DJ Moopie's Charmingly Moody Experimental Compilations along with This Week's Best New Tracks
From Melbourne
Recommended if you like the C86 compilation, AU/NZ jangle-pop, art-pop experimentation
Latest release The compilation 'Going Back to Sleep' is currently released
Melbourne-based DJ Moopie, AKA Matthew Xue, has built a reputation for deeply absorbing musical journeys that often traverse from icy, atmospheric ambience to pulsating breakbeats plus other genres. Additionally, he operates A Colourful Storm – a fantastic indie label that consistently exceeds expectations when it comes to putting out endearingly atmospheric avant-pop, with contributors ranging from percussionist Valentina Magaletti, based in London, Troth, a bass-heavy duo from Hobart, and renowned underground polymath Simon Fisher Turner.
In 2017, the label released I Won’t Have to Think About You, a collection of delightful, C86-inspired indie pop. More recently, it has issued Going Back to Sleep, a quasi-sequel to that record which doubles as a succinct overview to several excellent bands in the gentle pop sphere active today. The Sydney group Daily Toll, whose 2025 debut A Profound Non-Event is an overlooked treasure of the year, offer Time, a seven-minute daydream built on melodica and guitar. Chateau, featuring members Al Montfort and Alex Macfarlane, push into rhythmic, trippy lounge music on How Long on the Platform, while Who Cares?, draw equally from the styles of Hope Sandoval and Eartheater on Wax and Wane.
Elsewhere, Going Back to Sleep features tracks from Bay Area indie fixtures the Reds, Pinks and Purples; minimalist Sydney group the Lewers; and the sunny folk-pop of Netherlands-based duo the Hobknobs. It stands as a humble compilation that’s destined to be a beloved and regularly mentioned resource with fans of music that is subtle and emotionally resonant.
Fresh Tracks of the Week
Flea – A Plea
An uncommon single release from the RHCP bass player, and a magnificently realised one: propulsive but exploratory soul-jazz as Flea advocates for peace and love. “This isn't cliché – it's genuine!”
Daniel Blumberg and Amanda Seyfried – Clothed By the Sun
Following his Oscar win for Best Original Score this year, it's easy to picture Blumberg taking home the 2026 Oscar for Best Original Song for this breathtaking duet with Seyfried featured on the soundtrack he composed for The Testament of Ann Lee.
Jana Horn – All in Bet
This songwriter from Texas paints in every shade of a sigh in this opulently sad new song, in which minimal hints of piano and flute colour her weary disappointment.
Umor Rex – Lo Animal
You could easily imagine this Madrid-based cellist’s dark, gothic composition touched by industrial music featured in a Dune soundtrack, due to its seismic drum work, metallic shrieks, spooky vocal harmonies and apocalyptic grandeur.
Zora Jones x DJ Polo – Hoes Link Up
Imaginative Austrian producer-vocalist teams up with Bristol-based UK bass maker DJ Polo on a track of hard-hitting ghettotech: the drums could knock you flat yet the melody approaches dream-pop.
Jawnino and Surf Gang – Hit Again
On new mixtape Amnesia, UK rapper Jawnino flows over varied cloud-rap beats by Surf Gang, and this track is a highlight, Jawnino alert and locked in as he surveys the drug trade.
Annabelle Chairlegs – Heavy Sleeper
Produced by Ty Segall, this garagey number chugs along entirely at its own pace, shifting from a runaway vehicle to the Austin-based artist's woozy reflection about how “the moon gives me back my spirit”.
