Indie Rock Mixtapes – INDIE ROCK CAFE

7 Bands You Gotta Hear, Vol. II – Mothlight, Tiger Waves, Cherokee Red, Esther, Calling Morocco, The Casuals, The Dark Lights

Posted on 07/11/201207/22/2021 by Max Hammer

Last year, we launched a new playlist series titled 7 Bands You Gotta Hear, Vol. I, which was particularly popular. Afterwards, we posted Volume Two – 7 Overseas Bands You Gotta Hear – which focused on non-U.S. bands who sent in their music via our submission form. Both volumes were special editions of the long-running, and popular, In Dee Mail playlist series.

[zbplayer]

A number of the tracks from each volume even made the weekly Top 10 Songs playlists, which are determined by how many times a song was streamed or downloaded. Also, many of the artists in this series have never been profiled on a major music site, and in some cases, not even on smaller, independent blogs.

In this third volume of 7 DIY Bands You Gotta Hear: Mothlight; Tiger Waves, Cherokee Red, Esther, Calling Morocco, The Casuals, The Dark Lights

Mothlight: A San Diego Shoegaze Artist to Watch

A couple of years ago we featured new music from Mothlight, the shoegaze/electronic music project of San Diego musician Matt Billings. Mothlight’s musical philosophy is based on incorporating various ideas, structures and genres that range from ambient to Top 40 pop, thus creating a lush and unique sound. His songs, Billings said, are originally composed on guitar, and later mixed with ambient pads and electronic beats to create a dense backdrop for his vocal arrangements. Mothlight’s new EP, American Spirit, was released on May 17th.

Previously Opened For: None
Musical Influences: Weatherbox, Snuffaluffagus, Lanterns, Atlas Sound, Chromatics, Panda Bear, Radiohead, Stereolab, Young Marble Giants
Artist website: http://mothlight.bandcamp.com
Year Formed: 2007

New Band Cherokee Red Fronted By Singer Christiana Bartolini

Over the past five years, there has been a noticeable increase of talented bands fronted by standout female vocalists. Add Pennsylvania‘s DIY dream pop band Cherokee Red to that list with singer Christiana Bartolini at the helm. The band calls the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area of Pennsylvania home.

Last year, Bartolini and Charles Davis embarked on a series of productive songwriting sessions, and were soon joined by a group of other musicians, including Philadelphians Brittany Thomas and Andrew Sgarlat.

Shortly there after, classically trained, multi-instrumentalist Dirk Dekker (not that guy in the movie Boogie Nights, mind you) joined Cherokee Red. The newly formed quintet have just recently completed an EP in classic DIY fashion, and now spend their time between Philadelphia, Manhattan, and Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre. Within a couple of months of forming, Cherokee Red had opened for popular indie bands like Slowdance and Royal Baths.

The only thing we have to say about the band name is that it would not be a band name we would recommend because of how it can be misinterpreted, and because it creates an unnecessary distraction. However, band member Charlie Davis said: “We borrowed it from a (now out of business) local soda, Cherikee Red; and it is also Frank Lloyd Wright’s favorite color paint…I believe the term “Cherokee Red” to be devoid of negative connotation.”

Previously Opened For: Slowdance, Royal Baths
Musical Influences: The Shangri- Las, King Tubby, Mazzy Star, Au Revoire Simone, Gold Motel, The Misfits
Artist website: facebook.com/cherokeeredmusic
Year Formed: 2011

Austin’s Tiger Waves Make Waves With New LP

Not even a year old, Austin DIY experimental folk/surf rock band Tiger Waves have been making waves of their own within the city’s bustling, and crowded, indie music community. Austin is revered as one of the epicenters of the indie and alternative rock world, rivaling cities like New York, Los Angeles, London, San Francisco and Portland. Afterall, for a quarter of a century now, Austin has hosted the world’s largest alternative music festival/conference/convention – South By Southwest (SXSW).

Within a matter of a few months following their formation, Tiger Waves started creating a buzz among critics, bloggers and music lovers in Austin and beyond. Within two months, Tiger Waves was on tour opening for popular artists like Youth Lagoon and Gardens & Villas. At SXSW in March, they were much talked about as a new band to see live.

Artists Opened For: Youth Lagoon, Gardens & Villas
Top Musical Influences: Radiohead, The Beach Boys, Grizzly Bear, The Magnetic Fields
Official Website: http://tigerwaves.bandcamp.com
Year Formed: 2011

Esther Delivers Indie Rock/Pop Disco from Sweden

Esther is an indie rock/pop disco band from Sverige, Sweden who we think are a band more people in the U.S. need to hear. Markus Magnusson, the band’s front man, told IRC that his band’s newest album is in the works and being produced by Ronald Bood (Mando Diao, Dntel). The yet-to-be-titled album will contain 10 or 12 songs, and is set to be released in the fall of 2012. The first single, “To Let Go,” released on May 17th, is a good way to kick off this playlist because it has an uptempo summer pop feel that is likely to connect with indie pop fans .

“To Let Go” – Esther from TBA

Previously Opened For: Shout Out Louds, The Realistics, The Ark, Melody Club
Musical Influences: The Beatles, Kinks and Stones to Pulp, The Clash, Edith Piaf
Music Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47UmG_r9G78
Band website:
Year Formed: 2001

Extra: If you dig “To Let Go,” check out this relatively new music video for another new track “I’ve Heard It All Before”. Fans of bands like Free Energy are most likely to enjoy Esther’s music. It’s safe to say, although only two songs are available right now, that Esther could catch on in the U.S. If our web statistics who a high number of streams and downloads of the songs presented in this profile, the band will be featured as a DIY Band to Watch.

Davis Band Drops Everything For Near Endless Touring

Calling Morocco is a multi-genre rock, punk and alt. country trio from Davis, California, who left their dead-end jobs, sold their belongings and sublet their apartments in the fall of 2011, loaded up a van, and have been touring the country non-stop ever since.

In the past six months, they’ve played over 100 shows in 20 states, according to guitarist and singer, Kyle Olson. He said the band plans to squeeze in 15 to 20 shows a month, and will be content to live on the road in order to do what they love.

“Summer” – Calling Morocco from Outside Providence – May 21st

“Break Your Heart” – Calling Morocco from Outside Providence

Previously Opened For: Chad Price (Drag The River), Lizzie Huffman, Terrible Things, Gringo Star, Wires In The Walls, The Hooten Hallers, Boom Chick, My Life In Black And White, among others
Musical Influences: Lucero, The Gaslight Anthem, Drag The River, Uncle Tupelo, Queen, Against Me!
Artist Website:
Year Formed: 2010

Long Island Band The Casual Hearts’ ‘Melodic Emo Hip Hop’

The Casual Hearts are an unsigned rock quintet from Huntington, New York who sent us their new double-sided single, dropped back in May. Roctober Magazine described the band’s music as “melodic emo hip hop.” That’s not a bad way of putting it, especially after you listen to both songs – which ironically sound very different from each other. However, of the two tracks, “The Taurus Song” is definitely better overall, even though it’s almost 10 minutes long. The B-side track is included below just to give people an idea of their varying sound and style.

With its emo/hip hop stylings, the B-side of the single, “My Cold Feet Is Karma,” [sic] is a total departure from the first single. The band describe their music as “multi-genre influenced rock that seems to find a place in a wide variety of music lovers’ collection.” We’re not entirely clear what that means, but so be it. The Casual Hearts are currently playing shows in the NYC area.

