Friday 31 May 2013

New Music: Field Mouse- Tomorrow Is Yesterday + Music Video


This track is one of those songs that you miss when it first comes out but then you catch up with when the band releases a video a couple months later. This is the case with Brooklyn indie pop band Field Mouse (not to be confused with British twee band Field Mice) who released "Tomorrow is Yesterday" way back in February, but just recently came out with a video.

The song sounds like like mid-nineties alt rock (think Garbage or Liz Phair) and the video seems like a fantasy of girls in the office getting back at a guy for sexually harassing them. Watch and listen below:




Thursday 30 May 2013

New Music: Austra- Painful Like


Toronto gothic synth pop band Austra are gearing up for their sophomore album, Olympia, which will be released June 18th via Paper Bag/Domino.

"Painful Like" is the second track to be previewed from the album and even though the song is chilly, you can hear a distinctive change from the band's earlier works. That's because the production of this song was influenced by old Chicago house beats.

Also, it is important to point out that the lyrics deal growing up gay in a small town. Listen below:



New Music: World's End Press- To Send Our Love


Nice electro dance rock from Melbourne Australia band World's End Press. These guys are currently working on a new album with Tim Goldsworthy, joint owner of DFA Records and the man partially responsible for the sounds of The Rapture and Hercules & the Love Affair.

If you are a fan of LCD Soundsystem or Cut Copy check out the band's latest single "To Send Our Love":





Wednesday 29 May 2013

New Music: Braids- In Kind


"In Kind" is the a- side to the Braids new 12" single we first told you about back in April when the band previewed their b-side synth pop song "Amends". It was also announced earlier this week Braids will release their sophomore album titled Flourish // Perish on August 20th via Arbutus/ Flemish Eye.

 "In Kind" is a real showcase for the beautiful voice of singer Raphaelle Standell-Preston. The six minute long track takes a sonic journey and features the singer's voice cooing over a soundtrack of textural guitar and digital blips and bleeps. Listen to the track below:




New Music: Pure Bathing Culture- Pendulum


Portland indie pop couple Pure Bathing Culture just came out with their brand new single "Pendulum" and it is so good that it makes me swoon for more. And more is what we are going to get as the duo of Sarah Versprille and Daniel Hidman (also of indie folk band Vetiver) are set to release their debut album, Moon Tides, in August.

"Pendulum" will make you "swing" into summer without a care in the world. It is the kind of song you  play on warm summer days while laying on the beach or on a grassy expanse in the park and accompanies you while you daydream for hours on end. Download the track below:

Moon Tides is out August 20th via Partisan Records.





Tuesday 28 May 2013

New Music: You, Me & Us- Swim or Sink


Los Angeles indie band You Me & Us combine power pop and shoegaze for their latest single "Swim or Sink". The result is a fuzzy, warm jolt of sweet indie pop goodness. The track is taken from the band's up and coming EP, Stay Inside, which is produced by Best Coast guitarist Bob Bruno. Download the song below:




Monday 27 May 2013

New Music: Chvrches- Gun


After I saw up and coming synth pop band Chvrches live at Canadian Music Week last March, I was not expecting to see them come back to these parts for at least another six to nine months, After all their debut LP does not come out until September. However, Chvrches are not done with North America just yet, as they will be coming back for a late spring tour.

One band I was looking forward to seeing this summer was Still Corners at Toronto's NXNE festival, but that gig was cancelled, and for good reason as they accepted an opening for Chvrches on their current tour. Still Corners will still be playing Toronto in the same week (not part of NXNE) and they will be playing with a new favourite band of mine. Bonus!!

Meanwhile, Chvrches released a new single today titled "Gun". The song was first played on BBC Radio earlier today.....but who listens to terrestrial radio anymore? Check out the track below:





New Music: TV Girl- She Smokes in Bed


First off, smoking in bed is one of the worse things anybody can do. I lived in an apartment building a few years ago and some idiot fell asleep while smoking in bed and nearly burned the place down.

That being said, the song"She Smokes in Bed" is a brilliant new single from indie pop band TV Girl and their first new music since last year's excellent The Wild, The Innocent, The TV Shuffle LP. Listen to the witty beat driven song below:

The track is taken from TV Girl's new EP Lonely Women which is out June 18th.





Sunday 26 May 2013

Five Star Songs: Cocteau Twins- Persephone


"Persephone" by Scottish dream pop band Cocteau Twins is taken from the band's masterpiece album Treasure. This song was never released as a single but is a personal favourite of mine from a list of numerous genius Cocteau Twins' songs.

