Cut Copy, Botanical Gardens, Melbourne
It's nice to see local kids who have received some international acclaim return to their home ground, even if they do so with some regularity.
Rocknerd
all the fits that's news
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Leftfield, Botanical Gardens, Melbourne
Spanning techno, trip-hop, progressive house, and dub, I readily admit to being a very long-term fan of Leftfield.
Basement Jaxx, Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne
Plenty of performers and truly wonderful costumes, certainly among some of the best that have been presented at any live show, all along with the expected levels of light and colour, as the musical duo were safely ensconced in their own pit.
Rüfüs Du Sol, Inhale / Exhale (2025)
For fans of Rüfüs Du Sol, Inhale/Exhale is not a dramatic departure from their earlier work.
Backrooms (2026).
Backrooms promises you the movie of a creepypasta, and it delivers on that.
The March Violets: Crocodile Promises (2024).
More of an alt-rock than post-punk sound, with more than a touch of the gothic rock as a continuing thread throughout.
Iron Lung (2026). No, the ocean of blood is never explained, why would it be.
You get your fake blood’s worth, I assure you.
No, fake AI music bought onto a minor chart is not actually popular
I've been reluctant to even mention the really obviously fake chart performances of fake AI music lately. I have no wish to accidentally give these fucks even that much publicity.
Scissorgun: Scream If You Wanna Go Faster (2025).
Industrial rock in the ’90s style, where it’s not sure if it’s going rock’n’roll or nascent techno.
Guy Blackman “Out Of Sight” Album Launch
In the ancient days of 1992, when dinosaurs still ruled the Earth, young (17) Guy Blackman formed Chapter Music, which would go on to become one of Australia's longest-running independent music labels.
John Schumann & The Vagabond Crew: “The Redgum Years”
For the past fifteen years former Redgum lead singer John Schumann has been performing with John Schumann & The Vagabond Crew.
Bleak Squad, Queenscliff Town Hall
A 1980-2000s Australian alternative supergroup, consisting of Adalita (Magic Dirt), Mick Turner (Dirty Three), Mick Harvey (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, The Birthday Party), and Marty Brown (Art of Fighting) who was the original driving force at bringing the group together.
His Spine Was the Bassline: Remembering Dave Allen
Dave Allen, former bassist of the Gang of Four, Shriekback, King Swamp, Low Pop Suicide, The Elastic Purejoy, and finally Faux Hoax passed away aged 69 after living with early-onset dementia for several years.
Buddhadatta and Friends: Two Melbourne Shows
Buddhadatta describe themselves as Japanese buddhist-punk, which is an thoroughly enticing combination of adjectives.
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus and KAGAMI in Melbourne
As part of the Asia TOPA (Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts), Melbourne experienced "KAGAMI" (Japanese for "mirror"), a "mixed-reality" performance by Sakamoto and Tin Drum.
New Order, Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne 2025
It must be said that I am a bit of a fan of New Order and Peter Hook and, of course, their immediate precursor
Slipknot, Babymetal et al. Knotfest 2025 Melbourne.
I must start this review with identifying the source of my ticket; the Isla Bell Charitable Fund. Isla Bell was a young artist and
Records: ANS Electronic Music (1969), Attrition (2024, 2025).
Reissued Soviet synthesizers and a triumphant return for old-school industrials.
Jennifer’s Favorite Songs of 2024
These are some of my favorite songs of 2024, presented in no particular order: APT., Rosé and Bruno Mars: The title is a play
The Garbage and The Flowers: In Valhalla (2023), live at the Tramway Hotel (2024).
The first thing one must know about "The Garbage and The Flowers" is that we're talking about a single group here.
Synthetic nostalgia: Punk band Dead Boys plans album with AI Stiv Bators, current vocalist quits in disgust.
Cleopatra Records seems to have proposed the AI-vocal album, which is an extremely Cleopatra sort of move.
Duolingo Music.
In October last year, Duolingo announced it was adding a music course to its suite of languages to learn.
