The Best New Releases series is back and has been renamed to the Best New Indie Rock Releases to be more specific and also distinguish it from IRC’s coverage of DIY and under-the-radar artists and bands, such as the recent first volume of the Top DIY Rock Songs & Albums for January 2014, which contains fantastic music – and of course artists and bands – that most music lovers have not heard before, including 20 free MP3 singles from The Howler Weary, The Supplement, The Fake Vulgarys, Matt Boroff, Manic At Midnite, Zach Jones, Glitch Mouth, Canadian Hunter, One Eleven Band, Pictures, Tom Harrison, Urban Wildlife, and Gold Spectacles. The second part of our favorite picks for January’s Top DIY Rock Songs & Albums feature – selected from over 150 submissions – will be posted soon.
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As many of you probably know, there were not many releases from signed and popular indie rock and alternative artists and bands dropped during the month of January, until near the end of the month, which we have discovered over the years is actually typical for the first three weeks of a new year. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that it is right after the holidays and many people’s attention is focused elsewhere, they’re on vacations, getting ready to go back to school, wrapped up in football playoffs and so on.
Therefore, we’re starting with releases from popular, relatively new and signed – but not well-known necessarily – artists and bands that officially dropped during the week of January 21st through January 27th (Tuesdays are when more new releases are dropped by record labels, which has been the standard for decades). The top releases for the week of January 28th, which spills into the first couple of days of February, will be published in the next day or two, so watch out for that. Also, make sure not to miss out on Volume One of the Top DIY Songs & Albums of 2014 (So Far), which has gotten a huge amount of hits, plays and downloads, with many of the song available only on IRC.
So, let’s get to it. Then we’ll be working really hard to get all caught up with February. It’s an incredible amount of work to sift through hundreds and hundreds of submissions to bring you the best indie rock playlists and bands around. There simply is no other indie rock site like IRC, and certainly none that post so many songs each month with free MP3s and uninterrupted playlists and podcasts of the best new indie and DIY music available on the web.
Singles from New Releases by Damien Jurado, The Hidden Cameras, and Mogwai
Beginning with the week of January 21st, the top singles include new songs from Damien Jurado, Mogwai, Warpaint, The Hidden Cameras, Thee Oh Sees, Wild Cub, Against Me, and Bill Callahan, among others.
A good deal of the lead singles from new releases for the last full week (1/21 to 1/27) of January 2014 are similar stylistically – with varying degrees of experimental, dark, melancholy and psychedelic sound signatures, sometimes with one or more genres interwoven and threaded together. The less rock and less pop influences, and the more trippy and dark characteristics, are unmistakable, as you will hear in the sequencing of the singles’ playlist for the week of January 21.
This first cluster of 2014 singles kicks off with Damien Jurado‘s spooky, psychedelic jam on “Silver Timothy.”
“Silver Timothy” – Damien Jurado from Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son via Secretly Canadian
Next, The Hidden Cameras‘ trippy orchestral experimentation on “Year of the Spawn,” is one of the finest new songs of 2014, without a doubt. There’s a certain Sgt. Pepper-esque composition present, with a build-up to a noisy, riffling, and chaotic climax that includes a sonic duel, rather than a duet, between the viola and piano, and ultimately, all of the instruments. It’s unquestionable the song was influenced by The Beatles‘ album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
After all, it is pretty much unavoidable for a songwriter and musician – unless they’ve been completely oblivious and somehow cut-off from pop and rock music for the past 50 years – not to be directly or indirectly influenced The Beatles. The fact is that there is some really fine, skillful craftsmanship going on in the The Hidden Cameras’ camp, and their latest album is proof positive.
We’ve been spinning the songs in this playlist again and again over the past two weeks, and some of them, just get better with each spin. That’s when you know you have a song that will stand the test of time. After the masterful, intense, even mind-blowing, experience of “Year of the Spawn,” we needed to pick the right follow-up tune, and Mogwai‘s single, “Remurdered,” fit the bill.
Although the song is not a new Mogwai song, it is one of the tracks on the band’s new Sub Pop compilation Rave Tapes, which makes the compilation a nice treat for die-hard Mogwai fans. All things considered, what can be said about the greatness of Mogwai that hasn’t already been said over the years?
Selected Singles from New Albums by Warpaint, Bill Callahan, The Oh Sees and Wild Cub
The next set of IRC’s selected singles from the first batch of 2014 album releases by signed and well-known artists and bands (which we separate from our DIY/unsigned, small label posts and playlists) highlights Warpaint, Bill Callahan, The Oh Sees and Wild Cub. From Warpaint‘s January release comes the semi-dreamy, semi-melancholic track, “Biggy,” perhaps the album’s best song, and no wonder it was chosen as the first single to be released by Rough Trade. Don Yates at KEXP in Seattle wrote that Warpaint’s sophomore, self-titled, album release, is a “more subtle and minimalist take on the band’s brooding dream-pop, featuring a dark, atmospheric, sound with swirling guitars and keywords, prominent bass line, hypnotic rhythms and ethereal harmonies.” Word, bro, word.
Next, the subdued mood continues with Bill Callahan‘s newest single, “Expanding Dub,” and its mystical melancholy and experimental trippiness – all of which is interesting considering that more of Jurado’s new work veers more into those realms. Thee Oh Sees‘ single, “Coma,” which by its name alone, fits into the over-riding theme of the week. “Coma,” however, is remastered single from TOS’s new Singles I & II compilation.
Now it’s time to switch gears and lighten things up withWild Cub‘s catchy indie dance pop song, “Thunder Clatter,” a song that could easily get caught in your head.
Against Me! Gets More Pop; Rev. Horton Heat Dials In Jazzy Blues
Wild Cub’s track right above sets up the next bloc of the singles nicely. In fact, the latest song, “Black Me Out,” from the long-running punk rock band, Against Me!, sounds much more like a pop rock kind of a band than the punk rock Against Me! band that we used to know; everyone needs to evolve at some point. The question is: Will it work for long-time, hard-core fans of the band? The Reverent Horton Heat returns with album No. 120 or something like that and the halfway decent jazzy, bluesy rockabilly style track, “Spooky Boots,” that might remind some of the Squirrel Nut Zippers; wonder (well, just for a second, actually) whatever happened to them?
The album cover art for REV is fantastic. In an age when album cover art isn’t taken as seriously by artists and bands as it was in the 70s and 80s – part of the 90s – it’s extra noticeable when an artist cares about the cover art to their album. You may not be able to judge a record by its cover, but it sure can entice, and definitely impress, and thereby, increase the chances of a sale – at a time also when people don’t buy as much physical music as they used to – a great album cover can absolutely encourage sales that may otherwise not happen.
“Spooky Boots” – Reverend Horton Heat from REV via Victory Records
“Black Me Out” – Against Me! from Transgender Dysphoria Blues via Total Treble Music
NYC Indie Band herMajesty Release Stellar New Single
The New York City indie rock/pop band, herMajesty, which we first profiled back in 2010, and again in 2011, are back with a new album, and a new label, Bittersweet Records. Plus, the band has had the honor to opened for bands like The B-52s, The Tom Tom Club, Say Hi to Your Mom, and Boxer Rebellion.
Combining poetic lyrics, a memorable chorus (sung by a choir of elementary school children), and a clarion-like trumpet accompaniment, the band’s newest single, “One by One”, is what they call their “most accessible song to date,” even though they don’t exactly say what they mean by that. Nevertheless, it’s definitely one of the standout tracks of the week. The band’s songwriter and chief architect, JP (John Paul? Jose Perez? Jack Pontanopolous? – we do not know), was granted citizenship in the U.S. when he was eight years old. At that early age, JP was already a student of modern Greek poetry and classic Greek tragedy.
“The motivation to use a children’s choir on the new single came from the idea that we are all struggling to come to grips with the promise of our youth and the reality of adulthood while maintaining a connection to the life affirming energy and sense of wonder of those early years” says JP. The band’s principal musical influences include Roxy Music, Arcade Fire, David Bowie, Jon Hopkins, and Eagulls.
“One by One” – herMajesty from One by One – Jan. 22th
Coming up next: Top singles playlist for the week of January 28th to February 2nd and the February top hits playlists, as well as more great DIY releases.
The 2013 Year in Indie Music reviews continue with 38 of the top singles from noteworthy albums released in November. While releases for November were slim – and even more so for December, which is typical at the end of the year – there were still new albums not to miss from bands like Bright Eyes, Arcade Fire, Kurt Vile, Bright Eyes, Grizzly Bear, Thee Oh Sees, Destroyer, Beachwood Sparks, Wooden Shjips, The KVB, Shearwater, The Warlocks, Los Campesinos, Moonface, White Denim, and many others.
The first week of November releases also included a re-issue of Bright Eyes‘ fantastic Christmas Album, which is a great album not only if you’re a Bright Eyes’ fan, but also if you like Christmas music with modern interpretations that even your parents might appreciate.
Arcade Fire’s Fourth Album, Reflektor, Wins With Critics
Even though many of the songs from the album were leaked – some by the band – throughout 2013, Arcade Fire finally officially released Reflektor, their fourth album, at the end of October (so we featured it with November’s releases). According to the aggregate web resource, Metacritic, the user score for each album since Funeral (which received a 9.4) has been a rating of 8.8 out of 10. Critics have been almost as complimentary of AR, but of course, as the band achieved super stardom status, they inevitably became targets for criticism and greater scrutiny.
While there were certainly some reviewers and music fans critical of the new album, the overwhelming consensus has been that Arcade Fire hit another home run, this time with the release of only their fourth album, nearly a decade (wow it really has been that long?) after they took the world by storm, and transcended the indie rock realm into a worldwide sensation, with the release of their debut Funeral (2004) – which is still considered their best album – and their follow-up albums, Neon Bible (2007); The Suburbs (2010), and now Reflektor. That’s one album every three years since 2004.
A big part of the reason that Arcade Fire has had three year spans in between album releases is the result of nearly endless touring around the world the band has done over the past decade, making them one of the biggest money-making live indie bands of the 2000s.
Still, all in all, Arcade Fire have proven time and again that they can put out a great album that will stand the test of time and of the overly cynical critics (even though, again, most critics give them high praise) and of a certain number of music lovers who simply don’t like when bands, even those they love, get too popular, and Arcade Fire is hands-down one of the most popular rock, not just ‘indie rock,’ bands of the past decade. Listen to Reflektor, because it’s damn good, especially if you play it the way it is meant to be played, which is from the first song to the last. Granted, many people don’t really listen to albums the way they’re intended to since the Internet changed everything about the music experience, but we strongly recommend to do so, particularly if you’re really a fan of a particular artist or band because then you’re really hearing it the way the artist hopes people will, which is again, from the first song to the last.
And even better is to listen to an album you care about on vinyl, or the very least, CD. No matter how well they market their services, Spotify and Pandora, and other such music services, simply cannot provide the music quality you get from a physical copy of an album, most especially from vinyl. It’s a completely different, and radically better, listening experience – bar none, hands down, without a doubt, that’s all, folks, and no question about it. While Reflektor was not literally released in November, but instead on Oct. 29, it qualifies more as a November release the way that we look at it – even though large parts of it have been leaked, or purposely released, throughout the summer and early fall of 2013.
Giant Releases from Los Campenos, Moonface, White Denim, Best Coast and Russian Circles
Other big releases in November included fresh drops from bands like Los Campesinos, Moonface, White Denim, and Russian Circles. Just in case you missed our October releases’ playlist, check out the Best Releases of October 2013, Volume I & Volume II. There’s some 70 free MP3s in just those two playlists – surely, you’re bound to find at least 10 that you want to download to your MP3 player.
Kurt Vile Releases Two EPs and Clash Cover For A Prolific Q4
Kurt Vile had a productive last quarter of 2013. He dropped two new EPs within a couple of weeks – one with his band The Violators, and the other with the musician Sore Eros, who IRC did an extensive profile of in 2010. While the Jamaica Plain EP did not receive the high praise that It’s a Big World Out There (And I Am Scared) EP with The Violators received.
“Serum” – Kurt Vile and Sore Eros from Jamaica Plain EP
“Feel My Pain” – Kurt Vile & the Violators from It’s a Big World Out There (And I Am Scared) EP
Vile, along with The Violators, found time to cover and release a version of The Clash‘s track, “Guns of Brixton,” back in September. As big fans of The Clash, it was a special treat, even a surprise, that The Violators covered The Clash as well as they did.
In September, a special tribute to The Clash was put together by Google Play to celebrate Google’s release of a new documentary about The Clash, titled Audio Ammunition, which you can watch via YouTube. The tribute includes covers of Clash’s songs from artists like Thao and The Get Down Stay Down, Surfer Blood and Corey Taylor of Slipknot.
November’s Top DIY Releases: The Melvins, Midlake, Cut Copy, Throwing Muses, and Hammock
Also, listen to singles from top releases from The Melvins, Midlake, Cut Copy, Midlake, Throwing Muses and Blood Orange whose video for the track “Chamakay” received over half of a million views in just a couple of months. Don’t miss the MP3 track and accompanying video for the track “Dead Generation” from The Warlocks, a band to watch in 2014. At the conclusion of this section of the November singles playlist is the ambient track “I Could Hear The Water At The Edge of All Things” from dreamweaver Hammock.
On one Soundcloud page, the comments of praise from music lovers for Hammock’s composition were numerous – 77 in all as of 12/31/13 – and there were 556 Hearts and a total of 11,933 streams. It continues to fascinate us just how many young (under 35) music lovers are enthusiastic fans of ambient music. We see it time and time again where ambient songs featured on IRC, and on SoundCloud or YouTube, are popular with people. To that end, we’ll continue to post terrific ambient songs like “I Could Hear The Water At The Edge of All Things.”
There are so many great songs in this playlist – featuring November’s contribution to the Best Indie Songs of 2013 – and such little time to review them all so that we can instead focus on pumping out as many Best Indie of 2013 – from songs, to DIY artists, breakout bands and debut releases – as well as working hard to find the best new indie and DIY releases for the start of 2014, as well as publishing a whole series of posts that have been in the works for some time, featuring amazing music from bands and artists that most of you have probably never heard before, but may be very glad once you have.
Solo Moniker Artists Destroyer and Gap Dream Drop New Grooves
Vancouver musician Dan Bejar, a.k.a. Destroyer, has repeatedly surprised his fans with switch-ups in style, so his decision to record the compelling Five Spanish Songs shouldn’t come as a huge shock. It’s a superb release as the songs “El Rito” and “Bye Bye” (video below). Bejar is one of the most talented solo indie artists to have emerged over the past few years as Five Spanish Songs.
The sophomore album from Cleveland-grown, SoCal-transplanted, musician Gabriel Fulvimar, better known as Gap Dream, is a superb achievement of warm and fuzzy psych-influenced synth rock compositions, with mesmerizing melodies and drum machine rhythms as the lead single “Fantastic Sam” demonstrates.
“Fantastic Sam” – Gap Dream from Shine your Light on Burger Records
Compilations, Remasters, Covers/Remixes and Live Releases from Beachwood Sparks, Alt-J, The Killers, British Sea Power, Nick Cave and Grizzly Bear
There were a number of releases in November from talented artists we’ve covered over the years that were not official album releases featuring new material. Among these were albums from Los Angeles psych-pop band Beachwood Sparks of older material from the band originally written, and sometimes recorded (but not necessarily released), in the 1980s, and The Killers‘ greatest hits collection, Direct Hits, featuring the video below, “When We Were Young.” And then of course is the compilation by Alt-J who put together their favorite remixes of their songs by others on the Summer EP, including Jim James Apple C‘s remix of “Fitzpleasure.”
Next, the UK indie rock band, British Sea Power, composed and recorded all of the songs for the official soundtrack of the British television series, From the Sea to the Land Beyond, about the British coastal lands and history. Also fans of the folk rock band, Grizzly Bear, will want the releases their B-Sides album, featuring a collection of terrific songs that were, for example, the ‘other’ song from a 7″ single release. and Thee Oh Sees release Volume 3 of the band’s Singles collection. For Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds‘ fans, or even those who have never heard of the band before, their new release, Live From KCRW, is absolutely a big thumbs up, as the live album’s 8.3 user rating on Metacritic demonstrates. Also, don’t miss the raucous live version of “To Find Out” from The Gories‘ new release, Live in Detroit 5/27/88 on Third Man Records, the small, but heavy-hitting, Nashville label founded and run by Jack White.
“To Find Out” – The Gories from Live in Detroit 5/27/88 on Third Man Records
Swedish Producer/Songwriter, Chris Lauridsen, aka, I Don’t Speak French
Formed in 2010, I Don’t Speak French is the moniker of producer and songwriter Chris Lauridsen from Växjö, Sweden. Lauridsen began I Don’t Speak French as an artistic outlet.
“It slowly grew into something much more with help from fellow musicians and close friends,” Lauridsen told IRC. “The music in its essence is simple, and could be labeled as indie pop, but strives to grow, and develop into something bigger than the box that it has [emerged] from…only time and effort will tell the end to this story of a young hopeless romantic.” We absolutely agree, and think he’s off to a great start.
