For her new Bjork cover of “All is Full of Love,” indie musician and singer Rosie Thomas enlisted an ‘indie’ all-star cast of guest vocalists for a virtual choir, including Sufjan Stevens, The Shins, Iron & Wine, Alexi Murdoch, Charily Theilen, Kanene Pipkin, William Fitzsimmons, Dawn Landes, and a bunch of others.
The cover track is off of the Lullabies For Parents Vol 1 EP, a “multimedia series of resources, entertainment, and encouragement for parents of all ages featuring music, podcast, videos, essays, assorted content and community that promotes finding common ground, connection, and comfort.”
The song is undeniably beautiful rolling through cycles of choir infusions. The problem is, however, that it is difficult to hear the full force of all of those voices as a listener would expect.
Nonetheless, and to be fair, unless you’re seeing the choir, or virtual choir, at the same time (like the famous Live Aid video from the 80s) then everyone’s voices pretty much get drown out, not to mention the music.
Perhaps one of the things that Quincy Jones did brilliantly with the song, and video, was to record them at the same time, in the studio. But even more than that, Jones realized the ‘drowning out’ effect and therefore had individual solos for a number of the top vocalists of the time – MJ, Bruce, Bono, Michael Stipe, etc.
We are, collectively, playlist fanatics. That includes you and probably your friends and family members. We love to take songs we dig and organize and label them. It allows everyone to be a deejay in their own way, for real.
Inside the cafe, and for more than two decades – since the late 80’s – we’ve created cassette mixtapes featuring all kinds of genres and styles, from radio hits by big name bands to totally under-the-radar should-be hits from bands very few people have ever heard of.
As the years zinged by, those cassette mixtapes went to CDs and then to iTunes and now to Spotify because it is the one platform that finally made sharing music, and therefore playlists that so many long hours were dedicated to, are now being converted to Spotify to share with our viewers. We try to make sure the music is related to a theme. However, the first criteria is the song itself must be really good to legendary.
We encourage you to review Indie Rock Cafe’s Spotify page where you can follow us for more playlists. You are sure to hear a lot of great music you either already love or much more that you are sure to enjoy, including playlists about looks of different things – including this new playlist, called Around The World, with great songs from alternative, classic and indie rock bands about places around the world.
The fifteen tracks in this playlist highlight favorite songs of ours from a variety of genres and artists, including well-known bands, and others that are more obscure. Enjoy.
You can open the playlist to the IRC channel on Spotify or stream in on the site with the embed included below. Enjoy and share with friends.
November, as most Novembers, was not as blockbuster for new releases that October and September turned out to be, but there were still plenty of standout songs from largely well-received new albums by a variety of musicians and bands, from bedroom DIY to signed artists. According to IRC listeners, the No. 1 song* of the month was the lead single, and title track, from Dirty Projectors new EP, About To Die.
The No. 2 song of the month was “X-Mas Spirit Catcher,” just one of the tracks we highlighted in our Album of the Week: Silver & Gold by Sufjan Stevens. The five-disc, 58-song box set is the second installment of Stevens’ prolific project of original and cover songs of Christmas and holiday songs. The first box set, Songs For Christmas, was released in 2006 and quickly became a must-have for not only Stevens’ biggest fans, but also for many music lovers who would like a comprehensive, and extensive, collection of indie/alternative Christmas music.
“X-Mas Spirit Catcher” – Sufjan Stevens from Songs for Christmas: Silver & Gold (Vols. 6-10) (MP3 instant download or CD version)
The two box sets – Songs For Christmas (MP3 instant download or CD version) and Silver & Gold (MP3 or CD version) make great Christmas gifts, especially the CD sets because they come with a cool designed box, download codes for the MP3 versions, and all kinds of interesting goodies inside that one would only expect from the playful and creative Stevens, including notes, illustrations, lyric sheets and other odds and ends. The CD box sets also include a MP3 download code. Listen or download four additional choice tracks from Silver & Gold, plus two music videos, and read our extensive review of the Stevens’ Christmas Songs project.
Both box sets are a generous offering for the price, and there are dozens and dozens of traditional Christmas songs performed by Stevens and his ensemble – as well as dozens of original songs from Stevens – that are must-haves for Sufjan fans, and perfect gifts for a friend or family member who likes indie music and Christmas songs. IRC’s popular Indie Christmas Songs playlist series (with over 300 alternative/indie Christmas and holiday songs) contain many tracks from Stevens’ original 2006 box set, Songs for Christmas.
The No. 3 most streamed and downloaded song for November was the lead single, “Affection,” from Crystal Castles‘ latest release, III, (check out all the singles from the Best New Releases for the Week of Nov. 13th). The ascent of Crystal Castles in the past few years has been nothing short of a whirlwind success thanks to the Canadian duo’s amazing songwriting and execution of experimental electro pop. Their third album is one of the best LPs of the year.
“Affection” – Crystal Castles from III on Casablanca Records
Following close behind Crystal Castles to take the No. 4 slot is a new single, “Alligators,” from a DIY Artist of the Week, Chad Murphy, aka, Markarians. IRC’s profile of him as an artist of the week got an enthusiastic response from readers. Click to the full post above to read about Murphy’s interesting DIY sound and excellent talents and listen to three additional tracks from two different releases.