“The Taurus Song” – Casual Hearts from The Taurus Song single – May 29th

“My Cold Feet Is Karma“- Casual Hearts from The Taurus Song single

Previously Opened For: Patent Pending
Musical Influences: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eric Johnson, Michael Jackson, Fall Out Boy, Brand New, Led Zeppelin, The Mars Volta, Jay-Z, 311
Artist Website: http://www.casualhearts.com
Year Formed: 2008

London-via-Australia Indie Electronic Band, The Dark Lights

The Dark Lights is a London-based Australian indie elecronica band that are beginning to get more attention beyond their homeland, especially following the release of their latest EP, The Boy Who Saw Through Walls, on June 4th. The EP was recorded across two continents and mixed by Adelaide-based American producer John DeMichele. The Boy Who Saw Through Walls intertwines layered soundscapes around heartfelt vocals, with experimental guitar melodies and tight drums, driving the pace of their songs as demonstrated by the two singles below. The band has definitely elevated the craft of indie electronic. In fact, The Independent Music News wrote: “Get ready kids – indie is modern again…with the sound of music.” Having completed an extensive U.K. tour in late 2011, and selling out their single “The Eye,” on pre-orders alone, The Dark Lights are planning another U.K. tour in September and an Australian tour in 2013.

“The Eye” – The Dark Lights from The Boy Who Saw Through Walls – June 4th

“Makers” – The Dark Lights from The Boy Who Saw Through Walls

Previously Opened For: Dukes of Windsor, Cassette Kids
Musical Influences: Bloc Party, Acrade Fire, Battles, Friendly Fires, The Presets
Artist Website:
Year Formed: 2008

Chill Summer Songs Mix – Belle and Sebastian, We Are Trees, Built to Spill, Matt Pond PA, Kings of Convenience, Slowdive, Houses

Posted on 09/11/201107/22/2021 by Max Hammer

As summer begins to melt away like a brilliant setting sun, the weather will soon turn more brisk, the leaves on the trees will die a flashy, colorful death and the air will become more crisp. The first week of September is a seminal time of the year – millions of kids are back in school, adults are back at work, college students are getting to know new roomies, football season is just getting started and baseball playoffs are not far off.

It’s always sad, at least for us, when summer starts to fade. Luckily, in northern California we have great weather that can last into November, but by the time December comes, the days are short, chilly and wet, but it’s better than freezing cold and snow and ice everywhere.

Want more? Check out these summer mixes from 2011 and 2010 – hundreds of more great ‘summer’ songs just like this mix waiting for you to enjoy. You can just click play on the first track in each mix, and just like a radio station – but with no commercials or interruptions – all the songs in the mix will stream one after the other so you can enjoy them as they were meant to be heard.

“Sunrise Sunset” – We Are Trees (2008)

“Summer Chill” – Chapterhouse (1991)

“Rainbow Sign” – Fruit Bats (2003)

“Summer Girl” – Family of the Year (2009)

“Kicked It In The Sun” – Built to Spill (1997)

“Down By The Water” – The Drums

“Gold In The Air of Summer” – Kings of Convenience (2004)

“Until The Sun Dies” (Part 1) – Crystal Antlers (2009)

“Summer (Butcher Two)” – Matt Pond PA (2004)

“Blue Skied An’ Clear” – Slowdive (1994)

“Beyond The Sunrise” – Belle & Sebastian (2000)

“Summer Sun” – Batte (2008)

“Summer Loop” – Folksongs For The Afterlife (2002)

“The Sun” – Melpo Mene (2008)

“The Waves At Night” – Phosphorescent (2007)

“The Sad Sun” – Deer Tick (2010)

“Sun Fills” – Houses (2009)

“Fuzzy Sun” – Jim O’Rourke (1999)

“Sunset Soon Forgotten” – Iron & Wine (2002)

“Sunflower” – Low (2001)

“Sun Dance” – Ezequiel Ezequiel (2010)

“Winter Olympics (Summer Version)” – Afternoon Naps (2009)

“All Summer” – Low Sea (2007)

“Shed Your Summer Shell” – Silohs (2009)

“Trade Winds, White Heat” – Tim Hecker (2003)

“Summertime” – Great Northern (2007)

“The Summer” – Josh Pyke (2008)

“Who Loves The Sun” – The Velvet Underground (1970)

“Summer Seen” – The High Llamas (2006)

“Mogwai and Summer at Shatter Creek” – Mogwai (1999)

That Beautiful Clear-Blue September Day in 2001 Changed The World

Today’s mix also has a duel purpose on this 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack on America. For all of us who were witnesses to that horrible day, we seek to find peace and solace in these relaxing, calming, dreamlike tracks, and maybe somewhere in between the words and the notes, between the soothing synthesizer keys and angelic choruses, there are glimpses of love, not hate, of courage, not fear, of happiness, not despair.

Although it should not take a catastrophic event to bring us closer together, Americans of every background, religion and race pulled together in the weeks and months following 9/11; now, with new challenges that test our will, Americans need to re-ignite that sense of team spirit, of looking out for our family, friends, co-workers and neighbors, and fighting for the values that we hold dear while also doing everything possible to thwart such acts in the future, and most importantly, not to let a handful of clandestine plotters and willing mass murderers stop us from pursuing our dreams to make the world a better and safer place for all. Sure, it sounds unrealistically optimistic – and there is no utopia on earth – but what’s wrong with trying to get as close to it as possible.

Fresh Tracks – Wilco, Megafaun, Chris Letcher, Hospitality, Wavves & Best Coast, Princeton, Royksopp, Warm Ghosts, Nurses

Posted on 09/09/201107/22/2021 by Max Hammer

This week’s Fresh Tracks features some sah-weet new advanced singles from upcoming albums due out this month, plus the freshest singles were liking the most right now. There’s just so much: so, this mix should keep you going for a while. There are just released new singles, lead tracks from anticipated albums, songs that were sent directly to us, and a few that we found on other blogs and websites.

Counting The Days for Wilco’s New LP to Officially Drop

First, though, we wanted to see how many of you were able to catch the exclusive 24 hours-only stream of Wilco‘s new album, The Whole Love, last Saturday? As probably is the case for most other Wilco fans – and that’s millions of music lovers around the world – we missed that golden opportunity to stream the band’s eighth studio album last weekend via the band’s website.

The Whole Love, which is set to drop on Sept. 27th, is our No. 1 the most anticipated album of the month – now we’ll just have to wait two and a half weeks to hear it in its entirety, unless we get lucky and NPR or Spinner get the golden honor of being allowed to stream the album before the 27th. Back in June, we were treated to the first advance single from the album, “I Might” – a bright, uptempo rock song that is mostly absent of the band’s signature country rock sound that have been so prevalent in the band’s recordings since they released their debut album, AM, in 1992.

“I Might” is one of the catchiest rock songs we’ve heard in 2011 – complete with a heavy rhythmic bass, 1960’s psych rock keyboard infusions, an addictive melody accented by a oo-hoo-oo choruses, riveting guitar licks, Jeff Tweedy‘s one-of-kind vocals, a steady drum beat, and even a sprinkling of xelophone notes throughout.

“I Might” – Wilco from The Whole Love

“I Might” is just impossible to ignore; don’t be surprised if you find yourself playing it again and again. Without yet having the luxury of listening to the entire album, we can say that just based on “I Might” itself, Wilco sounds better than they ever have, and that’s saying a whole lot for a band that have been the top of the heap for years.

Let’s sweeten this post even more with the band performing another track from The Whole Love, called “Born Alone.”

“Born Alone” – Wilco from The Whole Love

Hot, New Track from Wavves and Best Coast Drops; Plus, It’s “Weekend”

A couple of months ago, we posted the first single from the collaboration between lo-fi rocker Wavves and one of the top indie pop groups of the past couple of years, Best Coast. The upcoming release of Wavves’ self-released EP Life Sux will include a number of tracks featuring Best Coast’s front-boo Bethany Cosentino on vocals. Also listen to the first track the pair released a couple of weeks ago, “I Wanna Met Dave Grohl” – we think the chances of them actually meeting the Foo Fighters‘ frontman, and former Nirvana drummer, are higher now that it was put into a song. It’s almost like Dave Grohl is obligated at this point.

