The Jezabels – ‘Noah’s Ark’ (mp3)

Dear Sandwich Club, we beat you to this one you bastards! The Brag threw one motherfucker of a Christmas party last Saturday in Sydney, taking over four venues in what was more of a mini-festival than a festive season party. If you missed out, then you suck. Offically.

There was one band on the night who made the biggset impression of all. The Jezabels were the talk of the night, with many “Did you see The Jezabels?” floating around. There’s nothing flashy about the four-piece. Their songs and stage show is suitably lo-fi and their singer comes from the Peter Garrett School of Dancing, but it’s rad. She gets into it. So do you. Everyone has fun.

They subscribe to the Arcade Fire brand of indie rock, with a hint of Nick Cave darkness, especially in ‘Noah’s Ark’. The Jezabels are the next big thing in Sydney music. Look out for them in 2008. Guaranteed. Plus they’re awesome peeps too, which always helps.

http://www.myspace.com/jezabelsband

Flamingo Crash – ‘It’s Mystery Music!’

I don’t mean to be a negative-nancy, but I really didn’t expect too much of Brisbane band Flamingo Crash’s forthcoming Magoo-produced album… until I heard the first single, ‘It’s Mystery Music!’. Now my expectations are sky-high. It’s Architecture in Helsinki reminiscent quirk-pop made 4 stars with a Neptunes keyboard line and surprising saxophone interludes, and the freshest thing to come out of Brisbane in forever.

Honestly, it sounds like a house-band segment from the Young Ones, and who else sounds like that at the moment? Eat shit my low expectations.

http://www.myspace.com/flamingocrash

The Saturns – ‘I Could Be The One’

Something new from Sydney rockers The Saturns. ‘I Could Be The One’, with its ’60s rhythm and blues aesthetic, comes from their debut EP mixed by Wayne Connelly, who’s worked with a slew of top Aussie acts like Josh Pyke, The Vines, You Am I and Youth Group.

There’s nothing too complex to this song – just good ol’ fashioned rock swagger. It’s toe-tapping fun.

http://www.myspace.com/heresthesaturns

Briztronix – ‘Incentive’

Sometimes I wish I was in a hip-hop band, just so I could give myself a cool moniker like Shazam or DJ  Bacon – like the dudes in Briztronix. Dominic Alessio sounds too much like a soccer player to ever have any cred. Plus I can’t rap. Or DJ.

But to call Briztronix – who, unsurprisingly, are originally from Brisbane – hip-hop would be doing this duo a grand disservice, because they’re more than just a throwaway tag. Briztronix is part DJ Shadow, part RJD2, part abstract jazz, part electronica and of course, hip-hop. It’s a complex musical recipe that unashamedly recalls early ’90s turntable music on labels like Ninja Tune and Mo Wax.

‘Incentive’ comes from their third record Structures of Canyons and its a record that takes some time to get into – there’s a myriad of good ideas but sometimes the execution is a tad labourious and the songs, at times, tend to run in circles, and not much ends up happening. But pick out individual songs and you’ll see why they’ve been getting attention from Triple J, as well as winning awards.

http://www.myspace.com/briztronix

Karoshi – ‘Slowdown’

Despite the trio in the photo, Karoshi is the brainchild of one Sydneysider, Beres Jackson. Before I unveil a blog full of flamboyant musical adjectives, I’ll take a quick snippet from the Karoshi MySpace:

“The name Karoshi comes from the Japanese word for ‘working oneself to an early death’. This social commentary is the idea behind the songs on Karoshi’s debut EP, but there is also a feeling of hope and beauty behind the darkness.”

There’s something almost Barbra Streisand about the introductory keyboard on ‘Slowdown’; a tone that harks back to the synthesised pop of the 1980s. But that’s a moot point considering there’s nothing pop, nor ’80s, about ‘Slowdown’ or in fact any of the songs found on the debut Karoshi EP. Psapp, Decoder Ring and Boards of Canada are reference points for Karoshi’s brand of instrumental, downbeat electronica. Scattered drum beats, softly-spoken keyboards, beeps that twist and turn and ambient beds of soundscape all overlap to create something rather beautiful.

Tracks on the rest of the EP include some other instruments, as well as vocals on one track. While Karoshi live shows have been limited, Beres is currently traipsing across the globe, so there’s no shows for a while. In that case, you should grab yourself an EP for those peaceful late nights.

http://www.myspace.com/karoshimusic

We don’t do outright promotions of CD releases very often, but this one perfectly suits our purpose: an all Australian (ok a bit of NZ) Indie mixtape. Brought to you by Mr. Purple Sneakers himself Martin Novosel aka PhDJ. I’m sure many of you have spent many nights at Purple Sneakers. Who hasn’t gone through that 3am music debate next to the pokies? Or have spilled beer/have beer spilled in the ‘beer garden’? Or waited too long in the queue wondering why you’re willing to pay $15 to get into a pub? Like it or not, Purple Sneakers are responsible for bringing a lot of Indie music into the mainstream clubbing crowd that frequent it now.

Click here to listen to a review copy of Purple Sneakers Mixtape of Indie Joy. And so to celebrate this release, PhDJ is touring across the country doing club nights across the five states. Try catching him he’s good.

TOUR DATES

Sat 24 Nov @ Abercrombie Hotel – SYDNEY *Official Launch Party
Sat 01 Dec @ Inferno – TRARALGON
Sat 08 Dec @ Kink/Valve – MELBOURNE
Fri 14 Dec @ Empire – BRISBANE
Fri 21 Dec @ Berlin Lounge – GOLD COAST

www.myspace.com/welovephdj

Van She – ‘Cat and the Eye’

So we finally have some new material from Van She after over a year. I’m not sure why they waited so long to follow up on an EP that got pretty good exposure. Maybe there were some band troubles? Record company complications? Or maybe the strategy was to do as many Van She Tech remixes as they could to get some blog attention, build up the myspace audience, whilst using that same time to write some good material for a second EP. Or is it album? There’s no mention. This song is instantly memorable thanks to the liberal use of flange-swoosh-effect hook.

www.myspace.com/vanshe