The Gabeyard Shift – Melbourne

The Gabeyard Shift focused on my home town of Melbourne this week. I played a lot of my favourite music including some written by friends, which is especially cool.

I will forever champion Melbourne music. Alongside the influences I’ve inherited from my family, it’s had a huge impact on the music I listen to and seek out.

The wide urban sprawl and eclectic mix of cultures in that city has allowed many fantastic songwriters and musicians hone their craft in an increasingly competitive environment.

I truly love Melbourne music and it’s also played an enormous role in understanding how to engage with music from Auckland and Aotearoa.

Treat the holes in the side of your head with the playlist below.

 

One particular band you should check out which isn’t on Spotify is Lazertits, shit is sick.

The Gabeyard Shift – Sleater Kinney

In honour of Sleater Kinney gracing the shores of Aotearoa, The Gabeyard Shift focused on their brilliance. While I actually missed their Powerstation show, I am most certainly looking forward to seeing them at Golden Plains in a couple of weeks.

A key band in the riot grrl movement, their return last year with the release of No Cities To Love after a ten year break only served to prove how accomplished they are.

The Gabeyard Shift – LA Beat Scene

This week I was joined by all around good guy and electronic music enthusiast, Sam Dunne. In honour of his presence, The Gabeyard Shift focused on one of his faves, the LA Beat Scene.

Having covered a major player in the Scene a couple of weeks ago in Flying Lotus, it was the perfect opportunity to delve into Sam’s rich music collection and knowledge of this eclectic group of musicians and producers.

LA Beat Scene is a genre that’s continually evolving and pushing boundaries, in a large part thanks to FlyLo, but also thanks to the large pool of talented producers that draw on a huge range of musical backgrounds.

It’s important to note that a few inclusions in the playlist aren’t strictly Beat Scene. They do however, fit beautifully within the scope of electronic producers hell bent on doing something different.

 

The Gabeyard Shift – Nick Cave

The Dark Prince himself, Mr Nick Cave, was the focus of The Gabeyard Shift this week. A hugely influential artist and revered songwriter, he’s had an incredible career that’s spanned everything from music to screenwriting.

You could probably dedicate a whole day of radio celebrating this fella’s talents and influences. Even a couple of hours is somewhat of an emotional journey as well as a serious education in songwriting.

There are a few tunes from his big influences, but mostly tracks from the man himself, and there are plenty to choose from.

 

The Gabeyard Shift – Flying Lotus

The incredible musicianship and artistry of Steven Ellison, more popularly known as Flying Lotus, was the focus on The Gabeyard Shift this week.

A huge player in the early incarnation of the LA beat scene, he’s continued to push the boundaries of his music with every new release. Having come from such incredible music pedigree, he’s the great nephew of John and Alice Coltrane, it’s no surprise he creates such interesting and eclectic music.

An artist in the true sense of the word, you could dedicate many hours to going deep on FlyLo and his influences, but this week I just dipped my toes in on what makes him the musician he continues to be.

 

The Gabeyard Shift – Amy Winehouse

This week was the first proper evening / morning of The Gabeyard Shift for 2016.

Last week, of course, we were dealing with the shocking and sudden loss of David Bowie so those couple of hours were spent honouring him.

This time around however it was all about Amy Winehouse. I finally got around to seeing the documentary about her that came out last year titled ‘Amy‘. While I already admired her as an artist and appreciated her incredible vocal talent, I certainly wasn’t aware of her musicianship when it came to guitar and her jazz knowledge.

She was also obviously as artist that preferred spending time crafting songs and recording in the studio than being on stage and on tour. It’s a beautifully made film that really shows admiration for her musical talents.  The Gabeyard Shift focused on playing some of the music that influenced her sound and what helped her become such an incredible songwriter.

Listen to the playlist below.

The Gabeyard Shift – Best of 2015

What a bloody tip top year for music 2015 has been. I was joined by the illustrious Kaine Harington on The Gabeyard Shift this week to play some tracks from our favourite albums of the year.

Of course we couldn’t fit in all of the splendid tunes that we wanted too but we had a darn good yarn about it all.

Below is an extended playlist of essentially what we would have played if we had a couple of days on the airwaves. Sit down, chuck the headphones on, and enjoy this carefully curated collection of tunage.

The Gabeyard Shift – Discoveries Of 2015

This week on The Gabeyard Shift was all about sharing my discoveries of 2015. I’d like to say the discoveries are vast and broad, but they’re not really.

I’ve listened to plenty of new music but these choices are my favourites from the year. A lot were found keeping up with blogs and music showcases like SXSW, and BIGSOUND over in Brisbane. I’ve also left out the many New Zealand discoveries I’ve made this year, as they’ve been covered on a couple of previous shows.

Get a good old geez at the playlist below.

The Gabeyard Shift – Side Projects

Sometimes artists just get so confined to one project and group of musicians they have to break free and do something completely different. Or do something similar just with different people.

The side project is something that’s been a part of popular music for a very long time. The Gabeyard Shift took a look at some rather good side projects, thanks in large to the presence of passionate musician and music lover, Kaine Harington.

We also talked at length about a few average side projects, some that should have delivered more, and others that predictably sounded as shit as expected.

Unfortunately, as ever, the playlist is missing some a few tunes but the majority are listed below.

 

The Gabeyard Shift – bFM Bombathon

I’ve met some incredibly talented and generous people at 95bFM. It’s also exposed me to a lot of amazing New Zealand artists. The station is attempting to raise $45k to secure its future and smarten a few things up. Head to the givealittle page to show your support.

This week of The Gabeyard Shift, I played some of my favourite Kiwi artists, most which were discovered through volunteering and listening to the “bosom”.

Enjoy the playlist below, regretfully not all artists were on the Spotify.