27/12/2009

a few nice things...

...to wrap up the year.

firstly, the quest for love aboard the belafonte has been popping up in a few nice places - firstly there's a mix over at polaroids of androids which features the song. it's actually quite a nice mix and we come in over the fade-out of animal collective (speaking of which - blake, have you finished with my merriwhether post pavillion cd yet?).

next, over on lee tran lam's local fidelity blog, jono (of boulet fame) has listed the track as his favourite australian song of 2009. coming from the man who wrote a community service announcement, i think that should be taken as one of the more highly prized compliments we have been paid. on that basis, it was included in the local fidelity best australian songs show last sunday night. peter hollo then followed that up by including time and distance, as well as lesson's in time's how very good this feeling is in his selection of best music of 2009 on utility fog.

the album has officially been longlisted for the australian music prize. i'm not sure how many albums make the longlist. at the very least, though, this means that a bunch of pretty impressive people have to sit down and listen to our album, including a few artists who would be considered to be a bit of an influence. there's also a few other people on there, mostly in radio, who already know us and have played us as well, so it won't be totally in from the cold for all the judges. the shortlist is announced mid february.

which is also how bernard zuel of the sydney morning herald came across the album, he being one of the key judges. we had to send 10 copies in initially, and he is one of the people that listened to that and voted it onto the long list. his review (as previously mentioned) will be in this saturday's sydney morning herald.

24/12/2009

O Come All Ye Faithless



O Come All Ye Faithless is available for free download. click here

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released november 14, 2009
The extended Telafonica family releases its second annual Christmas EP. Featuring the band and its various members' offshoot and side projects, Christmas cheer is attacked from all angles.

Proceedings start with The Bells singing along to a brass band, the lyrics of the classic carol given a more theologically correct twist. Next up Eliza Magill goes for the acapella route in the grand tradition of carolling, only hers is breathtakingly spectacular instead of painfully monochrome. Blake Wassell's Lessons In Time then chimes in with a brand new composition, a stark ballad from the point of view of the shephards. StephenFox breaks his self-imposed silence and telafones in his rendition of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - the recording made with a set of headphones as the microphone. Telafonica itself then rounds out the collection with a version of the Australian Christmas classic The North Wind. Anyone who has been to primary school in Australia in the last 50 years will no doubt remember learning this song from the ABC songbook which celebrates the fact that here we celebrate Christmas as it should be celebrated - protecting yourself from sunburn and bushfire while watching the heat dry up the grass before your eyes.

To see the full download page, click here.

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1. The Bells - O Come All Ye Faithless
2. Eliza Magill - Ding Dong Merrily On High
4. Lessons In Time - Lying Beneath Strong Clouds
5. StephenFox - God Rest Ye Mery Gentlemen
6. Telafonica - Christmas Day (The North Wind)

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23/12/2009

back to our regular program...

bec and i are back from the beach, eliza is back from india and things are ready to go again. blake, if i remember correctly, the belafonte started out as something you put together on boxing day last year, so we are expecting something as momentous again as we head towards that date once again.

bec and i made a 20th track while we were up the coast - didn't turn out too badly considering considerable technical restrictions.

i got an e-mail from bernard zuel today. his review of love on the second stair will be in the sydney morning herald spectrum on january 2. make sure you buy a copy (and let's hope it's a nice review!).

continue with regular transmission...

09/12/2009

miles on music feeds

well, while we're in the vein of using the blog as publicity, miles' photos from the album launch have finally gone live at the music feeds website. They're still the same photos already linked to previously, but they're still incredibly great.

http://musicfeeds.com.au/photos/telafonica-at-mars-hill-cafe-141109/

03/12/2009

3RRR soundscape

3RRR in melbourne have added the album to their weekly soundscape - http://www.rrr.org.au/music/soundscape/ (this week only). some fairly illustrious company there - ranging from jono boulet through to tom waits. :) always interesting to see what people pick to represent the album. RRR have gone with a snippet from cover.