BLACK RAINBOW - ALBUM.

‘Black Rainbow’ is the debut solo album of ex-Noiseworks bassist Steve Balbi, and is a reflection of the many influences and experiences of the mature musician, showcasing tunes in the style of old-school Bowie, and well as a throwback to early 90s grunge.

Is it Frank Zappa? Is it Johnny Depp? No, its Steve Balbi.

Balbi is an important figure in Australian music, appearing in the 80s as bassist for the band Noiseworks, whose hit song ‘Touch’ is covered on his album. After the band’s split in 1992, he paired up with fellow Noiseworks member Justin Stanley to form psychedelic pop group Electric Hippies, where Steve was lead vocalist, his distinctive style still evident in his tunes.

He has since worked with high-profile artists such as Michael Hutchence, Tom Jones and David Bowie, whose influences are evident on this album, which Balbi produced via Social Family Records. He has notably been involved with several others artists in ‘Ziggy, The Songs of David Bowie’, a live performance which showcases Bowie's repertoire played by a series of Australian musicians.

Balbi (far right) in Noiseworks

In ‘Black Rainbow’, we see Balbi’s own style emerging, especially after his inclusion in a wide variety of acts and groups. The album has a dark, slightly melancholy feel, as probably suggested by the cover - a black-and-white portrait of a contemplative Balbi, his face framed by long, Zappa-esque locks. His sound is showing some roots of classic 90s grunge, but its reflective, mature lyrics showcases his song writing ability – and its influences, especially David Bowie. Bowie's style is reflected in Balbi’s use of dreamy layering and spacey effects, and in ‘Sweet Sabotage’, we hear a storytelling introduction, reminiscent of early Bowie:

There’s a lonely man lost/caught in the fog/he can’t find his face. Steve Balbi, ‘Sweet Sabotage’, 2013.

I laughed and shook his hand, and made my way back home/I searched for form and land, for years and years I roamed. David Bowie, ‘The Man Who Sold The World’, 1970.

While the album exudes a certain darkness, a standout track, ‘What Do You Do’, uses a ukulele, paired with an electric guitar and light-hearted vocals. A highlight of the album is Balbi’s reworking of the Noiseworks classic ‘Touch’. This sensitive piece is re-done well, using a few select instruments and highlighting Balbi’s strong vocals, as well as the poetic lyrics.

Another day is going out/A sea of faces crying out/With all we have today/You think we'd stop and take a look now/And all I want to say/Is maybe that we should reach out, everybody.

As well as providing a satisfying throwback to Balbi’s earlier years, ‘Black Rainbow’ has given the veteran musician a chance to develop his unique style, incorporating mature, toned-down grunge and showcasing reflective, poetic tunes.

WHERE DOES MUSIC COME FROM, MUMMY?

So evidently I have heaps of music and I know a few songs here and there. But some of you might be interested in where I find my music. If you're not, then keep scrolling.

When a mummy song and a daddy song love each other very much, they...

Ok got a bit carried away there. But Kaya thinks it's funny!

But NICHOLAS HOULTTTTTTTTTTTTT.


Back to business. Ahem.

So I get my music from heaps and heaps of different places - I get them from my friends (yes they exist) and because they all have varying tastes I kinda get a bit from everybody.
Bands I got from friends:
The Paper Kites, Of Monsters and Men, Mumm-Ra, Pegasus Bridge, et cetera et cetera - pretty much every band I found in 2011 is from a friend or radio.

Which brings me to radio. I really like to hop between all these different radio stations - I used to listen to Top 40 but it's so trashy and boring. I don't actually listen to triple j that much - it's pretty much Sir Richard Kingsmill Overlord of Triple J or Tom and Alex. I always seem to miss the Like A Versions which are the only good things about triple j, really. Some of the acts are okay but others are simply despicable. I really like the oldies music station :) it's the only station that plays David Bowie and Queen and Heart and Blondie. I do listen to this really lame daggy station for relaxing pop music which sounds like it sucks when it plays Carpenters (who are really slow and boring) but they play lots of 70s and 60s songs like The Monkees and The Turtles and The Beach Boys. I also like the Christian music station with some of the really great rock songs - some are really exciting and they're all parent friendly, unlike the metal station. Hunt the Haunted is not a good idea with parents. Ever. Please do not try. Unless your parents are metal musicians. In which case, go ahead.

I also get Youtube recommendations and weekly emails which are really helpful. I also love my Insound newsletter which has such epic New Wave tunes. Some of the Youtube comments are great - they're hell as annoying when they sell themselves on other people's pages but some of these musicians are really great.
I love to hear covers of some great songs and also hearing the support acts at music concerts. I do love Soundcloud with its free downloads sometimes and Fingertips music which features free music. But really most of my music is found on Youtube or friend recommendations - Youtube does songs and friends do artists. I do get music from good soundtracks (Suicide Room had a good soundtrack) but yeah. Friends and Youtube.

I manage to hoard music from pretty much everywhere - Shazam helps me a lot in cars, taxis and shopping centres but I also like to just memorise short snippets from lyrics then type them into Google :)

I find new songs all the time but I just can't remember them right now because my sewing machine is broken and my laptop is running out of battery. So there.

SONG OF THE WEEK #7.

It's that often forgotten time of the week again and I am here to feature another great song! Actually there's so many good songs and since I keep throwing new/old songs around the place things get complicated. I actually make a Top 5 playlist on my phone as well as the normal listening playlist so I have a lot of musical weighing up to do. Or I could just do another Music Haul.

Ugh I feel all bloated like an overstuffed sheep because I made dolmades and they're so weird yet somewhat addicting:

It's me.

So this week's Song is quite an old song - okay not really. It's soooooooooo 2011 though.

It's 'Best Of Tomorrow' by Trial Kennedy.

Trial Kennedy are a raw, rough Aussie garage rock band but they broke up last year or so because of finance or something annoying like that. The song is a melodic, anthemic number with a brilliant vocalist - Tim Morrison - and it's a great song. The tune is catchy, especially the chorus, but it's not annoyingly catchy. It's fresh, kinda sounds Australian and is just a great song to listen or rock out to.

I know. It was good, wasn't it?

Enjoy your song. I'll probably have a small Music Haul lined up for next week :) any song requests, please comment! Till next time.