Category: In Dee Mail

Back in 2008, when we first began to officially provide artists and bands a formal way to submit their music to us for review, we would get a few dozen submissions a month. However, in the past two years, as the traffic to IRC has steadily grown (most especially in the past year), the number of submissions has gone through the roof, and we now receive hundreds of submissions a month. And it has just become nearly impossible to keep up with it all.

We are doing our best to keep up with it all; we’ve come across some of the most amazing music we’ve ever heard via the music submissions process. In most cases, they are unknown and new artists and bands, mostly from the United States and Canada, but also from every corner of the globe. If you have followed the In Dee Mail series for any length of time, you’re probably familiar with the series by now.

In Dee Mail is unique from other posts, band profiles, new releases, mixes and playlists, is the fact that all of the songs featured are from artists and bands we’ve never heard of before until they contacted us. Over the years we can say that we’ve spotlighted artists and bands who’ve gone on to become marginally to very successful in the indie rock culture. But without pretense, bands have found that one good place to get fairly significant exposure on these days is IRC.

So, back to this latest edition of In Dee Mail. Right now we are back-logged by nearly 200 submissions, and there is pressure to get them all reviewed by the end of the year. And so we are going to do what we can. Of the nearly 200 submissions, there will probably be about 30-40 that will make it to an In Dee Mail playlist.  In this edition, the music spans the spectrum of indie rock to the romping dance beats, and rocking riffs.

Push Pals – Charlotte, NC

Push Pals is a Charlotte, North Carolina indie rock band that formed in February 2010 as a creative collaboration between musicians Blake Raynor, Ben Gelnett and Noah Warner – each of whom have been actively involved in the booming Charlotte music scene of the past couple years. In June, Push Pals released their debut EP, To The Thing, And Back, and are now working on their debut full-length album. Even though they only formed this year, Push Pals have already opened for big-name indie bands like Beach Fossils, Wavves, and The Growlers.

The opening of the track “Fu*k Yes” reminded us of the patriotic rock epics of Titus Andronicus. The track has a blazing and memorable guitar riff that easily put Push Pals on the radar as our favorite new Charlotte band that we’d never heard of, until now. The follow-up single, “Keep Pushing” is enthusiastic and rambuntous, and further evidence that this band is poised to strike a chord with indie music lovers beyond the local scene of Charlotte.

“Fu*k Yes” – Push Pals from To The Thing, And Back

“Keep Pushing” – Push Pals To The Thing, And Back

Get more info via the Push Pals’ Facebook page.

Southern Shores is a Canadian duo relocated in Berlin making tropical, exotic, bright, balearic wonderful music. Something to make you feel on a windy and sunny beach instead that passing your monday in a cubicle. Have a good day.

“Grande Comore” – Southern Shores

Mutineers – Manchester, England

The bar is set pretty high for bands trying to carve out a name for themselves in the legendary rock and roll city of Manchester, England, thanks to the worldwide adoration for Manchester bands of yesteryear like The Smiths, New Order and Stone Roses, to name just a couple of examples. Not surprisingly, those are two of the top mentors for the increasingly popular local rock band, Mutineers.

The band also name drops other bands when describing that its songwriting incorporates “slices of towering anthemic pop to match anything in the international armoury of The Killers or prime REM.”

“Infidelity” – Mutineers from Friends’ Lovers?

Opened For: Bad Lieutenant, Wintersleep, The View, and Pete Doherty
Influences: The Smiths, Echo & The Bunnymen, Talking Heads, The La’s

The Raw Men Empire – Tel Aviv, Israel

Anti-folk/freak-folk band from Tel Aviv, Israel were just drinking buddies until they began to experiment with making music. While their sound is a ways away from refined – therein ‘raw’ – it is almost like listening to demos of something that could someday be significant with just the right producer and engineer. The songs are from the band’s September debut LP, Elodie.

“Between You and Me” – The Raw Men Empire from Elodie

The Raw Men Empire on Facebook

Opened For:
Influences:

The eclectic music of Durham, North Carolina’s Nathan Oliver is more irresistible every time we spin the band’s 2009 release, Cloud Animals. From the feel-good, jangly pop of “Playground Lies,” to the driving rawhide blues and horns of “Icicles for Fingers,” and the fuzzy melancholy of the road-trip instrumental, “Leaf Spine,” Cloud Animals proves to be one of the best under-appreciated albums of 2009.

Other standout tracks on the album include the catchy melodies and chorus of “French Press,” and the post-punk rocker, “Red Panda.” The band, which includes past and present members of Schooner, North Elementary, The Rosebuds, and Ticonderoga, have made their way on to our radar as a fairly large blip, and earned a spot on the ‘bands to watch’ in 2010 list. Nathan Oliver’s music conjures up general comparisons to bands and artists like The Shins, Conor Oberst, The Pixies and The Unicorns.

“Playground Lies” – Nathan Oliver from Cloud Animals

“Icicles for Fingers” – Nathan Oliver from Cloud Animals

“French Press” – Nathan Oliver from Cloud Animals

Check out the band’s website for more tracks and a link to purchase the LP, and visit Nathan Oliver on MySpace.

The quantity and quality of music piling up in the IRC mailbox in recent months is simply mind-boggling. For those of you who have followed IRC over the months, and even years, the In Dee Mail series has served as a special playlist mix feature where we spotlight relatively unknown – in most cases – artists and bands who stand out among the hundreds of tracks we receive via our submission form (see the About page) each month.

This latest batch of new and approved tracks showcases the talents of artists and bands that most of you have probably never heard of before. In some cases, the bands we spotlight via the In Dee Mail series have never been featured on any music site, blog or print publication – often times to our utter amazement.

All in all, this mix spotlights some of the best bands of 2010 that we had never heard of until now. Don’t forget to check out other In Dee Mail playlist mixes chock full of awesome music from bands you’ve probably never heard of; see the links at the end of this post for more. Plus, there are more In Dee Mail posts in the queue that will be published in the coming weeks.