Seems kind of strange to be publishing a playlist review of the top singles and albums of the second half of October releases now. That’s completely understandable, but we’ve been so busy with preparing the Best of 2013 coverage (to be published throughout the month of January) as well as sifting through hundreds of DIY submissions, listening to many hundreds of singles and albums, and selecting the most talented and promising artists and bands to profile, many of who break-through partly, and sometimes mainly, due to their exposure on IRC.
The first two weeks of October offered a selection of new and impressive singles and albums from Yuck, Teen Daze, Polvo, Fuzz (with Ty Segall), Dr. Dog, DARKSIDE, The Fratellis and HAIM, among others. But the third week of October is one of the most significant, if not the most significant, week of the fall for new releases from a knock-out line-up of established, well-known artists and bands, as well as under-the-radar, new and buzzworthy signed (and a few unsigned) bands and artists.
The third week of October, covering October 15th to October 21st, was a blockbuster week for releases, featuring terrific albums, along with nearly two dozens singles from those releases, from The Avett Brothers, Crystal Antlers, Cults, The Dismemberment Plan, Cave, The Chills, D33J, Heavenly Beat, Luke Temple, Cass McCombs, School of Night, Jonathan Wilson, Dean Wareham, Lucius, Gary Numan, and Pearl Jam.
As is evident by the playlist below, the sheer quantity and quality of the singles from new albums by well-known and accomplished artists and bands, as well from talented, under-the-radar bands, including newly emerging talented artists, is mind-blowing for just one week’s (Oct. 15th to 21st) drop. And that’s not even counting the fourth week of October releases.
Note: Because a new week of album releases starts on Oct. 29th (including releases from Arcade Fire), and runs through November 3rd, we are including that week’s releases in the November coverage.
Top New Singles from Albums by The Avett Brothers and Cults
Firstly, The Avett Brothers don’t seem capable of disappointing fans as their new single (“Another Is Waiting”), and the album (Magpie and the Dandelion) which it’s from, are simply amazing. Next, Cults returns with more of their splendid indie sounds from their sophomore album, Static.
Fusion Rock from CAVE, Plus Raw and Gritty from Crystal Antlers, The Chills and More
CAVE‘s new album, Threace, offers up the somewhat funky, somewhat fusion jazz, somewhat R&B, psychedelic jam rock instrumental, “Shikaakwa” accompanied by a music video that takes its cues from late 60s acid parties where abstract images, colors and effects were blended together and splashed on big screens, even walls, apparently to reflect, and enhance, the music and the overall social tripping experience. This technique was popularized in large part by Andy Warhol and the parties that he and his inner circle of bohemian/hippie/freak cohorts, and even celebrity guests, held regularly in Warhol’s grand apartment in New York‘s Upper West Side from 1968 to 1972.
Another top single for the third week of October was “Rattlesnake,” by Crystal Antlers. The track, as you’d expect from the title, is gritty, raw garage rock with blazing, fuzzy guitar licks and aggressive bass playing and drumming. Rock is just so good when it’s allowed to be free, gut-level and not all dressed up and tweaked by engineers until it ends up not sounding like rock and roll, but overly polished crap-o-la.
E3 Releases: New Electro, Experimental and Eclectic Spins from D33J, Kwes, and Heavenly Beats
If you’re a fan of the Big E3 – electro, experimental and eclectic sounds – this section is for you. Considering a large number of releases during the third week of October, it was important to compartmentalize the top picks to formulate order out of what would otherwise be chaos. Tracks include those from D33J and kwes. Also, while we have heard of Heavenly Beat before, the band’s new album really caught our attention, and the single from it, “Complete,” is a grooving, blissful electro-pop dance gem, with shimmering, wavy synths, faded, dreamy vocals, and funky bass lines.
“Slow” – D33J featuring Kreyola from Gravel EP on Anticon
“Complete” – Heavenly Beat from Prominence on Captured Tracks
Singles from Luke Temple and the State of Music Playlists
Slick melodies, terrific beats and sweet harmonies, together with excellent bass, guitar and lead vocals, make up the new track, “Florida,” from the band Luke Temple. The track is one of the geographically-focused songs that we’ve added to our State of Music in-house master playlists, which we plan to publish more posts from in 2014. The purpose of the series is to put together playlists of great songs that just so happen to be about a place, city or a state, and a relevant matching song title to go with it, from a wide range of artists, bands, genres and time periods – meaning it is not restricted to new music or necessarily to indie rock.
If you’re interested, you’ll definitely want to check out previous installments of State of Music series and which most, if not all, of the songs are still accessible to stream and download. The whole idea kind of is related to Sufjan Stevens’ abandoned “states project.” Now we can add Luke Temple’s “Florida” to the mix.
“Florida” – Luke Temple from Good Mood Fool on Secretly Canadian
Fine Mellow Tracks from Cass McCombs, School of Night, Dean Wareham, and Jonathan Wilson
Cass McCombs has put out consistently good albums for years, and his latest LP, Big Wheel And Others, is another success and fine example for a talented songwriter, vocalist and musician, as the cool, mellow single, “There Can Be Only One,” with its sweet melodic bass line and gentle hand drums in the forefront. McCombs vocals are superb and the subtle electric guitar riffs add yet another dimension to a fantastic song, of the best of the week, and that’s saying a great deal, all things considered. See what others think in the comments section on SoundCloud.
In keeping with the mellow theme for a minute, the band School of Night deliver the synth-heavy, semi-crooning single, “Lying,” that has a bit of an 80s mash of new wave and pop to it. The next mellow single, “Love Is Colder Than Death” is a slow, brooding, and slightly twisted love song, with beautiful and wonderfully melodic, even melancholic, instrumentation and vocals from the new-to-us artist Dean Wareham. It’s ironic, considering the subject matter, that the song has a warm, cozy feel from the first note to the closing verse. And closing out the “mellow” set of new singles for the third week is the sweet song, “Dear Friend” by Jonathan Wilson, and his band, and the accompanying music video that has received over 35,000 views on YouTube alone.
If you’re a fan of experimental ambient sounds, chances are you might enjoy listening to Tom Hecker’s Virgins. The composition moves through a myriad of phases with minimalistic and repetitious aspects of what sounds like dulcimers, and dreamy, drifting synth notes that pick up in tempo and number of keys as the composition progresses.
The new song from Lucius, “Turn It Around,” is an upbeat pop track with a finely produced groove and excellent female vocalists, leaning more towards a commercial song in sound, but we can see how some people might dig it a lot, and be curious to check out the album, Wildewoman.
Paul McCartney’s New Track, “Queenie,” Plus Gary Numan
Probably all the great and wonderful things there are to say about an artist have been used up in describing Paul McCartney over the past half of a century. And yet, now in his 70’s, McCartney is still writing and recording some fine music as his latest album, New, shows. It’s probably about the 40th album or so that he’s released in his long career from The Beatles, to his solo work, to The Wings, and back to his solo work and various monikers in recent years. A rock and roll icon for at least 35 years, Gary Numan returns with a new album, featuring the dark, semi-goth/new wave style single, “I Am Dust.”
Has Pearl Jam Sold Out or Simply Embraced Capitalism?
During the World Series, in which long-time Boston Red Sox fans, like ourselves, got to see (in our, and many other generations, lifetime), the team finally win a world championship at the sacred Fenway Park, Fox Sports was promoting the new Pearl Jam album in between breaks. That was a bummer to us – Eddie Vedder had really sold out, which does dent the band’s grunge/atlernative rock legitimacy, but especially since Vedder, who seemed over the years to be a guy opposed to “the machine,” actually become part of it. Eventually, young, idealistic passionate artists, not all, but many, when presented the opportunity, become older guys who feel otherwise entitled to cash in as big as they can.
That said, their new single, “Mind Your Manners,” is good stuff, but it does not have the same feel to it that the early Pearl Jam work had – in the years before they went headfirst into the commercial, big-time money. Hey, it’s America. Yeah fine, but as a “rock icon,” you still lose credibility every time you cash in, and especially team up with Fox Sports, which if we recall, Vedder criticized during the 2000’s as a propaganda machine for the Bush administration’s greatest evils.
So, Sr. Vedder, just sing, because you can’t preach (and cash in) anymore with any credibility about how you’re some salt of the earth guy railing against the machine, because you’re not that guy (and Pearl Jam is not that band); teaming up with the Fox Network after rightfully criticizing them for years is simply the height of hypocrisy, and a slap in the face to your most loyal fans.
Aside from that obvious, and distasteful, fact, we’ll still listen to, and feature (if the music stands up), Pearl Jam, but there will always be this issue tarnishing our respect for Vedder and the band. We are careful not to accuse bands of ‘selling out,’ because they need to make a living, but in this case, Vedder, and the band (if they willingly went along), really did sell out.
Teaming up with the network they used to rail against is not needing to put the food on the table – it’s simply the worst kind of hypocrisy and greed. We know people will strongly disagree with that viewpoint, but it’s quite simply a fact.
“Mind Your Manners” – Pearl Jam from Lightning Bolt on Monkeywrench
Other singles from new albums worth noting include the shoe-gaze/psychedelic girl rock of Mirror Travel; the beats of pop mistress Morcheeba; the hard/metal rock of the band Red Fang; self released song from DIY band Breathe Owl Breathe that sounds like The National mixed with chilled out Lou Reed.
“Blood Like Cream” – Red Fang from Whales and Leeches on Relapse Records
“Silent Movie Reel” – Breathe Owl Breathe from Passage of Pegasus (self-released)
Top Singles from New Albums by Best Coast, Active Child, Polica, Modern Kin, Gringo Star, Black Hearted Brother
In order to focus our energy on putting together profiles and songs of more talented, promising DIY artists and bands, we’re not really going to write much about the last week of October’s releases (Oct. 22nd to Oct. 28th). The final week of new releases for October was thin compared to the previous week (above), but there were still some major drops from artists like Best Coast, Active Child, Polica, Modern Kin, Gringo Star, Black Hearted Brother, Federico Aubele, Radical Face, and others.
For those of you who have asked, we’re also catching up with the Top 10 Songs playlists for final months of 2013 as well. You could spend days streaming the Top 10 Songs playlists and discover the best indie and DIY music of 2013 on one page, with the October and November Top 10 Songs playlists coming up shortly.
As this post and playlist clearly demonstrates, there was an absolute flood of quality album releases in the second half of October that took a considerable amount of time to review, organize and write about. In fact, this post and playlist by itself includes just as much, or more, coverage of new releases than some other popular indie blogs publish during an entire month; those of you who browse indie and alternative rock music blogs regularly probably know exactly what we’re referring to.
IRC is one of the few popular indie and alt rock websites and blogs that provides free MP3s that you can stream or download (and which we know leads to more support for the artists and bands) at any time, even months, sometimes years, after we publish a post with music in it. In order to do this, we have to support a huge server load and usage, but we are committed to chronologically documenting the best of both the popular and obscure indie music of the times, and providing a permanent record of over 10,000 songs available at anytime to anyone in the world. As far as we know, from our own research, there is no other indie music resource on the web today (that is not a file-sharing or torrent site) that offers as many active and free MP3 songs dating back to 2007 as IRC does.
“This Lonely Morning” – Best Coast from Fade Away EP on Jewel City
“Subtle” – Active Child featuring Mikky Ekko from Rapor EP on Vagrant Records
At only 21 years old, Tyler Bryant has already shared the stage with rock legends like Aerosmith, Jeff Beck, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pat Benetar, REO Speedwagon and Heart. Bryant is also featured in the award-winning film, Rock Prophecies. Bryant, a student of blues rock, joined up with talented musicians like Caleb Crosby (drums), Noah Denney (bass) and guitarist Graham Whitford (son of Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford), the ‘Shakedown’ pushes the limits of music and performance, and has captured the attention of fans across the U.S. with their spectacular talent, blazing guitar rock and roaring drums, and boundless energy on stage, as the videos in this profile demonstrate.
Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, based in Nashville, formed in 2009, and released their debut EP, From The Sandcastle, in September 2011. In this video, you can see why the band has been building a following and creating a buzz.
With rollicking SXSW performances under their belts, Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown have been compared to talented blues rock bands from the thriving Nashville scene like Cage The Elephant and The Black Keys.
Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown made their late night television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2012. The band’s riveting debut album, Wild Child, was released on January 22 via Carved Records, featuring amazing songs like “Last One Leaving,” “You Got Me Baby,” and “Say A Prayer.”
The band’s top musical influences include Elvis Presley, Tom Petty, Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Robert Johnson.
“Last One Leaving” – Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown from Wild Child
“You Got Me Baby” – Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown from Wild Child
The following is the official black and white (which works really well with the music and the band dynamics) music video for the track, “Say A Prayer.”
If you’re looking for good wrap-up and reliable playlist of MP3 singles of the top indie tracks for the first two weeks of October, then you’re on the right page.
San Francisco‘s ever-prolific guitar rock prodigy, Ty Segall, put together a new band, Fuzz, earlier this year, and in the first week of October, Fuzz dropped its self-titled debut album to warm reviews and music lovers’ praise. The album features an array of influences and genres, combining heavy psychedelic rock mixed with 70’s stoner, and even ambient rock and heavy metal elements driven by sweet rhythms and the type of blazing guitar riffs and solos that are Segall’s signature sound.
Yuck Drops a Brilliant Sophomore LP, Glow & Behold
One of the most popular indie rock bands of the past couple of years, Yuck, dropped their much anticipated sophomore album, Glow & Beholdon October 1st. Critics and fans love it, and the lead first single, “Rebirth,” is a good presentation of the rest of the new album. This is definitely one album to get in the second half of 2013. Add to that list the just released new album another indie favorite, Teen Daze, complete with their earthy, radiant and heartfelt electro dream pop.
Who would of thought that Philly‘s indie rockers Dr. Dog would end up releasing one of the catchiest, feel good pop songs of the year? Well, it sounds like they did just that with the simply-titled track, “Love?” One of the things that has been a hallmark of Dr. Dog’s modest popularity in the sphere of indie rock is the fact that they take chances, try different things, experiment and obviously enjoy innovating and creating songs that really stand on their own, and often stand out in memorable ways. Dr. Dog fans spread from coast to coast as we witnessed this summer during the Outside Lands Festival (which in just five years has earned its place in the same sentence as festivals like Coachella and Bonaroo). A clearly loyal, enthusiastic, and pumped up group of maybe 400 to 700 (wild guess) fans gathered around one of the smaller (but not small) stages – The Panhandle stage – at Outside in August sang along to one great Dr. Dog track after another.
While we’re more rock than pop, there are some great pop, and pop/rock, songs that come out from time to time, and “Love?” is one of the them. That said, the album does have a good number of more pop-oriented and mixed-genre songs on the new album, titled B-Room. And not to worry rockers, B-Room has some solid rock songs. But more than anything, B-Room exemplifies how Dr. Dog is a natural product of their Philadelphia roots, with heavy mixing of all types of genres from jazz and funk to blues and R&B to 60s-style bluesy psychedelia. And they push the limit even more on songs like “Twilight,” which starts out as basically a classical arrangement and transforms into a hard-to-pinpoint – and even to explain – style of shiny, but melancholic at the same time, acoustic guitar with what sounds like a dulcimer and somewhat theatrical vocals all while the wonderful sound of vinyl, with a nick in it, plays in the background. View the “Love” music video from the band.
Blitzen Trapper, Saint Rich, and Tape Deck Mountain Bring Grit on Fresh Tracks
Blitzen Trapper‘s seventh album, appropriately titled VII, offers a more gritty, roots-oriented, beats-driven sound, with moments of funk-heavy rhythms, and infusions of slide guitar, harmonicas, banjos and keyboards. It’s definitely not the alternative country rock and folk sound of the early years. It’s pretty amazing to us that the Portland band has dropped seven fine albums in the span of 10 years and three labels. The lead single from the album, “Ever Loved Once,” exemplifies the band’s talent for switching things up, experimenting, evolving and taking chances. Following Blitzen Trapper, is the power pop single, “Officer,” from the debut album, Beyond The Drone, from the new musical project, Saint Rich, featuring Delicate Steve bandmates Steve Marion and Christian Peslak. The album is a hook-filled and well produced collection of power pop, prog, and folk-influenced psych pop. And of course, don’t miss out on the latest reverb and feedback heavy single, “Half Life,” from long-time favorites, Tape Deck Mountain, newest album, Sway.
“Half Life” – Tape Deck Mountain from Sway on Nineteen98
Top Psychedelic Rock Singles and Albums from Polvo, Raccoon Fighter, The Sadies and Baiterspace
The following singles all share common characteristics – they’re essentially psych rock jams, with some folk and other styles that echo the sounds of the late 1960s Chapel Hill, North Carolina band Polvo released their second album, Siberia, since reuniting a few years ago. The album includes a seven-minute psychedelic rock jam with hints of goth, experimental and hard core. Another jammy, but less psych-oriented single, “Santa Tereza,” is off of Raccoon Fighter‘s debut album, ZIL, on Papercup Music. And if that’s not enough jam-heavy, psych rock influenced tunes for you, there is also the latest from psychedelic rock veterans, Toronto‘s own The Sadies and the single, “The First 5 Minutes” from the band’s 16th album, Internal Sounds. And finally, the band, Baiterspace, succeeds at crafting dark, heavy psychedelic rock – that sounds like it could be from 1969 – on their latest single, “Films of You,” from the album Trinine. We only wish the song were a bit longer so that we could enjoy the groove they laid down for a longer time period.
