MadfaMusic Feature Albums December 2013
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Dick Diver - Calendar Days (Feature Album 30 December 2013)
Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold (Feature Album 16 December 2013) Beaches - She Beats (Feature Album 9 December 2013) Phosphorescent - Muchacho De Lujo (Feature Album 2 December 2013) On 23 December we published our Best of 2013 lists. Check them out here. |
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Dick Diver - Calendar Days (Feature Album 30 December 2013) By Fee B-Squared
Image courtesy of smh.om.au
I just saw Dick Diver at Meredith and fuck they’re good. I overheard a few people talking about them in that sort of slow burn way. They’d heard of them a while ago but didn’t get super psyched, but now they’re all over them and crushing hard, so it made me wanna talk about their second album Calendar Days. Released back in March, Calendar Days is the follow up to their debut album New Start Again and with only 18 months between them, I’m hoping they can keep that pace up and bring producer Mikey Young with them.
Formed in 2008, Dick Diver is guitarists Alistair McKay and Rupert Edwards, drummer Steph Hughes and bassist Al Montford. They all share songwriting credits and they swap instruments and vocal duties as well. It not only makes me feel like a massively shit underachiever, but it also makes for a bit of child-like fun in a live setting watching them move around like they’re playing musical chairs. Add some pretty funny banter to the mix and you can’t help but smile as you reflect on the gig later.
As for the songs, they write about the familiar, the everyday, but man they make it sound like so much more. You know when you hear a band ruminate about the mundane parts of life, but because it’s set whilst hanging out on the Lower East Side, for example, it sounds so much cooler?
Formed in 2008, Dick Diver is guitarists Alistair McKay and Rupert Edwards, drummer Steph Hughes and bassist Al Montford. They all share songwriting credits and they swap instruments and vocal duties as well. It not only makes me feel like a massively shit underachiever, but it also makes for a bit of child-like fun in a live setting watching them move around like they’re playing musical chairs. Add some pretty funny banter to the mix and you can’t help but smile as you reflect on the gig later.
As for the songs, they write about the familiar, the everyday, but man they make it sound like so much more. You know when you hear a band ruminate about the mundane parts of life, but because it’s set whilst hanging out on the Lower East Side, for example, it sounds so much cooler?
 Image courtesy of messandnoise.com.au
I wonder whether our international listeners will romanticise our everyday the same way while listening to Dick Diver lyrics? I like to think so. Case in point: I’m renting, and every time it rains, actual mushrooms grow from the floorboards near an old heater. Now if Dick Diver wrote about that, it wouldn’t feel so depressing, it would sound somehow poetic with a little jangle and some hip swinging. I listen to them singing about getting the perfect shade of gold to their toast and feel like I’m a part of their world (listen closer to “Alice” and you’ll realise there are much more important issues at hand, though). They reference two year leases, IGA, home brands and Panadol: it’s stuff we know and can relate to.
Some pretty funny genre names are bouncing around as a result of the likes of Dick Diver, Courtney Barnett, Lower Plenty, The Stevens et al, be it dolewave, chillmate, new ordinary, Flying Nuncore or bludgecore, Irrespective of what you call the genre, I reckon it’s here to stay for a bit. |
Read reviews of Calendar Days by Faster Louder,Beat and Polaroids of Androids, plus an interview with Rupert Edwards courtesy of The Vine and one with Al McKay thanks to messandnoise.
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Have a listen in particular to “Alice”, “Calendar Days”, “Water Damage”, “Lime Green Shirt” and “Gap Year”. They will either have you nodding in quiet agreement at the shared experience, make you feel nostalgic for days gone by or find yourself strangely lamenting the fact that you’ve never had it so good. Now, I’m off to contemplate my remaining lease and my latest crop of floorboard mushrooms whilst being thankful for a fruiting tree that will deliver me a wedge of lemon for the cheap ass beer I’m going to drink as I listen to this kick ass album.
By Fee B-Squared 
Image courtesy of Dick Diver
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Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold (Feature Album 16 December 2013) By Fee B-Squared
Image courtesy of KEXP
Before the year comes to a close, I wanted to drag your attention to another bangin’ album that was released earlier this year. Way back in January, Brooklyn punk quartet Parquet Courts released Light Up Gold with 15 tracks running at just 34 minutes long. I’m a massive fan of less is more, and this delivers in spades. Lead vocals are shared between guitarists Austin Brown and Andrew Savage who apparently lived down the hall from each other at college. They officially met at a record listening club that Savage started. It was called “Knights Of The Round Turntable”. Yeah I know, that is ridiculously cute, isn’t it? I just could not go past mentioning it (if you want to dip into that a bit more, Savage discusses his love of vinyl and artwork in an interview here). The driving rhythm section is provided by Andrew’s brother Max Savage on drums and bass player Sean Yeaton, who Andrew shared a house with where they used to put on shows. They all seem to have come together for all the right reasons.
