WORKSHOP.
Sometimes you sit back, let that inbox number slowly (or actually pretty quickly) increase and just realise how popular you really are. Then you realise that the majority of the stuff is useless promo advertising some club night in London and you think ‘fuck. i’m not popular at all.’
The tides they turn though, what with those little bits of gold that sparsely pepper the inbox. The lead track from WORKSHOP‘s new EP Luxury, right from the get go, made me sit up in the chair. It’s expansive, what with those big drum machine triggers. It’s big in those wide ranging reverby synths. ‘Repeat After Me’ gets you to do just that. It’s not merely the refrain that is, as the name would suggest, repeated and played with. But it’s the feeling afterwards. That strange nostalgic sense of confidence, grandness and everything that makes you sit up in your chair, click back on that soundcloud tab and press the play button again.
The full EP stands up to what ‘Repeat After Me’ suggests. It’s pulsating, dark and moody synth disco music. It sounds incredibly focussed and direct. The opener ‘Purity Exhibition’ for instance builds upon the darkness of ‘Repeat After Me’, takes it more upbeat TRON style. It’s driving, and unrelenting in it’s instrumentation. There doesn’t feel like there’s time to breath in ‘Purity Exhibition’, even though you never really lose your breath.
I definitely recommend you get your little earholes around this EP. As a debut is stands incredibly strong. It’s a project full of style and has a real strong aesthetic, but none of this is lost in the music. Grab it here.
…
Miks.
KOWL.
Sometimes sweet things benefit from a little bitterness. I learned this just now as I indulged myself in KOWL‘s latest 3-tracker, then immediately went ahead to feature the absolute least KOWLesque track on there. OR DID I?*
If you haven’t had the pleasure, Cal (Hobart) has had a hand in a bunch of projects (including stuff with Asta), and his own stuff as KOWL caught me last year with feel-good-house-disco and earworm potency. But the new stuff doesn’t just evolve the sound and quality, it also adds this tense onimous edge to the classic grooves.
I’ll take a punt that the darker mood has to do with some heartbreak for the poor guy, using evidence that includes the title of the EP. But that actually works out pretty well for you and me, as I find it makes it even more addictive. Just like the bitters in my trademark old fashioned, turning sweetened cheap whiskey into a drink of kings. Not that his old stuff was cheap whiskey by any stretch, I’m really just trying to boast that I can make a cocktail.
And so my choice is the uncharacteristic darkest of the 3, ‘You’re Welcome‘. It is slower, ill at ease, untrustworthy and yet moreish.
Also, it has saxaphone. Yes it’s weird there’s been 2 weeks of saxophone frenzy out of nowhere, but shhhhh….let’s not ruin it by talking about it on blogs.
This is a tasty drink KOWL, don’t mind if I do sip it again. Streaming on soundcloud, full release next Friday.
(* I did, but I prefer to call it ‘future KOWLesque’)
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Adam
DR DON DON + KLP.
So I was really really tempted just to leave this post as one word, that being ‘disco’ and just leave it at that. But then I’d really be failing to highlight just how freaking funky this new Dr Don Don track is. And KLP‘s vocals are tight and do nothing to stop that summery vibe, in fact, if anything, they multiply the funk. and the worst finish to a sentence ever award goes to me.
So, there you go, a few more words about the feel-good track of the summer winter (seriously, how cold is it in Sydney at the moment?!)
You can stream ‘Way To The Sun’, and if you’re keen, head over to Dr Don Don’s soundcloud – the full 4 track EP is streaming over there ahead of the August 30 release date.
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Miks
TYLER TOUCHÉ.
This is a track I can only post on a Friday (hence the late uptake on my behalf).
And whilst the above sentence is a pretty good excuse/lie (instead of me telling you of how many gems are still sitting in an inbox that is still 172 unread because I am crazy busy with PhD lyfe), the newy, ‘Heart in Motion’, from Tyler Touché is actually pretty suitable for a Friday night, heck, even a Friday afternoon.
Big 70’s nu-disco vibe on this track, something that this kid (he’s fucking young) is known for. And that vocal take draws you right in, especially sitting high against that mean ass deep bass line.
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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
MAXI.
So every once and a while you sleep on a track and then come across a remix that forces you to go back and re-listen to the original. The artist in question is Melbourne singer Maxi and the remixer is new kid on the Sydney block Adam Sandlah.
The track is Maxi’s latest single, ‘From The Start’.
The original has this real funky vibe to it – from those condensed drum sounds to the keyboard groove. And then, of course, Maxi’s super hot vocals on top.
The remix adds this cool, disco house feel to it. Put against this straight up groove, it keeps the verses simple – bass, beat, and vox. Added in the chorus is that hella good horn line and a funkier groove.
I’d keep an eye out on Sandlah. Could be ontoagoodthing.
…
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
SOFTWAR.
Sydney disco kickers Softwar are finally out with their new EP, This Time Around. After what seems like forever for it’s release, the two…umm…body builders (it’s in their bio!) have kinda nailed that big funky deep house sound with this release. The new EP is coming through Future Classic with it being released on vinyl a couple of days ago ahead of a digital release in March (6 March on Beatport, and 20 March everywhere else). The new release is dare I say a little bit cleaner sounding when compared to their EP of last year. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though – progression in sound always keeps things fresh.
