i have two posts that have failed to appear in this thread

odd

tfs bringing the \m/ to marrickville bowlo in sin city last year

meanwhile, i see our very own @Mel Bourne is stepping into adam's shoes for augie march's "moo" 20 year anniversary tour

gonna be fun!

8 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

tfs bringing the \m/ to marrickville bowlo in sin city last year

meanwhile, i see our very own @Mel Bourne is stepping into adam's shoes for augie march's "moo" 20 year anniversary tour

gonna be fun!

That TFS show also happened to be Gaz’s 50th birthday :). Yeah, I need to start learning those Augie songs soon!

10 hours ago, Mel Bourne said:

That TFS show also happened to be Gaz’s 50th birthday :). Yeah, I need to start learning those Augie songs soon!

noice

fortunately glenn is a titch more relaxed these days

some of those strops he had in the 90s and early 00s were epic temper-tantrums

highlighting two 2026 discoveries...

sunday mourners - la-based nyc-sounding four-piece, whose debut album came out last week

westside cowboy - manchester, uk, four-piece who sound like they should be on the same label as mj lenderman and wednesday, who put out their second ep two weeks back

40 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

i have two posts that have failed to appear in this thread

odd

Sorry, did you say something?

On 21/01/2026 at 13:40, Brownie said:

Yeah, it was hard to beat the 80s and 90s. It just seemed easier to run a venue and for bands to tour.

Harder to get the punters in and the kids just don't drink much anymore if they do turn up. Can't blame them at the prices.

Same with festivals I suppose. Used to work at a few. The cost of insurance and compliance these days.

I'd never ever say that music isn't as good these days though.

There's some incredible artists around.

Four corners did a piece on Live nation and how they're contributing to the wrecking of live music venues.

Bad Dreems were interviewed. They've just dropped another fantastic song.

Radium Dolls are also dropping a new album next week I think. Fantastic band and great live.

Full flower moon band are also great.

Saw all 3 of them at Bangalow bowlo in the last year or so. Some great people doing mini festivals in that venue over the last couple of years.

However, the bowlo was taken over by a bigger conglomerate a few years ago and they've just shut the bowlo down.

Last Quokka put out a raging cracker of a punk album last year.

They came over from Perth and played in the dining area of the hotel metropole in Lismore last year. The roof leaked during the gig and we were on the bottom floor! There were probably only 40 people there and they were just bloody fantastic.

One of my favourite bands at the moment. I just kept thanking them all for making a stop in Lismore

If you want to see great new talent. I can't recommend coming to big sound in Brisbane enough. Usually 150 bands or so playing over 3 nights. 4 nights really.

Tickets cheap as chips (unless you do the conference as well) and you get to sleep in a proper bed.

My favourite festival of all time.

When is Big sound?

1 hour ago, binman said:

Sorry, did you say something?

When is Big sound?

just making recommendations and comments and about how excited i am for new, and old, music, all the time

big sound is generally held early september

On 21/01/2026 at 16:26, hardtack said:

Yeah, it really pisses me off when people dismiss current music and say that nothing beats the 70’s and 80’s or whenever; to me other than the beginning and ending of the decade, the 70’s contained some of the most bland music I’ve heard… but then every decade could lay claim to that depending on where one’s tastes lie.

One band that I hadn’t heard a lot until recently, but who’ve fast become one of my favourites is Tropical [censored] Storm. I can’t get to many shows these days (other than my own band’s), but one venue we occasionally play here in Sydney, the Marrickville Bowlo, just recently had three consecutive nights sold out… not bad for a Melbourne band with relatively little exposure up here. There is also a good raft of Japanese bands coming through, which I love! The 5, 6, 7, 8’s, Buddhadatta and Guitar Wolf being just a few.

The cost of insurance appears to have killed of a lot of venues in Melbourne and I think that will spread, no doubt. Here in Sydney a couple of the councils have created entertainment districts which will hopefully ensure the survival of a lot of important venues around Newtown, Enmore and Marrickville.

Oh, and speaking of Lismore, would you happen to know a guy named Dave Slade? He’s fairly heavily involved in the music scene there.

