New Pornographers - 2020 Australia Tour

New Pornographers Back in Town

Much-loved power popsters New Pornographers return to Australia this month. It’ll be the first time since 2010, and ironically just a year after I finally caught part-time band member, Dan Bejar (Destroyer), who (in)famously did not come to Oz for the longest time.

I always go back to 2006’s Twin Cinema as the tent pole of an album that is all-banger-no-filler from start to finish, despite what Stereogum might think, and looking at the setlists of their most recent North American tour, we can at least expect a few tunes from this most fantabulous of albums.

The Australian tour starts next week in Melbourne and here is the full list:

• Thu 20 Feb, Fri 21 Feb - Melbourne Recital Centre, Melbourne

• Sun 23 Feb - Rechabites Hall, Perth

• Tue 25 Feb - The Triffid, Brisbane

• Wed 26 Feb - Metro Theatre, Sydney

• Fri 28 Feb - Canberra Theatre, Canberra

• Sun 1 Mar - Palais, Adelaide

• Tue 3 Mar - NZ Festival, Wellington

And here is a Spotify playlist I created based on their most recent setlists.

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2019 Mixtape

2019 Mixtape

Geoff Kim’s favourite tracks of the year

Once upon a time, I used to make physical mixtapes to hand out to friends and family on my birthday. In 2019, I don’t really know how to do this. Long gone are the days of ‘CD burning’ and Spotify playlists are just about the only way I know how to share what I deem are the best tracks for the year.

I guess this is the blog format.

As always, these are curated to be listened to in order.

Head to Spotify or Google Play Music for the playlists on those respective services and/or enjoy the videos below.

1 - “Seventeen” by Sharon Van Etten

2 - “Patience” by Tame Impala

3 - “Superbike” by Jay Som

4 - “Drunk II” by Mannequin Pussy

5 - “Not” by Big Thief

6 - “Aute Cuture” by ROSALÍA

7 - “New World” by Ghostface Killah feat. Eamon

8 - “1972” by Broken Social Scene

9 - “Painted in the Sound” by Justus Proffit

10 - “Now I’m In It” by HAIM

11 - “The Knife” by Maggie Rogers

12 - “Essentially” by Japanese Breakfast

13 - “Forever Half Mast” by Lucy Dacus

14 - “Don’t Look Down” by …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead

15 - “Destiny” by Glitter

16 - “In Your Head” by Nilüfer Yanya

17 - “Zoo Eyes” by Aldous Harding

18 - “Forest Lawn” by Better Oblivion Community Center

19 - “Element” by Deerhunter

20 - “Peace To All My Freaks” by Of Montreal

21 - “Fort Greene Park” by Battles

22 - “Home” by Caribou

23 - “Dawn Chorus” by Thom Yorke

2018 mixtape

Favourite bestest tracks of 2018 in one list. Designed to be listened to in order.

A playlist featuring The Beths, Car Seat Headrest, Hop Along, and others

Wherever You Land

A few people have asked me what the outro music of the podcast was. I have no clue how the idea came to me when it did, but somehow the Nels Cline 4-minute guitar solo during Wilco's Impossible Germany seemed to, and perhaps always will, be the perfect outro for anything, ever.

Each episode of the podcast ends with us giving some calls to action to follow and subscribe to our little side project called The Lazy Couch podcast - this, along with any reflective thoughts about what we had just discussed over the past 45 minutes. Having this track played in the background while doing so just works.

It's wild how expressive Nels can get with the guitar in hand and I can only imagine what sort of flow he needs to experience, before he can string those buttery notes together. Rolling Stone once ranked him the 82nd best guitarist ever, but Nels - you are indeed my number one.

To promote their upcoming tour, Wilco posted footage of said song performed on KCRW last year. It prompted me to re-post here - because some things are just too perfect not to share.

Middle Kids in America

Hannah Joy from Middle Kids on Conan

Ever since Fairgrounds in Berry late last year, Middle Kids' Edge of Town has been a constant ear worm. I instantly fell in love with the rolling rhythms with country vibes, the at-times Malkmus-esque guitars, and that voice -- what a refreshing voice!

Although still very young as a band, their tracks have that special warm quality where you feel like you've known them for quite some time. Hannah's song writing is striking yet understated, and best of all it all sounds effortless. The band may be young but Hannah Joy and Tim Fitz have been kicking around in Sydney for quite some time now. Both established solo artists, it wasn't until they got together to co-create this thing they call Middle Kids, to really break out and get noticed by the likes Triple J and Sir Elton John!

When I heard they were playing at The OAF in April, I jumped at the chance to see them again. I'm now wondering whether the venue will be big enough for them after lighting up the stage on Conan earlier in the week as they prepare for a 5 week long tour of America.

The US tour officially kicks off on Tuesday in Seattle. It includes a KCRW showcase at SXSW in Austin an that is fantastic for them. Aside from the usual stops in SF, Seattle, NYC and the like, Middle Kids will also be playing in Nashville, Baton Rouge and Saxapahaw - That appeared a little weird until I realised that some of these dates are to support Cold War Kids. 

Speaking of KCRW, just a few hours ago they appeared on Jason Bentley's legendary Morning Becomes Eclectic show and played a 40 minute-odd set in the LA studios. If you want to get a feel for the sound, I highly recommend you watch. Start from the 1:30 mark.

The self-titled EP is out today on Domino in the US and EMI Music in Australia.