from a land down under...

courtsey of our friends in Australia, at Modular Records:

"Autobahn Music Box" by Cut Copy -- this comes from Cut Copy's album, Bright Like Neon Love on the Oz label, Modular. CC is mostly Dan Whitford (liner notes say: synths, drum machines, guitars, vocals, bass) with guests providing live drums on some trakcs, handclaps on others. i have to say, this is totally my favorite CD now, with the perfect balance of rock and synth-pop in every song, it's so much fun i want to dance around the room whenever i play it. this song has this amazing female vocal sample in it that kills me every time i hear it - part of the 'perfect' pop sound here, beyond whitford's command of the langage and sound of pop, is probably in part due to the arrangement assistance and engineering/mixing of Phillippe Zdar, from Cassius, who ran similar duties on Phoenix's first album, United. after all this time, and the other tracks we and other blogs have put up from CC, this song should be enough to convince everyone to run out to the nearest store and buy a copy for yourselves. it is that good.

"Silicone Sexy" by Colder -- Colder is the production project of Parisian Marc Nguyen, an art director in television and fashion, that received quite a lot of critical acclaime. he shopped the record around and ended up on Trevor Jackson's super Output label (and licensed to modular in Australia). the colder sound is sharp and angular and of course is often compared to joy division and new order, but there's more going on, like excursions into deep layering effects, sometimes to the point of sounding almost like modern dub - if anything it reminds me a bit of Jackson's own project Playgroup. comes v. reccomended - buy it here.

be sure to check the modular site for updates, DJ mixes, and tour info on these guys - plus you never know when the Avalanches will show up with some new material or other weirdness.