It was always hard to see anyone beating out Sufjan Stevens for the $5000 New Pantheon award – Illinois is the sort of hard to handle but clearly artsy album that those behind the award were looking for.

Illinois will help define the award.

A mate reckons there are cracks in the sonic façade of Illinois, I don’t know that I agree but I’m not so sure it will stand the test of decade lists in 2010. It’s a brilliant and beautiful album and lyrically timeless but there is something that nags about the songs. Are they really as brilliant as the dressing suggests?

On a far less artsy tangent, Brandtson have done like a crazy flip 180 ollie transition to stalefish – like off the side of a cliff and down the other side. Who knows if they’re going to land.

Their second LP on The Militia Group comes out soon and is a massive departure from their indie/post-emo rock of the past. The departure of just one band member could not have turned them into Depeche Mode fans over night so the interest has obviously been there for a while even if the influence wasn’t.

I’m yet to give Hello Control a decent listen yet but it is available for streaming over at Brandtson’s myspace page and my mate Paul G. Maziar says the aforementioned Mode and The Violent Femmes are the key influences. I’d also take a slab of modern electro; see Soulwax and The Dissociatives.

So it’s clear, Brandtson will either break-out or implode with Hello Control – the album is out May 2.

Also: Augie March.

Moo You Bloody Choir is the band’s most cohesive album to date and should see them further grow in stature outside their Melbourne, Australia base. The album is subtler than Strange Bird and certainly less raucous. Glenn Richards delves further into his Australian history books and also takes a heaping of Bob Dylan along for the ride. Pitchfork will be on this in no time.