GHOSTWOOD Q&A

I fucking love Ghostwood, they're one of Australia's finest current bands. They've been around for a few years, but it hasn't been until now that things are finally coming together for the Sydneysiders. Currently in the midst of their East Coast Stargazer Tour, they will soon step back into the studio to work on their long awaited debut album. Their latest track, 'I Am Overcast' is doing the rounds on Triple J at the moment and is also the title of their upcoming EP, set for release next month.
Here's a Q&A I did with lead guitarist and occasional bongo man, Paddy Harrowsmith:


-S'cracken homeboy! How are you, where are you, what have you been up to this week?

Mr. Woosh, lovely to hear from you. i'm good. taking it easy. living in sydney. Just been rehearsing a bit this week. Heading to the 'gong' tomorrow.

-NOW, if you were a soup, which soup would you be?

I'd be a chicken and corn soup mate.

-You're currently on your east coast 'Stargazer Tour', where you've already played Brisbane, Gold Coast and Newcastle. How's it going so far and when was the last time you did a big tour like this?

Tour has been good so far. it's always fun heading up to Brisbane . Been playing a couple new tracks as well. Last time we did this would have probably been with Lost Valentino's i think????

-When I go on a road trip with my gang, we like to fuck each other over by teabagging one another whilst someome is asleep or doing mystery shits in or on inatimate objects, just to keep things fun. Do you guys get up to any mischief when you're on the road or is it all pretty relaxed and laid back?

No mystery shits, but we do like to pick up strangers who have vaguely heard of us and kidnap them in our van for a few days and take them to boring english towns like Bedford. Oh wait, we did that to you!

-So, once the tour is done I understand you'll be heading back into the studio to work on your debut album. How's it all going, can we expect a release this year or is 2012 looking more likely?

Recording is going well. We're doing it with Jim Mogine who is the guitarist from Midnight Oil. We are recording in his studio in Sydney. He has about 20 old guitars and a wall of amps and other things for us to play with. So it's been pretty fun so far. I would hope that we have it out before the end of the year. So i'm gonna throw it out there and just say expect it before christmas.

-Tell me a little bit about the new track 'I Am Overcast'

'I Am Overcast' is a song we actually wrote a while ago and have re-worked it. We wanted to put something out before we do the album. So we recorded this one with Jim in his studio. It's a bit of a taste of things to come as far as what the album will be about. It's also the title of our new EP coming out next month. It's got a bit of a 'spacey' nirvana vibe to it.

-Chicken Twisties OR Cheese Twisties?

Come on mate, chicken??? Cheese is orignal and the best.

-I can't believe it's July already, but in the time that's past there's been some amazing new artists and albums to emerge in 2011. What are some of your favourite new artists and albums from 2011 so far?

I dunno about new artists really this year. I really love the new TV on the Radio album. and the new Arctic Monkeys album has some good tunes on it. King of Limbs is amazing as well. Die Die Die's new album is real good.

-You'll be playing in Melbourne on Friday night [July 1] at 'Can't Say' (Miss Libertines) and I'm pretty excited, like 'six to midnight' excited. I'll be down to take some snaps for Skeleton Jamboree, so do you think you can sex it up for me, maybe pull a few shapes and create some intense poses for the camera?

Sure thing wooshey. Anything for you.

. . and finally could you please leave us with some final words of Ghostwood wisdom.

Never trust a man wearing a vest and a fedora.

ARCADE FIRE + SCENES FROM THE SUBURBS

Arcade Fire's Grammy Award winning album, The Suburbs has been reissued as a Deluxe Edition and will now feature two new tracks, 'Speaking In Tongues' and 'Culture War'. The reissue will also feature the Spike Jonze-directed 28 minute short film, 'Scenes from the Suburbs' which was inspired by the album and was co-written by Jonze, Win Butler and Will Butler. You can now watch all 28 minutes of it in its entirety over at mubi, enjoy!

ARCADE FIRE ft DAVID BYRNE - SPEAKING IN TONGUES

ARCADE FIRE - CULTURE WAR

[Removed by request]

LUKE MILLION

Luke Million is the synth wizard from The Swiss, he's from Radelaide and he's just made his video debut with his italo jam, 'Arnold'. The video is made up of clips from the days when Arnold Schwarzenegger was mackin' babes without consequences, the days when he could impregnate a girl and not have the lovechild come back and ruin his established reputation. My Dad used to think he was Arnie, he used to strut around with Terminator shades and act all hardcore, he even tried to name my older brother Conan but my Mum put a stop to that unfortunately, so he just named him after himself.
The release comes out on a split 7" picture disc which features the original and 'Sun Splash', due July 11 through FutureClassic.


Luke Million: Arnold [OFFICIAL VIDEO] from Alanedit on Vimeo.

