For most Americans, Fourth of July is an important day – it’s the American holiday, and many people look to it as the official kick-off to the summer season (even though summer began on June 22).
So, we set out to first pick keywords that exemplify the Fourth, including fireworks, beach, barbeques, picnics, parties, surfing, baseball, food, parades, the Constitution, freedom, carnivals, flags, and, you get the picture. With those keywords in place, we started searching the vast music collection for fitting songs.
Originally, this post (now being updated on July 3, 2012), was part of the discontinued S-25 Mix series, a Sunday mix in which we pick 25 songs from various artists, genres and time periods to highlight a particular theme, or in some cases, no theme other than that of good music.
And then there are the songs that have “America” in the title, and sometimes just based on that, we think they are a good fit for this mix. Such tracks include “American Pie” (Don McLean), “American Girl” (Tom Petty), “American Music (Violent Femmes) and so on.
[zbplayer]
“Fireworks” – The Tragically Hip from Phantom Power (1998)
Want more? Check out Volume Two with tracks from Galaxie 500, Paul Simon, Neil Young, Iron and Wine, Wavves, Titus Andronicus, Johnny Cash, Brian Wilson, Beastie Boys, The Strokes and many others.
“America The Beautiful” – Ray Charles from Ray Charles Greatest Hits (2005)
Summer hit parts of the country from the west to the east early this year. In fact, we are reminded of how many people have said recently that it seems to get hotter earlier each year. And the scientific facts support these observations. But who really cares any more? When the economy was humming along in the late 1990’s, and the first half of the last decade, Al Gore and his slide shows on global warming were hot items. But nowadays, with a world economy still flirting with disaster and an uncertain future, concern over global warming has cooled down considerably.
That said, if we’re all going to burn up, we might as well do it listening to some hot ( and rarely heard) songs about summer. Over the past few years, we have put together and published dozens of the most accessed and popular summer songs playlist mixes on the web, featuring hundreds of great tracks that you can stream all day long, download and Tweet, Share, Digg, Stumble and blog so that even more people can enjoy these playlists.
Another summer has arrived in a few blinks of an eye, and that means it’s time to post even more mixes of summer-themed, even ‘summer-sounding,’ songs to share with the world. We will reveal later in the week which of the songs in this mix were listened to, and downloaded, the most.
“Sunspray” – Blackbird Blackbird from Summer Heart (2010)
“Trampolines” – Yourself and The Air from Who’s Who In The Zoo (2011)
“Summer Of Love” – The Fresh & Onlys from Play It Strange (2010)
“Clinton Eastwood” – Gorillaz
“Summer Girl” – White Wires from WWII (2010)
“Celebrate Summer” – T. Rex from Greatest Hits (1986)
“Sunshine” – Brian Wilson from Imagination (1998)
“The Rainbow” – The Apples In Stereo from The Discovery Of A World Inside The Moone (2000)
“All The People Under The Sun” – AM Syndicate from Liberation (2007)
“The Other Summer” – MiniBoone from MiniBoone (2011)
“Rainbow, Puddle, Children” – American Green from Roof To Roof EP (2009)
“Lazy Day” – Beach Fossils from Beach Fossils (2010)
“Coppertone” – Hellogoodbye from Would It Kill You (2010)
“Golden Girl” – Therapies Son from Over The Sea (2011)
“All Summer” – Kid Cudi, Best Coast and Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend (2011)
“Summer Showers” – Brown Recluse Evening from Tapestry (2011)
“Sink or Swim” – John LaMonica from Lujo 2011 Sampler (2011)
“Rainy Day In June” – The Kinks from Face To Face (1966)
“Summer Hits Or J Plus J Don’t Like” – Mazes from A Thousand Heys (2011)
“It Always Rains On A Picnic” – Modest Mouse from Sad Sappy Sucker (2001)
“Sunshine Baby” – Reamonn from Beautiful Sky (2003)
“Vacation Vacation” – U.S. Royalty from Mirrors (2011)
“Dream Home” – Unouomedude from Marsh (2010)
“Touched By A Cloud” – Alberto Arcangeli from Dreamsongs (2009)
“English Summer Rain” – Placebo from Once More With Feeling (2004)
“Swimming” – The Smiles from Hermosa (2010)
“Sunshine Delay” – Barcelona from Simon Basic (1999)
Every few months or so, a music publication or blogger will tag a certain overseas country, region or city as “emerging” or “up and coming” or “place to be” for new indie and alternative rock music, and the gazillion sub-genres that branch outwards from that trunk. For a while it will be one overseas area, like, say, Manchester in the U.K., or Stockholm, and then some other critic will crown some other location, like Prague, while another insists only weeks later that it’s all happening in Melbourne.
We thought it would be much easier, and more interesting, to expand the new and wildly popular playlist series, 7 Bands You’ve Gotta Hear (or 7 Bands for short), into sub-categories, since there are so many bands and songs that we have posted and will be posting for weeks and months to come. Due to the positive response to the first installment of 7 Bands, and after we reviewed reader comments and web stats, we decided to expand the series into geographical categories.
Some people may be understandably skeptical that we have received over 1,200 submissions from bands and artists in the past six months, but it’s true. So, we’ve been going through them one by one, which can be draining and tedious at times, but it’s all worth it when we come across a fantastic artist or band that we never heard of before. In fact, we’re almost sure that this is the first “big” exposure on a U.S. indie rock music site for many of the artists in today’s 7 Bands installment.
Little by little, we’re getting through the approximate 1,200 submissions (and counting), and sorting out the bands we like the most by first listening to the songs they submitted, and if they get our attention, we then put them into a playlist which we listen to numerous times over a couple of weeks time. In that process, more songs are omitted, and others rise up, until we have a robust mix of just the songs that impressed us the most.
From there, we then go and review each chosen band’s complete submission. Really, it doesn’t change anything at this point – we don’t care where they’re from, if they’re DIY (which most are) or signed to a label, who they have opened for (or if they’ve opened for anyone before), what their bio says, and who are their biggest musical influences. All that really matters to us is the music, and that’s all we’ve ever cared about.
We don’t expect everyone to like every band we feature, but if most people come away with a couple songs added to their MP3 player, or even a new favorite overseas band, then we feel like it was a success and worth the great deal of time it takes to make these featured playlist posts possible. We can’t wait to see what all of you think of these bands, and we’ll be keeping count of which songs are played and downloaded the most. And there is SO much more to come, so stay tuned to IRC. The bands in this issue of 7 Bands are:
Last Dinosaurs – Brisbane, Australia The Black Atlantic – Groningen, Netherlands Street Chant – New Zealand Bodies of Work – London, England I Only Date Models – Nottingham, England Genuine Hamony – Karlstad, Sweden Luciano Sprovieri – Los Angeles via Sao Paulo
[zbplayer]The Last Dinosaurs are an indie rock band from Australia
Last Dinosaurs – Brisbane, Australia
In their native Australia, indie rockers Last Dinosaurs have been selling out shows all over the continent. No wonder. The band serves up brimming, energetic, blazing indie pop rock that is perfect for a summer barbie party, and even more, for live shows. We expect to see and hear more from this band in coming months, and are very interested in how IRC readers will respond to the band.
We think that others who stop by the cafe and hang out to listen to the two singles we’ve included from the band will wonder, as we have, why we haven’t heard of this band before. One would think that a band with this level of pure talent, splendid songwriting abilities, and near perfect execution would be a big deal. Maybe we can change that right here and now. What do you think? As far as we can see, they’ve only be previewed before on a couple U.S. based blogs.
It’d be great to get this band to SXSW 2012 and see what the reaction is from the attendees. Hopefully they can get visas and get booked at U.S. and European venues and festivals. It’s basically a no brainer that Last Dinosaurs have the potential to be hugely successful to an international, rock-craving populace, which has a huge appetite for new and talented bands. And the same can basically be said for most of the bands in this series. If you enjoy the music you hear in today’s post – most of which is likely new to most of you – then you will really enjoy what we’ve got in the pipeline for upcoming editions of 7 Bands Overseas.
