- It's not often that we review compilations here, but every now and then something comes along that proves to be worth a gander. In this instance that thing is called Community 2 - A Compilation of Hobart Bands. Even in Melbourne - where most of Tassie's febrile musical talent steals away to - they don't know much about what's going on down there. That is exponentially more true of Brisbane where most folk think of the Apple Isle as some untamed frontier sparsely populated by lumberjacks and the occasional Greens politician, living like men, together, and any one namby-pamby enough to want to be a musician is probably eaten by a polar bear sometime before their 18th birthday. Our admittedly ludicrous impressions of this harsh realm were enough to drive Rough Skies Records and in particular one Mr. Julian Teakle to compile a wide-ranging selection of sounds bopping around that little bright spot of cultural warmth amidst the arctic tundra - Hobart. The first one of these was only last year and proved to be a total goer when released into the blogosphere. This encouraged, a mere year later, this second outing that once again is making much of itself on the old internets. Some of the names will be familiar from the first comp, but very many will not be - perhaps you've heard the synthy, loungey silliness of Anthony Rochester, or the delicious folk cutesiness of Billy Whims? But have you heard Tiger Choir - they contribute a propulsive and catchy indie-rock that builds to a gosh-darn thrilling climax - great stuff. There's a ton of other gear to try stuffing in your ears too: the New Wave danciness of All Fires The Fire, the ominously Romany art-rocking sounds of Gutter Parties, the tearing garage of The Lucky Dips and the list goes on adding genres - postpunk, grunge, drone, blues rock - all the way to the end of the 18 tracks. The upshot is that while my visions of Tasmania might still include a bare-chested Bob Brown doing battle with Polar Bears (that is not weird, YOU are weird), I now know that the place - well, Hobart at least - is just infested with musical talent, strumming away madly to keep their fingers from becoming frost-bitten. On the evidence of just one song I'd say few strum faster or better than Tiger Choir, so let's have a listen to them now.