Tagged By melbourne

PREMIERE: Owen Rabbit – ‘Violence and Degradation’

, , 1 Comment

Squaready20140924123929

Last month we introduced you to Owen Rabbit, a kid who got his start playing bush doofs in WA and ended up composing trip-hop-inflected indie pop in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.

‘Violence and Degradation’ is the follow up to first single ‘Police Car’. An extended live recording of the new track has been doing the rounds for a while now, showing Owen piece the sound together from a panoply of equipment – synths, samplers, drum machines. The final version has now been laid down and returned from the mastering studio, and will be released very soon via Catch Release Records.

Thematically, ‘Violence and Degradation’ is a neat sequel to the earlier 7″, moving from a tale of delinquency to one of addiction and destitution. But where ‘Police Car’ was sparse and strange, ‘Violence and Degradation’ is lush and soaring, layers of strings, keys and shuddering snares.

Owen Rabbit has a bunch of shows coming up in NSW and Victoria:

Wed, 8 Oct – The Evelyn, Melbourne

Fri, 17 Oct – FBi Social, Sydney

Sat, 25 Oct – The Evelyn, Melbourne

Thurs, 13 Nov – Wesley Anne, Melbourne

Sat, 14 Nov – Babushka Bar, Ballarat

Facebook

Read Post →

INTRODUCING: GL

, , No Comment

gl600

GL is a Melbourne-based synth-pop duo formed by Bamboos alumni Ella Thompson and Graeme Pogson. The pair is about to release the Love Hexagon EP via Plastic World, a Sydney imprint run by Vic Edirisinghe of Astral People and James McInnes of Future Classic.

With a focus on the kind of forward-thinking, club-oriented acts that don’t seem to have a natural home on existing local labels, Plastic World has, in its short life, dropped releases by Tuff Sherm, Cassius Select, Retiree and Alba. The label’s curatorial nous is reflected in the remixes they’ve scored for GL’s upcoming release, including work by Detroit house legend Terrence Parker and Gerd Janson of Running Back Records, which has released music from the likes of Todd Terje, Theo Parrish and Tensnake.

‘Won’t You See’, the first cut to surface from Love Hexagon, started doing the rounds back in July. Though it’s body music with a killer hook, overwhelmingly the track comes off as a 1980s genre exercise, its drum machines and tightly coiled synths zapping like lasers.

GL’s new single, the more sultry ‘What Happened to Us’, draws on a similar palette – but here Thompson’s vocal performance pushes the sound to a higher plane. Her voice flutters and cracks as she delivers the yearning lines, ‘Don’t push harder/You can push harder/But it’s not like before’. As it heats up, ‘What Happened to Us’ rivals the retro-pop grandeur of Solange’s Dev Hynes-produced tracks, equal parts strength and lightness of touch.

Love Hexagon  pre-orders will be available soon. Check out the video for ‘Won’t You See’ after the jump.

(more…)

Read Post →

INTRODUCING: Planète

, , 1 Comment

Planète

Dion Tartaglione is an expert manipulator of noise. As Planète he is at the forefront of the newest wave of Australian electronic music. This might seem like big praise if you’ve never heard of him, but I have a feeling after listening to the latest Planète tunes – the ‘Visions’ / ‘Snow Sketch’ double A-side – you might agree with me.

I’m so confident that you’ll agree this guy is the bomb that I am tempted to stop writing now and let the music talk for me. I’m too vain to let that happen though; let me tell you a bit more about what to expect.

‘Visions’ starts off simply, quietly. Only a few blips and clicks permeate the low-level sound, but they are crucial to the build up. Not long after, the bass enters and your synapses start firing; electrical and chemical impulses start moving in your brain. The groove, once this track gets going, is undeniable – it might not make your heart race, but it will make your brain work.

‘Snow Sketch’ is the slightly longer song of the two, and it has more of a body groove going for it. You can bop around a bit more to this one, but its charm is in its restraint. Plucky synth notes dance around the maracas and bass undercurrent. Both tracks get beyond the seven-minute mark, making each a hefty yet satisfying aural trek.

‘Snow Sketch’ and ‘Visions’ are so immaculately crafted you’ll think they came from a bigger, more established name. The songs are like rooms decorated in the most elegant, minimalist style – unfathomably cool. Planète has the backing of similarly hip electro-heads, Silo Arts, and has supported the likes of LUCIANBLOMKAMP live. If you’re not convinced by this release, then it’s genuinely your loss.

Facebook / Bandcamp

Read Post →

LISTEN: Unity Floors and Chook Race – Cheap Split 7″

, , No Comment

chookraceunityfloor

I mean, this was inevitably going to happen, right? Of course two of the country’s most underrated guitar pop bands were going to combine forces and go multi-platinum on a split single! It seems ridiculous that it’s taken this long for it to occur.

