CONSUME/VALVE

QUAN’s new solo album The Amateur is steadily growing great responses… see the great review from Time Off.

The new website up and growing with a free promo download track ARE YOU THE BEAT I’M LOOKING FOR?
www.quantheamateur.com 

Quan is a short extract from a love letter, an Amateur (from the latin ‘Amator’-'Lover’, from Amare ‘to love’) ineptly following the natural course of things since forever. 

Apparently a photon that begins it’s life in the centre of the sun spends on average about 10 and a half million light years zigzaging to and fro as it slowly works it’s way to the surface, a distance that if traveled in a straight line would take a mere 2.5 seconds. It then takes a further 8.5 minutes to reach the earth. 

Furthermore our Sun Converts Five Million tones of Mass (about the equivalent of a million elephants) into pure energy every second.

These factoids remind me of two things: 1. The virtue of patience and 2. That the immolation of a human heart pales in comparison to that of a Star’s. (Or is it the other way round?) 

Is this a foundation for Hip Hop? Yes. 

Quan Yeomans from Regurgitator finally delivers his 4 year labour of love on again off again requiem to those heady amateur days. Recorded in Sydney, London, Hong Kong, flight lounges, bus stops, doorways… and now making as many music videos as he can. Features The One, Gimme Gimme, And this is what she said…, Year of the Jerk and more. Touring in 2009.
Is this the beat you been looking for?

QUAN THE AMATEUR out now on Valve/MGM. For interviews, images and more contact brian@rishrecords.com or consume1@ozemail.com.au www.quantheamateur.com

QUAN
The Amateur
(Valve/MGM)
Statement of intent: to review this new album of Quan’s without referring to that band. You know. The one starting with R. Not gonna happen. “Why oh why, reviewer of mine,” you ask? Well, because this is a different creature. The Amateur is quite clearly a hip hop record. On top of that, it’s one of those rare Aussie hip hop releases that, thankfully, don’t sound particularly Australian. Quan’s voice may sound familiar here and there, and the sense of humour is still there (eg: “I got a cock and I got a vagina/ I got plot like Jerry Bruckheimer”), but production wise you’re looking at some of the most original sounding stuff since Pharrell was actually a producer and not a celebrity.
Here’s a quick rundown: you’ve got the opening, Spod-featuring ‘Gimme Gimme’ with its double time beat and slightly awkward flow that’s begging for a festival crowd (Is this even intended to be played live? Let’s hope so.), the Phantom of the Opera on minimalism ‘Mouthin’ Off For No Good Reason’, the Japanese robot slaughtering The Presets ‘Year Of The Jerk’. You getting the idea yet? It’s not all bleepy though; there’s a decent Tone-Loc sort of guitar vibe going on in ‘…And This Is What She Said’, and a sort of electric motorcycle revving backing up the clearly R&B ‘The One’ (a tune that sounds so ‘normal’ that I listened intently twice through waiting for the joke. Oh there it is.)
Hopefully The Amateur is a sign of things to come for Australian hip hop; something genuinely original and still incredibly listenable. Dig it.
HHHH Tal Wallace (TIME OFF Oct 2008)

Holden are a duo based in Paris, France with a unique sound that mixes all and everything beautiful. Their world is the world and their sound is sound. Max and minimalism. Harmony and disharmony. Happy and sad. Comparisons and influences would be useless. There are too many. ‘La Machine Holden 1998 – 2008.’ a compilation or ‘ best of …’ their work to date will say it better.

Guitarist Mocke and singer Armelle Pioline formed the group in 1997.

They released their debut album – ‘ L’Arriére Monde’ the following year on the french independant label Lithium and had a surprise hit in Chile with the single ‘La Machine.’ The beginning of a long affair with the South American country.

They signed a new deal with another french label – Village Vert – in 2000 and started their now famous/infamous relationship/collaboration with Uwe Schmidt, alias Senor Coconut, el maestro, who recorded and produced the group’s second and third album ‘ Pedrolia’ 2002, and ‘Chevrotine’ 2005.

Chevrotine was highly critically acclaimed around the world with songs like ‘ Ce Que Je Suis’ and ‘Madrid’ being released on a number of foreign compilations and soundtracks. It was voted ‘album of the year’ by France’s national daily newspaper – ‘Libération.’ It also convinced the highly fashionable french film-maker – Mywenn – to ask the group to write a song for her new feaure film due for release at Cannes next year.

The idea of the compilation – ‘ La Machine Holden’ was to bring together the band’s favourite tracks from the first three albums and throw in their wonderful cover of the Smith’s ‘ The Boy With The Thorn In His Side’ as a special bonus. It’s not easy for those indie labels around the world who adore Holden to release three back- catalogue albums – so this seemed the most logical idea. A way of introducing Holden to ‘other places’ around the globe. This compilation will only be available OUTSIDE france.

The group was recently invited to Brisbane in Australia by Valve Records and the Gallery Of Modern Art to play ‘Picasso – Up Late’ night. A sold-out crowd warmly received the duo and they think and hope yet another relationship has been born… the experience was magical, especially for the group.

Valve records release the compilation exclusively in Australia and the East and Holden hope the success of the record will see the release in 2009 by Valve of their new album, currently being mixed, ‘Fantomatisme’. Holden intend to return to Australia sometime next year for a live tour in support of the compilation and eventually the new album.

Fantomatisme will be released in France on the 14th February 2009 and will be released worldwide to correspond with the touring of number of various countries (Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, England, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Russia, Poland, Canada, Australia and hopefully – the far East.)

