by Kerbside Collection
Kerbside Collection Trash Or Treasure (PBS feature record)
The opening track totally hooks me from the start. Immediately I am teleported to a remote location, far from responsibility and surrounded by golden sunshine, a warm breeze and a lounging hammock. From the very first track you just know you are in for a great long player.
This 14 track instrumental is the 2nd album for Kerbside Collection who are made up of talented cats from bands like The Cactus Channel, Bombay Royale and Brazil. All songs have been recorded and engineered by Roberto Sola of Hopestreet Recordings, so you are in good hands. This album brings with it a west coast flavor of soulful jazz and deep funk. There are many grooves that just make this album a really easy listen, the rhythm has a great flow and the guitar work in this is a real highlight for me throughout the entire album.
This release hits us in the midst of Winter – and it’s a very welcome relief. I feel like Trash or Treasure provides an incredible respite from the dreary winter months. It’s an audio holiday and joy to listen to. All treasure here.
By Lyndelle – The Afterglow
Spoonbill Tinkerbox (Featured on The Breakfast Spread)
This is the fourth full-length album for Melbourne musician Jim Moynihan who has been making music under the Spoonbill moniker for over a decade. Over that period Moynihan has developed and refined his approach to composition, recording and production while maintaining a signature sound that has made each of his releases to date so very listenable. The defining characteristic of Spoonbill’s music is that this eccentric electronic artist can sound so very organic. In no small part this is due to the quality of the musicians, instrumentation and samples that Spoonbill wraps around his core material.
On Tinkerbox we hear influences that come from Asia and the Middle East, and clearly from Moynihan’s vibrant home city here in Melbourne. There’s a heavy dose of electro-dub and elements subtly drawn from jazz, Indian raga, downbeat electronica and enough analogue synth sounds to massage the ears of those a little jaded by the crystalline edge of purely digital music.
In recent times Moynihan appears to have moved away from the integration of quirky, colloquial samples that were such a feature of his early work. While those sound-bites gave early Spoonbill material a welcoming hook for new listeners, this more refined approach reveals a musician with the capacity to sculpt beautifully-crafted works that ultimately make this record Spoonbill’s most consistent and satisfying release to date. For those however that miss the oddball side of Moynihan’s musical personality there’s always the track Twinklespank that frankly sounds like its title.
Immaculately produced and brilliantly constructed, Tinkerbox presents us with a musical caravan bursting with good vibes and soul-warming grooves.
Owen McKern
Program Manager PBS 106.7FM
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