Mistletone

PARQUET COURTS SYDNEY:: WED MAR 4 – MANNING BAR with Straight Arrows + Destiny 3000. Tickets on sale now from Oztix.
Parquet Courts left delirious punters reeling in their wake after last year’s brilliantly bombastic Laneway Festival shows and sweaty headline gigs in Sydney & Melbourne. One reviewer wrote of their Sydney show: “The partying gets harder and the screaming gets louder, until it ends abruptly, with no encore, leaving behind a convincing case for Parquet Courts as the best band in the Northern Hemisphere”.

The ever-prolific Parquet Courts delivered another impeccable album this year in Sunbathing Animal (Remote Control), which took a huge leap forward in terms of songwriting and vision whilst heightening the heaviness, mania and punk rock drive that has made the band beloved of music nerds everywhere. Still rooted firmly in the unshackled exploration and bombastic playing of their earlier work, everything here is amplified in its lucidity and intent. The songs wander through threads of blurry brilliance, exhaustion and fury at the hilt of every note. Parquet Courts sounds more like themselves than ever, a pinpoint accurate reading of the same American punk expansion they all but defined on Light Up Gold.

And with impeccable timing, Parquet Courts just announced a new album, Content Nausea, under the name Parkay Quarts, which drops digitally on November 11, and on vinyl early December, via Remote Control. As well as the country-swaggering first single, “Uncast Shadow of a Southern Myth” (named Best New Track by Pitchfork – listen below), the new album contains a “gender-bending” cover of Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots are Made For Walkin’”, a karaoke favourite of singer-guitarist Andrew Savage. Parquet Courts truly are the band that keeps on giving.

SHARON VAN ETTEN MELBOURNE SHOW:

Tuesday 3 March – The Hi-Fi with Tiny Ruins (NZ) & Heather Woods Broderick (USA). Tickets on sale 9am, Tuesday 28 October from from thehifi.com.au.

Mistletone, The Music, 2SER & Triple R present the return of Brooklyn singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten and her stunning band. While in the country for Golden Plains Festival, she will perform at Factory Theatre in Sydney on March 1, The Hi-Fi in Melbourne on March 3, and Brisbane’s The Zoo on March 4. Tickets on sale 9am, Tuesday 28 October.

For all the attention that was paid to her 2012 break-through album Tramp, Sharon Van Etten is an artist with a manifest hunger to turn another corner. Her last Australian tour in early 2013 turned heads, and saw her perform a stunning rendition of ‘Give Out’ live on Channel 7’s Sunrise program, and delight triple j listeners and a global audience with a spin-tingling cover of Nick Cave’s ‘People Aint No Good’ for Like A Version.

SHARON VAN ETTEN SYDNEY SHOW:

Sunday 1 March – Factory Theatre, with Tiny Ruins & Jack Ladder & Heather Woods Broderick (USA). Tickets on sale now from The Factory.

Mistletone, The Music, 2SER & Triple R present the return of Brooklyn singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten and her stunning band.

For all the attention that was paid to her 2012 break-through album Tramp, Sharon Van Etten is an artist with a manifest hunger to turn another corner. Her last Australian tour in early 2013 turned heads, and saw her perform a stunning rendition of  ‘Give Out’ live on Channel 7’s Sunrise program, and delight triple j listeners and a global audience with a spin-tingling cover of Nick Cave’s ‘People Aint No Good’ for Like A Version.

PARQUET COURTS play PERTH FESTIVAL:

FRI FEB 27 – Chevron Festival Gardens, 8pm. Tickets on sale now from Perth Festival.

Mistletone is proud to present the triumphant return of Perfume Genius. Seattle native Mike Hadreas – aka Perfume Genius – brings his four piece band to Australia in February to perform songs from his profoundly beautiful new album Too Bright, out now on Remote Control.

PERFUME GENIUS: Thursday February 19 @ The Brightside with special guests Seja + McKisko. Tickets on sale now from Oztix. Presented by 4ZZZ.

• “Hadreas’ sexuality is obviously a huge part of his work, but he’s above all a human—one who’s spoken about battling addiction and sickness and sadness, and one who possesses the ability to write about it in a way that feels universal. A huge part of what makes the work so strong is the generous human spirit that bleeds into it, and Too Bright is the best example to date of the lengths he goes to confront his fears and demons. These songs feel less like songs and more like treasures, ones that fill you with power and wisdom” – PITCHFORK Best New Music (8.5 out of 10)

Over the course of two astonishing albums, Perfume Genius cemented his place as a singer-songwriter of rare frankness, creating songs that, while achingly emotional, offered empathy and hope, rather than any judgment or handwringing. Sparse, gorgeous and with Hadreas’ quavering vocals often only accompanied by piano, they were uncommonly beautiful tales of a life lived on the dark side – scarred, brutalised, yet ultimately, slowly but surely reclaimed.

The third album from Perfume Genius, Too Bright, builds on the exquisite piano ballads Hadreas has become known for, but is less self-conscious and less concerned with storytelling and easily-digested melodies. It is a brave, bold, unpredictably quixotic exploration of what Hadreas calls “an underlying rage that has slowly been growing since ten and has just begun to bubble up”. Recorded with Adrian Utley of Portishead and featuring John Parish on several tracks, it is a stunning about-face which brings to mind audacious career-shift albums like Kate Bush’s The Dreaming or Scott Walker’s Tilt, records which walk the tightrope between pure songwriting and overt experimentation.