Now, back to Last Dinosaurs. This first track, “As Far As Your Concerned,” was the band’s debut single last summer, and it really struck a chord in the land Down Under. Their debut EP, Back From The Dead is out now and the band has embarked on an extensive Australian tour.
The Black Atlantic is an acoustic indie folk pop band based out of Groningen, Holland. The Black Atlantic’s music is an introspective and intimate affair of story-telling that relies heavily on vocal harmonies, and melodies via soft strummed guitars and banjos, pianos and minimal percussion. The band often evokes natural imagery to express their stories on love, death and family.
The Black Atlantic has toured in various incarnations around the world, mostly in North America, the U.K. and Europe, and have opened for bands such as Nada Surf, Patrick Watson and Saturday Looks Good to Me. In 2009, the band released their debut album, Reverence for Fallen Trees , most of which was recorded during the autumn of 2008 in a log cabin in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. TBA are recommended if you like Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Sigúr Ros and Patrick Watson.
“Fragile Meadow” – The Black Atlantic from Reverence for Fallen Trees
“Heirloom” – The Black Atlantic from Reverence for Fallen Trees
Over the past couple of years, New Zealand indie rock band Street Chant, have made quite an impression in their homeland, and little by little, outside their Down Under domain. In fact, their mini blog hit, “Scream Walk,” made the rounds, but less so in the U.S. In fact, the single appeared on some blogs’ and music sites’ top singles of 2010 lists.
Now based in Melbourne, Australia, we think Street Chant is the only band in today’s post that has performed at CMJ. Their appearance last fall at New York‘s famous CMJ was one of the most anticipated out of hundreds of artists and bands vying for any piece of territory where they could plug in and jam. For each of Street Chant’s performances during CMJ week, the venues were packed with lines waiting outside. The track included below, “Scream Walk,” was one of the songs that propelled the band to a position of being chosen to perform at CMJ.
A few weeks ago, the band’s publicist sent us a new single, “The Fatigues” from the band’s April album release, titled Means. So, we have a newer and older track to offer. The raw talent, overwhelmingly positive press and word of mouth about Street Chant have definitely earned them a place among our 7 Overseas Bands You Gotta Hear.
“The Fatigues” – Street Chant from Means
“Scream Walk” – Street Chant from Street Chant EP (2009)
Bodies of Work – London, England
Since forming in 2009, London DIY band, Bodies of Work ,have created a small discography of dark and glittery alternative pop music, capturing melodrama with flashbulbs and sequins. Lead by compulsive frontman, Martin Bjorck, Bodies of Work has found common ground alongside Lizzie Holdforth (synth/vox), Chris Morgan (drums), and Andy Wright Becker (bass), thriving on musical extremes, as evidenced on the band’s EP debut, Flyers, which features soaring synths and gritty guitars intertwined with a powerful and sophisticated rhythm section.
The band’s musical skills and talent are showcased throughout Flyers. On the stand-out track, “Feathers”, by the second time the chorus came around we found ourselves singing along and tapping our feet. But the EP’s most accomplished track, “Flyers,” features a minor, catchy synth riff accompanied by the Interpol-esque guitar driven chorus.
We think Bodies of Work are just waiting to be discovered by indie fans everywhere, including the all-important U.S. market. Surprisingly, not much has been written about Bodies of Work on music sites or blogs in the U.S., and their band name is not particularly search engine-friendly. But, we’re hoping that today’s post will bring the U.K. band more interest from across the pond.
What others are saying:
“Expect big things from Bodies of Work” – Richard Bowes, London Tourdates
“With songs of this caliber they won’t be quiet for long” – Record Collector
“Bursts with vim and vigour and unabashed catchiness… performed with conviction and passion” – God is in the TV
I Only Date Models – Nottingham, England
In October 2010, the Nottingham UK indie pop band I Only Date Models dropped their debut LP, This End Tomorrow. It’s no surprise that less than a year since forming they’ve become one of the most popular new bands in Nottingham and were recently featured on the BBC, the all-important foot-in-big-door broadcast for aspiring young UK bands since the 1960s. Based on these two songs alone, we’re listing I Only Date Models as a UK Band to Watch in 2011.
The track “This Ends Tomorrow” is almost immediately an instant indie hit if there ever was one, so we would not be surprised if it ends up on the upcoming Top Ten Songs mixes. Since today is Saturday, the track doesn’t quite qualify for inclusion on this week’s Top Ten, so we’ll have to wait a week to see, but we’ll be watching the numbers all week and will let you know via our Twitter Glitter.
In edition to “This Ends Tomorrow,” the boys also sent us the riveting guitar-drive rocker, “Tunnels,” another track that is not hard to imagine as a hit single. While the argument could be made that the sound is a bit too polished to be “indie” we beg to disagree – the band are unsigned. That makes them much more indie-legit, if you will, then many other bands that are labeled indie.
We can hear the comparisons already (so we won’t even mention them), but we were surprised to find out that no one in the cafe has ever heard of I Only Date Models before, especially for our readers in the U.K., where IODMs are building a growing audience of fans.
“This Ends Tomorrow” – I Only Date Models from This Ends Tomorrow
“Tunnels” – I Only Date Models from This Ends Tomorrow
IODM list among their musical influences deadmau5, Skrillex, Biffy Clyro, Phoenix, and Phil Collins.
Genuine Harmony – Karlstad, Sweden
From the city of Karlstad, Sweden, the four-member, unsigned indie pop outfit, Genuine Harmony, formed in 2008 and recorded their first demo in the autumn of 2009. About a year later, after winning two music contests and playing at different venues around Sweden, the band released their EP, A Thousand Times Before.
The band has had some good press coverage in Sweden and in scattered areas across Europe, but not much at all in the U.S. Maybe we can help change that. While most bands do not list their band members’ names in their submissions, even though we highly recommend it, Genuine Harmony did; the band is made up of Simon Öman (vocals, guitar, songwriting), Christoffer Zetterlund (guitar, vocals, songwriting), Ola Nilsson (bass) and Jakob Bäckman (drums).
Genuine Harmony have opened for bands we’ve never heard of like The Fast Forwards, Magnus Weideskog, Starboys, Snowstorm, and Jacks n’ Jokers, and consider among their biggest musical influences bands like The Beatles, Arctic Monkeys, The Kooks, The Kinks, The Libertines, First Aid Kit, Those Dancing Days, Mando Diao, and more.
“Flowsnakes” – Genuine Harmony from A Thousand Times Before
“You, Me & Coco” – Genuine Harmony from A Thousand Times Before
From São Paulo, Brazil, DIY singer/songwriter and pop musician Luciano Sprovieri wrote his first song when he was only eight years old. As a self-proclaimed lover of melodies, Sporvieri continued to pursue a passion for music, and a penchant for songwriting, from that moment to the present day.
In 2005, he fulfilled a personal dream to move to California. Since then, he turned his attention to releasing a debut album last fall called Drifting By. In the box on the submission form for ‘Bands Opened Up For,’ Sprovieri indicated none, but did not elaborate. His personal musical influences include Return to Forever, Weather Report, Marisa Monte, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, George Benson, Luis Gonzaga, Jethro Tull, Eric Clapton, Air, Marvin Gaye, Pearl Jam and many others
Jeff Tweedy of Wilco performs Monday night at Sasquatch Fest - Photo by James Bailey
Wilco ceremoniously closed the 10th annual Sasquatch Festival Monday evening after four days of one of the best line-ups we’ve seen so far for a 2011 music festival.
Jeff Tweedy and the band rocked through a two-hour set in front of a crowd of thousands of weary, chilly and wet Wilco fans who were nonetheless enthusiastic and visibly enjoying the final performance at the Gorge Ampitheatre in Quincy, Washington.
The celebrated Chicago alternative rock band (even though they covered so many genres over the years), and one of America’s finest musical exports of the past 15 years, Wilco was the final performance of a festival that is increasingly one of the top U.S. festivals along with the more recognized fests like Coachella, Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. Here are a couple of the original tracks the band played on Monday night, plus a full stream of Wilco’s entire set.
