While Melbourne-based producer / multi-instrumentalist Jim Moynihan’s debut album as Spoonbill Megafauna seemed to fly under most peoples’ radar upon its release in 2005, for many listeners who did get to hear it, it ended up becoming one of that year’s local electronic delights. Fusing synthetic elements and heavily-treated instrumental performances to create a lush yet unpredictable downbeat brew that called to mind the sampling science of Amon Tobin and Kid Koala (two artists Moynihan’s since toured alongside), Megafauna also gave off a distinctly “Australian’ vibe, thanks to the sampled birdcall and bush talkback announcers liberally scattered throughout its tracks.
Two years later, this follow-up album on Moynihan’s own Omelette label Nestegg appears set to take his music as Spoonbill to a considerably wider audience, on the back of his prolific recent live festival schedule (Burning Man and Earthcore being just two of the highlights) and sound installation work for the Nextwave Festival and Melbourne’s Federation Square. From opener “Low And Easy’ onwards, it’s immediately obvious that Moynihan’s production skills have stepped up a notch, with soft strokes of ragga guitar blending smoothly with fat analogue synth bass chords and some hyper-intricate digital trickery to create an unpredictable dub hybrid that rolls with noticeably greater fluidity than anything on Megafauna. The stop-start “Rubber Squeegy’ certainly calls to mind comparisons with Kid Koala’ mapcap swing-influenced expeditions with its springy fusion of clattering digitally-treated samples, blaring Hammond organs and hiphop beats, and much of this collection is notable for the increased levels of “live’ energy the contributions of fellow Melbourne-based musicians such as Bryson Mullholland, Eden Altman and James McGuire bring to the pot.
Throughout, a rich blend of Fender Rhodes, retro organs, flutes, guitar, congas and double-bass are amongst the palette of “live’ sounds being put through Moynihan’s armoury of gadgets, and though it’s certainly downbeat at points, the often dark atmospheres and hard-edged synths (as on spectacularly moody jazz-hiphop piece “Cocoon Part 3′) drag proceedings well away from “chill out’s predictability. Compared to Megafauna, the overtly larrikan Australiana-based samples appear to have been noticeably toned down, though there’s certainly a hint of the old Spoonbill with the sample of the guy asking his missus if she’d like coffee and a bun and “try to work something out” at the end of “Rubber Squeegy.’ Throughout, the full rich detail of the recording is also done justice by the absolutely gorgeous mixing and mastering job, resulting in Nestegg being one of the lushest local releases I’ve heard in a while over quality headphones. With an upcoming Australian tour looming in the next few months, it’ll be very interesting to see how Moynihan translates his extremely intricate productions to a live setting.
Chris Downton
