New Day, New Core

IM Back. Whatever.

Nothing says 'indie' like hardcore. Its the ugly, confronting heavy music that gets messy. It sometimes lacks the polish and finesse of its more accessible and older brother...metal. It lacks the appeal and fun of its other sibling ...punk rock. But with what it lacks, it make makes up for in spades with passion, energy and brutality. NO radio would take a risk with a sound like this, no major label would gamble on a scene with such confronting trends, links to ethical movements, violent energy, outspoken views on society and culture! Hardcore punk, metal core and ..just plain old 'hard core' music has long been a big part of the melbourne music scene and now more than ever it is seeing a*boom!*

I like that there's room for you no matter what life-views you hold to: christian, straight edge, vegan, party boy, dont care what i am*, gangstar ... you can get into this.

Lately im noticing the scene which produced such brutal bands is now brimming with cross overs, genre mash ups and a new breed of kids with something to say. Keyboards are becoming more and more familiar, beats and samples are making their way in, break downs are replaced with blast beats, dance beats are replacing double time, singing is backing the screaming, rap is even getting a look in and colour is back in the wardrobe!

It's just full of variation and new idea's and i really like it! I dont like all the music that is coming as a result but the adventurous bands behind it have my respect at least!
Im going to start sharing some of the music ive found and the links to where you can find it too. All free.
As it comes.

i just stepped up to ping.fm, lets see if this is the way to save time updating stupid social networking sites...lol

Angelas Dish. An actual review this time.

Hmm...
I like these boys, they have toured with us and shared the stage many times since. I've witnessed their development and surge to prominence in our little indie scene. In the bands promo pic it looks like the rays of sunshine are pushing forward despite the cloudy obstacles and I'd say the same for the bands new album 'War on Time'.










Firstly, it took far too long to get this disc on shelves i reckon. I liked the first EP a lot (everyone did), and I thought it would have made a bloody good album if they'd just added one or two more songs to it. The second EP didnt do it for me like that first one did so i held out my interest until this 'album' arrived. However, i admit that i kinda stopped checking the news on it after a while, even after they put out the single, i was hoping for the full length.

The sound isnt tops (sorry boys), inconsistent and at times muddy. It dissapointed me from the first 10 seconds and from that moment on it was left to the merit of the songs to redeem this release. The opening track was skipped in under 2 minutes, the single stood out (as it does) and then things get a bit better. 'Seven Years' was all gold, 'Yeah...but not tonight' grabbed me by suprise but the rest kinda sounds half mixed and watered down filler. 'Engine Stalled' picks it back up towards the end and 'Paint a Picture' ends up being a good song but anti-climactic for a closing track. Maybe it would have been stronger with 8-9 songs and some pretty little filler intstrumental outro to make up numbers?

Its got ups and downs, doesnt sound 'amazing' and they had to wait a while to release it. Sounds like a typical indie band fighting the timing, costs and opinions of others to get their music out. I will have to ask them about it next time i see em.
The lead single and easily one of the better moments on offer is 'Soft November'. Listen..

Look a band called...Lukas!

These guys have been kicking around a for a few years now but it seems in the last 6-8 months they have really got the momentum up and have nabbed themselves like heaps of Antiskeptic supports, or appearances at shows that we were also playing!! After seeing the same friendly faces at show after show I eventually take the timeout to listen to them and i rekcon these cats are pretty good. Based in Sydney, Luke Munns and his band of brothers have been hitting the road to support their latest release titled 'You and Me'. This disc has raised a bit of a question for me which i cant quite resolve....

If a CD has 8 songs is it: a) a mini-album or b) an extended EP? Pick up a copy of this and decide foryourself. It comes bundled with a DVD featuring a 'making of' stlye doco for extra value...and value it is!

Ive offered the first track..its a kicker!

World Away - Lukas.mp3

New Gear fo' da New Year

So its feb already! Farrrr out. Im in a new job, doing new things, playing new shows in new places and enjoying new stuff. I have a new guitar, new idea's and finally some new music to wrap my ears around!

I have begun to find myself hungry to hear some good hip hop. It doesnt have to be much, just a good hook, some works in verse and a fresh beat.

I found Urthboy. He's on the mark.

Heres a track from his web site, there's two up for grabs from his first LP so go ahead and get the other one.

