Flashback Tracks Mix – INDIE ROCK CAFE

Notable DIY Debuts from Rainbow Teeth, Of Verona, Magatha Trysty, Daylight Fireworks, Up Way Up!

Posted on 10/21/202110/21/2021 by IRC Staff

Let’s take a little trip back in the DIY indie music time machine for some flashback tracks from debut releases by bands such as Rainbow Teeth, Of Verona, Magatha Trysty, Up! Way Up! and Daylight Fireworks. The releases are mostly from 2011-2012. Seems like yesterday as the cliche goes.

Rainbow Teeth – “Its’ Irrelevant “

The sandy stretch of land known as Long Island south of NYC is home to the DIY band Rainbow Teeth. In July 2011, they released their self-titled, debut album only three months before Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on their domain.

Based in the upscale town of Hauppauge, the band crafts intricate experimental indie math and jam rock tracks like the highlighted instrumental, “It’s Irrelevant.” We love experimental jam tracks and we can imagine fans of Grateful Dead and Phish will probably appreciate Rainbow Teeth as well.

There are also some moments that remind us of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra (recommended if you like mellowed out modernized/avant garde orchestration), whether it was intentional or not.

Influences: Maps & Atlases, Between the Buried & Me, Grizzly Bear, Fear Before (the March of Flames), The Beatles, The Pixies

Of Verona – “Dark in My Imagination”

The name of the psych/trip-rock L.A. band of Verona takes its name from comes from Shakespeare’s earliest known play, Two Gentlemen of Verona, which has the smallest cast of any of the Shakespeare plays.

Of Verona’s self-produced debut full length, The White Apple, was released in October 2012. It’s a collection of fascinating ‘interpretations’, if you will, of one of Shakes lesser-known (and debut) plays. The highlighted track, “Dark in My Imagination,” is just one of the compelling songs on the LP.

The band puts on an epic live show with amazing visual elements, as they did at Filter Magazine‘s Culture Collide Festival and for performances opening for artists like Moby, Shiny Toy Guns, Nikki and The Dove and the SVII Bells.

Influences: Moby, Shiny Toy Guns, Roger Daltry, Nikki & The Dove, School of Seven Bells Bjork, Muse, Mew, David Bowie, Radiohead, The Beatles.

Magatha Trysty – “Want To Stay”

Formed in 2009, Chicago DIY power-pop/college rock band, Magatha Trysty, is heavily influenced by, and similar to, iconic bands like They Might Be Giants, the B 52’s, Violent Femmes, and other popular college rock bands of the 1980’s.

Magatha Trysty fronted by Christopher David and Catherine Louise, combining classic pop elements such as bright harmonies, shimmering guitars, and driving piano with a hard-rock backbone delivered with precision by John Monaghan (drums) and Billy Blastoff (bass, backing vox).

The band’s debut album Your Clothes Will Wear Themselves dropped in July of 2012.

Daylight Fireworks – “You Know You Know”

While unpolished and quirky, there’s something very appealing in Bristol indie band Daylight Fireworks‘ passion and verve for foot-stomping lo-fi indie pop.

The smoking, unabashed single, “You Know You Know,” is from the band’s debut EP, Secretly, We Hope, which received a fair amount of coverage in the U.K. for the debut from a new and relatively unknown band.

Daylight Fireworks has opened for bands such as Tellison, Hot Club de Paris, The Crookes, and Exlovers, and are influenced mainly by bands like Pavement, Seafood, Death Cab For Cutie, and Halo.

The band hasn’t released new material in years, so only time will tell if there is anything new in the pipeline.

Up! Way Up! – “Brighter Days”

Let’s stick with the upbeat, ‘sunnier’ (or that feel like spring) mood by spinning the beaming title track, “Brighter Days,” from central coast California indie band, Up! Way Up!

