Local Artists:

Cedarsmoke: Traffic On Solitude Road (Indie)
- Cedarsmoke are a Brizzy outfit proffering classic alt-rock. I think this record has been lurking on the net for a while, but it's finally getting properly launched by the band. Deft touches of emo and country across the EP will surely tempt a few cigarette lighters into the air when it does. Really, stuff like this can be so boring, but with care and craft it can be so much more as Cedarsmoke aptly demonstrate. (Chris Cobcroft)

The Demon Drink: Saturn's Rings (Single) (Indie)
- Halfway may soon have to fight to retain the crown as Brisbane's country rocking kings. The brothers Kieran and Adrian Waters, the songwriting core of the band have a gift for lush, carefully orchestrated Americana. Jeff Lovejoy's production probably doesn't hurt either. This dusty, melancholy but rich and powerful song is a really big recommendation for the forthcoming album. (Chris Cobcroft)

KRAZNOV: Akira Feat. Cult Shotta (Single) (Indie)
- This is tight. Local DJ / Beat Producer KRAZNOV has linked up with Sydney duo Cult Shotta for this truly wavy cut. It has the same high-end charm as Pharrel X Jay Z’s Change Clothes but pushed forward into Flume-era electronica. Oish Oish. (Nick Rodwell)

Lou: The Ward (Single) (Indie)
- Lou Parker is a solo female artist from Brisbane. Lou's style is a more ferocious contemporary take on singer-songwriters like Tori Amos, with a theatrical, bluesy twist. The debut single The Ward is worth checking out for the soulful singing, dramatic piano and epic blues guitar. (Bianca Reck)

Milk Buttons: Flowers (Single) (Indie)
- Collaboration is good for what ails you. Milk Buttons is essentially a duo but this track was brought into the world by a number of Brisbane creatvie indentities. Sound off: Mosman Alder, Big Dead, Big Bad Echo and Alex L’estrange. It’s a fuzzed-out psych number of deceptively low-key twists and turns with the same sense of whimsy found on Devendra Banhart’s What Will Be. (Nick Rodwell)

Miss Blanks: Clap Clap (Single) (Indie)
- Amongst the many formidable rappers in Brisbane, Miss Blanks has an undeniable presence. Her take-no-prisoners allows this trapped-out single to double as a party track about getting yours and a celebration of body-positivity. (Nick Rodwell)

Monster Zoku Onsomb!: Bone Reader (Single) (Death$sucker)
- I really don't know what to call Monster Zoku Onsomb! any more. Every time I reconcile the electro-clash with the breakcore with the horn section I'll hear a wash of surf-rock-xotica come piling through. Whatever it is, it's infectiously life-affirming, very rave-friendly dance music that'll be getting a flogging for some time on these airwaves. (Chris Cobcroft)

Nonsemble: Cults (Sugarrush)
- Covers bands always do better than originals ones, yeah? Brisbane classical crossover kids Nonsemble were a bit bemused by just how much action their chamberpop versions got in the beginning, but they've embraced their fate with grace and poise. I'd be surprised if the clutch on their new EP weren't received just as fondly as anything in their back catalogue (of other people's back catalogues). Cults kicks off ambitiously, attempting the universally adored Stranglers classic, Golden Brown ... and pulling it off I reckon. There's a bunch of other stuff to discover, but I'll let you open those presents yourself; enjoy! (Chris Cobcroft)

Ra Ra Ruby: Her (Single) (Indie)
- Without even having released a single, Ra Ra Ruby has already accumulated quite a fanbase. With the addition of Her, their debut single, it is only anticipated that this band will garner even more buzz. Melding well into the local indie-rock scene, this fun guitar driven tune is sure to grab the attention of 4ZZZ listeners. (Rylee Griffin)

Sabrina Lawrie: No Rules (Single) (Pig City)
- Strangely, when I want to compare the great, thrumming vocal chords of Sabrina Lawrie to someone I feel like I should be reaching for Courtney Love, or Kathleen Hanna or Joan Jett? Instead I want to say Adalita or Vicki Watson. Does Australia just have a really thunderous bunch of rock valkyries or something? Whatever comparison you make Sabrina Lawrie measures up. Her new single starts tentatively, the first quiet thoughts of a rock manifesto, it catches fire in the chorus. What are the rules? No rules! You won’t be left in any doubt. (Chris Cobcroft)

Australian Artists:

Various Artists: DCR Mixtape #2 (Dinosaur City)
- A new(ish) label, Dinosaur City, is making waves down in Sydney. This is their second (!) comp and, if you're not plugged into the Sydney scene, a lot of the names on this expansive record may be unfamiliar. Do a little digging however and you'll find a lot of side-projects from some folks you know very well (I won't give away who). What is immediately obvious is all the arty but catchy indie music - it's really hard not to see this as a harbinger for the who's who of next year's alternative stars. (Chris Cobcroft)

Various Artists: Follow The Sun (Kemado / Anthology)
- There's actually been quite a lot of investigation into Australia's psych-folk-rock from yesterday and, really, all of that work has been pretty great. Still, it's hard not to notice when Mikey Young (Eddie Current, Total Control) and Anthology label head Keith Abrahamsson put their heads together and go digging through the archives. The fringey gems are not in short supply and, for the heads, there's plenty to bring the memories flooding back. Even for the uninitiated this is great, like a golden carpet of exotica to carry you away. (Chris Cobcroft)

Baro: Just Problems You need To Know (Indie)
- From croon, to rap to garage musing, this is Hip Hop 2.0 - A brash pop-culture gem from Melbourne’s Baro. (Nick Rodwell)

Battlehounds: Damn Demons (Mirador)
- Adelaide rockers Battlehounds come across too seriously to have a name like 'Battlehounds'. This is brooding rock music, thickly textured with a grim but ultimately really satisfying weight. Frontman Alex completes that by sounding quite a lot like Paul Dempsey and I imagine him -quite inaccurately as it turns out- looking just like Paul: his brow furrowed, hunched over the mic and huskily roaring about just how bad everything is. I reckon this is perfectly modulated alt-rock; I don't know what it takes to get to the top in rock, but I can imagine Battlehounds riding a sound like this, right up there. (Chris Cobcroft)

Body Type: Break Down (Single) (Indie)
- Body Type are an all-woman four piece from Sydney. They have unassuming and lovely arrangements in all their songs and this song is no exception. The soft vocals and washy instrumentals create a relaxed, melancholic and nostalgic atmosphere that draw you in emotionally while the hypnotic vocals lull you into a feeling of security. (Monica Sottile)

Borneo: Boyfriend (Single) (GD FRNDS)
- Sometimes Borneo’s sense of party has the tongue so far in the cheek the novelty value would undermine their party rock BUT Boyfriend is a winner. With golden new wave vibes, this is late Clash or the funkier Talking Heads with a certain silliness that will carry a carefree party well into the night. (Nick Rodwell)

Briggs: Here (ft Caiti Baker) (Single) (Bad Apples / Golden Era)
- Briggs doing a promo for Fox Sports? Actually I ****ing love this. Hugely powerful: this is the kind of inspirational anthem that made The Hilltops famous and here, Briggs perfects it. I'll never be very into footy, but the chorus in this makes me feel like I'm really missing something. (Chris Cobcroft)

Buzz Kull: Chroma (Indie)
- Sydney's Marc Dwyer is Buzz Kull and he keeps busting out the darkwave jams. The lines are simple and elegant: drum-machine high in the mix,
saw-wave synths purring in the rhythm section with others floating ethereally above; Marc's machine-like baritone is the hard-eyed focus for your attention. He does a lot with a little, too: from the syrupy sweetness of We Were Lovers to the howling shriek of Into The Void, this album is evidence of a masterful, gothic touch. (Chris Cobcroft)

