Jump for joy because it’s the end of week and you’ve earned the right cut loose. This week see’s a me indulging a bit on my love of emotional shoegazing psychedelic tribal synth pop house music. yes, as you may have gathered, that isn’t really genre… Anyway, this week’s faves and download links are after the jump.

Gypsy & The Cat – Jona Vark

“Her name is Jona. Jona Vark…”

Ah, some more indie synth pop goodness! After listening to this track I can definitely feel a bit of Empire Of The Sun (the guitar riff = a little bit of ‘We Are The People’), M83, anything from a John Hughes movie, but a lot more Fleetwood Mac. Yes, I like Fleetwood Mac. Not just like, probably love. There I said it… There are definitely elements of ‘Little Lies’ and ‘Dreams’ in this track, especially in the chorus.

While most of the major blogs, Mark Ronson on his East Village radio show and even the late DJ AM were all over the local duo from the middle of last year, they’ve only now started to get a little more radio airplay and more importantly, gotten themselves ingrained into me! Head over to their MySpace and give the rest of their stuff a listen. Hanging out big time for this LP release…

Caribou – Odessa

Now this is an interesting bit of music, quirky and haunting at the same time. It’s fairly heavily layered, so you’re ears will have fun deciphering all the sounds here.  I swear when I first heard the vocals in this track I thought that perhaps Erlend Øye of Kings of Convenience and the Whitest Boy Alive fame had contributed. So if you like that kind of minimal-esque type of chill-house you’ll probably like this latest offering from Caribou.

Breakbot – Baby I’m Yours (Featuring IRFANE)

Unadulterated disco pop funk fun! When you hear this track you can’t help but bounce and boogey. If you’re a fan of the works of Shazam, Cassian, The Twelves etc., I think you’ll did this track.

The Jezabels – Hurt Me

“C’mon evil hurt me, hurt me, hurt me…”

Wow. What a track. Powerful and achingly beautiful at the same time. The track sucks you in with Hayley’s haunting vocals/lyrics, complemented by the frenetic drumming and strumming from band members Sam and Nik respectively, intertwined with Heather’s graceful piano work. Don’t forget to add a bit of reverb and swooping strings for effect during the bridge and chorus.

Throw all of this together and you get a rolling wall of big sound that builds and builds till it smacks you right in the face and just like that, disappears as quickly as it arrives. I’m not surprised to see that the Arcade Fire are listed as an influence to the Jezabels on their MySpace page.

Might as well add the music video here since it was just released last month:

Unfortunately there appears to be no Victorian shows lined up in the near future but if you are in Queensland or NSW you can catch them this month at the Playground Weekend festival February 21st or at the Enmore Theatre on the 24th supporting Placebo.

Yeasayer – Ambling Alp

A nice pysch-alt-electro-pop ditty here from NY group Yeasayer. Like any good song (or at least the ones that I like anyway…), it’s instantly catchy and just downright fun. The little synth solo breakdown at the end is just freakin’ awesome!

Douster – King Of Africa

Yes, this track has been floating around the interwebz for a while now, and yes, Douster is no n00b to the scene. These “weekly” posts however are purely an avenue for me to write about the songs that I like at a moment in time and why they got me hooked that first time.

So pretentious rant aside (hehe!), this track features some great sampling from the Lion King’s opening, the powerful ‘Circle of Life’. What you’re left in store for is five minutes of catchy, fun afro-funk-house. I could see this being a nifty opener to a set or bridge/tone shift for all you wheels of steel traders… Speaking of which, Douster is playing at the Espy on February 20th for us local kids wanting to catch him in the act.

So that’s it! Another week done and only one more away till Classixx are in town… Did I mention that I CAN’T FUCKIN’ WAIT TO SEE CLASSIXX?!?!

Have a good weekend folks and we’ll see ya next week where I guess I could try and make it a lovers themed tunage… Or a happy new year to all the chinky readers out there haha! Peace out!

I promise I'll post more music more often! Serious!

Yep it’s been anything but weekly and I do apologise for that if you’ve been hanging for new tunes. Was it motivation? Not really, I’ve been wanting to post, serious! Lack of writing finesse in review writing? Quite possibly. I mean I’d like to give you guys some insight into who the artist is/are and what I think of the music but at the end of the day that’s what your ears are for. And google/wiki are there for more info…

Anyway, whatever the reason, I’m gonna try before the new year comes around to get into the habit of doing this more regularly. So less artist waffle from me and more stuff for you to download/listen to and enjoy. Just in case, I’m gonna call these posts moving forward Noodle Gumble’s “Not so weekly tunage” posts just in case I relapse again… Read on for this week’s offerings.

Sia – You’ve Changed
Originally a housier Lauren Flax tune with Sia contributing on the vocals. This version sees Sia handling all the vocals and has had a disco/pop wand waved over it. In my opinion this version of the track is far better than the original with it being lot more upbeat and just downright fun.

Faux Pas – Silver Line
Dreamy little shoegazy tune from Melbourne producer Tim Shiel aka Faux Pas who also presents a weekly show on Melbourne’s Triple R radio station. The “Silver Line EP” also contains a collection of remixes of this track so pop on over to Tim’s site if you’re interested in those also.

KillaQueenz – Boyfriend (DCUP Remix)
Some more disco synth pop goodness from DCUP on his remix of this KillaQueenz track. If you haven’t noticed I’m slightly impartial to that disco/synth sound. Lord, help me!

Boris Dlugosch – Bangkok
Monster of a track that kept me bouncing each time I heard it at Stereosonic over the weekend. Heaps of fidget bits plus that big room sound make this track a winner in my books.

