YOUNG EMPIRES

Young Empires just dropped me their latest demo, a nice little slow jam called 'The Earth Plates Are Shifting'. Since last checking in with the Toronto trio, the guys have featured on the latest Kitsune compilation, been down to Bogota, Columbia with Jamiroquai and have locked some dates in next month to play with Tanlines and Chromeo. 2011 looks like it's going to be a pretty big year for these guys and it's still not too late to jump on and say 'I was a Young Empires fan from the beginning.'

YOUNG EMPIRES - THE EARTH PLATES ARE SHIFTING

GOLD FIELDS

My friend works at Deluxe Guitars, a boutique guitar store and rehearsal studio here in Melbourne. He's always giving me the heads up on some of the acts that come in to rehearse and at the moment there's a band that's been coming in that's really caught his ears. Gold Fields are a quartet from Ballarat who have just released their debut single on Young & Lost Club over in the UK and will soon be supporting Crystal Castles in Sydney next month. Not a bad referral, certainly one act to keep an eye on in 2011.

GOLD FIELDS - TREEHOUSE

M.I.A - BORN FREE
Directed by Romain Gavras



LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - DRUNK GIRLS
Directed by Spike Jonze & James Murphy



EL GUINCHO - BOMBAY
Directed by Nicolas Mendez



YEASAYER - MADDER RED
Directed by Andreas Nilsson



HEALTH - WE ARE WATER
Directed by Eric Warheim



KLAXONS - TWIN FLAMES
Directed Saam Farahmand



ARCADE FIRE - THE SUBURBS
Directed by Spike Jonze



BATHS - LOVELY BLOODFLOW
Directed by Alex Takacs and Joe Nankin



 MUSCLES - GIRLS GO CRAZY
Directed by Beaufort


TAME IMPALA - SOLITUDE IS BLISS
Directed by Megaforce


RÖYKSOPP - THE DRUG
Directed by that go (Noel Paul & Stefan Moore)

F I C T I O N

FICTION - BIG THINGS

I've been following Fiction for a while now and I've watched them slowly become one of London's finest indie acts. The four-piece recently finished up a UK tour with Klaxons and are gearing up to release their second single 'Big Things' through Hit Club. The band have also just revealed the new video for the single which you can peep below.

BEST COAST & WAVVES

For some, Christmas songs ignite something inside us that transports us to a place filled with nostalgic spirit and warm, happy times. For me, Christmas songs generally just give me the shits, however, I'm willing to make the rare exception. Late last month Target in the U.S of A paid a bunch of artists to record a song for the Christmas holiday season which would feature on a free compilation. Two of those acts were Best Coast & Wavves, who paired up to give us 'Got Something For You', a very pop friendly carol that we can all sing around the tree.
Both Wavves and Best Coast will be in Australia in March! MERRY FUCKING CHRISTMAS!

BEST COAST & WAVVES - GOT SOMETHING FOR YOU

Grab the whole compilation here.

OH NO ONO

Oh No Ono "The Tea Party" from friendly fire recordings

Oh No Ono just dropped their very lovable new clip for 'The Tea Party'. The Danish band released their debut LP, Eggs earlier this year and it's definitely one of my albums of twenty-ten!

TEEN DAZE

Teen Daze recently released his brand new EP, Beach Dreams which he recorded during the Canadian Summer. Inspired by beach life and the whole lo-fi pop scene, the EP is meant to bring back fond memories and recapture those love fueled experiences of the past Summer just gone. Good thing for us kids in the southern hemisphere then, where we're just starting our own Summer and can use these songs as a relevant soundtrack to our very own beach adventures.
Grab Beach Dreams here.

TEEN DAZE - LET'S FALL ASLEEP TOGETHER

TAME IMPALA

Tame Impala - Expectation from Modular People on Vimeo.

Whilst on tour in Europe, Perth lads Tame Impala took time out to head to a forest just outside of Paris to film their new clip for 'Expectation'. Directed by Clemens Habicht Sjot, the vid is a twisted kaleidoscopic visual feast for the peepers. The band also recently took out the J Award for Album Of The Year and rightfully so, clearly one of the best Australian debuts in recent times.

SMITH WESTERNS

I was supposed to post this weeks ago but I didn't for some reason, either way I'm too hungover to care.
"Weekends" is the first single to be taken from Smith Westerns' forthcoming album  Dye It Blonde, the followup to the Chicago band's self titled LP which was released back in 2009. If the rest of the new album is to sound anything like the first single, then it would seem the band is moving away from its former fuzz driven sound and moving towards a more polished and poppier reincarnation.
Dye It Blonde is set for release next month through Fat Possum and can be pre-ordered here.

