NEWS
June: NGV - Art After Dark - Napoleon: Revolution to Empire
We will be playing in trio mode as part of the National Gallery of Victoria's Art After Dark Series, on Wednesday nights in June, for the Winter Masterpieces exhibition - Napoleon: Revolution to Empire.
"Performing material from their recent album 'Loom' and debut release 'Graphite & Diamonds', The Orbweavers' performance will be interwoven with new songs and references to the decorative arts featured in Napoleon: Revolution to Empire, tracing connections between material culture, and contemporary life, through stories and song"
Wednesday 6, 13, 20, 27 June and 3 October 2012 - Free 5 - 9 PM.
Federation Court, NGV International, 180 St Kilda Road
Finders Keepers Market - Saturday 21 April
We will be playing a trio show in the World Heritage listed Royal Exhibition Building for the annual Finders Keepers indie design and art market in the Carlton Gardens. More details below - lots of bands and a vast array of art and design stalls.
More than 130 years ago, during the heady days of world fairs, the Royal Exhibition Building was constructed for an enduring role in Melbourne's life and landscape: to display, showcase and promote Victorian products - from the latest in scientific and industrial developments, to fine and decorative arts, and even mineral and botanical samples. The Royal Exhibition Building is the last standing hall of its kind in the world, and there cannot be more beautiful or appropriate location for the 2012 Finders Keepers market.
You might find us under one of the 1901 lunette murals.
Caravan Music Club - 20 April
Upcoming shows - Feb - April
We have the following shows coming up for the summer-autumn:
Saturday 25th February - Applecore Backyard Festival Thornbury (sold out)
Sunday 4th March - Goodbye Summer - National Gallery of Victoria Sculpture Garden with JVG Radio Method + Geoffrey O'Connor + Teeth & Tongue + Triple R DJs - FREE
Thursday 8th March - JVG Stopping All Stations Except East Richmond - Carnival of Suburbia opening night at the Caravan Music Club, with lots of very excellent bands.
Encore Matinee - NSC - Sunday 12th February
We are very happy to announce an encore matinee show at Northcote Social Club in 2012:
"Following a sold-out launch, Triple R Album of the week, and Melbourne Music Week appearances, The Orbweavers return to NSC for an encore matinee show. Their latest album ‘Loom’ has warmed many hearts with evocative songs of local creeks, quarries, the yearnings of a bridled greyhound, volcanoes and sewerage pumping stations."
Tickets on sale Monday 12 December:
Supporting Cass McCombs at The Corner Hotel Friday 17 February
Mistletone proudly presents Cass McCombs and his band for the first time in Australia, performing at The Corner on Friday February 17 with special guests The Orbweavers + Wintercoats. Tickets on sale now from The Corner box office.
Folk balladeer without peer, Cass McCombs is a true craftsman of lyrical storytelling. His songs are poetic and haunting, whimsical and playful, and offer a rare, tangible experience of the bittersweet. Prepare for an inspiring evening in the company of one of America’s most formidable contemporary songwriters.
The Orbweavers + Sailor Days - Meeniyan Hall Sat 14th January
We are thrilled to announce a special summer regional Victorian show with Sailor Days at the beautiful Meeniyan Hall Gippsland, on Saturday 14th January 2012.
Stay tuned for further details.
http://www.lyrebirdartscouncil.com.au
Meeniyan Hall
Whitelaw St
Meeniyan, VIC 3956
(03) 5664 9239
Sailor Days
http://sailorday.bandcamp.com/album/sailor-days
About Meeniyan Hall:
"The old Mechanics Institute hall in Meeniyan, a South Gippsland town with a population barely touching on 500 people, has always been popular with music lovers. Built in the late 1930s, Meeniyan hall was a Saturday night dance hall favourite in the region right from its early days. As the years turned the style of music - and dances - changed, but the crowds always came. In the 1960s it drew big crowds for rock 'n' roll bands, with punters travelling from Wonthaggi, the Latrobe Valley and the eastern outskirts of Melbourne.
In the past decade Meeniyan hall has enjoyed a new renaissance, with high-calibre performers from Australia, and visiting overseas artists, making it a point of call on national tours.
...The room's wood panelled walls are an original feature from the 1930s and are hung with photographs of debutante balls, brass band performances and town gatherings - events which have graced the hall's wooden floor boards in days past."
December Shows
Friday 2 December - Cherry Bar, ACDC Lane, Melbourne City, 8 pm
Supporting the both iconic and brilliant Ron S Peno & The Superstitions
The Superstitions feature the marvellous Cam Butler on guitar, Andy Papadopoulos on bass, Tim Deane on keys and Mark Dawson on drums.
Saturday 17th - Gasometer Hotel - 48 Smith Street Collingwood, 8 pm
Supporting the wonderful Frank Fairfield (USA) on one of his Meredith Festival sideshows. Also appearing on the night will be our dear friends Khancoban.
RRR Album of the Week
Our new album "Loom" is Melbourne Radio Station - Three Triple R - Album of the Week.
"Loom" - Music Video, Directed by Noko Washiyama
Film Clip Directed by Noko Washiyama to the song "Loom" by The Orbweavers from their second album "Loom". Turn the lights off and get some popcorn.
Loom - Launch 30th October
Our new album - "Loom". Launching Sunday 30th October at Northcote Social Club MATINEE. From 2 PM with The Townhouses - who are really lovely.