“Alligators” – Markarians from Move, Lord – Sept. 7th
Rounding out the top five songs of the month was the latest single from veteran indie rockers Guided By Voices. The song, “She Lives in an Airport,” coming in as the No. 5 song of the month is the lead single off of the band’s 19th studio album, The Bears for Lunch, released the Week of November 13th. GBV’s 1987 debut album, Devil Between My Toes, celebrated its 25th anniversary this year. GVB most likely would have released more than 19 albums were it not for the eight-year gap between 2004’s Half Smiles of the Decomposed (at the time, Robert Pollard declared it the band’s final album) and this year’s release of the critically acclaimed ‘comeback album,’ Let’s Go Eat the Factory.
In June of 2010, the classic ‘1993-1996’ band lineup, reunited to perform at the 21st anniversary party of Matador Records in Las Vegas. Guided By Voices didn’t just come back – they came back with a roar, selling out shows at iconic venues across the U.S., and around the world, in addition to dropping three albums of new material this year alone. And somehow Pollard also found time to release his latest solo LP, Jack Sells the Cow, this past September.
The single “I Follow You” from buzz band Melody Echo Chamber‘s self-titled, debut LP (featured in the Week of Nov. 6th Best New Releases), chimed in as the No. 6 song of the month. The track is awash in melodies, sweeping instrumentation, and swirling synths. Interestingly, the band’s second single trumped – at least on IRC – their more popular first single, “Endless Shore,” recorded by Tame Impala band member Kevin Parker, but not by much. In fact, the two singles were nearly neck-and-neck in our web stats for the number of times played and downloaded, making “Endless Shore” the No. 7th most popular song for the month of November.
The previously unreleased song, “Pastry Sharp,” from Chicago neo-folk band Califone‘s latest album, Sometimes Good Weather Follows Bad People, a reissued compilation of the Chicago neo-folk band’s first two E.P.’s, was the No. 8 song of the month. The song was part of the Best New Releases for the Week of Nov. 6th.
“Pastry Sharp (previously unreleased)” – Califone from Sometimes Good Weather Follows Bad Peopleon Jealous Butcher Records
The Arizona indie band Gospel Claws newest album yielded the No. 9 track for the month of November, “Pale Horse Dry Cleaning,” that serves as “a toe-tapping vow of epic destruction in the name of love,” as one blogger for Violent Success wrote. To round out the Top 10 for the month of November is the ‘comeback’ lead single, “Been Away Too Long,” (signaling the band’s 2010 comeback 13 years afterhiatus after disbanding in 1997) from a newly reunited Soundgarden, who were among the “grunge pack,” if you will, of the top bands during the 1990’s Seattle grunge explosion that became a major worldwide music phenomenon.
In case you missed any of the weekly Best New Releases playlists (which is one of the most popular ‘indie’ releases series on the web), access them there here.
While we prepare the weekly Top 10 Songs playlists for November, you can listen to, and download, dozens and dozens of the top songs mixes from October and the rest of 2012 – it’s a great MP3 collection of the most fantastic songs of 2012, from both major label ‘indie’ artists and plenty of DIY, under-the-radar bands that we profile all of the time. Enjoy.
Paul Banks single, “The Base,” that was released at the end of October, raged in popularity on IRC well into November, outpacing the No. 1 song for November, “About to Die,” by a 4-to-1 margin, and was also the No. 1 song for the last week of October.
Sufjan Stevens, the prolific songwriter and musician behind amazing albums likeMichigan, Illnoise, and The Age of Adz, is unlike any other musician of the modern age when it comes to Christmas songs. With the release Tuesday of yet another box set of Christmas songs, titled Silver & Gold, Stevens has now recorded and released two box sets containing 10 volumes of more than 100 songs.
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As with the first Songs for Christmasbox set, some of the songs are Stevens’ original, unique style of Christmas and holiday songs, while others are cover versions, or renditions, of traditional Christmas and holiday songs, from “Upon a Midnight Clear,” and “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” to “Jingle Bells” and “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.”
Nearly six years after releasing his now famous (at least in the ‘indie’ world) Songs for Christmas box set, the prolific Sufjan Stevens has, together with his record label, Asthmatic Kitty, has dropped yet another Christmas box-set extravaganza, Silver & Gold. The box set features Vols. 6-10, a compilation of 5 EPs of Christmas type songs recorded between 2006 and 2010.
Asthmatic Kitty, Stevens’ record label, wrote in a press release: “Silver & Gold is a generous document of five more years of holly-jolly jubilee—Christmas caroling, sleigh-bell-ringing, collaborative songwriting—undertaken by Sufjan and his various musical cohorts.” Apparently the EPs were originally intended as holiday gifts for family and friends, but they were eventually “re-mixed and re-assembled for the public.” The box set includes the five EP’s as well as Christmas stickers, lyric sheets, temporary tattoos, photos and illustrations, liner notes, chord charts, a paper ornament, an “apocalyptic pull-out poster.” One of the tracks from the box set that has had a high circulation is “Mr. Frosty Man.” (Note: Initially, we incorrectly included a mislabeled song. Apologies.)
