Playing now in cafes across the country.
Following the triumphant Stronger, Kelly Clarkson offers some of her finest work to date.
Filled with towering hooks and a host of stunning guest artists Piece by Piece finds the American Idol Champion at her most intimate.
1. Sunny Daze
2. BluePrint
3. Com Coraçao
4. In Love With Love
5. Batucada Bonde
6. Fluorescent
8. 8 Measures
9. Amandinha
10. Vanilla Vs Barcelona
11. Tango Noir
12. Mama África
13. Hang on.
01 Barbra Streisand with Michael Buble. It Had To Be You
Khan / Jones (Sony/ATV) From the album ‘Partners’ (Sony)
Barbra Streisand’s PARTNERS album, features 12 inimitable new Streisand duets with the world’s greatest male vocalists. The inspired musical pairings include Andrea Bocelli, Michael Buble?, Kenneth ‘Babyface’ Edmonds, Jason Gould, Josh Groban, Billy Joel, John Legend, John Mayer, Lionel Richie, Blake Shelton and Stevie Wonder. Among the songs included are ‘New York State Of Mind’, with Billy Joel ‘Come Rain Or Come Shine’, with John Mayer, ‘Love Me Tender’, with Elvis Presley, ‘The Way We Were’, with Lionel Richie, ‘People’, with Stevie Wonder, and featured on this volume of SoundsLikeCafe ‘It Had To Be You’, with Michael Buble?,
02 Fiona Bevan. Pirates & Diamonds
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.
03 FourPlay. This Machine
Goodridge/Hollo/Hollo/Gregory (Control) From the album ‘This Machine’ (Ind)
FourPlay String Quartet return from wowing audiences at New York’s Carnegie Hall and London’s Barbican Centre with their new album, This Machine. Australia’s favourite electric string quartet, FourPlay began life playing mostly covers. This Machine is their first album of 100% original material, and arguably their finest, most intriguing long-player to date. The four members (Peter and Tim Hollo, Lara Goodridge and Shenzo Gregorio) have played at some of the world’s most famous venues and festivals, and spent countless hours writing and jamming together. FourPlay’s sound and musicality has matured and evolved, resulting in a truly original album, which will cement their growing national and international reputation as an eclectic and diverse musical tour de force.
04 The Griswolds. 16 Years
From the album ‘Be Impressive’ (Chugg Music)
THE GRISWOLDS’ first bio simply read: ‘The chameleons of pop’. That description holds true for the Sydney indie pop group, formed almost two years ago by singer/guitarist Christopher Whitehall and lead guitarist Daniel Duque-Perez, as they look to become a globally known act. Recorded under the guidance of legendary American producer Tony Hoffer (The Kooks, Beck, M83, Ladyhawke), BE IMPRESSIVE is the band’s debut full-length album.
05 The Black Sorrows. Devil Came Knocking on Sunday
Camilleri/Smith (Mushroom/ Jesharo) From the album Certified Blue (Head Records)
‘These are some my favourite blues based songs I’ve recorded. I’ve aways loved this form of the blues, but somehow manage to work around it. Listening to the blues all through my musical career it’s deceivingly simple and uncomplicated. But like all things simple the blues don’t come to you in a package Elmore James, John Lee, Muddy Waters and all the greats lived it – ate it with their breakfast and dinner. I tell tale of woe and sorrow always going back to find something I might have missed.’ Joe Camilleri
06 Carl Wockner. Crayon Days
Wockner/Stokes (Control) From the EP ‘Crayon Days’ (J Music)
Instantly captivating, Carl Wockner’s beautifully crafted debut album Crayon Days, is like a breath of fresh air. It reminds of you of how music is meant to be played. It only takes one listen to Crayon Days for anyone to attest to Carl’s stellar songwriting abilities, but it’s his live performance skills that are quickly becoming highly acclaimed. It’s rare these days for an artist to sound as good live as he or she does in studio, but Crayon Days more than delivers on both fronts. Crayon Days available now on iTunes
07 Fleur Wiber. For I Once Was A Child
Wiber (Control) From the forthcoming EP (Ind)
Fleur Wiber is an up and coming singer-songwriter who released her successful debut EP ‘Orderves’ at the beginning of 2013. Fleur’s individual style of music has a dark dreampop, folk and country noir feel. She has played at numerous venues in Sydney as well as at the Gulgong Folk Festival and This Is Not Art Festival in Newcastle. In 2013, Fleur embarked on an international tour, performing at Singer Songwriter Cape May (New Jersey), the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as well as gigs in Brighton, London and Munich.
