One of our favourite bands and band member Dappled Dave have been shortlisted for Cleo Bachelor of the Year! Vote for him here.

Seja – ‘I’ll Get To You’

A while back I posted a great Seja Vogel track that was then divorced of any albums details beyond the label that would release it (Rice Is Nice). That album now has a name (We Have Secrets But Nobody Cares), a release date (27/3), and her name has been to shortened (dropping the Vogel, Madonna-style).

In case you didn’t check that post, Seja is the synth player in both Sekiden and Regurgitator, as well as sporadically contributing synth duty to acts like SPOD and The Mess Hall. We Have Secrets… will be her first solo album, most of which was written and recorded with just vintage electronic equipment and her voice.

‘I’ll Get To You’ is the lead single from the album and, true to the above description, it’s a pool of vintage 80s synths that would make M83 or even Goldfrapp proud. If, by some chance, you’re initially underwhelmed then make sure you hang about until the bridge.

Seja is launching the album on a co-headlining with Otouto. Dates below.

Fri 16 – The Metro, Adelaide (plus Clue To Kalo)
Sat 17 – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne
Thu 22 – The Troubadour, Brisbane
Fri 23 – The Sando, Newtown, Sydney

www.myspace.com/sejamusic

In case you missed the news, Lisa Mitchell has won the Australian Music Prize for 2010, taking away $30k cash for her efforts. I’ve not heard her debut album, ‘Wonder,’ but am told it’s actually pretty good for a former Australian Idol star. Regardless, I’d probably feel more comfortable with this prize going to smaller, independent bands like it has in the past (The Drones, ECSR, The Mess Hall) who could use the money more than Ms Mitchell. But hey, congrats to LM. Hopefully she can produce something worthwhile with the moolah.

Castles Sunk Below The Sea – ‘1992′ (mp3)

Castles Sunk Below The Sea make music for thinking deep thoughts to. From the same school of sound as local post-rock bands Willows and The Paper and The Plane, they sound a bit like Appleseed Cast, a bit like Explosions in the Sky and a bit like Brand New. ‘1992′ is a short but powerful track (that’s what all the ladies say, eh? eh? eh?) based around  samples from Severn Suzuki’s speech at the UN Earth Summit in 1992. More thoughts than feelings at the moment, but that’s not a bad thing at all.

They have a show at Fat Louies in Brisbane on Saturday night, just sayin’.

www.myspace.com/castlessunkbelowthesea

King Cannons – ‘Teenage Dreams’ (mp3)

Imma level with you and confess that I don’t really “get” ska music. Yeah, The Specials are pretty sick and I can totally see why people dig this stuff, but it’s just not ever going to take up much room on my iPod. King Cannons are a newly Melbourne-based but NZ-bred ska band that, to my non-connoisseur ears, tick all the right boxes for ska bands. It’s upbeat, fast, has more than five members, and has appropriate “stick-it-to-the-man” lyrics. I haven’t exactly thrashed ‘Teenage Dreams,’ but this is still well catchy and has at least made me come back for a few repeat listens. Plus I can’t remember the last ska band featured on whothehell.net.

If you’re into ska then let me know what you think of this one.

www.myspace.com/kingcannons

Melbourne up and coming illustrator Eveline Tarunadjaja is having an exhibition of her latest works “Dandruff”. I wish I can go check this out.

Opening Thursday, March 11 (6-9pm)
Exhibition runs March 11 – 21, 2010

No Vacancy Gallery
34-40 Jane Bell Lane, Melbourne 3000
Gallery Hours: Tues – Sat 11 – 5, Sun 12 – 5

Vorad Fils – ‘Temple Leak’ (mp3)

The Atlas Room – ‘Iris’ (mp3)

I’ve been seeing a number of people talking up the latest volume in New Weird Australia’s free download series, so it’s good to see it getting some decent traction. I’m a big fan of these compilations, and what I’ve found impressive is that they’ve managed to uphold the quality of those first couple of compilations, the point where Vol. 5 might actually be my favourite so far. If you’ve not downloaded it then you can so for free RIGHT HERE.

Above are a couple of rad tracks I’ve pulled from V5. Vorad Fils is the new solo project from Seekae member John Hassellm whose debut album will be released by upcoming eclectic label Feral Media (AFXJIM, Broken Chip, Cleptocleptics); while The Atlas Room is the solo laptop project of Newcastle resident Ezekiel Kigbo. There’s actually some more accessible and even borderline-acoustic tracks on the compilation if none of this floats your boat. Definitely worth checking out.

www.newweirdaustralia.com

(PS our blog bros Polaroids of Androids have posted one of the compilation highlights over on their site. Check it here – it’s probably the closest Australia has come to joining the glo-fi movement that I’ve yet heard).

I Heart Hiroshima – River from Paul W. Rankin on Vimeo.

(Cheers to @Niteshok for the tip)

YKB frontman Michael Tomlinson goes stark for the band’s new vid and several hundred teenage girls get taken away for cardiac arrest.

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Edit from Matt

Just got sent a different video from Dew Process. Apparently the above clip is the ‘Alternate Version,’ presumably because it’s less likely to get rotation on MTV etc. This one features less nudity and smoking, so if cardiac arrest is a serious concern then perhaps this is the version for you.