New Album "Loom" - Launch Sunday 30 Oct
The Orbweavers launch their eagerly awaited new album "Loom" at Northcote Social Club on Sunday 30 October. This will be a matinee show, with doors opening at 2pm and support from The Townhouses.
Songs from "Loom" (out October 28 on Mistletone) have already found a special place in Melbournians' hearts, thanks to Triple R and PBS who have devoted much airplay the gorgeous double A-side single Japanese Mountains/Spotswood -- a tribute to Japanese volcanoes and the historic Spotswood Sewerage Pumping Station -- and new single You Can Run (Fern's Theme), an ode to the yearnings of a bridled greyhound.
"Loom" was recorded throughout the Melbourne winter in Marita Dyson and Stuart Flanagan's home near Merri Creek, and is an evocative collection of 11 dark-tinged folk songs travelling through creeks, over quarries, under dangerous needlework, past bell birds and bridges, on a rising tide out to sea.
Tickets are expected to sell out, so act quickly!
Purchase online here
“The Moon rises at the end of our street, over the Merri Creek. Most nights we walk with Fern, a retired racing greyhound, down towards the water, which follows an 800,000 year old lava flow – still visible as large swathes of basalt along the bank. Melbourne is threaded with waterways heading south towards the sea. Over the years streams, floodplains and even a saltwater blue lake in North Melbourne have been filled and realigned to expedite industrialisation of the city. The land itself still holds a memory, and during a wet season, water finds its old way home.
“By the late 1800s the Merri Creek and surrounds had been overtaken by bluestone quarries and clay pits for brick making. Later, after World War I, knitting mills and textile factories rose in the narrow streets. Most of these early industries have now gone, but remnants are visible: stone footings, chimneys and saw-tooth rooves to catch the light. The past is not completely erased – garment factories still hum in the backstreets; the clay soil cracks in summer and clings in winter. Casurarinas have been replanted along the creek bank, over long filled quarry holes, their fallen needles are a muted bed for our feet. These are some of the stories we were thinking about during the writing and recording of Loom.”
The Orbweavers are Marita Dyson on vocals, guitar and violin, Stuart Flanagan on vocals and guitar, Daniel Aulsebrook on trumpet, Paddy Mann (Grand Salvo) on bass, Jen Sholakis (Laura Jean, Sailor Days) on drums and Stuart Lindsay on koto and organ when he is in town.
PRAISE FOR THE ORBWEAVERS:
“A particularly special Melbourne band …Graphite & Diamonds (is a) wonderful post-rock digital/acoustic masterwork, deep and dangerous, but also small and lovely” – THE AGE MELBOURNE MAGAZINE
“If Alice in Wonderland were ever to be filmed in the desert against a modern backdrop, then the soundtrack really ought to sound like this. File under ‘sublime and rewarding’” – TERRASCOPE UK
“Everything about The Orbweavers is effortlessly charming.” – BROADSHEET
“If you have a yearning to plunge into some intense daydreaming, you should definitely have a soundtrack to achieve this to… Atmospheric and spooky, if this album was a thing, it would be a ladybeetle with long eyelashes, knitting a shawl of silver and gold.” - PBS FM
“The Orbweavers have a delicate and subtle sound. I was drifting unfocused through the milky sweetness of Japanese Mountains until Marita Dyson started singing in Japanese and suddenly thought, “Wow, this is lovely.” The muffled horn in Spotswood has a similar effect – it pulls your attention; a glimmering focal point in the gentle waves of the melody. Beautiful” – BEAT MAGAZINE, SINGLE OF THE WEEK
“Shimmering music that is dark, but only in the sense that darkness can sometimes be comforting… an evocative album of ‘creepers’ – songs that slowly but surely wind their way into your consciousness. Take a 2am drive with the likes of Periods Of Light & Rock on the stereo and just try feeling like don’t you own the night!” – RAVE MAGAZINE
Supporting Tiny Ruins - Sydney, 27 November
We are thrilled to be supporting the very wonderful Tiny Ruins, from New Zealand, at a special Sydney show at the Red Rattler on Sunday 27th November. Tickets are here.
"Tiny Ruins had been quietly going about her business in New Zealand for some time, building a reputation for her intimate and beautiful live performances. Since the release of her debut album in July though, that is certainly changing.
Said the New Zealand Herald, “From time to time an album comes along that stops you in your tracks and demands you to listen. Tiny Ruins’ Some Were Meant For Sea is one such record”. Australian press were also smitten with triple j magazine writing, "Kiwi captures attention and hearts" and Mess & Noise noting, "the songs sway and heave with warmth and approachability"."
Melbourne Music Week Showcase - St Michael's Church
We are really looking forward to playing at this show on 25 November:
"Mistletone has a very special showcase planned for Melbourne Music Week’s Labels Live, a series of concerts curated by different independent Melbourne-based music labels.
The Mistletone-curated concert will be a unique and immersive experience, headlined by London-based HTRK, returning to their hometown of Melbourne for the first time in over five years with their much anticipated new album, Work (work, work), plusBeaches, The Orbweavers, Montero & Wintercoats, all in the beautiful, ethereal surrounds of St Michael’s Uniting Church (corner Collins & Russell Sts, Melbourne).
More soon!"
Supporting Frank Fairfield (US)
We will be supporting Frank Fairfield (US) - who is amazing! Along with our dear friends Khancoban.
