Interview: Bertie Blackman

Sydney’s Bertie Blackman gained critical acclaim for her third album, ‘Secrets & Lies’, a release that displayed a more outgoing side to her music, both aurally and lyrically. For her fourth album, ‘Pope Innocent X’, Blackman has unashamedly taken another leap into the realms of pop music. Ahead of it’s release next Friday, Mike and Sam spoke with Bertie about the release, her ventures into art, and her upcoming arena tour with Gotye which may or may not include a guest vocal performance…

Interview: Gossling

This time last year, Helen Croome was largely unrecognised in Australian music circles. But one massive collaboration and a major advertising campaign later, Croome, under the pseudonym of Gossling, has gained wide-scale success. Her EP ‘Intentional Living’ has spawned singles ‘Wild Love’ and ‘Heart Killer’, and allowed Croome to play sold-out shows across the country, including one here at our own Wheatsheaf Hotel earlier this year. She took some time out to speak with Mike and Sam about how she’s dealing with the rise to fame, and some tips on handling the exhaustive touring circuit.

Thursday 12th July, with our new producer Ash Prigent!

Artist	Song
The Paper Kites	Featherstone
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs	Garden
R.L. Jones	Everybody Wants To Be Your Friend
Nantes	Unsatisfy
Bear In Heaven	Sinful Nature
White Arrows	I Can Go (This Week’s Feature Album)
Fait Accompli	No Great Expectations
Future Islands	Cotton Flower
The Darcys	Des Animaux
Siren Lines	Dance In Clouds
Blue Sun	Lockaway Light
Dappled Cities	Born At The Right Time
DIIV	Doused
Tame Impala	Apocalypse Dreams
Hot Chip	Don’t Deny Your Heart
Red Ink	Euphoria
Thrupence	Synchronous Bloom

Interview: Sui Zhen

Melbourne based, Becky Freeman A.K.A Sui Zhen has recently released her debut album ‘Two Seas’. It’s some parts folk, some parts whimsy and perhaps, not an overstatement to say all parts a treat. Partially produced and written in Berlin, she had a chat to Philly and Tara about the production process, her work as not only a song writter and singer but also a stop motion animator and the benefits and downfalls of working in collaboratives and collectives.

Feature CD: November 26 – December 2

The Stillsons – Earnest (Independent)

Earnest, the appropriately descriptive debut album from Melboure/Perth trio The Stillsons is an endearing collection of honest songs bursting with narrative and self-reflection arranged with a smattering of folk, bluegrass and country influences.

Tune into The Range and Breakfast throughout the week to hear tracks from the album.

Interview: Wintercoats

James Wallace, aka Wintercoats, has only been playing the violin for three years but he’s already making some beautifully layered soundscapes with those four strings. Stream his chat with Danni and Walter below to find out just how he puts all those loops together…

 

Feature CD, October 5 – 11

Jonti – Twirligig (Mistletone)

Much has happened to Sydney musician Jonti Danilewitz since his emigration from South Africa, from collaborating with Sean Lennon in Brooklyn to an abundance of lawsuit-avoiding name changes (Danimals > Djanimals > Jonti), before settling on his own production prowess and the name on his birth certificate for his debut album. Twirligig is an immersive listen, full of the sketchy beats, electronic flourishes and dashes of sweetly crooned, digitally effected vocals finding popularity the world over.

Tune into The Range and Radio Adelaide breakfast to hear cuts from the album.

Website

Interview: Nick Huggins

Hailing from Melbourne, producer extraordinaire Nick Huggins has just released ‘Five Lights’, a musical and visual delight that you can check out here. Apologies for the phone trouble at the end of the interview, but be sure to have a listen to Nick’s interesting chat with Danni and Walter about his sparse yet beautiful music.

 

Feature CD, October 15 – 21

Nick Huggins – Five Lights (Two Bright Lakes)

Following from the endearing bleepy pop of his solo debut The Shipwreck (2007), Five Lights sees acclaimed Melbourne producer Nick Huggins veer away from recent work with Hello Satellites, Otouto and Oscar + Martin to explore a more formless, nuanced collection of ideas. With synth, national guitar and improvised percussion Huggins allows sounds to gel and coalesce over each track, gradually revealing their charm from listen to listen.

Not simply a musical work, the album is accompanied by a several video and prose pieces accessible online.

Tune into The Range and Breakfast to hear tracks from the album.

Feature CD: September 8 – 14

Dick Diver – New Start Again (Chapter Music)

Named after an F. Scott Fitzgerald character (we’re a family station), Melbourne’s Dick Diver cut a distinctly Australian path through the swathe of lovably warm garage and lo-fi bands we find ourselves surrounded by. Recorded by Eddie Current Suppression Ring alumni Mikey Young, their debut sees the band switch vocals and songwriting from song to song while never sacrificing coherency, creating something akin to the aural equivalent of sitting on the verandah on a nice afternoon. Go-Betweens references abound but with effortlessly brilliant tracks like ‘On The Bank’, Dick Diver have found a niche of classic Australian songwriting all of their own.

Tune into The Range and Breakfast this week to hear songs from the album.