Interview: Ty Taylor of Vintage Trouble

Ty Taylor of Vintage Trouble took some time to speak about the upcoming shows in Australia and you can listen to the interview here

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.

Album Review: Legs Electric - Legs Electric

Wow... just... wow... When I was in my teens it seemed there was a plethora of melodic heavy rock bands on the radio but as the years moved on, grunge took over and then (mainstream) radio decided that rock music was no longer cool and stopped playing it. Well, just because this style of music has stopped being played on the radio that doesn't mean that there aren't great bands around playing this style of music, you just have to dig a little deeper than what you used to. Legs Electric are just one of the many Australian bands keeping the rock alive.
Hailing from Perth, prepare to be blown away by the sheer power these ladies deliver. Heavy riffs abound on their debut 5 track EP fittingly titled Maximum Rock n Roll but while you can expect to hear heavy riffs, distorted guitars and big guitar solos, make no mistake, the emphasis is most definitely on melody! Names like KISS, Pat Benatar, Vixen, Harem Scarem and others come to mind. From start to finish this EP is a rollicking ride with catchy anthemic choruses just like you used to hear coming through your radio speakers all those years ago. The highest compliment I can pay this band is that as soon as I finished listening to the 5 songs they have to offer, I automatically wanted to listed to them again... so I happily did exactly that, and was even about to hit the play button a 3rd time.
If this is any indication of what we can expect to hear from these ladies in the future, then I am very much looking forward to seeing what they come up with next. If only I hadn't discovered them on the last day of their east coast visit. Please hurry back girls, if the songs sound this powerful on record I can't wait to hear what they sound like live!

Album Reviw: Dana Fuchs - Broken Down Acoustic Sessions

So I just discovered this awesome singer that's new on the scene and I just had to tell the world how awesome she is. Her name is Dana Fuchs... what's that...? she's not new...? OK, well she's kinda new... What's that you say...? She released her 1st album in 2003? Well why didn't somebody tell me about her before dammit?!
OK I admit it, I dropped the ball on this one. Dana has been around for a while now and her name will probably be familiar to many but once again for me it was a case of, "I'll get around to it when I have the time" and then never did. Just recently her name popped up again with the release of her latest album Broken Down Acoustic Sessions so I figured I'd finally see what she was all about. As the title of the album suggests these songs are acoustic interpretations of songs which appear on some of her previous releases plus some extra's.
Dana has a voice that is instantly recognisable, a gravelly rasp that will almost immediately draw comparisons to Janis Joplin. In fact, Dana has actually played Janis in a stage production Love, Janis and you can see why she would have been chosen do to so, given that at times you can almost be mistaken that you are listening to Janis herself. While the comparisons are justified, make no mistake, Dana is not to be simply dismissed as just another Janis clone. She owns these songs and sings with feel and emotion that draws you in and makes you listen intently to what she is delivering. Mixing blues, soul and pop with a slight hint of country this album is perfect lazy, rainy day listening. Primarily made up of ballads and mid-tempo tunes this is not an album that you will be turning up to 11 so as to piss off the neighbours, but damned if it isn't a toe tapper, a tear jerker and well, just an awesome album all round.
Having released her last 4 albums on the German label Ruf who also have/had Samantha Fish, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Royal Southern Brotherhood, Devon Allman and many other modern blues artists on their roster, this should give you an idea what to expect. In short this yet another quality blues release from a brilliant artist that should be getting a hell of a lot more attention than what she is.
If you have not heard Dana Fuchs before, this is a damn good place to start.

