San Diego indie rock band, Drug Hunt, just dropped this slow-burning, bluesy proto-psych track, “Through The Night.”
Paired with haunting vocals and lyrics, the band belts out a sped-up, reverb-veined, crunchy retro rock jam in the final stretchs of the track.
The track marks a new and refined sound from the hardened proto-psychedelia they first astonished the scene with.
From band’s publicist:
Recorded at the infamous Big Fish studio in Southern California with engineer Jordan Andreen (Earthless, The Damned) and featuring Adrian Terrazas-Gonzalez (Mars Volta) on saxophone… “Through The Night” manages to capture a sunday drive stroll, a bank robbery, a high speed pursuit and climactic cliff dive in a 1970 Buick Skylark.
“Through The Night” is 3 part epic with three sequential ingredients; one part nocturnal psychedelia, one part frenetic desert rock, and a finishing dollop of manic blues.
This array of genre-bending hallucinations is nothing new for the band. In the past they have been referred to as “Tarantino-esque” in their ability to take source material and mold it to their own likings.
But what is different here is the ‘mise en place’ they’ve developed over the years. The music is mischievously raw, yet meticulously measured and tested.
The narrative is also broken into three distinct parts, and resembles the onset of an existential episode turning deeper and deeper against its narrator. Lyrically the song meanders down the dark alleyways of an urban hellscape; through creepy avenues of inner monologue we glimpse the reflection of our frail minds, “I saw you walking through the night, terror filled the darkness in your eyes… there are no colors in your mind”. In this state we are subjected to our own hindrances, traumas, and addictions.
More than ever, the choices of music are overwhelming.
Therefore, keeping focused is important. And yet, it used to be, say a decade ago, easier to focus on the ‘indie rock’ craze (which began to wane right about 2012 for whatever reason; proof is this keyword search chart from Google Trends) and a few dozen popular artists and bands.
But nowadays there are too many fking good artists and bands. And with fewer people going to blogs (you guys turned on us – sniff sniffle) to find new music and bands, there are fewer truly independent music indie blogs (like yours truly); many have closed shop or stop posting.
The advent of ad-blockers also helped put a big nail into the blogger world, as did the continued corporate take-over of the web (yes, you too Google – replacing so many naturally earned search positions by regular folks with all of your own content – hugely impacting blogger’s visibility and thus traffic.)
One of the things that will never fade out for us is putting the spotlight on talented, rising DIY indie artists and bands. The fact is that there is way too much good music out there. A possible hit record (if radio played diy music – yeah right); a genius young songwriter; a breakthrough album; a hot new band on a tear, etc., already exist with more to come.
SO, let’s celebrate what we can.
A big asterik to the title of this series would include a note that says ‘the top 10 is based entirely on the music we’ve actually had time to listen to’.
Let’s face a fact: there is so much damn good music that comes from non-labeled artists.
Here are just a few for January’s Top 10 DIY Songs of 2022 releases. In this playlist: No Suits in Miami; Marquee Sullivan; Darksoft; 8BIT WIZRD; Indigo/Lure Division; Lucas Stern; Slark Moan; The Lagoons; Cole Loomis and String Machine.
It’s been a while since we’ve done an installment of the series Recent Releases We Almost Missed. This post appropriately fits in that category because we still have songs and albums from new DIY artists and bands from 2016 to share.
Kurt Deemer Band – Baltimore, Maryland Rocky Bottom – Nashville, Tennessee Kumode – Jersey City, New Jersey The Occasional Angels – Ottawa, Ontario Off World – Boston, Massachusetts M. Jean M. – Houston, Texas
Kurt Deemer Band – Gaslight
In October, Baltimore indie pop/rockers the Kurt Deemer Band dropped the enthralling debut album, Gaslight, featuring the unforgettable single, “Fire Escape,” a rich and nearly timeless track that highlights the apt songwriting skills of Deemer himself, a veteran songwriter, vocalist and guitarist with two decades under his belt.
The many years of writing and performing have given Deemer an adept perspective on life and honed his songwriting, which is brought to life with the help of his talented band members, including John Christensen (guitar); Kris Maher (bass); Steve Rose (drums), and Ben Alexandre (keyboards). And while the band’s sound may be a throwback to yesteryear, it manages to feel anchored in the present. Other songs like “Burning Man” and “Heaven Sent” are also standout tracks on the album.
The band has opened for artists like Harper and Midwest Kind, June Star, and Andy Bopp, and are heavily influenced by Tom Petty, The Counting Crows and The Replacements.
Nowadays, the traditional music of the south has been taking on more aspects of styles and sounds from other genres than ever before in the indie and alternative arenas, and include folk, Americana, country, blues, soul and rock.
There are few breeding grounds for these converging arts more active today than the fine ole music city of Nashville. One such increasingly popular singer-songwriter and musician is Alex Hernandez, better known for his stage moniker, Rocky Bottom.
His most recent release, American Man, is an album chock full of the South’s new indie genres mixing, where musicians are more free than ever to mix more than one genre together at a time, resulting in standout patriotic, rhythm-swinging singles like the title track.
The lyrics and stories behind his music appeal to the every day folks with themes of love, loss, work and pride running through the core of songs like the melodically folky bluegrass, “Junkyard Blues,” the ballad-rich, “Three Legged Dog,” and the optimistic, uplifting acoustically wonderful, “Two Leaves”.
It may be surprising to some that Hernandez was formerly a punk rocker in two bands (No Glory and Bad Town) in New Jersey before relocating to Nashville in 2013. But listening to the EP closely, the astute music listener can hear the attitude and forward-driving gusto that punk demands.
As far as punk to roots…I was in a band called No Glory (ska/punk) then Bad Town (roots/punk) where I wrote and sang/playedguitar (both almost impossible to find on the internet) I was 17-18 and had just been really opened up to Bob Dylan.
“I was also feeling trapped by the sound punk bands are limited too,” Hernandez says. “That’s when the whole dynamic of how I wrote songs changed. Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited and Johnny Cash’s American Recordings played a big roll in that shift I think.”
Rocky Bottom on Facebook
Kumode – Less Commotion
Lativan freelance filmmaker, Kristaps Locmelis, began writing and recording music “as a way of keeping myself grounded,” he told IRC, as well as a “way of simply channeling musical instincts and ideas.” Back in Latvia, before moving to the U.S. in 2007, Locmelis played guitar in various rock bands, learning a great deal about music along the way.
The Jersey City Latvian-born artist uses the moniker Kumode for his DIY recordings, including his most recent EP, Less Commotion, which wonderfully blends genres including indie pop, electronic and experimental sounds and techniques on terrific songs like the title track. The EP was released on Dec. 28th.
Locmelis’ biggest musical influences include artists like Syrinx, Dungen, Connan Mockasin, and Ty Dolla $ign, among others, and can be heard in different ways throughout the album’s tracks.
Last summer, an Ottawa-based trio of friends and musicians, who refer to themselves as The Occasional Angels, formed as a trio and immediately began writing and recording their debut album into the autumn of 2016.
After weeks of hard work, the trio, featuring guitarist and song-writer David Hart, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer Scott Paterson and vocalist Cris Ruggiero, emerged with a 10-track album, Renascimento.
Last fall, the band dropped the album on Hart’s indie label, Occasional Angels’ Records. Not long after, the tantalizing lead single, “Heaven in Denim” went to No. 1 on the playlist of London radio station 92.6 FM, and had a strong showing on the parent LA station, The Blitz. The terrifically enjoyable album blends a wide range of musical influences like rock, pop, R&B, folk, country, and funk.
Right out of the gates, Boston‘s hard rock DIY band Off World slay dragons with fast, blazing guitars, booming bass, thunderous drums and the high octane vocals of front woman Rain on the scorching single, “Save The Humans,” from the band’s six-track apocalyptic debut EP, Grey Dawn.
While the single is not indicative of the rest of the EP – which ranges in genres from space rock and psych rock to arena guitar rock and alternative rock – it is probably the strongest track on the EP with the brute punch of a hurricane-force wind. Two other standout tracks include the dark, “The End is Near” and the desperate urgency of “Drawing Down.”
MP3: “Save the Humans“ – Off World from Grey Dawn
Fans of the Queens of the Stone Age and Muse are the most likely to be Off World followers. However, the band’s music is genre-bending enough that we can also hear its other influences, including The Flaming Lips and Killing Joke. The opening track on the album is an experimental space/psych rock composition that has elements of concept rock.
The other members of the band include drummer David Silver; guitarist Kreg Adams; bassist Darren Lourie; synth and organ player Jeremy Flower, and bass and slide guitar Jon Evans. Since forming in 2016, Off World has opened for bands like Gaskill, Oxblood Forge, Birnam Wood, Arctic Horror, and Sacred Mounds.
Born in Redondo Beach, California, relocated to Daytona Beach while attending university, and a newly transplanted Houston resident, rap artist M. Jean M.‘s hip-hop tracks – like “La Barrage,” and “State of Union, Part I” – have helped her become increasingly known in the Houston hip-hop/rap scenes.
JMJ is an “underground phenomenon” according to her publicist, and has been writing songs since she was seven years old, and in recent years has learned to write and produce all of her own music DIY-style as exemplified on her latest release, Meezus, which features a collaboration with A&R Records own BGEMINI. The ‘mixtape’ was recorded at 360 Recording Studios in Houston.
M. Jean M. released her debut album Live Through Me in 2014 and re-released it the following year digitally. She wrote and produced all of the tracks on her latest release, herself, which collectively received thousands of plays on Soundcloud and other platforms. Her influences includes Lauryn Hill, Tupac Shakur and Kendrick Lamar.
A few days ago, we posted the best singles from the top new albums released in the first part of April. Sure, it may be a bit overdue, but the fact that remains is the quality of the music. Here is the second half of the best singles from new releases for April 15th through April 28th.
Since the week of April 29th releases (Tuesdays are the day most new releases are dropped) only covers two days in April, it will instead be included in the top singles and albums for the month of May (which is also coming up soon). Whenever you’re looking for a comprehensive profile and accompanying playlist of the best indie and alternative rock released for any given month, as well as hundreds of DIY bands a year – most of which are not getting the credit they deserve; some haven’t even been written up before, especially the new artists and bands – IRC is your one stop spot for indie rock.
The Afghan Whigs in February of this year. Photo by Piper Ferguson.
Week of April 15th’s Top Releases and Singles with The Afghan Whigs, Woods, Japanther, Sonic Avenue, Thee Oh Sees and Others
Long-time favorites among cafe patrons, The Afghan Whigs – who are arguably one of the original trailblazing bands in the early days of indie and alternative rock – returned to the spotlight in April with the release of Do To The Beast. It is the legendary band’s first new album following a 15-year hiatus. Also, listen to top singles from new albums by Woods, Japanther, Cloud Cult, Dyland Shearer, Sonic Avenues, Thee Oh Sees, Chuck E. Weiss, Plague Vendor, Horse Thief, Ikebe Shakedown, Rodney Crowell, Bobby Bare Jr., and Gordon Downie with The Sadies.
Note: The ex-FM built-in MP3 streamer was discontinued on May 25th. That’s just 8 months after Yahoo discontinued support for their awesome MP3 player plugin. Obviously, it’s a disappointment to a degree, but you can still play, or download, all of the MP3 tracks by clicking (or to save, right-clicking your mouse and selecting Save As) the song link itself. We are looking for a new MP3 player/streamer.
If you’re a developer and want to build us a custom player (would not require as much code as one might think) and you want to contribute to this resource for indie rock from around the world, and also get credit on our website for your contribution, please send us a Tweet @IndieRockCafe with message: “I can build a streaming player for IRC” and we’ll get right back to you.
“The Lottery” – The Afghan Whigs from Do To The Beast on Sub Pop
Any time the Eels release a new record, it’s a real treat, and it’s no different with the iconic band’s newest release, with its bookish title, The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett. Our pick for a lead single from the album, “Mistakes of My Youth” is one of many terrific songs on the album; if you’re an Eels fan, then it’s a must-have for your music collection.
The popular Athens, Georgia garage rock veterans, The Whigs, have returned with a new album that exudes the band’s mastery for writing and recording organic rock songs, as their impressive new single, “Hit Me,” so aptly depicts. Modern Creation is the follow-up to the band’s 2012 LP, Enjoy The Company.
Watch the glittery official “Hit Me” music video; the band time warped to circa 1974 – those outfits are like a cross between Elvis and The Bay City Rollers – and good for them for going all funkadelic in style and yet retaining their rock edge; definitely a case study in contrasts between music and fashion. Do you spot the Geico cave man dude? How did they pull that off – or did they?
“Mistakes of My Youth” – Eels from The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett on E Works
“Hit Me” – The Whigs from Modern Creation on New West Records
“Pins & Stitches” – Modern Rivals from Cemetery Dares (self-released)
“Preface” – Purling Hiss from Dizzy Polizzy on Drag City
“Let It Out” – Black Prairie from Fortune on Sugar Hill Records
Various Artists Releases featuring My Morning Jack, Spiritualized and The Apache Relay
Next, The Space Project various artists’ compilation is composed of songs that integrate sounds from space as the surprisingly spacey, fuzzy rock track, “Mississippi Space Program,” from Spiritualized demonstrates. My Morning Jacket contributed the meandering, somewhat complex arrangement, “Farewell Transmission,” to the various artists covers compilation album, featuring the songs of Jason Molina.
Next, the Flaming Lips-sounding new band, The Apache Relay, were a pleasant surprise considering that we’d never heard of them, and suppose for many of you, they’re new to you as well. The drifty, mellow song – although it’s more like a composition with it’s orchestral flourishes – “Katie Queen of Tennessee” – is the lead single from the band’s self-titled debut album. We’ve not heard the entire album yet, but you can bet it’s on our list of 2014 debuts to give a close listen to.
“Farewell Transmission” – My Morning Jacket from Farewell Transmission: The Music of Jason Molina compilation on Rock the Cause
But now for a big disappointment. Ordinarily, we do not bother posting songs we don’t like – what’s the point, right? But in this case, we are doing so only to demonstrate what can happen with a great band when they lose their direction and abandon their roots. We’re talking about the newest release from The Kooks – at least in regards to the lead single they – or maybe more so, their label – put out as the lead single from the band’s latest release.