Based in the college town of San Luis Obispo, the band started out quite accidentally in early 2017 when the band members – guitarist Will Sutton, bassist Ryan Corvese and drummer Colin Webster – found themselves “recording in a small shrimp shack inside of a large taqueria in Taiwan.”

The songs, they claim, made them “just enough money” to return to California and pick up more shows to help pay for the production of the EP.

What resulted was a thoroughly enjoyable debut full of enjoyable, sun-drenched, forward-driving, life-by-the-sea songs. Other song highlights include “Halcyon,” “The Drinking Song” and “Dreamliner.”

Up! Way Up! has opened for bands like Naked Walrus, Who Can Sleep, and Spoon Canoe. They band members’ top musical influences include Portugal.The Man, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, and Arctic Monkeys.

Flashback Tracks: 10 Years Ago This Month – Phantogram, Surfer Blood, Woodsman, Deer Tick, Bear Lake & More

Posted on 10/10/202110/10/2021 by Max Hammer

NOTE: This post was first published on Oct 10, 2011; updated some links Oct. 2021

One of our favorite songs so far this autumn is “Don’t Move” from Phantogram; it’s simply a fantastic track that you just can’t but help to move to – even though the song title says not to move.

When we featured the song in one of the recent Fresh Tracks mixes, people downloaded and streamed it like crazy.

It only makes sense to kick off this edition of Best New Releases with the hot, new single from Phantogram. (We recommend listening first to last week’s BNR mixtape, for more stellar tracks.)

Surfer Blood return with their first release since 2010’s sensational debut LP, Astro Coast, an album that made them a huge hit in the indie circuits for the past two years. The band’s newest single is the compelling “Miranda”.

Following Surfer Blood is a double-shot from Woodsman‘s new album, featuring two songs that are masterfully arranged and executed. “In Circles,” and especially, “Specdrum,” highlight the band’s raw talent for combining elements of rock, pop, post-punk, electronic, and particularly, in the case of the two tracks below, their capabilities in creating pure jam psychedelic tunes, with impressive results.

Double-shot: “Specdrum” – Woodsman from Mystic Places EP

Deer Tick returns with a bit more rock in their sound with the lead track “Main Street,” a song which reminds us of Paul Westernberg and The Replacements, whether on purpose or just as some subliminal influence. This is a nice new maturation of style for Deer Tick.

It seemed only fitting to follow-up Deer Tick with the new single from Bear Lake (another animal-named band) who just self-released their new album, If You Were Me.

Italy’s 2010 breakout band A Classic Education return with their sophomore album and the lead track “Forever Boy,” is a sentimental, slow rock track marked by heavily melodic vocals and choruses, Wavves-style guitar licks, and percussion, and an obviously better overall produced sound throughout the album than their 2010 U.S. debut.

Just like other great surprises this week, another new-to-us band, The Beets, add more credibility to the garage rock-pop sound – of bands like The Vaselines – with their new track, “Doing As I Do” from the new album, Let The Poison Out, on Hardly Art Records.

Even better, we were lucky to find another killa track from the album, “Friends of Friends,” thanks to Pitchfork.

Double-shot: “Friends of Friends” – The Beets from Let the Poison Out.

Incorporating electronic beat pop styling with underlying cinematic, and psychedelic, rock infusions, woven with synth sound effects, violin and guitar riffs, and an assortment of wood blocks and cowbells, the eclectic indie band Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble shine through on, “Pretend,” where they are clearly not pretending at all – the track is as real as it gets, and an incredibly complex arrangement at that.

Next, another new-to-us band, The Through & Through Gospel Review, offer one of the most memorable tracks of the week – the enchanting, almost carnival-like influenced song, “I Firmly Believe” from their self-titled, debut album.

As with other bands in this week’s Best New Releases, this is yet another pleasant surprise, and surely a band that we will keep our ears out for. In fact, we received a complimentary copy of the debut LP, and look forward to listening to it more in-depth later on; it’s just another album added with the dozens and dozens of others in our “To Listen To” playlist in iTunes.

