Live review: Vampillia live @ The Evelyn Hotel - 11 March 2016

"What on earth did I just witness? That didn't really happen, did it? Such a thing couldn't possibly exist in this world can it?!"
This is what I was was asking myself after walking out of the Evelyn Hotel the other day at the end of the show put on by the 10 piece band Vampillia who were visiting our shores from the land of the rising sun. No matter what words I use I doubt there's any way to accurately describe what these guys are all about, I will however do my best.
Describing themselves as a "Brutal Orchestra" this only touches on one facet of what this band does. The music they play has elements of brutal Thrash Metal (never something I've gone out of my way to listen to), Classical, Funk, Opera and many other things besides (including a comedy act to kick off proceedings). I'm not sure how it's possible to effortlessly shift from one of these genres to the other and have it not sound out of place but also perfectly natural yet somehow Vampillia are able to do it.


They only way I can think to describe the unique experience that is listening to music by Vampillia is something like this: Image you're taking a nice little boat ride on calm crystal blue ocean waters, enjoying the sun on your face, the cloudless blue skies and the soft bobbing of your little boat on the tiny little waves as said waves lap against the bow. You suddenly hear the boom of thunder not too far off so look up to the sky and see black storm clouds rolling in at a rapid pace. Frantically you try to turn your boat around to try head back to shore knowing full well that you'll never make it in time but damned if your not gonna try! the waves slowly get bigger and bigger and before long the storm is upon you tossing you around like a rag doll. You hang on for dear life hoping the storm will pass over soon (is that a patch of blue sky you spot just behind the black clouds?) thankfully the storm does quickly pass and your boat is left bobbing on the water again (albeit at a much funkier pace) and your heart rate has gone up by something like 100 BPM. "Well that wasn't so bad after all" you think to yourself, so you check the what the weather is supposed to be like for the rest the day and see the forecast is for clear skies and only a slight breeze "Might as well head back out" you think to yourself "Maybe I'll even drop a line into the water and see if I can catch my dinner". So back out into the water you head to do exactly that. You find what looks like the perfect spot amidst a school of fish, drop anchor, cast your line and all is well with the world again. "Huh...? That wasn't thunder I just heard was it...?" You look up to the sky... "Ah shit!"
When the ordeal is finally all over and you have both feet back on solid ground you start to head back home thinking "I never want to go through anything like that ever again" straight after which you say to yourself "I wonder what the weather is going to be like tomorrow?"
If this description sheds no light for you well then you can simply click here to listen back to Vampillia's live performance on PBS FM here in Melbourne.
Thanks to Chris Pearson host of Pojama People for putting me onto this band. And while I doubt you will hear Vampillia played on the Connections show anytime soon I still highly recommend catching them next time they are in the magical land of OZ just to see what they are all about. Credit also to all the opening acts
Hotel Wrecking City Traders, Ruins Alone and co-headliners Laura  who also put on a great show.

Top 5 new musical discoveries of 2015

This will be my last end of year list I promise! This one is of artists that either didn't release new music in 2015 so do not appear in my Top 10 full length releases of 2015 list or maybe they did but it wasn't a "full length" release. They may be quite new or have been around for a while but somehow escaped my notice until this year.

 

I caught John McNamara playing earlier this year when I got to ride The Blues Train (review available here) and all I can say is hot damn this dude is awesome! If you are going to get up on a stage with just an acoustic guitar and nothing else you better be damn good otherwise you will lose me very quickly. Well I can tell you he was DAMN good and that I've been itching to catch him playing again ever since but haven't had the chance just yet.
His album Alone With The Blues released in mid 2014 is an absolute must have not just for blues fans but for fans of good music in general.

Well hot diggity (again) chanced upon this band playing at The Catfish sometime in 2015 and just had to grab myself a copy of their debut EP Shake It Up. A perfect mix of Blues and Soulful Funkiness and with a voice that will give you whiplash if you have your back turned to the stage when you hear it.

Big thanks to everyone's favourite PBS Scotsman Chris Pearson host of Pojama People for putting me onto these guys. Child provide us more heavy stoner rock riffage the way it's meant to be done. From start to finish this album is all killer no filler and the artwork from Nick Keller (especially when seen on a Vinyl LP size) is nothing short of stunning!
Now that they have finally released the Vinyl version of the album after selling out of CD's it's time to bring us some new music







Banda Magda is a band I found out about very recently when planning the Snarky Puppy episode of the Connections show. Magda Giannikou sang on the Family Dinner album from 2013 which featured a different Vocalist on each song. The Banda Magda project oozes sparkly tongue in cheek fun. Sung primarily in French the music ranges from Latin, to Swing Jazz, to Chanson and some things in between. This music sounds like it could have been lifted from the soundtrack to any of the "Golden Era of Hollywood" movies which is just one more reason to love it.
Very much looking forward to album no. 3 due out in 109 days (and counting) time according to the pledge music campaign.

So I had turned up to Huey Long's Bar on Smith St. Collingwood to catch Adam Rudegeair doing his New Orleans piano thing only to find it was instead someone by the name of Jules Boult who was there instead which was slightly disappointing as Adam is really good. After the initial disappointment  I quickly realised that Jules was just as good, I left the venue slightly poorer (money wise anyway) after purchasing the 3 CD's Jules had to offer but much richer in the soul and with a big grin on my face. Listen to his music here

Album Review: Glasfrosch - Aubades & Nocturnes

I love when I discover new music that challenges my listening habits. I love it even more when that music refuses to fit nicely into any one style of music but straddles multiple genres simultaneously.
The two albums in question here are really one album divided up into two parts. The music is cinematic in scope and will transport you through space and time if you just close your eyes and let it. Glasfrosch is essentially the brainchild of Justin Ashworth however full credit needs to be given to everyone playing on these albums without who I'm not sure this album would have been able to come to life. There's elements of Jazz, Rock, Electronic (eek!), Ambient even Classical at times (to these ears anyway). If you are after an album of three minute pop tunes then look somewhere else, but if you want to hear music that is so much more than this then look no further than these two sister albums produced by this group of stellar musicians.
There are so many various moving parts to this music that I would recommend you make listening to it an event. Set aside time in your day, remove all distractions and really listen to what is on offer here. While essentially trying to create a mood this is no mere background music to be played in a local cafe while you sit sipping your coffee on a Sunday morning. This music commands and deserves your undivided attention. The production on here is also worth mentioning, with so many parts it would be easy for the various elements to become muddled and indiscernible but everything you need to hear is clearly audible and sits perfectly next to/underneath/on top of (and every other dimension also) one another. This music is a living breathing entity.
I think perhaps the best way to describe how one should listen to these two albums is with the quote by Timothy Leary who said "turn on, tune in, drop out"

P.S. If you like what this guys hear I would recommend checking out the album by Ghost Note Project which is available for free download here