Features

WHO THE HELL PRESENTS: ‘130 Bullets’

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Any reason to hold a casual gathering down a dark enclave with a steel board as an excuse for stairs is anyone’s concept of a decent Friday night out in Melbs. We bandied together with the kids from Bonny & Clyde recently and somehow put together a warehouse party in around two weeks. If severely bruised feet, a string of free Sailor Jerry’s and a warehouse filled with our favourite people + favourite local garage/psych bands count, then we had a rad time.

Thanks to Bonny & Clyde, bands (The Living Eyes, Strangers From Now OnThe Laughing LeavesThe Grand RapidsPronto), party folk and the general enthusiasm for the giant participatory art wall we had going. All those tattoos, misc. poetry and versions of genitalia were appreciated, but as for the guy who ripped the eyes out of the installation – we think you just need a hug. 

Biggest props to The Living Eyes for playing their last show (for a while) and spurring on a communal jive pit. But mostly, for dedicating their set to “everyone on Centrelink”.

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 Photos by Alan Weedon

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MAP June 2013

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We can all admit to getting too attached to the music scene where we live. It’s way too easy to forget what the rest of the world is doing – especially the hundreds of artists and lesser-knowns producing incredible music within their small towns and beyond. Your monthly wake-the-heck-up call/ roundup of the best tunes from around the globe is back for June.

Representing Aus this month are brilliant Sydney band Gang of Youths. We also farewell German blog Coltran, who are sadly leaving MAP for other commitments. The team at Coltran have been sharing a new music submission every month since MAP began in 2008, so big kudos to these guys. On a good note though, there are plenty of tracks here to keep you in the loop with what’s happening around the traps. SALUD.

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 34-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Excursiones PolaresLa Guerra Psicológica

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Concepto Cero, one of La Plata’s finest record labels, just turned four, and they decided to celebrate by releasing a free compilation with songs from all of their artists. La Guerra Psicológica is an original track by El Perrodiablo, but in this case played in a blues fashion by Excursiones Polares. Both bands are from the Concepto Cero family, so we recommend you to download the whole album and check for their latest releases.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Gang Of YouthsA Sudden Light

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Harmonies and punch-the-air victory songs are generally always in high demand. Sydney’s Gang Of Youths are next. This sounds like Win Butler singing at your birthday and Julian Casablancas singing at your funeral at the same time. A Sudden Light is a loose, belter of an anthem with a modulating chorus, overbearing references to children, drugs and enough harmonic “WHOAHS” to easily make them your new favourite band.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
The Unused WordHeaven (Testa Remix)

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Much like the recent 4AD signing SOHN, Anna aka The Unused Word is not only working and living in Vienna, but also has her finger on the pulse with her soulful mixture of hip hop and new school electronica. Heaven is taken from her debut EP ∞ (Infinity). The version here is a remix by her labelmate DJ Testa.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
RuaÀs Bolas De Gude

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Rua, also known as Rua Do Absurdo, is an experimental quintet. Às Bolas De Gude shows their minimalism with beautiful vocal melodies and a marimba guiding us through the song.

CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
Ketch Harbour WolvesThe Good Blood

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Weaving together history, mythology and their own personal experiences, Ketch Harbour Wolves’ new album, Queen City: Volume One, is their first of what is expected to be a multiple disc project that aims to create a sonic map of their home, Toronto. The Good Blood is an excellent gateway into this sprawling, ambitious project, and to Ketch Harbour Wolves’ majestic, cinematic back catalogue.

CHILE: Super 45
Alex y DanielCada Vez Que Invento Algo Sobre Ti

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After reaching recognition and fame through their solo projects, Alex Andwandter and Daniel Riveros (Gepe) – two of the most iconic faces of Chilean pop – got together in a joint project that, under the suggestive name Alex y Daniel, combines their musical curiosity. Their new single Cada Vez Que Invento Algo Sobre Ti (“Every time I make up a story about you”) mixes Andwandter’s penchant for dance music and Riveros’ melodic instinct perfectly, leaving no room to doubt that, together, they’re dynamite.

