Alex O'Toole & Simeon Bartholomew (n000000000): n000000000.1

Australian noise duo Alex O'Toole (drums) and Simeon Bartholomew (guitar) are about creating music on the spot n000000000 project, as an outlet besides their usual forays into math rock and post-rock in various bands in the Sydney underground. After performing all improvised live shows they decided to lock themselves for an album, so that a wider audience can find out what they are all about.

Careful listening to each other when embarking on such a journey is key, because it would all fall apart if they wandered off into different directions. O'Toole and Bartholomew have developed an instant rapport, enabling them to lock into a groove and make a sharp turn that they did not know was coming until it presented itself as a logical step for the piece.

Johnny Dowd: crowdfunding campaign for "Pictures From Life's Other Side" on vinyl

A Kickstarter campaign has been launched to release Johnny Dowd's Pictures From Life's Other Side album on vinyl. It will be a 2LP with the full album, plus newly recorded acoustic versions on Side 4:

Salomea: axxxis

With their amalgam of jazz, soul and hip-hop German-American quartet Salomea made friends in both genres, and quite a few outside those two three. On their latest album axxxis the band's singer and composer Rebekka Salomea leads her band through emotional minefields, snap shots taken during night life and of course the wicked ways of love. While the subject matter has been covered umpteenth times she has found new ways to tell the tales that need to be told.

With a band that can follow every subtle turn she throws at them, with drummer Leif Berger working a double shift as the driving force and safety net, Rebekka Salomea is ready to make a mark outside Germany. She has a voice that loses none of its power when she turns it down to a whisper. This is their fourth album, so putting on an one hour plus show with high-quality songs just outside the mainstream is no problem at all.

Lost Signal & The Happy Somethings: Stairs from the Moon

Some things are not supposed to work, but somehow they do. Stairs from the Moon, a collaborative single made by Matt Couchman electronics project Lost Signal and twee trio The Happy Somethings, is a fine example for getting it right against all odds. Wrapped in Couchman's Ultravox-esque soundscapes, the trio's shared vocals manage lift-off in a dreamy trip to outer space. There, being freed from everyday hassles, they can claim everything as belonging to them, as kids like to do when they are convinced that they are the centre of the universe.

DOSS: Howdypartner

photo: Mark Anthony Gilles

Glaswegian duo DOSS inserted quite a bit of electronics into their swaying post-punk single Howdypartner. With lopsided rhythms having a ball with slacker vocals Dorley Mackay (vocals, guitar) and Chilton Fawcett (drums) created a dance song for people who don't like to dance, because that would not be cool.