Pilerats, Journalist

Slappin' da bass ahead of CIRCO Festival.. How much can you accomplish in 12 months? I can think of one guy who could probably trump that. King of Bass and veteran in the Australian music scene, Michael Di Francesco – better known as Touch Sensitive – is one of the many amazing acts to be playing CIRCO Festival next weekend in Perth (got yo TICKET YET?). In between Pizza Guy, a US tour and multiple remixes and collaborations, Touch Sensitive has made a pretty reputable name for himself in the Australian and International Dance Music scene. We got to chat with him to discuss his recent success, being a perfectionist and what’s still to come.

One of the many rad artists playing this year's Hidden Treasures in Fremantle.. Presented by the City of Fremantle, Hidden Treasures is now in its fourth year of creating unique collaborations and dialogues between musicians and music lovers, softening the barriers between performers and audiences in some of Fremantle's coolest spaces. This year sees four venues in Fremantle’s West End playing host to Hidden Treasures every Thursday in July, including Fremantle Workers Club, The Navy Club, The Buffalo Club and new addition - the PS Art Space. One $10 ticket will grant a night’s membership to all four venues, which will host staggered performances so that music lovers can wander from one music hot spot to the next. You can read up more on what nights are on offer by heading to the Hidden Treasures FACEBOOK, but before you do, get to know one of the acts playing who also happen to have the most amazing band name ever - Aborted Tortoise.

Noap Studios road test their winter range with an unassisted hike over The Stirling Ranges.. A few weeks ago the guys behind Noap Studio set off into the West Australian wilderness to conquer Koikyennuruff - otherwise known as The Stirling Ranges. The plan was to road test their latest winter gear and put together a Lookbook of sorts. It was a three day, unassisted hike over 28.5 kilometres at over 1000 metres above sea level, so as you can imagine it was pretty taxing on the body, but Jack and the guys preserved and conquered the trial. Along the way the Lookbook got pushed to the side and it wasn’t until they got home that they realised they had captured this amazing adventure, which they have titled The Third Arrow.

Perth hip hop kid Coin Banks is hittin' the road.. Following the release of his killer EP Heads in March this year, WA born and bred hip hopper Coin Banks is taking the release (which features the likes of Ta-ku, 20syl and Homeboy Sandman) around the country. After being featured on Aus' music heavies like Rage, triple j, and our own RTRFM, Think Of You is currently killing it on the aforementioned youth broadcaster. After cutting his teeth with Perth hip hop outfit The Stoops, Coin Banks has spent the past couple of years honing his craft, and 2014 is shaping up to be huge. Check out the video clip for Hatches down the bottom, and catch him at one of the following dates: Click above for tickets via Oztix.

The UK-based soulstress recorded a typically beautiful cover for Rinse FM's Rinse Sessions.. As part of a recent Rinse Session for influential London-based radio station Rinse FM, Eglo Records darling Fatima laid down this beautiful rendition of SWV's Rain, complete with indoor umbrella and all. You can check out the whole Rinse Session HERE, or head to the Rinse FM WEBSITE for more aural goodness. London-based peeps can also catch Fatima at a few upcoming dates, head to her FACEBOOK to find out more.

Recent WME signee Just A Gent is having a pretty great time of things at the moment.. After a killer start to the year getting props from the likes of What So Not's Emoh Instead, Just A Gent has had a stellar run of originals and remixes alike - most recently putting his touch to Madison Avenue's Don't Call Me Baby, and this week updating Tears For Fear's seminal classic, Everybody Wants To Rule The World. AND he's just signed with WME, AND he's about to embark on his debut Australian tour. Did we mention he's only 17? It's about time you got to know Just A Gent a little better..