Clowns: Lucid Again (Poison City)
- Did Clowns always sound this good? I mean, I always liked 'em, but the screamy, Melbournian punks just seem so mature; Lucid Again is a record of real circumspection and depth. This reminds me of the kind of intellectual thunder you get from a band like Fucked Up. I guess adding Hanny J on bass was the right choice. (Chris Cobcroft)

CREO: Give Me Yours (Single) (Indie)
- 4-piece Sydney band, CREO have released the second single from their upcoming EP Subtitles For X, Y, Z. Part slick and polished, part coarse rock'n'roll, Give Me Yours is a rollicking, uptempo tune. On this track, the band pick their moments. With a swirling bass line that kicks in after the first chorus and devastating drumming at the climax of the crescendo, CREO show their immense skill. (Jon Cloumassis)

Emma Russack: Everybody Cares (Single) (Spunk)
- Singer-songwriter Emma Russack has put forward a new, brooding single. The inverse of Courtney Barnett's 'Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go To The Party', Russack's 'Everybody Cares' offers a chorus that bemoans, "everybody cares if I'm not at the party". Alongside the deadpan vocals is a repetitive electric guitar riff and a picked Spanish guitar that colours this dark song beautifully. (Jon Cloumassis)

Flamingo Jones: North (We'll Be Warmer Up There) (Single) (Indie)
- You don't often get bands hitting you up saying their sound sits halfway between a load of acid and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Flamingo Jones' new single makes a very convincing attempt to be exactly that. Deliciously warm afro-pop melts into psychedelic beats and, yeah, the LBM reference is right on, but this could also be Animal Collective at their poppiest. Whatever, it's highly distinctive and very difficult to say no to. (Chris Cobcroft)

Ghosting: One Summer (Single) (Good Manners)
- Ghosting is a project from Grammy-Nominated producer Andrei Eremin who is also from Melbourne. The song One Summer is a downtempo, instrumental piece inspired by Studio Ghibli film, Spirited Away. If you love chill and charming tracks, or just want to reminisce on Spirited Away, the gentle beats of One Summer is worth the listen.(Bianca Reck)

Gold Class: Twist in the Dark (Single) (Barely Dressed Records)
- There is something quite vital about Gold Class’ return. Most noughties influences present a little too dominantly but here with Twist In The Dark the Melbourne quartet mix an Interpol discipline with a brash Australian grit. (Nick Rodwell)

Hello Satellites: Hello Lover (Single) (Eastmint)
- In 2017 Hello Satellites sounds a lot like Melbourne back in 2014, when there was more of this twee, arty pop coming out. This chamber-pop echo ahead of their new album is a welcome return and pulls you a lot deeper than those girly vox might lead you to expect. I think there might be a set of teeth hidden in there too and they might get you if you turn your back. (Chris Cobcroft)

Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders Susan (Single) (Self Portrait)
- Jack Ladder has come a long way since his debut of gothic country. This single finds him on equal footing with the illustriously eclectic Brian Ferry of Roxy Music with its kitschy synth bounce and croons of otherworldly love. A total boon for keeping music fun. (Nick Rodwell)

Jep And Dep: Cruel Moon (Single) (Indie)
- Jep And Dep are getting really good at this folk noir thing. Jep's voice echoes icily and Dep's guitar chimes then smoulders. Is that a gentle synth in the background? It's hard to tell as everything gets lost in the echoes of an eerie, mournful beauty. It's not exactly the same thing, but this has the quality of one of those unforgettable guest vocal Massive Attack singles - you know the ones I'm talking about. (Chris Cobcroft)

Loïcc: Get Myself To It (Cult Trip)
- Dark, very techy techno from the Sydney producer. I'd say that this initial offering had 'clean lines' but that wouldn't do justice to the fuzzy, dirty darkness that clarts so many of these grim beats. Very much as it says on the pack there's subtle modulations in style across these four tracks that take you all sorts of places -shiny electro, shimmering ambient and snarling industrial. Sydney just got a little bit more darkly stylish. (Chris Cobcroft)

