Last Sunday High Vibes was confirmed to me as the most enjoyable annual music festival in Melbourne with ace performances from Wagons, SubAudible Hum, Mountains in the Sky and The Exploders. Earlier in the day at North Bazaar a small audience of early risers were also treated to great performance from Touch Typist.

Fronted by Nick Huggins, the producer of the Whitley debut which I praised last week, Touch Typist are a three piece who craft soothing cloudy ambient soundscapes which sometimes sound as if they are trapped in a spaceless weightless timewarp. The debut album (of sorts) from Touch Typist You Cannot Kiss A Laughing will be available in November through the POWWOW series, an interesting idea from Feral Media featuring ten releases from emerging independent artists. You Cannot Kiss A Laughing is the fifth release in the series.

Huggins does have a release under his own name though, Shipwreck, released through the Two Bright Lakes label. The show last Sunday seemed to interdisperse songs from this album with those posted on myspace under the Touch Typist moniker. Check 'em out if you like what you see below.

Nick Huggins - The Movie We Made

Labels: nick huggins, touch typist

Wednesday

You Will Die Alone + Council of Elders + Ships Piano + Parading
@The Tote, 8pm, $5

Last chance to get along to this residency. More gigs coming up soon though in case you can't make it.


Thursday

Alex Jarvis + Nick Craft + Hole and Craft
@Palookaville, 8pm

Palookaville seems to be booking some great acts of late. In case you don't know it, it's that saloon looking place at the North Eastern End of Brunswick St. Tonight its Alex Jarvis who hasn't been playing many gigs of late, but did release The New Patriosim back in January. Nick Craft is ex-Sidewinder, while I don't know much about his solo stuff (he also plays with The Zillions), his former Sidewinder bandmate and brother Martin does have a great solo record out.

The Ned Collette Band
@Edinburgh Castle, 8pm, free



I went along to this residency a couple of weeks ago expecting a lot, and I’m afraid that I came away not entirely satisfied. While I was grateful it was a free gig, and thus I expected to hear somewhat of a practice session for Ned and band, my main problem was that I found the new jazzed up jam-band renditions too introspective, unfocused and, quite frankly, a bit dull and boring. Yes, there was a high degree of technical expertise was on display from the band, but the overly long renditions failed to move me like I think they were supposed to.

Ned Collette is undoubtedly a talented musician and, after enjoying the studio version of his new single A Country With A Smile (also dressed up in a fair bit of improv the other night) I’m still looking forward to his new album. I just think the live show could do with some heavy editing, and wish it was a great deal more accessible than what I saw two weeks ago. A long winding journey into the musical abyss is fine here and there, but it only works for some groups, and for me, it didn't work for Ned and co.

On a brighter note, if you do make it tonight though, go with the Wagyu beef sausages. Mmmmm delicious!!!

Spider Vomit + Jarvis + Fearless Vampire Killers + more
@The Espy, 9pm, Free

A night of acidic noise and psychedelic rawk across both the Espy Lounge and Front Bar from three youngish Melbourne bands.

Stephanie Dosen (USA) + Tobias Cummings
@Northcote Social Club, 8:30pm, $15+bf

I haven't heard of Stephanie Dosen before, but her last record was released on Bella Union, home of Midlake, My Latest Novel, The Dirty Three and Explosions in the Sky so she must be doing something right. Support comes from melancholic singsong Tobias Cummings.


Friday

Beasts of Bourbon + Magic Dirt + Rowland S Howard
@The Forum, 8pm, $33+bf

Cosmic Psychos + KillerBirds + Bang!Bang!Aids!
@Northcote Social Club, 8:30pm, $17+bf

The Smallgoods Album Launch + Sly Hats + Pikelet
@East Brunswick Club, 8:30pm, $10+bf



The Smallgoods have just released their second album, Down on the Farm, which is quite spectacular. While I’ll save most of my comments to a future review, it’s an wildly imaginative record with a mix of material, often dreamy, sometimes warped and set within a rich, picturesque landscape. Plenty of harmonies of as well which I always like.

I saw The Smallgoods live a few weeks back when they supported The Brunettes. They were pretty tight, but on the whole, they were a bit static, and didn’t convey the same creativity as they do on record. Gus Franklin (also of Architecture in Helsinki) on drums has a lot of fun though. Good to watch also for his interesting grip on the sticks.

The Sparrows + Sailors and Swine + Chase Ego + The Galvatrons
@The Evelyn, 8pm, $8

I've plugged the damaged raw blues of Sailors and Swine before. Eighties revivalists The Galvatrons seem to be pulling some reasonably good gigs of late.

