Kim Salmon & The Surrealists – ‘Turn Turn’ (mp3)

Kim Salmon is no n00b on the the Australian music scene, having started The Scientists in the late ’70s and also this band, The Surrealists, 22 years ago. Despite his age, ‘Turn Turn’ maintains a sense of chaos generally associated with a much younger set. It’s is a minimalist outing driven mainly by rattling percussion and a repetitive bass groove, with some distorted guitar thrown in to add colour. Basically, it leaves plenty of room for the vocals to dominate, with Salmon screaming into each of your ears like a man possessed (or, occasionally, like a frightened woman). It’s short and not exactly sweet, but the wild yet nuanced vocals invite and reward repeated listens.

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Mt Augustus – ‘The Warmest Winter’ (mp3)

Brisbane based label Incremental Records and their studio have been associated with a lot of great Brisbane bands recently, including DZ, No Anchor, Little Scout, and The John Steele Singers. The label is having their Xmas party this Friday (ie. tomorrow) night at Brisbane’s Club House (the Empire Corner Bar) and it features one of the label’s flagship acts, Mt Augustus, alongside Velociraptor, Lion Island, Ambitious Lovers, and No Anchor.

Mt Augustus are a trio whose music extends from the folk-pop of the above track to some more ‘out there’ stuff. The band have made a name for themselves in Brisbane because they play a shitload of shows. ‘The Warmest Winter’ is from their sophomore EP released earlier this year, but they’ve got a debut album in the works for early 2010. It’s shaping up to be a bit different – if you’re in Brisbane and keen to see where this band are heading then get yourself down to the Club House tomorrow night. It’s free!

www.myspace.com/mtaugustus

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Paper Scissors – ‘T-T-Time’ (mp3)

The Paper Scissors have been around for a while, but 2009 has been particularly active. The ‘Howl’ EP, national tours, securing a a slot at Falls, and now the ‘T-T-Time’ single.

‘T-T-Time’ is light, short, and vibrant, bounding about on the back of some great drumming and affected vocal stutters. You could imagine Hungry Kids of Hungary or someone of that ilk putting out a smoother version of this song. ‘T-T-Time’ is better than most of that clean indie pop because because of its ‘rock’ moments, combining rough, guitar-heavy passages with bouncing melodies, handclaps and fun backing vocals (the intentionally-droll “ba-da-ba-da-ba” that repeats throughout). There’s a touch of twee to proceedings, and it’s the heavier parts of the arrangement that keep things in balance.

This recording is brimming with energy and ‘T-T-Time’ largely succeeds because of the great performance they managed to capture.

www.myspace.com/thepaperscissors

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Here’s a new clip for an old song –  teenagersintokyo’s ‘Black Bones’ – by Australian Rhett Dashwood. I believe this isn’t an ‘official video’ but the band are endorsing it nonetheless – and as if you wouldn’t. This is definitely worth checking out.

And while on the topic of teenagersintokyo, here’s a remix by (personal album-of-the-year conenders) Seekae from earlier this year that never made it onto whothehell.net. In case you missed it…

teenagersintokyo – ‘End It Tonight’ (Seekae Remix) (mp3)

www.myspace.com/teenagersintokyo

www.myspace.com/seekaemusic

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The Juan MacLean – ‘Happy House’ (Cut Copy ‘Space is the Place’ Remix) (Radio Edit)

Americans The Juan MacLean have ties with Cut Copy through NY uber-label DFA, and also toured Australia for the first time as support artists for our Modular poster boys. This remix draws heavily from the second half of the original ‘Happy House,’ which starts as a bongo-happy keys jam before shifting into the house music territory that Cut Copy have an affinity for. If their cheesy disco-house leanings weren’t apparent enough on the first EP and album, check out their DJ sets or, better yet, their release under the Fabric Live banner.

The ‘Space is the Place’ remix has a sequenced bassline, house piano, soaring female vocals, mini-break down, and the occasional arpeggiated synth – all the tropes you need to get a party started. Honestly, this track will likely make more sense when Dan and Tim are behind the decks, but it has enough legs on it’s own. Besides, Cut Copy have earned themselves a lifetime of coverage on account of the awesomeness of their output this decade.

The full version of this remix is an Aus/NZ iTunes exclusive.

www.myspace.com/cutcopy

www.myspace.com/thejuanmaclean

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Joysticks – ‘Leave Her Alone’ (mp3)

This is an odd track – if not for the distorted synth that dominates the mix during the verses, this could could have been pulled from the ’60s. It has that same Zombies-esque sound to it that’s creeping back into popular music consciousness… but just, you know, with a loud synthesizer. It’s a tad jarring – in a good way. In fact it’s the largely synth-less middle 8/outro, with its jump in pace, that doesn’t really for work for me. Still, a decent effort from a promising band.

Joysticks’ previous tracks have traded on repetitive instrumentation and simple refrains. This track seems a bit more complex but has that same intuitive-feeling groove to it. And the chorus, when it does land, is pretty repetitive as well and sounds almost like a lo-fi Franz Ferdinand.

Not as good as ‘Purple Berries‘ but I’ll still be keeping my eye on these guys.

www.myspace.com/joysticksmusic

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