Video Vacuum - Eagulls, Crime & the City Solution, Opossum, Idles

I'm going to be quick with these, loose with the PR and bios, and just have at it because it's been a long fucking day...I really need to get the band back together...

Straight from the horses' mouths about the Eagulls new video/track 'Moulting' - "The lyrics in this ‘number’ are reflecting my feelings of how I felt I had nothing left. Everything I’d done so far in life just seemed to be worthless. I wrote most of the song in my freezing cold bedroom which is the size of a single bed. I would wake up wet from the damp all night and my feet would be covered in mould off the walls and I’d had enough. It felt like I was dropping to bits like a cat loses its hair or a snake sheds its skin." Life doesn't feel so bad now does it? Eagulls have some cool shows coming up if you are UK bound in the next couple months (although their incredible support score with newly-90s-angst-burst Cloud Nothings is sold out), especially seeing as they are supporting Liars in Norwich before running around with 2012's Scandinavian punk sensations Holograms (if there's a new one of these every year, it will be fucking amazing, everyone else can give up music).



Crime & the City Solution

An Introduction To… is a new series of compilations on Mute of Sydney-via-Melbourne-via-England-via-Berlin post-punk deities Crime & The City Solution, with the tracklisting chosen by the band. For A History Of Crime - Berlin 1987 – 1991, the band has selected tracks from the three Berlin era albums: Shine (1988), The Bride Ship (1989) and Paradise Discotheque (1990). The album also features the band’s swansong, ‘The Adversary’, from the film Until The End Of The World (Wim Wenders, 1991). Simon Bonney is a great writer, and seeing that Mick Harvey (The Bad Seeds) was in the last two true incarnations, and Troy Gregory (bass, The Dirtbombs/Swans/Spiritualised) and the Dirty Three's Jim White is currently playing drums for them, they are an incredible band that were much overlooked, so to see them out and about once more is truly exciting. Listen below, then go back and get everything - Mute are making it easy for you...



Ruban Nielson may have been the first to climb out of the Mint Chick wreck with last year's breakaway warped pop sensations Unknown Mortal Orchestra, but brother Kody (along with bassist Michael Logie and ex-NZ chanteuse Bic Runga on drums) isn't far behind with psych pop mutation Opossom. The debut record Electric Hawaii comes out on Fire Records in August (it's already out here in Australia), and this is the second single (and one of the best tracks). Unfortunately the bastards are playing the same night as my Sonic Masala-endorsed Iowa album launch here in Brisbane (that's Saturday August 18, at the Waiting Room, you should all totz come!!!), but I'm sure they will be back. Plus they are touring the US and Europe in the latter months of 2012 so they will be busy bees...



Finally we have Bristol, UK act Idles with second single off their Welcome EP (which only came out two days ago on Fear Of Fiction Records) called 'Germany'. I wasn't sure if I would dig this, but it's doing the do today, and the vid is weirded out AND has interpretive dance - what's not to like? Get up and cut those weird shapes in a work cubicle that isn't yours, go on!



Have fun? Yeah...NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

VIDEO VACUUM - Lower Dens, JEFF The Brotherhood, OFF!, Slug Guts

It's been a while since we had some visual spirituals, but now I have a plethora of tracks that blow the casbah sky high, so let's give work the forks and watch them together like old times, yeah?

First up is another recording from those amazing cats over at They Shoot Music, Don't They? This time the aural offender is Lower Dens, chilling out in Barcelona after some down time from the Primavera Sound Festival back in May, playing some semi-acoustic toons in a square...with a friend in support(I TOLD you there was a Deerhunter connection today!) The two tracks here are 'Candy' and 'Nova Anthem', and it is, as is to be expected, pretty darn amazing.





It's great to hear that garage-trippers Jeff the Brotherhood are winging their way down to Australia in January (even if it is for the Big Day Out - sigh...), and they will be raring to rip into their new material off Hypnotic Nights. I heard someone at Splendour In The Grass on the weekend say that the album sounded like Weezer "or something like that where I'd enjoy it as a teenager but not give a shit when I grew up." Hmmm... Not sure what kind of a comment that is. Anyway, 'Sixpack' is slick and a lot of raucous fun. And yes, this track sounds a LOT like Weezer - even more than usual.



OFF! kicked off a triptych of video clips with the board spinning meltdown of 'Cracked', and now here are the final two-thirds of this "opus". Both starring Dave Foley (Kids In The Hall), the songs are 'Borrow & Bomb' and 'I Got News For You', and the clips encapsulate dodgy community television so well that I cannot believe that Teen Talk isn't the real deal (the look on Foley's face at 2:00 is priceless).



