Some observations from Big Day Out veteran DARREN LEVIN as the festival celebrated its 20th year at Flemington Racecourse on Sunday (January 29). Photos by LEAH ROBERTSON . ‘Are you nice and sweaty?’ Attending a festival in 35-degree heat is difficult enough without bands telling you just how hot it is. “Hope you don’t die in this heat,” quipped Stonefield’s singer Amy Findlay at midday when the sun was at the height of its powers. “Are you nice and sweaty?” quizzed The Vaccines’ Justin Young. Kimbra Johnson asked us if we were “hot and sticky”, before Soundgarden’s Chris ...

Thomas William Deccan Technicolour [This Thing; 2011] by James Parker Rating: I’ve written here before about some of the great experimental electronic music that’s coming out of Australia at the minute. There’s a scene brewing, folks, and at the start of 2012, you could do a hell of a lot worse than casting your ears in this direction. Once upon a time, Sydneysider Tom Smith went by the name Cleptoclectics, under which moniker he released one EP , a full-length , and a bunch of remixes , all of which showed definite promise but were not in themselves particularly special ...

Melodic Records have released the second instalment of their 'Hearing Aid' compilations. Uncovering new talent is a tricky business, but Melodic Records seem to have developed a knack for it. The imprint specialise in helping out up and coming acts, developing a roster which is diverse yet continually enthralling. Last year Melodic Records put out a free sampler named 'Hearing Aid'. Returning for a second instalment, the label have gathered a series of young bands, solo artists and producers. Although the styles vary hugely across the piece the quality never dips - fuzzed up Londoners Bos Angeles donate a track, while ...

Sydney singer Lanie Lane has won Record of the Year at the Sydney Music, Arts and Culture (SMAC) Awards earlier this evening. Lanie’s debut To The Horses beat out tough field including Africa Hi-Tech’s 93 Million Miles ; Belles Will Ring’s Crystal Theatre ; Collarbones' Iconography , Megastick Fanfare’s Grit Aglow ; Seekae’s +Dome ; and Royal Headache by Royal Headache, which recently topped the M+N Readers Poll . Lane was presented her award at a ceremony at the National Art School in Sydney earlier tonight (January 19). She thanked SMAC Awards patron FBi Radio shortly after via Facebook: “THANKS ...

Sydney-based electronic trio Seekae’s second album pursues the noble cause of delivering a record that rewards multiple listens and also [...]

Jen Long catches up with Seekae to chat about the trio's latest album +Dome, their love of Marks and Spencer and being accused of "just pressing space bar".

Die kanadische Indie-Pop-Formation Destroyer hat im Rahmen eines Cover-Albums eine eigene Version von "Leave Me Alone", einem Song der britischen New-Wave-Legenden New Order , aufgenommen. Das Original stammt vom 1983er Album "Power, Corruption & Lies", welches für die Band wegweisend war und unter anderem den Evergreen "Blue Monday" beinhaltete. Dieser und alle anderen Tracks des Langspielers wurden jetzt von aktuellen Künstlern wie The Golden Filter und Miyagi">Fujiya & Miyagi für ein Tribut-Album des britischen Magazins Mojo gecovert. Destroyer behalten dabei den Charakter des Originals bei, mischen ihn aber mit ihrem eigenen Klangbild. Ihr könnt bereits an dieser Stelle in den Song reinhören ...

Click here for download Song: New Order - Leave Me Alone (Destroyer Cover) [download here ] What's so good? When Power, Corruption and Lies was released in 1983, I highly doubt that New Order expected a number of amazing bands would cover the entire album almost 20 years later. But perhaps it’s not too surprising, given that the LP was picked as #94 on Rolling Stone’s top 100 albums of the 1980s and the band is widely known as the “Godfathers” of electronic rock. Among the bands covering the tracks are Fujya & Miyagi, Tarwater, The Golden Filter, and of ...

Tickets to the sixth annual Golden Plains music festival in Victoria have now officially sold out. All 8900 tickets were snapped up by Wednesday (December 28), making it the swiftest sell-out in Golden Plains’ history. There will be no last gasp “super mega” ballots, online exchange programs or tickets found under Aunty Meredith’s couch. (Although the M+N forums are generally a good place to frequent a week prior to the festival.) Golden Plains will take place, as always, over the Labour Day long weekend (March 10-12) at the Supernatural Amphitheatre in Meredith, Victoria. Acts performing include Bon Iver ...

MATT’S FAV ALBUMS 1. Seekae - +Dome Track: ‘Gnor’ I probably don’t need to spend too many unlimited digital column inches professing my love for Seekae. These guys are the best band in Australia. Possibly the whole world. +Dome took all of its predecessors strong points and input them into a more mature, cohesive and ambitious album. [...]

2011 was a year in which I listened to way more music sitting at my laptop than ever before. Hours upon hours in front of a screen with headphones on, getting sore eyes from switching between the bazillion browser pages I have open, and sore ears from having a giant lump of plastic and foam hugging the sides of my face for 12 hours a day. The 21 songs below were ones I got excited about when I heard them, and IMed or emailed them to friends, or posted on my Facebook wall. These tracks were my go-tos when making ...

Yesterday, we revealed the first installment (picks 50-21) of our fifth annual Critics Poll. Today, it’s the top 20 Australian albums of 2011; a vintage year. 20. Belles Will Ring Crystal Theatre (Dot Dash/Remote Control) Key notes: Conceived in rural New South Wales and recorded in co-frontman Liam Judson’s parents’ living room, Crystal Theatre took BWR’s spooky psych revivalism and full-screened it, with pleasing results. What we said: “It’s an evocative and complicated album, put together by a band who work together as naturally as four limbs on the same beast.” More reading: Track By ...

Everyone likes a good list, right? Jonathan Boulet has taken a minute to list a nine of the finest he enjoyed this year. Some great Australian tips in there too. This might even give you an idea of the sounds Mr Boulet has been listening to while working on new material? Stay tuned for news on that front in 2012.   Tom Waits - Bad as Me PJ Harvey - Words that Maketh Murder Battles - Inchworm The Middle East - Mt Morgan End Oscar and Martin - Recognise Recognise by oscarandmartin Seekae - Go Slug Guts - Chrome Crucifix No Anchor - Dead Pony Jonti - Solar Smoking Dogs ...

Everyone likes a good list, right? Jonathan Boulet has taken a minute to list a nine of the finest he enjoyed this year. Some great Australian tips in there too. This might even give you an idea of the sounds Mr Boulet has been listening to while working on new material? Stay tuned for news on that front in 2012.   Tom Waits - Bad as Me PJ Harvey - Words that Maketh Murder Battles - Inchworm The Middle East - Mt Morgan End Oscar and Martin - Recognise Recognise by oscarandmartin Seekae - Go Slug Guts - Chrome Crucifix No Anchor - Dead Pony Jonti - Solar Smoking Dogs ...