GROSS MAGIC

Gross Magic is a lo-fi grunge enthusiast named Sam McGarrigle. The Brighton based dude is releasing his debut EP, Teen Jamz through The Sounds Of Sweet Nothing on August 8th. The EP will come in the form of a purple 7" which is currently available to pre-order from his Bandcamp and features "Sweetest Touch", a track that pretty much grabs all the best bits of the 90's and mashes them together.
Gross Magic also probably has one of the best sites ever, check it out it's pretty hardcore, remember that dancing baby from Ally Mcbeal?

GROSS MAGIC - SWEETEST TOUCH

S N A K A D A K T A L

SNAKADAKTAL - CHIMERA [Removed by request]

Snakadaktal are a young Melbourne five piece who's aim in life is to have fun and produce music that people can hum to. Currently preparing to release their debut EP in August, the band have just released the video for the lead single, 'Chimera'. Check it out!


"Chimera"-Snakadaktal from Lucy Mckendrick on Vimeo.

P A R T A Y

I'll be throwing down some 'hot jamz' this Sunday night (Queen's Birthday Eve) at the Espy Gershwin Room in St. Kilda for Different Strokes II!
Feel free to come down and hurl objects and abuse at me like a slippery gypsy.
It starts 8pm, is FREE ENTRY ALL NIGHT and will also feature the awesome Snakadaktal (LIVE) and DJs: Indian Summer, Mary Tyler Moore and Acolyte!

MOIST RADTACULAR!

S H I N D U

Belgium's Shindu are excited to announce that they'll be releasing their first official EP via Kitsuné at the end of the month on June 27. With Moonlight Matters on production duties, the Happy House EP contains one original and five remixes from Herr Styler, Midnight Savari, Polydor, Jerry Bouthier and Martians. 'Happy House' is a modern cover of a Siouxsie and the Banshees' classic with the trio showing their love of late 80's electronica. They sent me a minimix which you can grab below, and you can also check out their latest mixtape.

HAPPY HOUSE EP MINIMIX
Shindu - Happy House EP Minimix by Shindu

SHINDU MIXTAPE 2
Shindu - Mixtape #2 by Shindu
1. Love Supreme – Elsewhere
2. Hermanos Inglesos – Take Me Down (Living Islands Remix)
3. Adele – Set Fire To The Rain (Moonlight Matters Remix)
4. Foster The People – Houdini (RAC Remix)
5. Tyson – Die On The Dancefloor (Mickey Remix)
6. Hannulelauri – Bananas
7. Shindu – Happy House (Martians Remix)
8. The Japanese Popstars – Song For Lisa (Mustang Remix)
9. Dan the Automator – Rapper's Delight (Van She Tech Remix)
10.The Aikiu – The Red Kiss
11.Classixx + Madonna – Fortunate Star // Lucky Star
ENCORE TRACK: Shindu – Happy House (Herr Styler remix)

GWILYM GOLD

The former front-man of Golden Silvers, Gwilym Gold has teamed up with producer Lexxx and techno nerd, Mick Grierson to release his solo debut, 'Flesh Freeze'. The track is the first piece of music available in the Bronze Format. ["Bronze is a new non-interactive music format in which recorded material is transformed in real time, generating a unique and constantly evolving interpretation of a song on each listen."] They've basically come up with a way to play a song through an app, so that the song never sounds the same twice. Unfortunately only Mac users can use this technology at the moment, but it will be available for use on mobile devices and Windows etc soon.
So if you've got a Mac head on over to the Bronze site and have a listen, otherwise check out the preview below.


Gwilym Gold Bronze Preview from Gwilym Gold on Vimeo.

THE HORRORS

Produced and recorded by the band in their self-built studio in Dalston, London, The Horrors will be releasing their third album next month on July 26 through XL Recordings. The first track to drop from the LP is 'Still Life', a massive departure from their 2007 debut, Strange House and a natural progression from their last record, Primary Colours. The track moves away from the band's more psychedelic aspects and slows down into a more matured and confident state and I can honestly say it's the best song I've heard all year.

THE HORRORS - STILL LIFE

IS TROPICAL

In the time that it has taken me to actually post this, Is Tropical's video for 'The Greeks' has racked up over 1,000,000 views, and that's a lot of zero's. I'm not sure how many hits it takes to make a video viral, but this can't be far off. Viral or not the video is fucking awesome and it gives Is Tropical some major exposure before the release of their debut album, 'Native To' which comes out next week via Kitsune. You can thank MEGAFORCE for one of the best clips you'll see all year.

BABY MONSTER

In the lead up to the release of their self-titled debut album, Baby Monster have decided to give away a free track each week until the album lands on June 27. For the past 18 months or so, they've been busy laying down tracks for the LP, whilst also supporting the likes of Metric, Klaxons and Miike Snow. This week the LA based duo are giving away the track, 'Mr. Success', but you can also grab 'The Fear Of Charlie Sunrise' from week 1 and 'Russian Lights' from week 2. Enjoy!

BABY MONSTER - MR. SUCCESS

BABY MONSTER - RUSSIAN LIGHTS

BABY MONSTER - THE FEAR OF CHARLIE SUNRISE