Okkervil River is an indie/folk rock band from Austin, Texas USA. Formed in 1998, the band takes its name from a short story by Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya. The band currently consists of Will Sheff (vocals, guitar), Justin Shurburn (guitar, keyboards), Lauren Gurgiolo (guitar, pedal steel, mandolin), Scott Brackett (keyboards, trumpet, percussion), Patrick Pestorius (bass, keyboards) and Travis Nelsen (drums).
A little over one year ago, former members of Gold Coast rock outfit LUMP - Scott Jackman, Stewart Williams and Luke ( Fleshy) Attrill and Ex members of Sunk Loto - Jason Brown and Dane Brown, ushered in 2008 by uniting forces and creating an exciting new Rock/ Metal 5 piece under the name of ELECTRIC HORSE. The Members have been experimenting with thier sound and musical direction over the past 14 months in their Gold Coast based rehearsal studio and have been recording some self produced demos during this period.
White Rabbits come to New York via the arid plains of the Mid West. For their first record, they managed to catch the attention of Say Hey Records and producer Chris Zane (Shy Child, Asobi Seksu, Les Savy Fav). Their second album, "It's Frightening," was produced by Britt Daniel (Spoon). Lead by dual vocalists, Greg Roberts (Guitar / Vox) and Steve Patterson (Piano / Vox), the 6 piece is rounded out by Alex Even (Guitar / Vox), Brian Betancourt (Bass), Matt “The Duck” Clark (Drums) and Jamie Levinson (Drums).
Spiderbait are an alternative rock band formed in 1991 in Finley, New South Wales, Australia which consists of Mark "Kram" Maher (drums, lead vocals), Janet English (bass, vocals) and Damien Whitty (guitar). They have had two top ten albums and another three albums reach the Australian top 40. Their song Buy Me a Pony was #1 on the Triple J Hottest 100 for 1996, and the group enjoyed success with their 2004 #1 Australian hit cover of Black Betty.
When you have as big a celebrity fan as Stephen King, you must be doing something right! The three-piece from Finley, New South Wales, Australia, often jump genres from disco-pop (Stevie, Calypso) to mutant dance (Arse Huggin' Pants) - in the course of a single album, no less. And yet, they still manage to rock like mofos (Shazam!, Outta My Head, and - of course - their cover of Black Betty).
The three band members Mark Maher or "Kram" (drums and vocals), Damien Whitty or "Whitt" on guitar and Janet English on bass/vocals come from the small town Finley in southern New South Wales where they jammed together in their youth.
The band moved to Melbourne, Australia where Kram was studying at the Victorian College of the Arts School of Music. The band played its first gig at a loungeroom for a friend's party. The band soon became part of Melbourne's punk scene playing gigs at venues like the Tote Hotel in Collingwood, Victoria. They released their first single Circle K on Au-Go-Go Records with an EP titled P'tang Yang Kipper Bang Uh! following in 1992. The band's first album Shashavaglava was released in 1992. 'Shashavaglava' means 'dickhead' in Croatian. This album featured the songs Old Man Sam and a cover of English comedians The Goodies' song Run.
Spiderbait signed with Polydor Records and released their first album with the new label, their second album overall, named The Unfinished Spanish Galleon of Finley Lake in 1995. The album reached #14 on the Australian charts with singles Monty and Jesus receiving extensive airplay on Triple J. The album title refers to an unfinished project by the Finley Rotary Club, which became a venue for teenage drinking in their home town.
Their third album Ivy and the Big Apples was released in 1996, reached #3 and sold over 180,000 copies in Australia. Their first single Buy Me a Pony received extensive airplay on Triple J resulting in listeners voting it as their favourite song of the year. The second single Calypso also achieved commercial airplay, and reached #13 in the Australian singles charts in 1997.
In 1998, Janet English and her then boyfriend Quan Yeomans of Regurgitator recorded an album as Happyland. Around the same time, Kram and Richie Lewis of Tumbleweed released their own side-project the Hot Rollers - so named as both member's mothers were hairdressers. The Hot Rollers only album (self-titled) was released through Polydor.
Spiderbait returned together in 1999 with the album Grand Slam which also debuted at #10 on the Australian album charts.
