SNAKADAKTAL.
‘The most talented kids in Australia’
That’s something you’ll probably hear a bit about the Snakadaktal peeps. Seriously great song writers who haven’t put a foot wrong yet. We caught new single ‘Dance Bear’ a few months ago when they played at the Northcote Social Club. It was killer then – went off a bit! – and now, we got a recorded version. You can stream it below now, and grab it from iTunes from tomorrow.
So keen on hearing their debut. Big loves to the I OH YOU crew aswell. Those kids be completely nuts.
…
Miks
BORED NOTHING.
Ok, so this stuff is lovely. Bored Nothing is one dude, Fergus Miller from Melbourne town. He makes some really great, unassuming 90’s vibe indie and, at the risk of sounding like a complete and utter wanker, it makes me feel kinda nostalgic.
He released an EP a couple of weeks ago, which is all kinds of good. There are some definite brooding moments on there too – Pay For My Drugs is a highlight for me. But then there’s tracks like ‘Only Old’ which has gone a bit gangbusters lately.
Free download of the EP over on his bandcamp page – suggest you get this stuff into ya.
Miks
ALLDAY + C1.
Ok, so if you’re all over both Triple J and Triple J Unearthed, then most likely you would have heard a track off Allday and C1‘s EP ‘Skateboard Soiree’. Another local hiphop kid, Ry put me onto this…and it is what everybody suggests, something out of left field that melds a bit of humour with some really killer beats and rhymes.
This deserves to be pretty big. We got three tracks from the EP just below…and if you dig, you can download the whole thing for free from here.
Allday x C1 – The City
Allday x C1 – So Good
Allday x C1 – My World (feat. Luke Gray)
…
Miks
CUB SCOUTS
Brissie kids Cub Scouts have been getting a fair bit of coverage recently, from quite a bit of love on the j’s to a national tour with Pluto Jonze and a tour with fellow Brissie peeps Ball Park Music over the next coupla months.
The five-piece are set to launch their new single ‘Do You Hear’. There is seriously something about Brisbane and their ability to put out some of the raddest sounding pop music. Cub Scouts’ earlier single Evie is testament to this. New one ‘Do You Hear’ is still full of that charm and feel good factor. There’s also a sense of urgency about the track, I think aided by the backbeat in the drum groove.
So if you dig jangly feel good indie pop, then yep, reckon you may well dig this.
More deets about their tour with Ball Park Music can be found on Ball Park Music’s facebook page.
Miks
KIMBRA
ok, so every Friday morning, Triple J have a thing called Like A Version where they get an artist to come in and play an original track as well as a cover. Kimbra was in last Friday and produced a rather spesh mashup of Grizzly Bear’s Two Weeks and Head Over Heels by Tears For Fears.
It’s amazeballs. Kimbra works that sampler/loop machine so freakin well. Got a clip of her performing on Rockwiz a litle while back just so you can check her out in action.
You can stream the track below…and make sure you check out the full interview complete with both tracks (she did Two Way Street as her original) over on the Like A Version page.
Kimbra – Two Weeks + Head Over Heels (Grizzly Bear + Tears For Fears mashup)
Miks
THE RED LIGHTS
Something that has driven my love for music, right from my teens is a really well crafted guitar pop song.
Melbourne lads The Red Lights do that.
We’ve posted about these guys before, and featured two of their earlier tracks, Radio and Sun Finds Us. Anyway, they got a new track out, In A Daze, and to say it’s catchy is an understatement. It’s fucking amazingly catchy. And once again, a lot of it is to do with the vocals of lead fella Dean Valentino.
Make sure you check out their Unearthed profile to download all three tracks. We got the new one In A Daze as a stream down below.
Expecting decent things from these guys!
The Red Lights – In A Daze
Miks
THE VASCO ERA.
We’ve been lucky enough to have a bit of a listen to The Vasco Era‘s new LP before it hits the stores next week. And man, it kinda kills. Good, hard working bluesy rock ‘n’ roll. There’s a feeling of authenticity about the sound, you get the impression that it comes from somewhere pretty genuine.
This is the guys third album, but their first done so independently. It seems a little more relaxed which is kinda cool – you get the impression that they’re a bit more free (and yes, I am aware of how wankerish that sounds).
All the tracks are strong on this release. You would have heard Child Bearing Hips, apparently a track about bigger blokes, not curvy babes, on the j’s – it’s getting the shit played out of it…and rightly so. Other tracks that really stand out for me though are ‘Rock And Roll Is The Only Thing That Makes Me Feel Good’ and ‘Every Boy Is The Same’. We got a bit of an exclusive stream of Every Boy Is The Same just for you!
