FourPlay discography

The majority of this material was written in November 2006, when the band holed up in Hobart, TAS, for a two week writers' retreat. As it's the fourth album, and has been forthcoming for a very long time, the band decided it was to be Fourthcoming forever. Yeah, we know.

The original pieces came together in many different ways: an arrangement very naturally developed around an original and sassy cabaret piece of Lara's; Peter strummed a crazy hoedown on the cello, over which Tim and Lara created melodies while Shenzo pioneered the "banjola" solo; Tim created a bizarre and crunchy viola loop which inspired riffs that borrowed from M.I.A. and weird effects patches; Shenzo idly plucked a dream-like chord sequence over a funky viola-percussion loop; and when a dub jam transformed into drum'n'bass somewhere around the middle, the as-of-yet unrecognised desire by the world for d'n'b string quartet music was realised.

As for the tasty selection of covers, manager Jordan Verzar wisely suggested that Rage Against The Machine be considered, and what better than their most famous track "Killing In The Name"? While the politically-charged lyrics are gone from this instrumental version, none of the energy and power are lost in translation. Tim sang lead vocals for the first time on one of his favourite songs, Leonard Cohen's "Famous Blue Raincoat", given a strikingly faithful rendition despite the instrumentation. Another favourite, The Cocteau Twins, brought blissful shoe gaze to the table, while the complex arrangements of indie superstar Sufjan Stevens soared when rendered through loops and agility.

As FourPlay is a band of highly time-poor individuals, it was decided that the recording of Fourthcoming was to be a unique event — a small space at the Canberra Street Theatre was hired for half a week, amps and a P.A. were lugged in, and the sound was perfected with the help of Liberty Kerr (live sound) and Justin Tresidder (recording engineer). Three performances were recorded in front of a lucky few, the best takes were chosen, and once again Magoo stepped in for the mixing. The result - a live album of new material, capturing once and for all the force of the band live!

The packaging is printed on 100% recycled paper. All greenhouse emissions form recording and production have been offset by: www.climatefriendly.com

Full tracklisting:

1. Everything Was Going Fine... — original by Peter Hollo & FourPlay String Quartet
2. Butter Girl — original by Lara Goodridge & FourPlay String Quartet
3. Seekers Who Are Lovers — Cocteau Twins
4. The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out To Get Us! — Sufjan Stevens
5. Venice Underwater — original by Shenzo Gregorio and FourPlay String Quartet
6. A Grain of Truth — original by FourPlay String Quartet
7. Rudd-a-dub Dub — original by FourPlay String Quartet
8. Killing In The Name — Rage Against The Machine
9. Spanish Castle Magic — Jimi Hendrix
10. Where The Sun Don't Shine — original by Tim Hollo & FourPlay String Quartet
11. Famous Blue Raincoat — Leonard Cohen
12. Lover Man — James Edward Davis, Ram Ramirez & Jimmy Sherman, originally performed by Billie Holliday

FourPlay's first album in too many years, Now To The Future is an amazing move forward. Produced by Brisbane's genius Magoo, and engineered by Justin Tresidder, it runs the gamut from rock to roots, post-rock to world, with vocals from Lara gracing indie-pop anthems and a sultry jazz standard. In-page samples of all tracks can be found on the purchasing page, plus there are four full tracks to listen to on the MySpace page.

The packaging is printed on 100% recycled paper. All greenhouse emissions form recording and production have been offset by: www.climatefriendly.com

Full tracklisting:

1. 2+2=5 — Radiohead
2. Evolve or Decay — original by Lara Goodridge
3. Downtown Nudnik — original by Peter Hollo
4. You've Changed Your Tune — original by Peter Hollo, Tim Hollo, Lara Goodridge and Shenton Gregory
5. Reptilia — Julian Casablancas/The Strokes
6. All Blues — Miles Davis
7. Trust — original by Lara Goodridge
8. Now To The Future — original by Peter Hollo, Tim Hollo, Lara Goodridge and Shenton Gregory
9. Bollyrock — original by Peter Hollo, Tim Hollo, Lara Goodridge and Shenton Gregory
10. Cry Me A River — Arthur Hamilton
11. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (Theme for Lester Young) — music: Charles Mingus; lyrics: Rahsaan Roland Kirk
12. The Hunter — original by Lara Goodridge
13. Appalachian Jam — original by Peter Hollo, Tim Hollo, Lara Goodridge and Shenton Gregory

FourPlay's gorgeously-packaged series of 3" CD singles came out mainly as promo for the new album (Now To The Future). This is part 1, featuring the incendiary Strokes cover, a pop-punk number and a bit of live madness from some years back.

