Mikey’s best Oz albums of 2013

Jagwar Ma’s lead vocalist and guitarist Gabriel Winterfield.
Source: Supplied

RATING: 4.5/5

WINS THE AWARD FOR: The ability to turn house parties into rug-cutting Bez-fests.

A FEW weeks after Madchester-resuscitating single The Throw came out, Jagwar Ma played their debut London show at Birthdays in Dalston.

Expectation was higher than Shaun Ryder in Barbados.

The show was part of the NME Awards tour and would either have the bitchy, influential tome gushing or hushing. Gab Winterfield, Jono Ma and the rest of the band smashed the set using loping rhythms, rib-rumbling bass, slinky guitar lines, snappy keys and Winterfield’s determined, lovelorn voice.

Job done, Jagwar Ma blew the candles out on a momentous gig, leaving with their chests puffed … but the crowd refused to exit stage left. For 10 minutes a soccer-chant resounded: “The Throw
! The Throw! The Throw!” Insatiable.

Only two months in and this was Jagwar Ma’s year: Bumpin’. Grindin’. Windin’. Howlin’.

Their Glastonbury slot in front of 25,000 sealed the deal.

Despite battling horrific health problems this year, Jono Ma has ploughed on. This was his second chance at success after previous band Lost Valentinos got lost along the way. So, too, Gab Winterfield, whose band Ghostwood were on the brink in ’07.

This isn’t a perfect record, mind you. Let Her Go is pedestrian jangle pop, Nirvana Unplugged aping The Monkees. It hardly matters – this is a statement of intent.

Uncertainty has the spacious glide of Matthew Dear (who remixed Come Save Me), Man I Need is Let Forever Be Mk II, Four gets down to business straight away, insisting you earn a sip of your G’n'T by showing some G’n'D and Exercise can pick up any dancefloor having a 3am lull.

It all adds up to one question: What will they throw at us next?

Jagwar Ma play Laneway Festival and will pack ‘em in like Flume did earlier in the year.

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2. EMBRACISM – KIRIN J CALLINAN [XL/SIBERIA/TERRIBLE RECORDS]

RATING: 4/5

WINS THE AWARD FOR: Making a record that goes from The Choirboys to Aphex Twin to Evil Springsteen

Easy to hate, hard not to love, Kirin J Callinan became the puppet master of 2013. He totally played with our expectations at Sugar Mountain and in his boy-sterous girlie clips, neatly revealing a line about ourselves as he revealed a length of himself. Genius. It’s a word that gets used too much, as a learned friend of mine pointed out recently, but he and producer Kim Moyes sure knew what they were doing, creating a dystopian US vs. Australian nightmare with clanging guitars – Callinan is Rowland S Howard for Web 3.0 – and a chainsaw-wielding grin, narrating: “Blood flows from one kid’s nose, but the older boys want more, the older boys want more.” Mad(dening) genius. “Playing” Laneway Festival.

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3. IN BLOOD MEMORY – JEN CLOHER [MILK RECORDS]

RATING: 4.5/5

WINS THE AWARD FOR: Kicking ass and taking names without burning bridges. She writes great bridges, too.

I gave this a 3½-star review in July and wrote: “Jen Cloher sounds fed up. Sick to death of all the posers, all the rote indie rock, all the twee folk fops.” I was wrong, it’s better than 3½ stars, it’s a rattlesnake that backs you into a corner and is just about to strike … but then transmogrifies into a calla lily. How good is this line about a certain History Eraser on Name In Lights: “Come on, baby, let’s go back to your house, put on some vinyl so we can make out, I’ll pretend I’m younger even though we both know …” Cloher uses Bowie motifs, rickety Mo Tucker-style drumming and Patti Smith ripostes such as: “I looked into the deep abyss but all I saw was Narcissus.” Playing The Tote this Sunday for Milk Records pawtay.

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4. NOT ART – BIG SCARY [PIE EATER/INERTIA]

RATING: 4.5/5

WINS THE AWARD FOR: Best album to redraw Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk with added fox on vox.

I met the effervescent Jo Syme at Community Cup training three years ago. She told me she played in a band called Big Scary and I figured this knockabout chick must drum in a high-octane garage rock group. Could I have been more wrong? Big Scary’s second record starts with Tom Isanek telling us all the things he’s not: a whore wanting more, a poet on your shortlist, etc. Freeing himself of expectations, he and Syme then kick into game-changing mode, making a record that is like an SBS World Movie of the Week. See Belgian Blues. They have a savvy sense of humour, too. See Hello My Name Is and Why Hip Hop Sucks in ’13 and Final Thoughts, With Tom and Jo is very Tim and Eric. Playing Falls Festival.

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5. BELOVED – NEW GODS [INDEPENDENT]

RATING: 4.5/5

WINS THE AWARD FOR: Embodying the Beatles’ “And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make”.

It was crap Little Red broke up. Or was it? Five dudes, five close mates, all of them except two pulling in different directions. You can hear it on Midnight, Remember, there’s no way that band was going to make another record together, there was too much disparity … even though a lot of it was excellent. Dom Byrne and Adrian Beltrame kicked stones on the pavement for a while then kicked into gear, recording at home for months, just putting one foot in front of the other. Then they took it to the next level at Sing Sing with Anna Laverty. At first listen the only thing this stark, hypnagogic record lacks is big rock-out moments … but then – BAM – Caravan Park catches fire. Playing The Toff this Saturday.

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6. SHE BEATS – BEACHES [CHAPTER]

Listen to this cool change on headphones to remind yourself that thinking gets in the way of thought. Cavernous.

7. YOU GO YOUR WAY, I’LL GO MINE – AINSLIE WILLS [MGM]

New, third single Stop Pulling The String is a cerulean blue note.

8. DELETED SCENES – STANDISH/CARLYON [CHAPTER]

Queasy listening. Pelvic grooves. Sideways glances. Moves Moves‘ line, “I’ve seen you here a lot,” slays me every time.

9. THE HYPNOTISER – CASH SAVAGE AND THE LAST DRINKS

Dusty, confident country blues with a big, beautiful bottom end. Buy it!

10. OPEN SEASON – HIGH HIGHS [SONY/FINELINE]

There’s a fine line between brittle synth pop and draining, wet paint ickiness. They nail it.

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MIKEY’S BEST OZ GIGS OF THE YEAR

1. FLUME AT GOLDEN PLAINS

The Flume, the whole Flume and nothing but The Flume. Everyone could feel it, Harley Streten was about to blow up worldwide and become the closest thing we had to Flying Lotus, bringing his low end theories to the Supernatural Amphitheatre. Flume told the crowd he’d be playing some new stuff and everyone lapped it up: Trap-step from a Nutri Grain box.

2. KING GIZZARD AT MMW

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard did everything right in 2013: They supported their heroes The Drones (at the Opera House!), dominated the Big Sound conference and won 50 grand and two gongs at the AIR Awards. Their crowning set at The Residence had us tearing up when they reprised Float Along/Fill Your Lungs.

3. MONTERO AT POLYESTER

Mistletone’s oddball astral traveller and cartoon loon Bjenny Montero assembled an indie supergroup last year and then cut an album of relaxation pop, The Loving Gaze. Dad responsibilities meant I missed the Howler show but he brought the party to Polyester, gazing into Guy Blackman’s eyes: “In Mumbai with a pocket of confetti and a whole lot of crazy new sounds.”

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