Spit Syndicate Archives • Howl & Echoes

After 24 glorious years, Falls Festival continues to provide us with the most unforgettable moments across the New Year festivus. The 2016-17 lineup saw some major international names, as well as our best local acts rounding up another year in style. In Byron Bay, it was a balmy 33 degrees across the three day event and climaxed with a torrential downpour for the very last performances on day three.

Day one got the party started with festival favourites Northeast Party House, Hot Dub Time Machine and Client Liaison, who have time and time again proven that they know how to get the crowd going better than just about anyone. Joining them was the one and only scratch maestro and hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash, who, at 59 years young, showed off his skills to the young crowd. Ringing in the new year, the legend that is Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino brought his phenomenal new funk album Awaken, My Love! to life, as well as delivering a bunch of his older hip-hop tracks to keep the rap-loving fans in check.

In this gallery you will find Northeast Party House, Mallrat, Spit Syndicate, Client Liaison, Broods, Grandmaster Flash, Hot Dub Time Machine and Childish Gambino.

PHOTOS: Falls Festival Day II
PHOTOS: Falls Festival Day III
Read our full review of Falls Festival here!

Northeast Party House

Mallrat

Spit Syndicate

Client Liaison

Broods

Grandmaster Flash

Hot Dub Time Machine

Childish Gambino

Photos: Dani Hansen/Howl & Echoes

Manu Crook$

Mallrat

Gill Bates

Dylan Joel

Tuka

Spit Syndicate

Allday

Drapht

All photos: Danielle Hansen / Howl & Echoes

It’s no secret that we’ve entered a new golden era of Australian hip-hop, and Spit Syndicate are absolutely at the forefront of the game. Having long established themselves among the best our country has to offer, they’ve recently shared the first track from their upcoming album, and have announced a headline tour across the continent (dates below). As part of the One Day crew alongside Horroshow, Joyride and Jackie Onassis, they’ve been busy with their bangin’ One Day Sunday events, not to mention a string of wicked singles like SDRO and Love Me Less over the past two years. Now though, the duo of Nick Lupi and Jimmy Nice are readying their own big release, and I for one cannot wait to hear it.

They’ve just released the video to the fiery Styalz Fuego-produced Know Better, you can check out right here (look out for a few special cameos):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsLAm_nrSyY

We wanted to know the influences behind the music, so we asked Spit Syndicate to share three albums which changed their lives. Enjoy!

2Pac, All Eyez On Me

There have been certain artists throughout history that are seemingly larger than life. As a young man eager to rebel, 2pac was exactly that for me and most of my inner circle. Having only recently been introduced to rap music this was a complex story to digest, yet I was instantly hooked. I recall the bus that we were crammed into when I first peeped the green double-disc, all of the older kids were fearlessly quoting the lines and there was a real energy to it.

I started walking and talking differently, and like any classic album that you don’t catch from the start, I made my way backwards in an effort to get everything he’d ever released. This album will always be my favourite rap album of all time, still offering new gems with every listen. Looking back on it now I owe a lot of my early flows and rhythms to pac. All Eyez On Me, a true masterpiece.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVv4IdGtcNw

Michael Jackson, Off The Wall

I need not stress this record’s importance and sheer brilliance, but I will note that since birth, I’ve listened to no other album more than this one. Before I knew the glittery socks and countless transformations I was in love with Michael Jackson’s music, simply because my mother was, and I had no choice. It became a marker for whether I could get along with someone, all dependent on their opinion of MJ.

This is disco, it’s soul, it’s funk, and it’s almost the only music that can guarantee people dancing. I’m truly grateful to have had this drilled into me as a kid; I’ll do the same one day with my own. 10 back to back smashes. Don’t stop til you get enough!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZorRGrDiMsA

Horrorshow – Inside Story

In my opinion there are only a handful of hip-hop releases that can be mentioned in the same breath as Horrorshow’s 2009 sophomore record. They were everywhere that year and solidified their position as Australian hip-hop supremacy with songs like The Rain, Walk You Home and Thought Crime to mention a few. I vividly recall the night the pair received the album master as they pulled me aside to play a couple of their favourite joints off it. Being that we were also in the final stages of completing our own album I couldn’t help but feel both energised and (to some degree) slightly disheartened in my own project and performance. The fact that we both represent the same team (One Day), we also share a level of friendly competitiveness that in that moment got the better of me. I believe this was a turning point for me as a writer. I took extra care with every line, I more than ever before pictured myself as the listener, and above all became a more considered and complete rhymer.

