Cut Copy’s second album is gonna be on lots of end-year lists. It is THE summer album and a great electro sound which stands as milestone for anything new in the scene. The scene from France to Germany to Australia to Pluto. We were on and on about Aussie stuff here at Kunk HQ and Cut Copy is the prominent Australian act.

Hearts on Fire was the first thing I heard back in 2007 from the upcoming album and the laid-back 80s cool disco bulit on waves and sandcastles got my attention from the first time. Now, officially released as a single with a video right by its side remixers attacted it. The list is heavy: Midnight Juggernauts, Calvin Harris and Joakim among others. However, I didn’t like any of the previous. Somehow they took away the smoothness. Holy Ghost’s is kinda near the stuff I was looking for. They are from Brooklyn and on DFA (awesome). Their own track Hold On is great. The best remix, however, was done by a relatively smaller name: Knightlife. They are absolutely cool, remixing Bag Raiders, Alex Gopher (with Riot in Belgium) so they are supposed to become huge. Australia, yeah. Their label is Cutters Records set up by - surprise! surprise! - Cut Copy.

Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire (Knightlife remix) (zshare) // Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire (Knightlife remix) (y. s. i.)

Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire (Holy Ghost remix) (zshare) // Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire (Holy Ghost remix) (y. s. i.)

It’s that time of the month again… So Kunked podcast #3 is in Das Haus. Just to break up the whole ‘guys locker room’ feel of the proceedings, we invited the Polish babymommy of a local Hungarian rockstar to shoot the shit with us. Was Kasia able to tone down the banal, faggy, and vaguely-sexist chatter that cigi and i usually partake in? Listen and find out! Apologies again on the occasional mic static… one of these days we’ll finally have it all ironed out!

My favorite track of today’s episode takes the form of a production by a Dutch semi-Italo-disco-ite calling himself Alden Tyrell.  It was uncovered (at least to me) by the recent DVAS passion communication mix up and is straightforward but stellar. Literally stellar: you know, a gay space journey to reveal science fiction fantasies that take place only after all the alien autopsies have been conducted… a cosmic homosex adventure which rides the waves of supernovas and… okay… you get the point. But really, it’s nostalgically awesome, which means it’s so so present day right?

Covered in this episode:

• Late of the Pier - Focker
• Cut Copy - Unforgettable Season
• Boys Noize -NeOhPen (Danger Remix)
• Teenagers in Tokyo - Very Vampyr (DCup Remix)
• Alden Tyrell - Rendezvous at Rimini
• Mates of State -  Now
• Baby Huey -Hard Times
• Opening Discussion - Hungarian Girls

So Kunked Podcast - Volume 3 [zshare]

Alden Tyrell - Rendezvous at Rimini [zshare] // Alden Tyrell - Rendezvous at Rimini [ysi]

Australia, ah what a beautiful country it may be! Kangaroos, platypuses, oceans and the best new bands. Cut Copy. They started off when The Presets did, both released the debut around 2004-2005. Cut Copy had a huge impact on the development of the country’s electro-scene. Take the Midnight Juggernauts for example or Van She or Muscles. And you can check our post about Pnau. Modular is one of the best labels around nowadays.

After three long years, Cut Copy’s follow-up is here. Smooth 80s influenced, synth/electro-pop with vocals like from New Order. Great soundtrack for the warmer part of the year. Actually it really feels like something I’d listen to on a beach with waves and everything… Nevertheless, Hearts on Fire, So Haunted, and Lights and Music are the three hits that were preceeding the LP. Each is like a perfect gem of smart disco sounds. Second albums are tricky but with ‘In Ghost Colours’ Cut Copy made themselves a record that is way better than their debut was. The title is awesome and it tells a lot about their music. Not scary but gentle ghost-like feelings float around in an empty electronic space full of tension. New synth-pop is here.

Cut Copy - Feel the Love (zshare)

Cut Copy - Feel the Love (y. s. i.)

Yes. It has finally happened. Tired of spending the past several years duking it out across thousands of miles using ‘airwaves’ and ‘the internets’, and riding the clarion call of Pnau’s Come Together, France and Australia have decided to cut loose from their tectonic plate positions and, er… come together… “in a warm region, roughly halfway between our respective musical ass-kicking nations,” according to an anonymous Ed Banger staffer.

Indeed, according to the latest satellite images, it now appears that France and Australia have picked up, left, and are close to merging off the African coast. The bold move emerged upon the back of Pnau’s latest blog/club hit, which successfully fused the happy ‘down under synth’ — elsewhere employed by fellow Aussie bands such as Cut Copy and Muscles — together with French Justice’s D.A.N.C.E. kiddie chorus. No word yet on whether the two countries will choose to adopt a third name, like Austench or Frail, to represent the new amalgamation.

A spokesman for Modular Records [Australia] elaborated: “This map reshaping makes perfect sense. For every life-changing, blog-quaking outfit the Frenchies can throw at the world, we have our own Southern Hemisphere equivalent. Sure, they’ve got the Teenagers. What-ever. We’ve got the Teenagers in Tokyo. And everybody knows that teenagers in Tokyo are the coolest teenagers in the world. They put on make-up and walk around Harajuku and stuff like that. What do plain old teenagers do? I’ll tell you: pop zits. And for God’s sake, Poney Poney. Are you kidding me? We have the New Young Pony Club. [UK band signed to Modular] That’s right, we have the club that all the poneys have to line up outside for, hoping to get admittance!”

He continued, “…and Justice thinks they changed the world by having kids singing? Come on, Pnau just handed that concept back to them on a platter. And there’s a lot more where that came from. We’re going to up the ante — with infants.” The spokesman then shed light on Australia’s plans to assemble the world’s first infant chorus. The 12-month-olds will be brought together “to record a variety of background gurgles and proto-language squeals that will be archived and made available for all of Australia’s recording artists to choose from for future song choruses.”

The Ed Banger staffer was more magnanimous: “…our Aussie brothers have talent, we’ll admit, but that’s why we wanted to undertake the move and attach our countries. This will give us the chance to outshine them right from their own backyard.” Adding, however, that “there may be some interbreeding.”

Ed. note: Oh yeah, the song kicks ass. Bring on the infants!

Pnau - Come Together (zshare) // Pnau - Come Together (YSi)

Wonder what the fuck our faces doing attached to weird 90s dressed bodys on a strange stage that might be used for ’striptease in a circus’ purposes?
You’ll have the answer below.

Kunk made a mixtape for you, darlings. It’s their second…umm…ever. It’s a nice blend of fun and…fun and…well, fun. So fuck professionalism, it’s amateur - in the sense of the universal idea of being human. Nevertheless, it has everything an ear can wish for and it’s only around 30 mins.

Featuring the soon to be dancefloor anthem Body Crash from Buy Now (first played in Hungary by Brandon at Kollektiva’s NYE party); the new Cut Copy single which lives up to the expectations after Hearts on Fire; and the already posted Designer Drugs mix of the beautiful Hail Social song which we can’t stop listening to on repeat.

Hope you enjoy. We want your comments.
Click on the cover above or here’s a direct link for you:

Kunk DJs - No Strings Attached mixtape