Album Review: The Ivory Elephant - Time Here is Up

The Ivory Elephant - Time Here Is Up

Well once again those doomsayers talking about rock music's demise will be eating their words after hearing this EP by Melbourne power trio The Ivory Elephant. Foot stomping, thigh slapping, head bobbing, beer swilling heavy riffage abounds on this corker of an EP. While this release has been out for a little while now I only recently found out about this band when they were playing on the same bill with another great local act Wichita (better late than never right?). The blistering guitar work from frontman Trent Sterling (who is also a member of the afrobeat band The Seven Ups) will have you dusting off your air guitar and jumping around the house imagining you are on the Woodstock stage playing in front of a half a million strong audience, while the rhythm section of Arthur Witherby & Donald Sargoog on Bass & Drums respectively provide a rock solid foundation which hits you right in the chest and leaves you gasping for breath like you have just been sucker punched. Further adding to the kaleidoscopic/tie-dyed feel is some tasty uncredited keys/organ playing which sits perfectly and unobtrusively in the background allowing the power trio sound to be the main focus.
While the sound on the 5 tracks of this EP unashamedly hearkens back to the classic rock era of the 60's & 70's and you could quite rightfully pin many "they kinda sound like..." tags to this band there is still something very much their own in the psych/rock/blues songs and sounds they are producing.
If you are a fan of rock music or just a fan of good songs grab yourself a copy of this latest EP and their previous self titled release and be sure to check them out when they are next playing live.

Digging in the dirt + Album Review: She & Him - Classics

Digging in the dirt

Have you ever found yourself flipping through radio stations trying to find something worthy to listen to? Well trying to find content to produce a radio show works much the same way. We (Sasha and I) listen to literally hundreds of releases trying to find something that catches our ear or make us turn our seat. Add to this the fact that, with this particular show, there has to be some kind of connection between all the artists we are playing and you’ll find that it can be pretty darn hard work at times. (Is that Violins I hear?) This being said when we do find something that grabs us by the ears and makes us want to sit up and take notice it makes it all worthwhile.
You may well ask, does it really matter what makes you like a particular song or album so long as it gets you singing along and tapping your foot? And the answer is most probably no. I have even heard it said that trying to dissect a song is a bit like trying to dissect a live frog in that it dies under the scalpel! Even so, in this column i’ll be going through a handful of my favourite new discoveries and try to define what it is about them that I enjoy so much.  



Artist: She & Him

Release: Classics

Style: Vocal Jazz

Ahh the age of the crooners was a fine one was it not? An age where men dressed in well tailored suits and women wore pretty gowns and everyone said "please" and "thank you". Well i'm guessing this is how it was seeing as I was little more than a glint in my fathers eye when these songs were originally released and that's how it looks in those old Hollywood movies starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and the likes.
If you have ever watched any movies from the golden age of Cinema, odds are you have heard these tunes before. If you have heard these songs and enjoyed them but have never gone out of your way to seek them out or find out who sung them then there's certainly worse places to start than with this album.
This collection of covers is unapologetically corny, romantic and it could even be said unadventurous. However this is not in any way a put down, Zooey Deschanel (yes that Zooey Deschanel) & M. Ward quite obviously have an affinity for these tunes and it shows. Essentially this album is a great springboard to the discovery of the great Artists who have previously recorded these songs and if it does lead to one more person discovering Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra & their contemporaries then it has served it purpose.