Top Singles from March Releases by Aloe Blacc, MØ & Diplo, Le1f, Dean Wareham, Champs and Ozomatli
The standout single, and album, for the second week of March’s newest drops goes to, in our humble opinion to Seattle indie duo, and Brick Lane recording artist, Iska Dhaaf, featuring former Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band frontman Benjamin Verdoes and Nathan Quiroga (aka Buffalo Madonna of Mad Rad). They dropped their newest album on March 11th, featuring a fine mix of driving post-punk tracks and psych dream pop songs like the lead single, “Everybody Knows.”
It was not that difficult of a choice because the quantity of quality releases for the second week of March, which covers March 11th through March 17th, was no where near – as already mentioned – the treasure trove of new releases, and amazing singles, as the first official week of March. But that does not mean there were no terrific singles and albums dropped in the second week of March.
In fact, the single, “The Man,” from Aloe Blacc‘s new album, Lift Your Spirit, is easily the most successful single from a new album dropped for the week of March 11th. So far, the official lyric video of “The Man” has received an astonishing 13.8 million views, the official video itself over 1.7 million (it was released later than the lyric video), while other audio versions of the song on YouTube (and not including remixes) have received another estimated five to six million streams, compared to more than a quarter of a million plays on Soundcloud. We also included a couple of other singles that flow genre-wise with Blacc’s sound, such as MØ‘s “Love Letters,” featuring Diplo and Le1f‘s “Boom” from the digital-only EP, Hey, released by Terrible Records and XL Recordings.
“Everybody Knows” – Iska Dhaaf from Even The Sun Will Burn on Brick Lane
“The Man” – Aloe Blacc from Lift Your Spirit on Interscope/XIX
“XXX 88” – MØ featuring Diplo from No Mythologies to Follow on RCA
“This Is A Game” – Nick Waterhouse from Holly on Innovative Leisure
“Boom” – Le1f from Hey EP on Terrible Records/XL Recordings
“Love Letters” – Metronomy from Love Letters on Because
“Savannah” – Champs from Down Like Gold on Play It Again Sam
“Brighter”– Ozomatli from Place in the Sun on Vanguard
“Holding Pattern” – Dean Wareham from Dean Wareham on Sonic Cathedral
“Secret Paradise” – Scraps from Electric Ocean on Fire Records
Top Singles from New Albums by Foster The People, Freddie Gibbs, The War on Drugs and Tycho
The third official week of releases for the month of March, March 18th through 24th, spawned stand out singles from artists and bands such as Foster The People, Freddie Gibbs, The War on Drugs, The Strypes, and Perfect Pussy. Among the best songs dropped this week, and for the entire month of March, include rockers like “Boys in the Woods” from Black Lips, and “Follow Me” by The Coathangers. In the third installment, we’ll feature the top singles from new albums released on March 25th and through until the end of the month, March 31st. Altogether, though, week three cannot possibly compare to week two, and especially week one, of March releases, a playlist you’ve got to hear; chances are you’ll spin the entire playlist a few times since it’s not a one-spin playlist.
The next Tuesday for new releases will officially be April 1st. April is the time of year when you can pretty much say goodbye to the winter, although a terrible winter in the mid-West and the northeast holds on stubbornly at the time of this post writing (March 29-30th). Stay tuned for the first installment of “other” and “miscellaneous” CD, MP3 and vinyl album releases, highlighting the best live, singles, cover songs and re-releases of 2014 so far – featuring January through March releases. This playlist, highlighting the top singles includes everything from popular indie rock from bands like The War on Drugs; ambient grooves from Tycho; hard-core electro from Sisyphus; pop melodies from Lyla Foy; acoustic singer-songwriter sounds from Kevin Drew; metal from Ringworm and metal punk from Perfect Pussy.
“Red Eyes” – The War on Drugs from Lost in the Dream on Secretly Canadian
“Coming of Age” – Foster the People from Supermodel on Columbia
“Boys In The Wood” – Black Lips from Underneath the Rainbow on Vice
“Blue Collar Jane” – The Strypes from Snapshot on EMI Records
“Hammer of the Witch” – Ringworm from Hammer of the Witch on Relapse
“Follow Me” – The Coathangers from Suck My Shirt on Suicide Squeeze
“Feather Tongue” – Lyla Foy from Mirrors the Sky on Sub Pop
“Deeper” – Freddie Gibbs with Madlib from Piñata on Madlib Invasion
“Rhythm of Devotion” – Sisyphus from Sisyphus on Asthmatic Kitty
“Driver” – Perfect Pussy from Say Yes to Love on Captured Tracks
“Awake” – Tycho from Awake on Ghostly International
New Material from Tokyo Police Club, The Hold Steady, Howler, Liars and Future Islands
The final week of releases for the month of March – covering March 25th through March 31st – featured new albums from indie rock heavy-hitters like Tokyo Police Club, The Hold Steady, Future Islands and Liars, as well as bands to watch like Howler, Big Scary, James Supercave, Ages and Ages.
“Argentina” (Parts I, II, III) – Tokyo Police Club from Forcefield on Mom+Pop
“I Hope This Whole Thing Didn’t Frighten You” – The Hold Steady from Teeth Dreams on Washington Square
“Don’t Wanna” – Howler from World Of Joy on Rough Trade
“Mess On A Mission” – Liars from Mess on Mute
“Seasons” (Waiting On You) – Future Islands from Singles on 4AD
“I See More” – Ages and Ages from Divisionary on Partisan Records