Local Artists:

APEman: Rocky X (Single) (Indie)
- I want to know what APEman is going to do for track titles once he's exhausted his DVD collection. The new single is the kind of inspirational smasher you might expect from KRS-One. Backed by a million orchestral hits, APEman channels the power of the Italian Stallion and rides that wave to victory. It's ridiculously over-the-top but that's kind of the point. (Chris Cobcroft)

Deafcult: Rubix (Single) (Hobbledehoy)
Brisbane’s band of a thousand white-hot guitars, Deafcult, continue to radiate an exceptional amount of energy with their leading single Rubix. For you to get the most out of their radiant shoegaze you’ll need a good pair of earplugs and a solar-sail. Brace yourself and aim high. (Nick Rodwell)

Hatchie: Try (Single) (Indie)
- This is so positively dreamy it makes me want to offer free hugs at Fortitude Valley train station without reservation. Of course, there is plenty of dreamy, jangly indie-pop around atm, Brisbane’s Hatchie just seems to provide that extra element of compassion that makes me feel so warm and fuzzy. (Nick Rodwell)

The Jungle Giants: On Your Way Down (Single) (Amplifire Music)
- Local juggernauts, The Jungle Giants, prove their vitality with this indie-rock belter. Taut guitars, sprightly gang vocals and such tight dynamic control are the key to this single’s fun-frenzy. (Nick Rodwell)

Karrie Hayward: Gypsies (Single) (Indie)
- Perfectly blending soulful and honest vocals with guitar in hand, Karrie Hayward's new single successfuly embodies what an easy-going afternoon feels like and is guaranteed to make you dream of being at the beach. (Trixie Bria)

Australian Artists:

Ainslie Wills: Running Second (Single) (Indie)
- Ainslie Wills is one of my favourite musicians. Part of what makes her so great is her ability to twist traditional singer-songwriter fare into subtle new permutations, almost without you realising it. Even by Ainslie's own standards this new, possibly standalone single, is subtle indeed. A hushed take on the style of heartland rock she favours, it's quiet and reflective, examining the idea of being ok with yourself and, at the point of heartbreak and exhaustion, just easing back. Even as it hits the inspirational modulation everything remains calm and reserved and okay ... everything's okay - which is kind of the point. On balance, an unusual choice for a single, but I wouldn't expect anything else from Ainslie and I wouldn't have it any other way. (Chris Cobcroft)

Batpiss: Paralyzed (Single) (Poison City)
- Balls to the wall rock'n'roll is shoulder to shoulder in the meat grinder with all the Batpiss sludge and noise, that's the new single from their forthcoming record, due in July. The production is hellish, compressing so much messiness into something slim and neat at the same time, courtesy of celebrity producer Gareth Liddiard. It's like one of those explosive shells that is sleek, steely and narrow on the outside, injecting its horrific molten core into the target and annihilating everything. (Chris Cobcroft)

Billy Davis & the Good Lords: Ball and Chain (Single) (Good Manners)
- Smooth but athletic beats power this urban mover. Billy's powerhouse flow has quite a '90s quality, but it'd be impressive in any era. The ambient finish and jazzy qualities (right down to the unexpected piano solo) are stylish. It's so slickly smooth that it's not immediately obvious (at least to me) how informed Davis is by the deeper heads in the current afro-futurist scene (Thundercat, The Internet, etc.). This doesn't really feel like it belongs in amongst the rest of Oz hip hop, but it's most welcome. (Chris Cobcroft)

Burden Man: Dark Folk To Soothe & Haunt You (Indie)
- I love the functionality in the titling of this EP. No mystery about what’s on offer here. I also love this EP. Sydney’s Burden Man has a sound that’s boldly produced, the amplified and distorted acoustic is right up in your face, as is his heavy, mahogany voice. If it’s folk it’s also electric, country and very gothic. It’s got quite a lot in common with Chelsea Wolfe and the drone blues of Brisbane’s own The Steady As She Goes. I get chills listening to this, like I should be looking over my shoulder for some large, predatory creature, patiently stalking me. (Chris Cobcroft)

Didirri: Blind You (Single) (Indie)
- There is a palpable sincerity in coastal storyteller Didirri. The subtle and spacious arrangement allow for great emphasis on the poignant moments within Melbourne-based songwriters tale of personal trial. (Nick Rodwell)

FERLA: Breakups Are Hard For Everybody (Single) (Our Golden Friend)
- This shimmering, borderline misanthropic, pop-croon is understatedly dignified. Melbourne’s Ferla positions himself amongst Australia’s other dark lovers like Lost Animal and Jack Ladder with this relativistic break-up single. (Nick Rodwell)