COLOMBIA: El Parlante Amarillo
La Etnnia feat. Doctor KrápulaLa Gran Epidemia

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It is our pleasure to introduce you to perhaps Colombia’s biggest hip hop project, La Etnnia, who formed more than 25 years ago in the Las Cruces neighborhood of Bogotá. La Gran Epidemia, a preview of their eighth album Universal, features the stellar appearance of Doctor Krápula, a rock band with long renown in Colombia. You can watch the video for the song here.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Scarlet ChivesIn A Ground Floor Apartment

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Scarlet Chives is something as rare as a Danish band signed to a Norwegian label and, in a not so distant future, that label, Riot Factory, will release the alternative rock quintet’s second full-length album. In A Ground Floor Apartment, a MAP exclusive download, is the B-side to first single The Timber Will Fall.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Hache STSebastian Lemba

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Culture and rebellion are at the center of this experimental piece, which revolves around the figure of the black anti-slavery advocate Sebastian Lemba Calembo. This track is a portal to that struggle and it’s an essential component of the journey outlined by Hache ST in his new album, Zafra, which portrays the main ideas of life in a shared Caribbean island, and its intricate, passionate toils for freedom.

ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
El Extraño Comportamiento De Un Torso Animado¿Dónde Están Tus Amigos?

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El Extraño Comportamiento De Un Torso Animado is an indie band with a lot of attitude. Formed by Ernesto Torres and twins Nicolás and Felipe Meneses, the trio have a punk-rock spirit with a guitar sound that invites you to dance. From their first EP, Mujer Pulpo, we present the single ¿Dónde Están Tus Amigos?

ENGLAND: Drowned In Sound
BODYWORKTame

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English avant-pop or alt-rock or whatever the kids on the cobbled streets are calling it these days hasn’t had the respect it deserves for quite some time. Percolating beneath the Mumford mirth and Adele success, there’s a throbbing underbelly of eccentricity and experimentation that flirts with radio-friendly melody. Leeds’ BODYWORK are one such act, muddling Roxy Music’s odd shuffle with Wild Beasts and Heaven 17’s falsetto into a sublime cocktail of alien grooves. Download their LP for free from their website.

ESTONIA: Rada7.ee
Forgotten SunriseSisters, Brothers & Other Hellborn Creatures

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Forgotten Sunrise is a cult band who are pleasing the ears of the world with negative music for positive results. They have just released their seventh album, Cretinism.

FINLAND: Glue
ConstablesLudovico

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With all its members born in the early 90s, Constables is a very young band and is simply inspired by the three most important things when you are 20: sex, girls and alcohol. Musically, Constables offers melodic guitars and fast rhythms with a post-punk approach. The band has just released its debut Bedroom Culture EP, which is available on SoundCloud.

GERMANY: Coltran
Poétique ÉlectroniqueIrregular Heartbeat (Video Edit)

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Poétique Électronique is a clever group: they have a good band name, they know what they want to do and they know how to do it. Their musical approach stands out from the crowd as they realise when to pause and when to push. Irregular Heartbeat is a fine example of the current penchant in electronic music for soft vocals and punchy bass. As this is my final MAP submission due to time contraints, I want to say goodbye to you folks and many thanks for the great time!

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LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR – Surf City

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 Surf City have been one of my favourite NZ bands since Matt posted their track ‘Icy Lakes’ back in 2010.  UTR’s Courtney Sanders takes us for a rehash of the NZ fuzzrats for this week’s LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR with their punchy new track ‘It’s a Common Life’. This tune is blowing up on the interwebs at the moment, so get on this quick.

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Surf City

You’ve probably heard of Surf City before. Hell, you may have even seen them live circa 2008 when they released their critically-acclaimed self-titled debut EP, which contained the jangly, Dunedin-Sound-evoking classics ‘Mount Kill’, ‘Records of a Flagpole Skater’ and ‘Dickshaker’s Union’. Sure, they’ve received their share of criticism for sounding a little too much like their major influence New Zealand lo-fi outfit The Clean, but they have channelled that band’s sound and nonchalant ‘tude better than anyone else in the business. The guys are a household name in this country (relatively speaking) and have earnt spots on line-ups at overseas festivals (I saw them at both SxSW and headlining a solo show in Los Angeles #sosuccessful).

However, they took the laissez-faire approach to their craft a little far when, on the back of all this hype, they didn’t do very much at all for quite some time. They then released a really-quite-good album called Kudos in 2011 which for the most part went under the radar. We have heard little from them since until this week when – totally out of the blue – they announced that they will release a new full-length album in August and provided us with a taste of it, in single ‘It’s a Common Life’.

