Hot Milk On Touring Australia & Refusing To Sell Out: 'We’re Never Complacent'

Pilerats, Journalist

Features / Music
New Music: Celestial Trax - Tonicity EP
Mutated sound master Celestial Trax unveils an energetic EP of experimental club cuts.. We'll say it once and once only. Nah, we'll actually in all likelihood say it again in fifty subsequent related posts: y'all need to get your ears around New York cloud producer / genre-bender-extraordinaire Celestial Trax. We knew this dude was special from the moment we first heard his seriously dope track Illuminate on one of the best compilations of future-forward club that came out last year, The Astral Plane's Heterotopia.  "I definitely approach music from more of a song perspective and try to project emotion and atmosphere rather than just doing club bangers," Celestial Trax told MixMag a little while ago. Yesterday, he issued an EP - his second after early 2014's Paroxysm. Entitled Tonicity EP, it's a cloud rap fan's dream, a murky, but energetic blur of experimental grime, Jersey and hip hop, in tune with the work of artists such as Australia's Galtier or Air Max 97, or South London's Vis
Features / Music
Red Bull Music Academy Sydney Studios Takeover
Flight Facilities, Touch Sensitive, Seekae and more celebrate RBMA Applications being open.. The 17th edition of the Red Bull Music Academy takes place in Paris this October/November, and the applications phase for the annual event are now open until March 4, and to mark the occasion RBMA Australia are taking over the legendary Studios 301 in Sydney for a week of lectures, parties, radio broadcasts and artist collaborations. From February 2-6 future applicants will be invited to attend lectures and info sessions led by such luminaries as Warp Records’ Mark Pritchard, who will be providing budding producers with all the tools necessary to apply for this year’s event in Paris. It kicks off Monday 2 February with an invite-only info session hosted by Goodgod Small Club’s own Jimmy Sing, alongside Red Bull Music Academy Tokyo alumni Lewis Cancut, Summer Disbray and Mark Maxwell, all providing an insight into the inner workings of the Academy. Wednesday 3 February then sees Sydney duo Fligh
Features / Music
Video: Title Fight - Rose Of Sharon + Aus' Tour
A mid-year tour for Title Fight to celebrate their new album, Hyperview.. With their new album Hyperview due January 30 on Anti Records, Pennsylvania four-piece Title Fight have this week dropped a new video for the single Rose Of Sharon, and announced a pretty massive run of Australia tour dates in the middle of the year. In the summer of 2014, the band bunkered down in Studio 4 in Conshohocken, PA with producer/engineer Will Yip (who they had made their last three records with) to make Hyperview - the follow-up to 2013's Spring Songs EP. Hyperview is massive leap forward from the group's previous releases, and our excitement for it is fortunately being tempered somewhat with the moody clip for Rose Of Sharon. Check it below, and take in the huge run of dates below that, which tickets go on sale for Friday 23 January. AUS' TOUR DATES:  Friday 19 June - The Brightside, Brisbane (TICKETS)  Saturday 20 June - The Lab, Brisbane AA (TICKETS)  Sunday 21 June - YAC, Byron Bay AA (TICKETS) 
Features / Music
New Music: Ryan Hemsworth - shh#000000 Compilation
Download the second installment of Ryan Hemsworth's Secret Songs compilation.. If only more producers were as benevolent with their research and dubs as our ol’ m8 Ryan Hemsworth. Hemsworth’s Secret Songs Soundcloud is where he gets behind music he’s vibing, with new tracks usually uploaded every couple of weeks for free download. What started out as something fairly simple has grown into a thriving platform for burgeoning artists and a go-to repository for weird music nerds like us. Today, Hemsworth released his sophomore Secret Songs compilation, a collection of original, new music the Canadian producer has unearthed from the depths of his Internet / email / Twitter DMs. No idea why it’s called "secret" songs though, because Ryan Hemsworth getting behind an emerging artist is like sounding a giant air horn across the Internet. Case in point being UK-based J-pop trio Kero Kero Bonito, who featured on Hemsworth’s first ever Secret Songs compilation, released in September last year. Whe
Features / Music
Premiere: Danny T - Let Me Go
