2. SBTRKT – SBTRKT

3. Dangermouse & Daniele Luppi – Rome

4. Clams Casino – Clams Casino

5. Elbow – Build a Rocket Boys

6. James Blake – James Blake

7. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

8. Radiohead – The King of Limbs

9. Death Cab for Cutie – Codes and Keys

10. City and Color – Little Hell

Honourable Mentions

Summary: James Murphy tops himself. Attempting greatness, he overshoots, and lands on a stone-cold classic. (Source: Sputnik Music)

Track Listing:
1. Dance Yrself Clean
2. Drunk Girls
3. One Touch
4. All I Want
5. I Can Change
6. You Wanted a Hit
7. Pow Wow
8. Somebody’s Calling Me
9. Home

Label: DFA Records
Genre: Electronica, Post Punk

2. Four Tet – There Is Love In You

Summary: It seems perfection may be reached in Four Tet’s future. (Source: Sputnik Music)

Track Listing:
1. Angel Echoes
2. Love Cry
3. Circling
4. Pablo’s Heart
5. Sing
6. This Unfolds
7. Reversing
8. Plastic People
9. She Just Likes to Fight

Label: Domino
Genre: Electronica

3. Foals – Total Life Forever

Summary: From Bloc Party to Radiohead, “The future is not what it used to be”. (Source: Sputnik Music)

Track Listing:
1. Blue Blood
2. Miami
3. Total Life Forever
4. Black Gold
5. Spanish Sahara
6. This Orient
7. Fugue
8. After Glow
9. Alabaster
10. 2 Trees
11. What Remains

Label: Transgressive
Genre: Indie rock, Dance-Punk, Alternative Dance, Math Rock

4. The Chemical Brothers – Further

Summary: The block rockers grow wings. (Source: Sputnik Music)

Track Listing:
1. Snow
2. Escape Velocity
3. Another World
4. Dissolve
5. Horse Power
6. Swoon
7. K+D+B
8. Wonders Of The Deep

Label: Junior Boy’s Own, Astralwerks, Freestyle Dust, Virgin Records
Genre: Electronica

5. Yeasayer – Odd Blood

Summary: On Odd Blood, Yeasayer are quite content to make cool yet easy pop music, ultimately keeping themselves as the band to check out if you like (better indie bands). (Source: Sputnik Music)

Track Listing:
1. The Children
2. Ambling Alp
3. Madder Red
4. I Remember
5. ONE
6. Love Me Girl
7. Rome
8. Strange Reunions
9. Mondegreen
10. Grizeldap

Label: Secretly Canadian
Genre: Alt Rock, Indie Rock

6. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

Summary: On Odd Blood, Yeasayer are quite content to make cool yet easy pop music, ultimately keeping themselves as the band to check out if you like (better indie bands). (Source: Sputnik Music)

Track Listing:
1. The Suburbs
2. Ready to Start
3. Modern Man
4. Rococo
5. Empty Room
6. City With No Children
7. Half Light I
8. Half Light II (No Celebration)
9. Suburban War
10. Month of May
11. Wasted Hours
12. Deep Blue
13. We Used to Wait
14. Sprawl I (Flatland)
15. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
16. The Suburbs (Continued)

Label: Merge (US), Mercury (UK)
Genre: Indie

7. Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History

Summary: Yet another British Indie-Pop band with a likeable, if overly familiar, debut. (Source: Sputnik Music)

Track Listing:
1. Cigarettes In The Theatre
2. Come Back Home
3. Do You Want It All?
4. This Is The Life
5. Something Good Can Work
6. I Can Talk
7. Undercover Martyn
8. What You Know
9. Eat That Up, It’s Good For You
10. You’re Not Stubborn

Label: Kitsuné Music (Europe), Glassnote Records (U.S.)
Genre: Alternative rock, Electropop, Indie pop

8. Local Natives – Gorilla Manor

Summary: Local Natives have branded a likeable mix of indie-rock and folk with an energetic core. (Source: Sputnik Music)

