Bright Eyes has recorded a kick-ass new cover of Thin Lizzy‘s original 1976 hit song, “Running Back.” What a wonderful pairing.
Visit our Cover Songs page for even more of the best covers anywhere, including PLs, news, articles, features and cover song blogs.
The recording is part of the Secretly Canadian record label’s SC25 series which has been unveiled to celebrate the label’s longevity while simultaneously striving to raise $250,000 for community housing in Bloomington, Indiana.
The campaign was established in cooperation with New Hope For Families, an organization that provides housing and other services to families experiencing homelessness in Bloomington and Monroe County.
The SC25 series will feature reissues of some of the label’s biggest albums in addition to the exciting new singles collection, as well as limited merchandise, creative partnerships, and other surprises, connecting the label’s “past and present to its future, linking what’s known and loved to what’s newly imagined – for us, our artists, and our home,” the label’s statement read.
Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes hits a grand slam with The People's Key
This week’s Best New Releases include some big time albums, including the newest LP from one of our favorite bands, Bright Eyes. After having listened to The People’s Key a number of times, not only is it Conor Oberst and Bright Eyes in true form, The People’s Key may be their best album of all.
You can click on the album title below to order and download the album now, or you can stream The People’s Key entirely before deciding if you want to purchase it.
In addition to Bright Eyes, we’re also super stoked about the self-titled debut album from the rising indie band Yuck. On Tuesday, we published 5 Bands to Watch in 2011, with Yuck leading the way. Over the past couple of days there have been hundreds of streams of Yuck’s songs.
There’s plenty of more new singles from fresh releases included below. But first, we want to introduce you to Brooklyn band Old Monk, who are making their web debut exclusively on IRC with two new songs from their latest album, Birds of Belize. The track “Butter and Toast” is one of those pop tunes that gets in your head and stays there all day, but not in a bad way. The band describes its sound as garage rock mixed with art prog. They include among their influences The Kinks, Frank Zappa, Pavement and Deerhoof. Surprisingly, they’ve never opened for another band, so we can only hope the band get some of the love we think they deserve.
Also, check out fresh tracks from the latest albums by The Dears, Drive-By Truckers, East River Pipe, Moving Units, Asobi Seksu, Mogwai, Lifeguards, La Sera, The Babies, La Sera, and many others.
Some of you may have noticed the lack of Best New Releases posts in December. That was directly the result of an unusually short list of new releases to write about. It is a pretty standard practice in the recording industry for labels and bands to hold off releasing new albums in December until the new year.
Did you listen to our No. 1 Songs of 2010 playlist and vote for your favorite song? Please do. Poll closes on January 13th.
For one, most people are too busy with the holidays to pay attention to new releases, and perhaps more importantly, labels and bands understandably want to wait until the new year to drop a new LP to qualify for that year’s various music awards, as well as mainstream media and entertainment blogs year-end “best of” lists. Plus, because more young people have money given to them during the holidays than any other time of year, January is a good time to release an album.
Even thought they've been together for five years, Swim Party are an IRC Band to Watch in 2011
Nothing like starting off a playist mix with a new track from Bright Eyes. We’ve also got a few singles from December’s limited new releases to share with you in this post, and a couple of hot new tracks from this week’s new releases by acclaimed San Diego indie rock band, Swim Party. Even though they’ve been garnering praise from bloggers, newspapers and major entertainment sites since 2005, Swim Party are still completely DIY and unsigned.
“Shell Games”– Bright Eyes from The People’s Key – due out in March 2011
We think, based on their new album, and the slow, but steady building up of their discography and fan-base, not to mention all kinds of praise via the press, that 2011 might be the year for Swim Party to hit it big, especially if the ‘chillwave’ fad takes a hit that some bloggers and music fans hope it will (what do you think?). Also, check out new songs from Deadhorse and Mr. Dreamland.
Indie artist Perfume Genius will be one to watch in 2011
Stay tuned for Top Songs of 2010 mix, plus our guide to the best new music in 2011. If you haven’t listen to the playlist mix of the Top 50 No.1 Songs of 2010 on IRC, and cast your vote for the best No. 1, please do so. Voting closes Jan. 13th.
