100 / 125
Soft Hair
Soft Hair
Soft Hair is a beautiful meeting
of the minds. Connan Mockasin
and Sam Dust have spent years
deconstructing and reconfiguring
the art and science of song.
In various guises, solo and
collaborative, the pair have
produced a vast wealth of
psychedelic pop gems spanning
warped folk, modern funk, synth
wave and digi dub among other
less classifiable sounds. They
both trade in the unexpected,
so perhaps it should come as no
surprise that the two artists have
combined forces for this latest
record. It’s everything you’d hope
for and nothing you could have
imagined. In other words, one of
the more enjoyable experimental
pop records of the year.
(
WeirdWorld/Domino)
SimonWinkler
Harts
Smoke Fire Hope Desire
I hope you wrote down where
you were the first time you heard
Harts; there hasn’t been an
Australian artist like him for a very
long time. Inspired by the quickly
changing landscape of the world
around him, Melbourne shred-lord
Darren Hart wrote, performed,
recorded, mixed and single-
handedly produced his sophomore
LP. Openers
Smoke
and
Fear
In Me
flex the record’s funk
credentials; radio favourite
Power
lays down some stanky bass
before faux strings and a tripped-
out chorus appear; and
All Rise
is a distinct, clap-a-long highlight
–
don’t be afraid if you find your
face melted and your legs a mere
pile of goo on the floor; all Dorothy
really needed to take on the
Wicked Witch was a copy of this
record.
(Dew Process/Universal)
Tim Lambert
Pixies
Head Carrier
God, this album starts well. So
well, you’d be excused for thinking
the title-track opener was a
forgotten cut that may have fallen
off
Doolittle
or
Surfer Rosa
with
that trademark fuzz, indie-beat
and off-kilter vocal delivery with
anger and aggression that infects
the mind and causes a nostalgic
smile.
Baal’s Back
certainly has a
great bunch of shouting from Mr
Francis and sharp guitar harmonics
too, yet the rest of the album
lacks that, well, dangerous spark.
Having no Kim, perhaps, can
account for that. More like a Frank
Black solo with music that sounds
like The Pixies, rather than that jolt
of electric fear and wonder you
know so well, and should demand.
Still, it’s better than a swift kick to
the nuts.
(PIAS) Chris Murray
Friendships
Nullarbor 1988
–
1989
The culmination of years of work
from Melbourne producer/artist
duo Nic Brown and Misha Grace,
Nullarbor 1988 – 1989
turns to
familiar dance modes like drum and
bass to examine the body. From
the heady
Big Farm InThe Sky
to
the grinding erotica of
Spit//Flesh//
Splinter
, the menace of
When I Feel
Like Killing, I Murder
to the gothic
Australian poetry on
Jerramungup
1988
and
Footscray 1989
,
Nullarbor
explores the violence people inflict
on themselves and the world
around them. It’s a sublime horror
with a spiritual undercurrent,
invoking those same dance modes
and their communal spirit which,
in the war against one’s own body
and others', could offer a kind of
salvation.
(Remote Control) Jake Cleland
D.D. Dumbo
Utopia Defeated
Three years have passed since D.D. Dumbo
released his
Tropical Oceans
EP. It was a
striking debut that sounded like nothing
before or since
–
experimental pop, regional
blues, folk and electronic all combined in new
and original ways. Anticipation for a follow-up
was high, a charged atmosphere something like the calm before
a storm. And so first single
Satan
struck like a bolt from the blue
when it arrived months ago; a flash of genius heralding the artist's
full length album, accompanied by a compelling video shot in the
strange, serene, surreal pink lake district near D.D. Dumbo's home.
It felt like a force and its power only grew with each listen. It's the
same sense you get listening to the entire album
Utopia Defeated
.
Innovative rhythms, artful arrangements, immaculate sound design
and a surprising instrumental palette provide a constellation of ideas
that will undoubtedly be studied and admired for years to come.
(4AD/Liberation) SimonWinkler
Allah-Las
Calico Review
A psyche-bent, laid-back-fuzz
country excursion to the 13th
Floor Elevators meets Wilco (no,
really) – these cats have been
making extraordinary music for
over eight years. We’d bet Anton
from Brian Jonestown Massacre
has a few of their LPs stored in
a safe place. There’s a Butthole
Surfers-playing-a-retirement-home
kink to this 12-track joy; a creepy
and infectious undertone that
Velvet Underground-s into the
consciousness. They’re not to be
fully trusted, able to punch you
in the face or indeed subdue you
into an uneasy comfort zone on
Terror Ignot
– a swirly ride through
hippies and bubble-blowing in the
afternoon sun, all without a hint
of irony or hipster bullsh-t. These
guys are great – you need this.
(Mexican Summer) Chris Murray
visit
stack.net.au18
jbhifi.com.auOCTOBER
2016
MUSIC
REVIEWS
Die Antwoord
Mount Ninji
And Da Nice Time Kid
If Sparks were a band that was
found to have secretly put all the
slain bodies of their unknown
midnight activities into the wall
cavity, and once a year exhume
them for a necrophilia-themed
slumber party… they’d be Die
Antwoord. Zef (which loosely
translates to ‘common’ in
Afrikaans slang) is a trashy schtick
they cling to that will either make
you laugh or vomit, or both. Their
videos can never be unseen
(brilliant, actually) but the music,
much like their acting abilities
(
Chappie
- WTF?) leaves much to
be desired after the initial giggle
and ‘Hey, check this sh-t out!’
sharing ability on social media.
You’ll be reaching for a Panadol in
about five minutes, although
Sh-t
Just Got Real
is pretty fun, in an
early Beastie Boys stag party way.
(Kobalt/Inertia) Chris Murray