January mixtape 2024 | temporary simulation mix
Temporary Simulation is the name of this month's mix. Random signage is our jam.
We search out old signage + paraphernalia from the Illawarra's past, transcribe + then customise those elements into our street wear designs. Salvaging these elements means the apparel graphics are uniquely from the Illawarra coastline, designed + hand finished in this place. Same with the music. We search it out, we don't just biff up at Spotify + take what's already there. We beg, chase, court, explore, rabbit hole + discover to bring you a swathe of randomness on an genre-less tip. Whatever your sonic stoke, we are folk that are cool about it.
For those who are new to the GPC mixtape series, we source the freshest tracks from Illawarra artists or those with links to the recording studios + venues along the Grand Pacific route to celebrate the musical counterculture that makes this stretch of the pacific southeast a global creative hot spot. We then share the mixtape with radio stations around the world that have cool underground sounds programming. Nearly twenty tracks from this 2023s mixtapes have been picked up by overseas radio stations.
As always, here is the write-up (underneath the mixtape section) with links to the artist profiles so you can follow them, links to their gigs so you can see them live along the Grand Pacific route + links to wherever they want us to link so you can grab their tunes. They depend on your patronage so let’s get to it. To be in to win guest tickets to some of these shows just sign up to the newsletter in the footer to enter + receive future guest list ticket info.
You don’t need to sign up for SoundCloud account to listen, just press play if the music hasn’t already started. If you do have a SoundCloud account you can follow us there + get all the archive in one place, as well as the new ASSEMBLY series curated by Illawarra cool folk.
Too damned easy.
Dreaming Soda – Lemmings. This is one of those stories where you go to see one band and then get equally blown away by another. Dreaming Soda played an intimate gig at 130 Arts last month + this track was a real stand out. A brilliant duo from Sydney of self-mocking joke makers + story tellers who make electrified gamer-pop, their set was neon in its virtuosity. You can see them writing for some of the biggest chart stars in the world + they created this radio edit version of Lemmings just for your listening pleasure. Awesome. Go see them.
Joe Mungovan – Stay. One of the hardest working musicians along this coast, 2023 was a standout year for Joe. He continues to tour Australian + NZ whilst slowly eeking out singles from his new album. Stay has just been released + if you get a chance to go see him live, do so.
Adam Newling – Us + Them. A little bit of a local legend, Adam has recently been offering up his skills for Cronulla’s start of the moment, Ruby Fields. His new offering is Dorothy Painted Portraits, with a limited amount available on vinyl + we chose the track Us + Them. Adam takes the new long player out on the road for a tour of the east coast in January, with gigs at Filmores Kiama + the Bowlo Wombarra. This has not to be missed.
Gowchii – Oppenheimer. Leader of the Womp Krew, the prolific DJ + mixer collective hammering out the beats in the Illawarra, Gowchii has featured big in our mixtapes in 2023. This new track is just one of many new releases and he has just handed over a Christmas bundle ‘dub pack’ of eight tracks he has been twiddling with in between his main releases.
Sonny Grin – A Little Taste. A Balearic track that would reside happily amongst those classic superclub compilations of the noughties. An audio tonic for our midway mix point.
Soft Spot – Before I Burst. The first of many tracks this month we have had to chase or cajole out of bands that are just coming out of the studio. This romantic, almost Celtic, electronic jazz piece is another balm for those hungover senses We hope to feature more of this band in the future.
Oniera – 2. This band have erupted onto the scene in a very short space of time + they are delivering track after track that demonstrates their brilliance. Each one different yet still the same band, like all the best bands do. We see great things ahead for these guys. Get on it early for later bragging rights.
Mittere – Swaying Cliffs. The gods of ambient rained gold at the end of 2023 + the new album from Mittere was a gift from the heavens. This is the second track from the new album on local record label Third Eye Stimuli + we wanted to share it paired with the other filmic soundscapes that have bubbled to the surface this month. There seems to be a significant fraternity of prolific ambient composers along the east coast of Australia that goes toe-to-toe with the proliferation of proto-punk on this shoreline. The Illawarra continues to be a region of extremes, not just visually but sonically, too. It’s these kinds of inspirations that have informed our new Formation collection.
