The Music Network: MAJOR LABEL - Showcasing at Oxford Art Factory

Major Label, a new singles record label owned by clothing chain General Pants Co. showcased three Sydney up-and-coming bands at The Oxford Arts Factory last night.

Four-piece rock outfit Underlights (Jack Friels – guitar/vocals, Darius Navidzadeh – guitar/vocals, Tom O’Dell – drums and Johnny Took – bass) were first on the bill and probably the most nervous. Jack Friels had a pleasing voice and a jaw that swung like a barn door. This quirky element emphasised each lyric in tracks Skip Stones and Love Me, proved they weren’t just school friends with a spare garage and lots of time. They were calculating in their milky guitar solos and idiosyncratic lyrics. Time was clearly of the essence as the boys were packing up before Darius had even finished singing.

Second to take the stage were indie/electro group Guineafowl. This six-piece band had style, and many an instrument! Vocalist, guitarist and namesake of the band Guineafowl was dressed in a studded suit jacket and the biggest quiff I have ever seen on a male. Other Guineafowl members Douglas S. Thompson (vocals/guitar), Ceci Herbert (keyboard/vocals/guitar), Lachlan McQueen (Bass), Yarren Hominh (guitar) and Matt Field (drums) were lined up along the front of the stage trying to catch a ray of limelight. The track Botanist began soft and quivering then climaxed to a strong more assertive tone. In Our Circles saw Ceci and Guineafowl sing in perfect melody where you couldn’t distinguish one voice from another. Record scratching sounds overlapped a long lasting peak as the singers gave each other knowing sideways glances. They were good and they knew it. The intelligently devised track, Mothr jumbled all structure so that peculiar instrumentals were confused for technical difficulties. Guineafowl could not have been one inch more passionate and ready to be scooped up and signed.

Indie foursome Made In Japan (James Cooney – drums/vocals, John Graham - lead guitar, Tom Davis – guitar and Pavie Vizintin – bass) were the last on the bill beginning their set with a catchy three minute interlude. James had his kit at the front of the stage and with loose wrists alternated from heavy alternative percussion to yielding vocals. The bands home-made logo was pasted in white tape on the bass drum and as John checked his set list from a post it note we were reminded of their embryonic state. Tracks Pairs, Invertuoso and Light Shadows sounded like Incubus but with progressive punk elements thrown in.

The Music Network Album review: Joshua Radin - Simple Times

American folk musician Joshua Radin’s sophomore effort Simple Times could easily be mistaken for a schoolboys mix-tape. The album is pregnant with songs about insecurity, unrequited love and boy-meets-girl romances. This would be fine, if he weren’t in his mid-thirties.

Vulnerable tracks I’d Rather Be With You, Friend Like You and Brand New Day are immediately affiliated with clichéd love-story films, literally. Radin’s songs have played a role in movies The Nanny Diaries, Catch and Release and The Last Kiss. Many subtle but catchy riffs are overlapped with poetic lyrics; the songs are short and leave me wanting.

Free Of Me almost has me bent down to eat my words, almost. Joshua Radin has a seraphic voice, much like that of Jack Johnson or Pete Murray. He’s actually quite erudite for a self-taught musician. His collaborations with Ingrid Michaelson and Patty Griffin in Sky and You Got Growin’ Up To Do reveal a stronger more passionate folk voice.

Don’t get me wrong; I love a vulnerable singer as much as the next single Sydneysider. But there is a fine line between the admirably exposed and the pitiable damaged. Then again America’s Rolling Stone Magazine called Radin ‘this generations Bob Dylan,’ so what do I know?!

The Music Network Album Review: Plan B - The Defamation of Strickland Banks

English rapper/actor Plan B’s second studio album, The Defamation of Strickland Banks, proves not only that he can actually sing but also that he’s quite the raconteur. The album is an introduction to his soon to be released feature film of the same name.

Each song is a chapter, connecting to an overall fabricated tale set in the 1960’s. Successful soul-singer Strickland Banks is wrongfully convicted and jailed for a crime he didn’t commit, separating him from his lover.

Plan B, also known as Ben Drew wrote and produced this layered album of rap, soulful jazz and Motown influenced R&B. The departure from his previous album Who Needs Action When You Got Words is noticeable in its maturity and structure. Although in tracks The Recluse and What You Gonna Do he makes it known he hasn’t grown too far from his hip-hop roots.

Plan B never breaks character in his radio released single Stay Too Long as he hones in on influences like Smokey Robinson and Ray Charles. Piercing trumpets and smooth backing vocals are a constant throughout the record as each track showcases a new hidden vocal talent or a surprise string instrumental.