17 December 2011 - at Gasometer Hotel, tickets here
"Frank Fairfield is a one-man tour de force, a twenty-five year old Californian multi-instrumentalist (vocals, banjo, fiddle, guitar) dynamo who is resolutely circumventing and re-writing the rules for the folk/”popular” song tradition for the present age.
A torchbearer for the misunderstood or under-appreciated songs of yesteryear and with an intrinsically linked work ethic of dedication and understatement, Frank is sustaining and rehabilitating this tradition through his powerful and emotional voice, and through his musicianship - his performances on banjo, fiddle and guitar are technically proficient without being showy; somehow simultaneously played with an ease that tacitly encourages the collaboration and continuation of these songs for the centuries to come."
New song - "You Can Run"
We have a new song out called You Can Run - from our forthcoming album Loom which will be released on Mistletone on 28 October 2011. The song is about our greyhound Fern.
You Can Run is on Mistletone's Soundcloud
High Noon Festival
We will be playing at Nortcote High Noon Festival on Sunday 18 September.
We'll be on at the Northcote Social Club!
More details here
New Album "Loom"
Our new album is nearly, nearly finished. We are going to the Merri Creek every day.
Mistletone Released Series Show
The Workers Club - corner Brunswick & Gertrude Sts, Fitzroy
Wednesday, August 17 · 8:00pm - 11:30pm
"Mistletone is proud to take our turn in the Workers Club "Released Series" indie labels showcase series with a lineup of the latest additions to the Mistletone family - Montero, The Orbweavers, Wintercoats + special guest DJ Rose Quartz.
Tickets $10 at the door. Every payer gets a three-pack of Mistletone CDs, and there will be acres of ludicrously discounted Mistletone back catalogue gems on the merch table."
Thanks to Bjenny Montero for the amazing and awesome artwork!
Winter Shows in July & August
We will be supporting some special winter launch shows in July and August -details below.
We'll be also be interweaving new songs from our forthcoming album Loom into the sets - songs about creeks & quarries, dangerous needlework, basalt foundations, rising tide and greyhounds...
Sunday 24th July - Toff in Town, supporting Tiny Ruins (NZ) + Emily Ulman, $12, 7.30 pm
"Tiny Ruins are coming to Melbourne, playing a show at The Toff to launch their album Some Were Meant for the Sea. The album, which will be released in Australia July 1, was recorded late last year in the wilderness of South Gippsland. Tiny Ruins is Hollie Fullbrook, a New Zealand musician and songwriter, who started out writing music for theatre productions in Wellington. After dabbling in four-track recording and live music and poetry nights, the project of Tiny Ruins was born, and today has supported names such as Joanna Newsom and Beach House on Australian tours. Vocally, Tiny Ruins is in the same boat as some of the songstresses that she has supported. Special guests Orbweavers and Emily Ulman will support."
Thursday 18th August - Toff in Town, supporting Khancoban "Arches over the Sun" Album Launch, + Ildiko, $12, 7.30 pm
"Unique and intriguing local outfit khancoban make gorgeously slow burn records treading the underrepresented line between a kind of folk beauty and the excitement of out-and-out rock 'n' roll noise. They've been compared to Arcade Fire, Wilco and Augie March, which is correct as far as those sorts of things are concerned but doesn't go nearly far enough in telling the full story of the complexity and inherent value in this amazing band.
khancoban's new album ""Arches Over The Sun"" is out August 12 2011 through Departed Sounds. It has been produced by Nick Huggins (Mick Turner, Kid Sam, Oscar and Martin) and mastered by Casey Rice (Dirty Three, Tortoise) and should serve as a timely reminder that this is a group that deserves our full attention."
The Parlour - Resurrection Friday 3 June
We will be playing at the The Parlour Launch Party this Friday 3 June.
"Passionately producing projects of amazing and admiral aptitude, coupled with the (slightly morbid) joy of working out of an ex-funeral parlour, ten artists and creative professionals open their arms and hearts on a winter’s eve to present their studios, their work and launch this baby.
The Parlour was a disused funeral complex in Preston, and then we took it over. We have reinvented The Parlour as an activity centre for creative professionals & cultural events. The site is a step north of the Bell Street, on the 86 tram & 5 minutes from The Preston Market"
5 - 9 pm
The Parlour
340 Plenty Road Preston
Melbourne VIC 3072
Two May Shows for Autumn
We have two Melbourne May shows before we retreat again to finish the last stretch of recording for our forthcoming second album Loom:
Friday 13th May - opening for The Killjoys (Single Launch) + Charles Jenkins at Northcote Social Club.
The Killjoys won the ARIA Best Independent Release award for their debut album Ruby. The album launched the band on a distinguished career and cemented their place as favourites of the indie pop scene
Sunday 15th May - supporting Single Twin album Launch at The Toff in Town:
Melbourne musician Marcus Teague releases his long awaited debut solo LP under the Single Twin moniker. Tales of pizza lights, flooded carparks and failed archery within. Comes with band.
Best autumn wishes to everyone.
Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Benefit at Yah Yah's Sunday 3 April
We will be playing at an all day benefit show at Yah Yah's on Sunday 3rd April - heaps of bands and a market, to help raise funds for Japan's recovery after the earthquake and tsunami.
JVG's Stopping All Stations Except East Richmond - Saturday 19th March
We'll be stopping at Spotswood (metaphorically Werribee/Williamstown line via Oakleigh), lots of great bands - come down to the Oakleigh /Carnegie RSL, which has recently removed its poker machines to develop a social music culture. It has a "http://www.caravanmusic.com.au/gigs/jvgs-stopping-all-stations-except-east-richmond/">lovely old hall that opens out on to a terrific beer garden". Just lovely.
