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Calling their music jungle garage rock, Brooklyn’s Golden Triangle officially dropped their split-single 7″ with The Fresh Onlys today via Hardly Art. We think the track, “Cold Bones,” is a great way to kick off this week’s installment of Best New Release. Also included is “Neon Noose,” a song from the band’s excellent debut, Double Jointer, released last month.

“Cold Bones” – Golden Triangle from Golden Triangle/Fresh and Onlys split 7″

“Neon Noose” – Golden Triangle from Double Jointer
Golden Triangle on MySpace

MGMT‘s new album, Congratulations, has been one of the most anticipated releases of 2010. Although it has been leaked online for about a month or so early, the LP is expected to do well, and it should. We’ve listened to it a number of times, and it’s top list material; the only hesitation that some folks may have is that the band is becoming too popular and too fast, and perhaps their sound on Congratulations is a bit too polished.

In addition, signing to a big label puts an artist at a bit of a conflict of interest, and in some people’s eyes, disqualifies them from further residency in their music collection. All of that is totally understandable, but at the end of the day, great music will stand on its own merit.

“Flash Delirium” – MGMT from Congratulations

“Congratulations” – MGMT from Congratulations

The first time we heard The Tallest Man on Earth last year, we were blown away. The man behind the moniker, Swedish folk singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson, of Dalarna, Sweden, has an undeniable Dylanesque nasal yowl and acoustic song crafting that has made him fairly popular in Europe, United States and Canada. The Tallest Man on Earth wrapped up a tour of Europe last month. Tomorrow, Matsson launches a 30-city North American tour.

“Burden of Tomorrow” – The Tallest Man on the Earth from The Wild Hunt

This is just the tip of the iceberg of songs we like a lot from this week’s new albums. Plus, they are all free and legal MP3s for you to keep as well. Hopefully you’ll find some songs that you really like – or love – to add to your iTunes, iPod, Blackberry, or whatever you use to play MP3s.

Continuing on, today marks the release of the new album from Dosh, aka Martin Dosh. The popular Minnepolis experimental electronica and folk rock singer collaborated with a number of musicians on his new album, Tommy. Andrew Bird sang vocals on the single from the album, “Number 41.” Dosh launches a two-month, 25-city North American tour tomorrow in Milwaukee.

“Number 41 (featuring Andrew Bird)” – Dosh from Tommy
Dosh official website

The Freelance Whales finally release their debut album after a year of courting buzz on the blogs and music websites, playing something like seven shows at SXSW 2010, not to mention a lengthy tour schedule. Pitchfork pretty much slammed the band’s debut, giving it a 4.4 rating. Sure, they are not a sensation, but they do show promise for such young musicians. We enjoyed two of their shows at SXSW, but there’s definitely room for improvement and growth.

“Generator First Floor” – Freelance Whales from Weathervanes

Day Two of SXSW in Austin was jam packed with a variety of showcases that included electro-pop and indie rock to folk , hiphop, country and heavy metal. But, in general, we are sticking with artists and bands that we’ve featured on IRC in the past.

It was a calculated, but difficult, decision to not go to the convention center to see the day time show there that featured The Walkmen, Frightened Rabbit and others, instead opting for the daytime show at The Galaxy Room to see Shearwater, Lou Barlow, The Low Anthem, The Lonely Forest, and the Middle East. All great shows, especially Shearwater and The Low Anthem. The Middle East show was terrific, but it was 15 minutes late getting started, and unlike other venues, there’s no going over scheduled times.

“Castaways” – Shearwater

“Cage The Songbird” – The Low Anthem

“The Darkest Side” – The Middle East

Next, we were able to squeeze in a half set of Givers at Emo’s Annex; definitely a band worth checking out if you haven’t heard of them. We’re trying to get in a varied selection of other venues, but they tend to be sold out over and over again. After checking out Givers, we went to see a NPR-recommended band, Peter Wolf Crier – not bad, but not spectacular. That’s cool because we were waiting to see ex-Beulah member Miles Kurosky followed by Rogue Wave. Both of those shows were amazing; Kurosky had as many as eight other musicians on stage, and Rogue Wave delivered their usually dependable set, featuring a bunch of new songs from their new album. See our special edition this weekend for videos, photos, samplers, and more from SXSW 2010.

