2012 Best New Releases – Page 2

Band to Watch: Fayetteville, Arkansas Indie Pop Band The Airplanes

Posted on 10/29/201204/18/2018 by Max Hammer

On Friday, Fayetteville, Arkansas indie pop band The Airplanes dropped their self-released, self-titled debut album from which we have two singles to share with you. The single “A Summer Daydream Part I” surely has the feel of a hazy, hot summer day, and is sunny and upbeat thanks to the fuzzy, distant vocals, shimmering synths, glistening guitars, and a steady, tribal drum beat.

Somehow the song conjures up the image of blazing August day by the lake with friends, barbecuing, keeping the beer cold and enjoying the beautiful scenery painted by The Airplanes ‘chillwave’ lo-fi sound. On the second single, “Paper Hearts,” the sound is even more upbeat but with a Big Star style, understated vocals, and a foot-tapping melody and rhythm. The EP features a collection of noisy, melodic pop songs. The band’s major music influences include Brian Wilson, Big Star, Neutral Milk Hotel, Elliott Smith, The Beatles, The Olivia Tremor Control, and The Zombies, all of which are evident in their sound.

“A Summer Daydream Part I” – The Airplanes from The Airplanes

“Paper Hearts” – The Airplanes from The Airplanes

More Best New Releases – Earlimart, Young Dreams, Shiny Toy Guns, Peace, Matmos, Blackbird Blackbird, The Lytics, Rosie Flores

Posted on 10/22/201207/22/2021 by Max Hammer

We’re playing catch up with last week’s new releases. This, therefore, is effectively Vol. II of the Best New Music Releases for the week of Oct. 16th, with new singles from Earlimart, Young Dreams, Shiny Toy Guns, Peace, Matmos, Rosie Flores, Blackbird Blackbird, The Lytics, Harlan, and a number of DIY releases that from everything we can gather are exclusive to IRC. This week’s best new releases coming soon.

Volume One of the past week’s top singles and releases highlights artists and bands like Ben Gibbard, The Maldives, The Luyas, Times New Viking, Jason Lytle, Little Comets, The Philistines and others, in addition to the artists and bands in this second volume.

So, the only way to kick-off part two of the past week’s top singles is with a double-shot from the no-frills Los Angeles indie duo, Earlimart, whose seventh album, System Preferences, is one of the best albums of the week. First up, is the dreamy, melodic track, “10 Years,” that highlights the beautiful vocals of Earlimart’s lead singer, Aaron Espinoza. Earlimart has long been one of the key denizens of the indie rock scene in Los Angeles for nearly two decades, which means the band has not only won the respect of other musicians within the so-called indie rock scene, but also

“10 Years” – Earlimart from System Preferences (CD) on The Ship

The second song from Earlimart’s new album, “Internet Summer,” is completely different than “10 Years” because it is upbeat, louder and bordering on post punk pop, complete with jangling guitar riffs, thumping bass, crashing cymbals, and lo-fi, reverb vocals. The casual observer would not guess that the two songs are from the same band. It’s interesting to note that another musician, Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle, who we featured in Vol. One for the release of his new solo album last week, joined up with Espinoza, Earlimart bassist, keyboardist and vocalist Ariana Murray, and his Grandaddy bandmate Butch Walker to form Admiral Radley in 2010. They released a debut album in July of 2010 that received considerable play on the indie blogs, including on IRC.

So here’s where the whole ‘degrees of separation’ theory becomes even more interesting – Espinoza worked on Ben Gibbard’s new solo album, which we featured as our album of the week.

“Internet Summer” – Earlimart from System Preferences (CD) on The Ship

Note: To purchase any of this week’s albums – either as MP3 albums, CD or on vinyl, just go to Volume One and scroll to the bottom of the post where there are quick clicks to purchase any release via Amazon in a couple of simple, convenient steps.

Young Dreams’ Cinematic, Sprawling New Track and New Wave Alt Dance from Shiny Toy Guns

On the single, “Fog of War,” by Norwegian indie band, Young Dreams, the listener is treated to a cinematic composition featuring a variety of musical layers and styles made up of shifting tempos, glistening synth riffs, thick bass lines, crashing cymbals and reverb-heavy vocal dubs and fades (that remind us a bit of Sigur Ros and Melpo Mene) along with orchestral flourishes of strings and horns. In the final analysis, the song does not come across as a “war” song, but much more as a grandiose, cinematic orchestration with a decidedly ‘indie’ influence.

Los Angeles band Shiny Toy Guns‘ new single, “Fading Listening” is a semi alt-dance/new wave track with a thick bass, keyboard and synth overlays, and an interchange of vocals between the band’s two main vocalists – Chad Petree and Carah Faye Charnow. Next, the Vancouver band Peace‘s new single, “Your Hand in Mine” has a dark undercurrent, retro post punk sound somewhat reminiscent of The Smiths, Orange Juice and Echo and The Bunnymen. It’s our first exposure to the band, but this song puts them on our watch list for sure. Plus, check out the new singles from hip-hop outfit The Lytics and San Francisco electronic psych group Blackbird Blackbird.

“Fog of War” – Young Dreams from Fog of War on Modular

“Fading Listening” – Shiny Toy Guns from III

“Your Hand in Mine” – Peace from The World is Too Much With Us on Suicide Squeeze

“Dear World” – The Lytics from They Told Me

“Tear” – Blackbird Blackbird from Boracay Planet [EP] via MusicForRants.com

Working Girl Rosie Flores, Daphni’s Ye Ye, Matmos’ Very Large Green Triangles and Widespread Panic’s Live LP

Rosie Flores‘ new single, the title track of her latest album, Working Girl’s Guitar, is an old fashioned type of rock track with a touch of blues and country and a catchy guitar solo to boot. Daphni‘s fresh track, “Ye Ye,” is something for the electronica and techno crowd, while Matmos delivers a driving cinematic action piece (sort of like a track you’d hear on the next Mission Impossible sequel) with their new single, “Very Large Green Triangles” from The Ganzfeld EP on Thrill Jockey Records. Plus, the country single from Ken Stringfellow, with its Leonard Cohen-informed vocal delivery and songwriting, is definitely worth a listen. While not a release of new material, the 2012 Live Tour LP by Widespread Panic, one of our favorite 90’s bands, dropped this week, and for WP fans, it’s a nice treat, and exceptionally mastered and mixed.

“Working Girl’s Guitar” – Rosie Flores from Working Girl’s Guitar on Bloodshot Records

“Ye Ye” – Daphni from JIAOLONG on Merge

“Very Large Green Triangles” – Matmos from The Ganzfeld EP on Thrill Jockey Records

“Doesn’t It Remind You of Something” – Ken Stringfellow from Danzig in the Moonlight on Spark & Shine

…and More Singles from Albums Officially Dropped This Week

The sounds keep a’rollin, starting with a new single from Pinback, “Proceed to Memory,” that is good in the sense that the band plays it safe and delivers more of what is expected of them every few years – big sounding, guitar-driven songs with Rob Crow‘s fine vocal work, but there’s nothing really modern or innovative; Plus, check out the ironically-named, melodic pop of “Teeth,” by Santah; ironic because the song itself is an under-stated acoustic love song, not a track with “teeth” to it, so to speak. Yet the new single, and title song from alt/garage rockers Police Teeth‘s new LP, Bellingham Media Blackout, does have a bite to it.

Also, check out the slow, dark, psychedelic Soundcloud single from Autumn Owls. Plus, in keeping with this week’s theme of songs with female lead vocals, check out Piney Gir‘s syrupy pop single, “Outta Sight,” with an early Beatlesque guitar riff, and the bristly rocker “Plastic Fantastic” by TKTTSM , featuring a high-pitched chorus that rails against the “plastic people.”

“Teeth” – Santah
from You’re Still A Lover EP on Saki Records

“Bellingham Media Blackout” – Police Teeth from Bellingham Media Blackout

“Great Atlantic Drift” – Autumn Owls from Autumn Owls

“Plastic Fantastic” – TKTTSM from TKTTSM on Sumxuni Records

“Outta Sight” – Piney Gir from Geronimo! on Highline Records

“Sending Your Positions” – Harlan from Night Loop

DIY Releases For the Week of October 16th by Taylor Sheridan and Russian Bones

There are also some DIY artists and bands that dropped new releases during the past week, and most of them featured below, you’ll probably only hear on IRC. We’d love to hear your comments via Twitter, Facebook or the Comments box below. We occasionally award regular commentators on IRC (especially who leave thoughtful, astute comments via the Comments box on the site’s posts) with prizes and other giveaways – next week we’ll award two people access codes to download the popular e-book released this summer honoring 50th Anniversary of the formation of The Rolling Stones.

