Title: New Weird Australia, The Sound Of Young Canberra
Catalogue Number: NWA007
Released: November 2010

Free Download

Tracklisting:

1. POLLEN TRIO, Paleburst (from 230509, hellosQuare 2009)
2. TEDDY TROUBLE, Southward Migration (from The Great Indoors, Dream Damage 2010)
3. SPARTAK, Nightshift (Version) (previously unreleased)
4. JONNY TELAFONE, Doomed In Love (from The Death Posture, self released 2009)
5. FROM THE SOUTH, Lemon In The Way (previously unreleased, from From The South, hellosQuare 2010)*
6. READYMEN, Save That Baby (previously unreleased)
7. REUBEN INGALL, Webbed (from Don’t Give Up, self released 2010)
8 DANGER BEACH, Apache (from Milky Way, Dream Damage 2010)
9. SHOEB AHMAD, Out Of Breath (previously unreleased)
10. ASSASSINS 88, Scanners (previously unreleased)
11. KASHA, Later (previously unreleased, from It Will Come Back/Dot Dot Dash 7″, hellosQuare 2010)
12. BUM CREEK, Bollywood (from Al, Chapter Music 2010)

Selected by Shoeb Ahmad (hellosQuare) and Tim Guthrie (Dream Damage).
Artwork by Heath Killen.

All music donated by the artists for use in this compilation only, all rights reserved.

Sleeve Notes: November 2010

‘The Sound Of Young Canberra’ represents the fist compilation in the series to be guest curated and the first to have a specific focus – in this case, a 12-track frozen moment of new music from Canberra in late 2010.  In the following sleeve notes, Shoeb Ahmad from hellosQuare Recordings explains how the compilation came together:

Putting together a compilation is always difficult, especially when you want it to stand out from the rest and even more so when you are trying to concentrate on one thing – in our case, the city that is Canberra.

Some people wonder if anything does actually happen here but if you ever make it to our town, you’ll see that there’s bands playing in backyards and parties, electronic music made in bedrooms and improvisors making a racket in gallery spaces. We listen to The Shadows to Refused, New Order to Ornette Coleman, everything and anything in between before spewing it out into our own unique concoctions of popular music.

The more I listened to the tunes that Tim Guthrie from Dream Damage and myself collected for this compilation, I noticed the similarities to the movement that was ‘The Sound of Young Scotland’ and bands like Josef K, Orange Juice, The Fire Engines and Aztec Camera and the way they cross-pollinated their ideas with a cavalier spirit, much like what I see and hear in many of the bands you hear on this collection.

These twelve tracks are together here for you to listen to what’s going on in our minds, with our sheer single-mindedness to do whatever we want, this here is The Sound Of Young Canberra.

Press:

“Canberra: bustling capital of Australia. Gaze at its natural beauty. Immerse yourself in its rich cultural heritage at its unofficial(?) tourism website. But if you want a real idea of what’s going on in Canberra, take a listen to New Weird Australia’s The Sound of Young Canberra compilation. One of Rose Quartz’s Australian contributors tipped us off way back in August with his Danger Beach mention that something’s been stirring in the Down Under, and this comp proves it.”
Altered Zones, November 2010

“Like its predecessors, it shines a light on an area that is not usually in the listener’s mind when thinking of hot music destinations. Yet there’s some intriguing sounds on this 12 track delight starting with Pollen Trio’s Phillip Glass influenced soundscape called “Paleburst” and ending with Bum Creek’s musical hiccup titled “Bollywood”. There are a lot of different sounds in between but I especially enjoyed the metal punk “Assasin88″ by Scanners, the dronishly pretty Goth ballad “Doomed in Love” by Johnny Telefona, and the indescribably ghostly “Out of Breath” by Shoeb Ahmad. Like the preceding compilations, the music on The Sounds of New Canberra is independently non-commercial yet quite accessible to even the most casual listener.”
Free Albums Galore, April 2011

FBi Album Of The Week
FBi 94.5FM Sydney, December 2010

“I’ve been listening to the New Weird Australia’s The Sound Of Young Canberra compilation for the past few days with a smile on my face. This track by Danger Beach is the one I enjoy the most when it comes around. It weaves little guitar hooks in and out of each other and slowly builds up to a fully fledged horse chase.”
Life Aquatic, December 2010

SYNApproved Feature Artist, Best of 2010
SYN FM Melbourne, December 2010

“The Australian music community collectively lost our shit a little while back when the institution that is New Weird Australia unleashed their Sounds Of Young Canberra compilation. Following the release of a NWA comp, I usually post my two or three fav tracks, but since I’m a bit of a Jonny-post-lately this time (and since other blogs have already pointed out that Apache by Danger Beach is one of the songs of the year) I figured Id devote some space just to Spartak. I’ve no idea who Spartak are. Ive never heard of them before. According to Myspace theyre currently booking a European tour,so I gather that this is more than a couple dudes fucking around in a bedroom. All I know is that I heard the above song and was totally hooked. … Nightshift (Version) reminds me a lot of a demo by Spoon or something. Which is a good thing. Amongst a lot great songs, this is the one I flicked back to first on the comp. I highly recommend you download The Sounds of Young Canberra. Its free. And awesome. Spartak are just the beginning. You will definitely find something you totally dig on there.”
Who The Hell Are They, December 2010

