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So, we know very little about Velvet Two Stripes, except that they are three girls from Switzerland that make "a sort of Kills sounding Rock and Roll."
Things we like: Switzerland, girls, The Kills, rock n roll.
So, yeah, we thought we'd share it with you. If you like what you hear then you can follow the hell out of the band on their Facebook page.
Remember the exact moment when you first fell in love with The Shins? And, before you pretend that you are super indie and took a chance on their debut album after hearing it in a backstreet second-hand record shop in Berlin, we all know that it was watching that bit in Garden State.
Well, while Zach Braff has proved himself to be a bit of a douche in the intervening years, The Shins are still as loveable and brilliant as they ever were. For proof, check the heck out of their new song. It's Only Life might be a little more ruminative than some earlier outings, but it's quite beautiful and boasts a great video clip. So, you know, hooray.
It's simple really. We've been following Cameras since the very beginning and we love them. We have always loved them and, unless they, like, go all rubbish in the future, we always will love them. So it's our joy to bring you their latest clip. All blood, bunkers and awesomeness. Shit yeah.
Cameras' "June in July" tour:
Wednesday 20 June - Sofar Sounds/YouTube Secret Acoustic Show, Sydney
Friday 13 July - "Can’t Say” @ Platform One, Melbourne
Saturday 14 July - The Workers Club, Melbourne.
Sunday 15 July - Pure Pop Records, Melbourne
Wednesday 18 July - UNSW, Sydney
Thursday 19 July - Alhambra Lounge, Brisbane
Friday 20 July - Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay
Saturday 21 July - FBi Social Club, Sydney
There's a great scene in one of our favourite sitcoms, Peep Show, in which Mark and Jeremy are discussing whether or not they should dismantle the Megatron. What's the Megatron? Well, basically it is the taping together of all remote controls (telly, video, stereo, DVD player) into one super-remote. When the prospect of girls visiting their flat arises, they decide that the Megatron doesn't exactly say "Urban Freewheelers" but rather "Sofa Masturbators."
The relevance of this? Well, the good news for anyone who would rather be thought of as an urban freewheeler is that the fine folk at Samsung are doing away with the need for a remote control altogether. Their new Smart TVs are so, well, smart, that a simple gesture is all it takes to access movies, sports, apps and other Smart Content. Forget the remote and use your hands to control TV functions by swiping to navigate and grabbing to select. Like your friends at Bobbysix, it's smart and easy. You can also log in using face recognition and experience 2D and 3D entertainment in full HD 1080p
Of course, if you are a sexy girl who prances around in her underwear and who happens to live in a building with big windows opposite the place of work of a zillion horny men, this could land you in all kinds of bother (as the above clip will illustrate). However, if, like us, you slob around in tracksuit pants and a baggy t-shirt, you should be fine.
So, if your Megatron is starting to smell a bit funny or if you are just tired of spending ages searching for the remote, then get more information about Smart TVs at Samsung's website, or visit the Facebook page to keep right up to date with everything that Samsung has got going on.
We first chanced upon Kirin J Callinan in 2006 as as the guitarist of Mercy Arms. He was clearly a very talented musician and soon became a good friend. We turned up unannounced one time at his apartment to find him shirtless and wearing a spectacular pair of high-waisted, tight, purple corduroy pants. When we asked him why he was dressed so utterly brilliantly, he kinda looked puzzled, shrugged and said that he was just cleaning the kitchen. It was at this moment that we knew this was a fellow who did things differently from the norm.
And so it proved to be. Since Mercy Arms split, Callinan has freed himself from the shackles that confined him during that time and has gone on to become one of the most inventive, brave and exciting artists around, as his new single and video clip (above) illustrates.
A synesthetic joyride to the frontline, W II W (Way to War) is the first single from Kirin's forthcoming debut solo album and launches with this amazing, gif-laden video clip from acclaimed film director Kris Moyes. All napalm, machine guns and loneliness, choppers and tracer bullets, W II W (and its accompanying b-side, Thighs) will be digitally released worldwide on 19 June and on 7" vinyl on 31 July.