The same feeling still drives me and the music I make today. So shouts to Inside Story, Horrorshow, and the rest of the Onedayers… 2016 is our year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWuFM6rWCo0

Spit Syndicate Tour Dates:

Image: Supplied

It’s video roundup time! Once again, Howl And Echoes are coming in hot with the freshest, most eyeball-stimulating music videos to be dropped by the artists you love and some of the artists you don’t know you love yet this week. We do all the dirty work and herd them all into one convenient web-based location for you to enjoy every Friday so that you don’t have to. Have yourself a good old gander at the latest offerings from:

Club Cheval – Young, Rich And Radical

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LtP9HzdqzY

Kicking proceedings off all the way from Lille in the North of France are electronic music collective Club Cheval and the latest single to be released from their debut album Discipline. The wonderfully-titled Young, Rich And Radical is a certified banger, slow-burning and methodical before the chorus cashes in, all driving beats and soft falsetto.

The video is an interesting concept, showing young people adopting a lifestyle of chastity and sobriety: swapping tie-dye for plain black, water for wine and generally just behaving very, very sensibly. I may disagree with the lifestyle choices but it’s still a wonderfully clever music video.

Discipline is out now via Bromance Records.

Ngaiire – Diggin’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9P7lilYw-c&feature=youtu.be

One of our favourite Australian artists going at the moment is neo soul star Ngaiire. She’s had a huge week, currently roving around rural Australia as part of the Groovin’ The Moo 2016 lineup, she has also announced her next album Blastoma as well as releasing the video for her current single Diggin’.

The song itself is beyond infectious, restrained percussion and throbbing synths, more stellar production with long-time collaborator Paul Mac. The chorus ups the intensity and showcases Ngaiire’s fantastic vocal range. The music video is awash in gold, a pair of contemporary dancers interpreting the narrative with movements convulsive and fluid at the same time, Ngaiire the rightful centre of it all. If Diggin’ on the back of debut Lamentations are any indication of Ngaiire’s trajectory, it’s undoubtedly skyward from here.

Blastoma is out June 10th via Maximilion Brown.

Urthboy – Daughter Of The Light (ft. Kira Puru)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVJm-5AnOYM

Sydney MC Urthboy is out with another single and the third from his huge fifth studio album The Past Beats Inside Me Like A Second Heartbeat. It’s the Kira Puru featuring Daughter Of The Light, a loving tribute to the sacrifices made by Urthboy’s mum and will uppercut you fair in your unsuspecting feels. Big dramatic synths and Kira Puru’s stunning vocal alley oop hammer it home.

The video is full of introspection, Urthboy rapping from a total of six different rooms, each with their own story and meaning to the narrative. Kira Puru belting out the chorus in front of a sea of bright lights, collaborators Broken Yellow (who were also behind the video for Long Loud Hours) have come up all kinds of clutch.

The Past Beats Inside Me Like A Second Heartbeat is out now via Elefant Traks.

Spit Syndicate – Know Better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsLAm_nrSyY

Sticking in Sydney and sticking within the realm of Australian hip-hop on this next one, the latest single from dynamic duo (Nick Lupi and Jimmy Nice) Spit Syndicate. Know Better is the name. It’s a party track encompassing all kinds of them, ragers, chilled nights with dinner and drinks and friends and everything in between.

If you’ve ever gotten down to any One Day Sundays (put on as part of the One Day collective the duo are a part of) then you might even have a cameo spot in this one, the music video being comprised of footage from some of those events.

Spit Syndicate are touring Know Better around Australia from early June.

Alex Cameron – She’s Mine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHBCMLrW-l4&feature=youtu.be

Not many people have a business partner who is also a saxophonist, but Sydney’s Alex Cameron (who you may know as part of Seekae) certainly does. It’s been a big week for Cameron, he’s just signed to Secretly Canadian and simultaneously released a brand new video for She’s Mine.

A punchy backbeat and some restrained synths form the backdrop for Cameron’s smoking lounge baritone. It’s very early Future Islands-y. The video features the singer-songwriter breaking out some vicious dance moves in front of (and on top of) what looks like an old Buick (I don’t know cars so don’t quote me) and a dreary skyline. Bloody brilliant. Also, few people can make sneans looks quite as cool as Alex Cameron does.

With this recent signing as well as US tour dates on the horizon, Alex Cameron looks about to have a huge year.

Tegan And Sara – Boyfriend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJOHoiPGpac&ab_channel=TeganandSara

Next is the greatest Canadian identical twin sister duo in the history of music in Tegan And Sara. With next album Love You To Death almost upon us, the Quin sisters have this week released the visuals accompanying their first single from that album; Boyfriend.

