Australian Artists

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Recent Aussie Releases

The John Butler Trio "Sunrise over sea"	Xavier Rudd "Food in the Belly"	The Waifs "A Brief History"
Rebecca Barnard "Fortified"	Joe Camilleri/Nicky Bomba "Limestone"	Dan Sultan "Homemade Biscuits"

Available now from Offbeat for $30

The Pigram Brothers

All titles Available now from Offbeat for $30

The John Butler Trio Live!

Archie Roach

"Sensual Being"

Album available now - AU$30

Track Listing

Alien Invasion
Life Is Worth Living
Just a Little Time
Will I See You Tonight
Mission Ration Blues
Outside Your Window
Many Waters Rise
Cold Wind Blows
Free To Be a Man
Morning Star
Move It On
Small Child

 ARCHIE ROACH talks about "SENSUAL BEING"

I was born in Mooroopna, way there by the river bend...

Mooroopna, population 6,750, is in the heart of Victoria, Australia - the Goulburn Valley, fruit-growing country, Yorta Yorta land. 'Mooroopna', meaning 'deep water hole', is an Aboriginal name for the deep, long bend in the Goulburn River, just where it flows through the Mooroopna township.  Archie Roach's story has been told many times - most powerfully and gracefully in his own songs, such as Took The Children Away. His fourth album, Sensual Being, tells a dozen earthy, voluptuous stories which resonate with optimism and the joy of being in tune with family, spirit, soulmates and self.

There are dreaming stories of creation and nature (Morning Star), as well as tender, sensual love songs such as Will I See You Tonight ("Taste the moment on your mouth, taste it on your tongue / You have got to live in the moment, while you're still young").  "Listening to the songs, they way they moved, it felt like a really physical or sensual album", Roach says of the album title, which comes from the inspirational Outside Your Window: "Won't you step outside / You might be surprised / You know we are all ‘sensual beings’".

"With me, the sensual and spiritual are one and the same", he explains. "You're in touch, you're in tune... you taste, you hear, you touch, y'know?"

Some of the stories on Sensual Being are not all they seem; the opening track, Alien Invasion, has a zany outer-space vibe to it, in the tradition of novelty spacemen songs such as Purple People Eater or The Blob. Given Roach's personal history as a stolen child, though, it is impossible not to read between such lines as "We were rudely taken / We were probed and prodded, given injections...". However, Roach says the song was in fact inspired by a whimsical conversation with his son-in-law about dolphins and whales.

"He asked me, 'Don't you think it's cruel, when scientists put tags on whales and dolphins?', and he got me thinking that maybe those creatures might think of us as aliens, when we take them from the sea", Roach recalls.  "So Alien Invasion is a song about leaving things the way they are, not trying to question too many things, not having to have all the answers. I can't be sure about how other people will interpret it, but it's just about 'live and let live' - a universal theme, really."

Sensual Being's second-last track, Move It On, is more personal than universal, an eloquent autobiography told in the down-home country blues style of Bukka White or Mississippi Fred McDowell. It begins in 1956; the year Roach was born, the year of the royal visit. A mission was hastily built near Mooroopna, so that Her Majesty would not be distressed by the shanty-town poverty of the Aboriginal families living in hessian and kerosene-tin huts along the flood-prone Goulburn River, or at a site called Daisher's paddock beside the municipal rubbish tip.

"It was a big meeting area", Roach remembers of his childhood by the river. "Aboriginal people came from everywhere to work there, picking fruit. We camped down by the river there, and when it rained and the river got high, we had to go across to Daisher's paddock, just to get away from the wet."  Against a percussive dobro and haunting vocal effects, which evoke a freight train slowing down to pass through a town, Roach sings the rest of his story:

We moved back to Framlingham, where my mother she was born
Yeah, moved back to old Framlingham, where my mother she was born
And all my mummy's people, they welcomed us home

But one day they came and took me, oh they took me away
One day they came and took me, yeah they took me away
And you know that it still hurts me, up to this very day

I was raised on the streets, I'm nobody's fool,
Said I was raised on the street, and I'm nobody's fool
I was raised on the street, but the street can be so cruel

Then I started drinking, I got drunk everyday
Then I started drinking, I got drunk everyday
To try to lose these blues, but they wouldn't go away

In Roach's hands, those blues lyrics couldn't sound more natural, and he credits bluesmen such as Leadbelly, Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters as key influences: "I'd rather the traditional blues than electric blues. It's just simple, the heart of things. They didn't need much to make a great sound - it all came from themselves, basically." There's an upbeat country-rock feel here and there on Sensual Being, too, especially on the infectious, heartland Koori-pride anthem, Free To Be A Man: "Well, back to your spirit, back to your land / Oh, it's in your hand, Aboriginal man". Country music will always be also dear to Roach - "That's where I got my style for storytelling", he says. "I'm not much of a talker, but with country music, you can tell the story of your life through a song."