The collaborative has just made posted another single called “Nodding Off”; unfortunately, it is only available right now via Soundcloud.

Wavves – Nodding Off (ft. Best Coast) by overmuziek

“I Wanna Met Dave Grohl” – Wavves and Best Coast

Class Actress Releases Advance Track from Debut LP

In case you haven’t already heard of the blogger buzz artist Class Actress, here their newest track, suitably named “Weekend.” With a constant computerized drum pop beat and new wave style keyboards oozing about, combined with the sultry and sweet vocals of Class Actress’ Elizabeth Harper. As she sings again and again in the track, “bring on the weekend.”

For good measure, we are also including the July release of the track, “Keep You,” to help provide a contrast for romantic electro-pop music lovers who may be hearing Class Actress for the first time. Earlier this summer, the band dropped its debut EP, Journal Of Ardency, with the keeper tracks “Keep You” and “Careful What You Say.”

“Weekend” – Class Actress from Rapprocher – out TBD

“Keep You” – Class Actress from Journal Of Ardency

Christ Letcher’s New Album Is A Musical Spectroscrope

After we Twitted and shared the terrific advance track from London songwriter and film composer Chris Letcher‘s upcoming album, Spectroscope, last week, it attracted a huge amount of spins. In case you don’t follow us on Twitter or Facebook, we have included the track, “Phone Booth” again, providing for us another excuse to play it again. Letcher is one of the most talented ‘new’ U.K. songwriters in our book; it was his fantastic 2007 debut LP, Deep Freeze, that put Letcher on the radars of so many bloggers and mainstream music critics as well.

“Phone Booth” – Chris Letcher from Spectroscope – Sept. 20th

Megafaun Prep for Release of Self-Titled Album out September 20th

Another anticipated album coming out this month is Megafaun‘s self-titled album slated to officially drop on September 20th. Not much has come out in advance of the album, which is understandable in one respect – any music that has some connection with Bon Iver (aka, Justin Vernon and band), is going to get a lot of attention and interest just based on the popularity of the Bon Iver brand itself.

Megafaun‘s new record reportedly has much of Phil Cook’s banjo work in it, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem as the other elements – like guitars, keys and a variety of other instruments – will likely compensate for any annoyance the banjo might pose for Megafaun fans. For those of you who may not know, Megafun’s members are former band members of Bon Iver.

“State/Meant” – Megafaun from Megafaun – Sept. 20th

IRC BTW Hospitality Sign to Merge; Drop New Track

A band that will soon be featured in an upcoming Bands to Watch feature, and which will likely also make our Breakout Bands of 2011 list is Brooklyn indie pop quartet, Hospitality (harder to find information quickly in Google with such a name, but oh well, it’s the music that matters). Yesterday it was announced that the band signed to Merge Records to record their self-titled debut LP set for release in early 2012. The album is being produced by Shane Stoneback, who has produced Vampire Weekend and Sleigh Bells, among others. So, we are thrilled to present the brand new advance track, “Friends of Friends.” More on Hospitality in the next couple of weeks.

“Friends of Friends” – Hospitality from Hospitality

Princeton’s New Track, “Clamoring For Your Heart”; Mwahaha Drops Debut LP

Next, one of our favorite breakout bands of 2008-2009, Santa Monica indie pop band, Princeton, jump back into the Fresh Tracks bucket with a new song that the band sent to us earlier this week. “Clamoring For Your Heart” is Princeton’s second seven-inch single of 2011, but there is still no word of whether a new album is even in the works, let alone set to be released.

The band’s last album, and of the best of the years altogether, was 2008’s Cocoon of Love. There is no doubt that the wonderfully jangly and uptempo “Clamoring For Your Heart” puts Princeton back in the arena after their hiatus. In another way, the track sounds like Magnetic Fields if they took happy pills.

But before spinning more advance tracks from anticipated September album releases, let’s listen to a few newly minted singles from albums scheduled for release between now and December (more from these months soon). The track “Rainbow Diamond” from the self-titled, debut album by Mwahaha, has been on replay since it hit our mailbox earlier this week, even though it doesn’t drop until right before Christmas.

Nevertheless, it’s an impressive debut single from a band that almost no one has heard of before. “Rainbow Diamond” is a sprawling, psychedelic rock opera that has put Mwahaha on our Radar Love list – and who will be profiled in a new Radar Love mix once we are able to get our hands on more of the band’s songs. As long we are talking about debuts, we are also digging the interestingly titled indie rocker, “Chicken 80,” from Social Climbers, who will release their self-titled, debut album later this month.

“Rainbow Diamond” – Mwahaha from Mwahaha – out Dec. 6th

“Chicken 80” – Social Climbers from Social Climbers – Sept. 20th

For those of you who are fans of the band The Rest, you probably already know about the bands’ upcoming new LP, set for official release in February 2012. The good thing is you can download two advance tracks from The Rest’s Bandcamp page, or just listen to them right here. The Bandcamp page also has details about ordering some of the special vinyl editions the band is creating for this release.

The album, Seesaw, which took more than a year to record, almost never made it out of the recording studio – more accurately, all of the songs for the album, the band tells us, were erased from a computer hard-drive after a “glitch.” So the band turned to a well regarded data recovery firm, and five months later, the specialists were able to recover every song.

These are two really fine tracks, “Always On My Mind” and “The Last Day,” demonstrate a band that has the gift of writing and recording music that is so wonderfully fuse styles from shoegaze and soul to tropical and indie pop.

“Always On My Mind” – The Rest from Seesaw – Feb. 2012

“The Last Day” – The Rest from Seesaw – Feb. 2012

These are all singles from upcoming albums that, in most cases, we haven’t heard yet, so the focus is on the singles – with everyone being so busy nearly 24/7, singles are a great way to be introduced to a band. In October, dream-pop breakout band Braids will release a split 7″ with the band Purity Ring via Fat Possum Records. Here are both tracks.

“Peach Wedding” – Braids from split 7″ with Purity Ring – Oct. 10th

“Belispeak” – Purity Ring from split 7″ with Braids – Oct. 10th

It used to be that a great single would mean that people would go out and buy the record or CD, which the record companies loved. But with the cherry-picking age of the singular MP3s, people now increasingly opt to pay $.99 cents or less for only the tracks they want to own; thus, the album, as a concept, is all but dead.

Another thing the record industry doesn’t like are long songs – bands are consistently pressured to avoid writing and recording songs that run over three to four minutes. A five-minute song is pretty much the longest duration that many radio stations are willing to play – and that has been the case for decades of pop music.

Royksopp’s 13-Minute Single Out Now Ahead of New LP

But it’s not quite the same for electronic and dance music – two genres (that often overlap) where longer songs are the norm. However, even by that definition, 13 minutes is considered a long haul, but for fans of the popular Norwegian dance duo Royksopp, it’s unlikely they’ll fault the duo for a song that is five times as long as the typical radio hit. That said, this brand new track from the duo, “Shores of Easy,” doesn’t really get the junk funking until about eight minutes in, but then again they are not primarily a dance duo anyways.

Either way, for hardcore fans of Rokysopp, the release of “Shores of Easy” is just a tease for the new album, which was indicated by a note on their website that read: “new material is brewing.” Since they threw that buzzword in there – “brewing” – we must admit this track sounds more fitting for the after hours party on Halloween.

“Shores of Easy” – Rokysopp from TBA

Although we had already covered Gold Beach‘s new album in this week’s Best New Releases MP3 mixtape, we did not know at the time that another track from the album, oddly titled, “Gold Beach,” was available for posting. So, we had to include it in this post because it’s a crazily addictive track. Photo by Laura Zalenga

“Gold Beach” – Gold Beach from Habibti

Along similar lines, we also almost missed the newest release, Constellations, from the band, Grand Atlantic. We’ve had the band on our radar screens for a couple of years now, so it is a nice surprise to have found out after the fact that their new album already on September 2nd. The track below, “Carved from Stone,” is the first single from Constellations.

“Carved from Stone” – Grand Atlantic from Constellations

Fresh Tracks from Warm Ghost, Dum Dum Girls, Pajama Club, The Caseworker, Blessed Feathers

Other choice picks off albums out this month include singles from bands we already have in our collection, like Warm Ghost, Nurses, Dum Dum Girls and Wiretree, as well as new-to-us bands like Pajama Club, The Caseworker, Blessed Feathers, and others.

“GTWS” – Warm Ghost from from Narrows – Sept. 27th

“Trying To Reach You” – Nurses from Dracula – Sept. 20th

“Bedroom Eyes” – Dum Dum Girls from Only in Dreams – Sept. 27th

“Arson, You Let Me Down” – IfIHadAHiFi from Nada Surf + 3 EP – Sept. 20th

“These Are Conditions” – Pajama Club from Pajama Club – Sept. 13th

“National Runner” – The Caseworker from Letters from the Coast – Sept. 22nd

“By Song Through the Americas” – Blessed Feathers from From the Mouths of the Middle Class – Sept. 20th

“Marfa Moonlight” – Miles Zuniga from These Ghosts Have Bones – Sept. 27th

“Without A Cause” – Southerly from Youth – Sept. 20th

“Races” – Vanish Valley from Get Good – Sept. 27th

Labor Day 2011 Summer Mix – Turf War, Male Bonding, Crystal Antlers, Pavement, Husker Du, Modest Mouse, Travis, Wild Nothing

Posted on 09/05/201101/25/2020 by Max Hammer

For many people, Labor Day weekend is the symbolic end of the summer, even though summer doesn’t officially end until the fall equinox on September 23rd. So, that means that we officially have 18 days left to celebrate summer, and that can only mean three things – that we’ll be dropping three more (two after today) summertime mixtapes.

We obviously can’t speak for most people, but we’re not ready to let go of summer just yet. We are also not ready to admit that another summer has gone by way too fast (while not fast enough for folks in the south and mid-west). Here in northern California, and throughout the Pacific Northwest, summer has been evasive for much of the past three months, with the average temperatures coming in below average throughout the region; it’s even been a common topic of conversation and chit-chat in many parts of the western U.S. since June.

For the next three Sundays, in place of the Sunday 25 Mix, we’re going to post three more summer songs mixes for 2011. Our archive of summer-theme tracks dating from the 1950’s to today is stacked with ‘keeper’ tracks, and we will be adding one hundred or so more over the next few weeks.

Since 2009, Indie Rock Cafe has created the largest collection of summertime mixtapes on the web. As time passed by, this mix series has become very popular with folks who have been following IRC for years, plus the thousands of new visitors everyday who are discovering the site for the first time thanks to friends, other blogs and sites, search engines, and social networks like Twitter, Facebook, The Hype Machine, Elbows and so on. Altogether, there are some two dozen summer mixtapes, and more than one million listeners.

So, with that kind of demand, we are happy to provide the supply side by searching the vast music archives for more great summer songs. If this mix is not enough to satisfy your appetite, the links in this post lead to dozens of more summer mixtapes published in the past few years.

Almost all of songs in all of the mixtapes, even the oldest ones, still work; in fact, we play them in the cafe all of the time because they’re just that good, and are among some of the most popular mixtapes of the hundreds on IRC. The largest collection is the extensive 2010 Summer Songs Mixtapes series.

Today’s summer mix comes out just in time to enjoy it on this Labor Day 2011. By Tuesday, millions of people will be back in the office or in school, and for the vast majority of people, summer will be all but over. Yet, we still have three more (including this one) summer-themed playlists to share with you in the next few weeks – they are today’s mix – which we’re calling “Labor Day 2011 Summer Mix,” next Sunday’s mix “Chill Summer Songs” (Sept. 11th), and the last IRC summer mix of 2011, “The Last Blast of Summer 2011” (Sept. 18th).

This special Labor Day summer mix kicks off with some sweet summerish Fresh Tracks that have only been released since the last two summer mixes (“Summer Songs Mix” and “Heat Hot Summer Songs Mix”), featuring awesome new songs from Turf War, Princeton, Crystal Antlers, Male Bonding, and Butch Walker and The Black Widows, plus other 2011 summer songs from Josh Rouse, The Lawsuits, The Novel Ideas, Sons & Daughters, She’s Spanish I’m American, and dozens and dozens more.

We’ve also included a block of 80’s and 90’s post punk, alternative rock, pop and new wave summer songs from Pavement, Husker Du, Modest Mouse, Starlet, The Sea Urchins, and Sublime. And of course, there are plenty of stellar indie songs within the Indie Summer Gold section. We hope you enjoy this playlist as much as we have putting it together.

“Summertime Booze” – Turf War from Years of Living Dangerously – out Oct. 18th

“Clamoring For Your Heart” – Princeton from 7-inch single – Aug. 30th

“Tame The Sun” – Male Bonding from Endless Now – Aug. 23rd

“Summer Solstice” – Crystal Antlers from Two-Way Mirror – July 19th

“Summer Lea” – The Lawsuits from Darleen – June 1st

“Summer of 89” – Butch Walker & The Black Widows from The Spade – Aug. 23rd

“Cool Vapors” – Jacuzzi Boys from Glazin’ – Aug. 16th

“The Beach” – Sons & Daughters from Mirror, Mirror – July 12th

More Recent Summer Tracks from Indie, Synth and Rock Artists

“Summer Holiday” – Wild Nothing (2010)

“Island Summer” – Unouomedude (2010)

“Lemonade” – Braids (2010)

“Summer” – The Novel Ideas (2010)

“Summertime in Heaven” – Ghost Animal (2010)

“Brighton Beach” – Little Brazil (2009)

“Swimming” – The Smiles (2010)

“Summer of Hate” – The Crocodiles (2009)

“The Year Without A Summer” – Coltrane Motion (2009)

“Stuck For The Summer” – Two Hours Traffic (2007)

“Summer Shakedown” – Slow Club (2008)

“In The Summertime” – The Rural Alberta Advantage (2008)

“That Summer” – This Blue Heaven (2008)

“Summertime” – Josh Rouse (2006)

“Buenos Aires Beach” – The War On Drugs (2008)

Post Punk, New Wave and Alternative Rock Summer Tracks

“Summer Babe” – Pavement (1994)

“Summershine” – The Sea Urchins (1992)

“Summertime” – Sublime (2001)

“Who Loves The Sun” – Teenage Fanclub (1995)

“Sunspots In The House Of The Late Scapegoat” – Modest Mouse (1997)

“Celebrated Summer” – Husker Du (1985)

“Rain in the Summertime” – The Alarm (1987)

Indie Summer Gold – Grandaddy, Eaves, Starlet, Elf Power, Travis and More

“Summer Here Kids” – Grandaddy (1997)

“Summer Gold” – Eaves (2003)

“When The Sun Falls On My Feet” – Starlet (2002)

“The Sun On His Back” – Camera Obscura (2004)

“Mr. Summer Day” – The Sunshine Fix (2002)

“Midsummer Nights Dreamin'” – Travis (1997)

“Old Tyme Waves” – Elf Power (1999)

“Summer Dreams” – Red House Painters (1995)

“Silly Crimes” – The Tough Alliance (2006)

“Still Can Feel The Heat” – Train Company (2009)

We hope that you enjoy all of the summer mixes as much as we’ve enjoyed putting them together, and as much as we’ve listened to them again and again. There is no other website out there, among the millions, that offers as large, and still active (meaning the MP3s are not expired or taken down), of summer songs mixtapes as you will find on IRC.

