Year: 2011

IRC Readers’ Favorite Soundtrack Songs – Band of Horses, Fanfarlo, The Shins, Switchfoot, Bob Dylan, The Pixies, Editors

Posted on by Max Hammer
'Rushmore' is one of the best soundtracks of the past 20 years

A few weeks ago we asked the IRC community to name their favorite song from a movie soundtrack. There were so many responses to that question that there’s no way we can feature them all, but we’ve done our best to represent as many of the answers as possible. That’s one of the things we love most about the Sunday mixes – it’s always the one day of the week that we put together playlist mixes about just about anything you can think of, and the songs in the mix are not restricted to ‘indie’ rock, whatever that is.

In addition to being a mix of great movie soundtrack songs, this week’s Sunday Sampler is also cool because it is a creation of community participation and sharing. In fact, we are planning more such mixes because people really do like them so much. The most obvious reason why is the basic human desire to be part of something creative with a group of people that share similar interests – in this case, music.

It’s not often that a music site or blog encourages their audience to decide what content is presented on the site. We’re doing our best to change that, in our own way. Plus, who doesn’t enjoy seeing their contribution to a community effort on the pages of a website that gets over a half of a million visits per month from around the world.

So, here are you and your friends favorite songs from a movie soundtrack. Please add your own to the Comments section – we’d love to see a robust discussion about this topic since it intrigues so many people. (Where only contributor name appears as an attribution, those are Facebook members.)

“Our Swords” – Band of Horses from Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (Joel Salcido and Jonathan Antunez)

“Atlas” – Fanfarlo from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Kayla Hilko)

“Nothin In This World Can Stop Me Worrying ‘Bout That Girl” – The Kinks from Rushmore (Brandy Burtis)

“Caring is Creepy” – The Shins from Garden State (Whitney Stiles)eclipsesoundtrack

“Dancin in the Moonlight” (King Harvest) – Toploader from A Walk to Remember (@carmilleF)

“The Man in Me” – Bob Dylan from The Big Lebowski (Joel Joelskii Salcido) *

“Where Is My Mind” – The Pixies from The Fight Club (@IndieFavs)

“No Sound But The Wind” – Editors from The Twilight Saga: New Moon (@Eddy_Figueroa)

“Miss Misery” – Elliott Smith from Good Will Hunting (Kay Nola Lee)

“Dead Sound” – The Ravonettes from Whip It (@PolaRoid_Rage)

“Friends” – Band of Skulls from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Mark Shaut)

“If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out” – Cat Stevens from Harold and Maude (Brandy Burtis)

“Sweet Disposition” – The Temper Trap from 500 Days of Summer (@jayindie93)

“Such Great Heights” – Iron and Wine from Garden State (Mark Shaut)

“From West Texas” – Explosions in the Sky from Friday Night Lights (Jay Graham)

“Dead Man Theme” – Neil Young from Dead Man (Emily Hart)

“Wayfaring Stranger” – Jack White on Cold Mountain (@styveobscura)

“You Never Can Tell” – Chuck Berry from Pulp Fiction (@namepr)

“Sven F-Englar” – Sigur Ros from Vanilla Sky (Spencer Colvin)

“There Goes The Fear” – The Doves from 500 Days of Summer (Brandon Conway)

“Don’t You Forget About Me” – Simple Minds from The Breakfast Club (Rick Thibault Levy)

“Powerman” – The Kinks from Darjeeling Limited (Josh Carrafa)

“Scatterheart” – Bjork from Dancer in the Dark (@CanofVodka)

“Cry Little Sister” – Gerard McMann from Lost Boys (TwoDudesCRs)

There was great interest in this question when we posted it to Twitter in June.

“State of Love and Trust” – Pearl Jam from Singles (Mark Shaut) *

“Hot Sauce” – The Donkeys from Dear John (Alec Witthohn) *

“Virginia Plain” – Roxy Music from Velvet Goldmine (@toronto_red)

“I’ve Seen It All” – Bjork with Thom Yorke from In The Dark (Brandy Burtis)

“Green Onions” – Booker T & The MGs from A Single Man (@mcdonaldrenee)

“Tommib” – Squarepusher from Lost in Translation (Spencer Colvin)

“Superfly” – Curtis Mayfield from Bar None (recommended by Evan La Ruffa)

“The End” – The Doors from Apocalypse Now (Richard Segal)

“I Love NYE” – Badly Drawn Boy from About A Boy (Rahel Fisseha)

Bonus Track: “Dead Sound” (Peter Holmstrom and Jeremy Sherrer Remix) – The Raveonettes

  • When we were unable to find a MP3 link for a recommended track, we chose an alternative track from the same soundtrack; where neither option was available (very rare), we did not include the recommendation at all.

Indie Artist Youth Lagoon Releases Album and Tour Details

Posted on by August W. Zander

Twenty-two year old Trevor Powers, whose musical venture is called Youth Lagoon, has had a long year. Not because he’s been endlessly touring or pursuing some wild dream, but because of life – the life of a kid going to college, being in love, dealing with heartache, and just living.

“July” – Youth Lagoon from The Year of Hiberation – Sept. 27th

“Youth Lagoon isn’t me.” says Powers. “It’s merely a part of me. I was in and out of different bands in high school and always tried to define myself by what music I played. I tried to find a sense of meaning by being in a band. But it wasn’t until this last year – when I realized I was more than just music – that I was able to create music that means something to me. And that is Youth Lagoon.”

Throughout the course of 2010, Powers began to write an album about things he had a hard time talking about. He claims that when he tries to talk about it to people, he doesn’t make sense. So he wrote an album about it titled The Year of Hibernation.

“For my whole life I’ve dealt with extreme anxiety,” says Powers. “Not anxiety about passing a test or somewhat normal things, but weird.. bizarre things. Things that only I know. I sometimes feel like I’m literally being eaten up inside. So I started writing these songs. Not just songs about my anxiety, but about my past and my present. Songs about memories, and all those feelings that those bring. I know that if I can be honest about what is inside my mind, there will be others that will be able to relate to it.”

Although his music seems somewhat dreamy with the first listen, the lyrics show a different side to the matter. Hidden beneath the melodies is a voice that is eerie yet nostalgic. Powers claims his music is like letting people read his journal. “I don’t think I could ever write a completely happy album. It’s not that I’m not a happy person,” claims Powers, “but I just have too many things in my mind that haunt me.”

“Cannons” – Youth Lagoon from The Year of Hiberation – Sept. 27th

The Year of Hibernation by Youth Lagoon is due Sept. 27 on Fat Possum (and on Lefse in Europe).
09/02 San Francisco, CA The Sub

09/03 Los Angeles, CA FYF Afterparty – location TBA

09/04 San Diego, CA Tin Can Ale House

09/05 Phoenix, AZ Rhythm Room

09/07 Austin, TX Emo’s Alternative Lounge

09/10 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Festival

09/12 New York, NY Mercury Lounge

09/13 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE

09/14 Columbus, OH The Basement

09/15 St. Louis, MO Cicero’s

09/16 Columbia, MO The Blue Note

09/22 Urbana, IL Pygmalion Festival

09/23 Bloomington, IN The Bishop

09/24 Cincinnati, OH Midpoint Music Festival 

IRC Artist of the Week – Madison’s Wes Doyle, aka, Slow Loris

Posted on by Max Hammer

slowloris

The memorable and catchy melodic hooks, lo-fi guitar licks, splendid song compositions, and dreamy, reverb-heavy vocals of Madison, Wisconsin musician Wes Doyle, aka, Slow Loris, blew us away the first time we heard the tracks he sent us a few weeks back. In fact, we’ve only come to admire this relatively unknown one-man DIY bedroom artist the more we have listened to his music, by now having spun all of Doyle’s 30 or so tracks – all of which he has released via one EP and two LPs in the past 16 months.

