Say hello to Half A Cow's latest Musical Exchange Students! Artichoke Heart Soufflé is the name of a band. Artichoke Heart Soufflé is the name of a record. Brad and Stacy Michelson are in this band. Both Brad and Stacy sing, write, and play the instruments heard on the record. This brother/sister group was bound to happen sooner or later. Growing up they both played guitar and wrote their own songs, as well as, learned how to play their favorites… we will forgive Stacy for her pre-teen Bon Jovi obsession. As they began to get a little older, bands were formed. Stacy fronted the indie pop band Le Coupe while Brad bounced around from band to band immersing himself in a vast array of genres. Sadly, genres like rockabilly would be short lived for Brad as he lacked the overbearing machismo and hair (his was a bit too curly to sculpt a sufficient pompadour) prerequisite for the style. And so begins Artichoke Heart Soufflé… Initially propositioned to record a solo album in fall 2004, by a close friend with aspirations of starting a record label. Brad started the writing and recording process rather timidly while tying up previous engagements writing music for short films and ghostwriting score for TV shows. In the spring of 2005 with the label in limbo, and a handful of songs written, Brad invited Stacy up to the studio to record. They recorded the song Change and tried an unknown fruit off a tree in the backyard. Impressed and excited with the results of the session, more were quickly planned. By the third visit it was obvious the solo record was turning into a band recording and while working through an arrangement of Impossible Stacy began to play a new song she had just started to write. It was about a mutual friend who was going through hard times called: Gone for Good. She only had the verses written but Brad was hooked. Another session was planned and that song was recorded. The band was born. Also, the fruit was tried again - the first time it had been really tart and kind of gross but this time it was delicious. Performances began to be scheduled, a few more songs were recorded, a studio way above their budget was snuck into after hours in order to mix, the record was mastered in Ventura, a license for physical configurations was paid to Sporty and the girls and here we are. Enjoy the soufflé. About the songs – in their own words: Impossible: The third song Stacy and I ever played together. Mixed with my good friend Jody Sappington who was kind enough to sneak me into the studio he was working at between paying customers like Prince and the Pointer Sisters. We started mixing this one on an old Neve board at around two in the morning. -Brad Icing On The Cake: I wrote and recorded this song as a Christmas present for my boy. Little did I know that one day it would be on our first CD … and that it would make so many ladies cry at our live shows. -Stacy Hold Hands With Politicians: Has the government exploited your patriotism… maybe your deep desire for revenge… were you so insane in wanting to get even you were willing to believe anything? Enter: Hold Hands With Politicians, a modern day love song if there ever was one. –anonymous Follow Me Upstairs: This is a song I used to play in my bedroom on acoustic guitar, and no one ever heard. When Brad and I started playing together and he heard it, he instantly knew what it needed – the drums and bass got recorded and it came alive. You can’t stop tapping your feet and the chorus gets stuck in your head for days. -Stacy Change: The first song recorded with Stacy. The first song mixed with Jody. About a friend who just got up one day and left. I had to leave the studio at 5:30 in the morning because George Thorogood had an early session booked. -Brad Gone For Good: This song is based on a sad but true story. It sounded great when we first recorded it but we knew it needed something. When Brad bought a lap steel on ebay we quickly knew that’s what it was … good purchase big bro. -Stacy Wannabe: Our cover … One take … With lyrics this good who needs more … Perceptive ears reveal Lucy (the family dog) chasing (probably attacking) something or somebody (the mailman) at the end of the song. -Brad

Astro Chimp are Gerry and Raymond (Teenage Fanclub), Eugene Kelly (Vaselines, Eugenius) and Francis MacDonald (BMX Bandits).