Track Listing:
1. Wide Eyes
2. Airplanes
3. Sun Hands
4. World News
5. Shape Shifter
6. Camera Talk
7. Cards And Quarters
8. Warning Sign
9. Who Knows Who Cares
10. Cubism Dream
11. Stranger Things
12. Sticky Thread

Label: Infectious, Frenchkiss Records
Genre: Indie rock, folk

9. Angus & Julia Stone – Down The Way

Summary: Australia’s sweethearts try for democracy – but really, sisters are doing it for themselves. (Source: Sputnik Music)

Track Listing:
1. Hold On
2. Black Crow
3. For You
4. Big Jet Plane
5. Santa Monica Dream
6. Yellow Brick Road
7. And the Boys
8. On the Road
9. Walk It Off
10. Hush
11. Draw Your Swords
12. I’m Not Yours
13. The Devil’s Tears

Label: EMI Music Australia, Capitol Records
Genre: Folk, acoustic

10. Tame Impala – Innerspeaker

Summary: “Innerspeaker” is what The Beatles would sound like if they took EVEN MORE drugs with a dash of Led Zeppelin and Cream. The albums nostalgic lo-fi spaced out psychedelia, while nothing groundbreaking, does a lot of things pitch-perfectly right. (Source: Sputnik Music)

Track Listing:
1. It Is Not Meant To Be
2. Desire Be Desire Go
3. Alter Ego
4. Lucidity
5. Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind?
6. Solitude Is Bliss
7. Island Walking (iTunes bonus track)
8. Jeremy’s Storm
9. Expectation
10. The Bold Arrow Of Time
11. Runway, Houses, City, Clouds
12. I Don’t Really Mind

Label: Modular Recordings
Genre: Psychedelic rock

Honourable Mentions

There’s no excuse for the tardiness between blog posts, I know, but just like last time, we’ve been flat out with a couple of decent size projects and have managed to do our brilliant best to ignore this corner of our website. Yet, it hasn’t been all work and no play, as we’ve had some freakin’ great music to accompany the workflow along the way.

Below is a breakdown of some of the sweet beats (all of which are massive contenders for our 2010 Top 10 list!) that have been channeling through the office speakers over the last couple of months…

Foals – Total Life Forever

It’s a shame we’ve been so busy, ’cause I really, really wanted to tell the world about this little water themed gem since its internet release.

Having been a fan of their previous album, Antitdotes after discovering them on Hype Machine’s 2008 Zeitgeist, I was super antsy to get my mitts on their new album.

Upon my first listen, I was taken aback. Shocked. Disheartened. What happened to the racey, distorted, post-punkyness I had come to expect? None of their trademark sound was to be found. Yannis barely even raises his voice!! It appears the boys from Oxford had grown up in between LPs and given a bit of a helping hand on the production, at the same time.

In all honesty, Total Life Forever took me a couple of ‘background ‘listens’ before I could fully appreciate the new and glorious qualities that it had to offer. But now that I’ve had the opportunity to fully envelop myself in their new sound. And I’m really, really glad they took the big step forward.

Here is the video from their first single, This Orient

LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening

Where does one begin with a review of LCD Soundsystem?? These New Yorkers are definitely in a league of their own. Left of centre? Outside the box? However you wanna label them, they sure know how to make some unique tunes.

It turns out, since making this album, LCD have gone their separate ways (which is a real shame) but it hasn’t stopped them from making a cracker of an album and going out in style! Stand out tracks include Dance Yrself Clean (you gotta love the quirky 3+ minute build up of the intro which explodes into some very chunky synthesized goodness). All I Want, You Wanted a Hit – which I presume is an ‘open letter’ to wanky record label execs and Pow Pow, with tongue-in-cheek lyrics that you can’t help but smile at:

On this occasion, there are a couple of things that we know that we learned from fact magazine
One, the king wears a king hat and lives in a king house
Two, your time will come, but tonight is our night, so you should give us all of your drugs
Three, we have a black president and you do not, so shut up,
because you don’t know shit about where I’m from that you didn’t get from your TV

The music video for Drunk Girls, sums up the band’s style, perfectly!

