Amiina are a six piece from Reykjavík, Iceland, best known as the string section for little-known Icelandic indie act Sigur Rós. Though playing with Sigur Rós garnered them worldwide attention, it is as a band in their own right that they’ve truly made a name for themselves, with releases such as ‘AnimaminA’ and 2007′s critically acclaimed full-length LP ‘Kurr’.
Since then, the band – pictured above looking delightfully Scandinavian – have added two members, drummer Magnús Trygvason Eliassen and noted electronic artist Kippi Kaninus, which has significantly advanced the band’s sound. The merging of Kippi Kaninus’ electronics and rhythms with amiina’s sounds and Magnús’ percussion formed the sonic foundation for the new album ‘Puzzle’ – the most established and brilliant collaboration between the six musicians yet, and being released tomorrow on Other Tongues, (awesomely, the local edition includes three exclusive bonus tracks.)
Below is the track “Over And Again”, for streaming and free download. The album will be in all good record stores, as well as iTunes et al., tomorrow!
[to download, click the arrow on the right of the waveform]
Nothing? OK cool, well the Three’s Company Tour kicks off in Melbourne, so you’re sorted. The tour is a tri-headline tour, ie three shows in three cities with three hometown headliners in one weekend.The artists are Melbourne’s Tash Parker, Brisbane’s Scott Spark and The Rescue Ships (Sydney’s Elana Stone & Brian Campeau).
To celebrate, we’re releasing a remix of the track “What Is In A World”, from Scott’s 2010 album ‘Fail Like You Mean It‘. The track was remixed my Brisbane-based electronic musician and motion designer Hunz, and is available for free from Scott’s Bandcamp page.
Click below for ticketing information, and don’t forget, if you pre-purchase your tickets you can win a pack of Other Tongues CDs.
Hurray For The Riff Raff began when a teenage Alynda Lee Segarra (above) started hopping freight trains across the USA. At the age of 17 she left her native Bronx, New York, and while riding the rails she hooked up with a family of young, itinerant music makers.
When the roaming was done, she settled in New Orleans, quickly embracing the city’s community of street musicians, taking up the banjo and performing with many local traditional bands. In 2008, her new outfit crossed the Mississippi to enter a studio for the first time to record their debut album.
‘Hurray For The Riff Raff’ is a magnificent collection of the best songs from the band’s two self-released albums. It was influenced by the sounds of classic country, 1960s Rock ‘n’ Roll, and master singer/songwriters like Townes Van Zandt and Hank Williams – the band has deep roots in the landscape of America.
According to Mojo, it’s an album of “Irresistible country-folk vignettes… Soulful, downhome, mesmerising.” They also listed Hurray For The Riff Raff as one of their SXSW Magnificent Seven (they were number two).
Coming on like a southern-fried Cat Power, Gillian Welch or Jolie Holland, the band’s songs are probably best described by critic Gabe Soria, an early champion of the growing New Orleans scene, in the album’s liner notes; “These are hymns that channel the raw feelings and chronicle the lives of all fucked-up romantics”.
We’re releasing the record this Friday (May 6th) via one of Australia’s finest independent labels Longtime Listener. To listen to a few tracks from it, head to their MySpace (yes! They still have a MySpace!)
Sydney’s megastick fanfare‘s debut album has been fervently anticipated for quite some time. They’ve developed a formidable underground reputation off the back of their engaging live shows, each of which starts with a ‘fanfare’ unique to that particular performance.
This Friday, the versatile five-piece release ‘grit aglow‘, their debut long player. It’s a beautiful, aquatic and unendingly rewarding listen that is currently FBi Radio’s Album Of The Week. Furthermore, Triple J Mag recently called it “a sonic explosion that will leave you flabbergasted”, and The Brag have called it “one of the best records that’s come out of sydney this year.”
The album is out this Friday, however if you pre-order it now from our good friends over at Red Eye Records (head to the pre-order link on the left side of the page), you get a free 7″, which contains ‘Brain Tooth’ on side A and a cover of the same track from enchanting Sydney two-piece kyü on side B. Stock is very limited so pre-order now or you’ll miss out.
Below is the track “june strangelets”, the album’s closer, for streaming and free download. Enjoy.
[to download, click the arrow on the right of the waveform]
Diagrams is the name of new signing for Britain’s influential Full Time Hobby label, (home of Tunng, Fujiya & Miyagi, Micah P. Hinson and more.
