I’d never heard of Blonde Redhead until shortly before they released 2004′s Misery Is A Butterfly (this despite the fact that they had already released five albums). Since Misery (which I ended up loving) I’ve been looking forward to a new record. The lead track off the album (and first single I believe) is the title track and it’s incredibly addictive. The song features an almost techno drum sound/beat and those ethereal, unintelligible vocals that I loved so much on the last record.

Download: 23

The record will be out on 4AD in April.

I hate long, unwieldy band names but Saturday Looks Good To Me make the kind of playful summer music that forces me to simply accept their god-awful name. In fact, I barely notice the name now. Ever since I was introduced to 2004′s Every Night via a mixtape by a former coworker, I’ve been intrigued by the 60s pop sound that Fred Thomas (the Conor Oberst of SLGTM) creates at a time when far too much music sounds cluttered, over-produced and overly-treated.

The girl-group vocals, the Motown production…I love it all. And while with other groups this sound can come across as a bit novelty-esque (sorry Pipettes), Saturday Looks Good To Me seem entirely natural; indie pop doesn’t get much better than this. For fans of The Basics, The Zombies, Belle & Sebastian etc.

Download
The Girl’s Distracted (off Every Night)
Lift Me Up (off Every Night)
Underwater Heartbeat (off All Your Summer Songs)
Meet Me By The Water (off All Your Summer Songs)
Can’t Ever Sleep (off Sound on Sound)
Disaster (off Sound on Sound)

MP3s courtesy SLGTM, Polyvinyl Records, and Redder Records

More music on SLGTM’s MySpace.

I’m pretty sure I’m currently battling the plague. Whilst staving off the black death things have been piling up that I’ve been meaning to mention. First up, tonight Young and Restless kick off Sydney’s Thriteenth Most Pretentious Indie Night as Bad Kids Recreation Club launches at Bar Broadway. Not sure I’ll be able to make it down despite really wanting to see Y&R again. Plus Muscles is supporting and he’s been getting some international blog love this week.

Another Aussie band I’ve been looking forward to releasing new music is Bit By Bats. They will be releasing their debut album on March 24 and it’s called Go Go Go!. The band will be playing Spectrum on April 14 to convince you that you need to buy the record. Check FasterLouder for all their Australian tour dates. You can stream some new music at their MySpace.

Pitchfork reviewed Gotye’s Like Drawing Blood…BEWARE THE BACKLASH WALLY!

Triple J have quite a few free mp3s of some young Aussie bands at the moment. My pick of the bunch is Belles Will Ring…

Download: Belles Will Ring – Park Benches

Be sure to check out Get Big, Little Kid for the Laneway Festival set times. Plan your day accordingly!

Finally got our V tickets this week. Anyone know why you can’t by them at Ticketmaster outlets and MUST pruchase them over the phone or net? Kitsune (well sort of) have been added to the lineup as well as Rub N Tug. Pretty sure the lineup is now set.

I don’t normally pimp anything that involves Viacom, but hey, I was told there are too many screamo bands entering and that’s not a good thing. So if you are a young (good) band MTV are looking to kickstart your career. You can’t argue with 20 grand and a video clip.If you’re interested check the link below.

MTV Kickstart

Entries close in a couple days so hurry up!

March is on the way and that can mean only one thing for the indie (and not so indie) music community: the industry clusterfuck that is South by Southwest. A billion bands, a million venues, random house parties, free booze, and zero sleep in an oasis in Texas. I’ve wanted to go so badly in past years…but I seem to be over that urge for some reason. Anyway, just like last year, a stack of Australian and New Zealand artists will be making their way to Austin to try and impress anyone who will listen.

Should any SXSW attendees stumble upon this I’d recommend Die! Die! Die! very! very! very! much! They put on an insane live show that may leave you bleeding; it will leave you gobsmacked. Architecture in Helsinki are always quirky fun, I enjoyed Expatriate just two nights ago, and The Presets will get your ass dancing. Who else would you recommend people check out? A lot of these artists I’ve never heard of.