Audio Antuhero . Benjamin Shaw email: info @ audioantihero.com He says: Now, as you may know, Blackpool is a town built on disappointment and despair. Growing up on these windy shores, Benjamin Shaw had an awful lot of time on his hands. After a period of particular awfulness, and a short descent into madness, Ben fell for a whimsical fair lady on the other side of the planet, and promptly moved his life over to Melbourne, Australia. After a year in Melbourne, playing gaggles of shows Ben returned to England with a wife and an array of new songs and recordings. Now living in the woods of North London, Ben has recently been seen playing all the main dives you've never heard of. Neil Young mixed with the Okkervil Rivers, Jeffrey Lewises and Sparklehorses of today have become the diet, and with all the agility you would expect from a gangly, pale washing line of a man, Benjamin Shaw is coming at you like a wet duffle-coat. I Got the Pox, The Pox is What I Got: Six & a half songs of nausea, noise and hilarious anecdote. We say: DIY storyteller Benjamin Shaw makes his debut with 'I Got the Pox, the Pox is What I Got'. At its root a collection of beautiful , simple and homicidal songs, but one that grows in layers; keys, percussion, screeching harmonies, with claps, thuds, kettles, kittens and creaking doors all washing over this intimate and desolate lo-fi record. Musically vast and sonically awesome, Benjamin is far beyond the (now derogatory) term – "Singer Songwriter". He recalls the most essential works of Neil Young, J Mascis, Bon Iver, 'Vivadixie..' era Sparklehorse and even the early charms of a drunken Tom Waits – but brings so much of himself to his work, that it's a chore to arrogantly suggest sound-alike's or influences, Shaw is one of a kind. His concept of narrative and sense of bleak humour create involving and fascinating stories, ones that truly deserve to be carried by the fighting frailty of his voice. Benjamin's bitter bedroom recordings, swamped with fuzz, buzz, distortion, are a real shot in the arm for the sterile swarm that is today's acoustic scene. Artistic, ambitious, original and pure – there's been no one like Benjamin Shaw around in a long time. They say: "Fastidiously DIY in sound…A 'name' for 2010." – God is in the TV "Ben inspires a rare empathy in the listener... Up there with the best of this year...on the 'to watch' list for 2010 - 8/10." - The Music Fix.co.uk "Benjamin Shaw had a few more surprises tucked away than I first thought. I would definitely love to hear more. CD of the week." - Half A Cow Records "A cracked and beautiful voice, with a series of gently electronic infused laments of love, loss and disenchantment. Quite beautiful." - Subba-Cultcha.com "Underground notoriety beckons…8/10." – Rock Pulse.co.uk "A surprisingly layered record…real swells of sound. A smothering blanket of melancholy…I look forward to a full album." – Songs By Toad "Defiantly ramshackle..the only fear is that Shaw's style may fail to attract the attention it deserves." – The Skinny "A 'singer-songwriter' who obviously isn't happy with the connotations that tag would bestow upon him. He's fighting to find his own voice in a sea of tepid waters soiled by the likes of James's Morrison and Blunt" – Tasty Fanzine.org.uk "A curious, water colored dreamer" – Clicky Clicky Music.com "Defiantly lo-fi values cloak soul baring singer-songwriterliness as if essayed at the end of a very long and uncomfortably active night, throwing everything off course with electronic layers, noises and the inscrutability of his lyrical worldview." – Sweeping The Nation "A beautiful lo-fi thing indeed." – A Little Electricity "An alternative idol in waiting…" – Fractions of One.com "Benjamin Shaw is a one-man wall in a dark alleyway of sound, and I'll be looking out for him - 9/10." - Music Emissions "Hopelessly catchy." - Unpeeled.net "Alive in a raw way that was almost lost years ago." –Chaos Before Predictability.com "Enjoyed from the wrong side of a bottle of wine, like the singer appears to be - 7/10." Die Shellsuit Die! "Magnificent" – Jack Hayter (HEFNER) "Distortion, self-deprecation, and humor. I cant wait to see what he puts out next." – Creative Intersection

Bryan Estepa’s fate as a singer-songwriter was set even before he was old enough to pick up a dusty acoustic. “I can remember my mum and uncles singing and playing Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel tunes when I was young,” says Estepa. “Even at that age of 7, pop music made a whole lot of sense to me.” A fixture on Sydney’s indie circuit since the mid-‘90s, Estepa’s honed his songwriting in numerous bands, from power-pop upstarts Swivel (1998-2000) to psych-poppers Hazey Jane (2004-2005). It was during a stint working in the States, rediscovering classics by Elliott Smith and Whiskeytown, that Bryan found a renewed love for his acoustic guitar and returned home to branch out on his own. Performing under the alias Adeline, he released the pocket gem “Start Again” in 2003, to positive reviews and regular airplay on Sydney and East Coast US college radio. His debut album, “All the Bells and Whistles”, began taking shape in late 2005 and was recorded in early 2006 with acclaimed producer Michael Carpenter (Jason Walker & the Last Drinks, City Lights, Youth Group). Featuring special guests Jason Walker and Brian Crouch (Jason Walker & the Last Drinks) and Mick McGinty (ex-Hazey Jane/Cropper), the album is a stunning collection of pop gems glazed in head-nodding hooks and romantic longing, spanning a sonic spectrum that echoes Gram Parson’s lilting alt-country to You Am I’s crunching mod-rockers. With its warm familiarity and lack of pretence, Estepa’s sound is as refreshingly unassuming as it’s composer. "I don't tend to have any preconceived notions when I write," says Bryan. "In fact, I'm such a lazy songwriter that when inspiration hits, I know well enough to milk it for all it's worth! ….I wear my influences clearly on my sleeve, but I tried to stamp my own distinct signature on each of these tunes." Bryan Estepa has been described before as "one of Sydney's best kept musical secrets". It's high time you discovered for yourself.

from the Walking Bird website: "In 2006, three 12-year old girls were playing at their end-of-primary-school party. Playing guitar, bass and drums, that is. And original songs with great melodies. Luckily, the drummer's father had the foresight to get them into a studio the following year to record these five songs. We heard the tapes in 2009 - flipped out - and here they are." And here at Half A Cow, we couldn't agree more. Great punk-pop!

El May is Lara Meyerratken who hails from Sydney and is a multi-instrumentalist and artist of much talent. First band in the mid-90s was Lustre 4 (with Sally Russell and Bon King), then onto Sneeze, Ben Lee Band, the Luna peeps...and now...finally...SOLO!

