WORLD’S END PRESS.
Brand new jam from Melbourne fellas World’s End Press, a band who is finally releasing their debut album in the second half of this year. New single ‘To Send Our Love’ is almost a little darker than previous work, and with Tim Goldsworthy (of DFA records) at the helm, the production is fucking mint too.
The gents are doing a run of shows to help launch the new single. If you’re in Sydney, make sure you check them out at Brighton Up as they play three Thursday nighters there throughout August. Full tour details here.
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Miks
MESSRS.
Brand newy from Adelaide gents Messrs. Doing that live indie dance vibe pretty well, these guys know their way around a killer pop song too.
The guys are launching their new single Running Wild with a fair few shows around the country – dates here.
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Miks
NEW MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS.
So finally, some brand spankin’ new Midnight Juggernauts. These guys would easily have to be one of my favourite Melbourne bands, so news that the gents are ready with some new stuff forced me to go buy a new pair of pants. And that’s a double win, coz I needed a new pair.
And if Russian pop music shows (ala Countdown) are your kinda thing then I reckon the clip will be up your alley. Even if it’s not your thing, then you’ll love the freaking clip. Too good. Fucking ace song too!!
Ballad of the War Machine is the first taste off the bands 3rd album due out for release mid 2013 via Siberia Records / Remote Control.
If you’re a Juggers fan, then make sure you check ‘em out as they tour the new single. They’re always ace live.
MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS
‘Ballad of the War Machine’ Tour
Friday 19 April – The Zoo, Brisbane
With special guests YesYou and Young Men Dead
Details here.
Saturday 20 April – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
With special guests YesYou and Four Door
Details here.
Wednesday 24 April – The Corner Hotel, Melbourne
With special guests YesYou and Client Liaison
Details here.
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Miks
BACK BACK FORWARD PUNCH.
Great name for a band aye? Back Back Forward Punch are outta Melbournetown and producing some really catchy disco pop. Complete with piano lines, filters galore and some smooth silky vocals.
Their latest single ‘Zero To Disco’ has gotten the remix treatment from Sydney’s Coupons as well as Melbourne dudes Dublin Aunts. Both are excellent, but I think it’s the Coupons remix that takes the cake for me – they’ve taken the original and made it their own.
You can stream the original as well as the two remixes below. SO GOOD!
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Miks
CLUBFEET + GUERRE
I wasn’t too fussed on the original of this track. Whilst getting a whole heap of radio play and love on the blogzzz, it lacked something for me. It sounded a little thin on the ground. Clubfeet are definitely a great band, and pretty much nail that fun, summery feel good vibe. But ‘Heartbreak’ was a little off the mark for me.
Guerre has had his way with it though, and takes away any resemblance of fun. Or summer.
Instead, it’s turned into a dark, glitch-beat and cut-up vocal driven trip, taking you stumbling through a pretty freaky dreamstate.
It’s also really really good.
Props to the excellent FBi Radio up in Sydney for the heads up.
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Miks
DEJA + COSMO BLACK.
To my ears, this feels as though it should be the other way around. The original track sounds like a remix, and the remix sounds like the original.
Maybe that’s DEJA‘s rather excellent sense of production -that slowed down groove of the original is big as all hell and absolutely kills. Then there’s Claire’s vocals – sitting so tightly with that groove.
Cosmo Black‘s remix ramps up that groove into a more dancefloor friendly big club track. I really dig the Cosmo Black boys and yeah, they kill it with this remix – THAT SAX!
You should also check out Cosmo Black’s new project Saturn Program, something that the DEJA peeps helped out on.
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Miks
CITY CALM DOWN.
You may or may not have noticed that City Calm Down have signed to awesome local label I OH YOU (home to Bleeding Knees Club, Snakadaktal, DZ Deathrays etc). The boys are releasing a new EP, Movements on November 2nd, but we don’t need to wait that long to hear the first taste.
Up this morning on the bands soundcloud is ‘Pleasure and Consequence’, a real builder of a track (seems to be a theme). The track is broken up into two distinct halves – the first sounding reasonably sparse (if compared to the second) with a warm bass line, some nice padded synths and Jack’s wonderfully dark and brooding vocals. Then smack bang at 1:51 it brings in these amazing three note synth lines, some faint but incredibly uplifting horns and some atmospheric ‘ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh‘s. It’s the 2 minute 18 second long climax you could only ever wish was possible. BAM!
