Music video to ‘Come Home’ from Children and Corpse Playing in the Street’s debut album ‘Honey I’m Home!’. Directed and animated by David Mahler.

I chanced upon Rapskallion this morning in one of Melbourne’s laneways and I was drawn in instantly. They gave a five person performance of mandolin, melodica, megaphone; double bass, violin and accordion times two as well as a whimsical array of percussive utensils and surfaces; the seemingly preferred of which being the face of Harry Connick Jr on nearby posters that littered their cave.

A modern take on the Parisian-Gypsy sound of the early 20th century, they sing tales of Brunswick (the bohemian enclave of Melbourne’s suburbs) with the improvised charm of a true street performance and enough character to fill a Dickens novel.

Never Turn Your Back On Tha Sea – Rapskallion

I made a purchase of their album ‘One Up For The Little Man’, an enthralling 11 track piece. You can visit their myspace here or get the album from iTunes.

One thing I can say for definite is that the busking in Melbourne is better. The lighting and acoustics of the London Underground don’t do anyone any justice.

By Charlie O’Shea

The official music video to the first single of Jónsi’s upcoming debut solo album ‘Go’ has been released as shown below. A dark and glittery affair, the video is too fast paced for my liking but it defines Jónsi’s style perfectly.

‘Go’ is now set to be released on the 5th of April 2010. The North American tour dates have been posted here and the first show is to be in Vancouver; a day after the album is released worldwide.

No dates in other continents have yet been announced but it is still being called a world tour so I expect they will be in the near future.

So as you might have noticed from recent tweets, I’ve just moved to Melbourne. This explains the recent neglect of this blog but I’ve found a place to stay so I’ll be able to start writing again. I’m writing this right now from a maccas, they have sparrows.

Hopefully I’ll be featuring more Melbourne/Australian bands from now on. Sophie Stratford is still back in England and will still be doing her thing so I suppose we now have a bi-hemispherical blog. Awesome. Bye.

Race Horses first full length release Goodbye Falkenburg was out mid-January. Thirteen tracks long and with around a quarter of the songs in welsh, this album features a comfortable blend between a modern indie rock vibe and a distinctly 60s feel. There’s clear musical influence from The Beatles with double tracked vocal harmonies and analogue effects like phasing but in my mind Race Horses are more reminiscent of Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd.

Goodbye Falkenburg was recorded over the space of nine months and the band took an unorthodox approach to this debut. “We felt bored with all modern music,” says singer Meilyr Jones. “We wanted to make our fifth album first, if you know what I mean.”

Cake – Race Horses

Race Horses also brought out a 4 track concept EP ‘Man In My Mind’ in December 2009. Although it was an incredibly short release at just under 9 minutes in length, it’s depth made it clear that Race Horses are a band that have the means to last.

Man In My Mind – Race Horses

Released 18th January 2010.