Top Singles from Black Moth, Cumulus, Hunters, Those Darlins and Others
Keeping with the hard rock edge is the smoking single (that came out just in time for Halloween), “The Articulate Dead” from the band Black Moth‘s sophomore release, The Killing Jar. Next, the new-to-us band Cumulus deliver a sweet little melodic pop rocker on the track, “Middle,” featuring some early 80’s-style guitar rock riffs, catchy, singalong choruses, shifts in tempo, and a FM-friendly rhythm and percussion all of the way through. Plus, listen to singles from The Field, Hunters, Those Darlins, among others.
New-to-us band Hollow & Akimbo quietly, for the most part, released an excellent debut album in the first week of October containing standout tracks like “Still Life” and “Solar Plexus.” For fans of late 60’s and early 70’s T. Rex and David Bowie, you might wish to indulge in the latest release, Mole City, from Quasi, including the very Bowiesque sounds, and more, of the ironically ttild single, “See You on Mars.” Gratefully they did their Bowie/Rex rendering with taste and made it unique enough that it stands on its own merit.
“Solar Plexus” – Hollow & Akimbo from Psuedoscience EP on Quite Scientific
Los Angeles multi-genre sister band, HAIM, have been creating a buzz on music blogs in recent months thanks to their debut, Days Are Gone. The album displays the sisters sunny 80’s pop sensibilities integrated with other genres like soft rock, R&B, electro, dance, power pop woven together with a convergence of glistening pop guitar hooks, rhythms to dance to, subtle, emotive synth playing, lush harmonies and sleek, echoing beats. Also check out electro tracks from Moby, featuring Cold Specks, plus Oneohtrix Point Never (unusual, tongue-twisting name but easy to find them via search engines) received a huge number of hearts and comments on Soundcloud;
“Zebra” – Oneohtrix Point Never from R Plus Seven on Warp Records
Top Indie Singles – Week of October 8th: DARKSIDE, Albert Hammond Jr., The Fratellis, Of Montreal and others
Electronic producer Nicolas Jaar and guitarist Dave Harrington teamed up last year to create the duo DARKSIDE, and in the second week of October released their debut album, Psychic, which earned the duo a lot of big buzz on music blogs across the web. There’s a flurry of genre-cross dressing going on in the pair’s songs, intricately arranging moody and provocative electronic prog rock, psych and dashes of rhythm and blues. Psychic is easily one of the best electronic debuts of 2013, and a must-have for electro fans.
Don Yates, the music director at Seattle‘s KEXP, described the album as “a moody, entrancing blend of various downtempo electronic styles with prog, blues and psych-rock” as the lead single, “Golden Arrow,” demonstrates over the eleven minute track. We think every minute of the song is worth the time investment for sure. It’s hard to think of any other new electro artist this year that has made such an impression with bloggers and fans across the country and around the world.
Next, Strokes‘ guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. offers up his latest solo effort featuring the single, “Rude Customer.” The latest single from the band Dale Earndardt Jr. Jr., with its long title, “If You Didn’t See Me (Then You Weren’t On The Dancefloor),” is a dance pop track, and if you dig that kind of thing, or are just in the mood, it’s catchy and upbeat. The band’s record label was nervous about the name, so the band wrote the famous race-driver and asked him if it was OK with him to name their band after him, and according to band member Daniel Zott, Earnhardt replied and said it was fine with him, that he was flattered and wished the band good luck.
“Rude Customer” – Albert Hammond Jr. from AHJ EP on Cult Records
Top Singles from New Albums by The Fratellis, His Clancyness, Tim Kasher and Of Montreal
This next block features stellar singles from new albums by under-rated indie rock band The Fratellis; the increasingly popular indie band His Clancyness; and singer/songwriter Tim Kasher; indie quirk heroes Of Montreal with The Kinks-sounding single “Belle Glade Missionaries ; and the hard-driving, eclectic post-punk of Parquet Courts.
We’re catching up with September’s top releases – the amount of music – from both popular and signed artists as well as under-the-radar and DIY artists – was crazy – hundreds of singles and albums to filter through. The first volume of Best Singles and Albums for September 2013 covered the first half of September, and the playlist contains 50 excellent singles from albums released between September 3rd and September 16th. This, the second volume, features top singles from new releases dropped between September 17th and September 30th.
Unlike the previous volume, we’re going to publish the section of latest releases from new, talented and promising under-the-radar, DIY and small label bands that are some of the most amazing bands we’ll come across in the second half of September – Kill City Cartel, Crash Island, Gang of Brothers, Sun Club, The Union Electric, Ocelot Robot, Kid Cadaver, The Bynars, Odesza, and many others in a separate post in the next couple of days, so you’ll want to watch out for that. We’ve been listening again and again to over one hundred singles from September releases from mostly unsigned bands.
In fact, Volume One includes about a dozen DIY and obscure indie artists, and the upcoming special edition covering the best in DIY for the second half of September will include a number of phenomenal new bands exclusive to IRC. In the end, as far as DIY and under the radar bands, we’ll have altogether about 40 to 50 top singles from September releases, including Volume One. Those of you who have enjoyed all of the lesser known, but amazingly talented bands and artists that we’ve published over the years, definitely don’t want to miss the next big batch of brand new picks for the second half September that should be finished by next week.
This uninterrupted playlist featuring the top singles from the best albums dropped in the second half of September is nothing short of mind-blowing (we’ll keep it on a loop for a few days after posting it public), and the sheer magnitude of the collective talent speaks for itself:
Said The Whale, Sebadoh MGMT, Nightmares On Wax, The Darcys, Delorean, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Crystal Stilts, Factory Floor, Islands, Grouplove, The Dirtbombs, The Mission, Campfire OK, The Naked and the Famous and Sidi Toure Apr, Keep Shelly in Athens, Potty Mouth, San Fermin, Daedelus
It’s a mini Who’s Who of indie artists featuring a wide cross-section of genres, styles, sub cultures and talented musicians. What’s even better is that is only one half of this playlist. The second half, which covers the last week (starting September 24th) of September, features fewer bands than the third week, but no less an awesome collection of singles:
TRAMMS, Kelley Stoltz, Heaven’s Gate, The Herms, Au Revoir Simone, Ha Ha Tonka, Deer Tick, Golden Animals, CHVRCHES, Icona Pop, The Chambermaids, Kyson, Star Anna
The top releases for the second half of September kicks off where volume one left off – the week of September 17th, followed by the week of September 24th. The best singles from new albums for the week of the 17th include tracks from an incredible array of talented artists, including Said The Whale, Sebadoh, Cloud Control, Grouplove and of course MGMT. Probably the catchiest track and riff of the week goes to Said The Whale’s track “I Love You” that definitely has some “My Sharona” overtones and clear 80’s new wave pop rock radio sounds.
“I Love You” – Said the Whale from Hawaiii on Hidden Pony Records
“I Will” – Sebadoh from Defend Yourself on Joyful Noise Recordings
Sweet Releases from Factory Floor, Islands, Grouplove, The Dirtbombs Represented by New Singles
DFA recording artist Factory Floor get this block hopping with a smokin’ new single, “Turn It Up,” off of the outfit’s self-titled debut album, followed by singles from new albums by IRC long-time favorites Islands, Grouplove and The Dirtbombs. Just a series of tracks from those three bands one right after another is representative of what a blockbuster week September 17th to 23rd was after a relatively thin summer for new, anticipated and highly recommended releases. In fact, during July and August, there were more impressive releases coming from our pool of DIY, under the radar and small label bands than there were from the aforementioned, which was exciting for us as well as a lot of listeners who come to IRC for the popular new releases but also the other choice picks that we feature each month, including many new bands and exclusive releases not found, most of the time, on any other major indie blog.
“Turn It Up” – Factory Floor from Factory Floor on DFA Records
“Wave Forms” – Islands from Ski Mask on Manque Music
“Ways to Go” – Grouplove from Spreading Rumours on Atlantic Records (with their Kim Ill music video – ,
Placebo’s Odd Music Video and The Mission, Campfire OK, The Naked and the Famous and Sidi Toure’s Latest Releases
The music video for Placebo‘s “Too Many Friends” features a long intro before the music starts. It’s a bit trippy and kind of interesting in which the viewer is asked to participate in choosing which plot best fits the remainder of the story played out in the intro. It’s a risky experiment and came out OK. We respect bands that take a risk of getting slammed, in a quest for originality, by politically or culturally correct critics and bloggers . Plus, don’t miss notable lead singles from fresh albums by The Mission, Campfire OK, The Naked and The Famous and Sidi Toure.
Sam Fermin Music Video in the Redwoods; Arp, Keep Shelly in Athens, Potty Mouth
San Fermin really has a pair of lungs as she belts out the lyrics to the orchestral pop, funk single, “Sonsick.” The music video for the song was filmed in a redwood forest. Here in coastal California, we love our redwood forests. For what it’s worth, the redwoods in this video are not even the really big ones. Some of the tallest redwood trees are taller, or almost as tall, as many of the skyscrapers in New York City (see the very end of this post to read more about the redwoods). Plus, check out singles from new-to-us bands Arp, Keep Shelly in Athens and Potty Mouth.
“Sonsick” – San Fermin from San Fermin on Downtown Records
West Palm Beach’s C86 Revivalists (Even If They Don’t Know It) The Band in Heaven
From West Palm Beach, Florida, comes the exciting and promising outfit, The Band in Heaven, with their new shoegazey kind of dream popish single, “Dandelion Wine,” which, from the opening notes to the last hook, reminds us a lot of Echo and the Bunnymen, but even more precisely of Close Lobsters, a long ago disbanded 1990’s quintet that hard-core C86 enthusiasts likely have heard before. The C86 ‘mixtape’ movement of the late 1980s and early to mid 1990s was largely an underground movement – most especially on college campuses – that spawned the first wave of artists and bands that would later become known as indie rock or ‘college rock’ artists. If you’re a fan of dream pop, post punk and shoegaze, we recommend getting your hands on their debut album, Caught in a Summer Swell, released on Sept. 19th via Decades Records.
There is also a string of seven inch singles and demos available via The Band in Heaven’s Bandcamp page, that includes a free download of the song, “Summer Bummer,” that we featured in one of the popular summer playlists back in 2011 as well as profiling the band the first time in a 2010 edition of In Dee Mail, along with other new (at the time) bands like Luna is Honey, A Silent Film, Ganglians, and many others. Unfortunately, some of the song links (but not for the band’s just mentioned) in that post no longer work (and the same goes for images), but the two songs we featured from TBIN are much more in the vain of their early fuzzy shoegaze sound, which is apparent on one of our favorite DIY tracks of 2010, “High Low.” The Band In Heaven performed at New York’s prestigious venue, Pianos on Oct. 17th to a fairly enthusiastic gathering of their followers.
Since their formation in 2010, the band has gained a considerable following and last year signed to Decades Records. They’ve opened for big time bands like Jesus and Mary Chain, Brian Jonestown Massacre, No Age and Surfer Blood. In addition, the band lists their top musical influences as Diiv, Neutral Milk Hotel, My Bloody Valentine, and Spacemen 3. We’ve been digging their mix of dream pop, shoegaze and psychedelic rock tracks since we first were turned on to the band in 2010. However, their new album marks a shift to a heavily dream pop collection of songs, which they deliver with kudos from cafe patrons.
“Dandelion Wine” – The Band in Heaven from Caught in a Summer Swell – Sept. 17th
The Redwoods: Precious National Natural Treasures
The San Fermin video we included above in coverage for Week 3 got us on the subject of redwoods. They are basically part of our big back yard, if you will, in northern coastal California. Some of the redwood trees are 1,000 to 2,000 years old. Sadly, due to the huge demand for redwood around the world (particularly in the U.S. and Asia); out of control population growth in the past century; corruption in California state government dating back to its beginning, and humans’ insatiable appetite, and disregard, to consume precious natural resources, including national treasures like the redwoods. According to the Sierra Club, there are only about 7% of the virgin, old-growth redwoods left in California, tucked away in places like Muir Redwoods just north of the Golden Gate Bridge; Big Basin State Park in the Santa Cruz mountains; Redwood National Forest way up in northern most coastal California, and a number of other state and federal parks and areas from Big Sur to Mendocino. These are the only places in the world were redwoods still remain, and while most of them are gone, there are still places you can go to experience something that will blow your mind – walking through an old growth redwood forest. You’ve seen them in the movies, but you have to really be there to absorb just how gigantic, majestic and beautiful these towering trees are and just how small and humbled you feel standing in their enormous shadows. Put it on your lists of ‘must do’ things. Hopefully you enjoyed our little tangent.
Featured Artist: The amazing collage art of Derek Gores; see more at derekgoes.com Because the two-part Best Singles & Albums of August (volumes One and Two) were so crazy popular with listeners, we’re doing the same for September; this post and playlist is a collection of the best singles from albums released during the first two weeks of September from well-known and signed bands as well as DIY and under-the-radar indie artists. The first official week of releases for September runs from Sept. 3rd to Sept. 9th, and featured a bunch of excellent anticipated and surprise album releases – showcased by lead singles and music videos from bands like Glasvegas, Neko Case, Nine Inch Nails, Califone, Okkervil River, King Khan and the Shrines, among others. This extensive post and playlist also features DIY and under-the-radar releases from various band submissions by Osk, Soy La Vid, Burning Condors, Rossonian, and more.
The second week of top September releases, spanning Sept. 10th to Sept. 16th, highlights lead singles and music videos from new LPs and EPs from artists such as Holy Ghost, Man Man, Forest Fire, Obits, Goldfrapp, and the Arctic Monkeys, plus exclusive IRC entries from DIY and small label bands like Bucharest, The Visibles, The Big, Fin Folsom, Sterling Fox and Wonderflu, among others. The first two days of September overlapped into the last week of releases for the month of August, the week of August 27th to September 2nd.
Top Music Releases’ Singles Playlist, September 3rd to September 9th
Top Singles of Week One from Glasvegas, Neko Case, Nine Inch Nails, Califone, Okkervil River and Others
This playlist features 50 hand-picked singles from LPs, EPs and singles officially dropped in the first two weeks of September. The first week of releases for the month of September covers Tuesday (the day most labels drop new albums), September 3rd to September 6th, with top singles and albums from bands like Glasvegas, Nine Inch Nails, Neko Case, Califone, Okkervil River, King Khan and The Shrines, Royal Canoe, Holograms, The 175 and Volcano Choir among more well-known and signed artists, as well as a range of fantastic singles from new albums by DIY, small label and under-the-radar bands like Osk, Soy La Vid, Burning Condors, Rossonian. Fire up the playlist, kick back and enjoy.
We were surprised (but then not really) to see Captain Kirk (aka, William Shatner) doing the intro for Glasvegas‘ new music video for their single, “If.” In fact, it spun off a separate conversation about Shatner, his age, iconic status and even his musical career that was too long to fit here. “If” is one of the highlights of what sounds like a pretty decent album from Glasvegas. We haven’t yet really had a chance to listen to it three or four times, which is about what it takes to start to absorb an album like Later… When the TV Turns to Static. Next, the dynamic Neko Case has done it again; that is, produce a terrific album of heart-warming and intricate songs. She’s also managed to get by with an unusually long album title – The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You. On a different label, she probably could not have gotten away with it, but Anti-Records is not one of the old stuffy labels of yesteryear, and they’re cool with thinking out of the box. Check out the song, “Man” and stream the album – which should be called The Worse Things Get for short – and enjoy the masterful music compositions and wonderful voice of Neko Case.
“If” – Glasvegas from Later… When the TV Turns to Static on Go Wow
“Man” – Neko Case from The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You on Anti-Records
Hot New Singles from Nine Inch Nails, Okkervil River and Califone’s Latest Releases
Nine Inch Nails‘ frontman, and the band’s longest remaining original member, Trent Reznor, has been a busy guy. Just in the past year, he has been on successful tours, released an excellent new album with his side-project, How To Destroy Angels, and even found time to compose video game and soundtrack scores. Plus, on Sept. 3rd, NIN released a new album that contains more synths, complex rhythms and strong hooks than any previous album. Indie folksters Okkervil River, lead by the spectacular and catchy single, “It Was My Season,” dropped their seventh studio LP, The Silver Gymnasium in the first week of September. The album is a concept LP of songs that relate to frontman Will Sheff‘s childhood in his hometown of Meriden, New Hampshire, and it is full of nostalgic reflections on childhood friendships, 80’s pop culture, and life events all draped in the band’s flourishing orchestral folk and pop sound that is evident throughout.