“Thanks to New Weird Australia, The Sound of Young Canberra compilation, I have discovered Danger Beach – the solo project from LA Thomas, one half of Assassins 88 (also part of the compilation.) The featured song Apache comes from his recent album Milky Way, a dreamy and exciting little instrumental which rounds off a rather diverse release – from howling 60′s vocals, to the shimmering essence of dream pop and distorted guitars, listening to Danger Beach is never boring. For my first Canberra related post, I’m feeling rather swell.”
East To West, November 2010

“my favourite edition (thus far) in the New Weird Australia repertoire”
Brockpapers, November 2010

Title: New Weird Australia Volume Six
Catalogue Number: NWA006
Released: June 2010

Free Download

Tracklisting:

1. AMBROSE CHAPEL, Black Lava (7:47) previously unreleased
2. JONNY TELAFONE, Stardate 2012.1221 (3:33) from ‘Rainbow Genesis’ (self-released)
3. CHROME DOME, She Said (1:13) from ‘Chrome Dome’ (Lexicon Devil)
4. WIGWAM, Ancient Path (3:31) from ‘Sweat Lodge’ (Badminton Bandit)
5. J NEWMAN & R SQUIRES, The Church Of Our Lady Of Pompeii (Excerpt) (3:50) from ‘Our Lady Of Pompeii’ (Gift Project Audio)
6. KYNAN TAN, Melt (4:44) from ‘Two Clouds’ (self-released)
7. TRJAEU, Hull (4:56) from ‘Home EP’ (self-released)
8. EASTERN GREY, 24-5 (9:23) previously unreleased
9. PANEYE, Staircases Under the Sea (3:20) from ‘Lying Under Moribund Waves’ (Secret Station Records / Butter People Records)
10. ISLE ADORE, Keep A Lid On (4:53) from ‘Perfect Dust’ (OWLS)
11. UNDERLAPPER, Elephant Shoe (2:51) previously unreleased, from forthcoming album ‘ Softly Harboured’
12. DANGER BEACH, Milky Way (2:02) previously unreleased
13. PHILIP SULIDAE, Dead Horse Gap (6:07) from ‘An High Land’ (dontcaresulidae)
14. ANNA CHASE, Lines (3:42) previously unreleased

Compiled by Stuart Buchanan.
Artwork by David Egan, www.badmintonbandit.com
Click artist title for background information and links.
All music licenced via Creative Commons (Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives), except track 9, all rights reserved.

Sleeve Notes: June 2010

Curating and sequencing the New Weird Australia compilation series is a difficult business – underpinning each track-listing is a desire to present both a sense of cohesion and one of contrast. They might at first seem at polar opposites, but in fact it is the latter that provides the aural glue for the former – as we believe this latest volume clearly proves.

We open with a track that could only placed at the start – a statement of intent that clearly signals that all bets are indeed in the off position. Ambrose Chapel’s patient slice of epic drone metal takes nearly five minutes to introduce any percussive elements, by which point a growing sense of disorientation has already dislodged any preconceptions about what might follow. If you’re not already feeling paranoid by the end of track one, Jonny Telafone will certainly drive you there – signalling the end of the world in track two (happening sometime next year, apparently). However, his apocalyptic vision is tempered with an electro clarion call, insisting that we take a moment of heady refuge and get it on with whoever might be closest.

The contrasts and cohesion continues throughout the volume: Chrome Dome‘s furious, motorik rant against needy members of the opposite sex is juxtaposed with Wigwam‘s sweaty, stumbling percussion and mid-tempo tribal shuffle; Eastern Grey‘s lengthy, freeform piece pitches analogue machine against analogue machine in a squealing and unsettling battle for aural domination, whereas Isle Adore calms us all down with a perfect drop of experimental pop, culled from a sadly neglected album that richly deserves wider acclaim.

Nowhere is the yin / yang more obvious than in the closing couplet. Philip Sulidae‘s dense slab of black tar drone falls into Anna Chase‘s tempered closing shot of sparse vocals, guitar and accordion – all of which belies a fitting moment of quiet defiance, with Chase insisting that we’re simply “not going to take it any more”.

This line in the sand is an appropriate finale to Volume Six, and indeed to both Year One of New Weird Australia and our process to date. Our next releases will see a change in direction – with guest curators, thematic and genre-specific compilations and a new series of artist EPs, released free with limited CDs available on the side. A contrast to what has gone before, but nonetheless a cohesive and natural evolution to our new, weird, Australian story.

Press:

Who The Bloody Hell Are They? “super rad blog / podcast / radio show that features the best and latest in experimental / electronic Australian music … a wonderful compilation … the strongest of the series so far.”

TripBase “without a shadow of a doubt, the best Australian-based experimental music site the Internet has to offer”