The Laneway Festival 2011 Line-up has been announced. And it’s fkn MASSIVE:

Deerhunter – Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Holy Fuck – Beach House – Menomena – Les Savy Fav – Yeasayer – !!! – Warpaint – Blonde Redhead – Foals – Bear In Heaven – The Antlers – Gotye – Cut Copy – Cloud Control – The Holidays – Jenny & Johnny – Two Door Cinema Club – Local Natives – PVT – Rat Vs Possum – Stornoway – Violent Soho – World’s End Press

So much rushes through my head when I see that line-up. Here’s some of it:

Holy shit we don’t have to wait 18 months to see Halcyon Digest tunes live!

How heavy is that line-up on international bands? I assume local artists will fill out the line-up from this point on, but it’s still surprising and impressive and makes you a little proud to see Laneway nabbing the best line-up of bands of the summer – some of whom are actually quite ‘big’ (in some circles, anyway).

Not enough chillwave.

Laneway is clearly the savior to all the hipsters that were left totally devo’d about the great Foals-Yeasayer Clash of Spendour 2010. It would be pretty funny if they clashed, hey? But don’t do it. Don’t.

Speaking of devo’d/Devo, pretty stoked those Devo headlining rumors turned out to be untrue. Pretty unstoked those Best Coast/Caribou/Four Tet/Toro Y Moi/CFCF/Gonjasufi rumors turned out to be untrue.

Who the fuck are Stornoway?

Laneway used to have a stage almost entirely dedicated to electronic music and brought out some of the must inventive dudes in the genre, but there’s hardly an electronic artist on that line-up – except, you know, Cut Copy, World’s End Press, Gotye, PVT, Yeasayer and possibly Bear in Heaven (kinda electro). Still, nothing like when they used to put dudes like Four Tet and Mountains in the Sky on. Kinda thought that’s the hole Caribou et al would’ve filled.

There were no Toro Y Moi/CFCF/Gonjasufi rumors except those fueled by me. Sorry if I got anyone’s hopes up. The Best Coast/Caribou/Four Tet brand of rumors were real (or at least not started by me).

Did anyone get up in time to hear Gotye’s new single this morning? (Breakfast radio may as well not exist in my universe). Given he has a new album coming out and close ties to the festival it’s appropriate that Wally DB will begin his ascent in Australian ubiquity at Laneway. I wonder what his live show will be like? I really dug his mini-orchestra shows, but was less amped about the one-man thing. Somewhere in between maybe?

Let’s drop Stornaway and get one/all of Toro Y Moi/CFCF/Gonjasufi, yeah?

In terms of Australian bands, there’s not a lot super surprising on the line-up (yet), but they’ve gone for some solid acts like Cut Copy, Cloud Control and PVT along with the aforementioned Gotye. That said, pretty impressed to see Rat Vs Possum and World’s End Press make the national tour (bar Perth) – two of the more exciting bands local bands I’ve caught live in 2011.

The Holidays and Violent Soho round out the local contingent. I’m told the former’s latest release is pretty damn sweet, will have to check it out.

In my haste to find out who was playing I totally skipped over the paragraph about a stage being curated by The Windish Agency (Chicago) and Eat Your Own Ears (London) (cheers to resident photographer DP for the tip). Does that mean the 2011, because it kinds seems like there’s not a lot of room left for another stage full of international bands hey? Either way, sounds cool.

Overall, pretty rad line-up. Super pumped. Every band on their that I’ve seen before has been well decent at playing music in a live environment, which is good for when you’re watching music live. The others are probably also pretty good at it too. So you should go. Do it.

Tickets for all the Australian shows go on sale Wednesday, October 20 at 9am and set you back $125 (+ bf).

www.lanewayfestival.com.au

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A Dead Forest Index – ‘Under A Winter Sun’ (mp3)

A Dead Forest Index – ‘Turning’

I posted about ADFI almost exactly a year ago. I was pretty blown away when I first heard them and was intrigued as to what they’d eventually sound like on their debut EP/album. Fortunately, they haven’t changed things up to much. Given that their songs are so melodic and potentially catchy, I’m impressed that they’ve kept things sparse and downbeat. As with their earlier song ‘Empty The Dark I Shall Raise My Lantern,’ these songs have ended up sounded almost like a field recording of a religious ceremony, with the layers of chanting harmonies sounding almost ritualistic.

The above songs are a mixture of sweetness and foreboding. Singer Adam Sherry has been gifted with a voice that is simultaneously both choral and haunting and he definitely knows how to play to it, as proven on the above and the rest of his band’s debut EP (out next week). I get a real ‘Children Of The Corn’ vibe when I listen to A Dead Forest Index. I like that. I wish more bands reminded me of  80s horror movies.

www.myspace.com/adeadforestindex

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You Am I – ‘Shuck’ (mp3)

You Am I – ‘Trigger Finger’

I’m pretty sure every Australian music fan at some stage in their life has flirted with You Am I’s backcatalogue. It may just be one album that you totally got into, and maybe you haven’t listened to YAI for over a decade, but you still had a little sumthin’ sumthin’ with them. Even the fresh-faced Triple J listeners in grade ten probably know ‘Berlin Chair’ or ‘Cathy’s Clown,’ even if they can’t name the band.

Well, they’re back again with their 7th studio album, which is being put out by indie label Other Tongues this time around. It’s probably a good move for Tim Rogers and co, since I’m not too sure what a major label will really offer them at this point. No doubt the apex of their crowd-pulling potential is upon them if not slightly behind them and I imagine the bulk of their income is from their relentless touring on the back of each album. So it’s a positive move and probably and exciting one for both parties.

Above are the first two singles from the self-titles album. Check them out, yo.

www.myspace.com/youamiofficial

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John Steel Singers – ‘Overpass’ (mp3)

Within a few hours of this track appearing in people’s inboxes, surrounded by countless other emails from bands and labels, this track had already appeared on a bunch of blogs and received spins on community radio and JJJ. I think that says something about the cache the name ‘John Steel Singers’ holds at the moment. They’re one of those bands that people drop things to check out.

John Steel Singers have been on the cusp of widespread appeal for a while – and they would have stayed in that grey, nearly-there area had they not continued to improve. A lot of bands have potential but squander it through a combination of laziness, break-ups, or a lack of gigs. The fact that JSS performances have continued to get tighter and louder – and the fact that these guys work their asses off touring the East Coast – has ensured they eventually overcame those obstacles and stumbled into the realm of recognition and popularity. As though to signal this shift in stature, the extended courtship between uber-indie Dew Process and JSS came to its conclusion with the former signing on to release the latter’s debut album, Tangalooma (produced by Robert Forster), in November.

‘Overpass’ is the latest single to be pulled from Tangalooma. You’ll be probably be able to catch it live at a shitload of festivals over summer.

www.myspace.com/thejohnsteelsingers

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So the Jagermeister Independent Music Awards are on next Friday. You may have known that. But you may not realise that this a public event that you can attend regardless of whether you sunglasses inside and have a grey ponytail*. You can get along to the award ceremony at The Forum in Melbourne and be in the same room as musician types you’ve heard on JJJ and feel the palpable excitement of a real awards ceremony – plus see live performances by bands like Cloud Control, British India, M-Phazes, Sally Seltman and Amity Affliction (40% of which are pretty cool). But seriously, apparently last year’s event was pretty fun.

Anyway, we have a double pass and Jagermeister pack to give away to a reader who’s keen to head along. All you have to do is email rsvp@whothehell.net by lunchtime next Tuesday, 28th of Sept with subject ‘AIR AWARDS’ to be in the running.

* Exaggerated to make my point.

www.ausindies.com

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