“Good Morning” – Rogue Wave

DD MM YYYY ripped it out for a capacity crowd on Emo’s other stage – can’t even remember what stage that was. Then it was back to the Galaxy Room for sets from Avi Buffalo and Efterklang, and then to Wave Rooftop for Beach Fossils – a young pop rock band that thrash all about the stage. Even though it took 20 minutes to work out technical issues, the band pleased the crowd anyways with a killer set. Beach Fosssils are definitely a band that will be looking at again. During the set, a photographer from a magazine that we won’t name was drunkenly trying to take photos, but he was too blitz to get a shot in focus – we saw him try and even offered to take the dang picture for him. We’ll be publishing a bunch of official and unofficial SXSW 2010 videos this weekend.

“Daydream” – Beach Fossils

From the Wave Rooftop it was back to Galaxy Room to see The Ruby Suns, but after waiting 20 minutes for them to work out technical issues, we headed back to Emo’s to see Austin’s own White Demin, followed by one of the best performances we’ve seen so far at SXSW 2010, Delta Spirit.

“C’mon People” – Delta Spirit

Via Large Hearted Boy’s awesome, free and legal SXSW MP3 collection

More from SXSW 2010 coming soon.

Yesterday, we published part one of the Best New Releases of the Week; it was necessary to make two installments because there is a lot of great new music out this week. In the first installment, we featured The Morning Benders, Ted Leo, Free Energy, Titus Andronicus, Josh Rouse and others. So far this year, there have been at least eight weeks of solid new releases that have made for some fantastic playlists of 2010 songs, including today’s playlist. Listen to it from start to finish with the built-in player to get the full experience of the diversity of terrific songs.

First up is new music from Broken Bells (a collaboration between The Shins’ James Mercer and Danger Mouse). Broken Bells performed on The Late Show with David Letterman last evening in what must have been a difficult performance for Danger Mouse and Mercer, both of who had collaborated with the late Mark Linkous, who founded the band Sparklehorse in 1994. Sparklehorse was arguably one of the most influential groups of the alternative rock movement that grew in popularity from the mid to late 1990s, and into the new millenium. Linkous was also a frequent influenetial bands of the alternative rock movement that who died last Saturday in Knoxville following a reported suicide. IRC paid tribute to Mark Linkous and his music in a special feature on Monday.

“Conscience Killer” – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club from Beat The Devil’s Tattoo

“Avenue of Criminals” – The Canon Logic from FM Arcade

“Nights at Armour Mansion”– The Canon Logic from FM Arcade

Canon Logic official website

“Dear Friend” – Emanuel and the Fear from Listen
Emanuel and the Fear on MySpace

“Swim Until You Can’t See Land” – Frightened Rabbit from The Winter of Mixed Drinks
Frightened Rabbit on MySpace

“Albatross” – The Besnard Lakes from The Roaring Night
The Besnard Lakes official website

“Cranberry” – The Ruby Suns from Fight Softly
The Ruby Suns on MySpace

“33 1/3” – Mighty Tiger from Western Theatre
Mighty Tiger on MySpace

“Heartifact” – Thunder Power from Hearts Intersect EP
Thunder Power on MySpace

“Circuit Eater” – Jatun from Blanket of Ash
Jatun official website

“Fare Thee Well” – McCabe & Mrs. Miller from Time for Leaving
McCabe & Mrs. Miller on MySpace

“Song for Dreaming” – Judson Claiborne from Time and Temperature

“Leave Me Alone” – Pretty Good Dance Moves from PGDM

“No Logic” – White Hinterland from Kairos

As if releasing their debut record Witches last week wasn’t enough, FUR teamed up with Coyote Clean Up on another EP available now for free download. The two artists took a crack at remixing each others tracks, both ironically titled “Lackadaisical” and added a few more of their own to boot. The Lackadaisical EP was described by Gorilla vs. Bear as “haunted lounge-house” and is available for free download via the Waaga Records website. Power Animal also have a new song out from their new album, People Songs, out later this month, and will be performing at next week’s SXSW, followed by a month-long U.S. tour.

“Lackadaisical” (Coyote Clean Up Dub) – FUR from Lackadaisical EP

“Dear My Body” – Power Animal from People Songs

Other Posts and Playlists You Might Dig:

Best New Releases of the Week, Part One: The Morning Benders, Free Energy, Titus Andronicus, Josh Rouse, Ted Leo and More

RIP: Artists Remember Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse (1962-2010)

In Dee Mail Special Edition, Vol. VIII: The Middle East, The Love X Nowhere, Emanuel and the Fear, Solfege Radio and More

Disbanded: Band Break-Ups, Vol. I: New Faces, The Fake Fictions and The Catholic Comb

The alternative rock world has lost another giant. Over the past couple of days the news of the death of Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse has shocked and saddened many fans, friends and artists. On Saturday, The New York Times reported that Linkous committed suicide in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was 47.

Colin Greenwood, the bassist for Radiohead, released this statement: “I was very sad to hear the news that Mark Linkous has died. He and his band toured with us in Europe, at the start of OK Computer, and they were great every night…He was softly spoken, with an Old South courtesy I hadn‘t heard before…Mark wrote and played some beautiful music, and we’re lucky to have it. Rest in Peace.”

From Steve Drozd, multi-instrumentalist for The Flaming Lips: “R.I.P. Mark Linkous. You were a kind soul…Mark Linkous toured with us in 2003. Every night he and I would share a quiet moment with a shot of whiskey and a few laughs. A nice memory.”

Via Twitter, the band Metric, wrote: “Don’t care about the Oscars. Thinking only of our latest loss too soon, Mark Linkous,” and Californe: “goodbye mark l., we will miss you badly.“

Linkous’ family has released the following statement: “It is with great sadness that we share the news that our dear friend and family member, Mark Linkous, took his own life today. We are thankful for his time with us and will hold him forever in our hearts. May his journey be peaceful, happy and free. There’s a heaven and there’s a star for you.”

Linkous had a Twitter account, but he rarely used it. His last message was in November of 2009, and seemed to indicate a sense of excitement about a new project: “working on a film about Beatles guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.”

Ironically, last December, a mentor and fellow musician, Vic Chesnutt, who Linkous had collaborated with on the 2001 release of It’s a Wonderful Life, committed suicide in Georgia. Chesnutt was bound to a wheelchair for his adult life following a car crash at the age of 18. He was 45.

After recuperating, Linkous and the band released Good Morning Spider in 1998, a somber album that contained the song, “Saint Mary,” which Linkous is reported to have dedicated to the nurses who helped in his recovery.

Following GMS, Linkous and Sparklehorse recorded It’s a Wonderful Life, that, in addition to Chesnutt, included collaboration with another mentor, Daniel Johnston, plus, Tom Waits, Bob Rupe (The Silos and Cracker), Nina Persson and PJ Harvey. In 2006, Sparklehorse released their fourth album, Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain.

According to BrooklyVegan, Linkous’ publicist confirmed that Sparklehorse was nearly done with a new album that was scheduled to be released by Anti- Records. However, there is no information on the Anti- website about the project or Linkous’ death.

Other collaborators on Dark Night of the Soul include James Mercer of The Shins, The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Frank Black of the Pixies, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, and Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Gerbils.

For anyone who has followed Sparklehorse over all of these years, the loss of Linkous cannot be overstated. He was truly one of the most gifted singer and songwriters of the alternative scene.