Chicago band, Califone, hit the mark again with their 13th album, Stitches, featuring experimental folk-pop with a spooky, sometimes hypnotic, and atmospheric, sounds and frontman Tim Rutili‘s amazing vocals. And then of course there is the sophomore album from Justin Vernon‘s (Bon Iver) side-project Volcano Choir, consisting of smooth melodies and atmospheric and experimental folk-pop and post-rock flourishes. If you like Vernon’s work, you’ll want to get the LP, Repave.
“Came Back Haunted” – Nine Inch Nails from Hesitation Marks on Columbia Records
Latest Releases from King Khan & The Shrines and Grooms Spawn Terrific Singles
With an eighth album, Idle No More, King Khan & The Shrines has produced their most political work yet, paying homage to the indigenous rights movement in Canada, as well as personal insights about love and loss on one excellent soulful garage rock song after another. The official video for the song is cheesy, but some people find it interesting – in a cornball way. Next, the Brooklyn band Grooms employs 90’s-era indie rock with buzzing guitars and infectious melodies. The band’s third album, Infinity Caller, is available now on Western Vinyl.
“Bite My Tongue” – King Khan and the Shrines from Idle No More on Merge Records
Top Singles from Holograms, The 1975, Royal Canoe, Caged Animal and Sundowner’s Latest Drops
Holograms, a Swedish rock band, employ a tougher, drearier post-punk edge on their sophomore album with buzzing guitars and thick ; The first three minutes of the eight minute single from Hookworms starts out hushed, dark and haunting with a freaky, mystical twist and then launches into a louder and darker musical journey. We can’t really say that we understand the them or story of the video. Also, listen to the catchy riffs of Royal Canoe; the sweet pop of The 1975; the heavily melodic, tamed sounds of Caged Animal, and the intricate, atmospheric computer-generated sounds and beats of Jackson and His Computerband. Lastly, in as far as signed bands with releases, is “Faded Glory,” the first single from Ginkgo‘s debut record, Manopause. Ginkgo features Josh Grier and Jeremy Hanson of Tapes ‘n Tapes. Next, check out the top DIY albums and singles released by unsigned and small label artists Burning Condors, Soy La Vid, Rafon Godard and Osk.
Standout Tracks from Radar Artists Burning Condors, Soy La Vid, Rafon Godard and Osk Exclusively on IRC
There are a number of fine EPs and LPs from DIY and small label artists and bands this week that you don’t want to miss. Of all the artists in this section, London band Burning Condors is the least under-the-radar of them all. Burning Condors have made waves in the U.K. for their energetic garage rock blaze, a sound the band calls “artful punk.” That said, there is clearly a heavy influence of rock and blues in their sound as evident on blistering songs like “Last Train Home” and “Twisted Kind of Bliss” off their debut album, Round Our Way, dropped on September 9th. Aspiring vocalist Marcus ‘Tommy’ Thompson left his roots of Bradford, England in 2009, and moved to London where he met future band mates Matthew Edun (guitar) and a guy we only know as Churchy (bass) whose previous band had just imploded after becoming the first unsigned act to hit the UK top 40 with a debut single.
Over the ensuing years, Burning Condors made a name for themselves in the fiercely competitive music scene of London, opening for popular acts like the Legendary Shack Shakers and The Go Getters, and drawing from diverse musical influences like Joy Division, David Bowie, Flat Duo Jets, The Kills, Blur and Jack White, as well as old-timer blues, rockabilly and country legends like Muddy Waters, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. Burning Condors have gained a good deal of blogger buzz in the UK and beyond. Now it’s time for them to be introduced to a larger audience of potential fans in North America and elsewhere that will dig the band’s ferocious punky blues rock as much as we do.
Belgium Project The Feather’s Excellent Single and Debut Album
The Feather is an indie rock project of Belgium pop musician Thomas Medard. We played his new song, “Sighs,” at least half a dozen times after hearing it for the first time; the track is from The Feather’s debut album, Invisible. There is also a YouTube lyrics video of “Sighs.” Medard’s top influences include Sufjan Stevens, Department of Eagles, Bright Eyes, and in the instrumental soundtracks sphere, Daniel Elfman and Eric Satie. We’ve written to him to please supply another song, but no luck yet. As soon as it’s available, we’ll be sure to at the least send it out via our Twitter and Facebook feeds if people react positively
IRC Spotlight Artist Soy La Vid Returns with Follow Up Album
dropped in the first week of September from DIY artists that we’ve included songs from below. An Indianapolis DIY artist that we featured last year, Soy La Vid, has returned with another remarkable album, Egocentric In The City, and if you didn’t catch Mark Abdon‘s brilliant songwriting and playing the first time around, you’ll want to hear these new tracks, especially the wonderful acoustic track, “Atticus vs. The House of Leaves.” For good measure, we’re also including a second song, from Egocentric In The City, called “Dear White Privilege,” which is further evidence of Abdon’s talents, and why we are featuring him for a second time. This is an artist that we really feel more folk music lovers will come to appreciate; and hopefully from there, Soy La Vid, will gain more followers and start to gain the broader visibility that he deserves.
From Noise Trade: “The concept album – an autobiographical snapshot of a middle-class, suburbanite couple – recently self-displaced to the St. Clair Place neighborhood of the Near East Side of Indianapolis. Hilarity, heartbreak and a good deal of selfishness ensue. There is an internal struggle that becomes strikingly clear when confronted with both the salient needs of neighbors, as well as the relational time investment of having neighbors that initiate relationship frequently and boldly. The crux of the matter for the introvert is that one is left with very little personal space or, alternatively, pangs of guilt for ignoring the doorbell once again. Coupled with a sense of inadequacy when faced with the substantial needs of friends and neighbors – this leads to the realization that living in the city does, in fact, reveal one’s selfishness – hence the title.” Abdon summed up the album as “the joys and frustrations of being a white, middle-class, suburbanite couple living in the ‘hood.” It’s no surprise that Abdon’s biggest influences include Sufjan Stevens, The National, Andrew Bird, Iron & Wine, and Interpol. Listen to more tracks from the 16 song album at Soy La Vid’s Bandcamp page, or purchase a copy to show support for a promising musician.
“Atticus vs. The House of Leaves” – Soy La Vid from Egocentric in the City – Sept. 6th
“Dear White Privilege” – Soy La Vid from Egocentric in the City
Based in Oslo, Norway, musician Oskar Yazan Mellemsether, who records under the moniker, Osk, dropped his debut, self-titled EP earlier this month featuring standout tracks like “The Gesture I Just Made Means I Love You,” (no clue what the gesture is supposed to be though) which is a soft and melancholic song that eventually works up into flourishes of pop-tinged choruses as he repeats again and again: “you will never know how much you mean to me.” Mellemsether gathered some of Trondheim‘s finest young musicians to perform a range of instruments, including trumpet, piano, wurlitzer, tuba, and of course guitar, bass and drums, for the studio recordings and live performances.
In December 2012, Ósk was awarded “Artist of the Week” by the Norwegian radio program P3, and was listed in a number of Norwegian publications, newspapers and blogs’ top bands to watch. The band also played Øyafestival and Pstereo music festivals in Norway this past summer. Osk’s EP was released by the small Norwegian label, Impeller Recordings. Stuwe’s top musical influences are Elliott Smith, John Grant, and Beirut.
“The Gesture I Just Made Means I Love You” – Osk from Osk EP – Sept. 6th
The members of the unsigned Denver band Rossonian met three years ago while they were all instructors at Camp Jam, a kid’s rock band camp. However, it was not until last year that Kramer Kelling (bass), Scott Roush (keys, computers), Seth Evans (guitar, vocals), and Nate Barnes (drums) began playing together, and not long after, performed their first show at Denver’s Underground Music Showcase, which lead to the band being booked to open for popular indie bands like Generationals and Magic Trick. Rossonian mix an array of genre influences, like pop, garage, soul, rock and electro to create sensual songs that have led them to be compared to a “grittier, groove-orientated Alt-J” with “Bowie-like multiform ingenuity and deliberate lyrical content hearkening to the likes of Warren Zevon and My Morning Jacket.” On September 9th, the band dropped their debut EP, You Are Your Own Dentist.
“Garuda” – Rossonian from You Are Your Own Dentist – Sept. 9th
“Ticklish” – Rossonian from You Are Your Own Dentist
Paris Producer Rafon Godard Releases Genre-Blended EP
Other unsigned albums worth checking out that dropped in September include Paris producer, and musician, Rafon Godard‘s new EP, The Big Bank Theory. Godard described the EP like this: “This project was created to mimic life moving through music, and it flows from beginning to end with an eclectic mix of several of my favorite styles (EDM, Trap, Hip Hop, Trip Hop, Pop and Soul) incorporating experimental sounds and even more experimental construction.” Download The Big Bank Theory for free via Bandcamp.
“Drunk N High” – Rafon Godard from The Big Bank Theory – Sept. 4th
September Week Two Top Releases from Forest Fire, Holy Ghost, Goldfrapp, Man Man, Obits, and More
Up at the top of our favorite singles, and the albums that come from, for the second week of September is Forest Fire‘s “Alone With The Wires,” is a slow-burning, hazy pop mixed with psych track with hushed vocals and beautiful melodies from a thick bass signature and heavy reverb guitar strumming, and a steady snare and bass drum delivery. The single is simply a representation of the rest of the album and it’s one of our favorite ‘surprise’ releases of the week. Next, Philadelphia indie band Man Man change things up with the single from their fifth album, which is less hectic but still full of energy and genre mixing infusions, catchy hooks and intricate prog-pop instrumentation. But first is one of the top upbeat songs of the summer, the fast-paced synth pop hook, “Teenagers in Heat” from Brooklyn duo Holy Ghost. If you haven’t hear this song yet, you’ll probably play it over and over; the chorus and the instrumentals are insane, and don’t be surprised if you find yourself dancing, or at the very least tapping your foot. The accompanying official video for “Teenagers in Heat” is also worth checking out. The duo’s new album, Dynamics, was co-produced by former LCD Soundsystem frontman, and DFA Records founder, James Murphy.
Still Waiting For Arctic Monkeys To Return to Their Roots
The second week of September releases includes top albums from popular artists like Goldfrapp, Holy Ghost, Man Man, Obits, as well as Forest Fire, Jacuzzi Boys, The Orwells, The Stepkids, among others. Of course, there was also the newest album from Arctic Monkeys. We were huge fans of the band when they first really hit the scene in 2004-05, but we have not been able to really feel the same enthusiasm for the band’s releases in the past few years; they’re not terrible, but they’re not the same old band either. The band’s newest album, AM, is OK by all measures, but we’d embrace a return to the rock sound that made them famous to begin with – it’s what they did best. Since their change-up, they seem to be wandering somewhat lost in a world of sonic dappling that in the end just doesn’t really work. It’s a shame to see a band that played such great guitar rock abandoned it for the fear of being criticized for not growing – but we’re waiting for that return- to-roots album from Arctic Monkeys, and suppose millions of others do as well.
The long-time Los Angeles pop band, The Black Watch, formed in the late 1980’s, and referred to as “a national treasure” by the L.A. Weekly, released their 17th album in early September, The End of When. The Black Watch frontman/songwriter John Andrew Frederick said of the band’s new single, “Meg,” as “revolving around the singer’s appreciation of a woman’s uniqueness and beauty and how he goes all ‘ice cream inside’ when he thinks of her looking at him ‘green-eyed-shyly’ through ‘imperfect bangs.’”
“Meg” – The Black Watch from The End of When on Pop Culture Press
Top Songs from The Weeknd, Obits, The Orwells, Wilcat! Wildcat’s Latest Releases
When San Francisco band The Weeknd put out new material, it creates a buzz, and so they did just that in early September with the release of their new album, Kiss Land. The video of the single “Belong to the World,” is much more in the style of a mini-film than a music video, but it’s definitely something you’ve gotta check out if you are a Weeknd fan, or curious after hearing the single if The Weeknd is new to you.
“Sugarcrush” – Joanna Gruesome from Weird Sister on Slumberland Records
“Interlude” – London Grammar from If You Wait on Columbia Records – Check out the accolades from listeners on Soundcloud – http://soundcloud.com/londongrammar/london-grammar-interlude
“Fire & Brimstone” – Trombone Shorty from Say That to Say This on Verve Forecast
Power Pop Band MiniBoone, The Stepkids, Peelander-Z and Terry Malts’ Fresh Singles
The New York quintet MiniBoone deliver an “enchanting mesh of old-school energy and new-school melody” with late 1970’s-era post-punk and super hooks of modern indie-pop-think Buildings And Food-era Talking Heads,” according to Christopher Weingarten, The Village Voice. People have compared the latest single “Sweet Salvation” from The Stepkids as a blend of George Clinton, Prince, Frank Zappa and The Shins. The freaky sci-fi music video is bizarre, yet somehow interesting. Terry Malts busts out gritty lo-fi surf rock on the track, “Walking Without You,” from the album, Nobody Realizes This Is Nowhere, officially dropped on Sept. 10th via Sumberland Records.
“Baby, I Hope So” – MiniBoone from MiniBoone on Ernest Jenning Record Co.
“Ride on the Shooting Star” – Peelander-Z from Metalander-Z on Chicken Ranch
Bands to Watch Bucharest, The Visibles, The Big DIY & Small Label Releases
Now things get really interesting. The second week of September’s DIY and small label releases kicks off with a promising new band from Tel Aviv, Israel, interestingly named Bucharest. The band’s debut single, “Freaking Out” is an uptempo jangly pop song with a catchy rhythm and sweet, melodic hooks. Apparently the band’s self-titled debut album will be released in October, which we’re looking forward to and will be sure to feature with hopefully some other songs as good as their debut single. Following Bucharest is another promising new band, The Visibles, who released their self-titled, debut album on September 10th, featuring the terrific single, “Clarendon Hills.” Next, The Big composes indie rock inspired songs with a theatrical structure and introspective lyrics as demonstrated on their excellent single, “Silver Soul.” The Big explores the endless possibilities behind terrace dynamics and intricate chordal structure. The Big refer to them as “mothers of a new genre; slow pop.”
“Freaking Out” – Bucharest from Bucharest – Sept. 10th
Stellar Music from Sterling Fox, Fin Folsom, Wonderflu and Other Top DIY Drops
From Port St. Lucie, Florida, the punk psych rock band, Infinite Radio & The Shadow People, jam out like acid-popping space invaders from Mars on songs like “Night Life” and “Breaking Out” from their debut album, The Fall, released on September 10th. The band’s musical influences are not surprising: The Mars Volta, The Flaming Lips, Pink Floyd, Thee Oh Sees, Arcade Fire, and Camper Van Beethoven. Listen to the excellent, mellow single, “Ghost,” from New York City artist Sterling Fox. He is a songwriter/producer turned rock and roll singer best known for producing Lana Del Rey‘s breakthrough hit “Video Games”. Also, check out tracks from New York City DIY band Fin Folsom and Paris indie band Wonderflu.
“Night Life” – Infinite Radio & The Shadow People from The Fall – Sept. 10th
“Breaking Out!” – Infinite Radio & The Shadow People from The Fall
“Brett Ashley” – Fin-Folsom from Tell-Tale – Sept. 12th
“Ghost” – Sterling Fox from single – Sept. 13th Bonus: “Drip Drop” – Sterling Fox from single
Brooklyn’s Bobby Blue Works With DFA Producer on New Release
Brooklyn-based, Indiana-raised, songwriter and musician Bobby Blue mixes a variety of genres – from pop, electro, country, rock – on his new album that was engineered by DFA Records engineer Abe Seiferth. The acoustic/electronic track ‘Sunshine’, with clear influences from ELO, is incredibly sunny, uplifting, and melodic with plenty of hooks. Another track, “Go,” is a semi electro country song. Blue is heavily influenced by artists like Jónsi, Björk, This Mortal Coil, ELO, and Loretta Lynn. Blue’s songs have been featured on radio stations, and remixed for the dance floor by other artists, in Europe and America. The Tim Letteer remix of “In A Song” was on the dance charts for four months. Blue has previously performed at the Knitting Factory and former CBGBs in NYC.
“Sunshine” – Bobby Blue from Sunshine – Sept. 14th
Side Story: Captain Kirk Appears on Glasvegas Video; Latest in Long Musical History
This is a side story, or in journalistic terms, a side-bar. It just kind of happened. William Shatner’s appearance in the Glasvegas was a nice surprise. The band scored an intro from Captain Kirk. Every time we see William Shatner (all of the time for Priceline), we are marveled at how amazing he looks for a man of 82 years, even if he is a little plump. He looks like he could easily be 20 to 25 years younger, and whoever did his plastic surgery should get an award because the caption of the Starship Enterprise does not look like one of those hatchet jobs that so many celebs of his age group, and younger, have had where you can tell that they had plastic surgery (and it didn’t necessarily go well – Kenny Rodgers). Anyways, we just thought that was worth mentioning because Shatner is such an icon across generations and throughout the galaxy and those beyond. He’s a testament, and inspiration to all, that you can be 82 and still be cool, vibrant and looking great (even with his unnoticeable plastic surgeries). Shatner is probably the male equivalent of Betty White – he’s been in the entertainment industry for some 60 years, he’s recognized by numerous generations of people and he still does TV, film, commercials, live shows, has won Emmys and other awards, and more. Shatner released a few albums back in the day – the 1960’s – that were commercial flops, but in later years, as the popularity of Star Trek continued to grow into a full blown Trekkie Nation three and four decades into the life of the franchise, those otherwise forgotten albums became collectors’ items, and due to demand, by the turn of the century, Shatner’s old original recordings were being remastered and re-released. Shatner recorded new albums in the 2000s that were given high marks by fans, and he has made countless contributions to other recordings over the years. There are even recordings with Doctor Spoke (Leonard Nimoy). If you’re interested, whether you’re a Trekkie or not, check out Shatner’s Spotify channel.
