James and Caiti from Sietta are about to take a songwriting break over the summer holidays in preparation for their follow up album due for release next year. Not only have they been busy touring with TZU over the last few months, they performed at the Opera House for the one and only night of Dr Seuss Meets Elefant Traks. And what a night it was!
If you’re in Darwin around December 7, then you’ll probably want to catch Sietta at The Happy Yess for their last show of 2012! And what a better way to see the year out with an intimate, limited ticketed show at one of Darwin’s iconic community venues, the Yess. Oh, by the way, this gig will be the first show the guys will be filming professionally. So you if you wanna be in an exclusive first time ever shooting, Grab tickets before they sell out! You can do that here.
Sietta have just released an exclusive free track for those who have joined their monthly newsletter. The track Way Down In The Hole is a cover of Tom Waits track made famous by the hit HBO television show The Wire. Here’s what Sietta had to say about the track.
“Before writing our debut album we sunk our teeth into a lot of media. Music, movies, comedy, art and TV shows. HBO’s The Wire happened to be a favourite between us. We realised that both of us never fast-forwarded the opening credits. Tom Waits had something to do with that. His iconic song ‘Way Down In The Hole’ was interpreted by 5 different artists (including himself) and used as The Wire’s theme song. (S1 – The Blind Boys Of Alabama, S2 – Tom Waits, S3 – The Neville Brothers, S4 – DoMaJe, S5 – Steve Earle) On completion of all 5 seasons of The Wire, we knew the song pretty well and added our version to our repertoire. Please enjoy our lo-fi version of Way Down In The Hole!” – Sietta
Featuring over 25 musical performers onstage from The Herd, Hermitude, Sietta, Joelistics, Unkle Ho, Urthboy, The Tongue, Jimblah, Jaytee of The Last Kinection and more, Australia’s renowned musical collective Elefant Traks are taking over the Graphic circus with a tribute inspired by the whimsical spirit and imagery of Dr. Seuss.
Throughout over 60 years of children’s classics such as The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, the wildly imaginative and surrealist universe of Dr. Seuss has enthralled generations. He continues to be one of the world’s most instantly recognisable and best loved visual storytellers.
‘All ready to put up the tents for my circus… and now comes an act of enormous enormance! No former performer’s performed this performance!’ – excerpt from Dr. Seuss’ If I Ran the Circus
Since making their live debut over a decade ago, Elefant Traks artists have entertained far and wide, capping off 2011 with Hermitude winning triple j’s Video of the Year. Australia’s most innovative label will now play with the iconic work of Dr. Seuss in a specially commissioned show for Graphic 2012.
Maintaining their motto to make ‘challenging yet adventurous’ music, the Elefant Crew are set for a fresh injection of Dr. Seuss’ prescription for fun in this fantastically imaginative performance.
Hermitudes remix accompaniment to their critically adored album HyperParadise is out now. It features some electrifying remixes from some of Australia’s best and most hyped producers including M-Phazes, Flume, Ta-Ku and Sampology.
Flume leads the charge with a kaleidoscopic reinvention of HyperParadise, filled with epic buildups, swung beat work and classy synths – showing why he’s making waves on the international beats scene. Australia’s hip hop production powerhouse, M-Phazes takes a break from his trademark boom-bap, delivering an addictive disco-fuelled take of Speak of The Devil. The ever prolific Ta-Ku takes HyperParadise into dancefloor destruction mode, proving why he’s one of our country’s most promising young beat makers.
Hermitude are charging forward with an infectious momentum that has seen their HyperParadise record re-enter the ARIA Charts at #48 (Digital # 26). It’s seen them smash the national Groovin the Moo tour and join 360 on his record-breaking The Flying Tour. Speak of The Devil made its UK radio debut as part of Zane Lowe’s ‘Next Hype’ segment on BBC Radio1 just last week. The single drops in the UK late July with the duo heading over for a headline London show on July 2.