• “Too Bright creates a captive audience in its effusive refusal to let you look away. It kicks down the furniture of song structure and ferociously retches up its choruses, gripping onto your gaze with its dazzling contortions, its unapologetic too much-ness. Stare at the sun just a bit too long and you’ll get spots on your vision; listen to this album a while and it might start to reshape the way you see” – FACT MAGAZINE ★★★★ 4 stars

Mistletone is proud to present the triumphant return of Perfume Genius. Seattle native Mike Hadreas – aka Perfume Genius – brings his four piece band to Australia in February to perform songs from his profoundly beautiful new album Too Bright, out now on Remote Control.

PERFUME GENIUS: Wednesday February 18 @ Oxford Art Factory with special guest Aldous Harding. Tickets on sale now from Moshtix. Presented by 2SER.

• “Hadreas’ sexuality is obviously a huge part of his work, but he’s above all a human—one who’s spoken about battling addiction and sickness and sadness, and one who possesses the ability to write about it in a way that feels universal. A huge part of what makes the work so strong is the generous human spirit that bleeds into it, and Too Bright is the best example to date of the lengths he goes to confront his fears and demons. These songs feel less like songs and more like treasures, ones that fill you with power and wisdom” – PITCHFORK Best New Music (8.5 out of 10)

Over the course of two astonishing albums, Perfume Genius cemented his place as a singer-songwriter of rare frankness, creating songs that, while achingly emotional, offered empathy and hope, rather than any judgment or handwringing. Sparse, gorgeous and with Hadreas’ quavering vocals often only accompanied by piano, they were uncommonly beautiful tales of a life lived on the dark side – scarred, brutalised, yet ultimately, slowly but surely reclaimed.

The third album from Perfume Genius, Too Bright, builds on the exquisite piano ballads Hadreas has become known for, but is less self-conscious and less concerned with storytelling and easily-digested melodies. It is a brave, bold, unpredictably quixotic exploration of what Hadreas calls “an underlying rage that has slowly been growing since ten and has just begun to bubble up”. Recorded with Adrian Utley of Portishead and featuring John Parish on several tracks, it is a stunning about-face which brings to mind audacious career-shift albums like Kate Bush’s The Dreaming or Scott Walker’s Tilt, records which walk the tightrope between pure songwriting and overt experimentation.

• “Too Bright creates a captive audience in its effusive refusal to let you look away. It kicks down the furniture of song structure and ferociously retches up its choruses, gripping onto your gaze with its dazzling contortions, its unapologetic too much-ness. Stare at the sun just a bit too long and you’ll get spots on your vision; listen to this album a while and it might start to reshape the way you see” – FACT MAGAZINE ★★★★ 4 stars

Mistletone is proud to present the triumphant return of Perfume Genius. Seattle native Mike Hadreas – aka Perfume Genius – brings his four piece band to Australia in February to perform songs from his profoundly beautiful new album Too Bright, out now on Remote Control.

PERFUME GENIUS: Sunday February 15 @ The Corner with special guest Aldous Harding. Presented by Triple R. Tickets on sale now from Corner Presents.

• “Hadreas’ sexuality is obviously a huge part of his work, but he’s above all a human—one who’s spoken about battling addiction and sickness and sadness, and one who possesses the ability to write about it in a way that feels universal. A huge part of what makes the work so strong is the generous human spirit that bleeds into it, and Too Bright is the best example to date of the lengths he goes to confront his fears and demons. These songs feel less like songs and more like treasures, ones that fill you with power and wisdom” – PITCHFORK Best New Music (8.5 out of 10)

Over the course of two astonishing albums, Perfume Genius cemented his place as a singer-songwriter of rare frankness, creating songs that, while achingly emotional, offered empathy and hope, rather than any judgment or handwringing. Sparse, gorgeous and with Hadreas’ quavering vocals often only accompanied by piano, they were uncommonly beautiful tales of a life lived on the dark side – scarred, brutalised, yet ultimately, slowly but surely reclaimed.

The third album from Perfume Genius, Too Bright, builds on the exquisite piano ballads Hadreas has become known for, but is less self-conscious and less concerned with storytelling and easily-digested melodies. It is a brave, bold, unpredictably quixotic exploration of what Hadreas calls “an underlying rage that has slowly been growing since ten and has just begun to bubble up”. Recorded with Adrian Utley of Portishead and featuring John Parish on several tracks, it is a stunning about-face which brings to mind audacious career-shift albums like Kate Bush’s The Dreaming or Scott Walker’s Tilt, records which walk the tightrope between pure songwriting and overt experimentation.

• “Too Bright creates a captive audience in its effusive refusal to let you look away. It kicks down the furniture of song structure and ferociously retches up its choruses, gripping onto your gaze with its dazzling contortions, its unapologetic too much-ness. Stare at the sun just a bit too long and you’ll get spots on your vision; listen to this album a while and it might start to reshape the way you see” – FACT MAGAZINE ★★★★ 4 stars

PERFUME GENIUS: Friday February 13 @ Perth Festival – Chevron Festival Gardens, 8:00PM. Tickets on sale now from Perth Festival.

photo by Cara Robbins

Mistletone is dizzy to announce that the magnificent Connan Mockasin will be touring Australia & New Zealand as part of the epic lineup for Laneway Festival 2015. Sign up now for Laneway presales on Wednesday 8th October. General Public Laneway Tickets On Sale: Monday 13th October.

CONNAN MOCKASIN TOUR DATES:

Auckland – Monday 26th January @ Laneway Festival – Silo Park.
Brisbane – Saturday 31st January @ Laneway Festival – Brisbane Showgrounds (16+).
Sydney – Sunday 1st February @ Laneway Festival – Sydney College of the Arts.
Adelaide – Friday 6th February @ Laneway Festival – Harts Mill, Port Adelaide (16+).
Melbourne – Saturday 7th February @ Laneway Festival – Footscray Community Arts Centre.
Fremantle – Sunday 8th February @ Laneway Festival – Esplanade Reserve.