“A Shot In The Arm” – Wilco from Summerteeth (1998)
Hear Wilco’s entire Sasquatch set via NPR.
Note: Make sure to check back for more of our post Sasquatch coverage during the next couple of days.
Colin Meloy of The Decemberists performs Monday night at Sasquatch Festival in Washington state. Photo by James Bailey
Previous to Wilco, The Decemberists rocked and swooned the crowd with a set list featuring indie classics from their earlier folky maritime-themed albums to songs from their latest, and number one album, The King is Dead, which has clearly catapulted the band out of indie realm and into the world of mainstream rock. But labeling did not matter to the thousands of festival goers who were treated to an electrifying performance, starting off with the dramatic saga, “The Infanta.” After The Decemberists, catch some of Deerhunter‘s set on the Bigfoot stage.
“The Infanta” – The Decemberists from Picturesque (2005)
“June Hymn” – The Decemberists from The King is Dead (2011)
Surfer Blood were one of the big attractions on the Yeti stage on Monday during Sasquatch
Part of what made Sasquatch so amazing, and yet so challenging, was the fact that the line-up was smoking hot nearly all day and all of the night on each of the four stages. For example, prior to Deerhunter, the Bigfoot stage hosted performances on Monday from !!!, Surfer Blood, Black Mountain, Noah & The Whale, Twin Shadow, Givers and others.
“Druganaut” – Black Mountain from Black Mountain (2005)
“I Have Nothing”* – Noah and The Whale from The First Days of Spring (2009)
Note: As much as possible, we only use .mp3 links from record labels, publicists, box.net and blogs that make there own .mp3 links available to Hype Machine and other music services. If we have a song link to your own blog but you want us to remove it, please leave a comment and we’ll get it much faster than our email, which is spammed to kingdom come.
– Stream and download partial sets from Black Mountain, City and Colour and Foster The People.
Best Coast performed the last show on the Yeti stage for Sasquatch Fest on Monday. Photo via Line Out.
Meanwhile, on the Yeti stage Monday, festival goers were treated to sets from indie artists like Jaill, The Young Evils, White Denim, Foster The People, and Best Coast. The latter two bands drew good-sized crowds as the afternoon wore on. In and of itself, that line-up on just one rather small stage is a winner for any indie festival.
“Boyfriend” – Best Coast from Crazy For You (2010)
“The Stroller” – Jaill from That’s How We Burn (2010)
“Houdini” – Foster The People from Torches (2010)
Wavves lit up the Yeti stage on Monday to kick-off Day Four of Sasquatch. Photo from James Bailey
Earlier in the day, on the main stage, Sasquatch, a gigantic platform set far down the bottom of a hillside, and , there were awesome performances from Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (stream), Guided By Voices, Chromeo, Old 97s, Young The Giant, and Wavves (stream) kicked it off with the first show of the day on the Yeti stage at lunch time.
“Diablo Rojo” – Rodrigo Y Gabriela from Rodrigo Gabriela (2007)
“June Salutes You” – Guided By Voices from The Official Ironmen Rally EP (2006)
“King of the Beach” – Wavves from King of the Beach (2010)
If you are a fan of Guided By Voices, Major Lazer, Noah and the Whale, Old 97s and Rodrigo Y Gabriela you can stream via NPR to hear parts of their sets from Sasquatch on Monday.
Check back, and refresh this page, for further updates, plus, don’t miss our Sasquatch Festival reviews for Sunday, Saturday and Friday, featuring coverage of even more performances and songs from Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, Bright Eyes, Death Cab For Cutie, Tokyo Police Club, Beach House, J. Mascis, Yeasayer, Sleigh Bells, The Radio Dept , The Globes, The Head and The Heart, Local Natives, Sharon Van Etten, Wolf Parade, Wye Oak, The Antlers, Iron & Wine, The Thermals, Washed Out, and it simply goes on and on.
Spring is fretting, but we have indie rock spring songs for you. These are our original playlists for Vol. I and II of Indie Songs for Spring. Plz like if you do.
Fcked Up leads off this installment of Fresh Tracks with two new tracks from their upcoming release, David Comes to Life, the second part of a series about an imaginary town called David. OnRecord Store Day, Fcked Up released David’s Town, a compilation of fictional bands.
“The Other Shoe” – F*cked Up from David Comes To Life – out June 7th
“A Little Death” – Fuc*ed Up from David Comes to Life
Here’s a complete list of all 27 bands and artists with new MP3 singles in this installment of Fresh Tracks:
Fuc*ed Up
Here We Go Magic
Tape Deck Mountain
Motorboater
1,2,3
Thee Oh Sees
Crystal Antlers
Thurston Moore
Craig Wedren (with Conor Oberst and Janet Weiss)
YACHT
Okkervil River
Ledbellies
Country Mice
Eternal Summers
Ming Ming
John Lamanica
Fan Modine
Blithe Field
Ghostly Dust Machine
Virgin of the Birds
White Belt Yellow Tag
Pat Jordache
Other Lives
The Morning Birds
Buxter Hoot’n
Chilly Gonzalez
Seapony
Following F*cked Up, we just got in some new tracks from upcoming releases by Here We Go Magic and Art Brut. Even though they just released a very good LP a few months ago, next week HWGM will release The January EP, which features a collection of songs produced at the band’s upstate New York recording studio. These songs clearly demonstrate the band’s expanding talent, by now well known within the indie music realm, for creating a musical world with Luke Temples vocals soaring and spinning from track to track. Here We Go Magic are currently touring the U.S.
We just got this tour-only single from Tape Deck Mountain. The song, “Kellies,” will be limited to only 100 cassettes to be sold during TDM shows. On June 2, the band kicks off a multi-city tour with indie band, Woodsman. Plus, here’s a new track, “Left Limb” from Motorboater, from his upcoming debut due in June via The Record Machine.
“Kellies” – Tape Deck Mountain
“Left Limb” – Motorboater
Next up, are a couple of bands that we’re watching closely as they really start to rise in popularity. They are Pittsburgh duo 1,2,3 have sent out the lead single from their upcoming June 21st debut, New Heaven, and San Francisco indie psych-rock band Thee Oh Sees, a band that has been climbing up on the ladder of ‘indie’ recognition, if you will over the past year or so, will release their sophomore album, Castlemania, on May 17th. (Pre-order here)
“I Need Seed” – Thee Oh Sees from Castlemania – out June 14th
Note: You can click on the album titles to order or pre-order most of the tracks in today’s post mixtape. Plus, you’ll get 20 gigs of free (no hidden charges) of cloud space from Amazon.
We’re digging a brand new song, “Summer Solstice,” from Crystal Antlers upcoming new album, Two Way Mirror, set to drop on July 12th. The track, which is the first single from the LP, starts out with a few mellow synth keys and then breaks out into an earnest, melodic semi-rocker with an uplifting rhythm and horsed vocals only to quickly fade away and fizzle out much like it started.
Our criticism of the song is that it is much too short (right as we were getting into it, the track winds down). We really wanted them to exploit the opportunity of a song that had it going on, and set off on a blazing jam with high octane synth and guitar licks, but instead, as we said, a great song ended way to soon. The track comes to us by way of Consequence of Sound, which has a nice piece about the new album by Crystal Antlers.
“Summer Solstice” – Crystal Antlers from Two Way Mirror
“Benediction” is a fresh track from Sonic Youth founder Thurston Moore‘s up-coming solo album, Demolished Thoughts. Also, don’t miss Fresh Tracks from YACHT‘s upcoming album, Craig Wedren with Conor Oberst and Janet Weiss, plus, the lead single from Okkervil River‘s new LP, I Am Very Far, and new songs from Country Mice, Ledbellies, and Eternal Summers.
