DJ Moopie's Charmingly Moody Curated Collections along with The Week's Best New Tracks
From Melbourne
Recommended if you like the C86 indie pop sound, Australian and New Zealand guitar pop, art-pop experimentation
Latest release 'Going Back to Sleep' is available now
The artist known as DJ Moopie, real name Matthew Xue, from Melbourne, is celebrated for deeply absorbing musical journeys that can run the gamut from gelid ambient music to driving drum and bass and beyond. He is also the founder of A Colourful Storm – a remarkable DIY imprint that consistently exceeds expectations when it comes to issuing quirky and introspective pop experiments, with contributors ranging from percussionist Valentina Magaletti, based in London, the dub-infused sounds of Hobart pair Troth, and renowned underground polymath Simon Fisher Turner.
The label's 2017 release was I Won’t Have to Think About You, a compilation of winsome, C86-ish indie pop. Earlier this year, it put out Going Back to Sleep, a record that acts as a companion piece which also functions as a carefully curated roadmap to some of the best twee-pop groups active today. The Sydney group Daily Toll, whose 2025 debut A Profound Non-Event is a hidden jewel from this year, present Time, a seven-minute daydream built on melodica and guitar. The duo Chateau, the duo of Al Montfort (Terry, Total Control) and Alex Macfarlane (the Stevens, Twerps), push into rhythmic, trippy lounge music on How Long on the Platform, and Who Cares?, channel equal parts the styles of Hope Sandoval and Eartheater on Wax and Wane.
Elsewhere, Going Back to Sleep features tracks from San Francisco indie stalwarts the Reds, Pinks and Purples; Sydney's minimalist outfit the Lewers; and the sunny folk-pop of Netherlands-based duo the Hobknobs. It stands as a humble compilation that’s almost certain to become a beloved and regularly mentioned resource for aficionados of all things delicate and deeply felt.
Fresh Tracks of the Week
Flea – A Plea
A seldom-seen individual effort by the Red Hot Chili Peppers' bassist, and a magnificently realised one: propulsive but exploratory soul-jazz where Flea pleads for harmony and affection. “This isn't cliché – it's genuine!”
Daniel Blumberg and Amanda Seyfried – Clothed By the Sun
Having won this year’s best original score Oscar, you can imagine Blumberg winning the 2026 Oscar for Best Original Song for this stunning Seyfried duet included in the soundtrack he composed for The Testament of Ann Lee.
Jana Horn – All in Bet
The Texan songwriter paints in every shade of a sigh in this opulently sad new song, in which minimal hints of piano and woodwind tinge her fatigued disillusionment.
Umor Rex – Lo Animal
One might readily envision the work of this Madrid cellist's dark, gothic composition touched by industrial music playing over scenes in Dune, due to its seismic drum work, screeching metallic sounds, spooky vocal harmonies and cataclysmic majesty.
Zora Jones x DJ Polo – Hoes Link Up
The creative Austrian producer and singer joins forces with Bristol-based UK bass maker DJ Polo for some slamming ghettotech: the percussion is overpowering but the melody is almost dream-pop.
Jawnino and Surf Gang – Hit Again
Featured on the fresh mixtape Amnesia, UK rapper Jawnino flows over diverse, ethereal rap production by Surf Gang, and this is one of its peaks, Jawnino alert and locked in while he examines the drug trade.
Annabelle Chairlegs – Heavy Sleeper
Produced by Ty Segall, this garagey number moves forward stubbornly on its own schedule, from runaway truck to the Austin musician’s woozy reflection about how “my spirit is restored by the moon”.