Islands

Once upon a time there lived a band called The Unicorns. They made strange and beautiful music. But like so many good things, they died far too young. Music lovers across the world mourned their death until one day, out of the ashes, a new band was born. That band was called Islands, and while they were different in many ways, they kept alive the spark that made The Unicorns so special.

OK, enough of the romantic narrative. The emergence of Islands was indeed an exciting time. For the Unicorns fans amongst us, it promised a continuing source of their quirky pop music. That was, more or less, what we got. Islands debut album, Return To The Sea, was a mixed bag of goodies, featuring everything from a rap battle to an epic 9-minute opening track. While it wasn't groundbreaking, it was a heap of fun and certainly proved that The Unicorns' spark was alive and kicking.

Two years later, they have returned with their second album, Arm's Way. I've actually had it for well over a month, but it's taken me this long to work out how I feel about it. In the end, it appears the band has broken free of their Unicorn origins and really established themselves as a separate entity. Now if you've been reading the above paragraphs, you may take this to be a bad thing, but I think it's for the best. Whereas the first album was hit and miss, this one consistently delivers. When you stop and think about it, it sounds little like The Unicorns, but this is irrelevant. It is still fun, intelligent pop music that's well worth a listen.

Creeper

And if you're interested, you should still check out their first album as it definitely has its moments, including this brilliant opener that I mentioned eariler:

Swans (Life After Death)

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Youth Group: New album

Today sees the release of Youth Group's fourth album, The Night Is Ours. You can hear the entire thing over at their myspace page, but get in quick because it probably won't last. The first single taken from it, Two Sides, is a brilliant track and a great way to kick off the new album. After a few spins, I'd say the rest isn't quite at that same high standard, but it certainly comes together to form a solid album. In time, it will only get better.

Youth Group are in the interesting position of being indie favourites who happened to make it big (courtesy of The O.C.). But whichever crowd you belong to, you shouldn't be dismissing this band. Their powerful song-writing, combined with Toby Martin's rich vocals make for some very moving music. I recently saw them perform the track which will likely become their next single, All This Will Pass. Despite being without a drummer, it demonstrated their live energy and added an extra bit of meaning to this song. If you're in Sydney or Melbourne, definitely try to catch them when they come through in late July.

All This Will Pass

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Dappled. Kids.

To be honest, the underage music scene in Sydney is quite pathetic. You see the occasional punk and emo gigs, or perhaps a big international act will play an all ages show, but as far as regular bands go, the ones I'm seeing each and every week, the kids get nothing. On one hand, this is great for us adults, but when you consider that their impressionable young minds are being lost to the likes of Panic At The Disco, it's cause for concern.

That's why this upcoming gig is so good. I couldn't think of a better band than Dappled Cities to win the hearts of our little brothers and sisters and lead them on a path to better musical taste. Not only that, but there's a nice selection of supports too. The Seabellies are great band who I've mentioned many times before, and as for Papa vs Pretty, I couldn't hold a higher regard. Still underage themselves, I'm blown away each time I see them. You can download their new single below, but regardless of what you think of it, you should make every effort to see them live. It's amazing.

Citizen No 1

Also, here's the video to their last track, which demonstrates some of their more electronic influences. At first I wasn't a fan, favouring the more guitar-centered sound of their shows, but this has really grown on me.



For the big kids amongst us, Dappled are also playing a show on June 27 (this friday) at The Annandale Hotel. These are their last shows before they hit the studio to record their third album. After hearing many of these songs previewed at their last show, it certainly seems like something to look forward to. No mp3's at this stage so you'll have to go watch them if you want a taste.

Dappled Cities | The Seabellies | The Wahas | Papa vs Pretty | Tickets

Songbird. Get excited.

I think it's time to take a break from the usual music recommendations and turn to something equally important: music software. It is, after all, the bridge between ourselves and our music in this digital age. Personally, I'm not attached to any one program, largely because my habit of constantly rearranging my files doesn't really suit library-based systems. But if I was to pick one, I'd have to go for Media Monkey, with it's brilliantly simple organising abilities.

However, with the arrival of Songbird, it might be time to give up my nomadic days and settle in the comfort of just one player. Its features are just too damn good to resist. For those who don't know, Songbird is a hybrid media player and web browser. In simple terms, it's pretty much iTunes and Firefox rolled into one nice product. This might seem rather pointless, but just wait till you see what this baby can do.

(click for a bigger view)

The media player functionality starts off simple and is based heavily around iTunes. It can do everything iTunes can, including loading songs onto an iPod (or similar) and even playing protected files bought from a digital store. This basic functionality can then be expanded through the use of add-ons (think Firefox extensions). This allows you to add things such as a play queue, last.fm support, cover flow and much more. One extension will automatically load information about the artist you are playing, such as photos, gigs, lyrics and a bio and display it nicely under your browser.