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Miks
SOUTH CITY SUSHI COP
I was lucky enough to get my hands on an EP entitled Bad Blocks by a duo called South City Sushi Cop and had that ‘shit, these dudes are fucking incredible’ moment. With a name like South City Sushi Cop, I didn’t really know what I was getting into. But it’s one of the best thoughtful, ambient-techno pop releases I’ve heard this year.
Sitting at 6 tracks long, Bad Blocks is definitely something danceworthy, and hey, look, on one hand, it’s an EP 5/6ths full of dancefloor ready techno-pop bangers (track 5, ‘Seven Fields of Sigh’ offers some respite from the crazy moves). But on the other hand, and if you listen to the production, the instrumentation, and the reflective vocals, it has this really carefully constructed, interesting quality to it. There’s a heightened level of atmosphere, a bed of warmth sitting underneath every track that although the music itself doesn’t necessarily elicit a strong summer vibe, still helps to keep me warm on a cool Melbourne afternoon.
I’d highly recomend you get your dirty hands onto this release – it’s pretty fucking good. I got streams of my two faves below though – the sporadic, manic, chiptune infused ‘Forest Spitting Cola’ and ‘Where You’re From’, a track with a really strong club vibe to it, complete with elements of Presets, be it from the big chorus drops, or the pulsating, full-on kick drum groove.
Free download of the EP over on the bands bandcamp page.
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Miks
FAUX PAS.
Faux Pas is back with some new stuff! I’ve been following Tim Shiel for a while (yeah dude, that was me knocking on your window last night. nah, not really.).
Tim is releasing a new album entitled Remixes on August 20. And funnily enough, it’s an album full of remixes.
The first track from the album is his remix of Sydney glitchy folk superstar Caitlin Park‘s track ‘Baby Teeth’. You can check out the original here.
The remix is some killer, moody dance floor goodness. Extends the original into something quite amazing – those little piano flourishes are so nice!
You can stream/download the track below and make sure you keep your eye out for the album. Looking forward to this one!
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Miks
RÜFÜS.
This is a pretty big EP, absofuckinglutely complete with some of the big big big (read: BIG) names of the Aussie dance scene…and a London duo thrown in for good measure.
RÜFÜS are one of those live dance acts that are slaying it. After some large releases, the boys have put out the This Summer/Selena Remixes EP. You’ve probably noticed a few of the remixes around a bit, that Lancelot one has been getting a fair bit of coverage!
For me, it’s the Softwar remix – it messes the vocals a bit – you have to listen to hear it sit, but hell man, when it clicks, it’s one good techno remix masterpiece. You can stream that below, and if you dig, make sure you buy it.
RÜFÜS – This Summer (Softwar Remix)
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Miks
NEW NAVY.
I loved the original version of this track when it came out – was one of those tracks that opened up my eyes to electronic music.
Now Sydney fellas New Navy have done a cover of it…and it’s actually really fucking good! Done in colab for their label Future Classic and clothing giant Le Coq Sportif.
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Miks
PIGEON.
Pigeon are out of Brissie and do some killer electro pop. They have this quite dark undertone to their music which cuts through really nicely on a lot of their tracks.
New single, ‘Oh Hebe’ fits the bill rather nicely with that intro that gets you. The choruses are big too. And that warpy sound that sits beneath the majority of the song adds that dark, but consistent element to it. Adds an extra level to it all.
We got a stream of the track, the clip as well as the dates they’re doing to launch the newy.
OH HEBE TOUR 2012
Friday 10th August – Sol Bar – Maroochydore
Saturday 11th August - Alhambra Lounge - Brisbane
Thursday 16th August – Transit Bar - Canberra
Friday 17th August – Great Northern Hotel - Newcastle
Saturday 18th August – Goodgod Small Club - Sydney
Thursday 23rd August – Workers Club - Melbourne
Friday 24th August – The Loft – Warrnambool
Saturday 25th August – Ed’s Castle - Adelaide
Friday 31st August – Great Northern – Byron Bay
Saturday 1st September - Red Deer Festival –Mount Samson
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Miks
AIRWOLF + MUSCLES.
So, the new Muscles album drops tomorrow. I’m kinda keen…but really wonder whether he can top Guns, Babes, Lemonade. We wrote about the new jam, ‘Ready For A Fight’ a little while ago.