Roach's musical tastes and knowledge are extensive, and they are given new breadth of expression on Sensual Being, with sensitive production and instrumentation by Richard Pleasance - who played every instrument which came to hand during the sessions in his backyard studio. Sensual Being also marks Roach's reunion with Paul Kelly, twelve years after Kelly produced his acclaimed debut Charcoal Lane. Once again Kelly brought in a couple of trusted musicians from his touring band, organist Bruce Haymes and drummer Peter Luscombe, and sat in with Pleasance in the production suite for several numbers.

"If Richard wasn't going to play the part himself, he would get in musicians who were really good practitioners at what they play", says Roach, explaining Pleasance's hands-on approach in the studio. "It's not like I was going in to make a pop album, though. I like trying to find that genuine feel - you've gotta get that right, first - and then you can elaborate, adorn it a little bit. But not too much! Some of those songs are traditional, and sometimes they rocked it up a little bit, but it still remains true to the core of the song."

There are soul and gospel stylings on Sensual Being, too, reflecting some of Roach's early musical infatuations, which started as a child when he used to rummage through his foster father's huge record collection. "My life was pretty rich, musically", he says. "I was lucky to have access to those old records - Billie Holiday, the Ink Spots, the Drifters and Nat King Cole, plus my foster father was an old Scotsman, so he had all the old Scottish ballads.

"With gospel music, I was influenced by my foster sister Mary; she used to play keyboard and guitar in church every Sunday, and she had this one record by Mahalia Jackson that just made me feel ten feet tall and on top of the world. It's so uplifting - whether you believe in anything or not, it just makes you feel good."  That power in a voice - to uplift the spirit - is a power which Roach possesses himself. Richard Pleasance says he gets goosebumps as he tells the story of a vocal session with Roach, which he watched beside Paul. Kelly and Pleasance sat perfectly still as Roach did a perfect first take - headphones on, eyes closed and arms spread open wide, as if he half expected his feet to leave the ground.

"Archie treated every vocal like this was the one; like he could possibly die in two minutes' time", Pleasance marvels. "He would go into a deep trance, into his own little world, and each time, it was just - beautiful. He really has the power to go straight to the centre of your whole being.  "When Archie had finished singing Many Waters Rise, I turned around and Paul was crying, tears just rolling down his cheeks. And he said to Archie 'You've done it again to me, you bastard!', so I figured that had happened before."

For Roach, there is no mystery to the emotional power of his songs, just "three chords and the truth", as he puts it.  "I like to keep to what I call the core, the essence of the song", he says. "You've got to stay true to what you're saying and what you're feeling in the song. It all comes back to the sensual and the spiritual, the spirit of healing. That's what I'm always concerned about."

Archie Roach

Back Catalogue

All albums available now from Offbeat

Chris Wilson

New Album

"King For A Day"

Arriving off the back of the acclaimed Spiderman album which was the awarded best ‘Best Blues Album in 2002’, King For A Day is the first fully original album from Chris in six years, since the classic Long Weekend.

Produced by Kerryn Tollhurst of the Dingoes, the eagerly awaited King For A Day again features musicians Shannon Bourne & Dave Folley, along with Chris Rogers on bass, Kerryn Tollhurst, Cindy Boste, Sarah Carroll and Skip Sail.

Available now from Offbeat for $30

In an era that increasingly wants to pigeonhole music into select little slots, it is somewhat inspiring that in 2002 a talent like CHRIS WILSON, can play Australia’s largest youth festival (Big Day Out), Blues and Roots (Byron Bay), Folk (Port Fairy) and country (Gympie Muster).

Long known as a stalwart of the Melbourne inner city music scene, and as a musical contributor to such acts as Paul Kelly, Vika & Linda, Hunters & Collectors etc., Chris in 2001 has set his sights on establishing his career at the forefront of Australian music. Chris toured the U.S. in February 2002 including shows with BUDDY MILLER and DUKE ROBBILLIARD.