Carbon Based Lifeforms: Seeker (2023).
For the better part of thirty years, the Swedish duo operating under the name of Carbon Based Lifeforms have produced some of the most rhythmic ambient music of our time.
Stu Spasm documentary: I Should Have Been Dead Years Ago — playing in London on Friday 8 November.
I Should Have Been Dead Years Ago is screening at the Castle Cinema in London on Friday 8 November 2024 at 9:00pm as part of the Doc'n'Roll Festival.
Kunlun’s Melodio and Mureka AI slop music — with audio samples.
Is music doomed? Well, probably not more than it was already.
Sacred Cowboys: Cowboy Logic (2024).
I'm treating this as a good live record with a bonus studio compilation. This selection hangs together.
Placebo, Bristol Amphitheatre, 28th June 2024.
The last time I saw Placebo was the Kerrang Big Day Out at the Milton Keynes Bowl in 1999, when Metallica headlined. I crewed that one.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Welcome To The Pleasuredome (1984).
It was never going to be easy to live up to that earthshattering series of singles, but I should not be thinking "yes, yes, get on with it."
That fucking band.
For all the talentless fucks who are absolute in their certainty that the way out is the way through.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse: World Record (2022).
One for those who understand that Arc is the best Neil Young live album.
Robert Görl and Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft: Nur Noch Einer (2021).
Görl pulled out a pile of old DAF tapes for inspiration, wrote new words, and released one final DAF album.
House Of All: House Of All (2023).
Collecting old ex-members of the Fall into a band sounds like a good idea.
The next frontier in IP parasites: codec royalties on content.
It is difficult to overstate just how much better everything would be for everyone except the parasites if software patents were abolished.
Bandcamp has been sold to Songtradr. What does this mean for the musicians?
At least Songtradr, unlike Epic, is in the same business.
Snake oil never sleeps: MQA bought out by Lenbrook.
Lenbrook does have considerable experience straddling the fine line between “very good sound equipment” and “green marker pen on your speaker wires.”
Sigue Sigue Sputnik: Flaunt It. The most mid album of 1986.
These were not very bright guys, and things kept failing to get out of hand.
Battlefield Earth (2000). A saga of the year two thousand.
It was twenty-three years ago, but the pain remains fresh.
Bedless Bones: Sublime Malaise; After Malaise (2019, 2020, 2023).
The vocals waft, but they waft on top of a beat and you can dance to it.
Notes and Reflections: Lana Del Rey
There were eight whole records to listen to. Eight!
Spray: The Big Idea will rock and change the world. Ricardo Autobahn interviewed.
“If there’s one thing Spray are excellent at, it’s our drum fills. If there’s one thing we should be remembered for, I’d like it to be the drum fills.”
Stu Spasm’s Wikipedia article now has an old photo of him.
Tales from 1986, when I was nineteen and just embarking on making my youth suitably dissolute.
Oh no! Snake oil “hi-res” audio company MQA is going broke.
Oh no! Where will I pay well over the odds for a 13-bit FLAC now?
It’s gonna play all the records in the hit parade, and they’re all Morgan Wallen.
I hadn't expected listening to the hit parade to feed me an album review.
The complete Fall Peel Sessions playlist.
Is it worth your time? Of course it bloody is.
Massenhysterie: Hausfrauengelüste (2019).
More fun than deep, but it's pretty good and I enjoyed it.
Braddock Station Garrison: American Radio (2019).
It made friends with me within the first three chords of "Blockbuster."
Schkeuditzer Kreuz: Isolated and Alone (2021).
Punk rock in early hardcore style through industrial electronics.
Justine Ó Gadhra-Sharp: Sídhe (2022).
A nicely varied EP from a veteran of the New Zealand goth scene.
Delerium: Signs (2023).
Signs is an extremely pleasant listen.
Imaad Wasif: So Long Mr. Fear (2022).
Eventually indie folk rockers make it clear which Beatle they modeled their approach on.