Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Down Sounds: July 2010


Taking some time out to go sit on a beach for a few days and forget about the mid-year “but I haven’t done anything yet” feeling and that other thing no one’s allowed to talk about because it’s really boring (*cough* winter) means, for me, stocking up on light-hearted music as well as digging up some old favourites. Last week, that meant finally giving Florence & The Machine some time (and, yeah, I get it now, though I think the album hits some pretty rough patches) and, inspired by the recent reissue of Fables Of The Reconstruction, some much later and underrated REM, primarily the nostalgic (and now more so) jangle-pop of 2001’s Reveal. Anyway, the point is, when the call of the mid-year escape lures you away, it’s easy to miss all the new releases, which is also the point of dropping out for a bit.

Rather than scan blogs in an attempt to catch up on what’s been going on, though, I prefer to check up on some of my trusted label sites and see what they’ve been up to instead. It’s a far more calming and generally less gross approach and it can lead to some excellent and more ‘personal’ discoveries. So I’ve been spending some time this week on the True Panther Sounds website, the New York-based label now owned by Matador that includes Delorian, Hunx & His Punx, The Morning Benders and Tanlines on its roster. It’s by no means a big label, but the site is usually good for some remixes and, hopefully, a heads up on a new 7” or track. This week revealed two: a song from excellent Memphis band Magic Kids and one from New York’s Teengirl Fantasy, who I’m pretty sure I’ve written about here a few times now. The Magic Kids track, Summer (hrm), is a little further towards Belle & Sebastian than The Brunettes but with the same unfussed production values, ending in some pretty gorgeous ‘50s high-school-dance crooning. Teengirl Fantasy’s new 7” single, Love Don’t Live Here, samples the 1970s Rose Royce song Love Don’t Live Here Anymore (yes, the same Madonna covered), though it’s hidden cleverly and effectively under saturated ‘orchestral’ keys and trip hop beats. Truly excellent. (Meanwhile, their current touring schedule has them playing Brooklyn with Midnight Juggernauts and Korea with Handsome Furs…?)

Speaking of getting good shit online, if you haven’t yet, head straight to the Bandcamp site of Melbourne production god-thing Crumbs and download (for free!) his new mini-album, Pieces & Portions Vol 2. I haven’t much tried to hide my love of Brain Children previously and this project from the duo’s Max Kohane is progressing crazy fast; this album a hurts-so-good initiation into some kind of underwater dance cult who use joysticks as paddles. Um… yeah.

Talk is definitely getting louder on Queensland’s The Seizures, who’ve recently played shows with Sydney’s most awesome Southern Comfort as well as supporting Violent Soho. Their thing is basically just good, grimy but noodling noise punk. There’s not a whole lot online but you can check out some gig footage at theseizures.blogspot.com.

Perth’s The Bank Holidays have released their devastating second album, Sail Becomes A Kite (Lost & Lonesome), an album still full of the band’s rich, glistening instrumentation but disquieting through lilting melodies and ominous bass and effects happening somewhere in the background. Nat Carson’s voice is the right mix of pretty, distracted, wise and fragile. It’s a blend shared (though in a somewhat more even way) by Melbourne’s Owl Eyes (pictured), the solo project of Brooke Addamo, who has just serviced the track 1+1 from her upcoming Faces EP (which will be out through Wunderkind Music). What starts out as a sweetly sullen lament on a relationship, enlivened by xylophone and girl-group harmonies, becomes more affecting as the instruments fall out and the plodding tempo of the chorus is held up by Addamo’s wary but warm vocal.

And, just quickly because they’re everywhere anyway, Super Wild Horses. Fuck. That’s all.

1 comment:

Mastie said...

Two thumbs for Crumbs.