New Music

INTRODUCING: Bachelor Pad

, , No Comment

bachelor pad

Bachelor Pad are new wave rock-n-rollers out of Sydney who have opted for an original take on the genre du jour of fuzz-rock-cum-shoegaze in their new track ‘Ever Get the Feeling?’.

If you’ve ever been curious about whether a twee synth riff could complement distorted guitars and an ocker accent, ‘Ever Get the Feeling?’ answers your oddly specific curiosity in the affirmative. Bachelor Pad have traded ye olde verse-chorus structure for a few lyrical refrains in a refreshingly sparse use of the Australian accent in a rock context. The souring of the track’s initial lyrical optimism mirrors the interloping guitar licks, which are loftily melodic at one turn and whining feedback at the next. Even with its simplicity, the track fills out its 4-minute existence nicely.

Bachelor Pad are launching their single TONIGHT at Spectrum, with support from Wolf Cola. Their album Bachelor Pad is for the People is due out in August.

Facebook / Soundcloud / Bandcamp

Read Post →

WATCH: Sarah Mary Chadwick – ‘Aquarius Gemini’

, , No Comment

Sarah Mary Chadwick

In April, Sarah Mary Chadwick released her stunning second album, 9 Classic Tracks. That descriptor gets thrown around more than a footy at the local park, but in Chadwick’s case it’s one that resiliently sticks. Heartbreakingly honest and as raw as a Bali burn, Chadwick spares no details in her songwriting, nor her ragged projection.

A major feature of 9 Classic Tracks was its vibrant artwork. A bright watercolour drawn by Chadwick herself, the painting is brilliantly graphic; thrusting eye-popping sexuality at its finest. It appears that Chadwick has taken that same approach with her video for the album cut ‘Aquarius Gemini’. Directed by Chadwick and Geoffrey O’Connor, who also produced the album, the video is a vivid and no-holds-barred look at sexuality.

Slick and minimal, Chadwick and a suitor rub and writhe, but nudity is barely a part of the clip. Instead, the video picks up on the passionate, and occasionally violent, moments of sex and love. Paired with Chadwick’s haunting vocals and a shadow of sparse brushed guitar and drum machines, the clip becomes asphyxiating. The final shot of Chadwick stroking the camera that has captured these naked moments is especially powerful – she knows the permanence that lies behind the lens, and there’s a certain fascination in her eyes.

It bears repeating – ‘Aquarius Gemini’ is simply one of nine classic tracks available on Chadwick’s album, which is out now through Rice is Nice and Siltbreeze Records.

Sarah Mary Chadwick will be launching the album at the Gasometer in Melbourne on Thursday, 4 June with Mad Nanna, Shame Brothers and Geoffrey O’Connor (DJ).

Facebook / Bandcamp / Soundcloud / Tumblr

Read Post →

INTRODUCING: Almost Violet

, , No Comment

violet

Almost Violet is the project of Sydney lass Jess Meier, who has been producing some dark electro-pop for a while now, developing a signature production style by piecing together sparse electronic samples with cut up vocals from old news clips. In the wake of the recent SOS BLAK AUSTRALIA protests, her latest track ‘Ivory’ works through some serious white guilt.

Throughout ‘Ivory’ you can tell that Meier’s voice would really pack a punch if she went full pop ballad, but she balances the blasts with subtle nuances. The overall tone is sultry enough not to sound out of place with the atonal samples but pretty enough to carry the melodic load of the track. The song opens with the crackling voice of an old (probably) white guy assuring us that ‘The new Australians are real Aussies’, and Meier sets up the protest message with lyrics that are pointed but not overwrought.

She’s described the rest of her tracks as ‘#cinemasadcore’, which is super apt. The meticulous production across all her tracks can only be a labour of love crafted by someone who has done the technical legwork to create compelling stories with her music.

Soundcloud / Bandcamp

Read Post →

PREMIERE: TEEF Records – Imperium in Imperio

, , No Comment

teef

TEEF Records‘ mammoth charity compilation Imperium in Imperio drops today, and it sure is worthy of the grandiose title. With tracks contributed by 16 artists, from the established to the almost unheard of, it functions as a kind of statement of intent for TEEF – a Sydney-based label launched last year by Sound Doc blogger Tommy Faith. The songs assembled here, previously unreleased, showcase Tommy’s taste for forward-looking pop that blurs the line between electronic and acoustic elements.

Featured artists include Melbourne producer Leaks, who also designed the compilation’s stunning marbled cover art, underground RnB sensations Collarbones, inaugural TEEF signee Spirit Faces, 17-year-old violinist turned pop artist Lupa J and sample-happy electro-folk artist Setec. There’s a restrained, dissociated-sounding track from the unstoppable Snowy Nasdaq under one of his many pseudonyms, Magnum Ego. Named ‘Slow Release’, it was apparently penned while zonked on experimental drugs as Snowy was undergoing dangerous medical trials. There’s also a track by a well-known Melbourne producer, submitted under the alias Hann as a one-off release.

