I am about midway through my interview with the Church’s Steve Kilbey when, without warning, he morphs into AC/DC’s Brian Johnson. “She was a mean machine, she loves me, aargh!” Kilbey squeals. He might be misremembering the opening line of You Shook Me All Night Long, but otherwise, it’s a convincing impersonation of Johnson’s sandpaper […]
The Church’s Steve Kilbey: an unguarded moment Read More »
At first, all is darkness. There is a hiss of cymbals, followed by a rude bang, thump and wallop. The lights go up. We see the late Australian music mogul Michael Gudinski, sitting at a drum kit, pounding the skins arrhythmically with his hands, making a point at his default setting: maximum volume. “Well, you can
Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story Read More »
It is a truism of popular music’s album-oriented era that great double albums are rare. In Australian indie rock – at least since the waning of the compact disc’s market dominance and vinyl’s revival among collectors – they have become close to non-existent. So Ashley Naylor, leader of Melbourne stalwarts Even and a rock &
Even: Reverse Light Years Read More »
For more than 45 years Michael Gudinski, who died on Monday aged 68, was a dominant, domineering, polarising but above all passionate figure in Australia’s cultural landscape. He lived and breathed Australian music. Everyone who met Gudinski had a story to tell about him, not all of which are printable. What is indisputable is that life
Michael Gudinski 1952-2021 Read More »
Bernard Fanning, former singer of Powderfinger, is ruminating about decisions and consequences. The theme runs throughout his third, back-to-basics solo album Civil Dusk. Over the finger-picked guitar of Unpicking A Puzzle, he sings a song from the bottom of the bottle: “Where silences are gold and secrets will abound / The hostage in your conscience
Bernard Fanning: “At least 50 percent good” Read More »
Widely regarded as one of the finest Australian albums ever made, the Triffids’ second album Born Sandy Devotional turns 30 this month. Most famous for its beloved single Wide Open Road, the album uses the empty desolation of the Australian landscape, and particularly the band’s native Western Australia as a metaphor for loss and loneliness. To gauge
“An absolute masterpiece”: the Triffids’ Born Sandy Devotional Read More »