Anyway, Melbourne fella Airwolf has gone remixed the latest. Makes it slightly more accesible, and more club friendly. It doesn’t lose any of it’s energy though. Makes something that was originally pretty discordant and uneasy (which, can I say, I really love), into something that makes a bit more sense, ready for the smashed kids at Can’t Say or something. Like it.
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Miks
VAN SHE
Can’t really wait for the new Van She album. Gonna be pretty killer I reckon, and a bit of a departure from their indie pop stylings of a few years ago. New track, ‘Jamaica’ is a tropical jam, that on a cold Melbourne day – it is seriously about 10 degrees outside – makes me want to raise the body heat.
Album drops on July 6 locally – I’ve pre-ordered my copy. The guys are also heading out on tour – deets here.
Van She – Jamaica by modularpeople
Miks
NORTHEAST PARTY HOUSE.
These gents are killer, and so is this new single. Northeast Party House have had a fair bit of coverage over the past couple of years with a bit of Triple J play as well as a small reputation as a killer live band.
New single, ‘Pascal Cavalier’ is a bit of a moody indie dance thing – can hear elements of both City Calm Down and World’s End Press in there too. Always a good thing! I especially love the build ups that are part of this track – something these boys do really nicely. And then when that big chorus hits, it just kills.
You can catch Northeast Party House on an East Coast tour as they launch the newy. Make sure you check ‘em out. You definitely won’t be sorry will be dead inside if you miss out. Details here.
Northeast Party House – Pascal Cavalier by StopStartMusic
Miks
CATCALL + LANCELOT.
From a song that I already dig heaps, comes a remix that I dig equally as much. Sydney’s Lancelot has gone and had his way with Catcall‘s new single The World Is Ours. Makes it into a super late night deep house vibe and fucking hell. It kills it. One of the best remixes I’ve heard this year so far, of one of the best pop tracks I’ve heard this year.
It be a WIN WIN!
Catcall – The World Is Ours (Lancelot Remix) by LANCELOT
Miks
WORLD’S END PRESS.
THIS!
Really really really enjoying this new track from Melbourne disco wonderkids World’s End Press. The single got it’s debut over on Mess & Noise, and I’ve been visting that page ever since because I couldn’t find an actual direct soundcloud link! Tricky work fellas.
But now, it’s gone live, and as soon as I jumped online this morning, it was over to iTunes to download the badboy.
Dan Whitford helped them out with this track…and you can tell. The whole sound is a little more produced than the stuff on the Faithfull EP. Having caught them live at Laneway last year though, I think this track would work as well live as their earlier stuff. Those synth stabs in the chorus would surely make people go ape shit.
The guys’ debut full length is coming out later on in the year, and going by the first cut, looking forward to it a heap!
World’s End Press – Second Day Uptown
Miks
NEW MUSCLES.
Muscles is gonna be releasing his second album in a few weeks. Entitled ‘Manhood’ it’s one album I’m definitely keen on hearing this year. More info about the album over on the Modular site.
Anyway, the first single from the album dropped the other day. It’s some hard Euro disco kinda stuff, but still with that distinctive lazy Muscles vocal. There’s some uneasyness in this track, that major triad that’s played in the chorus (music nerds unite!) against that almost harsh sounding vocal sound. I really like that. It’s not just another track that makes immediate sense and follows some formula. I think given Muscles‘s music chops, he’s able to pull this off rather well.
Make sure you check out the fella when he launches the new album throughout June and July. Deets in that massive poster above!
Muscles – Ready For A Fight by modularpeople
Miks
COSMO BLACK.
At it again. Cosmo Black have a new single out, Blind. I wrote a couple of months ago that the boys have ‘arrived’ with their previous single, Let The Cold Air In. Well with Blind they’ve moved well beyond that and have taken it somewhere else.
For me, it’s the time signature of this track that cements the groove so solidly. Messing with that four four groove by a sixteenth means that there’s this underpinning level of urgency to the track – it takes the track a step above. That feeling of uneasiness is contrasted by the rather ethereal vocal sample however, making you feel a little more comfortable with the feel of the track.
I think being able to mess with our expectations and out already established ideas is a skill, something that’s really exciting to see within the more pop sounding dance music.
So yeah, I like this a lot! Also make sure you check out the more up-beat big club remix by Edwin Van Cleef. It has all the right drops in all the right places!
Cosmo Black – Blind (Edwin Van Cleef Remix)
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Miks
OSKAR.