“Mr. Frosty Man” – Sufjan Stevens from Songs for Christmas: Silver & Gold (Vols. 6-10) (MP3 or CD editions)
Recent Stevens’ Musical Direction Heavily Influences Silver & Gold
Interestingly, there are style elements of BQE and The Age of Adz sprinkled throughout Silver & Gold on songs like “Particle Physics,” which seems a bit out of place as do other songs like “Alphabet St.” and “Up On The House Top.” Another song that sounds like it could have come from Adz, at least the first half of it, is “Carol of St. Benjamin The Bearded One.” Altogether, the experimentation aspects of the box set largely pay off, even with the nearly 13-minute track, “Christmas Unicorn,” that contains repetitious lyrics and slowly builds up into a crescendo of sprawling orchestration and glorious choral flourishes. Other examples of tracks that stem from the Stevens’ electronic interests of recent years include “X-Mas Spirit Catcher,” “Christmas Face,” “Happy Karma Christmas,” and “Christmas Woman.” Yet, in their own way, these songs fit on a Steven’s project, and will be most appreciated by fans of more recent albums like BQE and The Age of Adz.
“X-Mas Spirit Catcher” – Sufjan Stevens from Songs for Christmas: Silver & Gold (Vols. 6-10) (MP3 or CD editions)
For people who just can’t stand hearing the same old classic Christmas tunes from Bing Crosby, Elvis, Perry Como, and others, Stevens and his numerous collaborators offer a terrific collection of alternatives. Many of the renditions of classic Christmas and holiday songs like “Let It Snow,” “Holly Jolly Christmas,” and “Silent Night” to name a few, are largely family-friendly and stay true to the original, as much as such repackaged songs can in 2012. In these cases, the results are acceptable (and we tested it) to all age groups, from the youngest children with the spirit of Christmas in their hearts and a twinkle in their eyes to their grandparents who remember when Christmas was much simpler and innocent many years ago. Stevens and his back up chorus singers have done a commendable job in preserving, for the most part, the traditional elements of the classic Christmas and holiday songs, especially those that are religious in origin.
Perhaps Too Much Electronic Experimentation for a Christmas Album
On the other hand, there are some traditional Christmas songs that Stevens heavily experiments with, and not always successfully, such as the semi-chaotic rendition of “We Wish You A Merry Christmas,” the heavily electro dance tinged “Do You Hear What I Hear,” a remixed version of “Jingle Bells,” and the ‘Star Wars’ version, practically unlistenable “Joy To The World,” that fail to truly represent the original compositions, instead opting for complex constructions, a heavy relevance on sound effects that don’t necessarily work, odd bass-driven, lo-fi segmentation, splices of dub step and drum machine beats. That said, such forays into the world of unapologetic electronic experimentation are likely to be main draws of Silver & Gold for fans of experimental electro and dub-step genres. Still, such songs, which are dispersed throughout the five discs, do interrupt the flow in spots where the listening experience is an otherwise family-friendly affair.
Silver & Gold also contains some religious traditional Christmas songs, although most of them last for less than two minutes. One example is “Hark The Herald Angels Sing,” on which the well-known chorus is wonderfully executed, and it’s an overall good rendition, but it also includes some odd instrumentation, and a noticeable looseness in the production that is clearly a departure. But the majority of religious renditions in the box set stay true to tradition, and sound like they would in church, like “Lift Up Your Heads Ye Mighty Gates,” “Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light,” “How Shall I Fitly Greet Thee?” and “Ah Holy Jesus,” among others. For the most part, Stevens plays it safe with the religious songs, perhaps reflecting his religious convictions, or maybe to avoid any controversies of being sacrilegious, or both. Therefore, from that perspective, his more faith-based fans will likely be very satisfied with the results.
The Long Songs on Silver & Gold
The 15-minute exploration of various soundscapes on “The Child With the Star on His Head” has its moments, but would have been a much more powerful and effective song were it reduced to half that time. It includes a three-minute jam on electric guitar, an instrument that is rarely heard on Silver & Gold. But large swaths of the song quite literally sound like an infant pressing random keys and buttons on a synthesizer, nothing like an end product, if you will. Stevens’ propensity to buck convention is always appreciated, and has worked well for him most of the time.
Other long songs, that some may discover detract too much from the idea of a cohesive set, include “Do You Hear What I Hear,” a nine-minute cover that is mostly comprised of more of Stevens’ avant garde experimentation, which more times than we wish, sounds like a first take. One of the sets longest songs, “Christmas Unicorn,” is largely enjoyable, but, like others, would have benefited greatly from a diet – i.e., reduced from just shy of 13 minutes to perhaps eight minutes at the most. For example, the seven minute-plus “Barcarola (You Must Be A Christmas Tree),” which harkens back to the style and sound of Stevens’ earliest albums, including the ‘states’ LP, Michigan and Illinois, would probably not be as good as it is if it where double the length.
“Christmas Unicorn” – Sufjan Stevens from Songs for Christmas: Silver & Gold (Vols. 6-10) (MP3 or CD editions)
“Sleigh Ride” is one of the most experimental and unfocused tracks in the set. It starts out straight-forward enough for the first 25 seconds, and then launches into a 30 second swirl of carnival-like music and vintage video game sound effects before transforming into a fairly conventional chorus, with the exception of a Fifth Element-like operatic overlay. During the last 45 seconds of the two and a half minute track, it switches up again into a mish-mash of slices consisting of aimless synth experimentation, ambulance sirens, sci-fi infusions, flashes of church bells ringing that give way to a group of cheering kids, followed by a few seconds of a totally unrelated bass riff (that sounds like a new song starting) before the final 45-second sonic acid trip winds down and fades away.
