Hey everyone, here’s your weekly playlist. We start off with one very heavy trap remix, but fear not – everything else is a lot more mellow. We’ll dance between mellow electronic, sweeping synths, a little funk and a little indie, before ending the mix on two powerful songs, both dedicated to Mike Brown.
- TNGHT, Acrylics (RL Grime edit)
Getting this track out of the way first, because I may be the only one who actually likes a song this heavy. I love TNGHT way too much, and I’ve recently started getting into RL Grime. He just dropped this remix (or edit, remake, redo, whatever) a testament to his talent. This won’t be for everyone, but it gets me going every time and I fucking love it. - Argonaut&Wasp, Higher Ground
Okay, you might need something a little softer after that, so here’s Higher Ground. Clean and slick, the Vermont duo’s unique blend of subdued funk and soul-infused neo-disco (is that a thing?) get me going, and I don’t usually like stuff this subdued and disco-oriented. Their debut EP is dropping next month, and I’m getting pretty excited about it. - The Outdoor Type, Are You Happy?
I don’t think you’ll find much harmonica on these playlists, but there’s a first for everything, right? The Outdoor Type have really nicely blended a traditional folk sound with a more indie feel, creating a jingly jangly tune that’s both fun and wistful. I love the blend of distortion and acoustic guitar – it’s not easy to get it right, but this song works. - Pond, Zond
Does this track need description or review? It’s POND, you know it’s good. Zond is a weird word, but somehow the exact perfect word to describe the trippy, fuzzed-up psych-pop that it is. These guys go from strength to strength, and it’s easy to see why. - Oceaan, Veritas (Hoodlem remix)
I was recently introduced to Oceaan, and fell in love very quickly. To have been remixed by Melbourne’s Hoodlem, is a match made in heaven. It’s swish, sparse and strange. I can’t really pinpoint a way to describe this. The electronic layers are swift and punchy, while the brassy layers are funky as hell. - Spirit Faces, Cloudplay ft. BUOY (Time Pilot Remix)
I posted about the original track here a while ago, and Time Pilot’s remix gives it a whole new facelift. Managing to somehow traipse between laid-back and all out insane, the breathy melody anchors the track down, while glitches, flickery percussion and immense bass start bursting at the seams beneath. So strange, but so cool. - Eves The Behaviour, TV
Formerly known as just Eves, Eves The Behaviour’s new single is seductive, powerful and gloriously dark. The husky melody is rich and really strong, the chorus is so satisfyingly explosive. One of my favourite tracks this week, I cannot wait to see this live at Laneway. - Art of Sleeping, Crazy (Tom Scary remix)
The original of this song was in my top ten songs of the year, so a Tom Iansek remix? Hell fucking yes. The entire vibe is completely different, which for some reason I didn’t expect. The melody vs. beat contrast has intensified, a signature Iansek sound, and the wavering melody shuffles around a lot more than the original, tapering off into almost Jeff Buckley territory. - Jarryd James, Do You Remember
Almost out of thin air, Jarryd James and his new single has been the talk of the blog town over the past couple days. It only takes one listen of Do You Remember to see why. There’s a sinister feel to the melody, coupled with a deep beat, and beautiful plucks in between it all. The chorus is fucking great too. Really keen to see what’s next for this guy. - Jonathan Emile, Heaven Help Dem ft. Kendrick Lamar
Opening with a dedication to Mike Brown and Trayvon Martin, this is a strong track on every single beat. The kind of rap you really need to hear a few times in order to really grasp the lyrics. Such a sharp flow, with the help of Kendrick Lamar of course, and a simple but cool backing rhythm. A really powerful song that I’ve listened to a LOT over the past couple days. - Raury, Fly ft. Malik Shakur
Last but absolutely not least, another tune written about recent events in the USA. Raury was my favourite discovery of 2014, and an obvious artist to watch this year. This is a really beautiful, simple ballad, written right after Raury found out that Darren Wilson was not convicted for the murder of Mike Brown. It’s incredibly wonderful. I’m just going to leave it here, just listen to it.
Wassup people! Here’s your new weekly playlist, curated by your faithful editor. Got a pretty eclectic selection today. We start with the raunchy sounds of Boss Moxi, before fuzzing it up and washing it down with Crepes and Kagu. From there we travel into weird-electro-land, where my picks this week are all about the hidden layers, subtle delights and subdued power. Topping it all off is a couple wicked hip hop tracks to finish it off. Enjoy!
- Boss Moxi, Nymphomaniac
I can’t get enough of this Brisbane group right now. Their haunting tones lie somewhere in between Nick Cave and Kirin J Callinan, with an indie beat and eerie guitars leading the way. - Kagu, Shadow of the Wind
A really gorgeous track from former-Snakadaktal man Sean Heathcliff. Sentimental and deliberate, the rhythm slowly builds and drops and changes behind the melody, really captivating you through each moment. - Crepes, Ain’t Horrible
The Melbourne act have released a new single that lies somewhere between lo-fi fuzz and summery bliss. Delayed beats and understated vocals, there’s a lot more than meets the eye to this one. - EMRSN, About Love
I can’t get enough of this sound! An absolutely gorgeous future soul track, EMRSN has found the absolute perfect balance between delicately glitch electronic beats, and velvety rich, sensual vocals. - Sizarr, Baggage Man
The swinging rhythm, the melodic bass and the swift rhythm lead the way on this one, while the vocals are warm, husky and seductive. I don’t like the bridge that much, but the rest of the track more than makes up for it. - Spirit Faces, Cloudplay ft. Buoy
This is an utterly strange, utterly beautiful tune. Angelic melodies and lullaby xylophones, grungey guitar crunches and a whole myriad intermittent synth layers makes for something wholly unique. - TOKiMONSTA + Iza, Pinching
A heavenly lilt with perfect harmonies really lead the fairly simple synth and beat layers. There’s a lot of cute little additions throughout, and all in all it’s another track where you gotta look a little closer to find the magic! - Marian Hill, Lips
This is a funky electro-pop track with cheeky vocals and a rhythm that starts simple, but slowly builds into something really catchy. I really like the thinness of Hill’s voice – it’s not often that you find something so fine, yet so strong. - Lil Herb & Earl Sweatshirt, Knucklehead
I love rap collabs where they just trade gritty verses, and this is exactly that. The basic loops leave loads of room for those raspy raps. Both rappers have seriously wicked tongues and they flow so fluidly together. - Danny Brown & Action Bronson, Bad News
This one’s off the EPIC upcoming GTA V soundtrack. It’s an interesting collaboration, but it works. They really feed off one another, surrounded by eerie loops, evil lyrics and clanky beats. It’s dark and demented, so obviously I like it.
Spirit Faces is a brand spanking new act out of Sydney, and Hold It Down ft. Zebra Zap is his debut single. The man behind the music is multi-instrumentalist/producer Pete Covington, who recorded and mixed the track himself.
Hold it Down is temperate and emotional – every chord, every vocal waver, every melodic turn is deliberate and heartfelt. There’s no room to hide, considering there’s little more than voice and piano, and there’s a real vulnerability that shines through. There are these strange little auto-tuney moments throughout that bring out the Kanye-West-slow-jam vibe, which, by association, adds a really cool vibe to this tune.
Man, this track is melancholy. Every one of my heart-strings has been tugged at by a raggedy little child left out in the cold on a snowy night, sitting on some cobblestones with a tiny, hungry, droopy-eyed puppy.
This is gorgeous, and so goddamn devastating.
This is the first track of Spirit Faces’ upcoming debut EP Bedroom Music, set for release late 2014/early 2015.