Just Released - 2013 [Ep.9]

“Sift the noise,

Cause I can see it all in you…”

                                          [“Sift The Noise” – Skipping Girl Vinegar (2009)]

Setting off the JR Radar this week was news of the Adelaide-born, Sydney-educated, Melbourne-based and internationally-connected singer/songwriter, Krista Polvere. Her second album of raw Alt-Country will be out early next month. Produced by former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford and with contributions from Ryan Adams (one of her biggest supporters), ‘Reservoir Drive’ brings the sound of Krista’s songs much closer to a live setting.

At the other end of the spectrum is the neo-Soul debut by English singer/songwriter, Laura Mvula. Her voice may occasionally conjure thoughts of Nina Simone but the music surrounding it challenges conventional description. One critic from the UK’s Guardian suggested ‘Gospeldelia’. That would be Gospel + Psychedelia. (No, really.)

Back in Australia for an appearance at Bluesfest is England’s Ben Howard, with “Only Love” from his current album now (re)issued as a single, while another new single from the UK this week comes from the Villagers album, ‘{Awayland}’.

Melbourne’s vibrant music scene is well represented in this edition with both the new single from Skipping Girl Vinegar (ahead of their appearance at Bluesfest) as well as the first collection of new songs in more than a decade from Underground Lovers.

With her album, ‘The Blue Room’ Madeleine Peyroux and producer, Larry Klein revisit the pattern (and to some extent, the songs) that shaped the landmark Ray Charles project ‘Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music’ half a century ago. With ‘The Blue Room’, Madeleine Peyroux has arrived at a lush and moody return to form.

Also making a convincing return with his album ‘Tooth & Nail’ is Billy Bragg. Dealing more with relationship politics than the politics of international affairs this time – but with Billy Bragg it’s going to be politics, all the same. However, the most astonishing and for that matter, challenging return in this edition comes from avant-garde art Rock veterans, Pere Ubu. The band’s music has both impressed and confounded listeners since the late ‘70s and with ‘Lady From Shanghai’ nothing seems to have changed.

Krista Polvere: “Jack And Me” (preview from the album, ‘Reservoir Drive’)

Laura Mvula: “Green Garden”/”Like The Morning Dew” (from the album, ‘Sing To The Moon’)

Ben Howard: “Only Love" (new single from the album, ‘Every Kingdom’)

Villagers: “Judgement Call” (new single from the album, ‘{Awayland}’)

Madeleine Peyroux: “Take These Chains”/”Born To Lose” (from the album, ‘The Blue Room’)

Billy Bragg: “Handy Man Blues” (from the album, ‘Tooth & Nail’)

Underground Lovers: “Au Pair” (from the album, ‘Weekend’)

Skipping Girl Vinegar: “Making Our Way” (new single)

Pere Ubu: “Feuksley Ma’am, The Hearing” (from the album, ‘Lady From Shanghai’)

Just Released is heard Saturdays at 12pm and Sundays at 4pm (AEDT or AEST) on ABC Digital Radio in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and via the streams of our metropolitan stations on the Gold Coast, in Newcastle, Hobart and Darwin.  You can also listen to the show during the week on ABC Dig Music Mondays @ 2pm, Wednesdays @ 8pm & Thursdays @ 11am (AEDT or AEST) and on Radio Australia throughout Asia & the Pacific.

To stream Just Released on demand, connect to our web pages via the links above. .

 To stream Just Released on demand, connect to our web pages via the links above. …(or the shiny beast below): 

                                      Find 'Just Released' here.

