - forget your Diesel and Dust or Whispering Jack -  Bluejuice called it a day in August 2014.  Bastards!  Having released the visually and aurally brilliant SOS in late 2013, I had hoped for another LP.  Not to be.  

When it comes to Aussie rock, you can keep your Cold Chisel, your Powderfinger, your Triffids and your Savage Garden.  Give me the lil' bands that could…the ones who slog their guts out to be original, deliver entertaining albums, cram in to the mini-bus to leg it across the country just to put on one hell of a show.  And all done for little financial reward.  Bluejuice were rarely critically acclaimed and only briefly flirted with the mainstream charts despite having more ability than most.  Bluejuice's throwaway is someone else's best of.  

But in the end, who cares?!  Well, maybe their manager and their bank balances do.  That aside, Bluejuice did what they did and bloody well entertained.  The played hard and buggered off.  You can't ask for more!

The Australian musical landscape is littered with bands who could.  We lost a good one when Bluejuice packed it in.  We are the poorer for it.

Vitriol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldBhDmvWFXE

Head Of The Hawk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vmcvKjPh6U

Broken Leg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJAWLfdkapQ

Work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOcttA0RZOU

Ain't Telling The Truth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwRwY9htgis

Act Yr Age https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2N32PIYVHc

On My Own https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkAajh6hAUM

The Recession https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLjli6L1TSE

SOS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YnWgB0xf3I

That's Entertainment : Supertramp

That's Entertainment : Supertramp

By the time I got in Supertramp, the party was over.  For me, I distinctly remember flying Qantas, around March/April 1987, and listening to the inflight entertainment 'rock' channel [on those old school hollow air headsets), and every 90 minutes or so, Dreamer came on.  To say I became enamoured with this song is an understatement.  I sat ticking off the songs in the in-flight magazine, waiting for the next little three and half minute blast of wonder!  

Funnily enough, the band had recently released their 'best of' and it was being constantly advertised on the telly [along with the AIDS grim reaper ad] at my nan's place while we stopped over before heading back overseas, travelling further afield.  Anyway, I pretty much begged my mum for the cassette tape and finally she relented.  With two duelling vocalists [and egos], the best of was the cream of their single releases.  Not a duff track, really.  And the songs I seemed to like most (and still do) was from the singer Roger Hodgson, who had departed the band a few years earlier…all classics.  

And being naive, young, unknowing, I wasn't aware that Supertramp had somehow become 'naff' or 'prog rock sellouts'.  I didn't know, and I didn't particularly care when I did found out either.  These days…any of the songs listed below are classics, staples of the FM radio format.  And despite the efforts of many to tell me Supertramp were 'crap', I have always treasured them like I did ABBA, who seemed to go through the same thing during the 1980's until the mid 1990's.  These days, if Supertramp come on, people my age just instinctively hum along.

And for mine, any day of the week, give me It's Raining Again with it's positive, up-beat lyric for someone coming through a 'bad day'.  The video, directed by Russell Mulcahy, is one that caught the early wave of MTV excitement when big budget video was in it's infancy and both irresistibly naff and fun.  It's a song I will always love and it brought me no end of joy when Alex was 2-3 and he used to ask to have this song played repeatedly on i-tunes.  In fact, it's our FOURTH highest spun track with 132 whirls in 4 years.

Yep, there will always be a special little spot in my heart and ears for a Supertramp song.  Give me an i-pod, a FM station, a karaoke machine, K-mart muzak…I'll be singing along unashamedly...

Dreamer!!!  You know you are a dreamer. Well can you put your hands in your head…oh no!

Ohhhh it's raining again…oh no my love's at an end…

Take a look at my girlfriend, she's the only one I got.  Not much of a girlfriend, never seem to get a lot...

When I was young it seemed that life was so wonderful…a miracle…oh it was beautiful, magical…

So you think you're a Romeo, playing a part in a picture-show.  Take the long way home…take the long way home…

Give a little bit.  Give a little bit of your love to me...

But always back to It's Raining Again with it's sax and bouncy piano and high vocal… 

And because of sheer bastradry, YouTube doesn't have any decent studio clips and I'm not mining live performances, so go to I-tunes and download these songs.

You can at least watch It's Raining Again, which came right towards the end of their productive years in 1982.

It's Raining Again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZUE4_PtOk0

Dreamer

Give A Little Bit

The Logical Song

Breakfast In America

Take The Long Way Home

Hide In Your Shell

Goodbye Stranger

Bloody Well Right

That's Entertainment : Alt US 1980's

That's Entertainment : Alt US 1980's

The middle of last week, I finished editing Book 2.  So I decided to give myself a week off work and do very, very little.  In fact…I could do anything.  Anything!!!