This post and playlist includes over 65 MP3 singles from the second half of August releases, featuring dozens of popular, well-known and totally DIY, obscure artists and bands. This is the second, and final, post and playlist mix covering the cafe’s top picks for the best singles and albums of August 2013. The first volume of Best Singles & Albums for August 2013, covering July 30th to August 12th, was a huge success with listeners and included standout singles from new albums by popular and well-known indie artists like Heaven, Explosions in the Sky & David Wingo, The Polyphonic Spree, Pond, Medicine, Michael Franti & Spearhead, T. Hardy Morris, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, Minks, The Delta Mirror and Jack Bellows , in addition to incredibly talented unsigned and obscure artists and bands like Barbarian, Egadz, Null Device, Lights at Night, Stuart Newman, Future Wife, Step Rockets, Mosaic, Hunter As A Horse, and others.
The first volume of the Best Singles & Albums for August, featuring 39 amazing songs, covered July 30th to August 12th, using the closest Tuesday (the day most albums are traditionally released by labels) to August 1st (which was July 30th). In these two volumes, there are so many terrific, ‘keeper’ songs – over 100 in all. It’s the most comprehensive MP3 playlist of the top singles from new albums released in the month of August available anywhere online. Enjoy.
Best Singles & Albums Released August 13th to 19th
Top Singles from Bloc Party’s and The Moondoggies’ Latest Album Releases
After you’ve listened to Volume One of the best new August releases, and crave even more great songs that you can stream or download, here’s where you’ll want to come for the rest of August releases. While the week of August 13th to August 19th was relatively thin for new releases, there’s still great music from popular indie artists like Washed Out‘s new Subpop release, Paracosm, followed by Bloc Party‘s latest album, The Nextwave Sessions, featuring the lead single, “Ratchet,” which is one of their best singles in a number of years. The popular Seattle indie band, The Moondoggies, dropped their sophomore album, Adios I’m A Ghost, on August 13th. The top song from the LP so far has been the track, “Red Eye.” The track is flanked by excellent electric guitar work, including a riveting riff throughout, and soulful vocals from Kevin Murphy. However, that can sometimes be balanced out by the fact that the albums have not had time to really seep into the listening public’s playlists the way that albums released earlier in the year naturally are more likely to.
“Ratchet” – Bloc Party from The Nextwave Sessions on Frenchkiss
“Red Eye” – The Moondoggies from Adios I’m a Ghost on Hardly Art
Ernest Greene, aka Washed Out, working on his music
The Genius of Ernest Greene Emerges Again on Washed Out’s Sophomore Album Release
The sophomore album from the talented, popular musician Ernest Greene‘s indie project, Washed Out, was one of the most anticipated releases of the summer, and it did not disappoint. Since the release of the debut album, Within and Without, in 2011, that made Washed Out an international indie recording star, Greene has been touring endlessly around the globe. In between tours, Greene found time to write and record the material that makes up Paracosm, his sophomore release. We think it’s good that he took his time, even though there was tremendous pressure on Greene to put out a follow-up album sooner because of the huge success of his debut. Often, when an artist that comes out of nowhere has a big and unexpected success with a debut album, the pressure – from the label and some fans – to turn out a new follow-up album or EP within six months to a year, is tremendous, and intense. Plus, the expectation of course is that it should be even better than the debut that also has to be as good or better than the debut, is intense.
But many times, as history has shown us, when artists and their labels rush a sophomore album out, the results are not so good. Greene, apparently, wasn’t willing to rush his follow-up album because of pressure, and that is respectful to his fans, who naturally have high expectations and we would guess would rather wait a little longer for a great album than to get a mediocre album quickly. Thankfully, Greene took his time with writing and recording Paracosm, which is a remarkable, at times stunningly genius, collection of new songs from Washed Out. Greene performed some of his new songs live during his terrific performance a couple of weeks ago at Monterey‘s debut First City Festival.
Aside from those big releases, it was a rather thin week for new albums from established and better known artists. As far as new releases from the next strata of artists we call the ‘inbetweeners’ – those that are not necessarily well known, but also not obscure and are signed to a label – there were a number of worthy releases dropped by Dog Party and Don Cavalli, and Jagwar Ma and Twin Steps, among others. And lastly, but not least, further down the page, make sure to check out the carefully selected fresh releases from DIY, under-the-radar and unsigned bands, many of who are exclusively featured on IRC.
Overlooked Releases from The Chastity Belt, Dog Party and Jagwar Ma
The band The Chastity Belt dropped their new album, No Regrets, fronted by the single, “Black Sail,” on August 13th. Punk pop blazes from the band Dog Party‘s short (44 seconds!) new anthemic single, “How Are You Doing,” from the album, Lost Control. If you like girl punk, you’ll want to get that album.
Next up is the thrilling single, “Man I Need,” from Australian duo Jagwar Ma‘s debut album, Howlin. The band grinds out a modern take on the Manchester dance-rock sound that bands like The Stone Roses and Inspiral Carpets made popular in the late 80’s and early 90’s (before it was replaced by the Brit pop craze headed by Oasis and Blur). There’s also a clear influence of Jane’s Addiction throughout Howlin’. The Jagwar Ma music video is also worth checking out.
“Black Sail” – Chastity Belt from No Regerts on Help Yourself Records – attach
Auerbach Championed Songwriter Don Cavalli Delivers Another Winner
Let’s switch things up and get down and boogie 70’s-style with the funky blues rock and soul grooves of French artist Don Cavalli on the title track of his sophomore album, Temperamental. Cavalli’s profile was significantly raised when Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys referenced Cavalli’s 2008 psychedelic blues debut, Cryland, as an inspiration. A pat on the back from a Grammy-winning rocker must be such a huge confidence booster, but it also places an extra burden of expectation from new fans (especially the most committed hard-core Black Keys’ fans who surely sought out Cavalli’s music) on the artist. Ahh, the ying and yang of life. Following “Temperamental,” things shift into a higher gear on the playlist with the inclusion of the gritty tune, “The Corner Man,” a lo-fi, riff-heavy R&B meets garage punk rock track from Boston‘s own Barrence Whitfield and The Savages. Wrapping up this section, or more accurately perhaps, selection, of August’s third week of top singles from new releases by fairly well-known indie artists and bands, is the lo-fi, live single, “Son of Sam,” from the indie rock band Twin Steps. The song is off of the band’s new seven-inch, Plague Songs, available via 1-2-3-4 Go Records!
“Temperamental” – Don Cavalli from Temperamental on Everloving Records
“The Corner Man” – Barrence Whitfield and the Savages from Dig Thy Savage Soul on Bloodshot Records
“Son of Sam” – Twin Steps from Plague Songs 7″ on 1-2-3-4 Go! Records
Band to Watch Scott & Charlene’s Wedding Drop Ace Album
If you’re not familiar with the band Scott & Charlene’s Wedding, here’s a good chance to get to know the duo, and why they are a rising band in the indie ‘musicverse.”
There new lead single, “Wild Heart,” from the August 13th album release, Any Port In A Storm, is evidence of why the duo’s atmospheric post-punk rock sound, that is obviously influenced by Sonic Youth and Velvet Underground, is causing a buzz with some alternative rock lovers. The second single, “Lesbian Wife,” shifts in tempo and sound density and features Scott’s half spoken/half sung vocals. There is not an artist we have heard in a long time that sounds so much like Lou Reed.
“Wild Heart” – Scott & Charlene’s Wedding from Any Port In A Storm on Fire Records
Top DIY Releases Week of August 13th From Flashbulb Fires, CREEP, Sreamin’ Eagle and Others
Now for our favorite part of the weekly releases – select new singles and albums from DIY, under-the-radar and ready-to-break-out indie artists and bands, many of which have not, until now, received any significant exposure in the indie blogosphere. This turns out to be another great playlist of “rarely heard” singles released during the third week of August.
As regular readers and listeners see, there are dozens and dozens of talented artists and bands featured each month on IRC that don’t get covered elsewhere. Again and again, we are amazed by the wealth of remarkable musical talent across America, and around the world, that too often goes unnoticed and otherwise gets lost in the noise of the global mainstream music monster machine. The monster machine pumps hundreds of millions of dollars a year into worldwide production, advertising, marketing, promotion, social media, cable and on and on.
The top DIY release of the week includes artists that are well-known in the indie rock world.
Rising Band Flashbulb Fires Release New Single
From Denver, the indie “haze-pop” band Flashbulb Fires, has been making waves in the world of indie rock since the release of their widely acclaimed debut album, Glory, in 2009. In the ensuing years, the band toured extensively, played official showcases at SXSW and CMJ. Last year, the band released their sophomore album, Gasconader, which was also widely praised. On a roll, the band released a new single, “Unseen Things” on August 13th that we think many of you will enjoy , especially for fans of the band. No word yet on when their next album will be released, but it is in the works according to band member Michael James.
“Unseen Things” – Flashbulb Fires from single – Aug. 13th
CREEP’s New LP Features Guest Vocalists Romy Madley-Croft, Kazu and Andrew Wyatt
The DIY release, Echoes, from the band, CREEP, dropped on August 13th, includes 10 tracks, each with a guest vocalist, including artists like Romy Madley-Croft (The xx) on the track, “Days,” and Planningtorock on “Introduction,” as well as contributions from Sia, Tricky, Andrew Wyatt (Miike Snow), Kazu (Blonde Redhead), and Holly Miranda. The Brooklyn duo that obviously has some great connections, is headed by Lauren Flax and Lauren Dillard, both DJs and producers. Even though Echoes was just released, there are already numerous mixes of tracks from Echoes floating around. For example, the song, “Days,” (view the official video below) has been mixed by Deadboy, Soul Clap, Azari, and Super8 (listen below).
“Days” (featuring Romy Madley Croft) – CREEP from Echoes
While he’s not going to be the next Bon Iver or Tallest Man on the Earth, Memphis musician Winston Legtheigh, who fronts Screamin Eagle, is nonetheless one of the most talented DIY musicians we’ve heard in August thanks the album, Old & Young and the standout track “Good As Dead,” teaming up with musician Zeke Johnson. You’ve probably already spotted a dreary theme, but his music is very much alive and well.
“Good as Dead” – Screamin Eagle from Old & Young – Aug. 13th
San Francisco Artist Jason Buckingham Drops EP as Strange Culprits
San Francisco one-man band Jason Buckingham, who records under the moniker Strange Culprits, released his debut EP, Five Fingers, on August 13th. Strange Culprits’ lead single, “Concrete in the Rain,” is a gloomy, gritty song with distant-sounding guitar licks, a looped bass, singular drum beat, piano riffs and kind of scary vocals. Buckingham said of his new project: “Strange Culprits aims to flip the bird at musical genres, choosing instead to operate by the simple credo that a good song is a good song, whether it was inspired by Motown, Woodie Guthrie, or Cheap Trick.”
“Concrete in the Rain” – Strange Culprits from Five Fingers
The Persian Leaps Drop Debut EP, Praise Elephants
From St. Paul, Minnesota, the pop rock band The Persian Leaps knock out incredibly catchy hooks, bright melodies and sing-a-long choruses on their new single, “Silent Treatment,” from the band’s debut EP, Praise Elephants. The young quartet, formed in 2012, create “driving, chimey music” influenced by bands like House of Love, My Bloody Valentine, Guided by Voices, and Teenage Fanclub. Those bands have informed The Persian Leaps’ “short, catchy songs coated with divine guitar noise and vocal harmonies.” Their new EP was dropped on August 15th.
“Silent Treatment” – The Persian Leaps from Praise Elephants
Top Singles from Paper City, Nytyly, Aaron Gibson Recent Releases
Also listen to new music from bands like Hunting Beach, California’s 60’s surf pop band Paper City who’ve opened for artists like The Blank Tapes, Jessica Dobson (of the Shins), The Secret 6 (of The Killingtons), Chase Frank, and Alyssandra Nighswonger. Their debut album, Summer of Love, was released on August 15th. Next, “Harmony Day,” is a strange mix of electronic rock and psychedelic pop from the Brooklyn band nytyly. Aaron Gibson is an accomplished singer/songwriter and musician from Oregon who has toured in China and around the states. The song, “Waiting,” is from Gibson’s new album, Loose Ends.
“Love and Fashion” – Paper City from Paper City
“Harmony Day” – nytyly from Brooklyn Broadcast – Aug. 16th
“Waiting” – Aaron Gibson from Loose Ends
Top Singles and Albums from Week Four, August 20th to August 26th
As if making up for previous weeks in which there were a thin number of new releases, the week of August 20th sprung a whole bunch of much anticipated, and warmly welcomed, new albums, from artists like Ty Segall, Crocodiles, Travis, Porcelain Raft, No Age, Kissaway Trail , and others.
Anytime Ty Segall has a new release, it’s like a holiday in the cafe. The northern California based, southern California-raised, musician is not only a composer, singer, songwriter, mulit-instrumentalist, producer and serial collaborator , he is also a prolific, original and versatile artist. Sleeper has apparently disappointed some Segall fans, but those who really appreciate his talents, will find the new album not to be a sleeper, but a grower. The more we listen to it, the more and more we discover all over again, again in a slightly different way than before, the sheer brilliance of his artistry and the necessity to proclaim that Segall is one of the most important indie artists of the past decade.
Top New Releases from Crocodiles, Diarrhea Planet and No Age Top Picks
We love the Crocodiles scuffed up, gritty persona and their reverb-heavy lo-fi rock, like the raunchy new single, “Cockroach,” from their new album, Crimes of Passion, demonstrates. Our next pick among the more popular and well-known bands with new albums released on August 20th is I’m Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams by the Nashville band Diarrhea Planet (among our top picks for worst band name ever) and the new single, “Separations,” that we’ve listened to half a dozen times just in the first few days after we first heard it, and the album itself is also turning out to be a ‘repeater’ – one that you can’t help but to play again and again. Despite the terrible band name, which also has an element of ‘fuck you’ to the music industry and the brand makers, Diarrhea Planet are yet another indie band from Nashville – a non-country music trend that has been picking up steam in a city which has had its identity tied to country music for nearly a century. Nowadays in Nashville, country isn’t the only game in town.
No Age‘s new track, “No Impression,” is a strange lo-fi gumbo of post-punk and no wave blending deep base thumps, psychedelic rock style guitar, untuned violin strands, fuzzy synths, and lots of effects including reverb and fade. KEXP said the band’s fifth album, An Object, is “a dramatic change of pace that finds them exploring the sounds of stern post-punk, atmospheric shoegaze and amelodic No Wave with a mostly bleak blend of angular guitar lines, noisy ambient textures, taut rhythms and monotone vocals.” The terrific single, “An Impression,” gives a wonderful and correct impression of the rest of the songs on An Object. An excellent way to close out this block of singles is appropriately concluded with the single, “The Way Out,” the terrifically hazy pop glaze from Porcelain Raft’s new album, Permanent Signal.
“Cockroach” – Crocodiles from Crimes of Passion on Frenchkiss Records
“Separations” – Diarrhea Planet from I’m Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams on Infinity Cat
“The Way Out” – Porcelain Raft from Permanent Signal on Secretly Canadian
An Excellent Trio of Singles from Kissaway Trail, Typhoon and Ski Lodge’s New LPs
Probably our favorite Danish indie rock band, Kissaway Trail, came roaring back on August 20th with the release of a new album of wonderfully guitar-driven, hooklicious, rhythmic indie rock on the song “The Springsteen Implosion,” followed by the latest single from the new album by the band Typhoon, and the new-to-us band Ski Lodge, a post-punk band from New York that crafts dark, dreamy and atmospheric elements into the songs on their debut, Big Heart.
“Boy” – Ski Lodge from Big Heart on Dovecote Records
After Hiatus, Superchunk and Travis Mark Return With Excellent New LPs
We call artists and bands that have been releasing noteworthy music for more than 20 years, ‘The Vets’ and we all love them from REM to Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins to The Strokes and Built to Spill and Modest Mouse, U2 to Dinosaur Jr. (among many, many others). These are the folks that have had a huge impact on many of the indie and alternative rock artists and bands we cover all of the time. So, it was a delight to finally see Superchunk release a new album that includes the excellent single, “Me & You & Jackie Mittoo” sounds like it could have been a Big Star hit single circa 1974 with it’s three power pop chords and glam rock-style riffs and chorues. Another veteran band of the music scene, Scottish post-Britpop, pro-alternative rock band Travis return with their first album, Where You Stand, in five years. While Fran Healy‘s vocals are not as robust as they were a decade ago, but he still carries a tune remarkably well, and the band sounds as tight and perfected as ever as the lead single, “Moving,” so aptly demonstrates.