Treetops Single Launch + 16mm Album Preview + Fearless Vampire Killers
@Roxanne, 9pm, $8

Often there's not enough variation in gig lineups in this town, but here we get some nice soulful pop from Treetops, dense and dramatic melancholy from 16mm and classic Led Zeppish rock from FVK all on the same bill.

Saturday

Princess One Point Five + International Karate + Amaya Lauricia
@The Tote, 9pm, $12



Princess One Point Five, the solo project of Sarah-Jane Wentzki has had some mild indie success over the past couple of years. In 2005 she was awarded a significant grant and international travel vouchers through the Spirit of Youth Awards and last year her sophomore album The Truth scored a nomination in the Australian Music Prize long list (Top 25). The Truth was a bit too bleak for me, but it did include It’s All Gone to Hell, a very good track which scored some airplay on both JJJ and RRR.

Tonight she is launching her follow up record, an EP called Lolita

Tonight’s gig is also worth a look because of support from International Karate, who are a pretty freaking good band. Support also from Amaya Lauricia who also could be freaking good but I aint seen her before.

Spencer P Jones + James McCann
@Palookaville, 9pm

While many will be looking for somewhere to continue our grand final festivities elsewhere, the dose of the blues at this gig might just be what’s needed for some supporters mourning the ending of another season This will be a low-key Saturday night gig, but a good one nevertheless, as both of these Spooky Records labelmates are great solo performers.

Spencer Jones backs up from the Beasts of Bourbon show at the Forum on Friday.

Spider Vomit
@Pony, 2am, free

A reasonably high profile act for the late slot at Pony

The Temper Trap + Mission Control + Bird Automatic + Major Major
@The Espy, 9pm, Free

Might be bit of a hipsterish here, but another option worth considering for your post Grand Final celebrations.


Sunday

Silver City Highway
@Standard Hotel, 8pm, Free

If you've been reading this blog for a while you would know that we like this band a lot. They've a single launch at the Tote in about a month, but if you've nothing to do tonight, then sample them here for free before they become a household name amongst twenty to thirty something year old Melbourne giggoers.

After moving to Melbourne from New Zealand earlier this decade, and having released this year’s Tara (with bonus disc Pink Guitars, Yellow Stars), Batrider are moving on again - this time to London - to find further inspiration and to seek a wider audience for their primal and damaged sound.

Tonight at the Empress is their final gig in Melbourne before they leave. This will be packed so get along early if you're heading here.

Support comes from everywhere men You Will Die Alone as well as Tetrode Kink and Three Months Sunset. Doors at 8:30

This is a live performance of Drought from the Pitz in Marrickville. This track can be found on the new album.

Wednesday

You Will Die Alone with Popolice + Van Diemen's Band
@The Tote, 8pm, $5

I saw these guys last week, and despite a crap Wednesday night crowd, musically, they gave a reasonable performance. Their epic grungey noise-rock creates an imposing wall of sound and Predators and Villains from their debut EP sounded particularly impressive.

The mix was a little muddy though, which I guess wasn’t entirely surprising. It must be difficult to mix their songs when there are three droning unhinged guitar riffs all competing for love at the same time. Also difficult I guess given that the focus needs to be altered so frequently over the course of one YWDA song. (Disclaimer: I know nothing about mixing, so bear in mind I could be talking absolute rubbish here)

This week the support comes from Popolice (Marc Regueiro-Mackelvie, who is also of New Estate). Popolice delivers smart catchy indie pop tunes amidst a sea of fuzzy feedback and homespun instrumentation. If you haven’t heard him before check out either of his EPs, last year’s Forceback or this year’s Middle Ground. If you have to listen to only one track of his, I'd go with Be Like Me.





Thursday

The Ned Collette Band (two sets)
@ The Edinburgh Castle, 8:30pm, free

Another week, another look at The Ned Collette Experience as they continue to get their band chops together over a couple of sets up at the Edinburgh Castle. We've talked about this residency a bit, so there's not much more to say. Neddy and the boys are consummate musos and take you pretty comfortably through a good couple of hours of music, with extended full-prog-jam edits of just about everything. My one criticism is that this sometimes leads to them getting a touch carried away and losing a little focus, but it's not hard to enjoy Ned's slashing axe work over Ben and Joe's gorgeous rhythm section-cum-gig highlight underpinnings.

And I have to add: try the pork belly - it's divine.



