Adam Kelly is an artist manager for Melbourne favourites Jakubi, in addition to his work as a promoter, music industry consultant, and project manager at A Thousand Hills, a media project encompassing music, documentaries, and photography.
In his own words, “Every week I get a dozen new artists emailing me asking about my thoughts on their music and whether I’d consider managing them. I get dozens more from friends around the world working in the industry wanting to share something new they are excited about.”
“I have a general rule when listening to new music. The rule is that I will listen to two tracks, but if they don’t grab me in the first 30 seconds, I move on to the next one.” Naturally, Adam gets plenty of music that doesn’t make it past that point.
“But I get plenty again who I think make some incredible music and deserve the opportunity to have it heard by a wider audience.” Tone Deaf have decided to help Adam give those bands and artists that opportunity.
“Every month I’m going to list the five or six best new tracks I’ve heard and what it is I like about them. Hopefully you find something you like in there too.” So, without further ado, here’s the best of what’s come into Adam’s inbox this month.
Reika
Straight up party rock. These Melbourne kids are fun! Literally everything they do exudes energy. Their live shows are filled with impromptu, poorly thought-out decisions, which is 50 percent of the reason you probably need to check them out.
Get around these guys, because they could take off anytime soon. Their track ‘Fat Stacks’ is a throwback to career politicians. It uses catchy, guitar-driven riffs and edgy vocals which ultimately make this one of the most entertaining ways you can throw your middle finger up towards to the government. I’m lucky enough to premiere this track for you right here.
Point Washington
With only 111 likes on Facebook (at the time of writing), I can say with a certain level of assurance that you definitely haven’t heard of this four-piece from Florida. They currently have just three tracks online, all listed as ‘demos’, but the quality is solid.
‘Kings’, the first track off what will be their debut EP, mixes a contemporary indie rock sound with vocals reminiscent of Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard. Their sound is accessible yet still cool, meaning it would fit right alongside acts as diverse as Taylor Swift, Birds of Tokyo, or anything in between (seriously).
Porsches
The story of how I met Jesse (one half of Porsches) a couple of years back is a great one. If we’re ever out and you want an interesting story over beers, ask me, I’ll tell you. Music stories are sort of my thing.
These two are no strangers to the intricacies of songwriting. Jesse already has a gold plaque with his name on it for his work with Flume on the latter’s breakout track, ‘Sleepless’.
Porsches are fun, really easy to listen to, perfect for almost any mood, and just really really good at what they do. ‘Karate’ is the much anticipated followup to their hugely successful debut, ‘Horses’. If you’re wondering what you’ll be listening to in your car over summer to get you psyched while sitting in long festival cues then let me give you a tip – this.
Tender
Tender describe themselves as, “A duo. Lifelong friends. Operating out of a bedroom studio in a North London basement. TENDER are primarily interested in creating grooves with room to breathe.” That summary pretty much works as the best intro to their track ‘Melt’.
It has an ’80s electro feel that merges with a super modern minimalist sound to create a track that both engages and relaxes. I could just as easily fall asleep listening to this track as I could dance to it late into the evening.
Jose James
I’ve been privileged enough to do rep and TM work for Niche Productions. One of those jobs was looking after Jose James a while back. I’d not heard of him before, but I walked out knowing I’d never forget him. The dude played a set that lasted over four hours!
Jose is well and truly established, with a number of international tours under his belt, but he had to be included for two reasons. Firstly, he is undoubtedly deserving of everyone’s attention and secondly, this is about the best two hours of live music you will ever hear in your life.