It sounds nothing like The Kooks we fell in love with when they first hit the scene nearly a decade ago. What happened? They don’t sound convincingly indie or alternative, but closer to the repetitious, cookie-cutter electronic pop crap that modern Top 40 radio pumps out on regular rotation – that awful music – that oddly millions of people apparently like; that formulated, over-produced, computer-driven non-sense that cannot be realistically called music and that we hear coming from passing cars, in malls, scenes in movies and TV shows, and so on.
Ordinarily, we avoid Top 40 pop radio because it is just not what we connect to, and most of it does sound essentially unoriginal, like a format that is overly obeyed. But The Kooks fooled us into hearing that type of sound in their new single. But, first, we need to rant a bit more about the heaps of crap music that is somehow popular on Top 40 radio.
Yeah, we get that a lot of teens (especially girls), and soccer Moms too, really love the Katie Perry’s, Miley Cirrus’, Jessica Simpsons and Beyonces, and young guys are on top of the latest ‘cool’ hip hop tracks with the formula of cursing, violence, guns, partying, ‘bitches’ generates hundreds of millions in radio advertising dollars and music sales every year, but compared to the enormous existing catalog of amazing music from the classic rock era to the alternative rock revolution, right up to the indie rock of today, there’s no comparison when it comes to originality, diversity, musical skill, creativity, songwriting abilities, and on and on. You all know it, and that’s why you seek out indie and alternative music.
We do our best, with limited resources, to filter much of it before and present it in a way that is easily accessible as well as to present impressive music from talented musicians and bands that almost no one has ever heard of before, but once they do, they wonder how such terrific music flies so far under the radar.
The Kooks forced us to defend indie rock by the title song of their new album. What happened to a great UK garage rock band that we hailed for so many years on our pages? It’s still unclear. What this lesson has shown us is that it’s even more important than ever to support the hard-working, talented, but under appreciated, or just coming into the picture, artists and bands.
If you spend some time clicking on older posts (we do not take down the songs or playlists from older posts like most music sites and blogs do – we keep them live so that you can always listen to previous posts, special editions, and so on), you will find a treasure trove of fantastic and truly amazing music from both popular indie artist and from amazing small label and DIY artists you’ve likely never heard of before. Plus, all of the songs are free MP3s to download so that you can take them with you anywhere, or just keep your browser opened to IRC.
Big time tangent, but the situation warranted it. The Kooks have gone kooky on their newest single, and we’re only including it so that you can hear what our problems are with it. That said, there are many who apparently like the track – the YouTube audio track alone has been streamed over 800,000 times, and the thumbs up ratio over the thumbs down ratio is not even close. We’re left scratching our heads.
Indie and alternative rock (and the various genres that have branched out as a natural progression) has so much more to offer than the disposable assembly line of ‘modern’ pop and canned hip hop, commercial country, groomed boy bands and the same five female vocalists that dominate the charts. Indie really has saved the integrity music, and that’s why so many have turned to it.
There’s so much more interesting music being made within the realms of the indie and alternative music scenes, especially where there are small, or no, record labels interfering of pop, folk, rock, synth, music.
Anyways, we’re including it – along with an older Kooks’ track – only to demonstrate how far they’ve fallen away from their original sound and brand, or as the ironic title track of their new EP, implies, Down. They were so much better as an indie rock band then whatever this new sound is supposed to be. Even when their fellow UK rockers, Arctic Monkeys, departed from the original ripping riffs sound they unleashed to the world back in the mid-2000’s – and which made them an international sensation in the annals of rock – they at least retained some of their former self.
If you had told us this track was The Kooks, and we didn’t know it for sure, we would have never believed it. What a drag. Will the real Kooks please stand up, and start making authentic indie rock again? We’ll see.
April was a good month for music lovers, and record collectors. That also made it an incredibly laborious task to go through the stacks of releases. In fact, the entire process is symbolic of a larger truth – good things take time to come to fruition. Not only were there dozens upon dozens of fantastic limited edition vinyls, as singles, EPs, LPs, and box sets released on Record Store Day – the most successful RSD since the vinyl holiday started in 2009 – but there was also a flood of new, anticipated and notable albums dropped throughout the month that had nothing to do with RSD.
In fact, the first week of releases for the month kicked off right on April 1st (drop day is always Tuesday, so the date for the first full week of releases in any given month is always the first Tuesday) with some of the best indie rock album releases so far this year, highlighted by standout singles from bands like Cloud Nothings, Small Black, Band of Skulls, Manchester Orchestra, S. Carey, Kaiser Chiefs, Saintseneca, Ausmeteants, and Pure X.
The volume of new music to sift through and review, in addition to the high stacks of official RSD releases, for the month of April was overwhelming, and set us back a bit. Most people don’t have hours and hours and hours that it takes to keep up with half of what is being released in any given month, let alone the time to sift through, listen to, select, code, list, edit, and publish a list of the top singles representing the best albums for a given week, and for all four weeks of the month. It’s a hugely time-consuming task, but well worth it, and because hundreds of thousands of people around the world know that there is really only one place on the web where they can get easy and reliable access to the top indie rock music, from both popular and signed artists to obscure DIY bands, organized into MP3 playlists, meaning that anyone, on any device, can easily play and save the hottest new indie rock and hear for the first time talented new artists with promising futures. No one else does it the way that we do, and we’ve listened to thousands of people’s feedback over the past seven years in order to perfect the posts and playlists to suit the preferences for the vast majority of regular listeners and newer readers.
And just in case you’re wondering about May, which has so quickly passed by, we’re also working diligently on publishing the top singles from new albums released this month too – those playlists of top singles are scheduled to be posted later this week, followed by what will be a steady flow of long posts and playlists profiling incredibly talented DIY artists and bands that many of you have probably never heard before.
In addition to the first two weeks of April releases (weeks of April 1st and April 8th) covered in this post, volume two of the Best New Indie Songs and Albums for April 2014 is just about ready to go, and will be posted in just a few hours from now, so make sure to come back because you don’t want to miss the stunning array of fantastic music released for the weeks of April 15th and April 22th. Plus, our in-depth, extensive hunt for, and review of, the top vinyl singles released on Record Store Day is just about finished. The post is nearly 10,000 words long and features nearly 50 MP3s of new and re-issued songs (as limited editions vinyls) on vinyl released on Record Store Day, including dozens of rarities, some of which have never been heard – as far as we can see – on the web before because they only previously existed on vinyl.
Whether you’re a fan of classic and indie rock (since there are so many similarities between the two), an avid or start-up vinyl collector – especially of limited editions – or a music lover that revels in the historical significance, and novelty, of the ‘vinyl holiday,’ there is something for everyone from Record Store Day, April 19th, 2014, which was also the biggest day for sales of vinyl records nationwide in the past two decades. If you haven’t seen the extensive post and playlist for the Top 30 vinyl album releases on RSD, you’ll definitely want to check that out.
Note: On May 19th, ex-FM unfortunately discontinued their built-in audio player for website publishers, which means we have to find a new option to allow you to stream, uninterrupted, all the songs on a page without having to click on each track to play it. For now, you can still click on the song link to hear it play in your browser or on your iPhone or Android device, as well as download any MP3 with a right-click ‘Save As’ functionality – so the access to songs hasn’t changed, just the format they’re played in. That said, we’re currently testing a number of other options, so stay tuned.
A snapshot of the now discontinued Ex-FM embedded audio player as it used to appear on our playlists posts. We're hoping to find another one just like it, so if you know of one, or want to build one, please let us know via Twitter, Facebook or even using the Comments box below.
Attention Developers: You can make a big difference for hundreds of thousands of people – if you are a developer who can custom build a streaming MP3 player for us for WordPress in either HTML5 or Flash (or a combo of the two), we want to hear from you. Please Twitter @IndieRockCafe with hashtag #audioplayerdev – or let us know on the IRC Facebook page; we will get back to you right away. Needless to say, whoever comes up with what we’re looking for will not only be providing a great service to music lovers around the world, but will also get credit for it and a link to their website and/or portfolio via IRC. Chances are, if it’s really cool, you could get a lot of praise and attention (including requests to build other plugins, widgets and apps) in the music blog world. This is a perfect opportunity for someone who wants to make a big splash on the web and have something fascinating to add to their resume and portfolio, as well as a great booster for advancing a career as a developer, and definitely an edge in competitive job interviews.
“Asleep at the Wheel” – Band of Skulls from Himalayan on Shangri-La Music
“I’m Not Part of Me” – Cloud Nothings from Here and Nowhere Else on Carpark / Mom + Pop
“Lines of Latitude” (ft. Frankie Rose) – Small Black from Real People on Jagjaguwar
“Coming Home” – Kaiser Chiefs from Education, Education, Education & War on ATO
“Tinnitus” – Ausmuteants from Ausmuteants on Aarght / Goner Records
Supergroup Sweet Apple released their new LP on green vinyl - a collector's item for J. Mascis/Dinosaur Jr. fans.
Top Singles from New Releases by Sweet Apple, Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks, The Fait, De Lux and Others
The top singles from new albums released during the second week of April 2014 come together to form a particularly rich and intriguing playlist, highlighting a spectacular and diverse range of indie and alternative artists and bands, including Sweet Apple, Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks, Denney and The Jets, De Lux, Sonic Avenue, King of Prussia, Incan Abraham, The Mary Onettes, The Faint, Doug Gillard, Your Friend, Young Boy, Ghetto Ghouls, Black Label Society, School of Language, OFF! and Paul Thomas Saunders.
Terrible Album Covers: 'Parade On' by Doug Gillard
The Pervasive Disrespect For The Value of the Album Cover Art Form
In contrast to the musical quality of new albums released on April 8th was the alarming number of downright awful, ugly and unimaginative album covers that will forever degrade otherwise note-worthy albums. It’s not like you can go back and put a new cover on an album – whether viewing it from a physical vinyl or CD cover or digitally in iTunes or Spotify on iPhones, Android phones, or any other smartphone or tablet. The examples speak for themselves, and all we can wonder is ‘how could they (the people who make or influence the final decision) put out an album they want to appeal to people with such dog-ass ugly covers?” Come on people. Some of these covers were seemingly hacked together in a few minutes – literally. Again, there are the many examples below (and many, as most of you know, throughout any given year in the past 15 or so years especially with the death of the album) to ponder over. It’s especially baffling considering that some of the worst offenders are some of the best bands on some of the most respected labels; that’s like headache-inducing kind of bafflement. We even wanted to believe that some of the covers were just April Fool’s jokes – you know, sort of like: “Of course we wouldn’t slap such a terrible looking cover on one of our biggest releases of the year and then send it out to the world like that – it’s an April Fool’s joke, silly.”
But we know that is not the case and yet it still absolutely signifies something bigger, and more foul, is amidst, which is why we’re really highlighting it. An entire generation does not know the true value of exceptional album cover artwork nor have memories of a time when album covers were regarded as a high art form, topic of conversations – even controversies – and even so iconic at times that albums undoubtably sold more copies because of the artwork, and even became like mini posters on the walls of millions of teenagers.
Terrible Album Covers: 'Mexican Coke' by Denney and The Jets'
We literally struggled to find a flagship album cover – like we do with all of the best new indie rock releases playlists – for this post because there were so few to choose from. Again, that is especially disappointing considering that so many of these albums are are not representative of their awful cover art. As long-time readers of IRC know, we include album cover art in all of our new album releases’ posts and playlists with a deliberate effort to feature the best album covers because they are the most deserving to be displayed.
But it is not always such an easy task to find quality album covers to include in album posts – not just for this week, but for many others. It’s a decline that has been happening almost as long – and during the same time period – as the decline of the once mighty American manufacturing base, and even for some of the same reasons – technology and the demand for cheaper goods. As vinyl album sales fell (although the trend is somewhat headed back in the right direction) off dramatically with the rise in popularity of non-physical – or ‘digital’ – music sales (and thanks in large part to a whole lot of music piracy), labels slashed the budgets for album production, with covers taking the biggest hit, thereby giving way to a general malaise that overcame much of the industry and culture in regards to album covers as more and more people took to downloading music online – and often illegally – and so much of the time, due to the inherent nature of this practice, never even saw the album covers (and in some cases, never even knew the titles of the albums they were poaching singles from). Despite these clear deficits, and disincentives, it’s the cover art for an album that may, or may not (partly based on the intrinsic value of the album cover itself), be around for decades into the future, let alone easily recognizable to people.
One of the most recognizable albums in the history of rock music - The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - heralded an era where album cover art became an integral part of the music culture
During the era when the album ruled, from the late 1960s to the close of the 1980s (with the 1970’s clearly the heyday decade), the artwork that made up the cover of an artists’ newest album was taken very seriously, and mattered enormously. The cover art of The Beatles‘ iconic Sgt. Pepper’s Hearts Club Band is arguably not only the most popular album cover artwork of all time, but it set the standard for album cover artwork for a generation afterwards. Almost over night, labels started to realize the power of the cover (as well as the sleeve and the inserts), and what followed was an age in which albums were in part defined, not only identified, by the cover art. Could you imagine Pink Floyd‘s Dark Side of the Moon without the prism on the midnight black background?
But let’s face it, the song remains the same: it was the Internet that largely killed off – among other great things – the album cover as an integral part of the newest music releases. Sure, before everyone had the Internet, and Napster, the advent, and popularity, of the cassette and CD, started the cookie crumbling when it came to album cover art being respected as a serious art form as it was during the heyday of the vinyl album. In recent years, especially with the resurgence in popularity of vinyl, labels have been giving a bit more consideration to album cover art as part of the packaging to sell vinyls, but the art form itself is far from making a comeback. For the most part, labels and artists, even within the more creative indie and alternative rock genres, often are shockingly indifferent to album cover art. Yes, most of the album sales nowadays are CDs and MP3s, and so the industry, especially among the smaller labels – but even sadly the artists (which is the biggest shame of all) – doesn’t see much reason for spending money on creating alluring album covers. That said, you’re likely to see better album artwork coming from DIY bands, and to some extent, that is exactly the case; in fact, just spend a little time browsing through the DIY posts (and while you’re there discovering great music you’ve likely never heard before) of the past, and you’ll see the trend for yourself.
