Reviewed Jan. 3, 2013 - SKM

Sampler of various releases on a label from Melbourne, Australia; bands are largely from Mebourne with some outliers from Sydney and Adelaide. Songs are mostly pop of the electronic underground variety, with lots of high-pitched vocals. All are fine for airplay; my faves are 6, 7, 9, and 10. NO FCCs.

1. Oscar + Martin - "Chaine Maile" (orig. 2011) (3:15) - med-, glitchy falsetto male vox, sometimes a capella, false ends galore. Pleasant but not memorable.
2. Hello Satellites - "Building A Wall" (orig. 2010) (3:29) - med, melodic bass carries drifty female vox and synth squiggles, fuller sound kicks in around 2:20.
3. Fox + Sui - "I Don't Wanna Go" (orig. 2012) (2:10) - dn+, more glitchy but chilled out rhythms, female vox in dog whistle territory with male backing in a Ben Watt/EBTG vein, with a weird vocal fade at the end.
4. Otouto - "W. Hillier" (orig. 2010) (3:39) - dn, sparse synth pop, female vox, not sure where it's going but enjoying the ride. Cold end.
5. Seagull - "Tea" (orig. 2010) (3:10) - dn, male vox over piano and slow string/synth build.
6. * Batrider - "Piles of Lies" (orig. 2011) (3:22) - med-, finally a guitar-based song. Discordantly meandering with male vox, like an early Pavement track.
7. * Nick Huggins - "Iceberg" (orig. 2011) (3:42) - med-, much more Xpressway droney build with vacant male vox (cf. Peter Jefferies, Roy Montgomery, Alastair Galbraith)
8. Collarbones - "The Ghostship" (orig. 2011) (3:58) - med-; glitches take prominence over all else. Male harmonies, synth washes and buzzes, skiffling drum machine. Slow to come in (nearly 30 seconds) and slow to exit (again, 30-35 seconds).
9. * Dream Kit - "Dune Year" (orig. 2011) (4:58) - med; instrumental, sparse and bouncy synth mutant dance pop.
10. * Speed Painters - "Drifter" (unreleased / forthcoming) (4:52) - med, instrumental, house-ish but prepared with the "Fisher-Price My First Sequencer"? Amateurish in a good way.