Lime Cordiale – Pedestal. We don’t normally feature major artists as we feel they get enough support from the mainstream but we wanted to feature our neighbours because we liked the track + it would be churlish to ignore bands just because they are successful. We are all about surfacing the hidden but it’s nice to stud that approach with the more immediate + not be inverted snobs about a medium that should be about bringing people together. Add some cordial to your musical hydration policy.
Creep Features – Pleased To Meet You. We escalate the decibels + break the cone with the new track from the Creepers. Drummer Daniel Isaac + guitarist/vocalist Starzi Tsiamis formed Creep Features in 2017 + continue to bring the noize to our shores.
Business Doing Pleasure – Contract Killer. This was a chaser and we were rewarded with an EP of tracks. We chose this one for the vibe and the name. Alt.disco mayhem is guaranteed and we can’t wait to see them live at the UOW uni bar on 23rd February + at La La Las in March 2024.
Streless – Fourth Wheel. We begged this band for a track + they delivered. A surf band that can’t surf is our kind of outfit. Supported by The Music Foundry, a not-for-profit springboard service for young musicians, focusing on original music + holistic production services, these young guns offer up the quintessential sound of the region + they will be at La La Las on 10th January 2024
Andy Rantzen – aka as Pelicans Daughter with Justin Brandis - Princesse Féerique. Sometimes one has to travel to see the beauty in our own back yard. We hadn’t come across Andy previously + it took digging in the crates of a great record store in Manchester, U.K to surface this guy. A huge electronic influence in the global north, we need to shine some light on him locally. Get into his long players asap.
Ocaen – Disengage (Live). A regular favourite in 2023, the band are not in the studio at the moment but they have remixed a recent gig for an EP of new tracks. All of them are killer but we chose Disengage. This track was recorded this time last year by the Yours & Owls crew + will become a EP with video release. Follow them to catch the whole grainy, garagey, energetic concept video.
Nut Butter – Night Driving. This inclusion has been a lover’s pursuit since we saw them gigging in the Spring. We knew they were recording in the hidden studio in the escarpment but it has been a long courtship to cleave this track out of their hands before the official release date. Yes, you are hearing this track as an exclusive to the Grand Pacific community two weeks before the rest of the world. Like liquid chocolate, oozing from your speaker cones. See them live whenever you can. It’s always a beautifully curated night of music.
The Swirly Train – Good Luck Dragon. A festive drop created especially just for you for Christmas from our resident wunderist + musical polymath, Swirly Dan (one part of Art v Science) from his home studio in Thirroul. Dan has had a crazy year of album releases, festival stages, DJing up mountains, blues musician meets at the Bowlo, cliff side parties, insta studio guides of how he creates + of course, his magical wedding. Eclectic, erratic, inescapable + a national treasure. Climb aboard The Swirly Train to goo-goo-a-choo you into 2024.
Night Diver – Frogmouth. OK, so this is another cult band that appear + disappear into the ether in a very tantalisingly Illawarra way. So many bands in the region have this uncatchable quality that keeps everyone on their gig toes. Their last ‘happening’ was an acoustic gig on Austinmer beach with one hour’s notice. It’s taken us about six months of asking to receive a track from them but the pursuit has paid off. Their new EP is ‘Jangle rock inspired by nicely arranged leaf litter + the joyous pastime of rock skimming on a still lake on a winter's afternoon.’ We chose the track Frogmouth. Dive into the whole thing on their soundcloud + follow them closely for those illusive live events.
Synth Club – Lake George. The first rule about Synth Club is… this is almost true because this is actually a club that meet in a hidden spot + only the attendees know where + when. We get stoked about this kind of stuff so we are almost reluctant to share it with you folks in case it messes with their special ju-ju. There are a lot of keyboard builders + noodlers along this coastline. Their set-ups are immense. They find + restore electronica from the late 70s + 80s to revive and imbibe their unique proto-beat pre-sets + squelchy tizzy sounds. It is awesome + we cannot get enough of these illusive studio-snow-leopards. Synth Club is basically whomever turns up + Lake George is basically a jam session. How awesome is that! Get on it if Eno is your god + Oblique Strategies is basically your daily horoscope guide. It is for us.
As always, if we receive any waifs + strays that are just releasing as we go live with the SOUNDS journal we will add them in under this initial mixtape.
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