“Benediction” – Thurston Moore from Demolished Thoughts – out May 24th
“Are We” (featuring Conor Oberst and Janet Weiss)” – Craig Wedren from Are We single
“Dreaming” – Seapony from Go With Me – out May 31st
“Dystopia” – YACHT from Shangri-La – out June 21st
“Morning Son” – Country Mice from Twister – out June 7th
“Cog” – Eternal Summers from Prisoner
Ming Ming
Lefse Records just sent us this somewhat dark, and at times, chaotic, instrumental track from Ming Ming‘s upcoming album, set to be released on June 28th. Also, check out Art Brut‘s “Lost Weekend,” the first track from their May 23rd album release Brilliant Tragic! The lead track is as menacing as its title, “Eater Of The Dead.” Plus, check out a fresh track from singer/songwriter John Lamanica and a lead single from an upcoming releases by Fan Modine.
“Eater Of The Dead” – Ming Ming from TBA – June 28th
“Heartling” – John Lamanica from Volunteers
“Julu Road” – Fan Modine from Gratitude for The Shipper – May 24th
Blithe Field, Ghostly Dust Machine, Virgin of the Birds
Blithe Field is Spencer Radcliffe – a 19 year old producer from Ohio, specializing in messy sample based electronic music. A label promoter said his sound is “like if Gold Panda ditched Ableton to record outdoors on an old sampler that didn’t work at speeds above 120 bpm.”
We’re definitely digging this first track, “Crushing” from Blithe Field’s debut album, Two Hearted, due out June 28th.
“Crushing” – Blithe Field from Two Hearted
Bad Panda Records just sent in two new tracks – one from the classy down-tempo of the Ghostly Dust Machine project, inspired by Canadians J. Dilla, Nujabes and D.J. Krush, plus, a new track from Virgin of the Birds that has a 1960’s vibe that straddles between lo-fi folk and the occasional grandeur of early art rock.
White Belt Yellow Tag, who are gearing up for their May 21st U.S. EP release, You’re Not Invincible, won critical acclaim in the U.K. last year for their debut album featuring unashamedly big, anthemic, booming pop tunes mixed with their own brand of distorted, fuzzy rock. The band are often compared to The Doves. The NME proclaimed White Belt Yellow Tag possess “the artistic solemnity of Elbow or Doves” and The Fly said “they are confident, moody, atmospheric and armed with glacial, killer tunes.”
“146 Ways To” – White Belt Yellow Tag from You’re Not Invincible – May 21st
The group is now performing in China, an inspiring tale of western music traveling across the barriers of music and culture, similar to the story of western rock breaking through the Iron Curtain of Soviet Russia in the early 1970’s.
From the rising band, Tuneyards, founding member Pat Jordache has recorded a new album, Future Songs, that was just released two weeks ago. Here’s the lead single, “Phantom Limb,” which we already think might end up on one of our Halloween Mixtapes in just less than six months from now.
“Phantom Limb” – Pat Jordache (Tuneyards) from Future Songs – April 26th
Plus, Oklahoma indie band Other Lives have presented a marvelously introspective, somewhat melancholy single that has been part of our in-cafe mixtape for the past few days. The song is the title track from Other Lives’ upcoming LP, Tamer Animals, set to officially drop on May 17th. The LP will be the band’s sophomore album on TBD Records, which released Other Lives’ official, self-titled debut in 2009. Check out an instrumental track from The Morning Birds that includes thunderclaps as percussion and the chant-sounding vocals of Thorington and Samuel Markus.
“For 12″ – Other Lives from Tamer Animals
“Quickening” – The Morning Birds
Buxter Hoot’n is an unsigned indie “roots rock” band from San Francisco, California. Buxter Hoot’n will release their third, self-titled album at the end of the month, and we have the lead single from it. The album displays the band’s “Americana roots, Rolling Stones’ swagger, pop sensibilities and honest lyricism,” according to their publicist.
Over the past five years, the band have opened for Jackie Green, Los Lobos, Builders and the Butchers, The Stone Foxes, The Devil Makes Three, and many others, and include among their top musical influences Bob Dylan and Allman Brothers. Their sophomore album, In Another Life, debuted as the #5 most added album for the Americana Music Association in September and has remained on their charts every week since.
“Blue Night” – Buxter Hoot’n
Claiming to be the world’s first orchestrated rap record (hmmm, oil and water?), Chilly Gonzalez is prepping to release The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzalez on June 7th. Without going into more details, the following track features a medley of ‘songs’ from the album. The main reason we are featuring this is to see what people’s reaction is to this experimentation. We are fence-sitting, but if we were to pick one of the most daring and bizarre albums of the year, this would be up in the top of the list. Maybe we’ll do that – a playlist mix of the weirdest albums of 2011.
“The Unspeakable Medley” – Chilly Gonzalez from The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzalez
Last week IRC presented the first springtime mix for 2011 (see 2010 and 2009) as part of the weekly Sunday 25 Mix. As we indicated then, there will be at least one, perhaps, two more springtime mixes, in addition to today’s mix, before it’s time to unleash a new set of summer-themed playlist mixes.
We doubt though that there will be 14 installments of summertime mixes this year like we put together in 2010. IRC’s Songs of Summer mixtape series, from everything we can see, is the largest, and most extensive, accessible collection of on the web. We will have new summer mixtapes for 2011 coming soon, but in the meantime, you can access, and download, hundreds of songs from the 2010, and 2009, mixtapes.
So, since last week’s springtime mix was sprung, it has received over 3,000 views, plus however many via the podcasts and RSS feeds, not to mention the various affiliate websites that publish IRC mixtapes on a daily and weekly basis. Because it’s Mothers’ Day (love you Mom!), so it only made sense to dedicate part of this playlist mix to songs about Moms, including tracks from The Beatles, Sufjan Stevens, The Kinks, and a cover track of Paul Simon‘s “Mother and Child Reunion” by The Morning Benders. We went a bit over the supposed 25 (for Sunday 25 Mix concept) tracks, but, we think it’s worth it.
And of course, we have some great spring-time songs in today’s mix as well from Fleet Foxes, Beirut, Annuals, Midlake, The Flaming Lips and Akron/Family. Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful Moms around the world.
* The Kinks‘ “Mindless Child Of Motherhood” was the B-side to The Kinks’ hit record, “Lola.” We also included another “mother” song from The Kinks, titled “Some Mothers Son,” which is applicable, alas, for too many mothers in the United States over the past decade. Listen to the lyrics of Ray Davies, which are, like most of this brilliant compositions, heartfelt and profound.
So, on this day, we also think of all of the mothers, who have lost sons, and daughters, in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as all of the mothers in Iraq and Afghanistan, where so many have lost children who too often were in the wrong place at the wrong time when either U.S. or terrorist bombings took place. A mother’s love is a universal truth throughout every culture, every country, and every form of life on Earth, and every era of history.
As we disclosed earlier this year, we got behind on the In Dee Musicseries for one simple reason – the number of submissions coming in has nearly tripled in the past 16 months, which almost perfectly coincides with the rise in overall monthly visitors during the same time period. IRC is receiving up to 400 submissions a month, and we’re backlogged.
So, here we are playing catch up, and for very good reasons. We have received a practical treasure chest of good to absolutely fantastic music to share with you from bands and artists most of you have never heard of before. Although it is tempting to just bite the bullet and scrap the backlog, that would be a disservice to our readers, the artists who sent in their music, and ultimately, to ourselves. The music that is coming in dee mail is, again, simply that good, and we think that not to share it would be just wrong all around.
Rather than using the rather non-descript, but ‘creative’ post title, In Dee Mail, we decided to make it more luring by creating a title that creates an immediate connection to readers, listeners and visitors. If you love hearing new music from talented artists you are unfamiliar with, we think we have a treat just for you today.
In this special edition of In Dee Mail – 7 Bands You Should Hear – we’ve put together profiles with music of seven bands that stood out for one reason or another among hundreds of music submissions. To some degree, some of these bands, perhaps all of them, could be Bands to Watch, but we want to make the distinction that they are known to us only because they sent us their music.
El Santo Nada is a collective of musicians from Pescara, Italy which forged an eclectic identity through their exploration of Ennio Morricone‘s spaghetti western soundtracks, Mexican traditional music, instrumental and surf rock of the late ’50s and early ’60s, italian and balcanic popular music as well as British psychedelia and contemporary alternative rock.
