Every Australia Day (January 26), national broadcaster Triple J hold their Hottest 100 countdown where listeners vote for their favourite tracks of the previous year.  Last Friday Triple J held their Hottest 100 of 2006 countdown, in which Augie March’s ‘One Crowded Hour’ was deemed the best song of last year by JJJ listeners. 

But my personal fave came eighth, which was ‘Heart A Mess’ by Gotye.  Not a bad effort really - just to get in the top 100 is no mean feat!  Now Brendan Cook has put together a Tim Burton-esque animated clip for said song.  The synopsis for the clip is that “a pied piper character walks the Earth, calling on its strange inhabitants to leave the wasted planet and follow him to a new world”.  Dark and beautiful, just like the song.

More on Gotye

http://www.gotye.com
http://www.myspace.com/gotye

photo by Sir Wheatley

Muscles - ‘Chocolate, Raspberry, Lemon & Lime’

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Yes, another track from our leading trance revivalist. I hope this Muscles will outlast the Klaxons in the neo-trance movement. His MySpace blog reveals that he will be taking a break from performing live after February while he reworks his live show. He did mention to me earlier that he wants to have a live band eventually to back him up. I kind of like the idea of the one man band, he would work so sweet in the middle of a club, or better yet a stadium rave! Complete with fairy lights, strobe and police lights! Anyway, you better catch him live in his last few remaining one man shows.

www.myspace.com/musclesmusic

Pomomofo - ‘Late Night (Dsico remix)’

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So two of Sydney electro pop artists have gone to bed and got remixing happy. I’m not sure if this track will flow with DJs it is a bit too downbeat for a club drop. Maybe if it was sped up a bit? I don’t know I’m not a DJ so if there’s any out there let me know of your thoughts.

2006 was the year where bands remix other bands’ tracks and though most came out substandard and unusuable on the dance floor (just like most mash-ups), a few came out shining. Standout winners were when DJs remix bands ie Justice’s remix of Franz Ferdinand’s The Fallen, and when DJs remix each other ie Erol Alkan remixing Justice’s Waters of Nazareth. For a great rundown of the top remixes to hit iPods last year, head to Good Weather For Airstrikes’ end of year wrap up.

www.myspace.com/pomomofomusic
www.myspace.com/dsico

Rizzo & Pizzo - ‘Infomercial’

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Here’s something for Saturday night, a new song from Sydney’s most colourful electro duo! This is coming from what I can only assume is an upcoming debut EP. They cancelled most of their January dates due to Pizzo being sick, but they have salvaged one live date which is tomorrow on the 27th January at Spectrum, Sydney. Somebody go check them out and let me know how they are.

www.myspace.com/rizzopizzomusic

Gameboy/Gamegirl - ‘Sweaty Wet Dirty Damp’ (mp3)

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So I’ve been in Melbourne for three months now and after many gigs, festivals and countless parties I made friends with the three party animals that make up Gameboy/Gamegirl: Tranter, Jess and Katy. Helped by local DJ/beatmaker Miami Horror they’ve put out a track featuring dirty rhymes over very now sounding electro beats. This track is a bit unedited and is not really a single but more a club mix for easier dropping in DJ sets. When I saw their first gig last week their set was entirely mixed in by Miami Horror, giving it a real party vibe.

A bit of background; we’ve covered Tranter before, but it’s worth mentioning he was previously active in the band scene as member of Wolfbrother, and also has DJ residency at the Streetparty nights in Melbourne. Both Jess & Katy were previously involved in a project called Service Station Youth, with another local freestyler Talkshow Boy, who will be covered here soon.

www.myspace.com/gameboygamegirl

Birds Of Tokyo - ‘Believer’

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OK, I can be the first to admit that we here at Who The Bloody Hell Are They tend to focus a lot of Sydney and Melbourne bands - after all, that’s our home towns and these are the bands that a lot of us come in contact with weekly.  (So if you have any suggestions of bands please email them to music@whothehell.net.)  So I thought I’d step out of our respective states and point to microscope to Western Australia, in particular at Perth and the band Birds Of Toyko.

