Big Merino – Black Cockatoos Single/Video

"Big Merino – Black Cockatoos Single/Video"

Big Merino – New Single – Black Cockatoos

Click here or any image below for video

The second single to be lifted from the current Surburban Wildlife album (MGM) is called Black Cockatoos. Released in a 3-track format, the lead song is accompanied by another album track “Sometimes” as well as a brand new, previously unreleased tune “A Day Without You” held over from the album sessions earlier this year.

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Two stunning brand new videos for “Black Cockatoos” and “Sometimes” are in the final edit stage(see pics) and will be made available in the coming weeks leading up to the Black Cockatoos Launch at Django Bar Camelot on December 2, following a warm up show Sunday November 11 at the Botany View Hotel, Newtown.

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Formed a little over two years ago, Big Merino play original songs that blur the lines between rock, country, blues, roots, soul, funk and grunge, while occasionally making forays into lesser known genres such as New Orleans 2nd Line.

Citing their major influences as Glen Hansard, The Frames, Jackson Browne and The Rolling Stones, songwriters Alex Craig and Stuart Davis write socially and politically-charged songs that are sometimes gentle and nostalgic and at other times nothing less than a fierce cry for revolution.

Lead singer/guitarist Stuart Davis cut his teeth singing Gospel with Tony Backhouse in Cafe at the Gates of Salvation, and brings that soulful Gospel feel to everything he does. He is joined by Alex Craig on guitar, Peter Richardson on bass and Colin Sevitt on drums.

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The Suburban Wildlife album was recorded by Russell Pilling over three weeks at Damien Gerard Studios. Russell also remixed “Black Cockatoos” specially for this single release, adding some timpani tracks that weren’t on the album mix.

The album features guest performances from some of the cream of Australia’s musical talent including-
Living legend James Greening on trombone, souzaphone, euphonium, trombone, trumpet, flugelhorn and pocket cornet (the main feature of previously unreleased song ‘A Day Without You”)
Jonathan Zwartz – Double Bass
Johnny G – from Johnny G and the E-Types on piano, organ and accordion
Jess Ciampa – Australia’s most sought after percussionist
Michel Rose – pedal steel (The Catholics) and
finally a string quartet from the Sydney Chamber Orchestra. 

See TheMusic studio sessions article here. 

“Great songs, great songwriting and the best of it full of a real sincerity and commitment.”
Michael Smith – Rhythms
“‘Sometimes’ with its soaring backing vocals is one of the most powerful rock songs I’ve heard in many years. ‘Black Cockatoos’ with the string quartet and a brilliant guitar work by Alex Craig is destined to become an Australian classic.”

BIG MERINO
Black Cockatoos Single
Official Release All Digital Platforms via MGM
November 2 2018

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Tailor Birds NEW ALBUM – Where Will We Go To Break Free From The Crows

"Tailor Birds NEW ALBUM – Where Will We Go To Break Free From The Crows"

Sophie Kinston is Tailor Birds.
Tailor Birds newest album is music that soothes the soul, warms the spirit, and ignites your passion.
Even though the content is 6 songs they are each a 7-10 minute ‘Piece’ forming an album length body of work. Following the success of the previous work ‘Stilts on the Water’ (a single 40 minute piece) this release explores further electro/folk/world territory with more instrumentation such as Piano and Flute added to the already lush soundscape. Recorded in various studios throughout Europe while on tour and mixed and mastered at Damien Gerard Studios Sydney the sonic quality is exceptional.

In Sophie’s own words, “Tailor Birds combines electronic violin, live looping, foley art, percussion, and rich harmonised vocals, to create a sound like no other. A sound that is all about the vibe and positive energy, building an audience that is as diverse as much as it is one, you could say that Sophie is a traveling troubadour. She believes that music should not just be about playing one gig after another with just the music making an impact, but is also o about connecting people to something good again, in a world that is constantly changing. Music needs to inspire and placing Tailor Birds in a space that can do just that, it makes an impact greater than you could ever imagine.”

400Reid Simpson 3

 

“Faint echoes of Kate Bush here, Enya there  but really like neither and often much spookier”
Michael Smith – Rhythms Magazine

Tailor Birds’ key influences are Sigur Ros, the Kronos Quartet, Bear’s Den, Chet Faker and more. 
-=Sophie Kinston

Tailor Birds is currently touring through Australia.

