Found this one on the Courier mail webpage.  A big thank you to Candi for the wonderful write up.  I heart Kate bush and it was awesome that you could hear that in the music.  Yay!
 

BrizBands Blog

I got a heads up from someone about a gig at the Troubadour tonight and it was definitely a heads up worth sharing.

Hunz. The independent electronic artist from Brisbane is launching his second album, ‘Thoughts That Move’, and I’m loving what I’ve heard so far on his Myspace.

First of all, I should mention that this album took less than one month to complete. That is an incredible task. At the start of the year, over 2,200 bands entered the RPM Challenge; the challenge being they had to release an album of their own original work within the 28 days of February, and this is what Hunz wrote, recorded and produced. And it’s very impressive.

Hunz’s music has a disjointed, feel to it, but it’s not messy. His electronic sounds and vocals blend well together, forming an interesting and experimental style that touches on the creativity of Lamb, Radiohead and even Kate Bush, yet remains beautifully unique.

You can download the album for free at http://hunz.bandcamp.com/ and check him out tonight at The Troubadour.

Read the whole thing here : BrisBands Blog

Over the next few days I’ll draw your attention to some amazing posts that have happened since releasing the album, eeeeee. A big “thank you” to who the bloody hell are they.
 

Hunz is an electronic musician from Brisbane who recently recorded his second album in unusual circumstances – he took part in the RPM Challenge that asked over 2200 international artists to write, record, perform and produce an entire album during the month of February 2009. The fruits of that challenge have recently been made available to download for free and there’s some killer tracks on there. My favourite is ‘Soon, Soon,’ which combines industrial-inspired beats with a soaring falsetto reminiscent of Radiohead’s ‘Nude’ and harmonies that recall parts of Gotye’s last effort. Like Gotye, Hunz releases music under a one-word psuedonym (crazy, huh?) and combines elements of schizophrenic production with earnest singer-songwriter tendancies. I prefer the songs where the former wins over and enjoy the way his sweet, high voice rubs against the harsher elements of the arrangement but for those who prefer their music less glitchy and full of ‘beeps’ there’s some fairly straight-up compositions.
 

So I was told about this link today and I was completely nervous about clicking on it. This guy, Richard Kingsmill, has such great taste in music and has helped shape Australian music into the wonderful thing it is today. I’m not going to say anything
 

Richard Kingsmill Review
 

What a great journey we are on people. Thanks Richard.
 

My Cd is being Featured and has been Reviewed at Tokafi. Thank you guys, it’s a beautiful review that I feel humbled by. Thank you.

Tokafi – ‘When Victims Fight’ Cd Review

Unegoistic pleasures: A hypnotically crafted rhythm of verse and chorus.

Pop music must surely be the most egoistic genre out there. Always written in the first person, it deals with nothing but the individual’s solipsistic fears, loathings, hopes and triumphs – quite obviously, there is nothing altruistic in a sentence like “I love you”. Browsing through the liner notes of “When Victims fight”, you suspect the same mechanism at work here: “I’ve always written my music as a means to deal with my feelings”, Hunz says and you already brace yourself for another 40 minutes of acoustic auto-therapy.

Nothing could be more wrong, though. The release of this album, after all, was in fact rather the product of continous demand from friends than of a man looking for immanent stardom. Anachronistic pleasures, I say: In times when everybody seems confident enough to have something to say to the masses, the idea that someone should be penning songs just for the joy of creating seems just as bewildering and outdated as it sounds sympathetic and encouraging.

You can hear it in the music, too. It is amazing what a liberating absence of expectations can do. The bass drums, hihats and snares on “When Victims Fight” click and cut and shred and stutter, rattlesnaking futuristically into the 21st century, but underneath the completely up-to-date digital polish, a hurt heart beats passionately for the urban solitude of the 80s. Anything but mere retro-exercises, meanwhile, the slow-grooving pieces among these ten tracks drift dreamily on pensive chime-themes and swelling string pads, riding plaintive harmonic loops to their inevitably relentless final destination.

In the pumping high-voltage sections, such as angry anthem “Beg”, Hunz draws his energy from dry, pointed basses, razorsharp percussion and frantic Rhodes-pounding. “Tiny Pixels” surges forward on the wings of a nervous, morsecoded chord cluster, while opener “Who Knows” combines an anthemic acme with harsh drum rolls and doubtful lyrics (“When I find me, they’re gonna know what my secret is”). Music and singer seem to be caught in a constant quarrel over supremacy and direction: While the latter seems to find stability and focus in the soulful warmth of ballads like “All falls down”, the latter heads for a grand finale in the melodic and thematic centre of the album on the closing duo of “Rise” and “People”.