February Shows...
We have two shows coming up in February before we take a short break to finish up our forthcoming second album Loom.
Details are on our facebook page
Saturday 19th February - Sustainable Living Festival Federation Square - Zero Carbon Event with Dick Diver, Alexander Gow (Oh Mercy) and Acequia - free! Starts at 4 pm. It will be pedal powered!
Sunday 20th February - supporting the fabulous Teeth & Tongue February residency(they have a new record coming out very soon). Also appearing will be our dear friends Laura Jean - at the Grace Darling in Collingwood, from 6.30 pm.
Film clip: Japanese Mountains by Noko Washiyama
Directed by: Noko Washiyama
Supporting BEACH HOUSE (USA) Hi - Fi Bar
We are thrilled to be supporting one of our favourite bands - BEACH HOUSE!
MELBOURNE: Mistletone, Triple R + Inpress present Beach House @ The Hi-Fi, Tuesday Jan 25 * SELLING FAST!
+ special guests The Orbweavers + Wintercoats.
Tickets on sale now from the venue.
Saturday Afternoon December Residency at Edinburgh Castle - Brunswick
The Orbweavers reveal newly woven songs from their forthcoming album "Loom", including their ode to the western suburbs "Spotswood", amongst older tunes dating from their 2009 debut "Graphite & Diamonds" era.
Free - in the front bar of the elegantly wood panelled Edinburgh Castle Hotel, from 5 - 7 pm , on the first three Saturdays of December:
4th, 11th and 18th
Sean Simmons (The Spoils) intimate solo show + The Orbweavers Duo - Sunday 17 Oct at Yah Yah's
While The Spoils remain on hiatus, singer Sean Simmons slips out of hibernation for an intimate solo show performing songs from The Spoils back catalogue as well as a taste of whets to come before the band returns to Europe for the fourth time in mid 2011. Sean will be joined by guests, The Orbweavers who have just released the double A-side single, Japanese Mountains/SpotswoodDoors 7pm. Free Entry
Japanese Mountains / Spotswood Single Launch - Sunday 26 September - Matinee
The Orbweavers have a new double single: Japanese Mountains / Spotswood. New dreamy songs about mysterious places beyond the Westgate, and volcanoes.
Sunday matinee launch at NSC, joined by the epic doom-psychedelia of Angel Eyes. Limited edition illustrated single complimentary with entry, it also has an extra song about silk moths.
Doors open 2pm, $10. All finished by 5 pm.
The Orbweavers (duo) supporting BigStrongBrute + Carry Nation (brisbane), at the Workers Club
Saturday 4 September, from 8 pm.
The Orbweavers play a duo opening slot for these two really beautiful Brisbane bands.
BIGSTRONGBRUTE, the alter ego of Brisbane musician Paul Donoughue, began four years ago. There are still solo shows, but more often Paul is joined on stage by a revolving cast of musicians – everything from a single trumpet player to a seven-piece band. Over time, BIGSTRONGBRUTE has shared stages (and backyards, hallways and abandoned construction sites) in Australia and New York with Jens Lekman (Sweden), Tiny Vipers (US), Mt Eerie (US), Songs, Dent May (US), Alex & The Ramps and I Heart Hiroshima. In support of a new record, ‘We Can Sleep Under Trees In The Morning’, a five-piece version of BIGSTRONGBRUTE will tour the east coast with Melbourne singer Carry Nation. They will play together and share a backing band.
Dan Aulsebrook - our Masterchef!
For those of you up with the gourmet news, you may have recently seen Daniel Aulsebrook, trumpeter of The Orbweavers, on the TV! Dan has been a contestant on Masterchef Australia the last few months. It has been very exciting for the rest of the band, watching him cook up a mean tagine and fillet salmon with exacting precision. Congratulations Dan!
The Orbweavers show in Tokyo - 10 May
We are off on a soujourn to Japan, playing one show in Tokyo to launch our new single Japanese Mountains /Spotswood from our forthcoming second album, at Shibuya O-Nest on 10 May: Easel New Word Vol.4 .
10 May 2010. Email us if you will be in Tokyo then.
More details of the single launch in Melbourne when we get back.
Golden Age of Piracy - 3RRR Wed 7 April 10 PM
We will be guests on Tristen Harris' show 'Golden Age of Piracy' on Melbourne Radio 3RRR, this Wednesday, playing our 'formative five' - music that most influenced our songwriting.
Supporting Oliver Mann & Gemma Ray (UK) 14 April at Northcote Social Club
We are opening support for Gemma Ray (UK) and Oliver Mann at NSC on Wednesday 14 April. This is our last show before we go to Japan.
Supporting SIngle Twin: Toff in Town, 18 Feb
Single Twin - Marcus Teague. Beautiful songs. We are excited.
“Teague’s work – whether with his band Deloris or with his more stark and tender solo guise – is often marked by something lost, something just out of the frame, which his songs somehow manage to capture in their frozen tableaux.” - Mess+Noise. ( link: http://www.myspace.com/singletwin )
APPLECORE
Come and hang out at Applecore with The Orbweavers. It will be a great day to sit in the shade and relax while listening to tunes in a unique domestic setting.
