What Have Our Indie Artists Been Up To?

ON THE ROAD

Sydney hip hop trio Loose Change are hitting the road to bring audiences their Yes Or No tour, which is aptly titled after their new single. Details here.

Another Sydney-based rap outfit Mind Over Matter have announced a headline tour to celebrate their latest single Shape Another Heart and forthcoming LP This Way To Elsewhere. More.

Dream-pop musician Fait is setting out on a five date tour in August to celebrate the release of her debut EP Atmosphere. Read on.

Brissy soul/reggae/dub group Chocolate Strings are planning to launch their latest single Playing Pretend at an exclusive Melbourne gig next month. Details can be found here.

EYE ON THE CHARTS

There's not much of a change in this week's indies singles/EP chart, with pop outfit Sheppard's Geronimo (Independent/MGM) holding strong at number one yet again. Sia and her current smash Chandelier (Monkey Puzzle/Inertia) also held onto second place, while hip hop crew Thundamentals stayed third with Something I Said (Obese Records) featuring Thom Crawford. Chet Faker placed fourth and fifth through his tracks 1998 and Talk Is Cheap (Future Classic/Independent) respectively.

Thundamentals also did enough to stay number one in the indie albums chart this week with their latest So We Can Remember (Obese Records) nabbing its second consecutive week at the top. Two debuts made up the rest of the top three positions. Facial-hair loving band The Beards entered at second with their new LP The Beard Album (Independent/MGM), while prog-rockers Closure In Moscow scored third place through their latest Pink Lemonade (Sabretusk/MGM).

Other album debuts this week came in the shape of The Voice alum Darren Percival - his new record Lovelife (Independent/MGM) placed 10th and forward-think hip hop artist L-FRESH The LION scored 17th in the chart with his debut release One (Vienna People Recordings/MGM).

OTHER RELEASE NEWS

Punk trio Bloods have been busy, officially releasing Want It as their new single pulled from upcoming LP with an accompanying video. Check it out now.

Sydney-based indie-pop newbies Date Night At The Museum have been working hard with the release of new single Flashing Lights, which is accompanied by an animated video and an east coast tour announcement. More.

Fremantle hard-rock band One Thousand Years have released a fresh new clip for their latest single When The Sun Opens Its Eyes. Watch it here.

Experimental post-rock trio Usurper Of Modern Medicine have given audiences a taste of their debut album with the release of its first single A Jam For The Dying Sun. Check out its trippy video now.

TIDBITS

WA Festival State Of The Art have added another stack of artists to its already huge line-up. The Brow, Tired Lion and Dallas Royal are amongst some of the acts set to perform on the newly announced free PICA stage. More.

Grass roots Brisbane label Sonic Masala Records will be holding a day-long festival to celebrate the local music scene. Sonic Masala Fest will be held on Saturday 21 June and will host Brissie favourites as well as a few interstate friends. Read on.

Adelaide-based afrobeat nine-piece Shaolin Afronauts have turned to crowd-funding platform Pozible to achieve their dream of performing at the legendary Glastonbury Festival. The band still need $12,500 more pledged, click here to find out how you can help.

The New Dead festival is back for round five and has announced its line-up of locally made metal bands, with King Parrott leading the 17 artist bill. Full line-up here.

Country-rock musician Jay Seeney is taking his new band , the aptly titled The Jay Seeney Band to Nashville. He's going over there to record his debut album with his new troupe. Head to his website for more.

Thrash metallers Recoil VOR have announced the departure of bassist Adam 'Adz' Norbury. He'll play his last show with the band this Sunday at Frankies in Sydney. More info can be found at their website.