It is neither forced experimentation nor a complex concept which holds these emotionally bipolar pieces together but the simple, yet hypnotically crafted rhythm of verse and chorus, as well as a voice capable of expressing discreet ecstasy and uncliched pain. Thanks to this unpretentious approach, “When Victimes Fight” has turned out being about sharing and communicating rather than about navle-gazing. Hunz writes about his innermost personal feelings, but he allows his listeners to recognise themselves in the process. “Amazingly, dealing with my feelings seems to resonate with people”, he writes in the continuation of the lines notes, “if you have the same response, then this album is for you.” Against all odds, there is nothing egoistic about that at all.

TOBIAS FISCHER

Read it here

Wow. This review speaks for itself but I feel so blessed that people are enjoying my shows. Thank you.

The Troubadour – 7th of Feb

In an uncharacteristic change from my last pilgrimage to the Troub, the crowd is very modest-sized tonight; this occurrence presumably caused by the majority of Brisbane’s gig-goers being at either Cold War Kids, Crystal Castles, The Streets or the freshly-reborn Wolfmother’s “secret” gig. However it doesn’t deter the incomparable Hunz from delivering another standout show; the haunting “down, down, fall down” sample barely fades when the furiously-swaying frontman summons a melange of Four Tet-like glitches before launching into another soaring, drawn-out chorus. The power trio dynamic is employed to full extent – I ‘ve already previously mentioned how impeccable the rhythm section is and how much beautiful, charging bottom end can be extracted from an unfashionable 5-string bass. Additionally, I’m now convinced that the band’s music is as much perfect pop as it is math-rock, Hunz’s Thom Yorke – meets – Chino Moreno voice and modified synth/laptop skills a joy to behold. Let’s just hope he can never change, as he sings.

Tonight’s wildly eclectic bill has plenty of room for no-nonsense, Radio Birdman-style vintage rock & roll, which Black Mustang serve up with gusto. Celebrating their 5th anniversary as a band, singer/guitarists Steve Foster and Dave Starr, four-string punisher Dan Charlton and drummer Joe Hemingway launch into prime head- and hip-shaking ramalama; the swaggering Reason To Love, _Suzie_’s tambourine-aided sex beat, _I’m Not Scared_’s defiant crunch and signature tune _The One_’s glam stomp and genius three-power chord riff get both boys and girls moving and grooving. Ordering us to keep dancing, the quartet churn out a visceral Led Zep-like break before employing plenty of Chris Walken-satisfying cowbell on thudding set closer Jimmy; I am again reminded that local rock music doesn’t get any better than this and that Black Mustang’s Between The Devil And The Blue Sea album is a definite must for the car stereo – and other settings.

Rounding off the night, My Fiction are just as spot-on with their indie-disco throb as Black Mustang are with their classic piledrivers. There’s plenty of Robert Smith theatrics in frontman *Eric Robinson*’s voice as the band charge through the muscular rhythms of single Go and the exuberant_Your Tokyo_; riding the ‘80s-leaning track of the criminally underrated Departure and VHS Or Beta (circa Night On Fire), the four-piece are as fun to watch as their skittering, frequently wah-augmented riffs are catchy. Caught up in the excitement, lead guitarist James Laubscher jumps off the stage and proceeds to attack his instrument on the dancefloor to the collective delight. The big gigs might have attracted the wider crowd, but everyone present here at the Troub tonight could not possibly have any complaints about a highly entertaining evening of quality local music at a majorly cool venue.

Read review at FasterLouder.com.au

Thanks again.

The Troubadour – Sat Jan 24

Disclaimer: this writer is proud to attest he hasn’t seen one crap show at The Troub. That said, the Australia Day weekend is reassuringly full of live music and bringing his art to the tassle-decorated stage is Brisbane’s own math-rock extraordinaire Hunz. Backed by a powerhouse rhythm section, the bearded soul man/laptop wizard gives a glimpse of what Pivot could have sounded like if Richard Pike sang conventional lyrics; his expansive range, in-song vocal loops and sheer passion make for one memorable opening slot.

No matter how tight they are, hometown boys Gladstone & Lochaber are unable to match Hunz’s impressive performance. Their reverb-drenched palette coming across as by-numbers Aussie rock with Perth slant (Gyroscope, Eskimo Joe etc), the quartet only really get flying on one Francophone number, albeit due to that song’s nod to The Stills’ glorious Retour A Vega.

Muse jamming with Sparks anyone? In lieu of pre-gig research, [ME] turn out to be my unexpected discovery of 2009. Ridiculously talented, the precocious Melbourne fourpiece do a much better job at pulling off the Queen sound than The Darkness ever did and generally make the latter collective sound like a bunch of amateurs; Freddy Mercury’s spirit would undoubtedly be smiling at the band’s vocal acrobatics while Brian May would approve of the guitarist’s supersonic tapping and sustain-laden riffs. Two words: epic win.

DENIS SEMCHENKO

Read it here

I really had a great night. The show just connected on so many levels, and I’m in awe of this review. If you get a chance, come and see me play at the same venue this Friday night. Thank you.
 

The Troubadour – 24 Jan