Tune. New Sounds for the Week: 16 Feb

Having an appreciation for nearly every music genre and notable sub-genres (it gets complicated, trust me) has its perks. One of them is that you will never get bored or run out of things to listen to, or discover. You are also more likely to get super-jazzed if producers masterfully blend genres together, as if the artist really gets you, and singles you out in the crowd. Winner! For those of us who still haven’t warmed to the new year, guess what?

It’s the middle of February, and it’s time to wake up.

This week I’ve been dreaming of covering New York Fashion Week directly from the runways, and dreams are important. They give us that lust for life that we all crave/chase down mercilessly. Now, before we begin, I’d like to state without prejudice that I am a little preoccupied with everything new from Miike Snow right now (24/7 a little bit Genghis Khan).

Love & Other Crimes: Imagination

Out of Adelaide, Love & Other Crimes delivers their new single Imagination, an instantly anthemic synth-rock track with vocals sung in unison, and reminiscent of Eurythmics‘ ‘Missionary Man’, with a dash of Grace Jones… and maybe a pinch of mid 80s Do Re Mi. The track was produced by JP Fung (Art Vs Science, Client Liaison) and Wayne Connolly (Boy & Bear, The Vines) and the instrumentation sounds just like a 12″ remix record from yesteryear (or the ‘olden days’). Their forthcoming debut EP, due out in April, promises to have ‘noir-esque layers of quiet desperation and subtle melancholia.’ We certainly hope they have the dramatic videos to match.

U.S. Girls: Navy & Cream

U.S. Girls aka Meg Remy will make her Australian tour debut this March, playing headline shows in Brisbane and Melbourne, supporting Sleater-Kinney in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as playing at Golden Plains. Full tour details and tickets here.

Navy & Cream is the next track from the ‘Half Free‘ album, and for the video Remy worked with artist and animator Emily Pelstring, whose hand-drawn animations coupled with footage of Meg singing have been processed using different techniques with ‘VJ software, a video projector, an antique video camera and an analog color-corrector, before being mixed with a feedback loop on one channel, and the original source material on the other to create a beguiling montage of screen-glare, echoing trails and softened edges’.

Majid Jordan: My Love feat. Drake

Majid Jordan, (Majid Al Maskati and Jordan Ullman) are an electro alternative R&B duo who met while attending the University of Toronto, and until now, they’ve been largely hidden from view.

Majid Jordan featured on and co-produced Drake’s hit Hold On, We’re Going Home from Nothing Was The Same. Their next collaboration with Drake was on Mine for Beyoncé’s self-titled fifth album. Earlier this month, Majid Jordan released their first full length album. Watch the video for My Love feat. Drake here:

LIIMA: Amerika

LIIMA (translated from Finnish as glue) is a newly formed band who recently signed to the 4AD record label and announced their debut album ‘ii’. Songs on the album were written in Finland, Berlin, Istanbul and Madeira, with each place influencing the sound, and the band found the spontaneity of writing and performing in a limited time frame hugely liberating.

Their new single, Amerika, is a spritely, indie pop gem that will set your day on the right course.

Stay: Smiling Faces

Stay is a band of psych rock’n’rollers from Barcelona. Their new album The Mean Solar Times was produced and recorded by Brit Pop master wizard Owen Morris (Oasis, The Verve) and features guest guitar riffs from Andy Bell (Ride, Hurricane#1, Oasis, Beady Eye) on three tracks, including Smiling Faces which you can watch here:

Pity Sex: Burden You

Don’t be put off by the name. You should want to listen to Michigan quartet Pity Sex, not because you’re doing me a favour (or feel sorry for me – ha!), but because it’s strikingly beautiful, atmospheric indie rock – Brendan & Britty’s vocals are sublime.

Their new album White Hot Moon will be released on April 29.

Wild Nothing: A Woman’s Wisdom

Brooklyn-based musician Jake Tatum a.k.a. Wild Nothing, will release his third-studio album Life of Pause on Friday 19th February. The Garb Wire has already featured TV Queen and To Know You – Wild Nothing is real grower, and someone to listen to when you make time to daydream. A Woman’s Wisdom is a perfect appetiser to this Friday’s main course.

Gordi: Avant Gardener

Gordi‘s extraordinary and completely reworked rendition of Courtney Barnett’s legendary single ‘Avant Gardener’ from the ARIA award winning album, ‘Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit’, proves that Gordi is one of Australia’s most promising exports – she recently signed to prestigious US Jagjaguwar label (home to the likes of Bon Iver, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Oxygen).

As well as her tour support for Of Monsters and Men in Australia, Gordi will accompany Norwegian indie outfit Highasakite on their UK tour, and she also received a coveted festival slot at Washington’s Sasquatch Festival, where she’ll be joining the likes of Florence and the Machine, Disclosure and Alabama Shakes.

The Prettiots: Stabler

Meet New York city’s The Prettiots (Kay Kasparhauser and Lulu Landolfi).

Packed with catchy melodies, memorable hooks and heart on the sleeve lyrics,their debut album Funs Cool captures thoughtful, funny, and catchy-as-hell storytelling from young women living in a big city, and watching life unfurl in fits and starts before them. Stabler is ‘at once an ode to Elliot Stabler, the detective with a heart of gold from NBC’s Law & Order series, and a wistful examination of idealism in romantic relationships.’

Hozier – Cherry Wine

The powerful Cherry Wine video brings much needed attention to domestic abuse – Hozier pledged to donate the proceeds from iTunes single release downloads to countless domestic abuse support agencies around the world.

The compelling video stars two time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan in a moving portrayal of a woman dealing with a physically abusive relationship. The clip also stars actor Moe Dunford (Vikings, Game Of Thrones) and is directed by Emmy winning Irish director Dearbhla Walsh.

#FaceUpToDomesticViolence

The wholesale price from the iTunes download of this special single release in each country will be donated to the charities below. In Australia the minimum amount donated per download will be AUS$1.29