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Pre-order Aleks and the Ramps' Facts Now

Pete — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

We're very happy to announce that Facts, the wonderful third album from acclaimed Melbourne experimental pop outfit Aleks and the Ramps, is now available for pre-order on iTunes.

Incurable romantics, the band will be gifting the world with the new album on Valentine's Day, which makes perfect sense: Facts would be a perfect gift for a lover, cousin, grandparent or pet –– anyone, sentient or no, is likely to love this record.

We've been going on about our love for Facts for a while now. The band's third long player, Facts is the band's most rounded, immediate and satisfying lp to date, a shimmering pop gem full of sudden hooks and strange charms, all of it presided over by frontman Aleks' wonderfully dry, dark wit.

It's strange, wonderful, addictive stuff; a true album's album in an age of throwaway singles, full of deep cuts and hidden treasures.

Listen to the two singles released so far from the album, Bummer and Middle Aged Unicorn On Beach With Sunset, in our player below.

We recently had the Ramps stop by our rooftop to premiere the title track from the album, a winsome banjo-led thing that we like rather a lot. Check it out below:

In support the album, Aleks and the Ramps will be heading off on a national tour in March; they'll also be taking the stage at NZ's Camp a Low Hum festival.

Check out the Australian dates below:

01-03 Canberra – ANU Bar

02-03 Wollongong – The Patch

03-03 Sydney – GoodGod Small Club

04-03 Newcastle – Chinos

08-03 Byron Bay – The Rails

09-03 Toowoomba – The Spotted Cow

10-03 Brisbane – Tym Guitars (in store)

10-03 Brisbane – The Waiting Room

22-03 Geelong – The National Hotel

23-03 Melbourne – Northcote Social Club

24-03 Adelaide – The Hotel Metro

31-03 Hobart – The Brisbane Hotel

Premiere: Bree Tranter 'Winter' Video

Pete — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

One of our favourite songs from last year was Winter, the gorgeous debut single from Bree Tranter, formerly of The Middle East.

Winter is hushed, spectral folk-pop at its best. Folk Radio UK called it 'a beautifully crafted folk song reminiscent of Marissa Nadler's work'; blog And Pluck Your Strings, meanwhile, called it 'five minutes of beautiful, haunting, powerful music that equals just about anything we got from The Middle East, which is high praise.'

We're very happy to premiere the great new video for Winter. Check it out below, and pick up a copy of Winter over at our store.

Bree has begun work on her debut ep, which we'll have more news on shortly. Stay tuned.

On the Roof: Aleks and the Ramps

Pete — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Late last year, we started working with one of our favourite bands, Aleks and the Ramps. The Melbourne experimental pop quintet have been around since 2005, during which time they've put out two albums and an EP of thoroughly unpredictable, wonderfully skewed pop music.

On Valentine's Day this year, Aleks and the Ramps will release their third album, Facts, via Gaga Digi. Having listened to it roughly 100 times in the past couple of months, we can say this: Facts is a strikingly good pop record, a full-to-bursting combination of sharp left turns, sublime melodies, and Aleks' deadpan, gloriously strange and often hilarious lyrics.

Aleks and the Ramps recently popped by our offices to star in the first episode of our new On the Roof video series. In the friscalating dusklight, the band premiere the great title track from the new album and try to speak French. Check it out below:

You can listen to the two already released singles from Aleks and the Ramps' new album in our player above, and, while you're at it, watch the great video for the most recent single, Middle Aged Unicorn On Beach With Sunset.

We'll have more On the Roof sessions for you very soon, featuring the likes of Big Scary and Kate Martin. Stay tuned!

Breathe Owl Breathe Talk About Their Amazing New Single, Book

Pete — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

We've been very taken with Michigan folk-pop outfit Breathe Owl Breathe for some time now. The trio, it's safe to say, are not your typical band: they make their music in a secluded cabin in the wilds of Michigan; they favour old, strange instruments they're 'not quite comfortable with'; live, their wonderfully spontaneous and inclusive performances have won them fans the world over.

Having put out a steady stream of excellent releases since forming in 2004, the fiercely creative trio are now embarking on something new: a children's book, written and illustrated by one third of the band, Micah Maddaugh, which comes accompanied by two great songs: The Listeners and These Train Tracks.

The book and the songs are things of rare beauty, and we're very happy to be releasing, with RAD, the songs on December 6 on iTunes, Google Music, Amazon and eMusic. The book, which you can check out photos and video of below, will be available in Australia via Readings, and directly from the band.

We recently caught up with Breathe Owl Breathe and spoke to them about how they came together, their unique creative process, and, of course, their beautiful new songs and book.

Gaga: How did you guys come into playing music, and into playing together?

Trevor: Micah came into the world with stories, toys, and songs all around him. His mom and dad used to make wooden folk toys and sell them at festivals. When he was young, his dad once made a banjo from scratch –– using the skin of a dead house cat (found on the side of the road) for the drum head. Andrea was classically trained on cello since the 5^th grade. Actually, she started on flute, but after passing out while playing flute for the first time, she was guided toward the cello by her music teacher.

