The Tallest Man on Earth is touring Australia in October. Payday.

The Tallest Man On Earth – Where I Thought I Met The Angels:

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The Powerhouse, Brisbane QLD
Friday, October 21st
http://www.brisbanepowerhouse.com.au or 07 3358 8600

The Factory Theatre, Sydney NSW
Saturday, October 22nd
http://www.ticketek.com.au, 132 849 or all Ticketek Outlets

Earth Station Festival, Belair National Park, Adelaide SA
Sunday, October 23rd
from http://www.earthstationfestival.com.au

The Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC
Tuesday, October 25th
http://www.cornerhotel.com, 03 9486 1677 or Corner Box Office

The Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC
Wednesday, October 26th
http://www.cornerhotel.com, 03 9486 1677 or Corner Box Office

Rosemount Hotel, Perth WA
Thursday, October 27th
w/ Sean Pollard
http://www.heatseeker.com.au, http://www.oztix.com.au, Planet, Mills, 78s, Star

Wave Rock Weekender, Hyden WA
Saturday, October 29th
from http://www.soulhighway.com.au

I’ve been knee deep in Devendra Banhart’s What Will We Be this week (almost certainly my most foolishly overlooked album of 2010) but despite the cumbersome weight of it’s hispano-folk glory it’s had to share airtime with Team Me’s Team Me EP. Team Me fall somewhere in the overlap between Jonsi and Arcade Fire with, maybe, a little (read a lot) of Freelance Whales in there for good measure. I’m a sucker for the rising, swelling, crescendoing moments that Team Me are all about. It may not be the in-thing anymore but I refuse to change. Musical taste is moving forward more quickly than a Malaysian bound asylum seeker right now so if you want to keep up with trends you need to act fast. Really though, it doesn’t much matter. You don’t need to be referencing jazz drummers and blues stalwarts to be get to my coinpouch (no double entendre intended). Write a track that speaks to my aesthetic sensibilities and I’ll buy your record, no questions asked. Here are some tracks from one such record.

Team Me – ‘Weathervanes and Chemicals’

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Team Me – ‘Dear Sister’

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The EP is on iTunes here or available of here for you tactile types.

Apologies for the slow delivery but I had to wait for the dust to settle in the wake of Valar’s EP2 announcement. I call your attention to the new track from Bombay Bicycle Club titled ‘Shuffle’. It’s catchy, it’s accessible and it’s a smashing good time. I get the sense that the pianist was given a brief that went something like “imagine you’re in a piano race where whoever plays the quickest piano rif wins. Can you imagine that buddy!? Can ya!? Got get ‘em champ!” and a hearty pat on the back to bid him do his best.

Bombay Bicycle Club – Shuffle

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You can hear some of their older stuff here and you can download the new single from itunes here.

I don’t want to get you overexcited, especially since you got all worked up watching Save The Last Dance over the weekend but I have big news. Valar have been back “in the studio”. The months between releases have not been kind to me and the release of a few one off tracks on Valar’s bandcamp have been the only things keeping me from regressing into a primordial state of music appreciation ineptitude. There was a moment there when I almost listened to the new Jinja Safari single which would surely have tipped me over the edge.

Anyway, all posturing aside, here’s what’s happened. Valar have given me (so that I could give you) exclusive access to two new tracks from their forthcoming EP2. One is the newest incarnation of Uptight and the other is an entirely new track called Dragon of Doubt which features the guest vocals of Bree from The Middle East. Start one (or both, if you’re a mental) playing then read on.

Valar – Uptight

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Valar – The Dragon of Doubt

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YOU CAN PERSONALLY BE INVOLVED IN THIS RECORD.
These are unmixed, unmastered and for the most part unresolved tracks – and that’s where you come in. The cost of recording was particularly low for Valar but the cost of mixing won’t be so. The coin you spend preordering EP2 will directly contribute to the mixing and mastering of these new recordings. On top of that, those that contribute that little bit extra will be given that little bit extra in return. Click here to see what you’ll get for your buck and how you can help get this record off the ground. I can’t stress how far these recordings are from a final product nor how excited I am for it’s impending release.

The digital silence has been deafening since I last posted and I’ve heard that in the absence of my uninformed cynicism some of you have begun to think for yourselves. I don’t like it and I won’t have it, so without further adieu, here’s is my newest ad hoc opinioning.

I’ve found that the voice of Nils Edenloff can be pretty polarizing but I’m convinced that if you hear the right tracks first you’ll come around. It reminds me of a smoother (though not by much) sounding Jeff Mangum, the vocalist of NMH. it’s not even the chalky vocal lines that won me over though, for me it was all about the production on the drum track.

When Springsteen recorded Darkness on the Edge of Town in ’77 he spent weeks trying to get the drum sound as he wanted it, so that the listener could hear only the reverberation of the drum itself rather than the sound of stick on skin. It’s almost like Rural Alberta have undergone a reverse process in trying to make the drum track sound as, I don’t know, slappy or something, as they possibly can, yet it’s worked a treat.

Whatever the hell went on in the studio, the end product is worthy of the constant attention I’ve given it these past fee weeks. This could end up being one of those records that resonates with me for years.

The Rural Alberta Advantage – Stamp

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The Rural Alberta Advantage – Good Night

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Purchase their 2011 record on iTunes here, on eMusic here or CDWow here.