Neighbourhood Youth:Hugo (Single) (Indie/Rish)
- There are a number of bands around at the moment that are really digging into what The War On Drugs refined. You know that driving groove combined with a rousing chorus? Yeah that. Well, Melbourne’s Neighbourhood Youth do it really well. Probably the best Australian crack at contemporary Americana I’ve heard this year. (Nick Rodwell)

Obscura Hail: Alarm (No Safe Place)
- Obscura Hail is a one man band consisting of artist Sean Conran from Wollongong, NSW. Sean is a multi-instrumentalist and creates beautifully constructed folk meets indie-pop music. Obscura Hail's new EP, Alarm is definately worth checking out for it's beautiful vocal harmonies and alluring rhythmic guitar. (Bianca Reck)

Pastiche: Sunk Costs (Single) (Indie)
- I love Pastiche. George Raymond Johnson pumps out perky electro-pop and sings in a middling baritone, sounding energetically depressed. Like, he's really trying to make this happen, but just can't quite even believe it himself. It's the perfect vehicle for his very tongue-in-cheek humour. It's hard not to grin along to the Morrissey worthy refrain: "Move on, move on / If you think you're happy, you're wrong." Remeniscent of Kirin J. Callinan or Donny Benet, but, perhaps more real than either of them. The best humour is based in reality. (Chris Cobcroft)

Retro Culture: Bad Romance (Single) (Indie)
- Haha, this little house-rocker is basically Wham! I’d say the Melbourne group’s frontman Matt Connelly does reasonable George Michael impression too. Well, if ever the world could do with a little more GM, they could do with it right now and Retro Culture really deliver. If you don’t believe me, this has the seal of approval from Client Liaison - so, well, how do you second guess them? (Chris Cobcroft)

Shrimpwitch: Eggs Eggs Eggs (Hysterical)
- Kim Prawn and Georgi Goonsack describe what they do as 'venereal garage rock', which is, yep, pretty bang on. If you've worn out your ol' X-Ray Spex records, maybe it's time to update to a pair of out-of-work John Waters' extras who decided they'd take it out on anyone who'd listen. (Chris Cobcroft)

Somnium Nox: Terra Inanis (Transcending Obscurity)
- Half an expansive hour of atmospheric black metal out of Sydney, split into three epic movements. Probably what you're expecting, except that there's a didgeridoo in the mix and -now that I think about it- that's something that should be done much more often. Vast, oceanic, engulfing: just as it should be. (Chris Cobcroft)

Two Steps On The Water: A Very Hot Shower (Single) (Indie)
- Listening to Two Steps On The Water often makes me feel most bands should try harder to say something meaningful. The mournful, meandering, elegiac country-folk-rock is stamped -as always- in that unique TSOTW way. Almost poppy to begin with, the song builds in harrowing intensity, but finally it's anthemic, finding a kind of glory in the wreckage. (Chris Cobcroft)

Wolf Shield: Residuum (DETONIC RECORDINGS / EXHIBITION RECORDS)
- Wolf Shield is the solo enterprize of Tralala Blip founder Randolf Reimann. Just like his label-mates Spirit Bunny, his Residuum album covers a variety of weird electronica, from spacious drones to Suicide-esque synth punk, it’s a curious selection but well worth your time. (Nick Rodwell)

Overseas Artists:

Algiers: The Underside of Power (Single) (Matador / Remote Control)
- Atlanta post-punks Algiers were one of 2015's best surprises. They look like they plan on repeating that action this year, starting with this single, the title track from the forthcoming album The Underside Of Power. Fast but hazy, murky post-punk is bonded in the most unlikely way with faintly echoing but beautiful soul and gospel. Add the jolly roar of Franklin James Fisher's Marxist diatribe and it's like listening to the apparition of an episcopal church choir made up of black panthers accompanied by The Ramones. Oddly, Australian audiences will have a local reference for this kind of sound in the form of Canberra punks Royal Headache and their own (previously) unique blend of punk and '60's pop. If that doesn't sound like the highest recommendation to you then gedthefuggout! (Chris Cobcroft)