The Vasco Era – Every Boy Is The Same
The guys are also set for a national run of dates, co-headlining with Sydney gents Papa Vs Pretty. You can check out more deets on their website.
YES!
Miks
PILLOES
I know absolutely nothing about this guy, apart from the fact that he’s from Sydney, his real name is Marcus Solomon and he has one track out called Holmes that works!
If vocal layering and some beats are your thing, then Pilloes might be your man. His track Holmes starts off with some vocals, continuously layered upon. You think this is the melody, but then a new voice comes across, on top of it all with the melody. Then some beats hit you and man, the continuous building of layers in this track is done really really well.
Like!
You can find Pilloes on Triple J Unearthed…and that’s all I think. Keeping the mystery going. I do hope we hear more from this fella though.
Miks
NEW REGURGITATOR.
Regurgitator were easily one of the most important bands of my teens. Even if it was only one album I truly got into. That album was of course Unit. I remember buying it with my Mum (i was hardcore) – I would have been 13. I don’t think mum noticed the 18+ sticker on the front and i’m also pretty sure the owner of the record store didn’t really care.
It was an important album because it had some of the greatest songs of my high school years. It also gave an impressionable 13 year old a pretty fresh vocabulary.
Anyway, you can check out Unit over on iTunes and make sure you check out why it got #10 in the triple j hottest 100 Australian albums of all time.
Anyway, they have a new track. A few albums later, band in the bubble stuff and the odd side project, they’re back. It’s that radio friendly pop that they do so well with that chorus that comes in and kicks. It sounds like a mature ‘gurge. I like this song! Makes me contemplate my own mortality etc. You know. The usual.
You can grab it for free from their facebook.
miks
LAURA JEAN.
I gotta be honest. I saw Laura Jean years ago support Ben Lee at Ding Dong lounge in Melbourne town about 6 months before Lee had that big Catch My Disease etc album. And I really didn’t dig it. Granted, my taste was a bit different back then and things that were a little different, and not as poppy kinda scared me. Not as in BOO scare. Just as in, I didn’t know what to think.
Anyway, cut 6 or so years down the track and I’m sitting in my bedroom listening to Zan host 2011 on Triple J. And she plays this song by Laura Jean…and yes. It is good! Still bluesy, but it makes sense to me now. Track is called Missing You and you can grab it for free from her facebook page. It’s a really well written song, sounds like Melbourne, but still has that bluesy feel. LIKE!
NEW NAVY.
And we’re back.
Sorry about that break there.
To start back, we’ve got a pretty solid joint from Sydney gents New Navy. It’s called Zimbabwe and, for me, the song is made on that out-of-tune sounding whistle at the very top. It catches you off guard and kinda forces you to pay attention.
The track itself is a bit of a party track, very Holidaysesque and Vampire Weekendesque. There’s nothing wrong with that though. Every listen, you hear something new going on. Pretty percussive heavy (LIKE) and lots of little guitar lines.
Anyway, solid track. Check out the vid too. Their YouTube is a bit of a goldmine actually…well at least for the track Animals. Wows. Hope you dig…more to come!
Miks
THE RED LIGHTS.
taken from facebook
Sometimes it just takes a post on our facebook page for us to discover your music, and kinda fall in love with it.
The Red Lights did that. And YES!
There’s something about the vocals of Dean Valentino that do it. The phrasing, the way he gets some words out, even how his voice sits in the mix. The band is really really great, but I think without the vocals, they would just be another indie band.
You can stream their tracks Radio and Sun Finds Us below and make sure you head along to their Unearthed profile and download them
…
TRIPLE J HOTTEST100? OR DISAPPOINTING 100?
For me, this years Hottest100 was pretty disappointing. Only three of my top10 tracks got in. Pretty shocked in a way.
So, for those that missed the whole thing, Angus & Julia Stone got #1 with Big Jet Plane. Whilst I don’t hate Big Jet Plane, having them at number 1? REALLY?
For me, there were a few massive letdowns.
- There was no The Holidays
- There was no Cut Copy
- There was no Beach House
- Kanye didn’t even hit the top10!!
- One of the best songs of the year Time To Wander by Gypsy & The Cat got in at #73
If you want to see the list for yourself, jump along to here. There were some good inclusions in there, but most of these were in the wrong half, and bands like Gorillaz didn’t even hit the top 30.