The Chemical Brothers – Further

Ahh, the brothers of chemicals. How good are these guys?!? Studio album number 7 and there doesn’t seem to be any signs of slowing down for the kings of dance culture.

When I first heard the debut single, Escape Velocity, on Triple J, I was a little unsure about the overall style. It all seemed a little dated and ’90s house-esque’ and I thought the old school beats were a bit of a step backwards for the ‘Dust Brothers’. But after giving the album, Further, a more in-depth listen, it quickly became clear that this was a very deliberate and appropriate direction for the The Chemical Brothers to take. In fact, the first single is now one of my favourite tracks (with it’s similar sound and possible homage to The Who’s Baba O’Riley) and I’m certain this would go off in a rave tent with their infamous light shows and the odd mind-altering enhancer! Also doubles as a perfect album for exercising.

The video for Another World features some impressive light/sound visuals.

Freelance Whales – Weathervanes

Now for a more rootsy/folky album. I stumbled across Freelance Whales (odd name, I know) via Pretty Much Amazing aka PMA – my new favourite music blog and was immediately hooked after watching the acoustic recording of Generator 1st Floor (see below).

Of late, I’ve really been a sucker for Banjos and folky music and Freelance Whales are no exception. I think with the absence (or rather, hiatus) of The Arcade Fire, these guys seemed like the perfect substitute until that album drops.

For anyone else who enjoys a quintet (or more) of artistic musos, I suggest you give Weathervanes a listen. It’s definitely worth having in your collection!

Live/Acoustic performance of Generator 1st Floor.

Oh my god! It’s been waaaay to long since we last posted something on The Klog.

As I wipe away the cobwebs and blow the layer of dust from WordPress, I realise it’s been close to three months since we last posted something on here. The Klog has seriously been neglected.

Not to make excuses, but things have been somewhat busy in the office (to say the least) over the last few months, and as a result, this section of our site has been relegated to the backseat. Hopefully, with some improved time management and allocated dedication, we will be able to find the time to tend to the blog a little more regularly.

As a quick fix for quality content, I thought I’d put together a bunch of amazing albums we’ve been listening to for the first quarter of 2010 which get our creative juices flowing. Strangely enough, they are all UK artists – That part of the world has some shitty ass weather, but they sure know how to make good music!

The xx – xx

I’m so obsessed with the sound of these guys at the mo’. They’ve got an incredibly fresh style going on and have come up with some fantastic covers on the side. Quite dark and moody with low key vocals (which I love) and generally quite introverted and modest.

Check them out performing Islands, live on BBC’s Later. I love the opening riff on this track… very Stone Roses.

Jack Peñate – Everything Is New

This album has been growing on me more and more, with every listen. In fact, it’s been ‘On High Rotation’ now for the last six months (iTunes claims I’ve played the album from go to whoa 35 times). I absolutely love it!!

If you’re looking for a pick-me-up in the morning, this album is sure to get you bouncing around as you get ready for work. I think one of the other massively appealing things about Mr. Peñate is the uncanny vocal similarities between him and the legendary Robert Smith from The Cure. They’re frickin’ identical. So, if you love The Cure (when they sang cheery songs) then you should definitely give Jack a go… and whatever you do, do not judge the music based on it’s album cover. It does this talented artist’s music no justice.

Massive Attack – Heligoland

I’ve always been a fan of this class act from Bristol. They are absolute pioneers in pushing the boundaries of music and styles – so much so, they were one of the first UK bands to be dubbed by the genre Trip-Hop.

After a massive seven year gap between their last, incredibly dark and looming album, 100th Window. They’ve managed to deliver, yet again, with a myriad of new sounds and have given free reign to a selection of top-shelf vocalists, including Elbow’s Guy Garvey, TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe, Gorillaz Damon Albarn and Mazzy Star, to name a few.

