Tagged By New Music

WATCH: Fuyuko’s Fables – ‘Slappy and Graham’

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Fuyuko’s Fables‘ ‘Slappy and Graham’ is an exercise in restraint and release. It shows the Wellington five piece alternating beautifully between whispered acoustic folk and the slow grandeur of a post rock band.

The various elements are balanced carefully throughout the song, providing a subtle sense of movement as each melodic or rhythmic line is introduced or removed. The track is warm and inviting, and while it does see progression, the changes are never jarring but welcome. By the time the song hits the refrain you’ve been so immersed in its charms that you just nod your head along as the band sings some ‘ooh-oohs’ and quietly leaves you back where you began.

‘Slappy and Graham’ is accompanied by a sepia-tinged video, a slide show of photos that could just as easily have been taken on tour as found in a box in the back of an op-shop. The carefully timed images quietly add a sense of space and majesty to the track’s breathy sound.

 

You can hear the rest of Fuyuko’s Fables‘ latest EP, Everybody is Weird, here.

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INTRODUCING: Redfoot

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Redfoot are a New York based indie rock outfit, with synths man Corey Wallace flying the Aussie flag. They make wafting dream pop that chops and changes swiftly, often before you realise what’s happening.

Their self-titled debut EP opens with ‘Reversing Falls’, a menacing track defined by a tense guitar hook and Luca Pironti’s vocals, which roll through the melody hypnotically. Wallace plumps up each track with Grizzly Bear-style synths, especially the lead single, ‘Make it Quick’, which was produced by fellow New Yorker and indie-rock personality Darby Cicci (The Antlers). ‘Make It Quick’ displays the group’s lack of interest in traditional song structures, with sneaky time signature changes adding depth to the already layered track.

This kind of experimentation creeps in again during ‘Lo Pan’, with Pironti’s vocals spurred on by a lethargic snare before the track changes direction completely around the three-minute mark. These red herrings crop up all over Redfoot, making their debut EP an effortlessly interesting listen. It makes me wish they’d make the trip back to Australia so I could see them have a crack live.

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LISTEN: Richard In Your Mind – ‘Hammered’

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It’s Sunday afternoon. The scent of roasting bacon flesh is streaming into your nostrils, and the bright sun leaking into your bedroom is way too bright. There’s only one solution. Bottom’s up, right?

That’s the logic behind Richard In Your Mind’s newest track, ‘Hammered’. The Sydney pysch-pop maestros are finally back after a short absence, ready to follow up their 2012 EP, Mozzarella. As always, their songs sound bright and sparkly, almost dumb-foundingly so. I mean, in this time of financial terror, with Tony Abbott raining his fiery injustices upon a country stupid enough to elect him in the first place, how can a band be as sweet as cordial without the water?

Richard In Your Mind, like contemporaries Tropical Strength, have defied the constructed negativity of our times and released a song about getting hammered with your baby in the daytime, accompanied by a dinky little flute melody. When all hope seems lost, Richard In Your Mind are here to remind you that sometimes all you need is a goon sack, some sunshine and a little bit of magic psych-pop.

Richard In Your Mind’s new album Ponderosa will be coming out 29 August on Rice Is Nice.

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INTRODUCING: Pepa Knight

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Not being much of a swashbuckler myself, I have found myself only rarely drawn to Jinja Safari-like adventure music. But despite the fact that Pepa Knight has not strayed far from this artistic direction, his new single ‘Clams’ has a guileless quality about it that is (on third listen) increasingly appealing to me. Why is this? Who can say. It’s a sunny day and pop music is temporal. Regardless, there are some reasonably objective things that we can say about this tune.

Following from his recent (very successful) single ‘Rahh!’, it looks like we are getting a clear idea of the sonic space Pepa Knight’s solo project will inhabit: utilising myriad instruments (mandolins, tabla, flutes) and layered harmonies to create atmospheric, major key pop tunes. I also need to include here that, personally, I will always be in favour of a mandolin solo. And whether the line ‘God only knows where I’d be/Wilson said to me’ is a reference to Tom Hanks’ soccer ball in Castaway or Brian Wilson’s 1960’s Beach Boys classic ‘God Only Knows’ is irrelevant – both meanings fit comfortably with this tune, which is equally nautical and nostalgic.

