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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Connect with Big Merino:
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.”
“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
Connect with Tailor Birds
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
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..... Thanks for listening........
Diana Anaid – Leaving Town single and tour
Diana Anaid – New Single – Leaving Town
Diana’s new single , number 3 from the My Queen album, is out now and an East Coast Tour will follow taking in a few festivals such as Airlie Beach along the way. From this time last year when Diana opened for Adam and The Ants across Australia and New Zealand on the release of My Queen – (her first album in 7 years) things have gone from strength to strength.
I am super proud to announce the release of my new single Leaving Town.The single features three live and acoustic tracks beautifully recorded by Paul McQueen(SWAA). The heartfelt music video (out in October) by Northern Rivers artist Kerry Negus further highlights the emotive and courageous lyrical content of the album, focusing this time on climate change, the drought, corporate greed and personal inner peace. I am so humbled by the amazing creatives who have thrown their weight behind the new My Queen release, helping to make it one of my defining albums, emboldening and bolstering my personal and creative growth and inner strength”
The Leaving Town Single features 3 intimate Acoustic Bonus Tracks“Better Girl”, “Into Your Heart”, “Leaving The Country” recorded earlier this year live in the studio for an Aussie Music WeeklyRadio Special.
The Single is also available on CD as part of the current My Queen Full Length CD LP available at all good music stores
Co-written with longtime guitarist Nathan Correy,produced and mixed by Aria Award Winning Steve James and mastered at Metropolis London, the album has earned high praise such as
“Anaid’s luscious and rich vocals are tones for the soul.. The excellent production and mastering makes this record stand out from the crowd.”
Reviewed by FVReviews August 2018
“A gorgeous mixture of pop, indie rock, blues and folk…A timeless classic. My Queen possesses an intense array of color to it, proving Diana to be a master storyteller”.My Queen review by Beach Sloth 2018
The single is on the current soundslikecafe digital playlist so you should catch it in a cafe.
If you just can’t wait the direct link is here
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
Connect with
GARETH KOCH + PETER BONNER
Website
https://www.garethkochmusic.com/
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Gareth-Koch-Music-500437070367413/?ref=br_rs
Checkout the Record
Thanks for listening!!
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
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.”
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
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”.
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-
Check out more info and live dates
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
Annoyed by Restaurant Playlists, a Master Musician Made His Own
From NY Times –
by Ben Ratliff
Last Autumn a friend told me a story about Ryuichi Sakamoto, the
renowned musician and composer who now lives in West Village, New
York. Mr. Sakamoto, it seems, so likes a particular Japanese
restaurant in Murray Hill, and visits it so often, he finally had to be
straight with the chef: He could not bear the music it played for its
patrons. The issue was not so much that the music was loud, but that
it was thoughtless. Mr. Sakamoto suggested he could take over the
job of choosing it, without pay, if only so he could feel more
comfortable eating there. The chef agreed, and so Mr. Sakamoto
started making playlists for the restaurant, none of which include any
of his own music. Few people knew about this, because Mr. Sakamoto
has no particular desire to publicise it. It took me a few weeks to
appreciate how radical the story was, if indeed it was true. I consider
thoughtless music in restaurants a problem that has gotten worse over
the years, even since the advent of the music-streaming services,
which – you’d think – should have made it better. If I’m going to spend
decent money on a meal, I don’t want the reservation-taker, the dishwasher or someone from the back office to be cooking it; I want someone who is very good at cooking food to do it. The same should apply to the music, which after all will be playing before, during and after the eating. I would prefer that music not seem an afterthought, or the result of algorithmic computation. I want it chosen by a person who knows music up and down and sideways: its context, its dynamism and its historical and aural clichés.