My dad was a drummer in an obscure mid 60s rock band from the Midwest called 'Earth Circus'. So I grew up with tapping, rhythms, and records all around. At an early age, my mom and dad would use pots and pans with wooden spoons on the kitchen floor (for a drum set) to keep me entertained.

Micah and I met in 2001, our freshman year of college. We were at separate schools (Micah in Grand Rapids, MI and I in Kalamazoo, MI). That first weekend away at school, I went to visit a high school friend of mine who happened to be paired up with Micah as a roommate. We started playing together before we even spoke. I remember coming into their room for the first time, and Micah was there smiling and bobbing his head up and down playing and singing a song he wrote on guitar. I picked up a drum and played along.

Soon after that we went to a party with a VHS camera and made a movie about zombies. I learned that Micah was a pretty unique character when he somehow convinced everyone at the party (which we were not even invited to) to act like zombies in our film. In the final scene, we ran through the living room, escaping from about 40 zombies out into the street. That's how we left the party.

So, we were friends before we started a band. At that time, Breathe Owl Breathe didn't exist yet. It wasn't until 2004 that Micah and Andrea met. In their first meeting, they recorded an album on cassette tape under a tree out at Micah's house in the sandy hills of East Jordan, MI. Then, in 2006, I slowly became a permanent fixture in the band.

I love the fact that, despite the fact it's often created in the wilds, BOB's music, especially on Magic Central, remains so generous and playful, in its own idiosyncratic way. It speaks to me of the fact that your making music out there is not a weary retreat from humanity, but rather a natural embrace of creative living-something many more people would do if the world wasn't so insane. Is it a conscious decision to create such gregarious, immediate music, or just a natural result of being in a place where you're able to do what you love?

Micah: It's a little bit of both. A lot of time will go by up here without songs, but the songs sneak up on you as well. The concepts of the songs might come when you're going for a run, or going for a hike, hearing coyotes late at night, or something else. We have a pull down screen and projector. Sometimes when you just watch a late night movie, you stay up afterword to settle into a song, or get up first thing in the morning, and go for a run... the mind is more receptive at that time... to sort through, think of things, and look forward to when friends visit.

Since it's hard to contact us, a lot of being up here means having time to work on projects. One project idea turns into another –– but having a studio space that can swallow you up, and at the same time escape from, is really nice. The song writing part –– it's like creating characters, then letting a conversation with a friend, or something that you hear, inspire you. You're just turning something on its side out of your own experiences- something that you heard, an actual experience, or a dream. Living out here...it's like being able to create your own mythology or folklore, or aspirations of fears.

A lot has to do with play. We'll get together just to play: setting up instruments or props or furniture in ways to not forget what you've been through, or capturing an inspired moment on VHS or the Miranz that you would otherwise forget a week from now. Lately, being on the road more than we've been used to, you digest everything. Back home, I'd be chopping wood, and the feeling will dawn on me that, "I'm in ONE place, chopping wood". And it's profound, it feels good. Then you're able to think of things that surprise you that you were playing around with in your mind while on the road. It's like reeling from feelings.

How much time do you get to make music? Living out at the cabin, do you guys still have to work day jobs? If you weren't making music, what would you all be doing?

Micah: Printmaking.

Trevor: Teaching. I study the Earth Sciences –– geomorphology, primarily. Lately, I've been teaching geography courses to fulfil the objective, rational side of my personality. I like taking what I've learned from my musical life –– the performance aspect, or composition, representation of concepts musically, even the travelling component –– and apply them to how I think about the geosciences. And vice-versa. One informs the other. One allows the other to rest and rejuvenate. I think that if I were restricted to doing just one of these things for a living, I wouldn't be fully satisfied, or fully inspired.

Andrea: I think I would go back to school, study cello and foreign languages, take an Indian cooking class, travel and work in gardens. I'd also like to help protect whales.

Trevor: It's really nice that we're such good friends. We'll hang out just doing things together. Go to the grocery store. Go play basketball. But, every time we get together, we try to make music –– or we end up making music in some way.

Micah: What we've been doing lately is filling up a side of a cassette tape without having and prior ideas for songs, just improvising, trying to get caught up in the play. And then listen back days later to things that may be interesting to explore further. Then I'll go for a run and write, trying to keep a notebook close at hand. Sketches can turn into writings and carvings, or prints can turn into songs. We're all doing that (welding and weaving our lives into songs) in some way or another.

The new book looks amazing. I've heard you talk before about how Breathe Owl Breathe is as much an art project as it is a band. Do you find your various projects, music and otherwise, naturally cross-pollinate with each other?

Micah: Yes. One gives a rest to the other while they inspire each other. Characters are born in the print making world that later emerge in songs. In the music world, a landscape can show up in a song and find its way into print. Both are about working with layers. I think a lot of it is just not thinking about it, but letting things live in their respective worlds. They are discovered when we get together, and then they'll be put away, and then rediscovered. Something (musically or visually) that we thought was random, we'll later discover as an actual direction in a song, or album, or project.

How did the book project come about?

Micah: I started stapling paper together and cutting a really small pocket version. Originally, I think it was something that came to me while mowing the lawn. Then I thought of one thing when I was just going down one row to the next. The tracks of the mower became these train tracks in my mind, and thoughts went forward from there. When that happens you try to write it down in the moment. I'm always keeping little books to write and draw in.