“Me & You & Jackie Mittoo” – Superchunk from I Hate Music on Merge Records
“Moving” – Travis from Where You Stand on Red Telephone Box Records
Energized after a few chaotic years of a whirlwind success, singer/songwriter and musician Laura Veirs, did not slow down, writing and recording an album’s worth of songs for her sophomore album, Warp and Weft. The toe-tapping feature track, “Sun Song,” truly shines and flourishes in a swirl of violins, piano, drums, guitars and more, but is only made whole with Veirs’ magnificent vocal work. Following Veirs is “Getting Even,” the latest single from White Lies’ new album, dropped Aug. 20th, Big TV.
“Sun Song” – Laura Veirs from Warp and Weft on Raven Marching Band Records
“Getting Even” – White Lies from Big TV on Harvest Records
‘Inbetweener’ Artists Pure Bathing Culture, Still Life Still, Surf City Add to Top Songs of August
This next section is what we like to call the “inbetweeners,” meaning they are artists and bands who are not widely known and popular but are also not obscure, DIY or under the radar. Most ‘inbetweeners’ have hundreds or thousands of hardcore fans locally or spread about the country, and in some rare cases, around the world. We can’t tell you how many times we’ve heard a US-based ‘inbetweener’ band that had few fans in the U.S. but were wildly popular in the indie and alt rock scenes in places like Tokyo, Lima, Madrid or Sao Paulo. It’s amazing how things work out that way.
If you love diversity and pleasant surprises in your musical journey and discovery, and you have broad tastes, and keep an open mind to possibly digging something that at first you might not think is your cup of tea, our band profiles, new releases round-ups, playlists and other posts are for you.
Talented inbetweeners with releases from the week of August 20th include Pure Bathing Culture, Bent Shapes, Native, His Electro Blue Voice, Earl Sweatshirt, Tim Easton, and Golden Suits.
“Pendulum” – Pure Bathing Culture from Moon Tides on Partisan Records
“In Enemies” (Teen Daze Remix) – Still Life Still from Mourning Trance on Arts & Crafts
“It’s a Common Life” – Surf City from We Knew It Was Not Going To Be Like This on Fire Records
Boston DIY Band to Watch Bent Shapes Drops Debut
Bent Shapes is a new-to-us band that stood out for their nerdy pop rock with some reggae guitar playing (think Vampire Weekend), forceful yet raspy vocals and a hook-friendly rhythm and beat that is hard to turn away from. The Boston trio is composed of members Andy Sadoway, Ben Potrykus, and Supriya Gunda. Since forming under their previous name Girlfriends in 2009, Bent Shapes has released a string of DIY cassettes and 7”s full of fuzzy garage, frantic jangle pop, and scrappy post-punk. The band’s myriad of influences include Josef K, The Feelies, Jonathan Richman, Billy Childish, and The Fall.
Bands Army Navy, Gross Relations, Earl Sweatshirt, Tim Easton, Golden Suits Drop Fine New Tracks
One of our favorite RE-discoveries for the fourth week of August (Aug 20-26) was the band Army Navy, who we initially were turned on to last year, but honestly, in the flood of new songs, albums and bands since then, we unintentionally forgot about Army Navy and how much we liked them until hearing their latest offering. Next, Brooklyn lo-fi surf rockers Gross Relations spazz out on the uptempo, riff rolling single, “Cut The Final Scene,” from the band’s self-title debut album, dropped on August 20th, followed by hip-hop rapper Earl Sweatshirt and the 50’s style rockabilly of Tim Easton – a stark transition from one musical form to another and about as unlikely a pairing as Big Bird and Mickey Mouse. This next single, “Swimming in ’99,” by Golden Suits seemed like a good fit – because of its similar tempo – to follow Easton’s “Troubled Times,” but also different enough to be amongst the great diversity of sounds and styles in this block of singles from August album releases.
Psychedelic Rock from His Electro Blue Voice and Native’s Spooky Sounds
If you’re a Velvet Underground/Lou Reed kind of a person, chances are you’ll dig the loose composition, psychedelic meandering of instruments and long, disorganized, yet strangely appealing, jams of the band His Electro Blue Voice on the Subpop release, Ruthless Sperm, particularly on the single included below, “Born Tired.” The menacing and dark instrumentation and vocals on Native‘s “Coin Toss” fits appropriately placed right after His Electro Blue Voice – afterall, they got the whole eerily psychedelic rock vibe going with “Born Tired.”
“Born Tired” – His Electro Blue Voice from Ruthless Sperm on Sub Pop
“Coin Toss” – Native from Orthodox on Sargent House
“Whoa” (feat. Tyler, The Creator) – Earl Sweatshirt from Doris on Tan Cressida/Columbia
“Troubled Times” – Tim Easton from Not Cool on Campfire Propaganda/Thirty Tigers
“Swimming In ’99” – Golden Suits from Golden Suits on Yep Roc http://soundcloud.com/goldensuits/swimming-in-99
Top Singles from Julianna Barwick, Widower and Alexander Von Mehren’s Latest Releases
This section of the new releases covers artists and bands that are not from the strata of popular and well-known indie musicians, like Superchunk, Crocodiles or No Age, but at the same time are not DIY, under the radar or obscure like many of the DIY exclusive musicians we feature are – this section is for the artists and bands that fall in between noteriety and obscurity.
Kicking off is the wonderful musician Julianna Barwick and her beautiful single, “One Half,” from the album Nepenthe. Another mellow song from a new release dropped on August 20th is the single, “Oh Catherine, My Catherine,” by the band Widower – what a gorgeous acoustic love song. Alexander Von Mehren turns out another praise-worthy album Natural Selections, including the title track, among others.
“One Half” – Julianna Barwick from Nepenthe on Dead Oceans
“Natural Selection” – Alexander Von Mehren from Natural Selection on The Control Group
DIY Nashville Singer/Songwriter Rob Vischer Delivers Indie Pop from ‘Music City’
There were some terrific releases in the fourth week of August from DIY bands and artists that few people know about like Nashville singer/songwriter Rob Vischer. When people think of Nashville they think of country music. But in recent years, there are other musical styles emerging from the city that made Elvis famous (or vice versa?), including some terrific indie music from a growing number of musicians. Singer/songwriter and musician Rob Vischer is one of them.
On his new single, “Love For A Lifetime,” Vischer, and his band, touch on many ‘indie’ elements, such as a cheerful beat, handclaps, grandiose, soaring choruses, bright piano, keys and guitar playing. We’re surprised we’ve never heard of him before considering how excellent his songs are. You’ll have “Love For A Lifetime” playing in your head for days; it’s an irresistibly feel-good song with an incredibly positive and hopeful sentiment. Love is a common theme on Vischer’s new album, Meant to Love. The song, “Airwaves & Envelopes” is another love song, this time about long distance love set to flourishing guitars, big drum rolls and very tight production. It’s not a stretch to compare his music to bands like Fun, Death Cab For Cutie, Jimmy Eat World and Green Day, to varying degrees; Vischer’s sound falls somewhere in the middle of DIY indie and polished radio rock. Therefore, it’s no surprise that his biggest musical influences include Death Cab for Cutie, Fun, Bruno Mars, Civil Wars, Snow Patrol, and Muse.
Vischer started writing songs when he was 16. Four years ago, he travelled across the U.S. on bicycle, working odd jobs, performing and selling his CD of demos door-to-door along the way. With additional money he earned in the ensuing three years following his cross-country journey, Vischer had enough money saved to pay for the studio time, mixing and mastering to produce a proper CD release.
“Love for a Lifetime” – Rob Vischer from Meant to Love
“Airwaves & Envelopes” – Rob Vischer from Meant to Love
Sacramento Indie Band to Watch Appalachians Release New Seven-Inch
Our top pick for the best DIY release of the fourth week of August 2013 is the new 7″ two-song release from Sacramento band, Appalachians, a terrific and promising band we featured not long ago after coming across their music in our submission box. We think they’re one of the best new DIY bands we’ve heard in 2013 and ask ourselves: “why don’t more people know about this band?”
The single, “Dolly” is one of the best of all the lead singles for the week altogether, among new releases by both popular and well-known indie artists and unsigned, obscure bands, such as Applachians. On the second track, “Lo-Hi,” banjos are picking, mandolins are strumming, and a bass is humming, along with the gentle, reassuring vocals that add another appealing quality to an already appealing song. And it’s totally family-friendly too. Along with the songs that we featured the first time we profiled Appalachians, the two songs featured here on a two-song released titled, Bereaved, are by no means wholly representative of this band’s incredible talents, and the enjoyment their music has brought to all of us that have latched on as fans from the get-go. If you want to hear more from Applachians, stream The Rolling C’s, their brilliant July 2012 debut, on Bandcamp at http://appalachians1.bandcamp.com/album/the-rolling-cs
https://indierockcafe.com2013/01/5-diy-bands-to-watch-in-2013-vol-i-hemmingbirds-jumpiter-cloud-lantern-the-jesus-rehab-and-appalachians/ “Dolly” – Appalachians from Bereaved
“Lo-hi” – Appalachians from Bereaved
Indie Singer/Songwriters Blake Walker and Dan Jacobs Cross the Radar with New EP
Blake Walker is an indie pop/rock singer/songwriter in Los Angeles who sent us a couple of impressive songs from his debut EP, My Poor Joy. In 2003, he left Dallas in a car and drove to LA in pursuit of his dreams, a quest millions of young people have ventured on for nearly a century now. That’s what America is all about and you can get a sense of that in Walker’s heartfelt music. He listed his musical influences as Deerhunter, The Walkmen, and Velvet Underground. Walker provided one of the best answers we have heard of to the question asked on the submission form – “what is indie rock.” He replied: “Whether or not Indie refers to truly independent music, or music on a subsidiary label owned by a larger company, the term represents qualities of purity, earnestness, immediacy, exuberance, experimentation and fun. The spirit of good Indie music is always liberated, regardless of how it’s distributed. ”
Another singer/songwriter, Dan Jacobs of Washington, D.C., caught our attention with a couple of tracks that he sent in from his self-released album that he quietly dropped on August 27th. The world didn’t really notice, but we did. Since officially becoming a DIY artist in 2012, this is his first exposure on any blog or other publication. We love that we are often the first music site, or site in general, to exclusively premiere a promising new artist or band that has been overlooked for too long.
Hopefully, enough people will dig the two songs here and want to listen to more and purchase his album, which you can get by searching for his name together with the album name. We like his raspy, almost Dylanesque voice, a reference that is appropriate since he listed in his submission Bob Dylan as his greatest musical influence. If you know someone that is making an indie film that needs a great folk song, it’d be worthwhile to contact Jacobs to see if he’d provide one of his songs for an indie soundtrack.
“The Winter Classic” – Dan Jacobs from Creatures
“You Say” – Blake Walker from My Poor Joy
“My Little Singaporean Princess” – Blake Walker from My Poor Joy
Picture Atlantic is an alternative indie-rock band from San Jose, California with an explosive sound and an openhearted approach to song craft. Since their formation in 2006, the band has released two full-length albums and three EPs. They’ve also become a popular band in the competitive San Francisco Bay Area music scene and have performed at the annual Live 105’s BFD festival and headlined at San Francisco legendary venues like Bottom Of The Hill and Popscene. Their new video single, “Edgewood Road,” shot in a redwood forest, is a pretty good song. Recently, Absolute Punk named them of the Top 100 Best Unsigned Bands. Picture Atlantic’s new YouTube “Edgewood Road”.
Top Singles & Albums of August 27th-Sept. 2nd
The final week of releases for August 2013, compared to the previous week (August 20-26th) was thin. However, within that thin pile of releases from popular and well-known indie artists, were some of the summer’s most highly anticipated albums, including new releases from Franz Ferdinand, Capsula and The Dodos that all have sweet first singles to give you a taste of what the albums offer.
Plus, the last week of August also included other worthwhile releases from artists and bands like the wildly popular Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand, who offer more dance beats and less synths on their fourth album, featuring the single “Right Action,” one of the band’s best singles in years.
With the blood-pumping from Ferdinand’s “Right Action,” it was Argentinian band Capsula‘s new single, “Blind,” that really blew the roof off and blaze through while the song, “Substance,” from The Dodos wrapped up the trio of top singles nicely with it’s uptempo beats. Plus, one of the best singles of August, “Bootlegs,” an infectious, lo-fi garage pop rock track by New Zealand‘s rising indie rockers, Ghost Wave.
“Right Action” – Franz Ferdinand from Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action on Domino Recording Co.
“Blind” – Capsula from Solar Secrets on Krian Music
“Substance” – The Dodos from Carrier on Polyvinyl Records
“Bootlegs” – Ghost Wave from Ages on Flying Nun Records
Singles from New Albums by Joe Black Lewis, King Krule, Ghost Wave and Others
Fiery funk and gritty soul comprise the latest work of Austin music icon, Black Joe Lewis; genre gumbo, with chunks of hip-hop, spoonfuls of rock and pinches of jazz is one way to describe the new album from British musician Archy Marshall, better known as King Krule; and listen to and download new singles from Disappear, Dent May, The Suburbs, Flaamingos (not a mistype), and Ghost Wave. Let’s keep the beats and electric guitars going with the single, “Turn The Radio On,” from The Suburbs, a terrifically catchy, radio-ready (oddly enough) pop rock song with a great rhythm, and even a horn section. Overall, the band seems to be influenced by artists like The Eels, David Bowie and Nick Cave.
“Come To My Party” – Black Joe Lewis from Electric Slave on Vagrant Records
“Easy Easy” – King Krule from 6 Feet Beneath the Moon on True Panther Sounds
MODOC Officially Release Album Featuring Popular Single
The Nashville alternative rock band MODOC was originally formed back in 2009 by friends from Ball State University in Indiana. After they became a pretty big deal in the local music scene, the band decided to move to Nashville in 2011 to up their game. Not long after, ABC picked up the band’s single, “Devil On My Shoulders” for a promo of the television series 666 Park Avenue. Seemingly little things like that can give a band a nice bump, as it seemed to do for MODOC. They signed to Zavitson Music Group and released their self-titled sophomore album that featured a reworked version of “Devil On My Shoulder” as well as another single, “Runnin’. Last year the band drummed up excitement in ‘Music City’ with the song and video for the track, “Coward.” We are always welcoming of a great new band that knows how to rock and roll and has fun doing it.
“Devil On My Shoulder” – MODOC from Devil On My Shoulder
“Runnin” – MODOC from Devil On My Shoulder
San Francisco Artists Gamble Gamble Die and TaughtMe Drop Fantastic New LPs
The year-old San Francisco post college-rock, post-punk folk rock band Gamble Gamble Die released their debut EP, Badman, on August 30th totally DIY style. The title track is a sunny, but mellow, indie pop song with looping guitar notes, melodic bass and a mid-tempo drum beat with crashing cymbals. The lyric that stood out was “everytime you tell a lie/the baby Jesus cries.” The band goes all out experimental punk and semi-psychedelic on the Yoko Ono-like track, “Chicken.” It’s a rather strange song, and not appealing to many, but in their home base of San Francisco, a song like “Chicken” is not out of place. While cities like New York, Seattle and to some extent Austin and Los Angeles, might be contenders, no other city in the U.S. beats San Francisco when it comes to weird, trippy experimentation in all arts, including music. The city has been the epicenter of underground, experimental and avante garde music movements in the U.S. for five decades now. So Gamble Gamble Die are right where they probably need to be for what they want to do musically.
“Badman” – Gamble Gamble Die from Badman
“Chicken” – Gamble Gamble Die from Badman
The unusual, but intriguing, album cover for TaughtMe's 'Am I Old?' Interestingly enough, another unusual, but talented, musical outfit from San Francisco, TaughtMe, also dropped a new album, Am I Old?, on Aug. 31st. Like Gamble Gamble Die, the songs are not the regular fare. Instead, TaughtMe, the musical project of acclaimed songwriter and musician Blake Henderson, crafts theatrical pop compositions that puts Henderson in the category with artists like Bjork, which just happens to be one of his top musical influences – go figure. Am I Old? is Henderson’s fifth release in a decade, and in between writing, recording and mixing, he toured extensively, performing in towns and cities across the United States and Europe. His music has received wide acclaim partly because it touches on guilt and innocence and other themes that are directly or indirectly affected by Henderson’s upbringing as a strict Mormon in Utah. San Francisco is about as far as one can get (less geographically) from Utah in terms of societal norms, culture and population.
Henderson wrote about this latest album: “I accepted that I was composing soliloquies and chose to own the fact rather than temper it. I named the collection Am I Old? and… my rawest album, and my best try so far to get real deep.”
“Into The Thicket” – TaughtMe from Am I Old?
“The Truth (Really?) Every Time” – TaughtMe from Am I Old?
The Cairo Gang's "Tiny Rebels" was one of 35 top singles for the second half of July
With festivals and other events ruling the schedule during July and August, we’re still catching up with releases dropped in the six weeks. A couple of weeks ago, volume one of the Best Singles & Albums of July 2013 was posted, but the aforementioned fests – and other exciting posts were working on that we think you’ll appreciate – have delayed volume 2.