Tracklisting:

1. Reptilia — Julian Casablancas/The Strokes
2. Everything Was Going Fine — original by Peter Hollo
3. Miserlou (live at the Basement, March 1999) — Traditional Greek, popularised by Dick Dale & his Del-Tones

This is part 2, featuring the world's first swazz-klango piece (that's swing-jazz-klezmer-tango, since you asked), some classic blues and a loungey reimagining of the lead track from part 3.

Tracklisting:

1. Downtown Nudnik — original by Peter Hollo
2. Drunken Hearted Man Blues — Robert Johnson
3. Can't Trust This — original by Lara Goodridge

This is part 3, featuring Lara's beautiful indie-pop gem Trust, a wonderful remix by Adelaide's Clue To Kalo, and a Paul Kelly cover. An all-vocal extravaganza!

Tracklisting:

1. Trust — original by Lara Goodridge
2. Trust (Clue To Kalo remix) — original by Lara Goodridge, remixed by Mark Mitchell
3. You Can Put Your Shoes Under My Bed — Paul Kelly

The packaging is printed on 100% recycled paper. All greenhouse emissions form recording and production have been offset by: www.climatefriendly.com

The love-child of FourPlay cellist Peter Hollo aka Raven, this album sees the familiarly beautiful sounds of this string quartet sampled, digitally manipulated and remixed by some of Australia's most highly-regarded electronic artists.

The album features 26 remixes (and a hidden one) from such artists as B(if)tek, Black Lung (David Thrussell), Purdy, Sir Robbo and Machine Translations. A full run-down with artist bios and more can be found at www.fourplay.com.au/remixes.
In-page samples of all tracks can be found on the purchasing page.

The second album, featuring more of FourPlay's original compositions, including the standout set closer "Gypsy Scream". This album also extends their clever cover versions, whether combining Gabriel Fauré with the Velvet Underground, or covering Pop Will Eat Itself's punk-rock hip-hop.
In-page samples of all tracks can be found on the purchasing page.

Full tracklisting:

1. Domino — The Clouds
2. Just Like U Said It Would B — Sinéad O'Connor
3. August — original by Lara Goodridge
4. Meshugganah (dub) — original by Peter Hollo
5. Meshugganah (klezmer) — original by Peter Hollo
6. Ich Bin Ein Auslander — Pop Will Eat Itself
7. Breakfast In America — Supertramp
8. The Boy From Ipanema — Antonio Carlos Jobim
9. On The Road Again — Willie Nelson
10. Cut Up — Ned's Atomic Dustbin
11. Lilli Pilli Drive — original by Peter Hollo, Tim Hollo, Lara Goodridge and Chris Emerson
12. Gypsy Scream — original by Veren Grigorov
13. Femme Fatale — The Velvet Underground, this version incorporating part of the Requiem by Gabriel Fauré

Catgut was FourPlay's first release, featuring the infamous Metallica cover along with The Simpsons theme, the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" and Jeff Buckley's "Grace". FourPlay's originals are a highlight: the beautiful ambient composition "Languid, Yet..." and the grinding "Corrosion".
In-page samples of all tracks can be found on the purchasing page.

Full tracklisting:

1. Theme from Dr Who — Ron Grainer, realised by Delia Derbyshire
2. Corrosion — original by Peter Hollo and Chris Emerson
3. Grace — Jeff Buckley and Gary Lucas
4. My Baby Just Cares for Me — Nina Simone
5. The 2 of Us — Suede
6. Enter Sandman — Metallica
7. Theme from The Simpsons — Danny Elfman
8. Sabotage — The Beastie Boys
9. The Ocean/Black Dog — Led Zeppelin
10. The Sweetest Perfection — Depeche Mode
11. Languid, Yet... — original by Peter Hollo