The more we listened to his music – and the more people that asked ‘who is that?’ – the more apparent it became that we had to profile Slow Loris as an Artist of the Week, especially since he really hasn’t had very much exposure compared to the enormity of his talent. It would be difficult to understand if Doyle doesn’t get more attention from the music press and blogosphere, and ‘indie’ and alternative music lovers, in the weeks to come.

Some music fans are showing signs of being burnt out by successive waves of young DIY bedroom musicians who create lo-fi, hazy beach pop and soon find themselves gaining name recognition in the more mainstream music press after they’ve successfully branded themselves – usually without the aid of a label, publicist and manager – following a blitz of blogger buzz.

We can definitely see why some people would be burnt out, but we say if a new artist is making some sweet tunes, and send them in to us, it would be a disservice to our readers and visitors to not share – especially a musician who is definitely not just another copy of Panda Bear, but instead has an authenticity that is quite refreshing and all his own. That’s why we really believe that Slow Loris is one of the great overlooked DIY artists of 2011. We even kind of scratch our heads wondering – “why isn’t this guy getting the love he deserves?” And that’s what we do all of this for – to expose overlooked artists and bands, rarely heard songs, and under the radar albums.

As with many relatively unknown DIY artists that IRC has profiled over the years, the organic quality of Doyle’s songs, and the fact that he composes, sings, plays all of the instruments, and mixes and produces all of his songs himself, adds a level of originality and rawness that is not possible with Top 40 mainstream music, and creates a mystique that makes his music all that more appealing. Following the release of his debut album, Extra Colors, last November, Slow Loris just dropped his second album, Routine Glow, in June.

Below are two tracks from Routine Glow that exemplify why it is an overlooked album. “Everybody Knows,” with its cool guitar licks, sounds like an epic track in the tradition of alternative rock circa 1995 – you can clearly hear evidence of Slow Loris’ affinity for alt rock bands like Pavement and Built to Spill. Following that standout track, is yet another standout track – “Practice” – that is undeniably of the chillwave/bedroom pop origin. These tracks are also qualifiers for the upcoming mixes of Best Rarely Heard Songs of 2011.

“Everybody Knows” – Slow Loris from Routine Glow

“Practice” – Slow Loris from Routine Glow

Over the past five years especially, the rise of one-man (and increasingly, one-woman) bands has really created it’s own successful, and wildly popular, sub-genre within a sub-genre of indie rock. In this case, Slow Loris is a one-man lo-fi beach rock band, and, as with some other eclectic one-man bands, he covers so many genres and sub-genres that it’s nearly impossible to give a simple answer to “what is his sound like?” It’s recorded layers of chilled beats, shimmering guitar notes, enticing hooks, cozy rhythms, reverb-heavy vocals, and glistening synth keys with a clear influence of alternative rock.

Slow Loris’ sound is similar to bands like Wavves and Beach Fossils, and to a lesser extent, Wild Nothing and The Drums. Doyle lists among his biggest influences artists that range from alternative rock gods Pavement, indie bands like No Age and Yo La Tengo, psychedelic classic rock bands like The Velvet Underground, and post punk and Brit Pop bands such as Television, Big Star, and Teenage Fanclub.

In fact, you can hear all of these influences in Doyles wonderfully crafted songs. Last November, he released his debut album, Extra Colors, which followed his March 2010 EP Dreamland. Here are three tracks from that album that we want to share. Just choosing three tracks from this spectacular album – perhaps one of the most overlooked of the summer – was not an easy thing to do.

“La La Swin” – Slow Loris from Extra Colors (2010)

“We Were Never Alone” – Slow Loris from Extra Colors (2010)

Doyle’s sound at times definitely falls into the lo-fi beachwave indie rock sub-genre, even though Madison is some 1,000 miles east of the Atlantic. But, if you count the shores of the Great Lakes as beaches, then his has a nearer source of inspiration. Yet, his beachy/sunny/sandy sounds makes sense after learning that Doyle is a recent transplant to Madison from Delaware, a state not exactly known nationally for its beaches, but it has them nonetheless. Here is another track from his most recent album, plus his 2010 EP, Dream/Vacation, released in March of last year.

“Golden Lines” – Slow Loris from Routine Glow

“Dream Vacation” – Slow Loris from Dream/Vacation (2010)

Listen to and download more of Slow Loris’ music via Bandcamp

Best New Releases (July 26th) – The Fair Ohs, The Features, Tidelands, Boy + Kite, Dex Romweber Duo, Pallers, Mr. Lewis and the Funeral Five, Little Horn

Posted on by Max Hammer

July has been an interesting month for new releases, with many impressive releases from indie and DIY artists and bands that we never heard of before. In fact, if you missed any of the Best New Releases mixtapes for July, we encourage you to check them out because there are awesome lead single MP3s for streaming or downloading that you might be really surprised by, including Best New Releases for July 5th; July 12th; July 19th.

This week’s Best New Releases is the last installment for July, and we have some additional new albums, with new singles, that we are really enjoying a lot. While there have been few “big” new releases in July, there have been plenty of under and on the radar releases that have made us take a second look at some of the top new bands of 2011. As we did in 2010, we’ll be rolling out mixtape profiles of top new breakout bands of 2011, that will include voting scripts so that you can pick your favorite new bands of the year.

That said, July 2011’s new albums – in quantity and quality – falls far below the Best New Releases of July 2010. In fact, this week is one of the thinnest weeks for new albums, EPs and singles, but there are still some noteworthy drops that we think many of you will find intriguing – again, mostly from bands that few people – even indie enthusiasts – have heard of before. A number of bloggers have commented on the relative lack of buzz bands so far this summer. While we understand that view, there are still plenty that are worth highlighting, including releases that we think are exclusive to IRC because the artists sent them in directly to us, such as Pallers.

London’s Breakout Band The Fair Ohs Drop Debut in the States

Our favorite new album of the week is from East Londoners The Fair Oh’s tropical indie pop debut, Everything Is Dancing, which is fitting for this album because it is full of uptempo, lo-fi Afropop influenced psych-rock. In fact, Everything Is Dancing is more of a tropical lo-fi psych rock blast than the releases from The Fair Oh’s Lefse Records‘ labelmates  Ganglians, and, as KEXP stated: “trashier than either Woods or Dinosaur Feathers.” Yes, indeed. If you are a fan of any of the aforementioned bands, you’ll probably want to get The Fair Oh’s debut. We are stoked to have three singles from Everything Is Dancing below for your review; and it is a good representation of what is easily one of our favorite debut albums of the summer, thus far.

“Baldessari” – The Fair Ohs from Everything Is Dancing

Double-shot: “Eden Rocks” – The Fair Ohs from Everything Is Dancing

Triple-shot: “Summer Lake” – The Fair Ohs from Everything Is Dancing

Other than the spectacular debut from The Fair Ohs, there really is not much else going on this week in the realm of new releases that has us excited. Coming in a close second would have to be the debut from The Features, who appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live last evening on the release date of their debut LP. We need more time to listen to The Features’ Wildnerness, but so far, so good. As well, we are really digging the fresh track from Tidelands, “Holy Grail.” While we sill have yet to listen to the entire self-released debut, If…, we expect it will be satisfactory, if not more so.

“Content” – The Features from Wilderness

“Holy Grail” – Tidelands from If… (self-released)

The lead track, “Think in Stereo,” from Boy + Kite‘s new, self-released debut, Go Fly, is an undeniably catchy indie pop track, and one of the standout tracks of the week. Next, the Dex Romweber Duo are 1950’s-style rockabilly revivalists, and we have absolutely no problem with that. The lead track featured below, “Jungle Drums,” is a certifiable bluesy rock romp that should get you up from your chair and dancing in your cubicle (cube dwellers: that’s your cue, in case you didn’t get the clue). We recommend inviting your fellow cubeivores to join you.

“Think In Stereo” – Boy + Kite from Go Fly (self-released)

” Jungle Drums” – Dex Romweber Duo from Is That You In The Blue?

Mr. Lewis and the Funeral Five Cover The Kinks’ “Alcohol”

And, in keeping with the bluesy, older style rock theme for a moment, don’t be afraid to taste “Alcohol,” a Kinks’ cover song from the band Mr. Lewis and the Funeral Five. Also included is the original track from The Kinks’ now-classic 1971 groundbreaking (at least in the annals of country/rock infusion) concept album, Muswell Hillbillies. The track “Alcohol” is one of the album’s many highlights, and is yet another example of Ray Davies‘ genius songwriting abilities, as demonstrated by some of the lyrics included below. It’s also a great sing-along drinking song.

The track, which is an interesting combo of marching band, theatrical, country and jazz styles, is also somewhat autobiographical – Ray, and his legendary guitarist brother, Dave Davies, were notorious in the rock world of the late 1960’s and early to mid-1970’s, for their drunken antics on stage during the early 1970’s, which sometimes included fist fights between the two. The Davies brothers were the Liam and Noel Gallagher of their time – there’s no question about that. In fact, even now, in their 60’s, the brothers squabble with one another, which has unfortunately or their fans, kept them from reuniting for the past 15 years.

“Alcohol” (The Kinks) – Mr. Lewis and the Funeral Five from Delirium Tremendous

The Original: “Alcohol” – The Kinks from Muswell Hillbillies (1971)

“Alcohol” lyrics:
“Barley wine pink gin,
He’ll drink anything,
Port, pernod or tequila,
Rum, scotch, vodka on the rocks,
As long as all his troubles disappeared.
But he messed up his life and he beat up his wife,
And the floosie’s gone and found another sucker
She’s gonna turn him on to drink
She’s gonna lead him to the brink
And when his money’s gone,
She’ll leave him in the gutter”

Little Horn and Blind Atlas New Singles

We are fans of some country/folk rock (think Neil Young, Akron/Family, Wilco, Iron & Wine), but it has to be great to keep us interested. The two applicable tracks below, from Little Horn and Blind Atlas, are OK tracks, but probably not strong enough that we’ll remember them a month from now; however, we do prefer Little Horn’s “Bridges Break” over Black Atlas’ “Mary Anne”. In fact, Little Horn’s lead singer does remind us a bit of the Eels‘ lead singer Mark Oliver Everett (aka, “E”). Anyone else reading this agree with this assessment?

“Bridges Break” – Little Horn from Twelve

“Mary Anne” – Blind Atlas from Iron Wall

Another great band, Pallers, from our favorite Swedish label, Labrador Records, released their debut LP this week. After three years spent in apartments, basements, villas and cabins in Pallers, La mar, Stockholm, Miami and Cape Town,  the indie pop/atmospheric/dark duo has completed their debut, The Sea of Memories. The single ”Come Rain, Come Sunshine” is the lead track from the album. In exactly four minutes, the track builds from weird, stripped down electro to a grandiose dance epos with thumping percussion, massive choirs and a monumental chorus.

“Come Rain, Come Sunshine” – Pallers from The Sea of Memories

“Evergreens” – Debbie Neigher from Debbie Neigher (self-released)

Double-shot: “My My My” – Debbie Neigher from Debbie Neigher (self-released)

“Always Like The Son” – Release the Sunbird from Come Back To Us (stream)

July 26

America – Back Pages
Beoga – How to Tune A Fish
Chuck Loeb – Plain n’ Simple
Debbie Neigher – S/T (7/26)
Kindred the Family Soul – Love Has No Recession
Jeff Johnson – Shine
Jimmy Vaughan – More Blues, Ballads & Favorites
Joss Stone – LP1
Kelly Rowland – Here I Am
Mara Carlyle – Floreat (U.K.)
Oh Minnows – For Shadows (U.K.)
Queen – Expanded Catalog Remasters
Release the Sunbird (Zach Rogue) – Always Like the Son DC
The Horrors – Skying
Vanessa Carlton – Rabbits on the Run

Fresh Tracks from Cymbals Eat Guitars, M83, VHS or Beta, Golden Bloom, The Stone Foxes, Chairlift, Loney Dear

Posted on by Max Hammer

By Maxwell Silver

The Fresh Tracks mixtape series has really exploded since we fired up the first installment last year. So, like Ray Davies of The Kinks shouts in the title track of the band’s splendid 1981 LP release: “Give the people what they want.” The idea behind the Fresh Tracks series is to highlight newly released tracks from upcoming releases by a wide range of bands, including Cymbals Eat Guitars, M83, VHS or Beta, Golden Bloom, The Stone Foxes, Chairlift, Loney Dear, and many others.

The flow of new tracks from upcoming releases is like a fast-rushing river in the spring after a winter of heavy snowfall. It’s a challenge, to say the least, to keep up with them all. So, one way to do that is to simply put together regular playlists  for the Fresh Tracks mix series. We’d love to have more time to review each track, but we’re simply so busy with other posts that are in the pipeline that we need to stay focused. The silver lining in that cloud is that you get to listen (and download by right clicking on the song title and choosing “Save As” to your computer) to a mixtape unabated and without any preconceptions.

Please keep in mind that all MP3s are free and legal, and in return, show a little love for your favorite artists – buy some of their music, go to a show, or even Like or Retweet them. Indie artists really need their fans to support them anyway they can, because they certainly can’t make a living selling music (with a few exceptions).  We hope you enjoy this latest Fresh Tracks mix, and please let the community know what you think by using the comments section below.

“Rifle Eyesight” – Cymbals Eat Guitars from Lenses Alien – Aug. 30th

“Midnight City” – M83 from Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming – Oct. 18th

“Breaking Bones” – VHS or Beta from Diamonds and Death – Sept. 27th

“You Go On (& On)” – Golden Bloom from March to the Drums – Aug. 26th

“Psycho” – The Stone Foxes from Psycho b/w Serious People – July 27th

“Teenage Girls” – Bad Sports from Kings Of The Weekend – Aug. 16th

“Amanaemonesia” – Chairlift from Amanaemonesia 7″ – Aug. 16th

“Tanktop” – Caroline Smith from Little Wind – Sept. 20th – keep?

“My Heart” – Loney Dear from Hall Music – Oct. 6th

“Cruel/Kind” – Gold Leaves from The Ornament – Aug. 16th

“Maracas” – Mates of State from Mountaintops – Sept. 13th

“Race Is Long” – The Gift from Explode – Sept. 20th

“I Can Hear the Trains Coming” – Mathieu Santos from Massachusetts 2010 – Aug. 2nd

“All My Friends” – Little Horn from Twelve – July 26th

“Kites With Lights” – Cosmonauts from  Cosmonauts – Aug. 9th

“Tell Me Why” – D/Wolves from D/Wolves – Oct 8th

“From Scratch” – Brian Keenan from Today This Year – Aug. 2nd

“Beautiful” (Peyote Version) – BigBee of the Whitetree from Fairytale Dust – Sept. 13th

“Lawn” –  Collections Of Colonies Of Bees from Giving – Aug. 23rd

“Breakers” – Gem Club from Breakers – Sept. 27th

“Alive” – Armand Margjeka from Margo Margo – Aug. 9th

“Forget the Past” – The Irrepressibles from Mirror Mirror – Aug. 9th

“Come Rain, Come Sunshine” – Pallers from Sea of Memories – Sept. 27th

“Old Friend” – Caveman from CoCo Beware –  Sept. 13th

“2012” – Young Circles from Jungle Habits – Aug. 23rd

Dan Deacon Reissues; Appears Tonight at Comic-Con with Francis Ford Coppola for TWIXT

Posted on by August W. Zander

For the past year or so, Dan Deacon has been working closely with director Francis Ford Coppola on the score & soundtrack for the new film TWIXT, and now the public is going to finally going to get its first taste of the film this Saturday at Comic-Con where Coppola and Deacon will appear together to present the trailer to the film and to unveil other unique aspects of how the film will be presented.

Coppola will be presenting portions of his upcoming film TWIXT at a panel discussion on Saturday, July 23 at Comic-Con at Hall H. TWIXT stars Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern, Elle Fanning, and Ben Chaplin. Coppola describes the film as, “one part Gothic romance, one part personal film, and one part the kind of horror film that began my career.”

STREAM: “My Own Face Is F Word” from Meetle Mice” – Dan Deacon

Coppola and Deacon have developed a unique new approach to the presentation of the film that will incorporate live music by acclaimed independent performance artist Dan Deacon. Deacon will attend Comic-Con with Coppola to help demonstrate the interactive experience of the film. The film incorporates both 2-D and 3-D elements.

This week Deacon is also preparing to dig into the vaults and reissue two of his early LPs, Meetle Mice and Silly Hat Vs. Eagle Hat, on double LP via Carpark Records on Sept. 13. Also, limited cassette versions of Meetle, Silly as well as Spiderman of the Rings and Bromst will be issued and made available at shows and on the Carpark online shop. In October, Carpark will also reissue Spiderman of the Rings on LP.

Notes by Dan Deacon on the Reissues:

The music contained on these two albums (Meetle Mice & Silly Hat Vs. Eagle Hat) I wrote while in college (and a few while in high school) when I was just discovering computer music. I wrote them for fun, never planning on doing anything with them at that the time or expecting them to be heard outside of my circle of friends. When I was asked to play a show on campus I thought it might be a good idea to burn some CD-Rs and try to sell them at the show.

Going through my files, I found the pieces that I liked the most, grouped them into two different collections and gave them the most appropriate/absurd titles I could think of. The organization of the songs was somewhat thoughtout but mostly chaotic: make sure the granular synth pieces are far from each other; keep the songs with beats spread out; sound collages placed amongst sine wave drone pieces. They were more like compilations of my experiments than albums of compositions.

I made only 8 CD-R copies of each in photocopied sleeves with contact paper on the discs. I sold all but 1 of each for $7 or two for $10. Explosions were going off in my head, dollar signs appearing in my eyes. Making $70 from selling CD-Rs was blowing my mind. I started selling them at every show, even though the music contained on them didn’t represent what I ever performed live, since the music on Meetle Mice and Silly Hat was never meant to be performed live (except for the acoustic ensemble pieces).

The CD-Rs and artwork are riddled with mistakes. There’s digital clipping on many of the tracks; ‘Silly Hat vs. Egale Hat’ was meant to be ‘Silly Hat vs. Eagle Hat’; “copy write” should have been ‘copyright’, etc., but I thought the typos were funny and kept it with each batch of the CD-Rs. Since I was only selling them on campus or a few shows in NYC it didn’t really matter.

I hated stuff that took itself too seriously so keeping my spelling mistakes glaring was important to me. And considering the music was made in a vacuum with no intention of it ever seeing the light of day, it made sense to keep all the errors in their original state (true of this reissue as well the artwork for this reissue was scanned from the original run of 8.)

I was a very different musician back then trying to figure out how to interact with sound, what could be done with it, where it could go, learning music software for the first time. Since then my aesthetic has shifted, my absurdist mindset subdued. At times I feel like these albums are skeletons in my musical closet. Many of the song titles are absurd or toy with the idea of what is offensive and what is not, many of them created as a commentary on the super politically correct atmosphere that was Purchase College in the early 2000s.

These albums are like seeds. They sound, look and feel very different from the fruit that they’ve grown but they are still of the same tree.

STREAM: “Spring” – Dan Deacon from Silly Hat Vs. Eagle Hat 

In Dee Mail, Vol. X – Night Manager, Ghastly City Sleep, The Vain, Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, The Teenage Lesbians, Is Shepherd

Posted on by Max Hammer

As we continue to sift through hundreds of music submissions we receive in the mail – thus, the title, In Dee Mail – we continue to highlight singles from that most people have never heard of, including ourselves. The fact that most of the bands are rarely known makes this particular music mixtape series all the more interesting, because it is unlikely you’ll hear these artists anywhere else. A saying that we’ve had for a long time goes: “Some of the best music is that which you haven’t even heard yet.”

A few people asked about the In Dee Mail series because they haven’t seen a IDM post in a while. The main reason for this is because we’ve been fusing what would otherwise be bands for the In Dee Mail series into many other regular posts like the weekly Best New Releases and S-25 Mix, plus, 7 Bands You Gotta Hear, Fresh Tracks, and others. However, it’s time to start saving more of the bands that contact us directly for just the In Dee Mail series.

In this installment of In Dee Mail:
Night Manager
Ghastly City Sleep
The Vain
Nnamdi Ogbonnaya
Buxter Hoot’n
I Believe in Hotpants
The Teenage Lesbians
Is Shepherd

[zbplayer]

Let’s start off with two bands from Brooklyn that caught our attention after sending us some tunes. However, not only are both bands from Brooklyn, they each also just released a new album a couple of weeks ago. Ordinarily, in this case, we’d be publishing these band profiles and songs to the Recent Releases We Almost Missed posts, but they are so much more fitting as the top two bands to kick off this mixtape.

