Two Bright Lakes

Collarbones - Iconography (LP) (2011 TBL012 - 38mins42secs)

Track listing:

* Don Juan
* Closed
* Beaman Park
* Id
* Snatch
* Yolko
* Berlioz
* Transylvania
* The Ghostship
* Kill Off The Vowels
* Closer

Collarbones' Iconography is an artefact of its mode of production, pieced together over the Internet.

Travis Cook (Cyst Impaled) and Marcus Whale (Scissor Lock) formed Collarbones over the internet in late 2007, and within a few short weeks they had committed to a long-term music-making relationship. Since then they've divided time between Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne, playing shows with the likes of Samiyam, making mix tapes, covering Justin Bieber with great fondness and releasing the Pitchfork adored single 'Beaman Park' in 2010.

Marcus Whale and Travis Cook shared files until instrumentals were at a point where Whale could lay down elegant RnB laden hooks over the chopped samples and digital soundscapes. The album is an assured debut, full of confidence and brimming with ideas that pull in diverse influences from the experimental to the mainstream.

Produced by Collarbones Mixed and mastered by Tom Smith at The Carrier Artwork by Lucian Alperstein

"Collarbones sure have a knack for making beautiful little monuments out of the otherwise transient noises that crisscross the ether" Mess & Noise

"Collarbones' minimalistic approach fits somewhere in sound between Yeasayer and Fuck Buttons, being two-man project covered in laptops and sample decks" Drum Media Sydney

"Warm beats, chiming effects and soulful vocal harmonies" Inpress, Time Off, Drum Media Sydney

"Collarbones is an Aussie electronic-experimental duo that understands how to sprinkle sunshine and good summer vibes through the use of chopped up and sampled vocals that would make Dam-Funk proud" Asian Man Dan

RRR ALBUM OF THE WEEK / RADIO ADELAIDE ALBUM OF THE WEEK

**Available on CD via Paypal, Digital through iTunes and in all good record stores courtesy of Remote Control/Inertia**

Oscar + Martin - Recognise (single) (2010 TBL011 - 07mins08secs)

// Track listing:

* Recognise
* Cougar Face
* Why Not
* Blud

Oscar + Martin rise from the ashes of Psuche with the beatific single Recognise. Signalling a change in name, membership and direction from Psuche, Recognise is a song about reincarnation.

Oscar + Martin, is the work of Melbourne alt-pop wunderkinds Oscar Slorach-Thorn and Martin King. For their debut LP they’ve moved towards making joyous pop music, using drum machines, synthesizers, children’s toys and Thorn’s tape loop experimentation. With Thorne’s enigmatic vocal lines laying down with some Dilla inspired beats on Recognise, Oscar + Martin have picked up where Psuche left off, producing wonderfully forward thinking pop music.

Recognise is the first single from Oscar + Martin, and a taster of a debut LP due out on Two Bright Lakes in Early 2011.

Produced by Martin King, Nick Huggins and Oscar Slorach Thorn Mastered by Byron Scullin Cover Artwork by Oscar Slorach Thorn

Available on CD via Paypal

Hello Satellites - Hello Satellites (2010 TBL010 35mins24secs)

// Track listing:

Out There
Building A Wall
If I Had A Kite
Fugue
Million Motors
The Tree
Interlude
Heartbeat Fast As A Rabbit
How To Break Gravity
Stars Are You Sirens
Pelican

Hello Satellites began life as a solo project in chief songwriter Eva Popov's suburban shed before taking fully fledged form as a studio collaboration with Two Bright Lakes in-house producer Nick Huggins.

Together, they have crafted a debut album that has depth and brevity without forgetting the joy and lightness that can be created from a pop hook. Hello Satellites create ecstatic flashes of pop reverie full of handclaps, layered vocals and string section amongst quieter, more introspective moments.

The music is both subtle and exciting; based around lyrical themes of motherhood, suburban alienation, urban growth and their inevitable effects both psychological and environmental.

"Eva Popov has managed to write one of the most heart-shatteringly glorious albums I've heard in a very very long time. I cannot stop listening."
- Clare Bowditch

"Delicate, distinctive melodies and the beautiful vocals of Eva Popov combine to create memorable, and moving songs."
- Simon Winkler, RRR

Hello Satellites' debut album is available on CD through Paypal and in all good record stores courtesy of Remote Control/Inertia

Digital copies available through

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Seagull - Council Tree (2010 TBL009 41mins20secs)

// Track listing:

Rain
New Arrival
Grand Mother
Water
Petal
Tea
Hum Hum
Judge
Grey Cat
Bell
Company

// RRR ALBUM OF THE WEEK (JULY 19TH) //
// SYN APPROVED ARTIST - JULY //

With Council Tree, Seagull has crafted another distinct album that delves into the fragile consciousness of modern existence.