Fragile are: Shane Melder: drums Martin Craft: bass Wayne Connolly: guitar Simon Holmes: guitar, vocal

Street cowboy & underground Rasta folk artist, Jeremy Harrison, releases a new album, "Two by two" in 2011. The album has a wandering spirit that talks about the connection between all things and the struggle to be one's true self in today's world. The lead vocals, acoustic guitar, bass and drums of "Two by two" were recorded completely live to analogue tape at Electric Avenue Studios in Newtown, NSW. The engineer was studio owner, recording veteran, Phil Punch. The strings were arranged by Naomi Radom of Coda and the keys were played by Luke Dubbs of Hermitude.  The sessions were photographed in black & white and colour by Natasha Foster. Next the project moved to Big Jesus Burger Studios in Surry Hills, NSW where J. P. Fung engineered the overdubs. The recording was then shipped to Australian born Tony Dupe` (Holly Throsby) who was working in Berlin, Germany for producing and mixing.  Tony returned to Sydney and met Jeremy at Gerroa Beach, NSW to work on the mixing. Tony finished the mixing with Jeremy in a sandstone Church in Wildes Meadow, NSW. The final mix of "Two by two" was sent to Denis Blackham (Jimi Hendrix, Antony & the Johnsons) at the Isle of White in Scotland for mastering. Jeremy painted the album artwork in Bowral, NSW within a few days of the first song that appears on the album being written, that song was, "Are You Coming Tonight?". The painting is of a steep hill found about ten minutes drive from his parents' house in Bowral travelling towards Wildes Meadow. For some reason though, the hill looks like a sun rising from the horizon.

Living The Way We Like It‚ is Lucy Lehmann's first release. By day she is a novelist, so it's only natural that she upholds the country-music tradition of story songs, even penning a reply ('Dolly, Dolly, Dolly') to Dolly Parton's classic 'Jolene'. This seven song CD is about gut-string finger picking, harmonies by her cousin Brooke McInerney, a mandolin track by Nic Dalton and pedal steel by Melbourne's Paul Rigby; it's about repressed American men who give prolonged, erotic hugs ('Long American Hugs'), and "Endless pots of weak tea/ A porno from '93/ Whatever makes you think of me" ('Beer And Cigarettes'). File Lucy Lehmann somewhere between the angelic and the gutter. myspace

a Melbourne band now on Candle Records

Union marks the arrival of the first full length album for Nicola Schultz since her departure from Australian band Swirl. They played at CMJ College Music Seminar in New York and were acknowledged as "one of the buzz bands". Swirl also received widespread US college radio airplay. In Australia they played at the Big Day Out and supported international acts such as My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and the Lemonheads. Nicola released a 5 track EP entitled Searching for a Goddess in 2008. In the same year her photography was included in ArtGroupie, an exhibition of artworks by 29 musicians, producers and DJs who also make visual art. Shih, from Nicola's EP, was included on an accompanying cd containing tracks by all the exhibiting artists. In mid-2010 Nicola launched Union at the Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills. With Union Nicola Schultz's emotionally rich and evocative vocals are complemented by guitars and a mix of electronic and organic accompaniments.

"Classic songs, inspired lyrics. Paper Planes could easily be one of the major-players in Australia. They ROCK!" - Nic Dalton, Half a Cow Records Paper Planes are excited to announce the release of their debut double A-side single, 'You're a Winner' and 'Do it for the kids' through independent Norwegian label Best Unbeaten Brother (makers of the vinyl version of the Gloomchasers Home Of The Big Regret) The release features two tracks that showcase the band's diverse sounds. Singer/guitarist Claire Birchall has been described as having "one of the coolest and toughest voices you'll hear", highlighted in the hard hitting guitar-driven 'You're a Winner'. On the flip side, 'Do it for the kids' demonstrates the band's capacity for something deeper and more fragile: "a slow-burner anthem for the disaffected youth of today". Paper Planes are a dynamic 4-piece Melbourne band fronted by singer-songwriter and guitarist Claire Birchall. The band also features Rebecca Birchall on keyboard/rhythm guitar/backing vocals, Adam Doherty on bass, and Adam Pacula on drums. Tracked on 2" tape at Melbourne's Birdland Studios, the single is available in February on limited release white vinyl, a testament to the band's love of analogue recording and a perfect vehicle for their sound. Described by Erik Granberg of Best Unbeaten Brother as "better than most things we've ever seen or owned", this is definitely one for the collection!  Paper Planes launch the single on SATURDAY, 17th FEBRUARY at the CHERRY BAR.

The Givegoods

It’s not a band, and it’s not a Various Artists thing – it’s a covers album performed by various Adelaide musicians. Think Rainy Day – they certainly were - and that's the record that came into Half A Cow's mind. Bands covered include Deep Purple, Kendra Smith, Bevis Frond, Richard & Mimi Farina, James Gang and Thalia Zedek. Performers include members of Dandelion, Vic Conrad & the First Third, Clue To Kalo and The Yearlings.

The Givegoods

Contact Wifey at wifeycares@yahoo.com or andydepressant@gmail.com