Parallel Paradise EP is available on iTunes and from elefanttraks.com
Traks 1. HyperParadise (Flume Remix) 2. Speak of the Devil (M-Phazes Remix) 3. All Of You (Sampology Remix) 4. HyperParadise (Ta-ku Remix) 5. Golden (Roleo Remix) 6. Speak Of the Devil (Cam Bluff Remix)
Mention Rainman amongst the initiated and the respect attributed to his name is palpable. Recognised nationally as one of Queensland’s finest, Rainman’s list of collaborations, support slots and guest appearances reads like a who’s who of Australian hip hop.
Rainman is poised to drop his second album Bigger Pictures, in stores Friday 4 May through Obese distribution. The album sees Sammsonite (The Optimen) return for the lion’s share of the production but also features some of Australia’s finest beat – smiths including the APRA and AIR Award winning, ARIA nominated Count Bounce (TZU/Urthboy), DJ Bonez, Mangohig (Sietta), Chasm (Astronomy Class), Cam Bluff (Spit Syndicate/The Tongue/Vegas Aces) and Calski. Guest MCs on the record include Muph, Tommy Illfigga, Yuin Huzami (The Coalition Crew), and many more, while Laneous (Laneous & The Family Yah) and Kel on Earth (Bankrupt Billionaires) lend soulful vocals across the album.
Tracklist: 01. Welcome (Intro) Production: Cam Bluff 02. Can’t See You (Feat. Laneous) Production: by Chasm 03. A 1000 Words (Feat. Muph) Production: Rainman & Sammsonite 04. WTF (Feat. Kel on Earth & Yuin Huzami) Production: Sammsonite & Rainman 05. Duck Face (Feat. Kel on Earth) Production: Rainman & Sammsonite 06. Muse Sick (Feat. Laneous) Production: Sammsonite 07. Big Night (Feat. Tommy Illfigga) Production: Rainman & Sammsonite 08. The Valley Production: Rainman & Sammsonite, Cuts: DJ Butcher 09. Everything Ain’t (Feat. Leah Carr) Production: Chasm, Cuts: DJ Butcher 10. Count Blessings Production: Count Bounce 11. The Buzz (Feat. pear) Production: Cam Bluff 12. Darlin’ (Feat. Calski) Production: Calski 13. Move! (Feat. Seven & 4TH) Production: Calski 14. Too Much (Feat. Youka) Production: Mangohig 15. The Bigger Picture Cuts & Production: DJ Bonez
Rainman is also proud to release the brand new film clip for the single The Valley. An ode to Brisbane’s notorious night spot of the same name, the tune and clip were inspired by and filmed amongst the grit and circumstance found in abundance on any seedy inner-city nighttime adventure. In Rainman’s own words: ‘It’s a pretty jaded and sarcastic portrait of the epicentre of Brisbane’s nightlife that is Fortitude Valley. It’s a place I definitely have a love/hate relationship with, having had some of the best times in my life there, along with the worst – and a whole heap in between.’
The release also comes with the announcement that Rainman has officially become a newly minted member of the Born Fresh Records family, joining label mates and album co-conspirators including producer Cam Bluff and MC’s Tommy Illfigga, Yuin Huzami, Seven, Mr Hill and more. The Valley follows on the success of recently released first single Darlin’ which was received strongly across the country; receiving triple j airplay, FBI Radio (Sydney) rotation and widespread praise for what critics are calling a “classic slice of hip-hop” (Sherlock Ohms.org).
Catch Rainman launching the clip at the following dates: Calski (feat. Rainman) supporting Joelistics (TZU) and Diafrix for the ‘Running to Shine’ Tour: Thursday April 12 Beach Hotel Byron Bay 18+ Free Show Friday April 13 Alhambra Lounge, Brisbane 18+ Saturday April 14 Sol Bar, Maroochydore 18+
Calski (feat. Rainman) supporting Dialectrix for the ‘New Generation’ Tour: Friday April 27 The Annandale, Sydney 18+ with Ellesquire Saturday April 28 Great Northern, Newcastle 18+ with Ellesquire Thursday May 3, Juicy, Brisbane 18+
Sietta take an inspired sidestep in creating the hauntingly beautiful Dark Passenger EP, remaining versions of their debut album, The Seventh Passenger released last year. This bold new direction shines the warm glow of the spotlight on the powerful vocals of Caiti Baker.
