Well, the holiday is over, and people will soon be getting back to their usual schedules. As you may know, we skipped the S-25 Mix last Sunday to present New Indie Christmas Songs playlist.
Now, it’s time to return to regular programming. If you’re not familiar with this relatively new playlist series, The Sunday 25 Mix is a chance for all of us to kick-off our shoes, sit back and listen to awesome music from all eras and genres of, including, and beyond, indie music. We love the S-25 because it provides us an opportunity to share songs we’ll always love, ranging from 1960’s pop and jazz to 70’s glam rock, 1990’s alternative rock, 80s FM rock, recent indie rock, and more.
A staple of the S-25 mix series is the band profile. For each mix, we profile a band we favor. This week it’s Beach House. When the Baltimore duo of Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand emerged on music blogs like Pitchfork in 2006 as Beach House, music lovers all around the world were drawn to the duo’s dreamy, hypnotic, even haunting, sounds. The first single that launched Beach House was the eerie, but alluring, “Apple Orchard”.
“Apple Orchard” – Beach House from Beach House (2006)
Just too months following the premiere of “Apple Orchard”, as demand for more Beach House songs were hitting a feverish pitch, the duo released their eponymous debut album on Carpark Records. People just ate it up, especially in United States, Canada and Europe.
By 2008, Beach House were already one of the hottest new dream pop bands around, and the duo reinforced their position as excellent songwriters and musicians with the sophomore release, Devotion, later that year. Among others, one of the stand out tracks on Devotion was the hauntingly beautiful “Gila”.
The success of Devotion, and the growing fan base for Beach House in the U.S., Canada, Europe and other areas prompted the legendary Sub Pop Records to sign Beach House in 2009. Therefore, with all of those pieces in the right place, it was no surprise that Beach House released perhaps their best album yet, this year’s Teen Dream. Legrande’s vocals are simply intoxicating, part Nico, part Cat Power; Scally’s splendid instrumentation and song-crafting are the centerpieces which Legrande so wonderfully blends her unforgettable vocals with. Teen Dream has already made the Top Five or Top Ten of many year-end ‘best of’ lists.
So, in addition to the six-pack of tracks from Beach House, there are two dozen songs from an eclectic array of artists, genres and eras of popular music. Enjoy, and please RT, Like, Stumble and leave comments below.
“Under Pressure” – David Bowie & Queen from single (1983)
We are still adding to the largest collection of the alternative and indie rock Christmas songs on the web since 2008, accounting for more than 3.2 million! visits from around the world up to 2020.
Please share on your socials and with friends so more people can enjoy this work we did for all of you! @IndieRockCafeFB and Twitter @IndieRockCafe
Play all of the mp3s embedded in this page by clicking the play button below – sick playlist of indie and alt. rock xmas songs – no bing crosby or the chipmunks
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Some of you asked what happened to the S-25 Mix for this past Sunday. Sorry, folks, we’ve been so busy with the holidays that we had to skip the S-25 for this past week. Hopefully, this collection of new Christmas songs, most of which are original or covers of traditional Christmas songs, will make up the difference.
The songs in this mix have not appeared in any of the other Christmas playlists on IRC, which, by the way, have been receiving thousands of visits a day all month. Also during the past few weeks, we’ve received dozens and dozens of Christmas-related tracks via email, spun them into a draft playlist, fired them up, deleted those that we didn’t think were much good, and managed to whittle the list down to about 30 tracks altogether.
On Deck: Check back again later today or tomorrow to see the Top Thirty Christmas Songs on IRC special playlist. The song list will represent which tracks from the Christmas songs mix series people have been playing and downloading the most during the past four weeks, excluding xmas tracks from the special mix, Twas’ The Night Before Christmas: Set To Music (featuring more than 65 awesome indie tracks in all).
Remember, all the playlist mixes can be streamed uninterrupted just by clicking on the first song. Additionally, you can also save the songs to create your own mixes and playlists for your stereo, iPod or MP3 player, smartphone, and so on. All we ask in return is that you RT, Like, Stumble, Digg, bookmark, Tumble or whatever else you can do to share IRC playlists with more people. Finally, if you follow us, we’ll be sending out updates for which are the most popular tracks in this mix.
Sufjan Stevens with The National and Richard Parry Release Rare Songs
Rumors have made the rounds once and again alluding to a Christmas EP featuring Sufjan Stevens and The National. Well, not quite, but we think we’ve got the next best thing. Recently The National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner guest DJ’d on BBC6 and surprised and delighted many with the debut of two Christmas-themed tracks that feature the brothers with Sufjan and Arcade Fire bassist Richard Parry for the two tracks here, an amazingly special cover of “Silent Night” and an original track, “Barcarola (You Must Be A Christmas Tree).”
“Silent Night” – The National, Sujfan Stevens and Richard Parry
From Bewitched Hands to Catwalks, Some Sweet New Xmas Tracks
Some of our favorites 2010 Christmas-related tracks include songs The Bewitched Hands, Darker My Love, Catwalk, Houses, The Late Greats, and others dispersed within this mix. Don’t miss the track “Christmas Tree” from The Bewitched Hands, a splendid song with silly lyrics and cheery choruses.
We’re still surprised that so many indie music enthusiasts haven’t heard of Darker My Love; apart from their awesome 2010 releases, Darker My Love deliver one of the most catchy and memorable of all new Christmas tracks for 2010 with “Snow Is Falling”. The Christmas cheer continues on the next song, Catwalk’s cover of the semi-classic “Christmas Don’t Be Late.” As far as new covers this year, Catwalk’s is among our favorites. But so is The Late Greats impressive cover of “Sleigh Bells”. And “Winter Wonderland” comes to us by way of Santa Cruz lo-fi musician John Blaze, plus the excellent cover of “Frosty The Snowman” from Banjo or Freakout.Plus, The Davenports‘ satirical song about a fool at an office Christmas party who goes a bit too far.
For each play of this video of The Killers’ “Boots”, Starbucks will donate five cents to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa.
The Killers’ New Christmas Song for Charity
For the fourth year in a row, The Killers have released a new Christmas song to help raise money for the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa.
