Music Recommendations Week 31/01/2005

This week I am all for the catchy.


Cartel - The Ransom EP
The Militia Group's Cartel make such catchy pop-punk, their songs would even infitrate the most hardcore punk listener, and get them to sing aloud the lyrics to Luckie St.. Their EP is full of those catchy sounds, fun to sing along to, fun to dance to, fun to listen to, just plain FUN! Expect big things from them this year.
Official Website
Download Track #1: Luckie St. (mp3)


The Postal Service - Give Up
Ben Gibbard sure knows how to get around. He's got the ever-successful O.C.-featured, Death Cab For Cutie and now, he's putting his electronica dancing shoes on with The Postal Service. You've probably heard Such Great Heights featured on The Garden State trailer. You've probably seen the We Will Become Silhouettes video directed by Napoleon Dynamite's Jared Hess. But why have you still not got this album? Get it now!
Official Website
Download Track #2: Such Great Heights (mp3)


TV On The Radio - New Health Rock
2004's Shortlist Award winners are just catchy, catchy, soulful and catchy. These guys can sing, hit notes better than any of these Idol-ites and if Massive Attack say they're amazing, I'm not going to debate against that. They won the Shortlist Award for a good reason. Get some TV On The Radio or you'll miss out big time.
Official Website


Snap! Crakk! - And The Sea Closed In Over Us
After a successful support tour with The Faint and being featured in last November's Triple J Oz Music Month featured artists, Sydney's Snap! Crakk! are making sure that Australia isn't left out in the current dance rock craze. Australian indie/hipsters get their dancing shoes on when these guys get on stage and with a cool band name (named after the Rice Krispies/Bubbles characters) like that, who wouldn't want to dance the night away with Snap! Crakk!?
Official Website
Download Track #3: City of Reubens (Paris) (mp3)


Houston Calls - Sampler Volume II
The sampler features tracks on the upcoming Houston Calls album, which is just full of that pop-punk pizazz I like. Exit, Emergency sounds like a crowd favourite already and Conversations With the Wind is nice ballad/type track. If this is what we're going to expect from their upcoming record, I'm all for getting an advanced copy now!
Official Website
Download Track #5: Conversations With the Wind (mp3)

Triple J: Feature Album of The Week

Lior - Autumn Flow


Lior is the 28-year-old singer/singwriter from Sydney with a voice so sweet and rich, it'll make you shiver/quiver at the same time. For fans of Bright Eyes and Damien Rice, you'll love this debut album and its featured all this week on Triple J.

You can download This Old Love (mp3), which made no. 42 on this year's Hottest 100 Countdown. Good stuff. Lior is also currently on tour (tour dates here) and will have a gig in Adelaide on 16th Feb 2005 w/ John Woods at The Grace Emily. Please call (+61)-08 8231 5500 for tickets and times.

Triple J Hottest 100 Countdown Results

The Top 10 for 2004 were:

1. Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
2. Missy Higgins* - Scar
3. Eskimo Joe* - From The Sea
4. The Killers - Somebody Told Me
5. Spiderbait* - Black Betty
6. Missy Higgins* - Ten Days
7. John Butler Trio* - Something's Gotta Give
8. Little Birdy* - Beautiful To Me
9. Powderfinger* - Bless My Soul
10. The White Stripes - Jolene (live)

And no.11 was Modest Mouse - Float On.

So, good year for local talent but Missy Higgins is way too overrated right now. All in all, pretty predictable countdown. The full list can be found here.

*Australian artists.

Gigs in Adelaide to watch out for

Awesome upcoming gigs in Adelaide:

11th Feb 2005 - The Waifs w/ Mia Dyson at Thebarton Theatre $38.40 (Folky/Acoustic)
11th Feb 2005 - Shihad w/ Mere Theory + Grand Fatal at Adelaide Uni Bar $23.80 (Punk Rock)
11th Feb 2005 - The Avalanches Presents Brains at Jive $18.30 (Dance)
11th Feb 2005 - The Shins w/ Even at Fowler's Live $41.30 (Indie/Alternative Rock)

[Yes, it is all the same night so take your pick which genre you fancy the most. I will be at The Shins but would love to see The Avalanches.]

12th Feb 2005 - The Panics at Governer Hindmarsh $15.30 (Indie)
20th Feb 2005 - Anti-Flag + The Lawrence Arms at Adelaide Uni Bar $38.30 (Punk)
22nd Feb 2005 - The Shadows Fall + As I Lay Dying at Fowler's Live $43.30 (Metal/Punk)
25th Feb 2005 - Switchfoot at Heaven $40.90 (Pop Rock)

2nd March 2005 - Mudhoney at Enigma Bar $43.30 (Rock)
2nd March 2005 - New Buffalo w/ Little Wings at Grace Emily Hotel $18.30 (Folky/Acoustic)
12th March 2005 - Green Day w/ Simple Plan (I know, terrible) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre $66 (Pop-Punk)
19th March 2005 - Fiery Furnaces at Enigma Bar $N/A (Indie)

2nd April 2005 - Love Outside Andromeda at Governor Hindmarsh $N/A (Alternative)
6th April 2005 - R.E.M. + Bright Eyes w/ Little Birdy at Adelaide Entertainment Centre $91.30 (Silver seats) & 133.65 (Gold seats) (Pop-Rock)

Book at either Venutix or Big Star.

All tickets in Australian Dollars.

Gig in Cardiff to watch out for.

The gig to watch out for this week is The Autumns' gig in Cardiff Barfly.

Band line-up (not in anyway in particular order):
The Dears (Canada)
Ambulance Ltd (US)
The Autumns (US)

Tickets are on sale at 8 pounds (Advance) in Spillers Records and Cardiff Barfly (both the venue & the site).

