Post by Jake Goldsmith

To call Canyons! ‘just another Australian Indie-Dance duo’ would be an understatement of the highest order. Leo Holiday and Ryan Sea-Mist are everything and ‘just another Australian Indie-Dance duo’, musically that is. Originally hailing from Perth (now based in Sydney), these two blokes are much different than their Aussie Dance Pop peers-The Avalanches, Van She, Cut Copy, and The Presets; from lo-fi dub-house to indie-rock to ambient psychedelic funk, the genre-bending sounds churned out of the minds of the newcomers are highly intuitive and refreshingly spontaneous. Holiday and Sea-Mist each uphold the belief that music should come from inspiration and creative imperative, and imbue their approach to songwriting with their belief. I have all of their releases (even the full-length that isn’t officially out yet) and they are all absolutely fantastic. I, as a DJ and music-lover, can easily rock their tracks out at a show, or pop a tune on in the car and get exactly what it is that I’m looking for. Whether the mood is dubbed out relaxation, or energetic dance party, Canyons! deliver with consistency and accuracy.


So far, the band has garnered the attention of James Murphy (DFA/LCD Soundsystem), Cosmo Vitelli (I’m A Cliché), and Steve Pavlovic (Modular Recordings), to name a few. In fact, Cosmo Vitelli added the track “Blue Snakes” to his Moments of a Crisis compilation [I'm A Cliché] back in May, and then in July, DFA added the boys to their roster with the Fire Eyes EP, which was a three-track EP featuring an acid-house rendition of “Fire Eyes” by Runaway’s Jacques Renault (a must-have). Due out in 2010, Modular Recordings, home for The Avalanches, Wolfmother, Cut Copy, Muscles, Ladyhawke, The Presets, Van She, The Whitest Boy Alive, and many others, will release the duo’s first full-length album. To add fuel to the already-burning-red-hot fire, Canyons! also run their own label [A Hole In The Sky] that allows them to release their own music, along with music that they believe in and love from artists all over the globe. Tame Impala, Delicate Genius, Pink Gin, and Jacques Renault are on the short-list of artists on the label to date.


Fair to say, these guys are having a huge year, and 2010 should be just as big. Keep them on your radar, in your iPod, and, if you’re a DJ, in your ‘crate’.
For your downloading, listening, sharing, and overall experiencing pleasure, two tracks (my faves) from, yes you guessed it, Canyons!



MP3: Canyons!- Dancing On Silk
MP3: Canyons!- Big City Lights


…and of course, *Bonus Round

MP3: Ladyhawke- Dusk Till Dawn (Canyons! Garage Disco Remix)
MP3: Tame Impala- Half Full Glass Of Wine (Canyons! Drunken Rage Mix)