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INTRODUCING: 100%

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For a city that enjoys close to 3,000 hours of daylight per year, Brisbane sure has a knack for producing stellar music of the gloom-ridden variety, and 100% look set to continue that trend well into 2015.

The enigmatic trio – set to make their live debut next week, alongside local faves Multiple Man and Pleasure Symbols – sound a little bit like the Sisters Of Mercy gone pop, or the Pet Shop Boys on a nightmarish acid trip in the Nevada desert.

But the recently released demo EP (suitably titled DEMO) shows 100% have more up their sleeve than 80’s revivalism. ‘Eagle Street’ opens in a wash of Balearic synth atmospherics, while an off-kilter industrial rhythm is gently coaxed to the fore. ‘Prisoner’ glides effortlessly along an irresistible synth and 808 shuffle, recalling Tender Buttons-era Broadcast. Stand-out track ‘Phantom Game’ marries sepulchural, thrumming bass with a slick R&B groove, while short and sweet closing track ‘Come With Me’ calls to mind Day Ravies‘ recent shoegazing excursions.

Catch 100% on 16 January at the Bearded Lady in Brisbane.

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STUFF WE LIKED IN 2014

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2014 has been another great year for Australian music, cementing the perception both here and abroad that there’s something very special going on down under. Courtney Barnett continued her project of total world domination, touring the globe, selling out show after show back home and putting out a lovely little mixer on her label, Milk Records.

We heard stunning new albums from Total Control and Blank Realm, which were utterly deserving of the international acclaim. Cut Copy gave the Melbourne dance scene a critical shot in the arm, bringing some terrific acts together on the Oceans Apart compilation. The managers behind Pond and Tame Impala launched their own imprint, Spinning Top Records, bringing the charming Peter Bibby into our lives, with his drunken burble and shifty grin. Sydney label Plastic World expanded its catalogue of stylish retro club music, curating EPs from the likes of Retiree, Savoir and GL. The local hip hop scene did what had hitherto seemed impossible and produced a number of very promising MCs and producers. And, in one of the biggest surprises of my year, old mate Chet Faker put out a track that didn’t make me feel nauseous (though it did sound quite a lot like James Murphy).

Faced with such an embarrassment of riches, we figured it would be unfair – not to mention too difficult – to fashion a definitive list of the year’s best releases. Instead, our contributors have come up with their personal top three moments of the year in Australian music. If you’re a real stickler for lists you can always check out our newest Spotify playlist, featuring 100 of our favourite tracks from 2014.

Read the team’s contributions below.

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INTRODUCING: Mope City

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Australia’s in the shitter at the moment. We’re currently run by a bloke who outdoes the definition of misogyny whilst also being the national Minister For Women. That’s an irony to cruel for a higher power. Often, the best sort of bands present themselves to soundtrack dire times. Lo and behold, here’s Mope City.

Featuring members of Day Ravies and few others of Sydney’s finest, Mope City have kicked around for a while. The band have two creatively titled EPs to their name, Disneybland and Boo Fuckin Hoo. Where their former material rekindled the likes of Teenage Fanclub, their latest, Halfway House is a mid-fi pop choke-chain that brings out the darker elements in their music.

The production in this EP sums up with Mope City are aiming for, more firmly than previous material. Only three songs long, the material is tightly wound – but slides from rainy day pop, to more perturbed vibes. For an Aussie climate where the bitter heat is the least of our problems, Mope City provide an uncomfortably appropriate soundtrack.

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Mope City will be performing on the following dates in support of the release:
Jan 8th – Liberty Social, Melbourne (w/ Tam Vantage and Pure Moods)
Jan 10th – The Metro, Adelaide (w/ Wireheads and Men With Chips)
Jan 16 – The Haunt, Brisbane (w/ Bent + W.D. Fordy & Shrapnel + Karl’s Dog + Falco)
Jan 22nd – The Union, Sydney (w/ The Cathys + Avoid Island)
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Mope City’s Halfway House 7″ is out now through Tenth Court.