Bands performing are Crow, Dave McCormack & The Polaroids, Alphabet Head, Grace Before Meals, Teeth & Tongue, The Brunswick All Girls Choir, The Rebelles and recently announced Ned Collette and also Denim Owl
Faux Pas - new single 'Silver Line' featuring samples from 'Diving Bell'
Breaking news:
Faux Pas, aka Tim Shiel, has made a beautiful, dreamy, very dance-lovely single called 'Silver Line' based around samples from our song 'Diving Bell'. You can hear it and buy it as a special single bundle with remixes by Kharkov, Kane Ilkin (of Solo Andata) and Loopsnake, and an alternative version, here
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The Orbweavers supporting Penny Ikinger EP Launch
ROSS McLENNAN & THE NEW WORLD SYMPATHIQUE with royalchord and The Orbweavers
The Orbweavers are thrilled to be supporting singer, songwriter, home recording artiste extraordinaire Ross McLennan for his final show for 2009 with his brilliant ensemble, the New World Sympathique on Sunday, 8 November at Northcote Social Club.
This will be a matinee show; doors open 1.30pm… then The Orbweavers on at 2pm, royalchord at 3pm and at 4pm, Ross and his superbly talented mini orchestra take the stage to bring the songs from Sympathy For the New World — and some new unheard gems — to vivid multi-instrumental life.
Tickets are $12 + booking fee and are on sale now via the NSC box office (phone 94861677), in person via Corner Box Office at 57 Swan Street, Richmond or online.
Live Review - Luluc, Tiny Vipers, The Orbweavers, Thornbury Theatre October 2009
Having just returned from a successful series of shows in America and Canada, it is clear that Luluc’s undeniable talent is, at last, gaining recognition. On stage, they exhibit all the signs of a band who have spent many years deliberating over, practising and perfecting their songs together. Playing before an adoring audience at the Thornbury Theatre, Luluc headlined a warm and intimate evening’s entertainment. Locals The Orbweavers were first up on an impressive three-act bill. Marita Dyson and Stuart Flanagan strummed their way through a gentle and often dark set of folk songs; Dyson’s vocals on Pins and Hummingwire close to those of Julia Stone. It was all going well enough but when the band requested trumpeter Dan Aulesbrook, who had been sitting amongst the audience, join then on stage; things really picked up. Auelsbrook’s slow and almost mournful notes were perfectly synchronised with Flanagan’s guitar, serving to really enhance their final two songs. It is bands such as The Orbweavers, playing a mere second-support to a like-minded Melbournian act, which serve to highlight the current rich state of the city’s folk-scene. If The Orbweavers were dark-folk, the aching melancholy of Tiny Vipers(Seattleite Jesy Fortino) was pitch-black. The critical success of Fortino’s first two albums has clearly done nothing to ease her well-documented stage unease. Fortino barely looked up, barely even stopped during her whole set. She appeared uncomfortable and seemed almost out of place in the Thornbury Theatre’s warm surrounds. And yet, she delivered a thoughtful, challenging and ultimately rewarding performance; best exemplified in the searching ten minute title-track from her most recent album, Life On Earth. A “thanks” was mumbled to mark the end of her set, but it was met with warm and richly deserved applause. Having taken to the stage and spent a few moments self-consciously fiddling and adjusting, Luluc opened their set with warm, drifting harmonies on The Wealthiest Queen. A lot of smiling and several call-outs from the seated audience suggested they were amongst friends. Steve Hassett’s clean, uncomplicated guitar next carried Body on the Water, a song perhaps more upbeat in composition than subject matter. Wearing a leather jacket donated by Lucinda Williams (just one of many high-profile admirers Luluc have picked up in the last 12 months), Zöe Randall was as charming and affable as always. Her impressive vocal range was quickly evident on Black Umbrella, underlining her place as one of this country’s finest folk voices. Often referred to as a two-piece, Randall and Hassett have, however, been accompanied by double-bassist Pete Cohen in every performance I’ve seen of theirs and it was he who drove crowd favourite Little Suitcase. His value to Luluc is clearly recognised by the band’s founding members and Randall made clear that, could they afford to pay him, he would travel to play at all of their shows. The minor reverb that had plagued several of Luluc’s early songs disappeared as they began the beautifully simplistic Warm One; a song Hassett admitted they didn’t normally play due to the amount of times they’d been asked to perform it at funerals. Having earlier made reference to her “punk roots”, it was fitting that Luluc’s one cover for the evening was of a band Randall says was crucial to her survival growing up in country Victoria; The Clash. Strange as it was to here the normally modest lead singer speak of bar fights and pissing on everyone, her reworking of Stay Free felt natural and entirely appropriate. Having played the second of two new and unnamed songs and built up hope in the audience of a forthcoming album, Randal and Hassett divulged that, come February, they would be leaving Australia for “2-3 years”. A discernible groan suggested that this was not a popular announcement. A very Luluc attempt at an encore saw the band flirt with leaving the stage, before Randall turned around and delivered a solo rendition of My Midnight Special. With Cohen now enjoying a beer in the audience, it was left to Hassett to rejoin Randall on stage for their final song of the evening; a lush tribute to Gillian Welch simply titled Gillian. Looking around the Thornbury Theatre, it was clear that Luluc already hold a special place in many hearts. There is a deep-lying emotion in Randall’s song writing; at times conveying great vulnerability and sadness and at others, great power, strength and hope. It is sad to think that they will shortly be leaving our shores for some time. The consolation for their growing fan base is the knowledge that Luluc will undoubtedly be around for a while yet. Review by Jeremy SC, 12 October 2009 http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/gallery/12640/photo/681453/Luluc.htm
Live to air on JOY 94.9FM
The Orbweavers will be playing on Joy 94.9 FM and having a little chat on Local and Vocal Sunday 11 October at around 12:45pm.
