Webcuts Music

New Years Eve’s are traditionally unplanned, last minute events, involving clubs or house parties especially in laissez-faire Brisbane. This year was different. An independent music festival at the Powerhouse, brazenly named No Years! offered a tempting program. 21 bands in total: 14 local, 5 interstate and 2 international acts, over eleven hours at lovely New Farm location. We cast our NYE net on Australia’s Bleeding Knees Club, Parades, Love Connection, Jonathan Boulet, The John Steel Singers and Oh Ye Denver Birds. And see who ranks best out of America Neon Indian and Sweden Shout Out Louds.

For the benefit of Webcuts’ Brisbane clientele, see in 2011 in style with Swedes Shout Out Louds, texans Neon Indian and a whole lot of Australian talent including The Belligerents, Bleeding Knees Club, Dead Beat Band, The Honey Month, Jonathan Boulet, John Steel Sings, Kate & Max, Little Scout, Love Connection, Mr. Maps, Parades, Seja, Seekae, Oh Ye Denver Birds, Rocketsmiths, Vasy Mollo and Velociraptor. Phew.

Webcuts turns its attention to Stockholm’s charming Popaganda festival to lift our post-festival blues. Swedish local acts such as the electro pop Navet, folk sisters First Aid Kit, Stockholm indie stalwarts Shout Out Louds, dance kings Familjen and pop sensation Robyn rub shoulder to shoulder with Scottish indie legends Belle & Sebastian, elegantly dressed UK synth-pop duo Hurts, London indie-soul act The Magic Numbers and reigning electro-geek heroes Hot Chip.

In the words of the good people at Merge Records, “Spring has sprung” and to celebrate the good feelings and warm-weather frolics, Merge have opened up the doors of their digital store and hand-picked a selection of treats from their most recent releases. Featuring such stunning tracks like “Written In Reverse” by Spoon, “Thieves” by [...]

We graze of the green pastures of 2007 and find the cream of the crop including Damn Arms, Grinderman, Spoon, The Concretes, Feist, Faker, John Doe, The Shins and more.

Just call it the comeback. While the Shout Out Loud’s debut album Howl Howl Gaff Gaff showed promise few could have predicated the seismic improvement for follow-up Our Ill Wills – a veritable treasure chest of ’80s and ’90s influenced alternative pop and rock with strings, layered percussion and crisp production. We sit down with [...]