Next Sunday, we’re going to publish the “Summer Chill Mix,” as we like to call it, which will contain only chill, mellow, dreamy summer songs, perfect for laying back and relaxing, aimed at washing away the trials and tribulations of modern life, letting for a couple of hours everything else just drift slowly into the background while you immerse yourself in 40 or so mellow summer tracks by bands ranging from Belle and Sebastian and Fruit Bats to Built to Spill and The Raveonettes.

Here are a few advanced tracks to give you idea what the “Summer Chill Mix” will be like. All of these summer mixtapes are ones that we hope you will want to keep forever, whether you download the tracks, or just bookmark this and other mixes. As with the vast majority of our mixes, they will still be here weeks and months and years from now, and unlike most other older-than-a-month mixtapes on the web, ours will still be working, and ready to stream at anytime. Enjoy.

“Sleep All Summer” – St. Vincent And The National (2009)

“These Long Summer Days” (Josh Rouse) – She’s Spanish, I’m American (2011)

Summer Songs Mixtape – Barcelona, Flaming Lips, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Jett, White Wires, The Pass, Art Brut, Film School, The Church

Posted on 08/27/201107/22/2021 by Max Hammer

It’s still kind of hard to believe that summer will turn to autumn in the next few weeks. For many kids and teens, the first day of school marks the end of summer.

For adults, Labor Day weekend usually marks the end of summer. Whatever the case, it has gone by way too fast. Remember when you were a kid and summer felt like it lasted forever?

For millions of people, music is as symbolic of summer time as baseball, hot dogs and trips to the beach. No matter your age, music has always been part of the culture of summer – whether it means spinning golden oldies of summers past at a barbecue; sharing new, but lesser-known, summer-theme tracks from obscure artists with others; listening to a radio station countdown of the top 200 songs of all time; going to a concert or festival with friends.

As you may know, we put out quite a few summer mixes this summer (see below), and currently working on a couple of others, in addition to today’s mix. The future mixes will include one more generic summer songs mix, plus a mellow summer songs mix to symbolize the waning energy of the summer sun.

2011 Summer-Themed Playlist Mixes

Songs for Summer Mix – Blackbird Blackbird, Brian Wilson, AM Syndicate, Apples in Stereo, Kinks, Beach Fossils
Best Beach Songs Mixtape – Wavves, The Vaccines, Best Coast, Com Truise, Mazes, Triptides, Film School, Kinks, Radiohead
Songs For Fourth of July, Vol. I – Songs for 4th of July Mixtape, Vol. I – The Stills, Pavement, The Shins, Elliott Smith, Tragically Hip, Animal Collective, Ray Charles

– Songs For Fourth of July, Vol. II – Paul Simon, Titus Andronicus, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Iron & Wine, Otis Redding, Sufjan Stevens

“Summer Songs” – Barcelona from Simon Basic (2006)

“Facing The Sun” – Trees Fight for Sunlight from A Collection of Vibrations for Your Skull – Nov. 8th

“It’s Summertime” – Flaming Lips from Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002)

“Long Hot Summer” – Jimi Hendrix from The Ultimate Experience (1968)

“Let’s Go to the Beach” – White Wires from WWII (2010)

“You Let Me Down (I Do Not Care for the Summer Sun)” – Sweet Lights for s/t 7″

“Treatment Of The Sun” – The Pass from Burst (2010)

“In The Summertime” – Mungo Jerry from Mungo Jerry (1972)

“Summer Job” – Art Brut from Art Brut vs. Satan (2009)

“Don’t Steal Our Sun” – The Thrills from So Much For The City (2003)

“Sun” – Caribou from Swim (2010)

“Summer House” – Brothertiger from Vision Tunnels (2010)

“Hello Sunshine” – Super Furry Animals from Phantom Power (2003)

“Black Sunbeams” – The Spruce Campbells from Mosques, Museums, and Mausoleums (2010)

“Sunshine” – Keen Shay from Keen (2009)

“Summers” – Loney Dear from Dear John (2009)

“The Sun Always Shines On TV” – Tribeca from Kate-97 (2002)

“Sunburn Kids” – Admiral Radley from I Heart California (2010)

“Holidays In The Sun” – Sex Pistols from Kiss This (1992)

“You Stole The Sun From My Heart” – Manic Street Preachers from Forever Delayed (2002)

“Rainy Day” – APB from Something To Believe In (1985)

“Sunny Day” – Film School from Fission (2010)

“Maximum Sunshine” – Lynnfield Pioneers from Everything Is Nice: The Matador Records 10th Anniversary Anthology (1999)

“Summer Heart” – Blackbird Blackbird from Summer Heart LP (2010)

“Rainbow Silhouette Of The Milky Rain” – Deerhoof from Milk Man (2004)

“Summertime Blues” – Eddie Cochran from Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time (1958)

“Summertime Blues” (Eddie Cochran) – Joan Jett from Bad Reputation (1988)

“Summersong” – The Decemberists from The Crane’s Wife (2006)

“The Waves At Night” – Phosphorescent from Pride (2007)

“Double Summer” – The Chills from Heavenly Pop Hits: The Best of the Chills (1995)

“Hot Hot Hot” (94′ Goodmen World Carnival Mix) – DJ Arrow from DJ Companion Vol.02 (1990)

“Summer Cum” – Avi Buffalo from Avi Buffalo (2010)

“All Summer” – Kid Cudi, Best Coast and Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend from 7″ inch (2010)

“Summer” – The Church from Forget Yourself (2003)

“Christmas All Summer Long” – Deertick from Holy S**t It’s Christmas (2009)

“I Don’t Need No Steam Heat” – John Lee Hooker from Endless Boogie (1974)

“Summer On The Westhill” – Kings of Convenience from Quiet Is The New Loud (2001)

“Here Comes The Sun” – Wise Blood from + (2010)

Last summer, we compiled and published a massive summer songs mixtape series that still generates a bunch of traffic every month.

Hot Heat Summer Songs – Annuals, Woodsman, Vampire Hands, SSLYBY, Women, ARMS, Blizten Trapper, Beck, Whalers

Posted on 08/07/201112/18/2019 by Max Hammer

hot songs — Heat records have been broken all across the U.S. in recent weeks.

Much of the nation, most especially the mid-west and the south, have been trapped under a dome of extreme heat for the past month or so, while the Northeast has been dipping in and out of excessive temperatures for weeks. Therefore, we set out to put together a playlist mix with songs containing words like heat, hot, burn, humid, and so on, in the titles. Yeah, kind of corny, but we’re always looking for an excuse to tap into our private collections of rated music dating back to the beginning of rock to make specialized, thematic playlists.

Note: Not all of the songs are meant to be literal, but included because they’re just great songs. For example, there are songs with “hot” in the title, but the literal use of the word has more to do with desire and attraction than temperature.