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Just Released - 2013 [Ep.8]

This week on Just Released with Bill Riner & Brandon Stewart:

Saturday 16^th & Sunday 17^th March 2013

“Burn it up, burn it down, let it burn across the town,

My heart will catch on fire when my firebug’s around …”,

                                                                        [“Firebug” – J.D. McPherson]

J.D. McPherson is not exactly the future of Rock ‘n’ Roll - but he represents the spirit of it’s past better than anyone else you’re likely to hear.  His music is no-frills analogue and absolutely authentic. McPherson’s reputation grows mostly by word of mouth. Since first hearing his album, ‘Signs And Signifiers’ we’ve become fans too. At the end of this month, J.D. McPherson will perform a few select Australian gigs for fortunate audiences in Melbourne, Sydney and Byron Bay’s Bluesfest. To coincide with his visit, “Firebug” has now been released as a single from his current album and we’re sharing it in this edition of JR.

Also appearing at Bluesfest this year is Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. The name may be relatively unknown to Australian audiences but the band has been a regular on the USA festival circuit for more than a decade.

Other new names featured in this week’s edition are those of Canadian star, Serena Ryder, American R&B singer Charles Bradley (aka ‘The Screaming Eagle Of Soul’) and an emerging Melbourne talent, Vance Joy.

A name much better known is that of Bob Evans, once again taking a break from his ‘other’ life as Kevin Mitchell of the Perth band, Jebediah to release his 4^th solo album, ‘Familiar Stranger’.

With our eye on the notable as well as the new, it seems only fitting that we pay tribute to a true Australian great in Russell Morris, whose current record, ‘Sharkmouth’ has made a convincing impression on the national album chart. A true labour of love, ‘Sharkmouth’ was recorded and released independently by Russell becoming his first long player to appear on the chart in 32 years. Respect.

And should you ever wonder what a 67 year-old legendary guitarist with nothing left to prove might choose to do on the first independently released album of his career, the answer is:  anything he damn well pleases.

On ‘Old Sock’, Eric Clapton is playing some old favourites. Some of them are even older than the man himself. Do we get some Reggae? Yes. How about an old-timey duet with Paul McCartney? Uh-huh. How about a Leadbelly Folk tune? Sure. But best of all, he’s still got the Blues. One of the album’s highlights is Eric’s tribute to the late Irish Blues guitarist, Gary Moore.  

Serena Ryder: “Stompa” (from the album, ‘Love And Harmony’)

Vance Joy: “Riptide” (from the EP, ‘God Loves You When You’re Dancing’)

Charles Bradley: “Strictly Reserved For You" (preview from the album, ‘Victim Of Love’)

J.D. McPherson: “Firebug” (from the album, ‘Signs & Signifiers’)

Russell Morris: “Sharkmouth” (from the album, ‘Sharkmouth’)

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals: “Stars” (from the album, ‘The Lion The Beast The Beat’)

Eric Clapton: “Gotta Get Over”/”Still Got The Blues (For You)” (from the album, ‘Old Sock’)

Bob Evans: “Wonderful You”/Maps” (from the album, ‘Familiar Stranger’)

Just Released is heard Saturdays at 12pm and Sundays at 4pm (AEDT or AEST) on ABC Digital Radio in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and via the streams of our metropolitan stations on the Gold Coast, in Newcastle, Hobart and Darwin.  You can also listen to the show during the week on ABC Dig Music Mondays @ 2pm, Wednesdays @ 8pm & Thursdays @ 11am (AEDT or AEST) and on Radio Australia throughout Asia & the Pacific.

To stream Just Released on demand, connect to our web pages via the links above. .

 To stream Just Released on demand, connect to our web pages via the links above. …(or the shiny beast below): 

                                      Find 'Just Released' here.

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Just Released - 2013 [Ep.7]

This week on Just Released with Bill Riner & Brandon Stewart:

Saturday 9^th & Sunday 10^th March 2013

“I’ve never done good things,

 I’ve never done bad things,

 I never did anything out of the blue …”,

                                                                        [“Ashes To Ashes” – David Bowie [1980]

Oh, yes, he did.

In his long career, David Bowie has done all of the above - and much more.

