Kittens of the Internet - Golden Lights

We ride the bus late at night
Lonely driver's cravin' company
Talk through our fears and fight the years, growing old
(No comfort at all)
Tonight the moon is brighter than two lights
Bite the bullet, swallow bitter aftertaste
Dreaming of treasures our ancestors never foresaw at all

These golden lights
Dance me round the floor
My eyes mislead
Deceive me once more
And I discern that everything I've learned seems to
Disapear
When I'm trapped by fear

It's been a little while, but TMIS is focusing down under again today on Kittens of the Internet, an indie pop duo out of Aukland, NZ. Along with the songs Mahuia makes with Katie as KOTI (their first EP came out last month), he produces music for other artists and commercial outfits, and has received awards for Best Music in Film a couple of times from the Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA) - I think that's like a Golden Globe or Grammy for artists from that region. Besides that just being pretty cool, I mention as it goes to show how clever they are - which I think was already evident by the name of their band, and the lyrics to this track, and how Katie enunciates. 

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Neon Indian - Polish Girl

With heat struck afternoons long through
Those idle dreams go back to you
The echo's seem somewhat displaced
Ever further from your face, I'm drifting off to
Bored of mere flirtations
That's what's made of constellations that I've sought
Was this only in my head
Just like most things go misread
When overthought

Mexican-American Alan Paloma grew up just down the street, so to speak, in San Antonio. He was making music under a couple of other names/bands before and concurrent with Neon Indian, which was the most successful. (Pitchfork listed the debut album in the top 20 of that year.) But "success" isn't always the goal of artist, we know, and Alan is on the fence about continuing to record as Neon Indian... he'd like to pursue filmmaking. So, let's check out his direction in this retro-look video for "Annie", which is also my fav single off the most recent album. 

Oh, but I'm super stoked to be seeing him (and band, including his brother on bass) tonight at the Mohawk! Glad they haven't quit the scene just yet. 

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Wild Nothing - TV Queen

TV Queen.
Putting clothes on.
A felt red dress and her stockings.
And when you walk out of that box,
and out of that screen, you're into me.

No, that's not right. I got so lost trying know you.
Trying to touch you. Trying to.

Wild Nothing is Jack Tatum, who records all his albums (three, so far, plus two EPs) alone, but tours with a full band. And they'll be at the new Sound on Sound Fest coming up in November, just outside of Austin. For another taste, here he/they are, as recorded a few years ago in our hometown.

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Cash+David - Alright Now

Put on your bathing suit, lets dive
Into the deep ends of our mind
Our memories remain dry
And we are strangers in the night

Slightly reminiscent of Grimes, enigmatic electropop duo Cash+David say they make their music when called upon by the mothership, and that's how the 4-song EP Side 1 came about. Oookaay. However it happened, I enjoy listening to the kind of lonely, clunky, electronic chill of this track. 

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Grimes - Flesh without Blood

You claw, you fight, you lose
Got a doll that looks just like you
Remember when we used to say
"I love you" almost every day
I saw a light in you
Going out as I closed our window
You never liked me anyway

From gritty garage rock yesterday to Grimes, staying dirty but getting dancy for your Friday night. This song was her biggest hit off of Art Angels, which is not my favorite Grimes album overall, but still delightfully weird. I got to see her right up close, in the pit of the Blue Stage at (looks like the final) Fun Fun Fun last year. Her new album dropped that same weekend and I hadn't heard it yet, making her set feel a little different than I expected but still a blast.

Side note: I missed Neon Indian's set just before Grimes at FFF and then missed them again at SXSW (following which he seemed to indicate possible retirement of the band), so I'm pretty stoked to be seeing them in a couple weeks, at a show presented by the people behind FFF who are now putting on a fest called SOS (Sound on Sound). Woo!

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