Knowing how special it was to have a turntable when I was young and seeing some stories on vinyl are also probably some original inspirations for the book. I really love old ways of making things. So, the book is an attempt to bring those feelings into motion, to life, in a way. Another dream we had was to create an art project that we felt could live on its own- differently from an album, where you tour and perform songs from the album. I have been fascinated by things that don't live forever. They have a short life but are an experience that really happened. It's similar to the idea with print making when there's an edition made. We thought, 'Let's make something that just exists, and then leave it.' Then think about whatever is next, but having learned and having been through a whole adventure.

All of the BOB releases I've seen, and this book project is another striking example, are beautifully presented and meticulously put together, from the recording of the actual songs to the album art and inserts. Do you feel that, with music becoming increasingly transient and even devalued in the digital age, it's becoming more important to create lasting, beautiful, tangible things?

Micah: Yes, like cassette tapes –– a great way of doing a short run of an album. Sometimes, I record radio interviews directly onto cassette tape. And they live on as we drive down the road. I could download a podcast, but then you can't touch it, or associate an object, or container, with its life. It's really convenient to have the digital product, but more and more an actual object (apart from CDs, Vinyl or cassettes) can be paired with an mp3. You can lose the music medium altogether and attach a download card to an art piece. I mean, with a CD, if you look at the bottom of it, you do get a video of yourself in real time. You can't do that with cassette tapes.

I've not been lucky enough to see you guys live, but from what I've read, you really go to great pains to make your live appearances inclusive, immersive and unique. How do you translate your unique way of living, writing and recording to the stage?

Micah: Sometimes we show up early and get inspired by the stage, and try to envision how we can make a portal back to where we've come from through our day of travelling. It's important for us to bring to the stage what we've been inspired by that day –– experiences or sounds captured from where we spent our time or from the van as we travelled through an area. Sometimes we'll have a cassette tape recorded before the show of interviews we did each other in different characters, and try to incorporate those characters into a show.

You recently embarked on your first European jaunt. How was that?

Trevor: One day we went to Caracas (Spain), where Salvador Dali is from, and swam in the Mediterranean. There were outcrops of sandstone weathered by the wind that looked like old growth trees tipped on their side and buried in coastal sands. It's refreshing to check in with other parts of the world in person. We were shown some really wonderful things by some wonderful friendly people, nearly everywhere we went. We found ourselves playing shows under an old archway, or in a circus tent from the 1800s, trying to bring who and what we are to people without giving too much into how we'd be received. We brought a dome that looked like an igloo.

I've read that you're fond of playing 'found instruments', and, for me, it's the unexpected, slightly cracked, organic textures that make the BOB sound so unique. Reminds me a bit of one of my favourite bands, Califone, whose records are always shot through with instruments that sound like they're falling apart in the most beautiful ways. Is it a conscious decision to try and use unconventional instruments in your songs? Any great recent discoveries?

Trevor: We are all fond of playing instruments that we're not quite comfortable with. It's one of the few ways to make a sound that is uniquely your own. So, being open to that idea inevitably leads to a never-ending collection of instruments –– old and new –– but with an affinity toward the old. Actually, it is quite difficult to pass by a garage sale without stopping. Micah will insist that we turn around. But we usually get the best found instruments from friends.

Once you know that an instrument exists, it's like a never-ending search to get a second one, because chances are it won't work perfectly (if it's old), so you have to get two in case the first one breaks. We're always talking about commissioning friends to build us replicas or repair our old gear. Can't really mention some of our new discoveries (they are best kept secret).

Like all the best music, the BOB sound defies easy categorisation. When you get asked by people who have never heard your music –– uncles, for example, or customs officers at airports –– how do you describe it?

Micah: It's tough... Andrea I usually start with, 'Well, I play cello... and Micah plays guitar and sings, and Trevor plays drums and keyboards'. We're not going to really get into details with customs officials...

[Customs Official] "What's that, a bird cage?" (referring to Micah's karaoke machine/amp).

'Well, actually it's a guitar amp. Yeah, it's antique, from the '90s.'

[Customs Official] 'What kind of music do you play?'

'Yeah, folk rock. Casios.'

What's the typical songwriting process like for the band? Do you tend to write separately, or together, or both? Is Breathe Owl Breathe a democracy?

Trevor: The majority of songs come out of Micah's head, at least lyrically. But when he presents a song we'll all work out the arrangements together over time. A song may come together in a day, whereas another we'll reapproach for years before it feels finished.

Micah: Sometimes... phew, mystery of life. Sometimes you get used to the song being around, but you keep carving away at it, but giving it a rest here and there. Or other times, it comes along and is able to be living.

Do you share similar taste in music?

Trevor: We're all pretty open to what each other listens to. But we each also have our individual affinity for music that we don't mutually desire. We each get such different things out of music, and constantly understand more about what each other likes about certain kinds of music. But, our tastes are also always changing, which makes song writing a really fun and surprising challenge.

