Daughter - Medicine

UK singer-songwriter Elena Tonra sings with her boyfriend Igor Haefeli under the name of Daughter.  The band put out their debut EP - The Wild Youth EP. Check out this single, Medicine.  It's safe to say that this song will never make your pre-party Friday night mix, but the production on it is great and it's a great contender for the Lights Down Low - Music Up Loud - Red Wine In Hand Award.

Gentle ladies and men, may I present:  Daughter.

The Bamboos

Australia's dominant musical contribution to the world is probably still best identified by those overseas as hard, sweaty, pub rock - think ACDC, Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil, The Church, Silverchair, Jet, The Vines, Wolfmother.  More recently however, we've softened things up slightly with bands like The Temper Trap and Angus and Julia Stone getting widespread attention in Europe and the US.  However, for whatever reason, one genre that just doesn't seem to have taken off here in Oz is funk.  This is something that I've found baffling.  But more often than not, Australian funk/soul bands are only thought of in the ignominious context of weddings - the occasion where white people get sufficiently drunk/amourous to unashamedly break out the soul dance moves.
 
The Bamboos are a funk band out of Melbourne and have been getting rave reviews for their live shows for a couple of years now.  They are about to put out their second album, entitled Medicine Man, which features a number of tracks with guest vocalists, including this one featuring Tim Rogers.  Australians will be well aware of Tim Roger's back catalogue with iconic Sydney rock outfit You am I.  Here he lends his raspy vocal talents to The Bamboos' incredibly disciplined and James Brownesque guitar led licks.  The result is this very catchy, and surprising "unAustralian" sounding single, I Got Burned.

I first heard this song on Triple J, not knowing who the vocalist was. It sounded too vulnerable to be Tim Rogers, too sensative... and frankly, too in tune.  Apparently, Tim Rodgers was born to sing soul.  Who knew?

This one is for the Dje.

Bon Iver - Calgary

Sometimes the rules of this blog get me in tangles.  Essentially, if I like something, it has to go up here. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that you always get diverse, culturally relevant content.  The below video, for example, follows on from the Bon Iver cover of Coming Down that I posted a couple of weeks ago.  Having worn out my "listens" on that song, I moved on to a related video of Bon Iver performing Calgary for Triple J.

This stripped back performance is, again, so sensitively delivered, and so different to the original.  Bon Iver tends to do a lot of the falsetto wailing.  Somehow, this gravelly, earnest, chest voice gives the song an increased sense of sincerity.  I luv luv luv it.   Listen out for the treatment of the line, "Swollen orange and light let through, your one piece swimmer stuck to you."  I don't even know who's one-piece swimmer it is, or why it was memorable... but the way he sings it, I wish I was there.

Editors note:  When I played this song to my Mum, her response was, "My Dad always used to say to me:  A girl in a bikini, I'll look once.  A girl in a one-piece, I'll keep looking."  Thanks Mum.  Compelling, and rich.

Le Skylab

Le Skylab : non-stop smoking and never-ending pastis, a rapey paramilitary uncle, johnny haliday reference, exploration of pre-pubescent sexuality, family sings dalida's bambino, 'l was there in may 68', gratuitous boobs, gauchist wankers, arab-hating facho, muff, unnecessary ten minute ending. Le cinema francais quoi.

We're just kids playing grown-ups.

Voici, the latest episode of Bref.

"Epuis un jour, on a trop fait les adultes..."

Yum.

Bref. On était des gamins. - Episode du 02/04