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.

               ♫

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

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.

               ♫

    ♫   {](-_-)[}   ♫         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.

               ♫

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

Just Released - 2013 [Ep.2]

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

“And I’ll Play you old 45s,

That now mean nothing to me”

[from: "Real Gone Kid" – Deacon Blue (1988)]

The year may yet be in its infancy and new releases not exactly pouring in but we still found ourselves with an embarrassment of riches to include in this week’s edition of JR.

The JR Radar was buzzing with alerts to fresh American singer songwriter Kate Earl and a lusty 11-piece English Folk band called, Bellowhead. Both have been steadily carving out their respective niches for a few years. Ms. Earl is now on to her 3^rd album (‘Stronger’) and Bellowhead is onto its 4^th (‘Broadside’).

Musically, the two may be worlds apart but the sounds they create indicate an even brighter future.

Returning this year - each with a second album - are Irish band Villagers and England’s Stornaway whilst a few more familiar names are also on the horizon including Chris Smither (touring Australia during March), Dido, Madeleine Peyroux and Australia’s bona-fide Prince of Darkness®, Nick Cave.

2013 – Bring it on.

Kate Earl: “One Woman Army” (from the album, ‘Stronger’)

Deacon Blue: “The Hipsters” (from the album, ‘The Hipsters’)

Stornaway: “Knock Me On The Head" (preview from the album, ‘Tales From Terra Firma’)

Chris Smither: “Hundred Dollar Valentine”/”Make Room For Me” (from the album, ‘Hundred Dollar Valentine’)

Villagers: “Nothing Arrived”/”The Bell” (from the album, ‘{Awayland}’)

Dido: “No Freedom” (preview from the album, ‘Girl Who Got Away’)

Madeleine Peyroux: “Changing All Those Changes” (preview from the album, ‘The Blue Room’)

Bellowhead: “Roll The Woodpile Down”/”10,000 Miles Away” (from the album, ‘Broadside’)

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: “Jubilee Street” (preview from the album, ‘Push The Sky Away’)

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.

              ♫

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

Just Released - 2013 [Ep.1]

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

“Australia, Australia, Australia - C’mon and be my China Plate,

(Cos’) Australia, Australia, Australia - Australia, you’re my Mate”

[from: "Australia" - The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band (1975)]

It’s a brand new year and time to kick out the jams on Season 3 of Just Released.

To mark the Australia Day weekend we’re devoting our first edition exclusively to Aussie artists and in particular those we’ll be watching out for in 2013. The styles may vary but the standard remains reassuringly high.

One thing we’ve noticed is the continuing rise of Electronica. That’s especially evident with the music of Sydney’s Phebe Starr, Ballarat’s Gold Fields,  and ‘80s-influenced Melbourne band, Clubfeet.

Names more familiar to fans of Australian music are Hungry Kids Of Hungary and Birds Of Tokyo. Both are returning this year with new albums and a full dance card of touring commitments. 

Emma Louise is now widely known through her debut song “Jungle”, which featured heavily on TV in the past year on shows like 'The Slap'. The long-held promise of a debut album from Emma will finally be realised in March and you’ll hear a preview track from it in this week’s show.

After a tech specs upgrade, the reinstalled JR Radar was quick to pick up on new indie band, Stompy And The Heat. If the name sounds Retro, wait til you hear their music.

We also remember one of the true gentlemen of Aus Music, the late Jimmy Little. Sadly, last April, Jimmy’s famous Royal Telephone call was finally answered and now, a triple album of his latter day studio and live recordings has been issued.    

Note: Among the (very few) changes to JR in 2013, the Sunday afternoon replay will now move from 5pm to 4.