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LISTEN: Flower Drums – ‘Bad Websites’

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Flower Drums

It’s been a big year for Perth’s Flower Drums. The four-piece made their breakthrough at Laneway Festival in February thanks to Triple J Unearthed, and have since released a string of impressive singles. While their latest single ‘Don’t Wait’ looks set to propel the band off into a Flume-ian trajectory, ‘Bad Websites’, their previous single is also an intriguing listen.

‘Bad Websites’ opens with the kind of hiccupy rhythm you’d expect to hear sputtering from a bastardised Casio. However the track quickly changes course – dropping some lush synth pads that fall on just the right side of chill-out soundtrack cheese. Leigh Craft’s cooing vocals and gentle guitar ramblings blend subtly into the chorus, which is a near-perfect synthesis of delicate falsetto, silky-smooth synths and funky guitar licks.

With their debut EP 28 Mansions due for release early next year, it’s looking like 2015 could mark the start of even bigger things for Flower Drums.

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SEQUENCE: Klo

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Klo, a fresh electronic duo out of Melbourne, are kinda a big deal. They’ve had a litany of press, been shot by the right photographers and contacted by major labels the world over. Their debut single, ‘Make Me Wonder’, set the ball rolling, even drawing them attention from BBC Radio One’s Zane Lowe.

This is no small feat for cousins Simon Lam and Chloe Kaul, who recently released their EP, Cusp—and it’s largely thanks to the mothers who brought them together in the first place. For this electronic duo, playdates have given way to rehearsals in Simon’s home studio, which we were lucky enough to be invited to.

Located in Melbourne’s sandbelt, Simon’s shack, tucked behind his parents’ house, is something of an enigma in a region renowned for Alex Perry-laden housewives, Liz Hurley cameos and lads.

Kaul’s voice is also an enigma of sorts, sharing a lineage with the likes of Yukimi Nagano (Little Dragon) and Martha Brown (Banoffee)—artists who have demonstrably shifted R&B vocals into new contexts.

One of the most striking things about Klo is Kaul’s vibrato. It really does hit you like a train. Klo’s minimalist electronic palate aids this to a degree, but even on less vocally oriented tracks like ‘False Calls’ Kaul deploys an understated range with precision.

Their influences are more or less a melange, spanning Fantasia and James Blake to early cuts by the Streets.

Lam’s studies in audio engineering are readily apparent in the EP’s production. The intricacy of Kaul’s layered vocal parts is in no small part thanks to Lam’s experimentation, which you may have previously heard in his work with I’lls.

Next time you chuck on the velveteen textures of ‘Make Me Wonder’, please pay your respects to Mama Lam and Mama Kaul.

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LOOK: Paradise Music Festival 2014

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Photography by Bec Capp & Ed Gorwell

A friend described Paradise to me as a combination of his three favourite things: Lake Mountain, clubbing, hot chicks. That aside, shooting Paradise Music Festival was a photographer’s wet dream. The best aspect of the festival was the landscape, and the local bands and artists who filled the giant mountain clearing with some great tunes. The toboggan run turned amphitheatre is surrounded by dead white snow gums from the 2009 bush fires. Despite the stark reminder, it’s a dramatically beautiful setting. Compared to larger local festivals, the humbler crowd numbers meant for ample lounging during the day, and elbow space in the crowd at night. Festival creature comforts were all there; flushing toilets, hot showers (!), good coffee, lentils for dinner and a three level indoor ‘club’ inside a ski lodge.

Femi, Klo and Rat and Co played leisurely daytime sets, while Young Franco and Oscar Key Sung were first night standouts. I think most who attended would agree that arranging I’lls, Kirin J Callinan, Total Giovanni and Kirkis‘ back-to-back sets on Saturday night was curation goodness. Retreating indoors after midnight for an eight hour dance was fun and was a great way to beat the cold temperatures at night. Otologic and Harold closing Clubland to the backdrop of the sun rising over the mountains was more of a good thing that any dank city basement could afford. It may only be in it’s second year, but Paradise did live up to its name.

 

 

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More photos below —>

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