Archive for 'Brag 475'
[MUSIC: Album Review] New War – New War
Space, or at least the impression of it, plays an important role on New War’s debut. The instrumentation is pretty straightforward post-punk fare; what makes it exciting is the spaces implied by what’s played, the chemistry lurking between the notes.
Posted: August 20th, 2012 under Album Reviews, Brag 475, Music, New.
Tags: Indie Album of the Week, Luke Telford, New War, Sensory Projects
[MUSIC: Interview] Alpine
Titled like a kid’s first book, A Is For Alpine is Alpine’s first full-length release, and for most it will certainly act as an introduction to the Melbourne sextet. The whimsical melodies and almost childlike falsetto enunciation evoke the innocence of formative years – but the band has existed since 2009 and, having now earned solid critique, record company approval and spots supporting some of the country’s biggest acts, this record in fact represents Alpine’s coming of age.
Posted: August 20th, 2012 under Brag 475, Music, Music - Interview, New.
Tags: A Is For Alpine, Alpine, Bella Amott-Hoare, Ivy League Records, Lou James, Oxford Art Factory, Phoebe Baker
[MUSIC: Interview] Francis Inferno Orchestra
Griffin James has been back in the country less than 72 hours and he’s already basically homeless. Worse still, his vinyl collection has been attacked. The man better known as electronic project Francis Inferno Orchestra arrived back in Melbourne only to find he’d been booted. “It wasn’t as nasty as it sounds, because I was living with my dad. It was a pretty chilled deal, and I had a pretty large amount of space to work in. But then I came home from two months of touring through Europe to find the house is getting sold, so I have to move way out to the ‘burbs with my mum. Meanwhile, I go outside and my record boxes are smashed open in the garage. There are expensive, original records sprawled out everywhere… I mean, my dad doesn’t really realise what he’s doing, but then he starts chucking synths and all this expensive gear into a moving van and I’m trying not to flip,” he deadpans. “It was some bizarre shit, man.”
Posted: August 17th, 2012 under Brag 475, Music, Music - Interview, New.
Tags: Benjamin Cooper, Francis Inferno Orchestra, Griffin James, The Spice Cellar
[MUSIC: Interview] Future Islands
Sometimes you can forget that bands are people too. Of course they have the physical requirements – legs, toes, haircuts and so on – but for some reason you see them onstage, you read about them, and you start to separate the creation from the creator. They become vessels to funnel sound through, with no interest in anything that’s not their next project. This perception can be reinforced when a band nonchalantly shrugs off their world-faring day job or plays the modesty card. So it’s particularly refreshing to hear Gerrit Welmers, the man in charge of Future Islands’ glossy keyboards and electronic percussion, speak about seeing the band’s collective idol with bright-eyed enthusiasm. Remember: musicians like music as well.
Posted: August 16th, 2012 under Brag 475, Music, Music - Interview, New.
Tags: Future Islands, Gerrit Welmers, Mitch Alexander, On The Water, Oxford Art Factory
[FILM: Interview] The Bourne Legacy
A thriller that doesn’t require you to shave several points off your IQ – that’s how Tony Gilroy describes The Bourne Legacy, but you could apply that description to any number of films on his resume. Gilroy has worked steadily as a screenwriter over the last two decades, and penned the first three entries in the Bourne series, which were the very definition of smart, cerebral action flicks. He stepped behind the camera for 2007’s acclaimed Michael Clayton, and followed that up with the equally lean corporate espionage tale Duplicity. There was never any doubt that the Bourne series was in good hands when Gilroy stepped in to replace Paul Greengrass as director, but with the absence of Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne, the challenge was finding a leading man worthy of the series’ pedigree. That leading man proved to be Jeremy Renner, whose mixture of toughness and vulnerability made him perfect for the role of Aaron Cross.
Posted: August 15th, 2012 under Arts, Arts - Interview, Brag 475, New.
Tags: Alasdair Duncan, Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, The Bourne Legacy, Tony Gilroy