Terrible Album Covers: Avery Tare's Slasher Flicks' 'Enter The Slasher House'
There have been so many awful and terrible album covers released in recent years by labels that it makes one wonder just what are they thinking? Those of you who have followed music closely for many years know exactly what we’re referring to. Most people can tell the difference between a terrible, or even not very good, album cover and one that is appealing, interesting and memorable. Any one who has closely followed the indie rock music scene over the past 10 to 15 years has seen their fair share of unimpressive album covers. And this week, as mentioned before, is largely symbolic of the mediocrity that has befallen the album cover art form in recent years. This post highlights just a small sampling of the dreary world of album cover art in the modern age, and a glimmer of hope that this largely lost art form will emerge from its mainstay mediocrity, where it has wallowed for too long, to once again become an exciting, creative and integral part of the album release. There is perhaps no better place for that resurrection to happen than within the indie rock genre, and one can only hope that the trend of vinyl sales will continue to climb – and demand for better album covers from music lovers continues to grow – ever so surely on the path of enlightenment towards restoring the integrity of the album cover art form within the alternative music culture.
Sweet Apple’s Sophomore Release Satisfies Rock Sweet Tooth; New LPs from Avey Tare, Mary Onettes, King of Prussia and More
But there were some reasonably good album covers for the week too, including supergroup Sweet Apple‘s over for their sophomore release, The Golden Age of Glitter. That cover, together with a sneak peek at the green colored vinyl, ultimately ended up as the flagship album cover for this week’s top albums. And it it’s available, along with the band’s debut album on blue vinyl, via the following link. Sweet Apple features J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr., Heavy Blanket), Tim Parnin (Cobra Verde, Chuck Mosley), John Petkovic (Cobra Verde, Death of Samantha,Guided By Voices) and Dave Sweetapple (Witch, Vardlokk).
Yet it was the sheer number of appallingly ugly, particularly atrocious, and even to some degree, mildly insulting (to the fans’ sensibilities), album covers – and especially for albums that are musically great albums – released for the week of April 8th, that practically forced us to bring attention to the issue. You’ll see some of the examples we’re talking about below. As vinyl becomes more popular, this might help the situation somewhat, but it’s really up to the fans, bands and their labels to step it up and vow to put time, consideration, love, creativity, and even money, into the process of coming up with an appealing, or at least half-way decent, cover for their album releases. Afterall, it does matter, and people do care.
Furthermore, it’s almost an insult, especially when the album itself has some amazing music on it – the casual observer would not think so by looking at any of the many terrible album covers that have been released in recent years. We’ll continue to seek out and post the best album covers for our posts, since like awful, or just so-so, music, why would we waste our time, and your time, doing anything less. But, for these purposes, we are deliberately posting some terrible album covers, and we hope, in a small way, that it will shame the people responsible for not putting together fine album covers; these are not DIY artists without access to a graphics department or budget (and still in many of those cases, they manage to come up with suitable album covers). We’re pretty sure you’ll be able to spot which ones are the worst offenders; obviously, they stick out like a sore thumb.
More bad album covers came in from Young Boy and Your Friend, but Young & Sick‘s self-titled debut album cover (above) was not so bad. All things considered, it was a doozy of a week for album cover art, especially considering the artists the covers represent, and the fine albums they serve as the forever-lasting visual for. It sends a message to music listeners, and fans, “we just really don’t care that much.” All of the Internet stories aside, and the fact that most people don’t buy albums anymore (although, again, Record Store Day indicates a trend in the other direction), it still says to just about everyone “we just don’t care that much about our album releases to put much thought or work into it.” For the bands that are handicapped by what the label dictates is the cover, we feel you, but take a stand because that is your work and that’s how it will always be seen because it’s the album’s cover art.
“Secret Place” – Young Boy from Other Summers on Saint Marie Records
“Tame One” – Your Friend from Jekyll/Hyde EP on Domino
“Glass” – Young & Sick from Young & Sick on Harvest
“Kawai Celeste” – Paul Thomas Saunders from Beautiful Desolation on Atlantic
“Hypnotized” – OFF! from Wasted Years on Vice Records
“Dress Up” – School of Language from Old Fears on Memphis Industries
Coming Up Next: The amazing weeks of music releases and top MP3 singles spanning April 15th through April 28th.
The Cake vinyl box set. Photo by thedreamcomparison via InstagramFor rock and vinyl lovers, Record Store Day is like Christmas in April; this year, Christmas came on Saturday, April 19th, and there was plenty to be excited about.
There were hundreds of official RSD limited edition vinyls released this year, and so it obviously took time to go through all of the vinyls, pick our favorites, listen to them, review them and organize this extensive report and playlist. Much of the RSD coverage has been fairly limited to a rehashing of top vinyl picks from staff and bloggers, and Jack White‘s history-making event.
Even though it was historic and exciting, as well as a brilliant promotional tactic, RSD14 wasn’t just about White’s ‘fastest-ever record release’, which conveniently for him, served as his official RSD limited edition vinyl release – the title track from his upcoming sophomore solo album, Lazaretto, set to drop in June. To learn more about the event, read our coverage of White’s record-setting release, listen to the track and watch a video clip of the actual event.
While “Lazaretto” may have received the most media and buzz, it’s not the only vinyl release this RSD sought after by vinyl lovers, collectors and music enthusiasts; in fact, not even close. One of the most popular releases for RSD14 has been Cake’s gorgeously-designed vinyl box set. Only 900 of the eight 12-inch, 175-gram colored vinyl LP sets were pressed. In addition to a live LP and a rarities and singles LP, the box set features six of the band’s studio albums, including classics like Comfort Eagle, Fashion Nugget and Prolonging The Magic.
This post features an extensive look into the top RSD14 vinyl singles and albums, and includes tracks that have only so far been released on vinyl, as well as tracks from dozens of the most popular RSD14 releases; RSD vinyl covers artwork, designs and packaging; RSD releases bidding on eBay; details of, and interesting stories behind, certain releases; and numbers and figures that clearly demonstrate the explosive popularity of RSD and vinyl releases.
That said, let’s browse more of the most popular and unique limited edition RSD vinyls, many of which are also our personal picks in the cafe. There’s so many worthy new vinyls, that we’ll never get to them all, but we will do our level best to present as many as we can in the coming days, including a post to be published very soon that looks at even more top rare, special and novelty vinyl releases, and what they’re going for on eBay.
This is our favorite Top 30 vinyl albums released on RSD that also include vinyls that were the most popular among record lovers and highest on the charts. Tomorrow, we’ll publish the top vinyl singles released exclusively on RSD, and still being sought out online by music lovers and record collectors.
Special: Record Store Day 2014 Spotify Playlist – In addition to the 20+ songs in this playlist, stream 60 songs representative of IRC’s top vinyl picks for RSD14.
The Cake box set is a great example of a collector’s item because no matter what digital does, it can never offer the beauty, uniqueness and intrigue of a vinyl physical release – specially crafted and designed, compelling album and other artwork, liner notes, black and colored vinyl, booklets and inserts, and other goodies. As the ante is upped – which Cake did this year – that means more labels and artists will have to come up with even more quality releases that push the envelope for vinyl quality, design, packaging, price and other goodies – considerations that many thought were a thing of the past due to digital, the Internet, CDs/DVDs. The success of RSD, and the overall resurgence of vinyl is largely being driven by young people who are demonstrating that is a promising as weto see more and more young people, especially, who appreciate the value of a limited edition exclusive release, and have something tangible that they paid for to hold in their hands, and show to friends, and as the years pass, to their children.
The Most Sought-After RSD Box Set: A Lesson in ‘Can You Have Your Cake And Eat It Too’?
As it turned out for many Cake fans, snagging a copy of the limited edition vinyl box set was more elusive than exclusive. Afterall, only 900 were pressed and distributed. We would not be surprised to see the box set re-emerge for Black Friday, when exclusive vinyls are also released. For disappointed Cake fans who actually went to their local indie record store (or to a number of indie stores in their area) on RSD to discover that the few copies the store had were purchased already, or that they did not receive any box sets at all, there is still the eBay option, but it’s going to cost. The mark-up from the original RSD price just goes to show how many people want this Cake box set.
Everyone knows that high demand for a limited supply drives up the price, but it’s safe to say that some Cake fans suffered a case of extreme sticker shock once they looked up the bid prices for the box set. In fact, for the past week, there have been ferocious bidding battles with closing prices ranging from $250 to $300, and Buy It Now prices starting at $300 and going up to $600 dollars, depending on condition and, of course, greed. The latter are playing basically a ‘hold-out’ and ‘wait-and-see’ game, realizing that eventually the other higher, non-bidding copies will sell and then they’ll be only his available, so that if he keeps resubmitting it just the same, some Cake fan who has to have it, and realizing they might miss the chance to get it (one-time limited edition of must 900) will take the plunge and pay the greedy guy the $500 or $600. Plus, there are surely a couple of savvy, and coy, scalp hoarders with editions of the Cake box set who have been watching the bidding of the past week before they even list their own copies online.
The Cake RSD-only limited edition vinyl box set is going for hundreds of dollars more on eBay than its original retail price.
While Cake’s box set is the most expensive of all the RSD14 releases in ‘after hours’ selling by scalpers online, when calculated to determine the price per vinyl unit – it is not; White’s “Lazaretto,” with the B-side cover of Elvis Presley’s “Power of Love,” is the vinyl that really takes the cake, so to speak, with closing bids ranging from $150 to $225 for the past week on eBay, and ‘Buy It Now’ sellers asking between $400 to $600 – for a single 7-inch vinyl. Of course, the price is being mostly driven by the historic value of it, and will likely be re-sold again by others for even higher dollar amounts.
We would not be surprised at all if the label, Legacy Records, struck a deal to press another couple thousand of the Cake box sets to release on Black Friday (or ‘Record Store Day 2’ as some call it – even though that’s a misnomer) due to demand. With that, the following triple play from Cake features some of the band’s most popular, even cult-classic, songs – one each from a successive string of spectacular albums that the band released during a five-year span, from 1996 to 2001.
Top RSD Vinyl Albums According to SoundScan, Billboard and BuzzAngle
The numbers and sales of exclusive RSD vinyls have been coming in for the past week or so, and are unlike anything anyone has ever seen before, greatly exceeding even the most optimistic pre-RSD sales forecasts. In fact, because of RSD, vinyl albums sales hit a historic high for the week ending April 21st, with slightly more than 244,000 vinyl albums sold, the highest that Nielsen’s SoundScan has ever recorded since it began tracking album sales in 1991. The previous record of vinyl sales took place on December 23rd, 2012, when 172,000 vinyl LPs were sold – more evidence of the increasing popularity of vinyl albums.
According to SoundScan, and Border City Media’s BuzzAngle Music, the top-selling albums for the week were all RSD releases, with Tame Impala‘s Live Versions coming out at the top, followed by The Grateful Dead‘s new live album, Live at Hampton Coliseum, and Joy Division‘s reissue of their debut, An Ideal For Living (see below.) Live Versions includes great concert performances of tracks like “Endors Toi,” “Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind?” and “Apocalypse Dreams,” among others.
Overall, indie record stores’ sales jumped by 646% overall from the previous week; vinyl sales increased 1,855% altogether, and by 2,042% at indie stores. Billboard charts were also dominated by RSD vinyl sales. In fact, “only three albums” of the 25 LP positions on Billboard’s Tastemakers‘ chart – which measures vinyl album sales at independent and small chain stores – for the week ending April 20th were not RSD releases.
That’s stunning: 22 of the hottest vinyl albums on Tastemakers‘ were RSD official releases, including Green Day‘s new album, Demolicious, capturing the top of the chart (more on that below); No. 5, the reissue of Life After Death by Notorious B.I.G.; No. 7, a reissue of American Beauty EP by Bruce Springsteen, with four previously unreleased tracks; No. 8, first-ever vinyl release of a live album, Hampton Coliseum, by The Grateful Dead; and at No 10., Live at Silver Platters by Jake Bugg.. In addition to classic rock artists, popular singer/songwriters and one of the most influential rappers ever, the other indie releases that made the Top 25 included
On Billboard’s Vinyl Albums chart for the week ending April 20th, RSD releases dominated the list (with the exception of Afghan Whigs’ new album, Do To The Beast) with Jimi Hendrix‘s Live At Monterey performance on vinyl ranking at No. 5; Tame Impala’s Live Versions at No. 7; Joy Divisions’ An Ideal For Living EP; The Flaming Lips’ 7 Skies H3 and the first-ever U.S. release of Meltdown With The Ramones EP. Childish Gambino‘s RSD release, Because The Internet, topped the Vinyl Albums‘ chart. Perhaps one of the aspects that drove the Gambino release to the top was its packaging and extras. The official RSD vinyl album came in metallic o-card sleeves and a 72-page booklet. The two LP discography includes “Crawl,” “Worldstar,” “The Worst Guys,” featuring Chance, and “The Party.”
The 2-LP vinyl RSD release for Green Day's new album, 'Demolicious'
According to Neilsen’s SoundScan, and BIllboard’s Tastemakers chart, the top-selling vinyl record on RSD was Green Day‘s Demolicious, which was also dropped simultaneously on a limited number of CDs and cassettes. The special edition, limited release, dropped by Reprise Records, presents 18 unreleased demo recordings by the band recorded from band sessions held at Jingletown Studios in Oakland in 2002. The album, which sold nearly 4,000 on RSD, 42% vinyl, and surprisingly, 42% on CD, while the other 16% were cassettes. The album itself will be available retail on May 19, but will not be the same physical configuration as the RSD release, which is currently bringing in between $35 to $45 on eBay. Demolicious contains one previously unreleased track – “State of Shock” – available to stream below.
