Emma Louise – ‘Boy’

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Emma Louise – ‘Boy’

Listen up boy! If Emma Louise believes in you then best you pick yourself up, live up to your potential and stop disappointing this girl. OK. Good. Now that that’s outta the way, ‘Boy’ is the new single by Emma Louise. Another fine example of her incredible voice and intimate song writing ability. This is a rather restrained track that is as catchy as ‘Jungle’ but deploys more smokey vocals with subtle instrumental hooks and beats that compliment her melody. ‘Boy’ speaks of youth, love, hope and distance and will no doubt feature on a lot of winter soundtracks.

Emma Louise has also announced a string of East Coast tour dates – sure to sell out so check it fast – http://whothehell.net/TH4

Sui Zhen – ‘Cupboards and Sand’ Video Premiere

Sui Zhen – ‘Cupboards and Sand’ Video Premiere

This ephemeral video was lovingly filmed and directed by Imogen Heath and Sam Icklow of NowMomentNow. Becky Freeman is the artist Sui Zhen and she studied with Imogen and Sam who have founded NMN, the Berlin based arts collective. Becky contributed with some of the drawings used in the animation and the live action was captured in Berlin at Teufelsberg, an abandoned spy tower. The shaky cam would surely upset David Stratton but I like the shots and the natural light plus the contrast of the green forest and ghetto look of the spy tower.

Her very sweet record ‘Two Seas’ is available now from suizhen.bandcamp.com/

Sui Zhen – LP ‘Two Seas’

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Sui Zhen – LP ‘Two Seas’ – sampler mp3

This track is a sampler of songs from the new record by Sui Zhen called ‘Two Seas’. It’s a nice ADHD taste of what you’ll find on the record which sounds pretty sweet. Sui Zhen has a lovely and delicate sensibility that she expresses through her indie-folk-pop melody. I like the comparison others make to Joanna Newsom because Zhen does seem to do her own thing and isn’t afraid to experiment with her sound. This record is out now so check out her page for details here – http://whothehell.net/Zkr

Wizard Oz – ‘Pull Out Slow’

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Wizard Oz – ‘Pull Out Slow’ mp3

Whilst Wizard Oz’s stuff is a bit hit and miss for me – especially the computer game sounds on the last ep, I don’t mind this one. Lo-Fi will only last so long in my playlist as it mostly starts to blend but there are a few stand out tracks in here and I recommend downloading the free ep ‘Flashing Lights’. There is a bit of an Ariel Pink vibe going on and it’s kinda sweet. The ‘tape’ version will be released on the 5th May (Yeah tapes? seriously what is going on… are kids gonna raid vinnies stores to find Sony Walkman’s and old foam covered headphones… probably, yes.) at The Grace Darling in Melbourne for a lazy $8. You’ll also get to see ‘Pop Singles‘ supporting.

Grab the digital ep here – http://whothehell.net/1QJ

World’s End Press – ‘Second Day Uptown’

World’s End Press – ‘Second Day Uptown’

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Lighten your Monday with happiness delivered from Melbourne’s World’s End Press. Driven by their live jammin and disco party sound, W.E.P. have a dapper new single on digital release. Despite working on a new record for some time, it seems the boys aren’t ready to make any full length release dates just yet. I don’t think they’re playing hard to get, they just haven’t quite distilled their live sound into a recording yet. ‘Second Day Uptown’ represents what W.E.P. do very well and that is to get your ass dancing. It’s got that distinct bass groove and familiar vocal with a little gospel style, praise the lord keys that have you waving you hands in the air with smiley face joy. This is a tune to go out big on so enjoy lovers.

Check their Facebook for details about a physical release – http://whothehell.net/oEm

Terrible Truths 7″ – ‘Terrible Truths’

Terrible Truths – ‘Lift Weights’ mp3

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So I’ve just picked up this ep from Terrible Truths and found it instantly appealing. The ep has Mikey Young’s marks all over it but it’s different to other bands that might be wedged into the punk garage lot. This is more Grass Window and what probably really got me hooked was the similar feel to Japandroids. This was released last year so I think there might just be a new ep out soon.

