New Music: Young Dreams- Fog Of War

Young Dreams are an indie pop band who hail from the black metal centre of Bergen Norway. The band have just put out a new single, Fog of War, which has a sound that is very apt when comparing it to the group's name. The psycehedelic pop song starts and ends in a flurry of timpani drums and has a fantastic dreamy mushy middle. Nice track.....download it below.

The band plan on releasing a new album early in 2013 via Modular.

New Music: School of Seven Bells- Secret Days

This came as a complete surprise. On the heels of their really good album Ghostory, electronic dream pop band School of Seven Bells are releasing a new EP titled Put Your Sad Down.

Secret Days is the first single from the EP which will come out next week. Really loving the beat on this song which has a bit of an industrial feel to it, while lead singer Alejandra Deheza's multi layered harmonic voice has never sounded better. The looseness of the track fits perfectly with the theme of the song which has Deheza reminiscing about youthful adventures from the past.  Download the song below:

Put Your Sad Down will be available November 13th via Vagrant.

Five Star Songs: Wall of Voodoo-Far Side of Crazy

I was perusing through the used vinyl at the record store yesterday when I came upon an old Wall of Voodoo album from 1985 titled Seven Days in Sammystown. I looked at the track listing on the back of the LP and noticed the first song, Far Side of Crazy. I then I had one of those " I remember that song" moments. I recalled seeing the video for the song on a Sunday Morning music show on the CBC called Switchback, thinking it was really cool, and then never hearing it again.

Wall of Voodoo will always be remembered for both their lead singer Stan Ridgeway and for their hit song Mexican Radio. The band broke up after the US Festival in 1983 and Ridgeway went on to forge a successful solo career. It didn't take long for the band to be revived with the help of new lead singer Andy Prieboy. The album Seven Days in Sammystown was a critical failure, except for the lead single Far Side of Crazy which did well in Australia.

The song lyrics are really dark and try to delve into the mind of John Hinckley, the murderer who killed John Lennon. The music is really cool and has guitar that is reminiscent of the Enrico Morricone spaghetti western sound.

Watch the video below and don't be creeped out too much by the weird clown.

New Music: Desire- Tears From Heaven

Johnny Jewel seems to be the Jack White of italo disco and synth pop music. Not only does he have the bands Chromatics and Glass Candy to keep him busy, now he has formed a new group with singer Megan Kelly and percussionist Nat Walker. The first song from the new band, Tears From Heaven, sees all the same ingredients that make up Jewel's other two groups, that is, keep the music simple with a disco beat, cascading synths and a beautiful female voice. Listen and watch the video below:

This is the second song to be released from the After Dark II compilation (we already featured the Chromatics track Looking for Love) which will be available soon....

New Music: Azar Swan- Amrika

Rising out of the ashes of Brooklyn orchestral goth project Religious to Damn comes the new electro duo Azar Swan. The couple have discarded the instrumentation and gone in a more pop direction, albeit still dark. For those who like Bat for Lashes or Zola Jesus.

Listen to the duo's new track, Amrika, below.

Sons & Daughters Break Up

So sad to here that Scottish indie pop band Sons & Daughters broke up today. On the band's Facebook page singer/guitarist Adele Bethel wrote the following:

"Hello friends, it is with heavy heart that I type Sons and Daughters are no more:( On behalf of all of us I want to to thank you from the bottom of my knee high boots for all the love and support you have shown us over the ten years we have been together, we had a blast!Take care and stay cool, much love, Adele XXXXX"

Great band that will be missed. Listen below to the single Dance Me In from the album The Repulsion Box.

New Music: The Ruby Suns- Kingfisher Call Me

The other day I was walking home from the drug store when I saw a bunch of people hunched over looking at something on the ground. When I passed by, I noticed they were looking at an injured bird with an elongated beak, that looked like a Kingfisher. Toronto is located on a major migratory path and is infamous for having a large number of bird maimings and deaths due to multiple high rise office buildings and condos with glass windows.

A soon as I got home I noticed that New Zealand psych pop band  The Ruby Suns had just come out with a new single titled Kingfisher Call Me. Probably nothing to do with the bird- or the Indian airline or the Indian beer- but a great song nonetheless. Just thought it was a weird coincidence.

The song Kingfisher Call Me is taken from the band's forthcoming fourth album, Christopher. The track and album was mixed by Chris Coady who did the same for Grizzly Bear.  The track sees the band go in somewhat of a more synth pop direction and sounds a little bit like the aforementioned Grizzly bear, but probably is more akin to Yeasayer. Download the track below:

Christopher will be available on January 29th via Sub Pop.