The Sounds of Australia [Part 3]

Here comes the third and last part about the sounds of Australia.

As it takes longer to write a post than to travel down under, the music presented here has been out for a while now.
But it’s always nice to be reminded about what’s going on in this continent-land.

We start with Gypsy & The Cat, a Melbourne-based duo. They play a kind of “alternative pop” that might make you think of their compatriots of Empire of the Sun or Tim & Jean. Despite their young age Gypsy & The Cat have already got a firm mastery of classic pop.
A good song to get introduced to their music could be Jona Vark

The Potbelleez – Hello (Extended Mix)
Let’s get a bit more electronic with The Potbelleez.
The Potbelleez are an electrohouse quartet based in Sydney.
If you have been living in Australia recently you cannot have missed that song on TV. “Hello” by the Potbelleez was indeed featured in the promo spot for the newly aired Go channel. This song was used heavily to announce that channel, using it almost continuously on TV. This has driven some people nuts and it is hard to get that song out of your head. Their song “Hello” is from their new album “Destination Now” out in May 2011.
It is a good song, it will help you run faster and it might get stuck in your head for a while. So if the TV spot hasn’t spoiled it too much yet, enjoy it, now, Let’s Go!!

Angus & Julia Stone

You’ve probably come across this brother-sister duo from Australia, they fit perfectly in the recent new folk wave. Acoustic guitars, nice and “easy” melody. I mean the kind of melody that you can easily get into. The music flows in the air, you can sit back and relax, you’re in safe hands, you’re in Angus & Julia’s hands.
And if you listen carefully you will notice that there is more to this music than just these calm voices and sweet melodies, the texts happen to be well written and meaningful. What else should you ask for?

So start the tour of their songs with this playlist on Youtube

The Sounds of Australia [Part 2]

Hungry Kids of Hungary is a four-piece indie pop band from Brisbane. They play an energetic type of rock that makes one wants to jump and smile at the same time. Before releasing their first studio album “Escapades” in Oct. 2010 they released two EPs, the self titled “Hungry Kids of Hungary” in 2008 and then “Mega Mountain” in 2009. Attention was drawn to them partly due to the interest of DJ’s from Aussie radio Station Triple J  (already mentioned in a previous post). Triple J offered HKoH quite some airplay from the start, and that was deserved.
To give you an idea of their music here’s “Wristwatch” from their debut album Escapades:

You might think of Vampire Weekend, Cold War Kids or Phoenix, and it’s true that there is a bit of the same feelings in there. Some incursion of soft electro sound on top of a good Blues/Rock rhythm. It’s happy, rhythmic, really perfect for these coming summer days (in the Northern hemisphere).
If you also think it’s too short and you want more of that same happy feeling, try “Scattered Diamonds” from their second EP.

Speaking of Hungry Kids of Hungary, here’s a related OZ act: Andy Bull. He’s a Sydney-based artist, “artist” is to be understood as “one man band”, i.e. pop-rock singer and pianist. His high pitched voice makes this singer able to sing duet with female artists like Lisa Mitchell or Duffy. The success of Andy Bull was also helped by Triple J.
He often plays with Hungry Kids of Hungary on tour and they have this great song together on Andy Bull’s album: “Last Waltz” by Andy Bull feat. Hungry Kids of Hungary

Tim & jean are from Perth and they are just Tim Ayre and Jean Capotorto.
Both quite young (17 & 20 years old) and terribly talented as you can hear on their first single “Come around”. This single was out in Oct. 2010.

They really blew my minds with their perfectly realized synth-pop splendor. This one is definitely to be added to your summer playlist

There must be something in the water, with so much upcoming talents from Australia. Here’s another of these artist to keep your ears on: Jonathan Boulet. Jonathan Boulet – A community service announcement

The Sounds of Australia [part 1]

Continuing the everlasting harvest of new sounds, this blog will present a series of posts about rare gems from down under. If you ever find yourself on this continent you might want to tune in on Triple J during your long car ride. Triple J is the “youth” radio channel from ABC, the public broadcaster, it’s the Australian answer to BBC’s Radio 1, exactly what Danmarks Radio would like P3 to be! On this triple J they have a feature called “Like a version” where artists get the opportunity to cover a song live in the studio, just like Radio 1′s Live lounge.

Some of the songs I’ve presented on this blog where actually from the Live lounge recording. These covers usually brings a new vision on a song that you’ve heard too much and can turn unbearable songs into delightful tunes (see womanizer, Sam Sparro).

The song I heard on Triple J was “Rock it” covered by Lotek (aka Wayne Bennett) This song is just massive! Once you’ve heard it you can’t take it out of your head and it feels good. It will be your favourite earworm for a while, try it here:

The perfect soundtrack for your Sunday morning waking up, it makes you day happier and easier to go through. With the added brass, it’s definitely a version that Mark Ronson wouldn’t be ashamed of. Lotek has kind of “reggaematised” the original song, a very inspired piece of work. The song was originally written by Little Red, a band based in Melbourne. I must admit it’s a bit hard to listen to the original when you’ve started with the Lotek cover. But it’s still worth a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSfSjkW5E6U

2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Minty-Fresh™.

Crunchy numbers

A helper monkey made this abstract painting, inspired by your stats.

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,400 times in 2010. That’s about 6 full 747s.

 

The total archive of this blog is 87 posts.

The busiest day of the year was September 28th with 27 views. The most popular post that day was Sam Sparro vs. Fat Freddy’s Drop.

Where did they come from?

Some visitors came searching, mostly for sam sparro, mads langer, the metros, wim mertens iris, and fat freddy’s drop albums.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Sam Sparro vs. Fat Freddy’s Drop June 2008

2

Start! Festival 09 – Interviews (1/2) June 2009
2 comments

3

Wim Mertens “Iris” June 2006
5 comments

4

Nouvelle Vague – Master & Servant May 2009

5

Electrochoc: just a branch of a big tree April 2009
3 comments

Gilles P. in Brazil

Brazil is calling, time for a new compilation!

Spreading on most of the southern American continent, Brazil offers a variety of fauna and flora you can’t even dream about. With such a vast land, it is no wonder that the music choice is also very fast, offering all what your ears can think of. Brazilian music has been underestimated in the music world even though it has seen a greater publicity n the past years.

Here are some classics of the Brazilian music scene mixed with other less famous songs or artists.

01. Quarteto Em Cy – Tudo Que Vocë Podia Ser

02. Joyce – Aldeia De Ogum

03. Jorge Ben – Take It Easy My Brother Charlie

04. Baden Powell – Samba De Uma Nota Só

05. Caetano Veloso – Superbacana

06. Di Melo – A Vida Em Seus Métodos Diz Calma

07. Tita Lima – A Conta Do Samba

08. Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66 – Capoeira Do Brasil

09. Catia Werneck – Eu vou partir

10. Chico Buarque – Essa moca

11. Pierre Barouh – Samba Saravah

12. Astrud Gilberto – Agua de Beber

13. Toquinho – Você abusou

14. João Bosco – O Bebado E a Equilibrista

15. Seu Jorge – Tive razão