The Golden Filter

The Golden Filter are probably the best half Australian electro act going around at the moment. I don’t know of any other half Australian electro groups, but if I did I doubt they would compare to the excellence of The Golden Filter.

Stephan Hindman lays the beats and the delightful (and Australian) Penelope Trappes contributes vocals. Think Goldfrapp but with a harder edge and much more now, and relevant. The duo combine bright 70’s disco synths with driving kick and snare beats garnished lightly with delicate and sultry vocals.

Their debut EP effort Voluspa was released on Monday in the UK and the rest of the world (for some bizarre reason the states have to wait a few more months). Lead singles from the record include “Hide Me”, “Thunderbird” and their breakthrough track “Solid Gold”. Stylistically the beats and melodies don’t really differ that much, but that doesn’t seem to matter when your music oozes sexiness and puts the un-learned listener into a catatonic state of ear-worship. Thunderbird is the stand out for me, if only for it’s charmingly tacky faux-epicness. You can stream the whole album from their website right now.

Listen, purchase, and keep an ear out for their live show. That will be a modern disco not to be missed!

Solid Gold – The Golden Filter

Hide Me – The Golden Filter

Thunderbird – The Golden Filter

Penguin Prison – Horrible Name, Delightful Music

Horrible, awful name. What a bleak image the name Penguin Prison conjures up, yet by some contrast, the music is some of the most delightful and accomplished solo synth-pop I have heard in some time.

Often the term “Pop” inspires sonic visions of underaged, over exposed Starlets, a scantily clad and aging Brittany Spears and the excessive use of auto-tune to disguise a blatant lack of talent. That is why it is so refreshing to hear pop music with genuine substance. Chris Glover’s supple yet powerful vocals fit perfectly in his elaborately composed songs. His ambitious approach to song writing is accommodated by the seemingly limitless expanse of his musical imagination, which adds some much needed substance and credit to the genre.

The first track I got into was “The Worse It Gets” and the simple tune tells you all you need to know about Penguin Prison’s delightful self-produced bedroom pop. The RAC remix nailed it enhancing synths of the original whilst also giving it a feeling reminiscent of some of Queen’s live performances.

Ironically whilst writing this post for “The Worse It Gets” I have been religiously listening to the new single “Something I’m Not”, which has a distinct Depeche Mode feel about it, so you can have that too.

Do keep an eye out for this guy. I imagine his gigs like a non-stop up-beat dancefest where everyone has a fat smile plastered on their face the whole time. I can’t wait.

The Worse It Gets – Penguin Prison

The Worse It Gets (RAC remix) – Penguin Prison

Something I’m Not – Penguin Prison

Seja – Live at the Sando

Just a quick post about Seja‘s enchanting performance co-headlining with Otouto at The Sando on Friday. With a little over 100 attendees the upstairs stage provided the ideal intimate venue. Seja’s own custom felt-craft banners adorned her keyboards discreetly covering the intricate network of cables protruding out of the instruments. The room was crammed full of Indie kids with several opting to take a seat on the floor to contain their enthusiasm and anticipation of the gig. Shortly after our arrival Seja and her band took the stage and started pumping out her trademark rich synth sounds.

The performance itself was very entertaining. The all girl 3-piece overcame the initial technical hitches of recurring feedback and barely audible microphones to put on a fun and up-beat set that is congruent with Seja’s electro-pop style. What was refreshing to see was that the band was really enjoying themselves and any sense of pretension was non-existent as all members moved about stage switching instruments and contributing vocals. Perhaps the best example of this lightheartedness was during “I’ll Get to You” towards the end of the set when Seja and her guitarist punctuated the end of every line in the verse with percussive finger clicks and finally in the last song where the girls abandoned their instruments for a karaoke style sing off with complimentary choreographed dance. The girls from Otouto joined them on stage to bust out the dance moves as well.

All in all a very pleasant evening and entertaining performance. I also picked up a hard copy of her debut which was $20 well spent. Some nice tracks from it are sampled below.