HOLDEN – La Machine 1998 2008 is out now on Valve/MGM. Featuring among many great tracks the cosmopiltan hits – Madrid, Ce Que Je Suis, La Machine, Sur Le Pave… and The Boy with a Thorn in his Side. For interviews, images and more contact consume1@ozemail.com.au or brian@rishrecords.com www.holden.fr

BEN ELY’S RADIO 5
Ben Ely trips into the futureworld, inspired by a radio show 100 years ahead of our time… with his new solo album Transcending Reality. Garage rock with a twist of the future.

Ben Ely returns from the zone with new project Ben Ely’s Radio 5. A garage crazed transmission from the future worlds… emerging after his first broadcast at the Gallery of Modern Art’s Warhol Uplate in March. In between bouts of Regurgitator Ben recorded this solo album at his Studio Wow! in Sydney and Jonboyrock joined the melee to mix. Ben stands to attention, kickstarts the stand, revs the mic as Stephen Bourke and Marihuzkha Larenas shuffle their wares to the beat on a twin six string psych attack. Cheap, nasty and freaking dynamic!!!

The idea for this project came about in mid 2007 when Steve, Marihuzka and I were chatting after a show late one night at Spectrum joking around with the idea of starting a group with just the three of us doing a stripped back thing with a very small kit like Mo Tucker (from the Velvet Underground), an acoustic guitar and Steve playing electric. We were a little drunk just mucking around with the idea. Then months later when I came off tour on the BDO with Regurgitator I felt really inspired by all this amazing music I had soaked up over that trip though I didn’t have any plans to make any music. I actually had my heart set on the idea of doing an art exhibition so I set those wheels in motion, but as I started painting in the silent space of a spare room in my house songs came to me. In the silence they came… one after the other. I would put down my brushes sing the riffs, melody and lyrics into my dictaphone saving them up, storing them for something down the track without wasting time on elaborate demos. Then I ran into Marihuzka and Steve out again one night in March 2008 and the idea came up again. They had some free time and we decided to get together at a local rehearsal space. I brought long my dictaphone and translated some of these rough sketches to the other guys. We all had a total blast with what came out. Our 4 hour rehearsals seemed to fly by with each of us so rapped up in what we were doing. It was raw exciting and fresh. We started with a bunch of instruments – synths, basses, acoustic guitars – then stripped the sound back to just stand up kick and snare with tamborine and two electric guitars. Anything else was just cluttering up the sound. We pieced all the songs together and before we knew it we had enough material for 2 albums so we went to a friends studio and put Transcending Reality together. Four months after our first rehearsal we had the mastered version of our album in our hot sweaty little paws. It was so easy. No epic struggle with the songs. Not too many hours wasted on production. Isn’t the best music made this way?
After shows with Peaches, single of the week for I’m Psyched on iTunes, and a few album launch shows prior to the Regurgitator Asia tour… Ben Ely hits the road with Children Collide on their upcoming album release tour…
FRI 14 NOV – REVOLVER UPSTAIRS Melbourne with Children Collide and Sailors & Swine
SAT 15 NOV – PRODUCERS BAR Adelaide with Children Collide
THUR 20 NOV – ALHAMBRA LOUNGE Brisbane with Children Collide
FRI 21 NOV – ANNANDALE HOTEL Sydney with Children Collide and Traps

Straight through the future on the crest of a garage rock fury…
TRANSCENDING REALITY out now on Valve/MGM – featuring I’m Psyched, get on the Mic and Ride it like a Bike and way more than the head can hold… roar! For interviews, images and more contact brian@rishrecords.com or consume1@ozemail.com.au www.myspace.com/benelysradio5

LLOYD & MICHAEL follow up the release of JUST AS GOD MADE US with a tour to these here parts…

LLOYD & MICHAEL 
…are Katy Davidson and M. Ritchey, who first met in the late 90s while rooming at college in Portland, Oregon. Together they formed the first incarnation of Dear Nora, a band name Katy took with her to San Francisco on graduation, releasing a series of acclaimed dusty desert folk albums on Magik Marker Records and touring the world many times over. Meanwhile in Portland, Ritchey formed The Badger King with Jona Bechtolt (Yacht, The Blow) and later branched out solo as the odd and cryptic Mantar. Always feeling there was a little something missing in their lives, Katy and Ritchey had an emotional reunion in 2006 when they both ended up living in Los Angeles. They named their new band using their masculine middle names (Ritchey’s is Lloyd, Katy’s is Michael) and recorded their debut album Just As God Made Us, in just four days. Minimal and eerie, with apocalyptic prog tunes nestling up against sunshiney folk gems, Just As God Made Us was released last year on States Rights Records, the Portland label also home to releases by Yacht, Final Fantasy and Lucky Dragons.

“The Lloyd & Michael record is floaty and psychedelic and insane…It sounds a little bit like a Yes record, complete with birds and mountains, and with some unstoppable pop songs.” – Chris Walla (Death Cab For Cutie)

Presented by Chapter Music & Nadia Mizner… 
THUR 20 NOV – STEPP INN Brisbane plus Woelv
SAT 22 NOV – TRIPLE R Melbourne plus Woelv & Pikelet (allages)
SUN 23 NOV – PALAIS THEATRE Hepburn Springs plus Woelv & Pikelet
THUR 27 NOV – FRONT GALLERY Canberra plus Woelv
FRi 28 NOV – SERIAL SPACE Sydney (allages)

Just as God Made Us out on Valve/MGM. For interviews, images and more contact consume1@ozemail.com.au www.myspace.com/lloydandmichaelrock