Sarah Blasko and Paul Kelly who were both scheduled to perform have since cancelled their attendance I believe. Sarah’s album release has been pushed back in the US, apparently, so she’s not heading to the States until later in the year. Here’s the rest of the Australian and New Zealand artists performing:

Airbourne, Architecture In Helsinki, The Beasts of Bourbon, Carly Binding (NZ), Blindspott (NZ), Brave Radar, George Byrne, Children Collide,
Cut Off Your Hands (NZ), Dallas Crane, Die! Die! Die! (NZ), Dimmer (NZ), Elemeno P (NZ), Evermore, Expatriate, Gasoline Cowboy (NZ), The Gear, Hoodoo Gurus, I Heart Hiroshima, Macromantics, The Mint Chicks (NZ), The Panda Band, The Presets, Josh Pyke, Bic Runga (NZ), The Saints, So So Modern (NZ), Spod, Starky, Sunwrae, Via Tania, Ian Wadley, Andrew Winton Duo, Wolf & Cub, You Am I, Youth Group, The Zebras

You can see the complete list of artists taking part in SXSW 2007 here.

Download
I Heart Hiroshima – Candy Cut
Cut Off Your Hands – You And I
The Zebras – You Look Ready
Macromantics – Scorch
Andrew Winton Duo – Lucky Boy
Starky – Hey Bang Bang
Carly Binding – So Radiate
Die! Die! Die! – Year Nine, Yeah!
The Gear – Eight Arms To Hold You
Elemeno P – 1157
The Panda Band – Musical Chairs
Children Collide – We Are Amphibious
The Mint Chicks – Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!
Blindspott – Yours Truly
Sunwrae – Catch Me If You Can
Spod – Letz Dance!!!
You Am I – It Ain’t Funny How We Don’t Talk Anymore
Airbourne – Runnin’ Wild
So So Modern – Upgrade Your Chassis (It’s a Pythagorean Party)
Youth Group – Catching & Killing

All mp3s are from the official SXSW page, so please download away. In fact, if you’re really keen, SXSW have a torrent of 793 mp3s you can download from this page. Go nuts!

Whiteboydancefloor also discussed Aussies at SXSW.

Expatriate were one of the first Australian bands I discovered after moving here in 2005. I picked up their Lovers le Strange EP when it came out and really enjoyed it but I did not see them live until last night. The band launched their new EP, Play A Part, at the Annandale to a very enthusiastic crowd. A few people told me that this was their first Expatriate gig in some time and that the band is much different now than they used to be; fuller, tighter, more complete.

Over the course of their hour long set the band showed a surprising range….some of the earlier songs had more of a punky edge (Killer Kat and Get Out Give In, for exampe) than they do on the EP while the new songs seem fit for radio singalongs. The set as a whole flowed well, building to a strong finale that seemed to leave the crowd completely fulfilled. The Play A Part EP is now available and the album will be released on April 21 through Dew Process. Looking forward to it.

Stream Play A Part on MySpace.

Before support act Kiosk took the stage two people told me that I would fall into one of two camps concerning the band: I would either enjoy them, or pretty much hate them. There was to be no middle ground. Needless to say this got me very intrigued as any band that creates that kind of reaction at least has to be interesting. And Kiosk were and by the end of their set I was firmly in the ‘I like Kiosk’ camp. I wasn’t completley blown away, but the simple guitar/drums/vocal setup worked for me. While Wire magazine may use 35 syllables to describe the band’s sound, I can use one: punk. Keep it simple.

Opening the night was The Hate Game, the artists formerly known as Vendettas. I saw them open for The Vasco Era last year and was pretty ambivalent. And the name change hasn’t really changed much. They certainly weren’t terrible, but I didn’t find them all that memorable either. I’m sure a lot of people will dig their sound (especially in Sydney) but I don’t foresee ever thinking “I feel like listening to The Hate Game.”

Photos from the gig here.