I remember when I was a kid, sitting on my parent's back porch on hot summer days, and listening to both Treasure and Victorialand, over and over again. This band was special to me when I was growing up and got me through some difficult times.

The band reissued Treasure on 180g vinyl a couple of years ago and it is recommended that you listen to it on a record player for maximum listening pleasure. It truly is a beautiful album. You can find it on Amazon or check your local record store.






Friday 24 May 2013

New Music: Haerts- All The Days



"All The Days" is a beautiful sprawling synth pop song from Brooklyn/European band Haerts. No more description is needed for this brilliant song. Just play it loud.





New Music: Tape Deck Mountain- Always Lie


The other day we posted the great new song "Cockroach" from San Diego shoegazers Crocodiles. Didn't know this until now, but there is another really good shoegaze band hailing from that California city and their name is Tape Deck Mountain. These guys have been around just as long as Crocodiles but never became as popular outside of their home city. Their latest single, "Always Lie" adheres tightly to the My Blood Valentine sonic template. Listen or download below:





Thursday 23 May 2013

New Music: Smith Westerns- 3am Spiritual


"3am Spiritual" is the second song to be previewed from Chicago indie rock band Smith Westerns new LP Soft Will. The slow ballad shows a real maturity in the band who's previous work was good, but a little bit superficial. Listen to the gorgeous love song below.

The Smith Westerns third LP, Soft Will, will be available June 25th via Mom + Pop.




New Music: A Grave With No Name- Aurora


London post punk project A Grave With No Name are set to release a brand new album titled Whirlpool on Lefse Records. The LP was recorded at Holy Mountain Studios in London and features guest contributions from Linda Jarvis (Echo Lake) plus Akiko Matsuura (Comanechi, Big Pink)

The hushed post punk "Aurora," the first song from the new LP, features the beautiful vocals of Ides' Alanna McArdle. Download the track below.

Whirlpool will be available July 2nd.


Wednesday 22 May 2013

New Music: Mood Rings- Hollow Dye (Defected Crystal)


Watch this colourful psychedelic video from Atlanta indie pop band Mood Rings. Their great new song "Hollow Dye (Defected Crystal)"and it's dreamy, hallucinatory sound perfectly compliment the chameleon like clip.

The band will release their debut LP, Harmony, June 25th on Mexican Summer.

For fans of Melody's Echo Chamber, Warpaint




Tuesday 21 May 2013

New Music: Crocodiles- Cockroach


When I first read there was a new Crocodiles song I went and listened to it with out reading any information about the track. In the middle of the song I thought to myself it sounds a little bit like the Raveonettes, especially the guitar. There is a reason for that, as I later found out,  the band's new album, Endless Flowers, is produced by Raveonettes' lead singer Sune Rose Wagner. Download the first single, "Cockroach" from the album below:

Endless Flowers is out August 20th on Frenchkiss.





New Music: Pikelet- Pressure Cooker


Australia has a nice little scene making waves in North America right now. There is everything from psych rock bands (Tame Impala, Pond) to indie pop bands (Twerps, Beaches) that are getting plenty of hype in this part of the world and now you can add former Australian music short list nominee Pikelet to that list.

Pikelet's music sounds somewhere between the former and the latter of the aforementioned bands above. Listen to their latest track "Pressure Cooker" below:





Monday 20 May 2013

New Music: Glass Candy- Warm in the Winter


Nice to see Johnny Jewel resurrect his long idle band Glass Candy for his After Dark 2 compilation album. "Warm in the Winter" is actually an old song from 2011 but it is leading off the new album.

After Dark 2 is out now via Italians Do it Better.

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New Music: Dirty Beaches- Casino Lisboa + Music Video


"Casino Lisboa" is a great new track from Dirty Beaches (aka Alex Zhang Hungtai) that has a lo-fi sound that harkens back to the sound of his debut LP Badlands. Earlier this year, Hungtai released a couple of ambient instrumental tracks that might be worthy of a film soundtrack, but now with this song its back to his signature Elvis crooning, organ pumping, drum machine beating and he seemingly teases us that he will unleash his buzz saw guitar, but it never comes.

The video for the track shows footage from Dirty Beaches live shows mixed in with nightlife scenes from an unidentified Asian city. Watch the clip below:

Dirty Beaches new album Drifters/Love Is The Devil is out tomorrow via Zoo Music.