“Little Girl” – Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse featuring Julian Casablancas from Dark Night of the Soul (2010)

Stream Dark Night of the Soul on NPR

“Little Fat Baby” – Sparklehorse from It’s a Wonderful Life (2001)

“Saint Mary” – Sparklehorse from Good Morning Spider (1998)

“Return to Me” – Sparklehorse from Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain (2006)

“Heart of Darkness” – Sparklehorse from Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot (1995)

KCRW interview with Mark Linkous upon the release of It’s a Wonderful Life.

The official Sparklehorse website

Sparklehorse on MySpace

Their music is carefully crafted and performed brilliantly; it is touching, cinematic and enchanting, not to mention wonderfully experimental.

Dark Dark Dark are a hybird of musicians from New York, New Orleans and Minneapolis, including the magnificent lead vocalist and piano and accordion artist Nona Marie Invie, supported by the vocals and multi-instrumentist Marshall LaCount (banjo, piano, clarinet), two choir singers, Jonathan Kaiser on cello, and multi-instrumentalist Water McClements (piano, trumpet and accordion), plus the talents of drummer Brett Bullion and bassist Todd Chandler.

The new EP from the chamber folk sextet Dark Dark Dark is a wonderful follow-up to their widely heralded debut album, The Snow Magic, in 2008.

It’s another winner and a tease for a sophomore album slated to be released later this year. The band is musically advanced in both songwriting and performance, Invie’s splendid and moving lead vocals are at the center, the music incorporates many styles and is always inventive, at times gypsy-like, theatrical, tragic, joyful, and, of course, dark – all accomplished with remarkable sophistication and what would otherwise be a contradiction – an uncanny rawness.

We listened to Bright Bright Bright a number of times and enjoy it more with each subsequent spin. Marshall LaCount summed up the new EP as a conceptual piece “about a character finding a place in the world, and the strange interactions that happen along the way.”

Dark Dark Dark has also be wildly successful on the road, touring with one of our favorite, still really indie bands WHY? The EP was recorded on analog at the suggestion of Minneapolis producer Tom Herbers (WHY?, Low, Retribution Gospel Choir, The Jayhawks, Fog) who wanted to capture the band’s live chemistry on analog equipment from start to finish. “Recording like this allowed so much room for musicality, warmth and energy,” Herbers said.

Dark Dark Dark has been recording new material for the upcoming LP at the historic Music Box Theatre in Minneapolis with Herbers, and are currently touring their way to Austin next week where they are slated to perform at three shows for the South by Southwest music festival.

“Bright Bright Bright” by Dark Dark Dark from the Bright Bright Bright EP (2010)

Barzin has been compared to such artists as Sparklehorse, Low, Red House Painters and Bill Callahan and his last effort, Notes to an Absent Lover, out on Monotreme Records, was acclaimed by Mojo, Uncut, and Q, and ended up on many year end lists for the best albums of 2009. “It’s Come To This” is a previously unreleased song.

“It’s Come to This” – Barzin, single release
Barzin on MySpace

This track was provided under the Creative Commons license by Bad Panda Records

San Diego’s Lanterns have emerged in the past year as one of southern California’s best new indie bands, and have opened for Matt and Kim and …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead. Alternative Press named them one of 2009’s “Best Unsigned Bands.”

“Midnight Psalms” – Lanterns from Apocalypse Now EP
Lanterns on MySpace

“Miniature Mountains” – Tropical Depression from Years on Years
Tropical Depression on MySpace

Dresden, Germany duo The Parlophonics are a DIY outfit that began writing and recording songs when they were only 14 years old, but just reunited only a couple of years ago after meeting at a gig. Their latest single release, “Staring at the Sun,” was released late in 2009 and reviewed by Noel Gallagher (Oasis) on his MySpace page. The duo are now working on an album release due out sometime in 2010.

“Staring at the Sun” – The Parlophonics, single release
The Parlophonics on MySpace

Listen to more Best Rarely Heard Songs of 2009

Special Bonus Xmas Mix to our email, feed and podcast subscribers. Enjoy and best wishes to all of you during the holidays and all year long.