One thing that makes Knight’s music ambitious is his constant insistence on creating positive vibes. To write a happy song that doesn’t sound twee or jar the listener is a much harder task than writing a muted Thom Yorke emotional divebomb. Whether or not he has achieved his goal is up to the listener, but to even attempt it is a brave move. Or maybe he’s just legitimately this happy, all of the time. That’s a scary thought, but if you like what you hear, stream away:

Pepa Knight will be launching ‘Clams’ on these dates:

Friday, 1 August – Goodgod Small Club, Sydney (RSVP on Facebook)

Thursday, 7 August – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne (RSVP on Facebook)

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INTRODUCING: The Backstabbers

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The Backstabbers are a brand new duo consisting of Rupert Edwards (Dick Diver) and Amy Hill (School of Radiant Living), with a hypnotic quality that emanates from their brand of morose, drum-less folk.

If you can dig a few tunes that tug at the heartstrings and are less than cheerful, you should checkout The Backstabbers’ new cassette, Shame. I hope I don’t undersell how much impact music like this can have – these songs have a stern beauty and a calmness that eases the mind.

Piano and trumpet fill the space solemnly, as if they were echoing through an empty house. The girl/boy harmony work is especially sweet, taking the edge of the ‘strine in Rupert’s accent, adding an ethereal quality and giving fullness to the sparse arrangements on tape.

Shame dwells on the nature of friendships and the slow meandering of daily life, communicating thoughts and feelings simplistically but successfully. The songs are fully formed, if a bit rough around the edges. Regardless of its lonesome and haunting nature, this is well thought out, touching music.

The Shame cassette is out now on Hideotic and can be purchased through Eternal Soundcheck.

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WATCH: Orchestra of Spheres – ‘Fingerweg’

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Continuing their reign as the weirdest Wellingtonians you’re likely to encounter, Orchestra of Spheres chant, drone and groove their way through the three-and-a-half minutes of freaky goodness that is ‘Fingerweg’.

A self-described ‘ancient future funk’ band, Orchestra of Spheres relish doing anything but the ordinary, employing homemade instruments and left-of-centre vocals to produce some genuinely unpredictable yet always enjoyable musical madness. You’re just as likely to find yourself jumping out of your seat to dance as scratching your chin in contemplation when exposed to their ritualistic tunes, and leaving one of their shows can feel like you’ve just escaped from a very strange but charming cult.

‘Fingerweg’ was recorded during the sessions for their last album, Vibration Animal Sex Brain Music (yes, it’s as great as that sounds), but its release was reserved for a later 7” single. The track showcases Orchestra of Spheres’ most endearing elements, making a clear case for why they’re so fun and easy to love. The vocals are deadpan, the music sounds both broken and grand, and everything is just very, very odd.

The track is accompanied by an equally disorienting and bonkers video that highlights the band’s penchant for really strange outfits and other proclivities. You will very quickly understand how little you understand what they’re up to. I sure don’t.

You can pick up a copy of the ‘Fingerweg/Lost Days’ 7″ single via Outside Inside Records.

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INTRODUCING: Love Signs

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This single is the first chance anyone outside of Brisbane has had to hear the lovely Love Signs, who have risen from the ashes of girl group devotees Johnny and The Fembots and played some very impressive shows around town in the past few months.

‘Wish At Home’ has a  kind of school dance vibe – if school dances were actually about locking eyes across a softly lit room with the love of your life rather than drinking too many Woodstocks and throwing up behind the bike sheds.

There’s a whole lot of sweetness here, but also sophistication – and most of it comes from Izzy Mellor’s voice, which can’t help but take centre stage, it’s so full and classically beautiful. The instrumentation is subtle but distinct, a guitar twinkling away in the background and the rhythm section mixed with a restraint that helps to give the song its gauzy aesthetic.

The romantic feel is complemented by sighing lyrics about heartbreak and loneliness, and it’s an excellent introduction to such a sleek nostalgia band. Hopefully Love Signs have a lot more where this came from.

Talented AND generous, Love Signs have made this track available for free download on Soundcloud.

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