“An Arcade From The Warm Rain That Falls” – Comet Gain from Howl of the Lonely Crowd

Although we generally do not post about remastered albums, the fact that Dntel‘s remastered (with bonus tracks) LP, Life Is Full of Possibilities, is out this week, and features Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie, Postal Service) on vocals for the lead track below, definitely makes it an LP to consider repurchasing, and if you’ve never owned it before, that track, and many others, is reason alone to grab a copy.

“(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan” – Dntel from Life Is Full of Possibilities (remastered with bonus tracks)

The problem is the sound quality of the track itself. It’s ironic that it is a remastered track but is filled with what sounds like static, and we can only hope it is not intentional because that would make no sense. We’ve been unable to find any information about why this terrific ‘remastered’ track has static on it. We also tried to hunt down the originally released track, but without any luck. If anyone knows why the track has static on it – especially towards the end – we’d love to hear from you.

Next up is another band name that does not fit at all with the band’s sound and style. Gospel Music, present this semi-quirky track, “This Town Doesn’t Have Enough Bars for Both of Us” that has clear percussion influences from The Violent Femme‘s “Blister In The Sun,” whether on purpose or not.

Perhaps the only blues track in this mix, JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound, deliver the upbeat, and oddly optimistic, “Everything Will Be Fine,” with plenty of gusto and some steller musicianship – especially amongst the guitarist, bass player, and drummer. The vocals are clearly influenced by B.B. King’s singing style.

The Migrant mix New Orleans jazz influences with folk, pop, and rock to the appropriately thematic track, “The Hurricane.” Plus, check out other tracks, including Peggy Sue‘s “Cut My Teeth”; The Strange Boys’ amazing “Me and You”, and Russian Circles‘ “Mladek”.

“The Hurricane” – The Migrant from Amerika (self-released)

“Cut My Teeth” – Peggy Sue from Acrobats (stream album)

“Me and You” – The Strange Boys from Live Music

“Mladek” – Russian Circles from Empros

Best Flashback Tracks feat. PLOY, Crash Island, The Colourful Band, Mike Amerika, Richard The Lionhearted

Posted on 10/08/202110/11/2021 by Kate Stevens

Flashback Tracks is one of IRC’s longest running song/artist profile series. There is plenty to flashback too. When we do Flashback Tracks we are looking specifically for songs that we think didn’t get enough notice for how good they were.

So, let’s get it on. We’ll know by your likes and shares if the Flashback Tracks series is something you’d like more of. And if so, we’ll also start including more “popular” (or ‘mainstreamed’) indie bands and artists’ archival material worth noting. That’s always a difficult task when it’s tens of thousands of superb songs over just the past decade alone.

Please like and share (it helps spread the music). Support DIY/indie musicians!

PLOY – Washington, D.C.
Crash Island – Cardiff, England
The Colourful Band – Edinburgh, Scotland
Mike Amerika – Sewell, New Jersey
Richard The Lionhearted – Columbia, Missouri

PLOY – “Fool”

D.C. based duo PLOY makes music that causes people to “think and groove all at once,” according to vocalist Gil Wojcik.

His partner, Justin Victoria, is an old friend. Together, they love great music that is unique and original and decided to make some of their own.

“We think we have something special. I hope you like us.”

Influences: The strokes, Washed out, Two Door Cinema Club, Radiohead, Kanye West, Wild Nothing, Dashboard Confessional, Andrew Bird.

Crash Island – “Nothing’s Fine”

The story of Crash Island is about the wandering Basque/Spanish songwriter – Jeremy Levy – who washed up in Cardiff, his chance London encounter with a keyboard and guitar-wielding French octopus, their mutual acquaintance introduction to a bass rumbling, Jacques Cousteau-hatted French barista and subsequent London-born, and a South African-born, punk rock-inspired shakeup on drums?

The result? Warm. Cold. Passionate. Sophisticated. Raw. Honest.