Mad props to Jon for the excellent iphone photography contribution.

Framed You In Fiction – Seja

Silver In My Eye – Seja

Flashback – Weezer (The Blue Album)

Remember when Weezer were good? I do. They were good, they were damn good. They personified 90’s nerd rock perfectly and produced the kind of music that you could only fully comprehend if you were an introverted, acne-laden adolescent male with a mutual appreciation for rocking guitar riffs and pining for unattainable girls and summer holidays. Which I most definitely was.

The Blue Album was Weezer’s 1994 debut release and the record stands as a fine example of many bands producing their best work on their debut. I don’t know where to begin with this album, I love every track on it. The opening track “My Name Is Jonas” is fantastically eccentric. The next two tracks “No One Else” and “The World Has Turned and left me here” demonstrate Rivers Cuomo‘s knack for writing pessimistic yet endlessly charming love songs. The lead single “Buddy Holly” is perhaps the best example of this.

My favorite track on the record is “Say it Ain’t So” which features Cuomo’s raw and honest description of his relationship with his step-father accompanied by chunky power-chords and a ripper guitar solo. It is everything a teenage rock enthusiast needs. “In The Garage” and “Holiday” perfectly summarise teen angst and desperate holiday yearnings respectively and the final track “Only In Dreams” just has a kick ass guitar wank crescendo in it that I am still not over.

If you have youth and hair on your chest then I strongly urge you to get this album. Pick up your guitar and jam along in your bedroom. Even now as a young adult I still can’t get enough.

Say it Ain’t So – Weezer

Holiday – Weezer

Only in Dreams – Weezer

Two New Releases That I Love – Crystal Castles and Thieves Like Us

Today I am posting about two new tracks simultaneously, just because I can. They have nothing in common other than they are both brand new and I uncovered them simultaneously whilst scouring the inner-net. Plus they are both excellent, actually that is a few things in common now that I think about it. But take my word for it, good music.

First up is some new material from Crystal Castles, very exciting! The track is called “Celestica” off their eponymous sophomore album release due out on June 7th. The track is typical of the duo’s softer sound featuring Alice Glass’ soothing vocals perfectly accompanied by nice, calm synths. I feel really old writing that but it’s true. I much prefer their laid-back tracks compared to their ear-splitting scream-saturated cuts, which don’t take my fancy all that much. The Celestica EP is available off itunes now!

Second on the list is a nice little outfit called Thieves Like Us. If you are a desperate New Order fan like I am then the name would have caught your eye. I checked out their earlier releases but was not really taken with them, however when they re-appeared on the weekend with the release of their new track “Never Known Love” I was persuaded to give them another go. The track is soft (again) and smooth and really just a joy to listen to. Never Known Love is the leading track off Thieves’ upcoming LP “Again and Again” available on May 7th from the Releases page of their website.

Enjoy.

Celestica – Crystal Castles

Never Known Love – Thieves Like Us

Blurring the lines

Great News! After seven years of sporadic live performances and Damon Albarn obviously focusing on Gorillaz we are surprised with a new track from Blur! Splendid. “Fool’s Day” was released as part of the Record Store Day celebrations held over the weekend. Somewhat unexpected from the band but warmly welcomed nonetheless.

The track has a slow tempo and almost feels lazy but this contributes to the general vibe. The mood is relaxed, dreary and a tad pessimistic, but still effortlessly beautiful. I tend to wonder why Albarn, after so much individual success with Gorillaz, would be interested in collaborative work again but I suppose the fun and satisfaction of playing with your old mates is too tempting. You can sense it in the product, after a few listens the simple quality of the track seeps through and is irrevocable. Albarn’s voice combines sveltely with the lethargic strokes of the drums and bass before culminating in a simple guitar solo. It is just good, authentic pop-rock.

