Wolf & Cub – ‘One To The Other’

Adelaide psych rockers have come back with a new song that is actually better than what I thought it was gonna be. I had reservations when I was told that Christopher Colonna of the Bumblebeez was recording their next album. I mean no disrespect to the man but since he took so long to finished his own debut album I didn’t really think much of his production skills then, but seems like he’s pulled it off here. This song is unexpectedly more approachable and probably somewhat more Triple J / community radio / blog friendly. I’m quite interested to hear the new album now.

www.myspace.com/wolfandcub

Beaufort – ‘I Don’t Wanna Die’

A couple of shy and elusive kids who I am yet to catch live, Beaufort nonetheless have produced some killer tracks best suited to early evening dancefloors, coming of age movies and the start of an epic road trip. Music, if you like, for anticipating things. Good things.

Distinguishable by sharp, musing lyrics and a penchant for dirty French accents, they’ve also thrown out a couple of excellent remixes and directed the latest Bag Raiders film clip in their short life together. Let’s hope they can’t dance too, or we’ll have to call them a triple threat and regard them with ill-disguised bitter jealousy. Kidding.

www.myspace.com/bombsbeaufort

CHAINGANG – ‘Holiday’

The perpetually-evolving and prolific recording CHAINGANG have kindly offered us something new from a weekend holed up in Sydney’s Big Jesus Burger Studios (hanging out with Daniel Johns… so the story goes).

Wearing their ’80s influences proudly on their sleeves on ‘Holiday’, this may be as pop as CHAINGANG ever get, but still with a self-assured punk aesthetic and frantic energy that bubbles out from Hayley’s dry, wordy vocal acrobatics. Just when you think you’ve got this band figured out – BAM, they’ve got another trick up their sleeve.

http://www.myspace.com/chaingangpower

Dean Michael Smith – ‘Lady’

Australia has seen a boom in acoustic acts in recent years taking lead from 1960s folk troubadors. There’s a similar situation occuring in the States as well, though it’s a trend spearheaded by bands like Alexisonfire: heavier acts moving away to more subdued tunes.

Sydney’s Dean Michael Smith fits more comfortably into the latter category. Like Dallas Green’s side project City & Colour, Dean borrows heavily from alternative and heavier styles of music to create his vocal-driven, emotional acoustic songs, rather than becoming an aping Dylan or Donovan artist. Flirting with distortion earlier on, Dean seems to have found his comfort zone with simply an acoustic guitar. It takes a brave soul to get up and strip everything back, leaving nothing to hide behind, but Dean pulls it off confidently. And not just that, his live shows are humble, disarmingly funny and engaging.

PLUS – he does a killer cover of Seal’s ‘Crazy’ live. If for no other reason, check him out just to watch him belt out that tune.

http://www.myspace.com/deanmichaelsmith

This isn’t something we’d usually blog about, but last night on SBS Television, the discussion program Insight screened their episode entitled MiTunes, focusing on the multifaceted issue of illegal downloads – should music be free, how much is it costing artists and the music industry, and what should be done to curb the phenomenon.

In a time where the debate is so convoluted, Insight did their best to sift through the issues and devise some interesting and creative solutions. There were a slew of special guests on the show including Phrase, Tim Levinson (a.ka. Urthboy), The Audreys, Sharman Network’s Markus Kern (responsible for KaZaA), and respresentatives from ARIA, Australian ISPs, record labels and the downloading public.

So instead of checking out some new music today, head to the SBS website and watch the show online. (The episode is divided into three clips you’ll find on the right-hand side.) I think the resounding message from the episode is that there’s no one fix for the problem, a range of solutions need to be implemented to stop people downloading. To me, the first step needs to be eliminating any avenue by which people can download (well, let’s say “steal” shall we?) music, and I personally vote on the side of warnings from ISPs. If people have a way of downloading music for free, why would they pay for it? To me, that’s the crux of the problem. Secondly, a system needs to be set up to encourage people to purchase music at a resonable price, and the idea of a subscription-based initiative (which is discussed in the program) bodes well with me.

One billion songs illegally downloaded was the figure bandied around by ARIA. If that’s true, it won’t be long before music is no longer a viable career for individuals, and then there’ll be no more music to download. (Then we’re screwed, right?) And while we may look at international superstars and think they don’t need anymore money, they fall in the miniscule minority of musicians, many of whom struggle to make a living doing what they love.

Check out Insight and wade into this pressing debate. It’s an issue that the Australian govenment seem nonplussed on, but as a music devotee, I feel illegal downloading should be something we tackle urgently.

http://news.sbs.com.au/insight/