“The Glory of Economy” – Swim Party from There Is Too Much Wood in My Coffin– Jan. 4th
“Interstellar Remedies” – DeadHorse from DeadHorse – Jan. 4th
There are boat loads of new singles from new and upcoming albums coming at us from every direction. So, the first batch of new songs from 2011 albums include awesome new tracks from recent or upcoming releases by Bright Eyes, Cloud Nothings, The Brute Chorus, Emmanuel and The Fear, Duchess Leo, and others.
Artist to Watch Cloud Nothings Releases Singles Ahead of New, Debut LP
One of our break-through artists of 2010, Cloud Nothings, has a couple of recent tracks worth checking out; first, a recent track via Mineo Records, “Understand At All” ; listen to it below. On January 25th, Cloud Nothings, aka Dylan Baldi, will drop his debut LP for CarPark Records. For a producer, Dylan chose Baltimore’s Chester Gwazda, known for his work with Dan Deacon and Future Islands. In October 2010, Cloud Nothings dropped an MP3 Amazon exclusive titled No Turn containing 14 new, demo and previously released tracks, like the starter hit “Hey Cool Kid”.
“Understand At All” – Cloud Nothings from Cloud Nothings
Recorded this past August in a warehouse studio in Baltimore‘s famed Copycat Building (home to the original Wham City and many of the city’s best musicians and artists), the self-titled Cloud Nothings album is full of energy, precision, and catchy bits. Dylan plays all the instruments on the album, but this time without the lo-fi scuzz.
The Brute Chorus Channel Rockabilly with a New Twist
Here’s an interesting track from a band to watch called The Brute Chorus. The track that the band recently sent to us, “Birdman”, is so many things at once – it’s freaky, it’s foot stompin with jyrations, it’s attitude, unnerving, quirky, intense. We love when raw talent emerges from obscurity with an arsenal of no frills, eclectic rock, and completely refreshing at a time when glo-fi and chillwave (and we love them) are such a force of the indie scene.
“Birdman” has an unmistakable influence and likeness of the 50’s ground-breaking rockabilly of Jerry Lee Lewis, mixed with dashes of Jack White’s guitar and drum intensity. It’s hard to not be enthralled by frenetic energy and force of the band’s songs. “Birdman” is the perfect starter track for people who are just learning of this rising UK band. There’s no question that The Brute Chorus’ upcoming release of the sophomore album, How The Caged Bird Sings, is on our 2011 music purchasing list.
“Birdman” – The Brute Chorus from How The Caged Bird Sings
Fresh Track from Emanuel and The Fear’s Upcoming Debut
Earlier in 2010 we introduced you to Emanuel and The Fear, and many of you liked the band’s music. Now, they (which means anywhere from 6-30 members depending) have a new and catchy track “Dear Friend” that will appear on EATF’s 2011 full-length debut; release date TBA. The band has toured Europe and U.S., sell-out shows regularly in New York City, were a hit at 2010’s CMJ and are in the process of completing a “live in studio” EP as well.
“Dear Friend” – Emanuel and The Fear from untitled debut, TBA
Brooklyn’s Duchess Leo Release New Single from Debut Album
This is a brand new track from the Brooklyn ambient electroindie band Duchess Leo. While the duo’s two members, Dan Ryan and Todd Buchler, have kept busy working on other music projects. Now, however, they’ve assembled a great bunch of great melodic tracks for their upcoming Jan. 25th LP debut, Golden Gray. The Village Voice said of the Duchess Leo: “they are a decidedly cohesive Drizzly Bear, a pair of rainy-day swooners obsessed with churning melodies and bliss-drenched textures.” Here is the first track from the debut, “Bloom”. You can stream Golden Gray via the band’s BandCamp page.
“Bloom” – Duchess Leo from Golden Gray – Jan. 25th
Stayed Tuned: We have a series of posts coming out soon looking at the most anticipated albums of the winter of 2011. You can also follow IRC on Twitter, Facebook or via RSS.
If you missed any of the other few December 2010 new releases, there are some awesome MP3 singles from Sufjan Stevens, Perfume Genius, Daft Punk, Acid House Kings, Sonny Smith with The Sandwitches and The Transients, and more.
“Mr. Peterson” – Perfume Genius from Learning
“Are We Lovers Or Are We Friends?” – Acid House Kings from Are We Lovers Or Are We Friends?