I know things like this are never going to please everyone, and I’m definitely not going to start hating on Triple J (I’ll hate on a fair few of their listeners though), but man, I thought last year was a pretty stellar year for music, and I’m genuinely surprised that The Holidays didn’t make it in. Like, really surprised.
But yes, the tracks I voted for are below. Gypsy & The Cat, Kanye and Yeasayer all made it in with the tracks below, but none hit the top 10 (Runaway got #14)
I suppose one of the big things is that I won’t stop listening to the JJJs. I love Zan’s show in the morning, always try and listen to Home & Hosed each weeknight, and have made a habit of listening to 2011 each Sunday night. And hell, I’m even listening to the J House Party thingy right now as I type. All of these shows put forward some pretty awesome music, a lot of it pretty new too. Richard Kingsmill is one of the best and most influential men in Aussie music, and programs like Unearthed, and even things like The One Night Stand that Triple J put on are really important for the whole of Australia and the music industry.
So yes, I guess I love the JJJs. Sure, some of the tracks they play aren’t my thing – if I hear another stadium rock band (Birds Of Tokyo etc), I may do something silly, but all in all, they’re perhaps the most important thing in the Australian music industry. That, and all the excellent local stations like 3RRR and FBi.
But yep. If I had it my way, here’s what I would’ve put as my top5. These aren’t necessarily my top 5 songs of last year, just my top 5 from the list that Triple J provides.
The Radio Dept. – Heaven’s On Fire
Dan Kelly – Hold On, I’m Coming On
Kanye West – Runaway (feat. Pusha T)
The Holidays – Broken Bones
Gypsy & The Cat – Time To Wander
NEW SPARKADIA.
courts of erin
ok. So I saw Sparkadia support Faker a few years ago, and just between you and me, they were just that bit better than Faker on the night.
Then they went quiet, had a bit of a lineup change (it’s ended up being a solo project for frontman Alex Burnett), moved over to the UK (East London to be exact) and came back with one massive track. That was, of course, Talking Like I’m Falling Down Stairs. That track went super big on Triple J, and rightly so. Classic pop song…and it’ll be interesting to see how it goes in the Hottest 100 next week too.
But today, now, as you read this very post, we got a new Sparkadia track. It’s called Mary. Like the Cosmo Black remix of the John Steel Singers we posted a little while ago, it’s full of straight rhythms over swung vocals and vice versa. Gives it this effortless feel which I’m diggin once again. Sweet song. You can expect their second album on March 18th.
BUCHANAN ADDED TO LANEWAY MELBOURNE
A bit over a week ago, Triple J announced the Unearthed winners playing at Laneway Festival. I could have blogged about this then, but I kinda forgot. It works out well though, because the dudes at Laneway released playing times etc today too, so why not one big post for it all??!!
First up, the Melbourne winners for Unearthed were Buchanan. The track they won with is Teachers (down below), but I’ve been following these dudes for a while now. They’re a three piece doing some pretty tight indie pop. Their earlier tracks sound way beyond a few dudes who are unsigned. And Teachers ain’t no exception. Super looking forward to seeing these guys open up laneway. Check out more of their tracks on their Unearthed profile.
For a list of the other bands that took out the right to open up Laneway in their home cities, head here.
Also today, Laneway finally released the playing times. Coz i’m going to the Melbourne leg, we’re only sorta worried/excited about the playing times for that specific show. If you’re from another city, you can grab the playing times via the Laneway website.
But Melbourne. Man. Luckily, I seem to have found a non clash pathway from gates open to close. Except for all the opening bands i wanna catch. And then theirs my mate. Ha! I think he wants to see Ariel Pink…ok, so there might be a few clashes. But yes, below are my pics for the day.
COSMO BLACK + JOHN STEEL SINGERS
It’s not often you get sent a genuinely fun remix. Adelaide via Melbourne boys Cosmo Black seem to do that though.
This hear (see what i did with the spelling there?) remix is of that slighty massive track Overpass by The John Steel Singers, a band that to be honest, I haven’t gotten into as much as what it seems the rest of the Triple J listening public have.
That said, Overpass is a pretty nice track. Love the accents and the horns. But man, this remix kills. It makes it all funky and stuff. The original is done in a bit of a swung groove, and at the beginning i thought that a remix in straight time would mess it up. But this works. Almost seems like the vocals are a little lazy and messy over the top of this straight and rigid four to the floor groove. Dig that heaps!
NO ART.
Pic courtesy of Erin.
This here is a lovely track from Sydney indie kids No Art.
Their track Kids In Place is kinda dark but still rollicks along – especially with that opening riff.