We got our faves from the four track EP just below.
Softwar – August by future classic
Softwar – Darker (Digital Only) by future classic
Miks
CANYONS – KEEP YOUR DREAMS
ok, so this is an album I’ve been hanging out for for quite a while. After hinting at what they could offer as early as 2008, the now Sydney based gents Canyons have released their debut, Keep Your Dreams.
This is an album that excites me. It has elements of my fave things about deep techno/house/anyothergenre. New single See Blind Through has clear similarities with Azari & III, and some of the more techno stuff reminds me a bit of new Cutters.
But I think what makes this album great is that it’s not all the one thing. One of the things that put me off the Azari & III record was the fact that whilst they do some stellar stuff, it all sounds very similar. The thing that sets Canyons apart is that not only do they have their cock in a few pies, they also seem to be able to have their way with each quite convincingly (there’s an image you wanted i’m sure…).
As I said in an earlier post about the guys, they not only have the knack for writing killer tech/disco numbers, they also have the knack for writing some killer pop songs. My Rescue is a clear example of that. The slow builds and the hopeful lyrics, not to mention the fact that it’s guitar based set it apart from the others in a way. It sort of acts as a nice peak early on.
Other standouts for me would be the rather chill Sun and Moon, the dark builder Blue Snakes, and the blissed out closer Land In Between.
You can stream the full thing over on the Modular soundcoud account. You can buy the thing here (Aus iTunes store).
Canyons – Blue Snakes
Canyons – See Blind Through (DJ Harvey Remix)
Miks
CITY CALM DOWN
we featured these guys a while ago. City Calm Down are their name and decent live indie disco stuff is their game.
I’m quite liking this newish sound for the gents – it’s not as dark and gothy. There’s a bit more brightness in there which is always a good thing – shows we can grow and all that wanky sounding stuff.
It’s actually going to be the first single taken from their debut full length. Really looking forward to this.
…Anyway, in the spirit of keeping the content on this here blog short and letting the quality of the tunes do the talking, i be shutting up now.
wolfmix
fuck it’s good to see some local djs doing some mega cool shit. Like, it’s bloody awesome.
Melbourne kid Airwolf has put his electro/funk touch to a few tracks. And yes. Man!
First up, he’s done the two AEONS singles that they’ve got on their latest EP (Have you checked out that EP yet? Hope you have. Jump HERE is you missed it). He’s taken the clothes off Beyond The Satellites, touched it, and laid it down to rest a bit (Translation: He’s stripped it back, made it soar a little more). Really great remix. He’s also had his way with Where The Sky Meets The Sea. This is mean. No stripping here. If anything, he’s added clothes! Well…added layers. picked up the pace a little too. Bam!
AEONS – Beyond The Satellites (Airwolf Remix)
AEONS – Where The Sky Meets The Sea (Airwolf Remix)
Second. He’s sexily discofied DCUP‘s To Be In Love. Great remix and funks shit up!
my house on the moon
Moonchild is a dude out of Sydney who’s doing some pretty nice house music. I actually received this months ago, but got sent it again last week. And now i’m kicking myself that I didn’t pay more attention when I first heard it. You have to listen to this loud with plenty of bass. It’s house music, as it should be. Also has a pretty massif disco influence. Love my disco when it’s done well!
So yeah, his track Girl is already doing pretty well out there in blog land. If you like what you hear though, definitely recommend you check out his latest mixtape which you download over at his soundcloud page.
Also have included a remix of his…
blaskoishious
Yum. Don’t know why i’m going with a food theme, but hey, i’m just going to run with it and see what happens. This track is amazing though. The Presets have been pretty quiet of late. KIM’s been off releasing discs and touring, and well, i’m not sure what Julian’s been up to. They’ve put their touch (new touch too! more on that later) on Sarah Blasko‘s new single Hold On My Heart which I believe is due out quite soon. Ms Blasko’s doing a Australian tour in October which you can can check out more deets about here. She’s also currently touring the UK supporting The Temper Trap – should be a top notch show.
Anyway, back to this remix. It’s definitely a change for The Presets. Quite discoish actually…none of that hard techy kinda stuff they were doing. But I think, as with anything The Presets do, they do it well. The guys are classically trained musos for fucks sake.
The original is a nice song. The remix just ramps it up a little and has this nice guitar groove underneath the whole thing. The remix is available over at the Triple J New Free Music Page – always some pretty good stuff over there.
Check it out just below and don’t forget to get over to the J website and download it.
Sarah Blasko – Hold On My Heart (The Presets Remix)
swiss dancing animals
ok. A bit of a freebee just for you kids. Awesome Adelaidians, The Swiss are playing in Melbourne this Friday night and, from what i’ve heard, they should be a little awesome. They’re playing down at Mercat Cross (just near Queen Vic Market) with the ever awesome Knightlife as well as killer locals Andee Frost (he’s got one of the best radio shows in Melbourne), Tornado Wallace, and Ontologic. It’s all thanks to party dudes Animals Dancing and you can grab tix over at Moshtix.
