mcArtney - ‘Circles’
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Having toured almost relentlessly playing in other people’s bands, mcArtney (a.k.a. Tim McArtney) sat down with his Apple Macbook and spilled out his own musical thoughts, coalesced them all together and he now presents us with his debut EP, Volume One. Taking lead from subtle folk/pop artists like Josh Pyke and Augie March, Tim’s songs are sutiably bare; sometimes garnished with a glockenspiel, or cello, or, in the case of ‘At Least I Think I Know’, some extra vocals in the form of Dead Letter Chorus’ lady wonder Gabby Huber.
‘Circles’ is the first single from the EP, and encapsulates what mcArtney is all about: narrative vocals based around sweet acoustic guitar melodies, but ornamented with a spattering of percussion and tinkling glockenspiel.
http://www.mcartneymusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/mcartney
My Disco - ‘You Came To Me Like a Cancer Lain Dormant Until it Blossomed Like a Rose’
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Naming themselves after a Big Black song, it was only time before My Disco entered a studio session helmed by Steve Albini. Paradise, their second album after 2006’s Cancer, is a far more sparse and minimal affair than its predecessor. Just check out ‘You Came To Me Like a Cancer Lain Dormant Until it Blossomed Like a Rose’ (which may be the longest title of any song we’ve ever blogged about, disregarding the gigantically-titled KIM remix Jerry posted a week or so ago) which barely has any vocals and it’d be lucky if it had more than two chords.
http://www.mydisco.com.au
http://www.myspace.com/mdband
The Third Cycle - ‘Brand New’
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Something brand new (HA, my puns are AMAZING!) from Sydney kids The Third Cycle. ‘Brand New’ comes from their debut EP Pressing Sound which, if you’re hanging around Sydney city on Friday night, they’re launching at a new venue at Luna Park called Sonar.
http://www.myspace.com/thethirdcycle
ii - ‘Tropes’
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Alex Nosek and Jon Tjhia, two guys from Melbourne, are ii - an abstract, sometimes improvised, outfit that combines the ambience of Boards of Canada and the unpredictability of Triosk with abstract drones and the occasional pop-tastic moment. Attempting to define ii is a fairly redundant task, and their latest concoction, Landlakes, is a minimal nocturnal soundtrack for back alleyways with flickering neon lights and candlelit, aromatic lounge rooms. Sparse and cerebral, Landlakes is the Dali of abstract music.
http://www.myspace.com/iitunes
The Hot Box - ’Riot’
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In the throes of a current Lions At Your Door fixation, I donned my deerstalker hat and embarked upon some sleuthing, under the guise of intrepid journalism. I was on a mission. A quest, if you will.
That mission (or quest) was to uncover the Mystery of the Pseudonym Frontwoman. Who is this soulful-voiced Cookie that fronts Lions At Your Door? Thus I plunged headfirst into the rabbit hole that is Google…
This all sounds much more stalker-ish that it actually is, but what I find out is that Cookie, whose name is Marihuzka Larenas, also fronts (or has fronted, the MySpace isn’t all too clear) The Hot Box, a stripped raw, blues rock outfit, much in the vein of The Stooges but with vocals akin to The Bell Rays or Gossip. I don’t really know too much about them, but I thought this would make an interesting blog. Though that’s for you to decide.
Either way, ‘Riot’ is the only song of theirs I could get my hands on, so do with it what you will.
http://www.myspace.com/getintothehotbox
The perpetually fucking cool, always dapper Nick Cave and his band of merry men, The Bad Seeds, return with the title track from their brand new album; the first since 2004’s Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus. This is classic tounge-in-cheek Cave. Love it.
http://www.nickcaveandthebadseeds.com
http://www.myspace.com/nickcaveandthebadseeds
Lions At Your Door - ‘LAYD (Mailer Daemon Mix)’ (mp3)
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Visceral and thumping, ‘LAYD’ was a vociferous opening statement that was more startling than an unexpected punch to the back of the head. Lions At Your Door, you funky, foot-loose bastards. ‘LAYD’ went straight onto infinite repeat on my iPod and in my head. I love the 3 minute mark in the song when catastrophy ensues.