Finally we have the claustrophobic band clip for 'Scum', Brissie degenerates Slug Guts' single from their new Sacred Bones-endorsed LP, Playin' In Time With The Deadbeat. It's a typically Slug Guts song really, which means it is pretty damn fine. They may not reach the heights of the Aussie reprobates that they idolise, namely Venom P Stinger and Feedtime, but they give it a red hot shake, their feverish dirge never sounding more genuine.



NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Video Vacuum - Future Of The Left, King Khan & The Shrines, Regents, Fear Of Men

It's been a shitty week to be on holidays. But all I've been up to is writing, editing, watching movies (Win Win and The Revenant were two pretty ace films) and TV shows (The Walking Dead, Being Human - the UK one, Boardwalk Empire), interviewing and (surprisingly) exercising, so it hasn't been too bad. But Im heading out into the last semblance of sunshine we may have for a while, and I want to give you drones at work something to hold onto. So here are four great vids for four great tracks. Enjoy!

It's sad to say that I'm not yet sold on the new Future Of The Left album The Plot Against Common Sense, although I have only heard it once so need to give it more time. Nevertheless, I always enjoy some Falco nonsense, and it goes without saying that his explanation of the video for single 'I Am The Least Of Your Problems' is full of it:

"[The video] is about a dual or split personality. We wanted something claustrophobic and full of movement, but most specifically, something that would weed out the epileptics in the audience. In all seriousness, I have an undue fascination with strobe lighting, much to my bandmates' extreme displeasure. When I was in college I bought a small one for 'personal use' and used to sit in my room writing songs to its largely similar patterns. They were great, if slightly disorientating, days."



Another dude up for a laugh is King Khan, here backed by the Shrines for 'Bite My Tongue', and this film clip is one of the funniest I've seen in ages. A bizarre homage to the 60s Batman television show and wholly religiously irreverent, it's worth watching just for the jogger in the park.



Now to get gritty. Washington's Regents have finally got a video for their great track 'Cinder Machine' (which you can still buy via Lovitt Records here), directed by the band’s singer/guitarist Drew Ringo, showcasing photographs that he had taken of 350 boarded up residences in Baltimore. The concept speaks to the housing crisis in the US.



Finally we have this ultra low budget offering for Brighton band Fear Of Men's 'Green Sea', the 7" of which came out on Sexbeat Records last week. It was made for 15 quid in one of the band members' flat. It's a woozy VHS effort, and I love it.



NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Video Vacuum - Haunted Leather, Iroquois Falls, Romare, Arundel

Prepared for some more obscure recordings with visuals? Sure you are. Let's go.

I posted about Desert Spells, last year's hazy trip that was Michigan band Haunted Leather's debut LP here. Well here is an equally lysergic hit in the eyeball with their vid for 'Shapes On The Wall' evoking Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain. The track mines Black Angels at the most dirgey, which they themselves are stepping away from, so this is timely. The track is from upcoming album Red Road - call me mightily excited.



Iroquois Falls is a Toronto artist that has just released an interesting 7" of which she has made videos for both tracks. This is for the B-side, 'The Magician's Niece'. The crunching, the organ, the driving guitar, the Polly Jean meets Patti Smith vocal delivery, all bodes well, but it don't hang together if it ain't good. This is some pretty interesting stuff - intriguing to see where this all heads. Keep an eye on this artist.



I received this cool video in the inbox last week, and although the track isn't necessarily my thing, the visuals sucked me right in. Romare is a London based artist who put out an EP called Meditations on Afrocentrism, a concept based on the idea that a new form of music can emerge by investigating the relationship between different musical cultures through sampling. Samples of songs, speeches, interviews, field recordings and films were carefully chosen and rearranged to explore the connection between African and African-American music. Rhythms from West Africa are integrated with voices from Harlem, conversations about race and identity between writers and ethnomusicologists are constructed, speeches from activists are conjoined with the voices of prisoners. This process of combining preexisting material perfectly marries with the spliced imagery here (courtesy of Hugo Presser).



Finally we return back to Brisbane. Again, another artist I wouldn't necessarily write about (although he put on a good show support Mt Kimbie not too long ago), Arundel is a "dream-pop/electronica producer" who has been compared to Royksopp, Massive Attack, & Gotye. Well, I kinda get it... Much of what he does is produced via live instrumentation, and his collaborations particularly with Kate Jacobsen (Texas Tea) and Claire Whiting (Inland Sea) are pretty sweet. Here is the latest video for 'A Deep Freeze' from his Olive Caves EP from earlier in the year, which features Jacobson and Simon Crossley (Skypilot).



NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Video Vacuum - OFF!, Relations, Hugo Race, Die Antwoord

I'm finding it harder and hard to justify why I bother coming into work on a Monday, how about you? The unlimited download limit notwithstanding, there isn't much at the moment. I have holidays coming in sight though, so Ill suck it up - by watching some sweet music videos!

OFF! have just released this clip for 'Cracked', which promises to be the first in a triptych of videos with some sort of common theme or link. This one has a sign spinner losing his shit over another sign spinner's antics. He has a Walkman! So old school punk... It is quite funny too, and it's a great track.



100m Records (who put out the ace Soccer Mom EP last year) have just put out the new EP by NY synth-punk duo Relations, and here is the video for 'A Savage Way To Live'. It's certainly entrenched in subtle dissonance and shadows, and makes for an alluring listen.



The inimitable Hugo Race (The Bad Seeds, The Wreckery, Dirtmusic) has just released a solo album of covers called No But It's True, just another record to put in his massive oeuvre. He strips back a load of classics to their skeletal form, allowing the lyrics to shine through. Here he takes on the excellent Bruce Springsteen track 'I'm On Fire'. A dry rendition, this one...



Oh shit. I HAD to put this one up here. Those South African mentalists Die Antwoord are off the charts, a helluva lot of dumb, and they really make me laugh. I'm not sure if I like them or not, but I really like this video for their latest "song" 'Baby's On Fire'. It's crazy and a little bit NSFW - just sayin'.



NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Video Vacuum - The Black Keys, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes, The Hickey Underground, School Knights

Man, I hate being ill. But I hate being stuck with nothing to do. Can't go out, can't watch or read anything due to headaches, cant lie still because of a fever that just won't quit...why do hypochondriacs do this to themselves? Anyway, I've dragged myself out of bed despite all of this to at least alleviate the pains of working life. Let's watch some vids together and stave off this cabin fever.

Actually, this may not be the best way to start. The Black Keys have released a second video for their single 'Gold On The Ceiling', directed by none other than Harmony Korine. It looks shoddy and scratch as if re-recorded on a burnt out VHS tape - very Korine - yet it is the willing participation by band members Pat Carney and Dan Auerbach that really sells this slightly disturbing twins-as-memes construction. Pretty awesome.



Those wilfully eclectic paisley warriors Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros are launching their next album, Here, and this is the new video for opening track 'Man On Fire'. Directed by Brady Corbett (the actor of Martha Marcy May Marlene, Melancholia, Funny Games (US) and most notably Mysterious Skin fame), it is a great real-life look at achievers, starring the New York City Ballet, NY Cheer Allstars, National Double Dutch League, and Soul Steps & Brooklyn Divas, as well as choreographers, coaches, and relatives of the various performers.



I had never heard of Belgian band The Hickey Underground before they sent me the video for 'The Frog', the first track to come off their second record I'm Under The House, I'm Dying (out in September) which has been mixed by Dave Sardy (LCD Soundsystem, Black Mountain's In The Future) of all people. This song is pretty good. The video on the other hand is off the wall. I can't claim to know what it means, but I do like it a hell of a lot.



Finally we have School Knights, who regular readers of Sonic Masala will be well versed on. They have just released a somewhat unsettling video for latest track release 'Powerslut'. Not disturbing like The Hickey Underground or Harmony Korine, though - no, it's just that these dudes do not scrub up well in drag. At all. you have been warned...



NOW GET BACK TO WORK (cough cough)

Video Vacuum - A PlaceTo Bury Strangers, Trailer Trash Tracys, The Eversons, Milk Maid

Another miserable day to bring in the bullshit Winter season. I don't feel like doing work, and I KNOW you are playing Solitaire instead of whatever it is you are actually employed to do, so make your wasteful minutes count with some new music videos.

Noisy juggernauts A Place To Bury Strangers are on the cusp of unleashing their new hotly-anticipated LP Worship via Dead Oceans, and here is the clip for single 'You Are The One'. It includes typical NSFW fare such as dark hallways, hot ladies and sudden bursts of violence. All APTBS staples then...



UK act Trailer Trash Tracys have been riding waves of hipster adulation since the release of their debut album Ester, and although I enjoyed some of the tracks I felt the whole thing a bit inauthentic - much like any band that hipsters heap praise on. However, I didn't mind the song 'Los Angered' and it now has a cool video that evokes Battles' Gloss Drop conception art. Despite the TERRIBLE name, Trailer Trash Tracys could be onto something if they shirked the glossier elements of their persona and embraced their music more...



I found that the efforts of NZ goofy guitar pop kids The Eversons nailed their self-titled EP last year, and I'm glad to say they are releasing a full length called Summer Feeling on Lil Chief Records (a review of the album will be forthcoming). The following track 'Could It Ever Get Better' is off that, and the stop-motion felt cut out clip is the perfect complement to the band's aesthetic. Dumb, silly fun, done well.



