This video has been nominated for ‘Best Music video’ at the Australian/NZ Urban Music Awards

Barrage – ‘Only Only’

Feral Media, a Sydney based record label, have launched a new music initiative worth paying attention called Pow Wow. Over a 12 month period starting July 2007, the initiative will release 10 original releases each by a different artist. Each release will feature a generic screen printed custom cover. The first artist we’ll blog from this series is Melbourne’s one man outfit Barrage. This song if featured on his first 7″ vinyl release 2.
www.barragemusic.com

Bachelor of Arts – ‘Bang Bang Boom Boom’

I’ve seen this band a few times now and if I have to pick a description for their sound, I’d say they’re very Melbourne. You know, big bottom end, dark vocals and overall a dark grey mood, just like the skies are out here. I asked Angus, who also drums for Treetops, more info on the band and he gave me this:

“Bachelor Of Arts started as a electronic studio project when I was living in
Tasmania. It had really Kraut leanings and 80s synth stuff like Eno and
Bowie. When we moved to Melbourne to study and added another member, things
moved into more of a organic, harder sound. We started listening to a lot of
Shellac, early Trans Am, Fugazi, etc and through about ten gigs around
Melbourne we refined our sound. Pretty much straight away we recorded our
current EP and got about the business of further songwriting and touring. We
just arrived home from Brisbane. It feels pretty cool to get out on the road
and meet so many people whilst playing really fun gigs. “

www.myspace.com/bachelorsonline

Soma For Kinder – ‘Spooked’ (mp3)

Named after Pnau and Teenager’s Nick Littlemore heard the song we’ve blogged here, Soma For Kinder are a two-piece (but four piece live… when they actually play… OK, that’s harsh, but I’ll come back to it in a sec) who reside in the beachside suburb of Bondi, in Sydney. Sultry vocalist Tanya Horo originally hails from New Zealand, but when she moved to Oz she was befriended by Jono Ma, who has produced acts like Lost Valentinos (when they had the “The” in their name) and teenagersintokyo, and is one of the DJs in The Knife Machine. The two then formed this rather dreamy indietronica act.

The group has released one EP, and now they’re basically in hiberation (hence my dig before: “when they actually play“). But news from their MySpace site says they’re working on a new album, so keep a lookout for that. If you love Decoder Ring, you’ll love Soma For Kinder. It’s the perfect nocturnal soundtrack.

http://www.myspace.com/somaforkinder

The Brunettes – ‘Her Hairagami Set’

The first time I saw these guys they had a toy drum kit and they took turns playing instruments and stage positions. The second time around they were still a four piece, but this time they had a full kit with even more instruments, and stayed at their respective sides of the stage. Now they are a full seven piece band, and this song is the first taken out of their Structure & Cosmetics album. It’s really easy to trivialise a band that banks on retro sounding songs, but I feel that Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield could not write these songs any other way. Their genuine take on innocent 50s pop can be compared too their on stage chemistry: it may not be the real thing (they were a couple once) but it’s damn close, and sometimes better.

www.myspace.com/thebrunettes

Wons Phreely – ‘The Rules of Nature’

Immediately intoxicating, Wons Phreely shares the rich breath of Chris Martin’s voice and the sharply sweet songwriting of Ben Kweller, to whom he is often compared. This is the very first release from the West Australian talent and it spills over with beautiful rhymes and bubbling melodies, with four distinct shades on the four track EP. Another Thing bursts with muscled pop bounce onto the landscape, in the naïve indie bluster of a Ben Lee or a Badly Drawn Boy, unrelenting in its good humour and energy. Wons’ deft, literary lyricism shines on Rules of Nature as a balladry love emerges warmly ironic from his smiling words, and Temper Temper dances lightly half way between The Eels and Bob Evans. Closing with Soldiers, a fitful folk fable of unexpected melodic twists, Phreely puts his voice out front and winds his sunny way through whipping words of beguiling intelligence. A great new talent.

www.myspace.com/wonsphreely