08 Hooray For Earth. Keys
Heroux (Control) From the album ‘Racy’ (Dovecote)
An audacious debut album packed with the type of songs that make you want to sing along and dance. In 2012, Hooray for Earth made their maiden voyage to the UK and saw their single “No Love” reach the A list on BBC Radio 1. With Chris Coady (Grizzly Bear, Beach House, Future Islands) in the coproducer’s seat, the sessions for Racy took place at Dreamland in Kingston, NY and at DNA Downtown in NYC in 2013. Racy is very much a rock album. Featuring nine finely etched songs rendered to life by Coady’s crystalline production, Racy represents a bold and beautiful step into the light for Hooray for Earth.
09 Daxton. Highway One
Monaghan (Control) From the forthcoming EP (Foghorn)
Daxton has appeared at major festivals including the Sydney Blues and Roots Festival and Tamworth Country Music Festival where he supported artists such as Kasey Chambers and Beccy Cole. Following the release of his debut album, the track ‘Moody Liz’ was featured on a popular TV series Doll House. He spent time in Nashville, playing shows at the Douglas Corner Cafe and the Blue Bird Cafe?. Making the most of the songs written in Nashville and LA, Daxton recorded the album ‘Thin Tall Lily’. A heavy touring schedule and support from Blues oriented radio has seen Daxton develop a strong following. The new release was inspired by Daxton’s love of the TV series Sons of Anarchy and delivers the intense Blues/Rock style that has developed through his live shows.
10 Sunset Blush. Purple On The Inside
White (Control) From the EP ‘The Purple Scandal’ (Ind_
Sunset Blush is all about blowing the roof off the dump and great music.He isn’t a Hipster-band covered in beards.Or a poppy young chick-singer.Check the music and find out!Originally from Queensland: Sunset blush has been writing,recording,performing: guitar,keys & vocals in bars & venues since late 90s.then moving to Melb in 2005 & has been recording & performing to the current date. 2011 release “Purpledomination” has staying power saleswise .Played good strong shows at Adelaide Fringe”14 and played in band for a Melbourne Fringe”14. Currently promoting single “Sweet Barbwire” getting bit of radioplay.
11 Daniel James. The Orange Tree
James (Control) From the forthcoming EP (Ind)
When Daniel James was growing up he formed his first band with his brother and some friends. From there it was a small step for Daniel to start writing his own songs. Drawing inspiration from some of his favourite artists: Bonnie Raitt, The Eagles, Steely Dan and Toto Daniel has released his debut EP ‘Secular’. Easily recognisable, his heartfelt acoustic tracks characterise Daniel and convey his story from his troubled beginnings to getting his life back on track through his constant focus on writing music and searching for an inner meaning.
12 Slipsta. Highway
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
The Second in the new Seasonal Format, Stay tuned for Spring, coming very soon
1- Fiona Bevan – Rebel Without a Cause – Indie Pop
2- Diana May Clark – Batacuda Bonde – indie Pop
3- Brian Setzer – Lets Shale – Rockabilly
4- Roy Mackonkey – Great Divide – Rock
5- Slipsta – Temptation – Rock
6- Bob Pigott – Slap-Blues
7- Fiona Joy Hawkins – The Journey – Instrumental
8-Tim Walker – Newcastle Ships – Folk
9- Super 7 – Superseven a Go Go – Soundtrack
10- Halfway Homebuoy – No Word – Rock
11- ZAC – Revelation – Dance
For more than two decades, Counting Crows have enchanted listeners worldwide with their intensely soulful and intricate take on timeless rock & roll. Now, on Somewhere Under Wonderland —their seventh studio album, the Bay Area-bred alt-rock band push into new terrain with a revamped songwriting approach that’s adventurous and visionary but still rooted in raw emotion.
Propelled by the same earthy passion that’s instilled their songs since 1993’s multiplatinum August and Everything After, Counting Crows (vocalist Adam Duritz; guitarists David Bryson, David Immergluck, and Dan Vickrey; bassist Millard Powers; keyboardist Charlie Gillingham; and drummer Jim Bogios) build each of Somewhere Under Wonderland’s sprawling songs around rich sonic tapestries and a storytelling-esque lyricism that yields some of their most grandiose yet intimate songs so far.
Official Site – http://countingcrows.com/
Official buy – https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/somewhere-under-wonderland/id893448765.
“It’s a word that looks and sounds beautiful,” says Luke Pritchard. “I love the roundness of it, the simplicity of it.” The word the Kooks singer is extolling is “Listen” – which also happens to be the title of the band’s new album. Luke’s reasons for choosing that title become clear the moment you dive into the new record – as they do when he starts to describe its genesis, and the personal and emotional transformation he experienced while making it. “To me,” Luke continues, “this album is about pure expression. Even the way we made the album felt fresh. Rather than us just being a band in a room, playing our guitars with the vocal over the top, which is what we’d always done before, we were really listening to what was going on around us, picking up ideas. The whole thing was much more natural.”
Official Site – http://thekooks.com/
Official buy – https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/listen/id860944640.
