With its full indie pop blitz and sunny sounds, highlighted by remarkably warm vocals, “Facing Dullness” is the newest single from Nordic indie artist Sail by Summer, aka, Grammy-award winning musician William Hut.
His latest single is an inspiring, well-crafted pop/rock song that further enhances Hut’s songwriting, vocal, and musical abilities and talents.
Hut recorded the song with his longtime Danish collaborator Jens Kristian who plays on the keys on his tracks. This is a really good song that doesn’t disappoint on repeated plays. (Isn’t everyone in the mood for spring? This song will help.)
Missed any new indie songs recently? So did we. It was easy to miss tracks dropped during the holidays, vacations, finals, and so on.
Listen to new tracks from Vampire Weekend, The Raconteurs, Sufjan Stevens, and many others. See the full playlist below.
Vampire Weekend – “Harmony Hall/2021”
Vampire Weekend dropped two new tracks – “Harmony Hall” and “2021” – last week from the band’s upcoming new album, Father of the Bride. A firm release date has not yet been nailed down.
In his Instagram posting, frontman Ezra Koenig said the album – the bands’ first in six years – will be a double 18-track album.
To promote it, the band will drop is dropping a two-song release each month for three months before the album’s scheduled May release date.
Although this is the first VW album without longtime band member Rostam Batmanglij, who left the band in 2016. However, Koenig said that Batmanglij did help produce “Harmony Hall” and “worked very closely on” another fresh track.
The Raconteurs – “Sunday Driver”
In the area of reissues, The Raconteurs – one of Jack White‘s three or four? (lost count) bands – reissued the Grammy-winning Consolers of the Lonely with two new tracks this month, including the dazzling music video for the track “Sunday Driver.”
Sufan Stevens – “Lonely Man of Winter”
The prolific indie Christmas songs artist Sufjan Stevens had one of his older wintertime tracks, “Lonely Man of Winter,” see an official release in December called (If you missed our Wintertime Playlist, it’s been popular), in addition to a new EP.
The Stevens’ single was originally recorded in 2007. However, Stevens’ label explained the song was ‘won’ by songwriter Alec Duffy (who became the legal copyright owner) in a Christmas exchange contest in 2008.
Recently, Duffy decided to release the song from his private collection for all to hear. The EP, Lonely Man of Winter, includes the recording as well as Duffy’s entry and a new Doveman mix with vocals by Melissa Mary Ahern.
New Indie Tracks Playlist
This mini-playlist is not really so mini once you hear these fresh indie songs, including from some of our favorite indie artists of all – we just don’t have time to review everyone, but we hope you enjoy these recent singles we almost missed from The Struts, Fleet Foxes, Beach House, Phosphorescent, Deer Tick, Weezer, Pavo Pavo, Beirut, The Twilight Sad, Pedro The Lion, Deerhunter among others.
Danish band Iceage, once known for its punk music, turned post-punks some years ago. The band released a recently dropped a new single, “Balm of Gilead,” ahead of its North American tour with Black Lips.
The song follows up Iceage’s fourth album Beyondless. The song is available on a split 7″ with Black Lips for purchase exclusively at shows.
Also, The Diplo-fronted band Major Lazer dropped a new Caribbean-peppered single “Blow That Smoke” last month with Swedish pop export Tove Lo.
Got to see these guys at Coachella – woah! (And so much more)
Most of these singles are from recently released albums by said artists. This is a great playlist to listen to in the car or at work. Uninterrupted stream with no commercials.
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
IRC Readers' Choice for Best New Band of 2010: Ireland's Two Door Cinema Club
In the latest IRC Readers’ Choice Awards poll, Ireland‘s hot alternative rock and electronic band Two Door Cinema Club edged out other top indie rock bands for the title as the Best Break-Through Band of 2010.
The rising band took 21% of 1,761 votes cast by readers and visitors on IRC during the past two-weeks that the poll has been running. Some people may dispute the validity of Two Door Cinema Club as particularly suitable because their music is definitely electro and dance pop oriented, and therefore, not the traditional four-piece bands that came close, but not close enough, to beating TDCC for the No. 1 slot.
The band’s 2010 release, Tourist History, is what really allowed them to break-through to a much wider audience in 2010. In 2008, TDCC released their self-titled debut album, that got a lot play in Ireland and England. Even though the band were popular overseas prior to 2010, they didn’t really hit critical mass – and penetrate the American alternative music scene until recently.
If you don’t have Tourist History, you can click here, purchase it and download it to your computer, phone or MP3 player for only $5 on Amazon. The $5 deal is a limited time offer and worth four or five times as much in pure talent and ambition.
The Beginnings of a Fascinating Band
Two Door Cinema Club is an alternative/indie rock band from Northern Ireland. The band members – Alex Trimble, Kevin Baird, Sam Halliday – formed the band in 2007, and soon after, signed to French record label Kitsuné Music.
Trimble and Halliday first met as kids at Bangor Grammar School, and later became friends with Baird. But it wasn’t until just a few years ago that the friends began to put together what would become Two Door Cinema Club. Interestingly, the band got their name after one of the members mispronounced the name of a local cinema, Tudor Cinema. Throughout 2008 and 2009, the band’s profile steadily increased as the number of views and plays skyrocketed on the band’s MySpace page.
Local Natives took the No. 2 spot in the final breakthrough band poll of 2010
“Hands Off My Cash, Monty” – Two Door Cinema Club for Two Door Cinema Club
Having decided to leave their college studies in pursuit of their dreams, the band focused on getting into a studio and getting out a debut EP. In January of 2009, the band released the EP, Four Words To Stand On, and from there on out, it was a wild ride upwards as bloggers and music critics and fans got their hands on the EP and shared with others. The buzz for Two Door Cinema Club was on, and during the ensuing 12 months they toured, wowed fans and cynics with their well-honed live shows, began getting bigger billings, festival invites, growing record sales and a serious following throughout Ireland, the UK and United States.
