The Shadow Knows

  • New articles and reviews

    Following our third issue, released in July and available to read or purchase now, we have published some new articles online.

    Five of their best: Freddy Logan

    A follow up to our feature article on Dutch/English jazz bassist Freddy Logan, we rounded up some of the music he recorded during his long career. Starting in the 1950s in the Netherlands, before he moved to Australia to form two of the best Australian jazz groups of the time, and finally his later years in 60s England. Read the full article here.

    A newly restored live album presents Brother Jack McDuff at his best

    Live At Parnell’s, originally recorded in June 1982 was released by Soul Bank Music on September 2 this year. Across two CDs, or three LPs, McDuff and his band play for two hours without intermission. Read our article here.

    Five recent releases

    Rounding up a series of recent releases by artists and labels we’ve featured in our zine. Mostly electronic, with 80s synth compilations, vinyl sampling novelties, and ambience mixed in with a mix tape of lofi rock, punk, electronica, and a piano ballad. There’s a bit of everything in these five releases. Read the full article here.

  • Issue 3 — Reviews of Music & Books

    For our third issue we’ve looked at some of the recent releases we enjoyed while putting together the zine. There’s a bit of punk, jazz, and hip hop mixed in with whatever else caught our ears. Then we also reviewed books on the Medway scene, hip hop photography, and how an early American jazz tour brought out the worst in Australia.

    Read all of the reviews here.

  • Interview: Parsley Sound detail their career on the eve of their latest release

    Parsley Sound are the duo Preston Mead and Dan Sargassa who released an early single on Warp Records as Slum, before signing to Mo’ Wax and releasing their debut album Parsley Sounds. Their album became one of the label’s final releases before it closed in 2003.

    Now, in 2022 they have returned with a new album The Lockdown Locomotive by Shelton Street Orchestra, recorded through the 2020 lockdown.

    Read the full interview here.

  • Interview: Rich Thair talks Red Snapper, Sweatmouth, and his unreleased Mo’ Wax sessions

    Rich Thair (2021)

    Rich Thair has been releasing music since the early 90s when he and Jeremy “Tuse” Tuson released two 12” singles with their group Sweatmouth. Those got the attention of James Lavelle as he was starting his record label Mo’ Wax in 1992, and a Sweatmouth 12” was planned as one of the first Mo’ Wax releases. It didn’t happen, Sweatmouth separated, and Rich has spent close to two decades as percussionist with Red Snapper.

    Following the release of their eighth album Everybody Is Somebody, and a quick tour of Europe, Rich caught up with us for a chat about those Mo’ Wax recordings and Red Snapper.

    Read the full interview here.

  • Interview: Nicole Willis talks Repercussions and new directions

    Since her work with Repercussions during the 1990s, Nicole Willis has released several solo albums and has collaborated across many genres with groups such as Leftfield, Death Hawks, and Umo Jazz Orchestra.

    Born in New York, but now based in Helsinki, Finland, Nicole has recently taken the opportunity to return to university and is finding new focus behind the scenes of filmmaking.

    Read the full interview here.

  • Interview: Jaxon and Zeb of Garden Seat and Static Open

    Garden Seat is an Australian record label run by Jaxon Bailey-Banks and Zeb Olsen who also host gigs in their event space Static Open in Footscray. The pair met while hosting shows on Castlemaine’s community radio station 94.9 MAINfm, and have combined Zeb’s archive of unreleased recordings with Jaxon’s ear for new local underground happenings into an eclectic and ever expanding collaborative enterprise.

    We visited Static Open to hear what they’ve both been up to and get some music recommendations.

    Read the full interview here.

  • Interview: Christopher L Ghill of Bunyip Trax

    This mysterious Australian label run by Christopher L Ghill and Joshua Petherick recently came onto my radar when I heard Urchyn’s ‘low lying plains’ LP. The mixture of lofi, ambient, and noise spread across that LP grabbed our attention and we contacted Christoper to find out more…

    Read the full interview here.

  • Interview: Luis Alvarado of Buh Records

    The founder of Buh Records discusses Oksana Linde’s new album and his label which he runs in Peru.

    Read the full interview here.

  • Interview: Oksana Linde

    Buh Records have released the debut album from Oksana Linde, originally recorded between 1983–89. From her home in Venezuela, we exchanged emails earlier this year about the album and her career, which was unfortunately overshadowed by the ongoing war in Ukraine where her parents were born.

    Read the full interview here.

  • Freddy Logan and The Three Out

    The Three Out L-R: Chris Karan, Freddy Logan, Mike Nock (1960)

    The Three Out were a short-lived Australian jazz trio who formed in 1960, released two albums, toured Europe, and then went their separate ways. The trio’s pianist Mike Nock made a name for himself in North America, while drummer Chris Karan toured the world in The Dudley Moore Trio, but although bass player Freddy Logan appeared on recordings with Pia Beck and Tubby Hayes, to name only two, less is known about him overall.

    Read the full article here.