Check out the visuals in this kick ass video for the single Splitting the Atom:

Hot Chip – One Life Stand

Seriously! These guys are the coolest music geeks, ever! Their last album, Made In The Dark, was good… but this one kills it. From the auto-tuned vocals to the carribbean influenced beats of the steel drums – this album oozes a sound that is so 2010.

Understandably, Hot Chip do produce some left-of-centre music and it probably won’t appeal to a lot of folk. Having said that, if you haven’t heard of these guys and want some new music in your life, I recommend you give Hot Chip a go – this album really hit the spot for me.

Gotta love the video for I Feel Better. Tongue in cheek, much?

Well, without further ado, it’s time to reveal my ‘Top 10 Albums of 2009′ (plus another ten or so worthy runners-up).

1. The Temper Trap – Conditions

Summary: ‘Conditions’ displays The Temper Trap’s ability to combine their influences into an original sound that bridges the gap between credible indie & mainstream hooks. (Source: Sputnik Music)

Track Listing:
1. Love Lost
2. Rest
3. Sweet Disposition
4. Down River
5. Soldier On
6. Fader
7. Fools
8. Resurrection
9. Science Of Fear
10. Drum Song

Label: Liberation Music
Genre: Rock

2. Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More

Summary: With banjo in hand, Mumford & Sons have created the debut album of the year. (Source: Sputnik Music)

Track Listing:
1. Sigh No More
2. The Cave
3. Winter Winds
4. Roll Away Your Stone
5. White Blank Page
6. I Gave You All
7. Little Lion Man
8. Timshel
9. Thistle & Weeds
10. Awake My Soul
11. Dust Bowl Dance
12. After The Storm

Label: Mumford & Sons/Dew
Genre: Folk-Rock

3. The Middle East – The Recordings of The Middle East

Summary: A highly pleasant mix of folk indie and all things nice. (Source: Sputnik Music)

Track Listing:
1. The Darkest Side
2. Beleriand
3. Lonely
4. Blood
5. Fools Gold
6. Pig Food
7. The Fall of Man
8. Tsietsi

Label: Spnnk!
Genre: Indie-Folk

4. Gregory Alan Isakov – This Empty Northern Hemisphere

Summary: With original lyrics which straddle longing, nostalgia, and heartache, Isakov delivers songs that defy categorization and speak to more universal truths. (Source: About.com: Folk Music)

Track Listing:
1. That Moon Song
2. Evelyn
3. Light Year
4. Dandelion Wine
5. Big Black Car
6. Virginia May
7. Master & A Hound
8. Idaho
9. One of Us Cannot Be Wrong
10. This Empty Northern Hemisphere
11. Fire Escape
12. Words
13. If I Go, I’m Goin
14. The Stable Song
15. All There Is

Label: Alternative Folk
Genre: Folk

5. Karnivool – Sound Awake

Summary: Epic, in every sense of the word. ‘Sound Awake’ cements Karnivool at the top of the Australian rock pile. (Source: Sputnik Music)

Track Listing:
1. Simple Boy
2. Goliath
3. New Day
4. Set Fire To the Hive
5. Umbra
6. All I Know
7. The Medicine Wears Off
8. The Caudal Lure
9. Illumine
10. Deadman
11. Change

Label: Independent/Sony Music
Genre: Rock

6. OST – Twighlight Saga: New Moon

Summary: Features tracks from Death Cab For Cutie, Thom Yorke, Anya Marina, The Killers, Muse, Bon Iver & St. Vincent, Sea Wolf, Editors and many others. (Source: Rolling Stone)

Track Listing:
1. Death Cab For Cutie – Meet Me On The Equinox
2. Band Of Skulls – Friends
3. Thom Yorke – Hearing Damage
4. Lykke Li – Possibility
5. The Killers – A White Demon Love Song
6. Anya Marina – Satellite Heart
7. Muse – I Belong To You (New Moon)
8. Bon Iver and St. Vincent – Roslyn
9. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Done All Wrong
10. Hurricane Bells – Monsters
11. Sea Wolf – The Violet Hour
12. OK Go – Shooting The Moon
13. Grizzly Bear – Slow Life
14. Editors – No Sound But The Wind
15. Alexandre Desplat – New Moon (The Meadow)