Problem is, I have a plot hole that I can't rectify.  So I'm stuck in a rut!  Basically - goodies arrive at destination, have to bail out, use escape pods, land and are stuck in a ravaged, suddenly abandoned Tokyo.  Whatever happened was swift, immediate, scary, shocking!  Problem for the heroes, they can't get out because there is a sky shield/dome hanging over their heads.  It's a shield that was used some decade or so earlier to protect the city from nuclear attack - nothing gets in, nothing gets out.  It's been turned off until a 'big bad' takes over the city and switches it back on to keep the govt/army out so they can't be attacked.  

And there's my dilemma.  I need the shield/dome on when they arrive AND to trap in my heroes.  However - HOW THE HELL DID THEY GET THROUGH IT!?!?!?!?!  ARGHHHH!!!

So anyway, have been watching some old films.  My library has a whole collection of DVDs that look like they've never been watched so I've been making way through them.  Amongst the stack, I watched REPO MAN with Emilio Estevez and loved it - so off-kilter for 1984.  The other night, I had a hankering to watch A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 - The Dream Master.  Both films contain wonderful tunes from alternative / underground US bands from the 1980's.  The stuff that sort of paved the way…was strangely different yet prescient.  

I'd say most the of the bands were highly influential, though at least half of them, never really made it out of their niche (though they are loved and cherished and succoured by their fan bases) and/or made much cash.  Which is quite sad really, but them's the reality.  Some got major label backing and went on to hit the heights briefly, or as REM did, continued to do so.  A few had their moment in the spotlight and left a legacy of powerful, amazing music.  

You might know a couple of songs on here.  You should check 'em all out though.  It's all a bit of a hodgepodge…a bit of connect the dots.  In no way is this definitive or finished.  Hell, once I blog it, I might even add more songs.

But please sift through and give them your attention.  I recommend Jane Says, Sunless Saturday and Anything, Anything….just to ease in to it.

Please!  Listen.  Anything.  Anything!

Enjoy!

Dramarama : Anything, Anything (I'll Give You)             

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azj_AjdNWwY

The Replacements : Left of the Dial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J004aQUKbO4

Bad Brains : Re-ignition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXTE5wAtBzo

Fishbone : Sunless Saturday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B61XAN2Ujw

Nirvana : Even In His Youth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7U_c1_EmV8

Jane's Addiction : Jane Says

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjAfYuwmiEo

The Pixies : Where Is My Mind?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iC0YXspJRM

The Pixies : Monkey Gone To Heaven

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK3iSglbZUM

Wall of Voodoo : Mexican Radio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyCEexG9xjw

Wall of Voodoo : Far Side of Crazy 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6_YsP7u-JY

The Dead Kennedys : Holiday In Cambodia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rm-Fu8rBms

Violent Femmes : Blister in the Sun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE-dqW4uBEE

Husker Du : It's Not Funny Anymore 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISGjNeBENXw

REM : It's The End Of The World As We Know It

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY

They Might Be Giants : Ana Ng

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEjutUbgpH8

Fugazi : Waiting Room

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJFWirQ3ks   LIVE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMOAXm94VWo

Melvins : Honey Bucket

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp5r9qwqpPc

Minor Threat : Straight Edge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMybxAoSvS8

Dinosaur Jr : Feel The Pain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyQtZsS9e1Y

Dinosaur Jr : Freak Scene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxLpEX2bt8w

Minutemen : This Ain't No Picnic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDr25zjd4yM

Sonic Youth : Teen Age Riot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPytYrYqDbA

Mudhoney : Touch Me I'm Sick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nGsT_qFMBs

Plug It In: Ok Go

Plug It In: Ok Go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m86ae_e_ptU

Finally!  art-rock royalty OK GO release their new track The Writing's On The Wall.

A wildly creative film clip full of illusions and a lush pop sheen.

An amazing video to an amazing song.  Am loving the New Order vibe too.

Cannot wait for the album.

For those who don't remember, OK GO did Here It Goes Again…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTAAsCNK7RA

That's Entertainment : Roxy Music

That's Entertainment : Roxy Music

This week, we're doing something different.

Instead of me doing the sharing, I am very proud to present to you a wonderful co-worker of mine and a massive Roxy Music fan - Rob.

Rob is a kindred spirit.  He's a bloke who loves his music and is a passionate Roxy Music fan.  He also loves a chat, often when making a coffee in the staff room, about bands he's seen and heard, and since he's a couple of years old than me, he's attended some really great gigs, clipped plenty of articles out of magazines and seen some great bands over the years, some that he laments didn't make it as big as they should.  We swap CDs of tunes we might like and sharing stories and songs, well there's a real buzz and it's something I cherish - to be able to sit and gasbag and escape the workplace humdrum. 