“Christmas Card from a Hooker” – Tom Waits

“I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day” – Pedro The Lion

“Christmas in the Looney Bin” – Daniel Johnston

“The Christmas Sound” – The Swimmers

“Christmas Time is Here Again” – The Beatles

“This Xmas No Trees Just Soul”– His Clancyness

“The Christmas Song” – Stevie Wonder

“Christmas” – New Bomb Turks

“Last Christmas” (Wham) – Tiger House

“(Christmas) Bells of St. Ignacious” – Wormburger

“Rock N Roll Christmas” – George Thorogood and the Destroyers

“Run Rudolph Run” – CCR

“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” – Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

“Away In A Manger” – The Layaways

“Snowbird” – Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem

“Little Drummer Boy” – The Almost

“Xmars Song” – Tiny Tide

“Good Time Christmas” – Lou Rawls

“A Very Delfields Christmas” – The Delfields

“Silent Night” – Andrew Kunz

“Mrs. Christmas” – Jessie Baylin

“Christmas Time is Here” – Steve Vai

“Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” – Orquesta Sanfer

“Looks Like Christmas” – Hollywood Drunks

“Little Drummer Boy” – Slaraffenland

Listen to and download more than 150 additional Christmas and holiday songs – perfect for making your own playlists to play for family and friends this holiday season.

Montreal’s Bad Flirt play high-energy pop rock that some critics have said put them on track to challenge Metric’s reign as the city’s top female-vocalist fronted band.

Bad Flirt had some big-time help for their latest album, Virgin Talk, bringing on producer Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade) to help guide the band’s sound and recording.

Armed with an acoustic guitar, some drum loops and a Greyhound bus pass, Bad Flirt was once just a solo project for singer/songwriter Jasamine White Gluz. She dove into the burgeoning Montreal scene in 2002 quickly, a then small but vibrant community. This was during the same embryonic period that yielded the scene’s indie pop ambassadors Arcade Fire, The Unicorns and Stars.

Bad Flirt has opened for bands like The Thermals, Paramore and The Kills. Last year, the band headlined Toronto’s Virgin Fest alongside MGMT and Foo Fighters. Bad Flirt will be performing at a number of festivals in July, including Rock The Coliseum Festival in Mississauga, Le Cercle (Festival D’Ete De Quebec) and Le Téléphone Rouge (off Fete Du Lac Festival).

Although Virgin Talk is a keeper LP, it’s not the blockbuster release needed to truly threatened Metric’s throne as Montreal’s top female-vocalist fronted band. Still, the album contains some standout tracks such as “Hiroshima” and “Mad, Mad Madeleine World”. The former song, with over 30K plays on the band’s MySpace page, is the most requested song from Virgin Talk so far.

“Hiroshima, Mon Frere” – Bad Flirt from Virgin Talk (2009)

“Mad, Mad, Madeleine World” – Bad Flirt from Virgin Talk (2009)

Based on the great response from all of you to the In Dee Mail playlist series, we decided to make it a permanent series on IRC. The number of music submissions we get each week is overwhelming, so hang in there if you submitted some music we haven’t gotten around to yet.

First up in this installment of the In Dee Mail playlist series is a band out of Paris called ProXima who are currently recording their second album Music for Pleasure and have recorded songs for short films by French film director Olivier Benel.

This new single, “My Little Princess”, was sent to me by email and has been “selected to be the music for a new upcoming TV series,” according to the band, who assert they cannot say any more about the TV series, such as, whether it is an American or French show.

“Hey Little Princess” (Radio Edit) – ProXima, new single
ProXima on MySpace

The second track from the mailbox is from a Pennsylvania indie rock band that originally formed in 1985 (I know!) called The Long Afternoon. Intentionally obscure for many years, the only remaining band member, guitarist and vocalist Eston Martz, is back with some new members – Greg Elliott and Jeff Edmunds – and a new album titled Signifying Nothing.

“Signifying Nothing” – The Long Afternoon from Signifying Nothing (2009)
The Long Afternoon on MySpace