We don’t know a whole lot at this stage, except that they sound like Gruff Rhys or Sufjan Stevens and have just released the track “Antelope”, which is “a song about nights out in the North of England and a girl with magic powers.” Despite its obvious beauty, you may notice that it switches mellifluously between 7/8 and 6/8. Truly gorgeous and captivating stuff.
Check it out below for streaming and/or free download.
[to download, click the arrow on the right of the waveform]
Yeo Choong is a musical svengali from Melbourne via Brisbane who makes amazing funk/soul/RnB/pop/cool tunes. His new mini-album, Bag O Items, is out now on our in-house label Other Tongues. The album is a solo project by strict definition: on ‘Bag-O-Items’ Yeo played or programmed every instrument and sung every harmony (well, except for one harmony).
One of the album’s standout tracks is Good Food, Music & Love. It is a delightfully funk-inflected RnB tune with a sunshine soul chorus at its heart. Perfect listening for any Monday. Listen and download it free below.
[to download, click the arrow on the right of the waveform]
Other Tongues is proud to announce that Pigeon John is set to grace our shores to promote his heavily lauded sophomore release, ‘Dragon Slayer‘ – a Triple J Feature Album, and one that just keeps winning people over.
‘Dragon Slayer’ is PJ’s second album for Quannum, and his first on Other Tongues. It’s as energetic and witty as any previous Pigeon John release but, way more than ever before, this is his album. With the aid of General Electriks’ Herve Salters, he produced the whole record, including, for the first time, recording and chopping up his own instrumentation rather than just flipping samples and banging on an MPC.
Pigeon John’s dynamic live show will be hitting Australia in May, with very special guests to be announced soon.
PIGEON JOHN – DRAGON SLAYER AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2011 presented by Other Tongues.
Adebisi Shank are an Irish progressive/rock/something trio who are awesome. Their second record, aptly titled ‘This Is The Second Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank‘, was recently released via the always-awesome Sargent House. I’m not even going to begin to describe their music, as it defies categorisation, but if you view the upside-down guitarist above, well, it’ll give you some idea. Listen to and download the track “Genki Shank” below.
[to download, click the arrow on the right of the waveform]
Former Special Patrol frontman Myles Mayo released his debut, self-titled solo record on Friday. To celebrate, we’re giving away the track ‘How You Done Me Wrong’ – a former iTunes Single Of The Week and Triple J Mornings Catch Of The Day – for free. So if you haven’t grabbed the track yet, now’s your chance.
Myles’ new record is in all good record stores, and on iTunes, now.
[to download, click the arrow on the right of the waveform]
We’ve been pretty damn excited since announcing the release of Seekae’s forthcoming record +Dome to play y’all some music from Seekae’s forthcoming record +Dome, and now, finally, we can. Below is the track “Gnor”, the seventh of a haunting collection of twelve from the vaunted Sydney three piece. If you’re familiar with the trio, you’ll notice it’s more than a follow-up record, but rather a new beginning. And if you’re not familiar, then prepare to be drawn into some seriously addictive soundscapes.
Also – if you pre-order the album from JB Hifi, you get a free copy of their first album, The Sound Of Trees Falling On People, free.
[to download, click the arrow on the right of the waveform]
It may be just a year sinceErland & The Carnival released their eponymous debut, but the London-based trio –fronted by statuesque Orcadian singer Erland Cooper – aren’t waiting to let the grass grow: they’re about to return with a second album that’s darkly poppy, more direct, more electronic and more twisted.
Take the cover, for instance: a documentary photo of the Enfield poltergeist at work in the late ‘70s, it depicts young Janet Hodgson being thrown across her bedroom by the much-debated dark spirit.
“I remember seeing the shot in a book when I was a kid and it always stuck with me,” says guitarist Simon Tong, ex of The Verve and The Good, The Bad & The Queen, now a guitar-for-hire in Gorillaz. “It influenced the music because we’re trying to create a soundtrack to an imaginary horror film about the supernatural.”
The album was recorded deep in the bowels of a ship moored at Embankment on the river Thames, where dehumidifiers never did manage to remove the dank smell and the sounds of water created an unmistakable ambience.
“You could hear sounds in the hull when we were mixing the record,” says drummer David Nock, former right hand man of producer Youth, with experience playing and engineering for David Gilmour, The Orb, Paul McCartney and many more. “You’d get home and play it again and realise that something was missing, so we had to set up contact mics all around the ship to capture its unique sounds.”
