Matt Walters ft. Washington – ‘Die For You’ (mp3)

Matt Walters has just put the final touches on his second EP ‘Talking in My Sleep’, which features the track above (with guest vox. from Megan Washington).

Hanging in the air like delicate morning frost, Walters voice envelopes the space between isolation and intimate contemplation. Each cursive exhale moves effortlessly and earnestly throughout this track, while Washington provides a cushiony harmony line. While this floats like a sombre echo out into the void, it still feels warm and inviting at the same time. It’s almost bittersweet, but a nice track nonetheless.

Walters has been working with producers Paul Mckercher (Augie March, Josh Pyke, Sarah Blasko) and Francois Tetaz (Lior, Gotye) on his debut LP, which will be available early 2011.

He’ll be playing three shows in Melb during August, see his myspace for details.

www.myspace.com/mattwaltersmusic

New clip from Perth guns Young Revelry. (refer to Spillane’s words here and here)

Teeming with auspicious snarl and well measured grit, the much anticipated ‘You And I’ EP drops this Friday (Aug 13) through Redcat Sounds.

Woo!

www.myspace.com/youngrevelry

After leeching singles ‘Gold Canary’ and ‘This Is What I Said’ onto the ears of the collective, winning a whole bunch of loyals after supporting Vampire Weekend, snagging a J Award nomination for Album of the Year for Bliss Release and returning from a successful run of UK dates, 2010’s been a pretty sweet run for Blue Mountain kids Cloud Control.

The saga continues to read like a triple j wet dream, with the band just sealing a freshly inked deal with Infectious Records, home to psych folk hipsters Local Natives and local expats from The Temper Trap.

This clip for ‘Theres Nothing In The Water We Can’t Fight’ was made by Surrey Hills art duo Greedy Hen, who’ve previously done vids for Josh Pyke, Washington & The Middle East.

Cloud Control will be hitting the road in Sep/Oct for a full national tour with Seekae and Deep Sea Arcade.

Darren Hanlon – ‘All These Things’ (mp3)

There is something about Darren Hanlon and his music that makes me think he operates on a different plane to the rest of us; from a gentler time before self-promotion and social media and iTunes.

It could be the large, ornate, handmade diorama that I saw in Brisbane’s Rockinghorse Records promoting his new album, I Will Love You At All.

It could be the fact that he keeps putting out records regardless of whether the Aussie music press picks them up or not, delivering without bitterness.

It’s probably his music’s intrinsic sweetness and genuine delivery. Sure, it is a bit twee, but I think you take your chances when you write songs on a ukelele.

http://www.darrenhanlon.com/

Institut Polaire – ‘Can’t Wait No More’ (mp3)

So as we (mis-)reported a while back, Brisbane venue/club night The Club House is reopening. Officially, it already re-opened on Thursday night, but TONIGHT is its first Saturday night at its new home and it’s sure to be a big one. The downstairs bar at Tempo on Brunswick St is where it will go down. And this time, I’m pretty sure the details are correct.

Melbourne-via-Perth’s Institut Polaire, whose debut album is being released through uber-sweet label Popfrenzy later this year (October?), are the first to headline a Saturday night at the new venue. They’re one of those bands that I’ve heard mentioned a bit but never really checked out until suddenly they were in bed with a label I really dig. I can see the appeal for Popfrenzy – these guys make big, catchy indie pop using everything from guitars to glockenspiels to violins. You know, the kind of stuff that you make some waves on JJJ et al. And with seven people in the band it should also be pretty powerful on stage – I’ll find out tonight for sure. At this stage I offer no guarantees that that it will be pretty powerful on stage.

www.myspace.com/institutpolaire

fansclubnight.com

Circa ’94, my cardboard army costumes made out of the remains of a Fisher & Paykel diswasher box certainly weren’t as elaborate as the ones in this clip.