Premiere: Australian ambient beatmakers Seekae drop ‘Sir’
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American ears often unintentionally miss the music emanating from Australia. Sure, there’s Cut Copy, Tame Impala, Wolfmother and the Avalaches, but barring an encyclopedic knowledge of Oz, the average citizen of the United States could probably only invoke AC/DC.
So it’s not surprising that you’ve probably never heard of Sydney’s Seekae. The strain of imported electronic music that typically makes waves stateside is of the eminently danceable variety, usually pushed by a large label like Modular or V2. The perfect example is Cut Copy, whose disco rhythms are struck by a four to the four pulse that Giorgio Moroder might envy. Of course, there are smaller outfits like Pivot, who record for the renowned electric label, Warp Records. And Stones Throw recently signed the swirling electronics-animated Jonti.
Indeed, Jonti recently shouted out Seekae as among his favorite acts in a piece for Impose Magazine, describing his experiences in the nascent Aussie beat scene as such: ‘every time I would feel like there was no chance my brand of beat-based music would ever have a chance in Australia, I would usually bump into one of [Seekae] in random spots and they would encourage me to go down that path which I’ve always appreciated. They’ve released 2 albums. The first album The Sound of Trees Falling on People is a classic and I still listen to it all the time -- almost always when travelling! They just released another album called ‘+Dome’ and it’s also a brilliantly vivid experience. But you gotta see them live, really really amazing live!’
Indeed, the trio sell out shows all across Australia, but have failed to make much of a dent in the United States so far. That should change with the release of their new record (‘+Dome’), plus their first local appearance at the Low End Theory on Oct. 26. And while Seekae’s music might be anomalous in their homeland, it definitely fits at home among the digital chaos in abundance at the Low End and in England.
Indeed, the group shares a stylistic kinship with the likes of Shlohmo and Mount Kimbie, as artists clearly inspired by dubstep and beat music, but who take things into more organic dimensions, with guitar pedals, loops and ambient washes of sound. In fact, Seekae half-jokingly describe themselves as ‘ghetto ambient.’
I’m not sure what Australian ghettos look like, but I imagine they lack the brute concrete trappings of the American iteration. And though Seekae can get ambient, there’s nothing ghetto about their music. Their brand of electronic is Arcadian, full of gentle glitches and ethereal atmosphere -- like the sort of thing you’d play at an Arbor Day celebration. That said, it should work fine in the first flushes of fall.
Today, Pop & Hiss is premiering ‘Sir.’ It ought to command suitable respect.
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Download: (Pop & Hiss Premiere)
MP3:Seekae-’Sir’
--Jeff Weiss