Setting Sun – New Paltz, NY

With so many bands coming out in recent years with the word “sun” in their names, it can be difficult to keep them all sorted out. But for New Paltz, New York recording artist Setting Sun, (aka Gary Levitt), people are likely to remember him for the earnest, uptempo beats and psychedelic synth pop on tracks like “Driving”.

The tempo slows and the horns and acoustic guitars, accompanied by smooth vocals switches the mood on the tightly engineered song, “Make You Feel”. Both songs are from Setting Sun’s 2010 album, Fantasurreal, which was released back in June. Unlike many of the artists featured for In Dee Mail, Setting Sun has enjoyed a good deal of positive press, including NPR which called Levitt’s music “immediately alluring” and USA Today writing about his”incredibly well-crafted songs with a vocal that reminds [the writer] of Bright Eyes.”

“This was the easiest record I’ve ever made,” says Levitt. “It felt natural to come home to my studio and let these songs pour out while embracing some solitude that is so hard to find on tour. It was a big relief and a great way to ease back into my life.”

“Make You Feel” – Setting Sun from Fantasurreal

“Driving” – Setting Sun from Fantasurreal

Opened for: Mice Parade, Bellini, Dosh, Geoff Farina, Gogol Bordello, Quitzow
Influences: Fans of Beatles, Of Montreal, Grandaddy, Elliott Smith
Website: Setting Sun MySpace

Mothlight – Los Angeles, CA

Dreamy and chilled out electronic pop flows freely in a minimalistic, experimental form, embellished with hushed vocals, wavy synth notes, and a steady, medium beat that feels like you’re floating across the heavens. Mothlight began as a solo project in college by Matt Billings and his producer friend, Andrew Naeve.

After college, they split apart for a year; Billings continued Mothlight in San Diego until the two reunited in Los Angeles to finish recording and producing their debut EP, Chrysalis, and a debut LP, expected in 2011. The EP features the two songs here, “Repeater,” with its fantastic overall effect, and endless taunt to be played again and again. The second single, “Skin Graft,” keeps in step with the duo’s experimental, melody-laced electro pop-new wave sound.

“Repeater” – Mothlight from Chrysalis

“Skin Graft” – Mothlight from Chrysalis

Opened For: Weatherbox, Japandi, Snuffaluffagus
Influences: Jim O’Rourke, Animal Collective, Brian Eno, Liars, The-Dream, Why?
Website: Mothlight’s Myspace page

Vicinal – Colorado Springs, CO

With a guitar glimmering pop hooks reminiscent of Matthew Sweet, Colorado Springs alternative pop one-man band Vicinal got our attention with the track “Alone.” Vicinal is completely the work of DIY musician Christopher Jones, who wrote, recorded and played every instrument on every song for his self-titled EP, released back in March. Jones tours around his home state of Colorado with friends and session musicians.

“Alone” – Vicinal from Vicinal EP

“When You Try” – Vicinal from Vicinal EP

Opened for: Jake Allen
Influences: Third Eye Blind, H.I.M., Smashing Pumpkins, Better Than Ezra.
Website: Vicinal on MySpace

TV Girl – San Diego, CA

Over the past couple of years, there has been a steady of great new talent coming out of San Diego, including bands like Avi Buffalo, The Crocodiles, Wavves, and many others. Now, the latest incarnation of the prolific, Brad P, has teamed up with fellow San Diego artist, Trung Ngo to form TV Girl, a project they left their previous endeavors for; Brad P and The Son of Sam, and Da Bears, respectively. In October, TV Girl released the self-titled album featuring the chillwave loop mix with Todd Rungred‘s “Hello It’s Me” serving as the sample for the track “If You Want It, You Got It.” The second single, “It’s Not Something,” is a catchy little tropical-tinged track that would be best on a summer mixtape. Unfortunately, however, the song ends abruptly as if it were cut short by accident, or on purpose; either way, it would have been cool if it went a bit longer with its sunny, beachy groove.

“If You Want It You Got It” – TV Girl from TV Girl

“It’s Not Something” – TV Girl from TV Girl

Influences: The Velvet Underground, the Shangri-La’s, Ariel Pink, Leonard Cohen, Harry Nilsson
Website: TV Girl on MySpace

Cygnets – Edmonton, AB, Canada

Based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the indie new wave band Cygnets perform energetic, infectious songs with a strong influences of electronic dance, post-punk and Britpop, all combined to create a decidedly new wave sound – a style that seems to be oozing out of every nook and cranny of the Canadian indie music scene in recent years. The band is the culmination of many years of work, with songwriter and musician Logan Turner privately writing and recording hundreds of songs before deciding to explore a group dynamic. This collaboration was realized in close friends Chris Bruce and Dan Snow. Contributing textured, inspiring guitar work and bright, catchy synthesizer hooks, Bruce and Snow’s styles compliment and enhance Logan’s colorful songwriting style and singular, melodic voice.

The musical and lyrical dynamics of the band blend nicely Cygnets’ new wave-style supported by synthesizers and steady pop beats are the centerpiece of the band’s sound, as evidenced on the fantastic track, “Telepaths”. On the equally upbeat song “Bleak Decades,” Turner seems to be channeling early Smiths’ era Morrissey crooning, but without sounding like a tacky rip-off.

So it was no surprise when we learned that the band list among their biggest influences The Smiths, Joy Division, Depeche Mode and New Order. Both songs featured here were picked by the band as standout singles from their debut album, Bleak Anthems, which dropped on September 21st. If you like what you hear, the LP, and their debut EP, are available as free downloads via their official website.