Remixes of indie bands are ubiquitous these days so they can be fairly banal but Mailer Daemon has done a great job in turning these dance-punk rockers into salacious dancefloor drawcards, giving a Gossip-esque feel to ‘LAYD’. Heavy on the hi-hats, processors and moments of electro-freakout, there was so much indie gold on offer with the original that it would be really hard to fuck it up. But here’s another song that’s going straight onto my iPod.
http://www.myspace.com/lionsatyourdoor
Brilliant Fanzine - ‘Change For You’
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Tinkling piano flanks this Britpop-tinged number from Melbournites Brilliant Fanzine. Totalling a mammoth seven members means ‘Change For You’ is garnered with a lush instrumental bed which Matt O’Neill’s creamy, harmonised vocals can lay on. They try and mix some difficult elements, like pop and hallucinogenic noise breakdowns, but somehow it works in the heat of the moment. Around the 2 minute mark, the electric guitars and synths go spastic while the acoustic guitar strums along oblivious to the chaos. It’s Elastica, Blur and Bends-era Radiohead sandwiched together. Rather tasty too.
http://www.myspace.com/brilliantfanzine
Des Miller - ‘Lucy’
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Melancholic and reflective, ‘Lucy’ is Des Miller at his most narrative, assuming the role of storyteller about our titular protagonist who’s the victim of some bad shit, though what it is is never clear. “Time wounds all heals, but pain remains,” Des sings with ardent emotion and crackling falsetto notes. “Close your eyes and make it go away.” The circular rhymths and steel-guitar riffs conjures up images of driving along empty highways; the slide guitar the sound of dry desert winds blowing in through the open window. A folk song should always spin a good yarn, especially one with a country inflection. This is Western saloon music at its best. Grab a whiskey and settle in.
http://www.myspace.com/desmiller
The Tigers - ‘Names & Things’
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“When you cop a dick square in the eye, it’s called the angry pirate…”
www.myspace.com/thetigersofperth
Photo by Andrzej Liguz
Cog - ‘Bird Of Feather’
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Brand new single from Cog off their forthcoming album, Sharing Space, which is due out in April. Word is the album’s out of this world, despite the fact that the recording process was so tough that the three-piece started to question whether it was all worth it. ‘Bird of Feather’ is a far more literal and structured Cog; Flynn Gower wrote this song about being away from his 3 year old daughter for long periods of time.
http://www.cog.com.au
http://www.myspace.com/cogrockmusic
Don’t get the ringtone, OK? Sorry about the stupid ad, but I really love this song and this is the only copy of the clip on YouTube.
http://www.myspace.com/the3basics
Bagraiders - KIM’s ‘By The Time They Reach You’ (The Bagraiders Would Have Stolen Your Wallet And Changed All Your Money To Euros And Gone Shopping In Paris Remix) (mp3)
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I met these guys last week at the Good Vibrations festival, really nice dudes. I do admit I wanted to blog this just to post the ridiculously long remix name.
http://www.myspace.com/bagraiders
Iron On - ‘One Man Band’
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This is a real dirty indie track, fusing together Death Cab for Cutie melodies, Sleater-Kinney female fiestiness and ’90s indie rock energy - you can hear the Superchunk and Shellac influences here. Hell, they even named themselves after a Shellac song! Kate Cooper and Ross Hope are the stars of this show: their dual vocals bring ‘One Man Band’ to life; a ditty about a relationship collapsing under the weight of a partner’s negativity. Perhaps that accounts for the abrasive bridge section. The raucuous climax bites in hard and the drums thump, thump, thump! Great work.
http://www.myspace.com/ironon
Knightlife - Cobra Dukes’ ‘Leave The Light On’ Remix
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Melbourne based producer and Cut Copy’s label Cutters signee Knightlife has remixed one of England’s up and coming bands Cobra Dukes. I found this track through Gill Mills excellent weekly podcast called The Best Of Myspace. She was in Melbourne recently but unfortunately our schedules meant that we were in different cities almost the whole time and meeting up was an impossibility, but she did get a healthy dose of new Australian music and she dedicated a whole episode just for that.
www.myspace.com/dancewithknightlife
Lover - ‘Never’ (mp3)
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The faux Brit accent starts me off on the wrong foot, but that aside, these three lads from Newcastle (in NSW, despite what you may think) have taken a batch of contemporary influences and fashioned themselves a rather toe-tapping tune. Treading dangerously close to being nothing more than a pastiche of English bands like The Smiths, Gang of Four and New Order, Lover peak at the chorus with up-beat hi-hats, choppy guitars, stabs of synthesiser and layered vocals belting out “I never, I never, I never made it home last night / I lied / When I said I made it home.” The lyrics to the whole song actually don’t make a lot of sense, but when you’re on the dance floor D&M tunes are the last thing you really care about.
http://www.myspace.com/lovertheband
Bag Radiers - Kid Sister: ‘Pro Nails’ Remix (mp3)
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Anyone else excited about Kid Sister and A-Trak touring? Anyone? I think it’s pretty exciting. To celebrate, here’s a remix of Kanye’s favourite Kid Sister track (of which, to be perfectly honest, there isn’t much choice; there’s this, ‘Control’, and…?) by Sydney’s Bag Raiders.
PS don’t just wait for the beat to drop, then decide you’ve heard everything this remix has to offer… with about a minute and a half to go, everything goes a little crazy.
http://www.bagraiders.com
http://www.myspace.com/bagraiders
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