In last week's post I made a passing reference to the fact that Kevin Parker recorded a number of songs under the name Tame Impala in 2007, and posted them on Myspace. So for anyone who was intrigued enough to want to hear them, here they are. None of these tracks were ever resurrected for inclusion on their official albums, and yet they are all the equal of anything that they issued in the first couple of years of their existence. I've added a track from an Australian only 12" single, plus a cover of a song by fellow Aussies Midnight Juggernauts, and a live recording of an otherwise unreleased track, to make up an album-length record, but if he'd added just a couple more songs to these demos he could easily have issued this himself in 2007, with the music being so good that I'm sure it would have broken the band a year or so earlier than eventually happened. The sound is instantly recognisable as Tame Impala, as Parker did everything himself, just as he did for the earliest recordings after he signed to Modular Recordings, and so enjoy this stunning collection of early recordings from the genius that is Kevin Parker. 
Track listing
01 Flow (demo 2007)02 Late Night Moonlight (demo 2007)03 Milky Way Spiral Gets A New Arm (demo 2007)04 My Lover Mother Nature (demo 2007)05 Bold Arrow Of Time (demo 2007)06 When The Feeling's In The Core (demo 2007)07 The Sun (from Australian 12" EP 2008)08 Vital Signs (Midnight Juggernauts cover 2010)09 Paradise Course (live recording, date unknown)
Tame Impala are a psychedelic music project of Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker, who writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music, although he has put together a band so that the act can go on tour. Parker played in a number of bands around the Perth area, one being the Dee Dee Dums, a rock duo that consisted of Parker (guitar) and Luke Epstein (drums), but the Tame Impala name emerged in 2007 as a Kevin Parker home-recording project, posting a number of tracks on Myspace. These sparked interest from a number of record labels, and eventually he signed a worldwide deal with the independent Modular Recordings in July 2008. The signing was soon followed by the release of their self-titled EP in September 2008, reaching No.1 on the Australian Independent Record Labels Chart and number 10 on the ARIA Physical Singles Chart. On hearing 'Desire Be Desire Go' from the EP, I fell in love with the band and got the 10" vinyl edition straight away, and it was the first track that I ever posted online with my review of the record, as I was so desperate for people to hear it. The band's first single 'Sundown Syndrome' was recorded at Toerag Studio while the band were in London, and was released in July 2009 on vinyl and digitally. A national tour of Australia in support of the single took place through September and October 2009, and the song was included on the soundtrack of the Oscar-nominated film 'The Kids Are All Right'. The band's debut album 'Innerspeaker' was released in 2010 to general and critical acclaim, and included a re-recording of 'Desire Be Desire Go' which I have always considered as vastly inferior to the EP version. Shortly afterwards the group embarked on a tour to promote the album, ending in a London headline show which was attended by Noel Gallagher, Tom Meighan, Sergio Pizzorno, Noel Fielding, Alexa Chung and Alison Mosshart. At the end of the year they received four 2010 ARIA Music Awards nominations, which included Album Of The Year, Best Rock Album, Best Group, and Breakthrough Artist. Tame Impala's second album 'Lonerism' was released in 2012, with Parker saying that it "represents a departure from his previous work by incorporating an expanded sonic palette, more emotional song writing, and a more pronounced narrative perspective". Perhaps not surprisingly I wasn't that impressed, feeling that they'd sold out for commercial success, and yet it received almost universally favourable reviews from the music press. I haven't really bothered much with the band since then, although I did listen to their latest album 'The Slow Rush', and nothing had really changed since 'Lonerism'. I do, however, still love the band's early work, and so that is what I am concentrating on here. This post is made up of the whole of the 'Tame Impala' EP, which in its various editions amounted to six songs, plus both sides of the 'Sundown Syndrome' single, and some freebie tracks which came with the re-issue of 'Innerspeaker', and the original vinyl pressing of 'Lonerism'. Even if you already know the band from their later albums, then do give these songs a listen and see if you can understand why I thought they were so exceptional when they started out.
Track listing
01 Desire Be Desire Go (from the 'Tame Impala' 10" EP)02 Skeleton Tiger (from the 'Tame Impala' 10" EP)03 Half Full Glass Of Wine (from the 'Tame Impala' 10" EP)04 Forty One Mosquitos In Formation (from the 'Tame Impala' CD EP)05 Slide Through My Fingers (from the 'Tame Impala' 10" EP)06 Wander (from the 'Tame Impala' 12" EP)07 Sundown Syndrome (single 2009)08 Remember Me (b-side of 'Sundown Syndrome')09 Island Walking (bonus track from 'Innerspeaker' re-issue)10 Beverly Laurel (from free 7" single with 'Lonerism')11 Led Zeppelin (from free 7" single with 'Lonerism')
