Wednesday 23 July 2014

Video Vacuum - White Hex, Bremen Town Musician, USA Out Of Vietnam, Flyying Colours, Team Ugly


It certainly doesn't feel like the wisest time to be taking a long haul flight from Brisbane to London. But that is what I am about to do. That's right - from tomorrow the fair brunt of Sonic Masala will be based once more in England! Rest assured that the content will bear witness to a strong Australian confluence of music, because in my opinion it is the most interesting place in the world. But the world of Sonic Masala is a weird and wonderful place, that exists outside of geographical climes... No tears here, just beers. And music - a veritable shit tonne of music. So let's chill with some vids, starting with this Aussie "banger"...


Jimi Kritzler's new incarnation has been White Hex. Alongside Tara Green he has crafted some lush yet dark synth lurkers, and second album Gold Nights is pretty great (see a review I did earlier in the year here). The film clip to one of the best tracks on that album, 'Paradise', sees Kritzler and Green perform a home invasion unlike any other...Funny Games this ain't.


Marisa Allen's project Bremen Town Musician has always been an interesting prospect in the Brisbane music scene. I was lucky to get her to play one of the Campfire Tales sessions I held at The End in West End (that one was alongside Kahl Monticone), and she has contributed a track to a compilation I'm devising. 'In The Harsh Light Of Day' is fairly indicative of BTM's output, and the film clip, a washed out view of Brisbane's highways, fits strongly with the slightly unhinged meltdown quality of the song. Well worth checking out.


I'm loving USA Out Of Vietnam at the moment. They are like a more earnest Helms Alee, maybe crossed with post-rock's most uplifting? It's the big riffs, the somewhat colourful effects that are littered throughout, the heaviness and the light heart entwined. This isn't a film clip, I know, but I love this band and will be listening to this, Helms Alee AND Explosions in the Sky AND Do Make Say Think amongst others on the flight - my blissout flight mixtape...


Now I have to be honest here - I haven't been bowled over by the shoegaze efforts that Melbourne's Flyying Colours have offered thus far. I just think there are bands in Australia let alone the world that are doing it much better and not getting the recognition these guys are on the cusp of. But then this song came out, and the film clip accompanying it - and I'm not entirely redressing my thoughts, but this is a good counterattack. Perfectly calibrated editing mixing 70s space travel with a colour wheel, various elements of block design and faux-innocent TV bites - nice work. Not Today indeed.



And as a added final "bonus" here is a NZ band called Team Ugly. I met one of the guys at a Sonic Masala show, and have intended to mention his band for some time. Here is 'Suck My Dick'. I love the warped idiocy of this film clip - and the song isn't that bad either. I'm ASSUMING they are still together - it's been about eight months since I heard about em. Still - get a load of this.

NOW GET BACK TO WORK! AND SEE YOU SOON AUSTRALIA!

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