Additional evidence of the explosive popularity of Record Store Day, and vinyl releases, has been streaming in for the past 10 days from indie record store owners across the 50 states, with many proclaiming that their best sales day ever was on Saturday, April 19th, the day of Record Store Day 2014. In fact, sales of vinyl LPs alone increased from 244,000 for RSD 2013 to an impressive 369,000 this year – that’s the highest ever percentage increase of vinyl album sales in one week since Neilsen’s SoundScan started tracking vinyl album sales in 1991.
Vinyl Gold: Velvet Underground Reissue Last Album; Built To Spill Reissue Debut and The Ramones First-Ever U.S. Vinyl EP
The reissue of The Velvet Underground‘s accidental last album, Loaded, was pressed on pink, black and white splattered vinyl, and recorded from the 1970 Cotillion Records master tape. The album release spawned classic rock tracks like “Sweet Jane” and “Rock And Roll,” and is listed as No. 109 on Rolling Stone‘s ‘500 Greatest Albums of All-Time.’
Did You Know?: The iconic founding member, singer/songwriter and guitarist, Lou Reed, decided to leave The Velvet Underground shortly before Loaded was released in 1970, truncating the run of one of the most influential American rock bands of the 1960s.
Practically indie gods in our book, and undeniably one of the most significant indie rock trailblazers, Built to Spill, have one of the most exciting releases of RSD14 – the first vinyl (12-inch) pressing of their classic 1993 debut album, Ultimate Alternative Wavers, with the awesome album cover portrait (above) that absolutely qualifies to be posted on the fun, and often hilarious, website, AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com.
“Nowhere Nothin’ Fuckup” – Built to Spill from Ultimate Alternative Wavers (original release: Oct. 7th, 1993)
For the first time ever in the U.S., ironically enough – considering they’re a notorious New York band, Rhino released The Ramones’ rarity, Meltdown With The Ramones, which was pressed and distributed only in the U.K. in 1980 as a promotional sampler. Isn’t that crazy? The Ramones’ RSD EP, re-issued on 10-inch navy vinyl and limited to 3,000 copies, features songs like “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” and “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend,” and is currently going for about $25 to $35, on average, a pop on eBay.
Another RSD vinyl album worth checking out is Visitors from Dinosaur Jr. The album is in part a tribute to the band’s go-to artist, Maura Jasper, who the band teamed up with from 1985 to 1990, during which time Jasper created the band’s official artwork, inspired by Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch and English anarchist Gee Vaucher.
The limited vinyl release features the band’s first four singles, and a bonus 7-inch vinyl of “Show Me The Way” with a B-side cover of The Byrds’ “Feel A Whole Lot Better.” The package includes an essay from Jasper and a booklet of unused artwork from those five years. Dinosaur Jr., who will also be featured in our Top Vinyl Singles post on Sunday, were tremendously influential in making ‘noise rock,’ popular, and in adding a harder edge, via heavily distorted, yet melodic, guitar riffs and feedback, to alternative and indie music in the late 1980’s, influencing countless numbers of amazing bands to follow in their footsteps during the ensuing decades, and up to the present time. “Little Fury Things,” the band’s second single released way back in 1987.
Reissues on Vinyl – Man Man, MGMT, Spoon, Bruce Springsteen and Husker Du
The San Francisco band, Man Man, saw the first vinyl release via the label, Ace Fu, of their spectacular 2004 debut album ,The Man in Blue Turban with a Face, and Austin‘s hometown indie favorites, Spoon, reissued the EP, Loveways, which was remastered and pressed to 12-inch limited edition vinyl for the first time. Plus, Bruce Springsteen dropped a vinyl reissue of his American Beauty EP with four previously unreleased songs.
“Zebra” – Man Man from The Man in Blue Turban with a Face
“American Beauty” – Bruce Springsteen from American Beauty EP vinyl (with previously unreleased songs)
Rhino dropped a new grey vinyl of Husker Du‘s amazing 1986 album, Candy Apple Grey, the band’s fifth album, and their first major label debut, with Bob Mould and Grant Hart each contributing their own songs – in addition to their usual method of sharing songwriting duties – that reinforced the band’s evolution from mainly hardcore punk tracks to a decidedly more alternative rock sound at the very time that other bands were fueling the engine of popularity that would help make alternative rock a major new genre. The album does retain, however, their signature frenetic style and features plenty of acoustic guitar parts.
For the first time, the album that made MGMT global rock stars, was released on vinyl on RSD
RSD Vinyls of MGMT’s ‘Oracular Spectacular’ and The Flaming Lips’ Novelty Release
MGMT fans can now listen to the breakthrough album, Oracular Spectacular, like never before thanks to the release of the album as a 12-inch, 180-gram black vinyl pressing. Rather than including the already-heard-a-million-times studio version of “Kids,” the biggest song from the album, we decided to feature a terrific live version instead. In 2011, Oklahoma psych-punk-pop indie rock band, The Flaming Lips, well-known for their unconventional, even flamboyant, alternative music, recorded a 24 hour-long “song” called “7 Skies H3.” Initially, the band only sold a limited number of copies on vinyl, that came inside of a real human skill, for $5,000 a pop – obviously not something for the average Lips fan considering the price, and definitely not for the squeamish, considering the rather morbid delivery method. For RSD, the band cut the song to 50 minutes and sold “7 Skies H3” as an exclusive RSD-only 10-inch vinyl single.
“Kids” (Live) – MGMT from Oracular Spectacular (2008)
“7 Skies H3” – The Flaming Lips from RSD vinyl release – not a streaming link here; click through to listen to the 50-minute song on YouTube.
Excerpt – The RSD14 Playlist: What better way to represent the sounds of RSD14 than to assemble a streaming soundtrack of many of the best songs that appear on official Record Store Day 2014 releasesthere are a good number and one of the best ways to boil it down and represent After diligent research, and flipping through over one hundred of official Record Store Day releases, we created a Record Store Day 2014 Spotify Playlist for all to enjoy; the playlist is also embedded below and some tracks are presented separately.
Limited Edition Vinyls from Joy Division, Mudhoney, Drive-By-Truckers, Chvches, Cults
Die-hard Joy Division fans from New York to Tokyo pillaged record stores last weekend in attempt to get a limited edition 12-inch vinyl reissue of the band’s breakthrough 1978 debut album, An Ideal For Living, featuring remastered tracks like “No Love Lost” and “Warsaw.”
As fervent of fans as Jo Div’s following of both young and old fans in the present time, make no question about it that Mudhoney fans are also clamoring for copies of the limited 12-inch vinly, On Top, that captures the sonic magic of a rare concert the band held last year a the top of Seattle‘s most iconic landmark, the Space Needle, in celebration of the simultaneous 25th birthdays of the band, and their long-time label, Sub Pop (Happy Birthday to one of the best indie bands and indie labels ever!!). The live Mudhoney recording was produced by the famous Seattle radio station, KEXP; so, you know the sound quality will be superior.
Drive-By Truckers offer up a 10-inch vinyl, titled Dragon Pants EP, featuring B-sides and outtakes from the band’s new 2014 album, English Oceans. Songs include the EP title track, “Rock Solid,” and the puzzlingly, yet awesomely-named, “Trying To Be The Boss (On A Beaver Brown Budget).” Watch the band’s live performance on Record Store Day. Chvches pressed 2,000 copies of their popular Recover EP, featuring two new remixes of “Recover;” Cults drop a vinyl of their Upstairs at United EP with live recordings of “Were Before” and “You Know What I Mean.”
“Recover” (Travelogue Mix) – Chvches from Recover EP
Live Concert Vinyl Releases Featuring Guitar Gods Jimmy Page with Black Crowes and Jimi Hendrix with the Experience
Speckled within the sleuth of freshly-minted, limited edition live recordings on vinyl for RSD14 is the rock and rolling blues jammin’ of the legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist, Jimmy Page, and The Black Crowes live at the historic Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. The album, Live at The Greek, was recorded from two sold-out shows at the venue. Page had asked The Crowes to be his back-up band for a mini-tour in 1999.
The Crowes, as this recording demonstrates, were a perfect match for playing Zeppelin songs, and Chris Robinson‘s soulful vocals a suitable pairing for Page’s heavily blues-oriented guitar sound, and part of what easily puts him on the list as one of the greatest rock guitarist of all time. that comes in three vinyl discs inked red, blue and clear with a gold sticker, and also has a number of copies bidding and for sale on eBay and other sites for between $45 and $120. One of the vinyls includes enhanced studio tracks and various multimedia files. For contractual reasons, however, the set does not include any Crowes’ songs, but that’s OK when you consider how amazing Page and the Crowes sounded those two nights in LA.
Live Vinyls from Devo, The Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers, Foals, The Pogues with Joe Strummer
In addition to Page and The Black Crowes, and Jimi Hendrix’s monumental Monterey performance, there were a bunch of other live vinyls dropped on RSD. In fact, Devo‘s Live at Max’s Kansas City: November 15, 1977 RSD vinyl release includes an introduction from Devo-head, Mr. Major Tom, aka, David Bowie. Next, Deadheads – who often have copies of dozens, sometimes even hundreds, of live shows of their idols – have a new double 12-inch vinyl set to seek out, featuring the live recording of The Grateful Dead‘s first-ever performance at the beautiful Hampton Coliseum in Virginia on May 4th, 1979. Highlights include “Truckin”, “Good Lovin'”, “Eyes of The World,” “Passenger,” and a dozen others. The concert opens with “Loser” and closes with “Around And Around.”
LCD Soundsystem, The Pogues and Joe Strummer, The Allman Brothers, Foals and Many Others
One of the biggest live vinyl ‘gets’ of RSD14 is the special four-disc vinyl box set from LCD Soundsystem’s The Long Goodbye (Live at Madison Square Garden farewell concert. Considering this limited edition vinyl set marks the end of an era for a band that has achieved respect among their peers, and more importantly, the adoration of millions of fans worldwide, it’s no surprise that it’s selling for between $150 to $175 on eBay.
“All My Friends” – LCD Soundsystem from The Long Goodbye (Live at Madison Square Garden
The Pogues‘ legendary 1991 concert at the London Forum with Joe Strummer, the former guitarist of one of rock music’s best-ever bands, The Clash, was released for the first time in the U.S. on RSD, and is a must-have for serious fans of The Pogues and The Clash.
Strummer was filling in during Shane MacGowan‘s hiatus from the band. Concert goers buzzed for days, weeks, and years afterwards, using words and phrases like historic, magical, amazing, best-ever, pinnacle moment, and so on. Now, anyone can listen to this famous concert on Live with Joe Strummer.
“London Calling” – The Pogues and Joe Strummer from Live with Joe Strummer
Other artists and bands with new live albums dropped on limited edition vinyl for RSD14 include The Allman Brothers (Beacon Theatre); Foals (Royal Albert Hall); The Civil Wars (Eddie’s Attic); Jake Bugg (Silver Platters); Medicine (Part Time Punks), and well as Tame Impala, Death Cab For Cute with Magik Magik Orchestra, Frightened Rabbit and the Dave Matthews Band.
Jimi Hendrix fans are still vying for copies of the newest vinyl of their hero, since it is a brand new, remastered vinyl reissue of a historic performance as well as some one of the most iconic moments in rock history all wrapped into one. Even though pretty much all of Jimi Hendrix‘s legendary, break-through performance at the historic 1967 Monterey Pop Festival in California was extensively recorded and filmed for the movie, and the live album that followed, someone at Legacy/Sony decided it would be a good idea to reissue the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s sizzling nine-track set, Live at Monterey, but with a little touch here and there, to make it more marketable. And while it is definitely proof-positive of the major labels increasingly taking up a larger share of RSD releases with simple reissues, the fact is that Live at Monterey offers fans the chance to get this piece of history on remastered vinyl, including fans who may have an older copy they want to replace (considering the album was first released 45 years ago). If you are a die-hard Hendrix fan – and there are easily millions of you – and must have this RSD vinyl release, there are a number of copies available on eBay going for between $25-$35.
The reissue is pressed on 180-gram black vinyl, re-mastered by renowned analog engineer, Bernie Grundman, and includes an essay from Mitch Mitchell, the original Jimi Hendrix Experience’s drummer. All 3,000 limited editions are numbered and include the original artwork. The stunning performance – which is also viewable, in various clips, on YouTube – of songs like “Foxy Lady,” the Dylan cover, “Like A Rolling Stone,” the riveting “Purple Haze,” and the epic tale of “Hey Joe,” are what made the Jimi Hendrix Experience an immediate rock sensation in the United States, an honor that remains fully in place 45 years later.
“Hey Joe” – Jimi Hendirx from
*In this one historic moment from a historic set, Hendrix plays the guitar with his teeth, and does it well.
Another star was made at the ’67 Monterey Pop Fest – Janis Joplin, and The Who’s explosive set propelled them to a higher tier of popularity in the U.S. due in part to the subsequent Monterey Pop Festival album and movie that came out in the ensuing months, on top of the sensational media coverage of the festival in newspapers across the nation. In fact, Monterey Pop is often considered the first major outdoor rock festival. In the video clip below, you can spot Joplin sitting alongside Mama Cats (Mamas and The Papas). But of course the meat and potatoes of the video is Hendrix and his band. At that time, no one had ever heard anything like it, another reason they were just a phenomenon. If you want to watch the full and original Live at Monterey film, it’s available for free streaming, and includes lots of great outtakes besides in addition to stellar footage of the historic performances that took place there.
Monterey achieved a lot of ‘firsts’ in rock and roll, and was a prelude to the youth generation’s musical, political and cultural revolution of the late 1960s. In fact, Live at Monterey is not only an amazing rockumentary, it is widely regarded as the first rockumentary ever – shot and released two years before the Academy Award-winning Woodstock film. If you want to see what the whole rock and roll, flower power and hippie revolution in California was about, no other film encapsulates that time period better than Monterey because it was right there archiving it as it happened. Two years later, in 1969, Woodstock, made headlines around the world, and made Hendrix even more famous, although he would pass away tragically a couple of months later.
“Purple Haze” (Live, Monterey, 1967) – Jimi Hendrix from Live at Monterey
Did You Know? The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 was only the band’s second gig in the United States (and yet it remains of the most historic of all live performances in the history of rock music). Also, Hendrix, a left-hander, played a right-handed by placing strings in opposite order, and he earned his early dues playing backup guitar for the likes of Little Richard and B.B. King.