New Zealand may have a lot of alternative guitar bands who reference our most famous era of music, but I’m sure a lot of them also look toward Surf City’s earlier work for a riff or two. Have a listen to ‘It’s a Common Life’ and please get as excited as me – and more excited than Surf City themselves – about a new era for this significant band.

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MAP May 2013

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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 36-track compilation through Ge.tt here.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Paula y Los BesosBailar

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Paula y Los Besos is the new musical adventure of singer, songwriter and poet Paula Trama. The band just released eight songs in the form of two EPs that range from acoustic-punk upbeat tunes to tender folk ballads. Bailar is a cover of T. Rex’s Cosmic Dancer, with Spanish lyrics adapted by Paula herself. You can hear and download both EPs from their Bandcamp page.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
SwimmingTriplebrie

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Adelaide’s Swimming are sisters Katie and Angie Schilling and friend Sam Reynolds. Triplebrie is the first single from their new record Yes, Tonight. There are plenty of layered vocals and looped sounds on the album, but Swimming’s simple outlook on acapella really does its best in an acoustic setting. The trio also sell tea towels as merchandise, so we can’t really say anything bad about this band right now.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
FijukaBehave (From Now On)

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First a drum machine, then a Billie Jean-style bassline and finally synthscapes that embed the voice of Fijuka’s Ankathie singing one of the weirdest declarations of love we have ever heard. Fijuka stands for DIY pop with an art school touch. Watch the music video for some Rhönrad wheel action.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
FAROFFBrazilian Star Wars

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Can you imagine the Star Wars troopers having fun in a slum in Rio de Janeiro, listening to funk carioca in the summer and surrounded by girls? This is not a new track, but Brazilian Star Wars shows one of the best moments of DJ FAROFF, the name used by Leo Bursztyn, PHD in economics and former guitarist of Brazilian band Móveis Coloniais de Acaju.

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LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR: Joe Blossom

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Courtney from Under The Radar has selected a track from Wellington based musician Joe Blossom this week.

This guy epitomizes the modern man half of Fitzroy will never be. He writes lyrics about the cosmos, Dylan Thomas and has a strong aversion to vowels. He also sounds like David Byrne on sedatives if you’re vaguely drunk or trying to write about music on 2 hours sleep (wouldn’t advise it). Plus, the origins of that lush, grain-fed moustache can only be traced back to NZ anyway.

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Joe Blossom

 

Sean O’Brien A.K.A Joe Blossom is a Wellington-based musician who released his debut album Nocturnes in 2011 and spent the next two years living out of a suitcase across the United States of America. It was all the things you imagine a trip like that would be: handkerchief rucksacks, cowboy boots on dusty, deserted roads and American muscle cars and derelict trains on endless highways. In actual fact, I have no idea what his travels were like (and have apparently been reading too much Steinbeck) but Blossom’s new single ‘Tyger Tyger’ evokes all of the aforementioned in the loveliest, most intellectual (true story: it’s about the poet William Blake) of ways.

‘Tyger Tyger’ is available as a free download on Joe Blossom’s bandcamp.

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LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR: Las Tetas

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“Las Tetas” directly translates to “The Titties” in Spanish. This Kiwi punk three piece are probably are as far away from bosomly or comforting as you’ll get, but we’re giving their gruff sound an E cup. For excellent, duh. Our pal Courtney from UTR is on it again this week for our weekly tune exchange:

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Las Tetas are an Auckland trio made up of three, cool-as-fuck multi-instrumentalist sisters who play in numerous bands, including Drab Doo Riffs and Heart Attack Alley. They’ve released a more recent track than this (and you can have a listen over here) but ‘You’re Not Invited’ sums up their schtick perfectly. Drawing inspiration from a myriad punk-infused places, particularly riot grrrl groups like Sleater Kinney and Bratmobile, Las Tetas are the kind of band who, when playing live A) make you wish you had formed a band yonks ago because it looks like the best form of cartharsis and B) give you an empowered, tingly feeling from the beginning to end of their set and beyond.

At the end of last year they supported Unknown Mortal Orchestra in Auckland and had apparently spent the day before said show recording with the band’s bassist, Jake Portrait. We’re really looking forward to hearing those tracks but in the meantime, check out the unapologetic intensity of ‘You’re Not Invited’.

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