Falcon - Self-Titled EP (Friends Of The American Songbook, 2008)

Falcon's debut EP is as good as any that In(High)Fidelity has heard in recent times. Soaring and cinematic, even at is most powerful moments, there is a fragility to Falcon's music that keeps it from floating beyond the stratosphere.
Jared Falcon was a song-writing prodigy in the small town of Petaluma, California. Recording over 300 songs onto a Fisher Price tape recorder before finishing high school. To say that Falcon was prolific a prolific writer would be an understatement. Sadly, though, while Falcon was able to translate his view of the world into songs of heartbreaking beauty, he was not able to detach himself from that same heartbreaking world, and, as a result of poor mental health, was never able to properly record his amazing songs.
Enter Shannon Ferguson and Neil Rosen, two of Falcon's classmates, who, having relocated to New York City, have paid the ultimate tribute to their troubled comrade, by recording his songs in a manner that does them the justice they deserve.
The opening track, The Sandfighter, is a slow-burning gem, that sets the tone of this compelling collection of songs. Comparisons to the likes of Arcade Fire and the National start here - and are well deserved.
With five songs recorded for this EP, In(High)Fidelity's mathematics whizz has calculated that their remain... a lot of songs yet to be put to wax (and he didn't even use a calculator). With so many songs yet to be recorded, we can only hope that a full-length Falcom album will follow shortly.

Check Out: www.myspace.com/falconmusic

Key Tracks: It's only five songs... all of them.

The Presets - Apocalypso (Modular, 2008)

For the benefit of our readers in parts of the world that aren't Australia, I would like to clear something up. Australian rules football is not rugby; it is not soccer; and, it is not American football. It is completely its own sport, and, in my humble opinion, far superior to any of the codes mentioned above.
The Richmond Football Club, who are one of the oldest clubs in the Australian Football League, are the team that In(High)Fidelity support; and, in the more than two decades that we have offered them our heart, each season they have retuned it to us just a little bit more broken. It takes a special sort of person to continually support a really crappy team for a really long time... it does strange things to your psyche.
At this point I'm sure you're wondering: "The folks at In(High)Fidelity have finally lost their mind", which wouldn't be too far from the truth; however, all of this relates to The Presets.
Julian Hamilton, lead-singer and keyboardist of The Presets, also supports Richmond; and so, I immediately feel a bond with him, as all Richmond fans do. What I am trying very poorly to illuminate, is the fact that it is not always music that initially draws us to a particular artist. Perhaps it is the way they look; maybe you like the artwork on their album; maybe you like their name. Whatever it is, go with it.
Having been drawn to the Presets for the most bizarre of reasons, I have fallen under their grimy, electronic, dance-rock spell. Apocalypso that feels like it was made for dancefloors the size of stadiums.
It also reminds me of 1999 for some reason. This one I can't explain, and in no way do I think the sound the Presets is somehow dated; there are just some songs on the album that remind me of 1999. 1999 was a great year for In(High)Fidelity, so it can only be a good thing.
So, in closing, check out the Presets and, as a weird-looking-old-woman-who-should know-when-to-quit once said: Get into the groove.

Check Out: www.myspace.com/thepresets

Key Tracks: Kicking & Screaming; Yippiyo-Ay; Eucalyptus