Kirin will be playing a few Australian dates in June. You'd be an idiot to miss him:
Thursday 21 June Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane
Supported by DCM + Nite Fields + Kangaroo Skull
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au
Friday 22 June Goodgod Small Club, Sydney
Supported by DCM + Forces + Kangaroo Skull
Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au
Thursday 28 June The Tote, Melbourne
Supported by DCM + Machine + Kangaroo Skull + Forces DJs
Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au
* NEW SHOW JUST ANNOUNCED*
Friday 29 June The Exeter Beer Garden, Adelaide (solo show)
Supported by Lochie Wilson (Steering By Stars)
Free entry
Jimmy's Gang is the first track to be lifted from Austrian DJ and producer Parov Stelar's new double album. His hotly-awaited The Princess shakes and shuffles into the scene with Parov’s trademark genre-bending blend of vintage swing and contemporary beats.
Jimmy’s Gang has hit number one in the German and Austrian iTunes electronic single charts and the band’s current European tour has sold out in nearly every location, which further suggests Parov and his talented team of collaborators to be a pretty formidable force.
The Princess is a comprehensive and eclectic two-disc album that brings together both new and unreleased or vinyl-only tracks, all of which are set against a backdrop of Gatsby-esque glamour. Jazz, funk, soul, classical piano, brass and strings are deconstructed and thrown together to create a diverse blend of light and shade.
Check out Jimmy's Gang and if you like what you hear, then head over to www.parovstelar.com to find out more.
Runaway is the latest single from LA-via-Norway artist Mr Little Jeans (otherwise known as Monica Birkenes). If she sounds familiar, that's because you probably remember her widely-acclaimed cover of Arcade Fire's The Suburbs.
This track is causing quite the buzz at the moment. Last week it reached #1 on Hype Machine and has had heaps of love from the likes of Stereogum, Fader, Spin, etc. So, we thought we'd share it with you too, so that you can see what all the fuss is about. Whaddaya reckon?
While it is amazing to see our old pal Gotye killing it in the UK (we been raving about him for years), we were a little surprised to learn that quite a few people in Blighty still don't know too much about his partner on Somebody That I Used to Know. So we thought we'd post the above clip with the recommendation to get on board with the insanely talented human-being, Kimbra, right away.
We've seen her perform on her own headline tour and at pretty much every Australian Festival over the summer and can confirm that this Melbourne-based New Zealander has got quite the set of pipes on her. Her self-produced debut album, Vows, is a fantastic coming-together of disco, soul, pop and dance via funk and jazz. When we reviewed Vows last year, we described it as an "ingenious melding of a whole host of genres and consequently the creation of something new and electrifying, helped in no small part by being tied together by some seriously bone-shaking beats. If the brilliant disco belter Cameo Lover (above) doesn't make you want to dance, there is clearly something wrong with you. Vows is a soulful, textured, vibrant triumph of a debut which immediately establishes Kimbra as a unique and genuinely exciting new artist. Bravo."
So there you go. Open up your heart to Kimbra. She's great.
Our old mates Bluejuice always come up trumps with their videos, and their latest one certainly doesn't disappoint. A Karaoke-inspired gem featuring Victor Chow, the clip is directed by the band's long-term video collaborator Sam Bennetts. On My Own is taken from the Sydney band's recent album Company, which is in the shops now. You can catch Bluejuice live over the coming months on their headline Australian tour in April or at Groovin' The Moo in May.
Rising from the ashes of Melbourne beat experimentalists The Melodics, Grey Ghost is a collision of the real world and the imagination - where opposing laws of musical physics are defied and then redefined. Futuristic, retro and retro-futuristic all in one; Grey Ghost is rock music you can dance to, mixed with dance music that rocks.
Grey Ghost describes the above song thus, "When I was young I messed myself up on drugs, like a lot of my friends did. This song is a celebration of coming out of that space. I wanted to write a party track about the side of partying peeps don't usually talk about. Picture Needle & The Damage Done meets Bonida Applebum - haha."
Catch Grey Ghost at the following places in April:
Friday, April 20 & Saturday, April 21: Apollo Bay Music Festival, Apollo Bay, VIC
Details at www.apollobaymusicfestival.com
Saturday, April 21: Upstairs Beresford, Sydney, NSW
– FREE ENTRY SHOW
Sunday, April 22: Manly Steyne, Manly, NSW
– FREE ENTRY SHOW
It is with semi-sadness that we announce Zulu Winter will be postponing their Australian tour. Semi-sadness? That's right. Dry your eyes mate, because they have a bigger plan in store. After witnessing their scorching live show at SXSW, the Secret Sounds promoters have decided to keep Zulu Winter up their sleeve for a special Australian debut performance at SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS this year.