The “good things” weigh heavily in his favour, the “bad things” of course, are purely subjective (Tin Machine, anyone?) and as for “out of the blue”, ‘The Next Day’ fits that category, perfectly. The album is now out and in this edition of JR we give it some deeper consideration. ‘The Next Day’ may just be seeing first light but already there is talk of a possible follow-up being recorded later this year. Bowie is back.

In total, we spotted four horsemen on the Comeback Trail this week. Apart from Bowie we also heard from Eric Burdon, Boz Scaggs and James Hunter.

Now in his early 70s, Eric Burdon is in surprisingly good voice.Following an independently released EP late last year, Eric returns with a major album of original songs. Meanwhile, Boz Scaggs leaned on Memphis for both the sound - and the title of his new album, on which he revives songs by the late Willy DeVille, Moon Martin and Steely Dan. Acclaimed English R&B singer, James Hunter travelled to New York, to record his first album in 5 years. Recorded at Brooklyn’s Dap-Tone Studios (home of Sharon Jones) with his band, The James Hunter Six, it sounds to us like his best album yet.

It’s not all about vintage though. We also check out the debut album from young Perth band, San Cisco. Playing together since they were in High School (and now with an average age of 19), San Cisco is already attracting attention far beyond our shores.

Another young name to watch, this one from the world of (genuine) Country music is Caitlin Rose. Her second album, ‘The Stand-In’ shows this Nashville-based storyteller/song-crafter to be someone on the verge of a much more promising future.

David Bowie: “Valentine’s Day” (from the album, ‘The Next Day’)

Boz Scaggs: “Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl”/”Dry Spell” (from the album, ‘Memphis’)

San Cisco: “Beach”/”Awkward" (from the album, ‘San Cisco’)

Eric Burdon: “Devil And Jesus” (from the album, ‘’Til Your Well Runs Dry’)

David Bowie: “Boss Of Me” (from the album, ‘The Next Day’)

Caitlin Rose: “Pink Champagne”/”Golden Boy” (from the album, ‘The Stand-In’)

The James Hunter Six: “The Gypsy”/”Minute By Minute” (from the album, ‘Minute By Minute’)

David Bowie: “The Next Day” (from the album, ‘The Next Day’)

Just Released is heard Saturdays at 12pm and Sundays at 4pm (AEDT or AEST) on ABC Digital Radio in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and via the streams of our metropolitan stations on the Gold Coast, in Newcastle, Hobart and Darwin.  You can also listen to the show during the week on ABC Dig Music Mondays @ 2pm, Wednesdays @ 8pm & Thursdays @ 11am (AEDT or AEST) and on Radio Australia throughout Asia & the Pacific.

To stream Just Released on demand, connect to our web pages via the links above. .

 To stream Just Released on demand, connect to our web pages via the links above. …(or the shiny beast below): 

                                               Find 'Just Released' here.

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Just Released - 2013 [Ep.6]

This week on Just Released with Bill Riner & Brandon Stewart:

“Planet Earth is blue,

 And there’s nothing I can do…”,

                                                                        [“Space Oddity” – David Bowie [1969]

In this brave new world of digital ubiquity, keeping a secret is not an easy thing to do. Yet, David Bowie caught everyone by surprise when he released his first new recording in a decade, on his 66^th birthday in January this year. In this edition of JR we preview a second song from his now imminent album, ‘The Next Day’.

Another artist noted for taking his music and his audience far beyond the boundaries of conventional Rock music is Radiohead frontman, Thom Yorke. Teaming up with Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist, Flea, Radiohead producer, Nigel Godrich, and two exceptional percussionists, Yorke is now leading a new band called Atoms For Peace. The group’s debut album is a deep foray into Electronica, largely inspired by the Afrobeat trance rhythms of legendary Nigerian bandleader, Fela Kuti.

Also in this edition, 80 years since her birth and ten years since the year of her passing, we pay tribute to the late (and undeniably great), Nina Simone with a newly released multi-disc anthology.

