When I first watched the MV for ‘Settle Down’, I was floored. By the time I got to the 2 minutes mark, I was sold.

Little did I know that as I kept searching for more of her music and videos, I find myself getting more and more hooked.

Maybe its the energy she gives out when performing, that hauntingly beautiful vocals, those eyes or it could just be because of the lack of autotune (which is absolutely refreshing!) in her tracks.

The 21 year old Auckland native and Melbourne-based singer-songwriter will be releasing her debut album, “Vows” on Warner Bros. Records sometime this year.

“If you like Nina Simone, Florence & The Machine, and/or Bjork, then we think you will enjoy Kimbra — her music reminds us of all those fierce ladies!” wrote Perez Hilton after seeing the video for her single “Settle Down” — a rhythmic collage of handclaps, cheeky horn parping, and a ballooning bassline married to an escapist lyric about domesticity. Another Australian single, “Cameo Lover,” finds Kimbra exploring a soulful, Motown-influenced sound delivered in a fresh way with the help of Aussie hip-hop producer M-Phazes (Pharoahe Monch, Talib Kweli).

I’m not a big pop fan, so in order to justify myself, I dug even more and found some amazing live acoustic performances, which made me less guilty. *Phew*
(There are many more that are just as good but its just too many to paste in one post).

And finally, I’m going to leave you with this interview she did with RipItUp Magazine.

Latest tracks by Kimbra

Myspace

ROCKIN’ THE REGION: M.I.S.CELLANEOUS

This month, Esplanade will be hosting an outdoor concert by local and regional bands, Paint the Sky Red, Harmacy and Brilliant at Breakfast. The bands will be performing all throught the weekend of the 29th of July at the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre. The schedule is reposted below:

29 Jul 2011, Fri
7.30 – 8.15pm – Paint the Sky Red
8.45 – 9.30pm – Harmacy
10 – 10.45pm – Brilliant at Breakfast

30 Jul 2011, Sat
7.30 – 8.15pm – Brilliant at Breakfast
8.45 – 9.30pm – Brilliant at Breakfast
10 – 10.45pm – Harmacy

31 Jul 2011, Sun
7.30 – 8.15pm – Harmacy
8.45 – 9.30pm – Paint the Sky Red

Ride out the last weekend of the month on an indie rock wave featuring three bands across South East Asia! Soak in the ‘90s alternative rock of Harmacy from Malaysia, the child-like whimsy of Brilliant at Breakfast from Indonesia, and the instrumental post-rock of Paint the Sky Red from Singapore.

I’ve also taken the liberty to post some samplings of their music below so that you’d have a taste of how they sound like, if you haven’t heard of them before.

Paint the Sky Red

Brilliant at Breakfast

Harmacy

I’m probably going. Are you?

This band probably needs no introduction if you’re into both regional music and post-rock. The KL-based band have been making waves since 2008 when their last full length album “The lights we shed shall burn your eyes” was first released.

This is how they describe themselves:

Deepset, a quartet from Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, discovered the trial of compo-
sition that has been appropriated by
indierock after being refined over
the centuries by harmonic and sonic
experimentation,the birth was late 2002,
the band pushed the enthuse to produce
instrumental piece which as the band
believe that music is nothing without
inspiration that has an influence.

Now if you haven’t heard post-rock before. You have to check them out.

Band Members:
Luthfi : Guitar
Hafiza : Guitar
Asshad : Bass
Drum : Azman

Releases :

2005 Self-Titled Demo – 3 songs
2008 – “The lights we shed shall burn your eyes”

Unfortunately the band doesn’t have a soundcloud account so you’d probably have to listen to it via their Myspace (link below) page. Alternatively you can also support them by purchasing their

Myspace
Facebook

The Dø is a French-Finnish indie pop act that have been around since 2005. The duo, Olivia Merilahti and Dan Levy, first met each other while recording tracks for the French movie, Empire of the Wolves and since then they’ve released two full length album, A Mouthful in 2008, and “Both Ways Open Jaws” just this year in UK and France.

dailymusicguide has this to say:

Olivia’s vocals can also be compared to Bjork and even Duffy at different points throughout the album with the strength and control she has over her higher notes. In contrast to the fast-paced, edgy sounding tracks such as ‘Aha’ and ‘Tammie’ is the simplistic delicately of ‘Song For Lovers’ with sweet lyrics and perfectly pronounced and shaped vocals that brings out a Vashti Bunyan style gentlessness.

You can also stream the full album “Both Ways Open Jaws” over at their soundcloud:
Both Ways Open Jaws by The Dø

Official Site