New Noise: Pairs, Inkswel, Pleasure Bros, Genlevel

Hangdog sprawl, brain-teasing mutation, bottom-feeder drone and squishy post-techno await in this week’s roundup of new music.

– Oh, that free 13-minute Pairs song you’ve been holding out for? The one where Tom Lyngcoln (Harmony, The Nation Blue) guests on vocals and Marcus Hobbs (East Brunswick All Girls Choir) does a reported 14 guitar solos? Well, it’s here. And just in case you can’t make out every single lyric about framing soiled tissues post-masturbation or eye-fucking a bartender while drinking “watered-down Tiger all night” in hopes of scoring with her, they’re printed there on Bandcamp. ‘Bloodshot’ is the very latest from Pairs, the China-based duo led by outspoken expat and show booker Xiao Zhong. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Adam McRae (Reykjavictim), who also played synth of it, the anti-single follows last year’s messy video for ‘Mean Buzz’ and previews the forthcoming album Brief Lesbian. If the hangdog sprawl and unflattering venting of ‘Bloodshot’ is any indication of what to expect, we’re in.

– Melbourne producer Inkswel is all over the place at the moment, piling up guest mixes and landing a plum slot on Brandt Bauer Frick’s recent DJ-Kicks. He also just released the six-track EP StuffKidsLike on 100-run tape and digital through This Thing. Described as “a collection of mutated rhythm tracks and buried gems from the Inkswel archive,” the EP guests singer Bobbi Dahl and producer Pablo Valentino, both from Florida. The shared track ‘Strawberry Jam’ shows off both the tape’s kitschy retro turns and darker, brain-teasing mutations. Industrious as he is, Inkswel is already launching his next EP Bicicla – due soon through Wolf Music – on Sunday, April 20 at New Guernica with support from Freekwency, Harvey Sutherland, Rat & Co (solo), Edd Fisher, North Pollard and Chestwig.

– Half of Teen Ax, Sydney’s Tony McKey makes what’s been called “black-hole ambience” and “z-grade filth” on his own as Pleasure Bros. Listening to the new free track ‘Man of the House’, let’s add “bottom-feeder drone” to that list of evocative descriptors. Pleasure Bros has graced labels like Mazurka Editions and Street Muscle as well as self-releasing material, and the project is making its Melbourne debut tomorrow (March 28) on a lineup co-presented by Mazurka and local label Sabbatical. Also playing Melbourne for the first time is Newcastle’s LA County Morgue (the work of Mazurka’s Jarrod Skene), while Smash Tennis, Dick Threats and Flat Fix round out the bill at The Tote’s ongoing series The Slow Club. It’s $5 at the door from 9pm.

– Sydney’s Ben Askins goes back a decade and a half with electronic music, thanks to his involvement in the era-defining Clan Analogue collective. These days he’s making music as Genlevel, spiking his longtime techno yen with more far-flung influences. You can hear that evolution in all its squishy, kinetic glory across Back 2 Basics, out now through 4-4-2 on vinyl, digital and custom CD-R. Dip into the eight tracks below, and the scrambled video for ‘In Transit’ here.

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To nominate new music for this column, email us at news@messandnoise.com.