Melbourne, Australia singer/songwriter Taylor Sheridan dropped his self-titled debut album on October 15th, featuring the following two songs of acoustic-driven soul pop. We’re kind of on the fence, but we want people to decide for themselves. Especially with new DIY artists, we like to see what the response is so we can learn more about what our listeners want to hear. Recently, one of Sheridan’s music videos received over 150,000 views on YouTube.

“Don’t Know Why” – Taylor Sheridan from Taylor Sheridan – Oct. 15th

“Professional Heartbreak” – Taylor Sheridan from Taylor Sheridan

The next band, Russian Bones, is a Los Angeles hard rock outfit formed in 2009. They just released their debut, self-titled album that includes the song, “My Eyes Don’t See What My Mind Knows.” Russian Bones have previously opened for bands like The Movies, Everest, Juliette and the Licks, and Dave Lovering. We also threw in a new track from the Canadian DIY rock band Great Rooms to see what others think. They’ve previously opened for artists like Buck Cherry, Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown, and The Waltons.

“My Eyes Don’t See What My Mind Knows” – Russian Bones from Russian Bones – Oct. 15th

“Down That Road” – Great Rooms from Great Rooms – Oct. 12th

Best New Music Releases, Week of Oct. 16th – Ben Gibbard, The Maldives, Jason Lytle, The Philistines, Little Comets, The Luyas

Posted on 10/21/201201/09/2020 by Max Hammer

For the past six weeks or so, there have been many weekly Best New Music Releases playlists that made up for a so-so summer of new indie releases. They include recent albums by Grizzly Bear, Band of Horses, The Raveonettes, The xx, Mumford & Sons, Sea Wolf, Ty Segall, A.C. Newman, to name just a few. Fresh releases for the week of October 16th, for the most part, keeps this trend going. In an earlier post, IRC’s Album of the Week went to Ben Gibbard’s solo debut album, Former Lives.

There has been a lot of buzz around the first solo release of Death Cab For Cutie‘s frontman, and on the whole, good reviews. To kick off this week’s official new releases, here is the second single featured in our album review. Following Gibbard is the latest single from The Maldives’ newest album release, Muscle for the Wing, is yet another top album release this week, with the lead single, “Blood on the Highway,” drawing a stark contrast to Gibbard’s more sensitive and artistic sound.

“A Hard One To Know” – Ben Gibbard from Former Lives

Note: All of this past week’s new releases are available for fast, easy checkout with Amazon by clicking either the MP3, CD or vinyl links at the end of this post that correspond with the album(s) you wish to purchase.

“Blood on the Highway” – The Maldives from Muscle for the Wing on Spark and Shine

Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle’s New Solo Album, The Philistines and Sophomore LPs from Little Comets and Tamaryn

Like Gibbard, another respected indie musician, Grandaddy‘s founding member Jason Lytle, dropped a new solo album this week that features the title track, “Dept. of Disapperance.” Lytle continues to dazzle admirers with potent songs that are lyrically and musically astute. This album drops during a year in which Grandaddy fans are celebrating a band reunion.

“Dept. of Disapperance” – Jason Lytle from Dept Of Disappearance on Anti- Records

Next, Newcastle, England trio Little Comets‘ sophomore release, Life Is Elsewhere, is the follow-up album to the band’s widely regarded debut album In Search of Elusive Little Comets, released officially in January 2011. The first LP was proceeded by the 2009 debut single, “One Night in October,” which peaked at No. 3 on the U.K. independent music charts, thanks in large part to popular BBC Radio 1 deejays Huw Stephens and Sara Cox. However, the band’s second single, “Adultery” the following year failed to chart. Another track, “Dancing Song,” was used in a Radox ad this past summer.

The band has made a name for themselves by crafting energetic, hook-driven indie rock songs flourishing with synths, airy guitar licks and the perfectly complimentary vocals of the trio’s frontman, Robert Coles, whose voice has been often compared to Vampire Weekend‘s vocalist Erza Koenig. While that comparison has validity, the band surely has its own unique style – and the more we hear from them, the more we admire their skills as musicians.

On the peppy new single, “Bayonee,” the trio infuse elements of Phoenix-like sound effects, and a decidedly tropical-influenced reggae pop style – the kind of song you’d crank up at a sunny summer beach party, and easily one of the best new singles from this week’s top releases. And just to make it twice as nice, we’ve included another new single, “The Opus,” which, along with other songs on the new LP, adds even more credibility to support the narrative that, at least for U.S. indie music fans, Little Comets is a band to watch.

“Bayonee” – Little Comets – Life Is Elsewhere

The Philistines once again rocked and popped their way into our top singles of the week thanks to the spirited, and funny-named, new single, “Woo Hoo Hoo” from the album, Therewolves! The band doesn’t hold back on tastefully poking fun at a common chorus in pop music for years, “woo hoo hoo,” (and variations thereof), yet at the same time they make this light-hearted, jangle pop song work for them – leaving a short and sweet after taste.

“Woo-hoo-hoo” – The Philistines from Therewolves!

Next, the new single, “Heavenly Bodies,” from Tamaryn‘s latest album, Tender New Signs – dropped this week by indie label Mexican Summer – has created yet another deeply emotive, seedy shoe-gaze pop single, and album to boot, along with her long-time collaborator, San Francisco songwriter/musician Rex John Sheverton. Because we were not able to find a single, we’ve included the official video for “Heavenly Bodies,” which should pop up on your screen right away (via the embedded Yahoo Player!), and fit nicely with the flow of the other tracks in this week’s singles playlist.

“Heavenly Bodies” – Tamaryn from Tender New Signs on Mexican Summer

The Luyas’ Drop Sophomore Album; Times New Viking Release New EP

We were kind of surprised to see some of the top music blogs not include new releases this week from two great indie bands – The Luyas and Columbus lo-fi indie rockers Times New Viking. Both have been fairly popular bands in recent years. The Luyas’ Animator features the hook-driven single, “Fifty Fifty,” among other standout tracks like “Face” and “Crimes Machine.” The Luyas wax poetic throughout the album, much of which was written in response to the sudden death of a close friend. For the album, Arcade Fire’s Sarah Neufeld collaborated with Jessie Stein, Pietro Amato and the band. Amato also produced the album which, in the final analysis is more somber than the intricately woven, upbeat indie pop of the band’s previous albums.

Times New Viking released a six-song EP this week, Over and Over, as a follow-up to their excellent 2011 LP, Dancer Equired! The band’s new EP features a couple of notable tracks on it, including the driving indie pop rhythms of the short, but sweet track, “At The Bars” and the jangly, fast-moving post-punk/guitar pop of “Sleep In” (which is not a sleepy or dreamy kind of song at all). You may notice a hint of Sonic Youth influence in The Luyas’ music, especially on songs like “Sleep In.”

“Fifty Fifty” – The Luyas from Animator

“At The Bars” – Times New Viking from Over and Over EP

Double-shot: “Sleep In” – – Times New Viking from Over and Over EP

Volume Two for Week of October 16th Drops Very Soon and Quick-Click Album Purchases

Volume Two of the Best New Music Releases will be right up, and features new singles from fresh albums by Earlimart, Young Dreams, Shiny Toy Guns, Matmos, Pinback and DIY exclusives as well.

Don’t forget to leave observations of this mix of new singles in the Comments box below, as well as sending it out to your friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter – the more people who like what we’re doing and take a minute to participate, the better we know what you want more of. Thanks for supporting Indie Rock Cafe.

Also, if you plan on purchasing any of this week’s new albums, we have direct links to click and buy from Amazon below in MP3, CD and vinyl format. IRC gets a few cents for every album you purchase with our Amazon direct-buy links – every little bit helps to pay our operating costs to keep bringing great new music to you every week.

