The Next Big (Sound) Things

Some hot tips for next week's BIGSOUND in Brisbane.

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Next week a few of us Pilerats are heading over to Fortitude Valley in Brisbane for the annual music and speaker conference, BIGSOUND, and the lack of AirBnBs available at the late stage we went to book would confirm that there is a going to be a shitload of (more organised than us) bands, journos, managers, bookers, label heads, publicists, and music fans heading to the Valley for this annual music industry showdown. With so many acts, venues, talks, meetings, and awesomely distracting people around to party with, it's likely our best scheduling intentions will get waylaid, but below are the acts we're going to rally our mates up for, even if it means forcing them to skull the rest of their beers so we make it there in time for the first song!

COLUMBUS

Have given Brissy punk trio Columbus’ brand newie Spring Forever a decent workout this week, I'm 99.9% sure they’re going to knock it out of the park on their home turf at BigSound. They were signed to UNFD earlier this year (not too shabby) and the new album (which follows cracker EP Home Remedy), was helmed production-wise by Defeater guitarist and punk/hardcore production guru Jay Maas. Their music makes a big statement, taking nostalgic cues from the emotive punk of cult bands a fair few of us were raised on - Blink 182, The Used and Brand New, etc - but still feels very contemporary. Huge amounts of energy come through on the record - surely to be matched live.

VIP TRACK:

Woolly Mammoth - Alehouse Stage
Wednesday, 7th September
11:30 PM - 12:00 AM

WEST THEBARTON BROTHEL PARTY

Much like Perth, Adelaide is rich in talented weirdos and boss backyard bands - I have a feeling West Thebarton Brothel Party and our own Pilerats Records punks Hideous Sun Demon are gonna get on like a house on fire…or a garage on fire. West TheBarton - who played Gizzfest last year and toured with pub-rock heroes Bad//Dreems - have already won over the Adelaide locals with their ‘chaotic and cathartic; garage. We get the feeling they’ll impress the pants off the rest of us with their loose power jams come BigSound. It’s their first time in Brisbane, so go support the boys!

VIP TRACK:

Empire Hotel
Thursday, September 8th
9:40-10:10pm

MOSSY

Remember that hectic Australian film from a few years back, The Hunter? Where Willem Dafoe plays a pro hitman who goes on a deadly mission into the Tasmanian wilderness to track down a Tasmanian Tiger. Sydney psych-pop act MOSSY was in that movie! Acting! Because he’s an actor! Although he could have done a bang-up job on the film’s score too, I reckon. Yep, Jamie Timothy is one of those annoyingly talented all-rounders - he’s got the ‘successful actor of stage and screen’ thing in the bag, and now he’s taking on the music world, as MOSSY. And if you heard his debut single Electric Chair (I Oh You Records) back in February, you’ll know he’s already nailing it. MOSSY’S seductive yet sedated voice is a total drawcard here. His songwriting’s inspired by Tom Waites and Leonard Cohen, and his productions are mellow, weird, and completely magnetizing. BIGSound will see him sing with a full live band, I’m sure it will be nothing short of fabulous. Trivia: Jamie also sings in punk band New South Wales, who were behind that awesome pisstake doco, and are also playing at BIGSound.

VIP TRACK:

Coopers Brightside Outdoor Stage
Thursday, 8th September
9:10 PM - 9:40 PM

BUOY

This girl is like Oz’s answer to Beach House’s Victoria Legrand - Charmian Kingston (BUOY) has this amazing delicate, dark-dream-pop voice that somehow just opens up a world of intrigue: it’s the vocal we heard on that Spirit Faces track a while back. Her recent original single Clouds & Rain, co-produced by the amazing Jack Grace, is currently deservedly getting smashed by triple j, and Majestic Casual picked it up for their dreamy music bank, too. Her grasp of texture is impressive; the way she layers her vocals into the beat on Clouds & Rain really makes her work stand out. The live set up entails BUOY building a wall of sound with synths, reverb-drenched vocals and percussion. Sounds v. lush.

VIP TRACK:

The Flying Cock
Wednesday, 7th September
8:20 PM - 8:50 PM

YUMI ZOUMA

Yumi Zouma are a band of global citizens, with members spread between NZ, Paris and NY. They all grew up together in Christchurch, forming during school, before flying in different directions, and keeping their musical collaborations alive via emails and Dropbox. Their poignant electro-pop is deliciously drowsy, and makes me nostalgic for that time when bedroom pop acts like Youth Lagoon, Twin Sister and Zola Jesus ruled the roost (their lead singer’s voice reminds me so much of an act I worshipped in my early twenties, Au Revoir Simone). Their new album, Yoncalla (which they recorded and mixed in the same room in Paris), will instantly sweep you off your feet – big synth tunes that still have an intimacy about them. I feel like live, theyre going to be intimidatingly cool.