New Music: Prince Innocence- Golden Hour + Music Video


Josh McIntyre of Toronto indie rock band Little Girls and his side project with Montreal singer Talvi Faustmann are back with another dreamy synth pop song. If you have forgotten, last fall Prince Innocence came out with the wonderful "To My Right" and now the duo have recently followed up that single with something just as good in "Golden Hour".

Love Talvi's knee high socks. Watch the clip for "Golden Hour" below:

Prince Innocence's debut EP, Lapse, is out now via Pretty Pretty Records.








New Music: Mount Sharp- Skin


Mount Sharp are a fuzzy indie rock band from Brooklyn. Their bio states that they are really into science, so I am going to assume they named their group after the mountain on Mars where the Curiosity rover landed last year.

The band are also into making some really great music as attested by their recently released new EP titled Hello Mount Sharp that you can download over at bandcamp. Listen to their song "Skin" below:









Friday 17 May 2013

New Music: Camera Obscura- Fifth in Line to the Throne



"Fifth in Line to the Throne" is the second single to be previewed from Scottish indie pop band Camera Obscura's new LP Desire Lines and it's yours for absolutely free. The song is more melancholic and less twee than the previously released "Do it Again."  Listen to the haunting ballad below and grab the free download:

"Desire Lines" is out June 4th via 4AD.

New Music: Pond- Giant Tortoise + Music Video


I am late to the party on this band. I knew Australian psych rock band Pond shared a record label with their country mates Tame Impala, but did not know the two groups were so tied together. Pond employs the help of both of Tame Impala's bassist Nick Allbrook and drummer Jay Watson plus lead singer Kevin Parker often contributes to their music, as well. Pond comes off a little heavier than their laid back counterparts as demonstrated by their latest song "Giant Tortoise" taken from the band's forthcoming new LP, Hobo Rocket, which comes out August 6th via Modular.

Watch the video for "Giant Tortoise" below and if you like the song, go and grab a free download here.

For fans of Tame Impala, Jack White.





Thursday 16 May 2013

New Music: WÆE- Bright





WÆE are a shoegaze band that is led by a couple of Swedish indie pop veterans. The group was founded in 2011 by Mikael Carlsson who is also in a band called Honeydrips and Mathias Nilsson, formerly of Twigs.

Check out the video for their newest song, "Bright", above:

For fans of My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive.













Wednesday 15 May 2013

Music Video: Melody's Echo Chamber- Some Time Alone, Alone




Nice of Melody's Echo Chamber to release a video for their beautiful dreamy track "Some Time Alone, Alone" to remind us how good their self titled album from last year really was.

The clip features the beautiful singer Melody Prochet spending some time alone at an amusement park. Watch above.









New Music: Whirr- Swoon


Another in a line of a plethora of bay area shoegaze bands, Whirr is the project of former Deafhaven guitarist Nick Bassett. The former metalhead has turned his attention toward shoegaze and the result is the appropriately named song "Swoon." The track starts off brutally heavy but soon transpires into a dreamy reverb friendly pop song. Listen below:

"Swoon" is taken from Whirr's new EP, Around, that will be available July 9th via Graveface.

For fans of Tamaryn, Young Prisms, Permanent Collection.





Tuesday 14 May 2013

New Music: Splashh- All I Wanna Do & Sun Kissed Bliss + Music Video


"All I Wanna Do" and "Sun Kissed Bliss" are absolutely brilliant guitar based indie pop songs that have been bestowed upon us courtesy of UK/Australian/New Zealand band Splashh. Enjoy these two songs as you dream of the imminent arrival of summer.

Watch the video for "All I Wanna Do" and then grab the free download of their other song "Sun Kiss Bliss."

The band's debut full length album, Comfort, is due out June 4th via Kanine.

For fans of The Smith Westerns, The Vaccines, Yuck.









New Music: The Love Language- Calm Down



Stuart McLamb and his indie pop project The Love Language are back with a new song that expands on the group's earlier acoustic sound. The anthemic"Calm Down" relies on the use of electronics, big drums and is fuelled by a killer back end. Listen below:

"Calm Down" is taken from The Love Language's new album Ruby Red that comes out July 23rd via Merge.

