A broken heart - Hear
HEAR is the enema your iTunes needs. Bringing you the most thought-provoking and up-to-date music reviews this side of Lester Bangs, HEAR sifts through the ever growing mountain of press releases and promos to only feature albums, EPs, LPs and mixes that we want to, not that we have to. Also, we try and make things make sense in 200 words or less so that you can just listen to the music.
Joanna Newsom, 'Have One On Me'
Everybody has their One. Mine used to be Zooey Deschanel, before the malicious bitch decided that her One was Ben Gibbard. A single listening of Have One on Me was all it took to put thoughts of Zooey well and truly to bed (unfortunately not mine).
The album, Joanna Newsom's third, sprawls across three CDs and showcases her constantly developing range as a songstress.
Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox
The history of punk and DIY music is super inspiring, and songwriting is fucking tough.
These are just two reasons why Chris Knox is revered not only in his native New Zealand, but worldwide. In 1979 he formed Tall Dwarfs with Alec Bathgate, helping to pioneer a lo-fi, DIY aesthetic that combined punk's simplicity and disdain for musical virtuosity with home-recording experiments, cryptic lyrics, introspection, and the ultimate rebellion in counter-culture circles - admitting to love pop songs and hooks.
Jens Lekman Rooftop Show
I've met Jens Lekman once. He seemed kinda shy and was inattentive due to relentlessly hitting on my hot lesbian friend, but during our brief moment together I asked him, 'Hey Jens, why don't you ever play shows in Melbourne? You live here right? What's the deal with flying to Chicago and Santiago to play shows, but you only ever want to drink with us? Or get behind the decks at someone else's show? Really man, I need to know, I'm in love with you and I want to be serenaded like every 24-year-old boy dreams of.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, 'Higher Than the Stars' EP
Let's just set the record straight. No matter what might have been said about the Pains sounding like the Vivian Girls... it was all lies. They don't. At all. Teaches all of you bloggers out there to not smoke that Mexican brick weed and then listen to records. You never know what's in that shit.
Songs, 'Songs' album launch
Where their EP showcased an off-the-cuff looseness and a near-enough-is-good-enough attitude, Songs' self-titled debut album is a study in (relative) discipline, with thoroughly explored song structures and deftly crafted soundscapes.
These are songs that have been broken down and rebuilt numerous times.
The Twerps
Imagine the sound of a pocket full o' loose change amplified by a contact mic, duplicated 577 times and broadcast with the volume cranked at 11. This ain't no John Cage composition I'm describing but the wild jangle that is contained within the lilting, delicate pop of The Twerps.
Recorded by Mikey 'Eddie Current' Young, The Twerps' self-titled debut exudes a refreshing candour.
Crayon Fields, 'All the Pleasures of the World'
It's easy to get complacent with good local bands. Locals Crayon Fields have over the years proved to be one of the most consistently awesome local bands and have managed to make a dreamy pop album that hasn't (on-repeated listens) presented me with one dud track. Not to be a bore about it but imagine if Crayons were based in NYC? They'd have been on the cover of Nylon, Fader et al at least five or six times already.
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