| | Many of you have already enjoyed our Anticipated Summer Releases Volume One with Japandroids, Arcade Fire, Panda Bear and others; and, Volume Two, featuring singles from upcoming albums from Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Oberhofer, and Wavves.In this third installment of the series, we bring you five more upcoming releases we are looking forward to from Washed Out, Sparklehorse & Danger Mouse, Chief, Jaill and Menomena.
On the morning of the third day of South by Southwest in Austin last March, there was a line a block long outside of Emo’s of folks who were waiting to see Neon Indian and Washed Out perform. And the wait was worth the achy legs and sunburned necks. Washed Out is the moniker of Ernest Greene, who moved back home to rural Georgia last summer, and began recording songs in his bedroom studio and posting them on his MySpace page. A few bloggers got wind of his songs via his MySpace page, and before long, Washed Out was everywhere on the web. Greene’s style has often been referred to as the “chillwave movement”. The new song featured here, “You and I”, was performed at SXSW and has been making its way around the web in recent weeks. The track features Caroline Polachek of Chairlift. No word yet on a release date for Washed Out’s debut LP. P.S. This song reminds us so much of the 1990’s pop sensation, Enigma. “You and I” – Washed Out (featuring Caroline Polachek) from TBA (TBA)
One of the greatest losses in the music world this year has been the untimely death of alternative rock icon Sparklehorse. Also known by his birth name, Mark Linkous, Sparklehorse was one of the most influential alt rock artists of the 1990s and early 2000s. Only months before his tragic death in March, Linkous recorded an album with Danger Mouse and director/producer David Lynch. Other collaborators on the project include The Flaming Lips, Black Francis, Suzanne Vega, Julian Casablancas, and Vic Chesnutt, another influential musician who died tragically in the past year. The LP was supposed to be released last summer but squabbles over copyright terms kept the release of the LP in limbo, until now. Dark Night of the Soul will be released on July 19th. “Little Girl” – Sparklehorse & Danger Mouse (with Julian Casablancas) from Dark Night of the Soul (pre-order) – out July 19th Chief is a four-piece band out of Santa Monica, California comprised of 20-somethings Evan Koga, brothers Danny and Michael Fujikawa and Mike Moonves. The band has garnered the attention of praise of music writers and fans across the country, and should continue on that course following the August 20th official drop of their debut album, Modern Rituals. “Night and Day” – Chief from Modern Rituals – out August 20th “Breaking Walls” – Chief from Modern Rituals – out August 20th Like fellow Brew City rockers the Goodnight Loving, Jaill brings a healthy dose of jangle to their punchy garage-rock, topped with a distinct mid-western flare. The Milwaukee-based quartet’s debut, There’s No Sky (Oh My My) was self-released in 2009. Later, it was reissued on vinyl and cassette this year by Burger Records. The band’s debut caught the ears of the respected indie label, Sub Pop Records, based in Seattle, and birthplace of bands like Nirvana, Mudhoney, as well as for newer bands like Beach House, Blitzen Trapper and No Age. Last December, Jaill signed to Sub Pop will issue Jaill’s follow-up LP, That’s How We Burn, says a whole bunch about the band, since Sub Pop is famous for recognizing, cultivating and succeeding with promising artists. “Everyone’s Hip” – Jaill from That’s How We Burn – July 27th “New Noise” – Jaill from That’s How We Burn – July 27th
Positive and early reviews of Portland, Oregon-based indie rockers Menomena‘s new LP, Mines, have been building momentum in recent months. Our own cursory listen of an advance copy make it easy to say this belongs in the category of one of the summer’s most anticipated releases. We believe Mines will solify Menomena’s credibility and fan base, building off the well received releases of I Am The Fun Blame Monster and Friend and Foe. “Five Little Rooms” – Menomena from Mines – out July 27th If you like this profile and mixtape featuring our most anticipated albums of the summer of 2010, click for Volume One and Volume Two. Enjoy. |
Month: July 2010
The Drums Picked By Readers as “Break-Out Band” of 2010 (So Far), followed by Freelance Whales and 8 Others
The Drums have been picked by a huge margin by readers in the latest polling of the ‘break out artist of 2010 (So Far)”. Of the ten choices, Freelance Whales came second to The Drums, with rather low scores for the remaining eight artists in the poll.
For the past six weeks, hundreds of people have been taking our latest group of polls in a quest to find the ‘break out’ band of 2010 (so far). In the first round of ten bands, Local Natives were picked by 1,000 readers over nine other hot bands, including Surfer Blood, Crystal Castles, Sleigh Bells and Neon Indian.
In this latest poll, featuring another ten artists, 309 people voted. It was strikingly apparent from the first 100 votes that The Drums and Freelance Whales were the real competition of the latest poll. After 200 votes, the margins remained relatively the same, with The Drums receiving an impressive 43% of the vote. This is not surprising considering the huge amount of blog love and mainstream press accolades The Drums having been enjoying, especially in the month’s leading up to the June release of their terrific debut.
