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WAVE ROCK
Skipping Girl Vinegar's third album, The Great Wave, could
easily be the album of the year. Warm, revealing and exhilarating,
it's filled with tunes that will make you dance and make
you cry. "Take my hand," singer Mark Lang invites the listener
in the opening track, "I'll draw you closer." And you won't
see a better music video this year than the clip for Dance
Again. As the band plays on the beach, two people, wearing
SGV gold suits, dance after jumping out of a plane. "We
wanted to capture the energy and heart of the song," says
Mark, who lives on the coast near Geelong. "And share the
beautiful coastline that has inspired so much of the album."
Coming four years after SGV's second album, Keep Calm Carry
The Monkey, this has not been an easy album to make. The
title was inspired by Katsushika Hokusai's famous print
The Great Wave off Kanagawa (which also provided the cover
of Australian Crawl's last album, The Final Wave). "A wave
can mean many things to different people, depending on the
context in which it arrives," Mark explains. "It can be
the symbol of great joy, destruction, exhilaration, energy
and pain, all wrapped in one." While writing this album,
Mark was rocked by news that his wife had ovarian cancer.
"I have a deep love and fear of the ocean with its ever-changing
moods, and the title felt like it captured the journey we
have been on and the environment that helped shape it so
much." As Mark sings, "When life feels like it's crashing
in, one deep breath and you're living life again." American
producer Brad Jones (Missy Higgins, Josh Rouse, Melody Pool)
came to Australia to work on the album, which the band launched
last weekend at Byron Bay Bluesfest (the Melbourne launch
is at the Arts Centre on 2 May). "The Great Wave explores
a two-year period of life where we experienced personal
highs to devastating lows and back again," Mark says. "It
has been the most meaningful and painful album I have ever
made and probably the most rewarding."
DIG IT
Great to see the launch of the new edition of Clinton Walker's
seminal Buried Country. Clinton first published his story
of Aboriginal country music in 2000. This updated version
includes a new chapter covering Kev Carmody, Archie Roach,
Ruby Hunter and Tiddas. "At the time [of the first edition],
I was so consumed by the past that I paid insufficient attention
to the present," Clinton explains. There's also a new afterword
featuring Dan Sultan. "What is Dan Sultan, after all, but
an alt-country-soul singer? And a deadly one at that!"
MISSING FINGER
Powderfinger announced their break-up five years ago this
week.
HOT LINE
"Without you here holding me, the life we planned could
soon be gone/ Here comes the river, I'm just holding on"
- Skipping Girl Vinegar, Here Comes The River.
CHART WATCH
Jarryd James spends a second week at number two, but there
are just five homegrown hits in the national Top 40.
Do You Remember JARRYD JAMES (number two)
Trouble IGGY AZALEA (16)
Georgia VANCE JOY (18)
Elastic Heart SIA (23)
Hold Me Up CONRAD SEWELL (40, debut)
Lee Kernaghan has the nation's number one album for the
second week in a row.
Spirit Of The Anzacs LEE KERNAGHAN (number one)
Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit COURTNEY
BARNETT (11)
Dance With Me SHORT STACK (12, debut)
Run ALISON WONDERLAND (14)
Walking Under Stars HILLTOP HOODS (17)
Dream Your Life Away VANCE JOY (18)
Frogstomp 20th Anniversary Edition SILVERCHAIR (19, debut)
1000 Forms Of Fear SIA (20)
Freedom Ride TROY CASSAR-DALEY (25)
Songs From Ireland DAMIEN LEITH (26)
Built On Glass CHET FAKER (27)
Nothing Touches Me BRITISH INDIA (28)
Jukebox HUMAN NATURE (35)
The Veronicas THE VERONICAS (36)
Time Is Now ROSE CARLEO (38, debut)
The Very Best INXS (39)
HOWZAT! PLAYLIST
Bike SKIPPING GIRL VINEGAR
Clockstar THE HEARTACHE STATE
I Want You With Me DAN LETHBRIDGE
Steely Dan ELANA STONE
Preach DANIEL JOHNS
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