The Brooklyn “doo wop/grunge” band Night Manager released its new album, Fire Talk, on July 5th. In this case, we are definitely not instrumental in ‘breaking out’ a new band because Night Manager have already been featured on blogs like Pitchfork, The Fader and Altered Zones. However, this is their first time being featured on IRC. As far as the biographical information, this is literally all they provided us: “Three dudes and one girl from Paris making fuzzy, surfy, grungy pop in a bedroom in Brooklyn.” And really, it’s not a disservice to keep it that simple since the focus is on the music.

Opened For: Tennis, Bass Drum of Death, and Reading Rainbow.
Musical Influences: Nirvana, Leslie Gore, Sam Cooke, Total Slacker

“Pizza Pasta” – Night Manager from Fire Talk

“Blackout Sex” – Night Manager from Fire Talk

Night Manager on Facebook

ghastly city sleeps

Another Brooklyn band, Ghastly City Sleep, sent in the single “Being; Or, What You Will” (whatever that is supposed to mean), that demonstrates the bands post rock indie roots. The track is a meandering, lo-fi psychedelic track that reminds us a lot of Melpo Mene on shrooms. However, we only received one track from the band, so we don’t have much to go on.

Still, the track at least shows promise. But is that enough? This is the same question that always arises with an apparently talented band with true potential residing in Brooklyn. Because there are literally thousands of artists and bands in Brooklyn, and without question hundreds over the past decade that have gone beyond the NYC borough to national and even international acclaim, it’s not good enough for a band based in Brooklyn to be just good, or talented, or promising.

Yet, take that same band – Ghastly City Sleep or Night Manager – and plop them down in the middle of the music scene of another city somewhere in the U.S. (with exceptions of Austin, Portland, S.F. and L.A.), and the chances greatly increase they will stand out.

That aside, GCS is made up of former members from Virginia hardcore/emo/post-rock bands such as City Of Caterpillar, pg. 99, Majority Rule and Gregor Samsa. After moving to Brooklyn 2005, they’ve released two records – their eponomynous debut EP in 2007, and a widely-praised full length, Moondrifts, in 2010.

“Being; Or, What You Will” – Ghastly City Sleep from Lunic Driftwood: Remnants & Remixes of Moondrifts

Opened For: Pygmy Lush, Wires Under Tension, Hooray For Earth
Musical Influences: Bear In Heaven

Ghastly City Sleep official website

Nnamdi Ogbonnaya – Lansing, Illinois

by Sterling Forest

Nnamdi Ogbonnaya has an aesthetic expressing a goofy outlook on being sexual. This brought images of Skerrit Bwoy in the “Pon De Floor” music video to mind. But unlike Major Lazer, Ogbonnaya’s new album, Rotissabooty, lacks a sharp and serious tone in attitude, album art, sound, and lyrical themes. This difference makes it seem like Ogbonnaya made Rotissabooty as a joke – which is confusing because of the difference in the level of intricacy in the song structure and instrumental choices, and the lacking attributes named above.

On the other hand if the style of the album art were altered to cater more to the dump.fm community, I could see this music finding a niche there. As for me, it feels like something I could send to a friend because they may find it funny but that might be as far as the novelty goes.

Buxter Hoot’n – San Francisco

San Francisco DIY band, Buxter Hoot’n, released its third, and self-titled, album back in May. The lead single “Blue Night” demonstrates the band’s influence of Americana root rock, together with “Rolling Stones swagger, pop sensibilities and honest lyricism.” The band, whose name references a baroque era composer as well as family folklore, claims to have “created its finest and most mature album to date.”

Their sophomore album, In Another Life, debuted as the #5 most added album for the Americana Music Association, as well as charts for the Roots Music Review chart and reached #8 in the Jambands.com chart where it was in the top 10 for three consecutive months. The band’s disciplined musicianship and the vocals of Vince Dewald and Melissa Merrill, indicate to us a band that deserves even more credit and recognition then they’ve already received. Buxter Hoot’n infuse an array of sounds that span from haunting violin and banjo, to Allman Brothers style electric rockers, to psychedelia.”

“Blue Night” – Buxter Hoot’n from Buxter Hoot’n

I Believe in Hotpants – Nashville, Tennessee

I Believe in Hotpants is a Nashville trio who claim to create music that “we’d listen to if we were the types who liked listening to ourselves.” In addition, or despite, the wacky band name, this Nashville indie band crossed our radars after sending us a few tracks from their latest album, The Teenage Pregnancy Party. In the bio the band presented, they wrote: “…listening to our music probably provides a more insightful bio than we could ever write while trying to create one.” That’s pretty much all the band offered in their bio section of the submission form.

We’re always a bit perplexed why bands don’t offer more 411 when they should be aiming to create a stand-out profile – marketing which is not particularly what musicians are known for. The flip side, however, is that there is currently a trend on where bands don’t wish to seek much publicity, and that trend would make it much easier to use the word “indie,” which is such a broad and multi-dimensional phrase these days.

“Is That You, Fr. Payeras?” – I Believe in Hotpants from The Teenage Pregnancy Party

“An Outclassed Song Title” – I Believe in Hotpants from The Teenage Pregnancy Party

Opened For: None

Musical Influence: The Beatles, The Dandy Warhols

The Teenage Lesbians – Helsinki, Finland

From Helsinki, Finland, The Teenage Lesbians, are not lesbians at all, but in fact a four-man indie rock band. They could be men who like woman and desire to be women themselves. The band are working on an album about Canada, titled Canada Unlimited, even though the band members have never actually set foot in Canada. The songs are based on travel guides, newspaper stories, Googling and wild guesses.

While the band said the album is due out some time this year, they still have not announced a release date. However, we have two of the Canada-centric songs from the album, including the catchy pop track, “Vancouver Skyline” and “Sasquatchawen in Ruins”. The Teenage Lesbians released their debut limited edition 12″” LP Black Dress Day in 2006. Get more info at http://canadaunvisited.wordpress.com/

The band describes “Ruins in Sasquatchawen” as a “post apocalyptic vision of Saskatchewan, after mankind has vanished from the face of the earth” where “wild animals have taken over our deserted librarys, malls and highways.”

Music Influences: Neil Young, Stooges, Sonic Youth

Opened For: None

“Vancouver Skyline” – The Teenage Lesbians from Canada Unlimited

“Ruins in Sasquatchawen” – The Teenage Lesbians from Canada Unlimited

Is Shepherd – Various Locales, England

The band members of Is Shepherd hail from various locales in the U.K., including Newcastle, Tyneside, and Englans. The release of their new album, Songs For Sons, on June 6th, has gone largely overlooked on music blogs, even among those in U.K.

Upon listening to the first two songs the band sent below, we were not blown away, but something made us continue to listen. While the songs sound like demo versions, that might be part of the appeal, and what prompted us to listen to these two songs a few times.  We think Is Shepherd has laid the foundation of their potential as a band with the release of Songs for Sons. But, of course, we’re most interested in what you think.

“Pine Box” – Is Shepherd from Song for Sons

“Forever More” – Is Shepherd from Song for Sons

Music Influences: Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Queen; Yo La Tengo, Low, Wilco

Opened For: Josh T. Pearson

Is Shepherd official website

Best Summer Songs, Vol. XI – Wavves, The Vaccines, Best Coast, Mazes, Triptides, Film School, The Kinks, Radiohead

Posted on by Max Hammer

(Originally posted in July 2011) It’s almost hard to believe that it is summer here in northern California and the Pacific Northwest, because it has been unusually cool, and even rained (the latter which almost never happens in the Bay Area during summer). One of the best things about summer is taking trips to the beach. We’re grateful to be only a few feet from the beach, so putting together summertime, beach-themed playlist mixes is almost a requirement.