The Listeners/These Train Tracks will be available December 6 from iTunes, eMusic, Google Music and Amazon. The book will be available from Readings stores.

Gaga Digi: Now Delivering to Pretty Much Everywhere

Pete — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

We're very happy to announce that we've started putting our releases up on a heap of overseas digital stores and services, including eMusic, Amazon, Spotify and the just-launched Google Music.

We're now working with pretty much every major online music store and service, and will be putting our catalogue onto the steadily growing number of streaming services that are launching around the globe.

We've been putting out a steady stream of great releases over the last few months, if we do say so ourselves, including the debut single from Adelaide-based indie-pop duo Manor, the new ep from surf-rock rabble rousers King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and the new single from experimental pop legends Aleks and the Ramps.

We've got a heap more in the works, including a new single from Kate Martin and the Shallowsea Choir, the amazing third lp from Aleks and the Ramps and Parts 2 and 3 of Joseph Liddy and the Skeleton Horse's wonderfully raucous three-part lp.

Have a listen to a bunch of our recent highlights in our Spring/Summer playlist below.

Aleks and the Ramps Release New Single, Re-release Two Lps

Pete — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

We're super excited to announce that Melbourne experimental pop outfit par excellence, Aleks and the Ramps, have joined Gaga Digi. We've just released their awesome new single, Middle Aged Unicorn On Beach With Sunset, and re-released their first two lps: Pisces vs Aquarius and Midnight Believer. Buy them all here.

Aleks and the Ramps started out more or less by accident when, in 2005, Aleks Badham, taking a break from studying film, recorded an EP of meandering, blippy psych folk. Needing a band to play a launch show, Aleks gathered together a few friends to help out, under the name the Ramps; six years, two albums and a couple of line up changes later, Aleks and the Ramps are still together. Indeed, they're better than ever.

The Ramps' released their first album, Pisces and Aquarius, in 2007. Recorded in a temporary studio in a Scout Hall in the middle of nowhere, the Ramps' first lp instantly outed the Ramps as a new species of band/human, taking in stoner jams, indie spaz outs and morose country singalongs, all of it possessed of a wonderfully cracked wit and charm that would characterise everything to emerge from Ramps HQ.

After a DIY tour of Canada and a change of drummers, the band returned to the studio (a real one this time) in 2009 with Chicago ex-pat Casey Rice to record Midnight Believer, an album of strange and addictive delights that rightly won the band a heap of new fans and some well-deserved critical acclaim.

Check out the Aleks-directed clip for Antique Limb, from Midnight Believer, below:

Last year, after a quick tour of Japan, Aleks and the Ramps returned to recording, laying down the tracks that would become their third lp. This third album does not yet have a name, but we can tell you this about it: since we received it from Ramps HQ, we have not been able to stop listening to it. It's a remarkable album, full of hooks and sharp left turns and Aleks' typically drily hilarious observations on the absurdity of human life.

Ramps Album #3, as we're calling it for now, will be out on Gaga Digi on Valentine's Day, 2012. In the meantime, though, you can feast on the first two singles from the album: Bummer, a highly habit-forming track we were gifted a few months ago, and the new single, the thoroughly excellent Middle Aged Unicorn On Beach With Sunset.

Have a listen to Bummer on our player above, and check out the great new clip for Middle Aged Unicorn below, in which Aleks croons with a flower for a head in a dark room full of flashing skulls. Of course.

If you have not seen the Ramps live yet, your life has little to no chance of being complete. Catch one (or all) of their last shows for 2011:

10/11/11: Melbourne @ Buffalo Club w/ with Near Myth and Seagull
11/11/11: Sydney @ The Gate w/ Charge Group, Valar and N. Martin
12/11/11: Newcastle @ Emma Soup w/ Boatfriends and Polyfox
13/11/11: Sydney @ Newtown Festival (Free entry! 2:30pm)

The Middle East's Bree Tranter Releases Solo Single

Pete — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Earlier this year, acclaimed Townsville experimental folk-pop outfit The Middle East called it a day, just a few months after releasing their much anticipated debut long player, I Want That You Are Always Happy.

When The Middle East finished up, singer and multi-instrumentalist Bree Tranter headed down to Sydney, where she began writing and recording some solo material. Winter, her new single out on Gaga Digi, is one of her first solo recordings, and what a recording it is: five and a half minutes of haunting, beautifully fragile folk that outs Bree as a serious artist in her own right. We can't wait to hear more.

Have a listen to the single below, and pick up a copy on iTunes or Bandcamp.

&lt;a href="http://gagadigi.bandcamp.com/album/winter" mce_href="http://gagadigi.bandcamp.com/album/winter"&gt;Winter by Bree Tranter&lt;/a&gt;

Kate Martin and Band Release First Single From New Lp

Pete — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

In 2010, Townsville pop chanteuse Kate Martin released her gorgeous debut album, Synthetic Shoes, Leather Boots. Though only 19 when the album was released, Martin had already had a long history with music: she began playing music when she was three, and spent much of her early years teaching herself every instrument she could find.

Synthetic Shoes was an eclectic and wide ranging exploration of Martin's diverse musical influences and considerable instrumental talents, and won her much acclaim.

