Two minutes and nine seconds of split and spliced, feet on both pedals, synth vacuumed triptronica. That’s probably the best way to describe this joint that I’ve lifted from Thomas William’s Deccan Technicolour. Even if it’s an absolute mess of a sentence, you’re on my blog so you’ll ingest my opinions and afterwards you’ll ask for seconds because that’s just the polite thing to do damnit. Even more so since Life Aquatic Blog closed its doors today, so your sources of quality Australian curation have just decreased by one, and what a one it was.

Now, it’s probably about time you hit play on this so up and at ‘em folks. The lovechild of a drunken threeway between Seekae, Fishing and Brothers Hand Mirror, these tunes are worth investing your bandwidth in, especially since they won’t touch your coin purse. He’s been a stalwart of the Sydney experimental electronic scene for as long as anyone can remember and is only just recently back in the game so we’d all do well to give him a warm welcome given the strength of sound on which he returns. Ignoring all ill-informed comparisons, this record is pretty spectacular.

You’ll find that he’s also a finalist in FBi’s Northern Lights competition so if you dig this enough to cast a vote then cast a vote.

Earlier I cut the literary bonds that held back my unequivocal love for Wickerbird’s debut record. He’s since released the video for the first track off the release, a hallowed folk stapled replete with choral harmonies and finger picking that eventually strums itself to conclusion. It’s exactly what it sounds like and it’s a ripping good joint. Friends and family, partake in this now, this is a good thing. The record is a mere five dollars via the Wickerbird bandcamp and will not disappoint, unless you’re hoping for uninspired garbage. Then it may.

A few weeks back, Channel V sent me to BIGSOUND to write about my emotions. We saw Gung Ho play at Black Bear Lodge on the Tuesday night before the official BIGSOUND had actually commenced and while I don’t want to go too deep into this I think they were the victim of bad mix and a surly crowd. There was a sizeable gap between performer and patron and the three piece looked small and alone in what wasn’t even a large venue to start with. The set sounded more like a sloppy I Heart Hiroshima where I expected to hear the crafty vocal melds that are present on their recordings. As I said, it might have just been a dud night for them.

Gung Ho – ‘Twin Rays’

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[MP3 DOWNLOAD]

The two most recent singles the Brisbane three piece have made available are far less tense than their live set was and the perfect cure for a case of the Mondays. I don’t know if there’s an EP/record on the way but the group would be remiss not to take advantage of the musical vulnerability created by raised temperatures and lowered windows, the appropriate physical setting to their slacker/surf rock.

Gung Ho – ‘Side By Side’

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I usually try to steer clear of the overblogged Triple J favourites but a tune’s a tune, you know? So on that note, here is a bonus track from Jesse Davidson of Adelaide, Unearthed High finalist and future Matt Corby.

Jesse Davidson – ‘Flaws’

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I am posting this because MT over at WTH sung it’s praises so loudly. No, that’s not fair. I hit play on it because she said it was dynamite, I’m posting it because it is dynamite. The EP is unmissable if you’re hoping to hear the shape of things to come for Australian music/all future playlists I make. Here’s ‘Steps’, the first track I heard from Mansion, Alaska, along with the EPs introduction track ‘Lune’, which is a smooth welcome to the five tracks I’ve had on loop all day.

I’ve forever been a proponent of a snare and cymbal heavy drum sound so the drumming on ‘Steps’ was always going to buy the group some credit in my ledger. They’re unafraid to spend time instrumentally, building not to a vocal crescendo but to the patient in and out of radio static.

Downloadable via Triple J Unearthed, here’s just one more to whet your appetite.

[MP3 DOWNLOAD]

Wheat Fields have been on my radar for a few weeks now but hearing ‘Heaven Is A Place Where Nothing Ever Happens’ on FBi this morning was the straw that killed two birds. I should never have (metaphorically) slept on these dudes.

Before that though, can we talk about ‘lo-fi’ for a second? At least 50% of the EPs/demos/streams that land in my inbox on any given day cite a ‘lo-fi’ aesthetic. I have three immediate issues with this.

1) ‘Lo-fi’ is no interchangeable with ‘out of tune’. Seriously, if you have an iphone, you have a guitar tuner, get on that.

2) If your music is clear hi-fi and your press release claims it’s lo-fi (as if that’s a selling point) I’m pointedly going to assume that you’re making excuses for awful songwriting and start a smear campaign about your band’s sexual behaviours.

3) Maybe, just maybe, your music might sound better if you recorded it properly. We’re not talking about high end studios here, we’re talking about any schmuck with a laptop. It could be that the fuzz and crackle is stopping us from that glorious harmony that would have been outlandishly good had you let it be audible.

Wheatfields – ‘Heaven Is A Place’

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[MP3 DOWNLOAD]

I’m not going to pretend to know the first thing about audio engineering but even the untrained ear can identify a fabricated sound. To Wheat Fields though. Everything I’ve just mentioned is not in reference to Wheatfields. It’s actually the opposite to in reference to Wheat Fields. Ocassionally a band will get it right and broad lo-fi strokes will enhance a track. There isn’t a negating fuzz over the top of this, just a padding that draws out the guitar parts rather than masking them and Maddie Harriott’s plaintive vocals are enough to break the hardest heart. Take it as a free download below or with a couple of others over at Wheat Fields’ bandcamp.

The Blue Mountains never sounded so good.