Here’s one from Melbourne storm trooper Herzeloyde that’ll have you [absolutely bare minimum] nodding your head in the Qantas executive lounge. Wait, what am I doing at the airport? You’re ABOUT TO TAKE OFF SON. Hit play on this thing and see if you’re still seated in two minutes time and if you are then you just don’t get it, you don’t. I’ve been doing big ol’ gangster arms to this thing in my glass cube at work and given the nature of glass (fairly transparent, most of the time) it’s been a statement of intent for the rest of my business day.

So huge thanks to Herzeloyde who has soundtracked my burgeoning office manhood but also provided what would be the ideal track for Danny Brown to rap over. Can you imagine? WELL STOP IMAGINING. STOP IT RIGHT NOW. Here is that exact thing, just a little tasty taste.

He’s a bastion of soundcloud culture so go deep

I have absolutely no information on this one bar that he’s from Brisbane and he’s up on Triple J Unearthed dot com but that’s enough to get me through at the moment. It’s a fairly simple track with James Blake inspired chord progressions and a vocal loop built around ten words. There’s a sprinkling of glass sounds that could have been lifted from the announcement of a wedding toast and the modulation of their pitch is what allows the rythm to become part melody too. It also lifts this from what might be called down tempo electronica into something a touch more energetic. Bonus x-files synth in the background for added #mystery and we’ve got ourselves a tasty teaser. He’s probably affectionately called Artie Wimbie to his friends and I’ll be furthering that nickname as we speak. Shout it with me, ARTIE WIMBIE! Scream it!

This next Sable EP has been about a thousand years in the coming and now that the first of it is here it’s immediately obvious why it’s taken this long. It’s a massive departure from the EP that brought him to the international stage but if you were taken entirely by surprise then you weren’t paying attention. That Kanto two tracker that he released toward the end of last year hinted at a love for affected vocals and Thunder Wave particularly can be seen as a bridging track between this new EP and the older material, retaining the casiotone twinkles but moving toward the sparser, longer syllabicated tonality and vocal fueled new tracks. There’s a big bunch of PC Music influence through the vocal most obviously but also there’s a reference to Sophie’s Lemonade in the central dropped section. The big takeaway is that Sable is proper songwriter now but also that the branding around this song is without equal, at least domestically. The press shot is the live action partner to the graphic novel that’s being slow released through his socials as we speak, featuring a pokemonesque fox like thing that turned up on the Kanto release too. I suspect it’s the same animal that’s been his logo for a while now.

But hey T-man, isn’t this a bit too commercial for you mate? Aren’t you into all that underground business? Doesn’t this already have 7.6 billion plays on tunecloud? Well yeah, sure, I’m a hot tastemaker with a heck of a sonic palette, but this is a good song right? And in the end, isn’t that enough? Historically it hasn’t been, but today it is. Plus look at these graphics from the cartoon and then come back to me you peanut. Now where’s that new Wave Racer?

*NOTE: Sable out through Pilerats Records who I have a business relationship with. If you feel like this post was written for any reason other than simply because I like the song, please don’t listen to the track.

Really into this new one from Melbourne chap Jamil Zacharia whose session credits run deep through the Wondercore Island / Hiatus Kaiyote clique down here. The Oscar Key Sung interpretation he recorded last year was what announced him but he’s been remarkably quiet since. Magic Snuff Box is the first track from his forthcoming The Soft Tread That Inspires EP and whilst I’d hope that the track was a conceptual piece dedicated to this, I console myself through the sonic quality of things. I’d be remiss if I didn’t go on to say that it really would have been quite a special track though. Nonetheless, it is what it is and that’s a stunningly intricate little spirit quest of a song, something to accompany your next ayahuasca field trip. This reeks like a smoky tent and pitches like heaving ship, and if my imagery hasn’t won you over then nothing damn well will. Respect this.

Oh it’s a free download too.

Pleased to be able to make your Monday morning with a binary offering from Yujen. The three piece have been chipping away down in Melbourne a couple years now and during that time they’ve produced for other acts (see the first track on TEEF’s Imperium In Imperio compilation) and made waves under their own moniker, dropping an EP through Detail Co. that even features the crooning vocals of label co-founder Chet ‘Big Business’ Faker. The track that announced Yujen [to me] those few years ago was called Heirloom and is still a staple of my playlisting behaviours.

That old EP though, that’s the past, fit only for your sound bin (maybe keep a copy though, it’s actually quite good) because I’ve got the future for you right here and its manner of release is near as interesting as the music. Two songs at once might as well be cyanide pill in this world of cut throat soundcloud domination but that’s the sort of artist we’re dealing with here. Yujen are dropping these things into your earbits and flipping death the bird as they dive deep into the industry abyss, ignore all depth warnings and ‘no cannonball’ signage. Among Others is the official name of the release and it’s open ended in that this two-tracker might be the only release under that name but then it’s equally likely that Yujen will release more ‘Others’ throughout the year. Fingers crossed for the latter.

I’m not bold enough to these a departure from the groundwork set down through the EP but it’s a strong development. I’m not sure which of the three members of Yujen is singing on ‘Sanctuary’ but the vocals are far higher in the mix than they’ve ever been on a Yujen track and ‘Avalanche II’ is eight and a half minutes long, eclipsing any other song they’ve released so far, at least in duration. The tracks are immaculately produced, intricate, nuanced and warm on the ear. I hope this isn’t the latest incarnation of Among Others and that Yujen spend this year developing Other upon Other but regardless, if this is where the release ends then I’ll still declare it a success.