Friday October 26 – Miama Marketta, Miami QLD

Saturday October 27 – Storytellers Festival, Raymond Terrace, NSW

Saturday November 3 – The Sound Society, Rainforest Green, South Bank Parklands, Brisbane QLD

Sunday November 4 – Peregian Beach Markets, QLD

Saturday November 17 – Cooran Acoustic Night,  Cooran QLD

 

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Adam Jones – Little Death Acoustic Anniversary Edition

"Adam Jones – Little Death Acoustic Anniversary Edition"

Following a recent move to Melbourne Adam has just released his Anniversary Edition of his 2017 Debut Album -Little Death. This version of the album is live in the studio acoustic featuring some pedal steel as well – a great new version of his well received first release.

The acoustic backing has given the album a new lease of life as easy listening cafe music, more accessible than the original Rock album.

Already proving popular online, you are sure to hear it in a cafe nearby soon.

Heres some words from Adam….

What inspired you to become an artist and who are your early influences?
Feedback and responses from others has always inspired me.  My early influences include listening to a lot of Beatles, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, The Eagles, Rodruigez, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple.  Plus anyone with a melodic, meaningful, simple acoustic song inspired me as well.

Tell us a little about your music and what a crowd can expect at a live show?

My music is quite dynamic and I write in different styles such as modern blues, rock, folk and some country styles (more Eagles and Neil Young than traditional country).  People always seem to comment on my energy on stage, that I always look like I’m really into it and having fun while performing well.  I have some quieter songs that people seem to really warm to as well.  So lots of fun, energy, variety, some songs to dance to, some to listen to with interesting lyrics.

Check Out The Album

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John Kennedy – Second Best (Greatest Bits Vol. 2)

"John Kennedy – Second Best (Greatest Bits Vol. 2)"

Soundslikecafe is proud to feature the album Second Best by Sydney musician John Kennedy. 

A second “best of” compilation featuring key album tracks from 8 albums. 

Released on Foghorn Records October 2018.  

Distributed by MGM. Available on CD and digital. 

Released in 2001, John Kennedy’s Inner West album brought together the early vinyl singles and album selections from his bands JFK and the Cuban Crisis, Love Gone Wrong and the Honeymooners. That was his first “best of” collection. So, that makes this Kennedy’s Second Best of.  

Since the heady days in the 1980’s, topping the Australian independent music charts, Kennedy has released a number of albums on various labels in Europe and Australia. Whether it was lack of promotion or distribution, or his audience simply moving on that was the cause, those albums went largely unnoticed. Even those who have followed his music probably wouldn’t have known they existed. 

Now, with this Second Best compilation release, the key tracks from those albums are collected to show that the beat did indeed go on. It serves the purpose of giving these songs a new lease of life and hopefully points people back to those lost albums. 

An enthusiastic young music journalist once described John Kennedy as a humble genius. Kennedy is neither a genius nor particularly humble. The Sydney musician is the writer and performer of many fine songs, some of which have found a place in the hearts of music fans of the golden era of Australian independent music. 

Kennedy started his music career in Brisbane in the early ‘80’s with his band JFK and the Cuban Crisis. He moved to Sydney and after establishing itself on the indie music scene the band broke up leaving Kennedy to follow a solo career with his band vehicle, John Kennedy’s Love Gone Wrong. Despite numerous indie hits, commercial crossover proved to be elusive leading to his decision to leave Australia. Kennedy spent the ‘90’s living and playing music in Berlin, Hong Kong and London before returning to Sydney’s Inner West in 2000. He formed a new band, John Kennedy’s 68 Comeback Special and continues to perform and produce independent releases. 

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Check out this great review of Second Best from respected music journalist Bernard Zuel here.

 

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Karissa Hambilton – Forbidden Desires

"Karissa Hambilton – Forbidden Desires"

After a few years break while getting married and starting a new family Karissa is back with a great new single Forbidden Desires, that she says is her favourite to date and all about Passion, Frustration and making a choice.

Soundslikecafe have been watching karissa’s career with interest since her first releases made it onto the early CD versions and now are proud to have her new single on the latest playlist.