The British Invasion: 50 Years Later – The Animals, The Zombies, The Stones and The Yardbirds
There are die-hard music fans in their 50’s, 60’s and 70’s who probably have a hard time comprehending, while doing so with great memories of yesteryear, that the world-changing British Invasion – that brought us The Beatles, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and many, many others – made landfall on the shores of America 50 years ago, in 1964. The British Invasion brought a wave of new bands and music from England that would change America, not just popular music, forever. It all pretty much started with The Beatles’ historic performance on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, an event that was viewed by 1 out of every 3 Americans at the time.
Unless we missed it somewhere, we were surprised that record labels did not think about releasing compilations of exclusive vinyl releases featuring a compendium of the top hits from British Invasion bands for the 50th anniversary. After seeing the success of the latest Record Store Day, there has to be a record label executive somewhere kicking himself/herself in the ass for not playing up the 50th anniversary of the invasion on RSD. Talk about missed opportunities, especially considering all of the bitching record label execs have done over the years about lost record sales – seriously: helloooo. It just goes to show that labels these days really do not understand the culture and the marketplace – people are hungary for anything but the crap that is played on Top 40 radio over and over again.
Some of the big groups that came over in the original, and subsequent waves, of the British Invasion – The Animals, The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones, and The Zombies – dropped special vinyls on RSD, and most can still be acquired online, usually for a higher price than the original RSD price (which is the case with just about every RSD vinyl now for sale on sites like eBay).
For admirers of mid and late-60s blues-driven rock by The Animals, headed by frontman, Eric Burdon, the band celebrates its 50th anniversary of breaking through in the U.S. with the reissue of The Animals’ 1964 self-titled debut British EP, featuring the hit single, “Boom Boom,” which was never officially released in the States until now. “Boom Boom” is a cover of the original Johnny Lee Hooker. Many of the bands from the British Invasion were heavily influenced by American rhythm and blues musicians like Hooker, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, B.B. King, and others, who were really the the musicians who founded rock and roll, not Elvis Presley or Buddy Holly.
Anyways, if The Animals’ version of “Boom Boom” sounds familiar to you, and you think you’ve heard it sometime in the past couple of years, it’s possible you recognize it from the latest James Bond movie, Skyfall. The song boomed from the loudspeakers during the scene when the helicopters were approaching the island were Bond first met his nemesis.
“Boom Boom” – The Animals from The Animals EP (1964)
For fans of The Zombies, RSD offered a couple of special treats. First, the band’s 1967 album, I Love You, pressed on a 12-inch vinyl, was released on April 19th for the first time in the United States. Previously, it was only available, not just on vinyl, but at all, in Japan and Europe. Another RSD by The Zombies, the band’s classic 1966 album, Odessey and Oracle, was reissued on RSD14 on 12-inch vinyl, including the mega-hit, “Time of the Season,” easily one of the most recognizable songs of the classic rock era, and a track that just never gets old.
Next, the legendary Rolling Stones, who actually celebrated their 50 years as a band in 2013, were still part of the initial 1964 British Invasion, so the fact that they did not go all out and do something really cool for the half of a century mark on American radio and millions of young people’s turntables, seems a bit odd to us, if nothing less than a missed opportunity for their fans. Rather, the band quietly released a reissue vinyl of their second British EP, Got Live If You Want It, which marks the first time the EP has been fully released on vinyl in the U.S.
The live EP, recorded during March of 1965, chronicles the band’s fifth British tour, playing to sold out, and sometimes, hysterical, mobs of amped up teenagers in Manchester, London, and Liverpool. This EP is the third and final of a series of live Rolling Stones’ performances released by ABKCO; for RSD13, the EP, Live By Live, was released exclusively to indie shops. This final EP of the series includes songs like “Every Needs Somebody To Love;” “Route 66,” “I’m Moving On” and “Pain in My Heart.” Check out this live video of “I’m Alright” circa 1965 – the video quality is amazing considering it was nearly 50 years ago, and the historical value to the story of rock and roll from that time cannot be overstated – not to mention the fact that it’s probably one of the best early Stones’ live video footage available anywhere.
Then there is the most strange and unavoidable aspect of the video – can you guess before you read the next sentence? Yes, the screaming girls. What is that all about? Has anyone ever figured it out? No matter how many times most people see footage of the ubiquitous mobs of screaming girls from rock shows between 1964 to 1966, it’s always baffling, strange, other worldly, and even alarming. No wonder the adults at that time were worried about these girls and the media, dumbfounded and unable to explain such behavior, went with ‘mania,’ like Beatlemania – although no one ever said Stones-mania or Kinks-mania. It remains a sociological, psychological and cultural phenomenon to this day, as far as we can tell without dedicating real time to researching it – maybe a post for another time.
The Rolling Stones did not hit it really big like The Beatles did until about the time that Beatlemania – circa 1968 – began to lose some of its previous unrelenting steam, and the Stones obviously went on to become one of the biggest rock and roll bands ever, thanks largely to a string of mind-bogglingly superb rock albums dropped between 1968 and 1978, and sold out worldwide arena and stadium concerts every time.
Rhino Releases Psychedelic Vinyl of The Yardbirds’ Last Studio LP, Little Games
Although they did not arrive in ’64, they were still part of the British Invasion of bands from England that changed rock and roll forever, not just in their homeland and the U.S., but around the world, and to this day. That is, The Yardbirds. The band’s RSD14 release from Rhino Records is a 12-inch psychedelically-splattered vinyl reissue of their 1967 album, Little Games. Unlike the band’s previous three albums, Little Games did not produce a hit single, and is largely considered the band’s least accomplished record; in fact, the closest the band came to a hit was a ranking of No. 45 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts for the track, “Ha Ha Said The Clown” – but listening to the song, even the band’s most ardent fans may wonder how it made the Top 100 at all. As a whole, the album is a mess, and practically unlistenable; Page himself later called it “horrible,” while The New Rolling Stone Album Guide added that the LP was “a disastrous attempt at conventional pop.”
In 1992, the same year the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the album was remastered and reissued with new songs, mono and instrumental versions of existing songs, outtakes, demos and stereo mixes, tripling the original number of tracks from 10 to 32. The expanded edition featured perhaps the most stand out track – which is to say a lot – of this recording session, “Think About It,” which encapsulates the Jimmy Page lineup at its best, and demonstrates the signature guitar playing that would, just a couple of years later – and subsequently, forever more – make Page one of the most respected, and critically-acclaimed, guitarists in rock music history.
“Think About It” – The Yardbirds from Little Games (1992 Expanded Edition only)
The members of The Yardbirds, circa 1966, with Harleys and manager Peter Grant as Santa. A young Jimmy Page, who began as a session guitarist at only 16 years old, is to the far right.
It does make you wonder exactly why Rhino dropped this vinyl to begin with, especially since it does not include the expanded edition, which is actually the version that saves the session from total obscurity. The original version does include the notable, “White Summer,” an acoustic instrumental with Page on lead. In listening to the guitar work, it clearly foreshadows the acoustic style of guitar playing that Page became famous for later on. For all of its faults, Little Games, on vinyl and remastered, is a necessity for the most die-hard Yardbirds’ fans, and may even serve nicely as a good study in development of skill and style for guitarists who admire, and emulate, Page’s indisputable guitar wizardry.
“White Summer” (Instrumental) – The Yardbirds from Little Games (1967)
This was the only Yardbirds’ studio album (and the last altogether) that Page, who joined Led Zeppelin the following year, performed on before the band broke up. Previously, the group had two other rock guitar legends – Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, who had brief stints as well with The Yardbirds, but during those limited times, helped make The Yardbirds one of the best guitar bands – and posthumously you could say a ‘supergroup’ in the aggregate – of the time and even more so in the years since their disbanding. Of course credit also goes to rhythm guitarist/bassist, Chris Dreja; bassist and producer Paul Samwell-Smith; drummer Jim McCarty; and vocalist and harmonica player, Keith Reif.
Did You Know? Jimmy Page was a studio guitarist at the time The Yardbirds approached him to replace Eric Clapton, but he actually ended up playing bass before he teamed up with Jeff Beck as the second lead guitarist.
Legitimate Concerns About Record Store Day’s Wild Popularity and Success
While last week’s event is being reported as the most successful RSD since its inception in 2008, with a 35% jump in vinyl purchases, and RSD releases that invaded the traditionally Top 40 radio-leaning Billboard charts, there is also understandable, and valid, criticism, and concerns about RSD becoming too big, which naturally is posing challenges for RSD organizers, smaller indie labels and indie stores, especially with the major labels flooding RSD with more releases than ever before, and for some critics, many of the releases – remastered or repackaged singles, EPs, LPs, demos and live recordings particularly – are diluting the truly worthwhile and ‘value-added’ releases that are supposed to make RSD special.
While these issues require attention and robust debate, the fact is that labels and bands putting together limited edition vinyl releases with cool-designed colored vinyls, sleeves with album art, liner notes, booklets and inserts, and turning around and selling these special packages to willing, enthusiastic fans to purchase and to cherish can only be a good thing for music, in so many ways, for freedom.
Jack White returns to his studio after pressing the 'fastest' vinyl release ever on Record Store Day. Photo by Steven S. Harman of The Tennessean The prolific rock musician, producer, and record label owner, Jack White, has created yet another milestone in his 20+ year high-profile career.
White, with help from collaborators, released what is said to be the fastest record every made – from the moment of the recording, through the pressing of the vinyl, to the distribution – just under four hours.
As a promotional stunt on Record Store Day, Saturday, April 19th, White assembled a select group of media, friends and fans at his Third Man Records‘ headquarters in Nashville where he put on a live show, and performed and recorded a live version of “Lazaretto,” the title track from his upcoming sophomore solo album, due to drop in June.
White was joined by some of the same band members that worked with him on his critically-acclaimed, and gold-certified, debut solo album, Blunderbuss. The live set started at 10 a.m. with the previously released instrumental track, “High Ball Stepper,” one of the tracks from Lazaretto. The following features clips from the press conference, events of the day and interviews with fans who waited outside Third Man Records on Saturday for copies of the fastest vinyl single ever (that we know of).
As soon as the single, “Lazaretto,” was recorded in studio, the master tape was rushed across town to be pressed to vinyl. White returned, with escorts and an entourage, to his Third Man studio with the still-warm vinyls in hand, and distributed them to eager and excited press folks, area record store owners and others.
“I never even looked into who has the fastest record,” White revealed during the press conference later that afternoon.
It turns out that Guinness World Records’ digital database contains no established category for “fastest released record,” and there were no officials from Guinness present at the event – which we understand means it will not be recorded officially by Guinness since they must have a representative present for any record-breaking milestones. However, some blogs are mistakenly reporting that White’s achievement – which is undeniably impressive and newsworthy – is a new Guinness record.
But White was more focused on making sure the record got recorded, cut and distributed on RSD, than on setting a record for the fastest vinyl recording and release ever.
“I woke up at about 4 in the morning last night [Saturday], and I thought, ‘Wow. I think there’s about 12 or 13 things that could really go wrong tomorrow,’ White said. “I just thought how difficult it was going to be to explain to people if we didn’t pull it off, so thank God we did.”
While we’ve not been able to get an audio copy of the vinyl single quite yet, we’re working on it, and hope to have the full version included in IRC’s full RSD 2014 report and playlist that will be published later today (and will include all kinds of great RSD tracks – many of which are re-mastered classic rock and indie/alternative songs). Follow IRC on Twitter or Facebook to be notified as soon as it’s published.
In the meantime, Al Ford, program director of the Edmonton radio station Sonic 102.9, travelled on an invitation to Nashville from Canada for the event, and returned to explain the experience itself, and to play the vinyl single, in the following YouTube video.
White accomplished his goal to record, press and distribute the “Lazaretto” vinyl in under four hours, shattering the reported previous record held by Swiss polka trio Vollgas Kompanie. White was able to accomplish the goal in approximately three hours, 55 minutes and 21 seconds, just under his initial four hour target.
Two weeks ago, White released the advanced instrumental track, “High Ball Stepper,” with a visually striking music video to compliment the crackling, heavily distorted guitar riffs that smoke and blaze relentlessly throughout, and unlike any other rock song we’ve heard so far in 2014. Leave it up to White to top himself once again in just how far one can push an electric guitar to new heights. Is it too much to say that White is perhaps the closest Gen-X has ever come to having its own Hendrix?
The band, The War on Drugs, released 'Lost in The Dream' in March.Last week, we posted our favorite singles from the top new albums released during the first week of March. And what a fantastic week for new albums – the official playlist of lead singles from those releases is one of the best single week playlists of 2014, so far. This second part of Best New Songs and Albums of 2014 covers the best indie for the remaining three weeks of March. Altogether, this playlist of some 30 or so singles is full of gems from all genres of the indie music spectrum, highlighting new albums from Iska Dhaaf, Tokyo Police Club, Black Lips, The Coathangers, Foster The People, The War on Drugs, The Hold Steady, MØ & Diplo, James Supercave, Liars, Howler, Aloe Blacc, Le1f, Metronomy, Champs, Nick Waterhouse, Dean Wareham, Ozomatli, Scraps, Freddie Gibbs with Madlib, Ringworm, Lyla Foy, The Strypes, Perfect Pussy, Tycho, Ages and Ages, Owls, among others.
Top Singles from March Releases by Aloe Blacc, MØ & Diplo, Le1f, Dean Wareham, Champs and Ozomatli
The standout single, and album, for the second week of March’s newest drops goes to, in our humble opinion to Seattle indie duo, and Brick Lane recording artist, Iska Dhaaf, featuring former Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band frontman Benjamin Verdoes and Nathan Quiroga (aka Buffalo Madonna of Mad Rad). They dropped their newest album on March 11th, featuring a fine mix of driving post-punk tracks and psych dream pop songs like the lead single, “Everybody Knows.”
It was not that difficult of a choice because the quantity of quality releases for the second week of March, which covers March 11th through March 17th, was no where near – as already mentioned – the treasure trove of new releases, and amazing singles, as the first official week of March. But that does not mean there were no terrific singles and albums dropped in the second week of March.
In fact, the single, “The Man,” from Aloe Blacc‘s new album, Lift Your Spirit, is easily the most successful single from a new album dropped for the week of March 11th. So far, the official lyric video of “The Man” has received an astonishing 13.8 million views, the official video itself over 1.7 million (it was released later than the lyric video), while other audio versions of the song on YouTube (and not including remixes) have received another estimated five to six million streams, compared to more than a quarter of a million plays on Soundcloud. We also included a couple of other singles that flow genre-wise with Blacc’s sound, such as MØ‘s “Love Letters,” featuring Diplo and Le1f‘s “Boom” from the digital-only EP, Hey, released by Terrible Records and XL Recordings.
“Everybody Knows” – Iska Dhaaf from Even The Sun Will Burn on Brick Lane
“The Man” – Aloe Blacc from Lift Your Spirit on Interscope/XIX
“XXX 88” – MØ featuring Diplo from No Mythologies to Follow on RCA
“This Is A Game” – Nick Waterhouse from Holly on Innovative Leisure
“Boom” – Le1f from Hey EP on Terrible Records/XL Recordings
Top Singles from New Albums by Foster The People, Freddie Gibbs, The War on Drugs and Tycho
The third official week of releases for the month of March, March 18th through 24th, spawned stand out singles from artists and bands such as Foster The People, Freddie Gibbs, The War on Drugs, The Strypes, and Perfect Pussy. Among the best songs dropped this week, and for the entire month of March, include rockers like “Boys in the Woods” from Black Lips, and “Follow Me” by The Coathangers. In the third installment, we’ll feature the top singles from new albums released on March 25th and through until the end of the month, March 31st. Altogether, though, week three cannot possibly compare to week two, and especially week one, of March releases, a playlist you’ve got to hear; chances are you’ll spin the entire playlist a few times since it’s not a one-spin playlist.
The next Tuesday for new releases will officially be April 1st. April is the time of year when you can pretty much say goodbye to the winter, although a terrible winter in the mid-West and the northeast holds on stubbornly at the time of this post writing (March 29-30th). Stay tuned for the first installment of “other” and “miscellaneous” CD, MP3 and vinyl album releases, highlighting the best live, singles, cover songs and re-releases of 2014 so far – featuring January through March releases. This playlist, highlighting the top singles includes everything from popular indie rock from bands like The War on Drugs; ambient grooves from Tycho; hard-core electro from Sisyphus; pop melodies from Lyla Foy; acoustic singer-songwriter sounds from Kevin Drew; metal from Ringworm and metal punk from Perfect Pussy.
“Red Eyes” – The War on Drugs from Lost in the Dream on Secretly Canadian
“Coming of Age” – Foster the People from Supermodel on Columbia
“Driver” – Perfect Pussy from Say Yes to Love on Captured Tracks
“Awake” – Tycho from Awake on Ghostly International
New Material from Tokyo Police Club, The Hold Steady, Howler, Liars and Future Islands
The final week of releases for the month of March – covering March 25th through March 31st – featured new albums from indie rock heavy-hitters like Tokyo Police Club, The Hold Steady, Future Islands and Liars, as well as bands to watch like Howler, Big Scary, James Supercave, Ages and Ages.
“Argentina” (Parts I, II, III) – Tokyo Police Club from Forcefield on Mom+Pop
The New York electro duo's new album, 'Blonde,' is one of 2014's hottest new indie releasesThe first week of March was a hot one for standout, memorable singles from that week’s top album releases, and easily one of the best sets of 2014’s top indie songs released so far this year, featuring a treasure trove of electrifying, original, infectious and amazingly diverse tunes. So, we’re just going to skip all of the talk and let the music speak for itself. The songs are somewhat in order of our – and others’ – favorites, including an emphasis on the tracks that have already produced a good buzz from indie music lovers across the states, and around the world. This playlist is meant, as they all really, to be listened to all the way through from the first to the last track. If you like to dance, there are some gem songs in that category as well. Enjoy.
We listened to this playlist of singles from March at least a half dozen times in the cafe; hopefully, it will be equally addicting to many of you. Highlighted artists and bands include Ghost Beach, Real Estate, The Men, Cataldo, Eagulls, Nothing, Eternal Summers, WhoMadeWho, Drive-By Truckers, We Are Scientists, Axxa/Abraxas, Lushes, Sally Seltmann, Each Other, Fenster, Trust, Mount Salem, and Ava Luna. More singles’ playlists of the top tracks of March 2014 are on the way. If you need one resource where you can always stop in to get the best of popular and DIY indie music, you found it. First up, the popular electronic rock duo, Ghost Beach, featuring musicians Josh Ocean and Eric “Doc” Mendelsohn, and their smoking new single, “Miracle,” from the guys’ terrific new album, Blonde.
Are you ready to listen to a big playlist of some of the best singles released so far in 2014? Well, we’ve gone through over 60 releases from February, and picked out what we think are the top singles from new albums by signed and more well-known indie and alternative rock artists and bands. If you missed releases from February, this second volume for our top picks of the best indie rock singles from new albums for the month is just what you need. This post and playlist covers most of February not covered in Volume One. We’ve listened to this playlist already about four times – it’s loaded with terrific songs from all kinds of sub-genres, including pop, psychedelic, electronic, and folk – in fact, you’ll see further down that we’ve broken up a good number of the singles into their respective sub-genres.
This time around, we’re going to start with the most recent week – week of February 25th – first, and work backwards to the week of February 11th releases. The last week of releases for February was probably the most epic of all weeks so far this year, considering the quantity and quality of releases, and from some of the best musicians and bands of the indie/alternative rock world, including Beck, Major Lazor, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Natural Child, St. Vincent, Withered Hands, The Notwist, among many others.
the first album from Beck in six years, so that was, and continues to be, a nice treat for long-time Beck fans, and for young folks who are just starting to learn about, and seek out, great musicians of the past 20 years – Beck definitely fits into that category. Perhaps most widely known for songs like “Two Turntables and a Microphone” and “Loser” (I’m a loser, baby/so why don’t you kill me), Beck’s discography goes so much deeper, and broader, than his early, quasi-revolutionary (in as far as shaking up the music culture – he definitely did that back in the mid 90s). On his latest album, Morning Phase, Beck crafts an impressive collection of beautiful acoustic folk pop songs touched with a blend of hazy vocals, low-key harmonies and piano and tambourine parts. The lead single, “Waking Light,” is only a sampling of the magnificent music that awaits the listener on Morning Phase. If you enjoyed Beck’s 2002, Sea Change, one of his best albums, you’ll likely love Morning Phase.
* Note: See our ‘sidebar’ story at the end of the post about a hilarious moment at a Beck concert in 1995 at Stanford University. We had to include it while we’re being reacquainted with Beck.
Hot New Singles and Albums from St. Vincent, Major Lazer, Natural Child, Wild Beasts, and Others
One of the big draws at South By Southwest this week was St. Vincent, and attendees were treated to hearing new songs from her freshly released self-titled album, containing hit singles like “Digital Witness.”
Next, the popularity of Major Lazer only continues to grow as time goes on, and now they’ve paired up with Pharrell Williams on the new beat-driven single, “Aerosol Can.” Plus, listen to fresh singles from new albums by Natural Child, New Madrid, We Were Promised Jetpacks, and Wild Beasts, whose official video for “Wanderlust” has received over a half million views in just nine weeks.
“Aerosol Can” – Major Lazer and Pharrell Williams from Apocalypse Soon EP on Secretly Canadian/Mad Decent
“Out in the Country” – Natural Child from Dancin’ With Wolves via Burger Records
“Horseshoe” – Withered Hand from New Gods via Slumberland
“Manners” – New Madrid from Sunswimmer via Normaltown
“Wanderlust” – Wild Beasts from Present Tense via Domino
Notwist’s New ‘Kong’ Video and Album Close to the Glass
The band Notwist’s new music video for the single, “Kong,” tells a touching story of a great flood and how Kong saved the day. The story is told with cut-out style graphics and illustrations – very much oriented to the kid inside of you who still can appreciate the simple beauty of escaping this world for a few minutes and entering the world of a colorful cartoon that just so happens to have an excellent, upbeat, driving pop melody that is sure to get some people up and dancing. We think the video definitely enhances the song, and vice versa. Of course the musicianship of the song itself reinforces the talent and experience of a band that has been dropping sweet tracks for some two decades now. It’s also just another example of Sub Pop‘s uncanny abilities to pick and foster amazing artists and bands.
“Kong” – The Notwist from Close to the Glass via Sub Pop
Top Rock, Pop, Electro and Folk Singles
The other top singles for the week, broken down into sub-genres and featuring terrific songs from new albums by D. Charles Speer and the Helix, Casper & The Cookies, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Damaged Bug, River Run North and She Sir, among others.
Rock
“Wallwalker” – D. Charles Speer and the Helix from Doubled Exposure via Thrill Jockey
“Dingbats” – Casper & the Cookies from Dingbats via Wild Kindness Records
“Peace Sign” – We Were Promised Jetpacks from E Rey: Live in Philadelphia via FatCat
“These Plains” – Vertical Scratchers from Daughter of Everything via Merge
Electro
“Eggs At Night” – Damaged Bug from Hubba Bubba via Castle Face
“I Got Skills” – Mozes & the Firstborn from Mozes & the Firstborn via Burger Records
“Mercury Dime” – Death Vessel from Island Intervals via Sub Pop
Week of February 18th Releases Featuring Phantogram, Bear Hands, NO, Guided By Voices, Lost in Trees and More
The week of February 18th included a good number of releases, but only a handful of which, largely based on the lead singles, made it into this next section of the playlist highlighting the singles of the week from new albums, some of which we’ve heard all the way through. A lead single is often a calling card of an album, enticing the music lover to listen to the entire album, which is easy to do nowadays with services like Spotify. The top releases, in our book, include new singles and albums from Phantogram, Bear Hands, NO, Guided By Voices, Lost in Trees, Shocking Pinks, among others. Rather than write much – so we can catch up quickly with March and the tons of great DIY music that’s on it’s way – we’ll just let the music speak for itself. As with all of IRC’s playlists, you can click through the songs to stream them, or let them stream automatically (with no commercial breaks!) from top to bottom while you do other things, and you can also save the MP3s to listen to later on your favorite MP3 player, as well as share with friends.
There’s plenty of sweet tunes for you to stream and download, Like and share, Tweet and vote for, and anything else you want. Share great music with friends and family using the various social media networks buttons at the top and bottom of this post, especially if you really dig this playlist, or any playlist or post on IRC. In order to catch up with floods of new releases over recent weeks from unsigned and DIY, plus small label and under-the-radar artists and bands, as well as the latest from popular and well-known indie artists (which this post playlist covers), we’ve put together three weeks of releases for February in one big post and playlist.
So let’s get started on the releases for the week of February 18th. Don’t miss Phantogram‘s official video for their single, “Fall In Love,” which has been one of the most viewed indie rock videos over the past month. In fact, since the video was released on February 10th, it has received well over a half of a million views altogether, approaching 140,000 views a week, or nearly 20,000 views a day. That’s a hot rate for any music video.
“Traces” – Solids from Blame Confusion via Fat Possum
Mellow
“Black Bough” – New Bums from Voices in a Rented Room via Drag City
“Rites” – Lost in the Trees from Past Life via Anti-
“All Love’s Legal” – Planningtorock from All Love’s Legal via Human Level Recordings
Top Releases from Deleted Scenes, Temples, Disco Doom, Fanfarlo and Sun Kil Moon
The second week of releases for February, covering February 11th to February 17th, was not as blockbuster as the week of February 25th, or even the week of February 18th, but there were still plenty of fine singles and new albums from a variety of artists and bands, including Temples, Thumpers, Disco Doom, Fanfarlo, The Casket Girls, Sun Kil Moon, Neil Finn and others. There are plenty of terrific bands with new music out right now.
Such is the case with the Deleted Scenes.
The new single, “Stutter” from Deleted Scenes is a hands-down standout track, and why it is placed at the top of this week’s playlist. Another one of the very best singles from new albums dropped this week is Modern Baseball‘s wonderful pop track, “Rock Bottom,” followed by indie psych rock band Temples‘ newest single “Mesmerize.” There is also a bit of a change in the style and sound of the popular indie pop-rock band Fanfarlo‘s latest single, “Myth of Myself.” It’s the kind of song that will grow on you, or not; the same can be said for the album, Let’s Go Extinct , as well – It’s not as convincingly magnificent as Fanfarlo’s earlier albums, but ultimately, the band’s loyal fans around the world will embrace it.
“Stutter” – Deleted Scenes from Lithium Burn via Park the Van/Nevado
“Rock Bottom” – Modern Baseball from You’re Gonna Miss It All via Run for Cover
“Mesmerise” – Temples from Sun Structures via Fat Possum
Mark Kozelek’s Sun Kil Moon; Neil Finn’s First LP in XX Years and Stoner Tuneage from Disco Doom
The prolific, wordsmith and artistic musician, Mark Kozelek, (Sun Kil Moon and Red House Painters), is one of our favorite indie rock singer/songwriters of all time. His heartfelt lyrics, words of wisdom; magnificent, often poignant, story-telling, together with his wonderful musical compositions and unmistakably velvety smooth, yet touchingly melancholic, vocals, all come together on each and every track, are the hallmarks of a gifted songwriter, musician and vocalist. But Kozelek does much more than check off the boxes, he gets into your bone marrow, your soul and your heart, evoking emotions and triggering deep thoughts. Now he’s back with Sun Kil Moon and special guests, Will Oldham and Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley, with a spectacular new album, Benji, on Caldo Verde Records.
“Michelin” – Sun Kil Moon from Benji via Caldo Verde Records
Neil Finn released his sixth studio album, Dizzy Heights, in February, and the fantastic song, “Divebomber.” It’d be great track (even in slices) on a movie soundtrack or anyone who enjoys great songwriting and musicianship. Next, “Rice & Bone,” by Disco Doom is a drawn out mellow rocker with mean guitar riffs intertwined throughout – very much a stoner track which is so obviously influenced by Sonic Youth, but in a respectable way; so they deserve props for that – after all, if you’re going to emulate a rock band, Sonic Youth is up high on the list of suitable mentors by no stretch of the imagination. Keeping with the mellow feel are noteworthy new singles from The Casket Girls and Thumpers.
