Cowboys in Cyberspace

In the mid-seventies, Australian rock music was beginning to find its own voice and local references were no longer just clumsy attempts at mimicking exotic overseas place names. Contemporary country music had rarely ventured outside the human condition to commentate on the conditions in which humans were forced to live. From the opening line of Way Out West (The Dingoes, Mushroom 1974), “Way out west, where the rain don’t fall…” things certainly changed. It hardly seems revolutionary now, overburdened as we are with songs about the drought, but back then it was a statement of national identity, the type of which had only been touched on before (Mansfield Hotel, Axiom 1970). Just as importantly, THE DINGOES were a rock band with a country slant that would gain recognition not only for their own output, but for the influence they would have on those that followed, Cold Chisel and Paul Kelly to name but two. More than thirty years after the band broke up, The Dingoes have returned with a fourth album, TRACKS, full of the atmosphere and edge that characterised their earlier work. Recommended for faithful fans and first time listeners alike. (Liberation Music LMCD0107) www.thedingoes.com.au

By contrast, the wait for the new KASEY CHAMBERS album LITTLE BIRD has been much shorter, a mere four years, albeit punctuated by the duo-release with husband Shane Nicholson (Rattlin’ Bones, 2008) and the family CD and book set with father Bill Chambers (Kasey Chambers, Poppa Bill and The Little Hillbillies, 2009). Kasey herself has said that this new collection of songs came ‘pouring out’ unexpectedly, at a time when she wasn’t remotely planning a new album. She has also noted that her desire was for the recording to “reflect the old style” of her first solo albums. Certainly the extra input from Bill Chambers and the fact that Kasey herself occupied the producer’s chair with self-confessed naivety, only adds to the charm. Guest contributions abound, but only make Kasey’s star shine all the brighter. (Essence Music/Liberation Music LMCD0109)
www.kaseychambers.com (On tour this month!)

Kasey and Shane are just two of a stellar line-up that comes together on LONG GONE WHISTLE – The Songs Of Maurice Frawley. One of the major intentions of this three-disc set is to widen the exposure of the songs of MAURICE FRAWLEY, who departed this world far too early in May 2009. While there are many touching and stirring performances on the first two discs by friends and fans such as Sarah Blasko, Tim Rogers, Renee Geyer, Clare Bowditch Chrissy Amphlett, Dan Sultan Band and many more, perhaps the real revelation for many will be the third disc containing 21 recordings by Frawley himself, lovingly selected by former band members (the Working Class Ringos) and family, leaving no doubt that he deserved wider recognition as a composer and performer. Perhaps PAUL KELLY, who contributes a rambunctious version of When I Lay Down With You, says it best – “Maurice Frawley wrote some of my favourite songs. Great songwriters create a world. Maurice did – a hard-bitten, pastoral world through which walked a straight talking man, wide-eyed and willing.” (Liberation Music LMCD0105)