The AMP Shortlist Revealed

The Australian Music Prize (The Amp) has continued to go from strength to strength since its inception, proving a credible, peer-driven prize that has helped to launch the careers of Australian artists both overseas and at home.

In the running for a cash prize of $30,000 thanks to PPCA, the following shortlisted artists have been acknowledged for producing albums of outstanding quality and creativity.

ABBE MAY, ADALITA, BOY & BEAR, GOTYE, GURRUMUL, JACK LADDER, KIMBRA, THE JEZABELS, AND THE MIDDLE EAST

Artists from all genres of music were invited to submit their full length albums, and were judged on the strength of the album alone by a judging panel of 42 media, industry and artists. I should note that the author of this website is one of those judges.

“2011 was a big year for Australian artist album releases – The 7^th Amp produced a long list twice as long as most of the previous prizes highlighting how many great albums were released in this country. It was tough on the judges – they had to spend their festive season listening to over 50 albums and making experienced judgments on each. It was tough to determine the top 9 of these and many artists – like The Panics, Oh Mercy and The Orbweavers – were very close to the final cut. Some of the other albums singled out by the judges were by: Skipping Girl Vinegar, Oscar & Martin, Ben Salter, Big Scary, Eagle & The Worm, Grace Woodroofe, Husky, Leader Cheetah, Phrase, Teeth & Tongue, Josh Pyke and Drapht. We congratulate all entrants for their efforts and especially the nine which are now shortlisted for The 7^th Amp,” says The Australian Music Prize Director Scott B. Murphy.

PPCA supports new Australian music with their continued pledge of the prize money. This year, PPCA also joins with The Amp to present “Amped Up In Conversation” – a unique forum for the music industry to announce the winner of the 7^th Amp. Held on Thursday, March 8^th from 12 noon, the forum will be a sit down lunch with special international guest speaker, David Fricke from US Rolling Stone.

Judges comment: As a first time judge of the AMP I have to say I am satisfied with the process. Every album was given a good chance to be heard and there were judges strongly advocating albums from a wide variety of genres. Of the Shortlist there was only two or my Top 9 that made the cut but I know that several of my favorite albums were in the next group that Scott mentioned above. There was only a couple of albums that I think may have been under-rated by the judging group; one because it came from a veteran act and its quality may have been taken for granted. I can see why each and every one of the albums that made the Shortlist got there, even though there is around three on the list that I really didn’t like that much at all.That’s why you have a reasonably diverse judging panel.  I’m looking forward to seeing who emerges as the winner, and I’d be keen to offer my services again, if I’m invited.

 

Suzy Connolly – Night Larks (Laughing Outlaw)

Filing the debut solo album from Sydney guitarist and songwriter Suzy Connolly on the melodic guitar-pop shelf next to artists such as Aimee Mann and Matthew Sweet, who it turn draw their inspiration from Big Star and The Beatles wouldn’t be offensive to any of those artists. But there are moments on her debut album when she manages to transcend her musical lineage and come up with some surprising songs that stamp her as a distinctive artist in her own right, rather than simply a great new example of a very recognizable and well travelled sub-genre.

One of those moments is on the harrowing Company Man, when she dissects a failed relationship with a surgeon’s skill utilizing a sparse background that has a similarity with Adalita. A similarly dark mood pervades Faking Your Best, a song that offers a revealing honesty. Your Comedown has a knowing, sneering edge that belies its exhilarating pure pop melodicism, while Skydive is an unashamedly shimmering pop rock tune, slightly ‘by-the-numbers’, but hard to dislodge from the sub conscious.

Connolly’s golden voice is her cornerstone, but producer Josh Schuberth (Josh Pyke, Ben Folds) coaxes an intimate and sassy performance from her when she could have been satisfied with riding the wave of the irresistible melodies easily to shore. She is prepared to strive for more than the regulation guitar-pop parameters and is rewarded with an album with a deeper luster than mere surface sparkle.

 

Adalita Tour Rolls On

Adalita has commenced an Australian tour in support of her stunning debut album and there’s still a few weeks to go on that tour. Catch her while you can and partake in the live version of one of the years most talked about albums.