You can stream the entire playlist below simply by clicking on the first song. Not only to we obviously enjoy listening to the mixes over and over again, but the best part of it all is sharing them with people across the U.S. and around the world. Some of you will hear songs, and artists, for the first time that you really enjoy, others will be reminded of songs they always liked but haven’t heard for a long time, and even more will experience a combination of the two.

This latest mix in the Best Summer Songs series includes 35 exclusively indie and alt. rock songs that we think exemplify summer in one or more ways. This mix is mostly indie and alternative rock oriented, but also features classic rock songs for summer as well.

Please feel free to Comment – you’re comment will be accessible to tens, even hundreds, of thousands of people. Let everyone know your favorite track(s) from this particular mix. As some of you know, we occasionally pick the author of a comment (usually when they have a keen observation about a particular song) to win a free and legal album download, a vinyl album, gift certificate or card, sometimes even concert and festival tickets.

“Super Soaker” – Wavves from King of the Beach (2010)

“Oceans” – The Format from Dog Problems (2006)

“Wetsuit” – The Vaccines from What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? (2011)

“Beach Comber” – Real Estate from Real Estate (2009)

“When The Sun Don’t Shine” – Best Coast from Hope Is Just a Walking Dream (2010)

“Beach Party” – Air France from No Way Down (2008)

“Ocean City” – Kurt Vile from Square Shells (2010)

“Sunburn” – Beat Connection from Surf Noir EP (2010)

“Blue Sunshine” – Blue Giant from Blue Giant (2010)

“Sundriped” – Com Truise from Cyanide Sisters EP (2010)

“Sunshine/Pretty Girls” – Unnatural Helpers from Unnatural Sampler (2010)

“Surf and Turf/Maths Tag” – Mazes from A Thousand Keys (2008)

“Shadows” – Triptides from Tropical Dreams (2011)

“Light and Day – Reach For The Sun” – The Polyphonic Spree from The Beginning Stages (2002)

“Sunny Day” – Film School from Fission (2010)

“At The Beach” – The Avett Brothers from Mignonette (2004)

“Buenos Aires Beach” – The War on Drugs from Barrel of Batteries EP (2008)

“Forget Me Not” – Glass Vaults from Glass EP (2010)

“Summer Hits Or J Plus J Don’t Like” – Mazes from A Thousand Keys (2011)

“Golden Girl” – Therapies Son from Over The Sea (2011)

“RE: Chillwaves” – John Blaze from Introductions EP (2010)

“Waves” – The Elected from Me First (2004)

“The Secret Ocean” – Of Montreal from The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower (1998)

“Blood The Sun And Water” – Born Ruffians from Say It (2010)

“The Sun On His Back” – Camera Obscura from Biggest Blues Hi Fi (2004)

“Sunset Junction” – Work Drugs from Work Drugs (2010)

“Definitely Beachy (Reprise)” – Air Miami from Me Me Me (1995)

“Pictures in the Sand” – The Kinks from Great Lost Kinks Albums (1971)

“Don’t Look Back Into The Sun” – The Libertines from The New Breed (2003)

“Burn The Beach” – Leisure Birds from That Time of the Month (2010)

“Brighton Beach” – Little Brazil from SXSW Sampler (2010)

“Keepin On” – Turbo Fruits from Keepin On 7 (2010)

“On The Beach (Neil Young)” – Radiohead

“Our Scenery” – Gauntlet Hair from I Was Thinking (2010)

“Beach & Friends (Hey Champ Remix) – French Horn Rebellion Vs Database

Best New Releases – Washed Out, Zomby, The Joy Formidable, Eleanor Friedberger, Monarchs, Sons & Daughters, Street Eaters

Posted on by Max Hammer

washedoutwithinwithoutYou probably know if you saw last week’s Best New Releases, that, at least compared to other weeks this year, the pickings were rather thin, and this week is just about the same. Atlanta musician Ernest Greene, better known in the indie rock/electro-pop/chillwave circles as Washed Out. Greene has risen fast in the past couple of years, especially leading up to, and following his 2010 appearance at South By Southwest music conference/festival, which we remember well after standing outside Emo’s for nearly an hour in the beaming March sun to catch his show that was part of a showcase that included other bands like Memory Tapes and Neon Indian.

“Amor Fati” – Washed Out from Within and Without

In the past year, Washed Out has continued to rise as one of the top ‘chillwave’ artists around, despite the fact that hundreds, thousands, of similar artists have tried to replicate his success with their own take on DIY indie electro-pop bedroom recordings that are heavily synthesized, full of reverb and echoing vocal tracks, dubs, computerized beats to create a lazy, warm and fuzzy (yes, that does sound a bit over-stated, but those are commonly used words to describe his music) summer time evoking tracks. In addition to extensive tours, music festival appearances, collaborations with other artists, Washed Out’s lent one of his most popular tracks, “Feel It All Around,” as the theme song for IFC’s show, Portlandia.

“Feel It All Around” – Washed Out from Life Of Leisure (2009)

Although he has been pumping out tracks for some two years now, Greene only just released his debut album, Within and Without, yesterday on Seattle‘s legendary Sub Pop Records, which is home to some of the best indie artists of the day, and which also has an amazing history of having signed some of the biggest grunge and alternative rock bands of the 1990’s and beyond. Washed Out has great company on Sub Pop, including label mates such as Fleet Foxes, Blitzen Trapper, The Vaselines, The Shins, Iron and Wine, Mudhoney and many, many others. Get the album via iTunes by clicking the album title link below.

“Eyes Be Closed” – Washed Out from Within and Without

Washed Out’s debut includes tracks that were released as DIY singles over the past couple of years, including two EPs, and which helped establish him as a serious artist after a few influential bloggers featured his music after ‘discovering’ his home-made tracks on MySpace. Afterall, if Sub Pop signs an artist to their label, it is only because they are immensely talented, unique and promising. After listening to the tracks below, you can learn more about this fascinating artist from our Washed Out archives, as well as Ernest Greene’s profile in Wikipedia.  We expect Within and Without to be one of the top debut albums of 2011 – and so far, based on our own spins of the album – it’s looking like it will definitely be on our 2011 Best Debut Albums list come the end of the year (which amazingly is already half over).

Flashback Track: “You’ll See It” – Washed Out from Life Of Leisure (2009)

In addition to Washed Out, we were really impressed by the release from another similar artist, UK dubstep/dance producer Zomby.  The lead single from the album, “Things Fall Apart” is one of the most delightfully electro-pop, Panda Bear-sounding tracks we’ve heard so far this summer.