Label: Chop Shop/Atlantic
Genre: Soundtrack

7. Florence and the Machine – Lungs

Summary: A fantastic debut from a very promising British talent. (Source: Sputnik Music)

Track Listing:
1. Dog Days Are Over
2. Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)
3. I’m Not Calling You A Liar
4. Howl
5. Kiss With A Fist
6. Girl With One Eye
7. Drumming
8. Between Two Lungs
9. Cosmic Love
10. My Boy Builds Coffins
11. Hurricane Drunk
12. Blinding
13. “You’ve Got The Love” (Bonus Track)

Label: Universal Republic
Genre: Alt-Indie

8. Quantic & His Barbaro – Tradition in Transition

Summary: Tradition in Transition is an exciting, lively, genre-hopping treat from beginning to end. (Source: Amazon)

Track Listing:
1. The Dreaming Mind Part 1
2. Mas Pan
3. Linda Morena
4. Undelivered Letter
5. Un Canto A Ma Tierra
6. Mambo Los Qauntic
7. Albela
8. New Morning
9. I Just Fell In Love Again
10. Cancao Do Deserto
11. Arianita
12. The Dreaming Mind Part 2

Label: Tru-Thoughts
Genre: House/Jazz/Soul/Funk/World

9. Bat for Lashes – Two Suns

Summary: Right now, Two Suns just may be one of the defining musical moments of 2009. (Source: Sputnik Music)

Track Listing:
1. Glass
2. Sleep Alone
3. Moon and Moon
4. Daniel
5. Peace of Mind
6. Siren Song
7. Pearl’s Dream
8. Good Love
9. Two Planets
10. Traveling Woman
11. The Big Sleep (Feat. Scott Walker)

Label: Astralwerks
Genre: Alt-Pop

10. Silversun Pickups – Swoon

Summary: An impressive record from an impressive up and coming band. (Source: Sputnik Music)

Track Listing:
1. There’s No Secrets This Year
2. The Royal We
3. Growing Old Is Getting Old
4. It’s Nice to Know You Work Alone
5. Panic Switch
6. Draining
7. Sort Of
8. Substitution
9. Catch and Release
10. Surrounded (or Spiraling)

Label: Dangerbird
Genre: Indie-Rock

Here are a few more that I couldn’t squeeze into the list, but couldn’t ignore…

Outro

Looking forward to another amazing year of music. There are already dozens of rumored/scheduled albums I’m dying to hear. Can’t wait!!

Oh, by the way, this is our last Klog post for the year. Have a safe, but fun festive season. Catch you on the flipside.

The other day, I managed to catch the last few moments of a wonderfully sampled piece of music that instantly conjured up childhood memories of a Disney favourite. At first I thought it might have been the work of DJ Dexter from The Avalanches or possibly even Japan’s Cornelius. Quick to discover what the song was, I rushed home and searched my little heart out, to discover the sublime audio delight I had just heard was an audio remix of the original Alice In Wonderland movie sampled and mixed by an Australian lad named Pogo.

Post the obligatory need to learn more about young DJ, I discovered that he’s actually more than just an audio sampler, but also a budding video/film editor. And to put a glazed cherry on top of that, he not only sampled the audio of Alice In Wonderland but he also created a synced video to go with it:

Alice

After a little more searching, I also found his YouTube page and discovered that Alice wasn’t Pogo’s first attempt at cutting up old Disney flicks. It turns out he’s had a crack at a few from their catalogue and they’re pretty bloody clever! Check out some of his other works:

Bangarang

Expialidocious

Scrumdiddlyumptious

He’s even made some of his tracks available to download for free from his unreleased Wonderland EP on last.fm:

Listen to Pogo – Alice.mp3

Listen to Pogo – Bread and Butterflies.mp3

Listen to Pogo – UnBirthday.mp3

Listen to Pogo – Lost.mp3

Luuuving this little ditty by Mumford & Sons at the moment, and I’m fairly certain I’m not the only one who thinks so. Currently on Triple J, their debut single Little Lion Man is getting bucket loads of airtime and BBC Radio 1’s, DJ Zane Lowe recently dubbed the single as the “Hottest Record in the World”. If you haven’t heard the song, check it out here.