My review of the album makes me certain that this will be a special live show.

“These songs and the way they have been recorded and performed is exactly the right context for Adalita to harness the raw power and presence that she possesses.  This is brave, stark, effecting music, written with its heart tattooed on its sleeve and with its blood pulsing relentlessly. The courage comes not just from the fact of its recording but the confronting way the vocals are mixed for brutal clarity and the lyrics reward that investment. Having made the decision to pursue this direction Adalita has fully committed to the course she’s chosen. The best thing about this record is that it’s completely uncompromised, in both its vision and its execution”.

Thur 7 April, Bended Elbow, Geelong, VIC

Fri 8 April, Karova Lounge , Ballarat, VIC

Sat 9 April, Toff In Town, Melbourne, VIC

Thur 14 April, Transit Bar, Canberra, ACT

Fri 15 April, The Great Northern,Newcastle, NSW

Sat 16 April, Sandringham Hotel , Sydney, NSW

Sun 17 April, Clarendon Guesthouse, Katoomba, NSW

Wed 20 April, Irish Murphy’s, Launceston, TAS

Thur 21 April, Republic Bar, Hobart, TAS

Thur 5 May, Grace Emily, Adelaide, SA

Adalita – Adalita (Liberation)

I don’t know Adalita personally. Despite my “street press” years in the 90’s and her band Magic Dirt being a staple in those publications, somehow our paths didn’t cross. There was always someone else at InPress who passionately wanted to do the Magic Dirt interview or someone else that wanted to review their show. It would be a reasonable assumption that I’d know Adalita, but I don’t.

But in a way that makes my impressions of her debut solo album more honest. It’s hard to review an album made by a friend and Adalita is going to have a lot of friends trying to write about her album. Accordingly there’s going to be a lot of people who ‘want’ to like the album and who ‘want’ her to emerge triumphant, from a project that has a huge shadow across it.  That shadow, of course, is the death from a long term cancer battle, of Dean Turner. Turner was a towering figure on the Melbourne independent music scene, as the founder of Magic Dirt and the producer of a number of other cool indie bands. He was also Adalita’s best friend and the inspiration behind her taking the large step to a solo career. As her co-producer on this album, he is credited. As her friend, he is thanked and the album is dedicated to him. No-one, with any personal attachment, is going to want to say a negative word about an album that has so much emotion involved in its creation.

The point of this prelude is to emphasize that this review of this record is that of a critic, not that of a long standing supporter. For what its worth.

I saw Adalita perform a duet with Clare Bowditch on Patti Smith’s Because The Night at last years Rockwiz concert at the Palais. At the time I was moved to comment, “Seeing and hearing Adalita perform this song drove home the fact that she is one of Australia’s most arresting female performers. One day she’s going to find the right songs, the right band and the right context and her star will rise. It hasn’t happened yet, not on a large scale, but despite her being a veteran of the indie scene I suspect that she’s only just getting started as a musical force. Lets hope that the stars fall into alignment soon because her raw power and presence is a storm waiting to happen.”

My wish has been granted. These songs and the way they have been recorded and performed is exactly the right context for Adalita to harness the raw power and presence that she possesses.  This is brave, stark, effecting music, written with its heart tattooed on its sleeve and with its blood pulsing relentlessly. The courage comes not just from the fact of its recording but the confronting way the vocals are mixed for brutal clarity and the lyrics reward that investment. Having made the decision to pursue this direction Adalita has fully committed to the course she’s chosen. The best thing about this record is that it’s completely uncompromised, in both its vision and its execution.

Most of the songs combine angular electric guitars with quietly powerful vocals – and often not much else. A couple of songs have small amounts of percussion and violin and piano make little cameos but essentially the sounds are deliberately limited. The albums opener, Hot Air, sets the scene magnificently. It’s six languidly sung verses of yearning and regret followed by an extended electric guitar playout, which leads to a six and a half minute opening track. It make’s a powerful and unmistakable statement. It’s that art of making the minimal sound epic that has been exemplified by everyone from Neil Young to Nirvana at various times and it takes a special artist to successfully execute that approach.

