Archive for October, 2014
A few months back I asked, on the Sound Doctrine facebook, what my loyal and lovely constituent thought the best song of the year to be. I put forward Dick Diver’s New Name Blues as a very possible candidate and now October deep, I don’t think that’s changed. My number two spot however, may have just been filled by the one and only Peter Bibby. I am very [very] privileged to have listened to the album roughs of this forthcoming Bibby record and I [very] promise you it’s that it is one of the more valuable records of the year and that Bibby is one of the key prospects of Australian music over the next decade. I sat with my buddy James on Thursday of night last week listening to Nick Cave and wondering if Australian music [consumption] would ever be as open to storytelling as it once was so as to allow for future Nick Caves. Courtney Barnett is a damn promising prospect and something that offers a counter discourse to the hook laden, production focused Oz music success stories of the past few years and it’s going to be a ride as we watch and see if she can establish a similar cult following as our man Cave. I don’t want to put Bibby next to Barnett simply because they both have an Australian drawl and write songs from personal experience (I haven’t read anything on Bibby before but I’ve no doubt the comparison is often made) so we’ll leave CB back there and just talk about this damn song. It’s no secret that Bibby loves a beverage (his band is The Bottles Of Confidence) and here on this track he sings about his girl’s desire to see him extricated from the habit. Seemingly his love of sauce is as uncompromising as his songwriting, so sayeth that last line but I’ll let you get to that yourself. It’s hard to focus on any one lyric when you’re tapping a vein this rich. It doesn’t have the social gravitas of New Name Blues but it’s real life, listen to it over and over and just ingest the thing.
She loves my soul but she hates my drinking
If you haven’t before, take a moment to listen to Medicine. There’s not a whole lot online from Bibby still but plenty on the cusp. If the guy can retain his sense of self while continuing to write new and similarly captivating songs, the sky’s the limit.* For bonus viewing and reading, watch a live video of Bibby performing Medicine and read his pick for ‘Best Song of 2013′ as part of the Sound Doctrine 2013 wrap-up.
*Although more likely 8-10 thousand record sales is the limit, unless commercial station directors drunkenly add him rotation sometime over the next decade. Record sales tho, who needs ‘em.
An extremely unexpected collaboration between Brighter Later and and the almighty Lower Spectrum. I suppose it makes a lot of sense inasmuch as these are two artists whose respective stars are fiercely on the rise but still, if someone had hinted at this a few weeks ago I would have told them they’re dreamin’. But here we are, Brighter Later doing what Brighter Later does, that is restrained, gorgeous progressive folk and Lower Spectrum reportedly dropping in those late game string arrangements. I know I’ve already talked about scenarios that are seemingly far fetched, but I’m going to put something even more ludicrous on the plate here. Imagine Ned Beckley being involved in music that wasn’t exceptional. Can’t be done can it? Think on this today.
Brighter Later themselves are notable for their 2013 record The Wolves which was described as ‘Straight Gorgey’ (The Guardian) and ‘This biz is outta control’ (SMH). There aren’t many artists in this field that captivate me still but Brighter Later have a thing and Jaye Kranz has a voice that will. not. quit. She also has a way of writing/speaking in imagery is seemingly at once vague and specific to the listening experience so if you want to feel something on your Tuesday, this is the jam. There’s a new record due sometime next year.
Artists you need to know rn
| 1. 1300 |  |
316 |
| 2. Voidhood | |
259 | 3. jamesjamesjames | |
186 | 4. Zan | |
174 |
| 5. Sesame Girl | |
147 |
