I made you a mix tape of super cool mostly local kids and their super cool mostly local tracks. This list is by no means definitive given how thick and heavy Melbourne is with talent but is a small sample of those I've had the pleasure to see, perform alongside and admire. Those in the list who are not Melbourne based left their mark here too and for that I am grateful. Thanks for being rad Melbourne. Regards - Laura Davis      @}-,--'---

Thank you also to the venues that continue to put all these amazing people and myself on stage. Tote Hotel, John Curtain, Howler, Grace Darling, Old Bar, Bar Open, Public Project, Loop Bar, Long Play, Yarra Hotel, Post Office Hotel, Tramway Hotel, Also Gallery, Liberty Social (may it rest in peace)and many more, without them I would never have come in contact with any of these wonderful human beings and certainly my life would not be as full as it is today.

Let me know if I've missed anyone super obvious or for any reason you'd like me to remove your track from this list. x

I Made You a Mixtape - Local

Released via Weird Dance Music :: May 10 2015
Free/Donation: http://weirddancemusic.bandcamp.com/album/weird-dance-music-compilation-volume-1

Welcome to both the first release and first installment of the WDM Compilation series! 

A compendium of musical selections that explore the sonic circumference of music that makes you simultaneously want to shake your jelly and stroke your chin. The compilation is by no means to be enjoyed as a complex venture into experimentalism, nor to be dismissed as vacuous repetitive EDM but hopefully will lend more exposure to the wonderful space in the middle where one can be thoughtful enough to consider fine detail but not too posh to get up and boogey. 

It's a pay what you want affair so if your'e skint then get down on that shiz for nought. If you are loaded to the max and can afford to lay down some skrill, the contributing artists would be very much obliged.

released 10 May 2015 

lysdexic - bld37x [WDM]

Orange Live In Yarraville

Low production values + incomprehensible vocals. 

Demo

No Nothing - Clock Working

Victim

First song released from the forthcoming third album.
Produced by James Cecil.
Mastered by David Walker at Stepford Audio.

Wander [Single Version]

abduct me pls ///
made using novation circuit, a bass thing in ableton, and one-take vocals

Take Me Away

Slow Down (Demo)

Amour

Yearning

Overland (In My Mind)

Taken from the album 'L'Œil écoute / Dedans-Dehors' released as LP-
Recorded in 1977

Bernard Parmegiani 'Dedans-Dehors: En Phase Hors Phase' (REGRM 003)

Sweat

Approached this procedurally, limiting my sound pallette to a single mono kickdrum sample then creating all tonal and rhythmic variance through only the use of volume via amplitude envelopes, varying velocity values, volume automation and sidechain gating.

I restricted all the sequences to unbroken strings of uniformly divided note on values, so that all rhythmic variation would have to emerge from volume manipulation.

Being a kickdrum, the source sample provided only limited low frequency content - so to create tonal range I used a looping amplitude envelope on the sampler at varying resolutions and varying sustain settings, the lower these values the higher the pitch generated.

Having spent the bulk of the time in the micro, I didn't spend as much time on the macro and could have done more interesting things with the composition but the process was rewarding enough.

Volume Task

VLF is the solo project of Naarm (Melbourne) musician and media artist Liam Power. Blending punk roots with analogue synthesisers, VLF creates a sound built on rhythmic pulses, angular guitar lines, and introspective vocals. Influenced by 80s minimal wave and synth-punk pioneers like Snowy Red and Devo, VLF explores digital existence and online detachment through music and video art. The self-titled EP in 2019 and Eternal Recurrence in 2020 have earned recognition in Europe’s coldwave and darkwave scenes. VLF’s debut album, Quantum Regression, out February 2025, spans darkwave, goth-rock, and dub.

Video artist, musician and cynical Melbourne trans babe pulls shapes, bends circuits, plays new-wave heavy synthpop over Hi-NRG claps and takes her audience by force. It's Laura Davis's InfraGhosts

Victim

VLF

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