Zulu Winter will be making good use of their now ‘spare time’ in April, with their international schedule ramping up off the back of their performances in Austin. They will be heading to Europe where demand continues to increase from promoters, fans and press. After hearing rumours of their incredible live show, the likes of Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons and Kaiser Chiefs all made it down to catch separate Zulu Winter SXSW shows. It is little wonder that Zulu Winter are amongst the hotly tipped bands in the world right now. The bookish lads from Oxford’s lead single We Should Be Swimming (above) have been turning heads across the UK and US with Q Magazine naming them amongst their “Essential Listening” on the eve of SXSW, NME ticking them off as a band to watch and previous tracks receiving a Pitchfork endorsement.
Any Zulu Winter fans who got in early for tickets to their April show will be happily refunded at their point of purchase. Stay tuned for further announcements.
ILUKA, the alter-ego of Sydney songstress Nikki Thorburn, is here to give the smoky retro jazz croon a youthful facelift. While still only 20, ILUKA has already travelled through Europe and Africa, scribbling lyrics on scraps of
foreign street maps and bringing them together in her debut EP, To The Place which was released early 2011 under her birth name.
ILUKA is set to keep momentum building with the imminent
release of her follow-up EP Eyes Closed. Keep up to date with news of releases and live shows by following her Facebook page.
Candle Burnin’, Wax Drippin’ is the second single released from Kate Martin's upcoming sophomore album, Hand Me My Bow And Arrow, and is a pretty slice of Blasko/Feist/that chick out of The Cardigans loveliness.
According to Kate, Hand Me My Bow And Arrow, was a difficult second album to make, but not for the usual reasons of writer’s block or procrastination. Instead, the Aussie songstress was beset by a series of battles throughout the writing and recording process, beginning with family breakdown, and followed up by lost jobs, discarded boyfriends, unpaid rent and being evacuated from her house to escape a cyclone.
“The album came together surprisingly easily”, Kate explains, “I wasn’t exactly short of material to write about." Candle Burnin’ Wax Drippin' is about the relationship that you know will fail from the start, but you stay in it regardless.
Kate is playing a special album preview show March 15th at Oxford Arts Factory in Sydney.
We're partial to a bit of Georgia Fair at B6 and we love a good fan-made video, so we're interested in the fact that the Melbourne duo recently invited fans attending the Australian Open Of Surfing on Sydney’s Manly Beach to collaborate on their above video for Blind.
In an Australian first, fans were asked to find inspiration in the song and the surf, take free reign and simply shoot. To take part, it was a case of borrowing a Sony camera and then entering their three favourite lifestyle shots into the competition. Georgia Fair’s video director, Andrew Lancaster, explains how the collaborative footage builds the storyline for the final cut:
“We discover Ben and Jordan making their way ashore in a tiny boat having salvaged a treasure chest. As they travel, memories of summer are projected around them. The emotion of the song is captured in dreamlike slow mo and the user-generated shots from the Australian Open of Surfing become beautiful nostalgic reflections of good times passed.”
Blind is taken from the duo’s critically-acclaimed album All Through Winter and features not only the production of Bill Reynolds of Band of Horses but also his band-mate Tyler Ramsey playing the piano.
If you are Sydney-based, you can catch Georgia Fair at the Beach Road Hotel on Wednesday 14th March. Oh, and entry is FREE!
As part of the Sydney Festival, British radio-presenter, comedian and actor Adam Buxton brought BUG to the Seymour Centre. Following sell-out runs at Edinburgh Fringe and London's British Film Institute, BUG took a sold-out room on a journey through the new democracy of video-making, checking out well-known masters, newcomers on zero budgets and a few funny youtube clips just for the hell of it (Fenton! Jesus Christ!).
Anyone who watched Adam & Joe on late-night television back in the day or listens to their radio show on BBC 6 Music will know that Buxton is a disarming, funny and instantly likeable presence, and this proved again to be the case as he bounded on stage and burst into song before sharing some of his favourite clips with the audience.
You know how when you go round your mate's house and they are all, like, "you've gotta see this awesome shit I found online,"? Well, that was essentially what BUG's debut Australian show was like. There were a few in-jokes for fans of Buxton's radio programme (but not enough to alienate the uninitiated), some of his own creations (a child-friendly version of an NWA classic, entitled Help The Police), some technical glitches which added to the home-grown and intimate vibe and, importantly, plenty of really interesting and thought-provoking clips. For instance, is this one genius or wrong on every level?