Heres some words straight from the heart from the girl herself –

- What inspired the songs, any artists you were referencing at the time? 
"Those 2 songs I wrote on twilight series 1 was new moon and 1 was eclipse. 
The novels inspired me to write music for a possible chance on getting it into 
twilight soundtracks. ‘Paramore’ was my inspiration at the time."
-What are they each about?
Forever is about the novel ‘new moon’- it’s about Bellas love for Edward and her 
heart break of him leaving her, but then saving Edward before it was too late. 
‘Forbidden Desires’ is my favorite out of all my writing- very RAW material 
and I think I got my  message across. But it’s about the novel ‘eclipse’-
it’s about a Love Triangle! Of being in love 
with 2 people at once and being forced to choose. 
It’s about passion, frustration and making a choice!"
-Who are your current fave artists?
"Sia and Kings of Leon."
-What are your musicial plans for the future?
"To finally finish my album. I spent such a period off of recording because 
I was too busy doing gigs every where for years. Also. Getting married, 
running a business I opened 6 yrs ago and having a child who is now 19months."

Well thanks for the chat Karissa, we look forward to hearing more of the 
forthcoming album and following your music journey.

Check out Karissa's music here or listen for it in a cafe near you.....

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Thanks for listening........

Gareth Koch and Peter Bonner – Don’t Tempt Me

"Gareth Koch and Peter Bonner – Don’t Tempt Me"

Don’t Tempt Me 

GARETH KOCH + PETER BONNER

What happens when the musical worlds of an ARIA Award winning classical guitarist and a hard-hitting rock singer collide? The answer in this case lies in an unusually refined and confident EP titled Don’t Tempt Me, Out now on Planet/MGM.

It’s not easy to describe such an accomplished EP as this one. To begin with, the arrangements are all acoustic and highly sophisticated. Little wonder, since these songwriters have roughly 1000 years of music history bubbling away in their consciousness. But alongside this knowledge is a keen awareness of contemporary sensibilities. Sparkling effervescent textures, trumpets, percussion, dobros, classical and 12-string guitars and even a 1966 ‘Beatle Bass’ all combine to create a unique and original soundscape.

This Australian songwriting team of Gareth Koch and Peter Bonner draws inspiration from medieval music to post-modern psychedelia, with every imaginable influence in between. Bonner and Koch have a strong and immediately recognisable musical identity, a new sound and aesthetic that comes with a fluid movement across genres. The result is an array of catchy pop tunes, soulful ballads, blues grooves and rock songs

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GARETH KOCH + PETER BONNER
Website
https://www.garethkochmusic.com/

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https://www.facebook.com/Gareth-Koch-Music-500437070367413/?ref=br_rs

Checkout the Record

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Thanks for listening!!

 

Tailor Birds – WHERE WILL WE GO TO BREAK FREE FROM THE CROWS

"Tailor Birds – WHERE WILL WE GO TO BREAK FREE FROM THE CROWS"

To be released Friday October 5 Soundslikecafe is proud to feature this excellent new album from Tailor Birds

WHERE WILL WE GO TO BREAK FREE FROM THE CROWS

Australian Release October 5
and tour dates to follow

Sophie Kinston is Tailor Birds.
Tailor Birds newest album is music that soothes the soul, warms the spirit, and ignites your passion.
Even though the content is 6 songs they are each a 7-10 minute ‘Piece’ forming an album length body of work. Following the success of the previous work ‘Stilts on the Water’ (a single 40 minute piece) this release explores further electro/folk/world territory with more instrumentation such as Piano and Flute added to the already lush soundscape. Recorded in various studios throughout Europe while on tour and mixed and mastered  at Damien Gerard Studios Sydney the sonic quality is exceptional.

In Sophie’s own words“Tailor Birds combines electronic violin, live looping, foley art, percussion, and rich harmonised vocals, to create a sound like no other. A sound that is all about the vibe and positive energy, building an audience that is as diverse as much as it is one, you could say that Sophie is a traveling troubadour. She believes that music should not just be about playing one gig after another with just the music making an impact, but is also o about connecting people to something good again, in a world that is constantly changing. Music needs to inspire and placing Tailor Birds in a space that can do just that, it makes an impact greater than you could ever imagine.”

Thom de Vos 2

Checkout Sophie’s Toyota Hi Ace Rebuild to a touring home and stage now at 775 000 views

Tailor Birds is currently touring through Australia and Europe 

“Faint echoes of Kate Bush here, Enya there  but really like neither and often much spookier”
Michael Smith – Rhythms Magazine

Tailor Birds’ key influences are Sigur Ros, the Kronos Quartet, Bear’s Den, Chet Faker and more. 
-=Sophie Kinston

Connect with Tailor Birds
Website
http://www.tailorbirdsmusic.com/

Facebook
www.facebook.com/tailorbirdsmusic

Twitter
twitter.com/tailor_birds

Hear The Album

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Mark Lucas – Prisoners of The Heart

"Mark Lucas – Prisoners of The Heart"

To be released Friday October 5 Soundslikecafe is proud to feature this excellent new album from Mark Lucas

Prisoners of the Heart – A retrospective

You never sang soap opera/ or wore your hair in curls/ you still want all the trappings of the post-consumer world/ come on now, admit it dear/ you’re a thoroughly modern girl” – The Ghost of Lost Creek Road

The trajectory of Mark Lucas’s career is akin to tracing a bird in flight. Perpetually restless, banking and diving and always observing – it is these characteristics, among others – that allow his unique lyrical view on the world.

