Finding great stuff in my inbox these days. This one’s from Los Angeles band Voxhaul Broadcast, who are building steam for the release of their upcoming full-length debut (Timing Is Everything, out Nov. 2nd). Check out their lead single “Leaving On The 5th”; a song about meeting someone who you know you’ll have to say goodbye to the next day and making the most of the time you have with them.
Life of a touring band.
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A soundtrack to holding on to these fleeting moments of summer. Blackbird Blackbird‘s ‘Pure’ is equal parts dream-pop and down-tempo electronic; pulsating drum beats washed with layer after layer of hazy atmospherics, indecipherable lyrics and keyboard loops. It comes from this San Francisco bands’ upcoming album (Summer Heart) to be released as a 12″ vinyl on September 28th through Arcade Sound Ltd.
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Also, head here for some rarities from the band, free to download.
Coming off an recent announcement that Brooklyn bliss-makers Small Black are releasing their debut full-length album New Chain (Oct. 26/Jagjaguwar), the band have decided to let us in to take a listen to the first single “Photojournalist”. A song that features lead singer Josh Kolenik repeating the refrain “rise up again, like a ghost”, it grows in layers, sounds and intensity to its abrupt halt of an outro. The band will be doing fall tour dates including an appearance at CMJ, and stay tuned for more from the band.
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Following up an exclusive track I posted last week on Indie Music Filter from London, UK band Worship, I thought I’d tip the blogosphere to another. It comes from their studio work in Norway, where the band spent a month writing and recording at a small residential studio. Everything was DIY’d by the band; self written, recorded, produced and mixed. The result is quite solid. For those looking for something moody and haunting with soaring vocals and tense, synth laden atmospherics, check out ‘The Midnight Sun’.
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I’m guilty. Guilty of not noticing this band when they were right under my nose. Upon first listens to songs sent to me directly from Toronto-trio Young Empires weeks ago, I guess my ears weren’t hearing this band correctly. I kept seeing their name pop up on a bunch of music blogs and now on a bunch of UK sites; profiling their 6-date mini tour there which ended yesterday. Being compared to Foals, MGMT, Friendly Fires and The Cure, this band belongs directly in my alley and now I’ve found a track to really get behind.
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As indicated above, believe it or not this track is also just a demo at this point.
I don’t always remember to write about bands that I take some interest in. Owen Sound’s First Rate People jumped on my radar months ago, perhaps from a post on Pitchfork calling their first single ‘Girl’s Night’ a “funky, flirty abstraction that floats somewhere in the space between a bouncy 1990s-style R&B tune and a swooning alt-rock ballad”. At the time, I guess they slipped my mind.
Today, they popped back on my radar and I’m happy to give you their 2nd single called ‘Gentleman’s Club’. The song features guest appearances from Born Ruffian’s Luke LaLonde on backing vocals, sweet harmonies from the Annas and string arrangements from Jaron Freeman-Fox. The song is inspired by the British tv series ‘Skins’, a show we’ll start getting our own version of in North America. And again, like ‘Girl’s Night’, the band sings to fun and optimism.
Look for the band on the road in Ontario and debuting in the U.S. at the Hopscotch Festival in Raleigh, NC.
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7/30/10 – Meaford, ON @ Electric Eclectics Sound Festival
I’ve surfed to Ra Ra Riot’s homepage quite a lot in the last couple of weeks. They’ve been teasing me with short videos showing them recording their upcoming album ‘The Orchard’, named after where they recorded the record. Well, today I found myself back on their homepage after hearing the news that Toronto’s Arts & Crafts will be releasing the bands’ sophomore full-length in Canada Aug. 24th (same release date for Barsuk Records in the US).
The album was produced by the band with Andrew Maury and mixed by Chris Walla of Death Cab For Cutie and Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend. Expect 10 tracks of bittersweet, endearing and ultimately stunning offerings, as evidenced by the album’s first single ‘Boy’. Take a listen.
Ra Ra Riot – Boy
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Head to their homepage to download it for free in exchange for your e-mail address. Pre-order the album here.
Along with a ton of US and International tour dates listed on their myspace page, be sure to take note of the Canadian dates.
8/1/10 – Montreal, PQ @ Osheaga Festival
8/28/10 – Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheatre w/ City and Colour, Tegan and Sara
11/13/10 – Vancouver, BC @ The Commodore *
11/17/10 – Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall *
11/19/10 – Saskatoon, SK @ Louis’ Pub *
11/20/10 – Winnipeg, MB @ The Garrick *
* w/ Wintersleep
Vancouver’s Teen Daze have really made that transition from relative obscurity to one of the more talked about bands on the blogs look incredibly easy. How? Well, by populating a Tumblr account since April with a couple of their chillwave sounding originals and getting noticed by popular sites like Pitchfork and Gorilla vs Bear, the rest was kind of history. The most recent spike in seeing their name popping up came from great recent remixes they did for Local Natives on their stems page. Turning this buzz into a deal, the band signed to Arcade Sound Ltd to release the bands’ debut album (Four More Years) which will be released digitally on July 23 and physically as a 12″ on August 10. Additionally, there will be an exclusive remixed e.p. out on iTunes on June 22.
Teen Daze – Saviour
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While searching for songs to make my perfect summer mix, I scanned my iTunes for songs that I’d accumulated in the past couple of weeks. Sitting there wanting to be heard again was “Society” by DVAS.
The first single off Dietzche V. and the Abominable Snowman’s (DV and AS) full-length album with the same name, this track’s infectious electro-dance delivers. Definitely recommended for something to take to the dancefloor in these scorching days of summer. Look for the album in stores July 27th. Pre-order from Upper Class or iTunes.
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The song comes in video form, where the guy gets the girl:
Brooklyn’s Paul Hammer and Deidre Muro formed the band Savoir Adore purely for fun in 2007, after the two multi-instrumentalists challenged each other to make a concept album in one weekend. Years later, many are enjoying their lush, leftfield slant on pop. Cantora Records (founders of MGMT, Violens, Bear Hands) championed the group and have released the bands’ debut album (In the Wooded Forest) last year, out later this year in the UK in August. Weaving vivid imagery into their experimental-popmusic, this one is a record with soaring melodies, ethereal voices and New Wave synths.
Try on a grower and the album’s closer (below).
The Garden
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