Posts By Melissa Tan

MAP April 2014

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Looks like the Eurovision panel felt a little sorry for our tiny, insignificant island in the middle of the Pacific by choosing to ‘include’ us in Eurovision this year. Who needs Jess Mauboy? If we had it our way, we’d have sent off Dianas to Copenhagen instead.

Scroll down to hear our track by the Perth trio, and more tracks compiled by our bro/sis blogs around the world.

Speaking of global roaming, Robbie our MAPcast podcast host is out travelling in Thailand for Songkran – the country’s best water festival or biggest wet t-shirt competition. Before he returns with the photos, he’s taking a break from the usual podcast this month and will be back soon.

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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 27-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
The Plasticos – Marfil

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This band from La Plata usually cites British rock acts such as The Kinks, Blur and The Stone Roses as their main influences. However, this track from The Plasticos’ new album, Kilómetros, is one of our favorites because of its grungy sound that reminds us of the new Argentine rock movement from the late 90s. You can listen to the album on Bandcamp.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Dianas – Dix

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There are moments when all you want to do is kiss the guy who invented the internet. Such is the case when one Bandcamp tag after the other, we stumbled upon Dianas, a trio from the distant city of Perth. Dix is a dreamy drone-pop tune with all those floral notes typical of Scottish indie; kind of like what Camera Obscura might have sounded like on a hot summer’s night in Western Australia.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Isaar – Tudo Em Volta De Mim Vira Um Vão

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Sort of a sad waltz, Tudo Em Volta De Mim Vira Um Vão is taken from Isaar’s new album, Todo Calor (roughly translated as “All The Heat”). Originally from Recife, one of Brazil’s most prolific cities, Isaar shows her strong influences of local culture such as frevo, maracatu and manguebeat, but also flirts with pop music and other contemporary artists like Siba and Orquestra Contemporânea De Olinda.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
Zoo Legacy – CRWD

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Hybrid hip-hop rockers Zoo Legacy are from Ottawa but have a world-conquering sound. Blending indie-rock, R&B, hip-hop and pop, it’s impossible to pinpoint which element is the band’s focus, and that’s exactly what they’ve intended. Lines blur and genres blend, but Zoo Legacy’s gift will always be musical alchemy.

Listen to the full list below.

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GUEST: Palms x Gooch Palms

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Palms and Gooch Palms have more in common besides naming rights to subtropical plants. Leroy from the Gooch Palms was previously Palms’ bassist. Both outfits have featured on the previous Nuggets Compilation, have contributed to each other’s albums and recently set out during March for ‘Palmarama’ tour; violating personal space and every major Australian monument in their path (giant Cottlesloe goon bag below).

Words and photos by Palms.

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Approaching the tour, Brendan was too excited by Palmarama to practice Palms’ songs. He was moved to express himself with art.

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These were our touring buddies: Leroy MacQueen of the Gooch Palms…

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And Kat Friend of the Gooch Palms.

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Together, Palms and the Goochies played some of Australia’s premier live music venues…

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Connecting with new fans..and charming the ladies…
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By day, we would visit important monuments to Australian culture.
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And by night we would practice dance moves that are currently very popular.
Over four weeks both bands grew to know one another very intimately.

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And the temptation was there to form an inevitably world famous supergroup, and tour together forever – but the Gooch Palms are committed to the charms of their home town, Newcastle.

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So for now, us Sydney boys will stick with what we know best —which is hugging and kissing in bed.

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Palms’ Step Brothers is out via Spunk Records and the Gooch Palms’ latest Novo can be purchased via their Bandcamp. Buy both records here and here.

Palms – Facebook / Twitter / Web

Gooch Palms – Facebook / Twitter / Bandcamp

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GUEST: Morning Harvey

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Morning Harvey have a new video out today for their single ‘Girl Euphoria (Come Back To Me)’ which in true Brisbane camaraderie, packs in cameos from The Jungle Giants, The Belligerents and The Furrs (who also share a guitarist with Morning Harvey). Nic McKenzie from Deep Sea Arcade directed the video, apparently spending a few hours teaching the guys how to play their songs backwards \m/.

We’re presenting Morning Harvey’s single tour all through April. The first show kicks off in Brisbane this Saturday at Black Bear Lodge with Salvadarlings. The band have also compiled their top 5 bands from the sunny state below, check it out.

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Slug Guts – ‘Stranglin’ You Too’

‘Stranglin’ You Too’ is a beautiful song in a odd way. It’s got such a great mood to it; the melody is perfect and his voice works so well on top of it all. I have no idea if they are still going, but I’m pretty shitted off that I haven’t seen them play. I first heard this song on a 7″ that Jackson our drummer was sent from Hozac Records in the US.


