Koodoz Design

Driving home from my evening swim the other night, I was completely taken back by the incredibly sullen song playing on Triple J. Being a real sucker for the sombre side of music – favourite bands including Radiohead, The Cure, The Smiths, Interpol, Shearwater, Bon Iver etc, etc… You get the picture – I had to know who this band was and get my wrinkly, chlorine smelling mitts on a copy of their album, EP, single… whatever I could get.

From the songs organic, acoustic sound, I assumed it was a Like a Version cover (a segment on JJJ’s Breakfast Show that features live studio recordings of songs, covered by other talented artists). Always a treat! Thinking it was a new cover, it made me even keener to discover who the band was.

To make sure I wouldn’t forget to look into this song further, I latched on to a couple of lines from the lyrics – as much as my short term memory could handle – so that as soon as I got home, I could search for the lyrics and learn/hear more about/of the fantastic song/band that I had just had the pleasure of hearing.

Thankfully, my memory held out and Google delivered. The nameless band I just had to know turned out to be ‘The Middle East’ (an Unearthed band) and the song I so desperately needed to hear again was called ‘The Darkest Side’ – which, if you like, can be heard on their MySpace page.

After a little research, I learnt that the beautifully ethereal sounds of this relatively unknown six-piece band hail from Australia’s second largest regional city, Townsville – which also happens to be the only city (that I’m aware of) to have two words meaning the same thing in it’s name.

With a little help from my favourite online music resources, I managed to source a copy of their EP – which, by the way, has amazing cover artwork – and have basically had it on repeat ever since (according to iTunes, I’ve played it back to back 15 times already!!).

The harmonic vocals, shared by both male and female (names unknown) are beautifully drawn out by an orchestral ensemble of wind and strings. Doug Wallen, from Messa + Noise sums up their sound perfectly, describing their music as “…molasses folk, pitched between Belle and Sebastian and Tindersticks and textured with mandolin, banjo, trumpet and accordion.”

Although the album is an EP, the 8 tracks offer a solid 52 minutes of painstakingly beautiful listening. With my play count at 15 after just a couple of weeks, I think it’s fairly safe to say these guys will be sitting comfortably within my Top 10 Albums of 2009 list.

Keep an ear out for these guys! I think we’ll be hearing a lot more from them in the near future.

Track List:

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