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HOWZAT! Local music news by JEFF JENKINS
DAN HALL RETURNS WITH A PARTING SHOT South Side Rebel. The name suggests a raucous rock record. Dan Hall’s new solo album is anything but. Dan sings, “I know I can’t share this darkness with you,” but listening to A Parting Shot is in intimate experience, giving an insight into Dan’s demons. “It’s just the sound of my voice on a recording,” he sings. And it’s a powerful experience. “I wanted this record to sound like I was sitting right next to the listener, playing and singing to them, half a foot away,” Dan says. “I’d been listening to Whitley, Holly Throsby, Bon Iver… and Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska was a big one, too.” “I think this is the most honest and brutal record I’ve made so far,” Dan adds. So why isn’t his name on the cover? “I decided to use a different name because I felt it was a very different sound to anything I’d done before,” Dan explains, “and I wanted to have a name I could go anywhere and do anything with. Also, I wanted people to listen to it on its own terms, rather than associate it with other projects I’ve done before.” So what inspired South Side Rebel? “It stems from when I used to live south of the Yarra, but was constantly on the north side of town, whether it was doing gigs or just hanging out in bars in Richmond and Fitzroy. I felt like an invader. Funny, I live in Carlton now.”
ANDREW’S NEW HORIZONS Dave Graney has a shot at critics in his brilliant new book. “I’ve always seen their role as redundant,” Dave writes. “Those pencil-pushing, arse-shining sons of bitches should just clear out.” Brisbane’s Andrew Morris hits town this week to launch his great new single, Horizon (Pure Pop on Saturday and Wesley Anne on Sunday). Does Andrew read reviews? “Yeah, it’s hard not to read them,” he smiles. “If I had the willpower, I wouldn’t, nor would I smoke! If a reviewer doesn’t like my music and says so from a knowledgeable and objective position then that’s fine. Not everyone can like and respect your music, unfortunately. What shits me is if it’s obvious that someone doesn’t know what they’re talking about or if it becomes personal. One review of my last album, Needs And Wants, said it could do without the studio trickery – even though the record was recorded all live in one room with no overdubs
and on to tape! And one for my most recent album basically said I was ‘using’ my well-known friends by inviting them to appear on my record. Now, that would get anyone’s goat, wouldn’t it?”
CHART WATCH
Bliss N Eso’s Running On Air in August 2010. The Life Of Riley DRAPHT (number one, debut) Like What TIM & JEAN (12, debut) The Great Impression SPARKADIA (21)
Not one Aussie single in the top 30.
Down The Way ANGUS & JULIA STONE (25)
What Happened To Us JESSICA MAUBOY (number 36)
Birds Of Tokyo BIRDS OF TOKYO (29)
Rapunzel DRAPHT (38)
Temptation THE WAIFS (34)
Drapht makes chart history, becoming the first Aussie solo hip hop act to top the album charts. Drapht (real name Paul Ridge) KO’s kd lang, selling 9,300 copies of his fourth album, The Life Of Riley. The Perth star was about to go on stage in Traralgon when he found out he had the first Aussie album to go to number one this year. In fact, it’s the first local chart-topper since
HOWZAT! PLAYLIST
The Experiment ART VS SCIENCE (33)
This Darkness DAN HALL Horizon ANDREW MORRIS Glitter, Gold, Ruin BOY IN A BOX Accidentally THE LITTLE STEVIES Sing It (The Life Of Riley) DRAPHT
Dan Hall
Dan often repeats a line, to give it emphasis, or maybe to convince himself. “I could have done anything,” he declares, “I could have been anyone.” A Parting Shot is released on Dan’s own label, Missing Presumed Dead. “That refers to people in the music industry who burn brightly for a short time before vanishing altogether. There’s a lot of it around. I’ve felt like that a lot over the years.” “There’s nothing worse than the sound of a woman leaving…” There’s no doubt that A Parting Shot is a break-up record. “The title has two meanings,” Dan explains. “One is a final word before walking away, and, on a lighter note, I like drinking shots. Not as many as I used to though, they get me into lots of trouble! I used to say, ‘I’ll have a parting shot’ to the bartender before staggering home.” Dan was living above Richmond’s Nash Hotel when he wrote the record. “It was a cold, rather lonely few months after my marriage broke down. It was painful to write, but an absolute breeze to record.” Dan did most of it one afternoon at the studio belonging to his old Taxiride buddy Tim Wild. He gave the results to David Carr, “a sonic genius”, to mix and master. “I’m very happy with the results, for once.” “You should be proud of things you achieve,” Dan sings, “know when it’s time to leave.” Will there be more Taxiride gigs? “Taxiride is definitely on the backburner at the moment. Jason is doing a solo project and just had his second child, Tim is busy working with other artists, and I’ve got this album plus a new Airway Lanes EP due later in the year. But as Justin Beiber says, never say never!” Dan is launching A Parting Shot with a free gig this Friday at Grumpy’s Green, 125 Smith Street, Fitzroy. The album will also be available at Pure Pop, Greville, Missing Link and Polyester. Check out southsiderebel.webs.com for more info.
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