Phebe Starr: “Jurassica” (new single)

Hungry Kids Of Hungary: “Twin Cities” (preview from the album, ‘You’re A Shadow’)

Clubfeet: “Everything You Wanted"/”Heartbreak” (from the album, ‘Heirs And Graces’)

Hot Spoke: “Don’t Go” (from the ‘Living On A Fault Line EP’)

High Highs: “In A Dream” (from the album, ‘Open Season’)

Stompy And The Heat: “Alien Death Ray”/”Don’t Tell Me” (from the album, ‘Stompy And The Heat’)

Jimmy Little: “Randwick Bells” (from the album, ‘Songman: Messenger & Life’s What You Make It’)

Gold Fields: “Dark Again (Lights Out)” (preview from the album, ‘Black Sun’)

Emma Louise: “Freedom” (preview from the as-yet-untitled debut album.)

Birds Of Tokyo: “Lanterns” (preview from the album, ‘March Fires’)

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.

              ♫

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

Just Released 2012 [Ep.47] - Best of 2012

                                                          

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

Saturday 29^th & Sunday 30^th December 2012

“For the remaining people of Earth...”:

The Best of 2012: It carries some weight . We preferred to call it “the songs that stuck – and didn’t suck”.

2012 was a positive year for many styles of music. Even Rock made a convincing return, with the debut album from Jack White among the strongest. Psychedelic also made its biggest comeback since ‘67. Neil Young released an album called ‘Psychedelic Pill’ whilst closer to home, Perth’s Tame Impala, were given a psychedelic remix by Todd Rundgren on a track from their 2^nd album, ‘Lonerism’.

The wider influence of Dubstep was seen in 2012 with the rise of both Skrillex and the Australian duo, Knife Party who’s “Bonfire” was a big, loud favourite in the JR office.

Partly due to the recent ‘Mumfordization’ of Pop, acoustic and analogue music found a broader appreciation this year. From Iceland came Of Monsters & Men with a rousing, Indie-Pop anthem from their album, ‘My Head Is An Animal’ while, from England, we had the Folk-with-attitude of an 18 year-old, Jake Bugg.

One of the year’s serendipitous finds came with the international release of J.D. McPherson’s, ‘Signs & Signifiers’, an album bristling with the same authentic Rockabilly mood you’d have found in a Clovis, New Mexico recording studio circa 1956.

Among those stirring up dust on the Comeback Trail in 2012 was Missy Higgins who returned with a new confidence after taking 5 years off to reflect.

Despite its blink-and-you’ll-miss-it K-Pop scare, 2012, was also notable for the old guard being prepared to kick out the jams. McCartney fronting Nirvana was among the noisier highlights in a year that also saw in a well-represented field, strong new albums from Ian Hunter (73), Tom Jones (72), John Cale (70), Scott Walker (69) and Van Morrison (67), among others. Two big highlights were Leonard Cohen’s ‘Old Ideas’ and Bob Dylan’s 35^th studio album, ‘Tempest’. Bob celebrated his 50^th anniversary as a recording artist in 2012 along with The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and Booker T & The MGs. (The Seekers were also seen to be cutting a cake.)

The year offered us many highlights - far too many to include here.

This edition of Just Released is the final show of the 2^nd season.

Hope you’ll join us again when JR returns in 2013 - and as ever, thanks for listening.

Jake Bugg: “Lightning Bolt” (from the album, ‘Jake Bugg’)

Of Monsters & Men: “Little Talks” (from the album, ‘My Head Is An Animal’)

Knife Party: “Bonfire" (from the ‘Rage Valley EP’)

Missy Higgins: “Everyone’s Waiting” (from the album, ‘The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle’)

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

Jack White: “I’m Shakin’” (from the album, ‘Blunderbuss’)

Leonard Cohen: “I’m Going Home” (from the album, ‘Old Ideas’)

Ian Hunter & The Rant Band: “Comfortable (Flyin’ Scotsman)” (from the album, ‘When I’m President’)

Tame Impala: “Elephant (Todd Rundgren Remix)” (from the Deluxe Edition of the album, ‘Lonerism’)

Bob Dylan: “Duquesne Whistle” (from the album, ‘Tempest’)

Just Released is heard Saturdays at 12pm and Sundays at 5pm (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.

              ♫

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