Webcuts Music

Another week, another round of Australian tour news. Lucky us antipodeans (who live in Australia).

Tickets for the third Sunset Sounds festival which takes over the Riverstage and Botanic gardens over two days – January 4th and 5th 2011 are now on sale. Here are Webcuts’ pick’n'mix lucky 7:

1. Interpol – while their new self titled album (nicknamed #4 by the band) has this writer at a loss if any band on God’s green earth are made for a festival it’s Interpol. Last seen by Webcuts in the cheap seats at Brisbane’s Convention centre in 2008 it certainly won’t be up close and personal but like their music it’ll be expansive and suitably epic. Will Paul Banks actually play the guitar strung around his neck? Who in fact will be playing bass? Will there be a pheromone harvesting ritual on stage? All these questions and more shall be answered come January.
2. The Morning Benders’ baroque pop of Big Echo showed a band “capable of catchy, singable tunes that don’t seem like everything else out there.” Sounds like ideal summer festival fodder doesn’t it? See you down the front benders.
3. The National – So they disappointed us at Way Out West, it still makes the good/average National live average that we’ve seen 1 to 3 in their favour so we’re betting on a return to form set, albeit one focusing on this year’s slow burning masterpiece High Violet, when they take to Sunset Sounds’ stage. Tip for Matt Berninger: you may want to ditch the suit given the extreme heat and humidity in Brisbane at that time of year. Or at least make it a cotton one, no polyester, okay?
4. Joan Jett – Now we come to to the wild card and the black (heart) sheep of the festival. With the modest exposure of the The Runaways movie this year will the Jett-star make us all love rock’n'roll as much as she does? Sure to get plenty “she’s pretty good for her age” comments.
5. Public Enemy – Some of us were in high school when Fear of a Black Planet came out and just starting to develop our love for UK indie music while dismissing all things from America. 20 years later will we foolishly turn our back on one of hip hop’s most influential artists playing this album in full? We think not.
6. Cloud Control – Australian band of the moment who have earned many raves (Triple J album of the week, four start reviews all round) for their debut album Bliss and currently on a sell out tour of the country this Sydney indie-pop band would be foolish to miss. Ignorance is not bliss.
7. Ladyhawke - The last post on her website from Pip Brown, back in May this year, was that she was in her homeland of New Zealand working on new material. Hopefully new songs will be unleashed at Sunset Sounds where the heat, if not the music, will certainly cause her delirium.

Tickets via Ticketmaster and www.moshtix.com.au

King Drone Gareth Liddiard has a solo album, Strange Tourist, just around the corner (October 1st through Shock). The raspy voiced one recorded the spare and bare bones disc at Havilah in Victoria where the Drones album of the same name was done and dusted. With a tour in support of the release Webcuts is eager to see if watching Gareth Liddiard sing is still like witnessing a drunk arguing with his own reflection.

Gareth Liddiard Strange Tourist Dates

• Nov 05 (Fri) – Melbourne – Thornbury Theatre
• Nov 11 (Thu) – Adelaide – Grace Emily
• Nov 12 (Fri) – Perth – Fremantle Arts Centre (Sonic Sessions)
• Nov 13 (Sat) – Perth – Mojo’s
• Nov 17 (Wed) – Newcastle – Lizotte’s
• Nov 18 (Thu) – Kincumber – Lizotte’s
• Nov 19 (Fri) – Brisbane – Old Muesum
• Nov 20 (Sat) – Sydney – Oxford Arts
• Nov 21 (Sun) – Katoomba – Clarendon Guesthouse
• Nov 27 (Sat) – Queenscliff – Queenscliff Music Festival

English psychedelic electronic indie act Broadcast fell off our radar sometime around 2005 so we were surprised to learn not only of the ridiculously titled mini-LP from 2009 Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age (we kid you not) but of an Australian tour, their first ever, in December off the back of their Meredith festival slot. Broadcast received loud and clear Trish.

Broadcast Australian Tour 2010 with Seekae and Pikelet

• Dec 04 (Sat) – Perth – Capitol (http://moshtix.com.au)
• Dec 06 (Mon) – Brisbane – Hi-Fi (www.thehifi.com.au)
• Dec 08 (Wed) – Sydney – Forum (http://moshtix.com.au)
• Dec 09 (Thu) – Melbourne – Hi-Fi  (www.thehifi.com.au)

Tickets on sale Tuesday, September 14. Also playing at Meredith Music Festival December 10-12