Features
New Noise: Ratsak, Mt Mutombo, Sui Zhen, Autoportraits
By Doug Wallen
Curt punk and wafting electronics meets post-punk shimmer and a Beastie Boys cover in this week’s roundup of Soundcloud offerings.
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– Recorded and mixed by Mikey Young, Ratsak’s four-song 20th Century Bricolage 7” was launched earlier this month. It’s a super-short, super-catchy blast of full-bodied punk, with songs averaging around two minutes. The quartet includes drummer Kirk Scotcher (ex-Krömosom, Bloody Hammer), guitarist Harriet Hudson (ex-Circle Pit, Southern Comfort), vocalist Mark Groves (ex-True Radical Miracle, Dead Boomers) and bassist Jared Hendrix Styles (ex-Flesh World, Zingers). They’re self-described as a “sick mix of hard rock, heavy classic rock and ’80s HC.” Buy it here, and check out closing track ‘Vacated’.
[Historical embedded media is withheld pending rights review.] Vacated by Ratsak
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– Mt Mutombo is the solo work of Alex Nosek (Hammocks & Honey, ii), who nevertheless teams up with guest vocalist Louise Terry (Brite Fight, Flying Scribble) on ‘Jus’ Say It’. It’s a quietly morphing track that seems to recede ever so slightly further away as it progresses. Nosek calls it “a bit of a wafting mess that moves through musical motifs that have appealed to me in the last 18 months.” The collaboration sprang from a chat about house and dance music with Terry at a dance party last summer, and the final product was assisted by Gus Franklin (Architecture in Helsinki). With Hammocks & Honey taking a break while the project’s other half makes her solo debut, Nosek is hoping to compile enough music for a Mt Mutombo release later this year.
[Historical embedded media is withheld pending rights review.] mt mutumbo - jus' say it (ft. brite fight) by mt mutombo
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– A Beastie Boys cover might not be the first thing you’d expect from dainty-voiced Sui Zhen – solo artist and half of Fox + Sui – but her easy-going phrasing proves a perfect fit for the Check Your Head-era track ‘Gratitude’. It’s the B-side for her clear-vinyl debut 7”, paired with free-download A-side ‘Midriff’. The latter also gets remixed by Oscar Key Sung (half of Oscar + Martin).
[Historical embedded media is withheld pending rights review.] Gratitude (Beastie Boys cover) by Sui Zhen
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– Melbourne trio Autoportraits jangle with the best of them, with a sound lodged in the 1980s yet as compatible with Galaxie 500 and Feelies comparisons as B-52s ones. Their “shimmering post-punk dream” of a debut EP, the six-song The Shape of Thoughts, shows off their dual vocalists as well as their darker impulses, whether snuck into a sprightly pop tune or consuming the closing instrumental ‘The Last Star’. ‘Is This Really Happening?’ is the propulsive lead track. They’re launching the EP this Saturday (Jan 19) at Gasometer with The Ocean Party and New Estate, plus magic (!) performed by Ben Hutton. It’s $6 on the door or $10 including the EP.
[Historical embedded media is withheld pending rights review.] Autoportraits-Is This Really Happening by Mess+Noise
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