Album Review: Thunder - Wonder Days

2015 release Wonder Days by rockers, Thunder

Ever come across a release that just completely changes your life and lifts the musical bar to a whole other level? Well if this is what you want to hear, then I would recommend looking elsewhere because you won't find it here. What? Huh? What's the point of this review? I hear you asking! Bear with me on this one and you'll see where I'm going.
Is this an earth shattering, ground breaking release that will forever change the face of music and which will be remembered for years to come? Well OK no it probably won't be BUT if you are looking for an album of rocking tunes that you can sing along to and which will transport you back to when you were a teenager singing into a hair brush or playing air guitar with a tennis racquet in front of your bedroom mirror (which is exactly what this album aims to do) then this release is for you.
The opening lines of the title track with which the album begins are "First day of school they called me a disgrace, They didn't like the long hair" which should give you an idea of what to expect
Thunder have been releasing albums since the early 90's however this is the 1st of their albums I have heard. The riffs are big, the choruses are just as big and the guitar solos are showy without being over the top (no unnecessary Yngwie Malmsteen style wankery to be heard.)
There's the obligatory ballads to break up the pace of the album the 1st one "The Rain" coming just 3 songs into the album is a great little acoustic ditty with added piano and mandolin giving it a distinctly Led Zeppelin feel before picking up again with Black Water a song about a "respectable wife" who's looking for some excitement in her life and decides to run away with a "streetwise seventeen" year old (now that's deep!).
If you are familiar with Thunder you will probably know exactly what you can expect from this release and if you are not familiar with Thunder, well... you will probably still know exactly what to expect from this release. This is rock music for the here and now with no thought of how long it will last which is perfectly fine.
Thunder have achieved exactly what they set out to do with this release which is to deliver footstomping, fist pumping, arena rock. If this is your thing then this is a highly recommended release. You can check their discography to date here in the meantime I'm off to track down some of these said releases.
P.S. if you listen to this and you like what you hear I also highly recommend tracking down the albums by The Union which is guitarist Luke Morley's other band and how I came to discover these guys.

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

Top 10 full length releases of 2015

Okay so there's still some weeks left in the year but why wait? Here's my (Chris) Top 10 releases of 2015.
These are releases that will not be appearing on the PBS end of year Top 10 list as they were not featured albums but which I believe deserve to be shown some love.

Well this was an unexpectedly pleasant surprise. Melody Gardot decided to explore some new territory on this release going down the Blues and Gospel path and oh boy are the results jaw dropingly awesome!

 

My favourite Swing band from Europe The Speakeasies Swing Band release their 1st full length album & it is everything I was hoping it would be. Full review here

Snarky Puppy performing with a full orchestra...? What were the chances of this not being brilliant. Funk, Cinematic, Jazzy and... well... a whole lot of awesome.
Highlight would definitely have to be the 20 minute closing track The Clearing. They were our feature artist just last episode http://pbsfm.org.au/taxonomy/term/782/2015-11-23

Why settle for one genre when you can cover many at once & yet still make it sound consistent?
These sister albums from Glasfrosch should be considered to be the measuring stick for any other Artists attempting to do the same thing (i'd like to see them try).
Full review here

Warren Haynes of the mighty Gov't Mule can do no wrong. Going down a slightly more folk path which usually I would not be a fan of, the songwriting here is absolutely top notch & each song really paints a picture.
I'm even finding myself listening to the sounds of banjo and finding that *gasp* I'm actually enjoying it!

It's Samantha Fish doing what she does so very very well.
Review available here

So Beth Hart appeared on my 2014 Top 10 list also & if she releases something in 2016 odds are her name will appear in my 2016 Top 10 as well.
She has said that she was asked to write from a more positive point of view for this album which is interesting seeing as I personally find this album to be a much more melancholy sounding album. Am I the only one who found this?

HEAVY, DOOMY, SLUDGY, RAWKING, RIFFING, GEETAH DRIVEN CHOOOOOOOOONS!!!
Get it from https://outoftheearth.bandcamp.com/releases
and don't you dare type in €0 when you are naming your price!

Suze DeMarchi of The Baby Animals doing a covers album produced by Shane Nicholson... Couldn't possibly work out right? Wrong! Worth the asking price for the track "Homeless" alone which was written by Mick Skelton

Joe Bonamassa seems to bring out the best in his collaborators & Mahalia Barnes is no different. Another covers album this time featuring the songs of Mahalia's "muse" Betty Davis. Oozing sassyness & attitude I would say Mahalia really found her footing with this release. Now if only the footage from the Melbourne & Sydney Launch shows would be be released as either DVD or Blu Ray then you'd have a very happy radio host

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.