“Telepaths” – Cygnets from Bleak Anthems

“Bleak Decades” – Cygnets Bleak Anthems

Opened for: You Say Party, Apoptygma Berzerk
Influences: The Smiths, Joy Division, Depeche Mode, New Order, You Say Party, Radiohead
Website: Cygnets on MySpace

Most Popular Recent Posts:

In Dee Mail 2010, Vol. VI – Whisperlights, Snuffaluffagus, Wonderflu, Kate Martin, Photosonic Orchestra, Light For Fire, DZ

Fresh Tracks Mix: Crystal Castles & Robert Smith, Radio Dept., Club 8, Smith Westerns, Twin Shadow, Woodsman

Best New Releases: Weekend, The Radio Dept., The Concretes, Botany, Nightlands, Valleys, Neitzer Ebb, Gary Wilson, Violens

50 Indie Halloween Songs from Beach House, Radiohead, The Kinks, Pavement, Beck, The Kills, The Black Keys, The Smiths, Atlas Sound

Over the next several weeks, and probably into 2011, there will be an uptick in the number of In Dee Mail playlist posts; the latest one was just published last week.

We’re excited because IRC readers and visitors traditionally love the In Dee Mail series. But most of all we’re amped to share with you even more relatively unknown bands creating interesting, eclectic, creative, unique and quality music. Almost every artist or band in this series were new to us (and just about everyone else) until they sent in some of their music via our submission form. There is something uniquely special about hearing good-to-great music for the first time from an unknown band.

Dozens of artists and bands have told us they got their first ‘big’ or ‘real’ exposure via In Dee Mail.  The majority of bands that are featured on the In Dee Mail series are unsigned, or signed to a small label, and usually completely DIY. Hidden gems await you.

In June, the locally popular Phoenix, Arizona band Whisperlights released their debut EP, Wake Up Dead, and we’re just getting around to it now. Apologies. Whisperlights is a group of multi-instrumentalists and individual songwriters that coalesced in early 2009 around the ideas of writing folk-inspired pop music that didn’t lose itself in endless noodling. The band, consisting of Illya Riske, Owen Marshall, Wasef El-Kharouf, Tobie Milford, and Dave Gironda, quickly became known in Phoenix for their chaotic and energetic live shows with seemingly sporadic instrumental changes, vocalist changes and full-throated choruses.

Since then, the Whisperlights have invaded the Phoenix music scene, played festivals all over Arizona, Nevada and Colorado, as well as touring the west coast in the summer of 2010, after releasing their debut EP in June. In between nearly non-stop tours and gigs, the Whisperlights managed to complete recording their first full length record, Surfaces, to be released in mid-2011. The band has already opened for Josiah Wolf, Common Loon, Parachute Musical, and Slang Chickens, and include among their biggest musical influences, Akron Family, All Elephant Six Records, Andrew Bird, Walkmen, and Broken Social Scene.

“Death” – Whisperlights from Wake Up Dead

“Guillotine” – Whisperlights from Wake Up Dead

Snuffaluffagus – Brooklyn, NY

Brooklyn band Snuffaluffagus‘ musical influences range from big hitters of indie rock, such as Animal Collective and Dirty Projectors, to earlier eras of creative music from artists like Caetano Veloso, Jorge Ben, and Astrud Gilberto. The band’s penchant for diversity in music is evident on their newest album, Brazil Wood Poetry, which features mixes of styles like tropicalia and indie.

Snuffaluffagus has toured on and off since 2007, and have moved around a bit – from San Diego to Portland, Oregon – before landing in New York. The band has previously opened for Hosannas Finn Riggins, Japandi, Boomsnake, Weatherbox, Ah Holy Famly and others. Although they don’t say so, we’re guessing this artist must have some fondness for the early work of Sufjan Stevens, based on the flourishing and ambling compositions filled with brass and strings, various stop and starts, and supplemental instruments, like a wood knocker – quite appropriate for a song called “Brazil Wood Poetry.”

“Brazil Wood Poetry” – Snuffaluffagus from Brazil Wood Poetry – June 23rd

Wonderflu – Paris, France

Accessible, melodic pop rock songs, with a touch of Pavement, on the single, “Travel,” and to a lesser extent via the track, “Running Faster,” from the indie pop-rock band Wonderflu have definitely put this band on our radar for 2011. Wonderflu’s debut LP, Lota Schwager, was released in Europe in September. Not surprising, this Paris, France band include Pavement and Dinosaur Jr. among their biggest influences. That’s pretty much all we know about Wonderflu at the moment.

“Travel” – Wonderflu from Lota Schwager

“Running Faster” – Wonderflu from Lota Schwager

Banjo or Freakout – London, England

Lefse Records is running a series called Way Slow, in which some of their artists will record a track that falls outside their normal sound and style. In the first track of the series, released a couple weeks ago, the lads of indie group Banjo or Freakout, recorded, “Over There”.

“Over There” – Banjo or Freakout

The Beautiful Music is a strange name for a rock band, but we like the UK post-punk feel of the song, “Pop is Falling Apart.” The only part we don’t like about it is the obvious rip-off riff from The Who’s anthematic classic, “Baba O’Reilly.”

“Pop is Falling Apart” – The Beautiful Music from single, October

If you like female singers of the folk pop genre, then chances are you’ll enjoy the track “Lua” a gentle ballad that exhibits the beautiful voice of Kate Martin. The song is from her self-titled, debut LP, out now.

“Lua” – Kate Martin from Kate Martin

Dublin, Ireland alternative rock band Photosonic Orchestra (although there’s nothing orchestra about their sound; so that’s a bit strange) include musicians from Ireland, Poland and Italy, and recently performed at the Body & Soul Festival in Ireland. The Drink Me EP was released in August.

“Drink Me!” – Photosonic Orchestra from Drink Me EP

“Birthday Song” – Photosonic Orchestra from Drink Me EP

From Washington, DC, the indie band Daddy Lion were featured on NPR‘s Song of the Day series and opened for popular band Evangelicals. Their debut EP, Divine, was released on 24 Hour Station Records back in June.

“Morning” – Daddy Lion from Divine

Other Songs In Dee Mail We Like

These are songs we like but we don’t have really much information on the artist, and for some songs, like “Let It Go” we don’t even know the artist name (although another song in this mix by the same name does have an artist name – weird, huh?), so if you know any of the artists listed as ‘unknown,’ speak up please. Also, not enough time to write about the other songs here from Michael Doyle, Mean Creek, Keith Canisius, Goodtimes Goodtimes, and DZ.

“Big Spoon” – Michael Doyle

“Let It Go” – Unknown

“The Green Life” – Light For Fire

“The Comedian” – Mean Creek

“People’s Faces” – Keith Canisius

“Fortune Teller Song” – Goodtimes Goodtimes

“Gebbie Street” – DZ

In Dee Mail is an ongoing, and wildly popular, mixtape series that focuses on artists and bands who often fly under the radar but demonstrate remarkable talent, skill, depth and promise, and therefore need to be heard by more DIY and indie music lovers. Sometimes the best music is that which you have yet to hear.

Over the years, we have profiled thousands of incredibly talented artists and bands, many of which were DIY and sent their music in for review using the submission form on the About page. It through this submission form that millions of people have heard and enjoyed some of the best DIY, small label and under the radar artists posted on the web from 2007 to the present day. This latest mix of In Dee Mail is a fantastic, enthralling and heartfelt playlist of songs from promising bands like Paperfangs, Voxhaul Broadcast, The Smiles, Loon Choir, Olina, The Shape of the Earth, Stormy Mondays, Pretty Birds That Kill, Transmission Fields and Motive for Movement. This mix includes music that you don’t want to miss.  Let us know what you think in the Comments section; do you have a favorite song or band? Tell us and win a CD or a special drawing.  We often pick our favorite comments as winners.

Paperfangs – Finland

Paperfangs, a new indie electro-pop trio from Finland, is shooting arrows at our lil’ indie hearts thanks to a splendid cover of Kiss Kiss Fantastic‘s “Violet,” not to mention a couple of sweet originals as well, especially the track, “The Vastest Plains.” Paperfangs dreamy, synth-oozing sound, with its hazy vocals, xylophonic pop infusions, jangly guitars and mysteriously comforting reverb is a perfect fit for fans of the “chill wave” and “glo-fi” movements. But Paperfangs deliver a more minimalistic product that allows the brilliant simplicity of their music to shine.

“Violet (Kiss Kiss Fantastic)” – Paperfangs from Eardrum Pop

“The Vastest Plains” – Paperfangs from Eardrum Pop

The Smiles – Los Angeles, CA

While none of the band members grew up close by the ocean, The Smiles, like to call their sound “beach rock.” Along with the chill wave craze, the more pop-oriented ‘beach surf’ or ‘tropical’ rock movement (i.e., The Drums) is also a hopping scene these days. So, in one sense, The Smiles are just another beach rock band, but in reality they could be a break-through band in 2011 with the right management.

The four band members are Los Angeles area college students who began performing together last year. In a relatively short period of time, the band became the most popular band on the campus of the University of South California. Last fall, the band raised $2,000 on KickStarter to record their debut EP, Hermosa.

The Smiles have opened for Thee Oh Sees, Sherwood, and The Entrance Band, and not surprisingly, count among their main influences, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Strokes and Vampire Weekend.

“Swimming” – The Smiles from Hermosa Beach EP – May 14th

“Cala Cola” – The Smiles from Hermosa Beach

Voxhaul Broadcast – Los Angeles, CA

Voxhaul Broadcast, a totally DIY, unsigned rock band from Los Angeles, have been making waves lately beyond LA, where they are pretty dang popular. They were featured a number of times in NME, as well as Daytrotter, KCRW and the BBC. Still unsigned, the band stands out not just for their memorable rock and soul sound, but the fact that their MySpace page has almost one million views. However, we do know that they recently hired a big agency to book gigs for them.

“Leaving on the 5th “ – Voxhaul Broadcast

The Shape of the Earth – Los Angeles, CA

From the moment we heard the track, “You Can Only Get So Lonely,” Los Angeles band, The Shape of the Earth, founded by singer/songwriter Gavin Bascom, have been candidates for this playlist series. This little slice of indie folk brilliance is easily one of the best new indie folk songs of 2010, in a year where the whole ‘chillwave/bliss pop’ or whatever you call it thing has dominated the indie airwaves. We’re also featuring another song from the band’s 2009 debut LP.

“You Can Only Get So Lonely” – The Shape of the Earth from The Romantics EP

“Separate Lives” – The Shape of the Earth from Do I Dare Disturb The Universe?

Loon Choir – Ottawa, Canada

Ottawa, Canada indie rock synth pop band Loon Choir released their impressive debut album, Expansion Forces in May, but have yet to be featured on a popular blog or music site, until now.  been and have been slowly rising in the eyes of bloggers, critics and fans. The band blends high 0ctane snyth notes, reverb and percussions to create addictive power pop, especially on the track, “Bricks”.  Keep ears and eyes out for Loon Choir.

“Bricks” – Loon Choir from Expansion Forces

“New Forewarnings” – Loon Choir from Expansion Forces

Olina – Portland, OR

Why this Portland, Oregon band, Olina, are not more well-known is a bit of a head-scratcher. After listening to a number of songs from Olina, we are definitely impressed. The lead track here, “Madness and Methods,” is the one that we’ve been listening to the most. It starts out with a mysterious gloom accomplished with a few guitar and violin notes and then paces into a verse-heavy, melodic stage that eventually builds up and breaks out into an almost spooky chorus, followed by a slow down, and then, to finish it off, a 20 second little jam.

The next track, “As If You Cared” is essentially a love song of the broken heart sort, accented with minimal instrumentation, allowing the band’s fine vocals, and the lyrics, to stand out. By the end of the song, you’d swear you were listening to a hybrid of Pearl Jam and Radiohead.

