Top Indie Songs of the Week: Grand Archives, Free Energy, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Radiohead and More

Topping the list of the most played songs on IRC in the past week is the new song from Grand Archives, followed by Free Energy, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Radiohead, Times New Viking, Fruit Bats, Sonic Youth, Plus 49, Low Water and Lightning Dust.

“Oslo Novelist”Grand Archives

“Free Energy”Free Energy

“Wind Phoenix”Cymbals Eat Guitars

“My Twisted Words”Radiohead

“No Time, No Hope”Times New Viking

“My Unusual Friend”Fruit Bats

“Sacred Trickster”Sonic Youth

“Naive Brother”Plus 49

“Voodoo Taxi”Low Water

“Never Seen”Lightning Dust

Summer Indie Rock Mix, Vol. III: Songs from Opus Orange, Arctic Monkeys, The Raveonettes, Fanfarlo, Spoon and More

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

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

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

“Nothing But Time”Opus Orange, unreleased web debut

Bonus: “It’s Alright”Opus Orange, unreleased web debut

“Crying Lightning”Arctic Monkeys from Humbug (2009)

“Suicide”The Raveonettes from In And Out Of Control (2009)

“Got Nuffin”Spoon from Got Nuffin EP (2009)

“Here to Fall”Yo La Tengo from Popular Songs (2009)

“Gold And Warm”Bad Veins from Bad Veins (2009)

“Drowning Men”Fanfarlo from Reservior (2009)

“Tiny Little Robots”Cage The Elephant from Cage The Elephant (2009)

“Psychic City”Yacht from See Mystery Lights (2009)

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

“It’s Gonna Happen Fast”Choo Choo La Rouge from Black Clouds (2009)


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

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

Indie Rock Summer Mix, Vol. II: Songs from Phoenix, Neko Case, Franz Ferdinand, Wilco

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

“This Tornado Loves You”Neko Case from Middle Cyclone (2009)

“Lisztomania”Phoenix from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009)

“No You Girls”Franz Ferdinand from Tonight (2009)

“My Girls”Animal Collective from Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)

“One Wing”Wilco from Wilco, The Album (2009)

“Paper Lace” – Sunset Rubdown from Dragonslayer (2009)

“French Navy”Camera Obscura from My Maudlin Career (2009)

“The Strangers”St. Vincent from Actor (2009)

“Harlem Sunrise”Rainbow Arabia from Kabukimono (2009)

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

“Love You Better”The Maccabees from Wall Of Arms (2009)

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

Indie Rock Summer Mix, Vol. I: The Dodos, Foreign Born, Why?, Starlight Mints, Fun and More

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

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

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

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

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

“Fables”The Dodos from Time To Die (2009)

“Vacationing People”Foreign Born from Person To Person (2009)

“This Blackest Purse”Why? from Eskimo Snow (2009)

“Paralyzed” – Starlight Mints from Change Remains (2009)

“Be Calm” Fun from Aim and Ignite (Aug. 2009)

“Parallelogram”Deastro from Moondagger (2009)

“Moth’s Wings” Passion Pit from Manners (2009)

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

“Mirrored and Reversed” White Demin from Fits (2009)

“Sun Will Shine”Akron/Family from Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free (2009)

“Hi Fi Goon”Throw Me The Statue from Creaturesque (2009)

“I Found The Bend”Kid Bombardos from I Round The Bend EP (2009)

“Always The Same”The Legends from Over and Over (2009)

“Cloud Hustle”Blind Man’s Colour from Season Dreaming (2009)

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

2009 Indie Rock Songs Mix: Arctic Monkeys, Dinosaur Jr., Friendly Fires, The Got To Get Got


Seems like one of the most anticipated albums of the year is the upcoming release of the Arctic Monkey‘s “Humbug” coming out in August on Domino Records. The band will also plan their first gig in two years at the All Points West Festival next month.

In addition to Arctic Monkeys, here is a 12-pack of great, new free MP3s from a variety of indie artists and bands including Dinosaur Jr., Yo La Tengo, The Got To Get Got, Birds of Avalon, Friendly Fires, Yo La Tengo, Sabrosa Purr, Rural Alberta Advantage, Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros, Other Girls and more. Enjoy.