Rave Magazine review of Graphite & Diamonds
Rave Magazine - Brisbane Street Press, 15 September 2009
"Atmospheric folk tunes from Melbourne five-piece.
Moody atmospheric indie-folk is the essence of The Orbweavers - you can almost tell before you hear a note, from the artsty-craftsy cardboard sleeve to a browse through the lyric booklet, where My Needle refers to "a matchbox full of needles for a gramophone player" instead of an explicit account of drug abuse (though the description of "medicine charms" points to a darker side as well). Throughout debut album Graphite & Diamonds, the group create shimmering music that is dark, but only in the sense that darkness can sometimes be comforting. There's an intriguing detachment to Marita Dyson's voice, like a more disembodied Hope Sandoval, as melancholic trumpet, sliding, twanging guitars and woody acoustic instrumentation combine to create an evocative album of ‘creepers' - songs that slowly but surely wind their way into your consciousness. Take a 2am drive with the likes of Periods Of Light & Rock on the stereo and just try feeling like don't you own the night!"
MATT THROWER
Graphite & Diamonds review on terrascope
Online UK music publication Terrascope has published a review of Graphite & Diamonds.
"Australia's Orbweavers are a five-piece who have been described as playing folk-noir or alt-country music. However neither label quite does justice to a finely crafted, dreamy and atmospheric album in which Marita Dyson and Stuart Flanagan's vocals are ably supplemented by crisp, often low key arrangements of acoustic and electric guitars, augmented by bass, trumpet and violin and, albeit sparingly, drums.
The ethereal feel of this impressive debut is mostly propelled by Dyson's breathy, echo-enhanced vocals, which lends a hugely evocative feel to proceedings. The tracks on which Flanagan sings tend on the whole to be a bit more straight-ahead but are no less enjoyable. The Orbweavers draw on a variety of musical styles with strains of light jazz and mariarchi mixing with the acid-folk and alt-country influences to heady effect. Such influences are used so intelligently, however, that they lend the album an identity all of its own.
Standout tracks include the openers "Vitus" and "My Needle" and the Flanagan voiced "Met Her on My Way Home" and "Fairy Tales" but you could just as easily pick four other tracks that are just as good, which underlines the strength of "Graphite and Diamonds". Such is the narcotic effect of this fine album you occasionally wonder whether you might nod out or fancy something different, but there is more than enough quality here to keep the listener mesmerised and wanting more. If Alice in Wonderland were ever to be filmed in the desert against a modern backdrop, then the soundtrack really ought to sound like this.
File under "sublime and rewarding." (Ian Fraser)"
Spring Sunday Shows
The Orbweavers will be playing a suite of quiet Sunday shows across Melbourne's north over the coming Spring months, with some by lovely musicians. We can drink wine, and stave off the sunday blues for a short while... the nights won't be late. Details are in our events page.
The Spoils Album Launch
The Orbweavers are lucky enough to be asked to help The Spoils kick off their new album The Crook the Cloak and the Maiden at the Toff in Town on the 5th of September. Event details here.
The Orbweavers Live @ NGV with Shaun Tan
The Orbweavers will be playing live at the NGV Australia Ian Potter Centre Federation Square following a talk by Shaun Tan, beautiful and dreamy australian children's book author / illustrator.
Thursday 6 August 2009, 6.00 PM
Entry is Free
Debut Album Released
Graphite & Diamonds is a collection of 11 dark and dulcet songs straight from the derelict knitting mills of Brunswick. There you will find a world of chiming pins and needle guitar, haunted violin, runaway vines, mystery, and fittingly, in this international year of astronomy 2009, the Moon.
June: NGV - Art After Dark - Napoleon: Revolution to Empire
We will be playing in trio mode as part of the National Gallery of Victoria's Art After Dark Series, on Wednesday nights in June, for the Winter Masterpieces Napoleon: Revolution to Empire exhibition.
"Performing material from their recent album Loom and debut release Graphite & Diamonds, The Orbweavers' performance will be interwoven with new songs and references to the decorative arts featured in Napoleon: Revolution to Empire, tracing connections between visual and material culture, and contemporary life, through stories and song"
Wednesday 6, 13, 20, 27 June and 3 October 2012 - Free 5 - 9 PM.
Federation Court, NGV International, 180 St Kilda Road
BIOGRAPHY
Photograph by: Daniel Aulsebrook and Heather Lighton
Loom by The Orbweavers will be released on 28 October by Mistletone Records / Inertia.
“The Moon rises at the end of our street, over the Merri Creek. Most nights we walk with Fern, a retired racing greyhound, down towards the water, which follows an 800,000 year old lava flow – still visible as large swathes of basalt along the bank. Melbourne is threaded with waterways heading south towards the sea. Over the years streams, floodplains and even a saltwater blue lake in North Melbourne have been filled and realigned to expedite industrialisation of the city. The land itself still holds a memory, and during a wet season, water finds its old way home.