Adalita isn’t the only woman in the world mining this genre. The comparisons with PJ Harvey, Patti Smith and Hope Sandoval are going to come thick and fast and there ‘s a Los Angeles artist named Jonneine Zapata who is very close in both style and substance. (Readers would be well advised to hear her Cast The Demons Out album from 2010). But in the end the comparisons are superfluous. There is more than enough room for many artists in this genre and each one has their own stories to tell and perspectives to lay bare.

Adalita’s stories and perspectives are riveting. Whether it’s the superbly descriptive Jewel Thief or the virtually spoken (and very Michael Stipe –like) Invite Me, she provides insights into her psyche that are almost uncomfortable to hear. She manages to keep one of the albums highlights, the hypnotic and prickly Goin’ Down to very near the end of the album, and it comes as a knockout blow for anyone still in any doubt.

It’s unlikely that there will be a more impactful Australian album released this year.  How it will be received by the commercial marketplace is anyone’s guess but in the end it has achieved its desired objective regardless of that measure. It’s an important, timeless piece of work, by an artist who has found her place in her new world.

Rockwiz – Palais Theatre

Translating a television show, albeit a show that has elements of a rock n’ roll gig into a touring show is quite a challenge, but the Rockwiz crew pull it off reasonably well.

Playing in the shows spiritual home of StKilda, at the end of the tour was always going to be cause for some sort of celebration and the show did have the mood of a victory lap as the team reached the end of a long tour.

The first half of the show is a bit of a drag as Brian Nankervis auditions twenty-four  contestants to make up the four players that take part in the show. It’s a slow process and although there’s a few good moments and one-liners from both Nankervis and a couple of the contestants, the audience is well and truly ready for the “real show” to begin after interval. Ironically this audition process would have probably worked better in some of the smaller towns on the tour when a few of the ‘local personalities’ may have been on display in front of a smaller and more raucous audience.

The show itself runs pretty much as you would see it on SBS on Saturday nights. Julia Zemiro is perfect in her role – in fact I cant imagine a performer and a role being better suited to each other. I’m yet to see her rise to similar heights in any other television or radio gig as she does with this one, and the jury is still out whether she truly is a one-trick show pony but there’s no denying her excellence as the Rockwiz ringmaster.

But this website isn’t really about reviewing host roles – and its certainly not about quiz shows, even quiz shows for rock nerds. Fortunately there is some sensational music on display here as well.

There was a couple of musical moments that were just jaw-dropping, as is often the case with Rockwiz. Claire Bowditch and Adalita duet on Because The Night and despite Bowditch and the correct lyrics becoming somewhat disconnected it’s a great performance. Seeing and hearing Adalita perform this song drove home the fact that she is one of Australia’s most arresting female performers. One day she’s going to find the right songs, the right band and the right context and her star will rise. It hasn’t happened yet, not on a large scale, , but despite her being a veteran of the indie scene I suspect that she’s only just getting started as a musical force. Lets hope that the stars fall into alignment soon because her raw power and presence is a storm waiting to happen.

The other stand out performance was Vika Bull and Steve Kilbey on the Bowie/Queen song Under Pressure.  Vika was a bold vocal presence, no surprise there, but Kilbey was the revelation – giving an passionate and  raucous reading of his parts. If someone had told me twenty years ago that Steve Kilbey would shine in a completely “unironic” performance of a cover version in the middle of a touring quiz show I would have laughed, but that’s exactly what he did.

The other interesting performer was Ella Hooper, formerly of Killing Heidi and more recently of The Verses. She’s become a very assured performer and it sounds like she’s hit upon a great direction with a very Lone Justice/Maria McKee style rock/country hybrid. I’ll be interested to see where that takes her.

Of course none of these delicious musical moments would be possible without the input of the Rockwiz Orchestra and Messrs Naylor, Luscombe, Ferrie and Black need large dollops of kudos cast in their direction.

One of the best things about Rockwiz is its ability to highlight the talents of people we may not be exposed to without the show (hello Holiday Sidewinder) and while none of the artists on display tonight were exactly newcomers the musical menu was certainly a tasty one.