All in all, it does the trick in the media player department. And with the ability for users to create their own add-ons, functionality will quickly expand. But it is the web browser capabilities where the fun really begins.


As you can see in the above screenshot, you can visit websites from within Songbird, just like a normal browser. But when you stumble upon an mp3 blog such as this one, it automatically finds all the audio files and displays them nicely in a tab underneath. From here, you can play them as if they're in your library or download them for later enjoyment!


Anything you download is placed in a playlist where you can watch its progress and listen to it when done. It's also automatically added to your library, which goes to show how nice it is having one program handling everything. This really is great for anyone who frequents the mp3 blogosphere, making music discovery a breeze. It does have the occasional problem, where it doesn't pick up on dead links, and you're left waiting for a non-existent file to start playing, but otherwise it's great. And if you're a hype machine user, there's more to come....


Songbird is designed so that websites can be made to display extra content when viewed with it. The Hype Machine is the first website to properly implement this and it works a treat. On any page, it finds all the music files for you to easily stream, but also gives you a host of links for each. For the purchasing types, you have links to iTunes, eMusic and more, and for the thieving types, you can quickly jump to the relevant post.

Just to make sure I get the attention of you machiners out there, I thought now would be the appropriate time to share a track I'm loving (hehe...so subtle). It's by Brooklyn-based Yeasayer, who make some very powerful music (as you may already know).

2080

Now I would hope that everything above has you more than convinced, but I thought I'd mention one last cool thing about this brilliant piece of software (I'm not a nerd, I swear.....). Music blogs aren't the only thing that's enhanced when browsing with Songbird. Someone has created an extension called YouPlayer which is a must for any YouTube fans out there. It allows you to drag videos into the sidebar, so they play one after another while you continue browsing. Not only this, but you can download the files with a simple click to be played on your computer at a later date! The files are in flash video format, but will work on a player like Media Player Classic (which I also recommend!). I don't know how often you'd want to do this but it sure does seem cool.


After all this ranting and raving, I should probably add a disclaimer. This software is in the early stages of development, so doesn't always work as it should. However, it's stable enough to be enjoyed so don't shy away. With in-built expandability and developers who appreciate what music listeners want, Songbird is a very promising program that is sure to be a hit with music lovers. Download it here.

Sunny Day Sets Fire - Summer Palace

There are two things in life that just never seem to happen.

a) I never like an album the first time I hear it. I seem to operate on familiarity. I need to get to know the songs before I can decide whether I like them or not.

b) I never like any of the music that gets sent to me in the countless promo emails I receive. Granted, I don't actually listen to 90% of it, but I've almost given up hope. Something about being told something is good mustn't sit right.

That's why this album is so weird. I got an email, saw the word indie-pop, saw the word full stream and thought to myself "yeah, why not eh?". What ensued was one of the best first-time listens I've had in a good while. Something about Sunny Day Sets Fire's music must have been quite engaging, because it left quite an impression. I've already forgotten what it sounded like but I remember it was good! I'm avoiding the second listen, not just because I had to share this momentous occasion immediately, but also because I don't want to ruin the image. Is it really a great album or am I imagining things........

Stream it for yourself here.

Or for the downloading types, here's an mp3 for your consumption:

Brainless

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Mates of State - Re-Arrange Us (2008)

You'd be amazed by how many times this has happened. I've gone to write about an album that has disappointed me, for one reason or another, and upon giving it one final listen, discovered I actually really like it. It's quite absurd. I never seem to learn that it takes me time to appreciate most albums. Days ago I was getting all prepared to explain how the new Mates of State album was a major step backwards from their debut. It was just a manufactured rehashing of their charming sound, devoid of it's own character. Yet now I come here saying it's great.

I think part of the problem was that I had an idealistic image of their first album in my mind. It had been a long time since I'd heard it, and it would appear my imagination went a bit wild. Comparing them now, the new album holds up just as well. It's significantly more polished, something which suits their sound perfectly and as for the lack character, this was really down to unfamiliarity. Once you get to know these tracks, they are just as charming as the old ones, if not more so. It's still not perfect though. At times I can find it annoying, but then I'll be yelling the words, so who knows. Either way, Mates of State have returned with another solid album. It's unashamedly cute and will cut straight to your deep-seeded desire for sing-along pop (eventually).

The Re-Arranger

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The radio aint that bad...

Finding a good radio station is quite a challenge these days. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be any out there that I can rely on consistently. However, that's no reason to give up. Radio is still a great way to discover new music and today it delivered. Thanks Toby.

It Was by Animals Talking

I'm not saying this song is groundbreaking or anything like that, but hearing it played was rather refreshing. It feels light and free flowing, which gives it a sort of uplifting vibe. Animals Talking are a relatively new band out of London which I'll happily admit I know nothing about. But if this song is any indication, we might be hearing a lot more soon.