So the Jagermeister Independent Music Awards are on next Friday. You may have known that. But you may not realise that this a public event that you can attend regardless of whether you sunglasses inside and have a grey ponytail*. You can get along to the award ceremony at The Forum in Melbourne and be in the same room as musician types you’ve heard on JJJ and feel the palpable excitement of a real awards ceremony – plus see live performances by bands like Cloud Control, British India, M-Phazes, Sally Seltman and Amity Affliction (40% of which are pretty cool). But seriously, apparently last year’s event was pretty fun.

Anyway, we have a double pass and Jagermeister pack to give away to a reader who’s keen to head along. All you have to do is email rsvp@whothehell.net by lunchtime next Tuesday, 28th of Sept with subject ‘AIR AWARDS’ to be in the running.

* Exaggerated to make my point.

www.ausindies.com

Bleeding Knees Club – ‘Bad Guys’ (m4a)

Bleeding Knees Club only started in March and have already secured east coast tours with DZ and Yatch Club DJs, recorded and EP and secured a label and distribution with Melbourne party crew I OH YOU. Pretty solid first six months – more than some bands achieve over six years. Admittedly, BKC trade in a certain brand of music that doens’t require/intentionally avoids precision, planning, and cleanliness. Not that this music is any less valuable, but you can imagine these guys bashing out an EP within the amount of time it takes some bands to soundcheck.

‘Bad Guys’ is a badass song that improves on their previous gem ‘Have Fun‘ – and that was a pretty sweet jam itself. Looking forward to the full EP, which drops October 15. Keep an eye and ear out for these bros – ‘Bad Guys’ suggests potential mega radness.

BKC recording from TAKENNEVER.COM on Vimeo.

www.myspace.com/thebleedingkneesclub

I love the shit out of this band.

Ben Riley of Sydney duo Georgia Fair on:

Working with Bill Reynolds (Band of Horses).

We were really lucky to work with him, he was really like minded and brought so much to the table. We had such a great time over there.
After doing our first EP we weren’t really happy with the way it went, so we decided to write and do all these demos.  We went there with no expectations. It was really unpredictable in a roll the dice kind of way.

The recording process.

6 weeks all up and it was quite productive. For recording live, we got a lot of stuff done pretty fast. We recorded the album in North Carolina, it was really our kinda vibe down there; we just bought some booze and walked around like we were part of the scene… In between we went to Texas for SXSW, which was unreal. Got to see bands like Band of Horses, Midlake and Oh Mercy. We went on to do mixing in Atlanta, Georgia.

Being signed to a major.

It comes and goes in stages, sometimes you get overwhelmed. Sometimes being signed to a major label can make it more difficult to prove yourself as an artist (more…)

Echoplex from Miami Horror on Vimeo.

Deep Sea Arcade – ‘Keep On Walking’ (mp3)

After the stunningly awesome ‘Lonely In Your Arms,’ Deep Sea Arcade are back with another slice of retro pop.  ‘Keep On Walking’ continues the motif of wire-y guitar lines and smooth, escalating vocal melodies. The organ stabs in the verses and the half-speed bridge differentiate it somewhat from their previous singles, and it definitely leans closer to straight rock than the harmony-laden pop. Ultimately they’re all very similar songs, if only because these guys know their strengths and apply them liberally – and you can’t fault a young band for playing their aces on every 7″ release. The have a sound that, although not entirely unique, has more cohesion than a lot of bands manage even after two or three albums.

‘Keep On Walking’ is probably the weakest of their three big singles, not because it’s a case of dimishing returns but because of the strenght of its predecessors. They’d probably need to mix things up on an album, but right now I’m happy for them to churn out a new pop jam every 6 months if it’s going to be this good.

www.myspace.com/deepseaarcade