The emotion and raw honesty in her voice lays bare the heart and soul of Sietta. James Mangohig’s instrumentation is understated but considered, capturing the warmth perfectly with his use of vintage pianos and luscious string arrangements. They switch effortlessly from the up-to-the-minute coolness of bass-heavy electronica into the classic realm of voice and instrument from another era.It’s stunning.
1 Dark Passenger (Haunting Version) 2 I Was A Queen (Count Bounce Piano Remix) 3 Need No Help 4 No Longer Hurt (Dark Ballad Version) 5 What Am I Supposed To Do? (Stripped Back Version) 6 Arrived (Live At Bounce County) 7 Silence (Acoustic Version)
2011 was a mammoth year for Illy. Following the release of his acclaimed second album The Chase in late 2010, it seemed Australia could not get enough of the young trailblazer. Smash hit single It Can Wait (feat. Owl Eyes) made ARIA Gold status selling more than 35,000 units.
It was also nominated for best independent single 2011 AIR Awards, where The Chase was nominated for best hip hop and best urban album. The Chase Album Tour in March was a great success, with two sold out shows at The Corner Hotel to his home-crowd. Later in the year Illy went on to headline the Illy|Spit Syndicate|Sietta Tour with M-Phazes in October, bringing a full-house to The Palace in Melbourne. It was hard to find a festival line-up without Illy’s name on it this year. He graced the stages of Splendour in the Grass (alongside Kanye West, Coldplay and more), Hot BBQ, Summer Rhythm, Moomba, Pushover, Sounds Loud, Come Together, River Sessions, Sprung, Full Noise, 600 Sounds, Stonefest, Homebake, and will also be playing Pyramid Rock Festival at the end of the year.
As for what’s to come; Illy is busy writing for a new album set for release in early 2012, as well as gearing up for a few appearances on the summer festival circuit.
If you had signed up to Illy’s mailing list by the end of Christmas, on Boxing Day you would have got a link to download his 2008 mixtape Illy Mixtape – Volume 2. It’s 20 tracks long, and although it is a MUCH younger ill dog, there are still some gems on there.To sign up all you have to do is enter your email into the mailing list signup box on the top right side of his homepage. The exclusive link was sent out to the mailing list at 6pm on Monday the 26th of December. Also now available is Illy’s iPhone app. You can get that from the iTunes store here.
Hermitude soar to new heights on their fourth album HyperParadise out February 3rd 2012. It follows the astonishing success of lead single Speak of The Devil, the dancefloor gem thrashed by Australian radio; whose infectious video clip won the 2011 triple j J Award for Australian Music Video of the Year.
HyperParadise is Hermitude hitting the bullseye of their artistic vision, the most perfectly representative record showing their grasp of future beats, electronica and hip hop. It’s not just their meticulousness in production and musicianship, it’s the passion and love they have for instrumental electronic music that sets them so far apart.
They’ve just completed a soldout East Coast tour, so it’s timely to announce the HyperParadise Tour in March 2012. They’ll be heading around the country with label-mates and triple j Next Crop artists Sietta, whose buzz has grown with each week since the release of their debut album Seventh Passenger.Speak of The Devil has also recently been nominated in the Best Song & Best Screen categories of the FBi Radio SMAC Awards.
Fri 9th Mar – Buddha Bar @ The Brewery – Byron Bay Sat 10th Mar – The Zoo – Brisbane Fri 16th Mar – Oxford Art Factory – Sydney Sat 17th Mar – Republic Bar – Hobart Fri 23rd Mar – Prince Bandroom – Melbourne Sat 24th Mar – Rocket Room – Adelaide Fri 30th Mar – Mojos – Fremantle Sat 31st Mar – Amplifier – Perth
Be prepared to be impressed by the fiery electronic soul of Darwin duo Sietta, made up of producer/instrumentalist James Mangohig and vocalist Caiti Baker. Their début album The Seventh Passenger is turning heads in all the right directions.