“Hot Night Hounds” – Annuals

“This Heat” – Generation X

“Beat the Heat” – Woodsman

“Heat Fire” – Vampire Hands

“I Am Warm and Powerful” – Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

“Heat & Hot Water” – ARMS

“Warmer Current’s Pull” – Blind Man’s Colour

“Heat Distraction” – Women

“Three Day Heat Wave” – Pony Boy

“Warmer Climes” – Boat Club

“Hot Ones” – Shudder To Think

“Humid Air” – The Moaners

“Hotwax” – Beck

“Hot Math” – Andrew Bird

“You’re So Damn Hot” – OK Go

“Heatwave” – Whalers

“Too Young to Burn” – Sonny & The Sunsets

“Hot Freaks” – Blitzen Trapper

“Hot Bed” – The Whigs

“I Got The Hots” – The Soft Boys

“Burn” – The Cure

“Fast Burn” – Lost Boy

“Hott in Here” (Nelly)” – Beck

“Hot Night In A Cold Town” – John Cougar

“Hot House Of Omagararshid” – The Yardbirds

Bonus Tracks

“Heatwave” – Martha Reeves and the Vandellas

“Bubbling Hot” – Pato Banton

“Hot Love” – T. Rex

“Heats” – Kampi

“Hot Mess” – Chromeo

“Mr. Heat Miser” – Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer soundtrack

Fresh Tracks from Gauntlet Hair, Lightouts, Air Review, Neon Indian, Rubblebucket, Ganglians, Carousel, House of Wolves, TV Girl

Posted on 08/01/201112/18/2019 by Max Hammer

As the new tunes keep rolling in, we’re doing our best to filter them and publish them to the site – hundreds each month. This new installment of Fresh Tracks features new songs from recently released, and upcoming, albums, EPs and singles by a diverse and eclectic mix of bands and artists. As with most Fresh Tracks mixtapes, there are songs we found surfing the web, that came to us in dee mail, and that we selected from the hundreds of submissions we receive each month via the band submission form. After releasing a slew of 7″ singles, the Denver noise-pop duo Gauntlet Hair have set October 18 for the release of their self-titled debut album via Dead Oceans. As one of the dozens upon dozens of spectacular bands that emerged big time on the ‘indie’ scene in 2010, Gauntlet Hair continue to impress with each new song release. Thankfully, the band will finally see the official release of their self-titled debut album in October.

“Top Bunk” – Gauntlet Hair from Gauntlet Hair – Oct. 18th

Introducing Lightouts and Air Review

A Gowanus-based duo, Lightouts sounds a lot like The Cure on the new track “Only The Smart Ones” (but we’re not complaining, it’s a great track) and we’re keeping our ears out for their debut album, Want. If you love the 90’s post-punk, New Wave, goth rock sounds, you’ll probably be looking out for the release date of Lightouts’ debut; we’ll definitely post something – even if just via our Twitter or Facebook accounts – Next, Air Review, deliver one of the best indie folk pop (think Sufjan Stevens) tunes of the year with “America’s Son,” an exceptional and deep track from the upcoming fall release of their self-titled debut album.

“Only The Smart Ones” – Lightouts from Want – TBA

Doubleshot: “And It Comes And Go” – Lightouts from Want

“America’s Son” – Air Review from America’s Son – Nov. 1st

Ganglians, Neon Indian, Rubblebucket Release New Songs

Ganglians have been one of the blogger buzz bands of the past couple of years, and they once again prove why they are deserving of the hype with the brand new track, “Sleep” from the upcoming release of their new album. Plus, Neon Indian, arguably a leading force in the chillwave movement of the past few years, has a new single from the upcoming September release of his new album Era Extraña. And, what some critics think is one of the top breakout bands of 2011, Rubblebucket just dropped a new single ahead of a planned debut LP.

“Sleep” – Ganglians from Still Living – Aug. 23rd

“Fall Out” – Neon Indian from Era Extraña – Sept. 13th

“Came Out of a Lady” – Rubblebucket from new single

New Tracks from Carousel, Gabriel Miller Phillips, House of Wolves and More

Another duo, Carousel, from Cambridge in the U.K., caught our attention with a new cover of The Stone Roses‘ “Here To Me,” full of shoegaze hooks and buzz saw riffs fronted by female vocals that draws comparisons to Cut Copy meets School of Seven Bells. We also like Gabriel Miller Phillips, House of Wolves, Brown Shoe, and The Chocolate Horse.

“Here To Me” (Stone Roses) – Carousel from single

“Star Crossed” – Gabriel Miller Phillips from One for the Crow – Sept. 13th

“50’s” – House of Wolves from Fold In The Wind – TBA 2011

“Colt Rider” – Brown Shoe from The Gift Horse – Oct. 18th

“Escape All Responsibility” – The Chocolate Horse from Beasts – Aug. 16th

Magicks’ Debut, Big Black Delta, TV Girl, Tim Cohen and More

Magicks is a new one-man band and the creation of Jason Magicks, an audio engineer. Magicks sound is wonderfully crafted, featuring rich layers of sounds blended with guitar, bass and a microphone. Download Magicks EP Triangles for free via Bandcamp.   Slightly improv/theme based, a Magicks set is unique from night to night.   In August, he’ll perform in Austin and Los Angeles.

“Cycles of Sine Waves Peaking Through Valleys” – Magicks from Triangles EP – Aug. 9th

“Huggin and a Kissin” – Big Black Delta from Big Black Delta – Aug. 16th

“Baby You Were There” – TV Girl from TV Girl EP

“Daylight Moon” – Tim Cohen from Magic Trick – Aug. 30th

“Important” – The Hunting Accident from the New Black – Aug. 16th

Listen to more Fresh Tracks mixtapes only on Indie Rock Cafe

IRC Readers’ Favorite Soundtrack Songs – Band of Horses, Fanfarlo, The Shins, Switchfoot, Bob Dylan, The Pixies, Editors

Posted on 07/31/201101/09/2020 by Max Hammer

'Rushmore' is one of the best soundtracks of the past 20 years

A few weeks ago we asked the IRC community to name their favorite song from a movie soundtrack. There were so many responses to that question that there’s no way we can feature them all, but we’ve done our best to represent as many of the answers as possible. That’s one of the things we love most about the Sunday mixes – it’s always the one day of the week that we put together playlist mixes about just about anything you can think of, and the songs in the mix are not restricted to ‘indie’ rock, whatever that is.

In addition to being a mix of great movie soundtrack songs, this week’s Sunday Sampler is also cool because it is a creation of community participation and sharing. In fact, we are planning more such mixes because people really do like them so much. The most obvious reason why is the basic human desire to be part of something creative with a group of people that share similar interests – in this case, music.

It’s not often that a music site or blog encourages their audience to decide what content is presented on the site. We’re doing our best to change that, in our own way. Plus, who doesn’t enjoy seeing their contribution to a community effort on the pages of a website that gets over a half of a million visits per month from around the world.

So, here are you and your friends favorite songs from a movie soundtrack. Please add your own to the Comments section – we’d love to see a robust discussion about this topic since it intrigues so many people. (Where only contributor name appears as an attribution, those are Facebook members.)

“Our Swords” – Band of Horses from Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (Joel Salcido and Jonathan Antunez)

“Atlas” – Fanfarlo from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Kayla Hilko)

“Nothin In This World Can Stop Me Worrying ‘Bout That Girl” – The Kinks from Rushmore (Brandy Burtis)

“Caring is Creepy” – The Shins from Garden State (Whitney Stiles)

“Dancin in the Moonlight” (King Harvest) – Toploader from A Walk to Remember (@carmilleF)

“The Man in Me” – Bob Dylan from The Big Lebowski (Joel Joelskii Salcido) *

“Where Is My Mind” – The Pixies from The Fight Club (@IndieFavs)

“No Sound But The Wind” – Editors from The Twilight Saga: New Moon (@Eddy_Figueroa)

“Miss Misery” – Elliott Smith from Good Will Hunting (Kay Nola Lee)

“Dead Sound” – The Ravonettes from Whip It (@PolaRoid_Rage)

“Friends” – Band of Skulls from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Mark Shaut)

“If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out” – Cat Stevens from Harold and Maude (Brandy Burtis)

“Sweet Disposition” – The Temper Trap from 500 Days of Summer (@jayindie93)

“Such Great Heights” – Iron and Wine from Garden State (Mark Shaut)

“From West Texas” – Explosions in the Sky from Friday Night Lights (Jay Graham)

“Dead Man Theme” – Neil Young from Dead Man (Emily Hart)

“Wayfaring Stranger” – Jack White on Cold Mountain (@styveobscura)

“You Never Can Tell” – Chuck Berry from Pulp Fiction (@namepr)

“Sven F-Englar” – Sigur Ros from Vanilla Sky (Spencer Colvin)

“There Goes The Fear” – The Doves from 500 Days of Summer (Brandon Conway)

“Don’t You Forget About Me” – Simple Minds from The Breakfast Club (Rick Thibault Levy)

“Powerman” – The Kinks from Darjeeling Limited (Josh Carrafa)

“Scatterheart” – Bjork from Dancer in the Dark (@CanofVodka)

“Cry Little Sister” – Gerard McMann from Lost Boys (TwoDudesCRs)

There was great interest in this question when we posted it to Twitter in June.

