On Friday September 25, songwriter and guitarist Chris Smith released his long-anticipated record Second Hand Smoke via It Records. Assembled and recorded over the better part of a decade, Second Hand Smoke is a compendium of dog-eared ideas accumulated over years – musings that have been given time to mature and settle, creating a lived-in and fully realised end product. Chris has kindly shed insight into the record via a track-by-track breakdown – a wonderful accompaniment to the listening experience.Continue reading Track by Track: CHRIS SMITH – SECOND HAND SMOKE (IT RECORDS, 2020)→
Today marks the official release of Saturn Rules The Material World – the debut album from SaD (Simona Castricum and Daphne Camf). This is a record that manages to navigate the choppy current of propulsive and murky techno and the leisurely eddies of minimal synth-laced balladry with equal amounts of poise. SaD have shared with us a track-by-track breakdown of the album in its entirety – not only its compositional origins and inspirations, but insight into the emotional heft the album carries.Continue reading TRACK BY TRACK: SaD – SATURN RULES THE MATERIAL WORLD (TRANS-BRUNSWICK EXPRESS, 2020)→
Words: James Frostick and Kim Salmon Artist image: Semiconductor Media
On KimSalmon & The Surrealists’ eighth record Rantings From The Book Of Swamp, the enduring Aus underground veterans are getting weird with it. A worldwide live-streamed improvised performance is now a double album, one that smoulders and crackles with the immediacy of a live recording, but with an off-kilter poise that could only be nailed by a crew of seasoned veterans.
Words: James Frostick
Band image and cover art: Summer Hiskens
Brisbane/Meanjin three-piece Bin Licker are today releasing Cave Canem – a brand-new cassette EP via Eternal Soundcheck – and we’re giving it a spin. Boasting four tracks of arresting mutant noise, Cave Canem is a hefty dose of cask-strength junk punk – the kind of warped skronk that you can only emanate from the heat-warped crevices of the Sunshine State’s southeast corner.
Australian Idol – featuring members of Rebel Yell, Concrete Lawn and Set-Top Box – have released a pulse-quickening EP of blissfully dissonant techno through Parisian label Gone with the Weed. Here we have five tracks of disorienting and dystopian dance-floor mulchers created by kids disconnecting with reality in real time.
Words: James Frostick Band image: Max Goodman
Cover art: Yuta Matsumura
Sydney/Warrang-based post-punk crew The No (featuring members of EXEK, Whores and Circle Pit) have dropped a new tape of vicious brain-sundering clatter. Boasting lashings of operatic goth rock and the nervy unpredictability of fellow Australian murk-punk noisemakers, Volume One is a noxious and narcotic wonder, enlivening and viscerally immediate.Continue reading In review: THE NO – VOLUME ONE (FAUSTIAN HAUS, 2020)→
Words: James Frostick Milkffish and Del Lumanta image: Bethan Cotterill
Parramatta’s New Age Noise Collective has released a new compilation called Constellation – a nine-track compendium of work from several emerging and established transgender, non-binary and female-identifying musicians. The compendium is a sublime sample of sonic cartography, putting on the map a community that is flourishing outside of the city’s male-dominated scene.
Words: James Frostick Band image: ZK Photo Cover art: Adam J Bragg
After a few years of inactivity, Canberra-born post-punk/noise act Agency return with a new collection of music in tow. The band’s forthcoming record Wild Possession is finally seeing the light of day more than three years after its creation. This clamorous collection of haywire sound is as engrossing as it is chaotic, and we’re stoked to be hosting the premiere stream of the full album ahead of its official release on Friday July 3.
Soda Boyz, a slowcore trio hailing from New Zealand’s north island, are on the cusp of releasing their new LP Farewell Spit. The record revels in restraint and release, a beautiful balance between muted delicateness and roaring pandemonium. We’re privileged to provide a pre-release listen to the record ahead of its official arrival on Friday May 29.
A lot of things went down in March 2020. As the nation shut its borders and everyone prepared themselves for the oncoming pandemic, a cloud seemed to hover over everything. Despite the ominous feeling permeating those weeks, the music scene kept churning out great records – some of which are candidates for best of the year. In an effort to keep track of the year’s best recorded material, Weirdo Wasteland is releasing monthly round-ups of albums and EPs that we didn’t have enough time to cover at the time of release. In no particular order, here is the best of what arrived in March …
Weirdo Wasteland is an Australian-based music blog that examines musical endeavour from the cultural fringe. The site regularly features reviews and interviews from the underground scenes from Australia and New Zealand. Weirdo Wasteland acknowledges the original custodians of the land upon which it operates. Sovereignty has never been ceded. To get in touch, contact: weirdowasteland (at) gmail.com