Some of the funniest moments of the evening came as Buxton dissected genuine Youtube comments and debates that were posted about the featured videos, while the most jaw-dropping clip was saved until last. At the end of an irreverent, highly entertaining and fun evening, the above Manchester Orchestra offering was nice way to close in that it served as a reminder of what a powerful medium the music video is.
Weirdly-named Sydney indie/alternative rock quartet Monks of Mellonwah have been nominated for Best Indie Rock Act and Best Rock Act at the 2012 All Indie Music Awards and will be travelling to the U.S to play at the awards ceremony, which will take place in February at the Key Club in Hollywood.
Having released one EP, the Monks are putting the final touches on their follow-up, which is due for release in early 2012. Their music video for Swamp Groove took 1st prize at the Howard's Shorts short film festival, and the Monks are set to be featured in an upcoming documentary on ABC's RAGE. Check out the above clip for yourself and see what you think.
Clytem Scanning is a Parisian songwriter who creates inventive, experimental, industrial, beat-driven melodies - all within the confines of her 10m² room. Her music is at times dance-ridden, elsewhere atmospheric and ruminative. This latest video, for In The Lake, falls into the latter camp. We're a little bit in love with her here at Bobbysix. If you want to find out more about her, then check out the interview that we did with her last year.
Having just listened to the EP from Vancouver's Wintercoast, I sense big things for this alternative folk six-piece. Similar to We Were Evergreen, Wintercoast bring a multitude of fresh and exciting ideas to the table. While the EP's opener, Yukon, proves that sometimes there might be a little too much going on within the music, As Time Flies By is a catchy tune that has the ability to transport the listener to grimy, underground venues and huge arenas at both the same time. It's easy to imagine this song being played in both - it’s that versatile. Meanwhile Home (a rough and ready live version of which can be heard/seen above) consists of astounding lyrics (“I’m not hungry anymore, I’ve been fed too many lies”). The strongest track is left until last though. The lyrics and music of Brittle Bones work so well together that it’s the perfect ending to a great EP.
I’d recommend it if you like dance-y folk music. An odd genre perhaps, but Wintercoast do it well.
You can download the EP for free, here (or throw Wintercoast a few bones, if you're feeling nice).
We get a lot of music sent to us at Bobbysix.com. CDs arrive in the mail all the time, our inbox is littered with bands pointing us in the direction of their soundcloud, facebook, myspace, youtube, bandcamp etc. We listen to absolutely everything that we get sent and the standard is generally very good but, sadly, we don't have the time to feature everyone as life, simply, is too short and sometimes we like to do other things than sit in front of our laptops.
However, sometimes a song just makes you sit up and pay attention. It happened last week with San Cisco, and it happened again today when we received a very polite email from a Sydney band called MUSHU asking us to check them out. We gave their above video clip a listen and ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. So we're sharing it with you in the hope that you might enjoy it too.
We'll be keeping a close eye on these guys in 2012, and reckon you should as well.
Bobbysix.com had a quick chat with Ben Salter as he prepared for his gig tonight at The Gaelic in Sydney:
How has the tour with Busby Marou been?
It's been great, all the crowds have been receptive and I think overall the Busby fans have picked up what I'm laying down. Except the couple in Fremantle who I chastised mid song for talking loudly through my whole set. Don't reckon they'll be coming back.
You've toured with some big names this year. What have you learnt from these experiences?
That I still have a lot to learn. Oh, and that Raymond Kurzweil thinks humans are gonna merge with computers in around twenty years. Thanks Paul Dempsey.
Was performing with Kimbra on Rockwiz fun and do you have any plans to work together again?
Yes it was great. She's very talented and insanely composed for someone so young. No plans at this stage, but I suppose it's always a possibility. I'm sure our paths will cross again at some stage.
What does 2012 have in store for you?
I think maybe I am going to go overseas and have adventures. Probably release another album too. Making albums is the fun part.
Complete the following sentence. You should turn up early to see my set at The Gaelic tonight because... then you can get a good spot to see The Winter People who are playing right after me and are awesome! Oh and cause I'm pretty good too if you like that sort of thing.
Catch Ben Salter, Winter People and Busby Marou at The Gaelic in Sydney tonight. Oh and here's that duet with Kimbra we were talking about. We love a bit of Supergrass.