Finally we have 'Summertime', the latest single from UK grungy 90s throwbacks Milk Maid. They will be releasing their debut LP Mostly No shortly, which promises to be a strong record. Sure, they are good - they ain't no Milk Music though (but Milk in the name is helping - does it really strengthen the bones???)



NOW GET BACK TO WORK!!

Video Vacuum - Per Purpose, Father John Misty, Lyonnais, Strange Hands

Damn if it hasn't been a batshit crazy week! I even missed posting on a Monday, that nigh on never happens. Well, after the sell out show Sonic Masala put on at The Waiting Room on Friday night (happy snaps on their way), it's no wonder. But I'm desperate to put my nose back to the millstone, so here are some vids to take your mind of the fact that it's Neck Yourself Tuesday, hmmm?

Per Purpose have been not so quietly killing all and sundry in Brisbane over the past couple of years. Here is a DIY video for their 'Warburton' track which I really enjoy. For some reason Per Purpose remind me a bit of The Drones on this one - certainly not a bad thing, although I'm not sure that was what they were working towards. Nevertheless, it's a killer track.



Last week I posted about Father John Misty, and even showed the excellent video for 'Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings' featuring the excellent Aubrey Plaza. Here is the third single from Fear Fun called 'This Is Sally Hatchet' - and it is even crazier in content than 'Hollywood Forever...' was! Love this drugged visionary. It's incredibly slick, and has me celebrating violence - win win?



Now I haven't mentioned Lyonnais before, but the Atlanta band's psych/drone meanderings are some excellent meditations on the existentialism of space...or something. It's great regardless, and this montage of natural desert landscapes and societies is a perfect complement to their music. I really rate this band, and so should you.



Finally we have the criminally underrated French garage band Strange Hands. Check out their debut album Dead Flowers - it's amazing technicoloured splattered vinyl, a great record, and can be gleaned from Azbin Records here.

Video Vacuum - Royal Headache, Death Grips, Kirin J Callinan, Laurence Pike (PVT)

Another Monday grind at the office. Short of planting a blow-up doll in your boss' bottom drawer, what else is there to do to get out of the doldrums? Watch some ace music videos, that's what! Va va VOOM!

Royal Headache are touring the US, and have brought out this "tour diary" style video to put alongside their 'Girls' track off their excellent eponymous debut.



Death Grips aren't wasting time after the blow-out success of Ex-Military, releasing The Money Store which you can get here (the cover art is rad). They are an incredibly formidable band, and if you get a chance to catch these guys in action, DO IT.



Kirin J Callinan has created an amazing video clip to coincide with new single 'W II W'. Seriously, this is one of my fave videos of the year, and it really helps to up the song's foreboding ante.



Finally, this is not for a particular show, but PVT drummer and all round nice guy Laurence Pike doin his thang in a beautiful location leading up to the 2012 Sydney Vivid festival. This guy's the best.



NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

VIDEO VACUUM - Explosions In The Sky, Joe McKee, Nikko, Fever Fever

Hectic personal life and hectic working life means my social life is taking a battering this week. As in, I don't have one. SO I'm locking myself away to reach deadlines and save cashola, all the while knowing there are at least four great shows on this weekend, three of which are one-offs (Eat Laser Scumbag! Nova Scotia! Keep On Dancins! Concentric Circuits! Erm...The Sips!) ARGH! So I really need encouragement. Here are some videos that are perking up my downward spiral...

No surprises that the first cab off the ranks is one of my all-time favourites, Austin gods Explosions In The Sky. This video for the brilliant 'Postcard From 1952' is their third from their latest record Take Care Take Care Take Care. Reminiscent of the also-stellar video for Youth Lagoon's 'Montana' in my opinion. Check it out (and, in my case, over and over...)



Joe McKee used to lead the darkly brilliant and sadly defunct Perth via London act Snowman, whose third album Absence made out best of lists last year. He hasn't been sitting idle - his first foray in solo guise is ready to drop! It's called Burning Boy, and will be available through Dot Dash/Remote Control on Friday May 25 (the day a certain music blog is hosting its best live lineup yet - coincidence? I think not! Actually, it is.) Here is the understated first single, 'Darling Hills'.



Another SM fave is Brissie Australian Gothic western marauders Nikko, and they too have a new LP in the wings. Gold & Red isn't out for a while yet (July 3 to be exact), but it sounds suitably apocalyptic. Yet it ain't all doom and gloom, as 'Smoke Alarms' (from their 7" precursor) attests. Here is the slick video:



Finally, some teething from Norwich, England's "finest" Fever Fever. 'The Chair' doesn't necessarily have the bombast and bite that 'Teeth' had, but the menace pervades this track. It's a gentle reminder that not all is well - and that I'm not going softly into the dark, dark night people...



NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Video Vacuum - Pink Mountaintops, Depth & Current, Christian Bland & the Revelators, Pontiak, White Hills

Two Video Vacuums in one week? Weird, right? But I'm not feeling terribly work-oriented, so what better way to waste time than to toke up and get psychedelic on everyone's asses? (NB: In case anyone from work reads this (IE slim to nil, but still...) I haven't really toked up. I have just rubbed my eyes really hard because I'm so tired from working outside work hours all night long, and don't want to fall asleep because I love my job sooooooo much...) Plus it's Austin Psych Fest weekend, so in lieu of not being there, here are some images that might denote what it'd be like if we were...

Let's start with Pink Mountaintops, the side project for Black Mountain's Stephen McBean (they toured recently with Dead Meadow - I missed that hot ticket, and am still paying the price...). 'While We Were Dreaming' is not a new track but thanks to the excellent Ongakubaka blog I have reacquainted myself with this great song.



Continuing the vein of epic psych bands with the colour black in their name's side projects, Black Angels axe-grinder Christian Bland has been pumping out tracks off his own bat, backed by The Revelators. Nothing new here - what it is is bloody good though.



It's certainly no secret that I love the shit out of Pontiak, the Carney brothers' ode to all things psych rock. Their latest opus Echo Ono is one of my fave albums of the year thus far, and 'Royal Colours' helps to keep the good times roll. I honestly thing that if I spent a weekend with these guys, I would end up covered in metallic paint with a devilish grin also. Just sayin.



Another SM fave, and also with a rad album under their belt in 2012, White Hills have a couple of vids floating about on the back of tracks from Frying On This Rock. Both 'You Dream You See' and 'Pads of Light' encapsulate the space spazz oddities that Dave W and Ego Sensation are, and are rocking to boot. I am a massive fan of this band, and you need to be too.





Finally I mentioned Depth & Current last year as their debut LP (through Nice People) was pretty solid. Here is this also solid video for the track 'Pick Yourself Up' - this band is a slowburner, but when it does latch hold of you they sizzle. Check it out for yourself. If you are in Norman, Oklahoma this weekend they are playing the Norman Music Festival, alongside some other ace acts like Bloody Knives, Amen Dunes, True Widow and Woods. Nice...



NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Video Vacuum - Liars, Mind Spiders, Birthdays, Charbonneau

It's been some time since I got it on with the visuals, and I've had a few up my sleeve without acting on them. Well, this post is nothing if not to show off the new video for Liars' single 'No. 1 Against The Rush', a incredibly filmed, dark as fuck mood piece that starts solemn, gets fucking twisted, and ends in territory that will haunt my dreams. The Human Centipede 2 should have been this. Angus Andrew's facial expression says it all really. If the track is already whipping you into a frenzy for the upcoming LP WIXIW (it is for me), then this video will seal the deal.



Raging Texans Mind Spiders have just released Meltdown on Dirtnap Records, and 'Wait For Us' is off it. It portrays a guy apparently abandoned on a desolate planet, who calls out for help. Yet when it comes, the "rescuer" gets more than he bargains for... This is a slick video, much like the Liars video, and perfectly complements this killer tune.



Portland synthers Charbonneau have an 80stastic flick to correspond with their 'American Is My Favourite Language' track. Focusing on US billboards and signs, interspersed with some slow-mo spazz dancing, we have something affecting, amusing and addictive. I don't know who this band is, but this video is amazing.



Finally we have Boston act Birthdays, who threw me their 'Howolding Girls' video the other day (via Mike from Sippy Cup Everything). It has Birthdays (AKA Sam Yager) standing with a black background and various colours and images projected onto his face, the overall effect coming across as B-grade horror, glow-in-the-dark tribalism and Animal Collective eclecticism with the right amount of unease and fascination. The track itself emulates AC in its swathes of synth, yet with slightly more immediately accessible vocals... Good stuff. Birthdays is rocking with Gauntlet Hair in his hometown before winging his way to Japan for a two week jaunt - good luck dude, let us know how it goes!



NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Video Vacuum - BRISBANE EXPLODES!!! (plus the best video ever in Spiritualized...)

Whilst it is with dismay that I am yet to take part in either Meredith or Golden Plains festivals, I still benefit when that crew get a line-up going. Every December and March respectively, the bands that wing their way to Australia for the festivals and slot in Brisbane sideshows to boot (except Roky Erickson...sight...). The upside is that you don't miss out, AND you get more intimate concert gigs. The downsize is that you have to pay through the teeth to see them all, which isn't possible anyway because bands invariably clash (hello Ariel Pink and Endless Boogie (although that was an easy choice to make, Endless Boogie being one of the raddest bands on the planet and all).