Dido makes a welcome return with an adventurous 4^th album, ‘Girl Who Got Away’ and Emmylou Harris returns with a traditional album of duets, this time with her old band mate Rodney Crowell.

If Prince has a new album coming out this year, he’s yet to announce it. Instead, he’s been drip-feeding a few new songs online just recently and we’ve managed to snag one of the best of them. Looking further ahead, a second album from blue-eyed soulsters, Fitz & The Tantrums is due out in May but we have the first song from it in this week’s edition.

Fitz & The Tantrums: “Out Of My League” (preview from the album, ‘More Than Just A Dream’)

Prince: “Screwdriver” (new digital single)

Dido: “Sitting On The Roof Of The World”/”Blackbird" (from the album, ‘Girl Who Got Away’)

Atoms For Peace: “Stuck Together Pieces” (from the album, ‘Amok’)

Nina Simone: “My Baby Just Cares For Me”/”Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” (from the album, ‘To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story’)

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell: “Spanish Dancer” (from the album, ‘Old Yellow Moon’)

David Bowie: “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” (preview from the album, ‘The Next Day’)

Atoms For Peace: “Judge, Jury And Executioner” (from the album, ‘Amok’)

Just Released is heard Saturdays at 12pm and Sundays at 4pm (AEDT or AEST) on ABC Digital Radio in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and via the streams of our metropolitan stations on the Gold Coast, in Newcastle, Hobart and Darwin.  You can also listen to the show during the week on ABC Dig Music Mondays @ 2pm, Wednesdays @ 8pm & Thursdays @ 11am (AEDT or AEST) and on Radio Australia throughout Asia & the Pacific.

To stream Just Released on demand, connect to our web pages via the links above. .

To stream Just Released on demand, connect to our web pages via the links above. 

 …(or the shiny beast below): 

                                      Listen to 'Just Released' here.

               ♫

    ♫   {](-_-)[}   ♫         Thanks for listening.

Just Released - 2013 [Ep.5]

This week on Just Released with Bill Riner & Brandon Stewart:

 “Hey you! Don’t watch that... Watch this!

  This is the heavy, heavy monster sound…”

                                                                  “One Step Beyond” – Madness [1979]

Thus began the opening song from the first album by Madness, released in October 1979 and, along with the debut released that same month by The Specials, the Jamaican music style called Ska went overground to the broader white community in England. The enthusiasm was shared by the youth of Australia, for whom the term “skank” suddenly took on a whole new meaning, as Ska bands began popping up in cities all around the country. 

Among the best known were Sydney group, the Allniters and from Melbourne, No Nonsense and Strange Tenants. The buzz was even prevalent in Japan where The Tokyo Paradise Ska Orchestra has kept feet moving since 1985. Closer to home, the 30-member Melbourne Ska Orchestra was established in 2003 by Nicky Bomba.  The MSO will soon be appearing at this year’s Bluesfest in Byron Bay and releasing a self-titled debut album soon after. This edition of JR gets skanking ‘n’ top ranking with the MSO

.

Keep an eye out for the new Dave Grohl music documentary, ‘Sound City’, about the historic Los Angeles recording studio where classic albums by Fleetwood Mac, War, Rick Springfield, Tom Petty, Cheap Trick, and Nirvana (among them), were recorded. Good news is that the soundtrack album is also on the way, featuring Dave Grohl playing with many of the people who made those albums. This week, a preview of the album features Grohl with Stevie Nicks.

We also tip our hat to Ed Sheeran with the 6^th (and final) single from his hugely popular album, ‘+’ as he commences his second Australian concert tour in less than 12 months. (Don’t bother, it’s already sold out.)

Setting off the JR Radar this week was the fresh Nu-Soul sounds of Sydney singer, Ngaiire whose debut album will arrive in June following her March/April national tour and England’s Alice Russell. Meanwhile, bringing the classic ‘California Sound’ forward to a new generation are the Los Angeles band, Dawes and relative newcomer, Jenny O.