“I Want You To Know”Dinosaur Jr from Farm (2009)

“Here To Fall”Yo La Tengo from Popular Songs (2009)

“Gettin’ Dirty in the Afterlife”The Got To Get Got from Sahalee (2009)

“One Weak Moment”Sabrosa Purr from Volaras (2009)

“Your Downtime Is Up”Birds of Avalon from Uncanny Valley (2009)

“Skeleton Boy”Friendly Fires from Friendly Fires (2009)

“Day Dream” – Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros from Up From Below (2009)

“Surprise Hotel”Fool’s Gold from Fool’s Gold (2009)

“Frank AB”The Rural Alberta Advantage from Hometowns (2009)

“The Moth”Other Girls from Perfect Cities (2009)

“Pink Sabbath”Dananananaykroyd from Pink Sabbath (2009)

“Mind Games”Butterflies from Nothing’s Personal (2009)

Double Shots of Indie Rock from Deer Tick and Sunset Rubdown

The flow of popular new indie and alternative rock albums and songs in recent months has made it all the harder to keep pace. So, it’s come down to having to just pump out the music you probably should hear – and doing a bit less on more extensive reviews. The bands in this mix are more ‘mainstream indie’ so many of you will already known them. The music speaks for itself. To hear more great music, check out various pages from the posts menu and navigation menu.

Every page on this site you view can be streamed all the way through thanks to the awesome built-in Yahoo! Media Player – the most popular built-in, no frills streaming MP3 player used by the biggest music blogs on the web. It’s sort of like listening to indie radio while you do other things. Simply click on a song to start the player and it will automatically stream all the songs on any page. Enjoy.

“Easy”Deer Tick from Born On Flag Day (2009)

“Paper Lace”Deer Tick from Born On Flag Day (2009)

“Apollo & the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!”Sunset Rubdown from Drayonslayer (2009)

“Idiot Heart”Sunset Rubdown from Drayonslayer (2009)

New Indie Rock Songs: The Clientele, The Twilight Sad, Jay Reatard, Starlight Mints and Wheat

new indie rock songsA number of great new indie songs have come out in the past week, including tracks from current and upcoming releases by The Clientele, The Twilight Sad, Jay Reatard, Starlight Mints and Wheat. Hope you all enjoy this mix. Check back often as IRC will be publishing more new songs in coming weeks, including a new summer playlist and a bunch of music from our In Dee Mail playlist series.

“Wonder Who We Are”The Clientele from Bonfires On The Heath (October 6)

“Reflection of the Television”The Twilight Sad from Forget The Night Ahead (out now)

“Wounded”Jay Reatard from Watch Me Fall (out August 18)

“Paralyzed”Starlight Mints from Change Remains (out July 21)

“Changes Is”Wheat from White Ink, Black Ink (out July 21)

Electronic Musician of Many Monikers Remixes Passion Pit, Animal Collective and More

Carlos Pesina is a complex and colorful experimental remix artist and musician from Guadalahara, Mexico. He produces and remixes music under various monikers – Los Amparito, Pepepe and Pesina Siller – on multiple indie labels, which makes it difficult to write about his work.

Nevertheless, his electronic, micro-sampling remixes brim with cheerful, eccentric, esoteric, sublime, even dreamy sounds. In and around Guadalahara, Pesina is best known as Pepepe. The latter is the chosen moniker for his latest album, and second release for indie record label The Poni Republic, Roba Orgón De Plantas Y Animales (available as a free download; see link below).

Recently, Pesina produced a remix of “Little Secrets” for a Passion Pit remix contest to promote the band’s new album Manners. In addition, he created a remix of “Bros” – a standout track from the classic 2008 indie solo release Person Pitch by Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox (aka, Panda Bear), plus a remix of the Animal Collective track “Brothersport” from this year’s most brilliant psyche pop release, Merriweather Post Pavilion.

“Little Secrets” (Passion Pit Remix) – Carlos Pesina, unreleased (2009)

“Stacey You Are A Monster” (Unsexy Nerd Ponies Remix) – Pepepe from Remixes (2008)

“Mirar A Los Ojos Es De Mal Gusto”Pepepe from Roba Orgón De Plantas Y Animales (2009)

“Jacinto Cenobio”Pepepe featuring Cyane from Roba Orgón De Plantas Y Animales (2009)

“Bros” (Panda Bear Remix)Los Amparito

“Brothersport” (Hermano Sport Mix)Los Amparito

Free Download: Roba Orgón De Plantas Y Animales

Pepepe on MySpace

Watch some of Pesina’s self-produced videos on Vimeo.

