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THREE DOWNLOW VOTES
The intro reminds Howzat! of LRB's Help Is On Its Way. The
opening guitars sound a little like the Hoodoo Gurus' Bittersweet.
Overall, the guitars jangle like Tom Petty, and the production
dips its lid to the genius of Jeff Lynne. And then there's
a cosmic synth break that reminds of Heart and Kiss and
maybe Kenny Rogers. Sounds incongruous, but it's the new
Wagons single, Downlow (Spunk/EMI), and it's a cracker.
"Your mamma don't like me none," Henry Wagons sings, "she
got every reason under the sun." But this is a song that'll
satisfy the entire Wagons demographic. Downlow is the first
single from the new Wagons album, due out in May. The band
is launching the single as well as the vinyl version of
their previous album, The Rise And Fall Of Goodtown, at
the Corner on March 4.
NOT SO COOL WORLD
Australian legend Ross Wilson has taken a swipe at Sony
and iTunes in a savage piece at his excellent website, rosswilson.com.au.
Ross' latest best-of, Mr Eagle Rock, is not available on
iTunes because Sony own the original Daddy Cool tracks and
won't allow Shock to make them available for download. "They
also have a bad attitude when it comes to Daddy Cool's compilation
The Essential Daddy Cool," Ross writes, "you can't download
the entire collection as an album, only track by track,
and the biggest DC hits cost $2.19 instead of $1.69! I swear
it's pissing off fans and it's pissing off moi. This is
exploitation at its worst. Hello Sony, hello iTunes Australia,
our dollar is now worth $US1.00 so shouldn't our iTunes
tracks now cost $0.99 like they do in the US? And they wonder
why we shop online offshore. These guys are supposed to
be selling my music - reasonable prices would lead to more
sales and happier customers." Hear, hear.
CLIP OF THE YEAR
Head to YouTube right now to check out the video for The
Little Stevies' Feel It. It's fabulous.
GRANEY DAYS AHEAD
New record deal! New book! New album! 2011 is going to be
a big year for Dave Graney. He's signed to Liberation, who
are releasing a new Dave Graney and the Lurid Yellow Mist
album, Rock 'N' Roll Is Where I Hide, in April. Dave says
it's a "full on rock 'n' roll album", featuring re-recordings
of songs such as Night Of The Wolverine, Feelin' Kinda Sporty,
I'm Not Afraid To Be Heavy and I'm Gonna Release Your Soul.
The album will coincide with Dave's memoir, 1001 Australian
Nights. "Not so much a personal slant, but everything gets
all mixed up along the way."
SKATER BOYS
As the Xanadu musical hits town, nouveau yacht rockers The
Vaudeville Smash are launching a single called Roller Disco,
a summer smash about falling in love, with a smooth groove
and tasty horns. "I have watched Xanadu and I love the soundtrack,"
says singer Marc Lucchesi. "I also think Olivia looks pretty
nice. But Roller Disco is actually a song about my early
teens, when I would go to the ice skating rink every week
with my first girlfriend. A coming-of-age song, if you will.
I thought falling in love 'at the roller disco' had a better
ring than 'at the ice rink', hence the change from hard
water to hard wood." The video shoot at the Eltham roller
rink saw keys player Ben Timmis suffer for his art - he
broke his leg, even though he wasn't on skates. The Vaudeville
Smash are playing this Saturday at the Toff.
NICK ROCKS, GEORGIA FIELDS
You would have seen the logo on many local releases: Victoria
Rocks. It means that the disc was made with the assistance
of Arts Victoria's Vic Rocks funding program. Two grant
recipients - Nick Batterham and Georgia Fields - are doing
a gig this Friday at the Empress. "Vic Rocks is great,"
Nick says. "It certainly filled my sails. The grant allowed
me to mix the record [Second Lovers] using a decent desk,
which turned my home recordings into a coherent record.
Working in isolation, any positive feedback from the outside
world gives you a lift." Georgia was suffering from food
poisoning when she got her Arts Vic letter. "I had never
felt so happy, violently convulsing my gut out into a bucket,
clutching my letter of funding acceptance," she recalls.
The deadline for the next round of funding is March 7.
CHART WATCH
No homegrown hits in the national Top 10.
Who's That Girl GUY SEBASTIAN (number 14)
Friday To Sunday JUSTICE CREW (19)
Rapunzel DRAPHT (20)
Saturday Night JESSICA MAUBOY (30)
Big Jet Plane ANGUS & JULIA STONE (37)
Rock It LITTLE RED (38)
Cut Copy debut at number three.
Zonoscope CUT COPY (number three, debut)
Twenty Ten GUY SEBASTIAN (eight)
Down The Way ANGUS & JULIA STONE (10)
Altiyan Childs ALTIYAN CHILDS (14)
Birds Of Tokyo BIRDS OF TOKYO (16)
Gilgamesh GYPSY & THE CAT (26)
Running On Air BLISS N ESO (27)
He Will Have His Way VARIOUS (30)
Get Closer KEITH URBAN (32)
Immersion PENDULUM (33)
We Are Born SIA (34)
Midnight Remember LITTLE RED (36)
I Believe You Liar WASHINGTON (39)
HOWZAT! PLAYLIST
Downlow WAGONS
Roller Disco THE VAUDEVILLE SMASH
Feel It THE LITTLE STEVIES
Seven Years GEORGIA FIELDS
I Got You ROSS WILSON
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