I’m having moments where I’m all like “yo head, settle down guy” as my dome keeps bopping to the cruising sounds of Young Magic. You’ll understand fully when you hear these tunes though and that’s why I declare this record from Young Magic the Sound Doctrine ALBUM OF THE DAY. Of all the albums in existance I chose this as the best album there is [today], sort of. Arguably a high honour.

I wouldn’t call the 11 tracks of Melt bangers and I wouldn’t call them chill but somehow they manage to be both at the same time. Don’t mistake this for background beat, it’s much much more. The vocals are at the top of the pile, though not by much. They’re underpinned by some of the juiciest beats I’ve had the pleasure of listening to [today] and the whole lush package is drowned in reverb. It makes me think Hooray For Earth or maybe Django Django. Apparently they’re a multinational group made up of Australians and an Indonesian, the three of them now living in the US. No more from me, listen up. Really pump this out if you have the benefit of decent headphones/speakers.

Hear the full record here and buy a copy here.

All we have here is a pair of voices and a Rhodes but my word, I’m liking what happens when the two combine. Seriously, the warmth of that Rhodes sound is enough to fully account for the torrential downpour that’s going to ruin the football I’ll be playing on this, on Darling Harbour this evening. No joke. I don’t pretend to understand the chemical release activated when that Rhodes tone hits my primary auditory cortex but I do get more than appropriately excited, I’ll say that. The party responsible for this recording are a pair of brothers called Mrs Bishop. Hailing from Sweden originally (like The Hives whom they here cover), the duo now reside in Sydney making their particular blend of lilting pop.

You can also here an original of theirs called ‘Broken Wing’ which I don’t think quite as highly of, potentially because it reminds me of a few artists for whom I have very little time. They have a debut EP out at the end of next week and if they can keep the xylophones, glockenspiels and all manner of other twinkling sounds to a minimum, it may be pretty decent.

My first worry for Sydney band Pockets was that their name had almost certainly been taken by another band somewhere else on God’s green earth, and we were about to see a battle play out on similar proportions to the One Direction vs One Direction conflict which has deeply affected us all. My fears proved unfounded however, as Pockets have since broken up. A new set of fears then arose, derived from my worry that I’m only now listening to the goodworks of a band that I’ll plainly never hear live. Yes, there are other incarnations of the same band members (see the Mountains) and I’ve seen them play way back when, but I want to see these songs played live. Why world, why?

If you couldn’t already tell, I think Pockets are really, really good. There’s a strength of musicianship that transcends the ability to play music that’s popular here and now. These are songs you could come back to in years and still appreciate the craftsmanship of even after the fact, when trends and styles have come and gone. To give you some idea of what you’re about to to listen to, the recipe is something like the following:

• 1 part Real Estate
• 2 parst Silversun Pickups
• 1 part Copeland (ca. 2004)
• 1 part I Heart Hiroshima

It’s not as black and white as that and there’s a whole lot of exclusive influence tumbled in with the rest but that’s what I’m hearing, that’s what I’m feeling. Below are my two favourite tracks from the record. The sun-soaked vocal harmonies in ‘Caretaker’ are pleasing, wrapped around a guitar melody that’s reclining on a bed of doo-wops. ‘Telescopes’ starts with some rare lone wolf vocals from Trevor Davis (which the record could easily have had more of) and concludes with a guitar part to delight any lo-fi, post-rock officianado. If you don’t have any money to spare, worry not, you need make no greater offering than the thirty seconds it’ll take you to click this link and hit the ‘Free Download’ button.

Here’s a gentleman worth keeping an eye on courtesy of his apparent ability to make music within any chosen genre. Have a listen to the pair of songs streaming below and you’ll have to agree, you’ll just have to agree that they are quite dissimilar, am I right? I’m right and I’m astute and that’s why I’m a viable music media node. Respect me. The one song sounds like an under produced Justin Timberlake, with the light sprinklings of an Oscar + Martin jam. There are some organic sounds in there that thanks to my well honed ear, I’ve been able to identify as the jingling of car keys and the clinking of a vintage collectible spoon on an empty jar of Cottee’s jam.

The other, the more recent ‘Selma Blair’ from his third record Home, has this chorusey bit that comes in around the 1:00 mark that is sure to set your heart a-flutter. Rollicking banjo? Don’t mind if I do. It’s a far folkier affair and it’s a better representation of the album in which it resides which is, incidentally, free. He’s from Melbourne too, just by the by.

Yeo – ‘Two sides Of A Door’ [DOWNLOAD]

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Yeo – ‘Selma Blair’ [DOWNLOAD]

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While their band name has dated worse than a Von Dutch trucker cap/hooded t-shirt combination, I argue that their 2007 record The Ghost That Carried Us Away is still relevant even in this indie-folk saturated market. Released through Morr Music (known for Radical Face, The American Analogue Set and Electric President) it was vessel to a track called ‘I Sing I Swim’ which immediately won me over. Lead singer Sindri Már Sigfússon also works under the moniker Sin Fang, and when he does, my oh my, good sounds abound. He’s that guy who comes to the party with two bottles of wine when you only asked him to bring one bottle of wine. In this analogy each bottle of wine represents a different musical project, though it’s important to recognise that both wines (musical projects) are of fine vintage (songful quality) and do not lead to extended drunkenness (unenjoyment) and possible termination of employment due to indecent exposure (possible termination of employment due to indecent exposure). Again though, I reiterate that there are two good things where you only expected one good thing, which exceeds all expectations by 100%, maybe more if you have low opinions of this blog.

Streaming below are two songs from Seabear’s The Ghost That Carried Us Away and one from each of Sin Fang’s two records.

Seabear – I Sing, I Swim [DOWNLOAD]

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Seabear – Libraries

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Sin Fang – Clangour and Flutes

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Sin Fang – Always Everything [DOWNLOAD]

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