On January 4, 2006 I wrote the following in a post about Massive Attack:

I was thrilled when I saw various articles today reporting on “new album details” from one of my favourite bands. Because it’s Massive Attack the record isn’t scheduled for release until next February (that’s 2007 not 2006), but it seems as though they have seven tracks completed…

Because it’s Massive Attack, here I am a year later saying that the new record may very well not be out until 2008. The good news, however, is that according to an interview with both Robert del Naja and Grant Marshall (together! in one room! laughing!) Massive Attack may have enough material to release two records in the space of a year. I, for one, will not be holding my breath, but I’m getting excited for one record already. One reason for this is that Grant Marshall (aka Daddy G) is heavily involved in the forthcoming record, unlike 100th Window. In his own words, “I’m here to put the black back into Massive Attack.”

The band have just played a few charity gigs in England benefiting Palestinian refugee children; the shows did not feature any new material. When the new stuff does start to surface you can look forward to collaborations with Horace Andy (as always), Damon Albarn, Elizabeth Fraser, Hope Sandoval and TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe. Stoked.

I’ve been listening to a lot of Massive Attack lately, especially Mezzanine era stuff (as it’s one of my favourite albums ever), remixes, and b-sides. I don’t think any band does the creeping darkness as well as Massive Attack did back in 1998. And as music is always leading me on a path, I’ve also been rediscovering the brilliance of Tricky’s Maxinquaye and Portishead lately too. Speaking of which, where is THAT album. Are people from Bristol the laziest bastards on the planet? Anyway, how about some rareish Massive Attack?

Download:
Nature of Threat
Aftersun (featuring Dot Allison)

And one other band that DOES do dark well is Death in Vegas…especially The Contino Sessions. I love that record…and it connects up here because it’s opening track also features Dot Allison…

Download: Death in Vegas – Dirge (clip)

Don’t you love it when music can just decide for you what you want to hear next?

In other news, Bjork’s new record is now completely finished!

Hit up The Torture Garden for a new Arcade Fire cover….Serge Gainsbourg this time!

It’s been at least a few days since I last mentioned Dappled Cities Fly so I figured an update was needed. First up, the boys have started up a photoblog of sorts which you can access here. They plan to update that site a lot with random shots of…Dave’s computer, for example. All you Dappled Stalkers should be very happy. Photographic evidence tells us that they have just recently shot a video for Fire Fire Fire which will, no doubt, appear on Rage very soon.

Next up, the band has some more shows. Most importantly this Sunday February 18 in Sydney. This one should be great as it’s ON A FRIGGIN BOAT. The boat departs Pyrmont Bay Wharf (in Darling Harbour) at 6pm, it’s back at 10pm. So you get to see a Dappled Cities Fly show while the sun is setting while you’re on Sydney Harbour. There are worse ways to spend your Sunday. Tickets are on sale via Moshtix and will set you back $25.

And on March 2 the band are playing a an all-ages benefit gig along with Bridezilla, Laura Imbruglia and others at Paddington Town Hall. The next day they kick off their run of shows with the Laneway Festival. They are also opening The Dears show at Home on March 10 which I was already planning on going to so that was a sweet bonus. And if you love your Dappled Cities and are Australian, I’d get out to as many shows as you can because the band won’t be playing many more Aussie gigs this year as they plan to spend the last half of 07 abroad. You’ve been warned.

Download: Within Hours

Also this weekend, The Instant are launching their album at Booby Trap (Melt Bar) in King’s Cross on Friday night. I’m not all that familiar with them but I’ve heard great things by people who generally have a good sense for these things. So if you dig that post-rockish sound make sure you check them out Friday.

And I already mentioned Expatriate at the Annandale on Saturday…so that’s a hat trick of great gigs this weekend including the Dappled Boat Ride.

And then on Saturday, February 24 Young and Restless are back in town at Bar Broadway. I cannot wait to see them again since I missed them at Homebake. They kick all kinds of ass live. Muscles and Emergency Emergency will be supporting. Hit up their MySpace to stream what I believe is a new song.

BEST
NEWS
IN
AGES

The V Festival just got a LOT more interesting.

Download:
Running The World
Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time

JarvSpace

Perhaps completely wrong but Amazon have a new Radiohead album for preorder. The release date is August 6. Most interesting is that if this is right, then Radiohead appear to have resigned with EMI. Debate rages on.

Whether it is true or not, I am getting pretty excited. Dead Air Space has been very busy lately as well.