Archive for 2010
In 2009 Darwin Deez was the man/band of the hour. He dropped an album called Constellations and everyone went wild! Of course I told myself I wouldn’t post about him because he doesn’t need the exposure and there’s a thousand other blogs where you could read about Darwin Deez but his tracks have been reverberating through my dome since their release. I recently read an article about the problem with music blogs that touched on this exact idea.
In the liner notes of Constellations we read that all songs were performed, produced, arranged, engineered and mixed by Darwin Deez. D.I.Y at it’s finest. I like that. Here is a video of his major single, Radar Detector. If you didn’t hear this on Triple J in the last 6 months then you weren’t listening properly. Or maybe you were listening to FBi or 2ser in which case you just indie one upped me. Ouch.
Summer anthems in the mid-winter, that’s appears to be the way of things. Los Angeles band The Smiles released their debut EP Hermosa in May this year (yep, I know that’s not American winter but I’m wearing thermals right now. Don’t argue with me.) and it’s a pretty solid six tracks of surf pop. I can’t stop listening to Cala Cola which is the best of the six. It’s available as a free download from The Smiles’ bandcamp. If you’re not ready to take a risk on this free download then you can stream Cala Cola below.
The Smiles – Cala Cola
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Hotspa are probably going to be a big deal. Remember that time I told you Jinja Safari were going to be big and now they’re bigger than U2? ACT LIKE YOU KNOW IT! It’ll happen again. I’m making this call on the back of a single song with a film clip. It’s a nice film clip though. It’s a compilation of clips of people that (I assume) are the band’s family and friends doing all sorts of Aussie, summery things. The song rules though. Here is that song.
Hotspa – Kiola Beach
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It’s available as a free download from Triple J Unearthed. Thanks Triple J, you are a swell guy.
Gypsy and the Cat’s new single ‘Time to Wander’ has been made available as a free download from the Triple J Website. Get amongst it!
There’s been a swathe of supergroups popping up over the past 6 months so here is a completely inconclusive and subjective guide to a few of them. – Retrospectively, after rereading what I’d written here, I’ve realised that this is neither subjective nor a guide.
GAYNGS
Noteworthy members:
Justin Vernon (Bon Iver)
Joe Westerlund (Megafaun)
Phil Cook (Megafaun)
Brad Cook (Megafaun)
Michael Lewis (Andrew Bird)
Gayngs – The Gaudy side of Town
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MT DESOLATION
Noteworthy members:
Tim Rice-Oxley (Keane)
Jesse Quin (Keane)
John Roderick (The Long Winters)
Tom Fiddle Hobden (Noah and the Whale)
Ronnie Vannucci (The Killers)
Country Winston Marshall (Mumford & Sons)
Mt Desolation – State of Our Affairs
TIRED PONY
Gary Lightbody (Snow Patrol)
Richard Colburn (Belle & Sebastian)
Peter Buck (R.E.M.)
Tired Pony – Point Me at Lost Islands
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MONSTERS OF FOLK
Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band)
Jim James (My Morning Jacket)
Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes)
M. Ward (M. Ward)
Monsters Of Folk – Dear God
Artists you need to know rn
| 1. 1300 |  |
316 |
| 2. Voidhood | |
259 | 3. jamesjamesjames | |
186 | 4. Zan | |
174 |
| 5. Sesame Girl | |
147 |
