STACK #140 Jun 2016

MUSIC REVIEWS

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Paul Dempsey Strange Loop

Gold Panda Good Luck And Do Your Best Gold Panda went to Japan and all he got was this super luscious new record. Good Luck and Do Your Best , named after a common Japanese phrase, bears all the hope that it would imply: the tension-building snap of drums on Song For a Dead Friend evokes the struggles against life’s difficulties, while the luxurious chimes of Halyards and warm synth stabs on Chiba Nights bring out those moments of triumph. Playing samples of traditional Japanese instruments and field recordings against frantic electronic squeals, Good Luck and Do Your Best pays homage to the history from which Gold Panda draws to build a cohesive but wide-ranging third record. (Inertia) Jake Cleland

Paul Dempsey makes music for the head and the heart. His cerebral songs seep into your subconscious with melodies that are beautifully intimate, and cryptic lyrics that are filled with wonder and intrigue. “Tell me, baby,” he sings in the title track of his second solo album, “what’s so good about being understood?” Twenty years after Something For Kate’s first release, Dempsey is still writing about how he sees the world. “I keep pushing,” he states in Lifetime Supply , “waiting for something to push me back.” This is intelligent pop, with a wry sense of humour – check out the titles Idiot Oracle , Hey History (Don’t Go Changin’) and Nobody’s Trying To

The Temper Trap Thick As Thieves “The time is now or never,” Dougy Mandagi declares on The Temper Trap’s new album, “and if we have to fall, we’ll fall together.” The third album is make or break; if you nail it, you’re gonna stick around a long time. Some great Aussie bands, like Jet and Motor Ace, didn’t survive that test third album – of course, The Temper Trap were both

blessed and cursed by a remarkable debut. That nothing here matches the magic of Sweet Disposition is no major criticism, not that the band hasn’t tried, writing and recording in London, LA, Montreal, Byron Bay and Melbourne. The Temper Trap sound is sensitive stadium rock. At its worst, it’s hollow singalong choruses and songs such as Alive , which doesn’t rise above the banality of the lyric: “It feels so good, so good to be alive.” At its best, it’s both intimate and epic, though the record’s truly touching moments – Summer’s Almost Gone , Tombstone and What If I’mWrong – are buried at the backend of the album. “Nothing in the world can tear us apart,” Mandagi repeats like a mantra in Lost . Here’s hoping, because Thick As Thieves shows that The Temper Trap still have plenty to offer. The fourth album could be the one. (Liberation) Jeff Jenkins

Tell Me Something. (EMI) Jeff Jenkins

MUSIC

Jimmy Barnes Soul Searchin' Jimmy Barnes continues to explore his musical roots with the release of another outstanding album of soul and R&B covers.  Recorded with an all-star band of Nashville and Muscle Shoals session musicians, many of whom played on the original recordings, Barnes isn't afraid to tackle classics (James Carr's The Dark End Of The Street , Don Covay's Mercy, Mercy , Solomon Burke's Cry To Me ), while his deep understanding of the genre allows him to make lesser known songs (Etta James' Worship The Ground You Walk On , Laura Lee's It's How You Make It Good ) his own. (Universal) Billy Pinnell

James Blake The Colour In Anything James Blake has pushed the boat out into stranger, more capricious, more beautiful waters. Amongst sudden crushes of synth, drifting chords and tiny electronic secrets, the pleasure of Blake’s voice is in its deception; he will give you a heart-burstingly sincere line which trembles with emotion, but suddenly you can’t tell which of its accompanying vocal hoots are reversed, subtly warped or vocoded. The Bon Iver collab I Need A Forest Fire is startling in its beauty – these boys are made for each other – and confirms that both artists will never throw handfuls of stuff at you to try to keep your interest, but know that the zeros are as

Classixx Faraway Reach Don’t be fooled by the title – there’s no flutey, harpy nonsense in this album from Classixx. Faraway Reach is as much something you’d expect to catch on Rage as on a disc spinning during a Retrostar warehouse sale. Part Capital Cities and part M83, Classixx are a fresh electronic duo and Faraway Reach is a wonderful amalgamation of artists you wouldn’t likely see together anywhere else. In These Fine Times transports you to little Asian street markets, and the title track takes a step back into foot-tapping territory with a slightly trancey upbeat. Classixx’ latest is a fitting follow up to their 2013 Hanging Gardens , and gives high hopes for what’s to come. (Future Classic) Alesha Kolbe

Baby Animals Baby Animals, 25th

Anniversary Deluxe Edition A theory: If Baby Animals had switched the order of their first two albums they would have conquered the world. The adventurous second album, Shaved and Dangerous , would have established the band’s musical credibility, and if it were followed by the pop-rock genius of their self-titled debut, nothing would have stopped them. That said, it’s hard to argue with a debut album that sold 600,000 copies in Australia, spawned four Top 50 hits and spent six weeks at number one. And the bonus live disc – recorded at a club show in Boston in 1992 – shows that Baby Animals were a potent live act as well. (Liberation) Jeff Jenkins

important as the ones. (Universal) Zoë Radas

JUNE 2016

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