Live Review: Taipan Tiger Girls, Ned Collette

Nothing could be more tempting on this scorching hot and humid Sunday afternoon than to slip into the air-conditioned comfort of Grace Darling Hotel to while away the hottest part of the day sipping gin and tonic and taking in this intimate IT Records showcase.

It's hard to believe that it's been five years since Ned Collette released his last album. Now signed to IT Records, the word on the street is that Collette is set to release a double album this year. The last time we saw Collette he was dropping joyous, indie-pop vibes with the assistance of a rather crack band. Today he plays solo with just guitar and effects to accompany his balladeering. There's a certain weightlessness to Collette's set, the delicately fingerpicked forms passed through subtle reverb drifting lazily through the afternoon heat. His vocals are soft and solemn, at times filled with a certain desperation. At times it feels like we are listening to a record being played in another room. With the volume set to chill, the trams rolling down Smith Street at times make their presence felt in Collette's wonderful soundscape. A delightfully intimate set that connects with the handful of Collette's fans in the room.

Melbourne's Taipan Tiger Girls blow away the delicate melancholy that lingers in the room after Collette's set. They are a loud and noisy bunch that jam along to Mat Watson's driving motorik beats. Melbourne's illustrious synth guru Ollie Olsen kicks off the set with what sounds like a bit of a tune-up of a modest modular synth in a skiff. It's not as kinky as it sounds, but Olsen is poised to become a sexagenarian this year. Despite his vintage, Olsen's wild, growling oscillators have a tough and edgy presence. Thrashing, noise-driven synth drone when presented in the format of a 30-minute groove moves beyond irritating, like that rash on your butt, and deepens into something that starts to feel strangely meditative. This is hardly surprising given the psychedelic trance and electronic tunes that Olsen released on his prolific psychedelic-trance label Psy-Harmonics in the '90s. The difference is that the Taipan Tiger Girls achieve this in the context of incendiary electro-punk that vibes on late-'70s attitude. Lisa MacKinney completes the mix with guitar textures that complement the industrial wall of sound coming from Olsen's modular. They suck the room into this strangely hypnotic and immersive experience that lasts just 30 minutes. Although the set feels a little too short, it is also strangely satisfying.