PREMIERE - half/cut's New Single 'Martin Was A Diver'

We have a few premieres coming up over the next few weeks, and first cab off the rank is this incredible number from Melbourne dream pop outfit, half/cut. From their forthcoming debut album Ecco Locale, 'Martin Was A Diver' is a silky, sinuous movement, with Jessie's exquisite vocals stretching and overshadowing, a delicate Siren of confidence. The description of the band's sound as "Cocteau Twins meets American Football" is perfectly balanced here. Their sound shimmers, a mixture of the moddish New Wave pop of The The with more earnest, cinematic mores - pretty incredible seeing the band have barely stepped out into the live arena since their inception a couple years ago. The production may help - the album was recorded by Neil Thomason (Augie March, My Disco) and mastered by Harris Newman (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Arcade Fire) - but half/cut arrive fully-formed. Listen to 'Martin Was A Diver' below, as well as other cuts 'Coming Of Age' and 'Your Shadow Builds A City I Can Never Visit'.

Miniature In Name Only

Christchurch born, Melbourne based duo Miniatures released their eponymous debut EP recently, and it's a great slice of discordant shoegaze disdain. Originally conceived as a solo project of Christchurch native Ché Walden, the group drifted through various directions and ensembles until a partnership with Dunedinite Annemarie Duff set things properly in motion. Steven Marr (from another great C/Church band, Ipswich) rounded out the bass playing duties on these four tracks, with an extensive bank of effect-laden (though personality-devoid) programmed tracks continue to serve in lieu of a drummer. The band namechecks Slowdive and the Cocteau Twins, and neither are that far off the mark. For a sound that spent so much time fermenting in the bedroom, Miniatures is proof that it is now more than ready for exposure to the masses.


You can grab Miniatures here from Trash Musik.

Miniatures - Midwinter (Air)
Miniatures - Time Is

2010's Re-Discoveries...by Secret Knives

Ash Smith AKA Secret Knives has had a strong year, with a lot of coverage surrounding his great debut release Affection. I asked if he wanted to contribute a list to our little collective. He has already contributed to great Kiwi blog Einstein Music Journal (a very interesting list too I might add), so he wanted to go in a different direction...

"I generally find doing a top 5 of the year doesn't accurately reflect listening habits because I spend more time listening to things that were not released in 2010."

Top 5 musical "discoveries" of 2010:

1. Discovering Slowdive's Pygmalion
2. Rediscovering Weezer's Pinkerton
3. Discovering Slint's Spiderland
4. Rediscovering Arcade Fire's 'Broken Window' (from Keep The Car Running 7")
5. Discovering Cocteau Twin's Heaven or Las Vegas

5 albums I never stopped listening to:

1. MF DOOM - Is Viktor Vaughn Vaudeville Villain
2. Burial - Untrue
3. The Chameleons - What Does Anything Mean? Basically...
4. The Cure - Wish
5. Grouper - Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill

Thanks Secret Knives! And cos Im loving these albums myself (its your fault I cant get 'Miranda' or 'Heavy Water/ Id Rather Be Sleeping' out of my head!) - here's a Secret Knives Christmas mixtape!!!

Weezer - No Other One

Arcade Fire - Broken Window

Cocteau Twins - Cherry Coloured Funk

Slowdive - Miranda

Slint - Nosferatu Man

Burial - Archangel

The Cure - From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea

MF DOOM - Vaudeville Villain

Grouper - Heavy Water/Id Rather Be Sleeping

The Chameleons - Nostalgia

And, as a final special treat, here is a remix of Secret Knives' 'Black Hole' by equally exciting NZ act Glass Vaults! Merry Christmas from the Land of the Long White Cloud!

Secret Knives - Black Hole (Glass Vaults remix)

3 days of Reverential Aceness

Starting from this Friday, AC30 are putting on a run of 3 shows at the ICA under the Reverence banner. These should be some great shows.


First up on Friday are Oslo's finest Serena-Maneesh, riding the wave of critical acclaim after their latest album Serena Maneesh 2: Abyss In B Minor. When a band claims references to the likes of Spacemen 3, Swans, Royal Trux and My Bloody Valewntine, expectations are considerably raised. All hints are though that they live up to it in the live arena. Support is from Sheffield's Exit Calm who I posted about a couple weeks ago, and Tripwires. Quite excited about this one, as Serena-Maneesh are a band that I am yet to fully get into but am expecting to be blown away here.

Saturday sees The Primitives hit the stage. An 80s mainstay, they burst forth from the independent scene at the same time as the Jesus and Mary Chain, The Wedding Present and - yes, again - My Bloody Valentine. Support for this one comes from ex-Manhattan Love Suicides combo The Blanche Hudson Weekend, and the lo-fi staples Slowgun. This is the most indie pop of the three dates and Ill expect to be a lot of fun!

Finally on Sunday a special gig featuring Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins), who I saw some of at ATP last year and was suitably impressed by. He'll have back up for his compositions by members of French-via-Melbourne Australia band Heligoland, who will also support in their entirety. Manchester's Daniel Land & The Modern Painters will open up these proceedings.

The Reverence series has included the likes of Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and Swervedriver, so its a well thought out and put together set of dates that would be well worth your time, combining both well-known and hidden gems. To find out more, check the ICA website, get your tix, see you there!

Hearing Voices

LA's VOICEsVOICEs are two girls, Nico Turner and Jenean Farris, who have an affinity with dark pyschedelic ambience. They only picked up their tools of trade in 2008, and yet their music showcases a level of dense layered tones reminiscent of bands such as Cocteau Twins and Portishead, their voices entwining in a ethereal tapestry that drives the wall of sound rather than informs it. Their second EP (and their first on Manimal Records, home for like minded Warpaint) Origins has been produced by Prefuse 73 maestro Guillermo Scott Herren, and it shows. The track below opens the record in a truly mesmeric fashion.

VOICEsVOICEs - FlulykVisions