Lists! We have a couple for you as usual as we wind down at the end of another year. I won’t rabbit on about the trials and tribulations of 2020, the good news was that the music still came down the pipeline with the same amount of quality and reward. We’ll have our overall list … Continue reading
ACROSS THE DITCH In musical terms, and to Australia audiences, New Zealand may be best known for its indie exports (based around the Flying Nun label), the various pop shapes of Neil Finn and associates and heavier acts such as Shihad. Yet there is, and always has been, a fertile country & folk scene throughout … Continue reading
Here comes the break-up album. It’s a tried and true fallback for a million songwriters out there but only a small percentage really nail the heartache, despair, fallout and renewal that comes from a fractured relationship. Marlon Williams has taken an approach that doesn’t shy away from the bruises and open wounds, instead he presents … Continue reading
Marlon Williams, The Weather Station @ Metro Theatre, May 17th 2018 Five years of hard work, countless hours in airport lounges, nights on friends’ couches and in bars and clubs is paying off big time with Marlon Williams’ current Australian tour sold out in the largest venues he’s headlined to date. This time around he he’s brought … Continue reading
His debut album heralded the arrival of a timeless and exciting new country and folk voice, yet for Marlon Williams he’s only just starting to realise his songwriting ambitions with the baroque pop sound of his new album Make Way For Love. Down the phone line from New Zealand, Marlon Williams has just landed at … Continue reading
Marlon Williams + Archer @ Oxford Art Factory, Nov 15th 2017 With a career that continues to go from strength to strength, this was a key and fascinating moment to hear and see Marlon Williams perform songs from his forthcoming second album Make Way For Love, ahead of its February release. Archer opened the evening with a … Continue reading
Marlon Williams’ long anticipated second album now has a title and a release date. Make Way For Love will be released on February 18th, three after his self-titled debut. In that time he’s toured constantly, pausing only to write the new album and make a foray into acting. Williams recently released ‘Vampire Again’, the first … Continue reading
Marlon Williams is back with his first new release since his self-titled LP was released in 2015. Since then he’s been touring endlessly, supporting Springsteen and playing festivals all over the world. He returned to Lyttleton, NZ to record ‘Vampire Again’ with producer Ben Edwards before directing the quirky clip in cahoots with UK cinematographer Steve … Continue reading
Given our general focus on Americana music in this part of the world we thought we’d publish our favourite local releases from Australia and New Zealand in 2015. Some of these will also appear in our main Americana albums of the year list but until then, here are local folk who released music that caught … Continue reading
LIVE REVIEW: Marlon Williams & The Yarra Benders, Ben Salter @ Oxford Art Factory, Sydney (21/11/15) With the sold-out sign stuck to the front window of the venue Ben Salter ambled on-stage, unassuming and with that tousled mop of hair. Sans The Gin Club he’s a riveting performer with loop and vocal effect pedals and … Continue reading
Marlon Williams is putting in some serious hard yards right now with his album a firm favourite here in Australia and New Zealand and bound to feature on many end of year best-of lists. As such he is still touring like a demon across the country, has played roles in a NZ film and an … Continue reading
More announcements this week of new gigs, forthcoming albums and the arrival of some highly anticipated ones. Fanny Lumsden has been working tirelessly over the last few years playing shows in all manner of venue, city, houses and country halls. The culmination of that to date is her debut album Small Town Big Shot which … Continue reading
Tami Neilson only released her superb album Dynamite! (read our review) eighteen months ago but now she has a brand new record called Don’t Be Afraid set for release on September 25th. The first single is the beautiful sway of ‘Lonely’ featuring a cameo from Marlon Williams. This song was begun in 1972 by a young … Continue reading
Last weekend provided the musical highlight of the week with the superb Marlon Willams show at The Basement in Sydney. It was sold out, in fact his whole tour was and he absolutely nailed it with his backing band The Yarra Benders acting as musical foils and conspirators. Read our full review. We’ve got a … Continue reading
Laura Jean opened the evening with an absorbing set that highlighted both her clever lyrical turns and delicate, almost textural finger-picking guitar style. Songs about married life, domesticity and crazy dogs from her 2014 album comprised the bulk of her performance as she drew the audience into her world of observational songwriting and dry-humour. Her … Continue reading