And then there’s that break down just part half way, a changein vocalists and it almost feels like it’s two separate songs, but it still sounds like one.
These guys may well be big.
Abbe May + Tame Impala
Abbe May is a Perth based blues singer songwriter and has been making a bit of a name for herself, especially of late. Her track Mammalian Locomotion has been getting a fair bit of play on Triple J, and rightly so. It’s this straight out blues number that kind of kicks it hard. Check out the clip below and if you like, grab it on iTunes.
We also a remix Kevin and Cam from Tame Impala did of the track. Although they don’t change the track itself that much, they do make it a heap darker and plenty and plenty of filters.
Abbe May – Mammalian Locomotion (Kevin Parker + Cam Avery Remix)
Laneway 2011 LINEUP!
ok. So this morning, Triple J slowly let out the lineup for the St Jeromes Laneway Festival for next year…
wow.
I think that’s all I can say! Most of the bands I’ve been hanging out to see but haven’t been able to coz of the year that is Honours Thesis are on this list.
Cutters (AM SO FREAKING PUMPED TO SEE THESE BOYS LIVE AGAIN!) played at Parklife which would’ve been awesome.
Yeasayer and Beach House played at Splendour.
And then there’s PVT, Rat Vs Possum, The Holidays, Bear In Heaven, Deerhunter, Holy Fuck, Gotye…man, the list just goes on and on. It’s like a bloggers wet dream…or nightmare (Too many great bands in only one day!)
Anyway, you can check out the lineup just below. You can check out my mini review of last years here. Also make sure you check out a few tracks from the bands playin.
I am freaking excited!
…
Ariel Pink
Beach House
Bear in Heaven
Blonde Redhead
!!!
Cut Copy
Deerhunter
Foals
Gotye
Holy Fuck
Jenny and Johnny
Les Savy Fav
Local Native
Menomena
The Antlers
The Holidays
PVT (PVT – Window)
Rat vs Possum (Rat Vs Possum – Binti Jua)
Stornoway
Two Door Cinema Club
Violet Soho
Warpaint
World’s End Press (World’s End Press – Golden Child)
Yeasayer (Yeasayer – O.N.E)
hippy pussy
When Triple J started playing this track, I thought “hey, this is cool! i wonder which international big name act has put this out?” Then i heard them say that that was Gypsy and the Cat and they’re off Triple J Uneathed (for those of you who don’t know, Uneathed is this unsigned band site run by yoof radio station Triple J).
For a band who got their break from Unearthed, man, they have a killer sound (not to say that other Unearthed artists don’t sound equally as awesome). But yeah, their track Jona Vark is all kinds of indie goodness and you can check it out below. They’re already getting some blog love – check out an interview done by super good blog Asian Dan.
middle of the dark side
You know how sometimes, there are bands that have this really awesome song and you love it so much that it becomes your second favourite track of the year and after a while you realise that you only know that one song?
I do.
The Middle East are that band for me. And Blood was that song for me. I did know one other song by them however…and to be honest, it kind of put me off. That song was called Pig Food…and it was just too slow and naval gazing and depressing. It sounded like a Melbourne band called Laura who produce these massively long depressing tracks (I do like Laura, just in small doses!) But then another track fell into my hands. It’s called The Darkest Side and it makes me realise that The Middle East should be known for more than just the one song. It has that whole folk pop thing, the same as Blood, but a little more introspective I suppose.
Anyway, here it is. If you listen to the JJJ’s, then you’ve probably heard it. The guys also just one the J Award for best Unearthed Act. Pretty good award to win I reckon!
The Middle East – The Darkest Side
I also recommend checking out the vid for Blood. Pretty nice.
K. That’ll do the ramble for now
new music first #13
Thought I should get some new music out of the way before the new year hits us (granted, I do have close to a week before that happens, but I wanted to get my best tracks and remixes lists out before the end of the decade).
Anyway, tracks. There’s a whole big mixture of stuff here. Just what this blog is all about i suppose…bit of everything.
First up is a bit of electronica kinda stuff. Paqman are from Melbourne/Canberra (strange mix I know.). Their track Donno is a really nice kinda chilled track that glides. umm…did i just write glides? wow. Anyway, it is a really nice track. As I look out my window now, it’s kinda warm and sunny and this track accompanies that pretty freakin well.
Second up are a duo out of Berlin. I’m Not A Band sound kinda like a band…sorry to break that to you. Their name sounds like they belong on Kitsune. As so does their music. I love Kitsune and their Kitsune Maison compilations are always a good indication of what’s big out there. I reckon these guys might just be big.
