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Mildlife

Aussie indie jazz-rock quartet Mildlife sound straight out of the late 1970s. On studio albums such as 2017's Phase and 2020's Automatic, they create a lush, nearly cosmic meld of jazz fusion, psychedelia, modernist funk, and futurist disco to sound like Herbie Hancock's Headhunters playing with Can. The leaderless Mildlife was formed in Melbourne by four school friends: keyboardist/vocalist Kevin McDowell, guitarist Adam Halliwell, bassist Tom Shanahan, and oroginal drummer James Donald. Taking their initial cues from '70s rock, they went on to encompass a much broader spectrum of influences, bringing them all together in an anything-goes kind of way. They set up their own studio and self-produced all their work, recording live in the room. Constant revision, experimentation, and perfectionism in the arrangement of disparately composed parts meant that it could sometimes take them years to finish a single piece. Shanahan and McDowell are also graphic designers; they created the band's logo and all their artwork. Their debut album, Phase, was released in 2018 to critical acclaim by Research Records. It was recorded by engineer Jim Rindfleisch, longtime friend of the band; he went on to join them as drummer following James Donald's departure. The success of the album led to a deal with influential British indie label Heavenly, home to Doves and Saint Etienne. In May 2020, Mildlife released the single "Rare Air," a lush, super-smooth groove. Their second album, Automatic, followed in September of that year. It peaked at number eight on the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) charts and made inroads at European jazz radio and NPR. Following the pandemic, Mildlife played a one-off, livestream performance at South Channel Island on March 10, 2021, performing tracks from their albums. The set was physically pressed on limited vinyl as Live from South Channel Island, and widely issued in April 2022. It peaked at number 29 on the ARIA charts and, later that year won the ARIA industry award for Best Jazz Album; further, it was nominated by the Australian Independent Records (AIR) organization for Best Independent Jazz Album or EP. After extensive cross-continental touring in 2023, Mildlife entered the studio later in the year. They mined individual and collective vocabularies, and sought, as a group, to present myriad musical styles, entities, and ideas -- library sounds, soundtracks, Polish jazz-funk, Italian disco, electronica, and fusion -- all in service to a universal groove; ever circling, breathing, and returning to inspire whatever comes next. The finished recording, Chorus, was released by Heavenly Recordings in March 2024.
© Thom Jurek & John D. Buchanan /TiVo
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Discography

14 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller

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