From beginning to end Imperium in Imperio is swathed in lush and swirling sounds, both organic and propulsive. The highlight has to be ‘Diagonal’, the 10-minute centrepiece provided by Planète. It’s a driving and cathartic techno jam that betrays more than a passing affinity with James Holden’s Border Community. There are also excellent remixes by Yeo and Shisd, and a delicate, floating closer by house wunderkind Darcy Baylis.

A pay-what-you-feel download out via Bandcamp, all proceeds from Imperium in Imperio will go to OXFAM’s Nepal Earthquake Relief Fund, so quit browsing ya cheapskates – this isn’t a library.

Web / Facebook / Bandcamp / Soundcloud

Read Post →

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Sex on Toast – ‘Oh Loretta’

, , 2 Comments

Squaready20150601000348

In this series, ‘First Impressions’, we’re going to subject a bunch of songs to the immediacy test – getting our contributors to review a track they’ve heard only once. This is Grace’s take on ‘Oh Loretta’, the new single from Sex on Toast.

Sex on Toast are 10 dudes out of Melbourne who just can’t contain their feelings anymore, so good luck Loretta, whoever you are. Their debut album was a sonic adventure of soulful harmonies backed by an extremely well-equipped brass section and a generous smattering of jazz keys – a winning formula they have reproduced on their latest single ‘Oh Loretta’.

The sheer force of the testosterone-powered vocal arrangement on ‘Oh Loretta’ is like a rugby choir serenading the hot little sister of one of the guys: kind of awkward but kind of endearing. With lines like, ‘If you were a bus you would be double decker,’ I don’t rate Sex on Toast’s chances of scoring, but they’re gonna give it their brassiest, loungiest crack. ‘Oh Loretta’ contains about a thousand different hooks that will flood your head for hours after listening, and even though I still can’t tell if Sex on Toast are taking the piss out of the old trope of guys joining a band to get laid, their talent is absolutely undeniable. I just really hope at least one of them can play the keytar.

Listen to this track prepared to get swept up in their cheese appeal – you’ll be groovin’ in spite of yourself. They’re playing some shows in Sydney and Melbourne for their single and video launch.

Facebook / Soundcloud / Bandcamp

Read Post →

LISTEN: Lonelyspeck – ‘Wring’

, , No Comment

lonelyspeck

TEEF Records have rallied some of Australia’s most exciting electronic acts for Imperium in Imperio, a compilation album whose artist list reads like a warehouse party of your dreams, with Setec, Yon Yonson and Collarbones to name a few on the stellar line up. They’ve treated us to an early peek at Adelaide producer Lonelyspeck’s (aka Sione Bouts Teumohenga) contribution to the record, ‘Wring’, and boy oh boy has he auto-tuned his way right into our hearts.

‘Wring’ would sit in the middle of a James Blake/Oliver Tank/How to Dress Well venn diagram to represent emotionally swollen and poignant-as-hell electronic music. It’s a big, beautiful cloud of a track, with extremely well-crafted vocal effects hovering above a slew of atmospheric layers and tense beats that show off his knack for tension/relief breaks.

The lovely airiness of the production appears to be a Lonelyspeck specialty – Teumohenga deftly replaces the trademark electro-banger drop with a luscious sound wall on this Rihanna bootleg he magicked up a while back.

The TEEF compilation will be out June 1st, and in something of an electronic and significantly less cringeworthy ‘Do they know it’s Christmas’ move, TEEF will be donating all profits to Oxfam Australia’s Nepal relief efforts.

Facebook / Soundcloud / Bandcamp / Tumblr

Read Post →

INTRODUCING: White Dog

, , No Comment

white dog

How angry is that name? How aggressive is it? It’s a snarl, a bark, not afraid to tear out your throat. This Sydney band is vicious, rabid, brutal – all things that punk bands should be. Like the great Siberian husky of olde, White Dog will bleach your soul with a song so ferocious, you’d swear Freddy Krueger was directing your personal nightmare into a grotesque orchestral maelstrom.

Whether blaring away on record or putting on one of their fierce live shows, White Dog can’t help but impress. They give off the same aura of primal carnivorousness that made bands like Lubricated Goat, Cosmic Psychos, and The Birthday Party so exciting. You get the overwhelming feeling that WHITE DOG are going to explode out of whatever speaker system you’re listening to and immerse you into their cult of noisy oblivion.

Although they only have three songs to their Soundcloud, the standout, ‘No Good’ points to a band that will soon lord over Australia’s basements and pubs. A combination of the hardcore stylings of Red Red Krovvy and the immersive ockerism of Low Life, White Dog extend upon that with lunging bass lines and snarling fuzz. Furthermore, the band aren’t afraid of an aneurysm-inducing guitar solos, adding a Stooges-esque flavour to their Jesus Lizard/Pissed Jeans indebted growls.

For the fans of uninhibited punk that refuses to drop below a bludgeoning, White Dog are your new favourite band.

Facebook / Soundcloud / Bandcamp

Read Post →