Song to watch
So there were a few tracks that really stood out in May but certainly not as many as past months, truth be told there were quite a few let downs, but these are a couple of the stand outs.
Dune Rats – Fuck It
Queenslanders Dune Rats kick started the month of with a bang when they released their new single ‘Fuck It’. Self describing the song as “stoner garage pop,” it is a lot closer to having more of a noise pop/surf punk vibe about it (ala Wavves). Either way, this track has a lot of energy and is catchy as hell, and that’s exactly what we like to here. The boys have finished up their tour for the single launch but will no doubt be in a nearby capital city again soon, trust me when I say it’ll be a party.
Lupe Fiasco – Around My Way [Freedom Ain’t Free]
Cutting straight through the rest of the clutter from May was the return of Lupe. That’s right! Lupe has returned! While I really dug a lot of the tracks on L.A.S.E.R.S. (mainly due to his lyrical genius) a lot of his other early fans turned up their noses in disgust. If that was you, you will be ever so relieved to know that ‘Around My Way’ has no pop hooks, auto-tune or dance beats. It instead uses a traditional hip-hop beat sampled throughout the track under Lupe’s razor sharp, and thought provoking rapping. This track is every bit a winner, I only hope that the sharp chorus will be enough to keep his mainstream fans happy.
There was a little bit of controversy when the creator of the sampled beat Pete Rock detested the use of the sample because the original song was so personal for him, even though he originally gave the go ahead (albeit a conditional go ahead). Lupe hit back saying it’s time to put a new spin on things, and I agree. This is the nature of hip-hop, it’s just one big incestual pool of beat makers and samplers.
Best Video Clip
Plenty of video clips get released every month, but rarely are they more rad than those in Naysayer and Gilsun’s video mixtape series. The third installment in the series came out this month and it’s a story of epic proportions, a random story but its ever so captivating. Get on board with these guys here.
Best gig
Digitalism – The Forum, Melbourne – Friday May 4th
I always love it when artists have DJs as supports (admittedly though, it’s preferable if there are bands playing as well) as I am a big fan of continuous entertainment. So when I read that the supports for Digitalism were going to be Beni and ‘local DJs’, I expected a continuous party going late into the night. When I arrived however, you can imagine my disappointment in finding that there was only Kris Baha supporting and he was just about to finish. This disappointment was highlighted by the fact that Beni started playing to a very minimal crowd.
Once Beni was warmed up however, he played a solid set of edits and remixes slowly getting the crowd out of hiding and out of their shells. By the time he had finished, the venue was clearly full and it was such a clean transition going straight from DJ to main act. Then Digitalism came out and absolutely killed it. They played the perfect selection of their songs in the perfect order in their hybrid set somewhere between a DJ and a live act. After seeing them at Parklife 2011, I had had my doubts about seeing them again but it seems an indoor venue where they can properly utilize their stage space with lighting, screens and a giant digital heart is really where they need to be seen. Their encore was the perfect end to the night and the audience seemed to all be abuzz with praise for their performance afterwards.
Most favourable news
The fact that Spotify is now in Australia and New Zealand is big news. No doubt, a free music streaming service that still has the potential to make money will go a long way.
However, in Mirador Records news Jed Morgan was the winner of our recent Facebook competition. Along with a selection of music and stickers, Jed chose to receive the ‘Wolf in your head’ and ‘The Gateway Drug’ tees from the Jungles range pictured above. Congrats Jed, we will be having more competitions and specials in the near future so make sure you ‘like’ us on Facebook to stay in the loop.
Remix discovery
Hermitude – Speak of the Devil (Cosmo Black and DEJA Remix)
Elefant Traks have been tweeting about how many entries they have had to their Hermitude remix competition in which budding producers got to try their hand at breathing new life into their popular tune‘Speak of the Devil.’ According to Elefant Traks, some entries are good and some are not so good. This is easily the best we have heard from two awesome Melbourne producers teaming up together.
The Aston Shuffle – Won’t Get Lost (Flume Remix)
Flume is a legend on the rise. Legit, everything he touches turns to gold whether on his own or as one half of What So Not. This is further proof, adding his masterful hand to craft something magical.
Viral Video you should have already seen
If Diablo 3 Were a Girl
With all the hype about Diablo 3 coming out, I for one have noticed that the key target market seems to be young men now well into their twenties who wasted hours being totally engulfed by the first incarnation of Diablo, people just like me. I’d say that’s why this video has gone very viral very quickly; it’s a smart take on the fact that everyone who fits this description will possibly have jobs and girlfriends now.
Featured local band
Oisima
Oisima is definitely one Adelaide musician teetering on the edge of greatness, if you haven’t heard his beats you are in for a treat. Crafting surreal, airy soundscapes and remixes, Oisima has had a lot on his plate as of late. Becoming a regular on the Adelaide live circuit, he has supported both Flume (Sydney) and Gallapagoose (Melbourne) in April and among other gigs had his own EP launch in May. His first EP has been picked up and released by Herbede Records (Berlin) and Pilot Records and is now available for everyone everywhere, to purchase.
The EP is very fresh, having only just been released, the track ‘Blues through Bedlam’ was the first song to surface and comes with a free download.
El Mirador 