Give us something pretty”, you cried. “We want something gorgeous and we want it now.”
I didn’t appreciate your demanding tone but the only thing I hate more than a sense of over-entitlement is your disappointed face, so I logged on to the world wide web online and I came across this little gem, a Sydney gent who flies by the name Mammals. Guy has this For Emma, Forever Ago thing going on that works a real treat for a pair of sore ears and tired eyes. ‘Carried’ is the most recent of his singles and available to you as a free download. I must’ve listened to this and the rest of the pearls you can hear via his bandcamp dozens of times now with still no end in sight. A true pleasure. Mammals was a recent finalist in FBi’s Northern Lights competition so if you’re interested in bragging rights then you’d probably best get on this before the rest of the world does. Attention is already being paid. Enjoy.

Ugh. It’s happening again. I’m getting clingy. I never mean to, it’s just that some artists have talent in racks upon racks and what am I meant do about it and who are you tell me what’s right and wrong get off my back I’m doing the best I can. This time it’s Oscar Key Sung whose EPs and work with both Oscar + Martin and Brothers Hand Mirror have been impeccable. I have here the perfect double for you, a combination of two electronic maestros whose tandem output is better than the work of either one alone. Thomas William has provided the original beat via his gorgeous Andromeda before Oscar Key Sung has walked all over the thing with lush vocals and a straightening out of the beat. EVERYONE WINS. It’s the first track from Thomas William’s Deccan Technicolour Remix album which sees the likes of Oscar Key Sung, Option Command, Dro Carey and plenty of other Aussie beatmakers applying their vibez to Thomas William’s already strong record. There’s also this brand new collab between William and Guerre which you’d do well to take heed of.

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.

I tried so hard to resist Donny Benet. Couldn’t do it. I saw write-ups on a whole swathe of hot dollar Australian and Sydney music blogs, listened, liked, fought against, maintained, but the walls have come crashing down. Seven times around the city of my mind, the trumpets (read: snyth) sounded, and that was the fall of my cerebral Jericho. Benet conquered and invaded my hallowed halls like the deviant he almost certainly is, plundering at will, taking his full share of the cash and prizes. The guy deserves to be paid though. I fought so hard because for the longest time I considered him to be little more than a gimmick artist, an 80s themed Jinja Safari but it’s become apparent that the dude can write the ass off a song.

Single ‘Gimme Your Heart’ has been given the video treatment and it’s a sight to behold. The track itself also goes alright. Don Don cuts loose some rising synth bars that are part 80s power-pop, part Zelda (NES, not that Ocarooney business) sample. THEN, just when you think it’s safe to step out again, he caps the thing off with a quiveringly sexy solo. Oh my. Oh me oh my. Stylistically you’d never guess he was of Sydney (or of 2012) but here we are. Show some love for a dude just doing his thing.

Electric Love is out TODAY through RICE IS NICE, get on it.

Donny Benet ‘Gimme Your Heat’ from SPOD on Vimeo.

Here’s another from Electric Love:

Introducing Spirit Faces, proprietors of 70s soul backed groove mumbling, cymbal heavy jazz referencing free beats and overwhelmingly underwhelming basslines. That basslines bit sounds negative, but it’s not. I’m effectively trying to argue that the basslines have an overwhelming subtlety, in as much as I’d like to be overwhelmed by a bassline (so, you know… a bit). Central to the band’s ethos is freedom of direction (read: improv) which you can hear spattered throughout their only available track, ‘Feels Like Nothing’. It’s just bass, drums and guitar conversationally interacting with a few props littered around the set. Is that a wind-up toybox? Maybe. I don’t know and truly, I don’t care because despite the sweet contrast it creates with singer Pete Covingtons deep husk, it’s not the point of the track. Plus, I’ve recently learned that very few of you will actually read this far through each of my posts so for all intents and purposes I could just start rattling off any old nonsense. Violent offender sells house for bogus skin graft. The first three Apollo missions were largely funded by white supremacists. Sports cheese shares fierce fire shame.

You might know Pete from his work in Sydney’s second biggest Islamo-vegan folk collective Valar who, if the rumours are to be believed, will be releasing their debut record sometime in the latter part of this year. I. Am. Keen. In the meantime, stream and download and share the first Spirit Faces tune below: