Behold the anthemic first track from Jonathan Boulet’s incoming We Keep The Beat, Found The Sound, See The Need, Start The Heart. The jungle drums that were present on his well-received, self-titled debut are still there. If anything they’re even closer to fore. Some folks have declared his output to be in line with the jungle drummed, harmony obsessed chant bands of Unearthed, but it’s important to remember that he dropped that record before that sound was polluted by an absence of song-writing and an over indulgence in novelty instruments. One would have to think that this would be the record opener and if so, I sure as hell can’t wait to hear what track two sounds like. Those crunchy guitars hint at something a touch heavier than the first record, potentially influenced by his time in Snakeface.This is just enough of a teaser to get me thoroughly interested, without wasting a big single early in the piece. Really, really excited to see what comes next. Self-mixed, self-produced, self-recorded, self-played and self-sung (it’s not heaps making sense anymore), the forthcoming album follows the same process of the first. The last thing he put his hand to was a new track from Sleepyhands which was pretty top dollar, and worth a listen if you haven’t already. Long live the garage champ.

“I don’t even know what I said, I’m a meathead born and bred”

Jonathan Boulet – ‘Trounce’

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You can cop a download of the newie at the cost of a week’s subscription to his mailing list, because let’s be real here, you’re going to unsubscribe (though you shouldn’t) at the first chance you get.

Oliver Tank is basically a household name these days, at least in Sydney, in my house. I often make the mistake of assuming that just because I’ve been exposed, over and over, to an artist, that means that everyone has. Sometimes it’s the case, but othertimes an artist is known amongst the company I keep, but not necessarily to those who read this here webblog. So here are the facts about Oliver Tank. He has one really good song and an EP of decent tracks, but they’re all free so you don’t even care, you’ll just download the whole thing anyway. He’s got cascading torrents of raven locks, but any goodwill garnered because of this is immediately negated by the fact that he tweets like a private school boy who just discovered Dre for the first time. But all this aside, he’s actually doing really well right now. It was unsteady footing during the early days as a good few folk thought he may have been cutting a little too close to James Blake stylistically but he seems to have found his feet as a legitimate artist unto himself. The first time I saw him live it was almost without merit but his support slot at the Youth Lagoon was much, much more captivating. Just quietly as well, Youth Lagoon were the best thing I’ve seen this year to date.

In the second half of 2011 FBi held a competition wherein two winners were deported to Iceland, forced to play shows with local artists and contractually bound to produce an EP for FBi Radio. Our boy Oliver was one of those two winners. Oliver and fellow competition winner Rainbow Chan were shipped over in a 6x6x6 foot crate and began their forced labour immediately upon arrival at Reykjavik. They produced a pair of tracks with the aid of local acts Pétur Ben and Just Another Snake Cult. Below you can listen to the fruits of the Scandinavian exploits and you can also download them (gratis) packaged with 6 remixes and a bonus track from Oliver Tank (also streaming below).

Oliver Tank & Rainbow Chan – Golden

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Oliver Tank & Rainbow Chan – To Love Again

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Oliver Tank – Help You Breathe

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Sures were guaranteed a write up, mostly because Matt Hogan sings in a little band called Sleepyhands (and he’s a swell dude) but also because this track Poseidon draws a straight line from the Beachboys to the present via The Explorer’s Club. Big ol’ harmonies deepen up the effect heavy guitar line, which itself cuts free at the tail end of the track. Good things with a promise of better things from Sydney’s Sures.

Sures – ‘Poseidon’ [FREE MP3]

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I’m completely getting behind the new track from Parades. If you haven’t already heard of them (which I find hard to believe) they’re Jono Boulet‘s other band. That’s unfair though, because they’re more than that. They’re probably (definitely) the best upbeat post-rock Australia has to offer.

Their first 2008 and 2009 demos got a little attention but it was their cracking live show that brought them to the fore. Then they dropped their debut full length Foreign Tapes to general applause. Now you’re up to speed. Last week they gave up the firstfruits of their sophomore release as a free download to those who sign up to their mailing list here. It’s pretty clear that they’ve become a whole lot more refined over the past few years.

Parades – Water Stories

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Parades – Hunters (from their 2009 Demo)

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Sydneysiders, they’re playing April 8 at the Gaelic. I promise you won’t regret attending.

Open wide your mind and appreciate Sydney based Solkyri. They write instrumental post-rock tracks that are well… they’re pretty rad. They’ve been around for about 5 years (someone correct me if I’m wrong) and they’ve paid their dues to the Sydney scene unlike many of the recent upstart fauxk artists that are falling upon us like a steady drizzle. It’s hard for me to get behind an artist that writes a few demos, gets picked up by a major then drops a debut EP. I’m looking at you Georgia Fair. Also, while we’re here, has anyone noticed a steady decline into cynicism on this blog over the past few months? I’m not sure who to blame for that. Let’s point the figure at musicians. Intertwined with that cynicism is a refusal to take responsibility for my actions. Wow. The vibe is getting weird in here. I’m out.

Solkyri – This Can’t Wait!

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Download ‘This Can’t Wait!’ for free at their bandcamp. Better still, get the whole record. It’s “pretty cool”.