Despite good airplay for the Grand Slam singles Shazam! and Stevie, their 2001 album The Flight of Wally Funk was a commercial flop, only selling 20,000 copies. The album was recorded in Whitt's living room.
Spiderbait recorded the Tonight Alright album in Los Angeles with producer Sylvia Massy who had worked with acts such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Tool, System of a Down and Skunk Anansie. The first single Black Betty was a cover version of the old Leadbelly song which became a hit in 1977 when covered by Ram Jam. The single reached #1 after 10 weeks in the singles chart in May 2004 (after debuting at #12), and stayed there for three weeks, becoming their biggest selling single ever. The film clip featured a hot rod similar to the car on the ZZ Top Eliminator. The song also made the soundtrack to the Electronic Arts video game Need for Speed: Underground 2. Tonight Alright was released on 28 March 2004, and debuted and peaked at #14. The second single Fucken Awesome debuted in the top 30 on June 28 2004. Interscope Records signed the band in 2004 to distribute Tonight Alright in the US and UK.
At the 2004 ARIA awards, Kram performed as part of the supergroup The Wrights, featuring members of many other Australian rock bands.
In September 2005 they released a Greatest Hits collection to reveal their back catalogue to younger fans who were caught up by Black Betty. This debuted at #6 and received a Gold Accreditation.
The band went on hiatus March 2005 after bassist Janet English gave birth to her daughter and planned a cycling tour across Europe. More recently Kram had announced plans of a solo album to be released sometime in 2006.
On 18 November 2006 the band performed at the Queensland Council of Unions organised Rock the Vote! concert in Brisbane after a nine month hiatus from touring. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Sarah Blasko (born September 23, 1976) is an ARIA Award winning Australian musician. She was born in Sydney soon after her family returned from French-speaking Réunion where her parents had been missionaries. An original and largely self-reliant musical artist, Blasko is known for her writing and production skills, as well as her unique voice and stage presence. Blasko was first heard in the mid-1990s fronting Sydney band, Acquiesce, after an initial tour of France with founding members Dave Hemmings, Paul Camilleri, and her sister Kate Halcrow.
Indiana's Murder by Death (formerly known as Little Joe Gould) layers the vocal sounds of an old saloon with the haunting strings of a Hungarian folk dance and the hard driving rhythms of pure rock 'n' roll, producing what Stuff magazine has called "lush, orchestrated songs," somehow simultaneously reminiscent of Johnny Cash and Radiohead. Added to that thick and intriguing sound are a series of dark and ironic lyrics, combining the mood and tone of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds with the narrative force of The Decemberists or a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
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Tallulah Rendall ’lay me down’ (transducer). Must take some beating being told you have a ’wonderful voice’ by none other than Shirley Bassey - with that kind of acclaim you’d suspect most artists would happily retire and spend the ensuing years solely trading on that moment sealing morsel. Not Tallulah Rendall this London based songstress has set up her own label so as to keep her music out of the thumb twiddling unit chasing bandwagon jumping controlling freaks that you and I lovingly refer to as major labels.
The Delta Lions are an Australian country/indy/blues influenced rock band based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Comprising Michael Ferfoglia (guitar/vocals), Mat Taylor (drums/vocals), Ryan Wilson (bass) and Ben Leece (guitar/vocals), The Delta Lions punk rock roots and love for classic song writing, give the band a unique, soulful, sincere sound. Strong guitar driven riffs and sing along choruses with lyrics about the good old days help the band reach an audience young and old.
Freestate is a band from Melbourne, Victoria that formed in 2002. The combination of raw power and melody make for a powerful beast and Melbourne's Freestate launched their debut album with enough raw power and melody to quickly scale the heights of the Australian heavy rock scene. With integrity and musical abilities akin to The Butterfly Effect and Karnivool and riffs that would make any Wolfmother proud, Freestate bring a presence which bridges the gap between the underground and the commercial, and pushes the boundaries of rock music genres.
Grand Fatal are a talented rock band from Newtown, Sydney. They recently burst into the music scene with an EP, self-titled album and their second album "Allies" which received great reviews from many critics.