Thousand Cuts
The Paper Scissors Album Launch with Plastic Palace Alice + Y
@Ding Dong, 8pm, $8


Sydney bloggers, A-Reminder, Polaroids of Androids and The Sandwich Club have all talked up this band at one point or another, and from what they say, it appears they are one of the best live bands in Sydney at the moment. I don’t know much about them, but recommendations from these other bloggers is enough to get me along tonight. I expect fun ‘n funky.

A couple of JJJ Unearthed acts are filling the support slots tonight. Grandiose glam noir rockers Plastic Palace Alice have been hyped up quite a bit this year, and, while I agree that they promise exciting things, it’s good to see them working hard, and playing plenty of local gigs to increasingly build their capability in a live setting.




Friday

Whitley Album Launch with Seagull + Tom Cooney
@The Toff, 9pm, $10+bf



I had the chance to see Whitley back in March when he supported Calexico, but unfortunately a Saturday afternoon session at the pub left me feeling quite snoozy, so snoozy that a wake up alarm failed to wake me from my drunken stupor. I spent fifty bucks on that ticket too. Goddammit!

After giving Whitley’s excellent debut disc The Submarine quite a few spins this week (A review will be posted later this week), I’m looking forward to see if he can be as intimate in a live setting as he is on record.

There’s also quite a range of instrumentation on the new record so I wonder by what means he will choose to deliver these effects. Will there be a band? A string section? Or just Whitley, a twelve string, a banjo and a backing tape? Has anyone seen him live before?

Support comes from local folktronicists, Seagull, and a singer-songwriter from Brisbane, Tom Cooney. A reader of this blog recently tipped us off about Tom live so it might be a good idea to get to the Toff early if you’re heading along to this gig.




Saturday

Barrage 7" Launch with You Will Die Alone + Das Butcher
@Gertrudes, 8pm, $8

Right now everyone loves Muscles, and along with recent visits to Melbourne from Yacht and Panther, drawing a fair crowd, it appears budget indie electro is taking off.

While I didn’t previously think that one guy with a microphone and some pre-programmed laptop beats would always be the most interesting live experience, Yacht certainly challenged my prior assumption with his fun and hyperactive performances here a few months ago.

Another act who fits into this categorisation is Barrage. Supporting You Will Die Alone last Wednesday, Barrage’s performance wasn’t as confident as Yacht, but he does have some similarly catchy, energetic scratchy beats. Only Only, available on his myspace is a particularly good track.

You Will Die Alone return the favour to Barrage by supporting him tonight so if your’re interested, it’s also a good chance to see them if you can’t make it to The Tote on Wednesday this week or next.




Anonymeye (with band) CD launch with Francis Plagne + Y35.3 + ii
@ The Afterdark, 8:30pm

Your fill of experimenta this week is here, at this nice little venue north on High St. Semi-unpronounceable names to start us off: first ii, filling the venue with their pedal-riding soundscapes; then Y35.3 doing a similar yet different line in loopy noise. Francis Plagne follows, the latest from Melbourne's never-ending production line of broken-pop wunderkinds, playing some tunes from his recent album - it's sweet-as in places, yet a little too unfocused to really stick with me for long. Catch his riffs and croons and make up your own mind.

And at the top, the circling country-tinged guitar of Anonymeye. This Brisbane-boy-cum-Melburnian-guitar-god is releasing a three-inch, single track recording made at the exceedingly rock-'n'-roll time of Saturday morning - hear an excerpt on his myspace. Getting all broken on both country and western, his first Melbourne show with band (the boys from ii) promises to be a mind-expanding experience, even for those who aren't stoned.




Sunday

The 7th Magnificent Annual High Vibes Festival
@High St, Northcote, from 10am, Donation Entry Fee,

High Vibes probably draws the best combination of local acts out of any festival or gig in Melbourne. And it’s all for free, with about a dozen venues throwing open their doors for the occasion.

For readers of this blog many of the musical highlights this year are likely to be found at the Regal Ballroom and of course the Northcote Social Club.

This year the Regal Ballroom will be hosting one of my favourite live bands, country rockers Wagons, who will presumably be previewing new tracks from their forthcoming third album. The lineup also includes atmospheric rockers SubAudible Hum, J-rockers British India and the pulsating dreaminess of drums and electronica from Mountains in the Sky.

Over at Northcote Social Club, Love of Diagrams will play a set late in the evening. While, earlier we get to hear from Kim Salmon’s Darling Downs, Baseball, and a dose of garagey rawness from both The Exploders and The Specimens.