Since the release of her debut lp, Martin has kept herself busy writing and recording, swapping the acoustic guitar that featured so heavily on her first lp for an old Stratocaster she found in a junk shop. She's also formed and reformed a band, now known as The Shallowsea Choir, which whom she's recorded her much awaited sophomore lp.

Apples is the gorgeous first single from Martin's new album. A beautifully paced, intricately played song, shot through with subtle instrumental flourishes and coloured with rich harmonies, it's a thoroughly inviting window into Martin's new sound. Have a listen to the track below, and pick up a copy on iTunes.

Apples is out now on Outer Records/Gaga Digi. A second single will follow in 2011; the lp will be out in February 2012.

Sync: Tiger Choir's Young Loving In New Ford Territory TVC

Pete — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

It's been a big six months for Tasmanian experimental pop wunderkinds Tiger Choir. Beginning with slots on the Falls and Campus a Low Hum festivals, the trio went on to support the likes of Deerhunter and The Drums, drawing superlatives from all who saw them; in April, the band released their much anticipated debut lp, Unicycles.

Now the band's music is being beamed into living rooms around the country, with one of their tracks featuring in a new Ford Territory TV commercial. The ad, which you can watch below, features Tiger Choir's 'Young Loving', from their awesome self-titled debut ep. Tiger Choir is out now on iTunes via Gaga Digi.

The Tiger Choir story begins a couple of years ago, when three friends began experimenting with pop amid tangles of instrument cables, furniture and musical equipment in cramped sharehouses. Together, the three––Sam Nicholson, Hamish Cruickshank and Elliot Taylor––lit upon a precise, dynamic, inventive brand of pop that quickly brought the band to wider notice, first in their hometown, and then on the mainland and beyond.

Shows around Australia soon followed, with fellow free spirits Rat vs Possum and Richard In Your Mind, with the band finding time in between to write and record their debut ep. Tiger Choir's self-titled ep amply showcased the trio's unpredictable, combustible sound, which manages the feat of being at once experimental and otherworldly while remaining completely immediate––inspired dream pop played with math-rock precision. Listen to a few tracks below.

Next up was Unicycles. To record their debut lp, the band headed down to the wilds of Bruny Island, south east of Hobart, where, in between bouts of recording, the three holed up at an isolated shack and tried their hand, variously, at foraging for food, rowing back to the mainland on a boat with broken oars, and drinking.

'It was an invaluable experience in pop survivalism,' Nicholson told The Mercury. 'We forgot a bag of studio gear and had to make several compromises in the recording setup. We went foraging for food and got a bunch of mussels and made delicious shellfish pasta.'

Eventually the trio returned to Hobart, where they completed the album. Featuring the gloriously woozy dreamhop single 'Dancer', Unicycles is a remarkable slice of energetic, mercurial, intelligent pop––bright and nimble and alive, informed by the luminaries of experimental pop while remaining entirely its own beast.

'Layering lazily half yelled group vocals above rolling, satisfyingly punchy live drums and surrounding the lot with loose guitars and electronics, Tiger Choir's Unicycles is another consistently solid step into dreamy, cotton wool pop,' Who The Hell wrote of the lp.

What happens next with Tiger Choir is anyone's guess. 'For our next album we're definitely thinking of doing a similar thing,' Taylor says. 'Maybe we'll go somewhere in Tasmania; we're somewhat interested in going to the West Coast to see what sounds that brings out. Or maybe go overseas to Papua New Guinea or New Zealand or maybe even India. You need to be nomadic and adaptable to be a pop survivalist.'

Biddy Connor Releases Debut LP As Sailor Days

Pete — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

In a career now more than a decade long, Biddy Connor has worn a lot of hats: solo musician and performer, composer, string wizard for a host of bands (Tim Finn, Laura Jean, Kes Band, Magic Silver White).

A respected and multi-skilled composer, Connor's work combines classical, experimental and pop influences, and has been performed everywhere from the Sydney Opera House to regional playhouses to cosy Berlin bars. In 2005, she helped found Dead Horse Productions, which helped promote new Australian composition, and saw her, with a rotating cast of other Australian composers and artists, perform to packed houses around Melbourne.

Connor, who counts among her instruments violin, viola, guitar, keyboard and musical saw, has, up until now, worked primarily on her own solo projects, or with other bands. But her new project, Sailor Days, finds her working with a band to bring her own compositions to life.

Before Sailor Days, Connor put together two bands at different times to play her songs. Both bands recorded, but life got in the way and the projects never saw the light of day. Looking back, she says, 'I'm not sure I really knew how I wanted those songs to sound... I think I've learnt lots since then by working with different groups and in different areas of music.'

In 2007, Connor brought her songs to Jen Sholakis (Laura Jean, Jen Cloher and The Endless Sea) and Laura Jean Englert (Laura Jean, Kes Band), forming the trio that is now Sailor Days. Laura Jean and Sholakis, Connor says, helped expand her 'ideas into a fully formed shape.' Before this, she had been performing live solo, armed with just a viola, a loop pedal and some effects –– a set-up she says was helpful for composition, but not nearly as enjoyable as collaborating with friends.