Trey Anastasio – Traveler | CD Vinyl MP3

Arms of Tripoli – All the Fallen Embers [EP] | MP3

Beaten By Them – Kinder Machines | CD MP3

Blackbird Blackbird – Boracay Planet [EP] | CD MP3

The Bloody Angle – The Bloody Angle | MP3

Brandy – Two Eleven | CD Deluxe CD MP3 Deluxe MP3

Candidate – Psychic Dissonance from the Unself | CD MP3

Chaos Chaos – S [EP] | MP3

Correatown – Pleiades | CD Vinyl MP3

Dada Life – The Rules of Dada | CD MP3

Daphni – Jiaolong | CD Vinyl MP3

Death Rattle – HE&I [EP] | MP3

Mac DeMarco – 2 | CD Vinyl MP3

Double Naught Spy Car – Western Violence | CD MP3

The Doughboys – Shakin’ Our Souls | CD MP3

Earlimart – System Preferences | CD Vinyl MP3

Echoes de Luxe – Hold On [EP] | MP3

Ex Norwegian – House Music | MP3

Donald Fagen – Sunken Condos | CD Vinyl

Sky Ferreira – Ghosts [EP] | MP3

A Fine Frenzy – Pines | CD MP3

Rosie Flores – Working Girl’s Guitar | CD Vinyl MP3

Flowerland – Caffeine Disk [EP] | MP3

Dan Friel – Valedictorian/Exoskeleton [EP] | Vinyl

Ben Gibbard – Former Lives | CD Vinyl MP3

Glocca Morra – An Obscure Moon Lighting an Obscure World [EP] | MP3

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – ’Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! | CD Vinyl

Harlan – Night Loop | CD MP3

Anne Heaton – Honeycomb | CD MP3

Hey, Rube – Can You Hear Me Mutha? | CD MP3

Hot Fiction – Apply Within | MP3

Icona Pop – The Iconic EP [EP] | MP3

John the Conqueror – John the Conqueror | CD MP3

K’naan – God, Country or the Girl | CD Deluxe CD MP3 Deluxe MP3

Charlene Kaye – Animal Love | CD MP3

Bill Laswell – Means of Deliverance | CD MP3

Leogun – Leogun [EP] | MP3

Little Comets – Life Is Elsewhere | MP3

The Luyas – Animator | CD Vinyl MP3

The Lytics – They Told Me | CD MP3

Jason Lytle – Dept. of Disappearance | CD Vinyl MP3 Deluxe MP3

Majeure – Solar Maximum | CD Vinyl MP3

Matmos – The Ganzfeld [EP] | CD Vinyl

Mike McCarthy – The Lion’s Share | MP3

John McLaughlin and The 4th Dimension – Now Here This | CD MP3

Mean Creek – Youth Companion | CD Vinyl MP3

Mika – Origin of Love | CD Deluxe CD MP3 Deluxe MP3

The Philistines – Therewolves! | MP3

Grant Lee Phillips – Walking in the Green Corn | CD Vinyl MP3

Picture Book – Songs About Aimee [EP] | MP3

Pinback – Information Retrieved | CD Vinyl MP3

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – Octopus Kool Aid | CD MP3

Santah – You’re Still a Lover [EP] | CD Vinyl MP3

Savoir Adore – Our Nature | CD Vinyl MP3

Kevin Seconds – Don’t Let Me Lose Ya | CD Vinyl MP3

The Sky Life – Caves | CD

Smoke & Jackal – EP No. 1 [EP] | CD Vinyl MP3

Star & Micey – I Can’t Wait [EP] | CD

The Swellers – Running Out of Places to Go [EP] | Vinyl MP3

Tamaryn – Tender New Signs | CD Vinyl MP3

Times New Viking – Over & Over [EP] | Vinyl MP3

Tkttsm – Tkttsm | CD MP3

Tussle – Tempest | CD Vinyl MP3

Bobby V – Dusk Till Dawn | CD MP3

Martha Wainwright – Come Home to Mama | CD Vinyl MP3

Walking Papers – Walking Papers | CD MP3

ZZ Ward – Til the Casket Drops | CD MP3

Widespread Panic – Wood [Live] | CD Vinyl MP3

Win Win – Double Vision | MP3

Patrick Wolf – Sundark & Riverlight | CD Vinyl MP3

Chelsea Wolfe – Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs | CD Vinyl MP3

Yakuza – Beyul | CD MP3

Michael Zapruder – Pink Thunder | Book+CD MP3a rel=”nofollow” href

Album of the Week: Ben Gibbard’s Debut Solo Album, ‘Former Lives’

Posted on 10/20/201212/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Considering his prolific and respected work during the past decade, it’s kind of surprising that Ben Gibbard, frontman of bands like Death Cab For Cutie and the Postal Service, is just now getting around to releasing his first solo album. For the long-awaited LP, Former Lives, Gibbard repurposes a collection of songs that did not make it on Death Cab’s releases during the past eight years.

As a revered singer/songwriter and musician, Gibbard has been one of the most influential figures of indie pop for more than a decade, and he delivers yet again on his solo effort, showcasing his nuanced, emotive and often romantic music that is accessible to almost everyone. It’s hard to imagine, when he’s at his best, that anyone who appreciates quality pop songs could turn away from his music, and there are more than a couple tracks on Former Lives that fans will take to right away, and a few that will likely become staples of his live solo performances.

“Teardrop Windows” – Ben Gibbard from Former Lives (#2 on Amazon; only $5.00 for MP3 album – for limited time)

While he maintains, overall, the style and sounds of his finest work with Death Cab, Former Lives offers a wonderful diversity of genres that range from acoustic folk pieces to upbeat pop melodies (“Bigger Than Love” and “Duncan, Where Have You Gone?”), Mariachi flavors mixed with mesquite western (“Something’s Rattling (Cowpoke)” and alt-country-rock (“Broken Yolk in the Western Sky”), to more traditional singer-songwriter compositions (the beautiful “Lady Adelaide”).

On the gorgeous, quintessential ballad, “Lady Adelaide,” Gibbard woos listeners with a perfectly beautiful melody and his unmistakably tepid, sensitive vocals. The catchy “Bigger Than Love” is a sprawling, rhythmic and evocative pop track that makes it easily one of the album’s stand out tracks, and as impressive as anything Gibbard has ever released. The track’s terrifically catchy chorus establishes “Bigger Than Love” as one of the most memorable songs from Former Lives. Other stand outs include the country-like jangle pop of “Teardrop Windows” and the acoustically uptempo, “A Hard One To Know,” that even includes a subtle synth riff that doesn’t drown out the acoustic guitar, but instead compliments it.

“Bigger Than Love” – Ben Gibbard from Former Lives

“A Hard One To Know” – Ben Gibbard from Former Lives

For Death Cab fans, Former Lives is a must-have album, not merely because it’s Gibbard’s debut solo album, but also because it sounds much like a new Death Cab album, with the exception of the genre tour de force. However, it must be said that some of the songs on the album make it possible to understand why they didn’t make it onto a Death Cab release. Still, overall, Former Lives is yet another fine example of Gibbard’s masterful songwriting and musical skills, and reaffirms his trademark evocative, sensitive style.

Plus, Former Lives, for the first time, provides fans with an unfettered opportunity to hear Gibbard on his own, without the support of his long-time band Death Cab band members. In a sense, Gibbard’s solo album puts a different spin on what we normally consider to be ‘unplugged’ in that the album is a stripped down Gibbard without his usual line-up. We were fortunate enough to sample some of the material on Former Lives a couple of years ago when Gibbard performed one of his first solo shows at SXSW.

Exclusive New Single from Golden Bloom’s Upcoming Album To Drop in January

Posted on 10/19/201204/18/2018 by Max Hammer

Golden_Bloom_by_Alicia_J_Rose — Golden Bloom is fronted by Shawn Fogel, a multi-instrumentalist and member of a number of bands

IRC has an exclusive new single from New York indie artist and multi-instrumentalist, Golden Bloom. “Flying Mountain” is the first single off of Golden Bloom’s upcoming EP, No Day Like Today, due out January 29th of 2013.

Though “Flying Mountain” represents Golden Bloom’s signature melodic, pop sound, this is the first record where Shawn Fogel has co-written and recorded with a full band, establishing a new chapter in his musical career. “I think this song is about coming out of a long spell of writer’s block, marking the end of a considerable songwriting drought,” explains Fogel.

“Flying Mountain” – Golden Bloom from No Day Like Today – Jan. 29th

Fogel is also a member of bands like The Zambonis and The LeeVees.

More Best New Album Releases, Week of Oct. 9 – Black Marble, A.C. Newman, Turn Off Your Television, KidCity, Departures

Posted on 10/15/201207/22/2021 by Max Hammer

It’s been a busy week for music on IRC. As a supplemental to this past week’s Best New Music Releases playlist, this post features spill-over and additional releases for the week of Oct. 9th. Black Marble are a new-to-us band with a dark, goth, Cure-like current running through their music, which is also marked by a constant, rhythmic beat and haunting synths, similar to Depeche Mode. We like Black Marble’s sounds so much that we had to include a double-shot of songs via Hardly Art, the band’s label.

In the first volume of this past week’s top releases was the new track from A.C. Newman, featuring his bandmate Neko Case on back-up vocals. We got our hands on a second single, “I’m Not Talking,” from his brilliant new album, which New Pornographers and solo Newman fans will likely enjoy. The lead singles from METZ and Caviare Days‘ self-titled debut albums are worth noting for this week as well.

“Static” – Black Marble from A Different Arrangement
Double-shot: “A Great Design” – Black Marble from A Different Arrangement

“I’m Not Talking” – A.C Newman from Shut Down The Streets

“Headache” – METZ from METZ on Sub Pop

“You’ll Qualify” – Caviare Days from Caviare Days

“Versions” – Martin Eden from Dedicate Function on Lefse Records

Swedish Radar Band, Turn Off Your Television

Turn Off Your Television is a Swedish music trio. Their sound is built on soft, melodic folk rock compositions comprised of simple, memorable hooks, harmonica playing, strong vocal harmonies and guitar-driven acoustic Americana. But it doesn’t end there, as the band contends, stating that their music also “blends some Swedish depression [with] songs that spill across your ears like a gentle stream, much like the soothing tones of nature itself. Some people might call it gentle Seattle rock, while others rather refer to the music as cool slow-wave or even alt-country.”

The songs are their debut album are heartfelt, sentimental and beautiful, wrapped in memorable melodies. You can tell these songs weren’t just thrown together to fill up an album – but instead deliberately crafted, meaningful – songs that are intimately lyrical, and musically intriguing. As the band revealed to IRC, their style and sound are largely influenced by music from the 1960s, 70s, and 90s. Assumingly, they are not impressed with the music of the 80’s. In fact, the 80’s were critical to the indie movement’s evolution, not because of what was being played on mainstream radio, but instead what was happening on college radio, alternative radio, and the post punk scene, especially within the U.K. and the U.S.

Turn Off Your Television also refer to particular artists (which is evident in their music) that have inspired them, like Sparklehorse, Grand Archives, Luna, Belle and Sebastian, Cheif, Woods, and Jimi Hendrix, to name a few. We have to give kudos to the band for having such diverse and stellar musical influences. More importantly, it comes across in their music.

We actually like, and have posted, many Swedish artists and bands over the years, and one of our favorite labels is the small, independent Swedish label, Labador Records, home of bands like Radio Dept., Acid House Kings, Club 8, to name just a few. By the way, we like the name of the band, and agree with the sentiment. Too much TV will rot the brain. But we live in a culture where millions of people need their fix of what’s going on with Snooky, the Kardasians and Honey Boo-Boo.

“Blanket of Shame” – Turn Off Your Television from Humble Waves

Husband and Wife Duo, KidCity, Drop Sophomore EP

KidCity is husband and wife music duo, Kelly and Caleb Ellis. The couple employ a gritty sound which they dub as “clip-hop” – dark, melodic pop songs with an overloaded signal. KidCity’s self-titled EP, dropped in May of 2011, features the single “Bloody Face.” The duo have also written songs for various mixtapes and compilations and were featured in NME’s Radar Scene in July of of this year. Their second EP, MRDR BRDNS, draws on heavier and darker themes. Meanwhile, they’re also working on a project called Miserable Singers with Canadian poet Victor Coleman, due out in 2013.

“Call Mom” – KidCity from MRDR BRDNS EP

Winnipeg Band, Departures, Debut LP Gets Howard Bilerman and Bob Weston Touch

Still and Moving Lines, the warm, autumnal post-punk/shoegazer hybrid debut from Winnipeg rock band Departures, is out today on Canadian indie imprint Borana Records. The album, yet another debut this week, was recorded with famed engineer Howard Bilerman (Godspeed You Black Emperor, Arcade Fire) at his Hotel2Tango studio in Montreal and mastered by Shellac bassist Bob Weston in Chicago. The band kicked off an eight-city Canadian tour in Winnipeg this weekend.

“Being There” – Departures from Still and Moving Lines

Best New Music Releases, Week of Oct. 9th – Lord Huron, Dana Falconberry, Ty Segall, Tame Impala, PAWS, A.C. Newman

Posted on 10/12/201212/18/2019 by Max Hammer

This week started off with a number of posts, including new singles from DIY and record label artists; DIY Artist of the Week: Bryce Jarden; a new song from Goodbye, Texas and Album of the Week by Freelance Whales. Therefore, we start off with Freelance Whales’ new single, “Dig Into Waves,” followed by “Time to Run,” the new single from one of our favorite artists of the past couple of years, Lord Huron.

“Time to Run” flows nicely following “Dig Into Waves” – both songs are spirited, intricate pop tracks, and easily among the top songs from this week’s new album releases. But “Time to Run” starts out quietly, like watching the first signs of the sun rising, and then breaks out into a glorious, uptempo song driven by acoustic guitar, synths and earth beats. This is repeated two other times in the song but without taking away too much from the song’s exhilarating jaunt.

“Dig Into Waves” – Freelance Whales from Diluvia on Mom+Pop / Frenchkiss

“Time to Run” – Lord Huron from Lonesome Dreams on IAMSOUND

Lord Huron, the moniker of New York artist Ben Schneider, had a number of wildly successful EPs in the past couple of years, but his long-anticipated debut LP, Lonesome Dreams , is easily one of the best debuts of 2012. Next, Dana Falconberry‘s newest single, “Crooked River,” calms things way down with soft harp and violins and her magnificently lovely voice. The song paints a picture of a daydream. Wouldn’t it be cool if Dana and Lord Huron recorded a song together?

“Crooked River” – Dana Falconberry from Leelanau on Antenna Farm Records

The latest single from Ty Segall, “The Hill,” is a blazing psychedelic guitar rocker, followed right behind by another psych rocker from the band Tame Impala titled “Elephant.” Ty Segall’s newest album, Twins, has already received good reviews across the board. The San Francisco band are on a roll and we’re stoked to be seeing them Sunday at the Treasure Island Music Festival. NME, which gave Twins a 9 out of 10, wrote: “It has the reckless spirit of a record that hasn’t been over-analysed, but with an intense flurry of ideas from someone in the absolute prime of their creativity.” These are really two of the best bands to emerge in the past couple of years, especially for fans of classic and psychedelic rock. Tame Impala’s Lonerism is soaked with guitar-jamming, heavy rhythm psychedelic rock.

“The Hill” – Ty Segall from Twins on Drag City

“Elephant” – Tame Impala from Lonerism on Modular

Band to Watch: Glasgow Genre-Mixers PAWS Drop Debut LP, Cokefloat!

The Glasgow lo-fi garage/punk pop trio PAWS gun it on their new single, “Miss American Bookworm,” blasting out from the starting gate with a fast-driving, rhythmic, and vibrantly melodic romp that flows nicely after Tame Impala’s “Elephant” and Ty Segall’s “The Hill.” PAWS’ new album, Cokefloat!, captures the energy and rawness of the band’s live shows, and per the title is, as the band said, “like a sugar high,” adding “all of the lyrics are pretty much a documentation of the past two years. A lot of crazy things have happened in our lives – some good, some horrific…there is a strong feeling of positivity and hope running throughout this record [like] light piercing through some distinctly dark times. We’re playing in this band to keep going and stay alive.”

The band name, PAWS, since it is a common word, and is a similar construction of many other band names (The Big Paws; Paw Paws; Monster Paws and so on), makes it more challenging to find information about the band via search, but not impossible. PAWS have previously opened for bands like Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, No Age, Black Lips, Wavves and Happy Birthday. This is a terrific track, and we’re looking forward to hearing the album.