This truly exciting, yet humble quartet from London have created an amazingly refreshing and energetic brand of folk – BBC placing them within the Top 15 bands as a Sound of 2009.

Their style of music combines elements of hillbilly folk with it’s twangy banjo (courtesy of the ever-energetic, Winston Marshall) crossed with the gusto of an old Irish pub band. Lead singer, Marcus Mumford’s humble vocals are coarse, yet rich and warm and, in my opinion, very reminiscent of Dave Matthews. In fact, I might go as far as to say that Mumford & Sons may well be England’s answer to DMB.

This one’s definitely gonna get a floggin’ on iTunes.

‘Ave a geez at the lads performing “The Cave”, live in Bristol – an amazing performance with an equally enthusiastic crowd:

Track List for Sign No More:

1. Sigh No More
2. The Cave
3. Winter Winds
4. Roll Away Your Stone
5. White Blank Page
6. I Gave You All
7. Little Lion Man
8. Timshel
9. Thistle & Weeds
10. Awake My Soul
11. Dust Bowl Dance
12. After The Storm

To find out more about Mumford & Sons, visit their official website or become their ‘friend’ and listen to some of their tracks on their MySpace page.

Firstly, I just wanna make it clear that I have, in fact, known about this band for quite some time and have been listening to this album and Silversun Pickups’ other releases solidly since their release. So, for all you negative nancies who are quick to judge me on my tardiness… give me a break! I’ve been busy with stuff, dognamit ;)

As a lot of fans will agree, Silversun Pickups’ first LP, Carnavas, released in 2006 was a real winner and a breath of fresh air to the Californian indy rock scene. It was also, at long last, the perfect substitute for an album that Billy Corgan was never able to deliver to his die-hard ‘Pumpkins’ fans.

For those who haven’t heard the audible delights or read anything about the Silversun Pickups’, they have been closely compared to the The Smashing Pumpkins (during their mid-90s peak) on both an instrumental and vocal level. Something that is quite hard to deny, considering lead singer, Christopher Guanlao, has a particularly nasally/feminine voice, similar to Corgan’s, not to mention the fact that both bands have/had female bass player(s). They also, coincidentally, happen to have matching band name initials, which is, indeed, quite the co-incee-dink.

Now, three years (and 5 months) later, Silversun Pickups have released their highly anticipated sophomore album titled Swoon. For a lot of the band’s admirers, the follow-up to their successfully popular debut was always going to have a heavy cloud of concern hovering over it. The common question on everyone’s minds was whether or not the band would be able to shake the hoodoo of a follow-up album and raise the bar on Carnavas. Even I, a relatively passive and neutral judge had my pre-release doubts about their next studio release. In fact, even upon the release of Swoon, it took me a long while to shake the post-Carnavas hangover and absorb the unique elements of their new material.

So what are my thoughts on Swoon? Well, after a substantial period to review the album, I can confidently say that this 10 track LP offers 52 minutes of solid, unmistakably unique music that is rich with original riffs, deep driving bass lines and plenty of angsty lyrics to fill my ‘post-90s grunge void’. Swoon, IMO, has secured the band with the glue it needed to concrete itself as a legitimate act and not just another one trick, L.A based pony.

