What Have Our Indie Artists Been Up To?

ON THE ROAD...

Brisbane band Cub Scouts have been announced as the support act for Jinja Safari on their upcoming national tour. They will open for JS at all of the gigs bar one on the Sunshine Coast. More.

Emerging singer-songwriter and producer Oscar Key Sung will hit the road for a handful of shows this August. The dates are just before he teams up with Ghostpoet on his upcoming run of Aussie performances. Read on.

A massive tour announcement has come from the Spit Syndicate guys. The hip hop duo will play a run of shows through September, October and November. Details.

The comeback of the Baby Animals continues, with a bunch of headling dates locked in for the adored '90s rockers. The tour will kick-off in Newcastle in mid-October. More.

EYE ON THE CHARTS...

Indie pop act Sheppard have once again held onto first position in the top twenty of AIR's singles/EP charts for independent labels with independent distribution chart this week with their self-titled EP (Independent/MGM). We again had a new number two though, with Mark Wilkinson's Middle Ground (Independent) pushing Rufus and Desert Night (Sweat It Out/Xelon) down to third spot.

We had a bunch of new entries in the top 20 albums released on independent labels through independent distribution chart. Big Scary's second LP Not Art (Pieater/Inertia) debuted at number one, while Short Stack spinoff Diviney scored a second slot debut with Sex Games (Neon Church Records/Independent). Ash Grunwald's collab with Scott Owen & Andy Strachan nabbed a third place debut with Gargantua (Delta Groove/Shock). Rounding out the first-time entries was former Wiggle Sam Moran with Play Along With Sam (Independent/MGM), in at 15.

There were a couple of dips in the album chart this week too. Because of the top three reshuffle, The Cat Empire's Steal The Light (Two Shoes/Independent) fell to four, Seth Sentry's This Was Tomorrow (High Score Records/Inertia) to six and Kingswood's Change Of Heart (Capgun Kids/MGM) to twelve. Rounding out the 20 was the Midnight Juggernauts, whose LP Uncanny Valley (Siberia/Inertia) fell from six last week to the final position.

OTHER RELEASE NEWS...

Dance outfit Flight Facilities have dropped a remix of the Fleetwood Mac classic Family Man. To celebrate reaching 100k likes on Facebook, the duo allowed the track to be downloaded for free. Listen.

Sydney hip hop crew Mind Over Matter just released a fresh new song - titled Somebody's Love. The track follows on from their successful single Real Life. More.

The Blackwater Fever are celebrating the release of their latest single Won't Cry Over You. This is the second track to drop from their The Depths LP. Read on.

We're streaming the debut EP from Melbourne muso Spender on theMusic.com.au all week. Modern Pest features a few of the singer-songwriter's famous pals to, including Gotye. Listen.

And indie pop man Pluto Jonze has also given us the exclusive stream of his first ever album Eject. He basically crafted the entire thing himself. Check it out.

We premiered the newy from MC Dialectrix this week. His latest single Go is a slick, well put together and emotionally subtle clip. Watch.

SIGN THE DOTTED LINE...

Melbourne punkers Clowns have signed a deal with Poison City Records. The no-nonsense outfit have also completed work on their first full-length. More.

Rapper L-FRESH The Lion has penned a deal with new label Vienna People Recordings. Setup by True Tone Records founder Michael Crawley, Vienna People signs acts to a one album deal, focussing on the artist's development and giving them the chance to put the release out at their own pace. Read on.

TIDBITS...

The Red Paintings will support US rock legends ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead on an upcoming tour of the states. The orchestral art rockers recently finished up a run of local shows.

And more on Sheppard - their hit track Let Me Down Easy has gone gold. The catchy-pop track has also just broken the ARIA Top 20 chart for the first time. Congrats!