AFL is back...and so is good music ('09 is getting better!)

He's excited!

Passion Pit

Their highly anticipated debut album Manners isn't due out till May 19th, but The Reeling gives us a taste of what's to come. On first listen it doesn't command your attention as much as Sleepyhead and the rest of the Chunk of Change EP did, but it stays true to the Passion Pit sound and is a very good track, without being excellent.

mp3 : Passion Pit - The Reeling

MYSPACE

BUY Passion Pit



Au Revoir Simone

For those who don't know them, Au Revoir Simone are an all-girl keyboard loving indie pop group from Brooklyn. They released debut album The Bird of Music a couple of years back which I took a big liking to, and now they're back with a new album Still Night, Still Light (Due out May 19th also) The album's first track Another Likely Story is a great example of their sweet sounding synth pop work.

mp3 : Au Revoir Simone - Another Likely Story

OFFICIAL SITE \ MYSPACE

BUY Au Revoir Simone



Peter Bjorn & John

While they'll always be known for 'that' very cool wistling song with the cartoon video clip, Young Folks, this Swedish group also have some other great work - including their new album Living Thing (which was released today) One song stuck out for me, not because it's the best on the album, but because I can recall checking out the 'Blue Period Picasso stuck on a wall, in the middle of a hall, in Barcelona' last year - I guess I didn't think about it as much as these guys did!

mp3 : Peter Bjorn & John - Blue Period Picasso

OFFICIAL SITE \ MYSPACE

BUY Peter Bjorn & John



The Killers

I didn't think Day & Age was some of their best work, but the Vegas lads have done one of the best covers I've heard in a long time. Included on a limited edition 12" of their Spaceman single is a cover of Bright Eyes' Four Winds. I love the original and I love this cos it's been completey reworked. Catch their awesome live show in Melbourne this Saturday at V Festival!

mp3 : The Killers - Four Winds (Bright Eyes Cover)

OFFICIAL SITE \ MYSPACE

BUY The Killers

New Vampire Weekend!

The lads from NYC performed the song 'The White Sky' from there yet to be released sophomore album on late night American TV...





mp3: Vampire Weekend - The White Sky (Live on Jimmy Fallon)

OFFICIAL SITE

Placebo release new Single 'Battle for the Sun'

Placebos new Single OUT NOW....

Placebos long awaited return album 'Battle for the Sun' is Due out June 8th with the first single off it with the same name being released in the last few days. Equiped with a new drummer Steve Forrest, expect a 'Positive' and 'Optimistic' record lead man Brian Molko states in a recent interview with UK's The Guardian.
"We've made a record about choosing life, and choosing to live, about stepping out of the darkness and into the light," frontman Brian Molko told NME.
This will no doubt disapoint a few of Placebos hardcore fans however for the the rest of us this is great news as the guys have shown they have true talent with there previous 5 albums.


Download 'Battle for the Sun' free from their official website, along with tour dates and news Here

Mp3: Placebo - Battle for the Sun

Album de la Semana...o Mes?...o Año?

PHOENIX - WOLFGANG AMADEUS PHOENIX

It isn't officially released til May 25th but I couldn't wait with this one. It seems 2009 finally has an album to rival Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion, who set the bar to extremely high levels in the first two weeks of the year! Leaked online in the past week, French lads Phoenix's fourth studio album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, sees them reach some lofty new heights. Pulsating drum beats, dirty snyths and simple but catchy guitar riffs run riot throughout the album to great effect. Opening track and my early favourite Lisztomania has a great positive energy about it and grabs your attention right from the get go - this is dance/rock at it best and I'd already go as far as saying it will feature in many song of the year lists! Other notables include the blogged and triple j'd to death 1901, Girlfriend, Rome and Love Like a Sunset - more out of curiosity than anything - the song builds for a good 6 minutes before any vocals (Phoenix 1 - Death Cab for Cutie 0!!) In truth I could have rolled off a couple more highlights because 'it's all good y'all!'. All I can say is BUY, BUY, BUY...in May. Can't wait for an Oz tour!