A few of Golden Features' favourite things.. Header photo via AdamNOTeve / CAN'T SAY. CIRCO Festival is so freaking close AKA Saturday June 28 for those playing at home (go BUY SOME TICKETS if you haven't already), and one of the artists we are most excited about is Golden Features. The mysteriously masked man dropped a cracking (free) EP on us at the start of the year and has been backing it up with some huge sets since then. Over that time we've slowly learned more about the producer, whose real name is Tom Stell from Sydney, formerly of big room EDM duo Kyro & Bomber. We asked Stell to take a few photos of his favourite things, so peel a few more layers back behind the mask, and get amped for CIRCO Festival. 1. MY MASK First things first, this is my face. It was fabricated by the amazing people at Big Kahuna Industries who have made props for a bunch of movies including The Matrix. For anybody wondering, it's extremely hard to see through. 2. MY ZOOM H6 RECORDER Next up is my Zoo

Celebrate 10 years of Community Records with their 10 fave releases.. From a two person street art project to a collective of 30-plus, The Community is celebrating 10 years of awesome music, art and parties this weekend - Saturday 21 June, with one seriously epic show over two rooms at The Bakery. Featuring Naik, Mathas, Diger Rokwell, YLEM, Vishnu, Lowaski, Ouroboinc Plague, Maxy Bills, The Boost Hero Man, Archi, DJ Silence, Wisdom 2th, Empty, FG, Yarhkob, Setvice (Band), Arms in Motion, Sibalance, Tripl M.U.M and DVS, you can find out more details on the event HERE. We asked two of the Community's main men - and celebrated artists in their own right - hip hop head Mathas and worldly beatsmith Diger Rokwell, to reflect on the past decade of unearthing serious underground talent on the west coast with 10 of their favourite releases from The Communtiy stable. Enjoy them below, and keep up to speed with The Community's goings-on via their FACEBOOK and/or WEBSITE.

This year's biggest dance track gets the ODESZA flip.. Sometimes the stars just align and some of your favourite artists combine for rad results. In today's edition of that happening, one of the CIRCO Festival acts we're beyond excited about is ODESZA (check our interview with them HERE), and they've turned their attention to Zhu's huge (and getting huger) track, Faded. We have it on pretty good authority Zhu will be down under a bit later in the year (in fact there'll probably be a post about that tomorrow), but until then enjoy ODESZA's slightly darker take on what will surely end up being one of 2014's most played tracks. Along with CIRCO Festival, ODESZA are playing a few sideshows while they're in the country. It's criminal that it's taken them this long to get down here, so make sure you catch 'em: 21 June: Sydney @ The Roller Den DJ Set at RÜFÜS Afterparty 22 June: Sydney @ Enmore Theatre w/ RÜFÜS 25 June: Melbourne @ 170 Russell w/ Kele & Hayden James 26 June: Sydney @ The Met

CIRCO guest Deejay Earl takes five with Dani Marsland.. WTF? WTF? WTF? WTF? TEKLife Just Sent It Up... The Ghettoteknitianz are a formidable clique of footwork DJs based in Chicago, led by Spinn and the recently passed Rashad, and whose crew includes Traxman, Gant-Man and younger producers like DJ Manny and Deejay Earl. Earl is one of the more interesting figures in the crew – at only 22, his emotive footwork more than measures up to that of his mentors, and progresses steadily in quality with each release. Earl has an excellent understanding of rhythm and stands apart for his exploration of the slower, soulful aspects of footwork; with a more leftfield approach to sampling (his release Audio Fixx’ vocal subjects include Imogen Heap and Sade). Earlier this year, Earl unleashed an hour of some of the dopest, freshest shit we’ve heard, during his Boiler Room SET in LA, where he shared the bill with Djemba Djemba and Hoodboi. Beyond excited to see that same fire live in Perth when Earl th

Part jam, part 2am face-melter.. It's only Friday morning, but the bangers are well and truly here for the weekend to get rolling. First up, Gold Coast legends, bass music deviants and trap vibe merchants Surecut Kids have released their new single, Bust Up Da Place featuring legenday ragga MC Top Cat in what turns out to be a match made in heaven. The intro will make you wanna burn one down, but once it gets going it's pure dancefloor mayhem/head-fuckery. Stream it below, purchase it via Klub Kids HERE.