Keen-eared Aussie music fans will probably recognise the voice of Birds Of Tokyo to be none other than Ian Kenny, best known for his vocal work in that other Perth band called Karnivool.  Birds Of Tokyo is quite a departure for the demure, but extremely talented, front man who’s proven his wares with his far more metal-based project.  Birds Of Tokyo straddle the pop/rock line, but don’t let that description put you off: they still pack quite a punch live.  They’re about to pack their bags and travel around the country for their Day One Tour to launch their debut LP of the same name.  The track ‘Believer’ comes from an old Birds Of Tokyo release.  Check out their MySpace for some more material, including their new single ‘Off Kilter’ which has been getting a good spin on Australia’s national broadcaster, Triple J, recently.

http://www.birdsoftokyo.com/
http://www.myspace.com/birdsoftokyo

Bumblebeez - ‘Black Dirt’

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Bumblebeez won the old era Triple J Unearthed competition a few years ago, when it was done state by state, and toured extensively after being signed to Modular, including support slots with Radiohead and N.E.R.D. They changed names to Bumblebeez 81 after a copyright dispute but has since dropped the numbers for press releases. The band was a collective of musicians based in and around Canberra, led by Chris Colonna. Eventually one by one the other band members either left or were kick out. I’m not even sure if his sister pictured here is still in the band. But I do know that the band is still on the Modular label and they’ve flown Colonna over to London to get this track and record mixed by Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford. As much as an enigman Chris Colonna is, this track sure sounds different than everything else out there at the moment.

www.myspace.com/thebumblebeez

photo by boudist.com

Kid Confucius - ‘Moment’

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Sydney-based nine piece soul hip-hop band Kid Confucius is back, after winning Best Urban Act at the 2006 Dance Music Awards, they are armed with a new album to be released in the coming months and one very hot “ghetto love song” single! Thanks to a notorious Sydney photographer friend of mine I was lucky enough to help out at the photo shoot for their new promotional pics and look in on the filming of part of their new video for ‘Moment’, that boast one of the funkiest guitar leads I’ve heard for a very long time.

I was completely intrigued at the dynamics of the group, dashingly dressed and equipped with equally cool moves, they sit somewhere between Welcome Back Kotter and The Wanders. At times they were a playful gang of mates with hearts and smiles filled with prankster affection that could almost instantly shift into a hard working tough guy exterior, plus each are extraordinarily proficient at their instruments. With an album launch planned for Sydney in March I’m looking forward to seeing how this chemistry translates live. My prediction is that Kid Confucius could well bring down a full house, with their seriously sexy moves and funk filled rhythms. Though, it is mere speculation, check them out for yourself, and let me know what you think.

www.myspace.com/kidconfucius

Richard In Your Mind - ‘The New Sun’

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I met these guys waaaay before they won the Unearthed competition to be on the Sydney Big Day Out lineup……around two years ago actually. Richard is the bespectacled fella that’s always happy and in a good mood. He told me how he went to India for a year and learnt to play the sitar. He then came back and started busking near Sydney’s Central Station, and was so good an Indian restaurant owner asked him to play. Wasn’t long before he started Richard In Your Mind with roommate Conrad Richters of Sydney band Terrapin. Their sound of psychedelic pop sounds familiar yet refreshing. Can’t wait for the album. Congrats guys!

http://www.myspace.com/richardinyourmind

Directed by film maker Campbell Hynam-Smith on a shoestring budget, this clip has some rather high cinematographic values, compared to most of the independent music videos floating around on YouTube. ‘Lookin’ Over My Shoulder’ is the new single from The Basics.

More on The Basics

www.myspace.com/the3basics

Jakob - ‘Oran Mor’

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Though we claim to be all about “New Australian Music”, sometimes the rule wanes somewhat and we slip in the occasional band from our Trans-Tasman brethren, New Zealand.  Case in point: Jakob.

Regular visitors to this site have probably caught onto my penchant for dark, moody instrumental rock.  It’s a classification than Jakob, who originate from Napier, slot into perfectly.  Their dirge rock leanings and amorphous song structures bring to mind similar bands such as Isis and Pelican, and indeed the band are supporting Isis in Auckland on February 10.  Although what sets them aside from the aforementioned bands is that Jakob focus extensively on the atmospheric elements of their music, and their heavier sections aren’t as heavy metal based as what other similar bands are: even when the distortion pedal is switched on, Jakob still work in the realm of soundscapes and atmospheric darkness.

