The Brag

Fishing and Oliver Tank share the same problem. Both acts make compelling music that does not, unfortunately, translate well to the stage. In the case of Fishing, two young men staring at an iMac for half an hour is not a great spectacle. Cerebral tracks like ‘OOOO’ sound fantastic on record, but in a live environment, they need a Coldcut-esque visual backdrop to hold the audience’s attention. Tank, armed with a guitar and numerous gadgets, just needs to concentrate less on his loop pedal and engage with the audience from time to time. Even so, he deserved more attention than the loud chatter among the crowd suggested he was getting.

Posted: February 11th, 2013 under Brag 499, Live Reviews, Music.
Tags: David Wild, Fishing, Oliver Tank, The Metro Theatre, Yeasayer

Jesse Ware’s debut, Devotion, was one of the finest albums of last year, combining soulful pop melodies with beats straight out of the underground. Growing up in South London, Ware immersed herself in the club scene early on, and these youthful experiences made a powerful impression. “I started to go out clubbing at quite a young age,” she tells me with a cheeky laugh. “I’d say it started when I was around 16 or so. My first experiences were drum and bass parties in South London. It was a big crew of us, all of us were school friends, and we’d go out every weekend to these drum and bass shows. We’d go and see people like Andy C and Friction playing in really small bars – it was great… We were just schoolkids sneaking into parties, but I’d say the experience was definitely important in shaping who I am now.”

Posted: January 30th, 2013 under Brag 497, Music, Music - Interview, New.
Tags: Alasdair Duncan, Alt-J, Bat For Lashes, Flume, Holy Other, Jessie Ware, Laneway Festival, Rozelle, Sydney College of the Arts, Yeasayer

For most of last year, Melbourne artist Chet Faker was absolutely killing it. The absurdly talented producer and singer welcomed in 2012 with a swag of buzz following his performances in March at South by Southwest. Later that same month, his debut EP Thinking In Textures was released, and resonated immediately with a wide-ranging audience due to its smooth mix of sharply sensual and soulful lyrics and his hooky, ambient production. Hyped-up international publications like the NME rushed to join in the chorus of praise, which had grown steadily since his 2011 cover of American RnB group Blackstreet’s ‘No Diggity’ went viral.

Posted: January 29th, 2013 under Brag 497, Music, Music - Interview, New.
Tags: Bat For Lashes, Benjamin Cooper, Chet Faker, Flume, Laneway Festival, Nicolas Jaar, Shlomo, Yeasayer

Julia Holter is at home putting the finishing touches on her Australian tour plans, but she’s been waylaid by a pesky national holiday in America. She’s got her hands full – simultaneously trying to fix her scanner, while explaining the intricacies of home recording to an Australian writer – but she speaks with a calmness that belies the stresses of combining life as a successful independent musician with Thanksgiving’s necessary family commitments. “Oh, I’m doing fine, don’t you worry about me,” she says brightly. “Although I would appreciate some technical assistance, if you can spare the time… Is there any chance you can somehow magic-up a solution for this shitty scanner? I really don’t want to be prevented from coming to Australia because of some small technical problems.”

Posted: December 10th, 2012 under Brag 492, Music, Music - Interview.
Tags: Alt-J, Bat For Lashes, Benjamin Cooper, Chet Faker, Cloud Nothings, Divine Fits, Flume, Julia Holter, Laneway Festival, Nite Jewel, Of Monsters And Men, Perfume Genius, Pond, Twerps, Yeasayer

“Sometimes I feel like I want to walk off stage and kill myself, because no-one knows what the hell any of the songs are.” These words stun me into temporary silence; I don’t know what I was expecting, but it sure as hell wasn’t this.

Posted: August 20th, 2012 under Brag 476, Music, Music - Interview, New.
Tags: Alasdair Duncan, Fragrant World, Ira Wolf Tuton, Spunk, Yeasayer