The follow-up to their sublime release on UK label Moteer, The Ancients’ ‘The Ancients 2′ is a bold declaration heralding their new found collectedness, The Ancients now being the combined powers of founder Jonathan Michell, Georgina Ward, Mark Rodda, and Raquel Sodier.

The Ancients of now are a humble cascade of guitar motifs, textural pools, and rhythmic delights.

“The Ancients 2 will be something between early Go-Between and non-rock Yo La Tengo, which obviously rules!!” - Rose Quartz blog

White Woods formed in Melbourne in 2008, all having relocated to the Garden State from Hobart in Tasmania. Ever since, White Woods have impressed with raw, droning live shows, showcasing their noisy pop and angular guitars in both Australia and New Zealand, alongside the likes of MUM SMOKES, Fabulous Diamonds, The Twerps, The Ancients and Panoptique Electrical. Their debut album ‘Bellplay’ solidifies the raw integrity of White Woods; recorded to 2″ tape, the tracks seethe with the intensity of bands like Wire and Gang Of Four, as well as the sublime pop charms of The Moles, The Clean, early Stereolab and The Straightjacket Fits.

Mixed by James Tulczyn and mastered by Casey Rice (The Dirty Three, MUM SMOKES, The Tigers..), ‘Bellplay’ is a visceral collection of rustic yet atonal pop songs. Vocalists Patrick Breen and Kelly Brown often appear buried by glacial chords and white noise, but somehow the deft rhythms of White Woods permeate throughout.

“This is so fucking good. Melbourne’s White Woods are doing a kind of drugged out garage sound that is so familiar, but somehow highly unique. The album is a huge journey through all kinds of garage/psych, shoegaze, and even no-wave-jam kinda paradises. I’ve only had a couple of listens and I already know I’m going to be playing this all year.’
- Fridaynightmusicclub.com

www.myspace.com/whitewoods

Noah Symons aka Great Earthquake is a real renaissance man. Most days he can be found writing playing and performing music as Great Earthquake or as a member of art-folk outfit Timothy and Wilderness or post-punk band Flag And Forget, drawing and painting, or working as a barista in the lush green outer suburbs of Melbourne.

Noah is a veritable one-man-band live, playing, often all at one time, guitar, bass, drums, percussion and accordion. His energetic performances have found him play in cafes, pubs, shopping centres, art spaces, warehouses and backyards across the country. He has played with a myriad of amazing bands and musicians including Love Connection, Otoutu, The Rectifiers, White Woods, The Ancients, Parking Lots Experiments, Panoptique Electrical and Woollen Kits to name but a small few.

‘Drawings’ is the first Great Earthquake album to be released by Sensory Projects. The album began life as an EP, when back in mid 2009, Symons completed 4 tracks with engineer and producer Joshua Bach at the RMIT sound design studios. The tunes were incredible; Bach assisting Great Earthquake to realize a bolder and more robust fidelity and sensibility of sound. Subsequent to finishing the EP, Symons returned to recommence work with Bach on an album proper, and following conversations with Bach and Sensory Projects’ Steve Phillips, Noah determined that his momentum was in fact ripe for a full album and he immediately set to work: writing and recording additional tracks and eventually integrating the original 4 songs into the mix.

On ‘Drawings’, Noah really experimented as never before and enlisted Melbourne lass Maudita to sing on the album. Maudita provided voice and lyrics on ‘Words and images’ and ‘Fully formed’ which encompass the centre space of ‘Drawings’. These two tracks take ‘Drawings’ to a whole new level of colour and complexity.
Elsewhere ‘Drawings’ is nuanced by small aesthetic additions to pieces like ‘Create’ where the unlisted piece ‘Bells’ adds texture to the tail end. But it’s the bold dexterity of opener ‘clap! clap!’ and ‘1step. 2step. stop!’ that truly represent Noah’s inner voice to date.

The result is ‘Drawings’: a buoyant set of wonderfully rhythmic, vigorous and playful tunes.

‘Noiseworks’, the second full-length album from Faux Pas, is a bold vision of 21st century synth-pop lovingly crafted by one man, Melbourne’s Tim Shiel.

