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Based in Melbourne
Recommended if you like the C86 indie pop sound, AU/NZ jangle-pop, art-pop experimentation
Newest project 'Going Back to Sleep' is available now

Melbourne-based DJ Moopie, AKA Matthew Xue, is renowned for engrossing, wide-ranging sets that effortlessly shift between icy, atmospheric ambience to driving drum and bass and much more. He is also the founder of A Colourful Storm – an exceptional independent record label that consistently exceeds expectations when it comes to issuing quirky and introspective pop experiments, from artists as disparate as London-based percussionist Valentina Magaletti, Troth, a bass-heavy duo from Hobart, and renowned underground polymath Simon Fisher Turner.

Back in 2017, the imprint put out I Won’t Have to Think About You, a compilation of winsome, C86-ish indie pop. This year saw the release of 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. Daily Toll, a band from Sydney, with a 2025 debut, A Profound Non-Event, that stands as a hidden jewel from this year, offer Time, a seven-minute melodica-and-guitar reverie. The duo Chateau, featuring members Al Montfort and Alex Macfarlane, explore rhythmic, trippy lounge music on How Long on the Platform, and the band Who Cares?, draw equally from the styles of Hope Sandoval and Eartheater on Wax and Wane.

On other parts of the compilation, Going Back to Sleep features tracks from Bay Area indie fixtures the Reds, Pinks and Purples; the sparse-sounding Sydney ensemble the Lewers; and bright, folk-tinged pop from the Dutch pair the Hobknobs. It’s an unassuming compilation that’s almost certain to become deeply cherished and often cited for aficionados of music that is subtle and emotionally resonant.

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