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LISTEN: Alba – ‘Knokke/Law’

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If you’ve ever had one of those experiences where you’ve liked something on Facebook, forgot about them, and then they’ve suddenly popped up all over your barometers of ‘cool’, then Alba’s my most recent example.

There’s a bit to know about Alba. Being the first imprint for Plastic World, founded by Future Classic and Astral People alumni, Knokke/Law’s a solid release for a label touting itself as a home for ‘forward-thinking Australian music’. Whether Plastic World reaches the same level of ‘forwardness’ that the likes of New Weird Australia has, or if it builds off the success of its founding members is something that’s going to be interesting to watch in 2014.

Alba were once Albatross, off the now-defunct Life Aquatic. They’re a Sydney duo comprised of Thomas McAlister and Sam Weston, who first introduced themselves with Murder/Caspers Theme. It was a debut exploring minimal electronica that you actually should listen to, right now. Occupying a space that typified the reason why festivals like Sequence exist, Murder/Caspers Theme seemed to tap right into the bedroom-producer/beat scene that’s dominated non-Flume electronica over the past few years.

Now, enter Knokke/Law. Detroit House anyone? If you’re hankering for a boogie, then look no further than this release. Moving away from their otherwise ambient predecessors, both ‘Knokke’ and ‘Law’ combine the elements of Detroit that has been appropriated ever since. The 909 hats, arpeggiated crescendos, and the immersive synths grip where other local electronic efforts sink into melodic introspection. This is topped off by remixes from Detroit’s Jimmy Edgar and Rick Wade, that make this release’s lineage just that bit clearer.

And, if you consider the fact that their first signed act has supported Four Tet, Mount Kimbie, and Gold Panda, that’s a trifecta that I don’t think many local acts can put on their CV.

 

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WATCH: Single Twin – ‘My Silken Tooth’

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‘My Silken Tooth is taken from the debut album ‘Marcus Teague’ by Single Twin and the video is directed by the damn fine Melbourne-based photographer Leah Robertson. Leah’s coverage of music festivals has pretty much set the tone for what you now see every year coming back from Meredith etc. It is with that eye that crowds are recorded in contrast to a solitary figure of Single Twin, standing in darkness lit only by a flickering strobe.

There is a beautiful calmness to ‘My Silken Tooth’ and Leah has done well to play with the light falling around people to add further depth to the single. The shock of daylight is harder to reconcile but perhaps it reflects another dimension in the mind of his thoughts. Either way it’s a great track and worth revisiting on his bandcamp. There are two Single Twin records, which can be downloaded for free here.

 

The video for ‘My Silken Tooth’ will also be on display at the National Gallery of Victoria as part of the exhibition Wired for Melbourne Sound running Sep 28 – Oct 27, 2013.

 

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PREMIERE: Isaac De Heer – ‘Streets of Del Mino’

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Here’s your first look at the new clip from Melbourne’s Isaac De Heer for his track ‘Streets of Del Mino’.

Since picking up supports for The Temper Trap and Luke Steele, Isaac’s been focusing on penning and recording tracks on his travels abroad through Ireland, India, France and the UK. ‘Streets of del Mino’ was put together with with the help of UK producer and friend Roger Mars and producer Tony Dupe (Holly Throsby, Jack Ladder and Grand Salvo).


‘Streets of Del Mino’ is the kind of ideal tune you want to be peddling home at dusk to. There’s something a little bit Neutral Milk Hotel, a little bit Scott Matthews about this that I love. As for the video we’re premiering, you’ll be glad to know there’s no stock footage, wanky colour filters or green screens in this one. Just Isaac wandering around the rabbit hole of suburbia – and some very, very clever editing skills courtesy of Romesh De Silva.
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‘Streets of Del Mino’ is the first track from Isaac de Heer’s forthcoming Streets EP to be released Oct 26.

 

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WATCH: Lime Cordial – ‘Sleeping At Your Door’

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New video from Lime Cordial for the single ‘Sleeping At Your Door’ lifted from their sweet EP Falling Up The Stairs released last week. Lime Cordial are spunky brothers Oli and Louis Leimback with help from James Jennings on awesome drums, Brendan Champion play’n Bone and Tim Fitz on Keys/Guitar. Their brand new EP Falling Up The Stairs is a real catchy, melodic, tingly, and cheeky collection of tracks. We could lob them into a North Sydney tropical sound (Holiday’s) or more rhythmic hippiness (Jinja Safari) but I reckon they’ve got a slicker, surfier vibe. It’s sunny pop with good vocals and neat song-writing. The EP has a lot going on and the production is impressive. The boys are on tour with UK friends Cosmo Jarvis, following a few local shows.

The video kinda does have a Wes Anderson feel (thanks youtube commentator) in the zooms and saturated colour but really it’s just a band playing on a barge. But it should get the girls/boys going and it’s a good track. Oh and I like the tinny cruising past.

Director & Editor: Oliver Leimbach
Director of Photography: Max Seager

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Sep 19 – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne.

Sep 27 – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney.

Sep 28 – North Manly Bowling Club, Manly

with Cosmo Jarvis:

Sunday 13 October – BEETLE BAR, BRISBANE

Tuesday 15 October – NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB, MELBOURNE

Wednesday 16 October – WORKERS CLUB, MELBOURNE

Friday 18 October – KAROVA LOUNGE, BALLARAT

Saturday 19 October – BRIDGE HOTEL, CASTLEMAINE

Sunday 20 October – BARWON CLUB, GEELONG (MATINEE)

Thursday 24 October – ANNANDALE HOTEL, SYDNEY

Friday 25 October – MONAVALE HOTEL, THE ATTIC, MONAVALE

Sunday 27 October – YOURS AND OWLS, WOLLONGONG

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LISTEN: Yon Yonson – ‘How Bad Do You Want It?’ (Ft. Simo Soo)

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Yon Yonson seem like the band you want to hang out with at the end of a gig. Reading through their Soundcloud is a case in point. With lines like, ‘Sorry about the shit-stream of links but we be livin’ in crazy modern times’, it’s nice to know there are bands out there who don’t take themselves too seriously. The Sydney duo are Andrew Kuo and Nathan Saad, and they’re another one of those duos who are hard to pin down. Citing ‘the internet’ as their primary influence, there’s truth behind their self-deprecatory streak in saying that Yon Yonson was a way to ‘cope with musical ADHD’.

Hearing ‘How Bad Do you Want It’ proves to be a starker contrast to the tracks found on their excellent Antipodes EP. If you were to characterise an ‘aesthetic’, you’d be hard pressed to move beyond the handling of both their vocals. Sydney rap-bag Simo Soo’s layered harmonics proved to be a good choice. This latest track is a lot more interesting though. It’s something that certainly doesn’t grip you from the start, it’s more of a slow-burner. That’s of course until the track descends with a sequence of brash vocals and electronica. Samples chop and change, and vocals mirror that of the punk-styles of Coolies maybe.

YY have definitely carved themselves an interesting perch amongst a rather crowded ‘indie’ scene. Stay tuned.

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While Yon Yonson are busy working on their follow up, Simo Soo will be playing around Australia through October & November on these dates:

October 3 – The Bird, Perth w/ Outerwaves
November 4 – Evelyn Hotel, Melbourne w/ Biscotti
November 9 – FBi Social, Sydney

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MAP September 2013

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If you’re one of those stale people who stream music and never update their ipod until someone publicly ousts you (guilty) – then we can fix that. Have a listen to all the best new songs picked by us and our blogfriends around the world. And when you’re done, pack it up in a 29 track free download.

PS. We’ve also got a whole series of MAPCAST podcasts, check them out if you haven’t already. Our host Robbie is one helluva annoyingly talented bilingual dude, so if you make some noise he might just do the next podcast in Estonian or Spanish or something. Listen + D/L Robbie’s picks for MAPCAST August here.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 29-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Travesti – Beduino

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Fernando Floxon and Alejandro Torres are the cosmic rockers behind Travesti, a band whose music is often associated with transgression and misunderstanding, with songs that are dense, powerful and provocative. Their lyrics, always clever, rough, usually offer a certain social criticism. Beduino is our favorite from Suicidio Latino, their fourth studio album.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Manor – Architecture

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The general assumption that tormented bed friends make better musicians most of the time is true – right? In respectable ‘dream-pop duo’ tradition, we hope these two are. Architecture is timeless pop right from the first off-beat. The track is set with slingback hooks, dreamy vocals and a fledging groove that sounds too much like Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek doing a cover of Men At Work’s Land Down Under for anyone to ignore.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Beach Girls And The Monster – I Go Surfing

