With a strong focus on the Australian music scene, Australian Guitar is a rich source of information on playing techniques, styles, the wide range of instruments available and all the technology that guitarists have to consider in the 21st Century.
BEHRINGER EMULATES CLASSIC MU-TRON TONES WITH OCTAVE DIVIDER Behringer has unveiled the Octave Divider, which it claims is a faithfully spec’d clone of Mu-Tron’s own ‘70s-era rare octave modulation pedal. Suitable for electric guitars, bass guitars and keyboards, the affordable pedal sets its sights on supplying genuine Mu-Tron-style tones in the form of “thunderous sub-octave growl”. A quick visual appraisal will tell you all you need to know about Behringer’s neat new offering. The control layout is a like-for-like replica of the original Mu-Tron, presented in an ever-so-slightly more streamlined package. Two knobs, Mix and Tone, line up alongside three switches for Power, Ringer and Stabilize. While the Ringer function places greater emphasis on upper harmonics, the Stabilize parameter is said to improve note tracking with monophonic signal sources. And…
BEN SPEIGHT HAILS FROM BRISBANE, QLD PLAYS IN FUTURE HAUNTS SOUNDS LIKE SOARING INDIE-ROCK WITH A BRITPOP FLAIR LATEST DROP I CAN’T CHANGE THE WAY YOU CHANGE (EP OUT NOW INDEPENDENTLY) What’s your current go-to guitar? Japanese Fender Jazzmaster. I’ll admit I saw Tom playing Jazzmasters in his other band Good Boy and just loved the look and sound so got myself one – haven’t looked back. It’s a modern one but it just plays so well and stays in shape easily, every other Jazzmaster I’ve picked up just doesn’t feel right to me. It’s got a really thin neck, I’ve replaced the pickups with Lollars (JM neck, P-90 bridge) and it just goes hard. How did you initially fall in love with the instrument? I absolutely hated guitar when…
GREATEST HITS Volume Two LEMON JOE Gold Coast/British group Greatest Hits have fashion. You can feel style all over their new EP, Volume Two (you don’t need to guess the title of their first EP). 15 minutes of funk, psych-rock, and chill sensations make this collection of songs fly by in no time. The sunny ‘Pleasure To Meet You’ meets David Bowie’s ‘Ashes To Ashes’, while the dreamy ‘Nuclear Love’ is backed by catchy bass riffs and an excellent refrain that encourages your sickest dance moves. However, ‘Banana Moon’ doesn’t fare as well; it’s a bore. ‘Palm Springs’ is similarly snoozy. Thankfully, ‘Spicy’ is an exuberant pop tune made for high rotation. Overall, Volume Two is fun, albeit unmemorable. KORN Requiem LOMA VISTA / CONCORD Korn have been on a…
MITSKI Laurel Hell DEAD OCEANS There is no grunge-soaked moment of catharsis like ‘Your Best American Girl’ on Laurel Hell; the closest we get is a crashing mid-song climax on ‘There’s Nothing Left For You’. There’s no disco-pop twirling like ‘Nobody’, either, but ‘Love Me More’, echoing New Order, almost takes us there. Here, Mitski takes the up-tempo pop sensibilities of her 2018 album, Be The Cowboy, and stretches them to fun tunes influenced by full-blown ‘80s pop ballads and grandiosity. The conceptual themes of Be The Cowboy – narrative and fiction, embodying strutting characters – are gone. Instead, Mitski has turned inward, refusing to wear more masks that hide her personality. Of course, some moments don’t quite work; moments that might as well be an awkward ‘80s pop music…
Anyone for tennis? Well, not quite, but two of Australia’s all-time guitar greats are up for a match of sorts next March. Ian Moss and Troy Cassar-Daley are heading out on one hell of a tour, buddying up for a collaborative venture dubbed Together Alone. The 17-date run will see both musicians onstage simultaneously; as Ian performs one of his songs, Troy will perform harmonies and accompanying vocals – and vice versa – drawing on some of the pair’s best-known songs, past and present… And future, too. Nestled in the pair’s set will be an all-new song, ‘Nullarbor Plain’, which the pair worked on and performed for Moss’ as-yet-unannounced eighth studio album. The whole album is, in fact, the result of Mossy getting “stuck into it” during our numerous lockdowns,…
To say Eskimo Joe are a staple in Australian music would be like saying bacon comes from a pig. With a fresh collection of some of their most prevailing songs, The World Repeats Itself Somehow, the band haven’t just dropped a “greatest hits” album, they’ve taken the time to cultivate an anthology of music that serves as a reminder of their sonic capabilities, and the persuasive power their music has to draw in the masses. The choices made for the release makes it something cathartic for the legendary WA rockers, and provides their fans an opportunity to sink their teeth into some rose-tinted gold. Scoring accolades upon accolades, Eskimo Joe have always hit top marks with their music. With their stellar single ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’ nestled firmly in the…
