Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Angus & Julia Stone "Memories of an Old Friend"


There is an absolutely amazing story surrounding these kids right now.  Well, not here (and it's a damn shame), but in their Australian homeland.  Their previous album, "Down the Way" came out worldwide in March 2010, and was a monster hit Down Under.  A huge single called "Big Jet Plane."  Made it a mission to see them at Bonneroo.  A few people joined me in the tent for this.  Anyway, the siblings are nominated for several ARIA awards (that's Aussie for Grammys).  Early November arrives and the Stones steal the show, winning Album and Single of the Year, as well as Best Adult Alternative Album.  Hoping to capitalize on the stunning coup, this new album is released one month later in mid-December.  And here is where the story turns...

First mistake---one doesn't release anything but a greatest hits package in December, especially only a week before Christmas.  The second "problem" is the new record is essentially "Part 2" of the first, the only noticeable difference being the absence of any tracks over the six minute mark in length.  The third issue is the underestimation of the initial penetration of the first record in the market prior to the Awards.  "Memories..." charted for a brief period (that's how I found out about it) and then disappeared, only to have a resurgence of "Down the Way" stampede the charts again, today remaining in the Top 5 of the Aussie Album charts and "BJP" still hanging at #10 on the Singles chart, each over a year from the release date! 

Another twist to the story came as a surprise to me.  It appears that the Australian version of MTV actually programs and supports music (what a novel idea) and stages a series of concerts by some of the bigger ARIA nominees during the week preceding the actual awards show.  As luck would have it, the Stone siblings contracted a six-song, 30-minute iTunes exclusive from their set, releasing it just 24 hours after winning the two biggest awards at the ceremony!  Un-freaking-believable...  Four of the six tracks were from "Down the Way", but didn't include BJP, so here it is...



The only song from "Memories..." is the final track of the album, and it actually opens the iTunes sampler...go figure.  I am so happy that the domestic iTunes has scheduled the concert sampler to be made available today (April 19).  I don't anticipate Nettwerk Productions to drop "Memories..." on the domestic market until they see if they can squeeze success out of this scenario in the US.  Maybelline Cosmetics has put BJP in a television ad campaign, a brilliant move if you ask me.  A good friend of mine's 30-something daughter heard it for the first time in said commercial and researched it, posting her "find" for all her Facebook followers.  Yep, it has that kind of power.  

I know it's weird to many of you that I sometimes write about music not traditionally available to the US market, but this is a tale unlike anything that has played out in the music biz in ages.  "Memories of an Old Friend" is just that, another completely satisfying group of acoustically accompanied arrangements; a lone piano, an acoustic guitar, brushes on drums, etc..  The subtle songs grow on you with each play.  In last year's post, I quickly placed the Ray LaMontagne tag for a RIYL.  That certainly is still the case here for Angus' leads, and now I get a She & Him vibe for Julia's songs, with maybe a touch of a Macy Gray warble. 

If you are a fan of the singer/songwriter genre, you owe these kids a shot at your ears...please!

 
Updated April 20:  So now I feel like a complete idiot (hey, I heard that).  Last night, a friend told me about the SoundHound app and I tried to stump it, knowing this album wasn't out here in the States.  Sure enough, it worked and named the tracks I played to it, BUT it didn't list this album as reference.  It brought up names that sounded familiar...and then it hit me, they were the EP titles I had seen on iTunes.  Well, kiss my ass, I had not done enough research to discover that "Memories..." is a compilation of previously released singles and EP tracks from 2007-2009, before the success of last year.  Sort of makes the above post and story a wasted effort, but instead of deleting it, I'll own up to the lack of knowledge and leave it out there to hang.  I still feel like an idiot, though...





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