“Throw My Ashes From This Pier When I Die” – Sonny Smith and The Sandwitches and The Transients from 100 Records EP – Dec. 11th
“Learn The Language” – Mr. Dreamland from Never Elaborate – DIY Release, Dec. 1, 2010
“Derezzed” – Daft Punk from Tron Legacy
“Cool Jumper” – Wavves, advanced single
Jack White Produces Nashville’s Rising Artist PUJOL
Chances are that if Jack White is involved with a music project, it’s going to be something a lot of people will want to hear. Such is the case with White’s newest collaboration, as the producer of Nashville musician PUJOL, who is also known by some as the “Philosopher King of the Nashville Scene”.
The track, “Too Safe”, was released as a double seven-inch on Dec. 11th via White’s Nashville label, Third Man Records.
“Too Safe” – Pujol from Black Rabbit 7″ – Dec. 11th
We are still adding to the largest collection of the alternative and indie rock Christmas songs on the web since 2008, accounting for more than 3.2 million! visits from around the world up to 2020.
Please share on your socials and with friends so more people can enjoy this work we did for all of you! @IndieRockCafeFB and Twitter @IndieRockCafe
Kristian Matsson is The Tallest Man on Earth (actually, he's 5'11)
The profile artist for this third installment of The Sunday 25 Mix series made a huge splash in 2008 with his debut album, Shallow Graves. He is Kristian Matsson, a singer and songwriter from Dalarna, Sweden, better known to many people as The Tallest Man on Earth, Matsson’s self-adopted moniker.
His wonderfully crafted acoustic folk songs, poetic lyrics and high-pitch, nasaly voice have led him to be compared to the one-and-only Bob Dylan. Admittedly, there’s probably not a Dylan fan in the world who can honestly say that Matsson’s voice doesn’t sound like Dylan. For some people Matsson’s likeness to Dylan may be a barrier, but the vast majority of TTMOE admirers appreciate the musician, because he’s incredibly talented, and his music, because his songs are so damn good, not because he is so perfectly Dylanesque.
During the past two years, The Tallest Man on Earth has toured extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe with Bon Iverand John Vanderslice, and recently as a headline artist, which is just another indication of Matsson’s fairly rapid ascent to fame. In between tours, Matsson had time to record another album’s worth of songs, which ended up on his recent 2010 release, The Wild Hunt. Once again, the critics, bloggers and fans have given his work a big thumbs up.
As with the first couple of Sunday 25 Mixes (S-25), you’ll also find songs we love from all kinds of genres, dating all the way back to mid-1950s. You’ll probably also want to see S-25 Vol. One and S-25 Vol. Two. Coming Up S-25 mixtapes featuring The Strokes and another one that will highlight the top 25 songs from the popular mixtape series – Best Indie and Alternative Rock Christmas Songs, containing over 200 indie and alternative songs.
“King of Spain” – The Tallest Man on Earth from The Wild Hunt (2010)
“For Ash” – Marnie Stern from Marnie Stern (2010)
“Hurricane” – Neil Young from Decade (2005)
Film director David Lynch, Danger Mouse & Mark Linkous (R.I.P.)
“Little Girl” – Danger Mouse & Sparklehorsewith Julian Casablancas from Dark Night of the Soul (Exclusive Amazon edition – only $5.99)
“Helicopter” – Deerhunter from Halcyon Digest (2010)
“Solsbury Hill” – Peter Gabriel from Peter Gabriel: Car 1:Remastered (2010; originally 1977)
“Pistol Dreams” – The Tallest Man on Earth from Shallow Grave (2008)
Some of you might have seen our thread about the difference between a mixtape and a playlist. Not surprisingly, no two theories were the same. To us, a mixtape is a collection of favorite or recommended music that someone produces, usually to share with others, and meant to be listened to uninterrupted from the first song to the last; for example, “Summer 2010 Mixtape”. Playlists, on the other hand, have a particular theme, organization or subject matter that applies to all of the songs in that playlist; for example, “Songs About Summer Playlist”.
Please tell us your explanation of the difference between a mixtape and a playlist.
The Brute Chorus Channel Rockabilly with a New Twist