Now that the summer fest season is coming to a close with fests like last weekend’s inaugural First City Festival in Monterey, California, we’ll be getting back to regular posting of indie and DIY singles, playlists and band profiles (and there’s a lot in the pipeline), and in a couple of months, the first ‘Best of 2013’ posts will be coming out. Regardless that it is a bit late, there were terrific releases from the second half of July that could be categorized as “can’t miss,” including underground indie DIY bands and artists that are among some of the best of the year, as well as top-notch new releases. This post features a couple dozen of them.
Listeners responded enthusiastically to Volume One of the Best Singles & Albums of July 2013, streaming and downloading tens of thousands of times 27 top singles from albums dropped in the first half of July, featuring dozens of artists, including rock veterans like Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices) to fairly popular indie bands like Maps; small label artists like Little Legend, who like other terrific, new-to-us bands – Twin Peaks, Royal Forest and Sensual Harassment (all who dropped albums in early July) – are now a band to watch into the coming year. Plus, new material from solo artists like Gregory Alan Isakov and the songwriter/singer and musician known as Thundercat also stand out as artists to watch in 2014.
The debut, self-titled EP from a new band to watch, Smallpools
As stated above, Volume One featured many DIY, obscure artists and bands, who have had practically no coverage on the web, including bands like Grids, Driftwood Miracle, Futurist, Drops, Animals in Cars, Lions For Real, Ladada, Horsha On The Moon, among others, who had excellent singles from their new releases that needed to be posted. It’s a shame that so many terrific artists go largely unnoticed each month – we do our best with limited resources to highlight as many as possible, even if it simply means adding one of their songs to a playlist without providing very much additional information. Altogether, there are more than two dozen MP3 singles to stream or download in the first volume, and plenty of new artists and bands to explore. And if you want to hear even more amazing music and fill up your iTunes library, browse through popular playlist series like 5 DIY Bands to Watch; Best New Music Releases of 2013; Artist of the Week; 7 Bands You’ve Gotta Hear; Top 10 Songs playlists, among others.
And now, the second and final volume of singles from new releases dropped between July 16th and July 29th. We’re working diligently to catch up with August, which will also be divided into two volumes, and will include, as all the reviews of new releases do, songs from the popular ‘indie’ artists and bands, as well as the unsigned, obscure and under the radar bands that many times you’ll only hear on Indie Rock Cafe.
First Half of the Second Half of July’s Top Singles – Smallpools and Soft Metals
The following playlist represents singles from new releases dropped during the third week of July from indie artists that are more likely to be known among indie rock enthusiasts. However, there are also plenty of DIY artists and bands in this playlist (as with many IRC playlists) that even the most avid indie music consumers have never heard before – at least until today.
Smallpools is a new IRC indie band to watch in 2013-14 thanks to their self-titled debut EP that includes the incredibly catchy, upbeat single, “Mason Jar,” driven by thundering beats, a fast-paced rhythm with a blistering bass line, oh-ah choruses, and lightning speed synth and guitar jams. Plus, another track that has helped increase the popularity of Smallpools in recent months is “Dreaming,” and the music video (above) that was released just six weeks ago and already has over a quarter of a million views. It’s not hard to see why this band is blowing up.
Next, check out the dark electro pop track, “Tell Me,” from the album Lenses. by DIY band Soft Metals’ .The track also has a pronounced industrial techno aspect to it. But what stands out most about this song is the the main riff on “Tell Me” – it’s somewhat reminiscent (although it’s a bit of a stretch) of the ominous riff from the Kill Bill movies that was used as a warning that some serious mayhem was about to go down. The riff from Kill Bill is actually Quincy Jones‘ original riff, with a modern spin, used in the 1960’s TV series, Ironside. However, while the riff had a similarly dark intent on the old TV show, it was nothing even close to the scale of violence and bloodshed that Quentin Tarantino unleashed in the Kill Bill series. In fact, the “Ironside excerpt” remains one of the scariest sound bites in popular culture to this day, right up there with the screeching violin of the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock‘s classic horror thriller, Psycho.
“Mason Jar” – Smallpools from Smallpools EP – July 16th
First up, is a DIY indie pop band from Oz that music lovers in the United States need to hear because we think they’re pretty amazing, and so far, have remarkably received almost no coverage from the tens of thousands of indie music blogs on the web. The band is Fairchild, formerly Fairchild Republic, from the Gold Coast of Australia. Fairchild is one the most popular new indie pop bands in the cafe right now, thanks largely to the incredibly catchy retro-pop hooks and dance grooves of the masterfully produced single, “Burning Feet,” from the band’s self-titled debut EP released on July 24th.
The band scored a huge victory when the respected producer and mixing engineer, Catherine Marks, signed on to produce the band’s debut EP. Marks has produced and mixed for talented bands like Foals, Death Cab For Cutie, The Killers, Interpol, and White Lies. Based on her accomplishments, Marks clearly knows how to pick talented artists that she wants to work with in the studio. Plus, she usually works with signed bands, so the fact that Marks choose to work with Fairchild also says a lot about the band. “Burning Feet” will ultimately be a top DIY track of 2013, and their self-titled debut EP is one of the best debuts of the second half of 2013. It’s time for this band to break out in the U.S.
We’ll be writing more about this band in the coming weeks. Fairchild has previously opened for artists like Neon Indian, Parachute Youth, Kids of 88, Cub Scouts, Last Dinosaurs, The Medics, Battleships, and The Cairos.
Latest Singles from Feral Children, BEACH, A Grave With No Name, David Lynch and Lykke Li, and Others
Seattle band Feral Children self-released their latest album, Too Much, Too Late, that features a more finely-tuned expression of the band’s sound of buzzing guitars, thumping bass and punk-rock tendencies, as the fast-moving, blazing track, “Rewind The Rerun,” demonstrates. Other top tracks for July include unforgettable singles like A Grave With No Name‘s song “Aurora,” with it’s heavy-hitting beat, grinding synths and jangly guitar strums; the haunting beauty of “I’m Waiting Here,” a musical collaboration between David Lynch and Lykke Li, and “While The World Burns,” a magnificent composition from the promising and talented singer/songwriter Svavar Knútur. There are also a some good singles from the first half of July off new albums by La Luz, White Dove, WL, Gauntlet Hair and BEACH.
“Rewind The Rerun” – Feral Children from Too Much, Too Late (self-released)
“Aurora“ – A Grave With No Name from Whirlpool on Lefse Records
“Bad Apple” – Gauntlet Hair from Stills on Dead Oceans
“Love Was A River” – BEACH from In Us We Trust on Short Story Records
“Cold Mountain” – White Dove from The Hoss, The Candle on RSRCH+DVLP
Last Week of July Music, July 23rd – July 30th: The Love Language, Van Dyke Parks, Weekend
The last week of new releases for the month of July spawned a number of standout singles from artists and bands that we’ve enjoyed in the past – such as Merge recording artist, The Love Language, or the popular indie rock band Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros (who just released their self-titled debut on Vagrant; even though it’s not their debut album) – and new, promising DIY and under-the-radar bands that we had never heard of before until recently, like The Cairo Gang or Dizzy Bats.
Sharpe sheds some old skin and doubles-down on influences like gospel and blues on the new, self-titled LP, featuring the lead single, “This Life,” in which Sharpe sounds like he is channeling Ray Charles. Next, the popular San Francisco indie band, Weekend, return with a trippy psych rock track, “It’s Alright,” that is also available as a music video, which contains a series of black and white photographs of everyday (and some not so everyday; i.e., bondage items and gator skulls; the latter of which adorns the cover of the album, Jinx) items like a skate, a cross, flowers, a whistle, figurines and a switchblade.
Temples’ Fully ‘Hippiefried’ Retro Psychedelic Pop
The hot UK band, Temples, tears a page from the psychedelic era (the trend is real), stepping into a time machine of sorts, and traveling back to sometime in 1967 or ’68, with the single, “Shelter Song,” from their debut double seven-inch on Fat Possum. The “Shelter Song” music video (above) includes the psychedelic era kaleidoscope and lava lamp visual effects, flashing colors, faded, overly-contrasted and overlapping photographs, and even some of the hippie attire. “Shelter Song” has a fairly constant, big drum beat that is the backdrop for wave after wave of distorted electric guitar riffs, R&B bass hooks, joyful tambourines, trippy keyboards, and layers and layers of reverb-heavy vocals and choruses – all wrapped up in even more reverb.
Overall, it’s a wonderfully produced song, and includes lyrics like “/Take me away to the Twilight Zone/” and “/We stayed up late in a dream/.” Had this song actually come out in 1968, 45 years ago, it likely would have been a hit record. Back then, however, you would have to go to a cool and funky local record store and buy the 45 vinyl or the vinyl album (we’re glad to be old enough to have been at the tail end of the ‘age of the record store’; it was the place to hang out on weekends and nights during the high school and college years. But the record store was killed by iTunes.)
The UK band Temples
The single, “Hold Back Time,” by the Van Dyke Parks does just that. In fact, this song appropriately follows Temples’ retro psych pop because it too has a retro feel to it. “Hold Back Time” actually holds back time as far as to the 1960’s, which is evident in any aspect of the single. You could have fooled us if you said “Here’s this song from 1969, do you know who it is?” and we would have thought of every 60’s band and artist before thinking it was actually from an indie band and released in 2013. And that’s part of the magnificence of the broad net of music we generally call ‘indie.’ Whatever it really is, it certainly is whatever kind of music someone wants to make without a huge budget or a label – and the freedom to create results in so much amazing music. The whole purpose of IRC is to capture as much of this amazing music that most people are missing out on before it disappears forever. No one is going to like every song we post, but hopefully, everyone hears music that they enjoy either for the moment or for repeat plays.
“Hold Back Time” – Van Dyke Parks from Songs Cycled on Bella Union
“Calm Down” – The Love Language from Ruby Red on Merge Records
“This Life” – Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros on Vagrant
Fu*k Buttons and Gogol Bordello
Up next is the latest track from Fu*k Buttons off the band’s fifth album, Slow Focus (of the alternate, ‘Slow Fuckus‘). Next, Gogol (no relation to Google) Bordello returns with the spaghetti western-style single, “Lost Innocent World,” from the album, Pura Vida Conspiracy. Truth be told: we don’t like the single all that much, but we included it anyway since we know there are some hard core Bordello fans among you. The song is a bit flat; Bordello’s singing sounds a bit amateurish.
“The Red Wing” – Fu*k Buttons from Slow Focus on ATP Recordings
Radar Bands The Cairo Gang, Coke Weed, and Musician Grant Hart
The Cairo Gang sound nothing like the imagery their band name might suggest. Their newest single, “Tiny Rebels,” is a slow, melancholy tune that sounds like it could have come right out of San Francisco in 1967. (We’ve been noticing an uptick in psychedelic influences in the music of many indie rock bands in 2013, which was evident by performances from bands like Deerhunter at last weekend’s first annual First City Festival in Monterey, California. And yet what was also impossible to miss was the number of young people, particularly, teenage and young adult women, who were dressed basically like hippies, although they refer to it as “hipster style.” You can read more about it in our First City Debuts post.)
“Tiny Rebels” – The Cairo Gang from Tiny Rebels on Empty Cellar Records
“Sunseekers” – Coke Weed from Back To Soft on Heavy Friends
Following the Cairo Gang is Coke Weed‘s latest track, “Sunseekers,” which would have been such a better song if they sped it up and gave it more of a punch. After all, the title of the song is “Sunseekers,” of course are known for being sunny, upbeat and pop oriented. Following Coke Weed is a new single, “Is The Sky The Limit?” from Grant Hart. The multilayered track includes dreary organ and dulcimer playing which makes it sound like a sad carnival of gypsies performing an interpretation of a haunting song from The Phantom of the Opera soundtrack.
Turn up the amps and get ready to punk out with a band that is from our backyard – San Francisco street punk quartet Hunx and His Punx. The front man, Hunx, aka Seth Bogart, started Punx back in 2008 after years in a gay pop band called Gravy Train. Bogart wanted to rock harder, and since then, he and his punx have been doing just that. Following Hunx and His Punx is another loud band, the garage rock band Kid Karate, whose new single, “Two Times,” has been making the rounds on the web. For a perfect contrast, we posted new Mean Lady, who doesn’t sound mean at all on her new single, “Far Away.” After the Mean Lady, the indie pop band, The Memories, deliver a soft, lazy summer afternoon love song, “I Remember You.”
”Bad Skin”– Hunx and His Punx from Street Punk on Hardly Art
“Two Times” – Kid Karate from Lights Out EP (self-released)
“Far Away” – Mean Lady from Love Now on Fat Possum
“I Remember You” – The Memories from Love Is The Law on Burger Records
Self Releases From Filigar, Dizzy Bats, Fialta, Kid Karate
There were a number of self releases that had a fair amount of publicity behind them. First up is the band Filigar, which we’ve posted about in recent years, and who now have a terrific new single, “New Local,” that starts out with a piano introduction, and is followed by an immediate launch into a full-fledged power pop track with heavily melodic hooks, harmonica infusions and an excellent interplay between the bass and drums. Dizzy Bats presents the single “Batman and the Joker” and “Photographs,” from the band Fialta, is one of the best singles for the final week of July. Plus, listen to the garage rock of Kid Karate,. Diggin’ that.
“New Local” – Filligar from Hexagon (self-released) – July 23rd
“Batman and the Joker” – Dizzy Bats from single only (self-released) – July 21st
“Photographs” – Fialta from Summer Winter (self-released) – July 23rd
Top Singles from Promising DIY and Under The Radar Bands: Colours, Alex Riggen, Wind Up Rabbit, Tikkle Me
The following section of the best singles for the second half of July include – as so many IRC posts do – songs from DIY and small label releases by artists and bands that have had little to no coverage within the indie music blogosphere. First up is “The Illusionist,” from the band Colours; a sullen song from Iowa lo-fi indie pop artist Alex Riggen; the spooky pop of “Hearts On Ice” from New York indie quartet Wind Up Rabbit; the hip-shaking song from Orlando’s indie dance/pop outfit, Stockholm; the chunky single from New Orleans power pop/garage rock band Missing Monuments; the sprawling, suspenseful, near-epic single, “Niagara,” from Stockholm girl duo, Tikkle Me; Edinburgh band The Phantoms add some spook to their rock on the new single, “Coming For You.”
Most of the bands in this final section of the singles playlist for the second half of July 2013 have not been featured in a playlist of new singles anywhere else on the web – this is it. Hopefully, you’ll find some new artists to add to your like list and some new songs that you’ll be listening to in the coming days, weeks or maybe even months. What is always special about this part of the new releases series is the exclusivity of great music it provides for the tens of thousands around the world who follow IRC regularly for music they often will not find anywhere else on the web available in MP3 format.
“The Illusionist” – Colours from Skin & Bones – July 23rd
“Milk Milk” – Alex Riggen from Milk – July 23rd
“Hearts On Ice” – Wind Up Rabbit from Wind Up Rabbit – July 23rd
New and impressive indie singles dropped in July with more from the DIY and under-the-radar artists.
For starters, please see the separate BNMR post for July 2nd to July 8th, that includes selected singles from new releases by A Grave With No Name, The Fall, Zomby, The Garifuna Collective, TRAAMS, and many others .
Normally, we try to have a post with a playlist each week representing our favorite singles of the week, whether or not we had time to indulge (often not) the entire album the single came from. But during the summer months, especially in July, when new releases are more scarce (as they have been especially this summer), it’s easier to review the month in music than to put together a weekly post.
This also allows more time to focus on posting terrific DIY and small label artists that most people have never heard of, but that we’ve been listening to in the cafe over and over – songs that are usually sent in and that we would have otherwise never known about. That’s the part of the excitement of being a blog that posts so much great music from artists that otherwise go unnoticed in the ‘indie rock blogosphere.’
In this two-part series focused on July, we’ll highlight the top ‘popular’ indie songs and more widely known artists and bands, as well as streams of songs from the DIY, obscure, little-known, under-the-radar and small label artists and bands that deserve their three or four minutes in the spotlight. If the identity of IRC is anything, it’s highlighting the obscure artists that people need to hear.
Top Singles Playlist, Week of July 9th to July 15th
The second week of July releases delivered a good number of pleasant surprises from mainly new-to-us artists and bands like Robert Pollard (read Devin William Daniels’ album review) The March Divide, Thundercat, Maps, Gregory Alan Isakov, and The Octopus Project, among many others. They all add something special in their own unique ways to the new releases dropped for the week of July 9th through July 15th, and therefore a slice of the history of indie rock music in 2013. First, the top singles from new albums out this week from more well-known and signed indie bands and artists.
