Danimals – ‘Christmas Worms Quest for Fresh Apples’ (mp3)

It’s appropriate that this artist’s name contains the word ‘animal’ since I definitely get some sort of scavenger vibe from them (at very least a scrub turkey vibe). ‘Christmas Worms Quest for Fresh Apples’ is a cool folk-pop tune with summery, layered vocals fleshed out by random, slightly disjointed, and sometimes even ugly synths. I’m not sure how they decided that fucked-up synth horn made sense as the main hook, but it totally works. This adventurous attitude to the arrangement pays off, elevating the song into genuinely interesting if not exciting territory and bringing to mind a more electronic Aleks and The Ramps.

Danimals will be releasing a double a-side (including the above track) on the 17th of this month. I’ve not heard word of a launch, but they’ve pulled the support slot for super rad LA hip hopper WHY? if anyone is especially keen to check them out. I know I’d be interested to see how they take this beast to the stage.

www.myspace.com/jontidanimals

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Just yesterday, Jerry posted some rad homemade film clips. In case you were still under the impression that a big budget is required to make a good film clip, here are a couple of other new vids from two of Australia’s 2009 breakthrough artists. Check the references for the ’90s kids – Mortal Kombat and Where’s Wally? fans eat your heart out.

DZ – ‘Blue Blood’

Philadelphia Grand Jury – ‘Good News’

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Idle Cranes – ‘Two Horse Race’ (mp3)

“…I’m relieved to be moving on again. Every time we play the horizon moves, and I realise how far we’ve come, and how much further we have to go. We drag old songs like fallen comrades, bury them in live-to-tape mass graves.”

That’s Idle Cranes guitarist Jakeb Smith on a recording session held over weekend just passed. And It conjures up just the right images for the band – violent yet almost poetic, bold but considered. Featured above is ‘Two Horses,’ a track not borne from that recent session but pulled from their still-fresh debut EP-cum-whatever. At nine tracks and forty-plus minutes long, Fur Release was vying for perhaps the most substantial Australian EP of recent memory. Apparently it’s no longer considered an EP though, it just is.

Idle Cranes have been a respected force on the Brisbane music scene for a while, with regular live appearances showcasing their uncompromising love of volume and their knack for turning border-line drones into hooks. Some have mumbled that Fur Release is less intense than their live show. And that it is, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Their live shows are, and probably always will be, loud and intense, with the prettier parts of songs washed out by sheets of reverb and fuzz. The studio version of ‘Two Horse Race’ shows a more nuanced Idle Cranes, where multi-tracked vocals are given greater attention, and the different tones of the guitar are heard with greater clarity. It’s still aggressive, but it’s less thunderous and more (for lack of a better word) psychedelic.

I shouldn’t be surprised that the recorded versions offer something a bit different but no less exciting. I always had this image of Idle Cranes as mad scientists endlessly toiling away at demos. Their efforts have not been wasted. Revel in the joy of the above track, and check them out before their rumoured relocation OS.

www.myspace.com/idlecranes

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Otouto – ‘Sushi’ (mp3)

“I mistook a man eating sushi / for a man putting on a fake moustache.” So goes the opening line to this song by Melbourne three-piece Otouto, which is equally quirky in sound as it is in lyrical content. There’s just a thin guitar line, some plonking piano, pots-and-pans percussion and an acrobatic vocal melody. It’s ‘art pop’ in the same way as Architecture in Helsinki, invoking a similarly playful atmosphere in its minimalist yet unrestrained arrangement.

I heard this track a while back and it didn’t exactly warm to it, but when it crossed my radar just recently I was caught by its charms. Maybe give it a few spins if at first its kitchen sink vibe doesn’t grab you – there’s something to love in this track, perhaps it won’t take others as long to latch on to.

www.myspace.com/hazelbrownmusic (yes, that is the correct Myspace)

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Van She – ‘Don’t Fear the Reaper’ (Radio Rip) (mp3)

So I’ve never posted a radio rip before, but I found this track on Hype Machine this morning and it seems to be the only version around. I’d wait until an actual recording landed in our inbox, but then this post would be much less temporally appropriate.

I’m not much of a classic rock fan – nor even much of a Van She fan for that matter. Still, this is a pretty nifty take on Blue Oyster Cult’s ’70s hit and should make a splash on many a Halloween playlist tonight.

That’s me, though – Bruce Dickinson/Christopher Walker would likely be quite disappointed with this version.

Thanks, obviously, goes to Triple J. Happy Halloween to anyone else absorbing American culture today.

www.myspace.com/vanshe

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Guineafowl – ‘Botanist’ (mp3)

This song was pitched to us in our SoundCloud account as something you can sing in a “high-pitched kinda annoying way.” Which is sort of accurate, especially if you’ve been unfortunate enough to hear my falsetto. But it also undersells the track because the melodies are multi-tracked with both hammy head voices and lower talk-sing voices. The melody rules here, with the song basically resting on Guineafowl’s playful delivery on top of some simple acoustic guitar, handclaps and a sequenced beat. Some great quirky and catchy “indietronic” (his phrase, not mine) out of Sydney.

www.myspace.com/guineafowl

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Midnight Juggernauts – ‘This New Technology’ (Memory Tapes Remix) (mp3)

Memory Tapes aren’t Australian, so I won’t harp on about how great his output has been lately. He has, however, recently lent his golden hand to labelmates and one of Australia’s leading electro exports at the moment, Midnight Juggernauts.

His remix of the Juggs’ latest single ‘This New Technology’ is incredibly transformative. Gone is the slick production, the booming organs, the cascading arpeggios – even most of the vocals. In fact, the song has basically been completely dismantled, with MT aka Dayve Hawk then using its pieces to construct a surging club track. In a lot of ways, I like this more than the original – the highest compliment for a remix. Hopefully it’ll see the Juggs getting play on more house-based dancefloors as well.

www.myspace.com/midnightjuggernauts

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