Tin Sparrow

Tin Sparrow are a quaint four-piece folk-pop outfit from Sydney’s northern beaches. Not to be confused with Tim Sparrow, or indeed Jack Sparrow, Tin Sparrow make music that exceeds their youth and relative inexperience.

I hear shades of Crowded House, Neil Young, and The Beatles, what do you think? Strong melodies and effective, intelligent lyrics create simple sounding yet genuinely sophisticated little pop gems. Throw in the odd guitar solo and it makes a pretty neat package. I quite like it.

They recently played the Peats Ridge music festival over New Year’s in front of several hundred people, not bad for such a fledgling group. They even handed out free demos, which I have sampled for you below. They play The Roxbury Hotel in Glebe this Friday the 21st as part of a charity fundraising night, how generous.

Fool’s Gold – Tin Sparrow

The Boat – Tin Sparrow

Christmas Cheer from Summer Camp

A tad late on this one, seeing as the festive season is over already, but good music is always a gift worth giving and it’s always a good time to receive. Summer Camp popped out a little cover of The Waitresses cynical Xmas pop tune late last year.

I like this song very much, mainly due to the smart lyrics and the original description of the joys of the festive season. Summer Camp’s typical subdued electro pop style suits the track very well, although I have trouble deciding which one I like best.

You can have both for your enjoyment.

Christmas Wrapping – Summer Camp

Christmas Wrapping – The Waitresses

New Toro y Moi

How exciting! TyM has just dropped his new track. It is typically fantastic with great beats and groove. I love this man. “Still Sound” is the first sample of the upcoming Underneath The Pine record to be released on 22nd Feb on Carpark Records.

He is playing an upcoming gig at Good God Small Club in the city on the 23rd of February. Unfortunately I’ll be in Japan so I am deeply upset on missing out.

Still Sound – Toro y Moi

Blatant Pop Indulgence

I have been listening to a decent amount of shameless pop lately so I thought it was only appropriate, and fair, that I share it with you. I am not ashamed.

First on the list is the freakishly good-looking and stylish Danish Songstress Oh Land. “Oh” is not her first name but it is easier to pronounce than her actual title. Ethereal modern pop with occasional glimpses of a harsher edge. I like it.

Sun Of A Gun – Oh Land

Perfection – Oh Land

Next is this track Baby Lee by Teenage Fanclub. Simple, beautiful melodies over moderate tempo acoustic guitar strums. This is the kind of stuff that fills the playlist for any road trip I have to do with my Mother, because it is incapable of offending anyone. I find a great similarity between this and R.E.M., which I used to put on our road trip mix tapes a decade ago, and would explain why I like it so much. Don’t judge me.

Babylee – Teenage Fanclub

To add some much needed balls to this post I will add on the Yuksek remix of Sun Of A Gun, which is typical Yuksek, and fucking brilliant.

Sun Of A Gun (Yuksek Mix) – Oh Land

Cee-lo says “Fuck You!”

Cee-lo Green recently dropped the first track off his upcoming solo release titled Lady Killer. Known as the vocal half of Gnarls Barkley, the duo collaboration with Danger Mouse, Cee-lo sure knows how to deliver a killer vocal track with one of the most distinctive and interesting voices around.

Cee-lo’s new track, simply titled Fuck You, sees him lay his powerful pipes down on a retro mo-town sounding beat overflowing with “ooooohs” and “doo-wops”. The opening major chords on the grand piano contrast perfectly with the ironic lyrics about love, ataris and gold diggers. Cee-lo may just have created the best anti-love song of the year. The video is also thoroughly satisfying and especially useful for karaoke sing-along purposes.

Keep an eye out for Lady Killers coming out in the next few months.

Fuck You! – Cee-lo

Strange Talk?

I heard Strange Talk last week on Triple J being plugged as the week’s Unearthed featured artist. Their track Climbing Walls is sheer electro-pop rock band perfection with pleasing vocals and rising synth melodies. These guys could easily be Australia’s version of Phoenix and have clearly drawn great influence from the French group, not bad for a group that only formed in Melbourne 6 months ago.

Check out their interview on Triple J here.

Climbing Walls – Strange Talk

New Cut Copy

‘Nuff said.

Where I’m Going – Cut Copy

Broken Bells sound surprisingly good

Broken Bells is the collaborative brain/love child of James Mercer and Brian Burton of The Shins and Danger Mouse respectively. The new group sees the duo

Mercer’s distinct melodies and faint vocal style still feature prominently which should keep most Shins fans satisfied. This guy has an innate ability to write almost flawless pop tunes so it is pleasing to see this continue with Broken Bells. Burton’s influence is evident through the variety of sounds and instruments used that offer more diversity than the standard Shins record.

Broken Bells self-titled debut LP was released earlier this year in March on Columbia Records and is available here.

Enjoy.

The Ghost Inside – Broken Bells

Vaporize – Broken Bells

Business is Casual with Chromeo

Electro funk-pop geniuses Chromeo are back with their third tasty studio album Business Casual, set for release in early September. The most successful Arab/Israeli collaboration in history leaked the first single for the new record Night By Night a few months ago and have recently followed up by announcing the second track Don’t Turn The Lights On at their blog a few days ago.

The new track is smooth, sexy and simply classic Chromeo. The more suave, ambient sound falls in the “dim the lights and try your best seductive move” category, similar to 100% off Fancy Footwork. It contrasts nicely with the galloping electro-rock (not the cheesy kind) in Night By Night.

Cannot wait for the full album release, definitely worth pre-ordering. Keep an eye out for an impending tour announcement, this show will be unmissable.

You can pre-order Business Casual at Amazon here.

Night By Night – Chromeo

Don’t Turn The Lights On – Chromeo

Anoraak – Super French Romanticism

It seems some of the best electronic music going around this year is French (see Kavinsky and Breakbot). Producer/Singer/Songwriter and all round music genius Anoraak has been slowly forcing his way into my musical consciousness and now that he has I am all the richer for it. His original brand of soothing romantic electro oozes quality and is a joy to listen to.

I first opened my ears to Anoraak when I noticed Grum had put out a banging remix of Nightdrive With You, Anoraak’s breakthrough single from late 2008. I later heard a Fear Of  Tigers remix of Nightdrive that confirmed the excellence of the track. When my stubbornness finally relented I check out the original track from Anoraak and have been hooked ever since. This guy earns great praise across the blogs and it is easy to see why.

Anoraak’s beautiful synth-laden pop electro is pure magic. He lays his own vocals on his original tracks (yes he can sing) and composes some genuinely charming pop ballads. His latest release Above Your Head is a perfect example of this. The track is the leading single and preview for Anoraak’s debut EP due out on the 30th of August.

Of course he also turns out a mean remix. Check out his mix of Keenhouse below. The sequencer sound has flashes of New Order‘s Perfect Kiss. Favorite track of the week.

You can purchase Nightdrive With You and other Anoraak tracks here. Above Your Head is available from his myspace as a free download. Awesome!

Nightdrive With You – Anoraak

Above Your Head – Anoraak

Civic Transit (Anoraak LAX Remix) – Keenhouse