Like their music, the ship they recorded the album on is full of history. Built in 1918, it last sailed as a pirate radio station broadcasting far-out sounds to the mainland. Before that, it played a crucial part in the war effort. “It used to be a passenger cruise liner. The U-boats would clock it, see it was a passenger ship and surface to conserve air. Then turrets would come out of it and shoot at them,” says David. “It’s the Trojan Horse of ships, and we were in the belly of it.”
Nightingale is conceived as something of a Trojan Horse itself, because sweet pop moments punctuate moments of all out insanity. First single Map Of An Englishman – available on iTunes today – comes early, but it’s a lure into the madhouse beyond.
“It’s the handshake on the way to the strange psychedelia within,” says David. “After that, it’s like being at a Halloween party: you’ll get acid dropped in your drink and wake up naked on a beach in Orkney 17 hours later.”
Best known for his work as the drummer for Australia’s most critically acclaimed rock band The Drones, Mike Noga is set to release his sophomore record, ‘The Balladeer Hunter‘, on April 1st.
A few months back, Mike Noga felt cheated.
“Upon flicking through the FM dial with careless abandon one day, it occurred to me that no matter how hard I looked, I could not, for the life of me, find any true SOUL in the songs that were being handed back to me on a static plate”.
Finding a rare gap in his hectic schedule, Mike decided to address the situation. He gathered close friends, his Gentlemen of Fortune cohorts Pat Bourke (Dallas Crane) on bass and Gus Agars (The Gin Club) on drums. They set up shop in an old warehouse on the outskirts of Melbourne, rehearsed up these songs and two nights later he had the finished result. Each song captured in the first or second takes. No more mucking around. Get in there, blast them out, and get out. The way it used to be done, and for Mike, the only way.
Mixed by good friend Burke Reid (The Drones, The Mess Hall, Gerling), ‘The Balladeer Hunter‘, follow up to Noga’s 2006 debut ‘Folk Songs‘ is an all too rare slice of reality and soul. A true ‘album’ as opposed to a collection of songs, and a modern day mix of folk ballads and slap-in-the-face, venom-filled rockers that wreak of early Springsteen, 70’s Dylan, the relentless pummelng of Suicide back to back with the secret whisper of Leonard Cohen.
An album that will remain ageless.
Mike is currently on tour in Europe with Band Of Horses, follow him on Twitter of Facebox for updates.
It’s hard to categorise Gabby Young (unless one counts “uncategorisable” as a category, which I do not). Her music is a stunningly beautiful melange of delicate pop, folk and cabaret that is as majestic as it is mesmerising. This beauty is only enhanced by Gabby’s unique aesthetic, a unique aesthetic that was explored in Artrocker’s double page “How To Look Like Gabby Young” spread.
Her new album, We’re All In This Together, was released last year to critical acclaim both here and in her native England, with the Australian appraising her as “Kate Bush meets Ani DiFranco with shades of Regina Spektor…never a dull moment.” Perhaps most exciting though, is the fact that she’s currently on tour in Australia with a handful of the ‘Other Animals’, with whom she usually performs in a 9-piece setup. She’s playing at Raval tomorrow (Wednesday 23/2) night with Scott Spark, and The Toff In Town tomorrow (Thursday 24/2) night with Yeo.
To celebrate, we’re offering the title track to her album, “We’re All In This Together” as a free download. Enjoy!
[to download, click the arrow on the right of the waveform]
Full Time Hobby’s finest Eclectic Folk/Electronic Experimentalists Tunng are gracing our shores this week to play Playground Weekender, and a series of sideshows in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth in support of their brilliant new album ‘…And Then We Saw Land’. The album was released mid last year, with NME referring to it (rightly) as “unadulterated genius”, but to celebrate the tour we’ve released a special 2 disc edition of the album, with a bonus disc of remixes from artists such as Department Of Eagles, DNTEL, Daedelus, The Earlies, Max Tundra and heaps more.
Check out the track “Don’t Look Down Or Back” below, for free download an’ that.
[to download, click the arrow on the right of the waveform]
We are proud to announce electronic trio Seekae‘s second offering ‘+Dome‘, to be released on March 25 by Rice Is Nice.