Live Review: KISS with The Dead Daisies 9th Oct 2015

It had been a mighty long time since I had gone to see a major rock show and when I heard that KISS were coming to town again I was more than a little bit tempted especially seeing as I have been a fan of the band since I was a kid. Some of my earliest memories are of watching the 1980 Melbourne show at VFL park on the TV and collecting KISS cards and buying KISS ice cream from my local milk bar/corner store. That being said, I have seen that band numerous times in the past and having heard countless people mention how Paul Stanley's voice has deteriorated I was also somewhat hesitant as I didn't want to be disappointed by seeing a band past their prime struggling to keep it together. In the end 2 days before the show I bought my tickets and headed to Rod Laver Arena the night of the show prepared for the worst but still hoping for the best.
Well, to say I was not let down would be the understatement of the year. While the accounts of Paul Stanley's voice having deteriorated are accurate the band still delivered the goods in spades. Tearing though a setlist of classic tunes which kicked off with the brilliant opener Detroit Rock City, the band pulled out all the stops for this show and from beginning to end it was a non-stop over the top rock show which allowed you to forget about your job/mortgage/whatever for a couple of hours and enjoy the spectacle.
At one point in the show Paul Stanley asked the crowd "How many of you have never seen us before?" after which he commented that the show will be "a night you will never forget" which is quite a statement of confidence but if there's anyone that can live up to such a statement and deliver on said promise it's KISS!

Obligatory end of the night pyro show Drum Riser and Paul Stanley smashing his Guitar

KISS seem to be a band that people love to hate and which fans of the band will go to any length to defend. No matter which category you fall into one thing that can't be denied is the fact that 40+ years on the band still delivers a show that very few other bands/artists can match. See them while you still can as I'm uncertain how long anyone of their vintage can continue doing what they do.

Marco Mendoza & John Corabi of The Dead Daisies

Mention should also be made of the opening act The Dead Daisies who are a great band in their own right and whose two records to date are probably some of the best rock releases in the past 2 or 3 years. Made up of an all star line up featuring players from bands such as Guns N Roses, Motley Crue, Whitesnake, Billy Idol, Baby Animals and others these guys know how to deliver great rocking tunes. Despite the slightly apathetic crowd (which caused singer John Corabi to quip "There was more noise at my Grandmothers funeral") they managed to deliver 45 minutes of great rocking tunes which I'm certain would have won them a number of new fans on the night. From the opening notes of Midnight Moses to the final notes of the closing number (a rocking rendition of) Helter Skelter they know how to put on a great show. These guys may just be the saviours of Rock and given the connection they have to Australia I'm sure we'll be seeing them visit our shores again in the not too distant future which is certainly not a bad thing at all.

Album Review: The Speakeasies Swing Band - Starved To Death In A Land Of Plenty

For those you are not already aware there seems to be a Swing Jazz revival going on at the moment (especially in Europe) and I'm absolutely loving it!
One band who I discovered a couple of years ago and who are getting noticed for all the right reasons are The Speakeasies Swing Band from Greece. I have been waiting for a full length release since hearing their debut EP Bathtub Gin and it is everything I hoped it would be.
Starved To Death In a Land Of Plenty is the bands debut full length album, and while the title may be a dig at the financial/political crisis going on at the moment in Greece this album is all about feel good music and danceable tunes. An absolute stellar effort by a band who have captured the sound of a bygone era perfectly. If you have ever watched a movie starring Fred Astaire and wanted to get up and start dancing yourself then this album is for you.
Recorded live in one day you can hear just how much fun the band is having playing these tunes. The Album features 10 songs in total 2 of which are sung in Greek and one in French (which is actually a cover of The Godfather Love Theme "Parla Piu Piano") and while it certainly helps to understand the lyrics of these particular tunes that's not to say the songs cannot be enjoyed even if you don't.
Having played all over Greece and Europe these guys (and gal) are a class act and are set for world domination.
Hopefully this release is the first of many more to come. On a side note... err no pun intended... If you like the sound of these guys you may also be interested in checking out The Swing Shoes, Crime Swing Investigation, Gadjo Dilo and others.
In the meantime here's my favourite tune from Starved To Death In a Land Of Plenty: