The response to the summer playlist series on IRC over the past three months has been so remarkable, that we figured to add one more as the last blast for the summer of 2009. Don't give up on summer just yet.

Kicking off this final summer mix is a wonderful noise pop song from The Pains of Being Pure At Heart from their critically acclaimed debut, self-titled album. One of the reasons for highlighting this song is not only because it's a great summer song, but also because there is news to go along with it. The band's label, Slumberland Records, is set to release the new EP on September 22. Stream "Higher Than The Stars" via Pitchfork. In the meantime, check out the third single from their new album, "Come Saturday."

Next up is a fantastic new song from Swedish band South Ambulance. With a catchy title like "Davy Crockett," it might not sound like one of the best new indie tracks making the rounds, but once most people hear it, that all changes.

Following South Ambulance is the irresistible, summer-feeling Dr. Dog song, "The Old Days." The song's melodic, mandolin plucking and hi-fi vocals build up into a crescendo of synths, choruses and guitar licks. Although it was originally released on Dr. Dog's 2008 album Fate, it seems to have become one of the underground summer anthems of 2009.

Other songs in this mix feature a suave, Talking Heads-sounding tune from Fanfarlo's newest album, a jangly pop track from Electric Tickle Machine, a catchy, melodic track from the band Little Tybee, and the infectious summertime indie classic, "Nothing But Time," from OpusOrange (featured in July on IRC to a huge response from readers).

OpusOrange is also credited with the fun, somewhat defiant pop song, "Roll On By," heard by many people this summer on a popular TV commercial. Vampire Weekend: Eat your heart out.

Also, check out new songs from Podington Bear, Kevin Hearn & Thin Buckle, Camera Obscura, Cool Devices, Wheels On Fire, Coma League, The Decks, Amazing Baby, The Color Turning, Roadside Graves, The Sweet Serenades and Paul Oakenfold. Enjoy the waning days of summer.

"Come Saturday" - Pains of Being Pure At Heart from s/t debut (2009)

"Davy Crockett" - South Ambulance from EP #4 (2009)

"The Old Days" - Dr. Dog from Fate (2008)

"Harold T. Wilkins" - Fanfarlo from Reservior (2009)

"Part of Me" - Electric Tickle Machine from Blew It Again (2009)

"Glass Brigade" - Little Tybee from I Wonder Which House The Fish Will Live In (2009)

"Nothing But Time" - Opus Orange, unreleased web debut (2009)

"Ebullience" - Podington Bear from The End (2009)

"Huntsville.CA" - Kevin Hearn & Thin Buckle from Havana Winter (2009)

"My Maudlin Career" - Camera Obscura from My Maudlin Career (2009)

"This Is Not A White World" - Cool Devices from Cool Devices EP (2009)

"I'm Turning Into You" - Wheels On Fire from Get Famous (2009)

"Pros and Cons" - Coma League from This Could Be The Night EP (2009)

"What You Said" - The Decks from Breath and Bone (2009)

"Bayonets" - Amazing Baby from Bayonets (2009)

"Marionettes in Modern Times" - The Color Turning from Good Hands Band Blood (2009)

"Far And Wide" - Roadside Graves from My Son's Home (2009)

"Die Young" - The Sweet Serenades from Balcony Cigarettes (2009)

Here's one for the time machine:

"Starry Eyed Surprise" - Paul Oakenfield from Bunkka (2002)

Get all five of the previous 2009 summer mixes.

Yesterday's MP3 indie playlist: New songs from The Raveonettes, Why & Themselves, Paper Route, These United States, Datarock and many more.

Labels: Indie Summer Mix Playlist, MP3s

Philly's Free Energy is a relatively new band on the indie rock radar that have been catching some good buzz from blogs and music fans in the past month following their DFA Records' limited debut 7" featuring the energetic and memorable garage rocker "Free Energy."

Earlier this summer, Free Energy self released the attention-grabbing single titled "Dream City," which is included in this mix as a double-shot from Free Energy since both songs are good summer playlist material (and we desire to defy the waning of summer). Free Energy kicks off a predominantly northeast U.S. tour next Wednesday night at The Black Cat in Washington, D.C.

Following Free Energy is another relatively new rock pop band from the other side of the world - Paris, to be precise. The Wallpapers are a quartet of Parisian teens (ranging in age from 16 to 18) who self-released their debut "We Are On The Wall" last summer via MySpace that got the attention of Grammy-winning producer David Kahne (The Strokes, Paul McCartney and Sublime). Fast forward: U.S. label Revel Records signed the band in February and they are currently in New York recording with Kahne. The Wallpapers will play the Mercury Lounge in NYC on Wednesday night.

Aside from a few recent releases, most of the songs in this mix are off new albums that will drop sometime in September, including Grand Archives, These United States, Evan Voytas, Mayday!, Vic Chesnutt, A.A Bondy, A Sunny Day In Glasgow, Hopewell and Danger Mouse/Sparklehorse/Wayne Coyne.

"Free Energy" - Free Energy from debut 7" (2009)

"Dream City" - Free Energy from single self-release (2009)

"Waiting In A Coma" - The Wallpapers from single on Revel Records (2009)

"Oslo Novelist" - Grand Archives from Keep in Mind Frankenstein (2009)

“I Want You to Keep Everything” - These United States from Everything Touches Everything (2009)

"Getting Higher" - Evan Voytas from self-released single (2009)

"Technology" - Mayday! from single released (2009)

"Chain" - Vic Chesnutt from At the Cut (2009)

"When the Devil's Loose" - A.A. Bondy from When the Devil's Loose (2009)

"Ashes Grammar/Ashes Maths" - A Sunny Day in Glasgow from Ashes Grammar (2009)

"Stranger" - Hopewell from Good Good Desperation (2009)

"Revenge" - Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse and Wayne Coyne (2009)


View all the summer mixes for 2009.

Labels: Free Energy, Indie Summer Mix Playlist, The Wallpapers

Staten Island band Cymbals Eat Guitars
Summer is still alive and kicking, and that's a good enough excuse to share more great new songs from 2009 that have been favorites this summer.

Kicking off this mix is a great new track from Cymbals Eat Guitars called "Wind Phoenix." The song is full of catchy pop harmonies and melodies that transform into a discordant crescendo full of guitar feedback and punk style vocals only to mellow out again to the sing-along charm the song opens with. The band's impressive, self-released debut, Why There Are Mountains, is one of the best independent debuts of 2009.

Other songs in this summer playlist include hot new singles from Times New Viking, Sonic Youth, Fruit Bats, Plus 49, Lightning Dust, A Lull, Kurt Vile, Harlem Shakes, The Radio Dept. and a new remix from Animal Collective.

"Wind Phoenix (Proper Name)" - Cymbals Eat Guitars from Why There Are Mountains (2009)

"No Time No Hope" - Times New Viking from Born Again Revisited (2009)

"Sacred Trickster" - Sonic Youth from The Eternal (2009)

"My Unusual Friend" - Fruit Bats from The Ruminant Band (2009)

Naive Brother -Plus 49 from Integrity and Injury (2009)

"Never Seen" - Lightning Dust from Invincible Light (2009)

"Skinny Fingers" - A Lull from Ice Cream Bones (2009)

"Overnite Religion" - Kurt Vile from Childish Prodigy (2009)

"David"- The Radio Dept. from TBA (2009)

"Strictly Game" - Harlem Shakes from Technicolor Health (2009)

"Daily Routine" (Phaseone Remix) - Animal Collective, unreleased (2009)


Check out more 2009 Summer Mixes

Labels: Indie Summer Mix Playlist, MP3s

To kick off this special summer playlist mix, IRC is happy to debut two officially unreleased songs by OpusOrange, the moniker of L.A. composer Paul Bessenbacher. who was featured last week and received quite a bit of interest.

The self-described 'fun little ditty' titled "Nothing But Time" was originally written on a ukulele. "It's Alright" is short, upbeat song that provides yet more evidence of Bassenbacher's talent as a musician; one can only wish the song went on for at least a couple of more minutes.

In addition, check out new songs from Arctic Monkeys, The Raveonettes, Bad Veins, Spoon, Yo La Tengo, Spoon, Fanfarlo, The Boy Least Likely To, Cage The Elephant, Yacht and Choo Choo La Rouge.

"Nothing But Time" - Opus Orange, unreleased web debut

Bonus: "It's Alright" - Opus Orange, unreleased web debut

"Crying Lightning" - Arctic Monkeys from Humbug (2009)

"Suicide" - The Raveonettes from In And Out Of Control (2009)

"Got Nuffin" - Spoon from Got Nuffin EP (2009)

"Here to Fall" - Yo La Tengo from Popular Songs (2009)

"Gold And Warm" - Bad Veins from Bad Veins (2009)

"Drowning Men" - Fanfarlo from Reservior (2009)

"Tiny Little Robots" - Cage The Elephant from Cage The Elephant (2009)

"Psychic City" - Yacht from See Mystery Lights (2009)

"A Balloon On A Broken String" - The Boy Least Likely To from The Laws of the Playground (2009)

"It's Gonna Happen Fast" - Choo Choo La Rouge from Black Clouds (2009)


Get more great, free and legal MP3s from these popular posts:

- New Release from ex-Concretes' vocalist Victoria Bergsman band Taken By Trees

- Ears To The Music, Vol. I - Songs from COYB, The Love Language, Firs, The Very Most and more.