Animal Collective: Meeting of the Waters (Domino / EMI)
- I think when many people say they prefer 'old' Animal Collective, they long for the perfect pop-crossover of Merriweather Post Pavilion and not the weird, meandering, quite possibly deranged improvisations of the Animal Collective that came before that. Still, Avey Tare and Geologist, quite probably a little stung by the press they've getting lately, have gone for a cruise along the Amazon (really) and reconnected with what made Animal Collective Animal Collective in the first place. Please see the first thirteen noodling minutes of this new EP for evidence. This record store day release has some legs and, at the same time as being utterly self-indulgent, full of bizarre samples and field recordings is -maybe surprisingly, maybe not- the most immediate thing I've heard out of the band in ages. (Chris Cobcroft)

Black Needle Noise: A shiver Of Want ft. Bill Leeb (Single) (Indie)
- Hard to ignore two gothic superstars teaming up. John Fryer (This Mortal Coil) invites Bill Leeb (Front Line Assembley) to whisper, groan and bellow over gentle guitar fuzz and echoing beats. The track winds up and up into an industrial classic. I was sort of, yeah, so? Until I remembered how bad some other industrial godheads have sounded doing comebacks in the last few years. This is a crusher. I'm not quite sure where Fryer is going: he's just tossing out singles every now and then right now. I'm going to be paying a lot closer attention from now on though. (Chris Cobcroft)

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy: Best Troubadour (Palace / Spunk)
- You might wonder what the beat-up, ragged style of an artist like Will Oldham would do to the work of a country smoothy like Merle Haggard. The tribute, as it happens, is a genuine and heartfelt one: Billy plays it just about as straight as I imagine he's capable. It pulls a sound out of him that doesn't really like sound like either artist, but does contain some of the best bits of both. (Chris Cobcroft)

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Mama Tried - 360 version from evenardt on Vimeo.

Boris: Absolutego (Single) (Sargent House / The Planet Company / MGM)
- The first single from what was supposed to be Boris' farewell record seems to share a lot in common with their early stuff, even the name of their first ever album. The Japanese trio deliver huge, stoner, sludgy, doomy noise, although this also has a real rock'n'roll feel, especially for something so large and potentially unwieldy. The process of composing their swansong seems to have re-inspired the band, Boris suggesting that they've got something 'different' and 'special' lined up and that they might not even break up at all. Well, good! (Chris Cobcroft)

High Plains: Cinderland (Kranky)
- This release demands your entire attention, it deserves full immersion. Canadian duo, High Plains, have conjured such an immeasurably nuanced album of ambient pieces in their album Cinderland, full of swathes of strings and textural ebbs and flows. Stunning. (Nick Rodwell)

Jlin: Black Origami (Planet Mu / Redeye)
- The connection between Jerrilynn Patton's current stuff and her footwork origins is that it's all on, all the time. About as slow as it gets on her new record is when she does a collaborative track with the slow and shadowy William Basinski and even then, well it doesn't sound much like Basinski. Black Origami is really eclectic: there are all sorts of things; er, probably most of the full-on, syncopated dance sounds from around the world folded in here somewhere. IDM, bass, trap, lots of African and Middle Eastern affectations too. With titles like Hapshepsut, Holy Child, Kyanite, 1% and Never Created Never Destroyed, bonding with the very techy music - this feels like some mystical, sci-fi, black empowerment epic. It's full on, but a work-out that is both exhausting and rewarding. (Chris Cobcroft)

