Luluc- "Tangled Heart"

Every year there's an album that sneaks up on me at the end of the year that I'm just kicking myself I didn't find sooner. This year that album & artist is Luluc, a duo from Australia that is now based out of Brooklyn, who released their sophomore LP Passerby this past Summer. I discovered their song "Tangled Heart"via an NPR end of the year list and it's hit me like a ton of bricks ever since hearing it for the first time.
It's the simple sparse one's that always do it to me. Give a watch to their just released video for the track here.



http://www.lulucmusic.com

Get to Know: Vance Joy-"Riptide"

Vance Joy is a talented young musician hailing from Australia, who was said to have cut his teeth playing Melbourne’s open mic circuit. His debut EP, God Loves You When You’re Dancing came out out internationally, and since then he's landed opening slots touring with Of Monsters & Men and fellow Aussie, Julia Stone, along with appearances at SXSW. Unfortunately the EP isn't in stores here in the U.S. as of yet, but you can pick up his single "Riptide" which came out on iTunes a few weeks back along with another track, "From Afar."

http://www.vancejoy.com/

Brighter Later-"Come and Go"

Australian duo Jaye Kranz and Virginia Bott, aka Brighter Later are about ready to unveil their debut disc, The Wolves. It comes out next month and it features this sparse and gorgeous track, "Come and Go." 


http://brighterlater.net/

'Song of the Week': The Falls- "Hey"

I just recently discovered this Australian duo, The Falls. Their 6 track Hollywood EP came out during the Summer and it features fantastic harmonies and emotional songwriting, detailing the pairs relationship & break-up. Give a listen to the track "Hey" below and here's a little description from the bands website: "At a time when for most it would be the end of a relationship, for The Falls this feels like it is just the beginning... Almost subconsciously they have documented their whole relationship in their songs. The love, the betrayal, the heartbreak. While at times it is hard for them to wear their hearts so openly on their sleeve, for The Falls, it has been a huge part of their songwriting. As Stevie Nicks said "devastation leads to writing good things". In the fallout from Valentines Day, The Falls decided that rather than wallowing in self pity they would put their heartbreak to tape. So they pulled out their little tascam 4-track portastudio, which, with all its tape wobbles and noise, aptly captured the fragility of their hearts. These fledgling recordings were just the beginning of what has become their debut EP Hollywood.
 


http://www.musicfromthefalls.com/
http://www.facebook.com/musicfromthefalls

Get to know: Grace Woodroofe

You should get ready to hear a lot more about Grace Woodroofe in 2012. This Australian born singer who was discovered & managed by the late Heath Ledger when she was still in High School just unleashed her debut LP, Always Want here in the States. Ledger was so enamored with the singer's music that he passed it along to Ben Harper, who eventually produced the debut. Part sultry, part raw, this now 21 year old singers debut seems wise beyond her years, mixing bits of soul, blues, and folk to create a pretty spellbinding first LP. Check out some of her music below, with the beautiful opening track, "I've Handled Myself Wrong," and her kick ass  take on The Stooges, "I Wanna Be Your Dog" below.
 

'Song of the week': The Middle East- "Blood"

I really love this new one from the Australian band, The Middle East. The bands debut EP, The Recordings Of The Middle East was originally self released in '08 in their homeland but their label Spunk re-issued the mini album recently with some new packaging and a new tracklisting, featuring the perfectly mellow for a gray winters day track called, "Blood."
In addition to the debut EP, the guys will be playing their first ever live shows in the U.S. at this year's SXSW Music Festival in March.

The Middle East-"Blood"

check out more music on their myspace.

An Horse: touring the U.S. (shows in NYC this weeknd)

The power-pop duo of Kate Cooper & Damon Cox, An Horse recently unleashed their debut full length, Rearrange Beds. The Australian pair started out working together in a record store, put out an Ep, and before they knew it they were being asked after one of their shows to be the opening slot on Tegan and Sara's 2008 'Out Of Hibernation' tour. Shortly thereafter the duo nabbed down a record deal and Sara even gave a helping hand in making Rearrange Beds.
The band can currently be seen out on tour w/ Telekinesis, including two shows in the NYC area this weekend, and later on in the month they will joining Silversun Pickups for some dates across the UK.

Postcards - An Horse

An Horse tour dates:
Jun 10 The Horseshoe w/ Telekinesis Toronto, Ontario
Jun 11 Club Lambi w/ Telekinesis Montreal, Quebec
Jun 12 Iron Horse Music Hall w/Telekinesis Northampton, Mass
Jun 13 Union Hall w/ Telekinesis Brooklyn, NY
Jun 14 Mercury Lounge w/ Telekinesis NYC, NY
Jun 16 Kung Fu Necktie w/Telekinesis Philadelphia, Penn
Jun 17 Black Cat Backstage w/Telekinesis Washington DC
Jun 18 Local 506 w/Telekinesis Chapel Hill, NC
Jun 19 The Earl w/Telekinesis Atlanta, Georgia
Jun 20 The End w/Telekinesis Nashville, Tenn
Jun 21 Off Broadway w/Telekinesis St Louis, Missou
Jun 22 Slowdown w/Telekinesis Omaha, Nebraska
Jun 23 Hi Dive w/Telekinesis Denver, Colorado
Jun 27 Rescue Rooms w/Silversun Pickups Nottingham
Jun 28 Thekla w/Silversun Pickups Bristol
Jun 30 02 Academy w/Silversun Pickups Birmingham
Jul 1 Stereo w/Silversun Pickups Glasgow
Jul 2 Academy 2 w/ Silversun Pickups Manchester
Jul 3 Digital w/Silversun Pickups Brighton
Jul 5 The Windmill Brixton
Jul 6 02 Academy w/ Silversun Pickups Oxford
Jul 7 Heaven w/ Silversun Pickups London
Jul 8 Camden Barfly London
Jul 10 White Light @ The Lexington London
Jul 11 Hultsfred Festival Hultsfred
Jul 17 Slottsfjell Festival Tonsberg

An Horse on myspace.

get to know: Lady Of the Sunshine

If your familiar with the Australian duo, Angus and Julia Stone, then you already know a little bit about Lady of the Sunshine. The new project is one half of the pair, Angus Stone’s new solo debut. Angus shows a more dark and moody side on the new disc, Smoking Gun, which just came out in the States this Tuesday. Where in his work with Angus and Julia Stone, they leaned more towards the folk based, traditional stylings, Angus delves into heavier guitar, and even rhythm and blues territory.
Angus wrote, sang, and played electric and acoustic guitar on the album, of which he co-produced with Govinda Doyle, who played drums and bass.
Stone had this to say on the new project, “I’ve been skipping off in between tours for about a year now to shake my head of these songs” ... "Every one of the emotions in your head has it’s own voice and this album is what became of them."
The first single off the new album is, "White Rose Parade", which you can see a video for below.

Paper Aeroplane - Angus & Juli...

Lady of the Sunshine on myspace.

Angus & Julia Stone

The indie-folk Brother/Sister combo of Angus and Julia Stone from Australia, have just this past week released there first batch of songs in the US, with their Just A Boy EP. The new EP is a precursor to the pairs debut full length A Book Like This which is currently out in Australia, the UK and Europe. It is scheduled for a release in the US sometime in early 2009. The LP saw the siblings make the move from Australia to the UK, where they hooked up with Travis Frontman Fran Healy, who took on producing duties for 'A Book Like This'.
The duo can currently be seen touring across Europe and the UK supporting Martha Wainwright. You can preview the video for the track "Just A Boy" below or give the band a listen on their myspace.

Angus And Julia Stone- "Just A Boy":



Listen to Angus And Julia Stone.