Each track on the album displays his far-reaching vocal ability’s and we are left wondering why he kept such a sweet sound from us in his first album. The record peaks early at She Said, there are no metaphors in his lyrics just storytelling at it’s best. The track is weaved with beautiful brass band elements putting this album at a high level of complexity.

Plan B may lose devout fans with this newly sophisticated record. He could not have stepped further out of the British hip-hop box; but he has done so with a suave sense of knowing that he needs to showcase his vocal talents; even if it is under yet another pseudonym and about entirely fictional events.

- Poppy Reid

The Music Network: Porcelain at the Oxford Art Factory Basement

Woolongong pop rockers Porcelain are back home in Australia after being based in Los Angeles making and recording their debut album Freedom And Release. After their short forty-minute gig in the basement of The Oxford Arts Factory I was left thinking perhaps they came back a little too soon.

Female front Lo Roberts was the only member of the five-piece group that reminded us we weren’t at a school band recital. “Come closer, I’m affectionate,” she marshaled before they played.

Lead guitarist Ben Richards seemed bored and hid behind his dreads. Drummer Ritchie Schafe thumped his way through the whole set on autopilot and bassist Ewen Penberthy-Groves hid behind electric violinist Asha Mevlana, who choreographed each stroke of her instrument with jagged precision.

The second track was radio released single The Last Song I’m Wasting On You. Lo’s facials were a highlight; she has an amusing stage presence which made up for her band mates tedium. She winked at the front row and did a few throw-downs sending her bright blonde hair skyward. Songs Desert Dressed In Lights and When I’m Gone had the same punchy pop sound as their radio single. Lo sung of heartbreak and how hard a time they had in L.A trying to ‘make it.’ The songs were similar in their obvious desperation to become a hit single.

It wasn’t until the last song Fuck The Radio that they started to perform with vigor and unify as a band. This was a shame because once I saw them enjoying themselves I wanted to stand up and dance. But it was too late.

The Music Network Live Review: Stereophonics

It has been twelve years since we have seen indie/rock band Stereophonics tour in Australia. After six studio albums including a Best Of album it was about time. Their sold out show at the Enmore Theatre was not to promote their seventh album Keep Calm And Carry On, nor was it to show a reinvention of the band (they dressed all in black as they have always been famous for); it was to entertain with the same unspoiled fervor that we have been missing.

Opening with the vibratory tracks A Thousand Trees, I Got Your Number and Pick Apart That’s New, the stage filled with a pulsing rainbow of different coloured flashing light that changed to a deep blue during the middle-eight of Stuck In A Rut.

The set was pristine, alternating between the dirty interludes of older tracks and the ornate, introspective Keep Calm And Carry On songs. The renowned Kelly Jones struck his rock star pose and smiled to himself when the audience cheered at the beginning of every song, knowing we were about to sing each lyric with him. His acoustic tracks I Wouldn’t Believe In Your Radio and Bright Red Star saw senior citizens contented and many a man-hug shared.

New songs Uppercut, Trouble and Innocent showcased the bands unified energy. Stereophonics bassist and guitarist Richard Jones and Adam Zindani had fun with each song. They hit each grit-filled note perfectly, a more raw and loud rendition of the album. Heat rose in a clouded aura above shirtless drummer Javier Weyler. He raised his hand and asked for applause, the band did this often and each time we willingly obliged.

If you didn’t get the meaning behind their music, you did after this concert. Kelly’s sarcasm was incredibly apparent in his track Mr. Writer about the British media. He said, “This song took me ten minutes to write and ten years to fuckin’ explain it.”

The crowd pounded the floor, hoping to entice the band into playing an encore of She’s Alright. The Stereophonics retook the stage and fulfilled the audience’s wish, making it the stand out sing-a-long of the night and then appeasing them with two more songs, the finale being Dakota. The whole concert had been planned pandemonium.

The Music Network Live Review: Katie Noonan and The Captains-Oxford Art Factory

Katie Noonan and The Captains joined forces on Thursday night at The Oxford Art Factory to create what can only be described as an honest and beautiful collaboration. This was the last show of their national Page One tour and the night before their debut album Emperor’s Box was released.

Vines and red velvet curtains bordered the stage and a single chandelier set an intimate dark mood. The Captains (Stu Hunter – keys/bass, Cameron Deyell – guitar and Declan Kelly – drums) stepped straight out of an Oxford Street vintage store and onto the stage; the tweed jackets and bowlers caps warmly welcomed by audience members. Katie Noonan glided up to her keyboard and microphone facing half towards her Captains and half toward the audience; she wore a boat in her hair, made entirely from tulle.