Council Tree further develops Bolton's interest in minimalist compositions and modern pop songwriting. Bolton transfigures his songs through lyrical repetition, uncrowded yet complex arrangements and spacious electronic sounds giving Council Tree an otherworldly quality.

Thematically Council Tree transcends the impermanence and complexity of modern life within a context of mental illness, disaster and death. Council Tree was recorded with the help of producer Nick Huggins and features the distinctive percussion of Kishore Ryan, locked bass work of Edward Bolton and instrumental subtleties from Michael Zullicki, all elements that combine to create an absorbing album experience that takes the listener into an atypical world of sound.

"A beautiful collection of meditations on modern life and the possibilities of modern pop music...filled with subtle, sparse, and sophisticated arrangements." - Triple R, (Album of the Week, July 19th 2010)

Seagull's sophomore album is available on CD through Paypal and in all good record stores courtesy of Remote Control/Inertia

Digital copies available through

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Otouto - Pip (2010 TBL008 35mins24secs)

Track listing:

Astronauts
Cartoon Shoes
Low Dan
Twelve Ten
MB Hugcase
Autumn
W. Hillier
Tennis Players
Sushi
Plum

Featuring the singles Sushi and Astronauts, Otouto's debut album Pip is full of jangly guitars, distorted drums, home-made synthesisers and joyful harmonies. Hazel Brown, Martha Brown and Kishore Ryan will arrest you with their unique take on pop music keeping you warm this winter and beyond.

“Introducing Otouto - your new favourite band. Pip is an eloquent, stunning debut from a band on the cusp of greatness. Otouto and their minimalist sound will take your breath away with the striking simplicity and beauty behind the music.”

Kathryn Mahina The Dwarf

“The gorgeous, crystal voices of Hazel and Martha Brown are the cornerstone of Melbourne trio Otouto's charm. The sisters have two of the loveliest sets of vocal chords in Melbourne...combined with the drumming arsenal of Kishore Ryan (also of Kid Sam and Seagull), it's a charming combination. There are some lovely noises on this album, some beautiful instrumentation, and the vocals are a delight.”

Kate Kingsmill, Inpress

Out on CD through Two Bright Lakes, available in all good record stores nationally courtesy of Remote Control/Inertia

Digital copies available through

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Otouto - Sushi (Single) (2009 TBL007 12mins 43secs)

Track listing:

Sushi
Spot
Walkie Talkie

Two Bright Lakes is proud to bring you the debut single Sushi from the very exciting art/pop trio Otouto (Hazel & Martha Brown, Kishore Ryan (Kid Sam, Seagull)). This is a sneak preview at the brilliant debut Otouto LP slated for release in early 2010.

Sushi is full of summery piano hooks and harmonies that are countered by peppery percussion and dissonant guitar work. It’s pop music with bite. Whether playing warm warped vocal notes through a sampled keyboard or hitting a banjo with a drumstick, this trio’s take on pop music is fantastically unique. Vocal harmonies created by the sisters cause beautiful juxtapositions with the dissonant guitar work and frenetic percussion and beats. Lyrically, Otouto make songs with small and abstract pictures from daily existence. The pictures are both punctured and highlighted by their constantly unfolding foundation: pots and pans percussion, baritone guitar, Farfisa and homemade keyboards.

They’re unique amongst a world of imitation and appropriation as evidenced on this exciting debut single that includes b-sides not available on the album. Two Bright Lakes is very excited about this release and hope you will be too!

Available on CD via Paypal or at Polyester Records (City & Fitzroy, VIC)

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Psuche - Self-titled album (2009 TBL006 41mins 00secs)

track listing:

child in rambling
ulfhenden
i sea a wolf
ha ha
giver
tsuki la la
tell tell
lions blood
upskirt
half made boat

The five Melbourne wonder kids that came together to form Psuche are born of a generation not concerned with genre or music norms - this is the work of a musically mature band sitting left of the pop centre.

The Psuche LP is a demonstration of their free pop aesthetic where ecstatic moments of reverie sit comfortably next to the sombre dreamlike confessions of vocalist Oscar Slorach Thorn. It is an album of great detail and drive, sonically and compositionally it reaches for areas outside indie pop, but always with popular music as it's counterpoint. The Psuche LP is startling in it's imagination and is profoundly joyful.