There’s also a few of our old favourites as well this week, with new albums from John Hiatt and Richard Thompson along with a preview of the forthcoming 21^st solo album by a man known invariably as ‘God’, or ‘Slowhand’ but whose passport clearly says, Eric Clapton. It’s his 50^th year as a recording artist this year – and he brought his wah-wah. …Hello, Old Friend…   

Melbourne Ska Orchestra: “Lygon Street Meltdown” (preview from the album, ‘Melbourne Ska Orchestra’)

Ngaiire (featuring Nai Palm): “Dirty Hercules” (new single)

Alice Russell: “Heartbreaker" (preview from the album, ‘To Dust’)

Ed Sheeran: “Small Bump” (from the album, ‘+’)

John Hiatt: “Blues Can’t Even Find Me” (from the album, ‘Mystic Pinball’)

Dave Grohl & Stevie Nicks: “You Can’t Fix This” (preview from the soundtrack album, ‘Sound City: Real To Reel’)

Dawes: “From A Window Seat” (preview from the album, ‘Stories Don’t End’)

Jenny O.: “Good Love” (from the album, ‘Automechanic’)

Richard Thompson: “Saving The Good Stuff” (from the album, ‘Electric’)

Eric Clapton: “Gotta Get Over” (preview from the album, ‘Old Sock’)

Just Released is heard Saturdays at 12pm and Sundays at 4pm (AEDT or AEST) on ABC Digital Radio in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and via the streams of our metropolitan stations on the Gold Coast, in Newcastle, Hobart and Darwin.  You can also listen to the show during the week on ABC Dig Music Mondays @ 2pm, Wednesdays @ 8pm & Thursdays @ 11am (AEDT or AEST) and on Radio Australia throughout Asia & the Pacific.

To stream Just Released on demand, connect to our web pages via the links above. ...or this shiny, new one: 

                                      Listen to 'Just Released' here.

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Just Released - 2013 [Ep.4]

This week on Just Released with Bill Riner & Brandon Stewart:

“Red Pants and the Sugarman in the Temple Street gloom,

Drinkin’ Chivas Regal in a four dollar room…”:

[“Downtown” – Tom Waits (1980)]

As a songwriter, Tom Waits has artfully conjured imagery and characters from the seedier side of America’s nightlife, like a Charles Bukowski novel set to music. In this week’s edition of JR, his supremely weathered vocal chords serve to interpret the time worn sea shanty (or chantey, according to the album cover), “Shenandoah”, on which he duets with the similarly ragged voice of Keith Richards. The expansive collection, ‘Son Of Rogues Gallery’ gathers similarly themed songs by a wide array of artistes to return the sea shanty to its previous stature in contemporary Folk.

Also looking to re-establish a style of music currently under threat of extinction (although through the circumstance of modern politics rather than lost to antiquity), is Malian singer songwriter, Rokia Traore who can establish an hypnotic groove, sing in three different languages and make a pointed political statement, all in the space of one song. The World music flavours are sprinkled throughout this edition of JR with the welcome return of Melbourne band, The Cat Empire, and Florida’s Country/Rock ‘n’ Roll goodtime band, The Mavericks.

We also find some great electronic sounds from the UK with a new album from Foals and another on the way from James Blake, the first preview of which set the JR Radar™ buzzing this week. Checking for dust on the Comeback Trail also proved fruitful with an intelligent, challenging and brilliantly executed album from Deborah Conway and Willy Zygier, mostly about, well, God. Many will recall Deborah’s voice from her days in Do-Re-Mi, but you may never have heard her sound like this before. 