<a href="https://thecolourfulband.bandcamp.com/album/the-colourful-band">The Colourful Band by Ian McKelvie</a>

The Colourful Band – “Stars”

In 2012, having just returned from Australia, Edinburgh, Scotland indie trio decided on a name – The Colourful Band – which came from “the contrast in how much color there is in countries with sunshine, compared with home,” says guitarist Jon Tyler.

TCB’s debut EP, recorded at Chem19 with acclaimed Scottish producer Andy Miller (Sons and Daughters, Mogwai, Arab Strap, The Fratellis), was well received locally.

One of the songs, “Stars” was licensed to the BBC for a TV drama giving the music some national and international play.

That spurred the formation of the band featuring Tyler, Steve Tonge on bass, and Dave Curry on drums.

A follow-up mini-album was home-recorded with a limited number of copies printed. The band sold them exclusively at shows as they toured around the globe.

The band has opened for artists and bands such as Jeremy Jay, The Corncrakes, Biffy Clyro, Yusuf Azak and are influenced by The Strokes, Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, Neil Young, Belle and Sebastian.

Mike Amerika – “Impossible Girl”

Sewell, New Jersey solo artist Mike Mazzeo, who has been creating blistering rock music under the moniker Mike Amerika since 2010, released a spectacular DIY debut album in 2012, In The Business to Burn.

Together with bassist John Hughes and drummer Steph Brettman, his songs evolved from demo solo recordings to a debut album that generated plenty of buzz on blogs and zines.

The trio has also performed shows in and around Sewell. Not surprisingly Mike Amerika is influenced by The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Black Sabbath, Nirvana, Weezer, and Chuck Berry.

<a href="https://richardthelionhearted.bandcamp.com/album/leaving-miss-smith-single">Leaving/Miss Smith [Single] by Richard the Lionhearted</a>

Richard The Lionhearted – “Miss Smith”

Columbia, Missouri’s psych-rock indie band Richard the Lionhearted‘s debut release, Outliers, is a six-song EP recorded, mixed, and DIY-style by the band in early 2012.

Outliers received favorable reviews from both critics and listeners: “melodic, moody guitars, British Invasion-era backbeats, creative time changes, and surprisingly soulful crooning,” wrote the Columbia Daily Tribune. Not long after, the news outlet named the band as one of four local bands “poised to enjoy a big 2012.”

In 2011, the band played several festivals and a handful of shows along the east coast and Midwest opening for national acts Other Lives, Oberhofer, Youth Lagoon, Tapes ‘n Tapes, Jerusalem and the Starbaskets, and Jessica Lea Mayfield.

Influences: The Byrds, The Stones, Black Sabbath, Jefferson Airplane, Cream, Roy Orbison, Everly Brothers, Townes Van Zandt,among others.

Flashback Tracks – Royalball, WolfSaga, Desert’s Mind, Prisma & Nightcars

Posted on 08/24/202108/26/2021 by IRC Staff

The following profiles of under-the-radar bands from Europe and Russia feature kick-ass songs that we either featured only on playlists or social media but we’re now bringing to a post right here. These are some fine tracks worth flashing back to.

Royalball – Prague, The Czech Republic
Wolf Saga – London, Ontario
Desert’s Mind – Vladivostok, Russia
Prisma – Geneva, Switzerland
Nightcars – Madrid, Spain

The roiling track, “Pink Heels,” was a song that we shared on a number of playlists some years back. Not too surprising to us, the song did very well in that aspect. The track comes via Prague indie band Royalball. The band mixes indie pop and rock, Britpop, and alternative rock.

Our first introduction to the band was via this smoking, under-the-radar, The Strokes-meets-The Smiths-sounding single, “Pink Heels,” and the follow-up infectious song, “Whole Love Tonight (Love Is Calling Don’t Forget Who You Are),” both off the six-piece band’s 2013 debut EP.