Follow their Facebook page here – http://whothehell.net/OXa

Jonathan Michell – ‘Mojave Night’

Jonathan Michell – ‘Mojave Night’ mp3

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Another great release from Special Award Records. This one came out earlier this year and features ten instrumental tracks by Jonathan Michell of ‘The Ancients, Mum Smokes and Breaking The Law’. This one is a gorgeous listen and reminds me of the noodling guitar work of early ‘Explosions in the Sky’. There is not quite the vastness I would expect given the press shot but it’s a pretty sweet title track. Could be a good choice for your purchase this weekend on Intl. Record Store Day. Label details here – http://whothehell.net/Nx3artists/

Taxidermy Hall – ‘Lasting Words’ feat. Winston & Goldstein.

Taxidermy Hall – ‘Lasting Words’ feat. Winston & Goldstein

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mp3

Music people talk some shit at the best of times but some of the metaphors churned out to describe this neat new track by Taxidermy Hall are pretty funny. I won’t name and shame but a prominent music presenter must’ve been reading New Scientist at the time he made that crap up. Anyho, ‘Lasting Words’ has a sweet flow and a nice vocal addition by Jacqui Collager. This is not in the league of ‘Washed Out’ but it’s definitely worth a listen.

Follow his self promotion here – http://whothehell.net/8TY

The Si Claros – ‘Diego’

The Si Claros – ‘Diego’

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I wanna help these folks out by dropping the ‘The’ from their name. Y’know like in that facebook movie – it’d be way cooler. And speaking of cooler – I’d also love this track to be mixed with a little more punch. It’s sweet surf pop for sure but ‘Best Coast’ pretty much ruled this sound for the last year, which makes this track seem a little too relaxed. But hey, they are from Newcastle so who can blame them. Look forward to hearing the whole record.

Free download of ‘Diego’ on their bandcamp here – http://whothehell.net/2wq

Interview w/ Husky Gawenda

Following on from Mel T’s interview with Geoffrey O’ Connor. I spoke to Husky Gawenda of Husky, another Australian band set to play the Laneway Festival circuit this summer. Husky have had a lot of love on the site for their singles and live shows. In October they released their debut record ‘Forever So’ and have been touring the country playing to sold out crowds and very happy fans.

I started by asking about the release of ‘Forever So’.

We finished the record last year so we were sitting on it for a little while. We’d spent a lot of time and energy and love on the record so waiting to release it was a bit hard in a way cause we really wanted to get it out there and have people hear it. So to finally put it out and start to get feedback in all sorts of different ways – on Facebook and twitter and all the ways you get feedback these days – it’s been quite amazing. The fact that there are people out there connecting with it and enjoying it is an amazing feeling.

and having that direct connection with fans?

Yeah, its a beautiful thing because in the past the only feedback you get other then meeting people at shows, which is a great way to get feedback but other then that the only feedback you get is from critics. That’s all good but it’s a different sort of feedback I think. So to be able to just read people responses to the album on our Facebook wall is great. It’s a great way to gauge how people are feeling about it.

How has playing shows and the time since writing the record changed the way you feel about the record ‘Forever So’?

It’s interesting, I don’t listen to the record. I don’t think that much about the actual record. Obviously we’ve been playing and touring a lot so the record has become a live creature. It’s a thing we do live, we’ve had to work on translating the recordings to a live setting and we’ve had a great opportunity to do that this year because we’ve had so many support tours and now we’ve had our own tour. I’m still feeling really good about the songs, I still feel that most of the time I can connect with them while I’m playing them. Sometimes they mean something different to me while I play them to perhaps what they meant when I wrote them but there is nothing wrong with that, that’s the nature of songs and any sort of art. I’m really enjoying playing the songs and seeing how people respond and connect with them – it’s great fun.

The arrangements on the record are quite unique, have you had trouble translating that to a live set – you have a lot of scope to play around with? … Continue Reading