In addition, they blend styles of sci-fi sound effects with instrumental guitar, bass and drum work that by themselves would be great for the soundtrack of a Quentin Tarantino flick with the flavor of Ennio Morricone and spaghetti westerns. Anyone who knows well the award-winning work of Tarantino as a director, and Morricone as a composer, will be able to easily hear the musical styles that appear in many of Taratino’s films, most especially Kill Bill.
The collective have opened for artists such as Damo Suzuki, Gang Of Four, and Stan Ridgway, to name just a few. He lists among his biggest influences Ennio Morricone, Santo &Johnny, Ry Cooder, Marc Ribot, Calexico, Earth, and Wall Of Voodoo. The released the album Tuco in December. We will keep an eye and ear out for more of El Santo Nada.
The Golden Dogs – Toronto, Canada
Toronto indie pop band, and Nevado recording artist, The Golden Dogs, caught our attention right away after sending in these two terrific singles – “Cheap Umbrellas,” followed by a second single, “Darkroom.” Both songs are off their most recent album Coat of Arms and were sent to IRC unsolicited.
It wasn’t much of a surprise when we found out that The Golden Dogs have opened for an impressive list of bands, to say the least, including Feist, Sloan Zeus, Bloc Party, Razorlight, Thurston Moore, Roky Erikson, and The Libertines. You know how many bands out there would kill to open for just one of those big-hitters? Thousands.
The band have been praised in The New York Times, Q Magazine, various Toronto weeklies and a number of blogs like Pop Matters. But, they haven’t really “broken out” yet in the U.S. in the big way that they deserve to. So, we’re going to do our best to help that along.
The Golden Dogs’ musical influences range from alternative and indie rock – Radiohead, Ween, Wilco, New Pornographers – to classic rock giants like The Beatles, The Kinks and Neil Young.
We’re really interested to hear if you knew of The Golden Dogs before, or if this is your first time, what you think. Oddly, the band has been around for 10 years – a bit surprised they’re not well-known. First up, is the Spoon-sounding rocker, “Darkroom,” a song that we’ve played over and over again in recent weeks. And, of course, the fascinating tack, “Cheap Umbrellas,” helps make the case further as this being a band to watch in 2011 and beyond.
In Their Own Words: “We have a great live band made up of our dearest friends who are insanely talented musicians and incredibly impressive to watch. We’re sort of known in Canada for our wild live performances.”
Rec Centre – Vancouver, Canada
Rec Centre is the moniker of Eh Jay, a ‘bedroom musician’ from Vancouver. We’re opting to let Jay tell the story of Rec Centre himself: “I had been playing folk music in my bedroom for years, and got tired of writing cutesy acoustic music that sounded nothing like the music I listened to. So I start programming electronic beats, ditched my acoustic guitar for an electric, and used a vintage Casiotone that my friend found in a Salvation Army.
“I recorded on my computer and made everything loud. I was aiming to make a C-86-sounding indie pop record, but I think the results probably sound closer to ’90s slacker rock. I’ve been working with a keyboardist and a drummer to turn Rec Centre into a real band, but up until now it’s just been a solo project.” Long Weekend! is a free EP, and Eh Jay is apparently working on new material now.
Rec Centre include among musical influences of The Velvet Underground, Jesus and Mary Chain, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, early Weezer, Apollo Ghosts, Little Girls, Black Tambourine, the Cure, and Pavement.
Austin based psychedelic rock/southern indie rock band Smoke and Feathers sent in a couple of very good tracks from their recent self-titled, debut album. We were floored. This band rocks! Sorry for the cliche, but it’s so applicable, both in the actual music itself, and in the way to describe the band to others.
Therefore, it’s no surprise that Smoke and Feathers are gaining ground in the local Austin alternative rock scene, which says much when you consider that great bands are a dime a dozen in one of the musical capitals of the world. So, to standout in Austin, is a huge deal for any band.
And it brings along with it many opportunities. Aside from the annual SXSW music fest, and Austin City Limits, not to mention an array of other music festival and events in the city, rising bands in Austin often get a chance to open for some well-known, international artists. Smoke and Feathers have ceased those opportunities, opening for bands like The Black Angels, The Whigs, Sleepy Sun, Dead Meadow, Alberta Cross, Indian Jewelry, and The Entrance Band.
In Their Own Words: “Smoke and Feathers takes you carelessly away on heavy guitar rifts to a place in your psyche, where the angel and devil inside argue; soulful human drama, eerie, compelling wizardy, desire, temptation – nothing close to innocent, but perfectly and beautifully balanced contradictions.”
On “Blue Skies,” we dig the lo-fi guitar punk sound that’s going on, and on “Wicked Ways,” the track has an appropriately southern rock style with a bit of swagger and some definite Led Zeppelin influences. We recommend Smoke and Feathers if you like bands such as Cage The Elephant, Wolfmother, and Them Crooked Vultures.
The Wind – Long Beach, California
What is this? Another promising DIY band that almost no one has ever heard of? Yes, it does look that way. And it’s no surprise that they, who call themselves The Wind, are based by the oceanside in Long Beach, California. It’s also fitting that their most promising single, “Hathor,” sounds like a spring or summertime song.
The second track, “Monsters,” isn’t as menacing as the title suggests; instead, it’s a kind of day-dreamy type of mellowed out track flushed with globs of Beach Boys-style harmonies, and interludes of background voices and slow-hand mini-guitar solos. The Wind have opened for awesome bands like Delta Spirit, Local Natives, Dawes, and Cold War Kids and include among their major influences – and not surprisingly – The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Band, Grizzly Bear, Radiohead, Danny Elfman, The Kinks, and Cat Stevens. Their debut double CD, Harum Scarum, was released in November of 2010.
Boogie Monster – Vancouver, Canada
Calling all head bangers and noise rock lovers; the Boogie Monster is real, frantic, and loud. At least in Vancouver.
Woven in between the searing guitar riffs, floor-thumping bass, dynamo drum explosions, and lack of vocals (instrumental only band), there are tiny hints of classical music that jump out as if from behind corners and trees as the song plows forward through your mind and body.
From the first few seconds of “Lost in Bollywood,” Boogie Monster comes at you with an all-out blitz and barrage of metal, rock, and experimental sounds that are heavily charged, aggressive, and immensely noisy – great stuff; let it rip.
We also dig, “Castle In The Clouds,” a more tamed outburst, and like all of the band’s songs, completely instrumental.
Like bands such as The White Stripes, The Raveonettes and Japandroids, this Canadian duo consists of just a guitarist, Ben Fussel, and drummer, Tony Dallas (of the SSRI’s, Supercassete and “at least five other bands”).
They tear out tornado riffs inspired by many disparate artists (At The Drive-In, Rage Against The Machine, Lightning Bolt) and many different styles (from “metalic bhangra” to “proggy celtic jigs”).
Me and Joan Collins – Cambridge, Massachusetts
This Cambridge, Massachusettes band does get some attention with its alluring name – Me and Joan Collins. But gimmickry is not the measure of a good band (although some have done well at it, and not much else, for whatever reasons). Full of 60’s-pop-by-way-of-80’s-college-rock hooks, Me and Joan Collins exhibit a love for prickly post-punk, glam rock riffing, and shoegazing grandeur, and have been compared to groups likes Spoon, Pulp and Of Montreal. And on top of all of that, we have yet another boy/girl rock duo.
As evidenced by the first single here, “Crime of the Century,” the band has a quirky rocking attitude reminiscent in a way to the B-52s or Southern Culture on the Skids. And yet the song is addictive, in a kind of half-cool, half-geek way; it’s hard to explain (obviously – lol). The second track also has a gimmick-like aspect to it, but also does well in standing on its own merits. Every teenager can probably relate to any song with the title, “(I Masturbate) A Little Too Much.”
Me and Joan Collins has opened for The Cliks and Bettie Serveert, and include among their influences Bowie, T. Rex, Velvet Underground, Phil Spector, Blondie, Pulp, Spoon and the Zombies.
