Kid Confucius – ‘Good Luck’

After their last album Stripes sent them traversing our continent, Kid Confucius took some downtime to start work on a new album. It’s still untitled, but we’ve got the first single here, the funky ‘Good Luck’, which is also the first song since the departure of guitarist Ray Mann (who is actually in that picture above, sorry guys!).

It’s got potential, though it feels a bit stilted and lacks some of that funky soul that oozed out of Stripes. Just check out some of the material on the KC MySpace page. ‘Last Straw’ is a particular favourite – one of my favourite songs of ’07.

The album’s due to hit stores October 18 so I’ll be interested to see what else is on the disc. Kid Confucius are never a band to write off.

http://www.myspace.com/kidconfucius

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Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! – ‘War Coward’

One of the more obtuse bands coming out of RADelaide (that’s Adelaide by the way) is Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! who sound like At The Drive-In, Circa Survive and The Mars Volta are wrapped up in a highly combustible package that, upon explosion, you can’t help but dance to.

A handful of self-released EPs have been committed to the annals of the Fire boys, and a new bun is cooking in the oven as we speak. The highly pitch-shifted first crumb from their forthcoming album is ‘War Coward’, a tasty offering that foregoes the usual verse-chorus-verse shtick and adapts a more cyclical format, ebbing and flowing rather than adhering to any set structure. Definitely a grower.

http://www.myspace.com/firesantarosafire

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www.triplej.net.au/wanted

Triple J are looking for new broadcasting talent. Having included comedians, priests and liberals they now are looking for online friendly music fans ie. bloggers. I don’t know how effective this would be, I’m guessing most bloggers (like me) start their sites because writing is the preferred way of communication. Dom and I did discuss some podcasting for new music, and potentially starting a whothehell.net show in a community station somewhere, but we never got around to it because our schedules just don’t allow it. It would be very funny however to audition for Triple J so maybe we’ll give it a crack.

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Sherlock’s Daughter – ‘The Fallen Take The Weak With Them’

Tanya Horo always has her hands in exciting projects, whether it be the gorgeous Soma for Kinder or Sherlock’s Daughter, a band that is seemingly taking up most of her time these days. Which can only be a good thing, because the majority of the Sherlock material I’ve heard is nothing short of exquisite.

So it’s exciting to hear ‘The Fallen Take The Weak With Them’, a taste from the outfit’s forthcoming EP that has been in production during most of 2008. If you’re lamenting the absense of new Decoder Ring material, then Sherlock’s Daughter should fill that empty space quite nicely.

http://www.myspace.com/sherlocksdaughter

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Only The Sea Slugs – ‘Dreamstate’

Sydney indie outfit Only the Sea Slugs have kindly offered us a taste of their forthcoming debut EP. Called ‘Dreamstate’, it’s a lot like you’d expect from a song with that name: ethereal melodies swathed in atmospheric keys. They’ve been kicking around the scene for over two years, and this sounds like promising stuff.

http://www.myspace.com/onlytheseaslugsband

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Emma Dean – ‘Cocaine’

Emma Dean was once best-known as Kate Miller-Heidke’s backup singer and violinist but no more – her long-awaited debut album Real Life Computer Game is good enough to keep her out of Miller-Heidke’s shadow.

Shortlisted for this year’s New Artist to Radio competition, Dean’s quirky pop (or “elastic pop theatre” as the lady herself calls it) does have a slight Miller-Heidke influence but is much less annoying and lacks the operatic histrionics – not a bad thing at all.

The lead single of RLCG is ‘Cocaine’, inspired after Dean read on a Brisbane gossip blog that she had a secret cocaine habit.

If you’re a fan of Regina Spektor, The Dresden Dolls or Tori Amos, you’ll probably love this.

www.myspace.com/emmadeanband

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