spready updated!
docs.google.com
in terms of 2008, i IMPLORE everyone on this board to chase down the only album by a sydney, oztraya band named mercy arms
after a global major label bidding war in 2006, they were signed to a mega-deal with andy slater at emi (us) that went belly-up as a result of the mariah malarkey, but it resulted in a STUNNING album that finally came out in 2008 - they got a bit of their money from the emi deal and were able to make it on tape with tony cohen, a fantastic melbourne-based producer who worked with the likes of the birthday party, hunters and collectors, the go-betweens, nick cave and the bad seeds etc. in the 1980s, and then finally mostly recently with augie march before his sad passing in 2017 at the age of 60
in terms of sound they were a bit the church (so much so they had a song titled "kilbey"), a bit early u2, and a LOT echo and the bunnymen
i really thought they were going to be mega-famous but suffice to say after their album they completely imploded; the only one to keep going with music, i think, is enfant terrible kirin j. callinan, who is arguably more famous for his antics than his stellar axe work - the only stuff he's done better than on the mercy arms ep, singles, and album was his work on jack ladder's "hurtsville" album
sadly, one of mercy arms' best songs - i think it was called "say what you say", but it was never demoed as far as i am aware - was never recorded at all
anyway, here's the first single off their self-titled debut:
chizzeck em out people!
other antipodean albums from 08 that rocked my cotton socks:
- nick cave and the bad seeds: dig! lazarus, dig!!
- kasey chambers and shane nicholson: rattlin' bones
- eddy current suppression ring: primary colours
- cut copy: in ghost colours
- empire of the sun: walking on a dream
- the drones: havilah
- the presets: apocalypso
- little red: listen to little red
- the middle east: the recordings of the middle east (their original demo album)
- quan: the amateur
- robert forster: the evangelist
- augie march: watch me disappear
- cog: sharing space
- my disco: paradise
- magic dirt: girl
- children collide: the long now
- the silents: things to learn
- sparkadia: postcards
- ladyhawke: ladyhawke
really strong year down under