In advocacy of Record Store Day the band released 1000 limited edition vinyl copies of the single directly to record stores in the UK whilst also making the MP3 and uncompressed WAV files available from their website so the track is freely available to all. Credit to the intelligence of the Band and their management for taking this approach and supporting hard copy independent retailers whilst also acknowledging the role of online distribution mediums, such as this blog, for promoting contemporary Artists and releases. More signs that the music industry is slowly coming around to the potential of online distribution and promotion through blogs. Good news for all.

Get the track from the link below or from their website http://www.blur.co.uk/.

Fool’s Day – Blur

Splendid Splendour 2010

Splendour In The Grass recently announced the line-up for the epic winter music festival and the list is long and impressive. It seems just about all the hottest bands of the past 18 months are here, and it is only the first announcement, which is kind of scary considering what more could be coming. Now with the difficult task of choosing between the festival event of the decade (so far) and the traditional annual snow holiday I find myself in a spot of bother…

The first line up announcement includes: The Strokes, Pixies, Ben Harper, The Temper Trap, Florence And The Machine, Empire Of The Sun, Scissor Sisters, Goldfrapp, Grizzly Bear, Hot Chip, Passion Pit, The Middle East, Angus and Julia Stone, Bag Raiders, Yeasayer, Miami Horror, Miike Snow and that isn’t even half of it. Mouth-watering, I know. I am still wiping the drool from my keyboard.

The 10th installment of Splendour kicks off on July 30th and runs for 3 glorious days until the 1st of August. The venue has changed from the stalwart Belongil Fields near Byron Bay and migrated a few hours north to Woodfordia in Queensland, home of the Woodford Folk Festival. With 20,000 camping tickets available for $450 a pop and 10,000 non-camping tickets at $350 each there are plenty of spaces available, but some might find the burgeoning prices tags slightly prohibitive. Tickets go on sale at 9am on Thursday the 6th of May via Moshtix so you have a few weeks yet to mull it over.

A few of my favorite acts on the bill are available below, just so you know the level of excellence to expect.

Madder Red – Yeasayer

Cult Logic – Miike Snow

Rocket (Grum Remix) – Goldfrappe

Couldn’t resist slipping a bit of Grum in to this one. Who knows, maybe he will be on the second announcement? Fingers crossed.

Breakbot is Breaking through

Breakbot first popped into my musical consciousness a month or so ago when Kavinsky’s Nightcall was previewed and the quality remixes swiftly followed. Breakbot’s edit neutralized the cold tone of Kavinsky’s original and replaced it with a super-saturated sexy funk sound that totally reversed the feel of the track. Since then I have been doing my Bot-research and am routinely impressed with the findings.

Breakbot is just one of many contemporary French DJ’s that seem to be dominating the scene and it is no surprise that his “Baby I’m Yours” single was released on Busy P’s Ed Banger Records. Breakbot’s style is more laid-back compared with his Parisian colleagues featuring more old-school funk influences mixed with simplistic electro that gives alot of his tracks a nice chill-funk feel. This is particularly notable in his remixes such as the aforementioned Kav remix and also the tracks featured below.

Perhaps the best news of this post is that Breakbot is coming to Sydney, and soon! He plays on the 8th of May when Arcade takes over The Arthouse on Pitt St. Hope to see you there.

Kelly (Breakbot Remix) – Van She

I Think I Like U 2 (Breakbot Remix) – Jamaica

A Thing For Me (Breakbot Remix) – Metronomy

Talib Kweli – Live

I recently caught Talib Kweli and Jean Grae live at  The Forum. This was my first live Hip Hop gig in some time so I was waiting in eager anticipation. I was anxious to get there in time and felt relieved when I found a local support act warming up the audience. It was close to 10pm by this stage so I assumed Kweli would be starting shortly. I was wrong. Jean Grae came out soon after the Australian Act and provided a contrasted set starting out with soulful, laid back hip hop jams before proceeding to a high intensity delivery of her harsh Street style. Make no mistake, Jean Grae is a strong feminine force in modern Hip Hop and well worth the double billing with Kweli.