For those unacquainted, Gus and Henry are Unity Floors. Best mates from Sydney, these guys are basically the Marrickville share-house equivalent of Pavement. The kind of music Unity Floors play can best be summarised by the bummed-out, hunched-shoulders riff of their contribution, ‘Hold Music’, with the accompanying line of ‘C…CBF/I couldn’t be fucked/but I’ll do my best’.

From here, ‘Hold Music’ just gets better and better, with buzzing and frantic guitars and lines that prove Unity Floors’ fantastically irreverent lyrics didn’t peak with ‘Nice Fit’. ‘Hold Music’ packages itself nicely as a song to be chucked on between The Replacements and The Go-Betweens on the Sunday BBQ mixtape.

Flip the side, and you’ve got another group that’s severely underrated in the scheme of Australian music – Melbourne band Chook Race. These guys are pure pop with a little bit of scuzz lurking around on the fringes, like a lo-fi version of The Preatures. Their new song ‘Numb’ ranks as one of their finest, and those who have heard ‘Pop Song’ know that Chook Race pack some punches.

Unity Floors and Chook Race are teaming up for the Sydney launch of Cheap Split real soon – and it’s free! Check ’em out on Friday, 12 September at the Standard Bowl.

Unity Floors – Facebook / Bandcamp

Chook Race – Facebook / Bandcamp

Read Post →

INTRODUCING: The Primary

, , No Comment

primary600

Melbourne band The Primary have been kicking around the scene with their brand of noise-laden ferocity for a few years now, and have now offered the first preview of their soon-to-be-released EP The Gift with the straight-shooting lead single, ‘What You Leave Behind’.

A two-versed bombardment of alternating chaos and restraint, the track certainly is a tense listen. With vocals channeling John Lydon in full PiL mode and a gnarly, warped guitar stabbing repeatedly throughout, the trio very quickly prove their chops in the noisier side of post-punk. The track is anchored by an unrelentingly rhythm section whose firmness works to emphasise the discordant wails of the guitar. There’s little room for trickery here – ‘What You Leave Behind’ is simply the sound of a strong live band tracked well.

The hypnotic repetition and eastern guitar lines will have you feeling like you’re being willed to stare into a set of serpentine eyes and await instructions. By the time you’re fully submitted to its command the track abruptly ends, leaving you questioning if you’re really in control of your life.

The Gift comes out on 29 August. The band will celebrate the release with their first interstate show at Brighton Up Bar in Sydney, with support from Jugular Cuts, Beast and Flood, and more.

Facebook / Bandcamp

Read Post →

PREMIERE: The Infants – ‘Ape’ video

, , No Comment

Squaready20140831154008

Back in April WTH introduced The Infants and their ghoulish track ‘Halves‘, and the band’s now followed up with the video for their second single, ‘Ape’.

Unstable guitars, toy pianos, strange sound artefacts and vocals reminiscent of PJ Harvey in her prime – these kids work in many ways to keep you on edge right out of the gate. Driven by a disco groove that you could listen to for hours, ‘Ape’ bubbles along until you feel it’s likely to boil over. Then it EXPLODES.

The video carefully creeps along in a progression that goes from awkward to downright scary – a visual analogue to the particular brand of madness that the music probably had you imagining anyway.

Look out for The Infants’ forthcoming EP, Low Rumble, which they’ll be launching at the Gasometer in Melbourne on Saturday, 6 September.

Facebook / Bandcamp / Web

Read Post →

INTRODUCING: Baro

, , No Comment

Squaready20140828134324

A long ‘Daayyuum’ is the appropriate reaction to the latest mixtape, Howgoodisgood?, from 17-year-old Melbourne MC Baro. Fighting the good fight against rubbish Australian hip hop, Baro and his crew 90’sRD are rolling through verses so smooth and witty they make you double take when you read his age.

The smooth as butter MC lets his airy verses waft over easy lounge beats, doing this as naturally as possible for someone climbing the uphill battle of having an Australian accent. It’s not as heavy as the trip hop and neo-soul coming out of the US right now, but at times it does conjure the jazz and boom bap production of Odd Future spin-off The Internet.

Baro is combining west coast weed-rap and Brooklyn cool without ever failing to represent Melbourne. If this is where hip hop in Australia is heading, thank god.

Check out the video for ‘I Had a Dream About U Last Night’, released today, and catch Baro playing gigs around the country throughout October.

Fri, 3 Oct – The Zoo, Brisbane

Sat, 4 Oct – The Lab, Brisbane

Sat, 11 Oct – Zierholz, University of Canberra

Tues, 14 Oct – YMCA HQ, Perth

Wed, 15 Oct – YMCA HQ, Perth

Thurs, 16 Oct – Prince of Wales Hotel, Bunbury

Fri, 17 Oct – Amplifier Bar, Perth

Fri, 24 Oct – Corner Hotel, Melbourne

Sat, 25 Oct – Corner Hotel, Melbourne

Facebook / Bandcamp

Read Post →