“Madness and Methods” – Olina from Olina

“As if You Cared” – Olina from Olina

Stormy Mondays – Oviedo, Spain
From Oviedo, Spain, singer/songwriter and guitarist Jorge Otero is the heart of the band Stormy Mondays. The band released their newest album, Nothing On My Radio, on June 17th. The title track is uptempo pop rock song about the frustrations of not being able to find anything good to listen to on the radio. It’s not really as relevant a song that it would have been 15 years ago before the Internet, iPods and 99-cent downloads changed everything. The second track, “Weathermen,” is a whimsical story about a weatherman with a catchy, syrupy hook and a full horn section – whether true flesh and blood performers or a horn tracking created by a synthesizer.

Otero’s biggest musical moment, he told IRC, was playing on stage with Bruce Springsteen at New Jersey’s 2006 Light of Day Festival, and what turned out to be a disaster (rioting, food shortages, vandalism, violence) of a 30th anniversary for the original 1969 Woodstock music festival – the seminal outdoor music festival of a generation lost in space. Stormy Mondays entered a fan-voting competition for AMP3.com’s Emerging Artists Stage at Woodstock ’99, and won. Stormy Mondays has also toured Europe with Elliott Murphy, Willie Nile, Cindy Bullens, and Joe Grushecky.

“An indie band with a record released on a tiny label was the first Spanish band to ever play [the] Woodstock festival,” Otero said. “We went on right before John Entwistle [The Who’s bassist] and we killed. We had the time of our lives!”

“Nothing On My Radio” – Stormy Mondays from Nothing On My Radio – June 17th

“Weatherman” – Stormy Mondays from Nothing On My Radio

Pretty Birds That Kill – Anchorage, AK

From Anchorage, the biggest city in the American tundra of Alaska, the recently emerging musical duo known as Pretty Birds That Kill, serve up a sweet blend of electro pop and new wave mixed with garage rock and blues. On the track, “Anarchy in the AK”, the band unleash an organ-infused bluesy rock jam with spoken vocals and raunchy guitar rthyms.

“Telephone” has a spacey 1960’s psychedelic lo-fi vibe that floats along for the entirety. Not many bands can pull off an instrumental with so few instruments, and hardly any note variations, but PBTK nails it with “Telephone.”   The duo are currently on their first cross-country tour. PBTK’s latest EP, Freedom For Freaks, features six tracks with an eight-page lyrical booklet.

“Anarchy in the AK” – Pretty Birds That Kill from Freedom for Freaks – released June 18th

“Telephone” – Pretty Birds That Kill from Freedom for Freaks

Transmission Fields – Charlotte, NC

Indie rock band Transmission Fields is a rock/powerpop collective of musicians from Charlotte with members from Chicago, Atlanta, and St. Louis. The band released their debut self-titled album on August 10th. The band has opened for Athenaeum, The Verve Pipe, and Marcy Playground, and include among their biggest influences Radiohead, Wilco, REM, and Ben Kweller.

“Did It Wrong” – Transmission Fields from Transmission Fields

“Air/Lungs” – Transmission Fields from Transmission Fields

Motion for Movement – Tulsa, OK

Motion for Movement is a Britpop, shoegaze, ambient and progressive indie band from Tulsa, Oklahoma who have opened for bands like Copeland, Eagles of Death Metal, Sparta, and The Ataris. Motion for Movement are completely DIY, unsigned, and were named one of the best hard rock bands in Oklahoma by The Tulsa World.

“Cast” – Motion For Movement from Our Concrete Neighbors – July 13th

“Of Priests And Presidents” – Motion For Movement from Our Concrete Neighbors

The music submissions to Indie Rock Cafe from artists and bands around the world are piling up at a rate that makes it quite a challenge to keep up with. However, when we hear music we like – and there’s a lot of it – from artists and bands that most people – even online music fanatics – have never heard of, it is always a special moment when you hear something completely unexpected, unknown and new that you never heard before. And that’s music we share all of the time on IRC, and why we’re different than the follow-the-hits and the buzz blogs that saturate the web.

We receive tons of wonderful world from artists and bands around the world, and it’s a never-ending challenge to keep up with it all. For us, and many of our regular visitors over the years, the In Dee Mail series has become a cornerstone of Indie Rock Cafe’s identity because there are so many artists writing, recording and sharing splendid music that we would have probably never heard of unless they sent in their music to us for review.

Even though this mix presents artists and bands that most of you have probably never heard before, it is just a sampling of what’s to come in the ensuing weeks from our mailbag. In the meantime, sit back, fire up this playlist, read a little about the featured artists, and hopefully, you discover some music in today’s mix that you will cherish forever. To kick this off, we have a new song exclusive from an artist (who we’ve never been able to get a photo of) who has been a favorite here and on the web every time he sends us a new track.

Opus Orange – Santa Monica, California

Paul Bessenbacher is a successful commercial composer who has created music for various television commercials and TV shows. Chances are you’ve heard Paul’s music before, perhaps on The Last Comic Standing, The Suite Life of Zach and Cody and Stacked, or in commercials for Cadillac, Johnsonville Sausages, Tide, among others.

When he gets time away from his real job, Bessenbacher writes and records catchy tracks using the moniker us Orange. We just received this new track with Lauren Hillman, making it’s web premier here on IRC.

“Almost There” (with Lauren Hillman) – Opus Orange

Here’s another track from 2009, and more here and here.

“Nothing But Time” – Opus Orange

The Migrant – Denmark

The Migrant is a rising Danish musician Bjarke Bendtsen, whose travels in the U.S. served as the material for his debut LP, Travels in Lowland, due to drop on September 21st, with a companion album, Amerika, due in the spring of 2011.

“The Organ Grinder” – The Migrant from Travels in Lowland

Joe Gil – Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles singer/songwriter and musician Joe Gil caught our attention with his gorgeous vocals, clever story-telling and impressive songcrafting, most especially on the two tracks he sent us, “Wood Block” and “Packed Our Past”.  Gil’s DIY debut EP will be released on Sept. 18th. We love these songs and can’t wait to hear more.

“Wood Block” – Joe Gil from s/t EP

“Packed Our Past” – Joe Gil from s/t EP

Peephole – Brooklyn, New York

Peephole is the moniker of singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Kent Odessa of Brooklyn. In the summer of  2008, Odessa began performing live with musicians he knew from around the city, and soon after released Peephole’s debut EP, Cold Dime – an impressive EP that demonstrates not only Odessa’s many talents, but his extraordinary range as an artist, drawing from lo-fi melancholy songs like “Name” to the raw, T. Rex style of “Guilty Boat” and  “Black Topaz” – the latter two songs are among the best in the young man’s discography.

“Guilty Boat” – Peephole from Cold Dime (2009)

“Black Topaz” –  Peephole from Cold Dime (2009)

Odessa then collaborated with producer Jeremy Jonas Cox, on the recording and release of his second 2009 EP, Strawberry Told Me. The stand out track on that EP is clearly “Who Will Love You Til The End?” . The funky pop sounds that dominant Strawberry has an unquestionable heavy influence from Prince.

“Who Will Love You Til The End?” – Peephole from Strawberry Told Me

After listening to all three of his free EPs, it’s apparent that there are so many layers to his music – various textures and influences from disco to pop and new wave to rock. Peephole’s latest EP, Crime Drama, is out now, and contains the two tracks found below. Let us know what you think.

“Silence for Kindness” – Peephole from Crime Drama (2010)

“Half a Soul” – Peephole, previously unreleased

Ideals – London, England

Four young lads from London, who make up the band Ideals, have been on our radar this summer, and we still think they have strong potential to break-out at anytime. Last week, they sent us a brand new track, “Forever Leisure”.

“Forever Leisure” – Ideals

Luge – Mexico City, Mexico

Listening to Luge‘s music, you probably would never know they are a rock band from Mexico City. Taking that into consideration, and the fact that the band has never been written about online or in print, according to band member Gerardo Ocejo, we wanted to see what others think of Luge’s music; there are glimmers of potential here. Influenced by bands that range from Pixies to The Stones Roses and Fleetwood Mac to AC/DC, Luge released their debut LP on July 12th.

If you want to tell us what you think of this band, please use the Comments section below (does not require registration and it’s fast).

“Reborn” – Luge from Heartaches & Sunrises

“Empowered Son” – Luge from Heartaches & Sunrises

Sonen – Atlanta, Georgia

The Atlanta electro-dance-indie band Sonen recently sent their rocking dance track, “Head Down”, and the 80’s new wave meets rock sound of the song, “Vividly Blue” – a bit of B52’s and Devo going on in that. The band’s sound is dark and urgent, brimming with heavy melodies and Joy Division-like harmonies.  They count among their influences Crystal Castles, The Pixies, Phantogram, and Orbital. Sonen’s EP is available for free download; just click their MySpace link below. Would love to hear what you all think.

“Head Down” – Sonen from Devious Devices

“Vividly Blue” – Sonen from Devious Devices

Sonen on MySpace

These United States – Kentucky and Washington, DC

Last fall, These United States, released their third album, Everything Touches Everything, which was well received by fans, bloggers and media critics. In fact, Spin gave the album four out of five stars, calling it “intoxicating,” adding it “brilliantly captures the overwhelming jolt of simply being alive.”

“Everything Touches Everything” – These United States from Everything Touches Everything (2009)

These United States also just released yet another new LP; although we prefer Everything Touches Everything, here’s one of the lead singles from their latest LP, What Lasts.

“The Great Rivers” – These United States from What Lasts (2010)

Millstead – New York, New York

Although they disbanded abruptly in November of 2009 for what they called “rock and roll cliche bullsh*t”, New York City’s Millsted left us with their debut LP, The Great Adventures Of The Gold Red Rocket. The band was a buzz band in NYC throughout 2008, especially during the city’s annual CMJ music marathon. At their height, the band had already amassed more than 1.5 million profile views on MySpace. Check out these two songs, the wall-of-noise, punk rock of  “The Gold Red Rocket”, and the guitar-driven indie rock of the catchy track, “I Got Soul”.

“The Gold Red Rocket” – Millsted from The Great Adventures Of The Gold Red Rocket

“I Got Soul” – Millsted from The Great Adventures Of The Gold Red Rocket

Cuckoo Chaos – San Diego, California

Another band from San Diego, the interestingly named Cuckoo Chaos, is prepping for an expected release of their debut LP later this year. In the meantime, the band recently dropped their debut EP, We Are From Deerplants. After a decade of living as a nomad in America,  Scott Wheeler found his version of utopia in San Diego in 2007, and immersed himself in the local music scene, which has spawned a bunch of break-out indie bands over the past 18 months or so, including Wavves, Avi Buffalo and Crocodiles.

“Slowly Counting Down to Nothing” – Cuckoo Chaos from We Are From Deerplants

Scattergun – Chicago, Illinois

Recently, the Chicago Americana indie rock band Scattergun released its debut LP, Fantasy Lounge, to perhaps understated coverage and reviews. The band members are well respected musicians in the Chicago area, and their songs feature the finer elements of country-influenced rock, including sharp melodies with sliding guitar riffs, moving rhthyms and well executed vocals.

“Tom Waits’ Boots” – Scattergun from Life at Fantasy Lounge

Scattergun on MySpace

Woolen – Los Angeles, California

Woolen is a Los Angeles shoegaze-melodic pop band that came to our attention In Dee Mail. After sending us some of their songs from their new release out today, Dweller on the Threshold, we were impressed with their well executed sound, like pros that don’t yet have the pro status. The trio include among their biggest influences Red House Painters and Mark Kozelek, the heavy drone of Black Sabbath, and the ambient-noise of My Bloody Valentine. Somebody sign this band.