For fans of Generationals, Youth Lagoon





Friday 10 May 2013

New Music: Kate Boy- The Way We Are


"The Way We Are" is a new song from Swedish electro pop band Kate Boy, which was released to celebrate there upcoming U.S. tour. The propulsive track sounds like a more R&B, and less political, version of The Knife. Listen to the song below:






Thursday 9 May 2013

New Music: David Bowie- The Next Day + Music Video






Okay, the Catholic church is pissed at David Bowie because his music video for "The Next Day" doesn't depict their church in the right light. Bowie is an artist and he is not doing it right if he isn't creating controversy. He brings along the beautiful Marion Cotillard and Sid Vicious portrayer Gary Oldman for the ride. Bowie being awesome again!!! Watch below:

The Next Day is out now. Go get it, because it is good!!






New Music: W.H.I.T.E.- I Wasn't Afraid


W.H.I.T.E. is the alter ego of Los Angeles experimental pop musician Cory Thomas Hanson. Hanson has already released a couple of albums and now he is about to release his third that is titled simply III.

Grab the download of the first single from the LP, the shimmering, dreamy synth pop track "I Wasn't Afraid."

III will be out May 28th via Argoo Records.

For fans of Soft Metals, Porcelain Raft.





Wednesday 8 May 2013

New Music: Hooded Fang- Graves + Ode to Subterrania


Toronto garage punk band Hooded Fang will release their new album Gravez on May 28th and they have already come out with a couple of preview tracks from the forthcoming LP.

While the hard charging first track, "Graves", sticks to the garage rock template, the second track "Ode to Subterrania" is a little bit more experimental and even includes synths. Listen to the songs below:

Gravez will be available May 28th via Dap Records.

For fans of The Black Lips, Ty Segall, Odonis Odonis.








Tuesday 7 May 2013

New Music: Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Mosquito + Music Video


This video reminds me of when I was a kid growing up in cottage country north of Toronto. Our family's house was situated on a lake outside of Lindsay Ontario and at this time of year the evenings were rife with a fog of mosquitoes ready to chow down on any living thing that came across their path. I remember many late nights lying in my bedroom with the lights off and hearing the buzz of a mosquito dive bombing me like it was a Japanese Zero.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs video for the title track from their new LP Mosquito features one hungry beast feasting on some poor soul's flesh. It must have been this mosquito's lucky day as she (only the females suck blood) seems to have come across blood that contains LSD. Watch as the blood sucker fills up until it turns into a kaleidoscope of colours before getting smucked. Great song and great video!!!!

Also, not sure what the little kid is doing......

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs new album Mosquito is out now.





New Music: Soft Metals- Tell Me


Tell Me?? I'm not going to tell you. Maybe for the price of a song I will tell you....

Luckily, Los Angeles synth pop duo Soft Metals have paid that price with their brilliant new song titled "Tell Me"and I am here to tell you a tiny bit about it. The experimental track is a great blend of cold synths, layered over dreamy vocals and disco beats. Now go and listen to it for free.

Soft Metals release their sophomore LP, Lenses, on July 30th via Captured Tracks.

For fans of Keep Shelly in Athens, Zambri, Glass Candy




Monday 6 May 2013

New Music: The Pastels- Illuminum Song



Great to see veteran Scottish indie twee band The Pastels back in the fold. Last month they released the wonderful "Check My Heart" and now singer Katrina Mitchell dusts off an old song that she recorded with Japanese artist Hideki Kaji a few years back. "Illuminum Song" will be the b-side to the single "Check My Heart." Check it out below:

The Pastels will release their new album, Slow Summits, on May 28th via Domino.


For fans of Belle & Sebastian, Teenage Fanclub





New Music: Sean Nicholas Savage- More Than I Love Myself


"More Than I Love Myself" is another great track from Montreal singer songwriter Sean Nicholas Savage. Listen to the introspective song below:

Savages's new album, Other Life, will be out May 28th via Arbutus.






Sunday 5 May 2013

New Music: Vampire Weekend- Ya Hey


No, Vampire Weekend didn't take Outkast's smash hit "Hey Ya" and record it backwards. "Ya Hey" is actually an original song and it is probably my favourite of the three tracks that have come out in preview of the band's new album.

Watch the lyric video that features a bunch of people celebrating by spraying champagne, plus Steve Buscemi is nowhere to be seen.

Vampire Weekend will release Modern Vampires of the City on May 14th via XL.







Friday 3 May 2013

New Music: Dark Bells-- Wildflower



A churning mix of shoegaze and psychedelia from Sydney trio Dark Bells. The group use their psychedelic influences to great effect in the video for their song "Wildflower". Check out the mix of ethereal guitars and a kaleidoscope of colours in the clip below:


For fans of Tame Impala, Toy.