It’s spring, and time for the Sounds of Spring mixtape for this week’s Sunday 25 Mix. We spent some time picking the songs for this mix that consists of mostly indie, but some classic rock, music as well. There are a fair amount of tracks that are all or mostly instrumental, including songs from Animal Collective, Atlas Sound, Fireflies, Afternoon Naps, and No Gold.
Other tracks are from artists new to us, including Fireflies, J. Irvin Dally and Therapies Son, and a few songs that don’t have a title that connotes springtime, but a sound that does – at least to us; for example “Mighty” by Lord Huron – it just has that great sunny spring afternoon feel to it.
Another example is the track “Coconino” from Ennui. While it is a region of the Grand Canyon in geographical terms, a county of Arizona in government terms, the Astronomical Society considers “coconino” as “the fruit of the coconut palm, consisting of a thick fibrous oval husk.”
And yet another example of a song that doesn’t represent spring by it’s title, but does with its music and lyrics is Animal Collective‘s track, “De Soto De Son,” from the album Campfire Songs. We’ve also included great songs from The Decemberists, Kaiser Chiefs, Modest Mouse, Jesus and the Mary Chain, Annuals, Frederik, The Vandelles, Pandit and many others.
And so we celebrate spring with this first part of a two or three part mixtape series of The Sounds of Spring, which will run concurrently as the weekly Sunday-25 Mix for the next couple to few weeks. Plus, you might want to listen to our other springtime mixes from past years before or after you listen to this one. We checked the older springtime mix posts and all of the MP3s are working, so enjoy – Songs of Spring Vol. I; Songs of Spring Vol. II; Songs of Spring – Celebrate The Days; Songs of Spring, Vol. II, and More Song of Spring.
You might also notice an old demo track (circa 1966) from The Kinks called “A Little Bit of Sunlight,” a song that was never officially released by the band. And this is definitely a demo, as you’ll notice from the lack of instrument fills and mastering. Also, check out Kaiser Chiefs‘ cover of The Move‘s 1967 hit single, “Flowers In The Rain,” which itself has a very interesting history, not to mention that the original was the first song played on the BBC‘s famous Radio One broadcast that launched in 1967. We hope you enjoy this mix as much as we have putting it together, and listening to it again and again.
Spring is about sunshine and rain showers, outdoor recreation and vibrant flowers, warmer and longer days, the budding of trees and shrubs, and some nights that can still be a bit cold. Springtime for many parts of the country, is the break between the brutal and unforgiving winter (for the northern central and eastern regions at least), and the oppressive heat and humidity that many areas of the country don’t necessarily look forward to each summer.
Spring, not surprisingly, is a favorite season for many people, and has some interesting similarities, yet stark differences, from her older brother, autumn, a time when there is relief from the hot, searing days of summer. But fall is also the predecessor of winter, the season of the year most people, even those in warmer climates – like the south and the west – dread. Exceptions are made by a few avid winter sports enthusiasts, and some folks who strangely love the winter, and we don’t mean because of Christmas. Winter nowadays, for many Americans, means ridiculously high gas and oil prices that is strangling many already stretched budgets.
But spring. Ahhh, spring. It remains the most glorious time of year, it is often all too brief, a time when when life is new, things start fresh again, the air is crisp and clear, the sunshine is warm, and not yet vicious; springtime is renewal, the season of the poet, the artist and the love maker.
A few months ago we launched a new weekly playlist series called The Sunday 25 Mix, aka, S-25. The idea behind the playlist mix is to choose 25 songs we love that are not necessarily “indie,” thereby giving us the chance to share music from any era and genre of music, including, but not limited to, classic rock, pop, new wave, psychedelic rock, punk, post punk, folk, jazz, blues, hiphop, and so on. Many of the S-25 mixes (dig the archives and find music jems) also included a spotlight band, and in the future, many others will. If you’re a regular listener/reader of IRC, you’ve probably already streamed some of the S-25 mixes, such as the special mix, or the Love Songs We Love, and Winter Songsmixes.
The first few S-25 mixes were randomized, and well-received. Yet, in subsequent weeks, we found that our regular visitors were showing even more interest for songs in a playlist mix that share a common characteristic or theme – whether implied or direct. Therefore, the weekly S-25 mixes from here on out will have specific subject matter that is reflected (often, not always) in the song title of every track in the playlist. A couple of good examples would be one of the most popular S-25 mixes so far this year, the Egyptian Revolution mix. For that mix, the songs were not directly related to each other, but when put together, tell a bigger story.
The other type of S-25 mix is much more targeted and granular when it comes to the theme or the subject matter, and it requires that whatever the subject matter is – from something completely mundane to something gripping – each song title in the mix must share the same highlighted word. This week’s S-25 theme is the color red. It’s always fun to put together playlist mixes, but the best part is sharing them with other hundreds of thousands of other people across the globe.
In the meantime, enjoy these 25 – plus some extras for good measure – songs that have ‘red’ in the song title, ranging from UB40 and The Decemberists to Jimi Hendrix and Nick Cave. The live version of “Red House” is a bootleg from the old Winterland Theatre in Palo Alto (today ijust another piece of evidence, even 40 years later, of why Hendrix is considered one of the – if not the – best electric guitarists ever. Let’s kick off this mix with one of our favorite songs from one of our favorite albums by one of our favorite bands of 2008, “Red and Purple” by The Dodos.
You may notice some other common themes in this playlist mix other than the fact that all of the song titles have the word ‘red’ in them; notice the number of songs about ‘red ankles’ and ‘red hands,’ plus ‘red rain’ and ‘red wine’.
Note: You can click on the artist/band name to see another post playlist and click on the album title to purchase the entire album directly from Amazon on a secured server. Often times, Amazon’s prices are lower than iTunes, and each time you make a purchase using our link, we get a small referral fee which doesn’t amount to much, but helps pay our server costs.
Originally, we were going to post a list of songs with any color in the song title. The problem is that there are so many great songs with a color in the title that we needed to get even more granular and simply pick a color. The choice of going with a specific color – in this case, red – is not meantto be symbolic at all for anything other than the fact that it is one of many naturally occurring colors; red is found deep in the oceans, in the veins that travel throughout of our bodies, across the great expanse of the universe, and in countless other forms, shades and designs, from rocks and flowers to feathers and fruits.
We scoured our music collections to gather up, filter out, and post 25 great songs containing the word ‘red’ in the song title. We realize the whole idea might be a little corny to the oh-so-serious among you, but come on, man, we’re just trying to make sharing great music just a little more playful and interesting. Afterall, it’s Sunday.
Among our personal music playlists – which have been under development for years – are many different categories and themes; dozens upon dozens of intriguing playlists, spanning the gamut of themes, ranging from Songs About The Moon, Songs About New York City, and Songs For Moms, to genre-based playlists, like dream-pop, garage rock, Americana and post punk, to name a few. As we’ve done in the past, more of these mixes will be posted in the ensuing months, including the weekly S-25 Mix. Of the many playlist categories in our iTunes is one of our favorites themes: ‘Songs About Colors’ which contain literally hundreds of great songs with at least one color in the song title. Still sounds corny? That’s cool, we totally get it, but hopefully you’ll enjoy this mix even if you think it’s corny.
“Red Right Hand” – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds from Let Love In (1994) – special: only $5.99 on AMZ Cover Version: “Red Right Hand” – Arctic Monkeys* from Cryin’ Lightning
“Red Berries” – Angus & Julia Stone from Hollywood (2008)
Don’t miss new songs, videos, news, contests and giveaways, plus other cool stuff and links that we often post only via our Twitter and Facebook accounts – it’s a way to stay in touch with what’s happening on a hourly and daily basis.
“Red House” (Live) – Jimi Hendrix from Live at Winterland (1971)
“Red Red Wine” – The Russian Futurists from The Method of Modern Love (2010)
“Red” – Miles Davis from Aura (1985)
“Red Sky” – Please The Trees from Please The Trees (2009)
Lastly, we need your help. We want you guys to pick the songs for the next S-25 Mix using the Comments box below. The theme will be cars. Do you have one or more songs about cars that you really dig? Remember, for this mix series, your song suggestions are not restricted to the indie genre – whatever that means to you.