Check out the band performing Panic Switch – One of Swoon’s stand out tracks – live and ‘unplugged’ on MTV:

Track List:

1. There’s No Secrets This Year
2. The Royal We
3. Growing Old Is Getting Old
4. It’s Nice to Know You Work Alone
5. Panic Switch
6. Draining
7. Sort Of
8. Substitution
9. Catch and Release
10. Surrounded (or Spiraling)

So, to all the oldschool Pumpkins fans who are desperately craving a grunge fix from a bygone era, I strongly suggest you get your hands on a copy of both Swoon and Carnavas ASAP. And for those who are not entirely convinced, you can hear more of their stuff on their MySpace page or learn more about the band, see when they are touring or buy the album directly from their official site.

Music + Internet = Awesome. If either of these two elements ceased to exist… I’d probably have to join them.

The need to sift through independent music blogs, ‘muso’ reviews and myspace pages to discover new music has, of late, become something of an obsession. An addiction, if you will, to find the next big thing in music, that impossibly impossible amalgamation of hybrid genres and that ‘Charlie finds the golden ticket’ moment you get when you hear the lobe-tingling voice of an untapped artist for the first time. That, for me, is the thrill of the chase.

When I get the chance, one of my fav sources that I frequent for discovering new sounds (via NewsFire) is a blog called Bolachas. Whiiich, incidentally, is where I stumbled across Mr Isakov and his new LP, This Empty Northern Hemisphere. Originally from South-Africa and raised in Philly, this Colorado based singer-songwriter (with the help of the very powerful Brandi Carlile on several tracks) has ever so subtly seduced me into the indie world of acoustic folk rock.

This Empty Northern Hemisphere is beautifully crafted and very easy on the ears, making it almost impossible to not listen to the album from beginning to end.

It’s funny, but when I think about how to describe music, I often find that it’s easier to describe from smells, colours and visuals. So… if images of corn fields, trousers supported by braces, weathered wooden porches and dusty shades of brown appeal to your senses, then I highly recommend you give this album a go. It’s definitely on my Top 10 Albums of 2009 shortlist.

Track List:

1. Dandelion Wine
2. Light Year
3. That Moon Song
4. Evelyn
5. Virginia May
6. Big Black Car
7. Master & a Hound
8. This Empty Northern Hemisphere
9. Idaho
10. Words
11. Fire Escape
12. If I Go, I’m Goin
13. One of Us Cannot Be Wrong

I have to admit, I feel like I’ve been living under a very large suburban rock. I mean, how on earth have I managed to miss all of the buzz and hype surrounding this fantastically enigmatic band that derive from my own hometown?

Sadly, I’ve been so slow off the mark in discovering this band, that I think Nova FM has beat me to it. Oh dear. I really do need to pick up the slack.

I guess I’ve been relying on the Internet for all my new music/media needs for so long – it seems I’ve forgotten that I live in one of the coolest and most accessible cities in the world to discover new music. A city so rife with live music, it is literally oozing out of every nook, cranny and cobble stoned alleyway. Thankfully, The Temper Trap have single handedly convinced me that I need to brave the remainder of this bitterly cold winter and get out more. Summer music festivals… Look out!

Okay, lame suburbanite rant over. On to the music.

If I had to wrap this album up in one word, ‘solid’ would be the word of choice. From beginning to end, Conditions offers a perfect blend of indie-rock and dare I say it, radio friendly pop. Lead singer, Dougy Mandagi’s incredibly engaging falsetto (Track #8’s ‘Resurrection’ sounds uncannily like Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters), combined with atmospheric guitar riffs and subtle hints of Bloc Party-esque drum beats are the perfect ingredients for what will undoubtedly propel this young band into almost instant stardom.

For me the stand out tracks on the album include Rest, Sweet Disposition, Soldier On and Science of Fear. Take a look at the guys performing Sweet Disposition live at St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival earlier this year:

Track List:

1. Love Lost
2. Rest
3. Sweet Disposition
4. Down River
5. Soldier On
6. Fader
7. Fools
8. Resurrection
9. Science Of Fear
10. Drum Song

To find out more about the band visit their official website or head over to their MySpace page to hear more of their fantastic music.