In the four years since his 2006 debut record ‘Entropy begins at home’ – a self-released pastiche of exotica samples that drew critical acclaim and community radio support – Faux Pas has been far from dormant. There have been three EPs, each containing a lead track well supported by community radio and Triple J alike: Changes in 2007, Chasing Waterfalls in 2008, and Silver Line in December 2009. There have also been remixes for Pikelet, Gotye, Paul Dempsey and many more; plus appearances on compilations for institutions as varied as literary journal The Lifted Brow, respected US label Ghostly International, and Ministry Of Sound.

‘Noiseworks’ was pieced together by Tim in his home studio throughout 2009, and then mixed with the assistance of Melbourne producer Franc Tetaz, well-known for his work with Architecture in Helsinki, Sally Seltmann and Lior. From the tropical future-funk of Guillotine to the ethereal dream-beat of Vanderbilt, ‘Noiseworks’ is a joyous explosion of digital psychedelia. At times subtle – such as the meditative piano interval Minimums – and at other times, completely shameless – such as the hyper-detailed electro jams Megasports and Dawson Mode – ‘Noiseworks’ is expansive and inventive.

The singles Chasing Waterfalls and Silver Line benefit from generous re-workings – the latter, a hypnotic suite that borrows sounds from Melbourne band The Orbweavers, is a revelation at almost double the length of its radio edit. And while the record is grand in its technique and architecture, an intensity of emotion is never far from the surface.
“This is a beautiful album. Faux Pas’s always done a great line in retro-futurism – recreating the 00s as envisioned by the 80s – but that’s not to say this record is some kind of nostalgia trip. Totally disparate threads of electronica find their way in together: hip hop soundz, lush folktronica, minimal techno, sparse Anticon-inspired flavours.

Importantly, it’s an album of songs, rather than ideas or jams or half-formed fuckarounds. Great songs, too – you won’t even notice when they creep into your brain and steal your soul (in a good way).

Don’t know how to end this gushfest so I guess I’ll just make like a Rolling Stone and call it a “seminal” “tour de force” that will be one of the most “important” albums of “2010″.” Rose Quartz blogspot

The debut release from Rat Vs Possum is out now through Sensory Projects.

Rat Vs Possum have gone from front-room jamming to a bursting field of rollicking electrical energy within a very short period of time. The foursome of Daphne Shum, Kieran O’Shea, Matt Kulesza, Andrew Noble and (recent addition) Adrian Tregonning began experimenting together back in 2008. Early jams, described by friends of Rat Vs Possum as “terrible”, eventually led to the formation of songs, and these songs evolved into invigorating the psychedelic and faux-tribal pop tunes which have become the basis for their (infamously awesome) live set. These tracks are now unfathomable beasts fuelled by Op-shop Casio keyboards, a five piece drum ensemble, guitars, lyrical workouts, and bounding rhythms which veer towards dance-floor on occasion. The vibrancy of Rat Vs Possum transcends their being ‘just another pop group’. They celebrate music, life, and a good time.

‘Daughter of Sunshine’ is a spectacle of colour and vibes, better described as songs filled with multi-coloured Ecstatical indulgences, chiming guitars, and a bandwidth of beats and pounding rhythms.

Listen to I Know You’re Real: Here

Formed in April 2009, Love Connection are Dean Noble, Kobi Simpson, Nathan Burgess and Michael Caterer. Within 6 months of forming, their debut album was written, recorded, mixed and mastered: an incredible feat considering the subtle complexities of these tracks, which, when listened to through headphones offers a fuller spectral experience of hidden nuances, intricate frameworks, and multi-tracked instruments and vocals.

Hooking up with Melbourne label Sensory Projects in September ‘09 was equally rapid in its alignment; Steve Phillips responding promptly to the allure of Love Connection’s pop slant, their highly rhythmic flailings, and their inner psych-infused wisdoms. Mixed by Nick Huggins(Two Bright Lakes), mastered by Tim Sigmund, and with artwork by Cailan Burns, Love Connection describe their self-titled debut album as “a collection of low-fi, synth-based electronica, dabbling in new wave and psychedelic sensibilities with a strong pop influence”. The trio give birth to an amalgamation of vintage keyboards, Korgs and Casiotones, throttling with sparse progressive guitar lines and percussive drum solos, described as “being heard through an old pair of headphones that feed rainbow-sounding grit into your ears” and “epic pop tunes that feel like a waterfall made of warm, multi-coloured soup rushing over your entire body”.