“Things Fall Apart” – Zomby from Dedication

The summer sounds are all over this week’s Best New Releases. In addition to Washed Out and Zomby, we’re also excited by the new solo debut of Eleanor Friedberger, who is best known as the other half of the brother (Matthew Friedberger) and sister duo known as The Fiery Furnaces. Friedberger’s appropriately named album, Last Summer (when it was recorded), according to KEXP‘s blog, “waited on a shelf until the appropriate season returned to compliment the album’s warm glow, yet its relative simplicity, compared to the duo’s sometimes difficult songwriting, harkens back to times much further than that…”

“My Mistakes” – Eleanor Friedberger from Last Summer

There’s an unmistakable string of great female singers among this week’s new releases, from Eleanor Friedberger to Celeste Griffin of the Austin blues folk band, Monarchs. When we heard the track, “Business Casual,” from Monarchs’ new album The Rise and Fall, we couldn’t help but to think of the similarities in her voice to that of Neko Case.

“Business Casual” – Monarchs from The Rise and Fall (self-released)

We are fans of The Joy Formidable, so the fact that they have a new live EP, appropriately titled Roarities, is also definitely worth noting, and one which we’ve already listened to in the cafe. There are a number of strong tracks on there, but our favorite is “The Greatest Light is the Greatest Shade.” Also, we’re digging new singles out this week from new albums by Sons & Daughters, Oax, Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs, Street Eaters, Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, Bones Howell, and Thomas Dybdahl. Plus, don’t miss the In Dee Mail artists with new releases this week including Fiction 20 Down,

“The Greatest Light Is the Greatest Shade” (Live from London Koko) – The Joy Formidable from Roarities EP (iTunes only)

“Breaking Fun” – Sons & Daughters from Mirror Mirror

“Love and Crashing” – Oax from This Distance

“Alone in This Together” – Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs from Alone In This Together

“Nation Builder” – Street Eaters from Rusty Eyes and Hydrocarbons

“Open Everything“ – Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players from Lost and Found

“Hair of the Dog” – Bones Howell from Hair of the Dog

“B.A. Part” – Thomas Dybdahl from Songs

 

This Week’s Best New Releases from In Dee Mail

As much as possible, we also like to highlight artists and bands who have new releases out this week, but they are either on no one’s radar, or they usually are flying below the radar for reasons that we never truly understand. Hundreds of artists every month submit their music to IRC, and mostly because of time limitations, we don’t get around to profiling far to many of them, or we have to simply integrate them into other mixes that we publish to the site all of the time. Because we basically have been receiving and profiling bands who send their music to us via the mail for years, it is important to our readers, because, as mentioned above, there are many cases when an artist or band gets their first ‘big’ exposure on an indie music site via IRC.

As some of you know, we usually keep these artists for the In Dee Mail series, but because of the volume of impressive music we receive all of the time, we’ve had to branch out to include the songs we are receiving in other playlists, including Best New Releases. Therefore, you can call this the In Dee Mail section of the Best New Releases since each of the artists and bands featured below sent their music to us unsolicited, and they also have new albums out this week.

Fiction 20 Down is not as ‘new’ or ‘unknown’ as many other artists that submit music to IRC, but they are also not well-known outside of Baltimore. Yet we love their finely polished reggae rock tracks very much, including the new singles, “Do Not Feed The Radio,” and “Say So Long.” The former track is perfect for a summer cookout party. With a sound similar to 311 and Sublime, Fiction 20 Down have opened for artists such as EVE 6, Supervillains, Iration, Ballyhoo, Jimmie’s Chicken Shack, and The Movement.

“Do Not Feed the Radio” – Fiction 20 Down from Do Not Feed The Radio

“Say So Long” – Fiction 20 Down from Do Not Feed The Radio

 

Fresh Tracks: Beirut’s ‘The Rip Tide’ Album is One of the Most Anticipated of the Summer – and For Good Reason

Posted on by Max Hammer
beiruttheriptide
Beirut will release their new album, The Rip Tide, on August 30th

One could make a pretty good case for the fact that Beirut are one of the most talented and popular indie bands ever, and deserve their fair share of the credit for helping to popularize indie music to a wider audience over the years. With a solid discography of classic indie albums like The Flying Club Cup, any announcement of a new album by Beirut creates a sustained flurry of expectation, speculation and chatter among literally millions of fans worldwide.

The anticipation building around the upcoming release of the band’s first album in four year’s is palpable. The new album is called Rip Tide, and has been slated for official release in the U.S. on August 30th. After a show recently, we were given an advance copy of the album (see tracklisting below), and listening to it, was the main priority after the show.

Based on the number of times we’ve listened to Rip Tide now (on the fifth or sixth spin right now), we feel strongly that Beirut fans are going to be pleased with the band’s first album in four years.  We’ve already listened to it three times. Already, the first single from the album, “East Harlem,” has made the rounds, even taking the No. 2 spot on the third week of June’s Top 10 Songs list. It’s a fantastic song, but, thankfully, it doesn’t end there. Rip Tide is yet another album of wonderfully written and impeccably recorded songs from one of the best indie bands of the past decade.

“East Harlem” – Beirut from The Rip Tide – out August 30th

One of the main things that we like about Beirut is the consistency of their sound and their work – rich, textured, full, creative, clever, engaging, and a pillar of influence to other musicians around the world. And while Beirut does have a recognizable sound – the unmistakable brass and string instrumentation, the distinct, crooning vocals of Zach Condon, the synth orchestrations, fabulous choruses, thrilling climaxes, strong poetic songwriting influenced by a keen world view, and a professionalism that makes the band members, individually, and collectively, admired by fans, critics and fellow artists.

rip-tide

We don’t want to give away too much about the album, but we believe that Beirut fans will be particularly delighted with The Rip Tide. There are some really fantastic songs on here, including “Santa Fe,” “Goshen,” “A Candle’s Fire”, the first single, “East Harlem,” and the title track. As is the case with all of Beirut’s albums, it’s hard to find a song on The Rip Tide that we don’t like, and easy to find songs we enjoy immensely.

“The Rip Tide” – Beirut from The Rip Tide – due out August 30th

One of the things we also like about the album is that there are many songs about places, as the track listing below clearly shows. Beirut has always evoked a deep affinity, and even longing, in their music for places, which any Beirut fan knows to be true. There are a dozen or more Beirut songs from their fantastic discography that have a geographical reference in them, whether it’s in the lyrics, the song title, or both. We share this affinity for songs that are about places – whether it’s a town or city, state or country, or even a lake, river or ocean.

Beirut has the unique gift to create a sense of place, not just in their lyrics, but through their rich, dynamic and world music influenced compositions. Anyone familiar with the band’s music over the past decade can’t miss this central theme in the music and one of the reasons

The other reason we like The Rip Tide is that fact that it presents more terrific songs for our State of Music playlist series – a mixtape series with the names of states or cities in the song titles. It’s one of our favorite mixtapes to put together, so, if you’ve never heard them before, you gotta check them out.

In fact, it’s about time to make a new State of Music mix. Surely, one of the songs from The Rip Tide will be included. In the meantime, listen to State of Music mixtapes, and find out how this mixtape series was partially influenced by Sufjan Stevens. We have hundreds of great, manually selected and organized playlists for this series, and it’s been a while since we’ve put together a new one – so watch out for that, coming soon.

You may remember Beirut’s third album from 2009, which was basically two EPs – March of the Zapotec/ Realpeople Holland. The former was the band’s collaboration with excellent mican artits. recording with a marching band in Mexico, and the other from Condon‘s solo, bedroom project under the moniker, RealPeople (nope, not the 1980s TV show) . On the latter EP, was yet another place name song, the enchanting, “Venice,” via UmStrum.com. And the place name songs list goes on and on.