DEBUT ALBUM RELEASE ‘BE IMPRESSIVE’ LEADING SINGLE ‘BEWARE THE DOG’
Melbourne 25-Sep The Corner Ballarat 26-Sep Karova Lounge Canberra 27-Sep Zierholz @ UC Live Wollongong 4-Oct Yours and Owls Newcastle 9-Oct Small Ballroom Sydney 11-Oct The Metro Adelaide 17-Oct Jive Perth 18-Oct Amplifier Bar Brisbane 23-Oct The Brightside Maroochydore24-Oct Sol Bar
Kelis (yes, of ‘Milkshake’ fame) describes her sixth album as “a kind of unspoken lovefest,” produced by Dave Sitek of TV On The Radio. It mints a sound that’s rootsy without ever being self-consciously retro, that pitches live horns and gospel-y organ against electronics, that for all its classic soul and funk influences, couldn’t have been made any time but now. The Cordon Bleu trained chef has a deep passion for food and cooking — as you may have gathered from the title,and indeed the tracks Jerk Ribs, Friday Fish Fry, Biscuits N’ Gravy and Cobbler.
Half Moon Run are set to tour across Australia in the wake of their latest album entitled Dark Eyes. Here’s where you can catch them:
FRIDAY 03 JANUARY 2014
Half Moon Run live
The Old Museum
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
SATURDAY 04 JANUARY 2014
Half Moon Run live
The Northern
Byron Bay, NSW, Australia
THURSDAY 09 JANUARY 2014
Half Moon Run live
The Small Ballroom
Newcastle, NSW, Australia
FRIDAY 10 JANUARY 2014
Half Moon Run live
Heritage Hotel
Bulli, NSW, Australia
SATURDAY 11 JANUARY 2014
Half Moon Run live
The Standard
Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia
TUESDAY 14 JANUARY 2014
Half Moon Run live
Brass Monkey
Cronulla, NSW, Australia
THURSDAY 16 JANUARY 2014
Half Moon Run live
Fly By Night Musicians Club
Fremantle, WA, Australia
FRIDAY 17 JANUARY 2014
Half Moon Run live
The Gov
Hindmarsh, SA, Australia
SUNDAY 19 JANUARY 2014
Half Moon Run live
Corner Hotel
Richmond, VIC, Australia.
If you are reading this you are either a consumer saying “honestly how hard could it be?” or a cafe owner reading the hypothetical consumer comment and saying “If you think it is so easy why don’t you give it a shot???” Possibly with more expletives. We know it can be hard to run a cafe and its exceptionally hard to please everyone. So lets try and keep it simple. We asked customer’s some of the things that cafes need to do right. Covering these bases will make sure you have a solid foundation.
The coffee that makes you go ‘Hell Yeah, i want another one of those’ is the difference between a customer that goes there once, and a customer that returns. Every minute you spend on making your product better is a minute well spent. Be it practicing your latte art or researching better grinding techniques. Continuous improvement is key.
6 different types of bread, 25 different ingredients to chose from, toasted, grilled, microwaved, oven baked, toasted in a volcano… Having a lot of choices is a good thing right?
Wrong.
New consumers often get overwhelmed when there are too many choices. Even to the point of even being self conscious that they will get the order wrong and look like idiots in front of everyone when ordering. This can make customers pick the fast food restaurant down the road over your double sifted rye and crushed quinoa seed flame grilled quail burger with truffles. Just keep it simple – Maximum of 10 orders, list the ingredients (they will tell you on order if they don’t want something). This will save you on stock costs too.
theres a very aussie thing about walking into your ‘local’ and the barista knows just how you like your brew, thats what sets the huge cafe scene in Australia apart from the chains in the USA for example. If possible, learn the regulars names (there are plenty of tips online for how to learn names via association etc) This will lock them in for good.
The Vibe is key. Anyone can lease a shop font, put some chairs and tables in it and call it a cafe. The exceptional cafe’s go about 200 extra miles through creating the vibe of the place through ambience. Good music, uncluttered inviting space, relaxing vibes with the decor, books/local paper to read if you are going for that. Alternatively you can go completely themed, really give the place a ‘personality’ which can help word of mouth “yeah i went to that cafe that has all those movie props” for example
-a spot where many folks are going to need a coffee right near a busy bus stop or train station for example
-a beautiful spot overlooking a park, gardens, beach or water is another good option
-a cbd spot where everyone stops on the way to work or an area with a certain flavour / style or just off it away from the average places so its a little secret spot in a laneway creating exclusivity. People love the feeling of discovering a new Awesome place thats a little bit special and telling their friends. The location is key to the success of a cafe. Some planning as to the area of your business can go a long way.
There you have it. Try to nail these fundamentals down and you are well on your way to having a successful cafe..