It’s a three minute synth pop tune full of fire and swagger. The video, directed by Clea DuVall (Chuck’s doctor on Better Call Saul) features the girls at the mercy of a director who just doesn’t quite get directing all that well.

Catch Tegan And Sara when they hit Australia for Splendour In The Grass later this year.

Moistoyster – Repetitive Strain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=ntTsIGrjL_U

Winning two of this week’s awards for ‘Tongue Twistiest Band Name’ as well as ‘Band Name That Sounds Gross But Isn’t’ are Perth surf rock outfit Moistoyster and their new single Repetitive Strain. It’s breezy as all hell and definitely the kind of song that has you lamenting the fact that Winter is coming and the beaches aren’t as inviting.

Speaking of beaches, the accompanying music video is set on an absolutely stunning one for this one-shot clip. The chilled out air of the song becomes juxtaposed darkly and dramatically with the antics of deranged-looking frontman George Foster. It certainly leaves a whole lot of questions unanswered.

If you’re on the West Coast you can catch Moistoyster at a couple of shows they’ve got coming up in June.

TOKiMONSTA – Giving Up (ft. Jonny Pierce)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoNVDKvXYQU

Just done rocking out her home state of California as part of this year’s Coachella, TOKiMONSTA has released a brand new single this week for the breathtaking Giving Up. Featuring Jonny Pierce (who you would know for his stellar work fronting The Drums), giving up is an ode to unrequited love.

With urgent, almost frenetic production and ethereal and evocative vocals throughout, Giving Up will put a lump in your throat. The music video for it documents one man’s spaced out and colourful descent into madness when he realises the love of his life doesn’t feel the same.

TOKiMONSTA’s fourth studio album Fovere is out now via Young Art Records.

The temperature is starting to drop a little bit, but the quality of songs coming out each week is doing anything but that! This week, we have picked out 10 of the best to jam into your ears, mostly homegrown with a couple of internationals in there for good measure. It wasn’t even intentional to have a predominantly Australian playlist (8 out of 10 tracks are from Down Under) but who am I to complain when Aussies are bringing it better than ever! Take a look for yourself below:

Hockey Dad, So Tired

Along with the news that a debut album titled Boronia is on the way, Wollongong legends Hockey Dad have released yet another pearler of a track to had to their shining repertoire. Said to be one of the stand out acts at this year’s SXSW, Hockey Dad have been hard at work making their name known and separating themselves from your stock standard DIY garage two piece. Instead, they’ve pushed boundaries and limits and So Tired is just another example of this. Although the lyrics are actually a forlorn story of missing someone and being exhausted, it’s quite an uplifting, jangly track with a hook that would make for a perfect singalong at one of their shows. Boronia comes out in August, so we have a little while to wait but we’re pretty damn certain it will be more than worth it!

Gregor, Remorse

22-year-old Melbourne artist Gregor has just joined the roster at awesome label Chapter Music, and has offered up Remorse– the first taste of his forthcoming cassette/digital release, Thoughts & Faults. Eccentric and revitalising, Gregor takes the groundwork laid by acts like Talking Heads and thrusts them into 2016. It’s got a DIY feel which I love, heavy with apathy and restlessness. Shared earlier this week with tastemaker blog Stereogum, Gregor shared this interesting sentiment of his new song: “Remorse is used all the time in murder cases; i.e. ‘the cold blooded serial killer showed no signs of remorse.’ For me, remorse isn’t a sentiment we should distance ourselves from. I am full of remorse. Whether for uploading an uninteresting photo to Instagram, or being too honest with someone about my feelings, or for agreeing to the photo being used for this premiere, it’s all the same.” Said photo can be seen here for reference. Keep your eyes firmly locked on this guy!

Sahara Beck, Spinning Time

Sahara Beck is just weeks out from releasing her latest album, Panacea, and earlier this week shared a photo diary of her time in the studio recording it. Along with that, she also shared a brand new single from the record titled Spinning Time. Utilising her impeccable songwriting skills and captivating voice, Spinning Time is “is about people who have told a story so many times that the meaning and content of the whole story have changed already by the 5th telling, therefore changing history based on your own perspective,” according to Beck. “To me watching this felt like I was watching him change history before my eyes…Spinning time = Changing history.” Fresh off from picking up a Queensland Music Award and playing at Bluesfest, Sahara Beck is quickly picking up steam as we get closer to the release of Panacea, and I can’t wait to see where she goes from here.