Triple J Hottest 100 Countdown

This Wednesday, 26th January 2005, Triple J is airing the Hottest 100 Countdown at 10AM (EST), broadcasting from the Sydney Big Day Out. Every year, Triple J listeners vote for their favourite song of the year and the result is the Hottest 100 Countdown, which is also merchandised as a double CD and DVD released later in the year.

Some of my predicitions for the top 10: Franz Ferdinand, Missy Higgins, The Killers, Grinspoon and Modest Mouse. I voted for Against The Wind by Something with Numbers just to bring out the Australian punk vote.

Listen to it online or on the radio (if you're in Australia) and relieve the best music of 2004.

Triple J: Feature Albums of The Week

Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning / Digital Ash In A Digital Urn


Every Friday afternoon, Triple J (Indie National Radio Station in Australia), features an album (or two) and plays all the tracks off the album throughout the week. This week, the station is featuring the two Bright Eyes albums, the country/acoustic/folk-sounding I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and the more rockier pop-influenced Digital Ash In A Digital Urn.

Bright Eyes will be touring Australia this March and April, some tour dates as the support for R.E.M. with local Australian outfit Little Birdy, and some solo tour dates, as well:

Tour Dates with R.E.M. and Little Birdy:
29th March 2005 - Brisbane at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
31st March 2005 - Sydney at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.
3rd April 2005 - Melbourne at the Rod Laver Arena.
6th April 2005 - Adelaide at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
8th April 2005 - Perth at the Burswood Dome.

Solo Dates:
27th March 2005 - Brisbane at the Tivoli.
2nd April 2005 - Sydney at the Metro Theatre.
5th April 2005 - Melbourne at the Prince of Wales.
8th April 2005 - Perth at the Fremantle Arts Centre.

Tickets are all on sale now at the usual ticket outlets.

[Ed's note: I do think it's unfair that Mr. Connor Oberst is leaving Adelaide out on his solo tour dates. I'll be in Melbourne anyway to check him out in St. Kilda, but still. And the R.E.M. tickets are all over the $100 mark. I'm just sayin', Adelaide isn't that bad.]

Music Recommendations Week 24-01-05

Every week we do Music Recommendations of what we're listening to (old, new, fresh, promo), what we're loving or what upcoming releases we've previewed and loved.

This week I am all for dance rock, cool sounds and a Weezer flashback.


!!! - Louden Up Now
Don't let the confusing band name fool you. !!! are an amazing seven-piece dance rock group that infuses sleek techno beats with a punk rock vibe. Louden Up Now is an album not to be messed with, it just oozes a party atmosphere and makes the indie hipsters "just wanna dance". One of the catchiest albums of 2004, if you're going to host a party this week, make sure this album is in the playlist.
Official Website
Download Track #5: Hello? Is This Thing On? (mp3)


Pinback - Blue Screen Life
Pinback make music that just cools a room. Its beautiful guitar and consistent beats could make you calm in an instant and puts a smile in your face at the same time. If you enjoy the more melodical soft side of Death Cab For Cutie, you're going to love the Blue Screen Life album from Pinback's 2003 releases. Their current album Summer in Abandon is worth the listen as well.
Official Website
Download Track #2: Concrete Sounds (mp3)


Weezer - Pinkerton
Call me shallow what-not, but I used to judge people on their opinion on Weezer. I honestly thought that people who hated Weezer had huge character flaws. Sure, that was mean, but if you have never heard of Weezer before (how could you not? Unless you're 5 or something, then you shouldn't be surfing this site!), you better get into them now. The band are currently working on their next album (the new single, Beverly Hills, dropping in March), which means singer Rivers Cuomo is not updating his MySpace account/blog anytime soon. Pinkerton is easily one of the most influential rock albums of all time. Trust me, you'll adore it.
Official Website


The Academy Is... - Almost Here
One of the latest additions to Vinnie from Less Than Jake's indie record label, Fueled By Ramen, The Academy Is... make fresh pop punk rock that is as catchy as hell. The classy fashionable (and extremely fine-looking) five-piece are going to take the emo scene world by storm and this album will be their ticket to that.
Official Website
Download Track #8: Checkmarks (mp3)


Panic At The Disco - Unsigned / No Releases Yet
They WILL be signed to Fueled By Ramen this year, no doubt, as this Las Vegas dance rock outfit managed to steal the label's attention and won a fan in Pete Wentz, bassiest of popular pop punk outfit, Fall Out Boy, and owner of Decaydance, an imprint label of Fueled by Ramen. They sound like an emo version of The Killers with all that glitter dance rock sound but maybe more inspired by The Postal Service. Get your dancing shoes on, punkers!
Official Website
Check out their demos on their PureVolume.com website.

Fled.The.Scene.

Welcome to Fled.The.Scene.

We are not a webzine or just a weblog. We're two cousins living in different hemispheres who love music and blogging, so why not combine the two?

Things to expect:
Music Recommendations - Every week we'll recommend music (old and new) of what we're listening to. Occasionally, we'll also mention new music we've heard of that you might like.

Five Track Mixes - At the sidebar, each of us we'll post our 5 favourite songs at the moment, which will be frequently updated and mp3 download links will be mostly available.

Band Plug - There is so many unsigned talent out there, and we'll do our best to bring you fresh new music and plug some awesome new bands (local to us or international).

Gig Watch and Review - We both always go to gigs so we tend to blog about it anyway. We'll also post gigs to watch out for, which will be local to us (UK and Australia).

Music News/Updates - We will also occasionally post music news or updates.