Qua – ‘Circles’

If you’re wondering who the handsome man with the ’70s mo is, that’s Qua. Well, it’s actually Cornel Wilczek but he performs under the name Qua. His music is constantly shifting, evolving. Prolific might not cover it, either. He onlt recently released the minimal Silver Red, an EP borne out of live improvisations he conducted with Pivot’s Lawrence Pike on drums. Now he’s about to release his new album, Q&A, which ‘Circles’ comes from. It’s thumping, beat-heavy electronica, with drums courtesy of Mr Pike as well as former Architecture in Helsinki stickman James Cecil. (I believe both Cecic and Wilczek went to RMIT in Melbourne together, along with Tim Harvey from Hot Little Hands!)

Artist bios are usually full of shit, but I love this quote: “Foregetabout folktronica, kiddietronica, or even pigeonholetronica as Qua is operating in his own league. This is Quatronica”

http://www.myspace.com/quamusic

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Because of Ghosts – ‘The Battle of Mount Royal’

Post rock usually gets a lambasting these days, which is probably fair considering so many bands of that ilk are intend on recycling the same, tired ideas peddled by better bands that have come before them like Mogwai, Mono or Explosions in the Sky. Because of Ghosts, though, have a few more tricks up their sleeves than the usual ersatz instrumental rock outfits. This Culture of Background Noise is the Melbourne trio’s latest offering of spare, cerebral and minimal music, built around rambling drum iines and angular, at times amodal guitar riffage. Most of the songs on the disc are five minutes plus, and while ‘The Battle of Mount Royal’ might not be representative of the build-and-release structures that inform the majority of the music, it’s still a killer tune.

http://www.myspace.com/becauseofghostsband

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A month ago I got an email from a fellow blogger recommending some sort of music exchange program. The idea is this: get a few country specific blogs (such as this one you’re reading) and get them to upload a song a month to be reposted in all the other participating blogs, so that the music gets exposure outside that blog’s readership. Good idea I thought, so we joined up. And this is the first of a monthly exchange of world music galore.

AMERICA – I Guess I’m Floating
Arizona – The Glowing Bird

The title track from their sophomore album which came out on October 14 on Echo Mountain.

ARGENTINA – Zonaindie
Brian Storming – France

France is the new single by Brian Storming, a psychedelic pop orchestra from Buenos Aires. This band was the support act for Coldplay and Björk when they performed in Argentina. The song is included on their new EP, Brian Storming Avec L´Enchanting Device.

DENMARK – Pastries, Peppers And Canals
Diefenbach – On The Move

Diefenbach have been long-time stalwarts of the Danish indie scene, starting out as a post-rock band and gradually evolving into what they are today. Think Beach Boys meets Mogwai meets…well, Diefenbach, actually. The new album, Dark Spinner, is due in late October but the track we’re presenting is from 2005’s Set And Drift.

ENGLAND – The Daily Growl
Absentee – Bitchstealer

Absentee’s debut album proper Schmotime was one of The Daily Growl’s favourites of 2006, and new record Victory Shorts is a direct continuation of what the Londoners do best. Singer Dan Michaelson’s ravaged drawl, the sweet boy-girl vocal play-offs with keyboardist Melinda Bronstein and hugely pleasing riffs from Babak Ganjei all call to mind a much less polished Teenage Fanclub or a poppier Pavement.

ICELAND – I Love Icelandic Music
Plúseinn – Shake

The man behind the band Plúseinn is Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson also known as Árni Plúseinn (a.k.a. Árni +1). He recently released an album called Lettuce And Tomato, made in his apartment in Brooklyn, New York under the name Hungry And The Burger. Árni Rúnar is and was involved in a lot of Icelandic bands and projects (e.g. Hairdoctor, Motion Boys) and is a founding member of the band FM Belfast.

IRELAND – Nialler9
Fight Like Apes – Digifucker

The band have just released their debut Fight Like Apes And The Mystery Of The Golden Medallion in Ireland and the UK. The album was produced by John Goodmanson in Seattle over the summer. They are currently touring the UK with The Ting Tings.

ITALY – Polaroid
Le Man Avec Les Lunettes – The Happy Birth Of You And Me

LMALL’s new album Plaskaplaskabombelibom is free to download from their website http://www.lmall.it.

PERU – SoTB
ERA – Opium

Taken from the band’s second album Ufocalipsis which was released last year.

SCOTLAND – The Pop Cop

Roddy Hart – Dead Of The Night

Roddy Hart made the folk-rock masterpiece Bookmarks, arguably one of the best albums to have come out of Scotland. Dead Of The Night is the first fruits from its follow-up due out in 2009. It’s a live favourite and easily the most immediate pop song the Glaswegian has ever written.

SPAIN – El Blog De La Nadadora

Blacanova – Los Remedios

Blacanova is a band from Seville and this song is from their second demo, Perro EP. They are influenced by Joy Division, Seefeel, The Cure, Spanish band Sr Chinarro, David Lynch and Tod Browning films, and the writer Alejandra Pizarnik. Their music is a cross between dark pop, IDM (intelligent dance music) and shoegaze.

SWEDEN – Swedesplease

Tvärvägen – September

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Firekites – ‘Same Suburb, Different Park’

Jack Ladder – ‘Counterfeit Bible’

Rand and Holland – ‘It’s Alright’

Groupie Mag and Who the Hell have a long and beautiful relationship: every month I contribute a section to Groupie called Limelight, in which I blab about two local acts (although that kind of digressed in the latest issue because I wrote about New York’s Ra Ra Riot). And tonight, if you’re in Sydney, Groupie are presenting a free showcase of acts signed to Spunk Records – which includes my favourite 2008 Sydney discovery, Firekites. Also on the bill are Jack Ladder and Rand & Holland, both fantastic acts in their own right.

Like I said, the gig is free and is on at the Beach Road Hotel, located on Beach Rd in Bondi. It kicks off at 7pm and is compltely free… and I’d be there if I didn’t have a radio show to host. But you should go in my place.

http://www.groupie.com.au

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The Temper Trap – ‘Sweet Disposition’

I’ve been sitting on this one for a bit too long, so I figured (OK, Jerry told me) it was time to get it up on the blog. (Hey, I’m a busy man!) There’s a lot of buzz surrounding the new material from Melbourne’s The Temper Trap and no wonder, because the first taste of their 2009-due album, ‘Sweet Disposition’, is a delay-driven melody fest. Recalling the sounds of ’80s U2, ‘Sweet Disposition’ was recorded in the UK with famed producer Jim Abbiss, who’s worked with some little known acts like The Arctic Monkeys, DJ Shadow, Bjork and Massive Attack. Yeah, I’ve never heard of them either…

I dropped into Sydney’s 301 Studios a few weeks back to hear some more tracks from the Abbiss sessions which will form the bulk of the forthcoming album, and it’s definitely sounding solid. They don’t follow the same aesthetic as ‘Sweet Disposition’ though which is a shame, but it still should turn some heads. You could do worse than check it out.

http://www.myspace.com/thetempertrap

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Re:Enactment – ‘Thems Burnt Puppies’

Re:enactment are a bunch of musicians from Brisbane making intelligent aggressive electro rock. Their music makes use of jangly indie guitars, live drums, 8-bit samples and a rockin’ keytar player.

Their latest EP Regicide was not only released on CD but a very very cool limited edition USB stick, also containing their previous EP, demos, photos and the original audio files for those keen on remixing.

Bands of the 21st Century, take note! This is how you do it.

www.myspace.com/thereenactment

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