Jonathan Boulet Keeps The Beat

Sydney upstart Jonathan Boulet gives you his new single, 'This Song Is Called Ragged', from the forthcoming album We Keep The Beat, Found The Sound, See The Need, Start The Heart.  Say that three times fast!

Anyway, a swirling, percussive uprising of the most positive kind, 'This Song Is Called Ragged' will be released digitally and as a double A-side 7" picture disc bundled with 'Trounce' on May 28th on Modular Recordings. The digital release will come with remixes by fellow Sydney noisemakers Dro Carey and Jonti. It's the second track to be taken from Boulet's self-produced sophomore record, to be released June 8 (AUS), June 11 (UK/EU), June 12 (USA).

If you were looking for a glimpse of summer a few months early, Ragged is the first hint of the warmth and sunshine to come. 

Download: This Song Is Called Ragged
Listen: Trounce
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Bonfire Nights Are Their Own Worst Enemy

What would happen if say The Kills used less drugs, spent say $100 on production, and were Australian? The answer to that question is answered by Bonfire Nights to take that scuzzy sleazy electro garage thing that The Kills do so well and polish it up make it slick and make it sound like a juggernaut.

Bonfire Nights are dirty and rough and tumble but in all the best ways. This is a group that takes boy girl vocals, distortion, synths, and a pile of dirt mix it all together and get one hell of a record.

Their self-titled EP quite surprisingly though was recorded utilizing minimalist ideals even using a four-track analogue tape machine. While the approach was modest, the outcome was an eclectic mix, ranging from the menacing “Own Worst Enemy” to the sparse and dreamy fuzz of “Leave Yourself Open.”

Download: Own Worst Enemy
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The Rising Milano Sun

Milano Sun are 3 guys from Gothenburg, Sweden, who formed a band after they met on an escapism trip around Europe in 2010.  As you might guess Milan, Italy was amongst the many stops along the way. They all had long connections within the Swedish music scene as session musicians and felt they had their own sound and something different to contribute.  So what better way to contribute than to form a new band.

During 2011 they started to record an album which has just recently been completed.  With a Balearic soundscape that evokes the sea, cliffs, wind and a clear sky, the trio express their feelings in songs about love, loss, regret, betrayal and fear, and well, how to handle (or fail to handle) life as a teenager on the run.  A post trip autobiographical story in a sense, "Already Gone," is a hint at things to come.

Download: Already Gone
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Something Like A Phenomenon

The Phenomenal Handclap Band are best known for their single "15 to 20" - which exploded when the band first came on the scene two years ago. The group's debut album was a mix of cosmic disco-funk and psych soul that made for an incredible dance party and landed them a recent tour with Bryan Ferry.

The group is also preparing the release of the follow-up to their acclaimed, self-titled debut album. Form & Control, PHB’s ambitious new work takes their clever fusion of international psych, soul, and cosmic disco a bold step forward. With co-founders Daniel Collás and Sean Marquand at the production helm, Form & Control finds the band once again deftly mixing and matching seemingly disparate musical genres, with a musical palette that now includes prog-pop, new wave and modern leftfield dance.

Form and Control will be released in early 2012 on Tummy Touch Records.

Download: Following
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New Navy Set Sail

From the 'whistle while you work' opening of 'Zimbabwe', the summer grooves of 'Tapioca' to the dramatic crescendo of 'Oceans', New Navy’s debut ‘Uluwatu’ EP demonstrates the Australian bands powerful songwriting ability and consistent style.

New Navy balance sparkly guitars with front man Ben McInerny's smooth vocals, delivering strong bass-lines and breezy indie grooves to great effect. Sounding like a version of Foals or The Whitest Boy Alive on permanent vacation, the band fuses "world music" vibes with hooks that are far too easy to latch on to and come up with something refreshing.

Download: Tapioca
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Scenic Looks To Another Sky

Remember the early days of Creation, when they'd release records by Primal Scream and then release records by Pacific for some strange reason. They seemed as confused as to what they should release but whatever they released was good.

Scenic is much like early Creation. They can't decide what they want to be, but whatever they record seems to be fantastic. Based in Australia, Scenic create tunes that tend to be based around their namesake. They write dreamy, airy pop music that just happens to be danceable.