“I Will Find A Way” – Woolen from Dweller on the Threshold

“Feeding Time” – Woolen from Dweller on the Threshold

Woolen on MySpace

The Alphabet – Columbus, OH-Boston, MA

The Alphabet (previously known as Pretty Balanced) is a Columbus, Ohio-Boston, Mass. band that became something of an underground indie sensation during the latter half of the last decade. Recently, they got attention with the song, “Prosthetic Face,” a somewhat morbid story of a woman who decides that she wants a plastic surgeon to “carve up” her “ugly face.” The band members are mysteriously listed as Judith Jewcakes (voice, keyboard instruments); Parker Car (electric and upright bass) and Forest Creatures (percussion, violin).

The band describe themselves as a trio of young nerds with a fascination for “creating bubbly music on horribly morbid topics.” Their 2006 DIY debut, Icicle Bicycle, sold out, which was followed up in 2008 with a “perkier and more electronic-based” Conical Monocle, that led to a successful two-week string of concerts in Edinburgh, Scotland. Last year, the band released an EP, Scarlet Starlet.

“Prosthetic Face” – The Alphabet from Scarlet Starlet (2009)

The Alphabet on MySpace

The Nod – Madison, Wisconsin

As often happens with music we receive via email, we were surprised when we first heard the Madison, Wisconsin band The Nod why we hadn’t heard of them before. Formed in basements around the city of Madison in 2008, the band went through a number of line-up changes before deciding on three members to make-up the band: Brett Newski (lead vocals/guitars), Eric Maloney (bass/vocals) and Nate Devroy (drums).

On “Lie in All Honesty”, The Nod’s electric garage pop rock and punk attitude are hard to ignore, and which helped the band land opening spots for major artists like Third Eye Blind, OK Go, Cage the Elephant, Bowling for Soup, among others. The band includes among its influences The Strokes, The Pixies, Cake, Weezer, Elliott Smith, Montel Jordan, We Are Scientists, and Pavement.

According to the band, the album, Easy Maverick, is three years of work recorded in 30 days.

“Lie In All Honesty” – The Nod from Easy Maverick

“Vinyl Bluez” – The Nod from Easy Maverick

It is still early in the new year, new decade, and so much fantastic music from 2009 that has spilled over that we would be remiss not to share it with all of you. Plus, our site stats show a lot of you are still looking for music from 2009 that you might have missed. In this on-going special edition of our popular In Dee Mail series, we are now on Volume Seven, with at least four to five more installments to publish in the coming weeks, not to mention 2010 releases as they come in, and the 12-part Favorite Songs of 2009 series.

Travis Lee Wiggins started Essex Chanel in Chicago in 2005 as an effort to go in different musical directions than his first band, Fetla. After Fetla imposed a two-year hiatus in the fall of 2005, Essex Chanel became Wiggins’s primary focus. Since then, in addition to creating the Sweet Goodness record label, Wiggins collaborated with a collective of local musicians to perform his songs, all of which – nearly 250 tracks – are now available for free – a remarkable and charitable gift, especially considering the caliber of the music.

We first heard Essex Chanel’s 2009 album, Love is Proximity, last fall, and they immediately went up on our radar. Love is Proximity Sessions, Disk 2, will be available on January 26th.

“Skinny Dippin” – Essex Chanel from Love is Proximity (2009)

“She Cuts His Hair” – Essex Chanel from Love is Proximity Sessions, Disk 1 (2009)

“It Was All Because of the Icy Stairs” – Essex Channel from January 2007 (2007)

Essex Channel on MySpace
Download hundreds of their songs for free

Brooklyn-based musical project Scares The Daylights released a folk-pop drenched, prog-rock heavy LP, Burn The Bed, late in 2009 that went largely unnoticed by most music blogs, to the detriment of indie music fans. The musical project is the brainchild of White Shoe Records‘ founder Neil Lipuma. The label has spawned indie artists such as The City and Horses, The Exeter Popes and Twice As Bright, all of whom contributed to Burn The Bed.

Lipuma’s project is largely influenced by the break-up with his long-term girlfriend, and leaving his day job to work as an assistant engineer with Sear Sound, where he contributed to releases from The Killers, Richie Havens and Lykka Li & Bjorn Yttling. Burn The Bed is the product of an introspective man whose adolescence was dominated by the music of R.E.M. and The Smiths, and whose adult life coincided with the onset of the indie rock explosion. Lipuma’s songs are quirky, fun, mellow, and colored by his distinctive vocals, arrangements and poetic, even silly, lyrics, with an underlying ode to Americana.

“Divorces” – Scares The Daylights from Burn The Bed (2009)

“Lion Chair” – Scares The Daylights from Burn The Bed (2009)

Scares The Daylights on MySpace
White Shoe Records official site

Here are some other free MP3s from White Shoe Records‘ recording artists:

“You Are The Sun” – Water Fai from Girls In the White Dream (2008)

“I Love The Girls” – The City and Horses from I Don’t Want to Dream (2009)

Another Brooklyn band, The Binary Marketing Show, have made ripples in the huge indie music pond of the NYC borough in the past year or so, especially thanks to their new LP and opening gigs for Animal Collective, Explosions in the Sky, MGMT and Miccachu and the Shapes.

BMS’s music is dense, experimental, minimalistic pop, full of African-influenced drum beats, nasaly vocals, ambient loops and sound effects. TBMS started as the musical project of Abram Morphew and Jason Meeks in 2000 in Conway, Arkansas.

By the time they moved to Brooklyn in 2007, Meeks and Morphew were playing shows as a duo that eventually involved into a full quartet. Last summer, they released their third full-length record, Pattern, with the stand-out track, “Shape of Your Head.”