There’s no question that some Sufjan fans (as they are more commonly identified as) will be intrigued by the earnest experimentation found throughout the newest box set, but as a whole, there are about a dozen or more songs that could have been left off of Silver & Gold to make it more streamlined, but we also understand that of 58 tracks, not every one is going to be a ‘keeper.’ More is not always better.
There certainly is not one format, style or approach used for Stevens’ original songs, or for the traditional Christmas and holiday songs on Silver & Gold. Songs that seem at first to be out of place on a Christmas-themed project, sometimes rise to the occasion, or are even a welcome reprieve from the dozens and dozens of Christmas oriented songs. Such is the case with the enjoyable track “Justice Delivers Its Death,” that echoes the box set’s title (“Sliver and gold”) over and over, and yet also seems out.
Even though it has a conceptual framework based on “Upon A Midnight Clear,” Stevens’ largely original, new track, “A Midnight Clear” is in every way – except for the title and a couple of lyrics – completely unlike “Upon A Midnight Clear,” and one of the most tightly-knit, “everybody-friendly” tracks of the box set. The song starts out with a mandolin and organ in the background, but soon evolves into uptempo choruses together with instrumental flourishes – awash in waves of orchestrated melodies and choral harmonies contrasted (again typical of Stevens’ work) with vocal dubs, abrupt progressions and shifts in rhythm and pitch, in addition to Stevens’ signature propensity to suddenly silence all or most of the instruments right during a driving groove to quiet things down, perhaps to enhance the spotlight on the lyrics and vocals.
“A Midnight Clear” – Sufjan Stevens from Songs for Christmas: Silver & Gold (Vols. 6-10) (MP3 or CD editions)
Often with Stevens’ compositions (since they are often more than songs), only seconds after the instruments silence or fade to a whimper, he will suddenly ramp it all back up again with full-blown engagement of a huge variety of instruments, sound effects and a nearly endless quest to experiment, which many times works, and sometimes, not often though, doesn’t.
What would have made Silver & Gold even better would have been to organize the five discs so that all of Stevens’ original songs were on two or three discs, and all of the traditional Christmas and holiday songs were grouped together on the remaining discs. That would have helped a lot so that when someone wants to listen to only Stevens’ originals, they would be able to easily. We know that for ourselves, we would have appreciated that option. Sure, with the MP3 version, we can create segregate the originals and renditions by creating separate playlists, or ‘weed out’ the tracks that we deem not to be ‘keepers,’ but with the CD or vinyl editions, that is practically impossible.
All things considered, Silver & Gold is a gem, especially, again, for fans of Stevens, but also for people that are looking for a comprehensive collection of traditional Christmas songs (many with a different approach as only Sufjan Stevens can offer) and new, original songs of orchestral indie pop, electronic music and rock songs about Christmas and the holidays. The total collection – featuring more than 100 songs – is not truly comprehensive without Song for Christmas: Vols. 1 – 5, which is available as one MP3 download for only $17.99 via Amazon (which plays on all MP3 players, iTunes and Apple, Android and Windows phones) and as a CD box set for only $14.49. The first five volumes, released in 2006, include many wonderful original and traditional Christmas and holiday (some less holiday-oriented) songs from one of indie rock’s most prolific and talented musicians.
Disclaimer: All of the songs in this post are for sampling purposes only and meant to encourage people to buy the entire box set for their own record collection, to purchase other great Sufjan Stevens’ albums and to see him live in concert.
Mike Hadreas (Perfume Genius),is a Seattle musician who creates painful, but beautiful,music
This week marks the re-release of the debut LP, Learning, from Seattle solo artist, Mike Hadreas, who releases music as Perfume Genius. His music is deep, painful and personal, a reflection of a troubled youth that was not in his control. And this is evident in his wrenching expressions that permeate throughout his recordings. These are mostly all home recordings, which adds that element of rawness that is essential to an artist such as Hadreas. Furthermore, he has a remarkable appreciation of classic rock icons like Neil Young, as evidenced by this live performance of Young’s “Helpless.”
Hadreas has often been compared to artist such as Cat Power, Sufjan Stevens and Elliott Smith. Hadreas’ magnificent piano playing, stark lyrics, and soft, almost whispery vocals are a powerful combination, and definitely put him in company with some of the best like artists of recent years.
“Mr. Peterson” – Perfume Genius from Learning
“Learning” – Perfume Genius fromLearning
We strongly recommend getting his reissued LP (contains three bonus tracks) at Matador Records. Hadreas is definitely one of our Best New Artists of 2010, and an Artist to Watch in 2011. Also, there are a bunch of videos on his record label page, and in case you try looking, his official MySpace page is under the moniker of kewlmajik.
“Dreem” – Perfume Genius fromLearning
Since we were talking in reference about Sufjan Stevens, he has some ‘news’ today by the fact that his recently released EP, All Delighted People, is now available in the physical world. If you don’t have it already, and want it in digital form, here’s the download page from Amazon. Seems a lot of people forgot about this EP with the also recent release of Stevens’ remarkable release of the LP Age of Adz.
“All Delighted People” (Classic Rock Version)- Sufjan Stevens from All Delighted People (vinyl)
(there is also a rare and limited edition Japanese import of All Delighted People for sale)
A friend who had never heard of Acid House Kings before understandably assumed that they would have a sound that would be, well, like, “acid house” music. But the band’s sound is anything but; they’re about as cheery indie pop as you can get. In this digital single, the band asked a question that we’ve all probably come across at one time or another in our lives – “Are We Lovers Or Are We Friends?”.