“Miss American Bookworm” – PAWS from Cokefloat! on FatCat Records

Bandmate Neko Case Teams Up With A.C. Newman on His Third Solo LP, Shut Down the Streets

Next, A.C. Newman, one of the most accomplished and progressing musicians – both as a band member of the New Pornographers and as a solo artist – of the past decade of indie rock, has come up with yet another infectious pop song, “Encyclopedia of Modern Takedowns,” from his new Matador release, Shut Down the Streets.

At it’s core, the single’s catchy sing-a-long chorus is partly made possible by the contributions of Newman’s New Pornographers’ bandmate Neko Case. Don’t be surprised if the central lyric of the chorus, “I didn’t live that many lives” gets caught in your head after playing the song a few times. The time measures within the chorus are complex and intriguing – they’re not orthodoxy and yet don’t come off as experimental or out of place, which is simply further evidence of Newman’s amazing abilities in composing, recording and mixing as well as an incredible proficiency and knack for creating memorable hooks, witty lyrics and catchy choruses.

“Encyclopedia of Modern Takedowns” – A.C. Newman from Shut Down the Streets on Matador

Fresh Tracks from Mark Mallman, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Tamarin

The new single, “Double Silhouette,” by Mark Mallman, is similar to Newman’s – radio-ready pure pop perfection with a persuasive hook, crisp sound and a chorus that almost anyone can sing along with. The witty titled, “Bulletproof Girl,” from the sophomore album by Letting Up Despite Great Faults conjures up immediate imagery of a tough-as-nails character and has a sassy groove about it. In 2009, the band one wide praise for their self-titled debut album.

“Double Silhouette” – Mark Mallman from Double Silhouette on Eagle’s Golden Tooth

“Bulletproof Girl” – Letting Up Despite Great Faults from Untogether on New Words

“Seems a Laugh” – Tamarin from Shake The Ghost on La Société Expéditionnaire

Check back tomorrow for More Best New Releases from this week

IRC Album of the Week: Freelance Whale’s Sophomore LP, ‘Diluvia’

Posted on 10/11/201212/18/2019 by Max Hammer

In 2010, at Austin‘s famous SXSW festival, Queens band Freelance Whales were one of the big draws, generating a lot of buzz and performing at least six different shows in a four-day period, most of which were packed regardless of the venue. The band have been touring like crazy ever since the release of their almost famous debut album, Weathervanes, which was first self-released in October of 2009, and later re-released by Frenchkiss and Mom + Pop on April 27, 2010, just a month after the band’s revered appearance at SXSW. But in the past year, they’ve found time away from touring to work on their sophomore album, Diluvia, which was officially released on Tuesday.

The first single from the much anticipated album, “Dig Into Waves,” starts off sounding like a different band than the one we all got to know in 2009 and 2010 via songs like “Generator First Floor,” the latter of which was used by Twitter, in ads for the Chevy Volt and on the TV series Chuck. But mid-way through “Dig Into Waves,” where the track mellows out, and Judah Dadone‘s vocals overpower the high-pitched synths that dominate much of the song musically, it then becomes obvious to fans that it’s Freelance Whales. The fact that “Dig Into Waves” has an overall more crisp and vibrant sound – which is apparent all through Diluvia – than the band’s 2009 songs is a good thing because it shows the band progressing and taking chances, rather than playing it safe and essentially making a Vol. 2 of the debut, an approach many bands employ after the rush of popularity and praise following a successful debut.

“Dig Into Waves” – Freelance Whales from Diluvia on Mom+Pop / Frenchkiss

Interesting, Dadone said that much of the inspiration for the album came from the cult film, The Neverending Story. Freelance Whale’s sophomore LP is oozing with synth-heavy, artfully composed musical textures and vocal and musical harmonies, melodies and rhythms that are masterfully mixed, and yet still sound free-flowing enough to avoid the blunders of over-production or the sense that the album was merely a response to capitalize on the band’s early popularity. The craftsmanship of their work on Diluvia further elevates the band within the hierarchy of the orchestral pop sub-genre of indie rock music where artists like Sufjan Stevens and Arcade Fire have reigned supreme for years.

The album’s second single, and fifth track, “Locked Out,” almost sounds like a hybrid Christmas indie pop song on first spin – just without the wintery, religious or holiday lyrics. Yet on subsequent spins, the richly layered infusions of bells, horns and swirls of luminescent synth keys reveal a song that is dreamy, ethereal and celestial, and as many of the band’s songs, owes a good deal of its appeal to Dadone’s wonderfully soft vocals.

The fourth track on album, “Spitting Image,” is one of the clear highlights of the album. Multi-instrumentalist Doris Cellar, who plays bass, harmonium, glockenspiel and synths, takes the lead on vocals. Along with Cellar’s impressive vocal skills, a driving, crisp rhythm, lush melodies basking in bliss soaked synth riffs, and a catchy, steady beat, gives “Spitting Image” all of the markings of an indie pop hit.

“Spitting Image” – Freelance Whales from Diluvia on Mom+Pop / Frenchkiss

Other album highlights include “Land Features,” “The Nothing,” and “Follow Through,” among others, give the band plenty of fresh material to take on the road.

Transcontinental Band Goodnight, Texas Serve Up Roots Folk on New Single

Posted on 10/09/201210/01/2018 by Max Hammer

Formed in 2010, the band Goodnight, Texas, are an unsigned indie roots folk band with an interesting story behind their name. The two main members are Avi Vinocur from San Francisco and Patrick Dyer Wolf from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In a clever move to decide on a band name, the pair decided to locate a geographic mid-point between their two cities, which sit at opposite coasts of the continental United States, to come up with their name. It just so happened that Goodnight, an unincorporated community of 18 people located in the northern Texas panhandle on the outskirts of Amarillo, was the one.

However, they did have to dip a little bit more south between the actual two cities to find their spot. More importantly is how remarkable it is that two musicians from completely different communities and cultures were able to come together from such distance to create an authentic-sounding folk style, with obvious roots folk and even bluegrass influences, as evidenced on their new single released this past week, “Jesse Got Trapped In A Coal Mine.” Vinocur’s deep ancestral roots in the Appalachian hills of western Maryland show through the mandolin-driven elegy, “Jesse Got Trapped In A Coal Mine.”

“I grew up hearing stories more or less like ‘Jesse Got Trapped in a Coal Mine’ about distant relatives of mine,” says Vinocur. “As a kid I would pore over our collections of 19th century tintype photographs of relatives and friends of our family, and I became fascinated with life that long ago. It seemed so dark and beautiful, but unknown: the clothes, the weathered faces. That fascination became a theme for this new record of ours. To me, ‘Jesse’ is like one of those family stories – you’ll never know if it really happened that way, but you choose to pass it down anyway.”

Together with bassist Jonathan Kirchner, drummer Andrew Laubacher, and sometimes other musicians, Goodnight, Texas has produced a dynamic range out of a ragged orchestra, and American stories that should be welcoming to many fans of roots folk.

“Jesse Got Trapped In A Coal Mine” – Goodnight, Texas from A Long Life of Living

Best New Releases, Week of Dec. 4th – Memory Tapes, Mogwai, Split Screens, Team Ghost, Dream Boat, High Tyde, Formes

Posted on 10/09/201207/22/2021 by Max Hammer

Memory-Tapes-Dayve Hawke — Davye Hawke, aka, Memory Tapes, tops this week's thin slate of new releases with 'Grace/Confusion'

As 2012 winds down, so does the number of new album releases – this week being one of the thinnest of the year, if not the thinnest. But, there are still some great singles from this week’s fresh drops to share with you. Plus, to make up for the gap, we’re including new releases from DIY artists over the past couple of weeks that we only recently received directly from the artists.

The wistful electro-pop of Davye Hawke, better known as Memory Tapes, is one of our favorite ‘one-man bands’ of the past few years. In 2009, Hawke, a New Jersey resident, combined two previous projects, the atmospheric, vocal compositions of Memory Cassette and the dance-inspired instrumentals as Weird Tapes – to launch Memory Tapes.

What emerged from this new direction was the single, “Bicycle,” which basically lighted up the music blogs, and before long he was signed to two labels, playing big festivals, being hailed by the media and music lovers, making TV appearances and touring around the country and Canada. Hawke has continually been changing up his sound, and does so once again on Grace/Confusion, embracing the chillwave craze by bridging “prog rock and atmospheric synth pop to carve out a unique niche for himself in the genre,” as Heather Phares recently wrote for AllMusic.com.