Third, a bit of a change of pace. Camp Out are out of California. They’re two ladies who produce really well written indie pop. Really good songs. They’re looking to release their album early in the new year, and from what I’ve heard of it, it seems really good. It sound like the sort of pop tunes that Triple J actually would play. There are obvious comparisons to Tegan and Sara for sure, but give these guys a go. Really nice stuff.
Fourth, and finally, it’s Memory Tapes, or Dayve Hawk to his folks. There’s this sub-genre that seems to be forming that’s being dubbed ‘chill-wave’. Now, since I’m a music blogger, you’d think I would be on top of it…and I know, it’s been around for a while now (well…a few months at least). People like Neon Indian, and The Babe In The Woods are sort of pushing this sound. Anway, Zan Rowe did a feature on Chill-Wave in the latest J Mag, so it must be big now. I dunno. I think I like it. As Zan says though, “Hawk is the most hi-fi (out of the ‘movement’) – but even that is a stretch.”
K. That’ll do the ramble for now
the hardest part of the year
Bloody hell these things are difficult. I’ve got a list of 15 albums that are standout…and, you know, in accordance with every other album poll out there, I’m thinking I should get it down to 10. Oh…and then the order! Freaking hell. If you want an early indication as to what may be included you can jump on over to the 2009 best of… page. That hasn’t been updated for a fair while though. You can also check out the Album Review categories thing too for a good indication. There are a few in my shortlist however that didn’t make either of those so I guess you’ll just have to sit and wait!
The main reason behind why I’m writing this post is that I’m currently listening to Richard Kingsmill countdown the top 10 albums according to Triple J listeners. It’s a pretty good list (except for Muse at number 3…well look, I don’t hate them but I just think they sound just a bit pretentious). Richard Kingsmill is Triple J’s music programmer, and he does his own best of to accompany the listeners best of. That is always a good list. You can check Richard’s list out here.
You can check out the listener’s list just below though…
Triple J Listener Top 10 Albums of 2009
10. Passion Pit – Manners
09. Lisa Mitchell – Wonder
08. Paul Dempsey – Everything Is True
07. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!
06. Sarah Blasko – As Day Follows Night
05. Florence And The Machine – Lungs
04. Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
03. Muse – The Resistence
02. The Temper Trap – Conditions
01. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Anyway…what do you guys think the best album of the year is? Has it been a good year for music? Has a been a shit year? Comment away peeps!!!
To leave you with, a track off one of my faves of the year. Phoenix put out an amazing album this year. Although only clocking in in a bit over half an hour, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix was easily a standout. And this is one of the standout tracks, Girlfriend.
(iTunes)
K. That’ll do the ramble for now.
fake silver
Faux Pas is a Melbourne fella who produces some pretty dreamy electro pop. His track, Silver Line, just sits and washes over you. Atmospheric, dreamy, chair-dance inducing, a little head nodding. You listen to it the first time and you think ah yeah, it’s a good track and it just took me away from a few minutes and now my gf won’t talk to me again because I wasn’t listening to her (Mind you, that may be a goof thing…depending on your circumstances aye? amiright? amiright?).
But, you listen a second time (and actually pay proper attention to it, mind you, probably after you’ve been dumped or some shit), and you realise that the track is broken up into about 4 different sections:
1. the long slow building intro with those great ‘kooky’ vocals
2. the guitar groove that starts at 1:15
3. the great nice piano dwindly sounding bit and the synth that comes in and the synth arpeggios that follow (2:15)
4. the outro that eventually leads back to nothing.
And then after all this, you find that it didn’t seem like there were four separate sections…and you don’t really care about your probably now ex-gf. And that’s what is so good about Mr Pas. It washes over you and just let’s you take your mind away from your current thinking.
The track is getting a fair bit of play on triple j and the man himself (Tim Shiel is Faux Pas’ real name) has just been named as a 3RRR breakfaster (a pretty alright community radio station down here in Melbourne town).
You can check out his blog (he does write a very cool blog. funny and stuff…you know, kinda like this one but with actual humour injected into the writing…not just tryhard kinda stuff.). You can also check him out on Twitter, and starting next year, on 3RRR breakfast radio.
Anyway, you’re probably gagging at the bit now waiting to hear this track. It is good…beware. But you know…no expectations right?!
(Purchase the single with a few remixes via his bandcamp page. Check out some older EP’s of his on iTunes)
K. That’ll do the ramble for now.
MAAMF: an australian music blog 