“Divebomber” – Neil Finn from Dizzy Heights via Lester Records
“Rice & Bones” – Disco Doom from Numerals via Exploding in Sound
“Same Side” – The Casket Girls from True Love Kills the Fairy Tale via Graveface
Rising Hard Rockers, The Glitch Mob, Drop New LP; Plus, Creepy Rock by Solvent
The breakout hard rock band, Glitch Mob, grind out heavy, dark and fuzz-filled power chords on guitar, bass and synths, creating an intensely powerful sonic rage that sounds like a gigantic robotic demon trashing through a city, destroying everything in its path and leaving behind a post-apocalyptic landscape of desolation, death and ruin.
The Glitch Mob crossed our radar in mid-2013, and there new LP, Love Death Immortality, is chock full of hard rock synth tracks, and a must-have for fans of the multiple sub-genres that the band qualifies for. The band’s name is similar to another alternative rock band we really dig, Glitch Mouth. Because their band names are so much alike, there will be people that confuse one for the other.
Following The Glitch Mob is Solvent‘s latest single, “Burn The Tables,” from the band’s new LP, New Ways. The lead track is menacing, bold and even creepy; it’d make a good track for a Halloween mixtape.
“Can’t Kill Us” – The Glitch Mob from Love Death Immortality via Glass Air
During the past few weeks, we’ve noticed a number of trends while sorting through and listening to hundreds of songs (in order to pick the best for IRC playlists). One of these trends includes an increasing number of singles and albums that fall under the categories of ‘space rock’ or ‘space pop,’ or even ‘ambient rock,’ among other descriptors – like the rising band, Wax Fang, whose new album, Astronaut, was featured in the top singles for the week of February 4th. Now, the new single, “Beelitz Heilstatten pt6,” from the band Hands, sounds like it came out of 2001: A Space Odyssey (originally released in 1969 by director Stanley Kubrick), or more recently, the film, Gravity. Another unavoidable characteristic of such songs is that they generally run from six, up to 13 or more, minutes. Also, enjoy the grooves of the title track from the latest album from Illum Sphere.
After 15-Year Hiatus, Cibo Matto Returns With Fresh Tracks
After 15 years of essentially dropping off the map and releasing no new material during that time, it was a bit of a surprise to see New York City indie cult duo, Cibo Matto, return this week with a brand new album of original music. The album’s first single, “MFN,” featuring musician and comedian Reggie Watts, is average and OK; nothing that would standout, especially when you consider that after a nearly 15-year hiatus, expectations – for better or for worse – are understandably high. But, in our estimation, the expectation was not met; in fact, even a more humbled and forgiving review bets against this track ending up in the Top 10 Songs playlists; but maybe you guys will prove us wrong. Cibo Matto are the latest in IRC’s on-going series Way Back Now that spotlights new releases from artists and bands who haven’t released an album of original new material l in 10 or more years.
“MFN” – Cibo Matto with Reggie Watts from Hotel Valentine via Chimera
Sidebar: The Incident at Beck’s 1995 Stanford University Performance
A friend in Brazil will of course never forget the time that we saw Beck live at Stanford University during his explosive popularity, circa 1995, when the new break-out musician everyone was talking about, and who made the cover of Rolling Stone, and many other magazines (back when magazines were still something you saw people reading on the subway or the bus). Aside from his astonishing live perform, just about every person there that night will remember the opening band, Los Fuegos something or other, and the bass player, who in reaction to a very unwelcoming set of boos and people throwing ice cubes, decided to go backstage, undress completely with the exception of his cowboy hat and cowboy poke boots, and came back out on the stage with a fully erect, donkey-sized schlong, clearly visible to everyone in the audience, and the boos turned to hysterical laughter, disbelief, applause and confusion. An elderly male campus police officer in the front of the stage, turned around to see what the people in front of him were reacting to and pointing at, saw what everyone else saw, and turned back around to face the audience, possibly hoping that no one saw him see what he saw so that he wouldn’t have to confront the tall ranchero musician with the giant schlong, a bass guitar and cowboy hat and boots. We’ll we saw him and he turned beat red. Not only that, our sweet friend from Brazil, almost automatically put his hand over the eyes of the horrified 12 or 13 year old girl sitting next to him (he had two sisters around the same age at the time; big brother’s natural reaction). For whatever reason, no authorities at all tried to stop the performance, and we never found out if the guy was arrested or cited by the police of Stanford University or of the city of Palo Alto, California, located about 40 miles south of San Francisco on the northern edge of the Silicon Valley. True story.
The first full week of February’s best new indie rock songs and albums includes anticipated releases from well-known indie bands we’ve covered extensively over the years, like Xiu Xiu, Broken Bells, Cymbals, and Bombay Bicycle Club. Other bands and artists that we were previously less familiar with, like Water Liars and Juan Wauters, definitely made a lasting impression this time around with their new album singles. And then there were the pleasant surprises from indie artists that we’ve never heard of before, like Asgiers and Mas Ysa.
The top album single from an artist that we’d never heard of before goes to the rumbling pop rocker, “Torrent,” from Icelandic singer and songwriter Asgeir (full name is Ásgeir Trausti Einarsson). The song features sweeping waves of guitars and percussions, melodic hooks and dreamy vocals. It’s almost impossible for such a song not to stand out; it’s absolutely wonderful, and the more we listen to it, and the album, In the Silence, the more we want to keep playing them over and over. “Torrent” is also a great treatment for the winter doldrums, thanks to its celebratory and uplifting exuberance, something that tens of millions of people across the interior states, from the Great Lakes to the Deep South, and most especially throughout the northeast, can relate to probably more than any other winter in recent memory, which makes the opening song of this top singles’ playlist even more applicable.
“Torrent” – Ásgeir from In the Silence via One Little Indian
Augustines Drop Self-Titled Sophomore Album; Strong New Single
This next song, “Nothing to Lose But Your Head,” by the Augustines, is a perfect follow-up to Asgier’s amazing “Torrent.” The intro of the Augustines’ song has a bit of a U2 feel and sound to it; in fact, it sounds like it could be a U2 song more than any other song we’ve heard in some time; when three different musicheads, and longtime U2 fans, say the same thing, then it must be true, or damn close. We’re not saying the Augustines sound just like U2; but this particular song, it’s construction, tempo, vocals, lyrics, etc. remind us so much of U2. And that’s not automatically a bad thing, especially because it’s a great song that stands on its own merit. The Seattle-via-Brooklyn quartet have been on our radar since their 2001 debut LP, Rise Ye Sunken Ships. The band’s self-titled sophomore album was officially released on February 4th.
“Nothing To Lose But Your Head” – Augustines from Augustines via Votiv/Oxcart
Video: Watch the official YouTube video for “Nothing To Lose But Your Head”
Triple Shot of Beats and Grooves from Broken Bells, Cymbals and Gardens & Villa
The band Broken Bells have sold out, or just about sold out, every where they’ve toured since the release of their self-titled debut album in March of 2010. Fast forward to present day and the band has done it again with the new album, After The Disco, and the single, “Holding On For Life.” For some fans, the new album rates about the same as the band’s album, Meyrin Fields, released in March of 2011, while other fans think it’s even better; but the majority of fans, based on the feedback we’ve heard or read over the past few weeks, still hold up the debut album as the band’s best. But, for critics, according to MetaCritic, Broken Bells’ After The Disco is the band’s best album to date, beating out their debut by one point (a 72 and 71 respectively). It’s interesting to note that music listeners gave the band’s debut a 85 but only a 76 for the latest album.
Just about four years ago, in March of 2010, James Mercer, Danger Mouse, and their new band, Broken Bells, were one of the big buzz bands at South By Southwestin Austin. Just a week earlier, the band had officially dropped their self-titled debut, which only heightened the interest brewing around the band’s SXSW appearances. The only one we could actually get into was a Saturday show at 1pm in a rather small venue (name escapes us right now). The buzz proved to be legit because they sounded excellent live.
“Holding On For Life” – Broken Bells from After the Disco via Columbia
Keeping the beats going off the tail end of the new Broken Bells’ single “Holding On For Life,” is the lead track, “The Natural World,” from Cymbals‘ new album, The Age of Fracture; a perfect follow-up track to “Holding On For Life.” The next single, “Bullet Train,” from Gardens & Villa‘s album, Dune, keeps the beats and the grooves going for a little longer. Altogether, that’s a compelling triple-play of new singles; a three-shot rock bloc; a sonic three-way, triple-decker musical hat-trick.
“The Natural World” – Cymbals from The Age Of Fracture via Fat Possum
“Bullet Train” – Gardens & Villa from Dunes via Secretly Canadian
Bombay Bicycle Club’s New LP No. 1 on U.K. and U.S. Alternative Albums Charts
Aside from their catchy name, the indie band Bombay Bicycle Club have been on our radar for at least five years now, and deservingly so. Just in the past few weeks, the band’s newest album, So Long, See You Tomorrow, released during the first week of February, has been on a really big roll, topping both the U.K. and U.S. alternative album charts by the last week of February and into the first week of March. The cover art (above) for the album is spectacular; it’s easily one of the best album covers of 2014 (so far).
A No. 1 album on both sides of the Atlantic is a tremendous accomplishment for any band. On this side of the Atlantic (and across the continent to the edge of the Pacific), we posted Bombay Bicycle Club’s debut single, “Evening/Morning,” and the follow-up song, “Always Like This,” back in the early days of IRC. Since that time, BBC has become one of our favorite U.K. indie bands, especially now that we’ve spun So Long, See You Tomorrow numerous times. In fact, it was the U.S. release of their 2009 debut album, I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose, that initially put BBC in IRC’s overseas bands to watch column. Since then, the mates have been on a tear, dropping two EPs, three full-length albums, and touring around the world. Moreover, the band has earned gold album certifications in the U.K. for each of their first three LPs.
Members of the popular English indie band Bombay Bicycle Club - Photo by UK Independent
While the Bombay Bicycle Club are well on their way to earning another gold album certification in the U.K. for So Long, See You Tomorrow, the band has yet to break on to the U.S. alternative singles chart, with the slight exception of a brief stay at No. 40 in 2011 for the track, “Shuffle,” from the band’s third album, A Different Kind of Fix. It’s hard to understand, considering excellent tracks like “Carry Me” and “Luna,” why BBC have not been able to crack the Top 200, let alone the Top 40, on the U.S. alternative singles charts, especially now that they’ve topped the album charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
“Carry Me” – Bombay Bicycle Club from So Long, See You Tomorrow via Vagrant
Check out the dazzling “Carry Me” music video via YouTube
Perhaps part of the reason for the success of the band’s newest album is the fact that their label allowed them almost 100% artistic freedom, thereby enabling the band to experiment and test the boundaries. Usually the most revolutionary and positive results in music occur when artists are given a green light to explore and experiment.
The band has demonstrated about as well as any band can their desire, and capability, to expand their musical horizons since the release of their jangle-heavy indie pop debut, which was followed up by the all-acoustic 2010 sophomore release, Flaws, an album that took their popularity, and press adoration, to new heights. In fact, the band received an Ivor Novello nomination and made it on to the BBC’s Radio One playlist. “It just proved that sometimes you have to think outside [of] the box. Labels have such formulas, you know,” states Steadman.
Xiu Xiu members Jamie Stewart and Caralee McElroy
Bay Area Band Xiu Xiu Release Ninth Album Since 2002 Debut
The San Jose, California avante-garde band Xiu Xiu has had their own buzz factor going for a number of years since their 2002 debut, Knife Play. The lead single, “Stupid in the Dark,” has hard, almost riveting beats and a overall effectively dark sound, and is clearly one of the (if not the) best tracks on Angel Guts: Red Classroom, the band’s ninth album. As the band grows and experiments musically, and naturally loses some of their youthful energy and perspective, there is always the risk of isolating their long-time fans with new styles and a more polished final production that challenge the band’s previous reputation in which their rawness and originality are real aspects that appeal to long-time fans. Note: We didn’t publish the Angel Guts: Red Classroom album cover because it’s terrible and we avoid, at all costs, posting terrible art on IRC. A band like Xiu Xiu, with the backing of Polyvinyl’s resources, should be able to put out a better cover than that.
Obviously not just Xiu Xiu, but at some point bands that have been around for five years or more years will change and sometimes lose some of their earliest and most loyal fans. Look at the Arctic Monkeys. A lot of folks we know, and to some extent, including ourselves, were not wild about the more tamed and polished sound and the absence of the unfettered blazing guitars, bass and drums and the insanely energetic and poignant vocals and lyrics.
When Humbug was released, the band’s original edgy rock sound was largely absent, and the change was a big disappointment for not only fans, but many critics as well. It’s simple – many of their fans wanted that wild, explosive raw energy, along with more tamed, even beautiful, tracks like “When The Sun Goes Down” and “Teddy Picker,” and “The View from the Afternoon” off of the lads’ early albums, most especially their amazing debut LP, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (2006) and the epic follow-up album, Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007). The Arctic Monkey’s recent albums have received mixed reviews from critics and fans, but it’s not the same perfect chemistry that the band’s first two albums produced. Is it possible that the same fate awaits Xiu Xiu? The past few albums from Xiu Xiu, starting with their 2012 release, Always, and including 2013’s Nina, and now, Angel Guts, have not been as strong as the five albums Xiu Xiu dropped between 2003 and 2010, including masterpieces like Fabulous Muscles (2004) and The Air Force (2006).
“Stupid in the Dark” – Xiu Xiu from Angel Guts: Red Classroom via Polyvinyl
New Singles and Albums from Plus Minus, Water Liars, Juan Wauters, Mas Ysa, Snowbird and ceo
The following is another bloc of singles from new albums dropped during the week of February 4th through February 10th. Stream or download new singles from Plus Minus; a rather cheery song by Water Liars, considering the song title; an uptempo pop single, “Wonderland,” from ceo, and the fast-driving dance pop single from Mas Ysa. To finish out the week of Feb. 4th new and original releases, check out Juan Wauters‘ psychedelic-tinged acoustic single, “Escucho Mucho,” from the album, N.A.P. North American Poetry, followed by Bella Union recording artist Snowbird‘s single “Porcelain,” a song with a hauntingly beautiful allure that somehow triggers a vision of a lonely prairie landscape blurred by heavy falling snow and absolute dead silence except for the faint, soft howl of an occasional kick in the wind.
