Review: Statue is a new Australian percussion-based dance project by two drummers: Tom Gould and Nicolaas Oogjes of Melbourne bands Worlds End Press and NO ZU respectively. The pair now collaborate on Statue, a project said to have drawn influence from artists diverse as Floating Points, Pachanga Boys and even Ricardo Villalobos. You can certainly hear it across this handful of oddball balearic/exotica infused grooves. The polyrhythmic drum workouts on "Entrance" or "Admiration" will certainly appeal to fans of Harmonious Thelonious, while "Monument" gets a brilliant remix by Tel Aviv's enfant terrible Moscoman, rocking those funky steel drums even louder than the original!
Australian Boy (Harvey Sutherland remix) - (6:08) 119 BPM
Review: More from the rapidly expanding - and always impressive - Melbourne music scene, as self-proclaimed "slo-mo disco" four-piece Speed Painters unveil their debut single for Cutters. There's much to admire throughout, as the Tig Huggins helmed outfit take us on a trip into deep space territory. Making great use of hazy sci-fi synths, deep grooves, ambient chords and intergalactic electronics, the quartet delivers a quintent of original productions that variously throb, shimmy and cascade from the speakers. As well as doffing a cap to pitched-down Detroit techno and ultra-deep house, they also offer up their take on Italo-disco on the excellent "Decided". The EP also boasts a deliciously jazzy, warm and soul-flecked rework of "Australian Boy" from the brilliant Harvey Sutherland.
Review: Usually home to the best indie-synth-pop acts in Oz (Knightlife, Cut Copy, Midnight Juggernauts), Cutters now take a chance on a slightly different sound. Aussies Tom Gould and Nicolaas Oogjes are two seasoned drummers whose quirky new project Statues sees them combine minimal house vibes with the kind of trippy peyote-smokin' Aztec atmospherics heard and at a Damian Lazarus Ancient Moons party. Over the four tracks here we get 4/4 house beats embellished by a plethora of tropical percussion, some haunted synth riffs and creepy jungle whispers. Ace!
