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Year End 2002 | |
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Interview: Taking Stock Bad Boss: Pushing the Envelope Unions: The Year That Was Republic: Still Fighting International: Global Ties, Global Binds Politics: Turning Green Technology: Unions Online 2002 Industrial: The Past Is Before Us Economics: Market Insecurity Review: Shooting for Sanity Poetry: The PM's Christmas Message Culture: Zanger's Sounds of Summer
The Soapbox The Locker Room Bosswatch Predictions
Terror Australis
 Refugee ReviewRepresentative RepresentativesMen Only?Dry ArgumentVale: Phil Berrigan
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Culture Zanger's Sounds of Summer
Over the last twelve months, shocking international events have proven a talking point for many new artists. This can best be seen in the latest offerings of Fred Smith, The Long Weekend, Ginger Tom, Circle of Willis and Urban Guerillas. These five new artists show that we've got enough up and coming home-grown talent to fill Warragamba Dam twice over and that's even with the current drought in mind. Caustic critics of Aussie music beware! Fred Smith- Party Pieces (6 track Ep) When an opening track to an Ep has the lines "I had a friend called Cheryl Kernot, she's as hard as a Sydney journo", you know that taking the piss will be the quality most listeners will remember an artist by. Fred Smith may well have been named John Citizen for that matter, but his music, lyrics and witty style are no ordinary animal. Move over Dave Graney I say, this is the new 'oz' cool. With all the tracks penned this year, and drawing from current political and cultural affairs, Smith delivers a few messages of his own. In "Nervous Jervis" we are told "Just be careful what you say, it could bite your arse one day...Just be careful what you do, it could come right back at you" The music and lyrics are cleverly written and "Open Country" is an ode to our freedoms in Australia. After a trip abroad, Smith recounts how he has returned to a 'nation divided.' The addition of a harmonica solo to this song gives it a bit of a laid back feel. While it is only six tracks long, Party Pieces is an excellent insight to a fresh sounding and politically astute little aussie battler. Fred Smith for PM! The Long Weekend- Feel The Way (10 Track Album) Living and Working on the land. That's what sums up Melbourne band 'The Long Weekend's' acoustic pop rock debut. And no, I am not referring to some R.M Williams wearing Nat pretender in James Blundell trying to crack the pop charts in the early 90's. The Long Weekend is the real McCoy. They are singer songwriters Andrew Tragardh and Jackie Moffat. Featuring well-written lyrics and tightly structured songs about life's challenges, you could imagine this in the tape deck driving down the Riverina Highway to the annual Ute fest in Deniliquin. In fact, you could enjoy this anywhere. Imagine if you mixed Tom Petty and Kasey Chambers, you'll get the Long Weekend. Standout tracks on the album include: 'Heading for the sun'- Take my hand and we'll fly away; 'Working Poor'- Another days is done- all you feel is ground; And the epic 'I belong'- Life is moving on but we're still happily living our lives Overall, the musical partnership of Tragardh and Moffat works, and if ever they make it up to Sydney they're a definite must see. Ginger Tom- Hey Hey Usa, How Many Children Did You Kill Today (6 Track Ep) Ginger Tom continues some of the themes on the Fred Smith cd but go a few steps further to the left. Tracks that standout on this cd you are "Coming out wrong" and "United" which was recorded on the recent NSW Labor Council May Day cd. Ginger Tom is a four-piece guitar band from Newtown. From their brief bio, Ginger Tom state that they are a 'blatantly political band who sound something like the Vines and Radio Birdman in full flight.' In fact, they sound more like early Mudhoney than the new corporate kids on the block The Vines. Why any trot band would feel comfortable likening themselves to a band that is produced the Packer family's Engine Room record label is beyond me. Ginger Tom's trot allegiances are evident in their lyrics and even more evident in the links page on their website. They could avoid being disposable heroes of hypocrisy by dropping the Resistance benefit gigs and concentrating on their music and song writing; something that might develop with time. Circle of Willis- The Manual of Internal Fixation (14 track album) Local electronic outfit Circle of Willis deliver an interesting collection of 14 tracks that feature gospel vocal samples, keyboard programming and vocal excerpts from key historical events of the twentieth century. This album sounds and looks like a sociological experiment gone awry but its one that may deliver an alternative to the mainstream electronica glut.They follow in the footsteps of groups like Straw People "Trick with a knife" and the Avalanches "Frontier Psychiatrist". One standout track on the album is "Hijack", a mellow journey into the mind of a hijack hostage of an Egyptian airliner in 1985. Haunting indeed! Another is "Telephone" featuring the sample of an unknown beat poet. Very interesting. Urban Guerillas- Big Brother (2 track single) Think Clash, think late seventies British punk explosion. These guys may have been there, though they would have barely started school. Orwellian references, fuzzed guitars, it's a bit hard to tell from two tracks where this band wants to go, but with a bit of work, they'll get there. So there you have it, the sounds of summer 2002-2003 in a nutshell. Some will be hits, some will be misses, but one thing is for sure- we've got a bit of homegrown talent waiting to be signed.
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