And it should be no surprise that the band are on our favorite Swedish labels, Labrador Records (The Radio Dept, Club 8). The track is deliciously infectious, and the lead track for this week’s Best New Releases.
Other tracks this week include lead singles from new releases by one of our break-through bands of 2010, Air Waves; a new drop from the self-titled debut by Anika, with a freaky, sinister lead track; and new material from Deadmau5, Daft Punk, Banjo or Freakout, Freebase, Engineers, Diane Birch, Eluvium, and others.
“Are We Lovers Or Are We Friends?” – Acid House Kings from Are We Lovers Or Are We Friends?
This week in best new releases is one of the most diverse, and largest (37 songs), mixtape reviews of the second half of 2010. The reason is simple: there are so many fantastic new singles and albums out this week from indie rockers, chillwave (omg, we said it) artists, buzz bands, unknown bands, new artists of the year, country and folk musicians, dance-oriented artists, exclusive tracks, and big buzz releases from, of course, Sufjan Stevens and Belle and Sebastian. Both of those artists were featured in the recent post, Five Anticipated Autumn Releases.
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We are really digging Sufjan’s popular new single, “Too Much”, a track that has some of the elements of the chamber pop of Illinoise and orchestra, electro experimentation of The BQE, the latter of which Stevens told The Irish Times last week: “[BQE] was really exhausting and all-encompassing. I went beyond my means creatively and lost my way in the process.” We love Sufjan’s music, but still can’t help but to feel betrayed that his much anticipated “states album” project was just a “joke.” So, we started something similiar to that last year, called theState of Music playlists. We have been building new mixtapes for the State of Music playlists which we hope to start publishing by the end of the year and well into 2011.
The Age of Adz, so far, sounds terrific, from introspective tracks like “Now That I’m Older” to the wonderfully rich and multi-layered orchestration and chorus singing of “Vesuvius”, and other fantastic songs that you’ll just have to get the LP to discover – because this album, like many of Sufjan’s previous works, is a personal journey and an amazingly involved and complex project that is affirmation that he has found his niche again. Plus, as profiled in Five Anticipated Autumn releases post, we’re still also absorbing the new Belle and Sebastian, but so far, it sounds like the cerebral folk pop and story-telling we enjoy so much, especially after four years since the band’s last release. We’d love to hear what you guys think of Adz or any other releases the Comments section.
Also, LA’s JumpClubb released today this cover/remix of “Futile Devices” that appears on The Age of Adz.
One of our favorite new bands from this year’s South by Southwest, Brooklyn’sBeach Fossils, have released a new seven-inch vinyl single this week titled, “Face It”. The track continues on the band’s reputation for delivering summertime-like tracks, and reaffirms the band’s rising stake in the dreamy, sunny, sandy sub-genre of “chillwave/glo-fi” – a movement that has been a mainstay within the indie music domain for the past 18 months or so.
Beach Fossils’ new single is not a break-through for the band, but combined with their self-titled debut LP that dropped earlier this year, it’s enough to keep fans tied over, we think, until the ever-so-stressful sophomore album starts to leak out. While Beach Fossils is mostly the work of the wonderfully prolific Dustin Payseur, band members accompany him on tour and other live shows. In fact, after this weekend’s performance at the Brooklyn Bowl, Beach Fossils will set off next week for an extensive, month-long tour of Europe.
“Write About Love” – Belle & Sebastian from Write About Love
“Face It” – Beach Fossils from Face It/Distance 7″ via I Guess I’m Floating
One of the reasons were especially excited by this week’s best new releases is the fact that there are so many bands that will be on many best new bands lists by the end of this year. Two more to add to that list are Clevelandband Cloud Nothings and Milwaukee‘s indie outfit The Goodnight Loving. Cloud Nothing’s memorable lo-fi pop punk style mixed with the so-called chillwave sound has translated into blogger buzz and then a fan following. The band enjoyed praise for their live shows and their fuzzed out riffs and melodic pop hooks. Turning On is basically a collection of already released songs from their singles and tracks off their debut album that came out in June.
Another band that will likely be on a good number of top bands lists over the next few months is The Goodnight Loving with their debut, Goodnight Loving Supper Club. Although the band is not necessarily a new band – they received good reviews as far back as 2008 – they didn’t come on to many folks radar until this year with the promotion surrounding their newly released debut. The track here, “Doesn’t Shake Me” sounds just like a pop-rock radio hit from the 1970s, with Big Star being the band we thought of first when reviewing this track. But it also reminds us of more recent bands, such as Free Energy and The Rassle.
“Doesn’t Shake Me” – The Goodnight Loving from Goodnight Loving Supper Club
Another break-through band of 2010, New Jersey‘s sunny, surf popsters,Real Estate, drop a new seven-inch single this week to keep fans engaged until their sophomore LP is released. Plus, the debut release from boyfriend/girlfriend outfit, Houses, is out with the lead single, “Reds,” bringing more sunny, warm vibes – so it’s no surprise that their home base of Hawaii served as the nest for the writing and recording of the LP. And, of course, the electro ambient pop of Gold Panda.