Tonight sees some craziness involved, yet only one international band is taking the spotlight. The fact that it is the brilliant Japanese genre-defying trio Boris, supported by the excellent Laura and "local" legends Nikko, breaks my heart. So if you are getting along, it should be fucking amazeballs (I saw them at the Islington Garage in London back in 2010 - they killed...) If they play this (which I certainly hope they do), I will shit myself from pleasure. And I won't even be there. I just know this song from osmosis. If you can smell me, it can only be a good thing...



One of the most underrated Melbourne bands doing the do at the moment is Dead Farmers. They just released a killer 7", and are making a rare appearance in the Sunshine State supported by Per Purpose and Sewers (thanks Bedroom Suck!). I'm very bummed to be missing this show too - plus it'll be one of the last gigs to play the sadly closing Woodland venue (goodbye $5 Tooheys schooners!). So here is the video for their latest single, you lucky devils!



Now whilst they are further down the bill at the Alhambra Lounge tonight (supporting the effervescent Velociraptor, with the irascible Tiny Migrants also in support), I haven't played this ace vid of Tape/Off's 'Hell Comes To Frogtown.' Great name, great song, tripped out visuals. I'm there (in spirit...and in boozy reverence later!)



So where will I be tonight? At the 5th Sonic Masala showcase, of corks! Where you all should be too. We have Fred Savage Beasts (a side project for the aforementioned Tape/Off's frontman), Motherfucking Morgan Freeman and Crass Creatures ready to tear your ears off and feed them to you through sweaty desperation (true story - I've had them locked up in cages with nothing but a bowl of stagnant water and their instruments as sustenance). Franco Cozzo heads that bill, and the Melbourne duo (SM's first interstate guests) are intent to bludgeon your torso with brutal notes until you dance like a loon and holler like a banshee. Have listen of a track they played at the Workers' Club last year for verifiable proof that tonight will bring about world peace.



I should end here. But then I NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED y'all to watch and listen to Spiritualized's new song/video, 'Hey Jane'. i think it is possibly the best video EVER. For real. Comments welcome. In fact, this video may feature in another post next week, because outside the wedding I'm going to and the writing I'm required to pump out so that I can get the bread in order to live, that is all I'll be taking notice of. It's fucking incredible. My gift to you (only if you give up a tenner and come to my show).

Spiritualized 'Hey Jane' from Somesuch & Co. on Vimeo.

NOW GET BACK TO WORK !!

VIDEO VACUUM - Future Of The Left, Girls, Colours, Witch Hats

A slow start to the week, but here are some luscious moofies to drag you out of the doldrums, yeah?

It's common knowledge that I have infinite amounts of respect for Andy Falkous. I'm a bit of a groupie, and getting to speak to him last year before the release of his band Future Of The Left's Polymers Are Forever EP was one of the crowning achievements of my life thus far. Now we are creeping ever closer to the release of their third album, The Plot Against Common Sense, and to whet our appetites (it's not out til May, dammit!) we have the video for teaser track 'Sheena Was A T-Shirt Salesman'. Ill be brutally honest - it's not their best. But it's good, and Falkous' lyrics are as acerbic, drenched in bile and tickled pink as ever. It has me on tenterhooks - I'm hoping for upwards and onwards...Plus it's good to see the Blue Man Group getting a job.



Girls was one of the best bands to grace us with their presence on the recent Laneway Festival circuit, and I've grown to embrace Christopher Owens and his inherent revivalist shtick more and more. Here is the rather disquieting flick for 'My Ma' and as always it is somewhat sumptuous and off putting, like a Gregory Crewdson photograph come to life. Intensely alluring.



Now I received this in the mail only the other day, and immediately thought it was a new track from British slacker rock band Colours. Turns out there is an artist right here in Australia called Colours, and 'In The Summer' is his contribution to the incoming compilation by Electronic Voice Records. It's hazed dream pop of the highest order, and has me hankering for more of the same. As far as I know there isn't a full length in the immediate future, but the compilation will be out on cassette as well as 12" vinyl soon, with pre-order starting March 10 (this Saturday!) here.

COLOURS ~ In The Summer from Toto Vivian on Vimeo.

Finally we have Melbourne's Witch Hats, who have had a bit of a directional change of late as witnessed on their stellar second LP Pleasure Syndrome. Here is the new video for 'In The Mortuary' off that very album.



NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Video Vacuum - Tiny Spiders, Tiny Migrants, Velociraptor, The Fighting League

I thought that it had been a while since we had some videos to break up the tedium of real life, and what better way to do that than with three Brisbane garage snotrag bands and one from Canberra? Aussies unite!

First we have Tiny Spiders. I posted about this track earlier, but here is their video shot at the Waiting Room with various drunks playing indie gym junkies (ahem). Its a great tune, and some people actually look like they are exercising. What though is anyone's guess...



I'm pretty sure Tiny Migrants are from outer space, and whilst still ambiguous, 'Fishpond Goldmine' is the proof. Embracing their inner Ed Wood Jr, the sassy, sexy, sleazy and all other adjectives beginning with S quintet really rock it, although this is only scraping the surface of what these guys are capable of. I am pretty sure Julien can shoot laser beams out his eyes, when he can keep em open that is... Tiny Migrants' EP is imminent, so get excited!



The largest, most ramshackle garage monster ever created, Velociraptor eat stage space and preconceptions for breakfast. And with 'Cynthia', they have crafted one of the best videos of the year. There's pieces of Hey Dad! in there (Simon Ridley is a brilliant Nudge if there was to be a Hollywood remake - and there should be, minus the paedophilic dad), Benny Hill, YTT and Brisbane suburbia. It's bloody funny too. Well done guys!



And finally we have The Fighting League, who apparently killed when they visited Brisbane earlier this month (and as an aside, I couldn't make the show, but it was my birthday and Tiny Migrants sung Happy Birthday in my absence - so they say, anyway...). Their LP Tropical Paradise is an underappreciated gem, and this video is a perfect lark with slightly more strenuous workout techniques to accentuate the laconic fun of 'Calypso'. Even if they ARE from Canberra...(please don't hurt me).



NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Video Vacuum - Dan Melchior, Rhyton, Jason Urick, Sennen

Who needs a break? I can hear your shouts from here! I do too, although people may not guess it - my increasingly accurate physical resemblance to an elegant hobo is raising eyebrows and rashes both. So here are some choice cuts from Thrill Jockey, who look to have us covered once more in 2012...

But before we get there, if you remember, I really enjoyed Dan Melchior's Assemblage Blues record last year. The man is nothing if not prolific, and he has some good stuff coming out soon. This vid has been available for a little while, but its a fair summation of how Melchior does his shtick (it's also on a 7" put out by SDZ Records). Love him or hate him, he is true to his idiosyncrasies... (NB - I love him).

Dan Melchior "Red Nylon Valance" from max dembo on Vimeo.

Here is one band I had never heard of until TR sent me this clip. Rhyton are aiming to liquify your bones inside you so you become quivering bags of mush. Their bass played is from Psychic Ills for Chrissakes! Their self-titled debut sounds pretty killer, by the way - grab it here. And while I'm at it, here is a track you can have on top of the vid - happy Friday yo!

Rhyton - Shank Raids

Rhyton - Stone Colored from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

Jason Urick has melded dub and drone into a delectable tapestry on his latest, I Love You. Here he has pared the static noise to create something otherworldly, something akin to High Wolf in some respects, which is always welcomed, but there is something...warm about this record that is great. Anyway, here is the clip. Bliss out folks...

Jason Urick - Ageless Isms from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

To finish off today, let's veer out of the Thrill Jockey stables, but not too far. Sennen sound like they would fit right at home, so I'm placing them in the meadow adjacent. The UK band are releasing their Vultures 7" in March, which will be on heavenly white vinyl - pre-order here. Their upcoming album Lost Harmony looks to be a sweaty palms kinda release - I'm itching for it already.



NOW GET BACK TO WORK!!

VIDEO VACUUM - Copenhagen Sessions

Here is another brilliant guerrilla initiative by maverick crew They Shoot Music Don't They. They have a new series of offstage videos entitled THE COPENHAGEN SESSIONS! For three they intend to meet bands in Copenhagen and film offstage sessions in the autumnal darkness of the Danish capital, inviting international and Danish, upcoming and acclaimed bands to play in front of the lens. The locations are bike sheds, industrial buildings, cafés, parks or just streets - nothing is sacred.

The first release is with the amazing Seattle-based Craft Spells. After being kicked out of a laundry they play two songs ('The Fog Rose High' and 'Your Tomb') in an abandoned shopping mall in the Vesterbro neighbourhood of Copenhagen.





The second episode features Philadelphia-based The War On Drugs playing a semi-acoustic session in the bike shed of a school in Copenhagen's Christianshavn neighbourhood, including performances of 'Brothers' and 'Best Night' from their new album Slave Ambient.