Band Members: Jan Wonder lead vocal; Daniel Thatch drums; Matej Pleskac guitar; Ondrej Koci guitar; Valentine Wolf bass guitar; Daniel Patras – synths, piano
Musical influences: Morrissey, Blur, The Strokes, Gorillaz, Suede

Johnny Saga of London, Ontario, sent us the tantalizing electronic indie cover of Peter Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks,” featuring Lemon, way back in 2012 (seems like a few years ago; not nearly 10!).

It made the rounds big time on Soundcloud amassing nearly half of a million plays in a matter of weeks.

The swirling feel-good synth riffs, cooly-tuned drum machine beats, and bumping bass lines, not to mention the interplay of Saga’s and Lemon’s vocal stylings, made it a hit. In fact, Wolf Saga has dropped many covers over the years that have blown up – none more so than his cover of The Strokes “You Only Live Once” featuring Lyon.

Saga began producing electronic music using Logic Pro and a Korg R3 back in 2012. His musical influences are Phoenix, Dream Theater, Danger, David Bowie, M83, and Boston.

facebook.com/enterwolfsaga

Spaced out, slow jam riffs on percussion and electric guitars combine with snarly vocals. Driving in the dark, chilled night; haunting, melancholic industrial gloom and occult worship.

It’s Velvet Underground influenced jams with raw, emotive guitars, and booming bass and drums in the epic-like trilogy, “Shadows.”

These are the sounds and moods created by Desert’s Mind, a psych punk rock band from Vladivostok, Russia, up near the borders of China and North Korea in the northeastern most edge of the continent where Asia meets the Pacific Ocean.

Part Two of the “Shadows” song series delves viciously and head-first into a wall of punk-inspired guitar garage rock coupled with insanely powerful, and heavily reverb-laden vocals that are unforgettable. Damn! These Russos can bang your head with their full-force hurricane of angst punk psych rock.

However many times we try to word it – the fact is these guys play a mean punk/garage/psych rock stew that makes you believe they are a breakout band from a working-class American city, not hailing from easternmost Russia. Technically, they’re closer to America (Alaska) than most Russian, or even European, bands are. So, there is that.

Band Members: Aleksei Chepinoga, vocals; Egor Volokitin, guitar; Konstantin Chistokhin, bass; Andrei Taranin, guitar, and Alexander Shevtsov, drums.
Musical Influences: New Candys, Kyuss, This New Puritans, and Kap Bambino.

Based in the historic European city of Geneva is the indie rock band PRISMA. Founded in 2013 by brothers Paulo Mendoza and Dennis Benavides, and their fellow friend Costi McFrosty, the band broke through with a hot international single, “Prophet.”

They define their music as an exotic cocktail with influences such as Biffy Clyro, White Lies, Nirvana. In 2016, Prisma released its self-titled debut album which includes the band’s first international single ‘Prophet’. The 80s new wave keyboards, fast, punching beats, and shimmering synths remind us a little of the Pet Shop Boys.

Band Members: Dennis Benavides – vocals, guitars, keyboard, Paulo Mendoza – vocals, guitars, Costi Mcfrosty – bass Jose Pettina – drummer
Musical influences: Nirvana, Biffy Clyro, The Verve, and White Lies

<a href="https://nightcars.bandcamp.com/album/extended-play">Extended Play by Nightcars</a>

Based in Madrid, the alternative indie bandNightcars features four friends/musicians originally from Venezuela and Uruguay.

The band’s debut single, “Neon Girl,” has obvious 80’s and 90’s influences, slick grooves, chilled keys, downtempo beats, frenetic guitars, and injections of soul and R&B elements.

The single is from the band’s debut album, Extended Play. Band members cite musical influences such as Lionel Richie; The Cure; and The Cars.

