Ghostdrums – ‘Morning Sun’ (m4a)

I posted the video for this track a while back. I’d not heard of Ghostdrums until then, but the unassuming, ‘analogue-synths-meets-glitch-meets-lofi-meets-lullabies’ sound of Perth drummer-cum-electronica kid Pete Guazzelli caught my attention on first listen . It’s weird because there’s nothing really about this track that makes you stop and pay attention – it’s almost deliberately dry and understated. And yet it works, and the genius of his tracks’ simplicity unravels with each successive listen. It’s also weird that, despite alove of analogue equipment, Guazzelli has eschewed a vinyl release for a limited edition USB. It should be noted that the USB comes in an old cassette tape case, and it’s this combination of the new and the old – the digital and the analogue – that makes this music alluring, especially since it extends even to its packaging.

www.myspace.com/ghostdrumsband

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Via Tania – ‘Fields’ (mp3)

‘Fields’ is the new single from Chicago-based Australian Via Tania (aka Tania-May Bowers). Originally a bonus track on the US edition of her 2007 album Moon Sweet Moon (released Stateside only last year), I guess Bowerss realised that it was too good to resign to obscurity in her backcatalogue and decided to put it out as a digital stand-alone back home.

With a simple, repetitive structure and minimal instrumentation, the song relies and thrives on Bowers’ breathy, double-tracked vocals and buoyant melody. One of those songs that’s better to just kind of float along with, picturing the titular fields she is singing about.

www.myspace.com/viatania

Video for the track below:

Via Tania – Fields (Directed by Rhett Wade-Ferrell for MOOP JAW) from Moop Jaw on Vimeo.

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Ernest Ellis – ‘When I Feel Like Jesus Son The World Will Feel Much Different’ (mp3)

I love this guy and I’ve made no secret about it over the past couple of years, fawning over every track sent my way like aural porn. That said, I was concerned that Ellis was steadily descending into ‘uncool’ territory – I mean, it’s 2k10 and not even Bon Iver sounds like ‘Bon Iver’ any more. Was Ellis getting a bit derivative? Was he two years too late on the scene? Is his falsetto up to Justin Vernon/Kyp Malone standards?

For the most part, the above questions will probably remain hovering around Ernest Ellis. He had’t done much to silence those who’ve dismissed him as another pastoral, production-heavy indie folkster, continuing to mine that style on each successive single. He did, however, answer those barbs through the sheer quality of his song-writing. In what’s already been a strong year for local releases, ‘Loveless’ still stand out as a highlight. With the above track, Ellis has broadened his range somewhat with a weightless, semi-stoner jam that’s unlikely to see much radio play  but is still pretty damn good. It opens with two minutes of delayed guitars before his multi-tracked falsetto drops in carrying a patient, floating melody that I’m pretty sure this song features his highest note on record so far.

‘When I Feel Like Jesus Son The World Will Feel Much Different’ is from his debut album Hunting, which is out next month.

www.myspace.com/ernestellis

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Teenagersintokyo – ‘Peter Pan’ (The Horrors Remix) (mp3)

Teenagersintokyo – ‘End It Tonight’ (We Have Band Remix) (mp3)

The Teenagersintokyo debut album Sacrifices has finally landed a couple of years after their relocating to London. I don’t want to shit on it too much as I’ve not given it all a proper listen, but at the moment I’m of the opinion that it didn’t live up to expectations. It’s far shinier and pop-tastic than I expected, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when combined with singer Samantha Lim’s near flawless voice (again, not a bad thing) it sounds a bit… clean? I don’t know. I guess I was expecting fewer soaring choruses and more bite, but this is definitely the better move commercially and more radio play might justify its slickness.

Anyway, regardless of whether Sacrifices grows on me, it’s spawned some sweet remixes that have been floating around for the past few months. The Horrors rework ‘Peter Pan,’ using a vocoder to strip the melody of its histrionics, and buzz-band We Have Band rework ‘End It Tonight’ into a guitar-less electro jam.

www.myspace.com/teenagersintokyo

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Golden Town, by Super Wild Horses from Super Wild Horses on Vimeo.

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Richard In Your Mind – ‘I Will’ (mp3)

I won’t go on about these guys too much. Mostly  because you’ve already read about them this past fortnight on account of the impending release of their latest, SPOD-produced album ‘My Volcano’ (artwork above). ‘I Will’ is a departure from the cut-n-paste experiments of their Summertime EP. If those songs were an Australian answer to ‘chillwave,’ then ‘I Will’ leans closer to Australian ‘blisswave’ (see, they’re relevant). Chilled atmosphere, beach, harmonies, melodies, old-school vibe, guitars etc etc. Apparently SPOD’s production flourishes peek out more on other tracks, but ‘I Will’ is pretty straight-up introduction to what will probably be a great album.

www.myspace.com/richardinyourmind

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