There’s plenty on at other venues also, including Touch Typist at North Bazaar at 12pm. (Incidentally this is the band of Nick Huggins, the producer of the new Whitley album), Ned Collette and Tobias Cummings are back to back at Punch in the mid afternoon, while Aleks and the Ramps hit the stage at Wesley Anne at 8pm.

You can find a complete timetable of High Vibes here.

Wednesday

You Will Die Alone with Pets with Pets + Barrage
@ The Tote, 8pm, $5


The Wednesday residency at the Tote looks like the perfect slot for up and coming local bands at the moment. Little Red and Good Intentions have both previously played in this slot, while it's Spider Vomit's turn next month.

In September, You Will Die Alone are the lucky residents on Wednesdays at the Tote. A couple of months ago I praised their blistering debut EP, Duets, a triple treat of epic axe driven journeys through groundbreaking lo-fi indie rock territory. Think Built to Spill meeting Dinosaur Jr. Tonight they kick off the residency, and preview material from their forthcoming second E.P, Treasure Kingdom.

Disturbed 'n eerie drums 'n keys from Pets with Pets as support, along with the seriously talked up Barrage first up - don't miss him.



Mist and Sea with Pretty Boy Crossover
@ The Toff, 8pm, $10/$8

This is a nice, a really nice gig. We've talked up this semi-residency the last couple of weeks, so there's little more to say really. I wandered along last week and my impression of The Toff as a nice little venue wasn't altered. It wasn't packed, yet very comfortable semi-empty with tables 'n' chairs. This week's incestuous gig, with one band supporting both band members' other band (makes sense?) promises to suit the space nicely; a swirling mass of pretty sounds filling the room without blowing the roof off.



Thursday

Stop.Drop.Roll
Albert's Basement Fundraiser
It's So Fucking Great to Be Alive, Humansixbillion, Rainbow Brite, TeamYes!
@ Glasshouse, 8pm, $6


OK, so I'll come clean here. I really like what Albert's Basement do, sure; they've got their clever, whimsical little fingers in a whole lot of Melbourne's tastiest musical pies; I'll surely pick up the compilation they're fundraising for here. And TeamYes! are intriguing; their loopy, lyrical freak-folk is much more similar to the ultra-amazing Animal Collective than much on the Melbourne scene. Rainbow Brite's twee-drone is, similarly, really worthy of your attention. And It's So Fucking Great to Be Alive, apart from an evocative band name, do bent, heavy folk with aplomb.

Yeah, I'm sure they're all great.

But I'll come clean. The only reason this gig's here is because I've listened to a track called Gathering Steam about fifteen times in the last week, since I saw humansixbillion support Mist and Sea at The Toff. Peter Head's band blindsided me that night; but oh so well. Go to their website - they've been generous enough to give you, and me, a full EP; it's hyperbole to say it's one of the best releases I've heard this year but it's also true. It scratches all my indie-pop-folk itches, a little bit twee, a little bit rocking, a little bit just fucking ace. I'm not even writing any more. Just go there and listen and then go to this gig, OK?



Filla!!!
Little Red EP Launch with Spun Rivals + Carnation
@ Revolver, 8:30pm, $6

Coca Cola, Waiting, Lil' Jackie Cooper. Yep, by now, we've all seen them umpteen times so we can all sing along their material. Now's your chance to singalong on CD because Melbourne's favourite and funnest allboy doowopping harmony group are releasing their first EP. It's a UK release though (out through Parlophone spin-off, Regal Recordings), so it won't make it into stores. But if you're like me and not really keen on journeying across the River for this gig, I'm sure given their hectic gig schedule there'll be plenty of opportunities to pick up a copy at another show. Try the East on Saturday perhaps. Otherwise, a national tour with Art of Fighting is next on their agenda.



The Ned Collette Band (two sets)
@ The Edinburgh Castle


Pat wrote last week about ol' baby-face Collette, and I can only agree with his words. The new single, The Country With a Smile, is frankly stunning; the gorgeous, smooth seventies synth layered throughout is magic, yet kept restrained so it never wears out its welcome. The song far surpasses anything on his impressive yet kinda patchy and monotonal debut album.

And it's a whole different gig these days, to see Neddy with band as opposed to just with trusty loop pedal. They sounded sweet in that nice room upstairs at Gertrudes in their first public outing together, though they hadn't yet gelled, and I expect they're gonna be a fair bit smoother and more compelling with practice. He's gonna be back overseas soon enough; see him now while you can.



