Comatone & Foley – ‘Electric Sheep’ (mp3)

Comatone & Foley‘s Electric Sheep would be equally at home on Ed Banger or Modular these days as it would on be on Warp in the mid 90’s. It’s also is the stand-out centrepiece of their latest album, Trigger Happy.

The song (which began its life as a remix of a song by The Colours) is something a bit different and more than a little memorable from these two Sydney exponents of IDM. Though not entirely indicative of their typically more subdued, experimental output, it’s proof of a strong pop sensibility that lurks beneath.

Electric Sheep mixes robotic vocoders and a dirty synthesised bass with floating keys and glitched-up IDM beats before finally grunging out. Comatone & Foley tread through several genres and do them all well, and also successfully invoke both mellow and euphoric moods.

Put your headphones on and enjoy.

www.myspace.com/triggerhappysound

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Bad Wives – The Bad Wives Mixtape
Download Here: http://www.zshare.net/download/51629492d7e06c0b/

In terms of DJ duos around town – let alone female DJ duos – Bad Wives are pretty much incomporable. (And I’m not just saying that because both of them work in the same office as me.) No, these ladies come complete with serious deejay cred – Vivienne Kingswood was formerly of the Purple Sneakers DJ collective, while DJ Crane has been spinning discs around Sydney for a couple of years now.

So this ain’t no gimmick peeps – and to prove it, they’ve put together a pretty kick arse mixtape featuring acts like Mr Oizo, Modeselektor, Treasure Finger, Kid Sister, Metronomy and Roots Manuva. The link is above so you can download it for free!! Freeeeeeeeee!!!

http://www.myspace.com/badwives

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After The Fall – ‘Break Me’

Weighting the rock side of the pop-rock equation more heavily, After The Fall arose out of a booming Central Coast scene in the early ’00s and released their breakthrough album Always Forever Now in 2005 which spawned a handful of extremely catchy tunes like ‘Concrete Boots’ and ‘The Fighter’. In a time and place where bands were trying to out-emo each other (In The Grey we’re looking at you), After The Fall bucked the trend enough to sneak away from the emo tag, but had just enough energy and swathes of guitar that they could play to fans of 30 Seconds to Mars and have them tearing up the dance floor.

So things have been quiet for our Central Coast quartet for a number of years but now they’ve dropped on us another stupidly infectious song called ‘Break Me’ which is perfectly built for radio; it rises and falls at exactly the right times and contains a great hook – “She is a vampire / looking for answers.” Thanks to Stephenie Meyer, vampires are so in vogue right now.

http://www.myspace.com/afterthefallaustralia

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Tic Toc Tokyo – ‘Ritual’

‘Ritual’ is certainly an appropriate name for a song that’s more meditative and deconstructive than the average pop outing – it’s the kind of thing that you can imagine actually being played at a tribal gathering (in, um, late 70s London). The repetitive form of this song, which some have labelled as directionless, is the very mechanism that draws the listener into its meditative groove on repeated listens. The main section of the song – consisting of sharp, sticcato vocals, delayed guitar lines, a dirty and incessant bassline and a four on the floor drum pattern – is punctuated only by the odd instrumental break. The reverbed melodica and half-time drum beat toward the end establishes a common but effective finale of tension and release that keeps the song progressing even as it retreads its path. Haunting and enchanting.

‘Ritual’ moves to dissolve the pejorative tone in the frequent post-punk comparisons and elevates the band beyond superficial imitators. It signals great things should the synthesis of their influences continue to be this successful and alluring.

www.myspace.com/tictoctokyo

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Dash & Will record a version of their song ‘Fighting Over Nothing’ on their laptop exclusively for us!

http://www.myspace.com/dashandwill

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Despite not releasing an album this year, Regurgitator have been far from complacent. Duel vocalists/song-writers Ben Ely and Quan Yeomans have both released side-project/solo albums respectively in the past few months whilst also managing to tour the UK with their mother band for the first time in over five years.

Over the last fifteen years, these two have managed to cover most musical genres and so it’s not hard to spot reflections of their stylistically disparate side-projects in Regurgitator’s back catalogue. What is common between all is the energy and sense of fun that has united Regurgitator’s output beyond generic delineations.

But enough about that band – these new albums deserve attention on their own merits.

Ben Ely’s Radio 5 – ‘I’m Psyched’

Starting firstly with Ben Ely’s Radio 5, which, like Ben Folds’s initial band, is actually a three piece. I’m Psyched distills dueling, distorted power chords and a relentless drum beat and into three minutes of unassuming hard pop. The arrangement is tight and simple but manages to sound as loose and loud as a house party at 3am. With stuttering expression in the verses and a chorus consisting merely of “Oh Yeah,” the song exhibits the effectiveness of simple vocal hooks that will serve pop music well until the form finally collapses on itself. The fun atmosphere and lyrical playfulness heighten the directness of the song whilst intentionally obscuring the thought in both composition and production.

www.myspace.com/benelysradio

Quan – ‘And This Is What She Said…’

Quan‘s solo album certainly highlights the origins of Regurgitator’s hip hop digressions. Greeted by electronic squeals, the listener is soon taken to a looped guitar stomp and drum line beneath vocals “about a girl who broke my heart in seven places,” replete with rhythmic doubling. The song is misleadingly simple until a bridge of chopped up vocals, synth string stabs and percussive punctuations extends the sonic palette considerably. Though the song contains scattered beeps and noises throughout it is certainly one of the more simple, stripped-backed offerings from his album. The production, though minimal, is nonetheless intelligent – particularly in the afforementioned bridge – and the beats Quan constructs are as strong as anything he’s done before. And This Is What She Said… stands with conviction alongside tracks by other Australian artists more notable for their hip hop output.

www.quantheamateur.com

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