Grim Rhythm: The Suspect (Single) (Suspect)
- Grim Rhythm are a three-piece packing an attractive back-story. The Aussie shred-machine have been going for years, so why haven't you heard of them? Because they've never cared about anything but getting better at the shred. Even if it weren't true this single from their forthcoming record would make you believe it: speeding, stoner-psych that's nil-vox is 'cause it doesn't fricking need any. (Chris Cobcroft)

Klue: Lifted (Single) (ectetc)
- If you've been digging on Ribongia's African influenced club bangers then Sydney producer Klue is another one you need to check out. Against a background of dayglo, hyperactive synths and beats you get a patchwork of styles quilted together: moments of soulful spirituals, syncopated African rhythms, blasting flutes, lilting sax and pounding marimbas, even a surging UK garage break. The result is surprisingly refreshing. Apparently this has hit #1 on the iTunes World chart which, well, that doesn't seem like THE most difficult chart to get to the top of; but you take what you can get, right? Also, this is pretty great. (Chris Cobcroft)

Knightfall: Speed Machine (Single) (Indie)
- Get down all you Justice fans, this is synthwave with that new Maserati smell. I particularly like the addition of the Bee Gees styles vocals, showing that this isn't just a cookie-cutter production. I mean, it's triple-brie cheesy, but just like buying a super-car, Knightfall aren't aiming for subtlety. (Chris Cobcroft)

Messy Mammals: Wish I'd Said (Single) (Indie)
- The Melbourne duo of Messy Mammals remind me of the stuff Andras Fox and Sui Zhen did together: taking in all sorts of weird and wonderful beats and styles (predominantly nu jazz, trip hop and dream pop, according to them). The resulting mish-mash has a woozy, psychedelic lilt that is grinningly good. Strangely goofy exotica that is very easy to enjoy. (Chris Cobcroft)

Neighbourhood Youth: Hugo (Single) (Habit)
- There's something incredible about this song. The fast, almost skeletal, drum-machine driven post-punk is blessedly fleshed out with warm, indie rock harmonies; at the vanguard of all that tunefulness is John Philip's voice which sits forward, powerfully in the mix - very much the right choice. It has some of the messy quality of Joe Strummer, but also the life-affirming spirit of Springsteen, much like the band as a whole. This whole thing just feels right. (Chris Cobcroft)

Orcha: BodyBound (Indie)
- Orcha is out of Melbourne and is another fiddle-wielding producer, so a bit like Lupa J or Oliver Tank, then. The beats slip between mid-tempo smoothies -like Crescent with its seductive guest vocal spot for Liahona- and the higher BPM action of Get By. I love Get By, the offbeat slightly ambient but highly tuneful dance sensibility it displays reminds me of Caribou or Tycho. The multi-instrumentalism and the bowerbird eye for found sounds folded into the eclectic beats mean there's always something different to catch your attention in this little EP. Very keen to hear more like this. (Chris Cobcroft)

Other Places: While Drifting (Single) (It)
- Back off Floating Points and Boards Of Canada, Mat Watson has stepped out from behind his drum kit in Melbourne's Taipan Tiger Girls and is making some really wonderful electronica. Synth-wave and ambient influences are strong in this highly danceable advance for his forthcoming full-length. Multiple layers slide across each other, you can let your mind wander through it all while you lose yourself on the dancefloor. When I say 'you can', you really should. (Chris Cobcroft)

Retro Culture: Wonderland on the Radio (Indie)
- If you've been paying attention to the singles you will already have heard most of Retro Culture's latest EP. Even so, it may surprise you. The overriding influence has to be Wham! - Matt Connelly's voice is such a wonderful echo of George Michael that it would be a crime not to match it to the lush synth-pop he also clearly has such a gift for. Connelly's fascination with synth-wave is also fairly easy to pick up on, an obsession he picked up listening to Cliff Martinez and The Chromatics on the Drive OST. What might be less obvious is his taste for The Weeknd and contempory PBR'n'b stylings. The autotune, pitch-shifting and occasional hip hop beats are actually great - updating Wonderland, making it feel that much more relevant, not just an '80's caricature. Enjoying this an awful lot. (Chris Cobcroft)

Ribongia: Before The Winter (Single)/Sonder (Single) (October)
- Sydney afro-beat(s) specialist has a certain talent for crafting tracks that exist in a gentle air without sacrificing how hard they groove. This double single is a great example of that, The Winter having a breezy dancehall vibe and Sonder with its wispy allusions to deep house. (Nick Rodwell)