'It was much more fun and inspiring,' she says of working with a band. 'I get easily distracted doing things on my own.'

The songs that make up Sailor Days' self-titled debut had been on the table for quite a while, but changed shape and form when Sailor Days came together -- some, like the album's beautiful first single, Species Counterpoint, being completely redone.

'Species Counterpoint changed quite drastically,' she says. 'I loved and hated the song and when I went to record the melody I couldn't do it; the words were awful and the tune sucked. So I went home and found some poems that my friend Maria Zajnowski had given me and rewrote the melody. Then it became my favourite song on the record.'

Sailor Days is a collection of the songs closest to Connor's heart, and it shows: each of the album's eight tracks is thoughtfully composed, deeply felt and beautifully played. Drawing on her experience in modern composition, Connor has created an album full of striking and unconventional songs, an album of experimental pop that remains wholly accessible and inviting.

Shot through with strings, organs, bassoons and vocal harmonies, Sailor Days is a rich and remarkable record by a writer and composer who we'll be hearing a lot more from.

The Sailor Days s/t lp and Species Counterpoint ep are out now via Gaga Digi.

Boy Omega

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Boy Omega is the roof under which Swedish multi-instrumentalist Martin Henrik Hasselgren (formerly Gustafsson) collects his songs.

Boy Omega's unique brand of pop is at once fragile, vibrant and wholehearted, and has drawn comparison to the likes of Elliott Smith, Sparklehorse, The Cure, Bright Eyes, Sufjan Stevens, Iron & Wine and Xiu Xiu.

Since he began writing songs under the Boy Omega moniker in 2001, Hasselgren has put out an impressive, rich body of work, including five full length albums, two compilations, four eps, and numerous singles.

Over the last decade, Boy Omega has played close to 300 shows and shared stages with the likes of Isobel Campbell, Great Lake swimmers, Califone, Akron/Family, John Vanderslice and Herman Dune, to name a few. Hasselgren is also a member of the electronica-duo Kubot.

In 2011, Gaga Digi digitally released three of our favourite Boy Omega offerings: the 2006 full length lp The Black Tango, the 2008 ep Quiet Maneuvers, and the 2011 single Let the Dark Light In. Have a listen to the single in our player above, and pick up the releases from the iTunes Store via the button below.

Breathe Owl Breathe

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Breathe Owl Breathe came together in 2004 when three people in different places doing different things -- printmaking, music teaching, cartography -- decided to head out to a cabin in the Michigan wilds to live and make music.

From the beginning, Breathe Owl Breathe was as much an art project as it was a band: the band's first recordings were 'short story songs'; soon after this, the band recruited their friends to make a zombie film that was also a romantic comedy.

Out at the old cabin, which the band dubbed 'magic central', the trio lit upon a unique and timeless sound -- 'a wild rumpus of harmony and rhythm,' as Paste Magazine wrote. 'While some peers have reveled in reinvigorating the old, weird side of Americana, the band's flare for pop-addled melodies flips the contemporary folk aesthetic, eschewing freakiness in favor of charm. It's a dynamic built on coupling clever arrangements with lyrical whimsy.'

Since then, Breathe Owl Breathe have gifted us with five albums and an ep, and have traveled far and wide, mesmerising crowds with performances that merge meticulous musicianship, storytelling, and an absolute love for what it means for this trio to be creating things -- every moment of the day.

Their newest release is a remarkable children's book, written and illustrated by the band's Micah Middaugh. The new book was three years in the making, and comes accompanied by two gorgeous new tracks, The Listeners and These Train Tracks, which are out now via RAD/Gaga Digi. Listen to the tracks in our player above, and find out more about the new book and single in our interview with the band.

Love Migrate

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Melbourne indie-pop sextet Love Migrate were originally known as Goodnight Owl, until they reasoned that there were enough animal named bands in the city already.

Although a number of Love Migrate's members come from local acts like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Sleep Decade, the band's sound is entirely their own, at once open sounding and controlled. Love Migrate have been demoing their debut album for the last few months with Damien Weatherly, and plan on releasing it in early 2012.

Taken from the forthcoming (and unnamed) long player is the great opening single Little Kid. An immediate, upbeat and light-hearted track on the surface, Little Kid is also possessed of an underlying intensity that makes it linger –– and that makes us very keen to hear what comes next.

Manor

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Adelaide-based duo Manor (formerly Our Husband) started out in early 2011, when Nathaniel Morse started writing and playing with Caitlin Duff. Inspired, variously, by The Beach Boys, the Cocteau Twins and Paul Simon, Manor make intricate, original pop, driven by arctic, jangling guitar, layered percussion and soaring vocals.

Manor's music conjures all the things good pop music should: longing, wonder, surprise, swooning. The duo's first single, Rhodesia, hits some pretty rarefied heights, combining spectral, lilting vocals with Nathaniel's icy, reverb-drenched guitar figures to immediate and devastating effect. Rhodesia is out now on iTunes. Manor's debut lp is currently being recorded, and is due for release in 2012.