VIP TRACK:

Coopers Brightside Outdoor Stage
Thursday, 8th September
11:40 PM - 12:10 AM

CERES

Melbourne four-piece Ceres once described themselves as “Jimmy’s Eat World, but not as good,”. They’re definitely selling their instantly likeable, 2016 Australian alt-take on 90s’era emo-pop/rock short here! These dudes have some seriously beautifully constructed, and endearingly honest, tracks in their repertoire. They’ve got some impressive notches in their belt - a couple of years back they won triple j Unearthed’s SoundWave competition, and they’ve toured with some favourite bands of ours - Luca Brasi and Smith Street. Their new album Drag It Down on You hits this September on Cooking Vinyl, and they’re hitting the tour circuit in November, so BigSound’s a great chance to get on board early with Ceres.

VIP TRACK:

The Zoo
Thursday, 8th September
8:50 PM - 9:20 PM

GOLDEN VESSEL

Yung Bonobo over here recently put out one of the dreamiest EPS of 2016, we swear. Every track on the 18 year old Brisbane producer’s debut is well-considered, soft, sophisticated, atmospheric, and emotive. Well-selected guest spots from vocalists on the come-up Lastlings, Woodes, and more, too. Keen to experience his rich soundscapes translated live.

VIP TRACK:

triple j Unearthed Stage @ Oh Hello!
Thursday, 8th September
8:00 PM - 8:30 PM

A.B. ORIGINAL

We’ve talked a lot on Pilerats about the continuing evolution and diversification of the Australian rap scene, the ‘New Wave’ of Austraian rap, and ABOriginal are absolutely surfing out the front of that wave – two critically-acclaimed-in-their-own-right, socially conscious, outspoken, Indigenous artists coming together for a new project with a massively energetic feel to it. ABOriginal is a duo comprised of Briggs – who runs Australia’s first Indigenous hip hop label, Bad Apples, and is a rapper, comedian and actor – and Funkoars’ Trials, who produces for the likes of Drapht, Illy, Hilltop Hoods, Seth Sentry etc. You may recognize from his role as Hairy Man Boondee in the brilliant ABC series Cleverman, a show that weaves ancient Aboriginal stories into a post-apocalyptic world. Briggs recently wrote the opening theme for the show. Their tracks are inspired by West Coast hip hop, but with thoughtful lyrical content close to home. These two critically acclaimed legends first linked up for a collaborative set triple j’s Beat the Drum event last year, where they performed an amazing track with Gurrumul. The set was fire, and led to an album (that’s coming out later this year on Hilltop Hoods’ label & Bad Apples, and features Hau). See them perform tracks off it live at BIGSOUND.

VIP TRACK:

The Elephant Hotel
Thursday, 8th September
9:40 PM - 10:10 PM

GABRIELLA COHEN

This year marks a return to BigSound for Brisbane’s Gabriella Cohen. Last year, NME were all over her BigSound set, praising Cohen for her authenticity and onstage demeanour. We’re sure the show’s only gotten better since the release of her stunning debut, Full Closure and No Details, a few months ago. You may know of Cohen as the frontwoman of the Furrs. Solo, she’s making this totally striking, dark, eclectic pop, with a super upfront lyricism. Fans of the Velvet Underground or Lou Reed would get down with her enigmatic, dynamic music style. She can shred, too.

VIP TRACK:

The Foundry
Thursday, 8th September
9:00 PM - 9:30 PM

WILLOW BEATS

One of two openly biased inclusions given these Melbourne mystics are on our Pilerats Records labely, but genuinely amped to see them live as they’ve been hiding out in the Victorian forrest making new music for what seems like forever, and this is the first chance we’ll get to see some of the brand new awesome tracks they’ve been sending through to us, live on stage. We’ve defs missed singer Kalyani’s heavenly vocal explorations and Narayana’s dynamic, shimmering beatwork; and are excited to see them in the flesh being their awesome free-spirited dancing selves.

VIP TRACK:

Pilerats Carpark Party
Brightside
Wednesday, 7th September
3:00pm

HIDEOUS SUN DEMON

These are the men Pilerats Records are sending to the BIGSound moon this year. The punk rock fourpiece hail from Freo, home to Tame Impala and Koi Child, and are cut from the same epic, individualistic music cloth. Their live show has to be seen to be believed – it’s absolute madness, huge levels of showmanship from the boys with the most animated lead singer we’ve seen in a minute.

KEY TRACK: