Archive for year: 2014

For those lucky patrons who caught the incredible Neil Finn and Paul Kelly collaborative concert at the Sydney Opera House in early 2013, and for those who missed out on getting to the show, Music Matters has three copies of the Paul Kelly & Neil Finn Goin’ Your Way CD/DVD to giveaway.

We want to know if you went to the tour earlier this year, and what was your favourite song? Or if you didn’t make it to the show, which song would you have loved to see live at the Opera House? Post your answer on our Facebook wall, tweet us @musicmattersanz or just drop us an email to musicmatters@aria.com.au.

For full T&C’s please contact musicmatters@aria.com.au; this promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook

A Tidal Wave of Love
Carla Rocavert reviews the exclusive showcase of Capital Cities at The Standard, Surry Hills September 25, 2013. Photos by Brad Smith.

“Love. Just love away. Just do it every day. Just do it every way” chanted indie-pop outfit Capital Cities at their exclusive Sydney showcase last night. Industry folk swelled into rhythmic unison with heads bopping and hands clapping as the harmonic melody of a Los Angeles ‘love song’ played over funky indie-electro beats.

Meet Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian, the duo rocking a ‘tidal wave’ of hypnotic electro-pop songs on US and international stages. Both former jingle writers, their debut album is A Tidal Wave of Mystery, a melange of reimagined disco covers including Pink Floyd’s “Breathe” and Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” and original indie pop tunes including their global hit “Safe and Sound”.

Backed by Hollywood label Capitol Records the Capital Cities sound is perhaps a nod to the playful disco of Daft Punk or the quirky Scissor Sisters (who rose through the charts with a disco-funk cover of “Comfortably Numb”). Capital Cities’ secret weapon however is extraordinary trumpeter Spencer Ludwig, whose soulful, jazzy riffs lift each piece into the euphoric joyfulness they’ve become famous for.

Normally a five piece unit, only bassist Manny Quintero and Ludwig joined Merchant and Simonian for last night’s showcase; as a foursome they covered every instrumental base.

Sporting trademark sunnies and black jacket Simonian bopped alongside Merchant (on guitar) delivering cute choreography and perfectly synced harmonies. Sydney was quick to warm up to their charisma, revelling in base-filled beats and vibrations and moonwalking for “Farrah Fawcett Hair”, their eccentric track narrated by NPR’s Frank Tavares, featuring Andre 3000. “Do you want to see some American guys dance?” roused Merchant as the beat rose.

The eclectic riffs and synths of “Origami” and “I Sold My Bed But Not My Stereo”, and the fun-infused upbeat melody of “Kangaroo Court” built momentum (the latter an obvious coup for indie pop lovers down under) before the boys joyfully launched into “Safe and Sound”, the song that won them a global online fan base after it went viral in 2011. “Safe and Sound” has since hit eighth place on Billboard’s Hot 100 and topped the Alternative Songs chart. The well-known track hit its mark in the established sing-along atmosphere.

Taking full advantage of the intimate chic-grunge of The Standard the artists lived up to their sociable reputation, grooving up close with fans and encouraging a jacket (or shirt, wallet, shoe – whatever you could find) swinging fist-pump to the digital encore of “Safe and Sound”. The crowd soaked up the sweet electro-pop veracity, after especially enjoying a surprise cover of Madonna’s celebratory “Holiday”, for the finale.

Capital Cities have played to sold-out houses in California and have toured the US, Canada and Europe, making a splash on German and South American radio. They’re out to conquer the rest now.

As the crowd echoed their jingle-like pitch for life “I could lift you up, I’ll show what you wanna see and take you where you wanna be”, with no screen to hide behind, and the worries of the world offline for a change, they rejoiced in the live setting that music is meant for – safe and sound.

The hardest part of creating music is needing to meet a creative deadline and not being able to switch on the creativity at all!  It can be quite frustrating.  I sit there and will it to happen! So I then go back to the drawing board, which usually has nothing on it at all!  If I end up with a verse and a chorus I’m happy, but it’s the finishing of the song that stumps me the most.  Sometimes I’ll wake from slumber and jot down songs in a flash, but it’s the somewhat forced creativity that I find a little intimidating.

My first memory of music is hearing Paper Roses by Hank Snow! There was a lot of country music being played in my household as a youngster.  I do remember performing this song especially a fair bit!  I always knew I was going to be singer.  I remember sitting my Mother down and singing her a song, and at the end of the performance I then declared that I was going to be a Singer.

“To me, music has been the shaping force in my life for better or worse. I’m so deep I can’t get out. Buying records and singing songs. It’s been this way for as long as I can remember. These things called songs that, echo our world, shape our understanding and signpost our experience are so powerful. They carry so much weight yet are weightless on the air. I write songs for a living but still can’t tell you where they come from. They drop into the world as they’re needed, hoping and ready. They matter and the folks that hear them or need them matter also. I like living in a world that Bob Dylan or Barry Saunders or Kathleen Hanna live in. It makes me feel less alone that there are folks out there who with a flick of a pen and a cut of a chord can make it all seem ok again. I feel lucky. The idea that Chuck Berry, Shostakovich, and Django Reinhardt have all existed on this earth allows me, from moment to moment, to think we’re not all bad. That from time to time, humans can add a little grace into the world.  If they can do it maybe the rest of us shouldn’t be afraid to either. In the face of the destroyers, tearer downers and money grabbers, that’s important to know.?Music is affirming. When you have nothing it can give you purpose, hope, inspiration and courage. It gives moments to discover yourself and your place in the world. I am empowered to know that outside the radio, the industry and the money there are kids discovering The Clash, Peter Tosh, Otis Redding, Hazel Dickens and Public Enemy and through that, they are finding room for their own hearts to grow. To think outside whatever channels that have been prebuilt for them.?Music matters in the guts and in the heart is where it counts. We are better for it and we are stronger because of it. “

Music transports us, relocates us and has the ability to redefine us.

As a teenager, I remember music doing that to me significantly-

I remember stealing a Nirvana tape, putting on my walkman, riding my BMX around and being alerted to the idea that music could let you feel a wide range of emotions. I was now self-aware.

I remember discovering punk music through a friend’s dad that had been a part of the Australian movement in the 70’s. I was suddenly allowed to see the faults in authority and I was allowed to be angry and I wanted, somehow, to be a part of making change.

I remember listening to a hip hop crew who focused their efforts on racism and I remember being convinced that something was wrong in the world when skin color was a determining factor in anything. I learned to embrace empathy for other humans.

I remember a local hardcore band screaming about their beliefs and how they struggled to marry their ideals and the reality of the world around them. I felt the same way. I began to actively define myself, rather than stumble into who society wanted me to be.

There are hundreds of stories like this for me. It wasn’t merely the words they were saying, it was the passion behind it, the complete and utter emersion of belief that could only have been portrayed to me through music- the melody, rhythm and words coming together to transform me.

I owe a lot to music…. we all do.