Flashback Tracks: Bandcamp DIY Classics from IHNMAIMS, The Away Days, Shy Mirrors and others

Posted on 08/21/202108/21/2021 by IRC Staff

We’re going back to the archives to pull out some great indie rock tracks from the past featuring:

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream – Berlin, Germany
The Away Days – Istanbul, Turkey
Shy Mirrors – Stockholm, Sweden
Nheap – Perugia, Italy
Matthew Squires and The Learning Disorders – Austin, Texas

*Click on cover art to play songs

<a href="https://nomouth.bandcamp.com/album/s-t-album">s/t album by I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream</a>

The Berlin shoegaze, post punk band, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, otherwise known as, IHNMAIMS took their band name from a dystopian science fiction short story about survivors of a nuclear war.

The band’s shoegaze influences – Joy Division and My Bloody Valentine in particular – are clearly demonstrated on lo-fi rock tracks like “Drowning” and “PKD,” from the band’s 2016 eponymous debut.

IHNMAIMS also considers The Cure, Deerhunter, Nirvana and Velvet Underground as influences as well as “fellow Berlin bands The History of Colour TV, Brabrabra, Skiing and Jolly Goods, with whom we share current or former band members,” like Bastian Stein (vocals, guitar); Markus Mocydlarz (guitar); Angy Lord (keys), and Sara Neidorf (drums).

The band has opened for artists like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Die Nerven, and Jolly Goods.

Even before the release of its debut album, the Istanbul-based DIY band The Away Days was on the rise, especially in Europe.

In fact, the band played a string of music festivals in Europe in 2013 and 2014 and have been featured on NPR, BBC, XFM, NME, The UK Guardian, SPIN and KEXP.

Living in Istanbul affords the members a unique view of the world; it’s an ancient city that has been the gateway between Europe and the Middle East for centuries. It’s not often that we get to hear DIY bands from Turkey.

We think The Away Days are worthy of their recent run of good press. The lush, dreamy psych pop soundscapes, with big, booming bass; reverb-heavy vocals and layered choruses; light, ambient, and soaring guitar riffs and stoner rock jams on songs like “Best Rebellious” and “Calm Your Eyes,” off of The Away Days’ debut EP, THIS, should make just about anyone a convert.

The Away Days have opened for Portishead, Belle & Sebastian, Savages, Paul Banks and Wild Beasts. The band lists their top musical influences as Mac Demarco, Local Natives, Tame Impala, and Foals.

<a href="https://shymirrors.bandcamp.com/album/wrong-bomb" rel="nofollow">Wrong Bomb by Shy Mirrors</a>

If you dig lo-fi, demo guitar garage rock, and pop-punk, chances are you may find yourself listening to Stockholm one-man-band Mike Downey discography in full. He records under the moniker Shy Mirrors.

As the listener soon finds out, Shy Mirrors’ music is marked by a lo-fi indie attitude, snappy rhythms, buzzsaw guitars, and melodic, catchy vocals. Downey said he formed Shy Mirrors in 2010 based on a “selfish need to make rock music for me again after many years of, well, not making rock music.”

In the ensuing years he dropped a number of EPs and LPs and attracted a small but loyal following online. In 2016, Downey retired Shy Mirrors to work on other projects. It’s a good thing for lo-fi indie punk pop rock (that’s a mouthful) lovers that the discography remains online.

“I grew up listening to and seeing Screeching Weasel, Winepress, Pegboy, 88 Fingers Louie and loads of other Chicago and Chicago-suburb punk rock.

<a href="https://nheap.bandcamp.com/album/clouds-under-the-table" rel="nofollow">Clouds under the table by Nheap</a>

In 2007 Italian musician Massimo Discepoli started the Nheap project. Under this moniker, he composes and plays his own music, which is a mix of jazz, electronica, post-rock, avant-garde sounds creating dreamy, calming, and transformational soundscapes.

The Perugia artist’s amazing, and widely hailed album, Realight, is a jazz-driven compendium of jazz fusion, featuring compelling tracks like “The Snow That Never Falls,” and “Gradients.”

