01 Fiona Bevan. Rebel Without A Cause
Bevan (Proper music) From the album ‘Talk To Strangers’ (Navigator)
‘Rebel Without A Cause’ is the stunning new single from UK Artist Fiona Bevan. With its title referencing the classic James Dean film about alienated youth, ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ is a love song about escape, or as Bevan puts it, “It’s a let’s go somewhere else sort of love song”. The track is lifted from her debut album ‘Talk To Strangers’. The album is full of beautifully constructed, literate, alt-pop nuggets, each sung in Fiona’s distinctive, sweet voice. Bevan (Proper music) From the album ‘Talk To Strangers’ (Navigator)
02 Diana May Clark. Batucada Bonde
Clark (Control) From the forthcoming album (Ind)
Melbourne singer-songwriter Diana May Clark established her interpretive credentials by way of two award winning recordings with guitarist Doug de Vries for their superb take on the Brazilian Songbook. Her original band embraces acoustic & electric sounds while traversing eras, cultures and genres from ska to psychedelic styles. With her love of Brazilian music fused into this mix to create a refreshing mix of sophisticated pop brimming with cool guitar riffs, ripe vocals and kicking grooves. Clark’s ‘Batucada Bonde’ is about a tram ride on honeymoon in Rio, from her original album due out in the Australian Spring/Summer.
03 Brian Setzer. Let’s Shake
Setzer (Setzer Songs) From the album ‘Rockabilly Riot: All Original’ (Planet/MGM)
Three time Grammy-award-winner, Brian Setzer is a “Musician’s Musician” credited with continually taking chances with innovative and daring musical styles, while single-handedly resurrecting two forgotten genres (rockabilly in the ‘80’s and swing in the ’90’s). Along the way he has scored chart-topping hits throughout his career as founder/leader of the Stray Cats and his 18-piece Brian Setzer Orchestra. The new album is a straight-ahead rockabilly album featuring Setzer’s trademark twang and he’s backed by three musicians that he says “are the best in their craft”: Mark Winchester (bass), Kevin McKendree (piano) and Noah Levy (drums)
04 Roy Mackonkey. Great Divide
Coulehan/Barba /McLeod /Bowman (Control) From the album ‘Abandonment Issues’ (Ind)
Roy Mackonkey released their debut album Abandonment Issues early 2013 and have been enjoying some handsome praise for their work. The album ‘Abandonment Issues’ features the single Great Divide which won best Rock/Indie award for the Australian Songwriters Association Awards and their previous single Sleep Tonight won best Rock song in the Inaugural Music NT Song Writers Of The Year Awards. Tour dates in support of the album will start in November 2014.
05 Slipsta. Temptation
Slip (Control) From the EP ‘Slipsta’ (Ind)
Ben Slip aka ‘The Slipsta’, lit his musical fire in the red centre of Australia and continues to play pubs and bars travelling across the country to perform. Ben composes his songs with happening melodies, grunge n beats living his dream carving a way across the high and low we all deal with in life. His Lyrics cover life, love and world issues including raising a family, singing honest to connect with people, arranging a melody a beat searching for the perfect hook to write great songs.
06 Bob Pigott. Slap
Pigott (Fogsongs) From the album ‘Working The Day Shift’ (Ind)
Growing up in the western suburbs of Sydney and working for wages on the local council has turned out to be the perfect training ground for singer songwriter Bob Pigott. Described by music critics as an “urban philosopher” his home spun lyrics and word picture songs bridged the divide between folk, blues, pop and country. As we all grind our way into another budget year, working harder and longer for less, Pigott gives us ‘Working the Day Shift’, with tunes to lift your spirits and sooth the worries of the day.
07 Fiona Joy Hawkins. The Journey
Hawkins (Larrikin) From the album ‘600 Years In A Moment’ (Little Hartley)
Naked Love from 600 Years in a Moment by Fiona Joy Hawkins was recorded using a contemporary hand made Australian piano by Stuart & Sons with ancient instruments from around the world to give a raw, earthy and sensual sound. With over 50 awards around the world, Fiona has worked with T-Bone Wolk (Hall & Oates), Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, Dire Straits), Jeff Haynes (Pat Metheny), Eugene Friesen (Paul Winter Consort), and Rebecca Daniel (ACO). The Journey is Fiona’s favourite track from the new album. It is the story of her personal journey inspired by both music career and life.
08 Tim Walker. Newcastle Ships
Walker (Control) From the forthcoming album (Ind)
Tim has accumulated his songs while playing on the very busy singer-songwriter circuit in Sydney. He was a folkie in school, in a semi-serious country rock band as a tertiary student, then quit that for the simpler life of a soloist. Newcastle Ships is about the long breakwater next to Stockton Beach In Newcastle, known as Shipwreck Walk. As well as featuring plaques recalling all the famous ships that have come to grief there, the breakwater also doubles as a sort of local lovers’ lane with many initials painted on the rocks.
09 Super 7. Superseven A-Go-Go
Coghill (Fogsongs) From the EP ‘The Adventures of Superseven’ (Foghorn)
‘The Adventures of Superseven’ is a multi-award winning independent US web series with over 3 million views on YouTube. It’s a hilarious 60’s spy show pastiche influenced by classic shows like Get Smart and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The music of The Jimmy C fits the ‘The Adventures Of Superseven’ like a glove, blending twangy surf guitar with smooth funk and spaghetti western themes. Multi-instrumentalist Jamie Coghill (aka The Jimmy C) performs each part and channels his soundtrack composing heroes: John Barry, Bruno Nicolai and Ennio Morricone.
10 Halfway Homebuoy. No Word
J. J. Davison (Fogsongs) From The EP ‘Dust Yourself Off, Side 2’ (Foghorn)
Halfway Homebuoy swapped the ski fields of Europe for the sunshine of Sydney at the end of 2010. They released their debut album ‘Burning in the Sun’ last year. The album gained broad acceptance at community radio across Australia and the UK. They also had four tracks featured on two award winning Extreme Sports videos. They also developed into a sort after live act with their excellent musicianship and 100% delivery. The new EP has been released in 2 parts: Side 1 late last year and now Side 2 featuring ‘No Word’.
11 ZAQ. Revelation
Stocklmeier (Fogsongs) From the EP ‘Follow Your Way’ (Foghorn)
The musician and producer Christian Sto?cklmeier from Germany is ZAQ. As the drummer of the band “Regionalliga” he toured throughout Germany before moving on to create ZAQ. To stimulate his creativity and output, he went to Australia in 2006 where he worked for several months at the Damien Gerard Sound Studio in Sydney. It was there that the first elements of ZAQ started to come together while working with Australian graphic designer Mars El Bougrini, who also created the futuristic ZAQ logo. Back in Germany Christian continued to work on the project. The result his first EP ‘Follow Your Way’. The EP was released on the label “Zaq Records” and is available on the website www.zaqmusic.com or digitally on iTunes, Amazon, etc.