Scenic’s first EP for Future Classic features two blissed out songs ‘Another Sky’ and ‘Endless Days’ and a floor-friendly remix by TheMagician.  Judging by the title track, the single is bound to be great.

Download: Another Sky
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The Cassettes Still Won't Listen

Cassettes Won't Listen is the brainchild of Los Angeles-based, multi-instrumentalist and producer Jason Drake. A partner and previous director of marketing for famed indie hip-hop record label, Definitive Jux, Jason relocated from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 2009 to record his latest solo record, KEVINSPACEY. A follow up to his 2008 release, Small-Time Machine, CWL's newest project is a synth/sample-driven record showcasing Jason's contemplative and melodic vocals while experimenting with dark and otherworldly themes of travel, distance and despondency. Three years in the making, the title is a nod to his newly adopted hometown, his fascination with exploration, observations of broken hope within the city, and of course, those who sit on top.

As per usual, the songs are ace.  The guy just can't write a bad tune.  Ever since stumbling upon CWL back in 2007, I've been hooked on the sense of drama and the crafty beats Jason Drake has come up with.  If, "The Echoes," is any indication, KEVINSPACEY is going to be amazing.  Until then, let this single echo in your head....

Download: The Echoes

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Datarock Compute Their Return

I meant to post this a couple of days ago, but I got sidetracked with other stuff.

Datarock have returned and it's hard to believe that it's been so long since they've been around. In fact it's been so long that most of the people that download this were probably still eating baby food.

Delays and time aside, it's nice to have these guys back as they so easily combine the whole dance thing with a tongue planted firmly in cheek and as a result come up with stupidly good songs that will linger long after your kids go to college.

They’ve done everything from tearing the roof off Coachella to playing Yo Gabba Gabba and now Datarock will release Catcher in the Rye, the most extravagant single in history on March 21! The single will come as a designer toy with a USB stick that features 110 tracks, 1500 photos taken at their shows in 33 countries, 20 music videos, and Never Say Die a brand new hour-long concert film. The single will also be released as a digital 5 track EP. The USB features the EP, the new album Music For Synchronization, both of their previous albums with bonus tracks, the new Lost and Found b-sides and rarities compilation, 15 new instrumentals, and the 40 track remix album Mixed Up.

Download: Catcher In The Rye

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Victim of Sensual Harassment

If you've ever experienced one of those nights and dreamt you were being chased through an enchanted black forest by an army of blood-thirsty zombies, Sensual Harassment may have just created the perfect accompanying soundtrack. "Boss", the lead single from their new album Alpha Draconis, is a fist-pumping, rock massacre staged on a hypnotic horror-disco dance floor.

Working closely again with producer Jesse Cannon (Animal Collective, The Cure), the Brooklyn band has crafted a dense and otherworldly blend that melds the precision percussion and screaming TB-303 synth lines of 'Homework' era Daft Punk with the bold and brassy synth jabs of early New Order, all narrated by a claustrophobic vocal so densely packed with reverb and delay that it's panic-inducing in it's own right. In true form, the band avoids convention and ends the journey with unexpected waves of ear-piercing shoegaze guitar noise that despite it's somber overtones, feels like a cathartic escape.

Dramatic, proggy, epic, and sounding as though they've come from another planet, Sensual Harassment have come up with some special blend of rock and dance music that' would make Moroder blush. "Boss," is crazy post-everything that fits somewhere between Blue Oyster Cult, the dance floor and a car chase.

Download: Boss

Voltaire Twins Not The Cocteaus

2010 is shaping up to be a colorful year for Australian synth-pop duo Voltaire Twins. The brother-sister combo recently caught the eye of French taste maker label Kitsuné, who released their single D.I.L. (JBAG remix) worldwide on the Kitsuné x Ponystep worldwide release.

Having performed at a slew of summer festivals, the duo recently completed their first Australian national tour and are currently busy writing and producing a full-length follow up to their critically acclaimed Cabin Fever EP, released online in June 2010.

Onstage, Voltaire Twins sing, dance, hit things and play a range of synths. Along with friend Matt on the drums, the twins create a spectacular scene, bursting with frenzied vigor, rendering audiences everywhere incapable of standing still.

Download: DIL
Download: Wolves
Download: Jump Cuts