“Master Of My Craft” opens the album’s proceedings where we hear the slacker lead vocals of Brown, punching out lyrics like “People die I don't care, you should see the wall of ambivalence I'm building” and he winds out each verse with the drawling and catchy “for-GET a-bout it”. I’m already on board.
“Master Of My Craft” opens the album’s proceedings where we hear the slacker lead vocals of Brown, punching out lyrics like “People die I don't care, you should see the wall of ambivalence I'm building” and he winds out each verse with the drawling and catchy “for-GET a-bout it”. I’m already on board.
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 Photo courtesy of SceneWave
Next track up is “Borrowed Time” and we get to hear Savage singing from his gut this time with “I was up to my neck in motivation neglect when I felt soft waves of purpose crashing onto the surface”. There’s a lot of singing about the everyday and the lyrics can be repetitive, but it never feels boring because they throw it all at you and then move on as quickly as they started. Why are they “…debating Swedish Fish, roasted peanuts or licorice”? Oh, because they’re so “Stoned and Starving”. It sounds like I’m taking the piss, but I’m not. They’re stoners - they trip, they write stuff, then play and rather than it turning into some sort of “hey maaaan life is really beautiful” type of schtick, they just tell it as they see it and it kicks ass. They do seem to be on the lookout for food quite a bit, and as a feeder, I want to bake these dudes a ‘lil somethin’. Or perhaps it’s just a case of listening to the album so many times I’ve got the munchies by osmosis?
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I’m yet to see them live, but we’ll all get the chance to see Parquet Courts tour Australia for the first time this January and February. They’ve also recently released their EP Tally All The Things That You Broke just in time to add it to their set too. I’ve been playing this one a whole bunch: You've Got Me Wonderin' Now. What I’m saying is that this is an über fun 34 minutes of your life so if you’ve come in late, you’ve got ample time to get right across it and learn all the lyrics before they arrive here. Just make sure your pantry’s stacked in case the munchies hit.
By Fee B-Squared Read about Parquet CourtsCheck out the reviews of Light Up Gold from NME, Pitchfork and All Music. Read interviews with Stereogum, Interview Magazine and Pitchfork. You can also watch a video interview with the band courtesy of Pitchfork TV, plus a pretty wacky interview courtesy of Mac Demarco. If that's not enough, there's also the Parquet Courts "Light up Gold" road trip doco here.
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Catch Parquet Courts during their Australian Tour
Parquet Courts will play Laneway Festival in New Zealand & Australia.
Beaches - She Beats (Feature Album 9 December 2013) By Fee B-Squared
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The end of the year is fast approaching so I’ve decided to dip into this years back catalogue and where better to start than with Melbourne’s Alison Bolger, Ali McCann, Antonia Sellbach, Gillian Tucker and Karla Way who make up Beaches. She Beats was released back in May, five years after the release of their self-titled debut album. They weren’t resting during that time though. With Alison giving birth to twins and the band touring extensively overseas, they wisely decided against a firm deadline for album number two. It was during this time, at ATP in 2009, that they met guitarist, Michael Rother from Neu! & Harmonia. Their friendship was further established when Rother contacted the band while touring Australia just last year. When he asked what they were up to, he was told they were recording their new album and he said “Can I come and hear it and maybe I can play on it?” His timing was perfect. Rother showed up, listened to the songs once and then started playing.
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Image courtesy of mmf.com.au
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She Beats is out now on Chapter Music.
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Hilariously, his response to the songs was so organic and immediate that when he asked producer Jack Farley “Did you get that?” Jack had to let him know that he hadn’t started recording yet. I bet Jack won’t make that mistake again.