“Shape of Your Head” – The Binary Marketing Show from Pattern (2009)

“Tesseract” – The Binary Marketing Show from Pattern (2009)

The Binary Marketing Show on MySpace

Previous Installment of the In Dee Mail Special Edition series:
(oodles of fab music you’ve probably never heard; sent to IRC in the mail)

In Dee Mail Special Edition, Vol. VI – Sore Eros, The Melloncollies, Himalaya and Matias Aguayo

In Dee Mail Special Edition, Vol. V: Army of Me, Threes and Nines, Trees and Trashcans and Lefse Records’ Artists

In Dee Mail Special Edition, Vol. IV: Tiny Tin Hearts, Flotation Walls, Twilight Revival, Oryan, The Sidewalk Driver and Rolf Lislevand

In Dee Mail Special Edition, Vol. III: Elephant Stone, Clock Hands Strangle, The Sun, Six Simple Songs, Aeroplane Pageant, Lemonwilde & More

In Dee Mail Special Edition, Vol. II: Dylan in the Movies, The Fling, East Hundred, Maklak, Said The Whale & Nheap

In Dee Mail Special Edition, Vol. I: Sean Walsh & The National Reserve, Devries, Jupiter One, Julian Plenti and Parlour Steps

For those of you not familiar with this series, IRC regularly profiles the best and most talented new and relatively unknown musicians and bands who send their music via email (thus, the silly title, In Dee Mail) by following the submission guidelines published on IRC’s about page.

First up, the collective of musicians who have collaborated with members of Animal Collective is ever-expanding, and our next featured artist is just one of dozens. Sore Eros is the musical brainchild of Robert Robinson and has seen a number of different incarnations over the past decade.

In 2004, Robert moved to L.A. and, through a mutual friend, began to collaborate with Ariel Pink, who had recently signed with Animal Collective’s Pawtracks label. That led to Robinson being recruited by Animal Collective’s Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) to accompany him on his British tour preceding the release of one of the best albums of the last decade, Lennox’s debut solo release, Person Pitch.

“I met Noah Lennox (Panda Bear) about 12 years ago,” Robertson told IRC. “We were both going to school in Boston. We kind of made up this band called The Hunted with a few of our friends. We only recorded a few songs, and those tapes are now lost (thankfully)….For the Panda Bear tour, I was supposed to play in Ariel Pink’s band, but he got deported, so Noah was kind of enough to let Gary War and I to play in his band. I never heard any of the songs (neither did anyone else) that he was doing for that tour. Those songs would later become Person Pitch.”

Upon the completion of the tour with Panda Bear, Robinson reignited his Sore Eros project. During the process of writing and recording his solo effort, Robinson collaborated with high school friend Adam Langellotti to produce the brilliant debut LP, Second Chants, released in February of last year via Shdwply Records.

Contributors to the album also include Kurt Vile, Gary War and Andy Tomasello (aka, Eat Cloud). Second Chants received wide critical acclaim, mostly on indie music blogs; here’s an excellent review of the LP from TinyMixTapes.

There are so many terrific, even gorgeous, songs on Second Chants that it was a bit difficult to decide which to include without posting half of the LP’s songs; that said, we strongly recommend getting a copy of this debut. We are almost sure that more people – especially Animal Collective/Ariel Pink/Panda Bear fans – will likely appreciate the work of Sore Eros.

Robinson has been working on the follow-up to his debut LP, and has been kind enough to share a new demo track, “Giraffe’s Kiss,” exclusively with IRC. He has also revealed exclusively to us that the new album title will be Know Touching, with hopes of releasing it sometime in the next month via Shdwply Records.

Robertson described to IRC the production of Know Touching: “We are still trying to grasp the
vibe for this record. Second Chants was a very inner record. Most of the songs were improvised and written in a very subconsciousness flowing way. I took most of the sketches that seemed to have interesting melodies and built them from there…Adam Langellotti came up with some really amazing orchestrations, and the sketches actually became songs.”

“We recorded Second Chants in Pro Tools, where there was unlimited tracking and we went kind of crazy with layering and effects, creating that “chant” effect…with Know Touching, we are taking a different approach (by) recording…on 1/2” 8-track reel-to-reel. This is limiting our use of layering and effects and forcing Adam and I to concentrate more on the actual song writing itself. The album is much more tangible.”

From the yet unreleased new LP:

“Giraffe’s Kiss” – Sore Eros from Know Touching (2010)

“Fooled Me” – Sore Eros from Know Touching (2010)

From the magnificent debut Second Chants:

“Lips Like Wine” – Sore Eros from Second Chants (2009)

“Whisper Me” – Sore Eros from Second Chants (2009)

“Smile on Your Face”– Sore Eros from Second Chants (2009)

Purchase Second Chants via InSound
Sore Eros on MySpace

The Melloncollies are the latest in a hallowed line of Brooklyn-bred quintets to unfurl the witty sonic flag and punch back: yes, pop can be daring. Their debut album, Goodbye, Cruel World, is abrasive, edgy and full of sheen. Another Brooklyn band poised to breakout in 2010.

“Simple Naive Someone” – The Melloncollies from Goodbye, Cruel World (2009)

The Melloncollies on MySpace

Formed in Brooklyn in 2007, and founded by former members of Philadelphia’s Asteroid #4 and psych-pop ensemble Three Four Tens, the band Himalaya is making its hallucinogenic mark on NYC with its signature sound, and a self-titled debut that packs a psychedelic punch.

Employing deep drones, ghostly melodies, and spacey, noisy waves of guitar, Himalaya calls to mind their influences – from Spiritualized and Spaceman 3, to the Jesus and the Mary Chain and Pink Floyd. Himalaya’s self-titled debut is a collection of nine songs that embody the band’s distinct voice, unrelenting style, and sonic spaciousness.

“Melt Away” – Himalaya from s/t debut (2009)

Himalaya on MySpace

Matias Aguayo’s “Rollerskate” is an exercise in how catchy a simple, repetitive hook can be. Out on Kompakt Records from his latest release, this tune is a body-moving beast, a dance floor hit at heart with a chill-out backbone. Fans of El Guincho or LCD Soundsystem will likely dig this track.

“Rollerskate” – Matias Aguayo from Ay, Ay, Ay (2009)

Matias Aguayo on Facebook

Stay tuned, we have oodles of music to share with you all in coming weeks. In the meantime, you can also browse through the In Dee Mail series to pick up a lot of great tracks from talented artists and bands you probably won’t hear about anywhere else.