Perfect Black Swan - Perfect Black Swan (Ambulance Records, 2006)

Having named his band after a Dirty Three album, one could safely assume that Australia's Toby Burke is well aware of the myriad of emotions that can be expressed in music without words. For those of you unfamiliar with the Dirty Three, they are a brilliant instrumental band - also from Australia - led by violinist and Nick Cave cohort Warren Ellis. The name of the Dirty Three album from which Burke took his band's name is Horse Stories. Knowing all this, however, will not prepare you for the tender, sublime beauty that lies within the music of Perfect Black Swan.
Following three albums with the aforementioned Horse Stories, that garnered praise for Burke's songwriting abilities from critics in the U.K, the U.S. and Australia alike; plus an excellent solo album, the aptly-titled Winsome Lonesome, Burke decided to put down his pen - at least as far as lyrics were concerned - and create a song cycle of six plaintive, guitar-based instrumentals.
Each of the songs has its own character, though as a whole, the album has a pastoral feel about it. Perfect Black Swan is awash with the feeling of wide open spaces; a feeling that has carried through the music of many of Australia's best songwriters, from The Triffids, to Paul Kelly, to Tex, Don & Charlie.
As a limited release available only through the mail, Perfect Black Swan is like a safely-guarded secret, that is far too good to keep.

Check Out: http://www.myspace.com/perfectblackswan

Le Loup - The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millenium General Assembly (Hardly Art, 2007)

I like to wake early in the morning. I like to hide under my covers as the sun chases away the cowering night yet again; taking comfort in the knowledge that Mr. Sun has done it many times before, and certainly doesn’t need my help. I like to turn on the radio on these early mornings, and listen to the various news pieces on NPR, letting myself drift in-and-out of sleepy, hazy consciousness. I love the sense of disorientation; the not-quite knowing of what is real and what is imagined as the stories on the radio and the dreams still floating around my head inter-mingle, becoming one and the same. Le Loup's music invokes the same feeling within me.
Springing from the mind of Sam Simkoff - the creative force behind Le Loup - The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millenium General Assembly is an exercise in catharsis. Song titles such as Planes Like Vultures and Outside Of This Car. The End Of The World, may lead one to believe that this album is a solemn affair, however, as with much great art, Simkoff has used a difficult period in his life, to inspire something that is anything but difficult. Inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy, the album spins tales of despair into songs that are somehow life-affirming.
Recorded straight onto Simkoff’s laptop, the album has a distinctly lo-fi feel and sparse instrumentation. The instrumentation there is – all of which is played by Simkoff – is used to great effect; particularly a trusty old banjo and electronic sound that would not sound out of place on an Atari 2600. Le Loup, now fleshed-out to a seven-piece band, are sure to garner plenty of attention in 2008.

Check Out: www.myspace.com/leloupmusic

Sounds A Bit Like: The Books

Burial - Untrue (Hyperdub, 2007)

They tell me that Burial practice a form of electronica known as dubstep. Dubstep is a very London-centric style of electronica; it is moody, sparse and places a strong emphasis on that which my dubwise brother could appreciate - the bassline. I picked up this album after I had seen it pop up on a number of musician's end of year lists, and I am rather happy that I did.
While my exposure to dubstep is limited, it appears that Burial - a highly secretive London-based producer - is the genre's crowned-prince; and therein, my friends, is the root problem with genre catgorization: Burial is creating music that is worthy not only of the high praise Untrue is receiving from within the electronica community and those savvy enough to be in the know. On the contrary Burial is worthy of a far greater audience, as he is creating music that is as forward thinking, creative, and just generally mind-blowing, as anything I have heard recently.
I have been listening to this album on repeat for the past five days and it has had me grasping for a thesaurus to come up with new words for 'awesome'. If there is a way to be both sparse and dense at the same time, then Burial has it figured out. Untrue is densely textured, with layer upon layer of sonic goodness folding in upon itself, as dis-embodied voices slink in and out of the action. The wonders Burial works with pitch and tempo dynamics has me forever having to pick my chin up off the floor.
In short: Buy this album.

Sounds A Bit Like: Music I have been wanting to hear for a long time.

Check Out: www.myspace.com/burialuk