Pacific Ocean Blue, Dennis Wilson
Sometimes, just being a cool guy is enough. For much of Dennis Wilson's career as the Beach Boys' charismatic drummer, this was certainly true. The only member who actually surfed, his shaggy beard and beach rat lifestyle informed much of the group's look and feel. Musically though, Dennis was overshadowed by his brothers and cousins, contributing just a few songs to the Beach Boys canon.
Playtime for John Mountain, The Rectifiers
Playtime For John Mountain is an album caught somewhere in time; between Zombies 'Odessey and Oracle' [sic] pop, '60s film soundtracks, four-part baroque harmonies, and the pastoral soundscapes of contemporaries like Mountains in the Sky, Caribou, or even Wilco.
The third full-length album from this Melbourne four-piece (and their first in five years), is dreamy, lush, and atmospheric - an accomplished equal to Sensory Projects' terrific team of mood masters, The Sand Pebbles, Canon Blue, Mono and Hood.
Ceduna, the Sand Pebbles
Like a scene out of Oliver Stone's sixties psyche-crapfest The Doors, last summer Melbourne's Sand Pebbles trekked out into the desert with a bag full of 'shrooms and kicked out some jams motherfucker! And they ended up there during Melbourne's hottest heat-wave in years. Um, oops. Hydrate dudes.
Ceduna is their recorded result, an album of trippy, pummeling SoCal classic rock, all swooning four-part harmonies and noodling guitars.
The Concretes, Hey Trouble
For a country of over 9 million people, Sweden certainly exports a lot of culture. Cheap Monday... Ingmar Bergman... IKEA... ABBA...
Another astounding export from the land of the blonde ski bunny are The Concretes. They make '60s radio pop akin to contemporaries Camera Obscura or The Clientele, mixing in a bit of Motown melodies and girl group harmonies to kick up the ante.
Widows Walk
With earmarks of Cabbalistic ritual, smacky trips, mind-rattling confusion, Spider Vomit are a passport to the northernmost hills of Melbourne's band underground; a place where the sun hangs low, blood flows in rivers and the air is a heady mix of free-rock spirit and heavy drugs. Recent live performances of quasi-religious power have hinted at the group's diabolical pleasures, but this debut EP's heavy dose of psych-riffing, swampy rhythms and vocal invocations of evil fun is better than audiences could possibly expect.
Pikelet
Pikelet's eponymous debut is an uncanny, down-the-rabbit-hole trip that remakes instrumental sounds with unabashed wonder. Terrifically paced, its intricate and slippery arrangements unfold with the beauty of a time-lapse photo; growing in lively directions and collecting and discarding layers at cloud speed.
Remix #02
Hot on the heels of last year's M.A.N.D.Y. and Kaos Roxy Music re-workings comes remix installment number 2. This time at the helm, New York hot dog's Rub ‘n' Tug stroke Mr. Ferry's avalon classic ‘The Main thing' and The Glimmers offer an equally arousing flip. Keep an ear to the ground for future reworks, forthcoming artists set to remix Roxy Music favourites include Peaches, Tiga, Dfa, Headman and more.
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