I could’ve sworn I posted this already. Our search function says that I haven’t, and if I can’t trust that, who can I trust? No one, that’s who.

The Three Little Bops is a 1957 Looney Tunes animation of a jazzy retelling of the three little pigs story. In it, the three pigs are a successful jazz trio who are constantly interrupted by the ill-fitting, trumpet playing wolf. Hilarity and hi-jinx ensue! The cartoon was pretty much a music video for this song (you can watch it here, but not with the original music) and is supremely awesome: it’s a great bit of jazz, and it’s catchy as heck.

One day, I was going through all the web development stuff for either/or and happened upon some Google statistics that informed me that some people have found our site via a search for The Two Man Gentlemen Band. By a serendipitous stroke, some people may have confused our gentlemen-infused tagline with that of this group: what luck! So now it’s time for me to cash in on this potentially ludicrous windfall of internet search hits by bringing you a post on The Two Man Gentlemen Band.

Luckily, The Two Man Gentlemen Band play aurally satisfying music for me, so this post certainly isn’t (entirely) a farce. Also, this song is about a girl with a certain proclivity for chowing down on pork chops: sounds like my kind of girl!

Now that Sydney (the one in Australia, darling) is becoming a hive of funky, amazing little bars, there are more than a handful of places keen to move past the boorish cacophony of bad DJs and harsh flashing lights into something a bit more chilled. Any place that has stuff like this playing will probably make me spend too much money on whatever drinks they’re serving, but it’s totally worth it to hear this kind of music being played in public again. Not that I was around when this music was common in public, but still!

Considering that downtempo (a genre I very much like) owes a lot of its origin to jazz music, it’s a wonder I don’t listen to more of it. Baby steps, I guess. Point is, here is some more jazz!

These guys seem to enjoy recording in front of a live audience. I must say, it does add something to the whole proceedings, what with them clapping before the song is even finished! While this tune is a tad on the long side, it’s certainly quite enjoyable: a veritable smörgåsbord of smooth beats and riffs from what looks to be a bazillion musicians. I totally counted.

I find myself in the same dilemma that m’colleague, Hugh, was in the other day with regards to not being able to accurately categorise a tune. Though it’s somewhat more shameful for me, because I have actually done some music study, and occasionally play instruments! I guess this tune is free-form jazz done with rocking guitars instead of rocking saxophones? I guess the Alternative tag will do.

Though it does take a while to get going, when it does it’s plenty moody – like a lot of good jazz. Aw heck, I’ll add it under jazz as well! Though Wikipedia says its math rock, which is kind of blowing my mind.

FYI: This group is now known as PVT, but this song was released when they were still called Pivot. Also, I cannot find a place where you can download/buy this tune. Sorry!

It is not always a good thing when artists flirt with a wagon full of various genres: jack of all trades, master of none, as they say! Though there are times when said artist is insanely talented enough to pull it off, which brings me nicely to ILUKA. Bizarre name aside, ILUKA moves from country-flavoured pop to stuff like Eyes Closed, a wonderfully playful blues tune. It’s all united by her rather versatile voice as well: apparently, Nancy Sinatra and Janis Joplin are influences, so if you ever wanted to see what would happen if they were to make music together, then hello!

Jazz! I know less about jazz than the little I know about the other genres that appear on either/or, but I’m going to attempt to sell you on it anyway. This track is kind of reminiscent of the sound Vangelis created for the film Blade Runner: it has that same kind of rain-soaked, ethereal quality. At least I think it does!

It gives me great pleasure to be able to highlight new artists from my own country, Australia: my play list is dominated by the talents of overseas artists, and tends to overlook the amazing work coming out of Australia. It is with this point that I introduce to you all the efforts of Washington, and boy howdy, what an amazing group it is. Washington is the moniker of Ms. Megan Washington, whom I discovered from the Australia music quiz show Spicks and Specks* (which has sadly wrapped up its seven year run). She participated in a segment on the show called “Substitute”, in which the contestant sings a selection of songs with lyrics substituted in from a book. Given my complete weakness for cute ladies with mesmerising voices, I was hooked.

Washington’s music is mostly pop-y, but it mixes in a nice dash of spunk within the lyrics, making it a heck of a lot more interesting than whatever is currently playing on the radio. She also dabbles in some beautiful jazz covers and original tunes.

As per usual, this is a rubbish post that really doesn’t cover why I’m currently enthralled. Oh well! Do check out that YouTube link above, and maybe check out her website too.

*The word ‘spicks’ doesn’t have the racial connotations in Australia that it does in other countries, so apologies! The show is named after the Bee Gees song of the same name.

From I Believe You Liar
Rich Kids – YouTube
Spanish Temper – YouTube

Alright, I’m back. For how long who knows, but here we go, bringing up the lovely Yula again, of Nanuchka, World/Inferno, et al). This time, she’s got a whole different assortment of folks, and though some of it is fairly familiar (Thumb Cinema mostly so, due to it already having been lent to World/Inferno for their last record, though it has certainly evolved into a fairly different song by now), there is a lot of craziness going on here, most notably from the opener, Back Off America, which was almost too crazy to get into, but has since endeared itself to me greatly.

The whole album is available at Woodland Records, which is quite nice of them, though they also provide a means to not only buy a physical copy, but to donate if you enjoy it. It’s fairly similar to what they’ve got going at Quote Unquote Records, which has a bunch more bands I need to get to on here one day.

Downloads

From Victor
Back Off America – (MP3, 3.7 MB)
96 Yulix – (MP3, 5.3 MB)
Thumb Cinema – (MP3, 6.2 MB)
Magical Acoustic – (MP3, 3.4 MB)

Gabriela Kulka reminds me of Regina Spektor, if only because they are ladies who jam out on pianos. Gabriela’s music is more of a cabaret style, which inevitably means that I like it more. And while some will certainly call it blasphemy, she is also a much better singer. Though these three songs are the only ones of hers that I like, she’s got a bunch more linked on her site. And I can’t think of anything else to say, and nobody reads this far anyway, so just grab the songs and go!

Downloads

From Out
New To Somebody – (MP3, 5.3 MB)
Pilot – (MP3, 5.9 MB)
Shark – (MP3, 3.8 MB)