Fake Blood – I Think I Like It
I love Fake Blood and fidget, but I think may love Fake Blood and disco strings even more. Thanks to Sleeves for enlightening me on the who/what of the track. Turns out I already had the “Fix Your Accent EP” on vinyl and completely forgot about this gem. C’mon brain! Lift yer game!

Don Diablo – I Am Not From France (Linus Love Remix)

Don Diablo – Rave Rave Rave

A few goodies that got dropped in my mailbox. “I Am Not From France” is a tastemaker single for what is to come from Don Diablo in 2010. The EP is aiming for a December 11th and will includes remixes by Linus Loves, Cagedbaby, Louis La Roche and Hugo van Dyck as well as the ravetastic “Rave Rave Rave”, which is included as a bonus track. Don’t forget that you can catch Don Diablo at the national Summadayze festivals in the upcoming new year. Till then, enjoy!

Welcome one and all to another week of music from your truly. It’s looking like this week’s post is gonna skew towards the electronic side of my musical tastings. I promise that’s it’s all gonna be accessible! Alternatively, I could mention my obsession over Radiohead’s back catalogue but you’ve all heard of them before anyway…

Ryskee – Leave Me Amor (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)

Ryskee have got your shoegazing needs covered

First cab off the ranks is Ryskee, a duo comprising of Frenchman Paul de Homem-Christo (aka Play Paul aka Guy-Man bro’s from Daft Punk) and Danish vocalist Leslie Ming.

I’m so confused by this track. The Beetroots are supposed to suck me in, chew and spit me out in a grind of chunky bass and ripping synths. They produce the stuff that gets you hot and sweaty on the d-floor. This track… Ummm… This track is nothing like that.  I’d expected to hear this on the soundtrack to a John Hughes 80s teen flick or heck even off an M83. It’s dreamy. It’s cheesy. It’s wispy. It’s shoegaze. It’s FUCKING FANTASTIC.

MSTRKRFT – Heartbreaker (Featuring John Legend)

MSTRKRFT - Look good in leather and hockey masks

I have to admit that the Fist Of God was a little bit of a letdown for me, it was kinda scattered all over the place. I do really dig the tracks “1000 Cigarettes”, “VuVuVu” and of course this one though so it’s not all doom and gloom. “Heartbreaker” stands out more me because it blends the catchy, uptempo feel that the music offers and gels together the lamenting croon of John Legend. What you get is an interesting mix of a track where you kinda want to jump around but figure it might be too painful to do so…. Awww!

Anyway, here’s the video to the track featuring hipsters/cool kids, a love story, disapproving father and a convenience store. Wooo!

Jamie T – Sticks ‘N’ Stones

"Aye! Check out my new mixing board!"

Yeah this track has been out a while but with “Chaka Demus” getting a bit of a flog on the radio of late I thought it’d be good to visit old faithful… Anyway, I just really dig the cocky vibe and bravado the track extrudes… It’s just damn cool. Video below for those interested and yes, the same vibe aurally is transferred visually:

“Sticks ‘N’ Stones” will appear on Jamie’s forthcoming album Kings and Queens which is due out in early September.

So that’s it, a very small post this week. As always, if you dig the artist/music the go buy it whether physical/digital and go see them live. Your conscience and the artists will love you more for it!

Another week and another batch of music. Pretty short entry this week with a focus on a few melancholic tracks that have been out for quite some time now but continue to get some regular airplay from myself. Anyway, onto the music…

Midlake – Roscoe

Midlake is not Uncle Sam's answer to Radiohead...

Often compared to Radiohead because of their similar take on sound and influences, Midlake tend to use more use of synths combined with a song writing style emphasising on evokative imagery. Yes I know Tim Smith sounds like Thom Yorke but then you could compare Interpol’s Paul Banks to Joy Division’s Ian Curtis, Muse’s Matt Bellamy  to Jeff Buckley etc. Let’s face it, whatever the comparison it sounds great.

Anyway, while I absolutely love this version off the album “The Trials of Van Occupanther” I do suggest you give the  Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve (BTWS) remix of the track a whirl also. Rather than butchering the original, they’ve stripped away the hopeless angst and built on the wispy, dream-like sounds to create something that is even more soothing on the soul. Love the reverse guitar sampling embedded in the track. In case you’re wondering, BTWS is a side-project comprising of electronic producers Erol Alkan (here for Parklife yeah!) and Richard Norris. So enough ranting from me, you can judge the remix yourself by getting it HERE.

Scott Matthews – Elusive

Scott Matthews looking a little more cheery here

This one is a bit of an oldie now, well I guess 2006 is considered old now right? So yeah, “Elusive” was the lead single off Scott Matthews debut album “Passing Stranger” and hearing it today it still gives me the same beautiful yet, haunting feel it did back then. I suppose I could rant on about the lyrics and what they mean to me and shit but  a) that’d be too emo me (is that still in these days?) and b) I’d hate to sway your opinion before you’ve actually had a chance to listen to the track… If you do dig this track, have a dig around for the entire album and maybe look into his new one “Elsewhere” which was released earlier this year.

Bon Iver – Blood Bank

Bon Iver now back from the wilderness...

So Bon Iver is the last on my list of woe and melancholy for this week. “Blood Bank” comes off the EP of the same name and features tracks that didn’t make the cut on Justin Vernon’s debut release “For Emma, Forever Ago”. Anyway, while this track has the trademarks of the debut album it’s a little more upbeat and warm.

Righty-O! That should wrap up this week’s depressing selection of tunes.  As always, if you dig the artist/music the go buy it whether physical/digital and go see them live. Your conscience and the artists will love you more for it!