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The Furrs – ‘Get On Your Horse’

Jimmy, one of two guitarists in Morning Harvey started The Furrs around the end of last year.
I can’t wait for people to hear the rest of this EP, it’s full of extremely catchy tunes and sweet melodies.
Every time he shows me a new song I wonder why I didn’t think of that first. Bless his soul.

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Salvadarlings – ‘Lemon Mirage’


I’m fairly certain these guys are only a relatively new band to come out of Brisbane.
The lead vocalist’s voice is very sweet. Looking forward to seeing them play at our single launch in Brisbane.

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INTRODUCING: Ben Wright Smith

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Ben Wright Smith

These kind of songs are best when they’re beaten up like bad fruit. If anyone’s seen Josh Tillman expose his soul through the power of dance you’ll know what I mean.

Over-thirties who assume the ‘troubadour’ hat are apparently capable of devising platonic love ballads in the key of Ryan Adams. That’s not to say those in our early twenties can’t throw down our gripes via song (see Ben’s other track ‘If Living The Good Life Is Easy (Why Is This So Hard?’),  but I guess we bestow more problems on ourselves than we credit ourselves for anyway.

‘Fictional’ is the latest offering from Melbourne’s Ben Wright Smith. Wright-Smith’s previous EP, Autumn Safari – full of traveling songs and slide guitar, landed him a few stints in the USA and Nashville in 2011. ‘Fictional’ isn’t as much of an instant earworm as his previous single, but it’s been flailing around in my music memory for over a week now.

It’s hard to reinvent the wheel when you’re flagging alt-country vibes. Everyone is judging you on your slide guitar abilities and how weird you can get writing poetry about your shoes. Bonus points if you’re Scandinavian. Or if you’re the guy who got convinced by Rhys Mitchell (Mouth Tooth, RedBerryPlum) that making a video about pool cleaners with a heinous compilation of ripple transitions and heat motion tracking is the only way to reintroduce balladry to the kids.

I’ll give Ben Wright Smith credit though; the almost Born Sandy Devotional gulls-and-guitar soundbite in the intro paired with his higher vocal range lends this tune a strange comfort. Compared to other harmonica toting compatriots like Fraser A Gorman, even Sagamore’s Sam Cooper, Wright-Smith’s faint nuances make each phrase resonate on.

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If you’re in Melbourne tonight, catch Ben Wright Smith at his final The Toff In Town residency with The Kite Machine and Gena Rose Bruce.

Ben Wright Smith’s upcoming record In Parallel is set for a May release.

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MAP March 2014

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Our submission for the MAP March edition comes from Yon Yonson with their track ‘Culver City’. If you haven’t heard the full record, do yourself a favour and listen to the album stream, stat. Alternatively, if you like what you hear and would prefer to listen to the record set to photos of musicians in traditional Mongolian costumes trying to have it at each other, check it out Yon Yonson’s photo set from their Siberian travels on our blog.

On the subject of voyaging, if you know of any Australian bands residing in the general UK/EU region, we’d love to hear from you. Mail us – editors@whothehell.net. 

FInally, if 28kbps isn’t doing you any favours and you ain’t got time to listen to the full MAP compilation this month, our very own Robbie Ingrisano hosts the MAPCAST podcast – a quick bite of the best from this month’s MAP list. Stream/free download the podcast at our Soundcloud.

 

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 27-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Plein – Madera & Fuego

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Plein started almost seven years ago as an excuse for a group of friends to gather and play their favorite songs. After several years of playing live and participating in different compilation albums, this indie-rock band from Buenos Aires released their first record in 2012, with songs recorded using a method of pre-established rules inspired by Lars von Trier’s film The Five Obstructions. Madera & Fuego is taken from their 2014 EP Número Uno.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Yon Yonson – Culver City

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Childhood friends Andrew Kuo and Nathan Saad are Yon Yonson, an experimental pop duo from Sydney. Their sound is ambitious and unpredictable – listen no further than their latest release Hypomantra to understand. As the band designed the record to be played as a continuous set, each track on the record is incredibly malleable, both in sound and score. Culver City, with its origami beat samples, is a glimpse of Yon Yonson’s standout oddities which show that this talented duo’s output is just as diverse as their intention.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
The This Many Boyfriends Club – Only Trying

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“We are a mercurial bunch,” says Casimir Frederic Coquette Kaplan, guitarist and vocalist for The This Many Boyfriends Club, since by the time you hear Only Trying, vocalist Veronica Danger Winslow-Danger will have sung her last lo-fi “dandy punk” show with the band. A new single will also be up for the offering, signalling yet another shift for this ever-evolving Montreal band. I’ll follow this club wherever they want to lead me. You will too.

