2009 was a big year for etcetc: Lost Valentinos, Fever Ray,  Two Door Cinema Club, autoKratz, Duck Sauce, Cassius, Beni, Datarock, Jenny Wilson, MSTRKRFT, Jump Jump Dance Dance…we could go on. Now that it’s time to vote in the Triple J Hottest 100, may we present our extremely biased list of the top songs of ‘09:

Congratulations to Lost Valentinos, whose album Cities of Gold was just named Record of the Year at this year’s Sydney Music, Arts & Culture Awards. Presented by FBi Radio and Timeout Magazine, the band were up against formidable releases from Sarah Blasko, Dappled Cities, Decoder Ring and Seekae.

Also picking up awards were event All Tomorrow’s Parties (Best Music Event), Seekae (Best Live Act), and Sherlock’s Daughter (Next Big Thing).

Lost Valentinos’ Cities of Gold has been nominated for a SMAC Award in the category of Record of the Year. The Sydney Music, Arts & Culture Awards are presented by FBi and Timeout, and Lost Valentinos have been nominated alongside Sarah Blasko, Dappled Cities, Decoder Ring and Seekae.

You can vote here. And here’s one of  eleven reasons why Lost Valentinos deserve to win:

Fresh from directing the latest Lost Valentinos video for ‘Thief‘, Australian expat Dave Ma chatted to Dazed Digital about that, as well as his recent collaboration with Delphic.

Read it here.

At long last Lost Valentinos are proud to present the stunning new video for the song ‘Thief’.

Directed by Dave Ma (The Horrors ‘Whole New Way‘, Delphic ‘This Momentary‘, Lost Valentinos’ ‘Serio’), it’s a typically inventive realisation of the song’s poignant themes:

Taken from the album Cities of Gold, out now on etcetc.

The project allows fans to record their own customised music videos by capturing band members performing the track anywhere they like. From lead singer Nik performing the song atop a user’s shoulders, to the whole band playing the song at the base of the Eiffel Tower – it’s a project limited only by the viewers’ imaginations.

How exactly does it work?
Augmented Reality is a technology which merges your world with computer generated imagery in real-time. Utilising your computer webcam, the software detects the 3-dimensional orientation of simple printed “markers” to map and superimpose active objects in real time. It’s a magic looking-glass which augments objects into your world to appear as though they’re really there. Click here for a brief tutorial.

So why is this project so unique?
Augmented Reality has never taken a collaboration between artists and their fans this far! Each of the 5 individual markers represents one member of the band performing the song Nightmoves in full. The user can set their own scene, line up their players, hit record to film their own music video and share it with their friends. This is a level of total interactivity never before seen, and one which truly invites the fan into the band’s world, and vice-versa.

Launched today, the project was conceived by etcetc and developed over the past few months by web
developers Crucial By Design and video production crew Pedestrian. “It’s an experience that’s definitely
new to most of us, and represents the endless possibilities for creative interaction between artists and fans that
new technologies allow”, says etcetc Managing Director, Andrew Jackson.

Sit in the director’s chair and make your own music video by visiting www.lostvalentinos.com.

Debut album Cities Of Gold is out now.

Over time, countless others have succumbed to the appeal of this ambitious sound. 2007 saw Lost Valentinos impress tastemaker and super producer Ewan Pearson (the string-puller behind recent albums from The Rapture, M83, Junior Boys and Delphic) who was so compelled by the band’s zeal that he climbed aboard to produce their debut record, Cities Of Gold.

Pearson’s faith in the band was soon echoed by other influential figures. Leo Silverman, the man responsible for the UK success of The White Stripes, The Vines and The Avalanches, chose Midnights as the second single to be released from his new label, Dummy Records. Fan Death and Emperor Machine were enlisted for remix duties, adding to a list that includes the likes of Shinichi Osawa, Bumblebeez and DFA up-and-comer Jacques Renault. UK tour dates and a 2009 Splendour in the Grass announcement soon followed.

But this level of expectation is not something new, considering that Lost Valentinos’ unrestrained ambition had previously impressed superstar Australian producers Kim Moyes (one half of The Presets), Nick Littlemore and Peter Mayes (of PNAU and Empire Of The Sun) enough to record the band’s first EPs (The Valentinos and Damn And Damn Again respectively), whilst boutique tastemaker labels like Kitsuné, Japan’s Rallye/Klee, and Bang Gang 12 Inches lined up to release their records before home-grown talent stable etcetc were won over, too.

And whilst Cities Of Gold charts the ongoing search for undiscovered riches, it is also the realisation of Lost Valentinos’ true sound, one that this early material only scratched the surface of. Epic walls of relentless percussion fused with cosmic production touches and fractured guitar soundscapes. It’s conquistadisco, naturally.

But this seamless union of styles wasn’t achieved easily by the band, who along with Pearson, poured their guts into the recording process. Cities Of Gold saw the band take an almost year-long break from regular performances to twist knobs and tweak arrangements, ensuring that the final incarnation of the album met with their perfectionist standards. It would seem as though that day has come, and Lost Valentinos have left the studio, focussing now on showcasing the limitless passion that went into Cities Of Gold, and the treasures it holds.

Lost Valentinos are touring nationally.

Cities Of Gold is out 09.09.09 on etcetc.

For more info visit www.lostvalentinos.com.

Tracklisting:

1. Midnights
2. In The City Of Gold
3. Serio
4. Francisco (Y Los Trece De La Fama)
5. Between The Squalls
6. Nightmoves
7. The Bismarck
8. Rain
9. Thief
10. Dark That I Love
11. Great Leap Forward
12. Happiness Made Easy

If you’re going to Splendour in the Grass or any of the dates on their upcoming National Conquistadisco Tour, keep an eye out for one of the rare Lost Valentinos Gold Coins. If you’re lucky enough to find one, visit www.lostvalentinos.com and enter the special code engraved on the back to begin a treasure hunt that could send you and a friend all the way to Peru.

Once there you’ll embark upon a breathtaking six day trek with a Peruvian guide along the trail of the Ancient Incan Civilisation and discover the Lost Cities of Gold. The prize pack is valued at over $6,200 and includes return flights for 2 people to Peru, accomodation, sightseeing, meals and a guide.

Head over to www.lostvalentinos.com for more…

The UK’s Guardian newspaper has just featured Lost Valentinos as their latest New Band of the Day. Comparing them to, “Stone Roses circa Fools Gold crossed with the Armand Van Helden remix of Tori Amos’s Professional Widow”, they are apparently also the band most likely to release a single called “Inca the Groove”.

This comes on the back of a recent NME feature, as well as Radio 1 support from Zane Lowe, all signalling that the band currently have more British buzz than a stoned backpacker.

For the rest of the Guardian feature, click here.