Sunscreen: Voices (Single) (Dinosaur City)
- This Sydney indie band front by the lush voice of Sarah Sykes has a strong future ahead of them, if this single is anything to go by. Seriously, it's not that they're different or new, but they just nail rich, emotive indie-rock so hard it's like they've been doing it forever. Yet Sunscreen have all the verve and energy of a band kicking it for the first time. (Chris Cobcroft)

Winston Surfshirt: Ali D (Single) (Sweat It Out)
- Slick-ass disco and hip hop out of Sydney. Sotto voce soul against a propulsive groove and smoothly supportive horns. I'm sure you could lump this somewhere into the bag of afro-futurist things happening right now, but it really feels so fresh and individual. (Chris Cobcroft)

Overseas Artists:

Broken Social Scene: Hug Of Thunder (Single) (Spunk)
- Compared to their last single this is kind of lowkey, but Feist's almost monotonal delivery over the top of the hushed indie-rocking is much truer to the Broken Social Scene formula. Any true fan will stick it out anyway and be rewarded with a lushly anthemic chorus booming out and causing all your favourite synapses to fire appropriately. (Chris Cobcroft)

Ladi6: Guru (Single) (Low Key Source)
- The Kiwi songstress leads her outfit through this rather delicious single with that big, smokey voice of hers. Everybody is punching above their weight here. The afro-futurist, jazz shimmer gently embraces some trap echoes and makes for a syrupy sweet but not at all stupid single. This is the sort of thing I imagine Hiatus Kaiyote or Erykah Badu would love to claim as their own. Can't wait to hear the EP. (Chris Cobcroft)

Little Simz: Backseat (Single) (Age 101)
- Sneaky little single from Simz. She raps like a jaguar pacing in a cage, full of trapped anger. The beat's pretty great: tuneful chimes ringing out of nowhere, spiced with a buzzing trap snare. Whatever she does, she got it. (Chris Cobcroft)

Mogwai: Coolverine (Single) (Spunk / Caroline / Universal)
- The Scottish postrock demigods return, dropping off a moody calling card ahead of their new album. I can't listen to it (despite the ridiculous title) without imagining scenes of supernatural French / scandinoir police procedurals, which, well that's fine, innit? Layer upon layer it builds, it's really postrock's blueprint and yet the subtle melding of the synths and saxes make this seem, somehow, more. Oh well, you don't get to be the biggest name in the genre for no reason. (Chris Cobcroft)

the Mountain Goats: Goths (Merge / Remote Control)
- As anticipated, John Darnielle is really letting the novelist side of his persona have a reneissance. Goths is an autobiographical reflection on his teenage years as a -you guessed it- goth. The more knowledge you bring of the scene the more you'll get from this, but there's still plenty for everyone to appreciate. What may surprise you is how gently happy and funny these indie-folk-rock reminiscences are. Many of The Mountain Goats best moments are full of utterly rending emotion, yet it turns out that pleasantly contented John Darnielle is pretty great too. (Chris Cobcroft)

This Is The Kit: Moonshine Freeze (Single) (Rough Trade / Remote Control)
- For an easygoing folk-rocker, Kate Stables brings an almost obsessively mathy canonic structure to the title track from her forthcoming, latest album. The effect is trippy, linking into the strangely cultish, pagan and incomprehensible lyrical mantras lilting away. Kate can't help but revel in it, letting the sax section off the leash to warmly wash over the climax of the track. I find this quietly structured thing as infectious as bird-flu. (Chris Cobcroft)

Slowdive: Slowdive (Dead Oceans / Inertia)
- There's a lot of new shoegaze and a lot of new stuff from the towering giants of the style, too. Amongst all of it the new Slowdive record stands tall. They've waited a long time to put out a self-titled record and it might make you think this is something of a 'definitive' record, but while it captures what they've done very capably, it also is full of fresh, new growth, the sort of thing you just don't expect to hear from a band at this point in their career. Beautiful, shimmering, energetic, considered, deep and insightful. Recommending shoegaze is always pretty easy for me, but I want you to know this is a cut above. (Chris Cobcroft)

Superorganism: It's All Good (Single) (Caroline Australia / Universal)
- I would hope that you’re familiar with M.I.A.’s Paper Planes: it samples The Clash, gun shots and cash registers to create this kaleidoscopic pop-culture collage that is undeniably catchy. Well, the UK’s Superorganism are on that kick with their It’s All Good Single. It’s a pop delight built out of the detritus of the past fifty years and it’s a glitchy whirlwind of fun. (Nick Rodwell)