“Forever & Ever Amen” – The Drums
“It Will All End in Tears” – The Drums
“Let’s Go Surfing” – The Drums
Brooklyn’s Freelance Whales followed rather far behind The Drums with 18% of the total votes. The remaining 39% of the vote was divided up among the other eight bands in the poll: Placing far behind Freelance Whales, Cymbals Eat Guitars and Villagers both took 7%, Warpaint, Smith Westerns and Washed Out with 5% each, Wild Nothing and Ganglians (4%), and Magic Kids (3%).
“Hannah” – Freelance Whales
“Generator First Floor” – Freelance Whales
Staten Island’s indie rock band Cymbals Eat Guitars broke through last year with their debut LP, Why There Are Mountains, one of the best debuts of the year. As 2010 rolled around, CEG were on a roll that continues to this day. The band will perform at a number of festivals this summer, including Lollapalooza and Lowlands in the Netherlands.
“Wind Phoenix (Proper Name)” – Cymbals Eat Guitars
The Irish indie rock band Villagers are definitely one of the ‘break-through’ artists of 2010. The recent release of their debut album, Becoming A Jackal, has been widely hailed by critics and fans alike. Frontman Conor O’Brien said his lyrics are “transcendental darkness” and “dark imagery or feelings alongside really mundane domestic everyday things.”
“Becoming a Jackal” – Villagers
“Billie Holiday” – Warpaint
“Be My Girl” – Smith Westerns
“Feel It All Around” – Washed Out
“My House” – Ganglians
“Your Rabbit Feet” – Wild Nothing
“Hey Boy” – Magic Kids
Recent Releases We Almost Missed, Vol. IX: The Depreciation Guild, Jeremy Messersmith, The Delta Mirror, Fol Chen, Double Dagger
Drowning in music. There are a few ways to imagine what that could mean, but in our case, it’s purely about the amount of amazing music that has been sent to us over the past couple of months, but which has been put in a holding pattern because so many freaking stellar records have been coming out week after week for some time now.
By April of this year (which is a blur now), we realized it was getting harder and harder to share all of the sweet music coming at us. One way we have been trying to address that issue is by publishing longer playlists and mixtapes, and more frequently. One example is this series, the successful Recent Releases We Almost Missed – specifically focused on highlighting widely acclaimed LPs from relatively well-known indie artists which would have otherwise been included – by release date – in IRC’s weekly Best New Releases series (you can listen to online, and download, all 24 of these mixtapes).
We really hope you will dig the songs in this post because they include awesome fresh tracks from artists and bands like The Depreciation Guild, The Delta Mirror, Jeremy Messersmith, Fol Chen, Double Dagger, The Octagon, The Hundred in Hands, and Common Loon.
“Crucify You” – The Depreciation Guild from Spirit Youth – April 20th
“My Chariot” – The Depreciation Guild from Spirit Youth
The Depreciation Guild on MySpace
“He Was Worse Than The Needle He Gave You” – The Delta Mirror from Machines That Listen – May 4th
“Violet!” – Jeremy Messersmith from The Reluctant Graveyard – May 4th
Jeremy Messersmith offiicial website
“In Ruins” – Fol Chen from free and legal In Ruins remix EP – April 20th
“Pillow Talk” – Double Dagger from Masks EP – March 23rd
“Clew Haywood” – The Octagon from Warm Love and Cool Dreams Forever- June 8th
The Octagon official website
“Ghosts” – The Hundred in Hands from This Desert EP – May 14th
“Mexico” – Common Loon from The Long Dream of Birds – April 6th
Artists and Bands Profiled in Other Recent Releases 2010 Mixtapes
Vol. I: Boy Eats Drum Machine, Phantogram, ArpLine, BlueBrain, Wakey! Wakey!
Vol. II: Screaming Females, Prizzy Prizzy Please, Fictionist, Fresh and Onlys, Adam Green, Roadside Graves
Vol. III: Archeology, Rocky Votolato, The White White Lights, Schooner, Thruses, Ghostly
Vol. IV: Holly Golightly, Motion Turns It On, Ruby Suns, Josiah Wolf, Happy Birthday
Vol. V: The Library Is On Fire, Son Lux, The Ambience Affair, Japanther, Yawn, Kikipau
Vol. VI: Owen Pallett, ARMS, Gareth Dickson, Monster Movie, Silver Seas
Vol. VII: Sam Billen, The Press, Markaras Pen, Boy Without God, Peasant
Vol. VIII: Vita Ruins, Lou Barlow, Communist Daughter, Cary Ann Hearst, Apollo Ghosts, Holy Ghost