“Sheila” – Memory Tapes from Grace/Confusion on Carpark Records

Multi-Instrumentalist Jesse Cafiero Drops Solo EP; Mogwai’s Remix Album Out

Split Screens is the new DIY project of multi-instrumentalist and collaborator Jesse Cafiero, who has played bass, and other instruments, for a variety of artists like John Vanderslice, Thao Nguyen of the Get Down Stay Down, Magik Magik Orchestra, and Sean Hayes. On Tuesday, Cafiero officially released Split Screens’ self-titled, debut EP, which includes the fantastically dreamy folk love song, “Born.” Cafiero is a busy guy – he also plays lap steel guitar (as he does so magically on “Born”) and stand-up bass for the popular band project, DRMS. Follow Split Screens, check out the Justin K. Broadrick remix of “George Square Thatcher Death Party” from Mogwai‘s critically acclaimed album, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. Other remixes feature Zombi, The Soft Moon and Tim Hecker, among others, on Mogwai’s new remix album, A Wrenched Virile Lore.

“Born” – Split Screens from Split Screens EP (self-released)

“George Square Thatcher Death Party (Justin K Broadrick Reshape)” – Mogwai from A Wrenched Virile Lore on Sub Pop

team-ghost-band — Team Ghost was Founded by M83 co-founder Nicholas Fromageau

Team Ghost Preps 2013 Debut LP with New EP

The Paris electronic/shoegaze outfit, Team Ghost, is a collaborative project of former M83 co-founder Nicolas Fromageau and multi-instrumentalist/composer Christophe Guerin, among other band members, as well as producer Jean-Philippe Talaga. Fromageau left M83 in 2004, resurfacing five years later for a performance at 2009’s Midi Festival on the French Riviera, under the moniker Team Ghost. The band’s debut EP, You Never Did Anything Wrong to Me, dropped in April of 2010 via Kiss Me First Records, and led to a NME endorsement that included the respected, long-time U.K. music mag dubbing the band’s style and sound ‘cold-gaze’ (a contraction of coldwave and shoegaze). As of that moment, cold-gaze became one of the newest sub-genres to add to an ever-growing list, which in the past decade, almost always includes a combination of two or more core genres. Team Ghost has toured with Crystal Castles, twice, released two EPs, and this past week, dropped their third EP, Death Film Star. It’s not a stretch to expect a debut full-length for 2013.

“Dead Film Star (Tepr Recopy)” – Team Ghost
from Dead Film Star EP on Wsphere

ECLIPSING_dreamboat — Cover for Dream Boat's 'Eclipsing.' Another example of terrible, unimaginative album cover art, a trend that we can only hope will change for the better

Athens’ Trio, Dream Boat, Release Debut and Ryan Francesconi & Mirabai Peart

The relatively under-the-radar ‘folk dream pop’ duo from Athens, Georgia, Dream Boat, dropped their debut album, Eclipsing, earlier this week. Formed in November of 2011, the band consists of Billy Pogany (lead vocals, guitarist), Trevor Adams (drums) and David Goe (bass), and count among their top musical influences The Beatles, The Kinks and Neil Young. Also, listen to the title track from Ryan Francesconi & Mirabai Peart‘s fresh release, Road To Palios.

“Sea to Sky” – Dream Boat from Eclipsing on Cloud Recordings

“Road To Palios” – Ryan Francesconi & Mirabai Peart from Road To Palios on Bella Union / Cooperative Music

hightydeband — High Tyde are a teenage indie rock quartet from Brighton, England

Teenage U.K. Rockers High Tyde

High Tyde, a teenage DIY band from Brighton, England that formed earlier this year, are making a name for themselves throughout the U.K. With a recent opening gig supporting The Milk, a new EP of note, Teal, and growing blog, radio and press coverage, High Tyde is a U.K. band to watch in 2013. The band wrote in their submission: “This is just the start of something special. Their in-your-face aptness towards their music is a fresh cynosure in the pop-dominated industry. With a unique, fresh sound that grabs your attention, this isnt the last you will hear from them

“Waiting” – High Tyde from Teal EP

Listen to the title track of the band’s first EP, Spill The Beans, via Soundcloud

High Tyde on Facebook

Leeds Bro-Duo, Formes, Drop Official Debut Single

In March of 2012, brothers Jordan McNamara and Steve McNamara from Leeds, England, formed the DIY psychedelic rock duo Formes. The duo became a fairly popular band in the local music scene, and increasingly, throughout the U.K. Formes got a big boost when their home recorded demos were featured on the BBC and Absolute Radio. Their official studio debut single, “Absence of the Noise” dropped earlier this week. The single was mixed by Grant Henderson at Loom Studios and mastered by Steve Whitfield (Shed Seven, The Cure, Terrorvision).

In their submission, the brothers listed Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Talk Talk, and the Verve as the duo’s top musical influences. Tomorrow, Dec. 10th, the band officially drops Red Room, a two-track live EP, which follows the September release of 360, a five-track EP of live tracks and demos, that add krautrock and ambient to their growing list of genre infusions. A full-length debut album is expected in 2013.

“Absence of the Noise” – Formes, single

Portugal-via-U.K. Artist Mimimic

Portugal and U.K. band Mimimic, a Corvo Records artist, creates lo-fi, beat and synth-driven psychedelic ambient music in the vein of Boards of Canada,Black Moth Super Rainbow – and to an extent, ambient trailblazers, Air – “adulterated with whatever elements happened to fall into the vat: samples of Brazilian funk MCs ripped from YouTube, home recordings of bacon frying, a barking dog ‘solo,’ and borrowed instruments,” the band wrote, in addition to “sounds with digital processing” and “low quality samples.”

“Vuja De” – Mimimic from Blender

Get Blender on Mimimic’s Bandcamp Page

As far as DIY and other under-the radar-releases of 2012, we’re working on a whole series of posts – featuring dozens of solid artists and bands, mostly DIY, that you’ve probably never heard before – for popular playlist series like In Dee Mail, 7 Bands You Gotta Hear, Recent Releases We Almost Missed, the upcoming DIY and Signed Artists/Bands to Watch in 2013, and of course, various ‘best of 2012’ playlists highlighting the best albums, songs and new bands of 2012. There’s a great deal on our plates and in the pipeline right now, and big updates and improvements to the site slated for 2013.

More Best & DIY Releases for Week of Oct. 2nd – Moon Duo, The Valery Trails, Pontoons, My Empire of Sound, The Ecstatics

Posted on 10/08/201212/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Yesterday we released a lengthly new releases playlist post for the week, featuring new music from The Vaccines, Why?, The Mountain Goats, Matt & Kim, Eraas, and many other artists. And there’s more – much more, including new music from talented bands you may be hearing for the first time. We’ve been receiving a wave of new submissions from DIY artists and bands from around the U.S., Canada and Europe lately. This post features new singles from albums released this week by Moon Duo, The Valery Trails, The Ecstatics, Pontoons, My Empire of Sound, among others.

A Fav 2011 New Artist, Moon Duo, Drop Sweet Sophomore LP

Upon the release of their 2011 album debut, Mazes, Moon Duo quickly became one of our favorite new bands of the year. Now the Colorado born band are back with a sick new single, “Sleepwalker,” from their sophomore release, Circles. The band spent the past year in Europe touring with the exception of a couple of months of winter isolation in Blue River in the Rocky Mountains, where they wrote and recorded most of the material for Circles. Some of the album was also recorded at Lucky Cat Records in San Francisco this past April and later mixed in Berlin. Much of the inspiration for the album, and the title of the album, were inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson‘s 1841 essay, “Circles.” If you dig this track, you’ll want to get a copy of the album and also buy a copy of their debut as well – they’re both fantastic and thrilling, deep and mysterious.

“Sleepwalker” – Moon Duo from Circles on Sacred Bones Records

New EP from Houston-via-Australia band The Valery Trails

Last year, guitarist and singer Andrew Bower, an expatriate Australian who relocated to Houston, enlisted his brother, Sean Bower to play bass, along with mutual friend and drummer, Dan McNaulty, from his hometown of Brisbane to form The Valery Trails.