Oskar is a Melbourne based house music fella. Doing some really great stuff that is easily on par with some of the killer dudes in both France and the States.
He’s got an absolute heap of stuff up on his soundcloud page so feel free to go a little nuts there. However, it’s new track Angela that I is gonna feature today.
A full 7 and a bit minute epic, Angela is something that builds on the one motif. But to save it from being something repetitive, Oskar employs slight changes in the groove and some subtle filters to ensure it builds and kinda grows from one thing to another. Not being an expert on house, I would suggest that that’s what sets good producers apart from the shit and mediocre.
Oskar – Angela by Oscar Official
BONUS!
Amtrac – Came Along (Oskar Remix) by Oscar Official
Miks
TWINSY.
Kinda creepy name. But pretty fun party style sing-a-long jamz.
Twinsy, a self-described ‘B-list feelgood supergroup’ are made up of Guy Chappell (Yacht Club DJs), Michael Belsar (Hunting Grounds) and Ajax (Under Your Sink/Bang Gang) – pretty decent mix of fellas right there! The debut self titled EP is due out soon on Sweat It Out and all the tracks on the EP are rather excellent, and pretty diverse. I reckon the best cuts are just below. If you dig hard though, check out the full EP over on the Twinsy Soundcloud. And when they say ‘feelgood’, they kinda mean it. This is some happy shit!
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Miks
LANCELOT.
Sydney gent Lance Gurisik is doing some pretty incredible stuff. It’s taken me a while, but I think he’s turned me a fan. You may know Lance better as Lancelot – he’s done a few pretty decent remixes over the past year or so, the most recent of which we got below!
The dude is set to launch his debut EP, ‘We Can Dance’ pretty soon. ahh…pretty apt name me thinks. Lead track, Spoken Word is piano led slow funk that makes you wanna be a little bit of a sleazebag…especially when that porno guitar hits!
It’s also really really good. Nice intro with the vocal samples and the slow groove that builds. Then it sets the scene with that solo piano groove…and then wham bam thank you mam, it all drops and is FUNK. The EP is out on Beatport on Feb 20 through Binary. Not a Beatport user? It’s getting a worldwide release on Mar 5. The EP will be a 7 tracker including remixes by Goldroom, Fabian, Moonchild, and Frames.
Lancelot - Spoken Word by LANCELOT
And then there’s that remix I spoke about just before. Matt Corby’s Brother was a massive track of last year…and Lancelot’s remix makes it even more dark and brooding – I’m liking the way Lancelot has used Corby’s vocals too. It’s not just a carbon copy of the track with a house groove behind it.
Matt Corby – Brother (Lancelot Remix) by LANCELOT
Miks
DRACULA PALMS.
Ok, these guys use to be called EMMA. We posted their first track Electric Moonlight Adolescence earlier on last year.
Now, as Dracula Palms, the Brisbane dudes still have that feel good indie pop sound, but with an added injection of funk. Reminds me of early MGMT (a definite good thing).
The two new tracks, Fluorescent Haze and Pretty Lady are killer. Getting into summer (although looking outside today…not so sure), I’m anticipating that Pretty Lady will be a few people’s soundtrack.
Fluorescent Haze is a bit more straight up in your face…and at the risk of sounding like a complete wanker, the track oozes this feeling of cool. or maybe kool. I dunno.
Anyway, you can get your hands on both tracks below. Get ready for these dudes.
Dracula Palms – Fluorescent Haze
Miks
CITY CALM DOWN.
The City Calm Down boys are back with a new ‘EP’ (well, it’s two tracks).
The guys found something they were good at a while back and have stayed on that since. This is some moody indie dance. Opener, Dare is a bit more of an upbeat (in groove at least) builder with no chorus as such…just an almighty build for just over 6 and a half mins. It definitely takes you with it though. Second cut, Burn Slow is far more moody. When those drums and bass kick in early on in the piece you know it’s gonna go somewhere a little darker. And I guess Jack’s refrain, “All I have is now gone” kinda lends itself to that darkness kinda well. Then it picks up around 2:45 and kicks along, but still feels equally as dark.
Make sure you check out the EP over on Bandcamp – you can either get it for free…or pay something for it. You should definitely put some hard earned towards these boys. And yeah, I know, I’ve got the soundcloud links just below and they have a free download, but I can’t manage to upload the tracks myself this morning – stupid Library internet!
Miks
