I'm not sure if I should love or hate Alba Varden...

But I think that's the point. In fact, I doubt they'll ever find too many fencesitters in their career.

They're painfully hipsterish (all manicured facial hair, designer clothes and glasses) and the music is straight from the angular dance rock school of Van She and friends (I thought it was over a couple of years ago!?). But at the same time they write killer hooks and this clip is downright stunning. Sexy and stunning. Once you're past the dirge of an intro and the tune kicks into gear then there's no turning back. Soul Digger, A little filler, the rest killer.

Alba Varden are trying to stretch the limits of angular dance-rock, and they're getting close. Their debut EP features a rocking M-Phazes remix of Soul Digger which without a doubt has potential to tear up dancefloors from Revolver to One Six One.

My Fiction sound very English... which is a good thing

Guitar driven rock music that borders on dance is a genre that the English seem to do rather well. Look at Bloc Party, look at The Kooks, look at ummm... the other ones. Every June has a familiar sound, clean and energetic, displaying pop sensibilities that were evedent in their rockin EP 'Your Tokyo'

Out in July through SUGARRUSH Records, the full length album "FIREROMANCEFIRE"  will be officially launched in their hometown nect week before the band embakcs on a national tour.

Produced by ARIA winning Magoo, FIREROMANCEFIRE packs a serious punch and builds on the strength of the band’s previous releases.

Their sound? It’s indie rock without the baggage. My Fiction know what makes people move, and how to connect.

Time To Wonder is the sparkling indie-pop debut single by a band that first came to our attention when Triple J playlisted their demo "Jona Vark".

There's a lot of 'Phoenix' in Gypsy and The Cat. The breadth and brevity of the sound, the lighter than air vocals and harmonies. It's an interational sound, championed by tastemakers worldwide, spun on radio by dj's from new york to the uk and signed to an uber cool English Indie Label. It makes us wanna dance and it leaves us wanting more, much more.  A shining example of what pop music at its has the potential to be. Uplifting and Memorable. It has the power to make your day better.

Not a bad achievement for 21 year olds writing from a suburban garage in Melbourne. It's rather exciting to think that they still have their songwriting training wheels on.

I recently caught up with Sam Kristofski of Pharm Productions (http://www.pharmproductions.com/) who Directed the deliciously colourful clip for “Loverspeak in New Tongue” by Parades (http://www.paradesmusic.com/). I caught these guys in Brisbane at BIGSOUND last year and thought they were one of the most exciting acts on the bill. 

Sam spoke to me about the process, equipment, ideas and execution of one of the best indie clips doing the rounds at the moment.

The clip was shot on the increasingly popular RED ONE 4k Digital Cinema and was the result of the band and producer looking to emulate something based around Radiohead’s ground breaking “Street Spirit” clip by Jonathan Glazer. 

Sam:

“I was pretty excited, as the band had given us full creative control. I thought to make it my own I needed it to be as colourful as possible, as Radiohead’s was black and white. Also I used objects, that would change into whatever I wanted them too (dust, flower, paint, milk) as they passed through the plate. I came up with the idea when i was 17, messing around on Dads handy-cam.

I had also done a test prior to the clip on my mate to see if it worked, using a drum, and as it passed it through the frame it turns to flour. He had flour in his ear for days"

After not being in contact with the band after an initial plan to do the clip for another song, Dead Nationale, a new treatment was written for Loserspeak using the same effects and it was shot over a morning and afternoon.  In addition,  Jonathan Boulet (Parades’ Drummer) was in the middle of his own tour; the editor was under the pump working on another project; they lost material to a computer crash half through the midnight lamp editing sessions; scabbed friends computers; and edited it across four suites of Final Cut Pro.   

What amazes about this clip  it that it was done of the tightest of budgets, but  shows you what can be achieved when you balance the right equipment, the right skills and a combination of ideas from the band and producer.

They've created a real work of art.