“Exorcising Your Ghost” – Plus Minus from Jumping the Tracks via Teenbeat Records
“I Want Blood” – Water Liars from Water Liars via Fat Possum
“Wonderland” – ceo from Wonderland via Modular Recordings
“Why” – Mas Ysa from Worth EP via Downtown Records
“Escucho Mucho” – Juan Wauters from N.A.P. North American Poetry via Captured Tracks
“Porcelain” – Snowbird from Moon via Bella Union
Also view the animation music video for “Porcelain” via YouTube
Coming up: Volumes II (Week of February 11th); III(Week of February 18th) and IV(Week of February 25th, which overlaps through March 3rd)
Review the post and playlist for the best releases for the week of January 28th, featuring singles, albums, bands and artists such as Damien Jurado, Mogwai, Warpaint, The Hidden Cameras, Thee Oh Sees, Wild Cub, Against Me, and Bill Callahan.
The best new releases of January 21st highlights singles and albums from Actress, Pontiak, The Pack A.D., Gem Club, The Gaslight Anthem, Bibio, and The Autumn Defense, the latter of which is a musical side project of John Stirratt of Wilco and Uncle Tupelo.
We are getting through them and rolling out the best new indie rock playlists after sifting through piles and piles of music submissions from every direction. As those of you who have followed us for some time know well, we cover both the best of what is considered the more well-known, even popular, indie rock artists’ and bands’ new releases, as well as the DIY/unsigned, small label and under-the-radar artists and bands. Due to overwhelming demand, listeners have made it clear they want one resource that covers the best of both the popular and DIY releases of the month. Right now, we’re in catch up mode.
A couple of days ago, we posted the Best New Indie Rock Songs & Albums, January/February 2014 for the week of January 21st. Now, it’s time to move on to the week of January 28th, which overlaps into the first couple of days of February. All of February’s playlists are in the works and will be published over the next week, as well as bunches of great DIY recent releases you’ll only hear on IRC.
The week of January 28th’s top singles represent new albums from artists and bands like Actress, Pontiak, The Pack A.D., Gem Club, The Gaslight Anthem, Bibio, among others. But first up, The Autumn Defense, a musical side project of John Stirratt of Wilco and Uncle Tupelo, highlighting the terrific track, “None of This Will Matter,” from Fifth.
“Rap” – Actress from Ghettoville via Werkdiscs/Ninja Tune
The new album, Innocence, from the band Pontiak
Although there was not a lot of rock singles in January, the last week of January releases (Jan. 28th-Feb. 2nd), offered up a number of rock tracks, as you’ll see over the course of the next half dozen or so songs. First up, the band Pontiak rips out a strong garage rocker on the title track of their new album, Innocence. We could not resist the temptation to also include the crunchy riff-blazer, with its obvious Black Sabbath influence, of the single, “Surrounded By Diamonds,” another top track on Innocence, followed up by the band Sleep Sun, who deliver up shoegazey, atmospheric rock, with sky-reaching psychedelic riffs, on the single, “The Lane,” from their new album, Maui Tears. If you like those singles, definitely check out the bands’ new albums; Pontiak and Sleepy Sun are of particular note. And finally, to round out this triple-rock, check out the single, “Needles,” from the latest LP from a band we’ve been following for years, The Pack A.D.
“Innocence” – Pontiak from Innocence via Thrill Jockey Records
“Needles” – The Pack A.D. from Do Not Engage via Nettwerk Music Group
Doug Tuttle, Habibi, and Gem Club’s New Album Singles’ Triple-Shot
Doug Tuttle, who left the New Hampshire psych band, MMOSS, over a year ago, returned with his self-titled debut solo album on January 28th, featuring the lead single, “Turn This Love,” that has a kick-ass guitar-heavy jam for at least half of the six minutes, propped up with a deep, bumbling bass groove, somewhat spooky-sounding psychedelic organ playing, a steady, yet repetitious cycling of mid-tempo drum beats, cymbal crashing and tambourine rattling, and dubbed, but understated, vocals that fade out for at least the last three and half to four minutes, and give way to one of the best late 60s/early 70s style rock jams we’ve heard this year.
Keeping the sort of classic/psych rock revisited sound going for a little longer is the lead single, “Let Me In,” from new-to-us band, Habibi, off of their self-title debut, followed by the single, “Polly,” by Hardly Artrecording artist, Gem Club. Finally, the next trio of songs fit together well.
“Turn This Love” – Doug Tuttle from Doug Tuttle via Trouble in Mind
“Let Me In” – Habibi from Habibi via Burger Records
If you happen to be on a rock kick at the moment, don’t miss unsigned bands like The Howler Weary, The Supplement, and musician Matt Boroff, – who has shared the stage with bands like QOSTA and Nirvana. In fact, QOSTA and Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Langen contributed to Boroff’s latest album. Those tracks can be streamed and downloaded in our coverage of January Top DIY Rock Songs & Albums.
Wax Fang Explore the Universe of Sound and Space
Wax Fang‘s latest lead single from the long-awaited album, The Astronaut, feels like a perfect way to end this week’s playlist; the track, “Majestic,” just seems to have that ending-credits-rolling-up-on-the-movie-screen feel to it when the house lights come up and people start slowly filing out. No idea why that song evokes that impression, but it just does. And in keeping with the over-riding theme of the week, “Majestic,” features some impressive guitar licks. And while it’s a mostly chill song, featuring a swaggering country rock touch complete with whistling in the background, it also has a bit of a rough edge to it as well. By the way, the audio-only YouTube version of the song received over 335,000 plays.
In case you’re not up on the Wax Fang story, the Louisville, Kentucky experimental psych rock duo wrote the score for the 150th episode of the popular TV show, American Dad. Last summer and fall, the band released a trilogy of space-rock opera compositions related to the lone space traveler who gets separated from his space vessel, swallowed by a black hole and transformed into a celestial super being. The Astronaut, the band’s highly-praised space-rock opera, is now available to the world, and it’s truly out of this world.
Just in case you hadn’t heard the song last year, and since Wax Fang was already on this week’s menu, we thought it would also be an appropriate bonus track.
“Majestic” – Wax Fang from The Astronaut via Don’t Panic Records
Long version of “Majestic” from Wax Fang (the 16-minute and 47-seconds version, but worth it if you dig Wax Fang or celestial, ambient psych orchestral rock – or simply, space rock.
Note: The second half of the best DIY singles and albums for January is just about finished, so you’ll definitely want not to miss that because there are plenty of sweet singles from impressive albums – many of which are debut albums – that you will not hear all in one place anywhere else but on IRC. In case you missed the first half of Top DIY Songs & Albums for January 2014, which has already received over 30,000 page views!
Threats of Mediocrity and Hype Creeping Into to Indie Rock Music?
As most of you who have followed IRC for a while probably have already realized, we rarely post a review or a song that we don’t like. We simply don’t see the point. But most of all it’s a waste of precious time when we already have so much terrific music, and so many artists, that rarely get heard to begin with. Plus, a big part of why we do this is to sift through and filter out just the best music, whether it’s from a band no one ever heard of before or an indie ‘buzz’ band that has earned their praise. There’s been more of this happening in recent years, and we wonder if “indie” is starting to take on characteristics of mainstream music – one of which not very good music and bands get way too much praise for reasons we can’t really understand. That trend needs to stop; but it also doesn’t matter because we’ll be filtering it out.
In the case of the new Hospitality lead single, “Going Out,” not necessarily, the album (Trouble) as a whole, we are indifferent to it, and think it may even show the band is one of those bands that has been over-hyped for a long time. Not that they haven’t deserved praise, and we have absolutely featured their singles before, but the amount of attention and the level of praise over the years we’re not sure lives up to the evidence, especially when (and this is a sensitive spot, lol) compared to hundreds, and thousands, of authentically talented DIY and under-the-radar artists and bands we feature each year that don’t get a fraction of the coverage a band like Hospitality has had and still gets whenever they put something else. Plus, anyone can tell by looking at the album cover work that it sucks really bad. Seriously, more than one person approved that.
The decline of album cover artwork since the death of the vinyl album is a phenomenon that bands like Hospitality and their label have perpetuated in this case. Put it up as one of the worst album covers of 2014. We’ve seen the trend of less and less care or consideration given to album artwork for years, but it has accelerated in the past three to four years.
We don’t want to put up crappy covers in our posts, and do whatever’s possible to avoid them – except in cases like this where we’re trying to make a point that we’ve also heard many of you make as well over the years. Maybe some bands and labels will hear the message – after all, people do often judge an album by its cover to an extent. A great album with a crappy cover is practically unacceptable. People had to make those terrible decisions. Let’s hope the trend starts going back in the other direction.
“Going Out” – Hospitality from Trouble via Merge Records
The single is not anything special – it’s OK, which is mediocrity, or not even. But Hospitality official music video for the song is a total disaster; embarrassingly bad. First, and most obvious, the light pop sound of “Going Out” is a complete mismatch for a car-racing video. Beyond the bafflement of how how does such a dumb mistake, or case of incompetence, involving more than one person (director, artist, band members, label representatives, etc.) , get made and then actually get released. And it’s not just Hospitality. In fact in this case, we’re not even bothering ourselves to do the work that needs to go into putting up a song on the playlist/podcast, but the new Dum Dum Girls‘ single is even yet another song of what we’re talking – overrated for too long buzz kill mediocrity. Part of the problem here too are the number of what we call ‘copy-cat’ indie music blogs that just rehash what they see or hear on other blogs and even so-called mainstream media.
Admittedly, Hospitality and Dum Dum Girls are not the only, or necessarily even the best, examples of what we see as an encroachment of mediocrity in what is considered by blogs and listeners (what came first, chicken or the egg?) as good music. But in the end, folks, not to worry – we’re going to keep filtering out the good stuff, skipping the mediocrity and also putting more and more attention on new and emerging DIY and small label artists and bands, and sometimes DIY artists or bands that have been around for a while, but we did not know (sometimes forgot) how good they are, often sparked by a particularly stand out song or album.
Stay Tuned: There are more playlists, band intros, release updates and free MP3s coming up for February 2014 releases. We’ve sifted through hundreds to bring you only the best. Don’t miss the previous posts, playlists and special editions available on the homepage.
Soundtrack Songs, The Top Movies of 2013-14, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, R.I.P.
There are some really stand out songs featured in recent weeks on IRC that would be great for a movie soundtrack. Maybe we’re thinking that way because we’ve watched a ton of movies in the past few months, including at least a dozen of the new ones – hands down favorites would have to be The Wolf of Wall Street, followed by American Hustle, Dallas Buyer’s Club, Osage County and Nebraska. We didn’t think that Her lived up to the semi hype it had around Golden Globes time – it was so slow, sparse, weird and drab, although the acting was good; the directing, not so good. It’s definitely not the future (“is the future here?”) we’d want any part in. We already spend enough time on computers. What are your pick for the best movie of 2013.
Last month, the world of films suffered a monumental and shocking loss with the sudden, untimely passing of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. Upon first hearing the news, we, like a lot of people, were just stunned and sad, followed by a bit of disappointment and anger. We thought, “fuck!” and “fucking drugs” and “fuck whoever gave him the dope.” And then we realized that maybe our disappointment was in fact a bit selfish, and to a small degree, that’s true because we thought of what we were losing. Hoffman had so many more acting roles still to come for potentially decades into the future, and was probably the greatest character actor of ‘our’ generation. That would be the ridiculously labeled “Generation X,” which Time magazine called the young people who were in high school in the mid to late 80s. By the mid 1990s, we were being called “slackers.” That’s bullshit – we’re the generation that spurred so much of the Internet and technological revolution of the past 25 years. The mainstream media loves catchy labels like that even though such labels are almost always fundamentally, and journalistically, flawed.
We were also upset by ignorant people who were posting messages that Hoffman did it to himself when they forgot that he was sick – addiction is an illness that has to be treated like an illness. It’s not a weakness or lack of will because that’s taking focus off of what is really the issue, and making the person who is suffering a target for ridicule and shame at the very time they need support and love. It’s simply inhumane to let people suffer, and the stigma must be removed. We’re a society that judges people too much, and offers help and kindness too infrequently. Plus, by all accounts, he had been clean for 20 years. We don’t know what triggered the break of a reported 20-year commitment to sobriety (that included alcohol and cocaine) other than he had written that he was haunted by demons. The point is not to assail the dead person, especially one like Hoffman who touched so many lives.
There just no way to fill that void now. But there is Hoffman’s filmography that is available for future generations to enjoy and admire his talents and dedication. Despite the fact that he is no longer with us, it’s reasonable to assume that Hoffman will continue to inspire young actors for a many years to come.
Are you ready to listen to a big playlist of some of the best singles released so far in 2014? Well, we’ve gone through over 60 releases from February, and picked out what we think are the top singles from new albums by signed and more well-known indie and alternative rock artists and bands. If you missed releases from February, this second volume for our top picks of the best indie rock singles from new albums for the month is just what you need. This post and playlist covers most of February not covered in Volume One. We’ve listened to this playlist already about four times – it’s loaded with terrific songs from all kinds of sub-genres, including pop, psychedelic, electronic, and folk – in fact, you’ll see further down that we’ve broken up a good number of the singles into their respective sub-genres.
The first full week of February’s best new indie rock songs and albums includes anticipated releases from well-known indie bands we’ve covered extensively over the years, like Xiu Xiu, Broken Bells, Cymbals, and Bombay Bicycle Club. Other bands and artists that we were previously less familiar with, like Water Liars and Juan Wauters, definitely made a lasting impression this time around with their new album singles. And then there were the pleasant surprises from indie artists that we’ve never heard of before, like Asgiers and Mas Ysa.