Shortly after Grae’s set Kweli busted out onto the stage with Grae accompanying his opening tracks. He moved with energy and confidence as his rapid-fire mic assault began. The occasional ping of feedback seemed to irritate the energetic wordsmith but once rectified the flow of the performance was unstoppable. His mouth moves so fast the words are almost indecipherable but that was to be expected with his high-speed live delivery. The set list was diverse with old and new tracks and included verses from some of his collaborative recordings such as “Definition” with Mos Def and Kanye’s “Get ‘Em High”. The highlight of the performance was always going to be “Get By” as the soulful tune had the entire room bouncing to the beat, truly infectious.

Shortly after Kweli left the stage before coming out again for an inevitable encore. The performance had been so engaging and physical, I had been dancing for the whole 2 hours and was amazed the Kweli was still going. In typical unique style instead of concluding the performance and declaring that he “loved” Sydney and departing, Kweli casually invited audience members from the front row up to the stage for a dance. So with 50 adoring fans on stage Kweli hosted a mini dance party with his DJ spinning hip hop classics including Biggie and Snoop whilst casually dropping a verse in between posing for photos with fans. The distinction between Performer and Fans was effortlessly blurred as all people and lovers of hip hop danced the night away. Simply the best end to a concert I have ever seen.

Get the aforementioned collaborative tracks with Mos and Kanye as a bonus.

Definition – Talib Kweli & Mos Def

Get Em High – Kanye West (Feat Talib Kweli & Common)

Russ Chimes – Expressway Mix Part 1

Russ Chimes has burst into my playlists over the past month like an aggravated water buffalo stomping through rice fields in South-East Asia (try to imagine it). The London producer has been hard at work with multiple releases already this year and could quite possibly be the most productive dance artist of Twenty-Ten. I first picked up his remix of Fabian‘s Heatwave and was absolutely stunned by the bridge section of the track that sounded more like an 80’s epic guitar solo from a hair metal band than a modern club track. The fusion of the two styles was super impressive giving the subdued original some much needed balls. I have been hooked since.

When I discovered the Expressway Mix – Part 1 I was only too keen to download and tuck in to over an hour of smooth Chimes danceness. The mix features some of the best dance/electro releases of the year (only 3 months remember) and some of Chimes own remixes. The mix is fresh and provides a good summary of the music of 2010 so far. Grum, Bestrack and Alex Metric kick off the mix in a relentless funk/dance assault and it only gets better from there finally concluding with Happymusic’s favorite Kavinsky.

Download and groove your ass off. Featured track list is below. And yes, as you should have inferred this is part one of an upcoming series so watch this space for part two. It will surely be just as good.

Russ Chimes – Expressway Mix Part 1

1. Russ Chimes – Raceway 036 Intro
2. Gorillaz – Stylo (Alex Metric Remix)
3. Phonat – Love Hits the Fan (Bestrack Remix)
4. Axwell – In The Air (Grum Remix)
5. The Vanish – Hold On (Russ Chimes Remix)
6. Andrea Doria vs. LXR – Freak Me (Phonat Freak Remix)
7. Popmusichi – Once Again
8. Louis La Roche – Malfunction
9. Patrick Alavi – Come 2 Me
10. Strip Steve – Breakin’
11. Ladyhawke – Magic (Donnie Sloan Remix)
12. Rhythm Droid – Sunrise On Planet Tokyo
13. Denzal Park – Filter Freak (DCUP Remix)
14. Tronik Youth – Disco Sucks (Aston Shuffle Remix)
15. Steed Lord – Remember Me (Russ Chimes Remix)
16. Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed (Russ Chimes Remix)
17. Wolfmother – White Feather (Bang Gang Edit)
18. Wolfmother – White Feather (Burns Remix)
19. Tony Senghore – If You Came Here
20. Reset! – If We Try (Russ’ Love Anthem Guitar Solo Edit)
21. Danger – 04h30
22. Dr. Kucho – Kung Fu Funk
23. Cassius – 1999 (Reset! Remix)
24. Burns – Fourteen
25. Kavinsky – Nightcall (Breakbot Remix)