Earlier this year, the band released their critically-acclaimed debut album, Ghosts and Gravity, which we included in our new favorite releases playlist for the week of February 7th. This week, they treated fans to a new four-track Feline EP, featuring songs the band has been recording for their upcoming sophomore LP, expected in early 2013. It’s unclear if the songs on the EP will also appear on the next album. Feline is a diversion from Ghosts and Gravity, Andrew Bower, told IRC, but it retains the moody melodic sensibility of their debut, while toying with a more lo-fi aesthetic. The EP also contains a cover of the classic “Raining Pleasure,” by the Australian 80’s alternative legends, The Triffids.

“Too Soon Forgotten” – The Valery Trails from Feline EP

Stream or download two more The Valery Trails’ songs from their acclaimed debut LP.

Portland Band The Ecstatics Drop Singles Ahead of Debut LP

The Ecstatics is an indie dance pop musical project that started out as two “dorky guys rocking out air-guitar style to The Wombats and Two Door Door Cinema Club in a Portland, OR basement.” The friends, Eli Hirsch and Quincy Saunders, began in earnest spending “sleepless nights huddled over a Pro Tools session bouncing ideas back and forth.” The duo are working on their debut album from which they sent in two singles that were released this week. The Ecstatics will tour the west coast in December.

“Float” – The Ecstatics from TBD

“Indie Boy Toy” – The Ecstatics from TBD

Visit The Ecstatics on Facebook

Sweden’s Lively Indie Pop Band The Happy Hippo Family Release New Single

The Happy Hippo Family from Orebro, Sweden, formed in 2008, quickly made a name for themselves in their native homeland for their lively indie pop sound and energetic live shows, having been compared to Swedish acts like Bob Hund and Hoffmaestro. Their popularity overseas, particularly in norther Europe, has also led to shows in Norway, Denmark, Germany and England. But they have yet to really break out in the states. Last week they released a brand new single, “Mustache.” Their top musical influences are Blur, Good Shoes, Mystery Jets, and Madness, which is apparent in their latest single.

“Mustache” – The Happy Hippo Family from single – Oct. 4th

Way Back Now Band Pontoons Drop Debut LP 14 Years Late

It happens all the time. Bands that were once riding a wave, often more than a decade ago, split up before recording a debut album, and for whatever reasons, decide many years into the future to get back together to finish or record a debut album they never got to release. Veterans of the music scene, New York City indie pop rock duo Pontoons, featuring singer/songwriter and guitarist Tom Hunt and drummer Christian Harper, released their debut single, “Juncos and Robins” in 1994, which Billboard called “one of the best indie debuts of the year.”

After releasing a follow-up single, “Landslide” in 1996, the band called it quits. Fourteen years later, in 2010, Hunt and Harper reformed to produce the band’s first full-length album, Slow, officially released this week, and featuring the driving, catchy single, “Antidote,” which has received a fairly good response from the music press and bloggers. Also included here is the bonus single, “Leave The Light On.” The Pontoons’ biggest musical influences are Big Star, REM, The Replacements, The Cure, and Galaxie 500.

“Antidote” – Pontoons from Slow

“Leave The Light On” – Pontoons from Slow

Swedish-Danish Band, My Empire of Sound, Release Second Single

Earlier this year, we posted the debut single from the newly formed Swedish-Denmark electronica/indie pop band, My Empire of Sound. The band just sent us the B-side, “Midnight Warriors,” released this week, and which will appear on their debut album, expected to drop early in 2013.

My Empire Of Sound are Swede John Alexander Ericson (Alberta Cross, The Northern Territories, Stjarna), joined up with Sidsel Marie Søholm from Denmark after the two met in a Berlin bar last year.

“Sidsel was one of the performers that night, and her voice blew me away,” Ericson told IRC. “We started chatting and decided on the spot to start a band together. On the first session, we tracked both ‘Early Morning (A New Beginning)’ and ‘For The Lovers You Left Behind.’ Then, I knew we were on to something quite special.” We have to agree. What do you think? Let us know via the Comments box. Remember, we occasionally pick Comments we like to win certain prizes, like iTunes gift cards, free albums, music e-books, and even concert tickets, where sometimes we can get commentators into concerts they want to attend.

“Midnight Warriors” – My Empire of Sound

“For The Lovers You Left Behind” – My Empire of Sound

Best New Music Releases, Week of Oct. 2nd – Why?, Matt and Kim, The Mountain Goats, How to Dress Well, Sun Airway, Beth Orton

Posted on 10/07/201207/22/2021 by Max Hammer

It took a bit longer this week to put it altogether because we’ve also been working on the Top DIY Releases of the Week playlist to be posted later today, including fantastic new singles from Moon Duo, The Valery Trails, The Ecstatics, Pontoons, My Empire of Sound, and more.

Plus, earlier in the week, we posted our Album of the Week review for The Vaccines‘ sophomore record, Come of Age, that features too excellent singles from the album, including the popular “Teenage Icon,” along with the video as well. This playlist post includes the other top non-DIY releases of the week from Matt and Kim, Why?, The Mountain Goats, How to Dress Well, Sun Airway, Will Sargeant, Beth Orton, Daugther, and Mark Eitzel, among others.

Matt and Kim pretty much stick to their branded sound on “Now” while Why? departs with a sort of fragmented hip-hop narrative mixed with indie pop on the lead single, “Jonathan’s Hope.” Reviews of the band’s newest effort are generally positive across the web, and we think deservedly so. There’s a lot of interesting material for fans of Why? to absorb, and for more casual music lovers who know some Why? songs, it’s very different then anything the band has released before.

“Jonathan’s Hope” – Why? from Mumps, etc. on Anticon

One particular lyric, among others, is: “a white dove on the hood of a two-ton truck.” Now that’s stark imagery, which is a consistent theme throughout. Mumps is a proper follow-up to the band’s superb 2009 album, Eskimo Snow, one of IRC’s favorite albums of the year – a year that was overflowing with memorable albums. Although we have Top Ten Songs playlists for 2010 and 2011, we don’t have them archived for 2009, but you can still find plenty of great music from ’09 by browsing through the archive of playlists. Unlike most other music blogs, we do not take down MP3 links – some expire or are taken down by the artist or label after some time, but surprisingly many remain intact.

Also, check out the colorful new video for Why’s track, “Strawberries.” A California cast of eccentric characters in a parade – not too quirky for California at all, but then again the rest of the country thinks Californians are nut cases when in fact they just like to have a fun. One of the online comments we read was from a Why? fan who said something to the effect that he wished he could have been there for the taping of the video while munching on magic mushrooms. We think the video is weird and wild enough that the mushrooms are not necessary, but, the point, whether joking around or serious, is understood once you’ve seen the video.

“Now” – Matt and Kim from Lightning on FADER Label

The Mountain Goats’ Drop Another Winning LP, Transcendental Youth

Needless to say, The Mountain Goats have turned out yet another impressive album of John Darnielle’s accomplished songwriting and performance skills. But, Transcendental Youth falls short of the brilliance of albums like 2005’s The Sunset Tree and 2008’s Heretic Pride. Rolling Stone wrote: “An album full of characters struggling against dead-end jobs, drug addiction and depression doesn’t exactly sound inviting, but in the hands of John Darnielle, it’s magic.” The Quietus had a different view, granting the album a 7 out of 10, and adding “Call Transcendental Youth a stumble and wait for the next Mountain Goats release next year.” We’re leaning more towards the Rolling Stone spin that “it’s magic,” but perhaps “magic” is a bit strong. Darnielle’s music is definitely an acquired taste; his fans tend to be more musically sophisticated and geeks proud to be so. No doubt Transcendental Youth is and will be accepted warmly by TMG’s most loyal fans – whether it reaches far beyond that is another matter.

“Cry for Judas” – The Mountain Goats from Transcendental Youth on Merge

2010 Listener Voted Break Out Band Sun Airway Drop Sophomore Album

Sun Airway is a Philadelphia band we first featured in 2009, and in 2010, they were voted by IRC listeners as one of the top breakthrough bands of 2010. Now Sun Airway is back with a sophomore album, Soft Fall, and the sweet new single, “Close.” Let’s see if this new single puts them back in the Top Ten Songs (September’s playlists coming up – finishing up analyzing stats to determine Top 10) for 2012. We’ll find out soon.