One of The Killers’ best Christmas tracks is:
The 2010 dynamic duo, Best Coast, with Wavves' Nathan Williams
Wavves Merge with Best Coast for ‘Holiday’ Song
Not long ago, Wavves and Best Coast – two hot indie bands of 2010 – got together to record a Christmas song called “I Got Something For You”. By the way, both bands’ 2010 releases are on, or will be on, many top albums of 2010 lists (including our own; which will be published over the next few weeks).
The Mynabirds Release Limited Vinyls of Christmas-Political Single
With charming chords descending the wurltizer keys like falling snow, the Mynabirds’ “All I Want” starts out like a typical Christmas song. But by the second line, it’s clear that this is singer-songwriter Laura Burhenn‘s cry for anything but another ordinary holiday.
“All I Want” navigates global warming, messy politics, endless wars, and American consumerism, and brushes it all away to remind us of the snow-white core of the holidays: love. The single is available in limited white and black vinyl copies at record store. The B-side of the single features a cover of the Zombies‘ “This Will Be Our Year”.
Jenny O is a LA musician classically trained and studied jazz theory before settling back into her rock and pop roots. Her latest EP is full of light-hearted, sunny L.A. vibe. Closing out this section of the mix is a band almost no one has heard of called Dent May with their appropriately named “Holiday Face”, an electro-dream pop song about Christmas; plus, Slow Club offer up a splendid cover of “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)”.
This special Christmas mix also features so many other great tracks that there just isn’t time to write about them all. Check out these Christmas songs from indie big-hitters like Tape Deck Mountain, Crystal Stilts, Kid Logic, Julian Casablancas, and Deer Tick, plus, some goodies from lesser known artists like Coconut Records, John Ralston, The Sky Drops, Scott Miller, Eric Lipton and His Orchestra, Strawberry Whiplash, T Model Ford, Boca Chica, Sleepy Rebels, and Slow Club.
“Blue Christmas” – Tape Deck Mountain
“Christmas Time Is Here Again” – Tape Deck Mountain
Back in 2008, when we first began to officially provide artists and bands a formal way to submit their music to us for review, we would get a few dozen submissions a month. However, in the past two years, as the traffic to IRC has steadily grown (most especially in the past year), the number of submissions has gone through the roof, and we now receive hundreds of submissions a month. And it has just become nearly impossible to keep up with it all.
We are doing our best to keep up with it all; we’ve come across some of the most amazing music we’ve ever heard via the music submissions process. In most cases, they are unknown and new artists and bands, mostly from the United States and Canada, but also from every corner of the globe. If you have followed the In Dee Mail series for any length of time, you’re probably familiar with the series by now.
In Dee Mail is unique from other posts, band profiles, new releases, mixes and playlists, is the fact that all of the songs featured are from artists and bands we’ve never heard of before until they contacted us. Over the years we can say that we’ve spotlighted artists and bands who’ve gone on to become marginally to very successful in the indie rock culture. But without pretense, bands have found that one good place to get fairly significant exposure on these days is IRC.
So, back to this latest edition of In Dee Mail. Right now we are back-logged by nearly 200 submissions, and there is pressure to get them all reviewed by the end of the year. And so we are going to do what we can. Of the nearly 200 submissions, there will probably be about 30-40 that will make it to an In Dee Mail playlist. In this edition, the music spans the spectrum of indie rock to the romping dance beats, and rocking riffs.
Push Pals – Charlotte, NC
Push Pals is a Charlotte, North Carolina indie rock band that formed in February 2010 as a creative collaboration between musicians Blake Raynor, Ben Gelnett and Noah Warner – each of whom have been actively involved in the booming Charlotte music scene of the past couple years. In June, Push Pals released their debut EP, To The Thing, And Back, and are now working on their debut full-length album. Even though they only formed this year, Push Pals have already opened for big-name indie bands like Beach Fossils, Wavves, and The Growlers.
The opening of the track “Fu*k Yes” reminded us of the patriotic rock epics of Titus Andronicus. The track has a blazing and memorable guitar riff that easily put Push Pals on the radar as our favorite new Charlotte band that we’d never heard of, until now. The follow-up single, “Keep Pushing” is enthusiastic and rambuntous, and further evidence that this band is poised to strike a chord with indie music lovers beyond the local scene of Charlotte.
“Fu*k Yes” – Push Pals from To The Thing, And Back
Southern Shores is a Canadian duo relocated in Berlin making tropical, exotic, bright, balearic wonderful music. Something to make you feel on a windy and sunny beach instead that passing your monday in a cubicle. Have a good day.
“Grande Comore” – Southern Shores
Mutineers – Manchester, England
The bar is set pretty high for bands trying to carve out a name for themselves in the legendary rock and roll city of Manchester, England, thanks to the worldwide adoration for Manchester bands of yesteryear like The Smiths, New Order and Stone Roses, to name just a couple of examples. Not surprisingly, those are two of the top mentors for the increasingly popular local rock band, Mutineers.
The band also name drops other bands when describing that its songwriting incorporates “slices of towering anthemic pop to match anything in the international armoury of The Killers or prime REM.”
“Infidelity” – Mutineers from Friends’ Lovers?
Opened For: Bad Lieutenant, Wintersleep, The View, and Pete Doherty Influences: The Smiths, Echo & The Bunnymen, Talking Heads, The La’s
The Raw Men Empire – Tel Aviv, Israel
Anti-folk/freak-folk band from Tel Aviv, Israel were just drinking buddies until they began to experiment with making music. While their sound is a ways away from refined – therein ‘raw’ – it is almost like listening to demos of something that could someday be significant with just the right producer and engineer. The songs are from the band’s September debut LP, Elodie.
The eclectic music of Durham, North Carolina’s Nathan Oliver is more irresistible every time we spin the band’s 2009 release, Cloud Animals. From the feel-good, jangly pop of “Playground Lies,” to the driving rawhide blues and horns of “Icicles for Fingers,” and the fuzzy melancholy of the road-trip instrumental, “Leaf Spine,” Cloud Animals proves to be one of the best under-appreciated albums of 2009.
Other standout tracks on the album include the catchy melodies and chorus of “French Press,” and the post-punk rocker, “Red Panda.” The band, which includes past and present members of Schooner, North Elementary, The Rosebuds, and Ticonderoga, have made their way on to our radar as a fairly large blip, and earned a spot on the ‘bands to watch’ in 2010 list. Nathan Oliver’s music conjures up general comparisons to bands and artists like The Shins, Conor Oberst, The Pixies and The Unicorns.
The Strokes are one of the most popular guitar rock bands of all time
Yup, it’s Sunday, and that means it’s time to kick back, and read a magazine or book, surf the web, do Christmas cards or tree decorating, and fire up the S-25 Mix. As with all of IRC’s playlists and mixes, just click the first song and the Yahoo media player will automatically stream through all 25 classic songs, uninterrupted, so you can listen while you’re doing other things.
In addition to arranging the song list, part of the S-25 mix is to spotlight one band each Sunday that we just absolutely dig, whether they are well known, marginally well known or pretty much obscure. This week we picked The Strokes. Over the past decade, The Strokes have dug out their place among the best garage rock bands ever. The 10th anniversary of the release of the band’s platium debut album, Is This It?, is fast approaching.
That album catapulted the band to worldwide rock and roll stardom – almost over-night – thanks to its numerous catchy and memorable songs, created by the decidedly 1970s guitar rock and angular riffs of guitarists Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi; the intriguing lyrics and captivating vocals of Julian Casablancas; the fierce bass-playing of Nikolai Fraiture, and the splendid drum work of Fabrizio Moretti. The band members were barely in their 20’s when their debut album was released.
“Hard To Explain” – The Strokes from Is This It? (2001)
This is the original album cover for Is This It? release in UKThe Strokes changed the album art for Is This It? U.S. release in Oct. 2001
Is This It? had a huge influence on countless numbers of bands that have formed since its summer 2001 debut. Interestingly, this NYC band first released their debut LP in the UK in August. Perhaps this was due to the crazy amount of coverage the band was getting throughout the UK months before Is This It? came out. The band and label may have also released it in the UK first because the original risque cover (see above) is more acceptable there than in the U.S.
As a matter of fact, when Is This It? was finally released in October of 2011, not only did they replace the cover (see above), but they also decided not to release the track “New York City Cops” as the B-side for their first single in light of the terrorists attacks on their city the month prior.
Controversial album covers and other trivial matters aside, Is This It? was clearly one of the defining albums of the 2000’s. In fact, Is This It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in February 2002 for shipments of 500,000 copies in the U.S. Is This It was named the best album of 2001 by Billboard, CMJ, Entertainment Weekly, NME, Playlouder, and Time. The LP was in the top five of hundreds of more such lists published for 2001. The Strokes won NME‘s Best New Act, Band of the Year, and Album of the Year for 2001.
The Strokes set out to prove that they could live up to the tremendous expectations they faced after the success of Is It This? After extensive touring in 2002 with The White Stripes, Weezer, Kings of Leon (who opened for The Strokes), and even The Rolling Stones, the band finally got back in the studio in 2003. The result was the band’s highly anticipated, and yet again, highly acclaimed, sophomore album, Room On Fire, which saw the band incorporate new wave music elements that they pulled off swimmingly.
“12:51” – The Strokes from Room on Fire (2003)
Three years and many shows later, the band dropped their third album, First Impressions of Earth. The album failed to generate the same kind of enthusiasm and sales as the band’s first two albums. In 2007, band members all embarked on other projects, with both Hammond and Casablancas releasing debut solo records in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
Strokes’ fans have been waiting four years for a new album from the band. There have been delays, the band admits, because of their solo work and other commitments, but anyone who’s been following is not crazy to wonder if the band’s heart is really in it. This past summer in a BBC interivew, Casablancas, responded to a question about the status of the new record.
“The first thing is the Strokes thing. Like I said I’m kind of split now, I’ll do other things,” he said. “If I have an idea for something that I know head to toe, I’ll probably do it on my own, and when I have kind of looser stuff I’ll probably bring it to the Strokes. But right now we’re just trying to finish this record, so lets see how this goes.” Umm, yeah. The word now is the album is set to be released in March of 2011; but as far as we know, there are no audio or video samples of the new songs available.
“I Wish It Was Christmas Today” – Julian Casablancas from Phrazes of the Young (2009)
“Where The Streets Have No Name” – U2 from Joshua Tree (1987)
“Sympathy For The Devil” – The Rolling Stones from Begger’s Banquet (1968)
Strokes' guitarist and solo artist Albert Hammond Jr. (center)
“In Transit” – Albert Hammond Jr from Yours To Keep (2006)
“Round The Bend” – The Beta Band from The Beta Bend (1999)
“Where Is My Mind?” – Pixies from Surfer Rosa (1988)
“Strange” – Built to Spill from Ancient Melodies of The Future (2006)
“Toxic Girl” – Kings of Convenience from Quiet Is The New Loud (2001)
“This Time” – John Cougar Mellancamp from Nothing Matters and What If It Did? (1980)
“Razorblade” – The Strokes from First Impressions of Earth (2006)
The S-25 Concept: The idea of what we’ve come to call the S-25 Mix is to represent great music from all time periods, styles and genres of popular music from the mid 1950s to present day. We like to try to create a good cross representation of that includes classic rock, pop, new wave, dance, garage rock, electronica, indie, singer-songwriter, punk, R&B, lo-fi, chillwave, post punk, and doses of blues, jazz, hiphop, country and classical as well. The interesting thing about all of the great music that came before is the huge influence it has had on alternative, and particularly indie, rock of the past two decades, and likely will for a long time to come..mp3″ rel=”nofollow” rel=”nofollow”
It’s a nearly impossible task: to sort, listen to (rinse. repeat), pass or fail tracks, write up reviews, and publish all of the music that is piled up in our email boxes, via the submission forms, and CDs and vinyls. The end of the year is fast approaching, but we’ve still got 2010 music that there just hasn’t been time to thoroughly listen to and share with all of you. And that’s a bummer. But, you know what, F that, we’ll just do our best, and at this point, that means putting up singles we like from bands and artists you might not have ever heard of; and hopefully, you’ll find some keeper tracks in this playlist.
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So, that also means that we don’t have time to individually review all of the featured songs or the artists that produced them. In fact, there’s so much overflow that we are likely to have 2010 backlog that we don’t get a chance to share with you until the early weeks of 2011. Most of those will come from music submissions box.
The point is, really, that if the music is damn good stuff, and it was released in 2010, and we don’t get to tell you about it until the early weeks of 2011, what difference does it make – a case where better late than never does apply. Some of you might remember that for the first couple of months of 2010, we were still putting up great songs from 2009, and people just ate it up. So, it’s likely that the same thing will happen in 2011.
Therefore, in the direction of that goal is this, the fourteenth volume of the Recent Releases We Almost Missed series. Yeah, corny title, we guess, but it was the best terminology we could come up with to get to the crux of the idea. That said, the RRWAM mixes have been among the most popular posts of 2010. All total, the previous thirteen volumes published this year were viewed, streamed, and downloaded, over a quarter of a million times!
Furthermore, we still have a bunch of overflow singles from LPs, EPs and 7 and 12-inch 2010 releases that will appear in volume 15 of RRWAM, set to be published in the next couple of weeks (there are still all the year-end lists to do too).
Sunset – Loveshines But The Moon Is Shining Too
It’s hard to believe for a minute that the band Sunset recently released their fifth album release. For a band that hasn’t been together that long, Sunset have managed to pump out a handful of note-worthy albums. In October, the band dropped Loveshines But The Moon Is Shining Too. Now that we’ve had a chance to listen to it, we can tell you that it might be one of the best overlooked LPs of the second half of 2010.
The lead single here, “Sunshine Hair”, would have been perfect for our Summer Mixtapes series, but the LP came out too late, so this song will have to wait until the 2011 summer songs collection. “Sunshine Hair” evokes the summertime imagery both in song title and sound. It’s dreamy synth notes, and soft, calming vocals, create a sense of levity and serenity, almost like a magnificent, puffy white cloud floating across an azure summer sky.
“Sunshine Hair” – Sunset from Loveshines But The Moon Is Shining Too – Oct. 24th
Cloudland Canyon – Fin Eaves
Shifting gears, the blazing, lo-fi psychedelic shoegaze track “Mothlight (Part 2)” is a sweet surprise we almost missed. In September, the New York City by-way-of Memphis band, Cloudland Canyon, released their fourth album, Fin Eaves to fairly good reviews all around. We have not listened to the LP from beginning to end (and then again), with enough confidence to merit an opinion overall, but what we did hear is largely representative of the lead single, “Mothlight (Part 2)”.
“Mothlight (Part 2)” – Cloudland Canyon from Fin Eaves
Brothers Young – Good People
This next song peaked our interest right from the very first seconds, and as it progressed, just got better. “A Roman Sun” is the lead track from Portland’s Brothers Young‘s latest release. The song is a number of things at once – a folk ballad mixed with pop and bluegrass elements, and a catchy chorus that, all combined, give it campfire song credibility. Perhaps we should feel a bit stupid not to have heard of the Brothers Young before, but we’re glad now that we have.
“The Roman Sun” – Brothers Young from Good People – Aug. 31st
Whalers – How The Ship Goes Down
Switching gears again. Whalers are yet another talented Austin indie rock band. That basically means they are damn good, and in just about any other medium-sized city than Austin, Whalers would be in the running for “Best Local Band of 2010”. Even though we missed the original drop date (Nov. 30th) for the band’s debut EP, How The Ship Goes Down, their songs have enjoyed more than a couple of spins in the cafe.
All of the tracks were recorded, produced, and performed by Whalers in a house off of Riverside Drive. The record was mixed by Kevin Ratterman (My Morning Jacket, Wax Fang) at The Funeral Home Studio in Louisville, Kentucky, and mastered at Jim Eno’s Public Hi-Fi studio in Austin.
“Magic Tricks” – Whalers from How The Ship Goes Down (debut EP) – Nov. 30th
Also, we are digging this Woven Bones 7 inch, released way back in August, plus tracks from the ‘orchestra folk’ band from Chapel Hill, N.C., Lost in the Trees‘ latest album, All Alone in an Empty House; and, a different kind of “tree band”, The Poison Tree.
“Fireplace” – Lost in the Trees from All Alone in an Empty House – Aug. 10th
“My Only Friend” – The Poison Tree
This set also includes lead tracks from recent releases we almost missed by The Lucksmiths, The Super Vacations, Violens, White Noise Sound and Brass Bed. Each of these bands are at the very least on our radar. As it always is, it’ll be interesting to review the weblogs later to see which bands IRC readers and visitors ended up listening to, and downloading, the most.
If there is a big response to any of the bands in this set, we’ll definitely follow-up in a subsequent post with a proper profile of said bands, plus more tracks. As some of you may know from the Top Ten Songs weekly feature, and the reader polls, we are committed to giving IRC peeps an important role in helping to determine what bands we cover. We like to think of it just the way Ray Davies of The Kinks put it in the title song to their classic 1981 album, Give The People What They Want.
Mike Hadreas (Perfume Genius),is a Seattle musician who creates painful, but beautiful,music
This week marks the re-release of the debut LP, Learning, from Seattle solo artist, Mike Hadreas, who releases music as Perfume Genius. His music is deep, painful and personal, a reflection of a troubled youth that was not in his control. And this is evident in his wrenching expressions that permeate throughout his recordings. These are mostly all home recordings, which adds that element of rawness that is essential to an artist such as Hadreas. Furthermore, he has a remarkable appreciation of classic rock icons like Neil Young, as evidenced by this live performance of Young’s “Helpless.”
Hadreas has often been compared to artist such as Cat Power, Sufjan Stevens and Elliott Smith. Hadreas’ magnificent piano playing, stark lyrics, and soft, almost whispery vocals are a powerful combination, and definitely put him in company with some of the best like artists of recent years.
“Mr. Peterson” – Perfume Genius from Learning
“Learning” – Perfume Genius fromLearning
We strongly recommend getting his reissued LP (contains three bonus tracks) at Matador Records. Hadreas is definitely one of our Best New Artists of 2010, and an Artist to Watch in 2011. Also, there are a bunch of videos on his record label page, and in case you try looking, his official MySpace page is under the moniker of kewlmajik.
“Dreem” – Perfume Genius fromLearning
Since we were talking in reference about Sufjan Stevens, he has some ‘news’ today by the fact that his recently released EP, All Delighted People, is now available in the physical world. If you don’t have it already, and want it in digital form, here’s the download page from Amazon. Seems a lot of people forgot about this EP with the also recent release of Stevens’ remarkable release of the LP Age of Adz.
“All Delighted People” (Classic Rock Version)- Sufjan Stevens from All Delighted People (vinyl)
(there is also a rare and limited edition Japanese import of All Delighted People for sale)
A friend who had never heard of Acid House Kings before understandably assumed that they would have a sound that would be, well, like, “acid house” music. But the band’s sound is anything but; they’re about as cheery indie pop as you can get. In this digital single, the band asked a question that we’ve all probably come across at one time or another in our lives – “Are We Lovers Or Are We Friends?”.
And it should be no surprise that the band are on our favorite Swedish labels, Labrador Records (The Radio Dept, Club 8). The track is deliciously infectious, and the lead track for this week’s Best New Releases.
Other tracks this week include lead singles from new releases by one of our break-through bands of 2010, Air Waves; a new drop from the self-titled debut by Anika, with a freaky, sinister lead track; and new material from Deadmau5, Daft Punk, Banjo or Freakout, Freebase, Engineers, Diane Birch, Eluvium, and others.
“Are We Lovers Or Are We Friends?” – Acid House Kings from Are We Lovers Or Are We Friends?
Wading through hundreds of new songs sent in over the past couple of weeks can be daunting, especially when it comes down to picking which tracks will be featured on IRC. It’s even harder with so much else going on – holidays, year-end lists, planning 2011 events and coverage, and so on.
Last week, Sony Music actually released a public apology to the prolific Bradford Cox of Deerhunter and Atlas Sound fame. It turns out that Sony somehow “mistakenly removed” three of four volumes of Cox’s Databank demo series.
Photo of Bradford Cox as a kid is the cover of Bedroom Databank, Vol. IV
Cox had recently made available for free download four volumes of demos tape that he recorded in his bedroom, thus the series title, Bedroom Databank. The downloadable volumes include demos under his Altas Sound moniker, including covers of songs by Bob Dylan, Royal Trux and Kurt Vile.
“Freak Train” (Kurt Vile) – Altas Sound from Bedroom Databank, Vol. I
On Friday, the day Sony ordered the file-sharing website, MediaFire, to remove three of the four volumes, Cox responded: “Apparently Sony Music Owns my bedroom. I am re-uploading the files now.” The event caused a mini online protest from fans and bloggers, and within hours, Sony put out a press release apologizing to Cox, even though he is not a Sony artist. Cox released Vol. IV on Nov. 25th.
“Talent Show” – Atlas Sound from Bedroom Databank, Vol. IV
The Decemberists Giving Away First New Single from New LP
You’ve probably already heard that The Decemberistswill release their long anticipated new album, The King Is Dead, in January. The band are offering a free download of the first single from the LP, “Down By The Water” (not to be confused with The Drums song of the same name) , via their official website. You can bet there are many people waiting for this album to drop, including us.
“Down By The Water” – The Decemberists (featuring Gillian Welch) from The King Is Dead – Jan. 18th
Ex-Shiny Toy Guns Member Releases New EP With A Little Help From Her Friends
Ordinarily, these tracks would have been included with the next Recent Releases We Almost Missed mix because the songs were officially released on September 21st. But we dig them so much, and the other two songs on the EP, that we had to share them with you now.
Both tracks are from the new band, Versant, which was founded earlier this year by ex-Shiny Toy Guns member Carah Faye.
For her new musical project, Faye tapped into an impressive collective of musicians that include members of Generationals, Giant Cloud, Juston Stens and the Get Real Gang. The debut EP, Heartbeats, was both self-produced and self-released by Versant. The EP would make a great gift for anyone you know who liked STG more when Faye was in the band.
Sonny Smith Records with The Sandwitches and The Transients
Last year, Sonny Smith of Sonny and the Sunsets almost drowned off the north California coast. The near death experience affected him profoundly and led to a wealth of creative output, including a play, a novel, and a stack of songs. Smith’s critically acclaimed 100 Records project is itself a direct product of his fight with the sea.
The new, upcoming EP, set to drop on Dec. 11th, features appearances by members of The Sandwitches, and a long-lost band called, The Transients. The EP was recorded in San Francisco and mastered by Paul Oldman.
“Throw My Ashes From This Pier When I Die” – Sonny Smith and The Sandwitches and The Transients from 100 Records EP – Dec. 11th
Smith is best known for his band, Sonny and the Sunsets, whose single, “Too Young To Burn,” appeared on many summer mixtapes, including IRC’s wildly popular Summer Mixtapes series. We strongly recommend the band’s latest LP, Tomorrow Is Alright, which was released in August.
“Too Young To Burn” – Sonny and The Sunsets from Tomorrow is Alright
Jack White Produces Nashville’s Rising Artist PUJOL
Chances are that if Jack White is involved with a music project, it’s going to be something a lot of people will want to hear. Such is the case with White’s newest collaboration, as the producer of Nashville musician PUJOL, who is also known by some as the “Philosopher King of the Nashville Scene”.
The track, “Too Safe”, will be released as a double seven-inch on Dec. 11th via White’s Nashville label, Third Man Records.
“Too Safe” – PUJOL from Black Rabbit 7″ – Dec. 11th
Lubec Unleash Lead Track from Upcoming LP
We had never heard of Lubec until we came across this track, “Your Magic Wand”. The style of this catchy, lo-fi rocker is definitely post-punk. It has a sweet, but unrefined, beat and melody at the core, driven with a fast-moving percussions, and the swagger of a group of hard-drinking British lads ready to make some trouble. This lead track will appear on the new LP, Nothing is Enough, set for January 18th release. We’re looking forward to it, for sure.
“Your Magic Want” – Lubec from Nothing is Enough – Jan. 18th
NYC Indie Band Make Out Team up with Famed Producer for Debut EP
Earlier this year, New York vocalist Leah Hennessey, guitarist Jesper Mortensen (formerly of Junior Senior, aka Junior), bassist Anders Christiansen and drummer Olivia Alminiana joined forces to form the indie pop band, Make Out. Within a couple of months, the band had built a pretty good buzz in the highly competitive NYC ‘indie’ scene.
The band hooked up with producer Nicolas Vernhes (Dirty Projectors, Animal Collective, The Fiery Furnaces) at his Rare Book Room studios in Brooklyn. During the ensuing weeks, the band spent much of their time in Vernhes’ studio recording the songs for their yet untitled debut EP, set for release in “early spring.” Based on this excellent single from the LP that was sent to us from the band, we think a lot more people will be taking about Make Out in 2011.
Eulogies’ Lead Vocalist Works Through Tragedy on New LP
The Los Angeles indie band Eulogies have released a new single in advance of the band’s third album, Tear The Fences Down, due out on January 18th.
The album is full of thoughts, stories and pain following the band’s lead vocalist Peter Walker‘s experience of learning that his business partner/best friend’s son was diagnosed (and later passed away) with cancer.
The lead track, “You Hide” is remarkably upbeat considering the severity of the situation. Often times, artists create some of their best work in the midst of pain and suffering. And there need to be rays of light to pierce the darkness. You may contribute to a cancer research foundation that was named for the boy, the Pablove Foundation.
“You Hide” – Eulogies from Tear The Fences Down – Jan. 18th
Psychic Powers Cross-Continental Collaboration Produces Terrific New Music
Psychic Powers is an ongoing cross continental collaboration between Ale Cohen and Nik Brinkman. The duos long distance relationship has resulted in the new album, Infinity. Standout tracks include “Brighter”, with its lush production full of synths and echoes, and the acoustic sounds of “Frozen,” which is appropriate for a cold winter night by the fire.
“Brighter” – Psychic Powers from Infinity
“Frozen” – Psychic Powers from Infinity
Jumple Records New Album Based on Jo Durbeck’s Travels
German minimal electronica maestro Jumpel has released his third album, Europa, inspired by Jo Dürbeck’s European travels. The new LP acts as a kind of an “abstracted sonic diary,” of interpretation through minimalistic ambient electronica tracks. The album includes the stunning single “Edinburgh” featuring the exquisite guest vocals of Chloë March married to Jumpel’s inimitable melancholic ambient pop. The song is an exercise in elegance and restraint.
For those of you who have followed us closely over the past year, you may already be familiar with one-woman band of Computer Magic. Well, she has a brand new track to share with us, “The End of Time.” Her synth-heavy electro-pop backed by thrilling percussion make this track the latest stand-out song from her growing discography.
“The End of Time” – Computer Magic, single release (2010)
Kristian Matsson is The Tallest Man on Earth (actually, he's 5'11)
The profile artist for this third installment of The Sunday 25 Mix series made a huge splash in 2008 with his debut album, Shallow Graves. He is Kristian Matsson, a singer and songwriter from Dalarna, Sweden, better known to many people as The Tallest Man on Earth, Matsson’s self-adopted moniker.
His wonderfully crafted acoustic folk songs, poetic lyrics and high-pitch, nasaly voice have led him to be compared to the one-and-only Bob Dylan. Admittedly, there’s probably not a Dylan fan in the world who can honestly say that Matsson’s voice doesn’t sound like Dylan. For some people Matsson’s likeness to Dylan may be a barrier, but the vast majority of TTMOE admirers appreciate the musician, because he’s incredibly talented, and his music, because his songs are so damn good, not because he is so perfectly Dylanesque.
During the past two years, The Tallest Man on Earth has toured extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe with Bon Iverand John Vanderslice, and recently as a headline artist, which is just another indication of Matsson’s fairly rapid ascent to fame. In between tours, Matsson had time to record another album’s worth of songs, which ended up on his recent 2010 release, The Wild Hunt. Once again, the critics, bloggers and fans have given his work a big thumbs up.
As with the first couple of Sunday 25 Mixes (S-25), you’ll also find songs we love from all kinds of genres, dating all the way back to mid-1950s. You’ll probably also want to see S-25 Vol. One and S-25 Vol. Two. Coming Up S-25 mixtapes featuring The Strokes and another one that will highlight the top 25 songs from the popular mixtape series – Best Indie and Alternative Rock Christmas Songs, containing over 200 indie and alternative songs.
“King of Spain” – The Tallest Man on Earth from The Wild Hunt (2010)
“For Ash” – Marnie Stern from Marnie Stern (2010)
“Hurricane” – Neil Young from Decade (2005)
Film director David Lynch, Danger Mouse & Mark Linkous (R.I.P.)
“Little Girl” – Danger Mouse & Sparklehorsewith Julian Casablancas from Dark Night of the Soul (Exclusive Amazon edition – only $5.99)
“Helicopter” – Deerhunter from Halcyon Digest (2010)
“Solsbury Hill” – Peter Gabriel from Peter Gabriel: Car 1:Remastered (2010; originally 1977)
“Pistol Dreams” – The Tallest Man on Earth from Shallow Grave (2008)
Some of you might have seen our thread about the difference between a mixtape and a playlist. Not surprisingly, no two theories were the same. To us, a mixtape is a collection of favorite or recommended music that someone produces, usually to share with others, and meant to be listened to uninterrupted from the first song to the last; for example, “Summer 2010 Mixtape”. Playlists, on the other hand, have a particular theme, organization or subject matter that applies to all of the songs in that playlist; for example, “Songs About Summer Playlist”.
Please tell us your explanation of the difference between a mixtape and a playlist.
It’s been a while since we published the last Break-Through Bands of 2010. So, now it’s time to play catch up. Employing a similar concept as IRC’s Top Ten Songs lists, it is in fact the readers – all of you – who are deciding the top new, or ‘break-through’, bands and artists of 2010.
For this, the fourth poll in this series, we’ve put together another playlist mix for the latest round of nominees. Each nominee has earned their place among the top new bands of 2010 due to critical and fan approval following the release of new or debut releases, relentless touring, and music festival appearances.
Cast your vote for the best new band in the poll shown below. Also, there is a complete overview of the previous poll winners. Note: The sequence of bands presented in this playlist mix is completely random.
Bikini – New York City
Nigel Diamond and Olivier Olivier met at Canada’s Glen-Lyon Norfolk School of music, and began to collaborate as Bikini. Just a couple of week’s ago, we were unable to find a MySpace page for New York experimental indie band, Bikini. But a lot has happened in just the short period of time.
Last week, right before the Thanksgiving holiday, Bikini released their debut EP, RIPJDS, which includes the awesome singles featured here, “American Mourning” and “ACheerleader.”
“American Mourning” – Bikini from EP RIPJDS
“ACheerleader” – Bikini from EP RIPJDS
Braids – Montreal, Quebec, Canada
This Montreal indie pop band shed their old skin as the Calgary band The Neighborhood Council and headed east to Quebec in 2008. They honed their skills, tweaked their sound, re-defined their image, and to complete the transition, changed their name to Braids. After a summer of touring, Kanine Records signed the band this past September, right before their premiere at the all-important CMJ in New York.
Kanine has announced that Braids’ debut album, Native Speaker, will be released in January. Their big sound, sculpted from pianos and synthesizers, glimmering guitars and ambient intermissions, is evidenced on the track featured here, “Lemonade.” Tonight the band kicks off yet another tour, this time with Sweden‘s hugely popular indie pop band, The Radio Dept.
San Francisco’s rising indie band, Weekend, released their debut album, Sports, this month to wide acclaim, and now they are on the rip, increasing their profile across the country with touring and winning big endorsements for their debut. The LP’s lead single, “Coma Summer,” was by far, the top song of the week for the second week in November.
“Coma Summer” – Weekend from Sports
Beach Fossils – Brooklyn, New York
Last May, the Brooklyn buzz band Beach Fossils released their self-titled, debut LP to the open arms of adoring critics and admiring bloggers. The band had been building momentum in late 2009, but with their multiple, packed appearances during South by Southwest 2010, and the release of their acclaimed debut – one which has already made a number of top albums of 2010 lists – the band are on a roll. Check out these tracks if you somehow haven’t heard of Beach Fossils yet.
“Face It” – Beach Fossils from Face It/Distance 7″
“Youth” –Beach Fossils from Beach Fossils
Titus Andronicus – New Jersey
One of our favorite shoegaze bands, Titus Andronicus, released the follow up album to their widely acclaimed debut, The Airing of Grievances, earlier this year at about the same time that they were blowing away fans and bloggers and mainstream music press at shows and festivals, like SXSW, including some good ‘ole jamming rock and roll that has a clear theme related to American history, which make their songs all the more interesting.
“Four Score and Seven (Part One)” – Titus Andronicus from The Monitor
“Four Score and Seven (Part Two)” – Titus Andronicus from The Monitor
Sun Airway – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Like so many others, when we first starting hearing songs from the Philadelphia indie band Sun Airway, we thought we were hearing an Animal Collective unreleased track, even though we knew it wasn’t. Isn’t that weird? But Sun Airway do pour on the synth heavy hooks and pop psychedelics quite richly indeed.
Plus, it’s only been little more than a month (Oct. 26th) since they dropped their oddly titled debut LP, Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier, and Sun Airway are already known coast to coast for the delicious singles that came over in recent months ahead of the official street date.
“Put the Days Away” – Sun Airway from Nocturne Of Exploded Crystal Chandelier
Sun Airway is Jon Barthmus and Patrick Marsceill, both ex-members of the defunct emo band the A-Sides. They started work on Nocturne during the summer of 2008.
“Infinity” – Sun Airway from Nocturne Of Exploded Crystal Chandelier
Women – Calgary, Alberta, Canada
While Calgary‘s art rock/no wave band Women are hardly a new band, it’s fair to say that the band didn’t really start to break out until late 2009 and for much of 2010. The band’s 2008 self-titled debut LP received great reviews from Pitchfork and All Music, among other influential publications.
But it was after some heavy touring and advanced singles from their recently releases sophomore album, Public Strain, that catapulted the band into a whole other ball game, and made our Best New Releases (one of our fav BNR mixes of 2010) post for the last week of September.
“Narrow with the Hall” – Women from Public Strain
But the band, and their fans, suffered a major blow in October, when Women band members ironically lived out the title of their latest album by getting into a fight on stage in Victoria, Canada. While rumors swirled that the band was going to break up, but those rumors where squashed. However, the actual result was not much better. Women canceled the remainder of their tour. Although it is a setback for the band, we don’t think it should adversely affect anyone’s perception of Women as a break-through band in 2010.
Everyone likes a good love story. But this love story is a unique one that found husband and wife team Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore sailing the eastern seaboard of the U.S. for seven months. During that time, the college sweathearts began writing songs that eventually evolved into a full album worth of songs, and officially made them, Tennis, the band (helps with Google searches). The couple’s debut LP, Cape Dory, will be released on January 18th via Fat Possum Records.
A letter from Patrick to Alaina while he was in Florida preparing for their seven-month excursion
“South Carolina” – Tennis from Cape Dory
Look for Cape Dory, set to drop Jan. 18th
Small Black – Brooklyn, New York
The easiest bands to like are those that connect with you within the first 20 seconds of a song, and then keep luring you in as the song progresses, so that before it even ends, you’ve already made up your mind to play it again, and again. And then you listen to a second track from the same artist, and it’s the same, if not more, intense experience. And the third single, and so on. That’s been our experience with Brooklyn band Small Black. The band’s debut single, “Photojournalist”, is joyously mellow and layered with synths, masterful vocals, and rich percussions holding it all together. Repeat.
“Photojournalist” – Small Black from s/t 7″ single
Thanks to that first ‘hit’ single, Small Black have been gaining ground and growing a fan base across the U.S. and Canada, and parts of Europe as well. Subsequent singles – like the addictive “Despicable Dogs” and the dreamy “Pleasant Experience – were released throughout the summer to wide approval. And for good reason, they’re just so damn good, easily one of the top bands in the wildly popular ‘chillwave’ movement that is revolutionizing alternative music.
“Despicable Dogs” – Small Black from 12″
Cults – New York City
When we went to see The Morning Benders in Santa Cruz, Calif. a couple of months ago, we noted afterwards that the crowd seemed more interested in the evening’s first two openers – Cults and Twin Sister – than in the headlining band. Cults is a boy/girl duo and students at a New York film school. They quickly spread on the web with the release of their debut 7 inch single, “Go Outside”, which became a favorite for plenty of summer mixtapes. Ther are a few more songs from the Cults’ BandCamp page.
Previous Polls Reveal Other Top Break-Through Bands of 2010
Now that you’ve taken the poll, here’s the low-down on the previous polls. Click through to the article of the poll results for more details and to stream or download songs from most of the bands in each poll.
Poll One– In the first poll, IRC readers picked the Local Natives and Surfer Blood as the top two break-out of 10 presented. Click here to see the poll, and listen to or download songs from each of the bands featured in Poll One, including Delorean, Real Estate, Sleigh Bells, Free Energy, and Crystal Castles.
Poll Two – In the second poll, readers overwhelmingly selected The Drums, followed far behind in second place by the Freelance Whales. Click here to listen to and download tracks from each of the bands in Poll Two, including Wild Nothing, Ganglians, Warpaint, Cymbals Eat Guitars, and Washed Out.
Poll Three – In the third poll, the new supergroup Broken Bells and Ireland’s Two Door Cinema Club took the top spots. Click here to view the article and playlist mix that includes 2010 songs from Tame Impala, The Middle East, Fang Island, Film School, and Suckers, among others.
In case you wanted to vote for any of the bands or artists presented in the first three polls, you will have a chance to at the end of the year. At that time, the top two winners from each poll (poll five will be published in a couple of weeks) will be included in one final poll where thousands of people from around the world will choose ‘the’ Top Break-Through Bands of 2010.
Nigel Diamond and Olivier Olivier met at Canada’s Glen-Lyon Norfolk School of music. The band have become well-known for their electro-pop dance music
With a name like Surf City, it’s only natural for one to assume that the band’s songs will be upbeat and celebratory, or, as the chillwave revolution has determined, lazy, hazy psychedelic pop awash in layers of synth, echo-laden vocals and lyrics with themes like heat waves, day-dreaming, sun burns, beach parties, vacation getaways, and beautiful girls (and guys).
Surf City may not fit the ideal image conjured up by their namesake, but the guitars are blazing, the choruses are sunny, and the bass line thumps along quite nicely on the title track from the band’s debut album, Kudos, out now via Fire Records. We also think Surf City will be a band to watch in 2011.
“Kudos” – Surf City from Kudos
just added (12/2/10): “Crazy Rulers of the World” – Surf City from Kudos
The band Sleeping In The Aviary just came on to our radar today thanks to Seattle‘s KEXP-FM. SITA pump out straight up post punk style rock with a hard romp, reverb-heavy female lead vocals, hard-hitting tambourines and slick surf-like guitar licks on the lead track “You Don’t Have To Drive”. We’re looking forward to listening to the other tracks on their debut LP, Great Vacation!, out today on the Science of Sound label.
“You Don’t Have To Drive” – Sleeping In The Aviary from Great Vacation!
Jenocide‘s lead track, “Beachball,” from the newly release EP, Knee Deep, has the swirling synths layered with heavy bass change-ups, dance-induced drum beats, romping keys and the vocals of Halifax, N.S. singer-songwriter electro-pop musician Willow Bell.
“Beachball” – Jenocide from Knee Deep EP
Summer-sounding tracks seem to be a dominant theme in this week’s music releases, even though it will officially be winter in a couple of weeks. While listening to Zac Crouse‘s new single, “Waiting on the Wind”, you can almost picture a sailboat on the ocean on a calm day just waiting for some wind to move it along.
The lyrics are ambiguous enough to suggest that the song is really just a metaphor for yearning and love. His soft, melodic vocals paired with bongo drum beats and an acoustic guitar are soon joined by an electric guitar and bass while Crouse repeats the chorus: “I need you now/I need you now/waiting on the wind.”
“Waiting on the Wind” – Zac Crouse from s/t debut
There’s a conglomerate of styles – from shoegaze and post punk to psychedelic and rock – employed by Steve Wynn & The Miracles‘ songs on their new release, Northern Aggression. The lead track “Resolve” will sound particularly familiar to fans of Iggy Pop and The Stooges (esp. compared to the punk favorite “I Wanna Be your Dog”). However, it’s ok; one, because it’s a good song overall, and two, it copy-cats the Stooges with a sense of respect. Steven Wynn is a long-time musician who is probably best known for his previous bands, Gutterball and Dream Syndicate.
“Resolve” – Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3 from Northern Aggression
One of the newest bands on our radar is the unsigned Brooklyn post-punk trio Mr. Dream. While Stereogum had the band in its sights before just about anyone else, we only learned of Mr. Dream after one of its members sent us the latest single, “Learn The Language” from their new album, Never Elaborate.
Earlier this year, Stereogum premiered the band’s first single, “Scarred for Life”, and also listed Mr. Dream on their “40 Best New Bands of 2010” post. The band have opened for big indie artists like Sleigh Bells and Harlem Shakes, and not surprisingly (once you hear the singles) consider their biggest musical influences to be Pixies, Nirvana, and Guided by Voices.
“Learn The Language” – Mr. Dream from Never Elaborate
“Scarred For Life” – Mr. Dream from Never Elaborate
This next instrumental track, “Gallinas Y Lagartos”, from the Italian band El Santo Nada, sounds like a perfect track for Kill Bill Vol. 3, if Quentin makes it (please do). The song is mysterious and enchanting with a style reminiscent of the exotic instrumentals that peppered the spaghetti western B flicks of the 1960s.
And of course it wasn’t an accident. The band members met in 2007, and immediately forged an eclectic identity of common interest in the iconic Ennio Morricone’s spaghetti western soundtracks, combined with Mexican traditional music, the instrumental and surf rock of the late 1950s and early 1960s, italian and balcanic popular music. The band is located in Abruzzo, about 50 miles east of Rome, a region where a number of Italian spaghetti westerns of yesteryear were filmed.
El Santo Nada have opened for Damo Suzuki, Gang Of Four, and Stan Ridgway, among others, and their musical influences include Ennio Morricone, Santo&Johnny, Ry Cooder, Marc Ribot, Calexico, Earth, and Wall Of Voodoo.
Since we were talking in reference about Sufjan Stevens, he has some ‘news’ today by the fact that his recently released EP, All Delighted People, is now available in the physical world. If you don’t have it already, and want it in digital form, here’s the download page from Amazon. Seems a lot of people forgot about this EP with the also recent release of Stevens’ remarkable release of the LP Age of Adz.