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This band draws their inspiration from American surf rock of the 1960s. Accordingly, their rendition of The Beach Boys’ Kokomo suits them so very well, not only because of the obvious band name correlation, but also because it blends perfectly into their own sounds. The aptly titled I Go Surfing is the first song of their four-track 7″ EP of the same name that was released earlier this year.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
A Fase Rosa – Casa

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Música Popular Brasileira meets alternative rock at its best. This four-piece band is one to keep our eyes and ears on.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
The Provincial Archive – Common Cards

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Back in 2011, Edmonton, Alberta’s The Provincial Archives made Canadian music touring history by being the first band to actually play live in each Canadian province’s actual archive; 10 shows billed as The Provincial Archive LIVE at the Provincial Archive. Common Cards marks their recorded music return, and is the first taste of music from their forthcoming third LP.

CHILE: Super 45
Otoño – Scheider

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After eight years of silence, Otoño are back with their psychedelic guitar-rock. Their atmospheric, drowsy sound grows every second until it explodes in a whirlwind of white noise, a perfect landscape for their gloomy, self-reflective lyrics. Scheider is taken from the quartet’s Páramos EP, released via LeRockPsicophonique.

CHINA: Wooozy
Worldwide Collaboration Company – Crying Launer Remix (feat Chairman Ba & MC Stone)

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Nobody knows who the people behind World Collaboration Company are, but anyone in China who listens to them will find something familiar. WCC mash up cross-talk recordings, TV series samples, Chinese propaganda songs as well as rock and hip hop, and put an overwhelmingly sarcastic touch to it. While some criticize WCC’s sound collage approach as being too lighthearted, others can argue WCC are simply one of China’s best and most clever sample players. Love them or hate them, one thing you can’t deny is WCC reflect the true pop landscape of modern China.

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
MULA – A. Grisales

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With much pride we present MULA, a kind of supergroup formed by Santiago Botero and Mange Valencia. Armed with saxophones, bass, drums and guitars, they effortlessly incorporate anything from punk to jazz to champeta – they don’t recognize genres, but sounds. It’s a very particular and special view that takes form in the track A. Grisales, inspired by Colombian TV’s first diva, Amparo Grisales.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
SPEkTR – The Infirm

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Three years on from their second album Personetics, SPEkTR release The Door Is Paint On A Rock EP on September 23. Frontman Manoj Ramdas (also The Raveonettes, The Good The Bad) calls it Soundtrack’n’Roll and there’s no good reason to argue with that description. Here’s the awesome EP’s first single, The Infirm, which also comes with this video.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Mediopicky – La Ola (feat Cristabel Acevedo)

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Urban-alternative sensation Mediopicky pairs up with Cristabel, one of the twins from the folk duo Las Acevedo, to make a sweet, summery track. La Ola, from Mediopicky’s upcoming EP Cantinas, features moombahton beats specially made for Cristabel’s tender voice, conveying that feeling of saying goodbye to the last days of summer.

 

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LISTEN: Mouth Tooth – ‘Red Belly Roadhouse Blues’

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I came across this curio by Melbourne band Mouth Tooth while doing some research on Smile. Both bands consist of former members of the sprawling Red Berry Plum and share a guitarist in Max Turner. Mouth Tooth is definitely the weirder of the two projects, which is why you’ve probably heard a bit less about them.

‘Red Belly Roadhouse Blues’ is off the duo’s Group Therapy EP. There’s something very unsettling, if undeniably pretty, about this tune; the effect’s kind of like one of Bill Henson’s nocturnal vignettes. An eerie western number, ‘Roadhouse Blues’ is led by Rhys Mitchell’s creepy falsetto, with a slide guitar weeping quietly in the background. Mouth Tooth describe their style as ‘psychedelic ward’, and the lyrics here seem like an exercise in Freudian free association. ‘Heaven is a roadhouse / and you are the waitress,’ Mitchell croons, ‘I want to dissolve you into my coffee’. The video has a grainy, VHS ambiance. Mitchell and Turner’s disembodied heads float over scenes that could have been taken from Twin Peaks, smiling as they deliver lines like ‘I want to stir you through the darkness / Have you with my breakfast / Girl, you make my heart race…’. Check it out below.

 

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