Both experienced musical childhoods: Caiti travelled throughout Australia to blues and folk festivals with her blues musician father, absorbing dog-eared record collections stocked with Etta James, Memphis Minni and Aretha Franklin; while James sat on wooden church pews with gospel music soaring around him. Caiti spent her entire teenage years recording herself on her dad’s 8 track digital recorder, learning to sing by building harmonies over hip hop tracks; James learnt the bass, performing in numerous bands before honing his skills as a producer. The influence of soulful, spiritual music, helped shaped them: their upbringings bookended by a chance meeting in Brisbane in the mid 2000′s, and the uncanny fact that they were both born in the same Adelaide hospital.
Their first official release was a remix for TZU’s Computer Love remix album, coming off the back of James’ role as bass player in the live band. This was followed up with The Come Back Easy Play EP, a collection of 4 songs developed in the studio with Count Bounce (Ash Grunwald, Urthboy).
Brand new film clip for the track ‘No Longer Hurt’ liffted from Sietta’s LP – ‘The Seventh Passenger’.
Over the course of 18 months Sietta cut their teeth on the road, supporting the live soul of Lowrider to the bass heavy electronics of Mark Pritchard, as well as festivals, showcases and headline shows across Australia. They began to establish themselves as an act that shines brightly alongside live bands or in an electronic setting. In 2010 Sietta began work on their debut album with an inspired set of ideas leading Caiti’s powerful vocals and James’ deep swinging electronic/hip hop production. Once again, Count Bounce (APRA and AIR Award winning, ARIA nominated) was brought in to record and assist with production. The sheer strength and texture of Caiti’s voice could easily be taken down a pop path, but Sietta felt at home in the depths of menacing electronic bass and drums, where beauty doesn’t mean picture-perfect; and lightness is never as illuminating as it is in blinding darkness. It’s in the refreshed imagining of dubstep and blues, hip hop and electronic soul that Sietta tackle themes of empowerment, love, hurt and mental health.
Elefant Traks had always remained within earshot of Sietta’s activities, signing the duo in 2011 after falling in love with the sound they’d created. That sound is ambitious electronic soul drenched in blues and hip hop, a striking record with no peer in Australian music.
Sydney duo Spit Syndicate return with a brand new mixtape project, Best Intentions: Part One. Following on from 2010’s critically acclaimed Exile, the boys have taken a break from touring and have been busy in the studio preparing their third album, due for release on Obese Records in early 2012.
Best Intentions: Part 1 sees MCs Nick Lupi and Jimmy Nice return to the mixtape format on which they first burst onto the local hip-hop scene. Over the course of 8 tracks, Spit Syndicate drape their trademark flare and observational wit over a range of different beats and genres, ranging from the boom-bap of Pharoahe Monch to the more eclectic, moody sounds of indie outfit the xx. We catch up with Nick Lupi fresh off the back of Spit Syndicates – Best Intentions: Part One release.
aahh: What has been happening in the Spit Syndicate camp since the release of your critically acclaimed LP of 2010 Exile? Nick L: After we released Exile, we toured the country a couple of times. First on our own tour, then with Cypress Hill and then with The Tongue. We played a few festivals and shows in Sydney and then we took a break from gigging; we felt we’d probably done enough shows off the back of Exile. I went overseas for a bit, Jimmy knuckled down with this study/photography pursuits. But we never really stopped writing rhymes. We continued to write, over our own original beats but also other artists’ beats.
aahh: Spit Syndicate are back at it with a two-part mixtape to be released. The first part drops this week in the form of an 8 track free download, why did you guys decide to come out with a release like this? Nick L: We figured that all of these rhymes and ideas we had swirling around in our heads weren’t much good for anyone in our heads, that we may as well put them out there. We’ve always wanted to put out a free release, be it an EP or a mixtape or whatever. We look at it as a way of saying thank you to anyone that’s been rocking with us: buying our albums, coming to our shows, etc. Especially given it’s been two-year gaps in between albums for us, we wanted to have some new music out there to keep people interested and let ‘em know we’re still working on raps! Our next record is not likely to be out until 2nd quarter 2012 – we wanted to put out two mixtapes before that, so we decided on making it a two-part mixtape. The next one should be out in January and will feature a few more guests on it.