Friday

Talamere with Light Music Club + Look Bird! Lament
@ Afterdark, 8pm

All manner of low-key singer-songwriter stuff going on this night at the Afterdark, as befits its couches-and-beer feel and semi-suburban location. I don't know Look Bird! Lament, but their myspace stuff reveals some impressively assured low-key production under classic sad-bastard vocal stylings. Worth turning up on time for this one, I reckon.

And you definitely won't want to miss Light Music Club, in the middle slot. Zoe Jackson's semi-divine voice and clean-yet-not-disposable classically-tinged piano lines are worth stopping your conversation for. You're gonna have to listen to Song for Sunday and just try, try your hardest not to be charmed.

And at the nominal top of the bill, another charming female voice, though a completely different one. Talamere - Vic Roberts - has a breathy contralto and simple guitar lines that are much more than a simple sum of their parts would suggest, as with all real songwriters. She draws you straight into her morose, shadowy world and lets you out, begrudgingly, leaving a pleasing tinge of melancholy. Good fun, in a perverse way.



Saturday

The Small Knives album launch with Sly Hats
@ The Toff, 8:30pm, $10


The Small Knives are criminally underrated in this town. Straight up and down calm n gentle acoustic country pop it is, but they've a penchant not just to write a beautiful melody but a memorable hook as well. Top it off with Leo Mullins' voice which has great pitch and carry and you have the makings of one of the most accomplished bands in Melbourne. No on stage theatrics in their live show because, well, they all seem like pretty sensible guys, but Mullins is a passionate singer and their live sound is very tight.

This show is launching their second record, Smoke and Ribbons. While I'm yet to hear it, they did preview several of the new tracks in their support for Deloris a few weeks back. The rousing Hey can be found on their myspace, while another track sounded very Buckneresque.

Introverted DIY Calypso-ish pop from Sly Hats as the only support in his first trip back to Aus after a brief international tour.



Silver Ray album launch (2 sets) with Oliver Mann
@ NSC, 8:30pm, $12+bf

Luscious rich and rambling instrumental rockers Silver Ray are launching their fourth album tonight, Homes For Everyone. So far there's been almost universal praise for this record. While my final judgement of this record will unravel to myself after future listens, at this stage I can say that it is undoubtedly a pleasant and relaxing record with no shortage of beautiful compositions, and one that I can recommend.

Start off the evening in the company of operatically enhanced solo artist Oliver Mann.



Wireless Bollinger '10 Bands to Watch' Showcase with Downhills Home + Little Red + Hot Little Hands + Good Intentions + Oh Mercy
@ The East, 8:30pm, $12+bf

A few months back local e-mag Wireless Bollinger published a series entitled '10 Bands to Watch' where ten up and coming Australian indie artists were featured. Tonight, five bands featured in the series audition their credentials together in front of an always criticial Melbourne audience.

Despite the series' heavy Melbourne bias, and a couple of questionable selections amongst the group, as a whole they made some good choices, and the series was a very well written and interesting insight into the motivating forces driving these bands, and some of their key members. It was very surprising to read that Matt Kulesza, lead singer and songwriter of Good Intentions is only 20 years old!

Tonight Byrsdian/early Wilco influenced country rockers Downhills Home head the lineup, with poptacular percussiony goodness from Good Intentions and the effervescent Little Red amongst the great local lineup.



Shooting at Unarmed Men album launch with Actor/Model + A Friend of Mine + The Jacks
@ The Tote, 9pm, $12


Look, I have to say. I think Shooting at Unarmed Men are this year's My Disco, for me. Both bands are good, even great, in the live setting. They can hold a room and really tear up a stage; different methods to that end, admittedly, but with plenty of similarities in volume and intensity. But. Last year's My Disco album, Cancer, failed to impress me. It just didn't get that volume and intensity, sounding flat and empty on disc. And I think the same has happened to Shooting at Unarmed Men. Their new disc, Triptych, has frankly annoying packaging (three EPs for twelve tracks? why not one LP?) and seems to alternately grate and bore - sometimes, in a feat, both at the same time.

Look, that sounds a bit harsh, and that's why ya gotta go to this gig to prove me wrong. It really hasn't struck a chord with me but I'm probably wrong. Supports here are good: Actor/Model's synth-punk is very good onstage; A Friend of Mine do a really good job of melodifying their heavy riffs and subterranean groove; and I haven't really heard The Jacks but their pacy garage-rock promises good things. It will be a great gig; I'm just not yet certain about the album that causes it to exist.