Sydney band Seekae started playing together at the beginning of 2007. Initially Commander Keen, they changed their name after they noticed a band in Aberdeen who used that same moniker and ‘who played really nice music’, says one third of the group, George Nicholas. They obviously didn’t think they needed the competition. In their early 20s and relatively new to the Sydney music scene, Nicholas and bandmates, John Hassell and Alex Cameron, have an accomplished and mature sound, making Gameboy inspired ambient electronica similar to Electric President and Prefuse 73. Currently they’re writing and recording a new album titled The Sound Of Trees Falling on People and plan to release it at the end of this month.

Where do you place yourselves in the Sydney music scene?
‘At the very top, looking down at all the other bands and artists, who look like ants from up here. Umm I don’t know, I sort of feel we are halfway between the Sydney electronica scene — which is small but mighty — and the indie and the psychedelic scenes’.

Have you have any problems performing your music live?
‘It can often be difficult to make songs with a significant production element work live because we use a lot of different types of software like Pro Tools, Ableton Live and Reason, which I don’t really think excites your average punter. On stage we use a fair amount of instruments and hardware though, which makes things more exciting. Recently we have been playing with more acoustic instruments, like flute, cello, xylophone and melodica, which is fun. I guess DJing would be fun and easy, but also kinda lame playing pre-recorded tracks’.

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The Presets are a Sydney-based electronic duo, consisting of Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes. In September 2005 they released their debut album, Beams, to positive critical response. That same year Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes also toured with The Dissociatives, which is co-fronted by Daniel Johns of Silverchair and Australian dance producer Paul Mac. Johns also played guitar on Presets single Cookie. Hamilton and Moyes are also members of Sydney instrumental group Prop.

Listen to The Presets song, My People.

Grinning Cat is a beautiful electronic album from prodigious Japanese producer, Susumu Yokota. It borrows liberally from the melodic melancholy of classical music and features subtle drum loops throughout. We interviewed him about the artwork that he creates for each release. I asked Yokota about the simple but striking cover art, something that he has become synonymous with through all his albums: ‘I used to work as a graphic designer and planner. I take a long time to make my album artwork. It’s minimal design though. I’m looking at my design artwork while producing music every day. It took six months to decide the balance for the black frame, white edge, and the picture of the boy and the tree. The album design is decided from my intuition’. So what do you listen to at home? ‘I listen to the song again and again to decide when it is finished. I listen to the album at least a hundred times and make changes little by little. So I don’t have much time to listen to anyone else’s music’.