Among his musical influences, Pesina lists Stereolab, Bjork, The Kinks, Mouse on Mars and many others.

Blind Man’s Colour Release Summertime Single Ahead of Debut Album

Since last winter when IRC named Florida indie band Blind Man Colour’s a “band to watch” (and our post was linked to by Kayne West) BMC has had quite a trip. With Kayne’s endorsement, the 19-year-old duo of Kyle Wyss and Orhan Chettri, quickly became a buzz band on the web and within weeks signed a record deal with Kanine Records.

The guys recently announced that they will release their debut album, Season Dreaming, August 18. The album title is the original title of BMC’s self-produced and released demos that I had the pleasure to hear earlier this year. The song “Cloud Hustle” is a blast and perfect for a summertime playlist. Enjoy.

“Cloud Hustle”Blind Man’s Colour from Season Dreaming (2009)

Bonus Track: “Jimmy Dove”

Monday Music Mix: 2009 Indie Songs from Passion Pit, The Ravonettes, Fanfarlo, A Lull and More

The popular indie band Passion Pit.

One of the most popular new indie albums out right now is Passion Pit’s Manners. After the band’s Bonnaroo performance, and helped along by positive press, YouTube videos and other social media channels, Passion Pit is on the crest of a wave in popularity.

Also included in today’s Monday Music Mix is a new demo from mystic rock band The Ravonettes, plus select picks off new albums by London’s wildly popular alt pop band Fanfarlo (get their new album for $1 until July 4), Chicago’s new and alluring experimental indie pop band A Lull, and more from Idles of Space, Lost Into The Trees and Pretty Balanced.

“Moth’s Wings”Passion Pit from Manners

“Last Dance” (demo) – The Raveonettes, demo only

“Luna”Fanfarlo from Reservior

“Skinny Fingers”A Lull from Ice Cream Bones

“Black Ice”Ohbijou from Beacon

“Past Midnight”Idles of Space from Sleeping Fractures

“Fireplace”Lost In The Trees from All Alone in An Empty House

“Prosthetic Face Mixdown”Pretty Balanced from Scarlet Starlet

Bands to Watch: Chicago Indie Band Pet Lions Roar with Pop Revival Debut EP ‘Soft Right’

pet lions epChicago band Pet Lions formed via Craigslist (photo by Eric Rejman)

Chicago indie pop rock band Pet Lions was formed by guitarist and vocalist Karl Østby and bassist Shuhei Yamamoto. The duo began writing and recording music in October 2007. As they progressed, the lineup was rounded out thanks to Craigslist of all places with the addition of Tom Owens on guitar and keys and Matt Dahl on drums. In 2008, the band started performing gigs in and around the Chicago area.

Pet Lions score a touchdown by perfecting classic pop rock sounds with a modern twist on their debut EP release, Soft Right (recorded with Brian Zieske). The group members list among their influences 1960’s garage rock/pop of The Kinks, early Beatles, plus more recent bands like Phoenix, The Cure and My Bloody Valentine. Pet Lions are an indie band to watch in 2009-10.

“Roman History”Pet Lions from Soft Right EP (out now)

“Propeller Plane”Pet Lions from Soft Right EP

Pet Lions’ Official Website

The new EP is available at iTunes, Amazon, and Digstation.

New Songs from Trainwreck Riders, Sonic Youth, The Von Bondies and Super Fury Animals

It’s nearing the end of April already, and time to catch up with some fresh new songs from popular indie bands like Sonic Youth, Trainwreck Riders, The Von Bondies and Super Fury Animals. We are digging these songs and the recent or upcoming album releases they are found on. These are definitely picks of the month for your music collection.

“Chug Along”Trainwreck Riders from The Perch
“Safety of a Back” – Trainwreck Riders from The Perch (out May 12 on Alive Records)

“Sacred Trickster”Sonic Youth from The Eternal (out June 8 on Matador Records)

“Pale Bride”The Von Bondies from Love, Hate and Then There’s You (2009)

“Inagural Trams”Super Fury Animals from Dark Days/Light Years (2009)

The next listening playlist of new songs features Deleted Scenes, Odawas, BLK JKS and Operahouse.

Voxtrot, Pomegarantes, Neko Case, YYYs and The Grates

The Acorn, Coltrane Motion and The City and The Horses

Continue reading and listen to songs