The Crayon Fields

There is something wonderfully geeky about this mild-mannered band from Melbourne. And that's not just cos it seems like 99 percent of the band members bear nerd glasses. This music is moody, melodic and cruisy. It reminds me a little bit of Belle and Sebastian meets Papas Fritas. I really dig that spacious echo-ness that seems to canvas their music. It gives the songs like Mirror Ball a wonderfully nostalgic sound.

Please check out this lovely band's MySpace page for more tunes.

The Red Tree

I never expected that the first time I've listened to the radio in... well, a long time, I would make my first, albeit relatively unknown, Australian music discovery.

The Red Tree sound like what would happen if M83, Postal Service and Sigur Ros had a musical menage a tois: their music is full of lush harmonies, dreamy pop melodies and a gorgeous airy ambience. This Melbourne band is apparently a Triple J Unearthed entrant; I was genuinely surprised, I had almost been expected the song to be a new Postal Service tune or something.

Their album was for sale in iTunes so I thought, what the heck. Its called I Am Not A Bird and it's quite a lovely record, very moody and laidback. Also, I cannot say no to a band who have taken their name from (I presume) the very poignant book by Shaun Tan...

Check out their music, in particular the song 'Ziah' (which is what caught my attention on the radio this morning) at their MySpace

I think makers AND lovers of this type of music are a fairly rare breed. Its still some of the most interesting music I've heard in this country in awhile though.