men at work aren't offensive ... but it's a little dated, not to mention stereotypical!

aussies like me are into contemporary tunes like john butler trio and alternative bands *as played on triple j* http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/ ... available online for your streaming pleasure ...

if you wanna play the patriot card, go men at work, if you wanna rock the house, try frenzel rhomb!

Thanks very much for this. Australia hass always had a tough time having its best locally-produced music heard overseas (read: not Jet), so it warms my heart to see the likes of the Presets getting a mention, it really does. I'd not heard any songs of theirs before, but both the lads are in a band called Prop, who have just done the one album so far, but it was good enough to warrant a stellar remix album featuring the likes of Stereolab, Mice Parade, Burnt Friedman, personal favourite band in the whole world Decoder Ring, and even a contribution from the Presets, which I believe was the first hint of what they were planning to do under that name. Both albums can be streamed at prop.com.au

the alternative scene in australia is actually quite big ... because the government has fostered *and paid for* the development of niche music and they also spent a bunch of money intentionally looking for talent in rural areas *see triple j's unearthed* ... this brought some great talent out that would never have been discovered.

thanks to the wonder that is "big day out" ... so many aussie artists get a forum on the same stage as international artists too ... and in larger cities, music zines are popular as a source for finding underground music and emerging band gigs ...

you should get down under and check it out ... small population means it's easy to get into the scene and get quite close to some great bands and interesting people.

btw ... did you know this site got a mention in rolling stone magazine??

well done!

Oh man, what's the deal with Jet, anyway? *shudder*
I like these songs. Well done, Australia.

i saw the presets touring with the dissociatives - they're quite a sight on stage. i'm glad they're getting a mention here. the dissociatives probably need some recognition as well even though they're a little overplayed here.

yep, i agree, the best aussie music doesn't get heard much overseas considering the HUGE alternative scene. instead australians gave the world jet and the vines. ekh.

Awesome! -- I totally put up those loaded questions in the hopes that our Aussie readers would have a thing or two to say about the Presets and others (note the Awesome-with-a-capital-A Wolfmother post by markie today) -- any other Aussie labels that the Robots should be working with? drop me a line!

Silent Recordings (silentrecordings.com.au) is the only other noteworthy Australian label I can think of, as major label deals seem to be all the rage for Australia's best musicians (I could be wrong, though, as I don't totally understand how the whole label thing works), but aside from that, Augie March, one of the best Australian bands ever (in every sense of the word), are in the process of taking their craft to America, and I can only hope they're being welcomed with open arms. Their page on SpinArt (http://www.spinartrecords.com/site/bandpage.php?id=83) has an mp3 for the downloading -- an odd choice of song, as it was never one of the singles back in Oz, but it's a personal favourite from the album and I hope it serves them well.

on the labels front, there are loads of great australian indie labels around at the moment... delivering a lot more stuff than silent is. depending on your musical persuasion, check out trifekta, unstable ape (this site might be down at the moment, but they feature artists worth looking up like snap crakk!, bird blobs, love of diagrams, the night terrors, no through road etc.), low transit industries, architecture, ivy league, dot dash and of course the good people at modular who have put out rocket science, cut copy, wolfmother, the avalanches and the presets, and you'd do well to check out the midnight juggernauts - friends of the presets and an awesome band as well. there's loads of great music in australia that no one else gets to hear, unfortunately. if you have any queries drop me a line. i do an australian music radio show here and get to hear a shit load of great stuff, like the presets (who make an appearance on the show tomorrow, btw - the reason i was lead to this site).

p.s. men at work = cheesy as all fuck

the presets are great. lots of really good acts like these coming out of australia at the moment. midnight juggernauts are also a great one starting to make some waves. i liked the night terrors too. really good stuff on the modular label.

I saw the presets play live a few weeks back and was totally blown away by their sound. It's so different to most stuff out there, and the way they perform it makes it all the more hypnotic. Can't wait for their album. If you haven't heard them yet then download some of their tracks from the Modular records site.