Long Walk Home

Oh and here's his web page

(*actual picture of urthboy)

I was over in New Zealand recently which was fun too. I was floored by a Kiwi hip-hop act we played with at the Parachute Festival. The dude's name is Brad but he goes under the title 'Rapture Ruckus'. Web linkage....nnnnnnow

If you visit his page you can get his new single 'No Matter' for free after signing up for the newsletter thingy. Trust me..if you like the 'holy-hip hop' like moi' then you want to get on board with this dude. Positive, motivating and phat.

Anyway the album i bought (see pictured) is great and ive been really getting into it!

(*actual picture of RR!)

And one of the best releases of last year which went almost totally un-noticed by the general public was this...blistering, blazing bloody amazing blast of hardcore punk from adelaide called 'God So Loved The World'. They got together and wrote some old school style hardcore songs about God, life, politics and issues. Its pretty blatant-in-your-freeking-face christian hardcore here...but wether you rejoice like me or find yourself turning the other way, this stuff is nuts. Seriously awsome gear... go and get the album right now from JBHiFi for like $12!

They only have a myspaz page so i must resort to that for a link... and they broke up a lil while back so there wont be much more than this i imagine.

This song ripps... Nails

In my absence....

Man i cant believe its been like... since last year that i blogged! Man a lot has happened in the time that's passed and rather than offer an explanation, i will offer diversions.
Go here: http://www.whothehell.net/
Freaking best aussie music blog ever... i seriously love this blog. I read it all the time. He has mp3's, pictures and blurbs and then on the weekend he colates youtube vids for us. This space is the bomb.

Im majorly addicted to my DS. In particular homebrew stuff. I have one of those R4 chips which means i can down stuff off the net and play it. Rad times...oh yes. A particularly aswome app ive been playing with is an i-pod/iphone clone for the DS. So now i put all my mps and junk on that and listen in the car! Rad times...yes indeed. So in lieu of posting stuff, im still looking for the gold and waiting for my mates to reelase new stuff ha ha ha ha ha!!!

So what've i been listening to? Hmmm... not much aussie gear i can tell you that right now. Yeh theres been a swell of releases over the holiday period, sure we had some aria's and festivals and stuff...but that happens every year. Im waiting for the stuff that smacks me in the head and says 'hey retard, pay attention. this is the new edge, get on it.' Cant wait till ive got some time back on my hands to go find it....

Keep ya eyes on http://www.angelasdish.com
We hooked up with them cats the other week for a gig and they rocked it.
Skeppers' are gonna be a pretty active over the next few months, racking up some frequent flyer points too. That may just be the ticket to bringing some new jams for yall.

On a sad note i gotta just mention how incredibly shit it was to loose a mate over the holidays.
RIP Damo. You all wouldve heard about the crash up near Coffs Harbour everything.
Nuff said.

Mates bands...

We (being ANTISKEPTIC) recently did a Youth Alive event over in regional South Australia where we caught up with some very quality peeps. We hooked up with the darling Sundance Kids' again and they were great as norm, but the bonus part was when i did merch for em... i noticed a bunch of rare 'Thinktank' CD's in the merch box! Jeremy (the bass player) used to be in Thinktank and our guitar tech and all round nice guy Kev was 2nd guitar in the 'Tank as well! Im well pleased to announce that their 2nd album 'Here is the Moment' is once again available to the music buying/loving/sharing public!! It's actually the first two EP's re-released as an album for their European Label Household Records.Frickin awsome tho...still measures up better than heaps of the current brand of indie trash out there today!

Buy it here...

Listen to one of my fav tracks Pale (first song on the disc)


Another rad A-town band to keep eyes on is Newtonheath! They have just released their new full length disco called 'Come together and Unite'. I was especiall y amped about this cos i was a mega fan of their previous band 'Edison Music' and to a lesser extent 'Sumi'. (sorry guys)

Mat and Rach have been doing this music thang for years and under a few different names as well. A quick looky at the web page gives you some mp'3s of previous work and a bit of background to digest. All in all its a pretty solid record from the outset, a bit up and down, it feels like this might really grow on me as i give it time but im still coming to terms with the fact that this does NOT sound like another Edison' record. I feel dumb because i think i was expecting one! Theres some uber big rock moments, great choruses and some pretty guitar parts dispersed throughout, not just an emo/rock thing...but more developed and urgent.

Anyway...

Rad song off the album...

Web page...not a myspaz page thankyou!

A favourite Eidson song for yall..