My Friend the Chocolate Cake
My Friend the Chocolate Cake are an Australian chamber pop group formed in 1989 by mainstays David Bridie on vocals and keyboards and Helen Mountfort on cello and backing vocals (both ex-Not Drowning, Waving). They have released seven studio albums with two reaching the ARIA Albums Chart top 50, Brood (1993) and Good Luck (1996). These two albums have both won the ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album; in 1995 and 1997. History 1989–1992: Career beginnings My Friend the Chocolate Cake were formed initially as an acoustic side project in 1989 by David Bridie on vocals, piano, harmonium and keyboards and Helen Mountfort on cello and backing vocals. Bridie and Mountfort were members of an ambient, world music ensemble not drowning, waving. In 1989, Bridie had taken a holiday to New Zealand and had written "a few more breezy compositions" that did not fit into the style of not drowning, waving. Upon return to Melbourne, Mountford joined his project with her own writing. My Friend the Chocolate Cake took their name from a song title by an obscure Sydney band, Ya Ya Choral. Bridie admitted that one reason they chose an all-acoustic act was so they did not have to carry around amplifiers. Charles Miranda of The Canberra Times observed, "[their] emotive, in some instances ambient tunes, takes you to places you've been to in the past or would like to go to in the future." Although the intention was to play a handful of shows, the band developed a following after securing a residency at Madigan's, a now-defunct venue in Brunswick. By 1990 Bridie and Mountfort were joined in the group by Russell Bradley on percussion, Andrew Carswell on mandolin, Hope Csutoros on violin and Andrew Richardson on guitar. With a budget of $800, the group released their debut self-titled album, My Friend the Chocolate Cake, in 1992 and it peaked at number 109 on the ARIA Charts in April of that year. It was co-produced by Bridie, Carswell and Mountfort with Tim Cole for Warner/East West. Ian McFarlane, an Australian musicologist, cited music journalist, Bruce Elder's review of the album in Rolling Stone Australia, "one of the best albums of high-art pop ever recorded in Australia." The album's lead single "A Midlife's Tale (Get It Back Now)" peaked at number 134 on the ARIA singles chart. 1993–1997: Brood and Good Luck The group began recording their second studio album in mid-1993, while maintaining performances between not drowning, waving and My Friend the Chocolate Cake. Brood was released in July 1994. McFarlane described how it, "[showed] a more serious aesthetic at work. [It] had been recorded with a generous budget and mixed in New York... [and] featured an intimate, accessible sound that ranged from the uptempo pop of the [second] single 'Throwing It Away' to the gentle ballad 'The Old Years'." Brood peaked at No. 32 on the ARIA Albums Chart. By that time Bradley was replaced by Michael Barker on percussion and drums (ex-Daryl Braithwaite, the Black