The best new releases and classic re-issues on vinyl
Vale Martin Phillipps, TOWNS & Private Wives at Bigsound and Hits From The Gong playlists
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Jeb Taylor
A while back in the column I looked at some of my favourite New Zealand bands from the Flying Nun label and one of them was The Chills. Earlier this week news came through that the bands leader Martin Phillipps had passed away. A few years ago I got to see them play a really special set in Austin, Texas (this week's feature image) while I was there for SXSW that still showed how amazing the band were after a couple of decades. The band has an extensive catalogue that spans through the 80’s, 90’s and into this century that is well worth a listen. There was also the release of a great documentary about Martin around five years ago that is a fascinating watch, you can see the trailer below. Rest easy Martin.
Bigsound in Brisbane has become an annual trip for me and much of the music industry to catch up and see some of the best new bands from around the country. This year two artists are representing the Farmer & The Owl label in the form of Adelaide pop punk outfit TOWNS and Wollongong’s own punk rock trio Private Wives. Congrats to both bands for making the Bigsound cut and if you are heading along, make sure you get along to check them out. You can also see fellow local artists Hoon and Sesame Girl as part of the line up as well.
Hits From The Gong is a bunch of playlists I have up featuring music from artists either based or originating in our local area (for the purpose of this, the region covers the area from Helensburgh in the north to Gerroa in the south). There are a couple of historical playlists covering music local music pre and post 2000, but this week I’m highlighting the new music version that is updated weekly. There are a lot of great new bands emerging locally at the moment and a bunch of the more established ones have also been putting out new music. At the moment some of the emerging artists on the playlist include Plastic Bath, who play a brand of soulful riff rock, while Crown Street Militia bring the heavy brutal sounds. Proxy Diver are a new young band who mix punk and shoegaze, while Shakamoto are a high school aged band who will appeal to fans of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Lazy Eyes, ect. There are also new tracks from long time favourites Hockey Dad, Shining Bird, Raised As Wolves and Rockafella. Obviously I try to listen to as much local music as possible but am not across everything so feel free to send through any local music discoveries or let me know if you have a new release out yourself!