His musical influences include a diversity of artists, including Aphex Twin, Miles Davis, Squarepusher, King Crimson, Sigur Ros, Godspeed you black emperor!, Fennesz, and many others

<a href="https://matthewsquires.bandcamp.com/album/where-the-music-goes-to-die">Where The Music Goes To Die by Matthew Squires and The Learning Disorders</a>

Launched in 2012, Matthew Squires and The Learning Disorders is an ever-evolving band project seeded in the thoughtful and sometimes witty, songs of Austin singer/songwriter Matthew Squires.

Equipped with an odd, dry wit, a humble disposition, and a voice that finds strength in the midst of vulnerability, Squires is paving a very original path on the musical landscape of indie rock.

While lyrically powerful at their core, Matthew Squires’ songs are generally much more ambitious in their composition than mere vocals and acoustic guitar. One critic aptly described his sound as follows: “There is a sense of lightness and confusion that is delivered in the wrapping of electronic and acoustic instruments, each piece delivering something unexpected, and it is those joyous strides of disconnection that gives the material that floats around the room. Like a sage delivering wise questions, there is a prophetic feel to the outpourings with the almost chanted lyrics. The whole effect is slightly jarring whilst simultaneously cathartic.”

Formed in 2012; 2013 was a busy year for Matthew Squires and the Learning Disorders, which saw the release of three critically acclaimed albums and three corresponding music videos. They’ve opened for bands like Mother Falcon, Marmalakes, Casiotone For The Painfully Alone. Top musical influences are Leonard Cohen, Modest Mouse, Jeff Mangum, Bill Callahan, Daniel Johnston, and Elliott Smith.

Flashback Tracks – Great Indie Songs from Typhoon, Oneohtrix Point Never, Brass Bed, Tim Kasher and others

Posted on 09/18/201807/22/2021 by flytrap

Back by popular demand: A ‘new’ playlist featuring some of our listeners favorite indie rock songs from five years ago.

Climbing into the indie music time machine with some of the best indie rock songs from 2013, featuring Typhoon, Oneohtrix Point Never, His Clancyness, Brass Bed, Tim Kasher, Ski Lodge, Surf City, Cumulus, Criminal Hygiene and Bent Shapes.

Hopefully, you’ll find a couple of songs herein that make your day a little better. This little player right here will stream all the mp3s on this page. Enjoy and share with others. Also, check out our playlists on our Indie Rock Spotify page.

There are some really unique playlists by themes, like Noah’s Arc; Songs on The Map; Songs on the Menu and more.

[zbplayer]

“Dreams of Cannibalism” – Typhoon from White Lighter (Roll Call Records)

“Zebra” – Oneohtrix Point Never from R Plus Seven (Warp Records)

“Where’s Your Heart Lie” – Tim Kasher from Adult Film (Saddle Creek Records)

“Zenith Diamond” – His Clancyness from Vicious (Fat Cat Records)

I’ll Be There With Bells On” – Brass Bed from The Secret Will Keep You (Crossbill Records)

“Boy” – Ski Lodge from Big Heart (Dovecote Records)

“It’s a Common Life” – Surf City from We Knew It Was Not Going To Be Like This (Fire Records)

“Middle” – Cumulus from I Never Meant It To Be Like This (Trans-Records)

“Rearrange Me” – Criminal Hygiene from CRMNL HYGNE (Small Smile Records)

“Behead Yrself Pt. 2″ – Bent Shapes from Feels Weird (Father/Daughter Records)

Flashback Tracks Mix – Kill City Cartel, Guardian Alien, Battles, Dan Friel, Grinderman, Jon Lindsay, Versus, The Budos Band

Posted on 11/24/201407/22/2021 by Max Hammer

Flashback Tracks is a playlist series aimed at featuring playlist mixes of standout, genre-bending singles from both DIY and signed artists that we love from the past. Hard to believe that IRC will be 8 years old this month!