“Close” – Sun Airway from Soft Fall on Dead Oceans

How to Dress Well, the moniker of experimental pop producer and R&B artist, Tom Krell, has a new album out, Total Loss. The LP’s lead single, “Ocean Floor For Everything,” has been out for five months, and during that time has amassed over 115,000 plays on Soundcloud. The song is a tranquil, relaxing composition with calming synth notes, a delayed, elongated beat, and sensual, harmonic lead vocals – altogether creating a dreamy landscape where you can imagine yourself watching a glorious, firey sunset in total peaceful quiet. If Krell’s goal was to paint a beautiful picture with minimal musical input, he was successful.

It is only fitting to include the lead Balmorhea single from the album, Stranger, back-to-back with “Ocean Floor For Everything” because they flow together perfectly. Balmorhea takes the listener on a sonic journey that of peace and tranquility, and it seems to us the song also has an optimism to it as it picks up a bit in the last two minutes. Musician Mark Eitzel changes the mood with a fairly ‘bummed out’ love song – such is love; that wonderful and painful thing we can’t live without. There is nothing more painful than a lost love. Just by coincidence, Mark Eitzel‘s new album is titled Don’t Be A Stranger – which also implies a yearning for love, and an interesting contrast to Balmorhea’s Stranger.

“Ocean Floor For Everything” – How To Dress Well from Total Loss on Acéphale

“Pyrakantha” – Balmorhea from Stranger on Western Vinyl

“I Love You But You’re Dead” – Mark Eitzel from Don’t Be a Stranger on Merge

ERAAS pumps up the drum machines bass on “Fang,” creating a shifty, throbbing and deep beat, sprinkled with tambourines, infusions of ghostly pop spurts and echoey, soft, melodic vocals that altogether give the song a sense of psychedelia with a haunting overtone. “Fang” is the lead single from the interestingly-name band’s self-titled debut album.

“Fang” – ERAAS from ERAAS on Felte

Echo and The Bunnymen’s Will Sergeant Drops Instrumental Solo Album

As the founding member of the popular Liverpool post punk band, Echo and the Bunnymen (1978-present), guitarist Will Sergeant sent IRC a couple of songs from his new solo album, Things Inside. The songs, “Into The Seventies” and “Dragonflies” are a departure from what fans are used to in regards to his work with the Bunnymen. Sergeant explores the world of experimental, ambient instrumental music on his latest effort, featuring calming, presumably Far Eastern-influenced guitar work exhibiting a skill that only someone who is a master guitarist can achieve. While it’s not necessarily indie rock, we still dig it, and great for when you just want to hear music without words, like while reading or what have you. On the subject of indie rock, Sergeant, and his long-time bandmate, Ian McCulloch, have as much to do with the birth of indie back in the early 1980’s as any other band can claim.

“Into the Seventies” – Will Sergeant from Things Inside

“Dragonflies” – Will Sergeant from Things Inside

Orphan track meant to post last week, via ThisWheelIsinSpin “Sirens” – Satellite Stories

Quick Picks: Tilly and the Wall, Beth Orton, Immigrant Union, Maserati, Team Genius, Flying Lotus

As promised, there was a lot to cover this week, so in order to get back to finishing the upcoming Top DIY Releases of the week, here are quick picks of other MP3singles released this week by Tilly and the Wall, Team Genius, Flying Lotus, Beth Orton, Immigrant Union, Maserati, and Ken Stringfellow, and other tracks to pick and chose from, spanning the musical landscape from country to electronic. The Top DIY Releases of the Week playlist for this past week includes terrific singles from Moon Duo, The Valery Trails, Pontoons, My Empire of Sound, The Ecstatics and others that we think many listeners are going to like, especially since many are not really posted anywhere else online and easily accessible.

“Love Riot” – Tilly and the Wall from Heavy Mood on Team Love

“Everything’s Alright” – Team Genius from Loud Songs EP on Paper Garden Records

“Putty Boy Strut” – Flying Lotus from Until The Quiet Comes on Warp Records

“Magpie” – Beth Orton from Sugaring Season on Anti-

“Doesn’t It Remind You of Something (feat. Charity Rose Thielen)” – Ken Stringfellow from Danzig In The Moonlight on Spark & Shine

“My Heart’s A Joke” – Immigrant Union from Immigrant Union

“The Eliminator” – Maserati from Maserati VII on Temporary Residence

Amazon Quick Clicks to Purchase This Week’s MP3s, CDs and Vinyls

Tori Amos – Gold Dust | CD Deluxe CD/DVD MP3

Angel Snow – Angel Snow | CD MP3

Angels Heart – Tattoos and Cigarettes | MP3

AxeWound – Vultures | CD MP3

Balmorhea – Stranger | CD Vinyl MP3

Beacon – For Now [EP] | Vinyl MP3

Big Cats – For My Mother | MP3

Brainstorm – Heat Waves | MP3

Dance for the Dying – Puzzles for the Traveler [EP] | MP3

Iris DeMent – Sing the Delta | CD Vinyl MP3

Mark Eitzel – Don’t Be a Stranger | CD Vinyl MP3

Eraas – Eraas | CD Vinyl MP3

Faith Evans – R&B Divas | CD MP3

Flying Lotus – Until the Quiet Comes | CD Vinyl

The Giving Tree Band – Vacilador | MP3

Guerilla Speakerz – Holla [EP] | MP3

Hammock – Departure Songs | CD MP3

John Wort Hannam – Brambles and Thorns | CD MP3

Heart – Fanatic | CD Vinyl MP3

The Hood Internet – Feat | CD MP3

Charlie Hunter & Scott Amendola – Not Getting Behind Is the New Getting Ahead | CD Vinyl MP3

Jets Overhead – Boredom and Joy | MP3

Jeanne Jolly – Angels | CD MP3

Diana Krall – Glad Rag Doll | CD Deluxe CD Vinyl MP3 Deluxe MP3

The Last Names – Wilderness | MP3

Lightning Bolt – Oblivion Hunter | Vinyl MP3

The Lone Wolf Project – Old Words, New Chapters | MP3

Marillion – Sounds That Can’t Be Made | CD MP3

Maserati – Maserati VII | CD Vinyl MP3

Matt and Kim – Lightning | CD Vinyl MP3

Maus Haus – Light Noise | CD MP3

Maybeshewill – I Was Here For a Moment, Then I Was Gone | CD Vinyl MP3

Tift Merritt – Traveling Alone | CD Vinyl MP3

Miguel – Kaleidoscope Dream | CD Vinyl MP3

The Modern Airline – The Modern Airline | CD MP3

Moon Duo – Circles | CD Vinyl MP3

Van Morrison – Born to Sing: No Plan B | CD MP3

The Mountain Goats – Transcendental Youth | CD Vinyl MP3

Muse – The 2nd Law | CD Deluxe CD/DVD Vinyl MP3 Deluxe MP3

Lindi Ortega – Cigarettes and Truck Stops | CD MP3

Beth Orton – Sugaring Season | CDVinylMP3Deluxe MP3

Andrew Osenga – Leonard the Lonely Astronaut | CD MP3

Papa Roach – The Connection | CD Deluxe CD Vinyl MP3

Charlie Peacock – No Man’s Land | CD Vinyl MP3

Tristan Prettyman – Cedar + Gold | CD MP3

Rah Rah – The Poet’s Dead | CD MP3

Rupa & The April Fishes – Build | CDMP3

Jake Shimabukuro – Grand Ukulele | CD MP3

b>Skyzoo – A Dream Deferred | CD MP3

Sun Airway – Soft Fall | CD Vinyl MP3

Taken By Trees – Other Worlds | CD Vinyl MP3

Three Days Grace – Transit of Venus | CD MP3

Tilly and the Wall – Heavy Mood | CD Vinyl MP3

The Tins – Life’s a Gas | CD MP3

The Tragically Hip – Now For Plan A | CD MP3

Frank Turner – Last Minutes & Lost Evenings | CD/DVD MP3

Two Fingers – Stunt Rhythms | CD Vinyl MP3

Ultraísta – Ultraísta | CD Vinyl MP3

The Vaccines – Come of Age | CD Vinyl MP3

The Valis – Minds Through Space and Time | MP3

Bry Webb – Provider | CD Vinyl MP3

Why? – Mumps, Etc. | CD Vinyl MP3

Andre Williams – Life | CD Vinyl MP3

Z-Ro – Angel Dust | CD MP3

Zion I – Shadowboxing | CD MP3