Chris's album SPIDERMAN, which was released in February 2001, has been his most commercially successful album yet. At the Australian Blues Awards held in February 2002 SPIDERMAN was voted BEST ALBUM, a track from the album "GO GO GAUGIN" was voted best song and Chris was voted best male singer.

Spiderman joins his already critically acclaimed 1994 album “LIVE AT THE CONTINENTAL” and 1998 double album “THE LONG WEEKEND”.

 

“… this was one of the greatest live shows I have ever seen”
JAYSON ARGALL, LIVE REVIEW CORNER HOTEL 2001

“… Wilson’s voice is a strange and magical thing – always conveying a heart as huge as the man himself.”
SHANE DANIELSON - RAM

“… some people call John Farnham ‘the voice’ but for mine, the voice in Australian music belongs to Chris Wilson …”
SHAUN CARNEY – THE AGE

“… an immense talent who in a sane world would by now be internationally revered”
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

 

Deborah Conway links to Offbeat

Deborah Conway, one of our favourite local artists, has linked her Website to Offbeat to make it easy for her army of fans to not only find and buy all the great DC cds but to also have an opportunity to see and buy a great range of T-Shirts available online for the first time and exclusive to Offbeat.

DC T Shirts exclusive to Offbeat

The "Only the bones" long sleeved tour shirt as modelled here by Deborah comes in all sizes and is printed on the front and both arms in glorious bone white on a full cotton trendy black shirt. It's a Ripper! $39

Also available though not pictured just yet are some really cute "My third husband" shirts in Petite adult or kids sizes printed both front & back on groovy pink for girls and shocking blue for boys full cotton shirts with black neck and arm bands. Very Cute indeed! $30

"Exquisite Stereo" is a great shirt printed in black & red also on front & back and available in most sizes in a choice of white or grey full cotton T's. $30

For details of sizes & shipping costs send your enquiries to sales@offbeat.com.au

Vika & Linda

"Love Is Mighty Close"

Album available now - AU$30

Track Listing

Love Is Mighty Close 
Your Love Is Like A Star 
Skylarking 
It Starts With Snow 
You Touch Me Down to My Soul 
Always Greener 
Holy Water 
I Don't Want Another Lover 
High and Low 
To Be Good Takes A Long Time (to Be Bad No Time at All) 
Too Many Hearts 
Lullaby 

Click here for the Offbeat connection

Back Catalogue

All albums available now from Offbeat

Lisa Miller

"Car Tape"

Track Listing

The Boy Who Radiates That Charm 
Why Not Your Baby 
Words for Sadness 
Better Days 
Have A Little Mercy 
Evil 
Something On Your Mind 
Nothing Takes the Place of You 
Give Back the Key to My Heart 
Nobody Knows Me Like My Baby 
Say You Don't Mind 
No Place to Fall 
We Love Each Other 

Album available now - AU$30

Tiffany Eckhardt

Back Catalogue

All albums available now from Offbeat

Tiffany Eckhardt is a rising star in the Australian music scene. Her last two  CDs “Looking For Signs” and “Ninos Cafe” put Tiffany on the map as one of Australia’s finest songwriters and recording artists and this, her third solo album, is set to do just as well, if not better. “ Leap Of Faith” has received rave reviews and tracks from the CD have  again been listed on the ABC national playlist. A regular on the Festival Circuit, Tiffany has returned to live work after taking a break to have a baby last year. Recent performances at 2002 Port Fairy Folk Festival and the Dandenong Ranges Festival were hugely successful.

“Leap of Faith” is a collection of songs Tiffany has written over the past two years with a couple of exceptions : “With You” is one of the first she ever wrote, and “So Far to Climb” was written a couple of years later. The theme throughout the album is one of friendship, love and loss and struggling through life’s mountainous waves while retaining a sense of hope and even joy amidst it all. It is an extremely honest collection of songs.

“Leap Of Faith” has built on the musical foundation of Tiffany’s prior recordings, and  while retaining the sparse folk/pop/country arrangement style, shows a new sophistication in her writing and performance.

 LEAP OF FAITH was recorded at The Lock up by Brian Cavagnino and mixed and mastered by Michael Letho.  The musicians on the album include;

Tiffany Eckhardt vocals and guitar

Dave Steel -  backing vocals, dobro, electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin and harmonica

Sandy Brady – bass, vocals

Archie Cuthbertson - drums

John Bedggood - keyboards, violin and piano accordion.

Rose Bygrave - keyboards, vocals