In July 2009, TDCC began recording their debut album with Eliot James (The Futureheads, Bloc Party, The Kaiser Chiefs) at London’s Eastcote Studios; by September, the band were mixing the record at Paris studio of Cassius member Phillipe Zdar (Phoenix, Cut Copy, Chromeo). While anticipation built for the completion and release of the band’s debut LP, some details were revealed in January of 2010 when the band provided a track listing to the NME, a popular UK music mag that was obviously keeping tabs on the Irish band.
On February 26, 2010, Tourist History was officially released in the Republic of Ireland; March 1st in the U.K.; and April 27th in the U.S.. Much of the anticipation, and subsequent praise for the album was based on the fact that many singles had been released months before, including alternative radio singles like “Something Good Can Work”, “I Can Talk” and “Undercover Martyn.” Additionally, the tracks “Something Good Can Work” and “Undercover Martyn” were featured on television advertisements for Vodafone and Meteor.
“Undercover Martyn” – Two Door Cinema Club from Tourist History
View all five polls representing 50 bands that eventually, through the voting process, were whittled down to the Top Ten, and then, of course, the winner. Poll One, Poll Two, Poll Three, and Poll Four, and Poll Five.
Following not too far behind the No. 1 Two Door Cinema Club was one of the most popular bands of 2010, Local Natives, who took 18% of the vote, followed by Broken Bells (14%), The Drums (13%), and to round out the Top 5, Freelance Whales (8%).
“Sunhands” – Local Natives from Gorilla Manor
“The Ghost Inside” – Broken Bells from Broken Bells
“Forever and Ever Amen” – The Drums from The Drums
It does say volumes, we think, that Two Door Cinema Club beat out wildly popular, and American, bands like Local Natives, Broken Bells, The Drums and Freelance Whales, among others. But the poll results reflect who the poll takers picked. We even blocked repeated votes by cookie and IP, so the polls that the margin of error would be as low as possible. Nevertheless, by the time the first 200 votes were in, TDCC was in the lead, and at that time, right ahead of Broken Bells. As the poll progressed to over 1,500 votes, the only thing that remained a constant was TDCC’s lead over the other nine bands.
[/caption]In five separate polls, featuring a total of 50 bands, readers whittled down the best break-through bands of the year to the Top Ten. Back in June of 2010, we published the first break-through bands of 2010 poll. In that poll, readers, and visitors, overwhelmingly picked Local Natives at 23%, followed far behind by Surfer Blood, who garnered almost 14%. The dynamic musical duo Sleigh Bells garnered 13.2%, and Canada’s Crystal Castles – another duo – and Brooklyn electro-haze pop artist, Neon Indian, pretty much tied (CC taking it by one vote) to round out the Top 5.
See more results, and listen to and download MP3s from all 10 nominees, including the bottom half, which included big-time buzz bands of 2010 like Philadelphia’s Free Energy and New Jersey’s Real Estate. It was stunning to see Free Energy only grab 8.7% of the vote, and Real Estate only taking 4%.
The many wonders of polling
We love polling for many different reasons, but the two biggest reasons are one, the results are always fascinating, and often surprising, and two, it helps us tailor our coverage of bands and music in some part to what the various polls indicate our readers and visitors want more or less of. That’s an important element, as it has been since we started the Top Ten Songs page in late 2009.
This final poll comprised the No. 1 band, plus the runner-up, for each of the five polls of this particular polling series, with a total of 50 breakout bands that we selected with some help from the trends of which indie bands were more popular than the rest, based again, on the Top Ten Songs page, plus other metrics, such as number of page views for an artist profile, reTweets and Facebook ‘Likes’, hearted favorites on our Hype Machine page, and so on.
To browse all 50 bands, visit the following poll result pages that include each individual poll result, band profiles and overviews, plus a free MP3 from each nominee : Poll One, Poll Two, Poll Three, and Poll Four, and Poll Five.
Somehow an old tag ‘2008 Music Festivals’ became a really popular post tag in IRC’s widget-generated tag cloud. Of course, as tags in tag clouds do, the more people click on it, the larger the tag – in this case, ‘festival updates’ – visually appears in the tag cloud itself.
Therefore, in an effort to ‘give the people what they want’ (like The Kinks’ once famously sang on the 1981 album by the same name), we’re working on finding a way to replace outdated categories in the tag cloud with the most recent music festival news, coverage, announcements, photos, playlists, videos and so forth.
Until that time, please click this Music Festivals search result to find some of the more recent festival-related posts. This is a temporary work-around until we figure out if in fact a large number of regular, and newer, IRC visitors want more festival related posts.
Here’s how you can help us figure that out:
If you want more music festival coverage, please leave a quick message in the Comments box below (only takes a minute – no signing up required and your email is never made public or shared). It can be as simple as “Yes, more festival coverage” or more specific like “do more coverage of festivals in 2013” or “I like the pre and post festival coverage you’ve done in the past with reviews, playlists, live videos, photos and line-ups.” The number and content of the comments, which we will publish as they come in, will be a good indicator to us if more festival coverage is what people want in 2013.
In the meantime, view the main festival category page, or use the search box in the right column to search for specific festivals like Coachella, Outside Lands, SXSW, to name a few.
[/caption]In five separate polls, featuring a total of 50 bands, readers whittled down the best break-through bands of the year to the Top Ten. Back in June of 2010, we published the first 