On Saturday, the world finally got their hands on the highly anticipated, MP3-only album, The King of Limbs, from rock gods Radiohead. The King of Limbs is the long awaited follow-up LP to the band’s brilliant 2008 release, In Rainbows. With the release of the latter, Radiohead snuffed the corporate record label EMI by offering In Rainbows to fans for whatever fans wanted to pay. It was the shot heard around the recording industry. And fans reinforced Radiohead’s anti-corporate stance by purchasing hundreds of thousands of copies of In Rainbows in the first couple of months of its release.
This time around, Radiohead has made The King of Limbs available only from their own website, and no where else, yet without the name-your-price option, instead setting the price of the MP3 album at $9. What In Rainbows did in as as far empowering bands and their fans to connect directly with one another, we think The King of Limbs will do for elevating and building on that dynamic relationship. Just from a musical perspective, The King of Limbs is already receiving high praise from critics and fans alike.
The lead up to the release of The King of Limbs was insignificant compared to the massive million-dollar marketing campaigns that surround artists who have a fraction of the talent that the four members of Radiohead possess. It was apparent the band did not want a big fuss to be made around the release of the album. To that point, the release date for The King of Limbs was only announced on Valentine’s Day, five days before it’s official release. There was no advance single or NPR album stream. As with millions of other fans, we had been eagerly awaiting the web-only release of The King of Limbs all week, almost like little kids counting down the days to Christmas morning. But in fact, some savvy Radiohead heads discovered the band actually made the album available sometime on Friday.
And there they were – all eight fresh tracks from Radiohead sitting in our iTunes, waiting to be played. For whatever reason, Radiohead’s albums have the distinction of sounding better over time – like a fine, fruity wine. That said, it took only a few seconds of the first song to recognize the quintessential and intricate sound of one of the most beloved modern rock bands on earth. And, in a rush to put words to what we were hearing, we pretty much messed up our first hurried attempt to present an off-the-cuff, and somewhat intelligent, review of the album. We should have known better – Radiohead’s albums are way to layered and complex to summarize after just a couple of hours of listening.
Radiohead – Little By Little
It takes many, many spins over a number of months, even years, to begin to formulate a sensible review, but, not because their music is necessarily cryptic, but in fact because it is so magnificently arranged and recorded by each member of the band. Radiohead is so ahead of the rest of the music paradigm – and has been for years – that fans, writers and musicians are still studying (and copying) the band’s previous album when a new one drops. Just who do you expect to be at the top of the best albums of 2011 lists in nine or so months from now?
The first track here is Thom Yorke performing “Lotus Flower” during a solo acoustic show in Los Angeles in January of 2010.
“Lotus Flower” (Live 1/24/10) – Radiohead from The King of Limbs
The Strokes Build Anticipation for New LP with a Killer Single
Last week, New York‘s quintessential garage rock band, The Strokes, released the first track from their much anticipated new LP, Angles, due out March 22nd. The track, “Under The Cover of Darkness,” does not disappoint; it’s electrifying guitar rock just as we expect (and hope for) from The Strokes, backed by a catchy, shuffling rhythm, and a superbly addicting chorus. We realize that many of you have either heard the track or purchased it; but, we’re including it anyways for those who have yet to hear this awesome track.
Above is the official cover for Angles. We are seriously jonesing to hear the rest of the album. Hopefully, it will be released in a couple of weeks as an album stream on Spinner, NPR or even The Strokes’ website. Pre-order Angles from Amazon for only $11.94.
You may also want to check out the The S-25 Songs Mix in which The Strokes were the featured band.
Also, here’s behind-the-scenes footage of the band (minus Julian Casablancas for some reason) during recording of Angles. Why is the director whispering?
The New York rock band have also announced that a new, non-album single, “You’re So Right,” will be released as an exclusive Record Store Day vinyl edition on April 16th. The track will also be featured as the official B-Side to “Under Cover of Darkness,” which drops officially as a 7-inch single on March 1st.
Opus Orange Gives IRC Exclusive New Track
If you’ve been a regular reader of IRC for the past year or so, you may be familiar with the music of successful Los Angeles music composer Paul Bessenbacher, aka Opus Orange. In 2009, we were the first indie website to premiere the music of Opus Orange after hearing one of his songs on a Johnsonville Sausage commercial. Since then, our love for Opus Orange has only grown with each new release, and all seven OO songs we’ve published during the past 18 months have been big hits with our readers and visitors.
So, it’s with great excitement that we premiere a brand new, unreleased single from Opus Orange titled “Crystal Clear.” Let us know what you think. We call it ‘deliciously upbeat indie pop,’ perhaps OO’s best single yet.
“Crystal Clear” – Opus Orange, single 2011 – IRC Exclusive
We’ve been digging this spanking new track from The Raveonettes, complete with a percussion heavy, lo-fi indie rock romp that makes the track as exciting as the anticipation of the duo’s upcoming fifth album, Raven in the Grave, set to drop on April 5th. Pre-order here.
“Forget That You’re Young” – The Raveonettes from Raven in the Grave
Okkervil River’s Rondevu With “Mermaid”
Pitchfork premiered the new Okkervil River single, “Mermaid” last week, the first single from the popular indie band’s upcoming album, I Am Very Far. We have yet to hear any news of an Okkervil River tour to the support the May 10th release of the band’s newest album. One show is scheduled for June 7th at New York’s Terminal 5.
“Mermaid” – Okkervil River from I Am Very Far – out May 10th
The Submarines Come to the Surface with New Track
Every since one of their songs was included on a popular and frequently viewed commercial touting the new iPhone in 2008, The Submarines have built a fan following across the States and Europe. The Submarines are currently putting the final touches on their latest album, Love Notes/Letter Bombs. We’d love to know what you guys think of this advanced track, “Birds.” Pre-order the album on Amazon.
“Birds” – The Submarines from Love Notes/Letter Bombs
Popular Indie Film You Won’t Miss Me with Indie Soundtrack
On May 17th, the critically praised indie film, You Won’t Miss Me, will be available on DVD via Factory 25. The film, an official selection at Sundance and SXSW, and a Gotham Award Winner, is a kaleidoscopic film portrait of Shelly Brown, a 23- year-old alienated urban misfit recently released from a psychiatric hospital. Starring Stella Schnabel, featuring Rene Ricard, and introducing other notable New York personalities, the film gives pathos to the frenzy of the youthful desire for acceptance.
Ronnie Scheib of Variety wrote about the film: ” This powerful, iconoclastic pic could gain a cult following,” and Nick Pinkerton of Village Voice, said the film “has a pure, 180-proof burn.”
The film’s theatrical run began in New York City in December 2010, followed by a substantial national tour. The soundtrack contains original songs by Stylofone, a band featuring members of Amazing Baby, MGMT and Standing Nudes. The following song is one of the tracks from the soundtrack.
Julian Lynch, the respected and rising one-man band from Ridgewood, New Jersey, has completed recording for his third album, Terra, slated to drop on April 24th. Growing up in Ridgewood, Lynch learned to play clarinet and guitar, and in high school, he performed in bands alongside future members of Real Estate, Titus Andronicus, and Family Portrait. He moved to Madison, Wisconsin in the fall of 2008 to begin a master’s program in Ethnomusicology.
“Terra” – Julian Lynch from Terra – out April 24th
Lovett Releases New Single from 2011 Release
Lovett has composed and scored a variety of independent films including The Signal which premiered at Sundance in 2007 and received the award for Best Score at the 2009 Brooklyn International Film Festival for the song, “The Last Lullaby.”
With an extensive background in film music, Lovett’s own original songs naturally possess the same kind of lush, visual translation as his previous artistry. “Eye Of The Storm” is the first of a thunderous series of nine cinematic music videos – one for each track on Lovett’s debut album Highway Collection, set for release on March 15th.
Directed by Chris Alender of Soapbox Films, the video is more accurately described as a short film, one transporting viewers into a richly detailed steam punk world where a lone skycaptain pilots an airship through the celestial heart of a raging storm.
