SUGAR ARMY release their debut album ‘The Parallels Amongst Ourselves’. It received widespread critical acclaim, Album Of The Week in numerous street press, one single getting the highest rotation on triple j of anything released in this country for an entire month, the video for another scoring Channel [V]’s Ripe Clip Of The Week and a WA Screen Award. Yes, this is band in control of their own path, doing their own thing, working from the ground up and enjoying the satisfaction that comes from putting it all on the line to earn your stripes.

From there, a snowball effect towards reward – the singles, to the record, to their own energy charged national headline tour, to Summer festival offers around the country, to being hand-picked as the opening act on the main stage of all Australian Big Day Out shows.
So here we are just over one year on and, to avoid the use of the “older and wiser” cliché, let’s just say that Sugar Army have learnt a lot, have been through a lot, and are as hungry as ever to deliver their pounding, driving rhythms and soaring melodies to match.

It’s also been just over one year since the band last visited Brisbane, where they put in a blinding performance at the Troubadour to a packed, sweat-drenched room, and that’s were you’ll find them ready to pounce again this November. Heading East for only two shows, both in QLD, fans will get a glimpse of some new material live from the band’s highly anticipated forthcoming second album, self-described as “less sentiment, more fucking, no filler”.

Featuring Middleton on electric guitar as well as production duties, the record also boasts one of Brisbane’s hardest working rhythm sections with Chris Pearson taking a break between Washington shows to play bass & Chris O’Neill finding time in between gigging for Asa Broomhall & Tara Simmons to lay down the drums.  The shift in focus from solo acoustic guitar & voice to the bigger band sound has seen Jac grace the stage at the Splendour in the Grass festival, as well as landing her an opening slot at one of the Brisbane shows of Powderfinger’s farewell tour.

The newfound confidence and maturity in Jac’s songwriting and performance is also reflected in the recordings; while the delicate acoustic guitar & heartfelt vocal delivery of Jac’s early work is still prominent, the new band dynamic really helps bring her songs to life, with tracks such as “River” fast becoming a crowd favourite & “Dress Shop” showcasing the dynamic changes & lyrical storytelling that first gained Jac attention when she was on the solo singer/songwriter circuit.

With some high profile shows under her belt and increasing support, the second half of 2010 looks more & more exciting for this promising young singer.

In 2010, Angie has completed a very successful tour of Asia, and is setting out on the road again (with full band) to tour the nation with her new single ʻLoving Hating Itʼ. Angie explains “I learnt the term, ‘loving hating it’, when I began meditating in earnest. People think meditating is always some form of bliss, but there’s a lot of ugly stuff that must be faced before you get there. So, I learned the practice of loving hating it, which I apply to anything I am not enjoying, but must do. A life lived with amusement is a good life.”

The Loving Hating It digi-EP includes remixes by Geoff OʼConnor, Adrian Deutsch and Seja. Songwriters so often exist in a world of constructs, carefully editing their peccadilloes and passions in order to put forth a neat, marketable falsity. They hide behind guarded half-lyrics and fiercely protected public personas. How lucky we are to stumble across a rare gem as Angie Hart – presenting her truths so beautifully & simply for us to do with what we please. Take her as you will.

Canadian singer-songwriter Matthew Barber is in Australia to celebrate the release of his fourth album True Believer (Code One / ABC Music). True Believer is an uplifting record, continuing the trajectory that began with Ghost Notes. Of course there are pensive moments - Barber, after all, made his name crafting beautiful but
heartbreaking “sad” songs on earlier records like Means and Ends (2003) and Sweet Nothing (2005) - but the overarching themes of love, hope and wonderment ultimately carry the day. The title track is possibly the most exuberant proclamation of love ever penned by Barber - never shy to buck trends and wear his heart on his
sleeve.

Angie Hart and Matthew Barber are accompanied on tour by Gabrielle & Cameron (Dead Letter Chorus) Dead Letter Chorus have just returned with “Covered By Snow”, the first single from their forthcoming sophomore release. Having spent over 6 weeks touring Canada, the band comes home amidst large success in Canada where their previous record, The August Magnificent, was received with open arms inciting some critics to call them “the best band outside of Canada in the past 5 years” and “Australiaʼs answer to Arcade Fire”. Now Gabrielle & Cameron join Angie Hart and their favourite Canadian Matthew Barber in a striped back duo mode along the east coast of Australia.

WE ALL WANT TO are

·      Tim Steward - he is from Screamfeeder and loves cheese
·      Dan McNaulty - he is from The Narcotics and loves shoegaze
·      Paul Daly - he is from Nerang and loves ciggers
·      Skye Staniford - she is from the stars and loves love
·      Todd Hutchinson - he is from Adelaide and loves to hate jazz

WE ALL WANT TO:

·      Spent 6 months not deciding on a band name, then named the band after someone misheard something someone else said in a noisy restaurant one night.
·      Spent over a year recording their debut album in lots of different studios because it would be fun and varied. It wasn’t, it was expensive and long winded.
·      Are very prolific, writing more songs then they have time to learn.
·      Have a second album of material ready to record already.
·      Can all play most of the instruments in the band, badly. Can play their own instruments sufficiently.
·      Couldn’t think of an album title, so it’s self titled.