Album cover for Escape From Alpha Draconis by Sensual Harassment
Sneak Peak at the Newest Edition of the 7 Bands Series
There are a number of bands with new releases dropped in the second week of July who impressed us so much that we decided to just mention them in this post and explore their music in more detail for an upcoming installment of the popular 7 Bands You’ve Gotta Hear profile and playlist series. They include Chicago indie garage pop band, Twin Peaks; the fascinating San Francisco Bay Area shoegaze band, Whirr; and the eccentric experimentalists Royal Forest from Austin, followed by Sensual Harassment thanks to addictive advanced singles, like “Capri Suntan” and “Make Me Human Again,” from the band’s sophomore album release, Escape From Alpha Draconis.
“Irene” – Twin Peaks from Sunken on Autumn Tone Records
Don’t forget to check back in a few days to read a profile of each of these bands and to listen to more of their music. If you haven’t explored the 7 Bands playlist series yet, or missed the most recent installments, we promise you that you’ll be remiss to miss out on some of the amazing bands and songs that you’ve never heard before.
Little Legend and FLASH/LIGHTS Drop New Releases
So, let’s jump into it; there were a number of worthy releases from under-the-radar bands in the first couple of weeks of July that pretty much got little to no coverage anywhere else in the blogosphere among indie bloggers. First up is the Montana garage rock band Little Legend who dropped their latest EP, No Way Out, on July 2nd via the small indie label, The Record Machine. The lead single, “Bailout,” is a gritty story of the band’s lead singer, Brandy Tudor, and the time his girlfriend bailed him out of jail in Laramie, Wyoming. Little Legend, formed in 2010, have opened for bands like JEFF The Brotherhood and Iceage..
“Bailout” – Little Legend from No Way Out – July 2nd
Next up is Denver electro-pop outfit FLASH/LIGHTS, who’ve previously opened for bands like Passion Pit, New Order and Toro Y Moi. F/L, who were forced by a cease & desist order to change from ‘Flashlights,’ to the new spelling, dropped their new EP, All My Love on July 1st, featuring the following title track single.
A Quarter Century In, Bud Collins Trio Still Stepping It Up
The Connecticut-based Bud Collins Trio, in operation since 1989, has a built a reputation during the past nearly quarter century as a formidable band of northeast DIY scene, even though they made it onto MTV a number of times with their funky, melodic pop. In the past, BCT has opened and toured with artists such as Blues Traveler, Bob Mould, Monks of Doom, Spin Doctors, and Maceo Parker, all of which helped to elevate the band’s profile even more, and yet all that time they remained staunchly, and proudly, DIY.
At the start of this month, the trio released their new album, State Vector Collapse, featuring the singles, “Jeff Lynne” and “Soapy Waters.”
“Jeff Lynne” – Bud Collins Trio from State Vector Collapse – July 1st
Futurist, Stephen Wheel, Drops, Drift Wood Miracle, Matt Script & Others
The following is a series of standout singles from a flood of new releases from DIY and small label artists and bands that most people, even indie enthusiasts, have never heard before. This terrific playlist covers the first half of under-the-radar releases for the month of July. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself letting this playlist loop in its entirety. Please share this special post and playlist on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, G+ buttons above.
The spirit of the DIY, rarely heard, obscure, under-the-radar musician, whether it’s a dude recording fantastic demos in this bedroom or a band that has been playing the low-pay, often thankless bar and small venue scene (yet who shows great talent and potential) has always been, and will always be, the heart of this blog.
The singles continue with the next playlist of amazing songs for July featuring Cardiff, England musician and Chasing Magpies‘ recording artist Stephen Wheel‘s latest effort, followed by Portland DIY electro pop chillwave duo Drops; experimental rock Nashville DIY band Lions For Real; blues rock of Durham, North Carolina’s own Drift Wood Miracle; soda pop music from Virginia Beach band Ladada; DIY jam rock from Seattle DIY band Animals in Cars; from Brooklyn, indie art rock band Futurist with a single-only release “Double Knots”; plus singles from bands like Sans Gras, Of Gentlemen & Cowards, Latka, Horsha On The Moon,, and Sweetmeat .
Band to Watch: Grids
Firstly, though, let’s kick-off this DIY and small indie label singles list for the first two weeks of July with a 2013 Band to Watch, Grids, a Toronto indie band that caught our attention with two singles they sent in for review, and which we’ve listened to over and over again before then hearing the rest of the album. It’s also one of the best DIY debut albums of 2013. There will be more about Grids in an upcoming second installment for the Best DIY & Small Label Debut Albums of 2013. The following playlist serves kind of like a sampler of songs from talented bands that most people, even hardcore indie followers, have never heard of. Each of the singles comes from a new LP or EP dropped in the first half of July. We’ll definitely be watching which of these songs get the most listens and downloads for the Top 10 Song page playlists for July. We’ll also be using those stats to determine which of the bands below should be featured in separate posts on IRC in the coming months. It’s crazy that August starts in a few days.
“Station” – Stephen Wheel from Station – July 5th
“Juggernaught” – Drift Wood Miracle from The 21st – July 10th
“Song For You” – Of Gentlemen & Cowards from Little Cracks, Little Light – July 9th
“Bees” – Sweetmeat from Rancho Victoria – July 13th
There’s never been an edition of the Recent Releases We Almost Missed that covered one specific week of releases; at least not until today. Due to many things happening all at once, we did not previously have enough time (it takes many hours of work to review and put together a week’s worth of new releases) to properly review the Best New Music Releases for the week of June 25th. So, it’s time to play catch up.
The week of June 25th offered many standout LP and EP releases, including Smith Westerns‘ third album, Soft Will, highlighted by the bliss-tinged single, “Varsity.” If you’re a fan of previous Smith Westerns’ releases, you’re probably going to love Soft Will – it’s a good album for kicking back on a late summer afternoon and chilling, reading or browsing the web.
Next, the morbidly-named band Bass Drum of Death officially released their self-titled sophomore LP this week as the follow-up to their 2011 debut album, GB City, which put BDOD on the indie rock radar. The new single, “Shattered Me,” is a fast-moving surf-rock/psych-pop thriller embellished with hardy beats, distorted guitars, hip-shaking rhythms, robust, melodic keys and reverb-heavy vocals. Bass Drum of Death is the creation of Oxford, Mississippi musician John Barrett, who pretty much does it all – composes, plays all of the instruments, records, mixes and produces. “Shattered Me” is a perfect track to follow the more tame, but equally infectious, single from Smith Westerns, “Varsity.”
The new-to-us Seattle band, Rose Windows, sound like Jane’s Addiction playing psychedelic rock on the single, “Native Dreams,” from Rose Windows’ debut album, The Sun Dogs. The album was initially self-released earlier this year, but it drew such a big following, Sub Pop signed the band to re-release it. A band to watch in 2013, The Orwells, from the UK, are a young and gritty indie rock band that dropped their debut EP, Other Voices, in the last week of June. Also, check out the lead single from musician Jay Arner‘s self-titled debut.
“Varsity” – Smith Westerns from Soft Will via Mom+Pop Records
Top Singles from Palms, Hausu, Light Heat and Pity Sex
The following batch of lead singles from new albums dropped during the week of June 25th represents a collection of exciting, standout songs from promising, new-to-us bands who are steadily converting growing numbers of music lovers, critics and bloggers, including IRC. All of these singles are from debut album releases.
After spending a considerable amount of time screening all of the singles from this particular week’s (the same as for every week of the year, with just a few hiccups, since 2009) new LPs and EPs, the singles were then coded into a playlist which we listen to at least half of a dozen times over the course of a few days to make sure they are “keepers.”
These include the Deftones’ Chino Moreno‘s side project, Palms; post-hardcore hooks and driving beats from Portland band and Hardly Art recording artist, Hausu; the sadly melodic hooks, organ whirling fused with shimmering guitars, driving bass and drumming and the nasally of a project called Light Heat from Mazarin band member Quentin Stoltzfus with the richly textured, organ whirling, hook-filled psych pop track, “And The Birds…” (reminds us a bit of The Walkmen) from the self-titled debut; and the oddly named Pity Sex, a shoegaze/pop rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
More Thumbs Up Singles from Lightning Dust, Sebadoh and The Melodic
The following are singles that are not our favorites for the week, but they definitely get a thumbs up. “Drippin” from the new band Honeyslide (Critical Heights Records) is the first track on the band’s new 10″ release, that contains three other tracks as well. “Drippin” is swathed in reverb, bathed in noise and drowned in in dreamy vocals,” the label notes, to “blend the experimental with the melodic.”
Other recommended new albums out this week include the dreamy electro pop of Fantasy the LP from Lightning Dust, the side project of Black Mountain members Amber Webber and Josh Wells. For the first time in 14 years, the legendary indie group Sebadoh return with an EP of new material drawing from their pop, rock and punk roots. Plus, listen to singles from The Melodic,
“All Kinds” – Sebadoh from The Secret EP on Joyful Noise Recordings
Electro and Dance Tracks from oOoOO, Escort, Gambles & Others
There were a number of electronic and dance-oriented tracks out this week as featured below from artists such as oOoOO, Escort, Gambles, The Drum and Wise Blood.
“Mouchette” – oOoOO from Without Your Love on Nihjgt Feelings (SoundCloud version)
“Barbarians” (Tiger & Woods Remix) – Escort from single
“Far From Your Arms” – Gambles from Far From Your Arms on GMBLS
The trailer above is from the film Nothing Can Hurt Me, the story of Big Star, a 70’s glam-rock band that had a huge and lasting impact on pop music, but have only been truly credited for their contributions and influence during the past two decades. Today, Big Star’s identity is that of one of the most over-looked bands of the 70’s, even though their debut album reached No. 1 in the U.S. and around the world. We can’t wait to see this film because the story of Big Star is truly an amazing American story about the highs and lows of rock and roll stardom.
“Thirteen” – Big Star from #1 Record & Radio City (two albums in one – remastered)
Noteworthy Singles from Statistics, Transplants, David Yow & Booker T.*
In addition to our top recommendations for the Week of June 25th, the following are singles from new-to-us artists and bands that we think are noteworthy enough to throw into the mix for consideration based on the single from the artists’ new albums. We have not listened to the albums, just the singles, from Statistics, Transplants and David Yow‘s (Jesus Lizard), who just released a new solo album. Plus, check out the jazzy funk jam-o-rillo by Booker T. without The MG’s (i.e. “Green Onion”); the instrumental legend from the 60’s is still kicking it!
We’re back from the Fourth of July holiday and there is much to catch up on. Firstly, last week’s collection of new album releases – the first set of new releases for the second half of 2013. (We’ll be posting this week’s new indie releases in the next few days). Historically, record labels hold back many releases during a week that has a major holiday, especially one as busy as The Fourth of July. Because it is also the height of the summer season, many people, even the most ardent music enthusiasts among us, are naturally extra busy with the Fourth of July holiday and other summertime activities like outdoor recreation, vacations, and most importantly last week, celebrating American independence with red, white and blue fireworks, parties, concerts, barbecues, and parades.
That said, there are still releases from last week that you should know about and that run the gamut from must-have releases to new-to-us artists that are just beginning to get the recognition they deserve. Some of you may be aware that we usually do not bother including releases that we don’t recommend. Why waste precious time reviewing something we don’t enjoy when there is already so much amazing music to post? The love of music is a never-ending tale of new discoveries, especially with the musical universe ever-expanding.
The lead for the week in review goes to the new album, Whirlpool, from U.K. shoegaze band A Grave With No Name and the tantalizing single, “Aurora.” The single is comprised of a driving beat, rumbling bass, sharp but infrequent guitar riffs, grinding synths and hushed vocals. It’s this signature sound that has feed the band’s popularity since their 2010 debut, Mountain Debris, and which has resulted in a dedicated network of fans in the U.S., the U.K. and Europe. In fact, A Grave With No Name are regularly cited when music geeks are referring to the shoegaze, or ‘nu-gaze’, revival of recent years. Other bands that fit the bill include The xx, Banjo or Freakout, Atlas Sound and The Big Pink, to name just a few of the more popular artists of the genre.
Drawing from influences such as The Microphones, My Bloody Valentine and Guided By Voices, AGWNN’s sophomore album has been warmly welcomed by fans, bloggers and critics. Founder of AGWNN, Alexander Shields, wrote on the band’s official Facebook page that AGWNN “mine their own distinctive vein of haunted, freaked art rock, tracing delicate fissures in the emotional radiography of loss and longing to spellbinding effect.” It’s hard to disagree with that after listening to Whirlpool, and the band’s previous releases, all of which are available to stream via A Grave With No Name’s Spotify profile.
“Aurora” – A Grave With No Name from Whirlpool on Lefse Records
England’s Legendary Post-Punk Band The Fall Celebrate A Remarkable Milestone
The album release that stands out the most aside from AGWNN is the latest LP release from The Fall – the legendary post-punk rockers’ 30th album release – Re-Mit. It’s a solid return to form considering the band’s 29th release, 2011’s Ersatz GB, was not as highly regarded, which even the band ‘s frontman, Mark Smith, acknowledged was “not very good.” Re-Mit‘s lead single is the mini rock drama track, “Hittite Man.” The perfect follow-up to The Fall is a new gritty R&B single, “Dirt In The Ground,” from Portland indie rock band, The Builders and The Butchers (“one day soon/you’ll be the dirt in the ground”), a band that IRC originally tagged as a ‘band to watch’ back in 2010.
Singer/songwriter and musician Grant Olney‘s new album, Hypnosis for Happiness, features the mellow acoustic single, “Not From Body,” that, like so many songs in all forms of music, is ultimately about love. With this release, Olney has established himself as a songwriter worthy of the praise he has been receiving recently. Changing things up quite a bit is the next single, “Around The Block,” from Pretty Lights‘ self-released album, A Color Map of the Sun, is a compelling track that has a strong foundation of R&B mixed with funk and then infused with elements of hip-hop and injections of rock, not the least with predictably accomplished guest vocals by Talib Kweli. There are so many moving parts and styles wrapped up in this one song that it’s almost impossible to categorize it. That said, Pretty Lights, have built their following on never falling prey to mediocrity.
“Hittite Man” – The Fall from Re-Mit on Cherry Red
“Dirt in the Ground” – The Builders and the Butchers from Western Medicine on Badman Records
“Not From Body” – Grant Olney from Hypnosis for Happiness (self-released)
“Around The Block” – Pretty Lights with Talib Kweli from A Color Map of the Sun (self-released)
Beginning Of A New Era: The Garifuna Collective from Belize
Danny Michael fills the gap left by the late Andy Palacio on the latest album from the Belize-based institution, The Garifuna Collective. Instrumentally, the band continues to explore and expand, combining African-influenced beats, hypnotic chants and much more, via the Soundcloud album samples in the stream from Blackbirds Are Dancing Over Me – one of two new works released by the band this week. The second is the new release, Ayo, featuring the worldly single, “Ubou,” aka, “the world.” Fans of The Garifuna Collective should be encouraged that the remaining band members have not forgot Palacio’s contribution, but they are also moving forward to continue the work that they say Palacio would have wanted them to.
“Blackbirds Are Dancing Over Me” – Danny Michel with The Garifuna Collective from Black Birds Are Dancing Over Me on Stonetree / Cumbancha
“Ubóu (The World)” – The Garifuna Collective from Ayó on Stonetree / Cumbancha
New Works from Brit Artists Zomby and TRAAMS
Other albums of interest from last week’s batch of new releases include the third album from British producer Zomby whose new LP, With Love, is trodden in dark, textured soundscapes driven by heavy beats, ominous synths, and a blend of genres that include hip-hop, drum ‘n’ bass, dubstep and rock. Following right behind are fellow Brits known as TRAAMS‘ and their newest album that includes the terrific single, “Low.” The single represents the Chichester trio’s ability to break out of the box and create melodic hooks where guitars fall silent and drums prevail and interweaving peaks and valleys of volume and distortion controls to give the track a unique garage rock sound that sets them a bit apart from their peers.
“With Love” – Zomby from With Love on 4AD
“Low” – TRAAMS from Ladders EP on FatCat Records
Fresh Releases from The Toxic Avengers and Shortcircles
To close out our review of last week’s releases are the lead singles from new albums by The Toxic Avengers and Shortcircles. The former artist’s single is available only as a .WAV file, and will still play in any supported browser. These tracks placement at the end of this review is in no way reflective of their individual achievements; in fact, the quick listens we’ve had to other songs on both artists’ albums indicate that there could be a number of tracks that were released as singles, which is almost always a sign that the albums are worth further listening. Who needs television when there is so much great music to listen to.
“Romance & Cigarettes” – The Toxic Avenger from Romance & Cigarettes EP on Roy Music
“All I Can Be For You” – Shortcircles from Between Waves on Plug Research Music
If you’re looking for good wrap-up and reliable playlist of MP3 singles of the top indie tracks for the first two weeks of October, then you’re on the right page.
We’re catching up with September’s top releases – the amount of music – from both popular and signed artists as well as under-the-radar and DIY artists – was crazy – hundreds of singles and albums to filter through. The first volume of 
This post and playlist includes over 65 MP3 singles from the second half of August releases, featuring dozens of popular, well-known and totally DIY, obscure artists and bands. This is the second, and final, post and playlist mix covering the cafe’s top picks for the best singles and albums of August 2013. The first volume of 
