Desert Noises - Highway Cars
Thanks to “You Ain’t No Picasso” comes this awesome track. The Fleet Foxes comparisons are obvious from this one. It’s a beautiful track, from the urgent drumming that has been overlaid with a relaxed guitar line to the powerfully strong yet subtle vocals. Have fun!
Inkships - Cassettes
I haven’t posted a song in a while and I think that’s because I have been waiting for one to really grab me. This is a song I heard by complete accident and it’s great. It gets you in with that awesome guitar hook and the lo-fi sound just warms it up nicely. I want more!
Lise - Textura Reversa
I’m a big fan of instrumentals, especially when they’re done right. Instrumentals have the ability to carry feelings and emotions that can’t be felt using words, we’re limited to feeling whatever we can articulate, but with instrumentals we aren’t limited by those constraints. This make gorgeous background music but stands up so well when focusing on the music. It moves, it flows, it takes you a journey. Get lost in it.
Fuck Art, Let’s Dance - The Conqueror (Original)
This track is a bit of fun, and with a name like Fuck Art, Let’s Dance it doesn’t really come as a huge surprise. They’re channelling a bit of a Phoenix vibe and it’s totally working for them. There’s also a remix floating around at the moment but the original is much better. Have fun!
Northpilot - 1000 Lives
Why don’t Coldplay write songs like this anymore? Northpilot could certainly give them a few pointers on how to write music that really kicks along while still having a melancholic tinge. Northpilot are a band out of Chicago and they’ve certainly got my attention with this single. Give it a listen.
Wild Child - Pillow Talk
Ok, so I’m definitely on an indie folk binge at the moment but when the songs are this good who is going to complain? This is a band from Texas called Wild Child (I can’t believe that name wasn’t already taken!) who, if this track is anything to go by, craft beautiful, touching songs with simple structures and outstanding harmonies. Enjoy!
Laish - She Is Clever
Just listening to the glorious, lush textures that hold this song together brings me feelings of joy. This quintet from Brighton has some very formidable musical skills, the elusive woodwind melody during the intro, the wonderful guitar line that holds the song together and those beautiful cascading string jumps during the verses show you just how talented this bunch really are. And they make it all sound so effortless. I’m guessing from the first line of the song that this is about a girl who looks after herself and a boy who has a few really good nights. I can relate to that, bottoms up.
Foy Vance - Indiscriminate Act of Kindness
I only came across this song recently but it came out in 2006 on Foy Vance’s album “Gabriel and the Vagabond” (fantastic name for an album if you ask me). It seems like if it came out today, with the indie folk scene as big as it is now, it may have made a bit of a splash. You can always tell how good a musician is by how well they can perform with just a guitar behind their voice. This guy holds his own and then some. If you’re looking for a song to drink a few glasses of red with then you’ve found your soundtrack.
Radical Face - Always Gold
There’s so much emotion captured in the intro of this song, before the words even start it has so much feeling. Radical Face is a side project for Ben Cooper who is also part of a duo called Electric President. This is from his latest album called Roots, which is apparently going to be part of a trio of albums called Family Tree. He’s obviously a fan of The Fleet Foxes and Sufjan Stevens and there are probably a few Simon and Garfunkel albums in his collection too. It’s good, really good.
Mayer Hawthrone - You Called Me
This guy has got soul! Mayer Hawthrone is an artists from LA and he performs with a band called The County. The retro soul scene has made me pretty happy this year with quite a number of artists getting back into those 60s and 70s sounds that made artists like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder famous. I’m very keen to see what else this gentleman has to offer. Enjoy!
Youth Lagoon - Afternoon
I’m in Fiji on my honeymoon at the moment and while this song doesn’t have a Fijian bone in it’s body, it does have a lazing by the pool vibe to it. Youth Lagoon are a band that I know nothing about except that they released their debut album about a week ago. When you’re listening to this one make sure you take the time to relax with a drink in your hand.
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - The Golden Age
I posted Major by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour a few days ago and decide to reminisce on their previous track The Golden Age. I totally forgot how good it was so I’ve decided to let you listen to it too. So awesome.
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - Major
Horns make everything better and this track is no exception. The horn line in this song is outstanding. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour are really channeling that old school 70s funk sound with this one. This is their first single since they released Golden Age in 2009. Get amongst it!
Kanye West featuring Nas – We Major (Bittersweet White Lotus Mashup)
I found this completely by accident. It’s a great mashup, by a guy who goes by the name of DJ White Lotus (great name if you ask me), of Kanye, Nas and The Verve and it kind of makes other mashups feel a bit incomplete. Give this one a go, even if you don’t like hip hop then you might be surprised.
Fool’s Gold - The Dive
As you may have noticed, I’m in a summer mood at the moment and this song follows that current trend. This song kind of sounds like a really happy Augie March song, vocal comparisons between them and Glenn Richards are obvious.
Fool’s Gold are a band out of L.A. who have a really fun indie, afrobeat, tropical, calypso, whatever you want to call it, sound. They’ve just released their second album “Leave No Trace” and if the first track on the album is anything to go by, this will soundtrack some sunny afternoons.
TV Girl - Benny and the Jetts
No, this isn’t a misspelled cover of the Elton John version, this is an awesome summertime singalong crafted by TV Girl, a duo out of California. You can download their Benny and the Jetts EP from Facebook, here.
The piano at the start quickly makes way for a Motown style choir and by the time the lo-fi drums come in you can tell that this song is going to be 2:50 of summer. A song about longing for a girl you can’t have isn’t groundbreaking material but it’s so effortless to listen that I find myself not really caring about the lyrics and just enjoying the song. The rest of their EP is fully of easy, summertime songs that sit very comfortably in that lo-fi, sampling blend that they’re obviously comfortable with. I’m in a bit of a summertime mood at the moment and this is getting a lot of playtime at the moment.
Kid Cudi feat. Kanye West & Common - Make Her Say
Now this is what all hip hop should sound like. Kid Cudi, mixed with Gaga, featuring Kanye and Common sounds so good that these guys should work together more. The alternative poker face melody that Gaga sings gives this an awesome feel.
Oh, and apparently A-Trak does something as well.
Treefight for Sunlight - Facing the Sun
While the Adelaide weather doesn’t exactly say fun in the sun at the moment, this song certainly does. Treefight for Sunlight’s Facing the Sun is probably going to become my new spring anthem. You can just picture the sun-drenched days, relaxing on the beach with friends. Enjoy!
James Vincent McMorrow - Higher Love (Steve Winwood Cover)
I’ve been looking for a song for a couple days now that would have something special. I’m a bit of a fan of covers, especially when they do something a little different to the original. This is by a bloke named James Vincent McMorrow and I absolutely love his voice. He’s got such a tender and airy voice in a similar strain to Bon Iver or Elliott Smith. Check this guy out!
