Readings.com.au: Hawthorn Recommends: Music

Beautiful Future

Bobby Gillespie and Primal Scream. Names synonymous with the heady rock n roll lifestyle which epitomised the 90s. With a reputation for their off stage antics as much as their amazing live shows, Primal Scream have become a lasting symbol of excess, energy and most importantly, fantastic tracks.

Getting back to what REALLY made Primal Scream tick, the music, Bobby Gillespie and co have spent the last couple of years working on the follow up to one of their most successful albums to date (Riot City Blues '06). Beautiful Future is the result.

The first single ‘Can’t Go Back’, produced by Paul Epworth (Bloc Party, The Rakes) is the kind of high energy rock’n’roll the band excel at, all kinetic drum beats and scuzzy guitar riffs, everything moving at methamphetamine rate. ‘Uptown’ sees the band tackling the Philly soul sound, privileging the rhythm section of Mooney and Mani, who’ve rarely sounded tighter. ‘Glory Of Love’ meanwhile, is delightful post-punk pop, complete with swooning strings and a chocolate box chorus.

The band up the ante with ‘Suicide Bomb’, Andrew Innes’ densely-layered guitar riffs coiling tightly round themselves, ‘Beautiful Summer’ a dark, melancholic track underscored by a haunting guitar signature and stately keyboard motif. Elsewhere, there’s a duet with CSS’ Lovefoxxx, ‘I Love To Hurt (You Love To Be Hurt)’ that’s full of shivering electro pulses and tense, claustrophobic rhythms.

Featuring guest appearances from the delightful Lovefoxx from CSS, Josh Homme from Queens Of The Stone Age amongst others, ‘Beautiful Future’ is exactly what Bobby Gillespie has been aiming for.

Comme Si De Rien N'Etait

Carla Bruni has always had a certain poetry. A definite je ne sai quoi. The grace, style and beauty of this Italian-born, France-raised thirty-something is legendary; her intellect and vitality striking, even formidable. Many - including the international fashion world and famous names not relevant here – have made her their muse. But Bruni, the daughter of a composer and a pianist, had inspiration of her own. Few were surprised when she turned her back on her modeling career and her elegant hand to her first love: music. Fewer still when her debut album, 'Quelqu'un m'a dit (Someone Told Me)', turned out to be a thing of understated loveliness. Her second album 'No Promises' was massive all over Europe.

Now as the first lady of France Carla Bruni is one of the most photographed women of the world but she doesn't want this to affect people's perception of her or her music. She wants the music to speak for itself and here it does.

Exit Strategy Of The Soul: Local Edition

A true artist's artist, Ron Sexsmith has been writing and performing his earnest, soulful songs for nearly thirty years now, engendering praise from a litany of artists too influential and many to name. On his latest album Exit Strategy of the Soul, Sexsmith expands his musical canon with vaulted yet direct string arrangements and sweeping horn sections, resulting in a work equal in musical breadth and emotional depth.

The Hard Way

No extra details available for this item.

Kitty Daisy And Lewis

The sound of yesteryear, but also a band for the future" NME

You’d expect any self-respecting young North London band that boasts an average age of 16 to spend an inordinate amount of time filling their i-phones with remixes downloaded from blogs, rather than cutting their tunes onto 78s. But then brother-and two-sisters rock & roll enthusiasts Kitty Daisy & Lewis are no ordinary band. The three siblings – now aged 15,18 and 17 - first came together onstage at a country and rockabilly jam in a North London pub. Five years later the 50s music, fashion and technology obsessed family have built a massive word of mouth audience through a stream of rapturously received gigs and festival appearances and are ready to release their first long player on Rob da Bank’s Sunday Best label. The album fuses Blues, Swing, Country and Rock 'n' Roll while all the time sounding as young and fresh as the band behind the music.

Going Up The Country 2. Buggin' Blues 3. Polly Put The Kettle On 4. Honolulu Rock-A Roll-A 5. I Got My Mojo Working 6. Mean Son Of A Gun 7. Hillbilly Music 8. Mohair Sam 9. Ooo Wee 10. Swinging Hawaii

Extraordinary Rendition

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Rupa & the April Fishes create music that defies easy categorization. Their debut album, eXtraOrdinary rendition, echoes with influences of classic French chanson, Argentinean tango, Gypsy swing, American folk, Latin cumbias, and even hints of Indian ragas. With their progressive blend of international flavors with a youthful alternative rock energy, the trend-setting band is spearheading a multicultural movement that is redefining the sound of contemporary music. Shades of Manu Chao, Lhasa, Pink Martini, Gogol Bordello and more can be heard in their appealing, polyglot sound.

Songs From A World Apart

The new master doudouk player Levon Minassian and the composer Armand Amar join forces to take a fresh look at the traditional armenian repertories in their own special way. Various soloists including Nusrat fateh, Ali khan and a symphony orchestra join them.