“Out of Tune” – Real Estate from Out of Tune/Reservoir 7″ double single
“Reds” – Houses from All Night
“Same Dream China” – Gold Panda fromLucky Shiner
The lead track fromWolf People‘s new album, Steeple, is an audio time machine back to the late 1960s/early 1970s. “Tiny People” might as well have been released 40 years ago with its psychedelic folk rock jam reminiscent of Traffic and The Yardbirds, and complete with Jethro Tull-like flute infusions and solos, bluesy guitar riffs and heavy percussions.
A quiet new release this week that we probably wouldn’t have known about if the band didn’t contact us, is the debut album from Soft Landing, the new project from Beirut members Paul Collins and Perrin Cloutier. They teamed up with producer Griffin Rodriguez (Beirut, Need New Body, Icy Demons) for their self-titled debut, out now digitally and on vinyl. Stay tuned to us on Twitter for CD/MP3 album giveaways and ticket contests for Soft Landing and many others.
The band Suuns brings the electro dance pop on the track, “Arena”, which sports a long instrumental intro until the lead vocals and blazing reverb guitar licks take hold. Following Suuns, is the band Starf*cker, who the FCC doesn’t allow us to print their entire name – even though everyone knows what it says!
Anyways, Starfcker keep the dance beats going, and crank up the synthesizers, on their new dream-pop single, “Julius” – a song that is just bursting with glistening keys. Gears shift just a bit on the next track, “I Have Seen Everything,” from Climber‘s new LP, The Mystic. While it’s more pop-oriented, the track keeps in step with the dance-influenced trio of Suuns-Starfcker-Climber, not to mention it’s intriguing lyrics: I’ve seen you naked/ all of your hidden flaws exposed…You’re not embarassed/is that your problem?
“I Have Seen Everything” – Climber from The Mystic
We’re getting low on ink, but you’ll definitely want to check out the following bands’ new singles from bands to watch and bands on radar, including the fantastically catchy music of Fox in the Henhouse, Great Lakes, Sunset, So So Glos, Fox in the Henhouse, Fresh and Onlys, Envy, Ten Million Lights, The Brute Chorus, and others.
“Fears” – Fox in the Henhouse from Fox in the Henhouse
“Lindy Hop” – So So Glos from Low Back Chain Shift
“Four Days Straight” – Scattered Trees from Four Straight Days 7″
“Kill Your Idols” – Ten Million Lights from Ten Million Lights
“Heaven” – The Brute Chorus from How The Caged Bird Sings
“Waterfall” – The Fresh and Onlys from Play It Strange
“A Breath Clad in Happiness” – Envy from Recitation
Now, our readers might see why we’re a bit late putting out this week’s Best New Releases mixtape review. If you just finished listening to the songs above, there’s still more. The best way, at least for us, to listen to the huge mixtape/playlists we published on IRC, is to click on the first song and let the Yahoo Media Player stream through all the songs automatically so you can do other things, instead of clicking from one song to the next. As promised, there’s more:
Updated 10/14: There was such a strong reaction to IRC’s exclusive new track from the band Take Care that we decided to post another track in addition to “Halfway House.” We think that if you liked that song, you’re probably going to enjoy the Take Care track, “Trips.” Let us know and see more – and download the Demo 2010 EP at Take Care’s website.
“Trips” – Take Care from Demo 2010 – IRC Exclusive
“Halfway House” – Take Care from Demo 2010 – IRC Exclusive
We’re not so sure about the title track from Violent Kin‘s new release, Velvet Hideout, so if any of you would like to write up a mini-review in the Comments section, please do, for the world to see. In fact, comment about any song – it’s a great way to share your thoughts with thousands of other people. Some folks may also enjoy the under-the-radar band, Carissa’s Wierd,and songwriter-singer Brandie Emma.
“Velvet Hideout”– Violent Kin from Velvet Hideout
“Fluorescent Lights”-Carissa’s Wierd from Ugly But Honest (vinyl reissue)
“Let Go” – Brandie Emma from Photographic Memory
A musical substitute for Prozac comes in the form of the blissful, floating ambiance of the single, “Over There”. As with Cloud Nothings, today’s release from Banjo or Freakout contain previously released songs; so “new” in this case finds itself in a bit of a snafu. But seriously folks, is this song not somehow heavenly? To keep a good vibe going, let the stream go for Manzanita y su Conjunto‘s “Agua”, from a compilation of psychedelic music from Peru, plus Simian Mobile Disco and Cheyenne Marie Mize.
“Over There”– Banjo or Freakout from Way Slow Series; Volume One: Banjo or Freakout
“Agua” – Manzanita y su Conjunto from Roots of Chicha 2: Psychedelic Cumbias From Peru
The final tracks in this release are all ones we like or ones that we think a lot of our regular readers/listeners would like. In a way to keep all of these tracks more organized, we’re trying to group them as much as possible, like the way the more ‘dance’ tracks above were grouped. The same thing was done for the country and folk rock singles, from bands like The Moondoggies, The Black, The Black Heart Procession, Whitey Morgan and The 78s, and others are grouped together below. Plus, we have a number of exclusives that we’ll be interested to see the reaction to.
