31/12/2013

Ellie was running a bit late so Bec, Blake and Adrian decided to start something completely from scratch. Bec had a title (Comfort Junkie) and a rhythm feel she wanted to use, Blake and Adrian each had a chord sequence. Put the three together, throw Ellie in to the mix when she arrives, and here you have it.

08/12/2013

The ABC Jugband - Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)


The ABC Jugband
(featuring Blake, Ellie, Rebecca and Adrian from Telafonica, + Matt from St Jambience, Cory, Costa and Æowyn on tap dancing)
covering The Ramones' christmas song for the compilation
I Saw Three Ships (click to get the free download)

28/10/2013

Sister Zephyr EP



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Released October 28, 2013

Inspired by Australia's awesome community radio networks, Telafonica are having a supporter drive. But, instead of asking for your support via money, we're asking for your e-mail address. This means we can keep you informed about our comings and goings, gigs, new releases etc.

In return, you get a download of our new EP, four tracks (plus a radio edit of one of them) of indie-electronic goodness, clocking in at 35 minutes worth of music.

As well as the regular audio, we've also included some enhanced visual versions of the tracks. These consist of custom artwork and lyrics for each track which appear on the screen of your digital music player as you listen. Think of them as a new media half-way house between video clips and the liner notes on traditional physical releases.

The music on the EP sees a sleeker electronic focus return to the Telafonica sound palette. Inspired by some of the usual suspects – Underworld, LCD Soundsystem, Sufjan Stevens, Ricardo Villalobos – the tracks are all sprawling, growing electronic impulses overlaid with earworm vocal melodies and lyrics exploring the nature of human existence.

Title track, 'Sister Zephyr', has been a live staple for some time now and was originally developed alongside the tracks from Telafonica's 2011 album – Sleeping With The Fishermen. It didn't quite fit with the sonics of the rest of the tracks at the time, however, so the recording was put to the side and returned to this year where it has been given its own life. Written in response to a loved one having a serious brain haemorrhage, it searches for joy and comfort within pain.

'Sister You Have' was largely written by Rebecca as a gift for fellow band member Ellie when the latter announced she would be getting married in late 2012. It's flowing melodies and building harmonies a euphoric celebration.

'Ask Me' is a song snippet embedded in an insistent dancefloor groove, turning itself into abstract contortions as it grows.

And, finally, 'The Thickness Of White' is a leftover instrumental track created by Adrian and Blake back in 2009 which has never found a home to fit elsewhere, even though it was loved enough to be tried out in all Telafonica releases since then. Finally, it has somewhere to sit comfortably and so can now meander moodily to its own heart's content.

17/02/2013

2013 video diary no.4

15.2.13 from Telafonica on Vimeo.

a 4th new track, though it doesn't have a title yet.

02/02/2013

2013 video diary no.3

1.2.13 from Telafonica on Vimeo.

eliza's first song for our new batch. this one's called 'what remains'.

26/01/2013

2013 video diary no. 2

'the shape of what's gone'. ellie was sick so couldn't come around and play. we decided to work on something anyway. originally from the pen of rebecca.

20/01/2013

2013 video diary - no. 1

18.1.13 from Telafonica on Vimeo.

our first meeting for musical purposes since june of 2012 saw the band begin to create new music with a new process. well, an old process but one we've never previously used. writing songs together, sitting in the same room, playing instruments. after much discussion on how to do that, and trying a bunch of things out, we finished with one chorus for a new song started by blake.

10/01/2013

January 2013 - Adrian's Inspiration Mixtape by Adrian Elmer on Mixcloud


A bunch of tracks that I think could be useful for ideas of how to go about making music for our new songs. Many are there because I like the way they combine very disjointed things together to make cohesive music. After thinking about it for a few months, the song that does it best is actually very old - Strawberry Fields Forever. It's so familiar that it often just washes over us now. But listen to it. The lyrics are strange and don't fit. The melody is all over the shop. And the music changes completely every 15 seconds, one sound then another then another, noting ever really staying around for long. Yet it all hangs together as possibly my favourite song of all time. That's what I'd most like to achieve. From there, the rest are kind of variations on that theme, or sounds, rhythms that are odd. Some don't work melodically, but are stunning sonically. I like them all.