"The songs featured from their forthcoming album are bravely odd, beautiful, severe and poetic. The songs arise from lush and brutal landscapes like icebergs in a thawing sea. Amazing stuff."
-Andy Hazel, Inpress

"Psuche is joyful, it’s instant, but don’t think it will just yield – this music wears a cloak. It’s this protean quality that will offer up new things to discover the many times you return to this album."
-Lawson Fletcher, Mess + Noise

"Five piece Psuche have crafted a nugget of sheer beauty...Psuche the long player traverses electronica, rock, noise, ukulele pop, free jazz and folk, the stark ramblings and high pitched vocals of Oscar Thorn a welcome foil to the psychedelic sound palate. If they were from Brookyln, hipsters would be drooling all over them. So buy this damn record!"
-Declan Kelly (writing in MAG)

"This album is ecstatic through all its breath, from the permutations and elaborations of its current form to the beautiful materials at their core."
- Marcus Whale, Cyclic Defrost

The album, produced by Nick Huggins, is available on CD through Paypal and in all good record stores throughout Australia courtesy of Remote Control/Inertia.

Digital copies available through

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Kid Sam - Self-Titled LP (2009 TBL005 43mins 30secs)

track listing:

mirror drawings
down to the cemetery
sunday bus
landslide
a black ant
jodie makes a fire
close your eyes and it all goes black
we're mostly made of water
soft, grey rain

Kid Sam's startling debut is the work of tall cousins Kieran and Kishore Ryan, whose gift for crafting subtle, subversive rock'n'roll is evidence of a bright future. Kieran's assured, mature song-writing navigates themes of love, violence and the politics of the everyday. Kishore's nimble, thoughtful drumming is counterpoint to Kieran's gritty guitar playing, a musical tension that creates remarkably well-crafted, timeless Australian music.

NOMINATED FOR TRIPLE J ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2009
SHORTLISTED FOR THE AMP PRIZE 2009

"Kid Sam is the extremely impressive self-titled debut of Kishore Ryan and his cousin Kieran Ryan. It's an absorbing and enjoyable introduction to the dynamic style and range of the band's work, moving through gentle, affecting acoustic melodies to more menacing percussive displays and thoughtful, heart-felt lyricism."
- Triple R, (Album of the Week 23 March 2009)

"I'm blown away by this Kid Sam album. It's such a great album and hard to believe it's their debut. I'm hoping by the end of 2009 this is as successful as it deserves to be."
- Chris Crouch (Candle Records, Polyester Records)

"A new duo (of cousins no less) from Melbourne have really blown my hair back with their debut. Their lo-fi first album is stripped back indie rock, folk melodies, heart breaking chords and simply great songwriting. Kishore and Kieren Ryan have crafted something pretty impressive..."
- Zan Rowe, Triple J

"...exquisitely crafted numbers, delicate and considered in their composition yet intensely executed. It’s astounding that this is their debut...a moving and timeless record."
- Lawson Fletcher, Mess + Noise

"An exquisitely beautiful debut...The Kid Sam LP sounds like a picture of our generation; melancholic, maniacal, apocalyptic, but all the while holding on to hope and love."
- Jordie Lane

The album, produced by Nick Huggins, is available from March 15th, digitally through , on CD through Paypal and in all good record stores nationally throughout Australia courtesy of Remote Control/Inertia.

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Psuche/Kid Sam - tell tell/we're mostly made of water
limited split 7" single (2008 TBL004 8mins11secs)

track listing:

Psuche - tell tell
Kid Sam - we're mostly made of water

in anticipation of the debut LP’s from psuche and kid sam to be released in early 2009, this double-sided single brings together two remarkable young melbourne bands.

psuche’s music explodes with creative energy, and freely moves between pop and experimental music. the single 'tell tell' is a taste of their mature composition skills, which contrasted by a playful sense of organic and electronic sound lead to unexpected moments of light and gravity.

duo kid sam write disarming pop songs in the narrative traditions of intelligent folk music. their single 'we’re mostly made of water' foreshadows the tension and contrast found on the kid sam debut LP as the words and sounds centre around violence, romance and the politics of the everyday.

this single is only available in a limited edition on 7" vinyl from polyester records, and online through paypal:

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Seagull - Goodbye Weather (2008 TBL002 44mins21secs)

track listing:

dust storm
not there yet
trucks are sheep
half sleep
joy
baby
dictator
when
ash wednesday
spear
crow

a journey comprised of sparse, hypnotic songs and distorted folk apocalypses laced with black wit and a tragic romanticism.