LCD Soundsystem: American Dream (Single) (DFA / Sony)
- A very big advertisement for LCD's comeback record. James Murphy vomits huge emotion in this double a-side. American Dream is, depsite its big, wailing synths, quite a spare and simple song, one which gives Murphy plenty of space to recollect a truly hideous one-night-stand and cast a lurid spotlight on his ever more encroaching middle-age. He walks it off and into the even bigger agony of Call The Police: a stadium-sized, riot-inciting, primal scream at America in 2017. Starting at this kind of fever-pitch, god knows what the rest of the album is going to be like. (Chris Cobcroft)

Lea Porcelain: Remember (Single) (Habit)
- The German duo of Lea Porcelain continues to sound like ten people, mixing up brittle but slow-moving postpunk with dreampop, synthgaze and just buckets of atmosphere. Lots to like ahead of their album release in June. (Chris Cobcroft)

Little Cub: Still Life (Domino / EMI)
- London's Little Cub finally unleash their debut LP, Still Life. The trio have created a synth-rock lover's dream, perfectly layering vocals, guitar and synths into little harmonic gems. There are plenty of indie-dance and electro slow burner tracks, with standouts being,\ My Nature, Breathing Space and Death of Football Manager. (Luke Doig)

Mina: Sentah (Tailored Communication / Enchufada)
- London-based DJ, Mina, mixes a spicy blend of latin and Caribbean flavours with modern twists. It’s foundational pulse pulls you in as the poly-rhythms take control of your limbs, it’s infectious and kind of colourful. (Nick Rodwell)

Nuage: Wild (Project: Moonchild / Tailored)
- Hailing from St. Petersburg in Russia, Nuage is the brainchild of Dmitry Kuzmin and delivers an album that encapsulates the wild essence of existence. This is dance music that leaps across genres, flowing from warm to cold and bright to dark, like the days and seasons of our lives. Taking a year to finish, this has a certain depth that can only come from a thoughtful musician. (Rhett Whittaker)

Rein: C.A.P.I.T.A.L.I.S.M (Single) (Guerilla)
- Rein is a young Swedish woman smashing out the EBM / electroclash / digital hardcore. It's all in the title: this is a fist in the air, anti-capitalist anthem and it really works: Rein can scream as hard as her danceable beats move. A genuine alternative needs a good soundtrack and this is it. (Chris Cobcroft)

Ryuichi Sakamoto: async (Milan)
- Ryuichi Sakamoto's sixteenth solo record and his first in eight years comes after an ungentle brush with throat cancer. In light of that the elegiac qualities of async are especially obvious. Indeed he seems to sum up his expansive career, folding in gentle piano melodies, enormous cinematic panoramas and pop touches - all bathed in a wealth of ambience. Honestly, you hear so much ambient music, it's easy to forget what it's capable of being when put in the hands of someone like Sakamoto: the smallest of gestures teased out into something profound. There's little in the way of vocals here but Sakamoto delivers a meditation on death that deserves its place amongst records like Carrie & Lowell, You Want It Darker and A Crow Looked At Me. So many subtle shades of darkness and light. (Chris Cobcroft)

Sevdaliza: ISON (Twisted Elegance)
- Iranian-Dutch songstress, Sevdaliza has dropped a trip hop record to dominate 2017. The LP embodies all ingredients of downtempo, electonica, alternative R&B and vocal warping much like Bjork or FKA Twigs. ISON is one of those rare albums where each song bleeds perflectly into the next, allowing for a seamless listening experience. (Luke Doig)
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Sóley: Endless Summer (Morr Music)
- Iceland's Sóley returns with a new LP of carefully crafted indie-pop songs. Her delicate vocals and simple melodies are this time accompanied by various instrumental arrangements which results in a much warmer and full sound. (Adrian Marsh)

Waxahatchee: Silver (Single) (Merge / Rocket)
- Aw gee, I knew I liked Waxahatchee, but this is great. A perfectly balanced mix of dream pop vocals and sweetass, loud guitars. This reminds of a '90's classic like Belly's Feed The Tree, but, yeah, this is probably better. (Chris Cobcroft)