Here’s the new clip for ‘Reverse Now’ by Betty Airs, a collab featuring Darren Cross (Gerling, The E.L.F) and Christian Campano and Michael Zagoridis of Run! Hide!
Really digging what I’ve heard so far from these guys. Will be sussing out a show when they’re down in Melbourne this weekend. They’ll be playing the last two shows of their tour in Adelaide and Sydney the week after (see poster below for details), so make sure you check it out.

www.myspace.com/bettyairs
Shes the Juan by Betty Airs

Butcher Blades – ‘The Swan Machine’ (mp3)

“cool track. very el guincho ish”

That’s the email I received from my esteemed whothehell.net partner in crime Jerry. That was enough to get me listening. Even though I’ve never really been into a whole El Guincho album, the whole vibe of his work and some individual tracks appeal to me – especially as we move into summer. ‘The Swan Machine’ is a sweet jam and I instantly sought out other tunes and wasn’t surprised to find they listed Lalo Schifrin among their influences. It’s definitely worth clicking that Myspace link and checking out some more of their stuff.

These guys have a couple of NZ gigs and spot at Falls coming up over the next month or so. I’m not sure how often these guys stray from their Melbourne haunt so if you want to check them out and you live in those areas you should probably get along. And let me know what they’re like.

www.myspace.com/butcherblades

Dune Rats – ‘Colour Television’ (mp3)

This tune shares more than just its name with an Eddy Currant Suppression Ring song – it has that same ramshackle but melodic and gold-tinted charm that was all over ECSR’s best album Primary Colours. I’ve been meaning to post this song for ages, but I”m glad I held off because it’s totally grown on me since I list heard it. This sound is everywhere right now and it kind of sunk into the background when I listened to it a few weeks ago. It took a few spins to really stand out. Safe to say I totally dig it now.

Dune Rats is a two piece comprised of BC (The Cairos, Comic Sans) and ex-Villians of Wilhem singer Danny Wilhelm. It keeps thing loose and fun like all of those bands, but doesn’t sound like the sum of their pasts. This project is only a few months old and is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

www.myspace.com/duneratsmusic

Wayphaser – ‘Runnyjim’ (mp3)

It’s no secret that ‘chillwave’ is a big deal at the moment. And if you follow me on Twitter/are good at picking up on patterns, it’s also no secret that I’m in to ‘chillwave’ music. Wayphaser initially struck me as the kind of band that aren’t necessarily good for the genre. Everything on their Myspace, from the above picture to the tunes and descriptions, screamed “SUMMER 2009/2010.” But then I snapped out of defensive hipster mode and remembered the Summer 2009/2010 was a pretty great summer. And then I had another listen to the songs, and realised that ‘Runnyjim’ was a pretty sweet jam. I still don’t totally dig all their stuff, but the above tune shows that Wayphaser definitely have some potential. It’s not hard to imagine these guys streamlining their sound a bit and following the Miami Horror path of Triple J/festival favs.

www.myspace.com/wayphaser

www.thehoneymonth.com

For fans of The Clash, The Gaslight Anthem, The Living End, Hot Water Music etc.

They’ve toned the ska down a bit since Matt posted about them back in March.

www.myspace.com/kingcannons

Mr Maps – ‘Til The Money Outruns Us’ (Vorad Fils Remix) (mp3)

Restream – ‘Random Film’ (Broken Chip’s Shoehaze Remix) (mp3)

Comatone – ‘Nice Place You Got There’ (Lofly Remix) (mp3)

Lofly and Feral Media are two of my fav labels in Australia. I’d like to say I had a hand in teeing up this dream team, but I did not. That doesn’t mean The Strain of Origin isn’t a musical wet dream for me. And it’s free, did I mention that? What’s with dudes being so generous with their music these days? Saving you trawling through torrent sites and all…

The premise behind this album is that it’s a collection of songs releasd on label remixed by artists on the other. Since both Lofly and Feral Media operate as kind of collectives/packs, a number of the same artists pop up here under different guises and on either side of the remix equation. Since Lofly acts are generally more ‘song-y’ and FM acts are generally more ‘production-y’ it makes sense that the highlights are largely those where the Feral Media crowd are doing the remixing. The top two tracks above fall under this category, although I could have chosen almost any to include in this post (Underlapper and AFXJim’s stuff just missed out). But that bottom tune is also a bit of a standout and sees “Lofly” (I assume a combination of everyone on the label) turning Comatone’s ‘Nice Place You Got Here’ into an industrial electro tune.

I could go on, but I’d rather just direct your attention to the link below and advise you download it. It’s worth it.

GET IT FOR FREE HERE.