In Sydney, Australia, his home since 1981, Lucas wears an awful lot of hats. Venue manager. Band booker. Activist. Adding yet another cap, he is a prolific singer-songwriter whose productive output is as inspiring as it is diverse.

Since the 1980s, Mark experimented with rock and pop, before returning to his country and folk roots in the 1990s. These are not just stories; they are as much observational as they are impressionistic. True to his English heritage as a songwriter to match Graham Parker or Elvis Costello, he also has cynicism to burn.

With the forthcoming release of Prisoners of the Heart, Mark draws deep from his 22-year career as a solo artist and bandleader, as songwriter and masterful lyricist. His songs, like those of his heroes, Townes Van Zandt, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia and Guy Clark, do not always tend to the personal over the abstract. In fact, sometimes the opposite is just as true.

The 20-track CD Prisoners of the Heartdraws from Lucas’s ten-album output, with the focus on his adroitly authored songs. His inspirations come from the worlds he inhabits, the people whose lives brush up against his.

This retrospective album tells many inspired stories of different lives, contrasting almost impressionistic lyrics with the more direct story song approach, like the cautionary tale of ‘Between The Ditches’ against ‘Shopping Town’, a meditation on commercial enterprise taking on real lives.

Whether working with his long-time backing group, the Dead Setters, or crafting his own guitar-and-voice meditations, he captures something special from the crumbs of the everyday. Like one of his inspirations, Guy Clark, he makes plain the idea that “some days you write the song/ some days the song writes you”.

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Prisoners of the Heart is out 5thOctober through MGM

Track listing

Another Town Along the Road

Rosie

The Ghost of Lost Creek Road

Walk in Beauty

Between the Ditches

Monsters Ball

Canal Road

Dryland Sea

Sisters of Mercy

Shopping Town

Until She’s Mine

Soldier’s Row

Federal Highway Blues

Small Town

Rider

All the Bonnie Birds

Prisoners of the Heart

The Onion Song

Hear the new album- 

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Check out more info and live dates Website1_Fotor_Fotor

Finally Check out A Fine History of Releases below 

Discography:
1996 ‘Bootheels of Desire’ (The Parwills) Larrikin TWNG 001

1999 ‘Jukebox Jury’ Laughing Outlaw Records LORCD 003

2001 ‘The Ghost of Lost Creek Road’ “ LORCD 028

2005 ‘White Man Soul’ TWNG 002

2007 ‘Sideshow Alley’ TWNG 003

2009 ‘Eat at Joe’s’ (Live at Joe Maguire’s Pub) TWNG 004

+ Live at the Cooks River Motor Boat Club dvd

2011 “Putting on the Dog Laughing Outlaw Records LORCD130

2014 “Sin City Blues” ep TWNG 005

2015 “Little Town Blues” Laughing Outlaw Records LORC174CD

2016 “The Continental Drift” TWNG 006

Fiona Joy (Hawkins) – New Single – Grace Chill Remix – Out Now

"Fiona Joy (Hawkins) – New Single – Grace Chill Remix – Out Now"

Fiona Joy (Hawkins) – New Single – Grace Chill Remix – Out Now

Soundslikecafe is proud to feature this International Tune on the new September 2018 playlist

“I originally wrote Grace as a piano instrumental and it ended up on a Grammy winning album in 2014. I wanted to add words and record my own singer/songwriter version as I really connected with the message in the song “To be with Grace, To live with Grace, Always with Grace’.   A slower acoustic recording was followed by a chill mix which featured on the first Say Yes To Love album in support of marriage equality.  This current remix of Grace is punchier Dream-Pop.  
The track features Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel) playing NS Bass, Marc Shulman (Jewel & Suzanne Vega) playing Electric guitar with a little Beat-Box by my son Nick Hawkins. 
The song has genre hopped from World to New Age to Pop and it’s been covered by a number of other artists including Flutist Sherry Finzer and Grammy winners Ricky Kej and Wouter Kellerman.



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