“By the late 1800s the Merri Creek and surrounds had been overtaken by bluestone quarries and clay pits for brick making. Later, after World War I, knitting mills and textile factories rose in the narrow streets. Most of these early industries have now gone, but remnants are visible: stone footings, chimneys and saw-tooth rooves to catch the light. The past is not completely erased – garment factories still hum in the backstreets; the clay soil cracks in summer and clings in winter. Casurarinas have been replanted along the creek bank, over long filled quarry holes, their fallen needles are a muted bed for our feet. These are some of the stories we were thinking about during the writing and recording of Loom.”
Marita Dyson and Stuart Flanagan formed The Orbweavers in 2006, drawing on a love of history, natural sciences, museums and archives. 2009 saw the release of their debut album Graphite & Diamonds, a dark and dulcet collection of songs straight from the abandoned knitting mills of Brunswick: chiming pins and needle electric guitar, haunted violin, and the Moon. The albumʼs closing track Diving Bell, went on to become the basis of balearic electro-dream composer Faux Pasʼ single Silver Line.
After a brief tour of Japan in 2010, Marita & Stuart began work on The Orbweaversʼ second album Loom, releasing double A-side single Japanese Mountains/Spotswood, a tribute to Japanese volcanoes and the historic Spotswood Sewerage Pumping Station, which found a special place in Melbournianʼs hearts thanks to the support of community radio stations Triple R and PBS.
Over the winter of 2011, nine more tracks were recorded at home, to complete Loom. These evocative dark-tinged folk songs travel through creeks, over quarries, under dangerous needlework, with greyhounds, past bell birds and bridges, on a rising tide out to sea.
The Orbweavers are Marita Dyson on vocals, guitar and violin, Stuart Flanagan on vocals and guitar, Daniel Aulsebrook on trumpet, Paddy Mann (Grand Salvo) on bass, Jen Sholakis (Laura Jean, Sailor Days) on drums and Stuart Lindsay on koto and organ when he is in town.
PRAISE FOR THE ORBWEAVERS:
“A particularly special Melbourne band …Graphite & Diamonds (is a) wonderful post-rock digital/acoustic masterwork, deep and dangerous, but also small and lovely” – THE AGE MELBOURNE MAGAZINE
“If Alice in Wonderland were ever to be filmed in the desert against a modern backdrop, then the soundtrack really ought to sound like this. File under ‘sublime and rewarding’” – TERRASCOPE UK
“Everything about The Orbweavers is effortlessly charming.” – BROADSHEET
“If you have a yearning to plunge into some intense daydreaming, you should definitely have a soundtrack to achieve this to… Atmospheric and spooky, if this album was a thing, it would be a ladybeetle with long eyelashes, knitting a shawl of silver and gold.” - PBS FM
“The Orbweavers have a delicate and subtle sound. I was drifting unfocused through the milky sweetness of Japanese Mountains until Marita Dyson started singing in Japanese and suddenly thought, “Wow, this is lovely.” The muffled horn in Spotswood has a similar effect – it pulls your attention; a glimmering focal point in the gentle waves of the melody. Beautiful” – BEAT MAGAZINE, SINGLE OF THE WEEK
“Shimmering music that is dark, but only in the sense that darkness can sometimes be comforting… an evocative album of ‘creepers’ – songs that slowly but surely wind their way into your consciousness. Take a 2am drive with the likes of Periods Of Light & Rock on the stereo and just try feeling like don’t you own the night!” – RAVE MAGAZINE
DISCOGRAPHY
Loom
Show tracks from Loom
Merri
Double Thread
Horseshoe Lake
Confessions
You Can Run (Fern's Theme)
Japanese Mountains
The Other Side
Spotswood
One by One
Loom
Rise Above
Japanese Mountains
The Orbweavers Spring Single, Japanese Mountains, Spotswood, Momento Mori - all from the forthcoming album: Loom
Show tracks from Japanese Mountains
Japanese Mountains
Spotswood
Graphite & Diamonds
Graphite & Diamonds
Show tracks from Graphite & Diamonds
Vitus
There is a vine
Far older than I
That grows on our fence to the west
When I am gone
I hope that it grows
To cover
All that I
Leave
V is for Vine
V is for Life
V is for Virtue and Vice
When I am gone
I hope that it grows
To cover
All that I
Took
My Needle
A matchbox
Full of needles
For a gramophone player,
Is sitting right here - on my bedside table.
Some are rusted, some gleam,
In memory of your music machine,
In memory of the dancing halls
In memory of the handsome boys.
Oh where could that player be?
You’ll find the needles here with me.
A shoebox
Full of letters
Is in my dresser drawer,
Sometimes I spread them all out onto the floor.
And then I fall into stillness and furrow my brow,
In memory of a drive out of town,
In memory of a road that lead south,
In memory of the voice
I don’t have now.
Up to your Neck
Confined and realigned
Up to your neck
Up to your neck into the brine.
Defied, you realise you’re holding hands
With the ones who you despise.
A light glints from the shore,
There’s only one,
There’s only one who you adore.
You couldn’t wait to see them,
You couldn’t wait to see them all.
Controlled the drugs take hold,
Your bloodied hands were just doing what they’re told.
Admired and told to stand,
Your heavy heart is the weight of their demands.
Rest behind your weary eyes;
Up to their necks
Up to their necks in all their lies.
They couldn’t wait to see you
They couldn’t wait to see you fall.
Their sighs, their whispered lies,
Your sweaty hands,
Their pathetic alibis.
Tonight you’re satisfied;
Up to their necks
Up to their necks into the fire.