"under the moniker seagull, bolton creates distinct and soulful music that is at once inspiring and confronting in its honesty-" -wireless bollinger

"bolton is a gifted songwriter, that much is clear" -mess and noise

"there is, it seems, no one who writes like chris bolton...this is the voice of a man buried under autumn leaves and neighbourhood newspapers, battered by advertising campaigns and weather, still clinging to the idea of the world being an almost unbearably beautiful place." -andy hazel, inpress

(please note: an unfortunate mistake was made in the print version of the track listing of the album. the track order should read as is listed above)

the record is distributed nationally by Remote Control/Inertia and is available in all good record stores

buy CD through paypal:

digital copies available through

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Nick Huggins - Shipwreck LP (2007 TBL001 40mins27secs)

track listing:

the sea adrift
the movie we made
madeleine
bonfire wedding
paddock on fire
the first letter of your name
sleeping narration
doorframe to bedhead
weightless image
devotional skyline / big jacket

ten songs of folk origin, inspired by cheap joyful pop music and the writings of john cage, assembled in a seaside town, with real and imagined instruments.

'the first time i listened through it made me think of eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, cutting across someone's brain and seeing all these bits of thoughts, pictures and sounds flicker through and pass. it's original, inventive, very pretty, beautiful, but innovative and strange as well.' - eva popov

'...this is something that feels to me uniquely local. but it is also amazing, gentle music, ‘gently’ experimental but with a universal appeal. its intimate without having that intentionally lo-fi shoddiness that sucks life out of so much so-called freak-folk that i think i might otherwise get into. instead there is a careful devotion to the sound of each song.' - faux pas

'...nick's solo recordings are electronic natural sounding things, like an underwater robot (old 50's robot, with lots of whurring dials and extensions) playing banjo, restrained inward looking dance tracks.' - seagull

'...it's like a hot air ballon ride. like a hot air balloon with a zoo in it?...sounds like a choose your own adventure!' - hazel brown

buy from

(hard copies currently unavailable through paypal)

hard copies are available from readings, polyester records and metropolis bookstore in melborne and are distributed nationally through Remote Control/Inertia

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Seagull - Seagull EP (2007 TBL003 17mins11secs)

track listing:

mug
end could come
train tracks
tread lightly
freedom war
its our time

like this description, much of the e.p. was concieved on a train. or of a train. concieved of a train. it is a train. it is warm and disconcerting, like a seat that has just been vacated by a sweaty business man in a sports jacket.

''seagull are one of the coolest new bands on the melbourne music scene. this ep introduces their art rock, gloom grooves to the world. it's well crafted, sometimes tragic, understated and accomplished. it's basically full of good song writing which means you can keep coming back to it and it won't grate. which is quite an achievement for something that is actually pretty dark.' - humansixbillion

"this discovery on triplejunearthed has kinda floored me. 18 year old melbourne music maker chris bolton has something special going on. the riffs on this song remind me a little of elliot smith - you know those chord changes that make your heart drop a little bit?
it's beautiful stuff.
on further enquiry, chris's other two songs on triplejunearthed are also crackers. this guy is definitely one to watch, and train tracks is my catch of the day today.'- zan rowe jjj

Buy on CD from Paypal:

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Touch Typist - You Cannot Kiss a Laughing Mouth (2007 - Feral Media - 30mins 01secs)

track listing:

a laughing mouth
romance/chaos
we are half awake
nostalgia is a lake
late of light

The record ‘POWWOW Five - You cannot kiss a laughing mouth’ was made in Nick’s ‘A Pocket Full of Stones’ studio in Point Lonsdale, Victoria. Nick has been making records out of the coastal town for the last few years and has produced Whitley, Seagull, Hazel Brown and his own solo album, the ‘Shipwreck LP’ in the space.

Over a series of sessions Touch Typist got together and developed an approach for the mini album. Starting with a structure based on tempo and a wider perspective of thirty minutes in sound, they lay out a path between song structures and instrumental explorations. Beginning and ending with a melodic line rendered in two very different contexts, the record is varied in colour and energy. In a reversal of the traditional narrative arc, the height of the musical exertion is found at the beginning. It is gradually deconstructed and after thirty minutes you arrive back with the distilled core of the introduction. It reflects a brief but frenzied creative process and is bubbling with possibilities." - feral media

buy real hard copies through feral media