“State of Love and Trust” – Pearl Jam from Singles (Mark Shaut) *

“Hot Sauce” – The Donkeys from Dear John (Alec Witthohn) *

“Virginia Plain” – Roxy Music from Velvet Goldmine (@toronto_red)

“I’ve Seen It All” – Bjork with Thom Yorke from In The Dark (Brandy Burtis)

“Green Onions” – Booker T & The MGs from A Single Man (@mcdonaldrenee)

“Tommib” – Squarepusher from Lost in Translation (Spencer Colvin)

“Superfly” – Curtis Mayfield from Bar None (recommended by Evan La Ruffa)

“The End” – The Doors from Apocalypse Now (Richard Segal)

“I Love NYE” – Badly Drawn Boy from About A Boy (Rahel Fisseha)

Bonus Track: “Dead Sound” (Peter Holmstrom and Jeremy Sherrer Remix) – The Raveonettes

When we were unable to find a MP3 link for a recommended track, we chose an alternative track from the same soundtrack; where neither option was available (very rare), we did not include the recommendation at all.

Fresh Tracks from Cymbals Eat Guitars, M83, VHS or Beta, Golden Bloom, The Stone Foxes, Chairlift, Loney Dear

Posted on 07/24/201112/18/2019 by Max Hammer

By Maxwell Silver

The Fresh Tracks mixtape series has really exploded since we fired up the first installment last year. So, like Ray Davies of The Kinks shouts in the title track of the band’s splendid 1981 LP release: “Give the people what they want.” The idea behind the Fresh Tracks series is to highlight newly released tracks from upcoming releases by a wide range of bands, including Cymbals Eat Guitars, M83, VHS or Beta, Golden Bloom, The Stone Foxes, Chairlift, Loney Dear, and many others.

The flow of new tracks from upcoming releases is like a fast-rushing river in the spring after a winter of heavy snowfall. It’s a challenge, to say the least, to keep up with them all. So, one way to do that is to simply put together regular playlists for the Fresh Tracks mix series. We’d love to have more time to review each track, but we’re simply so busy with other posts that are in the pipeline that we need to stay focused. The silver lining in that cloud is that you get to listen (and download by right clicking on the song title and choosing “Save As” to your computer) to a mixtape unabated and without any preconceptions.

Please keep in mind that all MP3s are free and legal, and in return, show a little love for your favorite artists – buy some of their music, go to a show, or even Like or Retweet them. Indie artists really need their fans to support them anyway they can, because they certainly can’t make a living selling music (with a few exceptions). We hope you enjoy this latest Fresh Tracks mix, and please let the community know what you think by using the comments section below.

“Rifle Eyesight” – Cymbals Eat Guitars from Lenses Alien – Aug. 30th

“Midnight City” – M83 from Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming – Oct. 18th

“Breaking Bones” – VHS or Beta from Diamonds and Death – Sept. 27th

“You Go On (& On)” – Golden Bloom from March to the Drums – Aug. 26th

“Psycho” – The Stone Foxes from Psycho b/w Serious People – July 27th

“Teenage Girls” – Bad Sports from Kings Of The Weekend – Aug. 16th

“Amanaemonesia” – Chairlift from Amanaemonesia 7″ – Aug. 16th

“Tanktop” – Caroline Smith from Little Wind – Sept. 20th – keep?

“My Heart” – Loney Dear from Hall Music – Oct. 6th

“Cruel/Kind” – Gold Leaves from The Ornament – Aug. 16th

“Maracas” – Mates of State from Mountaintops – Sept. 13th

“Race Is Long” – The Gift from Explode – Sept. 20th

“I Can Hear the Trains Coming” – Mathieu Santos from Massachusetts 2010 – Aug. 2nd

“All My Friends” – Little Horn from Twelve – July 26th

“Kites With Lights” – Cosmonauts from Cosmonauts – Aug. 9th

“Tell Me Why” – D/Wolves from D/Wolves – Oct 8th

“From Scratch” – Brian Keenan from Today This Year – Aug. 2nd

“Beautiful” (Peyote Version) – BigBee of the Whitetree from Fairytale Dust – Sept. 13th

“Lawn” – Collections Of Colonies Of Bees from Giving – Aug. 23rd

“Breakers” – Gem Club from Breakers – Sept. 27th

“Alive” – Armand Margjeka from Margo Margo – Aug. 9th

“Forget the Past” – The Irrepressibles from Mirror Mirror – Aug. 9th

“Come Rain, Come Sunshine” – Pallers from Sea of Memories – Sept. 27th

“Old Friend” – Caveman from CoCo Beware – Sept. 13th

“2012” – Young Circles from Jungle Habits – Aug. 23rd

Best Summer Songs, Vol. XI – Wavves, The Vaccines, Best Coast, Mazes, Triptides, Film School, The Kinks, Radiohead

Posted on 07/17/201110/21/2018 by Max Hammer

(Originally posted in July 2011) It’s almost hard to believe that it is summer here in northern California and the Pacific Northwest, because it has been unusually cool, and even rained (the latter which almost never happens in the Bay Area during summer). One of the best things about summer is taking trips to the beach. We’re grateful to be only a few feet from the beach, so putting together summertime, beach-themed playlist mixes is almost a requirement.

You can stream the entire playlist below simply by clicking on the first song. Not only to we obviously enjoy listening to the mixes over and over again, but the best part of it all is sharing them with people across the U.S. and around the world. Some of you will hear songs, and artists, for the first time that you really enjoy, others will be reminded of songs they always liked but haven’t heard for a long time, and even more will experience a combination of the two.

This latest mix in the Best Summer Songs series includes 35 exclusively indie and alt. rock songs that we think exemplify summer in one or more ways. This mix is mostly indie and alternative rock oriented, but also features classic rock songs for summer as well.

Please feel free to Comment – you’re comment will be accessible to tens, even hundreds, of thousands of people. Let everyone know your favorite track(s) from this particular mix. As some of you know, we occasionally pick the author of a comment (usually when they have a keen observation about a particular song) to win a free and legal album download, a vinyl album, gift certificate or card, sometimes even concert and festival tickets.