Anyway, they’ve put together a mix to get you set for Friday night. Listen and die…of an earache because it is too awesomely good.
Animals Dancing Swiss Mini Mix
Tracklist:
1. Sidwho? – Time To Go
2. Lewie Day – That’s The Thing
3. Knightlife – Crusader
4. The Swiss – Bubble Bath
5. Ladyhawke – Magic (The Swiss Remix)
6. A+O – Misunderstood
7. My Love (Otologic Extended Edit)
sexy time
ok. I think one of my New Year Resolutions will be to find another record label other than Modular and Bang Gang 12″s that I think are the beezneezzz. So, without further ado, I promise you my last ever Mod/Bang specific post! (NB. Promises are made to be broken right? oh wait…that’s rules. anyway…i’m not good at keeping promises…wow…not really painting a very good picture of myself am i??!!)
Let’s get on with it. Two bands/acts have been put on high rotation of late. And they’re both Aussie. The Swiss and Cassian.
First off, The Swiss. What’s perhaps the best thing about these dudes is that they don’t hail from your typical electro scene of Melbourne or Sydney. The Swiss are from Adelaide, proving it doesn’t matter where you came from, it’s how you do it that counts. Ohh…how sweet. I posted their track Movement 1 a while ago, and they do some bloody great disco. As I said in my earlier post, these dudes are a definite indication that disco may well be sticking around for a while yet. This is a newy from the recently signed Modular boys. It’s called Bubble Bath. It’s due out on Jan 29th, and the EP is going to feature some remixes from Tensnake and Knightlife. BAM!
Second for the day is a dude out of Melbourne/Sydney. He’s called Cassian. He is pretty bloody good also. He kinda has that disco feel too, like the Swiss, but far more electro. The fella is signed to Bang Gang 12″s and has already featured pretty heavily on their compilations. I definitely recommend checking out the Bang Gang 12″s MySpace for some of the acts on their list. I’m not sure if a better crew of electro goodness could ever be assembled. Anyway, this is a new one from Cassian. It’s called The Fuck Song. And it features on his new release, the Friday Night EP.
K. That’ll do the ramble for now
new music first #11
wow. It’s been a while I know. I’m in exam mode at the moment so the whole blog thing has been put on the backburner. But, I figure I should at least get one post out there for you guys! And what better than an all encompassing New Music First post. Some pretty good stuff here – eclectic. All with an electronic tinge though which is always good!
First up is a local band called Goodnight Owl. These guys are from Melbourne and they produce some pretty nice guitar pop music. But then it has something else. It’s like a great sounding acoustic track but with this awesome glitchy electro stuff beneath it. It’s a really nice blend. Great lyrics too. If you’re in Melbourne also, you should check them out – they’re playing a few shows in early December. Check out the info here.
Goodnight Owl – Maps and Compasses
(iTunes)
Next up is a band that’s kinda exploded in blog land. They’re called Sleigh Bells and they’re…well…i don’t know. Apart from good, they’re definitely good. Already, you can see they’ve got two sides. A loud full on blown out distorted fucking great in your face style sound. They’ve also got a great nice, sweet pop sound. I like the loud abrasive sound the best. Crown on The Ground is definitely that. Oh…and just in time for Christmas! haha…sorry…had to get that in.
Sleigh Bells – Crown On The Ground
Third up on the list is Fuck Buttons. I got turned on to these guys through The Sound Lab on Triple J radio here in Australia. They produce some pretty awesome glitchy techno i suppose. I don’t know really, i’m no good with genre’s. I will say that it pumps, they all grow into something really big, they’re full of massive layers of sound, and the majority of their songs are pretty long. Including the track bellow, Space Mountain.
(iTunes)
Fourth on my little list of tricks is a band out of Brooklyn. Sensual Harassment are they’re name and they’ve been around for a short while. They cited (the M A A M F loved) Miami Horror as a band they like in the email they sent me so I thought I should give them a shot. They’re track, Daddy Long Legs is great. Is funky, slow groove, comes to an almighty climax mid way and keeps it going throughout.
Sensual Harassment – Daddy Long Legs
(iTunes)
Last on ze listo is The Swiss. You guys may have heard of these dudes before. They’re from South Australia but we won’t hold that against them because they produce some pretty awesome DISCO! Movement 1 has been around for a little while already and it’s part of a big Movement EP with three movements. Other than that, they’ve also remixed Ladyhawke’s Magic which I’m sure some of you have heard. Hell, they’re even supporting Ms Hawke on her current national tour. Must be love. Anyway, you should all check these dudes out. They’re the Next Crop feature artist today for Aus Music Month on Triple J too. Check out a new track called Bubble Bath on the Next Crop/Home & Hosed blog too. Bloody killer.
Anyway, that’s it. Mammoth post, so hopefully that will do you for a while and I can get back to my study. Last exam is on the 23rd, so expect a lot more amazing sounds after that.
K. That’ll do the ramble for now.
MAAMF: an australian music blog 