New and Recent Releases July 09

Sora Shima's third E.P. Destroy Electronica balances power, noise and beauty in five (sometimes lengthy) instrumentals. On E.P. opener 'Here be Dragons' the Hamilton drum, bass and guitar four piece create a moody, evocative soundscape, that shimmers and builds into thundering waves of sound. 'Calor Human' is more contemplative with a cello adding a warm touch, while 'Hello Big Sky' adds beats to the droning guitars. Sora Shima inhabit a position on the musical landscape close to Napier band Jakob, Dunedin's HDU, and defunct Christchurch band Barnard's Star. I wish I'd discovered this band earlier. At the Sora Shima website you'll find links to free downloads of two earlier E.P.s and info on how to get hold of Destroy Electronica. I've also posted a couple of Sora Shima clips on the video page - check out the video for 'Hovercraft' - it's really good.

Over the 30 odd year career of The Clean they've only released a handful of studio albums, but their reputation means each is eargerly awaited by fans around the world. They have taken their influences, punk, psychedelic pop, and more recently folk and eastern drones, and melded their own unique and instantly recognisible sound. The Clean are one of only a few kiwi musical acts who can be said to have had a global influence, cited as such by the likes of Pavement and Yo La Tengo. They've recently signed with American label Merge Records who will release Mister Pop in September, the band's first studio album, since 2001. The song 'In the Dreamlife You Need a Rubber Soul' is available from the Merge website as a free download. For more more info on the early days of the band check out Part 1 of National Radio's Flying Nun doco. There's a recent live clip on the video page.

The New Telepathics are led by Darren Harkness, born in Gore, and now living in Germany. Darren has a broad musical background, having played in rock group Dead Flowers, experimentalists From Scratch and indie group Spacesuit. The New Telepathics album Rudiments and Theories of Silence is a diverse collection of rich and complex songs ranging across, and melding, those various musical threads along with jazz and light touches of Afrobeat. Sometimes including up to ten members, The New Telepathics are an amazing live group. I've put a video of the group performing in studio on the video page and there are more songs at the Red Bull Studio site. There is a National Radio interview with Darren Harkness here (stream).

I've been a fan of Urbantramper since I heard the song 'Shitty Flat' on an A Low Hum compilation a few years ago. That song is a great example of the endearingly naive angst that is the subject of Urbantramper's introspective pop. The band are currently developing a loose manifesto, examining issues of music distribution and pricing and the impact of these on the relationship between artists and audience. As a result the band are experimenting with free and pay-what-you-want distribution of downloads. On the Urbantramper blog the band have recently made a number of new and past songs available for free but they will release a new album in September. Their last, 'Tokon and the Colours' is the only release currently available. You can buy it through Amplifier. There are Urbantramper clips on the video page and you can hear a National Radio live session here (stream).

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New & Recent Releases March 08

Another month and another batch of great new releases. Over the last few weeks I have been returning again and again to a stunningly good EP, The Wolves, from Wellington band Secret Knives. The band mix chiming guitars with electronic textures and angsty, but not overwrought, vocals. Without sounding like any of the current crop of American indie bands like Vampire Weekend, Yeasayer, Beach House etc. they would sit comfortably in a playlist alongside those bands and match them for quality. For a New Zealand comparison think of maybe a happier Shocking Pinks. There is very little info to be had about the band but the seven track EP has been getting rave reviews on NZ and international blogs. This is one of my favourite NZ releases of the year and is available for FREE download from A Low Hum. Highly recommended.

Also out this month is an eclectic EP, You Have Been Warned from the New Telepathics, the musical vehicle for Darryn Harkness - producer, song writer and multi instrumentalist. Harkness has just recently returned from London and has played a bunch of live shows for the first time in nearly a decade. Both live and on the EP this is not standard fare. Harkness mixes sound improvisation, indie rock, afro-beat and jazz and out of it creates challenging and engaging music. Well worth watching is a live-in-the-studio performance recorded at the Red Bull studios. (I only just discovered this site but there is a whole treasure trove of material here for NZ music fans. I've posted one New Telepathics track on the video page).

Lawence Arabia is James Milne who also heads the Reduction Agents, whose album Dance the Reduction Agents was one of my favourite albums of 2006 and is highly recommended. Although very good I wasn't quite so keen on the self titled Lawrence Arabia album that came out around the same time, maybe it's just that I'm more of a band man, but this new song, 'Beautiful Young Crew', available on his myspace page, has really grabbed me.

Up next are Thousand Suns, who have released an album of easy-going guitar and percussion world-music influenced pop called Fascination. I have to say the bongo drum (I'm sure there must be a more correct musical term) got a bit much over a whole album but taken song by song there are some great laid-back summer tunes here as demonstrated on the song included in this episode - Something Beautiful Exists. You can buy the album and sample more tracks at Amplifier.

Steve Abel has long been a Counting The Beat favourite. His album Little Death won a well deserved Album of The Year in the inaugural Alternatuis. A new album, Flax Happy is due soon and the songs that have surfaced to date are certainly whetting the appetite for another classic. You can download 'Sad Girls' from Steve's website and hear 'Sally' on his myspace.

And a plea, English band House of Love recorded a cover of The Chills 'Pink Frost' which I have not been able to track down anywhere - does anyone have a copy I can get an MP3 of? Contact me at the email link at the top of the page.

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