2008 saw the release of debut album ‘The Sound of Trees Falling On People’ to immense critical acclaim, including Rolling Stone’s apt description of the record as “an album that’s as ambient and mesmerizing as an iced-over forest.” Along with a plethora of 5 star reviews, FBI Radio crowned the record “one of Australian top ten albums of the decade” and listeners also recognised the band at Sydney’s Music Arts and Culture Awards (SMAC) as the Best Live Act.
The band have had an incredibly busy few years supporting the praised debut release, touring with the likes of PVT, Broadcast, Cloud Control, Decoder Ring and Midnight Juggernauts, as well as selling out their own headline nights.
Now 2011 holds something new for Seekae. +Dome.
Fusing the 808 and bass-heavy club sounds of the new decade and their own familiar brand of electronica, the Sydney three-piece return with their Sophomore release. Paying homage to the sound and textures of Tokyo, Berlin, Chicago and London, +Dome blends live instrumentation with electronics and samples collected over two years of performing, touring and writing.
It’s percussive, loud and exciting at times – reserved and laid back at others, but every track oozes a warm feeling that could only be described as Seekae. George Nicholas, John Hassell and Alex Cameron take + Dome to the stage with an impressive live show that boasts live drums, guitars , samplers and synthesizers. They are back to break more ground.
Oh yes, The Get Up Kids have re-formed, and are set to release their first album since 2004′s ‘Guilt Show’. The new record -entitled ‘There Are Rules’ – is being released on the band’s own label, Quality Hill Records. The Australian edition, which features two extra tracks, is out February 4th, and the first single from it, “Shatter Your Lungs”, is available below for listening and free download.
In 2009, the band launched a national tour to celebrate the ten year anniversary of the release of the seminal ‘Something To Write Home About’. It was during rehearsals for this tour that the band decided, on the spur of the moment, to pen some new material. In a recent interview with Drowned In Sound about the reformation, guitarist Jim Suptic reflected on today’s punk/emo scene, which they so famously helped shape: “The punk scene we came out of and the punk scene now are completely different. It’s like glam rock now… If this is the world we helped create, then I apologise.” When asked about the many bands they’d inspired, such as Fall Out Boy, Blink 182, and myriad others, he (hilariously) said “The problem is most of them aren’t very good.”
Haha, well fair enough.
[to download, click the arrow on the right of the waveform]
Seeing as it’s the season of listing albums from 2010 in a numerical fashion, check out the top 25 records of this year, as chosen by us here at OT. Merry Christmas an’ that.
5. The Phantom Band – The Wants (Chemikal Underground/Other Tongues)
4. Myles Mayo – Myles Mayo (Other Tongues) Technically not released til next year, but shh. 3. The Black Keys – Brothers (V2)
2. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (Merge)
1. The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang (Side One Dummy)
5. Fang Island – Fang Island (Sargent House)
4. Lucy Love – Kilo (Superbillion)
3. Eminem – Recovery (Shady/Aftermath)
2. Marina & The Diamonds – The Family Jewels (679)
1. Jack Parow – Jack Parow (Supra Familias)
Leon
5. PVT – Church With No Magic (Warp)
4. The Phantom Band – The Wants (Chemikal Underground/Other Tongues)
3. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening (DFA)
2. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach (EMI)
1. Beach House – Teen Dream (Sub Pop)
So last week we had our (sort of) Christmas party at the Gaelic Club. It was a pretty awesome night, Dereb The Ambassador headlined, launching his single ‘Etu Gela’, and the likes of Myles Mayo, Amaya Laucirica and Jinja Dafari DJ (sic) supported. It was an awesome night, and photos, for those who are interested, are below.
Merry X/Christmas from Other Tongues! To celebrate the season, we’re giving away the yuletide-relevant track “Last Christmas (What Do You Say?)” from the brilliant Scott Spark for free download! Check it out below. Also, don’t forget tonight is our showcase at the Gaelic Club in Surry Hills, featuring Dereb The Ambassador, Myles Mayo, Amaya Laucirica and Jinja Safari DJs. It’s only $10, and entry includes a free copy of our Australian sampler, with tracks from the aforementioned, plus You Am I, 78 Saab, Seja, Cosmonaut, Tuka, Class A, Tobias Cummings, Lisa Miller, Richard In Your Mind, Straight Arrows and more. Come! XOXO
[to download, click the arrow on the right of the waveform]