“Venice” – RealPeople fom Holland EP (2009)

The Rip Tide Track Listing:

1. A Candle’s Fire
2. Santa Fe
3. East Harlem
4. Goshen
5. Payne’s Bay
6. The Rip Tide
7. Vagabond
8. The Peacock
9. Port of Call

Have You Heard Beirut’s New Brazilian Cover Song?

Beirut also has a new cover song out from the compilation Red Hot + RIO 2, that officially dropped this week. For their part, the members of Beirut recorded an unsurprising excellent cover of Caetano Veloso‘s “O Leãozinho.”  While we have yet to hear all of volume two of Red Hot + Rio, if it’s anything like the first volume, then we’re looking forward to hearing it – the LP is on our Summer Listening list (that gets longer every day).

“O Leãozinho” (Caetano Veloso) – Beirut from Red Hot + Rio 2 via DayDreamStationMusic blog

S-25 Mix: Fresh Tracks from The Fair Ohs, Wooden Shjips, Mumford & Sons, Pepper Rabbit, Youth Lagoon, Jim Ward, Nurses

Posted on by Max Hammer

You probably know by now that we do things kind of different here. For example, we rarely ever post just one or two songs and call it a day. Instead, we regularly publish at least five to 10 songs per post, and often many more. Every month – and especially during the past year and a half – we receive hundreds of songs and albums, and discover others during our regular excursions on the web.

Next, we shave down the stacks of new tracks by keeping only the songs we like the most (doesn’t matter who they are from), and ‘letting go’ of the others. The final cut tracks then go into a playlist that we share and listen to again and again before deciding which playlist series they best fit.

As is always the case, the amount of new songs and albums pile up faster than there is time to really listen to, research and write about everyone of them. Therefore, we often opt for creating mixtapes and playlists that have a common theme, whether it’s Best New Releases, Recent Releases We Almost Missed, S-25 Mix, In Dee Mail, Bands to Watch, and many others.

One of our favorite newer mixtape series is Fresh Tracks, which is simply a mix of some of our favorite new songs that we’ve received in the past few weeks from upcoming albums. So, we decided this latest installment of Fresh Tracks would work perfectly with this week’s S-25 Mix

This latest Fresh Tracks is jam-packed with new singles by Wooden Shjips, The Fair Ohs, Dominant Legs, Jim Ward, Argyle Johansen, Pepper Rabbit, Nurses, Peter Wolf Crier, The Mekons, VHS or Beta, Oax, Little Deadman, Scott Miller, Cuckoo Chaos, The Cinema, Fruit Bats and Luke Temple – and many others.

Tell Us What You Think About This Stack of Fresh Tracks

We are really want to hear your feedback about the songs and/or bands in today’s mix, so please use the Comments section. Plus, your comment may be included in another post on the site and will be seen by literally thousands of people every day. We think there are some dope tracks in this mix, and perhaps more than a few that may be getting their first “big” exposure on the indie blogosphere today.

“Baldessari” – The Fair Ohs from Everything Is Dancing – July 26th

“Lazy Bones” – The Wooden Shjips from West – Aug. 23rd

“Hoop of Love” – Dominant Legs from Invitation – Sept. 27th

“Broken Songs” (with Tegan Quin) – Jim Ward from Quiet In The Valley, On The Shores The End Begins & The Electric Six – Aug. 2nd

“Only We Can Keep You From Harm” – Young Buffalo from Young Von Prettylips – July 18th

“Percocet Blues” – Argyle Johansen from Argyle Johansen and His Inner Demo(n)s – Sept. 6th

“July” – Youth Lagoon from The Year of Hiberation – Sept. 27th

“Alive” – Armand Margjeka from Margo Margo – Aug. 9th

“Escape All Responsibility” – The Chocolate Horse from Beasts – Aug. 16th

“Rosemary Stretch” – Pepper Rabbit from Red Velvet Snow Ball – Aug. 9th

“Before The Bridges” – Future Islands, single release – July 19th

“Fever Dreams” – Nurses from Dracula – Sept. 20th

“Die to Rest” – Prophets & Kings from Prophets & Kings- Aug. 9th

“Another Day” – Echo Lake from Another Day/Breathe Deep 7″ – July 18th

“Right Away” – Peter Wolf Crier from Garden of Arms – Sept. 6th

“Space in Your Face” – The Mekons from Ancient & Modern – Sept. 27th

“I Found a Reason” – VHS or Beta from Diamond & Death – Sept. 27th

“Love and Crashing” – Oax from This Distance – July 12th

“Post Helado Madness” – Little Deadman from Shooting Seagulls EP – July 19th

“Lo Siento, Spanishburg, WVa – A Story of The Real Americana (F.A.Y. version)” – Scott Miller from Lo Siento, Spanishburg, WVa – A Story of The Real Americana – July 12th

“Tangie and Ray” – Fruit Bats from Tripper – Aug. 2nd

“Jesus Flag American Fish” – Cuckoo Chaos from Jesus Flag American Fish 7 – July 26th

“Groove (Scene 1)” – The Lions from Iconoclasts – Sept. 6th

“Ophelia” – Luke Temple from Don’t Act Like You Don’t Care – Aug. 30th

“Home/Untitled” (Live on KBCO) – Mumford & Sons

Artist of the Week – Youth Lagoon: Boise Multi-Instrumentalist, Songwriter and Vocalist Trevor Powers Signs to Fat Possum

Posted on by Max Hammer

youth_lagoon1

“July” is a fresh track from Youth Lagoon, the Boise-based bedroom pop/one man band project of multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and vocalist Trevor Powers. The new track is featured on a two-song 10″ , The Year of Hiberation, featured on Powers’ Bandcamp page via. “July” was released earlier this week, and appropriately so, considering the relevance of the song title.  The B-side of the single, “Cannons,” is also included in today’s Band of the Week feature.

“July” – Youth Lagoon from The Year of Hiberation – Sept. 27th

Literally, as we were preparing this post, we received an email from Powers’ publicist announcing that the 22-year-old artist had officially signed on with indie label Fat Possum , which will release Youth Lagoon’s debut album, The Year of Hiberation, on September 27th.

Powers has been garnering a healthy share of blogger buzz during the past year, accompanied by nearly non-stop touring. The young Idahoian’s songs are dreamy, emotive, melancholy, lo-fi, raw with impressive songwriting that make his music more than just another talented kid in his bedroom composing songs with a few pieces of gear and a MacBook. Youth Lagoon reminds us of another one-man lo-fi band who we profiled in the past – Perfume Genius.

Powers recently said that songwriting was the only way that he could express certain emotions and deal with a persistent anxiety. “For my whole life I’ve dealt with extreme anxiety – not anxiety about passing a test or somewhat normal things, but weird, bizarre things. Things that only I know.”

“Cannons” – Youth Lagoon from The Year of Hiberation – Sept. 27th

“I sometimes feel like I’m literally being eaten up inside. So I started writing these songs. Not just songs about my anxiety, but about my past and my present. Songs about memories, and all those feelings that those bring. I know that if I can be honest about what is inside my mind, there will be others that will be able to relate to it.”

We also just got another advance track today titled “Montana,” from the upcoming debut LP. Right now we only have a SoundCloud version.

“Montana” by Youth Lagoon