paul kelly

Sultan from Melbourne -- father Irish, mother Aboriginal -- is a hard one to put in any box: tracks here are reflective but mainstream country rock, others more alt.country, then he delivers some rural balladry and a broken-down acoustic folk ballad. Then things rock out. This also opens with a terrific slice of Sixties soulful pop balladry...
> music/3421/dan-sultan-get-out-while-you-can-arts-victoria-southbound/

This great Australian soul, funk and blues singer appeared at Elsewhere recently -- more of that in a minute -- but here by coincidence is 18 track collection of some of her finest moments from her four decade career, including her gutsy take on James Brown's classic It's A Man's Man's Man's World on which she really shines. Also here is her...
> music/3369/renee-geyer-the-definitive-collection-1973-1998-mushroom/

Bob Geldof once observed, "Rock music of the Seventies was charged by three bands -- the Sex Pistols, the Ramones and the Saints". That the Saints out of suburban Brisbane -- hardly the home of rock music, let alone an angry and intelligent version -- should be in that illustrious company comes as no surprise to anyone who followed...
> fromthevaults/3259/the-saints-im-stranded-1976/

Lord knows some artists can be "difficult" -- and many of those who have tried to interview Australian Renee Geyer (never my doubtful pleasure) have returned chastened, frustrated and sometimes downright angry. It was hardly surprising then when Paul Kelly produced an album for her entitled Difficult Woman in '94. Her 2000...
> fromthevaults/3174/renee-geyer-you-broke-a-beautiful-thing-1999/

Bill Chambers -- quite apart from being the father of singer-songwriter Kasey and producer Nash -- is one of Australia's great singer-songwriters whose work just seems to be getting deeper and more resonant. He is suitably road-grizzled these days and his work (just a reference point) sits somewhere between Paul Kelly, Kris Kristofferson and...
> music/2658/bill-chambers-drifting-south-whitewater/

When Australian Ned Collette's previous album Future Suture appeared at Elsewhere the closing line was "check this guy out". I suspect few did, even though he visited New Zealand a couple of times. But here's another chance, although this sounds a little different to its predecessor: often downbeat, lean and less augmented, more...
> music/2637/ned-collette-and-wirewalker-over-the-stones-under-the-stars-fabric-rhythmethod/

Chambers -- daughter of the very great singer-songwriter Bill -- is one of Australia's finest alt.country/roots artists and here she teams up with her husband Nicholson for their first album together. Oddly enough although they play together in their casual side-project The Lost Dogs covers band they hadn't previously written together --...
> music/1617/best-of-elsewhere-2008-kasey-chambers-and-shane-nicholson-rattlin-bones-liberation/

By my count this is Saunders' fifth solo album, and is by far the strongest from the Warratah frontman. He reaches to the Phoenix Foundation for a downhome(ly) remake of their Going Fishing and his own lyrics are allusive, just specific enough to nail down some hard images ("down at the Kingdom Hall") and the snappy band (which...
> music/2031/barry-saunders-zodiac-ode/

With a flattened and laconic delivery, chiming acoustic folk-styled guitars and some melodic minimalism, this downbeat but widescreen album by Australian singer-songwriter Collette seems to hark back to earlier periods, sometimes sounding like a gentle collision between Nick Drake and Velvet Underground, at others slipping out of a very early...
> music/1424/ned-collette-future-suture-inertia-the-label/

Okay, let's just hear what the British press had to say about this, the debut album from an Australian singer-songwriter now living in London. "Simply captivating" --- The Sun "A refreshing breeze to ruffle all preconceptions" -- Time Out "Divine!" -- The Observer "Pop never had it so good" --...
> music/1322/martin-craft-silver-and-fire-longtime-listener-rhythmethod/

Albums by Paul Kelly are like local buses: if you miss one it probably doesn't matter, another will be along soon. My guess is he has made at least a couple of dozen albums, which means that this album might just pass people by as yet another Kelly album. That would be a shame because he is still at the top of his game and is such a...
> music/1305/paul-kelly-stolen-apples-emi/

And the sum total of my information is that these guys are from Sydney -- oh, and that neither of the duo at the core of this small acoustic-based band are called Rand or Holland. R&H apparently grew out of home recordings by singer-bassist Brett Thompson who initially teamed up with guitarist Stuart Olsen, and now have invited other...
> music/1190/rand-and-holland-caravans-spunk/