“It’s A Shame” – The Moondoggies
“Love Don’t Need A Reason” – The Black from Sun in the Day, Moon at Night
“Blank Page” – The Black Heart Procession from Bloody Bunny/Black Rabbit
“I Ain’t Drunk” – Whitey Morgan and The 78′s from Whitey Morgan and The 78′s
More New Releases This Week (compiled by Pitchfork):
10-11-10
A Band of Bees: Every Step’s a Yes [Fiction]
Antony and the Johnsons: Swanlights [Rough Trade] [European release]
Benoit Pioulard: Lasted [Kranky]
Dexys Midnight Runners: Searching for the Young Soul Rebels [EMI]
Esben and the Witch: “Marching Song” 12” [Matador] [UK Release]
Josephine Foster & the Victor Herrero Band: Anda Jaleo [Fire Records]
Paul Smith: Margins [Billingham]
10-12-10
Antony and the Johnsons: Swanlights [Secretly Canadian] [U.S. release]
Badly Drawn Boy: It’s What I’m Thinking: Photographing Snowflakes [The End]
Banjo or Freakout: Way Slow [Lefse]
Beach Fossils: “Face It”/”Distance” 7″ [Captured Tracks]
The Beets: Stay Home [Captured Tracks]
Big Search: Lay of the Land [St. Ives]
The Black: Sun in the Day Moon at Night [Moon Records]
The Black Heart Procession: Blood Bunny/Black Rabbit EP [Temporary Residence Ltd.]
Blank Dogs: Land and Fixed [Captured Tracks]
Blue Water White Death: Blue Water White Death [Graveface]
Breathe Owl Breathe: Magic Central [Hometapes]
British Sea Power: Zeus EP [Rough Trade] [Vinyl Release]
Callers: Life of Love [Western Vinyl]
Cloud Nothings: “Leave You Forever” 7” [Carpark]
Cloud Nothings: Turning On [Carpark]
The Dead C: Patience [Ba Da Bing]
Die Antwoord: $0$ [Cherrytree/Interscope]
Doug Paisley: Constant Companion [No Quarter]
Envy: Recitation [Temporary Residence Ltd.]
Esben and the Witch: “Marching Song” 12” [Matador]
Florence and the Machine: “Dog Days Are Over (Yeasayer Remix)” [Island]
The Foreign Exchange: Authenticity [Foreign Exchange Music]
Franz Nicolay: Luck & Courage [Team Science/Sabot Productions]
The Fresh & Onlys: Play It Strange [In the Red]
Gangrene [The Alchemist and Oh No]: Gutter Water [Decon]
Gold Panda: Lucky Shiner [Ghostly International/NoTown Recordings]
Hauschka: Foreign Landscapes [130701]
Heavy Times: “No Plans” b/w “Ice Age” 7” [HoZac]
Holy Sons: Survivalist Tales! [Partisan]
Houses: All Night [Lefse]
Idle Times: Idle Times [HoZac]
Jane Birkin: Di Doo Dah [Light in the Attic] [reissue]
Kedl Winter: Apple Core [Steeple]
Kelly Stoltz: To Dreamers [Sub Pop]
Lil Wayne: I Am Not a Human Being [Young Money] [physical release]
Maserati: “Pyramid of the Moon” 12” [Temporary Residence]
Peter Gordon: The Love of Life Orchestra [DFA]
Purling Hiss: Public Service Announcement [Woodsist]
Real Estate: “Out of Tune” b/w “Reservoir” 7” [True Panther]
Silje Nes: Opticks [FatCat]
Simian Mobile Disco: Is Fixed [Defend Music]
Starf*cker: Julius [Polyvinyl]
Styrofoam: Disco Synthesizers & Daily Tranquilizers [Nettwerk]
Sufjan Stevens: The Age of Adz [Asthmatic Kitty]
Suuns: Zeroes QC [Secretly Canadian]
Various Artists: Jackass 3D OST [Epitaph/ Kings Road Merch]
Various Artists: From the Land of Ice and Snow: The Songs of Led Zeppelin [Jealous Butcher Records]
White Moth: White Moth [Angel Oven Records]
Wolf People: Steeple [Jagjaguwar]
Zola Jesus: Valusia EP [Sacred Bones]
It’s already time to look forward to autumn music releases, even though we’re still getting acquainted with the flood of awesome new releases that have dropped in the past couple of months. Sure, many of them have been featured in the weekly Best New Releases, and via other regular mixes like In Dee Mail and Recent Releases We Almost Missed, but there are still others, especially from bands most people have never heard of, that we’re still listening to – determining if they should make the ‘final cut’. Those that do will be published over the coming weeks.
One of the most talked about upcoming releases is Sufjan Stevens‘ The Age of Adz, which is streaming free on NPR until it’s release date, October 12th. Fans of Sufjan will soon discover yet another side to the prolific musician – his tweaked-out, electro-experimental pop side. We’ll have more to say about Adz next Tuesday.
“Too Much” – Sufjan Stevens from The Age of Adz – Oct. 12th
Belle and Sebastian – Write About Love
You can bet that a lot of Belle and Sebastian fans will be happy Tuesday to finally get their hands on the duo’s first album in four years, Write About Love. The Scottish band, led by singer-songwriter Stuart Murdoch, has built a cult-like following over the years, gaining more fans after two B&S songs were featured in the hit 2007 indie film, Juno. Those songs came from the band’s most successful LP in their 15-year career, 2006’s The Life Pursuit. That album was produced by Tony Hoffer, who guided the band’s music towards a more progressive pop sound. And, just in case you don’t know about Murdoch’s innovative film project, check it out at his God Help The Girl website.