2006 saw the release of Solace, their third album (having released two previous albums - Subsets of Sets & Cale:Drew - since their 1998 inception).  It’s an excellent album that encapsulates all the elements of this great band.  They made it to Australia for a brief tour in November, so hopefully they’ll be back sometime soon.

http://www.myspace.com/jakobmusic

Jay K & The Amazing Z - ‘Pop Kulcha’ (mp3)

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I am not that big of an expert or even fan of the local hip hop scene. It’s for a multitude of reasons: the fairly outdated beats, awkward delivery, or the overly serious approach to lyric writing that prevents hip hop from being accepted in the wider listening public in Australia. But this song is simple and funny, a running commentary on pop culture that drops references to the MySpace culture, race tensions in Cronulla, other hip hoppers in the scene, Kramer, Australian Idol and lots more. Another discovery from Triple J’s Unearthed program, this Sydney duo have made a very clever and relevant Australian hip hop number, the best I’ve heard in a while. The song has delivery that is reminiscent of Eminem though this is not a fault - I would prefer this to the angry tough suburbia approach that a lot of other local hip hoppers adopt. Overseas readers might have trouble connecting with the lyrics, but like all good hip hop it’s very often a reaction to local events and issues.

Jay K & The Amazing Z, known to their mothers as Jay K Catagay (19) & James Woods (20), formed in late 2006 in Sutherland Shire, which is where the beachside suburb of Cronulla in Sydney is. Although they’ve only been together a couple of months as this outfit, the two high school friends has been involved in projects for a long time, and started to rapping about two years ago. This song was out two weeks after they formed and was soon on rotation on the local urban radio station. They have yet to play live but this is very promising start.

www.myspace.com/popkulcha

A video as the first post of the year? Why not if it’s this good eh? This video actually makes following the rather out of this world lyrics a lot easier. Funny too.

photo by boudist.com

The Ghosts - ‘Redversion’

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I’d like to introduce Sydney four piece The Ghosts. A mixture of boyish stage benevolence and ear friendly melodies, this group has been together not even a year and yet their potential is yet to be contested by anyone who has been to one of their live support shows, which have only been sighted in few Australian cities. They have attracted the attention of industry moguls and regular live music observers alike, working recently with producer Nick Littlemoore (PNAU & Teenager) and playing live at the Modular/Ksubi Christmas party as well as standout support sets for Australia’s salient Mercy Arms and 80’s revival act Van She.

If the demos on their MySpace are mere premonitions of what’s to come from the beaty beaus song wise, then dare I say it, they just might be Australia’s next big thing. I’ve indulgently been at many of the band’s shows (and intend to keep appearing), at times standing pensively within a sea of frenzied dancers. What I revel at most is how their sound has always seemed fitting as a support, despite having shared bills with very different acts, from the likes of The Infadels to the Klaxons and Mercy Arms, and how they seem to always strike a chord with each nights’ audience. This said it’s the songs, whose genesis can be credited to Gabby the band’s eye wandering vocalist, and the performance of equally able band apparitions that make this fraid of musicians worth a watch. Have you seen a Ghost lately?

http://www.myspace.com/theghostsms

Riot In Belgium - ‘La Musique’

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Welcome to the Earth’s 2007th orbit around the sun since the birth of Jesus (or so the story goes). With it comes New Year’s Resolutions made and no doubt already broken, a chance to wipe away the woes of the previous year and the return of Who The Bloody Hell Are They! 2006 will forever be remembered as the year that brought rock kids to the dance floor and dance kids to the pubs; where popular music became a pastiche of live instrumentation and dance-infused personality, and Australian acts like The Presets, The Valentinos, Van She and teenagersintokyo - just to name a few - blurred the lines between genres even more. So it seems only fitting that we’d start with one of the more popular tracks released in the past 12 months…

It’s almost unbelievable that ‘La Musique’, one of the dance floor anthems of 2006, is only the second release from Bennie Single and Joel Dickson, collectively known as Riot In Belgium. The duo are of the highest pedigree - Bennie’s alter-ego is DJ Damage of Sydney DJ troubadours The Bang Gang, whilst Joel was a one-time member of Melbourne’s Cut Copy.

Folktore tells that the moniker was derived from the boys’ love of “waffles, dark chocolate and Technotronic”. Their debut studio collaboration resulted in ‘The Acid Never Lies’, a similarly thumping anthemic dance tune that brought Riot In Belgium to both national and international attention, garnering them many a remix job for the likes of K.I.M. (a.k.a. Kim Moyes of Presets fame) and Sneaky Sound System. On the back of the success of their debut release came ‘La Musique’, which was in every DJ’s bag of tricks during ‘06. Abrasive French vocals (courtesy of Gini) are backed by a bed of electro-infused synth lines and thumping digital drums. It’s rump-shaking, fist-pumping brillance for the 2AM peaking hour.

There’s a remix by Van She (under the Van She Tech moniker) floating around dance floors as well - but this track was always ripe for the remixing. No doubt disco heads are waiting impatiently for the next offering from these superstar DJs.

http://www.myspace.com/riotinbelgium