You could call it ambush pop, if you like. Like the proverbial cake with
a file inside, it's camouflaged by a sweet, innocuous facade, but under the
rich strings, mesmerising piano melodies and the occasional flourish of mandolin,
tin whistle or something stranger, My Friend the Chocolate Cake smuggle some
of the most potent themes and sentiments found in contemporary pop. HOME
IMPROVEMENTS is the fifth studio album by the Melbourne acoustic
ensemble since they formed, as a side project to Not Drowning Waving, in
1989. As always, it's an incredible study in contrasts, from sumptuous orchestral
pop songs to fragile ambience; from wild, exotic instrumentals to poignant
and potent Australian stories from the 'burbs and the outback. "They're all
parts of what this band does," shrugs singer-pianist David Bridie. "Sometimes
it really belts, other times it's beautifully layered pop and other times
you can hear a pin drop. We've been doing it for 17 years now. You get to
know yourself after a while. With this album I think we've learned to really
appreciate what we have."
Much of the Cake's mercurial brilliance is evident between the first two
tracks. "Hymn for the Carnies" is a slow, cinematic pan across a summer fairground:
a melancholy melody weaves through the colourful carnival images as if to
reveal the secret hearts of the folks who keep the Ferris wheel turning.
"Home Improvements" is another skilled sketch of modern day ambivalence.
Its universal daydream of escape recalls the band's hit of '94, "I've Got
A Plan", but its dancing pizzicato and huge, cascading, car radio chorus
disguise a howl of exasperation from the treadmill of consumer culture.
Then there's the unabashed indulgence of "She Dreams All Different Colours",
a stage-trashing rocker in the tradition of "Throwing It Away"; and "Pentecostal
Girl", a comical childhood romance moulded into some of the sweetest pop
in the Cake repertoire. "It's a great band for pop songs," says David. "It's
great having the strings and we got into backing vocals in a big way this
time. We wanted to really complete the songs, which we haven't always given
ourselves the time to do. We weren't over finicky but we made sure every
song was fully realised." That said, "We're not afraid to keep it sparse
either, to let the texture of the strings come through, let a piano note
ring out, or let a vocal phrase linger." Hence the huge, empty atmospheres
of "5 Sisters" and "The Weather Coast", two songs of place so evocative you
can almost catch the crickets and touch the fog. "The Weather Coast is a
real place, in the Solomon Islands, south of Honiara," David says. "It's
a phenomenal place, dark clouds, 80 per cent rainfall to sunshine, black
volcanic sand, really dense jungle. It's a really cool groove to play. That's
Greg's forte. Dean sets it up, too."
Double bassist Dean Addison is the new kid in the band, relatively speaking.
Drummer Greg Patten joined in '94; cellist Helen Mountfort, violinist Hope
Csutoros, guitarist Andrew Richardson and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Carswell
have been part of the Cake's wide spectrum of instrumental colours from the
outset. Together they effortlessly fine-tune the familiar ache of David's
journalistic social sketches - "This Life Tonight", "Seek", "Let's Go Walk
This Town"; the rhythmic global invocations of Helen's "Athletes of Persia";
and the resonant, filmic ambience of the closing instrumental, "Malaise".
And still there's new ground to break, from the hell-for-leather swamp rock
of Hope's dramatic "Opus Lagavulin" to the island string band romp of "J
Patap", a song borrowed, story, style and energy, from the Junior Devil String
Band of Rabaul, Papua New Guinea. "I'm really happy with the way the record
works in terms of the moods it creates," says David. "For me as a lyricist,
it's the best band you could hope to write for cause the instrumentation
and personalities are so strong. The weighty side of Chocolate Cake has always
been prominent in what we do but ultimately, these songs are a hell of a
lot of fun to play."
MFTCC Timeline
1989 Band forms for casual Sunday night residency in
Melbourne.
1991 Debut album, My Friend the Chocolate Cake, accredited Gold.
1994 Brood album spawns radio staple, "I've Got a Plan", wins ARIA for Best
Adult Contemporary Album.
1996 Good Luck album wins second Best Adult Contemporary ARIA.
1998 Live at The National Theatre CD.
1999 19 Easy Pieces: a selection of film works, B-sides and oddments.
2002 Fourth studio album, Curious.
2004 Parade: The Best of My Friend The Chocolate Cake, includes three new
songs.
2005 All seven albums re-issued by Liberation.
2007 Home Improvements released through Liberation.
My name's James from a little Folk band on the Mornington Peninsula. If you could check out our stuff that would be fantastic. We would love to get in contact with you guys.
Hi My Friend the Chocolate Cake, thanks for accepting my friend request. I appreciate the opportunity to introduce You to the music of ALIEN SKIN.
The ATMOSPHERE continues on the debut album DON’T OPEN TILL DOOMSDAY. You may easily listen to it on the Alien Skin website www.alienskinmusic.com/listen
Get PROMOTIONAL songs including: The Unquiet Grave, After the Funeral & Burning In My Hands FREE from my BabyFace widget on my Profile!
Been listening to you guys for over 15 years and am so happy you're still going! One of the greatest most underrated Australian bands ever! Hope to see you around for years to come...thanks for being our MySpace buddy! Cheers :)
Ahh thanking you for the add guys! Love your sounds! Only wishing I could add 'My friend the chocolate cake' or 'The black dog follows'; because these are clearly obviously certainly not my faves ;] Thanks for sharing your great music with us again =] ♡ & ☮
Kurosawa's debut album, 'Your Star Has Fallen Over' is now available from CD Baby as a digital download! Kurosawa is a musical collaboration between Paul Cartwright, Adam Spellicy and Karen Vogt. The result is a graceful collision of soaring, ethereal vocals and lushly atmospheric, infectiously melodic acoustic and electronic sounds.
Visit cdbaby.com/cd/kurosawa - you can listen to all 14 tracks before you buy.
Hi. Just letting you know I'm back in the studio recording the next two albums. Details about them are on the the Max X Blogs: feed://blog.myspace.com/blog/rss.cfm?friendID=165184859
Things have been going great! With the help of some internet radio play and webzine write ups, the site has reach 10,000 fans! Yay! Even got some independent filmakers interested in using some Max X music in their movies. So time to buckle down and start pumping out some more. Thanks to everyone supporting the music, downloading and buying CDs! It's all enabling me teach a little less tennis and get back in the studio again to get some more of it out there.
I'll let you know when I start posting songs off the new albums. Shooting to release at the beginning of the new year. Hope you're well.
- Max X
New banners on the site!
Anyone looking to download songs or order the CD, please Cut and paste these links into your browser:
iTunes
http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vcGhvYm9zLmFwcGxlLmNvbS9XZWJPYmplY3RzL01aU3RvcmUud29hL3dhL3ZpZXdBbGJ1bT9wbGF5TGlzdElkPTI1NjQwOTY2OA==
or Hard copy CD
http://cdbaby.com/cd/maxxsounds
Hey Guys,thanks for adding me. I've been a fan since your first album which I bought at Port Fairy after being thrilled listening to your stuff.Thanks for the great musi,keep it up