- Fresh Tracks from Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Dr. Dog, South Ambulance, Fanfarlo and another playlist from The Raveonettes, Why/Themselves, These United States and many others.

Labels: 2009 Indie Songs, Indie Summer Mix Playlist

With 2009 more than half over, indie best albums of the year lists are starting to appear. And there are common songs from said albums that are favored by fans and music critics alike. Earlier this week, IRC published the first summer 2009 mix featuring some of the best indie songs of 2009. This second volume includes more popular indie songs of the year so far from Neko Case, Phoenix, Franz Ferdinand, Wilco, St. Vincent, Japandroids, Rainbow Arabia, Camera Obscura and The Maccabees.

"This Tornado Loves You" - Neko Case from Middle Cyclone (2009)

"Lisztomania" - Phoenix from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009)

"No You Girls" - Franz Ferdinand from Tonight (2009)

"My Girls" - Animal Collective from Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)

"One Wing" - Wilco from Wilco, The Album (2009)

"Paper Lace" - Sunset Rubdown from Dragonslayer (2009)

"French Navy" - Camera Obscura from My Maudlin Career (2009)

"The Strangers" - St. Vincent from Actor (2009)

"Harlem Sunrise" - Rainbow Arabia from Kabukimono (2009)

"Young Hearts Spark Fire" - Japandriods from Post-Nothing (2009)

"Love You Better" - The Maccabees from Wall Of Arms (2009)


The first summer mix featuring the best indie rock songs of 2009 includes new tracks from The Dodos, Foreign Born, Why?, Starlight Mints, Fun, Deastro, Passion Pit, Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Throw Me The Statue and Akron/Family.

Labels: 2009 Indie Songs, Indie Summer Mix Playlist

Summer is at full throttle. Long, warm days. Barbecues with family and friends. Kicking back on weekends that end way too soon. Hanging out on the porch on a sultry summer night gazing at a brilliant full moon. And of course music. What would summer be without music?

Almost everyone has at least one song that in some special way defines summer time for them. It could be an obvious summer song - I don't know, like "Summer In The City" by The Lovin Spoonful - or a more obscure, personal song that connects to fond and precious memories.

The music blog I Guess I'm Floating described one of three criteria for a "perfect summer jam" as a way to "look back with a proud, fuzzy nostalgia of memories that have been elegantly reduced to a warm translucent haze of images and sounds that you can't...quite...put your finger on." Indeed.

For this summer mix, the focus is on new and upcoming 2009 indie songs, featuring mostly well-known indie and alternative bands including The Dodos, Foreign Born, Why?, Starlight Mints, Fun, Deastro, Passion Pit, Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Throw Me The Statue and Akron/Family.

Included in this mix is the new single from the band Fun, the new moniker of ex-Format (personally, I was bummed they broke up) frontman Nate Ruess who teamed up with band members from Anathallo, Steel Train and former Jellyfish keyboardist Joseph Manning, Jr. to record the album Aim and Ignite, slated for release in October. Enjoy.

"Fables" - The Dodos from Time To Die (2009)

"Vacationing People" - Foreign Born from Person To Person (2009)

"This Blackest Purse" - Why? from Eskimo Snow (2009)

"Paralyzed" - Starlight Mints from Change Remains (2009)

"Be Calm" - Fun from Aim and Ignite (Aug. 2009)

"Parallelogram" - Deastro from Moondagger (2009)

"Moth's Wings" - Passion Pit from Manners (2009)

"Everything With You" - Pains of Being Pure At Heart from s/t debut (2009)

"Mirrored and Reversed" - White Demin from Fits (2009)

"Sun Will Shine" - Akron/Family from Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free (2009)

"Hi Fi Goon" - Throw Me The Statue from Creaturesque (2009)

"I Found The Bend" - Kid Bombardos from I Round The Bend EP (2009)

"Always The Same" - The Legends from Over and Over (2009)

"Cloud Hustle" - Blind Man's Colour from Season Dreaming (2009)

For more songs not necessarily released this year, but all about summer, check out a summer mix IRC published last year (all songs still work) with songs from Beck, The Hold Steady, Queens of the Stone Age, Blonde Redhead, Pavement, Phoenix, Kings of Convenience, Grandaddy, The Kinks, Jens Lekman, The Flaming Lips and more.

Labels: 2009 Indie Songs, Indie Summer Mix Playlist, MP3s