Download 1901 FREE from the
OFFICIAL SITE

mp3 : Phoenix - Lisztomania
mp3 : Phoenix - Love Like a Sunset

Purchase previously released Phoenix tracks

Ted & Francis Live @ Inflation Bar, Melbourne 14th March 2009

Sometimes you go to gigs knowing what to expect....

other times you don't.



Ted & Francis headlined an Electro evening at Melbourne's Inflation Bar, or better known as WOW come Saturday night. They were the best of the 2 acts i stayed to watch in the downstairs Band room, the other being a electro trio group called 'The Trips' who played before them and to my surprise the crowd of  50 or so turned into 25 by the time they started.

Obviously not fussed by the lack of interest with the crowd, they did there 30min set with minimal effort or energy.. but who can blame them?

They showed enough however to make me exited for there new songs to be released..
deep vocals on a low tempo beat offer a unique sound.

Only in there very early days I still have big hopes for this Sydney based Duo.

Myspace: Ted and Francis
Mp3: Ted and Francis - Erlend
Mp3: Ted and Francis - All Ways

Bands To Watch In '09 - Vol 2

Sooo, first off...apologies for the one month absence! I know all our die hard followers must have been struggling to survive without our wonderful insight into the world of new music!! I have 2 excuses, 1 - 2 Jobs (doesn't leave alot of spare time to be just blogging around), and 2 - I purchased some decks (all of the spare time I've had has been consumed by mixing my own pretty awesome but also pretty ordinary tunes!)
annnyway...back to the music...

THE TEMPER TRAP




Though I've mentioned it before, I can't stress this enough - The Temper Trap are set to have a MASSIVE 2009. They promised alot a couple of years back with a self-titled EP which earned them much local acclaim, but after the release of epic single Sweet Disposition last year and their subsequent inclusion on BBC's Sound of 2009, the Melbourne band are in for some much greater acclaim this year. The band are set to showcase their enormo-indie (thanks NME) at SXSW this month after a few dates in the UK and then they'll be back in Oz for the V Festivals.
All dates are below - Be sure to check them out!!

12 Mar 2009 8:30 P	Lexington ‘Club Rockfeedback’	London, London and South East
14 Mar 2009 11:00 P	Be Presents Saturdays at Proud	London
16 Mar 2009 9:00 P	Mercury Lounge	New York, New York
18 Mar 2009 10:00 P	SXSW - Dirty Dog Bar ASCAP Showcase	Austin, Texas
19 Mar 2009 11:45 P	SXSW - NME Showcase at The British Music Embassy	Austin, Texas
20 Mar 2009 12:45 P	SXSW - Sonicbids Official Party at Maggie Mae’s	Austin, Texas
20 Mar 2009 3:45 P	SXSW - The Aussie BBQ	Austin, Texas
21 Mar 2009 7:00 P	SXSW - Hotel San Jose	Austin, Texas
23 Mar 2009 10:00 P	Spaceland	Los Angeles, California
28 Mar 2009 12:00 P	V Festival - Centennial Park	Sydney, New South Wales
29 Mar 2009 12:00 P	V Festival - Avica Resort	Gold Coast, Queensland
2 Apr 2009 8:00 P	The Annandale Hotel	Sydney, New South Wales
4 Apr 2009 12:00 P	V Festival - Melbourne Showgrounds	Melbourne, Victoria
5 Apr 2009 12:00 P	V Festival - Claremont Showgrounds	Claremont, Western Australia
10 Apr 2009 8:00 P	The Corner Hotel	Melbourne, Victoria
16 May 2009 8:00 P	Great Escape	Brighton, East Sussex, London and South East

New Single 'Science of Fear' will be released on April 20th...the video, which features pretty cool slow mo/shattered glass/sin city kinda look, has just been released, check it out on their Facebook page here.

mp3 : The Temper Trap - Science of Fear
mp3 : The Temper Trap - Hearts
mp3 : The Temper Trap - Peter Parker's Alter Ego (From their 2006 The Temper Trap EP)