The Cat Empire: “Brighter Than Gold” (new single from the un-named forthcoming album)

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: “Water’s Edge” (from the album, ‘Push The Sky Away’)

Rokia Traore: “Beautiful Africa" (preview from the album, ‘Beautiful Africa’)

James Blake: “Retrograde” (preview from the album, ‘Overgrown’)

Foals: “Out Of The Woods”/”Milk And Black Spiders” (from the album, ‘Holy Fire’)

Deborah Conway & Willy Zygier: “G-D”/”Outside Of Zion” (preview from the album, ‘Stories Of Ghosts’)

The Mavericks: “Born To Be Blue”/”As Long As There’s Loving Tonight” (preview from the album, ‘In Time’)

Tom Waits & Keith Richards: “Shenandoah” (from the album, ‘Son Of Rogues Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys’)

Just Released is heard Saturdays at 12pm and Sundays at 4pm (AEDT or AEST) on ABC Digital Radio in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and via the streams of our metropolitan stations on the Gold Coast, in Newcastle, Hobart and Darwin.  You can also listen to the show during the week on ABC Dig Music Mondays @ 2pm, Wednesdays @ 8pm & Thursdays @ 11am (AEDT or AEST) and on Radio Australia throughout Asia & the Pacific.

To stream Just Released on demand, connect to our web pages via the links above.

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    ♫   {](-_-)[}   ♫         Thanks for listening.

Just Released - 2013 [Ep.3]

This week on Just Released with Bill Riner & Brandon Stewart:

“Well, I stand up next to a mountain,

 And I chop it down with the edge of my hand…”:

[“Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” – The Jimi Hendrix Experience [1968]

Who would think, that after the multitude of posthumous releases already scattered in his wake, that there could possibly be anything “new” from the estate of Jimi Hendrix? In a matter of weeks another ‘new’ Hendrix album will be issued and in JR this week, we hear the first hint of it by way of (the now 45 year-old recording), “Somewhere”.

Jimi may have been the greatest but he’s not the only guitarist of note to be featured in this week's edition. We also welcome the 30^th anniversary Legacy Edition of ‘Texas Flood’, the memorable debut album by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, as well as the return of English guitar hero, Johnny Marr. Since making his name with The Smiths back in the ‘80s, Johnny Marr has played (or collaborated) with a proverbial Who’s Who of Rock musicians and is now about to release ‘The Messenger’, his first solo album.

Ben Harper is back and in a collaborative mood, this time teaming up with Chicago Blues veteran harmonica player, Charlie Musselwhite on what may well prove his best album in a decade. And on the subject of veterans, Aaron Neville also makes a return this week with ‘My True Story’, his reverential homage to the Doo-Wop and early R&B songs that inspired him.

Popping up fresh on the JR Radar this week was the new single from American Pop trio, Haim who promise to release their debut album this year and the new album from the curiously named English band, I Am Kloot.

Ben Harper with Charlie Musselwhite: “I’m In, I’m Out, And I’m Gone” (from the album, ‘Get Up!’)

Haim: “Don’t Save Me” (new single)

Depeche Mode: “Heaven" (preview from the album, ‘Delta Machine’)

I Am Kloot: “Masquerade”/”Some Better Day” (from the album, ‘Let It All In’)

Jimi Hendrix: “Somewhere” (preview from the album, ‘People, Hell & Angels’)

Aaron Neville: “My True Story” (from the album, ‘My True Story’)

Johnny Marr: “The Messenger” (preview from the album, ‘The Messenger’)

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble: “Texas Flood”/”Lenny (excerpt)” (from the album, ‘Texas Flood [30^th Anniversary Legacy Edition]’)

Just Released is heard Saturdays at 12pm and Sundays at 4pm (AEDT or AEST) on ABC Digital Radio in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and via the streams of our metropolitan stations on the Gold Coast, in Newcastle, Hobart and Darwin.  You can also listen to the show during the week on ABC Dig Music Mondays @ 2pm, Wednesdays @ 8pm & Thursdays @ 11am (AEDT or AEST) and on Radio Australia throughout Asia & the Pacific.

To stream Just Released on demand, connect to our web pages via any of the links above.

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    ♫   {](-_-)[}   ♫         Thanks for listening.