Joseph Liddy and the Skeleton Horse

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Joseph Liddy and the Skeleton Horse is the new project from former The Middle East banjo player Joseph Ireland. Described by one critic as 'like The Pixies and Sonic Youth got together to play country songs written for them by Bob Dylan and Jack White', it is as far from the sound of his former band as one could go. Gone are the gentle harmonies and intricate guitars that characterised his former band, replaced with Ireland's distinctive, bourbon-soaked vocal and a wall of snarling, overdriven guitars.

Before joining The Middle East, Ireland worked as a drug and alcohol counsellor in a rehab clinic in his home town of Townsville, working mostly with homeless aboriginal men. The songs of Joseph Liddy are a direct response to this, sharing their stories and experiences with a passionate empathy.

The debut album from Joseph Liddy and the Skeleton Horse is being released in three parts. In homage to Neil Young's Rust Never Sleeps, the first two 'sides' of the 3-sided release are alternately electric and acoustic, with an emphasis on guitars, banjos and mandolins. The third part of the album comes back to electric, but this time adding organs and keyboards to complement the already considerable wall of noise.

Part 1 of Joseph Liddy and the Skeleton Horse is available now.

Aleks and the Ramps

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Way back in 2005, Aleks Badham took a year off studying film to record an EP of meandering and blippy psych folk. 'There should be a band to play these songs live', someone remarked. This advice was heeded and the Ramps were formed, ostensibly to perform only one 'launch' show. For whatever reason, further shows were booked and more songs were written, like what a proper band does.

In 2006 they set up a temporary studio in a far-flung Scout hall on the Victorian coast and returned with an album called Pisces vs. Aquarius. This debut long player was 9, 10 or 11 (depending on how you count them) songs ranging from stoner jams, indie spaz-outs to morose country singalongs. It was released in 2007 and audiences were delighted and/or confused. Later that year their drummer left the band and moved to Perth to get married and write dense and long-winded fantasy novels. Fair 'nuff. Jon swiftly replaced him, and in 2008 they ventured out of the country for a DIY tour of Canada, with a showcase performance at NxNE in Toronto.

Upon their return they went into an actual real recording studio to commit songs to hard disk with Chicago-bred ex-pat Casey Rice. Additional tinkerings were undertaken in a Brunswick shed and voilá! Midnight Believer was born, a critically lauded 40 minutes of strange and addictive pop. The album's first single, Antique Limb, was played on the radio extensively, and its psychedelic video clip was seen on TVs in Australia and YouTube far beyond.

2009 was spent touring the country a few times (plus one trip across the Tasman) in support of the album. In 2010 the band started work on a new record, creating 'demos' that slowly morphed into 'the actual songs' in their studio space in a Fairfield. One of the fruits of this labour was Bummer, a single they released on the cusp of a Japan tour. Shortly thereafter, Janita left the band to concentrate on Denim Owl and her knitwear collection. A new Ramps membership card was made with 'Sez Wilks' printed in 24pt Helvetica and promptly put through the laminator.

Jon also left the band in 2011 to attend to his other bands ii and Speedpainters, the online radio show Paper Radio and the billion other things that he manages to occupy himself with. The bedroom pop wunderkind Pascal Babare high-fived Jon in the lobby of ramps HQ, and thus his status as 'drummer' was solidified.

The as-yet-untitled album was finished in late 2011, to be released on Valentine's Day 2012. The new single, Middle Aged Unicorn on Beach with Sunset, has hit the airwaves and will be out via Gaga Digi, along with re-releases of Pisces and Aquarius and Midnight Believer, on October 27.

The Hondas

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

After Taka Honda graduated from Tokyo University, majoring in genetics, he came to Melbourne, determined to be the greatest scientist ever.

His life, however, took a strange and unexpected turn, when he became the drummer for a band called Little Red. As the band's popularity grew, Taka decided to quit science and make a new life as a musician. Two successful records and countless sold-out national and international tours with Little Red followed.

In 2011, while having a well-deserved break from Little Red's relentless tour of duty, Taka took up a guitar, recruited some friends, and made an album under the moniker The Hondas. A bunch of cross-dressing, rock 'n' roll-loving mad musicians, it's safe to say The Hondas are not your average band.

The Hondas' debut single, I am a Homosexual, is out now on iTunes. The Hondas' debut album, From Tokyo to Melbourne Town, is due out in 2012.

Boys Boys Boys!

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Boys Boys Boys! started out on a lazy afternoon in Perth, when a few friends, whiling away the day flipping burgers, were suddenly hit in the face by an idea: they would be pop stars, like Britney, but on their own terms!

The friends moved from the kitchen of the restaurant to the kitchen of a run-down old share-house in north Perth –– the kind with white statues of lions guarding the letterbox. They dropped every casio keyboard, synth and flea-market student guitar they could find out onto the cold, brown floor. They would make music for themselves! First, though, they would need outfits with sequins. Priorities!

The music of Boys, Boys, Boys! hits you in the face. An energetic, eclectic mix of bright personalities, their music is a synth-pop assault. They have a unique arsenal of catchy pop riffs, dance moves, sugary all-girl vocal harmonies and 80s electronica –– and they're not afraid to use it.