CHILE: Super 45
Cóndor Jet – Igual Que Ayer

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Antonio Favero, Nicole L’Huillier and Tomás Vidal are Cóndor Jet, a trio that has refreshed the indie-rock scene in this country. They play psychedelic dream-pop, so they were a perfect fit to open for Tame Impala last October in Chile. Igual Que Ayer is taken from their debut album Anillos.

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
Goli – Tú y Yo

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Goli is the project of Sara Rodas, born in Medellín, who is remembered for being the singer of synth-pop group Mr. Bleat. Now Sara shows us her other side, in which we perceive something more intimate and romantic. Tú y Yo is taken from her debut album released this month. Don’t miss the limited edition handwoven version.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Shiny Darkly – Dead Stars

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This edition of MAP marks my fifth anniversary as Denmark’s representative in this great music blog alliance. It’s a special occasion so I’m happy to be able to mark it with a track from some of my all time favorites, Shiny Darkly, who will release their long-awaited (and excellent, I might add) full-length debut, Little Earth, in Denmark on March 31 and internationally on May 5. A MAP exclusive download, Dead Stars is the nine-plus minutes of awesome post-punk album closer.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Sin Fin, Realidad & Lugo Santiago – La Expropiación Legal

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Several hip-hop artists united to record a tribute album for Juan Antonio Alix (available as a free download on the link above), one of the most influential poets of the Dominican Republic and a master of “décimas”, ten-line poems that usually satirize social, political and religious themes. One of the poems, La Expropiación Legal (written in 1876), attacks communism directly, accusing the government of seizing private properties for their own benefit. Rappers Sin Fin, Realidad and Lugo Santiago add their rhyming skills to turn this song into one of the most memorable moments in the album.

 

Hit ‘read more’ for the full list.

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WTH PRESENTS: Morning Harvey – East Coast tour

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Morning Harvey

 

Brisbanites Morning Harvey are setting out on a tour of M̶a̶d̶c̶h̶e̶s̶t̶e̶r̶ the East Coast to mark the release of their new single ‘Girl Euphoria (Come Back to Me)’.

I used to think that unnecessary uses of parentheses’ were just superfluous things you used when you weren’t really sure if the first line of your chorus was better than the second – or just stupid gimmicks Iceladic people applied for their own entertainment. Beyond the brackets, ‘Girl Eurphoria (Come Back to Me)’ is sharp slice of psych-pop. Much like The Laurels, Morning Harvey aren’t slinging anything ‘new’, but their dreamy re-appropriations are comforting for anyone who finds solace in big melodies, pedal panning and the rest that comes with deft hands and a great sound guy.

The new track follows on from the band’s 2012 debut EP Well For Wishes, which we reckon is worth revisiting if you like what you hear. 

We’re presenting Morning Harvey’s upcoming tour with Spark & Opus and have 2 double passes to give away to the band’s Melbourne and Sydney shows. Email us at editors@whothehell.net.

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Who The Hell + Spark & Opus present:

MORNING HARVEY – East Coast tour

Saturday April 5th – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane w/ Salvadarlings

Thursday April 10th – Brighton Up Bar, Sydney w/ The Jones Rival & Dead Radio

Friday April 18th – Alia Arthouse, Melbourne w/ The Citradels & The New Pollution

 

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LISTEN: Milkshake – Milkshake EP II

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Milkshake

We get a lot of band write-ins that end with many, many kind regards and other polite fluff. Among my favourite are the submissions which leave nothing but a trail of obscure hyperlink crumbs and not much else for us blog-types to deliver accurate, real-time information to the people. Milkshake got our attention late last year after sending us a funny abusive rant. An email apology a week later blaming life on drunk existentialist haiku was also noted.Fergus Miller from Bored Nothing plays guitar in Milkshake. He showed up to our last warehouse party reasonably wasted and spent most of the night scrambling hands and knees on the floor trying to locate his glasses. Fergus fangs around on guitar in here, Matt Connelly of Retro Culture makes nice noise, Geoffrey Thorsen also does the same and some other people do other things in this band which I can’t decipher beyond the flavour alias in the ‘about’ section of their Facebook page. 

To provide some visual context to Milkshake’s second EP, Milkshake II sounds like backflipping through space. Wet snow sock. Murky optimism. Midi sound crackles between dude-chants and rousing chord work make for some soothing listening. Could be the biopic soundtrack to a stoned Jonathan Boulet eating packet noodles in the dark.

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