Roxy Music were/are a British art rock band, leaning towards sophisticated glam.  Visually and musically, they were very 'cool', with their very early works influencing punk rock, whilst also defining a template for New Wave bands that followed them in their wake, and for electronica acts even to this current day.  Lead by the suave crooner Bryan Ferry the band also included pioneering producer Brian Eno,  guitarist Phil Manzanera, drummer Paul Thompson saxophonist and multi instrumentalist Andy Mackay - all key ingredients in the Roxy Music sound and look.  Eno would leave after the second album after differences with Ferry and have a long and varied career as a producer, recording artist and innovator.

Rob says:  The group's name [Roxy Music] was partly a homage to the titles of old cinemas and dance halls, and partly a pun on the word 'rock'. Ferry had named the band Roxy originally, but after learning of an American band with the same name he changed the name to Roxy Music (other names considered - Rialto, Locarno, Gaumont & Odeon).

Of particular interest, for red blooded males of the era, the album artwork imitated the visual style of classic "girlie" and fashion magazines.  In fact, for their fifth album Siren released in 1975, Rob notes : Bryan [Ferry] saw Jerry Hall  modelling in fashion magazines and was so impressed he asked her to pose on the cover of the album.  Soon after they were an item. She 19; he 30. Engaged after a few months they never set a date and after two years, Mick Jagger stole Jerry's heart.   See…sometimes rock stars don't always get the girl.

With continuous album releases - 8 studio albums in 10 years - and touring.  As frontman and vocalist, Bryan Ferry's persona of being the 'epitome of the suave, jaded Euro-sopisticate' [Ferry was a miner's son], soon he Ferry real and rock lives merged - him becoming a bonafide international rock star, fashion and style icon, who had love affairs with numerous glamorous women. By 1976, the band was in hiatus, but they reconvened in 1978 to mixed critical acclaim but much commercial success.  

In 1981, Roxy Music recorded Jealous Guy as a tribute to Lennon after his 1980 death. The song topped the UK charts for two weeks in March 1981, ironically becoming the band's only No. 1 single. 

I  saw them when they played at the Hordern Pavilion on 30/1/81 when they finished with Jealous Guy Rob continues.  The concert was amazing because straight from the first song every one in the crowd stood on there plastic chairs for the entire concert swaying and singing . I happened to be on holidays at the time so the following night I went by myself this time to see them again. Every one sat down for this one though.

And so we get to the band's swan song - Avalon.  This is the album where I came in.  More Than This is an amazing piece of pop music (and the album reclaimed their critics whilst also being a massive seller).  To this day, More Than This is exhilarating in every way.  

Roxy Music never officially broke up and have toured off and on since 2001.  For many years, Bryan Ferry has led a dual life as singer of the band whilst conducting his own solo career to much success.  Funnily enough, many of the band members have played on a lot of Bryan's solo work, so whilst not actual band 'recordings', Ferry's solo work certainly has contained many elements that made Roxy Music who they were.

Now I'm not sure if Rob wants this to be known, but he is an avid collector and scrap booker of the band's career.  He knows all the names, dates and venues, the hard to find B-sides and can recommend those obscurer tracks tucked in at the backend of Side 2 of an LP.  He's helpfully compiled a list of songs he thinks you should at least check out.  As someone who loves Virginia Plain, Same Old Scene, Love Is The Drug and More Than This, it's a pleasure to delve in to my collection of remastered CDs and sniff out songs I've skipped or ignored for far too long.

Roxy Music are an important band in the scheme of things.  But they're also very listenable.  In a time before the internet, exotic overseas travel and affordable fashion, Roxy Music delivered a dream to teens everywhere.  For Rob, they're a big fat helix in the DNA of his musical journey.  More than this?  Nope.  There's nothing.  Roxy Music are IT!

So from Rob…this week…everyone ROX ON!!!

Virginia Plain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEalg62F8Zg

Do the Strand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2yGudJ_BQ0

Editions of You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ_rqeM7UWI

Street Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arct2SuLcZs

All I want is You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nce2mFiPMr0

Out of the Blue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9QpI3wVvek

Prairie Rose https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQzVrswPVd0

Love is the Drug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n3OepDn5GU

Both Ends Burning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw_r_1cYsnY

Dance Away         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NavzcV_gRiE

Trash https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZr5HpNm2TU

Angel Eyes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYP6F3gX68Q

Over You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1kkjATxftI

Same Old Scene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXOgQN1a7bE

In the Midnight Hour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unOGZqvdM4I

Jealous Guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRzGzRqNj58

More Than This https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOnde5c7OG8

Avalon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpA_5a0miWk