“The Fear” – Ben Lovett from Highway Collection
Edward Sharpe Member Alexander Ebert Sets Solo Debut
Alexander Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros will release his self-titled solo debut LP on March 1st. Also check out a fresh track from singer/songwriter James Vincent McMorrow‘s widely praised debut album, Early in the Morning.
“Truth” – Alexander Ebert from Alexander Ebert – out March 1st
“If I Had A Boat” – James Vincent Mcmorrow
Nodzzz Return with Their Sophomore LP
The San Francisco garage rock, poppy post punk band Nodzzz spent much of 2010 writing and recording the songs for their upcoming release, Innings. The band will tour the West Coast of the U.S. in late February, and during March in the U.K. The album is expected to be released early this coming summer.
“Time (What’s It Going to Do?)” – Nodzzz fromInnings
New 2011 songs are coming at us from all directions, and we’ve been filtering them out so that we can bring you only the best (well, our favorite new tracks is more accurate). Anyways, here are some awesome fresh tracks from Fleet Foxes, Beach Fossils, The Kills, Real Estate, Toro Y Moi, Holy Ghost, and others. The next Fresh Tracks mix that we’re going to publish on Saturday includes new material from R.E.M., Toro Y Moi, White Lies, Lovett, and The Luyas, to name a few.
From the first few seconds of the new single, “Helplessness Blues”, from indie folk icons, Fleet Foxes, all of the immense love and high praise we’ve always had for the band came rushing back with true enthusiasm and adoration. This is the first new single from Fleet Foxes since 2009, and it’s safe to assume that it will be on the next LP. In fact, the album (or just song?) cover art shown above is from the band, so it’s safe to assume that is the new album’s cover art and title, Helplessness Blues. Still trying to confirm this. Although we usually do not publish SoundCloud embeds (they often cause pages to slow down), when they’re all we can get our hands on from an anticipated release, then we’ll definitely include them in posts – but as a general rule we stick to MP3s because they work with the neat little Yahoo Media player, and via RSS and podcasts.
“Helplessness Blues” – Fleet Foxes from TBA – released date: TBA
P.S. – If you missed any of the Best New Releases from January, they’re still available for you to stream or download, including January 26th new releases – featuring, The Radio Dept., Woodsman, Cloud Nothings, Iron & Wine, Gang of Four, Deerhoof, Destroyer, The Veils, Grouplove.
Beach Fossils Follow-up Hit Debut with New EP
After publishing one of the best debut albums of 2010, and perhaps one of the best of the century (so far), Brooklyn‘s lo-fi popsters, Beach Fossils, have just released a new singles from their new EP, What a Pleasure, slated to drop February 22nd. We have two of the songs here.
“Calyer” – Beach Fossils from What A Pleasure – out Feb. 22nd
The Strokes Prepping First LP in Years
One of our favorite rock bands of all time, The Strokes, have set March 22nd as the release date for Angles. Here is a clip of the song “Under Cover of Darkness” (demo). While it is only a clip, any clip from a new Strokes’ tune is gratefully received.
In a couple of months, the legendary New York garage rock band will headline at Coachella to a sold out in hours mass of humanity. If that appearance is anything like The Strokes amazing performance last summer in San Francisco‘s Golden Gate Park during Outside Lands festival, then loyal fans and newbies are in for a truly remarkable experience. Angles will be the band’s first album since 2006’s First Impressions Of Earth.
Over the years, The Dodos have been high on our lists for their experimental pop songs that are not easily forgotten. After two wildly popular idnie albums – Visiter (2008) and Time To Die (2009) – it was great news when we got this new track from The Dodos over the weekend. The track, ironically titled, “Black Night,” starts with a heavy romp of a bass drum, almost like Iron Man stomping down a street.
Seconds into the song, the acoustic guitars build up a nice, hazy melody, followed with splashes of hoots, reverb-heavy harmonies, and buzzy synth injections. If this song is indicative of the rest of the album, we’re officially begging the band and their label to release an album stream ASAP. “Black Night” is the first single from their upcoming third LP, No Color.
“Black Night” – The Dodos fromNo Color (Bonus Version) – out March 15th
The Kills’ New EP Doesn’t Sound Like TWS
On April 5th, bluesy garage rock duo The Kills will drop their new album, Blood Pressures, on Domino Records. Although the two members that make up The Kills, American Alison Mosshart and British guitarist Jim Hince (“Hotel”). The first single from Blood Pressures, “Satellite”, will be officially released on March 28th.
Notice that we didn’t compare The Kills to The White Stripes – apparently, the former detest the media’s persistent comparisons with The White Stripes. But isn’t there good reason to? Afterall, they’re a male and female garage rock duo who have even recorded in the same studio as the Stripes. Most rockers would love being compared to TWS.
One-third Animal Collective, and 100% Panda Bear, aka, Noah Lennox, and his record company, Paw Tracks, have moved up the release date for the long awaited Tomboy to April 12th. Looking forward to it. As for the album cover, we hope it’s not going to be the one example above that is being passed around as the official cover. There’s got to be a better album cover than that, just like there’s got to be a better sounding band to play the Super Bowl than Black Eyed Peas.
“Slow Motion” – Panda Bear from Tomboy – April 12th
Here’s the full track listing:
Track list:
01 You Can Count on Me
02 Tomboy
03 “Slow Motion”
04 Surfer’s Hymn
05 Last Night at The Jetty
06 Drone
07 Alsatian Darn
08 Scheherezade
09 Friendship Bracelet
10 Afterburner
11 Benfica
Times New Viking’s Anticipated New LP Out in April
It was no surprise to us when Matador Records – one of the best alt rock labels ever – signed Times New Viking to their impressive roster. The band were legitimized for eternity when they toured with Pavement, and Guided By Voices, the latter of which is still on-going. TNV’s newest single, “No Room to Live,” is being sold as a limited 7-inch record at shows on their current tour. Here’s a demo of the track.
“No Room to Live” – Times New Viking from Dancer Equired – out April 26th
Real Estate Drops a Demo We Can Dig
During the last quarter of 2009, and the first half of 2010, the New Jersey indie band Real Estate were buzzing with plenty of blogger love and media praise. But the band seemed to fade into the background in the latter half of 2010, mostly because there were just so many other great acts emerging. Nevertheless, we are happy to have a new and likable track from the band ahead of their upcoming EP.
“Blue Lebaron” – Real Estate – date TBA
Holy Ghost Prep Debut LP for April
Holy Ghost are not yet as popular as we think they deserve to be. But we’re confident 2011 is going to be their year. The track, “Do It Again,” demonstrates why the duo are building a loud buzz on indie blogs and music sites. For their self-titled debut, due out April 12th, Holy Ghost scored guest vocals from Luke Jenner (Rapture), Chris Glover (Penguin Prison), and Michael McDonald; the Michael McDonald of The Doobie Brothers.
“Do It Again” – Holy Ghost from Holy Ghost
Cold Cave’s New Single Signals Industrial Rock Heyday
Wesley Eisold, better known in the indie world as Cold Cave, has a blistering, epic new single that’s throttling on high aggression mixed with electro pop backing. The song, “The Great Pan Is Dead” may remind some indie heads of Eisold’s involvement with Give Up the Ghost, and it echoes the 1980’s industrial rock heyday. Based on this blazing, melodic track, Cold Cave’s new album, Cherish The Light Years, could be one of the best LPs of 2011.
“The Great Pan Is Dead” – Cold Cave from Cherish The Light Years – out April 5th
White Belt Yellow Tag, who are gearing up for their May 21st U.S. EP release, You’re Not Invincible, won critical acclaim in the U.K. last year for their debut album featuring unashamedly big, anthemic, booming pop tunes mixed with their own brand of distorted, fuzzy rock. The band are often compared to The Doves. The NME proclaimed White Belt Yellow Tag possess “the artistic solemnity of Elbow or Doves” and The Fly said “they are confident, moody, atmospheric and armed with glacial, killer tunes.”