You can hear Beaches’ many musical nods here, but it doesn’t feel deliberate at all, just respectfully incidental. I can certainly hear some Sonic Youth on the opening track “Out Of Mind” with Antonia on lead and Alison and Ali both on rhythm guitar. The Chills come to mind on “Send Them Away”, Pixies and The Breeders on “Runaway” and My Bloody Valentine on the very dreamy “Distance”, on which I enjoy Karla’s driving drum beat the most. It’s on this track that Rother’s guitar can be heard for the first time. He also lends his signature sounds to the seemingly epic “Granite Snake” which works a treat teamed with Gil Tucker’s dirty bassline. I love how they share vocal duties throughout the album too, it’s subtle and you can’t always tell who is who. The vocals don’t necessarily stand out either, serving more as another musical layer that plays alongside the instruments rather than attempting to take over and be the centrepiece. This album is shoe-gaze, Krautrock, 70s psych, 60s pop, a bit of prog and garage all rolled into one freaking outstanding collection of songs. I’m sure it will be turning up on a whole bunch of “best of 2013” lists, and so it should. Months down the track it still feels ridiculously fresh to my ears, which is why I wanted to talk it up again before the years end. At the time it was released, I remember it giving me the feeling of being cocooned within a warm and fuzzy snuggle rug. Revisiting it now in summer, it’s feeling more like a massive summer music festival love freak out. By Fee B-Squared 
Image courtesy of thatsmelbourne.com.au
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Read about Beaches
Check out the reviews of She Beats by Pitchfork, Faster Louder, The Music and Heavy and Weird.
Read an interview with Beaches courtesy of Mess and Noise.
Read an interview with Beaches courtesy of Mess and Noise.
Phosphorescent - Muchacho de Lujo (Feature Album 2 December 2013) By Fee B-Squared
Image courtesy of nashvillescene.com
Earlier this year, Phosphorescent released a beautiful album called Muchacho and I’ve found myself dipping in and out of it ever since. Don’t worry if it slipped under your radar though because I’m happy to let you know that the deluxe edition of the album has just been released. Muchacho de Lujo comes with the original album and a bonus disc of tracks recorded live at St. Pancras church in London before Muchacho was even released.
Matthew Houck has been recording music for some time now. A fan of the nom de plume, he released “Hipolit” in 2000 under the name Fillup Shack and by 2001 he was recording under his current moniker Phosphorescent. Houck has now released a handful of albums with the fragility of voice reminiscent of….wait for it….here it comes….Will Oldham. I know, I know, I also get annoyed with comparisons, but this is a hard one not to mention. It’s a good thing, so let’s relax.
Matthew Houck has been recording music for some time now. A fan of the nom de plume, he released “Hipolit” in 2000 under the name Fillup Shack and by 2001 he was recording under his current moniker Phosphorescent. Houck has now released a handful of albums with the fragility of voice reminiscent of….wait for it….here it comes….Will Oldham. I know, I know, I also get annoyed with comparisons, but this is a hard one not to mention. It’s a good thing, so let’s relax.
Photo from deborahsamantha.buzznet.com
Houck sings with a drawling, scratchy, imperfect voice that is washed in delay and seems so incredibly worn, tired and broken at times, but it works, nonetheless. The sound of him trying to catch his breath, almost like hiccupping, punctuates his sentences throughout. I’m not sure many people could pull it off quite like he does - he totally owns it.
Muchacho was written during a fairly tumultuous time for Houck. The songs came to him after touring his 2010 release Here’s To Taking It Easy. In an interview with Pitchfork, he said "The last time I was on the road, I thought, 'Just a few more months, and then I’ll go home and tend to everything.' But when I got back, everything was too far gone to fix, so there was fallout. Losing my place [in the Navy Yards] was a big deal. It’s a big space, and over the years I acquired a decent amount of gear. New York is a beast, man, it’s hard to find a place to do music unless you’re going to soundproof it. Relationships are tough when you're on the road, too - my girlfriend would come on some of the tours, but it wasn't easy. Drugs and booze were involved. So I lost the place, lost the girl, and lost my mind.”
“Song For Zula” was the first single released from this album and what a hook that was. Warm and inviting with violin and an opening line inspired by Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire”, it surrounds you with heartbreak and some of it’s post fall-out defiance.
Muchacho was written during a fairly tumultuous time for Houck. The songs came to him after touring his 2010 release Here’s To Taking It Easy. In an interview with Pitchfork, he said "The last time I was on the road, I thought, 'Just a few more months, and then I’ll go home and tend to everything.' But when I got back, everything was too far gone to fix, so there was fallout. Losing my place [in the Navy Yards] was a big deal. It’s a big space, and over the years I acquired a decent amount of gear. New York is a beast, man, it’s hard to find a place to do music unless you’re going to soundproof it. Relationships are tough when you're on the road, too - my girlfriend would come on some of the tours, but it wasn't easy. Drugs and booze were involved. So I lost the place, lost the girl, and lost my mind.”
“Song For Zula” was the first single released from this album and what a hook that was. Warm and inviting with violin and an opening line inspired by Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire”, it surrounds you with heartbreak and some of it’s post fall-out defiance.