Listen to Steamroller: Here

RIYL: Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Tom Waits, Low, Bon Iver, Beirut

The vision that is Bruce Peninsula was dreamed up by Misha Bower and Matt Cully in the Summer of 2006. Slowly, Bruce Peninsula mutated, taking a new turn every time a new member or instrument was added to the mix. Bruce Peninsula has now ballooned out to include a large and formidable cast of hoot-and-hollerers, performing live with as few as five and as many as thirteen players.

The early, simple call-and-responses have given way to more elaborate harmonies and compositions over time, but the teachings of those timeless old recordings from the American south remain in tact. There is no denying the power and conviction of old spiritual singers, Southern folk, soul and shanty blues. But Bruce Peninsula are a band beset by their contemporaries, the likes of Arcade Fire, Do Make Say Think, and Broken Social Scene, and the influence of such rhythmical and melodic forces runs deep on their debut, ‘A Mountain Is A Mouth’.

Bruce Peninsula’s debut album manages to embrace the generosity of such a broad line-up; it’s sound gravitating from the thumping choral vibes of Satisfied and Crabapples, to the burning minimalism of album opener Inside / Outside, and the choral resonance of Northbound / Southbound.

The surge of experimental music in Toronto has been important for Bruce Peninsula, bestowing upon them a wide-eyed, anything-goes mentality. Purists may argue that the blues or folk tradition can’t be properly expressed without an old steel string and a slide, but this band has never been too concerned with trying to crack open closed minds.

And so, Bruce Peninsula is a forward march of metalophone, lap-steel, zithers, and bells, of drums and sticks and any other oddities of interesting and pleasing tone. And, blaring all the while, voices of all timbre and tone.

“..one of the most incredible albums – debut or otherwise – I’ve heard in a very long time. While there are lots of bands in this internet age who receive loads of accolades and attention before they even release an album, there are few who actually live up to the hype. Bruce Peninsula certainly arrive with very high expectations, but with A Mountain Is A Mouth they not only show they deserve it, they also show that those expectations may have somehow been too low.” iheartmusic.net

“..A Mountain Is A Mouth is able to capture this kind of mood the way that very few albums do (off the top of my head – Sufjan Stevens Illinois, Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago, Nas Illmatic, Beirut Gulag Orkestar). Its not just a collection of songs, its a story, its a feeling, it just moves you..” awmusic.ca

The brand new album from Panoptique Electrical, Yes To Fear Yes To Desire is released in August 2009 via Sensory Projects.

The album features 14 beautiful new songs from Jason Sweeney, following on from 2008’s Let The Darkness At You.
Yes To Fear, Yes To Desire is more concise and somewhat more buoyant than its predecessor, but the same ambient corners are there to envelope you.

Check out PANOPTIQUE ELECTRICAL’s Some Rooms Become Us from Yes To Fear, Yes To Desire here: http://sensoryprojects.com.au/?page_id=46

Official site: www.panoptiqueelectrical.com

Formed by Jonathan Michell (The Ancients) in 2003, MUM SMOKES were originally a three-piece, now, the band is comprised of four songwriters; Michell, Karl Scullin (KES Band), Julian Patterson (Minimum Chips) and – member since 2006 – Justin Fuller (ZOND).

The second release by Melbourne’s MUM SMOKES is in fact two albums, Easy and House Music. The two albums are available as one release through Sensory Projects, the package comprising 31 tracks, the 2 discs nestled in a lovely recycled card wallet with artwork by Mark Rodda.

Easy and House Music were recorded at home in Melbourne by MUM SMOKES and mastered by Casey Rice. Easy was recorded between January 2006 and March 2007, and House Music was recorded between August 2007 and September 2008.

The albums are considered by MUM SMOKES to be separate albums coming from distinct periods and distinct recording sessions.

Easy and House Music are the products of four combined musical visions. As a result there is a huge diversity across the thirty-one tracks in terms of songwriting, arrangements, and production; from stripped-back acoustic pop to more traditional rock arrangements, layered orchestration and abstract soundscapes. Musical cues are taken from equally diverse locations, the result of which is that MUM SMOKES elude direct comparison.

www.myspace.com/mumsmokes

The solo project of Richard Vincent Adams of Leeds, England, he co-founder of HOOD. Goodbye Minnesota delivers hypnotic melancholia via abstract hip-hop, shoe-gaze, dub, and electronic folk, with spectral atmospheres anchored to pastoral roots.

http://www.myspace.com/thedecliningwinter