“Super Soaker” – Wavves from King of the Beach (2010)

“Oceans” – The Format from Dog Problems (2006)

“Wetsuit” – The Vaccines from What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? (2011)

“Beach Comber” – Real Estate from Real Estate (2009)

“When The Sun Don’t Shine” – Best Coast from Hope Is Just a Walking Dream (2010)

“Beach Party” – Air France from No Way Down (2008)

“Ocean City” – Kurt Vile from Square Shells (2010)

“Sunburn” – Beat Connection from Surf Noir EP (2010)

“Blue Sunshine” – Blue Giant from Blue Giant (2010)

“Sundriped” – Com Truise from Cyanide Sisters EP (2010)

“Sunshine/Pretty Girls” – Unnatural Helpers from Unnatural Sampler (2010)

“Surf and Turf/Maths Tag” – Mazes from A Thousand Keys (2008)

“Shadows” – Triptides from Tropical Dreams (2011)

“Light and Day – Reach For The Sun” – The Polyphonic Spree from The Beginning Stages (2002)

“Sunny Day” – Film School from Fission (2010)

“At The Beach” – The Avett Brothers from Mignonette (2004)

“Buenos Aires Beach” – The War on Drugs from Barrel of Batteries EP (2008)

“Forget Me Not” – Glass Vaults from Glass EP (2010)

“Summer Hits Or J Plus J Don’t Like” – Mazes from A Thousand Keys (2011)

“Golden Girl” – Therapies Son from Over The Sea (2011)

“RE: Chillwaves” – John Blaze from Introductions EP (2010)

“Waves” – The Elected from Me First (2004)

“The Secret Ocean” – Of Montreal from The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower (1998)

“Blood The Sun And Water” – Born Ruffians from Say It (2010)

“The Sun On His Back” – Camera Obscura from Biggest Blues Hi Fi (2004)

“Sunset Junction” – Work Drugs from Work Drugs (2010)

“Definitely Beachy (Reprise)” – Air Miami from Me Me Me (1995)

“Pictures in the Sand” – The Kinks from Great Lost Kinks Albums (1971)

“Don’t Look Back Into The Sun” – The Libertines from The New Breed (2003)

“Burn The Beach” – Leisure Birds from That Time of the Month (2010)

“Brighton Beach” – Little Brazil from SXSW Sampler (2010)

“Keepin On” – Turbo Fruits from Keepin On 7 (2010)

“On The Beach (Neil Young)” – Radiohead

“Our Scenery” – Gauntlet Hair from I Was Thinking (2010)

“Beach & Friends (Hey Champ Remix) – French Horn Rebellion Vs Database

S-25 Mix: Fresh Tracks from The Fair Ohs, Wooden Shjips, Mumford & Sons, Pepper Rabbit, Youth Lagoon, Jim Ward, Nurses

Posted on 07/09/201101/11/2022 by Max Hammer

You probably know by now that we do things kind of different here. For example, we rarely ever post just one or two songs and call it a day. Instead, we regularly publish at least five to 10 songs per post, and often many more. Every month – and especially during the past year and a half – we receive hundreds of songs and albums, and discover others during our regular excursions on the web.

Next, we shave down the stacks of new tracks by keeping only the songs we like the most (doesn’t matter who they are from), and ‘letting go’ of the others. The final cut tracks then go into a playlist that we share and listen to again and again before deciding which playlist series they best fit.

As is always the case, the amount of new songs and albums pile up faster than there is time to really listen to, research and write about everyone of them. Therefore, we often opt for creating mixtapes and playlists that have a common theme, whether it’s Best New Releases, Recent Releases We Almost Missed, S-25 Mix, In Dee Mail, Bands to Watch, and many others.

One of our favorite newer mixtape series is Fresh Tracks, which is simply a mix of some of our favorite new songs that we’ve received in the past few weeks from upcoming albums. So, we decided this latest installment of Fresh Tracks would work perfectly with this week’s S-25 Mix

This latest Fresh Tracks is jam-packed with new singles by Wooden Shjips, The Fair Ohs, Dominant Legs, Jim Ward, Argyle Johansen, Pepper Rabbit, Nurses, Peter Wolf Crier, The Mekons, VHS or Beta, Oax, Little Deadman, Scott Miller, Cuckoo Chaos, The Cinema, Fruit Bats and Luke Temple – and many others.

Tell Us What You Think About This Stack of Fresh Tracks

We are really want to hear your feedback about the songs and/or bands in today’s mix, so please use the Comments section. Plus, your comment may be included in another post on the site and will be seen by literally thousands of people every day. We think there are some dope tracks in this mix, and perhaps more than a few that may be getting their first “big” exposure on the indie blogosphere today.

“Baldessari” – The Fair Ohs from Everything Is Dancing – July 26th

“Lazy Bones” – The Wooden Shjips from West – Aug. 23rd

“Hoop of Love” – Dominant Legs from Invitation – Sept. 27th

“Broken Songs” (with Tegan Quin) – Jim Ward from Quiet In The Valley, On The Shores The End Begins & The Electric Six – Aug. 2nd

“Only We Can Keep You From Harm” – Young Buffalo from Young Von Prettylips – July 18th

“Percocet Blues” – Argyle Johansen from Argyle Johansen and His Inner Demo(n)s – Sept. 6th

“July” – Youth Lagoon from The Year of Hiberation – Sept. 27th

“Alive” – Armand Margjeka from Margo Margo – Aug. 9th

“Escape All Responsibility” – The Chocolate Horse from Beasts – Aug. 16th

“Rosemary Stretch” – Pepper Rabbit from Red Velvet Snow Ball – Aug. 9th

“Before The Bridges” – Future Islands, single release – July 19th

“Fever Dreams” – Nurses from Dracula – Sept. 20th

“Die to Rest” – Prophets & Kings from Prophets & Kings- Aug. 9th

“Another Day” – Echo Lake from Another Day/Breathe Deep 7″ – July 18th

“Right Away” – Peter Wolf Crier from Garden of Arms – Sept. 6th

“Space in Your Face” – The Mekons from Ancient & Modern – Sept. 27th

“I Found a Reason” – VHS or Beta from Diamond & Death – Sept. 27th

“Love and Crashing” – Oax from This Distance – July 12th

“Post Helado Madness” – Little Deadman from Shooting Seagulls EP – July 19th

“Lo Siento, Spanishburg, WVa – A Story of The Real Americana (F.A.Y. version)” – Scott Miller from Lo Siento, Spanishburg, WVa – A Story of The Real Americana – July 12th

“Tangie and Ray” – Fruit Bats from Tripper – Aug. 2nd

“Jesus Flag American Fish” – Cuckoo Chaos from Jesus Flag American Fish 7 – July 26th

“Groove (Scene 1)” – The Lions from Iconoclasts – Sept. 6th

“Ophelia” – Luke Temple from Don’t Act Like You Don’t Care – Aug. 30th

“Home/Untitled” (Live on KBCO) – Mumford & Sons

Indie Fourth of July Songs Vol. II – Polock, Wavves, Iron & Wine, Air France, Roman Candle, Akron/Family, The Strokes, The Catholic Comb

Posted on 07/04/201112/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Yesterday, we published Volume One of 50 Fourth of July Songs, a playlist compilation, that features a wide range of artists, genres and time periods.

Each track, in its own way, reflects an aspect of the American identity, touching on themes such as patriotism, freedom, fireworks, summertime, baseball, and others that are fitting for a 4th of July playlist series.

Volume One Includes songs from The Stills,

This is Volume Two of the 50 Fourth of July Songs playlist series. If you want to stream these two playlists for your party, we encourage you to.

Update: July 2 2019 – Some songs are not allowed by the men in black to be published so we had to remove them.

[zbplayer]

“Fireworks” – Polock from Getting Down From The Tree (2010)

“Baseball Cards” – Wavves from King of the Beach (2010)

“Beach Party” – Air France from No Way Down (2008)

“It Always Rains On A Picnic” – Modest Mouse from Sad Sappy Sucker (2001)

“Freedom Hangs Like Heaven” – Iron & Wine from Woman King (2004)

“Games” – The Strokes from Angles (2011)n

“Patriots Of Love” – The Catholic Comb from Sincerely (2007)
Unfortunately, the LP is out of print

“New York This Morning” – Roman Candle from The Wee Hours Revue (2006)

“There’s So Many Colors” – Akron/Family from Love Is Simple (2007)

“All Sparks” – Editors from The Back Room (2007)

“Fried Chicken/Mary, Mary” – The Slackers from Redlight (1997)

“A More Perfect Union” – Titus Andronicus from The Monitor (2010) (removed)

And a couple of oldies:

“American Tune” – Paul Simon from The Essential Paul Simon (2002)

“Song of the Patriot” – Johnny Cash from The Essential (1999)