Mining Tax – Degenerational Report EP

I won't pretend to have a particularly firm handle on what's going on in Australian politics these days, but one thing's for sure: most of what Tony Abbott and the Liberals have done to Australia since being voted in has been an utter fucking joke. (If there was ever a question of whether Abbott is snugly nestled in the pocket of the devil, there's a handy blog detailing the extensive damage Abbott has inflicted upon this country.)

Perth-based duo Mining Tax – Alex Griffin (Ermine Coat) and Mitchell Henderson-Miller – cut straight to the chase with the title of their debut EP Degenerational Report. While Mining Tax seem, on the surface, to be yet another '80s-aping outfit, more style than substance, the opposite is in fact the case: this is minimal synth-pop of a warm, incisive and intelligent stripe. Griffin's impassioned and occasionally very witty vocals are smothered by Henderson-Miller's fuzzy synths, evoking the muffled voices of the thousands of frustrated Australians who can't wait to kick Abbott out of the PM's chair next year. 

Popping this 20-minute beauty on gives me the same thrill as I got at school when the teacher would wheel out the TV and VHS player on a trolley so we could watch a documentary in class.



Degenerational Report is out now on Workplace Safety CD-Rs.

Sam Atkin – Gently, Quietly

I like music that is simultaneously big and small. Both vast and intimate. Large enough to lose yourself in but human-sized, too. Sam Atkin's Gently, Quietly is such music.

It's skewed in such a way that my ears discern some sense of perspective, a feeling of momentum, without being able to predict where it's going to end up. I'm ushered along by streaming synths, vague rhythms like heartbeats, droning half-melodies and twinkling piano lines that break my heart. I follow where it leads because it's strange and beautiful.

I approach this music feeling immediately at home, though I don't know if I've heard anything exactly like it. Too uneasy and melancholy for 'New Age', too clean and radiant to be 'lo-fi', too lovingly mapped out and oddly accessible to be 'experimental'.

The best way to put it is that I can hear Atkin making the music while it's playing, right there within the music, responding to what's just happened, fiddling with filters or cooing into a pitchshifter. During the second half of 'Grove/Grown' he decides to pick up an acoustic guitar and strum a few open-ended chords and it sounds new, for fuck's sake. When was the last time anyone did that with an acoustic guitar? He even manages to use field recordings of flowing water and birdsong without upsetting the applecart. It all feels just right to me, without being predictable or cheesy.

Music this understated yet so deeply affecting is a rare thing. Go and listen and download over at Bandcamp.

Hidden Shoal artist profile: Apricot Rail

Apricot Rail

Perth-based instrumental pop band Apricot Rail create the kind of gleaming, melodic music to perfectly soundtrack moments of wide-eyed discovery, blue-skied revelation and intimate tenderness. Woodwinds, glockenspiels and trumpet weave amid chiming guitars to create music that is as moving as it is playful. The band released their self-titled debut album, produced by Umpire's Simon Struthers, in 2009. It features beautiful single 'Pouring Milk Out The Window':



In 2011 the band released their latest single 'Surry Hills', the first to include newest member Justin Manzano:



If you're interested in licensing Apricot Rail's music for your creative project, please contact tim@dots-and-loops.com