A dash of '90s house big with a pair of big ol' swingin' balls.. Following the release of his Take Me EP last year (listen HERE), one of Australia's long-standing key figures in a currently booming house scene, Danny T is back with "complete burner" (Golden Features, 2015) in Let Me Go. And after you have a listen to the stream below you will concur with the likes of Bag Raiders, Sinden, RUFUS and more, who've all thrown their support behind the mo in the business. I even had the pleasure of playing it out about a week ago and can confirm all the ladies in the front row lost their minds. One even said to me: "My boyfriend DJs in Sydney and he would probably think you're pretty good", after I played it. True story. Let Me Go takes all the pleasure points of '90s house, before updating it with plenty of that bass-house sound the legends at Sweat It Out! have been rinsing for a while now. And given Danny T is their man on their ground, it's no wonder he's leading the charge. Take a listen
Features / Music
New Music: Björk - Vulnicura LP
Björk has surprise dropped her new album today, two months earlier than planned.. Well. Talk about a treat for Hump Day. Two months ahead of its original release date (in a note on Facebook last week, Icelandic musician Björk told us she'd be releasing the album in March), Björk has released her album Vulnicura on iTunes today, rolling it out over 24 hours. It's her first album in four years, following 2011's Biophilia. The early than announced digital release is most likely in response to the fact that it leaked over the weekend (although, unlike Madonna, she didn't go so far as to call the leak "artistic rape").  Vulnicura notably features co-production with our favourite New York Venuzualen Arca, producer for Twigs and Yeezus. British experimental producer The Haxan Cloak also chipped in on one track, and handled most of the mixing, save for two mixed with Chris Elms. Antony Hegarty, of Antony and the Johnsons, features on vocals on one track.  Björk posted (again... she is really
Features / Music
Bonobo Aus' DJ Tour
All of the yes.. Simon Green AKA Bonobo is headed back to Australia and New Zealand this coming March for a series of DJ sets, which while not the master-producer in live form, are damn sure the next best thing. An artist that constantly pushes himself outside of his musical comfort zone, Bonobo’s is constantly and rightly hailed as one of the world's most forward-thinking producers and live performers. In 2013 Bonobo released his fifth album, The North Borders, and it’s become the high watermark of his career to date. Take him some of his DJ sets in this Soundcloud playlist below, and check the dates for the shows after that. Tickets on sale Friday 23 January via HERE. TOUR DATES: FRI 13 MARCH | THE STUDIO | AUCKLAND SUN 15 MARCH | ROYAL CROQUET CLUB | ADELAIDE THUR 19 MARCH | PRINCE OF WALES | MELBOURNE FRI 20 MARCH | HI FI | SYDNEY SAT 21 MARCH | VILLA | PERTH Follow Bonobo: FACEBOOK / WEBSITE
Features / Music
Premiere: The 2 Bears - Not This Time (Capracara Remix)
Our first ever Pilerats.com Soundcloud exclusive is a grooving slice of house.. The 2 Bears are British producer/DJ duo Raf Rundell and Joe Goddard (Hot Chip), and they're making their way to Australia to bring some of their patented brand of bump'n'grind house over four shows during this Australia Day weekend. Yesterday we asked them to give us some insight into a typical 2 Bears DJ set (get some hot tips HERE), and today they, along with fellow UK-based producer Capracara, have kindly thrown us an exclusive remix to celebrate their arrival into the country. Not This Time is from The 2 Bears 2014 album The Night Is Young, and this remix from Capracara ups the groove and shuffle for something special. Take a listen below, and check The 2 Bears Australian tour dates after that: TOUR DATES Sat 24 Jan - Sugar Mountain Festival, Melbourne Sat 24 Jan - Alhambra Lounge, Brisbane Sun 25 Jan - Beach Road Hotel, Sydney Mon 26 Jan - Conservatory Rooftop Bar, Perth - Follow The 2 Bears: FACEBOOK
Features / Music
Video: Flying Lotus - Coronus, The Terminator
A dark and brooding affair from the Laneway-bound producer.. Is there an artist whose visual and audio aesthetic is more considered than Flying Lotus? The dude's output feels so meticulously crafted he almost feels like a higher being. Alright maybe we're being a little hyperbolic with those kind of statements, but whatever, he's one of the world's most exciting electronic artists, and any new release is met with feverish anticipation around these parts. Last year's You're Dead! album was another beautiful melding of the audio and the visual, and we're looking forward to seeing his Layer 3 show in Australia this month at the Red Bull Music Academy x Future Classic Stage at St Jerome's Laneway Festival. What all of this jibber jabber leads into is another stellar video clip, this time for Coronus, The Terminator - a dark and menacingly cinematic clip for one of You're Dead!'s highlights: Follow Flying Lotus: FACEBOOK / WEBSITE