Proudly made for $200 this clip opened a lot of doors for this independent roots band after being youtubed over 300,000 times.

www.myspace.com/bluekingbrown

The awesome and hilarious Sydney funk outfit bluejuice offer one of the funnier Aussie videos of this year for their infectious single ‘Vitriol’.  I blogged about it a few weeks ago, and since then it’s been doing the rounds on Triple J and local stations around the country.  And why not, it’s such an upbeat number, with its nasal, Hammond organ and synthesised bass lines.

Submit to the Church of Big Fish with bluejuice.

http://www.myspace.com/bluejuice

Shooting At Unarmed Men – ‘Sometimes The Best Thing You Can Do Is Die’

We welcome with open arms the rabid punk ranting of Jonathan Chapple, bass player with the dearly departed Mclusky and brand New Australian, who has left the cold climbs of Cardiff for the morbid greys of Melbourne. Unsurprisingly, his music is still pretty grouchy. This single, chock full of piss, vinegar and grinding guitar vengeance, sees Jonathan band together with a few local lads for a third Unarmed Men album. Expect the usual mind-mashing excellence.

www.myspace.com/shootingatunarmedmen

Mia Dyson – ‘I Meant Something To You Once’

Australia’s very own travelling blues muso have released three albums so far, the latest of which is Struck Down. She’s currently touring the world to promote this release, but I want to blog this particular song because in my recent mulling of past relationships, this one makes a pretty good soundtrack.

I suppose watching Annie Hall for the 20th time will get anyone in this mood, but even though I know what I feel and how to deal with it, blues can always say it better. It doesn’t even have to be exact, I definitely never had anyone similar to the object of loss in the song but that is just minor detail. The important part is always the chorus, the big hook line, when delivered right it will hit straight inside and stir shit up. The flood of images conjured to my head is heavy and slow everything down. Good song.

www.myspace.com/miadyson

Sherlock’s Daughter – ‘Bang Hotels’ (mp3)

Tanya Horo is one interesting character.  Although she’s best known in Australia for her work in the quirky electronica act Soma For Kinder, she’s basically led a completely different life in another country.

Although she was born in Adelaide in 1978, she moved with her parents to Auckland in New Zealand when she was only a year old.  To say she has a creative upbringing is something for an understatement.  She appeared in a slew of NZ television commericals, was a host on a show called Destination Auckland, appeared in a number of short films, played the character Christine Hastings on a show called Shortland Street and also popped up on a couple of other TV shows such as Spin Doctors and Jackson’s Wharf.

Then there’s her music side, which seemed to kick off when she moved from Auckland to Christchurch.  She fronted an all-girl group called Growler before going solo under the moniker Kapala, before changing it again to Marvey King. 

She became friendly with Pnau when they toured New Zealand and she ended up singing on one of their tracks, and it may be through those guys that she met fellow Soma-rian, Jono Ma.  But now Tanya is residing here, and Sherlock’s Daughter is her electronic side-project that seems to have come together during Soma for Kinder’s downtime.  It’s more upbeat than Soma; more akin to acts like The Hate Game and those synth-infused ’80s revivalist acts. 

If you’re in Sydney, you can catch Sherlock’s Daughter at the Hopetoun Hotel in Surry Hills on Wednesday July 25.

.hinge – ‘Just.As’

One of my most anticipated local releases has finally hit the shelves – Melbourne rockers .hinge have dropped their fantastic second LP, The Rise & Fall of Living Great, and it certainly lived up to my expectations.

They’ve always been a phenominal live act, and their first record, Something to Adore, while musically solid, lacked the impact that their live shows had. After hearing tracks like ‘This Time I Take The Wheel’, ‘Man In The Desert’ and ‘We Might Just Kill You’ live before they even hit the studio, I knew the material would be extremely strong, but would it translate to record?

Thankfully it does, very well. They’ve teamed up again with Peter “Reggie” Bowman, former guitarist for legendary Aussie pop/rock act Southern Sons, and made a record that’s sonically massive and musically diverse, combining a variety of different elements to create a really unique album.

The first cut off The Rise & Fall of Living Great is ‘Just.As’ and the band have hopped in the Tarago and are travelling up and down the East Coast over the next few weeks to launch the album and have a party. If they’re near your town, go see them! These are the dates:

Thursday July 19 – The ANU Bar, Canberra, ACT
Friday July 20 – Annandale Hotel, Sydney, NSW
Friday July 27 – The Globe, Brisband, QLD
Saturday July 28 – Sands Tavern, Sunshine Coast, QLD
Thursday August 2 – The Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills, NSW
Friday August 3 – Sodens Hotel, Albury, NSW
Thursday August 9 – Rydges CBD Sportbar, Wollongong, NSW
Friday August 10 – 5 Crown Lane (instore), Wollongong NSW
Friday August 10 – Bar Broadway, Sydney, NSW
Saturday August 11 – Utopia Records (instore), Sydney, NSW
Saturday August 11 – Caringbah Bizzos, Caringbah, NSW
Saturday August 18 – Peninsula Lounge, Moorodoc, VIC
Friday August 24 – The Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne, VIC

http://www.hinge.com.au
http://www.myspace.com/hingemusic

Airbourne – ‘Stand Up For Rock ‘n’ Roll’

Some two years after a feverish music industry rumour mill began to slaver over what giants Airbourne might be, they finally get around to releasing an album. This single is a joke, sponsored by cynical industry hacks hell-bent on reproducing Jet’s international success by serving up another 70s rock cover band. That Airbourne look and sound exactly like AC/DC is apparently irrelevant; so long as you can don your skinny leg black jeans and bang your head like some sad parody of a real music fan, they win your vote. The whole thing is pathetic. If this idiot parade sells any records I’m gonna move into a cave and seal off the door with a big pile of rocks.

www.myspace.com/airbournerock