An empty glass,
A shattered heart,
Left at the bar
What is left wont get you far.
And you couldn’t wait to see them,
You couldn’t wait to see them fall.
Admira
They’re taking her down tonight.
Each star has lost its light,
You wouldn’t believe the sight.
All hands on deck tonight.
The squall is rolling in,
Southern skies growing dim.
One stands against the prow,
All can be questioned now.
Is this all you stowed away -
The fury and the fray,
Is that all the sea can say?
Is that all the sea can say
Periods of Light & Rock
Water reaching to my knees,
Dragnet silt all in my sleeve,
All I know
All I believe,
Is your pull
And your leave
The Moon has always captured me,
Oh so close and desolate,
Known as water’s magnet.
It drags me gently through the reeds,
Underground through lakes and seas and
Sedimentary history.
Your pull,
And your leave.
And you told me
The periods of light and rock
Are all there is.
We all turn round
And the blood flows up and down,
I take another breath,
Gravity holds my head to rest.
We all turn round and the lines etch in
Like water running down stone;
The only time travel I’ll ever know.
Your pull,
And your leave.
You told me
The periods of light and rock
Are all there is.
Life pushing upwards and out,
Hair and nails lead the way
Growing and dying in the same day.
"Find a path,
Find a path,
Find a path" they said,
There must be something in the end?
There must be something in the end.
You told me
The periods of light and rock
Are all there is.
On my Way Home
I met her on my way home
She had a gun in her hand and a smile that said
“Be careful dear,
Don’t wish for what you fear.
My only purpose is to see him in the ground
Without a sound.
He caused this misery and nothing’s surely stopping me from trying”.
She don’t feel so well,
The ceiling fan reminds her of a Ferris wheel;
It’s fine if you sit still.
Whistling blue from the kettle
Reminds me of you.
She’s sure to hit the floor
Before she sees the border or the law.
A flicker of life still glows,
It’s hard to know when to fight
Or just to let things go.
You never really know.
I met her on my way home,
She had a gun in her hand and a smile that said
“Be careful dear,
Don’t wish for what you fear.
My only purpose is to see him in the ground
Without a sound.
He caused this misery and nothing’s surely stopping me from trying”.
Fairy Tales
Rest your weary head
Over the coals
Take a bath and dream of getting old.
Take a photograph
See what you saw.
Break my heart and then show me the door.
No, you won’t see me here again.
Can’t stop breaking my heart.
Foolish enough to think you were the last.
Fairytales of a love lost at sea.
Ships set sailt ot bring you back to me.
Land ahoy –
My heart’s running a race,
The sea – she still holds me in her sweet embrace.
No, you won’t see me here again.
Can’t stop breaking my heart.
Foolish enough to think you were the last.
Pins & Hummingwire
Do you remember,
Do you remember when
The walls were blue and white?
And a little fringed Holland blind kept us safe at night?
Do you remember when the hill was green,
And the horseshoe lake was full?
It’s dry times now
And the dust is thick on every window sill.
Pins and hummingwire
Cut across the plains outside.
There could be a call tonight.
Out in the yard by the pepper trees,
We buried that little box –
You spent the day on dovetail joins,
As I wept against the rocks.
Inside there lies:
All we cannot love.
Inside I keep:
All that I love.
Pins and hummingwire
Cut across the plains outside.
There could be a call tonight.
Oh darkness,
Oh deathland,
Oh river of joy;
Come bury me,
Come swallow me,
Come take me to that boy.
Pins and hummmingwire,
Cut across the plains outside.
There could be a call tonight.
Last Dance
Get your bodies on the dance floor;
Bodies on the floor.
Get your bodies on the dance floor.
Down on the floor,
Say a prayer for the ones who’ve fallen before.
The Bower
I’m building a bower,
Twig by twig.
And then I’ll ask you
What you think?
And if you like it
I hope you will stay.
And if you don’t,
I’ll let the wind
Take it away.
But now I am doubtful
That I have the skill,
But if I don’t do it
Someone else will.
And so I am searching despite all my nerves,
For every
Last branch
That you
Deserve.
Diving Bell
It starts with a silver line,
Through your name and mine.
Down like a diving bell –
Is this your hell
Or is it mine?
The sea will swell itself,
We’ll breathe through coral shelves.
Now your veins are tight,
Like copper wire.
I could kill us both tonight.
Drifting from the ship,
Nitrogen is letting slip;
Forget we live on land,
You’re gonna die in sand.
Come on,
I’ll take you there tonight.
I’ll take you there tonight.
GALLERY
Lates & Greats of the local Textile Industry
Lates and greats of the local fashion and textile industry. This is a collection of garments found in op-shops and markets over the years - from Gloweave shirts made in Fitzroy Melbourne, to the unmistakably vibrant and almost indestructible woollen kilts of Fletcher Jones - manufactured in Warnambool, Victoria.
Loom Encore - February 2012
Photos courtesy of East13 Photography.
SHOP
PURCHASE RELEASES ONLINE
Loom
Our new album Loom is available now via mail order from the Mistletone shop. $20 including postage anywhere in the solar system.
Japanese Mountains
The Orbweavers' illustrated single Japanese Mountains & Spotswood:
Unfortunately we have run out of physical copies of the single. It is available at iTunes.
Download from 
Graphite & Diamonds
The Orbweavers' debut album Graphite & Diamonds is available online here:
$19.00 includes postage and handling.
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