In 2009, the band offered up their first lp, Yes, a thoroughly excellent, vital slice of pop that quicky saw them come to wider notice. Have a listen to Yes in our player above, and click this here iTunes button to pick up a copy on iTunes:

In the last couple of years, Boys Boys Boys! have taken their pop dreams to the next level, providing support for touring acts including Uffie (USA), Van She, Matt & Kim (USA) and Bluejuice. They've played numerous festivals, including Parklife, St Jerome's Laneway Festival, Southbound, One Movement For Music, Summadayze and Good Vibrations.

2011 brought the band a Western Australian Screen Award for Best Music Video for Ticky-Ticky Boom (watch the clip above) and an opportunity to support Regurgitator on their national tour. It also saw the release of an awesome new single, Casio Joy, which you can listen to below:

With that excitement under their belts, Boys Boys Boys! are currently back in the kitchen completing the writing of the second album, which is due for release in April 2012. Stay tuned!

Winterpark

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Winterpark is a collaborative studio project born out of the ashes of Matt Ridgway's indie-punk-rock dreams. Matt took the do-it-yourself ethos away from slinging guitars around on sticky carpet stages to tweaking delay pedals in his studio, creating melodic and atmospheric music that is experimental enough to not be pop, acoustic enough not to be electronic, and eclectic enough not to be dull.

The often dark and brooding sound-scapes of Winterpark's 2006 debut album, One Night Alone, found a home on many a TV soundtrack ranging from Underbelly to Offspring.

Throughout 2007, Matt took the band to the international stage, filming video clips in the backstreets of Brooklyn, playing parties at the Iceland Airwaves festival for free drinks, carrying equipment to shows via the Paris underground and writing much of what was to become Winterpark's excellent 2008 album, Falling Men and Flying Dreams, in a makeshift apartment in Berlin.

Falling Men and Flying Dreams is available now via Gaga Digi. Have a listen to it in our player below.

In recent times, Matt has settled back into Melbourne, playing guitar and bass in Ross McLennans' Sympathy Orchestra, helping to facilitate audio visual jam sessions, teaching sound production and writing music for TV and film.

Matt's third lp, Sunday Morning, arrived in mid-2011. An album that effortlessly echoes the ebb and flow of Matt Ridgway's multifaceted musical career to date, Sunday Morning is a record written on the bottom of a broken dream, but radiates hope and warmth with every chord.

Laura Imbruglia

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Laura Imbruglia. You've probably seen the name around. Heard a song or two on the radio. You may have even seen her live. Laura's been kicking around the Australian music scene for nigh on 10 years now; she's toured Oz countless times and Europe twice. She's played with The Eels, Tegan and Sara, New Pornographers, Fiery Furnaces, Violent Femmes, Josh Pyke, Sarah Blasko and many more. Some of these bands even watched her sets and said nice things.

Laura's debut ep It Makes A Crunchy Noise (2003) introduced the world to her unusual sense of humour and awkward confidence. She followed it with her first, self-titled album in 2006, which featured a more expansive sound and more assured emotional depth. Said album boasted the songs Looking For A Rabbit (which reached #2 on JTV's chart & won a bronze medal for Most Innovative Video at the prestigious New York Festival's International Television Broadcasting Awards); It's Getting Worse (chosen by MTV to promote their addition to the iTunes network) and My Dream of A Magical Washing Machine, which is probably being used for prototype inspiration at Whirlpool HQ right now.

The second album, sarcastically titled The Lighter Side Of... (2010), was a meeting of the two sides of Laura –– the smart-arse and the angry heartbreak-ee. Produced by Melbourne's Nick Huggins (Whitley, Kid Sam) and Laura herself, and featuring backing from avant-garde drummer Robbie Avenaim (Phlegm, Wog), Nick Huggins, and special guest appearances from members of You Am I, Talons and Seagull, this album struck a chord with the public.

Singles ranged from dark country (When It All Falls Apart) to power pop (Pauly) and lovelorn indie pop; the hugely popular music video for I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend reached #1 on Myspace Australia and was Rage's Indie Clip of the Week in July 2010. Check out the DIY masterpiece for yourself below.

In late 2010, Laura relocated to Melbourne and introduced herself with a splash by hosting her infamous 'Allsorts Residency' at Fitzroy's Old Bar. The residency ranged from intimate solo shows to all-out band feasts (Melbourne's legendary Even backing her for one special show) and climaxed with a karaoke show finale! Following this, she soon found herself invited to tour and share stages with respected acts The Gin Club, Adalita (Magic Dirt) and Sebadoh. As you do.

Now completely settled in her adopted hometown, Laura is back to offer a taste of the new material she's been working on. This comes in the shape of new single, Why'd You Have To Kiss Me So Hard?, a psychedelic about-turn from her recent alt-country explorations.

Produced by Liam Judson (Cloud Control, Belles Will Ring) in the Blue Mountains, NSW, and backed by a smoking hot band featuring members of Talons, Songs and Jewel & The Falcon, the single shows yet another side of this versatile, shape-shifting artist. Why'd You Have To Kiss Me... showcases Laura's trademark lyrical wit, though in subtler form, blurring the line between the literal and figurative.

Why'd You Have to Kiss Me So Hard? is out September 12 via Gaga Digi.