And finally (so far, at least...) we have the 7-piece Danish folk-pop band Cody, recorded in an abandoned building in the abandoned Carlsberg brewery in Valby, Copenhagen.





NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Video Vacuum - Mister Heavenly, Portico Quartet, Lester The Fierce, Crushed Beaks

Well it may still be spring in Australia, but the feel-good temperatures emblematic of the season appear to have fled, allowing summer to beat on down earlier than expected. I'm working in a room made for thirty people - it's currently housing 34, and only one ceiling fan is working. Sure, I should be molding these kids' futures, but screw it, let's watch some flicks!

That veritable supergroup Mr Heavenly have really impressed with their Out Of Love record on Sub Pop, an album that has indie pop on a skewer, slow roasting in a kiln of fun (I'm not getting on any press releases with that one...). Opener 'Bronx Sniper' is one of the more impressive cuts off the album, and it now has a suitably funky yet bizarre video. The band hit London for the first time later this month, and hints are thrown that they will be Down Under quite early on next year - get excited.



I have to say that for a Mercury Prize nominated act, Portico Quartet don't readily ring a bell. The East London-centric act have their 3rd self titled album ready to flaunt, which delves into new sonic territories, drawing on the inspiration of electronica, ambient, classical and dance music as they take their strange, beautiful, cinematic, future music to exciting new vistas. Influences are listed as Burial, Flying Lotus, Max Richter, Steve Reich, Bon Iver...the eclecticism yet musical verbosity bodes well.



Lester The Fierce is the newest project from Anita Lester, the irresistible chanteuse who is set to release her stunning debut EP ‘The Summer Deluge’ this November. The visual artist turned performer describes her music as ‘dark cinematic folk rock,’ her songs bleak but beautiful and full, illustrating her experiences of love and death in a unique and often graphic way. Below is her luscious video for 'Holland'.



Finally we have Crushed Beaks, a London duo that we only just brought to your attention a couple weeks previously. They continue the build up to their debut single release with a brand new video for lead track ‘Close-Ups’. Taking in the band’s shared love of kitsch horror films, the video for ‘Close-Ups’ is a brilliant juxtaposition against the song’s bittersweet melodies. As if being forced through a broken vintage projector, both Poile and Morris seem to be convulsing and morphing into different beasts throughout. Eyes twist and mouths foam as the song nears its effervescent climax.



NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

VIDEO VACUUM - Secret Birds, Fucked Up, Sex Beet, Sunken Seas

I don't know about you, but this week is hurting. Real bad. SO rather than knuckle down and get through the massive load of work I have, I'm gonna hunker down for some movie-watching. You in?

First up is Brissie aural alchemists Secret Birds, who have just completed this beauty for their track 'Part II'. I need to zone out for a while and this will do the trick...

Secret Birds - Part II from Sonoptik on Vimeo.

I do love me some Fucked Up in the morning. Here is a decidedly more lo-fi approach to a David Comes To Life video than the past, and its a lot of fun (as filmed by band member Sally Miranda). I wish I was hanging out with Fucked Up right now...

Fucked Up "Running on Nothing" from Sandy Miranda on Vimeo.

We haven't heard much from London rabble-rousers Sex Beet of late. And although it may be a while before the new recordings see the light of day, we have this video to sate us just that little bit. Sure, it's an old song, but the video is a fresh one, so it all feels new once more...



Now I don't know much about NZ noisemongers Sunken Seas, but I'm a fan of the moody atmospherics inherent here on 'High Rise'. They have new recordings on the way, so expect to hear more from this band in the near future...



NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Video Vacuum - Wooden Shjips, Ghost Wave, Balkans, United Fruit

Ah, it's Friday. I was subjected to Staind's 'It's Been A While' when I got to work. Just needed to steel wool my brain. These four clips did the trick...

Can't get enough of Wooden Shjips - their West album really killed it, best of its kind this year I reckon (which is a big call, I know...) Yet another video coming from it, this time for the track 'Crossing'. Check it out below.

Wooden Shjips - Crossing from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

Now here is a band I didn't know a lick about until last month. New Zealand's Ghost Wave are linked to Arch Hill Records, have put out their self-titled EP, and here is a taste off it. Pretty tasty...



This one is a wee bit NSFW... Daring slackers Balkans have launched into rebel mode here with their video for 'Let You Have It'. These guys are just simmering away on the hotplate, ready to boil over at any minute - be on the bandwagon with your bowl when it does, ready to lap up some more.

BALKANS - Let You Have It from Frank Broyles on Vimeo.

Finally we have United Fruit's video for 'Go Away Don't Leave Me Alone', one of the grander cuts off their great LP of earlier this year Fault Lines.



NOW GET BACK TO WORK!!