SMITH WESTERNS - WEEKEND

G H O S T W O O D

Ghostwood are back with their latest offering, "Sunset Mirage", a song that showcases a band that are truly coming into their own. The Sydney boys are currently in the midst of rehearsing and recording new material and have been jumping from LA to London in search of a producer who will help them shape their debut album.
Follow this link and read about the time I randomly met the band in London many moons ago.


GHOSTWOOD - SUNSET MIRAGE

ACTIVE CHILD

Active Child - I'm In Your Church At Night from Active Child on Vimeo.

A trio of magical pastry chefs with tiny shrimp eyes feature in the new video for Active Child's 'I'm In Your Church At Night'. The track is taken from his harp infused Curtis Lane EP which was released back in September via Filter.

ACTIVE CHILD - I'M IN YOUR CHURCH AT NIGHT

CUT / COPY

Around 8am this morning, Tim Hoey of Cut Copy waltzed into the Triple J studios in Sydney to reveal to the world the band's brand new single, 'Take Me Over'. Soon to be the most blogged song in the blogosphere, it's the Melbourne trio's first official single to be taken from their forthcoming third album, Zonoscope which is set for release in February on Modular.

Cut Copy - "Take Me Over" (Radio Edit) Premiere by modularpeople

ARCADE FIRE + SPIKE JONZE

So, after watching Arcade Fire's latest video for 'The Suburbs' I've decided that Spike Jonze is the greatest man on Earth.
I still can't get over how utterly brilliant this clip is, it literally sends chills all the way from the back of my neck to the bottom of my spine. If you're yet to witness this masterpiece then I urge you to just sit back and try and take it all in.
Simple, beautiful, dark, magnificent.

B R E T O N

Breton are a four piece from South East London who are getting ready to release their latest EP, 'Counter Balance' via Hemlock Recordings. They're a band who can claim their own unique sound, taking elements from hip hop, math rock and deep electronica and fusing them all together to create a new twisted genre, à la Mount Kimbie meets Hudson Mohawke. I'm sure it won't be long before someone comes up with a new ridiculous name for this sort of sound, maybe Post-Math-Wobble-Hop?
The EP drops December 6th.

BRETON - RDI

K I S S E S

KISSES - KISSES

MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS - LARA VS THE SAVAGE PACK (KISSES REMIX)

Kisses' debut album, 'The Heart Of The Nightlife' is already out in the UK to great critical acclaim and will be available internationally on the 16th of November. The LA based duo have just dropped the video for, 'Kisses', a spaced out pop gem and has the pair dressed as DIY astronauts who like to have BBQ's on the moon. They've also recently done a chilled remix for Midnight Juggernauts latest single which you can grab above.


Kisses - Kisses from Kisses on Vimeo.

R A T A T A T

RATATAT - NECKBRACE

I've literally had Ratatat's 'Neckbrace' on repeat for months now and it still hasn't lost its initial impact. The video for the track has just been released and features a shitload of birds all boppin' and groovin' in synchronization.
The Brooklyn duo will be heading our way in January for the Big Day Out and have just announced a few extra side shows along the way- check out the dates here.

M I C K E Y

MICHEL SARDOU - AFRIQUE ADIEU (MICKEY RE-WORK)

Mickey is one DJ/Producer to keep an eye on, the man from Brussels is joining a string of artists coming out of Belgium like Villa, Mustang and even Aeroplane who all seem to be riding the cosmic-disco train. His debut EP comes out next week on the 12th through Relish and you can have a listen to one of the better tracks off the release below.

  Mickey-Farfalle by Mickey

M E N

MEN's new video for 'Off Our Backs' is about as camp as a row of tents and about as fun as a clown riding an iguana! The Brooklyn based band released the second single today via IAMSOUND and are set to release their debut album 'Talk About Body' on Monday 31st January.

SISSY & THE BLISTERS

SISSY & THE BLISTERS - HEY BETTY

Hit Club's latest release comes in the form of a garage-rock four piece by the name of Sissy & The Blisters. The band who hail from Guilford, UK are dropping their debut single, 'Things May Change' this month which also features the B-side, 'Hey Betty' which you can grab above. The video clip for the track was recently revealed and looks as if it was taken straight out of The Shining, with axes being smashed through doors and what not. You can pre-order the single over at Rough Trade, here.


Things May Change from Bennycrime on Vimeo.

PRIMARY 1

PRIMARY 1 ft. HARRY HUTTLE - NEVER KNOW

Primary 1 (or Joe Fiory to his mother) is all set to release his new Prince-esque single, 'Never Know', which drops on November 21 via Atlantic. The video for the single is quite the visual treat, it's as if someone pulled out a bazooka and blew up a rainbow on the set.
The Englishman's debut album is quite high up on my 2011 'hurrythefuckup list' and should hopefully see a release in the early months of the new year.