Tim put the band together over 2008 and 2009, and they released their debut EP Back To The Car in 2009. The band toured and spent the next year recording their debut album.
Produced by some of the country’s greats: Magoo, Wayne Connolly, Jamie Trevaskis, Darek Mudge and Bryce Moorhead, the album is a concise and varied slice of the band’s awesome repertoire.

Lead single A La Mode is a looped and layered extravaganza written and performed by Skye, which the band have turned into a live epic.

Dan, Luke, Tom and Benjiban are collectively known as “Galapogos” and “Established Ghosts” is the name of there soon to be released debut album.

This is our virgin kiss. We want to taste your names.

However, in less dramatic and truer terms, Smudge never stopped drawing breath. An average of at least 3.75 shows a year since 2001, new songs, THREE albums in 2010 and live appearances in four time zones across two hemispheres, with recording slated for January 2011, the Sydney/Maitland-based trio enters its 19th year firing on all cylinders.

This Smudge Is True, a “best of” compilation chosen by the band is the latest Smudge release featuring material from right across the band’s career. Down About It, Mike Love Not War, The Out Door Type and Ingrown are amongst the 27 tracks. Clocking in at less than an hour, TSIT is rounded out with a 34 page booklet with extensive liner notes, track by track commentary by the band and never-before published photos. The “classic” Don’t Wanna Be GW McLennan cover was also carefully reconstructed to grace the package.

It’s 2010 companions are re-issues of two albums from iconic UK label Fire (European home of Giant Sand, ESG, Jad Fair and Bardo Pond amongst a stellar cast). Currently the only official edition, 1998’s Real McCoy, Wrong Sinatra features two exclusive and very limited demo recordings from the sessions alongside live favourites Hot Potato, 18 In A Week and Breadcrumb Trail. Manilow, the album that started it all, features the inclusion of a complete live recording of a 1994 show from the European tour with old buddies The Lemonheads and Superchunk.

Smudge embarked on their second European tour – 16 years after the first – in mid-2010 and are now set to hit the road for their first Australian tour since 1999 through October.

“Manilow is a wonderful sequence of tuneful vignettes. Its brisk, domestic, cute and as we would have said at the time “slack” somehow, too. ” 4/5 UNCUT July 2010

The tour begins in Sydney on September 24 and winds south down the coast to Melbourne before heading back up to Brisbane and then across to Adelaide – taking in Wollongong and Newcastle along the way with very special guests Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire!.

‘By Limbo Lake’ has seen the release of two singles – iTunes recent ‘Single of the Week’ ‘Young Cubs’, and the current single ‘Trans ending’. With ‘Trans ending’ just recently serviced to radio, keep a lookout for the eye catching video - featuring amongst other things an underwater montage and a burning caravan. The video for ‘Trans ending’ is serviced to TV next week.

For a limited time people can pre-order their ticket via www.moshtix.com.au or www.oztix.com.au (please see below for venue ticketing details) and receive the debut album for a celebratory price of $20. Standard tickets are also available for $10 from the below outlets.

Formed in 2007, the band quickly made their mark on the Australian musical landscape. The release of two EP’s at opposite ends of 2008 saw them scoring Triple J rotation, share stages with The View, Jamie T, The Temper Trap & Little Red, and regularly name-checked as one of the nation’s most promising new acts before bunkering down to prepare their long-player.

Post Paradise lead single Moonlight Hours set the mood for what’s now been delivered in spades and in its complete context; a groove-based record full of summer vibes,
elec-tropical dance floor anthems and mellow, breezy melodies. Moonlight Hours hit # 1 on Triple J’s playlist earlier this year, while remixes by Jonathon Boulet and The Swiss have also attracted generous lashings of hyperbole in the blogosphere. The latter appeared on a recent NME download Mixtape compiled by UK disco/electro wunder-kid Grum, and made much-loved Belgian re-mixers’ Aeroplane’s chart podcast. NME have taken notice with the band recently appearing in the magazine’s Buzz chart.

Joining The Holidays on tour is Papa Vs Pretty. Frontman Thomas Rawle alongside bandmates Tom Myers and Angus Gardiner are described as post-shoegaze, cherrypicking the best bits of ‘60s and ‘70s pop and peppering it with frantic guitar rock.  Having just supported Surfer Blood on Splendour in The Grass side-shows the band have their debut EP Heavy Harm out now.

Australian Ghost Story will be released on June 11, 2010 through Stolen Recordings.

TPM has had a busy start to 2010, with a live to air performance at Melbourne’s 3RRR as part of their Autumn Almanac series in March, followed by a sold out night at The Toff in Town.

In April, TPM performed a Tuesday night residency at the Northcote Social Club. Each show was commemorated by unique, limited edition hand made live EP, becoming instant collectors items in keeping with the band’s long history of special artefacts and beautiful packaging.

Hailing from Tasmania in 1994, The Paradise Motel moved to Melbourne and quickly established themselves as one of the most distinctive and haunting bands of their generation. Notorious for their live shows that veered between the violence and the silence, they signed to Infectious Records and released clutch of EPs including the classic debut Left Over Life To Kill and the albums Still Life and Flight Paths, before moving to London in 1998. After two years of extensive touring in Europe, UK and America, the band took an extended hiatus. Until now.

Now based in Melbourne and London, The Paradise Motel is Merida Sussex (vocals), Charles Bickford (acoustic guitar), Matthew Aulich (electric guitar), Mark Austin (keyboards, pedal steel), Esme Macdonald (bass), Andy Hazel (drums) and Campbell Shaw (violin).