(One World)

His high profile guests obviously had no doubts at all

Hardage’s MySpace page tells us that he was born in Italy, the son of noted American artist Susy Hardage. Before music, he was a chef in America, returning to Italy for a real estate career (where he applied his expertise in neuro-linguistic programming). And he dedicates this CD “to the culture of doubt, to the wisdom of doubt, which should always accompany one’s perception of reality”. Still, that doesn’t explain the amazing array of well-known musicians joining him on this project. They include soul diva Jocelyn Brown, Peter Gabriel, Mark King (the mainman of ‘80s Britfunk outfit Level 42), reggae veteran Maxi Priest and Spearhead’s Michael Franti. While they clearly add their distinctive voices to these dozen tracks, it’s Hardage’s interest in melding elements of electro, lounge, ambient and chill-out music that really colours these pieces. Heading smoothly into a cooled-down, atmospheric groove, the scene is set with his lightly percolating Latin swing take on Peter Gabriel’s Big Time. But no matter who he invites to provide the vocal focus, each track cruises along with a laidback but still syncopated sophistication. Hmm, I feel a mojito coming on, or maybe a frozen daiquiri.

BILL HOLDSWORTH

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(A Recordings/Inertia)

A disappointing outing from BJM frontman and his Icelandic collaborator

The new Brian Jonestown Massacre EP arrived with little fanfare. It’s kind of fluorescent green with an orange and white English cross on it. Opener The Serious Matter is a sludgy, chugging rocker, and pretty standard for the band. I Alvoru Talad is almost the same song, but the characteristic, reverberated half-yelps are in Icelandic – as the record is a collaboration between frontman Anton Newcombe and Icelandic artist Jon Saemundur Audarson. Tempo 116.7 (Reaching For Dangerous Levels Of Sobriety) is a dreamy mix of polyrhythmic percussion, spacious guitars and nonsensical, pseudo-indigenous vocals. It would probably be a lot better if (a) it didn’t sound like Who Fucking Pissed In My Well? off 2008’s My Bloody Underground, and (b) The Mighty Boosh hadn’t jokingly made similar fantasy psych that’s more interesting. Tempo 116.7 (Clean Acid / Dirty Beats) is, again, almost the same song. Super Fucked is different, with big reverberated guitar washes, metronomic drums and pulsing bass. It doesn’t really go anywhere though, despite some tantalising strings towards its conclusion. Side C and D of the double 12-inch have etched artwork by Audarson, but we only got the CD. The EP isn’t terrible, but it only has about three songs on it between two composers, and at this stage in Newcombe’s career its a little disappointing. This one is for fans only.

JAKEB SMITH

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(Independent)

Engaging fuzz-rock from Sydney-siders

Baba O’Riley is a four-piece from Sydney that pool their rock and electro influences to create their own brand of fuzzy pop-rock. This self-titled EP showcases the results of this mix across six varying tracks that range from the stomping opener Woman (Pt 2) to soft-rockers like Young, Restless & Dead. This diversity is further achieved through the use of dual vocalists Amy Pes and Chris Vasyli. Pes’ voice tends to be the stronger of the two, reminding one of early Superjesus, but Vasyli handle his duties sufficiently. All of the tracks are catchy and engaging, utilising an assortment of interesting tones and effects that prick up the listener’s ears. The six tracks featured are a good demonstration of this band’s abilities to create appealing slices of rock. It’s not much of stretch to see these songs getting some heads nodding when played live.

TREVOR WINTERS

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(Vitamin)

Another appealing advocate of Americana Australia-style

It took Melbourne singer-songwriter four years to finally get around to his debut album, but when he did, it came quickly. Produced by notables Tim Hall and Jeff Lang (adding plenty of his distinctive guitar to the mix) and featuring guests like Liz Stringer and Laura Jean, it took only five days to assemble these 13 tracks. Not that it sounds at all rushed, especially when you hear the patient roots balladry of tracks like The Day I Leave This Town and I Could Die Looking At You. That latter song, incidentally, confirms Lane’s connection with this country, drawing on the legacy of Banjo Patterson. We also get an Australian’s perspective on the darker side of a visit to Vietnam in War Rages On, where Lane’s simple but effective guitar picking gets a lift from Salvation Army-like horns. Yet, despite the sense of place in the narratives of these songs, Lane’s inspirations come from further afield – specifically, American folk, country and blues, clearly evident in rollicking tracks like Dig Straight Through and the Dylanesque romp of John W Thistle. Served well by a voice that sits between wistful and weary, between emotive and earnest, Jordie Lane is about to wake people up with this set.

BILL HOLDSWORTH

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(Domino)

Intercontinental collaboration results in optimistic jazz outing

It was a few years back that Scottish jazz maestro Bill Wells got together with Japanese ensemble Maher Hash Shalal Baz and made a record called Osaka Bridge. They must have had a fun time together because they’ve reunited for another instrumental pseudo-jazz record. Maher Hash Shalal Baz is led by composer Tori Kudo, who calls himself the “King Of Errors”, and this record does have a certain degree of loose, playful spontaneity to it in which a mistake, either in playing or composition, is of no consequence. At no stage does it feel serious or purposeful. In fact, there’s something about this album’s chirpy pleasantness that reminds me a lot of a casual anime soundtrack. Opener Rye & Guy is surprisingly morose considering how upbeat the rest of the record is. The lazy, out of tune swirls in Poxy and the endearing vocals of On The Beach Boys Bus are both strong moments. Family Sighs is an interesting piece too, but ultimately Gok feels like a release these musicians made for themselves; it’s hard for the listener to pull much out of it when it’s so airy and casual.

MICHAEL PINCOTT

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(Walking Horse/MGM)

Another expat from WA making waves O/S

Emily Barker, originally from WA, is these days based in Britain and becoming much better known there than here, appearing at venues as diverse as Glastonbury and the Cambridge Folk Festival, and getting one song, Nostalgia, adopted as the theme for a TV show. That song (about being 12,000 miles away from a loved one in Melbourne) opens this follow-up to Photos Fires Fables, the whole thing being put together over a long weekend with her all-female band (named after a Gillian Welch song). If that suggests everything was rushed, it certainly doesn’t show. They bring an unusual blend of instruments to the mix – violin, cello, accordion, flute, saw and a wooden egg (whatever that is) plus Barker’s acoustic guitar and harmonica and guest contributions of washboard, drums and double bass – and it’s led to some dubbing this chamber folk. For me though, I see a likeness to fellow Sandgropers The Waifs, and that’s despite some more obvious English folk influences in tracks like Bright Phoebus and If It’s All Night. But, however you want to classify it, Barker’s touching voice and her band’s intelligent backing are served well by this effort.

BILL HOLDSWORTH

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