It didn’t take long before Josh’s unique voice and song writing style, influenced by the likes of Elliott Smith, Evan Dando, and Sparklehorse, began to find favour amongst music tastemakers, critics and Triple J listeners. The first taste, the assured ‘Kids Don’t Sell Their Hopes So Fast’, found high rotation on Triple J and soon ‘Silver’ and the gently sweeping ‘Doldrums’ followed to similar praise and airplay. Josh signed to Ivy League Records and shortly afterwards travelled to New York for some further writing, performing and demoing and upon return set about recording what was his debut release under his own name, a mini album entitled
“Feeding The Wolves”. “Feeding the Wolves” signified a great deal more than a change in name: It revealed a huge step in the development of Josh as an artist and songwriter. The subject matter was as broad as titles like “Beg Your Pardon”, “Private Education”, “Middle Of The Hill” and “Goldmines” suggest, however it’s Josh’s lyrics that draw this collection of songs together into a complete package. He cleverly dissects human emotion and feelings and shows them for what they are: complex, abstract, fascinating. With production by the much-lauded Wayne Connolly
“Feeding The Wolves” had the artist now rightly known as Josh Pyke letting his talent flow without constraint. The words seem to tumble out of him: honest, evocative, and emotional all at once. The playing - again mostly all Josh - is one moment sweetly melodic, then turning urgent and insistent as needs be. This range of feelings, packaged so they bounce around inside your head like good songs do, and given so generously, go together to make
“Feeding The Wolves” the sound of an artist beginning to realise an enormous potential. In 2007 Josh released his first full-length album
‘Memories and Dust’. Although the record features three of the stand-out tracks from ‘Feeding the Wolves’ there are a further 8 tracks of similar quality, including the title track, which was the first single taken from the new batch. The release is again through Ivy League Records. Josh’s second album
Chimney’s Afire was released 4 October 2008 and was recorded at Sydney’s Linear Recording studios. The first single off the album was
“The Lighthouse Song”, and the second was called
“Make YouHappy”.
McKisko is yet another of those artists that I have discovered quite a while ago, but kinda lost track of. This australian singer-songwriter is gifted with a voice that hits straight at the heart of her audience. Described by one reviewer as “the voice of a bruised angel”, it can powerfully soar or it can brush raw against you, beckoning goose bumps. Incorporating keys, guitar, melodica, percussion and subtle use of a loop pedal, McKisko’s songs sway between delicately layered lullabies and emotionally charged assaults. She builds songs using inventive instrumentation, an intimate honesty and a lyricism that journeys through abstract landscapes imbued with emotion. Helen Franzmann spent her childhood on a farm in rural Queensland, the second youngest of six children. Although she had been singing classically from age nine, it wasn’t until she moved to Europe that she began to consider quitting her day job for music. From the age of 21 she spent four years in London and Barcelona studying a different kind of voice. She filled her days working 12-hour shifts as a cardiology nurse and her nights with gigs or playing a small Spanish guitar and dinky keyboard. She began to write and perform the simplest of songs at parties and, through a collaboration with songwriter-musician Ben Schiller, those songs evolved into the grand and hauntingly beautiful sounds of their band redbreast. Here, Helen became known for her unique and choppy style of keys and compelling voice. During this time, Helen also collaborated with Brisbane act Jacob S. Harris and the Morning Belles, providing harmonies, keyboard and organ on his three LPs. A move in winter 2007 to a small attic room in Dublin with a keyboard, guitar and a loop pedal began a new phase in her song writing. Here, her solo project, McKisko, saw a revival of her original, more pared-back style. She returned to Brisbane later that year, with the songs ready for recording. 2008 saw Mckisko touring Australia repeatedly, recording with Jamie Trevaskis of Junkship Studios, accompanying German Expressionist films at the Gallery of Modern Art and playing in Tom Cooney’s band. Her debut album Glorio filled with beautiful minimalistic folk songs saw its release in the spring of 2009.
Posts
