Lift up your faces and bathe in the warmth that is ‘New York City’ by Nashville’s Among Savages. No hipster credibility here, just wholly accessible, very easy to listen to, comfortable, warm, rolling music. I was going to end with something more concrete than ‘music’ but to paint this as ‘indie-pop’ doesn’t seem right. It just feels a little more timeless than what one would usually associate with the term. When I say accessible though, I really mean accessible. For fans of Copeland, Sleeping At Last etc. Don’t think I’m trying to distance myself from it though, I’m posting this song because I’m all about it. It’s actually quite a bittersweet thing, this song, telling of a New York that promises much but delivers not.

It’s just the thing I need to make me feel slightly more ok about having risen at 430am this morning to watch Manchester City vs Manchester United in what is likely the season deciding clash, only to find that it’s to be played at 430am tomorrow morning. Do I dare rise twice? I’ll leave you on that cliff-hanger.

Among Savages – New York city

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Among Savages – Sun Greets The Sky

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Really, truly, you should listen to and even purchase the whole record, called Wanderings of an Illustrative Mind. Hell, even their EP (on which you’ll find ‘Sun Greets The Sky’) is great. Do yourself a favour. 10 discovery points to Sam Manchester. [UPDATE: The EP is available under a ‘pay what you want’ system on Noisetrade. Enjoy]

The Falls are a two piece from Sydney that appear to have pretty equally portioned male and female vocals. While I have nothing negative to say of the female vocals I really like the dude’s voice and when the two come together it’s generally a good time. Anyway, that’s all beside the point. They are a fairly straight down the line folk outfit sans gimmicks and frills. It’s simply a pair of voices mingling over what is for the most part just an acoustic guitar, and as it has for hundreds, nay thousands of artists through the years, it just works. The highlight from their “four track demo”, which strangely only features three tracks is ‘Home’, a song that wouldn’t sound out of place on an Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes release. They may not be breaking down the door of musical ingenuity but there’s an authenticity residing in their simplicity that will speak to even the most folk-jaded soul.

They’re playing a whole swathe of shows over the next few months, including a residency at the Art Gallery of NSW’s Art After Hours, which I will be clearing my schedule to attend. If you live in Bathurst then you’d be a fool to miss their show with Packwood at the Australian Fossil & Mineral Museum which will be both a fun night out and a geological adventure.

The Falls – Home [DOWNLOAD]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

[EDIT: I’ve had this one in the bank for a little while now and since the time of writing, the shows mentioned, Fossil based or otherwise, have already taken place. AND there were no strings in the version I was listening to at the time.]

Your already great day is about to get even better with the introduction to a song you’ll be hearing time and time again on Triple J over the next few months. This song is called ‘This Song Is Called Ragged’. See what I did there? It’s far less abrasive than Trounce (which, to make clear, I loved). I like that you can hear the rumbling guitar underneath it all still, which makes me think this will be a guitar driven record in a way that his first was not. His self-titled debut was all about those big, big drum sounds. The base level tribalism that also characterised the first record is still here but the undertone is stonier. You might even say… rockier? I’ve close friends that hated the production on Boulet’s debut but I’m going to stand strong here and say I’m all about this. The weight garnered when those gang vocals come in is undeniable. Let the public rejoice.

Don’t forget to hit the download button over there to get a copy for keepsies. We Keep the Beat, Found the Sound, See the Need, Start the Heart, will be out on June 11 through Modular.

Glory me, it’s a new song from The Tallest Man on Earth. Nope, not a song from the Once A Year soundtrack (which is infuriating – it’s been out for months now, where are those songs? I can’t even get a hold of the movie to hear them in scene) it’s the first single from the new record titled There’s No Leaving Now (Out June 11). My gut feeling is that I don’t think it’s going to be a favourite of mine. I’m hoping that it’s only in this one song that Mattson’s glorious fingerpicking is absent, replaced by a slide guitar that goes a ways to remove the slash from country/folk. I’m sure it’ll grow on me as all Tallest Man has.

[EDIT: REMOVED BY LABEL REQUEST - Apparently this was leaked rather than released - Also, perhaps it's not going to be a lead single. Likely we'll find out soon.]

2009 saw Isbells release their self-titled record and it was a slice of Belgian folk heaven. It came with a cliched, Bon Iver-esque, pastoral fairytale behind it which I take no stock in, but more importantly it was earnest, simple European folk. Sometime in the last few months they released their sophomore offering and it is, again, very pretty. It’s called Stoalin’ and you can stream the whole thing below though I’m not sure where you’ll purchase it.