“Write About Love” – Belle & Sebastian from Write About Love – Oct. 12th
For the memories: “There’s Too Much Love” – Belle & Sebastian from Fold Your Hands Child You Walk Like a Peasant (2000)
The Tallest Man on Earth – Sometimes The Blues Is Just A Passing Bird
On November 9th, Swedish musician Kristian Matsson, better known by his moniker, The Tallest Man on Earth, will officially release his second EP, Sometimes The Blues Is Just A Passing Bird. Matsson has often been compared to one of our favorite musicians ever – Bob Dylan. Whether by design or coincidence – or a dash of both – Matsson’s raw, nasal voice is strikingly similar to Dylan’s. Since his brilliant 2008 debut LP, Shallow Grave, and this past April’s follow-up, The Wild Hunt, it’s been a wild ride for The Tallest Man on Earth. He’s enormously popular in Europe, and increasingly so in the U.S. and Canada. We love TTMOE, and he’s getting stronger, but not taller, with each release. By the way, Matsson is 5 feet, 7 inches tall.
“Like The Wheel” – The Tallest Man on Earth from Sometimes The Blues Is Just A Passing Bird – Nov. 9th
Avey Tare (Animal Collective) – Down There
The members of Animal Collective have been keeping busy this summer with solo recordings, releases and tours. Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) was on tour on the heels of his latest release, Tomboy, and now, Avey Tare, has released a new track from his upcoming LP, Down There, set to drop Oct. 26th on Paw Tracks. The new Tare single, “Lucky 1”, sounds, surprisingly, like a new AC song, which you can probably guess is a good, and maybe no-so-good, thing for him. However, until we’ve heard the entire LP, it’s hard to pass judgment. Hard-core AC fans will buy just about anything anyone from the band puts out. Avey also followed the release of that track – which has been trending at No. 1 on the Hype Machine over the past few days – with this silly video for “Lucky 1”.
The next release we are looking forward to is not likely one that many other bloggers or indie fans have marked down as an anticipated fall release. And yet the upcoming new album, Autumn Again, from Philadelphia/Sydney’s celebrated indie dream pop band, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, not only because we freaking loved their previous releases over the past two years, but also because it will be a free download (freeload) starting Oct. 19th, the official release date of the LP. The band will sell 500 vinyl copies via Carrot Top Distribution.
“Drink Drank Drunk” – A Sunny Day in Glasgow from Autumn, Again – Oct. 19th
And then there’s this: Current tourmates Active Child and School of Seven Bells have remixed each other’s tracks on a limited edition 7” project. This collaboration will be available from Lefse Records on mixed color vinyl October 26. Listen to Active Child’s remix of “Heart is Strange” here:
Stream a collection of the best indie rock Christmas songs from Freddy Johnston, Coldplay, Galaxie 500, From Mars, Big Star, Sufjan Stevens, Liz Phair, The Long Blondes and Saosin. This playlist series was initially called The 12 Plays of Alternative Indie Christmas Songs, but we upgraded it to Best Indie & Alternative Rock Christmas Songs.
The third installment of IRC’s special Christmas music series of The 12 Plays of Alternative-Indie Christmas Songs includes some more mainstream rock artists such as My Chemical Romance, Slade and Belle and Sebastian, as well as popular indie artists like Low, Sufjan Stevens, Jens Lekman and many more.
Over the years, our listeners have made it as clear as fresh fallen snow – they want a complete collection of alternative Christmas and holiday songs. This is Mix One of 12 Xmas playlists featuring many of the best original and cover-version alternative Christmas and holiday songs available anywhere.
Mix Two – Featuring Sugarcult, MXPX, DCFC, Fuel, Bright Eyes, Snow Patrol, The Raveonettes and Sufjan Stevens.
Mix Three – Ron Sexsmith, Daphne Loves Derby, Low, My Chemical Romance, Jens Lekman, Sciflyer, Slade, Balasana and Ten Thousand Dollar Tattoo.
Mix Four – The Kinks, The Fray, In Memory, Belle and Sebastian, Celestial, Ex-Otago, The Knife, A Band Called Quinn, The Format and Matchbook Romance.
Mix Five – Reliant K, The Fine Lines, The National Splits, Milton DeLugg & The Little Eskimos and The Used, Alien Sex Friend, Sandry Mooy, Gatsby’s America, Arcade Fire, Kirsty MacColl and The Pogues.
Mix Six – Band of Horses, Great Lake Swimmers, Phantom Planet, Yo La Tengo, Comet Gain, The Reindeer Section, Phofo, Jason Gleason, Chris Letcher and Belle and Sebastian.
Mix Seven – The Weepies, Yo La Tengo, Manic Street Preachers, Green Day, Le Man Avec Les Lunettes, Monster Bobby, Bright Eyes, Ladybug Transistor, The Flaming Lips, From First To Last, Acceptance, Crawling with Kings, Thick Pigeon and Rilo Kiley.
Since we were talking in reference about Sufjan Stevens, he has some ‘news’ today by the fact that his recently released EP, All Delighted People, is now available in the physical world. If you don’t have it already, and want it in digital form, here’s the download page from Amazon. Seems a lot of people forgot about this EP with the also recent release of Stevens’ remarkable release of the LP Age of Adz.