aahh: Part one is titled ‘Best Intentions’, tell us the story behind the name of the release? Nick L: There’s not a story per se; it stems from an Oscar Wilde quote and it’s pretty open to however you want to interpret it. It’s always with the best intentions that’s the worst deeds are done or something like that. I’m paraphrasing, Oscar, hope that’s sweet. I like it as a quote in general about the world and the way things go down but the way it relates to the mixtape is us both expressing our gratitude for those that show us love and also apologizing for lack of new music. Two year breaks between records is not the way we’d like to do it, we’d rather put out way more songs than we do currently – but for various reasons, we’re unable to. Like the majority of acts in the hip-hop scene, we balance our music with real-life shit such as holding down (multiple) jobs, study, travelling, etc. This is a really long-winded answer…basically, it’s our way of saying to our fans “you’re all sickcunts. sorry it’s been a while since we spoke, been busy and that. more new music coming your way..but for now, take this” If you can make any sense of that, you’re doing well. Haha.
aahh: The mixtape is 8 tracks deep, have you used this as a bit of an experimental stage in the lead up to your next album? Nick L: I guess what’s important to stress is this is a mixtape – there’s a couple original songs but most of it is us rapping over beats and songs we have chosen to write to. Some of the songs have a conventional structure to them but others don’t, they’re just verses. Lyrically, I feel like this is the sharpest we’ve ever been…and there’s also a hunger in the music we’re making – so I think that sort of stuff will come across on our next album.
aahh: We see an acoustic track on the album, tell us about this one. Did you perform this track at the ‘One Dayer’ Acoustic show earlier this year? Nick L: We did, this is a live recording of “Pretty Girls Make Graves” off Exile. Also a bit of a preview of some new raps at the end of that song – hope people dig it in acoustic form. That was an incredible show!
aahh: Currently Double S fans can catch you on the road with Illy, Sietta and M-Phazes. What is it like touring with those guys, are you looking forward to heading around the country? Nick L: I’ve never toured with Sietta before but I caught them live in Byron earlier this month and they were super dope. Illy and Phazes are two of our oldest friends in this Aus hip-hop thing so that’ll be fun; the shows are going to be massive and hangovers much the same if all goes according to plan.
Catch Spit Syndicate on the Illy/Spit Syndicate/Sietta tour (hosted by M-Phazes) at the below dates and venues. Friday September 30 – The Gov, Adelaide (Lic. AA) Saturday October 1 – The Waratah Hotel, Hobart (18+) Friday October 14 – Factory Theatre, Sydney (Lic AA) Friday October 28 – The Palace, Melbourne (18+)
Spit Syndicate also playing at Sydney’s Newtown Festival on Sunday 13th November. Newtown Festival is free and all ages and the guys are very excited to be playing on the main stage. More info on that to come.
Following a smashing set at Splendour In The Grass, Illy has unleashed a new video, joined the 600 Sounds line-up and released tickets for the Illy, Spit Syndicate and Sietta tour, hosted by M-Phazes. Illy has released a stunning new video for the latest track (and third single from the acclaimed album The Chase) Cigarettes.
Cigarettes has also just hit radio – it is a calming hook-laden track, and a perfect example of musical matching between M-Phazes and Illy. Illy said, “Phazes first showed me this beat at the Bunbury Groovin’ The Moo… It’s not a typical hip-hop sounding beat, which I loved from first listen. The song is about someone who falls from grace, and as crazy and futile as it might be, they can’t let go of their dream whatever the consequence.”
Tickets have been released as Illy hits the road for his biggest tour yet in October. With Sydney’s Spit Syndicate and Darwin’s Sietta on the bill, and ARIA Award winning producer M-Phazes as host, this tour is a not-to-be-missed showcase of the best of localhip hop.Illy, Spit Syndicate, Sietta and M-Phazes play in Adelaide on September 30, Hobart October 1, Sydney on October 14 and Melbourne on October 28. You can also catch Illy on stage at the Full Noise Festival in Townsville on October 8 (The Herd, Eskimo Joe, Grinspoon, The Vines), Sprung Festival in Brisbane on October 15 (Drapht, Phrase, Funkoars), 600 Sounds on the Gold Coast on October 21 (Drapht, Potbellez & Bag Raiders) and Fat As Butter in Newcastle on October 22 (The Living End, Naughty By Nature) plus more festivals soon to be announced.