She opened in true Noonan style, her strong falsetto delivering Radar. By the time she reached the song Sweet One (co-written with Sia), shallow baths were filling up behind our eyes. Emperor’s Box tracks Cotton Wool, After the Rain and Golden swept us away on an expressive journey where the audience was left captivated and embraced.

Noonan has reinvented herself from her days with George and has done so with conviction and an unwavering pitch. During her keyboard solo in Space Between The Captains shied away from their instruments is respect. She sung of loss, female friendship, postnatal fatigue and the joys of her marriage, all while involving the audience and informing us of each song’s origin.

The Captains complimented Noonan’s haunting whispers with eerie percussion and guitar sounds and who could forget the glockenspiel. A simple touch which added precise chimes to her soulful operatic.

The Captains talent was showcased during Never Know Your Luck during the second half of their set. A song Noonan co-wrote with Tim Finn beautifully proving her rejection of trends and pop music.

The final song was the joyous and energetic Page One. With poetic lyrics and the dynamic backing band, this edgy debut single has the formula of a hit song.

Before the bitter-sweet encore Little Voice, Noonan said “This is a lullaby to sing you all to sleep.” We were left feeling dreamy and full; credit to their aptitude.

The Music Network Album Review: Justin Nozuka - You I Wind and Sea

Canadian soul singer Justin Nozuka delivers his second album You I Wind And Sea, taking us on a predominantly acoustic journey, and expressing a sound that seems wise beyond his twenty-two years.

Nozuka's previous album Holly (named after his mother) was already in the works when he was at the tender age of twelve, with some of the songs on the debut written at just fifteen. This latest album similarly portrays a soulful, rational approach to teenage angst. You I Wind Land And Sea retains a lot of the maturity featured on Holly, but with less onus on his jaded love-life and more of a focus on external, heavier subjects such as world events and abuse.

It's obvious Nozuka is influenced by soul legends like Lauryn Hill and Marvin Gaye, but like many new artists, Nozuka attempts to define his music by allocating his sound to his own genre: alt/soul.

The track Gray has a tribal feel to it, using chimes and soft percussion to introduce us to an album in which the mood changes in every track. In the song Hollow Men, his growing maturity is showcased in his lyrics, while the melodies emanate a more confident musician, and here it is clear that Nozuka is growing up through his music.

This maturity could be attributed to his work with charities like World Vision, Free The Children and War Child. Nozuka, along with fifty other Canadian artists, also donated his vocals to a reworked version of K'naan's Wavin' Flag to help Haiti. Clearly, his passion for greater issues is reflected in the themes of this album.

With internet buzz labelling him a 'Canadian-cutie' when the album hasn't even charted yet, Nozuka will no doubt be seeing success with his second offering. Let's hope he keeps his raw soulful edge and doesn't sign any modelling contracts just yet!

The Music Network: MGMT - The Metro Theatre, Sydney

You wouldn’t know the MGMT Sydney concert had sold out in just four hours if you arrived early enough to see the supporting act at the Virgin Metro last night. With just over 100 spectators during The Bang Gang Deejays set and only four people dancing, my outlook was dismal. The Bang Gang Deejays didn’t engage with us at all, perhaps knowing that if they did look up, an empty room awaited them. But as the room filled with energy so did their performance. They played the classic Johnny Cash song Get Rhythm and we started to pay attention.

Connecticut indie duo MGMT came out with Matt Asti (bass, backing vocals, Will Berman (drums, backing vocals), and James Richardson who impressed by singing, playing guitar and sporadically rocking the keyboard whilst thrusting his long tresses back and forwards in a hypnotizing head-bang. Vanwyngarden and Goldwasser donned a geek-chic look with Goldwasser in thick black-rimmed glasses and Vanwyngarden in an open black tie. They were welcomed by the crowd as all five members chanted in perfect unison during It’s Working, the first track on their latest album Congratulation’s. They appeared well rehearsed but unprepared for our reaction.

Electric Feel from their previous and debut album Oracular Spectacular was the third song in, the room screamed at its mere intro. MGMT could have been saving their energy but the audience enjoyed their old songs more than they did. Onlookers looked bored, almost blocking MGMT’s new songs out by putting up a wall of chattering nonchalance. Was it because it was a school night or because their fans weren’t ready for this new sound?

Songs from the yet to be released Congratulation’s album stood out, but not necessarily in the way the audience were expecting. The tracks blurred into one synthesized unrequited romance. MGMT did warn their fans that Congratulation’s would have “no hits and no singles,” they lived up to that with not a hint of commercialism in sight.

The encore song Kids was clearly a homage to the audience. MGMT sung along to a backing track and left me with a mutual feeling of satisfaction, that it was over.