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Some say love is a burning thing
That it makes a fiery ring Oh but I know love as a fading thing Just as fickle as a feather in a stream See, honey, I saw love, You see it came to me It puts its face up to my face so I could see Yeah then I saw love disfigure me Into something I am not recognizing The song I’ve recently been crushing on is “Ride On/Right On”. Man, you know when you can just thrash the hell out of a track and keep wanting it more? This track is all that for me right now. |
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The constant thump and jangle with reverbed guitar, and plenty of that delayed vocal I mentioned earlier traveling throughout is all you need to get you going. Add to that Houck’s lyrics about being turned on “take your greedy hands, honey lay ‘em on me” and oh my! If you don’t at least feel an overwhelming desire to shake your shoulders to this track, you should probably check to see if you still have a pulse.
As for the bonus disc, the live London set features Houck on guitar accompanied by Jo Schornikow on piano. They make a cute team and Houck seems genuinely chuffed to be doing it. Apart from six tracks from the Muchacho release you get a bonus cover of the Jessi Colter/Waylon Jennings track “Storms Never Last” and five other tracks from his past releases: “A Picture Of Our Torn Up Praise”, “My Dove My Lamb”, and “Wolves” (from Pride, 2007); “We’ll Be Here Soon” and “Los Angeles” (from Here’s To Taking It Easy, 2010) and “Mrs Juliette Low” (from The Weight Of Flight EP, 2004). If you haven’t stumbled across Phosphorescent before, this may be a nice little pointer to his previous work and how he got to where he is now. Anyway, I’ve got to go, I’m due to replay “Ride On/Right On” at a blistering level and shake what my mama gave me. By Fee B-Squared |
More about PhosphorescentRead the reviews of Muchacho from Pitchfork, Paste Magazine, A.V. Club and Consequence of Sound.
Watch the "Song for Zula" clip here and a great live version of the song here from The Line of Best Fit. 
Image courtesy of willyoumissme.com
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Listen to the MadfaMusic Feature Albums from November here
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Cave - Threace (Feature Album 25 November 2013)
Swearin' - Surfing Strange (Feature Album 18 November 2013) Arcade Fire - Reflektor (Feature Album 11 November 2013) The Poets of Rhythm - Anthology (1992-2003) (Feature Album 4 November 2013) |
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Listen to the MadfaMusic Feature Albums from October here
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Best Coast - Fade Away (feature Album 28 October 2013)
Cass McCombs - Big Wheel & Others (Feature Album 21 October 2013) Zeahorse - Pools (Feature Album 14 October 2013) Mazzy Star - Seasons Of Your Day (Feature Album 7 October 2013) |
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Listen to the MadfaMusic Feature Albums from September here
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Adalita - All Day Venus (Feature Album 30 September 2013)
Sebadoh - Defend Yourself (Feature Album 23 September 2013) Ty Segall - Sleeper (Feature Album 16 September 2013) Washed Out - Paracosm (Feature Album 9 September 2013) Horrorshow - King Amongst Many (Feature Album 2 September 2013) |
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Listen to the MadfaMusic Feature Albums from August here
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King Krule - 6 Feet Beneath the Moon (Feature Album 26 Aug 2013)
Laura Veirs - Warp and Weft (Feature Album 19 August 2013) Pixies - Doolittle (Feature Album 'from the vault' 12 August 2013) Pond - Hobo Rocket (Feature Album 5 August 2013) |
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Listen to the MadfaMusic Feature Albums from July here
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Pluto Jonze - Eject (Feature Album 29 July 2013)
Ben Mason - Holes and Corners (Feature Album 22 July 2013) Jessica Pratt - Jessica Pratt (Feature Album 15 July 2013) Kieran Ryan - Kieran Ryan (Feature Album 8 July 2013) Jagwar Ma - Howlin' (Feature Album 1 July 2013) |
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Listen to the MadfaMusic Feature Albums from June here
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Tricky - False Idols (Feature Album 24 June 2013)
Junip - Junip (Feature Album 17 June 2013) Jen Cloher - In Blood Memory (Feature Album 10 June 2013) Laura Marling - Once I Was An Eagle (Feature Album 3 June 2013) |
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Listen to the MadfaMusic Feature Albums from May here
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Hanni El Khatib - Head in the Dirt (Feature Album 27 May 2013)
James Blake - Overgrown (Feature Album 20 May 2013) Super Wild Horses - Crosswords (Feature Album 13 May 2013) Matthew E. White - Big Inner (Feature Album 6 May 2013) |
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Listen to the MadfaMusic Feature Albums from April here
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The Black Angels - Indigo Meadow (Feature Album 29 April 2013)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito (Feature Album 22 April 2013) Kurt Vile - Wakin on a Pretty Daze (Feature Album 15 April 2013) Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II (Feature Album 7 April 2013) |
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