First up is the track, “Miracle,” from London songwriter and vocalist Theo, aka, E-MUTE, released earlier this year. It’s impossible to miss the gorgeous melodies and potent message of this exemplary track. Listen to more of Theo’s music, including the new single, “Praise Your Senses,” at his website, E-MUTE Music. Next, “In The Metro” is the bouncy electro pop single from Australian quintet, Kill City Cartel. That should get your groove going. Next is a pair of songs that bring the noise at full throttle with walls of buzz saw guitars, feedback and distortion, speed base thumping, and crashing drums from Guardian Alien and Six Organs of Admittance. The psycho electro pop of the popular band Battles may remind you of the first time you heard this breakthrough NYC band’s debut LP, Dross Glop, two years ago; an album that went on to become of the best debut albums of the year thanks to singles like “Ice Cream.”

“Miracle” – E-MUTE from single

“In The Metro” – Kill City Cartel from In The Metro 7″

“See the World Given to a One Love Entity (Part 1)” – Guardian Alien from See the World Given to a One Love Entity

“Waswasa”– Six Organs of Admittance from Ascent

“Ice Cream” (Featuring Matias Aguayo) – Battles from Dross Glop
Track via TsuruRadio.com

Now, time for some more blaze with the sprawling remix of California dub-kraut duo Peking Lights‘ “Ulysses” from electro artist Dan Friel‘s debut EP Total Folklore. Friel is the founding member of the band Parts & Labor. If you’re a Dan Deacon fan, you’ll feel right at home with Friel. Plus, Stagnant Pools delivers the uncompromising wall of sound on “Dead Sailor.”

“Ulysses” (Peking Lights Remix) – Dan Friel from Valedictorian/Exoskeleton EP

“Dead Sailor” – Stagnant Pools

The first song, “The Night,” from the band, Lioness, is electrifying and even a bit haunting. Fan Tony Vukosavljevic wrote on the song’s Soundcloud page: “Raw fuckin’ lyrics, the taste of something different & definitely refreshing.” Think Friday Nights circa 2006. The track is from the album The Golden Killer. Grinderman, the work of rock legend Nick Cave, offers a spooky SixToes remix of the Tom Waits-like, “When My Baby Comes,” with a Nightmare Before Christmas meets Jan Svankmajer-like animation short. Also, check out the melancholy guitar work (and admittedly amateurish, yet effectively creepy, video production) of Jon Porras; the soft indie folk of Mariee Sioux; the stormy instrumentation of artist Yann Tiersen, and the melodic, upbeat and silly spaghetti-eating contest video from The Wave Pictures.

“The Night”– Lioness from The Golden Killer via New Romantic

“When My Baby Comes” (SixToes Remix) – Grinderman from Grinderman 2 RMX

“Into Midnight” – Jon Porras from Black Mesa

“Another Shore” – Yann Tiersen from Skyline

“Swimming Through Stone” – Mariee Sioux from Gift For The End

“Spaghetti” – The Wave Pictures from Long Black Cars

Check out the angular guitars and vocals of the band, The Golden Dogs, plus Jon Lindsay‘s majestic and heartbreaking, “My Blue Angels,” followed by singles from A Lull, The Hush Now, Versus and The Budos Band‘s funky jazz fused with psychedelic rock track, “Unbroken, Unshaven.” Budos’ YouTube fan Jermz1 writes: “The short guitar riff at the intro is nice. The Budos Band consistently make outstanding music!” The video has received over 175,000 views.

“Permanent Record” – The Golden Dogs from Coat of Arms

“My Blue Angels” – Jon Lindsay from Escape From Plaza-Midwood

“Weapons For Wars” – A Lull from Weapons For Wars

“Vietnam Giraffe” – The Hush Now from Shiver Me Starships EP

“Invincible Hero” – Versus from On the Ones and Threes

“Unbroken, Unshaven” – The Budos Band from III