The Sifting Pan

Helping you find those Indie Gems!

Tag Archives: Music


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Song of the Day! Lanu – Beautiful Trash feat. Megan Washington


DJ Lanu brings us his musical versatility from Melbourne

Info on Lanu: Last.fm

Beautiful Trash is very beautiful and is anything but trash. A nice casual beat that anyone can step to and wonderful smile inducing vocals courtesy of Megan Washington. It seems that this style is not quite the norm for New Zealand born, Australian based, DJ Lanu who is more widely know for his club hits then easy going jazz-esque tunes. I think it is perfectly fine for him to take a break from those club bangers if he’s going to compile such wonderful songs like Beautiful Trash. You can hear many more tracks with this kind of steady flow on Lanu’s latest LP Her 12 Faces, which features Ms. Washington a multitude of times. If broken beat and random french is your thing then I suggest looking into this album.



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Song of the Day! Gorillaz – Revolving Doors

Gorillaz recorded The Fall from all corners of the globe

Somehow the Gorillaz managed to sneak a full album release under my nose. Apparently the band was busy behind the scenes of their Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour last year recording their latest album The Fall in between tour dates. The most interesting thing about the album is that all the recording was done through Gorillaz founder (and Blur frontman) Damon Albarn’s iPad and various apps that he downloaded. For an album recorded on a 9×7 inch device I have to give the band major props. While the album doesn’t stand out as anything special when you look at the Gorillaz amazing track record, it is still a beautiful work of musical art that refuses to be ordinary and mundane. Revolving Doors is one of the best tracks you’ll find on The Fall and seems to have a more traditional Gorillaz sound (If such a thing even exists). The album saw a free release to Gorillaz fan club members back in December but just recently got a physical release in April of this year. The Fall is a must have for all of those who claim to be true Gorillaz fans.


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Song of the Day! Crystal Fighters – At Home

Crystal Fighters will always be right at home in Navarra, Spain

Music Video: At Home

The Crystal Fighters aim to please with their beautiful synth driven electronic music. This could not be made anymore clear with their single At Home. “We make fast dance music with Basque instruments, synthesizers and our voices.” The results of this combination truly are wonderful. I guess magical things are bound to happen when you cross English electro music with Spanish indie dance styles. Crystal Fighters released their debut album Star of Love back in October of last year but are still pushing out great singles like At Home in 2011. While I like what’ve heard so far from Crystal Fighters, I’m still going to have say my favorite Spanish electro band is Delorean, because nothing beats Deli.


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Song of the Day! Morning Parade – Under The Stars


Morning Parade formed under the stars in Harlow, Essex, England.

Music Video: Under The Stars

So I wake up this morning and do my normal routine of a shower and a bowl of cereal, all the while listening to my favorite Dutch internet radio station streaming out the best new indie tracks. Then this little number comes on a draws me in and doesn’t let go. Under The Stars has a beautiful upward stride that just builds anticipation that levels out just right and then takes off. I haven’t heard such wonderful guitar struts since Foals’ first album Antidotes. Having only heard Under The Stars for the first time this morning I have not yet had a chance to dig into Morning Parade’s recent release of the Under The Stars EP. From what I’ve read comparing the band to Foals really isn’t too far off track but I’m probably not giving Morning Parade enough credit for their own wonderful sound. The band is set to release their debut album sometime before the end of 2011 and you can bet that The Sifting Pan will be revisiting these indie rockers when more news of a debut comes into the light.



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Song of the Day! The Naked and Famous – Punching In A Dream

The Naked and Famous are punching into our dreams from New Zealand

Music Video: Punching In A Dream

There is undoubtably something magical about The Naked and Famous. Their music has the capability of taking you to a wonderful place that is free of the world’s woes and seems to transcend so many genre barriers. If you haven’t done so already I suggest you go listen to their amazingly beautiful song Young Blood right now. But today is about the awesome electro-clash track Punching In A Dream. Whimsical synth-beats are abound in The Naked and Famous’s third single from their debut album Passive Me, Aggressive You. After so much success with the release of their debut in their home country of New Zealand these kiwis decided that its only right to take on the world and officially released Passive Me, Aggressive You worldwide on March 14th through Polydor Records. If your as big of a fan of simple and good electro-pop as I am then you need to get your hands on this record ASAP- you will not regret it.