This Melbourne duo is yet another quality group that’s benefited from the exposure that Triple J Unearthed can provide. They exploded onto the scene late last year with a simultaneously awesome sound and woeful name. “Gypsy and the Cat”? Yuck. Despite the terrible name, Sony picked them up and they’re now based in London so you know they’re a big deal. They have a new single available which sounds pretty good. It’s called Time to Wander.

Gypsy and the Cat – Time to Wander

Trust me when I say this (because I’m yet to steer you wrong) but the other songs on their myspace are actually better than Time to Wander, particularly The Piper’s Song and Jona Vark. Jona Vark is available as a free download by clicking here.

Shugo Tokumaru takes the idea of the multi-instrumentalist to another level. Exit, his most recent full length release, features over 50 different instruments, most played by Shugo himself. He even records it all himself. His music is a little left of center though Exit will appeal to Western audiences more than his earlier work. It reminds me a little of Jonsi‘s solo album Go.

He has a new three track single out, though apparently in Japan they call that a ‘mini album’, but I’m not fooled, I know value for money when I see it. The three track ‘mini album’ doesn’t seem to be available here but a single can be streamed on his myspace or you can watch the video immediately below.

Shugo Tokumaru – Rum Hee

One of the merits of my internship is that I get to spend hours looking through the artists on Triple J Unearthed. As a result of this, I came across an artist called Jinja Safari who seem to have come out of nowhere. They Created their myspace on the 28th of February this year, so they probably only formed as a band in the month or two prior. Now watch as they explode. They have that sound that your average punter is going to gobble up. All that said, there’re some novelty instruments in there. I’m pretty sure there’s a sitar somewhere in the chorus of Peter Pan (their only recording) and that’s an inclusion I don’t think anyone can take lightly. You can never overestimate the importance of a sitar. One time I failed to recognise the presence of a sitar and developed a pretty serious fungal infection. Friends have tried to tell me that the sitar had no bearing on my infection but I think the evidence is pretty compelling.

Jinja Safari – Peter Pan

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[DOWNLOAD]

Afro-pop. Is it cool if I say afro-pop? I hope so. I think this is afro-pop. I couldn’t list the features of afro-pop but it’s popularized by artists like Paul Simon and Vampire Weekend. That’s the kind of vibe Jinja Safari give me. Their artistic output seems to be centered around ideas of youth and adventure. Spec a few of their photoshoot images if their sound alone doesn’t convince you:

“So what if I’m wearing a monkey hat? It’s only weird to you because you don’t understand what it really means to be a musician”

“I don’t know how we ended up with this camera effect. I swear we didn’t photoshop it. I think my dad’s SLR must have had dirt on the lens”

“Dude, I think she’s seen us”

If you’re keen to find out more, check out their myspace or facebook page. They have their debut show coming up soon in support of Miami Horror at Manning Bar on the 12th of June. A pretty big slot for an artist who have never done a live show if you ask me. They must have some serious connections.

Isbells is definitely angling for a Bon Iver-esque mythology. Their artist bio reads as follows,

After 15 years of playing, making and recording music with several rockbands (Soon, Ellroy,…) Gaëtan Vandewoude felt the time was right to start creating his very own songs. Mostly writing & recording during nighttime, in a shabby old stable, this resulted in a collection of introspective yet observing songs, inspired by his immediate surroundings. Somewhere in that proces a band was formed with Naima Joris, Bart Borremans and Gianni Marzo, allowing each one of them to give their own colour & contribution to the music. Zeal records came to notice Isbells and got them on board. So, Isbells now presents their debut album. We hope you will enjoy our music

What made Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago such a celebrated record was Justin Vernon’s extended period of isolation in a rural setting. Did Isbells really write and record the album in a stable? Probably not, but I’m going to pretend that they did.
The songs are very simple. A few layered harmonies, some acoustic guitar and you’ve got any song on the album. Maybe some hand drums. I really like it.

Listen to a track from Isbell’s self titled debut album and let me know if you’re won over as I am.

Isbells – Reunite

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Isbells on Myspace
Buy the album on on Emusic
Buy the album on itunes

I’ve been racking my brain to think of current, quality Western Suburbs bands. I was going to push, as the thesis for this post, the idea that the western suburbs are the new breeding grounds for quality music but it just doesn’t seem to be the case. Jonathan Boulet and Parades were all I could think of, off the top of my head. Feel free to let me know any glaringly obvious artists that I’m missing. The reason I raise this is because there is an emerging band from the west that, well, quite honestly rule. They’re called Sleepyhands.

Despite having a name with self-sexual connotations (or so I’m told), Sleepyhands have received a lot of attention. They’ve even been contacted by bigwigs from some decent labels. I know right!? The EP isn’t out yet but this guy right here has a copy and it’s got me buzzing (more than the new Band of Horses AND the new National COMBINED). Yowzer!

I’ll let you pause here so that you can appreciate one of their tracks as you read on. The second track from the soon to be released EP, it’s called We Being Humans. It’s the least produced and simplest of the five songs on the EP.

Sleepyhands – We Being Humans

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The record will be released mid June and I’m unsure about its distribution currently. What I will say though, is that if you want me to get a copy for you and give it to you when I see you then just say so, unless you’re one of my many international readers. I’ll tell you again right now, it’s brilliant. The production (aided by Jonathan Boulet) is cracking and the harmonies are out of sight.

If you want to see them play they’ve got a show on
Thursday the 3rd of June at the Brass Monkey.
I’ll be there. If you go we can carpool! You drive though, I did my part by just letting you know about the show. Sweet deal.

Hear more at www.sleepyhands.com or follow their facebook page