Hey @hardtack I got halfway through replying days ago and didn't finish.

The name is familiar (Dave Slade). Our local pub up the river (Broadwater Hotel) from us is having a punk day / night next weekend. I'll probably run into him there.

What's your band's name?

22 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

just making recommendations and comments and about how excited i am for new, and old, music, all the time

big sound is generally held early september

2025 Lineup for Bigsound.
https://www.bigsound.org.au/music-festival/artists
I've missed the last couple. I'm due for a run up there. It's a great few days and nights in the valley

1 hour ago, Brownie said:

Hey @hardtack I got halfway through replying days ago and didn't finish.

The name is familiar (Dave Slade). Our local pub up the river (Broadwater Hotel) from us is having a punk day / night next weekend. I'll probably run into him there.

What's your band's name?

Dave has a band now called, Love City Radio. My band is Los Romeos Oxidados… we’re based in Sydney’s inner west (Marrickville area mostly).

https://youtu.be/Vgj3b8BKvBk

https://youtu.be/b6aRdG0DpA4

It’s a bit of a floating affair, constantly inviting people to sit in with us… so it can be a dog’s breakfast or, alternatively, the best thing since sliced bread.

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by hardtack

On 24/01/2026 at 18:37, whatwhat say what said:

just making recommendations and comments and about how excited i am for new, and old, music, all the time

big sound is generally held early september

That's weird. Two of my comments were combined - first para was supposed to be against in response to your comment that 2 of your posts had disappeared.

Wasn't funny so didn't post.

Second was a reply to Brownie.

But on new music ive been loving cali band upchuck (think combo of the minutemen, early chilli peppers, circle jerks and black flag - would not look out of place in the film repo man).

And also loving Chicag/new york ban Water from your eyes. Not sure of a comparison but they remind me, more sensibility wise than sound, of erudite late 70s new wave bands like Talking Heads.

The Gnomes are a young Frankston band playing early sixties, Beatles style power pop. Great fun.

All three are playing at Golden Plains on Labor day weekend so probably playing gigs in Melbourne.

On 29/12/2025 at 11:11, binman said:

I predominantly listen to recently released music - music by recent/new bands, or new music from bands that have been around for a while.

One of my go to sources for new music, particularly from new artists, or artists I don't know, is the line-up at Golden Plains each year.

It's announced in aprox mid November, and I do a deep dive on all acts for aprox 5 months (GP is in March, on the Labor day weekend).

Those i really dig stay on my listening rota post GP.

I've been to all but one Golden Plains and IMHO next year's line-up is one of, if not the best, ever.

If interested in hearing some new music, the line-up includes some terrific newish international and local acts.

This sequnced playlist has a track from each of the 28 acts playing at GP 2026*.

Each track, bar 2 or 3, was released in the last year or so.

(* as a card carrying pedant, I'll note that i couldn't find a track by two of the DJs playing, Ok Williams and Pacquito Gordon, so i selected a deep track for each from a set list from one of their gigs).

@binman the GP line up this year is phenomenal. I am very much looking forward to see what Djrum brings, his releases are phenomenal. And Frost Children are emo kids playing electronica. Plus Ty Segall a latest album is an absolute cracker.

Might see you there!

I've just found Mei Semones.

Her debut album Animaru is a tantalising blend of bossa nova jazz, indie rock, and alt pop, which come together in a delightful package that has really captured my attention.

Highly recommend.

Also, I saw the chat about Spotify and Apple music etc above.

I've recently switch to Qobuz (from Spotify/Tidal). Could transfer all play lists, artists, albums, songs, etc. in minutes.

High quality lossless, amazing sound quality.

Library seems more than adequate (when I transferred my Spotify and tidal libraries across there was only one band not present)

Interface seems to be set up more as a place to find and play your favourite records, with a heavy focus on editorial content and recommendations and human made playlists, rather than algorithms and AI play lists.

And the artist pay is even better: about US$19 per thousand streams, vs US$13 for Trial or <$5 for Spotify.

It seems very artist and music centric. I'm very happy so far.