Spit Syndicate, Know Better

Aussie hip-hop duo Spit Syndicate are reaching veteran status thanks to their consistent high quality of hip-hop that they’ve made synonymous with their name. Their latest single, Know Better, is another example of this and comes along with the announcement of a full national headline tour in June. Working with acclaimed producer Styalz Fuego, the duo once again offer up their refreshing take on hip-hop, paired with a fresh bed of warm electronica to keep things light. It’s a kind of tongue-in-cheek take on knowing better but doing it anyway. It’s a whole lot of fun, and has some really self-aware lyrics as well as some hilarious one liners like taking pizza out of Bob Dylan’s fridge. Set to be a stand out on their upcoming tour, Know Better is the first taste of their forthcoming album out later this year and things are already looking pretty damn good!

Lyall Moloney, If You Don’t Love Me

Multi-instrumentalist Lyall Moloney has triumphantly returned with this latest single, If You Don’t Love Me. Catchy as hell, the dub/hip-hop infusion once again serves him well as he injects his own flavour into this upbeat and fun song. This is the first slice off his forthcoming sophomore album, and if his debut was anything to go by we are really in for a treat. His falsetto is perfect whilst some groovy percussion-led electronica bubbles underneath. Infectious from the get go, LyMo keeps it fresh in his verses and weaves seamlessly through a multitude of styles and genres, making it sound almost too easy. He’s set to go on tour in support of this new single, and judging from how much I was boogying in my room to it, I can only imagine how good it would be live! Head here for more details.

Seavera, Caving

Seavera wins for “most stunning track of the week” with this one. Coming in with all she’s got, Caving is her debut tune and what a beauty it is. Sounding like a cross between Laura Marling and Florence + The Machine with a hint of Highasakite, Seavera effortlessly weaves folk, pop and electronica into this stunning tune, full of lush vocal harmonies, commanding drums and a plethora of intricacies that only make it more enjoyable. Described as “the sound you hear right before you fall asleep, the calling in the distance, the waves crashing right before a storm,” Caving is as good as they come in terms of debuts, and I cannot wait to hear what else she’s been working on. One talented little lady, Seavera is more than worthy of your attention, and judging from Caving, she’s going to get set attention whether you like it or not!

Julianna Barwick, Same (Ft. Mas Ysa)

Meditative, calming and comforting, Julianna Barwick knocked me for a 6 this week with her latest single, Same. Teaming up with Mas Ysa, this track is just beautiful. Invoking imagery of beautiful landscapes like plunging into the ocean or soaring above a forest, the emotions run high with this one. With sweeping atmospherics descending like a powerful, yet soft, wall of noise around you, Julianna Barwick and Mas Ysa create a strong but stunning soundscape you’ll want on repeat for probably the rest of your life. Taken from Barwick’s forthcoming record out in May titled Will, Same follows on from the album’s debut track Nebula and has me absolutely desperate for more. Thankfully that’s only a month away, and Same is a gift that keeps on giving so I think I can hold out. But only just…

Yumi Zouma, Keep It Close To Me

Electro darlings Yumi Zouma make some really sweet music, focussing on the delicate intricacies rather than big room sounds. By doing so, they make gorgeous songs that give and give with each and every listen. Keep It Close To Me washes over you effortlessly in waves, gentle and soft, totally attention-grabbing as it lulls you into a place far away from wherever you are. Taken from their forthcoming debut album, this track serves as an exciting preview into what is to come from this band who have grown so much before our very eyes. Definitely a record to keep an ear out for, Yumi Zouma are only just hitting their stride now – and that’s saying something!

Motez, The Vibe (Ft. Scrufizzer)

Australia’s king of dance, Motez, has shared one more track before the release of his next EP, and boy is it a good’un! Teaming up with Scrufizzer, The Vibe follows on from the absolute banger that is the Tkay Maidza featuring Down Like This, and adds another interesting perspective of what this Adelaide beatsmith has been up to. We are huge fans of ‘Tez here, and The Vibe makes it easy to see why. A total earworm, Motez delves even further underground with some heavy bass and some downright filthy grime whilst Scrufizzer lends some fiery verses to the already hot track. With his EP coming out this month, it’s clear that Motez is still the king of house music here in Australia, and it won’t be long before he owns that title across the world too.

The John Steel Singers, Can You Feel The Future

Why wouldn’t I end this playlist off with an 8-minute epic courtesy of Brisbane’s The John Steel Singers? This song is supreme, with an undeniable bass line, krautrock influences and so much else going on it would be overwhelming if it didn’t sound so damn good! Taken from their forthcoming third record, Midnight At The Plutonium, it looks like things are about to get even weirder (and by that I mean better) for these guys. The Plutonium is the name of their own studio in Brisbane, and is where they created this new record- a record we now cannot wait to jam into our ears as soon as possible based on this!